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Life is busy. It can feel impossible to move toward your dreams. If you have a full-time job and kids, it’s even harder.

How do you move forward?

If you don’t purposefully carve time out every day to progress and improve — without question, your time will get lost in the vacuum of our increasingly crowded lives. Before you know it, you’ll be old and withered — wondering where all that time went.

As Professor Harold Hill has said — “You pile up enough tomorrows, and you’ll find you are left with nothing but a lot of empty yesterdays.”

Rethinking your life and getting out of survival mode.

This article is intended to challenge you to rethink your entire approach to life. The purpose is to help you simplify and get back to the fundamentals.

Sadly, most people’s lives are filled to the brim with the nonessential and trivial. They don’t have time to build toward anything meaningful.

They are in survival mode. Are you in survival mode?

Like Bilbo, most of us are like butter scraped over too much bread. Unfortunately, the bread is not even our own, but someone else’s. Very few have taken the time to take their lives into their own hands.

It was social and cultural to live our lives on other people’s terms just one generation ago. And many millennials are perpetuating this process simply because it’s the only worldview we’ve been taught.

However, there is a growing collective-consciousness that with a lot of work and intention — you can live every moment of your life on your own terms.

You are the designer of your destiny.

You are responsible.

You get to decide. You must decide — because if you don’t, someone elsewill. Indecision is a bad decision.

With this short morning routine, your life will quickly change.

It may seem like a long list. But in short, it’s really quite simple:

Wake up.
Get in the zone.
Get moving.
Put the right food in your body.
Get ready.
Get inspired.
Get perspective.
Do something to move you forward.

Let’s begin:

1. Get a healthy 7+ hours of sleep.

Let’s face it — sleep is just as important as eating and drinking water. Despite this, millions of people do not sleep enough and experience insane problems as a result.

The National Sleep Foundation (NSF) conducted surveys revealing that at least 40 million Americans suffer from over 70 different sleep disorders. Not only that, 60 percent of adults, and 69 percent of children, experience one or more sleep problems a few nights or more during a week.

In addition, more than 40 percent of adults experience daytime sleepiness severe enough to interfere with their daily activities at least a few days each month — with 20 percent reporting problem sleepiness a few days a week or more.

On the flipside, getting a healthy amount of sleep is linked to:

Increased memory.
Longer life.
Decreased inflammation.
Increased creativity.
Increased attention and focus.
Decreased fat and increased muscle mass with exercise.
Lower stress.
Decreased dependence on stimulants like caffeine.
Decreased risk of getting into accidents.
Decreased risk of depression.
And tons more … Google it.

The rest of this blog post is worthless if you don’t make sleep a priority. Who cares if you wake up at 5 a.m. if you went to bed three hours earlier?

You won’t last long.

You may use stimulants to compensate, but that isn’t sustainable. In the long-run, your health will fall apart. The goal needs to be long-term sustainability.

2. Prayer and meditation to facilitate clarity and abundance.

After waking from a healthy and restful sleep session, prayer and meditation are crucial for orienting yourself toward the positive. What you focus on expands.

Prayer and meditation facilitate intense gratitude for all that you have.Gratitude is having an abundance mindset. When you think abundantly, theworld is your oyster. There is limitless opportunity and possibility for you.

People are magnets. When you’re grateful for what you have, you will attract more of the positive and good. Gratitude is contagious.

Gratitude may be the most important key to success. It has been called themother of all virtues.

If you start every morning putting yourself in a space of gratitude andclarity, you will attract the best the world has to offer, and not get distracted.

3. Hard physical activity.

Despite endless evidence of the need for exercise, only one-third of American men and women between the ages of 25 to 64 years engage in regular physical activity, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Health Interview Survey.

If you want to be among the healthy, happy, and productive people in the world, get in the habit of regular exercise. Many people go immediately to the gym to get their body moving. I have lately found that doing yard workin the wee hours of the morning generates an intense inflow of inspiration and clarity.

Whatever your preference, get your body moving.

Exercise has been found to decrease your chance of depression, anxiety, and stress. It is also related to higher success in your career.

If you don’t care about your body, every other aspect of your life will suffer. Humans are holistic beings.

4. Consume 30 grams of protein.

Donald Layman, professor emeritus of nutrition at the University of Illinois, recommends consuming at least 30 grams of protein for breakfast. Similarly, Tim Ferriss, in his book, “The 4-Hour Body,” also recommends 30 grams of protein 30 minutes after waking up.

According to Tim, his father did this and lost 19 pounds in one month.

Protein-rich foods keep you full longer than other foods because they take longer to leave the stomach. Also, protein keeps blood-sugar levels steady, which prevents spikes in hunger.

Eating protein first decreases your white carbohydrate cravings. These are the types of carbs that get you fat. Think bagels, toast, and donuts.

Tim makes four recommendations for getting adequate protein in the morning:

Eat at least 40 percent of your breakfast calories as protein.
Do it with two or three whole eggs (each egg has about 6g protein).
If you don’t like eggs, use something like turkey bacon, organic pork bacon or sausage, or cottage cheese.
Or, you could always do a protein shake with water.
For people who avoid dairy, meat, and eggs, there are several plant-based proteins. Legumes, greens, nuts, and seeds all are rich in protein.

5. Take a cold shower.

Tony Robbins starts every morning by jumping into a 57-degree Fahrenheit swimming pool.

Why would he do such a thing?

