Metal Motivation: Daily Screams for Living Aggressively: Recent Episodes
C. J. Ortiz
We're going to reconnect with that powerful quote: ”The moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too." This isn't about going it alone; it's about tapping into something beyond ourselves.
Joseph Campbell dropped some wisdom too, emphasizing that when you follow your bliss, doors swing open where you least expect them. That's the universe responding to your courage. I've seen it in my life, and I bet you've seen it in yours too. Call it providence or divine intervention — when we're bold, the world moves in our favor.
But let's talk energy. I'm not talking about caffeine here; I'm talking about the energy we put out into the world. Our thoughts, our actions — they ripple out and affect everything around us. It's like the butterfly effect, where one small action can create massive waves of change.
Sure, there's risk involved. We might lose something, but that loss is nothing compared to what we stand to gain. We can't let fear hold us back. We're living in an era where too many are stuck in their comfort zones. It's time to break free from that stagnation.
So, my fellow warriors, it's time to unleash your inner power. Be bold, take action, and seize the life you want. Your potential is screaming to be set free. Don't ignore those desires stirring inside you. It's time to make a choice: settle for mediocrity or unleash your full potential with some serious, no-nonsense action. The verdict is yours to make. Let's get to work and create the life we truly desire!
In the previous episode, we dove into the power of focusing on either the possibility of loss or the possibility of gain when tackling risks. Whether it's in investing or making life decisions, understanding the balance between potential gains and losses is crucial. But if you fixate only on the upside, your boldness and fearlessness will grow stronger.
Fear resides in the mind, and to conquer it, you must fill your thoughts with visions of gain. By doing so, you can drain away fear and replace it with courage and boldness. It's a mental game of flooding your mind with positivity and possibility, drowning out the doubts and worries that hold you back.
Visualization plays a key role here. Many visualize negative outcomes, fearing failure and loss. But by visualizing success and the rewards of taking action, you empower yourself to move forward boldly.
It's not about taking reckless risks but about calculated steps toward your goals. Most people are held back not by their inability to face big decisions but by their fear of the unknown. By focusing on potential gains, you can overcome this fear and tap into your untapped potential.
Living with regrets is haunting, knowing you had dreams but let fear hold you back. The greatest achievements in life lie beyond fear and risk. Embracing boldness and fearlessness transforms you into a role model, someone who sets the standard for living life to the fullest.
Today, take a bold and fearless step toward your goals. Visualize the rewards, strengthen your resolve, and show the world what it means to seize opportunities and take action. By doing so, you'll unleash your inner genius and inspire others to do the same.
We're talking about tapping into your inner genius, and that starts with one thing: taking action and being bold. When you step up and go after what you truly desire, something amazing happens in the universe.
Think of it like this—every move you make, no matter how small, sends ripples out into the cosmos. You start to see things differently, get flashes of insight, and ideas start popping like fireworks in your mind. Even picking up a book on something you're passionate about can set this in motion.
Now, being bold doesn't mean charging in blindly. It means confidently facing risks head-on. Life's all about risks, from relationships to careers, and yeah, it can be scary. But here's the thing: if you're constantly dwelling on what could go wrong, you're missing out big time.
Take it from me, focusing on loss only holds you back. Instead, shift your mindset to what you could gain. That's the key to unlocking your inner badassery. So next time you're faced with a challenge or a bully at work, don't back down. Focus on the potential rewards, and watch fear melt away.
Remember, the biggest gains often come from the biggest risks. So don't let fear hold you back. Embrace boldness, take action, and watch your life transform into something truly epic.
In the world of achieving your dreams, there's a fundamental truth that often goes overlooked, and it's this: when you fully commit to something, the universe starts to move in your favor. It's like flipping a switch—suddenly, opportunities and assistance appear out of nowhere, things you never would've expected.
That's why it's crucial to take that first step, no matter how daunting it may seem. Boldness isn't just about bravery; it's about tapping into a well of power and magic within you. When you act boldly, you unleash forces that propel you forward toward your goals.
Now, let's talk about the opposite of boldness: hesitation. Picture a predator in the wild, like a lion or a shark. When they see their prey, there's no second-guessing. They don't sit around contemplating; they spring into action without hesitation. And while we're not animals, we can learn something from their instinctive boldness.
So why do we hesitate when it comes to our dreams? Is it because we're waiting for the perfect moment, or because we're seeking validation from others? Maybe it's fear of failure or lack of resources. But here's the truth: you already have everything you need to succeed.
Too often, we get stuck in a cycle of learning without action. We attend seminars, read books, gather knowledge—but we fail to take the necessary steps forward. And that's where boldness comes in. It's about taking decisive action, even in the face of uncertainty.
Remember, you are your greatest ally. You have the power to chart your own course and achieve your wildest dreams. So don't wait for someone else to give you permission or support. Embrace your boldness, and watch as the universe aligns in your favor.
An old philosopher once said, "When you commit, the universe throws down too." Translation? When you make a move, stuff starts happening that wouldn't have otherwise.
Boldness isn't just some cool accessory. It's got power, it's got genius, and heck, it's even got magic. So when you're thinking about doing something epic, don't wait around. Start it now. Believe me, I've seen it in my own life a million times. The biggest leaps forward always come from grabbing fear by the throat and taking action.
But let me ask you something. How many times have you stood at the edge of a big decision, only to chicken out? It's all good, we've all been there. Shoot, even I've been guilty of it. But here's the deal: every single day, you're faced with choices. Whether it's sticking to the status quo or gunning for something greater, the decision is yours.
Maybe life's been handing you some tough breaks. Maybe you're feeling beaten down. But here's the truth: if you're settling for less than you dreamed of, you're selling yourself short. Comfort in discomfort? That's settling, my friend.
You've got the power to change it. You've got boldness and fearlessness coursing through your veins. You just gotta tap into it. Those folks who seem fearless? They aren’t special. They just tapped into what you already got inside you.
So don't sweat it if you've been holding back. We ain't here to shame you. We're here to fire you up. It's time to unleash that boldness, that courage, and show the world what you're made of. So let's crank up the volume, face those bullies, and push past whatever's holding us back.
Work is often overlooked in motivational teachings, but it's the backbone of our existence. While many focus on fancy concepts like magical thinking or the law of attraction, the real power lies in embracing the grind.
To me, work is a gift. It's not just about earning a paycheck; it's about proving myself and growing into my fullest potential. Creating a strong work ethic is rooted in moral principles and a sense of calling.
Calling isn't about discovering some predetermined destiny handed down from above. It's about recognizing the most important thing we can do with our lives. It's a decision we make based on our talents, abilities, and passions.
We're wired to solve problems, and that's where our calling comes in. It's about finding the intersection between what the world needs and what we're uniquely gifted to provide. This calling isn't necessarily tied to a specific job; it's a deeper sense of purpose that may extend beyond our careers.
Sometimes, we need to use our occupations to fund our true calling. Just because we're not getting paid for something doesn't mean it's not worth pursuing. Whether it's music, charity work, or any other passion, if it's what we're meant to do, we should pursue it wholeheartedly, even if it means funding it ourselves.
In the end, it's not about waiting for destiny to reveal itself—it's about actively shaping our lives based on our calling and purpose. Work isn't just a means to an end; it's the vehicle through which we fulfill our true potential.
When we talk about work ethic, we're getting into some deep stuff—morality, principles, all that. It's about what's right and what's wrong, deep down. Even if you're not into the whole religion thing, morality still drives you. Think about it: even someone who says religion's trash is making a religious statement.
So when we say someone's got a strong work ethic, it's like saying they're morally ripped. They're not just grinding for the paycheck, they're doing it because they believe in it, because it's part of who they are. It's integrity.
Now, why work hard? Sure, the rewards are sweet, but the real deal is that satisfaction of not selling yourself out. It's about maxing out your potential, not slacking off. Rest? Sure, it's cool. But too much leisure? That'll drain your strength faster than a vampire at a blood bank.
And let's talk about the whiners out there, expecting the world on a silver platter. Those with a real work ethic? They know nobody owes them squat. They earn their keep, no handouts required.
Here's where it gets spicy: politics. It's all about who's got their hands in your pockets. Some folks want big government to cradle them like a baby, but others? They want Uncle Sam out of their business. Less tax, more hustle.
Don't get it twisted, though. It's not about hating on the less fortunate. We're all about helping out, but let's not baby folks into dependency. Because guess who's footing the bill? You and me, my friend.
So, in the end, it's all about your philosophy on work. Are you in it for the grind, or are you waiting for a handout?
Last time, we tore apart the illusion of luxury and leisure. Society pushes these as the ultimate goals, but let me tell you straight up: they're a dead-end road. Leisure might seem noble, but it's a trap.
Everyone dreams of the "good life," right? Kicking back in retirement, living it up. But not me. Retirement? I'm working until my last breath, not for some fancy golf game, but to max out my potential and leave a mark on this world.
Why swap purposeful work for idle days on the golf course? Even yard work for me has meaning. I'm not about to waste my days on vacations either. I'm here to squeeze every ounce out of life, not just lounge around.
Leisure ain't the answer. It's just a distraction. Real balance comes from rest, not luxury. Rest fuels us for greater work, while leisure just feeds the ego.
So here's the deal: leisure's a bottomless pit. But rest? It's like a pit stop in the race of life. You take a breather, then you're back in action, ready to conquer.
Leisure drains your wallet, but rest? It's an investment in yourself. You withdraw to recharge, not to splurge.
And let's get real, leisure doesn't restore squat. It's just a temporary fix. But rest? It's about rejuvenation, about getting back in the game stronger than before.
Now, let's talk boredom. Only those settling for mediocrity embrace boredom. There's always something more to learn, to create. So, next time you're bored, ask yourself: are you really maximizing your potential? There's a whole world out there waiting to be conquered. So, get out there and make it happen!
In life, work sometimes feels like a dirty word. It's the thing many dread, especially when Monday rolls around. But it's not just the effort; it's the meaning we attach to it. Work, though, is a gift, shaping us more than what it brings us materially.
Yet, in a world filled with luxury and ease, boredom has become rampant. Unlike our predecessors who knew hardship intimately, we struggle with the concept of being idle. Our lives, even in financial strain, are opulent compared to theirs.
Luxury and leisure, once seen as goals, now breed boredom. But true satisfaction lies in maximizing ourselves for a purpose greater than us. It's a never-ending journey, one where boredom has no place.
So, while we can't work all the time, leisure and luxury aren't the answer. They don't balance out a strong work ethic. In the end, it's about finding something beyond material comfort.
Work. For some, it's like a dirty word, something they dread. They think, "If only I had a better job, then I'd be happy." But hold up, that's not how it works. It's not about the job; it's about your perspective on work itself.
I never use the word "bored." Not because I'm better, but because of my beliefs. Success to me isn't just about money or stuff. It's about maximizing everything I've got for something bigger than me.
That means using my talents and character for a purpose. So, even if I'm not living in a mansion, if I'm giving it my all for a greater cause, I'm good.
But let's talk about work. It's effort, whether it's physical or mental. And it's crucial. Work is energy in action. You're built to move, to think, to sweat. Sitting around all day won't cut it.
Work is everywhere in our language. We work things out, work things over, work at something. It's part of everything we do.
But here's the thing: not many talk about the power of work. We hear more about "mind over matter" than the importance of action. Sure, mindset matters, but so does getting off our lazy butts and doing the work.
Work is a gift. It's how you prove yourself, how you grow to your full potential. And that's huge. It's about giving everything you've got during this short life we've got.
Even if you don't love your job right now, work is still a gift. It's your way forward, your way out. It's what creates results, sure, but more than that, it shapes you.
It's the process, the struggle, the growth that really prepares you to take charge of your life. That's the real gift of work. So, embrace it. Work hard, because that's how you become who you're meant to be.
You've got to separate yourself from the pack. Fight against apathy, laziness, and all that other junk holding you back. Find your fire, your passion, and use it to fuel your journey.
You can't just coast through life. You've got to stir things up. How? Start by picturing the consequences of staying where you are. Change your perspective on your situation. See it for what it truly is. Let that frustration ignite a fire under you.
Don't let distractions cloud your mind. You need to enter the zone of obsession. Obsession isn't always a bad thing. It's about filling your mind with what truly matters, what you're passionate about.
Think about addicts. They're obsessed, sure, but it's with the wrong stuff. We're talking about channeling that energy into your dreams, your goals. Make room in your head for what you really want, and kick out the trivial stuff.
Politics, gossip, whatever—kick it to the curb. Focus on what moves the needle for you. Are you upset about not reaching your potential? Good. Use that frustration to drive you forward.
Clear out the clutter. Make space for obsession. Pour your heart and soul into your goals. That's the essence of sacrifice. Give it your all and make it happen.
In the last episode, we talked about why we sometimes lack dedication, and it often boils down to feeling comfortable in our current situation, even if it's not ideal. When we settle and become complacent, change becomes difficult. But if we truly want to improve our lives, we must confront the consequences of staying where we are.
Changing our perspective is key. By understanding the true impact of our circumstances and refusing to find comfort in mediocrity, we can break free from stagnation. It's about rejecting the idea of passively accepting whatever comes our way and instead choosing to pursue meaningful change.
Living a dedicated life demands sacrifice. We must be willing to let go of distractions and prioritize what truly matters to us. Whether it's excessive TV time or gossiping, these activities chip away at our goals. Dedication means separating ourselves from anything that hinders our progress.
It's important to view this sacrifice as a noble endeavor. We are dedicating ourselves to a higher purpose, setting ourselves apart for a greater good. Just as a tool is devoted to its intended use, we must commit ourselves to creating the life we desire.
This dedication extends to all aspects of life, not just one particular goal. Whether it's losing weight or pursuing a career, every endeavor requires focus and sacrifice. We must learn to manage our relationships and prioritize our time accordingly.
It's about saying no to distractions and staying true to our goals, even when it's difficult. As the saying goes, we must be willing to do things we dislike in order to achieve what we love. By consecrating ourselves to our aspirations and eliminating distractions, we can live a truly dedicated life.
For me, this meant letting go of certain interests like sports and politics. While I respect these pursuits, I chose to focus my energy elsewhere. By freeing myself from their grip, I gained more time and clarity to pursue my passions. I realized that true change begins with self-governance, not political leaders.
Ultimately, dedication is about remaining steadfast in our pursuits, regardless of external influences. It's about embodying the warrior spirit, unswayed by the chaos around us. By staying true to ourselves and our goals, we can give our all to what truly matters.
What's it going to take to get you truly committed? You've got dreams, aspirations, and goals, but something's holding you back. In this episode, we're diving deep into why we lack dedication.
It all boils down to comfort. When we're uncomfortable, we strive for comfort. Whether it's in bed, in a chair, or in life, we seek ease. Remember those times when financial struggles pushed you to action? Discomfort drove you to seek better circumstances, more comfort.
So why aren't we dedicated? Because we're not uncomfortable enough. We settle, we become complacent. Apathy, indifference, laziness—they hold us back when our discomfort is tolerable.
We must change how we perceive discomfort. By showing the consequences of inaction, we can shift our mindset. Just like avoiding heart-wrenching infomercials, we dodge discomfort. But facing it head-on awakens importance and enthusiasm, igniting action.
This shift in perspective creates a dedicated life, one filled with purpose and commitment. So, embrace discomfort, because from it springs dedication and a life worth living.
You've heard it your whole life. Your parents, teachers, coaches, they've all hammered it into your head: "Be dedicated." But what does it really mean?
Dedication isn't just a word; it's a way of life. It's about being devoted, set apart for a purpose. Think about it like this: when you dedicate something, like a building or a piece of property, it becomes special, right? That's devotion in action.
But here's the kicker: devotion isn't just about saying you're committed. It's about actually being committed. You can't claim to be devoted to something if your attention is all over the place. It's like saying you're devoted to your family but spending all your time at the bar or with friends. That's not devotion; that's distraction.
To be truly dedicated means being single-minded in your purpose. It means making a formal vow, a commitment to yourself and sticking to it, no matter what. You've probably seen people hit rock bottom and decide, "Enough is enough." They make that commitment to change, and their life becomes devoted to a new aim.
Now, I get it. These might sound like religious or official terms, but let me tell you something: your life needs that kind of structure. It needs that moral support. It needs dedication.
