The purpose of this essay is to teach people what laws (essential practices) they should utilize to be the best version of themselves. If you adopt these laws, it will give you a strong foundation from which you can build. These laws are a guide to success, and they help you overcome the challenges life gives you. I used my life experience to create these nine laws, and each law has significantly improved my life. 

The first law is the law of appreciation. Everyone has something they can appreciate. Even when you are experiencing your dullest days you are still alive, and life is a precious gift that can be appreciated. If you do not fully appreciate what you have you will feel unsatisfied rather than joyful. A feeling of bareness is created in your soul when you disregard your gifts from god. Most people face some sort of sadness or depression during their lifetime. A feeling of  appreciation is the cure for sadness or depression because you can not feel a deep feeling of appreciation and negativity at the same time. A few years ago, I hit rock bottom because of a few mistakes. When I hit this low point, I remembered my parents' sage advice; be thankful for what you have. Eventually, after fully appreciating everything I had, I realized that I have significantly more than the average kid, so I decided to use my resources to help less fortunate people and animals. Also, you should show appreciation because most people have it worse than you. There is a substantial amount of people who do not have the most basic things that affluent people take for granted. (food, shelter, clean water, and medicine) Taking these basic things for granted is insulting to the people who would do practically anything to get something as basic as clean water.                                                    

The second law is the law of adversity. Everyone will face adversity at some point in their life, thus there is no vaccine for adversity. In contrast, there is a treatment to cure adversity, which is to respond positively or grow from your adversity. If you respond positively to your adversity you will gain wisdom, so you will not make the same mistake again. If the adversity is outside your control you will understand how to handle adversity more efficiently in future cases. When you disregard your adversity and ignore your struggles, then as time passes, your adversity will become extremely challenging to manage. When I first faced adversity, I let it eat me. Every day, I went through the motions, putting forth the least amount of effort to get through the day. Consistently doing this every day put me in a hole that looked too deep to get out of. For example, after I faced this adversity my grades fell between 3-10 percent. Several days a week, I barely had enough motivation to get out of bed and go to school or basketball practice. Eventually, I was taught how to handle adversity positively, and although it was not easy I dug myself out of the hole. Q: How can you respond positively to your adversity? A: Adversity comes in many shapes in sizes, so in every case, there is a different way to respond positively. The one thing that is similar though is you should find ways to better yourself. For example, John has faced adversity because his grandfather passed away. After this tragedy, he decides to complete a marathon (which he has always wanted to do) and becomes healthier. John found a way to recover his joy. Obviously, mourning and reflecting is okay after the death of a loved one but do not let it last forever. 

The third law is the law of hard work. One thing every human is born with is the ability to work hard. Ultimately, the person who works harder will be more successful. Why is this? Hard work is the singularly most important thing that can determine success because it shows how badly a person wants something. If you are lazy and do not work hard, you will never be able to utilize your talents, and you will never be able to make an impact on the world. Hard work also leads to accomplishment and puts dignity towards your name. Last year, I played a basketball game against a team that was better than mine. One of the kids on the opposing team was already being looked at by college scouts, but when my team played that team we won by five points. There were two reasons we won. The first reason is we worked our butts off in practice, and the second reason is we wanted it more than the other team. Those two things are the characteristics of hard work.                                                                                       

The fourth law is the law of self-discipline. Self-discipline is the ability to control yourself despite temptations. Self-discipline is indispensable because distractors get in the way of your dreams. Never let alcohol, drugs, food, video games, or other related things become evil. Those things become evil if you use them to excess. There is one good way to build up self-discipline. Take one thing that you use too much that is pushing you back. Then lock it away for one or two hours and every day build it up for ten or twenty minutes. Eventually, you will be able to go without this item for an extremely long time. After I came up with this idea I decided to test my theory. I had an abusive relationship with food and I became extremely overweight. (emotional eating) By locking food up it reinforced the idea that I should not eat food to excess and I lost 20 lbs in a few months.

