Challenges are an inevitable part of life.

Things will happen that feel unfair, out of your control, and sometimes devastating. Coronavirus is a perfect example.

During difficult times like these, it is more important than ever before to build your resilience muscle.

The people who thrive in life are those who view challenges as opportunities for growth.

Are you ready to overcome life struggles and challenges to become the hero of your life? If so, keep reading.

Watch the video below:

(Click here to watch on YouTube)

[smart_track_player url=”https://www.buzzsprout.com/9299/3630157-plm-783-how-to-overcome-life-struggles-and-challenges.mp3″ background=”default” ]

Do you want to know how to master every area of your life? CLICK HERE to join my Life Mastery Accelerator program!

Challenges empower you or destroy you.

It is your response to adversity, not the adversity itself that ends up determining how your life will unfold. What you resist, persists. When you experience pain or uncomfortable emotions, your natural response may be to run away. Why would you want to embrace something that causes you pain, right?

In my experience, when you don't embrace challenges, you only get more of them. In Buddhism, they believe that since our mind creates everything, no external cause is really creating any pain for us. Thus, it's only the illusion within our mind that creates the pain we feel.

When you experience struggles in life, you may think that it's the struggle itself that is the problem. However, oftentimes it's a symptom of a much deeper issue that you have yet to face. Instead of resisting your challenges, what would happen if you surrendered to them? Some of my most powerful transformational experiences in life have happened on the other side of surrender.

I believe that everything, both good and bad, happens for a higher purpose. The moment that you stop fighting the natural flow of things and let go of what you cannot control is the moment that life starts acting in your favor. The challenge that a lot of people face is that they want to control everything.

At its core, the need for control is rooted in a fear of what will happen if one loses control. The reality is that you can't control everything that happens to you. Sometimes the plan that you have for your life doesn't turn out how you wanted it to be. In the words of John Lennon, “Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans.”

Life doesn't always like your plans.

Sometimes life gives you challenges that shake you to your core, to the point where you hit rock bottom – the death of a loved one, a failed marriage, losing your job, financial debt. In difficult times, you always have a choice. You can either rise and step into your power or be a victim of your circumstances.

When you allow challenges to define you, you give up your power. If you want to overcome challenges and life struggles, you must possess empowering core beliefs. Doing so will allow you to move through difficult times with grace and ease.

Are you ready to overcome adversity? Hard times don't have to last forever.

When life knocks you down, what do you do? Do you dust yourself off and keep moving forward, or do you curl up in a ball and give up? Adversity takes many forms and effects each person differently. What matters most is how you choose to react when adversity strikes.

If you want to master your life, you need to learn how to overcome adversity and hard times. How do I know? I've been faced with some big challenges in my life that have tested my strength. By making the choice to overcome adversity, I was able to make room for healthier relationships, financial abundance, greater confidence, and a heightened level of personal fulfillment and joy.

You may not be able to see it now, but adversity is actually a blessing in disguise. It is an opportunity for you to prove to yourself how strong you really are. In the words of Barbara De Angelis, “We don’t develop courage by being happy every day. We develop it by surviving difficult times and challenging adversity.”

Are you ready to learn 9 strategies for how to overcome adversity and hard times?

Watch the video below:

(Click here to watch on YouTube)

[smart_track_player url=”https://www.buzzsprout.com/9299/663424-plm-542-how-to-overcome-adversity-and-hard-times.mp3″ background=”default” ]

Are you ready to learn 21 powerful morning rituals that will take your life to the next level? CLICK HERE to receive instant access to my free cheat sheet!

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!

When you overcome adversity, you change your life. 

Yes, hard times can be difficult to bare and can leave emotional scars that are difficult to let go of, but we always have a choice. You don't need to possess superhuman strength in order to bounce back from adversity. The secret to learning how to overcome adversity and hard times is resilience.

You may be wondering, “What does it mean to be resilient?” Resilience is the process of thriving through adversity, trauma or stress. It is not something that you are born with. Rather, it is a trait that can be developed over time.

In her book, Supernormal: The Untold Story of Adversity And Resilience, Meg Jay says that, “What I like about the word ‘supernormal' is it hints at how heroic that is — that it takes a lot of courage to go out there and rise above your circumstances or rise above the events that have happened to you.”

It's not the events of life that matter, but rather the meaning that we create from those events. Whether or not you create an empowering or disempowering meaning from hard times in your life is entirely up to you. Two different people can experience the same event but take away an entirely different meaning from their experience.

Resilient people don't focus on how hard times broke them in the first place. Rather, they pay attention to and embrace the actions that they took in order to get through the difficult times. They wake up every day and consciously choose growth and focus on what they can control.

Researchers have discovered five particular areas of growth that often spring from adversity: interpersonal relationships, the identification of new possibilities for one's life, personal strength, spirituality, and an appreciation of life. This phenomenon is referred to as post-traumatic growth. Each of us has the power to channel our pain into productive ways of living.

If you struggle with adversity, today is a new day to reclaim your power. You no longer have to drown in the ocean of despair. Now is the time to be your own anchor and ride the storms of life, with grace and ease. I want to teach you 9 strategies that will help you overcome adversity and hard times once and for all.

