100 Posts, A Special Contribution, And The Path That Lies Before Me

“It’s when ordinary people rise above the expectations and seize the opportunity that milestones truly are reached.” – Mike Huckabee

This is my 100^th published post on Unlock The Door, and it feels good.

First off, thank you for coming to read this post today – whether you have recently discovered Unlock The Door, or you’ve been mad enough to stay with me from the very beginning, thank you anyway. It’s your support that keeps this place alive.

I was thinking about celebrating this milestone, and that Unlock The Door ought to be given a shake-up so that I can announce my serious intentions to the world. Well, I don’t plan on celebrating any more (other than the thank you), I do want to share some intentions with you.

The Vision Ahead

How often do we enter the blogging game with the aspirations to make money online, or to have a safe place to journal our thoughts, or to connect with people around the world, or to share our favourite links and material? I’d say it’s pretty often – in fact, I’d say these four reasons represent 90% of the blogs today. The only differences are those who have turned professional and their blogs have transformed into businesses, such as ProBlogger, CopyBlogger, and Smart Passive Income.

That’s where I want to be.

I want to be in a position where I can make enough money to live from what I love. I want to be able to turn my ‘non-paying love’ of helping others into a ‘paying love’ where I’m consistently learning more about the art of helping others, and more about myself. And the best part of all of this? I believe it’s entirely possible.

My friend Arvind Devalia recently posted about youth not being a barrier to greatness, and I completely agree with him. I’m 25 years old, and it’s been just over 4 years since I had my ‘awakening’. A lot has changed in those 4 years, but I feel deep down in my heart that a whole load more can change, and will change in the months and years to come.

I don’t want to remain stationary in life, and I certainly don’t want to be in a situation where this blog hasn’t made any income whatsoever by its second birthday. I’ve already been blogging for over a year, and I no longer feel that it’s just a hobby for me to share my thoughts every so often. I now view this website as a business model, one which will serve as a platform for me to align my current life with the life I was meant to lead.

I guess the ultimate goal here is to live a life of happiness.

Examples Of Happiness

That ever elusive feeling, happiness, is what I base my thoughts and actions on. If what I’m doing, or what I’m thinking, isn’t bringing me happiness, then I must look to it and figure out why. There’s no time to waste on doing or thinking that which leads me away from my true alignment – life is too precious to waste.

Another friend of mine, John Sherry, recently made the decision to quit blogging. If you have the chance, head over to the post and wish him well in his journey.

Although I feel sad to see him go, I completely honour and respect his decision because it will bring him happiness. John realised that his true path lay elsewhere, away from blogging. I’d imagine it was a hard decision for him to take, but sometimes these decisions are unavoidable. We must find the courage within us to deal with them directly.

But sometimes we can find happiness not through tough decisions, but from other people. Sometimes, we meet people who bring out the best in us, and the decision to spend time with them, perhaps romantically, infuses our lives with happiness. This has happened with my girlfriend Sam, and I.

In fact, Sam was very kind to write up a short piece on her happiness and reveal how she found it. If you wanted to compliment her for it, visit her Twitter or Facebook profiles. Here it is:

“How do we know when we’re truly happy? Many people see happiness in different ways. It can affect our day to day lives and is measured by how we truly feel on the inside, but also on the outside. For example, we might display a constant smile or even have a change of mood. People have their own views and have their own ways of showing happiness.

Happiness can also be found when we’re with people, like finding that special person in our life. I have recently experienced this and I know I am truly happy as he is all I can think about and he knows how to make me smile when I’m ill or feeling down. It’s about knowing that this special person will be there when you need them the most. This is the same for family too, we all need our family around and we can’t live without them. It can also be related to hobbies or sports that you love and make you happy. Really, it can be anything you like!

When I think about the signs to look for happiness, I don’t think there is a real answer to this. You just know when you’re truly happy as you feel different, and perhaps act different. There are no real signs to look for, just individual feelings and emotions. People perceive happiness in many ways, and I feel happiness is something we should all experience. Life is so much better if we’re happy and this makes the world a much better place.”

The Next 100?

So what happens next? What happens for the next 100 posts?

In an ideal world, I’d say that I gain an incredible amount of subscribers from my posts here and elsewhere, I’d start generating at least a liveable income from my ventures here, and I’d have written an eBook or two. However, the ideal world isn’t completely in reality, although I believe in my ability to make a lot of this happen.

Instead, I’ll predict now that I will continue to write here and that there will a 200^th post. I predict that I’ll continue to have fun with UTD, in one form or another.

And most importantly, I’ll predict that I will do what I can to align myself with my true path. Because that’s where happiness lies.

Image courtesy of Japanese Jiu Jitsu

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