The Best Student and Teacher

The best Dharma student
aspires to be the best teacher
[a Buddha].

The best Dharma teacher
aspires to be the best student
[a good disciple of the Buddha(s)].

The Guilt of War

The first casualty of war is always the Truth.

And it is often the poor people who suffered the most.

The rich will just get on with their lives, with no worries about how the war will impact them. It is like they live in another world where sufferings will not touch them.

Yet, all of them are living under the web of delusions.

As all of us are connected one way or another, the consequences of the war will also visit them sooner or later...

Get Wisdom at any Cost

Proverbs 4

Listen, my son, to a father’s instruction;
pay attention and gain understanding.

I give you sound learning,
so do not forsake my teaching.

For I too was a son to my father,
still tender, and cherished by my mother.

Then he taught me, and he said to me,

“Take hold of my words with all your heart;
keep my commands, and you will live.

Get wisdom, get understanding;
do not forget my words or turn away from them.

Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you;
love her, and she will watch over you.

The beginning of wisdom is this:
[a] Get wisdom, though it cost all you have,
[b] Get understanding.

Cherish her, and she will exalt you;
embrace her, and she will honor you.

She will give you a garland to grace your head
and present you with a glorious crown.”

Listen, my son, accept what I say,
and the years of your life will be many.

I instruct you in the way of wisdom
and lead you along straight paths.

When you walk, your steps will not be hampered;
when you run, you will not stumble.

Hold on to instruction, do not let it go;
guard it well, for it is your life.

Do not set foot on the path of the wicked
or walk in the way of evildoers.

Avoid it, do not travel on it;
turn from it and go on your way.

For they cannot rest until they do evil;
they are robbed of sleep till they make someone stumble.

They eat the bread of wickedness
and drink the wine of violence.

The path of the righteous is like the morning sun,
shining ever brighter till the full light of day.

But the way of the wicked is like deep darkness;
they do not know what makes them stumble.

My son, pay attention to what I say;
turn your ear to my words.

Do not let them out of your sight,
keep them within your heart;

For they are life to those who find them
and health to one’s whole body.

Above all else, guard your heart,
for everything you do flows from it.

Keep your mouth free of perversity;
keep corrupt talk far from your lips.

Let your eyes look straight ahead;
fix your gaze directly before you.

Give careful thought to the[c] paths for your feet
and be steadfast in all your ways.

Do not turn to the right or the left;
keep your foot from evil.

Awaken

Life is Short.
Time is Fleeting.
Uncover the True Nature.
Purify the Mind and the Heart
To Attain True Happiness.
Be Kind; Be Compassionate.
Ge Generous; Do Good.
Concentrate.
Understand.
Awaken...

- The Heart of the Buddha

Pure Land and Zen

The supreme and endless blessings of Samantabhadra’s deeds,
I now universally transfer,
May every living being, drowning and adrift,
Soon return to the Land of Limitless Light! [Amituofo's Pure Land]

~ Samantabhadra Bodhisattva (Vow #10)


Many people following the current fashion of Zen think of it as the supreme Dharma.

They look down on Pure Land and do not practice it. Because they delight in fame, they learn some words and sentences from ancient sages so that they can talk smoothly and eulogize one another.

The urge to enter the Dharma doors (i.e., to cultivate) is in decline. These people not only lack real practice, they even deprecate the Mahayana sutras, claiming that the sutras are mere words and need not be read. Though such persons may have some mundane knowledge, they cannot save themselves. It is really terrible.

Most of them do not understand the Mahayana sutras, do not understand that there are many expedient methods for teaching sentient beings, do not know the meaning of the expression: “Everything returns to oneness, but there are many expedient methods that lead us to an understanding of the Truth.”

They only know that the Zen Patriarchs stressed Awakening.

Yet the original intent of the awakened mind is to end Birth and Death. Is this not also the very purpose of Buddha Recitation?

Many Zen practitioners fail to escape the cycle of Birth and Death, while Pure Land followers find it easy to escape that cycle [by seeking birth in Pure Land first, where Enlightenment is guaranteed by learning in the best environment from the best enlightened teachers].

