If you’re like me, you want to do big things in the world. You want to live a meaningful and purposeful life where you feel at your best and you make a difference for others. You want to push the boundary for what’s possible and really tap into your fullest potential. 

I mean I know for a fact that’s who you are because you’re reading this right now… 

If you simplify things and realize what all of the accomplishments and aspirations are for, it comes down to just one thing - Fulfillment. There is nothing that creates a more genuine feeling of inner-peace and self-acceptance than the feeling of fulfillment.

I recently heard a definition of fulfillment that I really liked, and no surprise, it came from Tony Robbins. He says “fulfillment is growing and giving”. When you prioritize those two things in life you’ll find yourself on the fast-track to bliss.

So first, growing. There is something innately hard-wired into us that values growth. It’s witnessing that you’re making progress on a problem, claiming control of your life because you’re more aware of your patterns, and realizing that you can create your future when you apply yourself. Plain and simple, it feels good to know that you’re taking yourself seriously and making the most of what life has to offer.

But then fulfillment has a second component - Giving. We all have an understanding that there’s something bigger than ourselves. When we give we contribute to that larger collective mission, and we’re rewarded in unimaginable ways. We have evolved to be emotional beings and there’s no faster way to infuse positive emotions in your life than to give to others. With giving comes faith that when you take care of someone else you’ll always be taken care of. 

These are the two ingredients to finding fulfillment, growing and giving, but there’s one last part - the order.

You’ve probably heard the expression “You must fill up your own cup before you can fill up someone else’s”. I firmly believe that. I believe that the best thing you can do for the world is to be at your best. I believe that in order to help as many people as possible in your lifetime you must first help yourself. In fact, giving is a natural byproduct of growing, which means that finding fulfillment is just a matter of making sure you’re really taking care of yourself first.

And congratulations! You’re already showing up for yourself and on the path. But maybe, things aren’t clicking for you as quickly as you’d like them to. Maybe you feel like you’re stalled or stuck in your growth because you aren’t following through on the habits that make you feel energized, inspired, and productive. The reason might be because you’re thinking about consistency the wrong way and setting yourself up for failure, keeping you watching on the sidelines instead of in flow and in the game. 

I put together a free 30 minute training all about how you can get consistent once and for all to build momentum in your life, accelerating your growth and your pathway to fulfillment. You can watch that training right now, and be sure to watch until the end because I’ve got something special for you at the end that will help you make 2023 the most transformational, inspired, and accomplished year of your life. Click here and I’ll share with you the 3 keys to unlocking a life-time of consistency!

I heard a really cute expression that I thought would be perfect to share for Thursday positivity. It goes “a smile is happiness found right under your nose.”

If you don’t think that smiling can change your life, try again. When you smile you can scientifically measure a spike of positive neurotransmitters in the brain. This means that your physiology is actually responsive to your body in a bottom-up kind of way. This is just another point of proof that mood follows action and motivation is created once you’ve already gotten yourself in motion.

But I think the more interesting interpretation of the quote is a metaphor. You’ve probably heard the saying “it was right under my nose” before. To summarize, it suggests that something was hiding in plain sight, that it was there all along, but for some reason you weren’t able to see it.

As this expression suggests, “happiness is found right under your nose”. Happiness has always been there and always will be. It's is not something you need to create, it’s something you must broaden your awareness to rediscover. 

That’s why daily gratitude is such a powerful practice. It allows you to step back, assess your life, and uncover the happiness that has been hiding in plain sight the whole time. When you prompt yourself to think about the blessings you’re surrounded by, happiness starts to reveal itself. It takes the form of good memories, perspective shifts, and grand realizations. You’ll find you have so much to be proud of and so many successes to reflect on. It’s just a matter of seeing what’s already there, right under your nose, to start believing it.

So there are two takeaways here. First, smile more. You can control your state simply by pulling the corners of your lips closer to your ears. You've always had this and it can transform your experience instantaneously. Then second, you already have so much happiness stored up in your experiences that you can tap into. Your bliss is already there and you just need to claim it.

If you made it this far, I wanted to quickly mention one last thing. I put together a 30 minute training about the 3 keys to unlocking a lifetime of consistency. If you want a more disciplined, more consistent, more productive 2023, your first step is learning the game-changing lessons in the training. Click here to watch the training, for free, right now!

