Tag Archives: A Keen Mind

Live With Intention

Your life is a reflection of your intentions. 

People who live with intention, get what they want. Over, and over, and over again.

If I asked, “are you happy?” right now in your life, I believe your answer closely correlates with the level of intention you associate in your everyday life and your choices.

A life lived day to day, simply keeping the car between the white lines will no doubt travel…but to where? How will you know when you get there? Or what happens when you passed your destination altogether?

Contrast that with a person who KNOWS where they are going. Every day driving closer and closer to attainment. Even if incrementally. I believe happiness is 100% related to personal progress. The opposite is staleness, and staleness leads to boredom. Boredom is one of the absolute worst words a person can associate with. Very bad weeds grow from the seeds of boredom.

How can you become more intentional on your individual pursuit?

  • Be intentional about getting uncomfortable with new challenges
  • Be intentional about who you spend your time with
  • Be intentional about your spiritual journey
  • Be intentional about where you want to live
  • Be intentional about your continued education
  • Be intentional about your body and what you can and can’t put in it
  • Be intentional with your money

I would not be intentional in the pursuit of possessions. I understand the pursuit of a Ferrari, but I believe in the end it will be unfulfilling…because I’ll want a newer one. There will always be a newer watch, a nicer car, or as the saying goes, “there’s always bigger boat.”

How is intention being reflected in my own life?

The last couple years I’ve gotten more and more intentional about my education to become a real estate investor/owner/operator. My journey continues down a path with this very focused intention. I have a goal of reaching a target monthly income (TMI) generated from these efforts.

This spring I found myself frustrated with my progress toward my goals and so I did what I preach to others. Play offense and make my intentions known to others. I want to know how I can get to where I want to go, by helping peers obtain their intentions. Make it known…and doors will open. Open doors deliver opportunity and possibly even more importantly…they deliver ENERGY!

I’ve said it hundreds of times. Funny what happens when you let the world in on your vision, your hopes and your dreams. Doors open, introductions are made, progress ensures. Back on track.

ACTION ITEM: Act with intention! Get a pen and get serious about what you really want out of your life, your relationships, and your time. Write it down. I’ve lived it and I’ve seen the better part of progress.

PS – I’m super excited for my next post, or maybe it will be the one after. I’ve been working on showcasing how you can bring your intentions to life visually and through a lens of accountability.

 

Grocery Store Growth

I really like getting groceries.

But, I also like to do it at 7am on Saturday morning, with earphones in and an old school hand-written shopping list in my pocket. I talk to no one as I’m usually buried deep in my own internal conversation or lost in an idea.

Why on earth would I get groceries at 7am on a Saturday?

It’s built in learning time and its systematic.

You see, getting groceries is a somewhat passive or attention-lacking action for me (just ask my wife when I come home with the wrong stuff! Haha!!). In reality, the act of getting groceries is 30-45 minutes of uninterrupted learning time for me to digest a podcast or a recent audio book.

It’s also hard to run into people with my cart when I’m the only when there and not paying full attention!

Even if my week is a complete disaster of a nightmare, there is always Saturday morning and it usually comes with the need to get groceries. I’ve even used this quiet time to listen to a recorded presentation delivered by yours truly. You’d be amazed what you pick up on when you take the time to listen to yourself present!

Don’t have enough time?

Bullshit!

I’d recommend you start to get groceries. Or mow the lawn. Or find one of 10 other mostly passive activities you engage in on a weekly basis to build in some learning time. Here are a few more I’ve been able to build in education time.

  • Daily Exercise
  • Your commute (car, train, bus)
  • Folding the Laundry <—– I HATE folding laundry…but this helps pass the time
  • Travel – if you have any work travel you have dozens of hours at your disposal
  • Doing the Dishes
  • Lunch Hour
  • Shoveling Snow (for you Northern climates in the winter)

Lastly, the choice is entirely up to you on WHAT you listen to. I get everyone needs the freedom to unplug from time to time or to take in a little entertainment. But you can’t always be looking to unplug, while simultaneously complaining you’re not advancing in your career the way you should.

