(1) Daily Goals – top 6 list

(2) Daily Actions - time blocked

(3) Summary results - how did i do

This would seem like a rather simple exercise, but i can tell you that i have been trying to do this for the last 5 years. When i  follow my rules, i do well. Most times i stink.

Ill start the post with my results from the previous day. Then i go into top 6 list followed by daily action time-line.

Here we go!

I also realized that I was allergic to confrontation. A fight scared me. I was a peacemaker.  A Ghandi type.  A lover not a fighter. 

Armed with a pleasing personality and the inability to pick a fight a guy who is plain old luke warm.  Nothing could be more inhibiting to a person. We as humans have a need to be expressive. My form when I was younger was painting, drawing, listening to music. I was more physically expressive. I have lost some of that physical creativity and now rely more on my mental creativity. 

An argument, which is really the organized expression of thought, through words, towards a favorable convincing personal outcome can be creative expression. But if we don’t have the balls to pick a side and stick to it we become like leaves in the wind blowing in the direction of every one else’s words.  Not only is it un-empowering to the self but it also gives those around us the feeling that this person has no internal compass so why should I respect them.

Pick a side, believe in it and fight for it until you’re grossly humiliated by the fact that you were wrong. People will have more respect for you and you will live more purposefully. 

Give me a cold glass of water or a hot cup of tea, but don’t ever give me a luke warm glass of milk because ill spit it out!

Are you hot, cold or plain old lukewarm?

IDEA:

(1)   Think about an important subject matter to you

(2)   Pick a side

(3)   Fight for it and don’t sway

A merchant sent his son to learn the Secret of Happiness from the wisest of men. The young man wandered through the desert for forty days until he reached a beautiful castle at the top of a mountain. There lived the sage that the young man was looking for.

However, instead of finding a holy man, our hero entered a room and saw a great deal of activity; merchants coming and going, people chatting in the corners, a small orchestra playing sweet melodies, and there was a table laden with the most delectable dishes of that part of the world.

The wise man talked to everybody, and the young man had to wait for two hours until it was time for his audience.

With considerable patience, the Sage listened attentively to the reason for the boy’s visit, but told him that at that moment he did not have the time to explain to him the Secret of Happiness.

He suggested that the young man take a stroll around his palace and come back in two hours’ time.

“However, I want to ask you a favor,” he added, handing the boy a teaspoon, in which he poured two drops of oil. “While you walk, carry this spoon and don’t let the oil spill”.

The young man began to climb up and down the palace staircases, always keeping his eyes fixed on the spoon. At the end of two hours he returned to the presence of the wise man.

“So,” asked the sage, “did you see the Persian tapestries hanging in my dining room? Did you see the garden that the Master of Gardeners took ten years to create? Did you notice the beautiful parchments in my library?”

Embarrassed, the young man confessed that he had seen nothing. His only concern was not to spill the drops of oil that the wise man had entrusted to him.

“So, go back and see the wonders of my world,” said the wise man. “You can’t trust a man if you don’t know his house.”

Now more at ease, the young man took the spoon and strolled again through the palace, this time paying attention to all the works of art that hung from the ceiling and walls. He saw the gardens, the mountains all around the palace, the delicacy of the flowers, the taste with which each work of art was placed in its niche. Returning to the sage, he reported in detail all that he had seen.

“But where are the two drops of oil that I entrusted to you?” asked the sage.

Looking down at the spoon, the young man realized that he had spilled the oil.

“Well, that is the only advice I have to give you,” said the sage of sages. “The Secret of Happiness lies in looking at all the wonders of the world and never forgetting the two drops of oil in the spoon.”

“The Alchemist”, by Paulo Coelho

Look at Steve Jobs for example. Now there’s an example of a guy who knew what his life purpose was and had such determination all the way up to the end.  But it’s not unusual to hear people say: “I don’t know what my purpose is” and “I don’t know how to go about finding my purpose”.

Well the first thing that I would say to you is that you can make it your purpose- to find your purpose. And there is nothing wrong with that. In fact what could be a more worthy cause than to take some time and figure out what the heck you are here on this earth to do. 

