Just using the word “Boredom” really makes me feel uneasy. It is the bane of our existence, what we will avoid at all costs, what we fear will make us lose our minds!

This was a very busy work week for me where I didn’t give myself a lot of time to think. I make an effort to post a blog once a week and was struggling to find an article to write about. Today as I found myself without anything to do while sitting along with my thoughts when all of the sudden…BOOM, “Boredom Sparks Creativity” is born!

Society is fast paced, we are constantly moving and keeping ourselves busy. If we aren’t working, socializing, cooking, driving, exercising, or sleeping we tend to fill the time with tim with watching tv, going on our phones, or just banging our heads against the wall to avoid boredom. This constant addiction to action has us more anxious and stressed then we have ever been because we fear the alternative.

I constantly hear stories of the person who can’t wait to retire only to find themselves returning to the workforce because they couldn’t hack “the boredom.” When we train our brains to be addicted to activity we will never be comfortable being alone with just thinking.

This is another great example of getting comfortable being uncomfortable because discomfort is where the magic spark lies. I am not suggesting if hide yourself in a dark room all day you will become a creative genius; rather, finding a balance between activity and thinking will make you more productive, happy, and centered.

Getting Comfortable being Uncomfortable tends to me a common theme around most of my posts and today it felt ever more apparent…

There are a lot of things I do that feel uncomfortable in the moment, such as grueling exercise, eating clean, waking up early, cold showers, saving money, and working long hours. After a while of taking these actions I start to get comfortable and they become habits, making them easier to do. These habits were not formed over night, they took discipline at first and now it would take more discipline not to do them since they are apart of my routine.

I have been challenging myself to seek new areas of discomfort, not just for the sake of being uncomfortable; rather, to find ways to improve. This blog was a huge area of discomfort due to my insecurity to express vulnerability. With repetition it is no longer as uncomfortable; in fact, I look forward to writing these posts weekly because of the creative benefits I feel!

Today I really felt as if I pushed the boundaries of discomfort by posting a promotional video of myself on LinkedIn to market my business. If you read one of my earlier posts titled “Knowledge is NOT Power” I mentioned it took me at least 5 times to hear the benefits of a new habit before I started putting it into action… Let’s just say I heard the benefits of posting promotional video’s a lot more than 5 times without taking action. What I did instead  was rationalized why video’s were a silly idea.

When I posted the video I had an instantaneous moment of regret and fear of judgement. Then after positive reinforcement from peers and colleagues, I watched my anxiety wash away.

Habits are a journey, if I were to start doing burpees, waking up an hour earlier, eating salads, writing a blog, and posting promotional video’s all at the same time I would have burned out. To create a steady habit and get comfortable with being uncomfortable it has to happen one at a time.

You only have one shot at this life, take some chances and test yourself to see what you are capable of!

This post is going to be out of character from my previous posts. I want to share my memory of losing a family member yesterday, in an effort to remember that person and hopefully it can shine a light on some sort of silver lining.

My Great Grandmother, Gammy, died yesterday peacefully in her sleep at the age of 104. What a great run and certainly an impressive feat to make it that far. Towards the end it wasn’t easy as she battled with many ailments that made it hard to fully experience life; but nevertheless, she still lived life.

As a great grand child of many, I can’t say I really got to know her as a person. My more recent memory of our relationship was me helping her get up and down stairs, getting a Christmas card with a nice check in the mail, and occasionally mistaking me for another grand child…

Through it all, I looked at her as a stoic figure in which she led a life that was guided by logic as opposed to emotion. Through all the different chapters in her life filled with up’s and down’s I would take her as someone that could not be phased. This perceived trait was something I admired about her.

As more of an outsider in her life, I was still able to see the impact she had. I noticed she was generous, hard to please, could tell great stories, was stubborn, had great wisdom, and inspired.

The greatest contribution she may have had is her impact on family. Along with being a devoted mother to 3 children, she consistently was apart of the lives of her family members and was always open to giving a helping hand.

I will always think of her recent birthday parties (they get a little more important once she turned 100) where everyone would get together to not only celebrate this woman but also be with each other.

Towards the end I looked at her as a grateful observer, just happy to be alive and to see her family be together. She wasn’t asking for anything more than she had, wasn’t comparing her life to others; rather, she felt truly blessed to be where she was.

To be truly grateful is something she taught me, to enjoy the moments we have together no matter the occasion.

Good Morning and Happy Sunday! As you read this from top to bottom (hopefully), I ask you to address how you feel now and then once this post is done.

Imagine for a second walking into two different rooms to make a quick delivery..one room has white walls, dim fluorescent lights, people yawning, and elevator music (sound like the MVA probably).

Now picture another room that has artistic paintings on the walls, bright lights, people laughing, and some of today’s top hits playing on the radio.

To say the least, you enter both of these rooms with the same agenda but left feeling completely different. One room leaves you feeling lethargic and/or depressed where the other room made you feel full of energy and optimism.

