Author: Brandon Ribak

How to Increase Productivity while Doing LESS

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Whether you own a successful business, are just starting out and trying to figure how to navigate the seas of the business world, or are simply looking to take your professional career to the next level, increasing your productivity while working less is something that anyone can find extremely beneficial in life.

One of my favorite books of all time is the 4 Hour Work Week, written by Tim Ferris (someone I refer to throughout my posts often).

His book has really helped rewire my mindset both professionally and personally. It’s crazy to think of how things would’ve turned out (as well as how trivial my thinking was looking back at it), had I not come across this book and immediately implement his innovative concepts into my life.

A specific seed that Tim planted into my mind is the difference between being effective and being efficient.

A fair assumption amongst the masses is that working efficiently is key to success. That by doing tasks swiftly, you’re completing work that must be done.

The truth is, efficiency isn’t really optimal.

It’s possible that you can do (and have been doing) unimportant tasks efficiently.

While these tasks may be necessary to be completed, if they aren’t the most important tasks that must be done then you’re not using your time effectively.

F the BS: It’s time to work EFFECTIVELY, not EFFICIENTLY. 

The Pareto Principle (sometimes called the 80/20 rule) is a concept that you may have heard of before. It states that for many events, roughly 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes.

This means that 80% of your productivity comes from only 20% of your time put in (when you’re being effective), while 20% of your productivity comes from spending 80% of your time (when you may be working efficiently, but not effectively).

Think for a moment about all of the tasks that you may have to do, and instead of trying to go after all of them at once try to make it a new habit to consider the questions below first.

-By doing this specific task, am I being productive with my time or just being “active”?
-Is it possible to shorten my work time and limit the number of tasks that I do to only 1-2 super important tasks?
-By doing these 1 or 2 highly critical tasks, can I be satisfied with how my day went?

By being selective of what we do (which it’s ideal to get these done during the morning hours), we allow ourselves to work less while increasing our productivity and effectiveness.

Simply being active and busy is a form of laziness. For the other 80% of time that would be spent achieving 20% of productivity, learn to accept that you cannot and should not do it all.

Hire an employee, sub-contractor, virtual assistant, etc. Delegate these tedious tasks to someone else.

These less important tasks are distractions that can interrupt, prevent and limit you from ultimately accomplishing your goals (just like scrolling through your social media feed can be a waste of your personal down time, versus spending those hours being productive by reading books, listening to podcasts and watching documentaries to help better yourself personally and professionally).

Stop multitasking and trying to juggle between important and unimportant tasks. Get your shit together, and personally focus on ONLY what’s going to move the needle the most.

Learn to be EFFECTIVE with your time so that you can get to where you want to be sooner rather than later, or potentially never!

“Nothing is less productive than to make more efficient what should not be done at all.” ~ Peter Drucker

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How to Start a Business that Makes Sense (Using the CENTS Commandments)

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When I dove head first into creating my first real business, I had no idea what I was doing.

Outside of the fact that I loved fantasy sports and believed deep down that daily fantasy sports was going to be the future of how millions of Americans would play fantasy from then on, the business was simply an idea with no proof or validation of the concept (outside of one or two competitors who seemed to be funded and gaining traction).

My gut ended up being spot on, as the industry began to grow rapidly over the next few years. Unfortunately my business was not part of that growth, as we dealt with a ton of technical issues and lack of money. 

After moving on from that business, I dove into a handful of others.

But something that took me YEARS to figure out, that would’ve saved me a ridiculous amount of TIME and MONEY was how to determine what kind of business to start and/or get involved in.

A method behind the madness, versus just going into the madness blindfolded head first without any solid philosophy and rationalization in mind outside of the potential that it may have had to make some money.

When I picked up the Millionaire Fastlane by MJ Demarco and began learning about the CENTS Commandments, suddenly it dawned on me how ineffective I was being (and how deep of a hole I was digging for myself) during the crucial initial phases of deciding whether or not to start a specific business, or how to best go about finding and creating one.

Had I discovered this book years ago, there’s no telling the positive or negative impact it might’ve had on me back then; if it would’ve be effective and applied properly, or if I was too young and wouldn’t have grasped it and allowed the concepts to soak in, we’ll never know.