Cold water immersion radically facilitates physical and mental wellness. When practiced regularly, it provides long-lasting changes to your body’s immune, lymphatic, circulatory and digestive systems that improve the quality of your life. It can also increase weight-loss because it boosts your metabolism.

A 2007 research study found that taking cold showers routinely can help treat depression symptoms often more effectively than prescription medications. That’s because cold water triggers a wave of mood-boosting neurochemicals which make you feel happy.

There is of course, an initial fear of stepping into a cold shower. Without a doubt, if you’ve tried this before, you have found yourself standing outside the shower dreading the thought of going in.

You may have even talked yourself out of it and said, “Maybe tomorrow.” And turned the hot water handle before getting in.

Or, maybe you jumped in but quickly turned the hot water on?

What has helped me is thinking about it like a swimming pool. It’s a slow painful death to get into a cold pool slowly. You just need to jump in. After 20 seconds, you’re fine.

It’s the same way with taking a cold shower. You get in, your heart starts beating like crazy. Then, after like 20 seconds, you feel fine.

To me, it increases my willpower and boosts my creativity and inspiration. While standing with the cold water hitting my back, I practice slowing my breathing and calming down. After I’ve chilled out, I feel super happy and inspired. Lots of ideas start flowing and I become way motivated to achieve my goals.

Plus, it’s healthy to do something in the morning that kind of freaks you out! Get’s you feeling alive and sets the tone for living outside your comfort zone!

6. Listen to/read uplifting content.

Ordinary people seek entertainment. Extraordinary people seek educationand learning. It is common for the world’s most successful people to read at least one book per week. They are constantly learning.

I can easily get through one audiobook per week by just listening during my commute to school and while walking on campus.

Taking even 15–30 minutes every morning to read uplifting and instructive information changes you. It puts you in the zone to perform at your highest.

Over a long enough period of time, you will have read hundreds of books. You’ll be knowledgeable on several topics. You’ll think and see the world differently. You’ll be able to make more connections between different topics.

7. Review your life vision.

Your goals should be written down — short term and long term. Taking just a few minutes to read your life vision puts your day into perspective.

If you read your long term goals every day you will think about them every day. If you think about them every day, and spend your days working toward them, they’ll manifest.

Achieving goals is a science. There’s no confusion or ambiguity to it. If you follow a simple pattern, you can accomplish all of your goals, no matter how big they are.

A fundamental aspect of that is writing them down and reviewing them every single day.

8. Do at least one thing towards long-term goals.

Willpower is like a muscle that depletes when it is exercised. Similarly, our ability to make high quality decisions becomes fatigued over time. The more decisions you make, the lower quality they become — the weaker your willpower.

Consequently, you need to do the hard stuff first thing in the morning. The important stuff.

If you don’t, it simply will not get done. By the end of your day, you’ll be exhausted. You’ll be fried. There will be a million reasons to just start tomorrow. And you will start tomorrow — which is never.

So your mantra becomes: The worst comes first. Do that thing you’ve been needing to do. Then do it again tomorrow.

If you take just one step toward your big goals every day, you’ll realize those goals weren’t really far away.

Conclusion

After you’ve done this, no matter what you have for the rest of your day, you’ll have done the important stuff first. You’ll have put yourself in a place to succeed. You’ll have inched toward your dreams.

Because you’ll have done all these things, you’ll show up better in life. You’ll be better at your job. You’ll be better in your relationships. You’ll be happier. You’ll be more confident. You’ll be more bold and daring. You’ll have more clarity and vision.

Your life will shortly change.

You can’t have mornings like this consistently without waking up to all that is incongruent in your life. Those things you despise will meet their demise. They’ll disappear and never return.

You’ll quickly find you’re doing the work you’re passionate about.

Your relationships will be passionate, meaningful, deep, and fun!

You will have freedom and abundance.

The world, and the universe, will respond to you in beautiful ways.

The post 8 Things Every Person Should Do Before 8 A.M. appeared first on Wall Street Insanity.

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Moving rapidly toward your goals can be difficult. In fact, it is impossible until you make fundamental changes in your life.

The truth is, we’ve been raised to be ineffective. We’ve been trained to be inefficient.

We’ve been sold a lie.

We’ve been taught to live far beneath our potential. We’ve been taught to play life small. We’ve been taught to spend all of our time furthering other peoples’ agendas.

However, we have the power within us to stop this cycle of insanity right now.

Yes, you have the power to change your entire life right now. You may feel stuck. You may feel like you’re spinning your wheels a thousand miles an hour and yet are moving backwards.

But this no longer needs to be the case.

The following 8 steps are intended to shift your approach to life. If diligently applied, you will quickly see your goals become accomplished. You will quickly see your time free up. You will be able to create a life of freedom and success. A life of simplicity and happiness.

Let’s begin:

1. Remove everything from your life that isn’t contributing to your goals.

This is first because 1) it may be the hardest one, and 2) because none of the other stuff really works until we get good at this.

People love to be distracted. We do things far too often that we are only slightly stoked about.

There are so many thing vying for our attention. So many things we could be doing with our time.

Until we clear that crap out, and are able to focus in on the few essentials, we will never reach our goals quickly. We’ll always be spinning in 100 directions. We’ll always quit things prematurely.

Look at your life and determine what you really want. How much of your schedule is sucked up by things that don’t really matter to you?

How much of your time is sucked up by things that are not moving you toward your dreams?

Remove those things immediately.

Remove those people immediately.

As hard as it initially is, it’s way harder long-term to continue living incongruently.

It requires delayed gratification to say “no” to things that don’t matter in order to succeed at those things that do.

