Yesterday, August 21 2017, the entirety of North America was treated to a solar eclipse. This event was so significant because it probably won't happen again in our lifetime. Hopefully everyone wore eclipse glasses, and nobody had any significant eye damage from looking at it. I myself took a break from work to check it out (with glasses of course).
But during the moment that the moon covered the sun and created near-darkness that afternoon, something else occurred to me. Other than the fact that it looked cool, the eclipse also served as a symbol for success. The moon completely blocked out the sun's light for a few minutes. The sun is about 400 times the size of the moon, yet for just a few minutes, the moon was able to cover up the sun. Something so small in comparison to the sun was able to block it out entirely.
Obviously the scientific reason for this phenomenon is that the moon is 400 times closer to Earth, making it appear bigger. However I still like the metaphor of something small being able to do something significant. Many of us are similar to the Moon, because we seem much smaller and less significant than the Sun. The Sun is more of a representation of those who are super-successful, well-liked and get a lot of attention of everything. Yet, the real reason we must continue to chase success is for those few minutes where we'll make a difference in the world. Unlike the moon however, most people won't make a change in the world, because they're afraid. They're afraid of failing. They're afraid of judgement. And they're afraid of working too hard. And most of all, they're afraid of the uncertainty.
But if you choose to eclipse your fears, and take your life to the next level, then just like the moon, you will eventually overpower those with the "natural talent". And it won't be just for a few minutes. Once you reach your true goals in life, you will feel a sense of euphoria that most others won't. You deserve to know what your life will be like when you work restlessly towards your goals. You deserve to live your dreams. But remember, you don't get what you want, you get what you work for.
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.
I'll be honest, I was planning on using a different video for Monday Motivational. I initially had an Elliott Hulse video planned, and he'll certainly be featured here soon. But that was before I came across this one, and I feel as though this one is more relevant. I also liked how the first minute of this video had me hooked with the line "who do you want to be tomorrow? The guy who quit? Or the guy that kept going?"
This video features two speakers, Freddy Fri and Chris Ross. I hadn't previously heard of either of these speakers before, but after watching this video I definitely need to listen to more of their speeches. I personally loved the unique insight this video brought. Most motivational videos I've come across have focused mainly on the present moment, and the challenges you'll have to face. This video however, focuses on tomorrow. It's not about waiting until tomorrow to get to work, but more about how you will feel about yourself in the future if you choose to act today.
Every single decision you choose to make will affect your future. You choose to go to the gym this morning? Then you'll be more inclined to do so in the future. You choose to wake up at 5AM today? Then you'll be more productive and better prepared for the future. You choose to go to a networking event? That might land you a great business opportunity in the future.
You must realize that every opportunity you have is significant to your future. It may seem like no big deal to skip your workout, call in sick for work, or sleep in late one day. But it is a huge deal! While it may not seem that way, the decisions you make today, especially the really difficult ones, will determine who you'll be in the next month, year, and further in the future.
I want to leave you all with this one thought before you go about your day:
Even if you have the best thoughts and ideas, but don't put them into action, you will achieve nothing. An average thought plus execution, is worth much more than a genius thought that was never put into action. Make the decision to act today. It will make you a better person tomorrow.
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.
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.
Stress is what that occurs when we are exposed to uncomfortable situations in life. All of us have stress in our lives, but how do we deal with it? Some people choose to live stress-free by abandoning hard work, and having no real ambition in life. Others may use drugs and alcohol to reduce stress. But is there a healthy way to eliminate stress in my life? If you want to be very successful in life and have big goals, you will have to deal with a lot of stress regardless. However, there are ways to significantly reduce this stress to prevent the negative impact on our bodies.
1) Smile more often
Very simple, and extremely effective. Studies show that when you smile, you release endorphins that make you feel more optimistic and happy about life in general. Yet, so often you'll see people walking around every day with a depressed, angry or neutral look on their face. They're only creating their own stress, and you can make your day 10x better my remembering to smile often. And when you're enjoying your day, then you're bound to be less stressed and more productive.
2) Increase your social/speaking skills
Ironically, when I started focusing on my ability to communicate more effectively, I felt much less stressed. The reason this works is because when you are confident in your ability to communicate, you worry less about everything you're saying. And less worrying means less stress. It does take time to develop these skills if it's not your strong suit, but it will diminish your stress levels, and will make you more effective in reaching your goals. So this one is a win-win scenario.
3) Have fun regularly
This goes along with smiling, but you need to have fun every so often. Whether it's going to a sporting event, watching a good movie, or having a fun conversation, you need to have fun if you want to reduce stress. So many of us are focused on the negative in life, that we forget to enjoy what we're doing. This is the case, because we live in such a negative society. Angry clients, demanding bosses, and upset customers that we constantly deal with create this negative environment for us. Having fun regularly can and will counteract this feeling, and make you feel more positive about life, making you less stressed.
Remember, you're a human being with feelings, emotions and needs, and you need to treat yourself as such if you want to stay in good health and be productive.
Have you ever wanted to do something so badly, that you prepared night and day for it? You stayed up all night preparing for that moment, and we're excited about it for the past few weeks. You've read several books and watched videos on the subject matter. But once it's time to perform, you start to feel doubtful about yourself. You don't want to do it anymore, and you start freaking out.