1. Believe In Yourself

Don't let anything or anyone make you question your belief in yourself. When adversity hits, it's easy for our self-esteem to take a massive blow, but you need to realize that you are NOT defined by your challenges. Adversity isn't a part of your identity. It's merely an experience.

Trust that you have the ability to take back control of your life when everything feels like it's falling apart. Acknowledge the adversity and hard times that you are experiencing, but know that you will overcome anything that stands in your way of success.

Don't allow your inner critic to rope you into the story that you aren't strong enough to get through tough times. Think back to all of the times in your life when you rose back from the ashes, and use those experiences as reminders of how strong you are.

2. Drop Negative Self-Talk

What you think and say about yourself will create your outcomes in life. When adversity occurs, be aware of how you talk to yourself. If you focus primarily on the negative aspects of a stressful event, then you will be more likely to replay those negative thoughts in your head. Your inner critic will feed off the negativity, further diminishing your self-esteem.

Words are powerful. Resist saying things like, “I can't do this” or “This is tough.” Don't let the story that your inner critic is trying to tell you to dictate your choices. Instead, focus on language that is empowering, positive and that inspires you to take action to change your life.

3. Practice Self-Compassion 

When life knocks you down, showing kindness and compassion towards yourself can go a long way. Studies show that self-compassion is a key piece in peoples' ability to overcome adversity and hard times. Let's pull upon research to support this point of view.

Kristin Neff, Ph.D., a pioneer in self-compassion research, says self-compassion has three main components: (a) Self-kindness – replace harsh self-criticism with kinder, gentler words, (b) common humanity – acknowledge that suffering and personal failure is a universal experience; and (c) mindfulness – observe your negative emotions without focusing on them or suppressing them.

Mistakes will happen in life. Don't be so hard on yourself! If you dwell on the negative, you will never be able to move forward. When you are recovering from setbacks, do you speak to yourself like you would to a good friend that is going through hard times? If not, it's time to show yourself some more self-compassion.

4. Change Your Response

Whenever adversity looms its ugly face and tries to take you down, how do you respond? Your response is what will determine how fast you are able to bounce forward from adversity. It's not what happens to you that matters. Rather, it's what you choose to do with that negative experience.

Resilient-minded people are always growing and seeking new to ways to learn from life's experiences. When we respond to a negative event in a positive way, positive results unfold. At the end of the day, life is all about choices. We can't always choose what happens to us, but we can always choose how we will respond.

Don't react. Rather, be proactive, take ownership of your problems, and eventually, you will find that adversities and hard times are just obstacles that you can and will overcome. Robert Collier said it best – “In every adversity there lies the seed of an equivalent advantage. In every defeat is a lesson showing you how to win the victory next time.”

5. Take Responsibility For Your Life

It’s not easy to take responsibility for your circumstances, especially when they are out of our control. However, by playing the victim and taking a back seat to your life, you are disempowering yourself, leaving you feeling powerless and unable to take control of the situation.

It comes down to accepting that life is a rollercoaster ride of highs and lows. And in order to enjoy the ride, you need to appreciate the duality, without any resistance to the process. Sometimes when we are dealt an unfair hand, we assume that life is working against us.

However, every experience of adversity is designed to help us become better versions of ourselves. When you take responsibility for your life and your circumstances, you are better able to embrace the hard times that life can bring.

6. Ask For Help

When adversity and hard times strike, don't be afraid to ask for help from colleagues, friends or loved ones. Oftentimes when we feel deeply wounded by hard times, it is easy to feel like we are alone, but you aren't. The fear of looking stupid or weak stops many people from reaching out for help. These limiting beliefs are created from years of societal conditioning that teaches us that vulnerability equates to weakness. This is far from true. Asking for help is one of the most accurate measures of strength, so don't be afraid to share your story and express how you feel.

7. Find The Silver Lining 

Every adversity presents an opportunity for growth. Think back to some of the most difficult times in your past. What did you learn about yourself and how did your life change as a result of that experience? Resilient people always look for opportunities in adversities and hard times.

Do resilient people feel pain deeply? Of course, but they don't dwell in self-loathing and victimhood. They recover from the blows of life and find the silver lining that allows them to become more.

It may seem impossible to look for the good when you are in the throws of a negative situation, but a positive attitude is what will allow you to get back into the game of life much faster. In the words of Marilyn Monroe, “Sometimes things fall apart so that better things can fall together.”

8. Create A Game Plan 

If you want to change your life for the better, you need to create a game plan and take positive action. You create your reality. You can either choose to dwell in negativity or rise up and take back your life. Don't wait and hope for a better tomorrow.

Hard times can knock us down if we allow them to. We always have a choice to transform pain into possibility. Don't be limited by adversity and hard times. Know your strength and believe that you are capable of doing anything. If you are willing to persist, despite the odds, and rise above your circumstances there is nothing that will stand in your way of success.

9. Adopt An Attitude Of Gratitude

What if I told you that a simple change in your attitude could help you overcome adversity of any kind? This is where the power of gratitude comes into play. This is a state of mind that helps us see everything in life as a gift. In the face of hard times, gratitude is what helps us cope and gives us hope.

