21 Life Lessons to Remember in 2015: Guest Blog by Dinesh Damodaran

1. If something in your life needs to be fixed or changed, don’t wait until the end of the year to make it a resolution.

2. Learning is a lifelong and continuous process, it is the best investment you can make in yourself. Learn about things, the world around you, people, about yourself, learn something, anything, but be sure to learn.

3. Don’t fall in the trap of judging other people by their intentions especially when you tend to judge yourself by your intentions.

4. The weight of expectations you feel on your shoulders are the ones you placed on yourself. Let it go, and you can move towards your destination faster.

5. Be comfortable being alone and spending time by yourself, if you can’t stand your own company, nobody else can.

6. You can’t control what other people say, think or do, you can only control how you respond.

7. Never react or take a decision when emotional, this goes for both positive emotions and negative emotions.

8. Practice altruism, doing things for other people without expectations is liberating and your best contribution to making this world a better place, one selfless act at a time.

9. Don’t be afraid of change but be afraid of staying in the same place. Everything changes even you, you are not the same person you were yesterday because who you are today is the sum total of your life’s experiences. Embrace change, it is the greatest gift you can ever get.

10. There isn’t always a right and wrong, only different perspectives, break down those mental barriers and become more inclusive. You may be the hero in your tale, but you just might be the villain in someone else’s piece.

11. It is okay not to be perfect, an obsession with perfectionism is another form of procrastination. Sometimes getting it done is better than waiting for the perfect conditions and opportunity.

12. What you are doing at this moment is the most important thing in your life, make it count.

13. Multi-tasking is over rated, focus your energy on doing one thing and doing it right and to the best of your abilities.

14. People in your life come and go, they were there in your life for a reason, and they probably left for a reason, both their presence and absence is a gift, learn from it, grow from it, become a better person to the other people in your life.

15. Don’t live in your past, it is a great injustice to your present. Let it go and your present will come alive with many possibilities.

16. Love yourself and accept yourself for who you are and what you are, only then can you love and accept those around you.

17. Don’t compete with anyone but yourself, invest in developing yourself, personally, professionally, emotionally and spiritually. Work towards becoming a better version of yourself.

18. Accept that sometimes the things you want may not come in the manner you expect them to, if you have a goal or an aspiration work hard for it, if you fail give it a go a few more times, but if it isn’t working out, maybe it wasn’t meant to be. Be open to other possibilities of reaching your destination. The mountain may have only one summit but there are many ways to climb it.

19. Hardships are not a curse, they are your greatest opportunities to grow and change, weather the storm – come out stronger and better. If it doesn’t challenge you it doesn’t change you.

20. Heart breaks condition you to shield your heart from future hurt. But the only way you can receive love is if you open your heart to the possibility of love.

21. Take the road less traveled, you know where the all too frequented road goes, and even if the road less traveled leads to some place you didn’t want to go, you are still wiser for the experience.