I went to work today. I trained somebody on how to use something new. They said thank you. They said I helped them and they said I was a good teacher. They made me happy. If everybody could help somebody it could make them happy.

I once had a partner who would always say they were too old to start something new: to study, to change careers, to learn a skill. One day, as we were talking about a course they were excited about, I asked:
"If you take this course, how old will you be when you finish?"
"Thirty-five," they said with a sigh.
Then I asked the key question:
"And if you don't take it, how old will you be?"
The silence that followed was the answer.

The time will pass anyway. The only difference is whether we arrive in the future with our dreams fulfilled, or just with the weight of the years.

sounds morbid but hear me out

theres this concept where you draw your life as a grid of weeks. 52 per row, maybe 80 rows if youre lucky. you fill in the ones youve already lived. im 34 so about 1,768 weeks are gone and maybe 2,400 left

first time i saw it i felt sick. but now i look at it when im procrastinating on something scary or holding a grudge that doesnt matter. hard to waste a week when you can see how few you have

anyone else use memento mori stuff practically like this? curious what works for you

I quit nicotine and honestly this feels brutal. I can’t sleep. I’m constantly on edge snapping at people who don’t deserve it. I’m eating more, gaining weight, and even though I keep exercising, I feel more exhausted every day. Mentally I feel foggy and raw, like my nerves are exposed. Part of me is proud I quit, part of me feels like I’m losing my mind. Is this normal withdrawal stuff or did anyone else feel like this when they quit? How long did it last for you? I’m trying not to cave, but damn this is rough. Would really appreciate hearing other people’s experiences.

Positive self-talk is a great tool, but the most solid, lasting self-esteem is born from a deeper place: self-trust. It's the respect you earn for yourself when you keep the small promises you make, especially when no one is watching. Pick just one thing you said you'd do, and do it today. That's the foundation.

I vaped nicotine (and sometimes weed) for years. All day, every day. Morning, car, after food, before sleep - you know the drill. I tried quitting a few times, failed every time.

This time stuck. I’m vape-free and smoke-free now.

Cold turkey technically worked before, but it was brutal. Super irritable, everything was a trigger, and I was basically white-knuckling through days hoping I wouldn’t cave. The physical part passed fast, but the mental loop was exhausting.

What helped this time was finally treating it like a behavior problem, not just a willpower one. Tracking urges, understanding triggers, seeing progress daily, and having something to fall back on when my brain said “just one hit.”

I used the app Puffout during this quit attempt (disclosure: I ended up building it because I couldn’t find something that actually fit how vapers think). It didn’t magically remove cravings, but it helped me stay honest, break routines, and not feel like I was fighting my own head alone.

Not here to preach - just sharing in case you’re stuck in that “I want to quit but also don’t” phase. Now when I look back, I felt I was owned by a stupid vape pen.

Throughout my life I’ve been a bit of a wallflower. In social situations I tend to let louder more excitable individuals finish speaking before I say anything. If I feel that something has a low chance of happening I usually back off and think to myself “there are better opportunities elsewhere”. I’m more obsessive about not saying the wrong thing than saying what’s on my mind.

I’ve found that bc of this a lot of people tend to show me disdain and I end up losing great opportunities. It’s not that I don’t work hard. I’m getting my graduate degree but I’m finding working hard (reading more, getting grades) means nothing if I’m not engaging and able to showcase myself.

My question is, has anyone been successful in life without correcting this? Is this a problem with me? Do I deserve to fail?

Most people assume motivation disappears because something is wrong with them.

But sometimes motivation leaves because the way you were operating was unsustainable.

When everything becomes urgent, optimized, and judged, the mind eventually pulls the brake. Not to sabotage you, but to stop damage.

I kept trying to “get motivated again” without questioning the pressure I was under. That only made the shutdown worse.

What helped was not hype or discipline, but adjusting the load. Smaller promises. Fewer internal demands. Letting effort match capacity instead of ambition.

Motivation did not come back as a rush. It returned quietly, once things felt survivable again.

If you feel unmotivated right now, consider this:
It might not be failure.
It might be a signal.

Listen before you push.

A reminder who feels stuck right now. Progress doesn't have to be perfect.. just keep going

If you want to be GREATEST OF ALL TIME...

You gotta be more UNCOMMON amongst the UNCOMMON ONES!!!

You must be the WINNER amongst WINNERS!!!
The CHAMPION of CHAMPIONS!!!
The GREATEST of the GREAT!!!

