Category : Personal Development

Health & Fitness How To Personal Development

A Morning Routine for Busy People

Apr 20,2015 / By / No Comment

I had a very interesting conversation with my nephew recently about “morning routines of successful entrepreneurs.” This is a topic  frequently covered by Tim Ferriss and Lewis Howes on their podcasts, where their guests all had a similar routine that included mental, physical and emotional focus. The routines went something like the following:

  1. Meditate 30-45 minutes
  2. Workout 30-45 minutes
  3. Read news, emails, motivational book 30 minutes
  4. Cook and eat a healthy breakfast 45 minutes
  5. Start your workday

My nephews reaction was  priceless, “that’s great, but I’m not getting up 2 hours before I start my day – how are normal people supposed to do that?”

As a new Dad I certainly have a greater respect for sleep than I ever had before, and getting up 2 hours earlier is not a likely possibility, especially when my day already starts at 5:30am and we still scramble to get out the door to beat the traffic. This scene out of ‘Daddy Daycare’ seems more realistic:

The consensus amongst most people seems to be SURVIVAL and making life as easy as possible (especially if you have kids).

Here are a few ways to start a morning routine for normal people:

Prepare for your next day the night before.

Most mornings are hectic, and by eliminating decisions you will conserve energy and create more time for the micro-routines that you can build on as your grow. Here are a few to start:

  • I fill the tea kettle, put the teabag in the cup
  • Prepare your breakfast in advance – I put my protein powder and banana beside the blender. I choose a protein shake as a quick healthy alternative
  • Pick out your clothes the night before – eliminating choices from my morning makes life so much easier
  • If you have kids, getting everything ready the night before is a must – pack lunches, have clothes laid out, have book bags packed

A simple morning routines that takes less than 5 minutes

The most simple thing to do in order to build a positive routine is to be grateful. Instead of hitting the snooze button on your iPhone – spend those few minutes reflecting on the things you are grateful for. And yes, there’s an App for that – it’s called the “Five Minute Journal App,” which asks you to write down 3 things:

Five Minute Journal App

Five Minute Journal App

  • What are you grateful for today?
  • What would make today great?
  • Daily affirmations

Additional Exercises

While you may not have time for a full-blown workout, try to fit in a few pushups, sit ups and even a minute of planks before you hop in the shower. These simple actions will activate massive changes in your brain and create a chain reaction of chemical releases within your body that will help you perform at a higher level.

While we may not have the freedom to develop the routine of a billionaire entrepreneur, you can take small steps in developing the foundation of a sound morning routine that can grow as you continue in your pursuit of happiness.

 Feature Image Credit from Daddy Daycare, The Telegraph

 

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Health & Fitness How To Personal Development Uncategorized

How to survive a “HELL WEEK” like a Navy SEAL

Apr 5,2015 / By / No Comment

Could you imagine if the third week of your job was called “HELL WEEK”? I can only imagine the HR nightmare that would be for most businesses, but that’s the case for anyone who wants to become a Navy SEAL.

“Hell Week consists of 5 1/2 days of cold, wet, brutally difficult operational training on fewer than four hours of sleep. Hell Week tests physical endurance, mental toughness, pain and cold tolerance, teamwork, attitude, and your ability to perform work under high physical and mental stress, and sleep deprivation. Above all, it tests determination and desire. On average, only 25% of SEAL candidates make it through Hell Week – the toughest training in the U.S. Military (navyseals.com).”

Why do so few make it?

There is no easy way out! Success is a tough road and only the best can survive. You rarely hear about the internal struggle, see the scars or truly understand how those who survive were able to do so.

This same struggle is true for businesses and entrepreneurs – very few people know about the challenges they endure in order to survive their first few years of business.

What can you learn from surviving “Hell Week”?

Below are two interviews from Navy SEALS who survived “Hell Week” and have gone on to transform lives by helping people live an optimal life; mentally, physically and emotionally. The lessons they share can be applied immediately to your daily life.

20x your potential:

In a recent product launch for 20x your potential, Ramit Sethi   interviewed former Navy SEAL Commander, and founder of SEALFIT, Mark Divine.

To be SEALFIT is to embody the character traits of discipline, drive, determination, service, self mastery, honor, integrity, courage and authentic leadership.

