Knowledge For Men

I've been seeing this pattern with a lot of good men lately: they give, provide, plan, fix, and carry the relationship… then quietly wonder why they feel unsupported, unseen, and resentful. This video is about the hidden relationship dynamic where a man wants a partner, but accidentally trains a woman to become a passenger — and why masculine leadership, emotional clarity, and self-respect matter more than simply doing more. If you've ever felt like she enjoys the life you built but doesn't truly add to it, this one may hit harder than expected. Learn more about the transformational work we do with men: https://success.knowledgeformen.com/rise-of-grounded-man61551840?el=receives Can't click link? Google "Knowledge For Men Coaching"

I've been seeing this pattern with a lot of good, successful men lately: they give deeply in a relationship, but somewhere along the way their commitment turns into unlimited access. This video is about why a woman can appreciate you, depend on you, and still stop desiring you — and what that reveals about masculine self-respect, attraction, emotional leadership, and the standards you abandoned without realizing it. If you've ever felt like you're doing everything right but still feeling unseen, unwanted, or quietly resentful, watch this closely. Learn more about the transformational work we do with men: https://success.knowledgeformen.com/rise-of-grounded-man61551840?el=useful Can't click link?  Google "Knowledge For Men Coaching"

I've been seeing this pattern with a lot of good men lately: they give more, explain more, adjust more, and somehow their woman respects them less. This video breaks down the hidden relationship dynamic most men miss — how fear, over-giving, conflict avoidance, and losing your masculine center slowly kill attraction, respect, and emotional connection. If you've ever felt like you're trying to be the good man but still losing yourself in the relationship, watch this closely.This is about reclaiming your truth, your self-respect, and the grounded masculine leadership she can actually feel.  Learn more about the transformational work we do with men: https://success.knowledgeformen.com/rise-of-grounded-man61551840?el=gavetoomuch Can't click link? Google "Knowledge For Men Coaching"

I made this one because I've been seeing this pattern with a lot of men lately — good men, successful men, husbands and fathers who keep laughing things off, staying quiet, and calling it "peace" while something inside them knows they're losing respect, attraction, and their own voice. This video is about how men accidentally teach women to disrespect them, why silence can slowly kill polarity in a relationship, and what it actually means to become a grounded man without turning cold, bitter, or fake alpha. If you've ever replayed her tone, the comment, the look, or the little dismissal later that night and wondered why it still bothered you… watch this closely. Learn more about the transformational work we do with men: https://success.knowledgeformen.com/rise-of-grounded-man61551840?el=lostrespect Can't click link? Just google "Knowledge For Men Coaching"

A lot of good men spend their lives becoming useful, agreeable, successful, and impossible to reject — only to realize they've lost their edge, their honesty, and their self-respect. In this video, I break down the Good Man Trap: how approval-seeking, self-abandonment, and performing strength can quietly weaken a man's masculinity, relationships, attraction, leadership, and purpose. If you've ever felt respected on the outside but disconnected from your truth on the inside, this may explain why — and what it takes to become grounded, honest, and free again. Click here to learn more about the work we do with men. Can't click link? Just google Knowledge For Men Coaching

William H. McRaven is a former United States Navy admiral who last served as the ninth commander of the United States Special Operations Command from August 8, 2011, to August 28, 2014. Since January 2015, he has served as the chancellor of The University of Texas System. McRaven previously served from June 13, 2008, to August 2011 as Commander, Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) and from June 2006 to March 2008 as Commander, Special Operations Command Europe (SOCEUR).  In addition to his duties as COMSOCEUR, he was designated as the first director of the NATO Special Operations Forces Coordination Centre (NSCC), where he was charged with enhancing the capabilities and inter-operability of all NATO Special Operations Forces. Admiral McRaven retired from the Navy on August 28, 2014, after more than 37 years of service. Favorite Success Quote If by Rudyard Kipling Key Points 1. Focus on Doing Your Duties Now  Success in life doesn't come from focusing on what you are going to do in the future. It comes from focusing all of your attention on the tasks that are in front of you right now. Yes, you should have goals, dreams, and aspirations. However, do not allow these dreams and aspirations to rule the present moment. Instead, focus on the now, focus on what is right in front of you, focus more on the next 24 hours and less on the next 24 years. The quickest way to achieve success (whatever your definition of success might be) is to have a plan and then execute on that plan, day in and day out. Do your duties now and allow tomorrow to take care of itself. 2. You Can't Make it Alone  Many men like to think that they are an island, they like to believe that they are the Alpha and Omega of their lives. Until one day, they are struck by the very harsh reality that they are not. No man, regardless of size, intelligence or other capability has ever "made it" on this planet by themselves. We were designed for community and teamwork. One of the fastest ways to achieve your mission, whether that is in business, in your health, or in your relationships is to surround yourself with amazing, like-minded individuals who can help support you and push you along the journey. With a tight-knit circle of influence, you will be able to accelerate your results, find your blind spots, and receive help when you are outside of your comfort zone. And more than that, you will have more fun! Life is a team sport, it's meant to be played with other people. So eradicate the erroneous notion that real men do it alone. Build your tribe and have a blast doing it. 3. What Are You Really Made of? So often in our modern society, we are quick to judge others (and ourselves) on external factors like height, weight, attractiveness, financial success, and social capital. But we forget that our worth is defined by how much heart we have, not how much money or muscle we have. A person's worth is defined by what's inside. Admiral McRaven illustrates this point perfectly in his book when he shares the story of Thomas Norris, a Navy Seal who was awarded the congressional medal of honor. During training, nearly all of his classmates assumed that Tom would fail. He was short, skinny, and out of shape compared to the other men. However, Tom had a level of internal fortitude, mental strength, and heart that few men in the world display. And his bravery was exemplified repeatedly on the battlefield, especially during the infamous rescue mission that lead to his Congressional Medal of Honor. Like Tom, many of you might not be what comes to mind physically when people think of an "Alpha" or a "Real Man". But that isn't what matters. What are you made of? Who are you? What is your character like when everything goes wrong and your life is spiraling out of control? That is what determines your worth as a man. 4. You Are Going to Fail Read that again. You are going to fail. I don't care how good you are, how smart you are, or how strong you are. Life will kick you to the curb and beat you senseless at some point in your existence. This isn't a speculation. It's fact. You are going to fail! You might not face the catastrophic failures that come to mind when you hear the word, but at some point in your life, you will be faced with a situation, a business deal, a relationship, or a physical challenge that you simply cannot surmount. So get over it. Stop letting this fear of failure rule you and accept that failure is inevitable. Failure is a sign of life, it is a sign that you are trying to push the envelope forward and a sign that you are growing into the man you need to be. So get used to failing. If you do anything of worth in this life, it is going to become a pretty common occurrence. 5. Your Bank Account Doesn't Determine Your Success Many men operate under the flawed ideology that the more 0's they have in their bank accounts, the more successful they are. This simply isn't true. Yes, money is important, and you should certainly strive to earn enough to enjoy your life, be comfortable, and have enough left over to share. But it is not the end all be all to success. Who are you? How is your character? How do you treat others? How is your marriage? These are the things that determine a man's success. If you are surrounded by good friends, have a happy, loving relationship with your wife, are in good health, and positively impact the world on a regular basis, then congratulations… You have achieved success.

Ryan Nicodemus (and his partner Joshua Fields Milburn) help over 20 million people live meaningful lives with less through their website, books, podcast, and documentary. The Minimalists have been featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, Forbes, TIME, ABC, CBS, NBC, BBC, CBC, and NPR. You can connect with him and learn more at www.theminimalists.com/start/ Favorite Success Quote "It's not a matter of being busy, so are the ants. The question is: What are you busy about?" ~Henry David Thoreau "Love people and use things because the opposite never works." Key Points 1. Embrace the Drudgery  Conventional wisdom states that "If you do something you love, you will never work a day in your life". Unfortunately, as nice as the sentiment sounds, the reality is quite different. If you want to succeed at anything in life, you are going to have to work and let me tell you, there will be times that, no matter how much you love what you do, the work will feel like endless drudgery. I believe that a more accurate statement is, "If you love what you do, you will be able to stomach the hard work." Ryan loves sharing his message with millions of people across the world, but he doesn't always love the daily grind of writing, marketing, and speaking. I love empowering men all over the world to achieve their full potential, but I don't always love managing employees, testing marketing campaigns, or putting out fires. Because we love what we do, we are able to handle the drudgery. That doesn't make the work any more pleasant or any easier, but it does give those difficult tasks a greater sense of meaning and purpose. This extends beyond the realm of business too. Think about dating and relationships. Just because you are madly in love with someone doesn't mean that the relationship will not take hard work. There will be fights, there will be disagreements, there will be times when your partner is struggling and you need to stand by and support them. And guess what? It's hard. But if you truly love that person, it's also worth it. So embrace the drudgery, realize that you will have to work and you will have to work hard. But remember that if you are working on something you love, the drudgery will be worth every second of pain. 2. Get Clear on the Massive Action You Need to Take  The first step to success in any endeavor is gaining clarity on what you want to achieve. The second step is gaining clarity on the actions you must take in order to manifest that dream and bring it into reality. Knowing what you want is not enough, you must have a very clear blueprint for the specific actions you are going to take in order to achieve your end game. Do you want to be financially independent? Great! Now, what specific actions are you willing to take in order to achieve that goal? Will you work 10-12 hours a day for the next five years? Will you devote all of your free time to your side hustle? Will you break off friendships that are dragging you down and keeping you mediocre? What are you going to do to make it happen? Do you want to be the healthiest man possible? Great! Now, what are you going to do to bring that goal to fruition? Will you give up drinking, smoking, and drugs? Will you commit to training 5 times a week? Will you cut out sugar, gluten, and processed foods? What are you going to do to make it happen? You see, it's great to set goals, but most people forget that every worthwhile goal requires massive action. And before you set out to achieve a goal, you need to have a very clear picture of what it is that you are willing to sacrifice and what actions you are willing to take in order to achieve your dreams. 3. Giving is Living  While this might sound cliche and overplayed, the secret to living truly is giving. Don't get me wrong, it's fun to live for yourself. It's fun to focus on your own happiness. It's fun to do your own thing and give a single finger salute to the world. But how long will it fulfill you? When you stumble home drunk for the fourth night this week, a random girl from the bar on your arm, and unlock the door to your penthouse apartment, you're having fun. But after a while, you will find that the endless cycle of living for yourself and your needs becomes tiring, and the very things that once brought you immense joy and happiness now leave you with a profound emptiness and a voice in your head asking "Is this it?" Life isn't meant to be lived for yourself. It's meant to be a shared journey. And if you are struggling to find fulfillment in your current life, then I want to challenge you to refocus your intentions and desires on giving back. It doesn't have to be a huge gesture either. Commit to giving away $5 a day in a creative way. Do one random act of kindness a week. Volunteer at a soup kitchen a few hours each month. Do something that gets you out of your bubble and allows you to give back. Because not only will you be contributing to the greater good, but you will also be reminding yourself of just how good your life really is. It will help you remember what is truly important and it will reframe your current struggles and put your problems into perspective. And what's more? It will give you a profound sense of inner peace and fulfillment. The secret to living truly is giving. So the only question I want to ask you is this… What are you going to give? 4. You Must Know Your Values and Beliefs  In life, you will often be presented with difficult decisions. You will find yourself at a crossroads where both paths seem appealing and you are unable to determine exactly which route to take. During these times of decision, it is imperative that you have a deep understanding of what it is you truly value and what brings you the most fulfillment and joy. To use a classic example, imagine that you are offered a promotion at work. The promotion will more than double your salary but it will also take you away from your family and children and will require you to travel 3 weeks out of the month. What should you do? The answer depends on your values. Do you value financial independence and leaving a legacy? If so, then the best course of action might be to take the promotion, be more intentional about the time that you get to spend with your family, and use the influx of cash to create a better quality of life (and guarantee a better future) for the people you love. Do you value your relationships and your influence over your children's development? If so, then forget the promotion and spend your time pouring into your children and shaping their future. There are no right or wrong answers with these types of decisions. But every big decision is predicated on your unique value system and beliefs. So you'd better be damn sure that you take some time to define exactly what those are before you go making life altering moves. 5. Happiness Isn't the Purpose of Life  Many people believe that happiness is the purpose of life. But, as we alluded to in a previous point, this is far from the truth. If happiness is all that we are here for, then 99% of the population should say "Fuck it!" and become a heroin addict. Afterall, it'll make you happy right? I mean it will make you really happy for every waking hour of your day. But I think you and I both know that there is more to life than just feeling good. While I don't pretend to know what the meaning of life is, I can tell you with 100% certainty that it is not manic levels of happiness. Life is about the journey, it's about contribution, and it's about living in accordance with your own unique values and beliefs. And even though I cannot tell you what you should do in your own specific situation, I can tell you that you must have a much higher purpose and calling than happiness. Because if happiness is your end game, then you should expect to live the majority of your life in an unfulfilling and unproductive way.

Tom Bilyeu is the co-founder and President of Quest Nutrition, the second fastest growing privately owned company in the United States (currently valued at over $1 billion). He is also the founder of Impact Theory, a show dedicated to helping you achieve your limitless potential. Favorite Success Quote "Do and believe that which moves you towards your goals" Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never—in nothing, great or small, large or petty—never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense. Key Points 1. Find That Thing That Makes You Feel Alive  We live in an age of unprecedented freedom. Never before in the history of the human race have there been so many options available to so many members of the general populace. In the 21st century, our options and opportunities, like our potential, are nearly limitless. Traveling across the globe is easier than it's ever been, growing your brand and authority has never been so scalable, and the ability to build a wildly successful business is now open to anybody with access to the internet. And yet… Despite the tremendous number of resources and the almost limitless amount of opportunity circulating the modern economy, recent polls still indicate that nearly 70% of the American workforce is disengaged with their career! How can this be? In an era of unparalleled choices and opportunity more than two-thirds of the entire nation spends 40+ hours of their week doing something they hate! While every individual is different and each circumstance is unique, I personally believe that the primary reason for this disconnect is simple. People are scared. They are scared that pursuing their dreams will be hard, they are scared that following their passions will be too difficult, and they are scared that they will fail. But guess what? Regardless of the path you choose to pursue, there will be challenges, there will obstacles, and there will be hardships. The struggle is an inevitable part of the human condition. No matter what path you choose to pursue, you will face challenges and trials, you will fail, and you will probably want to quit more than just once. But, if you decide to pursue that thing that makes you come alive, the thing that lights a fire inside of you, the thing that you are willing to devote the rest of your life to… Nothing will stop you. 2.  Tailor Your Activities to Achieve Cognitive Optimization  Since Tom founded one of the fastest growing health and nutrition companies in the world, it should come as little surprise that one of his "Secrets to success" is methodically optimizing his cognitive performance. No matter what goal you are pursuing, you will need to be operating at full blast in order to effectively make decisions, execute on ideas, and move the needle forward. And the quickest way to improve your own performance is to optimize the performance of the gray matter in between your ears. But how does one actually do this? How do you totally optimize your mind without spending thousands of dollars on supplementation, smart drugs, and crazy bio-hacking equipment? The truth is surprisingly unsexy. For Tom, it all starts with sleep. He is in bed every night by 9 p.m. and only wakes up whenever he feels rested and ready to attack the day. This is crucial to ensuring optimal brain performance since the majority of memory, association, and cellular repair happens while we are asleep. After optimizing his sleep, Tom will then head to the gym every single morning, flooding his brain and body with dopamine, endorphins, and endocannabinoids and getting his mind and body into a peak state. With his workout concluded, Tom will sit in silence to spend time "Thinkitating" which is, as Tom puts it, "Applying the afterglow of meditation to solve the greatest challenges in your life." Basically, after concluding a short meditation session using Mark Divine's box breathing technique, he will sit back and consciously contemplate the greatest challenges he's facing in his life allowing his mind and subconscious to search for an answer to the problem. Then, with his exercise and thinkitation done, Tom hits the books and will consciously spend an hour or more each morning filling his mind with ideas from the best and brightest individuals on the planet. Tom attributes much of his success to this "Cognitive optimization morning routine". It's not complicated, it doesn't require much equipment, and it can be done from anywhere in the world. If you want a more detailed description of the Impact Theory Morning Routine, you can check out this article for more info. 3. Always Focus on Delivering More Value than Expected  Imagine for a moment that you are purchasing a product and deciding between two different companies. For the sake of the argument (and since Tom is the founder of a fitness nutrition company) let's assume that the companies in question are selling a muscle gain supplement. After years of research company A found a formula that helps their clients get results and they decided to follow the age-old advice "If it ain't broke don't fix it". Company B, however, is never satisfied and they continue dumping thousands of dollars a month into sourcing higher quality ingredients, finding new ways to improve their formula, and delivering more value to the end customer. Who do you think will win? Even though Company A has a "good" product that provides real value to their customers, Company B is unwilling to settle for "good enough". And let me tell you, one of the biggest traps that entrepreneurs fall into is the trap of "Good enough". Because the second that you stop improving your product, service, or experience somebody else who is hungrier, more motivated, and more driven than you are will steal your customers and leave you in the dust. You must constantly improve the value that you bring to the marketplace and look for new and unique ways to expand your services to help more people. Because at the end of the day, you will be paid in direct proportion to the amount of value that you give. And if you do more than you are paid for now, you will be paid for more than you do later. 4. Email is the Greatest Thief of Productivity While it might seem a little bit superfluous to devote an entire key point of this interview to the topic of email, I want you to consider for a moment that the average American is estimated to spend a total of 3.2 hours per day just checking work related emails (this doesn't include personal correspondence). That's almost half of their work day devoted entirely to the largely pointless act of reaching inbox zero. During our interview, Tom admitted to having over 6,000 unopened emails sitting in his inbox and told us that he will typically look at his emails only twice a week for a few minutes. According to conventional wisdom, there's no way that he could effectively run a successful company spending so little time devoted to email, and yet he's the Co-founder of one of the nation's fastest growing companies. If you want to become truly successful at the game of business, then you must learn to focus only on profit-producing activities. Email is not one of those. 5. You Will Never Eliminate Pride, So Use It  While many philosophers and teachers preach the importance of eliminating pride, anyone with a basic understanding of the human condition knows that pride is an inherent part of our existence and will never be removed. So if we cannot eliminate our pride, then what are we supposed to do? The simple answer? Use it. Pride and ego can actually be a phenomenal tool if they are focused on the right things. Specifically, learning to develop immense pride around your focus on the processes, not your outcomes.  What do I mean by this? Well, instead of priding yourself on how smart you are (which will likely lead to careless mistakes) develop immense pride in your commitment to your education. Instead of priding yourself on your physique, strength, or endurance (all of which can be taken away with one injury) develop immense pride in your physical work ethic and desire to improve your body. Learn to take pride in who you are instead of what you are and you will find that pride becomes an asset instead of a liability.

Mark Divine served 9 years on active duty and 11 years on reserve as a US Navy SEAL before retiring as a commander in 2011. After his decorated career in the special forces, Mark went on the found Navyseals.com, launch US Tactical, and develop a revolutionary workout program known as SEAL Fit. He has also written multiple New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Amazon best-selling books. Favorite Success Quote "Undisturbed calmness of mind is attained by cultivating friendliness toward the happy, compassion for the unhappy, delight in the virtuous, and indifference toward the wicked." ~Patanjali Key Points 1. Focus On People's Character Not their Acumen  If you ever have the opportunity to sit down with any older businessmen or entrepreneurs and ask them the question "What was your biggest mistake", nine times out of ten they will tell you that their biggest regret in business was trusting someone who they shouldn't have trusted. You see, even outside of the realm of business, it's easy to overlook people's character flaws because of their other resources. I see many men fall into this trap in business, dating, and friendship. It's easy to ignore the obvious red flags with your new employee because they are a monster salesman and you know that they will make you a lot of money (until they end up stealing it back). It's easy to ignore a woman's blatant character flaws because she's wildly attractive and great in bed. It's easy to ignore your friend's unscrupulous behavior because he's funny, rich, and always makes sure you have a good time. But if you want to mitigate risk and succeed at life, you must adopt a more cautious approach. Learn to focus on people's character and their virtues, not just their raw talent. Because at the end of the day, it's easier to train a virtuous man to become a good salesperson than it is to train a great salesperson to become a virtuous man. 2. Win the Morning Win the Day  Mark attributes much of his success to the powerful morning rituals that he follows in order to get himself grounded and ready for the day. Something that surprised me is that Mark's routine doesn't take several hours, one hour, or even 30-minutes. He told me that he can complete his routine in 15-minutes on average and 5 if he's really pressed for time. Each morning he spends a few minutes in silent meditation, then he will focus his intentions on his life vision and the daily tasks he needs to achieve to move closer to that vision, and finally, he will review the elements of his "ethos" or the guiding principles upon which he operates his life. And that's it. Whatever your goals in life, you need to start your day in a powerful state to set yourself up to win the day and achieve your dreams. Personally, I try and start most mornings by watching something inspirational, reading a few pages of a classic book, journaling, focusing on gratitude, and incorporating some sort of physical exercise. How you develop your own morning routine will be unique to your dreams and vision, but what is important is that you have a morning routine and that it helps you get grounded and ready to go out and achieve your dreams. 3. Turn Failure Into Your Greatest Asset  Many people believe that failure is a problem, that it's a liability. But it's not. Failure is actually one of your greatest assets and closest friends… When you use it properly and learn from it. Don't get me wrong, I am not saying that failure is fun or that you should try and fail. Failure sucks, there's nothing fun about it, and nobody wants to see their dreams and ambitions fail. But when you fail and trust me, you will fail, you have one of two options. You can whine and bitch and complain. Or you can dust yourself off, look at your failure objectively, and ask yourself "Ok, how can I do better next time?" Failure is only failure if you don't learn from it, if you don't grow from it, and if you don't reframe it so that you see each failure as a valuable teacher, educating you about how to achieve your dreams. 4. Realize that Your Growth is Limited by Your Shadow  There is an old saying that "A chain is only as strong as its weakest link". And in the realm of personal growth, you are only as strong as your darkest parts. I see so many men today who walk through their lives trying to elicit personal growth by constantly pushing forward, suppressing the pain of the past, and ignoring the emotional trauma that has held them back. But the harsh reality of life is that you can only grow to the extent that you are willing to address your darkness or your shadow self. We all have a dark side, we've all been hurt, we all have deep wounds and pain whether we want to address them or not. And most men choose to ignore this dark side. They try and move on with their lives and pretend that everything is ok when, subconsciously, the pain and hurt of the past is holding them back from living the lives of their dreams. If you want to move forward in your life, if you want to truly succeed, if you want to open up to true intimacy and love and connection, then you must face your shadow. You must address the pain, you must conquer your darkness and learn to use it for good. Because if you don't, you will constantly be haunted (consciously or subconsciously) by the parts of you that you dare not bring into the light. 5. Detach from the Details of the Outcome & Focus on the Vision  One of the biggest mistakes that many men make is that they are more concerned with the details of the outcome than the outcome itself. For example, in the interview, Mark discussed his goal of impacting 100,000,000 lives. He told me that, while he is rigid in his vision, he has learned to be flexible in the details of achieving this outcome. For Mark, it doesn't matter whether he impacts 10 people who go and change a million lives or whether he impacts a million people who go on to change 10 lives. He is adamant in his vision, but he is flexible in the approach. In your life and with your goals, you must adopt the same mentality. Yes, you should have a strong, crystal clear vision and end game, but you must be flexible about how you achieve that vision.

