Life Lessons – 10 Ideas That Will Help You Understand the Mechanics of Life

Life is not easy.

We are all evolved primates that occupy a massive planet.

We possess only abstract ideas on why we ended up here.

However, we are primates that constantly evolve. And it is through this evolution that we can improve our living conditions.

Through constant trial and error, we have managed to reach a state where we can orient ourselves better within this ominous landscape that we inhabit.

Below, you will find 10 life lessons predicated on primate wisdom – primate wisdom that can definitely help you enhance your understanding of the mechanics of life.

Life Lessons

Life Lessons – 1. Find the perfect balance between theory and practice

Once you decide what you want to pursue, embrace the fact that knowledge never ends. Create a strict schedule that “forces” you to read blogs, books, and websites relevant to the area you want to focus on.

When I decided to embark on my blogging journey, I started reading literally everything that exists out there. I made it a constant practice and it became a crucial part of my everyday life.

At the same time, I was capitalizing on the newly acquired knowledge by testing different styles and by trying to understand what works and what doesn’t. This resulted in my finally discovering my personal blogging style that is constantly evolving and being refined. Do that with any skill you want to cultivate.

Life Lessons – 2. Diversity is golden – always have an exit strategy

Most of us live our lives totally reliant upon forces that dictate our success or failure. This “attitude” unfortunately contradicts to the antifragility argument raised by the great Nassim Taleb.

We need to be ready to face adversity and unpredicted events. In order to do that we need to possess a diversification-oriented mindset.

If you are an entrepreneur or an investor, for example, I would strongly advise you to not rely only on one project. You should always have a diversified portfolio. If you are an employee, always evolve your skill repertoire and stay up to date with new trends and technologies.

Chaos and complexity urge us to accept that risk should be a crucial parameter of our interactions and decisions. So, embrace it, be strategic, and check out point 9 for further elaboration on the topic of risk.

Life Lessons – 3. Networking is the ace under your sleeve

If you introduce John to Steve and then Steve manages to help John in any way then you made a great connection. Think of this event as another string in the tight network you are constantly trying to build. This network is like a bonus in your video game called life that will eventually help you stand up when you are about to fall down.

It is the invisible power that creates once-in-a-lifetime opportunities and opens new doors in your pursuit of success. Typical examples of such opportunities might include:

Finding great employees
Landing difficult interviews
Meeting potential business partners
Extending your social circle

Life Lessons – 4. Understand that people love free goods

Expanding from the above point, we all need to understand that building a network has never been an easy thing. Nobody wants to help for free. When you embrace this idea, internalize it and always have something to offer. Tangible or intangible, it doesn’t really matter. You can give away anything. Things like:

Ideas
Advice
Help
Small gifts

Anything that will show others that you actually care for them. When you get used to this mindset by making it a regular practice, you will start building the foundations of your network.

Life Lessons – 5. Never say a bad word about anyone

I once read the following aphorism:

It was written by Eleanor Roosevelt. Eleanor couldn’t be more true about her statement. If you take a moment and scrutinize your social circle, you will be amazed by how much sense this statement makes.

So my advice to you is this:

Don’t betray anyone. Don’t backstab anyone. Don’t step on anyone’s toes. Don’t gossip.

All these behaviors imply a scarcity mentality and won’t help you get far. You know how they say that you are what you eat? By the same token, you attract what you are. If you want success and abundance, learn how to behave in a successful and abundant way.

There is enough out there for everyone. Your competition is not other people. Your competition is:

Your procrastination.
Your ego.
The knowledge you neglect to learn.
The antisocial behavior you are nurturing.
The unhealthy food you constantly consume.
Your lack of creativity.
The wrong people you surround yourself with.

Life Lessons – 6. Ignore ill-intentioned criticism

I like writing because it helps me discover myself and dive deep into complex topics. And you know what I discovered recently? That once you care too much about what other people think, you lost the game. I’ll support my point with an example. Check out this video of 2 cute babies talking to each other.

Now focus on the dislikes. Way too many dislikes. Why would someone dislike 2 babies that talk to each other? For many reasons. Why would people dislike you? Also for many reasons. Reasons that shouldn’t be of your concern.

