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The first step to heal how you feel is to accept a simple fact.Your depression and self loathing is a natural part of life.Being depressed doesn’t make you weird or mentally unstable or broken.Depression is nothing more than a signal. The same way that your “Check Engine” light on your car is a signal that something isn’t working properly and needs attention.So instead of seeing depression as this negative thing, we need to realize that depression is actually there to serve us. It’s a sign that something in our lives isn’t working and that we need to take action to remedy the situation.How do we do this?You eliminate depression by creating an environment, physically, mentally, and emotionally where depression cannot exist.When you strip away all of the root causes of depression, it slowly fades away.Based on your question, it sounds like your depression is being caused by your self image and low self esteem, not necessarily by a chemical imbalance or major life change.Here are a few ways that I personally beat my own depression and self hate years ago.(Note: Some of this content was taken from an article that originally appeared on my website Knowledge for Men, if you want to read the article in its entirety, click here)1. Sleep Like a Baby without the GuiltSleep is the best meditation ~Dalai LamaAccording to Medical Daily, 40.6 million Americans, more than 30% of the workforce, are chronically sleep deprived.Now, at first glance, this statistic probably doesn’t seem all that significant.But when you consider that sleep deprivation has been strongly linked toDepressionDeliriumHallucinationsImpaired Cognition and an Increased Risk of Preventable AccidentsNot to mention, an increased risk of infections, cancer, and overall mortality.You begin to realize that sleep deprivation is no joking matter.So how much sleep is enough to help battle depression? And how can you improve the quality of your sleep to maximize the benefits that you gain?Well, according to the National Sleep Foundation, adults need 7-9 hours in order to prevent the effects of sleep deprivation from affecting your life and mood.As for increasing the quality of your sleep, it’s actually pretty simple.Go to bed before 11 p.m.Wake up at the same time each daySleep in a completely dark and cold room (research shows that 65-67 F is ideal for sleep)Exercise dailyTurn off all electronics 60 minutes before bed.Reduce blue light by using amber light bulbs and apps like f.lux on your computerIf you start to take your sleep more seriously, I can promise you that you will feel the effects almost immediately.When I made a conscious effort to get more sleep and prioritize recovery over #hustling, my performance, mood, and overall well being skyrocketed.2. Turn your Life into an Epic AdventureWe’ve all heard about the neurotransmitter dopamine. Traditional psychology holds that dopamine is the reward chemical in brain meaning that it’s released to reward beneficial or pleasurable behaviors. However, more recent research has shown that dopamine is actually related to our brain’s desire to seek rewards rather than being released as a reward itself.For example, you get more of a dopamine hit from anticipating sex with a beautiful woman than you do from actually having sex.Animals studies have shown that novelty and dopamine are inextricably linked and that the brain reacts to novelty by releasing more dopamine which makes us want to go and search for a new reward.In Layman’s terms, this means that your brain gets excited and releases “feel good” chemicals into your body anytime it is exposed to something new and exciting.What this means for people suffering from depression is simple.If you want to make your brain happier, expose it to completely new and novel stimulus.Studies have shown that increasing the amount of novelty present in your life has tremendous benefits for the secretion of dopamine and serotonin, both of which work to combat depression and anxiety and help regulate and ensure the continued health of your brain.When I was struggling with depression personally, I found that the more often I stepped out of my comfort zone and tried new hobbies and activities, the better I felt.Luckily, you don’t have to go too far in order to reap these benefits.Even things as simple as listening to a new genre of music, watching a new standup comedy (which we will talk about later) or playing a new video game can stimulate the novelty and reward centers of your brain and increase your dopamine and serotonin levels.Increase the intensity and frequency of novel experiences as you feel comfortable by trying out group activities such as dancing, martial arts, or some sort of creative endeavor like a musical instrument.The more novelty you can inject into your life, the easier it will be to beat depression once and for all.3. Tap Into Your Inner Monk and Express Gratitude DailyWhen gratitude appears, fear dissapears. ~Tony RobbinsYour brain did not evolve to make you happy. It evolved to make you survive.Our primal minds are hardwired to focus on the things that we don’t have to encourage innovation, creation, and competition.After all, when humans first emerged onto the planet, resources were scarce and the competition was fierce. If we didn’t have this inherent desire for more, we would have died out and fallen prey to more aggressive species.However, we aren’t on the plains of Africa anymore…We live in a time where resources are more abundant than ever before even with the increasing population (a.k.a competition).Today, we have an unprecedented opportunity to experience true abundance and happiness if we can find a way to sneak around our evolutionary hardwiring and consciously practice gratitude and an abundance mindset.You, yes you, have more resources and power at your disposal than some the greatest kings of history.You have access to more information, better health care, longer life expectancies, and more options that the greatest rulers and tyrants that the world has ever known.Hell… The device that you are reading this article on has more computing power than the devices that put a man on the moon!But most of us don’t realize this… We are caught in an endless loop of scarcity thinking about all of the things that we don’t have and the things that we wish we could have.If you want to beat depression once and for all then you must wrestle your lizard brain into submission by focusing on the abundance and blessings in your life instead of all of the perceived scarcity and lack in your life.Among many other benefits gratitude can help increase your baseline happiness levels by more than 10%… That’s equivalent to the happiness boost you would experience from doubling your income!It’s also been shown to improve the quality and quantity of your sleep, increase your odds of career success, and improve the quality of your romantic and platonic relationships.Gratitude makes an appreciable difference in every area of your life.And the best part is that it’s easy and free to practice it.By taking only 5 minutes each morning to write down and internalize all of the things that you are grateful for, you can reframe your struggles and supercharge your psychology.You will show up in a completely different way when you are focused on everything that is right in your life instead of the things you perceive to be wrong.Be grateful now.It might just change your life.4. Empty Your Mind with a Daily JournalYour brain is the most important complicated and important organ in the human body.It’s the command center for everything in your life and every function that your body has.However, most of us have no idea how to maintain a healthy and optimized brain. We were never taught how to clean and declutter our minds so that they can function at the highest levels.Journaling is like whispering to oneself and listening at the same time. ~Mina MurrayAnd as a result, most of us are carrying an endless amount of baggage, confusion, and frustration that is hindering us from living normal and exciting lives.According to a significant amount of peer-reviewed research, journaling is one of the best ways to declutter your mind, manage stress, and overcome internal struggles.By regularly journaling about your depression, and about your life in general, you are able to organize and prioritize your thoughts and emotions.It gives you an opportunity to detach yourself emotionally and analyze your experiences, thoughts, and feelings on a logical level.It’s kind of like a form of cerebral urination.If you drink a ton of water over the course of the day and don’t take the time to relieve yourself, your bladder is going to explode and you will experience excruciating pain.Your brain is the same way.If you are continually filling your mind with new information, stimulus, and experiences, you will need to empty it occasionally to ensure that it continues to function properly. Unless you take a “Brain dump”, your brain will eventually become so cluttered and frazzled that your mind will explode into a state of stress, disorder, and chaos creating an environment for depression to thrive.Take 10 to 15 minutes a day and simply write about what you are feeling. You might be amazed by the results and how simple this is.5. “Gamify” Your Life And Rig It in Your FavorYou’ll often hear personal development