Top 5 Keys in Five Minutes From How to be Alive by Colin Beavan. (Day 4)

So today I decided to something cool and different.  I went through a book and picked out 5 key points in 15 minutes.  I did this as a challenge to myself and as something I would be able to share with you guys today.

What I did was looked at the table of contents and circle 5 or more chapters that seem interesting, then go through each of the chapters and skim through and find a key point that stands out to you. Mark your pages and circle these points, and if you are a blogger like me share it with others!  If you are doing it for fun and to learn something new fast do it for that reason.  Most of what the authors talk about is fluff to fill the book, because nobody would want to buy a 2 page book even if everything they had to explain was able to fit on those 2 pages.

Key1. Security and Meaning.
In the book Colin states that these are the 2 keys we need to be happy in life.  He says "security is what you get from the world through your relationships." And also "Meaning is the buzz you get from being alive."
When you think about it, all the people around you have to make you feel secure with yourself and your life if they make you feel insecure they aren't your friends.  And meaning is much more.  We each have a meaning in life, finding it can be tough but when we do, doing that every single day isn't a chore but its fun.  Just like for me going to the gym isn't even a chore, I love seeing myself grow every single day from my workouts and its fucking fun! What is your meaning, your exercise for life?

Key 2 What we focus on we attract.
Racecar drivers tell you that if the track is crazy and you are about to go into a spin don't focus on the obstacles because you're going to crash.  the is very true in life, it seems like if I focus on the bad, then the bad will happen.  If I focus on growth or abundance then there will be growth or abundance in my life.  This goes for self doubt as well, if I tell myself I suck at meditation or I'm a slow reader, I'm going to read slow or have a shitty meditation that day.  Focus on the good and the good will come into your life!

Key 3 Do materialist things provide happiness?
Many of us and myself included have a list of things we want from cars, to the newest computer, to headphones, or whatever else there is to buy.  One problem is, however out list of things like relationships, the way we feel, and health aren't usually on that list.  But that is the very thing that causes us to be happy.  Sure material objects can help but most of the time we get a rush from buying these things then after a day, a month, a year these things don't make us happy.
What makes me happy is the process of my life and living into my goals each and everyday.  The fact that I can move closer to the life I want is amazing and creates endless possibility for me, and I know that one day I will have the result of what I put in today, and thats what causes happiness for me.

Key 4 Think about your next meal or snack.
The problem with a diet is its just that a diet.  Certain foods we aren't allowed to eat anymore, I like to create a lifestyle and think of the foods that are within my standards, if I want to look like a champ I have to eat like one.  In the book he talks about focussing on your next meal or snack not the whole day, week, or month of eating.  This will cause too much thinking for our brain if we are thinking about what we are going to eat tomorrow instead of focussing on our next meal.  If we focus on our next meal or snack we are able to be more conscious of what we are going to eat, or if its going to help or hurt us.
I love to think in the way of "will this food serve me or no?"  From their its easy, my tastebuds may feel good for a minute or two, but in 5 minutes I will regret it. On the other hand I can eat something that still tastes good and makes my body feel good and alive!

Key 5 Accept your truth.
It sounds stupid and cliche but, be yourself.  If you are you 100% the right people will follow, not only will you inspire people but you yourself will grow.  You can influence others with your story and your path to you and if they like it they will follow and you will be able to inspire and help others become their best self!  Own who you are if you are a car nerd like me then own it! Fall in love with the leather seats and wood grain on the cars appreciate them be the nerdiest at what you love doing as you can, and that will make you happy as well as others!

My top 5 favorite Cars. (Day3)

Cars.  They have been a hobby of mine for the past few years.  When I was younger I hated them, then for whatever reason I started to love them, from the design, engine, sound, interior styling, smooth leather, and rich wood, and carbon fiber.  These are in order from my 5th favorite to my first favorite.  Anyways, lets jump right into it!

5. McLaren P1

The McLaren is primarily based on a little speed and a little bit of style but mostly because it is rare and the doors are super cool, as on all McLarens!  The reason I say only a little bit of style is because with the price tag of $1,350,000 to start, it is unique, but in my opinion just looks like a beefed up 650s. The car can however do a quarter mile in just under 10 seconds, but the top speed is only 217 which is fast but one of the other cars in this post will tie speeds, look much cooler in my opinion, and be less than half the price.  

4. Rolls Royce Phantom

Why did I choose the Phantom instead of the Maybach 62s?  The 62s does beat the phantom on interior style and design, but on the outside it is just a Mercedes S Class in a limo sized wheel base, and doesn't stand out as much as a phantom.  It embodies the 50's style saloon, a classic looking car is always unique and shows how Rolls Royce can keep their luxury and still go with the classic style!  The things that stand out in the Phantom is comfort, leather, wood, and of course the star light headliner.  In the Phantom not only was my body comfortable but even my feet were comfortable from the HUGE lamb wool floor mat, it literally feels like your feet are on a cloud.  This was an experience I have never had with any other car!  The whole interior is covered in leather and wood, making the perfect luxury car.

