Yesterday was one of those days where I suffered enlightenment. When this happens I usually cry. You might wonder why that is... "isn't enlightenment a good thing?" Well, in my case enlightenment means discovering the blunt (sometimes kind of ugly) truth about myself.
What I did was taking stock of my life so far and I wasn't exactly pleased with the outcome: I've wasted six years trying to please everybody! I was a really good girl (which is a generally desirable attribute), but I could have been much closer to achieving my goals than I am right now if I just followed my heart instead of other people's expectations.
The purpose of this post is to ask you not to make the same mistake - pleasing everybody usually doesn't result in success and you will only feel miserable!
It's good to recognize you've got a problem but it's not enough if you want to resolve it! - So, I dug a little deeper and found that there are two reasons for my urge to please everybody: 1. fear of rejection/failure and 2. lack of a healthy self-esteem.
Discussing these two aspects in more detail is beyond the scope of this brief post (but I may dedicate a future post to both points).
If you want to learn more about dealing with rejection, click here or here.
Now that I know the cause of my problem I can start to make the necessary changes in order to be myself and follow MY dreams!
Next time you make a decision based on what other people expect from you, remember the words of the great Bill Cosby:
"I don't know the key to success but I know the key to failure is trying to please everybody."
Be yourself - and you will have friends and enemies just like everybody else!
If you have any thoughts or advice you'd like to share, please leave a comment or contact me via email!
Today I want to talk about the prejudices that I have to deal with on a daily basis and explain the reasons behind my decision to follow Sean "Diddy" Combs (@iamdiddy) and Ashton Kutcher (@aplusk) on Twitter - two issues that are somewhat interrelated.
So, yes, I do have a passion for philanthropy and environmentalism, and yes, much of my life does revolve around those two passions - but does that mean I have to be like the stereotype: a religious, "Jesus sandals"-wearing know-it-all wallflower? That's not how I see myself.
I do find it utterly important that people help each other, try their best to do the right thing - this is common sense to me! However, I am also an open-minded agnostic, I do make many mistakes, sometimes I'm funny, sometimes I'm deadly serious but most of all I want to make people feel good and I do have some sense of fashion! ;)
In fact, I feel offended when people imply that atheists don't do charitable work like religious people. Probably I even adhere to the 10 Commandments more strictly than many believers of God - seriously, do you need someone to tell you that killing, stealing and cheating is wrong? My parents are Protestants (who go to church every Sunday); I also have friends who follow different religions - and I do respect their beliefs but I expect that they tolerate my viewpoint, too. I love diversity and dearly hope that one day people of different religions, races, cultures and sexual orientation can coexist in peace - if my friends and I are able to do that, you can do it, too!
Now that I've got this off my chest, I tell you why I (like thousands of other people!) decided to follow Sean "Diddy" Combs and Ashton Kutcher on Twitter even though some of my fellow philanthropists and environmentalists may think that this was an unwise move. Maybe they are right, but as much as I enjoy taking over leadership, I still want to be a follower because there's so much to learn from others.
So, what do these two nice gentlemen have in common? - Yes, both are famous and many will tell you they are also very handsome and talented - and I certainly won't dispute that; however, that is not what my decision to follow them was based on.
As for Sean "Diddy" Combs, my admiration for him goes back to the late 90s. His success story (from ambitious intern to millionaire within 18 months: check out the video below!) inspired me to never give up on my own dreams - because as Mr. Combs has demonstrated - with hard work, ambition and persistence they can come true eventually! And this is also what I like about his tweets: every day he reminds his followers that anything is possible and encourages them to be proactive - I think everyone needs a mental boost like that every once in a while...
With regards to Ashton Kutcher, I came to like him after I saw a VH1 special about him a few years ago. Two things he said there that stayed in my mind (I'm sorry I don't know the exact words as I saw it in German) were: 1. Always be happy, never be satisfied. 2. Aim for the moon, if you miss, you may hit a star (a Clement Stone quote). On a more superficial note, I think Punk'd is hilarious! ;) After reading an article headlined "Ashton Kutcher Twitters Against Sex Slavery", I decided to follow him.
In conclusion, both Sean "Diddy" Combs and Ashton Kutcher are the kind of 21st century leaders that we need right now. In my opinion it's worth following them!
Check out the Sean "Diddy" Combs interview with Carlos Watson below:
Today I wanna give a quick shout-out to my little brother Manuel whom I wish all the best and much love for his 23rd birthday! So, happy birthday, bro! :)
My brother is pretty much one of the coolest, easygoing guys on this planet (and still single - just a little hint for all the sweet single ladies out there!) and one of my best friends.
Our brother-sister relationship has always been great, especially because we like the same things and never fight, ok except maybe for this one time where I bit him in the arm and he knocked my tooth out (no worries it was just a baby tooth)! ;)
I feel really blessed to have a brother like him and wouldn't exchange him for another. :p You know what also really fascinates me about him is he's a health miracle! It's a popular belief that dairy products make you fat, right? My brother (who by the way rarely eats vegetable or fruit ever) has been slim all his life and reached a height of 1.96 meters (about 6 ft 5 in) by basically living on nothing else than banana milk, yoghurt, cheese and meat!!!! Well, once again: happy birthday, bro! xoxo
Can you believe it's weekend again? Well, don't get me wrong, I don't want to complain about that: I love weekends like anybody else! But it just makes me mad that another week's gone - even another month and I haven't completed half of the tasks on my to-do list. Not only didn't I get done half of what I had to do but neither did I get done what I really wanted to do.
With every year I grow older, I feel that time's passing faster. So fast, in fact, that I feel like the entire week is only about four days long. Of course this feeling makes me stressed out, and to be honest, also a little afraid. I have deadlines to meet and I'm working so much for meeting these deadlines that there's hardly no time left to have fun or to just relax. So you might say, "what about time-management?" I do use some techniques to get things done on time but I'm also a person who is somewhat allergic to routine.
Right now I'm actually facing my greatest challenge: I am a distance student so I have to get my act together and force myself to study half of my day every day in order to pass the exams - a routine that I have to follow for a few years! Well, wish me luck (but most of all sufficient self-discipline)!
So, if someone out there has discovered a way to make time pass slower or at least to create the illusion of having more time, please let me know! - Carpe diem, everyone! ;)
When I lay in bed last night I was thinking that I needed another blog (as I don't even make it to update my other one regularly, it just seemed the right thing to do). Well, I think one reason for the need of this blog was that even though I have a passion for philanthropy and environmentalism, it isn't the only characteristic trait that defines who I am. As filantronomics.org is dedicated to this passion, I was missing a place where I can express the other aspects of my life and my personality. Hence, this new blog - a place where I can write about everything else that moves me, e.g. healthy and balanced living, love, fashion, traveling and my hobbies, among others.
