I just started reading Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihaly and absolutely loving it. One thing that particularly captured my attention was how Mihaly explained the difference between pleasure and enjoyment. According to Flow, we can experience pleasure by without any investment of pyshcic energy, whereas enjoyment happens only as a result of unusual investments of attention.

Mihaly then explains how easy it is for a child to experience enjoyment. Flow states that every child is a little “learning machine”, as children are constantly leaning new movements and words.

This instantly reminded me of how children always look so happy, and how contagious a kid’s smile can be to an adult. It’s also evident today that children obviously smile and laugh way more than adults do on average. One reason children could be happier, or enjoy optimal experience more often, could be due to the fact they are constantly learning.

After these children go to school, the exitement of learning new things tends to wear out. 2 years out of highschool now, I notice a majority of people I went to school with say they are “done with school, and will never have to read a book again”. Adults in general tend to rarely read 1 book a year, and according to this article, 1 in 4 adults read no books at all.

One way adults can enjoy optimal experience and be happier more often is just to learn from children. Constantly push yourself to learn something new and enlightening. Personally, I notice a huge difference between the attitude of friends my age who read and educate themselves and those who don’t.

Point is, dedicate yourself to learning something new, constantly. Whether its through reading a book, attending seminars, or taking classes. Just don’t work a job because it pays money. Work a job that forces you to learn something new. It is amazing how much there is to learn and experience, and it really just starts after highschool. Always seek to learn more, and overall enjoy life more.

“All that we are is the result of what we have thought. The mind is everything. What we think we become.” – Buddha

For the past 6 months I have waken up every Friday morning at 6 AM to participate in a meditation club. I was lured to “Mind Your Business Club” by my friend Grant. Basically, we have 30 minutes of meditation, followed by 30 minutes of discussion related to meditation, Buddhism, and everyday life. I never quite understood the point of meditation. The only thought that came to mind of meditation was Yoda, who I thought was a true badass, so I decided to give it a go.

Basically, I have come to love meditation, and try to practice it whenever I can. Meditation is also something I believe Generation Y should atleast learn about and try. In our generation, when we have an abundance in material goods and satisfactions, it is even more imperative to seek self-fullfillment and self-happiness. Meditation can be one avenue to achieve that.

There can be huge benefits to anyone who decides to take meditation seriously.

• Deeper Levels of Relaxation and Reduces Stress: Honestly, I have never met anyone my age, or any age for that matter, that says they have to much relaxation. American Society seems to be a hot zone for stress. This is one benefit any can enjoy.
• Observe and Control Your Own Thoughts: While meditating, you want to focus on your deep breathing. The goal is not to focus on one dominant thought. Hundreds of thoughts will pop up, and you just let them pass. “Think about nothing”. This is extremely difficult, and becomes easier with practice. Its great though, for you can sit back and see what really is on your mind in a contolled and relaxed manner. Not when your pissed off in traffic or vulnerable to make a fool of yourself in the moment. You seriously become your thoughts. Why not learn how to observe and control them?
• Improve Concentration: While you attempt to obserce and control your own thoughts you will build your skill of concentration. In a information-packed world with literally thousands of distractions every minute, concentration is important. Concentrating on your breaths, and not giving into any one particular thought during meditation, will allow you to become better self-controlled and allow you to concentrate better in other aspects of life – work, school, etc. The more concentrated you can become, the more efficient you will be.
• Better Understanding of Yourself and the World Around You: As you meditate, you really see a movie of all your thoughts before your eyes. You will notice which thoughts come up more, which seem to bother you the most, etc. Also, as you meditate, you can observe your thoughts without all the prejudices and other negative factors you might carry with yourself throughout the day. Since your more relaxed and more concentrated, you can better understand the daily issues that arise. This is huge to better understanding your school issues, work, relationships, and overall, your purpose and motivations in life.

Just start out trying to meditate 5 minutes a day in the morning, at lunch, or before you go to bed. Meditation is one way to live a more balanced life. And the more balanced you are, the more stress-free you tend to be. Meditation is one thing I believe all Generation Y should consider and practice.

Metaphor is the understanding of one thing in terms of something else, and is a product of Right-brain thinking.  The book, A Whole New Mind by Daniel Pink, stresses the importance of developing and using Right-brain thinking in the businesses world and life. 

Left brain = literal and textual.  Right brain = metaphorical and contextual.  Knowledge workers tend to be dominated by left-brain thinking.  Practicing to balance both sides will be crucial for business and life in the future or globalization and self-fullfillment and happiness. 

 George Lakoff writes that metaphor is central to reason, and believes that human thought processes are largely metaphorical.  Lakoff says that metaphors are central to development of thought, and how we think metaphorically in nature.

Metaphorical thinking helps us understand others, which will be crucial in business as we will come into contact and work with people of diverse backgrounds in the forms of collaboration. 

