20. What you think you become

Your thoughts are one of the most powerful forces in your life. What you think about on a consistent basis really does have a significant effect on your life at large. It affects how you act in every way, from how you are with people to whether you take that leap of faith and go after your dreams or not.

Mastering your thoughts, which primarily rests in observing them nonjudgmentally, is one of the most important things anyone can do for themselves. By sitting in meditation each morning you can help the recurring thoughts you have floating through your consciousness to the surface. It's this simple observing that can heal most deep-seated thoughts and emotions and make them dissipate.

21. It's up to you

Warning: no punches are held on this one.

Nothing's going to happen if you don't get off your ass. We all work together to make the world what it is, but for the most part, you push yourself to take action. You need to learn how to motivate and push yourself to get to work and accomplish your goals.

There's no other way to put it. You could have an army by your side, but each morning it's you who has to push yourself to wake up, and every time you don't feel like meditating but you know you should it's you who has to push yourself to sit.

There are no shortcuts and there's no helping hands on this one. The best I or anyone else can do is to offer clear-cut guidance, you ultimately have to be the one to take action. It's up to you to make your life what you want it to be, and that starts right now in your daily life.

22. Be grateful

Do you have eyes? Ears? A mouth? Can you speak? Do you still have your parents? Children? I'm sorry to be so direct with you, but much of us get down over the smallest things when others are suffering over very real adversities. Take a second to look around you and realize all the great things about your life.

Most people think of gratitude with regards to what you have, but the most powerful use of gratitude is in realizing what you don't have, rather than what you do have. Are you disease-free? Hunger-free? Thirst-free? Free from daily threats of war at your very doorstep?

These are all things you probably never think about because they don't affect you. But think about it for a moment and realize how lucky you are.

23. You won't live forever (so appreciate life and live to the fullest)

Throughout this life, you can never be certain of living long enough to take another breath.

- Huang Po

From the time you were born to the time you began reading this sentence, the clock of your life has been ticking. This is something we all come to face eventually, but we usually ignore it for most of our lives until it's too late to do much of anything.

The fear of death is the most powerful fear known to the human race and the result is for us to either ignore it completely or to think up some story about how we can't do what we really want to do anyway. Your time is limited, so be sure you're not being held back by fear, your comfort zone, or a skewed sense of responsibility to something.

Watch yourself as you go about your daily life- do you feel the urge to do something different? Do you find yourself holding back from doing something? Do you ever feel uncomfortable? About what? The first step is to discover what's holding you back. But if you strive to live fully aware in each moment you'll begin to gain clarity, and that alone can be enough to overcome it.

By no means is this list exhaustive, these are simply the things I've found to be true in my own life, particularly the ones I've found to be the most life-changing. When you can live in a way that your everyday life becomes your greatest teacher, the learning is life-long and endless.

What unique pieces of wisdom have you gained from your everyday life? I'd love to hear them.