How To Find Your Animal Totem

 The phrase “animal totem” literally means a symbolic representation of your animal guide; such as a crest, a totem pole, an emblem, a small figurine, or anything else that depicts your animal guide. A totem could be symbolic for a whole tribe, clan or family – or just an individual. However, the phrase “animal totem” also means “animal guide”, receiving spiritual assistance from an animal.

Shamans throughout the world have relied on the guidance and wisdom of spirit animals for thousands of years. Totems have been used in shamanistic practice as far back as human history stretches, it is one of the oldest forms of magick in the world. Hunters would paint the form of their prey on walls during ceremonies to bless the coming hunt with good fortune, and to acknowledge, bless and thank the spirit of the animal, as well as even ask for its assistance from the spiritual world. Many ancient tribes revered certain animals for their particular characteristics. Animals are embroiled deeply in all the ancient religions, and were often deified.

In simple terms, your animal guide instructs you, protects you and teaches you important lessons as you navigate your spiritual and physical life. They also help us reconnect with our earth roots, reminding us that everything is interconnected and we are all part of the same cycle of life. This knowledge is the most important and powerful truth that we can hold. Working with animal totems is a form of medicine in the Native American Indian tradition.  Animals that call to you in a particular way are calling to you in the way of power. They carry special medicine for you, and may well call to you through your dreams once you start learning about them. In learning to call on the medicine of any person, creature or natural force, one must maintain an attitude of reverence and be willing to accept help. This power is truly at its most effective when used from a space of unity – of each being having within itself a part of all other beings, the law of oneness.

Do We have more than One Animal Totem?

Because our personalities, just like Mother Earth, just like Creator, have many facets, we usually experience more than one totem animal in our lives. Various traditions have differing teachings on whether there is a specific number of totems we experience. The Native American tradition, for one, teaches that we are each connected with nine different animals that accompany us through life as our guides (more on this further down).

We experience the wisdom and assistance of these different animal guides as they come into and out of our lives throughout our journey. They join us during new tasks, changes in direction, lessons to be learnt, and all events involving spiritual growth including simply bettering ourselves in day to day living. Bear in mind that as old totems exit our life, so new totems arrive, and this is the way it must be in order to continue growing and learning. Remember to always give thanks and blessings to a departing or departed totem, when you become aware that its energy is moving away from you.

Despite the changing nature of life and our totems, most traditions agree that we usually experience at least one animal guide who stays with us for our whole life, in the spiritual world and often in physical manifestations. This animal acts as our main guardian spirit (Life Totem). You share a connection with this animal that will show itself in shared characteristics, your dreams, various interactions, and an ongoing interest in the animal throughout your life. This animal guide offers power and wisdom to you, and as you learn to communicate with it, a relationship of respect and trust will develop and deepen. It is with you to assist you in your soul’s purpose in life during this manifestation.

How To Find Your Animal Totem

When you find an animal is speaking strongly to you, that you feel drawn to it, or you find it keeps cropping up (e.g. you see a poster of an eagle, then hear a song about an eagle on the radio, then look out your window to see an eagle fly past), you need to acknowledge and open yourself to it. You can do this very simply by placing pictures or totems (statues/crests etc) in your environment, and learning more about the animal. This will assist your subconscious in being more open to the energy of the totem, and thus allow messages and wisdom to flow to you from your animal more easily, as well as encouraging the energy of the animal to be welcome in your space.

There are several questions you can meditate on if you have not become aware of your animal totem/s yet. Remember that you cannot be wrong! Just trust your intuition and relax as you contemplate the answers:

1- What animal, bird or insect do you feel most drawn to?

2- When you go to a nature reserve, park or zoo, what animal are you most interested in seeing?

3- What animal do you most often see (in nature and in your ordinary surroundings – contemplate any interaction, whether images, sounds, or the actual animal)?

4- What animal are you currently interested in learning more about?

5- What animal most frightens you, intrigues you, or makes you feel “out of your comfort zone”?

6- Have you ever been bitten, scratched or attacked by an animal?

7- Do you ever have recurring dreams about a particular animal?

8- Are you drawn to figurines or pictures of a specific animal?

More exercises to try:

1- Make a list of animals that have drawn your interest or have left a deep impression on you from paintings, photographs, stories, movies, carvings, etc. This will help you identify what animal/s has/have played a meaningful part in your world.

2- Keep a journal of the animals present in your dreams or that you encounter through the day for the next month. How did the animal behave? Did you interact with the animal? This will help you identify which animal shows up in your life most frequently.

3- Find a place where you can be alone to meditate. Sit quietly and ask your animal to make its nature known to you. Feel free to use tools such as incense, smudge, and candles to help you. A particularly helpful meditation is picturing yourself standing in the middle of a large forest glade, with a river and/or lake, or perhaps a cove by the sea. Ask your guide to come to you, as you walk in the surroundings.

DIFFERENT TRADITIONS:

As already discussed, different traditions vary on the specifics when it comes to the exact number of totem animals you work with, and what they are called. Below I list two DIFFERENT views – the point is to do your own research and go with what suits YOU. It’s a personal choice based on what you resonate with.

View One – Types of Totems:

# Life Totem
Your Life Totem animal is the first totem you should connect with, intuitively, once your understand its significance.  Your Life Totem animal is with you throughout your entire incarnation, and is always there for you when you need its abilities. It is possible to have more than one Life Totem animal that join you during your journey.

# Primary Life Totem
Your Primary Life Totem represents your key focus at this time – that which you are currently working on, learning, developing. The messages brought to you by your Primary Life Totem are important reminders from the Universe about your present purpose on Earth, and your inner spiritual nature.

# Journey Totem
You Journey Totem animal is with you for a specific period of time – whether that be weeks, months or even years, depending on how long it takes you to walk the path and learn the lesson/s that your Journey Totem animal is guiding and assisting you with. You may experience several Journey Totem animals appearing in your life more commonly than all the others, as if by coincidence. When two or three animals suddenly make an appearance in your life, and they share a similar nature, it means that you have established the basis of your path.

