Take the gym, for example, I used to train 1-hour x 4-days a week and now I do just 15 minutes a day maximum and that includes doing both strength and cardio fitness.

The result is that I’m now feeling fitter and stronger than I have in years. All it took was a little research around how peak athletes stay in condition without spending hours a day wearing themselves out.

We can also apply the less is more method to any area of our life. It’s really a case of working smarter instead of harder and figuring out how to get the same or better results with less effort.

Another example is that it is possible to spend less time working and yet make the same if not more money. It’s just a shift in mindset around how much you value your time.

If you get paid $50 an hour now then what would it take to make $100 an hour or $500 an hour? While the less is more method may not necessarily apply to everything if you think of it in terms of quality instead of quantity then you’ll be on the right track.

I’m really enjoying applying the mantra less is more everywhere I can and focusing more on optimizing my time, energy, and lifestyle instead of wasting it.

Where in your life could you be enjoying more happiness, health, energy, love, or prosperity by applying the less is more method?

This could be less self-judgment which brings more self-love; less worry which brings more peace; less busyness which brings more relaxation; or even being less controlling which brings more spontaneity and freedom.

Life really is one gigantic experiment as none of us really know what we’re doing. So why not make the most of it and see how much more we can enjoy it while doing less to make it happen

Of course, this is understandable given all the rules and control measures being put on people over the past months and the many injustices we are seeing around the world with racism and hatred.

It’s like we’ve been put into a pressure cooker that not everyone is equipped to deal with. Then, there’s the media sh!t storm that does it’s best to project fear and terror into the hearts of those that are already suffering.

My point here is that now more than ever we need to take care of ourselves first. If we don’t help ourselves then we suffer.

We need to do everything possible to go beyond the thoughts of dread and despair and find that pace of calm inside us.

Peace will never be found in the outer world because it is a madhouse run by power mongers and egomaniacs – it can only ever be found within.

All peace requires is space… space from your thoughts and emotions.

For some, this happens through meditation. For others, it happens by moving the body or being creative.

Find what works for you and seek sanctuary in your inner space for at least an hour each day.

Then, regardless of what goes on around you, you will still have a way to come back to that place of peace within each day.

The good news is that the more you connect to this space, the deeper it goes and the more resilient you get to what happens on the outside.

If you want to join a growing group of budding peace-alcoholics then come join my Transcend Group.

This is where you’ll learn some really simple ways to get of out your head and into your heart while meeting some really epic people.

It’s always been a dream of mine to be an inspiration to others just by being who I am and the best part is that I have already achieved this.

We’re not always going to feel inspired as this will come and go but if we make it an intention to live this way then it makes it easier to attract people, opportunities, and circumstances into our lives that inspire us.

Inspiration gives rise to bursts of passion and motivation that bring alive new ideas and creativity to the world.

When we feel inspired by our work, health, relationships, and life then life is not only more enjoyable but we make things happen with more ease and grace.

If you want to feel more inspired then find what lights you up and just do mare of that each day.

I spend 2 hours each morning doing things I love and by the end of it, I have all the inspiration I need for the day ahead. These are things like playing with my dogs, meditating, dancing, yoga, and reading.

What’s important though is that you find what inspires you and then do more of it.

Imagine what it would feel like to wake up each day feeling so inspired to be alive? Not only is this doable – it is available to everyone.

If you’d like to feel more inspired in your life then come join us in my ever-growing family of soulful rebels who want more than to just work, eat, sleep and work again – they want to THRIVE!!!

That’s why I stopped making new years resolutions at all. Instead, I started making plans. A plan is something that you write down and then get clear about what you need to do to achieve it. You can even involve others in your plan if they want to be a part of it to help make it happen easier and faster.

So what should you put in your plan? I like to keep it real simple – just have just one main goal per area of your life.

