How to Start Taking Care of Yourself

Taking care of yourself is a must for everybody, no matter who you are. Sure, it's the job of doctors or nurses to take care of people, but not all the time is there going to be a doctor, nurse, or even another person that's going to take care of you and attend to your every need.

It's part of being an adult, knowing how to take care of yourself even if there's nobody around to help you.

If you're having a hard time knowing how to practice self-care, then here are a few tips:

1) Get Some Alone Time

I don't care of you're extroverted, introverted or ambiverted, all of us need alone time. Even the people considered social butterflies need some time for themselves.

Being around other people can drain your energy, especially if some of those people are toxic. There's nothing wrong with staying at home and binge watching Netflix or YouTube videos.

You don't have to lock yourself in your bedroom though. You can be alone in a public place like sitting alone in a park bench or a library.

Take at least half an hour or an hour a day to be alone. This will recharge your energy to get you through the week.

2) Spend Time With Loved Ones

This contradicts the first step, but it's also important. Too much isolation from other people can drive a person crazy. Humans are mostly social creatures after all.

That being said, make sure that the people you spend your time with are people you actually love, or at least people with a positive influence. You don't want to waste your time with toxic and pessimistic people.

Spending time with loved ones can boost your mood instantly. It can change your crappy day to a happy day.

Lastly, they won't be around forever. It's crucial to spend as much time with them now than regret not being with them later in your life.

3) Exercise

This is a no brainer and everybody knows this, but why do some people still hesitate to actually do it?

Exercising not only has physical benefits, but also mental ones. It produces powerful chemicals in your brain that make you feel good.

If you're having a bad day, a short workout at the gym or a quick run might be a good solution. You can even do exercises at home like push-ups, crunches, air squats, planks, etc.

Plus, you're going to look healthy and fit, which can help you when you decide to go on a date.

4) Do Activities or Hobbies That You Like

I haven't met a person that has absolutely no hobbies. Everyone has something.

This can make your life a lot more interesting and exciting than it is now.

I personally like going to the gym and playing sports. These two hobbies have helped me shape a more interesting life, plus it's connected to the previous tips so I'm also getting exercise.

Find a hobby that you like and you will not only become less bored but you will also be a more interesting and happy person.

5) Try Something New

If you've been doing the same thing for the past couple of months, or even years, then it's time to try something new. Probably one of the reasons why you've been feeling down lately is because of your old routine.

Try something new for a change. It can be anything. Try going to a place you've never been to before, eat a dish you've never tried eating, watch a movie genre you don't usually watch, etc. 

Novelty is never boring and will spice up your life.

6) Talk To a Professional or Someone You Trust

If you're still feeling down, and maybe this has been going on for a long time, then maybe you should take drastic measures. 

Talking to a professional Psychiatrist/Psychologist/Therapist will save you from further damage you can do to yourself. Just find a professional that is willing to genuinely help you because not all professionals in the mental health industry will be able to help you.

If you can't do that for whatever reason, then talk to the people around you, your loved ones. Find someone who's willing to listen to you without judging you. 

You will definitely feel better after you let out these pent up feelings. Talking to someone will most probably save your life.

Taking care of yourself is a never ending journey. You will have to do this for the rest of your life. It's tiring, but it will be worth it. No price is too big to pay for your health. As the saying goes: "Health is Wealth."

3 Lessons I Learned From Kobe Bryant

Most kids today who watch basketball, idolize guys like Stephen Curry, Lebron James, Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant and all the other current all stars in the NBA today. When I was a kid though, there was one player who everybody idolized and looked up to, that player was Kobe Bryant. Kobe was a player who could do it all. He can score, shoot, pass, rebound, defend, and do low post moves better than most big men in his time. Whenever people round my age shoot, they scream "Kobe!" Even when kids pretend to play basketball around a garbage can in a classroom, when they shoot, they scream "Kobe!" That's how Kobe affected the basketball world forever. He was my generation's Michael Jordan.

There are some lessons I learned from Kobe Bryant, lessons that can be applied anywhere not just in basketball.

1) Work Super Hard to Become Super Successful

"I heard the ball bouncing. No lights were on. Practice was at about 11, it was probably about 9, 9:30. And I go out to the court and I look, and there's Kobe Bryant. He's out there shooting in the dark. And I stood there for probably about ten seconds, and I said, 'This kid is gonna be great.'" -Byron Scott

If there was one thing insane about Kobe Bryant, it was his insane work ethic. There were many stories about Kobe's work ethic from his former teammates and the people around him. Stories like how he was the very first player to arrive in the court and the last player to leave the court. One story I heard was that Kobe slept for only 3-4 hours and use those extra waking hours to practice. Whenever I play basketball to practice it's even less than 30 minutes!

