In our own eyes, we’re complex evolving beings and everyone else should consider a multitude of factors when making judgments about us. When it’s our time to sit in the judgment seat, however, it’s easy to reduce others to whatever image that best fits our memory of them.
Author: T.K. Coleman
TK Coleman is the Education Director for Praxis. He has coached dozens of young people and top performers from all stages of life. He’s the author of hundreds of articles and is a frequent speaker on education, entrepreneurship, freedom, personal growth, and creativity. TK is a relentless learner, has been involved in numerous startups, and has professional experience ranging from the entertainment to financial services industries and academia. Above all else, TK is on a mission to help people embrace their own power and expand their own possibilities.
It’s Not The Advice, It’s How You Apply It
In your efforts to study “the success secrets of the rich and famous,” don’t forget the following: every good conceptual tool has a context within which it is harmful or unwise to use.
Your Adventure Isn’t The Only One (And That’s Good For Your Adventure)
It can be easy for those of us who self-identify as “creative types” and “adventurous spirits” to get so absorbed in our own concept of what makes life interesting that we make the mistake of assuming we have a monopoly on what it means to live freely and fully.
Learning is Like Showering: Don’t Stop Doing It
Pursue knowledge in the same way you brush your teeth or change your clothes. Instead of taking pride in how much you’ve done it in the past, try to remember how much you’re going to stink if you don’t keep doing it regularly.
Question Everything, Not Just the Alternatives
If you want to go to college and still be accepted by your family/friends, you don’t need a good reason for attending. The world will gladly accept your decision and praise you for it without the slightest bit of scrutiny. If you want to pursue an alternative, however, get ready for the most intense interrogation of your life because people will finally begin to care about all sorts of questions they’d never dare pose to a college student or college administrator.
There Are No Safe Books
Kafka said it best: “If the book we’re reading doesn’t wake us up with a blow on the head, what are we reading it for? A book must be the axe for the frozen sea inside us.”
How to Know What Really Matters to You
Don’t just think about what you would live for if you knew you could have it all. Think about what you would fight for if you knew it would cost you everything.
Where’s the Beef?
You want to get ahead in life? Do your job and do it with pride… even if it’s fast food. Professional freedom isn’t the by-product of your label, it’s the consequence of your mindset and your work ethic. Wherever you are, show up and get things done.
A Quick Question About That Brilliant Idea You Have
This is not only a question for artists, entrepreneurs, and other people who identify themselves as doers. It’s also for philosophers, thinkers, visionaries, and self-proclaimed “idea guys.”
Use Your Free Time to Create More Freedom
I constantly hear people say “I don’t want to talk or think about work when I’m not at the job.” These are usually the same people who are so worn out by work that they define “relaxation” primarily in terms of being off the clock. Free time is great, but the whole purpose of free time is to actually enjoy, experience, and enhance your freedom.