Simple Steps to Work Less and Accomplish More With Chris Winfield
“You can’t connect the dots looking forward, you can only connect them looking backward” ~Steve Jobs
1. Stop Postponing Your Happiness
One of the greatest diseases afflicting modern men is something I like to call “postponitis”.
This sickness has ravaged mankind, depriving hard-working men of their happiness, fulfillment, and liveliness for decades. And it all starts with the seemingly innocuous word, “then”.
“I am going to work my ass off, make lots of money, then I will be happy.”
“I’ve just got to get this promotion at work, then I will have time to prioritize my health, family, and personal growth.”
“Once my startup hits $100,000/month in recurring revenue, then I can relax and enjoy my life.”
It’s always “then” and never “now“.
Men are living their whole lives in pursuit of some arbitrary goal that somehow gives them permission to live their lives, love themselves, and enjoy their time on this planet.
And frankly, it’s complete bullshit!
Life happens in the now.
It doesn’t happen later. It doesn’t happen when you make your first million. It doesn’t happen when you finally get that promotion. It doesn’t even happen at IPO.
And if you are constantly living your life in pursuit of something in the future (something that may or may not happen), then you will miss out on life’s most precious moments and end up on your deathbed, wishing that you had a chance to do it all over again.
You have one life, one shot, one opportunity.
Don’t waste it living for someday.
2. Money is a Magnifying Glass
Tell me if you have ever heard this phrases before?
If you have been on this planet for any appreciable amount of time, then I’m going to assume that these sayings have been drilled into your head since the womb.
They’re all a load of crap!
Money is nothing more than a magnifying glass.
If you are a miserable, unhappy, and stingy person, then becoming rich will do nothing except make you a miserable, unhappy, and stingy person with a big bank account.
Conversely, if you are a happy, generous, and loving person, then becoming rich will do little to change your life other than giving you assets that allow you to be more generous, happy, and loving.
Money simply makes you more of what you already are.
So instead of focusing on earning money to attain happiness or believing that money will make you immoral or “greedy”, accept the fact that money is nothing more than a tool that will amplify who you are.
3. Build Your Foundation and the Tower Will Follow
Most men set out to achieve success in a way that is completely backward.
They start by focusing on their goals instead of themselves.
They are more than willing to hustle and grind on their business for hours on end, but spending an hour in the gym? Not a chance!
They will drop $10,000 on a business consulting package, but spending $2,000 on a new mattress to improve their sleep and energy? Not going to happen!
All of your success, whether it’s in your business, relationships, or social life, stems from one thing. You.
And if you are not operating at the highest levels, if you are not taking care of yourself, if you are not cultivating habits of excellence, then you are not going to succeed in the other areas of your life (and if you do, then it will not be sustainable).
Therefore, creating a strong foundation of health and high-quality habits is the first step to achieving lasting success.
Hit the gym at least three times a week, follow a diet that consists of 80% real food (organic if you can afford it), and sleep at least 7 hours a week.
Then, with your body in prime condition start building routines and habits into your life that will expedite your success.
Feed your mind daily, journal, practice gratitude, and recite affirmations.
With these habits in place and your body in an optimized condition, you will be able to achieve your goals at a much faster pace while enjoying your life and feeling fulfilled.
4. The Fastest Way to Recieve is to Give
The best kept “secret” for success that almost every millionaire, billionaire, and wildly successful entrepreneur knows is this:
If you want to receive tremendous value from the marketplace, your relationships, your network, or your career, the first step is to give tremendous value without expecting anything in return.
Let me give you an example from the interview.
Since Chris lives in New York, he has a phenomenal proximity to incredibly powerful and affluent individuals.
And while this might seem like an advantageous situation, you must remember that most successful people get asked for a lot of shit.
They are constantly getting pitched by individuals who are looking for a handout or a handshake and at the end of the day, it can feel exhausting.
Luckily, Chris understood this and decided that he was going to take a different approach.
Instead of hunting these people down and asking for something, he hosts regular dinners and meet-ups where he asks one simple question “How can I serve you?”
He doesn’t ask “What can you do for me?” instead, he flips conventional wisdom on its head and offers value for free.
And guess what? It has driven more deals, knowledge, and value to him than any marketing tactic of sales pitch ever has.
Because people love and trust people who are willing to give value.
Just think about this from your perspective.
Imagine you have two friends, one who is constantly asking you for loans, pitching you on his new network marketing products, and pressuring you to join him in business, and one who gives you value in the form of advice, connections, and services… All without expecting anything in return.
Both of your friends are excellent copywriters and you have a client who needs a referral for a six-figure copy contract.
Now ask yourself another question.
How can you give value without expecting anything in return this week? Who can you help? How can you serve others?
As weird as it might sound, the universe has an uncanny way of providing for those who provide for others, so I want to encourage you to be on the lookout for ways that you can bring more value this week.
