Throughout my life, and every little step of progress I’ve made I’ve always came back to the same conclusion hard work is a prerequisite to success. The more I’ve accepted that I need to work hard, the more progress I made toward my goals.

Often we look for the shortcuts. Now there are great tips and tricks that can help in one’s journey towards success. However to even use such tips and tricks requires work, learning, effort and I think you see where I’m going. Even learning tricks and using them requires hard work.

I always found it humorous how movies make the criminal lifestyle seem easy. Some movies don’t a good example is Scarface, where towards the end of the movie he was so stressed out and paranoid that even if he didn’t get killed he was basically killing himself from the inside out. Even being a criminal, a thug or a con man is hard work.

Notice how some people can instantly create trust with whomever they talk to?  Even if you just met them, you find yourself telling them all kinds of secrets and revealing stuff that you don’t usually discuss.  How come?  How did they do it?  What’s going on?

Well a very big factor of building trust instantly is authenticity or being real.  Being real sounds easier said than done.  It means being comfortable with your flaws and casually talking about them not on purpose but not hiding them either.

Usually when one starts talking they try to impress and they try to hide all the little dark embaressing secrets.  However those are what makes him/her real.  If you are open around other people, comfortable with admiting your flaws and shortcomings you will creat instant trust.  You’ll be shocked at how open they will be with you, and all the secrets they’ll tell you.

Are you happy?  Can you think back to your childhood?  Remember how carefree and simple life was when you were a little kid?  What happened?

Happiness what is it?  Is it a feeling?  Is it a state of mind?  Is it a degree of satisfaction?  I think it’s all three.  Happiness is certainly a feeling of satisfaction, peace and excitement as well.  Happiness is a state of positivity and optimism.  Notice how when you are happy and little annoying stressful things come up you just don’t really care?

I think the pursuit of happiness is a worthy pursuit.  Ultimately everyone’s goals in life have to do with being happier.  I don’t care of you want to be a millionaire, a monk, travel the world or find the cure for cancer, it’s all about happiness.

Now that might sound selfish, some might say but I want to help others.  Well why?  Because helping others gives one a feeling of satisfaction and happiness.  So wanting to be happy isn’t selfish, it’s natural.

I read some statistic the other day that the average person generally has one best friend.  I thought this was interesting.  It got me thinking about what really determines a real friendship?

I know personally I had a lot of acquaintances and coworkers in the past yet very few real friends.  Then I realized that thought times are the test of friendships, they ultimately determine whether a friendship is real or just casual.

In bad times, when one is really down, he will often seek help from his friends.  Those who really help him out and help him get back on his freet are real friends.  Those who are too busy or “can’t” help for whatever reason are just casual friends.

Most people generally are logical or emotional.  Let me give you an example…

A logical person is generally on time, has a tight schedule, has all kinds of goals and plans, and generally thinks before acting.  An emotional person goes with flow, tends to be late (depending on what else is going on), might have some goals yet isn’t afraid to scrap them and come up with new ones, and generally uses their feelings to decide.

Now of course every human being has a logical and an emotional side.  But for the most part when a human is conscious (for example trying to make a decision and is considering their options) they usually either decide with logic or emotion.

Now neither is better.  A logical person might make smart decisions yet at the same time can struggle with communication skills and relating to others.  An emotional person might easily relate to other yet their life might be a mess with no future goals or plans.

A good blance of both is ideal.  So if you are logical and want to learn to becom more emotional one thing you can do is performance arts.  Take dancing classes, art classes, or acting classes.  On the other hand if you are emotional and want to be a little more logical, you might consider getting a personal coach who’s very schedule and goal oriented.