Author: Pete Jones

“Birds of a feather flock together.”

This is a great quote.  It means like-minded people are attracted to one another.  We all vibrate on a certain frequency, according to the thoughts we think, and how those thoughts make us feel.  People who are vibrating on a similar frequency are attracted to us and we are attracted to them.  People who vibrate on a different frequency are repelled from us, and us from them.

How can we vibrate at a HIGHER frequency?  Through visualization, thinking higher thoughts, and feeling progressively better, I believe we up-level our energy and vibrational frequency.  I have learned that when we sleep or when we meditate, we pause all thinking and feeling, slow momentum, and the reset button is pushed.

We are attracted to people who think alike, speak about similar things, and do similar activities, because we are social animals and we know that our lives will seem easier, and we will feel more comfortable and feel like we are better off, around others who will encourage us, further our cause, and continue to redefine us as we think we are.  We hang out with like-minded people because they will help us to remember who we think we are, and we think they will help and empower us to accomplish our goals and become more of who we want to be.

But what if we want to change?  What if we want MORE?  What if we want to expand into more of who we actually are?  What if we want to improve, grow, evolve, and progress?

Are the people around you lifting you up or holding you back?

Ever heard the term, “guilty by association?”  My parents once told me about a boy who was walking home from school one day when a car pulled up alongside him.  Three of the “cool” kids he sometimes saw at school offered him a ride.  He thought, “Awesome!  I didn’t know they even knew who I was.  If I’m with them maybe I’ll be considered cool, too!”  They pulled over into a gas station on the way to drop him off at home and told him to watch the car.  They all ran in for drinks and even brought one back for him.  He was ecstatic, until three cop cars appeared out of nowhere and arrested all four of them for robbing the gas station.  He ended up going to jail because he was with them.  Guilty by association.

The opposite is true, as well.  GREATNESS BY ASSOCIATION is also a thing.  When we choose to surround ourselves with people who will make us greater, stretch our thinking and decision-making to new heights, and teach us new ways of being through their examples, eventually it happens.  The right people can and will help us to become a better version of ourselves every single day.  Great people will help, encourage, and push us towards greatness, all along the way.  THESE are the people we want to be caught with.

I once asked a man what his secret to greatness was.  He replied, “Two things: the books a read, and the very small amount of people I surround myself with.  That’s it!”

Today’s challenge for myself:  Today I will focus on fostering, nurturing, or starting a relationship with someone I consider great, who I believe will help and encourage me to be the best version of myself I can possibly be.  I will stretch my mind and create opportunities for new experiences.  I will lean into the challenging and difficult, knowing this will empower me to expand into MORE of who I am.  I will remember that, MY BEST IS YET TO COME.

WE CANNOT RISE ABOVE OUR OWN SELF IMAGE.

I highly recommend reading or listening to the book, Psycho-Cybernetics, by Maxwell Maltz.

goodinthehead is also on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter.  Follow me there, as well, for daily messages, inspiration, motivation, and reminders.  Please pay it forward, and share this, and ANY message, which may empower someone you love or may care about.  It is through adding value to others by sharing and spreading wisdom, that we become more valuable as individuals, and collectively, as a whole, we all become wiser.

Remember:  Mindset matters.  Character counts.  That which we choose to consistently focus on is what EXPANDS in our lives.  WE CREATE our personal realities.

The desire for deep, meaningful, fulfilling connections throughout our lives has been hard-wired into our genetics for centuries as a survival mechanism.  Being a part of a community can be extremely beneficial, and we are so blessed to live in a time, now, where it is easier than ever before!  We all need and enjoy support from others, especially from those we care about or respect.  Even if it’s as simple as a thumbs up, a “Good job,” a show of appreciation for our work, or acknowledgment for the time and energy we are putting into a project.

It is a well known fact that leaders get more from people with  honest, sincere compliments and appreciation than from managers that use criticism, diminishment, intimidation, and manipulation or control tactics.

We were gifted with TWO ears, and ONE mouth.  It has been said that we ought to LISTEN, twice as much as we SPEAK, because of this.  These three magical questions are incredibly helpful to ask before opening our mouths:

1. Is it true?
2. Is it necessary?
3. Is it kind?

Reminder to self:  Let people know when they are doing well.  Give credit where credit is due.  Let them know when you see them doing a good thing for someone else and how you think it’s cool because it inspires you to do the same.  Show appreciation and gratitude when and where it is earned and deserved.

We are all a part of the same human family.  We are all going through things that take our focus away from the important things, and some of us benefit a great deal from reminders, motivation, and support.

Today I will show support for someone in some way. I will remember:

I AM SUPPORTIVE.  I AM SUPPORTED.