2. Set up your life on your own terms.

This one builds off #1. Once you’ve removed the distractions from your life, you can begin by setting your life up to speed toward your goals.

But first … scope out your life and ask yourself:

How much time have you spent today furthering someone else’s dreams?

Most people have very little time to move their own needle forward because they haven’t set their lives up to do so. Instead, they have only a few hours each day to do what they really want. Exhausted from all their responsibilities, they usually have enough energy to simply eat and watch Netflix or hang out on Facebook.

However, when you structure your life so that everything you do is to move you toward your own ideal, you’ll have way more energy and capture insane amounts of momentum.

This will undoubtedly require saying “NO!” to lots of stuff that other people will try to put on your plate. Saying no becomes fun and empowering. Only say “Yes” to stuff that really makes sense for your long-term vision.

3. Work 12 hours per day.

Okay, let me explain. This may sound crazy, right? It’s not.

Those 12 hours are not doing the same thing, all day. Living a life of balance allows us to do multiple forms of work. For example, I woke up today at 5 a.m., pitched a few blog posts, responded to some tweets, and then went to the gym. I consider all of these things as part of my 12-hour work day. All of these activities build toward my over-arching vision. When you’re working toward big goals, everything is training.

After my workout, I came home and worked in my yard for three hours. One of my big goals is to beautify my home with my wife. It is excellent work. Gets you moving. And research has found that people who work with their hands in the dirt are more mentally healthy. It also allows me to engage in a project with my wife.

Then I went about my other activities related to my goals. There is an art to working. True achievers love working hard. It makes you feel awesome. You accomplish epic stuff and learn tons. Our work becomes our leisure. Our life is organized so that we are doing activities we love toward outcomes we are super pumped about.

4. Connect with the right people.

Some goals may take 10 years if you go it alone. However, if you get the right people to help you, you could accomplish them in a matter of months.

Most people are afraid to ask for help. But asking is one of the quickest ways to getting where you want to go.

I wanted to get into graduate school but was late applying. Applications were due in December but it was March.

Should I just wait until next year?

That would take too long.

So I started asking different graduate programs if there were any other options so I could get in this year. It turns out there were. I got in.

I’ve told this story to several people and most have said, “Honestly, I wouldn’t have thought to ask. I would’ve just waited until next year.”

Don’t wait. Don’t struggle on your own. Just make big asks. Find the people who can help pull you up the ladder rather than trying to shimmy up it yourself.

5. Purposefully procrastinate the urgent stuff.

Stephen R. Covey has explained that most stuff in life is urgent and non-important.

Other stuff is important and non-urgent. That’s the stuff we should be spending most our time on.

For example, working for three hours in the yard today was not urgent. Neither was going to the gym, or reading for 30 minutes. The stuff of vision and big goals and dreams will never be urgent. We can make it urgent. But it’s stuff we can procrastinate, which we often do.

Instead, we should purposefully put off the stuff that is urgent (like writing that term paper) until we absolutely must do it.

Parkinson’s Law states that work increases based on how much time we have. If we wait until the absolute last minute to do those things which must be done, but really aren’t that important, we’ll get them done

6. Spend time relaxing and recovering every day.

Winding down is so crucial. So are relationships. And relationships require investment just as much as our business goals.

We need to truly enjoy our time with those we love. And make time to be with them every day. My work has meaning because it has its place in my life. It isn’t the only thing there. It’s a means to my ultimate ends — which are to connect to and serve people.

I love playing with our foster kids every night before they go to bed. I also love watching Netflix and eating snacks at night with my wife. It gives me the needed regeneration to crush it the next morning while not feeling out of balance.

7. Eat healthy, exercise, sleep 7+ hours per day.

This last one is simple and cannot be argued. Being healthy and well rested is crucial for working hard and staying focused. When we’re healthy and rested, we can accomplish as much in a few hours as most do in a full day.

It also helps us gain a better self-esteem. When we’re healthy, we feel better, and we feel better about ourselves. This gives us the confidence we need to connect with the right people on a high level. If we have low self-esteem, we struggle to connect deeply with others and be vulnerable and honest.

When we feel healthy and happy in our own shoes, we will be more bold and powerful.

8. Don’t climb ladders vertically, switch ladders laterally.

Speaking of ladder-climbing, don’t get caught doing it. It’s a very slow path to the top. Shane Snow, in his book, “Smartcuts: How Hackers, Innovators, and Icons Accelerate Success,” explains that the most successful people in the world didn’t climb the traditional ladder to get there.

Using all of the presidents of the United States as a case study, he found that the most popular and successful presidents generally spent the least amount of time in politics. Rather than climbing that ladder, they jumped from a different ladder horizontally into the political ladder — skipping the “paying dues” process.

Shane Snow used this process to become a writer for WIRED magazine in six months. When he first reached out, he had little experience writing. They said it would take him three years of solid experience to write for WIRED. He cut that three years down to six months by switching ladders laterally. He wrote for a lower-tier outlet for a while, then switched over to one a little higher, then to another a little higher. After six months of gradually switching ladders, he reached out to WIRED and was able to laterally jump onto that ladder without the three years of “paying dues.”

Conclusion

No one cares about your success more than you do. When you take control of your life, you’ll quickly realize the amazing opportunities that are just beyond your fingertips. You’ll have the energy and confidence to seize those opportunities. You will become the person you have always known you could be. Anything you want in life can be yours.

The post 8 Ways To Accelerate Your Success appeared first on Wall Street Insanity.

