Another successful spin around the sun… I’m still alive. Happy. Growing. Grateful.
Been an epic year business wise and personally.
Gonna share my biggest mistakes, painful fails and lessons of the year.
If I was to sum up the year: first half of 2016 was a bitch. Second half was incredible.
Here’s a quick summation of the first half of 2016:
A good friend of mine lost his mind and attempted to jump off a balcony.
Here’s what happened business-wise for one of my companies:
First, the bank we used to process credit cards lost their VISA license.
We had A LOT of recurring subscriptions for our products in there.
This sent us scrambling for a new merchant account. After a long hard search, we found one.
Things went smooth for a few weeks and then money stopped coming.
They decided they didn’t want to send the money anymore.
They’ve been holding a nice house worth of funds for a few months.
Then, things went downhill with one of the partners. He wasn’t performing to the standards we wanted and he didn’t want to be in that seat anymore.
I knew this would force a tough conversation and a tough decision.
However, I decided that the team was dealing with enough strife without adding this on top of everything. This lead to…
The 3 Brutal Mistakes I Made First Half Of 2016
Brutal Mistake #1: Suppressing Emotions
I decided to wait 3 months before talking to my partner about things.
And I know better than to repress negative emotions. This was STRATEGIC SUPPRESSION for the sake of the company. And wow… did I pay a price personally.
The most shocking thing was how it affected my thinking.
Last year I did one of the most powerful experiences of my life.
It involved cleaning house combined with alpha brain wave training.
From their research, average IQ goes up 12 points… Creativity goes up 50%…
Happiness shoots up. (I’m going for another round in February. I’ll post about my experience).
That’s the power of emotionally CLEANING HOUSE.
People do not know the costs of emotional trauma, resentments and pain until they’re removed. It’s SHOCKING.
And now I’m even more clear about the power of keeping my emotional hard drive clean and serene after going the other way and letting negative emotions clutter my operating system.
I’ll write a depth article on this in the future because it deserves full credit.
Brutal Mistake #2: Not Taking A Vacation
This year I went the longest I had gone in a long time without a vacation (8 months).
My drive dropped… my focus dropped…
I know better.
One of the most impacting books I’ve ever read is “The Power Of Full Engagement”.
I taught me the power of ENERGY MANAGEMENT.
The only way to perform at 100% is to cycle your recovery.
To maintain maximum effective output, we need to cycle recovery on all levels.
– Nano recovery cycle: 5 to 15 minutes every hour or two.
– Micro recovery cycle: 1 to 2 days off every week. God Bless #SundayFunday
– Meso recovery cycle: 7 to 10 days off every 3 to 4 months.
I go deep in my 3X Your Productivity Book in chapter X.
“I was taking 1-2 weeks of vacation every 3-4 months for the last few years with great success. Sometimes we “forget the basics” and pay the price.”
When you’re doing something you love, you don’t take a vacation because “you can’t wait to get away”.
When I take a vacation, it’s because I’ve been pushing myself to my limit and my mind and body need to rejuvenate. I need to get out of BETA BRAIN WAVE MODE and take it down to alpha for 7 to 10 days. This allows my nervous system to recover.
There’s a magic that happens almost every time also. It’s called: GETTING ALTITUDE.
When you’re working in the trenches, firing bullets, bombs and putting out fires — it’s easy to lose sight of the bigger picture.
The best way to get altitude and see life and business from 30,000 feet is to get away from it and allow your brain to slow down.
This is the best time to create visions, change directions, come up with better insightful strategies.
A plane is of course 90% of the time. However, it has the instruments to KNOW AND ADJUST.
You’ll be far more successful and happy once you start understanding the brain and body’s limitations because you’ll be able to start consciously creating solutions to the problems.
Our brains aren’t that good at knowing we’re off course. As much as some people would hate to admit it, it’s got a shitload of limitations.
Here are the challenges we almost all face as human beings that affect our thinking:
– Cognitive biases that distort the brain’s ability to think logically.