I believe that everything in life happens for a reason, and that negative experiences are designed to serve our higher self in some way. It's our job to find out what that is. I'm so grateful for all of the hard times I've been through. In fact, I celebrate them. Everything that I've gone through in my life has made me the person I am today.

Some of the biggest breakthroughs that I've experienced in my life happened right after I was able to overcome massive adversity. To this day, when something negative happens, I always ask myself, “What's great about this experience and what can I learn from this?” It's your job to find the empowering meanings of every experience that you face, both good and bad.

When you are in the moment, you don't always see the value of gratitude, but I encourage you to always trust that the events that have happened in your life serve a purpose that is bigger than yourself. Sometimes hard times force us to hit rock bottom so that we can reflect on our lives and grow through adversity. You can lose everything, but the one thing that can never be taken away from you is what you've learned and who you have become in the process.

There is always a lesson to be learned from every experience. If you believe that life happens for you, not to you, you will feel empowered to get through anything that tests your strength.

Are you ready to overcome adversity and hard times?

Champions look adversity and hard times in the eye and give them a wink. You are a champion. It's time to show life what you are made of. In the words of William Arthur Ward, “Adversity causes some men to break; others to break records.” Which path will you take?

Are you ready to learn 21 powerful morning rituals that will take your life to the next level? CLICK HERE to receive instant access to my free cheat sheet!!

The online business journey is a thrilling, jam-packed roller coaster ride, filled with highs and lows.

If you want to become a successful entrepreneur, you need to know what you can expect, in order to determine if you are ready for it. You've probably come across some entrepreneurial success stories of people who have ‘made it big', which has inspired you to know how they did it.

What a lot of people don't see is the years of blood, sweat, and tears that entrepreneurs invest into building their dreams. I want to share with you what you can expect, some of the biggest challenges that you may face, and how you can leverage your time to increase productivity levels.

When you have a realistic perspective of what the online business journey looks like, it gives you a solid framework for understanding how you can move forward. Success is a journey. Are you ready to learn what this process entails, so that you can take action and start creating the online business of your dreams? 

Watch the video below:

(Click here to watch on YouTube)

[smart_track_player url=”https://www.buzzsprout.com/9299/658480-plm-539-the-online-business-journey-what-to-expect-biggest-challenges-time-management.mp3″ background=”default” ]

Are you ready to learn which online business model is best for you to start? CLICK HERE to take my quiz!

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!

When it comes to building an online business, people face a lot of challenges, one of which is time. I work with a lot of people that don't have a lot of time because they have a full-time job that has them working 40-60 hours/week. At the end of the day, they don't have the emotional bandwidth to do much of anything, let alone build an online business. On top of that, many people have families and loved ones that they need to spend time with and take care of, so it can be a difficult balancing act.

The tricky thing about the online business journey is that, in the beginning stages, you don't make any money. It takes time to build the foundation of your business, so you can't expect to see a return from your efforts right away. This is why you need a steady income to pay your bills, and then use that cash flow to invest it into your online business. I don't encourage people to quit their day jobs. This is a recipe for failure.

That being said, if you have the desire to build an online business, there are sacrifices that you are going to have to make. Anything of value in life takes time, hard work, commitment, and discipline. You need to know what you need to give up in order to have whatever it is that you desire most.

This means that you may have to put social time on the back burner and stop hanging out with your friends as much. Similarly, you may have to limit the amount of time that you spend with your family, if it means creating the life of your dreams. Unfortunately, a lot of people don't want to face this reality, nor do their loved ones. 

I would like to share what I learned along my online business journey.

When I was in my early 20's, I had to sacrifice a lot in order to build my online business. My health definitely took a toll, but I knew that it was a short-term sacrifice that I needed to make if I wanted to be successful. I thought about the big picture and knew that paying this price meant that I would be able to one day create my ultimate dream lifestyle.

A lot of people aren't willing to make sacrifices, and that resistance is what holds them back. Eric Worre said it best, “Most people think that they deserve success as some sort of right, but here's the truth. Success is something that you earn through effort.”

Luckily, I didn't have a family to take care of, but while everyone was going out and having fun, I was sitting in my room, building my future. I had to learn how to say no a lot because I was so hyper-focused on building what it is that I have today.

There was a lot of learning curves that I had to go through. When I first started, everything was new to me. I didn't even know that creating an online business was possible, let alone what blogging or email marketing was. I was programmed and condition, as many of us are from an early age, to believe that success meant going to school, getting good grades, and finding a great job that would allow you to retire comfortably. That was my blueprint for success.

When I discovered that I could make money on the Internet and that I could model and learn from other successful people through online training, courses, and seminars, I was hooked. Putting the time, energy and money into building something of my own, versus spending an insane amount of money on a college education, was the best decision for me. 

That being said, I started off with some huge disadvantages. I was a C- student in high school. I struggled with writing and public speaking because I suffered from extreme shyness and social anxiety. However, the one advantage that I did have was that I had strong computer skills. That was the greatest benefit of playing a lot of video games when I was younger.

This is why I am a big believer in the power of personal growth and development. If you want to build a successful online business, you need to be resourceful and commit to lifelong learning. There is no better investment that you will make in life. You may be wondering, “Why is investing in yourself so powerful? Well, When you’re willing to take a leap of faith and do whatever it takes to build your future, the Universe listens and provides you with life-changing rewards. Keep in mind that nothing works unless you do. 