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Too many people let myths stop them from living and pursuing their dreams. Here are 8 myths you need to stop believing:

1. “Real jobs” are the secure path.

Conservative and secure are outdated ways of thinking. Although long-term jobs were good for our parents, or grandparents, who intended on working with a single company for 30-40 years, it’s horrible advice for the rising generation.

Too many people believe security is dependent on external factors. Like a steady paycheck, job security, or many friends. But security and freedom are actually internal, not external. You can only be free by actually living the life you know you should be living.

Life will always be hell if you’re trying to please or prove yourself to others. What other people think about you is none of your business. Also, your relationships will be much healthier and more real when you are secure in yourself.

2. Living your dream is harder than having a “real job.”

“We’re already pros

1) We show up every day.

2) We show up no matter what.

3) We stay on the job all day.

4) We are committed over the long haul.

5) The stakes for us are high and real.

6) We accept remuneration for our labor.

7) We do not over identify with our jobs.

8) We master the technique of our jobs.

9) We have a sense of humor about our jobs.

10) We receive praise or blame in the real world.”

— Steven Pressfield

If you get paid to do something, even if that’s flipping burgers, you’re a professional. Instead of being a “pro” at some job, what if you spent 40 hours a week working on your dream? You’d probably be a pro at that much quicker than you think.

But in reality, how much time do you spend per week getting closer to your dream?

How much time do you spend every day?

Probably not much, right?

But you spend around 8 hours a day, 40 hours a week, at some job. . .

Living a lie is the hardest life you can live. Knowing that you are being in-authentic. Always wondering what might have been. Slaving away to promote other peoples’ agendas. Being a slave to time rather than the controller of it.

That’s hard.

Working toward your dreams is grueling. A roller-coaster. But if the dream is real, the work involved is endurable because it leads to living as your truest self.

3. You will probably fail.

The odds of success seem bleak, right? Most people who attempt to do what you want to do fail, right?

But how long do those people really try? A few months? A few years?

The life and living you dream of will probably not appear in two weeks. It’s not like a diet that you start and stop when you’re done. It’s a lifestyle. It’s something you’re extremely committed to living to the end. With this mentality, how can you fail?

The question is: Do you really believe you can do this?

If you look deep into your soul, you will know the answer.

If you don’t really believe you can do it, you will fail. You will get a “secure” job, and you will always wonder what might have been.

But if you can convince yourself that this will work out, and if you’re willing to put in the work every single day, you will succeed. Why would you not? You feel connected to this dream because you know you can do it brilliantly. So stop trying to convince yourself you’re not worthy, or that you aren’t good enough, or that nobody will like you.

“And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.” ― Roald Dahl

This is why security is internal. You have to trust yourself and give yourself enough respect to be yourself. Everyone else is already taken. The real failure is in not being you.

4. You’ll have time tomorrow.

“You pile up enough tomorrows, and you’ll find you are left with nothing but a lot of empty yesterdays.” — Harold Hill

Tomorrow is never. It doesn’t actually exist. If you don’t start today, you will probably never start. If you are lucky, you’ll wake up like Mr. Fredricksen in the Disney film, “Up,” a grumpy old man who finally runs out of reasons not to live his dreams. The unlucky ones check themselves into the nursing home leaving their dreams with the estate.

If you don’t start today, what makes you think tomorrow will be any different? Chances are, tomorrow you’ll have more commitments, more responsibilities, and more reasons to postpone. Life tends to get busier, not simpler, as we get older.

5. Stability first, risks later.

I had a friend who wanted to be a professional filmmaker. But he was getting his college degree in business. I asked him why and he responded, “I want to make a lot of money while I’m young, and then I’ll have lots of time and money to make brilliant films.”

On the other hand, Gary Vaynerchuck (best-selling author and creator of multiple million-dollar companies), argues that people should take huge risks while they’re young. Don’t be conservative in your career until you’re 40. The younger you are, the less you have to lose and the greater the possibilities if you succeed.

But if you’re avoiding risks in your 20s and 30s, you’re playing way too small. In fact, having stability and “security” may actually hinder you from accomplishing your dream. Psychologists have found that having constraints leads to innovative thinking. That’s why Twitter only allows 140 character posts. Constraints are a good thing!

Your current situation may be super-humble and challenging. You may be desperate for rent-money. Or for connections. This desperation to make something happen could be the very catalyst and constraint for success. The obstacle is the way.

Don’t wish less constraints on yourself. You’ll get too comfortable and won’t need to think creatively.

6. The corporate ladder is the way to my dream.

“People may spend their whole lives climbing the ladder of success only to find, once they reach the top, that the ladder is leaning against the wrong wall.”–Thomas Merton

You may be able to get to your dream by “paying your dues.” However, it’s not likely. You will undoubtedly hit a ceiling where jobs are scarce and candidates many, where your progress will be stopped.

In his book, Smartcuts, Shane Snow explains that the most successful people in the world don’t climb ladders. Rather, they switch ladders laterally. For example, many of our greatest American presidents spent very little time in politics. They spent a lot of time on other ladders and then switched ladders. This allowed them to skip the rat race lower down where the competition is grueling.

Getting to your dream isn’t a one-track path. It’s more like hitch-hiking across the country. You will need multiple rides. Or, in this case, multiple ladders. Succeed quickly on your current ladder, but be ready to hop off and find a better one when your progress slows.

