I really like today’s positivity quote - “Joy makes the longest journey too short.” Joy is one the most underrated qualities in life. There’s an energy, enthusiasm, and fun-loving nature to it that consumes you and transforms an experience. Time seems to just pass without your awareness of it, which is implied in the quote - when you’re experiencing joy you never want it to end.

As adults, I feel like we don’t let ourselves experience joy very often. We feel like we need to maintain a certain perception about who we are that is professional, composed, and controlled. We don’t always allow our personalities to shine because we don’t want people to think of us differently.

If I may, I think this actually comes back to our deepest insecurities. Sometimes we restrict our own self-expression because we’re afraid that we’re going to mess things up. This could threaten our livelihood and ability to take care of those we care most about, and the cost doesn’t seem worth it.

But that’s a misguided conclusion. When you can be yourself you’ll find that you actually create more opportunities for yourself. People develop a stronger impression of you, they feel like they know you, and they want to invest in you. So tap into more authentic joy more often and be your silly, goofy, weird self! As with anything there’s a time and place for it, and I’m encouraging you to be yourself more often and in more places.

Beyond overcoming some of the restrictions you’ve placed on yourself, how can you experience more joy in life? I have 3 ideas. 

First is to be more curious. When you find intrigue and a fascination for things, you’ll feel more emotionally moved by it. Second is to work toward mastering something. There are few things more gratifying than solving a puzzle, finding ways to improve and optimize even the smallest things, and observing the way you make progress on something. It is intrinsically enjoyable! And then last, doubling down on your personality, surround yourself with the people that bring the best out of you. The people you can confidently be yourself with, doing the things you want to do, because it will help you gain confidence that who you are at your core is valued, appreciated, and good enough.

When you tap into more joy more often you’ll find that you’ll go farther, faster, and harder without even realizing it. And that will carry you toward more fulfillment and more abundance!

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As high-performing, ambitious achievers we really want to make our days count. There’s an unmatchable fulfillment to knowing that you made the most of your time, moved the needle on the things that were most important, had meaningful experiences, and didn’t neglect priorities. It’s a lifelong pursuit to master this and consistently tap into the balance that lights you up most.

The key to living full, inspiring days is the exact same advice for how to live a full, inspiring life. You just need to keep on chunking it down. A great life has great decades, which has great years, great months, great weeks, great days, great hours, great minutes, and finally great moments. The more present and engaged you can be doing the right things in the right moments, the richer and more full your life will feel.

Jenna Kutcher has an interesting perspective on this that she calls making minutes "fat". We are constantly vulnerable to getting distracted and pulled away from what we’re doing. This means that we’re constantly switching tasks and don’t allow ourselves to fully sink into the things that we’re doing. It also means that we’re occupying our time doing things that we’d rather not be doing, like endless scrolling on social media, giving a fraction of our focus to our work, or having our minds somewhere else when spending time with somebody we care about.

Full days are not just about keeping yourself busy. In fact being busy is a defense mechanism against the real problem, which is not being comfortable sitting with yourself and your thoughts. Instead we should pursue being active. Not just physically active, but emotionally and cognitively active. This involves a focus and attention to whatever is in front of us. It deepens our experience so that you're accessing more within it, whether that be benefits for you or results in the world. 

I liken this thought to my personal north star, which is intentional living. How do I immerse myself in doing the things that I want to do, that are most important for me, in as many moments as I can every day? It holds me accountable to putting my phone down, exercising when I don’t feel like it, courageously making that phone call, and being fully present. 

This is all easier said than done, I know, and that’s why it’s a lifelong intention. But you can get there by getting started, and that’s what I hope to help you with in the Best Self Breakthrough Challenge. If you need something to get you going and kickstart you into becoming the best version of yourself, this challenge is for you. And it launches tomorrow, Thursday December 1st, so this is your last chance to register. If you want to start feeling inspired and on fire about life, register for the challenge right now it’s unlike anything you’ve ever tried before!

