Contrary to popular belief, you don’t come into the world with nothing but your naked self. You’re actually already in possession of one of your most important gifts: time.
I like to imagine time as if you are given a certain amount of tickets at birth. At the end of each day, you hand in one of your tickets until they are all gone. At that point, your life is over.
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In 2005 a children’s picture book called And Tango Makes Three was published. The story follows two Chinstrap penguins in New York’s Central Park Zoo named Roy and Silo. The two penguins hatch and raise a young chick named Tango and make a family.
So far the story seems simple and almost unremarkable. That would be true if it were not for one simple twist in the story. Roy and Silo are both male. Due to this one simple story element, the book has topped the list of controversial and banned books in the United States every year since its release.
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In general there are two types of successful people I meet. The first type know at an early age what they want to do and do everything they can to get there. The second type have a goal in mind and work hard to get there, but change goals half-way to finish in an entirely different place. Where they end up isn’t anywhere near where they wanted to go, but in the end it is still a successful accomplishment.
Both types of people would be considered successful. The only real difference between the two is that the second type abandoned their original goals even if they had been held for a long period of time. So what does this mean for success in your life? If you might end up in an entirely different place and still be successful, does the path you take really matter?
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I don’t think I’m exaggerating when I say one of the most important qualities for someone to have in order to be successful is creativity. Having the ability to create a new idea out of nothing is a highly desirable trait. And if you asked the creators of various businesses, they would add that new ideas can also be very profitable.
But beyond any monetary gains, being creative has other benefits. Research has shown being creative can improve mood, self-esteem, and socialization. Creativity is useful in solving real-world problems by being able to see things from new perspectives. This can increase your critical thinking power and make you a better decision-maker.
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One of my fondest memories happened just one year ago. It was early in the evening in San Antonio and I was having a cold lager in the city’s famous Riverwalk district. I had traveled all the way across the country to see a place in the United States my fiancee raved about. She was right. The Riverwalk in San Antonio is a vibrant, fun-loving place. It’s a place I’m very thankful for experiencing.
In contrast, I find that I don’t have the same satisfaction level for things I own. While I do enjoy buying things here and there when I need to, they just don’t seem to generate the same positive memories for me. It’s nice to own things, but it is just not the same as experiencing something. Which is why I generally choose to do something rather than own something.
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I write and think a lot about carpe diem. In this time, I’ve noticed most people get stuck at the same points and go through similar setbacks when they’re trying to seize the day. It occurred to me that carpe diem is just a series of steps people pass through.
So in the spirit of Maslow’s hierarchy and Bloom’s taxonomy (no relation), I came up with a diagram explaining the key aspects of how carpe diem works. And I think when you look through the diagram yourself, you’ll realize, like most things, living life to the fullest is a process.
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Everyone has their own opinion. It doesn’t matter if it’s about a subject we know little about; if it’s something we can argue, we’ll do it. With the spread of web 2.0, people have been spouting opinions through Youtube, blogs, Facebook and Twitter more now than ever before in history.
And most people would consider that a good thing. After all, we’ve been conditioned through school to voice our opinions through essays and discussion. It’s just a natural transition to want to speak out. However, despite what we’d all like to think, most people’s opinions don’t really matter.
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