Life Lessons – 7. You are your own personal brand

Whether you are an entrepreneur, a doctor, a lawyer, a young professional, a college student, or you are sitting at home in your sweatpants dreaming of getting that perfect job, you are a brand. Give me a second to illustrate my point.

I know that, normally, when people hear the word brand they naturally think of huge corporations like Apple, Coca Cola, Pepsi Cola, Sony, Toyota etc. These huge conglomerates are bombarding you with commercials and subliminal messages on a daily basis in order to increase their brand awareness and stay in your head as an established, well-respected existence.

What does this have to do with you? Everything! The way the above-mentioned companies try to increase their value as a brand, in the same way, you should be doing that too. Examples of people who have managed to do this successfully among others are:

Elon Musk
Tim Ferriss
Russell Brand (even his name includes the word brand!)

They are their own personal brand and they do that by focusing on 4 major principles:

Their Expertise. What is your expertise? What is your competitive advantage? What do you know more than others?
Their Image. How do you dress? How do you speak? How do you treat others? What does your body language convey?
Their Message. What message do you want to pass to others? How do you want to influence them?
Their Integrity. Are you truly saying what you believe or are you acting just to please others? Is your belief and value system aligned with your words and actions?

All these factors are in congruence with their existence and therefore people respect them, are inspired by them, and consider them authorities in their fields.

Life Lesson – 8. Create your own luck

Luck? What is luck? Can you please define it for me? According to www.oxforddictionaries.com, luck is defined as follows:

Success or failure apparently brought by chance rather than through one’s own actions.

I always hated vague terms. Terms that are defined by intuition rather than reason. So let’s shed some light of reasoning on luck’s definition. It seems that luck is defined by using the words “apparently” and “chance.”

Chance: “A possibility of something happening.”

Apparently: “As far as one knows or can see.”

Both terms have something in common. In order for them to exist, they require a person’s action to be initiated. Chances and apparent situations are created by your willingness to pursue them. They are happening when you know where they are. Same does luck. When people use the term luck in the wrong context, always have one thing in mind: They have no idea what luck really means.

Life Lessons – 9. Make risk your partner in crime

Risk is an instance that involves exposure to dangerous situations. It is this fragile factor that can bring you from the bottom to the top and vice versa. It is the partner you really want in your life but you are afraid that will cause trouble anytime.

You are being gentle with them, enjoying them, nurturing them, but, at the same time, you don’t want them to get too excited. You don’t want to let them expose you to their volatility. They know that you can have each other on very strict terms but when you see that these terms are close to jeopardy, you need to know when to let them go.

Success doesn’t come without risk. Learn to embrace it.

Life Lesson – 10. Take responsibility for your failures, be honest, be patient

People will respect you if you know how to succeed, but at the same time, they will respect you if you know how to fail. Be strategic when it comes to failure. Learn from your mistakes and capitalize on the lessons you learned.

Furthermore, in order to make this idea a practice, you need to be honest with yourself and also with your surroundings. Say what you really believe and express yourself in a confident and elegant manner. Nobody can be an advocate for you if you don’t know how to promote yourself first.

But most importantly be patient. Rome wasn’t built in a day. Similarly, your new brand needs time to be sculptured. Go slow, take risks, be strategic and enjoy the ride.

Conclusion

I know that I was a bit straightforward and assertive in this article. I know that I have evoked mixed feelings. But I also know that these feelings were hidden deep inside you and for various reasons you were suppressing them and weren’t helping them emerge.

Trust me, it is good that these feelings came out. They are the first step toward your complete awakening. Whether you will really wake up or not, that I don’t know.

The choice is always yours.

Life demands structure and constant refinement of our everyday processes. If you are unsure where to start, the “30 Challenges – 30 Days – Zero Excuses” book provides a selection of habits and practices that can prove extremely valuable in that respect.

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Adrian Martell

I am the founder and main contributor at "The Quintessential Mind" - A unique personal blog that offers a holistic approach to self-development. I am striving to create high-quality content by investing in a reality-based form of self-help, informed by a deep understanding of psychology, philosophy and my own personal experiences and social adventures.