So, here's the deal: before you can achieve anything, you gotta be devoted. You have to make that vow to yourself and stick to it. Don't wait for things to get bad before you decide to change. You already have the desire; now, it's time to act on it.
Make the decision. Purge yourself of distractions. Devote yourself to your goals. That's where dedication is born. So, what are you waiting for? Make that formal vow with yourself today.
If you're not dedicated, you're not going to get what you want in life. Dedication isn't just some fancy word; it's about being fully committed to your goals, ready to make sacrifices, and leaving behind the comfort of where you are to chase what you truly desire. It's a way of life.
It's about being devoted, consecrated, and committed to your purpose. It's about separating yourself from the crowd and putting in the hard work, even when no one's watching.
Take Dimebag from Pantera, for example. While the rest of us were partying after his shows, he would just go back to his room to practice guitar, honing his skills and paying his dues. That's dedication.
But dedication isn't just about what you do; it's about what you don't do. It's about staying focused on your goals and not getting distracted by gossip, politics, or other people's drama.
So ask yourself: are you truly dedicated? Are you willing to put in the work, make the sacrifices, and stay focused on your goals? Or are you just talking a big game without backing it up?
Don't fall into the trap of apathy, indifference, or laziness. These are just excuses holding you back from reaching your full potential. Instead, embrace dedication as the key to unlocking your dreams and creating the life you want.
Meditation ain't about escaping, it's about gearing up for the grind. When life's throwing punches, it's easy to lose your way, like a mutt off its leash. But listen up, momentum's your best bud. Keep grinding daily, and you'll stay ahead of the pack.
When you're sitting in silence, you aren’t just chillin'. You're taking charge of your mind, stomping out negativity like a boss. Recognize those toxic thoughts and kick 'em to the curb. Then, amp up the gratitude, because being thankful ain't just feel-good vibes, it’s pure power.
And when life throws you a curveball? Yeah, you might stumble, but you aren’t falling. You're going to handle it like a champ, because you've mastered your mind. No more letting anger or ego call the shots. You're in control now.
So, grab hold of that power. You aren’t just surviving, you’re thriving. And trust me, when others see your calm, stable vibe, they'll be asking, "What's your secret?" Show 'em the way, and be the metal motivator wherever you go.
Emotions lurk beneath the surface, tied to what we think and believe. So, whatever you believe, that's what you'll feel. It's like your emotions are this separate entity, waiting for your cues. But you're in control, just like you control your hunger.
Even though it might not feel like it sometimes, trust me, you are. Emotions rely on stuff happening outside of us to know how to react. And man, the world's always throwing stuff at us, trying to make us feel this way or that. But here's the thing, society's changing fast, and it's every person for themselves.
People are losing trust in everything: religion, government, you name it. It's like we're all becoming our own little worlds. And when you let emotions run wild, watch out! We need to be level-headed, in control of what we think and feel. Otherwise, things get dangerous.
No amount of laws or police can fix that. It's all about people having character and taking responsibility. We need to be the ones setting the example, making the change happen. That starts with us, not politicians or anyone else.
We have to tap into that inner voice. The one that tells us when we're about to mess up. But sometimes it's hard to hear over all the noise outside. That's why we need to crank up the volume on it. Turn down the distractions and tune in to what really matters.
It's okay if it feels faint at first. We just need to work on making it louder. Start by recognizing that power is in our hands, not in what's happening around us. Once we get that, man, we're unstoppable.
So, take some time to meditate, to pray, whatever works for you. Create some quiet space to listen to that inner voice. And when you hear a good thought, amplify it. Repeat it until it fills your mind and heart.
And when those negative thoughts try to sneak in, shut 'em down. Replace 'em with something positive. Focus on what you're thankful for, on the good stuff in life. Trust me, you'll start to hear that inner voice more clearly, guiding you towards what really matters.
It's time to dive into the core of who we are and how we roll. Emotions are like shadows, they follow wherever our beliefs lead. But here's the kicker, they don't always tell the truth about what we truly believe deep down.
Now, when we talk about fear, it's not some physical pain we can grab hold of; it's more like a storm brewing inside, brewing from what we believe. And that belief? It's all in the mind, man. Our thoughts, our patterns, they steer the ship, no matter what waters we sail.
Ever met someone who's convinced the world's out to get 'em? Or someone who's stuck in a rut, thinking they'll never break free? It's all because of what they believe, and those beliefs? They're like magnets, attracting emotions left and right.
We call the shots! We're the captains of our own ships, the rulers of our own minds. So, if we want to steer clear of pain and ride the waves of joy and peace, it starts with what we choose to believe.
Sure, habits can be tough to break, but just like those little quirks we notice in ourselves on video, our thought habits can change too. It's all about reprogramming your mind and taking charge of our emotions.
We're going to dive deep into our own minds, dissect our thoughts, and take the reins. 'Cause when we do, we'll unleash a whole new level of control over our emotions, leaving fear and worry in our dust. It's time to conquer those thoughts and chart a course to a fearless existence.
Emotions aren’t just for the folks who lose their cool or cry all the time. We're all in the same boat. Even I feel it.
We can't let emotions run the show. We've got to take charge. Emotions follow our thoughts, so what's going on in your head matters.
When we're feeling good, it's easy to forget that emotions are still calling the shots. But when sh*t hits the fan, emotions can go wild if we're not careful.
That's why we've gotta stay aware of our thoughts. You ever watch something motivational and suddenly feel like you can take on the world? It's because positive thoughts lead to positive feelings.
But it's not always easy. I knew this guy who let his emotions drive him nuts. Good dude, but his emotions were like a rollercoaster.
You can't let emotions take over. They're sneaky, creeping into every part of your life. That's why we gotta keep an eye on our thoughts. There's a better side to us, a part that knows right from wrong even when we're feeling off-kilter.
So, next time you're about to blow a fuse, remember that voice inside telling you to chill. That's your conscience, your guide through the storm of emotions.
We've gotta be the boss of our feelings. Emotions aren't bad, but they need a leash. Like taming a wild horse, we steer them, not the other way around.
Stay in control, embrace the highs and lows, but never let them steer your ship. We're the captains of our destiny, and emotions? They're just along for the ride.
You ever feel like your emotions are calling the shots? Like you're just along for the ride while they run the show? I get it. Emotional control isn't about shutting down. It's about taking charge.
Emotions are powerful, no doubt. They color our world, drain our energy, and mess with our focus. But we don't have to let them rule us. We can tame the beast within and put our emotions in their place.
It's not about being stone-cold or burying how you feel. It's about finding that inner strength, that rock-solid core, that guides our actions and decisions. We don't have to be slaves to our emotions; we can be their masters.
Sure, it's tough. Sometimes we feel like we're drowning in sadness or boiling over with anger. But we can learn to control how we react. We can train our minds to focus on what truly matters and let go of what drags us down.
You have the power to control your emotions. It's all about what you feed your mind. Think negative thoughts, and your emotions follow suit. But focus on the positive, and watch how your feelings fall in line.
Most of the torment we face, we create ourselves. Our thoughts spin us into a frenzy, and our emotions take the bait. But we can break free from that cycle. We can choose where to direct our focus and reclaim control over our lives.
So don't let your emotions deceive you. They may feel overwhelming, but they're just shadows in the dark. You hold the light that dispels them. Take back the reins. You've got the strength, the energy, the fearlessness to overcome anything that holds you back. It's time to rise above and conquer.
Imagine a life where you don't have to constantly defend yourself. Picture it: no battles in the streets, no constant fear lurking around every corner. That's the freedom we crave.
In our safe neighborhoods, we might not face physical danger, but we're trapped in a different kind of battle. It's the struggle against judgment, excuses, and self-doubt. But guess what? You don't need to armor up anymore.
Forget the need to justify every move or shield yourself from criticism. It's time to break free from those chains holding you back. You have the power to shape your own destiny.
Stop wasting energy on defense and start investing in what truly matters: your dreams, your relationships, your growth. Let go of the need to protect yourself and watch as your life transforms.
Inside you, there's a fire waiting to be unleashed. It's time to embrace that power and undergo your own metamorphosis. Shed the old and step into a new, liberated version of yourself.
So, quit playing defense and go on the offense. It's time to create the life you want, unapologetically and fiercely. You have the power within you to make it happen.
Excuses, we all make them. But there's a difference between making excuses to others and making them to yourself. When you start believing your own excuses, that's when trouble brews. It's called self-deception, and it's a sneaky beast that holds us back.
Excuses are just smoke and mirrors, trying to hide our flaws and failures. We all have them. The key isn't fixing every little fault before moving forward, it’s about not caring about what others think and focusing on your goals.
Forget chasing perfection. Satisfaction comes from giving your all every day, not from being flawless. So, ditch the defense mechanisms and embrace the offense. Trigger yourself to go after your dreams relentlessly, whether it's hitting the gym or diving into a new challenge.
Stop judging yourself and start holding yourself accountable. It's time to go all-in on your goals, no matter what others say. So, forget the self-condemnation and get busy creating the life you want. Today's the day to make it happen, no more waiting.
We’re all trying to fill the voids in our lives. Just like when we're hungry, our empty stomachs send signals of pain, our souls have empty spaces too. These voids drive us to take action, whether it's seeking attention or protecting ourselves. We often focus too much on defensive strategies instead of offensive moves to get what we want.
It's easy to blame our past for our present struggles, but dwelling on it won't solve anything. The key is to embrace who we are, despite our past, and focus on moving forward. We don't need to dwell on forgiveness or revisit old wounds. Instead, we should devote our time to living the life we want, free from the burdens of the past.
Sure, it might feel like our past pain is stitched to us, but we have the power to let it go. By focusing on our future and what we want to achieve, we can naturally release the grip of the past. It's all about filling our voids with positive actions and beliefs, rather than dwelling on guilt or shame.
Nobody else can fill our voids for us. Only we have that power. So let go of the idea that we don't deserve the life we want. Karma doesn't dictate our fate; principles and actions do. It's time to identify our voids and take steps to fill them with positivity and purpose. Let's stop letting the past hold us back and start striving for the future we deserve.
I used to waste so much time and energy defending myself, trying to prove my worth in a world full of competition. But you know what? That's a dead-end road. Instead of constantly worrying about what others think, I flipped the script.
I realized that the only opinion that truly matters is my own. Am I satisfied with my progress? Am I proud of my work? That's all that counts. Seeking approval from others is like being chained down. Liberation begins when you break free from that need for validation.
You're never going to please everyone, so why bother trying? Focus on your mission, your goals, your dreams. Don't waste precious time on defense when you should be on the offense, charging full speed ahead.
Now, I know you've seen those keyboard warriors online, boasting about how they don't care about the haters. But let me tell you something: Most of them care more than they let on. It's all about seeking validation, craving those likes and comments.
But that's not the path to true fulfillment, my friends. The real question you need to ask yourself is this: What void are you trying to fill? What empty space in your life is holding you back? Once you identify that, you'll be unstoppable.
So, here's your homework for the week: Dig deep, find that void, and confront it head-on. Don't let it hold you back from reaching your full potential. Embrace the journey, embrace the grind, and let nothing stand in your way.
We talk a big game about what we want in life, but talk is cheap. Remember back in the day when we were kids dreaming big dreams on the playground? Well, it's time to stop talking and start doing.
We've got to stop making excuses and settle for mediocrity. Excuses are just armor we use to protect ourselves from failure and judgment. But guess what? Living a life full of excuses is just plain embarrassing.
So why don't we go after what we want? Fear, fear of failure, fear of judgment, fear of disappointment. But here's the deal: if we want something, we've got to go after it with everything we've got.
Sure, it's not easy. Achieving our goals takes hard work and dedication. But let's not confuse hard work with difficulty. Everything worth having takes effort, but it's not impossible.
We've got to stop playing defense and start playing offense. No more excuses, no more holding back. It's time to push through the obstacles and create the life we want.
Are you ready to break free from the chains of mediocrity? Are you ready to step up and take control of your life? Then let's stop wasting time and start making it happen today.
Don't wait for tomorrow. Start chasing your dreams right now. With dedication and determination, we'll get there together.
Life's like a relentless mosh pit. It throws punches, slams you down, but guess what? You're tougher than nails. You're in the driver's seat of this crazy ride.
Sure, life dishes out some serious beatdowns, but don't let it play you like a cheap guitar riff. Your mindset? That's your amplifier, cranked up to 11. You control how you roll through life's gnarly waves.
Forget the pity party; we're not here to cry over spilled milk. It's time to pump some iron for the mind, to build that mental muscle, and become the boss of your own destiny.
Think you're too small, too old, too whatever? Screw that. It's all about what's going on between those ears. Can you steer the ship when the storm hits?.
Life's gonna sucker punch you when you least expect it. But guess what? You're not a punching bag; you're a lightning rod. Ride the lightning! You take life's hits and ground them into oblivion.
So, strap on that mental armor and flex those brain muscles. Yeah, you're gonna mess up along the way. But that's just part of the journey. Dust yourself off, crank up the volume, and keep on rocking.
No time for whining; it's all about grinding. Life's not gonna cut you any slack, so why should you? Take the reins, grab life by the horns, and ride that sucker into the sunset.
You're not just surviving; you're thriving. Smile in the face of adversity, spread positivity like wildfire, and be the metal hero the world needs.
Life's a battlefield, but you're not backing down. Embrace the struggle, harness the power within, and become the legend you were born to be.
So, what are you waiting for? Lace up those mental boots, hit the gym of your mind, and let's rock this world together. You're not just a player in life's game; you're the freaking headliner.
Controlling our minds, think about it like hitting the gym for your brain. Just like we pump iron to get physically strong, we've gotta work on our thoughts to become mentally tough.
Now, you might be thinking, "But CJ, how do I do that?" Well, it's all about discipline. No, not hitting the books all day – although that's cool too – but training our minds like we're training a loyal pup. Keeping it on a tight leash until it learns to walk beside us, focused and ready for anything.
And yeah, I get it, life's busy. We're dealing with work, relationships, and a million other things. But that's exactly why we gotta train our minds on the go. Whether it's pacing in your room or having deep talks with yourself, make it a habit. Because when life throws its worst at us, we'll be ready.
Picture this: chaos all around, but you? You're the calm in the storm. People start seeing you as a leader, someone who's got their act together. And let's face it, the world needs more of that right now. So go out there and be the torch that lights up the darkness.
But remember, it's not just about you. It's about making others strong too. Whether you're a manager, a bartender, or a stay-at-home parent, spread that strength. Inspire, motivate, and watch how your life transforms.
Commit to this journey of personal growth every single day, and trust me, you'll see a massive change.
We all face those overwhelming moments. But here's the deal: if you haven't beefed up your inner strength, you're gonna need some emergency maneuvers.
So, let's talk strategy. When life's waves are crashing over you, it's time to bail out. You gotta carve out some alone time to wrangle those emotions, and it all starts in your mind. Your thoughts are the battlefield.
Here's the plan: find a quiet spot and dive into some meditation or prayer. It's all about having a mental chat with yourself. Ever had a song stuck in your head? Get walking, get thinking. I do it all the time. Pacing my office, I lay down the law to my thoughts.
Sure, life's throwing some heavy punches, but guess what? You're the champ. You're the one who's gonna knock those challenges out cold. Repeat it like a mantra: "I'm tough. I'm powerful. I've got this." Keep going for 10, 15, even 30 minutes. Your emotions will catch on soon enough.
And hey, did your situation magically improve? Nope, probably not. But here's the kicker: you changed. You fortified your mind, the one thing that can flip the script on any situation. So drop that self-defeating talk. You're a winner, a conqueror, a straight-up hero.
Let those thoughts run wild, and anxiety and worry move in. Why waste time stressing over stuff you can't control? So let's flip the script. Instead of feeding worry, let's starve it out.
Focus on your thoughts, not your emotions. Your feelings follow what your mind serves up. So ditch the pity party and get disciplined. It's not about being too emotional; it's about taking charge of your mind game.
Yeah, hormones might throw a curveball, but guess what? You're stronger than biology. You can override those chemical hiccups with some good old-fashioned mental muscle.
I've been through some rough patches myself. We all have. But the tougher you are mentally, the shorter those storms last. So, commit to flexing your mental muscles every day. You gotta be ready to face those waves head-on.
