"To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often." - Winston Churchill

After a sixteen month hiatus, I have decided it is time for another post on my blog. I'm sure everyone has missed me tremendously, and I have missed you too so let's get to it!

Happy New Year! I am not sure how 2015 treated you, but the good news is you made it through to another year. No matter how good or bad it was, I hope 2016 is exponentially better. Since it is the beginning of a new year, I have been thinking about change. You have probably been reflecting and planning changes as well. I don't typically make "New Year's Resolutions" anymore. I prefer to make "new day resolutions" to keep myself motivated and focused on what I want to accomplish. Let me explain why as I continue to blabber on. If you're getting bored, watch this video of one of my favorite songs by Tyler Childers. Then come on back and read some more of this pure brilliance!

Here is my problem with New Year's Resolutions: they give people the idea that making changes in life is a one time decision. This is why so many people never follow through with their changes. They lose motivation by the time February or March rolls around because they do not feel like they have that fresh start they had in January. The key is to see every single day as a fresh start. Steve Jobs said, "For the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: 'If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?' And whenever the answer has been 'No' for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something." This is the attitude we need to have when we are considering what we need to change about ourselves and the environment we are in.

Sometimes to be happy, you need to add something to your life. Other times, you need to get rid of something (this happens to be about 15 pounds for me). But regardless which situation you are in, you should not feel like you need to wait to make the change. Not to be too morbid, but who knows how long any of us have left? If you know you will be happier if you can make a change, do not hesitate. It may be scary, but it is usually better to say "oh well" than it is to say "what if." Here are a few tips on implementing changes:

1. Be realistic - Rome wasn't built in a day. Set goals that will challenge you, but are also achievable. Setting goals that you cannot meet will discourage you and set you back.
2. Be specific - Saying you want to be healthy is okay, but it is better to say "I will be able to (insert fitness goal here) by (insert date here)," or "I will weigh (insert weight) by (insert date)."
3. Make a deadline - Giving yourself a deadline will help you stay motivated. As mentioned above, just make sure the deadline is realistic.
4. Keep track of your progress - It is important to see you are moving in the right direction. If you are not satisfied with the progress, you can modify your plan to make the change faster.
5. Celebrate your success - Give yourself some credit and reward yourself when you reach your goals.

Those guidelines may seem like they are geared toward fitness/health changes, but they can be used for any change you want to make. I could go on and on with this post, but it is already longer than I intended for it to be. Let me finish by encouraging you experience new things. Find what it is that makes you happy, and make changes to keep it at the forefront of your life. Whether the changes you plan to make are big or small, I wish you the best in this new year!

P.S. I spent New Year's Eve in Nashville and it was awesome! As a result, I hope to travel more this year. Now I just need to make some money to finance my trips (LOL). Feel free to comment with the changes you want to make in the upcoming days and months. Here's to 2016!

Summer Reading

After returning from my vacation to Myrtle Beach, SC yesterday, I realized I will be back to school in three very short weeks. I had big plans to do some serious blogging this summer, but as you can see my plans have been unsuccessful. No worries though, my summer has consisted mostly of weightlifting, reading, and pizza delivery - nothing too exciting. However, I have replenished my mind and (more importantly for college) my bank account over this break. So I am ready for another year of study!

I want to talk about a few of the books I have read this summer. But first let me urge you to do yourself a favor and READ. No matter what it is that you decide to read, you will benefit tremendously from reading. There really is no better way to open your mind to new ideas and there is no feeling like the one you get when you find yourself completely submerged in a great book.

Now, on to the books I've read this summer. First: The Hunger Games series. I was in high school when the hype really started to surround these novels. When the movie adaptation of the first book hit the big screen, I went to see it. I really enjoyed the movie, but I still did not read the books. At that time, I really wasn't reading much of anything. I lied to myself by saying I didn't have time. However, this summer I watched the first movie again. After that, I decided it was time to read the books. Of course, the books are always better than the movies. This is especially true for The Hunger Games because in the books you know what is going on inside the main character's mind; whereas in the movies the events unfold before you but you do not fully appreciate her internal conflict. This is an amazing series that I could not put down. It amazes me to think of how this story was conceived in the mind of author Suzanne Collins. If you have not read this series, I highly recommend it.