5. The Enemies of Fulfillment are Ego and Expectation
Since personal fulfillment is a subject that is unique to every individual, I cannot tell you how to achieve fulfillment in your own life.
But I can tell you how to eradicate fulfillment from your life.
Allow your ego to control your actions and your expectations to control your relationships.
Ego and expectation both have their uses, and in moderation, they can be used as effective motivators and filters to ensure success. However, they become problematic whenever you are the slave, not the master in the relationship.
When you allow ego to rule your life and become your sole motivator, you will find yourself pursuing goals that aren’t aligned with your purpose and acting in a manner that is disingenuous and inauthentic.
When you allow your expectations to control your interactions, you will find yourself loathing people that you should love for indiscretions that you shouldn’t have noted.
The more that ego and expectation run your life, the more you will find yourself at the whims of others instead of captaining your own ship.
Learn to curb your ego, swallow your pride and develop some humility.
Give others some breathing room, only set expectations that you yourself can live up to, and be forgiving in the face of failure.
If you do this, I can promise you that you will live a life that is richer, more productive, and ultimately, more fulfilling.
Direct download: Chris_Winfield_main3.mp3
Simple Steps to Live with More Energy, Vitality, and Motivation With Tony Wrighton
Tony is also a personal development author and presenter. He has three books published with Virgin Books in 12 languages and is one of the country’s foremost experts on NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming).
“Men of lofty genius, when they are doing the least work are the most active” ~Leonardo Da Vinci
I want you to imagine that you have two friends who are starting a business.
The first friend is a firey, gung-ho, type-A personality who jumps into building his business operating by the mentality of “Ready Fire Aim!”. He works hard, hustling for 16-20 hours a day, working weekends, and sleeping at his office, but his does so without taking a moment to think or plan.
The second friend, although just as oriented for action, takes a few steps back before launching his business. He learns his market, he spends time every day sitting in thought and contemplating his goals, he takes long walks in the parks after asking questions of his subconscious, and when he does start his business, he has a clear picture of exactly what he needs to do and how he needs to do it.
While society might tell you that the first man will learn at an accelerated pace and achieve success quicker, Tony believes that the second man will actually achieve greater levels of success in the long run.
Even though he was doing “less”, spending plenty of time relaxing and living at a leisurely pace, Tony suggests that he will achieve more in his business because he is giving himself the mental bandwidth to properly approach problems and fully understand his goals.
Imagine that I told you and a friend that you needed to get from San Diego to New York.
As soon as your friend hear’s the directions, he laces up his Nikes and starts hauling ass towards the East.
You, however, take a step back, check your bank account and realize that you have more than enough to purchase a non-stop flight from the San Diego airport all the way to JFK.
After eight hours, you have successfully passed through security, boarded the plane, and landed at your destination.
Your friend, on the other hand, will not arrive in New York for several weeks (unless he is some sort of ultra athlete). Even though he took more action and did “more” it took him longer to accomplish the task and he had a more difficult journey.
As Abraham Lincoln said, “If I had 8 hours to cut down a tree, I would spend the first six sharpening my ax“.
2. You Owe it to Yourself to Pursue Your Passion
When has there ever been a greater time to be alive?
Life expectancy is up, crime, poverty, and other societal diseases are down and there has never been a time in all of human history where the average man could climb the ranks of society and achieve at whatever levels he desires regardless of race, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, or age.
There has never been a better time to be alive!
So why are you wasting away your opportunities?
Why aren’t you pursuing your passions?
Why aren’t you using all of the amazing technology and political freedoms that you have to build a life you love, a life that inspires you, a life filled with passion?
Why the hell are you wasting this opportunity!?
You have one shot at this life, one opportunity to live to the fullest, one chance… Why waste it pursuing careers and goals that you aren’t truly passionate about?
I am not telling you that you need to quit your job and start your own company, or even that you need to start a side hustle.
I am saying that your life is too damn valuable to waste on uninspiring crap that doesn’t light you up.
You owe it to yourself to enjoy your life!
Because you only get one of them.
3. Just Share the Truth
Most men suck at telling the truth.
And I don’t mean that we are all liars or manipulative a**holes. I simply mean that men are terrible at being authentic, honest, and vulnerable about what is really going on.
Because, quite frankly, it’s hard.
It’s hard to let other people in, to show our weakness, to admit that we don’t have everything figured out.
It’s hard to stand out from the crowd and be the only person standing for a specific cause or belief.
It’s hard to share your truth and be unabashedly you!
Because when you share the truth, your truth…. You are free.
You are free from the bullshit, free from the expectations of others, and free from all the societal garbage designed to hold you back.
Share your truth and be yourself… Because anything else is a waste.
