If you don’t do the inner work, your limiting beliefs will control every decision that you make in life.

A lot of people shy away from inner work, for fear that facing it, will be painful.

Growth can be difficult, but it can also be transformative. Research shows that many people report psychological growth as a result of experiencing highly stressful events.

Now is the time to release yourself from the past, recondition old belief patterns, and re-write your story. Are you ready to learn 3 ways that you can transform your negative self-talk?

Watch the video below where I talk about how to be confident instantly:

(Click here to watch on YouTube)

Do you want to learn how you can create an empowering morning ritual? CLICK HERE to join my Morning Ritual Mastery program!

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Inner work sounds daunting, but it doesn’t have to be.

It’s all a matter of perspective. We all know how powerful beliefs can be. The mind believes what it wants to believe. If you think that inner work is hard, that’s exactly what it will be. However, if you are able to reframe your experience and view self-growth as an opportunity to become a better version of yourself, the game changes. As Tony Robbins says, “Whatever you hold in your mind on a consistent basis is exactly what you will experience in your life.”

Don’t get me wrong… inner work will challenge you to your core. The process will force you to go inward and look at yourself and your life in unfamiliar ways. If you aren’t willing to drop your ego, be vulnerable, and face your fears, there will be resistance. However, if you can open yourself to the experience, you will set yourself up for a massive internal win.

I always say that anything of value is hard work. On the other side of inner work is purposeful living and it feels damn good. There is nothing more rewarding than stepping into your power and finally living in alignment with your true self.

How do I know? I’ve been on both sides of the coin.

When I was younger, I was a shadow of my true self. I was a shy, anxious, depressed kid. Needless to say, I wasn’t exactly living the high life. Studies have linked negative self-talk with higher levels of stress, lower levels of self-esteem, and depression. I can relate to these toxic effects.

My negative self-talk was like a bad song that I played on repeat in my head. It’s fair to say that the image I held of myself was below average. One day, I looked myself dead in the mirror and I said, “Never again will I allow myself to feel less than.” I knew that the only person that was going to change me, was me. In short, I hit my emotional threshold. 

I was tired of playing small, so I made the decision that I would no longer stay stuck in one place. Living each day as if I was merely surviving didn't feel good. I was ready to thrive. The core of my inner work revolved around my beliefs about who I was. My journey from feeling like a nobody to being a somebody has had its fair share of highs and lows. However, what I have learned about myself throughout the process has been life-changing.

To this day, I continue to learn and grow because life is always changing and so am I.

I’m not perfect. I still experience moments when I feel down or experience self-doubt. However, because I have conditioned my mental muscle on a daily basis, I am now able to shift my state, almost instantly, from one that is disempowering to empowering. This is how I have overcome my shyness and social anxiety. One thing that I know for sure is that doing the inner work is the only thing that has allowed me to become the person that I am today.

I want to share with you 3 ways that you can transform your negative self-talk. I have personally used these strategies in my own life and they have allowed me to create a success-oriented mindset.

1. Become Mindful of the Words You Speak

You are where you are today, in part, because of what you have been saying to yourself. If you tell yourself that you're not enough, you will act from that belief system. Your words are strongly connected to your future self. If you think negative thoughts and speak them out loud, you attract that same energy into your life.

You can't talk about how much you lack and expect to have abundance. Eventually, this negative state of mind becomes a part of your reality. This is how the Law of Attraction works. Keep in mind that, just because a negative thought pops into your mind, it doesn't mean that you have to believe it. Don't allow negative words to prevent you from becoming the person that you were destined to be.

If you want to live a positive life, you need to think positive thoughts. This starts with learning how to reprogram your mind for positive thinking. The best way to foster a more loving relationship with your inner self is by practicing positive affirmations. As you start to speak empowering words out loud to yourself, over time you start to believe these things to be true. This is how I have been able to master my psychology. 

2. Reframe Your Thoughts 

Have you ever wondered how some people thrive through life, while others constantly struggle? It comes down to how they interpret their life's challenges. Successful people are able to effectively reframe their experiences by replacing unhelpful thoughts with more positive and adaptive ones. You may not be able to control what happens to you, but you can always transform how you feel about something.