What is the reason for this?

It is because to practice Zen, you must stop the thought process, while to recite the Buddha’s name, you must concentrate on pure thoughts.

Since sentient beings have been mired in false thinking for untold eons, it is very difficult to detach themselves from it [and thus end the thought process].

Buddha Recitation, on the other hand, changes impure thoughts to pure thoughts, fighting poison with poison to purify one’s own thoughts.

Therefore, in Zen practice it is difficult to attain Awakening, while Buddha Recitation makes it easy to reach that goal.

If you really want to end Birth and Death in one lifetime, concentrate on Buddha Recitation. There is no need to worry any further.

People today think of the Dharma of Pure Land as an expedient teaching [skilful means]. Little do they realize that it is also a wonderful teaching.

Take the Great Bodhisattva Samantabhadra, whose teaching encompasses the whole Dharma Realm (cosmos). He made ten Great Vows directed toward the Pure Land.

The Patriarch Asvaghosa relied on numerous Mahayana sutras to write the Treatise on the Awakening of the Faith, showing sentient beings the way to the Pure Land.

Zen patriarchs in China are involved in transmission of the lamp (Mind-to-Mind transmission). While they may not always refer to the Pure Land, if after becoming awakened and bringing an end to the cycle of Birth and Death, they do not turn to the Pure Land, would that not be nihilism?

The eminent Zen Master Yung-Ming collected passages from the entire Tripitaka (Buddhist Canon) demonstrating that to point to the Mind is to return to the Pure Land.

During the Dharma-Ending Age, many Zen masters glorify the Western Pure Land. Moreover, the Pure Land Dharma was preached by Sakyamuni Buddha himself without being requested and is extolled by all Buddhas throughout the Ten Directions [as stated in the Amitabha Sutra].

Are not the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas and Patriarchs more worthy than a few defiled sentient beings?

- Extracted from Pure Land of the Patriachs

Super Moon

On March 19, the moon approached the earth at its closest range in more than 18 years.

Because of that, the moon looks very large and beautiful.

Here are 50 beautiful pictures of the Supermoon appearing all over the world: -

Beautiful Pictures of Supermoon

Amazing Talent

This guy has the most amazing talent!

Watch the cool video

Child Soldiers

There are children as young as 4 years old training to be soldiers in Africa.

What kind of hate and evil in the society and people there that would do such things?

Yet, there is hope.

Hope that comes from people who see the evil and takes steps to help the children there to build a better future.

There is hope in a former child soldier who have found salvation and turned away from the evil paths to become a role-model for his community.

Even in the bleakest times of evil, the light of hope will always shine brightly...

The Tiny Dot

The truth about politics and the power you surrender to your elected representatives.

Japan Earthquakes in Fast Time

Here is a video showing earthquakes in Japan between 9 March and 14 March.

Every 1 hour is represented as 1 second in the video.

As you can see, there were numerous earthquakes at more than 5.0 on the Ritcher scale in the days leading to the big earthquake off Sendai.

Big earthquake occurred around 1:17 in the video.

Notice the numerous after-shocks following the big one around the area.

It is only a matter of time before the fault line near Tokyo ruptured...

May Buddha bless all the people of Japan and deliver them from sufferings and harm.

Facing Fear

"You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do."

- Eleanor Roosevelt

It is only when you take the risk to do so, to face fear in the face, that you realize that you have more meaningful life experiences.

When you look back at your life, it is those times when you jumped into the unknown, decided to do what you had never done before and had the courage to go against the nay-sayers, that you find that the rewards have been well worth it.

By living in the Now, rather than being afraid of the "What-ifs", is when you build the beautiful memories of a life well lived to the fullest.

And you will rejoice at the joyful things that you encountered and give thanks for the many disappointments and losses that you faced.

It is the good times and the bad times that made your life a tapestry of beauty...

Earthquake in Japan

Yesterday, a massive earthquake measuring 8.9 on the Ritcher scale rumbled through the eastern part of Japan just off-shore from Sendai. This was followed by many after-shocks, some measuring 6.0 or more.

