If you get emotionally attached to the most trivial things, then you’re probably doing something that’s not really worth pursuing. Not dreaming big enough? Your goals aren’t huge enough? Of course I wouldn’t know. And am I being harsh here? Well, don’t worry. The truth is that there are a lot of things—in each aspect of your life—you can be emotionally attached to. In this article, however, I want to talk about work.

There are two kinds of emotional detachment.

One is the pathological kind in which nature and nurture are in play. Say you’ve been raised in a tough environment that required you to suppress whatever emotions you were having. This condition has developed over a long period of time and is only a consequence of living or being maltreated that way.

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Do you remember the times when you had the choice of doing the right, or rather productive, thing? However you had these couple of other things to do that were, well, really convenient…and then you decided to just go for those “alternatives” just so you could feel you were being productive?

Don’t get me wrong, though. I’m not talking about the productive stuff only. Even though apparently this topic has been written about to death, this law doesn’t cover productivity only.

Parkinson’s Law could be the only thing that’s destroying your life right now. Because everything can be Parkinsoned. Including the “downtimes” that well complement your “uptimes.” (I’ll talk about this later.)

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Are you tired of being negative all your life? Have you been trying to change some important people because it’s not only good for them, but also for the love of God, good for you, too? Do you cringe whenever people talk about how you should be damn positive all the time? Well, here’s another positive post for you!

What’s interesting about this positivity and negativity circus is that the very bane of it is that you don’t know which is positive and otherwise. Especially if you’ve been raised by negative people or those that claim that they’re simply being “realistic.” What the hell does realistic even mean? Does being realistic mean treating this world as if it’s a rotten and hopeless world filled with people born without a purpose but to be your exclusive cause of misery? Am I being negative here or edgy or what? Hey, Ethan, this is supposed to be a positive post!

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To say you feel like nothing’s happening in your life does not make sense. You might say, “Well, that’s rich, smart-ass. I know nothing’s happening.” But have you considered the possibility that it’s only you who thinks that? That it isn’t an objective truth you’re making it to be? Well, that’s a good start.

That you feel that way might only be the result of a few (or many) events that seemed to have connived to lead you to believe that indeed, you’re just a piece of nothing.

Here are seven things I want you to remember if somehow you’re caught in this “unmistakable” situation.

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One thing’s for sure: I wish I had known about SMART Goals when I was twelve. But perhaps that’s one of the reasons why SMART Goals were invented—to make up for all the lost time in which people had no idea about them.

The idea of SMART Goals has permeated almost all spheres of life: the workplace, business, education, medicine, even parenting… But the most important perhaps is its effect on our personal lives.

We shouldn’t simply go through life without any idea where we’re going. You must have a plan, especially if you’re with people who are unbelievably pessimistic about the world.

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From time to time you might think, “What the fart am I doing?” Or maybe you simply get bored. Or you might think there’s no point in doing that thing that’s supposed to be wonderful.

These epiphany-like moments are precisely why I decided to write this post. It’s nice to remind ourselves about the power of setting goals. It’s ever-important because sometimes there’s this weird sense of entitlement; we should be having what we deserve already. After all, we’re working hard for it, right?

Unfortunately—especially if you’re just starting out—it’s not the case. There’s simply this magical and bitter thing we call “life” that manages to get in the way.

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Self-discipline is boring. It’s a trait that, ironically, seems to require constant change; thus, self-discipline can also be difficult. It can tire you, make you loathe yourself, and trigger some unwanted and unneeded mental gymnastics. It might not be worth any ounce of your being.

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We find leadership everywhere—whether we like it or not, even when it doesn’t seem necessary.

The word leadership seems to be a buzzword, too. We can’t blame it, though; a lot could be at stake just because of the leadership, whether it’s of a small business or a huge empire.

However, one thing caught my attention: personal leadership. I didn’t understand what “personal” exactly meant in this curious term.

Is it about leading yourself, as if to say it’s personal to you? Is it about leading others on a personal level? Or is it perhaps about treating things in a personal manner rather than the usual uptight/corporate/formal way of living life in the fast lane?

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The problem with sleep is that everybody loves it, but many procrastinate on it.

Procrastination is about something we do not want to do.

Do that homework? Start that article? Commute to the gym? Or just take a walk? These can all be troublesome. It’s only natural to procrastinate on these until perhaps a couple of days before the deadline—if there is one.

But sleep…why not sleep? It’s an interesting phenomenon.

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Arguably too many people exist without a purpose in life. They wake up, asking the universe, What the hell is this another day for? Is this all there is? After today, what next?

Don’t get me wrong. Living without a purpose doesn’t happen only to those who seem to be suffering or in pain, or have given up because luck didn’t find their way.

It also happens to people who appear to have it all—the money, the job, the social status. Behind all the nice and fancy stuff, at the end of the day they also ask the same question: What am I here for?

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