Self and Wealth Development

Robin Sharma's Wisdom

noreply@blogger.com (Justin Popovic) — Tue, 19 May 2009 03:47:00 +0000

Robin Sharma is a world-leading expert on Leadership and Personal Growth. In the following 3 videos, he provides and excellent perspective on some of the most fundamental ideas for the attainment of personal success and self mastery.

Watch, learn, enjoy and comment...

Concentrate To Win:

Face Fear Fast

Your Highest Freedom

The Success System That Never Fails - W.Clement Stone

noreply@blogger.com (Justin Popovic) — Thu, 07 May 2009 16:07:00 +0000

Any self improvement enthusiast would be very interested to learn about the life and times of W.Clement Stone. An insurance mogul who achieved enormous success through the proper use of his mind and his positive attitude.

The following 12 part video series contains timeless and pricess information. I would encourage you to watch the series slowly and carefully. Perhaps watch 3 or 4 videos at a time. Take a break. Ponder the information. Think about ways to apply it in your life and business. Then return and continue on with this series.

Without further ado, here is W.Clement Stone's 12 part audio series called "The Success System That Never Fails"

PART 1

PART 2

PART 3

PART 4

PART 5

PART 6

PART 7

PART 8

PART 9

PART 10

PART 11

PART 12

The Power of Creativity

noreply@blogger.com (Justin Popovic) — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 04:22:00 +0000

An excellent video on the power of creative inspiration.

The Power of Creativity - Funny blooper videos are here

Rejection Pain

noreply@blogger.com (Justin Popovic) — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 02:40:00 +0000

By Justin Popovic

As a success coach, I often observe the behaviour of people to determine what drives and motivates them. Almost everyone I meet has a big vision and an inborn desire to be or do something far beyond their current reality. Very few people, however, take the required action to move towards those desires.

There are plenty of reasons why someone does not take action on a big idea but it usually boils down to some sort of fear that ultimately stops them. Okay, so I am not uncovering any groundbreaking information here! We all have fears and most of us know how they have been affecting our results.

What I intend to bring your awareness to is a study conducted by UCLA Psychologists in 2003. This study found that there are two key areas within the human brain that respond to the pain of rejection in the same way they respond to physical pain. (Article Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/10/031010074045.htm)

So, in essence, our body interprets a situation where we have been rejected in the same way it would interpret an event where we experienced real and harmful physical pain. Taking it a step further, the mere anticipation of rejection would also create the same sensation of fear as the anticipation of physical harm. That kind of fear is certainly powerful enough to prevent most of us from confronting it.

What I personally find so powerful about this study is that it tells us more about the functionality of our brain and body. When we understand that our brain is sending out a false signal that may be preventing our success, we can now do something about it.

We have the ability to consciously differentiate between a ‘rejection’ scenario and a ‘pain’ scenario. If we are facing a situation where we run the risk of being rejected, and we do not want to let fear of rejection stop us, we can actually pause and take inventory of how we are physically responding. If we notice any fear creeping into our awareness, we can decide to proceed rather than retreat. Even though this may be uncomfortable at first, it can be developed into a tremendous success habit over time.

With this new understanding of rejection pain, it opens up a brand new door for us to examine our lives and more specifically, the goals we dream of achieving. As an entrepreneur, I am always studying sales and the most common success habits of elite sales people. When I first read about this UCLA study, I immediately thought about some of the best sales people whom I have personally encountered. Every one of them, either consciously or unconsciously, separated rejection from pain.

These top sellers would commonly say things like, “they are not rejecting me, they are rejecting the idea of my product or service.” The important thing to note is that they did not just blindly say these words, they truly believed them. And it is the one key ingredient that allowed these sales reps to move from one rejection to another without losing energy or motivation. By virtue of maintaining this attitude, they eventually found plenty of customers who were indeed looking for what they were offering. They overcame rejection pain and it lead to a beautiful result!

I can personally relate to the power of rejection pain when it comes to selling. While I have a number of years of experience in sales, I never actually had to do cold calling or door-to-door sales -- the ultimate of rejection experiences.

As part of a new project I recently became involved in, I was put in a position where I was forced to make cold calls in order to better understand the buying process for our prospective clients. Despite having logged thousands of hours doing live sales presentations and conference calls, nothing could have prepared me for the total discomfort of picking up the phone and cold calling a new lead. It was simply something I never really had to do in the past and I can admit that I totally hated the feeling.

In my efforts to work on myself to overcome this personal block, I was reminded of the UCLA study being cited in this article. Almost immediately, I felt as though a light had been turned on and I was able to pinpoint the source of my problem. I had been literally processing my fear of ‘phone rejection’ as a threat similar to physical harm thus causing my inability to confidently make cold calls to customers. This was still happening despite the fact that I had 100% faith and confidence in my product. The truth was, I just didn’t like being told ‘no’ or being hung up on.

There are so many occasions in life where we enter a situation we might be rejected. Whether it is asking someone on a date, applying for a new job, sharing our dreams with people, singing in front of an audience or public speaking, we often run the risk of some form of rejection. When we develop ourselves to the point where we treat rejection and pain as two totally different experiences, we can then freely and confidently move in the direction of our ultimate goals and dreams.

Justin Popovic
Success Coach and founder of Ignite Your Essence.

Take The Awareness Test

noreply@blogger.com (Justin Popovic) — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 13:25:00 +0000

I've taken this test in the past and was amazed by my personal results. There is not much more I can say about this video test without giving away the answer... so just go and watch it now and let me know how you did!

Inspirational Fisherman

noreply@blogger.com (Justin Popovic) — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 15:24:00 +0000

The Ignite Your Essence weekly newsletter features many different topics and ideas. Every once in a while, I come across stories of pure inspiration. I love sharing stories like this because they remind each and every one of us to think about our gifts and what we have to be grateful for.

This story takes it a step further and motivates you to become your best. When you see/hear the story of Clay Dyer, you will know exactly what I am talking about.

Take the next 10 minutes to learn exactly what courage and determination are all about:

The Power of Perception

noreply@blogger.com (Justin Popovic) — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 20:30:00 +0000

By Success Coach Justin Popovic

In last week's newsletter, I delivered a video presentation about the power of attitude and how we can literally choose our attitude to obtain a specific goal or result in life.

As mentioned, attitude truly is the last of human freedoms. It is the one guarantee in life and the only thing we have complete and total control over. When choosing your attitude, it is important to understand exactly how we as people think and how we can influence our own thoughts.

Perception is literally a function of our conscious mind. Every person sees the world through their own set of filters and perspectives. At the same time, we can shift our perception to "see" the world from a totally different perspective. Some people may be more optimistic in nature while others are generally pessimistic. Some see doom and gloom while others see hope and opportunity. The only difference is their perception.

What are some events or circumstances that you are currently facing in your life that appear negative or difficult? For a moment, switch your perspective and look at the situation through the eyes of someone else. If you have a financial problem, try to picture how Richard Branson would approach your problem. If you have a family problem, how can you transcend the problem and make turn it into an opportunity to connect with those people who are close to you?

The point is, your personal power comes from your ability to perceive the world in a way that works for you. You can always choose to "look for the good" in any situation.

I have not yet seen a better example of the power of perception than the following video. Watch how you can literally look at the same thing from 2 totally different angles. The first perspective makes you feel sad and depressed while the second perspective makes you feel happy and alive!

Success Coach Attitude Presentation

noreply@blogger.com (Justin Popovic) — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 20:41:00 +0000

This is my first online presentation. I have given this kind of presentation many times to live audiences and so I wanted to capture the essence of the message in a video and make it available to the online community and to my subscribers at Ignite Your Essence.

