They were good friends, he was probably in his 60s, and the other was approaching his 30s – they had one thing in common – they were both enamored with the idea of living in nature and spending their time creating and cultivating their passion while providing their families with all the necessary and enough to have a comfortable life.

 The older had realized his dream already. He was living on the shores of Anse Lazio, on the northwest tip of Praslin Island, on the western coast of Africa.

 I tried many times, but I can’t seem to make this work. I feel tired, and I have lost my fire, the young man told his older friend while walking by the ocean of such an amazing island.

 How hard do you want to succeed? – Albert asked, – how hard do you believe that you can make your dreams come true?

 What do you mean? – replied the young and confused Timothy. I try hard, but I feel as if there is no time to make my dream come true. I work long hours, take care of my family, and the few hours left, I am exhausted and just want to go to sleep.

 A deep and long silence followed the conversation; only the waves’ soothing sound could be noticed. As they were getting closer to the water, Albert stopped and stared at the forgiving waves’ wonderful and pristine blue.

 Tim, he said, as he walked in the water. I want you to take a good look at this ocean. It is calm and beautiful; it is an ocean that promises nothing but serene and warm waters to its visitors and swimmers. However, it has a scary secret that only the few who have experienced it; know well. Although it is not really deadly, it can bring an intense experience.

 Many years ago, when I decided it was time for me to follow my dream, I decided that I would not be on my own way, that I would find methods and techniques for me to be successful in my own world.

 Come with me, Tim – he asked and gently grabbed him by the shoulder, as they both began to walk deeper in the water.

 It is a nice beach, Al, you are lucky to live here.

 Come on! Follow me, Tim. Let’s swim for a while.

 They both started swimming towards a small sandbank. On the way to it, Albert decided to suddenly stop just to ask Tim one more time – Tim, how much do you want your dream to come true?

 I want it very much, Al – he said. At this point, the water was up to their chests.

 Tim, how much do you want your dream to come true?

 I said I want it very much; why?

 Keep walking towards the sandbank and tell me how much you want your dream to come true.

 I want it bad, really bad! – responded Tim, almost screaming as a result of the constant questioning of his friend.

 Timothy, imagine the sandbank is your dream, and it is the place you long to be at; therefore, keep walking and reach to it; and when you are on top, I want you to scream out loud how bad you want your dream to come true.

As Tim began to walk towards the sandbank, suddenly, he found himself in turbulent waters, not knowing how to react. The strong current began to tumble him, and while gasping for air, he was also screaming for help.

 Only a few seconds later, seconds that felt like hours, Tim found himself at the sandbank, where his old friend Albert was already waiting for him and laughing hysterically.

 Are you ok, Tim? – he asked.

 ..yeah, I am alright… wow! That was very scary!

 I know – Albert replied while helping his friend to stand up.

This is the secret I was telling you about, a secret that only those who have experienced it know about.

 These are relatively shallow waters but under them run the reminisce of the East Australian current, a flow of water that runs south along the east coast of Australia. This current allows thousands of marine turtles to get a “free ride” to get from one place to another. It is pretty beautiful and wild.

 Yeah, and intense! – Tim said while abruptly shaking his hair.

 As Tim recovered from this rough experience, Albert began to walk to the other side of the bank and said to his friend – Remember when I asked you how bad do you want your dream to come true?

 Yes! – replied Tim as he was trying to catch up with his friend’s fast pace.

 You were telling me that you wanted it really bad, right?

 Yeah, I did!

 Let me tell you, dear friend, you did not want them really bad because you were on safe grounds, and you knew you were safe.

 Tim, for you to be sure of what you want, you need to want your dream so bad that it feels like those moments you were desperately gasping for air. In those moments, you did the impossible for you to survive. The same primal need for survival you had while being hit by the hidden current, you must-have for your dreams to come true. You need to want them so bad that without them is like an eternity underwater. You must, my dear friend, be hungry for success.