One of the most amazing and helpful interviews I’ve seen on kindness and leadership features Simon Sinek on my favorite show on YouTube, Impact Theory.

goodinthehead is also on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter.  Follow me there, as well, for daily messages, inspiration, motivation, and reminders.  Please pay it forward, and share this, and ANY message, which may empower someone you love or may care about.  It is through adding value to others by sharing and spreading wisdom, that we become more valuable as individuals, and collectively, as a whole, we all become wiser.

Remember:  Mindset matters.  Character counts.  That which we choose to consistently focus on is what EXPANDS in our lives.  WE CREATE our personal realities.

We all experience loss at some point in our lives.  It is okay grieve.  It is to be expected.  It is important to grieve. If you are one of the lucky ones who hasn’t lost a loved one yet, or experienced something devastating that knocks you off your feet, know that you will.  It hurts.  It sucks.  This great loss will leave you feeling lost, alone, abandoned, distraught, depressed, hopeless, devoid of purpose, and it may even drive you to the brink of insanity.  Loss will affect us all.  It is a price we pay for experiencing this human life.

It is incredibly useful and helpful to grieve effectively, and to learn to heal completely.  This was not a class I was offered growing up.  Most parents don’t know how to teach this important process.  Even though grief is a very personal and unique process, the load can be lightened through learning and practicing new skills and strategies.

After sifting through thousands of hours of content, I was able to come up with some of the most effectively helpful and empowering tools to heal throughout the grief process.  As we will ALL have to deal with grief at some point in our lives, please share anything helpful that you may find here.  I believe that it is better to be equipped with the proper tools BEFORE we need them.  Simply go to the goodinthehead website, click on the menu, and click on the word, HEALING, and select healing again.

Grieving effectively can grow our soul, and expand the human experience.  It takes time and patience.  It takes adjustments, skill acquisition, consistent practice, and a willingness to learn new things.  We are all at different stages of our life experience and we all have had different experiences, so the healing process will absolutely be different for us all, depending upon our beliefs, skills acquired so far, and our varying abilities.  One thing will not work for everyone, as we are all individuals and incredibly different from one another, but there are SO MANY things we can experiment with.

The most recognized stages of grieving are:

Loss and grief have the potential to heal us and makes us better by helping us realize and remember a few things:

• How fragile life really is.
• The importance of living each moment as if it could be our last.  It really could be.  Living life to the fullest, from moment to moment, focusing on the art and practice of enjoying and being fully present in the here and now, results in an even more miraculous existence.
• Our humanity and humanness.  We each are a soul, having a human experience.  We all have feelings.  We all have a heart.  We are all connected.  We are all ONE, even if we sometimes feel alone.  The darkness will only win when we believe its most destructive lie.  In the darkness we are alone and we wilt.  It the light, we are connected, see more clearly, and we blossom and thrive.
• How close we can be and how close we are to those we have lost when we simply think of them and remember them, and all of the incredible experiences we shared with them.
• None of us are alone.  We all experience loss as a part of this spiritual experience in this human journey.  In this way we are all connected.  We are all ONE.

Ways we can actually benefit from grieving a love one:

• Remember the good, positive, fun times you had.
• Be grateful your paths crossed and you had the opportunity to share time and experiences.
• Remember the benefits of the relationship.
• Take the opportunity to talk to others about your loss and theirs.  Help others grieve effectively.  Listening to others with kindness, understanding, empathy, acceptance, and love, can be the most beneficial tool in the grieving process.  Knowing and understanding we are not alone in our grief, and allowing others to realize they, too, are not alone in THEIR grief, is healing and connecting, in and of itself.

We all get to believe what we want to.  Our beliefs are a choice.  I have a growing belief that the loved ones I have lost are still out there somewhere, in some way.  I believe their life energy, life essence, soul, light, vibrational frequency, or whatever else you want to call it, still exists, and that it always will.  I like to imaging that when I think of them, their energy is attracted to me in some way, and in that moment, I am able to be with them and allow our energies to intermingle, realign, reconnect, and be experienced and enjoyed.

Today I will remember a loved one I have lost.  I will think of good times and reasons I am grateful for that loved one.  I will remember the value this person added in my life and be thankful for it.  I will look for opportunities to help others grieve effectively.  

One of my favorite pieces of content I have come across regarding this topic was given in a Ted talk, by Max Strom, called Breathe to Heal.  I share it often, with others who have also suffered from the loss of a loved one.

goodinthehead is on also on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter.  Follow me there, as well, for daily messages, inspiration, motivation, and reminders.  Please pay it forward, and share this, and ANY message, which may empower someone you love or may care about.  It is through adding value to others by sharing and spreading wisdom, that we become more valuable as individuals, and collectively, as a whole, we all become wiser.  

