Daily Good Moodivation #11 - Weekly Reflection

Hey guys,

Happy Sunday! Another week down. I always get excited about waking up on Sunday, knowing that another week has passed, a new one filled with challenges and opportunities awaits.... Having this attitude about Sunday has transformed the week for me.

By looking forward to the week, you subconsciously create an outline for a great week. By dreading Monday, your mind is already building resistance to something you are going to have to face anyways. Why not welcome the day? Welcome the week?

If you haven't already, it may be wise to go through some of the previous blog posts in reflection for the week. Think about how you are going to structure your morning routine this week if you haven't already. Practice gratitude for what you have, how your week has been, thing you might be looking forward to. Sit down and create some deep, meaningful goals. Think about who you want to be and how you plan on getting there. Remember to always feed your soul with great food - nutrition is a great starting place for building success momentum. And always, always remember to define your purpose  so that you can remain true to yourself, because once you realize you are living in alignment with yourself, you are no longer giving away precious time.

How you spend your Sunday prepares your body and mind for how your week will pan out. Set aside time for your own development and personal growth, a minimum of 30 minutes and preferably one hour or more. Envision what a successful week would look like for you. If you created a to-do list with 10 or more items, which three would produce the most growth/ progress/ satisfaction? What will you do every day to bring you a step closer towards your ultimate goals?

YOU are responsible for your progress. Growth is intentional. No one is successful or happy by accident. It's a choice that you make on a daily, hourly, and down to a minute-by-minute basis. 

Now go out and make a positive impact on the world. Everyone possesses a massive potential within. You hold the key to your own potential, and play a critical role in unlocking that potential in those around you. Empower others and you shall be empowered. 

Weekly Challenges:

1.  Do something uncomfortable (ex. speak in front of a group, forgive someone who has wronged you, try to pick up a chick at the grocery store)
2. Create and perform your own 'success routine' every morning for the entire week
3. Develop a concrete health goal and connect to it. Be specific - what do is your goal, why is it your goal, how do you plan on achieving it, and how will you feel once it is accomplished?

Daily Good Moodivation #10 - Your Purpose

What is your purpose?
Have you ever thought about it? Do you know what you want to do? How do you know?

This question is oftentimes a very difficult one to answer. Many of us do not know. I think it is important to take a step back and think about why that is

We neglect our own expectations
I believe that the problem we face is becoming more and more prevalent. We have been moving farther and farther away from being in tune with ourselves. The health of our mind, body, and spirit is being side stepped in order to make room for what we are expected to value.

Everyone is worried about what everyone else thinks! Because of this we completely forget who we are to begin with!

We constantly worry what others think
How many times have you worried about what a friend would say about something you've done? A peer or colleague? It's definitely happened with our parents...

It is due to this constant fear of meeting somebody else's expectations, that we cannot even begin to live up to our own. 

What do you truly desire?
I encourage you to remove yourself from these feelings. Ask yourself what your heart really desires. I guarantee that once you start living up to your own expectations, passion and enthusiasm will fuel your drive. And when that happens, you transform yourself. You will be motivated by an infinite energy which guides you. You will contribute a positive change effortlessly. Your influence will spread and you will be truly happy.

You will find that by following your heart's desires, and following your true purpose, the law of attraction will bring to you everything that you could ever want. You will see signs that you are on the right path and it will only motivate you to continue following your dreams.

It takes some people many years to determine their true purpose. Let me ask you - what do you think about on a daily basis? What do you talk about with your friends or family members that gets you really amped up and motivated? What could you speak about to an audience with enthusiasm and passion? I think that asking these questions with some deep introspection will help you find yourself. You will know when you have the answer.

Good Food Recipe #1 - Maple Dijon Salmon

 

This is one of my favorite recipes. Very quick and easy to make, plus salmon is freaking amazing. Start with a good sized filet of wild caught salmon. Avoid that farm-raised Atlantic salmon crap. They raise those fish in terrible farming conditions and feed them soy and corn pellets while they float in giant tanks of their own crap. Okay enough of that, but seriously - go with a nice wild caught sockeye salmon. Pictured is Copper River which was probably the best damn piece of fish I've had.

What you'll need:

- 6 to 10 oz filet of Wild Caught Salmon
- 4 to 8 medium sized carrots
- Fresh asparagus (I used about half a pound)
- Walden Farms calorie free pancake syrup
- Powdered yellow mustard
- Regular yellow mustard or spicy dijon
- Cayenne, Sea Salt, and Pepper
- A pan
- An oven 
- A food steamer (you can also use the oven)

Step 1: Preheat oven to 350 degree fahrenheit

Step 2: Mix 2-3 TBSP of the Walden Farms syrup with 2 TBSP of powdered mustard, a tsp of yellow mustard, 1/2 tsp of cayenne pepper, and salt+pepper to taste. This should create a paste. Taste and adjust seasoning depending on your preference. You can use more spice or more syrup depending on how sweet or how hot you want it.

Step 3: Oil the pan, I use coconut oil or ghee as this type of fat is much more stable under heat to prevent oxidation. 

Step 4: Lay salmon skin side down on pan, and layer on the maple dijon paste. 

Step 5: Line your carrots on the other side of the pan and put some coconut oil to coat, along with a few shakes of salt and a healthy dose of cinnamon.

