In life, people have to develop themselves to become competent, successful, and content. Even those with the most natural talents and potential will have to work hard to become truly competent. Everything is earned, not given.

That’s exactly why men are made, not born. Parents, teachers, and other people we look up to for guidance when we are young are important to steer and educate us in life. It can be said that men are what their mothers made them since they have such a large impact on their children.

We all know someone extremely intelligent, yet didn’t accomplish anything of worth in their life. Most of the time it’s because they’re lazy folks, or because they feel entitled to being rewarded. But that’s not how life works.

It’s because, in life, everything is earned, not given. That’s why discipline is even more critical than motivation to attain our goals.

Life doesn’t just simply hand out rewards. We must work hard, and be willing to go after it to get what we want. We need to put in the effort to satisfy our desires.

We all know someone who plays both sides. Someone who’s trying to be friends with everyone they meet, even when it seems disingenuous.

But there’s a reason why trying to be friends with everyone seems so insincere. It’s because a friend to all is a friend to none.

People have unique, and largely varying personalities. Naturally, this means that we will like some people, while we will dislike other folks because our values and interests don’t match with one another.

Let me explain why a friend to everyone is a friend to no one.

Modern times have been kind to us in a large variety of ways.

For example, society nowadays has less manual labor to do due to easy access to advanced machinery and the rise of automatization. We also have to work much fewer hours than ever before.

Yet, people aren’t necessarily happier, nor are they healthier for that matter. But why is that?

It’s because good times create weak men, and weak men create hard times.

Sometimes, there’s just no winning in life. In some instances, no matter what decision you make, you simply can’t come out on top. That’s why it’s about learning to dance in the rain, rather than waiting for the storm to pass.

When you’re put in a bad spot, then even the best available choice you make can still feel like an overall net loss.

This is what we call being caught between a rock and a hard place. To explain briefly already, it means that we’re faced with two evenly matched hard, and unpleasant choices.

There are those of us who are burdened with a constant feeling of responsibility who have the impression that they need to carry the weight of the world on their shoulders, even if they don’t.

And while being a responsible, caring adult is great, attributing everyone’s problems and concerns to oneself is not healthy, and not realistic either.

That’s why people need to learn to adopt the “not my circus, not my monkeys” mindset. Let’s explore what it means and how it applies in life.