As a Personal Coach , this presentation is part of the fundamental set of principles I encourage everyone to study as a way to improve their life.

Free Education Online - Amazing

noreply@blogger.com (Justin Popovic) — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 04:44:00 +0000

I recently came across a blog called BSchool.com and an incredible resource posted by Christina Laun.

She posted a list of 100...yes that's right... 100 free courses you can take online from Ivy League schools. The courses in the article are primarily geared towards entrepreneurs who want to learn everything from top to bottom about running a business.

The power of the internet is growing by leaps and bounds and this article once again proves what we can gain when we become resourceful online.

Check out the entire article here:
http://www.bschool.com/blog/2008/brain-trust-100-ivy-league-business-entrepreneurship-courses-you-can-take-for-free/

The Strangest Secret

noreply@blogger.com (Justin Popovic) — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 16:29:00 +0000

The following video is by Earl Nightingale, the father of personal development. As a Personal Coach myself, I have been inspired by Mr.Nightingale's words on many occasions.

While his message is more commonly understood today, it was a groundbreaking presentation in it's day. The lesson is still as valuable as ever... "We Become What We Think About"...

To learn more about Earl Nightingale, I suggest you read this article:
Earl Nightingale Article

Xocai Healthy Chocolate - Why I promote and consume it

noreply@blogger.com (Justin Popovic) — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 03:39:00 +0000

My Xocai Healthy Chocolate Experience

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Business & Legal marketing entrepreneurship

Why I Advocate Network Marketing

noreply@blogger.com (Justin Popovic) — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 14:21:00 +0000

This video provides an excellent perspective on the powerful business model called Network Marketing

Attract 500 Twitter Followers in 24 Hours

noreply@blogger.com (Justin Popovic) — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 19:41:00 +0000

I personally like to use Twitter to connect with other entrepreneurs and personal development enthusiasts. I found a great video that shows you some quick steps you can perform to meet new people on Twitter.

Follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/justin_popovic

Here is the video:

The Power of Intentional Attention

noreply@blogger.com (Justin Popovic) — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 19:41:00 +0000

Author: Dustin Wax
Article Source: Lifehack.org

Are you taking it all in? That is, are you sure that you’re noticing everything that matters to you, or could matter to you if only you’d noticed it? Could you do more with your life – or just enjoy it more – if you were more actively engaged in the world around you, in your day-to-day activities, your conversations, and the beauty of your everyday surroundings?

Most importantly, do you approach the world as if it were full of value?

No matter how much we try, we just can’t pay attention to everything – which means we sometimes miss things that are important. This is partially a matter of focus – we’re usually either bouncing around so much that we fail to pay adequate attention to any particular thing (the curse of the multitasker) or we’re so focused in on one thing that we fail to notice anything outside of the task at hand.

But it’s also a matter of intention, of approaching our world with the right attitude. As a general rule, if you don’t intend to find value, you’re more likely than not to miss it. While it’s no guarantee, if you intend to discover value, you’ll find it – or at least greatly up your chances.

How do we do this?

Instilling an attitude isn’t exactly the easiest thing in the world, right? I mean, it’s hard to literally change your mind to make it more sensitive to things that are valuable to you. But intention can be thought of as just another habit, and we have a pretty good idea about how to develop more effective habits: force yourself to do something until it becomes second-nature.

In the case of developing a more intentional attention, the tools for this are already, very likely, part of your mental toolkit. If you’ve been reading Lifehack – or any other productivity-oriented site – for any length of time, you probably already know how much I and most other writers who focus on productivity advocate the idea of ubiquitous capture, of being prepared at any moment to write down or otherwise record anything and everything that crosses your mind, wherever you may happen to be at the time.

Intentional attention is just an extension of ubiquitous capture; instead of focusing inward, it involves cultivating a constant readiness to capture external things – images, pieces of information, descriptions, snippets of text, whatever feels useful – to process and make use of them later.

Unlike ubiquitous capture as we’ve discussed it before, though, intentional attention means having your capture tools out and ready to go before your attention is caught. By going into a situation ready to capture whatever might be interesting or valuable, you trigger your mind to expect to find interest and value in that situation.

Consider, for example, several different cases:

The student: As a college instructor, I notice a distinct difference in the way my students engage with my lectures, presentations, or film screenings. Students who open a notebook in front of them, pen in hand, ready to write down anything important I or their fellow students say, seem to get much more value out of my classes than students who lay out and then ignore their books, folders, and notebooks – or who don’t even bring them, sitting behind an empty desk. The first group of students has decided in advance that something of value might be said, and so they’re on the lookout for those valuable points. The second group has made the opposite decision; they don’t expect anything said or shown in class to be worth their while, and so they don’t find anything in class worthwhile. More advances students might get more out of their classes by engaging in different ways; but, especially for beginning students, being ready to capture seems to trigger their attention in ways that not being ready simply doesn’t.
The artist: Surely you know, or have at least seen, an artist who goes nowhere without his or her trusted sketchbook. While it’s obvious that the more sketching one does the better one gets at it, there’s no real technical necessity to practice “in the wild” instead of limiting oneself to the studio – it doesn’t matter what you sketch so much as it matters that you sketch at all. So why carry a sketchbook and assorted drawing tools? Well, a big part of it is about learning to see the world as an artist – that is, learning to recognize scenes, compositions, and design elements worth recording. By sticking hat sketchbook in their bag or pocket whenever they leave the house, the artist is priming him- or herself to find images worth recording.
The photographer: Like the artist, the photographer’s art lies primarily in recognizing and capturing meaningful, and often fleeting, arrangements of objects and beings in the flow of daily life. When a photographer straps on his or her camera (or cameras) and a bag full of lenses and walks out into the world, he or she is expecting to find something worth capturing as an image. which shifts her or his focus from simply passing through the world to deeply observing it. While there’s a certain amount of luck involved, nobody would bother lugging tens of pounds of expensive and unwieldy gear around with them unless they were committed to finding something worth their effort to photograph.
The writer: As with artists, there are writers who never leave their homes without a notebook tucked in a pocket or, better yet, in their hand and ready to record scraps of overheard conversation or quick observations about interesting places. Perhaps you’ve seen one, sitting at a table in an outdoor cafe or hunched over the bar at your local saloon, glancing around and scribbling in their notebook. These snippets might make their way into their next story, as dialogue or as detail of a scene – or they might just build up the writer’s ability to characterize people and locations and objects.

What about you? Do you have tools at hand to sharpen your focus so you can find and capture anything important that crosses your path? Or do you rely on luck, that maybe the world will hit you over the head with something valuable, and maybe you’ll recognize its importance, and maybe you’ll remember it in enough detail to make use of it? How about trying to cultivate the intention of finding value around you instead of simply hoping you do?

The Power of Less

noreply@blogger.com (Justin Popovic) — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 19:24:00 +0000

Article Source: 4 Hour Work Week Blog, Timothy Ferriss

To learn a skill, I often look — not for the best in the world — but for people who’ve made the greatest progress in the shortest period of time.

Thus, to gain muscle mass, for example, I would rather examine the training and diet log of someone who went from 145 - 185 lbs. in 1-2 months rather than consult with a 300-lb. professional who has been 300 lbs. for a decade. This also relates to the “explicit vs. implicit” (preach vs. practice) issues many top performers face when they can’t articulate an unconscious competence. I faced this when I asked lifelong swimmers for technical advice.

Leo Babauta has been a incredible model for me in the world of blogging.