Step 6: Put that bad boy in the often and roast it for 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees. I prefer my salmon a little on the rare side but you can cook it longer if you wish. The fish should flake easily with a fork when it is done. The carrots might need to go back in for a little longer so you can pull the fish out and throw it on your plate then return the carrots to continue roasting for another 5 minutes.

 

Step 7: Asparagus in your food steamer for 12 minutes. OR you can also put this in this oven. I prefer to season the asparagus after roasting, but you can shake garlic powder and salt onto them as well.

Step 8: Plate it all and chow down!!!

Health tips:

1. Wild caught seafood is high in anti-inflammatory omega-3 fatty acids which provide a variety of benefits to the body. Notably improved brain function and hormone production.
2. Asparagus is high in anti-oxidants and a well established precursor to glutiathione. Glutathione is known as the "master anti-oxidant" as it is the most powerful one in the body. This anti-oxidant does many things in the body but most importantly helps the liver with detoxification and supports the immune system.
3. Carrots are a great healthy carbohydrate source. When choosing carbohydrates to refuel or replenish muscle glycogen, you want to choose clean sources with the least amount of toxins and are easiest for our bodies to process. Sugary, in-ground vegetables such as the carrot, sweet potatoes, squash, and beets are perfect examples of such. These veggies contain nearly all glucose, a form of sugar that is readily usable by every cell in the body. This is in comparison to the primary sugar in fruit which is fructose - which can only be metabolized by the liver and either stored as liver glycogen or in adipose (fat) tissue. 

Enjoy good mood food dudes!!!

Daily Good Moodivation #9 - Progress

"What do I need to do now to be where I want to be tomorrow?"
- Stephen Covey

Reading this morning and this quote rang true to me. It is sometimes a difficult question to answer.

How do we evaluate if we are making progress? Draw back on who you want to be and your goals. Think about your recent accomplishments - what did you do yesterday? What have done in the past week or month?

Have you ever made goals, whether it be short-term or long-term goals, and at the time of creating them you were extremely motivated or driven to achieve? 

This happens all the time. We so often lose sight of our goals because of a few missing components. One of the most common elements that, when absent, prevents forward progress is the reason why.

The goals you have trouble making progress towards.... why did you set them in the first place? If for vain or selfish reasons it is often extremely difficult to continue making steps towards their achievement. If you lack a concrete reason why you hope to achieve each particular goal, it is extremely easy to spin your wheels.

When this is the case, go back to the drawing board. Perhaps you want to either change the goal itself, or think deeply about the meaning behind it. How would accomplishing that goal make you feel? How would it improve your life? Would it positively influence people other than yourself? How and why?  Attach deep meaning and really evaluate your purpose.

Once you've clearly defined your objectives - you will start to have more purposed driven daily activities. Successful habits and practicing gratitude  become much more natural and self-fulfilling. 

Remember, it is okay to be ambitious. Everyone should have their own mountain to climb. Everyone should feel a daily sense of challenge. Life is about to the journey. We must remind ourselves of this journey as often as we can. And we must also pause to reflect on the steps we've taken to become who we are today.

If you look back at who you were last year, two years ago, 5  years ago... and view yourself today. Are you proud of what you see? Celebrate the path you've traveled upon to land where you are now. I guarantee everyone has had their own challenges, road blocks, and adventures.

Reflect often. Evaluate the choices and decisions you've made in the recent past. As we grow older and our time becomes more valuable, your mind must mature as you acquire the wisdom of years. We must become more aware of how we spend our time, or we risk losing it to meaningless events, people, and actions.

Now hopefully these posts have been thought provoking. My goal is to empower at least one person's thoughts enough so that he or she passes along the same empowerment to another individual, and together we can create a larger ripple upon this world.

So - what are you going to do today that will take you one step forward towards your ultimate destination?

Daily Good Moodivation #8 - Routine for Success

Do you have a daily routine? 

What about a morning ritual?

Creating your day around a structured routine is one of the best ways to improve your success

The reason for this is simple. By creating daily habits that you can perform on autopilot, you free up your mind to have creative thoughts, innovative production, and willpower control. Having a ton of little successes create momentum early in your day, giving you a sense of accomplishment that snowballs into more important and valuable activities.

Think about someone who wakes up reacting to an alarm clock, stumbles out of bed, rushes breakfast and is speeding out the door with little or zero time to think about how they want their day to go.  They start their day in reaction mode, and spend the rest of their day reacting to a series of events. 

A person like this sees every challenge as an added stress, and has trouble allocating willpower towards the most important activities for happiness. Things like physical activity, meaningful conversations, reflection, meditation, prayer, sharpening of the mind, reading or writing - all of these get either pushed aside, or rushed, in order to move on to the next item on the to-do list.

How can we eliminate the daily hustle and bustle, reduce stress, and improve productivity?

Develop daily habits which you can easily perform, and adhere to some sort of structure or order. 

Give yourself at least ONE HOUR every morning to spend on yourself. You should cherish these 60 minutes because the early morning hours are the only time you get to spend to yourself, for most people.

How you spend these 60 minutes is entirely up to you, but here are my top 10 suggestions for how to kick more ass throughout the day.