Mo Gawdat is the Chief Business Officer for Google [X], a serial entrepreneur and author of "Solve for Happy: Engineer Your Path to Joy" Mo has an impressive combined career of 27 years, starting at IBM Egypt as a Systems Engineer before moving to a sales role in the government sector. Venturing into the UAE, Mo joined NCR Abu Dhabi to cover the non-finance sector. He then became acquainted with the consumer goods industry as Regional Manager of BAT. At Microsoft, he assumed various roles over a span of seven and a half years, in his last role at Microsoft he headed the Communications Sector across Emerging Markets worldwide. Favorite Success Quote "The gravity of the battle means nothing to those at peace" Key Points 1. The Equation for Happiness is Simple  Happiness is not complicated. While you might not come to this conclusion by scrolling through your social media feed, watching the latest advertisements, or even reading some of the more popular personal growth and self-help books, when you truly sit down and think objectively, you will realize that happiness is simple. Despite marketer's best attempts to prove otherwise, happiness isn't contingent upon some wild, complex, equation. In fact, the equation for happiness is almost too simple. Happiness is equal to or greater than the events of your life minus the expectations you have for those events. That's it. The equation isn't "Happiness = Fancy Clothes + A 6-Figure Salary + An Italian Sports Car and a French Bikini Model" It's simply events – expectations.  But what does this really mean? At the most basic level, it means that your happiness in any given situation, and thus your happiness in life, is entirely dependent on the difference between what you expect from a situation and how that situation actually turns out. So, for example, let's say that the event in question is coming home to your wife after a long day of work. Let's look at how your expectations of the event will determine your happiness. On one hand, your expectation might be that when you come home after a long day of work, your wife should be preparing dinner, opening you a cold beer, and wearing a sexy outfit that tells you she's "in the mood". On the other, your expectation might simply be that your wife should be relaxing and unwinding after her long day of work and that the two of you should prepare dinner and unwind together. While neither of these expectations are right or wrong, they can have a tremendous effect on your happiness and well being. If you come home with the first set of expectations and your wife has already prepared dinner but left it in the oven and is now relaxing on the couch… You are going to be unhappy and angry because your expectations were not met. However, if you come home to the exact same situation with the second set of expectations, you will not only be happy, but you will feel an abundance of love for your wife because she went above and beyond and exceeded your expectations. So now, you might be wondering, "If the secret to happiness is to have lower expectations, shouldn't I just stop expecting anything so that I will never be disappointed?" Well, yes and no. While eliminating your expectations would certainly make you happier in the short run, it proves detrimental to your well being and success in the long term. If you have no expectations of yourself or others, then you will mistreat yourself and allow other people to walk all over you. Therefore, the key to happiness is to first become conscious of your expectations and then consciously and intentionally craft a new set of expectations that serve you and your purpose in life. 2. We Are All Born Happy  An often forgotten truth of life is that we were all born happy. All of us. We are born carefree and loving, without any hate, anger, or animosity in our hearts. It is our society that teaches us to be unhappy, to compare ourselves to others, to hate our fellow man, and to be unfulfilled. And once you become aware of this reality, it is your job to undo the programming that society has instilled into your brain. Luckily, the process for "deprogramming" all of the crap in your brain is simple, however, this doesn't mean it's easy. The best way to start is to pick up some sort of daily mindfulness practice whether it's meditation, prayer, long walks in nature, or even just some sort of conscious movements like yoga or Tai Chi. These practices allow you to detach yourself from the human experience and the brain's programming and become more aware of how you or your "superconscious" are meant to function. Let's use the analogy of a new computer so that you can understand what I mean. Whenever you get a new computer, everything runs smoothly. It functions exactly as it was designed, quickly opening applications, seamlessly running commands, and doing its job without a problem. But over time, things start to slow down and problems start to arise. You begin downloading new programs and applications, visiting questionable websites, and demanding more of your computer than the software and hardware were designed to handle. And as you execute increasingly demanding operations, your computer starts to slow and malfunction and what once took 2 seconds now takes 2 minutes. When this happens (and it almost always happen) the only way to restore its original performance is to return it to default settings and execute a complete factory reset. In much the same way as a computer's default setting is speed and efficiency, our brain's default setting is happiness and contentment. But when we start installing (willingly or unwillingly) societal, religious, and familial expectations into our "operating system", we start to get bogged down, and experience unhappiness. And when this happens, the only way to return to our original state is a "Factory reset" which typically takes the form of meditation, affirmations, journaling, and other consciousness practices. These practices are kind of like our brain's "CTRL + ALT + DELETE" function and the more you can integrate them into your daily life, the smoother and faster you you will operate. 3. Your Emotional State is Determined by Your Thoughts, Not Events One of the simplest, but most impactful, formulas that you can understand to achieve a happy life is this: E + R = O Or Event + Response = Outcome In other words, your emotional outcome (happy, sad, angry, loving) is not determined by the events in your life, but rather by your response to the events in your life. For example, let's say that you are going out to meet up with a friend. You agreed to meet at the local coffee shop around 8 a.m., but when you show up he is nowhere to be found. You order your drink, a few minutes go by, and your friend is still absent. At this point, you can respond in one of two ways. First, you can assume that your friend does not respect you, get angry, and allow his tardiness to dampen your mood. Or, you can simply assume that your friend had some sort of extenuating circumstance that stopped him from showing up on time and reframe his lateness by saying, "Great! This gives me a few minutes to read that new book I bought", resulting in a happier and more fulfilling morning. In these two examples, the event was exactly the same, but by changing the response to the event, you achieved two wildly different outcomes. When you understand the far reaching applications of this formula, your life will begin to change in ways that you could never expect. Mastering your emotional response to any circumstance gives you power over the events in your life instead of allowing those events to have power over you. And when your internal world remains unaffected by the chaos of the outside world, you will have true power in your life, business, and relationships. 4. Learn to Differentiate Between Incessant and Effective Thoughts As it pertains to our happiness, there are only two kinds of thoughts. Effective thoughts and incessant thoughts. Effective thoughts are the thoughts that move the needle forward in your life, thoughts that solve problems, achieve goals, and give you a deeper understanding of your place in the cosmos. Incessant thoughts are the negative thoughts that do nothing to improve the quality of your life or happiness even when they are true. In the interview, Mo shared a powerful example detailing the difference between these two thoughts during a tragic situation. At the age of 21 years old, Mo's son Ali died on the operating table during a routine surgery that should have been quick and simple. Shocked and in pain, Mo was overwhelmed with a wave of thoughts and feelings that can only be comprehended by people who have experienced a similar tragedy in his life. Over the coming weeks and months, Mo was faced with a single, pervasive and incessant thought, "I will never get to hug my son Ali again." However, as he continued grieving for his son, he realized something. This thought would not bring Ali back, it would not change reality, and it would not benefit humanity. So he made a very conscious decision to change his thinking. Instead of thinking "I will never hug my son again", he reframed the tragedy and said, "My son is dead, now it is my duty to remember his legacy by living my life as he would have wanted and impacting the world in honor of his memory." And while this new thought didn't take away the pain of losing his child, it allowed him to cope with the loss and make sense of the heart break. Each of us is faced with the same thoughts day in and day out. Even if we haven't lost a loved one, we are all faced with our own "Incessant thought demons" that seek to cripple us and hold us back from living a happy life. Whether we are constantly thinking about a mistake that we regret, a relationship that we ruined, or an opportunity that we lost, we all have incessant loops of unhelpful thoughts playing in the back of our mind. And the biggest problem with these thoughts is that 99% of the time… They are true! But just because something is true, does not mean that it is advantageous. For example, if you lost the woman of your dreams because you were too focused on your work and not focused on the relationship, you might be faced with the incessant thought "I will never have her in my life again". Chances are, this thought is true. But does it serve you in any way!? No! Instead, you can choose to reframe this thought by saying "I will never have this woman in my life again, so now it is my duty to learn from my mistakes and move forward so that I can find love once more… Only this time, I will make it work." The moment that you can learn to eradicate incessant thoughts and replace them with intentional and effective thoughts is the moment that your life will be irrevocably changed for the better. 5. Money Doesn't Make You Happier… Unless Countless studies have been conducted on the correlation between money and happiness, and what they found was rather interesting. Money only affects your happiness up to a certain point. If you are living below the poverty line, increasing your income to a stable and livable level will drastically improve your happiness. However, going from $100,000 a year to $100,000 a month will only have a marginal impact on your happiness and mental well being. However, once you have passed roughly $7,000 a month, increasing your income will only result in a nominal increase in your happiness. So, for example, if you go from $100,000 a year to $250,000 a year, your happiness will not increase by any appreciable amount. If this is true, then why is it that so many rich people seem to live better and happier lives? Because they give so much of their money away! Studies have found that one of the only ways money can make you happier after you have passed the $70,000/year threshold is if you are giving more of your money to charitable causes, family, friends, and organizations that you support. For example, if you earn an extra $20,000 bonus this year and then use it to put a down payment on a new sports car, your happiness will only increase marginally and temporarily. However, if you took that same $20,000 and paid for a vacation with some of your closest friends, your happiness would increase dramatically and the effects would last much longer. So yes, money is important for your happiness. If you cannot afford to put food on the table, increasing your income is one of the quickest ways to increase your happiness. But after your basic living expenses are covered, giving your wealth away and spending it on the people you care about is the only way to leverage your money to increase your happiness. 6. Life is a Video Game and Challenges Make the Game Fun  Life is not fair, it is not perfect, and it is not easy. But I'll let you in on a little secret… That's what makes life fun! I want you to imagine that the new Call of Duty just came out, and after months of anxiously anticipating the game's release, you take it home and start playing. You go through the tutorial, launch the first level, and then get ready to kill some virtual bad guys. But there's a problem… There are no bad guys to kill and no challenges to overcome. Every level is simply a linear progression where you run from the beginning to the end as quickly as you can, avoiding all signs of danger or adversity. Does that sound like a fun game? Probably not. And guess what? Life is nothing more than a very intense and large scale video game. So why in the world would you want it to be easy? Why would you want a challenge and problem free life? Just think about it for a moment. Imagine that I came to your house tomorrow and gave you an Olympic Gold Medal. How would you feel? If you are anything like me, you would probably think that the medal was pretty cool, but after a few minutes of looking at it, you would quickly feel disenchanted and bored because you did nothing to earn the medal. You'd probably sell it or leave it in your sock drawer because it has no significance in your life. But imagine that you have been training for the Olympics since you were 12 years old. You worked every single day for the past ten years of your life, and when you finally had the opportunity, you competed and won. How would that medal make you feel? I would chance a guess that the medal would have more meaning and significance to you than darn near anything else that you owned. Why? Because you worked for it, you suffered for it, and you endured more pain than most people are willing to endure in order to call that medal your own. In much the same way, we gain meaning in our lives by overcoming challenges, by enduring pain, and by beating adversity. Life isn't meant to be easy. It's meant to be a challenge. A challenge that you enjoy and have fun with, yes. But a challenge nonetheless. 7. You Don't Find Your Purpose… It Finds You So many people in the modern world are concerned with finding their purpose. But they fail to realize that you don't find your purpose, your purpose finds you. People don't just wake up one day and say "Hmm, I know exactly what I am meant to do and how I am going to do it". Instead, they find the intersection of their passions and talents and they work for years honing their skills, setting and conquering goals, and becoming better and better. Then, when they have mastered their craft, an opportunity presents itself, often in the most unlikely manner, and all of the hard work they put in begins to make sense. If you want to live a life of purpose, then you must first start by building your skills and growing yourself until you are ready to handle your purpose. Typically, this means working on rather mundane skills and projects so that you can grow your capacity as a human being. Think about the classic Karate kid movie where Mr. Miyagi had his student wax the car and paint the fence. These tasks seemed dull, monotonous, and frustrating. But, when the time came, and the first punch was thrown, these dull tasks that the Karate Kid had practiced suddenly made sense and he realized that he had been practicing for the purpose of learning a new skill. Steve Jobs summarized this truth when he said You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.

Jack Kornfield trained as a Buddhist monk in the monasteries of Thailand, India, and Burma. He has taught meditation internationally since 1974 and is one of the key teachers to introduce Buddhist mindfulness practice to the West. After graduating from Dartmouth College in Asian Studies in 1967 he joined the Peace Corps and worked on tropical medicine teams in the Mekong River valley. He met and studied as a monk under the Buddhist master Ven. Ajahn Chah, as well as the Ven. Mahasi Sayadaw of Burma. Returning to the United States, Jack co-founded the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts, with fellow meditation teachers Sharon Salzberg and Joseph Goldstein and the Spirit Rock Center in Woodacre, California. Over the years, Jack has taught in centers and universities worldwide, led International Buddhist Teacher meetings, and worked with many of the great teachers of our time. He holds a Ph.D. in clinical psychology and is a father, husband, and activist. His books have been translated into 20 languages and sold more than a million copies including his most recent book, No Time Like the Present: Finding Freedom, Love, and Joy Right Where You Are. Favorite Success Quote "Look at every path closely and deliberately, try it as many times as you think necessary, then ask yourself and yourself alone one question: Does this path have a heart? If it does the path is good, if it doesn't it is of no use." Key Points 1. Did You Love Well? Most people live their lives focusing on all of the wrong things. They spend their time caught up in the societal hamster wheel trying to keep up with the Joneses, get that next promotion, and finally "make it" … At least according to society's standards. But what they fail to realize is that society is broken. We are operating under outdated and ineffective ideologies and philosophies that no longer serve humanity. At the end of the day, there is only one question for which you will be held accountable for… How did you love? How did you treat the most important people in your life? How did you care for your neighbor? How did you love the people who mattered most and the people who had no one else to love them? When it is all said and done, it won't matter what kind of car you drove, what sort of house you lived in, or what type of watch adorned your wrist. All that matters is how you loved. 2. Seek Validation from Yourself and Yourself Only  One of the biggest mistakes that people, especially men, make when it comes to living a happy and fulfilling life is that they search for validation outside of themselves. Men, in particular, commonly seek external validation from the women in their lives. They mistakenly believe that if they have a hot girlfriend with a tight body and an insane sex drive that they are somehow more of a man that they are worthy, that they have all the validation that they need. The problem is that men stop valuing themselves and their own opinions and beliefs and start valuing only the approval and validation of women. This makes it easy for men to compromise their character and value in order to feel like they are a "real" man. And it's total crap. The only person from whom you should seek validation is yourself. Are you happy? Are you pleased with the man you are becoming? Are you fulfilled? Because at the end of the day, that is what matters, not the validation given to you by others. 3. Take Time to Quiet Your Mind  We live in an age of incessant noise and distraction, yet despite our vast swaths of resources, no one has seen it fit to teach society how to quiet their mind and listen to their inner voice. Instead, our lives are run by advertising, sitcoms, and viral YouTube videos that do little to make us better or help us align ourselves with our deepest desires and the true calling of our hearts. Is it any wonder that depression, anxiety, and divorce rates are at an all time high?! If you want to live a life that is more in tune with your life's purpose, with your true mission, and with your deepest happiness, then you must learn to quiet your mind and listen to that inner voice on a daily basis. This doesn't have to be complicated. Simply sitting in meditation, prayer, or contemplation for a few minutes a day will allow you to tap into your inner wisdom and find the guidance that you (likely) need.

Dan Clark began his career as an athlete, playing football for the Los Angeles Rams and in Europe. He later starred as Nitro on the extraordinarily popular reality television show American Gladiators. Clark then turned to acting and screenwriting. He wrote, directed, and starred in the independent film Looking for Bruce. He recently hosted ESPN Classic's American Gladiators marathon, and he continues to consult on the revamped American Gladiators franchise. He is the author of the memoir "Gladiator: A True Story of 'Roids, Rage, and Redemption" and is currently authoring his next book. "Fuck Dying: How Cheating Death Kicked My Ass into Loving, Learning, and Living my Best Life". Favorite Success Quote "Sports taught me about life. Almost dying taught me how to live" ~Dan Nitro Clark Key Points 1. Don't Wait to Be Happy  Men in the 21st century seem convinced that happiness is something that can only be attained.  It can only be attained when you get the hot girl, make the 7-figures, drive an Italian sports car, launch your company, or have that dream body. But the truth of the matter is much different. Happiness is not something that you attain. It is something that you give yourself. Right now, in this very second, you have everything you need to feel happy and deeply believe that you have and are enough. Right now, you can give yourself the gift of joy by choosing to focus on what is good instead of what is missing. Right now, this very second, you have the power to be happy. But many of you reading this are not… And, in my experience, the primary reason that men don't allow themselves to feel happy is that they believe happiness will steal their drive, ambition, and hunger. And sometimes, they are right. It's a fine line to walk, and when you base your happiness on the wrong things, you might find that happiness does steal your ability to achieve and excel. However, when you predicate your happiness on who you are and how you show up in the world… That's when the game changes. When you can give yourself permission to be happy now because you are working towards becoming the man that you need to be, that's when the world will open up to you and you will find yourself becoming the best man you can become… And enjoying the hell out of the process. As our first guest, Hal Elrod says, "Love the life you have while creating the life of your dreams." 2. Comparison is the Theif of Joy  It seems that our entire economy has been built on comparison. If you look at the marketing and advertising for any popular company, you will undoubtedly notice that they are sending us a very loud and very clear message. You are not good enough. You don't have the six pack like he does, you don't have the car this guy drives, you don't have the business this 20-year old built, you don't have the girl like this pop star does. And the list goes on and on. Society encourages us to compare ourselves to others and enter into a laughable competition where we constantly try to gain a leg up on everyone else. But guess what? Comparing yourself to others is the most dangerous trap you can fall into. Because there will always be someone who is smarter than you, bigger than you, better than you at something! This is just how we were designed, it's nothing more than biology and genetic variation… It doesn't mean you aren't worthy of love and joy or that you shouldn't be proud of yourself just because someone else is doing better. Now some of you reading this might assume that comparison itself is a bad thing, but that's not necessarily the case. Comparison is only bad when we compare ourselves to others instead of the person we have the potential to become. Compare yourself to who you want to be and who you know you have the potential to be. Compare your current reality to the reality that you know is waiting for you if you can just rise up and take action. When you entertain these kinds of comparisons, you will find that your life will start to transform and you will show up with more passion, enthusiasm, and best of all, joy. 3. Big Boys Don't Cry… But Real Men Do  When we are young, we are taught "Big boys don't cry". We are told that showing emotion is a sign of weakness, that crying makes you a bitch, and that any displays of discomfort or internal turmoil immediately makes you a "beta" male. And while that might have been true in the world of cavemen and neanderthals, it's not true in modern life. If you want to be a "real" man, a man who can show up with power, precision, and excellence, then you must cry. You must learn how to deal with your emotions in a positive way instead of simply suppressing feelings that you dislike. Emotions, in their most basic forms, are messengers. They occur whenever we need to know or understand something. Anger sends you a message that you have been wronged. Sadness sends you a message that something important to you is not the way that it should be. Happiness sends you the message that you are on the right track and making the right decisions. Emotions are messengers. And when we suppress the message, we end up doing more harm than good because we are not addressing the problem that the emotion is trying to warn us of. However, when you allow yourself to feel everything deeply and intimately and ask yourself the question "What is this trying to tell me", you empower yourself to move forward in your life and take charge of your mental and emotional well being in a powerful way. When you feel angry, you don't suppress it. You feel it and notice that it's happening because someone is violating your standards. Now, you have the power to resolve the situation and eliminate the emotion. When you feel sad, don't suppress it. Instead, feel it and figure out why you are sad. What is causing your emotion? Find the answer, resolve the situation, and move forward in your life. Big boys might not cry. But you can be damn sure that real men do. 4. Express Gratitude for the Smallest Moments of Beauty  Life is precious. And sometimes, it takes knocking on death's door to realize this. When Dan had his heart attack, he came back with a renewed sense of appreciation and gratitude for even the smallest things in his life. He spoke about the gratitude and awe he feels simply at the smell of coffee in the mornings. He talked about how the flowers on the side of the road (which he used to ignore) fill him with a sense of wonder and joy. Because at one point… He never thought he would smell the coffee or see those flowers ever again. And because of this, he is grateful. Luckily for you, you don't need to experience a heart attack or near death experience in order to enjoy and appreciate the small moments of beauty in your life. The only thing that you must do is commit and notice. Each day when you wake up, find 3-5 simple beauties that you are grateful for. Maybe it's the way that the sun is coming through the windows, the peace you see on your partner's face while they sleep, the aroma of your morning coffee, or the ecstasy that your dog expresses whenever you come out of your room. Whatever it is, notice it and write it down. I promise that if you make this a habit, your world will never be the same. 5. Just Do Something  If you feel stuck in your health, your business, or your relationships… Just do something. Don't overthink it, don't overanalyze it, just do something. If you are writing a book and can't figure out the perfect thing to put down on the paper… Just write something. Let it suck. Then edit it later. If you are struggling with your health and can't figure out how to lose that extra weight… Just do something. Go do 1,000 pushups, run a half marathon, or lift some weights and figure out the exact mechanics as you go along. If you are struggling in your relationships, just do something. Start the conversation, open that door, be willing to be honest and vulnerable. Whenever you find yourself stagnating, just do something. As Winston Churchill said, "The best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, but the worst thing you can do is nothing."

Seth Swirsky is a best selling author, clinical psychotherapist, artists, songwriter, and creative. He is most well known for his book "21 Ways to a Happier Depression: A Creative Guide to Getting Unstuck from Anxiety, Setbacks, and Stress" Favorite Success Quote "Every morning when I wake up, I ask myself, What is Salvador Dali going to do today?" ~Salvador Dali "Life is in the striving, not the arriving" Key Points 1. Be Open to Who You May Be and Regrow Your Balls  Men in the 21st century are suffering from an identity crisis. Not because we don't know who we are or who we want to be, but because society and PC culture have told us that who we are is wrong. It's wrong for men to be men. It's wrong for you to have your own pursuits and passions. It's wrong for you to do anything other than work your fingers to the bone in pursuit of arbitrary goals that aren't really aligned with who you are. And let me tell you… It's bullshit. You are allowed to be who you are, you are allowed to be happy, and you are allowed to do whatever you damn well please. Many of you reading this are avid video game enthusiasts who have given up your hobby, not because it interferes with your life, but because society has told you that it makes you weak. Many of you reading this love art and music but have relegated these pastimes to the realm of "Someday" simply because society has told you that you should focus on your work. Many of you reading this want nothing more than to pack a backpack and go out into the great outdoors, yet society has told you to be more reasonable and do the safe thing. But guess what? Society is broken and it's time for you to reclaim your masculinity, regrow your balls, and do the things that you want to do. Life is short and precious, so stop wasting it trying to live up to societal standards that don't serve you and your mission. If you want something, go get it. If you want to do something, do it. Be who you are and enjoy your life… It's the only one you've got. 2. Women Want to Be Heard  Society has tried to make us believe that women want a 6′ 2″ man with a chiseled jaw, big arms, a deep voice, and a bank account containing countless zeroes. And once again, society is wrong. Of course, women want an attractive, athletic, hard working man. But what they want even more is a man who makes them feel heard. A man who doesn't pretend to listen to them but who actually shuts the hell up and just listens! Women don't want a man who pretends to listen, who shuts his brain off and zones out, they want a man who truly hears them, who understands what they are saying and who genuinely cares. Take a common example. Your spouse or significant other comes home to a house sink full of dirty dishes and a house that looks like something out of Hoarders. You've had a long day at work and, much to their chagrin, you are sitting on the couch relaxing. Your wife starts to angrily complain about how you never clean the house or help out with the household chores. In this moment, you have three options. You can ignore them, you can get defensive, or you can listen… Really listen. If you choose to listen you will realize something. Your wife, most likely, isn't upset about the dirty house or the nasty dishes, they are upset because they don't feel like their time and energy is being valued. So instead of getting defensive, take a step back and listen. Acknowledge what your wife is trying to tell you and respond accordingly. "I hear you babe, and if I understand what you are saying, you are upset because you never feel like you have time to relax and unwind. I'm busy with work too and I understand… So why don't we just hire a house cleaner to take care of things so that we don't have to worry about it anymore? Would that make things easier for you?" Do you notice how this response acknowledges your wife's feelings and makes her feel like she has really been heard? When you learn to apply this skill of really listening in your romantic relationships, you will find that the majority of your problems and disagreements disappear. 3. Optimize Your Environment to Optimize Your Life  If you want to optimize your life, reduce stress and anxiety, and truly operate at peak levels of performance, then you must optimize your environment. Plenty of "gurus" and entrepreneurs will claim that you should ignore your environment and simply hustle your way to your goals, but the truth of the matter is that your environment is stronger than your willpower. If you are trying to quit smoking and your work at a tobacco shop, you might be able to kick the addiction… But you will be much more likely to end the habit once and for all if you are in an environment that makes it difficult for you to have that cigarette. Similarly, if you are a ball of stress and anxiety, coming home to a messy home with violent movies playing on the television and loud noise from the neighbors keeping you up at night, your stress and anxiety will multiply. However, if you can optimize your environment by eliminating clutter, creating a space that elicits feelings of calm and serenity, you will find that your stress and anxiety will become manageable. Do not underestimate the power of your environment. If you have been struggling to get motivated, beat an addiction, move on from a divorce, or any plethora of other struggles, the key might lie in changing your environment. Whether you need to move apartments, cities, or even countries, when you can change and optimize your environment to be more conducive to your goals, you will find that your life and success starts to accelerate at an unprecedented pace. 4. Take a Break  Seriously… As men it's easy to get trapped in hustle mode, working ourselves to death in order to achieve goals that aren't truly aligned with our purpose. And when your nose is constantly to the grindstone, it can be difficult to examine your life, solve problems, and enjoy the precious moments each day. So take a break. Step back from the laptop and just relax. Give yourself permission to enjoy your life. If you want to sit in front of the TV, watch a few hours of football and crash out with a beer in your hand… Do it. If you want to play Call of Duty after a long day of work, then load up your darn Xbox, join a match, and go kill some virtual baddies. If you want to sit in your room with a nice glass of wine and an empty canvas, then do it! Create your own masterpiece and enjoy your damn life. Stop working so hard and start enjoying your life more. The funny thing is, that when you start to take more breaks when you give yourself permission to relax, your brain will unwind and be better equipped to handle the adversity and challenge of your work life. It might seem counterintuitive, but I promise, it works. 5. Know When You are Mismatched How many times have you heard the saying "Marriage is hard work"? A lot, right? Have you ever taken a step back and considered that this statement might be a steaming load of crap? What if relationships weren't meant to be hard? What if you weren't supposed to have an endless stream of fights and frustrations? What if your relationships, especially your marriage… Is supposed to be easy? Well, I am here to tell you that it is. Yes, you will have fights in any relationship. Yes, you will have disagreements. Yes, you will have times where things are hard. But the sum total of your interactions with your spouse or significant other should feel easy. It should flow naturally. If you find that your relationship is requiring too much work and effort, chances are good that you are not in the right relationship. Marriage was never meant to be this phenomenal challenge… It's meant to be a fun relationship between two people whose goals, futures, and dreams are genuinely aligned. If you find that your current relationship doesn't match up to this, then you might need to take a step back and reexamine things. Are you truly meant for each other? Are you truly matched with your current partner? If not, it's time to cut your losses and move on. Life is simply too short to waste it in relationships that aren't meant to be.

