Tag: passion

LOVE LIFE AGAIN… ACCORDING TO ANTHONY

In preparation for my upcoming fourth book, I have been asking many people what they would recommend to others who have fallen out of love with their life. It happens. We are children full of excitement for the simplest of things, approaching each day full of passion. Next thing we know, we are on the ‘wake up, pay bills and repeat’ cycle. Daily life can feel like a job that we just have to make it through. That is no way to live! How do we fall back in love with life? It is doing many of the things we have forgotten or let slip through our fingers while we focused on our careers and making sure everyone else was taken care of.

For today’s post I want to reference an answer I received from congenial young man who works where I am writing this very post. His name is Anthony. I posed the question of what he would recommend if someone were to seek his counsel as to how they might get the passion for their life back. After a few days of contemplation, he came up with an answer that I think is nothing short of brilliant – travel! This is also a cure for a good many of our other ailments. Prejudice, racism, entitlement and disconnect can also be cured by getting out and discovering new cultures and new friends. Above is a picture of my lovely lady and I in Jamaica. We are with our friend that we made there, Stephanie. She was one of our tour guides and explained a lot of what the island was experiencing at the time. It is my hope to reconnect with her and see what has changed since they experienced that terrible hurricane.  

Perhaps an escape to the islands is not in your budget right now? That is ok. There are ways that you can travel the globe without leaving your hometown. One of the best ways I have found is to explore authentic culinary experiences. Above are some examples of dishes Margie and I tried at an East Indian restaurant a little drive from where we live. It was about a half an hour drive, but it was so worth it. Not only was the food authentic, our server was a student here from India. He explained his hometown, made some recommendations and even told us about his schooling.

Of course it is not as good as actually traveling to a country, but it helps you get the flavor of things. The same can be said for ethnic fairs, markets, shops and any other thing you can think of. Finding a culture and exploring it more deeply can certainly bring the passion back into your life. We will expand on what else I have learned by doing this in just a second. Before that, I would like to share one more example of traveling without leaving your hometown. Part of my nationality is Armenian. I grew up not knowing much about the country, its people or their customs. Margie and I started going to an Armenian Festival a few years back. I was introduced to the pastor of the church who came from Armenia. We met for coffee and he explained many things to me I did not know. At the festival itself, there was Armenian music, food, ancient artifacts and other cultural items. Every year I learn more things and meet more people.

Here is what all of this traveling both abroad and in my own hometown has taught me. First, all people generally share the same challenges. There may be slight differences in how they are represented in their lives, but they are basically the same. Speaking of the same, most people around the world are loving wonderful people who have the same needs and desires. Everyone likes to feel significant, like they matter. It does not matter if you are in Jamaica or Greenland. There is also a longing for both connection and community. People like to feel connected and included. They like to feel they make a contribution to the world by being who they are. When you travel, you discover that everyone does. Knowing that we are all really one big family despite what certain politicians, news sources and others may try to convince you of, it helps you feel more connected and passionate about life. Thank you Anthony for this great answer! I urge all of you to travel today. Even if you have to do it in your own hometown.

WHY YOU MIGHT BE TIRED

Raise your hand if you find yourself feeling tired. If we were able to look at who has their hand raised, or at least who felt they should raise there hand, my guess is it would be most of you reading this. According to the National Sleep Foundation, roughly 75% of people say they feel tired multiple days a week. That percentage jumps among high achievers. Chances are if you are reading a blog about how to live an amazing life, you feel tired multiple days a week. This is because those who are looking to improve and develop themselves devote time to this activities often after a full day of work and family requirments.

Quite often, I am the poster child for tired. While it is true that I do not get enough sleep, that is often not the reason that I am tired. The same might be true with you. When I feel the most tired is when my days are filled with outside obligations. That is to say priorities I did not set for myself. It is proper self-care to make sure you put you first so that you can better serve others. (think of putting the oxygen mask on yourself first in the event the plane you are on experiences trouble) While we know this intellectually, we can still get caught up in work, family and social obligations we would have rather not signed up for. I am guilty of this as much as anyone.

Have you ever had the opposite day? One where sleep may be absent, but you find yourself flying through a project you are really excited to be working on? Maybe it is just an activity you really enjoy. You should be falling over from exhaustion, but you feel like you have a well of energy that just will not quit. There are days when Margie asks me, “How are you not falling over?” When I am writing, or making a video for my YouTube channel that I am really excited about, it seems the fire inside of me carries me through. Don’t misunderstand me. After the blog post or video is complete I could be found sleeping in a plate of pizza in the corner somewhere. Have you ever had a day like this?