His blog, Zen Habits, went from 1 reader — his wife — to being one of the Technorati top-100 blogs in the world in less than 12 months. Leo, who lives in Guam (how cool is that?), has built his audience by deconstructing his offline behavior as much as his online behavior…

In the last two years, he has:

- Quit smoking (on Nov. 18, 2005).
- Lost 40 pounds.
- Gone from a non-runner to completing several marathons and triathlons.
- Become a vegetarian.
- Tripled his income.
- Written a novel and a non-fiction book.
- Eliminated his debt.

Oh, and those children people like to use as justifications for inaction? No more excuses. Leo has six kids.

To illustrate a few of Leo’s principles for changing behavior, I am pleased to offer several exclusive excerpts from Leo’s new book, The Power of Less.

It is a fast read and a good reminder that — in a world where people tend to focus on the latest Firefox extensions and gizmos — simple basic habits are the force multiplier, not new applications. I added bolding to some parts I think are particularly important, as well as bracketed text [ ] for my comments.

The Power of Less

From Chapter 5: Create New Habits and The Power of Less Challenge

The only way you’ll form long-lasting habits is by applying the Power of Less: focus on one habit at a time, one month at a time, so that you’ll be able to focus all your energy on creating that one habit.

The tool that you’ll use to form each habit is an extremely powerful one: the Power of Less Challenge, a 30-day challenge that has proven very effective in forming habits for thousands of readers of my Zen Habits blog.

Here’s how it works:

1. Select one habit for the Challenge. Only one habit per month. You can choose any habit — whatever you think will have the biggest impact on your life.

[Tim: This is also supported by research done by BJ Fogg of Stanford University. Want to teach 60-year olds to use an SMS program to help them quit smoking? It won't work. Those are two new behaviors. Choose one behavioral modification at a time.]

2. Write down your plan. You will need to specifically state what your goal will be each day, when you’ll do it, what your “trigger” will be (the event that will immediately precede the habit that’s already a part of your routine — such as exercising right after you brush your teeth), who you will report to (see below).

3. Post your goal publicly. Tell as many people as possible that you are trying to form your new habit. I suggest an online forum, but you could email it to coworkers and family and friends or otherwise get the word out to a large group.

4. Report on your progress daily. Each day, tell the same group of people whether or not you succeeded at your goal.

The Rules

There are only a few rules you need to follow to make this Challenge a success. If you follow these rules, it would be hard for you not to form a new habit by the end of the 30 days.

* Do only one habit at a time. Do not break this rule, because I assure you that if you do multiple habits at once, you will be much less likely to succeed. Trust me — I’ve tried both ways many times, and in my experience there is 100% failure for forming multiple habits at once, and a 50-80% success if you do just one habit at a time — depending on whether you follow the rest of these rules.

* Choose an easy goal. Don’t decide to do something really hard, at least for now. Later, when you’re good at habit changes, you can choose something harder. But for now, do something you know you can do every day. In fact, choose something easier than you think you can do every day. If you think you can exercise for 30 minutes a day, choose 10 minutes — making it super easy is one of the surest ways to ensure you’ll succeed.

* Choose something measurable. You should be able to say, definitively, whether you were successful or not today. If you choose exercise, set a number of minutes or something similar (20 minutes of exercise daily, for example). Whatever your goal, have a measurement.

* Be consistent. You want to do your habit change at the same time every day, if possible. If you’re going to exercise, do it at 7 a.m. (or 6 p.m.) every day, for example. This makes it more likely to become a habit.

* Report daily. You could check in every 2 or 3 days, but you’ll be more likely to succeed if you report daily. This has been proven over and over again in the Challenges.

* Keep a positive attitude! Expect setbacks now and then, but just note them and move on. No embarrassment in this challenge.

12 Key Habits to Start With

You can choose any habits in this book that you think will help you most, at work and in the rest of your life. But if I had to recommend 12 habits to start with (one each month for a year), these are the 12 I think could make the most difference in the lives of the average person (more on each habit in later chapters):

1. Set your 3 MITs (Most Important Tasks) each morning.
2. Single-task. When you work on a task, don’t switch to other tasks.
3. Process your inbox to empty.
4. Check email just twice a day.
5. Exercise 5-10 minutes a day.
6. Work while disconnected, with no distractions.
7. Follow a morning routine.
8. Eat more fruits and veggies every day. [Tim: Here is the "slow-carb" breakfast I use to start my morning routine]
9. Keep your desk decluttered.
10. Say no to commitments and requests that aren’t on your Short List (See Chapter 16, on the Simple Life).
11. Declutter your house for 15 minutes a day.
12. Stick to a 5-sentence limit for emails.

On Starting Small

Tim: Leo advocates, as I do, that you use smaller behavioral changes as a lever for major behavioral changes. In other words, start smart to seed the right habit before you aim to maximize output. In the beginning the habit is more important than the result.

Here are four good examples of “downsizing” behavioral changes, taken from pg. 42 of The Power of Less:

* Exercise: Start with 5-10 minutes a day, instead of 30.
* Waking early: Start by waking 15 minutes earlier, instead of an hour or two.
* Productivity: Start by trying to focus on the task at hand for 5-10 minutes at a time.
* Decluttering: Start with just one drawer, instead of trying to declutter your entire office or home.

Here are a few other segments I highlighted in my own notes for The Power of Less:

p. 51 Focusing on completion vs. organizing and filing
p. 62 Don’t schedule appointments (Tim: much like Arnold Schwarzenegger)
p. 80 “What’s the worst that will happen if I delete this?”
p. 99 Reducing commitments
p. 119 Decluttering the desk
p. 128 Designate a home for everything:

Designate a home for everything, and be fanatic. When you find stuff on flat surfaces, or draping over a chair, it might be because you don’t have a designated spot for that kind of thing. If you don’t, designate a spot for it immediately. If stuff doesn’t have a home in your home, you need to get rid of it, or it will forever wander around the house.

Remember: productivity shouldn’t be complicated.

Putting a good tool on top of a bad habit (process) just multiplies garbage outputs. Forget the latest and greatest technologies and go back to basics. Routines and rules, not gizmos and tools.

Cherish The Tough Times

noreply@blogger.com (Justin Popovic) — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 05:31:00 +0000

We’ve all been there at some point in our life. Everything seems to be moving along smoothly when something suddenly happens; a challenge, a barrier, a crisis. These events can range anywhere from being mildly inconvenient to downright terrible and sometimes devastating. When situations like this arise, we all have ultimately one choice to make – how we will choose to respond.

When you boil it down, that is really how our entire life unfolds. We are making a never ending series of choices about how we will interact with the events and circumstances surrounding us. Many of these choices occur unconsciously as part of our conditioned behaviour patterns. Understanding that we always retain the power and the right to make a conscious choice about our reactions is where we can transform challenges into opportunities.

Consider the idea of personal perception. Every person observes and interprets the world around them from a unique vantage point. I remember very clearly an incident about 5 years ago when I was having lunch on a restaurant patio with a few of my colleagues. The patio was next to a very busy street. About 20 minutes into our meal, we were all startled by a large crash followed by an excitable YELP sound. As I turned in my seat to examine the incident, we saw a new sports car t-boned by an older sedan. Fortunately, the collision had taken place at a relatively slow speed so there were no injuries, just two very upset drivers. The YELP sound had come from a tow truck driver who had been parked literally across the street. He was so excited that an accident had occurred right in front of his truck meaning he would be the first tow provider on the scene. Talk about drastically opposing perspectives! These two unfortunate drivers were caught up in a very unpleasant experience while the tow truck entrepreneur had his latest gig essentially fall into his lap.

