My New Year's Revolution

[Sloaner92]

So I've been on these forums for about a year now. I've gotten a lot out of them and have learned a lot about myself. Here is basically an overview of what I have learned and what goals I am aiming towards for the next year. Enjoy!

I've never been much for New Year's Resolutions, declaring that you plan to make lots of money, improve relationships with friends, or lose some weight. These sorts of arbitrary goals have never cut it for me. Why wait for a new year to roll around to decide to improve myself?
Coincidentally, on New Year's Day 2009, I began to focus myself more on self-improvement. I've discovered the following things:
1. Be yourself. In any kind of social situation, it is imperative to be yourself. If you hide behind a facade or hide who you truly are, you are lying to others and to yourself. Eventually, this facade will come crumbling down, and people will realize that they have been lied to and will cast you out. Be yourself from the beginning and earn the trust of others.
2. While it is important to be yourself, don't be awkward unless you can pull off the whole awkward-funny thing that's hard to pull off. Watch what you say; don't say ridiculous things that will get you mocked. Just remember to stay true to yourself.
3. Just have fun. There is absolutely no need to think about focusing on the future too much. Have fun right now. Recognize that anything IS possible and that you can have fun RIGHT NOW. You can't see yourself engaging in conversation as easily as other people do? Throw your self in there and force yourself to take some chances.
4. Take some risks. Just do it. Try to always be doing something new.
5. Have friends. Friends are incredibly important because they will be there to support and encourage you. They will be there anywhere and any time at all down here in the deep blue sea.
6. Keep your family closer. While you could have many different friends in your lifetime, you only get one family (generally speaking of course). Build a closer relationship with your family than with your friends and DO NOT take your family for granted.
7. It's perfectly okay to tell others how you feel. Human relationships thrive on this idea. If you don't tell someone exactly how you feel about anything and everything, you cannot make any progress in any kind of relationship. It will remain stagnant and ultimately crumble.
8. Don't let the people in your life idly pass you by; make an effort to have at least one positive memory with everyone. You don't want people to think badly about you, so if they have that one positive memory to remember, it will hopefully outweigh anything bad. Also, if you have this one positive memory, you will have fewer regrets in life and will be happier.
9. Always maintain a positive attitude - be positive and stay positive. Believe in yourself and think that you can do anything you want to; you will soon find that you can. Always look for a glimmer of hope and positivity and embrace it.
10. If you must change yourself, change your mindset to improve your situation.

So those are ten important principles I have learned this year. While I am sure that there are more of them, these ten are a good start for my New Year's Revolution. What exactly is this Revolution? It is a complete overhaul of the way that I think. Instead of changing who I am, I will change my mindsets to embrace these principles and get more out of life. To join the Revolution is to make the best out of life.

You are never done learning in life. Even after formal education and after you learn everything there is to be learned in your career, you can always learn something about yourself. Start the process early; ask yourself questions to try to decipher what you truly enjoy in life and then go after it. Always, always, ALWAYS ask questions and search for a deeper meaning and a deeper truth.

This year, don't let your resolutions go away within a week. Join the Revolution by writing down your resolutions. Write specific goals down in accordance with Napoleon Hill's method (Don't write "I want to be rich." Write, "I want to make $_______ doing _________. These are the steps I need to go about to do so: __________" ) Keep them somewhere you always go or tape them up behind your computer. Read them every night before you go to bed until you memorize them. Say them loudly and with confidence until you embrace these goals as already having happened. Once you accept that they are possible, get out there and do it.

Edit: Besides these general ideas and the idea of the Revolution, I'll post some more specific ideas a little later.