Recently, Warren Buffett was named the richest man on earth. He is one of people I most admired because he became unbelievably successful starting from nothing. The most amazing thing about him is that wealth did not change who he is. The guy still lives in the same house he bought 30 years ago for $31,500. Even with the richest man on earth, the law of nature still holds true. He will turn 78 this year and will be gone some day. This is the reason he decided to give most of his wealth to charity and plan for successors to run his business.

This brings us to one of the truth in life. Time does not wait for anyone. No matter how old or how young we are, one certainty in life is that there is no guarantee for tomorrow. This is not to say that we should not dream and plan for our life. What I’m saying is that we should not put things off for tomorrow when we can do them today.

I do it too. I put things off in hope that it will go away. We hope that the things we need to get done can be taken care of later at another more convenience time. But, what if there is no tomorrow? What if there is no such thing as a “convenience time”? What if today is our only chance? Would you do it? Would you start it? Would you get it done? Opportunity comes and goes. The ones who take advantage of the opportunity will be the ones who get the rewards. Successful people take action while the rest wait for “convenience time.” They try and fail and try again until they succeed while the rest is still waiting. What can you do today to better yourself? What can you do right now to make it happen? The next time we get the urge to put things off, think of this question; what if there is no tomorrow? What would you do today?

Popularity: 92%

Fear. We all have it in one form or another. The main cause of fear is the negative experience in the past that associates with certain action or event. When facing the same action or event, fear prevents us from taking action.

But, what is fear really? It’s a thought inside our mind. Many people are afraid of height. When those of us with that fear are in a place at high elevation, what is the thought inside our mind? The most likely thought would be the one where we see ourselves falling. This thought freezes us and we would do what it takes to get away from such high places. It’s the same way with other types of fear.

But what would our lives be if we ran away from every one of our fears? Running away may be the easiest way out, but it will certainly lead to an unfulfilling life. I know this because I’ve experience it. I can guarantee that for us to succeed in life, we will need to conquer some if not all of our fears. So how do we fight? Because fear is in our mind, the battle must be in our thoughts. We must eliminate the negative image from fear and replace it with the things that we want to see. If we wanted to learn to swim but we have the fear of the water, don’t ever let the image of drowning stay in our mind for more than a second. Picture ourselves swimming and having fun in the water. Then just do it. Just jump in the water and begin to learn how to swim. Every time the negative image comes up, eliminate it by focusing on the positive outcome you want. Every time we start to draw back because of fear, push ahead and do it. The more we take action, the less we feel the fear. Then the victory will come when fear won’t matter anymore because we tame it. Successful people have fear just like every one of us, but they learn to conquer their fear. When we do the same, we will be on the same path of success.

Popularity: 88%

As I fed myself and the two ducks, my supply of food went by quickly. Good thing I usually eat a lot and brought sandwiches and other snacks. Upon finishing the first sandwich, there were some bread crumbs sticking to the plastic wrapper. I decided to not waste these crumbs and shook them off the plastic wrapper for the ducks to eat. At the moment I held out the wrapper and started shaking, the two ducks spooked out and flew to a safe landing nearby. I was stunted! These were the two ducks that came so close to me I could easily grab their necks and bring home some Peking ducks -. And now they are scared of the wrapper shaking?

They came back though. They must have decided that the plastic wrapper shaking was harmless and they weren’t about to let some other ducks enjoy the bread crumbs. But it happened again with the second sandwich. They got spooked with the plastic wrapper shaking, flew away, and came back again. What’s the deal? I thought to myself.

As I pondered upon this, it became clear that they simply reacted out of their natural instinct. A duck doesn’t have much of a weapon compared to other animals. It doesn’t have sharp teeth like a shark, powerful claws like a bear, or fierce combination of both like a lion. When faced with danger, a duck can only fly away. A duck doesn’t have much of a chance against us human, who can think and use our tools. Taking these things into account, the two ducks really took their chances when they got real close to me. And they knew it too, for they were ready to flee at first sign of danger. Fear must have been on their mind for sure. We can relate to this as we face many forms of fear in our lives. It can be a fear of rejection, fear of failure, or even fear of success. Fear is like wind resistance. The faster we move forward in our lives, the more wind resistance we face. The only time when there is no wind resistance is when we’re not moving. And the only time there is no fear is when we’re not doing anything. The trick is to not let fear stop us from getting to where we want to be. Successful people do have fear but they conquer it with action. And where there is action, there will surely be the results. So be like the ducky and go for the things you want in life.