“Stay committed to your decisions, but stay flexible in your approach.” — Tony Robbins

7. People will think you’re dumb.

A buddy of mine spent a long time pursuing a career. He even got his Ph.D. After a few years in that field, he felt completely incongruent. His heart wanted something else. But he wondered what other people would think of him. “Wow! What a total flip-flopper. He can’t commit to anything.”

He finally mustered the courage to leave his vocation and pursue his dream in Athletic Apparel Design. After about six months, he was starting to get momentum. But he still wasn’t making near as much as he did in his previous job.

A cool job in his previous field opened up and he decided to take it. Now, it’s been a few months and his heart longs to get back to design. But what will people think of him? This time he is really being a flip-flopper, right?

No.

He’s trying to live his dreams. And no one is going to fault him for that. In fact, what he’s doing takes courage. He hasn’t consigned himself to what society has told him he should do. He’s struggling through this because he needs to be authentic. It’s like air to his lungs after being held underwater too long.

Honestly, people are far less judgmental about us than we think they are. Most people’s insecurity is about themselves. In truth, others want to see you succeed. They admire people who are willing to live their dreams. It inspires them. It gives them hope that one day, maybe, they’ll do the same.

8. You can’t start until you’re a professional.

“Perfectionism is not excellence, it is procrastination based in fear.”–Alli Worthington

This myth is very similar to the myth that you need stability and “security” before you can live your dreams.

You will suck at the beginning, even if you have natural ability and raw passion for your dream. Every person who ever did anything great started somewhere. Every professional athlete started somewhere.

Then they practiced.

Every day.

And got super-good at it.

And you will too if you live your dream every day.

But don’t let being an amateur in the beginning hold you back from one day being a Rock-Star. Be humble enough to have your humble beginning. Start in your garage like every band does. Then start playing shows for your friends and family. Then play free shows around your community. Get better and better as an amateur and one day you’ll be a pro.

But you’ll never be a pro if you don’t start now.

You’ll never be a pro if you don’t do it every day.

You’ll never be a pro by climbing to the top of the wrong ladder.

The post 8 Myths That Stop People From Living Their Dreams appeared first on Wall Street Insanity.

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This time is different. You can feel it, can’t you? I know you can, because I can too.

It started as a dream.

In his book, “As A Man Thinketh,” James Allen wrote: “The greatest achievement was at first and for a time a dream. The oak sleeps in the acorn, the bird waits in the egg, and in the highest vision of the soul a waking angel stirs. Dreams are the seedlings of realities.”

When you commit to a dream, your life is forced to change. Your growth forces the egg you’re in to crack. You’ve outgrown it. You’re ready to fly.

You’ve moved beyond your dream.

You are reading this blog post because you walked away from your old life long ago. You’ve stepped over the line and reached a point of no return. Your decision has been made. You won’t look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be still. You’re no longer dreaming, you’re realizing.

As Dr. Robert Morehead has written: “You are done with low living, sight walking, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tame visions, mundane talking, cheap giving, and dwarfed goals. You will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of adversity, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the mazes of mediocrity.”

Your coming success is inevitable — you’re on the brink of explosion. You’re on the final frontier behind the curtain.

And here’s why:

1. You no Longer care what the outcome will be.

Jeremy Piven, the famous actor, was recently interviewed by Success Magazine. During the interview, he mentioned that, as an actor, the only way to work is to go out and audition for specific roles.

The challenge most actors/actresses face is that they get in their own way. It doesn’t matter how much homework they’ve done. If they’re too tied to a specific result, they can’t be present in the moment. They can’t truly perform their art. They come off as desperate. They get in their own way. Their performance isn’t what it could have been.

Jeremy said that when he quit worrying about a specific result, he was able to be present during his auditions. He was able to be completely who he wanted to be. He wasn’t trying to be what he thought others wanted him to be. He performed his art.

If he didn’t get the gig, either they didn’t get it, or it just wasn’t the right fit. So he moves on to the next.

In this way, he’s able to get the jobs he’s supposed to have. He’s not just trying to get anything he can get.

You are the same way. You are raw and real. You are present and perform on your highest level because you aren’t dependent on a particular outcome. You have an innate trust that everything will work out for you if you’re authentic. You trust in the universe — your higher power — to take you where you need to go.

2. You know who you are.

With so many people floating through life, a person with a strong sense of identity will emerge from the crowd. This is not a forced act, but a natural and organic evolution.

According to psychological identity theory, there are four stages of identity development.

At stage one, you have no identity. You blindly accept whatever ideology or values system was taught by your parents or family members.

At stage two, you begin expanding your social circle, but you passively go with the flow of society without questioning. You lack authenticity and obsess over fitting in and pleasing others. Like stage one: no true identity.

At stage three, you begin to experience an identity crisis. You realize you’ve been faking, copying, and blindly following your entire life. You begin to question your choices and values. This leads you to explore new lifestyles, belief systems, choices, friends, and cultures.

However, at this stage there is little commitment and depth. Instead, it is endless searching for the next thing. Most people are stuck in a perpetual identity crisis. They have no clue who they really are.

At stage four, you have courageously voyaged through your identity crisis and autonomously committed to a particular identity (i.e., ideology, occupation, relational values, etc.). You continue to explore. However, this exploration is grounded on foundational beliefs and a clear sense of who you are and what your direction is in life.

Every person must pass through the identity development process. Few reach the capstone. Most never obtain their own identity. But you have. That’s why you’re here. That’s why you’re about to explode.

3. You have clearly defined your purpose.

The two most important things a person can come to know in their life are:

• Who they are
• What their purpose is

Every other form of knowledge is empty if these things are not clearly understood. However, once a person knows these things, the universe conspires to their aid.