The 5 areas that I set goals in include:

1. Health and Fitness

2. Finance and Career

3. Friends and Family

4. Fun and Recreation

5. Personal Development and Happiness

Now, you can add in more areas or break these areas up into individual sections if you want but at least it gives you an idea of where to start. Here’s a sample of how your plan for the next year could look:

• Health:                               Eat organic fruit and vegetables daily and follow an ‘alkaline’ diet – January
• Fitness:                              Workout at the gym for 30 minutes per day, five days a week. Due date –  January
• Finance and Career:       Write and Publish A Best Selling Book on Amazon. Due date – November
• Friends and Family:       Spend at least 1 hour per day of quality time with friends and family. Due date – January
• Fun and Recreation:       Learn to play the electric guitar. Due date – June
• Personal Development:  Listen to 30 minutes of I Love Marketing podcast a day. Due date – January
• Happiness:                        Meditate for 30 minutes per day. Due date – January

Now, this is just a sample list but i think you get the gist of how it works. If you notice some of them on this list I have down as due in Jjanuary. That’s because they are goals that I want to work on straight away and not leave for some imaginary point in the future.

S.M.A.R.T Goal Setting

The next step is to set just one goal per area above for the next year. You can set more if you want, but they will be your secondary goals and have a lower level of importance. The key here is to identify what is your most burning desire in each of the main areas of your life.

The biggest challenge most people face when setting goals is simply setting to many goals. This leads to feeling overwhelmed from the start and usually leads to giving up on them relatively quickly.

I have always found achieving goals quite easy and I’m going to share with you right now my best kept secrets for becoming a goal achieving superstar. If you follow this system of setting goals you’ll accelerate your personal and business success tenfold.

Secret #1 – Write down you goal

Just the simple act of writing down a goal increases the chances of turning it into reality and achieving it by over 40%! How does this happen? Because writing it down reinforces your goal internally and gives it a higher degree of committment and importance than just speaking it or thinking it.

Secret #2 – Make sure it is specific

Any goal that you set has to be as specific as you can make it. For example, if you want to make more money online, then you need to set an exact amount. If your goal is to make $100,000 per year then that is what you need to write down. If you want to lose weight, then specify the exact weight you want to achieve.

No matter what you goal is it has to be specific. If it’s not, then don’t waste your time trying to achieve it as it will be impossible to make happen.

Secret #3 – Make sure it is measurable

When working on goals you need to be able to measure the success of it along the way. If you can’t measure it at any point in time, then it’s not going to be possible to achieve it. If your goal was to make $100,000 per year online then you need to be making around $8,500 per month.

However much income you bring in will show you how close you are to achieving your target.

Secret #4 – Make sure it is action orientated

Does it require action to be taken? If it does then you will easily develop the attitudes, habits, skills and capability to make it happen. No matter how lofty your goals may be as long as you set realistic time-frames for them and map out your action steps required to achieve them, then you will consistently move closer to achieving them.

Secret #5 – Make sure it is realistic

Too many people set themselves unrealistic goals which sets them up for failure from the start. To be realistic a goal must be something that you are both willing and able to work towards, not just a pie in the sky idea that is more of a fantasy than something you can realistically see yourself attaining within a specified time-frame.

Secret #6 – Make sure it has a time-frame/deadline attached to it

This is the most important part of goal setting of all. No time frame means no goal – it’s that simple. If you can’t put a time-frame on it, then it’s nothing more than a pipe dream or a wish. By putting a time-frame on a goal it makes it real. It gives a sense of urgency and commitment.

Once you have a time-frame you can work backwards from it to set milestone points so that you can see that you are on track. It also enables you to break it down into do-able chinks so that you can also make sure you are staying on track for your specified time-frame.

How To Plan Your Best Year Ever

Now you know the formula to guarantee you have the best chance at succeeding at any goal you set, so ahead and write down your top five goals for the next year. next to each of your goals write down the month of the year you will either do it, or it have it done by.

Make sure that these goals are things that you really want and are super important to you. There’s no right or wrong goals you can set, just make sure that they matter to you. If they don’t, then don’t write them down. Only work on those goals that you are 110% committed to achieve.

Then, every day focus on your list and take some action towards each of them. Some may be bigger than others and require more effort so they will need consistent action taken, while others may be easier and need less effort to achieve.

