We live in a very difficult and polarized society where it seems like no matter what side of an issue we’re on, someone has a problem with it and we’re doing something wrong. So we respond by walking on eggshells and being very careful not to interrupt the status quo.

An unfortunate outcome of this is that we’re more afraid to take chances or stand out because we know that criticism is right around the corner if something starts to go wrong. And it holds us back from living to the extent we’d want to and experimenting more in our lives.

But you don’t need to prove anything to anyone. In a world where we’re seeking approval and acceptance, it’s more comfortable to get permission before doing anything that others could criticize.  It’s a way of hedging our bet in case things turn sour because we got an endorsement from someone else.

Instead, what if we just went for it? What if we understood that innovation and improvement require making mistakes, and we embraced uncertainty rather than turned away from it? We’d make significant progress so much faster and so much smoother.

When we try to prove something it puts a pressure on us to get it right. Of course the overall goal is to do things right and get positive results, but the fear of getting it wrong keeps us from trying at all. So let’s get rid of that fear and give ourselves more space to see how it goes.

And here’s how: We have a threshold where we’re comfortable moving forward because there’s a certain likelihood of success. If we were to lower that threshold and take action with less certainty, we’d actually give ourselves more chances to succeed.

I want you to reflect on a big goal or dream you have that you’ve been too scared to communicate to others - a career switch, a passion to pursue, a new lifestyle to enjoy or personal milestone to accomplish. Who’s judgment, criticism, or disagreement are you avoiding? And what do you feel like you need to prove to them?

Awareness takes power away from the negative unconscious influences that run our life. So take yourself there and see what you find.

One of the biggest contributors to the lack of wellness and difficulty that many people experience in their lives is stress. But stress in itself isn’t a bad thing, in fact with a new perspective you’ll start to see it as a great thing! To reframe our relationships with stress, today’s positivity quote is “Stress is a powerful driving force.”

This quote comes from fitness legend Bill Phillips, and it carries extra meaning because fitness perfectly demonstrates what stress does to us. We literally are choosing to add stress to our bodies and do something challenging because we know that it creates growth and endurance.

It’s the stress of an elevated heartbeat that improves your aerobic fitness, and you literally need to tear your muscle fibers in a workout so that they repair bigger and stronger.

This isn’t the form of stress that comes to mind when you feel anxious or worried about your safety. That’s because this healthy, empowering, productive version of stress is different - it’s called “eustress”. Eustress is an intentional demand you put on yourself in the short-term knowing that it will create positive benefits in the long-term. And it’s the exact reason why “stress is a powerful driving force.”

However, the version of stress we are more accustomed to, that is crippling, is called “distress”. This is when we’re worried about being able to pay our bills, regretful about how we handled a conversation, or fearful about our own safety or someone else’s. This often creates a chronic stress-response that damages our health and well-being.

However, with these two lenses of stress, we can choose which one serves us more in a “middle of the road” scenario. Let’s say that you’re feeling strained by meeting a tight deadline at work. Is the way that you’re feeling eustress helping you expand your capacity, or is distress causing anxiety? 

When we choose to see life’s challenges as a force for positive transformation in our lives, we step up to the challenge and maximize our growth potential from it. This is where the mindset “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” comes from, should we choose to receive the demands of stress in a productive way.

Self-improvement is a huge topic, so let’s try to make some sense of it. There are so many books to read and podcasts to listen to, but among all of that information are a few universal truths that I want to quickly outline for you.

First, it’s all about application. One of my favorite personal development minds, Darren Hardy says the adage that “knowledge is power” is incorrect. Knowledge is potential power, like electricity in a light switch. It’s once you turn on the switch, or apply what you’ve learned, that you’ll get it to start working for you.

Then there’s something that a lot of people overlook without realizing it. There’s a quote that goes “you can’t improve what you don’t measure.” So something that’s foundational to improving anything about your life is having a high-quality performance tracking system. That way, you know how you’re actually doing, you can measure your progress, and you can make changes to get new and better results. 

Right now 99% of people on their self improvement journey are using  biased, faulty, subjective measurement systems and therefore are getting a biased, faulty, and interpreted view into their performance.

Lastly, it’s always about the fundamentals. When we talk about raising our standards it means that we do the fundamentals with more consistency or at a higher level. And this is true for everyone looking to maximize their potential. 

There are fundamentals for your health - Exercising, eating healthy, and getting enough rest, so that you have the energy to show up as the best version of yourself.

There are fundamentals to the way we spend our time - Staying focused, being organized with our todos and tasks, and creating a plan for the day so that you’re investing your time in the things that are most important to you. 

And then there are fundamentals in your mindset - So that you see the world through a lens of gratitude and abundance, and you cultivate self-discipline so that you actually follow through on your good intentions.