What I do know for a fact is that the amount of heartbreak and ups and downs I’ve encountered over the years, to come to this realization on my own, could’ve been prevented had I had these essential tools in my back pocket.

Which is why I’m ecstatic to share these Five Commandments with you today, so that you can bypass the many bumps in the road towards the path of success.

Obvious Disclaimer: This concept is not an end all be all. It’s possible to satisfy only a few of the commandments and still create a very successful and highly profitable business. The point of the five commandments is to help open your eyes and understand aspects of business creation on a macro scale. How to think bigger and wiser so that you can set yourself up for maximum success prior to simply jumping into a new venture just because you think it’s a good idea.

The CENTS Commandments 

C – Control

First up is Control. Before starting a business you must ask yourself the level of control and influence that you’ll have so that you can take your company to the promised land.

If it’s an internet business, will you be overly reliant on Google? Is your plan to do Search Engine Optimization and rank for keywords on the top page of Google, or run Pay Per Click (PPC) campaigns to bring in the bulk of your business?

What about Amazon? If you’re starting a store do you plan to sell all of your products through their marketplace?

The point is, if you put all of your eggs into one basket, one main method to drive sales for your business that is completely out of your control (Google changes their algorithm daily, and Amazon can change their terms at any given moment), you could be in for a disaster.

The first of the five commandments requires you to have as much control over your company as possible, so that you can directly influence and navigate the direction of where your business will go. If you must rely on some of the sharks mentioned above, it’s ideal to diversify your sources of sales so that you dilute and limit the amount of control that they have.

E – Entry 

Are you thinking about getting involved in an industry that’s “trending” where everyone and their mom is joining in on the fun?

Is it super simple to get the business up and operating within just a short period of time?

If you answered yes to either of these questions, then you’re not really solving a problem. If you want to start a business that grows beyond your wildest dreams, you have to solve a problem (more of this in the next commandment).

You must seek out opportunities that have many barriers to entry. Concepts and ideas where it takes creativity, uniqueness and time to develop, this way your competition is slim at best while your potential to dominate the market that your niche is in soars.

Something difficult to tap into is where golden opportunities live.

N – Need

Next up is Need, arguably the most important factor to consider.

Don’t start a business based on what you’re passionate about. Typically, nobody cares about what you want or need, they care about what they want and need.

In order to truly build a successful business you must create something of value. Something that others need, can use for convenience sake or addresses a common problem that has yet to be solved.

Simply put, if you can truly impact millions with value, you’ll make millions in return.

T – Time

Time can be a difficult one. As typically when you start a business you are the engine the runs the company, the star of the show. Without you, the business doesn’t operate.

While it’s perfectly understandable to invest a lot of your time into the business that you choose to dive into, one very crucial and key aspect needs to be considered first.

Can you automate this business, and extract yourself from the equation where it can function and run successfully and profitably without your involvement?

It’s absolutely necessary to learn to automate so that you can generate income without personally having to put the time in to make the money.

If you can get to the point where your making money “through” time, versus “in” time then you’ve found yourself a very attractive business to invest into. But first consider the fifth and final commandment.

S – Scale

Is your business idea big enough?

Can your business be seen by millions upon millions of potential customers?

Or are you looking to

-open up a store in your local city where the number of people that can visit on a daily basis is capped or limited?
-start an internet business where it’s super niche and drilled down to only a very select few individuals?

If you answered yes to either of these, you may still be in luck.

While a local city store is limited in it’s reach, it’s possible to build 100s or even 1000s of stores nationwide (even worldwide) IF the business can become highly profitable within a short period of time and is easily replicated, and follows the four other previous commandments.

In regards to a niche internet business, this could work in your favor IF the targeted demographic you plan to focus on generates significant income and would be willing to pay you a hefty amount for your product/services. In this scenario, you could generate large quantities of income by limiting your scaling to a specific audience.

The point is, when it comes to scaling you must strategically think about what is going to turn a profit quickly and give you the best chances of impacting the masses immediately (or just a select few high net worth individuals if you go that route).