The earthquake caused massive tsunamis of more than 10 meters that devastated many coastal areas in Japan as well as in other countries.

The images on TV showed the helplessness of the Japanese people in the face of such great devastation. We see houses and cars swept away like toys in a massive river of waves. Many people died.



Even as I write this, there were news that 2 of the nuclear reactors has exploded, with radiation pouring into the atmosphere.

Mother Nature seems to be really angry with all the pollution that we have poured into the environment.

This year will be a year marked with many such natural disasters to come.

May Buddha protect all sentient beings from suffering. May they all be well, safe and happy.

Our prayers are with all the victims who are going through massive hardship and sufferings in Japan and the rest of the world.

The Mangala Sutta

There is a short but popular scripture called the Mangala Sutta (Discourse on Blessings).

According to a commentary, it was preached when there was a great discussion among humans regarding what the true definition of ‘blessings’ was.

The devas (gods) who overheard this too argued among themselves till the debate spread upwards into the heavens. Knowing this, Sakka (Sakra: king of Tavatimsa heaven) suggested that a deva should visit the Buddha for the answer.

The sutta is an example of why the wise Buddha is regarded as a ‘Teacher of humans and gods’.

In the cover of deep night for privacy, the deva, whose radiance illuminated Jeta Grove approached the Buddha, respectfully saluted him and asked, ’Many deities and humans longing for [good and] happiness have pondered on blessings [mangala: that conducive to happiness and prosperity]. Pray tell me what the highest blessings are.’

The Buddha replied thus —

’[1] Not to associate with the foolish [who have evil conduct, unless one can transform them], but to associate with the wise; and to honour those who are worthy of honour — this is the greatest blessing.

[2] To reside in a suitable locality [for Dharma learning and practice], to have done meritorious actions in the past and to set oneself in the right course [towards enlightenment] — this is the greatest blessing.

[3] To have much learning, to be skilful in [handi]craft [skill for one's work], well-trained in discipline, and to be of good speech — this is the greatest blessing.

[4] To support mother and father, to cherish wife [spouse] and children, and to be engaged in peaceful occupation [that harms none] — this is the greatest blessing.

[5] To be generous in giving, to be righteous in conduct, to help one’s relatives, and to be blameless in action — this is the greatest blessing.

[6] To abhor more evil and abstain from it, to refrain from intoxicants, and to be steadfast in virtue — this is the greatest blessing.

[7] To be respectful, humble, contented and grateful; and to listen to the Dharma on due occasions — this is the greatest blessing.

[8] To be patient and obedient, to associate with [good and wise] monastics and to have religious discussions on due occasions — this is the greatest blessing.

[9] Self-restraint, a holy and chaste life, the perception of the Noble Truths and the realisation of Nirvana — this is the greatest blessing.

[10] A mind unruffled by the vicissitudes of life (Eight Worldly Winds: gain-loss, fame-defame, praise-blame, pleasure-pain), from sorrow freed, from defilements [greed, hate, delusion] cleansed, from fear liberated — this is the greatest blessing.

Those who thus abide [in the above, from 1-10], ever remain invincible, in happiness established. These are the greatest blessings.’ (Adapted from Venerable Narada’s translation)

The deva might had expected a simple singular and somewhat unfathomable answer, but what the Buddha pragmatically listed was a checklist of down-to-earth blessings (10 in brief and 38 in detail), beginning from the attainment of worldly happiness, and stretching progressively to the ultimate goal of spiritual happiness, all of which are the greatest blessings in their own context, which implies that they collectively form the truly greatest of all blessings.

The less we fulfill of the list, the less blessed we are, missing opportunities to sustain or increase our blessings. Of course, to share these teachings like the Buddha did to guide others to practise accordingly would constitute an even greater blessing.

Instead of blessings being a vague or abstract power given by others to us, to be blessed is in terms of protecting and elevating oneself from evil, to advance towards purity in compassion and wisdom.

However, this does not mean blessings must always be self-created and can never be shared, as we can still practise the dedicating of merits from our own blessings with one another.