4. Manage Your Energy Not Your Time
Have you ever wondered how some people who work so little can accomplish so much, while others, who work their fingers to the bone, can come up short again and again and again?
If you have ever spent a significant amount of time among a pool of high achievers, you will quickly realize that hard work alone is not their secret to success.
Many of them sleep 9 hours a night (James Altucher and Neil Patel both do this), several spend more time reading than working (Warren Buffet and Bill Gates), and the legendary Richard Branson somehow has the time to run 400+ companies, party on his own private island, and spend time with his family and friends!
If the answer isn’t spending more time on work, then what is it?
Well, the answer that Tony and countless other guests have suggested is that the secret to success and productivity is not time management, but energy management.
It doesn’t matter how much time you throw at a task, if you are too lethargic and groggy to properly function, you won’t be able to achieve it no matter how well you manage your time.
Therefore, energy, not time should be seen as your greatest asset.
But how in the world can one successfully manage your energy when there are so many different forces vying for your attention, time, and effort?
While I could write a whole book on this topic (and plenty of my previous guests have), there are three simple hacks that you can implement today to 10x your energy in less than a week.
First and foremost, you should give yourself a minimum of two hours a day to totally unplug.
No cell phones, no TV, no computer screens, just yourself, your friends, and your favorite activities… That’s it.
In our modern world, most people are wildly overstimulated resulting in massive levels of mental and physical fatigue, and while you can fight it for a while, the only truly effective method that I’ve found to reclaim your lost energy levels is to give yourself the gift of unplugging.
In addition to stepping away from your iPhone and laptop every day, you must also make an effort to exercise at least 20 minutes a day. While it might seem counterintuitive to do something that takes energy in order to gain energy, study after study has irrevocably shown a direct correlation between exercise and energy levels (not to mention mental and physical wellbeing and longevity).
And the good news is that it doesn’t take much!
You can try out the simple 7-minute workout promoted by the New York Times, go for a 20-minute jog, or just do a few calisthenics circuits from your office.
Whatever you do, I promise that if you stick with it, you will see your energy levels skyrocket.
Finally, for the last piece of advice, I must defer to the legendary Peter F. Drucker who said: “What gets measured gets managed.” This is true in your business, your finances, and yes, your energy levels.
If you want a simple hack to immediately boost your energy levels so that you can accomplish more in less time and truly enjoy your life, then start tracking your energy levels throughout the day and note the elements in your life that are leading to either an increase or decrease in energy.
Every body is unique, therefore what helps or hinders one person’s energy might not have the same effect for you. So tracking your energy levels and noticing patterns is the only way that you can truly optimize your energy and ensure peak performance.
5. Success at the Expense of Your Health Isn’t Success at All
One of the greatest ironies of life is that the aggressive Type-A individuals who work themselves to death in order to achieve success are often the same individuals who die young and leave behind their wealth before they can ever truly enjoy it!
So many people work day in and day out to build their dream, neglecting their health and letting their bodies fall to the wayside. And when they finally do hit that million dollar mark, epic IPO, or acquisition… They are too tired, fat, and sick to enjoy any of the rewards for their hard work.
Why the hell would you want that fate?
I don’t know about you, but I am in this for the long haul.
If I have to wait until I am 40 to become a millionaire so that I can take care of my body, get to the gym, eat well, sleep plenty, and enjoy my life, I will happily wait on the seven figures.
I don’t believe that it’s worth it to arrive at my goal too sick and tired to enjoy it.
Realize that nothing is worth your health.
No goal is worth losing your vitality.
And quite frankly, if you focus on your health first, you will find that your other goals and desires will actually manifest faster because you can pursue them with more energy and clarity than ever before.
Direct download: Tony_Wrighton_main3.mp3
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Finding Freedom and Joy Right Where You Are With Jack Kornfield
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“Sports taught me about life. Almost dying taught me how to live” ~Dan Nitro Clark
1. Don’t Wait to Be Happy
Men in the 21st century seem convinced that happiness is something that can only be attained.
It can only be attained when you get the hot girl, make the 7-figures, drive an Italian sports car, launch your company, or have that dream body.
But the truth of the matter is much different.
Happiness is not something that you attain. It is something that you give yourself.
Right now, in this very second, you have everything you need to feel happy and deeply believe that you have and are enough.
Right now, you can give yourself the gift of joy by choosing to focus on what is good instead of what is missing.
Right now, this very second, you have the power to be happy.
But many of you reading this are not…
And, in my experience, the primary reason that men don’t allow themselves to feel happy is that they believe happiness will steal their drive, ambition, and hunger.
And sometimes, they are right.
It’s a fine line to walk, and when you base your happiness on the wrong things, you might find that happiness does steal your ability to achieve and excel.
However, when you predicate your happiness on who you are and how you show up in the world… That’s when the game changes.
