Zen College Life

Happy Monday everyone. The weather here in Houston, Texas is supposed to get really nasty tonight, so the school closed and I’m working from home! It’s a lot easier to get distracted here, but I’ll do my best.

This week the focus is going to be on enjoying life. Too often we get caught up in “the rat race,” and we work so hard trying to achieve goals that we never stop to “Smell The Roses.” (excuse the cliche) This obviously isn’t the best way to go about living our lives. Every once in a while it is important that we get out of the library, studyhall, (insert where you study here). It’s a good practice to take inventory of nature, to observe what is around you, to “Smell The Roses.” (I wonder how many times I can say that in this post) Read more »

This week I have chosen for us to focus on compliments and criticisms.  This is a two fold focus.  We will focus on the importance and significance of giving both compliments and criticisms.

Sometimes we may find ourselves becoming lazy or just not focused on the importance of our words.  This is a terrible place to be in.  If you find that you are not consciously giving compliments each day, and giving real thought to the type and amount of criticisms you give out daily, you could find yourself in a world of trouble.  A lack of compliments can cause those closest to you to feel unimportant or unnoticed, while too much criticism will cause people to feel as though you are attacking them, or are disappointed in them. Read more »

That some achieve great success, is proof to all that others can achieve it as well. -Abraham Lincoln

My car broke down. I don’t feel well. The teacher hates me.  It’s my mom’s fault.  It’s not fun.  The list goes on and on, but the issue is the same; Most of us are conditioned to make excuses so that we do not have to take responsibility for our actions. We blame anyone and anything that we can, in order to take the blame and pressure off of ourselves.  It is not until we stop blaming other people  and take full responsibility over our situation that we can start to assume our full potential and achieve major success.

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A quick look at the Wikipedia page on Philanthropy got me thinking about doing for others. I thought it strange that the examples of philanthropy included people like Bill Gates and Warren Buffett (billionaires), but neglected to list good doers like Mother Teresa. One might get the impression that in order to do philanthropic work, one must first be very successful of their own accord. This being far from the case, I thought that it was important to make it understandable that people of all walks of life, all social classes, all races, all religions, from every corner of the world has the ability to do good for humanity, to be a part of something greater than themselves, and to make a real difference.

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This week we will focus on simplification of life.  In this day and age it is easy to get caught up in the hustle, and digress from our core values in search of more wealth, power, and flat screen tvs.  Some of us may even work to obtain 24 inch rims.  I’m not kidding you, they are really 24 inches (I know , it’s ridiculous…). In order help you and myself, I have composed a list of 14 simple things we can do this week to simplify our lives.  Enjoy!

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This week we will be focusing on investing in ourselves.  You always here people talking about investing in this stock or that company, investing time in your family life and friendships, investing in a new tv or xbox (if that can even count as an investment…), but rarely do we focus on investing in what matters most; ourselves. An investment in yourself is the difference between where you are now and the raise you hope to get.  It’s a difference between the person you are today and the person you could be tomorrow.  You are your single most valuable asset, and until you start putting it to work, you couldn’t hope to be any more succesful than you are now.

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“Opportunities multiply as they are seized” -Sun Tzu

So, you want to be a badass, huh?  I feel you.  I started out wanting it too.  Then I decided to do more than just want.  I decided to become a real live badass.  Wanna know how?

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For many of us who struggle to stay organized, be productive, and live a consciously purpose driven life, sometimes the daily grind gets in the way. We make a to do list and plow through it with the force of a typhoon, never really focusing on why it is we are doing each actions, what the purpose of each action is, or the end goal of each action that we are aiming for. While we are still getting things done, we will soon realize that we are working through many tasks which put us no closer to our life goals that we have set for us. Here is my proposal for a short, simple solution. Read more »

This week we will focus on Getting Things Done. Getting Things Done is David Allen’s system (well multiple systems) for Zen-like productivity. He goes over the basics of implementing systems for organization and higher levels of productivity. Rather than try to explain everything that Allen covers, I’m going to list a few links of places that have already done just that. David Allen’s book is an excellent way to completely change your life’s productivity and organization. Never again will you have to remember when something is due or the time of your next meeting. He covers it all.
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This week we will focus on reading. As a child I was never a fan of books. I didn’t understand the significance of hundreds of pages of words, nor did I care for the ‘knowledge’ they claimed to contain. But about a year ago (at age 22), I started reading religiously, not because I enjoyed it, but because it seemed the fastest way to learn, grow, and live richer. I started out hating it, I was slow, I didn’t understand everything I read, and I felt dumb. But soon I realized that the very feeling of being dumb was liberating. Allow me to explain…
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