Don't let anxiety, depression, or worry sink their claws into you. You've got the power to shut them down. It's gonna be a battle, no doubt. But as you get stronger, that fight gets easier.
Sure, negativity's always gonna lurk around the corner. But guess what? You're tougher than anything life throws your way. So gear up. It's time to dominate those thoughts and crush those challenges.
Feeling like life's throwing you too much? Financial troubles, health issues, relationship drama, kid chaos? You're not alone.
But here's the deal: to tackle these storms, we gotta toughen up. Forget the fluffy motivation stuff. This is about building your inner beast, your personal strength.
You might not realize it, but you're stronger than you think. Ever heard of oil reserves? Yeah, like that, but for personal power. When life's waves crash in, that's when you tap into that reserve.
First step? Step back. Retreat. Regroup. It's not running away; it's about getting your head in the game. Because when you're overwhelmed, you make bad moves, quit jobs, say hurtful stuff, even worse.
So, take a breather. Chat with yourself. Walk the floors. Get your mind right. It's about controlling your thoughts, your emotions, your body. Like a warrior, you gotta discipline yourself.
And hey, even if life's chill right now, this habit's a game-changer. Trust me, you'll thank yourself later. No need to sit in silence; get moving. Walk, talk, whatever works.
Bottom line? You're tough enough to handle anything. But first, master your mind.
Life's a mosh pit of chaos, and we're all getting slammed by the riff-raff it throws our way. Bills, fights, health issues—you name it, life's tossing it at us. But here's the deal: how we handle it all boils down to one thing—our personal strength.
Think of it like this: life's like a gnarly wave crashing over you when you're out in the ocean. It's overwhelming, it's intense, and it feels like you're drowning. But here's the kicker: the stronger you are on the inside, the better you can weather the storm.
You see, it's not about dodging life's punches—it's about being tough enough to take 'em. And let me tell you, your best defense in life is a stronger you. When you're rock-solid on the inside, the outside noise starts to fade away.
Don't just sit there and take it. Get tough. Build up your heart, your spirit, your mind—everything that makes you, well, you. Because let's face it: life's not gonna let up anytime soon. But we're not backing down. We're gonna stare life right in the face and show it who's boss.
Positive thinking? Yeah, that's cool and all, but we're not sugarcoating anything. We're not ignoring the negativity—we're using it as fuel to power through. Roll over and give up? Not on our watch. We're gonna rise up, stronger than ever, and take on whatever life throws our way.
So crank up the volume, get pumped, and let's show life what we're made of. Because when we're faced with the overwhelming nature of life, we don't cower—we get stronger. Life may be merciless, but we're gonna show it no mercy. We're taking life head-on and giving it everything we've got.
The world's a wild place, filled with chaos and uncertainty. We soak it all in through the media, letting it stir up tension inside us. Feeling stressed, anxious, and edgy? You're not alone. But here's the deal: instability breeds more instability. So, what's the move?
First off, you have to build stability around you. Take a good look at your personal life. Is your health on track? Finances in order? Relationships thriving? Get things stable here, and you've got a solid defense against the chaos outside.
But it's not just about what's around you—it's what's inside too. Focus is key. What you focus on grows, whether good or bad. So, ditch the instability and lock onto what's stable. Find principles that resonate with you, whether from religion, philosophy, or history. These truths are rock-solid, always reliable.
Sure, the world's a mess, but you don't have to drown in it. Choose what you feed your mind. Avoid getting sucked into the negativity of the news. Instead, fill your thoughts with positivity, love, and kindness.
Take charge of your life, starting with the basics: finances, health, relationships. Then, dive into your mind. What are you focusing on? Make sure it's the good stuff—the stuff that brings stability and happiness.
Keep at it, my friend. Stay focused on the good, and watch as stability grows, both inside and out. Trust me, with these two pillars, you'll stand strong in this crazy world.
The world's going crazy, and it feels like Western civilization is slipping. But I've got hope. It's up to us to make a change, starting with our own actions. We need to step up and be the change we want to see.
Don't just go with the flow.. Most people are passive when it comes to growing themselves. But if we stay passive, we'll just get lazy and sucked into materialism. Survival isn't our main focus anymore; it's all about preserving our ego. We live in a different world now.
That's why I started Metal Motivation. I want to build stronger people who can counter all the luxury and tension around us. We need to be intentional about our personal growth. Chaos has a reason, and it's up to us to endure and thrive in these changing times.
The media bombards us with negativity, and it's easy to get sucked in. But focusing on instability only breeds more instability. We need to focus on building strength instead. We have to control our thoughts, feelings, and actions. It's a lot of work, but it's what's necessary in today's world.
Remember, everyone wants to be a Navy SEAL, but nobody wants to do push-ups in the rain. Are you willing to put in the work? Are you ready to embrace the challenge and be the best you can be? Let's get organized and create stability in our lives. It's the key to thriving in this unstable world.
We're diving headfirst into the 21st century, a time of upheaval and change. Picture this: after the Civil War, America was ready to conquer the world. We thought we could build a perfect society, free from old traditions and beliefs. But hold on tight, because this ride took a dark turn.
We embraced modernism like it was the answer to all our problems. We thought reason and science would lead us to a utopian paradise. But it was like building the Titanic – big dreams, big disaster. The 20th century turned into a bloodbath with world wars and genocide. And just when we thought we had it all figured out, post-modernism hit us like a wrecking ball.
Now, truth is relative. Everyone's got their own version of reality, and it's chaos out there. Social media? More like a minefield. One wrong tweet and your career could be sunk. And don't even get me started on the animal videos. Seems like there's always someone ready to rain on your parade.
But here's the kicker: we're living in the age of technology and industry, surrounded by gadgets and gizmos. Yet, at the same time, we're checking our horoscopes and searching for meaning in the stars. It's a weird world we're living in, folks.
So what's the deal? We're caught in a vicious cycle of tension and anxiety, feeding off each other's stress. But it doesn't have to be this way. We can break free from the madness. It starts with understanding where we're at and finding our own truth in a sea of chaos.
Sure, it's a wild ride, but we're in this together. So let's crank up the volume, face the music, and rock on through the madness. Because in the end, we're the ones holding the reins. Let's ride this wave and carve our own path through the chaos.
We all know this world isn’t perfect. It's like we're swimming in a sea of chaos, with violence, abuse, and filth all around us.
Picture this: I'm watching the news, and I see this story about a couple buying an apartment. But when they walk in, it's like a horror movie—beer cans, trash, and filth everywhere. I mean, how do people live like that?
I had a mysterious neighbor who never talked much. One day, he invites me over, and what I see is beyond nasty. His place makes the news story look like a walk in the park. It's mind-blowing.
Now, here's the kicker: These people don't even seem to care. No sense of shame or responsibility. It's like they've lost their compass, their moral backbone. Where's the conviction, the conscience?
I think it's got something to do with the times we're living in. Back in the day, survival meant something. You had to work your tail off just to make ends meet. But now, with all the luxuries and conveniences, we've lost touch with what really matters.
We're weak, plain and simple. We've replaced inner strength with superficial symbols like gym muscles and flashy gadgets. But let me tell you, real strength comes from within, not from deadlifts or CrossFit.
And don't even get me started on this spoon-fed society we're living in. Everything's handed to us on a silver platter, from transportation to media access. We've forgotten the value of hard work and the true meaning of strength.
So, what's the solution? It starts with us, the everyday folks. We gotta set a different example, live a different life. It's time to embrace resilience, reclaim our inner strength, and navigate this chaotic world with courage and conviction. Are you with me?
I've been on the hunt for words to sum up these times, and let me tell you, it's a wild ride. Some say it's the best, others, the worst. But maybe it's just our hyper-connected world making it seem worse than it is.
Every day, we're bombarded with the chaos of life. It's in our faces, on our screens, and we can't escape it. But is it really worse than before? It sure feels like it. I can't remember things being this crazy in all my years.
We're caught in a cycle. We see madness online, on the news, and we react. Then, we react to each other, feeding into the frenzy. It's like a pressure cooker, building tension and strain.
Stress, anxiety, pressure – they're all creeping in, gnawing at our souls. Do any of these words ring a bell? We've got our own battles to fight, without adding the world's chaos on top.
Remember the good ol' days? When life wasn't so in-your-face? We had simpler times, fewer channels on TV, and shows that kept things PG. But times change, and we adapt, sometimes without even realizing it.
But here's the deal: we can't let the craziness consume us. We gotta focus on what matters, what we hold dear. It's about taking charge of our lives, our actions, our reactions.
We're living in tense times, and even if we're not drowning in it ourselves, we see it all around us. That's why we gotta be vigilant, take control of our own lives, and set an example for others.
We need a new breed of people – organized, in control, bringing order to the chaos. We might not change the world overnight, but we can govern ourselves, our families, our jobs.
It's about finding peace in the storm, stability in the chaos. So let's rise above the tension, become the leaders this world needs. It's time to take charge.
In life, it's a struggle to break bad habits and build better ones. Relationships take time to mend, just like they take time to form. Raising kids, getting through school, achieving anything worthwhile — it all takes patience and perseverance.
But sometimes, life tries to knock us down. It throws us off course, makes us doubt ourselves, and tempts us to give up. Yet, we must stay strong, keep moving forward, and maintain a positive attitude, even when the going gets tough.
Instead of fixating on distant dreams, focus on dominating your current situation. Picture yourself overcoming challenges with confidence and determination. Believe in the worth of your efforts and the value of your life.
Sure, there may come a time when you need to let go of certain things, but never give up on yourself. Keep pushing forward, honoring your potential, and fulfilling your purpose. The world needs you to be the best version of yourself, to make a positive impact, and to inspire change.
So, don't dwell on setbacks or hardships. Keep your eyes on the prize and your feet moving forward. Lean on others for support and encouragement, but ultimately, it's up to you to forge your path and shape your destiny.
Remember, tough times don't last forever. Keep pressing on, stay resilient, and never lose sight of the incredible potential within you.
When you're trying to see yourself crushing it in life, it's all about the way you talk to yourself. Words are like magic spells that summon up images in your brain. Think "white tiger," and bam, you've got one prowling in your mind. So, if you wanna level up your visualization game, harness the power of your words.
Now, let's talk about authors. They don't have fancy CGI like in the movies, but they paint vivid pictures with their words. It's all about how they tell the story. Your words have that same visual punch. Whether you're whispering under your breath or shouting out loud, use your words to keep driving forward.
Picture this: You're feeling drained, but you've still got mountains to climb. That's when you gotta give yourself a mental shake and say, "Let's keep pushing!" It's like flicking a switch. Suddenly, you've got this surge of energy, and you're back in the game.
Here's the deal: Your words are like a double shot of espresso for your actions. They fuel bolder moves, consistent effort, and a more aggressive attitude. And let's be real, we all need that ferocious drive to crush our goals.
So, tap into those mental images and thoughts that fire you up. Visualize success like you're watching it in HD. Let those images sear into your brain until you believe it to your core.
Remember, it's all about that deep, unwavering belief that you're a force to be reckoned with. So, keep speaking your truth, keep visualizing your victory, and watch as your dreams become reality.
Every step forward we take is like giving ourselves a victory fist bump and broadcasting good news to the world. It's about pushing through, no miracles needed, just keeping those legs moving like a football player pushing through defenders for those extra yards.
Life's gonna throw its best defensive lineup at you, but you gotta keep moving, stay consistent, and shake off the negativity that's weighing you down. It's all about mindset, how we interpret things, and what we let occupy our thoughts. Your emotions? Yeah, they're following your thought patterns, so keep 'em positive.
What's going on inside your head reflects on the outside. Neglecting your mental game? Your life's gonna look like a mess. But guess what? You're the one creating it. So instead of just wishing for better circumstances, change the way you see things. Visualize yourself dominating, tackling those challenges head-on.
Forget just picturing your ideal future. See yourself winning in your current situation, even if it's tough. It's not about dreaming big, it's about grinding daily. Visualize yourself putting in the work, sweating it out at the gym, pushing through with a smile. That's what gets you closer to your goals.
Your mind's a powerful tool. It can create or destroy, depending on what you feed it. So, fuel it with positive images, movies of you conquering every obstacle. It's time to take control of the movie theater in your head and play only the films where you emerge victorious in every situation.
No matter what life throws at you, you gotta keep forging ahead. If you hit pause, if you give in to the darkness, life won’t wait for you. You'll start to fade away, disappearing into the shadows of doubt and despair.
But you can't let that happen. Every step forward sends a message of hope to your soul. Your soul craves that good news, that sense of progress. It's like a shot of adrenaline straight to your spirit. So don't just sit there scrolling through your feed or drowning in bad headlines.
You gotta be your own source of good news, your own daily dose of progress. Grab a pen, write it down: Daily progress is your lifeline. Even if it's just a tiny step forward, it matters. Consistency is key. Get up, show up, and do what needs to be done.
Life's tough, no doubt. But there are warriors out there facing battles we can't even imagine. Take Lizzie, for example. She battles pain every day, yet she always says, "Always forward." She knows that stopping only leads to darkness. And she's right.
Sure, it's tempting to complain or take it out on others. But we can't afford to give in. We gotta keep moving forward, no matter the pain or challenge. Because if we don't, we're already losing ground. Life will pass us by, and we'll miss out on the opportunities waiting just around the corner.
So let's commit to staying relentless, to remaining constant in our pursuit of progress. Every step forward is a victory, a nourishment for our souls. Embrace the grind, control your mind, and speak words of power. That's how we shape our destiny, how we create the life we want.
Keep pushing, keep fighting, and never forget: You're stronger than you know.
Feeling stuck in life? You're not alone. Many folks hit a wall, feeling like they're spinning their wheels with no way out. Whether it's a breakup, kids leaving the nest, or just plain confusion, we all face moments when we're parked in neutral.
But guess what? You can't steer a parked car! You gotta keep moving forward to make progress. Life waits for no one, and the clock's ticking. Don't let it pass you by!
Sure, life throws curveballs: painful breakups, job losses, health scares. But don't let them knock you down. Keep pushing forward, even when it's tough. That's where true strength lies.
You want to take control of your life, right? It's time to break free from feeling hopeless and reclaim your power. No more staying stuck in the same old rut. You've got what it takes to rise above!
Listen up, because here's the deal: it won't be easy. No quick fixes or magic pills here. It's gonna take some serious sweat and elbow grease. But trust me, you've got what it takes.
So, let's get moving! Keep pushing forward, one step at a time. Stay consistent, stay focused, and watch as you break free from that dark season. You've got this, and I've got your back.
It's time to reshape your reality because your present situation is not set in stone. Your position in life right now? It's like a puzzle waiting to be solved, a puzzle called YOU.
Now, I get it. Life throws some heavy punches. Maybe you've been through the wringer, or maybe you're just drowning in the chaos of today. Kids, bosses, coworkers, the whole world feels like it's driving you nuts! But here's the deal: you can't let all that noise define you. You can't let it dictate your future.
Look, I'm not saying your past didn't pack a punch. It did, and we're not brushing that aside. But we're not here to dwell on the past. No way! We're here to rewrite the script, to reclaim what's rightfully yours. You've got the power, the potential, the sheer guts to turn things around.
But it starts now. It starts with getting your present in order. Your position today? It's the launchpad for tomorrow's triumphs. You want to dominate life? You want to conquer your dreams? Well, you can't do squat if you're stuck playing the victim, if you're drowning in self-doubt or buried under stress.
Listen to me, friend: it's time to take charge. It's time to hustle harder, to fight smarter. Your future? It's waiting for you, but you gotta master the present first. No more excuses, no more waiting around. It's time to seize the moment, to tackle those challenges head-on.
Yeah, I know it seems daunting. I know it feels like you're facing a mountain of obstacles. But trust me, once you start, once you take that first step, you'll realize it's not as bad as you thought. It's not as impossible as it seemed.
So let's do this together. Let's roll up our sleeves and get to work. Your present? It's calling out for a makeover, and guess what? You're the one holding the hammer. So let's smash those barriers, let's build a future worth fighting for. Your destiny? It's in your hands, my friend. Let's make it count.
When it comes to sorting out your life and making your way to where you want to be, a lot of us are weighed down by our past. We give power to our past by interpreting it as a sign that we're destined to fail. We say, "I'm a victim," or "I've always had bad luck," as if the past is a roadmap for our future.