What’s most interesting about this example is that it illustrates to me that the world around us simply exists, nothing more, nothing less. It is not until we apply our personal perception along with all of our expectations and beliefs, that events become positive or negative. Since we are creative by nature and always have 100% control over our thoughts, we can then choose to seek out the positives in life. When something happens to us that initially appears to be negative, we have an opportunity to reject our habitual reaction and create a new, more empowering belief about that event.

I have personally made a habit of this type of mentality and I continue to develop this capability with every passing day. I am becoming someone who can cherish the tough times. When adversity strikes, I am often able to control my attitude and remain focused on the positive rather than being consumed by the apparent misfortune. I then remind myself of Robert Collier’s quote, “In every adversity there lies the seed of an equivalent advantage.”

Dustin Carter is no stranger to adversity. We recently featured his YouTube video on the Ignite Your Essence website. Dustin was diagnosed with a rare blood disorder at age 5. The doctors were forced to amputate the majority of all of his limbs. Despite his obvious challenges, Dustin is now a top student wrestler working towards a full wrestling scholarship. He is a tremendous inspiration to everyone who meets him and he gives hope to others who may be facing physical challenges.

Many successful entrepreneurs have been able to transform challenging life situations into business building opportunities. One of the best examples of this is Robert Allen. His book, Nothing Down: How to Buy Real Estate with Little or No Money Down, went to the top of the New York Times Best-Seller list after a controversial ad he ran to promote it. In the ad, Allen claimed that you could take him to any city, take his wallet away, give him $100 and he could buy a piece of real estate. After Allen’s book had achieved great success, a reporter from the LA Times challenged his claim in the ad and called him a fraud. In order to prove himself, Allen was forced to take the challenge and prove he could actually achieve the feat. Not knowing if he would actually be able to pull it off, Robert Allen began to worry and realized that he would be professionally ruined if he was not able to deliver. In a formally arranged meeting, the reporter met Allen in San Francisco, took his wallet and gave him $100. With his name and credibility on the line, Allen took the $100 and purchased 7 properties worth $700,000 in a 57 hour window. Needless to say, he went on to achieve enormous success in his career.

How would your life change if you were able to transform a negative event into a positive experience? What kind of results could you produce if you learned to embrace adversity and treat it as an opportunity for growth? Regardless of the nature of the challenge you are facing, decide to become the kind of person who embodies this philosophy and you will most assuredly begin to produce incredible things in your life while providing inspiration to those around you!

Make a Habit of Personal Development

noreply@blogger.com (Justin Popovic) — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 05:30:00 +0000

It can be a rather amusing task to sit back and analyze some of the daily rituals we perform, often without giving any conscious thought. I believe this is a good thing because we would accomplish very little if we had to stop and think about every task we perform.

Just today, I was making the short drive from my home to the library where I do most of my writing, when I noticed I had been completely engrossed in thoughts about the book I am writing. I had to look in the back seat to check if I even brought my laptop and writing materials. I then became aware of all of the other things that had to take place just to make this short trip. Among other things, I had to put on my shoes, put on my jacket, walk from the house to the car, unlock the car with the keyless entry, place my bag in the back seat, sit in the driver’s seat, fasten my seatbelt, start the car, and so on. The entire time this was happening, my thoughts were directed towards my task for the day.

This got me thinking about some of the other habit patterns in our life that we consciously decide to do without really asking ourselves if the task is really the most important thing on our list. For example, many people choose to watch a number of hours of television each day. I personally know people who spend an unusual amount of time daily cleaning their home or randomly browsing the internet. The point I am trying to make is that most of us can probably uncover at least one hour of time each day that we give to meaningless tasks.

The interesting thing is, if you ask most people if they are happy with all of the results in their life, the truthful answer is often no.

My goal is to encourage people to dedicate some time every single day to personal reflection and self development. If you are unhappy with a certain situation, you have the ability to change your thinking, and ultimately your behaviour, so that you can improve that particular circumstance. Instead of watching a daytime drama or indulging in excessive dusting and mopping, you might want to consider picking up a book or audio program that forces you to examine your results.

From my personal experience, this simple action produces an internal reaction. Because you are examining your own personal results, you quickly realize that you are the only one who can change them. Unfortunately, in our society today, people are fixated on producing immediate results and having tangible evidence in their hands the minute they ask for something. With personal development, the true benefits can only be realized when we incorporate the ideas into a habit.

Think about it this way. If you were to make a firm commitment to read or listen to personal development educational programs for even 30 minutes a day for the next two weeks, what kind of positive impact could this have on your life? What if you did it for two months? Similar to unconscious activities such as getting dressed or brushing your teeth, you would start to create a new habit and become the kind of person who automatically takes action on ideas that move you in the direction of improved results.

From personal experience, I can attest to the fact that this kind of self study works. It really is a never ending process because it is part of our nature to grow, expand and develop and ultimately, it provides an excellent opportunity to make positive life changes. As you become more involved in personal development, you will start to notice areas of your life that are working well and other areas that require improvement. This kind of education will help you harness ideas that will improve your results while at the same time, overcome all of the inhibitors standing in the way of you achieving your aim!

A common question I hear is, “Where do I start?” There are so many good authors, philosophies and ideas on this topic that you can never really say which style will work. The best advice I have ever received from this perspective is to study and learn from those who are producing results that you would like in your life. It’s a pretty basic lesson but a very important one. Seek out the people who have already achieved what you would like to achieve and learn from them. Success often leaves clues and it is up to you to find those clues and act on them. With a daily commitment to personal improvement, you will quickly become a master detective you will transform each clue into a tangible action that will lead to a more fulfilled life.

The Secret To Instant And Lasting Motivation

noreply@blogger.com (Justin Popovic) — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 05:30:00 +0000

Do you have a list of goals and desires that have yet to be fulfilled? Do you find yourself generating exciting new ideas only to find that you lose the motivation to complete them shortly after you get started? Perhaps you talk yourself out of that great new idea even before you even begin to pursue it.The good news is that there is a very simple yet powerful technique that you can adopt immediately to help you commit to completion. The technique is called decision.

Proper decision making ability is a vital life skill that many people fail to develop at all. At first glance, this idea may seem trivial and possibly not useful but consider the context of this discussion.When I talk about decision, I refer to someone's personal commitment to the completion of a set objective. For some people, the simple act of making a binding agreement with themselves is enough to get the job done.

For the majority of people, however, a more bold approach to decision making can be applied for maximum effectiveness.Consider the following personal example:Before I started my personal development company, Ignite Your Essence, I had been interested in becoming a speaker and I was always studying and testing various ideas and techniques that I was learning about the personal development industry. I knew that I had an inner calling to follow this passion and teach people what I knew about these ideas and philosophies.I attended an inspirational seminar where the speakers were talking about this very topic. The main message I received that day was that we are all 100% responsible for our results and we are capable of setting any goal we want for our life.I really took this to heart and started to contemplate the idea of becoming a platform speaker - teaching, inspiring and motivating audiences much like the people who I was watching that day. Because I was in a state of mind that allowed me to get emotionally involved with the idea, it grew beyond a daydream and I started thinking about how I could make this happen.

I started studying personal development principles for many hours a day and taking note of which techniques I was already using in my current career while learning and applying new ideas in various areas of my life (family, fitness, financial as well as career).Eventually, the idea of starting a business as a speaker grew so heated that I knew I had to do something. For about a week, I played a mental chess match with myself thinking about all the reasons why I should pursue this dream while simultaneously thinking about all of the reasons why I couldn't do it. As soon as I learned this lesson about decision, everything changed and my life has never been the same.

