Chapter Sample #5 (Novelty / Graduation)
   —  by Bob Olson, Ghostwriter

For My Graduate: 12 Secrets For Living A Joyful, Successful & Fulfilling Life!

Now that you are graduating, an entire new world is opening up for you. In some ways you may feel that you are leaving something behind, but in reality you are beginning a whole new journey.

There is an old saying that goes, “Give a man a fish and he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime.” So while thinking about your graduation, I realized that the best gift I could offer is to teach you something that will benefit you for the rest of your life.

I’m not so naïve to think that you will absorb everything in this little book. Experience is the best teacher. But my lifetime of victories and defeats has taught me some secrets about life that I’d be negligent not to share with you. So here are twelve of the most important lessons life has taught me so far for living a joyful, successful and fulfilling life.

1. Follow Your Passion

At your young age, you are a fountain of overflowing passion. I see it when you talk, when you dance and the way you care for people. You have dreams, desires and a vision of how you want your life to be. My advice to you is to follow that passion. Never let it go. Chase your dreams. Orchestrate the symphony that is your life to achieve your vision of what you want to be, do and have—no matter how wild or crazy that vision may seem to you or other people.

Never again in your lifetime will you know the level of passion that you now feel unless you nurture and protect it within your soul. The sad truth is that few people were given this message when they graduate, so some get caught in the trap of listening to the limiting messages of other people who did not follow their passion and are now dispirited with their lives. Others get caught in the trap of pleasing other people instead of pleasing themselves. And still others chose paths that are safe and easily paved for them, although void of inspiration, enthusiasm and passion.

You can have passion in your work, in your hobbies and in your relationships. Passion is the fuel of a joyful, successful and fulfilling life. When you run out of fuel, you feel stranded and stuck. You lose that spring in your walk, that spark in your words and that radiance in your personality. I see passion in everything you do, and it makes you glow brilliantly. It lifts my spirit just to be around you. And your life will shine just as brightly as you do if you follow your passion wherever it leads you.

2. Discover Your Purpose

When you know what you are passionate about, it is easy to know your purpose. Purpose is not a career. Purpose is a reason to get up in the morning. Purpose is your unique contribution to the world—the reason you are alive.

Purpose is related to what you love. Don’t allow anyone to assume to know what you love just because they know you, because over the next few years you’ll learn to love new things. That is why life is so exciting—because you never know what might come next.

Think about what you love for one moment. Do you love entertaining people? You do it naturally. Do you love making people laugh? I know that you do. Do you love consoling people? You do it with such compassion. Do you love being the person others come to for advice? You seem to be good at it. Do you love expressing yourself with music or dance? You might even more than you realize. Do you love sharing the insights and beauty you see in the world with your writing? You might have a gift in this area, as well.

You already know that there is a part of you that loves many of these things. But how do you know your true purpose in life? Well, we can have more than one purpose. Since you are a person with an abundance of passion, you might find you have more than one purpose. As you think about the passions you feel, you will discover that one stands out among the rest. It is rooted deep within you, and it keeps returning even when you try to ignore it.

Once you discover your purpose, you will find that it drives you from unrecognizable depths. This is your soul bursting with inspiration and motivation. Soon, with age and experience, you may discover that there are new ways to fulfill your purpose of which you are not currently aware.

You are in this world for a purpose. You can take my word on that. Nobody is here just to hang around. And although it isn’t important that you know your life purpose right now, it is important for you to have a sense of purpose. By knowing that you are here to make the world a better place in some way—to make people laugh, to help them feel better, to help them improve, to help them see beauty, to fill them with joy or peace, or to teach them something new—you will be better prepared to discover your purpose along the way.

As a final word on the value of purpose, I’m going to quote a wise sage named Pattanjal, whom described purpose perfectly:

“When you are inspired by some greater purpose, some extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bonds, your mind transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in every direction, and you find yourself in a new, great and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties and talents become alive and you discover yourself to be a greater person by far than you ever dreamed yourself to be.”

3. Ask For Help

Nobody was meant to embark upon life alone. We live in a society of human beings, and within this sea of souls is an unlimited abundance of knowledge and experience on how to create the life of your dreams. All you have to do is ask for help. To live a joyful, successful and fulfilling life, you need the assistance of others.

Many people never ask for help. They either fear rejection or they view their need for help as a weakness. The irony of this is that people love to give help. It gives them fulfillment and a little ego boost. It is a compliment when you respect someone’s knowledge and experience enough to ask for their guidance.

There’s another old saying that goes, “It’s not what you know but who you know that matters.” This is because you can’t possibly know everything, but you always have access to people who know what you need to know. Therefore, you have unlimited knowledge if you are willing to ask for help.

Of course, that old saying is also referring to the value of networking—having connections. If you ask for help, you’ll be amazed at how far people, even strangers, will go in their efforts to help you. Many times that help will be through someone they know who perhaps owes them a favor. Will people use up a favor for you even if they don’t know you well? You’d better believe it. People like helping other people. And all you usually have to do in return is promise to help someone else who might come along in your life needing your knowledge, experience or connections.

You know what is most exciting about this idea? You can introduce yourself to anyone in the world and suddenly you know that person. You’d be surprised, too, how easy it is to make a connection with anyone you wish to meet. With the telephone and Internet these days, it’s easier than ever to make contact with authors, celebrities, politicians and CEOs. There are very few people outside your reach. And most people will welcome the opportunity to meet someone like you.

One of the biggest mistakes you can make is to hold back from asking for help in accomplishing your dreams, desires and life vision. Asking makes our achievements manifest easier, faster and with more pleasure. People who have done what we want to do already know the best route to success. They have made the mistakes, worked out the knots and discovered the quickest pathways. Their minds are a manual for expeditious achievement, yet few people ever ask them for help.

If you run into that rare and grumpy person who isn’t the helpful type, just move on. They might be too busy, too overwhelmed or too fearful to lend a hand. Chances are their refusal to assist you is more about them than you. Say to yourself, “Next!” Then move on and ask someone else.

One last thought about asking for help. Regardless of your spiritual beliefs, most people believe in some type of higher power or spiritual guide who watches over them and guides them in life. If you believe in such guidance, it is important to ask for help in this way, too. The universe will provide miraculous assistance if you ask for it. But you have to ask to get the maximum assistance. Just tell whomever you believe in or pray to exactly what you want, exactly what assistance you need, and soon the coincidences and miracles will begin to create a path for you. Oh, and just a little secret: if you make a habit to write down everything you are grateful for each day, the assistance you are getting for these things you are grateful for will expand exponentially.