Top Ten Morning Habits to Kick More Ass

1.  Journal 3 things that you are thankful for in your life. Whether it be from yesterday, this week, recent accomplishments, relationships. Just jot down 3 items which you are grateful. This is an easy way to practice gratitude.
2. Pause and reflect for a minute - what would make today a great day? Envision how you want it to go. How you feel, things you say, small (or large) accomplishments, goals you might achieve or make progress towards. You can include this in your journal entry from above
3. Remind yourself who you want to be. This is key to overcoming the daily pull of short-term pleasures and distractions. When something comes up, it is easy to ask - "Does this align with who I want to be?" Eliminate mindlessness! 
4. Reflect on your goals. Everyone should have personal hopes and dreams. Keep them present and refer to them often. The best time to do this is in the morning, so you can set the stage from daily progress towards long-term achievements. Keep several sticky notes on your bathroom mirror which remind you of your biggest goals so you can see them every morning as soon as you walk in the bathroom.
5. Stretch or perform some sort of activity to get the blood flowing. I perform a short yoga routine to open up the body and take a walk outside to watch the sun come up and listen to a podcast. Nothing strenuous, just enough to wake your mind and body to the day. 
6. Practice deep breathing and meditation. Get in the habit of this and you will be astounded at how little the stress of the day has an impact on you. You will find yourself responding comfortably and naturally to things that previously would have thrown you in a tailspin. I cannot stress this enough. Get some headphones and pop in a guided meditation. 
7. AVOID carbohydrates in the morning. If you eat, stick to a good amount of high quality protein and high quality fat. Carbohydrates in the morning raise your blood sugar in the first part of the day, throwing you on a blood sugar roller coaster through the rest of the day. To maximize brain function and keep you full and satisfied longer, protein and fat ONLY. I recommend whole eggs.
8. Read or watch motivating literature or media. This is easy. Whether you watch a motivating YouTube video, or read a motivating novel (I prefer Emmet Fox), the choice is yours. Spend at least a couple minutes feeding the mind with positive energy.
9. Eliminate social media or e-mails first thing in the morning. These put us in that reactive state that I referred to earlier. If the first thing you do in the morning is check your phone, Instagram, or Facebook - you might want to evaluate your decision. Replace those quick fixes with value added activities.
10. SLOW DOWN!!! Take your time with your morning routine. Give yourself time to grow and prosper. Your habits should not be hoops to jump through before you can start your day. Focus on being present with each activity. Breathe slowly and deeply. Open your mind to the positive thoughts and let this energy flow through you. Allow yourself to enjoy these moments instead of thinking "what's next". This will be the most difficult thing to master for most people, and it is still something I struggle with. When you catch yourself thinking or worrying about your to-do list, the day, or anticipating something to come - remind yourself why started in the first place. 

So there you have it. Ten morning habits that will drastically improve your overall happiness and productivity. I suggest not starting all at once, but rather incorporating two or three at a time in your daily routine until they become second nature, then adding one or two at a time. Performing all these little things creates a momentum of positive, forward energy. Allow this energy to propel you towards your ultimate destination. 

Now go out and achieve! Have a great day :)

Daily Good Moodivation #7 - Our Greatest Fear

What is your greatest fear? 

Have you thought about it? Do you ever think about it?

My greatest fear....

I have an admission to make. My greatest fear is failure. Thinking about failure now just scares the living crap out of me. Unfortunately, it is my fear of failure that holds me back. I would imagine that the human fears related to failure, are the greatest walls and roadblocks to our success. 

How could mankind ever achieve the heights we’ve seen, if fear of failure always limited advancement?

Do you think that cavemen were afraid of fire? Guarantee they were, at first. Knuckle dragging apes probably saw a lightning bolt and shit their fur. But somehow at some point in our short history, a curious and courageous homosapien overcame the fear of the unknown long enough to feel the warmth off of fire...

Fear is always present

Do you really think that for every massive success or achievement, a fear of failure was present? You bet your ass it was. Imagine the first time we put a man on the moon. The mission to do something as monumental as landing on the moon was rife with failure, uncertainty, and the unknown.

Plan to succeed

You know what happened? They planned. They prepared. They analyzed alternatives, examined possible failures. I’m sure they had simulated failure thousands of times. They probably got all the way through with multiple plans, only to scratch the whole things and start over.

Never lose focus

But they never quit. The entire team involved in sending a man to the moon knew exactly what they wanted to do. They had a clear line of sight – literally, on many nights. They knew what the end result looked like. All people involved shared a common goal and a common vision.

With the fear of failure ever-present, they still launched a goddamn space shuttle into outer space so Neil Armstrong could put a footprint on the moon.

Remind yourself why you started

Just writing about this and thinking about it critically really blows my mind. Here I am, scared that I might make a blog post that doesn’t get many views. Then I remind myself why I set out on this project. I remind myself of what my ultimate purpose is in life. I visualize what it would look like to be able to reach and positively impact the lives of 1,000,000 people. I know that by writing and establishing an online presence, I am making steps in the right direction.

If I this burden of fear remains square on my shoulders, weighing me down, preventing progress... then I am going to turn right around give a massive middle finger to its face.

Remain purpose driven

If I ever have doubt about the direction I am going in life, I will pause to reflect on the reasons I started in the first place. So what if I fail? Am I aligned with my true north, internal moral compass? Are my values driving my actions? Am I principle-centered? Do I create a positive impact on others?

Remember this quote:

Now ask yourself – what is your greatest fear? Remind yourself of this fear often. Acknowledge and welcome this fear. For without being afraid, how would we ever realize that we are only human? 