3. Brabus 6x6

I guess I am breaking the rule of "cars" with this one, but it needs to be put in this post.  There are only 3 of these in the US and I had the pleasure of seeing one about a year and a half ago, sitting in a parking lot alone.  The car is a monster and just seeing one in person is phenomenal, the picture is good but doesn't do the car justice!  Bottom line, it is a street legal monster truck!

2. Lamborghini Aventador

When I said there was a car that had a top speed of 217 as well as the P1 this was it, for about half the price or even less to.  The Lamborghini has always been my favorite car since I got into cars.  Before the Aventador, it was the Murcielago, and I even didn't like the Aventador as much at first until about a year after it came out.  The Aventador is like a jet, from the styling and speed and the sound is amazing.  Recently one car beat this out of my #1 spot for my favorite car. (This happens to be Justin Verlander's Lambo)

1. Pagani Huayra

If I could use one word to describe this car it would be perfection.  The Huayra is literally a work of art on 4 wheels.  The car is literally an alien space craft on the inside and out.  There is no other car that even can come close to the styling.  And not to mention the AMG V12 engine in the car producing 720 horsepower with a top speed of 224 MPH.  I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking.

closing thoughts 

Tell me what you think.  If you think I should've put a different car in here please leave a comment or share your top 5 cars with me on here, I would love to hear your guys opinion!

No Dairy for One Week. (Day 2)

Over the last week I was reading a book called the Ultra Mind Solution by Mark Hyman.  In his book he talks on how change in diet can help people get through things like ADHD, which many people suffer from today.  He states that changes are its the things these people are eating and has many cases throughout the book where instead of prescribing people medication for it he has them change their diet.  Guess what happens next?  Their entire life takes a 180.

I don't know if I have ADHD and just control it well, because many times I can get distracted really easily especially if something I'm trying to focus on is boring to me.  But that is besides the point of why I am going dairy free for a week.  My reasons for it are simple, to see how I feel after a week compared to how I felt when I was having dairy everyday or almost everyday, and because most places don't have grass fed cheese or milk or yogurt, the only place I know of that has all 3 is Whole Foods.  I however love yogurt but I can only find yogurt that isn't from grass fed cows unless I want to pay an extreme amount.  Milk and cheese for me are easier, I can substitute the milk for almond or coconut milk, and cheese does taste good but I can go without it pretty easily, only cottage cheese is hard to resist.  I have been doing this for 3 days now and I still have mucus which is something I have been trying to get rid of because I notice that when I drink dairy my mucus levels sky rocket.  The reason could be is that I have too much b12, because I was taking that vitamin and my throat would swell minutes after and my mucus would come back, and even is as I write this, or it could be that 3 days isn't enough to get rid of months of mucus from dairy I don't know.

These are my reasons for giving it a try, these 3 days have been a struggle, I went to chipotle 2 of the 3 days and before I would always get cheese and sour cream, which I love in my steak bowl, but I noticed something, there wasn't much of a taste difference, sure with cheese and sour cream it does taste better but barely.  The real thing I am having trouble with is yogurt.  My parents got yogurt over the weekend and every time I open the fridge I see yogurt!  I don't know why but it is so hard to resist for me, I am able to do it but its hard.

Closing thoughts.

I am hoping to see that my mucus levels go down with this challenge and if they do I might even go longer without dairy, I might even go longer if I notice I am feeling better as well, because in my eyes if the cows are fed corn that energy is going into my body and I don't want that, it is hard to get away from corn fed and cows that are trapped in a small area their whole lives, but I am trying to get away from that.  Cows should be free range and eat grass instead of being force fed their whole lives.  The things that make this hard for me is chipotle and the price of grass fed items, but I am becoming more conscious of what I eat more and more eat day and I can see it.  If you guys thing you may have a dairy allergy or just want to go dairy free I suggest you try to cut it out for a week like I am doing!

7 Day Blogging Challenge Day 1.

Day 1

Today I have decided I am going to write to the blog for 7 days straight.  Writing is not my strong point as many of you know but I always try to work on it the best I can and share things that I think are cool or will help you.  I have also been having writers block lately and not really able to think of that many things to write so I am hoping this challenge will help me break out of that and come up with more ideas for you guys so I have more consistent content for you to read up on and learn from!

