This saying is a great one to use when you have the right opportunity. It basically means that the secret is out in the open and is no longer a secret.

Imagine this situation:

You plan to quit your job but you don’t want to tell too many people until after you actually quit. You decided to tell only one friend but don’t want to tell any other people. Now you are together with many friends, including the one you told. By accident, the friend you told you are going to quit your job asked you in front of everyone, “so when exactly are you going to quit”? Everyone hears this question and says, “What? I didn’t know you were planning on quitting”.

Then you could say, “Well, I guess the cat is out of the bag”. It means that the secret is out in the open now and I’m not going to hide from the truth anymore.

Andy

I’ll be honest. I don’t like mornings. A “morning person” is someone who easily wakes up early and feels their best in the morning. Unfortunately I’m not one of these people. I usually don’t start feeling my best until late in the afternoon. I’m often tired and stupid in the mornings. In the morning I can easily waste a couple of hours in front of the computer without really getting much work done. I almost feel like I don’t remember who I am and what I want to do in life. It usually takes me several hours to get back to the good state of mind I was in the night before. What a waste of time.

I started to wonder why that is. I often hear that some people are naturally “morning people” while others aren’t. I really don’t like that simple explanation and I have set out to become more of a morning person.

I realized that in order to feel my best, I need to have done certain things that day. If I just crawl out of bed and sit in front of the computer, I’ll feel sluggish (tired) and lazy.

I made a small full-body exercise routine that I do as soon as I get up. After that I take 10 full deep breaths, then I do some stretching. That all takes me about 15 minutes. The purpose of that is to get my blood flowing and give me the feeling that I can move my body easily. This also releases hormones that fight fatigue and make my body feel awake.

After I do that, I jump in the shower, get dressed, and then make a healthy breakfast and one cup of coffee. By this time I’m feeling pretty good physically but I still have some more work to do until I’m feeling at my best.

At this point I read a few affirmations to myself that I think will help put me in a good frame of mind. An affirmation is a statement that you want to believe is true. Here are three example affirmations:

“Today is going to be a great day.”

“I am going to eat only healthy food today and feel great about it”.

“I’m going to be relaxed today and not let little things stress me out”.

You can make any affirmations that you think are appropriate for your own life. I think they are useful to remind me how I want to live. If I read these in the morning, I find I am much more likely to follow them.

Then I ask myself some questions that help me plan my day.

I ask myself some questions like:

“What do I want to do today for work?” “What do I want to learn about today?” and “What am I going to do for fun today?”

After I ask these questions I’m feeling great and ready to get on with my day. The whole morning routine takes me about an hour but I think it is definitely worth it. I suggest making your own morning routine or improving the one you already have. I’d love to hear about what works for you. Maybe I can learn from you and improve my routine.

Andy

Add and I got back last week from an amazing vacation in Thailand. We stayed on the Island of Koh Chang, the second largest island in Thailand. We stayed near “White Sands beach” and each rented bungalows for about 15 US dollars per night. These bungalows are small houses with a bedroom, a bathroom, fridge, hot water, and air conditioning. They also have cheaper bungalows, but those have cold water showers and no air conditioning. I’m a baby when it comes to cold water so I had no choice.

The weather was great and we pretty much just swam, hung out on the beach, read books, ate great food, exercised, and partied. I hadn’t been out of the city for an entire year which made this trip so great. I loved the warm weather, fresh air, and relaxed attitude of the people. I realized that I can quite easily enjoy a simple life. I love being outside on a sunny day with some good friends and then watching the sunset go down over the ocean. I don’t really need or want many material things. Good weather, good friends, good books, and a place to exercise is enough for me.

I also realized that I’ve never regretted taking a vacation. I always come back feeling better than when I left. It puts me in a great mood and gives me a new perspective on life. I think when you take a vacation like that, you not only take a vacation from your work, but you take a vacation from all your worries and stresses. Being in a new place and around new people make you forget about your old life and any problems or worries you have. That’s a great feeling. The new environment also causes you to think about new things or think about things in a different way. I read that 90% of someone’s thoughts on one day are the same as they were the previous day. I’m not sure how accurate that number is but if it is even close to true it seems ridiculous. I think that was my favorite aspect of the trip; thinking about new things. I feel a bit different now, a bit better.

I met an interesting guy from England when I was there. He had just sold his house in London in the past six months and moved to Thailand. All his friends in England thought he was crazy for doing it but he says it was the best decision he’s ever made. He’s now out of the stresses of city life and he’s enjoying every breath of fresh air. He said he realized that he’d always liked the beach, so he just made the obvious decision to move to there. He knows what he likes and he’s doing it. I don’t think that’s true of most people. I think that most people are too caught up in what society tells them they should do. Most people wouldn’t have the courage to make that kind of decision, even if they knew it was what they wanted to do. Of course it takes money to make that decision, but courage and confidence in your own ideas are probably even more important.

Andy