Life Principles to Live By Daily

We tend to get so caught up in our day-to-day activities that we often lose hope in our dreams and passions.

What do you get when you see the image above? (And I don’t mean those abs) He is a guy playing fetch with his dog on a sunny afternoon. And isn’t that what life is all about … enjoying the little things?

Today I share with you a shortened version of  Robert Piper’s amazing post for elephantjournal.com.

Check it out!

It doesn’t matter what you want to be: an artist, musician, poet, entrepreneur or activist…life is sometimes hard when pursing our dreams and so here are 10 life principles to live by daily.

1. Be totally fearless in going after your dreams.

Every successful person, no matter who they were had to deal with extreme levels of fear; it doesn’t matter if it was Oprah Winfrey or Mother Theresa. Fear is a natural part of who we are. Recognize it and move beyond it.

2. Be Bold as often as you can.

Columbus was bold when he went out to discover new lands; Gandhi was bold when he decided to change a nation through a peaceful movement and the Buddha was bold when he left the palace, in search of a better life. Boldness can start with small steps—if you want to be successful in any endeavor—start making bold moves.

 3. Be Compassionate.

Life is difficult for many people; you may not know what a person is dealing with when you’re speaking with them, so offer them compassion. All spiritual traditions speak of compassion and forgiveness.

4. Forgive people for what they’ve done to you.

Lets face it: bad things happen in our lives, people will hurt you and you will get upset. The Dalai Lama had his entire country taking away from him by the Communist Government of China. Do you know what he did? He forgave them, even though they took everything from him. How many prior events in our life do we hang on to? It is easier to forgive a person that has harmed us then it is to hang on to that pain for the rest of our life.

5. If you want something—go and get it!

No, the world does not owe you anything. If you want happiness, do what makes you happy. If you want a relationship, go out and find it. If you want a better life, go out there and get it.

6. Fail as much as possible.

No one will ever remember you failures once you are successful at something. Go out into the world with the attitude of “Who cares if I fail.”  Most people are not thinking about you anyways…they are thinking about themselves.

7. Laugh at everything.

Every day, find humor—we tend to get so busy that we forget laugh. Find moments in your day to have fun and crack a joke. And, laugh at yourself.

 8. Get Rejected.

If you’re not getting rejected, you aren’t moving forward. Every person who has ever done anything worth doing has been rejected.

9. Be persistent in whatever you are pursuing.

If you want to change something, you have to be persistent. If you want better health, you have to formulate a health plan that you persistently pursue. If you want to have a calm, focused mind, start meditating—be persistent with it.

10. You are not your past.

You are not what someone told you were terrible at. If someone told you that you were terrible at something in particular, let go of it. You are not your past failures or successes. You are not your past circumstances.