This was a huge part in Kobe Bryant's success in his NBA career. He was willing to work harder than any other player in the league. We can all see how that turned out as he became one of the top 10 NBA players of all time. 

If you want to be super successful at anything then you have to work super hard also. If you want to be a top person of all time in your field, then be prepared to work, hustle, and grind like you never did before.

2) Be Resilient When Faced with an Obstacle

“I have moments and I have days where I doubt myself. But to me, that’s the exciting part of the challenge.That’s when I realize this is a great opportunity to come out and show everybody this is how you bounce back. This is how you respond to a challenge.” – Kobe Bryant

Hardcore Kobe fans remember his "airball game" when he was a rookie in the NBA. It happened against the Utah Jazz in the post season where he shot a few air balls which caused them to lose the series against the Jazz. Kobe faced a lot of criticism and hate during this time. He even doubted himself. He could have folded and played normally, but he used this as motivation. The season after that in his first game against the Jazz, Kobe scored 23 points off the bench beating the Jazz that game, getting his revenge.

Everybody faces adversity, obstacles, and setbacks in their lives. Nobody in the world has never experienced some form of failure or rejection in their lives. What defines us is how we respond to these setbacks in our lives. Successful people have a tendency to bounce back after every failure or setback that happens to them.

3) Learn From Other People

“I cold call people and pick their brain about stuff. Some of the questions I ask seem really really simple and some of them seem stupid, quite honestly, for them. But if I don’t know, I don’t know. I have to ask. I’ll just do that and ask questions. I want to learn more about how they build their business and how they run their companies and how they see the world.” – Kobe Bryant

After Kobe's basketball career, he ventured into other fields and became an entrepreneur. Last year, he even won an Oscar for an animated short film he did titled "Dear Basketball." 

This shows that you can be successful at any area you choose. In the case of Kobe, just because he was a basketball player for most of his life, doesn't mean he only going to be successful in that field. With the right training, practice and coaching, anyone can become successful at almost anything. It also helps if you ask for advice from people who are already successful at that field you want to be successful at. 

Kobe Bryant is a basketball legend. We can learn many things from his basketball career and his life. If you want to model your success after any NBA player, then Kobe might be one of the best role models out there.

The Bravest People I Know

How do we define bravery? What exactly makes a person brave? Based on the dictionary, brave is defined as "ready to face and endure danger or pain; showing courage." Bravery is defined as simply "courageous behavior or character." What does a brave person look like in every day life?

Bravery may have a different image for different kinds of people. What you define as brave might not be brave for another person. For me though, I know three kinds of people that definitely fits the criteria, or even candidates for being the bravest people.

1) People who keep going for their dreams or goals, despite endless rejection or failure

Rejection and failure are two of the most hurtful things a person can experience, they happen to everybody. Despite that, every successful person has gone through a large number of rejections or failures. 

If you search the life story of your favorite celebrity, there's a 100% chance that he or she had to go through a massive amount of rejection or failure that a normal person couldn't handle or is not willing to go through.

If you are one of these people, I commend you for having the courage to keep going for your dreams. Never give up!

2) People who keep loving like they haven't experienced heartbreak

Let's face it, nobody wants to go through a breakup. Actually you're lucky if you have experienced a breakup, other people have experienced worse like being cheated on or being ghosted. Normally, people will build up hatred after experiencing these. Men will hate women, women will hate men. They also will be hesitant to get into another relationship after a failed one/s. 

Some people though, are so brave, that they keep putting themselves out there. They keep dating, or getting into relationships, despite the fact that they've been hurt by their exes in the past. Eventually, they find love and get married to a person who's perfect for them.

I admire these people, it makes me questions my own mindset when it comes to dating or relationships.

3) People who live with a mental illness, and is continuing to live or even living a great life despite it

When it comes to physical illness, people around you are ready to comfort you; when it comes to mental illness though, people around you will tend to avoid you. That's the sad truth for mental health, it has a stigma even in modern times.

Insensitive people or clueless people will label these people with mental illnesses as "crazy" or "abnormal" or "insane" while not knowing the backstory of these kinds of people.

Whenever I see a person who's successful and has experienced having a mental illness, I get inspired a lot. Despite the world being cruel to them, they fought through it, and are still fighting for their lives today.

If you haven't had a mental illness, then consider yourself lucky. The world is different for these kinds of people. In a video game, it's like normal people are playing with the normal difficulty, while people with mental illness are playing with the super hard difficulty.