gurus telling you that you should “Set goals that are 10X greater than you think you can achieve!”And this is great advice for someone with high levels of happiness, esteem, and confidence.But it’s TERRIBLE advice for people who are suffering from depression.Here’s why…According to the chemical theory of depression, one of the underlying causes of depression is an imbalance of neurotransmitters and chemicals in your brain. Most notably, the neurotransmitters dopamine and serotonin.Now, as it relates to goal setting these neurotransmitters are activated and released anytime that you set and achieve a goal, win at a competition, or succeed at a personal or professional endeavor.However, if you set and fail at a goal, lose at a competition, or screw up at any endeavor, the inverse happens. Your brain actually reduces the number of neurotransmitter receptors that are present and, given enough time, can actually make you much more depressed than you originally were.This is where gamification comes into play.When people are depressed, they tend to view their lives in a pessimistic and negative light. They tend to feel lost, hopeless, and purposeless. As such, one of the most powerful ways to reframe their depression is to view life as a game.When you play games like Angry Birds, Chess, or Tetris, every small win gives you another tiny dopamine hit.And when you start to introduce these concepts into your life, you will find that it’s much easier to stack these small wins upon one another and achieve a high level of success and happiness over time.So how do you actually gamify your life in order to help rid yourself of depression? It’s actually quite simple.The goal here is to make a game out of life by setting small daily goals or “Quests” that you need to achieve. This can be something as grandiose as attending a salsa class and asking that cute girl to dance with you.Whatever the case may be, your mission is to create and achieve at least one quest each day.Make it small and make it winnable. Write down your goal at the beginning of the day and keep score on a whiteboard or piece of paper.The more fun you can have with this, the better. Steve Kamb over at Nerd Fitness did a phenomenal job of using gamification to help his clients reach their health and fitness goals and I’d highly recommend using his Nerd Fitness Academy as a model for your own life.When you turn your life into a living breathing video game with daily quests, boss battles, and fun adventures, you alleviate some of the stress of daily life and turn your days into a fun and exciting video game that you actually want to play.6. Affirm the F*ck Out of your AwesomenessI know that affirmations sound like a steaming load of new age bull crap…But they aren’t.In fact, psychologists and neuroscientists have conducted several studies using FMRI’s and other brain imaging technology that has shown a significant benefit to positive self-talk.Affirmations literally rewire your brain to be more future-oriented and optimistic.If you do them right…Whether you realize it or not, you are ALREADY using affirmations each and every day whether verbally or non-verbally.Everyone has an inner voice providing dry witty commentary on their daily lives.The only question is: What is that voice saying?If you are suffering from low levels of confidence and self-esteem then I can all but promise that your self-talk is probably riddled with negative loops, pessimistic sayings, and general b.s.If you have high levels of esteem and confidence, then I can all but promise you that the way you talk to yourself sounds similar to the way you’d talk to a treasured friend.Over the next few weeks, I want to challenge you to rewrite and consciously select the affirmations you repeat over your life.Eradicate the negative self-talk and replace it with uplifting sayings that set you up for success.I like to spend 5-10 minutes every morning repeating a small handful of affirmations to myself while I shower.A few of my favorites are:I’ve got thisLife is happening for me, not to meI am filled with unlimited potentialI can achieve anything that I truly desireEvery day I become stronger, smarter, and betterYou can even create goal-oriented affirmations to help you focus on specific monetary, physical, or relational goals.Before you move on to the next section, take 5 minutes to write down 5 new affirmations that you will say to yourself on a daily basis.I’ll be here when you get back.7. Sweat Like You’re Running For Your LifeStudy after study has illustrated the tremendous importance of daily exercise.Benefits including:Elevated mood, reduced stress, and less anxietyImproved blood flow to the brainThe production of new brain cellsImproves memoryImproved discipline, impulse control, and decision makingAnd, most importantly, decreased depression.Exercise helps ease depression in a number of different ways.In fact, numerous studies have concluded that for patients with mild to moderate depression, exercise could be just as effective (if not more so) than antidepressants over a 12 week period.You don’t need a complicated workout plan or a fancy gym membership to reap the anti-depressive benefits of exercise.Studies have shown that HIIT or High-Intensity Interval Training is one of the most effective ways to reap all of the positive benefits of exercise in the shortest amount of time.Although I recommend that all of my clients and audience members complete a resistance training workout at least 3 times a week, and yoga twice a week, if you are just getting started, simply doing three HIIT cardio sessions per week can get you started on the road to recovery.All you are going to do is pick an exercise like sprinting, burpees, or jump squats Then, you are going to set a timer for 45 seconds.You are going to go all out on the exercise for 45 seconds and then rest for 15-30 seconds.Repeat this for a total of 15 to 20 minutes and BOOM! That’s it. You can also YouTube a number of different HIT workouts for free.For those of you who are ready to embark on a serious physical fitness journey, I highly recommend that you check out my good friend Michael Matthew’s program Bigger Leaner Stronger.I’ve been weight training for more than 10 years and I’ve yet to find a more effective and research-backed approach than the workouts that Mike shares in his books and on his blog.If you’re up to the challenge, his training philosophy will help you get bigger, become stronger, and feel better about yourself and your body faster than you ever thought possible.But regardless of which workout you choose to follow, you must workout.Your brain and body will be much happier and you’ve successfully taken one more positive step on the road to recovery.8. Let Food Be Thy MedicineMost people underestimate the effect that their diet has on their mental health and overall well being.However, after a groundbreaking study compiled by Felice Jacka Ph.D. at Deakin University in Australia, we can conclusively say that depression can be improved through dietary changes.In her research, Jacka’s team recruited 67 men and women with moderate to severe depression who reported eating a relatively unhealthy diet.They took half of the depressed individuals and placed them on a modified version of the Mediterranean diet and required them to attend dietary support sessions with a nutritionist.The other half of the group was instructed to continue on their unhealthy diet as usual but was required to attend social support sessions (to reduce the possible variable of social interaction).All participants were scored using the MADRS scale (Montgomery–Åsberg Depression Rating Scale(link is external), a system that rates mood on a scale of 0 to 60 with a score of 60 indicated borderline suicidal levels of depression.After the 12-week study concluded, the individuals following the Modified Mediterranean diet improved their MADRS scores by an average of 11 points. Of the 31 individuals on the diet, 32% scored so low on the scale that they no longer met the criteria for clinical depression!Conversely, in the group that continued to consume an unhealthy diet, their scores improved by an average of only 4 points and fewer than 8% of the participants successfully “beat” their depression.Although more studies certainly should be conducted to conclusively determine how specific dietary factors influence mood and depression, the research conducted by Jacka’s team gives us a great place to start.Here is a list of encouraged and discouraged foods according to the diet used in this research:Encouraged foods: whole grains, fruits, vegetables, legumes, low-fat/ unsweetened dairy, raw unsalted nuts, lean red meat, chicken, fish, eggs, and olive oilDiscouraged foods: sweets, refined cereals, fried food, fast food, processed meat, soft drinks.Beverages: maximum two sugar-sweetened beverages per week and maximum two alcoholic drinks per day, preferably red wine with the occasional screw-upOn a personal note, I would like to mention that green smoothies and a low meat diet have both had a MASSIVE impact on my own happiness levels and were critical components in my battle against depression.I recommend that every single person reading this start their days with a cup of organic coffee and a green smoothie filled with spinach, kale, cucumber, celery, and about 1.5 cups of frozen fruit.For those of you in the world of low