ACTION ITEM: Prioritize what goes in your ears to feed your brain! Next stop, the grocery store.

Hanging on Too Tight

I was listening to a podcast last week with Tim Ferriss as he interviewed Cindy Whitehead. Here is the link. Cindy is well known for selling two pharmaceutical companies for over one billion dollars and is now dedicating her time to helping other female entrepreneurs pursue their mission.

In the middle of the episode the two are discussing negotiating tactics to win when the stakes are at their highest. Want to know “the secret” to winning?

He who cares the least, wins!

Sounds too simple right. So maybe the answer is to just care about nothing, and float aimlessly through life living like a true nihilist? Hardly. Caring the least is largely about perspective and what you are willing to lose.

In golf, one of the first things an instructor will likely teach you is the grip. Not so much the interlocking grip vs. the overlap vs. the ole baseball grip. No. I’m referring to grip pressure. Tight enough to maneuver the club, but not so loose that you lose the grip and it slips out of your hands on the range and goes flying toward that old woman in the visor. That’s dangerous. Strangling the air out of the grip doesn’t help either. Wringing the club’s neck with tension will lead to lack of flow with the swing and makes it nearly impossible to release the club head and really generate power.

Two very important words there. Flow and Release.

I can name a handful of times in my life when I’ve been hanging on much too tight. That’s called nerves, or the more commonly uttered phrase today: anxiety. For me it is usually the result of trying too hard to drive an outcome likely out of my control, but one I believe NEEDS it to happen. I also become less of my true self in the process. I’ve seen it. I’ve felt it.

Pressure Balance

I’ve hung on too tight countless times in sports, with relationships, business pursuits and in my professional life. I’m pretty sure each delivered a less than desirable outcome because I wasn’t playing my game. I was playing too tight, trying to guide every outcome.

Feels like being a little league pitcher who can’t throw a strike after walking the bases loaded. All you want to do is aim the ball over the plate and have it hit the target. You’d give almost anything to make it happen and squeeze the ball with this intent. Meanwhile, the coach from the dugout yells, “don’t aim it Zac…just throw!” He’s right.  Just throw and let it go!

Hanging in there vs. Hanging on.

That’s life isn’t it? Hanging in there just enough to pursue a lofty goal just out of our reach, but not willing to give up just yet. Conversely, not hanging on so desperately so that when it doesn’t happen the result is fatal and personal catastrophe ensues.

Anyone who’s spent any time with a child knows exactly what this pressure looks like. Devastation occurs when a child doesn’t get their way or their demands are not met. We’ve all seen the temper tantrum thrown at the toy isle in Target. These are children, but I could source many events where adults don’t act all too different.

What does holding on too tight feel like?

To me, it feels like pressure. A weight vest. The game doesn’t slow down, it speeds up. Decision making isn’t as sharp as it should be. I’m pressing, pressing, pressing for the outcome. Minutes feel like hours. Days like months. There is absolutely no flow. It’s mentally and physically exhausting because when one element doesn’t hit the way the script in my head reads, it’s like a kick to the gut. Body blow, body blow…complete loss of wind. The answer feels like more effort. More hours. More grind.

Burnout.

I’ve been there a few times and usually spot it later than I’d like, but that’s not the worst thing. The key is being able to spot it. What follows is usually a deep sense of clarity, gratitude and ability to refocus on the important stuff. Focus on the “right” action, results will come. Getting lost again in the process has always worked for me.

Focus on Action > Results

If you feel yourself hanging on too tight what do you do? My recommendation is to get very honest with yourself and fear set. What is fear setting? Here is a link to Tim’s blog post on Fear Setting. Name your fears. Speak them out loud or write them down. Let your fear hit oxygen and assign value to them. Is this real? If so, what is the worst outcome? Will you die from this?

ACTION ITEM:

The quality of your life is in direct reflection to the quality of your questions. Here are a few different ways to think about hanging on too tight.