The Mangala Sutta is traditionally recited as a Paritta text for protection and yes, blessing – for both the reciters and listeners seen and unseen, which urges them to bless themselves by following its teachings. In a way, when the sutta is chanted, the Buddha is sharing the blessings of his realisation of its truths with us too! To copy the sutta in print to better internalise its teachings, and for sharing it is meritorious too. This applies to forwarding to share this article too!

- Extracted from TheDailyEnlightenment.com

The Awakening

THE AWAKENING
Author Unknown

A time comes in your life when you finally get it…when, in the midst
of all your fears and insanity, you stop dead in your tracks and somewhere the voice inside your head cries out – ENOUGH!

Enough fighting and crying or struggling to hold on. And, like a child quieting down after a blind tantrum, your sobs begin to subside, you shudder once or twice, you blink back your tears and begin to look at the world through new eyes.

This is your awakening.

You realize it’s time to stop hoping and waiting for something to change…or for happiness, safety and security to come galloping over the next horizon.

You come to terms with the fact that neither of you is Prince Charming or Cinderella and that in the real world there aren’t always fairy tale endings (or beginnings for that matter) and that any guarantee of “happily ever after” must begin with you…and in the process a sense of serenity is born of acceptance.

You awaken to the fact that you are not perfect and that not everyone will always love, appreciate or approve of who or what you are … and that’s OK.

They are entitled to their own views and opinions.

And you learn the importance of loving and championing yourself and in the process a sense of new found confidence is born of self-approval.

You stop complaining and blaming other people for the things they did to you (or didn’t do for you) and you learn that the only thing you can really count on is the unexpected.

You learn that people don’t always say what they mean or mean what they say and that not everyone will always be there for you and that it’s not always about you.

So, you learn to stand on your own and to take care of yourself…and in the process a sense of safety and security is born of self-reliance.

You stop judging and pointing fingers and you begin to accept people as they are and to overlook their shortcomings and human frailties..and in the process a sense of peace and contentment is born of forgiveness.

You realize that much of the way you view yourself, and the world around you, is as a result of all the messages and opinions that have been ingrained into your psyche.

And you begin to sift through all the junk you’ve been fed about how you should behave, how you should look, how much you should weigh, what you should wear, what you should do for a living, how much money you should make, what you should drive, how and where you should live, who you should marry, the importance of having and raising children, and what you owe your parents, family, and friends.

You learn to open up to new worlds and different points of view.

And you begin reassessing and redefining who you are and what you really stand for.

You learn the difference between wanting and needing and you begin to discard the doctrines and values you’ve outgrown, or should never have bought into to begin with … and in the process you learn to go with your instincts.

You learn that it is truly in giving that we receive.

And that there is power and glory in creating and contributing and you stop maneuvering through life merely as a “consumer” looking for your next fix.

You learn that principles such as honesty and integrity are not the outdated ideals of a bygone era but the mortar that holds together the foundation upon which you just build a life.

You learn that you don’t know everything, it’s not your job to save the world and that you can’t teach a pig to sing.

You learn to distinguish between guilt and responsibility and the importance of setting boundaries and learning to say NO.

You learn that the only cross to bear is the one you choose to carry and that martyrs get burned at the stake.

Then you learn about love.

How to love, how much to give in love, when to stop giving and when to walk away.

You learn to look at relationships as they really are and not as you would have them be.

You stop trying to control people, situations and outcomes.

And you learn that alone does not mean lonely.

You also stop working so hard at putting your feelings aside, smoothing things over and ignoring your needs.

You learn that feelings of entitlement are perfectly OK….and that it is your right to want things and to ask for the things you want … and that sometimes it is necessary to make demands.

You come to the realization that you deserve to be treated with love, kindness, sensitivity and respect and you won’t settle for less.

And you learn that your body really is your temple.

And you begin to care for it and treat it with respect.

You begin to eat a balanced diet, drink more water, and take more time to exercise.

You learn that being tired fuels doubt, fear, and uncertainty and so you take more time to rest.