A list of a few different types of online businesses that satisfy the Five Commandments

-Ecommerce (online store selling products)
-Subscription service (charging monthly, annual fees, etc for your service)
-Content focused (exclusive content for a fee, or generate income via advertising)
-Lead generation (selling potential customers to companies)

To wrap it all up

Take your time and carefully consider your options before starting your next business. Think about all of the potential outcomes and scenarios that could very well play out, and be sure to factor in the five commandments of CENTS to ensure that you set yourself up for success from the very beginning.

“If millions seek you, you will be paid millions.”
― M.J. DeMarco, The Millionaire Fastlane

“Stop thinking about business in terms of your selfish desires, whether it’s money, dreams or “do what you love.” Instead, chase needs, problems, pain points, service deficiencies, and emotions.”
― M.J. DeMarco, The Millionaire Fastlane

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Why you Need to Quit Your Job NOW and Invest in YOUR Future

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Let’s face it: Working for the man SUCKS.

Waking up early every single weekday, commuting to work, dealing with the BS of your job, your co-workers, your boss, commuting back from work, being tired, not having time to focus on what’s most important to you (like spending quality time with your loved ones, what you eat, exercising, any hobbies you may have, etc), rinsing and repeating the vicious cycle of trading 5 days a week for 2 weekend days for say 30-50 years….WTF?

And don’t even start with the excuse that if you made more money at your job, all these problems would magically disappear. If anything, making more means that you busted your ass that much harder to now have more responsibilities and even more time spent and focused on your job versus your personal life.

Any way you slice it, unless you work for yourself on your own time, when and where you want, with the ceiling to make as much as physically possible if you work hard and put your mind to it, you’ve got a major problem in front of you that might continue for decades upon decades (maybe even until the day you die).

Time is everything in life. Money is constantly being created. Even a billionaire still only has 24 hours in a day, just like you. You must spend your time wisely!

Your dreams of traveling, getting the beautiful house and cars you’ve always wanted, and being financially free to do as you please with your time is in serious jeopardy.

Although I worked for someone else for only a few months as a paid intern post college, I vividly remember sitting at a desk in my button down and slacks and thinking to myself, this is NOT for me. I NEED to do something about this.

And I did. And since then I’ve helped countless others do so as well.

And best of all, you can too.

Suffice to say, it’s time to quit your job. Here’s a few reasons why 🙂

Reason # 1 – You have no leverage!

Uncontrollable Limited Leverage is a concept that I learned while reading the Millionaire Fastlane, written by the incredible MJ Demarco.

ULL is pretty much just as it sounds. With a job you have very limited leverage. Most of the time if you increase your productivity through the roof and help grow the company you work for, you’re not being rewarded with a raise equal to your impact or effectiveness level. Your value is measured in time. If you want to make 20% more income, you have to work 20% more (for sales jobs in particular, while for others you might not even have the opportunity to work more to make more).

In addition, with a job you possess limited control. If the company decides to fire you, or goes bankrupt one day you’re screwed. (Just because you have a nice comfy job doesn’t guarantee you lifelong security!)

Let’s not also forget that the growth potential (financially speaking) in your place of work is most likely capped at a certain point, and the amount of knowledge that you’re consuming and implementing from your job to better yourself professionally and personally on a weekly or even monthly basis is extremely limited.

Reason # 2 – Say Bye to your Dreams, you’re Never Going to Save $1,000,000 keeping your job

Directly taken from the Millionaire Fastlane,

Earning a salary of $46,000 per year as a Teacher would take you 22 years to make $1M. To save $1M it would take 217 years.

Earning a salary of $64,000 per year as an Accountant would take you 16 years to make $1M. To save $1M it would take 156 years.

Earning a salary of $95,000 per year as a Pharmacist would take you 11 years to make $1M. To save $1M it would take 105 years.

How can you realistically ever expect to truly live out your dreams when it would take the average person almost two centuries to come even remotely close to saving $1M in the bank, while receiving just 2 weeks vacation time per year (if that)?

Reason # 3 – You’re Going to OUTLIVE Your Savings, Then What? 

I have something very important to share with you.

Your 401k is a scam.

If you’ve been using your 401k all this time as a safety net come retirement time, you’re really in for trouble.