Popularity: 37%

Things were going well for me and the two ducks. I was enjoying a nice day at the park and they were enjoying the food I gave. But things evolved, as always. Not long after the two ducks got their food, the other ducks started to notice. They may or may not be hungry at first, but now that they saw the two ducks receiving some food, they wanted some too. So they came, the two other duck couples who were hanging out by the lake. Even the seagulls now wanted in on the action and they stood back a little further behind all the ducks.

What happened next was quite astonishing to me. As soon as the first two ducks saw the latecomers, they went nuts. They lowered their heads at once in an attack mode and launched themselves toward the enemies with such a force that even I had to stand back, away from the battlefield. Luckily, there were no casualties. The latecomer ducks did not retaliate but simply retreated back to the lake. Although, it was a victory for the first two ducks, I got so mad at them for doing what they did. Why did you have to fight? I thought. I was gonna give you and the other ducks the food anyway. If you all gonna fight over it, then none of you will get it. So, I stopped giving out food after the whole episode.

Even though I was mad at them at the time, I now understand why the first two ducks did what they did. I imagine if I was a duck, finding food is probably the most important thing in my world. I mean think about it. A duck lives in a world where comfort is not a choice. It must fly hundreds of miles to find a warm place to find food. This takes energy and effort. When a duck is hungry, it doesn’t have a family, a friend, or a charity group that it can go to get food. The only way for it to survive is to find food or starve to death. The only ones who make it are the ones who are willing to do whatever it takes to get food. This is why the two ducks did what they did. They worked hard to get my attention and were there first. Why should the latecomers benefit from their efforts? We, as human, can really learn from them. We live in a world with tremendous resources and opportunities. In addition, we have the abilities and talents to find ways to get what we want. The only thing that stands between where we are now and where we want to be is the determination to do what it takes. So, be like the ducky and do what it takes to get what we want.

Popularity: 34%

With a Life Google Map on hand and the LifeMobile prepared, we are ready to start. But as we all know, things always come up at the last minute. Isn’t it funny how the parking lot near the health club would always seem to be full which leads us to not go exercise more? Ever wonder why we always seem to run out of time which leads us to not read or learn new skills to improve ourselves? Or, how come the other person wouldn’t just understand our point of view which leads us to not resolve the conflict? The truth is there will always be a reason that will cause us to not start building our dream life. But just like a coin, as long as there is a head, we can be sure to find a tail on the flip side. For every reason for us to not take action, there is always a reason for us to do it. The key is what are we focusing on?

There is a saying that whatever we focus on it’ll grow. Think about it. When we haven’t eaten for days and are starving like mad, what is the only thing we think about? We think about food, right? And what do we do? We look for food and wouldn’t stop until we had eaten and are satisfied, right? It’s the same way with our dream life. If we can train ourselves to think about it every single breathing moment, we will surely find a way to get the life we want. It won’t matter what obstacles we face or what reason people say against it. If we know what we want and believe without a doubt in our heart that one day we’ll get what we want, we will find a reason to go out and make it happen.

The most important decision we can make right now is to just do it now, not tonight, not tomorrow, not next month, not when everything is ready and perfectly planned, but right now. What can you do right now to help yourself? One characteristic of successful people is that they take action. I’m sure Warren Buffett did not know everything there is to know about the stock market when he bought his first stock at age 11. Charlie Munger, Buffett’s long time business partner, said that one of the reasons Buffett is so successful is that he got an early start. Tiger Woods is the same way. He hit his first golf ball when he was 4. Of course, Warren Buffett and Tiger Woods do have the unique ability and talent to succeed. But remember also that we didn’t know how to do the most basic things, like walking and talking, when we were born. Everything can be learned. To go back to our road trip analogy, the ones who start their LifeEngine and take off early will most likely get to where they want to be first.

Popularity: 33%