card/ high-fat dieting, especially the ketogenic diet, it’s important to note that, while this diet certainly has a wide number of physical benefits, it is not the ideal diet for depressed individuals.A carbohydrate-rich diet triggers the release of insulin in your body. In turn, this causes the amino acid tryptophan to remain in the bloodstream at a high concentration allowing it to enter the brain and cause a rise in serotonin levels.In other words, carbs are like premium fuel for the brain. Sure, you can get where you need to go with plain old 82 Octane, but you will be faster and smoother if you give your brain what it really needs.The Bottom Line:If you want to beat depression naturally, then you need to provide your body with all of the nutrients required to optimize your physical and cognitive function.This means cutting out the processed crap, increasing your intake of plant foods, and ensuring that you have a sufficient amount of meat and complex carbohydrates to create the neurotransmitters and peptides your body needs.9. Socialize Like Your Life Depends on ItDespite the fact that we are more connected than ever before, there is a pervasive sense of loneliness and isolation in our society that is becoming unavoidable.People don’t interact the way that they used to. We walk through our lives with our earbuds in, our eyes glued to our phones, and our minds shut off from the outside world.We are surrounded by people, but most of us feel completely alone.Unfortunately, most people underestimate the impact that this can have on their mental and physical well being.In fact, some studies have shown that suffering from loneliness can be as bad for your health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day!Once you have recalibrated your physical body through exercise, the modified Mediterranean diet, and sufficient amounts of high-quality sleep, it’s imperative that you begin to tackle and optimize this part of your life.According to many studies, regular social interaction can: (source)Decrease your risk of depressionReduce your likelihood of developing dementiaIncrease your life expectancyBoost your immune function and physical healthLife is meant to be lived and shared with others.If you or someone that you love is suffering from depression, finding ways to increase your social activity and spend more time with amazing and empowering people will help you heal and recover in a way that few other things can.But there’s a catch…Depression makes it easy to stay isolated and hard to socialize. Which, in turn, makes the depression worse and increases the desire to stay isolated.Taking someone in a deeply depressed state and trying to get them to go out and have a good time with friends can often do more harm than good by making the person associate negative emotions such as insecurity, inadequacy, and anxiety with social time.This is why I personally recommend that you focus on fixing your physical body first.Clean up your diet, get sufficient amounts of sleep, and exercise regularly. Then you will feel more ready and comfortable to engage in social activity.When you are ready to start socializing again, you want to start small. Pick an activity or two that you genuinely love and invite one of your positive friends to join you.Use We are what we do or check out local activity boards to find something that you would enjoy and make it a goal to get out of your house and into a social setting at least once or twice a week.You don’t need to turn into a crazy party animal to improve your depression and begin building your social support network.Start small and increase your social interactions as you become more comfortable. It will make a world of difference.10. Free Yourself of Worry, Endless Concerns and Anxiety (Meditation)In meditation, I can let go of everything. I’m not Hugh Jackman. I’m not a dad. I’m not a husband. I’m just dipping into that powerful source that creates everything. I take a little bath in it ~Hugh JackmanMeditation is the equivalent of shutting out all of the open tabs and programs on your computer to free up the RAM and increase your processing power.It is one of the single most powerful weapons in your arsenal to fight depression.Extensive research has been conducted that have shown some pretty amazing and surprising findings regarding the effects of meditation.Increases the production of neurotransmitters like serotoninShrinks the brain’s fear centerDeactivates the anxiety and depression centers of the brainRebuilds the hippocampus of the brainStimulates the same Alpha and Theta brain waves Doctors use to combat depressionAnd that’s just the tip of the iceberg.Meditation is proven to help: (source)Lower blood pressureAlleviate symptoms of insomniaReduce depression and anxietyReduce painReduce symptoms of IBSAid in smoking cessationThe bottom line is that meditation is a wildly positive habit that can improve nearly every area of your life if it’s practiced with consistency.But how do you actually get started meditating and how often do you need to do it to reap the benefits?While there is no conclusive evidence prescribing an exact method or length of time in order to achieve optimal results, most experts agree that 10-30 minutes of meditation per day is all that is necessary to experience real and lasting changes.I’m a great supporter of Transcendental Meditation. I’ve been using it for almost 40 years now – and I think it’s a great tool for anyone to have, to be able to utilize as a tool for stress. ~Clint EastwoodPersonally, my favorite way to meditate is to pick an instrumental song that gets me into a positive (but relaxed) mental state, set a timer, and then simply get present in the moment for 10-20 minutes.I don’t do any sort of fancy visualization techniques or chant weird mantras from an audio tape.I just sit in silence, feel my body and my breath, and pay attention to the present moment. Anytime I notice my mind wandering, I gently redirect it back to the present moment by noticing the music and the rhythm of my breath.And that’s it.If you want a more in-depth and comprehensive guide to meditation and mindfulness then I recommend that you check out Leo Babauta’s Beginner’s Guide to Meditation.Leo is one of the most profound and inspiring guests that I’ve ever interviewed and his simple approach to life and happiness will rock you to your core and challenge the fundamental ways in which you view life.If nothing else, I highly recommend that you give his blog a read and learn from his wealth of wisdom and experience.If you are willing to commit to this practice for 30 days, alongside a comprehensive diet, exercise, and social regimen, I promise that your depression will be dramatically reduced (if not completely eradicated).11. Reconnect with Nature to Unlock Your Primal SideI personally believe that one of the biggest causes of depression in the modern world is our society’s disconnection from the natural world.10,000 years ago, we had no choice but to spend time in nature. We were constantly surrounded by plants, animals, and awe-inspiring views that reminded us of our place in the cosmos and of the insignificance of our troubles.But today, we live in a world where nature is scarce and a narcissistic focus on the self is abundant.We forget that we are nothing more than animals and are only a small part of this planet that we call home.According to research published by the Journal of Extreme Physiology and Medicine in 2013, exercising outdoors will not only produce endorphins but has the ability to improve self-esteem, reduce feelings of depression, anger, and tension.In fact, a recent study conducted by researchers from the University of Essex found that walking in nature reduced depression scores in nearly 71% of patients!But here’s where things get really interesting.When the researchers compared the effects of walking in nature to a control group that walked through a shopping center, they found that only 45% of shopping center walkers reduced their depression scores with 22% of them actually citing increased feelings of depression!This is wild!By combining regular exposure to nature with the already mentioned tactics, you will have a powerful tool for combatting depression in any form that it takes.Make it your goal to spend at least 3 hours in nature each week.Personally, I try to ride my bike by the beach for at least 60 minutes a day, however, for those of you on a tighter schedule, simply getting out of the city for a long hike once a week can work wonders for your physical and mental well being. To top it off it’s a great place to meditate and journal in absolute solitude!12. Create an Environment of Anti-DepressionOne commonality that I’ve noticed among all of my depressed clients or friends is that they live in depressing environments, and I mean this in every sense of the word.Their homes and apartments are poorly lit, filled with crap, and about as clean as the inside of a Detroit alley dumpster.The music that they listen to is depressing, angry, and nihilistic.The movies and video games that they play are filled with gratuitous violence and depressing plotlines (seriously guys, Schindler’s List is a great movie, but it’s not worth watching on repeat if you’re depressed).Even the people that they hang out with are in a similarly depressed and sad state, after all… misery loves company.If you are