Remember:  Mindset matters.  Character counts.  That which we choose to consistently focus on is what EXPANDS in our lives.  WE CREATE our personal realities.

Blood makes you related, but loyalty makes you family.

In this life, we are eventually free to choose WHO to surround ourselves with.

Last night we had the opportunity to see some old friends we have known since grade school and Junior High and High School.  It was great to see everyone and spend some time with such fun people.  Sometimes this life, which is so full of distractions, leaves us with little time for the important things, like spending time with our people, and last night reminded me of the importance of it.

As we all sat around after dinner for a few hours and talked and laughed, I began to realize that there were some similarities to all the people at the table, connecting us all.  At this point in our lives we are all in our mid forties.  We have all been kicked around by some pretty horrendous life experiences, raised kids, worked our asses off, and learned a lot along the way, yet here we were laughing, joking, and talking, and sharing a great moment in time.  It is the presence of certain people in my life that reminds me and helps me re-focus on how quickly time flies, how fleeting time is, and how abruptly it can stop at any moment without notice or warning.  It is SO IMPORTANT to live in, and fully enjoy, each present moment.

The women in the group, especially, are all such incredible women.  They are all strong, outspoken, opinionated, and no longer care what others think of them.  They say what they mean and mean what they say, and will tell you to your face exactly what they think of you.

My kind of people.

It gives a certain sense of comfort to me to be around women like these.  My mother and sisters are the same way and I tend to gravitate to people with these attributes.   Of course, this wasn’t always the case!  For YEARS, I avoided these kind of people like the plague, knowing that I wouldn’t like what I saw reflecting back to me, as they held up the mirror of truth, and told me to look into it.  Honest people tell the truth, and sometimes we don’t like the truth.  This, to me, is valuable to have learned.  Authenticity is key to a great life.

All of us at the table last night spending those precious moments together have a similar set of beliefs, values, and principles, and that is why after all these years we still talk.  We are connected and bonded like family.  We can let years pass without talking, but every time we reconnect, even if only briefly, we pick up right where we left off.  We may not always agree with one another or like what is said or what is going on at times, but we know where we stand.  We know what is expected, and it offers comfort to belong to or be a part of such a group.

My opinions on expectations have evolved over the years.  I was taught that expectations are premeditated resentments.  Some people expect too much of themselves and others, and are CONSTANTLY disappointed.  These people become negative and bitter.  Other people expect too little, and complain and are dissatisfied with life and everything happening too them.  I believe that in order to play, enjoy, and win a game of life, it is a great idea to first know all of the rules.  In relationships, it is highly valuable to know what the other person, or a group of people, expect, and what they will and won’t tolerate.  Constant, honest, consistent feedback and communication, is the key to achieving balance in, and in the creation of, extremely valuable, meaningful, fulfilling relationships.  Always knowing exactly where we stand with ourselves and with others is incredibly helpful.  Without the correct and truthful information given in the form of feedback, the game is FRUSTRATING.

WE GET MORE OF WHAT WE TOLERATE, AND WE DESERVE MORE OF WHAT WE ALLOW.

I now love outspoken people.  They say what’s on their mind with no thought of repercussions or consequences, and though it may be uncomfortable, you never stand on shaky ground with them.  It’s one of the reasons I love my wife so much.  The nice thing about her is she knows I can be a bit sensitive and my feelings may get hurt every once in a while, and she is so sweet and caring and thoughtful.  She isn’t always gentle with my feelings, however.  I have learned to be comfortable with the uncomfortable, and the truth is now empowering, rather than hurtful.

The very first time she met my mother we were sitting on my mom’s couches in her little condo, which had just been refinished and was beautifully done.  Crystal tiles, gorgeous new windows, exquisite cabinetry, and perfect lighting adorning some nice pieces of art and family photos all pointed to the fact that my mother was in a nice home, educated, a little fancy, and well put together.  Some people would have been intimidated by the surroundings or meeting a strong woman like my mother for the first time, but not my wife.  Ten minutes into the conversation, and first time ever meeting my mother, she tells my mom: “I love being with your son.  He is the perfect man for me.  It’s like having a really good girlfriend with a penis.”

My mother, who raised me properly and very religiously, took in this bit of completely inappropriate information and they both burst out laughing at me.  They didn’t laugh with me.  They laughed at me.  Jerks.

My mom instantly fell in love with my wife, knowing that she is a woman who will say it like it is without a care in the world.  She is honest, up front, dependable, good, kind, inappropriate, and has a gift for recognizing and finding the humor in absolutely everything.

The people at the dinner last night are the same caliper of person, like they were all cut from the same cloth.  Ever heard of the saying, “Birds of a feather flock together”?  Like-minded people do, too, and I enjoy my people.