Garrett Gunderson calls this, Soul Purpose.

Jeff Goins calls this, Your Calling.

Paulo Coelho calls it Personal Legend in his book, “The Alchemist.”

Many others have called it your destiny, your super-power, and your higher purpose.

The best part is, you get to choose how your life story will unfold. Contrary to popular belief, you are the designer of your destiny — the author. A co-creator. You must be the designer, because if you aren’t, someone or something else will do that work for you. And it won’t be fun. You’ll hate it. It will be intense pain of regret. Standing beyond the door of indecision is still a decision — albeit a horrible and unnatural one.

But you have clearly defined and written down your purpose which is why you’re here. You’ve been reading it for days, weeks, months, and years. You’ve been refining and shaping it. You have it memorized — but you continue to read it anyways. You meditate and pray over it. It’s part of you— you can no longer see or define yourself without your purpose.

4. You have clearly defined success.

“No, I’m 100% sure Mom. When I’m old enough to drive, I want a blue van with smurfs painted on it. I don’t care what people will say, that’s what I want.”—Marie Forleo at age 7.

You’re about to explode because you’ve defined success for yourself. You don’t care how other people or society define success. That stuff is a destructive distraction — an endless rabbit hole leading nowhere. At best, it represents stage one and stage two identity development — no identity and in-authenticity.

But you’ve moved well beyond that. You’re completely secure in who you are and what you want out of life. What other people think about you is none of your business.

5. You are correctly motivated.

“Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.”—Abraham Lincoln

No matter how talented you are, if your motivations are impure, you’ll eventually lose everything. I will preface this by saying I’m a huge Lance Armstrong fan. However, the whole world was witness to his reckless destruction. Winning meant everything to him. And he was willing to do it at any cost. Ultimately, he lost all of his friends, his family, and even his ability to compete as a result of his relentless need to win.

Like identity development, there is a four-stage hierarchy of motivations.

At stage one, you are motivated by fear. Everything you do is to avoid punishment or negative outcomes. According to decision theory, this form of motivation is prevention focused.

At stage two, you are motivated by reward. Everything you do is to get what you want. If you are religious, you follow the commandments solely for the blessings it provides. If you are in business, you do only that which you believe will get you ahead. Thus, you are promotion-focused.

Both stage one and stage two demonstrate extrinsic motivation, which is far less powerful than intrinsic motivation.

At stage three, you are motivated by duty. You’re going to do what you believe you should whether you receive a reward or not. You have no fear of punishment. You are intrinsically motivated. But there’s a lack of passion. There’s a lack of life that will take you beyond human ability and reasoning.

At stage four, you are motivated by love. You have moved beyond worry for your own needs. Your aim is to bring as much joy to each individual as you possibly can. Your love transcends human reasoning. It drives you to do things most would consider crazy. You no longer live by conventional rules or wisdom. You are directed by the highest and purest power in existence.

“Perfect love casteth out all fear.”—1 John 4:18

6. You live your principles.

“Many of us have convinced ourselves that we are able to break our own personal rules ‘just this once.’ In our minds, we can justify these small choices. None of those things, when they first happen, feels like a life-changing decision. The marginal costs are almost always low. But each of those decisions can roll up into a much bigger picture, turning you into the kind of person you never wanted to be.”—Clayton Christensen.

Motivations are shaky. It’s highly possible that Lance Armstrong was once motivated in beautiful ways. Indeed, he has done some amazing things like start his Cancer Foundation: Livestrong. Yet, as a person gets power, it is almost inevitable that his or her motivations will shift. Heavy weighs the crown.

Because motivations are a sandy foundation, you must build your life on something bigger than yourself— even bigger than your vision.

Your foundation must be core principles. Of this, Stephen Covey has said, “Principles are self-evident, self-validating natural laws— like gravity. It’s different than a value. Values are subjective; principles are objective. If you drop something, gravity controls. The lesson of history is that to the degree people and civilizations have operated in harmony with correct principles, they have prospered. At the root of societal declines are foolish practices that represent violations of correct principles. Principles, unlike values, are objective and external.”

Clayton Christensen has said that 100 percent commitment is easier than 98 percent commitment. If you commit only 98 percent, you will certainly fall well below that. You’ll justify your behavior over and over. It’s a slippery slope. I’ve done this before. I tell myself I’m going to eat well 90 percent of the time. But the external circumstances always get the best of me. I’m at a party and the cake looks too delicious. So I reason with myself that this time it’s okay. The problem is, that happens way more than 10 percent of the time.

When you’re 100 percent committed to something, all of your future decisions have been made. You no longer need to worry about the external circumstances. Your locus of control is internal. You don’t have to rely on willpower, which is a muscle that gets fatigued over time. You don’t have to rely on your decision-making ability, which like willpower, gets depleted over time. Life goes on easy-mode. Desired results occur quickly because you no longer get in your own way.

7. You already know you’re going to succeed.

“What are you waiting for? You’re faster than this. Don’t think you are, know you are.”—Morpheus.

Your thoughts and beliefs always lead to the reality you experience. “We see the world, not as it is, but as we are,” said Stephen Covey. As you evolve and begin believing deeply in the infinite possibilities available, your thoughts almost instantaneously become things. Nothing becomes impossible.

Luck is a misunderstood concept. When it comes to success and personal progress, luck is something that occurs on a regular basis. It happens all the time. It’s the only way to make quantum leaps. Linear thinking and conventional belief systems don’t have the power to create irregular and instantaneous jumps.