# Message Totem
A Message Totem arrives suddenly, neutrally, and at random times throughout your life (or maybe even only once). A Journey Totem, in contrast, stays a little longer and tends to slip in and out of your life over a period of time. The Message Totem brings a powerful message of self growth and spiritual awakening – a sudden step forward. The experience will stand out as unique.

# Shadow Totem
A Shadow Totem animal is one of a number of totems sent to us to test us, and will be the one that you initially fear. The Shadow Totem represents your inner fears and weaknesses that you need to overcome. Once you are able to see the fascination or attraction in a previously feared, ‘dangerous’ animal, you have succeeded in learning its lesson, and its power and strength will be open to you. For this reason, facing the fears that the Shadow Totem brings out in you can result in major spiritual growth. Failing to face your fears could result in the Shadow Totem being unable to assist you, and in fact force it to work against your life, holding you back from enlightenment.

# Spirit Totem
A Spirit Totem is what a Shadow Totem becomes in your life once you have overcome your fear. It is one of your most powerful Animal Totems.

View Two – The Native American Indian Nine Totems:

Each and every person has nine power animals that represent the medicine they carry on this journey/lifetime. For example, a person who is connected with Wolf is a born teacher, pathfinder, innovator and self-starter. If they are not living their truth/not walking their true path, you may find they emulate the opposite of these qualities. The number nine is based on the concept that we are born on Earth with seven directions: East, South, West, North, Above, Below and Within (which they teach  is inside us AND around us since the entire Universe is inside our consciousness). We have a totem animal in each of the seven directions to teach us the lessons of these directions. The other two animals are the ones that walk on either side of us at all times. We may experience them in recurring dreams, a fascination with them throughout our lives, or simply a recognized “connection”.

What is Animal Medicine?

In this context, the word “medicine” must be redefined. Medicine is a Native American Indian concept which refers to anything that improves one’s connection to Creator/Great Spirit/The Great Mystery, and all life. This includes physical healing, mind healing and spirit healing. It also encompasses anything that increases or brings about growth in personal power, strength and understanding. It is a way of living that brings healing to Mother Earth and all life forms. Therefore, in essence, Native American medicine means a way of life – walking on Earth in perfect harmony with the Universe.

Animals’ characteristics, behaviours, patterns and even their very appearances, relay messages to us – we just need to learn the language. This is an ancient form of “reading the wyrd”, the way the world worked before technology made us blind and deaf to the natural world around us. This precious information, and gifts of healing, are completely free to us.

When you call on the power or energy of a specific animal, you are asking to be drawn into complete harmony with the strength of its essence. All understanding that we gain, all wisdom that we collect through these valuable interactions with our animal brothers and sisters, is a healing process, and must be approached with both humility and intuitiveness. Certain aspects of the lessons the animals choose to teach us are reflections of our soul lessons. These are essential truths about being human, being vulnerable, and seeking wholeness with all that is. They are a part of the pathway to power. The power lies in the wisdom and understanding of your role in the Great Mystery, and in honouring every living thing as a teacher.

Learning to interact with the Animal Kingdom in this way is about reactivating your instinctual intuitiveness, remembering your innate knowledge of natural truths, learning how to relate to all of the Great Mystery’s creatures, and how to “observe the obvious in the silence”.

Paradoxical Ascension Symptoms — Am I Going Crazy?

 As we move ever-more deeply into the Ascension process that is unfolding everywhere now, many of us are at times experiencing increasingly intense Ascension symptoms.

Some people I know are having serious physical symptoms, exacerbated symptoms they’ve either chronically had or those they’ve had in the past but thought they’d already healed from.

Others are experiencing a lot of emotionally-charged situations — again in a heightened form and also with a feeling that they’re in a repeat experience of something they went through in the past. 

Fear, anger, emptiness and despair waft in and out, causing a puzzling disruption in their lives.

Releasing 3D “Baggage”

It can be confusing and even frightening to be having these experiences if we don’t understand what’s going on. 

But it can make sense if we understand that we are now moving into times in which all our 3D “baggage” truly needs to be revealed to us so it may be recognized and released, because it cannot go with us into the Fifth Dimension.

Many of us have been experiencing physical and emotional symptoms for a while now that we know are the results of the rapid awakening process taking place in us during these times. 

Some of us have experienced huge loss in our lives — in our relationships, our work, our interests and passions, and in our identity. 

We may make the mistake of thinking all the most difficult aspects of it are now over and that we’ve come out the other side.

In some cases, this may be true. But for many of us, we’re realizing we’ve perhaps gone through a lot so far and learned to navigate into new territory with trust and gratitude — but there is still further to go.

Deeper issues are now arising out of our unconscious — issues we not only developed in this lifetime but in former ones, as well. 

And these issues are now playing out in our lives, both physically and emotionally, bringing us at times to ever-new levels of loss and uncertainty.

For those of us experiencing this, it’s truly a time for grit and perseverance. We need to just keep going on, going on. And trust that at some point “Ascension Clean-out” will have completed itself.

Paradoxical Ascension Symptoms

But what’s really interesting is that most of us experiencing this intense clean-out and releasing are also having some of the most profound awakening experiences of our lives. 

I hear reports from people I work with who are grappling with really intense situations in their lives — but who are also sharing with me incredible insights, realizations and deep spiritual awakening experiences they’re having.

These experiences are filled with deep joy and a peace they’ve never known before. They often offer an opening into a whole new chapter of their life in which a much greater freedom can already be felt.

What can get very confusing — and at times amusing — is that these two kinds of paradoxical experiences can actually be happening at the same time. 

Someone can be in excruciating pain, either physically or emotionally; and right along side of that they’re in tremulous joy about a new spiritual opening they’ve just experienced. It can be positively crazy-making!

Ascension is Both a Death and a Birth

It all can make sense if we realize that Ascension is about shifting into higher consciousness, yes — but it’s also about having to let go of the old consciousness we’ve lived with all our lives, and indeed for many eons of time while living the Third Dimension.

For this reason, the whole process can very easily produce paradoxical experiences.

It’s no longer a matter of slowly waking up to our spiritual natures and gradually laying aside old patterns and beliefs of who we think we are. 

