What’s The Million Dollar State?

“There is a powerful driving force inside every human being that, once unleashed, can make any vision, dream, or desire a reality.” ~ Anthony Robbins

What do you desire most in life?

Money?

Relationships?

Freedom?

Happiness?

Fulfillment?

To get what you really desire, you need a strategy. And a good one too.

Most people say they want to have millions of dollars, but their strategy is to work for someone else. Sorry to burst their bubble, but they’re never going to make it. The opportunities for massive income just don’t exist as an employee.

Many say they want to live a happy life. And yet their strategy is to complain about every little thing: too much traffic, not having enough money, bad weather, etc. So their dream of a happiness will forever stay a dream and never a reality.

As you can see, having a strategy doesn’t guarantee success. It’s having a great strategy, that has worked for others, that ultimately leads you closer to your desire.

Watch what people do who have achieved what you hope to achieve. And then model their behavior.

However, getting a great strategy and modeling successful behavior isn’t the end all.

Massive results come from the powerful driving force within you. When you have the proper strategy set and you unleash this inner power, you’ll experience life like never before, and be well on your way to achieving everything you desire.

So what is this inner power?

It’s a level of energy that puts your body and mind in it’s peak state, where normal limitations do not exist.

For example, if you attend Anthony Robbins’ Unleash the Power Within event, you’ll walk barefoot through 12 feet of 2,000 degree burning coals without injury. I’ve done it, and it’s absolutely incredible.

Obviously that’s an extreme example, but when you direct this inner power towards a project, relationship, etc the results are just as spectacular.

Imagine completing business projects quicker and more effectively or experiencing deeper levels of love in a relationship.

Not only is it possible, it’s practically guaranteed.

So how do you unleash this inner power?

It’s all about energy. And since the body experiences energy through movement, you gotta get your body moving. Exercise, dance, jump around, whatever. Get your blood moving and get that energy level up.

The next step is to focus the mind. Think about your desire and imagine the ideal outcome. Then focus on that outcome until it’s burned in your mind.

After you’ve got your energy up and are locked on to your burning desire, it’s time to make your power move.

Your power move is a gesture and sound you make to pump yourself up. Think of something a warrior would do right before running into battle. Or what someone does after a major victory.

It’s whatever you want it to be. And it doesn’t have to be obnoxious or anything. My power move is a double fist pump and saying “Yes” in a strong voice.

Now, combine all three steps. Do your power move a few times, and you’ll be feeling extremely energized, focused, and motivated. This is your peak state.

With this peak state (in body and mind) take massive action towards your desire.

The things you’ll be able to do in this state will blow your mind. Keep practicing. The better you get at controlling this inner power, the better your results will be.

If you’re feeling skeptical, that’s okay. I was too. But, if you never try it, you’ll never know if it works or not.

Give it a try and see what you’re able to achieve.

Life Plans Are Foolish

Last Monday was the season premier for Heroes, one the shows I currently follow.

While it was very entertaining with all the superpowers, fighting, and time travel, I took away a very important perspective on life.

Claire, one of the main characters, goes to college and finds that her roommate is an overachiever. Not only does she base her entire reality on being the best, but she maps out her entire future: perfect grades in school, a prestigious internship, becoming the youngest mayor in history, and so on.

It was pretty comical, but it made me think about my life and how far ahead I should plan. After some deep thinking, I’ve decided that there are way too many variables in life to plan more than a few months ahead at a time.

I still believe it’s important to have a life path and a general direction of where you’re heading, but getting too specific with details is just foolish.

Think back to a year ago and how you envisioned the future. Does that vision match with your life now? Probably not.

When you think about politics, the economy, the environment, humanitarian issues, and your personal life, there’s just too many variables to accurately predict the future.

So, what do I propose? I propose we stop imagining our perfect life in 20 years, and instead,  imagine our perfect life next month.

What are the benefits of doing this? You will…

• be less stressed
• set smaller goals and more of them
• accomplish more of your goals
• be more flexible with life
• able to take advantage of more opportunities that come your way
• be in control of your life

For me, this means setting smaller projects and focusing on only 1 or 2 of them at a time. I’ll be able to pump out better work for my business, and I’ll be flexible enough to adapt to the economy and what my clients want and need.

What does it mean for you?

Take a few minutes to think about it and note how you feel.