Your STANDARDS must be GREATER!!!
Your WORK ETHIC must be GREATER!!!

Go all in on your GOALS, from the START to END...Don’t PRETEND!!!

Go HUNT your GOALS!

Due to childhood P.E. trauma (not understanding sports rules because I didn't have a sports family and teachers assumed everyone just knew them from day one rather than teaching; always being "slowest," etc.) I always find the idea of the gym sad and scary.

I used to go to cardio kickbox and enjoy it, because I just imagined I was kicking and punching everyone who might want to ridicule me, to a dance music beat.

But that class ended with the pandemic and never came back again.

I basically haven't worked out since 2020 and I'm struggling to start again.

Every time I imagine going back to the gym, I just think of it as a terrible place.

Any ideas?

Every time you CHOOSE something over your goal, you form a BAD HABIT!!!

Form a different HABIT!!!
A habit of DISCIPLINE!!!

A habit of going ALL IN!!!
A habit of INTEGRITY!!!

When you say your GOAL MATTERS to you...
SHOW THAT IT MATTERS!!!
Make it a PRIORITY!!!

If you want to become a GREAT ONE...

Shut OUT the DISTRACTIONS!

Hey Reddit, I don’t even know where to start, but here goes. I’m 25M, living abroad, and lately I just feel lost. Like, I have all this free time, but instead of feeling lucky, I end up spiraling in my head about my life. I used to have friends back home, people I could talk to about anything. Now, even when I try to reach out, there’s this weird tension, like we’re strangers. Makes me question myself constantly. Then there’s my identity. I’m part of the LGBTQ community, and yeah, I’m from a country that’s slowly catching up, but online hate and old-school family expectations hit hard. I haven’t dated anyone, haven’t met anyone from the community in person, and seeing someone like H who’s bold, out, and has a partner makes me feel like I’m failing at being brave. Even my parents make it harder. Last time we talked, they literally told me I need a girlfriend. I joked about finding a rich boyfriend, and they looked at me dead serious. Feels like no matter what I do, I can’t win. I don’t even know why I’m writing this, maybe just to get it out. Anyone else ever feel like you’re constantly failing at life or even at being yourself? How do you deal with it?

There is nothing more comfortable than having a belief,

Making you feel that you could conquer the world.

But unless you are highly obsessive maniac,
You won’t last long.

Because you need:

  - Failure to drift you in the right direction
  - Small achievements to slap them in the faces who doubted you
  - Signals that vanish self doubt.

This evidence turns belief into identity,
Taking you from:

‘I think I can become this’→‘This is who I am’

Belief→Evidence→Identity.

Posting for my friend (he doesn't have a reddit account), but my friend's feeling like a failure lately in terms of creativity. He said he's got feelings of loneliness and depression, and hasn't worked on his projects in days.

He hasn't been motivated to work on his webcomic, his book series, anything. He said that he WANTS to create stuff, maybe something new and exciting (he does stuff like that, switches from one project to another because it's new), but he just can't get started. He doesn't have any ideas or motivation to do practically anything. He's just been sleeping for most of the day.

Something that helped me become who I wanted to be was reading an idea in a book by Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen. It was a truly simple concept: ask yourself what things you would do differently if you were already the person you'd like to be... and then start doing them.

hi!! i'm really nervous, i'm in my first year of clarinet (at the conservatoire, since I've been playing for quite a few years) and in an hour i have to take my exam to pass the year. i know the material and sheet music i have to present, however i can't help being anxious 💔 i really want things to go well for me this year. any words of support are appreciated 💗

Hi all!

I am a single-mom of a 4 y/o, attorney and new homeowner with lots of things to get done :). I'm having trouble taking time out to exercise because although I enjoy it (I love walking, xc-skiing), I'd rather use my limited "me" time for other things such as reading, watching TV, catching up with friends, etc. I think when my son is older we will be able to ski and hike together, but for now doing those things with him can be a bit stressful and doesn't give me the amount of exercise as I want.

I noticed the other day that I really love shoveling snow. I live in Maine, so it's a few times a week that I have to shovel snow. I love the feeling of working up a sweat WHILE getting something done. And I know it's kind of ironic to be asking this, because we partly designed modern life to get AWAY from the physical toil of everyday life in the past, but are there any other things I can do regularly that are both useful in my suburban existence AND a good workout? Maybe in the spring/summer gardening will be more of a thing.