The awakening process taking place in each of us — especially those of us on the “front lines”, so to speak, of the Ascension transition — is an unusually rapid one, so the “birthing” Ascension symptomsand the “dying” symptoms can be happening all at once.

The key, of course, is not to put a whole lot of focus on what is leaving and those aspects of ourselves that are dying. 

If we engage with these negative experiences that are up for releasing — if we resist them, judge ourselves for feeling them, or try to over-analyze them — this will halt the releasing process. 

We need to be aware of them, acknowledge them and accept them being in our space for the time-being; but it’s important to stay neutral about them and not give them energy.   

Keep Focused on the New Awakening

Instead, it’s much more effective to pay attention to the experiences we are having of greater awakening, freedom and joy.

It’s important to remember that what we place our attention on and continue focusing on is what we will continue to create in our lives.

So staying focused on the new joy and freedom coming into our lives is what will not only bring in more of the same — it will also help the old to evaporate and release from our lives.

The “dying” Ascension symptoms are certainly not much fun to experience. But if we can trust that they will be temporary, that they are simply up for releasing, it can be a lot easier.

And when we take in the longer view of where we are going and what is unfolding in front of us — truly, is there anything more exciting that could be happening?

25 Essential Things You Should Learn If You Want To Be Successful

 “The future belongs to those who learn more skills and combine them in creative ways.” ― Robert Greene, Mastery

Super Mario. The crazy little Italian-American plumber that shaped my childhood.

I used to spend hours and hours sitting in front of my TV, helping that little guy save his pixelated princess from the bad guys.

In case you played it, you might have noticed that it’s challenging to advance from one level to another if you don’t collect mushrooms that make you bigger and give you the ability to throw fireballs.

Life is like a game. Like a Super Mario game.

But in life, you are the character, and you need to find your own “mushrooms” that help you grow and excel. The trick is that they aren’t identically shaped and available in the same familiar places every time.

Your mushroom could be anything that helps you evolve as a person.

Your starting point doesn’t matter. What matters is that you have 24 hours in front of you and you need to use them in the best possible way.

But you have to keep one thing in mind:

The world is shifting and evolving rapidly. And if you are not changing or evolving with the times, there’s a pretty good chance that you’re stagnating, or merely going backward.

The good news is, for those who attempt to reach their maximum, the rewards are enormous.

The only problem is that ever since we were young, more attention was placed on knowing that mitochondria is a powerhouse of the cell, which didn’t help much in our adult life.

It’s never too late, so here’s a list of 25 essential how-to’s that will help you be more successful and grow exponentially.

1. How to Develop Self-Awareness

“Your visions will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.”

― C.G. Jung

To be “awakened,” you have to understand your life story and which events shaped you into the person you are today?

Gaining clarity on these crucial moments will help you learn more about yourself and why you behave in a certain way.

This will also help you find out when your core strengths came to life and how you can use them to grow as a person.

Not only that, but it will help you gain clarity on what direction in life you want to take.

2. How to Create a Personal Philosophy

“Your Personal philosophy is the greatest determining factor in how your life works out.” — Jim Rohn

We, humans, have some rules and norms that we grew up with. But as you gain self-awareness, you need to start relying more on your internal compass.

In the backstage of merely “feeling” that something is right or not, there is a conscious evaluation of your situation according to your values and previous experiences.

That’s why it’s essential to determine your values and beliefs toward the world, not only to understand how you make decisions but also use them to guide your life.

3. How to Create Your Vocation

I don’t think we are all placed on Earth with a purpose.

But, I do believe that throughout the life, we discover what we are good at and what we love to do.

If you are willing to put some effort into it, you can combine these two and find an opportunity out there, that will allow you to both enjoy something, and accomplish success.

So, vocation consists out of:

• Your Talents — what are you good at?
• Your Passions — what do you love to do?
• World Opportunities — what opportunities are out there for you to take or create?

Play around, experiment, and you will be able to find yours. But understand that this is a never-ending process.

4. How to Set Goals

Goals work like a lens of a camera.

If you set the focus correctly, you will be able to take a clear picture.

If it is out of focus, your picture will be blurry.

That’s why:

“I want to lose 4 pounds (2 kg) of fat by June 15th.”

is far better goal than: “I want to lose weight.”

Even though it is positive, it’s not specific and focused.

All you need to do is set the goals that will indeed make the difference in your life and go one day at the time.

5. How to Visualize Your Path

“I keep having vivid dreams of success. Then it’s time to sleep.” — Connor McGregor

Goal-setting is something your “conscious brain” can do.

The conscious brain is great at imagining things and thinking them through, but it’s next to useless when it comes to getting things done because it is easily distracted.

The subconscious mind sees a complete picture of everything happening all at once and is aware of the input coming from all of your senses at every moment.

These two work hand in hand to help you out.

By adding details, a clear path, and emotion of how it would feel if you already achieved it, you trick your mind into believing that it is already capable of achieving it.

But, remember, visualization is one side of the coin.

Hard work and dedication is the other side.

6. How to Form and Break Habits

“I will form good habits and become their slave.” — Og Mandino

Just like math, we tend to have a negative connotation towards habits.

Because of that, it’s better to think of them as rituals or routines.

Define what your most essential habits are, something that will affect each area of your life (i.e., healthy diet & exercise).

Then start implementing one by one, as if they are part of who you are, and not something you have to do.

There is a big difference between wanting a summer body and exercising because that’s who you are.

It’s not easy; it will take some practice until you change your perception and start thinking this way.

But start small and start with one habit at a time.

7. How to Create a Healthy Regimen

If you want to achieve anything in life, everything starts here.

 

First you have to take care of your health, and there are only two things you need to keep in mind:

1. Healthy Diet
2. Physical Activity

Your job is to find the right diet to get you to your ideal weight, and then learn how to maintain it.

While at the same time you should find the right physical activity to supplement your diet, and then fall in love with it.

Remember, the goal is to do this for life, because remaining healthy is something you are, not something you do.

8. How to Accelerate Your Learning

Everything we are and everything we’ve achieved thus far is because of our ability to learn.

