Author: Jeffrey

Mindset

First and foremost, ‘being stuck’ is just a mindset, or a pattern of thinking that you may have dug yourself into. Realize that it is just a pattern, and that pattern can be changed through implementation of another pattern. Change will not happen over night, so set expectations accordingly.

Steps

1. Identify limiting beliefs. What are you telling yourself that’s holding you back? We all have an inner-dialogue that is telling us something. If you’re stuck, it will usually sound like… “You can’t do [insert  goal], because [insert excuse].” Where did this pessimistic voice come from? It could have come from people’s exceptions of you, what people continually tell you, or your laziness trying to justify itself. It doesn’t matter, either way it needs to be eliminated and that starts with identifying what they are.
2. Look at people who are/were in similar circumstances and are accomplishing/have accomplished what it is that you want to do. Nothing is more reassuring than knowing that whatever it is you’re trying to do has been done, and is therefore possible. And if it hasn’t been done… then that’s even more motivation to do it!
3. Re-affirm your ‘why’… go deep. Why do you want to achieve your particular goal? Answer it. Then ask why again. Answer that, then ask why 5 more times. Really think about it. Go a total of 7 why’s deep to find your true motivation (may even be from childhood), and ‘big why’ that will push you forward as if possessing you.
4. Make a ‘Not To Do List’. List what it is that you do every day that is holding you back, and focus on not doing it. This is an effective strategy to break your old patterns, while not pressuring you with things to do, but rather cutting the excess fat out of your life.

Getting unstuck may present itself as a challenge to most people,  but the challenge is half the fun. It is but one stone along the path to self-mastery, so enjoy it!

Ideas are nothing if they just stay in your head. They should be shared with the world. Speak your ideas out loud, with other people, share them in any way you can. Expose your ideas to scrutiny, so that they can be refined and improved. Implement your ideas. Translate them into actionable steps, just like a painter painting an image imagined in his head.

Einstein

If Einstein never chose to write down the theory of relativity and publish it, then it would have never existed. His theory would have lived with him and died with him. How many people today choose to die with their untapped potential and art that they never share with the world?

Gardening

Plant the seeds of your ideas into your daily life. Water them by implementing them through time. Nurture and fertilize them until they begin to grow pedals and blossom. Relish in the beauty of its blossom, and share it with the people you love.

Life is created through:

1 – An Idea,

2 – The Intention to implement the idea

3 – Procedurally applying that idea to your life

Long Live Ideas

Don’t let ideas die with you. Let them take on a life of their own, so that you can die with that part of yourself remaining eternal.

Long live this art form.

Lifestyle Steps

1. Sleep. Start waking up without an alarm to see how much sleep your body needs, then try to get that every night, or most nights. Less sleep equals higher cortisol, the stress hormone which promotes insulin for energy instead of fat, and lowers natural human growth hormone. Not good.
2. Exercise. 3 to 5 times a week is great. Any form of exercise depending on your goals: walking, running, lifting weights, sport, anything that gets your heart rate up and oxygen flowing. Work out first thing in the morning (within 45 minutes to an hour of waking up) for 300% increase in fat burning. Our metabolism is running quicker first thing in the morning. Also, working out in a fasted state, with no food in your body, burns more fat during your workout, which is why morning workouts are attractive. Tip: In order to get the most out of your workout, put your mind in the muscle and focus on flexion. Two people can be working out, doing the same exercise for the same amount of time, but the one who focuses on putting his mind into the muscle is the person who will get extraordinary results.
3. Don’t eat for 2 hours after working out. Then, your body will use fat for energy. If you get enough protein in a day, you won’t have to worry about muscle atrophy.
4. Intermittent fast, 16-18 hour fasting window. Eat all your calories, just restrict them to a particular window of time, 6-8 hours. Fasting increases natural human growth hormone, which promotes muscle growth and preservation. There are many other benefits for fasting you can research on your own.

Macros

1. Protein – .8 x lean body mass = grams of protein per day. Get an estimate of your body fat percentage, and subtract it from your total weight. Protein is dependent on muscle and bone mass, not fat.
2. Carbs – Stay under 20-50g of carbs a day. This is the most important step, so you can enter a state called ketosis and become keto-adapted so that your body’s go-to energy source is fat. I recommend doing more research on ketosis and the ketogenic diet.
3. Calories – Find your basal metabolic rate (BMR) with this calculator (http://www.calculator.net/calorie-calculator.html). If you workout 3-5 days a week, consume your BMR or 100 to 200 calories above depending on workout intensity and how quickly you want to lose body fat. If you don’t work out, consume 200 to 300 calories under your BMR for the same results.
4. Fat – Equals the difference between your calories needed for the day (from previous step) and calories obtained from protein and carbs. 1g of protein = 4 calories, 1g of carbs = 4 calories, 1g of fat = 9 calories.