 The Message – Keep Yourself Motivated

 The story above is simple but carries a true message. While there are millions of people living a so-called normal life – most of them are likely living within their own comfort zone (and nothing is wrong with it, as long as their lives are meaningful for them); others are simply trying to figure out what to do with theirs. Motivation is a key factor in the complex equation of success. I am still trapped in between the zone of motivation and action. On top, procrastination can add a serious complication.

 In his classic The Now Habit book, author Neil Fiore explains: “Procrastination is not the cause of our problems with accomplishing tasks; it is an attempt to resolve a variety of underlying issues, including low self-esteem, perfectionism, fear of failure and of success, indecisiveness, an imbalance between work and play, ineffective goal-setting, and negative concepts about work and yourself.”

 There is also the other side of the spectrum – the reached goal – once the person has reached their goal, there is no further motivation. The individual becomes comfortable, and the drive is lost. There is no more motivation. This is perhaps because the promise of the reward is gone, or the threat of punishment is no longer valid.

 Although we all want to be rewarded for our good deeds and actions, the key to maintaining a driving force is to merely focus on the pleasure and the thrill of getting work done. In other words, the trick to motivation is to find the intrinsic reward in our work to enjoy it and not focus on the final reward or the effects of the self-mental punishment for not fulfilling such work.

 To keep yourself motivated, the first thing you want to focus on is happiness, which comes with progress. There is initiative and direction when there is motivation, you develop courage, your energy improves, and therefore your persistence to follow your goals.

 If you want to strengthen your motivation, I recommend the following:

1. Set a goal. The best way to manage your goals is to split them into smaller tasks and enjoy the progress of reaching them. This will bring you happiness and feed your drive to keep moving forward.
2. Constantly affirm to yourself that you can and will succeed. Keep repeating this fact throughout your day.
3. Avoid procrastination. Meditate upon the things that keep you stuck and work on them one by one. Procrastination leads to laziness, and laziness leads to a lack of motivation.
4. Measure improvement. Analyze yourself and witness your personal growth. This is a thermometer that will contribute to helping you see how healthy is your progress. Be honest with yourself, and do not hesitate to make small changes in your approach if necessary.
5. Exercise regularly. I recommend the practice of asana yoga. Studies have shown that practicing light yet deep core body movement as done in the asana yoga practice, a protein referred to as a BDNF which travels in the bloodstream, stimulates both the nervous system and cognitive systems, developing an increase in memory and focus, which are also fundamental for motivation.
6. Last but not least, study, read, or exercise your brain with puzzles. Being human is an exceptional experience. We are the only animals that know that we know. We have a higher state of awareness, and we can train our muscle brain by providing it more information to work on more functions. The more we exercise our brains, the stronger they function.

The amount of motivation is equivalent to the amount of happiness you can bring to its results to finalize. Remain focused and understand yourself, figure out what moves you, and develop the primal need for survival when it comes to accomplishing your goals and turning your dreams into reality.

When it comes to self-control, we’ve seen that the human mind is not one unified itself, but multiple selves who compete for control. There’s is the self who wants immediate gratification and the self who remembers your bigger goals. There is your present self, who may or may not seem to have much in common with our future self. As if that weren’t a crowded enough crew, it turns out that you have few other people living in your head too. No, I am not talking about multiple personality disorder – I am talking about your parents, your spouse, your children, your friends, your boss, and everyone else who is part of your everyday world.

As humans, we are wired to connect with others, and our brains have adapted a nifty way to make sure we do. We have specialized brain cells – called mirror neurons – whose sole purpose is to keep track of what other people are thinking, feeling, and doing. These mirror neurons are sprinkled throughout the brain to help us understand the full range of other people’s experiences.
For example, imagine you and I are in the kitchen, and you see me reach my right hand for

For example, imagine you and I are in the kitchen, and you see me reach my right hand for knife. Your brain will automatically begin to encode this movement. The mirror neurons that correspond to movement  and sensation in your right hand will be activated. In this way, your brain begins to craft an inner representation of what I am doing. The mirror neurons recreate the movement like a detective might reenact a crime scene, trying to understand what happened and why. This allows you to guess why I’m reaching for a knife, and what might happen next. Am I going to attack you? Or is my intent victim the lemon pie on the counter?

