The False Assumption On Growth

Growth happens naturally...right?

I mean as babies, barring any abnormalities, we grow naturally.

At least when it comes to it physically.

But what about when it comes to personal development?

That's on you.

Often, we seem to use the same tool (hammer) for every problem we come across. Being that life is dynamic and constantly changing it would be safe to assume that we can't approach every problem with the same mindset.

With that said, there seems to be a misunderstanding that suggests every obstacle in life naturally just gets better and solves itself spontaneously.

You hear it often from your closest friends and family, "Don't worry it will get better" or "Stick it out and keep going."

Not to sound too much of a jerk, but they are wrong.

I'm not saying they don't have your best interest and love you, but the truth is problems and obstacles don't solve themselves magically.

It takes energy.
It takes work.
It takes a change in routine.

In other words, you need to do something about it.

When it comes to growth, your ability to apply yourself is vital.

So why is growth important? If you value success and want to achieve your goals, you need growth.

Now at times, you may get by in life, but that is due to chance. Chance is out of your control. Nobody should live their live in accordance to chance. Either way, you will plateau.

Even biologically, we as human evolved to grow mentally as time passes, altricious. That's to say we are born with a bit of knowledge but have a huge capacity to learn. On the contrary, animals such as birds are precocious which is to say they are born with natural knowledge to survive but don't have a huge capacity to learn as much.

Make it a conscious goal to surround yourself with mentors, read books, buy programs and attend seminars and conferences. 

You have a huge capacity to learn. You have a huge capacity to grow. You have a huge capacity to be successful.

My name is Romario Villanueva.  Entrepreneur & blogger. I'm a graduate from Rutgers University with several certifications from top schools through Coursera. I love all things business, psychology, and basketball. Feel free to reach out to me on Facebook and LinkedIn

Life: Your Big Picture

Siddhartha is life.

Most truths in life is relative. They are also not in-tuned with all aspects of life.

Throughout this beautiful journey we might encounter certain stages that reveal a higher level of thinking.

Not one with complex words or sophisticated language, but one that lets us understand "Self" or the art of living or the meaning of life.

You can say having deep self-awareness allows for peace which can equal happiness.

It doesn't take deep expertise to understand that life can be rough, confusing and a hard enough struggle can cause deep psychological issues.

Often, we follow Guru's blindly thinking that if I hear and do what they do I will achieve the same success. This isn't necessarily a bad strategy, I mean there is something to learn from them right?
Most of the time there is. But, we won't see the same results because one's life vision isn't something you can really teach.

It's just a piece of the puzzle.

There are many paths one can take.

You can follow societal norm's and fit in.
You can deny materialistic possessions and become an outcast.
You can chase every desire you ache for.
You can also question any of these paths as well.

One isn't better than the other.

The key is to know and recognize where you stand and not get sucked in too deep.

Life isn't just acting.
Life isn't just listening.
Life isn't just thinking.
Life isn't just binding to one source.
Life is unity.

Perhaps, there is no "Self."
Perhaps, following a thread of thinking, deep and long enough will allow you to find what you seek.

I think the key is understanding and binding all the emotions to align with your vision to live out your own personal philosophy of life.

Everything has some truth to the big picture.

My name is Romario Villanueva.  Entrepreneur & blogger. I'm a graduate from Rutgers University with several certifications from top schools through Coursera. I love all things business, psychology, and basketball. Feel free to reach out to me on Facebook and LinkedIn

Choice: The Simple Secret To A Successful Life

"To get what you want, you have to deserve what you want. The world is not yet a crazy enough place to reward a whole bunch of undeserving people."  ― Charles T. Munger

If you're not investing and improving on yourself everyday, you will not be successful. This doesn't mean putting in 15hrs a day of continuous studying, but it does mean learning at least one thing before you go to bed for the rest of your life. At the end, it adds up.

Most of these determinants are based on heuristic patterns, our choices. 

Do I eat breakfast this morning? Yes or No. Yes, I'll eat breakfast.

Do I eat something healthy for breakfast? Yes or No.  Yes, I'll have some lean proteins and healthy fats. 

Do I workout after breakfast? Yes or No. Yes.

Do I do cardio? Do I lift weights? 

As you can see, our life is full of choices. We can easily see our choices with this type of branching in all aspects of our life.

When it comes to money, Warren Buffett has made better choices than you or me. When it comes to bodybuilding, Arnold Schwarzenegger has made better choices than you or me. Even that person you know who has married the love of their life and living happily ever married for 50+ yrs, has made better choices when it comes to love than you or me.

Why? 

What is the difference?

What is the secret?

The secret is simple, it's our choices. 

If we compare our choices side by side, most of us weren't doing the things that every successful person took the time to do.

Diving a bit deeper into the subject, there is something that is standing out. There is this myth that Freedom always equals Happiness. On the contrary, maybe this freedom of choice is overwhelming us into doing the wrong things in life.

Our brains aren't evolved to handle such an insane amount of choice that our current world presents.

Our ancestral mind were built to handle 150 friends/family/acquaintance relationships. Take a look around your city and see how many people there are.

If you aren't careful, and you can make a choice of letting the wrong person into your life in which you're happiness is at risk due an over cognitive loading.

We are bombarded with the freedom of choice.

Look at online dating, you can communicate with thousands of people. Even in career, it wasn't too long ago where we didn't necessarily have to make a choice. We usually followed in the footsteps of our parents.

