Elliott Hulse Review: How to not give a F**k

Excuse the language in this one, but here Elliott Hulse provides a great insight on life. You may look at this title, and assume this is the opposite of motivation, but it is in fact the opposite. Essentially what Hulse is implying, is that you need to live your life the way you feel is right, not what others tell you to do. This video really impacted my life in a positive way, as I used to be someone who would literally lose sleep over other people's opinions of me. Now to say I've made a total 360, but I've certainly opened up much more than I have in the past. 

Hulse talks about the importance of remaining detached from the comments and opinions of others. I liked how he talked about his own experience creating his YouTube Videos. He'll often receive positive feedback, where people say "Elliott, you helped me turn my life around!" And Elliott is glad he helped them, but at the same time he doesn't let it get into his head. He understands the importance of detachment, and realizes he's just doing what he enjoys, and is glad that others can benefit from his videos. Other times, Elliott receives hateful, negative comments on his videos. Elliott is sorry they feel that way, but tries to stay detached from them. 

I loved how he went a step further with another, yet hypothetical example of this concept. He uses a great example of the hummingbird. The hummingbird represents you, following your passion or dream in life. Of course this is just a comparison, but Hulse talks about a hummingbird singing in the tree. One person yells that the hummingbird made his whole day! And another person yells that the hummingbird woke him up early, which pissed him off! Either way, the bird doesn't care, so he keeps on singing. That's just what the bird does. You need to realize, that like the bird, you have something or multiple things you want to do in your life. Unlike the bird, you instead choose to do what's comfortable and won't ruffle other people's feathers.

Remember that anyone who's one anything great, has been hated or judged by others. People voted against Abraham Lincoln. People judged Henry Ford. People thought Thomas Edison was an idiot. And still to this day, these people are judged for their success. People will always judge you, and they are likely doing so right now. Think about it. People you may be friends with or work with or even barley know might be judging you at this very moment. So people will judge you regardless of what you do, so you may as well do what you want. You may as well become successful and do what most others are afraid to do!

I want you to really think about this concept. Eat it. Live it. Breathe it. Don't just read this article and pass it by, I urge you to really try and detach yourself from the opinions of others. Only then will you truly be yourself. Only then will you be able to complete your life's work to the best of your ability!

HAPPY MONDAY!!

Build Some Momentum

In order for a car to go 100 miles an hour, it must first go 20 miles an hour

Before someone can bench press 300 pounds, they must bench 135 pounds

Before you can run a marathon, you must first run a mile.

Before you can be successful, you must build some momentum

Everyone who is successful at anything was once just getting started. The important thing however, is that you DO get started! What is it that you've been putting off? I don't care what it is or how long you've been putting it off. It doesn't even matter why you've been putting it off, because more than likely you will feel much better once you finally take that first step. At the very least get your feet wet. 

I've spent so much of my life simply doing what was required of me. Going to work, going to school, filing my taxes, etc. And during this time I had goals. I had goals that I really really wanted to achieve in my life. But I never took any steps to get there. Now, one of my big goals is to be a motivational speaker. Instead of thinking up ideas and even creating doubts in my mind, I decided to start this blog to build some momentum. Sure, I may not be a motivational speaker yet, but I'm much closer to becoming one than someone who never did anything to reach their goal.

Similarly, I got extremely out of shape during 2016. It wasn't entirely my fault, because I hurt my chest and was unable to workout. And being so out of shape, it was intimidating for me to go back and try some tough workouts. So what did I do? I built momentum! I started by doing a 30 minute workout every single day. There was no pressure to perform, my only goal was to get a single workout in no matter how tired I was. Eventually, I got myself to the point where I could do longer, more intense workouts. And now, I'll be doing my first triathlon this coming Sunday!

You see it's not at all about being great to begin with. Nor is it about going all out on the first try. It's more about building momentum. Momentum is built through persistence. Persistence is built through will power. And that all begins with YOU. Making the decision to act, and work towards your goals.

How to Give 120% Effort!