 Let’s say I accidentally slice my right thumb as I grab the knife. Ouch! As you see this happen, mirror neurons in the pain regions of your brain will respond. You will wince and know immediately what I am feeling The experience of pain is so real to the brain that the nerves in your spinal cord will even attempt to suppress incoming pain signals from your own right hand – just as if you had actually cut your hand! This is the empathy instinct  that helps us understand and respond to other people’s feelings.

After i bandage my thumb and serve myself a slice of the lemon pie, the mirror neurons in the reward system of your brain will be activated. Even if you don’t like lemon pie yourself, if you know that it is my favorite (true), your brain will start anticipating a reward. When our mirror neurons encode the promise of rewards in others, we long for a treat ourselves. This is really powerful and we can actually take advantage of this wonderful and natural system to improve our own rewards when it comes to creating mirror neurons in the positive actions of our existence.

Isabel Myers was the founder of the Myers & Briggs Foundation for personality and the developer of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator®. She was an avid follower of Carl Jung,  the Swiss psychiatrist, and founder of the school of analytical psychology.

I have been reading Carl Jung since my early 20’s, and I find his readings really fascinating. However; I tend to gravitate towards simpler concepts when it comes to behavioral psychology. Isabel Myers’ approach to the study of personality and the understanding of human development is a lot simpler.

 The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® explains that the Development and applications of psychological type, are founded on the idea that understanding your type can help you:

(a) appreciate your own strengths, gifts, and potential developmental needs, and

(b) help you understand and appreciate how other people may differ from you.

Understanding your strengths and gifts is a key for their appreciation

Lots of us get involved in daily activities, projects and different situations that simply rob us from leading our lives to higher standards, therefore; jeopardizing our true and honest desires to do what we love.

We normally get entangled in a series of multitasking activities and our lives seem to be saturated with stressful responsibilities, relationships, and a series of sometimes nonsense matters.

We want to accomplish many things at once thinking that multitasking will allow us to produce more and save time. This is not true, however.

One must remain focused and with a definite purpose in mind in order to accomplish wholesome results. It also important  to know our capacities and push them a little in order to build the necessary strength.

 This is the point of appreciation for when we accomplish what we want, we will realize that we have utilized commitment and perseverance. Accomplishing our goals will add more confidence in one’s own worth or abilities; leading to self-respect and self- reassurance.

Finding our Purpose 

George Bernard Shaw has a great quote. He says: “Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself” – It is important to always understand ourselves and the reason for our actions. I know it is not easy. I have experienced moments in life where I have asked myself why is it, that I do what I do? – and many, many times I don’t really know the reasons.

Taking time to stop and invest some moments in introspection is an excellent practice. It will allow you to spend quality time with your mind and perhaps to even have a great conversation with your thoughts, allowing you in a moment to recognize any negative patterns. This is the practice of meeting your Self to find your Self.

 Getting to learn about your needs is also critical for psychological balance. Living a chaotic life due to resentment and frustration for not fulfilling your needs, will create a domino effect that eventually will interfere with all your external relationships as well.

 Per Carl Jung, people are either born with or develop, certain preferred ways of perceiving and deciding. In my case, I want to say that I tend to make decisions based on my emotional state but my sense of perception is most of the time from the intellectual viewpoint. Every single person is different but the are all looking for the same thing: happiness.

 Happiness is the ultimate goal – but without a purpose, it could become a very misleading act that can actually bring nothing but frustration and therefore throwing you back in an endless loop of  dissatisfaction.

What Do you Want?

Ask yourself what do I want? Consider many scenarios and list them and feel them in your body. Feel what resonates with you.

It is necessary to learn to obtain happiness while walking the path of fulfillment. You will not find happiness at the end of your journey. It will only be satisfaction because there will always be room for more. Success without fulfillment is the ultimate failure in life.

We need to find a sense of purpose, we need to learn and know what we want. We need to feel what make our heart energy vibrate when we think about our purpose in life. This purpose must be aligned with what you value in life. When you realize what you want, then make a plan to fulfill your want and stick to it until you have accomplished it.