And, just as food fuels the body, laughter fuels our soul.

So you take more time to laugh and to play.

You learn that, for the most part, you get in life what you believe you deserve…and that much of life truly is a self-fulfilling prophecy.

You learn that anything worth achieving is worth working for and that wishing for something to happen is different than working toward making it happen.

More importantly, you learn that in order to achieve success you need direction, discipline and perseverance.

You also learn that no one can do it all alone…and that it’s OK to risk asking for help.

You learn the only thing you must truly fear is the greatest robber baron of all: FEAR itself.

You learn to step right into and through your fears because you know that whatever happens you can handle it and to give in to fear is to give away the right to live life on your own terms.

And you learn to fight for your life and not to squander it living under a cloud of impending doom.

You learn that life isn’t always fair, you don’t always get what you think you deserve and that sometimes bad things happen to unsuspecting, good people.

On these occasions you learn not to personalize things.

You learn that God isn’t punishing you or failing to answer your prayers.

It’s just life happening.

And you learn to deal with evil in its most primal state – the ego.

You learn that negative feelings such as anger, envy and resentment must be understood and redirected or they will suffocate the life out of you and poison the universe that surrounds you.

You learn to admit when you are wrong and to build bridges instead of walls.

You learn to be thankful and to take comfort in many of the simple things we take for granted, things that millions of people upon the earth can only dream about: a full refrigerator, clean running water, a soft warm bed, a long hot shower.

Slowly, you begin to take responsibility for yourself by yourself and you make yourself a promise to never betray yourself and to never, ever settle for less than your heart’s desire.

And you hang a wind chime outside your window so you can listen to the wind.

And you make it a point to keep smiling, to keep trusting, and to stay open to every wonderful possibility.

Finally, with courage in your heart and God by your side you take a stand, you take a deep breath, and you begin to design the life you want to live as best you can.

Powerful Affirmations

Do this everyday and see how your life transform...

8 Stupid Mistakes Smart People Make

8 Stupid Mistakes Smart People Make

I bet you know quite a few capable people who are staggeringly unproductive. They work long hours, stress themselves out and never seem to make any significant progress, right?

Over the course of our lives we all develop unproductive habits that hinder us from gracefully achieving our critical goals. And often, in the fast-paced world in which we live and work we don’t even notice that we’re making the same mistakes over and over again. To live a balanced, beneficial life and engage in a long-term satisfying work, ridding ourselves of these oversights is imperative.

Here are eight mistakes smart people often make and how to avoid them:

1. They confuse being busy with being productive.

In his book, The 4-Hour Workweek, Tim Ferris says, “Slow down and remember this: Most things make no difference. Being busy is often a form of mental laziness – lazy thinking and indiscriminate action.” This is Ferris’ way of saying “work smarter, not harder,” which happens to be one of the most prevalent modern day personal development clichés. But like most clichés, few people actually adhere to it.

Just take a quick look around. The busy outnumber the productive by a wide margin.

Busy people are rushing all over the place, and running late half of the time. They’re heading to work, conferences, meetings, social engagements, etc. They barely have enough free time for family get-togethers and they rarely get enough sleep. Yet, business emails are shooting out of their smart phones like machine gun bullets and their daily planner is jammed to the brim with obligations.

Their busy schedule gives them an elevated sense of importance. But it’s all an illusion. They’re like hamsters running on a wheel.

The solution: Slow down. Breath. Review your commitments. Put first things first. Do one thing at a time. Start now. Take a short break in two hours. Repeat.

2. They spend time pursuing bogus achievements.

Personal growth is healthy. Personal growth is an achievement. So long as it’s real. The problem is the pressure to grow brings with it the incentive to make growth easier. Or more precisely, to make growth seem easier.

‘Growth games’ that promote bogus achievements are popping up online at an alarming rate. Many of them are contained within products and services provided by popular brand names like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. They each contain a psychological underpinning that supports a growth game filled with bogus achievements – an accumulation of points that’s tied to the intended benefit of the core product or service.

