My birthday: there and never back again

Today is my birthday (I’ve turned 24). It’s fun I get it but for me, it’s just a day like any other. Normally this would be just another wasted year. Because I didn’t do anything useful till my 23rd birthday to be honest. I was drifting to life without a purpose. But exactly one year ago my whole life changed. There had been changed a lot since the summer of 2015. The summer of 2015 was the beginning of a whole journey. It became a never-ending trip. I became a different and better person and I’m never going back again. Let’s dive into that day.

I remember the day like yesterday. I came home around 4 pm and I was standing alone in the kitchen. So what do you do when you’re along in the kitchen? Make some coffee what else?! Coffee is a great natural pre-workout and testosterone booster (read here why). After training, I took a cold shower (yes I even do those in winter) and I felt so different that day but I couldn’t tell what was different. There was something that I never felt before but I forgot about it and around 7 pm I started eating a big ass meal. I was celebrating my birthday at home and my friends arrived about one hour later.

I was standing in the same place as where I made my coffee and suddenly it struck me. The experience was really weird, to be honest. I suddenly knew what real happiness felt like and I was 100% sure that I’d never felt something like this before or maybe couldn’t recall it who knows. From that day on I worked very hard to improve every day and I learned a lot. Let me share some of the insights that I learned on this great journey.

All these lessons apply to almost everybody. I learned a valuable lesson every day but sometimes it was only useful for me. Here’s a summary of the 365 lessons I learned this year.

My birthday taught me to start acting

Most people are always waiting for the right time to do something or waiting for a new year to make the big change. Both of these approaches are bullshit. You constantly doing the same but you’re expecting to get a different result. How stupid is that? I’ve never met someone who succeeded to accomplish just one of his new year resolutions. Read Triggers if you’re serious about making a change (buy it here).

I stopped drinking alcohol on a random day. It’s all about taking action in the now instead of procrastinating. I admit that I still have the tendency to procrastinate sometimes but I pay the price when I do it. The more I procrastinate the less free time I’ll have that day and I don’t have that much free time, to be honest. I’m always busy doing something because I’m all about taking that action.

You’ll regret the things you didn’t do the most, just listen to the elderly. They all regret the fact that they didn’t try to accomplish their dreams. Stop dreaming and put a date on it. Turn your dreams into goals and visualize them, your dreams will come alive.

My birthday lesson: Arnold Schwarzenegger was right: DO IT NOW (make sure that you read it with his accent).

Or as I like to rephrase it: just do it

My birthday gave me a serious lesson about dating

I got rejected on my birthday via text. There are better ways to celebrate your birthday am I right. The girl I dated didn’t like the fact that I put my coat on her shoulders when she was cold.  I also have to thank the modern-day feminism. The modern-day women want to take care of themselves and don’t want to rely on men. Sounds great but uhm what’s wrong with making sure that a girl isn’t cold? So she told me that she liked me but just didn’t like the coat part. So what would every normal happy guy do? Stop dating and be reasonable. What did I do? Go on a second date.

At that point, I had no clue what I wanted in life. She walked over me via text on my birthday. So am I angry that she did it? No actually pretty grateful for the experience. She hates me though. I didn’t date for about 5 months and it didn’t work out either. But this time I was wise enough to pull the plug.

My birthday lesson here: it’s better to be single and be yourself than being in a relationship while pretending to be someone else.

Your self- worth isn’t related to girls

The pick- up industry is booming. These so-called alpha males are taking over the minds of all the other guys. First of all, it’s really weird that you’re hitting in a club while another guy is standing behind you. It becomes even weirder when he whispers some lines in your ear. Those guys claim that they’ll give you the experience of your life (sounds romantic doesn’t it) but they’re straight up losers. You can read here why they’re losers.

There I said it, pick up artists have no clue how to deal with a real woman. A real woman will tell them to go away. Many guys want to bang as many women as they can just to feel better (there are also women like this). You can call me a loser, pussy or whatever but I ditch these women right away. I don’t care because I know that there will be drama involved after a while. I rather work on myself until I meet a class act girl than banging tons of girls. Those girls bore the hell out of me.