Example:

My BMR is about 2,000 calories, and I work out 6 times a week, my goal is to shred fat and keep muscle, and my total weight is 185. I have about 15% body fat, so that means my lean body mass is 85% of my total weight. 185x.85=>157.25x.8=125.8 ~ 126g protein.

Total daily calories: 2,006

Protein: 126g (x 4 = 504)

Carbs: 20g (x 4 = 80)

Fat: 158g (x 4 = 1,422)

Follow this diet for a month, and you will see results no matter what.

Where attention goes, energy flows

Ignore your weaknesses, just focus on your strengths. This may seem counter-intuitive, but see how this works for you. Where attention goes, energy flows. If you pay attention to a weak area you have, then you identify yourself with that weakness.

Strategy

A better strategy would be to blow up your strengths, so that people don’t identify you by your weaknesses. Make your weaknesses irrelevant due to how much you compensate for them with your strengths.

Dichotomy

There is no such thing as a perfect human being, so stop trying to become one. Some characteristics are impossible to coexist. I believe strengths and weakness are a dichotomy, and complement each other.

“Go all in on your strengths.”
-Gary Vee

Forget Your Weaknesses

I’d go as far as to say to not even know your weaknesses off the top of your head. Just study your strengths. If you even remember your weaknesses, that judgmental voice in your head will haunt you with them and give you limiting beliefs.

Find What Makes You Special

Our brains are all structured differently. Some people have more biological emphasis on certain characteristics of their personality, so don’t try to fight it. It’s like trying to fight your height; some people are short and some people are tall, but it’s your job to find the benefit of whatever you have. Let’s leave it at that.

Here is something I truly believe. We all have to find our way in the world, and denial of this fact will breed unhappiness. Independence is all we really have because people come and go, just as the scenery changes from city to city. Never lose your inner voice.

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice.”
– Steve Jobs

Be aware at all times whose voice you are listening to, your voice or the voice of others echoing in your head. The voice of others may take form in your voice. Are your words, your thoughts, or your actions the result of other people’s negative influence? Are you clogged in the machine of groupthink?

Here are my rules to maintain independence:

Rule 1 – Process your thoughts independently of others.

This ties into rule 2, and cannot be done without rule 2. This is the purpose of meditation.

Rule 2 – Prioritize your alone time.

We are social creatures who pleasure being around people and fitting in. Don’t let this instinctual desire keep you from your alone time. If you are uncomfortable being with yourself, then you are in bad company. Learn to love yourself. This is done through being alone and facing yourself.

Rule 3 – Constantly nurture your base.

If you’re around people for too long, you will begin to subconsciously want to get away from them, but you may feel trapped with conflicting desires to stay and to leave. If you have these two desires simultaneously, then the desire to stay is a desire to hold on to a moment that is already fleeted. Let go. Don’t be afraid to leave if you want to leave; it’s how you take your power back. If you develop your base by prioritizing your alone time, you begin to enjoy being around people more.

Rule 4 – Reach out from a place of empathy.

This rule ties into rule 2 and 3. We enjoy the company of people more after being alone. When we are alone, we are more aquatinted with our own quirks and problems, which allows us to empathize other’s. The journey to understanding others is through understanding ourselves.

Formula

Goals + Systems = Success

Illustration

Goal1 + System1 => Goal2 + System2 => Goal3 + System3 => Macro Goal

Goals must be concrete in order for our brains to register them in terms of reality. An static goal should be to set systems. Static goals are a lifestyle and ingrained into your character. To practice creating systems, start slowly with a morning routine, afternoon schedule, then a bedtime routine. Some examples are times for work, exercise, eating, planning, meditating, and sleeping. Systems tune our body to a biological clock which frees up resistance, so you don’t have to waste energy deciding what needs to be done.

Systems

Don’t think of systems as rigid. Be flexible. Rigid systems are a turn off and you will not follow through on them. If you’re a writer say, “At 2pm, I’m going to sit in from of my screen and see what words I can put on the page.” If you need to study, say, “At 6pm, I will sit in front of my notes with no distractions for 2 hours.” Notice the phrase, “sit in front of.” If you said, “I will study intensively for 2 hours,” then you place to much pressure on yourself and you’ll end up getting nothing done.

Goals alone are nothing but fairy dust unless they are backed by systems. Now that you know you are a master of systems, you can apply this skill to reaching goals. Goals by themselves will leave you disappointed with yourself until you attain the goal. It is like basking in shame over the thing you don’t have. By using systems, you can feel comfortable and happy with the fact that you are adhering to the systems.

Systems are constructed by understanding what must be done in a certain amount of time that will produce the results you’re looking for.