In David Deida’s book: “The Way of the Superior Man”, he talks about how you must be willing to change everything in your life when necessary to find your life purpose and that it’s ok to enter the zone of complete unknowingness:

“A man must be prepared to give 100% to his purpose, fulfill his karma or dissolve it, and then let go of that specific form of living. He must be capable of not knowing what to do with his life, entering a period of unknowingness and waiting for a vision or a new form of purpose to emerge. These cycles of strong specific action followed by periods of not knowing what the hell is going on are natural for a man who is shedding layers of karma in his relaxation into truth.”

Our passion for spreading this company’s message started from within, as both Alexa and I struggled with poor self esteem and negative self image growing up. From body image issues, to feeling insufficient with our friends, to the constant pressures from the media featuring beautiful, skinny, “perfect,” people, we struggled to love ourselves the way everyone should. Now both juniors in college, we have overcome those internal hurdles and learned to not let negative influences affect our self concept. We hope that through this company we can continue to fuel our passion for inspiring others and make a difference by changing society’s perceptions of perfection.
 
Creating and running a company with just two people, who happen to both be college students, is no easy task. We constantly face obstacles that could potentially hinder our success with Hello Perfect. However, our passion for growing this movement, combined with the positive feedback we have received from people whose lives we’ve helped change, keeps us motivated to continue and succeed with our mission.
 
Our goal for Hello Perfect is to form a world-wide movement, which changes the way people view perfection, especially in the fashion and beauty industries. One of the ways we advocate our message is through our DreamCatcher of the Month program. Through this program we feature a young individual each month that is actively working toward accomplishing his or her dreams. We want to promote and encourage people who are working hard to achieve their goals as well as use them as inspiration for others to do the same.
 
Part of our mission with Hello Perfect is to not only help people view themselves as perfect, but also use that self-perfection to achieve everything they desire in life. Our passion for this company comes from living through our mission every day. Both Alexa and I have overcome internal struggles to feel confident enough in our abilities to proceed with this mission and we are now confident enough to help others realize their own perfection.

Bios:

Alexa Carlin, 20, founded Hello Perfect in June 2011. Alexa is a junior business administration major at the University of Florida with minors in entrepreneurship and mass communications. Alexa lives by the quote, “Whether you make a difference in one person’s life, in your community or in the world, as long as you make a difference, you are perfect.” She founded Hello Perfect in order to make a difference in peoples’ lives by advocating the message that the challenge in life is not to become perfect, it’s accepting that you already are. Alexa struggled with her own self-confidence issues growing up and she envisions growing a worldwide movement to transform the way society portrays “perfection.”

Angela Ribbler, 20, is a junior public relations major at the University of Florida with a concentration in business. She joined Hello Perfect in August 2011 as the Director of Public Relations. Angela met Alexa their freshman year of college when they were randomly assigned as roommates. She joined the company because she shares Alexa’s vision for change and loves making a difference in others’ lives. Angela lives by the quote, “The only limits that exist in the world are those you put on yourself.”

Does your life seem ordinary? Are you frustrated, hearing about successful people who turned their life around when some ‘big’ thing happened? Would you like to take action and change the direction of your life without some traumatic incident to act as the catalyst?

15 years ago I was that person, I had a good job, a nice house, a decent husband, a new car and annual overseas holidays. Still I felt like something was missing in my life, I was acting a part, going through the motions. On the outside it looked like I had it all, while on the inside I was shriveled up. I was a pleaser, looking out for everyone else; I never stopped to ask what was right for Debra. My life wasn’t fulfilling. I was sick of predictability and craved excitement.

Growing up, the world was my oyster; I could be, do and have almost anything I wanted. The problem was I didn’t see that. I love to perform and in my family the arts were considered a dubious profession that attracted ‘the wrong crowd’. I was gently guided towards math’s and sciences which I did okay in. They just didn’t get my creative juices flowing, that non-feeling, non-involved, non-participation feeling became ‘normal’.