We talked a few posts ago about how new experiences slow the pace of life down. So does spending time on things that set your spirit on fire. Whether that is creating your next novel, creating some online content or enjoying a spiritual time in a setting of outstanding natural beauty. When we feel tired in life, we might not need a nap, we might need to do something that feeds our soul. It is important to practice self-care for the body by getting sleep. The mind by practicing relaxation and meditation exercises. It is also important to feed our spirit. It is one third of our being. Can you imagine ignoring one third of your body? How long before that would lead to serious problems? How about only paying attention to your mind one-third of the time? How long before you would become mentally exhausted and have a breakdown?

The same is true of your spirit. If you are feeling sluggish, even after a good night’s sleep, you might want to make sure you are doing enough to set your soul on fire. It is just as important as taking care of your mind and body. What would set your soul on fire?

LET YOURSELF OUT OF PRISON 🔒

Here we are, Monday morning. Back to the grind as they say. What all of these cliches do not tell you is what this ‘rat race’ may be costing you. Many people have greatness deep within them waiting to come out. In fact, I would say all of us have that area in which we both love and do well at. The sad truth is that most of us are too tired at the end of the day to pursue this course of action. We give our best time and energy to keeping the lights on and a roof over our head. That is admirable for sure.

What this post is here to remind you of, is that we must give ourselves time for self-reflection. Many do not know what the area we were born to do is. We do not know what that intersection of self-fulfillment and service is. We might work on it on the weekend or the occasional day off. Some of us put discovering what this is until after we retire. By the time we figure out how to put in action and bring it out to the world, we are dead. That is a sad truth. Let me assure you that I understand being tired. Working 55 hours a week at a day job, DJing on my only day off can be exhausting. Still, my life mission of helping others become the best version of themselves and live their best life is so important to me, we are currently at 1040 days in a row of bringing you content. I am also working on bringing my fourth book to life.

That is why it is so vital that you begin to explore what really lights you up inside. Is it fishing? Is it painting? Is it talking to others? There are opportunities in all of this. Begin to explore those things in hobbies and side hustles. You might have to lose a little sleep, but you will gain energy with the excitement and passion you use. I promise you this is how you can make the biggest impact in the world, by doing what you love. What the world needs are more people doing what sets their soul on fire. Won’t you join us?

USE THE MOST POWERFUL WEAPON IN THE WORLD 🌎

Do you know those people who cannot seemed to be stopped? You know the ones. Every obstacle seems to push them even more forward. If they do experience a setback, they dust themselves off and get right back at it. They seem full of energy, even after a long day. Instead of feeling envy for these wonderful folks, let us learn from them. What is it that they possess that would change our lives and give us a life like we described above?

We touched briefly on the importance of a ‘why’ last post, but let us dive a little deeper on the subject. Your ‘why’ is more than just the reason you are doing something. It is your emotional connection to the desired outcome. One of the easiest ways to get to a powerful ‘why’ is to keep asking that very question. You want to get healthy, why? Perhaps to look better in your clothing. Why is that important? It will give you a greater self-confidence. Why is that important? It will make you more likely to put your self out there. Why is that so important? It will help you take advantage of opportunities in the dating world, the career world or any other world that excites you. Why is that important? It could lead you to job satisfaction, a healthy relationship or success in whatever field you are in. Why is that important? It will give you a life of peace, purpose and love.

As you can see, developing a strong ‘why’ can set your soul on fire and give you a drive and purpose that lacking a why will never give you. Keep asking yourself why something is important to you. Write down your answers to help you keep track. Before long you will have a soul that will set the world on fire and nothing will be able to stop you.

TIME TO RECLAIM YOUR LIFE!💪

Whether you are 18 or 80, the time has come to reclaim your life! What we are talking about here is taking control of the inner game. The time for surrendering to your emotions or the expectations of others is over. The time has come to give up having worry over things we cannot control. What the world needs is you living the life you were born too. That is a life where your soul is on fire and you are burning bright with the light that is your truth.

Just like the mythical phoenix, it is your turn to rise from ashes of your former life to soar higher and accomplish more! Our planet is in desperate need of people living their passion and purpose. No longer can we have a population of mindless zombies chasing the brass ring. The media has us believing that happiness can only be found in material objects. Big Pharma is telling us that it is a Prozac deficiency. Even politicians, and certain religions, have us hating those who are different than us. Family and friends may try to pressure us to take paths in life that do not align with our values and spirit.