No matter if you’re just getting started or you’re far along on your self-improvement, you reach your next tier by improving the quality of your fundamentals. And after a decade of studying how experts in this field approach their growth, and experimenting on myself to fine-tune the process, I’ve put together a 21 day challenge to help you install what I call your Super Habits System. 

This a proven step by step structure to master these fundamentals, get more focused and organized than ever, truly revolutionize your health, and ignite a deep motivation that pulls you to become the version of yourself that the world (and your world) needs! You can check out more information about the Super Habits System in and register for the 21 day challenge here!

Last week I did a breath work session and it planted a new mantra that has been stuck in my head ever since. If you’re not familiar with breath work, you can use breathing and forced hyperventilation to induce stress, reset your nervous system, and even in extreme cases create short term tremors or even hallucinations.

As I laid there breathing during this session, during one of the more demanding parts of the practice, out of nowhere my mind started repeating the same expression over and over again:

I get what I want and I want what I get.

I get what I want and I want what I get.

I get what I want and I want what I get.

I’m sure I’ve heard it before, I don’t know how else I would’ve thought of it, but I can’t place the context. All I know is it’s something I need to hear right now and as I breakdown what it means to me, it’s something I want you to hear too.

First, what does it mean to “get what I want”? Well you can’t get what you want unless you know what it is, so clarity is key. But then beyond that, I felt a short-term resistance to the expression because it sounds like it’s something a stubborn child would say. We’ve been taught not to be selfish and not to be entitled. 

But does it come at the cost of our self-worth? Why can’t we get what we want? What if what we want is what’s best for everyone? My more elaborate understanding of this mantra is a motivating reminder that if anyone has gone out and achieved their dreams I can achieve mine too.

Then the second part - “And I want what I get”. One perspective comes from a place of gratitude. It’s an acknowledgment that what you get is enough, and that you’re content and satisfied with it. But the other more discerning perspective is the clarity piece I mentioned previously. You don’t just pursue anything or want anything, it’s very specific. It’s exactly what you want and nothing else, adding a layer of focus to the desire.

So when you put them back together - “I get what I want and I want what I get” - It marries powerful alignment with certain success. And I haven’t heard anything that makes you more unstoppable than that!

If you want to start putting this mantra into action, where you get what you want and you want what you get, that’s exactly what we do in the 21 day challenge I organize. It is designed to make you more disciplined, focused, organized, and clear than you ever have been. And it’s structured in such a way that while the challenge is only 3 weeks long you leave with the Super Habits you need to make it last a life-time.

Worth a look right? The next Challenge goes live on Monday, so register now!

James Clear in his wildly popular book “Atomic Habits” taught us about the requirements to create a new habit. The first thing that needs to happen for us to take a habitual action is we need to be exposed to a trigger. The trigger basically serves as the start button to the full habit or routine.

The book is phenomenal, but one thing that it doesn’t expand to touch on is how these major concepts also influence our daily non-habitual actions as well. Rather than playing out an unconscious script, a trigger can bring our awareness to do things we normally wouldn't think to do ourselves.

This is why awareness is one of the tenets of self-improvement and mindfulness. You can’t do or change anything about what you’re not aware of.

It’s the exact reason why so many people care about living a better life, getting healthier, having more fun, or doing more of the things they want to do around the New Year. It’s a season that serves as a trigger for us to reflect on our lives and the changes we want to invite into it.

The desire and interest to improve our lives hasn’t changed, it’s simply our awareness around what we can do about it that has. When you surround yourself with more positive triggers, it creates more consciousness in your life which then helps you to make better decisions and live with more intention. And it’s through making better daily choices that when things actually start to change.

All of that to say - Let me lay out a big fat trigger for you right now! If you’ve been looking for a sign or an insight or kick in the butt to change your life, or what to do to actually take yourself and your self-growth more seriously, here it is!

You can create the life change you want in your life. You can create a better balance, transform your health, mend and strengthen important relationships, and take a chance on your dreams. But if you keep waiting for things to be right, after you get through this busy season or to have more money, you’re going to stay stuck waiting.

That’s the hard truth on the opposite side of the opportunity that is today. Nothing changes if nothing changes. You’ll keep finding yourself relieving the same loop until you choose to pull yourself out of it. This is your sign to do something different and put your life on a different trajectory!

Whether you’ve been listening to the podcast for 6 years or this is your first episode, you’ve been on your self-growth journey for years, months, or moments - I host a 21 day challenge that helps you completely transform your lifestyle by installing the 9 Super Habits and upgrading your self-improvement operating system. You can learn more about the challenge and how to become the healthiest, most productive, most resilient, disciplined, and fulfilled version of yourself here!