Fifteen years ago I read Baraba Sher’s “I could do anything, If Only I knew What It Was”. One strategy changed my life. I started to do things, to give them a go, whether I thought I was really interested in them in not. I learnt that because you start something, you don’t have to keep doing it.

This revolutionized my life! I began ‘dropping in’ on activities and along the way found some things that ignited the spark within me. I discovered that I’m really interested in people, what makes them tick, why they behave in different ways in a variety of situations. I also love logic and systems, and discovered Feng Shui, a system of arranging living and working places to enhance the lives of those that inhabit those spaces.

I recognized that inspiring and empowering people to fulfill their own special purpose and potential fascinates me and that by understanding how people process and interact with themselves, people in different situations and their environments I can help them make changes to both their environments and to their thinking that revolutionizes how they experience life.

Along the way I’ve learned to say ‘Yes’ to my needs and wants. I’ve distanced myself from people who attempt to use guilt and obligation to manipulate or who simply couldn’t understand. I avoid most forms of mass media (unless I’m featured) and am selective about where and with whom I invest time.

This is not to say my life is ‘perfect’ I have more challenges, I’ve had experiences that others might see as ‘bad’. My journey and the destination is continually evolving.

I don’t have it all in the material sense, I do have everything that’s important to me and I love each day of my life. I can laugh at stuff as it happens and I have tools in my toolkit to keep me on my path and out of the wilderness.

Even on the occasions that I lose my way, life is vastly improved to when I was dancing to everyone else’s tune and couldn’t even conceive that I had music in me that only I could play.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Di Westaway, founder of Wild Women On Top, has turned her passion for mountain climbing and empowering women into her life, her business and her career. Check out her blog: http://www.wildwomenontop.com/culture/blog

Ten years ago I found myself at 20,000 feet on the edge of the highest mountain in the southern hemisphere, struggling for breath, and wondering what the hell I was doing. I realised that I was ill prepared for this World Class Trekking peak of Mt Aconcagua, Argentina, 6,962m.

When I set out for this trip, I’d never climbed anything before. I had never even been in a tent. But, the idea of summiting the highest mountain in the Southern Hemisphere captured my imagination and it changed my life. I really needed a challenging goal to motivate me to stay fit and healthy, and this was it!

I had thought I had found a new passion for climbing mountains. When I returned, I knew I was wrong. My new passion was empowering teams of women to be fit enough to safely experience awesome wilderness challenges.

I began Wild Women On Top, and my passion became my life, my career and my business.

Confucius said ‘Choose a job you love and you’ll never have to work a day in your life’.

I have done this.

Throughout the last ten years, Wild Women On Top has grown exponentially, now training around 150 women around Sydney to achieve amazing adventure fitness goals. I have the opportunity to do ‘interesting things with interesting people while adding value’, travel internationally, have amazing adventures, and fulfil my philanthropic interests through the Wild Women On Top Sydney Coastrek, a 50-100km team challenge which has raised nearly a million dollars for The Fred Hollows Foundation.

Eight years after our failure on Mt Aconcagua, we finally achieved success. Wild Women on Top motivated and trained a team of women for this World Class Trek using Trek Training. We chose an itinerary guided by World Expeditions and this time we were prepared. It took eight years of hard work, passion, commitment and lessons learned to build up the skills to earn this summit. On January 12, 2008, our team of Wild Women on Top finally stood on top of the highest mountain in the Southern Hemisphere, Mt Aconcagua, nearly 7,000m high!

In the words of Sir Edmund Hillary: “It is not the mountain we conquer, it is ourselves.”

Through our passion and preparation, we conquered ourselves.

My passion has become about empowering women to achieve extraordinary goals, and Wild Women On Top does exactly that. It gives women the opportunity to connect with other, like-minded individuals and achieve dreams they never thought possible.

And through training them, I have empowered myself.

According to Wikipedia:“Fasting is primarily the act of willingly abstaining from some or all food, drink, or both, for a period of time. An absolute fast is normally defined as abstinence from all food and liquid for a defined period, usually a single day (24 hours), or several days. Other fasts may be only partially restrictive, limiting particular foods or substance.”