It all starts with believing that you deserve greatness. As Dr. David Hawkins explains in his book, Letting Go, “The unconscious will allow us to have only what we believe we deserve. The more we hang on to our negativity and small self-image that results, the less we think we deserve.” When it comes to learning new things, make the choice to adopt a growth mindset and focus on what is possible.

If you don't know how to do something, learn how to do it. Don't dabble and stay on the surface. Rather, go deep with your learning. When the going gets tough, push harder. Masters know that repetition is the mother of all learning. This is what is going to help you accelerate your success even more.

When you adopt an attitude of curiosity and dive into the world of online business, it can be really exciting because you make all these new discoveries that you've never heard of before. For example, I was blown away that I could become a self-published author, have my book live on Amazon in 24 hours and start making money from it. This is so far from some people's reality, but it's possible!

When it comes to learning, a common mistake that I see a lot of people make is that they try to do too much at once, which results in information overload. They don’t have a step-by-step guide in place for how they can apply what they learn. 

A lot of people make the mistake of jumping too far ahead in their online business journey.

The result? Frustration, anxiety and overwhelm. In short, you end up getting nothing done because your brain can't process all of the information. In a paper published in Psychological Science, Bar and Baror describe how “conditions of high load” foster unoriginal thinking. When our brains are overwhelmed with thoughts, they pursue well-trodden paths of least resistance, with the goal of bringing order to the onslaught of information.

You need to master each step in the process. Don’t expect to understand how to complete step 5 if you haven’t even completed step 1. You need to learn and then apply, and then keep recycling that process. To add to this, in the beginning stages of building an online business not everyone has a lot of money to invest into training, which is why you need to go broad when it comes to learning new skills — whether that's email marketing, copywriting, creating content, doing SEO or PPC's, building a WordPress website, or working with software.

Unfortunately, I see a lot of people who stay broad and never end up becoming an expert at something. I believe that all of us should have a master skill. Any master throughout history is really good at ONE thing, whether that's Charles Darwin, Lebron James or Stefan Curry.

In his book, The Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell spoke about the 10,000-hour rule, citing it as “the magic number of greatness.” On average, it takes 10 years to master something, so you can't master everything. Once you've learned a variety of online business skills, I encourage you to step back and ask yourself, “What are the one or two things that I am going to do deep with and commit to mastering?” 

For myself, it was content creation. Once I committed to mastering this, it was a game changer for my online business. I love sharing my message with the world, writing, interviewing people, learning new things and sharing it with my audience. That is what I spend the majority of my time doing in my online business.

You want to pick a high-paid skill that is hard to replace. If I could go back in time and do something different, I would have found a freelance job that I could go deep with and learn from, while building my online business. You need to practice and cultivate the skill that you want to master, every single day.

With regards to managing your time, you need to become diligent and treat your online business like a real job. Oftentimes people struggle because they have no accountability – they don't have a coach, a boss, or a mastermind group that is in their corner, cheering them on and making sure that they follow through with their goals.

When you have a 9-5 job you have to show up on time and do the work. If you don't, you will likely get fired. If you treat your online business the same way, you will get results, but you need to be hyper discipline. This means that when you are working on your online business, you can't have any distractions. Distractions are a great way to derail you from a task altogether. In fact, one study shows it takes about 25 minutes to get back into the swing of things after you’ve been interrupted.

You also need to enrol the support of your family friends, when it comes to the vision that you have for your online business. If you've got people holding you back from achieving your goals, it's going to make the process so much harder for you. If you know that people are going to criticize you, then don't share with them what you are doing. It's not worth the stress. You need all of the emotional and mental strength that you can muster, in order to take your online business to the next level.

One of my favorite ways to build my online business is through the power of immersion. I'll take a few days during the week where I work 16 hours each day. What you get done during that time is probably more than what you can ever get done in a month or two. I'll put myself in a new environment, whether that means renting an Airbnb or taking a weekend trip somewhere, and I will lose myself in my work.

I like to set a timer when I work so that I know how much time that I have in order to accomplish something. When the timer hits zero, I move on. Don't waste your precious time. That urgency forces me to work faster and more efficiently with the time that I have. Everyone has a different amount of time, but as long as you are committed, you will get where you want to go. Become a master at time management. When you do, your online business will thrive.

Are you ready to dive into your online business journey?

There will be a lot of ups and down along your online business journey, but trust me when I say that it is so worth the ride. Sure, there will be times when you will feel like you're slipping, but if you stay committed to the process, you will start moving again and creating the momentum that you need in order to thrive. Once you've built your first successful online business, you will become inspired to keep creating more!

It's an exciting process and one that you will reap massive rewards from if you don't give up and stay focused. In the words of Tony Gaskins Jr., “If you don't build your dreams, someone will hire you to build theirs.” Are you ready to build your dream business?

Are you ready to learn which online business model is best for you to start? CLICK HERE to take my quiz!

Are you ready to learn how you can navigate the entrepreneurial roller coaster ride? CLICK HERE to check out the article that I wrote on Medium!