I suggest you study up about mental health, who knows, maybe one of the people closest to you is experiencing this right now and you're not even aware of it. 

If you are one of these people: get professional help, get support from trusted people, and more importantly, keep going, keep fighting, and keep living.

A Quick List of Famous Failures and Rejections for Quick Motivation and Inspiration

Most people know the success stories of their favorite celebrities or heroes, but what most people don't know are the stories about their failures or rejections that they had to go through before getting successful. If you need a quick motivation or inspiration, here is a short list of famous failures and rejections.

• Henry Ford failed and went broke five times before he succeeded.
• Beethoven's teacher called him hopeless as a composer.
• NFL running back Herschel Walker was not accepted to his junior high school football team because the coach said he was too small.
• Colonel Sanders of KFC got rejected over 1000 times before someone finally bought his chicken recipe. At the age of 75, he sold his fried chicken company for $15 million.
• Dr. Seuss's first children's book, "And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street" was rejected by 27 publishers.
• The University of Bern turned down a doctoral dissertation, the student's name was Albert Einstein.
• Charles Darwin was called by his father and some of his teachers "a very ordinary boy, rather below the common standard in intellect."
• Walt Disney was fired by a newspaper editor for lack of ideas, and also went bankrupt before he built Disneyland.
• Thomas Edison's teachers said he was too stupid to learn anything.
• Isaac Newton did poorly in grade school.
• Babe Ruth, who holds the home run record, also holds the record for strikeouts.
• 50 cent was arrested at the age of 19-years old, after a string of run-ins with the cops and a subsequent arrest for possession of drugs and a firearm.
• Elvis Presley was told that he couldn't sing.
• It took Harrison Ford 9 years before he landed his breakthrough role in "American Graffiti".
• Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen's book "Chicken Soup for the Soul" was rejected by 144 publishers.
• It took Jim Carrey 15 years to land his break in Ace Ventura.
• J.K Rowling's first Harry Potter book was rejected by 12 publishers.
• It took Katy Perry 9 years before releasing her hit song I Kissed A Girl.
• Stephen King's first book Carrie was rejected by 30 publishers.
• Sylvester Stallone was broke and homeless, and also was rejected 1,500 times before he decided to write the script for Rocky.
• The Beatles were told that “guitar groups were on their way out.”
• Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team.
• It took LeBron James 9 years before he won his first championship.
• Jeremy Lin was undrafted and jumped around different teams before becoming "Linsanity" on the New York Knicks.
• Stephen Curry had no offers for college basketball when he graduated high school.
• Manny Pacquiao was living in extreme poverty and hunger before eventually becoming one of the best boxers in history.

If you ever need a quick dose of motivation or inspiration, remember the stories of the celebrities in this list before you give up on your goals and dreams.

3 Life Lessons I’ve Learned from Toy Story 4

Ah, my favorite childhood film. Toy Story is the best. Its concept is not only for children, but for people of all ages. I watched this movie when I was a kid, a few days ago I watched it when I’m 26 years old, and I still enjoyed it!

Toy Story 4 was a great film(come to think of it, 1–3 was also great, everything about this series is great). Not only was I entertained by the movies, but each movie seems to have a few life lessons that you can apply to your life.

In Toy Story 4, these are the lessons I’ve learned(along with the movie quotes):

1. “Be who you are right now.” -Bo Peep

Bo Peep said this to Duke Caboom when Duke was losing confidence in himself. He was comparing himself to other more successful Duke Caboom toys. Bo Peep said this to raise his confidence in helping them get Forky back.

While this was meant to be a pep talk, you can learn something here. How many of you compare yourself everyday to other people, especially people who you think are “better” than you? I say don’t compare yourself! You have to realize that everyone is different from you. Everyone is unique in their own way. Just like Duke Caboom in the movie who’s more prone to crashing than other toys.

2. “Being there for a child is the most noble thing a toy can do.” — Woody

In the movie, Woody did his best to be there for his owner, Bonnie. Even if he was not picked usually as the favorite toy, he still did his best to serve and help her.

Of course, parents everywhere can relate to this. Being there for your children is a very noble task, no matter how hard it is. Even if you’re not a parent, you can be there for someone and help them make their lives happier. You can be there for your friend, classmate, co-worker, business partner, teammate, acquaintance, etc.

3. “If you sit on a shelf for the rest of your life, you”ll never find out.” -Woody

Woody said this to Gabby Gabby after she just got rejected by a girl who she wholeheartedly believe that will take her. It shattered her and left her broken inside. When Woody was about to return to Bonnie, he noticed Gabby Gabby and thought that he can help her too(this is why Woody is my favorite character). Eventually, Woody and the others found a girl who was glad to take Gabby Gabby home.