Adam Braun is an American entrepreneur, best-selling author, and philanthropist. He is the Founder of Pencils of Promise, a non-profit organization that builds schools and increases access to education for children in the developing world. He has recently founded a company called MissionU which is an alternative to higher education that is set to disrupt the industry and change the way that we view higher learning. Favorite Success Quote "Live not in dreams but in contemplation of a reality that is perhaps the future." ~Rainer Rilke Key Points 1. Say "No" More One of the most powerful words in the English language is the word "No". If you learn to use this word effectively, you can add dozens of hours of productive time to your weeks, reduce your mental and emotional stressors, and eliminate the vast majority of the tasks that aren't truly serving you. But there's a catch… In order to become a master of the word "No" you must first learn to prioritize your own time, success, and happiness above anyone else's. It might sound selfish or egotistic, but the simple fact of the matter is that you should come first. If you aren't taking care of yourself by saying "no" to the things that aren't serving you, then you are withholding your potential and your power from the world. Think about it… If you say "Yes" to working on a project for 3 clients even though that project will not pay you what you are worth and isn't in alignment with your goals and values, then what's going to happen when you are swamped with work but have a new client reach out to you with a position that would change your life? Or imagine that you have said "Yes" to several meetings that you didn't want to attend and that didn't serve you in any way… You are now forced to say "No" when an opportunity presents itself that is in true alignment with your vision. And all of these seemingly little and innocuous compromises will eventually accumulate until you are off track, off purpose, and up to your neck in things that aren't part of your ultimate mission on this planet. 2.Learn to Delegate Richard Branson, the (in)famous entrepreneur, author, playboy, and philanthropist was once asked to share the secret behind his numerous billion-dollar companies. His answer was surprising… He didn't say anything about needing a good idea, or working hard, or having lots of capital. No, he said that his secret was to find people who were better than he was, hire those people, and provide them with everything they needed to take his companies into the stratosphere. If you truly want to excel at business, then you must learn to delegate. Find people who are better than you are at a given position and give them the reigns. Because you can't do it alone. And you would be a fool to try. 3. Be an Entrepreneurial Missionary, not a Mercenary  There are two types of entrepreneurs. Missionaries and mercenaries. The entrepreneurial mercenary has one focus… Money. And while money is not necessarily a bad thing (as we will discuss momentarily) you need to realize that anyone who is solely focused on wealth will likely lose motivation, tire out, and quit. Instead, you should strive to be an entrepreneurial missionary, or, in other words, an entrepreneur whose end goal encompasses more than just a few added zeroes in your bank account. You need to have a mission for your business, you must genuinely want to serve the world and make an impact, and believe that you are the person to do it. Otherwise, you will spend years of your life tirelessly chasing money and success without ever making a real dent in the universe, without ever making a difference. And the irony of all of this? Entrepreneurs who focus on adding value and serving their world first tend to be the entrepreneurs who make the greatest profits in the long run. So regardless of whether you own your own company or are working for someone else, do your best to ensure that every step you make and every goal you set is for a purpose and a mission greater than yourself. The results will astonish you… 4. Money is an Avenue to Freedom Money is a complicated beast. It can bring about so much joy, happiness, and fulfillment, but it can also be at the heart of so much pain, agony, and suffering. Because of the dichotomous and confusing nature of money (and the fact that few of us receive a relevant financial education), it can be easy to fall into the trap of viewing money as either "Evil" or the "End all be all" of life. I am here to tell you… It's neither. Money is simply an avenue to freedom, it's a tool, an instrument to be wielded by those who possess it. With money, you can do some incredible things. You can transform lives, build a lasting legacy, and create a real impact on the universe. Without it, your options are severely limited, and your freedom is hindered. The sooner you realize that money is a tool and that in and of itself, has no moral standing, the sooner you will be able to create real wealth for yourself that you can use to bring about a significant amount of good in the universe. 5. Set a Vision, Stick to It, and Stay Accountable  If you want to achieve your goals and live a life of success and fulfillment, then you must set a vision, stick to it, and get massively accountable. You see, most of you reading this right now have at least one of these three steps in order. Maybe you have a vision, but you are constantly changing it and find yourself unable to follow through. Maybe you have been working tirelessly towards a goal or a dream but you know in your heart that it isn't truly congruent with your values and deepest desires. Maybe you have surrounded yourself with people who lift you to a higher level and want you to excel… But you have no vision for which they can hold you accountable. Whatever the case may be, if you want to excel in all areas of life and truly live a level 10/10 life, then you must set a crystal clear vision for what you want, stick to that vision, and get massive accountability from people you respect and admire. If any one of these ingredients is missing, the whole ship will sink and your dreams will never come to fruition. Set a vision. Stick to your vision. And get accountable. Now…

Alejandro Chabán is an author, motivational speaker, certified nutrition and wellness consultant, founder and CEO of Yes You Can!®, and is one of the most popular Hispanic celebrities in the entertainment business. He has dedicated his life to sharing his experiences of battling eating disorders and obesity as a teenager, his journey from a bullied kid in school to an admired TV personality and health and wellness expert, and to helping others to transform themselves the way he did. Favorite Success Quote "Feel the fear and do it anyway" Key Points 1. Turn Your Mess into Your Message  One of the biggest mistakes that most men make is trying to hide from their past. Men who have suffered from addiction, obesity, depression, or are convicted criminals will try and brush their checkered history under the rug and forget about it. But when they do this, they are doing a disservice to themselves and the world. Because the truth of the matter is that your greatest failures are your greatest assets… Your mess is your message. Don't discount where you came from or the adversity that you have overcome. It is the adversity, the struggles, and the failures that make you relatable… That gives you power. Men are dying for help… Whether they are trying to beat an addiction to cocaine, overcome their negative self-image, or surmount a deep depression, they need help. And the only people who are truly qualified to help are those individuals who have been in their shoes, who know what they are going through and how to fix it. Do not deprive the world of your most powerful message because you are scared of sharing your mess. Instead, turn your mess into your message and give yourself permission to change the world. 2. You Need to Find Intrinsic Motivation  Why do you want to succeed? Is it because you want to piss off your parents? Prove something to your girlfriend? Make your distant relatives proud of you? With all due respect… F*ck that. Creating real success is hard. Really hard. And on your path, you will be presented with obstacles and adversity that seem unconquerable and you will ask yourself on a daily basis "Why am I doing this?" If your only reason for pushing forward is to make someone else happy or to prove something to someone else…. You will fail every single time. However, if you can connect your goals to a deep intrinsic motivation, a motivation that transcends the material goals of this world, a motivation that lights you on fire… Then no obstacle will stand in your way, no adversity will be too challenging, and no setback will prove significant in the long run. Because when you have a strong "Why", a deep and visceral reason for achieving success that goes beyond your desire for acclaim and financial gain… Then you become unstoppable. 3. Feel the Fear and Do it Anyways As simple as it sounds, the number one thing holding most men back today is fear. They are afraid of losing their comfortable jobs, afraid of ruining their current relationship, afraid of achieving success and alienating the people that they love… They are afraid. And that's ok. Whenever it comes time to take a big leap in your life, whether it's quitting a job, proposing to your girlfriend, or dropping everything on a whim to go and work with a mentor… You should be afraid. But the key is to feel the fear and do it anyway. Get scared… Get terrified… Get paralyzed by fear…. And then feel that fear, and take action regardless of your emotional state. When you become a master of fear, you become a master of life. So feel the fear and do it anyway. 4. Be Quick to Act and Quick to Contemplate  If you want to achieve real success in your life, then you must start by taking immediate action on your goals and dreams. If you want to start a business, don't wait until you have a plan and a perfect team. Go register your LLC, buy a new website domain and get started TODAY. If there is a woman in your life whom you are crazy about but haven't had the courage to ask out yet, grab yourself by the balls, man up, and go ask her out to dinner. If you are overweight and unhealthy, don't wait until you have all of the information you need to get healthy, just clean out your pantry, take a long walk each morning, and sign up with a personal trainer. Success loves speed. And if you aren't willing to take decisive action and take it now then your hopes and dreams will be hijacked by the men who will. 5. Realizing that You are Lost is the First Step to Being Found  The first step to achieving success is realizing and accepting your current reality. In other words, you cannot be found until you accept that you are lost. Don't hide from your reality… Accept it. If you are broke, overweight, socially awkward, or off purpose… That's ok. Accept that things are the way they are and that you and only you have the power to change it. Don't look at your life through rose colored glasses. Instead, be objective and honest about who you are and how your life looks right now, and once you have a clear picture of your current reality, commit to making a change.

Dan Martell is a Canadian Entrepreneur and most recently, the founder of Clarity.fm. He's an experienced Angel Investor who has invested in over 23 tech start-ups. Prior to Clarity, Dan was the co-founder of Flowtown (Acquired 11′), founder of Spheric Technologies (Acquired 08′). He has also been a mentor at 500Startups, GrowLabs & theC100.org. Favorite Success Quote "Become the person who can deal" ~Dan Martell Key Points 1. If You Want to Be a Millionaire You Have to Handle Million Dollar Problems Everyone wants to be a millionaire… But the problem is that most people aren't able to handle million dollar problems. They want the outcome without the action. They want the reward without responsibility.  And this approach never works. Just take lottery winners for example. They immediately come into a windfall of cash with millions, sometimes tens of millions of dollars, but they never did a damn thing to earn that money. And five years after their success, studies have shown that they are often worse off than before they won. Why? Because their character didn't backup their success. You have to earn what you want. If you want to become a millionaire, then you must become the kind of person who can provide millions of dollars of value and handle millions of dollars worth of problems. And quite frankly… Most of you reading this can't. Yet… So go and focus on developing yourself and becoming the type of person who can handle the challenges and can provide the requisite value to achieve your goals. Because when you go after your goals with this mindset, success becomes all but inevitable. 2. Own It! I'm going to let you in on a little secret here… Shit happens. Life can be chaotic, things will not work out, businesses will fail, lovers will leave you, friends will turn on you… Shit just happens. And I'll let you in on another little secret… It's ok! Failure and frustration are an integral part of life, it's not a question of if it will happen to you but how you will respond when it does. If you are like most people, you will try to pin the blame on someone else, you will deny the reality of your problems, and you will avoid addressing the situation until the last possible minute. But since you are listening to this podcast, you aren't like most people. And therefore, you must own your problems. When shit happens… OWN IT. When a business fails, a girlfriend walks out, a friend gets angry, own the problem, own your part in the problem, and figure out what you can do moving forward to ensure that it never happens again. 3. Be Grateful for All You Have  150 years ago, if you wanted to go to Canada, you would have been forced to travel for months on end and risk death or serious injury. Today, you can fly there in a matter of hours. 100 years ago, if you wanted the information that we give away for free on this podcast, you would have had to track down each guest individually, convince them to speak with you, and then pick their brain for an hour or more (or at the very least found one of their books). Today… It's only a mouse click away. You have a lot to be grateful for. We live in an age of unprecedented opportunity, ease, and access and 99% of the things that you take for granted on a daily basis would have dropped our ancestor's jaws to the floor. We don't have to hunt… We go to the grocery store. Most of us no longer work hard physical labor, we work at a cushy desk. And if we want to get somewhere, we can tap a button on our phone and have our own personal chafeur show up to our home in under 10 minutes! You have a lot to be grateful for. So starting today, be fucking grateful! Write down three things that you are grateful for each and every day and never lose sight of who you are and just how lucky you are to be alive in this day and age. 4. Be Yourself and Put it Out There  If you look at the most successful entrepreneurs in 2017, from the Tim Ferriss's to the Grant Cardone's to the Gary Vaynerchucks, you will notice one consistent factor. They are all completely and unapologetically themselves. They don't care what other people think they don't care who they offend, they show up in the world authentically and they put it out there for others to see. And if you want to create lasting success, you must do the same. Be who you are. Don't apologize for it, and don't ask permission for it. Be who you are and share it with the world. Some will love you, some will hate you, some won't care and that's ok. As long as you are living authentically and sharing your gifts and talents with the world, at the end of the day you can call yourself a success. 5.Think About The Long Game  In a society built upon instant gratification, you must be a man focused on the long game. Don't look at the 1-5 year impact of your decisions, instead ask yourself, "What are the ramifications of this decision 20 years from now?" Because here's a simple fact, 20 years from now you will arrive… The question is "Where". Will you arrive in style because you were patient, played the long game, learned, grew, and invested? Or will you arrive chasing yet another shiny object because you lacked the discipline and the long term focus to make things work? The choice is yours.

Frank Ostaseski is a Buddhist teacher and leader in contemplative end-of-life care. In 1987, he co-founded of the Zen Hospice Project and later created the Meta Institute to train professionals in compassionate, mindfulness-based care. He has lectured at Harvard Medical School, the Mayo Clinic, Wisdom.2.0 and teaches at major spiritual centers around the globe. His work has been featured on the Bill Moyers PBS series On Our Own Terms, The Oprah Winfrey Show, and in numerous print publications. In 2001, he was honored by the Dalai Lama for his compassionate service to the dying and their families. He is the author of The Five Invitations: Discovering What Death Can Teach Us About Living Fully Favorite Success Quote "It always seems impossible until it's done" ~Nelson Mandela Key Points 1. Keep Death Close at Hand  You are going to die. I am going to die. Everyone that you love and hold dear is going to die. Life is fleeting, it's brief, and sometimes, it can feel, as Thomas Hobbes said, "Nasty Brutish and short". I don't say this to scare you, but rather to wake you up to the reality of life. Life is precious, each moment that you have is a gift, and the only way that we can truly feel this and remember the beauty of life is by remembering that it must come to an end. Therefore, it is important to keep death close to us. To meditate on it, to remember it, and to embrace it, not run from it, so that one day when our time finally comes to an end, we can look death in the eyes with a smile and face the final curtain knowing that we lived a life that was full and open no matter how long or short it might have been. 2. There are Only Two Things that Ultimately Matter in Life  Frank has spent several decades of his life working in hospice with individuals who are close to death's door. And in his experience, there are only two things that ulimately mattered to any of them. They didn't care about the number of horsepower in their engine, how many square feet their estate was, or how expensive their watch was. They only cared about two things: How they loved Who loved them At the end of their lives, when these individuals came to the end, all they really cared about was who they loved and who loved them. They wished that they had been better fathers, husbands, sons, friends, and citizens of this world. But for those of you reading this… It's not too late. None of us know how much time has been given to us or when it will run out, but we know that it will run out. And because of this knowledge, we have the power to live more fully, to love more deeply, and to receive love on a deeper level than ever before. 3. Don't Wait Why is it that some people have to be diagnosed with a life-threatening disease before they take a step back and truly appreciate their lives? Why is it that so many of us wait until the end before we ever truly live? I want you to imagine that you walked into the Doctor's office tomorrow and you were told that you had terminal cancer and only had a year left to live. How would your life change? How would you show up differently? Would you love more? Appreciate the small things? Stop complaining about the petty distractions of life? Express gratitude for all of the abundance and joy flowing into your life? What would you do? Now let me ask you another question… Why in the world do you need to wait until the end to start living like this? Why can't you live in the moment now? Why can't you appreciate the small things and express gratitude now? Why can't you open your heart to give and receive more love now? Well, you can… And you should. 4. Welcome Everything  In every person's life, they will be presented with experiences that are both "good" and "bad", and most people run from the bad and towards the good. This is a mistake. Most of life's greatest lessons and greatest experiences are on the other side of pain and suffering. Think about it… If you ask most parents, they will tell you that raising a child is one of the most amazing and precious things that they have ever done and yet, for childbirth to happen, the mother must endure extreme pain (at least they did prior to medical advancement) to bring that child into the world. Or think about going to the gym. The physical and mental rewards of strenuous exercise are tremendous! From increased productivity, happiness, libido, and general satisfaction with life, training has a massively positive impact on your life. But to reap those benefits, you must endure the agony of tearing your muscles down and literally damaging your body so that you can come back stronger. Life is the same way. Everything that you fear, the loss, the heartbreak, the sadness, and the pain… It all has a lesson to teach you. But before it can teach you that lesson, you must first become fearlessly receptive. 5. Wholeness Doesn't Mean Perfection, It Means No Part Left Out  You, me, and everyone else in the world is imperfect. And we often try to hide this imperfection by putting on a facade and pretending that we have it all together. But here's the thing… Just like there is beauty in the impermanence of life, there is beauty in your imperfection, there is beauty in your darkness. But you must be willing to accept it, learn from it, and seek to change it for this "dark side" to truly serve its purpose. We are all imperfect beings living in an imperfect world, pretending otherwise is foolish.

Known as"The CEO Whisperer", Cameron Herold is an entrepreneur, highly paid speaker, author, and business coach. He was responsible for taking the company 1-800 Got Junk from $2 million in annual revenue to over $106 million in annual revenue in only 6 years. He works with and coaches some of the most prolific individuals on the planet including multi-millionaires, politicians, monarchs, and Fortune 500 CEOs. Favorite Success Quote "You'll never be smart enough to figure this out on your own. Your R&D should stand for be rip off and duplicate. millions of companies have already spent millions of dollars figuring out virtually every problem and every opportunity you will ever encounter. Just do what they're doing. Instead of trying to sit down and figure it out for yourself, you already have the cheat sheets, just go ahead and use them" Key Points 1. Always be learning always be growing  If you want to have an exceptional life, not a good life, but an exceptional life, then you must commit to constant and never ending growth. Cameron recently attended an event in Las Vegas with dozens of other high profile entrepreneurs including Cole Hatter, Grant Cardone, and Tai Lopez, and he noticed that every single one of the speakers was actively listening and taking notes while the other individuals were on stage. Many of these people already had 7, 8, and even 9-figure businesses. However, despite their success, they were still attentive and engaged in the event, constantly seeking to learn something new. And if you want to create the best life possible for yourself and your family, then you must have the same voracious appetite for knowledge. Never ignore an opportunity to learn and improve yourself, never assume that you already know something, and never take the wisdom of other's for granted. 2. If you can control your time you control your world  Many people think that entrepreneurs only care about money. And sometimes, this is true. However, most people who delve into the world of entrepreneurship do so because they understand one important thing. When you control your time, you control your world. When you are at the beck and call of your manager, supervisor, or boss, you will never truly have control of your time. When you are dependent on active income for your livelihood, you will never truly control your time. When you give control of your financial destiny to others, you will never have control of your time. Entrepreneurship allows you to change all of that. Sure, entrepreneurship can be even more stressful than working for a business because everything depends on you. But because everything depends on you, you have absolute control of your schedule and your life. You are able to say "No" more, work on your own time, take days off when you want, and live a life that most people dream of. It's hard work, but it's worth it. If you can find a way to create a lifestyle in which you control your schedule (even if you technically work for someone else) then you have achieved one of the ultimate successes in life. 3. Being "Messed Up" Can Be Your Biggest Asset  Most entrepreneurs are ADHD, bipolar, and suffer from some form of Tourrettes. And guess what? They often succeed because of these so called "disabilities", not in spite of them. Having severe ADHD allows you to juggle countless projects simultaneously, engage in moments of hyper focus, and constantly be bouncing from idea to idea. Having a manic-depressive personality is what allows you to persuade people to join your team and work for you even when things aren't going as well as you had hoped. Tourettes, a.k.a. thinking out loud is a hallmark of some of the greatest geniuses and businessmen in all of history. The point is, being "messed up" or "disabled" isn't always a bad thing. In fact, if you know how to leverage them, your disabilities can often become your biggest strengths. 4. Good Enough = Success  So many of you reading this are being held back by your own perfectionism. You are so focused on making everything that you do perfect, that you never embrace "Good Enough" and actually get it done. Being good creates momentum. Being perfect keeps you stagnant. Think about Apple. Techniologically, they are one of the most inferior companies on the market. But because their product is good enough and they have an incredible marketing team and millions of raving fans, they are one of the most successful tech companies in the world. Think about McDonald's. Their product is inferior to just about any other burger on the planet and it's actually been linked to serious health problems. b But because it's "good enough" and backed by incredible marketing and culture, they continue to succeed as one of the highest grossing fast food chains in the world. If you want to be great, focus first on being good. Once you have achieved "good", market the hell out of it, rinse and repeat. 5. Understand that Your Network is Your Networth  Nothing will accelerate your results and happiness or keep you mired in mediocrity as much as your net work. If you are surrounding yourself with grade A+ players who keep you on track and inspire you to do great things, you will find yourself breaking through to new heights and achieving goals that you never thought possible. If the company that you keep regularly engages in low caliber behavior and holds low caliber attitudes and mindsets, you will quickly find yourself sinking further and further into a pit of failure. Possible the most important thing that you can do on your quest for the good life is to be intentional about who you allow in your circle. You are the average of the five people you spend your time with most. Ask yourself, "Who are my five people and do I want to be anything like them?"

Nate Lind is the founder of Legendary Man and Legendary Beard, an 8-figure e-commerce company that provides men with high quality beard grooming products. Favorite Success Quote "Success is walking from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm." ~Winston Churchill Key Points 1. You Must Educate Yourself to Succeed  No matter what your goal, ambition, or desire, the first step is always the same… You must take massive action and educate yourself on the details of your pursuit. If you want to build the body of your dreams, start by figuring out what the best meal plans, training programs, and supplement stacks are for your specific goals. If you want to build a successful business, then start by educating yourself on the nuances of marketing, sales, and management. If you want to become a master at dating and relationships, then devote time to understanding the female psyche and social dynamics. Whatever it is that you want to achieve, it is possible… But first, you must take the time to understand it and fully educate yourself about the path to achieving your goal. 2. Embrace the Hero's Journey  Once you have a clear goal or vision in mind and have taken the time to educate yourself on the best way to achieve that goal, it's time to step into your warrior and embrace the hero's journey. This journey will look different for everyone, but the general framework is always the same. In your life, you will face some kind of challenge or adversity. Maybe, like Nate, you are struggling with obesity and unhealthy eating habits. Maybe you are struggling financially or in your career. Or maybe your marriage is failing and your children barely know who you are. Whatever your particular challenge might be… embrace it. Own it, step into it, and get ready to overcome it. Each of us has the power to overcome our biggest obstacles and live a life of joy, achievement, and fulfillment, but we must first take that big scary plunge into unknown and embrace our hero's journey. Accept your path, accept the adversity, and accept the consequences of the decisions that you have made in your life. Because once you have taken full responsibility for your life, you can embark on your quest and change it. 3. Know Thyself  Gary Vaynerchuk, one of the most prolific entrepreneurs and businessmen of the 21st century has a well-known belief that all success stems from self knowledge. He and Nate both believe that the first step to creating real success in any area of your life, is to know with 100% certainty who you are. You must cut the b.s., look at yourself objectively, and take an honest look at your strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for growth. When you cut through the crap and see yourself as you are not as you want to be, you have true power and the ability to go after goals that are congruent with who you are and how you operate. Nothing is more powerful than operating from a place of strength. And when you know yourself better than anyone else, you will know exactly what opportunities and endeavors you should pursue. 4. Get Uncomfortable  Life doesn't happen inside of your comfort zone. Life doesn't happen inside of your everyday routines. Life doesn't happen in the complacent, normal, everyday actions that keep us living a life of ease. Life happens at the edge of your comfort zone. It happens when you push yourself just a little further than you think you can go. It happens when you get out of your old ruts and routines and embrace a new way of thinking, acting, or being. Life begins where your comfort zone ends. If you want to live a truly remarkable and exceptional life, then you must break free from the chains of comfort and embrace a new way of living. You must do things that scare you, step into your fears, and conquer them. When you can master your own desire for comfort and ease, you can master your entire life. 5. Train Your Body  One of the simplest yet most powerful habits that you can build into your life is to regularly train and develop your body. Your body and mind are inextricably connected and if you want to truly perform at the highest levels in your work, social, and romantic life, then you must start by optimizing your physical life. You are no good to the rest of society if you are constantly tired, lethargic, and weak. You cannot truly perform at the highest levels if you are overweight or physically untrained. Therefore, your first step towards greatness in life should be to pursue greatness in your body. Get in the gym, clean up your diet, take a cold shower, and build the body that you deserve. I promise you won't regret it.

Timothy Sykes is a stock trader who turned his $10,000 Bar Mitzvah money into $4,000,000 through exposing the losing game of penny stocks. He then went on to found Profit.ly a community of 84,000 traders, and run a leading trading coaching program called Millionaire Trader Favorite Success Quote "Be patient be dedicated and realize that it's a marathon not a sprint." Key Points 1. Challenges Make Life Worth Living You will often hear personal growth gurus and "enlightened" philosophers espousing the belief that "Life is a journey not a destination." As cliche as it sounds, anyone who has ever achieved "real" success in life knows it to be true. Achievement is incredible. Reaching your goals is exhilarating. Finally feeling like you are "Making It" gives you a buzz that no substance can compete with. But it doesn't last… Because as human beings, we have evolved to constantly seek new challenges and accelerate the old status quo. Challenges are what make us come alive, they are what give us meaning, and they are, when it's all said and done, what life is truly about. You were not meant to earn a million dollars and then retire on an island in the sun. You were meant to innovate, to find new ways to stretch yourself and progress your life. And when you understand this… Everything changes. You will no longer see challenges as a "Bad" thing. You will no longer view hardship as a problem. You will realize that overcoming challenges is ultimately what will give your life meaning and purpose. 2. Money Might Make You Happy but it Won't Keep You Happy When you take the previous point a step further and apply is specifically to money, you will realize that the age old adage "Money can't buy happiness", while technically untrue, has its merits. Money can buy happiness and pleasure. Anyone who tells you otherwise is either lying or has never actually had any money. Knowing that you never have to work again, knowing that you have absolute freedom, knowing that you can do what you want, when you want, with who you want will make you happy. But it isn't enough to keep you happy. Eventually, you will get bored. Regardless of how much money you have, if you are not growing and challenging yourself on a daily basis, you will eventually feel stagnant and depressed. This is why most successful entrepreneurs who take a few years off after a big I.P.O. (thinking that they're done for good) return to the game almost as quickly as they left it. Money might make you happy, but it won't keep you happy. You need to use it to help others, explore new challenges, and push yourself to grow and evolve. 3. Stretch Yourself and Shoot for Big Goals  When I was surfing through Quora the other day, I saw a very generic question asking "How can I make a million dollars by the time I'm 30?" Personally, I felt that this was a ridiculous and arbitrary question. However, when I started looking through the answers, I saw a response that caught my eye. The most popular answer in the entire thread started out by posing a counter question, "Why are you playing so small? Why not shoot for something bigger?" During my conversation with Timothy, he shared a very similar belief. Over the past few years, Tim has been building schools with a charity called Pencil's of Promise and he's already donated in excess of $1,000,000 helping fund 30+ school builds. However, for Tim, this is just the tip of the iceberg. His goal is to build over 1,000 schools in the coming years… A $35,000,000 undertaking. While we were talking about this project, he admits that this is a huge goal and that it's entirely possible that he will never reach it. However, it's the thrill of having something so big to shoot for that keeps him going. In your own life, how can you 10X your goals to push yourself and get excited? How can you set a vision and a dream so big that you are thrilled to jump out of bed every morning and pursue it? Remember, if you aim for the moon you may hit a stump. But if you aim for a stump… You might miss. 4. If You Don't Know what You Want to Do, Do Something  We live in an age of such unprecedented opportunity and possibility that our society has succumbed to something called "Analysis by paralysis". Basically, people have so many freaking options to choose from that they can never choose one thing. If you recently graduated high school or college and had only a few thousand dollars to your name, you could realistically dive into about a dozen different businesses in hundreds of different niches. For the first time in human history, just about anyone who lives in the Western world has the ability to be and do whatever they want (if they put their minds to it). The only problem is, most of us don't know what we want. So we wander aimlessly, afraid to take action and step into the unknown. But I'm here to tell you… Just take action. Just do something even if it's the wrong thing. As long as you are making moves, you can pivot and change later down the line to ensure you are making the right moves. But if you are standing still… You'll never get anything done and you will never achieve the success you are looking for. 5. The Game Isn't Over Until It's Over  One of the most common questions and concerns that I see on the Knowledge for Men Facebook page, in my Quora feed, and even in the inquiries that are sent to my inbox is this… "Andrew, I'm [insert age]… Am I too old to start a business, meet the woman of my dreams, achieve my ideal body etc. etc.?" The answer? Of course not! If you still have breath in your lungs, then you still have time to pursue your dreams. Some of the most successful and prolific entrepreneurs didn't get started in business until their 50's, 60's, and even 70's. Many more didn't achieve the success that they truly wanted until a few years before their death… But they did achieve it. The game isn't over until it's over. It's never too late to go after your dreams and do the things that you truly want to do. And it's never too early. So step up and embrace this. Go for the things that you want in life regardless of your age or experience. If you are on this planet and you are still alive, then you've got time to make it count and achieve your dreams. The only question is, will you take action or not? 