Daily Good Moodivation #6 - Feed Your Soul

Feed Your Soul
With the nourishment it needs! Your spirit is hungry for satisfying treats as much as you are. A career you love, friends you enjoy spending time with, adventure, fulfilling conversations and relationships, meaningful experiences, thought provoking reads, physical challenges, mental challenges, spiritual connection.... The list goes on.

Become aware
What are you doing to provide your soul with the sustenance necessary to thrive? Are you allowing yourself time to relax and de-stress from the accumulation of modern day fatigue? While sitting in the front of the TV and watching Game of Thrones is entertaining, are you really able to connect with your internal being during these times?

“Your visions will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.” - Carl Jung

Connect with yourself
When was the last time you went outside? Took a walk and practiced mindfulness? Grabbed a piece of paper and wrote down your thoughts?

Time is lost without paying attention
The hustle and bustle of everyday life often gets in the way of who we truly are. We fly through the week by the seat of our pants, only pausing for enough time to prepare for the weekend, then the weekend passes in a blur without any meaningful progress between last Sunday and this Sunday.

Recharge and renew
Have you been making significant progress towards what you truly want to do? If not, maybe it is time to unplug for a minute. Change your surroundings. Incorporate a new habit into your routine. Remind yourself what makes your happy, what makes you tick. Are your relationships adding value to your life? Or are you holding onto connections with people who may not align with your goals and direction?

The soul is the driving energy behind your conscious actions. 

“Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.”

Namaste, good mood food dudes. Feed your soul, not just physically but mentally and spiritually as well. 

Nutrition - Getting Started by Creating Goals

How do I get started?

An easy question to ask, difficult to answer, and even more difficult to follow. The questions can really apply to anything. Allow me to break this into what I have found to be the most effective action steps necessary to make drastic changes in your life, and let's apply it to nutrition. Once you realize that progress in your nutritional habits carries over into progress in the other areas of your life, you will be astounded by what you can achieve. 

Create Meaningful Goals

The first place anyone should start with anything is to have a goal (or goals) in mind. What is it that you hope to achieve through changing your eating habits? Create some meaningful goals that really connect with you. I am talking, really dig down deep and find several things that would make the biggest impact on your life.

Goal Brainstorm

The best way to do this is to just start a goal brainstorm – writing down as many of the positive changes you hope to see by cleaning up your diet. Shoot for at least ten items but write as much as you can – get creative! Now remember the post ‘Who Do You Want to Be?’ Draw back on this and align your goals with that person! 

Biggest 'Wins'

Once you've created a list of 10 or so positive changes you’d like to see, identify 3 or 4 of them that would make the biggest impact on your life. What 3 things off your list would have the most massive uplift on your life, and improve your personal well-being?  Since we've already figured out the ‘How’ part of the equation (through diet), and we've identified the ‘What’, now we must define the ‘Why’. Now, you may have already defined some of the why in this stage. Think of the purpose of that goal and just elaborate. 

Goals into Goal Statements

From there you want to refine those goals into goal statements. Here is an example of my goals then moved into goal statements:

My Personal Goals: look good, feel good, perform well, optimize my brain health, have clear focus, influence my genetics, change the world for the better, positively impact the lives of others through diet, be happy, stay motivated and positive, create a community of healthy individuals.

My Goal Statements:

1.       I want to eat optimally so that I can look good, feel great, and perform well. By doing so, I am able to influence others to make better choices about their food, because I live my life to this standard and establish credibility by being the ultimate resource.

2.       I am aware of what I put into my body because I want to influence my genetics as best as I can. If I do not do this, I am unable to pass on the best possible genes to my children and would be doing them a disservice.

3.       I understand that by making ideal food choices, I am fostering an environment to create the best ‘me’ possible. I believe that the body is a temple for the mind and spirit and that they are all connected. By taking care of my physical health I am optimizing my mind and able to establish deeper connection between the three.

4.       By developing the discipline to eat the best food possible, I see that this discipline carries over into all other areas in life. By combining that discipline with the way that optimal eating makes me feel, this creates an exponential effect on who I am on a day to day basis and I believe I will be able to change the way people eat to feel the same.

As you can see, these are pretty deep goals. This is done in way that establish deep cognitive connection to what it is you hope to achieve. By having a clearly defined vision, you can start by altering your habits which paves the road to your ultimate success, that final destination. Make up your mind to achieve these things and you’ll start to realize that the subconscious mind will work its magic and allow them to happen. Change your thought process from “I can’t eat that” to “I DON’T eat that”, because it simply does not align with your core goals. 

Next Steps...
Now that you've created meaningful goal statements, the rest is easy. You've made up your mind to achieve, now allow yourself to execute. In our next blog on 'Nutrition', we will cover basic nutrition and diet principles that are easy to follow and understand so that you can begin making more educated decisions on what you eat. Until then, commit yourself to creating as powerful a connection to your goal statements as possible and you will find yourself already making better intuitive choices when it comes to your food selections.

Lifestyle vs. 'Diet'
You might find that it is easier to pass by bakery section without a second thought and load up on fresh fruits and vegetables. Your willpower will strengthen. The task of 'healthy eating' will no longer seem like a chore. This is a total shift in mindset, and is a crucial part of the process before we begin to dive into the science quality food. It is important to realize that this is not a temporary 'diet' to look good for the beach - this is a lifestyle. You live this way because you feel better, look better, think better, and remain happier by creating an easily sustainable lifestyle. It is easy once your mind shifts gears. 

