An aim is imperative for every person, because without an aim man is ineffectual. An aim in life refers to the sturdy intention to achieve something. It gives meaning to your existence. You may face hurdles in achieving it, but a determined aim will bring success to your life. Your aims should build your life with everything worthy and righteous that life has to offer.

An aim motivates you to channel all your energies into getting out of where you are now towards where you want to be. An aim gives decorous meaning to the voyage of life. A precise aim means a precise life and a vague aim means a vague life. You need to set aims that relate to the high significances in your life. Your aims should be crystal clear and well-defined. As Oscar Wilde said, “The aim of life is self-development. To realize one’s nature perfectly, that is what each of us is here for.”

An aim helps you to put your triumphs into perspective. It directs your life to a specific destination. It provides you with a long-term vision. You should be pragmatic with your aims and they should be relevant to the direction of your life. The more robust your aims are, the more you will be able to act on them. Those who walk that extra mile and make an impression are the people who have focused aims.

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All you have and achieve in your life is a result of your belief in yourself. That belief unlocks boundless potentialities in your life. Self-belief is about trusting your own verdict and feeling comfortable with your capabilities. This can bring benefits to all areas of life. Self-belief is the difference between feeling unstoppable and feeling scared out of your wits. This makes you think lucidly and logically. You can frame sensible solutions to your problems if you have a strong belief in yourself.

With self-belief you become someone who can chase what he hopes for. It is an open secret that if you want to do well in life, you must believe in yourself. Your interior faith will create your external results. If you lack self-belief you will find it difficult to become efficacious. The way you feel about yourself greatly influences how you live. “Believe in yourself, and the rest will fall into place. Have faith in your own abilities, work hard and there is nothing you cannot accomplish,” says Brad Henry.

Not everyone is born with an in-built sense of self-belief. Building self-belief is a journey. If you believe in yourself, you have won half the battle. Mark Twain once said, “The worst loneliness is to not be comfortable with yourself.”

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Life is not going to last forever. You must learn to live and appreciate life with passion. In life, all you can do is do your best. Life is not about counting the years, but making the years count. Life may not move as you thought or planned, but as long as you are doing your best, the rest will be fine. Trust the power in you instead of worrying about circumstances. Do your best, trust the rest to God, and hope for splendid things to come. Make the time you have count right now. God created you to make an impact here on earth.

You will never make your life count until you make your day count. You will never make your day count until you make every hour count. You will never make every hour count until you make every moment count. You will never make every moment count until you make your actions count. You will never make your actions count until you make your words count. You will never make your words count until you make your thoughts count.

The roads to success and failure are never mistake-free. Your choice matters. Work towards realising your dreams. Here are some actions you can implement every day to get the desired outcome:

Live and Let Live

Diversity is there in all elements and it adjoins the beauty of nature. Live your own way and let others live their own; this is the rule of respectable living. “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” said Jesus. You can lead a level-headed and undisturbed life if you “live and let live”. This is what great men like the Buddha and Guru Nanak taught us.

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The two paramount days of your life are the day you were born and the day you find out what your purpose is. Understanding your life’s purpose, then taking action to execute the kind of life you really want to live, can be a thought-provoking self-examination. Just like all business entities should have a valid purpose statement, each person must have a crystal-clear purpose in life. Finding your life purpose starts with uncovering what fascinates your heart and runs like a golden strand through your life. Having a clear idea of your life purpose keeps you inspired, attentive and competent to tap into a pond of energy or potency when you need to face confrontations and challenges.

A group of fifty people was attending a seminar. Suddenly the speaker stopped and gave each person a balloon. Each one was asked to write his/her name on it. Then all the balloons were collected and put in another room. Now these delegates were let in that room and asked to find the balloon which had their name written on it in five minutes. Everyone was frantically searching for their name, pushing, colliding with each other, and there was utter chaos. At the end of five minutes, no one could find their own balloon. Then each one was asked to randomly collect a balloon and give it to the person whose name was written on it. Within minutes everyone had their own balloon.