But let me tell you something straight: your past doesn't define your future. Sure, bad things happened, and no one's brushing that off. But dwelling on the pain of the past only holds you back. It's like handing over the keys to your future to the people and events that hurt you.
But here's the kicker: you have the power to change your future. You wouldn't dream of something if you didn't have the ability to achieve it. Your dreams are there to show you what you're capable of. So why let the pain of the past dictate your present and future?
It's time to take a hard look at your life. What could you accomplish if the past didn't weigh you down? What dreams would you pursue if no one had ever held you back? It's time to act like those things never happened and start building the life you want.
Sure, it's going to be tough. It'll require a shift in mindset and some serious effort. But isn't your life worth it? Isn't it worth fighting for the future you deserve?
Stop dwelling on the past injustices. Instead, focus on creating justice for yourself by building the life you would have had if nothing had ever gone wrong. It's time to take back control and create the future you've always wanted.
We can't reach our goals until we know where we stand. And you know what holds us back? It's the messed-up arrangement of our present—the position we're in right now.
Position means where we're at or how things are set up in our life. Ever feel like your mind's a total mess? Past hurts and bad choices can leave us feeling lost. We gotta sort things out, put them in order, and see things straight.
Facts are facts, but how we see them? That's up to us. If we're stuck in a negative loop, it's tough to break free and chase our dreams. Insecurities, fears, and old wounds can hold us back. It's like carrying heavy baggage—we gotta drop that weight to move forward.
Here's the deal: The past shapes us, but it doesn't define us. You're not doomed by what happened before. It's your call to rewrite your story. Yeah, bad stuff's real, but it doesn't have to call the shots in your future.
You're not a victim unless you choose to be. Don't let past pain rob you of a bright tomorrow. It's time to flip the script, rock out with confidence, and seize the life you deserve. You got the power to make it happen, so let's rise up and dominate!
Success, we often see it as this distant destination, like we're aiming for this big target in the future. But hold up! You can't hit the mark if you don't know where you're standing right now. Your position matters—it's like arranging the pieces of a puzzle or setting up your room. How you arrange things now affects your journey ahead.
The challenge? Many folks don't grasp the importance of their current situation. They're stuck, not because they don't know where they want to go, but because they haven't sorted out where they are. The past messes with their present, distorting their view and trapping them in emotional attachments or false identities.
So, what's the move? We gotta redefine our present, rearrange the pieces for a better launchpad toward our goals. It's about changing our interpretation of things—seeing the facts without distortion, even if our past has been rough. We can't erase our biases, but we can aim for a healthier perspective.
Success isn't just about reaching some far-off point; it's about reshaping our now so we can get there. So, let's get real about where we stand and start rearranging for the journey ahead. That's how we turn the wheels and break free from the rut. It's time to redefine our present and rock on towards success!
In the quest for success, we often hear the term thrown around so much that it loses its meaning. But for me, success isn't just about career achievements or wealth—it's about maximizing who you are and what you can do for a purpose greater than yourself. It's about personal growth and contribution.
Success isn't solely about reaching certain milestones; it's about finding fulfillment—a deep and lasting satisfaction that comes from being true to yourself and serving a noble cause. This fulfillment is different from fleeting happiness; it's about being satisfied with who you are and what you've accomplished, knowing you've made a positive impact.
To achieve this fulfillment, we must first understand our current position in life. Are we stuck in the pain of the past or are we ready to move forward? By defining our present and understanding where we are, we can chart a course toward a truly successful and fulfilling life. Success isn't just about reaching a destination; it's about embracing the journey and becoming the best version of ourselves.
EPISODE 5 of the series "Armed & Dangerous: Preparing Yourself for Success." Every great person or enterprise has these two elements involved whether a professional sports team or an elite soldier: principles and coaching. Discover the power of a maximized life!
EPISODE 4 of the series "Armed & Dangerous: Preparing Yourself for Success." Clear the clutter of your mind and life. It's the trivial matters that block our progress and drain our energy, but focus will make you like a laser to cut through life's greatest difficulties.
EPISODE 3 of the series "Armed & Dangerous: Preparing Yourself for Success." It's often said that success is about "being in the right place at the right time." But, being in the right place at the right time happens several times a day for the one who is prepared. The goal is to have preparation meet opportunity.
EPISODE 2 of the series "Armed & Dangerous: Preparing Yourself for Success." Some people say, "I work better under pressure." They perform better than during times without pressure. The deadline brings out their other self—the part that "gets things done." Exploit your "other self" to go to the next level.
EPISODE 1 of the series "Armed & Dangerous: Preparing Yourself for Success." You need a strong heart—or core—in order to overcome the resistance of life and take hold of all that life has to offer.
Diligence is simply "Careful or persistent work or effort," but for too many, the sense of entitlement; the ease provided by technology; and the lack of a sense of personal calling, are producing an indifferent and lazy society.
The strength of a society is determined by its people, but the strength of people is not found in anything outside of themselves. Strength begins within each of us and is then manifested in our outlook, speech, and actions.
Without direction, you will dwell aimlessly. That means your life is going nowhere. You might be busy, but all that work is not leading to a particular goal. You're just surviving or getting by. It's time for that to change.
You need fortitude, and fortitude is courage in the midst of pain and adversity. No matter what mountain you face. No matter what fiery trial lies before you. You have the ability to overcome it.
What would've rolled off the backs of previous generations now sends some people into therapy. We've managed to produce a weaker people—a world with too many whiners. We need a new kind of people. We need a revolution in you!
It's important when it comes to achieving an attitude of victory that you understand what's at stake, that you understand what you get if you achieve your goals, and that you understand what you lose if you stay where you are. You've got one shot. You don't get multiple shots at this. You don't get to do this over, and the clock is ticking on the only life that you've got. So what are you going to do? What price are you willing to pay? You can't stay neutral. The more you stay neutral, the further back you go because you're getting older. Now is your opportunity to change. Consider this a clarion call to your better self, to rise to the occasion and do something different than you've been doing lately so we can bring about some different results. You keep doing what you're doing, you're going to get what you've always got. Something has to fundamentally change. The most important place for that to happen is your attitude, which is why we must believe in working for and acquire an attitude of victory.
You’ve got goals to achieve so let's keep you consistent. Let's keep you fired up and motivated. How does that happen? Changes in your attitude, outlook, and mindset. That's exactly the kind of thing that's going to put you in the dominant position. We've got to keep you there because life has a lot more hell coming your way. But what are you going to do about it? The only thing you need to be concerned about is your attitude because that's what's going to cause you to bulldoze through all the negativity and resistance. And once again you will stand on the other side victorious in battle. But let's pretend everything is against you. The odds are completely against you. Nobody is supporting you. Now what? Are you going to be defeated? Because if in those circumstances you can still be positive and still have a victorious outlook, that's all you need to know that you're going to go all the way. Because you're not governed by what you see or what you feel. You're governed by the fact that you have a volcano or personal power that resides in you, just under your doubt and unbelief, and the moment you step out into confidence and belief and move forward based on that, with no promises of where you're going to land, that's what will release your personal power.
Real change begins when there is a fundamental change at your core, and that's going to be your attitude, your mindset, the way you see things. Is it an attitude of defeat or an attitude of victory? Do you believe you are the one to prevail? Would you guarantee a job done because you believe in yourself? It’s that kind of attitude that creates a positivity that brings more energy to your action. You get it done faster, you do a better job, you celebrate the victory, and that just reinforces your personal strength.
Your attitude is the way you approach life, the way you understand things, and your interpretation of events and what other people do or say. An attitude of defeat means you expect that it's going to be too hard and you will probably quit early; it will be just like the last time where you fell short. An attitude of victory is the opposite. You're saying no, no matter what it takes, I'm going to prevail. No matter what I have to do, I'm going to pay the price. We all have different challenges, but having an attitude of victory is ultimately what makes the difference. If I've got somebody with a great attitude, I can do so much more with that person, even though they have less than the average person, just because attitude is everything. I'm not just talking about hustle or happy thoughts. I'm talking about a deeply embedded positive outlook on life, where positivity is derived from you and your capacity more than your circumstances.
What determines the outcome of your life? It’s attitude! What we need is an attitude of victory which means that even when our circumstances and people are against us, we still believe we will be triumphant over all of it. This is how we prevail. This is how we win. This is how we never give up. It all comes down to having an attitude of victory. Attitude is originally an aviation term that psychologists borrowed to describe the way one looks at life. In aviation, attitude is how a plane is flying, not its direction. In other words, if a plane is about land, but it’s coming in tilted at a 45-degree angle, it has a bad attitude, and it will crash. That’s us. We’re moving in the right direction, but we have a bad attitude. Our attitude can be defeatist. Our attitude can be negative. Our attitude can be hopeless. It’s this attitude that determines our outcome because it’s our attitude that either fuels or weakens our energy and actions.
Do you have any idea of what your potential is? Maybe you’ve always wanted to own a business, play music, learn how to cook, have the ideal partner, do certain things with your kids, or have a certain car that you've always wanted; don’t demean these things. If it means something to you, it means something to you. But like I said before, it's not so much the possession that makes you happy, it's the fact that you went after it. You're living a semblance of your dream and that enhances your life and brings fulfillment. You could do anything at any level but the issue is do you believe it's possible or are you going to keep coming up with excuses? You don't realize it now because you feel like you still have time to live. But when you reach 80 years old, that's when it begins to set in that time is literally almost out. Don’t waste any more time.
Every single day I begin again. There's still so much more to live, do and be. I don't want to be guilty of demeaning the days I have left. I'm excited about the possibilities of tomorrow because there's so much more to do and achieve. I still have a vision of life and certain goals that I want to achieve. I want to be able to be on my last day and say I gave it my all right. And that's the meaning of sacrifice. Giving yourself for yourself. And that's the ultimate commitment. That's the price that you have to pay. It's your life for your life. It's the life that you have given up for the life that you can possibly be and live and do. You got to do it. Your dreams are worth it. Your goals are worth it. You are worth it.
Life is not over for you yet. You still have time. You've got time left to achieve the things that you've always wanted to do. Why not dedicate an hour a day or the weekends to that? What's stopping you? If you've got time to devote to television and other things, don't you have time to devote to achieving some goals and creating the life you've always wanted to have? You can have that. The issue is not whether something will or will not happen. The issue is whether you're going to do it because it's not up to life or your circumstances. It's up to you. We feel like our time has run out, but the opposite is true. The truth is that you still have time left to achieve the things you’ve always wanted.
I want you to put regret to death. I don't want you to live with it. And the best way to do that is to take steps towards some semblance of the things that you've always wanted to do, the life that you've always wanted to live. Maybe you think it's over. There is no opportunity. There's nothing that you can do about that. So, you just kind of say, forget about it. Let me learn to be happy in the circumstances that I am in because I’ll just end up frustrating myself. You have to accept the fact that maybe you can't do necessarily what you set out to do but that’s ok. We're looking for some semblance of it. That's what we want. We just want a semblance of it.
Your life may not have turned out as you wanted, but your life is not over. Muster your strength, make new plans, and head in a new direction. It’s the best way to kill regret. You can’t stop time, and you can’t reverse it. Once time is spent, time is gone. This is why it’s easy to fall into regret because you may feel like you wasted a lot of time. Have you achieved what you wanted in life? Don’t be afraid to say, “No,” because the majority of us haven’t. Is your life the way you want it to be? Again, most of us would say, “No.” Is your life over? Is it too late? No, it isn’t, although you may need to rethink things. What we’re all really in pursuit of is fulfillment which means “satisfaction or happiness as a result of fully developing one’s abilities or character.”
You have to work with yourself. You are your own best coach. You are your own best therapist. So, keep things relatively simple. It's going to be painful because you're going to learn new habits, new habits of thought, new habits of dealing with yourself, but you must work with yourself. I want to encourage you not to try and rely upon other people or other things for relief. I want you to rely more and more upon yourself to know that no matter how bad things get, you have the confidence that you can deal with yourself, that when you do start to feel down, you'll recognize what it is, you won't exaggerate it, and you will look at it objectively. You're a smart person, you can troubleshoot, you can problem solve, and you can do what's needed to get it done. The resources and information are there. The solutions are often very practical. You can do this.
If you want to stop feeling down, you have to control the monologue you have in your head. Meditation is a great tool to do this. I'm not a huge advocate of emptying yourself. What I do is put my mind to more productive use. I give myself empowering content to think about. And for me, the very basic way that I would recommend that someone meditates, with the goal being to be able to control their thoughts throughout the day, is to have a controlled monologue conversation in their mind for a designated period of time, starting with 15 minutes a day. Whenever you refer to yourself, you speak in the positive sense, speaking affirmations, even if it means saying things that aren't exactly realities in your life right now. Since you already have a monologue in your head all day, instead of continuing to worry and getting yourself angry or depressed, you’re going to control that conversation with positive self-affirming conversations that continue to build you up and war against any notion or temptation to feel down.
Oftentimes when you're feeling down and you can't pinpoint the reason for it, that's when the physical, chemical, and physiological issues come in. You haven't got enough sleep, you’re not paying attention to what you eat, and just not getting the nutrients, vitamins, and minerals that you need. We tend to make our feeling down something other than it is and not realize that our emotions and mental state are tied directly to our bodies. That's why you can be in a bad mood when you haven't eaten or slept. I would encourage you, just as a general rule, to focus on your diet and exercise. You should be exercising regularly and vigorously. You should be eating as well as you can. Both will also help you sleep better. Improving the state of your body will improve your state of mind.
We want to get you out of this mild depression that you're in. And again, there is a number of ways to do that, but you may need to separate yourself for a little bit. You may need to get away from things for a little bit in order to get your head right, to get your heart right so that you can see things objectively. Maybe it’s just going out for the night with friends or getting outside away from your computer. Maybe it’s getting away from a relationship to get your head straight. Because what often happens is because we let our emotions dominate, they distort our vision. And that distortion is only going to aggravate your condition and make it last even longer. Sometimes, getting away can help to reset your clock, reset your chip, and get you back into a mode where you can look at things objectively, and emotions won't continue to distort things and only make things worse.
We all have seasons where we feel down, where we're less vibrant, less resilient, not enthusiastic, just not happy. You may feel powerless, but truth be told, you are not powerless. There are a lot of things that you can do to help offset or ease some measure of that pain. And the most important thing to realize is it's just feelings. Feelings change. Feelings come and go. Feelings are determined by so many factors in our life, everything from what we think about, how we interpret our life, the food we eat, the amount of sleep we get, exercise, and the like. All of these things go together to make up a lifestyle that can cause us to drift into seasons of feeling down, a mild depression if you will. And maybe that's where you are. So, the objective here is to try and alleviate some of that and to get you to better understand your psychology, your patterns, the way that you think, the way that you operate, and the way that you function so that you'll feel more dominant. And that's what I want for you, is to feel stronger and more dominant; to feel like you have a better grasp and control over your life.
People can be a huge distraction, and you've got to guard yourself and your time. People will eat it up. You must guard your sacred duty to develop yourself to become all you can be. And people will take that from you. Spend time with people that need something from you like family or people that build you up. If you spend time with friends, make sure that going out will not hinder your determination and willingness to put in the effort for what you need and want out of life. But if people are just there to eat up your time and distract you, keep them at bay.
One of the big things that hinder us is our consumption of media. For the most part, for those who are challenged with laziness, their big bondage is to media consumption that is entertaining. So, if you're going to begin to wean yourself off of that, my suggestion is don't try to just cut it off; instead replace your consumption of media with other forms of media that will inspire, teach, and motivate you. Use media to stimulate your thought, get you intrigued, or provoke the curiosity that leads you to something greater. Because if you do that and feed your passions, that's typically going to lead to action. And action is an antidote to laziness.
Learning to do things you don't normally want to do requires a taste for outcomes. And you can't get a taste for outcomes if everything you set yourself to do is too big for you right now. So, if we can create smaller tasks, smaller achievements that are much, much easier for you to do, and you can do them daily, that will give you a taste over time for work, a taste over time for achievement. Select something that you can do daily that's much easier for you to do. And next thing you know, the stuff you're doing daily far exceeds where you started. Don't set the bar too high at the outset. Set something easy that you can do regularly and get a taste for achievement.