We often think about the short-term cost of taking action. It's the energy, resources, and effort required to do something that isn't guaranteed to have a positive impact on your life. I get it, no one wants to feel like they’re wasting their time and it’s important to be intentional with how you invest your time. But what you’ll come to see is more important than that is considering the cost of inaction. 

Let’s quickly run through how this all works. The thoughts you have influence your feelings. Your feelings then influence your interest and motivation to take action. And then taking action consistently is what generates outcomes and results for you in your life. Everything else we do to improve our self-awareness, emotional control, empathy with others - It all is meant to support us in taking positive action more often. Knowledge is useless unless it’s applied. Action is the mechanism that materializes ideas into reality. 

So what does it mean if you don’t take action? It means that nothing happens. It means you have a vision for a more fulfilling and inspiring future but it’s all ideas and there’s nothing tangible about it. It’s a very passive way of living, like having your foot on the break waiting to see what happens to you instead of accelerating toward the life you want.

But for you, that’s unacceptable. You’re capable of so much more and your potential is so much greater than that. I know for a fact that there’s a part of you that wants a better life for yourself. That’s why your personal development is so important to you! And because I know that I feel like you’re open to be challenging you on this.

As it relates to your self-growth, what is the true cost of inaction? Is it losing self-belief because you let the fear of failing keep you from proving your worth? Is it compromising everything you could be for the people you care most about because you don’t want to fall short and disappoint yourself? Or is it tolerating a stagnant life that is only a fraction of your potential?

Take action, even before you feel like you’re ready. It’s better to make decisions with the intention of improving your life (even if you fail) than to sit on the sidelines and wait for the day that will never come. Build stronger habits and routines that help you show up at your best. Take risks and make mistakes, but gain confidence and momentum while you do it because you feel empowered by the future you’re creating for yourself. Invest in yourself and gain the skills you need to take positive action and change your life.

If you’re looking to kickstart your personal development and start living up to being the person you know you’re capable of being, you can install the Super Habits System In just 5 minutes a day, doing just one thing for 21 days, you’ll build an unstoppable momentum in your life that inspires you to defeat procrastination, raise your standards, and be more productive than ever with less will-power.

Based on your past experiences and lessons, you’ve developed a certain set of beliefs. On a subconscious level these beliefs govern every decision you make and in that way influence the output of your life. This is a defaulted set point that you return to unconsciously despite external circumstances because it’s where your brain is most comfortable.

These beliefs make up your identity, which is simply who you believe yourself to be and how you believe the world is around you. You may have heard this analogy before but I wanted to bring it up because it is fundamental to being the best version of yourself.  

Your identity is like a thermostat. 

A thermostat is designed to maintain temperature. No matter how hot or cold a room gets, it’s purpose is to bring the room back to the temperature it is set to. The room gets a little too hot, the thermostat cools it down. It gets a little too cold, the thermostat heats it up.

Your subconscious mind functions in a similar way. You will return to the level you’ve established for yourself through your beliefs and identity. What does this look like? It means that when you accomplish something beyond your level you regress back down. It means that when you feel motivated to change it’s really hard to sustain because you’re fighting against your subconscious mind. This is where self-sabotage creeps to knock you down a few levels so that you strike that balance your identity is most comfortable with.

Or, maybe you’re in a rut right now. Not feeling inspired, procrastinating, lazy, feeling like you're not making the most of your time. This could be because your identity has a low set point and you’ve come to tolerate that kind of life.

But fortunately, your identity isn’t permanent. You can update it intentionally. I believe one of the most fundamental identities to have is one of self-discipline, where you can get yourself to take action even when it’s hard, even when you don’t feel like it. In the Best Self Breakthrough Challenge I'm hosting, that starts Thursday, I help you systematically upgrade your identity so that your default level pulls you to do what you tell yourself you’re going to do. 

Imagine how much more productive, energized, and fulfilled you’d feel if you stopped procrastinating and delaying, and started acting and achieving like the person you know you’re capable of being.

If you feel like you’re leaving your full-potential on the table, or like you need a shake up to get you going again, register for the Best Self Breakthrough Challenge right now!