In their book, What Went Right: Reframe Your Thinking for a Happier Now, Michael Wetter and Eileen Baley suggest that, by changing your thinking, you can unlock self-affirming feelings and actions that are needed in order to create a more empowering life story.

The next time that you find yourself spiraling into self-deprecating behaviors, stop yourself, shift your narrative, and reframe your thinking. For example, “I hate my body” can be reframed to “Yes, I may not be happy about the current state of my health, but I know that if I commit to eating healthier and going to the gym, I will get the body that I want.”

If you want to change something about your life, you've got to start by changing your beliefs first. By shifting your thoughts, you automatically put yourself into a more empowering state of mind.

3. Be A Better Best Friend To Yourself

Do you treat yourself like you would treat your best friend? A lot of people spend so much time being present for others, but they forget about themselves in the process. Instead of celebrating their wins, they beat themselves down and are overly self-critical about everything that they do. 

If you can relate to these behaviors, now is the time to change the view that you have of yourself and start appreciating the amazing person that you are. The next time that you catch your inner critic getting the best of you, check-in and stop this negative voice dead in its tracks. Ask yourself, “Would I speak to ____ in this way?” If the answer is “no,” then you certainly don't deserve it.

The most important relationship you will ever have is the relationship with yourself, which is why it's critical that you make it a priority to put yourself first. Being a better friend to yourself means showing yourself unconditional love and compassion. It's about learning how to love your own company. I encourage you to create a self-love ritual where you take some time every day to celebrate who you are and how far you've come.

Are your ready to start paying attention to your inner self?

Only you can begin this work. It starts with making the decision that you will no longer allow your negative self-talk to control your life. There is nothing or nobody that can give you what it is that you are seeking. Yes, inner work can be challenging, but the person that you become on the other side is well worth the journey. You will start to embody your true power and begin the process of embracing all parts of yourself.

In the words of Helen Joy Butler, “Even though this work may look and feel messy, there is so much beauty in the mess. It's incredibly liberating and life-changing if we have the courage and strength to go there.“

There is nothing that you cannot do. Do not fear the journey of self-discovery. Commit to showing up for yourself and do the work to shift your narrative. Life will take care of the rest.

Do you want to learn how you can create an empowering morning ritual? CLICK HERE to join my Morning Ritual Mastery program!

I want to share with you the worst advice that I've ever received.

I have a feeling that some of you have either been given this advice before or have given this advice to others. 

We've all been on the receiving end of advice at some point in our lives. When you are struggling and desperate for answers, any advice can feel like good advice. Unfortunately, this is not the case.

Are you ready to learn about the one piece of advice that could have left me stuck in one place forever? What I have to say may surprise you.

Watch the video below:

(Click here to watch on YouTube)

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Are you ready to learn how you can master every area of your life? CLICK HERE to join my Life Mastery Accelerator program!

Choosing to ignore the worst advice ever saved my life.

Sometimes people give advice without thinking about the effect that it may have on others. Their intentions may be good, but they've still got their own agendas in mind. The wrong advice can lead you down an entirely wrong direction in life. Here is a story about how I came to receive the worst advice ever.

I used to be the opposite of who I am today. For those of you who don't know my story, I used to struggle with extreme shyness and social anxiety, on top of depression. I got bullied a lot, so much so that I had to move schools three times. As a result of all of these setbacks, I barely graduated high school.

My way of escaping pain was through video games and watching TV. That became my entire world. I didn't want to take responsibility for my life. It's fair to say that I was in a dark place. Thankfully, I hit my emotional threshold and decided that it was time for a massive change.

That is when I discovered the world of self-development which allowed me to realize that ANYTHING was possible. During this time, the one thing that I really wanted to work on was my social life. Unfortunately, the advice that I was consistently getting from people was to just be myself.

That ended up being the worst advice ever.

It only served to limit my true potential. If I had followed this advice, my life would have never changed. I would have continued to be a shy, depressed, and lonely person.

Research shows that painful, early experiences and definitions affect the way individuals perceive and present themselves throughout their lives. This leads them to develop an “accidental identity”, rather than a true sense of who they are. I didn't want to be known forever as the shy guy who had no friends and who could never get a girl.

In order to become more, I had to be what I was not. I knew that if I wanted to change my life, I had to level up. This meant being brutally honest with myself about how I wasn't showing up. I was forced to step outside my comfort zone and face my fears. None of that would have ever happened if I had chosen to play it safe and stay stuck in old patterns of thinking and behaving.

