Recently I was tagged by Jason Ivers, who runs the excellent blog A Miracle a Day, to write a blog post about what I would tell my younger self if I could go back and do so. I thought the idea had some real value for my readers, so I decided to participate.

Many people have said that if they could go back and do it all over again, that they would do things differently, and I saw this as an opportunity to explore that concept.

If I could travel back in time and give my younger self some much needed advice, it might go something like this:

Sometimes it is necessary to play their game

I have never been, nor am I now, the type of person who plays by the rules. I'm more like the kind of guy who will do something the hardest way possible just because I want to do things differently than everyone else is doing them.

I take great pride in that personality trait, and I even encourage others to do the same. However, at the same time, sometimes playing by the "rules" for a short period of time can ultimately get you to your goals faster than cutting a new swath through the underbrush.

If your goal is the pile of gold at the top of the hill, and the corporate citizens and other followers of the world are willing to give you a ride, don't be afraid to catch a lift with them rather than walking up the side of the hill. However, only do so as long as you can do it without compromising your integrity or losing sight of your own raging fire of individuality, and know when it is time to jump off and go your own way.

Junk food really WILL make you fat

Did anyone have parents who didn't tell them not to eat junk food? Look around at some of the kids today and that question might be answered differently, but when I was growing up in the 70's and 80's, my parents (especially my Dad) were constantly on my case about eating candy and other junk.

There was a corner store exactly one mile from where I grew up, and if we could scrounge up even 50 cents or a dollar, me and my friends would walk up there and buy Bazooka bubble gum, tootsie rolls, blow pops, etc. Back then, a dollar would net you a big pile of candy, and even the 1 mile walk there and back wasn't enough to completely melt off all of that raw sugar.

Even after working out off and on since I was 15, including working for 3 years as a personal trainer, I am still carrying around a small amount of the bodyfat that I put on back then. Now, at a muscular 5' 8" (5' 9"?) and 180 lbs, I'm hardly pushing maximum density. However, if I had listened to my parents back then, workouts like this one would have had me in even better shape than I am now.

Don't do something just because you can

Most of us were taught in school to follow our "aptitude". In other words, to focus on the things that we were good at. Well, at face value, that isn't a bad idea. We tend to be good at things because we enjoy doing them.

However, some people also have a natural aptitude for things that they really don't enjoy all that much! For example:

 - I have a natural aptitude for math, so I spent many years both as a U.S. soldier as well as a civilian working in factories and warehouses. Not bad work if that is your thing, but with the exception of driving a forklift - which is a lot of fun - I never really had any desire to work in that environment. Nonetheless, I spent years of my life doing so just because I had those skills.

 - I have a reasonable amount of skill in designing and coding web pages. Twice in my life I used those skills as a primary business model before realizing that I didn't really enjoy doing it for other people, but rather just enjoyed working on my own websites and projects.

- When I first moved to Florida in 2002, I used my knowledge of computers and Microsoft office products to get a job working in the estimating department for a large and successful construction company. After a year of working 8:00am to 5:00pm indoors, I found myself wondering why I moved all the way to Florida just to sit in an office all day every day…

Those are just some of the examples of times when I did things in my life simply because the opportunity was there to use my skills in any given area. In truth, I have only been truly satisfied with my career choice over the last year or so. I'm coming up on 38 years old, so it took me 37 years to find my path.

The Message?

After reading through examples of how I would help my younger self to find success faster and more efficiently, the bottom line is this:

Even if I had the chance, I wouldn't change a thing.

As my buddy Lyman Reed says in this post, at any given moment, each of us is doing the best that we can at that moment. Our triumphs as well as our pitfalls are all the result of us doing what we thought was right at that time.

My experiences have taught me what I needed to know along the way, and by saying that I was willing to go back and change them would be the worst conceivable violation of my personal integrity.

No, my life is wonderful, thank you very much. Every bump and bruise along the way has been worth it because now I am fully armed to make the future an amazing place, while still enjoying each moment for the glorious moment that it is.

