The topic for today is people. Humanity, the human race.. you know.. US.. you, me and those people over there...

The FIRST thing we need to realize is that we're all the same. No, this isn't some idealistic idea with flowers and love songs, it's the truth.

No matter who you are, what you do, where you come from, what you look like, what you believe in, etc..

No matter what - you, my friend.. are a person.

That puts you in the same category as me. I am also a person..    and though we may not be EXACTLY the same, we're the same enough. We're having the same experience, we live on Earth and we're not doing as well as we might like. Right?

Time for the plot to thicken.


People as a general rule, are inherently good..


...and evil.


It's true. I don't even know you, yet I'm 100% certain you're good. You've held a door for someone else, you've washed behind your ears once or twice and you want something more for yourself, friends and family.. Right?

But, at the same time - everyone screws up. We want to do THIS but end up doing THAT..  We're all flawed, but it's not the end of the world. As the sayings go, "Nobody's perfect" and such. It's a fact of life, that when handled properly, isn't such a big deal.

Have you ever raised your voice to someone who didn't deserve it? I know I have. In my past I've said and done things I'm not necessarily proud of, but I know something now that I didn't know then.

I tried for SO long to hold myself to this ideal, I was going to do 100% right, get in better shape, handle my finances better than ever and so on.

There is a serious flaw in this thinking. Let's take physical conditioning as an example. Many, MANY people in the world (myself included) are "overweight". Of course we'd like to be our 'ideal' weight, and be able to walk up a flight of stairs without being winded for 10 minutes afterward.

So the first thing we do is get this CRAZY idea that by eating 100% strictly, going to a gym and pushing ourselves for hours at a time and such that we'll simply reach this ideal and stay there forever.

NONSENSE! That's right, you heard it here first - that's bull.

REALIZE right off the bat, people are inherently good AND evil, that we make mistakes, that sometimes, it's fun to be "bad". You may be eating nuts and berries now, but you KNOW the day will come when that big, perfectly cooked pizza is going to be sitting right under your nose.

So, that day arrives and if you're ANYTHING like me - (or any of the MILLIONS of people who have displayed the same character traits as me) you'll dive into that pizza and never look back.

SURE you want to be in better shape, and SURE you know what you need to do - BUT, we're all holding WAY too perfect pictures of the way things are to happen.

So, what do we do?

DECIDE in ADVANCE how bad you're willing to be.

WHAT?! This doesn't sound like ANYTHING you've heard before, has it? Well, I'm not trying to be a bad influence on you (quite the opposite) - but facts are facts. We're NOT perfect, and we're gonna blow it sooner or later - and even if WE don't "blow it" ourselves, something or someone is going to make sure that you screw up. It's the way things go.

So, seriously... Decide in advance just HOW bad you need to be to maintain your sanity.

Like in the case of diet and exercise. What's it going to take to get you to eat better and move around more often?

For me, I HAVE to have pizza on a somewhat regular basis or I'll explode - and I really need one day a week to just sit there and stare at the walls or whatever. THAT is how "bad" I'm willing to be, before the first step is taken - I'm REALISTIC with myself and KNOW that there's NO chance I'll stick to eating "healthy" 24 hours a day 7 days a week. It's just not going to happen.

SO, before I EVER get to the point where I'm faced with my "evil" side wanting to consume an entire large pizza by myself - I decide.. "Alright, I seriously need to drop some weight and tone up, no question - I'll have a couple slices of pizza once a week (but no more), and a day or two out of each week - I will NOT exercise".

What have I done here? I've acknowledged in advance that mistakes will be made, and I've changed the rules of the game to fit MY personal wants and needs.

You can do the same, and it applies across the board.

You have control over yourself whether you admit it to yourself or not.

By realizing mistakes and problems and flaws in advance and realistically setting a limit of how much we're willing to tolerate from ourselves we can do PLENTY.

This little step when focused on enough can be THE difference in your life. Think about it.

Think about someone who goes out and kills someone. They obviously have NEVER taken this step. If before you EVER get into a heated discussion with anyone, you DECIDE that you will NEVER, under ANY circumstance kill someone - and of course you HOLD yourself to that, you will NEVER kill anyone, and as a result won't suffer the consequences of committing such an act.

You have to decide and focus on what you're willing to do or not do. This is the way to get the things you want. Don't just think about it once, or write it down and then just go on living hypnotized like so many of us do. It is VITAL to make this part of your normal focus.

Does it work? Well.. Out of the 50 pounds I'm going to rid myself of, 30 are already gone - and that's eating pizza on a regular basis and in less than ONE year. Not bad huh? That's without a miracle diet, or joining a gym or having a personal trainer.

The key is DISCIPLINE (which I'll cover much better as time allows) - MY meaning of the word discipline is to FORCE yourself to think and do the things you NEED to. You'll see in much better detail what I mean as time goes on with this site. If we can just "zone out" a LITTLE less EVERY day, you'll quickly and easily see enough results to make you want more. It's addictive and it doesn't hurt anyone.