Work is a good thing, and that's something you need to learn. It's not bad to love work. I'm talking about maximizing your life through the vehicle of work. Work is what proves us. Work is what develops us. Work is what teaches us things. You need work. You need that labor, especially when it comes to developing the things you desire in life. If you look at all the great things that have been achieved in the past, everything is because of work. Nobody's done anything of significance that did not have work attached to it. Learn to love the idea of work. And a great way to do that is by attaching it to something that you love already. So, if you love or have desires or cravings in life, then attach the idea of work to them because you already love those things, but know that they're the end result of happy work. They're the end result of joyful work, the kind of work that you can be invested in, and you won't be watching the clock all the time. You can experience that. It's really not as difficult as you might think, as long as you're focused on things that are productive, and long as you're focused on things that can create the desired outcomes, you're going to learn to love work.
Laziness and procrastination are all too common. What a miserable place to be in when you have a craving or desire for something better in life but don't find the will to do it. You don't find yourself being willing to do the daily disciplines that will create what you want. Your challenge is self-discipline. Your challenge is self-control. Your challenge is getting yourself to do the things necessary to create what you want. Your best life is yet to be lived. You have so much more capacity in you, and the only thing stopping you is yourself. The only thing stopping you is your lack of will. You want to be able to depend on yourself, but you don't. You don't find yourself able to trust yourself. Well, that's what we want to change. We want to transform you to be the first person who comes to mind when it comes to getting something done.
Power, influence, confidence; it’s what people love. They love seeing confidence in other people, especially when it's not accompanied by arrogance, ego, or manipulation. Just the confident professional, the person who's very self-assured, knows what they're doing, works hard, takes care of other people, is polite, well-spoken, looks people in the eye, has good posture, articulate. It's important. All of these things are important. You must become a powerhouse in everything that you do. You have to invest in yourself because that's what's gonna convert to power in you. It all comes down to you. It all comes down to what price you're willing to pay. It all comes down to the sacrifice that you are willing to make.
Everything comes down to investment, and time is one of the big ones. How you spend your time is how you are investing in yourself. Are you reading, exercising, working, or spending time with your loved ones? All of these things make me stronger because they're all beneficial. Invest your time into things that are as beneficial as possible.
There's an alchemic process when we invest in ourselves and it converts to power. I don't know how broad reading or winning little victories everyday converts to becoming a powerhouse, but they do. Personally, reading makes me a better communicator and better thinker. It has always helped me to be a powerhouse. The more that you invest in yourself, the greater chance you have, and the greater the process is going to quicken where you convert this to personal power. We're trying to make you into a powerhouse. Someone who exerts or brings power to a situation. That's what a powerhouse is.
I want to ignite a fire in you, to be willing to go after it and push forward to your next level. There's always a next level. There's always something you can do. There's always something that you can improve. You have to look at it that way and invest in these things without condemning yourself for not reaching perfection or your next level yet. It's about always wanting to improve, always wanting to excel, and always wanting to exceed where you presently are. It’s a process every day. Never stop pushing for your next level.
Ever since I was young, I was never able to rely upon my size, stature, family name, or anything external for confidence. So, from an early age, I learned to invest in my abilities, knowledge, and personality which provided me with a high level of self-confidence that converted into personal power. And it’s that power that I bring to bear on anything or anyone, that I might face. We should all be powerhouses and forces for change and that begins with our sacrificial investment in ourselves.
If you have a big goal, you need measurable progress. You need weekly goals, monthly goals, and quarterly goals that all add up to achieving that big goal. It’s like going across the country. You need a map. You’re going to stop at certain places along the way. Where are you going to eat? Where are you going to stay overnight? Where are you going to visit as you map your way to your destination? That’s how you can focus your mind just on short-term goals. It's not so ominous. It's not so big. It's not so intimidating. If all you have to worry about is what you need to get done today, if all you have to worry about is what you need to get done tomorrow and just keep repeating that process, you will reach your destination before you know it. Write down what it is that you want. What's the big goal? Let's back up to where you are right now and then let's set out those short-term goals.
Anything less than a determined, unwavering decision is really just a wish. People are making New Year's wishes. People are making New Year's whims, not New Year's resolutions because whatever you're resolute about, there's nothing wishful about it, there's nothing hopeful. You're determined it's going to happen. Come hell or high water, you are going to make this happen. So, are you willing to be pushed to the wall to be able to say, come hell in high water, I'm going after what I want? I will figure it out no matter how long it takes me. I would rather live with the struggle than live with the regret. The struggle is far better. Yes, it's painful, but it's a sweet pain. There's nothing in life that you will achieve of any significance that doesn't come without struggle. Struggle is just a part of it. You have to pay the price. Are you willing to follow through on your decision, on your commitment, on your resolution? Are you ready to embrace the struggle or would you rather live with the regret?
As soon as you get excited and motivated and think to yourself that you’re really going to do it this time, that’s when competing desires, distractions, laziness, procrastination, all of these things come in and you end up getting off course. You stop being consistent, you stay frustrated until that dissipates, and then you see something motivating again. You get all excited and worked up and you tell yourself you're going to be determined and really do it this time, and then you repeat that same cycle. You start to speak evil of yourself, and that's when hopelessness sets in. This is a vicious cycle that people get on because they simply can't fulfill their resolution. You have to stop the second-guessing and the fear. You're not too old. Time is not run out. You still have more time, and you still have more opportunities, but self-doubt is going to keep you where you are. You have desires and you should take them seriously. Don't be reckless, but take them seriously. It's an amazing thing that we who say we want something can be the strongest opposition to the thing that we want. How could it be that you both want something and then you'll hold yourself back at the very same time? That's not resolute. A resolute person does not question themselves. They do not second-guess. They do not have self-doubt. They are in motion going after the thing that they want. Break the cycle of self-defeat.
If you want to become more resolute with a desire in your life, you have to attach more value to it. We have competing desires that come in and trip us up, so you have to prioritize your desires. Determine which desires are the most important. Health, for example, is a big one. If you just generally felt better physically, you wouldn't be dealing with half the problems that you have in life. So, value has to be attached to your health, and you attach value by meditating, feeding, and resourcing yourself. Desire is like a fire. It gets hungrier the more that you feed it. Anything that you can do that will serve as feeding the fire will create more value. The more you understand and know about something, the greater the sense of value that you have for it. And when that's the case, you become more unwavering. You become more determined, you become more resolute.
What’s your resolution? Well, if you’re not resolute about it, then you’ve basically got a New Year’s “wish” and not a resolution. To be resolute means to be determined and unwavering, and if that’s not how you are about something, then you’ll give it up with time. That’s why our resolutions should be prioritized and focused on key areas of our lives such as health, finances, job, relationships, and so on. If you’re resolved, you’re not going to second-guess your decisions. If you’re resolved, you’re not going to question your ability. If you’re resolved, you’re not going to allow others to talk you out of it.
We have a sacred duty to ourselves to maximize all that we are, all that we can do, for a purpose greater than ourselves. And it’s sacred because it does make a difference in the world. If I went to the strict materialism, then there is no sacred and there is no duty. But by fulfilling your calling, maximizing your abilities and interests, being committed to the things that you're passionate about, making them more, and making a difference in the world, that's your duty. That's where our purpose is born from. That's why it's sacred. It makes the world a better place and you a better person. And what you'll find is you'll start to lose those certain loser relationships and will find healthier relationships. You’re going to get tired of dealing with people who aren’t fulfilling their direction or purpose in life, that are just interested in complaining, gossiping, and doing nothing with their life. You’ll say I know I've been friends with them half my life, but I don't want that anymore. I'm serious about my life. And I want to be around people that are serious about life so that we can inspire each other.
The sacred duty you have to yourself is to maximize all that you are, all that you can do for a purpose greater than yourself. Most people don't do that, and that's why most people are not involved with personal development or self-improvement. If anything, they're critical of it. The only critical people are those people who haven't done anything with their life. The people who are frustrated with themselves are the people who lash out. Those are the people who always have something critical to say because they're unhappy with themselves. They don't like the fact that someone like me or any other motivational speaker or post is shining a light on the fact that they haven't fulfilled their sacred duty to their own life. They haven't maximized their life, they haven't achieved their goals, and they're not happy with themselves. And to live with themselves, to be at peace with themselves, they have to silence the voices that highlight otherwise.
You don't have to replicate the past and let what happened to you destroy your future. Let your gifts, your talents, your abilities, and the things that you have the capacity to do, let that steer you and guide you. And again, if pain can cause damage in the world, then what happens when you commit yourself to your calling? What happens when you fulfill the sacred duty you have to yourself? You make the world a better place. You don't end up passing on the pain, passing on the hurt. No. Instead, you pass on motivation. You pass on wisdom, you pass on inspiration, you pass on money, you pass on resources, and property. You pass on skills. You pass on love and compassion, and you start to create, you break the vicious cycle of your backgrounding history.
If you are looking for your purpose, calling, or direction, look at what you can prove. What do you have that is empirically determined? That would be your interests, talents, gifts, abilities, knowledge, and experience. These are the things that operate within us that are unique to us. You have to take them seriously and fulfill them. They are the things that determine purpose. They are the things that determine calling. They are the things that determine your life direction. If you have an interest or a passion, take that seriously, and develop and bring it to another level. Get out of this plateau and take things up a notch. That's the responsibility that you have to yourself. And it's the best way to discern purpose in your life.
Is there a purpose to your life? Do you have any direction or meaning in your life? I believe that we all have a sacred duty—an obligation to ourselves to maximize all that we are and all that we can do. And that is where we find purpose because your purpose is not outside of you. Your purpose begins inside of you as you take your talents, gifts, abilities, interests, experience, knowledge, and passion seriously enough to maximize them.
Whether you have a fear of failure, rejection, or success, the fear is handicapping. It neutralizes people who otherwise have tremendous talent, ability, and power into a safe zone where they don’t even try. Put yourself out there and free yourself from the control of others and their criticism.
I wasn’t born with physical prowess, or wealth, or come from a family of notoriety, so I never relied on those things. Instead, I developed my abilities. I made a commitment to myself early on that I would maximize what I could do, and then I eventually added to that, maximizing who I was as a person, and those two things together, and doing those things for a purpose greater than myself was the secret. That's what made things to where I understood the true meaning of fulfillment and success. Because of this I can correct my course, make the adjustments necessary to keep moving forward, and never be impeded by self-defeat or a fear of the judgment of others.
You can't be overly concerned and make everything personal when it comes to your failures. They are just part of what it takes to be successful. You have to be willing to find out that something did not work without personalizing it and being concerned about the judgment of others. Judge yourself according to your value system in a way that isn’t discouraging and leads toward correction. That’s what failure is. It’s just a way of correcting yourself so that you are closer to success. Give yourself full permission to work hard and try new things, be the very best that you can be, and enjoy this journey. You'll have a hell of a lot better time along the way.
The fear of failure is usually deep-rooted in a low self-image. If you believe yourself to be less than others then you'll stay in your safe zone and never venture out and take risks. You think that if you were to fail then everybody would see you the way you see yourself, a failure. Your fear of failure is a fear of criticism. But what does the opinion of someone else matter anyway? Instead of being dependent or moved by the opinions' of others, be moved by your commitment to the sacred duty you have to yourself to maximize your life.
Imagine what your life would be like if you weren’t afraid to fail. Imagine what you would go after if you weren’t afraid of the judgments of others. You’d be unstoppable! But we can be stopped dead in our tracks simply because we’re afraid of the criticism that comes with failing. We’re also fearful of what criticism does which is to confirm what we’ve always believed about ourselves—that we are less than others. For now, you can hide your poor self-image behind smiles, laughter, and even kindness, so long as you don’t risk stepping out of your safe zone to try something new. So long as you stay put, and avoid risk, you don’t have to worry about being judged for failing. But the end result is that you don’t come close to reaching your potential, nor do you get the better life that goes with it! That’s why we need to overcome basic fears like the fear of failure.
Over 50% of the problems people write to me about wouldn’t happen if they were stronger individuals. People fall apart when the crisis hits, and it’s because they weren’t dealing with it beforehand. To avoid life getting into crisis mode and instead of being lazy, invest your time in your relationships, health, career, and future. Deprive yourself of the temptation to fall into ease and make yourself a stronger person who creates the kind of life you want.
If you can’t deal with small difficulties, how will you deal with the real challenges when life brings them? We know what the big challenges are, losing a job or a relationship, being sick, or not being able to pay your bills, but what about the small difficulties like the temptations of laziness, watching too much tv, or wasting time with people? We don't see these temptations as blows to the body, but they are just as damaging. If you are aware of this, then you'll toughen up by depriving yourself of that ease. It may be as simple as parking a little farther from the store's front door, cleaning out that closet or refrigerator, washing your car, doing your taxes, whatever. As long as it’s a hardship that you impose on yourself and deprives yourself of ease. Get used to telling yourself to do stuff when it needs to be done and especially when you don't feel like doing it.
Just like how a boxer will train their body to endure the suffering that comes from being hit in the ring, you must become tough to take the blows of life. And that means hardship. Don't wait until you get out in life and then get hit. It's going to knock the wind out of you. Train yourself with self-imposed hardship, whether it’s your diet, emotions, or just getting out of bed on time. Stop with all the excuses and toughen up. Don't give yourself the latitude. Don't treat yourself. Toughen yourself up because the real blows in life are coming.
The absence of hardship defines modern society, in terms of modern medicine, a stable society, democracy, technology, transportation, and all the wonderful things that we have. We just don't have the hardship that previous generations had before us. When I was a kid, I had to wait four to six weeks for delivery. Now, it takes a day or two, and luxuries like this have made us entitled and weak. To combat this we need self-imposed hardship. That means making it a little difficult on yourself. David Goggins, a Navy Seal with a remarkable story, went from a beaten down, overweight, enemy to himself in a dead-end job to the symbol of self-discipline, achievement, and overcoming through self-imposed hardship. If we're going to overcome the weakness that comes from the luxury of the time in which we live, we must begin with the awareness that that's what we can suffer from, and then do what we can daily to impose a kind of hardship, to toughen ourselves up, to become everything that we can be because that's our first duty and sacred obligation.
There are two ways to suffer hardship in life. Either life brings it to you, or you impose it on yourself. We all know people who have suffered needlessly, but we also know people who create their own hardships to toughen themselves. Our modern world of luxury and ease can create weaker, entitled, lazy people who complain over the smallest issues. Such people don’t suffer real hardship, so they’re not equipped to achieve their goals, do anything great, or handle real hardship.
I remember for the longest time people said, you know, stress is making somebody sick. The reason being is that everything in your physical body, especially digestion and metabolism, is controlled by your hormones. And if your hormones are out of whack, then there's going to be weight gain, insulin resistance, and all sorts of problems related to stress, and your adrenal glands get affected. And so people have to be literally healed in their adrenals after long seasons of trauma or hardship or stress or what have you. That's why you have got to have time to de-stress.
You’ve got to have time to get away from it all. It's important for you to do that. You can't keep carrying all the load emotionally that you're carrying. These again, are the things we don't adjust on a daily basis. And they keep building up and building up and building up. And that's why you have so many gut issues and digestive problems. You can't get that weight off because you're constantly releasing cortisol. You want your hormones to be balanced. And so to do that, you have to adjust your attitude daily.
You can program yourself for anything you want. Your mind might want to go into that negative monologue. It will start with its usual stuff about it never going to work. Everything is against you. I guess I'm always going to be this way. I hate this. This is too hard. It's taking too long. All of that stuff. You can't allow anything negative. Even if it's true, maybe it does take a long time to get what it is that you want, but if you sit there saying it, that's not going to help you. You have to change the way you say and think about it.
You have to say, no! I'm devouring the time that it takes with absolute determination and passion. I know that my character is growing with every day that I work towards my goal. Every day it gets closer and closer. I am achieving. I am winning, and I'm hungry. I'm hungry for that success. I'm hungry for that achievement. I'm determined to exceed my limitations. I'm not an old dog learning new tricks. I can adjust and change my thinking. I can transform my outlook on life, and that's exactly what I'm going to do. And so, I move forward with boldness and courage and passion, and determination with confidence, knowing that I am the cause that will create the effects that I desire. My goals are coming into view. I am going to achieve every one of them because I'm a champion. I'm wired to be a warrior. I am an overcomer. I will not be defeated, but I will defeat what's in front of me. Like a bulldozer, I will plow through it all on and on and on.