When you can give yourself permission to be happy now because you are working towards becoming the man that you need to be, that’s when the world will open up to you and you will find yourself becoming the best man you can become… And enjoying the hell out of the process.
As our first guest, Hal Elrod says, “Love the life you have while creating the life of your dreams.”
2. Comparison is the Theif of Joy
It seems that our entire economy has been built on comparison.
If you look at the marketing and advertising for any popular company, you will undoubtedly notice that they are sending us a very loud and very clear message.
You don’t have the six pack like he does, you don’t have the car this guy drives, you don’t have the business this 20-year old built, you don’t have the girl like this pop star does.
Society encourages us to compare ourselves to others and enter into a laughable competition where we constantly try to gain a leg up on everyone else.
Comparing yourself to others is the most dangerous trap you can fall into.
Because there will always be someone who is smarter than you, bigger than you, better than you at something!
This is just how we were designed, it’s nothing more than biology and genetic variation… It doesn’t mean you aren’t worthy of love and joy or that you shouldn’t be proud of yourself just because someone else is doing better.
Now some of you reading this might assume that comparison itself is a bad thing, but that’s not necessarily the case.
Comparison is only bad when we compare ourselves to others instead of the person we have the potential to become.
Compare yourself to who you want to be and who you know you have the potential to be.
Compare your current reality to the reality that you know is waiting for you if you can just rise up and take action.
When you entertain these kinds of comparisons, you will find that your life will start to transform and you will show up with more passion, enthusiasm, and best of all, joy.
3. Big Boys Don’t Cry… But Real Men Do
When we are young, we are taught “Big boys don’t cry”.
We are told that showing emotion is a sign of weakness, that crying makes you a bitch, and that any displays of discomfort or internal turmoil immediately makes you a “beta” male.
And while that might have been true in the world of cavemen and neanderthals, it’s not true in modern life.
If you want to be a “real” man, a man who can show up with power, precision, and excellence, then you must cry.
You must learn how to deal with your emotions in a positive way instead of simply suppressing feelings that you dislike.
Emotions, in their most basic forms, are messengers.
They occur whenever we need to know or understand something.
Anger sends you a message that you have been wronged.
Sadness sends you a message that something important to you is not the way that it should be.
Happiness sends you the message that you are on the right track and making the right decisions.
And when we suppress the message, we end up doing more harm than good because we are not addressing the problem that the emotion is trying to warn us of.
However, when you allow yourself to feel everything deeply and intimately and ask yourself the question “What is this trying to tell me”, you empower yourself to move forward in your life and take charge of your mental and emotional well being in a powerful way.
When you feel angry, you don’t suppress it. You feel it and notice that it’s happening because someone is violating your standards. Now, you have the power to resolve the situation and eliminate the emotion.
When you feel sad, don’t suppress it. Instead, feel it and figure out why you are sad. What is causing your emotion? Find the answer, resolve the situation, and move forward in your life.
Big boys might not cry.
But you can be damn sure that real men do.
4. Express Gratitude for the Smallest Moments of Beauty
And sometimes, it takes knocking on death’s door to realize this.
When Dan had his heart attack, he came back with a renewed sense of appreciation and gratitude for even the smallest things in his life.
He spoke about the gratitude and awe he feels simply at the smell of coffee in the mornings.
He talked about how the flowers on the side of the road (which he used to ignore) fill him with a sense of wonder and joy.
Because at one point… He never thought he would smell the coffee or see those flowers ever again.
And because of this, he is grateful.
Luckily for you, you don’t need to experience a heart attack or near death experience in order to enjoy and appreciate the small moments of beauty in your life.
The only thing that you must do is commit and notice.
Each day when you wake up, find 3-5 simple beauties that you are grateful for.
Maybe it’s the way that the sun is coming through the windows, the peace you see on your partner’s face while they sleep, the aroma of your morning coffee, or the ecstasy that your dog expresses whenever you come out of your room.
Whatever it is, notice it and write it down.
I promise that if you make this a habit, your world will never be the same.
If you feel stuck in your health, your business, or your relationships… Just do something.
Don’t overthink it, don’t overanalyze it, just do something.
If you are writing a book and can’t figure out the perfect thing to put down on the paper… Just write something. Let it suck. Then edit it later.
If you are struggling with your health and can’t figure out how to lose that extra weight… Just do something. Go do 1,000 pushups, run a half marathon, or lift some weights and figure out the exact mechanics as you go along.
If you are struggling in your relationships, just do something. Start the conversation, open that door, be willing to be honest and vulnerable.
Whenever you find yourself stagnating, just do something.
As Winston Churchill said, “The best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, but the worst thing you can do is nothing.”
Direct download: Dan_Clark_main3.mp3
Growth Hacking Strategies to Accelerate Your Success in Life and Business With Krister Ungerboeck
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