People that operate on a high level, they are nothing more than extremely efficient at acquiring new skills and implementing them in their areas of focus.

The best way to accelerate your learning is to make it supplementary.

Learning is just a HOW-TO for accomplishing your goals.

Why?

Well, your goals are nothing more than activities you need to do. If you want to know how to perform those activities, you need skills.

All you need to do is define what goals you want to achieve, and what skills you need to acquire to make it easier.

9. How to Intentionally Consume Information

As I mentioned earlier, we are often over-cluttered with information, especially on what Kardashians have been up to recently.

Btw, did you know that Kylie is pregnant?!!

You get what I am saying?

Everywhere you go, you have information that is distracting you from the things you need to do, and things that you want to do.

So make sure to control how you search and use information.

Otherwise, you will wake up 3 hours later on Youtube watching a random cat video that has no use for your life.

10. How to Read Better

Everyone is focused on the idea of becoming a faster reader, while there are so many tips you should focus on, to become a better reader.

When I say that I mean being able to apply what you have read, not just forget it or store it in the back of your head.

To become a better reader, you need to approach reading anything with a specific intent.

By defining your goals (personal or professional gain), establishing one thing that you are trying to get out of a book (or an article), and skimming through the table of contents and taking notes, you will be able to retain much more information than you ever thought possible.

11. How to Focus

Every person has something that can get them in the ZONE.

Oh man, when you’re there. Nothing exists.

Just you and your goal.

What majority of people seem to miss, is that this state is something you can learn to trigger on command. But first, you need to look back.

To determine how you’ve entered a state of flow before, just ask yourself a question:

When is the last time I was so deeply focused on what was in front of me?

Once you find specific activity. Ask yourself the following question:

Why was I so deeply focused? What helped me be that immersed?

For me, it takes playing good music on headphones and a goal I deeply care about to be fully immersed.

12. How to Be Productive

Maybe I have a professional deformation, but I profoundly believe that this skill is the most crucial of all.

“Most people overestimate what they can do in one year and underestimate what they can do in ten years.” – Bill Gates

Since the time you have is your most valuable resource, you need to learn how to use it in the best possible way.

To do that, you need to answer two questions:

1. What do I want to achieve in life?

2. How do I need to use my time to accomplish that?

You need to pay attention and figure out how you can get more time in your life, and use it in a better way.

One of the easiest ways to become better at this is to go one day at the time.

13. How to Be a Better Decision Maker

“The more decisions you make, the better you’ll become at making them. Muscles get stronger with use, and so it is with your decision-making muscles.” – Tony Robbins

The reality is not every decision you make will be a good one, but that should never stop you from taking action.

That’s why you should use your critical thinking skills to evaluate and analyze the situation you are in. Now you can be sure that every decision is heading on the right path.

Even if you make a mistake, draw a learning point out of it and use it for the next step.

You will become wiser on every step.

14. How to Manage Stress

To manage stress, you need to discover the sources of it.

Ask yourself a question:

“What are the most common and repetitive sources of my frustrations?”

Once you discover them, the next thing to do is to create strategies to deal with them.

1. Long-term strategy — this strategy should be done upfront, in a way that allows you to organize yourself so you can minimize or eliminate previously mentioned sources (i.e. if you constantly get stressed about traffic on your way to work, find a way to fix it)
2. Short-term strategy — it often happens that something unexpected arises that is out of your control, that’s why you need to have a list of possible activities you can do, to relax and reduce the overwhelm on the spot (i.e. your colleague pisses you off > immediately you stop talking, breathe and take a walk, or play your favorite music)

This approach will not only make you better at managing stress, but it will also help you be more problem solving oriented, because you will be able to pinpoint causes faster and relax much easier to focus on solutions.

15. How to Meditate

You are always on the move.

So much so that it feels weird if you stop and do nothing.

“You should sit in meditation for twenty minutes every day — unless you’re too busy. Then you should sit for an hour.” -Zen proverb

Because of this, it’s important to teach yourself how to make a pause in your day and life so that you could ground and calibrate yourself.

Meditation is one of the simple ways you can achieve this. And even though everyone seems to suggest another way of meditating, I suggest you follow one rule.

Do whatever suits you.

If you want to sit down for 2 minutes and breathe, do that. If you want to lie down for 15 minutes and think, do that. Just find something that suits you and try it.

16. How to Be Alone

“The person that you will spend the most time within your life is yourself, so better try to make yourself as interesting as possible.” — Unknown

Ever since you were born, you’ve been surrounded by people.

Because of that, we are not accustomed to moments when we are alone for a couple of hours, without human interaction.

In these rare moments, just try to be present and reflect on your inner thoughts.

You will be amazed, how much you will learn about yourself and how much it will help you crystallize certain things.

17. How to Be Creative

“Don’t die with your music still in you.” – Wayne Dyer

The majority of people don’t consider themselves traditionally creative.

However, I’ve come to realize that some people are different in non-traditional ways, and that if you experiment enough, you can learn to unleash your specific way of creativity.

The first step is to look back and see if you can find some pattern when your creativity was useful and when you did something and amazed not only yourself, but everyone else present.

18. How to Write for Pleasure

There’s a lot of incredible ideas just waiting to be materialized through the ink, or a keyboard. All you have to do is start.

You don’t have to become an author.

But just create a ritual out of putting your thoughts on a piece of paper. This will help you in more ways than one, and it will contribute a lot to understanding yourself better.

19. How to Tell a Story

This is probably one of the most useful skills you can ever develop.

You don’t have to be a professional storyteller, but you do need to learn how to get your ideas out there, and to do so in an interesting way.

There are some tips for this, but the golden rule is:

“People never know what you will say when you start speaking.”

So go on, tell a story or share an idea.

You never know how it can change someone’s life.

20. How to Communicate with Other People

I hate chit-chat.

Nothing drains my energy like talking about the weather. And I know I’m not the only one who thinks this way.

So I decided to do something about it and created a sort of “How-To Guide for Creating Unforgettable Conversations.”

There are two parts to this:

What YOU are saying and what THEY are saying.