You keep these sorts of monologues going through your mind, and guess what happens, your feelings will follow your consistent thoughts.
When your negative outlook on life starts to affect you emotionally to the point of depression, that's when you start contacting somebody to get help. I had this happen in a coaching group with an individual. After a couple of minutes of talking with him, I said, “Even right now as you're listening to me, you are feeling more positive, aren't you?” And he said, “Yes, I am.” I continued, “Well, why is that? Has anything physically changed about your circumstances? No, nothing's changed. I've only been talking with you for a few minutes, so why would you suddenly feel better when nothing has tangibly changed? The difference is that by speaking I'm taking over your thought processes for just a few minutes and captivating your thought. Your feelings are immediately going to follow whatever is your consistent thought.”
You can do this for yourself with positive affirmations. Find a positive affirmation to empower you specifically in whatever you are struggling with. Even if you are having a positive day, be proactive and say your mantra morning, day, and night. Say it with emotion, volume, and movement and feel it! I guarantee you your feelings will change according to your consistent thought.
Working at a desk all day, I have to be proactive to prevent clotting in my feet. For example, I have to keep my ankles moving or raised. And by doing that, I won't end up at the doctor's. It's the same thing with our mentality, the way that we think. If we don't do things every day that stretch our minds, that promote good circulation, then we're going to end up in misalignment. And that means we start to produce poor results. Our performance suffers. We get in bad moods, we get in bad attitudes, and we turn negative. We start the naysaying and criticism and bitterness and the stress and worry and the fear and all of that stuff simply because we weren't maintaining that healthy alignment daily. So that means, again, you have to be proactive about this. Most people are not, and for me, that's probably the most important part of self-improvement, is that you are adjusting yourself every day, working every day on your mind, on your mentality, on your mindset, on your outlooks, to make sure you are seeing and speaking and doing things correctly in a way that's conducive to your growth.
When you’ve got back and neck pain, you go to the chiropractor to get “adjusted.” When your car is out of alignment, you take it in to get adjusted. And when someone at work or home has a bad attitude, you say, “They need an attitude adjustment.” But by the time you go to the chiropractor or mechanic, it’s already at a crisis point, and things reach a crisis point because we don’t do the daily adjustments to keep things aligned. This is doubly true when it comes to our attitude and mindset, or the way that we think and believe daily.
In other words, by the time I hear from people, they’re already in crisis mode. Why? It’s because they don’t take personal development seriously. They’re trying to get by on “motivational quotes” instead of working on a daily, systematic method of overall life improvement. If we don’t adjust our attitudes daily, we’ll keep hitting walls, veer into ditches, get lost, or spin our wheels going nowhere. If we want to succeed, then adjusting our thinking is primary!
Self-therapy follows the same model as an actual therapist. If someone has a false belief about something, they still have a reasoning process going on. It's just messed up. And so a breakthrough is when irrational suddenly becomes rational. When you realize you were thinking irrationally about something or someone, and you realize the coin dropped, that you were thinking wrong about something, and suddenly you saw how to think about it correctly. That's a breakthrough. That's a revelation. That's an insight coming to an understanding, coming to an awareness. And that's what therapy does.
So you can do that yourself, but most people don't. Maybe they're just focused on dealing with negative thoughts. That's okay, but that's not enough. You have to interrogate yourself. You have to spend time again with pen and paper in hand and ask yourself tough questions. And even if what you write down is not true with further interrogation, the real truth is eventually gonna come out. And that's what happens again, in therapy sessions.
If you keep reacting to stuff all the time, falling into sad times, failing to lose weight, and getting poor results at work, you need a therapy session. You have to deal with yourself. It's wrong beliefs and wrong perceptions about relationships, things that you do, and the way that you see yourself that keeps producing poor results. Change it.
Whether it’s a therapist, psychiatrist, or a coach, they are helpful because they can look at you and go by what they see. Is Tiger Woods’s golf coach a better player than Tiger Woods? Absolutely not! So, how can they coach him? Because they know all the principles, they can watch him from the outside where Tiger is making mistakes or where principles are going unapplied. The coach is very helpful with that.
You can do this for yourself by getting out a pad and pen and start writing things down. Start interrogating yourself. Begin with areas that you're struggling with. Write things out so you can begin to uncover, maybe start asking yourself even that question, where did I get this idea from? How long have I been believing this? And try to figure it out. Maybe you can write down the date when it started, right? Maybe it was a documentary you saw, a book that you read, or your upbringing. But you have to start interrogating yourself because that's exactly what a therapist would do with you.
If we're going to fix our own head, it's going to come down to self-awareness first. Are we finding identity in something outside of ourselves? Or is our identity based on what it should be based upon? Which is our value system, deeply held beliefs, gifts, talents, abilities, et cetera. This is our worldview, an all-encompassing philosophy of life. We all need one. Whether you take yours from religion or some other school of thought, we all need one. We need a totalistic way of looking at the world so that we can better identify ourselves in it. Therapy is about changing beliefs. It's about getting you to the place where you can see things differently again. Laying a sound foundation is crucial for us to work on our own mental therapy.
There are fundamental things you can do for your mental health, ways you can work on your mindset by being more cognizant of the way you process information and form your identity. Sadly, this is something most people don’t do. Signs of this are people who obsessively post selfies, complain online, or fight about politics for example. Basing your identity on the validation of others will eventually go south, leaving you unstable.
Instead, you should know who you are, what you believe, what you're about, what your goals are, and head in a particular life direction unmoved by fiery trials and the opinions of other people.
If life keeps defeating you, maybe it’s time you changed the way you perceive life and learn to fix your own head. When it comes to you and I and any form of working on our own heads, performing some self-therapy, the goal is to change our beliefs and perceptions because they can be distorted. Those things can be irrational. You'd be amazed at how many of us are irrational. If you haven't done any work on your own head yourself, you can be irrational. Your perception of your problems is distorted, and your perception of your condition is exaggerated and skewed. You can't even see yourself or your diagnosis properly. So, we must fix our own heads.
Can we be our own therapists? Can we be the best counselors and coaches that we could have? I believe that is the case. Do what you can to get your foundation established with sound thinking and an optimistic outlook, a healthy way of looking at yourself and life without denying things, without denying the negativity of the world, and without denying the reality of your negative or problematic circumstances. Embracing all of those things, but changing the way you see yourself because your best defense in life is a stronger you. And if we can change the way we believe about ourselves, you're going to start attacking your problems in a way like you never have before.
All this week, we’ve been talking about the four things that represent POWER, and they are ability, authority, creativity, and influence. And these are all determined by our words.
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Our words affect our ability when we say, “I can’t,” instead of, “I can.”
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Our words affect our authority when we start to say, “I’m in control.”
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Our words affect our creativity when we affirm who we are and what we have.
And today, our words affect our INFLUENCE when we use them to affect the character, development, thinking, and behavior of others in a positive way.
It goes without saying that this can be used negatively, and it is often done that way. Negative people make more people negative just as positive people can make more people positive.
However, what you don’t want to do is correct others for being negative, because to them, that’s negative. And, you shouldn’t need to do that.
You can’t force people to be positive, so the objective is to INFLUENCE them with your words and actions. Trust me, without dealing with them directly, they will get the message loud and clear, and they can either embrace your example and use it for change or forsake and remain where they are.
Either way, it shouldn’t affect you. You just continue to walk, live, and behave in a way that is powerful and positive and let those who are ready for change pursue you for more information and support.
We are not here to judge others. We are here to set an example.
Therefore, try to be more intentional about how you phrase things around others. Don’t try to exhibit false humility. If you believe in yourself, then speak that way. It’s not arrogant to state your beliefs even if they are about yourself or your confidence in your future.
We also need to be careful of our complaining, because we can be positive about ourselves but negative about the world, and that will also have a negative effect on others.
We can critique our world with a positive spin!
As we continue to shift into using POWER WORDS instead of just learning to lessen our negative speaking, it’s important that we learn about the CREATIVE power of words.
Power is also creativity, and that’s when you bring into reality something that wasn’t there before.
When I say this, I’m not talking about anything magical, although it can often appear that way.
The MOST IMPORTANT thing that you can create is your ENVIRONMENT.
Your environment is the conditions that surround your life that is both seen and unseen, and what I’d like to focus on are the UNSEEN aspects of your environment.
Your words are what create the unseen conditions of your environment and that will be felt by you and others.
Although there are multiple explanations for this phenomenon, the simple truth is that you can create your own positive environment that you live in—and that environment will shield you.
You can create an aura of creative energy to envelope you by learning to speak positive, powerful words at all times.
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“I am a magnet of good things.”
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“I am a powerful force in this world.”
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“Nothing is impossible for me.”
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“Life will bend to my persistence.”
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“I see myself ALREADY where I want to be.”
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“I already POSSESS all that I’ll ever need.”
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“I already have what it is that I want.”
Now, it’s important to note that I’m not talking about greed or rank materialism, or selfishness. In fact, these principles may not work unless your power statements reflect only things that you know are right and good, and that stem from who you are and what you have the potential to do and be.
You wouldn’t truly BELIEVE something that didn’t reflect or represent the real you.
But, if we’re talking about manifesting all that you are, and all that you can do, then you should AMPLIFY your words ten-fold to begin to truly DRAW on the power within you.
This week, we’re moving beyond just learning to speak more positively. We’re shifting into POWER WORDS, which is a way of speaking that changes ourselves as well as our environment.
In the last episode, we mentioned the four things that represent POWER, and they are ability, authority, creativity, and influence.
We covered ABILITY, which is found in the statement, “I CAN.”
Today, we’re talking about AUTHORITY, which means, “permission and power to exert control.”
First, we have to get past any negative connotations we have about exerting control.
We don’t like people trying to control us, but control is inescapable. The issue is whether or not you’re exercising the needed control in your life.
You won’t do that if you don’t have one thing squared away first…
YOU have the AUTHORITY to control every aspect of your life that works to maximize who you are and what you can do.
Believe it or not, some people don’t believe they have that authority:
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They look for permission and approval from others.
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They rely upon the opinions of others.
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They often ask, “Is this okay?”
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They think their circumstances have more authority than their desires.
This last one is a big one. This is why some people say, “I guess it’s just not meant to be,” whenever they encounter resistance from life and people.
No, it’s not that it’s not meant to be, it’s that it’s just not easy to do or accomplish.
The authority is not found in your circumstances or other people. The authority is found in you and your ability, talents, passions, and desires.
Therefore, whenever you experience resistance, start to exercise authority in those instances by saying, “I’m in control, and I don’t accept them. I’m here to change things, and life will obey me.”
Think of it just like a police officer pulling up to a situation. The first thing that happens is that authority gets exercised over people and circumstances.
As I said, my goal in this series is to move beyond just stopping negative speaking and learning to speak more positively. The goal is to shift you into POWER WORDS.
What are power words?
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Power means ability.
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Power means authority.
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Power means creativity. (esp. our environment)
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Power means influence.
Today, we’re talking about ability, and how our words need to align with the power we have within us.
The single most powerful statements for failure begin with I CAN’T….
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I can’t figure things out.
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I can’t be a better husband or wife.
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I can’t be consistent with the training and nutrition.
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I can’t afford it.
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I can’t live up to my expectations.
Are the words, “I can’t,” even true? No, they’re not.
Of course, you can. Look at all you’ve done so far. Don’t let your frustration with your circumstances and yourself be your justification for speaking words that limit or diminish your personal power.
Again, POWER means ABILITY, and ability means that you have all that’s needed in order to act powerfully to change any area of your life.
It all begins with using the phrase, “I can,” before anything you say.
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I can solve this problem.
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I can get out of debt.
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I can get the career I want.
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I can lose this weight.
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I can meet the right person.
Start everything with “I can,” and your mind will eventually start to believe it.
“Those people who tell you not to take chances, they are all missing on what life’s about.
You only live once so take hold of the chance.
Don’t end up like others the same song and dance.
Motorbreath, it’s how I live my life.
I can’t take it any other way.”
You don’t want to end up like others who never create the life they want. They never go for their goals. They stay where they are in life—forever parked in an abandoned lot.
Someone needs “Motorbreath.” They need to breathe and speak the kind of words that create better things.
Next to thoughts—and sometimes even more so—nothing is as powerful in your own life—for good or bad—than the words of your mouth.
Our words reveal:
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What we believe about ourselves.
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What we believe about life.
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What we believe about our fate & future.
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What we believe about others.
Our words are our way of reinforcing what we most desire.
At first hearing, you might say, “No, that’s not true. Just because I complain about things, or talk negatively, doesn’t mean I want to remain like that.”
I agree, but why would you continue to speak that way if you truly desire something different?
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You speak that way because you’re frustrated.
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You speak that way because you want to place blame on circumstances and people.
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You speak that way because deep down, you believe you shouldn’t have to work that hard.
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You speak that way because you believe you’re a victim.
What you don’t realize is that there’s real power in your words and that they do help to create your reality whether good or bad. As the old saying goes, “You can have what you say.”
And until you realize that your negative speaking is helping to keep you trapped where you are, then you’re going to continue in that negative cycle, and you won’t break free.
The end result is that you’ll blame circumstances and people outside of you, and even worse, you’ll start to believe you’re unique and that the principles of success or personal change don’t work for you.
Then you’re really trapped!
Now imagine what would change if you started to speak positively AND start speaking in a way so as to create a new reality for yourself. This will happen because energy is created by the words of our mouths.
And once you realize the power of words, you’ll start to use them more effectively.
Your thoughts will follow your words, so speaking is how we either reinforce the way we presently believe or help us transform our beliefs.
In this way, words have creative power.
My goal in this series is not simply to try and convince you to stop speaking negatively. It’s even more than just trying to get you to speak positively.
The goal is to shift you into POWER WORDS, and this is a whole different approach to life creation.
A big problem with those who deal with anxiety is when they don’t have a long-term solution. Understandably, they would focus on short-term solutions like medications to deal with the overwhelming nature of anxiety, but real deliverance is only found in something long-term.
The typical argument is that anxiety and depression are chemical, so the solutions need to be based upon the chemical support of medication.
If someone’s anxiety issues are severe, then they may need medication for a period of time in order to stabilize themselves. Much like a trauma patient in an emergency room need to be stabilized before any surgery can be done.
I don’t have a problem with medication so long as there is a strategy to it and a deadline. Medication is hopefully not a long-term solution.
I’m hard-pressed to find someone who is serious about their personal development; who is very informed and diligent about their nutrition; and who trains vigorously, that is contending with severe depression or anxiety. Maybe they exist, but I haven’t met any.
You can live in a paradise of your choosing if that’s what you spend your time meditating upon. As we’ve said, worry is more of a mental thing. It’s something that can be stated in certain terms.
For example, if someone tells you they’re worried, and you ask them what they’re worried about, would they say, “Oh, I don’t know. I’m just worried?” No. They would tell you specifically what they’re worried about.
Worry is something that happens in the mind. It can affect emotions, but it is primarily something that occupies our mental space.
Whatever you think about, you will eventually feel, experience, and see in your life.
If you want to change your approach to things, then you have to change the way you think, so you have to be the master of your mind.
When it comes to worrying, you have to attack the thing that you’re worried about. Why? Because it empowers you. It puts you in a more dominant position.
If we don’t walk in the “gatekeeper mentality,” then we create a vicious cycle of allowing things in that will fester and grow which we will later spew out of our mouths and attitudes. This is how we get trapped.
So, if you are fretful and worried, then you know have allowed these things in your life.
As we said previously, fretfulness is a general emotional state from which we approach everything. We become agitated and sensitive about everything, and whenever we encounter a difficult situation, we get worked up about it.
This is a troubled heart, but we created it. In other words, we can’t blame it on politics, people, our race, gender, etc.
Worry is more of a mental thing—it’s something on your mind. It’s something that can be rationally stated. Fretfulness is a general emotional state, but the worry is specific.
Anxiety, as I said, is a combination of the two, but we have to deal with fretting and worrying first.
There are three levels of a troubled heart: to be fretful, to be worried, and to be anxious.
We have the potential to deal with all three of these at all times.
What’s important to note is that just because you worry, or are fretful, from time to time, does not make you a weak person. People with great responsibility have good reason to be overcome with concern—especially when it involves things that are outside of one’s control.
