Be happy with who you are. Be happy with what you have. That's what they say, right? Do you believe in that 100%? Because I don't really buy that. People who are happy with who they are are most likely those that will never improve on themselves. People who are happy with what they have never see the need to want more, and hence will probably never attain more. Of course, it's not all black and white. The saying is subject to interpretation. While, I, for example, am completely content with who I wake up as each morning, I still constantly analyze and criticize myself and my actions. I think about who I am, who I want to be, where I am, and where I want to be. I think about how I react to people and situations, and how I think I should be reacting. I have a continuous subconscious mental typerwriter that keeps notes on what it sees me doing. I believe that most people have a similar mental mechanism or monologue, but they just don't do anything with it. From time to time, we need to sit down, and just read through the notes and ponder on each bullet point. I think it is absolutely critical, and are an important step towards self-improvement and, ultimately, happiness.

So how do you make the most of the precious time handed to you? Start by making a list, and answering a few questions. [Some of these ideas have been salvaged from a "Reach Your Potential" talk by Tracey Gurton I sat in a little while ago...]

- Who do you think you are -- what kind of a person do you perceive yourself as being?
- What kind of a person do you think others see you as? (i.e. they'd say "Kevin is a ______. He's so ______, ______, and _______")
- What kind of a person do you hope others would see you as?
- What is the one thing you would change about yourself? And how would/could you do it?
- What is your ideal lifestyle in 5, 10, 20 years? What is the state of your financials, health, family, etc?
- How realistic is that lifestyle?
- What is the next step you can take now to acheive that lifestyle in 5, 10, 20 years?

The idea here is to set goals for yourself. If you don't have goals, you won't achieve them. Plain and simple. In this case, take your ideal lifestyle as your goal... and run with it. Only when you are making strides towards your goals (or if you've achieved them already... though I can't imagine that any of you have) can you truly be happy with what you have and who you are. That is my belief.