I mean what cool about hearing the story that they went out, scored tons of girls, were completely hungover and woke up in their puke? I’ve heard this story about 10000 times now since the age of 16. It’s getting boring now. Some people need to get their act together.

My birthday lesson here:  self- worth shouldn’t be determined with how many notches you have in your belt. (these are the words of Luke, read his great motivational post here.).

Limits are self-imposed

I weighed about 65 kg (145 lbs.) on my birthday eventually I got stuck at 67 kg (147.7 lbs.) for a long time. I was happy with it and thought that I had reached my limit. Now I’m weighing in at 70 kg (155 lbs.) and I’m around 8-9% body fat. I’m “bigger” than ever before and I’ll gain some more weight over time.

But it doesn’t stop there. Nothing is impossible if you work hard (that’s the next lesson). People put so many limits on themselves and they’re wondered that they fail afterward. Why don’t you throw all those self-imposed limits through the window? They just lower your self- esteem. I don’t know what you want to achieve in life but remember this: Just do it. I believe that you can achieve big things and that you’ll succeed.

My birthday lesson here:  Believe and you’ll achieve.

Books are more meaningful than you think

I asked my parents a book for my 23rd birthday. They were really surprised but they gave it to me. I wanted to have Think And Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill so I got it. I was halfway through the book and that’s when I started writing for my blog. The rest is history. It helped me get back on the right track. Buy it here.

Everybody should read this book in my opinion but most people claim that reading is a waste of time. I wouldn’t be where I’m today if I hadn’t read that much. I went from being a non- reader to the guy who reads one book a week. There are a lot of people who still think that it’s weird that I highlight in my books but I’m looking for self- improvement instead of the approval of others.

My birthday lesson here:   Books will give you the brain but not the looks

My birthday taught me to follow my gut

I had to study during the holidays since I had 4 finals in January. At one point I realized that I had 2 options. I could study hard and pass all the finals or I could work towards my best self. I did the latter and failed all 4 of them. My parents were furious and thought that I had failed but I followed my gut feeling and I did it again 6 months later.

I dropped out of college because I was sick of it. College didn’t give me the feeling that I was learning a lot. I was bored and skipped most of my lessons so I could blog, read and train. The funny this is that I remember one of the last classes that I ever did. We played a card game for kids. This was just to keep us busy. Again it was a game for kids, I could have easily done this at home.

I followed my gut ever since and most people don’t like it but it never let me down.

My birthday lesson here:  follow your gut and stop overthinking

Working hard is the greatest thing there is

I started writing two hours a week when I started writing but now I’m writing every day. My writing has improved a lot since that I do it every day. I also learned that it gives you energy. I can be extremely tired but I get full of energy once I start writing. The cool thing is that the energy lasts till I go to bed.

Working hard is great it also makes sure that  I can get out of bed every day at 6:30 in the morning every single day of the week.

My birthday lesson here:  wake up determined and go to bed satisfied

My birthday lesson: be selfish in a good way

I used to be a people pleaser and that’s what got me depressed in the first place. I was always putting myself on the backburner and it got me a burnout. There was a valuable lesson here: I learned to take me time and I’m not sacrificing it for someone else. It’s the time that I spend to get a better physique or a better mindset. It possible to improve every day but you’ll never improve if you horse around all day.

How normal people spend their time

I can describe most people their week without trying too hard. You get up on Monday to go to school or your job, which you hate, in a bad mood. You don’t kick start your day the right way. Like most people, you hate everything and everyone and damn it’s even snowing today. This reoccurs till it’s Friday or Friyay in the drunk people society. Most people sleep longer on weekends and have no clue what to do with their lives. They watch the same shows over and over again. They don’t do any work because they don’t feel like it. But the worst thing is that they ask a lot of people to do something because they’re bored.