However, we need to be aware of these things because they can undermine our success and progress.
This is why I live by a fundamental principle that I am the overseer, or gatekeeper, of my life. What I allow in, comes in. Why I refuse to allow in, does not.
The problem that most people have is that they don’t walk with that sort of awareness. They just let life happen. They just let whatever comes in stay in their hearts and minds.
This process, however, is two-fold. First, we need to guard against what tries to enter our hearts and minds, but second, we need to guard against what comes out of us too.
For example, if you have bitterness, meanness, anger, negativity, doubt, or anything else, coming out of your mouth, then you know that your heart is full of those things.
There’s a verse that says, “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” In other words, what we say is an indicator of what’s in our hearts.
If we can deal with those things that try to enter in quickly, then we can get rid of them before they take root. Like weeds and unwanted foliage, the longer you wait, the deeper and stronger the roots grow.
What is a troubled heart? It’s a heart in conflict. It’s a heart that’s agitated constantly by life. A troubled heart doesn’t get much relief, but the torment—a great deal of it—is self-created.
A troubled heart usually shows up in three ways:
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Fretting
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Worrying
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Anxiety
Fretting is a general emotional outlook on situations and people in which someone is agitated or sensitive at just about everything. Worry is more mental than emotional and is usually based on specific circumstances.
Anxiety, on the other hand, is more extreme. It’s like fretting and worrying mixed together and then put on steroids!
Still, a lot of these conditions can begin by our own doing, and this is not something people like to hear. Especially those who deal with more chronic issues like anxiety or depression. They are defensive because they first feel powerless, and they don’t want to hear that it’s their fault or that they should try to “snap out of it.”
And they’re correct. They are powerless when severe emotions or conditions take over. They can’t just “snap out of it,” and I know that firsthand, so you won’t hear me say it. I understand what they’re dealing with.
However, people in these conditions do seek out help, and that assistance often comes in the form of medication; but medication is not a long-term solution, so I’d like to talk about some long-term options to help all of us gain the upper hand over our fretting, worrying and the more extreme conditions of anxiety and depression.
Winning the daily battles of life means we need to quit being soft with what resists us and enter the dog fight, and that means being ferocious, or as I’ve been saying this week, “creating density to your intensity.”
Creating density means doing things that affect us more deeply much the same as the bodybuilder lifts very heavy weight to stimulate more muscle fibers at a deeper level. This creates a thickness that really helps him or her stand out.
We must improve our technique of self-control, which means controlling our reactions, and that’s a tough one.
Most of us live more by reaction than deliberate action. We respond to situations out of our emotions with little consideration of the consequences or outcome.
The goal should be to create our behaviors beforehand in order to achieve predetermined outcomes.
This means you need a mission statement of sorts when it comes to other people whether family member, friend, co-worker, employer, or even a stranger.
What’s the main thing I want to have happen as a result of my interaction with these people?
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Do I want to leave them inspired?
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Do I want to put them down so I can be elevated?
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Do I want to make them feel stupid?
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Do I want to intimidate them?
Let these things determine the way you react to people. That’s why I can have people following me from all over the political and social spectrum. My goal is to win and influence people, and my going off on things is sure to alienate people for the wrong reasons. Sometimes, yes, you have to make a stand regardless of who it offends, but fighting on Facebook over politics, for example, is not a hill that you or I should want to die on.
Lastly, there’s self-discipline, which is different than self-control. Self-discipline is about getting yourself to do those things you need to do when you don’t feel like doing them.
In short, self-discipline is created in one of two ways:
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You’re disciplined by the threat of punishment.
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You’re disciplined by the offer of reward.
The military will discipline you by the threat of punishment. If you don’t make your bed and pass inspection, you’ll be doing push ups and cleaning latrines.
Parents can sometimes create discipline by reward. If you do your chores, you’ll get an allowance. If you graduate with honors, they’ll buy you a car.
I find that when it comes to self-discipline, the best way is to create by reward, and that means constantly reminding yourself of what you get if you do those things you need to do when you don’t feel like doing them.
We do need to get stronger, but winning will come down to something more than strength. It’ll come down to a superior technique in personal disciplines.
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The technique of self-talk.
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The technique of visualization.
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The technique of thought control.
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The technique of self-control (reactions).
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The technique of self-discipline.
We also need to direct the images of our mind, because nothing is more real to us than the images of our minds. This is why we can worry ourselves to death, or get ourselves worked up over someone else even when they’re not there with us. We do it all through the pictures in our minds.
As with self-talk, it helps to have set times and opportunities to direct your positive imaging. Again, try to use those times when you’re doing things that don’t require a lot of thought like housework, cooking, eating, walking dogs, training, or driving. Start holding certain images in your mind as you do these things.
You might say this is too difficult, but your mind has no problem visualizing the things you’re worried about all day. It’s just learning a new habit.
If you find yourself struggling with this exercise, then you may want to help yourself by having set times to just meditate and visualize. Find your quiet place and try to visualize positive things. Even if it’s just pretty scenes that have no content other than they’re peace and beauty. The goal is to learn how to control and create the things your mind sees.
This leads naturally to thought control which has more to do with the way you interpret things and then holding those things in your mind.
For example, if you believe “nothing good ever happens to you,” then you’ll naturally highlight the bad things that do happen to you and disregard when good things happen. Why? Because taking account of the good things doesn’t fit your self-created narrative about your life. Bad things happen to you. You’re the victim. Therefore, you’re excused from having to improve your life—because you’re a victim!
So, controlling your thoughts means you’re not allowing certain narratives and interpretations to remain in your mind. This will take effort, and it means you’ll need to speak out loud to yourself in order to reorient your thinking.
Today, I want to talk about the struggle itself, which we’ll define as “striving to attain something in the face of difficulty or resistance,” and that which we’re after is supremacy.
So think of the main things you’re fighting against.
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Is it your body?
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Is it your emotions?
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Is it your relationships?
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Is it your finances?
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Is it your career?
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Is it your stress?
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Is it your depression?
Gaining supremacy in any of these areas comes down to the same thing: winning the daily struggles in which life is trying to keep you down and defeated.
The more of these battles you win, the more you’re guaranteed to win the war, and that victory means you’ll be the dominator in every area of your life.
To win in these daily struggles means you’ve got to get stronger, and you’ve got to improve your technique.
Getting stronger we understand, but improving technique is where a lot of people miss it.
Technique is a “skillful or efficient way of doing or achieving something.”
For example, consider an MMA fighter. They can be strong but have weak technique, and good technique is what wins most battles. When the UFC first started, the Gracies were winning most of the fights because they were so good at Ju Jitsu, but they were fairly scrawny guys.
Here’s some techniques you need to improve in:
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The technique of self-talk.
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The technique of visualization.
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The technique of thought control.
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The technique of self-control (reactions).
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The technique of self-discipline.
Self-talk is probably the most important technique to develop because it’s the foundation to all the others. If the constant flow of conversation in your mind is self-supportive and self-edifying, then it becomes much easier to visualize, meditate, and control your emotional responses.
We tend to react to things because we’re already in a state of anxiety, frustration, sadness, or anger.
Therefore, the more we work on our self-talk, the less these things will have the predominance.
Predominance means “being greater in number or amount,” and that’s what happens when we don’t control our self-talk. The greater amount of the conversations going on within us are negative, destructive, or counter productive.
To improve your technique, you have to start directing your self-talk now, and that will require you being overly deliberate at first about this, but you can practice it.
For example, although I like to listen to music as I’m taking my dogs out, making food and eating, or training, I’ll often use those times to practice my self-talk.
A dog fight is a ferocious struggle for supremacy, so that means you need to get ferocious!
What does ferocious mean? It means to be “savagely fierce,” and being fierce means having “an intense aggressiveness.”
Predators are naturally fierce, but on the human level, we see it in competitive sports—particularly any sport involving contact. Fighters, for example, know that a deep ferocity is needed to win against an opponent. That’s why fighters will often look each other in the eye before a fight. They can tell by the eyes whether their opponent is unsure of themselves.
To become more fierce, you’ve got to increase your desire for what you say you want. Why? Because the goal is to create “density in your intensity.”
If something is dense, it’s compacted, or tightly fit into a small space.
Bodybuilders, for example, want more than big muscle—they want dense muscle.
You have love for your friends, but you have dense love for your children. It’s a myriad of emotions tightly compacted together and focused on your children.
For a bodybuilder to create density, they have to lift especially heavy weight—something they can only lift for 4-6 reps. Why? Because it stimulates more muscle fibers at a deeper level.
You’ll have to do things in order to create greater density in your life.
Life is a war and each day is a battle. That’s how merciless life can be. It doesn’t let up. It just keeps coming. Yet, for some reason, we think there will be easier days ahead if we just had enough money, just had the right job, just looked the right way, just had the ideal relationship.
The old saying goes, “Higher levels, bigger devils.” In other words, there’s no letting up in the dog fight of life. Sure, a lot can get easier, but something else will happen…
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If you get those things you want, then what? Will you stop working so hard? If so, guess what happens? Life comes back at you with struggle, heartache, setbacks, and more and it brings friends with it!
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If you get those things you want, but then you push yourself to even greater things, then you’ll meet up with life’s resistance again, since life won’t lay out the red carpet for you.
All to say, the battle’s are here to stay. Sure, you’re going to have lots of great times too, but life’s just that way.
However, you can grow in your personal strength and those battles won’t affect you emotionally like they used to, and that’s goal when it comes to self-improvement or personal growth.
The goal is always to create a stronger you.
What is a dog fight? It’s a “ferocious struggle for supremacy.”
That’s the big question? Who or what has supremacy over you?
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Does junk food have supremacy over you?
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Does anger have supremacy over you?
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Does porn have supremacy over you?
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Does self-defeat have supremacy over you?
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Does negativity have supremacy over you?
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Does a bad habit have supremacy over you?
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Do other people have supremacy over you?
No matter what you’re struggling against, the real fight is with yourself, isn’t it? It’s not people that have supremacy over you, it’s your belief about what they think, say, or do that gives them power over you.
You see, the problem for us is that life is fighting against us ferociously, but we’re not meeting that resistance with equal ferocity.
As I like to say, “Life is merciless, so show no mercy!”
If you truly want to experience real achievement and lasting change, then you’re going to have to win the daily battles—at least as much of them as you can—and this is where you focus your efforts.
Sometimes, we get so consumed with where we want to be that lose sight of the importance of right now. We lose sight of the fact that there is no future until you learn to master the moment—until you learn to master your state of mind. And THIS is a dog fight!
Whenever we come up against life’s resistance, we have two options: we can whine, or we can work. We can bitch, or we can build.
The only way to defeat life’s resistance is by work—by continuing to build no matter what storms are blowing.
This is the force of consistency—when you keep at your daily disciplines regardless of what others do, or don’t do, and no matter the social, cultural, or political environment may be.
They don’t affect you anymore because you no longer place your expectations there. Your expectations are reserved only for you. You are the responsible one, and your response should always be work.
Now, when I say, “Work,” I don’t mean just going to your job. Everything requires work. Thinking is work. Developing yourself is work. Guarding your attitude is work. Everything involves work.
For too many of us, work truly has become a four-letter word, but in actuality, it’s one of the greatest, and most powerful things we have.
• Work is how we create.
• Work is how we develop.
• Work is how change.
• Work is how we build.
Do we honestly think that complaining can create, develop, change, or build? You’d think so based upon the way society is behaving.
There is power in gratefulness.
Gratefulness means that we show appreciation and thankfulness for anything that does not come by our own effort—and there’s a lot of that!
And gratefulness heals because false expectations are a wound. After all, we complain about what hurts us.
Gratefulness is something we express, which means the power to heal ourselves is completely in our hands.
One thing I’ve learned about nutrition is that someone needs to get their body healthy first before they’re concerned about losing weight. You could lose weight but still be unhealthy, and a healthy body will naturally burn fat.
A good nutritionist will have you heal your organs and balance your system before they focus you exclusively on weight loss or muscle building.
It’s the same with success and gratefulness.
You shouldn’t focus on success until you first adjust your attitude. You must make it healthy and that begins with practicing gratefulness.
If you believe that you cannot maximize your life because of others, or your circumstances, then you’ve misplaced your expectations.
When you take the expectations off of society and others, then you must replace it with gratitude for all the things you didn’t create or supply.
That would be an endless list of things!
This is practicing gratefulness, and it’s something you should do daily until your mind is transformed, and it becomes your permanent belief system.
You would be healed of so much this way.
When you grow up, it’s supposed to mean you stop acting like a child.
But for a lot of us, we hang on to one aspect of childhood…
If you have kids, you know what complaining sounds like. We give to our children because we love them, but when you combine what they receive at home with what they receive in society, it can easily give rise to entitlement and expectation.
Then they complain when things don’t go their way.
I never permitted this with my kids. Such attitudes must always be countered, and it must be done so immediately.
This is what correction means: it means to adjust something for a different, or better result.
In other words, correction is not about being angry. It’s not about vengeance. It’s about instruction. It’s about changing attitudes and behaviors in order to create a better result.
So, what are we correcting? We’re correcting our complaining.
• Complain: express dissatisfaction or annoyance about a state of affairs or an event.
• Whine: a feeble or petulant complaint.
• Petulant: (of a person or their manner) childishly sulky or bad-tempered.
Why do children complain, and how often are their complaints justified? Why then do we believe our complaining is justified?
We ourselves have become bad-tempered and childishly sulky. We’re acting like children.
And responsibility and government goes to adults, not children, and this is why a lot of people are where they are in life. Yet, they believe they should rise the top anyway, and complaining is how they get their way.
Our objective should be to turn whining into work and bitching into building.
As I said in the first episode, expectations are a strong belief that something will happen, and if that’s directed towards others, or society, it will surely give rise to complaining.
But why is complaining so bad?
Complaining is bad because it means you’re never going to develop yourself into who you have the capacity to be, and that’s because you place too much stock in your environment.
People complain a lot about politicians and government because they believe their way of life is determined more by what happens outside of them than what they do for themselves.
Having our expectations directed towards what’s outside of us weakens us but personal development begins when direct our expectations towards ourselves.
So, do you have a strong belief that you will make things happen? That’s what it means to have your expectations directed at yourself.
Should we still have expectations on others and institutions? Of course. The issue is how much we place expectations upon these things.
The greater expectation should always be on ourselves, but we have to do it without condemning ourselves.
You’ve probably heard the phrase, “You have no one to blame but yourself.” It’s true. No matter what it is you’re facing, the responsibility is yours as to whether you’ll overcome or be overcome.
Just realize that placing expectations on things or people outside of you is a position of weakness.
Complain, complain, complain. Whine, whine, whine.
Don’t we hear enough of this on social media? Why is that?
Don’t we live in an age of abundance? You’re flooded with choices, resources, opportunities, and more, and yet a society has never whined so much as ours.
How do we explain this?
• Entitlement
• Expectation
Entitlement is the belief that “one is inherently deserving of privileges or special treatment.”
Do you know what inherently means? It means that something exists as “a permanent, essential, or characteristic attribute.”
People have to come to believe that they deserve privileges and special treatment from others, from society, and from institutions, BECAUSE of a permanent attribute within themselves.
They feel they are entitled to a life of ease and without suffering.
Expectation is the STRONG belief that something WILL happen.
Just the fact that people have so much expectation demonstrates just how easy we’ve got it, and yet, people complain even more.
For example, try to imagine what the average person received from a king during the Middle Ages. Do you think they expected anything more than oppression, taxation, or the confiscation of their property?
Therefore, the fact that we complain as much as we do is the only proof you need that we have it better than any generation or society ever has. Our abundance and luxury has taught us to expect more rather than induce greater thankfulness.
We express more dissatisfaction than we do gratefulness. We’re a nation of brats.
Does that mean we should live without any expectations?
Your expectations should be directed at yourself and not your environment.
Your environment should receive gratitude. Why? Because you’re sustained by it, yet you had nothing to do with it.
But what if your circumstances are bad? Doesn’t matter. Be grateful there are resources you can use to get out of where you are. Your expectations must be focused on you.
The challenge with placing expectations only on yourself is that you can easily let yourself down. So long as you remember that you’re in a process—and no one is perfect—you can continue to move forward.