In my experience, there are only a few things in life that truly make us happy. You can picture it as a small sphere that fits in the palm of your hand. Now what most of us do is try to load a full size room of stuff into that small sphere.

The end result, we chase too many options than your mind can possibly differentiate between whether it's a good or bad decision according the life we set out to live. 

My name is Romario Villanueva.  Entrepreneur & blogger. I'm a graduate from Rutgers University with several certifications from top schools through Coursera. I love all things business, psychology, and basketball. Feel free to reach out to me on Facebook and LinkedIn

Diagnosing the problem: The Truth When It Comes To Your Reasoning With Money

Financial slavery is alive. Most people are in debt. Most people are working at a job that if they had a choice, they would not be doing at all. Most people have no interest, no passion, and constantly looking forward to the weekend in their line of work.

Now I understand not all of us will strive to become millionaires or in some cases a billionaire, but you want to be financially free right?

Before we can change this. We have to understand why?

For many it sounds obvious, but it really isn’t that obvious.

Most people’s approach to life or reasoning follows something similar to this:

You walk into the doctor’s office. You tell him you aren’t feeling good. Next thing, the doctor says okay gastric bypass surgery.

Sounds completely insane right?

How in the world could the doctor know why you aren’t feeling well without asking why or analyzing the data?

Well the thing is, many people apply that same reasoning to their finances:

“I’m broke because of the system.”

“I’m poor because of the government.”

“You have to be born into money.”

“You have to have money to make money.”

“Illuminati is running the world.”

“The rich are getting richer and they are holding me back.”

They never analyze the situation of their finances and jump to numerous conclusions. 

Think I’m lying? Take a moment one day to ask your family, friends and coworkers about money. 

You will see how many theories people throw at you on why they are broke. Occasionally, you will receive a logical answer but still not a totally correct one.

Would you say these diagnosis are true? I don’t think it’s true because there are so many irrefutable cases that disprove these conclusions.

The days of monarchs and heirs to kings are over with.

One of the real reasons why people are in debt and scarcity is because of a lack of understanding.

Things you do not understand in life, you will probably not have in life.

It’s as simple as that. 

You can’t get to the high levels of life without the proper knowledge and understanding. 

And that includes money.

Obviously there are exceptions, but if you are banking your life on being that 1% exception, to be naturally gifted with no extensive understanding, you won’t see that outcome you want. 

You have to know what money is.

Just like in any other field in life, money also has its own language. 

People at the top, know their shit. 

Why should we be excluded from it?

Money = scarce in demand resources.

My name is Romario Villanueva.  Entrepreneur & blogger. I'm a graduate from Rutgers University with several certifications from top schools through Coursera. I love all things business, psychology, and basketball. Feel free to reach out to me on Facebook and LinkedIn

The Dangerous Mindset: Why You Should Avoid The Medieval Binary Mentality

The ability to handle multiple shifting variables can determine how successful you are.

That’s according to The Self-Made Billionaire Effect by John Sviokla. 

Think about it. 

How many times do we experience change in our lives?

A lot.

How many of us adjust to this change?

Very few.

Most can’t or won’t ever shift with the changes. And for the small sum that do adjust, they usually shift too fast. 

Put this into perspective when it comes to achieving your goals, people tend to either have a lot of imagination/vision or focused on the “right now” and a bit of a cynic. 

Billionaires have the skill to handle both. 

Now you may say well that doesn’t seem so complex.  It sounds so simple.

You’re right, it does sound simple, but not many people can shift from side to side using sound judgement.

Often, this binary mentality in capsules us to think black or white. 

A perfect example is going on right now in the presidential election. 

Just picture yourself out with a group of people at a restaurant. You stand up and ask, "do you think Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton would be a good president?" Slowly, you start to see your table split 0 or 1—absolutely yes or a complete disgusted hell no!

But, the mark of an intelligent mind is to hold both options at the same time. Very few people can do this.

Another example, is sports or even diets whether paleo or vegan is better. Again, many people say one or the other without any acknowledgement to specific body types. 

The black and white mentality is extremely dangerous.

It can stir up emotions, fights and even death in some extreme cases.

Sadly, most of the subjects that are being argued can care less and aren’t even aware of the people fighting for them.

Perhaps, in the past this mentality may have helped us in order to survive. However, this modern world it really does the opposite. 

Don’t take this to the extreme where you can’t have judgement calls. At time point you will have to decide between one or the other. The problem is a lot of people pick one side too fast. 

Have you ever heard of the power of positive thinking and NO FEAR approach? 

Knowing what we know now, is it really safe to say NO FEAR or always being positive is the right way to go?

I’ll share my experience.

I recently launched an online business. Throughout the process I’ve heard doubt and outlandish remarks. Now if I strictly had a medieval mind I would say I won’t listen to anyone and I will keep going at it my way because they are just haters. 

Again, this is dangerous. 

It may sound right to keep going and ignore some ignorant comments from people who haven’t done anything in their life. However, what if someone with years of experience and success warned me about the potential pitfalls in my online business venture...would I say oh no I’m doing it my way and they are only hating?

You can see how this positive extreme self belief visualization can be so black and white.

In any venture in life, only a few possess the skill to handle both sides of the coin at the same time. 

Just keep that in mind. 

My name is Romario Villanueva.  Entrepreneur & blogger. I'm a graduate from Rutgers University with several certifications from top schools through Coursera. I love all things business, psychology, and basketball. Feel free to reach out to me on Twitter or LinkedIn