Thank you all for reading and I am looking forward to the next post which will start putting the pieces together! 

Daily Good Moodivation #5 - Leadership

Leadership is not a right, it's a privilege
One thing I am passionate about is leadership. I believe that everyone in our world serves as a leader to someone else in some way, shape, or form. Somewhere, another person is looking up to a characteristic that they see in you. How can you give that person the very best example to look up to?

External vs. Internal 
Stephen Covey wrote "I am not a product of my culture, my conditioning, and the conditions of my life; rather, I am a product of my value system, attitudes, and behavior - and those things I control." What does this mean to you?

'You' is separate from your environment
To me, this quote explains that we are solely responsible for who we are and how we behave. The environment is merely the surroundings by which we are present in. It does not dictate what we do, our characteristics, or our actions. Too often, we are caught up in circumstances, places, and events.

Be aware
Whenever you feel yourself drifting from your true self - try to become aware. Am I acting this way because of some outside, external influence on my being? Or are these a behaviors a reflection of what I believe and value? Am I being guided by my inner principles?

Be proactive
It is easy to be reactive as opposed to proactive. In a reaction state, we see, feel, or are impacted by some outside stress or stimulus and immediately respond without allowing our true values to dictate our actions. This is when we find ourselves in misalignment with our true self, causing cognitive stress.  Whether we actively know it or not, our subconscious is aware and all of a sudden we feel uncomfortable or uneasy.

Leader of oneself
Remember - we are leaders to ourselves as much as we are leaders to other people. Are you leading yourself with a true vision of who you want to be? Are you reflecting often on your actions as a leader to yourself?

Do you believe in yourself?
Perhaps it is wise to view yourself objectively at times. If you were leading yourself, would you believe and trust in the other you? Or are you catching yourself making up stories, excuses, white lies, procrastinating, putting things off, or forgoing long term success with short term pleasure?

Be honest with yourself
Putting these thoughts down on paper helps to vet things out at times. It has crucial to my own personal success to reflect critically. Just put pen to paper and let the thoughts flow. How am I doing? Am I in alignment with myself? Have I led myself to good? Do I have a positive outlook on tomorrow/ the future? You might even catch yourself creating false promises and statements when writing and this is when you know you need to dig a little deeper to understand why it is your are being dishonest with yourself. But when you write it down and start to realize where the gaps are is when you can really start making corrections and establishing a higher rate of progress.

You might even find that by catching yourself in these white lies is the best way to truly understand yourself, and re-align with your value systems and inner principles.

Who do you serve a leadership role to? Are you doing all that you can to develop both the leader within you and the leaders around you?

Keep the mood good, dudes.

Daily Good Moodivation #4 - What Will You Accomplish?

What do you hope to accomplish?
This day? This week? This month? This year?

Do you have an ultimate vision of what it is you would like to do? Is that vision clear? Think about it.... What would the perfect life look like to you? What does a day look like from waking to going to bed?

Have a clearly defined image of what you hope to achieve in the long run, and it becomes much more realistic by backing into it. Too often we make big, lofty goals but do not understand the next steps necessary to move towards those goals.

The Impact of Reading....
I suggest if you have not already, read Napoleon Hill's "Think and Grow Rich". Looks like you can get a Kindle edition for 0.99 cents. Check Amazon here. This book has really cemented some of my most productive and motivating habits. Although I do not consider myself ultra-successful, I do feel that I have come very far over the past couple years, and I cannot speak highly enough about this book for helping me along the way.

My Story
Shameless self-plug: I graduated magna cum laude from Arizona State University in May 2012, with a degree in Business Administration. School was easy. I believe the only poor grade I got was a D in Macroeconomics my freshmen year because it was a 7:30 AM class that I only showed up for on exam day, thinking I could wing it. I remember I did this on the first exam and checked the (wrong) grade in the online grade book, seeing an A for Exam 1. I continued to check the (wrong) grades throughout the semester, thoroughly fascinated that I could barely study and get such remarkable grades. Lesson learned - when an online grade book posts grades next to your STUDENT ID - make sure you actually KNOW your student ID.

I think due to the fact that graduating was nearly effortless for me, I lacked any real motivation beyond my own physical fitness. I had no job lined up, and honestly had not even really tried searching. Through school, I was living off of the excess of a scholarship fund each semester, (which would always rapidly dry up within the first couple weeks) a small allowance from my father, and side cash I made through working super part time as a 'Party Entertainer'. The extra money from the scholarship was mostly supposed to go to books but I thought that spending over $100 bucks on a book for each class was a waste and always found a way to do the homework and study for the exams without one. I only purchased a handful of books during school and almost never the big textbooks.

The Party Entertainer job was just a ridiculous way to get make some extra money and no, it was NOT what some of you may think. I always laugh thinking back on it. That is a story for another time, but basically that job involved dressing like a super hero and painting faces at kid parties.

Anyways, I really had no concerns but partying and lifting weights through college. Even with a rapidly approaching graduation date and a father who kept questioning me about what I was going to do, I kept deflecting his questions with half-assed answers.

I really, truly, had NO idea what I wanted to do.

The sad part was - I didn't care. I was so apathetic at this point, and looking back it kind of blows my mind at the lack of drive toward success I had at that age.