In today's ever-changing world, if you don't develop a growth mindset, you will get left behind.

Your mindset is the driving force behind every decision that you make. At the end of the day, it determines your success or your failure in business. In her book, Mindset: The New Psychology for Success, Stanford psychology professor Carol Dweck explains that “The attitude we bring to our daily activities can play a large role in shaping and extending the ways we utilize our innate talents.” 

People with a growth mindset believe that their intelligence can be developed through hard work. They possess a passionate love of learning and view failure as a gift. In contrast, people with a fixed mindset believe their intelligence is fixed, that mistakes are signs of failure, and that talent, void of effort, is what creates success. 

Which mindset do you adopt? If you are trapped in a fixed mindset, now is the time to change it! Entrepreneurial success demands that you do so.

Are you ready to learn how you can master your online business? CLICK HERE to join my Online Business Mastery Accelerator 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!

Do you have a fixed or a growth mindset?

Some people believe that if you grow up with a fixed mindset, you can't ever change it. Science is proving that it is possible to change a person's mindset from fixed to growth. Research on brain plasticity has shown how connectivity between neurons can change with experience. The good news is that, if you believe that your brain can grow, you will behave differently!

If your business isn't thriving, it could be that your mindset needs an upgrade. Entrepreneurship can be a roller coaster ride of highs and lows, so if you are afraid of speed, you need to re-think whether or not this is the ride for you. As an entrepreneur, if you aren't growing, you're dying. This is equally true in business, as it is in any area of life. 

The practice of entrepreneurship requires a specific type of mindset, one that focuses on innovation, possibility and a commitment to personal growth and development. 

Let's explore 6 ways to develop a growth mindset.

1. Commit to Continuous Learning

We've been conditioned by our education system to believe that once we finish school, our learning days no longer exist. Think again. If you want to become a successful entrepreneur, you need to commit to lifelong learning and create daily habits that expand your mind. This is an integral part of developing a growth mindset.

It's easy to fall into the trap of, “I don't know how to do that because it's not a skill of mine”, but that's far from the truth. Do you know how many business skills I had to learn from scratch, with no previous experience? I knew that if I wanted to succeed, I needed to take control of my learning, and do it well.

Our intelligence is not fixed. Rather, it is ever-expanding, if we choose to see it that way. If you act as if you know everything and make choices based on your assumptions and judgments, you won't be receptive to the world of opportunities that lie in front of you.

I encourage you to attend seminars and events, read books, take part in training programs, listen to podcasts, or find a mentor or coach who can help you apply what you learn. Learning is great, but if you don't do anything with it, it's a waste of time. This is what people with a growth mindset do.

Successful entrepreneurs commit to developing their knowledge, skills, and abilities. Rather than dabbling, they make daily growth one of their top priorities. If you follow their lead, you will have a strong competitive edge that will allow you to thrive in life and business.

2. Transform Problems Into Possibilities

A lot of people react to problems in a negative way, but the key to success is to accept that problems are a normal part of life. When it comes to running a business, expect an onslaught of daily challenges to arise. It's all part of the process. The fact of the matter is that we don't have control over the outside world. The only thing that we have control over is how we respond. 

All successful entrepreneurs have one thing in common – an optimistic mindset that enables them to transform their problems into possibilities. When bad things happen, they don't panic or get reactive. Rather, they look for ways to grow, improve, and adapt in a way that leaves them feeling more knowledgeable than before.

A study by positive psychology researcher Barbara Fredrickson found that positive emotions broaden your sense of possibilities, which in turn allows you to build new skills that can provide value in other areas of your life. If you can train your mind to see the light at the end of every dark tunnel, not only will you be less stressed but you will also be able to more effectively master change. 

We can't always see it in the moment, but oftentimes a problem can send you down a better road. Einstein said it best – “In the middle of difficulty, lies opportunity.” The next time that something bad happens, ask yourself how you can transform it into an asset that can serve both yourself and your business.

3. Be Open To Feedback

People that refuse to accept feedback have a fixed mindset. Because they see their intelligence as unchangeable, they are resistant to growth or improvement of any kind. The fact of the matter is that anyone that isn't on board with change is falling behind.

The sole purpose of feedback is so that we can get better at what we do. When it comes to running a business, customer feedback is essential. There is nothing more helpful to an entrepreneur than knowing what is working and what isn't working in their business. Entrepreneurial success demands that you see feedback as an opportunity to improve your skills so that you can become a better leader.

At the end of the day, feedback from others is a great opportunity to reflect and learn. This will allow you to improve your performance, thereby propelling you forward at a faster pace. If used correctly, feedback can be one of your most valuable tools. Take it from Ken Blanchard – “Feedback is the breakfast of champions.”

4. Cultivate Resilience 

Resilience is the key ingredient for developing a growth mindset. It is what differentiates those who succeed from those who fail. When you sign up to be an entrepreneur, you need to be prepared for hardship, because setbacks are a part of the package. There are a lot of bumps along the way, and your success will be determined by your ability to navigate those terrains. I have yet to meet an entrepreneur who hasn't experienced growing pains along their journey to success.