Its Day 1 of my challenge and I'm already having trouble thinking of what to write next.  This post may be all over the place with how I write I have no clue, and even in some of these days I may just write freely with whatever comes to mind.  Even if it isn't on self development or fitness, I may just write to write and try to clear out writers block.  I believe Tim Ferris talked about doing this to jump out of not being able to think of things to write about.
Since this is the first day of the challenge, I recommend you start a 7 day challenge of your own, it can be writing like me or anything you want.  I believe if you start one today you will have more fun because you'll be following my 7 day challenge and will also mean you guys can share with me what you are doing for your challenges this next week, which I would love to hear as well!
Getting started is always the hardest part, I am even scared to post this today because it'll hold me accountable, but I know I need to do this to better the blog and create better content for you guys.  My biggest problem right now is I am feeling I don't have anything "valuable enough" to say or share on the blog that would help you. Deep down I know this isn't true, and that what I have to share has added immense value to your lives before, but I am feeling I can't write that way anymore for some reason.
Maybe you are feeling this way in other areas of your life.  Maybe there was something you were good at before but now you feel you aren't as good.  Why is that?  What are your limiting beliefs?  In day one lets start the challenge together and find out what our limiting beliefs are in our subject of the challenge.  For me mine is I feel like I can't write as good valuable content as I used to because the ideas I am coming up with aren't "good enough".  Thats why I started this challenge because I know whatever I have to share on here is good enough and will add some value to you guys even if some days what I write is complete nonsense, I'm sure it could be a form of entertainment or enlighten you day.
Anyways guys take the 7 day challenge to break through you obstacle and share it with me in th comments below I would love to hear each and ever one of your challenges this next week and also if the is helping you go where you want to in life!

Breaking out of Depression.

Depression is something hard to come out of, all you want to do is sit or lay around all day.  What was fun for you before isn't fun now and seems impossible to do even if you want to do it.

Ok so over the last couple weeks a lot has been going on in my life.  For me it has taken such a toll on me that I have been literally wanting to do things like work on myself but have been having trouble getting myself to, even thinking of something to write on here was hard to do and still is right now as I write this.  I have been trying to do one thing a day even if it was just meditation or reading. A couple of the days I even made a couple videos which seemed almost impossible for me to do but I knew I could do it even if the videos weren't good.

I even have been having a hard time getting into the gym, which I LOVE until yesterday.  When I went I actually felt good.  Over the last 2 weeks I have had periods of feeling good. I got to spend time with my family for Christmas, and parents for new years which helped take my mind off things for a while because I was able to have family around me to comfort me.  But I noticed that even after Christmas was over I was still feeling down and depressed, and had a hard time doing anything more until reading or mediation.

Today turned out different.  I woke up and went through my eBay store and made sure all my products were up to date, did meditation, and now am writing this after work, and I still have hours ahead of me to even read and if I am able to do even more stretching or yoga to improve my body today!  In a way I feel like going to the gym yesterday was what helped me today to not be as down and depressed and to be able to get shit done.  Literally to get myself to go to the gym I had to spend some money and buy a product to motivate me even more to go to the gym.  It was a Christmas present to myself but I knew it would be good to try and would get me to at least go to the gym, which was my stepping stone!

Closing thoughts.
If you are depressed find out what your stepping stone is going to be.  I have been depressed for a couple weeks and it made my life feel like shit, but now that I am breaking out of it it feels amazing!  If you have been depressed for quite some time I can't imagine how hard it would be to come out of it, but what I learned is to do something that will force you to increase confidence and do something you love at the same time as a stepping stone.  If I wouldn't have bought the program I know I would keep procrastinating and wouldn't even be writing this blog post right now.  You don't even have to spend money like I did but if you do and have the money it is worth it because if you invest your money into something you are more likely to do it.

Should You Purchase a Luxury Car?

     Luxury cars and sports cars are very attractive, comfortable, and high tech in many ways compared to your average car.  The feel of the drive is indescribable as you are going down the road.  But is it worth it to purchase one?
     This question can vary on answers depending on many factors.  But lets focus on brands for now.  The car companies I think of when I hear the words "luxury car" are Mercedes Audi Jaguar and BMW, at least as the normal luxury cars excluding Maserati, Bentley ect.  And most people probably think of the flagship Mercedes S class G class truck or SL when they hear the word "luxury car" as they are very common despite the cost of $94,000+ for the new S class and the SL starting at just under $91,000 and the G class luxury truck for just under $120,000.  These cars are very desirable just seeing them on the road or even in pictures make most people want them the second it catches their eye.  A form of shiny object syndrome if you will.
    I have owned a luxury car even though older the car was even more advanced than some brand new cars.  I recently sold the car as it became too expensive for me to own.  It was a 2001 Jaguar XJ8.  But I knew I needed to save up some money and buy a cheaper car to own and maintain.  In my opinion the car was by far the nicest car I ever owned so far in my life.  The comfort, drivability, power, and style was classic and everything you would expect from a luxury car.