  • Why am I hanging on so tight?
  • Who am I trying to impress?
  • What is it I’m really chasing?
  • How will my life really change if said outcome does or doesn’t happen?
  • Could all the time and energy I’m directing at making this one thing happen, be better used to pursue multiple opportunities instead?

 

You Can’t Win With Scared Money

There is an old saying, one that I imagine was coined by some Maverick somewhere in the dusty desert confines of Las Vegas, Nevada.

You Can’t Win With Scared Money

I believe I heard it for the first time in my 20’s when playing blackjack. The cosmic duel in blackjack…to hit, or stay? Double down, or simply take the next card. Those of you “blackjack experts” are probably already screaming at your screen saying it is simply a math problem, which it very much is.

But so is every game in Las Vegas and any casino around the world. How do you think the house gets an advantage?

So what happens when the cards fall in your favor? There is no time to be scared. The point is to act and act with conviction.

You Can’t Win with Scared Money

Now the responsible side of me will also tell you, you can’t eat with reckless money either. Blackjack is a game built on math, but also surrounded by chance. So is life.

The randomness of the next card coming out of a blackjack shoe is similar to what will happen tomorrow. Odds are you may know, but you may also be very surprised.

I could list many times in my life when I’ve tried to win with scared money. I’ve probably “lost” or been dead before I started due to tension, fear, or anxious feelings numerous time. These examples happened in sports growing up and in college, relationships throughout life, business scenarios, presentations and the list goes on.

Fears are educated into us, and can, if we wish, be educated out.

Fear is 100% dependent on state. I just wrote about this in my last post Red State vs. Blue State. Change your state, change your life. If I think about being in a “Blue State” I’m free, I’m quick, witty, ready to ad lib. I’m flowing, loose, and probably most important…confident.

You Can’t Win With Scared Money. I’ll also add,

You can’t be stopped when acting in positive state.

I am only 36, but I’ve already lived through numerous events where it was my turn to act…many times with the cards in my favor. Some I’ve connected on. Some larger than others. Some I let pass right on by…choosing inaction for the fear of action, and what consequences said action may hold.

In every such scenario, hindsight provides certainty and sometimes regret. I hate regret, but it’s a real thing.

ACTION ITEM: Instead of using regret to get demotivated and steal your momentum, try to use it for reflection. Why do you feel the way you do and what about this scenario is likely to happen again? When it does, grab it by the throat with some confidence and really GO FOR IT. What’s the worst that can happen?

 

 

 

 

Red State vs Blue State

Although the title of this post SCREAMS politics, there isn’t a single political position or statement in this post. Exhale. I’m thinking about an entirely different state. The difference in mental states.

Tranquilo

A good friend of mine (a teacher & successful coach) recently gave me the book Legacy, 15 lessons in leadership from arguably the most successful rugby team in history: the New Zealand All Blacks.

Chapter nine of the book is all about PRESSURE —> Keep a blue head. Control your attention.

More specifically, chapter nine outlines the impact state of mind has on championship level talent and competition when pressure sets in. Many championship finishes come down to the final minutes, efforts and decisions of equally matched opponents. The complete, the divide between winners and losers is colossal. So is the separation in mental state.

Red State vs. Blue State

Legacy defines the two mental states:

  • Red State = Tight. Inhibited. Anxious. Pressing. Results Oriented (I found this one perplexing). Aggressive. Desperate.
  • Blue State = Loose. Flowing. Expressive. In the Moment. Calm. Clear. On Task

I can tell you unequivocally when I’ve experienced wins in my life, I’m BLUE State nearly 100% of the time.

I can also tell you when things aren’t running smoothly, or “going my way”, I’m likely in RED state

Legacy goes on to outline the impact of “triggers” and getting back to a Blue State from a Red State. I’ve written about confidence triggers previously on the blog and what I specifically do to get back into rhythm.

What is a trigger? Since it’s Masters weekend, I immediately think of the 12th tee box for Jordan Spieth at Augusta National Golf Club. The 24 year old Masters champion would be a two-time green jacket winner and amongst the history of legends had it not be for one simple 145 yard hole and finding the water (twice) to card a state-altering seven. It cost him the victory.