The best advice that I can give you is to be your best self.

You can be, do, and have anything in this world. However, in order to step into your power, you've got to be willing to let go of anything that doesn't serve your highest self. I promise that when you change, everything will change for you.

What does your best self look like? Let that version of yourself be the motivating force that drives you to level up your life.

Are you ready to master every area of your life? CLICK HERE to join my Life Mastery Accelerator program!

Mindfulness has been around for thousands of years. However, as of late, it's popularity in the Western world has skyrocketed.

It has become a form of medicine in order to cope with the ever-changing, fast-paced world that we live in. As our lives get busier and more stressful, people are retaliating against their 24/7 lifestyle to one that is more self-aware and focused on the present moment.

Mindfulness isn't just a practice. It has become a movement. Every business leader, celebrity, and religious follower alike practices it. Experts say that mindfulness offers a rest for the brain, increased productivity, and the ability to turn off the unfulfilling autopilot of the daily grind.

Are you ready to learn 7 practical tips for how you can be more mindful in your everyday life?

In the video below I talk about why you should meditate every day:

(Click here to watch on YouTube)

Are you ready to learn how you can create an empowering morning ritual that will make you feel calmer and more grounded? CLICK HERE to join my Morning Ritual Mastery program!

This page contains affiliate links. If you purchase a product through one of them, I will receive a commission (at no additional cost to you). I only ever endorse products that I have personally used and benefitted from personally. Thank you for your support!

The promise to achieve a more relaxed state of mind has created a strong following of believers, inspiring everyone from university students to business executives to adopt a mindfulness practice. However, it's important to understand that mindfulness isn't a pill that cures all of your problems. Rather, it's a new way of seeing the world that takes time, patience and commitment.

What is mindfulness?

In his mindfulness book, Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain, and Illness, Dr. John Kabat-Zinn, founder of the American mindfulness movement, offers one of the most widely-used definitions of mindfulness as “the awareness that arises through paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally.”

If you are new to the world of mindfulness it's important to understand what it is not before you dive into this practice and make it a way of life.

Mindfulness is a way of life. It's not merely a mindfulness meditation that you practice for 5 minutes every day. As mindfulness has increased in its popularity it has brought to the forefront a lot of critics and naysayers. One of the biggest contradictions of mindfulness training is that sitting in silence and thinking about nothing is the answer. However, it's not only an internal practice. The real magic occurs when this skill is shared with others.

Reseach shows that more mindful leaders make for happier employees, which is one of the many reasons why mindfulness training has become such a popular movement. The line of thinking is that if a leader cultivates mindful traits then that will positively influence and bring out the best in his/her employees and the overall work culture.

When the mindfulness came onto the scene and started to gain in popularity, I had an overall idea of what it meant. However, it wasn't until I started to do research that I learned why it is such a powerful tool. My mindfulness journey began with a simple meditation practice. I would meditate in the mornings before I started my crazy work day.

I've got to be honest. I didn't see the value of meditation at first because I wasn't able to connect with it on an emotional level. 

However, once I forced myself to meditate on a consistent basis, I started to notice the benefits that it was having on my emotional, mental and spiritual state. The rest is history. Here's the thing… the words “mindfulness” and “meditation” are used interchangeably but they aren't the same thing. Both mediums give you the tools so that you are able to be present and access the inner calm that already resides inside of you.

However, mindfulness is about having an awareness of your outer world, whereas meditation is focused on accessing your inner world.

In the world today, we are taught to become obsessed with multitasking. As a result, we don't ever fully focus on anything at all. As someone with an insanely busy life, mindfulness for me means mastering my mind and emotions so that there is no room for my limiting beliefs to run wild. It means living more in the present moment and not looking too far ahead of myself. By practicing mindfulness, I am actively aware of what I am doing while I am doing it, instead of operating on autopilot.

Here are 7 practical tips for how you can be more mindful in your everyday life.

1. Be Grateful

When you wake up in the morning what is the first thing that you think about? Your to-do list or what you are grateful for? A lot of people start their day doing the former. As a result, they drop into a reactive state and feel stressed and anxious about what's to come.