I decided to do a juice fast which meant that I could only drink whole foods that were juiced. I juiced two different juices in my (which is a fantastic juicer). One pitcher of fruit juice and one vegetable juice- and it was enough for the whole day and some. Here is what I made:

(1) Kale, Cucumber, Carrot, Beet, Celery Juice

(2) Apple, Pear, Carrot Juice

Now there are several reasons why people do fasts and here are a couple of big ones:

(1) Religious/Spiritual purpose

(2) Cleansing or Detoxing the body

(3) As a form of protest

(4) As a way to lose weight

For me personally I would fall into category 1,2 and 3. Fasting is a way for me to find my way back into my body and self. It helps me detach from the worldly part of my being and what it wants and desires. It reminds me of how valuable our food is in our life and how we take it for granted. It convinces me every time that I eat much more food than I need to. So it was about time I did something about it!

Sometimes it takes something extreme in our life to wake up to the truth, and change. Fasting is something extreme and if you haven’t done it- I encourage you to give it a try. I can assure you that Monday was not an average day for me. In fact it was filled with an aching body, tremendous head and neckache, zero motivation, questioning, hot and cold sweats, confusion and dizziness. Yes, that’s right it was miserable. But I did it. And when I woke up on Tuesday I felt like I was reborn. I had more energy than a rabbit and felt cleaner and lighter than a cloud. You would think that I would have wanted to pig out the next day but truth is I was hardly hungry. I ate about a quarter of what I usually eat and didn’t have the same cravings for the usual crap. If you are interested in getting inspired to give juice fasting a try, check out the documentary “Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead”. It’s sure to get you thinking.

You have strengths, or better yet, assets, that others don’t. And just as you have strength’s you also have weakness’ that others don’t. I remember hearing as a kid “your only as good as your weakness”. That’s all bs! I believe you’re as great as your strengths. Or your God-given gifts that you are here on earth to use without limits. Your potential!

The trick: Understanding what your strengths are. Not only that but knowing what your weaknesses are at the same time. I read a fantastic book that helps the reader find their strengths and weaknessess and guide them on how to utilize this information, that book is Tom Rath’s, Strengths finder 2.0. I highly recommend picking up a copy and giving it a read. Tom explains in the book that those that are great in their field have figured out early in life what their strengths are and exploited those strengths by focusing and improving them every day.

Take Michael Jordan for example. The world’s greatest basketball player. He knew very early his strength was his athletic ability and it is said that no one worked harder than Michael Jordan practicing being great as an athlete. Just as important is to know your weakness. And that takes honesty. For me it’s easy. I stink at details. I’m not the most analytical guy in the world so don’t ever ask me to build a spaceship with you because it won’t leave the ground.

The key: Do what your great at and find someone else to do what your weak in. And if you can find a complimentary relationship which aligns strengths.. well, then you just might have the next world cup championship soccer team or the next google search box!

Occupy Wall Street

Last night was a lot of fun.  As Maria and I were marching down Broadway towards Wall Street with the OCCUPY WALL STREET MOB who were waving signs and beating drums we came up with our own angry jingle.  Here it goes:

Wall Street…! Wall Street…..! Stand up tall on your own two feet!  Wall Street…! Wall Street…! Stand up tall on your own two feet!

I hadn’t really given the whole ( OWS ) Occupy Wall Street Movement much thought up until this point but considering how long i’ts been running and gaining attention I thought that it’s time to listen.  According to the website www.occupywallstreet.org this is what they are trying to accomplish:  “Occupy Wall Street is leaderless resistance movement with people of many colors, genders and political persuasions. The one thing we all have in common is that We Are The 99% that will no longer tolerate the greed and corruption of the 1%. We are using the revolutionary Arab Spring tactic to achieve our ends and encourage the use of nonviolence to maximize the safety of all participants. This ows movement empowers real people to create real change from the bottom up. We want to see a general assembly in every backyard, on every street corner because we don’t need Wall Street and we don’t need politicians to build a better society.”