going to overcome depression once and for all, then your environment needs to reflect your commitment.According to an article from Psychology Today, there is a strong correlation between an unclean and negative environment and chronic depression:As they put it clutter:Bombards our minds with excessive stimuli (visual, olfactory, tactile), causing our senses to work overtime on stimuli that aren’t necessary or important.Distracts us by drawing our attention away from what our focus should be on.Makes it more difficult to relax, both physically and mentally.Signals to our brains that our work is never done.Makes us anxious because we’re never sure what it’s going to take to get through to the bottom of the pile.Creates feelings of guilt (“I should be more organized”) and embarrassment, especially when others unexpectedly drop by our homes or workspaces.Inhibits creativity and productivity by invading the open spaces that allow most people to think, brain storm, and problem solve.Frustrates us by preventing us from locating what we need quickly (e.g. files and paperwork lost in the “pile” or keys swallowed up by the clutter).Looking back at my own battle with depression, it’s funny how easy it was to allow my home environment to slip into chaos.When I was depressed, dishes piled up in the sink, my bed and clothes were unkempt, and laundry left undone for weeks.In much the same way that you someone battling chronic illness would want to keep their environment clean and bacteria free, if you want to beat depression, you must create an environment where depression cannot thrive.Clean your apartment. Open the windows and the shades. Paint your living space a bright and inviting color. Remove any negative images, photos of exes, or other pictures that conjure negative emotions. Get rid of the junk!Minimalism is not the lack of something. It’s the perfect amount of something. ~Nicholas BurroughsStart listening to happier music. Watch comedies instead of horror flicks. Buy indoor plants and fill your home with them. Do whatever you need to do to transform your environment so that it creates a state of happiness, peace, and serenity.I’d highly recommend that you check out Joshua Becker (from Becoming Minimalist) Ryan Nicodemus, and Johnathan Fields (the minimalists) for tips and tricks to live larger with less.Life isn’t meant to be wasted in the pursuit of more “Stuff” and the profound lessons that I learned about minimalism from these three men cannot be overstated.In fact, my minimalist philosophy is one of the primary reasons that I’ve been able to experience the levels of joy and abundance in my life today.13. The Most Powerful Way to Reframe Your ChallengesOften times, one of the underlying causes of depression is a pessimistic and skewed view of yourself, your challenges, and your future.We live in such a narcissistic and “Me” focused society that it’s easy to slip into a worldview where we lose sight of the struggles that others are going through and the things that we have to be grateful for in our own lives.The less connected we are to other people, the easier it is to believe that we are someone unique and special and that the challenges we are facing have never been dealt with by anyone else before.The reality is much different.You and I are one out of more than 7 billion points of human connection. We are specks of dust on a speck of dust.And the best way (that I’ve found) to reframe our problems and gain perspective on our lives is to volunteer.But don’t take my work for it, take a look at the science.According to helpguide.org:“When researchers at the London School of Economics examined the relationship between volunteering and measures of happiness in a large group of American adults, they found the more people volunteered, the happier they were, according to a study in Social Science and Medicine. Compared with people who never volunteered, the odds of being “very happy” rose 7% among those who volunteer monthly and 12% for people who volunteer every two to four weeks. Among weekly volunteers, 16% felt very happy—a hike in happiness comparable to having an income of $75,000–$100,000 versus $20,000, say the researchers.”Yes, you read that statistic correctly.Volunteering once every two weeks can have the same benefits to your baseline happiness levels as increasing your income by more than 500%!The social connection and perspective shift that you will gain by spending time with people who are less fortunate than you is tremendous.You don’t have to go crazy and join the Peace Corps (unless you want to which is great if you do), but taking a few hours out of your month to go and help someone else is one of the most powerful tools in your battle against depression.ConclusionI want you to know that, no matter how you feel, you are not disgusting or worthless.You are a human being… Just like the other 7.4 billion of us.You weren’t given a guide to living life. The schools didn’t teach you how to be all that you can be. You were simply thrown into the deep end without being taught how to swim.So take it easy on yourself.You can and will overcome this.You’ve got this.And you’ve got a ton of people here and across the world who are willing to support you in this journey.Stay strong.Andrew.

Below are the Campaign promises listed as broken by poilitifact. You can argue that he didn’t get a lot of help from the right, but he didn’t exactly do much to bridge the gap himself.There are things on this list that required no help from the right such as recognizing Armenian genocide as well. There was no excuse for not crossing that one off the list.Obama was what he was. An under-qualified community activist that was in over his head and led astray by senior Democratic officials.The Obameter: Campaign Promises that are Promise BrokenEliminate all oil and gas tax loopholes"Eliminating special tax breaks for oil and gas companies: including repealing special expensing rules, foreign tax credit benefits, and manufacturing deductions for oil and gas firms."Expand the child and dependent care creditExpand and make refundable the child and dependent care credit.Require publicly traded financial partnerships to pay the corporate income taxRequire publicly traded financial partnerships to pay the corporate income tax.Close loopholes in the corporate tax deductibility of CEO payCongress has set rules regarding the tax deductibility of the salaries of CEOs, but forms of non-salary compensation have become popular. Obama would look at revamping definitions of compensation.Create a foreclosure prevention fund for homeownersCreate a $10 billion fund to help homeowners refinance or sell their homes. "The Fund will not help speculators, people who bought vacation homes or people who falsely represented their incomes."Provide option for a pre-filled-out tax formWill direct the Internal Revenue Service to "give taxpayers the option of a pre-filled tax form to verify, sign and return to the IRS or online. This will eliminate the need for Americans to hire expensive tax preparers and to gather information that the federal government already has on file."Create a mortgage interest tax credit for non-itemizersCreate a refundable tax credit equal to 10 percent of mortgage interest for nonitemizers, up to a maximum credit of $800.Require automatic enrollment in 401(k) plansAutomatic enrollment in 401(k) plans for workers whose employers offer retirement plans.Create a retirement savings tax credit for low incomesA tax credit for retirement savings up to $500 (couples) or $250 (singles). Phases out when incomes exceed $65,000 (couples) or $32,500 (single). Indexed for inflation.End income tax for seniors making less than $50,000"Will eliminate all income taxation of seniors making less than $50,000 per year. This will eliminate taxes for 7 million seniors -- saving them an average of $1,400 a year-- and will also mean that 27 million seniors will not need to file an income tax return at all."End no-bid contracts above $25,000"Will ensure that federal contracts over $25,000 are competitively bid."Create a $60 billion bank to fund roads and bridges"Will address the infrastructure challenge by creating a National Infrastructure Reinvestment Bank to expand and enhance, not supplant, existing federal transportation investments. This independent entity will be directed to invest in our nation's most challenging transportation infrastructure needs. The Bank will receive an infusion of federal money, $60 billion over 10 years, to provide financing to transportation infrastructure projects across the nation. These projects will create up to two million new direct and indirect jobs and stimulate approximately $35 billion per year in new economic activity."Tax carried interest as ordinary incomeCarried interest is a way of compensating executives by giving them ownership stakes, or "interest," in a business. Carried interest is taxed as a capital gain, which has a lower tax rate than ordinary income. Obama proposes taxing carried interest at the same rate as regular income.Sign the Employee Free Choice Act, making it easier for workers to unionize"Obama is a cosponsor and strong advocate of the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), a bipartisan effort to make the unionization process more transparent and increase penalties on companies that violate employee rights. He will sign EFCA