401k’s are managed by companies that invest your money (fees charged for this). They take your money and invest it into mutual funds (fees charged for this). They then make a profit from your portfolio regardless if you make any money or not, and even worse, the specific funds that they are investing your hard earned money into are actually benefiting the very company managing your money in the form of kickbacks.

Yes, that’s right. They are investing your money into funds that are benefiting THEM the most, not YOU.

Worst of all, these actively managed mutual funds that all of your money is tied up in lose 96% of the time (when compared to low-cost index funds, which ALL of the top and most successful investors recommend people investing into).

Ninety Six Percent of the time.

Over time all of these hidden fees grow to the point where you’re left with minimal. Pair that with the fact that the human race continues to live longer and longer, and the results speak very clearly for themselves that you will NOT have anywhere NEAR enough savings to fund your retirement lifestyle.

Then what will you do when you’re 60, 65, or even 70 years old (after working for the past 30-50 years)? You won’t even be able to enjoy the retirement phase of your life because you’ll be too stressed and worried about making ends meet when you should really be focused on enjoying the remaining years of your life in peace and prosperity.

The Incredible Benefits that Self-Employment Can Bring You

The feeling of being able to wake up each and every morning on your own terms, while not having to deal with the daily stresses and BS of going to work and having a boss is indescribable.

Without the responsibilities that a 9-5 brings, you’ll have copious amounts of time to channel your focus and energy wisely by committing to finding a business to start, building it, and growing it, while sticking with it through the bumps in the road that every entrepreneur faces,

Being able to focus on your own business is a life changer (literally). Even when going through the ups and downs, having something that is yours is an incredible and enlightening feeling.

It allows you to discover your true self. You turn into a sponge, soaking up everything around you, enabling you to do whatever it takes to learn and progress. The amount of knowledge and insight that you digest over the first few weeks/months of working on your own business begins to drastically outweigh anything and everything that you ever learned from your entire 9-5 career.

You gain unlimited leverage

No longer do you have to be limited by how much income you generate. With time on your side, you can focus on your business as much as you want for as long as you want with no holdbacks
(although it’s ideal to build a business that aligns with certain principles and can eventually become automated and passive, without you being the engine and required to manage it for it to succeed).

If you can increase your productivity levels and determine ways to increase your businesses bottom line, you’re growth potential (professionally and personally) is literally unlimited.

So what are you waiting for? Still not convinced? 

Think about the last time your back was up against the wall. What did you do in that situation?

Humans possess innate behavior. When we sense danger or urgency, we react instinctively without putting much thought into it, if any at all (it’s hard-wired into our brain!).

The same behaviors can be applied in business as well.

When you’re put in certain positions, your abilities become limitless. Being an entrepreneur allows you to tap into this unique and fascinating potential, where the outcomes are infinite and where you can put yourself to the real test.

If you’re afraid of what could or might happen, is it worth convincing yourself to hold on to those fears throughout the rest of your life (to the point where you reach retirement with little to no savings?)

Or does it now make more sense to take the leap of faith, break new ground and take control of your time and your life.

If you choose the latter, you’ll come out on top no matter what plays out.

So just ask yourself, what’s the WORST that can happen?

The Worst Case Analysis (WCA) can help make decisions for you much more clearer. Ask yourself…

1 – What is the worst case scenario of quitting your job/attempting to start your own business?
2 – What is the probability of this outcome?
3 – Is this an acceptable risk for me to take?

Obvious Disclaimer – Everything is dependent on your current situation, if you support a family, if you have medical bills that cannot be easily paid off, etc. In that scenario you’d have to focus on your venture outside of working hours until you can generate enough income to replace your job, or the option of a part-time job to cover your expenses (if possible) while cutting other costs so that you have more time to work on your venture.

“Whether you think you can, or think you can’t — you’re right.” – Henry Ford

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How to Eliminate the Emotion of Fear and Take What’s Rightfully Yours

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It’s normal to want to feel a sense of accomplishment throughout life. To want to succeed and be proud, to be able to tell your children and grandchildren of your achievements regardless of how big or small.

While there’s an overwhelmingly large percentage of people who feel this way, the majority of them never actually do what it takes to reach these incredibly satisfying heights.

More likely than not, that’s because of fear.

Fear has been a dream and goal killer since the beginning of time.