What would I tell my younger self?

Prepare for a hell of a ride!

Related Content:

• Watching Personal Growth through the Bus Window
• The Courage to Decide whether or not you even Care 

Welcome to the December 2006 edition of the Today is that Day Way Back Machine! This series of posts will highlight some of the most empowering, informative, or popular posts from the not to distant past. 

If you've seen these posts before, then go ahead and revisit them - most of what I write is timeless. If you haven't, then here is a chance to see some great content from the past that you missed the first time around. Enjoy!

• The Law of Attraction meets Neuro-psychology - Discussion of how we are hard-wired to respond to our lives in a certain way based on our experiences. In short, we have the ability to actually program ourselves for success by acting successful and being around people who act the same way.
• If you need it, you’re sunk… - We all have the ability to roadblock our own success by feeling that we "need" something vs. simply feeling good about the fact that we wanted it to begin with.
• Is the water too cold…? - Discussion of how we tend to not take advantage of the knowledge and opportunities that present themselves in our lives. By realizing when this happens, we become empowered to start making changes instead of missing opportunities.
• Remembering your Role - You are the creator of your life; your success and your happiness are 100% in your own control. This post goes into more detail about your glorious role in the entire process.

Today is Friday, November 23rd, and most people in the United States are in the midst of celebrating the Thanksgiving Day holiday. Although the traditional "feast" has become the primary focus of this holiday, the real reason for Thanksgiving is to show gratitude for the things that we have in our lives.

Given the amazing (unlimited?) ability of gratitude to bring positive changes into our lives, having a holiday dedicated to that one concept is certainly a wonderful thing, and many bloggers and other writers have already written about gratitude and how it fits into our lives.

Personally, I have so many things to be grateful for that I could write an entire book about it, rather than just a blog post. However, spending quality time with friends and family is one of the biggest things that I am grateful for on a daily basis, not just on the holidays, and it was during one of those times when I had the chance to watch the movie 'Evan Almighty' with Morgan Freeman, Steve Carell, and Lauren Graham.

It was a very entertaining movie, time well spent, and family-friendly as well. However, it wasn't the entertainment value that inspired this post, but rather an important message that was delivered by God, played in the movie by Morgan Freeman.

There is one point in the movie when Evan has been deserted by his wife and kids because they basically think that he has gone off the deep end. His wife is sitting in a restaurant wondering what went wrong, and God comes to visit her in the guise of a waiter at the restaurant.

She doesn't know that the "waiter" is God, of course, and when she questions whether or not blindly following God's wisdom is the right thing to do, Morgan Freeman says the following:

If someone prays for patience, do you think God gives them patience, or does he give them the opportunity to be patient?

If he prays for courage, does God give him courage, or does he give him the opportunity to be courageous?

If someone prays for their family to be closer, do you think God zaps them with warm, fuzzy feelings, or does he give them opportunities to love each other?

Life is so very much like the type of situations described in that quote from the movie, yet people tend to waltz right past their personal growth opportunities without even recognizing them for what they are.

In today's world we have become so accustomed to there being some "solution" to any problem or issue that comes into our lives, and we often forget the fact that the path to happiness and success doesn't come in a pill, a bottle, a book, or a seminar. We have to do the work.

God, or the Universe, or Divine Spirit, or whatever you want to call it - those powers just provide us the opportunities to work towards attaining our deepest desires. Then, when we've done "the work" and we have gotten what we wanted, the prize is that much sweeter because we see that it has real value.

We see that it was worth working for.

We see that it's worth keeping.

We see that it's worth protecting.

We see that the prize is not only incredibly valuable, but more importantly, that we are incredibly worthy of having it. After all, we asked for it - if we hadn't, it wouldn't have been delivered.

So, as today goes by, and tomorrow, next week, next month, etc., ask yourself just what it is that you are asking for, because no matter what it is that you ask for, your Higher Power will provide you with the opportunity to get your hands on it.

Make sure you're on the look out for it. 