When life knocks you down, how fast are you able to bounce back and keep moving forward? Resilient entrepreneurs know how to stay calm and cool in the face of unexpected obstacles. They never stop persevering, despite the odds that are stacked against them. In essence, their “bouncebackability” is strong, which gives them an edge in the business world.

Resilience is a trait that can be developed through experience. I believe that it is something that every entrepreneur has the power to cultivate. It gives you the competitive advantage that is needed in today's ever-changing business world.

In the words of Amy Carmichael, “Let us not be surprised when we have to face difficulties. When the wind blows hard on a tree, the roots stretch and grow stronger. Let it be so with us. Let us not be weaklings, yielding to every wind that blows, but strong in spirit to resist.” Are you ready to start flexing your resilience muscles?

5. Fail More

As much as it hurts, failure is a necessary part of life. Nobody likes to fail, but if you want to achieve massive success in life, I encourage you to fail more often. I hate to break it to you, but if you aren't failing enough, you are doing yourself a disservice and actually minimizing your chances for success. I know this may sound counterintuitive, but it's true.

People who possess a growth mindset embrace failure. I've failed hundreds of times. I can’t say that I love it, but through the process of it, I have learned some of my most valuable lessons in life that have allowed me to take my business to the next level. Not sold yet? Let me explain.

The road to entrepreneurial success is paved with a lot of windy and uneven forks in the road. If you want to reach your full potential, you need to step outside of your comfort zone and be fearless in the face of failure. Failure is proof that you are trying. It all comes down to your mindset.

Instead of viewing failure as a bad thing, approach it as a healthy part of life. Mistakes help us clarify what works and what doesn't work. A wealth of scientific research suggests that mistakes actually make us smarter and results in a higher rate of learning. This proves that failure is more than okay. It's great!

The most epic accomplishments in life are often the most difficult. They require that we fight with every inch of our heart and soul and that we are willing to risk it all, just for the chance to achieve our dreams. The next time that you try something new, be open to failing. You may surprise yourself how many valuable lessons come from the act of failure.

6. Fall In Love With The Process

On the road to entrepreneurial success sometimes people can get so caught up in the end result that they forget to fall in love with the process. The process is where the real growth occurs. If your only end goal in your business is to make money, you won't get far. People with a growth mindset wake up every day and feel passionate about what they are doing. They let the results speak for themselves.

It's who you become in the process of achieving your goals that matters most. Do you have the desire to do the things that other people won't? Entrepreneurship requires that you constantly sacrifice comfort for the opportunity to grow. In reality, this is how we become better at doing anything in life. I encourage you to discover your greatness, through trial and error, and put in the hard work to get to where you want to go in life!

A growth mindset is the secret sauce of entrepreneurial success.

Success requires that we adopt a growth mindset; that we constantly grow, expand, and evolve. The world is filled with amazing opportunities, but only if you are open to seeing them. Never doubt the power of your mind. You can either believe that your qualities are fixed, or you can seek out challenges and learn how to thrive through them, stretching yourself in the process. The choice is yours.

In the words of Carol Dweck, “Becoming is better than being.” Are you ready to become more and unleash the potential that resides within you?

Are you ready to learn how you can master your online business? CLICK HERE to join my Online Business Mastery Accelerator program!

Do you want to discover how a growth mindset shapes your reality? CLICK HERE to read the article that I wrote on Medium!

Life is short. Take control of your life RIGHT NOW. The mind is a powerful tool that can be your best friend or your worst enemy.

Research shows that, in one day, we think around 70,000 thoughts. Ask yourself, “Are you in charge of these thoughts, or are they in charge of you?”

Many of us spend a lot of time taking care of our bodies, our businesses, and our relationships. However, when it comes to our minds, we fail to pay attention.

If you want to live a happy and successful life, it is imperative that you master your mind. Incredible things happen in your life when you decide to take control of your life.

In the words of Leon Brown, “It begins and ends in your mind. What you give power to, has power over you, if you allow it.”

Watch the video below:

(Click here to watch on YouTube)

(iTunes Podcast Coming Soon)

Do you want to learn how to create a morning ritual that will empower you to take control of your life? CLICK HERE to purchase my Morning Ritual Mastery course!

It’s a lot easier to be mentally strong when life is easy, however the reality is that we grow the most when we are faced with challenges.

Mental strength is more that just motivation; it requires hard work, commitment, and a sheer determination to succeed.

Making the conscious choice to develop the skills that will increase your mental strength is one of the best ways to prepare you for the obstacles that life will throw at you.

Take control of your life RIGHT NOW.

Mentally strong people understand how important it is to develop healthy habits for their mind, body, and soul. They take ownership and responsibility for everything that happens in their lives.

Alternatively, mentally weak people tend to drop into victim mode and blame the world for their problems. They feel sorry for themselves, which is oftentimes a way of meeting their needs for love and attention from others.

You don’t have control over the external world. All that you have control over is your mind and emotions. There are people in this world that are in the exact same circumstance as you, and yet they may have a totally different emotional experience.

How do you react and interpret the events that occur in your life? Do you use challenges as opportunities for growth, or do you run away, letting your emotions get the best of you? If it’s the latter, it’s time to take control of your life RIGHT NOW.