When we adopt an attitude of gratitude we drop into a present state of awareness and give thanks for our lives and the people in it. Mindfulness is the avenue that allows us to do so. It's easy to take life for granted until we are faced with an experience that reminds us how lucky we are to be alive. This is why many people who are near death start living every day as if it were their last.

Gratitude has helped me get through some of the most difficult times in my life. No matter how hard life may be, there is always something to be grateful for. Tap into what that is for you and give thanks every single day. When you do, your life will transform.

2. Tune Into Your Senses

Most of the time, we live in our heads. Can you relate? We are either thinking too much about the past or the future, neither of which we have any control over. Unfortunately, our head is where our inner critic likes to roam wild.

Being in the present moment is all about dropping out of your head and into your heart. One of the easiest ways to connect with your body, which is your true intelligence, is to engage all of your senses. It shifts our attention away from our worries and towards the experience of being in our bodies.

Your senses serve as your mind's authentic inner compass. When the world gets hectic and you lose your center, access the parts of yourselves that you don't usually connect with – the beat of your heart, the touch of your skin, and the sound of your breath.

3. Connect With Nature 

For a lot of people, the only time that they spend in nature is when they walk or run from their house to their car. In our busy, 24/7 world filled with never-ending responsibilities, it makes sense why we've lost touch with the natural world. In the words of William Wordsworth, “The world is too much with us; late and soon, getting and spending, we lay waste our powers.”

Consciously taking the time to connect with nature helps us stay in the present moment and have an awareness of all of the beauty that exists in the world. It makes us realize that there is more to life than just work. The stress of an environment that makes us feel anxious and burnt out wreaks havoc on our mental and emotional well-being.

Switch it up and put yourself in an environment that calms your mind. Be a kid again and enjoy nature's beauty. Get your feet dirty, breathe in the fresh air, look up to the sky. It's all about creating more space for you.

Numerous studies have shown that spending time in nature can boost your immune system, relieve symptoms of depression and anxiety, improve concentration and creativity, relieve stress, and improve your memory. It doesn't only feel good to be in nature, it's also good for your health.

4. Observe Your Thoughts 

When people think of mindfulness they think that it means controlling or stopping your thoughts altogether. Adopting this mode of thinking only results in extreme frustration and a desire to give up on mindfulness. I hate to break it to you but trying NOT to think of something actually makes it more likely that you will.

Thoughts come and go. It is our job to watch and observe them, instead of getting attached to them. All that matters is how you respond to the world around you. The reality is that we don't have any control over our external world. All that we have control over is our inner world. How will you respond to life's challenges? Let life move through you instead of resisting it. That is what allows us to think less and live more mindfully.

5. Practice Deep Breathing

Many people don't even know how to breathe properly. They breathe shallowly because their bodies are in a constant state of stress. Practicing deep breathing helps to quiet your thoughts because the very nature of focusing on your breath requires deep concentration and a focus on the present moment.

When you inhale, start to become more aware of what is happening in your body. As you exhale, consciously let go of the things that don't serve your highest self. To breathe is to live, so do it well. I am a firm believer that learning how to breathe properly is one of the most effective ways to relieve stress and find peace from the craziness that life brings with it.

6. Write In Your Journal

I believe that journaling is one of the most powerful ways to bring you into a state of mindfulness, thereby increasing your self-awareness. It is your time to be present with your thoughts and reflect upon what is important to you. In this mental place, anxieties lose their power. Your mind stops wandering and you become an active observer of your thoughts instead of feeling out of control.

For the past two years, as part of my morning ritual, I've been engaging in an exercise using something called, The Five Minute Journal. This is a journal that inspires you to start and end each day with gratitude. This has been the secret weapon that has allowed me to be more mindful so that I can live from a place of intention every single day.

In her book The Artist’s Way, Julia Cameron invites readers to begin each day with what she calls “Morning Pages.” She explains that “Morning Pages are three pages of longhand, a stream of consciousness writing, done first thing in the morning. There is no wrong way to do Morning Pages – they are not high art. They are not even “writing.” They are about anything and everything that crosses your mind – and they are for your eyes only. Morning Pages provoke, clarify, comfort, cajole, prioritize and synchronize the day at hand.”

7. Embrace Minimalism

When we live simply we only focus on things that matter most, encouraging us to return our attention to the present moment. By embracing minimalism, we declutter our inner and outer world, which creates more space for us to become more mindful.