I estimate he’ll play the Masters at least 25 more years.  He’ll face hole 12, likely 100 more times in competitive rounds. This screams RED state  if there were ever to be one. What a powerful trigger he must face every April in the swirling winds of Augusta National Golf Club.

Would you like more examples? Here are two I’ve read.

Kevin Love’s story of his panic attack earlier this NBA season. Players Tribune article His job is basketball (82 games a year).

Care for another? Do you know TV Anchor Dan Harris? Back in 2004 before a Good Morning America audience of 5 million people, he had an on-air panic attack. Here’s how he deals with it now. Again, this is his JOB!  He must find a way to get out of the red, and back into the blue every day. If you’re looking for a great read, I really recommend Dan’s book 10% Happier: How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, and Found Self-Help That Actually Works–A True Story

As I’m reading Legacy laying in my bed, I couldn’t help but think about my friend Tony Robbins and his demand to “operate in a peak state” to his audiences around the world. I’ve watched 100’s of his videos and almost all of them reviews in detail the power of understanding and controlling your state.  Here is an example Peak State Video, or here is a link to a more visual representation from Tony.

One of the things you’ll notice with Tony is the soul-pumping music he uses at his events. Music creates movement. Motion = emotion. To change your state, change your body.

The biggest point of impact I’d like you to take away from this post is entirely focused on the HOW. How do I get into a peak state? Not surprisingly, states are controlled by triggers.

Good states = good triggers.

Bad states = bad triggers

I’m the first to tell you, bad triggers are guaranteed to build up in life. It is inevitable. Inevitable as life and the experiences that come with it. Just look at the examples of the highly talented individuals noted above. Red states escape no one.

All that said, how do I do it?  How do I get from RED —-> BLUE

There is a word Tim Ferriss says to himself in the audio version of The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich as he’s preparing for the Argentine Tango World Championships. Tranquilo. Tranquilo. I don’t know why, but it stuck with me. I use it when I meditate to calm my racing mind, and I use it every day when things get moving too fast in a bad direction.

It’s my RESET button.

Tranquilo

ACTION ITEM: There is a lot in this post, but I didn’t want to scale back from what I thought was very meaningful background. I think these are REAL issues many face today.  Red state vs. blue states of mind. Too much operate all day in the red, almost analogous to a car operating at redline. Use Dan’s advice, Tony’s teachings, and above all…Tranquilo.

Thinking About Quitting and Two Phone Calls

One phone call out of the blue is coincidental,

Two phone calls in less than two days (18 hours)…someone is trying to tell me something!

Back in December 2017 I thought about calling the blog quits. Here is a peek into how the mind works…if you allow it.

  • The blog is an expense. I make zero $$ on it.
  • The blog takes time. Is it worth it?
  • The blog takes intentional thought and focus.
  • The blog is a choice. Blog vs. Other things.

Shift in mindset…one I’m very happy I made.

  • The blog is an investment in others and my future. Where it goes…not really sure yet. Don’t care. More concerned with process. (Slight Edge Principles)
  • The blog takes time away from the “Trivial”, to focus on the Vital.  Essentialism <— terrific read!
  • The blog takes time to get intentional & focused with my thoughts <—— tremendously UNDERvalued
  • The blog is choice I’m happy to make

Now on to the two phone calls.

The first, I received from a long-time friend on a dreary Iowa afternoon on 2.21. He called out of the blue to tell me he just got a HUGE promotion. One he’s been focused on for quite some time. It’s a really big deal for him and his family. Most importantly, it creates a tremendous amount of momentum for his future. As I’ve stated before, momentum is everything.

He called to say thank you. Thank you! He called to say somehow, I played a role in his journey. His mindset, thoughts, and most importantly actions were impacted by the words on this blog. I was moved. I was overjoyed…and selfishly, it felt really good.

Gary Vaynerchuk says 1>0.  My goal in starting and continuing this project was to impact ONE PERSON.

Mission Accomplished.