Discuss the post at Personal Development Partners 

Do you think that it's possible to become wealthy in only 30 days?

Most people will answer a question like that with any one of a number of negative thoughts or beliefs, and in most cases, those same negative thoughts or beliefs are the very reason why those people aren't wealthy.

Yes, there are certain "real world" circumstances that human beings create in order to experience financial abundance, but as with all things, the process needs to start in our heads before any progress can be made out in the real world.

One of the Senior Thought Leaders at Personal Development Partners has a great eBook that discusses these types of concepts, and after reading the book just now, I wanted to share some of the highlights with you. The book is called 30 Days to Wealth, and it was written by the indomitable Shauna Arthurs of Follow Your Path.

Shauna's book is basically a "point A to point B" trip that takes the reader on a 30-day journey of self discovery as well as real-world action that changes the reader's understanding of their relationship with money, and ultimately with themselves.

Overall I was impressed with the book, and despite my own abundant mentality, I found several nuggets of information that helped me with my relationship with money, and several timely reminders as well. Things that really struck me included:

• The fact that the book is all about creating a certain way of "being" rather than a mindless "map to riches". The book talks about and describes methods for becoming wealthy on the inside so that wealth manifests automatically on the outside.
• There were several very practical exercises that teach the reader how to invoke the feelings of wealth, even without actually having it. Learning to have those feelings, of course, then causes the creation of actual wealth out in the "real world".
• One of the best lessons in the book involves how to deal with our desire for wealth by describing a selfish vs. a selfless situation. I found that to be some valuable insight, since so many people think that wanting money is a "bad" thing.
• There was also a unique time line exercise about making note of things that we regret in our lives for the purpose of releasing the self-limiting beliefs that we created as a result of those events.
• Another great exercise included a method for noticing the things that create negative reactions for us. This is powerful because as we figure out what creates negativity in our lives, we are instantly empowered to release our attachment to those beliefs or concepts, thus breaking their hold over us.
• One of my favorite features was an awesome list of pointed questions that help to identify a person's true inner beliefs about wealth (or lack thereof), actual motivations behind wealth building efforts, and also whether or not certain actions are truly in alignment with stated desires for wealth and abundance.

Also, one "bonus" lesson outside of the stated 30-day regimen is the very act of focusing on wealth and abundance every single day for 30 days straight. That in and of itself is a valuable exercise that seems simple, but ask yourself how many times you have actually done it.

Overall, I was impressed with 30 Days to Wealth, and I saw it as a valuable tool for creating the "wealth mindset" which in turn creates actual wealth. Great job, Shauna!

If you would like to get your hands on a copy of 30 Days to Wealth, it is one of over a dozen free product downloads that are available to all Premium level or above members of the Personal Development Partners website, or you can purchase the eBook directly.

Discuss this post at Personal Development Partners 

I have written many times on this blog about about the power of Gratitude, and I would say beyond a shadow of a doubt that being grateful for what we have is the single most important key to getting the things that we want.

The U.S. holiday of Thanksgiving is obviously a good time to think about all of the things that we have to be grateful for, and for me personally, the readers of my blogs, the members of Personal Development Partners, and all of my social networking partners all rank way up there on the gratitude scale.

This blog, PDP, and my entire online business model would be non-existent without all of you, so allow me to send out my sincerest gratitude to each and every one of you as we approach the holiday season and the New Year! 

In honor of the upcoming Thanksgiving Day holiday, I am going to give back to my online community in the most effective way that I can, and that is to do everything in my power to get my products and services into the hands of the people who can benefit from them.

To that end, I have put together a Thanksgiving promotion for my newsletter subscribers which includes serious product discounts, as well as discounted Premium access to the Personal Development Partners website.

If you're interested in learning the details, signing up for my newsletter is 100% free of charge, and 100% free of spam as well. Be sure to use the special link below, and you'll be taken directly to the Thanksgiving promotion details page.

Once again, my sincerest gratitude to all of you, and Happy Thanksgiving!

Today is that Day Thanksgiving Newsletter Promotion