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Green cat eyes

Jealousy is a beast that must be kept on a leash unless you want to end up on the wrong end of it. There are really 2 aspects to jealousy: (1) antagonism towards someone who has something you want, and (2) a compulsion to guard something you have to prevent its loss. In the first case, the focus is on what you don’t have; in the second, on what you won’t have. For the sake of discussion, we can think of them as Envy versus Fear of Loss.

In a way, Envy is like the good twin that can be allowed a longer leash. The reason being, through deliberate planning and action, envy can transform into unstoppable motivation. An enviable life can be modeled to better your own. You simply need to define the intermediate steps that would bridge the gap between where you are and where you want to be. For example, if you want to make a billion dollars but it seems beyond your grasp, then first focus on how to make a million dollars. And if a million dollars still seems surreal, then first focus on how to make 100,000 dollars. Keep breaking up your goal into smaller bits until you can emotionally digest it as a possibility.

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A drum and drumsticks

Here’s an all too common occurence. Guy meets Girl. She seems cooler than the last girl he dated or someone who he finds to be especially attractive. He gets her number and starts texting her. So far, so good.

But then no matter what he’s doing at the time–eating, sleeping, driving–as soon as his phone goes off, he immediately stops whatever he’s doing to check to see if it’s her. He’s so excited that he’ll compulsively check his messages even when his phone doesn’t go off. If she calls him while he’s on the phone, he’ll hang up on his friend, his brother, or even his poor old mother.

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An hourglass

This is the sequel to the popular post Now, Not Later.

“Knowing is not enough, you must apply; willing is not enough, you must do.”
-Bruce Lee

I used to date a girl who epitomized spontaneity. If I told her she should volunteer, she would walk to the nearest hospital and apply for a position the very next day. If I mentioned skydiving, she would make sure we went as soon as we could both take off from work. If we couldn’t due to inclement weather, she made sure we jumped out of the next available plane.

If I mentioned a particular lounge I wanted to go to, she would call me to meet her as she headed out the door. If she wasn’t allowed in because of her sneakers, she would buy a pair of boots on the way. If she had just come from the gym, she would shower and buy a new outfit before meeting up with me. If she needed makeup, she just dolled herself up at the closest Sephora. If this girl had a bucket list, it was an incredibly short one because everything she did, immediately.

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1,000 Views!

Red party confetti

With the publication of my latest post, my blog has reached 1,000 views!

Thank you all for your support.  If you enjoy reading my blog, please spread the word to your coworkers, your family, and your friends, both online and offline (aka ‘real life’).

Help me get to 10,000 views and I will come up with something to commemorate it.

Love

A. T. Bui

A Red Magnet

Charisma is all about making people feel good. The more confidence and purpose you can instill in people, the more magnetic you become. It may not be obvious, but respect is a necessary precondition. Think about the most charismatic person you know. Does he not only make you feel good about yourself, but commands your respect as well?

Sucking up, false flattery, or bending over backwards for someone who hardly cares about you is the opposite of charismatic. Don’t be fooled. Though these actions appear to elevate people, your own debasement makes mutual respect impossible. You cannot pull someone up from below; you will merely be stroking their ego.

Charisma comes naturally to some while others have to actively work on it. Those who attract people intuitively understand these secrets, while those who repel do so because they consistently fail to grasp them.

1) Be cool.
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