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The typical nature of all personal development blog posts is to define a problem, then propose a solution.

I’m not going to do that here.

We spend a lot of times trying to improve things in our lives. We want better, more, faster, bigger, cooler, and on and on. So is there a time when more is not the answer? Is there a time when solving something wrong with your life is detrimental, because you could be spending that time enjoying all the right things about it?

I could say something really obvious like, be content with what you have, or accept yourself for who you are.

I’m not going to do that here.

Instead I want to ask you: Read more

Yesterday marked my 23rd birthday. Thank you all who wished me happy birthday, it totally made my day. Judging by the comments, I also realized that was the first time I ever announced my age on this blog. Some people were shocked and awed at the fact that I’m “only” 23. I think it’s awesome that we can bridge the age gap and learn from each other, despite the number of years we’ve been on this planet.

Anyway, I don’t really have anything on Scott Young. He started his blog at 17, and currently has over 6,000 subscribers. I guess age isn’t everything.

Over the past year, I’ve made a lot of changes in my life. I’ve set a lot of goals, achieved most of them and have learned more than anything.

One of the biggest things I’ve learned is having patience. I have some long term goals that will probably take a while to accomplish (like killing my day job). Read more

If you haven’t guessed yet by the title, today is my 23rd birthday. It’s hard to believe that another year of my life has passed. I won’t be really cliche right now and say “wow, it went by so fast.” Contrary to many people, I don’t think life is short. Life is long.

I have had a special treat for you today. I figured instead of asking for gifts and petitioning well-wishes, I would give you a gift instead.

But something went wrong, so I won’t be unveiling Illuminated Mind’s newest feature just yet. I would tell you what it’s all about. But that would ruin the surprise, right?

So here’s my second best gift to you today: the best-of Illuminated Mind. Here are the posts that shocked and inspired millions a few people. Here they are in no particular order: Read more

Being true to yourself is not easy. In magazines, we’re shown images of flawless airbrushed bodies. Luxury and celebrity lifestyles are worshipped. In our culture we’re judged for what we own and what we do. Not who we are.

It’s hard to remain true to yourself when our culture encourages competition. I don’t think competition is a bad thing necessarily. Our economy’s livelihood depends on it. The problem is we define everyone as winners or losers. He’s a janitor, he must be a loser. She’s a fortune 500 executive, she must be a winner.

We judge people based on their outward appearances, the cars they drive and the restaurants they frequent. Have you ever been nervous to approach a person because they have a more important title than you? Have you ever avoided someone because they looked homeless?

Judging others based on their appearances and job titles is kind of inevitable though, as backwards as it may be. After all, it’s the first thing we see, and the first thing we hear. But I think we abuse this system.

In a perfect world, we would judge people based on the contents of their character (or not judging at all, for that matter). I think the more we practice doing this, the more comfortable we become with ourselves. The more we accept ourselves, the more we accept others as well.

Because the truth is, the level of your happiness is exactly proportional to the amount you’ve sold yourself out. The amount of contentment you experience is directly related to how authentically you’re living.

The main source of this problem is:

The Domestication of Humans

Read more

Our lives are inundated with practicality and productivity. We think that if there’s no purpose to something, there’s no point in doing it. In reality the best things in life have no purpose.

We sacrifice our time and our sanity doing what we don’t want to do, so at some future point we will create the freedom to do what we love.

We seek happiness in things. We seek happiness in the acceptance of others, in material possessions, in social status. We even search for happiness in some future-promised afterlife. We sabotage ourselves and our entire lives because we fail to understand a very simple but easily overlooked fact.

The Search for Happiness is the Single Greatest Cause of Misery

You can’t find something that’s already there. Happiness exists now. It’s not something you have to find. That’s like trying to find your breath. Read more