You just swallowed up the energy from theses rooms and carry it with you throughout the day. You then bring that energy into your next interaction where the other person will start feeling the weight of your energy. That interaction leaves the other person carrying your energy with them to their next interaction, and so on and so on leading to a domino effect.

Think about when you are feeling unstoppable and then you interact with someone feeling negative. You just left that interaction with less energy than you gave and that other person left the interaction with more energy then they gave. This is how energy is the great equalizer!

Jim Rohn (entrepreneur, author, and motivational speaker) is famous for saying “you are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with.” This could not be more true, if you surround yourself with pessimistic people you will become a pessimistic person.

Everyone can agree that having more energy and enthusiasm is the a better way to go through life; however, just because it is simple doesn’t make it easy. We need to address the little things to make a bigger impact. Things as simple as the color of your shirt, the lighting in a room, playing your favorite song, a small chuckle, the comfort of a chair, reading a blog post ;), all make a long term difference.

The more energy you have, the more you can give which is undeniably how to reach your pursuit of fulfillment. Use that energy you may be feeling now and pay it forward!

After a much needed break during the Holidays, I was eagerly awaiting and excited to write this post. It is 2019 and a new year offers new possibilities!

The Holidays offer a great time to step back and reflect on the year behind us and also plan ahead for goals of the new year…

However, sometimes these goals turn into unrealistic wishes. A new year offers a fantasy of a new person we will become once the clock strikes midnight. This is crafted by “new year’s resolutions” which are an amazing concept but also can be an unrealistic.

Many stack their new years resolutions with things like “I want to eat clean more, exercise more, read more, pray more, etc., etc., etc….”

What actually happens is New Years day hits and after the champagne hangover settles you attempt to complete your new years resolutions by eating a healthy breakfast, going to the gym, and reading a couple chapters of a book. If your lucky you may be able to do this for a couple days to a week. But what happens shortly after is you burn out and rationalize doing less, and less, and less.

This happens for multiple reasons, first and foremost being you are doing too may things at once. The idea of these new years resolutions is to create sustainable habits and trying to build too many habits all at once is unsustainable. The second reason is your resolutions are not tangible.

What I propose is to set quantifiable goals. Instead of using words like “more” or “better” to describe your resolutions, you should be using something actionable. For example, try setting a goal to work out 2 times a week, or eating clean foods 3 days a week, or reading a chapter of a book a week.

Once you set attainable goals, it is important you complete only one habit to start and slowly add more throughout the year. It takes roughly 3 weeks to create a habit. When that habit is engrained, you should then add a second resolution in February, third in March, fourth in April, etc. Discipline is like a muscle and if you overtrain it you are likely to get injured which will negate all your progress.

With all that I hope everyone enjoyed their holidays and are ready to crush it in 2019!

In honor of the holidays coming up I thought it would be a good idea to talk about every family’s favorite dinner time conversation….to avoid.

These are two obviously polarizing subjects and I have spent much of my life avoiding talking about them because of what it brings out in people. Frankly, I used this as an excuse to be uneducated on both matters.

It is only in the last couple years I have started to develop my own opinions on politics and religion, but I won’t get into that here.

Politics and religion help give people an identity that they use to form their moral compass. Think back to the day you were born, you were given a name, a religion, and a set of rules to abide by that formed the person you are today. Immediately you enter this world with a biased opinion based on the opinions around you.

If you ask most Jewish people the purpose of a Kosher Diet or why they wear a Yamaka, a lot will likely tell you it is because it says to do so in the Torah. They didn’t ask questions but rather decided to live a lifestyle based on the words on a page without even thinking to form their own opinion on it.

My point is you can identify as a Christian but also be okay with gay marriage, you can be republican and vote pro-choice, and you can form your own identity.

These examples will still offend some and it may lead you to believe I have some of my own religious and political bias’s, which I cannot completely deny. My point is this, the questioning of an establishment is not a questioning of one’s identity.

We are all in this world trying to figure it out and there is no perfect answer on how to live. The blueprint is different depending on who you ask. Keeping an open mind is what makes this human experience so interesting and allows us to grow, learn, and expand what we think is possible.

So enjoy your Christmas Turkey with your friends and family and try to keep an open mind when your Uncle is wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat.

When a surfer jumps on the board and comes across a wave, they ride it.

Simple right? Well if it wasn’t simple I probably wouldn’t write about it. That being said, what happens when you get hit with a wave? Do you duck because another wave is right around the corner, or do you ride it?

The purpose of this post is to address those moments in the day when you are feeling at your BEST!

Think about when you are feeling at your highest energy during the day. For most it is probably around 10-11am when the caffeine is fully kicking in.

Your should be riding those waves because it is where you will be the most productive. This is not the time you should be completing mundane tasks, this is when you should be strategizing and using as much creative output as possible.

On the flip side, there is only a finite amount of energy we can give out at a high level. Now that tank can be expanded with discipline (but that will be for another post). But you should also be aware of the times in the day when you aren’t feeling as energetic, that is the time to do the work that should come automatic (aka, “I can do this in my sleep” work).