First, we will focus on what you are trying to say.

There are three important things here:

• Message — What is the one specific message you are trying to transfer
• Sequence — How do you want to present your message?
• Emotion — What emotion do you want to leave your conversation partner with?

Even though I’ve covered what you will say first, I am sorry to disappoint you–it’s not the most important part.

The quality of your conversations depends on how well you can listen to your conversation partner and respond accordingly.

So let’s cover the second part: what are they trying to tell you.

Again, three important things here:

• Story — What significant events happened in that person’s life that shaped them or lead them to engage in their career?
• Next Chapter — What is the next step in their life? What is something they aspire to do?
• Message — What message are they trying to transfer to you?

This might be a bit overwhelming. But just start simple, and it will become natural over time.

21. How to Be Persuasive (aka Sell)

Whether you like it or not, your success in your personal and professional life highly depends on your ability to sell yourself, your ideas, products or services.

The primary purpose of persuasiveness is to place the other person in agreement with your point of view. Without being a jerk in the process.

You will go a long way if you abide by the following: remain calm, strive for a win-win, and be sure to express the needs and benefits of the other party.

Remember that 90% of the quarrels erupt due to a wrong tone of voice.

Only 10% of the quarrels are due to differences in opinion.

22. How to Say NO

“He who would accomplish little must sacrifice little; he who would achieve much must sacrifice much; he who would attain highly must sacrifice greatly.” — James Allen

How many times you’ve said yes to something (an event or gathering), even though you’ve seen no value in it?

Exactly.

That’s why you need to reframe the act of saying NO like this:

“You are not saying NO to others; you are saying YES to yourself and things that are important to you.”

The point is not to ever feel guilt-tripped into doing something you don’t want to do. Especially if it goes against your values, or if it doesn’t support your goals.

Always choose to focus on doing something you love.

23. How to Develop a Personal Brand

You are always telling a story of your life, through the things you choose to focus on a daily basis.

That’s why you need to think of yourself as a market niche.

There will be a lot of people who like that niche, and there will be individuals who don’t. And no matter what you do, you won’t be able to make the entire market like you.

This is entirely natural, and there’s no need to justify yourself.

The only thing you can do is to remain authentic, improve and provide value every day — while continuing to tell your story.

24. How to Create (and maintain) a Right Network of People

“You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” ― Jim Rohn

Building a network is trying to find inspiring people that share the same values, beliefs, and interests as you do.

Where you can provide value to them and they can return the favor (value can be even food for thought).

The majority of success and happiness comes from interacting and working with amazing people that drive you to achieve more personally and professionally, and vice-versa.

25. How to Make Money Work for You

Earning money only to save it is like acquiring a skill, only to leave it in the back of your head for the next 20 years.

That doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t save, but it means that you shouldn’t only save.

Always be on a lookout for another source of income (ideally passive one), and investment opportunities — something that has a high chance to give a good return on investment.

Start small, and experiment.

Final Takeaway

Oh man, that was long.

If you are reading this, congratulations!

You must be wondering where you should begin?

Well, just pick one and start.

Some of these can be learned within several hours, while some require more than that.

But, you have to know that learning even one of these skills can help you grow exponentially and give you incredible results in every area of your life.

15 Brutal Truths About Life No One Wants to Admit But Will Benefit You A Lot

 Most people are unwilling to face the truths of life. They are unable to confront their fears, so they end up as great dreamers but weak doers. They feel hopeless, limited and uninspired with few punches of life.

Truth hurts, but by embracing them, you are giving yourself a clear head start to plan well. You don’t get surprised when life throws you lemons. You can keep pushing through the worthy goals you set.

When you know what you’ll face, you can incorporate wise actions to get the full benefit of life. You will reap the greatest return if you know how to respond.

Only a few people can welcome these truths. When you are open to the wisdom life gives, it will provide more valuable opportunities designed for you.

1. Life Often Gives Experiences You Don’t Want

Life does not always serve the things we order. It requires a series of failures before success can penetrate.

Most people get bitter in the few jabs of life. They demand life to be fair, but it will never be. Sometimes, you get what you don’t deserve. But life is still beautiful in general.

When you look at difficult experiences as sharpening tools, you will conquer whatever trials might come. Entertain them with a positive attitude and lead them to the exit door. Before you know it, they will just be part of history.

Whereas, people who curse these experiences without doing anything end up more defeated. They allow their emotions to dominate them, so getting up becomes nearly impossible for them.

Robert Schuller, a motivational speaker, said:

“Tough times never last, but tough people do.

2. Life Requires You to Have a Break, It’s Not Always About Peak Performance

Dr. Elmer Gates, an inventor, produced his best ideas when he sits down in silence for few hours. He instructed his secretary not to interrupt when there are guests in his office.

He stays in a quiet room and concentrates until his subconscious start to flash ideas related to the project. He writes those ideas as fast as they strike his mind. Later, he screens them to determine their practicality and value.

The brain gets overwhelmed when you keep drinking from a firehose of information. It steals and freezes your brain.

Your brain can learn loads of new tricks and skills if you treat it right.

Your mind and body cannot accommodate peak performance all the time. You are a human, not a machine. Give yourself the rest it deserves.

If you don’t give your body time to rest, it will find time on its own. Your health will deteriorate and your peak performance will slow down.

When you rest, you come out even better and stronger with a more refreshing outlook in life.

3. Life Humbles You When You Forget About Reality

“The problem is… how to remain whole in the midst of the distractions of life; how to remain balanced, no matter what centrifugal forces tend to pull one off center; how to remain strong, no matter what shocks come.” — Anne Morrow, The Gift from the Sea

People often forget that the status they have is not forever. All the comfort they are enjoying will not always be there. They don’t stay grounded when success lands on their palm.

When everything seems to be perfect, life often gives you a wake-up call. Each day is a reminder to live with a genuine attitude of gratitude.

Enjoy the moment you have today. Build a relationship with others. Keep humility a part of your being. When life slaps you with a hard discipline, you can still rise above the pain.