Neuroscience is showing us that the brain is plastic, endowed with a lifelong capacity to reorganize itself with each new experience. You have the power to reprogram your mind, and develop the mental skills that will allow you to master your life.

Here are 3 ways to take control of your life RIGHT NOW:

1. Develop Self-Awareness

If you want to take control of your life RIGHT NOW, you need to, first and foremost, develop self-awareness. Self-awareness is the foundation of personal growth and success.

You cannot be mentally strong without the ability to understand and effectively manage your emotional state. The good news is that emotional intelligence is a flexible skill, and one that you can develop every day, by living more mindfully.

A great exercise for doing this is creating a daily meditation practice. Research shows that if you bring meditation into your daily life, you will not only become more self-aware, but it will also improve your overall health and well-being

 2. Create A Morning Ritual

I am a big believer in the power of morning rituals.  Recent research demonstrates that rituals can have a causal impact on people’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. 

Creating a positive daily routine builds up your mental strength, allowing you to optimize your mind for greatness.

In the words of Tony Schwartz, the CEO of The Energy Project, “Build highly-specific behaviors that you do at precise times over and over again until you don’t have to use energy to get yourself to do it anymore.” Developing healthy habits is one of the most effective ways to create lasting change in your life.

3. Focus On The Positive

You can’t be mentally strong and experience negative emotions at the same time. Having a positive mindset means that you focus on what is already in front of you, instead of dwelling on what is not.

By shifting your perspective to a mindset that focuses on possibilities, you expand your opportunities in life. This is supported by research that shows that positive emotions broaden your sense of possibility and open your mind up to more options.

Take control of your life RIGHT NOW. The sooner that you master your mind, the sooner that you will be free to create the life of your dreams. In the words of Lao Tzu, “If you correct your mind, the rest of your life will fall into place.”

Do you want to learn how to create a morning ritual that will empower you to take control of your life? CLICK HERE to purchase my Morning Ritual Mastery course!

I want to share with you why you will fail (and what to do about it). Have you ever wondered why you aren't achieving your goals? It all comes down to your mindset.

In my opinion, there has been too much focus on teaching people how to set goals, and less attention on how to actually achieve them. Don't get me wrong. Setting goals is important, but a goal means nothing unless you actualize it.

When it comes to achieving their goals, unfortunately a lot of people end up hitting a roadblock, and their motivation comes to a standstill. This is referred to as a plateau. 

At this point, it’s common for people to give up. This is why you will fail (and what to do about it). Are you ready to learn how you can commit to mastery and achieve the goals that you desire?

Watch the video below:

(Click here to watch on YouTube)

[smart_track_player url=”http://www.buzzsprout.com/9299/588821-plm-492-why-you-will-fail-and-what-to-do-about-it.mp3″ background=”default” ]

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

Oftentimes, when people encounter a plateau, they start to dabble, which starts a negative cycle of procrastination, discouragement, excuses, and laziness. This is why you will fail.

Eventually, this process is repeated and the cycle continues. I call this process the pyramid of pain, because that’s exactly what it creates. People stop believing in themselves because of the pain associated with their failures.

There is only one reason why you haven’t achieved your goals in life. You stopped – believing, trying, growing, learning, and taking action.

The difference between someone that is successful versus everyone else is that when things get tough, they don't stop. What do you do when you hit a plateau?

Everyone hits plateaus on the road to achieving their goals. It’s called life. However, the good news is that there are things that you can do in order to get past them quickly. Commitment is essential for achieving any goal in life, and the only way to achieve your goals is to commit to mastery.

Rather than seeing their goals through, a dabbler jumps from one thing to next, because they struggle with the shiny object syndrome. As a result, they never master anything in life. This is why you will fail! But committing to mastery is what you can do about it. 

You don’t master something by reinventing the wheel. Rather, you learn and model the behavior of someone else who has achieved the same result that you are after. This is the best way to accelerate the process of achieving your goals.

The dabbler tends to give up when things get tough, because they don’t have access to resources that will allow them to break through the plateaus that are holding them back.

Alternatively, the master looks for a mentor or coach who can help them anticipate the plateaus that are going to occur so that they can take the necessary steps in order to avoid them.

Sure, you will still hit plateaus, but when you do, it won’t set you back to the beginning, because you will have someone there, helping to put you back on track.

Don’t be a dabbler. Commit to mastery. Be resourceful, learn from the best, and do something every day that moves you closer to what you want to achieve in life. Don’t let anything or anyone hold you back.

In the words of Napoleon Bonaparte, “Victory belongs to the most persevering.” Once you start moving towards your goal, don’t stop. It could mean the difference between success or failure. 

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

Are you a slave to your emotions? When something doesn't go your way, how do you react? Do you calmly step back and assess the situation, or do you start ruminating and let your emotions get the best of you?

When you allow your emotions to dictate every decision that you make, it can have a negative effect on every area of your life.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that it's a bad thing to be an emotional person. Rather, it is how you regulate your emotions and navigate your way through challenges, that determines your success in life.

Are you a slave to your emotions? If so, I want to show you how to shift that mindset, so that you feel in control of your life. In the words of Oscar Wilde, “I don’t want to be at the mercy of my emotions. I want to use them, to enjoy them, and to dominate them.”

