Dare to Self Improve

For the last several months, I have been eating the same thing for breakfast everyday, and it’s amazing! It is Nature’s Path, Flax Plus Pumpkin Raisin Crunch. Why is this cereal so amazing? Allow me to elaborate.

1. It’s really healthy. Flax plus contains tons of omega fatty acids which are great for you, as well as whole grains, bran, and a relatively high fiber content for cereal.

2. It tastes great! I love this stuff and many times find myself snacking on it during the day (yes this is the same cereal I mentioned in my “will power” post.)

3. They sell it at Costco! Now you can get a huge box for a very reasonable price!

So now there’s no reason for you not to go out and try it. It’s cheap, healthy, and tastes good, so what are you waiting for?

So right now I’m sitting at my computer working, and I’m sore as hell! Yesterday, I had a great weight training workout where I really pushed myself. In the evening, I went for a six mile run followed by some track sprints. My calves are on fire and my back is aching..

I’m glad I’m sore.

Why? Because I know that my body is rebuilding itself even stronger! In fact, I’d be DISSAPPOINTED if I wasn’t sore because I would know I didn’t push myself hard enough or reach my potential. Is running sprints and lifting heavy weight pleasurable? Of course not, but I embrace the pain and soreness because I know that with them come fitness benefits. As a result, I know LIKE the feeling of my muscles being sore!

I encourage YOU to train yourself to push throught the pain barrier and embrace it! It takes a lot of mental strength and commitment, but you can do it! Let me know your progress.

One of the things that separates “ordinary” people from “extraordinary” people is the ability to take, like, and even LOVE the pain the preludes the fruit of your labor.

Why do some people HATE going to the gym? Because going to the gym causes physical pain! It’s not physically pleasing to have your lungs on fire and muscles pleading for mercy. BUT, there are a number of people who LOVE going to the gym! Why? Because they’ve learned to love the pain, largely based on the innevitable result of fitness.

Learning to embrace the short term discomfort of certain activities in order to reap the long term benefits is extremely important to succeeding. I’ll provide some personal examples tomorrow.

So this weekend was Comic Con here in San Diego. I’m not much of a fan of any of the stuff that goes on there, but it was quite interesting to see the spectacle of everyone dressed up in various ridiculous, and quite realistic, outfits. The costumes are waaaaay cooler and better quality than ones you’d see on Halloween! Comic Conner’s don’t mess around!

Me and my friends spent ample time cracking jokes at the fanatics expense (out of their earshot of course), but I got to thinking. These fans are REALLY passionate about the “art form” of comic books and story telling. The more I thought about it, the more I APPRECIATED their passion and disregard for social convention by dressing up in crazy outfits. They were determined to enjoy themselves to the fullest extent, to hell with the snickerers.

Awesome!

I can’t wait to see them out in full force next year. Of course I’ll still make fun, but it will be while appreciating their efforts!

When you can conciously view your unconcious emotions, you allow yourself to logically evaluate you feel a certain way, and more importantly, why you shouldn’t feel a certain way.

I take pride in the fact that I’m VERY balanced emotionally and am always in a good mood. I also never stress out. Yesterday evening though, I started thinking about the accumulation of things I had to do. Send in an overdue bill payment I forgot about, renew my liscense, get an oil change, transfer money, fix my apparently broken break light, get my bumper paint touched up, wash my car, etc. For a couple minutes I was feeling a touch overwhelmed. I stepped back though, objectively looked at my situation and my feelings.

There was no reason to be stressed NOW. These are NOT problems, merely simple tasks that would get done in the course of due time. I relaxed, and breathed. I made a list to purge my mind, and within a few minutes, felt back to my jolly old self!

So I’m currently reading a book right now called, “The Power of Now.” I’m only about 1/4 through and so far it’s OK. I could see it being incredible for a lot of people, but so far, it actually has put into words some of the things I mentally do to always be happy and keep myself in a tranquil state.

One of the biggest things Tolle (the author) advocates, is stepping away from your emotions, from your mind, and observing your own feelings and thoughts as merely a bystander, and objectively evaluate yourself. Pretend as if someone came to you with whatever negative feelings they had, and described them for you. What would you tell them? To start stressing out and jump off a bridge? Of course not! Start consciously stepping out of your emotional mind, and observe the way you think.

More on this tomorrow.

Continuing from yesterday, one of the interesting points the book makes is that most very wealthy people, are unsuspectingly wealthy, meaning they don’t drive around in flashy, high end cars and throw their money around on exeedingly lavish things. In fact, people who generally do this type of spending are in fact, not all that wealthy.

I make enough money now, where I could appear pretty darn well off if I chose. I could drive a benze, live in a posh loft downtown, and order bottle service at the hottest club. BUT, I wouldn’t be saving a dime. Furthermore, all of my cash flow would be going towards financial liabilities rather than assets.

Two of the richest people in the world embody that of a frugal millionaire (or in this case, billionaire). Bill Gates and Warren Buffet. Buffet lives in a very modest suburban home in nebraska, and have you ever looked at Gates’ wardrobe? Spending wisely is a huge key in accumulating wealth.

It’s time for another reading recommendation! I read this book about a year and a half ago, when I first started making substantial money. I figured, “now that I have some extra money, let me figure out something smart to do with it!” This was one of a number of personal finance books I read.

The reason that this book stands out, is that it chronicles different, real life instances of people becoming millionaires. Some of the case studies are people who budgeted and saved, some are young people with entrapreneurial minds, and others are somewhere in between.

One of the big messages in the book that I found very important, is that most people who are millionaires, don’t look like millionaires! What does this all mean? More on this line tomorrow.

Yes, this is a self-improvement blog in which brilliant old me offers lots of great advice on how to live life awesome…but even the best of us have our shortcomings, and we are not afraid to ask for help.

So I ask you. How the hell can I alleviate my tendancy to be sea sick as soon as I step on a boat! It always happens, I went Sailing last week, and in preparation, to 3 dramamine pills (the recommended dosage is 2). Well, I wasn’t very nautious, but my head was spinning the entire time and, instead of enjoying the peaceful adventure of saling, I was curled up in the fetal position in the corner of the boat with my head down.

Any advice would be appreciated. I promise, more advice on living life awesome tomorrow!

Keeping with the theme of excessive snacking, I already mentioned that I try to eliminate ativities that are conducive to it since I have little will power on the snacking front. The other strategy I use, is to be a GREAT shopper. When I’m shopping, I have INCREDIBLE will power and carefully select every item I pick out. Nothing unhealthy enters my basket!

Sure it’s tempting to pick up the ocassional bag of chips, crips, crackers, or pretzels, but I never do. This way, when I get the urge at home, I have nothing to snack on but healthy things!

For example. Recently, I’ve found my self snacking on cereal at night. Sure it’s a healthy cereal, but it’s still not great to snack on carbs at night. As a result, I’ve switched my breakfast meal from cereal, to an equally healthy (if not more so) Fruit Protein Smoothy! I’ve eliminated the cereal snacks as a result and have cleaned up my late eating!