The most important thing in life is to be original. Be yourself. God meant it that way. And, if you are an atheist, nature meant it that way. Nature does not produce duplicates. Every unit of every living being has a unique identity in this universe. Preserve and protect that uniqueness come what may.
An artist who copies a great artist does not become a great artist. He becomes a copy artist. The works of a copy artist will not fetch even a hundredth of the price of the original work of an artist. If you are happy to be a copy artist, nobody can help you. Because, if you are doing that, you are wasting your time and your life.
Explore your talents. Zero in on the ones that bring you happiness and satisfaction. Zero in on your unique talents. Invest time and energy on them. Practice day in and day out. Eventually, you will reach a stage where your personality will stand out in the society and you will be admired for your unique talents. If your job is not aligned to your talents and capabilities, you will never experience job satisfaction.
Don’t be ashamed of your height, your weight, your face, your body, your age, or your looks. They are by no means the things that matter in the end. Numerous successful people began with humble seed capital. Rags to riches stories are a dime a dozen. So, learn to recognise your strengths and learn to build on them. Your personality will bloom and blossom.
Be satisfied and happy with your assets—both physical as well as material. If you have six fingers in a hand, there is no use trying to hide it. It is a futile exercise. So, don’t waste your time doing that. Instead, use the time you would have spent hiding this fact on building your personality. This will get you farther than what you would have achieved trying to hide this fact.
Decide your priorities in life. Make a mental list of what you sincerely believe in. And always try to stand up for what you believe in. Don’t be a coward in life. Cowards don’t go far in life. If you decide to stand up for what you believe in, your fears will be replaced by courage. Courage will come looking for you. It might seem difficult in the beginning. With time, courage will come looking for you. When you stand up for common good, people are sure to be attracted towards you and many of them may lend their support to your cause. Some of them may even become your fan and start following you.
Don’t take anything for granted. Always question new information before you store it in your brain. If you check and double check everything before absorbing them, you will never fall victim to decisions based on misinformation.
Don’t dwell in your past. It is a total waste of time. Your past is history. You cannot rewrite past just as you cannot rewrite history. You cannot change your past. So, focus on the present moment and do justice to your present. That way you would be able to control and manage the new chapters you add to your history from now on.
Remember that everything happens for a reason. So, don’t get flustered when things seem to go wrong. Situations that we take for problems have a way of resolving themselves in the end if only we are patient enough and keep working towards finding some solution.
Don’t be bogged down by your mistakes. Try to learn from them and make sure that you don’t repeat them. Pessimists will take a negative view of your mistakes. But optimists will take a positive view of that because they know the stuff that experience is made up of. Successful people who are wary of mistakes get depressed when they make mistakes, learn their lessons the hard way.
Learn to respect yourself. Nobody respects someone who does not respect oneself. So, adopt dignified behaviour in life and everyone will respect you.
Last but not the least, never apologise for the values you stand for. Never give in to pressure. Stand your ground. Stick to your guns. Don’t give in or surrender so long as you are sure that you are right. Your opposition will crumble in due course of time. And, they will fall in line with you sooner than later.
People who believe in themselves become fountainheads of inspiration. They go on to become leaders. And, the world follows them once they achieve success in life. So, don’t be ashamed of yourself. Work on your positive traits and cash in on them.