All of a sudden - boom, May 2012, I am graduating. I have my degree, and somehow graduated honors... We throw a big party at the Bullmoose Palace (the house I've lived in since the first day of ASU back in August 2008). I take a tequila shot with my dad at the beginning of the party, and I think I remember him saying specifically "when are you going to start paying the bills?" I just laugh it off. End up getting so wasted at this particular party I peed on the edge of bed while kneeling in the middle of it. I am sitting here laughing recalling this moment. Now I'm not telling you this because I am proud of this moment, but I am hoping to share some insight as to what is going on at this point in my life.

Fast forward a couple weeks. My father is getting pretty serious about the 'job' thing and I am wondering what the hell I am going to do. I had already quit my other part-time job as a party entertainer, but I don't think my parents knew at this point. Now I was living off of graduation money and savings primarily. I hear from my (at the time) girlfriend's father that State Farm was hiring, and they were having a career fair somewhere nearby.

I was honestly scared to go.

I hadn't really even typed up a resume yet, but with the help of a mentor of mine, I was able to get motivated and confident enough to show up to this thing wearing a suit that my dad bought for me from an auction. Yes, I am wearing someone else's use suit that was probably hand stitched in 1950.

It is the middle of summer in Arizona, quite a few degrees over 100, and the AC in my car totally sucks. I walk into the hotel where this event is being held, sweating uncontrollably, totally clueless as to what I am going to expect. I had prepared somewhat, but being able to pretty much wing everything in college, I never really learned how to truly prepare for something as serious as a potential job.

The first person I interact with has a State Farm polo on and asks me some questions, gets me signed in, and we make small chat. I am instructed to go into a backroom where I speak with a recruiter. We sit down and he asks me a few more questions, we talk back and forth for a bit. I feel like I am being interviewed. I hope I am saying the right things. Crap - can he see that I am still sweating? What does he think about this hand-me-down suit that smells like a giant mothball? I remember him asking if I had any questions for him... This must signify the end of the 'interview'. I can't remember what I asked specifically, but I do know I showed a genuine interest and passion for the job so I had some sincere questions for him.

Whatever I said during the short pseudo-interview process, must have worked. I was sent into a back room where I was told I would actually be formally interview by another recruiter. We go through more in depth questioning and at this point I am so nervous and stumbling over words I have no idea how I even formed answers to the questions I was being asked.

At the end of the ACTUAL interview, I am extended a contingent job-offer for a Sales Rep position for State Farm insurance. The job is to start August 20th, 2012.

I am ecstatic. Somehow I landed a job!!! I didn't even care that it was part-time, paying an hourly wage of 12.90/ hr, or that I would be answering the phone in a call center to sell insurance - something I knew NOTHING about. I did not care at all that it had nothing to do with my degree, really. I was so proud of the fact that I had been offered a job on the first interview I had out of college.

Fast forward to almost EXACTLY two years after that job interview. I am sitting here writing about it, comfortable with how far I've come.

So, I started selling insurance for State Farm. In Napoleon Hill's book, he makes it clear that you must have a definite, major purpose. To have a clear vision of where you want to be. Well, for me, my purpose on this job was to be the top sales rep in my department so that I could establish credibility and be recognized by others, and help my peers become better. I went on to be the best in my operation, and I had a clear vision of what this entailed.

I went in to work everyday taking that job very seriously. I answered that phone every time a call came in like it was the only call I would ever take for State Farm again and I wanted the person on the other line to hang up extremely satisfied with the service they were provided. I went out of my way to make sure those around me were able to perform well in their role also, and I wanted to motivate the entire team through my actions.

Within 9 months of starting at State Farm, I was called at home by my supervisor on my day off and he told me I was to get my ass in the office before the end of the day, because they had opened a posting for supervisor position and I was permitted to post for that job. Fortune had it that I was not busy, and was able to go in and put together a hasty request for consideration, and submit my posting for the promotion. I was optimistic, but also realistic about the situation. Leadership is a right, not a privilege, and although I had on my 1-year plan a specific goal to be a top performer AND achieve a job promotion, I understood that moving into the supervisor position was a massive jump, especially after less than one year with the organization.

I post, and wait an excruciating two weeks to wait for a possible interview. I start forgetting about the whole thing but am still pumped I was actually permitted to post out, bypassing the 12-month incumbency rule for my current job. Obviously, I was being recognized somewhere higher up as having potential, so that motivated me to continue doing the job I was trained to do.

My boss informs me that I got the interview. Holy crap - another interview! I remember my last one.... This time it will be totally different.

I prepared my ASS off for this interview.

I have never taken anything as seriously as I did preparing for this interview, in my entire life.

I wrote and re-wrote responses, and refined and edited greetings and closings, and practiced and mock interviewed with several different people. I was so damn ready for this thing and my boss did such an awesome job helping the entire way.

Interview day - I wake up early, get ready, avoid coffee prior. I go into the interview and there is a panel of 3 people, which were all different from who I expected it to be. One of the people is the Director of the entire Phoenix department for sales. Doesn't matter. I am ready. They ask questions, I answer them. Interview done. I feel good about it.

Every day for the next two weeks while I am waiting for them to finalize all the interviews and make selections, I am telling myself literally out loud "I got the job". I remember going for a 20 or 30 minute jog in the summer heat and zoning out completely because I would repeat "I got the job" every other step on the pavement.

