For those of you who have followed my blog for a while now, you would know that I’m very into personal development. I constantly want to improve and become better. Not only that, I want to inspire others to grow as well. (That’s why my slogan is: Grow with me! 😉 )
This post is based on a book called, “The Slight Edge” by Jeff Olson. This is one of the best personal development books I have read (Trust me, I have read a lot).
I’m only going to be sharing a bit of what really resonated with me. If this type of stuff motivates or inspires you, buy the book or listen to the audio book. It can change your life!!!
- Your philosophy creates your attitude, which create your actions, which create your results, which create your life
Your philosophy is what you believe in; how you think and reason. Your thoughts will determine your attitude.
If you think terribly of yourself, you will have a bad attitude. A poor attitude will lead to little to no action because you do not think you’re capable of succeeding. With little to no action, obviously your results will be horrible. Ultimately, it will lead to an unhappy life.
You see? It’s a cycle. If you want to succeed, you must first change your philosophy.
- There is a natural progression to success: plant, cultivate, harvest -and the central step, cultivate, can only happen over the course of time
Oftentimes, we are in a rush to succeed. We all want instant results and we can be very discouraged if there doesn’t appear to be any evident growth. However, it is crucial that we remember cultivating takes time. The plant is not going to grow right away. It requires consistent sunlight, the correct temperature, good soil and watering in order for it to grow.
Be patient. As long as you put in consistent work and have done your research, success will come.
- No genuine success in life is instant. Life is not a clickable link
I really like this. Nothing worthwhile comes easily. Don’t be the person hoping to win the lottery. Instead, have a goal and create a plan to make it come true.
- Everything is always in motion. Every day, every moment, your life path is either curving upward, or curving downward
Each day, you have the choice to do something to get yourself closer to your goals, or take no action. What is it going to be? Remember, you’re the one responsible for your life. Don’t be a victim and blame your circumstances or the people around you.
Life is unfair and some people definitely have it easier than others, but that doesn’t mean you cannot do anything to improve your situation.
- Wanting is uncomfortable, yet wanting is essential to winning
This is so powerful. If we have no desire, there is no reason to pursue. Make a list of what you want and ask yourself what you need to do in order to get it. Hoping or wishing is useless. You need to take action.
For example, I know I want to grow my blog. What do I need to do in order to grow it? Well, I need to write more posts. I need to be consistent. I need to provide quality content so people will want to read or share my posts. I know what I need to do.
Do you?
We all have wants and desires. Now go after it and make it happen.
Grow with me 
Lol Grace you’re very good at communicating your words across but I think this post is just full of fluff and reiterates ideas you’ve already written about in the past. Other than blogging and translating, how else are you growing in your life? Instead of sharing ideas and written words, what actions are you taking to grow your ideas into a comfortable lifestyle that will feed you and your family? (As your friend, I am pushing your buttons to see what you will say for a reason.)
Thanks for reading my post, Karen! Aside from translating and blogging, I’m also planning to write an ebook. I am a bit stuck because I want to write content that can help people and that it would bring some value so they would be willing to pay a small fee. I have asked myself, why is it that most of us are so willing to spend $5 on a drink at Starbucks but not willing to spend $5 on a book or something that can change their lives? I need to think of something that people actually want to willingly pay for. Perhaps I will write something to help Chinese learners learn English or vice versa. I know a lot of their struggles since I have also been through it. Ex. In Chinese, “I”, “myself”, and “me” is the same. We just use 我 for everything. So for Chinese learners, they have difficulties choosing the right word. If I can solve their problems, perhaps they will find value in my book.
I still plan to do the insurance thing. I know it doesn’t seem like I have been getting anywhere with that but that’s because I still can’t really go out due to pain. I believe strongly in it and I don’t plan to give up. Fortunately, my treatments have improved slightly so hopefully within a month or so I will be able to go out on a consistent basis without being in too much pain.
I also tutor a bit on the side and plans to get more students once I can actually go out regularly. I know I need some sort of stable income since everything I want to do is so risky or unstable.
I am also planning to make YouTube videos (for fun). I have a lot of ideas I want to share with people. If it grows, it grows. If it doesn’t, that’s fine too.
Thanks for writing such a long message, Grace! I look forward to seeing you achieve these things and even if it doesn’t go the way you plan, it’s okay. As you say, we’re always learning and growing. I just wanted to point out my original thought though and that’s why I said what I said. Hope you weren’t offended by it! 🙂
Thanks for being honest and pushing me to be better, Karen!! I appreciate your thoughts and highly values your opinions.
I’m going to catch up to your blog posts in a bit! ❤️
No problem, Grace. I’m being honest and trying to push you a bit… Give you some tough love 🙂
💓
Agreed with everything here! Glad you enjoyed the book, Grace. The book changed my life for the better too. This is probably my favourite part:
“Remember, you’re the one responsible for your life. Don’t be a victim and blame your circumstances or the people around you.
Life is unfair and some people definitely have it easier than others, but that doesn’t mean you cannot do anything to improve your situation.”
Before I was always complaining and looking for the easy way. Now I know better. Life isn’t easy and it’s not meant to be. Success only comes by doing the little things right every day. Keep up the great work!
Thank you so much for taking the time to read and comment on my post, Alex!!! I really appreciate it. ❤
I hope we will all work hard towards our goals and achieve what we want in life. 🙂