Let’s Get Physical

Even though times were tough 100 years ago, rates of depression are far higher now than back then. Researchers believe that this discrepancy is because our brains these days are dulled.

Our ancestors’ lives, which were often characterized by trials for sheer survival, provided them with physical activities that led to better mental health.

We are specifically wired to anticipate and execute complex motor functions. Yet, we often feel overworked and overwhelmed even though we enjoy the pleasure of conveniences everywhere.

You see, we no longer get mental rewards from completing physical tasks.

Action – Forego gadgets and gizmos. Hide the TV remote, bake bread by hand or make something instead of buying it. Get physical inside and outside your home.

Give those underused and forgotten parts of your brain a workout!

Start At Home

If your home life is chaotic, creating business or career success can be daunting. Unless your personal life has some stability, your professional life never will.

In fact, it can’t.

That’s because our fundamental needs for personal safety, a sense of home and desire to share love and friendship always trump our need for work or reputation.

At a conscious level, you may be trying to move up the corporate ladder or land that big new deal.

But at the subconscious level, you may be distracted by that messy relationship at home, your feelings of loneliness or difficulty paying the mortgage.

Only when you feel safe, live in a comfortable environment and have a few enriching relationships will you create a solid foundation on which you can build sustainable professional success.

Action – If your career is struggling, look at whether something closer to home is challenging too.

True Success, Emerson Style

One of my favorite pieces of prose comes from Ralph Waldo Emerson who answers better than I the question “how do you define success?”

Here it is –

To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.

This is to have succeeded.

Action – Take what you need from his definition of success. Tweak it, play with it, and change it around. Most of all, integrate it into your daily life.

As you create and live your own definition, you’ll actually begin to make it happen.

Rolling The Dice Works

I believe we all need to be a little more random.

Yes, randomness does scare most people – especially those in business.

Yet, randomness actually plays a major part in our lives because there is universal order in randomness.

When you allow some things to happen by chance, you will feel a sense of calm and ease. You are less likely to think opportunities pass you by because you know that unpredictability always brings possibility. There is comfort in occasionally relaxing and allowing things to unfold.

Action – Write out six tasks you could do today and number them one to six. Roll a die and let it randomly land on a number – that becomes the first task to do from your list.

Notice how you feel, what you think and what you create as a result of allowing randomness to take over for a while.

… And Your Wants Are Few


Three simple letters have guided many of my personal and business decisions, and they are “I  N  W“. They stand for “integrity, needs and wants”.

Integrity comes first because by making it paramount, and then by uncovering and meeting your personal needs next, most of the things you think you want get fulfilled anyway.

Action – To understand what integrity means to you, figure out your core values, standards and beliefs.

To uncover your needs, think about the things you can’t live without – like safety, esteem or importance. Consciously or not, we will act to get these needs met, so it’s best to know what yours are and then take active steps to get them satisfied.

So now, when you honor your integrity and get your needs met, your wants will come naturally.

INW. These simple 3 letters can serve as your guide in creating a successful life.

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