A great way to test this perspective on a smaller level is to shorten the timeframe to 1 day. Take a look at your To Do list and pick the 2 most important tasks on that list. Then focus on those 2 things all day and nothing else.

At the end of the day you’re going to feel like you we’re extremely productive and you accomplished a lot. AND I’ll bet the quality of your work is better than normal.

What’s the 1 thing you’re focusing on today? Please share.

Raw Food Diet – Day 4

Today was the fourth day of my raw food experiment. I survived most of the day, but ate some cooked food during dinner (cheese, roasted nuts, and ranch dressing with my salad). In the four days of my experiment I have lost 4 pounds. This is quite considerable, especially since I’m already at the low end of my ideal weight. I got a bit worried and decided to stop the experiment.

Throughout the day I felt a little light headed and then had a wave of nausea hit me. This also added to my fear, but I must blame myself because of my inadequate calorie consumption. I’ve been way under every day of this experiment (also adding to my weight loss).

The greatest failure of my experiment is not that I didn’t make it more than four days, but that I failed to properly prepare. Not only did I not eat enough calories, but I wasn’t getting the proper range of nutrients to be successful. And I thought I would be mentally stronger to tackle the psychological side of the experiment (because I had switched to raw foods before). It’s a never ending battle of temptation.

I’ve come to realize that making the transition to only raw foods is a bigger deal than I thought. This needs to become a way of life. Just as we buy ovens, stoves, toasters, microwaves, and grills to be able to eat cooked food, juicers, blenders, and dehydrators are needed to be successful with raw foods. Unfortunately, I cannot make that commitment at this point in my life. One day, I hope to do so. Until then, I’ll be incorporating raw foods into my diet as much as I can, and making nutritious choices when eating cooked food.

If you were excited about this experiment, don’t let this failure stop you from experimenting yourself. If you want to get healthier I would recommend gradually eating more raw foods instead of making the sudden transition like I did.

Even though I didn’t get too far this time around, I’ll be attempting the transition again. And when I do, I’ll keep you posted.

Raw Food Diet – Day 3

I felt really good today!

After discovering Whole Foods my day was awesome. Today was my first time at a Whole Foods grocery store and I absolutely loved it. Everyone looked so healthy, their skin glowed, and they were extremely friendly. I didn’t even have to ask for paper bags when checking out; they always use paper bags.

It was the most incredible display of produce I have ever seen. They’ve got everything you could want, and extra fresh. I wandered around the store to see what they had and they’ve got it all. Whatever you are eating now, they have in a healthier form. Needless to say, carnivores, vegetarians, vegans, raw foodists, whoever, will find great food here.

After my little raw food experiment I will expand outside the produce section. I can’t wait!

Here’s how the day looked:

Breakfast:

- Clementines (226g)

- Red Grapes (146g)

- Apple (174g)

- Banana (116g)

Total: 401 calories, 1.3g fat, 104.1g carbs, 4.7g protein

Lunch:

- Smoothie (245g banana, 33g spinach, 1 cup water)

- Cucumber (56g)

- Red Bell Pepper (31g)

- Carrots (45g)

- Lettuce (47g)

- Dip (2 tbsp tahini, 34g tomato, 1/4 cup water) [ didn't taste as good as I hoped]

Total: 448 calories, 17.3g fat, 73.3g carbs, 10.6g protein

Dinner:

- Smoothie (180g mango, 117g strawberry, 259g banana, water)

Total: 439 calories, 1.5g fat, 114.3g carbs, 4.3g protein

Daily Summary:

1287 calories, 20g fat (14%), 291.7g carbs (80%), 19.7g protein (6%)

96.8mg sodium, 36.6g fiber, 191.9g sugar

Yeah, off again. Worse than yesterday too! Though I didn’t consume too many calories today, I wasn’t that hungry. I’ve been drinking a lot of water, so I’m sure that helped. The went really well until late afternoon when I got really really cranky. Sorry family. I don’t know what got in to me, I just got frustrated with stupid stuff and needed some space.

Oh! I watched “Supercharge Me” and it was great. It showed the 30 days of someone going through the raw food diet. The diet definitely had some astonishing results. Just about every system of her body improved and she looked great. The only problem was that after a couple of months she reverted back to her old ways. But! After about 10 months she decided to never eat cooked food again and has been eating raw ever since. That’s pretty cool!