The following morning on 2.22, I reached out (unannounced) to an old friend and business relationship. Shockingly…he told me, I was on his “list to call” as he had something very important to tell me.

We chatted for a bit and he told me about his son’s future plans. He’s 18. He’s got big plans and big dreams. So much more than I thought about when I was 18. [If I had to guess today, he’s probably selling himself short with all that focus and ambition].

Then my friend says,

He wants to meet you!

PAUSE…”What!?!? Why? ,” I said.

His response, “He thinks the world of you (I’m paraphrasing), and he talks to me about you. He reads your work, and he even told his Mom about you.” If you didn’t know, crossing over to the Mom category is a M-A-S-S-I-V-E chasm to cross (at least that’s what I’m telling myself).

<If you know me…or if you don’t: I’m on the verge of tearing up, and I’m not really sure why…but man, it feels really, really good>

  • Two people I respect
  • Two totally random (or maybe not..) phone calls.
  • Two extreme expressions of gratitude

Gratitude 100%

This image is cheesy, but soooooo answers my feeling back in 2017 on the bottom, and now my feelings just 45 days later on the top. I’m not there yet, but I haven’t given up either.

Instead I’ll choose to keep hammering away.

ACTION ITEM: Lesson learned tribe. If something is going well, or impacting you in a positive way (TELL SOMEONE!). Who knows what it will do for them?!?

It made my day, week, month and maybe year, because I can’t tell you what power, fuel and energy this adds to me!

My Life Reflects My Intention

Anything I have, or don’t have in my life, is a reflection of my intentions. Intention can be manifested as action or inaction.

  • Friendships
  • Spouse
  • Curiosity
  • Intelligence
  • Business & Career
  • Financial Situation
  • Fitness Level/Body Composition
  • Housing Situation
  • Spiritual Place
  • and on and on

No one else’s fault. No one else’s dreams.

100% MINE.

If you don’t have what you want…that’s on you. As stated, your intentions manifest themselves every day. You have exactly what you’ve intended to have. Nothing more, nothing less.

Here’s the thing to understand. I don’t have it all figured out. Actually far from it. But I have been able to change my intentions and outcomes over time. I’m doing it today!

Now here’s the crux…if you don’t have what you want, how do you change it?

QUESTIONS. Ask better questions.

The quality of your life, is reflected by the quality of your questions.

Change the question, change the angle, change the outcome.

ACTION ITEMS: Better questions lead to better reflections. Better reflection leads to changing your intention.

 

 

Eat at the Diner of Your Thoughts

You ever have that challenge staring you in the face and you can’t seem to see it any other way? Problems are many, solutions are few.

Impending doom sets in.

Our thoughts have a way of owning us. Our thoughts drive our actions and even the intentions for those actions. At times, you may feel powerless over them. In all likelihood, we are.
All the great thinkers in history carried with them the great ability to separate, or have a seemingly out of body experience with their thoughts. A freedom to look at their challenge from the outside, free of tension, anxiety, and pressures of the moment.
This isn’t easy to do.
But that doesn’t make it impossible, does it?

Would you eat at the diner of your own thoughts?

Let me set the scene…
You’re standing outside…probably in the rain. It’s always in the rain isn’t it? Not a downpour, but a gentle, annoying, cool, but not cold drizzle.
The rain is context for making it a little harder to see things completely clearly. If this moment in life were the weather, the forecast would be a gray dreary rain settling in for the foreseeable future.

Do you see him standing outside? What is he looking at?

He sees this lonely soul, nestled cozily into a booth at one of those 24/7 diners, caressing a luke-warm cup of black coffee. You know this kind of diner, the kind with the quintessential neon [OPEN] sign in the front door. The coffee is just ok, but at least it’s warm…and the pie is taunting you.

Do you see him?

He’s there, lost in thought, or maybe buried in a world of problems, regrets and uncertainty. More than anything he’s looking for one of two things.
  1. Answers
  2. Courage

Who is this person?

It’s me. Both actually, are me.