Lewis Howes is a lifestyle entrepreneur, high performance business coach, author and keynote speaker. A former professional football player and two-sport All-American, he is a current USA Men's National Handball Team athlete. Lewis hosts The School of Greatness podcast, which has received millions of downloads since it launched in 2013. Lewis was recognized by The White House and President Obama as one of the top 100 entrepreneurs in the country under 30. He is a contributing writer for Entrepreneur and Yahoo.com and has been featured in The New York Times, Forbes, Men's Health, The Today Show and other major media outlets. Favorite Success Quotes "No one cares how much you know until they know how much you care" Key Points 1. Show that You Care  As men, we have a pathological need to feel important, to feel special, to feel powerful. To fill this need, most of us walk through our lives searching for ways to make other people see how important we are. We work ourselves to death at jobs that we hate so that we can afford to buy things we don't need. We stay in relationships that we should have left years ago because the person that we are dating is attractive and popular. We live our lives for the approval and validation of others while forgetting one obvious truth. No one cares. Seriously… No one cares about how much money you have, how hot your girl friend is, or how many horsepower your car has. The people in your life are struggling with plenty of trials and struggles as it is, do you really think they're going to care that you bought a "Luxury Class" Mercedes instead of a Standard? What people want and desperately need isn't another person who's caught up in their own lives.. What they need is someone who cares, someone who listens, someone who is real. The people in your life are dying to connect, they are dying for someone who is real, they are dying for someone who genuinely cares about them and is willing to listen and be present. If you really want to impress someone (which shouldn't be your focus to begin with), then show them how much you care, don't show them how much you have. 2. Vulnerability is the Key to Freedom If you are reading this right now, then chances are good that you've been hurt. Some of you have been hurt so deeply and so profoundly that you have never shared your pain with another living soul. And it sucks… When you've experienced trauma and pain in your life, it's easy to get stuck in your head, to become isolated and believe that you are alone or that no one would love you if they knew the truth. In an effort to protect yourself and others, you put up a wall between yourself and the people that you love, closing yourself off from the people who care for you the most. And then you let the pain sit inside of you and simmer. Until one day, that simmer turns into a boil and you find yourself exploding in ways that you never thought possible. Until one day, the wounds have become so deep and so painful that they change who you are. This is the path that most men take… Most men refuse to seek help, guidance of support in times of trauma and suffering. They think they have everything figured out and do their best to act the part. But I'll let you in on a little secret…. You are killing yourself and you are killing your relationships. The past only has power over us so long as we allow it to. When you are willing to embrace vulnerability, trust the people in your life, and open up about your deepest fears, regrets, and experiences, your whole life will change. For Lewis, this meant opening up about the sexual abuse he experienced as a child. For nearly 25 years, he'd kept the pain bottled inside until one day, it all came out on a basketball court and he got into a vicious fight with another player. The encounter shocked and humbled him and made him realize that he needed to talk to someone and he needed to get help. And so he did, he opened up to a select group of people about what had happened to him as a child and, much to his surprise, the response he received was nothing but love. People told him that they could trust him more, that they felt more connected, and that they respected him on a deeper level because of the pain and trauma he experienced. As time went on and he shared his truth with more and more people, he eventually arrived at a point in his life where he could share his story without feeling the pain in the same way. Through sharing his authentic truth and being vulnerable, he healed the wounds of the past. But what about you? What are you holding onto that you need to let go? What pain has been keeping you back and weighing you down? I want you to write that thing down right now and commit that before the day is over, you will find someone to talk to, even if it's a professional. I promise that if you are willing to take this scary leap, your life will never be the same. 3. Why Are You Doing What You're Doing?  One of the biggest mistakes that we as men make is that we detach our what from our why.  We spend all of our time pursuing goals, dreams, and opportunities but we never really know why we do any of the things that we do. We hustle and grind all day long and for what? For most men, it's for the paycheck or the status, but as many of you have already realized, this is never enough. You must have a strong and deep why for what you are doing that extends beyond yourself. If you want to live a truly extraordinary and exceptional life, then you must live your life for the greater good and not just yourself. Find ways to serve and love and improve the lives of others and your own life will be filled with joy, and love, and opportunities that you could never imagine. It might seem cliche and worn out, but there's a great deal of truth to the adage that "Living is giving". So let me ask you… What are you giving and why? 4. Pause, Breathe, and Smile  You can read all of the books that have ever been written on the topic of emotional control, masculinity, and mastering yourself and, unfortunately, there will still be instances where you want to explode and rip someone's head off. It's just human nature. While you cannot control the initial flood of emotions that happens in these circumstances, you can control your reaction. When you start to feel these negative thoughts and emotions creeping into your mind and body, take a step back and notice them. Acknowledge them and be aware of them… Don't try to fight them. Once you are aware of the internal dialogue and the reason for your emotional response, take 10 deep breaths and mentally detach yourself from the situation, doing your best to look at things through the lens of an objective observer. Then, once you have regained your center, look around you and smile. You are blessed and you have a lot to be grateful for. Smile and remember this. 5. It's All About Finding the Balance  In a world that seems to be driven by the "Hustle and Grind" mentality, it's easy to lose balance and start living a life that is completely and utterly consumed by your work. When this happens, it's important to take a step back and regain your inner balance. Life is seasonal. There are times where you will need to hustle, grind, and push forward. There are times where you need to take a step back and rest. Learn to differentiate between the two and your entire life will transform before your eyes.

Chris Guillebeau is the New York Times bestselling author of The $100 Startup, The Happiness of Pursuit, Born for This, and The Art of Non-Conformity. Chris travels the world and writes for a small army of remarkable people at ChrisGuillebeau.com, or you can listen to his daily podcast, Side Hustle School, at SideHustleSchool.com. Favorite Success Quote "Once in a while it really hits people that they don't have to experience the world in the way they have been told to." -Alan Keightley Key Points 1. You Don't Have to Live the Way You Are Told  Go to school, get good grades, attend college, find a cushy job with nice benefits, buy a house, get married, have 2.5 kids, die. That's the script that most of us have been told to follow. We've been fed a steady diet of lies and misinformation that make us believe that there is only one way to approach life, that there's a select set of goals and ambitions that are acceptable and the rest are heresy. Luckily for you and me… There's more to life than what we were told growing up. Since the inception of the internet, it's easier now than it's ever been in human history to create a sustainable income doing something that you love. It's easier than it's ever been before to shrug off the expectations and "should's" of society and to go about life in our own way. You don't have to do what anyone else tells you to do. If you want to go to college, get a job, get married, and buy a house in the hills, then great! If you don't, if you want to drop out, travel the world, start an online business, and live the expat lifestyle, you can do that too. You have the power to decide who you want to be and what you want to do. You have the ability to decide for yourself what kind of life you want to live. Make the most of it. 2. What One Man Can Do Another Man Can Do  In a world that glamorizes the end result without giving so much as a second thought to the process, it's easy to look at the successes of others and believe that their accomplishments are out of your reach. But they were people just like you. Grant Cardone, Gary Vaynerchuk, and yes, Chris Guillebeau are all just normal people who have done extraordinary things. There's nothing special about them, they didn't have any unique advantages that you don't have, they were just normal everyday guys who applied proven principles and tactics to achieve extraordinary results. Whatever it is that you want to achieve in this life, it's possible, and the first step on your path to making it happen is to acknowledge that it's possible. What one man can do, another man can do. If it's been done before it can be done again. Always remember this and always keep your head up. 3. A Side Hustle is an Asset  One of the biggest mistakes that people make when it comes to building a side hustle is to think that a "Side Hustle" is the same thing as a part-time job. There's nothing wrong with freelancing or working part-time, but at the end of the day, these endeavors all require the same thing… Your time. No matter how highly paid you become, anything that directly requires your time to make money is a part time job, not a Side Hustle. A side hustle is an asset, it's something that can make you money while you sleep, it's something that you can set and forget. It's something that generates revenue without consuming your life. 4. Your Hustle Isn't that Big of a Deal  I know countless individuals who work jobs that they love. They decide to build a side hustle, quite simply, because they want the extra cash. After weeks of brainstorming and agonizing over potential paths they could take, they eventually collapse into a puddle of nerves and anxiety. Not because the task ahead of them is so monumental, but because they have put their side hustle on a proverbial pedestal. They turned it into something that it wasn't. A side hustle is nothing more than a fun project that you work on in your spare time to generate extra revenue. That's it. You don't have to be passionate about it as long as you enjoy it. You don't have to make 6-figures with it (unless you want to). You don't have to turn it into anything of significance. It's just a way to make extra income doing things you like. So don't worry about finding your "One Thing". Make a list of 10 different side hustles, try each one for 2-3 weeks and if you don't like it, throw it in the garbage and start the next one. This is an experiment, treat it as such. 5. Just Get Started  No matter what goal you are pursuing, whether it's to travel the world, find your dream job, or simply start a side hustle to earn an extra $2,000 a month, the first step will always be the hardest. You will always second guess yourself, over analyze, and eventually, give up if you don't take the first step and dive into the water head first. Just get started. As simple as it sounds, it's the key to about 90% of success. Just get started, take the first step, write the first word, buy that domain, talk to that girl, do whatever it is that you need to do to move towards your dreams. Get started today. Because tomorrow you will wish you had started yesterday.

Jon Acuff is the New York Times Bestselling author of six books including his most recent Wall Street Journal #1 Bestseller, Finish: Give Yourself the Gift of Done. For over 20 years he's helped some of the biggest brands in the world tell their story, including The Home Depot, Bose, Staples, and the Dave Ramsey Team. Most recently he's spoken to hundreds of thousands of people at conferences, colleges, companies and churches. Featured regularly on national media, Jon has been seen on CNN, Fox News, Good Day LA and several other key outlets. In addition, Jon is also a big proponent of social media with blogs that have been read by 4 million people and almost 300,000 twitter followers. In 2010 he used his influence with his tribe to build two kindergartens in Vietnam. Jon lives with his wife Jenny and two daughters in Franklin, TN. Favorite Success Quote "Starting is fun, but the future belongs to finishers." Key Points 1. Starting is Fun But Success Belongs to Finishers  Do you remember the last time that you started a new workout program or online course? Do you remember that warm fuzzy feeling you got in the pit of your stomach while you were starting a journey towards your goals? Now let me ask you another question… Do you remember the last time that you actually went through and completely finished a book, workout program, online course, or anything else of importance? Most of you don't… And this doesn't make you a bad person, it doesn't make you lazy, it makes you human. You see, as people we are wired to start things. Whether we are starting a new diet, a new business, a new book, or whatever else it is, we love starting. It's fun, it's exciting, and it makes us feel important. Finishing, on the other hand, sucks. To finish something, you must endure small failures and setbacks, you must persevere even when you don't feel motivated, and you must keep pushing through the parts that don't feel particularly exciting or fun. But success belongs to finishers. No one became successful by starting something. They became successful by following it through to the end and finishing.  When you realize this, when you truly internalize this principle, everything will change. 2. Perfectionism will Break You  Nothing will wreck your goals, limit your potential, and destroy your plans more than perfectionism. Nothing. Perfectionism is merely an alibi for inaction. It's an excuse to do nothing. Whereas the non-perfectionist says "I know that I can't do xyz perfectly with my current resources, what can I do to move things forward anyways." The perfectionist says "I know that I can't do xyz perfectly so why even bother doing it at all?" When you operate from this framework, you are setting yourself up to fail. No one succeeds when they have a commitment to perfection. Because, quite simply, perfection cannot exist. There will always be something that prevents you from achieving true perfection which means there will always be something that prevents you from finishing your goals, no matter what they are. If you want to live a great life and have a lot of fun doing so, then I challenge you to eradicate the word "Perfect" from your vocabulary. Focus on getting things done and finishing. Because success belongs to the finishers. 3. Slow it Down and Cut it Back Once you have committed to being a "Finisher" and not a perfectionist, it's easy to get overwhelmed. You have all of these goals and big dreams that you want to achieve, but they just seem so daunting and scary. Take a deep breath, relax, and realize that it's going to be ok. Instead of stressing yourself out and killing yourself to achieve arbitrarily set goals that don't have any real significance in your life, slow things down and cut back. Here's what I mean. Let's say that your goal is to lose 15 lbs. in the next month. While it's admirable that you want to lose weight, it's also a foolish goal. You are simply trying to do too much too quickly. Why do you need to lose so much weight in the next 30 days? What's so significant about the next month that you are willing to starve yourself to death in order to hit an arbitrary weight goal? Instead, let's take the finisher's approach. Cut the goal in half and double the timeline. Now, instead of 15 lbs. in 30 days, it's 7 lbs. in 60 days. That means you need to lose less than one pound a week! That's doable right? Some of you reading this might think, "No! I've gotta push hard, I've gotta go crazy and lose this weight" And I get it, that's what you've been conditioned to think. But let me ask you something… If this approach works, then why haven't you lost the weight already? 4. Examine What Has Worked in the Past  Whenever you set out to achieve any new goal, start by looking at what has worked in the past. For example, if you take stock of your life and realize that you have mastered your physical health but you're struggling to get a grip on your finances, simply look at the habits and routines that helped to become physically fit and apply them to your life so that you can become financially fit. When you examine the habits that helped you become healthy, you might realize that the first step you took was to clear out your pantry of all junk food, thereby eliminating 90% of the temptation you felt. This can be applied to your finances. Call your bank and setup an automatic savings transfer that will draft out of your account every time you get paid. The next time your paycheck hits your account, you will automatically have a small portion of your income going directly to your savings account. You don't realize it's gone, you can't touch the money that has been transferred, and you have no temptation to spend that money on things you don't need. Success leaves clues. If you have achieved success anywhere in life, you can achieve it everywhere in life if you are simply willing to look at what has worked, pick out the patterns, and apply them to all areas of your life. 5. Have Fun with the Process  At the end of the day, life is supposed to be fun. It isn't supposed to be a rat race, it isn't supposed to be a drag, it's supposed to be fun! So start acting like it. Enjoy the goals that you set, enjoy the things that you pursue, enjoy every moment that you can because life is precious and it's meant to be enjoyed.

Noah Kagan was #30 at Facebook, #4 at Mint.com, and is the Chief Sumo (founder) of SumoMe, a company which offers free tools to help grow website traffic. He has built 4 products that each generated 7-figures and become one of the leading marketing experts in the world Favorite Success Quote "The squeaky wheel gets the grease" "You're not important and no one cares" Key Points 1. Just Do Things You Enjoy  As far as we know, we only have one life. We only have one opportunity to live, laugh, and love. So why is it that so many of us waste our precious time doing shit that we don't like? Why do we work jobs that we hate, stay in relationships that we don't enjoy, and force ourselves to spend time with people who suck? It's absolute insanity. Although there's no "One size fits all" approach to happiness or living the good life, everything starts by doing more of the things you enjoy and less of the things that you hate. So start today. Find a way to cut out activities that you don't enjoy and that don't serve the bigger picture and a way to add in more activities that light you up and put a smile on your face. 2. No One Gives a Sh*t About You  This sounds harsh, I know. But if you think about things objectively, you will quickly realize that it's true. Outside of your immediate family and maybe a handful of close friends, no one cares about you, no one. People don't care whether you succeed or not, they don't care if you're happy, and they don't really care if you carry on living. Although it sounds morbid, this is actually good news. The fact that no one cares gives you permission to screw up, it gives you permission to fall on your face, to fail, to lose, and to try things that might not work because, at the end of the day, no one really gives a shit either way. So stop worrying about other people and focus on yourself. If you don't, you will live your life trying to make everyone else happy without ever taking a second to think about your own happiness and well being. 3. Learn to be Empathetic  Even though no one really cares about you, this doesn't mean that you should go through life constantly ignoring others, acting like a narcissist, and screwing people over to achieve your goals. You must develop a certain level of empathy so that you can successfully maneuver through the world. The people that you encounter in your everyday life have their own goals, their own struggles, and their own problems. When you can learn to identify with them and consider things from their point of view, you will become a social powerhouse. 4. Define Success for Yourself  One of the biggest mistakes that anyone can make in their life is striving to achieve a version of success that isn't truly congruent with their deepest goals and desires. Noah has made millions of dollars several times over but his lifestyle is pretty modest. You won't see him posting on Instagram about his new McLaren or bragging about his new private jet. He's content to live in a 700 square foot flat and drive his scooter downtown in search of the city's best tacos. Because that is his version of success. He enjoys what he does and has a simple life. For other people, however, this would be a living hell. People like Gary Vaynerchuk need to be in constant motion to enjoy their life and feel fulfilled, they need the rush of the deal and the job in order to feel successful and fulfilled. Neither path is wrong. It's simply a matter of what works for you. So I want to challenge you to take some time to think about what success really means to you. What do you really want? What would it take for you to be happy and fulfilled? Once you have your answer, go do that thing, and ignore everyone else's opinions and ideas. Because your definition of success is the only thing that matters. 5. Stop Complaining and Start Looking for a Solution  For the next 30 days, I want you to do something. It sounds simple, but I promise it's not as easy as you might assume. I want you to quit complaining. That's it. For the next 30 days, I want you to consciously quit complaining about anything in your life whether it's your job, your spouse, your kids, or just crappy weather. Stop complaining and start looking for solutions. If something bothers you, instead of bitching about it, find a way to change it. It might sound simple, but I promise that it will change your life.

Mastin Kipp is the #1 best-selling author of Daily Love: Growing into Grace and his latest book Claim Your Power and has been recognized by Oprah Winfrey on her Emmy-award winning show Super Soul Sunday as a "spiritual thinker for the next generation." He is the founder of Functional Life Coaching (TM) and has appeared alongside Tony Robbins, Eckhart Tolle, Deepak Chopra, Dr. Brene Brown and others as a part of Oprah's Super Soul 100, a collection of awakened leaders who are using their voices and talent to elevate humanity. He leads sold-out seminars and retreats all over the world, and collectively two million people in over 100 countries have been influenced by Mastin's work. You can connect with him and learn more at mastinkipp.com. Favorite Success Quote "Unless you're in mortal danger, fear is a compass showing you where to go." Key Points 1. You Always Have a Choice Between What is Easy and What will Lead to Your Dreams  In every person's life, they will come to a hallway, perhaps many hallways where they will be presented with a simple choice. Will they take the first door on the left, the door that leads to ease, comfort, and safety? Or will they take the second door, the door on the right that exposes them to danger at every corner but allows them to live their lives fully and completely? When you take the first door, you make the decision to play safe to avoid doing the uncomfortable things that will drive you towards your dreams, and eventually, you become so bitter and jealous of other's success that you begin to sabotage yourself and your goals. When you take door number two, you take a bold step into uncertainty. And it's terrifying. But it's also worth it. 2. What's Really Going On?  If you have found yourself stuck in a rut, unable to break free of the habits and tendencies that have kept your life where it is today, then you need to take a step back and ask yourself, "What's really going on?" Peel back the layers of the onion and look beneath the surface. Maybe you are terrible at relationships and no matter how many beautiful women you bring into your life, they all seem to leave faster than they show up. Are you really terrible at relationships or is there something in your past, some sort of unresolved trauma or experience that is causing you to subconsciously sabotage yourself? Is there a deeper reason for the struggles that you are experiencing? A common one that I see with many men is the problem of laziness and procrastination. I know so many men who are powerful, excited and motivated about life, but when it comes time to actually go to work, they drag their feet and fail to accomplish even the most basic tasks. Are they lazy? Maybe. But I think the real problem is that their subconscious is telling them that there is an incongruence. Maybe they are working a job they aren't passionate about, maybe they are in a business they don't really love, or selling a product they don't truly believe in. Whatever the case may be, you will never be able to fix your biggest problems until you understand the root of the problems themselves. What's really going on? 3. Don't Just Use Your Pain… Transcend It  Your pain is a powerful motivating force, but it must be used for good. I see so many men who are burnt out and struggling simply because they've spent the past decade of their lives fueled by pain. Pain is often the spark that can start a fire in your life. But if you aren't careful, it can also be the fire that consumes and burns your life to the ground. Therefore, we must learn to transcend our pain and trauma. Use it to ignite the fire you need to make bold moves and step forward in life and then… Let it go. Come to terms with your pain, let go of your suffering, and forgive whoever and whatever hurt you. Pain is a powerful ally. But it can be an even more powerful enemy. 4. Start with What You Have Where You Are If you are broke, struggling, and depressed, then this is one of the most powerful pieces of advice that you will ever hear. You cannot win the marathon that is life until you start running. And the only way to start running this race is to start where you are with what you have. You might be living in a 400 square foot apartment with no running water and $50,000 in debt. Great. Start where you are with what you have. You might be living a great life but you know that you can do better if you just knew how. Great. Start where you are with what you have. There is no better time to start moving towards your dreams than today. No matter what you have or don't have. No matter what you lack or need. Start where you are with what you have. 5. Your Purpose is Based on an Emotional State and Nothing Else I often hear guys who will tell me that they are unsure of their purpose in life. But what's funny to me is that no one seems to have agreed upon what purpose actually means. In the same way that 30 different people can all believe in "God" but they all have wildly definitions of who/what "God" is, thousands of you reading this will all have different definitions of what purpose is and how you pursue it. But here's the thing. Purpose is extremely simple. Your purpose is nothing more than an emotional state that matters to you and your ability to express and cultivate that emotional state. Purpose is the feeling that you get when you are acting in a way that is congruent with what you want. Purpose is the emotion that you feel when you are expressing yourself at the highest level. Purpose is a fluid emotional state that can change and shift on a daily basis. So stop worrying about finding your purpose and realize that it's your responsibility to cultivate your purpose.

Dan Millman is a former world champion athlete, university coach, martial arts instructor, and college professor. After an intensive, twenty-year spiritual quest, Dan's teaching found its form as the Peaceful Warrior's Way, expressed fully in his books and lectures. His work continues to evolve over time, to meet the needs of a changing world. Dan's seventeen books, including Way of the Peaceful Warrior, have inspired and informed millions of readers in 29 languages worldwide. The feature film, "Peaceful Warrior," starring Nick Nolte, was adapted from Dan's first book, based upon incidents from his life. Much of Dan's time is devoted to writing and speaking. His keynotes, seminars, and workshops span the generations to influence men and women from all walks of life, including leaders in the fields of health, psychology, education, business, politics, sports, entertainment, and the arts. Dan and his wife Joy live in Brooklyn, NY. They have three grown daughters and four grandchildren. You can connect with him and learn more at peacefulwarrior.com Favorite Success Quote "Success is making progress towards a meaningful goal" "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take" Key Points 1. Seek Excellence Not Success One of the most common mistakes that people make in their pursuit of happiness is that they seek success instead of seeking excellence. Let me break down what this means… Most people, especially the kinds of people who listen to this podcast and read this blog, are future and goal oriented. We are laser-focused on the attainment of something, on the accomplishment of something sometime in the distant future. But what we often forget is that these accomplishments for which we are striving are made up of individual pieces. For example, no one can "Build a Business". A business is built by doing hundreds, maybe even thousands of small things well. You don't "Build" your dream body by doing one thing once. You build your dream body by doing thousands upon thousands of reps with perfect form. And that is where your focus should be. Yes, you must have compelling goals that push you forward and encourage you to perform at your best. But you must always remember that every worthy goal is comprised of thousands and thousands of micro-actions that you must take in the present moment. They are the product of committing to excellence in the present moment and maintaining that commitment year after year after year. Focus on doing things with excellence and success will inevitably follow. 2. The Quality of Your Moments Becomes the Quality of Your Life  In the same way that many people mistakenly pursue success instead of pursuing excellence, many of us devote our lives to the pursuit of the "Good Life". We hustle, grind, and sacrifice so that, one day, we can finally be happy and enjoy a high quality of life. We give up the things that are most important for an uncertain future that may or may not bring joy and fulfillment into our lives. And by doing this, we forget to live our lives as they are happening. We fail to realize that the "Good Life" is nothing more than a life filled with "Good Moments". If you want a good life, you must have good years. To have good years, you must have good months, weeks, and days. And to have good days, you must have good moments. You must learn to embrace where you are right now and enjoy the moment for all that it is. Because the present moment is everything. It's all that you have. There is no future. There is no past. There is only now. So live in the now. Cultivate those small moments of joy, happiness, and excellence. If you do this, I promise you that you will look back on your life with a smile, knowing that you lived it well. 3. Trust the Process of Your Life Unfolding  This if the 400th interview that I've conducted on the Knowledge for Men podcast and, after almost 4 years of interviewing top achievers, thinkers, and performers, I've noticed an interesting pattern. Success, happiness, and fulfillment almost always exist on the other side of pain. Grant Cardone was struggling with a drug addiction, broke, and unemployed before he found his future in sales and real estate. Ryan Blair was involved in the most dangerous L.A. gangs almost sentenced to a decade of incarceration before he fell in love with entrepreneurship. Bedros Keulian was literally digging through dumpsters to find food before he created the 8-figure fitness empire that he now owns today. Yet these men trusted the process (admittedy they may have done so unconsciously). They were willing to take a leap of faith and trust the process of their life unfolding. They were able to accept that, as Steve Jobs said, "You will never connect the dots looking forward, only looking backward. So you have to somehow trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future." And you must do the same. Trust the process of your life unfolding. Live in the present moment. Have faith in yourself and in the universe and realize that life is an adventure that is meant to be lived… Not avoided. 4. Anticipation is One of the Greatest Sources of Suffering  One of the most sinister and seemingly innocuous sources of suffering is anticipation. Think about it like this… Imagine that there is a co-worker whom you cannot stand. The kind of person who makes your skin crawl and your stomach turn into a knot. Imagine that later today, you have a meeting and you know that this particular co-worker will be in attendance. In anticipation of the event, you imagine all of the possible outcomes in your head, forcing yourself to live in an unpleasant and mentally exhausting reality that hasn't even happened yet! You bring yourself into a state of dissatisfaction and discomfort because you are living in future pain even though the present moment is completely tranquil! How differently could this scenario be if you simply allowed yourself to live in the moment. To know that you will have to face your peer but… Not yet. To give yourself permission to say "I am not in that situation in the present moment so I am going to live life now and cross that bridge when I get there." 5. We Are All Just Humans  At the end of the day, we are all human beings on this journey together. We have different views, beliefs, personalities, and desires, but we are all people. We all experience deep emotions, we all have dreams and desires, and we all have struggles to overcome. Even the seemingly invincible characters like Tony Robbins, Gary Vaynerchuk, or Bradd Pitt have problems. We are all humans. No one person is inherently better or worse than anyone else. We are all in this race together. So why can't we start acting like it? Instead of judging others and blaming them for their shortcomings, seek to understand and empathize with their struggles. Instead of acting superior to your fellow man, remember the times in which you acted and behaved in unscrupulous or unsatisfactory ways. Instead of pretending that you are on this journey alone, remember that we are all in this together. Man, woman, black, white, gay, straight, republican, democrat… We are all in this together. The sooner we realize this, the sooner we will unlock our specie's true power.