Instead of being obsessed with the final outcome, the focus is placed on the journey of living. When we adopt this mindset, a simple life becomes the only one that makes sense.

Practicing mindfulness can change your life.

The world will continue to change and move at an ever-rapid pace. Mindfulness gives us the opportunity to be present with ourselves and find stillness amidst the chaos, no matter what is going on in our external world. In this place, we find an inner calm that transcends time and space.

Mindful living is something that you can start practicing today. Don't try too hard or overthink what it looks like. Instead, just focus on paying as much attention as you can to what is happening in the here and now.

How can you bring more mindfulness into your world? In the words of Sharon Saltzberg, “Mindfulness isn't difficult. We just have to remember to do it.”

Are you ready to learn how you can create an empowering morning ritual that will make you feel calmer and more grounded? CLICK HERE to join my Morning Ritual Mastery program!

Do you want to learn the best way to deal with stress? CLICK HERE to read the article that I wrote on Medium!

Change your life and the world, one act of kindness at a time.

This was the message that came across in my interview with John Wang, who is the founder of, One Kindness, a movement that inspires people to perform one act of kindness everyday.

Kindness is a simple concept, but it's impact is large in scope. You have the ability to transform someone’s life for the better, just by a simple act or word. It's fair to say that the world would be a very different place if we showed kindness and compassion to every living being.

Are you ready to learn how kindness can change your life and the world? In the words of Margaret Mead, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.” This is a special interview that you don't want to miss.

Watch the video below:

(Click here to watch on YouTube)

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Are you ready to change your life and the world, one act of kindness at a time? CLICK HERE to learn more about the One Kindness Challenge!

Small acts of kindness will change your life.

In our interview together, I pick John Wang's brain on the importance of kindness, how it can change your life, and how it can make a difference to society as a whole:

Can you share a little bit about the One Kindness Challenge and how you created it?

The One Kindness Challenge is based on a simple idea, which is, if you do one act of kindness every day, for 30 days, your life will transform. We have this misconception that kindness is something that we do for other people; that it's about improving other people's’ lives.

We think of people like the Dalai Lama or Mother Teresa going out there and doing great things, which is fantastic, but science shows how much of an impact kindness can have on improving our daily lives in three major ways – in the way that it shapes our personal relationships, in the way that it affects our income, and how it affects our health.

These are three things that we don't usually associate with kindness, but there are so many studies to support how something as simple as an act of kindness can change your life.

What inspired you to take initiative and create something like this?

It was by accident. Last year I was traveling through Nepal and while I was on a para-gliding adventure, I got stranded in the middle of a village. A man drove up beside me with this family and he asked me if I needed a ride somewhere.

While he was driving, I was talking to members of his family in the car, and I found out that he was actually going in the opposite direction that I was going. It was a huge deal for him to drive all the way back into town for me. At the end of our travels, I offered to give him some money to at least pay for his gas, and he said, “There is no need for that, because I'm not only doing this for you, I'm also doing this for me, because I find enjoyment in helping others.”

That changed my entire perspective with regards to what kindness is, and led me to ask myself, “What if we don't help people for other people, but we also help people in order to improve ourselves?” That's what planted the seed.

Later on, I would hear story after story from celebrities, entrepreneurs, and athletes of how kindness has impacted and improved their lives, simply by helping others. We are communal in nature.

What you put out into the world influences how other people see you. If you have the desire to start a business, are an entrepreneur, or work in a corporate setting, the best way to improve your social sphere is by contributing to the lives of others.

A great example is the story of Tony Horton, the Founder of P90X. I randomly met Tony at the gym in California, where him and his entire team were inventing these crazy workouts at the time. I asked if I could jump in and join his training session. It was the most intense workout that I've ever experienced. At the end of the workout I told him about what the One Kindness Challenge, and he shared with me a story of how his business came to fruition.

He started off as a personal trainer in LA, but was really struggling. During this time of his life, he was reading a book and came across a passage that read, “Go do something kind for someone that you don't like.”

So, he approached a guy at his gym, who had previously rubbed him the wrong way, and asked him if he wanted to be trained, for free. Overtime, they developed a relationship, and as this guy started to see results from Tony's efforts, he organized a meeting for Tony to meet with someone.