Eventually, they go out, get completely wasted, wake up hungover on Sunday. They crawl out of bed, complain some more and start hating on Monday already. I mean what’s a better way to spend your Sunday afternoon than constantly complaining about the day off tomorrow? Nothing right?! I’m highly sarcastic in case you were wondering.

This happens till people hit retirement. They get old and frustrated. Those people become grumpy old people, alcoholics (if they weren’t already) or even both.

This was a day in the life of the normal people.

How you should spend your time

Learn something new. There are so many things that you can learn. How can you be bored in this day and age? Are you living under a rock or what? No seriously how do you do it?

That’s the approach that I took. I started doing what I loved and didn’t please people anymore. I don’t care that you don’t like me, I don’t care that you hate me. It was time to live my own life and I’m glad that I took that step. I have found peace of mind and I know that I’m 100% capable of making someone else happy now. I know what I want and what I don’t want. I’m never doing something again to please people.

So to my parents: I’m sorry but I’m not going back to college because you’ll be happy with the fact that I got a degree.

To a good friend: I’m sorry that I’m not dating your attractive friend but she’s has nothing to offer me.

To all the flakes (girls who pop up to get attention and then ignore you again for a long time): just stay away and don’t pop up every month or so. It’s dumb, annoying and childish. Don’t search for my attention. Google some attention, I’m sure you’ll find some. Follow this link if you have no clue about what I’m talking about. It’s a guide on how to get it.

To all the haters: keep on hating but I’m going to keep blogging and mastering the art of not giving a flying fuck. Thank you and never come again.

My birthday lesson: try to please yourself and don’t look for the approval of others. Your life will become a lot better.

Complaining doesn’t solve jack shit

Some so many people are complaining for about 17 hours a day. They sleep the remaining hours so they can’t complain during that period. How many issues did you already solve by complaining about it? Zero, none, nada. You only created more problems. This is freaking dangerous since you’ll lose complete control over your emotions and eventually your life(been there done that). You’ll attract some negative people and it all goes downwards after that.

All the negative people ditched me and this makes life a whole lot easier. I admit that I used to complain a lot but I got what I served. I got depressed, burned out and suicidal. It was like an advertisement for a shopping mall. Buy depression and burnout and you’ll get suicidal tendencies for free.

After a while, I realized that complaining is just a waste of time. It’s all good if you’re someone who doesn’t know how to spend your time but I get that my time is precious. We all have 24 hours in a day, it’s entirely up to you on how you spend it.

Nobody cares that you’re tired

There are tons of people who’re constantly complaining that they’re tired but nobody cares. People have problems on their own. They will pat you on the back in the best-case scenario. Doing nothing is tiring as well. Just try it. Most people get up, rush to work, get home and watch television all night. How can you expect to have a lot of energy? Somebody has to explain to me that way of thinking. Get to the gym and do another kind of exercise.

No time? No time doesn’t exist but here’s a training routine if you’re busy and have less time to work out.

My birthday lesson: when you complain you accept unnecessary pain. When you whine you show a lack of spine. Get it?

[ctt template=”8″ link=”8qu7b” via=”yes” ]when you complain you accept unnecessary pain. When you whine you show a lack of spine. @ZeroToAlpha[/ctt]

 

Watch out with people pleasers

People come and people go, that’s just how life works but for some reason, people will return. Past dates or flings will suddenly pop out of nowhere. I found a correlation between my foodsnapchats and the fact that people want to see me again. They want to hang out again and suddenly they show interest in what you do. It just doesn’t last that long. This is mostly just a one- time meeting that results in nothing.

I hate people-pleasers, to be honest. Just be you instead of not being true. I don’t drink alcohol but that doesn’t mean that you should impress me by saying that you don’t like alcohol anymore. Most people can see through an act right away. Your mask will fall off eventually.

My birthday lesson: give people a chance but ditch the people pleasers they’re on to nothing good.

What’s a comfort zone?