into law as president."Lift the payroll tax cap on earnings above $250,000"Barack Obama believes that the first place to look to strengthen Social Security is the payroll tax system. Obama believes that one strong option is increasing the maximum amount of earnings covered by Social Security by lifting the payroll tax cap on only earnings above $250,000."Forbid companies in bankruptcy from giving executives bonuses"Protect the jobs and benefits of workers and retirees when corporations file for bankruptcy by telling companies that they cannot issue bonuses for executives during bankruptcy while their workers watch their pensions disappear."Allow workers to claim more in unpaid wages and benefits in bankruptcy court"Increase the amount of unpaid wages and benefits workers can claim in bankruptcy court against their employer."Require full disclosure of company pension investments to employees"When companies fund their pensions, many do not disclose their investments with the employee's pension dollars. This lack of transparency can make it easier for fund managers to make imprudent or even fraudulent investment decisions. Obama will ensure that all employees who have company pensions receive annual disclosures about their pension fund's investments, including full details about which projects have been invested in, the performance of those investments and appropriate details about probable future investments strategies."Allow imported prescription drugs"Allow Americans to buy their medicines from other developed countries if the drugs are safe and prices are lower outside the U.S."Prevent drug companies from blocking generic drugs"Prevent drug companies from blocking generic drugs from consumers."Allow Medicare to negotiate for cheaper drug prices"Allow Medicare to negotiate for cheaper drug prices."Appoint federal-level coordinator to oversee all federal autism efforts"They will appoint a Federal ASD Coordinator to oversee federal ASD research and federal efforts to improve awareness of ASD and improve the training of medical professionals to identify and treat ASD. By establishing one top-level point person to coordinate ASD efforts in the White House, they will ensure that ASD receives the recognition and priority it deserves in the federal government. The Federal ASD Coordinator will also be tasked with eliminating bureaucratic obstacles that may be delaying implementation of important ASD measures and ensuring that all federal ASD dollars are being spent in a manner that prioritizes results. The Coordinator will work with state task forces on ASD to ensure effective communication and collaboration among federal, state, and local agencies."Double federal funding for cancer research"Will double federal funding for cancer research within 5 years, focusing on NIH (National Institutes of Health) and NCI (National Cancer Institute)."Direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to conduct a study of federal cancer initiatives"As president, Barack Obama will immediately direct his Secretary of Health and Human Services, in collaboration with agency officials, academic researchers, cancer survivors and advocates for people with cancer, and state public health officials, to comprehensively examine the various cancer-related efforts of federal agencies, and provide recommendations to eliminate barriers to effective coordination across federal agencies and between the federal government and other stakeholders."Provide the CDC $50 million in funding to determine effective approaches for cancer patient care"Will provide the CDC $50 million in new funding to determine the most effective approaches that assist not only navigation of cancer patients through diagnosis and treatment processes, but also provide easy-to-understand information on the necessary follow-up steps to ensure continued lifelong health."Sign the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities"As president, Barack Obama will renew America's leadership by making the United States a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities; the first human rights treaty approved by the UN in the 21st century and a vital foundation for respecting the rights of people with disabilities worldwide He will urge the U.S. Senate to ratify the Convention expeditiously."Fully fund the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)"Barack Obama has been a strong and consistent advocate for fully funding the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Congress promised to shoulder 40 percent of each state's "excess cost" of educating children with disabilities, but it has never lived up to this obligation. Currently, the federal government provides less than half of the promised funding (17 percent)."Create a National Commission on People with Disabilities, Employment, and Social SecurityCreate a national commission charged with "examining and proposing solutions to work disincentives in the SSDI, SSI, Medicare, and Medicaid," among other things.Change rules so small businesses owned by people with disabilities get preferences for contracts."Barack Obama and Joe Biden would direct the Small Business Administration to amend regulations under the Small Business Act that provide preferences in federal contracting to small businesses owned by members of socially and economically disadvantaged groups to include individuals with disabilities."Reduce the threshhold for the Family and Medical Leave Act from companies with 50 employees to companies with 25 employees"The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) provides eligible employees of larger employers (i.e., 50 or more employees) with 12 weeks of unpaid leave to care for a family member's or their own serious health condition. Barack Obama and Joe Biden will guarantee that millions more workers have access to FMLA leave by reducing the threshold for which employers are covered from companies with 50 or more employees to those with 25 or more."Provide a $1.5 billion fund to help states launch programs for paid family and medical leave"As president, Barack Obama and Joe Biden will initiate a 50-state strategy to encourage all of the states to adopt paid-leave systems (as part of the Family and Medical Leave Act). Barack Obama and Joe Biden will provide a $1.5 billion fund to assist states with start-up costs and to help states offset the costs for employees and employers. Obama's Department of Labor will also provide technical information to the states on how to craft paid-leave programs consistent with their local needs."Require employers to provide seven paid sick days per year"Require that employers provide seven paid sick days per year – which may be taken on an hourly basis – so that Americans with disabilities can take the time off they need without fear of losing their jobs or a paycheck."Amend the Medicare "homebound" rule to allow some travel without loss of benefitsAmend the Medicare 'homebound' rule, which requires severely disabled recipients to stay in their homes to retain benefits, so that they have the freedom to leave their homes without fear of having their home-health benefits taken away.Reduce the Veterans Benefits Administration claims backlog"There are currently over 400,000 claims pending within the Veterans Benefits Administration, and over 800,000 claims receipts are expected in 2008 alone. … Obama will hire additional claims workers and convene our nation's leading veterans groups, employees and managers to develop an updated training and management model that will ensure that VA benefit decisions are rated fairly and consistently, and stem from adequate training and accountability for each claims adjudicator."Expand the Family Medical Leave Act to include leave for domestic violence or sexual assault"Expand the purposes for which leave can be taken under the Family Medical Leave Act to include reasons related to domestic violence or sexual assault."Form international group to help Iraq refugees"Will form an international working group to address" the problem of "more than five million Iraqis (who) are refugees or are displaced inside their own country."Provide at least $2 billion for services to Iraqi refugees"Provide at least $2 billion to expand services to Iraqi refugees in neighboring countries."Work with Russia to move nuclear weapons off hair-trigger alert"The United States and Russia have thousands of nuclear weapons on hair-trigger alert. Barack Obama believes that we should take our nuclear weapons off hair-trigger alert -- something that George W. Bush promised to do when he was campaigning for president in 2000. Maintaining this Cold War stance today is unnecessary and increases the risk of an accidental or unauthorized nuclear launch. As president, Obama will work with Russia to find common ground and bring significantly more weapons off hair-trigger alert."Clarify legal status for defense contractor personnel"Establish the legal status of contractor personnel, making possible prosecution of any abuses committed by private military contractors."Double U.S. spending on foreign aid to $50 billion a year by 2012"Barack Obama would target this new spending towards strategic goals, including helping the world's weakest states to build democratic institutions, foster healthy and educated communities, reduce poverty and generate wealth."Establish a Global Education FundBarack Obama