With Facebook it’s friends. With Twitter it’s followers. With LinkedIn it’s connections.

Yes, each of them serves a legitimate purpose if used purposefully in moderation. But most people get so carried away – obsessed – with the growth game’s point system that they completely forget about the legitimate reason they started using the product or service in the first place.

If you’re playing the game simply for entertainment’s sake, and you’re aware of it, great, more power to you. But if you’re striving to achieve more and more friends, followers and connections for the sake of achieving them, your achievements are totally bogus.

This is why it’s imperative to get your mind right about what you’re doing and why you’re doing it.

The solution: Simply ask yourself: Is this activity making a positive, tangible difference in my life or anyone else’s life? Is it a true prerequisite for a genuine goal? Alternatively, am I absolutely okay with doing this just because I like doing it, laboring free of any delusion that it benefits me or anyone else? The Success Principles is a great read on this topic.

3. They learn how to do something and never do it.

Sadly, very few people ever live to become the success story they dream about. And there’s one simple reason why:

They never take action!

The acquisition of knowledge doesn’t mean you’re growing. Growing happens when what you know changes how you live. Most people live in a complete daze. Actually, they don’t LIVE. They just ‘get by’ because they never take the necessary action to make things happen – to seek their dreams.

It doesn’t matter if you have a genius IQ and a PhD in Quantum Physics, you can’t change anything or make any sort of real-world progress without taking action. There’s a huge difference between knowing how to do something and actually doing it. Knowledge and intelligence are both useless without action. It’s as simple as that.

The solution: Success hinges on the simple act of making a decision to live – to absorb yourself in the process of going after your goals. So make that decision. And take action. For some practical guidance on taking action I highly recommend The Now Habit.

4. They use the wrong measurements to track their progress.

You can’t control what you don’t properly measure, and what you measure predicts your future. If you track the wrong things you’ll be completely blind to potential opportunities as they appear over the horizon.

Imagine if, while running a small business, you made it a point to keep track of how many pencils and paperclips you used. Would that make any sense? No! Because pencils and paperclips are not a measure of what’s important for a business. Pencils and paperclips have no bearing on income, customer satisfaction, market growth, etc.

Let’s use blogging as a real world example. Many wannabe probloggers (folks who aspire to blog for a living) actually view their blog’s RSS subscriber count as their number one measurement of success. They track it meticulously and then freak out when Feedburner (a popular RSS tracking service) experiences one of its frequent hiccups. But what they fail to realize is that their RSS subscriber count is not a crucial measurement for their goal of becoming a problogger because most RSS subscribers have a very low level of engagement with the host site and its various revenue generators. And generating revenue is a must for a problogger.

Once again, what you measure predicts your future. You should be measuring the things that are directly tied to your primary goal.

The solution: The proper approach is to figure out what your number one goal is and then track the things that directly relate to achieving that goal. In my example above on problogging, that goal should be “making money from a blog.” And a few things worth tracking would be click through ratios on ads, affiliate conversion rates, in-house product conversion rates, customer/reader feedback, etc.

I recommend that you take some time to identify your number one goal, identify the most important things for you to keep track of and then begin tracking immediately. On a weekly basis, plug the numbers into a spreadsheet and use the data to create weekly or monthly trend graphs so you can visualize your progress. Then fine-tune your actions to get those trends to grow in your favor.

5. They become obsessed with making things perfect.

Many of us are perfectionists in our own right. I know I am at times. We set high bars for ourselves and put our best foot forward. We dedicate copious amounts of time and attention to our work/passion to maintain our high personal standards. Our passion for excellence drives us to run the extra mile, never stopping, never relenting. And this dedication towards perfection undoubtedly helps us to achieve results. So long as we don’t get carried away.

But what happens when we do get carried away with perfectionism?

We become disgruntled and discouraged when we fail to meet the (impossibly high) standards we set for ourselves, making us reluctant to take on new challenges or even finish tasks we’ve already started. Our insistence on dotting every ‘I’ and crossing every ‘T’ breeds inefficiency, causing major delays, stress overload and subpar results.