Yes - the law of attraction is real. I am extended an offer for the job and receive the promotion to supervisor level, at the time a nearly unheard of advancement in an organization for someone who has been only a rep for less than a year. This is the second time in a year that I am astounded at the capabilities of the human mind when putting it to the test.

Do I consider myself lucky? Hell yes, I am the luckiest man in the world! If you refer to the above quote, that is something I live by. I believe that through intention, we are able to live our lives in accordance with who we truly are, and we are prepared for each opportunity as it presents itself.

The first thing I did was call my dad and tell him about it. The reason for this call was two-fold: 1) He is my number one role model and I was very proud of myself, and wanted him to know ASAP and 2) I forced him to agree on buying me a new suit when I got my first job promotion. By the way, the mothball suit's crotch ripped completely in half when I left the first job interview with State Farm and I haven't worn that thing since. So you better believe I cashed in on that offer, and picked up a brand new Hugo Boss.

The reason I tell you this story is so that hopefully you can draw out of these events and experiences some valuable insight and knowledge as to what it takes to achieve. I know that by reflecting on this timeline I am able to draw out some extremely valuable motivation and remind myself of how I was able to cross off one of the biggest goals I had set for the year. While some of the details are lost, the main events are still there.

Set a Vision
Set a vision. Identify clearly where you want to be a year from now. What would make the biggest difference in your life? Once you know specifically what it is your hope to achieve, remind yourself of that daily, or as often as you can. Your subconscious mind works in mysterious ways and when your mind is set to accomplish a task or goal, things unravel themselves and the path unfolds before you even though it may be unclear at first. Be confident about your goal and commit yourself to achieve.

Stay motivated folks. What will you accomplish this week?

Daily Good Moodivation #3 - Gratitude

What is GRATITUDE?

Gratitude is the free mental resource we can use to unlock our true potential. It is my belief that without gratitude, we can never be truly happy. Remind yourself constantly through the day of the things you are appreciative of. Everyone has one thing that they can be truly thankful for. Once you practice the habit of routinely and intentionally being grateful, you start to realize many other positive things around you. The world transforms into a different place. You begin to view your surroundings through a different lens. You become grateful for the sights and smells of the world of which you had never before been able to see or smell! All of this is entirely free to you!

How will I practice gratitude?

Make it a habit to write down 3 things you are grateful for on a daily basis. Think of them when you are brushing your teeth. Bring them to mind when you are driving home from work. Pause and reflect in the middle of the day to review your list of thanks. If someone in your life routinely has a positive impact on who you are and what you do, go out of your way to express sincere gratitude to them. Even if it is a small thing, still give thanks to those around you who have helped you in some way.

You can never express enough gratitude

You can never overuse manners. That reminds me of one thing I deeply grateful for, and that is my mother. I do not understand how she did it, but that incredible woman implanted some seriously gracious genes in my body. Well, I guess I do understand how she did it but – but I’d rather not think about that. Ha ha! Anyways, back to the point. ‘Please’ and ‘thank you’ should be utilized in everyday language. Basically, don’t be a jerk. Aaannndd I got off on a tangent there…. So that brings me back to…

The Law of Attraction and Gratitude

Utilize gratitude to create powerful energy field around you that radiates positive vibrations.  Once you master the practice of daily gratitude and being thankful for what you have, and most importantly, seeing the light in every dark situation, life unfolds itself before you. Your true potential is unleashed and the things which you desire attract  themselves to you. You become a magnetic being. The quickest way to getting everything that you want is by being grateful for everything you already have! 

What are you grateful for? Have a great day, good mood dudes J

Daily Good Moodivation #2 - Don't Waste Your Time!

Don't waste it! View every day as a blessing. Our lives are filled with opportunities and adventures to experience wonderful things, people, places, events, feelings, emotions, and thoughts. You can literally change yourself and change the world you live in through controlling your mind and thoughts.

Use your time wisely. Surround yourself with the people that you enjoy spending time with. As you grow older you begin to value this time much more deeply and have an appreciation for those you spend it with. Remember that you are an average of the five people you are around most often. Look around you - are those you've been associating with, people who bring you up and compliment your person? Or are you unhappy with your current state? If you are unsatisfied, you may be spending your time with the people who no longer align with your own personal and internal values.

It may be necessary to evaluate your surroundings on a somewhat regular basis. Draw back on Good Moodivation #1 - 'who do you want to be?' It is much easier to take steps consistently in the right direction and develop momentum along your ultimate path by being surrounded by like minded individuals.

Keep in mind that your body is the vessel by which you transport your soul. The body, mind, and spirit are all interconnected. Avoid viewing these things as separate entities. Once you can effectively feel the connection of all three and align yourself spiritually, mentally, and physically, you will catapult your worldly progress to new heights.

Again, view your body as the temple by which the mind and spirit are housed. How will you build your temple to be the most magnificent and effective carrier of your most valuable possessions? Through the correct use of nutrition. If you have heard the phrase "you are what you eat" - assume the literal translation. Your entire body is made up of cells which regenerate themselves loosely based on the material you consume. Nutrients are simply messages for each individual cell. What kind of message do you want to send to the building blocks of your 'self'?

Now I repeat - do not waste your time! Focus on surrounding yourself with positive people who lend complementary energy to you and who you do your best to give energy back. Create strong interpersonal bonds and synergistic relationships. Always see the positives in others and aim to bring out their strengths. Build the ultimate temple within yourself so that the external or physical sculpture is an accurate reflection of what is going on within. By sending the right messages to your cells in the form of high quality nutrients you are by definition building a high quality fortress, within which your mind and spirit can expand into for further growth and development.

