TeenVisionary98

So I fell off the horse, but I'm back on now. How many times does this have to happen before I truly commit to the goals I set for myself? Lucky for me, I got a life coach so oI'm hoping we'll get a lot of work done. I've been in a huge state of confusion about my life purpose since reading Jed McKenna's, "Spiritual Enlightenment: the Damndest Thing" and watching the Peaceful Warrior. One thing I took away is that I really am not working in the present, but for what it may bring me in the future. What does it take to reach a state of flow in the work we do? Also, what's the point of a life purpose if it's all a projection of our ego? I feel that a huge factor in why I'm so devoted to fulfilling my life purpose is because I seek importance for my life. Why is that? Isn't that just my ego at work? I don't even know why I read and study self-help books anymore. I'm getting this urge to get back into street photography, and I'm thinking I'm just going to go with the flow on this one and see where it takes me. Where do I stand on going through life coach training? Not entirely sure either. From what I remember, the reason I wanted to pursue life coaching was to help others develop a life where they might actualize their full potential which stemmed from my willing to do so. But if nothing is wrong with the world, why attempt to change it? But then again, Gandhi and MLK attempted to change the status quo and the world benefited greatly. I feel a huge part of my confusion lies here. I may be thinking of my life purpose as a means to change the world rather than provide a service to it. Hmmm, interesting. I'll have to think about this as I go on throughout the day. 5 things I am grateful for: My life coach, Melissa my mom's support Lee, who really shook the belief system I had, making me begin to think for myself. My grandma's cooking the new campaign at work, helping to build support in opposition of Trump's environmental views and potential actions. Alright, that's it for today. I will say that although I did not maintain my morning routine, I have been meditating pretty consistently. I'm excited to be going on a vipassana retreat next Wednesday, which upon my return I will hike up my meditation to one hour a day. Never thought I could commit to that, but after 10 or so hours of meditation a day for a little over a week I'm sure will help me ease into that transition! " I expand in abundance, success, and love every day as I inspire those around me to do the same."

Yup, didn't follow through on that last post. I'm very aware that "I'm going to sleep late because of finals" is a victim mindset when I know I could've begun studying earlier, but now I actually have to go to sleep late and am not willing to be sleep-deprived while I learn the material I need to learn. This will be a short post because I'm lowkey procrastinating by writing this. I was much more functional while having a morning routine and my only fault was not taking my studies as seriously. I'm so immersed in developing my skills and researching for my life purpose that math isn't focused on so much. I hate saying this, but my morning routine will probably not be started until Friday. Until then, I will continue to meditate and imprint my life purpose. As always, 5 things I'm grateful for are: the clothes on my back the laptop I'm currently using a fridge full of food Thriftbooks Leo's book list Alright, there it is. I'm scrambling to get my shit back together and can't wait for the quarter to end. "Everyday I expand in abundance, success, and love as I inspire those around me to do the same."

*Sigh...I burned out Just 5 days short of completing my morning routine challenge and I fall through. I know I shouldn't go to bed so late since I wake up at 4:30, but I've managed in the past. In doing all my work, I've neglected exercise (besides the short jog I do when I first wake up) until I implemented this morning routine habit. I won't lie, I was pretty disappointed with myself this morning and ended up staying in bed until 2 PM. When I finally stopped feeling sorry for myself, I decided I needed a new strategy. I skimmed through "The Power of Full Engagement," and found that if I want to function with optimal energy levels, I need to balance the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual aspects of my life. Since my physical well-being is the foundation of the four, it's no surprise why I am burning out. Here's what my revised morning routine will look like. 4:30 AM Protein oatmeal with fruit and flax seed (10 minutes) Check schedule and goals (10 minutes) Meditate (10 minutes) Imprint life purpose (10-15 minutes) Journal (10-15 minutes) 5:30 AM Strength and cardiovascular workout (1 hour to 1.5 hours) 7:00 to 7:30 ish Eat post-workout meal and get to work Also, I'll have to take intermittent breaks every 90-120 minutes throughout the day. I'm not exactly sure what I'll do, but a brief walk sounds good (roughly 15 minutes). On a more positive note, I went to my first seminar/meet-up yesterday! I was the youngest one there by at least half a decade. I offered to help the organizer out in setting up and through that I was able to share a bit about my vision for life. He contacted me this afternoon with a follow-up, ending with an offer to get together for a one-on-one coaching (with a sliding-scale fee). I'm a bit skeptical about this because he doesn't seem to have any coaching credentials, but has had 6 years of experience according to his Linkedin profile. Here's what I plan to ask him before moving forward: . What is your coaching experience? What is your coach specific training? Do you hold an ICF Credential? What is your coaching specialty or client areas you most often work in? What specialized skills or experience do you bring to your coaching? What is your philosophy about coaching? What is your specific process for coaching? What are some coaching success stories? I also met this girl and was able to invite her to join the Toastmaster's club I go to since she talked about wanting to develop her communication skills , but I digress. Alright, there's the journal entry of the day. Although I've fallen down, I choose to get back up. Tomorrow will be the start of a new 30-day challenge in implementing this newly developed morning routine. For today, I still plan on imprinting my life purpose, visualizing, and meditating. That's all for now! I'll end with 5 things I am grateful for: Les Brown, who persuaded me to get out of bed. This forum, where I can look back at my posts for inspiration. The Power of Full Engagement by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz Meetup.com The fact that I got to live another day. "Every day I expand in abundance, success, and love as I inspire those around me to do the same."