Even if we are tired, beaten down by life, keys getting locked in the car, waking up at 3:30 for work the next day, busy with cares of the world, and burdened by loss and sorrow, and dealing with all kinds of distractions, we make time to spend with one another.  That’s what we do.  Family isn’t always blood.

Today I will make time to eat and speak with a friend or family member.  If one isn’t available, I will find someone new to eat and spend time with. 

goodinthehead is also on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter.  Follow me there, as well, for daily messages, inspiration, motivation, and reminders.  Please pay it forward, and share this, and ANY message, which may empower someone you love or may care about.  It is through adding value to others by sharing and spreading wisdom, that we become more valuable as individuals, and collectively, as a whole, we all become wiser.

Remember:  Mindset matters.  Character counts.  That which we choose to consistently focus on is what EXPANDS in our lives.  WE CREATE our personal realities.

Years ago, when my three sons were little boys, my uncle brought his son and daughter down for a visit from Washington State.  I hadn’t spent much time around my niece and nephew, but the entire family was excited to see them.  Everyone who was able gathered at my dad’s house out by Saguaro Lake, Arizona for a little family reunion.

The Saguaro Lake house was such a fun place.  It is where I spent most of my younger years growing up and making memories.  It is one of five houses in a gated community dedicated to SRP (Salt River Project) employees.  The dam that holds Saguaro Lake is up the road about a quarter of a mile from the gated community.  There is a small resort and horse ranch along the short road between the gated community and the dam.  It is a beautiful area.  Flowing out of the dam and right by the horse ranch and the SRP homes is a river.  It is beautiful and green along the river, which flows in between the homes of the gated community and Bulldog Mountain.  The mountain literally climbs straight up from the edge of the river.  It is a beautiful, incredible place to have grown up.  I consider myself lucky to have been raised in such an environment.

I remember having friends over on a Friday night, after school.  We would hang out, play on the rope swing in the back yard, and sometimes by dad would build a fire, where we would roast marshmallows and tell ghost stories.  Afterwards, we would get our pillows and blankets and go out to the trampoline and talk for hours as we looked up at the stars.

Sometimes, we would wake up to noises under the trampoline.  It was usually a pack of Javelinas.  The smaller, baby pigs were so cute.  We were always told to stay on the trampoline so that the adult Javelinas wouldn’t get spooked and gore us with their tusks.  It was a little frightening, but fun, to be so close to them and see them feeding on the lush, green grass underneath the trampoline.

So, when my uncle pulled up with my niece and nephew, we were all excitedly waiting.  I hadn’t seen my niece since she was a little girl and I had never met my nephew.  Everyone hugged.  It seemed like it was a little awkward and uncomfortable for them.  We were family, but we didn’t know them very well, and they didn’t know us at all.  I remember eating and sitting around the fire pit as all of the kids ran around and chased each other.  My niece and nephew kind of kept to themselves most of the time, probably plotting methods of escaping this crazy family gathering.  We all decided to take the 10 minute walk down to the river and let the kids throw rocks and play.

It doesn’t sound like much, but the quick walk led through the beautiful desert and brush, opening up to a beautiful sight, displaying the steep Bulldog mountain just on the other side of about 30 feet of slowly moving, dark, cold water.

It was the middle of February.  Many of us were wearing sweatshirts.  It was chilly outside, and the water was really cold.  I watched my sons skip rocks across the river.  I threw a couple of rocks into the water and looked over to my cousins.  They seemed unhappy to be there.  I could see they were feeling uncomfortable.  It was either inspiration or stupidity, but I decided we should do something they would always remember.  I asked my nephew, Nick, “Are you feeling tough today?”  He looked at me, confused.  I explained that we should swim across the river and jump off of a big boulder we could see there on the other side.  At first, he thought I was joking.  Then, seeing I was serious, he walked up to the water and touched it with his hand.  His eyes widened as he felt the cold water.  It was damn cold.  I started to undress.  He told me, “If you’re doing it, so am I!”  I replied with, “Okay!  Let’s do it then.”  We stripped down to our boxers and started to wade in.  Everyone there thought we were crazy.  They were hollering and letting out wolf whistles and laughing.

When we were thigh-deep in the water, we looked at each other.  We were having problems breathing.  The water was so cold.  I wanted to back out and jump back into my dry, warm clothes, but I wanted to make sure he had a fun memory from his Arizona trip, so instead,  I jumped into the water and started to swim across.  At 15 years old, I have to give him credit.  As much as I’m sure he also wanted to back out of the deal he dove into the water right after me!  We could barely suck air into our lungs as we swam across the cold river.  I could feel my muscles seizing up, but I kept going.  So did he.  We crossed over as quickly as we could.

As we reached the other side of the river we climbed out of the water and onto a big rock.  Our bodies were shaking uncontrollably.  We looked over to the boulder we had decided to jump off before we swam across the river.  It was about 20 feet away.