I’m the guy standing out in the rain, and the guy in the restaurant represents my thoughts.
This odd exercise and viewpoint helps me see what can’t be observed otherwise. It provides separation from the dangerous feedback loop of my own thoughts.

You ever have a friend ask you for advice?

I sure have. Many times. The answers come rolling off my tongue rapid fire, like tennis balls from one of those sick American Gladiators guns. Man those were awesome! Bang Bang Bang. Idea, idea, idea. Each a solution.
Point is, it’s not MY problem when my friend asks for advice. It’s my friends’, therefore my answers carry zero weight or anxiety. It’s not my life. I’m simply providing direction and logic.
This is the answer.

Separation.

If you can’t dine at the restaurant of your own thoughts, you can’t change the angle of looking at your challenge, or opportunity for that matter. See it for exactly what it is, but never more than it is. I think my friend Tony Robbins said that. [digital fist bump Tony]
ACTION ITEM: 
In solitude (a walk, a quiet room, a flight) I don’t care where, get alone and outside yourself. Joe Rogan says, “be the super hero of your own movie. What would he do?” Play it out and be the hero!
If nothing else, sit quietly in the diner and enjoy a slice of pie.
This too shall pass.

Power of Pattern Interrupt

Patterns.

Every day, you get up at 6am.

Every day, you show up at  to the office at 7:59am, and leave at 4:59pm (yup, one minute early!) STICK IT TO THE MAN!

Every day, you eat the same thing for lunch.

Every meeting…is in the same office.

Every day, you drive the same exact way to work, and the same exact way home.

Every night at precisely 6:30pm, you sink deeper into the couch…zoning out.

Deep in Pattern.

STUCK. BORED.

Keep in mind. None of what I’m outlining above constitutes laziness. It may, but it very well may not. There are many motivated people doing the same thing every day… but in pursuit, not experiencing major changes in results.

It’s time to pattern interrupt.

I have this wonderful obligation, partly, this is my job. Travel, is one pattern interrupt. I Live in Iowa, but travel to: NYC, travel to San Diego, off to Dallas, then Florida. Now Las Vegas and then San Francisco. Doesn’t really matter where. As Jimmy Buffett says, “Changes in latitude, changes in attitude.”

Each is a new opportunity, and not necessarily a business opportunity (although that usually exists on the surface). It’s an opportunity for pattern interrupt. New scenery. New faces to meet. New points of view to engage and debate.

Put quite simply, a new (or newer) look at the world around us. Or at least a new way to see it. If you’ve ever flown, think about the freedom you feel looking out seat 14A. Peering down 10,000 feet as the plane roars toward the clouds. The people become specks. Cars become micro machines. Buildings are well thought out LEGO configurations. Suddenly you can see EVERYTHING. The prism of God’s creation right in front of you.

NEWSFLASH, you don’t need to spend $1,000 on a plane ticket to Europe to pattern interrupt.

  • You can go for a long walk, when you pattern is to sit down after breakfast or dinner.
  • Ask your boss if you can work “remotely” for the afternoon. Same work, fresh location. Fresh perspective.
  • Instead of eating lunch alone like most days, engage a long-time friend for some thoughtful discussion.
  • Chose writing in a journal for 20 minutes for a break between binge watching episodes of Ozark
  • You can venture to a Starbucks, or a Panera to people watch, and literally THINK.
  • If you live in Dallas, hit up Austin for the weekend. Talk to a stranger

I literally started writing this from a Panera, because I needed some new scenery to explore this thought. Nothing major, but yet, still different from the island in my kitchen (where much of the magic happens ;-).

How can you think about pattern interrupt today?

The holidays provide a built-in [pattern interrupt] scenario. Many of us will have a day, or days, and maybe even a couple of weeks off.

Yes, please take your foot off the gas…but not too far, lest losing all the stream and momentum built up over 2017. See where you fall into pattern ruts, and where you can build in “interruptions” to your 2018.

Merry Christmas!

 

Pay Attention to your Intentional Day

Be intentional with your time. Be very intentional with your energy.

In doing so, happiness and fulfillment are sure to follow.