Regardless, be mindful of the target dates for each of them and make sure to keep on track for each of your five main goals. Treat these written goals as your road map to success for the next year, as this is exactly what it is. You just need to follow your map and you will end up at the destination of your choice.

Be honest with yourself.  What isn’t working?  List them down.  No one has to see what you’re listing, but you must list them down immediately. These are real easy to fix because all you need to do is use the power of decision making to move in a new direction.

You see, it doesn’t matter so much whether you make the ‘right’ decision all the time. It just matters that you make a decision to do something. In time, if you don’t get it right at first, and you don’t give up on your goal, then you will succeed. Until then, you will have valuable learning experiences that will turn you into a leader.

And that’s the real power behind making decisions all the time – it’s the leader you evolve into. Leaders are those people willing to make fast decisions, take risks and then adjust where they are headed by making more decisions if required.

Do they make mistakes – of course! Who doesn’t. But, they are driven by the desire to be the best they can be so failure is not an option.

The Power Of People In Your Life.

Now let’s talk about who isn’t working.  This is a touchy subject as it involves looking at the people that you associate with most of the time. They have tremendous influence over the decisions you make and actions you take on a daily basis, whether you are aware of it or not.

There are 5 different types of people you have in your life:

• People who make the same mistakes over and over and over again.
• People who are negative
• People who care about nothing. These are the friends who when you ask, “Hey, what’s happening with you?” and they say, “Nothing,” all the time.  There’s never anything going on with them.  They don’t care either way.  They’re living life by default, not by design.
• People who make you feel drained. Every time you talk to them, they just drain your energy.
• People who always try to manipulate your time.

The unfortunate part about all five of these types of people is that many times you can’t identify them immediately.  That’s why it’s important that for 72 hours to 7 days, begin to write down your conversation.

The late, great Jim Rohn said that we’re the average of the 5 people we talk to the most.  You’re going to be able to narrow down, from your work, community, personal life, who isn’t working.

After having a conversation with someone, make four columns on a piece of paper or on an Excel sheet with the following:

• Column one is going to be You’re going to have a brief moment where you write exactly what you were talking about.  Not word for word, but enough to show you were paying attention to what was actually said.

• The second column is the amount of time you spent talking with this person.

• The third column, which is probably the most important column out of all of them is, how you felt after you had that conversation.
• The fourth column is their name, who you actually spoke to.

You want to begin to see who you’re talking to; how much time you’ve given them, which is the most important thing in the world that you have; and how you felt about the conversation. You will begin to immediately identify the wrong people in your life.

How do you get them out of your life?  Very simple.  Why is that vultures don’t fly in space?  The answer to that is the environment is not conducive for them to do so.  Well, you’re going to develop your own environment that’s not conducive for these 5 types of people to come into your life.

Once you’ve identified them, this is how you’re going to either change them or they will move on, keeping in mind that you can’t actually change a person, but you can change yourself and therefore have an influence on them, possibly changing them indirectly.

They’re either going to change like you’re changing, or they’re going to go away.  Those are the choices.  But you’re not going to be directly confrontational with them. You’re going to become busy.  That’s all it is, busy.  They can’t talk to you if they can’t reach you.  They can’t email you if you keep taking your time to email them back.

Don’t dedicate your time to people who unfortunately don’t matter.  If you have identified them as one of those people who are not helping you get where you need to go, who are not thinking in the right place, who doesn’t sound like the type of person you want to be around, why have them around?  Why allow them to come into your life?

They might be nice people, but nice people you can talk to maybe once a month.  Nice people, you can talk to every couple of months.  I have some nice people I only talk to once a year.  They’re nice people, but they have nothing going on that’s going to benefit me.

What I mean by benefit is people who are going to build you up and speak great things into your life.  They don’t fit into any of these five types of people.  They’re not draining you, they’re not manipulating your time, they’re not doing the same foolish things over and over again.  They care about something.  Every time you talk to them they don’t tell you there’s nothing going on.  And they most certainly aren’t negative.