would use part of increased U.S. assistance to establish a $2 billion Global Education Fund to "offer an alternative to extremist schools."Launch a new 'America's Voice Corps'"Obama also would launch a new 'America's Voice Corps' to rapidly recruit and train fluent speakers of local languages (Arabic, BahasaMelayu, Bahasa, Farsi, Urdu, and Turkish) with public diplomacy skills, who can ensure our voice is heard in the mass media and in our efforts on the ground."Develop an alternative to President Bush's Military Commissions Act on handling detainees"He will reject the Military Commissions Act, which allowed the U.S. to circumvent Geneva Conventions in the handling of detainees. He will develop a fair and thorough process based on the Uniform Code of Military Justice to distinguish between those prisoners who should be prosecuted for their crimes, those who can't be prosecuted but who can be held in a manner consistent with the laws of war, and those who should be released or transferred to their home countries."Restore habeas corpus rights for "enemy combatants""The right of habeas corpus allows prisoners to ask a court to determine whether they are being lawfully imprisoned. Recently, this right has been denied to those deemed enemy combatants. Barack Obama strongly supports bipartisan efforts to restore habeas rights. He firmly believes that those who pose a danger to this country should be swiftly tried and brought to justice, but those who do not should have sufficient due process to ensure that we are not wrongfully denying them their liberty."Establish regulations to secure chemical plants"Barack Obama will establish a clear set of federal regulations that all plants must follow, including improving barriers, containment, mitigation, and safety training, and, where possible, using safer technology, such as less toxic chemicals."Improve port security through better radiation detection"Will redouble our efforts to develop technology that can detect radiation and determine the danger it poses, and he will work with the maritime transportation industry to integrate this technology into their operations so as to maximize security without causing economic disruption."Strengthen the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and double its budget in the next four years"The IAEA is understaffed and underresourced at a time when demand for its expertise are growing. Barack Obama and Joe Biden will seek to ensure that the Agency gets the authority, information, people, and technology it needs to do its job. They will work to double the IAEA budget in the next four years (increasing the U.S. annual share to about $225 million). They will press countries to adopt the "Additional Protocol," -- which grants the IAEA the right to conduct more intrusive inspections, including at undeclared facilities — and seek agreement among members of the Nuclear Suppliers Group not to transfer nuclear technology to NPT countries that have not adopted the Additional Protocol. They will work to gain agreement on effective global standards for nuclear safety and security. And they will call for establishing IAEA verification procedures that go beyond the Additional Protocol to strengthen the agency's ability to detect clandestine facilities and activities."Secure ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT)"The United States has maintained a moratorium on testing since 1992. It signed the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) in 1996, but it has not been ratified yet. Since the U.S. Senate last considered the treaty in 1999, significant progress has been made in our verification capability to detect nuclear explosions, even at extremely low yields, and to ensure confidence in the reliability of our nuclear stockpile without nuclear testing."Require companies to disclose personal information data breaches"California and other states have laws requiring a company that may have disclosed a resident's personal information without authorization to inform the victim of the disclosure. Barack Obama and Joe Biden believe that all Americans deserve the same right to know and will push for comparable federal legislation."Seek to negotiate a political agreement on Cyprus"As president, Barack Obama will show U.S. leadership in seeking to negotiate a political settlement on Cyprus. He believes strongly that Cyprus should remain a single, sovereign country in which each of the two communities on the island is able to exercise substantial political authority within a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation."With the G-8, launch Health Infrastructure 2020"Barack Obama and Joe Biden will take the lead at the G-8, working with and leveraging the engagement of the private sector and private philanthropy, to launch Health Infrastructure 2020 – a global effort to work with developing countries to invest in the full range of infrastructure needed to improve and protect both American and global health."Reinstate special envoy for the Americas"In the past, American presidents have filled the position of special envoy to bring senior-level attention to hemispheric matters that might otherwise get buried in the normal diplomatic process. Unfortunately, the position was eliminated after the post was vacated in June of 2004. As president Barack Obama will reinstate the position."Double the Peace Corps"Barack Obama will double the Peace Corps to 16,000 by its 50th anniversary in 2011 and push Congress to fully fund this expansion, with a focus on Latin America and the Caribbean."Seek independent watchdog agency to investigate congressional ethics violations"Will use the power of the presidency to fight for an independent watchdog agency to oversee the investigation of congressional ethics violations so that the public can be assured that ethics complaints will be investigated."Create a public "Contracts and Influence" database"Will create a 'contracts and influence' database that will disclose how much federal contractors spend on lobbying, and what contracts they are getting and how well they complete them."Expose Special Interest Tax Breaks to Public Scrutiny"Will ensure that any tax breaks for corporate recipients — or tax earmarks — are also publicly available on the Internet in an easily searchable format."Allow five days of public comment before signing billsTo reduce bills rushed through Congress and to the president before the public has the opportunity to review them, Obama "will not sign any non-emergency bill without giving the American public an opportunity to review and comment on the White House website for five days."Tougher rules against revolving door for lobbyists and former officials"No political appointees in an Obama-Biden administration will be permitted to work on regulations or contracts directly and substantially related to their prior employer for two years. And no political appointee will be able to lobby the executive branch after leaving government service during the remainder of the administration."Double funding for Federal Charter School Program and require more accountability"Will double funding for the Federal Charter School Program to support the creation of more successful charter schools. An Obama-Biden administration will provide this expanded charter school funding only to states that improve accountability for charter schools, allow for interventions in struggling charter schools and have a clear process for closing down chronically underperforming charter schools. An Obama-Biden administration will also prioritize supporting states that help the most successful charter schools to expand to serve more students."Double funding for afterschool programs"Will double funding for the main federal support for afterschool programs, the 21st Century Learning Centers program, to serve one million more children."Create scholarships to recruit new teachers"Will create new Teacher Service Scholarships that will cover four years of undergraduate or two years of graduate teacher education, including high-quality alternative programs for mid-career recruits in exchange for teaching for at least four years in a high-need field or location."Regulate pollution from major livestock operations"In the Obama Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency will strictly monitor and regulate pollution from large Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) - which raise more than 40 percent of U.S. livestock - with fines for those who violate tough air and water quality standards."Provide a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrantsWill support "a system that allows undocumented immigrants who are in good standing to pay a fine, learn English, and go to the back of the line for the opportunity to become citizens."Sign the Deceptive Practices and Voter Intimidation Prevention Act into law"Will sign the Deceptive Practices and Voter Intimidation Prevention Act into law and charge the Voting Rights Section with vigorously enforcing that law and the provisions of the Voting Rights Act. The act will will enable investigations into deceptive and fraudulent practices. It establishes significant, harsh penalties for those who have engaged in fraud, and it provides voters who have been misinformed with accurate and full information so they can vote."Eliminate caps on damages for discrimination casesWill sign into