True perfectionists have a hard time starting things and an even harder time finishing them… always. I have a friend who has wanted to start a graphic design business for several years. But she hasn’t yet. Why? When you sift through her extensive list of excuses it comes down to one simple problem. She is a perfectionist. Which means she doesn’t, and never will, think she’s good enough at graphic design to own and operate her own graphic design business.

The solution: The real world doesn’t reward perfectionists. It rewards people who get things done. And the only way to get things done is to be imperfect 99% of the time. Only by wading through years of practice and imperfection can we begin to achieve momentary glimpses of the perfection. So make a decision. Take action. Learn from the outcome. And repeat this method over and over and over again in all walks of life. Also, check out Too Perfect. It’s an excellent read on conquering perfectionism.

6. They wait until they feel 100% ready before acting on an opportunity.

This point is somewhat related to the point above on perfectionism, but encompasses enough on its own to be discussed separately.

The number one thing I persistently see holding smart people back is their own reluctance to accept an opportunity simply because they don’t think they’re ready. In other words, they believe they require additional knowledge, skill, experience, etc. before they can aptly partake in the opportunity. Sadly, this is the kind of thinking that stifles personal growth.

The truth is nobody ever feels 100% ready when an opportunity arises. Because most great opportunities in life force us to grow emotionally and intellectually. They force us to stretch ourselves and our comfort zones, which means we won’t feel totally comfortable at first. And when we don’t feel comfortable, we don’t feel ready.

The solution: Remember that significant moments of opportunity for personal growth and development will come and go throughout your lifetime. If you are looking to make positive changes in your life you will need to embrace these moments of opportunity even though you will never feel 100% ready for them.

7. They inundate themselves with too many choices.

Here in the 21st century where information moves at the speed of light and opportunities for innovation seem endless, we have an abundant array of choices when it comes to designing our lives and careers. But sadly, an abundance of choice often leads to indecision, confusion and inaction.

Several business and marketing studies have shown that the more product choices a consumer is faced with, the less products they typically buy. After all, narrowing down the best product from a pool of three choices is certainly a lot easier than narrowing down the best product from a pool of three hundred choices. If the purchasing decision is tough to make, most people will just give up.

Likewise, if you inundate yourself too many choices, your subconscious mind will give up.

The solution: If you’re selling a product line, keep it simple. And if you’re trying to make a decision about something in your life, don’t waste all your time evaluating every last detail of every possible option. Choose something that you think will work and give it a shot. If it doesn’t work out, choose something else and keep pressing forward.

8. They lack balance in their life.

If you ask people to summarize what they want out of life they cough up a lot of words like ‘Love,’ ‘Money,’ ‘Success’, ‘Family’, ‘Recognition’, ‘Peace,’ ‘Happiness,’ etc. But all of these things are totally different, and most people want all of them in their life. Sadly, a vast majority of people don’t balance their life properly to achieve them.

I know an extremely savvy businesswoman who made almost a million dollars online last year. Every entrepreneur I know considers her to be wildly successful. But guess what? A few days ago, out of the blue, she told me that she’s depressed. Why? “I’m burnt out and lonely. I just haven’t taken enough time for myself lately,” she said. “Wow!” I thought. “One of the most successful people I know isn’t happy.”

I also know a surfer who surfs almost all day, every day on the beach in front of our condo complex in San Diego. He’s one of the most lighthearted, optimistic guys I’ve ever met – always smiling from ear to ear. But he sleeps in a van he co-owns with another surfer and they both frequently panhandle tourists for money. So while I can’t deny that this man seems happy, I wouldn’t classify his life as a success story.

These are just two simple examples of imbalanced lifestyles. I could think of dozens of other examples like these just out of the small pool of people I know personally.

The solution: When your work life (or social life, family life, etc.) is busy and all your energy is focused in that arena it’s all too easy to find yourself off balance. While drive and focus is important, if you’re going to get things done right you still need to balance the various dimensions of your life. Completely neglecting one dimension for another only leads to long-term frustration and stress. For some practical guidance on balancing your life I recommend Zen And the Art of Happiness