What is a universal truth anyway?
There are many definitions out there but I want to focus on life. In order to live the life you want, there are some simple universal truths that I would like to explore. They are simple, easy to understand, but hard to follow. The reason they are hard to follow is that these are not taught anywhere. You don’t learn these truths without seeking them out and finding out for yourself.
At least that’s what happened to me. At some point in my life, I started to think more critically about the things that matter and how to boil those down.
#1 Making enough money is necessary
The definition of “enough” is relative to your individual situation in life. You must be able to make enough money to shelter, feed, and sustain yourself at a minimum. Add in a significant other, pets, kids, cars, and your lifestyle choices will dictate how much money you need to make.
The cost to live “comfortably” in the top 10 most expensive cities requires a pretty hefty salary.
Bottom line?
Find a profession or line of work that will allow you to make more than poverty level, but also make enough to live where you want. In order to live “comfortably” in Los Angeles you would need to earn $87,000 a year. Now LA is #8 on the list of most expensive cities. A quick search from Payscale.com shows that the average salary for LA is $62,588 and that the top salary is for a Software engineer at $89,148 followed by Operations Manager at $64,524. So, the software engineer will live comfortable while the operations manager will struggle a little. Not many professions pay $80,000 or above, but this just reinforces my earlier post that your goal should be to make $80,000 or higher.
#2 Finding your passion is finding your strengths
There are 30 Million hits on the phrase “finding your passion” in Google. Go ahead, try it.
Why are there so many? Because people want to know and there are many ways to figure it out.
But think about it this way, your passions will most likely be associated with your strongest natural talents. Think about the things you like to do and are really good at doing.
Don’t know what those are? Well find out…quickly! The faster you can understand your strengths and talents the faster you will be able to put those to good use in your search for life long work. We all know the axiom “Do what you love and never work a day in your life.” This is true but only if you know what your strengths are and how to apply those to earn a living. Here are some tools to help with the search.
#3 Everything changes, you must change as well
How old is your computer, car, phone, or Palm Pilot? WTF is a Palm Pilot? The precursor to the smart phone is dead, that is all you need to know. Technology, politics, education, cities, investing, money, business….
EVERYTHING IS CHANGING!!!! There is even a class on Lynda.com called Why Everything is Changing.
Advances in every conceivable area of human existence is in constant motion. Pay attention but don’t try to keep up. Only keep up with things you can control. Everything is not a priority and most can be ignored until you have to adjust for the world moving around you.
#4 Perpetual Improvement is essential
This is related to the previous one. As things change and evolve, you must as well. Two areas you should focus on is career and health. As you age and become more experienced in whatever work you do, shit is just gonna change right out from under you. Prepare by looking at what trends your career field is going through and go with the flow. As your experience grows, so does your pay. You must always be increasing your income to keep up with inflation at a minimum.
According to historical inflation rates, if you are not increasing your salary or what you earn year after year by at least 1.56% you are getting behind. If the profession you chose cannot do this, change professions to one that will.
As for your health, you will eventually die. Your job is to delay that for as long as you can. Being healthy in your 20s and 30s is completely different than your 40s and 50s. Learn how your body is changing and delay your death.
#5 Balance your priorities
The only way to live life to its fullest is to balance yourself around your priorities. If you are following CHAMP (Career, Health, Adventure, Money, People) then you have a good set of priorities. Keeping in balance means you are giving the right amount of attention to each category. If you are working too much and not taking care of your health, or spending too much money and not investing, or not taking vacations to help reset your brain, you are living unbalanced. You must take action to correct the imbalance.
To live with Nerd Zest you must understand these simple, yet hard to follow, Universal Truths. Many people don’t do these things and make life harder.
Don’t do that.
Accept these truths and adjust your life accordingly.