A lot of times you'll hear motivational speakers, coaches, or other influential leaders talk about putting 110% or 120% effort into whatever you're working towards. On the surface, this may seem like a good phrase to use when motivating a group of people, but in a factual sense it's only physically possible to give 100% effort, right? When you give 100% effort, you're literally giving all you have, right? 

Wrong

You see, when you give 100% effort, you're actually putting in as much effort as you THINK is possible. The issue that most of us have, is that we put mental limits on our ability to do things. We naturally leave 20% of our ability in "storage" and never truly put in as much effort as possible when we go 100%. The reason for this is biological. It's never evolutionarily helpful to exhaust 100% of your energy or abilities, because you may need that extra 20% later on to survive if you're a hunter-gatherer. 

Today however, this evolutionary trait screws us over, because we naturally don't put in that extra 20% effort unless we can tap into it. So by saying you'll give 120%, you're mentally going above and beyond what YOU THINK your true abilities are. People who put in 100% effort say "I'm going to try my absolute hardest to win this game". Those who put in 120% effort say "I will win this game, no matter the cost!"

Think about it as if you're running away from a school shooter, dangerous animal, etc. I don't care how tired you are, you WILL not stop running from this threat until you reach safety. I know this is an extreme example, but when your life is in danger, that's one of the only times where we naturally can break that 100% mental barrier. You need to have that same mindset with whatever you're doing. Pretend your life is at stake.

In the past, most of us (myself included) have been putting in 70-100% effort, thinking we're doing all we can. Today, I want you to trump that 100% barrier. Put in 120% effort into whatever you set out to do today! Don't simply try your hardest, but find a way to make your goals and dreams a reality. 

No mater the cost!

Off Days

Ever have one of those days where you feel awful? And know matter how important something may be to you, you're still not motivated to do it? That was me yesterday. 

I set my alarm to get up early, as usual. Except this time, I didn't wake up right away. This time, I decided to press the snooze button a few times, and wake up only when I absolutely needed to. I didn't do my Monday Motivational video as usual. To finish up, I didn't get my workout done, I took a mid-day nap, and before I knew it I had wasted the entire day away!

We've all been there. We've all had those lazy days where we can't find the motivation to get anything done. But what can we do about it? How can we recover from such a day, or even a week in some cases?

Of course the best thing to do would be to use your willpower to push through the pain of the day. By doing so, you'll end up doing much more than you initially planned, and you'll feel good about yourself afterwards! The problem is, this won't always be the case. Some days you will fail. Some days you will disappoint yourself. And the worst thing about these days, is they get into your head. When you take a full day and waste it doing hardly anything productive, that can mess with your head and reduce your motivation going into the future! So the best thing to do after an off day, is to follow it up with a Rebound Day!

By the time 8:00 or so rolls around and you've done nothing productive, it's time to call the day off, and start preparing for your rebound day. Rebound days are meant for you to catch up on everything you skipped the day before, and essentially get as much done as you can in your life. Make today your rebound day! Step outside your comfort zone. Get a tough workout in. Wake up at 5AM. Be super energetic and friendly all day. Don't be afraid to do anything on your rebound day! Today is my rebound day, and I will make the most of today. 

How about you?

Les Brown Review: Invest in Yourself

I try to post these early in the morning, but I was up late studying for my test last night. Today we'll be focusing on Les Brown, another fantastic motivational speaker. Les Brown is a great speaker and also a former politician and radio host. While he was in school, he was labeled "educable mentally retarded". 

It wasn't until later on, when he had a teacher call on him during class. Brown said he couldn't answer, because he was "educable mentally retarded". The teacher told him to never use those words ever again. From that point on, Les Brown took control of his life and began to put 110% effort into everything he did. 

In this video Brown focuses on how our inability to invest in ourselves, prevents us from reaching our full potential. The whole idea is to follow your personal dreams in life, despite the fear of failure and disappointments you'll encounter along the way. Life should be an adventure, not something you just wake up and go through the motions of. The more time and effort you invest in yourself, the more satisfied you'l be with your life. I hope you all enjoy, and happy Monday!