I did notice that a lot of people seem to go to special health retreats where they prepare all the raw meals and properly educate you on the raw food diet. Maybe I’ll check that out in a few months and see what happens.

On to day 4…

Raw Food Diet – Day 2

It’s been 2 days of only raw foods and I’m still alive. Hooray!

Here’s what the day looked like:

Breakfast:

- Smoothie (84g mango, 40g blackberries, 95g strawberries, 183g banana, 1 cup water)

Total: 309 calories, 1.2 g fat, 79.7f carbs, 3.5g protein

Snack:

- Banana (103g)

Total: 92 calories, 0.3g fat, 23.5g carbs, 1.1g protein

Lunch:

- Mango (298g)

- Banana (108g)

- Peach (240g)

Total: 383 calories, 1.8g fat, 98.2 carbs, 4.9g protein

Snack:

- Almonds (24g)

Total: 139 calories, 12.2g fat, 4.7g carbs, 5.1g protein

Dinner:

- Carrots (105g)

- Almond Butter (3 tbs)

- Okra (started to eat, but changed my mind after tasting the texture, too slimy)

Total: 341 calories, 28.5g fat, 18.8g carbs, 7.9g protein

Snack:

- Banana (105g)

Total: 93 calories, 0.3g fat, 24g carbs, 1.1g protein

Daily Summary:

1357 calories, 44.3g fat (29%), 249.2g carbs (64%), 23.6g protein (7%)

312.1mg sodium, 33.9g fiber, 166.2g sugar

Today has been quite the challenge. I was even further from my nutrition goals than the first day. The cravings have definitely gotten strong. My family went out for Indian food tonight and it took every ounce of my will power to resist because it’s my favorite type of food.

I’ve been hungry all day. Which is understandable looking back at the quantity of calories I consumed (800 too few). Tomorrow I’m seriously going to have to focus on eating all day long to get the required calories or I won’t even make it past a few days.

The detox symptoms started showing up this afternoon. My body temperature has been swinging up and down all day. One minute I’m freezing and the other I’m on fire. My skin is starting to get really itchy (the skin is one of the best methods of expelling toxins). And I’ve had a major headache for the last few hours. I can’t remember the last time I had a headache, so now I know why people always complain about having one of those: they’re a pain in the butt. I’ve also noticed that my body has started to smell differently, and not in a bad way. This really is surprising because normally during a detox, you stink for a few days.

Overall my symptoms are quite mild. Which makes me wonder if I didn’t have that many toxins in my body (as I did a mini detox back in May) or if things are going to get a lot worse in a day or two.

I’ve gotta keep my head up and keep pushing on.

Off to day 3…

Raw Food Diet – Day 1

Today was the first day of my raw food experiment (30 days of raw fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds). I made it through the day without any problems. So far so good.

I did crave cooked food when I smelled what the rest of my family was eating for dinner. I decided to hang out in my room until they were finished eating so I wouldn’t be tempted. Smelling the foods I used to eat will be the biggest temptation, so I’ll have to be extra careful when my family is eating or when I’m out and about somewhere.

They key will be bringing raw snacks with me so I don’t get too hungry and cheat.

To keep this diet as close to an experiment as possible I am tracking the calories, carbs, fat, and protein that I consume through a tool called CalorieKing. My daily goal is to stay around 2,200 calories (keeping fat to about 15% of calories and protein to about 15% of calories as well).

Here’s my first day:

Breakfast:

- Smoothie (123g of frozen strawberries, 274 g of fresh bananas, 1 cup water)

- Mango (193g)

- Almonds (28g)

Total: 627 calories, 15.8g fat, 126.7g carbs, 10.6g protein.

Snack:

- 1 banana (110g)

Total: 98 calories, 0.4g fat, 25.1g carbs, 1.2g protein

Lunch:

- Almond Butter (4 tsp)

- Baby Carrots (103g)

- Celery (52g)

Total: 403 calories, 32.3g fat, 22g carbs, 15g protein

Snack:

- Peach (256g)

- Apple (183g)

Total: 195 calories, 1g fat, 49.7g carbs, 2.8g protein

Dinner:

- Salad (2 cups of spring mix, 25g red onion, 105g peeled cucumber, 70g tomato, 50g red bell pepper)

- Dressing (30g tomato, 54g lemon)

Total: 100 calories, 0.7g fat, 22.8g carbs, 4.3g protein

Snack:

- Smoothie (215g banana, 164g frozen strawberries, 1 cup water)

Total: 319 calories, 0.9g fat, 83.5g carbs, 3.2g protein

Daily Summary:

1742 calories, 51g fat (26%), 329.9g carbs (65%), 37.1g protein (9%)

229.2mg sodium, 54.5g fiber, 216.1g sugar

I survived the first day. I didn’t quite reach my nutrition goals, but it’s a good start. As I learn more about proper food combination and which foods have the most calories, I’ll get there.

