Wise words of advice from a Youth Judge, retold by Northland College (NZ) principal John Tapene.

Always we hear the cry from teenagers ‘What can we do, where can we go?’

My answer is, “Go home, mow the lawn, wash the windows, learn to cook, build a raft, get a job, visit the sick, study your lessons, and after you’ve finished, read a book.

Your town does not owe you recreational facilities and your parents do not owe you fun.

The world does not owe you a living, you owe the world something.

You owe it your time, energy and talent so that no one will be at war, in poverty or sick and lonely again.”

In other words, grow up, stop being a cry baby, get out of your dream world and develop a backbone, not a wishbone.

Start behaving like a responsible person.

You are important and you are needed.

It’s too late to sit around and wait for somebody to do something someday.

Someday is now and that somebody is you.

A personal checklist to get more out of your life:

1. Less sugar {you’re sweet enough already}
2. Eat more green things
3. Say nice things about others
4. Don’t forget to B R E A T H E
5. Ask for HELP when you need it
6. THIS TOO SHALL PASS
7. Drink more water – your body is 55% water after all
8. Make new friends
9. Give yourself a BREAK
10. Talk less listen more
11. You’re doing great!
12. Choose to be happy
13. Add more colour to your life
14. GET MOVING even if it’s just around the block
15. Take RISKS
16. Step outside of your normal routine
17. Forget milestonesREMEMBER magical moments
18. SMILE

The above image contains only 18 rules but I have added two of my own:

Number 19. Get enough SLEEP

Sleep restores energy.  Listen to your body and develop a healthy sleep habit.  A deep, regular and restful sleep routine is good for mind, body and spirit.

Number 20. Stay Present

Try not to dwell on the past or worry about the future. Over-thinking decisions or over-analysing situations will result in “analysis paralysis” so that a decision or action is never taken, in effect paralyzing the outcome.

Over thinking, over analyzing separates the body from the mind.

Withering my intuition leaving opportunities behind. Tool

Living by these 20 simple self improvement rules will make you happier, healthier and will make a HUGE difference in every aspect of your life.

The level of success we experience in our outer world is simply the mirror reflection of our self-identity and personal development of our inner world.

Invest three percent of your income in yourself (self-development) in order to guarantee your future.
Brian Tracy

How often do you invest in YOU…and your greater personal development?

You may have heard this Jim Rohn quote before: “Income seldom exceeds personal development.”

Therein lies the key to growing your income — growing yourself.

Personal development involves making ones life better. It focuses on the career and education among other factors. Self improvement and taking a look at spirituality are also emphasized. The focus goes beyond the body to include improvement of habits and productivity.

It begins with the setting of personal goals with the current situation in mind. The evaluation of self becomes the point to begin your journey to self-improvement. It is important to know what you are aiming at before setting out a plan on how to achieve it. Your goals must be clear and tangible and be measurable for them to make any meaning.

Career forms a big part of life. It defines what we feel and become and is a huge contributor to overall personal improvement. Seeking to improve your career and financial situation will leave you a better person with a huge potential and feeling good about you life. It will enlarge you horizon and improve on your thinking and interactions.

Personal goals can be both short term and long term. It is the short ones that lead to the achievement of the long term ones. Self-improvement carries with it all these goals and covers even a healthy body. A holistically improved person is stable in body and spirit.

Self development is an on going process. It is about taking the current moment and being optimistic about the future.

The best platform for self-improvement is in the mind. Taking control of your thoughts will win most of the situations for you. The thoughts are the ones that lead in to habits. The best way to accomplish a holistic self development is to alter the habits and align them towards your desired self.

Inside of each of us is also an emotional and happiness set point. This is your current level of self-worth or personal development. No matter what happens outside you (temporary financial win, losing those last kilos of baby weight, happy relationship) you will always adjust back (sabotage) to your set points. We ALL do this.

Simply put, you will only ever be, do, have or maintain on the outside what matches your inside set points — your personal development.

When you raise your set points/personal development (self-identity, mindset, attitude, philosophy, skills and abilities), everything in your life will be raised with them.

In Jim Rohn’s words:

If you want to have more, you have to become more.
For things to change, you have to change.
For things to get better, you have to become better.

If you improve, everything will improve for you.
If you grow, your money will grow; your relationships, your health, your business and every external effect will mirror that growth in equal correlation.

If you have big goals, dreams and ambitions and are serious about achieving them, I encourage you make sure the size of your personal development investment matches the size of your goals.

Otherwise, they may remain just frustrating fantasies.

We offer a personal development educational home study course to help you to achieve your goals. The program is a series of techniques, concepts and like-minded advice that will guide you through steps of thinking, action and evaluation to attain what you desire.

Fill in the form on the right or contact us for more information on this award winning program.

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