This person ended up being Tony's future business partner, and the one who funded P90X and started the empire. It all started with a simple act of kindness.

If we improve people’s lives, we can improve our own lives. It's not about the size of the act, but rather, the size of the impact. In this moment, I'm sure you can think of a moment when someone did something for you that, to them, may have been really small, but it brightened your entire day.

There was a very famous story of a guy who walked onto the Golden Gate Bridge and killed himself, and later on when the crime investigators went into his home, they found a note on top of his bureau that said, “Today I am going to walk to the Golden Gate Bridge. If one person smiles at me along the way, I will not jump.” It's so tragic, yet so powerful to think that something so small could have prevented this tragedy.

Kindness is something that we don't think about everyday – like opening a door, smiling at someone, or offering to help carry groceries to someone's car. These small gestures can have a massive impact in somebody else’s life.

Why do you think that so many people in society live with a negative state of mind? Where do you think that stems from?

Ultimately, I think it always stems from fear, especially if you are not yet where you know you can be in life. There are days when people wake up and wonder if they are capable of rising up to life’s challenges. Days like these create fear that gnaw away at us, and when we give into that fear, it's easy to put other people down.

This is why I believe that gratitude is one of the most powerful mindsets that you can have. When you wake up with gratitude, you live from a place of abundance, knowing that you have enough to thrive. Negativity comes from fear and uncertainty, and a sense that we are not good enough.

When we engage in an act of kindness, it creates a sense of warmth in our chest, which is actually caused by stimulation of the Vagus nerve, which is connected to the back of our brain stem. This nerve releases powerful positive feelings in our brain, which can trigger a sense of inspiration and motivation.

So, in a lot of ways, if you are having a bad day, and you don't want to keep going down that cycle, sometimes something as simple as engaging in a small act of kindness can change how you feel instantly.

What are some of the top benefits that people receive from doing your challenge for 30 days?

You should instantly feel different. There have been studies that show that it has a compounding effect. It's what they call, “a helper's high.” You get a hit of endorphins, and your brain wants to keep repeating that. It actually dissolves the stress that we carry in our body and everything becomes a bit lighter.

There was a study that was done across 40 different countries that found that, the #1 trait that the majority of people list as desirable in the opposite sex is kindness, above financial situation and sexual attractiveness.

We think that kindness is attractive, because if someone has the ability to be kind, than they must live an abundant lifestyle. We want people around us that are living and giving because that energy is infectious.

Research has found that businesses that have some element of giving are much more profitable, have happier employees, experience lower turnover, and have better customer satisfaction. Toms Shoes is a really good example of is. They have a buy 1, give 1 philosophy, where they give away a pair of shoes to someone in need.

If you take a look at almost any business, from small, solopreneur type businesses, all the way to these mega corporations, the ones that have initiatives, where they are able to help the communities around them, tend to do better, because we want to support businesses that are supporting us.

We like people who want to give. We trust them more, and it build deeper connections. It all comes down to empathy. If you can be empathetic enough to be aware of the needs of others, and come from a place of giving, the Universe will give back to you.

If there are people in your life that are difficult there's a reason for that. They are not mean because they are naturally born that way. Kindness is inherent. Children are all about giving and helping one another. When did we lose that? Usually, it's during the process of growing up, when we experience pain and wounding, and our reaction to those feelings is defensiveness. In turn, we end up wounding others.

Can you share with people the purpose of the bracelet that you wear and how it helps with the awareness aspect of it?

I wanted to wear something that could help remind me about the importance of kindness. It's so easy to forget about it, so I created a simple reminder, in the form of a bracelet.

On the one side it reads, “One Kindness”. Once I have engaged in one act of kindness, I flip the bracelet around, which shows our logo, which is a heart, with a check mark on it. This symbolizes that I have achieved what I set out to do.

Every single time that I look at the bracelet, I am reminded of that feeling I get when I've engaged in an act of kindness, and it brings a smile to my face. On top of that, my friends and family can see whether or not I've engaged an act of kindness, based on which way my bracelet is sitting, which holds me accountable.

Do you have a final message that you want to share with people on the importance of kindness?

If there is one message that I could put on a billboard and share with people is the idea that, making the world a better place doesn't have to be this massive thing, where you dedicate a year of your life to go somewhere and rescue a village of people.