If you're going to conquer your giant, you have to become a giant. Giants are exaggerated versions of something real. Well, then it's time to exaggerate who you are. You've got to start realizing that you too are a giant. It has to do with the heart, the strength of your core, and your vantage point. If your vantage point is better, then you're going to see yourself better. You're not going to focus so much on the size of your enemy. You're focusing on the size of your own heart, the size of your strength, the size of your ability. See yourself as the real giant.
People always want the secret. People always want something more glamorous, something more magical. There has got to be some mystery to all this. No, it's about a daily grind, focusing on the fundamentals, governing the little things. If you can't conquer these little things, you can't conquer the big things. You have to master and govern your present in order to conquer the giants blocking the way to your ideal future. When you do, your mind starts to visualize it and that creates frustration. And pretty soon, you start to move and press against the membrane of resistance and you'll be facing that giant and you'll win.
The stronger you are, the more enthusiastic you'll be about facing what's intimidating you. You don't need to focus on your fears, you need to build up your strength to face your fears.
Fear doesn't have to do with what you know intellectually or rationally. It has to do with what you see in your mind's eye and is an exaggerated interpretation of something real.The courageous person still has fears. It's just that they have a greater trust in their ability to move in the face of those fears. And that's a powerful, powerful difference.
Most fears are exaggerated interpretations of common circumstances. There are fears that lie within and without, and these fears are our giants that we all face. They are the intimidating things that we keep putting off or we refuse to face. Well, it's time to face them. If you're trying to overcome fear, the key is to focus on building strength and the fear will take care of itself. Courage is the ability to face your fears, not the absence of fear.
It's a bad thing if you can't be corrected. It's a bad thing if people can't speak into your life. We see this all the time on and offline, people who cannot be corrected. They're never wrong. It's tough. You have to be open to correction and instruction. What makes this easier is if you believe there are objective standards to measure and judge ourselves. Judgment is necessary, but it doesn't have to be condemnatory. You don't have to take it that way. You can judge poor performance, feel bad about it without turning on yourself, stepping up your game and moving forward. You will feel good about yourself because you know you're committed to that. So long as you know you're committed to that, you will feel good about yourself and able to be open to instruction.
If you were strong mentally to where you could understand that you were not perfect, but you still have a purpose and a function, and you have all the power and ability in the world to become everything that you have the power to be, you would not care what anyone else says. You wouldn't be bothered by the subjective standards of other people, right? Why are we so concerned trying to measure up to the subjective standards of imperfect people? I'm not going by the subjective standard, but if someone comes in and shows me the objective standard, then I'll measure up. If it's wisdom, then it is a part of that objective standard that judges all of us. It doesn't matter who's saying it. What matters is the truth. What matters is what wisdom is saying to us.
Nobody's perfect. Isn't that the excuse that everybody uses? When someone fails you hear, "Well, nobody's perfect.” We understand nobody's perfect, but that doesn't mean you just let yourself get by with poor performance. If you want to feel good about yourself, then you need, first of all, that simple understanding, that way of looking at it, to know that we are always growing. We are always striving, We are always trying to improve. Knowing we don't fully measure up, and then looking objectively at the things we need to change to do better without condemning ourselves, without making ourselves feel guilty, without turning and becoming an enemy to ourselves. You can judge yourself without being your own defeatist, without falling into self-defeat, self-condemnation, and having an inferiority complex about it.
Life will judge you. Society will judge you. Those close to you are going to judge you. Some say you shouldn’t judge others, but it'd be a terrible, terrible world if there wasn't judgment in it. You don't get to live like a devil and go without judgment. So, don't buy into this nonsense that people tout online all the time, that you should just feel good about yourself for no particular reason at all, that you're supposed to blow sunshine up your ass. And that's what motivation is all about, that’s what feeling good about yourself is all about. No, it isn't. Sometimes you have an objective reason, valid reasons to not feel good about yourself. You shouldn't feel good about poor performance. Therefore, if you truly want to feel good about yourself, it's not about pleasing others, It's about pleasing yourself. And pleasing yourself needs to be based on a standard of judgment. And that standard can't be something you just make up. That standard has to be something objective.
So when it comes to feeling good about yourself, which standard are you operating by? Are you operating by the subjective opinion of someone else? Or are you operating in terms of the objective standard that exists in the world? Because if you're dealing with the objective standard that is in the world, then guess what? And this may sound like a shock. You may have good reason not to feel good about yourself. The point is to say, I recognize where I'm failing and I'm committed to personal change. Give yourself then good reason to feel good about yourself.
There are enemies to your progress and you need to get fired up to go after them. You need to transform and transition into the warrior. This is not going to be easy because your rebellious mind is going to fight you at every point. It's going to fight to stay secure, it's going to fight to keep the status quo. It's going to fight to keep things at peace. It's going to fight to not upset other people. Your mind is going to fight you. But if you get on the warpath, then your mind is going to have to go along. Put on your war paint, it’s going to be a blood bath.
The purpose of the Native American’s war dance was to transition the men from husbands and hunters into tribal warriors. They would go as so far as to paint their faces and bodies and dance around the fire. It became a passage into a different state of mind. For me, my war dance is just little things, for example, the metal cuffs I wear on my wrists, listening to heavy metal, reading empowering books, and more. They are little things that add up to my war dance, my transition into a warrior spirit. What is your war dance?
Anger can be healthy when it's balanced with an equal love for wisdom and the principles that govern achievement, success, and personal transformation. Seek them out, read about them, study them, apply them, and meditate on them. Shouldn't you love the wisdom that is found in the world, the great storehouses of knowledge and understanding that have been given to us by generations past? Should we not love and treasure those things and seek to apply them? Absolutely. If we do, then we have the balance to what we perceive to be the negative emotion of anger. If you love wisdom, if you love principles, if you love these laws, you are not going to be given over to the dark side of anger.
Some people have acquiesced and made peace with the circumstances that resist them, with the people that resist them, with the problems in themselves that resist them. They have made peace because they haven't been able to win, they haven't been able to overcome, they haven't been able to achieve. And so they just learn to settle. They learn to put up with it. I don't want you to settle. I don't want you to make peace. I want you to do what's necessary to get the fire stirred up in you again and release some fury.
Anger is necessary so that you won't tolerate certain things in the world. We have made peace with what opposes us. So, I want to see you go on the warpath. I want to see you release some of that aggression against the enemies of your progress. As long as you are equally in love with the principles that govern and make a good world, your anger will be healthy, your fury will be in balance.
Discouragement is the loss of confidence and courage, and that happens not when you doubt yourself or others, but when you doubt that applying any principles will work for you. The result is that you take yourself out of the fight of life. Climbing out of discouragement is a reversal of the same way you got into it, which is by multiple disappointments. Therefore, you need little achievements to build yourself back up. Your soul needs a steady stream of good news. You also need to fall in love with the principles, which means reading non-fiction books about the areas of life that you’re dealing with. If I find someone that’s really discouraged, I can almost guarantee they don’t do a lot of reading. If they did, the knowledge of principles and absolutes would offset the way they exaggerate their circumstances.
I tend to speak more about ideals and principles than I do simple “how-to’s.” The reason is that I want to create a stronger version of you, and “how to’s” don’t achieve it. They are simple steps to get out of a particular situation. I do try to provide steps on how to do things, but what’s most important is a transformation of your worldview, because that’s what will create a stronger, better version of you. The other part is that we all need daily inspiration, and I find nothing more inspirational than absolutes. My goal is to ground us in the absolutes so that we have the strongest resistance to the effects of disappointment.
Discouragement doesn’t come on all at once. We don’t normally get discouraged after one disappointment. It takes time for continual disappointment to turn into discouragement. You may experience disappointment, but you still hang on to hope, and you still have your confidence. Over time, however, you can start to lose hope and confidence both in yourself and in the principles that govern life. But if you can keep your mind on the absolutes—the things that never change—then you can rebuild your life no matter what happens to your circumstantially. Your circumstances are subject to change. The absolutes are not. Therefore, focus on the absolutes.
It’s helpful for you to know that things you can’t control will let you down. And what happens when you let yourself down? This is why personal development is so important. Your self-confidence is at risk when you continually disappoint yourself. People might consider motivational teachers like me to be “self-confident,” but the truth is that it’s not so much that I’m confident in myself as it is that I’m confident in the absolutes—the truths, wisdom, and principles that govern this world.
What’s important when dealing with disappointment is not denying it but rather not letting it turn into something else: discouragement. There’s a big difference between disappointment and discouragement. You can push past disappointment, but if you’re discouraged, then something has been taken out of you. Discouragement means a loss of confidence and enthusiasm. It means to be dispirited—to lose one’s spirit, drive, and vitality. You essentially become like a body in a coffin. The life is gone. That’s why we must change the way we see and handle disappointment.
What are the enemies of your progress? Where do you find yourself wasting time that could be used to be productive and achieve more in life? Instead of talking about your hopes and dreams, why don’t you cut out the time-wasting crap in your day and put some action into producing your desired results.
You can go from being shy, lazy, and doing nothing to being a world changer just by getting that taste for productivity, results, the difference you created, and the problems you solved. You did it, and you can high-five yourself and be built up and empowered to go out there and do more. Writing down the same goals every day is a healthy process to keep you focused on these goals and keep them refined. Doing this will give you a taste for productivity and guide you towards being a world changer.
Producers oversee a project’s accomplishment and when it comes to your life, you are the producer. So, it’s important that you have a meeting regularly with yourself about what needs to get done and what you're going to accomplish.
The key is to get yourself into the mindset to say my objective in life is to produce results. My objective in life is to have desired outcomes.
If you're not producing results, if you're not good at what you do, your mind is never going to believe a million positive thoughts. You are your ultimate coach in life, and there's nothing that's going to motivate you more than seeing the kind of results that you desire.
It always comes back to money, and it’s dangerous to assume the future will be like the past when it comes to your finances. Everything is capital, so you should continually be investing in yourself, your relationships, and looking for new opportunities to create more wealth.
Are you going the extra mile to out serve your competitors? Putting in the extra effort is what will make that sale, get you that promotion, and make new business opportunities. You should always be investing in yourself, always be improving.
Life has a way where you wake up one day and there's a note on the refrigerator and she or he is gone. We tend to get wrapped up in our own issues and pull away from that person. We’re no longer serving, understanding, or investing in one another, we’re not future proofing our relationship. It's an investment and you have to look at it that way.
Invest in getting to know your body and what you should be eating so you can preserve your health in the future.
If you want something in life to last, you have to future proof it. It's not that difficult. It just requires some thought, some planning, and maybe a little education, but this is your life we're talking about. You can't sit on the couch forever because life is going to catch up with you. Bad health, divorce, rebellious kids, a pink slip, getting fired, it’s all going to catch up with you if you do nothing.
If you want to be happier every day, then you’ve got to be more enthusiastic. You do this by finding your reasons for living at a higher level, for living with greater passion, and for being what you need to be to the people around you.
What’s the one thing we’re the most ill-equipped for? It is relationships. With an over 50% divorce rate, most of us were raised with bad examples and were never taught the keys to a healthy relationship. Here’s the first thing that must change.
When you don’t have a plan for something better, you end up slacking your way through life, because there’s nothing to hope in or work towards. By changing the way you see today, you’ll discover the power it contains to create a better tomorrow.
When it comes to the important areas of life, the reasons why you SHOULD do something will often exceed the reasons why you don’t. Even when you’re struggling with your relationships, your health, or your job, there’s usually more reasons to hang in there than to give up.
Enthusiasm is an intense form of interest that comes from inside you. So, if you’ve lost enthusiasm, the key is to focus on your interests until you stoke the flames once again.
Absolutes are your zero-base in a lot of ways. They will illuminate where and who you are. You need that starting point so that you can find your way. It's all about finding the absolutes.
Part of feeling lost is the fact that you are emotionally and psychologically confused. You'd be surprised at how much of this is determined by what you put in your body.
The relationship is not the primary thing, it's the purpose the relationship serves that is the primary thing. For any relationship to move forward, you both need to agree on what principles govern the relationship. Don’t fall for the Romeo and Juliet model that has made relationships so disposable.
Cleanse yourself, renew your mind, change your thinking, get yourself ready for the next season, because there are things that are still in you that haven't changed even though you lost that other person. You still have a purpose and direction in your life and it's important that you unearth that, find yourself again so that as you move forward and have new relationships and can bring forth something even greater. The second half of your life can be even better than the first.
When life piles up to the point where you can't see clearly anymore, you start to lose passion, and that can turn to hopelessness. The key is to reignite your passion. Your passion comes from knowing what you love and what you're going after.
The resistance of life can be so significant that only passion is going to give you the drive to overcome. The roadblocks that life can throw your way require an inner fire, an inner power that you're going to have to keep cultivating so that you can keep it white-hot. Feed the fire.
You can war against yourself by saying, “If I achieve success, it must be at someone else's expense." And that's not true. There is more than enough abundance in this world.
There are absolute laws of success to follow for whatever it is you are going after, and you can do whatever it is that you set out to do.
For a lot of us, we are so unaccustomed to success in each and every area of life that we actually resist it in our own minds at the same time that we desire it. If you're going to walk in power, it has to become a pure desire and you won’t resist your own success anymore.
When you walk in personal power, every step, every day, you're filled with that deeper sense of strength, a force of life that pushes you. That drives you. That gets you out of bed. You’re not going to be depressed or anxious all the time because something is happening within you, that’s enabling you to walk in a deeper dimension than you've ever walked in before.
Nothing will bring power and resolution to your situation like wisdom will. Read the books, do the meditation, take notes, journal, do whatever you have to do, talk to people who are experts, people who are wise, get some feedback, work the problem, keep working it. Seek wisdom.
The more you conquer in each and every area of your life, the stronger you are to deal with whatever life throws your way. You will never escape trials in life. So, you might as well get strong in today's trial and that takes being stubborn about pursuing your path to success despite the resistance.
If you know there are answers to your problems, then that knowledge that possibility is there, is going to push you forward until you you find the answers you need.
We all have so much personal power, so much resident potential, but the majority of us never really discover it because we limit ourselves by focusing on what is impossible instead of what is possible.
Whatever you are facing, first of all, you must have a proper perspective of what's possible, and second, you have to be persistent, just absolutely obstinate and stubborn in the face of resistance.
We're not going to worry about tomorrow. We're not going to worry about any of these things. All we're going to do is get you to do what you need to do today, to do those things that are still lagging behind that are causing your sense of worry. It’s the little things that add up every day to transform your life and will rid you of worry.
The circumstances that you might be concerned about are legitimate. So, why make things worse by not taking action and making plans to handle what you’re facing? This will help you gain a sense of control rather than a sense of worry.
#MetalUp 👊💀🤘
Just call it for what it is. Don't feel bad about it. It's not your identity, it's just a habit. It's just a behavior and a way of thinking that you've acquired over time. Don't take possession of it anymore because you can change it. You can lose the worry, but first you have to stop identifying with and defending it.
We worry because we don't have control, or feel like we don't have control. Therefore, to the degree that you can increase a sense of control, you will minimize your worry.
People will find a reason to worry. It’s a habit. A habit of thought. Well, habits are created. You didn't come out of the womb this way. This is learned behavior. You didn't get there overnight. You're certainly not going to get out of it overnight. But it can happen a lot quicker than you think if you are proactive.
Peak performances is focusing on what did I do today and how well did I do it? What we want to get you to is to where all you are focused on is today. Today, I got done what I needed to get done to achieve my goals, and I did it the best way possible.
The best way to get over your past is to focus on peak performance. I'm talking about what you do on a daily basis, action wise, that creates the goals of the physical success that you want. You are going to find the healing and the restoration that you're looking for by living the life that you would've lived had nothing bad ever happened to you.
Everything that you're looking for, in terms of your personal transformation, is going be found, not by searching the past, asking questions, like, "Why? Why did this happen?" But by you focusing daily on what it takes to live your best life and achieve success.
We refuse ourselves the permission to move forward in our lives because of what happened, but you have to shift from focusing on self-improvement as simply getting over something, into performance. It’s time for you to discover the attitude of peak performance.
The problem that we have getting over the pain of the past is that we focus so much on it. How are you ever going to get over the past if you’re still living in it? The best way to get over your past is to create a future that looks like payback for the past. You still have the power to become everything you've ever had the potential to be. Your life is not over yet. Change can begin today.