Olaniyi "Niyi" Sobomehin is a former American football fullback. He played college football at Portland State. He was signed by the New Orleans Saints as an undrafted free agent in 2008. After being cut from the NFL due to an injury, Olaniyi decided to begin coaching and from there, in addition to being a full-time firefighter, he has built a coaching company imnotyou.com to help young athletes be successful at an elite level. You can connect with him and learn more here, imnotyou.com Favorite Success Quote "People wish to be settled but only as far as they are unsettled is there any hope for them." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson Key Points 1. You Must Have a Vision  Before you can achieve any goal, you must first set that goal. Before you can arrive at a destination, you must know what destination you wish to arrive at. Before you can live the life of your dreams, you must have a vision for what that life looks like. So many men today walk around aimlessly, without any real vision or purpose to their lives. Maybe they have some arbitrary goals that they set because society told them to, but they lack a visceral purpose and vision that pushes them forward in life. If you hope to live a great life, a life of meaning, a legendary life, then you must start with your vision. Who do you want to be? What do you want to achieve? How do you want to show up every day? How many lives do you want to impact? Until you know the answers to these questions, you cannot achieve the life you were born to achieve. 2. Reverse Engineer Your Vision and Treat Failures as Opportunities  Once you have a vision, you have just gotten started. With your vision clearly written down, you must reverse engineer the steps that are required to achieve that vision until you have a long list of small steps that will help you achieve your goals in the coming years. Once you know what steps you need to take and when you need to take them (this will take you a long time to figure out), you must take daily massive action and learn from everything you do. You must remember that failure doesn't mean you're out of the game, it means you have a chance to learn. For example, if you sit down to work and have a completely unproductive day, instead of viewing this as a failure, ask yourself "What did I learn?" Maybe you learned that your phone needs to be on airplane mode throughout the workday. Maybe you learned that you need to have your days planned before you begin them. Or maybe you learned that you just need to get some extra sleep because you're too damn exhausted to work. Whatever you learn, write it down, tweak your approach, and continually learn from the process until you achieve your goal. 3. Stay Hungry and Focus on Growth  One of the biggest traps into which many men fall is the trap of success and complacency. You see, many of us start with relatively small visions that we achieve early on in life. Maybe you've sold your business, finally earned the 6-figure salary, or married the woman of your dreams. That's great, but you're not even close to finished. In fact, you're just getting started. Life is all about expansion, it's about growth, it's about constantly striving to be, do, and achieve more. Instead of resting on your laurels, you must stay hungry. Even when you are enjoying the fruits of your hard work, you must set your sights on the next milestone, the next goal, and the next vision. Because if you don't, if you settle in your current circumstances, you will eventually atrophy and die, leaving this world with so much potential left on the table. No matter how successful you are or how much success you achieve, you must remember the famous words of Steve Jobs and "Stay hungry, stay foolish". 4. Commit Yourself to Discipline Every Single Day Most of you have probably heard our interview with Jocko Willink where he echoes his infamous statement that "Discipline Equals Freedom". And most of you treat this statement as a convenient war cry instead of an ethos by which you live your life. Most men commit to discipline sporadically and as a result, they make great achievements and breakthroughs sporadically as well. They are disciplined when they need to be but they aren't disciplined when they should be. And this reality is clearly reflected in their success and failures. If you want to be one of the greats, if you want to be a legend, if you want to be the kind of person who people remember, then you must be willing to discipline yourself daily. You must make a commitment to discipline every day that you wake up, you must stand strong in your values, and take massive action towards your goals even when you don't need to. This is the only way to achieve lasting success and it's the only way that you will leave a dent in this universe. 5. Surround Yourself with the Right People  When you have created a vision, reverse engineered that vision, committed yourself to discipline, and begin learning from your failures, there is only one final step towards ultimate achievement. Your network. Who you surround yourself with is one of the single most important factors in anyone's journey. If your five closest friends are millionaires, high achievers, and grounded men, then you will be the sixth. Conversely, if your five closest friends are slobs, party animals, and lost boys then you will become the sixth. You are the average of your five closest friends so pay careful attention to the company that you keep… It can literally make or break your success.

Charles Duhigg is a Pulitzer-prize winning reporter and the author of Smarter Faster Better, about the science of productivity and The Power of Habit, about the science of habit formation in our lives, companies, and societies. You can connect with him and learn more at charlesduhigg.com/. Favorite Success Quote "Think more deeply about what's going on so that I can determine how I should respond?" Key Points 1. Ask Yourself "What Do I Really Want Out of This?" One of the greatest tragedies of modern society is that most people are vigorously pursuing goals that aren't congruent with who they are and what they really want. Society, our friends, and our families all encourage us to earn more money, pack on more muscle, get married (or not), buy a house, and do what "good" little boys do. Unfortunately, most people never actually take the time to ask themselves what they really want. They never set aside the time to think purposefully about their life, their vision, and their goals. As a result, more and more people arrive at their deathbeds wishing that they could live their lives over again in a different way. I want to encourage you to take a step back and ask yourself "What do I really want from this?" In every situation, whether it's in the bedroom, the boardroom, or the gym, set aside the time to think deeply about what you really want and how you can attain it. 2. Your Habits are Predicated on Queues, Actions, and Rewards While the old saying, "Knowing is half the battle" might be a little bit hyperbolic, it's origins are found in reality. If you don't truly understand a system, process, or job, you will never be able to accomplish it successfully and nowhere is this truer than in the realm of productivity, habits, and performance. Most people simply assume that they are lazy or a procrastinator or just plain unlucky. But the reality is that most people have never been taught how to properly build the habits of success into their lives. Luckily, building a habit… Any habit is very simple (notice I did not say easy). Habits can be broken into three parts: The trigger, the action, and the reward. If you've ever been addicted to cigarettes then I have no doubt that you are uncomfortably familiar with this process. You see a cigarette or experience stress (the trigger), you pull out a smoke and light it up (the action/habit), and then you experience a buzz from the nicotine and a sense of relaxation (the reward). But the same pattern can be found in positive habits. For example, you might see your running shoes and gym clothes (the trigger), decide to go workout (the action), and then experience a rush of endorphins and endocannabinoids that give you a feeling of elation and euphoria (the reward). Every habit can be broken down into these three simple steps and when you understand this framework you will be able to manipulate your actions and outputs at will. Pay close attention to the "Reward" element of this framework and you will be able to change your habits quicker and easier than you ever believed possible. 3. The Small Daily Decisions Matter  It doesn't matter what you had for lunch today, if you went to the gym or not, how many drinks you had, or how much you slept. But what does matter is what you consistently have for lunch, how often you go to the gym, how frequently you drink, and how serious you are about the quality of your sleep. For most people, there is no one action that will make or break their life and success. Instead, their lives are the direct result of thousands of tiny actions and decisions made overtime. When you realize this, you will begin to see the small decisions in a different light. Because even though one action might not make a difference today, when that action is repeated and compounded over years and decades, it will literally determine the quality and capacity of your life. 4. Set S.M.A.R.T. Goals  With the new year right around the corner, many of you are undoubtedly setting New Year's resolutions. Although I think resolutions are a terrible idea (which I will be discussing in an upcoming article), if you are going to set resolutions, Charles shared a few simple tips to help you actually stick to them this year. For starters, you want to set two major goals, a stretch goal and an easy goal. The stretch goal should scare the crap out of you and be something that you aren't 100% certain you can achieve. It shouldn't be unrealistic, just difficult. Your second major goal should be an important habit or result that you know you can achieve if you are simply willing to put in the work. Once you have your goals, you are going to break them down using the SMART formula. Specific: What do I want to achieve? Who is required to achieve it? What resources will I need? Measurable: How much? How many? How will I know my goal is achieved? Achievable: How realistic is this goal based on my current restraints? Relevant: Is this goal worthwhile? Is the timing right? Is it applicable in my current environment? Time Bound: When will my goal be achieved? What benchmarks and checkpoints should I set for myself? When you break down a goal in this manner, you clear all of the clutter from your mind and you're left with nothing but clear, actionable steps that will help you get from where you are to where you want to be. 5. Assume That You Will Achieve Success  One of the biggest roadblocks on your path to achieving your goals are your own limiting beliefs and b.s. internal stories. But I'll let you in on a little secret. You are already doing better than you think you are and you're much more likely to achieve success than you probably believe. So why not act in a way that is reflective of this reality? Assume that you will be successful at every endeavor you pursue. Assume that if you are willing to stick it out and persevere, you will achieve your goals and dreams. Act as if you are already successful, put in the work, and you will achieve the goals you've set for yourself.

Russell Whitney is an entrepreneur, philanthropist and a recognized worldwide leader in the business, real estate investment, and financial training fields. Russell prospered in both business and real estate and eventually used his knowledge and experience to help others do the same. Over the past 15 years, he has traveled the world speaking to audiences as large as 10,000, at one time to a fully packed arena. He has spoken alongside luminaries like Donald Trump, Robert Kiyosaki, Anthony Robbins, and George Foreman, always spreading his message of how to take immediate action to achieve financial goals and dreams by following his easy-to-follow, step-by-step process. Favorite Success Quote "Rock bottom is the foundation that you can build upon" "If you truly want something you will find a way, if you don't you will find an excuse." Key Points 1. Fear of the Unknown Disappears when you Commit to Massive Self Education The one thing that holds most people back from achieving the life that they want is not laziness, procrastination, or ignorance. It's fear of the unknown. When you don't know what will happen next, it's easy to become complacent and get trapped in mediocrity. You think to yourself "Things aren't that bad right now. If I quit my job, leave this relationship, or move to a new city, everything could go horribly wrong!" And these thought patterns keep you stuck in your current situation and prevent you from ever achieving your dreams. So what's the solution? Massive self-education through books, courses, and mentors. Other people have been where you are right now, taken massive action, and experienced the joy and pain inherent in the goals you are pursuing. Instead of trying to do it all on your own, learn from others. By educating yourself on your goal you will know what obstacles to expect, how to overcome the challenges you will experience, and how to capitalize on opportunities that come your way. When you educate yourself, fear disappears. 2. Sales is the Key to All Financial Success If you want to succeed at business and in life, then you must become a master of sales. There's no way around it. Regardless of what you do to make money or what your goals are in life, sales is the key to unlocking everything that you want. Want to make millions of dollars with real estate? Then you must learn to sell the leads, prospects, and clients on why they should work with and buy from you. Want to have a beautiful spouse and an amazing family? Then you must go out and sell yourself to your ideal partner and convince them that they should be with you and not the millions of other men out there. Want to lose weight, gain muscle, and get in the best shape of your life? Then you must go out there and sell yourself on why it's a 'must' for you to go to the gym and eat clean every day. Sales is the key to everything. The sooner you can master it the sooner you can have the life that you want. 3. Use Fear of Failure as your Greatest Motivation After the 2008 market collapse, Russel lost everything. He went bankrupt, became homeless, severed ties with his family and friends, and developed a massive drug problem. One night as he was contemplating suicide, he suffered from a drug-induced schizophrenic episode and flushed every narcotic that he had down a toilet. He committed to himself that he was going to get sober and rebuild his life and in a little under 3 years, he went from living on the streets to reaching multi-millionaire status. He told me that the reason he is so "Disciplined" with his finances and lifestyle today is not willpower or a commitment to his future, but rather a crippling fear of going back to rock bottom. In our modern society, we often treat fear as a negative thing. In some cases (as with fear of the unknown) fear can cripple us and prevent us from taking action. But in other cases, fear can be our most powerful ally in driving ourselves towards the life that we want. Learn to harness your fear and you'll be amazed at the results that you can achieve. 4. The Key to Success is Humility and Drive  In our interview, Russel shared a story about one of his students who was a young 20-something who went from a college dropout to multi-millionaire with online business in only a matter of months. When I asked him what separated his student from the other people he'd mentored Russel's answer was simple. "He's willing to listen to people who are smarter than he is and he has a tremendous hustle and drive." Humility and drive. If you want to achieve your biggest goals, it will not be easy. But it is simple. If you are willing to learn from people who are smarter than you, be humble about your abilities, and obsessed with your craft, you will succeed. Period. It may take months, years, or even decades, but if you are willing to be humble and put forth a tremendous effort, nothing can stand in the way of achieving success. 5. As Soon as You Make Money Throw it Away (Invest) I'm about to give you the secret to financial abundance and freedom for the rest of your life. Are you ready? Here it is… Stay broke and invest every extra dollar you make.  It's that simple. If you are willing to set a reasonable budget for yourself so that you can enjoy your lifestyle and you are willing to increase your income and invest every single dollar into income producing assets, you will become a millionaire over the course of your life. It doesn't matter how much money you make or how many bills you have. If you can set a budget, increase your income to exceed your budget, and invest the surplus, you will get rich.

Kenneth Shamrock (born Kenneth Wayne Kilpatrick; February 11, 1964) is an American mixed martial artist, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Hall of Famer, and retired professional wrestler. He emerged as one of the biggest stars in the history of mixed martial arts, headlining over 15 main events and co-main events in the UFC and Pride Fighting Championships during the course of his career and set numerous pay-per-view records. Shamrock is widely considered to be a legendary figure and icon in the sport of mixed martial arts. Shamrock was named The World's Most Dangerous Man by ABC News in a special entitled "The World's Most Dangerous Things" in the early part of his UFC career, a moniker which has stuck as his nickname. Favorite Success Quote "You have no idea what I'm willing to do to get where I'm going." Key Points 1. Be Willing to Do Whatever it Takes If you want to truly succeed in the most competitive environments then you must cultivate a "Whatever it Takes" mentality. This doesn't mean that you are willing to engage in unethical or immoral activities, simply that you are willing to sacrifice, to hustle, and to grind your way through any challenge and any adversity. For those of you who are content to be in second place (and there's nothing wrong with that), doing whatever it takes isn't truly necessary. You can skate by, cut corners, take shortcuts, and still arrive at your destination. But if you want to be the best, the top 1%, a leader, mover, and shaker in your industry, then you must show up early, stay late, and outwork all of your competition. The price of admission is high, but the rewards are worth it. 2. You Have to Choose Yourself In business and in life, most people wait to be called on. Like a child being called on by the teacher instead of raising their hand, most people wait until life presents them with an opportunity or opens a door. If you want to play the game of life in the top echelon of society, then you need to find opportunities and kick the doors down yourself. Or as previous podcast guest James Altucher puts it, you must Choose Yourself. No one is going to give you the freedom, the career, or the lifestyle that you desire. If you are a man, then do what needs to be done and take it for yourself. Take massive action, take huge initiative and do the work. Because if you don't… Someone else will. 3. If You Don't Seize the Moment Someone Else Will Life is competition. Anyone who has even the most basic understanding of our species' history and the story of evolution knows this. Although we live in a world filled with abundance and a plethora of resources, we also live in a world filled with fierce competition. And the most dangerous thing that you can do in your life, relationship, or career is to hesitate and allow someone else to seize your moment. Think about how many times you saw that pretty girl, had that business idea or wanted to make that change but you didn't. You hesitated, you waited, and you procrastinated. But someone else didn't. Someone else went up and introduced himself, someone else set up their LLC and took action on their idea, someone else made the change, reaped the rewards and enjoyed the spoils of their labor… But you didn't. In each of our lives, we are presented with a small handful of pivotal moments where we must decide whether we will take action or not. It is in these moments that your destiny is shaped. Don't allow someone else to shape it for you. Take action, seize the moment, and live the life you've always dreamed of. 4. Find Your "Person"  If you continue down your current trajectory of personal and professional development, sometime in the future, you will arrive at a place in your life where you are surrounded by "Yes Men." Your success and reputation will be so great that the people in your social circle will rarely tell you the truth and will, instead, try to tell you what they think you want to hear. This is one of the most dangerous places any man can be. You must find someone, whether a friend, relative, or coach who will tell you the truth all the time with compassion. You need someone in your life who will tell you when you are messing up, when you are on the right track, and when you need to shut up and get things done. Find your "Person" who will always be honest with you and you will find that your life will be a lot smoother and easier than it will when you operate on the opinions of impressed "friends". 5. Slow Down and Be Patient  Life is a marathon, not a sprint. It seems like our instant gratification society has lost touch with the realities of life and, the simple truth is that life is meant to be lived and experienced. Don't be so eager to achieve great things that you forget to live your life and enjoy the journey. Be patient and allow success to happen in its own time and its own way.

Gary John Bishop is one of the leading Personal Development experts in the industry with a global reputation that has impacted tens of thousands of people worldwide. He is the author of Unf*ck Yourself: Get Out of Your Head and Into Your Life.  His "urban philosophy" approach represents a new wave of personal empowerment and life mastery that has caused miraculous results for people in the quality and performance of their lives. He calls it like it is while being influenced by ontology, phenomenology and the philosophy of some of the world's greatest thinkers to help you be inspired, unburdened and grounded. Favorite Success Quote "You have the life you are willing to put up with." Key Points 1. You Are Responsible for Being F*cked  Whenever you (or someone that you know) is confronted with the cold reality that they are utterly and completely f*cked, the initial reaction is almost always one of blame. "My parents were terrible! You don't understand." "Yeah, well I grew up poor so this is just how it has to be" "You don't know what it's like to be an [insert minority group of choice]!" Although every statement above could be true, it doesn't change the facts. You are 100% responsible for your life. Why would you let anyone else control even a fraction of 1% of your life? Do you really want to leave your future, your potential, and your one life to the whims of other people? If not, then you must accept full responsibility for your life and move one. 2. Authenticity is Inherently About You Whenever people hear the phrase "Just be authentic", they often assume that they now have free reign to say and react to others in any way that they choose. This is not authenticity, it's called being an ass hole. Authenticity in your interactions is about expressing your truth and owning that truth. Let me give you an example of what I mean. Let's say that a client of yours responded to an error in a manner that was completely inappropriate and unacceptable on both a personal and professional level. You are feeling frustrated, hurt, and angry by their actions and feel compelled to bring them up. There are two ways of going about this. The first way, (which most people choose) is to make the interaction about them. "How dare you treat me that way! You are such an ass hole and you clearly don't value our working relationship! You can take this project and shove it because I can't stand this crap anymore." Although the statement might be true, it's not productive because it's focused on the other person instead of you. A more authentic way to approach the conversation would be to say: "Look, what you did yesterday made me feel very hurt and undervalued. I don't know whether you understand how your actions affected our professional relationship, but I wanted to let you know that I will no longer be able to continue working with you if we have another incident like that." When you shift the focus from the other person and onto yourself, you step into your power and own your responsibility for your feelings and your response to those feelings. 3. Someone Somewhere Has Dealt with What You Are Dealing With  It's funny how often I hear the words "No one knows what I'm going through". It doesn't really matter what the topic is about. It could be an abusive childhood, a controlling partner, a crappy boss, bad health, or any wide variety of ailments and general shittiness. But the simple fact of the matter is that someone somewhere has experienced the exact same thing that you are struggling with and they have turned this perceived weakness into their greatest strength. Sean Stephenson was born with a genetic deformity that stunted his growth, permanently confined him to a wheelchair, and weakened him so much that he's broken every bone in his body. Yet he's an inspiration to millions. Tony Robbins was abused as a child and kicked out of his house, left to live on the streets at 16. Today, he is worth more than $1 billion and coaches some of the world's top performers to the top. Grant Cardone lost his father at the age of 9, became addicted to drugs at 16, and was in line for unemployment at 26. Today, his real estate empire has helped him amass a fortune of more than $750 million with a beautiful wife and two children. Whatever excuse you are allowing to hold you back… It's bullshit. Someone somewhere has gone through the same things as you and worse. It's up to you to choose a more empowering story, follow their example, and reclaim control of your life. 4. Always Seek to be of Service When we are focused on ourselves, life can quickly become a pit of chaos and confusion. The smallest obstacles derail us from our dreams, our emotions run wild, and we get so caught up in our own drama that we can miss out on the beauty of our lives. The simplest and most powerful way to fix this issue is to shift your focus from yourself to others by seeking to be of service. This doesn't mean that you are a doormat but rather that you actively look for opportunities to serve others. In the office, do what you can to serve your boss, your clients, and your customers. At home, seek to serve your wife, your children, and your family. When you go into the gas station, think of how you can serve the attendant helping you find your favorite candy bar. Always look for ways to serve others and your life will transform at a pace you cannot imagine. 5. If You Want Something You Must Express It Something I've always found a bit frustrating about our society is how many people feel that they are entitled to things. People want raises without producing more value. They want respect without earning it. And, as it pertains to our conversation, they look for love without expressing it. How man women have you met who complain that they can't find a "Nice Guy" while sleeping with a different ass hole at the club each week? How many men have you met who complain that they "Can't find a good girl" and yet spend their weekend's nose deep in cocaine and hookups? How many people have you met who are always looking for love but never willing to start by giving love themselves? If you want to experience something, then you must be the kind of person who is capable of manifesting and generating it in your own life. In the examples above, if you want a quality partner, you must first become a quality human being. If you want more money, you must first provide more value. If you want more love, you must first express and give love freely before you expect it to be returned to you. Stop searching for the things that you want and start expressing them. As soon as you make this shift, your life will change forever.

Isaiah Hankel received his doctorate in Anatomy & Cell Biology and is an expert on mental focus, behavioral psychology, and career development. His work has been featured in The Guardian, Fast Company, and Entrepreneur Magazine. Isaiah's previous book, Black Hole Focus: How Intelligent People Can Create a Powerful Purpose for Their Lives, was published by Wiley & Sons and was selected as Business Book of the Month in the UK and became a business bestseller internationally. Isaiah has delivered corporate presentations to over 20,000 people, including over 300 workshops and keynotes worldwide in the past 5 years. Isaiah grew up working on a sheep farm in the Pacific Northwest of the US before going on to get his doctorate. Isaiah went on to become the founder and CEO of Cheeky Scientist®, a career training company that specializes in helping PhDs transition into corporate careers; he is also the director of Hankel Leadership®. Through these ventures, Isaiah has consulted on career development, employee management, entrepreneurship, focus, and motivation at several Fortune 500 companies. He has been invited to speak at top institutions including Harvard Medical School, Stanford University, Vanderbilt University, University of Chicago, University of Oxford England, the Marie Curie Institute France, and the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. You connect with him at his website. Favorite Success Quote "Take responsibility for your own life and never give that responsibility to other people" Key Points 1. Everything Is Your Fault Read that sentence again and internalize it. Everything in your life is your fault. Good. Bad. It doesn't matter. It's your fault. And that's a good thing… If everything is your fault or, should we say, your responsibility, then you have control over everything in your life. When you take 100% responsibility for everything in your life and everything not in your life you are the only one who has the power to change things. Now I don't know about you… But I would sure as hell prefer taking an uncomfortable amount of responsibility for my results than allowing someone else to determine my levels of achievement and success. Accept that everything is your fault. Unless you internalize this truth you will constantly give you power away and fail to reach the goals you have set. 2. Align Your Values with Your Daily Actions  One of the first steps to achieving the life that you want is defining the values that will drive you towards your dreams. Your values (should) determine how you conduct yourself, how you handle business, and how you treat others. This is not a matter to leave to chance or shirk off with a dismissive "It's not really that important". Living a life that is congruent with your values means the difference between living your biggest dreams and ambitions and wallowing away in mediocrity. When you have clearly thought through values that you have defined, written down, and committed to living in your day to day life, every decision becomes easier. You no longer have to debate decisions constantly in your head. You can simply analyze your options, refer back to your values, and make the decision that is most in line with your #1 priority. I challenge you to sit down after this interview has concluded and really think about your values. What do you value? What forces do you want driving and shaping your life? What outcomes are truly important to you and which ones are merely societally incepted b.s. that is incongruent with your deepest identity? When you can answer this question and authentically live it, life and all of the amazing experiences within it, are yours for the taking. 3. Your Most Valuable Asset is Your Mental Energy  People will often (mistakenly) tell you that your most precious resource is your time. They are wrong. Time is NOT your most valuable resource, mental energy is. Let me prove it… Multiple peer-reviewed studies have shown that your mental energy or "Willpower" is a finite resource. Much more finite than the #hustle generation wants to admit. The most commonly referred to research suggests that we only have 90-120 minutes per day of peak mental energy levels. And we only have about 5 hours a day of mental energy levels greater than 80%. Let's do the math for a moment… If you live in a developed country, you have about 20,000 days or roughly 500,000 hours of life to live after the age of 18. However, of those 500,000 hours, your mental energy levels will only be at optimal  (80%+) levels for 145,000 of them! When you apply the laws of supply and demand you will quickly realize that your mental energy is worth about 300% more than your time! Crazy paradigm shift, huh? So now you understand why mental energy is your most precious resource. The question remains… What do we do about it? If you want to be a high performer then you must learn to work with your biology, not fight it. Dr. Hankel recommends that you shift your work schedule so that you tackle your most important tasks roughly 2-3 hours after waking. This is when your mental energy will peak and this will allow you to allocate your best focus time to important tasks. He further recommends taking frequent breaks throughout the day, working in 50-90 minute chunks, and using mental "Slump time" (typically 2-4 p.m.) to manage your most unimportant or simple tasks. 4. Prioritize Sleep More than You Think that You Should The great hustlers and movers of the world have done us all a disservice. They have glorified an unbalanced and unhealthy lifestyle that can lead to an early grave. You will often hear "Gurus" telling you to sleep only 4 hours a night, to draw inspiration from your dreams, to push through your exhaustion and just "Do IT!". But they are all wrong. Unless you are one of the rare individuals with the DEC2 mutation you, quite literally, cannot function at optimal levels on less than 7.5 hours of sleep. (6 is a bare minimum) While you are sleeping your brain restore and repairs itself, allowing you to attack the next day with your mental energy firing on all levels. As we've already established, time isn't your most valuable resource. Mental energy is. This means that the hours you "lose" sleeping you are actually "investing" in restoring your mental energy and operating at the peak capacities of which you are capable. 5. Everyone Should be an Entrepreneur  There is a common misconception that entrepreneurs are born not made. As technology continues to advance and the landscape of the workforce continues to change more and more people are realizing that "Part Time Entrepreneurship" is not only a worthwhile endeavor, it's downright necessary. Company loyalty and pensions are a thing of the past. This is the era of the freelancer and the side hustler. If you want to "Make It" in today's rapidly evolving business landscape, then you must develop your innate entrepreneurialism and find unique ways to generate income and create freedom in your life. Every single person reading this should keep their day job and start a side hustle. It will give you income, options, and most importantly freedom. You don't have to be born with special skills and abilities, you simply need to find something that the market needs and provide it in a systematized and automated way.

Ryan Stewman is a high-performance sales coach and trainer who went from spending two stints in federal prison to building a multiple seven figure income. He is the author of several best-selling books including Kick-Ass, Bulletproof Business, Elevator to the Top, and Hardcore Closer. You can learn more and connect with Ryan at hardcorecloser.com Favorite Success Quote "You must take action before you can take over." Key Points 1. Knowledge is Only Power if You Take Action  You often hear the phrase "Knowledge is Power". This simply isn't true. In and of itself, knowledge is useless. Knowledge doesn't do anything. It can't add money to your bank account. It can't make you ripped. It can't help you find the woman of your dreams. It can't do a damn thing. As the (in)famous entrepreneur and investor Derek Sivers said: If [more]information was the answer we'd all be billionaires with six packs. But we aren't and it isn't. Knowledge is only power if it's applied. It's only worth a damn if you use it. It only matters when you leverage your knowledge to take massively informed action towards achieving the life of your dreams. 2. Everything But Death is Temporary  Everything in life is temporary. Good and bad. All of the pains, frustrations, and heartaches will eventually end. All of the success that you are enjoying will one day grind to a halt. Everything in your life will end. And this is a beautiful thing. Because life is temporary and fleeting, like the cliche feather in the wind, everything falls into place. When you are struggling you know that your struggles are temporary. When you are at the top, you take the time to savor the moment because you know that it will end. Keep perspective on your life, the good and the bad, by always remembering that "This too shall pass". 3. Your Past Doesn't Matter  This year alone, Ryan's company will generate more multi-millions of dollars in revenue. Which illustrates a very important lesson… Your past doesn't fucking matter. Who you were yesterday has no bearing on who you are today and Ryan is living proof of this. At 19, Ryan was strung out on every drug that you can imagine and dealing full time to make ends meet. He was eventually busted by the feds and sent to federal prison for several years. When he was released, he dove into the world of sales and eventually, was making so much money in real estate that he was again targeted by the police who thought he was still selling drugs. They raided his house and found zero evidence of any drug possession, use, or trafficking. In order to save face, they arrested for felon possession of a firearm (which resided in a legal grey zone). He was sentenced to prison again except this time, his then-wife stole all of his assets and left him for the man with whom she'd been having an affair. Talk about a mess, right? Upon his second release, Ryan dove into the world of sales again taking special care to keep his nose clean and, in the last two years, has grown his sales coaching business from $0 to multimillions in revenue. If a convicted felon and former junky who lost everything can rise from the ashes and rebuild his life to the top then so can you. So cut the excuses and quit using your past as a crutch. You are capable of achieving anything that you desire. But you have to overcome your excuses and hustle. 4. It's All Sales  In life and business, you must become a master of sales. I know that the word conjures up images of sleazy used car dealers and snake oil peddlers but let me assure you, everything that you do is sales. Want to meet the woman of your dreams and convince her to marry you? That's sales. Want to get funding for your new startup? That's sales. Want to convince your kids that it's important to read personal growth books and regularly exercise? That's sales. Want to get your boss to give you a raise or move forward with one of your ideas? You guess it! Sales. Everything that you do is sales or, to put it in less cringy terminology, influence. If you lack this skill then your quality of life and success will suffer. If you can master it then the world is your oyster. 5. Take Massive Action. Fast Although I've already mentioned the importance of taking massive action in this article, it's a point worth repeating. Experience is the best teacher and there is no book or course that can serve as a shortcut for rolling up your sleeves and getting your hands dirty. Your goal in business and life should be to acquire the MVIR or 'minimum viable information required' to take action on your next step. I'm not recommending that you simply take action without a plan or system to support you. I am saying that you should take action as soon as you have a concrete next step. You know what you need to do to improve your body, boost your income, or improve your love life. So go and do it. Once you've taken action, collect the MVIR for the next step and take action again. Information is important. But in a world where more than 2.5 million blog posts are published each day, information can also be a massive obstacle.