A lot of times it's about creating small ripples of impact on a regular basis. Make it a habit and watch your mindset change. Watch the way that it changes your psychology and the people around you. Just one act of kindness can instantly change your life.

I hope John Wang's message has showed you how kindness will change your life and the world.

If you want to purchase one of John's kindness bracelets, CLICK HERE to check out his website!

What act of kindness will you commit to doing today? I inspire you to integrate kindness into your morning ritual. It has the power to change your life, the lives of others, and the world as a whole.

In the words of Leo Buscaglia, “Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.”

Are you ready to change your life and the world, one act of kindness at a time? CLICK HERE to learn more about the One Kindness Challenge!

I want to share with you an exercise on how to determine your core life values. Through this process, we are going to discover whether your current values are propelling you forward, or holding you back.

Our values form the foundation of our lives; they determine the decisions that we make and the direction that our lives take. In the words of John C. Maxwell, “Your core values are the deeply held beliefs that authentically describe your soul.”

The first step is to acknowledge and take responsibility for the life that you have created. If your values aren’t in alignment with your vision, there will be resistance, in the form of a tremendous amount of push, effort, and willpower. Alternatively, when you align with what you truly desire in life, you will experience more ease, less effort, and a greater sense of fulfillment.

If you want to determine your core life values, start by figuring out what's REALLY important to you. When you do so, you can choose beliefs and habits that ensure that your life aligns with those values. Are you ready to determine your core life values?

Watch the video below:

(Click here to watch on YouTube)

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Do you want to learn how to live more in alignment with your core values? CLICK HERE to join my Life Mastery Accelerator program!

I originally learned about this core life values exercise from a few different schools of thought in the NLP community. When I went to Tony Robbins’ seminar, Date With Destiny, he shared this process in more depth.

Start by asking yourself this question – “What has been most important thing in my life?” Write down the first thing that comes up for you. It could be happiness, success, money, family, security or something completely different.

Ask yourself the same question again, “What else has been important for me in my life?” Rinse and repeat this self-reflection process, until you have created a list of things. When you engage in this exercise, tap into the core emotions that come up for you, and write them down as well.

Once you have your list of things, sit back and ask yourself, “What has been the most important value in my life?” Understanding the hierarchy of your values is critical to determining what you need to focus the most attention on.

Let me provide you with a personal example. The #1 thing that has allowed me to get to where I am today has been my commitment to personal growth and development. This year alone, I have invested tens of thousands of dollars in seminars and workshops. The reason I do that is because growth is a very important value for me.

I also really value success and money, which comes from my desire for freedom and achievement. That is what led me to make the decision to become an entrepreneur. Because of that choice, I had to sacrifice a lot, and work hard to create the life that I have today. Watch my YouTube video above to learn what my 7 core values are!

You want to come up with at least 7 values. Everyone is different. There is no right or wrong. Your most important values are based on the life that you desire.

Once you’ve looked at your list of values, and identified some of the conflicts that you’ve been experiencing, ask yourself, “What is the vision for my life?” You may discover that there are a few things on your list that you didn’t previously think about.

For example, if your vision is to travel the world with the love of your life, and build a successful online business that impacts the world, you need to place more emphasis on the values of love, health, and contribution. From the list of values that you have, ask yourself, “Which of these values is the most important?”

This is the process for how to determine your core life values. By engaging in this exercise, hopefully it will help you better understand how you have been living your life, and what needs to change in order to create the life of your dreams. I encourage you to take out a pen and paper, put yourself in a distraction-free environment, and spend some time reflecting on your values.

If you want to go deeper, and are committed to mastering every area of our life, check out my monthly Life Mastery Accelerator program. Keep in mind that finding and living your core values is an ongoing exercise.

As life changes, so do your values, and that is OK. The important thing is that you take the necessary steps in order to bring yourself closer to living in alignment with your true self. Roy E. Disney said it best – “It’s not hard to make decisions once you know what your values are.”

Do you want to learn how to live more in alignment with your core values? CLICK HERE to join my Life Mastery Accelerator program!

I've been re-reading one of my favourite books lately, Awaken The Giant Within by Tony Robbins, and I've reached the section called The 10 Day Mental Diet Challenge.  In it, Tony Robbins proposes a 10 day challenge based on something that he had learned in pamphlet by Emmet Fox, based on the 7 Day Mental Diet.

