The 99 Truths of Life

By Gerardo Banuelos

Serving as a guide that is there for you whenever you need, THE 99 TRUTHS OF LIFE contains exactly 99 nuggets of wisdom intended to implore you to think critically, and differently as well as to expand your perspective. It's easy to become complacent in your everyday life; that complacency comes from settlement rather than accomplishment. Allow THE 99 TRUTHS OF LIFE to guide you in your accomplishments, engage in your thought process, and feed your mind nourishing thoughts to speak good into the world with good deeds. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Rosebud Press
• Release date: Mar 26, 2021
• ISBN: 9781734677171

Book preview

PROLOGUE

Growing up I didn’t have anyone that I could ask for advice. Sure, there were people there, but none of them could help me. The problems I was facing were out of their expertise most of the time. What was I supposed to do when I got a problem on my hands and no solution? I winged it most of the time. The results, I learned some lessons the hard way.

I wish I had the proper guidance. I dreamed of one day figuring out my life but it seemed impossible with all the obstacles. The best decision I made was to seek the truth. It did not matter if it was something that promoted my way of life or exposed my lifestyle. In the long run, it has made me the person I am today. I wrote The 99 Truths of Life to share with the world 99 lessons I have learned thus far in my life. I believe these 99 lessons to be truths, and I believe that they can and will make the difference between you going through life and living life. Before anything else, I want to point out that these truths are not truths I made up. The concepts I share with you are. These 99 nuggets, as I like to call them, advise you, eliminating any excuses so you can’t blame anyone else for your failures. Throughout The 99 Truths of Life you can expect personal stories, wisdom, the use of gender-neutral pronouns, and overall words of

inspiration. The 99 Truths of Life was written as an accumulation of everything I have felt was important. I have researched so you wouldn’t have to. I have paid the time to dive into the content and broke it down for you so wouldn’t have to. I paid thousands of dollars to attend the 3-day seminars that you didn’t want to attend for you so you wouldn’t have to. My intent with this book is to give you the tools you need to make the most educated decisions when it comes to your finances, emotions, relationships, fitness, intellectual growth, and spirituality. If I can impact the life of just one person with this, then I have done my job. Before you delve in, I want to leave you with something: consider your sources. Who we listen  to matters. People that have met me tell me I have a way with words. I have built my life around the premises of these truths. Within these truths, I have accomplished many of the goals I set for myself. I have done things I should be proud of but I don’t highlight them because that’s who I was yesterday. My yesterday tells people who I was, but it doesn’t tell people who I am or who I will become. I am not obligated to be the same person I was 15 minutes ago and neither are you.

Take The 99 Truths of Life and apply them to your life. Use these nuggets of truth as guidance when you feel overwhelmed. Review them daily. The only way is up. There is power in applied knowledge. If you have these truths running in the back of your mind, I believe that you will make educated decisions. Will you be right 100% of the time? No.

Put yourself in a position to win. I am setting you up for success in whatever endeavor you decided to pursue. I permit you to keep me accountable and I invite discussion about these truths. Let’s get into them and start thinking critically of our surroundings, our mind, and our situations.

ABSORB

(NUGGETS 1-49)

VERB. Take in or soak up...

While reading through The 99 Truths of Life I want to challenge you to absorb each nugget in its entirety. I challenge you to actively engage with the text in whatever way feels right to you-take a highlighter to the page, annotate the text, write things down, question the text, question the nuggets. Ready when you are. Let us begin, shall we?

NUGGET #1

Striving for success without hard work is like trying to harvest where you haven’t planted.

-David Bly

WINNERS ARE JUST AVERAGE people that took the time to practice their craft and know what it’s like to lose. A loser is someone who gave up. With that being said, let us break down the first nugget of wisdom. Have you ever noticed that the individual who does the least in the moment is the one that usually earns the most income? It is not by accident. That individual took the time to research their industry and took initiative long before you came onto the scene. These individuals usually hold some sort of authoritative position.

It requires them to lead a group of people and complete a task. In a construction environment, this individual is a project manager. In a medical environment, this individual is a doctor. In a legal environment, this individual is a lawyer. In a sales environment, this individual is a top performer. They are everywhere. They understand that hard work needs to be completed when no one else is looking. They understand that people have more time off than they spend working. When you flip the script and work when everyone else is playing, you teach your mind to challenge the status quo. It gives off the illusion that you work around the clock, 24/7 because everyone expects you to work during work hours. Maybe you do work around the clock, and that is good. You will always be ahead of your competition. But how do you know you have done enough? The reality is you don’t know when you have done enough. You won’t know if you have done enough until you get tested.

The worst feeling in life is knowing you could have done more but you didn’t because you felt safe. You thought you did enough but you fell short when it mattered. I do not wish anyone reading this book to experience that first hand. Learn from my mistakes. A wise man will learn from his mistakes, but a wiser man will learn from other people’s mistakes. Enjoy the labors of your fruit. It is okay to relax when you know you have spent the last 90 days pushing that agenda. By all means, if you want to crank it up to the next level, do it. This is the perfect time for it. Do it humbly, to maintain a professional bearing for those around you. We know you did what you were supposed to do and that is why you are where you are and you have what you have.