What will you do today to spend your time more wisely? Start with a small win. Pack a healthy snack. Create a short daily goal list. Vow to spend less time on social media and instead read on something that interests you for 20 minutes. Meditate. Compliment a stranger. Reach out to an old friend. Scribble your thoughts down on a piece of paper and reflect. Or maybe decide that today is the day that you make big changes in your life. I hope it is. You have more potential than you could ever imagine, and that potential is bursting at the seams, ready to be released and make a massive splash onto this world with reverberating positive effects.

Have a great day folks.

Daily Good Moodivation - Who do you want to be?

Who do you want to be..... today? Tomorrow? This week? Next year? In 5 years???

Do you have a clear vision of the person who you aspire to be? You are your number one role model. Make up your mind to be a person who would inspire the you from yesterday.

I've been fortunate enough to have several mentors through my young life. I believe that a strong mentor relationship is critical to your own personal growth and development. I've had mentors in various aspects - from manhood, to spirituality, to career guidance, to fitness. I consider each of my close friends a mentor in their own way, and seek to find in them certain characteristics and attributes which I can learn and grow from. It is through each of these relationships in which I glean bits and pieces of the 'self' who I want to be like. Through all the positive qualities I've noticed in my friends and mentors, I am able to piece together a clearly defined image of a man who embodies these character traits.

So - I pose the question once more. Who do you want to be? Remember that you have ultimate control over your life. Once you change what is going on internally, you change what you view externally. I believe that a person can literally change the world, by changing their self.

If you do not have an ultimate personal goal of who you want to be, I suggest you try this. Take several moments to reflect. Do not just fleetingly think about it either. Draw back on any past experiences with people who you admire and look up to, or lessons learned from role models and friends. Try to tie these experiences to some sort of characteristic or principle. Realize that these people and events had an impact on who you are today, and then try to imagine a role reversal. Recognize the potential within you, to be able to cast your own net of influence over the people whom you interact. Do you realize that you have the same exact ability as anyone who has ever changed your life in a positive way, to reflect that unto others? YOU have the ability to change the lives of others on a daily basis. All you have to do is to make up your mind to do so! And it all starts with a clearly defined image of the person who you aspire to be.

Wake up every morning and remind yourself how thankful you are for being you. Look forward to the opportunities and challenges before you on this beautiful day. Understand your potential and realize that by being intentional, you can positive impact the lives of those around you. Create a powerful internal image of a person who you would love to be around, who lifts everyone up, who motivates and inspire. Identify and connect yourself with this image and let the unconscious mind work to move yourself towards this ultimate destination.

Always remember that there is a massive, unlocked potential and greatness within you. You must allow your mind to be open to this potential. Have a great day, and feed my mind, body, and spirit with the nourishment it needs to sustain ultimate performance.

Welcome!

I am the Good Mood Food Dude.... Welcome to my page! Thank you for joining me on this wonderful journey to improve our mind, body, and spirit through the use of food and discussion around it's purpose. Some of you may be wondering - what is this blog going to do for me? Why should I continue reading? Hopefully by explaining my vision with this blog, I shall attract most of you to continue reading.

The Good Mood Food Dude - Mission Statement

We are a community of health conscious individuals who are passionate about helping the world reclaim its health. By committing ourselves to improving our own habits, we reflect outwardly our positive and radiant well being. This enables us to empower others for restoring their own vitality, and share our vision. We strive for optimal health as a core value and seek to instill this belief this in all beings.

What?
The goal of the 'Good Mood Food Dude' and my writings in this blog is to provide free nutrition and diet knowledge, interpret scientific and complex principles and put them into easy to understand, easy to follow, and fun to read terms. Along with this, you will see my daily motivational entries because I believe that a good mood and great food makes an awesome dude. I will include my own personal experiences so that real life application is relative. Through these entries, we will create a community of like minded individuals who are interested in taking control of their health and learning about, literally, what makes them 'tick' - food.

Why?
There is an extensive amount of information out there on dietary practices and nutrition, but ultimately it is up to the person to determine what works best for them. My hope is that through explaining the science behind the information, by grasping the 'why' behind the 'what', I can empower readers in our community to take the very important reigns of their health. By starting with food, the origin of health in the body, people can substantially improve their quality of life.

How?
Through my own daily education and research, I plan on summarizing topics ranging from basic nutrition and dietary principles to complex scientific literature and cutting edge studies - breaking them down into quick daily reads that can be applied to your own personal health journey. I will also document my own individual health journey, explaining what has worked for me and what I've discarded either as entirely false, or less effective than other methods. This should provide context around the scientific details found in this blog.

Disclaimer - My beliefs and core values
To my audience - please understand that I am not a doctor. I am just a dude who is passionate about health who fully believes that living an optimal lifestyle all begins with the fuel that we put into our bodies - food. All of my writings will be based on my interpretations and experiences with the current information available, with my own personal twist. I believe that through this blog and through all of you, that we can effectively change the world by spreading the correct knowledge of dietary principles, and most importantly empowering people to reclaim their health.

So - if I have not lost you yet, please continue to read on! I also will always seek comments and suggestions on how to make this blog a better place as well as topics you may be interested to read about, so I encourage any and all feedback!