Reclaiming your life may sound like a large and complicated affair, but it is not. My upcoming fourth book will tackle this subject in great detail. Right now I would like to share a few crucial steps that you can take to begin the process of reclaiming your life. First, write down a description of what you want in your life and the direction you would like it to go. Just having this ‘north star’ in which to navigate your life by, will put you ahead of the majority of people in the world today. It will allow you to see right away if the actions you are taking, or about to take, will bring you closer to the life you want, or take you further away. It will also serve as a great reminder of the reason to get out of bed every morning.

Next, come up with a routine that will have you taking daily steps to create the life you do not need a vacation from. This can sound like a near impossibility, but it is a lot closer than you think. Creating a routine, and taking small but measurable steps consistently will allow you to continually get closer to that life you only dreamed of. More importantly, it will allow you to enjoy the process. Doing so will assist you in maintaining the self-discipline to stay true to the process you have set in place. Knowing every day that dream life is getting closer will have feed the flames of passion and that fire in your heart.

Whether you take these two steps, or something entirely different, I implore you to take action to reclaim your life from a world that is trying to steal in from you. It is you who deserve to wake up every morning on fire with excitement for the day ahead. This fall my fourth book will give you a customizable plan to do just that. Until then, feel free to share any tools and strategies that you use, or will use to reclaim your life, and like the Phoenix, rise from ashes of mediocrity to live an amazing life.

HAPPY NEW YEAR. TIME TO IGNITE! 🔥

Happy New Year to all of our family at secret2anamazinglife.com! As we all begin our journey into 2024, let us ignite a fire that will burn in our soul. Let us fan the flames of hope, love and resilience! Let us fill and strengthen both our spirit, and those around us.

Share what you are going to do to help you burn bright this year and show the wonderful light that is you.

TIME TO THRIVE!

Currently, I am working on my fourth book. It will discuss the tools and strategies that I used to go from a life of surviving, to one of thriving. Many of us, for a wide variety of reasons, are just focusing on living paycheck to paycheck. We show up at a job that does not feed our soul, and often not even our wallet. So sad is this, that the highlight of many people’s day is to go to the bathroom, sit down and look at their phones. This is not how our lives are supposed to be!

What can we do? We have to work to pay the bills. In my next book we will look at several methods to change our perspective, our emotions, and in doing so, our life. Today, I am going to give you a very basic and powerful tool to start with as you wait for your favorite author to complete his next book. Using this one tool can change mornings from something you dread, to something you can’t wait for. If this sounds a little crazy, trust me when I tell you I can understand that. I wake up for work at 4am Monday – Saturday.

What is this one activity? Finding a project that feeds your passion and makes your soul start on fire. The thought of adding one more thing to your already busy plate may seem like the last thing you would want to do, but it will actually give you energy and not drain it from you. This could be taking up a sport like bike riding or pickle ball, which seems to be all the rage at the moment. It could be planting a garden. Maybe working on that book you always wanted to write?

Having something to look forward to doing, either before or after work, will give you reason to make it through the day. It can also serve as a great mental escape when you find yourself at a job that is slowly draining your soul. You know that your passion project will help fill it back up again. It is vital that we have something to give us that inner peace and joy that allows us to make it through all that life has to throw at us. I would love to hear what passion projects you work on to feed your soul in the comments below.

CREATE A SPARK THIS WEEKEND! ✨️

It is Saturday, the start of the weekend. For most of us, we are looking for relaxation and sleeping in. If we are feeling a little industrious, we may try to get caught up on all of the household chores we let slip during the week. These are all good options, but I caution you on leaving out one very important item.

A recent survey showed that 87% of people are unhappy at their job. It is easy to see why this happens. You start to get seniority, maybe save up some vacation and even invest in a retirement program. It is vital to remember that we were not born to wake up, pay bills and die. No! We were meant to bring to the world the happiest, most joyous version of ourselves.

How can we do that while going to a job that sucks the life out of us? By pursuing and engaging in a passion project. You may be thinking, “I have too much on my plate now! I just want to relax.” The truth is complicated. Have you ever slept only to wake up still exhausted and uninspired? We need to stoke the fire in our soul.

Adding a project you are passionate about may seem like something that will only drain you further, but the opposite is true. Working on something you enjoy, something you’re excited about, will give you more energy. It will give you hope and something to look forward to. Who knows, you may even end up making it your career! Whether that happens or not, just having that joy is life-changing.