– Hormones (testosterone for men… estrogen for women) that fuel the lizard brain and override our prefrontal cortex (the conscious part of your brain).
– Self-limiting beliefs we’ve picked up from parents, school, society, media and our environment.
– Ego-driven programs that keep us away from Spirit.
– Bad genetics including dysfunctional brain wiring (such as the propensity for addiction and other mental disorders and neurochemical imbalances.
– Nutritional deficiencies most people are chronically dehydrated… mineral deficient… too much stimulants… too much sugar).
– Beta brain wave (monkey brain) dominance with very little skill or training to out of it.
Vacations aren’t enough to overcome all the limitations I just listed. But it’s major key of the overall puzzle.
When we step away from the trenches and relax. You’ll feel your perspective shift after 3 to 7 days away from “the grind”.
Brutal Mistake #3: Not Keeping Spirituality First
Since I’ve been blessed with a Clear Conscious Contact with a Higher Power for the last 7 years, I’m out of integrity if that isn’t the most IMPORTANT THING IN MY LIFE.
It’s the Foundation of my life. The reward is serenity, unshakable happiness and perspective.
When I’m doing the Spiritual Routine that works for me — I become Nuclear Bomb Proof emotionally.
It doesn’t matter what’s happening… or not happening… I’m happy. I’m at peace.
However, I made the mistake of slacking on my Spiritual Program.
And for that… I paid a price.
I lost the Spiritual Shield that makes life’s shit bounce off me like water off a duck’s back.
And if you’re an atheist or agnostic, I understand. I was a dedicated atheist/agnostic for over a decade.
There are record number of agnostics in the world today. Millennials are shunning religion. I get it. I really do.
I will say this…
The people I know who are God-Centered are far happier than those who aren’t. Virtually everyone who’s an atheist/agnostic (including my former self) had a hole that couldn’t be filled. I tried: power, drugs, money, sex, traveling, crazy parties – you name it. If it made me feel SOMETHING, I was IN.
But it didn’t work. The next day, I would wake up with same void.
People who live by Spiritual Principles: Gratitude, Faith, Karma — are far more at Peace than those who aren’t.
And maybe you believe in a Higher Power, but it’s not at the forefront of your life. My suggestion to you is, to do some Spiritual Work and SEE HOW YOU FEEL. See how your life changes. The proof is in the pudding.
The practical benefits are undeniable.
When you start meditating, your brain begins transforming. Here’s 76 scientifically proven benefits.
When you start doing Active Appreciation And Gratitude for everything in your life — it instantly eliminates all the pain of “not having enough” and “not being enough”. Here’s 31 benefits of gratitude.
When you start doing EFT to process negative emotions — you’ll be shocked and awed by the clean house. Check out the research.
These are a few good places to start. This is also just the tip of the iceberg. Spiritual Evolution is an Infinite Journey.
And after doing intensive Spiritual Work, genuine happiness, joy and peace of mind become the norm. You will be happy 99% of the time. The void will be gone.
I can’t promise how fast it will happen… Sometimes it’s quickly… sometimes slowly — but I can guarantee that it will happen.
And once it does… Once you EXPERIENCE Conscious Contact With A Power Greater Than Yourself — there’s nothing else that can replace that.
After a tough first half, I got back on the Spiritual Horse and the last 6 months have been MAGIC. I’m back on my Spiritual Routine (which I’ll detail in another post).
We became the 3rd supplement company to get approved on Clickbank (one of the biggest affiliate networks in the world) for BiOptimizers.
We sorted things out with my good friend and business partner. We’re buying him out and everyone is happy with the new arrangement.
My music publishing company had one of it’s best years ever after 14 years in business.
Awesome new partnerships were formed.
The best business deals of my life appeared out of nowhere.
I’m either being self-centered or God-Centered — and life becomes magical when it’s God Centered. It’s really that simple.
Stay tuned for the follow: The BIGGEST WINS OF 2016.