The greatest lesson I learned today was that vegetables don’t contain as many calories as I thought. I’m a huge fan of salads, but when everything is raw, it’s a waste of time eating it. The huge salad I had for dinner was only 100 calories. I would much rather drink a smoothie.

My goal for tomorrow is to combine the foods that give me the biggest bang for the amount. So far bananas, mangos, and almonds are the winners. We’ll see what other foods I can discover to help me out.

I’ve been hungry most of the day, but not as hungry as I would have expected. The solution: eat more.

Moving on to day 2…

30 Day Raw Food Diet

As the saying goes, “You are what you eat.” Let’s put it to the test.

I’ve decided to do a little experiment where I spend 30 days eating only raw foods (fruits, veggies, seeds, and nuts). There have been many claims stating that this is the optimum diet for humans and can have miraculous results on the body. So why not test it out?

Before you tell me why I shouldn’t do this experiment and that I need to eat meat, let me tell you why I’m doing this.

4 years ago when I was just starting college I was very interested in nutrition. After much research, I changed my eating habits. I went vegetarian, then vegan, and then raw foodist. Eating nothing but raw foods was very challenging and I could only go for about a week and a half at a time. Since then I have gone back to regular cooked foods (though I try to limit red meat).

Looking back, eating like that gave me mental clarity like nothing I’ve ever experienced before. Not only did I rarely feel groggy, but my energy levels felt limitless, I needed less sleep, and I was thinking through complex calculations effortlessly. Overall, I felt better than any other point in my life.

About a month ago I watched the film “Supersize Me” and really enjoyed it. For those that haven’t seen it, the guy eats McDonalds everyday and tracks what it does to his body. Needless to say, he nearly killed himself.

Yesterday, I ran across a film called “Supercharge Me.” The film tests the impact of raw foods on the body through a 30 day trial. (I just ordered it this morning and I have not seen it yet)

So I thought I’d do a little experiment of my own to see what’s possible. I’m doing this for me. In no way am I attacking your lifestyle or telling you what you should and shouldn’t do. And I’m definitely not selling anything. I am blogging about this experiment to help me make it the 30 days and stick to the plan.

Over the next 30 days I will share what I eat, how I feel, and the results I experience. I promise to be honest about everything, even if things are not going well. More than likely I will get a bit cranky as I experience the initial detox symptoms (normal for any dietary change like giving up coffee or chocolate), but I’ll be honest and share exactly how I feel.

This will be the most challenging thing I have ever done, so I would really appreciate your support. Feel free to comment about my posts. If you disagree with me, please be respectful. I’d love to hear your viewpoint, but please try to backup your claim with data. Saying that I’m an idiot or that real men eat meat does little to convince me of your views.

For those that are worried about my safety, thank you for your concern. If something goes terribly wrong and becomes dangerous, I will consult a physician and stop the experiment.

Tomorrow (September 1, 2009) I start the 30 day experiment, so today I’ll be shopping for food and supplies, as well as preparing myself mentally.

I will only be consuming raw foods like fruits, vegetables, seeds, and nuts. To do this experiment correctly, I will not be taking any supplements or medications, and I will continue my normal workout routine (non-existent, though I take an occasional bike ride).

Here we go….

Fun is way better than Boring, duh

As you know, I just graduated college and am working on a couple of startups. There’s nothing else I’d rather be doing, so life is good.

My friends are another story, however. They’ve joined the big corporations and have “grown up” jobs with fancy titles. I’ve noticed many of them beginning to change into the people they promised never to become: boring. Their zest for life is quickly draining away.

You may be experiencing the same thing right now. Can I ask why? Are you doing what really makes you happy in life? If not, why not?

Just because someone says you should do something doesn’t mean it’s right for you or that you should do it.

It’s crazy how many people dream of their ideal life, yet follow the path that leads the furthest from it. They get so caught up in superficial garbage that they mold themselves into the people others want them to be so they fit in.