Tal Gur, a blogger, entrepreneur, and devoted adventurer, has spent a decade pursuing 100 major goals around the globe. But his journey had its challenges. Like most people, he faced crippling self-doubt and struggled for a sense of purpose. Behind every difficulty, he discovered a life-changing gift, and now he's passing what he learned onto others. You can connect with him and learn more at talgur.me Favorite Success Quote "Happiness before goals" Key Points 1. Put Your Happiness Before Goals Happiness should not be something that we defer until we achieve a specific goal. It should be a state of being that we cultivate every single day. It should be an emotion that we make incredibly easy to achieve. If you are reading this blog right now you have a lot to feel happy about. You have your sight. You have an internet connection and a device that is more powerful than the computers NASA used to put a man on the moon. You have full control of your brain and an ability to comprehend complex ideas and sentences. You have a LOT to be happy about. So act like it. Lower your barrier to happiness. Make a conscious effort to cultivate more happiness in your life by making it stupid simple to feel happy. When you wake up each morning, take a moment to feel happy for the warm sheets and cozy blankets covering your body. When you walk into work (even if you hate it) be happy that you have some sort of employment. When you come home each day, be happy that you have a roof over your head and food in your belly. Be happy now. Because now is all that we have. 2. Fulfillment is Dependent on Direction So often people assume that fulfillment is dependent on achieving some goal or arriving at some arbitrary destination. It's not. Fulfillment should depend on one thing and one thing only… Direction. Sit down in a quiet place later this week and really ask yourself what direction you want to take your life. Don't tie this to a specific goal or outcome, simply a direction. Do you want to move in the direction of more physical fitness? Greater financial freedom? More love and abundance? Whatever you decide, write it down and then commit to take three actions each day that move you in that direction. 3. Pain is a Messenger  Most people try to ignore or hide from pain. This is like trying to put a bandaid on cancer. Pain is a messenger. It's there to tell you that something is broken and you need to fix it. If you have a broken arm, a shot of morphine will numb the pain but it won't solve the problem. You need to visit a hospital, get a cast, and allow your bones to heal. Pain in your life is the same way. If you are depressed, anxious, or feeling overwhelmed… Good. This is a sign that something in your life isn't working. And you have the power to fix it. Whenever you experience pain don't run from it. Feel it. Experience it fully and sit in it for a few hours. Ask yourself, "What is this pain trying to tell me?" Are you in the wrong job or relationship? Struggling to be disciplined with your finances? Overweight and unhealthy? Before you run from the pain always try to uncover why you are experiencing pain in the first place. Because until you solve the root cause of the problem, you will never truly overcome the pain. 4. Focus on Financial Freedom First  People will often begin their journey of self-transformation by trying to fix their relationships, their career, or pursuing more of their passions. In most cases, this approach is completely backward. The first step that you should take to building your dream life and achieving your biggest goals is to achieve financial freedom. Until you have the money to do what you want, when you want, with whom you want, everything else should be secondary. Financial freedom will revolutionize every aspect of your life. It will allow you to travel more and pursue your passions with greater ease. It will allow you to have more choices in your relationships and care for the people you love. It will allow you to take care of your body and give yourself the care and attention you truly need. Financial freedom opens the doors of life and allows you to pursue your dreams on your terms. Focus on getting your money right first, and the rest will follow. 5. Pick One Thing and Stick With it to Completion  One of the most powerful ways to improve your quality of life is to master the art of single focusing on a task to completion. Life isn't short. We make it short by chasing too many goals at once and filling our time with unnecessary garbage. By learning to pick a goal or project and see it through to completion, you will unlock one of the master skills of life and learn that you can accomplish anything you want with the right sequencing and a little perseverence. Pick one goal and stick to it. The benefits will be enormous.

Steve Sims is a kid from London with a knack for networking and an attitude that refuses to believe the word "Impossible". Founder of the super exclusive, membership only personal concierge service for VIPs and executives seeking the ultimate in unique experiences and travel for themselves and their companies, Steve Sims is an unlikely expert marketer within the luxury industry. But his secret to success is that he's built a life out of keeping his word, and not taking no for an answer. Profiled and often quoted in international publications including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, London's Sunday Times, and South China Morning Post, TV and Sims is a sought-after speaker at a variety of prestigious organizations such as the Pentagon and Harvard! Whether you want to sing with your favorite rock star, have lunch with Donald Trump, get married in the Vatican, or dive to the wreck of the Titanic, Steve Sims is the guy who gets to yes when the answer for anyone else would be no. You can connect with him and learn more at stevedsims.com Favorite Success Quote "No one ever drowned by falling in the water. They drowned by staying there." ~Steve's Father Key Points 1. It's Not About How You Go Down It's About How You Get Up  Life is hard. It will kick the crap out of you and leave you on the ground and there is very little you can do to avoid this. So stop trying to fight failure and accept it. You are GOING to fail. You are going to mess up. You are going to make bad decisions. You are going to lose money. You are going to fail at important relationships. You are going to fall down. But that's not what is important. Everyone in the history of humanity has fallen down. What history cares about, what the marketplace and the "gods" of success care about is how you get up. If you are willing to pick yourself up off the ground, get back up, and start swinging again, life will reward you greatly. If you are willing to push through adversity, smile in the face of failure, and persevere no matter how many times you fall down, you will eventually succeed. Failure is inevitable. It's what you do after you fail that makes all the difference. 2. People Will Pay to Avoid Rejection and Humiliation  If you are struggling to make ends meet, one of the quickest ways that you can increase your income is by becoming comfortable with rejection and humiliation. People all over the world will pay handsomely to avoid the discomfort of rejection. It's simply part of human nature. Humiliation and rejection are not pleasurable experiences. But if you can learn to overcome your fear of rejection and humiliation and then leverage that skill to help others, there is no limit to the amount of money and influence you can create. 3. Communication Opens the Doors of Life  The "Secret Sauce" to becoming wildly successful in 2018 and beyond is simple… Master the art of communication. While everyone else stares down at their cell phones, stays addicted to their Crackberries, and struggle to make small talk while they're in line for a coffee, you can accelerate your success by learning to communicate. Learn how to cut through the bullshit and start interesting conversations. Master the art of building reciprocity. Learn how to persuade people and connect with power players. Master the art of gift giving. Become a master communicator and the world will become your oyster. Our society is slowly but surely losing its ability to connect and collaborate. If you can maintain and improve your ability to network and build authentic relationships, there is no limit to what you can achieve. 4. Be Memorable  The worst crime that you can commit in a social situation is to be boring. The world is filled with boring and uninteresting people. It's your job to stand out from the crowd, be authentic, and be memorable. This doesn't mean that you should be an obnoxious clown or some sort of ass hole. It simply means that you must learn how to stand out in people's minds. Learn how to make people feel special and how to present yourself in a way that is unique and unexpected. If you can successfully position yourself as a memorable and interesting individual you will have an abundance of business opportunities and romantic relationships coming your way. 5. Throw Sh*t at the Wall and See What Sticks  Life is about experimenting. Try out 1,000 things this year until you figure out what you like. Try three new things a day. Talk to as many strangers as you can. Throw shit at the wall and see what sticks.

Sam Morris is the founder of Zen Warrior Training®. In 1999, just after leading a bicycling trip for nine teenagers across the United States, Sam was in a car accident caused by a drunk driver which left him paralyzed from the waist down. Rather than becoming the victim of his circumstances, Sam learned and created a system of attitude training that brought him more vitality and clarity than he ever had before his injury. In addition to coaching private clients and businesses in Zen Warrior Training®, Sam hosts biweekly classes in Santa Monica, CA and leads community talks and workshops throughout the country. You can connect with Sam and learn more about him at zenwarriortraining.com Favorite Success Quote Self-consciousness is a lack of consciousness of the self Key Points 1. Expand Your Relationship with Yourself Beyond Your Mind  So often we get stuck in a place where our relationship with ourselves is limited only to our mind and the incessant mental chatter happening within it. From this place, it becomes difficult to understand who you truly are, what you want, and what you must do to achieve the range of experiences that you desire in this lifetime. Your breaths are shallow, your thoughts are cluttered with the opinions and expectations of others, and your truth is being clouded by noise, the ego, and your lack of presence. But when you expand your relationship with yourself beyond your mind, everything changes. When you get into your body and begin experiencing more frequent states of flow and presence, your reality changes. You no longer worry about what you said yesterday or fret about what you must do tomorrow. You are able to simply "Be" in this moment without judgment or criticism. And when you're in this place of presence and freedom from judgment, you can be 100% you. I challenge you to make a conscious effort to get into your body this week. Go surfing, pick up an instrument, train parkour, lift heavy weights, do something that jolts you out of your head and into your body. Because when you are in your body and focused on your movements you are present, and when you are present, life opens up in ways that you can't imagine. 2. Presence Frees You From Your Bullshit  When you are living in the past or the future, it's easy to get stuck in your bullshit. Think about it… If you're living in the past, you are thinking about what you did wrong, or how you could have done something better, or how you said this or didn't say that. You are stuck in an endless loop, experiencing the same "negative" event over and over again in your head. This lack of presence eeks its way into your present moment and you begin to doubt yourself during conversations and constantly overanalyze yourself and your actions because you are so hung up on yesterday's mistakes. Living in the future is no different. If you're constantly focused on what you want to achieve tomorrow and the life you will have someday, then you aren't focused on the amazing life you are living right now. And if you have the ability to read this article, you do have an amazing life. By getting present, you are able to be free from the bullshit. With presence, you cannot dwell on past mistakes and personal criticisms. You cannot get caught up in projecting a future that makes you dissatisfied with your current reality. When you are present, you are free. 3. Presence Accelerates the Human Experience Everything that you do is amplified by the power of presence. Everything… All of the greatest human experiences from creation to sex to friendship to adversity are all amplified by getting present. When you are present with a woman, your anxiety disappears and you are able to reveal yourself to her in a way that is completely and totally authentic. When you are present at work, you can tap into flow states and execute your craft masterfully in half the time that it would take if you were distracted. When you are present with yourself, you are in tune with your body and emotions and all the lessons to be learned from them (more on that later). Presence amplifies existence. Get present. 4. Success without a Strong Internal Identity is Inevitable Failure  One of the greatest mistakes a man can make is to tie his identity to something other than himself. When a man's identity is contingent on his relationship with his woman, his work, his possessions, or anything outside of himself, his identity is inherently fragile and ripe for disruption. No one is impervious to the harsh realities of unexpected change. From a lay off to a divorce to an unexpected death, there are thousands of things that can disrupt your life and completely wreck all of the things that you now hold dear. And if your identity is wrapped up in these things, when they go, so too does your sense of self. If your identity is outside of yourself then it doesn't take much to raze your identity and leave you feeling lost and uncertain about who you are. By cultivating a strong internal identity, you allow yourself to experience the storms of life with all of the pain and joy that comes with them. You experience everything but can be beaten by nothing. You are who you are. And that's more than enough. 5. Feelings Are Teachers  Human emotions are the greatest teachers we've ever met. Whether positive or negative, any emotion that you feel is there to teach you something. It could be there to confirm that you are doing well, such as the bliss that you feel when you look at your partner, or the satisfaction that comes from a full day's work. It could be to inform you that how you are acting is not working, such as the tension in your gut when it comes time to pay the bills or the apprehension you feel about getting your yearly physical. Or they could be there to tell you that the path you are on ultimately will not serve you such as the inexplicable "Gut feelings" so many of us receive whenever we are unknowingly out of alignment with our highest calling. If you are going to live this life to the fullest and truly embrace this existence, you must learn to feel your emotions, embody them, learn from them… Don't flee from them. Never allow your emotions to scare or control you, but always notice them and give them the attention and intention that they deserve. Your emotions are your mentors and your guides on this crazy journey. Follow them and you will learn more than you ever imagined. Next Steps We're on a mission to impact a million men with powerful life changing content. If you enjoyed this article, please share it with your friends on your preferred social network on the left. I spent a ridiculous amount of time creating this article for you and with your support, we can impact the world together. Do you want my help? Then click here to join my elite community of 800+ high-performing men and get access to powerful coaching to close the gap from where you are now to where you want to be, The Secrets of the Top 1% of Men. Not only will you get tapped into your own "band of brothers", but you'll also have access to the best damn content and training available for men as well as weekly group calls with my team of transformative coaches. No whiny boys, complainers or dabblers, for serious men only. If you're ready to push the boundaries of what's possible in your life and become the man you've always wanted to be. This is the fastest way to do it.

Jeff Hoffman is a successful entrepreneur, proven CEO, worldwide motivational speaker, published author, Hollywood film producer, and a producer of a Grammy-winning jazz album in 2015. He has been the founder of multiple startups, has been the CEO of both public and private companies, and has served as a senior executive in many capacities. Jeff has been part of a number of well-known companies, including Priceline.com. uBid.com, ColorJar, and more. Jeff is a featured business expert seen on Fox News, Fox Business, CNN, CNN International, Bloomberg News, CNBC, ABC, and NPR, and in publications including Forbes, Inc., Time, Fast Company, the Wall Street Journal, and more. You can find out more about Jeff and the work that he is doing by visiting his website at jeffhoffman.com Key Points 1. Don't Fear Failure… Fear Not Trying  Failure is an inevitable part of life. Most of us spend our whole lives trying to escape and avoid it when we should be running towards it. We've been taught our whole lives that failure is somehow a bad thing, that it means you aren't a "real" man, or that you aren't good enough. In reality, failure is simply feedback. Instead of running from failure, embrace it. Learn to fear not trying instead of failing. … When you fail, you grow, you learn, and you improve. When you allow your fear of failure to control your actions you end up paralyzed and never take action. As a result, you stagnate, burn out, and eventually die with your best work inside of you. 2. Follow your Curiosity and Ignore the Labels It's easy to allow your label to control you. Think about it… How many times have you thought to yourself "Wow, I'd love to dive into real estate investing, but I'm in IT, I can't do that" Or "I would really enjoy learning how to dance the Tango, but I'm a powerlifter so that'll never happen" Or even… "I'd really love to produce an album but I'm a marketing guy… That's not really my style" We get so caught up in our own labels that we prevent ourselves from pursuing our deepest passions and curiosity. Remember: You are a learning machine… Not an occupation.  Just because you make money in a certain way or have been in a specific niche for a long time doesn't mean that you can't learn new skills. … It doesn't mean that you can't pursue new hobbies, passions, and businesses. As Joseph Campbell says, "Follow your bliss". Pursue what makes you curious, no matter how odd or out of character it may seem. At the end of the day, the person who wins at life is the person who leaves it all on the field. So stop holding back from life because your interests don't conform to your label. 3. Stick to One Pursuit at a Time  Although it's important that you have a wide variety of interests and hobbies to pursue, it's even more important that you understand how to successfully pursue each interest. How do you do this? … One at a time. Although Jeff has a wide variety of achievements and accolades ranging from the transportation business to the music & film industry to consulting and keynote speaking, he didn't try to accomplish all of these things at once. He devoted himself single-mindedly to each task for a period of 3-5 years. In your own life, you can do anything that you want. But you must learn to focus on only one thing at a time… As the old adage goes, "The fox who chases two rabbits catches none." Pick one passion, define what constitutes "success" with regards to that passion, pursue it single-mindedly until you achieve your goal an then move on. 4. Eradicate Your Fear of Failure with This Simple Exercise  If you are afraid of failure, then listen up. I'm about to share a fool proof strategy to eradicate your fear and move forward with your life. Are you ready? Then here it is… Anytime you are afraid of failing, dive into your failure. Ask yourself "What will happen if I fail and how can I recover?" For example, if you are considering starting a new business and you fail miserably, what will actually happen? … And more importantly, how can you minimize the damage? If you fail at the entrepreneurial endeavor you can: Move back in with your parents Get a 9-5 corporate job for 6-12 months Save every penny that you can Try again When you break it down, it doesn't seem so scary, right? The concept of failure is often more terrifying than failure itself. When you look at the reality of your situation, you will quickly realize that you can overcome any setback with relative ease and quickly get back on your feet if things go South. So feel the fear. Figure out your escape plan. And then take action. 5. Begin with the End in Mind  One of the biggest mistakes that most entrepreneurs make is that they begin without a clear end goal in mind. They set all of these wild goals and ambitions but never really know where the path is ultimately going to take them. Before you set out to achieve anything, you need to begin with the end in mind. What counts as success? What counts as failure? What quantifiable metrics can you use to determine whether or not you've achieved success? When you have a clear end game in mind, the day to day tasks of pursuing a goal becomes much simpler. You know exactly what you need to do, what you need to avoid, and how you can expedite the path to your goal. Take some time to sit down after listening to this interview and write out answers to the following: What does success look like in my: Relationships Finances Career Personal development Physical health Spirituality When you know exactly what you are trying to get out of life, life has a way of helping you succeed. Begin with the end in mind and your path to success will be far smoother and simpler. 6. Make People Understand Your "Why"  Oftentimes, as men, we get so caught up in our careers and finances that we can neglect important relationships and connections in our life. One of the reasons that this is so easy to do is that we understand the bigger picture and just assume that everyone else in our life understands it as well. We think to ourselves, "I'm working this hard for my family, for my community, and for our future… Surely they understand". But we never actually take the time to sit the important people down and help them understand why we are pushing so hard. Your wife and kids probably don't know why you are always at the office. They assume that work is more important than they are and that you'd rather work than spend time with them. Even when this isn't the case… As such, it's important that you sell your proverbial "Board of Directors" (the important people in your life) on the "Why" of what you're doing. Why are you working so hard to build this business or advance your career? Is it to… Retire early Pay for your kid's college Take your wife on a 3 year round the world trip Get out of debt and have the money to work less than 10 hours a week Enjoy a better quality of life Give back to your community and make a real difference Why are you doing what you're doing? Once you have the answer for yourself, share it with the important people in your life. More often than not, they will understand and rally to help you. 7. Ideas are Welcomed, Execution is Worshiped  Simply put, ideas are great but execution is where the magic happens. You can think and come up with ideas all day long. But if you don't get your ass out of the chair and make moves to achieve your goals, you will remain stuck exactly where you are. Execution is everything. Without the grit and determination to take action and make things happen, you will never succeed. Become a master action taker and the world is yours. 8. Your Success is Someone Else's Miracle  We live in such a guilt ridden society that it can be easy to get trapped in the mindset that success is dirty. … It's easy to believe that making money is wrong and that you should give away all of your surplus. But this is a false concept. The more successful you are, the more power and influence you can exert to help others. When you have millions of dollars in the bank, it's much easier to make a difference when disaster strikes. When you have vibrant physical health, it's much easier to help others overcome their own challenges. When you are successful, you can show up as a miracle in someone else's life. If you want to make a real difference in the world, then success is your duty and obligation. Forget what you've been told… Becoming successful doesn't make you greedy or power hungry. It gives you the ability to make a difference. 9. What is Enough? In pursuit of any goal, whether its… Financial success Career success Marriage Physical health Travel & Adventure Or fame You must know when enough is enough. When can you call it quits and move on to the next goal or activity? If you don't have a clear end game in mind, it's easy to get caught in the comparison trap and waste your life constantly trying to compete with other people and buy the biggest boat, fastest car, or most luxurious mansion in town. Ask yourself… "What do I really need to be happy and feel fulfilled?" There's no right answer for everyone, but the more clearly you can figure out what you need to be happy, the easier it will be to achieve it. Forget keeping up with the Joneses and showing off on Instagram. Figure out what brings you joy and makes you feel fulfilled and then go achieve it. Next Steps We're on a mission to impact a million men with powerful life changing content. If you enjoyed this article, please share it with your friends on your preferred social network on the left. I spent a ridiculous amount of time creating this article for you and with your support, we can impact the world together. Do you want my help? Then click here to join my elite community of 800+ high-performing men and get access to powerful coaching to close the gap from where you are now to where you want to be, The Secrets of the Top 1% of Men. Not only will you get tapped into your own "band of brothers", but you'll also have access to the best damn content and training available for men as well as weekly group calls with my team of transformative coaches. No whiny boys, complainers or dabblers, for serious men only. If you're ready to push the boundaries of what's possible in your life and become the man you've always wanted to be. This is the fastest way to do it.

Jordan Harbinger, once referred to as "The Larry King of podcasting," is a Wall Street lawyer turned talk show host, social dynamics expert, and entrepreneur. After hosting a top 50 iTunes podcast for over a decade that enjoyed nearly four million downloads a month at its zenith, Jordan has embarked on a new adventure: The Jordan Harbinger Show, where he deconstructs the playbooks of the most successful people on earth and shares their strategies, perspectives, and insights with the rest of us. Jordan's business sense, extensive knowledge of the industry, and contemporary approach to teaching make him one of the best and most sought-after coaches in the world. Favorite Success Quote "Fortune favors the bold" ~Latin Proverb Key Points 1. Find the Silver Lining  Sh*t happens. It's an inevitability of life. Things will not go your way. Partners will leave you. Employees will steal from you. Friends will betray you. This isn't a pessimistic outlook on life, it's simply the reality of the world we live in. As such, the question is not if these events will happen but how you will respond when they do.  In every negative situation, every layoff, divorce, breakup, and failure, you have one of two choices. You can throw yourself a pity party, whine, moan, and cry that your life isn't where you want it to be. Or you can find the silver lining and move forward with your life. Every door that closes opens up a new one. Every failed endeavor frees up your time and resources to pursue a new one. Everything that you currently think sucks has a silver lining… If you're willing to look for it. Learn to make the best of any situation and use adversity to your advantage and you will become unstoppable in your business, relationships, and life. 2. Dig the Well Before You're Thirsty  There is an old proverb that states, "Dig the well before you are thirsty". And truer words have yet to be spoken. In every area of life, you must learn to cultivate a proactive attitude instead of a reactive one. In your finances, set aside money each month and invest in your future so that when the unexpected happens, you are prepared. In your relationship, create your own social circle and build your own life so that, even if your partner leaves you, you aren't left out in the cold. In your business and career, learn to cultivate powerful relationships with people when you have no agenda so that, if and when something happens (like a layoff or bankruptcy) you have a network of friends who will come to your aid and support you. Take preemptive action in your life to avoid and recover from tragedies before they happen. As I've already said, it's not a matter of if something bad will happen, it's a matter of when.  Plan for these crises and prepare for them before you need to. Your future self will thank you. 3. Don't Wait on Other People  Whether it's a business partner, spouse, or friend you can never allow your momentum in life to be dictated by another person. Don't wait for someone else to get on board with your mission and vision. Simply take action and move forward. If your business partner or significant other is dragging their feet and screwing around with regards to your vision and important goals, fine. Take action without them and move forward on your own. You can spend years or even decades waiting for someone else to come through, all the while missing opportunities and possibilities in your own life. Don't let this happen to you… Chart your own path and move forward whether the people around you are on board or not. 4. Don't Sacrifice Success for Other People's Comfort  In many relationships, people will avoid having difficult conversations with their partner because they don't want to hurt the other person. For example… A wife might avoid talking to her alcoholic husband about his drinking problem because she doesn't want to upset him. A man might avoid talking to his girlfriend about her lackluster work ethic and spending problem because he doesn't want to hurt her feelings. A business partner might avoid calling his team out for laziness because he doesn't want to be seen as overly critical or negative. Stop! In all of these situations, the uncomfortable conversation is necessary. Unless you are willing to step up, make other people uncomfortable, and call them out on their b.s., they will never change. You will never move forward in life and eventually, the relationship will implode. Be willing to take a stand for yourself and let other people know when they've violated a boundary or acted in a manner that is unacceptable. Otherwise, you will live in a constant fairytale and fail to achieve the life you want. 5. Do the Things Today that Your Future Self Will Thank You For  Every day, you have a choice. You can either choose to live for the moment or the future. While it's all fine and dandy to be present, it's even more important that you are acting in a way today that your future self will thank you for. What would make your future self-smile? Eating that piece of cake or eating a salad? Skipping the gym because you're tired or staying commited to your training? Talking to that cute guy/girl or letting fear hold you back from the relationships you want? Working hard on your side hustle or goofing off with YouTube and video games? You have a choice to create the life that you want. The only question is, "What choice are you going to make?" Next Steps You can learn more about Jordan and follow his new podcast at jordanharbinger.com or click the following link to get Jordan's Free Networking course. We're on a mission to impact a million men with powerful life changing content. If you enjoyed this article, please share it with your friends on your preferred social network on the left. I spent a ridiculous amount of time creating this article for you and with your support, we can impact the world together. Do you want my help? Then click here to join my elite community of 800+ high-performing men and get access to powerful coaching to close the gap from where you are now to where you want to be, The Secrets of the Top 1% of Men. Not only will you get tapped into your own "band of brothers", but you'll also have access to the best damn content and training available for men as well as weekly group calls with my team of transformative coaches. No whiny boys, complainers or dabblers, for serious men only. If you're ready to push the boundaries of what's possible in your life and become the man you've always wanted to be. This is the fastest way to do it.