It’s pretty much the main cause that’s prevented individuals from reaching their true potential, or even just a quarter of it.

People are so afraid of the idea of fear that they try to avoid it at all costs.

Fear is defined as an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat.

According to verywellmind.com, it can be divided into two different types of responses, biochemical and emotional.

The emotional aspect is “highly personalized”, so essentially it’s possible that you fear certain things (like the idea of going after and obtaining life long goals) because you’ve trained your mind (subconsciously) to behave this way.

And since you were able to train your mind to behave this way, it’s possible that you can also learn to train your mind (consciously) to think the opposite wayas well.

F the BS – It’s time to Rewire your thoughts and feelings about Fear. 

The brain is a fascinating thing. It’s something that I’ve always had a deep curiosity and interest in. A while back I read a book about it, and the findings within were mind-blowing!

Without getting too technical (stay with me here), for generations the brain was always thought to be “fixed” in adults. That once you reached a certain age, your brain ceased in creating new neurological pathways.

But over the last few decades this theory has been proven false.

Through the power of Neural Plasticity (also sometimes referred to as neuroplasticity), which is defined as the ability of the brain to form and reorganize synaptic connections, especially in response to learning or experience, you can literally rewire your brain to your benefit.

Since your brain is dynamically changing throughout your day to day experiences and thinking, with a bit of hard work (nothing is worthy without it!) you can learn to eliminate fear and no longer allow it to be a set-back from achieving your goals . You can truly build the confidence needed to reach for the stars and go after whatever it is that you’ve always wanted.

Take the plunge. Make absolutely sure that you have a story to tell your children/grandchildren one day.

“Man can alter his life by altering his thinking.” William James

“We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make the world.” –Buddha

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The Positive Impact of Negative Visualization

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In life, shit happens.

One moment things are going well and you feel like you’re in a great place in your life and then BOOM, you’re hit with a curveball you never anticipated coming.

You’re in shock, emotions scatter all over the place and you think to yourself how could this have happened?!

It happens to all of us and while it certainly sucks and can make you want to reevaluate your entire existence, there’s a practice that can be performed to better prepare for the unavoidable that can help soften the sting just a bit.

Enter Negative Visualization. 

This practice has been utilized by humans for thousands of years. Simply put, it’s a process of thinking about negative scenarios that could happen in your life at any given moment (anything ranging from the extreme such as the sudden passing of someone close to you or a freak accident that prevents you or a loved one from being able to take care of themselves, to something that may be a long time fear such as losing your job or having to deal with a long term break-up).

Essentially, you spend time thinking about what you have and what you’re grateful for and then you try to visualize your life without it.

At first the idea of negative visualization threw me off a bit. Being more or less an eternal optimist, the concept of spending time thinking about worst case scenarios (or even just negative thoughts in general for any period of time) was not something that I felt comfortable taking part in.

But as I continued to read about the topic, the positive impact that it could have became more clear. So I gave it a shot, and the results were astonishing.

By thinking about potential negative outcomes that technically could happen at any given time or day to either myself or to those that I love, I immediately felt a tremendous sense of appreciation and gratitude for the present moment and those around me.

It was clear that not unlike many others, I was taking various aspects of my life for granted.

Over a short period of time of practicing negative visualization, the value that I had subconsciously placed on myself, my life and those around me began to increase exponentially.

I started to bring realistic life outcomes to the surface level of my thinking, which allowed me to play out in my head how certain situations could arise, how I would potentially react to them and how I could begin mentally preparing for them.

For those that take a more pessimistic view of life, this practice could help break down the walls of fear that’ve been building up for decades. The potential discovery of realizing that certain things in your life aren’t as bad or could end up not being as bad as you might’ve made them out to be can be truly liberating.

Through negative visualization, it’s even possible to learn how to foresee and completely avoid certain situations that life may throw at us as well.

So when should you practice negative visualization?

Similar to reflecting, you should allocate a couple of minutes for this exercise. But for it to really work its wonders, you should practice this a couple of times per week when you have a few moments to yourself (it could really be performed anywhere).

Anticipate 

By learning to anticipate, you can become more mentally prepared in dealing with the catastrophes that life will throw your way. The sudden extremes that can come with living are never going to be easy, but with this tool in your arsenal and the power of anticipation you won’t be as caught off guard and you’ll be able to handle circumstances just a little better.