You’re about to experience massive success because you already know it’s going to happen. You no longer question that fact. It’s been confirmed to you spiritually. Not only that, but you experience miraculous manifestations frequently, verifying you are on the right path.

Like identity and motivation, belief also has a four stage model.

At stage one, you merely acknowledge that brilliant opportunities, such as luck or miracles, exist. However, you view these as scarce and fantastic— as unpredictable and unrealistic. Thus, you perceive the odds of you experiencing something so drastic on the same scale as winning the lottery — as less than one-in-a-million. You perceive change and success in your life as largely out of your control. You have a doubtful skepticism toward life and a bitter resentment toward those you deem more lucky and privileged.

At stage two, you begin desiring enormous opportunities and luck. You begin to believe these things can actually happen to you. Your doubtful skepticism is replaced by an open-hearted, seeking attitude. You recognize the amazing things that have already happened in your own life and those around you. Yet, you still perceive them as rare. So you continue to believe that others are more likely to have these experiences and opportunities than you are.

At stage three, you begin to recognize your ability to create luck on your own. You notice incredible things happening in your life — frequently. You have a firmer conviction in your power to create and design your circumstances. You believe the future is brighter and better than the present. You have an eager excitement for what lies ahead. You live in a state of individual flourishing and abundance. However, at stage three, you have yet to fully align with your true identity and ability. There is still room to digress and revert back to old ways. Fear and doubt can still linger, potentially returning you to your unevolved state.

Stage four initiates a point of no return. You have crossed the line in the sand. You actually can’t go back. Your eyes are wide open to reality. You see things as they really are. You know that you can do anything. You have limitless power. You can walk on water. Nothing is out of your reach. Your success has already happened.

“I knew I could do it this time, because… well, because I’d already done it!”—Harry Potter

8. You embrace pain and discomfort.

“I discovered when I went all out, when I put 100 percent of my energy into some intense, impossible task – when my heart was jack-hammering, when lactic acid was sizzling through my muscles – that’s when I felt good, normal, balanced.”—Tyler Hamilton.

In 2002, Tyler Hamilton crashed early in the three-week Tour of Italy, fracturing his shoulder. But that didn’t stop him. “I’m good at pain,” he has said. He kept riding, enduring such exquisite pain that he ground eleven of his teeth down to the roots— requiring surgery after the Tour. He finished second overall, only losing to Lance Armstrong who has since had his victory rescinded. “In 48 years of practicing I have never seen a man who could handle as much pain as he can,” said Hamilton’s physical therapist, Ole Kare Foli.

This is the kind of pain you embrace because you’re going to be the best in the world. You know there will always be pain. You’ve just chosen the pain of discipline as opposed to the pain of regret.

Conclusion.

You are on the brink of explosive success — defined by yourself and lived on your own terms. You know who you are and why you’re on this pale blue dot. You are motivated by love. You’re 100 percent committed. You know you’ll succeed because it’s already been set in motion. There’s nothing stopping you now. You embrace the pain of discipline and you live presently.

Ready or not world, here you come.

The post 8 Reasons Your Success Is Inevitable appeared first on Wall Street Insanity.

Image via Unsplash/Malik Earnest

Changing your entire life is actually quite simple. Not only is it simple, but it can be done in a radically short period of time. Almost immediately.

Your whole life could look 180 degrees different than it does now in just one year from now.

• You could be in the best shape of your life.
• You could be living in a different part of the world.
• You could be in a vastly different line of work.
• You could be making more money than you’ve ever dreamed of.
• You could be living a life of purpose and meaning.

In truth, you could be living whatever life you want. You get to decide the reality you construct for yourself. If you don’t, someone else will. Indecision is a horrible decision.

So where will you be in 12 months from now?

Here’s where to start:

1. Define clearly what you want.

By clearly defining what you want, you simultaneously remove countless other decisions. Yet, most people have yet to do this essential activity.

If you were to ask most people where they want to see their life and career in five years, most would struggle to give a confident and clear response.

Greg McKeown, author of Essentialism, once wrote down all the things he truly wanted to accomplish in his life. To his astonishment, law school was not one of those things. Yet, he was currently in his second year of law school.

He was forced to make the challenging decision of leaving law school to pursue what he really wanted to.

Once you define for yourself what you want to do in life, it becomes easy to stop the things that won’t get you there. There is a powerful reason for this:

We are all equipped with a psychological process called self-regulation which detects inconsistencies between our goals and our behaviors. It is the ignition of our motivational forces which helps us get from where we are to where we want to be.

Specifically, self-regulation works in three ways:

• Self-monitoring determines how well we are currently performing.
• Self-evaluation determines how well we are performing against our goals.
• Self-reaction determines how we think and feel against our goals. When we feel dissatisfied with our performance, self-reaction pushes us to reallocate our motivational resources.

To trigger this self-regulation process, goals need to be highly specific, based on external indicators, deadline driven, and challenging. 

When I actually sat down and wrote correctly framed goals, I began to see a radical discrepancy between my behaviors and my goals. It was embarrassing and disturbing. I was in utter denial.

Here is a simple example of my goals:

• Earn $100,000 online by 2016.
• Have 15,000 subscribers by 2016.
• Write 3–5 articles per week (or 40 more before the end of the year).
• Get published on high-tier outlets like the New York Times, Lifehacker, and Forbes by 2016.

These goals highlight an enormous gap between where I currently am and where I would be if they were accomplished. Consequently, my self-regulatory process is activated by these goals, triggering an upsurge of motivational resources. My behavior immediately changes through my attempts to match my goals.