4. Life is a Series of Pause and Stops, But You Can Choose How to Deal With Them

When it looks like we have it all, we experience sudden job loss, health problems, emotional pain, abrupt transition and other unwanted issues.

Successful people look at these as opportunities to prepare themselves to launch a better plan. They don’t sit around pitying themselves. Instead, they devote their energy to steer their life in the direction they want.

What pause or stop are you experiencing right now?

No one wants to experience stops. But they are necessary in order for you to grow and be strong. These stops can remind you of the greater potential that awaits you.

Said Barbara De Angelis:

“We don’t develop courage by being happy every day. We develop it by surviving difficult times and challenging adversity.”

5. Life Encourages You to Follow The Ethical Compass Within You

A low-paid janitor cleans the same floors of the cancer ward every day. Others may not view the job the same way he does. It is very meaningful for him because it is the same hospital where his only child was treated for cancer.

He feels grateful to the medical staff who contributed on the wellness of his child. In the same way, he hopes to bring inspiration to people suffering from cancer and their family.

Many people are willing to do anything to reach the level they want. They work nearly 24/7 to get the promotion they desire. They hustle day and night to reach the goals they set.

Doesn’t seem bad, right?

It only becomes bad when you are seeking something that does not match with your values. If you succeed, but your inner compass does not agree with it, you won’t have inner peace every day.

Your life is limited, so make sure you pursue something that your own ethics agree.

6. Life Requires Money to Survive, But Acceptance and Belongingness Make the Ride Worthwhile.

“You’re imperfect, and you’re wired for struggle, but you are worthy of love and belonging.” — Brene Brown

Money will temporarily make us happy, but without anyone to share it with, we will end up feeling empty.

You can hustle all day you want. But when you lay down at night, all those material gain will not embrace and console you.

Do not let yourself get too busy accumulating material wealth but forget to include valuable people in your schedule.

Your company may provide you a health insurance but never a heart assurance.

7. Life Provides Conveniences Not to Limit Your Performance, Rather Double Your Progress

Bill Gates said that computers were averaging between $10,000 and $200,000 in the early 1970s. Something that a typical consumer or a company may not afford. But now, a person can own two or three laptops with constant upgrades each year.

Dan Strutzel shared a quote he claims from Albert Einstein that says:

“It is wonderful that the telephone was invented. It allows me to talk to my aunt. However, if it wasn’t invented, she would’ve moved here.”

Most people are glued to their phones or laptops that time with important people and things is being set aside.

Instead of being more productive, they blame smartphones for snatching their attention. Instead of living healthier, they devour instant foods. It creates a generation of zombies who allow technology to dictate their days.

Technology isn’t meant for this.

Maximize technology to your advantage instead of it enslaving you. Use it to make you work faster than allowing it to identify the priorities for you.

They are objects to be manipulated, not them manipulating you. Two huge difference.

8. Life is a Competition, But the Best Competition You Should Master is Against Yourself.

You are the best in your area. You are the top in your field. You produce the most creative output in your workplace. Until you meet that someone better than you.

What would you do?

Most people try to outsmart them, so they can prove they are the best player. Trying to beat them will cause stress and frustrations in the long run. They have abilities only them are aware of.

There will always be a competition in anything. By focusing on how to win against them, you lose sight on how to advance yourself. By looking where you could hit them, you neglect the area that can serve you well.

Don’t get caught in the trap of comparing yourself to someone else.

Henry Ford said:

“Time spent in fighting competition is wasted; it had better be spent in doing work.”

When you compete with yourself, you gain more understanding about your performance. You can pinpoint what stumps your progress. Beating your past achievement can help you excel than letting envy fuel your actions.

9. Life of Others Will Continue Without You

Many people get hurt easily when others ignore them. It is our nature as humans to have the need to be recognized. The truth is — you will often get ignored.

Instead of loathing about it, take the initiative to reach out to your loved ones. Make every encounter you have with others leave a good impression. Let your influence serve as an inspiration to them wherever they go.

Avoid being the person who utters negative words to others. Your words can create a deep wound that can last forever.

10. Life Gives Many Opportunities But Widens Its Door Only to Those Who Can Endure the Work

Michael Bloomberg, a businessman, was a part-time real estate agent as his summer job in Harvard Business Schools. Surrounded by many professional real estate colleagues, he had to find ways to win some sales.

He observed everything around him until he found a pattern. He noticed that possible renters get up early to look for possible listings around the area. While his colleagues started working at 9:30 am, he was already in by 6:30 am.

He was in the office to cater for the early searchers. Later during the day, his older colleagues wonder why almost every person come in the office looking for him.

His mantra:

“You can’t choose the advantages you start out with, but you can control how hard you work.”

Intelligence and talents are useless without putting in the work. Life reciprocates what you give. If you sow laziness, then you will eat the crumbs left by those who persevered.

Successful people deny themselves instant gratification to enjoy life later and share it with others. People who do nothing but complain waste not only their time but the very essence of their lives.

No one gets successful by merely wishing. Action is the perfect ingredient of progress. You can’t expect a new life if laziness is part of your routine.

11. Life Presents People Who Like to Ride With You So You Can Bring Them to Your Destination

“When you’re nothing, people will ignore you but when you’re on top that’s when everybody swear they know you.” — Lincey Alphonse

There are people who like to hitchhike in every adventure you take. They worship you when you’re on top of your game. They scratch your back because you scratch theirs.

When the test of life comes, they immediately hide pretending not to see any of your pains.

You cannot drag these people along with you. Not because you hate them, but because they do not belong in your ecosystem. They need to find theirs. Bringing them along will hurt both of you.

Your progress slows down because you need to accommodate for them. No ecosystem survives with only parasitic relationship.

Let go of people who are only around for their personal benefit. When you do, you allow them to find where they truly belong.

12. Life is Not Just About One Purpose, But How Many “Mini” Purpose You Accomplish Each Day

Many people lose their true purpose as they seek to find that one purpose. It’s hard to know for sure and no self-help guru or article can articulate it for you.

I believe that our purpose in life is to fulfill the mini purpose we have each day. It differs from each person.