I want to preface by saying this reflection does not come from my recent personal experience but rather what I’ve observed recently. For whatever reason, in the last few weeks I’ve seen a number of people drive right through a red light or a stop sign. Fortunately none of these incidents led to an accident, but interestingly this put me in a unique position to think about a few different instances of this mistake and draw some unique insights.

In the first instance, someone blew through the stop sign and they knew it the second they entered the intersection. Her posture tensed and attention focused. You could see a wave of fear and embarrassment grip her instantly. It’s a pretty normal reaction when you realize you make a mistake, especially one that puts you in danger.

Then I saw someone who went through a red light but didn’t realize it until she made it through. But it wasn’t a full moment of regret and acknowledgment, you could tell that something felt off. It’s that sinking feeling that something’s wrong and you can’t quite place it. This created more a puzzled, introspective response rather than a strong anxiety or stress response.

Then last, there was a man who ran a red light with zero knowledge that he even did it. He drove through the intersection unaffected and undisturbed. Not good, but it happens!

The reason I bring up these different examples is because it highlights the power of awareness. The same situation with three different lenses of awareness creates three very different personal outcomes. It also shows how your emotional experience is tied to the meaning you give to the events that happen in your life. 

I realize that some of these topics we talk about are difficult to conceptualize, so I wanted to take this moment to show it with real, tangible examples I found in my life. Your life is already everything you’d ever want it to be, it’s just a matter of starting to see it that way.

Register for the Best Self Breakthrough 21 Day Challenge!

I’m sharing this on one of my favorite holidays, Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is a time to be with the people that are the most important to you. Gratitude is rooted in the Holiday and it also serves as an annual timestamp to reflect on how things have been over the past year.

The truth is, “we have so much to be thankful for.” Thanksgiving marks another year of abundance where we’ve gotten everything we need. It’s a reminder to reflect on all of the blessings we have in our life that we’ve taken for granted. And it’s a chance to renew your faith that everything happens in the right way at the right time.

Even those things that we might not realize in the moment were there to serve us, we get to write our own story and determine the meaning we assign to the event. That health scare is a wake up call. Getting laid off is a redirection to where you’re meant to be. All pain is just an indicator to a better destination. The challenge is being able to listen to it.

Gratitude is a perspective, and it’s a choice. You can choose to see a situation with anger and fear or you can choose to see it with gratitude and acceptance. And when you choose to see life in a way where there’s too much to be thankful for, you’ll start recognizing the abundance you’re surrounded by. 

Of all the people to have ever lived, in all moments of history, I’d say we have it pretty good. If you have a full stomach and a roof over your head, you have your baseline needs met. That’s something that many people would trade anything to have. So be grateful that you have it. We have so much to be thankful for and on a day like Thanksgiving, when you’re prompted to think about it, you really start to see it!

On your personal development journey, you need to be sure you have the right foundation in place. Discover the 7 Fundamentals To Self Improvement and instantly accelerate your growth! (Who knows what you might be overlooking and how it’s holding you back…)

When you think of the word self-discipline, what usually comes to mind? For most people it’s thoughts of restriction and restraint. Many people think that when you practice self-discipline you’re overcoming temptations in order to prioritize what’s best for you in the long-run rather than what might feel good in the short-term.

This negative approach to self-discipline is likely because of it’s associations to other meanings of the word “discipline”. When you discipline a child it means that you’re scolding them and showing that there are consequences when they have bad behavior. When you think of self-discipline in this way, it creates a pressure to be a certain way and the motivation to be disciplined is pulled from the wrong source.

A more constructive, productive, and positive approach to self-discipline is to make it that your staying discipline more about doing things the right way rather than not doing it the wrong way. Meaning, if you ‘play to win’ and reward yourself for positive performance rather than reprimand yourself for lapses in performance, you feel much more inspired to be disciplined.

