In our quest to become successful and better people in life, none of us can escape from certain things in life that will affect us. No matter how old you are, what gender you are, how rich or poor you are, what color is your skin, which country you reside in or any of the qualities of people, these things will affect us. To be successful and effective in living our lives, we must not fight these things, but rather, we should concern ourselves with reacting to them purposefully and positively. Here are the five things that affect us all in life.

1. The Environment

The environment we live in affects us all. We are referring to the economic environment, our residences, the place of work, the schools we go to, the weather and seasons, the people we interact with, the bosses and subordinates we work with, the friends we see, our family members, the technology we use, the things we see, the places we visit, the cars we drive, the shops we visit to buy our groceries, the restaurants we eat in, and many more.

Many of these things are routine and there is very little we can do about it. If you are poor and do not eat often in high class places, than your experiences will be different from those who are richer. That does not mean that your quality is any less. Your quality of life depends not on your environment but how you choose to react and behave within the context of your environment. Buddha and Mother Teresa live in the most Spartan of conditions for most of their lives, but yet had the most unique and empowered lives.

2. The Events

Within our environment many things happen and these affect us. Some events affect us all. Some events affect us regionally, locally or even personally. From the storms and hurricanes we encountered yearly, to the seasonal change of weather, these events affect our lives as well. When the weather turns cold, you go out less often. When there is a storm you reinforced your houses to withstand the wind and rain.

Besides weather patterns there are also many man made events that could affect us, such as economic downturns and booms. There are also earthquakes, floods, famines, and many more natural disasters. It is important to know that we might not necessarily be in control of these events, but we certain can control our responses to these events.

3. Our Knowledge

In life, where we are, is also affected by what we know and what we don’t know. The accumulation of knowledge or lack of knowledge can have great impact on our lives. The level of our knowledge affects our dreams, income level, perspective of the world, interactions with other people, our future.

It is important that we become voracious seekers of knowledge so that we can make better decisions for in our lives. A person with little financial and stock market knowledge intending to dither in the stock exchange to make his fortune is a foolish person. The lure of the easy bucks can be deceiving. Even if he chooses to let fund managers or qualified investors handle his investment, his lack of financial literacy will put him at a disadvantage. His fund manager might be using his money to make riskier bets. When things are fine, all is well. But when the bears coming running, he will be left high and dry. But if he acquired the knowledge about buying and selling shares, he will be in a better position to check on his fund manager or better still manage his own investment.

4. Our Results

The results you have gotten so far is the sum total of all your decisions in life so far. Your results could be current results or past results. These results could be economic or financial results. Some of these economic results include your income level, your investment account if any, your properties and other assets, your businesses, your living standards, your life styles, etc.

Results could also be physical results such as your health, medical status, and fitness level. These affect how much energy you can devote to other areas of your life.

There are also relationship and emotional results such as your relationship with your spouse, children and friends. Are these results fine for you? When you sit down with your children for some quality time together are you able to have a fulfilling and meaningful conversation? All these results affect your outlook in life. It will be a factor in your future decision making process which will have a strong bearing on your life.

5. Our Dreams

And finally, we are affects by our dreams and goals or lack or them. Our dreams and goals are our view of the future and it is important that these contribute to the strongest pull to the future for our lives.

Some people allow the past to be the strongest pull in their lives. They live in the past holding onto past mistakes, experiences, discouragement and failures. Like gravity, these forces will pull you down and keep you ever from rising to your ultimate life. For these people, the most important thing to do is to cut loose the chains to these heavy iron balls that are tied to their legs. Once these pulling forces are discarded, they can start thinking of way to lift themselves up.

Let your dreams and goals become magnets that will attract you towards your destination. The stronger the pull of your dreams and goals and the higher their purpose, the greater will be this magnetic pull that will move you towards your destinations and successes in life.

It is also like riding in a hot air balloon. We need to cut loose the ballasts, heat up the helium in the balloon, so that you can rise to great heights of achievement and success. If you rise too fast, it can also become a problem. Very soon you will be face with the extreme cold and changes in air pressures. The rise to great heights must be calibrated and adjusted so that you can enjoy your scenic ride without the adverse effects.

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