These goals work because they are intrinsically motivating to me  —  but are also based on external indicators  —  the outcomes I’m looking to get.

I read these goals every day to forge them deeper into my subconscious as well as to keep them at the forefront of my conscious mind.

This may seem overly simplistic, but are you doing it?

Do your goals inspire in you the arousal needed to trigger a psychological response? Or do you read your goals and experience no internal change?

Are you challenged enough by your goals?

Are they specific and clear enough?

Are they time-bound?

2. Quit your job.

This may sound dramatic, but unless you are in a job you 100 percent want to be in for the next five years, you should quit immediately. There will always be 100 reasons to postpone. But no matter how long you wait, you’ll never feel ready. It will always be a leap of faith. There will always be unknowns.

The bigger the risks you take, the more likely you’ll enter a state of flow — which is the optimal conscious state where you feel and perform at your highest level. When you take huge risks, you’re required to think in innovative ways, because the consequences of failure are high.

Quitting your job will be the best thing you ever did. It will free up mass amounts of energy and time. You’ll be startled by the inflow of insight you’ll get almost immediately. By quitting your job, you’ll be making a personal proclamation that from now on, you’re going to live life on your own terms.

For example, Pat Flynn, a professional blogger on the topic of creating passive income, was working a 9-5 job back in 2008. Then he got laid off. Although he loved his old job, he immediately started creating a business online. He was forced to think creatively as the bread-winner for his family. In a very short time, he was making more money in less time doing something he loved even more. Now, he makes millions of dollars online. This money is automated, meaning, he makes money whether he works or not.

What if he would have quit his job a few years earlier?

“We’ll never be ready if we keep waiting for the perfect time to come.” — Mat Kearney

3. Sell everything you don’t need.

Most of the possessions you own, you don’t use. Most of the clothes in your closet, you don’t wear. Get rid of them. They are sucking energy from your life. Also, they are dormant value waiting to be exchanged for dollars.

Getting rid of underutilized resources is like injecting motivation and clarity into your bloodstream. While all of that untapped energy gets removed, a new wave of positive energy comes into your life. You can use that energy in more useful and productive ways.

4. Start doing what you love courageously.

What is it you’ve been telling yourself you’d do for a long time, but have never done?

Start doing that thing.

Make it your top priority.

Research has found that willpower is like a muscle that depletes when it is exercised. Similarly, our ability to make high quality decisions becomes fatigued over time. The more decisions you make, the lower quality they become  —  the weaker your willpower.

Consequently, you need to do the hard stuff first thing in the morning. The important stuff. If you don’t, it simply will not get done. By the end of your day, you’ll be exhausted. You’ll be fried. There will be a million reasons to just start tomorrow. And you will start tomorrow  — which is never.

So your mantra becomes: The worst comes first. Do that thing you’ve been needing to do. Then do it again tomorrow. If you take just one step toward your big goals every day, you’ll realize those goals weren’t really far away.

Do you want to write a book? Write first thing in the morning when your willpower is strongest.

Do you want to learn another language? Study first thing in the morning.

Do you want to get in shape? Exercise first thing in the morning.

Do you want to travel? Do it while you’re young or else you might never do it.

Start.

5. Get healthy.

Despite endless evidence of the need for exercise, only one-third of American men and women between the ages of 25 to 64 years engage in regular physical activity according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Health Interview Survey.

If you want to be among the healthy, happy and productive people in the world, get in the habit of regular exercise. Many people go immediately to the gym to get their body moving. I have lately found that doing yard work in the wee hours of the morning generates an intense inflow of inspiration and clarity.

Whatever your preference, get your body moving.

Exercise has been found to decrease your chance of depression, anxiety and stress. It is also related to higher success in your career.

If you don’t care about your body, every other aspect of your life will suffer. Humans are holistic beings.

6. Reframe how you feel, think, and act about money.

Most people have an unhealthy relationship with money. It’s not necessarily their fault; it’s what they were taught.

In order to change your financial world, you need to alter your paradigm and feelings about money.

Here are some key beliefs the most successful people in the world have:

• In a free-market economy, anyone can make as much money as they want.
• Your background, highest level of education, or IQ is irrelevant when it comes to earning money.
• The bigger the problem you solve, the more money you make.
• Expect to make lots of money. Think BIG: $100,000, $500,000, or why not $1 million?
• What you focus on expands. If you believe in scarcity, you’ll have little. If you believe there is unlimited abundance, you’ll attract abundance.
• When you create incredible value for others, you have the right to make as much money as you want.
• You’re not going to be discovered, saved, or made rich by someone else. If you want to be successful, you have to build it yourself.

When you develop a healthy relationship, you will have more. You won’t spend money on the crap most people waste their money on. You’ll focus more on value than price.

Conclusion

After you’ve done these simple things, you’ll have put yourself in a place to succeed. You’ll have inched toward your dreams.

Because you’ll have done all these things, you’ll show up better in life.

You’ll be better at your job.

You’ll be better in your relationships.

You’ll be happier.

You’ll be more confident.

You’ll be more bold and daring.

You’ll have more clarity and vision.

Your life will shortly change.

You’ll quickly find you’re doing the work you’re passionate about. Your relationships will be passionate, meaningful, deep and fun!

You will have freedom and abundance. The world, and the universe, will respond to you in beautiful ways.

The post 6 Ways To Transform Your Life In Less Than One Year appeared first on Wall Street Insanity.