    So should you purchase a luxury car?  This depends on to me how much money you are willing to spend and how much left over you would have after buying the car, and if you are buying used or new.  If you are extremely rich and can afford a brand new luxury car then by all means buy the newest, but if you have a little bit of money you could spend on a luxury car and be able to afford it then buy used.  I wouldn't say buy one with more than 100K mile on it if you buy used.  The reason being is many of the luxury cars seem to have many major faults with the engines and transmissions ect.  This is less common in the newer luxury cars but if you are purchasing one as old as mine make sure the miles are low, I bought mine with 65K on it and put over 20K miles on it in 2 years and only had a couple problems with the car, these being a coil going bad and my rack and pinion.  I was very lucky with the car, like I said many older Jags have engines and transmissions go bad very fast.  I did drive the car like a grandma most of the time because I was afraid of the problems with it, although if I put it in sport mode the car would perform like a sports car!  Speed wasn't worth the risk of a big problem with the car for me.
    If you are going to purchase a luxury car I recommend having at least double the money you are paying for the car, so if you are buying the car for $10,000 you should have at least another $10,000 just for the car in case something goes wrong, this is a mistake I made, I didn't have double the money of the car, I don't want you making that same mistake!  Also before you by it take it to your local dealership and have them inspect it, it only costs a couple hundred dollars and could save you from buying a lemon.
    Back to the question, should you purchase a luxury car?  If you have the money and find a car you love this is a big yes.  If you don't yet have that money stick with the car you have right now.  Believe me, I can tell the difference in comfort compared to my Honda and the jag I used to have, but saving money for me is more important than having that car right now, being broke and having a luxury car isn't something I would want for you guys either.  So if you can't yet afford the car you want, save up for it, you will one day be able to buy it and not have to worry about money.  My advice buy the car you want, just make sure you have the money for it, and it will be the best car you have ever owned.

 

5 Lessons That Stand Out to me from "The Sell" by Eredrik Edlund.

"Be who you are and say what you feel because those that matter don't mind, and those that mind don't matter." -Bernard Baruch
As I have been building up my confidence over the last couple years this is one of the hardest things for me to do.  Usually I will build in my head "what will people think if  I say this or that".  Since I started this blog and youtube channel that is going away faster than before but I often still feel that way.  On this blog and my youtube channel I always talk about things that help me and that I think can help you.  It may not be for everyone but those of you that enjoy the content or find some value from it love it, and I thank you for that.
Sleep.
This is something I often have trouble with.  I find myself sleeping a lot later than I know I should, even if that means getting 8-9 hours of sleep.  I will even feel tired throughout the day because of it.  In the book Eredrik explains how sleep is the most important thing because it describes how productive our next day will be.  If you are like me falling asleep before 12 can be hard to do.  With all the distractions we have it is easy to find yourself going to bed hours later than you want or need to.  He even wears earplugs to sleep to block out noise! As I kind of slack on how early I need to go to bed this is something I need to work on.  How can you improve sleep?
Listen more than you speak.
The hardest thing as and introvert from my experience to do is this step here.  As an introvert I am almost always in my head with "what will I say next" instead of paying full attention to the person I'm talking to.  I know its hard to do because most of us care about what we have to say more than the other person because we think we may be judged if we say the "wrong" thing.  In reality from my experience as well I find that if I listen to what the person I am talking to is saying that I can respond more to them instead of some random thought I have I am having at that moment.
"My people philosophy"
To sum it up he says to make people feel appreciated.  This is much bigger than just a sale but something we should continue or start doing for the rest of our lives.  You never know when someone could die that is close to us, we must appreciate everyone that comes into our lives.  Their time means just as much as yours and the more you show appreciation for those around you the more people will appreciate and respect you as well. What goes around comes around.  We all want to feel appreciated, to do that we must first make others feel that way.
When something bad happens don't play victim.
Crying about our problems is the easiest way to not have to worry about them.  Obviously if our problem is someone else's, or the weathers "fault" that we didn't do something or showed up late for something important we don't have to take the blame and try to fix the problem.  Why would you fix something that you feel is someone else's fault? 
Playing victim is a bad road to go down, the more you do it the easier it gets to place blame on others or even things.  I remember when I was a kid I would always blame the object if something fell, saying "it just fell" instead of saying I knocked it over or dropped it.  It was always something small but you get the point, I was playing victim.  If you do something wrong, admit it and fix it, that is a big step for growth, its simple to take the blame for your actions but may not be easy at times.
Closing thoughts.
I hope you learned something from this post.  Tried to include as many things that I need to work on hoping it will inspire you guys to work on these as well for a life of greatness, which we all deserve if we put in the work.