Most people want to stay in their comfort zone as long as possible but nothing good ever happened from staying there. Just look at what makes you comfortable. Almost all the things that make you lazy are a part of your comfort zone. You’ll never be able to grow if you aren’t looking for self- improvement. Get out of the comfort zone and keep on doing it.

It’s not that bad, to be honest. You’ll become addicted before you know it.

Helping people is the best thing there is

I had my struggles in life and I’m sure that there will be a lot more struggles in the future but that’s just a part of life. Failures come and go. Helping the right people is a bit selfish actually since it gives you a great feeling. It’s one of the best feelings in the world next to saying what you’re going to do and going out and do it. This blog is full of guides which are a reflection of the struggles that I’ve got in the past.

Feeling depressed? Here’s a guide on how to beat it.

Are you battling anxiety? This post will help you out.

Do you want to become a morning person? Check this out.

Looking for more energy and discipline? Read this.

Are you thinking about the meaning of life? Maybe this post will help you out.

There are already more than 60 articles published so look for what you need and enjoy.

Enjoy the ride and never look back

I enjoy the ride that I’ve taken. Dropping out of college was the best thing that I could do. At that moment most people called me a loser and some of them still do but it has been a crazy ride so far. The ride gets even more thrilling as soon as you start working towards your goals. You’ll turn into a real powerhouse with tons of energy in the morning. In the beginning, you won’t accomplish a lot but in the end, you’ll improve and you’ll get some success. After a while, more and more successes will follow and these will only boost your self- esteem. Some people just don’t get that it takes hard work and a lot of time to make something succeed. Some people party like it’s 99 as soon they’ve started a blog. They stop working and their blog never becomes a success.

Those are the people who’ll claim their whole life that they did it. They become satisfied after just one little achievement and use it in almost every conversation. Just be grateful that they’ve happened and set new goals. Always keep moving forward and enjoy the journey while you’re doing it.

Never take things for granted because you’ll stop learning as soon as you do it. It’s game over from there buddy.

My birthday lesson is simple: enjoy the ride but never stop the ride. You’ll end up staying there.

Do what you love and love what you do

People asked me what I would do on my birthday and I answered that I would blog, read and train just like any other day. I just do what I love and love what I do especially on this day. I’m looking forward to these things and on Friday I’ll go out eating with some friends. It doesn’t have to be fancy. I’m looking to improve every day and I won’t gain anything if I’m eating cake all day. Well, I’ll probably gain some weight but I’m not trying to put on a lot of fat.

My birthday lesson: Fack birthday cake I’ll enjoy a big ass steak. No seriously, do what you love and love what you do. So this means that I’ll be eating steak while I gave vegan gains some inspiration to make a hate video about me.

My favorite change: people can change but….

There are a lot of people who saw me again after a long time and they all claim that I’ve changed. I changed mentally and physically according to them (goodbye baby face). I’ve indeed changed a lot but I not telling everybody. How many people claim that they’ve changed but do the same dumb things over and over again. They just tell you that they’ve changed because they are looking for a new chance. Change isn’t an overnight success. It takes a lot of time to turn your whole life downside up.

You’ll notice quickly enough if people have changed. It mostly takes about 5 minutes. Sometimes they want to impress you or win you over. They pop up and leave as quick as they came. Sometimes it’s better to cut people loose, it makes life a lot easier.

My birthday lesson: people can change but you’ll notice it and they won’t tell you.

Wrapping things up

This is defiantly one of the longest posts that I’ve ever written but it was really hard to select the best lessons that I’ve learned. Don’t forget that I wrote this post after learning something every day and there are still so many things that I haven’t shared. Don’t worry I’ll write about it in my upcoming blog posts.

2016 was the best year of my life and I’ll just make the upcoming years even better. How about you? Will you crush 2017 or will it be just another year where you followed the herd?

Show what you’re made off in 2017 and make it count.

JUST DO IT.

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Till next time

Alex

 

 

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