Nate Broughton is an internet marketing veteran of 17 years who specializes in lead generation and client acquisition. He's built and sold four companies and been involved in several acquisitions with private equity firms. He's now the leader of a movement and company called The Opt Out Life which teaches people all over the world how to design an amazing lifestyle centered around fun and experiences… While still making fantastic money in an industry they love. Favorite Success Quote "Lifestyle before money. But money also." "If there's a will there's a way" Key Points 1. Focus on Lifestyle First and Money Second  Money is a tool. In the right hands, it can serve as a force multiplier to help you live the life of your dreams, enjoy wild adventures, and create a lasting legacy. However, when it's your sole aim and purpose it will overtake your life and lead you down a dark and lonely road filled with regrets. As such, Nate's motto and entire company (opt-out life) is built on the ethos of "Lifestyle first but money also." In life, you will often be presented with two options. The lucrative option The lifestyle option For example, Nate was offered an executive position with a multiple six-figure salary, a significant amount of equity, and great benefits. The only problem is that the position required him to drive 60 minutes to and from work five days a week, sacrificing time with his young children and wife. He turned it down in less than a minute. Money is great and you should always seek to expand your income and create passive assets. But it's not everything. If you find yourself working 80 hours a week to make multiple six figures you need to take a step back and ask yourself, "Is this really worth it?" Is this how you want to live your life? 2. Get Creative to Achieve Your Dreams  Where there's a will there's a way. Cliche, I know. But it's true. Whatever goal you want to achieve, whether it's making a certain amount of money, improving your body, or finding the partner of your dreams, is ahievable. IF you're willing to get creative and find unconventional roads to success. A great example that Nate shared in the interview is how his business partner moved his family from an inexpensive inland suburb to the exclusive coast of Lajolla. Even though his partner couldn't afford the mortgage on the house he wanted, he got creative, found a property with a guest home and then rented the home out while simultaneously renting the casita in the back yard. The result? He cut the rent payments in half and ended up spending roughly the same amount as his previous mortgage. If you're willing to get creative, there's nothing that you can't do, be, or achieve. But you must be willing to think outside of the box and cut yourself off from any possibility of failure. 3. Know When to Hold 'Em and When to Fold 'Em  You are going to have to make tough decisions in life. It's simply a part of the human existence. And oftentimes, the most important decision that you will make is not whether or not you should start something, but whether or not you should stay with something. Whether it's a relationship, career, business, or just a boring 'ol workout program, you must understand when a particular endeavor has run its course and when there is still something of value to be gained. Nate has grown and sold several businesses, and he's found that there's a critical tipping point in each business (typically when it hits $5,000,000 in revenue) where he begins to burn out and lose interest. Instead of fighting this, he's adopted the "Serial Entrepreneur" approach and will sell his equity or the entire business, once a project passes a certain revenue threshold. Here's the deal… Life is short. And there are thousands of things that we all want to try out and we have no way of knowing if they're worth our time until we step up to the plate and swing. But once you've been in the game for a while, you need to honestly evaluate your pursuits and ask yourself the simple question, "Is this serving me at the highest level?" If the answer is "No" then cut your losses and move on… IMMEDIATELY. 4. Understand the Seasons of Life (And How they Impact Your Priorities)  It's funny to me how often I have young men reaching out to me in their early 20's bemoaning the fact that they have no money and no clue what they want to do with their lives. I always have to chuckle at these messages, because these guys are missing the point. You aren't supposed to be super wealthy and on purpose right out of the gate!  Your 20's are a season in life for pursuing your passions, seeing what sticks, making LOTS of mistakes, and learning as much as you can. Life isn't supposed to be this massive and nonstop upwards growth curve. It's a long and bumpy ride filled with different seasons. And one of the biggest keys to success is learning how to capitalize on these seasons and use them to your advantage. For example, your 20's are a high energy season that is best used to learn marketable skills, live super frugally while building a war chest, and to figure yourself out along the way. Your 30's are a season that should be devoted to mastery of your chosen craft and the creation of passive income streams that will create lasting wealth and freedom. And once you have that? Your 40's and beyond are for doing whatever the hell you want. 5. Develop a High-Value Skill Set and Turn It Into Passive Income  It's been said that passive income is worth 10x working income. And truer words have yet to be spoken. No matter where you are in life today, one of your top priorities should be the creation and expansion of passive income. Money is simply a tool to buy freedom. And when you escape from the race of trading your time for dollars and create sustainable passive income, you will have freedom for life. Imagine going to bed and waking up with an extra $500 in your bank account. What would that do for your life? How would you spend your days differently? What hobbies would you pursue? What relationships would you invest in more deeply? How would your life change if you knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that you were going to be ok when the 1st of the month rolled around? I can tell you from personal experience… It's one of the most liberating feelings a man can have. Get to work on building passive income streams NOW and your life will forever change because of it.

Lewis Howes is a lifestyle entrepreneur, high performance business coach, author and keynote speaker. A former professional football player and two-sport All-American, he is a current USA Men's National Handball Team athlete. Lewis hosts The School of Greatness podcast, which has received millions of downloads since it launched in 2013. Lewis was recognized by The White House and President Obama as one of the top 100 entrepreneurs in the country under 30. He is a contributing writer for Entrepreneur and Yahoo.com and has been featured in The New York Times, Forbes, Men's Health, The Today Show and other major media outlets. Favorite Success Quotes "No one cares how much you know until they know how much you care" Key Points 1. Show that You Care  As men, we have a pathological need to feel important, to feel special, to feel powerful. To fill this need, most of us walk through our lives searching for ways to make other people see how important we are. We work ourselves to death at jobs that we hate so that we can afford to buy things we don't need. We stay in relationships that we should have left years ago because the person that we are dating is attractive and popular. We live our lives for the approval and validation of others while forgetting one obvious truth. No one cares. Seriously… No one cares about how much money you have, how hot your girl friend is, or how many horsepower your car has. The people in your life are struggling with plenty of trials and struggles as it is, do you really think they're going to care that you bought a "Luxury Class" Mercedes instead of a Standard? What people want and desperately need isn't another person who's caught up in their own lives.. What they need is someone who cares, someone who listens, someone who is real. The people in your life are dying to connect, they are dying for someone who is real, they are dying for someone who genuinely cares about them and is willing to listen and be present. If you really want to impress someone (which shouldn't be your focus to begin with), then show them how much you care, don't show them how much you have. 2. Vulnerability is the Key to Freedom If you are reading this right now, then chances are good that you've been hurt. Some of you have been hurt so deeply and so profoundly that you have never shared your pain with another living soul. And it sucks… When you've experienced trauma and pain in your life, it's easy to get stuck in your head, to become isolated and believe that you are alone or that no one would love you if they knew the truth. In an effort to protect yourself and others, you put up a wall between yourself and the people that you love, closing yourself off from the people who care for you the most. And then you let the pain sit inside of you and simmer. Until one day, that simmer turns into a boil and you find yourself exploding in ways that you never thought possible. Until one day, the wounds have become so deep and so painful that they change who you are. This is the path that most men take… Most men refuse to seek help, guidance of support in times of trauma and suffering. They think they have everything figured out and do their best to act the part. But I'll let you in on a little secret…. You are killing yourself and you are killing your relationships. The past only has power over us so long as we allow it to. When you are willing to embrace vulnerability, trust the people in your life, and open up about your deepest fears, regrets, and experiences, your whole life will change. For Lewis, this meant opening up about the sexual abuse he experienced as a child. For nearly 25 years, he'd kept the pain bottled inside until one day, it all came out on a basketball court and he got into a vicious fight with another player. The encounter shocked and humbled him and made him realize that he needed to talk to someone and he needed to get help. And so he did, he opened up to a select group of people about what had happened to him as a child and, much to his surprise, the response he received was nothing but love. People told him that they could trust him more, that they felt more connected, and that they respected him on a deeper level because of the pain and trauma he experienced. As time went on and he shared his truth with more and more people, he eventually arrived at a point in his life where he could share his story without feeling the pain in the same way. Through sharing his authentic truth and being vulnerable, he healed the wounds of the past. But what about you? What are you holding onto that you need to let go? What pain has been keeping you back and weighing you down? I want you to write that thing down right now and commit that before the day is over, you will find someone to talk to, even if it's a professional. I promise that if you are willing to take this scary leap, your life will never be the same. 3. Why Are You Doing What You're Doing?  One of the biggest mistakes that we as men make is that we detach our what from our why.  We spend all of our time pursuing goals, dreams, and opportunities but we never really know why we do any of the things that we do. We hustle and grind all day long and for what? For most men, it's for the paycheck or the status, but as many of you have already realized, this is never enough. You must have a strong and deep why for what you are doing that extends beyond yourself. If you want to live a truly extraordinary and exceptional life, then you must live your life for the greater good and not just yourself. Find ways to serve and love and improve the lives of others and your own life will be filled with joy, and love, and opportunities that you could never imagine. It might seem cliche and worn out, but there's a great deal of truth to the adage that "Living is giving". So let me ask you… What are you giving and why? 4. Pause, Breathe, and Smile  You can read all of the books that have ever been written on the topic of emotional control, masculinity, and mastering yourself and, unfortunately, there will still be instances where you want to explode and rip someone's head off. It's just human nature. While you cannot control the initial flood of emotions that happens in these circumstances, you can control your reaction. When you start to feel these negative thoughts and emotions creeping into your mind and body, take a step back and notice them. Acknowledge them and be aware of them… Don't try to fight them. Once you are aware of the internal dialogue and the reason for your emotional response, take 10 deep breaths and mentally detach yourself from the situation, doing your best to look at things through the lens of an objective observer. Then, once you have regained your center, look around you and smile. You are blessed and you have a lot to be grateful for. Smile and remember this. 5. It's All About Finding the Balance  In a world that seems to be driven by the "Hustle and Grind" mentality, it's easy to lose balance and start living a life that is completely and utterly consumed by your work. When this happens, it's important to take a step back and regain your inner balance. Life is seasonal. There are times where you will need to hustle, grind, and push forward. There are times where you need to take a step back and rest. Learn to differentiate between the two and your entire life will transform before your eyes.

Dan Millman is a former world champion athlete, university coach, martial arts instructor, and college professor. After an intensive, twenty-year spiritual quest, Dan's teaching found its form as the Peaceful Warrior's Way, expressed fully in his books and lectures. His work continues to evolve over time, to meet the needs of a changing world. Dan's seventeen books, including Way of the Peaceful Warrior, have inspired and informed millions of readers in 29 languages worldwide. The feature film, "Peaceful Warrior," starring Nick Nolte, was adapted from Dan's first book, based upon incidents from his life. Much of Dan's time is devoted to writing and speaking. His keynotes, seminars, and workshops span the generations to influence men and women from all walks of life, including leaders in the fields of health, psychology, education, business, politics, sports, entertainment, and the arts. Dan and his wife Joy live in Brooklyn, NY. They have three grown daughters and four grandchildren. You can connect with him and learn more at peacefulwarrior.com Favorite Success Quote "Success is making progress towards a meaningful goal" "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take" Key Points 1. Seek Excellence Not Success One of the most common mistakes that people make in their pursuit of happiness is that they seek success instead of seeking excellence. Let me break down what this means… Most people, especially the kinds of people who listen to this podcast and read this blog, are future and goal oriented. We are laser-focused on the attainment of something, on the accomplishment of something sometime in the distant future. But what we often forget is that these accomplishments for which we are striving are made up of individual pieces. For example, no one can "Build a Business". A business is built by doing hundreds, maybe even thousands of small things well. You don't "Build" your dream body by doing one thing once. You build your dream body by doing thousands upon thousands of reps with perfect form. And that is where your focus should be. Yes, you must have compelling goals that push you forward and encourage you to perform at your best. But you must always remember that every worthy goal is comprised of thousands and thousands of micro-actions that you must take in the present moment. They are the product of committing to excellence in the present moment and maintaining that commitment year after year after year. Focus on doing things with excellence and success will inevitably follow. 2. The Quality of Your Moments Becomes the Quality of Your Life  In the same way that many people mistakenly pursue success instead of pursuing excellence, many of us devote our lives to the pursuit of the "Good Life". We hustle, grind, and sacrifice so that, one day, we can finally be happy and enjoy a high quality of life. We give up the things that are most important for an uncertain future that may or may not bring joy and fulfillment into our lives. And by doing this, we forget to live our lives as they are happening. We fail to realize that the "Good Life" is nothing more than a life filled with "Good Moments". If you want a good life, you must have good years. To have good years, you must have good months, weeks, and days. And to have good days, you must have good moments. You must learn to embrace where you are right now and enjoy the moment for all that it is. Because the present moment is everything. It's all that you have. There is no future. There is no past. There is only now. So live in the now. Cultivate those small moments of joy, happiness, and excellence. If you do this, I promise you that you will look back on your life with a smile, knowing that you lived it well. 3. Trust the Process of Your Life Unfolding  This if the 400th interview that I've conducted on the Knowledge for Men podcast and, after almost 4 years of interviewing top achievers, thinkers, and performers, I've noticed an interesting pattern. Success, happiness, and fulfillment almost always exist on the other side of pain. Grant Cardone was struggling with a drug addiction, broke, and unemployed before he found his future in sales and real estate. Ryan Blair was involved in the most dangerous L.A. gangs almost sentenced to a decade of incarceration before he fell in love with entrepreneurship. Bedros Keulian was literally digging through dumpsters to find food before he created the 8-figure fitness empire that he now owns today. Yet these men trusted the process (admittedy they may have done so unconsciously). They were willing to take a leap of faith and trust the process of their life unfolding. They were able to accept that, as Steve Jobs said, "You will never connect the dots looking forward, only looking backward. So you have to somehow trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future." And you must do the same. Trust the process of your life unfolding. Live in the present moment. Have faith in yourself and in the universe and realize that life is an adventure that is meant to be lived… Not avoided. 4. Anticipation is One of the Greatest Sources of Suffering  One of the most sinister and seemingly innocuous sources of suffering is anticipation. Think about it like this… Imagine that there is a co-worker whom you cannot stand. The kind of person who makes your skin crawl and your stomach turn into a knot. Imagine that later today, you have a meeting and you know that this particular co-worker will be in attendance. In anticipation of the event, you imagine all of the possible outcomes in your head, forcing yourself to live in an unpleasant and mentally exhausting reality that hasn't even happened yet! You bring yourself into a state of dissatisfaction and discomfort because you are living in future pain even though the present moment is completely tranquil! How differently could this scenario be if you simply allowed yourself to live in the moment. To know that you will have to face your peer but… Not yet. To give yourself permission to say "I am not in that situation in the present moment so I am going to live life now and cross that bridge when I get there." 5. We Are All Just Humans  At the end of the day, we are all human beings on this journey together. We have different views, beliefs, personalities, and desires, but we are all people. We all experience deep emotions, we all have dreams and desires, and we all have struggles to overcome. Even the seemingly invincible characters like Tony Robbins, Gary Vaynerchuk, or Bradd Pitt have problems. We are all humans. No one person is inherently better or worse than anyone else. We are all in this race together. So why can't we start acting like it? Instead of judging others and blaming them for their shortcomings, seek to understand and empathize with their struggles. Instead of acting superior to your fellow man, remember the times in which you acted and behaved in unscrupulous or unsatisfactory ways. Instead of pretending that you are on this journey alone, remember that we are all in this together. Man, woman, black, white, gay, straight, republican, democrat… We are all in this together. The sooner we realize this, the sooner we will unlock our specie's true power. Influential Books 1. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien 2. Siddhartha by Herman Hesse 3. Constructive Living by David Reynolds   Next Steps We're on a mission to impact a million men with powerful life changing content. If you enjoyed this article, please share it with your friends on your preferred social network on the left. I spent a ridiculous amount of time creating this article for you and with your support, we can impact the world together. Do you want my help? Then click here to join my elite community of 800+ high-performing men and get access to powerful coaching to close the gap from where you are now to where you want to be, The Secrets of the Top 1% of Men. Not only will you get tapped into your own "band of brothers", but you'll also have access to the best damn content and training available for men as well as weekly group calls with my team of transformative coaches. No whiny boys, complainers or dabblers, for serious men only. If you're ready to push the boundaries of what's possible in your life and become the man you've always wanted to be. This is the fastest way to do it.

Mark Manson is a blogger, author, and entrepreneur. He specializes in writing personal development advice that doesn't suck. His website MarkManson.net is read by over 2 million people each month. He has written two best-sellers Models: The Art of Attracting Women Through Honesty and The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counter-Intuitive Approach to Living a Good Life. markmanson.netYou can connect with him and learn more at Key Points 1. There is No Such Thing as a Problem Free Life Life is not easy, anyone who tells you otherwise is full of crap. Life can suck sometimes and that is just the reality. However, you should not see this as a bad thing, in fact, you should appreciate it. If life is going to be painful no matter what, this means that you have a choice to choose what kind of pain you want to endure. You can endure the pain of failure or you can endure the pain of struggling to achieve success. 2. Pain Isn't Always Bad Pleasure Isn't Always Good  Something that most people misunderstand is that pain is not always a bad thing and pleasure is not always a good thing. You can achieve pleasure by purchasing mounds of cocaine and heroin, but that would not be expedient for achieving your goals and living the life that you want. You can also be in pain by pursuing your goals and trying to achieve greatness but this is not necessarily a bad thing. Accept the fact that life is not about being in a constant state of euphoria, it is about overcoming challenges and living a life of meaning. 3. Your Behaviors Dictate Your Values Whenever you ask people what they value they will tell you all sorts of things and about how they value family, fitness, or personal growth. However, their actions say otherwise. They say that they value family but they spend all of their time working. They say they value health but workout only once a month and treat their body like sh!t. Maybe they even say that they don't value their sex life and yet they are out every week trying to get with a new girl. If you want to know what you truly value, take a look at your actions. Be willing to examine yourself and your life without any bias or judgment and make changes accordingly. If you don't you will spend your whole life spinning your wheel and accomplishing very little. 4. A Constant Pursuit of Happiness Leads to Dissatisfaction Most self-help movements in the modern world seem hell bent on helping people achieve this constant state of euphoria. But the sad fact is, by pursuing happiness, you actually make yourself less happy. In every moment, you are always wondering "Am I as happy as I could be right now? What more could I be doing?" and you end up feeling depressed and frustrated because you are not happier. The same is true with your physique, bank account, and game. If you are constantly trying to be the absolute best, you will never be able to appreciate where you are. Learn to just accept that you may not be the richest, best looking, or most charismatic man in the room and work with that. Accept yourself for who you are and work to improve in the areas that are truly lacking. Otherwise, you will be like a dog chasing its tail and end up living a miserable life. 5. You are Going to Die  This is one of the most important things to remember in your life. No matter what you achieve, not matter how much money you make, who you marry, or how many people's lives you affect, at the end of the day you are going to die. There is no way around it. Death is the only constant in every human being's life. But this should not depress or scare you. It should liberate you. The inevitability of death means that you can free yourself from the expectations of others, the drama of daily life, and the fear that accompanies big decisions. If you are going to die, then all that matter is the legacy that you leave behind you. Remember this and live life to the fullest. * If you liked this article then you'll love my formula that, if followed, will give you everything you need to develop your masculine spirit, find your deepest calling, deepen your purpose and character, and become the strong Grounded man you were born to be. Introducing The Dating Playbook for Men. It's my life's work and the culmination of more than 10-years of experience, 400 expert interviews, and more trial and error than I care to remember. I've devoted more than a year of my life to writing, editing, and revising this book, and I can tell you, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that this is the solution you've been looking for to meet, attract and keep the woman of your dreams.   Get your copy of The Dating Playbook for Men on amazon! Do you want my help? Then click here to join my elite community of 800+ high-performing men and get access to powerful coaching to close the gap from where you are now to where you want to be, The Secrets of the Top 1% of Men. Not only will you get tapped into your own "band of brothers", but you'll also have access to the best damn content and training available for men as well as weekly group calls with my team of transformative coaches. No whiny boys, complainers or dabblers, for serious men only. If you're ready to push the boundaries of what's possible in your life and become the man you've always wanted to be. This is the fastest way to do it.

Mo Gawdat is the Chief Business Officer for Google [X], a serial entrepreneur and author of "Solve for Happy: Engineer Your Path to Joy" Mo has an impressive combined career of 27 years, starting at IBM Egypt as a Systems Engineer before moving to a sales role in the government sector. Venturing into the UAE, Mo joined NCR Abu Dhabi to cover the non-finance sector. He then became acquainted with the consumer goods industry as Regional Manager of BAT. At Microsoft, he assumed various roles over a span of seven and a half years, in his last role at Microsoft he headed the Communications Sector across Emerging Markets worldwide. Favorite Success Quote "The gravity of the battle means nothing to those at peace" Key Points 1. The Equation for Happiness is Simple  Happiness is not complicated. While you might not come to this conclusion by scrolling through your social media feed, watching the latest advertisements, or even reading some of the more popular personal growth and self-help books, when you truly sit down and think objectively, you will realize that happiness is simple. Despite marketer's best attempts to prove otherwise, happiness isn't contingent upon some wild, complex, equation. In fact, the equation for happiness is almost too simple. Happiness is equal to or greater than the events of your life minus the expectations you have for those events. That's it. The equation isn't "Happiness = Fancy Clothes + A 6-Figure Salary + An Italian Sports Car and a French Bikini Model" It's simply events – expectations.  But what does this really mean? At the most basic level, it means that your happiness in any given situation, and thus your happiness in life, is entirely dependent on the difference between what you expect from a situation and how that situation actually turns out. So, for example, let's say that the event in question is coming home to your wife after a long day of work. Let's look at how your expectations of the event will determine your happiness. On one hand, your expectation might be that when you come home after a long day of work, your wife should be preparing dinner, opening you a cold beer, and wearing a sexy outfit that tells you she's "in the mood". On the other, your expectation might simply be that your wife should be relaxing and unwinding after her long day of work and that the two of you should prepare dinner and unwind together. While neither of these expectations are right or wrong, they can have a tremendous effect on your happiness and well being. If you come home with the first set of expectations and your wife has already prepared dinner but left it in the oven and is now relaxing on the couch… You are going to be unhappy and angry because your expectations were not met. However, if you come home to the exact same situation with the second set of expectations, you will not only be happy, but you will feel an abundance of love for your wife because she went above and beyond and exceeded your expectations. So now, you might be wondering, "If the secret to happiness is to have lower expectations, shouldn't I just stop expecting anything so that I will never be disappointed?" Well, yes and no. While eliminating your expectations would certainly make you happier in the short run, it proves detrimental to your well being and success in the long term. If you have no expectations of yourself or others, then you will mistreat yourself and allow other people to walk all over you. Therefore, the key to happiness is to first become conscious of your expectations and then consciously and intentionally craft a new set of expectations that serve you and your purpose in life. 2. We Are All Born Happy  An often forgotten truth of life is that we were all born happy. All of us. We are born carefree and loving, without any hate, anger, or animosity in our hearts. It is our society that teaches us to be unhappy, to compare ourselves to others, to hate our fellow man, and to be unfulfilled. And once you become aware of this reality, it is your job to undo the programming that society has instilled into your brain. Luckily, the process for "deprogramming" all of the crap in your brain is simple, however, this doesn't mean it's easy. The best way to start is to pick up some sort of daily mindfulness practice whether it's meditation, prayer, long walks in nature, or even just some sort of conscious movements like yoga or Tai Chi. These practices allow you to detach yourself from the human experience and the brain's programming and become more aware of how you or your "superconscious" are meant to function. Let's use the analogy of a new computer so that you can understand what I mean. Whenever you get a new computer, everything runs smoothly. It functions exactly as it was designed, quickly opening applications, seamlessly running commands, and doing its job without a problem. But over time, things start to slow down and problems start to arise. You begin downloading new programs and applications, visiting questionable websites, and demanding more of your computer than the software and hardware were designed to handle. And as you execute increasingly demanding operations, your computer starts to slow and malfunction and what once took 2 seconds now takes 2 minutes. When this happens (and it almost always happen) the only way to restore its original performance is to return it to default settings and execute a complete factory reset. In much the same way as a computer's default setting is speed and efficiency, our brain's default setting is happiness and contentment. But when we start installing (willingly or unwillingly) societal, religious, and familial expectations into our "operating system", we start to get bogged down, and experience unhappiness. And when this happens, the only way to return to our original state is a "Factory reset" which typically takes the form of meditation, affirmations, journaling, and other consciousness practices. These practices are kind of like our brain's "CTRL + ALT + DELETE" function and the more you can integrate them into your daily life, the smoother and faster you you will operate. 3. Your Emotional State is Determined by Your Thoughts, Not Events One of the simplest, but most impactful, formulas that you can understand to achieve a happy life is this: E + R = O Or Event + Response = Outcome In other words, your emotional outcome (happy, sad, angry, loving) is not determined by the events in your life, but rather by your response to the events in your life. For example, let's say that you are going out to meet up with a friend. You agreed to meet at the local coffee shop around 8 a.m., but when you show up he is nowhere to be found. You order your drink, a few minutes go by, and your friend is still absent. At this point, you can respond in one of two ways. First, you can assume that your friend does not respect you, get angry, and allow his tardiness to dampen your mood. Or, you can simply assume that your friend had some sort of extenuating circumstance that stopped him from showing up on time and reframe his lateness by saying, "Great! This gives me a few minutes to read that new book I bought", resulting in a happier and more fulfilling morning. In these two examples, the event was exactly the same, but by changing the response to the event, you achieved two wildly different outcomes. When you understand the far reaching applications of this formula, your life will begin to change in ways that you could never expect. Mastering your emotional response to any circumstance gives you power over the events in your life instead of allowing those events to have power over you. And when your internal world remains unaffected by the chaos of the outside world, you will have true power in your life, business, and relationships. 4. Learn to Differentiate Between Incessant and Effective Thoughts As it pertains to our happiness, there are only two kinds of thoughts. Effective thoughts and incessant thoughts. Effective thoughts are the thoughts that move the needle forward in your life, thoughts that solve problems, achieve goals, and give you a deeper understanding of your place in the cosmos. Incessant thoughts are the negative thoughts that do nothing to improve the quality of your life or happiness even when they are true. In the interview, Mo shared a powerful example detailing the difference between these two thoughts during a tragic situation. At the age of 21 years old, Mo's son Ali died on the operating table during a routine surgery that should have been quick and simple. Shocked and in pain, Mo was overwhelmed with a wave of thoughts and feelings that can only be comprehended by people who have experienced a similar tragedy in his life. Over the coming weeks and months, Mo was faced with a single, pervasive and incessant thought, "I will never get to hug my son Ali again." However, as he continued grieving for his son, he realized something. This thought would not bring Ali back, it would not change reality, and it would not benefit humanity. So he made a very conscious decision to change his thinking. Instead of thinking "I will never hug my son again", he reframed the tragedy and said, "My son is dead, now it is my duty to remember his legacy by living my life as he would have wanted and impacting the world in honor of his memory." And while this new thought didn't take away the pain of losing his child, it allowed him to cope with the loss and make sense of the heart break. Each of us is faced with the same thoughts day in and day out. Even if we haven't lost a loved one, we are all faced with our own "Incessant thought demons" that seek to cripple us and hold us back from living a happy life. Whether we are constantly thinking about a mistake that we regret, a relationship that we ruined, or an opportunity that we lost, we all have incessant loops of unhelpful thoughts playing in the back of our mind. And the biggest problem with these thoughts is that 99% of the time… They are true! But just because something is true, does not mean that it is advantageous. For example, if you lost the woman of your dreams because you were too focused on your work and not focused on the relationship, you might be faced with the incessant thought "I will never have her in my life again". Chances are, this thought is true. But does it serve you in any way!? No! Instead, you can choose to reframe this thought by saying "I will never have this woman in my life again, so now it is my duty to learn from my mistakes and move forward so that I can find love once more… Only this time, I will make it work." The moment that you can learn to eradicate incessant thoughts and replace them with intentional and effective thoughts is the moment that your life will be irrevocably changed for the better. 5. Money Doesn't Make You Happier… Unless Countless studies have been conducted on the correlation between money and happiness, and what they found was rather interesting. Money only affects your happiness up to a certain point. If you are living below the poverty line, increasing your income to a stable and livable level will drastically improve your happiness. However, going from $100,000 a year to $100,000 a month will only have a marginal impact on your happiness and mental well being. However, once you have passed roughly $7,000 a month, increasing your income will only result in a nominal increase in your happiness. So, for example, if you go from $100,000 a year to $250,000 a year, your happiness will not increase by any appreciable amount. If this is true, then why is it that so many rich people seem to live better and happier lives? Because they give so much of their money away! Studies have found that one of the only ways money can make you happier after you have passed the $70,000/year threshold is if you are giving more of your money to charitable causes, family, friends, and organizations that you support. For example, if you earn an extra $20,000 bonus this year and then use it to put a down payment on a new sports car, your happiness will only increase marginally and temporarily. However, if you took that same $20,000 and paid for a vacation with some of your closest friends, your happiness would increase dramatically and the effects would last much longer. So yes, money is important for your happiness. If you cannot afford to put food on the table, increasing your income is one of the quickest ways to increase your happiness. But after your basic living expenses are covered, giving your wealth away and spending it on the people you care about is the only way to leverage your money to increase your happiness. 6. Life is a Video Game and Challenges Make the Game Fun  Life is not fair, it is not perfect, and it is not easy. But I'll let you in on a little secret… That's what makes life fun! I want you to imagine that the new Call of Duty just came out, and after months of anxiously anticipating the game's release, you take it home and start playing. You go through the tutorial, launch the first level, and then get ready to kill some virtual bad guys. But there's a problem… There are no bad guys to kill and no challenges to overcome. Every level is simply a linear progression where you run from the beginning to the end as quickly as you can, avoiding all signs of danger or adversity. Does that sound like a fun game? Probably not. And guess what? Life is nothing more than a very intense and large scale video game. So why in the world would you want it to be easy? Why would you want a challenge and problem free life? Just think about it for a moment. Imagine that I came to your house tomorrow and gave you an Olympic Gold Medal. How would you feel? If you are anything like me, you would probably think that the medal was pretty cool, but after a few minutes of looking at it, you would quickly feel disenchanted and bored because you did nothing to earn the medal. You'd probably sell it or leave it in your sock drawer because it has no significance in your life. But imagine that you have been training for the Olympics since you were 12 years old. You worked every single day for the past ten years of your life, and when you finally had the opportunity, you competed and won. How would that medal make you feel? I would chance a guess that the medal would have more meaning and significance to you than darn near anything else that you owned. Why? Because you worked for it, you suffered for it, and you endured more pain than most people are willing to endure in order to call that medal your own. In much the same way, we gain meaning in our lives by overcoming challenges, by enduring pain, and by beating adversity. Life isn't meant to be easy. It's meant to be a challenge. A challenge that you enjoy and have fun with, yes. But a challenge nonetheless. 7. You Don't Find Your Purpose… It Finds You So many people in the modern world are concerned with finding their purpose. But they fail to realize that you don't find your purpose, your purpose finds you. People don't just wake up one day and say "Hmm, I know exactly what I am meant to do and how I am going to do it". Instead, they find the intersection of their passions and talents and they work for years honing their skills, setting and conquering goals, and becoming better and better. Then, when they have mastered their craft, an opportunity presents itself, often in the most unlikely manner, and all of the hard work they put in begins to make sense. If you want to live a life of purpose, then you must first start by building your skills and growing yourself until you are ready to handle your purpose. Typically, this means working on rather mundane skills and projects so that you can grow your capacity as a human being. Think about the classic Karate kid movie where Mr. Miyagi had his student wax the car and paint the fence. These tasks seemed dull, monotonous, and frustrating. But, when the time came, and the first punch was thrown, these dull tasks that the Karate Kid had practiced suddenly made sense and he realized that he had been practicing for the purpose of learning a new skill. Steve Jobs summarized this truth when he said "You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future."