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

In her new book, How Emotions Are Made: The Secret Life of the Brain, psychologist Lisa Feldman Barrett suggests that emotions do not happen to us without our willingness.

Rather, we construct our emotions by making meaning of our life experiences. We choose how you feel. That is something that we have 100% control over, whether you believe it or not. It all starts with your mindset.

Our thoughts create our emotions. Oftentimes, neither our thoughts nor our emotions are an accurate representation of what is really going on. Why? Because we all interpret the world through a different emotional lens.

If you are a slave to your emotions, commit to taking the steps needed in order to ensure that your emotions do not get the best of you. Easier said than done, right? Here are 3 ways to help you not be a slave to your emotions.

1. Take A Deep Breath

When our emotions are running high, short and shallow breathing can take over. If this happens, the best way to master your emotional state is to take a step back and take a deep breath.

I know this sounds simple, but it works.

Research proves that slowing your breath calms the mind. Patricia Gerbarg, a clinical professor in psychiatry at New York Medical School and author of a 2009 study on Pranayama, suggests that “By changing patterns of breathing, we can change our emotional states, and how we think and how we interact with the world.”

By learning how to harness the power of your breath, you are better able to balance your emotions. Are you a slave to your emotions? If so, positive habits like these are great ways to change your emotional state.

2. Take Responsibility

You are the only one that is responsible for your emotional well-being. Take responsibility for your life. You cannot control what other people think, do, or say.

The only thing that you have control over is how you respond to the external world. If you don't like how you feel, own it. When you take ownership for your life, you create the momentum that is required in order to change it.

Research shows that taking personal responsibility for your happiness involves, ultimately, adopting a “surrender mindset”, which refers to the willingness to fully accept the outcomes that you are dealt with in life.

Unlike others, who may ruminate when things don't work out the way they planned, the person with a surrender mindset is able to move on emotionally untouched.

Don't play the blame game. Step up and become the become the master of your mind.

3. Take Note Of Your Thoughts & Beliefs

Our beliefs determine what we end up attracting into our lives. If you dwell on the negative, that is what you will attract. Keep in mind that it isn't our thoughts that become things. Rather, it is our emotions that are triggered by unconscious beliefs.

The next time that you are feeling reactive and emotional, take a step back, be an observer of your own mind, and notice what it is that you are thinking about.

The belief systems that we have about ourselves and the world were created by US. If we can create them, then we can just as easily shift them, in ways that better serve our lives.

Will you be able to shift your belief system overnight? No. It takes time to re-write our stories, but when you do, emotional mastery is yours for the taking.

In the words of the late John Milton, “The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven.” Choose wisely. When you master your emotions, you master your life. 

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

Do you want to know the secret of being in control of your life? Make a decision. Never underestimate the impact that a single decision can make.

Everything that has happened in your life, to date, has started with a decision. Many people become so fearful of making a mistake, that they end up making a bad decision, or worse, no decision at all.

The beauty of life is that you ALWAYS have options. When you find the motivation to make growth-based decisions, you step into the driver’s seat of your life.

In the words of Paulo Coelho, “When someone makes a decision he is really diving into a strong current that will carry him to places that he had never dreamed of when he first made the decision.” Are you ready to make a decision?

Watch the video below:

(Click here to watch on YouTube)

(iTunes Podcast Coming Soon)

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

A decision can go one of two ways – towards a life of happiness or towards a life of suffering. If you want to experience the former, it is important that you make the right decision at the right time. Unfortunately, from an evolutionary perspective, our brains are not designed to make rational decisions.

When neuroscientists examined brain activity during a simple decision-making experiment, they noticed people had often decided on a course of action ten seconds before they were consciously aware of having made any decision at all. The goods news is that we are all capable of change, and it all starts with our mindset.

In his book Get Smart!: How to Think and Act Like the Most Successful and Highest-Paid People in Every Field, author Brian Tracy presents ten different ways of thinking that enable better decision making, one of which includes thinking about the long-term consequences of your decision.

Instead of being plagued by the desire for instant gratification, become more aware of how your actions today will impact your future. The ability to delay gratification is a core principle of success.

The next time you are about to make an instinctual decision, without thinking it through, sit back and ask yourself, “What will be the long-term consequences of the action that I am about to take?” If you want to solve difficult problems in life, you will need to make difficult decisions. Anything that you desire in life requires a lot of hard work, sacrifice, time, commitment, and energy.

It’s supposed to be hard. If it were easy, everybody would do it. The master knows that challenges are the norm. When things get tough in life, they keep pushing forward.

They make a decision. They decide to take ownership of their mistakes and don’t let their lows dictate their future. Research by Carol Dweck suggests that the top trait that you will need in order to make a decision into a long-term success is the ability to convert life’s setbacks into future successes.

If you are going through a hard time in your life right now, know that this too shall pass. Trust the process of life and learn how to relinquish control. The only thing that you have control over is your reactions to what life throws at you. The small decisions that we make on a daily basis have the power to dictate the direction that our lives will take.

In the words of Tony Robbins, “It’s not what you do once in a while that shapes your life. It’s what you do consistently.” Make a decision, but choose it wisely.

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