What can I say.. I am guy who has a retirement account that invests in US companies, owns property, has a decent car, has a job that ultimately could provide me an income that would make me the 1%.  Sidenote: that would be way, way, way down the road. It scares me to think that if I was the 1% people would view me as corrupt or greedy. I live in a country that teaches you from a very young age to do what you love and get great at it. If that service or product produces for you so much wealth that you become the 1%- well Merry Christmas!

I think that scratching at exterior society issues are going to do nothing more than ruin your nails. What’s done is done. Corrupt people aren’t going to be cured because a bunch of tree hugging, bean stocks from Brooklyn want to roast marshmallows and smoke pot on Wall Street. Change is internal. And it starts with each one of us. Rather than focusing on the external problems of our society lets  think more about teaching our young ones how to live a more integrated life of spirit and moral strength. I admire folks that stand up for something that they believe in and I’m not suggesting that whatever greater good OWS has to offer the world it will not be had. What I am suggesting is that rather than spending all that time blowing horns and shouting at guys in suits drinking champagne in the sky, go home, sit by yourself and focus on your breathing.

Wealth-Trigger

How is being creative and talking to someone about your feelings similar? 

Answer:

Both require you to be a little vulnerable. 

Living a life of creativity requires you to be totally vulnerable and open to getting hurt. A lot of people (me included) have developed over time a tough emotional skin that has created an exterior shell around us.  It’s ok to have a tough emotional skin and let things roll off your back but it’s not ok to let that skin get so hard that you develop the old protective oyster shell around you. 

The oyster is never hurt. He has a thick shell which protects him from anything. He is isolated.  He operates like tank. He can go anywhere and do anything. Don’t dare get in his way! 

The oyster is secure, but not creative. He doesn’t wander around the sea soliciting wild adventures with his finned friends. He is secure, stays put and doesn’t go after that which he wants- he must wait for it to come to him.  An oyster knows none of the ‘hurts’ of the emotional environment. But neither can an oyster know the joys that come with the rays of sun beaming off the coral coast.  

Try This:

(1)   Locate a lake

(2)   Locate your spouse

(3)   Strip naked & jump in

(4)   Laugh

Shyness and Anxiety System

Here they are:

(1)   Water- I drink it like it’s going out of style.

(2)   Nuts – if you’re around me long enough you might just think I am a squirrel.

(3)   Fish and Eggs- Omega 3 and Protein are key’s here

(4)   Steal Cut Oats- every morning with nuts, coconut flakes, flax seeds and almond milk

(5)   Dark Green Veggies- If you’re not taking these things in your making a gigantic health mistake

(6)   Fruits – the more the merrier.

Healthy Urban Kitchen Cookbook

Isn’t it ironic that the things that taste so frigg’n good are so frigg’n bad for you?  Think about a fried dough from the fair or your favorite snack since childhood, oreo’s! Do you think there is a reason why snickers bars have been around for 200 years!  If you had to choose between a bunch of bean sprouts or some carmel corn, what would it be? 

It takes a very strong internal health compass to say to yourself, I had better go with the sprouts because they are pure energy and if I eat them I am going to feel terrific!  Most times it’s not the internal health compass that runs the show. In fact our EGO’s gets involved and says, “go for the carmel corn, it’s going to taste so good, just this one time, you earned it” – sound familiar? 

I have to say that it’s not easy to totally eliminate all the fine pleasures that humans enjoy that are not in line with our internal health compass.  But it can be possible to stick by a general set of health terms that keep you healthy.  For me the key ingredients to limit from my life are: 

(1)   Cigarettes – it’s a known killer, need I say more?

(2)   Alcohol -   over-consumption leads to a lot more than disease. Think divorce.

(3)   Drugs – we’re already out of our minds, why do we need drugs anyways?

(4)   Fried foods – if it taste’s that good, its got to be bad.

(5)   Red meats – I would emphasize that if you eat a piece of grass fed beef once or twice a month you’re in good shape but that’s not the average people,  let’s be honest.