How do you take notes on the books you read?

Love my Sunday sleep-ins I began "So Good They Can't Ignore You" and "The Business and Practice of Coaching" yesterday, and I'm pretty excited to see what I'm going to learn next. Every time I pick up a book Leo has recommended, I'm surprised at the insights I encounter. Rather than upload my notes to my blog altogether, I'm thinking I'll just go more in-depth into the key ideas. This gives me a chance to practice writing and explaining what I took away from each book I read. Because I read two books a week, one of them being personal development, I can see myself writing at least four blog posts a month targeted towards the self-help community. I may include posts on the other books I read, but that depends on whether I am reading about business, public speaking, or biographies that contribute to a person's self-actualization. That's at least 48 posts a year! I think having a large collection of posts on the books I read will add to my credibility as someone qualified to coach, run seminars, and give speeches if I decide not finish my degree. This blog would also be a good marketing strategy for my speaking/coach services, possibly positioning me as a thought leader in the industry down the road. That's enough business talk. Right now, I'm finding that my family is quite toxic. I live with my grandma, two cousins, and uncle--and we're not the most functional family. I feel that they thrive off conflict, and sometimes i find myself getting wrapped up in it. When they're bored, they will look for ways to start bickering simply for the entertainment. They're addicted to phones, television/netflix/youtube, food, and are generally complacent in life. I don't really like talking like this because it sounds like I'm judging them, but I feel it's important to identify the situation as it is. When I began waking up at 4:30 AM, making my own food to eat healthier, and working on my life purpose--homeostasis hit us hard. I'm beginning to visit coffee shops and libraries to get a little more personal space in that rowdy house of mine, and may ultimately have to detach myself from them altogether. Regardless of that, I am still thankful for the fun times that we do have. Here are 5 things I'm grateful for about my family: My cousin's youthfulness brightens my day sometimes. All the cleaning they do around the house. Company when I'm feeling lonely Their ability to make me laugh Calling me out when I'm in the wrong. Alright, there it is. Let's get this Sunday. Going to my first personal development workshop today! I'll talk about how it went in tomorrow's entry, "I expand in abundance, success, and love every day as I inspire those around me to do the same."

@Zane Thank you! It's really rare for me to hear something like that, so it means a lot. I appreciate your support and wish nothing but the best for you. 6:44 AM This will be a short entry. My morning routine is running a bit longer than usual because I've been dreaming of new possibilities for my future, and I really wanted to take the time to visualize the outcomes. After finishing Arnold Schwarzenegger's biography and the Path of Least Resistance, I'm certain that picturing the results I want to create in my life is the most important step in accomplishing any goal. I did an exercise yesterday from the Path of Least Resistance that had me list all the results I wanted to come into creation when it occurred to me that on this list is essentially what my life will pan out to be. Along the way, I may find that some of the goals I have aren't as important anymore, but the fact that I have the tools to manifest any of them is incredibly inspiring. It's as if I've already accomplished them all, now it's just a matter of going through the motions while enjoying every step of the way. 5 things I am grateful for: Les Brown, who inspires me every day The amount of freedom I have Youtube Robert Fritz Arnold Schwarzenegger, who's focus reminds me of what is possible with the power of the human mind. That's all for now! Getting ready to head to Toastmaster's, excited to put the practice of recording daily mini-speeches to use. "I expand in abundance, success, and love every day as I inspire those around me to do the same."