I woke up one morning and made a committed decision to book my first public workshop. I picked a date about one month out, found a hall to host it and booked the hall with a down payment. I was locked in and committed to doing this! It was both a mental and physical move that made a world of difference.The ambivalence instantly disappeared and my mind moved into a much more creative mode. Instead of worrying about whether or not I could even accomplish this goal, I started asking myself a new set of questions. What topic do I run the workshop on? How do I advertise? Who do I market to? Needless to say I completed that workshop a month later and so began the inception of my own personal development education company, which I now run as a full time business (my dream realized).

The key point to be emphasized is that I made a committed decision and backed that decision with a tangible forcing function. Like the stories of the Renaissance explorers, I had arrived at a destination, "burned my ships", and had no choice but to move forward and deliver the goods. Can you think about a committed decision you could make today, RIGHT NOW, that could ultimately alter the entire direction of your life?Perhaps there is a trip you have been meaning to take that could open a new window of opportunity - call the travel agent now! If you have been struggling with your health and fitness, maybe you can find a competition to enter and pay the entry fee? Whatever it is, make the decision and lock yourself into the decision to ensure you have a solid forcing function.For me, if I did not put a down payment on the hall rental for my first workshop, I may very well have let the doubt and fear push me to cancel the entire event and ultimately abandoned my dream. If the idea moves you in the direction of your dream or purpose, make the committed decision today!

A Book That Changed My Life

noreply@blogger.com (Justin Popovic) — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 05:30:00 +0000

Joining the personal development industry was one of the best moves I have ever made in my life. I have had (and continue to have) the pleasure of studying and learning from a wide variety of inspirational and motivating authors and entrepreneurs. There are so many great mentors out there but if I had to pick one person to recommend to anyone, it would have to be Bob Proctor. He has been involved in the personal development industry for over 40 years and there are countless stories of people who have made phenomenal improvements in their life as a result of his work.

One of his most well known works is his international, best-selling book entitled, “You Were Born Rich”. This is always one of the first books I recommend to anyone who is looking to get started and learn more about personal growth and self help.

This article is not a book review but a personal account of how the message contained in “You Were Born Rich” has influenced my thinking, and ultimately, my life.

For the majority of my life, if someone asked me if I was more of an optimist or a pessimist, I would smile and say, “I’m more of a realist”. What I meant by this was that I required concrete proof to form an opinion about a particular situation or event. I didn’t necessarily think the world was plotting to do me wrong but I certainly didn’t embrace challenges like a so-called ‘optimist’ would. So, when it came time to learn about personal growth, self responsibility and how our thoughts determine our results in life, I was naturally sceptical of most authors and teachers. That was, of course, until I was introduced to Bob Proctor’s work.

The best thing about this book was that it opened my eyes and spoke not only to my head, but to my heart. If you are reading this article, you are likely the kind of person who can relate. When someone speaks a truth that resonates with your authentic self, it is impossible to ignore the message. So many times in the past I had heard messages about positive thinking, having a good attitude, goal setting and so on. “You Were Born Rich” explains why these ideas are so important and it communicates the message in such a way that it changed my beliefs on the spot.

Above all things, this book helped me understand myself and how I was literally shaping all aspects of my life. Not only that but I was 100% capable of achieving anything in life that I was truly committed to achieving. The book is such an effective tool for personal development because it illustrates exactly how the mind works and how we as humans can use the power of our thoughts to create our results. We can do this with absolute certainty when we truly understand the laws of the universe and work in harmony with them.

A Powerful Analogy:In the book, Proctor discusses the “Acorn Analogy”. Like humans (or anything else in the universe for that matter), an acorn is nothing more than a mass of energy in a high speed of vibration. If the acorn is left out of the earth, it is slowly disintegrating and dying off. The moment it is planted, it begins to attract particles of energy that aid in the growth of an oak tree. Similarly, a person is also a large mass of energy in a certain rate of vibration. This vibration is controlled by that person’s thoughts and they will attract energy that is in harmony with their predominant thoughts.

For me, this analogy really hit home because I was beginning to understand the correlation between my thought patterns and the types of results I had been producing in my life. For example, I had always assumed that because I was a Math major in university and had career experience in the software industry, this was a field I would have to stay involved in until the end of my career. I also assumed that a good salary and benefits was far more important than job satisfaction and fulfillment. After reading “You Were Born Rich” I realized that these assumptions were nothing more than habitual ways of thinking that were producing certain results in my life. After months of repeatedly reading, listening and watching Bob Proctor programs, I was able to reprogram my thinking and see my world in an entirely new light.
I am now operating my dream business, Ignite Your Essence and I have just launched a sister company called Winning The Formula where we will be sharing these powerful life lessons with the youth!

I carry my copy of “You Were Born Rich” with me almost everywhere I go. It is an amazing book that can literally transform your life regardless of who you are or what your aspirations may be. If you have read this book and would be willing to share your experiences with me, I would love to hear from you. You can contact me through my website.

Step Into The Fear

noreply@blogger.com (Justin Popovic) — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 05:30:00 +0000

There’s no feeling like it. It is real and it is powerful. It creates intense physical sensations that cause our brains to scream “RETREAT”! It is also useful because it keeps us alert and keeps us safe. It is the emotion of fear and it has been one of my greatest adversaries.

Growing up, I was never once accused of being a major risk taker. I was not interested in being adventurous or exploratory. I remember being afraid to try the big toboggan hill, terrified of going on roller coasters and the thought of doing a student exchange program simply didn’t enter my realm of possibility. For whatever reason, I was very much controlled by my fears.
I’ll never forget a specific incident that occurred over 17 years ago. I was in grade 7 and my teacher recognized me as one of the top spellers in the school. He invited me to participate in the spelling bee which would take place in the auditorium in front of the entire school. I can still vividly remember the crippling sensations of fear as I visualized myself spelling a word incorrectly in front of the entire school. Without hesitation, I declined his invite and told him “it’s really not something I’m interested in.” Yeah right! This was exactly something I was interested in...but the fear once again kept me in the bleachers. What made the whole event so tough to swallow was that I actually would have won had I participated. I knew how to spell every word in the competition including the word that eliminated the final participant. Fear took me out of the game before it started. Fear cost me a huge win, personal success and school fame.

My sister, on the other hand, seemed to have been born with a higher threshold for fear. I remember her bombing down that same toboggan hill that I was scared to try...and she is 4 years younger than me. As for travel, at age 15 she took the first opportunity to travel across the world alone and live with a family in Germany for a few months. To this day, she continues to live an adventure-filled life including moving 5000 kilometres away from home to do her master’s degree, snowboarding down a mountain and even skydiving! Does she experience fear? Of course, but she does not permit fear to be a deciding factor in her goals and aspirations.
When I finally adopted the same mindset and made a commitment to take action in spite of fear, I was able to take full control of my life and implement lasting change. As I began to work on myself and learned what my fears were and why they existed, I started to truly understand the limitations that fear had created in my life. Once I placed my focus on what my fears had been costing me, the motivation to overcome the fears seemed to blossom. I actually felt angry because I was now associating the pain of missing out on life’s adventures with my inability to transcend my fears.

I now see fear, doubt and worry for what they truly are; imagined catastrophes. I once heard an author say that fear stands for “Fantasized Expectations Appearing Real” and I could not agree more. When I am feeling fearful, I can effectively deal with the emotion because I now understand that I am literally using my imagination to contemplate a disastrous outcome to a situation. Having this awareness allows me to move forward, experience the physical sensations being caused by the fear and ultimately overcome the feeling.