ARE YOU TIRED OF IT?🤬

I am all about positive self-talk. I believe we need more of that. The world, and advertisers make a living telling us that we are not good enough. Sometimes, the only person cheering for you, might be you!

What we must remember, is to be honest with ourselves. We need to call ourselves out once in a while. This does not mean putting ourselves down. That is important to note. That being said, we need to stop making excuses for ourselves.

Getting frustrated and fed up with the person in the mirror can be one of the most productive things we can do. When I feel my writing is not going how I would like and I get frustrated, it usually pushes me to do something new and uncomfortable. This often results in some kind of forward progress.

This weekend, ask yourself if there is anything you are making excuses for in your own life? Is it not forgiving someone? Is it talking negatively to yourself? Is it not giving back as much as you should?

Eric Thomas, one of my favorite speakers, compares this to what you would do if a product from a store did not live up to what it said it would. Would you go back to the store with a receipt and demand a refund? It is time you demand the same from yourself. Hold yourself accountable and make some positive changes. To assist you in that, I’m going to share a link to the video that I just mentioned. It is a 7 minute video. Make sure you watch until the end. I promise you that you will get a great boost of motivation.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE ERIC THOMAS VIDEO 🫡

ARE YOU A LION OR A GAZELLE?

This is one of my favorite quotes. There are many levels in which to explore it. I have looked at a few on this website already. Such as the location of the motivation. In the Gazelle’s case, the motivation comes from the lion. If the lion were not present, the gazelle would probably be watching Netflix, eating grass and chilling. Lion appears and we are off running. In the lion’s case, the motivation comes from within, specifically, his stomach. He does not need the gazelle to be present. His running comes from an internal hunger. If the gazelle was not present, he may be running after a water buffalo or some other African neighbor of his.

Today we are going to look at this in a slightly different way and see how we can put it to use in our own life. Let us first turn our attention to the gazelle. What is its motivation? Fear. It is afraid the lion will kill it and eat it. If it does not run fast enough this fear will catch up to it and destroy it. In this case fear is the motivation to keeping this gazelle alive. Proof that fear can be a good motivator. Now let us look at the lion. Where does its motivation come from? Hunger, the desire of a goal. In this case that goal is the gazelle in front of it. It knows unless it runs fast enough, it will not achieve it’s goal and very well may go hungry. If it does not eventually catch a gazelle it will starve to death and be destroyed. Showing that passion and desire for a goal is a very good motivator. Which one of these is better in our lives?

Do we let our fears follow us around and keep us running? Do we keep our goals in front of us and keep running after them? The answer is a simple one – YES! When it comes to seeking an amazing life, we should use every tool at our disposal! We should take our ‘gazelle motivation’ and think of what may happen if we do not keep running. What will happen, for example, if we don’t keep on top of our health? We may develop a very serious condition. We may subject ourselves to a great deal of pain or discomfort. We may even pass away prematurely and lose valuable time with loved ones. I say find a symbol of that and keep it in front of us. It is like that lion lurking to catch us to busy grazing on a pizza and too out of shape to run away from it. (Come to think about it, this could work for my own fitness) It may even help to print out a vicious picture of a lion and keep it somewhere that would motivate you. Maybe by your gym bag. Think of what might happen if you don’t maintain your discipline. Would it result in pain? Lose of health? Lose of time with your loved ones? Maybe even lose of your life?

Next, let us look at our lion motivation. What does achieving our goals represent? Will failing to achieve our goals have serious repercussions for us? What might they be? How many times can we miss our gazelle and go hungry before we starve to death? Take our relationship for example. If we fail to show our spouse, or more to the point have them feel, that we love them? How many times can this happen before the relationship starves of love? We need to keep chasing our goals and feed them with a successful ‘feeding’. As in the case of a lion, this could be a process that never ends. We may need to keep chasing happiness in a relationship for the rest of the relationship. If we miss to many ‘meals’ that relationship will begin to starve. Print out a picture of your goals and keep them somewhere you will see them. I like next to the bed so we can see them first thing in the morning to motivate us and last thing at night to remind us what we are working towards. If you worry about people knowing your goals, although if they are in your bedroom they should know your goals, then you can even print out a picture of a gazelle. As long as you know the meaning and it has an emotional connection, it will work.

When it comes to our goals and to living an amazing life, just like the lion and gazelle, we must wake up running. It would help to use both our fear of failure (gazelle motivation) as well as our passion and desire (lion motivation) to motivate us to run. Whatever we can do to accomplish this goal, we should take advantage of. What do you do to stay motivated and focused on your goals? Do you use both fear of failure and passion towards achievement?