 Lots of people get on the bus of life and stay focused on the minor details that only bring dissatisfaction and frustration. They never dare to look at the windows and enjoy the landscape of their journey.

Live a life of meaning which means have a sense of motivation. What is it that you like to do? We as a society have been evolving exponentially and no longer need be to tie to its demands. (if we don’t want to)

We now possess freedom of information. Freedom to be whoever we want to be and do whatever we want to do.

We as a society, no longer need to fulfill expectations – we just don’t have to anymore. We are free and able to fulfill our dreams and goals if we stick to both, our purpose and plan.

Lastly, go through the boredom you will encounter on your path to success. Endure, don’t stop, don’t give up, embrace your daily practice and you will achieve your goals.

By staying true to your purpose, you will be able to step out of any type indicators, this way you will simply appreciate your strength and the diversity in others.

Put simply, mindfulness is awareness of the present moment and circumstances. The concept of mindfulness is Buddhist in origin and can be defined in many different ways in modern society: for example, as a kind of mental attitude that one may adopt, or a set of techniques that can anchor a person’s consciousness in the present. People think many thoughts at once and many of them are concerned with the past, or the future, or abstract things. Being mindful means keeping your mind on the here and now.

This can be very calming, allowing worries and regrets to be left alone, especially when it is the focus of meditation. Mindfulness is currently frequently discussed in the media as a treatment for many things, including serious anxiety and depression, chronic pain, and feelings of being overwhelmed by modern life, stress relief. However, being mindful is not always easy, and mindful meditation, in particular, needs regular practice to become effective.

One might choose to be mindful in daily life simply by paying attention to current tasks, but mindfulness is usually associated with doing so with a particular attitude of curiosity, openness, and acceptance. That way you can be open to your actual experience, free of preconceptions and without being distracted by your reactions to it. Mindfulness is at its most acute when one is focussing one’s mind entirely on it: such a state of mental focus being described as meditation.

Meditation is sometimes described as ‘falling awake’ as a contrast to falling asleep. Meditation can be classified as concentration meditation, where there is one particular focus, such as a sound, or as mindfulness meditation where the focus is on all aspects of the present moment. However, complete awareness of the present is very often easier to achieve by paying particular attention to one aspect of it, at least initially, so the two kinds of meditation are intertwined.

The movement of breath into and out of the body is a very popular initial focus of attention in mindful meditation as it is always present and involves just enough bodily movement to keep one interested. Some people prefer a repeated silent phrase (called a mantra), or a set of rhythmic, simple movements, or enjoy being guided through a meditation by verbal instructions and reminders from a teacher or an audio track.

How can you be mindful? Just observe, become patient with yourself. Mindfulness or meditation is no more than being naturally awake, aware and present to what is happening. Most meditation methods support this. All you need is to sit quietly in a pleasant, comfortable place and notice what happens: The sounds and sights around you as they change. Your breathing in and out as it changes. Your thoughts and emotions as they come and go – That is enough – The more, the better.  Try and be mindful every day.

Get in Tune with your Goals – Commit to Yourself

Setting up realistic small goals is fundamental for the conquering of bigger dreams and projects. There are hundreds or perhaps even thousands of techniques that one can put into practice to accomplish our plans.
There is one thing, though – what about self-commitment? Without it, we will not be able to accomplish anything. Are you seriously ready to commit the rest of the year?

Accomplishing goals and plans are fundamental for the evolution of our lives. Progress is happiness, and stagnation is practically death. In the teachings of the Upanishads, (Katha Upanishad), the good and the pleasant are presented as experiences rooted in our nervous system.

“There are two things in this world, and people pursue
either this or that. These two may be regarded as the path of
the pleasant, and the path of the good. Most people choose
the former, and not the good. The pleasant is pleasing, but
passing, and ends in pain. It is different from the good. But
while the good need not necessarily be pleasant, the
pleasant is not good.”

The act of commitment might no be pleasurable at first, but the result of this engagement is indeed more pleasurable than the result of stagnation. It is not enough to plan and strategize; we must strive and fight back our negative habits and work harder to become a better version of ourselves.