How about you? How many times were you afraid to do something you wanted to do? How many times did you let a simple rejection break your confidence? If you never actually try to do what you want or to achieve your goal, then you’ll never get what you want. You also can’t let rejection or failure stand in the way of your goals or dreams. Chase your dreams, work towards your goals, and always remember to never give up!

I love Toy Story, I love how it teaches you life lessons that are important. I’m sad that this might be the last movie of the franchise since…well you know what happened if you watched the movie. I say farewell to the Toy Story gang. To Infinity…and beyond!

When You Feel Like You're Lost

Do you ever feel like you're lost in life? Do you feel like you don't know what you're going to do or what will happen in the coming days? Do you feel afraid of something that will happen that's going to change your life, probably for the worst? Do you feel like you don't know what the hell you're going to do? 

I've been there, you've been there, everybody has been there. Even if you feel like you're alone in this, you're definitely not. 

Stop Comparing

In this thing called life, there are countless ways to experience it. There is no one size fits all way to do something or be something. What may be good for that other person may not be good for you. How you do your job might not be the same as how she does her job. Everybody is different and there is nobody exactly like another person. Stop comparing yourself to that Facebook picture of your friend or Instagram post of your celebrity idol because they have different lives than yours.

Stop Planning for Everything

Don't get me wrong, it's good that you have a plan, but sometimes things don't always go according to your plan. You need to learn how to adjust because the world will never adjust to you. If Plan A doesn't work, then have Plan B or C or D or any letter in the alphabet. Sometimes the best plan is to not have a plan and let it flow.

Stop Searching for the Perfect Path

Remember that there's no such thing as a perfect path in life. People get detoured and derailed in their goals. What they wanted to do a few years ago might be different from what they are doing right now. People often change their dreams and goals. There might be a far better opportunity in a job that you never thought you would be doing, or in a country that you never thought you would live in. It might not be the perfect path, but it will be the exact path that you need to take.

Always remember that sometimes you need to get lost to find yourself again.

Why I Will Never Stop Going to the Gym

Everybody knows what a gym is. It's a place filled with weights and machines that will supposedly get you a better body and health. Different kinds of people go there, from the young and old, to the fit and the not so fit. 

I've been going to the gym since I was 14 years old about 12 years ago. I've done hundreds of sets and reps, I've sweat a lot, I've lifted a ton of weights, and I don't regret it. The only regret I made is not following up seriously in my diet or nutrition.

I've also learned a lot of lessons in the gym, lessons that I learned only by going to the gym for more than a decade:

1) I've learned the value of Consistency

Consistency is everything in the gym. You can't go hard at the gym for only once a week, or once a month. You have to do it a few times a week, anywhere between 2-5 times a week. You don't even have to go hard every time, as long as you actually go. They say that a quick workout is better than no workout.

2) I've learned the value of Discipline

Sometimes I don't want to go to the gym, sometimes I don't want to follow my diet and eat sweets, but if I want to get my dream body, then I have to do these even if there are times that I don't want to. Discipline is one of the important keys to success that the gym and in everything in life. It's doing the hard things that will make you more successful and battle-ready even if you don't want to or don't feel like doing it.

3) I've learned the value of Patience

At my first gym session, I thought that I would these so-called "gainz" during my first week, and I didn't. It took me about a month and a half to actually see some results or changes in my body. I also see body transformations on Youtube that are amazing. They look like fitness models, but it took at least a year to get that dream body. They say that patience is a virtue and it's definitely true in fitness or the gym. You won't get successful overnight, it will take time, usually a lot of time before you see results. In the end, though, it will be all worth it.

4) I've learned the value of Confidence

As I see results, my confidence went up. I started noticing other men respect me and ask how did I get my arms or chest. I also notice women checking me out and asking if I work out. Confidence or the belief in yourself is an important life skill. One of the biggest reasons why people aren't successful is that they're not confident in themselves or their abilities. You don't have to have your dream body first to get confident if you workout and are in good shape, then your confidence will definitely go up. This is one of the easiest ways to get more confidence is to work out and exercise a lot. As I got more confident in the gym, I noticed that I got confident in other areas of my life like my career, social life, hobbies, sports, dating, etc.

Going to the gym not only gets you a better body but teaches you these lessons that I discovered myself. I recommend to everybody to go to the gym or at least find some type of exercise that they enjoy. As I said, even if I get old, I will still go to the gym and apply these lessons that I've learned there.