The fifth law is the law of purpose. Purpose is the thing that pulls you out of bed. Everyone has a purpose. Your purpose should be something that you enjoy. If you do not enjoy your purpose, then you will not do it to the best of your ability. Never settle on a purpose unless it is something that you have a passion for. If you are not passionate, you will feel distant from your purpose, and it will not feel pleasant, but if you are passionate about it, you will be in the zone, and it will feel more comfortable. Also, you should try to make it impactful. There is no requirement stating you have to have a 160 IQ to have an impact on the world. The thing you need to have to obtain an impactful purpose is dedication. Dedication is free, so why would you not utilize it? When I experienced struggles in my life the first thing I found was a purpose. I knew if I could find a purpose then I would have something to motivate me to get up every day, and that finding a purpose would be the foundation of getting my life back on track.

The sixth law is the law of respect.  Respect is showing regard for the feelings, wishes, rights, or traditions of others. Hate crimes display disrespect. Suicide can occur because of disrespect. Relationships may end because of disrespect. Prolonged periods of sadness can be caused by disrespect. Why not do your part to fix the simple things when people are working extremely hard to fix the difficult things?  EVERY person is vulnerable to something. Why would you hurt someone to build up your ego? If instead you simply show someone respect, then this world would be a much more beautiful place.  

The seventh law is the law of fear. Humans typically face high amounts of fear. If you want to be extraordinary, you have to take risks and face your fears. Not many people will go so far as to do something that makes them feel uncomfortable. When you consistently take risks and face your fears, then you will outshine all the people who are stuck on beating their fears. Instead of letting fear eat your hope up, embrace your fear and use it as fuel. I had higher levels of anxiety than the average kid during high-pressure events. I learned breathing exercises that cleared my mind and I worked extremely hard to find any way to reduce anxiety. This made my test scores increase by five-ten percent, and it also made me perform better in high-pressure situations like basketball games. 

The eighth law is the law of persistence. During your stay on this earth, there are roadblocks that impede your path to success. They create unbearable pain that causes people to quit, so the pain will cease. To maximize your potential you have to break a sweat or else you will not achieve goals that require mental or physical endurance. Others will shine while you will be left in the shadows with little to feel proud about. Recently, I set a goal- to gain 10 pounds of muscle within four months. Although this task is difficult and requires both mental and physical persistence it enhanced my life by improving my basketball skills. 

The last law I follow is to ignore the naysayers. Naysayers come when you have dreams. They are people who come at you because they are envious due to you being closer to a point they want to reach. If you listen to the naysayers, you will get sucked up by their negativity, and you will turn into the person they want you to be. Instead, you should use those people’s comments as fuel to prove them wrong. People have doubted me my whole life. At first, I thought that they were correct, but eventually, I realized humans have unlimited potential. I worked my butt off until I was nearly the first person to come up with a robotic caregiver. By tuning out the naysayers I accomplished my dream. (I thought I was the first person until I googled it and realized that a few people made it before me)                                                                                                                                                  

If you apply each tip that I have shared with you today, I can guarantee that you will be more successful. Applying these tips does not mean life will be easy, but it will be easier. Life is a gift so every decision you make needs to be thought out because there are only so many slots for success. 

Additional Tips:

Always be early NOT late. Why? Being late is discourteous because you are wasting people's time. Also, being late shows a lack of capability. If you can not simply be on time you will struggle with more difficult tasks. Never make an excuse like, “There was a car accident” or “There was a traffic jam” because if you simply planned for those cases by leaving earlier you would be on time or early.
Karma is real. Although karma is a Buddhist belief, I think all people should understand and accept it. If you intentionally do something that has a positive impact on someone then you receive positive karma but if you intentionally do something that has a negative impact on someone then you will receive negative karma.
Do not limit yourself. Limiting yourself lowers your potential. If you say, “I will only make 60,000 dollars annually.” Then you will never be able to make 70,000 dollars or 80,000 dollars. The potential of a human is unlimited as long as you put in the work.
Never compare yourself to others. No matter how great you are, someone is always better. Comparing yourself to these “better” people  causes irritation because you feel as if you are a failure because you are not the best. Success is an individual measurement. Set personal goals and provide those goals with results. Additionally, when you compare yourself to others, you are not getting better, while the people you are comparing yourself to are getting better.