There’s an expression that we’ve come to accept is true but I don’t think we’ve truly ventured to think about why that is. It’s the idea that "less is more". How can that be possible? Literally less is the opposite of more... So it doesn’t make logical sense. But that's because there’s more to the statement than what meets the eye.

When you assess the objective value of something, you must consider both the quantity and quality of it. It’s not just the amount of something that determines it’s value, but rather how good or effective that thing is. A relatable example is the price of a steak. You can go to a diner where they have $9.99 all you can eat prime rib, which is a lot of quantity but not great quality, or you can go to a fancy restaurant where they serve you a small cut of steak that is prepared with the purest ingredients and sourced from the best vendor. That is quality.

What “less is more” literally translates to is less quantity creates more value. In order to understand that, we need to look at a simple equation:

Value = Quantity x Quality.

So if quantity decreases (which is “less”) and value increases (which is “more”), then the quality must increase disproportionately to make the equation valid. 

This is what happens when you simplify. You allow yourself to have the clarity you need to focus on the highest-leverage, most impactful activities that create the most value. Not only that, but you can do them well because you’re giving yourself the time and attention required to do a superb job. 

That’s how less can be more - it’s because they’re speaking about two different but connected things.

Applying this directly to personal development, the same concept is true as it relates to your self growth, with an added layer of complexity. Doing less allows you to be more consistent, which creates compounding results in your life. One of the reasons many people fail to get the results they desire is because they’re trying to do too much, to do more, and it comes at the expense of the quality in everything they do.

This is so fundamental to maximizing your potential that I consider it to be one of the 3 keys to unlocking a life-time of consistency. In fact I just made a 30 minute video training about this topic so that you can get consistent once and for all and experience a level of flow in your life that allows you to easily and effortlessly live productive days, gain confidence, and feel on-fire.

Click here to access the free training!

Instead of spending years struggling to figure it out for yourself, start setting yourself up for success so that you can create momentum in all areas of your life!

I was having a good discussion with some of my colleagues in a Mastermind and I wanted to share the conclusion with you. We were talking about the two versions of acting out of character, one negative and one positive, that exist in complete opposition to each other.

When most of us think about acting out of character it’s related to doing things out of integrity. When someone does something unethical, deceitful, or out of alignment with their best self, that’s typically thought of as being "out of character". This is because you have a certain set of values that you aim to uphold in your actions, and any deviation from that standard is considered out of character.

This has negative consequences for yourself and others because you’re not showing up at your best, compromising all of the goodness you have to offer others. Obviously that’s not ideal and in this way we should try to avoid acting out of character.

But then there’s a second, more creative, more positive way to act out of character. This is when your behavior is inspired by your character. It comes from your character. When you feel pulled to act in accordance with your values, and to be held accountable by them. With a positive reference point you can keep your good intentions top of mind so that they guide your moment by moment decision making. This serves to proactively shut down any potential lapses in character, being able to soften the power of temptation and the allure of making exceptions in pursuit of upholding your values.

What’s really empowering about this distinction is that both options of “acting out of character” surface at the same time.  And given how opposite the two definitions are, it presents you with a binary decision. Either you can use your character to inspire you to act in accordance with your values, or you can act in conflict with your higher self. It’s a choice we’re constantly making but we’re often unaware of it. In creating more consciousness around who you want to be, and understanding that you do have a choice in more than you realize, you can follow through on being the best version of yourself.

It requires discipline to consistently make the right choice. Contrary to common belief, self-discipline isn’t something that you just have. It is developed and improved upon like anything else. And the benefits of being more self-disciplined are limitless because it touches all areas of your life, not the least of which is helping you live in alignment with your values and character.

The New Year is fast-approaching and if you aren’t intentional about it, it will pass you by before you ave the chance to make the most of it. Or you can make the choice to get ahead of it and build a foundation that will allow you to conquer more in the New Year than you thought possible. This includes building the habit of self-discipline, and that’s exactly what I’ll help you to do in the Best Self Breakthrough Challenge. If any part of you knows you’re leaving some potential on the table, click here to register for the challenge right now!

I recently heard a perspective that made me realize why so many people struggle with staying consistent with new positive habits. It was shared by Rob Dyrdek, a man who has mastered business and life, and has consistently found unimaginable success in so many different areas.

The bottom line is, everyone wants to have better habits and routines. It means you're healthier, more productive, more active, more present, and more immersed in the experiences of life. But people neglect something very important - You can’t expect for things to be exactly how you want them right from the beginning. You need to earn the results over time and grow into the fullest version of what you’re hoping to achieve.