Look around you right now. You have a purpose to fulfill to your partner, child, community, and others around you. By being present and open to address those, you will eventually find your true purpose.

It is about how useful you are to the lives of others.

13. Life Allows You to Plan Your Actions, But God Approves Its Completion

We control nothing in this world except the way we respond to circumstances. Even if we prepare our blueprint for success, God decides the outcome.

Learn to acknowledge that His plans are better than yours. When you learn to lean on Him, He will help you unveil the necessary steps to the direction you’ve been praying for.

He can give you the opportunities that are perfectly crafted for you. When failures come, He wants you to learn something. If you persevere, He will lead the right destination for you.

14. Life’s Deficiencies Are Not Meant to Interfere With Your Efficiency

Many people whine all day about the things they lack instead of sharpening the tools they have. They find excuses in every possible way to justify their complacency. Life does not cater well to these kinds of people.

Some people with deficiencies perform better than those with complete facilities. They do not sit down feeling sorry for themselves. They do not curse anyone for the situation they have.

Instead, they use those deficiencies to inspire others. They know they can’t do anything about them. They tap the other areas they have.

That’s why they’re successful.

Their mission is bigger than their sorrows. Their motivation is stronger than their deficiencies.

Jon Morrow cannot move anything except his face, but he can write a very powerful blog post that resonates with his readers.

Charles Steinmetz ignored his dwarfism and focused to excel with his mind.

Nick Vujicic was born without arms and legs but inspires people to rise above trials through his words.

Helen Keller became a well-known author, activist, and lecturer despite being deaf and blind.

What excuses are you telling yourself?

If you don’t think any higher of yourself, why should anyone else will?

15. Life is Sometimes Lonely. Having Someone Who Believes in You Makes a Lot of Difference

A boy was considered a troublemaker when he was young. His mother died at an early age. His father and brothers thought he was bad, so he embodied that trait instead of proving them wrong.

When he found out his father is going to remarry, he was determined not to accept her. As he meets his stepmom, he gave her the coldest welcome one could ever have.

The father introduced him as the worst boy in the hills, but the stepmom put her hands on the young boy’s shoulders with a twinkle in her eyes and said:

“The worst boy? Not at all. He’s just the brightest boy in the hills, and all we have to do is bring out the best in him.”

From that time, she became a great influence on the boy’s life. Her words and wisdom inspired him to have confidence. Her unshakeable faith motivated him to be a better boy and successful man that the world came to know as Napoleon Hill.

When you are feeling lost or powerless, hearing from someone you value gets you back in motion. Find that person who believes in you. Seek his memories when self-doubts are killing your dreams.

His tremendous amount of love can usher you towards heights you think you can’t reach.

What Happens When You Respond Well

Are you brave enough to confront these truths of life?

Will you allow them to be your enemies or advisers?

Many people will ignore these truths, but they can serve as wisdom to direct your path.

Life responds well to those who are paying attention to it. Because you do, you’ll enjoy more of what it has to offer.

You’ll recognize the opportunities that show up every day. You can embody the work designed for you. You can create a lasting inspiration to others.

Life is beautiful.

You are meant to enjoy it.

 

10 Greatest Inventions of Nikola Tesla

Nikola Tesla was a man with big ideas, if you couldn’t tell by the 300 patents to his name. Unfortunately, he was way ahead of his time and while a lot of his more elaborate ideas theoretically worked, they never really panned out. Still, while he never received the recognition of his chief rival Thomas Edison, the man was a brilliant inventor who gave the world some amazing and pioneering innovations. Here are some of the most incredible creations of Nikola Tesla.

10. The Tesla Coil

The Tesla coil was invented in 1891 and uses two coils, a primary and a secondary, with each coil having its own capacitor. A capacitor, like a battery, stores energy. The coils are connected to a spark gap, which is just open air where the spark can generate, and the result is that the Tesla Coilcan shoot lightning bolts, send electric currents through the body and create electron winds.

Tesla developed this innovation because he was obsessed with powering cities wirelessly. Today, the Tesla Coil is mostly used for entertainment and can be seen in places like science centers and museums, and some elements of it are also used in radios. The importance of the Tesla Coil comes from the fact that it helped engineers understand the nature of electricity how to use it.

9. The Magnifying Transmitter

Tesla became obsessed with transferring power without wires and thought it was possible to do it at higher altitudes, so after securing funding he set up a lab in Colorado Springs in 1899. There, he built the largest and most powerful Tesla Coil, called the Magnifying Transmitter. The Magnifying Transmitter had three coils and was 52 feet in diameter. It generated millions of volts of electricity and shot lightning bolts that were 130 feet long – the biggest man-made lightning at the time.

The problem was that Tesla was a bit too ambitious for the era, and wireless electricity wouldn’t be developed until the mid-2010s, and as of 2015, it’s still not yet common in households. While this specific project didn’t pan out, the vision and scope are still quite impressive. The Magnifying Transmitter was the predecessor to Tesla’s Wardenclyffe Tower, which was supposed to provide free electricity and communications to the world. Tesla started working on the project in 1901, but after financial backers pulled out the project fell apart and in 1915 the site went into foreclosure. The project also ruined Tesla, who had to file for bankruptcy and had a nervous breakdown.

8. The Tesla Turbine

In the early 20th century, the world saw the rise of the piston engine in automobiles. In an attempt to compete against the piston engine, Tesla developed his own turbine. It was bladeless and used smooth discs that spun in a chamber, and worked when fuel was combusted before entering the main chamber that contained the discs.

The combustion would make the disks rotate, which ran the engine. When Tesla tested the engine in 1909, it got 60 percent fuel efficiency, which is impressive considering that currently we only get 42 percent fuel to energy conversion rates. Yet because of the nature of business, people saw more value in the piston engine because of fuel sales, and it became the norm that is still in use today.

7. Shadowgraphs

In 1895, German scientist Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen discovered a mysterious energy that he called X-rays. He noticed that when he placed photographic film between his hand and a lead screen, it created an image of the bones in his hand on the film. A short time later, Röntgen went public with his research and the picture of Röntgen wife’s hand became famous. In the picture, you can see the bones in her hand and the wedding ring on her finger.

