10 Actually Useful Fortune Cookie Fortunes

During weekends, my son and I would go out and do stuff. We’d do different activities, like going to a video arcade and hitting different adventure games. It’s a lot of fun and it's great that I could spend time with him.

But, as we go through our day, we inevitably hit a point where we get hungry and we need to eat something.

One of the things my son likes to eat is Chinese food. And, while I like the basic vegetable lo mein and General Tso’s Chicken, he ends up liking it more than I do most of the time. We’ll mainly hit Chinese buffets, but anywhere we go, it’s usually a relatively enjoyable meal.

At the end of the meal, we always have the fun of opening up our fortune cookies. Not only do they taste good, but the little fortunes inside are generally fun to play with.

As any of you who’ve eaten a fortune cookie before know, the fortunes are just basic words of wisdom and really very generic. They could be applied to pretty much anyone.

One of these times, it got me thinking. What would be the best thing that I could put in the fortune cookies for you?

Here are the 10 fortune cookie fortunes I came up with for you.

“Know Where You’re Going”

If you don’t know where you’re going, then it won't really matter. You can decide to go north, south, east or west, but if you don’t have an exact destination, you're just going to wander around.

To have a better chance of getting somewhere you like, stop wandering and figure out what you want and where you’re going. If you don’t know, then stop reading here and don’t continue until you do.

“Take Action”

This is the single thing that is hardest for a lot of people to do. People can decide where they want to go or what they want to achieve, but taking the action needed to achieve their goal is hard for them, especially if it requires stepping out of their comfort zone.

Say, you decide you want to go on a trip to London. You can wish it, plan it out and tell all your friends how you’re going to London, but unless you start doing the things you need to get there, you will never be able to go to London. Take action and do it now.

(Editor's Note: Have you heard? Stephen Hawking is actually going to space very soon! A perfect example of taking action.)

“Be Consistent”

Action is great, but if you don’t take action consistently, it’s not going to matter. The same is true with exercise and eating healthy. If you aren't going to do them consistently, you won't be able to get their full benefits.

It also applies to success. People tend to be a lot more successful doing at least one thing each day towards their goal rather than trying to do everything in a day or two.

Be consistent. It really does make a difference

“Successes Are Built On Failures”

When you’re trying anything new, you’re not going to do it perfect the first time, and that’s okay. You just need to work through things. The more you work through, the more you learn. The more you learn, the more you are likely to succeed.

Don’t be afraid of failures because they will eventually bring you success. A lot of today's successful people failed massively before getting to where they are now.

See Also: Why The Road to Success is Always Full of Failures

“Success Can Be Exponential”

Think about this in an investing sense. If you go and put $100 on a stock and you happen to get lucky, you can increase it up 10 times. That means you can have as much as $1,000. Now, you can do the same thing and take that $1,000 out, put it in 10 other stocks, and see what happens.

You’re not going to hit that home run every time. You’re going to experience some losses along the way. Despite this, you should know that the more you try, the more you are increasing your chances of succeeding. Be smart about it and work hard. Learn from your mistakes and success will build upon itself.

“Good Friends Are Better Than Lots Of Friends”

This is something that you hear even in grade school and middle school. There’s a big difference between a true friend and an acquaintance.

You may be friendly and know a lot of people but not all of them will actually have your back. So, find a few in your life who can really be there for you and stick with them.

See Also: Why You Need to Get Out and Meet Your Friends

“Believe In Yourself”

No matter how many friends you have or how much action you take, if you don’t believe that you can do it, you’re going to find a way to fail every time.

This isn’t just positive thinking. Things aren’t necessarily going to be easy and things won’t just completely flow for you. It may be hard, you may make mistakes, but you have to believe it’s possible.

When you believe it’s possible, it becomes easier to deal with the inevitable setbacks and keep pushing on. Remember, if it’s possible for anybody, that means it’s possible for you, too. So, believe in yourself and believe that you can do it.

“Track What You’re Doing”

One of the biggest things I see people do is start taking massive action on something and have it not turn out as they expected. They may have a plan and an idea of where they want to go, and they start working on it without really knowing if the work that they’re putting in will actually give them the results that they want.

That’s why you need to track things. It’s kind of like a GPS for your goals that helps you to stay on track and get where you want to be- with fewer mistakes and less wasted effort.

There are various ways to do this and there are programs to do it. You can keep it on a spreadsheet or even a notebook.

In addition to tracking your goals and mistakes, it's important that you also take down notes of your mistakes. This way, you'll be able to learn from them. They will guide you in what you should and shouldn't do.

“Don’t Be Afraid To Experiment”

For a long time in my life, I just stuck with the things that I knew I liked. As I got a little older and more stable, I decided that I wanted to try new things.

One of those things is to go and take a trip to Japan for a couple of weeks or even a month. However, before actually booking my trip, I figured that if I’m going to be in Japan that long, then I need to make sure that I can eat Japanese food.

One time, when I was at a conference, I went and tried some sashimi. It was the first time I ever had it and I ended up liking it. Since then, I’ve been more experimental with what I do.

I gained more confidence in experimenting because I know that if I like something I tried, I'll get to treasure it. If I don’t, then great. I'll be able to avoid it in the future. Either way, I get to learn something new about myself. This mindset has opened up new possibilities for myself and new avenues in my life.

The best part is that you can apply it to all parts of your life. Failure is a lot easier to deal with when it’s just an experiment that didn’t work. It'll be easier for you to say: “Ok, that way didn’t work. What else can I try?”

“Do The Truly Important Things First”

This is true in business, family, and life in general. You do the things in business that are going to move you ahead. Although there are little tasks that can take up a lot of your time,  make sure to prioritize the big things. They are the things that will keep your business moving forward.

It goes the same with family. You need to make sure you can be there for them when they need you. Show up at birthdays. Make sure you’re there for the important times in your family members’ lives as that will help build a great bond. Do the important things in life but make them your first priority.