Besides in the business world, and as Pink notes, that the more material benefits and comforts brought to use by abundance will matter much less than the metaphors by which we live by.  As Lakoff explains, “A large part of self-understanding is the search for the appropiate personal metaphors that make sense of our lives.”

Realizing, understanding and thinking more metaphorically are great tools to consider using while dealing with life and work.  Metaphors are creative, fun, and can connect people together powerfully.  As Pink caps it off, the more we understand methapor, the more we understand ourselves.

Growing up a 90s kid, I was heavily influenced by 90s music,  and I have to admit, I still enjoy those infamous 90s one-hit wonders.  Recently heard the New Radicals - You Get What You Give, which was basically my anthem during the 90s, and got slapped with perhaps the best advice I think anyone can do, regardless of age, status, money etc. 

The one sure thing you can control in life is what you give.  Whether your giving out help of any kind, compliments, or even just a smile.  Obviously also works just as negatively, like giving out hate, road rage, whatever….

You always control what you give.  You give someone hard work and and impressive results, that person will give you a job or raise.  It doesnt work the other way around.  I feel that people do the total opposite.  They think they should be given, then they’ll “do” in return.  This is a total losers concept. 

You cant expect to be hand given shit in todays world.  You have to go out and get it (give work) or in some cases demand it (give/show your value).  Of course responsibility goes hand in hand with this.  When you demand something, that means you deserve it through your positive actions, not because you think you should.

So try this out for a week and see how it makes you feel and how it affects your life.  Each day as you wake up, decide one thing you will constantly give that day (smiles, respect, listening, help).  Practice giving without asking or expecting something in return.  Do the one thing you can control in life, becuase “You Get What You Give”.

I’m currently studying the Meditations by Marcus Aurelius, the Hays Translation. 

“We cannot step twice into the same river” – Heraclitus

Marcus expands on this… “Time is a river, a violent current of events, glimpsed once and already carried passed us, and another follows and is gone.”  (4.43 in Hays)

 Its amazing at how I can relate those 2 writings to everything in my life.  There is always the “would of, could of, should of”’s in life, and its a bunch of bullshit.  The chances are high that you wont get what you want if you have to ask yourself “Should I?”, or “What would happen if…” and the worst…. “I could of have done that but…”.

Most people tend to view events, situations, and decisions with the wrong mentality.  They are quick to label anything in life as “bad” or ”good”, and mostly its decided on pure emotion at the time.  Stoicism, also read in Meditations, states that one thing is neither good or evil.  “… not objects or events, but the intrepretations we place on them are the problem.”

 Regulate your weak and negative interpretations and perceptions on events and decisions you experience to avoid facing regret and to get what you want in your life.

So when your faced with any event or decision in life, tackle it with the right interpretation or perception, and then act. If you dont act, you will lose out to opportunities flowing by you.  Similar to what Ryan Holiday says, if you dont define yourself, or in this case, your life, then others gladly will.  Because you will only get one shot, one chance, one  glimpse, before time passes you by.

“People mirror back to us the reality of who we are”

I read this phrase from the book, The Third Jesus, by Deepak Chopra. Very similar to the golden rule, “Do not do unto others as you would expect they should do unto you”. So when you sit down face to face with reality, or any problems or dilemmas with people, spend some time rethinking the way you treat, react, and behave towards and around the people that you come across in life.

Taking Macro and Micro this semester, plus a personal finance class, I have been formally introduced to Opportunity Cost = the highest valued alternative that must be given up to engage or do an activity. For instance, if I decide to buy new shoes ($65) over a nice dress shirt on sale ($25), the opportunity cost of buying the shoes would be a nice dress shirt and $35 in my pocket.

With a focus on economics this semester, I start to recognize the concepts and ideas everywhere in everyday life. Opportunity cost is a big obvious one. We all face scarcity with every decision, besides maybe breathing air, since air is an  unlimited resource, at least for now. So every decision we make, we are giving up or missing out on other opportunities. We all use opportunity cost sub consciously, but if we actually thought about the true opportunity cost of our everyday decisions, I think we would make more efficient decisions.

The main point is this; really try and acknowledge opportunity cost in your everyday real life decisions, and I believe you would all choose the more efficient and beneficial decision relative towards our goals and aspirations. Just don’t use opportunity cost for financial decisions, but for other aspects of life, like relationships and health. Did you ever think of the opportunity cost of hanging out with the same person or crowd, when you could split the time and meet new people or join an organization or club? If you were a business major, would you rather volunteer for an internship or work part time at job that may not cultivate the skills relative to your major or goals? Before choosing to take an unnecessary nap over studying, or choosing a weekend getaway over saving money, analyze the real opportunity cost of each decision.

Applying the concept of opportunity cost to my every day decisions will encourage me to make more efficient and beneficial decisions relative to my goals and aspirations. What do you think? Do you agree?