The best part about learning how to overcome fear is the true sense of liberation. To set the record straight, yes I was a fearful kid but I still had some amazing experiences and many came when I mustered up enough courage to do something that scared me. When Canada’s Youth Television Network YTV was at our school doing auditions for a kids game show, not only did I step up to the plate, but I actually made it on the show! Despite feeling extremely nervous and fearful of looking foolish on television, I went ahead and gained a life experience that my family still talks about today. I let them off the hook for making fun of my 1980’s mullet hairdo :)

From a professional perspective, I have had to work extremely hard at dealing with fear when it comes to public speaking. Despite the fact that I quit my software career to pursue a business in personal development speaking and coaching, I had a significant amount of anxiety when it came to standing up in front of an audience. You see, my ultimate goal is to be a top ranked platform speaker like so many of my mentors. But I set this goal with the awareness that I had a fear of speaking and that I would have to transform and reinvent myself completely to fulfill this desire. I would consider this particular task to be a work in progress. I continue to get up and speak in front of audiences. The size of the audience is progressively growing larger and the size of my fear is progressively getting smaller. Instead of worrying about my next presentation, I am eagerly practicing and preparing to deliver a performance to the best of my ability. The audience feedback is indicating that I am on the right track.

It is the culmination of these positive indicators that continue to chip away at my fear and move me towards liberation. While I accept and embrace fear as a part of the equation that keeps me sharp, I am able to continually move forward and develop myself to new levels and plateaus. Life is much more exciting now that I have learned to step into the fear!

Systemize Your Success

noreply@blogger.com (Justin Popovic) — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 05:29:00 +0000

When it comes to personal behaviour and getting your daily activities in harmony with your life goals, it is absolutely critical to have a system in place. Brain researchers claim that between 90-95% of all human behaviour is habitual which means we literally perform these activities without really thinking about them. Without a system to govern your critical activities, you will very likely fall victim to your habits and never truly accomplish the goals you set out to achieve.

As a person who is working on a number of major goals for my lifetime, I am always examining my results and looking for ways to improve the quality of my work and manage the time I choose to allocate to all of my activities. There have been periods of incredible productivity and other times where it seemed that everything was at a stand-still (even though I felt extremely busy). Upon reflection, it is easy to see that the main reason I experienced success during those productive times was due to the presence of a well defined system.

The word system can be defined as “a coordinated body of methods or a scheme or plan of procedure; organizational scheme.” When I think of a system, I think of a list of activities performed in a certain order with a specific result in mind. Ultimately, a properly defined and implemented system is the key to success in any area of life.

Just take a quick look around you and you can begin to appreciate the value of a well defined system. In many cases, the entire system has been automated for optimum performance. If you have any doubts, just think about what happens when you place a phone call, start your computer, turn on your lights, flush your toilet, start your car or even when you eat dinner. Each process is handled by a system that is responsible for producing a certain result. In the same light, I believe it is critically important for every person to have an activity management system for their life; a system that has been designed to help a person reach all of their desired goals and aspirations.

For me, having a system brings clarity to my mind and removes the potential of procrastination. It forces me to focus on what I really want to accomplish and take action accordingly. For example, when I was going through the mental transition from corporate employee to self-employed entrepreneur, there were a number of activities I knew I had to ingrain as part of my behaviour. Before I really understood the concept of systemizing my calendar, I instinctively knew that I had to build a system that would help me create my new habits. For a period of probably 100 days (maybe more), I woke up every morning and opened my activity journal. I would divide the page in half. The right side of the page was a list of six success habits that I had decided to implement in my life; family time, fitness, good deed, personal development studying, business activities and mental fitness (which would include something like meditation, visualization exercises, vision boarding, etc...). The left side of the page would be a growing list of all activities that would pop up throughout the day (for example, returning an important phone call, doing my online banking, filing mail, etc...). I would write every single activity down and check it off upon completion.

As basic as it sounds, that particular system actually changed my life. First and foremost, I would not allow myself to go to bed at night without first crossing off all critical daily activities from the right side of the page. I was literally obligating myself to create new habits. Secondly, I would see the left side of each page completely full of checked-off items. I felt great every time I looked at all of the important activities I had completed and it gave me energy to do it again the next day.

I believe that a good portion of our own self esteem comes from our ability to give ourselves an assignment and complete it. If there was a time I was feeling overwhelmed by my to-do list, I could quickly glance through my journal and remind myself how productive I could be when I put my mind to it. The accumulation of pages in my activity journal ultimately acted as a “success log” and always provided that extra boost of confidence when I needed it most.
After a certain period of time, I’m not sure why but I decided to stop using that system. I went back to a more informal task management system and basically relied on my calendar appointments to keep me on track. The really interesting thing I noticed was that the habits I formed have remained with me for the most part. I have replaced some of those original “success habits” with new habits that fit my current business structure and lifestyle. At the same time, I recently came to the realization that due to my ever-growing list of work demands, my schedule was once again out of control and rather chaotic. I had been spending far too much time on low priority work tasks, my fitness regimen was suffering some setbacks and my overall level of enthusiasm was being affected. After some introspection, it became quite evident that it was time to systemize!

The most difficult part of the entire process was forcing myself to stop, take a breath and examine my results. Once I was able to do this, I could easily see the areas that needed improvement and it was simply a matter of designing a new system that matched my current demands and lifestyle. I’m now back on track, more organized and best of all I’m feeling enthusiastic about my days.

Are you aware of how you spend the time in your day? Could you stand to be more efficient and productive? Perhaps you have broken some of the good habits that used to be part of your daily routine? If so, there has never been a better time to systemize. For a free download of the Ignite Your Essence “Activity Journal Systemizer”, please visit the homepage of Justin Popovic: Success Coach

20 Months To A Million

noreply@blogger.com (Justin Popovic) — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 05:28:00 +0000

Being the owner of multiple businesses, I am always conscious of my money from both a personal and professional perspective. Our lives are very much intertwined and often controlled by our ability to manage, save and spend our money. I was recently reminded of a great concept that I learned about when I was a teenager.

If a person were to take one dollar, invest the dollar in an asset and then sell the asset for two dollars, they will have taken the first step in a 20 month process of accumulating a million dollars. The only habit that would need to be created is the habit of doubling the amount in hand every month for 20 months. The final amount at the end of each month would be:

Start - $1
Month 1 - $2
Month 2 - $4
Month 3 - $8
Month 4 - $16
Month 5 - $32
Month 6 - $64
Month 7 - $128
Month 8 - $256
Month 9 - $512
Month 10 - $1024
Month 11 - $2048
Month 12 - $4096
Month 13 - $8192
Month 14 - $16384
Month 15 - $32768
Month 16 - $65536
Month 17 - $131072
Month 18 - $262144
Month 19 - $524288
Month 20 - $1048576

Obviously the model is very simple and the idea is basic enough for anyone to grasp, however, I would like to expand on the underlying psychology of this concept. Let’s imagine that we were going to make a committed decision to implement this model in our own personal financial lives and we could not skip any steps or take any shortcuts. By the end of the first year, we will have accumulated only $2048. This means that in the next 8 months, we will have to amass $997,952 more than we currently have to reach the one million dollar level.

