Brainwashing Yourself For Success

I have from time to time, found myself pondering what the difference between Richard Branson and Joe Schmo is. 

Richard Branson has started hundreds of companies, has been knighted, is an adventurer, he owns his own island, he is in control of his life and makes it what he wants. Richard is living what most people would call an extraordinary life.

Joe Schmo works way too many hours, for way too little money, at a job he hates. He's saddled with debt and fear of losing it all. Joe is constantly stressed and tired. Every morning when his alarm goes off he's sick with having to go back to his shitty job. Joe has gained some weight recently and had to cut back on exercising because of work. So now he's fatter. Joe is not living what I would call an optimal life.

So what is the difference between these two? Immediately it's quite easy to say billions of dollars and unlimited resources. Richard has it all, he's got nothing to worry about. He's just a lucky guy who got a good roll of the dice. 

That's the easy thing to think and say, but I believe it is a cop out allowing us to rationalize our own shortcomings and blame them on outside circumstances instead of taking responsibility. I challenge you to move past these assumptions and think bigger. What makes them different?! Where did it start, how did they both end up so differently? Two men have recently answered these questions for me. Steven Pressfield and Napoleon Hill. 

I argue that it was simply THOUGHTS.

Their thoughts were the determining factor. Everything in your life is dictated by your thoughts. Richard had bigger dreams, clearer thoughts, and backed them with a plan. Joe never believed he would amount to much so he let his environment, the people and events around him, dictate his situation. He was not self aware, he did not have a definite plan, had no measurable goals so he drifted through life never TAKING CONTROL.

There are ways to prime and convince yourself into achieving success. I recently came across two books that have changed the way I look at my entire life. The principles in these books explain the power of having a definite purpose backed by belief.

All of this may sound like I've gone off the deep end, buy hang in there. The books I am going to recommend at the end of this post will change the way you view your situation in life. They will give you the tools to turn your situation around if you are in an unpleasant one, or help you to achieve even higher levels of potential.  

The nature of your thoughts determine the outcome of every single situation in your life. Thoughts will manifest themselves into real objects and situations in the material world. You must be diligent and mindful of your thought patterns as well as definite in your purpose to avoid falling off the path and as Napoleon Hill calls it, "drifting". 

Simply having positive and definite though patterns as opposed to negative ones sets in motion powers outside of our control to bring you closer and closer to achieving the correlated outcomes of your thought patterns, whether those are positive or negative. 

The old quote "Whether you think you can, or you think you can't, you're right" holds true to every persons situation. 

So, we must brainwash ourselves into positive thinking and avoid at all costs thoughts of fear, poverty, ill health, and all other negative ideas. We must constantly bombard our mind with new and powerful ideas. This can be through books, podcasts, documentaries, significant others, or mentors and business associates. 

You must develop a mental environment of success and possibility in order for that environment to manifest itself into reality.  This is a small list, the books put all of this much more eloquently than I ever could, so get these books.

THINGS TO AVOID:

1. APATHY
2. LACK OF DEFINITE PURPOSE OR GOALS
3. FAILING TO CHOOSE CAREFULLY THOSE YOU ASSOCIATE WITH
4. NOT BEING MINDFUL OF YOUR THOUGHT PATTERNS

If you enjoyed this post, know ANYBODY that may benefit from it or these books, LIKE and SHARE it with everyone you can.

Find us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram with the link icons at the bottom of the page

Here are the two books with links to amazon. I highly recommend these books, they will change your life.

Outwitting the Devil by Napoleon Hill

The War of Art by Steven Pressfield

Nootropics: Where You Should Start

I love to learn about new, interesting, and sometimes controversial products or methods. I find exploring things that allow me to unlock a larger amount of my potential very fulfilling. Lately I have been focusing on increasing productivity, athletic training, and creative endeavors. Knowing what I have been focusing on allows you to understand what I have been using the following tools for.   Sharing things with you that I have found to have a positive impact on my life is one of my passions. Share the love! My goal is to introduce you to new methods so you can explore them and reach new heights.

There are a few key things I have been using for multiple years to increase my productivity, creativity, or recovery. I’ll be covering these methods and tools in the following weeks in a series of posts. Sign up for the newsletter to be notified when a new post is published!

Nootropics

Also called smart drugs these are functional foods, nutraceuticals, or supplements that improve one or multiple aspects of mental function. These can enhance memory, recall, problem solving, and focus.

When I take these I feel a mental clarity and focus that is hard to come by on any given day. My mind feels like it’s fired up and I can really dig into whatever it is that I need to get done. Whether I’m studying, researching, or writing a blog the experience is enhanced by the use of nootropics. On the days I really want to get a large volume of work done I’ll call upon nootropics to power me through and increase my mental function.