Workout Multiplayer Card Game

We all have goals in our lives, and one of the most popular is to get in better shape. While very few people are able to commit to this, making it into a game seems to make hard work a lot more entertaining. We've all heard of the deck of cards workout (from my video from a few weeks back), but here's a sample game you can play with a group of friends. We're always more motivated when around other people, so this is a great competitive game which involves a lot of positive feedback and pressure. Give it a try!

- Pick a workout move (push ups, sit ups, squats, etc)

- First Player picks a card from the shuffled deck of 52

- That player may choose to either do the number of reps on that card or draw again

- If the player draws a higher card, the person to the left has to do the number of reps on the second card

- If the player draws a lower card, they have to do all the reps on the lower card PLUS the number of reps on the originally drawn card

- If the same number Card is drawn, BOTH PLAYERS have to do the total number of reps on BOTH CARDS
- All face cards are worth 10 reps, Aces are 25 reps, and each Joker is 50!

- The next player draws, and the process continues until the whole deck is finished

- Shuffle them again and pick a new workout move

- Continue this cycle until you're fully exhausted 

Tony Robbins Review: 6 Human Needs

Tony Robbins is one of the most influential motivational speakers of this generation. This man has spent his entire adult life working with people, including celebrities and billionaires, helping them find fulfillment in life. In today's video, Robbins talks about the six basic human needs. This particular video is one of many where he covers this concept. Understanding how you tend to meet these needs is the key to understanding a simple, yet difficult to answer question. 

Why are you the way that you are?

All humans have six basic needs that must be met. I'm not talking about food, water and shelter, but about the six psychological factors that all people need for a happy, successful life. We all find our own individual ways to meet these needs in our lives, but this is the core of human behavior. These needs can motivate people to become very successful, very lazy, or even commit crimes. While we all have the same general needs, we all find different ways to meet them, good or bad. All actions and decisions reflect the desire to meet these needs.

The first four are: 

• Certainty

• Uncertainty

• Significance

• Love/Connection

These needs are absolute, meaning that no matter who you are or what situation you're in, you WILL find a way to achieve all of these in some way. Robbins claims that "God had a sense of humor" when referring to our need for both certainty and uncertainty, but it's very true. We may find certainty in getting a job with stable pay, and find uncertainty by going on a road trip. We may find significance by starting a business, and find love/connection through marriage, dating, or even being part of a social group.

He also explains that these needs can be met in a negative or disempowering way. We may find certainty through bossing people around or significance through physical violence. Violence, especially through the use of guns, meets all four of these needs. It's extremely negative and dangerous, but this is the reason why people "act irrationally". There's always a rational reason behind these actions, and it's to meet that person's needs. You need to figure out how you meet these first four needs, and if it's in an empowering or disempowering way. 

The final two needs are not absolute, but they are necessary to experience true fulfillment in life. They are:

• Growth 

• Contribution

Improving and giving. As I mentioned in my previous post, the best think you can do for yourself is invest in yourself and then give to others. That's the last two needs right there! If you really want to get the most out of life, you need to find a way (or ways) to grow, develop, and then contribute your worth to society. These final needs should be the basis you use to set goals in life, and hey should make up your core values. We often sacrifice our values to meet our needs. That can have negative consequences in the long run.

The first four needs will be met regardless, while the last two must be actively sought out. As Robbins says "if you're not growing, you're dying." You need to set goals and work to achieve them. When you're inside your comfort zone, you have no desire to acheive something. This eventually leads to boredom, or depression. Progress is power, and sometimes you need to actively seek adventure and adversity if you truly want to grow and eventually contribute. Today, I want you to do two things:

1. Watch Tony Robbins' video (link at the top).
2. Take a few moments and write down all six needs, and how you tend to meet them on a daily basis.
3. Figure out if you'e meeting these needs in a way that is positive or negative. Then replace the negative with positive activities.

Have a great Monday everyone, and let's make this week great!