law the Equal Remedies Act of 2007 "to do away with the caps on compensatory and punitive damages under Title VII that presently impede the ability of victims of racial and gender discrimination to fully recover for the wrongs they have suffered."Ban racial profiling by federal law enforcement agencies"Will sign legislation that will ban the practice of racial profiling by federal law enforcement agencies and provide federal funding to state and local police departments if they adopt policies to prohibit the practice."Allow bankruptcy judges to modify terms of a home mortgageWill repeal provisions of the Chapter 13 law that prohibit bankruptcy judges from modifying the original terms of home mortgages for ordinary families -- regardless of whether the loan was predatory or unfair or is otherwise unaffordable -- "so that ordinary families can also get relief that bankruptcy laws were intended to provide."Increase the supply of affordable housing throughout metropolitan regionsWill support "efforts to create an Affordable Housing Trust Fund to develop affordable housing in mixed-income neighborhoods. The Affordable Housing Trust Fund would use a small percentage of the profits of two government-sponsored housing agencies, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, to create thousands of new units of affordable housing every year...Will also restore cuts to public housing operating subsidies, and ensure that all Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) programs are restored to their original purpose."Increase the minimum wage to $9.50 an hour"Will further raise the minimum wage to $9.50 an hour by 2011, index it to inflation and increase the Earned Income Tax Credit to make sure that full-time workers can earn a living wage that allows them to raise their families and pay for basic needs such as food, transportation, and housing."Restore Superfund program so that polluters pay for clean-ups"Will restore the strength of the Superfund program by requiring polluters to pay for the cleanup of contaminated sites they created."Fully fund the COPS programWill fully funding the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program "to combat crime and help address police brutality and accountability issues in local communities."Support tax deduction for artistsWill "ensure tax fairness for artists" by supporting the Artist-Museum Partnership Act, introduced by Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. "The Act amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow artists to deduct the fair market value of their work, rather than just the costs of the materials, when they make charitable contributions."Re-establish the National Aeronautics and Space CouncilWill re-establish an organizational authority in the federal government with a sufficiently broad mandate to oversee a comprehensive and integrated strategy and policy dealing with all aspects of the government's space-related programs, including those being managed by NASA, the Department of Defense, the National Reconnaissance Office, the Commerce Department, the Transportation Department, and other federal agencies. This Council reporting to the president "will oversee and coordinate civilian, military, commercial and national security space activities. It will solicit public participation, engage the international community, and work toward a 21st century vision of space that constantly pushes the envelope on new technologies as it pursues a balanced national portfolio that expands our reach into the heavens and improves life here on Earth."Support human mission to moon by 2020Will "endorse the goal of sending human missions to the Moon by 2020, as a precursor in an orderly progression to missions to more distant destinations, including Mars."Direct revenues from offshore oil and gas drilling to increased coastal hurricane protection"Will also direct revenues from offshore oil and gas drilling to increased coastal hurricane protection."Create a national catastrophe insurance reserve"Will create a National Catastrophe Insurance Reserve that would be funded by private insurers contributing a portion of the premiums they collect from policyholders. Such a framework would neither distort the insurance market nor discourage risk avoidance and risk mitigation investments because insurers would not be forced out of high-risk markets for fear of bankruptcy in the event of a disaster. With this program in place, disaster victims would no longer have to depend solely on taxpayerfunded federal disaster aid loans."Establish a Global Energy Corps to promote green energy in developing countries"Will extend opportunities for older individuals such as teachers, engineers, and doctors to serve overseas. This effort will include a Global Energy Corps to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions overseas and promote low-carbon and affordable energy solutions in developing nations. One of this century's great challenges will be promoting the use of green energy in developing countries, which will face exponential increases in energy demand. This Corps will be composed of scientists and engineers who will work with local partners overseas."Expand service-learning in schoolsWill tie a plan to give schools a substantial infusion of funds to support teachers and principals and improve student learning to the condition that school districts develop programs to engage students in service opportunities. "Obama and Biden believe that middle and high school students should be expected to engage in community service for 50 hours annually during the school year or summer months. They will develop national guidelines for service-learning and community service programs, and will give schools better tools both to develop successful programs and to document the experience of students at all levels. They will encourage programs that engage with community partners to expand opportunities for community service and service-learning opportunities, so that students can apply what they learn in the classroom to authentic situations that help the community. These programs will also involve citizens from the community engaging students in service opportunities through the Classroom Corps."Pay for the national service plan without increasing the deficit"Will maintain fiscal responsibility and prevent any increase in the deficit by offsetting cuts and revenue sources in other parts of the government (to pay for a national service plan that will cost about $3.5 billion per year when it is fully implemented). This plan will be paid for in part by cancelling tax provisions that would otherwise help multinational corporations pay less in U.S. taxes starting in 2008 by reallocating tax deductions for interest expenses between income earned in the U.S. and income earned abroad. The rest of the plan will be funded using a small portion of the savings associated with ending the war in Iraq."Seek treaty to control fissile materials"Will lead a global effort to negotiate a verifiable treaty ending the production of fissile materials for weapons purposes."Encourage diversity in media ownership"Will encourage diversity in the ownership of broadcast media, promote the development of new media outlets for expression of diverse viewpoints, and clarify the public interest obligations of broadcasters who occupy the nation's spectrum."Improve and prioritize student science assessments"Will work with governors and educators to ensure that state assessments measure…a student's higher order thinking skills including inference, logic, data analysis, interpretation, forming questions and communicating these skills."Reduce the number of middle managers in the federal workforce"Barack Obama will thin the ranks of Washington middle managers, freeing up resources both for deficit reduction and for increasing the number of frontline workers."Limit subsidies for agribusiness"Obama will implement a $250,000 [farm commodity] payment limitation so that we help family farmers, not large corporate agribusiness. Obama will close the loopholes that allow megafarms to get around the limits by subdividing their operations into multiple paper corporations."Strengthen anti-monopoly laws to favor independent farmers"Obama will strengthen anti-monopoly laws and strengthen producer protections to ensure independent farmers have fair access to markets, control over their production decisions, and fair prices for their goods."Give tax incentives to new farmersObama "will also provide tax incentives to make it easier for new farmers to afford their first farm. Obama will increase incentives for farmers and private landowners to conduct sustainable agriculture and protect wetlands, grasslands and forests."Strengthen the Age Discrimination in Employment Act"Obama will fight job discrimination for aging employees by strengthening the Age Discrimination in Employment Act and empowering the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to prevent all forms of discrimination."Limit term of director of national intelligence"Will insulate the Director of National Intelligence from political pressure by giving the DNI a fixed term, like the Chairman of the Federal Reserve. Obama and Biden will seek consistency and integrity at the top of our intelligence community -- not just a political ally."Call for a consultative group of congressional