Life Lessons

By Patrick Driessen

"One thing is clear to me. You can't know everything you'd like to know. You can't do everything you'd like to do. You can't read everything you'd like to read. You must hold onto some things and let go of others. Learning to make that choice is one of the big lessons of this life.” - Real Life Preacher

“Never be afraid to laugh at yourself, after all, you could be missing out on the joke of the century!” - Dame Edna Everage

Based on some recent questions I have received from a few close friends about what my best life lessons are, I've been stretching my own thinking about my best life lessons. I've now worked these out in a list to help improve my own personal & business performance. It's quite personal and you might not appreciate all of it, but I'm sure you can benefit from some of it as well.

1. Compliment even small improvements.
2. Call your mother/father on a regular basis.
3. Keep your promises (no matter what).
4. Don't be afraid to say "I made a mistake".
5. Communicate openly, honestly and directly.
6. Never underestimate the power of love.
7. Compliment at least 3 people every day.
8. Think big thoughts, relish small pleasures.
9. Say "Thank you" and "Please" a lot.
10. Wish friends, family & colleagues a happy birthday.
11. Be kind and respectful to anyone you meet.
12. Sing under the shower.
    
13. Commit yourself to constant improvement.
14. Have a firm handshake and look the other straight in the eyes when shaking hands.
15. Send anonymous Valentine cards with the text: "From someone who thinks you're terrific".
16. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip, energy vampires, issues of the past, negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.
17. Look people in the eye and focus your body language to the other, so you are in full listening mode.
18. Always raise more questions to gain more knowledge.
19. Expand and maintain your network (it's not what you know, but who you know).
20. Do a good deed every day.
21. Plant a tree at least once a year (on your birthday!).
22. Do not multi-task while listening to what someone else has to say.
23. Be the first to say "Hello".
24. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
25. Stop blaming others. Take responsibility for every area of your life.
26. Be there when people need you.
27. Treat everyone you meet like you want to be treated.
    
28. Take a multi-vitamin pill, a Vitamin-B Complex pill and sufficient fish-oil (Omega-3) pills every day.
29. Make at least three people smile each day.
30. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: 'In five years, will this matter?'
31. Never waste an opportunity to tell someone you love them.
32. Become an expert in kissing, dancing and making love: you'll be the best lover in the world!
33. Care about your own health and have a full health check at least once a year.
34. Be the best parent to your children and spend enough quality time with them.
35. Don't expect life to be fair. But it's still good.
36. Always wave and smile at kids on school buses.
    
37. Drink champagne for no reason at all.
38. Live your life as an exclamation, not as an explanation.
39. Regularly think about and plan for the top-50 things you want to do/achieve/experience before you’ll die.
40. Surprise yourself and your loved ones at least once a week.
41. Smile and laugh as much as possible! A good sense of humour cures almost all of life's ills.
42. Life's too short to waste time hating anyone.
43. Don't save on the quality of food or wine/champagne.
44. Watch a sunrise at least once a year.
45. Always accept an outstretched hand.
    
46. You don't have to shout to get your point across if you use the right words.
47. To constantly improve yourself: be self-critical and ask your friends and colleagues for their honest feedback to help you improve.
48. Have a dedicated external coach and a mentor, and an internal mentor as well. They should be your trusted advisers.
49. The more you exercise your networking muscles, the stronger they get.
50. Dare to be different and stand-out.
51. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
52. Set a bar high when you take on a new challenge.
53. Leave the (cleaned) toilet seat in the down position.
54. Entrepreneurs are people who take the cold water thrown on their idea, heat it with enthusiasm, make steam and push ahead.
55. Make new friends but cherish the old ones.
    
56. Learn four clean jokes.
    
57. Share your thoughts, ideas, knowledge and experience with others, so they can benefit from it as well.
58. You need to win the war and not necessarily every battle.
59. Technology should improve your life, not become your life.
60. Reward yourself at least once per week if you have earned it for something challenging you have achieved or overcome successfully.
61. Wake up with a smile!
    
62. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a college kid with a maxed-out charge card.
63. Plan and take quality time to focus on your personal development.
64. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.
65. Carry jumper cables in your trunk.
    
66. Do everything you do with passion and dedication.
67. Always try to control yourself: Remember, anger is just one letter short of danger.
68. A lot of people lie. Surprising isn't it? Well they do, so accept it. Do not start lying as well; always be honest to yourself and to others, it will make you a better person.
69. Strive for excellence, not perfection.
70. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
71. Buy whatever kids are selling on card tables in their front yards.
    
72. In business, you should walk your talk... and know when to talk before you walk.
73. Amateurs practice until they get it right. Professionals practice until they can't get it wrong.
74. There will always be people who do not like you, and you don't like. Be very nice to them (especially to your enemies); it will annoy them!
75. Feed a stranger's expired parking meter.
    
76. Always smile just before you answer an incoming phone call.
    
77. You are not so important that you have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
78. It is amazingly rewarding and satisfying to help someone in their time of need. It helps them, and it also helps you!
79. The most powerful single thing you can do to influence others is to smile at them.
80. Forgive everyone for everything.
81. Keep it simple.
    
82. Always listen to the advice you give to others, and apply it to your own life.
83. Friends are amazing, and true friends are rare, so cherish them.
84. You're never old enough to stop learning.
85. Dress to impress.
86. Marry only for true love!
    
87. What other people think of you is none of your business.
88. How people play the game shows something of their character. How they lose shows all of it.
89. Leave everything a little better than you found it.
    
90. Miracles happen everyday.
91. Become the most positive and enthusiastic person you know.
    
92. Be brave even if your not, pretend to be. No one can tell the difference.
93. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
94. When you help others, they will help you in return. It comes in handy.
95. Good jokes will always bring laughter and smiles, just share them.
96. Let go of the past, you can not change it. Just take the lessons learned and apply them in your future.
97. Take the time to relax.
98. Ask for a salary raise when you feel you have earned it.
    
99. Do at least twenty hours of community work per year.
100. Expect the unexpected.
101. Never give up on anybody.
102. Learn to listen. Opportunity sometimes knocks very softly.
103. Never deprive someone of hope, it might be all they have.
104. When someone hugs you, let them be the first to let go.
105. Never cut what can be untied.
106. Be forgiving of yourself and others.
     
107. Always be the first to make a proposal; it will get you in a better negotiation position.
108. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch!
109. Remember that nobody makes it alone. Have a grateful heart and be quick to acknowledge those who help you.
110. Never underestimate the power of a kind word or deed.
111. Overtip breakfast waitresses.
     
112. Don't miss the magic of the moment by focusing on what’s to come.
113. Remember: Success comes to the one that acts first.
114. Watch for big problems. They disguise big opportunities.
115. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
116. Avoid negative people.
     
117. You have only one life, make every day the best it can be.
118. Always see the positive side, the glass is half full!
119. Read at least one book a month (leaders are readers).
120. In deal-making: all rules can be bent or broken (except in law and science)
121. Take a friend for coffee once a week.
122. Give more, expect less from a personal perspective.
123. Allocate time for personal development on a regular basis.
124. Life's too short not to show your love or appreciation to someone or something!
125. What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us. What we have done for others lasts forever!
126. Always wear polished shoes.
     
127. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.
128. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.
129. Growing old surely beats the alternative: dying young!
130. Remember other people's birthdays.
     
131. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
132. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
133. Become an entrepreneurial leader and a leading entrepreneur!
134. You can get everything in life you want, if you help enough other people get what they want.
     
135. The best is yet to come!

“It is confidence in our bodies, minds and spirits that allows us to keep looking for new adventures, new directions to grow in, and new lessons to learn - which is what life is all about!” - Oprah Winfrey


"The best investment anyone can ever make is an investment in oneself!" - Patrick Driessen

Make this a Positive & Fruitful Day…..unless you have other plans!

Warm regards & success,


Patrick Driessen

© Patrick W. Driessen. All rights reserved.