At this point, this imaginary experiment becomes more of a fairy tale or daydream to the average person. But let’s think about our minds and the power of focus. For the first 12 months of the experiment, we were making a monthly habit of acquiring assets (likely devalued assets) and selling them at a higher price point. As each month went by, we were forced to become more creative and innovative with our investments as the challenge of each amount grew larger. Assuming we were successful for the first 12 months, the challenge on month 13 would be to double $2048 to $4096. After an entire year of practicing with small amounts and getting into this habit, the only real change required would be to adjust our perception of the size of the investment. There are plenty of people in the world who have had success doubling large sums of money in short periods of time (business acquisitions, real estate and currency trading to name just a few). The average person may not understand how to do it but they most certainly could learn if they were to focus their mind and their attention on the task and do whatever it takes to learn the required skill.

I once heard T. Harv Eker use the extreme example that if there was a life or death situation and your life depended on you making a million dollars in one year, you could figure out a way to do it. I completely agree. The point I am trying to make is that I truly believe we are all capable of achieving a goal like this if the stakes are high enough. Why then, do so few people ever try to achieve such a major goal? Why do so many people reject the idea before giving any serious thought to it? There are probably a number of reasons, but from my perspective, the primary reason a person would never even attempt a goal like this is because in their heart, they don’t believe they can do it. If they did believe they could achieve the goal, would they not be actively working on it? Of course they would.

With that in mind we can begin to understand the powerful role that beliefs play in our lives. From the standpoint of our minds, a psychologist would say that a belief is nothing more than an idea that we have consciously accepted as true and ingrained as part of our subconscious conditioning. So if we are holding on to beliefs that limit us and keep us from taking action on a life changing idea, with the proper awareness, we can make the conscious decision to formulate a new belief that supports us in our big life goals.

I think it is both healthy and wise for every person to take time out regularly to examine their habits of thought. Since this article is centred around the idea of financial goals and money, I would encourage you to step back and review your personal thought processes when you were introduced to the idea of ’20 Months to One Million’. If you rejected the idea as something that was unrealistic or out of your level of capability, take some time to examine the belief you are holding that is causing you to reject the idea. What other limiting beliefs have crept into your mind that are no longer serving you? Can you replace those beliefs with a more empowering and gratifying thought pattern?

This concept always fascinates and excites me. If you would like to comment or share your thoughts, I would love to hear from you: justin@igniteyouressence.com or call me at 1-866-983-MIND.

The Forgotten Skill Of Focus

noreply@blogger.com (Justin Popovic) — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 05:28:00 +0000

Lately, I have noticed a common theme among many friends, colleagues and associates. It seems we are all struggling with the same issue – the ability to stay focused on a single task for a prolonged period of time.

When I recently took a mental inventory of my typical day, I quickly became alarmed by the number of concurrent tasks I found myself working on at any given time. Worse yet, when I examined my results and productivity levels, it was evident that I was struggling to keep up with previous outputs during the earlier phases of my business.

Then I came across an article written by Josh Waitzkin that pinpointed the direct cause of my reduced effectiveness. The article was on a topic he calls the “Multitasking Virus” as posted on Tim Ferriss’ Blog at http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog.

In the article, Waitzkin demonstrates the detrimental effects of multi-tasking and makes reference to a recent study at the British Institute of Psychiatry which “...showed that checking your email while performing another creative task decreases your IQ in the moment 10 points. That is the equivalent of not sleeping for 36 hours—more than twice the impact of smoking marijuana.”

This was a real eye opener for me! I would have a hard time counting the number of times I had been checking my email throughout any given work day. On more than one occasion, I would completely stop a task (often an important, revenue generating task) to tend to a new email that popped up in my inbox...regardless whether it was an important email or not.

When I discovered that this type of distraction was literally decreasing my IQ, I could immediately see certain areas where the quality of my work had been impacted. But it also forced me to stop and think about all of the other distractions that I was allowing (knowingly or unknowingly) to impact my work.

Between news and information websites, email, phone calls, instant messaging and business research, I was probably getting distracted a minimum of 10 times a day! If you think that sounds like a high number, take a few moments right now to mentally review some of your own personal distractions. You will likely notice that they add up pretty quickly! In my case, these distractions would actually make me stop the task at hand and move on to something different. Often, I would move on to something of lower priority but I was unable to recognize this at the time due to the fact that I had been so severely distracted from my previous train of thought.
Like anyone else, I am at my best and produce my most valuable work when I am able to stay focused and concentrated on one item of work. This really applies to any task we perform. If you have ever learned a manual skill like laying a hardwood floor, using a weed remover for your lawn, or even running large stacks of paper through a laminating machine (these all happen to be tasks that I recently performed), you likely noticed a learning curve. At first, you might have felt awkward and you may have even fouled up your first few attempts at the task. Gradually you got the hang of it and developed a rhythm. After a certain period of time, you actually started to master the skill and eventually you were able to do double, triple, quadruple (or even better) your productivity.

The same thing applies to practically everything we do in life. If you want to learn a new skill, the best way to do it is through a complete immersion process. If you want to run a marathon, you focus on running and likely divert from the weight room until after the competition. If you want to learn how to speak Spanish, your best bet is to get into a Spanish class and postpone your French class until you have mastered Spanish. Regardless of what you may be trying to accomplish, you will produce your best results when you are able to consistently focus on the highest priority activities. When I want to write an article, I remove myself from all distractions. I even remove myself physically from my office and go to the library or another spot where I have no choice but to focus on the task at hand. My local library happens to have neither wireless internet availability nor cell phone reception. This combination makes for the perfect cure to my typical interruptions! I am often able to complete my articles or reports in less than a third of the time it would have taken me had I been working from my office and connected to my world of distractions.

An empowering discovery I have made about utilizing the power of focus is that it becomes increasingly easier to stay focused for longer stretches as you develop the mental discipline. One of the six intellectual faculties of every thinking person is something called “will”. This is our ability to sustain concentration on one item for an extended period of time. If you think of your “will” as a mental muscle, you can actually grow and develop this muscle similar to the way you would develop physical muscles at the gym; through frequent exercise.

If you are experiencing problems with productivity, take some time to carefully review the key points of this article. Then, try to determine if and where you are falling victim to distractions. Make a commitment to eliminate these distractions (disconnect from the internet, turn off the cell phone, etc...) so you can begin to practice your focusing exercises. You may want to start with 30 minute blocks. Work on staying 100% present with the task at hand. Monitor your progress. As you feel comfortable and find your rhythm, work on stretching it out to an hour, then two hours and then go beyond if you can.

But don’t forget to listen to your mind and body. Taking breaks is absolutely critical for your long term success. Since I often work from home, I use my breaks to drop all work from my mind and spend quality time with my wife and son. Whatever your situation, make sure you have an outlet to relieve your mind from your work for at least 15 minutes at a time.
Then when you’re ready, go back and continue to strengthen your focusing skills.