NUGGET #2

Those unwilling to take risks seldom win.

- Wayne Gerard Trotman

HOW AMAZING MUST IT feel to know that any room you walk in, everyone has centered their attention on you? This is what a few individuals on the globe have figured out is possible. These individuals know their audience. They understand the people they are going to be spending time with. They know what people like but most importantly what the people don’t like. They know the values of the people. They dress just like the people want them to dress. In a way, you could say they sold out for the attention, but I believe these individuals are just giving the people what they want.

These individuals are solid in their principles. They know who they are. They know who they are not. They have studied the game to the point they mastered it before they became the center of attention. They’ve taken the risks. This is why the world is at their fingertips. The entire globe does not need to know them. There is a micro world they have created and that is more than enough for them to flourish. Throughout my life, I have had the pleasure of meeting such individuals. One of them is a man named, Jesse. Jesse is an artist from Denver, Colorado that has a passion for his music. More than anything else, I see his desire to engage with his fan base. This has allowed opportunities to open up for him outside of his artistry. No matter what room he walks in, everyone knows where the fun is, even if they don’t know who he is. There is an energy around us that appeals to everyone.

I don’t know how to explain it in writing. Trying to describe it does it an injustice. You need to experience it first-hand. When you are in the presence of someone who lives this saying, you start to walk a little differently. There is a pep in your step. They automatically elevate you because they know how to live life and that’s appealing to you. We can all learn something from these individuals.

Try walking in a room with your head up, certain of who you are, carefree of other peoples’ opinions. My guess is you will act like yourself. You will go up to the prettiest individual in the room and ask them to dance. If they say no, that’s okay. You won’t live with that ‘what if in your mind’. You showed up. You attempted to create a relationship with that person. That’s all that matters. If they don’t see the value you add to the table it is okay to move on to the next person. Someone will see your worth and when they do, they will do everything they can to fill up your schedule because they understand that time is the most valuable asset someone possesses. It is an honor to spend your time with someone that puts a smile on your face. Don’t take that for granted.

NUGGET #3

Work and play are words used to describe the same thing under deferring conditions.

-Mark Twain

THERE IS A SAYING BY James Michener,

The master in the art of living makes little distinction between their work and their play, their labor, and their leisure, their mind and their body, their education and their recreation, their love and their religion. They hardly knows which is which. They simply pursue their vision of excellence at whatever they do, leaving others to decide whether they are working or playing.

When I think of nugget #3 this quote comes to mind.

Few people on the planet enjoy the luxury of having both time and money, let alone have both time and money at the same time. The individuals that are roaming around the planet with this unique freedom do what they want, when they want, with who they want, for as long as they want, because they can. I have seen these individuals buy cars, houses, rental properties, travel the world, give to the organizations they believe in, and raise their children according to their standard. It is a beautiful thing to have. If you are aspiring to have this, the road is a tough one with many obstacles and challenges, but every single individual with it will tell you that it is worth it. They

were willing to do what others were not to have what others do not.

Put yourself in their position. What would you do if you knew you had the time to do whatever you wanted that day? What would you spend your money on if you knew your card wouldn’t bounce? The responses I usually get is people would spend their day with their spouse and recreate a honeymoon, they would retire their parents, they would buy a home, and provide for their spouse to home school their children together. All of these ambitions are honorable.

NUGGET #4

Fill your life with experiences, not things. Have stories to tell, not stuff to show.

- Unknown

TRAVELING IS NOT ABOUT the distance you have covered, it is about the things you do while you are on the move. The more time you spend traveling, the more stories you have to share about your life. Everyone gets the same amount of time in a day. We all have 24 hours, 1,440 minutes, 86,400 seconds in a day-but the majority of the people around you will spend a third of their day in bed. That’s 8 hours, 480 minutes, 28,800 seconds that are lost because they decided to sleep it off. Before you criticize me for calling out sleeping habits let me explain to you a few things.

For our bodies to function properly we need to let our bodies recover. When we sleep we recover. Scientists say you need an average of 7-8 hours per night to have a healthy balanced life. Ask any legacy building, linage making, successful individual how much sleep they get per night and most of them will tell you they get 4 hours of sleep on a good day. There is so much to do on this planet for us to go in hibernating mode because someone hurt our feelings, we don’t want to face our problems, or the thought of dreaming sounds more enticing than reality. When I talk to someone and they introduce themselves to me, they always tell me their name, where they are from, what they do for a living, and what they like to do for fun. These people hardly ever have anything else to share if they haven’t traveled because stories are made while you are creating memories. Our stories are what make us a memorable individual.

Our stories are what separates us from the rest of humanity.

When people think about you, what do you think they will remember? Will they remember you for being a good person? Someone who worked hard but never really did anything with their life? Or will they remember you by the memories you created with them that they will share with their friends and family for the rest of their lives? Different perspectives for the same individual.

You don’t need to go far. You can wake up a little earlier to jog that hill by your home or stay up a little later to stargaze from the middle of the woods. You can go far. You can catch a