There is some evidence that Tesla knew a little bit about X-rays before Röntgen made his research public. Tesla’s own research was stopped when a fire destroyed his lab in 1895, shortly before Röntgen discovered the technology. When Röntgen published his findings, it helped inspire Tesla to create his own X-ray using a vacuum tube, which produced pictures that he called “shadowgraphs.” Tesla is considered the first person in America to take an X-ray picture, having produced a shadowgraph of a foot with a shoe on it. He sent it with a letter to Röntgen, congratulating him on the discovery. Röntgen, in turn, wrote to Tesla commending him on taking a remarkably clear shadowgraph. Shadowgraphs played an important role in the development of X-ray machines, which were never able to produce an image as clear as Tesla’s.
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6. Radio

The inventor of radio is a point of contention. In 1895, Tesla was getting ready to transmit a radio signal a distance of 50 miles but before he could do that, his lab burned down, delaying the test. Meanwhile in England, an Italian man named Guglielmo Marconi was working on wireless telegraphy, and was granted a patent in 1896 for his device. His system was much different than the one Tesla built, using only two circuits but unable to transmit over long distances. Tesla’s invention would use multiple circuits, which would make it much stronger.

Tesla submitted his patent in 1897 in the United States, and it was granted in 1900. When Marconi submitted his radio patent in 1900 to the U.S. Patent Office, it was turned down because it was too similar to Tesla’s. Undeterred, Marconi opened his own company that had powerful backers, including Andrew Carnegie and Thomas Edison.

In 1901, while using a number of Tesla’s patents, including a Tesla oscillator, Marconi was able to transmit a signal across the Atlantic. In 1904, without giving a clear reason, the patent office reversed their decision and said that Marconi’s patent was valid, making him the inventor of the radio. Marconi won the Nobel Prize in 1911 and in 1915, Tesla sued Marconi’s corporation. Unfortunately at that point in his life, Tesla was too poor to take on a major corporation. The case wasn’t settled until a few months after Tesla’s death in 1943, when the Supreme Court upheld Tesla’s patent.

5. Neon Lamps

While fluorescent and neon lights weren’t discovered by Tesla, he did make many contributions to the advancement of both. What’s interesting is that no one working with cathode rays, which are the electrons observed in vacuum tubes like neon lights, really came up with a practical application for the technology.

Tesla saw an opportunity and experimented with running electrical particles through gases, developing four different types of lighting. For example, he converted black light into visible light using a phosphorescent substance (which he created), and also found a practical use for such a technology when he created lamps and neon signs. At the World’s Columbian Exposition, otherwise known as the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, at his personal exhibit Tesla had neon signs that were unique designs and written words. The idea gained popularity and now neon lights and signs light up major cities around the world.
 

4. The Adams Power Plant Transformer House

 

 

The Niagara Falls Commission was looking for a company to build a hydroelectric plant that would harness the mighty power of the falls for years. At first, they considered Thomas Edison’s direct current plant, but after witnessing Tesla’s alternating current that was offered by Westinghouse Electric, Westinghouse was offered the contract in 1893. Westinghouse used designs from Tesla but a big hurdle remained on the front of getting and keeping funding for such an ambitious task that a lot of people doubted would work.

Yet when the switch was flipped on November 16, 1896, the Adams Power Plant Transformer House worked and started powering the city of Buffalo, New York. Ten more generators were built, and helped power New York City. The plant was considered revolutionary and set the standard for modern hydroelectric power plants

3. The Induction Motor

An induction motor uses alternating current and essentially has two parts – a stator and a rotor. The stator stays stationary (duh) and uses electromagnets to spin the rotor that’s in the middle. Induction motors are noted for being durable, easy to maintain and cheap to run.

In the 1880s, there were two people who were working separately on the induction motor: Tesla and Galileo Ferrari. They both presented their findings in 1888, with the Italian inventor Ferrari presenting his engine two months before Tesla presented his. However, Tesla’s patents held upunder the weight of the evidence. Both had developed the same technology and came to the same independent conclusion, but Tesla had filed his patents first. The induction motor was incredibly influential and is still used in everyday products like vacuums, blow dryers, and power tools.

2. Teleautomaton

In 1898, at the Electrical Exhibition at Madison Square Garden, Tesla showed off an invention he called “teleautomaton“, which was a boat controlled by radio waves. He didn’t even have a patent because the patent office didn’t want to issue one on something that they didn’t think was feasible, but he proved them wrong at the exhibition. Tesla controlled the battery operated boat, operating the propellor and lights through the radio waves.

This invention was a big first in three different areas. The first was remote controls, influencing the development of objects like television remotes and garage door openers. Secondly, the boat was also one of the earliest robots, as it was a mechanical object that could be controlled without a human physically touching it. Finally, the combination of robotics and radio control technology makes Tesla’s boat the great grandfather of drones.

1. Alternating Current

Without question, the most important inventions from Nikola Tesla involve his contributions to alternating current (AC). It’s essential to note that he did not invent or even discover AC, but his inventions made AC applicable for widespread use, helping to electrify the world.

The story of how Tesla’s AC current came to be the dominant power system is impossible to tell without talking about Thomas Edison. In his early career Tesla worked for Edison, whose company had developed direct current (DC). DC is similar to a battery, in that it only sends power out. The problem with DC is that the electricity loses power as it gets farther out. That’s when Tesla developed his advancements in AC, which not only sends power out, but also brings power back to the source. This made it much more feasible to send large amounts of energy over a large area.

Edison hated AC and thought that Tesla was completely wrong on the topic, leading to a rift between the two. While Tesla was unemployed, he worked odd jobs until he was able to raise money for the Tesla Electric Company. His work caught the attention of engineer and businessman George Westinghouse, who bought most of Edison’s patents involving AC.

A pivotal moment in the history of electricity came down to lighting the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893. Edison and Westinghouse both submitted quotes with Edison saying he could light the whole fair for $554,000, while Westinghouse said it could be done for $399,000. Westinghouse won the contract, and after the fair AC became more popular and, eventually, the dominant electrical system that we still use today.