On a more positive note, it can help with appreciating life and learning to be more grateful and thankful for everyone and everything around you.

“The man who has anticipated the coming of troubles takes away their power when they arrive.”- Seneca

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The Epiphany of all Epiphanies

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It’s in our DNA to seek gratification and everlasting happiness.

Some find instant enjoyment through the purchase of material items, but it’s always short lived.

Others believe making more money will bring them more happiness, so they work harder and longer in hopes that one day money will be the answer to all of their problems.

Whether we like it or not (or even recognize it), we typically look externally to find the fulfillment that we are searching for.

Which is wrong.

The process to gain true contentment takes place internally, from within and the way to achieve this state of mind, in theory, is rather simple.

Paraphrasing from a Guide to the Good Life, Irvine says something along the lines of the below.

The best way to gain satisfaction is not by working to satisfy our desires (material items or tons of cash), but by learning to be satisfied with our life as it currently is (an internal mindset), by learning to be happy with what we already have.

If we can learn to want whatever it is we already have, we won’t have to work to fulfill any desires to gain the satisfaction we seek, we’d already be fulfilled.

Reread those two sentences again. 

Now think about yourself and your mindset 5, 10, even 15 years ago. Visualize what you desperately wanted back then, something you dreamed of having or achieving. Something of monumental importance.

Come back to the present.

I’m going to go on a hunch and say that you most likely obtained this aspiration or goal, came very close to it (which your younger self still would’ve be ecstatic about) or you achieved something totally different and/or above and beyond what you could’ve ever fathomed back then.

Now reread those two sentences above again. 

The ingredients to happiness are already within you, they’ve always been there.

I truly hope these words can help illuminate your thought process and bring to you the same discovery and realization that they brought me when I first retained them.

“The essence of philosophy is that a man should so live that his happiness shall depend as little as possible on external things.” – Epictetus

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How I stumbled upon Stoicism and the Indescribable Impact it’s had on my Life

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Since graduating from college in 2012, I’ve taken a deep interest in reading.

At first I dug into biographies, interviews and strategies of successful people. I figured if I could learn a thing or two from them, I’d be able to implement it into my businesses in some way.

Back then that was my sole motive, simply how to make more money. There wasn’t much more thought or awareness outside of that objective.

As time slowly went on, I began taking an interest in the psychology behind happiness and how one can put themselves in a position to become as happy in life as possible.

Money was still my number one priority, but subconsciously I was searching for something more.

Most of the books I attempted to read were over my head, maybe that’s because of where I currently was at the time in my life or maybe they were just too technical and not what I was looking for.

Then in late 2016, everything changed.

I discovered Stoicism.

For some reason, this ancient Greek philosophy gets a really bad rap.

Google defines Stoicism as “the endurance of pain or hardship without a display of feelings and without complaint.”

Yikes, but stay with me here.

Directly from an article on www.dailystoic.com, I believe this description gets to the core of what the philosophy is truly about.

“Stoicism has just a few central teachings. It sets out to remind us of how unpredictable the world can be. How brief our moment of life is. How to be steadfast, and strong, and in control of yourself. And finally, that the source of our dissatisfaction lies in our impulsive dependency on our reflexive senses rather than logic.”

So there I was in December of 2016, reading William B Irvine’s masterpiece, A Good to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy (and of course taking notes as I went).

It didn’t take very long for these ancient concepts and ideas to awaken a part of my soul I never knew existed before. Since then I find myself almost on a daily basis and sometimes more than once per day instinctively utilizing the Stoic teachings that I learned from that one book.

The positive and life-changing impact that Stoicism has had on my life, both personally and professionally cannot be measured or described in words.

Suffice to say, making money my primary focus in life evaporated into thin air and I’ve never been more happy, grateful and fulfilled ever since.

I’ve tried to spread these special secrets of life to those I surround myself around, but sharing these insights with just a handful of people close to me is no longer enough. I’m here to enlighten you and everyone that you love and care about as well.

You’ll uncover simple tactics to reduce stress, anger, and anxiety, while quickly accelerating your levels of happiness, appreciation and gratitude.