I will also go into more detail on thoughts, deeds and practices at a later date. These are ALL very simple concepts to understand for ANYONE. I am a pretty simple person (will share more history and such later also) but I am not by anyone's definition an overachiever or anything. I'm just a person, same as anyone else - the only real difference is while so many others are off looking for the next miracle product or way to "get over" by doing as little as possible - I've been facing life, it's problems and my own wonderful heaping pile of "issues" head on... and been learning from that and other people in the REAL WORLD - not from some talk show on television. The answers are literally EVERYWHERE - and you've already done the things needed to succeed on virtually any scale you choose in a LEGAL, ETHICAL way. (No kidding).

Remember - we are ALL the same. We are ALL people. You have many of the same good and bad traits I do. You are also inherently good and "evil". If I were to fall down RIGHT now (and you saw it) you'd likely show the appropriate amount of concern and of course, LAUGH your butt off... (not necessarily in that order either). YOU and I are both human and subject to the same mistakes, flaws and goofing off. Because of this AND in spite of it - I believe in my abilities, which also means I believe in yours - which means I believe in you. Some day you might do something stupid in traffic right in front of me - OR, me to you.. totally unintentionally. But MAKE YOURSELF realize at that very moment, that it just as easily could have been YOU pulling off that bonehead move - because you're JUST as human as "that idiot" in front of you.

When you FORCE yourself to remember this fact, life gets easier. You can breath a LITTLE deeper and not beat yourself up inside so often for the mistake you just made. You know the one, it was SO small to everyone else that it wasn't even mentioned - but it's the one WE, OURSELVES just CAN'T let go of...

.... I was doing so well.... But then I just SCREWED the whole thing up! I can't believe how STUPID I am.. I wish I never woke up this morning...

Does that sound the least bit familiar? Hey, listen.. we're all our OWN worst enemies and there's no shame in that - ESPECIALLY if you learn from it and start steering yourself in a more useful direction.

So, today's lesson.. again (and again until we're actually pulling it off) is...

WE ALL MAKE MISTAKES - accept them for the lessons they are and "work on it" so next time, maybe it won't be as bad...    and then next time, it won't be so bad again.. Until, eventually.. it's HANDLED and then you just maintain - and no matter what anyone says - it's WAY easier to maintain something than it is to build it. Sure it takes forever, but each thing you get "handled" gets easier and easier over time.

Once again, I've rambled and I need to get back to work - but I'll be back again as soon as possible because there's PLENTY more... This is literally just the beginning...

Quick note - just in the few days these couple pages have been up I've noticed an increase in our numbers here so apparently there are even people hurting themselves like me by letting themselves down but forgetting there's still a game to be played.

Thank you so much for having enough faith (in yourself, me and in general) to actually read what I've written. We as human beings have made ourselves the underdog.

I, by circumstances, geography, upbringing and lack of direction have been THE underdog for 20+ years. I learned everything the school of hard knocks tried to teach me - but it wasn't until I started to APPLY that knowledge and seek additional information from people actually pulling it off that I actually started making things happen in my own life.

My life isn't (and never will be) perfect, I'm not the richest person on my block, let alone neighborhood, state or country - BUT things TRULY are getting better overall in my life and I, myself am making them all that way - and you're next. I've still got SO far to go - and we all do... There are just mountains of things to do.. BUT, once we figure out what WE want, break it down into more realistic pieces, start handling our own and forcing ourselves to KEEP GOING NO MATTER WHAT.. I can tell you from first hand experience, we can and will be better. We have no choice, with only a certain amount of time on the planet, there's only 2 things we can really do...

Pretend life is an amusement park... You can either:

A) Pick a ride and ride it for all it's worth.

or...

B) Wait in the car for everyone else and REGRET never playing when you had the chance.

That's it.

Are we going to STAND UP and make things happen for ourselves? Or just sit around watching television and then whine about how horrible everything is on our dying day? I'm sorry to seem so harsh but that IS the reality.

If YOU don't know what YOU want (and aren't busy trying to get it) - someone who DOES know will have you working to get them theirs. (That wasn't proper English I'm pretty sure, but I couldn't think of another way to word it).

It's true! Again, get busy figuring out what you want..   Then REALIZE, you're not perfect and neither are your heroes - so PLEASE STOP trying to live on a superhero level. You're GOING to drop the ball, you're going to trip and look silly, when you want to say something, the words aren't going to come sometimes. EXPECT IT!

But while you're expecting it, think to yourself...

I've GOT to continue ANYWAY!

There is NO prize van pulling up to your house to deliver the BIG check.

There is NO miracle diet. There is no 1 piece of exercise equipment that's going to get you off your BUTT to use it.

NO trainer, NO teacher, NO parent, NO authority figure will EVER just give you what you want.