Another book that I really enjoyed is the classic tale of vengeance: The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas. I purchased this book several years ago, but I never read it. Then one night this summer I was watching The Shawshank Redemption, a must-see film that contains an allusion to this novel. When I heard the allusion I decided it was time to read the book! I should warn you, The Count of Monte Cristo is not an easy read by any means. But once I was able to familiarize myself with the French vocabulary Dumas used, I really appreciated this revenge story.

I want to finish with a book I read today: A Wolf At The Table, by Augusten Burroughs. This is a moving memoir about Augusten's relationship with his father. I do not want to spoil it for you, but my emotions were extremely involved as I read this book. And the fact that I read it in one sitting should let you know it is an excellent read.

I hope I have motivated you to read some of these great books. If not, I hope you will at least find the motivation to read something. Like I said before, there really is no better way to broaden your mind. I told you my summer has consisted of weightlifting, reading, and pizza delivery. I guess you could say I lift to broaden my shoulders, I read to broaden my mind, and I deliver pizza to broaden my financial opportunities! Haha

Work: A Four Letter Word With Infinite Meaning

"Do work, son!" I have heard this statement spoken by countless people on countless occasions. There is something about humans that makes us want to constantly encourage our peers to work hard. But how often do you take time to evaluate your own work ethic? I have been trying to evaluate mine lately, and I have to admit I am disappointed in myself at times. But the key is to turn this disappointment into motivation to work harder. We all have to realize we will never be perfect. This is no reason to stop striving for excellence in everything that you do though. In the words of John Henry Newman, "A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault." (Note: I really do not know much at all about Newman, I just enjoy reading all types of quotes.)

So, what does it mean to work hard? This is a difficult question to answer. In my opinion, the problem is that you never truly discover your full potential in life. There is not some kind of magic "work-o-meter" we can monitor to see whether or not we are giving a task everything we have to give. I am sure you can think of an example when you thought you were dealing with insurmountable obstacles but you somehow found a way to overcome them. Just when you thought you were down and out, you managed to achieve your goal. I am amazed by some of the stories I read about overcoming adversity.

Sometimes, it takes someone else to prove to us that we have the potential to work harder than we ever thought we could. Let me be the first to thank God for the amazing teachers, mentors, coaches, and friends who have been there to push me past my limits. I hope that I can be a motivator to the people around me in their times of need. The next time someone comes to you with a struggle, I want you to do something. Do not lie to them by telling them everything will work out fine, but try to see if they are really working to their full potential. If you believe they are not doing this, give them some extra motivation and let them know they can reach their goal.

I had a basketball coach who told me once that he wished he had a cattle prod so he could poke me with it to make me move a little faster. For the non-farmers out there, a cattle prod is a handheld device used to make cattle or livestock move by poking them. Most cattle prods produce an electric shock when they make contact with the livestock. My point is, I think there are times in our lives when we all need someone to be our cattle prod. I am speaking figuratively, of course. Please do not go out and start shocking your friends and family. And if you do decide to do that, you do not have my permission to tell them I advised you to do so.

I hope you understand that, in my opinion, humans need to be pushed past their limits at times to unlock their full potential. Now I would like to address one of the biggest problems we all have: laziness. For some reason or another, most of us act like we are allergic to working. Of course there are going to be times when fatigue sets in and we need to take a break from what we are trying to accomplish, but I am more concerned about the situations where we never seem to get started in the first place. No matter what you are trying to accomplish, the hardest part always seems to be getting started. So my advice is, if you define a goal, start working toward it as soon as you know exactly what it is that you want or need. Do not wait to get started; the longer you wait, the harder it becomes. Please take the initiative early and you will not regret it. I can tell you that, in my experiences, procrastination has been the biggest factor that has caused students I know to drop out of college. Please do not let it keep you from accomplishing your goals.

Now, what about "taking the easy way out"? We all know that person who will do anything and everything to find a way to come up with a shortcut in whatever they do. Do not get me wrong, I am all for working efficiently. You will never catch me taking a math test without my calculator. But there are some things that simply require you to take the long way around. I know people who spend more time trying to take the easy way out than they would have to spend to do the job right. They may not realize it, but they are working harder to cut corners than they would have to work to follow the normal routine. I tend to have trouble confronting people about this problem, but I am working to address it. I urge you to confront the people you know who have this problem. After all, you are helping them in the long run. Most importantly, if this paragraph describes the way you approach your goals, please realize that sometimes you just cannot take a shortcut. And, believe it or not, there is some inherent value in a job well done.