This is anecdotal evidence based on my experiences and the results I actually FEEL when I take these. I’ve heard other people describe the same results and experience these effects. All these claims sound almost too good to be true. As we are all aware, the supplement industry is filled with extremely effective marketing and sub-par products. I want to point you in the direction of products and companies that are not bullshitting people and are making quality supplements.

Alpha Brain

The first nootropic supplement I tried was Alpha Brain from Onnit Labs. I had heard about this originally from the Joe Rogan Experience. I heard positive reviews explaining how you could actually feel the difference when you took it. You didn’t have to speculate that it was working like other products, because the bottle says it’s good for “Y and Z”. It’s a feeling that is obvious once you take it. You can purchase all of the ingredients independently and take multiple pills, but Onnit has simplified the process and put them all together in the perfect blend.

The good people at Onnit have ran 2 clinical studies on their product, Alpha Brain. You can find the results and full summaries of the studies on their website. These studies prove the mental benefits of Alpha Brain to dispel any false claims.  Do a quick search on google or social media and you will see raving reviews of all Onnit’s products. I have been using their supplements and foods for a few years and have never been disappointed.

I recommend Alpha Brain and other Onnit supplements to friends and family because I trust them.  I highly recommend that you give Alpha Brain a shot if you want to increase your productivity and mental output. They even offer a 3 month money back guarantee if you decide you don’t like it (This won’t happen, trust me). You have nothing to lose and a lot to gain by trying! For full disclosure, if you use the link below I do receive a percentage of the sales. I would greatly appreciate it, if you are going to purchase from Onnit, if you use the link to do so. I would like to preemptively say THANK YOU to those who do!

Enlightened Athlete Onnit Portal

Kimera Koffee

I am not affiliated with this company, it’s just kick ass coffee! This is a fairly new product that has everybody’s favorite drug, caffeine, and nootropics all in one. I just started using this coffee and I already love it. Kimera Koffee has high altitude coffee beans infused with the nootropics Alpha GPC, Taurine, L-Theanine, and DMAE. If you’re like me, you love good coffee, and I have superb news for you. This is not good coffee, this is exceptional coffee. The taste and aroma of the beans are amazing which is not even the best part.

The infused nootropics provide an effect that is truly noticeable, in my opinion. Having used nootropics before, I have an experience to base the effect of this coffee off of. I have felt the feeling of mental clarity, focus, and enhanced recall previously and can tell a difference from baseline. To be honest I was skeptical at first because I had not seen many reviews about the coffee. Luckily, I was not disappointed in any way. I’m sipping a cup of Kimera Koffee as this post is being typed. You can get a bag for yourself at KimeraKoffee.com

I hope that I have revealed the world of nootropics to you if you haven’t heard of them previously. If you have heard of them but unsure where to start, these are top notch companies with quality products. If you are looking to begin your journey utilizing nootropics these are sincerely my top recommendations.

If you’ve tried nootropics before let me know what your opinion on them is and any others you have found to be useful! 

The Enlightened Athlete Lifestyle

What exactly is an enlightened athlete?  

The definition of enlightened: having or showing a rational, modern, and well informed outlook. I consider an athlete anybody attempting to better themselves physically, regardless of the form of exercise you choose.

So, an enlightened athlete then, is somebody who is constantly striving to better themselves physically AND mentally. They are lifelong learners who understand the importance of living a fully integrated, healthy lifestyle.

I have seen that one of the best ways to fully express ourselves and feel truly alive is by challenging our will through exercise. In my, and many other leaders in the health industry, model of an integrated life physical fitness is a key component. Being able to bend, run, lunge, and jump allow you to fully experience your life.

Life is a dichotomy. There is day and there is night. There is good and evil. This applies to your life in the following way. Just as important as aggressively pushing yourself physically is allowing your mind time to be calm and focused. There are many ways of achieving this goal, and I consider it as important as physical well being. Meditation is the most available method that I am aware of. In future posts I will delve much deeper into this realm. (So check back soon!)

I spend much of my time researching all things related to physical well being. Proper training methods, accurate and true information about nutrition, sleep, hydration, strength training, endurance training, mobility, meditation, isolation tanks, yoga, and pretty much anything else you can think of that facilitates an integrated lifestyle.

 Let my obsession help you in any way it can. The intention of Enlightened Athlete is to provide you with knowledge, actionable strategies, and be the most useful resource you could possibly have on your journey to becoming enlightened. 

In the same way we all change and grow throughout our lives, I intend this to grow and change as well. I want to hear from you, what you would like to hear more of or learn more about. Let's shape this together. The reason Enlightened Athlete exists is to help you reach your version of enlightened. 

Connect with us on social media!

Find our pages on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter with the icons at the very bottom of the page!