 (6)   Non-Organic Dairy/Meats – this is new for me and probably most Americans because until the big boom of the food Industry we hadn’t had to worry about all the cancer causing antibiotics and hormones they pump into chickens and cattle.

How to Give Up Alcohol

I remember as a youngster the excitement and anticipation of Halloween. Thinking of costume ideas, carving pumpkins, waiting for the day to break and night to fall to set the stage for a totally spooky night.

But let’s be honest, mostly what I had on my mind at that age was CANDY and how much of it I could for free! The story goes, I would collect a gigantic brown grocery bag of candy, big enough for a years supply. I would devour it in just a few short days.

What fun as a kid! But what a disaster. Think about the message..

Does immediate gratification ring a bell? I want it now, a lot of it and for free. Not only that, but I want to consume it all as quickly as possible. Now, I know that this isn’t the case for all parents, especially the responsible one’s that limit how long their kids can go out and set a limit on how much they can eat per day, etc.. But for the most part I think it’s fair to say that most kids were like me- they did it their own way.

So how does this relate to money? As adults we have the same DESIRES when it comes to money as we did as kids with candy. We want it fast, for free and when we get it we want to spend it as quickly as possible!

Do you think that feeling originated out of the blue? No, it was developed as a youngster, not only from incidences around money but also around simple things like your Halloween experience.

The role of the parent is a tough job. As a parent to play the prison warden on Halloween is a nightmare in its own sense and the lessons learned are not something that will have an effect until the child gets older. However, simple lessons like these, learned on Halloween will not only help them make more sound financial decisions but also help them be more conscious with their money.

So in honor of a Healthy Halloween; be the house that gave your kids apples. They will probably toss it out but rest assured, they will benefit from it later in life. Happy Halloween!

Financial Independence Through Better Life Choices

 What is accountability?

Well referring to Webster’s dictionary we get: the quality or state of being accountable; especially: an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or to account for one’s actions.

Imagine that every day you have to answer to someone for each and every action that you do. How would your choices and actions be different if you simply had to report to someone other than yourself?

 Very few people are able to maintain the type of personal responsibility/discipline that is required to stay accountable to ourselves each and every day. 

 Now where is this lack of accountability showing up most in your life?

 Is it around your waistline? Not getting to the gym and getting in those three miles every other day like you used to? Or are your sales numbers slipping from last year meaning you’re not going to make the big bonus this time around?

 What about your financial life? Do you have a financial plan for your future? Do you have a vision for what financial freedom means to you and what steps you need to take to get there? If so, great. You have taken the first step to sweet prosperity but if not… Why not? Whether you do or you don’t have a plan, have you been meeting your savings goals each and every month into your financial independence account? Or have you racked up significant debt and now thinking about how to clean up the mess?

The major problem is that most people are either not disciplined enough or don’t have the interest to:

#1. Set these types of goals.

#2. Set up the system to attain their goals.

Now where does that leave you? Well it leaves you with a majority of the population that is scraping by each month with a high amount of debt and no savings, trapped in a whirlwind of negative thinking about never having enough.

 So the big question is, what’s the answer to getting out of debt and out of financial misery? Well, the answer is ACCOUNTABILITY.

 The same accountability you find with a personal trainer, your graduate teacher or your parents. And when it relates to financial accountability, it’s the person that is able/willing to guide you through the process of envisioning your financial future, setting realistic goals and applying technology and systems for attaining these goals.

 This person should not only help “the student” to set up a plan but also schedule weekly or monthly “check in’” ACCOUNTABILITY calls to make sure that the student is on track. I believe this is the key component!  

Imagine how powerful this system of accountability is. It can lift you out of the fog and into the sky of financial well-being.

 Here are a few tips to jumpstart you on the path to personal accountability;

 (1)   Be honest with yourself: Realize that you cannot trust yourself to hold yourself accountable to your own actions.

(2)   Take Action Now: Don’t sit back and wait for the New Year or that big bonus next quarter to take action. There can be no better time than right now.

(3)   Get Verbal with your commitments: Let other people know what your plans or goals are. This makes your commitment more real and also creates a fan base of people whom will potentially help keep your plans real.