The speaker said: “This is exactly what happens in our lives. Everyone is frantically looking for happiness all around, not knowing where it is. Our happiness lies in the happiness of other people. Give them their happiness, you will get your own happiness. And this is the purpose of human life.”

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Hate is an ugly mannerism. There are many people who are very gloomy or negative towards others. They are of a destructive mind. They hate you if you are beautiful or handsome. They hate you if you are admired or flourishing. They hate you if you are brave or spirited. Taken as a whole, they hate you if you are cheerful and fortunate. They just hate. For one reason or another, someone will find a motive to project their insecurities and diffidence, their unconstructiveness, their fears and their qualms on you and your life, and you have to deal with it.

It is just one set of verdicts from people who perhaps won’t hold a focal place in your life. They look at your prominence, your reputation, your associates, your career, etc., and think that you are not worthy of these things because they are only looking at things at an outer surface level. They do not respect your hard work. They are a jealous people. They hope for your downfall because they want you to mislay the things you have that they don’t.

People will hate you, rate you, agitate you and smash you. But how tough you stand is what makes you. Many hate you because you symbolize something they do not possess. Stay busy with your life and goals so that you do not have time to sit and adjudicate someone else. You should not interfere in others’ personal affairs and should be reverential of your preferences.

One day, a group of frogs decided to race to the top of a high tower. Many people came to see them and give them their support, but the race had just begun when everyone was already saying to the frogs: “It does not make any sense! You’ll never reach the top of the tower!”

Little by little, the frogs felt disappointed and discouraged, except for one of them who continued to run. And everybody cried out: “Give up! Give up! You’ll never get to the top!”

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“I am the master of my fate. The captain of my soul,” said William Ernest Henley. Life is full of surprises. They come in different forms — personal, emotional, physical or financial. Your life is your endowment. Be grateful for it and use this gift wholeheartedly. Life is a do-it-yourself assignment. You are accountable for the level of happiness and discontent in your life. So make your selections judiciously during your life’s journey. Your life is a lovely blossoming flower with abundant specially-decorated petals making up your unique experience; nurture it carefully.

Genuine victory comes from within. It is a process of what we do with our life. It is a wonderful chemistry of our abilities, passion, hard work and commitment. True success is something we earn privately and whose value we determine for ourselves. It is easy to travel back with a mind full of disappointment and even self-loathing after the moment is lost, but the truly brave thing to do is to find the silver lining in each circumstance or situation.

All characteristics of your life may never be just right. Learn to admire and accept this universal fact. This is the solution to healthy and wholesome living. “The happiest people don’t have the best of everything, but make the best of everything they have,” said Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius.

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Be the HERO of your own story and rescue yourself from a life of weakness. A hero can be defined as someone who does what is best for the common good no matter what the peril, jeopardy or cost. To be a hero is to maintain your supremacy by always taking complete accountability over the quality of your life. You must take accountability for your decisions, opinions, expressions and actions. If you fail to do so, you will pay an exorbitant price for it, both professionally and personally. Be the one who takes charge of your life and transforms it into a stunning success.

There is a hero within you waiting to be let out into the world. Take the best from other victorious people and mould yourself into the person that you actually want to be. You are born unique and you need to realize that fact as early as possible. No one is going to protect you; you must protect yourself and be the hero who grows up from the clutches of orthodoxy. The preferences you make will design your destiny. Once you understand that you are in charge of your life, everything changes; your life becomes focused and hopeful.

You were born to be great; you were not meant to waste or misuse your life. Instead of living a life that was shaped for you, proactively create your own life which is perfect for you. When you create your story, you design the rules for how you live a triumphant life. How you define a successful life is beside the point because we all have different descriptions of what it means to live life productively. What is important is that you understand that you can create that life. Write a screenplay and give yourself the starring role, and deliver an Oscar-worthy performance!