What you're experiencing is your body's last line of defense against your imminent success. It happens when you're giving a big speech, starting a new business or even asking out that special someone on a date. You've already done everything you need to to prepare for this moment, but your body's not physically ready to jump out of your comfort zone. It almost feels as though your body is trying to make everything you're doing seem logical. This is not the case at all, and the best thing you can do is ignore all of your negative thinking, especially in those 30 minutes right before the event.
If you really want to be successful, you have to be able to perform under pressure, and the best way to do that is to stay confident and calm. When you're confident, you know in your Hard that you can achieve whatever you set out to do. When you're calm, you don't worry about failure and let it get in your head. The point is, that if you've prepared enough for something, then you are able to perform. Don't let your body stop you at the goal line, and push through the fear of failure!
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!
Every single day of your life, it doesn't matter who you are, you have to make several decisions. When you wake up in the morning, you make the decision to either press the snooze button, or turn your alarm off and get the day started. For breakfast, you make the decision to cook, get fast food, or even skip breakfast. You decide what to eat later on, which route to take to work, what time to leave for work, what you should do afterwards, etc. As a fully functional adult, you make decisions about literally everything you do in life. At first a lot of these decisions seem really difficult to make. But here's the crazy thing.
You already know the right answer.
You know exactly which of the two decisions will be the most beneficial. Obviously there are some decisions, like buying a house or car, that do require a lot of thought, but I'm talking about small decisions that can have a big impact on your life. Typically, one decision will feel pleasure now, and the other one will be more beneficial long-term. Almost every day, I have to decide between eating fast food, or eating something healthy. A lot of times it feels like a tough decision, but deep down, I know the right decision is to get the healthy food.
I'll often try to justify that the fast food will be cheaper, taste better and probably have more calories in it. But I already know the right answer is to get the healthy meal.
You already know it's better to workout rather than sleep in. You already know it's better to not buy the new iPhone the day it comes out. The problem is, your making decisions based on your own biological desires, rather than what you know is best for you. That's why it's so easy to say you'll do something tomorrow, because you're trying to satisfy your biological desires, before your life's desires.
Next time you're forced to make a decision, remember to make the one that's best for you in the long-term. Your body may tell you to get the tasty cheeseburger, but your mind always has the willpower to make the right decision.
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
You’re too old to go
back to school, but too young to start a business
Too old to join the
military, but too young to travel
Too old for football,
but too young for golf
Too old to change
careers, but too young to retire
We’ve all heard these sayings, or even used them ourselves.
So many of us use these excuses as a means to stop trying and doing what’s
right for ourselves. Age is just a number. You’re not really too old or too
young for anything. I’ve seen 60 year olds in college and 7 year olds starting
businesses. I’ve seen elderly and very young people run marathons. Age is no
excuse for not trying.
What you’re actually doing is pushing your responsibilities
into either the past (too old) or the future (too young). And by doing this,
you’re avoiding your current responsibilities. You know exactly what you need
to do in order to succeed, but you also know it will take effort and
commitment. It’s far easier to make excuses, and push your responsibilities
into another point in time.
So what can you do
instead?
Whatever it may be that you want to achieve. Whatever desire
you have that you want to achieve. Make sure you start doing something NOW to work towards it. Not when you’re
older, not next week, not tomorrow, not an hour from now. Right NOW. Now is the only moment in time
where you have 100% control over the decisions you will make. You can’t simply
trust that you’ll make the right decision tomorrow. You can’t control your past
or your future. You can only control the decisions you make today.
If you choose to continue to push your responsibilities
away, or choose not to try, then you are doing yourself a disservice.
But if you choose to try, and put forth the effort today,
that’s the best decision you can make for yourself.
Bill Gates' first-born daughter, Jennifer, has $20 million to her name. She is only 20 years old and hasn't even finished college yet. You could say she has a lot of money, and that would be an understatement! At age 20, she has more wealth to her name than most of us will in our entire lives.
Meanwhile, John Fischer, the Founder and CEO of Stickergiant.com, owns a company with a net worth of $10.2 million, only half of what Jennifer Gates has. As crazy as this may seem, who do you think appreciates their wealth more?
Is it the one who has more to her name?
Is it the one who had to go out on his own and build his wealth?
You can probably see where I'm going with this. While Gates has more economic spending power, Fischer likely appreciates his money since he had to work for it. Nothing against Gates (I'm sure she was raised right by her high-achieving father), but simply having something will not motivate you to action. When you're accustomed to receiving things for no reason, you begin to feel entitled, rather than appreciative. When you have to work hard to get something, it creates a mindset inside you where you tend to achieve success, rather than simply beg for the prize at the end.
Tony Robbins covers this concept in one of his website articles. By rewarding yourself only for accomplishments, you'll end up rewiring your brain to relate positive emotions to personal success. This is why Alcoholics Anonymous rewards members with chips for being sober. It's also why individual teams or companies give trophies or medals to their own members. A lot of times, the best way to do this is to create external stressors that will force you to act.
Food for thought:
What if you rewarded yourself for your hard work, rather than treating yourself for something insignificant?
What are some things you're looking to achieve in the near future?
How can you use incentives and reward yourself for milestone accomplishments?
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:
Watch Tony Robbins' video (link at the top).
Take a few moments and write down all six needs, and how you tend to meet them on a daily basis.
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!