Let’s face it, the day is incredibly long and people that wallow that there isn’t enough time in the day aren’t utilizing their day right. For more on making the most out of your day, I am going to recommend an amazing book by Tim Ferriss called “The Four Hour Work Week.” This book is a very practical guide where you will find a series of frameworks, how-to guides, mistakes to avoid, and many other types of content on managing your time.

Once you start capitalizing on this state of “flow” by assessing and riding the waves, you may be surprised on how much you will get done!

Apologies in advance for the very few of you that may be reading this that are disappointed I haven’t posted in a while. Having not posted anything in almost 2 weeks, this one is not only overdue but also a fitting subject.

To share some context I’ll have to rewind a little bit. So back in the year 1800….okay okay not that far back.

I started writing this blog about 2 months ago with the intention of this being read by frankly only 3 people…me, myself, and I. As I got a few posts in, I got antsy to get people’s opinion so finally decided to share it with a few friends and family. To my great surprise, I got a pretty positive and inspiring reaction. At that moment this blog went from a free thinking personal journal to a pressure cooker with an audience that can judge every word and thought!

In general I don’t accept compliments well and I used friends and families kind words to put pressure on myself as if I were reading these posts with a megaphone a top the white house. 

This pressure created some good work at first where I was a lot more conscientious before pressing the detonate (some refer to as “publish”) button. But after a while, each post had to be better than the next which had an inverse effect. It got to the point where the voice in my head saying “no one wants to read this” or “your opinion doesn’t matter” became louder each time. This had me holding out for the perfect post when it doesn’t exist.

I am very aware this is not a logical reaction but that doesn’t stop the insecurity from being there. So what did I do to shut down this inner voice? Well your reading the answer, just writing about it! This is my attempt at not letting my actions be driven by insecurities or fear.

This was hard to write about since it contradicts a lot of my previous posts; however, I hope this shines a light on these insecurities being NORMAL! This is a part of the human condition I try every day to embrace and use as an opportunity to learn more about myself.

Acknowledgment that you are your own worst critic is the first step in silencing that voice.

What is stopping you from expressing who you are? I challenge you to write it down (on paper if you left your blog at home) and tackle whatever it is head on!

 

This one comes in perfect timing as the Thanksgiving Holiday week is coming to a wrap. Many of you may be feeling a Turkey and Shopping Hangover while you dreadfully await the return to “reality.” What I want to address is why you should feel good about your over indulgences.

Put yourself back in your “normal” day to day where you get up at the crack of dawn, work, eat the same foods, exercise (sometimes), watch tv, go to the occasional happy hour, etc. This is your routine and what makes you feel like you have some control of your life. I have nothing against routines, in fact, I think they are a necessity for a healthy state of mind; however, I am promoting the occasional break from the routine. The break from your routine will provide balance and prevent “burnout.”

Let say it’s early October and you want to lose 15 lbs before Thanksgiving. To complete the goal you follow a structured exercise and nutrition plan while sacrificing some short term pleasures in the process (This is “two steps forward”). To keep yourself motivated, you need to give yourself a reward to all the hard work. In this case it will likely be compliments from friends and family about how good you look along with all the Turkey, Stuffing, and Mashed Potatoes you desire. This reward (“One step back”) is what will keep you focused and determined through all the times you want to quit. In the end you should feel proud of what you accomplished and satisfied with your reward. You now have an appreciation for hard work, can enjoy your “step back”, and have your sights set on the next goal (next “two steps forward”).

This really comes down to goal setting. Have a goal in mind, crush it, reward yourself, and set a new one. This is going to give you purpose and drive which in turn will remove guilt.

With Christmas around the corner, I challenge you to create a new positive routine that is challenging, creative, and most importantly…rewarding. In the process, don’t be afraid to enjoy a cookie or two 😉

We’ve all heard the saying “knowledge is power…”

With this saying we think that the more your read, learn, and listen to acquire knowledge will make you more successful. This is certainly a piece to success but not the most important thing.

My whole life I have been a sponge for knowledge, most formally through Grade School and College. The learning hasn’t stopped after leaving the classroom setting, in fact, much more of the learning comes later. Out of college I found a passion in self development. This has mostly been through hours and hours of listening to podcasts, reading influential books, and listening to mentors. All of this has been able to change my perspective and help me grow as a person.

With that, I became addicted to getting that “knowledge high” after reading or listening to something “powerful.” I found myself just chasing the next piece of content to keep gaining knowledge. The key thing I ignored was putting that Knowledge into ACTION!

This has been small incremental habit changes after gaining knowledge from many different perspectives. I tend to be Risk Averse and analyze decisions systematically; however, I was able to find a method that worked for me to start taking action. Once I hear something 5 times I then start implementing it. As a constant consumer of new content, this method works for me but every approach can be different.

The knowledge we have means nothing if we don’t do anything with it. There is no power in sitting High and Mighty on a horse of Knowledge without ever taking the horse out of the stable.

If you are gathering the knowledge, that is an important first step I want to acknowledge you for. Now I challenge you to use that knowledge to take risks, be uncomfortable, and bring value to the world!