Want to start off my thanking all the men and women who have given service to this country. Although it's a holiday, NO DAYS OFF BABY. Had my butt up at 4:30. My uncle and grandma always ask, "Michael, why must you get up so early? Don't you know that's not normal?" I just think, "If you knew where my future was headed, you'd want to get up early too." LOL I'm getting close to finishing the Path of Least Resistance, and one think has been irking me since yesterday's reading. I want to make the fundamental choice to be the predominant creative force in my life, but because I'm still taking college classes for my mom, I feel that I'd still be in a responsive/reactive structure. Right now I've concentrated my energy on developing three areas within my life purpose: researching books (personal development, coaching, business), public speaking (Toastmasters, shooting daily videos, reading), and reading and writing skills. However, I still have math homework and other classes on the side I have to worry about, that only takes up my time. It's all good, though. Time will pass. 5 things I am grateful for: Past and future veterans. Messenger, allowing me to talk to my mom in London. The roof over my head, although it has a leak Breakthrough Rapid reading, for increasing my reading speed Amazon affiliate, where I will be pulling in cash from affiliate marketing. I have one week left until I finish my 21-day challenge in implementing my morning ritual--pretty proud about that. I would not have seen myself getting up at 4:30 in the morning two months ago, but it has helped my productivity tremendously. After this, I plan to implement a fitness routine in order to master my body. Habits are KEY. Alright, time to go make this SMOOTHIE. I'm out of flax and hemp seeds, almond milk, and greens--shit. Guess I'll have to improvise! "I expand in abundance, success, and love every day as I inspire those around me to do the same."

So Donald Trump is the president-elect of the USA...did not see that one coming. I realized that many people didn't like either of the candidates, and some would vote for one out of fear of the other winning. In "The Path of Least Resistance," this is what Fritz referred to as "choice by elimination," which puts people in a position where the feel they are controlled by circumstances when having to choose the lesser of two evils. This was seen with tragic consequences in places like Central America, the Middle East, and Africa--which seems to be where America is going. I let the whole negativity bog me down after writing my journal entry yesterday when I initially found out who had won, but then I realized that it was just a distraction from doing what I needed to do. Shout out to Infinite Waters (Diving Deep) for helping me understand that. So let's start this day off on a good note. 5 things I am grateful for: My Toastmasters club, which is full of great people. Amazon same-day delivery. Robert fritz, for shining light on the creative process All my mentors from the books I read My cousin, Hilary, for providing heartfelt conversations Alright, there it is. Let's keep the positivity flowing. "I expand in abundance, success, and love everyday as I inspire those around me to do the same."

"I had a dream I would run the game and kill it."-Logic That lyric has been stuck in my head since yesterday and I'm starting to go crazy. Anyways, I came "upper limited," as Gay Hendricks likes to call it, by squabbling with my cousin about politics. Since last night was election night, of course the conversation was supposed to come up, but I did not imagine I would spend about an HOUR going back and forth. My participation caused me to go to bed later than I wanted, not getting the amount of sleep that I had hoped for. QUIT SQUABBLING. It leads to nowhere and takes up time and energy. Also, I haven't heard the results of the election yet, but I was thinking, what if Donald Trump really became president? How would this affect my life purpose? What I loved was realizing that I would still continue to learn about what makes a person reach their full potential and sharing what I learn just for the sake of doing it. The further I work at my life purpose, the more and more I'm realizing the importance of having a craftsman mentality. The work I do is out of love to see my creation exist. Anyways, here's 5 things I'm grateful for in my life Meetup.com, where I'll be attending my first two seminars in the weeks to come. My camera, allowing to deliberately practice my communication skills on a daily basis. My mom, because she has helped to provide all the resources I need to progress. Jim Carrey, for giving me the idea of writing a million dollar check to myself. High-speed internet. Alright, time to go make my smoothie! "I expand in abundance, success, and love everyday as I inspire those around me to do the same."

Only have about a 2.5 hours of sleep in, but would you look at that--I still got up to follow through on my goals. I completely put myself in this position, so there's no point whining about it. I'm gonna grind through the last of my math hw so I can catch a couple zzz's before class. It's funny how my family doesn't understand what I'm doing. They think it's not "normal" to wake up at 4:30 in the morning. They think it's not "normal" to be this focused. They think it's not "normal" to sacrifice doing what "normal" teenagers do. Well, guess what, normal people go on to live normal lives. I'm about half-way through "The Path of Least Resistance," I'm learning a lot about our tendencies to oscillate back and forth between our goals. In the past, I've motivated myself to get into shape because I wasn't in shape. Once I got a point where I felt good, I would stop taking action because the intensity of my original desire was lower. It wouldn't be long before I got back out of shape, starting the cycle over again. It's been FOUR YEARS that my ass has been trying to get in shape LOL, and all because of my damn reactive/responsive underlying structure. As soon as I finish implementing this morning routine habit, I'm going to use the wisdom I've learned from this book to create the body I've always wanted. I feel this is the next step in my essential habits because I will only be able to coach others if I feel I have mastered myself. Alright! 5 things I'm grateful for: 1. Google calendars for helping me plan out my day. 2. Leo's booklist 3. my lemon water 4. This community 5. Getting the opportunity to attend the TEDx Seattle after party, where I'll get to mingle with the speakers, organizers, and others! That's it for today! Time to go make the most of it. "I expand in abundance, success, and love every day as I inspire those around me to do the same."