Most everything is achieved through repetition of a system. You’re probably already implementing systems without giving it much thought. Most of the time we implement our own systems unconsciously. I challenge you to focus more energy on creating systems.

Goals

An incremental goal should represent a transition in a system. This isn’t to say that all systems must be reworked for every goal, but be self-aware if a goal will require a different system.

Micro goals are different roads and paths which lead you to your ultimate macro goal. Refer to the illustration above. Start at the macro goal, then figure the micro goals that will lead you there.

Goals should always be open-ended and should not cut you off from better opportunities. Goals are starting points for systems to be engineered from.  Systems are based off goals, but if the skills learned as a result of the system allow you to see better opportunities, don’t hesitate to take them.

What is Perspective?

Perspective is a collection of experiences and assumptions gathered throughout life. Everything we believe to be true is just an assumption; our brains don’t function off absolutes. If it did, then our minds wouldn’t have the capacity to be changed.

Many assumptions are predetermined, that is, they are hardwired into our brains from evolution. For example, our brains assume that the universe follows the laws of physics, that sharp objects will cut us, or whether a predator might harm our safety. Built on top of these base assumptions are the assumptions gathered from the individual.

Each individual has a unique perspective. We lack the capacity to fully understand another person’s perspective because we are bound by our own perspective.

Progression

Perspectives never make large jumps. The brain works in a way of gradual realization, or shift in perspective. From the outside, one may perceive a person as having an immense change in character or perspective, when in reality, one doesn’t know the thought processes going on in the other person’s head.

Creativity is within in arms reach of perspective. We can’t grab something that is across the room from us, just as we can’t formulate ideas about a subject we haven’t studied. We can’t teleport through space and time, just as perspective can’t make sudden jumps. Therefore, creative realizations are first slowly accumulated through time by “feeding the fire”.

Creativity is incremental. From one perspective, a person may seem like a genius for formulating an excellent idea, when in reality they’ve placed themselves in the right perspective to allow that idea to come to life. It may seem like a big leap, but that is only a subjective interpretation.

Genius

Einstein’s theory of time relativity took ten years of obsession with his craft in order to place himself in the right state of mind. Thomas Edison’s lightbulb took 10,000 trials of failure before stumbling upon the correct trail.

Failures shape our reality, and are essential for developing the correct assumptions of the world.

With a well developed perspective, one can achieve genius level creativity.

Vacation season is over, a new season has begun. After some initial resistance, we all understand that, and we seem to have fallen back into habit. The continual circle of action, essentially doing the same thing over and over again, becoming lost in the minutia of it all. Where is the excitement?

Habits can bring us to an unhappy place, where we consequentially losing our own sense of objective. I know what you’re saying… “There is no avoiding these habits; I have to make a living; I have to continue my formal education.” You aren’t wrong, for now. Remember why you’re doing everything. Remember why. Remember that you aren’t a slave to the world. Remember. Do whatever you have to, to continue to remember.

Everything you are doing right now will contribute to your future in a big way. You might not see that now, but you will as time passes. Resist the temptation to fall into the trap of being what people expect you to be, doing only what you’re expected to do, and chasing only what others say is important.

Now is a time for redefinition. The longer you hold on to the past, the worse you are making your current situation. You are not your past, no matter how attractive or terrible it might be; you are your future. You are who you are right now. Nothing is in set stone. The state of things is always changing, no matter who you are or where you might be in life.

We like to think that we have everything figured out, but the truth is that we have no idea, no idea at all. The best we can do is prepare for what’s to come, to anticipate but never predict.

Our actions are what change the future, our future. Who is controlling your actions? I hope it’s you.

Are you a warrior?

Can you endure pain and suffering?

Will you do whatever it takes?

Before humans created civilization, we had no choice. We had to be warriors, our survival depended on it.

We’ve conquered nature with our warrior DNA. If we don’t continue to being warriors, then nature will fight back. We are beginning to think that we are a victim to nature, to the consequences we face, but this is the mentality of a low-level animal. We are not low level animals; we are conquerors, human beings.

Do nothing and die, or pursue your dreams and live.

A warrior does not drop his sword once he sees the first enemy, or the second enemy, or any enemy for that matter.

Pound at life’s door long enough and eventually it will answer.

Live a glorious life, so that you may accept your death when the time comes, instead of dying shamefully and with no purpose. Rather die from action, than deteriorate from inaction. Human beings are destined for great things; we can’t forget that. Be a warrior.

There was a donkey. The donkey was hungry and thirsty. To his left was a bail of hay, and to his right was a pond of water. He stood looking back and forth at both, and could not choose which to go to first. Days went by, then weeks. The donkey was still undecided. He simultaneously died of dehydration and hunger.

Don’t be a donkey.

Lesson

Any decision is better than no decision.