I’m excited to take you on this journey with me.

“To have whatsoever he wishes is in no man’s power. It is in every man’s power not to wish for what he has not, but cheerfully to employ what comes to him.” – Seneca

“To live a good life: We have the potential for it. If we learn to be indifferent to what makes no difference.” – Marcus Aurelius

“Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself in your way of thinking.”  – Marcus Aurelius

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Discovering the Burning Desire Within to Not Accept Defeat

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When we were little kids, our imaginations had no boundaries, no limits. We could envision navigating a spaceship underneath the blankets on our beds, or sailing the seas inside of a pirate ship.

As we grow up innocence fades away and for most of us, reality begins to settle in.

Our dreams and imagination from long ago get pushed to the side while we focus on what we’ve been programmed and conditioned to think and believe.

Get a job (and work for the next 30-50 years), get married, get a house, have kids, etc.

But inside, deep within, whether you can still feel it or not, a burning desire remains ablaze.

A desire to fulfill and achieve certain aspirations.

F the BS: Let’s rediscover your burning desire from within!

I recently began reading a book that was written all the way back in 1937 called Think and Grow Rich (to date the book has sold more than 100 million copies!)

The author, Napoleon Hill, discusses the idea that if you want something bad enough, you must be so determined to obtain it (sometimes to the brink of obsession) that at some point you convince yourself with full certainty that you’ll possess it.

Almost 7 years ago, right after graduating from college my burning desire was put to the test (definitely not for the first time).

Looking back at it today through reflection, this specific situation had a tremendous effect on the trajectory and path of my life as well as my brain’s wiring that back then in that moment I obviously had no clue about its potential significance.

I had taken a unique approach to finding a way to make some money, as well as simultaneously gaining first hand experience in the internet marketing world.

Unfortunately, I was faced with rejection.

A real blow to the gut.

Thinking about that day, I vividly remember sitting at the dinner table on my laptop in the house I grew up in. I had read the message and immediately skyped my business partner to tell him the bad news.

During that crucial moment of defeat (temporary of course as all defeat is temporary!), we had a very important decision to make.

Instead of throwing in the towel and soaking in our failure of not being able to close our first client, we let our burning desire, determination and imagination take over. We decided with all of our might that we simply wouldn’t accept defeat. That there was no possible way of taking NO for an answer.

Our like minded brains reacted with the logic of, if we can’t retain this client the way we best thought we could, let’s look at things from another angle and find a way to secure his business through how he would best see it fit.

And it worked.

That experience, from rejection to being able to work around the bump in the road, to actually working for the client and gaining the necessary skills to work in internet business, was paramount to allowing me to put my first steps forward to commence the paving of the path for where I’ve eventually come to today.

The concept of simply not accepting defeat paired with actually going through with using it almost seven years ago to the day (and building up the confidence to continue to use it), has compounded and paid out it in dividends throughout my life (both personally and professionally) that I never would have imagined back then.

The lesson that I hope you can learn from this story is that life is all about perception. You can’t let defeat or a minor setback prevent you from going after your lifelong dreams.

Never let that burning desire from within fade away. Dive into your inner childlike imagination and use your determination to go after your ambitions. More likely than not, once you do, you’ve already won half the battle. Your goals are only an arm length away at best.

“When defeat comes, accept it as a signal that your plans are not sound, rebuild those plans, and set sail once more toward your coveted goal.” – Napoleon Hill

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How Dogs Can Teach us the Secrets to Happiness and Fulfillment

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When you think of the word Dog, what are a few thoughts that first come to mind?

A tail wagging. Bundles of joy running around. Happiness.

Dogs are pretty much angels living on earth. Their personalities and positive energy are contagious, and they always seem to put a smile on peoples faces.

When I take my dog with me to places where other people will be, there’s something about a dog that organically opens people up, influences their behavior in a positive way and makes them feel good both internally and externally.

We all know the positives of owning a dog, or even just crossing paths with one and petting it.

But have you ever deeply reflected on the natural ways that dogs live their lives?

On occasion, I try to really study my pup and her reactions and emotions.