You have to begin to identify the people in your daily and weekly life, because that’s going to determine your mindset moving forward.  We’ll talk more about mindset another time, but you have to begin to guard your mind, your body, your soul.

Become More Productive and Effective In Your Life.

By becoming more productive and effective in your life you literally won’t have time to try and drag around dead weight with you. In fact, it’s almost impossible to be as productive and effective as you can potentially be when there are people holding you back mentally, physically or emotionally.

The first time I applied this in my life was years ago when I discovered there was a friend who unfortunately continued to talk about themselves all the time.  That’s the only conversation that they have that’s worth anything, just talking about themselves.

What I did is become busy.  Why do I want to listen to someone talk about themselves 24/7?  That’s not something I want to dedicate my life to, and I don’t think that’s something you want to dedicate your life to.

It’s not that you don’t want to listen to a friend.  Keep in mind, we have those moments when we want to share those frustrations with our friends and vent, and yes, we listen to our friends’ lives, absolutely.

But this isn’t what I’m talking about.  I’m talking about someone who is constantly and consistently having a “me fest,” and that’s not the type of person that you want to dedicate your time, as you move forward in your goals.

Who are you walking with?  Who are you around? If you don’t make the decision to identify the problem, you’re going to have a hard time solving it. The second part of that is, if you don’t make the decision to take action on a daily and weekly basis to remove the problem, you’re going to have a harder time moving forward.

You have to clean your glass.  That’s what this decision making process is about.  You’ve got to get out of your life what isn’t supporting you to become more of who you are, whether it be strategies or people. Begin to identify the people who aren’t on your team.

They’re not necessarily hating on you, but they’re not on your team.  They have a different agenda than yours, and you need to find like minds. Just on the internet alone, there are 3 billion people.  I guarantee you there is somebody who will bring great things into your life, just as much as you will into theirs.

My coach then went on to say that the purpose in doing this exercise was so that I could look at what my expectation was around life… And what I would need to do to ensure I stay on track for the target I had set.

For example, if you said you wanted to live to be 100 years old and still be active, alert and healthy, then  what kind of a lifestyle, diet, exercise routine, and health plan would you need to follow. Obviously, if you smoke cigarettes, drink alcohol and don’t take care of yourself, yet you want to live to 100, then it’s not congruent with your goal.

Instead you’d be more inclined to drink only filtered water, eat organic food, do work that you love so that you are emotionally enriched, practice things like Tai Chi and Yoga to help keep your body energized and flexible,  meditate to find a place of peace within you, and anything else that would contribute to a long and prosperous life.

What About Prosperity?

Living a prosperous life is your birthright. It’s not something that is limited to just the naturally born rich or those that get a so called ‘lucky’ break in business.

The fastest path to prosperity is to own it. By that I mean you need to live as if you are already prosperous, instead of that it is something that may happen in the future. If you put out the message to the Universe that you are prosperous in all that you think, say, and do, then you will start attracting more prosperity to you.

This is how the Universal law of attraction works – what you put out in thought and deed is what you get back!

4 Steps To A Long and Propsperous Life

If you are keen to live a long, healthy, wealthy and extraordinary life then the two things that will help you most is to keep your life simple and learn to open your heart and mind to the depths of love and wisdom you can go to.

Yes, you need to keep fit and stay mentally and physically strong, but at the same time even those things can add more stress to your life if it has an absence of love and joy in it. By simple, I mean try and live moment to moment without getting bogged down by your past, or anxious about your future.

If I could some up healthy living in a few words it would be to:

1. Celebrate your life every day

2. Meditate and find peace and happiness in doing nothing

3. Follow your heart and spirit without hesitation

4. Give compassion, peace and kindness wherever you go

As you can see, there’s nothing about health and fitness in here as my top 4 ways to live a long, healthy and prosperous life. My belief is that if you truly do love your life then looking after your body will naturally follow.

Take the time now to write down how long you’d like to live and then what action steps or habits you’ll need to develop in order to achieve your ultimate destiny. Then make sure to take action on your plan every day.