The Universe Inside Your Brain

noreply@blogger.com (Justin Popovic) — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 05:27:00 +0000

The title of this article has been named after a chapter in the powerful personal development and business development book called “The Answer” by John Assaraf and Murray Smith. This book has had such a positive impact on my business and personal life that I felt compelled to share what I have learned and how I have applied it in my world.
John Assaraf has been studying personal growth philosophies as well as brain science for the better part of 25 years. When he refers to a “universe” inside of our brains, he makes an excellent analogy. When I think of the universe, I think of a huge array of systems and processes that flow together in perfect harmony. And that is exactly what our brains do. With the latest developments in science and technology, we now know more about the brain than at any other time in human history.
With that in mind, anyone interested in achieving success, developing their potential and living a fulfilled life would be very wise to spend some significant time learning about this “supercomputer” we have in our heads. Whether you realize it or not, your brain has been programmed to control your behaviour and is directly responsible for the results you are producing in your life. This is where “The Answer” comes in and where I have been able to personally implement some life changing ideas.
One lesson that had significant impact on me was the fact that our conscious brain is responsible for only 2-4% of our behaviour. This means that 96-98% of what we do every single day is managed and controlled by our nonconscious brain. We don’t have to think about these tasks, they are taken care of without our conscious awareness. Examples I have noticed for myself include sitting in a chair, getting dressed, chewing food, writing notes and even driving my car. These tasks did require my conscious attention at some point earlier in my life, but through repetition have become “installed” in my nonconscious brain.
What’s amazing is that it is almost impossible to list out all of the activities we perform on a daily basis because there are so many. With the awareness that only 2-4% of these activities require us to think, it becomes quite obvious that using will power or other similar forcing functions to reach a major goal in life is futile at best. The true solution is to reprogram the nonconscious section of the brain so that those automatic actions work for us and move us toward our goals.
Here is one example of how I have made this work personally. Knowing that I had many goals that I had not yet reached and being aware of this conscious/non conscious relationship, I was able to sit down and mentally review my self-limiting thoughts and behaviours. Some of my personal examples included wasting time reading unimportant email, eating a snack when I was not truly hungry, reacting with anger when a situation did not go as I wanted it to, starting a good business book but not completing or implementing it (the list goes on as well). By simply becoming aware of these nonconscious habits, I have been able to organize my own personal development routines to replace these actions with more positive empowering ones. I will shed more light on this as we move forward in this article.
Another lesson that I learned from “The Answer” has to do with what some people call ‘self-image’ or in the case of this book, the ‘thermostat in your brain’. This idea was originally described in the 1950’s by Dr.Maxwell Maltz in his famous book “Psycho-Cybernetics”. Essentially, this part of our brain is responsible for keeping us safe and free from danger. It also keeps us on track with a set point much like a thermostat would do for the temperature in a house or an autopilot would do for an airplane. The problem is that our self-image sets the boundaries of our comfort zone and so it can prevent people from taking action that will bring them happiness and success if those actions require perceived risk.
For me personally, I have always had the goal of having a toned figure with very low bodyfat and respectable muscle mass. While I have been quite disciplined at maintaining a fitness routine, my personal thermostat was not set at the same level as my goal. I had always been anywhere from 20-40lbs overweight for the majority of my life. Eating and drinking habits were my biggest challenge points.
When I first got entrenched in personal development, I started to make some physical changes. I got down very close to my ideal bodyweight after years of trying to do so (I had actually done so once in the past only to gain all of the weight back). Even though I worked hard to get to that level, I still did not have the specific body shape and tone that I had always dreamed of. Despite my efforts, I still had lingering habits (of eating and drinking) that, in hindsight, I did not realize were problematic until I starting studying the ideas in “The Answer”.
When I learned about the process of ‘rewiring your brain’ to make significant and lasting changes in personal results, good things began to happen. In essence, if we want to ingrain a new habit into our behaviour, we have to “physically forge new neural pathways within the tissues of your brain.” This is not a process that happens overnight, but rather, something that takes time and repetition.
Once I actually understood this process and studied what was going inside of my brain, I knew what I had to do to reach my fitness goals. I created a 90 day challenge for myself. The challenge included the introduction of 3 major behavioural changes:
Some form of physical exercise every day for 90 days.
Healthy diet and refraining from eating beyond feeling full for 90 days.
Refrain from all alcoholic drinks for 90 days.
I have also created some visual reminders of my ideal body that I have placed all over my office so that I see them every day.
At the time of the writing of this article, I am just coming to the end of day 32;- over one-third of the way through my challenge. I already feel like all 3 of these behaviours are part of my new “self”. I have been blogging my daily routine day by day at http://www.justinpopovic.com/ and it has been amazing to observe my experiences while being aware of exactly what was happening inside my brain.
More importantly, by the end of this initial 90 day test, I will have a new system of success that I can use for the rest of my life to continually grow and expand my capabilities and improve my day-to-day habits so that they support the goals and visions I hold for my life!
If you are not familiar with Assaraf’s work, you might want to check out his profile at http://www.johnassaraf.com/meet_john.php.

Trading Your Life

noreply@blogger.com (Justin Popovic) — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 05:26:00 +0000

Whether you realize it or not, the way you choose to spend your day is ultimately a trade off. You are literally trading the minutes, hours and days of your life in exchange for your current activities. Most of us spend 40 (and often more) hours per week trading the precious moments of our life for our job. Two questions immediately rise to the surface:
Do you consciously recognize and appreciate each day of your life with the awareness that none of us know how much or how little time we have left?
If so, are you making a fair trade (i.e. are your activities worthy of your life energy)?
When I first understood this lesson at both an intellectual and emotional level, my honest answer to both of the above questions was NO! I was not necessarily taking my life for granted but I also did not truly appreciate my days. I was devoting my time to a number of things that did not make me happy and I was avoiding facing my fears. My mindset was ‘I will deal with it at a better time.’ Deep down I knew I was simply avoiding the issue altogether.
Specifically, I am talking about my professional career. Although I was quite successful, had a great salary, great security, excellent benefits and room to grow in the organization, I did not enjoy the work. I would start my day and look forward for it to be over. I did not work with any passion. Worst of all, I was trading my life for this career.
Because this was the only profession I knew and spent many years establishing myself, it never actually occurred to me that change was possible. I simply assumed that I would have to stick it out and hopefully do well enough financially so that I could retire early and THEN begin to enjoy my days.
Then I got involved in personal development programs. I started to learn more about life and more about the mind. I quickly realized that I had been operating my life following a set of beliefs and paradigms that were not necessarily ideas that I agreed with. I had always assumed that everyone disliked their job and it was just something we all had to go through to ‘earn our retirement’.
When I found out that there were many people who loved their work and had found a way to make a living based on their passions, I was very intrigued. I was also wary of the idea because it sounded too good to be true.
As I started to study some of these people and learn about the inspiring lives they were living, I realized a very important distinction between them and myself. Unlike me at the time, they DID appreciate the value of each living day and they also structured their life in such a way that they were trading their days for a purpose worthy of them and their true values.
When I compared them to myself, I was trading the days of my life for something that made me unhappy. When I dissected it further, I was choosing this lifestyle because I was too afraid to change. I was afraid to give up the salary and benefits, afraid to give up the position that took so many years to obtain, afraid to admit to others that I was unhappy and afraid to decide what I truly wanted out of life.
The more I thought about it and the more I studied personal development teachings and success stories, the greater my desire for change became. I started to reprogram my mind so that the pain of remaining status quo was actually more intense than the fear of change. I know many personal growth programs advocate positive thinking, but negative motivators inspire action for all of us. It certainly worked in my case.
Not only did this new mindset drive me to find my true passion and true calling in life (speaking and coaching), it helped me establish a sense of personal freedom that can best be described as liberation. There came a point where my self image literally shifted and I saw myself safely and confidently walking away from the career that I had so desperately held onto for many years.
The days of my life were far too important and valuable to be spending them doing something that had no meaning for me. After I resigned from that position, I made a personal commitment to dedicate the rest of my working days doing only that which I love.
I now love my work. I look forward to my days. I look forward to new projects and new opportunities. I never think about retirement because I never plan on retiring. When you do what you love, why would you ever want to stop?
If you are reading this article and can share a similar story, please contact me directly as I would love to put together a special edition of my newsletter to profile all of the inspiring and uplifting stories of people who are living their dream.