Both SEALFIT and 20x Your Potential, teach you a disciplined approach to focus on all aspects of your growth, specifically your mental state of being. The very first day of 20x Your Potential, you are met with the challenge to do either a 21 minute plank, or 1,000 pushups – sounds impossible right? The course teaches you how to do it. Here is an excerpt from the course:

How to Fall in Love with Pain: The Key to Resiliency and Success (School of Greatness)

In a recent podcast, Lewis Howes interviews former Navy SEAL and Author, Eric Greitens about his new book; “‘Resilience‘ is the characteristic that gets us through the hard stuff – how we process pain in the moment and after.”

Eric is no stranger to this, as he recounts in our conversation Navy SEAL training, his travels around the world photographing war-torn areas, and working with veterans with PTSD.

What you can take from the two examples

  1. Your mental state is paramount – there are a number of techniques you can learn to mentally prepare for success. Be willing to try new things, and practice these mental disciplines consistently. Your state of mind will dictate your ability to succeed
  2. Your physical state can always be improved – once mentally fit, your ability to improve your physical ability will become limitless. You can ‘segment’ your work to overcome any physical limit (i.e. the 21 minute plank challenge – break it down to 21x at 1 minute).
  3. Live a life of service – when your goals are bigger than you, failure is not an option. You will hear both Mark and Eric talk about how they focused on their team, and what it meant for them to succeed in order for those around them to succeed. Failure was never an option. The same applies for you – when you’re chasing a big dream; the reason has to be big enough that failure is not an option.

You are all capable of surviving your version of Hell Week, just take it one step at a time and follow the suggestions of the above leaders as a start.

Inspiration for this article:

 

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How To Personal Development

How to be GREAT at Just About Anything

Mar 8,2015 / By / No Comment 
Have you ever wondered what separates you from some of the greatest athletes, entrepreneurs and world leaders? The answer is simpler than you think...

“Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.” -William Shakspeare

As part of “The Expert in a Year Challenge,” Sam Priestley went from beginner to expert in just one year and broke into the top 250 players in England.

What does this have to do with greatness?

If you pull back the curtain behind any great business, great athlete or great leader, you will notice they all have one thing in common: they CONSISTENTLY FOCUS on the DAILY ACTIVITIES that drive them towards their objectives. Here are a few examples of daily activities that yield results over time:

Simple daily disciplines

  • Want to loose 10 lbs? Stop drinking your calories and exercise for 15 minutes 3x per week.
  • Want better relationships? Learn to listen more.
  • Want to run a marathon? Sign up for a race and start training – today.
  • Want more time? Say “No” to things that are not productive or enjoyable.
  • Want to feel less tired? Go to bed earlier.
  • Want to be smarter, a better leader or build your business? Read more. Read 10 pages each day from the top books in your field.
  • Want to be a better athlete (in any sport)? Practice! Practice! Practice!
  • Want to write a book? Start with an outline and then write a page a day.

This philosophy is best covered by Jeff Olson in “The Slight Edge,” where he “shows you how to create powerful results from the daily activities of your life.”

In his book, he frequently uses the example of weight loss because it is something most people can relate to. If you eat right and exercise regularly you will accomplish your fitness goals, but if you skip workouts – before you know it you haven’t been to the gym in 3 months and you’ve gained 10 lbs.

We often know the things we have to do to achieve a desired result, and in the case of weight loss it is a consistent focus on eating well and exercise – that’s it. There really is no “miracle diet”, just doing the right things day after day and those incremental results compound themselves into something great over time.

How can you achieve greatness?

  1. Have big goals and break them down into immediate measurable actions (you need to know if you’re heading in the right direction or not; adjust accordingly)
  2. Schedule your actions and don’t let anything distract you from completing them.
  3. Stop making excuses. If you come across a roadblock, make conquering it part of your daily actions. Abraham Lincoln lost 8 elections before winning the 9th and changing modern history.
  4. Just Do It! Start today no matter what (if you’re stuck, see step #3)

William Shakespeare was right: some achieve greatness – and to be great, all you have to do is be consistent.

Resources that inspired this article:

 

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Personal Development

How to solve the worlds biggest problems, from healthcare to education

Feb 16,2015 / By / 2 Comments

In his second appearance on Tim Ferris’ podcast, Dr. Peter Diamandis talks about his new book BOLD, and how his organization, X Prize Foundation, is focused on solving the biggest problems in the world: from privatized space flight, to literacy, to healthcare.