The challenge is that for the next 10 days, beginning immediately, commit to taking full control of all your mental and emotional faculties by deciding right now that you will not indulge in or dwell on any unresourceful thoughts or emotions for 10 consecutive days.

It sounds easy, but you might be surprised how often your brain is engaged in unproductive, fearful, worrisome, or destructive thinking.  The goal is to learn how to discipline yourself to be able to change your state and thinking rapidly, without indulging in them.  It's about developing mastery of your mental and emotional well-being.

Never spend more than 10% of your time on the problem, and spend at least 90% of your time on the solution.

This is something that I've done many times before in the past, and it's made a significant difference in my life.  I realized I had some destructive habits and patterns that were holding me back, such as binge eating, and that certain emotional states or negative thoughts were triggering those destructive habits.  It wasn't until I committed to taking up the 10 Day Mental Diet Challenge that I was able to learn how to take control of my mind and stay consistent with the habits that I wanted.

There are four simple yet important rules to this 10 Day Mental Diet Challenge:

Rule 1. In the next 10 consecutive days, refuse to dwell on any unresourceful thoughts or feelings. Refuse to indulge in any disempowering questions or devitalizing vocabulary or metaphors.

Rule 2. When you catch yourself beginning to focus on the negative – and you certainly will – you are to immediately snap yourself out of it and change your thinking or state. You can do this by asking an empowering question, such as “What's great about this?” or “What else could this mean?”. Or you can reframe any negative thoughts that come up, for example, if you catch yourself saying “I suck”, you would replace it with, “I'm awesome!”  There are some powerful techniques that you can use in a blog post I wrote on how to master your emotions. In addition, you can set yourself up for success each morning for the next 10 days by developing a morning ritual to get yourself in a peak emotional state each day.

Rule 3. For the next 10 consecutive days, make certain that your whole focus in life is on solutions and not problems. The minute you see a possible challenge, immediately focus on what the solution could be.

Rule 4. If you backslide – that is, if you catch yourself indulging in or dwelling on an unresourceful thought or feeling – don't beat yourself up. There's no problem with this as long as you change immediately. However, if you continue to dwell on unrsourceful thoughts or feelings for more than a minute, you must wait until the following morning to start the ten days over. The goal of this program is 10 consecutive days without holding or dwelling on a negative thought or state. This starting-over process must happen no matter how many days in a row you've already accomplished the task.

When I first attempted the 10 Day Mental Diet Challenge it took me several weeks before I was able to go the 10 consecutive days. It was much more difficult than I thought. But once I was able to successfully finish it, it helped me condition myself for a tremendous, lifelong pattern of staying in a positive emotional state, even when there were challenges around me, and focusing the majority of my energy on solutions.

This is since a process that I've encouraged my coaching clients to partake in, and it's made a huge difference for them, especially in helping overcoming destructive habits or addictions.  It's something that I'm going to be going through again for myself, as I want to make sure I'm applying everything I learn in the book Awaken The Giant Within.

If you take on this 10 Day Mental Diet Challenge, it will do four things for you:

1. It will make you acutely aware of all the habitual mental and emotional patterns that are holding you back.
2. It will make your brain search for empowering alternatives to them.
3. It will give you an incredible sense of confidence as you can see that you can turn your life around in an instant.
4. Most importantly, it will create new habits, new standards, and new expectations that will help you expand more than you could ever believe.

Here's a word of caution: Don't begin this 10 day commitment unless and until you are certain that you are going to live by it for the full length of time. If you aren't committed to this, then you won't last the 10 days. This is not for the weak of heart. This is only for those who are fully committed to conditioning their nervous systems for new, empowering emotional patterns that can take their lives to the next level.

Are you going to do it?  Think about it carefully, because once you commit, there's no going back.

The truth is, you already know and have amazing tools on how to change yourself, your thoughts, and your emotional state. This is my challenge to you to start using them.  It's time to put in practice what you've learned.

The best way to stay accountable to this is to commit to a friend or family member that you're going to do this 10 Day Mental Diet Challenge. Post a comment below to make your commitment public. This will help make you stay accountable and show your level of commitment to complete it.

For anyone that is reading this, I commit to completing the 10 Day Mental Diet Challenge!