I hope this post has inspired you to evaluate your own work ethic and to motivate the people around you. I would like to finish by showing my appreciation to some very important people. I am thankful for the God-given talent I have in certain areas, but I am even more thankful for the people in my life who have instilled in me a good work ethic. So to my parents, grandparents, other family members, teachers, coaches, and other mentors, thank you for seeing the potential in me when I could not see it in myself. And thank you for pushing me to give my very best in whatever I decided to pursue. I appreciate you more than you know, and I hope you will continue to hold me and others to the high standards you know we are capable of achieving.

For My Own Good

For some time now I have been thinking about starting a blog. I do not know how often I will post (college life is just a little busy) or how the quality of my posts will be (I am not an English major, I just write for my own enjoyment). But I appreciate anyone who takes the time to read them. Feel free to contact me with questions or comments. Okay, enough beating around the bush... here goes nothing!

 

I cannot begin to estimate the time I have spent analyzing my actions and wondering what other people think of me. I think this is something all of us do naturally, but I have been working to not be so self-conscious about how others may view me. And let me tell you, it feels GREAT! I'm not advising you to throw common courtesy out the window, but just BE YOURSELF.

 

Let me make something clear: I am far from perfect; I find new flaws with myself nearly every day. But I believe everyone can find something to be proud of. These days, it seems everyone is bending over backwards in order to satisfy their significant other, peers, parents, etc. I think things would be better if we would stop trying to do this and instead focus on satisfying ourselves. I recently received some wonderful advice from a loved one. She told me, "You can't be happy with someone else until you learn to be happy on your own." That really resonated with me. I spent time reflecting on where I was compared to where I wanted to be. I am not still not where I want to be by any stretch of the imagination. But I am a whole heck of a lot closer than I was when she gave me that advice.

 

I am not trying to tell you how to live your life. I'm just telling you to take control of it. Get off the path others have set for you, and pave a path for yourself. Do not feel like you have to go to a certain place, wear certain clothes, or act a certain way just because other people do. It doesn't even matter if those other people are your friends. True friends will respect you and accept you for who you want to be. So if you're the guy or gal who legitimately wants to party five nights a week, go for it! (Disclaimer: I would not advise you to do that, but the purpose of this post is not to give moral advice.) I just feel like the world is full of people who are so afraid to be different because of the way other people may react. At the end of the day though, their reactions don't matter; how you feel about yourself is what matters.

 

Take me for example; I know that I am a nerd. I mean, how many college students blog? And out of that number, how many blog about things other than how much they drank last weekend or how hot so-and-so is. I used to try my best to hide the fact that I enjoyed learning, but what good did that do me? Why not just embrace the fact that I enjoy it? I am not just a nerd, though. If you haven't noticed, we humans are rather complex individuals - that is the whole problem with stereotypes! I enjoy lifting weights, playing basketball, and being outdoors. All of those activities go against the "nerd" stereotype. But I know that I enjoy those activities (and I know exercise is really important), so I continue to do them.

 

If you are the complete opposite of me, good for you! Let me reiterate, my goal is not to convince everyone to be just like me. I want you to be JUST LIKE YOU! It just scares me that so many people on my social media apps post and tweet about the same exact things and share pictures doing the same things. Of course we all have things in common with other people, but individuality is really really really important! For example, the whole "Typical White Girl" thing on Twitter drives me crazy. Sure, there is nothing wrong with checking out and retweeting some of the funny tweets, but please don't model your life after it! I will probably write a whole post about social media in the future, so I will leave that subject alone for now.

 

How many times have you started a relationship with someone and thought to yourself, "They really aren't who I thought they were." I would venture to say this has happened to everyone who has been in more than one relationship. How much better would things be if everyone decided to be themselves? We could fall in love with someone for who they really are instead of falling for some person who simply is not real. Sure, I'm guilty of pretending to be something I'm not just to get a girl to like me. But I am starting to realize that will just set your relationship up for failure. Just live life so that you are happy with yourself and sooner or later I promise you will find someone who loves you. There are about seven billion people in the world. It may take a while, but if you put yourself out there you are bound to find your match eventually!

 

As the title of this post suggests, I am writing this for my own good. If you agree with me, that makes me happy. Get out there and don't be afraid to swim against the current when you have to. If you think this is a load of crap, that is fine with me too. But I honestly think you would be happier if you decided to be yourself. :)