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SFU Alumni

Jason Yeh and his friend posing behind a tree
Although our society is slowly becoming more health conscious, many of us still choose options that are not beneficial for us.

Life is immense. Its basket is filled with endless opportunities and experiences for everyone. Regardless what life throws at you - whether it is an obstacle or a treat - it has a purpose. Maybe its purpose is to teach you or possibly to test you. No one knows for sure except for you. Even though life is "limitless", there are certain things you should keep doing throughout your time on Earth. Usually it is because those things are good for you or works wonders.

Here are 10 of the 15 things you should keep doing in your life no matter what:

1. Keep Progressing Yourself

Progress your skills, intellect, and character. Strive to be the best version of yourself. The only one stopping you is YOU.

2. Keep Reading

Many people around my age (20s) despise reading because it is usually associated with work - school work. For more than a decade, what you read was decided and forced upon you. Dry textbooks, mediocre novels, and poems that were more frustrating than puzzling - it isn't hard to understand why reading was never a leisure activity while growing up. However, if you decided what to read and when to read, the veil that cause people to envision reading as work would be lifted.

Reading can be a fun activity again by:

  • Finding a topic you are greatly fascinated with and purchasing the books or magazines about that subject. Your inclination to read will naturally disappear.

  • Getting quality suggestions on what to read through friends, co-workers, and people online. Be sure to read book reviews!

  • You are the ultimate decision maker on what you read. But remember to feed your intellectual curiosity in your adventure.

The world has an enormous amount of history and is constantly evolving. It is books that document everything. So discover your curiosity and absorb knowledge. There is no such thing as bad knowledge, except for no knowledge.

3. Welcome Change

In some ways, change is an attack on our method of living. It looks to alter the way we have been doing something for a period of time. The thought of this is scary to some individuals. Although you are losing something routine - comfortable even - you are getting something in return that may be even more enjoyable or productive. You don't know unless you try it. Accepting change allows life to feel more engaging and less predictable.

If the results are inadequate, try something else.

Bottom line: You tried something new, you experienced something new - now you are more knowledgeable and informed. Feel free to boast on Facebook now.

4. Keep Believing In Yourself.

Life is a journey about fulfilling your dreams and goals. In that journey, many terrible things will happen - people are going to betray you, disappoint you, stomp on you, make fun of you, and try to manipulate you. No one in this world knows when those things will happen. It could be today, it could be tomorrow, or it could be in your dreams. But when it does happen, you must be prepared for the it. To be prepared for such grand challenge only means one thing: To believe in yourself.

There are many interpretations on what that really means. My definition is easy: Believe in yourself that YOU CAN DO IT. Sounds vague doesn't it? It is supposed to be.

Some people theorize that these terrible events are crafted to test our will, belief, and resilience. Others think differently. Regardless what theory you fancy, when the time comes: keep your head down - keep your arms moving - keep your legs pumping - and believe in yourself that you can do it. You can get by this.

We have lift off.

5. Keep Laughing.

The news has a lot of influence in how we view the world. Many people understand that media outlets purposely over-report negative and security debilitating news to its viewers for profit reasons. Regardless of this knowledge, many people are unable to put off the idea that the world is actually getting more dangerous and twisted. In a world that appears to be constantly getting darker, more violent, more complicated, and more cynical - laughing and a sense of humour is the only way of keeping yourself sane.

Laughter and a sense of humour has many benefits:

  • Strengthens your immune system: Decreases stress hormones and increases your body to generate anti-bodies that fight viruses

  • Relieves tension and stress by relaxing the body

  • Fostering tighter relationships: Strong connections and memories are created through laughing. We tend to share stories and re-enact those moments to others.

  • See difficult situations in a positive outlook: See things (like negative new reports) in a less threatening manner or the irony of life

Laughter makes us feel good and it gives us the courage to smile in difficult times. Continue to keep laughing throughout your life and you will go a long way.

Humans are dynamic and complex creatures - we are adept in changing and adapting to new circumstances. While many beliefs, norms and paradigms are put to test against time, there are still certain ideas that will continue to ring throughout our lives, such as believing in yourself, pursuing progress and welcoming change.

Here are 5 more things you should keep doing no matter what:

6. Follow Your Dreams

I know - you heard this a million times. But it is so important because too many people throw away their dreams. That is why it needs to be mentioned again and again.

Following your dreams is one of the hardest things to do in life. As we grow older, we are persuaded to abandon our dreams due to many reasons.

During childhood, our innocence and creativity enabled us to have many dreams - many reaching to the land of fantasy even. As Randy Pausch said in his inspiring lecture, we can achieve all of our childhood dreams, even if they may appear to be impossible at first. This can be done by changing them into realistic and feasible goals. 

We need to understand that no dream is easy to obtain. But many of the great things in life are worth fighting for. How happy would you be if you did something you do not like for the rest of your life? Not very much. 

So once you dream it - live it.

7. Use Your Time Wisely

Time is one of the very few things we cannot control. We cannot attain more, slow it down, or save it up. Once time passes, you cannot get it back. For this reason, time is limited and incredibly important.

Because time waits for no one, make sure to treasure each and every moment. Life is too short to be wasting precious time on being sad or angry about an event in the past. So make the most of today, because time will keep ticking away regardless. 

8. Take Risks

What kind of world would this be if everyone had a safety net under them? That is, there is no risk in anything. Businesses would never fail and no one would ever be rejected during confessions. As good as this sounds, it has no resemblance to what the world is actually like. Businesses fail and people do get rejected - regularly. Our society would not be anything like it is now.

The prospect of failure or danger is what preoccupies most of us when deciding to take a risk or not. However, nothing in the world is exactly risk-free. But focusing on the negative aspects is what keeps people back from truly living their desired lifestyle and dreams. No one in the world knows exactly what will happen unless you try. Even small risks can make your life more worthwhile! 

9. Appreciate Your Good Health

Do you remember the last time you were unable to do what you loved because of an illness? When a cold hampered your performance incredibly? Or when you felt mentally drained?

Although our society is slowly becoming more health conscious, many of us still choose options that are not beneficial for us. We do not fully appreciate our good health and how blessed we are until a monumental event happens. Even as a moderate health freak, I learned the importance of health the tough way.

After all, we only have one body! 

10. Stop Worrying And Enjoy Life

Worrying is not a productive solution and could actually make you stagnant, by lowering your self-confidence and developing negative attitude. This is because when we worry, our imagination kicks in and naturally thinks of the worse possible scenarios that could happen. 

To stop worrying, understand that it does not help solve anything. It simply creates a mental construct without a solution to a problem. And in many cases it enlarges the problem. Combat this by taking an action-oriented approach by planning and then executing an action. This also enables you to get past worrying about things that are not under your control, by analyzing problems logically, allowing you to move forward and enjoy your life instead of being stuck worrying every day.

SFU Alumni
Jason is a Criminology Alumni who is hooked onto policing as a career. But that isn't all, he is also hooked on helping others become the best and strongest versions of themselves. Through his blog, Brave-Up, he looks to educate, motivate, inspire and raise questions about counter-productive social norms within our society. "Man up" is now an archaic term - because Brave-Up is NOW. You can find Jason on Twitter at @BraveUp_jy.
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Apr 14, 2013

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