So how does this philosophy transfer over into your life? It’s about celebrating more and acknowledging yourself more often. It’s taking a moment to remind yourself about a job well done even if you might not naturally think to celebrate it. That means when you set higher standards for yourself and feel stretched to achieve them, you feel pulled by positive emotions to follow through rather than pressured to meet the task at minimum to stay compliant.

While your self-discipline practice will always include both positive and negative motivational forces, it’s important to recognize the ways in which both serve you. I think just about everyone in the world agrees that having more self-discipline and self-control is a good thing, and just like anything else you can improve it with practice and consistency.

So if you want to start being more self-disciplined, getting more consistent with the health, professional, educational, and mindset practices that make up the best version of yourself, I want to invite you to the Best-Self Breakthrough 21 Day Challenge. In this challenge I take you through a step by step process that helps you build more self-discipline in your life so that you can feel ready to take on the world and have unstoppable momentum. We can make 2023 the best, most productive and fulfilling year of your life that sets the tone for your future. And this challenge is your first step forward toward it. Register for the Best-Self Breakthrough Challenge here!

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One of the most well-known, prolific baseball players in the history of the game is Alex Rodriguez. His career includes 696 home runs, 3 MVPs, and he’s a 14 time all-star. For those who don’t know much about baseball, these statistics suggest that "A-Rod" is one of the most dominant players to have ever played the game.

In an interview with Ed Mylett A-Rod brought attention to the opposite side of the spectrum, which is equally true and worth considering. Alongside all of the positive accolades, he also has the 5th most strikeouts of all time. That’s pretty surprising to be associated with someone who is considered one of the best of all-time.

More than anything, A-Rod’s career represents the power of resilience. In a sport where you get a hit one-third of the time if you’re really good, you need to move past the failures quickly to be present for the next opportunity. With all of the strikeouts and all the failed attempts, A-Rod attracted a lot of criticism. But he was a master of his craft, always keeping an optimistic mindset about the next opportunity. Had he chosen to feel bad for himself, he wouldn’t have been motivated to keep improving and certainly wouldn’t have accomplished what he did in the sport.

What does this mean for you? It means that if you want to achieve remarkable things, you can’t be afraid to expose yourself to failure. In fact it suggests that for every success there is a string of corresponding failure that came before it. In the face of the critics and the doubters and the naysayers, you need to stay focused on your own mission and believe in the process that will achieve it.

No one is immune to this reality and hopefully in seeing it firsthand today, you feel more empowered through your struggles knowing that they’re necessary stepping stones to your ultimate destination.

On your personal development journey, you need to be sure you have the right foundation in place. Discover the 7 Fundamentals To Self Improvement and instantly accelerate your growth! (Who knows what you might be overlooking and how it’s holding you back…)

Last week I showed up to a meet up with my mentor Dave Meltzer and he shared a shocking but important lesson. He says that he’s a hypocrite, he only hires hypocrites and that everyone should try their best to be a hypocrite. He was proud about it and he explained why.

Usually we have a negative reaction when someone is being hypocritical. It means that they’re two-faced, that they say one thing and do another which suggests that they're unreliable. It serves as a negative strike on their character. But Dave very insightfully reframed this whole concept.

Sure, a hypocrite can be someone who is frustrating and not dependable, but oftentimes it’s also a metric for growth. It’s evidence that you learned something new and now you’re choosing to relate with a topic in a different way. Might this contradict beliefs you’ve had and arguments you’ve made in the past? Absolutely, and it takes a strong person to admit that they were wrong and change their opinion.

The real problem isn’t that we go back on our word or flop on a stance... It’s that we’re unwilling to consider the idea that we made a mistake. Our ego desperately tries to maintain the beliefs we have which leads to us digging deeper into our current belief and putting all of our energy into proving ourselves right rather than getting things right.

Realizing that you were wrong, or changing your opinion on something can seem pretty hypocritical can’t it? But it’s a strength. It shows that you’re willing to learn, adapt, and evolve. And it helps you get to the right answer much faster so that you can perform at a higher level and be effective.

So the next time you feel yourself starting to get defensive in an argument, try to take a different standpoint and really prioritize how you can get it right rather than prove yourself right.