What is an intentional day? It’s the name I gave to a day complete with all the things that make me better. Scripted from morning to evening. Encompassing all aspects: from diet, to where I spend my time, who I spend it with, to what I consume.

Thriving. Intentional Days —> Lead to Thriving

It is the one word I’d choose to describe how I feel when I’m being 100% intentional. 

Here’s a peek into my intentional day. I’d invite you to craft your own.

When I’m feeling really great and I’m at my peak performance, I do the following:

  1. Rise Early. 6am preferably..sometimes earlier. Awake fully rested. Like a toddler ready to tackle his presents on Christmas day. More on how I get here at the end of my intentional day, because one fuels the next.
  2. Time to think/strategize my day. If I don’t get control of my day early, someone else is guaranteed to take it back by 7:30 or 8am.
  3. Exercise. Usually for me in the morning this is a combination of push ups, pull ups, some abs and air squats at home. If in the evening, I’m running or shooting hoops to get the heart moving. Growing up the basketball gym was my sanctuary. It still is when I need time to think.
  4. Food = Fuel. I like to start my day with a smoothie. Ingredients: frozen strawberries and blueberries, a splash of milk, organic honey greek yogurt (probiotic), a scoop of peanut butter, about 20g of protein powder, and a pile of spinach. Good for my gut. Good for me. Great source of energy. I’d also add here I drink 8 glasses of water. It’s amazing how much better the body (and brain) operates when hydrated.
  5. Inspiration – Every morning I try to consume at least 15-20 minutes of content before heading out the door. YouTube is my go-to. Simple, free, and thousands of options. Inspiration is like bathing. It needs to be done frequently to be effective. Every day. Monday – Friday to get my mind in the right place and in a position of gratitude.
  6. Notecard of Targets –  To-do lists steaming 20+ items lack focus and instead pile on the trivial. I try to never leave the house without 3-5 MUST MOVE items on my list. So that if I did nothing else for the day…I’d accomplished something that was vital. Key here is separating the trivial from the vital.
  7. Lunch = Salad. When I’m eating well, I’m making a salad. Greens, some protein, sprouts, peppers, etc. Not to bore you. Why salad? I know it is fuel and it’s great for me. All the energy I need to get through the afternoon and most importantly no crash.
  8. Day at Work – I can simply sum this up as collaboration. I thrive being with people. Vetting new ideas, tackling challenges, presenting solutions. Too much solitude and I get a little gray and maybe a tab grumpy. Don’t get me wrong, I believe in getting alone to think…just not for hours on end.
  9. Pick up my son from daycare. Always a terrific bookend to my day. Good days are made that much better.  Bad days, I get a dose of what’s really important. The 3-year old in my backseat doesn’t care about the unruly client or lost pitch.
  10. Evening Reading – Daily goal is to knock out 20-30 pages. Done every day, week, month…I can consume 20+ books a year.  I’ll admit this ebbs and flows greatly with travel time and other needs, but this is all about “Intention” and using daily [slight edge principles] to tackle bigger objectives. Small efforts, magnified with consistency over time —> yield big results.
  11. Evening Meditation – It may be an understatement that I have a very active mind. My hamster wheel spins even at the thought of an idea. I must eliminate the noise.  My most intentional days end with 30+ minutes of silence and stretching. Clearing my mind of any fears, stresses, anxieties, thoughts and ending with gratitude.  When done sequentially, I sleep better (deep sleep), I’m sharper, wittier, funnier (my own opinion), and my memory feels much deeper. If you’re looking for more detail on the HOW, here is a post I wrote a while back.  20 Minutes of Silence.

That’s it. 11 items.

When done with intention and executed with frequency, I am no doubt my Best Self.

I would even bet my better half could tell you when I’m on point…and when I’m failing to execute my intentions.

ACTION ITEM: You’ve got to know (and write down) what really makes you operate at peak levels. Emotionally, Physically, Spiritually. There is a pattern. Use mine as a starting point or guide, but know every one reading this has their own operating system. Find what works. <— Do that!