The moment you understand. You are in control and the only person standing between you and your dreams.

Your world view changes. Your decisions change. Your life changes. You will stop listening to what society tells you to be right. You take responsibility, experiment, observe and define your own “right”.

Maybe it's because I could not stand it.

Hearing people tell me; “Enjoy the freedom as long as you are in school”, “Life gets pretty hard later”

Maybe because I didn't want to end up saying: “I'm so happy that it's weekend now”, “Not Monday again”

That I started to question everything and thought: There must be another way.

It can't be that you spend your entire life:

• waiting for the weekend to come

• feeling trained and unfulfilled

• Arguing about random topic x mentioned in the news.

• Feeding your mind with negative images, stories and thoughts.

What often happens though when life passes on. Dreams we once had stayed exactly that, dreams.

Because when you have big dreams, many people around you will start calling you on that. You are a dreamer, be realistic.

Then when we repeated those conversations in our head.

The thing, what was once an opinion, turns into a belief and then a reality.

Our dreams stay dreams.

And the opinions, the root of our belief, will have come from people, who stop pursuing their own dreams. They settled for ease and comfort. They stopped growing.

But there is no such thing as staying where you are.

If you don't grow, you only lose strength.

It's like when you stop after you've built a great body. With time, those muscles you worked so hard to gain, will be gone.

And the people who shared their opinion, want you to join their reality.

So it became more and more clear that listening to everyone else would exactly get me the life of everyone else. Living with ease and comfort, and to stop growing.

I don't want that.

How do we make sure that this doesn't become our reality – exchanging our dreams for living, with ease and comfort, only 35% of our life (the weekend).

The Growth Character (6 Principles)

It's to have principles, that when implemented and used daily will ensure continuous growth.

That help us push through resistance and achieve dreams.

Let's dive in.

1. Take Responsibility

The most profound principle you can integrate in your life is taking responsibility. Because, once you have it, other principles build on top.

Taking responsibility, is owning your sh*t.

It's not putting the blame on others when something went wrong. But looking for things you could have done differently for a better outcome. It's owing the mistake.

It's taking the first step and not waiting for others to do it for you.

You don't run from your problems, you face them head’s on. Because you know, that if you don't deal with them, they become bigger over time.

Start seeing problems as part of life and chances to grow. Don't let them deprive you of your tranquillity and happiness.

Since I left school. I have integrated this approach into everything I do. Not matter if it is work or personal matters. I take responsibility.

You will see. The more you do it, the easier it gets, leading to more autonomy, control, and fulfilment.

2. Be Curious, Learn

In school, I saw learning as something that you need to do. An activity you would only do if it's forced upon you.

Turns out. I was wrong. Learning can be incredibly fun. It releases a lot of dopamine, when you are able to grasp a new concept and make connections.

And I'm so happy that I discovered it. Or better, rediscovered it.

Because when we look at kids, all they do is learning and being curious, asking “why” all day. But somehow, as we grow up, we often tend to lose it.

Learning lays at the root of growth.

By going out, asking questions, learning about solutions, we grow.

And by being curious, we make learning easy.

Every time I'm working on something that sparks my curiosity, action becomes easy. I'm hard to get away from the task after that.

I'm more engaged, remember more and land in a flow state, where everything seems to disappear around me.

My whole focus is on the task in front of me.

Become more curious by:

• Asking questions

• Consuming content about different fields and ideas

• Practising open-mindedness

3. Seek the challenge

It's about forcing yourself to leave your comfort zone and to do things you've never done before.

Because the best way to grow is to throw yourself into the unknown.

It's where you discover what you don't know yet.

Find interesting problems to solve.

Uncover new perspectives.

When making a decision about what to do and where to work. I look for opportunities of growth. What are the things I'm still missing to be able to reach my goal.

How can I bring myself into a situation where I'm exposed to problems. That, when I solve them, have taught me the skills to reach my next goal.

The higher the level of discomfort you will be able to face, the faster and stronger you will grow.

To be honest, I've taken it to a level where I sometimes hate myself for it. It's so much pain, but on the other site you will find growth, knowledge and experience you can use to go after your dreams.

I like the quote. It sums it up perfectly.

4. Give more than you get

Most people run around asking, consuming, blaming. They don't give they just want to get.

And yes, it's fair to say that you do want to get something, for exchanging your time and effort. But it's about how you do it.

By not running around and taking as much as possible. But by trying to give as much as possible without asking for much in return.

Using this approach, you will gain more in the long run than you can ever imagine.

A question to think about:

What can you offer the world?

5. Strive to be great

It's about caring to do good. To do great work. To help others as much as you can.

By implementing this into your daily life, you start to think about everything you do and how you can make it great. It could be even something like cleaning the dishes.

Because the more areas you use it and think about it, the more accustomed you grow to it.

“How you do one thing, Is how you do everything.”

It's a commitment. But one that bears fruit in every area of life.

Your career, your relationship, your happiness.

6. Be consistent

All good things take time. There is no get rich quick. Taking a shortcut.

It's about doing the things you care about every day for years.

It's getting 1% better every day:

• Relationships

• Learning a skill

• Building a product

Think about what you want.

Be willing to dedicate years to it

You will get it.

A quote that matches good with the point

A Creative Mind

As important as it is to go out and take action, so is it to pause, reflect and recharge. Embrace stillness. Invite clarity and creativity.

If our mind is constantly distracted and inputted with new information, how should it be able to process what it got.

It's as we would try to keep lifting weights. At some point, we would no longer be able to lift them. Our muscles need times of relaxation in order to grow and become stronger. So does our mind.

It's why the engineer, struggling to solve a bug for hours, finds the solution when taking a walk for lunch.

The goal is to give our mind space to breath and develop.

Practice Stillness

It's hitting “Do Not Disturb” on all the distractions of the world. Being still and reflective from time to time.

That could be by:

• Going for walk.

• Laying in the sun.

• Taking a break and observing one’s surroundings.

I for example like to pause when being in a coffee shop, to look around, listen and observe different sounds. The waiter asking for the order on another table. The cutlery jingling in the background.

A superpower in today’s world of distraction.

Observe Your Thoughts

Pause and reflect.

Write down what goes through your head.

Learn to better understand yourself.

Start a journal:

• A valuable asset that will serve you for life.

• A history of developments and decisions.

• A list of things you want to improve upon.

• A record of memories and things you are thankful for.

I can not put into words how much pausing, observing and recording my thoughts has changed my life.

It not only helps me to understand myself better, but also the world and people around me.

Embrace stillness and observe your thoughts. Record your learnings and let the creative machine (your mind) recover to produce great results and get creative.

Take the rains, develop a calm mind and let your focus for daily growth lead to a great and fulfilling life.

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Have a great one.

Best

Tamino