(4)   Align yourself with a coach or mentor:  Find someone who can hold you truly accountable for your goals, this may be a life coach, business coach, financial planner or someone whom you check in with on a regular basis to chat about these important matters.

(5)   Walk, don’t run: The idea is to take small steps daily towards a long-term goal. If you run you will burn out. Set your goal and everyday take a small step forward to reach it

Mastering Your Prosperity Goals

Different people have different goals and dreams. Some people could care less if they are making 300 or 30 thousand dollars per year. That’s not the point. The point is that we all need a dream. A dream that wraps around all the areas that are most important in our lives. That dream drives us to get up and out of bed each and every morning focused on “closing the gap” between your reality and your dream.

Yes, that’s the phrase. “Closing the gap”. Doing the things each and every day that brings us closer to that dream, that vision. That ultimate fantasy that we have envisioned for ourselves and maybe even our families.  

But again, it all starts with the Vision. And the vision needs to be articulated in human form, via writing. WRITE IT DOWN! Then read it aloud. Again, and again.. and again.. Until it is memorized and so engrained in your mind that it would spill out if you yawned.

Then either repeat it in the morning or picture it in your mind while you sit with your morning coffee. Sit in silence and meditate with it. Either way, do this every day, no exceptions. And make it the first thing you do every morning.
The reason for this is simple. The thoughts that you implant in your mind will eventually move you into actions that reflect those thoughts. Thus what happens is you will eventually manifest those thoughts into your reality.. so make em good ones!

Mind Zoom – Transform your mind, Transform your Life

I am of firm belief of a few things in life.

1. You must know what your core priorities are.

2. You must realize that there is nothing more important that focusing on those priorities every day.

3. You have to make those priorities the first thing you do each day. 

My health & wellness is one of the most important things in my life. I have made it a priority. I could very well fit in a workout at lunch (which I used to do for many years) or following the work day but the fact is that I am human and sometimes I just don’t fit it in.

The Muscle Maximizer

By making it one of the first things I do in the morning, I feel a sense of accomplishment and it breathes a broader feeling of discipline into my day. It leaves me with a sense of peace and tranquility. What a way to start any day. The early morning air, sometimes cool-now that its November is so refreshing that it awakens the spirit and gets you ready for the day.

We only go for 12 minutes for a few reasons. First of all, this routine is not meant to be the only form of exercise. We are not looking to burn out or breakdown. We wear a watch and time it. Six minutes out, six minutes back. Easy enough for anyone. Just enough for a base sweat. Also we don’t want to consume the whole morning, thus short enough that it’s not something that takes a lot of time to “fit in” to the day. Consider it a healthy cup of coffee designed to “aliven’” the body and mind. It will jumpstart your metabolism for the day, thus moving the oxygen and blood flow for a healthy start and if it should happen again that you just can’t seem to get in that workout at the gym well I guarantee you that if you did your little jog in the morning you will feel much more at peace. 

The Power hour

I heard Anthony Robbins explain this concept well. What’s more important than taking care of oneself? If you don’t take care of yourself, how can you take care of others?

The power hour is the first thing you do in the day. It takes place following the moment your eyes wake their thin selves. It’s the day’s most important activity.

Here is what I do:

1. Stretch on the floor while breathing deeply
2. Get on my meditation cushion and spend 10 minutes in silence
3. Start the process of envisioning
4. Read an uplifting/motivational/self-help book
5. Or listen to motivational material on ipod
6. Enjoy a bowl of steel cut oats or eggs and toast

This simple routine can make the difference in your day. It can set the tone for you to move with more energy and enthusiasm as you have already completed your grounding exercises.

Try is for 30 days and see what happens.

I sit in a place of silence and envision this. It is a routine. Every morning. I think about it as if it is true. As if nothing other than that exists.

By doing this I am implanting in my subconscious what I want and where I want to be. Then naturally I will act in a manner to make these things real. The subconscious influences the conscious which reflects in your life and your reality.

Here is what you need to do to start your vision meditation.