If WE as individual people don't start plugging along - day after day, on the course toward the "ideal" (imperfect ultimate life goals) we've set for OURSELVES.. It's just NOT going to happen. I'm sorry to be the messenger of such hard news but I respect you as a fellow person and you NEED to realize this (just like I do). I can't realistically expect YOU to pay my bills, can I? Of course not, we shouldn't expect ANYTHING from ANYONE. I'm not saying you should have a really crappy attitude and just go around burning people because they'll never do anything for you - that's just not true. People are pretty cool if you are HONESTLY cool with them - BUT don't go around expecting anything, you'll just get yourself hurt. If you expect NOTHING - ANYTHING you get will be awesome! (you follow?)

Think about it - it's your birthday.. and you told everyone "I don't want anything".

As a result, they honor your wish, and you get NOTHING - in abundance.

So you're sitting there with your big pile of nothing and the doorbell rings. Your best friend shows up with a something (not much more than a card) and you both talk like you haven't in years. It ends up being one of the best days you've had - partially because you weren't holding anyone to any kind of standard. You expected NOTHING - so anything and everything you get above that is cake! It's like getting free stuff.

So if you actually KNOW in advance that there's a good chance that you'll get nothing from anyone..


AND you start making yourself do more (for yourself).

You WILL start getting more for yourself. If you REALLY tried something, you'd probably do okay - don't you think? So you're going along doing pretty good for yourself and then WHAM! Someone comes along and actually DOES do something for you, gives you credit for something you did, or goes out of their way to please you. Then what happens? Well, since you expected nothing, it seems like this person REALLY pulled off something cool for you. Then by it seeming so much larger, you appreciate it more (and it shows).. What happens then?

As a result of you GENUINELY appreciating what they did, they don't feel stupid for doing something for you and want to do more. That's how it works. Think about it, do YOU enjoy doing things for someone who couldn't care less? Does it make you really enthusiastic about doing more for them? Of course not. By just changing a few of the things we believe is "important" for us to do regularly - we can REALLY help each other out.

You don't have to go around smiling all the time to be happy. You don't have to be a billionaire to be financially secure. You don't have to be perfect to accomplish PLENTY of great things. You really, truly don't.

Try to be a better friend to yourself. Take your own dreams into consideration more often. Don't forget to play and be "bad"... Just not TOO bad.. We have our "rules" in place for a reason. You TRULY don't need to hurt yourself or anyone else to be bad. Eat a FEW (3) cookies, or joke around or whatever LITTLE 'evil' thing you NEED to do to remain sane. You can be really bad and NEVER break any of man or nature's laws - something to remember always.  If you don't believe me - look at where WE are as people. If you're not exactly where you "need" to be physically or mentally right now it's because you've been bad.. You weren't controlling your thoughts and deeds like you knew you should to reach whatever these goals were.

You CAN have your cake and eat it too!

Just don't eat more than is the bare minimum to stay sane. ONE, SMALL piece of cake is ALL you need to know exactly how it tastes - stop there and REMEMBER where you want to be in the future.

Notice that I'm not saying "where society wants you in the future" or "where I want you in the future" - this is YOUR game to play. This is the only ride you get - so chase after the things YOU want. (Again, as long as you harm ZERO people getting there).  There's PLENTY for everyone - you don't need to steal or cheat or swindle anyone out of anything. If you want more - go get more. Let me ask you something (and yes I know I'm rambling WELL beyond the point where I mentioned how badly I'm rambling) - could you figure out how to make ONE dollar?

Could you?

ONE DOLLAR - think about it. That's 4 quarters. Could you make the same dollar if you weren't allowed to go to your already existing job to do it?

Could you, right now, in your own neighborhood, SOMEHOW, legally and ethically make ONE dollar?

Yes, of course you could. You could help someone do something, couldn't you? Think back to childhood..

Paper route, shoveling driveways, mowing lawns, etc.. do ANY of these sound familiar?

So, we agree that if you really wanted or needed to right now you COULD earn ONE dollar.

Could you do it again and earn a second dollar? Of course. How about making FIVE dollars without spending ONE? If pressed, could you find an easy way to SAVE one dollar? If you can cut waste and save one dollar without sacrificing your base level of happiness - and you can earn a new dollar - you would have basically gathered TWO dollars.

Is it fair to say that if we wanted ANYTHING badly enough we could figure a VERY small way to get closer to the big goal? You know it is.

Run with that.. and then do it again. and again. and again... until eventually you're just pulling off ONE tiny thing every day that's getting you that much closer to where you REALLY want to be.

I'll start closing now.. for now..

So, like I said.. rambling.. you are painfully aware of my jumping around and rambling if you've read this entire thing. Hopefully the points will shine through anyway. Thanks so much for coming to inspirational.com and I hope you'll be back. I will, with much more - so let's not give up on each other and ourselves on this, okay?

Take care of yourselves and have fun!

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