[Podcast: How to Think Like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos]

Funded by the Ansari family, the Ansari XPRIZE challenged teams from around the world to build a reliable, reusable, privately financed, manned spaceship capable of carrying three people to 100 kilometers above the Earth’s surface twice within two weeks. The prize was awarded in 2004 and along with it, a brand new private space industry was launched.

The Global Learning XPRIZE challenges teams from around the world to develop open source and scalable software that will enable children in developing countries to teach themselves basic reading, writing and arithmetic within the 18 month period of competition field testing. Our goal is an empowered generation that will positively impact their communities, countries and the world.

(Qualcomm Tricorder XPRIZE) Imagine a portable, wireless device in the palm of your hand that monitors and diagnoses your health conditions. That’s the technology envisioned by this competition, and it will allow unprecedented access to personal health metrics. The end result: Radical innovation in healthcare that will give individuals far greater choices in when, where, and how they receive care.

In each case, Peter reached out to world leaders, entrepreneurs, and more recently the general public, to determine what the biggest problems are facing the world. Then, he and his team at XPRIZE developed a contest to solve them; and if you listen to Peter in either podcast, “there isn’t a problem in the world that can’t be solved.”

[Related: Tony Robbins and Peter Diamandis (XPRIZE) on the Magic of Thinking BIG]

Why is this lesson important?

20 years ago nobody dreamed that space travel could be privatized, except Peter. He stood on the steps in St. Louis and announced to the world that he was going to award $10 Million for the first team to privatize space flight. The media attention was incredible, it graced the front page of almost every newspaper in the world. The only challenge was he had no backer for the $10 Million – YET.

“If you want to take the island, burn the boats”

If you want to be successful, and change the world, you need to remove what’s holding you back, prevent the retreat – “If you want to take the island, burn the boats.” This saying held true for Peter, and the future of XPRIZE Foundation. It meant that he had passed the point of no return. He had knew that if a team was going to fly into outer space, then he would get a sponsor. That fundamental belief is what drives XPRIZE to continue to create worldly impactful contests.

This should serve as an inspiration to entrepreneurs and individuals, alike, to believe that anything is possible, whether it is a personal dream or business aspiration. With the growth in technology and crowdfunding, we are at a point where any idea can be validated quickly and funded almost immediately – whether that means privatizing space flight, conquering world literacy, or even the COOLEST COOLER (click here to see this crowdfunded campaign).

“Technology is democratizing the power to change the world.”

There are no longer any limits to your potential, DREAM BIG!

 

 

 

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Personal Development Uncategorized

The Importance of Lifelong Learning

Feb 8,2015 / By / No Comment

“Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” -Maimonides

After your University graduation, you might think the learning is done, but regardless of your profession you will likely realize that is the furthest thing from the truth. You will likely learn more in your first year of employment than the previous four years of your post-secondary education.

This factor is often the differentiator amongst the world’s most successful people and those that work the typical 9-to-5. You often hear about the “genius” billionaires who dropped out of college to start these massive business empires. Are they more talented than you? Did they have some stroke of genius? Maybe…

The reality is, the most successful people in any given field simply never stop learning. Those who “dropped out of college”, found a passion and were willing to risk everything to learn and hustle to dominate that space. This infectious search for knowledge  is what gives them the edge over their competition.

Tony Robbins is one of the most prolific examples of a self-taught millionaire. Tony Robbins came from a very poor childhood, and he wanted out. He didn’t have access to an ivy league education, or a network to help him get an idea off the ground – all he had was a passion for learning and a desire to help those who were suffering. Tony read every book he could get his hands on, and quickly became the top personal development coach in the world with a business valued at more than $400 million (if you want to hear Tony tell his story, you can catch it on Tim Ferriss’ podcast here).

25 years ago, it was a lot more difficult than it is today to research and learn. Most people were limited to books, and traditional education provided through high schools and colleges. Now, we are in an age where anyone with access to an internet connection has an equal opportunity to learn. Courtesy of MOOCS (Massive Open Online Courses), you can virtually get the same education as Standford graduate, minus the tuition and degree.

If you want to be a top performer in your industry, like Tony, you can start by reading the “Top 10 Books” in your industry. You can find them by searching for them on Amazon; here’s a link to the Top 10 Books in Marketing and Sales to get you started.

NEVER STOP LEARNING!

 

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