Step 1: Know what you want

Step 2: Put it on paper

Step 3: Find a quiet place every day

Step 4: Dream

Secrets of the Mind

It seems to be a heck of a lot easier to attain debt than it is to get rid of it. In fact it’s an awful scene out there when more and more Americans are digging deeper into debt while the national savings rate continues to decrease. What is going on here?

 From my personal experience working as a Financial Life Planner with Mollot & Hardy Inc. I have found that people generally attempt to tackle the problem of eliminating debt the wrong way- and by doing so they remain in debt paying excessive interest rates throughout most of their lives.

 The attempt to solve your debt through external means such as, rolling it onto a 0% intro free credit card for a short time, working with a consolidation company to make attempts at negotiating lower payments or even filing for bankruptcy to start all over again is in my opinion not the most efficient methods to become debt free. While I am not suggesting that these means may not be effective in particular situations- I am suggesting that this is not typically the authentic solution for most people.

I have found that you need to look at the root cause of why you piled up debt in the first place. It is through the process of looking at your past and understanding your personal relationship with money that allows for you to see why you make the financial decisions that you do and how they brought you to where you are today. If you can learn to separate your emotions from your rational mind when making decisions revolving around money, you can make a more conscious financial decision.

When I meet clients who express their concerns regarding their finances, I have them do a few simple but exploratory assignments that will help them move in the direction of financial consciousness. I ask them:

1. Think about your past and how your parents were around money. Are there any similarities or differences with the way you act?
2. What were the most joyful and sorrowful moments around money when you were a child?
3. How have these memories shaped your way of thinking around money and how you make financial decisions?

This is a brief start to the deeper questions that everyone needs to ask themselves if they are to fully understand their own relationship with money and how they got into debt in the first place. It is through this process, which I’ve briefly touched on, that each one of us will gain Financial Consciousness. When you move in this direction you will be able to not only establish a plan to pay down your debt but to also stay debt free for the rest of your life.

You attract in life that which you are. Now I don’t want to get all hocus pocus on you but if you do the little test you can see it for yourself.

Are you a loving person, spiritual, intellectual or just plain silly. Or are you immature, a party animal or a sinful specimen of a human being?

Henry Ford- one of the most successful business people ever to walk the earth was fond of saying that he was not the smartest guy around but when asked a question or had a problem he always had people around him that new the answers or could solve the problem.

You see the human has this thing called an EGO. And the ego wants desperately to be the best, smartest and even the best looking, etc, etc.

But the smartest and most successful and even best looking knows that to be the best you have to surround yourself with the best and to do that you have to be confident in who you are and be able to accept that others might be a little better than you in some things.  

In order to improve in life you need the help of others. You can find that help in many ways like live interactions, books, TV, audio, or even the internet. I spent much of my young career listening to Earl Nightingale (a very old motivational guy) on good old-fashioned cassette tapes and I spent evenings reading the likes of Napoleon Hill and Dale Carnegie. I learned a lot from these guys -and their dead. Imagine what you can learn from real live people.

Seek individuals that you admire in life. It could be someone who you all around think is a well-balanced person and has the character and lifestyle that you admire. Or maybe someone who you admire in a more narrow way- say a priest or your yoga teacher or even your chiropractor. Each one of these people may have mastered certain areas of their life and you can learn from them that which you admire.

This, my friend is considered a mentor relationship. And you want many of them in your life. So many in fact that you could weave a quilt with your outstanding friends and their outstanding traits. Once you have done this, don’t forget that they are counting on you to give back to them as well. After all, that’s the beauty of the system. To give is to receive. You will find that people want to help other people- it’s like a stroke to their own ego.

Here is quick reference on how to get started:  

(1)    Write down the areas of your life you would like to improve

(2)    Think about the people around you whom you admire in those areas – it could even be someone you never met before

(3)    Think about how that person might be able to help you – maybe it’s just a monthly cup of coffee all the way to a daily phone call

(4)    Reach out to those people- tell them how much you admire them and ask them if you can share some of their time

(5)    Establish a strong relationship and work on a commitment

(6)    Repeat as needed

Daily Personal Development