I looked at Nick.  He looked worried.  I couldn’t feel my feet.  It was at this point I started to think maybe we had made a mistake.

“Do you still want to jump off of that boulder?  I mean, we already came this far, Nick.  You doing okay?”

“Dude-I seriously can’t feel my feet.  That water was colder than I thought it was going to be.”

I tried to act all tough and like everything was cool, but I was thinking the same thing.

By now, our bodies were shaking uncontrollably.  Nick said, “Let’s just swim back.  I don’t think I can walk across all of those rocks to get to that bolder.”  I agreed, but not so quickly that I would seem wimpy.

“Okay.  Let’s go!”  We jumped back into the water.

It felt like a thousand knives stabbing me all over my body at the same time.  I was nervous, but I knew I could make it.  Nick was starting to struggle.  “I don’t think I can make it!”  I swam a little closer to him, just in case he needed help.  I glanced across the river to where our family was now looking extremely concerned.  All of the kids were yelling words of encouragement to us.  “You can make it!  Keep going!”  My kids were looking worried, as well.  I watch my Uncle Joe, Nick’s dad, start to head down stream, already getting prepared to rescue our limp, lifeless, drowned bodies.

“I can’t!”  Nick went under.  I raced to where he went under the water and felt around.  I touched his back as he was starting to descend deeper into the dark, cold water.  I grabbed him and pulled him back up to the top of the water.  I pushed him in front of me and yelled at him, “You’ve got this!  Keep going!”  He swam with all he had.  So did I.  We made it to the other side, where our family was waiting for us.  We could barely crawl out of the water and onto the little rocks which covered the river bank.  Our feet felt like they were frozen and our bodies started to shake uncontrollably, once again.  Everyone started handing us our clothes.  We dressed as quickly as we could, for how much our freezing bodies were shaking.  Everyone was quiet and wide-eyed.  Even the kids.

I have no regrets.   Neither does Nick.  He got the memory of a lifetime out of his Arizona trip, and even though we still don’t talk or know each other very well, that was a memory that will bond us together, forever.

Sometimes in this life we do foolish things, all in the name of a fun adventure or in order to make a memory.  Sometimes we have to dig deep and find the strength to get through it.  Other times we need help.  Sometimes we fail, and that is okay.  Failure creates character.  It provides the opportunity to experience difficulty, stress, heartache, and defeat.  Through these things we can learn persistence, the value of hard work and consistency, and we can learn that failing at something isn’t the end of the world.  Through failing, we can acquire tools and new skill sets that will help us be more successful in our lives and enable us to help others along the way.

It is through trauma, pain, and struggle that we are given the opportunity to become stronger and acquire strength and skills and new tools.  It is through this acquisition of strength and skills and new tools that we become more valuable and effective and able to help and serve others.

I’m grateful, every day, for family and friends.  It is a good strategy for each us to surround ourselves with strong, reliable, wise, experienced people who have our best interest at heart.  Many of them have been through difficulties, failures, and experienced things that can and will help us, if we allow it.

Miracles happen every, single day-usually through the people we choose to surround ourselves with.  Sometimes miracles can’t happen, ever, because of the people we choose to surround ourselves with.  The choice is ours.

My middle son, Drake, decided to join the military.  Most of us know someone who has served.  Some of us know people from each of the different branches of the military.  He chose to become a Marine.  We spent months questioning him.  He liked to sit in his room and play video games, and can be seen the rest of the time reading books on his phone.  He hasn’t grown up being a social animal.  Everyone who served in the military told me to convince him to join a different branch.  The more we spoke to him about it, the more he was set in his ways.

I asked him, “Why the Marines?”  I heard it was the most difficult boot camp.  Three months of hell as opposed to six weeks of training.  We have all heard stories about boot camp.  He said, “I want to be a bad ass.”  I couldn’t believe this was the only reason he would choose the Marines.  But it was.  He explained that it was his belief that it would be the most difficult branch he could join, cause him the most stress, offer him the most opposition, and challenge him the most, out of all the branches, thereby offering the greatest returns.

Drake made it through boot camp.  He did his time.  He is a Marine, and always will be.  He did what he said he would.  He earned my respect and the confidence and competence he earned was worth the work.

I choose to believe that The Universe was designed to conspire on our behalf.  If WE choose easy, the Universe tends to give us challenges, and if WE CHOOSE A DIFFICULT, CHALLENGING ROAD, The Universe usually seems to let us be.

When we purposely choose the most difficult and challenging road, which we know is filled with obstacles, we set ourselves up for growth.   When we look for challenges, and seek them out, we set ourselves up for weakness and possible failure.  As we overcome the failures and conquer the challenges, it is what we become along the way to the destination that makes us great.  This is one way we can choose that makes us more useful and successful as humans.