It’s important to be yourself. If you like to goof off and have fun, bring that to your business. Life is way too short to not have fun or to follow your dreams.

For my brother, tennis has been his whole life, so much so that he’s starting another business around it. And he’s going to have a blast with it because he’s not worried about the nay-sayers or being too professional. He’s going to show that a real person is behind the company, not a faceless office bureaucrat.

Earlier today I was helping him with the startup. We talked about the perfect company and how much fun it would be to do the things no one else does. Immediately we came up with jokes, cool videos, and a fun personality to base the company around. Sure it’s not as professional as Nike, but who the hell cares. He doesn’t want to be boring and lose touch with his fans.

How about you? What do you want? and what are you doing to get there?

The 2 Most Important Questions You’ll Ever Ask Yourself

Alright, you’ve graduated college. Now what?

If you’re like me, you’ve probably started freaking out a little. After I graduated from Purdue I backpacked around Europe. Originally the plan was to go for 11 weeks, but I quickly realized that something was missing from my life and I wasn’t going to last the 11 weeks, so I shortened the trip to 4 weeks.

Vagabonding was fun, but not something I could see myself doing more than a few weeks at a time.

I’ve been home for a full week now, trying to figure out what to do with my life. I don’t have a job lined up (aspiring entrepreneur). I don’t have a place of my own to live at yet. I don’t even know where I want to live.

[Insert Panic Here]

With so many unknowns, it’s easy to get a little stressed out. You may be feeling the same way, even if you’ve got a job lined up and “know” what you’re doing with your life. You’ve entered the “real” world and it’s time to be an adult. You’ve got to be financially independent. You don’t have to worry about studying or tests. And you’re responsible for pretty much everything that happens to you from now on.

Heavy, I know.

To help with the stress I’ve been doing some deep reflecting to figure out what life is about and where to go next. During this reflection I happened to stumble across 2 questions that could be the most important we ever ask ourselves:

1) What do I really want to get out of life?

2) What can I offer the world that no one else can?

Answering these questions isn’t a walk in the park. It takes deep and careful thinking. It’s easy to say you want to be happy and successful, but that’s taking the easy way out [and probably not completely true].

Answering these two questions requires you to challenge your current assumptions about life and what is possible. It forces you to think inward. It depends on you figuring out who you are as a person.

Once you’ve answered these questions you’ll feel less stressed and, most importantly, confident about your life path. They definitely helped me, and I know they can help you.

Best of luck and happy reflecting!

What they don’t tell you about graduation

It’s a time to celebrate and reflect on the last 4 (5, 6, or 7) years of your life with nostalgia.

You enter a new world. You say Goodbye to exams, boring lectures, and  monotone professors and Hello to bills, work, and new friends.

Graduation is bittersweet. It’s wonderful to celebrate the memories you’ve shared with your friends, but for many of us, saying goodbye is a bit more permanent. Most relationships become nothing more than “Facebook Friends.” It’s sad. I don’t want to lose touch with all these great people either, but let’s face it, it’s going to happen. The best thing to do is to put together a special list of friends that you meet up with or talk to every few weeks.

As the saying goes, “Out of sight, out of mind.” Make sure you keep your closest friends in sight so that your relationship continues to grow with time.

On a more positive note, the most exciting part of graduation is hearing what friends envision for the future. Many will continue on with schooling or get a corporate job. Some will join Teach For America or the Peace Corps. Few will surprise you with something remarkable like starting a business, traveling the world, joining a professional sports team, becoming an actor, or a musician. Stay in touch with these people. They understand that time is short and refuse to waste it living someone else’s life.

As millennials, we’ve been told over and over that our generation will do incredible things and solve the problems of the world. From economic fallout to pandemics to energy crises to health reform, it’s our responsibility to fix it all. To many, this may seem like a burden, but in reality, it is an incredible opportunity. There has never been a better time to make money, help others, and create a better world.

So, as you hear cliche graduation speeches on how the world is your oyster and you can achieve all of you dreams, realize that you will fail. A lot. And that’s a good thing. Contrary to what academia has taught you about failing, learning how to do something well requires trial and error (aka failing). It also requires focus.

Focus on the small things in life that you can impact. Forget about feeding the world. Feed your community first. Then branch out. Eventually you’ll develop the abilities and resources to make a global impact, but start small first.

Start small and start today.