What I’ve discovered and truly believe is that dogs have life figured out. Their limited intellect might prevent them from being able to actually realize that they possess the secrets to happiness (how could we ever know if a dog has a conscience or not?), but they certainly and instinctively are experts on how to live a fulfilled life.

Whether it be constantly living in the present moment without having regrets about the past or stresses about the future, loving unconditionally or not taking anything for granted, humans can certainly learn a thing or two from a dog’s way of life.

Could this be why they only live for so long? Is it possible that dogs average out to live for just 10-13 years because they are born with what every human goes their entire life searching and yearning for?

Maybe it’s time we look at things from another perspective. Maybe it’s time we let our dogs teach us something for once.

The next time you’re around a dog (or your own) take notice of its current behavior and how it produces an infectious positive energy into the atmosphere. Try to understand it, harness it and bring it to existence from within yourself throughout your journey of life.

“A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves himself”  -Josh Billings

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How Reflecting Can Elevate Your Life to the Next Level

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Social media paired with the evolution of cell phones has significantly hindered our ability to live in the present moment. It’s made it near impossible to simply just take a few moments out of our day to sit with our own thoughts.

When was the last time you were bored, like really bored? Remember what it was like (anybody born before the mid 90s) to actually be bored?!?

The average attention span of an adult in today’s society (per a few different articles that I came across) is around 8 seconds. Apparently a goldfish has a longer attention span (around 9 seconds) than us these days.

Over the years there’s been a wave of different apps that have come out, as well as more content focusing on improving your life and mental focus through activities such as yoga, guided meditation, brain games and so on.

But do these methods really work?

Have you ever really stuck with a meditation app for more than a few weeks (if that) consistently?

More likely than not, the answer for the large majority of people is no.

Luckily, there’s a better way (although, I am a huge proponent of yoga, meditation and brain games :D)

Enter the secret power of reflection. 

Through reflection you can gain all that you may be seeking. From reducing stress, feeling more fulfilled and being more appreciative of your life, to increasing your ability to focus while simultaneously coming to a realization on what’s most important in the present for yourself as well as in the very near future.

F THE BS: It’s time to elevate your life to the next level

So how does it work?

There’s no one size fits all approach to tapping into your reflecting potential. Personally, I would say once a week, maybe even once every other week, I intentionally set aside time to do nothing more than sit alone in a calm environment with just my thoughts.

Quick and obvious disclaimer: Just like anything worth doing/having in life, if you don’t allocate the time necessary to reflect, or don’t make a serious and conscious effort to incorporate the exercise into your habits, you’ll never get the chance to enjoy the incredible impact that it could have on your life. 

The amount of time you spend doing this is totally up to you. You can always start small and grow from there. Heck, sometimes my most profound discoveries come to me within the first few moments of reflecting.

So what really happens when you reflect?

Taking the time to just sit with your thoughts is a major accomplishment that you should be very proud of implementing into your life (remember our friend the goldfish who’s attention span beats ours?).

When you sit quietly with your thoughts (relaxing your facial features as well as your shoulders and the rest of your body), without judging them, you begin to open the eye of your mind. Similar to when you shower or the few minutes before you fall asleep (the moments when social media and your phone are not in use, ironic or not?) thoughts on top of thoughts fill your head. It’s like a never ending train track that’s paved with one thought after the other, sometimes related to stress while other times completely random.

If you can endure this initial phase when reflecting, and take a step back in your mind from “being” these thoughts and instead begin to “watch” them, your trail of thought will start to slow down. You’ll be able to begin seeing the forest for the trees.

When you achieve this state of mind (it’s not that hard, it just takes a little bit of practice, persistence and consistency), you’ll discover and connect certain dots together that you might’ve never connected before (or even come up with the idea or thought of connecting).

I cannot stress enough how vital this tool has been for me throughout the last few years of my life. It’s a groundbreaking and revolutionary strategy (at least it has been for me!) that can take you deep into your subconscious mind and allow you to extract thoughts, memories, feelings, emotions, experiences, and ideas and bring them to the surface, to your conscious state.

With this newfound ability you’ll inevitably gain invaluable insights that will elevate and accentuate your life for the better, while organically discovering ways to see and handle all of life’s situations more clearly.

“Time and reflection change the sight little by little ’till we come to understand.” – Paul Cezanne

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