When we shift from fear of failure to love of learning, growing, and evolving, difficult things are a welcomed experience.

When making a list of things to do, how many of us prioritize it from the most difficult task to easiest task, because we know towards the end of the list we will be tired and less motivated?  I have found that the easier tasks are easier to complete at the end of the day than the most difficult ones.

Choose the difficult path.  Why not?  It will be good for us in the long run and help us in ways we may not even expect.  Doing the DIFFICULT things builds credibility, confidence, competence, energy, and momentum.  DOING THE DIFFICULT THINGS CONSISTENTLY creates true greatness.

Today I will build credibility, energy, momentum, competence, and confidence within myself by doing something difficult or challenging, or something I may not necessarily want to do, ON PURPOSE, simply for the reason that I know it will help me become a better, stronger, more skilled version of myself.  I will remember that I am capable of learning and doing new things, and with repetition, I CAN MASTER ANYTHING I CHOOSE  TO.

The most useful, empowering book I have come across, so far, that results in a progressive upgrading of thinking, doing, and the quality of outcomes and results in the life of the reader, each and every time the book is re-read, or listened to again, is MINDSET, by Carol Dweck.  I can’t recommend this book enough!

We have all heard some one say, “She completes me,” or “He makes me whole.”  I grew up believing that a good marriage consists of two people who, when they are operating at their best, each make up two equal pieces of a pie, each person representing half of a pie, which makes up the whole pie.  While growing up, I believed that any time that I was single, I was incomplete, and that at my very best, I could only represent a half of a whole.  I always searched and searched for that one special person that would make me feel WHOLE and COMPLETE.

I think it is important for all of us to realize and to remember that we are not a half to a whole!  We are meant to be whole all by ourselves-ESPECIALLY in meaningful, highly successful relationships.  We are not 50% of anything.  When two WHOLE and COMPLETE people come together, each operating at their very best at 100%, the results are MAGICAL!

It turns out that we are not PIES at all, and can’t really be compared to ANYTHING that can be considered incomplete.  We are souls-energetic, vibrational frequencies, capable of creation, while having the opportunity at a wonderful and beautiful human experience.  When two WHOLE and COMPLETE people get together, it isn’t addition.  It becomes multiplication, with the possibility of EXPONENTIAL EXPANSION AND CREATION.

It is no longer 100%+100% = 200%
It becomes 100% X 100% = 10,000%!

Be whole.  Be complete.  When we consistently are our best selves, our best selves consistently get better.  It’s amazing what two people who are whole can do when they come together.

Today’s challenge for myself:  Today I will be whole and complete, choosing to operate at my very best, and manifesting my fullest potential.  I will remember that I am whole and perfect this day, and always, just as I am.

The first interview on YouTube on the Lewis Howes show, featuring Marissa Peer, has been one of the most helpful and empowering bits information I have come across during my journey of self discovery, self awareness, and healing.  It has helped me to feel whole all by myself, and to know that I am enough, just as I am, by introducing a new set of beliefs into my mind.  I hope it can do the same for you.

When Elena Cardone spoke on this interview for the podcast, THE PASSIONATE FEW, it was the first time I had ever been introducing to the idea of two whole people operation at 100% resulting in a multiplication of numbers rather than an addition of numbers.  This interview was epic:

goodinthehead is also on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter.  Follow me there, as well, for daily messages, inspiration, motivation, and reminders.  Please pay it forward, and share this, and ANY message, which may empower someone you love or may care about.  It is through adding value to others by sharing and spreading wisdom, that we become more valuable as individuals, and collectively, as a whole, we all become wiser.

Remember:  Mindset matters.  Character counts.  That which we choose to consistently focus on is what EXPANDS in our lives.  WE CREATE our personal realities.

Excuses can be a dangerous thing.  They grab our attention and take our focus away from the important things we may be trying to accomplish and tempt us into a potentially debilitating, habitual lifestyle of comfort and ease.  While seasons of comfort and ease are enjoyable, earned, and deserved,  some of us fall into the trap of the victim state.  Here we produce multitudes of reasons why we are unable to accomplish what we want to.  I know of the truthfulness of this first hand, as I choose for years to be a victim, instead of taking control of my mind, my words, my actions, and my life.  Complaining, blaming, and making excuses are the tools of the victim.

Just like complaining about our current circumstances keeps us attached to them, so do excuses.

Either we will accomplish what we set out to or we will make up excuses.  With daily focus, hard work, consistency, and periodic spurts of intensity along the way, as well as periods of rest, recovery, and recuperation, we can accomplish anything we want to.