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Awareness is having a clear view of your personality. It is about truly understanding you. It is a stepping stone to leading a life full of purpose as it gives you a perfect picture of your potencies, powers, weaknesses, thoughts, beliefs, motivation and emotions. You have to develop your self-awareness to learn more about yourself and your capacities. This is the beginning point of every improvement and plays the role of a self-help sage. Awareness is a foundational skill indispensable to anyone interested in personal development.

Awareness allows you to:

• Identify your limitations and frame decisions based on your talent.
• Permits you to understand other people and their perceptions about you.
• Be introspective, but not self-absorbed.
• Be conscious of your needs, desires, dreams and work on them to support you to excel.

The more you know about yourself the better you respond to life changes. Awareness assists you in becoming proactive rather than reactive. This leads to spectacular and constructive effects in your life. Awareness is important because “accurate self-awareness is essential for optimal daily life activities, as it allows adapting individual behaviour to different situations according to one’s actual abilities. Accurate self-awareness thus prevents from risky or withdrawal behaviour.”

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One of the most well-known stumbling blocks to commencing a passion-based life is predicting what you are passionate about. Michael Hyatt says, “Your heart is the essence of who you are, it is your authentic self, the core of your being. Make it your top priority.” The best way to realize how to be yourself is to comprehend who you are at your innermost, deepest and fundamental level. When you know who you are, when your mission is crystal clear and you burn with the inner fire of indestructible will, no cold can touch your heart. Aristotle believed that there is one thing that remains constant in everything — what he called entelechy or one’s ‘elemental potential’.

Ambika decided to reveal her hidden potential during her final year of graduation. She approached her faculties and expressed her desire to participate in a dance competition. A faculty member told her, “From the start of your academic year you have not participated in any events. It will be very difficult for you to do so now.” Ambika replied, “Give me an opportunity. I’ll prove myself.” Her request was refused. Her classmates laughed at her intention to take part in the competition. Ambika ignored them. She approached a senior faculty member, Deepika, and again asked to participate in the competition. Deepika initially refused. However, she was impressed with Ambika’s initiative and interest and finally allowed her to take part. Ambika won the second prize! Deepika was overwhelmed. Surprised by Ambika’s amazing performance, the students asked Deepika, “Ma’am, what happened when Ambika came to your office?” Deepika replied, “Ambika expressed her interest to participate in the competition and I believed in her potential.” She added, “You need to take risks and trust and encourage others in life. That is what I did and Ambika proved herself by winning second position.”

Every human being has a tremendous capacity to realize his or her potential. When you know what you are doing, nothing will stop you.

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Saving money as a teenager is tough, particularly when you have friends who are shopping maniacs or love to go on weekend outings. However, it isn’t impossible. You know that money isn’t everything and it is surely not at the foundation of all pleasure. Then again, when routine expenses are due or when unforeseen overheads hit, you feel like the whole world is sitting on your shoulders. Shockingly, more than 80% of teenagers are unaware of how to manage money. Money management starts when you know the proper time to start saving money. Don’t wait until you become an adult to begin saving. Start saving money as a teenager and get a grip on your financial future.

There are several reasons to start saving money during your teen years. Firstly, saving money is a good habit to get into, especially when you start your career. Secondly, you learn about financial security which is something many (even adults) do not know very well. Thirdly, it helps you to be financially independent. Fourthly, it allows you to save for bigger spending such as going on a trip or buying a smartphone or a video game. Fifthly, it supports your college expenses or tuition fees. Last but not the least, it teaches you how to deal with banks and learn banking terms.

Here are seven ways in which you can make an attempt to save money:

Think about what you want to do with your money

Many people do not attain their financial objectives or are incapable of saving money. The main reason for this is that they do not know what they want to do with the money. Do you want to save for college expenses or to purchase your own laptop or buy a vehicle?

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