leaders on national security"I will call for a standing, bipartisan consultative group of congressional leaders on national security. I will meet with this consultative group every month and consult with them before taking major military action."Give annual "State of the World" address"I'll give an annual 'State of the World' address to the American people in which I lay out our national security policy."Reduce earmarks to 1994 levels"Barack Obama is committed to returning earmarks to less than $7.8 billion a year, the level they were at before 1994."Work to ban the permanent replacement of striking workers"He will work to ban the permanent replacement of striking workers, so workers can stand up for themselves without worrying about losing their livelihoods."Establish a low carbon fuel standard"Will establish a National Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) to speed the introduction of low-carbon non-petroleum fuels. The standard requires fuels suppliers in 2010 to begin to reduce the carbon of their fuel by 5 percent within 5 years and 10 percent within 10 years. The Obama-Biden plan will incentivize increased private sector investment in advanced low-carbon fuels and has a sustainability provision to ensure that increased biofuels production does not come at the expense of environmental conservation. The LCFS is an important mechanism in ensuring that our efforts to reduce our oil dependence also reduce carbon emissions."Require 25 percent renewable energy by 2025"Will create a federal Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) that will require 25 percent of American electricity be derived from renewable sources by 2025, which has the potential to create hundreds of thousands of new jobs on its own."Enact windfall profits tax for oil companies"Will require oil companies to take a reasonable share of their record-breaking windfall profits and use it to provide direct relief worth $500 for an individual and $1,000 for a married couple. The relief would be delivered as quickly as possible to help families cope with the rising price of gasoline, food and other necessities. The rebates would be fully paid for with five years of a windfall profits tax on record oil company profits."Create cap and trade system with interim goals to reduce global warming"Will set a hard cap on all carbon emissions at a level that scientists say is necessary to curb global warming - an 80% reduction by 2050. To ensure this isn't just talk, I will also commit to interim targets toward this goal in 2020, 2030, and 2040. These reductions will start immediately, and we'll continue to follow the recommendations of top scientists to ensure that our targets are strong enough to meet the challenge we face."Use revenue from cap and trade to support clean energy and environmental restoration"A small portion of the receipts generated by auctioning [cap and trade] allowances ($15 billion per year) will be used to support the development of clean energy, invest in energy efficiency improvements, and help develop the next generation of biofuels and clean energy vehicles – measures that will help the economy and help meet the emissions reduction targets. It will also be used to provide new funding to state and federal land and wildlife managers to restore habitat, create wildlife migration corridors, and assist fish and wildlife to adapt to the effects of a warming climate. All remaining receipts will be used for rebates and other transition relief to ensure that families and communities are not adversely impacted by the transition to a new energy, low carbon economy."Require plug-in fleet at the White House"Within one year of becoming President, the entire White House fleet will be converted to plug-ins as security permits."Require new federal fleet purchases to be half plug-in hybrids or electric vehicles"Half of all cars purchased by the federal government will be plug-in hybrids or all-electric by 2012."Require more flex-fuel cars for the federal government"Government should lead the way here. I showed up at this event in a government vehicle that does not have a flexible-fuel tank. When I'm president, I will make sure that every vehicle purchased by the federal government does."Mandate flexible fuel vehicles by 2012"Will work with Congress and auto companies to ensure that all new vehicles have flexible fuel (FFV) capability . . . by the end of his first term in office."Double federal program to help "reverse" commuters who go from city to suburbs"Will double the federal Jobs Access and Reverse Commute (JARC) program to ensure that additional federal public transportation dollars flow to the highest-need communities and that urban planning initiatives take this aspect of transportation policy into account. JARC funds have been used to connect low-income workers around the country with job opportunities."Require energy conservation in use of transportation dollars"Will require governors and local leaders in our metropolitan areas to make energy conservation a required part of their planning for the expenditure of federal transportation funds."Provide an annual report on "state of our energy future""I will report to the American people every year on the State of our Energy Future."Devote federal resources to promote cellulosic ethanol"Will invest federal resources, including tax incentives, cash prizes and government contracts into developing the most promising technologies with the goal of getting the first two billion gallons of cellulosic ethanol into the system by 2013."Sign the Freedom of Choice Act"Throughout my career, I've been a consistent and strong supporter of reproductive justice, and have consistently had a 100% pro-choice rating with Planned Parenthood and NARAL Pro-Choice America. ... And I will continue to defend this right by passing the Freedom of Choice Act as president."Allow penalty-free hardship withdrawals from retirement accounts in 2008 and 2009"Obama and Biden are calling for legislation that would allow withdrawals of 15% up to $10,000 from retirement accounts without penalty (although subject to the normal taxes). This would apply to withdrawals in 2008 (including retroactively) and 2009."Give the White House's Privacy and Civil Liberties Board subpoena power"Strengthen the Privacy and Civil Liberties Board with subpoena powers and reporting responsibilities."Recognize the Armenian genocide"Two years ago, I criticized the Secretary of State for the firing of U.S. Ambassador to Armenia, John Evans, after he properly used the term 'genocide' to describe Turkey's slaughter of thousands of Armenians starting in 1915. … as President I will recognize the Armenian Genocide."No family making less than $250,000 will see "any form of tax increase.""I can make a firm pledge. Under my plan, no family making less than $250,000 a year will see any form of tax increase. Not your income tax, not your payroll tax, not your capital gains taxes, not any of your taxes."No signing statements to nullify instructions from Congress"While it is legitimate for a president to issue a signing statement to clarify his understanding of ambiguous provisions of statutes and to explain his view of how he intends to faithfully execute the law, it is a clear abuse of power to use such statements as a license to evade laws that the president does not like or as an end-run around provisions designed to foster accountability. I will not use signing statements to nullify or undermine congressional instructions as enacted into law."Negotiate health care reform in public sessions televised on C-SPANTo achieve health care reform, "I'm going to have all the negotiations around a big table. We'll have doctors and nurses and hospital administrators. Insurance companies, drug companies -- they'll get a seat at the table, they just won't be able to buy every chair. But what we will do is, we'll have the negotiations televised on C-SPAN, so that people can see who is making arguments on behalf of their constituents, and who are making arguments on behalf of the drug companies or the insurance companies. And so, that approach, I think is what is going to allow people to stay involved in this process."Create a public option health plan for a new National Health Insurance Exchange."The exchange will require that all the plans offered are at least as generous as the new public plan and meet the same standards for quality and efficiency."Cut the cost of a typical family's health insurance premium by up to $2,500 a year"I will sign a universal health care bill into law by the end of my first term as president that will cover every American and cut the cost of a typical family's premium by up to $2,500 a year."Bring Democrats and Republicans together to pass an agendaObama and Joe Biden will "turn the page on the ugly partisanship in Washington, so we can bring Democrats and Republicans together to pass an agenda that works for the American people."Introduce a comprehensive immigration bill in the first year"I cannot guarantee that it is going to be in the first 100 days. But what I can guarantee is that we will have in the first year an immigration bill that I strongly support and that I'm promoting. And I want to move that forward as quickly as possible."End the war in Afghanistan in 2014"President Obama responsibly ended the war in Iraq and will end the war in Afghanistan in 2014."