Energy flows where attention goes.  What we focus on and pay attention to is OUR choice.  Some great examples of what we can focus on to succeed and accomplish what we want to:  Love, support, family, friends, mentors, random acts of kindness, lessons learned, gratitude for the hard times that made us stronger, targets we are striving to hit, positivity, kindness, reasons why, and anything that makes us smile when we think of it.  We can go over in our minds all we have to be grateful for, and quiet our mind in this world of distractions by thinking of our blessings.  Making gratitude a daily practice as a part of an empowering morning routine is an excellent refocusing tool.  When we focus on doing, instead of reasons why we can’t, the excuses fall away and are no longer a part of our lives.

Reminder to self:  If you want something badly enough you will do anything in this world to get it, and as long as there are no intentions or actions as a part of your plan to hurt others along the way, more power to you!  The big secret is this:  you don’t have to do much.  You just have to know exactly what you want and consistently do things that will get you to where you want to be, WHILE FEELING GOOD ALL THE TIME.  Keep at it!  You’ve got this!

Today’s challenge for myself:  Today I will focus on why I can, instead of why I can’t.

A good morning routine will empower us, help us gain momentum for the rest of the day, and leave us feeling accomplished, successful, and strong, before we even walk out the door to tackle and conquer the day.

A great example of a useful and effective morning routine can be found by typing THE GOODINTHEHEAD  HABIT HACKING CHALLENGE into the google search engine.  Check it out, share it, and try anything within this daily practice you think will empower YOU, and help YOU gain traction and momentum towards creating the life of YOUR dreams.  I wish you well in your journey.

goodinthehead is also on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter.  Follow me there, as well, for daily messages, inspiration, motivation, and reminders.  Please pay it forward, and share this, and ANY message, which may empower someone you love or may care about.  It is through adding value to others by sharing and spreading wisdom, that we become more valuable as individuals, and collectively, as a whole, we all become wiser.

Remember:  Mindset matters.  Character counts.  That which we choose to consistently focus on is what EXPANDS in our lives.  WE CREATE our personal realities.

What better way to begin creating the life we want than through the content we allow to occupy our minds all day long?

Mindset matters.  Character counts.  Many times in our lives we gain our mindsets from the content we allow into our brains.  Our character comes directly from our mindsets and our ever-changing set of personal beliefs.  Books are an excellent way to continuously change and progress!  It is a lofty goal, an effective ambition, and an excellent strategy to compress decades of knowledge, experience, and research into days.  Picking one book from a book list at a time, and reading a little each day, consistently and habitually, will aid us in adding a great deal of value into our lives and into the lives of those around us.  Books have the potential to change our minds and souls forever.

Instilling the desire to read and having the enjoyment that comes from it starts at a young age.  It is SO IMPORTANT to read to our children daily and consistently and to teach them to do it for themselves, daily and consistently.  Many times, our best teaching moments come from the examples we set.

This list is compiled of books written by truly great, experienced, successful people, who have failed their ways through this life, only to come out on the other end more empowered to help us all avoid the same mistakes, failures, pit-falls, pain, and suffering that they were required to endure.  Each and every book represents decades of knowledge obtained from research and life experience.   An excellent strategy in life will save us decades of difficulties, hardships, and negative experiences.  Excellent strategies are formulated in the mind, many times through the lessons, mistakes, and failures of others which we read about.

Good Judgement comes from experience and experience, often times, comes from bad judgement.  To speed up the process, we don’t need to learn from our own bad judgement.  We can learn by modeling others who are successful already!  Compress decades into days by reading and researching those who already failed, learned, and succeeded.

It has been said that a stupid man never learns from his mistakes.  A smart man will learn from his mistakes.  A wise man will learn from the mistakes of others.

To have a truly deep and meaningful life, we must always have:

• Hunger, drive, and desire to evolve, improve, grow, and progress.
• A vision larger than our self in which we contribute in some way.
• A good strategy.  Strategy without action is useless.  Our strategies must be put into play through an effective, daily, consistent routine.
• Patience.  Good things take time.  In a world with such great capability to enjoy instant gratification, we must remember patience.  Truly good things take time.  It is through time and repeated, habitual action, that change occurs and is allowed to take root in our lives.  The more time and repeated, habitual action, the more deep the root and the more complete and sure and permanent the change.

Books can help us with all of these things, but without actions, knowledge is dead.

Knowledge is not power.  Knowledge is the possibility of power.  Until we take action and put the knowledge to use, we to not earn or deserve the right to become more powerful.

It is my hope that one or all of these incredible books with inspire and motivate you to action and a more beautiful, deep, meaningful, fulfilling life.