Many people aren’t aware of this. They put in the effort to establish a habit and then complain that it’s not producing for them like they expected it to. So they deviate away from the fundamentals and lose momentum. That is until they feel inspired again and start over, creating a disjointed process of fits and starts where they never settle into anything lasting and sustainable.

Habits are not the end all be all to getting the results you want in life. It’s actually just the beginning to what you’re looking for. Highly fine-tuned habits that have been calibrated to create very specific and intentional results, that’s what you really want. But many people aren’t patient enough to let their habits mature and improve.

Dyrdek says that there’s 3 steps to really honing in on the life that you want - Discipline, Habits, Optimization.

You first must develop the self-discipline to follow through on completing things consistently. Without discipline you will be fighting against yourself. Then, you apply that discipline to engage in habits, which are pre-determined, routine ways of doing things. Then at that point, you get feedback about your performance within that habit and you optimize various elements of it so that it starts working for you. Life is dynamic and constantly changing so you must always be adjusting your expectations, processes, and environments to obtain the results that you want to achieve.

This is personal development. This is the practice of being a high-performer and becoming capable of achieving elite results in your life. If you feel in your heart that you’re destined for greatness and want to make waves in the world, then you need to make sure you have the fundamentals down from the very beginning. In the Best Self Breakthrough Challenge I will give you everything you need to build the habit of self-discipline and exponentiate results in your life. I’ll also teach you how to use the exact same self improvement system I use to make real progress in my health, relationships, work and productivity, and anything and everything else!

Fulfilling your potential is a longer game than you may realize, but this 21 day challenge will get you in the game and give you a running start! The challenge starts on January 2nd. Register now!

If you really want to start tapping into what’s next, what’s available to you, and what’s possible for you, you need to solve the problems in your life. Ryan Holiday describes this as “the obstacle is the way”. Essentially he argues that you become someone new when you overcome something big, and that we must not back down from the challenge.

This is true in our personal lives and in business. On the personal side, it’s all about how you approach the problem. So you’re not exercising as much as you’d like to or managing your time very well. You’re not being fair and compassionate with the people that are most important to you...

You can avoid the problem and act like it’s not there, which will cause you to get the same outcomes. Or you can create an action-plan, face off with the problem, and resolve it. This might unearth a new problem that needs to be solved next, but at least it’s a step forward in making progress on the issue. All you can ever ask for is progress.

In business, we’re literally taught that the best business ideas solve the biggest problems. Our mission is to find something that is so painful, frustrating, inconvenient, or scary and help it be less so through a product or service. The bigger the problem, the more people are willing to pay to solve it and the greater the opportunity.

Solving problems is more of a mindset than a means to an end. There will always be problems in life, and if there aren’t, then your mind will find one. So either you can be paralyzed by the idea that things aren’t how you want them to be, or you can work toward reconciling your problems so that the nature of them changes. 

When you get consistent with conquering challenges they’ll start to have less power over you because you’ve proven that you are greater than them. This means that the visceral pull they have on you is weaker, and they’ll affect the quality of your life less. And furthermore, it means that you can reach that much higher and tap into even better opportunities because you’ve built resilience, conviction, and resolve.

Let’s go back to one of the most ancient and profound traditions in the history of mankind - Hinduism. A defining expression featured in the Vedas, one of the core tenets of Hinduism, has shaped human behavior for thousands of years. And that term is “Namaste”

In essence, “Namaste” is a greeting, but the depth of the greeting is so much more than just a simple “hello”. It goes beyond acknowledging someone’s physical presence and communicates the presence of their soul. “Namaste” has evolved over time to mean “the light in me honors the light in you.”

That’s what’s really happening when we say “hello” to someone else. Each person is bringing their full story to each moment, and that needs to be recognized. Unfortunately we don’t naturally see the world in that amount of depth because we’re too occupied with everything else going on, and it’s not a priority.

But this is what it means to be more present with people. It’s not just about being there physically, but to be attuned and available emotionally and spiritually with them as well. “Namaste” is a simple reminder that there’s so much more to the encounter than meets the eye.