If you plan on entering a profession, such as medicine, law, science...then yes. But otherwise, I could imagine that you could acquire the necessary knowledge and discipline habits on your own. However, I don't want to say to myself 10 years from now that I should've gone to college, for whatever strategic reason.

@Live Life Liam I've got my vision locked down and have been working towards that daily. The only reason I'm hesitating in continuing my college education after I finish high school is because, apparently, it's a strategic blunder. Like I said, Leo usually knows what he's talking about, but something tells me that I should spend my energy and time on developing my skills and researching rather than pursuing more general knowledge. I feel like your using "education" to describe how some public school systems work. Educating yourself in whatever field you seek to pursue is necessary if you want to create an impact in this world.

SUPER IMPORTANT. If you have time, take a look at "The Path of Least Resistance." It talks about how "structures" in our life determine our behavior (occurs in all nature). In these structures, tension occurs and a need to resolve that tension. For example, tension occurs when you're thirsty, causing you to drink water to resolve that tension. Examine the image I attached. Conflicts in these structures arise when there are two competing tension-resolution systems. "On is based on your desires. The other is based on an incompatible dominant belief that you are not able to fulfill your desires." In your case, the desire is to implement certain habits, but have a limiting belief that you won't succeed because of past failures. When you begin to resolve the tension to implement your habit, the intensity is decreased. On the other hand, as you pull further and further away from your limiting belief, the tension in that system increases until you are pulled back into your old ways. Then the cycle repeats. This is how most people live, and can be quite frustrating. No amount of motivation will change this cycle, although it may help in the short-term. As you've seen, it is not enough to gain long-term results. The only solution is to change the underlying structures and move towards the creative orientation. I'm not an expert on the subject, so I really suggest you pick up this book to get a better understanding at what I'm saying. Here are the basic steps. 1. Visualize the end result. Like a painter approaches an empty canvas, you must vividly see what result you want to create. 2. Identify your current state compared to where you want to be. This way, you can take note of all the obstacles in your way (lack of motivation, etc.) 3. Take action. In the creative process, creation is about learning what does and does not work. If you don't have the willpower to do meditation at night, for example, do it when you wake up. 4. Learn the rhythms of the creative process. The high energy and excitement when you first get the ball rolling, following through on the process regardless of your emotions or not, to finally reaching the end result. 5. Creating momentum--the more we learn to envision and create, the better we get at doing so. This process will amaze you at how effective it is if you follow the steps. Hopes this helps! Seriously cannot emphasise the importance of this book.

It's a nice feeling to have done a lot before the sun has even risen. This morning, however, my body did not want to get up. I had this throbbing headache out of nowhere. I thought maybe I was upper limiting, so I sucked it up and pushed through. After hydrating and getting that morning jog in, my morning routine flowed by smooth. Having read more of Arnold Schwarzenegger's autobiography, I became more aware of the power of visualization. Arnold was not only driven by the sport of bodybuilding, but by the vision he had of competing and winning Mr. Universe. He had images of his bodybuilding idols on his walls that he studied, and constantly thought about what it would take for him to get there. Although I have my own vision board, this makes me want to grab pictures of all my idols and plaster them all over my wall. This, coincidently, goes hand in hand with what I'm reading in the "Path of Least Resistance." Robert Fritz states we should live in the orientation of the creative, manifesting our dreams using the creative process: 1) Conceive of the result you want to create. 2) Know what currently exists. 3) Take action (learning what and what doesn't work along the way). and some others. To me, this basically says anything is possible is you can see your end result so vividly, that the process of getting there is organically formed along the way. Powerful, powerful stuff. Alright, enough reflecting. 5 things I am grateful for: 1) Books, books, and books! 2) The fact that I'm starting my journey relatively young. 3) the power of the subconscious mind. 4) Les Brown. 5) The nutritious smoothie I'm about to drink. I've been gifted another day in life, it's up to me to make the most of it. "I expand in abundance, success, and love every day as I inspire those around me to do the same."

So in Leo's, "How to be a Strategic Motherfucker" video, one of the strategic blunders he mentions in not going to college. I was curious as to why this is. I'm currently in high school but also on the final lap of getting my Associates Degree through a dual credit program. Since finishing the Life Purpose course, I've been focused on developing the skills and habits needed to take me to where I want to go. The thing is, working towards a 4-year diploma (which my mom encourages) doesn't seem beneficial to me other than building strong study habits and receiving credentials. I understand the strong study habits part, but I feel you can develop those on your own in pursuing your individual goals. As for the credentials in having a diploma, if you develop your craft enough to the point where the world sees the value you offer, what's the point in having a diploma in the first place? In my mind, this would make not going to college a strategic blunder in circumstances where you need certain credentials in order to be qualified in your given field. Yet, I know Leo is very wise and talks about stuff he has really studied. What do you all think?