The Way to Commitment

The first thing one must understand before committing is to know what we want. This process can be sometimes difficult as there so many distractions in the world and can make our minds vulnerable and prone to procrastination. Knowing not only the reason for what we want but to identify yourself with the result is vital to reach success and fulfillment.

One practical way to develop commitment is to make things incredibly easy. Don’t be a perfectionist. Break down your primary goal into little tiny mini weekly or daily goals. Build up the confidence you need to change the perception of yourself.

Perfectionism is dangerous because it creates lots of pressure and instead of raising your standards, you are creating a hostile environment where the peace embedded in progress is consumed by the irrational awareness of agitation, subtle anger and even depression resulting from an unhealthy level of perfectionism.

Be compassionate with yourself, Buddhist nun Pema Chodron affirms that compassion is not a relationship between the healer and the wounded. It’s a relationship between equals. Only when we know our darkness well can we be present with the darkness of others. Compassion becomes real when we recognize our shared humanity.

Likewise, the commitment to a consistent and steady yoga practice will create humility, compassion, even a sense of stillness in mind, but most importantly patience which will grow gradually with time allowing the commitment for growth to become steady as the breath. Committed to a spiritual practice will help you in life. A yogi once said: “When you can accept the irony that yoga is not about postures at all, then the frustration due to the physical abilities will start to fall away.”

Be committed and conquer your goals.

What are you doing to engage in supportive practices aimed towards your human fulfillment?

Success is a matter of never-ceasing application. You must forever work at it diligently. Otherwise, it takes wings and flies away. At no time can you afford to rest on your laurels— a pause for self-admiration— because there are others who may have eyes on your coveted place and who would like nothing better than to push you out of it, especially if they observe that you have a weak hold on it or are doing nothing to strengthen your position. Despite the great strides that America has made, it is still a country with great resources, many of which have not yet been tapped.  Already in our laboratories, scientists are at work on what many may consider fantastic ideas. These include light and wearable fabrics from wood and other products that will be fire- and water-resistant, materials that will make ships unsinkable, machines that will capture energy from the sun, and even apparatus that will actually record our unspoken thoughts. These are only a few of the things appearing on the horizon, and they are all coming from the imaginations of men, or from their subconscious minds. Perhaps in less than fifty years thought transference or telepathy will be as commonplace as the radio of today. Who knows? It has been said that man can bring into materialization anything that he can conceive mentally, and the millions of things we use and enjoy today prove it. When a man fully comprehends the great power of his mind and earnestly puts it to work, not only will he have dominion over this earth and everything on it, but he may be reaching out to control the nearby planets. You yourself have this inner spark, but it must be fanned until the fire is of white-heat intensity and it must be constantly stoked, which you do by adding fuel— ideas, ideas, more ideas, and action. One man, I know who has many achievements to his credit and who has passed the seventy mark declared that most people fall by the wayside because they are never starting anything. “I make it a plan, and have for years, to start something new— that is, new for me— at least once a week. It may be only the making of some simple gadget for use in the kitchen or it may be an entirely new sales plan or reading an unfamiliar book. I find in following this plan not only that I keep my body and mind active, but also that I put to use a lot of imaginative qualities that otherwise might fall asleep and atrophy. This idea of a man’s retiring when he’s sixty or sixty-five is to me a great mistake. As soon as a man retires and quits becoming active mentally and physically, he’s on the way to his grave in short order. You have seen what has happened to fire horses when they are retired. You know what happens to your automobile when you leave it outside unused and neglected; it starts to rust and is soon headed for the junk-shop. Humans are the same; they rust out or wither and die when they go on the shelf. The plan of starting something new at least once a week brings us to the matter of initiative and how valuable an asset individual initiative is for any person who seeks success. Without it, a man is stopped almost as soon as he starts. Men and women remain in minor clerical positions all of their lives because they never display initiative in their work, never attempt to find new ways of doing their work, and never suggest improvements.

Your very life is your thinking and the result of your thinking processes. Your flesh, bones, and muscles can be reduced to 70 percent water and a few chemicals of small value, but it is your mind and what you think that makes you what you are. The secret of success lies not without, but within, the thoughts of man.