I recently had an experience that relates to this concept. I attended an event through Heroic, a personal development platform I lean on for my own growth, and we started the event with a connection exercise. After the initial awkwardness of allowing yourself to see and be seen by others, we were able to reach that next level of connection. It was “Namaste”. I felt genuine love and appreciation for people who were complete strangers, giving them all the love I had ad celebrating them as if they were family. It was a remarkable experience.

I share all of that to show how this is already within us. We’re more than capable of tapping into a deeper sense of richness and connection to others, but we hardly get to engage in it. But with a little more intention you can add a lot of quality to your life!

I believe we are in a crisis. A crisis where many people feel alone, unworthy, and incapable of doing anything about it. I want to really help add some perspective to this, but first I need to make a detour to provide some context.

As social creatures we often find ourselves in very complex social dynamics. Evolutionarily it was advantageous to constantly be comparing yourself to the group so that you can maintain your spot in the tribe and ultimately, increase your chances of survival. This is the role of the ego, to always be evaluating your position relative to others.

Well things have changed quite a bit since those early days and now we find that some of our instincts are out of place. This makes it harder to live self-assuredly because people are acting on their ego to make them feel better at the expense of others. Unfortunately, this might even affect you. You’ve seen this first-hand if you’ve been bullied, harassed, threatened, or experienced other forms of unfair treatment.

But here’s the hard truth to it. You’re human too. You have the same instincts that can negatively affect other people when they’re not controlled. I’m sure you can think of a time when you lost your temper or unfairly treated someone else. Nobody is immune to this and through your own self-work you are improving the way you relate with these impulses and urges (among other things).

Alright, so where am I getting with this? We’re only in control of what's happening in our own head. We receive what other people are doing around us and to us and we put out our own energy that then affects others. So in both cases, improving in this area involves you and only you.

So for someone who wants to feel less alone, more worthy, and more empowered… Who wants to be more accepted by others and less judged… You need to be better about accepting others and judging others less. You must tame your own ego and establish the standard for your own life because that will help you enforce what you’re willing to tolerate.

To transform the way other people treat you, you must transform yourself. Be more graceful with others and you’ll have more grace with yourself. Find the spark in someone else and it’ll help you find the spark within yourself. You’ll be amazed to see how quickly life changes when you change the eyes you are seeing everything through. As Wayne Dyer puts it, “change the way you look at things and the things you look at change.”

How unfortunate would it be if you realized you were living a fraction of the life you were capable of? That you were letting incredible moments pass you by instead of being fully immersed in the richness of every moment. Life is meant to be lived completely, and some of your best times come when your heart is pumping in your chest, you feel a nervous anticipation about what’s going to happen, you're gritting at the pain of physical exertion, or that you’re on the verge of triumph (or failure).

If you want to make the absolute most out of life, you cannot live a diluted version of it. Life can be so sweet if only you allow yourself to taste it, but many people water-down their life because they’re being held back by the fear of what might happen. That someone will disagree with you, or they won’t like you. That you’ll lose all of your money. That your reputation is at stake. Or worst yet, that you might disappoint yourself if you try your best and realize you weren’t actually good enough.

While all of those things are real points to consider, what I’ve found to be true in my life (and something I’ve validated in the story of many incredible people) - The greatest payoffs of life require that you expose yourself to the biggest risks. The upside of a business is proportional to the risk you take on. The ecstasy of falling in love means that your heartbreak will hurt that much more. 

There are real consequences to your decisions and they can cause pain, but I think it’s better to allow yourself to feel both the good and the bad rather than nothing at all. And to further complicate things, your negativity bias defaults you to think discouragingly about all the things that can go wrong rather than optimistically about how great it would be if things go right. This makes the risk and fear that much stronger, and it holds us back that much more.

There’s an expression in baseball that goes “You can’t let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game.” I think that summarizes it well. You’ve got to put yourself in the game and take a big swing. It’s in those moments of wonder and uncertainty where everything is on the edge. It’s when you feel most alive, and I want you to feel that way more often. 

This is so much easier said than done. Many of us don’t have a tolerance for the risk or a sense of self-belief that gives us the confidence to put ourselves out there as consistently as we’d like to. That’s where I believe the Best Self Breakthrough Challenge can support you. In the 21 Day challenge, that starts right when the New Year begins, you’ll create momentum in your life that will help you to take more risks and succeed in ways you never imagined possible. You’ll have the confidence to take action through negativity bias and really squeeze the juice that life has to offer you. If you’re ready to have an unrestrained, unstoppable 2023, click the link here to sign up for the challenge.