• MINDSET by Carol Dweck
• Think and Grow Rich – Napoleon Hill
• How to Win Friends and Influence People – Dale Carnegie
• Boundaries – Henry Cloud
• Tribe of Mentors – Tim Ferriss
• High Performance Habits – Brendan Burchard
• Start With Why – Simon Sinek
• Find Your Why – Simon Sinek
• Leaders Eat Last – Simon Sinek
• Together Is Better – Simon Sinek
• Everybody Matters – Bob Chapman and Raj Sisodia
• Principles – Ray Dalio
• Money:  Mastering the Game – Tony Robbins *All proceeds from this book purchase go towards feeding the hungry.
• Better Than Before – Gretchen Rubin
• Seat of the Soul – Gary Zukov
• The Rise of Superman – Steven Cotler
• The Doctor and The Soul – Victor Frankl
• Man’s Search for Happiness – Victor Frankl
• The Tao of Power – Tzu
• Letters from a Stoic – Seneca
• Man on Fire Manifesto – David Mehler
• The Happy Body – Aniela and Jerzy Gregorek

This list will get you started on a beautiful life journey.  I promise you that you will want to buy MINDSET by Carol Dweck for your first book.  Here is the interview I watched, by which I was first introduced to her work:

Today I will create a wish list of books I desire to have as a part of my own, personal library.  I will buy the first book today and begin reading it consistently, daily.

 

Years ago, I began to realize how important it is to focus on better things in my everyday life.  I began saving quotes off of Pintrest and Facebook and off of the internet, and putting them into my favorites folder on my phone and reviewing them every day while I ate breakfast.  It was a great, mind-altering, mood-stabilizing experience that consistently changed me each day for the better.

These days, I also listen to inspiring content from YouTube as I get ready for the day.  I found it so enjoyable, that I started waking up earlier to be able to listen to more content.  I find great speakers and inspirational talks on Ted Talks that I enjoy, and YouTube suggests other people, speakers, and recorded talks by those with similar interests and things to say.  I choose what I listen to every day for 45 minutes as I dress, eat, pack a lunch and prepare for the day, which reminds me, teaches me, and motivates me to be a better version of myself.  I choose what I listen to by design.  I choose wisely what I program my mind with each morning, and this consistent, purposeful practice has forever altered the trajectory of my life.

45 minutes a day, for only five days a week, adds up to 225 minutes a week.  In a year’s time, that adds up to 11,700 minutes, or 195 hours.  Can you imagine what a person could learn in 195 hours?!

A LIFE LIVED ON PURPOSE HAS MORE PURPOSE.

I didn’t stop there. I also listen to audiobooks and podcast episodes at work for eight to ten hours a day.  I have now been doing that for years, and the results have been staggering.

Reminder to self:  The more value you add to your lives and the lives of others, the more valuable you become.  This life is meant to be lived on purpose.  It is our daily choices, our focus, and our consistency, that truly matters.  Balance also matters.  A bow that is always strung loses the ability to shoot arrows with intensity and accuracy.  The mind is the same.  We all need breaks and rest from intensity.  Do the important things first.  Rest, when needed, then get back to it!

Consistency creates a conversion and a convergence of circumstances and situations that will serve and save us.  It will seem as though things begin to just work out magically, and the stars begin to align, as everything works out in our favor, but through our daily, consistent practices and habits, we actually become more reliable, predictable, and dependable.  As a co-conspirator, or a co-creator, the Universe knows better how to conspire on our behalf.

Consistency is a tool of creation.  To create and practice even MORE consistency, and to become even MORE reliable, predictable, and dependable, a solid, useful, effective, and helpful morning routine can be the ONE thing that changes and improves it all.

Today I will choose something to listen to, read, or watch, on purpose, with the clear intent to learn, rather than simply be mindlessly entertained, which will motivate and inspire me towards accomplishing what I WANT to, within a three-year period.  I know my time is limited and precious, and I will consistently practice strategies that empower me to choose to spend it wisely.

Some of the most incredible content I have come across about the topic of morning routines has come to me through Robin Sharma, Ed Mylett, and Hal Elrod, all of who have been guests on Tom Bilyeu’s YouTube show, IMPACT THEORY.  Another incredible source of content that has empowered me to forever alter my life experience is Jim Rohn.  I highly recommend plugging these names into YouTube and google, and researching each of these individuals.  WE CANNOT BE WHAT WE CANNOT SEE, and these individuals have provided a vision of what we can become, through discipline, desire, commitment, and hard work.

goodinthehead also on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter.  Follow me there, as well, for daily messages, inspiration, motivation, and reminders.  Please pay it forward, and share this, and ANY message, which may empower someone you love or may care about.  It is through adding value to others by sharing and spreading wisdom, that we become more valuable as individuals, and collectively, as a whole, we all become wiser.

Remember:  Mindset matters.  Character counts.  That which we choose to consistently focus on is what EXPANDS in our lives.  WE CREATE our personal realities.