Jordan Harbinger, once referred to as "The Larry King of podcasting," is a Wall Street lawyer turned talk show host, social dynamics expert, and entrepreneur. After hosting a top 50 iTunes podcast for over a decade that enjoyed nearly four million downloads a month at its zenith, Jordan has embarked on a new adventure: The Jordan Harbinger Show, where he deconstructs the playbooks of the most successful people on earth and shares their strategies, perspectives, and insights with the rest of us. Jordan's business sense, extensive knowledge of the industry, and contemporary approach to teaching make him one of the best and most sought-after coaches in the world. Favorite Success Quote "Fortune favors the bold" ~Latin Proverb Key Points 1. Find the Silver Lining  Sh*t happens. It's an inevitability of life. Things will not go your way. Partners will leave you. Employees will steal from you. Friends will betray you. This isn't a pessimistic outlook on life, it's simply the reality of the world we live in. As such, the question is not if these events will happen but how you will respond when they do.  In every negative situation, every layoff, divorce, breakup, and failure, you have one of two choices. You can throw yourself a pity party, whine, moan, and cry that your life isn't where you want it to be. Or you can find the silver lining and move forward with your life. Every door that closes opens up a new one. Every failed endeavor frees up your time and resources to pursue a new one. Everything that you currently think sucks has a silver lining… If you're willing to look for it. Learn to make the best of any situation and use adversity to your advantage and you will become unstoppable in your business, relationships, and life. 2. Dig the Well Before You're Thirsty  There is an old proverb that states, "Dig the well before you are thirsty". And truer words have yet to be spoken. In every area of life, you must learn to cultivate a proactive attitude instead of a reactive one. In your finances, set aside money each month and invest in your future so that when the unexpected happens, you are prepared. In your relationship, create your own social circle and build your own life so that, even if your partner leaves you, you aren't left out in the cold. In your business and career, learn to cultivate powerful relationships with people when you have no agenda so that, if and when something happens (like a layoff or bankruptcy) you have a network of friends who will come to your aid and support you. Take preemptive action in your life to avoid and recover from tragedies before they happen. As I've already said, it's not a matter of if something bad will happen, it's a matter of when.  Plan for these crises and prepare for them before you need to. Your future self will thank you. 3. Don't Wait on Other People  Whether it's a business partner, spouse, or friend you can never allow your momentum in life to be dictated by another person. Don't wait for someone else to get on board with your mission and vision. Simply take action and move forward. If your business partner or significant other is dragging their feet and screwing around with regards to your vision and important goals, fine. Take action without them and move forward on your own. You can spend years or even decades waiting for someone else to come through, all the while missing opportunities and possibilities in your own life. Don't let this happen to you… Chart your own path and move forward whether the people around you are on board or not. 4. Don't Sacrifice Success for Other People's Comfort  In many relationships, people will avoid having difficult conversations with their partner because they don't want to hurt the other person. For example… A wife might avoid talking to her alcoholic husband about his drinking problem because she doesn't want to upset him. A man might avoid talking to his girlfriend about her lackluster work ethic and spending problem because he doesn't want to hurt her feelings. A business partner might avoid calling his team out for laziness because he doesn't want to be seen as overly critical or negative. Stop! In all of these situations, the uncomfortable conversation is necessary. Unless you are willing to step up, make other people uncomfortable, and call them out on their b.s., they will never change. You will never move forward in life and eventually, the relationship will implode. Be willing to take a stand for yourself and let other people know when they've violated a boundary or acted in a manner that is unacceptable. Otherwise, you will live in a constant fairytale and fail to achieve the life you want. 5. Do the Things Today that Your Future Self Will Thank You For  Every day, you have a choice. You can either choose to live for the moment or the future. While it's all fine and dandy to be present, it's even more important that you are acting in a way today that your future self will thank you for. What would make your future self-smile? Eating that piece of cake or eating a salad? Skipping the gym because you're tired or staying commited to your training? Talking to that cute guy/girl or letting fear hold you back from the relationships you want? Working hard on your side hustle or goofing off with YouTube and video games? You have a choice to create the life that you want. The only question is, "What choice are you going to make?" Next Steps You can learn more about Jordan and follow his new podcast at jordanharbinger.com or click the following link to get Jordan's Free Networking course. We're on a mission to impact a million men with powerful life changing content. If you enjoyed this article, please share it with your friends on your preferred social network on the left. I spent a ridiculous amount of time creating this article for you and with your support, we can impact the world together. Do you want my help? Then click here to join my elite community of 800+ high-performing men and get access to powerful coaching to close the gap from where you are now to where you want to be, The Secrets of the Top 1% of Men. Not only will you get tapped into your own "band of brothers", but you'll also have access to the best damn content and training available for men as well as weekly group calls with my team of transformative coaches. No whiny boys, complainers or dabblers, for serious men only. If you're ready to push the boundaries of what's possible in your life and become the man you've always wanted to be. This is the fastest way to do it.

Sam Morris is the founder of Zen Warrior Training®. In 1999, just after leading a bicycling trip for nine teenagers across the United States, Sam was in a car accident caused by a drunk driver which left him paralyzed from the waist down. Rather than becoming the victim of his circumstances, Sam learned and created a system of attitude training that brought him more vitality and clarity than he ever had before his injury. In addition to coaching private clients and businesses in Zen Warrior Training®, Sam hosts biweekly classes in Santa Monica, CA and leads community talks and workshops throughout the country. You can connect with Sam and learn more about him at zenwarriortraining.com Favorite Success Quote Self-consciousness is a lack of consciousness of the self Key Points 1. Expand Your Relationship with Yourself Beyond Your Mind  So often we get stuck in a place where our relationship with ourselves is limited only to our mind and the incessant mental chatter happening within it. From this place, it becomes difficult to understand who you truly are, what you want, and what you must do to achieve the range of experiences that you desire in this lifetime. Your breaths are shallow, your thoughts are cluttered with the opinions and expectations of others, and your truth is being clouded by noise, the ego, and your lack of presence. But when you expand your relationship with yourself beyond your mind, everything changes. When you get into your body and begin experiencing more frequent states of flow and presence, your reality changes. You no longer worry about what you said yesterday or fret about what you must do tomorrow. You are able to simply "Be" in this moment without judgment or criticism. And when you're in this place of presence and freedom from judgment, you can be 100% you. I challenge you to make a conscious effort to get into your body this week. Go surfing, pick up an instrument, train parkour, lift heavy weights, do something that jolts you out of your head and into your body. Because when you are in your body and focused on your movements you are present, and when you are present, life opens up in ways that you can't imagine. 2. Presence Frees You From Your Bullshit  When you are living in the past or the future, it's easy to get stuck in your bullshit. Think about it… If you're living in the past, you are thinking about what you did wrong, or how you could have done something better, or how you said this or didn't say that. You are stuck in an endless loop, experiencing the same "negative" event over and over again in your head. This lack of presence eeks its way into your present moment and you begin to doubt yourself during conversations and constantly overanalyze yourself and your actions because you are so hung up on yesterday's mistakes. Living in the future is no different. If you're constantly focused on what you want to achieve tomorrow and the life you will have someday, then you aren't focused on the amazing life you are living right now. And if you have the ability to read this article, you do have an amazing life. By getting present, you are able to be free from the bullshit. With presence, you cannot dwell on past mistakes and personal criticisms. You cannot get caught up in projecting a future that makes you dissatisfied with your current reality. When you are present, you are free. 3. Presence Accelerates the Human Experience Everything that you do is amplified by the power of presence. Everything… All of the greatest human experiences from creation to sex to friendship to adversity are all amplified by getting present. When you are present with a woman, your anxiety disappears and you are able to reveal yourself to her in a way that is completely and totally authentic. When you are present at work, you can tap into flow states and execute your craft masterfully in half the time that it would take if you were distracted. When you are present with yourself, you are in tune with your body and emotions and all the lessons to be learned from them (more on that later). Presence amplifies existence. Get present. 4. Success without a Strong Internal Identity is Inevitable Failure  One of the greatest mistakes a man can make is to tie his identity to something other than himself. When a man's identity is contingent on his relationship with his woman, his work, his possessions, or anything outside of himself, his identity is inherently fragile and ripe for disruption. No one is impervious to the harsh realities of unexpected change. From a lay off to a divorce to an unexpected death, there are thousands of things that can disrupt your life and completely wreck all of the things that you now hold dear. And if your identity is wrapped up in these things, when they go, so too does your sense of self. If your identity is outside of yourself then it doesn't take much to raze your identity and leave you feeling lost and uncertain about who you are. By cultivating a strong internal identity, you allow yourself to experience the storms of life with all of the pain and joy that comes with them. You experience everything but can be beaten by nothing. You are who you are. And that's more than enough. 5. Feelings Are Teachers  Human emotions are the greatest teachers we've ever met. Whether positive or negative, any emotion that you feel is there to teach you something. It could be there to confirm that you are doing well, such as the bliss that you feel when you look at your partner, or the satisfaction that comes from a full day's work. It could be to inform you that how you are acting is not working, such as the tension in your gut when it comes time to pay the bills or the apprehension you feel about getting your yearly physical. Or they could be there to tell you that the path you are on ultimately will not serve you such as the inexplicable "Gut feelings" so many of us receive whenever we are unknowingly out of alignment with our highest calling. If you are going to live this life to the fullest and truly embrace this existence, you must learn to feel your emotions, embody them, learn from them… Don't flee from them. Never allow your emotions to scare or control you, but always notice them and give them the attention and intention that they deserve. Your emotions are your mentors and your guides on this crazy journey. Follow them and you will learn more than you ever imagined. Next Steps We're on a mission to impact a million men with powerful life changing content. If you enjoyed this article, please share it with your friends on your preferred social network on the left. I spent a ridiculous amount of time creating this article for you and with your support, we can impact the world together. Do you want my help? Then click here to join my elite community of 800+ high-performing men and get access to powerful coaching to close the gap from where you are now to where you want to be, The Secrets of the Top 1% of Men. Not only will you get tapped into your own "band of brothers", but you'll also have access to the best damn content and training available for men as well as weekly group calls with my team of transformative coaches. No whiny boys, complainers or dabblers, for serious men only. If you're ready to push the boundaries of what's possible in your life and become the man you've always wanted to be. This is the fastest way to do it.

Jeff Hoffman is a successful entrepreneur, proven CEO, worldwide motivational speaker, published author, Hollywood film producer, and a producer of a Grammy-winning jazz album in 2015. He has been the founder of multiple startups, has been the CEO of both public and private companies, and has served as a senior executive in many capacities. Jeff has been part of a number of well-known companies, including Priceline.com. uBid.com, ColorJar, and more. Jeff is a featured business expert seen on Fox News, Fox Business, CNN, CNN International, Bloomberg News, CNBC, ABC, and NPR, and in publications including Forbes, Inc., Time, Fast Company, the Wall Street Journal, and more. You can find out more about Jeff and the work that he is doing by visiting his website at jeffhoffman.com Key Points 1. Don't Fear Failure… Fear Not Trying  Failure is an inevitable part of life. Most of us spend our whole lives trying to escape and avoid it when we should be running towards it. We've been taught our whole lives that failure is somehow a bad thing, that it means you aren't a "real" man, or that you aren't good enough. In reality, failure is simply feedback. Instead of running from failure, embrace it. Learn to fear not trying instead of failing. … When you fail, you grow, you learn, and you improve. When you allow your fear of failure to control your actions you end up paralyzed and never take action. As a result, you stagnate, burn out, and eventually die with your best work inside of you. 2. Follow your Curiosity and Ignore the Labels It's easy to allow your label to control you. Think about it… How many times have you thought to yourself "Wow, I'd love to dive into real estate investing, but I'm in IT, I can't do that" Or "I would really enjoy learning how to dance the Tango, but I'm a powerlifter so that'll never happen" Or even… "I'd really love to produce an album but I'm a marketing guy… That's not really my style" We get so caught up in our own labels that we prevent ourselves from pursuing our deepest passions and curiosity. Remember: You are a learning machine… Not an occupation.  Just because you make money in a certain way or have been in a specific niche for a long time doesn't mean that you can't learn new skills. … It doesn't mean that you can't pursue new hobbies, passions, and businesses. As Joseph Campbell says, "Follow your bliss". Pursue what makes you curious, no matter how odd or out of character it may seem. At the end of the day, the person who wins at life is the person who leaves it all on the field. So stop holding back from life because your interests don't conform to your label. 3. Stick to One Pursuit at a Time  Although it's important that you have a wide variety of interests and hobbies to pursue, it's even more important that you understand how to successfully pursue each interest. How do you do this? … One at a time. Although Jeff has a wide variety of achievements and accolades ranging from the transportation business to the music & film industry to consulting and keynote speaking, he didn't try to accomplish all of these things at once. He devoted himself single-mindedly to each task for a period of 3-5 years. In your own life, you can do anything that you want. But you must learn to focus on only one thing at a time… As the old adage goes, "The fox who chases two rabbits catches none." Pick one passion, define what constitutes "success" with regards to that passion, pursue it single-mindedly until you achieve your goal an then move on. 4. Eradicate Your Fear of Failure with This Simple Exercise  If you are afraid of failure, then listen up. I'm about to share a fool proof strategy to eradicate your fear and move forward with your life. Are you ready? Then here it is… Anytime you are afraid of failing, dive into your failure. Ask yourself "What will happen if I fail and how can I recover?" For example, if you are considering starting a new business and you fail miserably, what will actually happen? … And more importantly, how can you minimize the damage? If you fail at the entrepreneurial endeavor you can: Move back in with your parents Get a 9-5 corporate job for 6-12 months Save every penny that you can Try again When you break it down, it doesn't seem so scary, right? The concept of failure is often more terrifying than failure itself. When you look at the reality of your situation, you will quickly realize that you can overcome any setback with relative ease and quickly get back on your feet if things go South. So feel the fear. Figure out your escape plan. And then take action. 5. Begin with the End in Mind  One of the biggest mistakes that most entrepreneurs make is that they begin without a clear end goal in mind. They set all of these wild goals and ambitions but never really know where the path is ultimately going to take them. Before you set out to achieve anything, you need to begin with the end in mind. What counts as success? What counts as failure? What quantifiable metrics can you use to determine whether or not you've achieved success? When you have a clear end game in mind, the day to day tasks of pursuing a goal becomes much simpler. You know exactly what you need to do, what you need to avoid, and how you can expedite the path to your goal. Take some time to sit down after listening to this interview and write out answers to the following: What does success look like in my: Relationships Finances Career Personal development Physical health Spirituality When you know exactly what you are trying to get out of life, life has a way of helping you succeed. Begin with the end in mind and your path to success will be far smoother and simpler. 6. Make People Understand Your "Why"  Oftentimes, as men, we get so caught up in our careers and finances that we can neglect important relationships and connections in our life. One of the reasons that this is so easy to do is that we understand the bigger picture and just assume that everyone else in our life understands it as well. We think to ourselves, "I'm working this hard for my family, for my community, and for our future… Surely they understand". But we never actually take the time to sit the important people down and help them understand why we are pushing so hard. Your wife and kids probably don't know why you are always at the office. They assume that work is more important than they are and that you'd rather work than spend time with them. Even when this isn't the case… As such, it's important that you sell your proverbial "Board of Directors" (the important people in your life) on the "Why" of what you're doing. Why are you working so hard to build this business or advance your career? Is it to… Retire early Pay for your kid's college Take your wife on a 3 year round the world trip Get out of debt and have the money to work less than 10 hours a week Enjoy a better quality of life Give back to your community and make a real difference Why are you doing what you're doing? Once you have the answer for yourself, share it with the important people in your life. More often than not, they will understand and rally to help you. 7. Ideas are Welcomed, Execution is Worshiped  Simply put, ideas are great but execution is where the magic happens. You can think and come up with ideas all day long. But if you don't get your ass out of the chair and make moves to achieve your goals, you will remain stuck exactly where you are. Execution is everything. Without the grit and determination to take action and make things happen, you will never succeed. Become a master action taker and the world is yours. 8. Your Success is Someone Else's Miracle  We live in such a guilt ridden society that it can be easy to get trapped in the mindset that success is dirty. … It's easy to believe that making money is wrong and that you should give away all of your surplus. But this is a false concept. The more successful you are, the more power and influence you can exert to help others. When you have millions of dollars in the bank, it's much easier to make a difference when disaster strikes. When you have vibrant physical health, it's much easier to help others overcome their own challenges. When you are successful, you can show up as a miracle in someone else's life. If you want to make a real difference in the world, then success is your duty and obligation. Forget what you've been told… Becoming successful doesn't make you greedy or power hungry. It gives you the ability to make a difference. 9. What is Enough? In pursuit of any goal, whether its… Financial success Career success Marriage Physical health Travel & Adventure Or fame You must know when enough is enough. When can you call it quits and move on to the next goal or activity? If you don't have a clear end game in mind, it's easy to get caught in the comparison trap and waste your life constantly trying to compete with other people and buy the biggest boat, fastest car, or most luxurious mansion in town. Ask yourself… "What do I really need to be happy and feel fulfilled?" There's no right answer for everyone, but the more clearly you can figure out what you need to be happy, the easier it will be to achieve it. Forget keeping up with the Joneses and showing off on Instagram. Figure out what brings you joy and makes you feel fulfilled and then go achieve it. Next Steps We're on a mission to impact a million men with powerful life changing content. If you enjoyed this article, please share it with your friends on your preferred social network on the left. I spent a ridiculous amount of time creating this article for you and with your support, we can impact the world together. Do you want my help? Then click here to join my elite community of 800+ high-performing men and get access to powerful coaching to close the gap from where you are now to where you want to be, The Secrets of the Top 1% of Men. Not only will you get tapped into your own "band of brothers", but you'll also have access to the best damn content and training available for men as well as weekly group calls with my team of transformative coaches. No whiny boys, complainers or dabblers, for serious men only. If you're ready to push the boundaries of what's possible in your life and become the man you've always wanted to be. This is the fastest way to do it.

Tal Gur, a blogger, entrepreneur, and devoted adventurer, has spent a decade pursuing 100 major goals around the globe. But his journey had its challenges. Like most people, he faced crippling self-doubt and struggled for a sense of purpose. Behind every difficulty, he discovered a life-changing gift, and now he's passing what he learned onto others. You can connect with him and learn more at talgur.me Favorite Success Quote "Happiness before goals" Key Points 1. Put Your Happiness Before Goals Happiness should not be something that we defer until we achieve a specific goal. It should be a state of being that we cultivate every single day. It should be an emotion that we make incredibly easy to achieve. If you are reading this blog right now you have a lot to feel happy about. You have your sight. You have an internet connection and a device that is more powerful than the computers NASA used to put a man on the moon. You have full control of your brain and an ability to comprehend complex ideas and sentences. You have a LOT to be happy about. So act like it. Lower your barrier to happiness. Make a conscious effort to cultivate more happiness in your life by making it stupid simple to feel happy. When you wake up each morning, take a moment to feel happy for the warm sheets and cozy blankets covering your body. When you walk into work (even if you hate it) be happy that you have some sort of employment. When you come home each day, be happy that you have a roof over your head and food in your belly. Be happy now. Because now is all that we have. 2. Fulfillment is Dependent on Direction So often people assume that fulfillment is dependent on achieving some goal or arriving at some arbitrary destination. It's not. Fulfillment should depend on one thing and one thing only… Direction. Sit down in a quiet place later this week and really ask yourself what direction you want to take your life. Don't tie this to a specific goal or outcome, simply a direction. Do you want to move in the direction of more physical fitness? Greater financial freedom? More love and abundance? Whatever you decide, write it down and then commit to take three actions each day that move you in that direction. 3. Pain is a Messenger  Most people try to ignore or hide from pain. This is like trying to put a bandaid on cancer. Pain is a messenger. It's there to tell you that something is broken and you need to fix it. If you have a broken arm, a shot of morphine will numb the pain but it won't solve the problem. You need to visit a hospital, get a cast, and allow your bones to heal. Pain in your life is the same way. If you are depressed, anxious, or feeling overwhelmed… Good. This is a sign that something in your life isn't working. And you have the power to fix it. Whenever you experience pain don't run from it. Feel it. Experience it fully and sit in it for a few hours. Ask yourself, "What is this pain trying to tell me?" Are you in the wrong job or relationship? Struggling to be disciplined with your finances? Overweight and unhealthy? Before you run from the pain always try to uncover why you are experiencing pain in the first place. Because until you solve the root cause of the problem, you will never truly overcome the pain. 4. Focus on Financial Freedom First  People will often begin their journey of self-transformation by trying to fix their relationships, their career, or pursuing more of their passions. In most cases, this approach is completely backward. The first step that you should take to building your dream life and achieving your biggest goals is to achieve financial freedom. Until you have the money to do what you want, when you want, with whom you want, everything else should be secondary. Financial freedom will revolutionize every aspect of your life. It will allow you to travel more and pursue your passions with greater ease. It will allow you to have more choices in your relationships and care for the people you love. It will allow you to take care of your body and give yourself the care and attention you truly need. Financial freedom opens the doors of life and allows you to pursue your dreams on your terms. Focus on getting your money right first, and the rest will follow. 5. Pick One Thing and Stick With it to Completion  One of the most powerful ways to improve your quality of life is to master the art of single focusing on a task to completion. Life isn't short. We make it short by chasing too many goals at once and filling our time with unnecessary garbage. By learning to pick a goal or project and see it through to completion, you will unlock one of the master skills of life and learn that you can accomplish anything you want with the right sequencing and a little perseverence. Pick one goal and stick to it. The benefits will be enormous.

Adam Braun is an American entrepreneur, best-selling author, and philanthropist. He is the Founder of Pencils of Promise, a non-profit organization that builds schools and increases access to education for children in the developing world. He has recently founded a company called MissionU which is an alternative to higher education that is set to disrupt the industry and change the way that we view higher learning. Favorite Success Quote "Live not in dreams but in contemplation of a reality that is perhaps the future." ~Rainer Rilke Key Points 1. Say "No" More One of the most powerful words in the English language is the word "No". If you learn to use this word effectively, you can add dozens of hours of productive time to your weeks, reduce your mental and emotional stressors, and eliminate the vast majority of the tasks that aren't truly serving you. But there's a catch… In order to become a master of the word "No" you must first learn to prioritize your own time, success, and happiness above anyone else's. It might sound selfish or egotistic, but the simple fact of the matter is that you should come first. If you aren't taking care of yourself by saying "no" to the things that aren't serving you, then you are withholding your potential and your power from the world. Think about it… If you say "Yes" to working on a project for 3 clients even though that project will not pay you what you are worth and isn't in alignment with your goals and values, then what's going to happen when you are swamped with work but have a new client reach out to you with a position that would change your life? Or imagine that you have said "Yes" to several meetings that you didn't want to attend and that didn't serve you in any way… You are now forced to say "No" when an opportunity presents itself that is in true alignment with your vision. And all of these seemingly little and innocuous compromises will eventually accumulate until you are off track, off purpose, and up to your neck in things that aren't part of your ultimate mission on this planet. 2.Learn to Delegate Richard Branson, the (in)famous entrepreneur, author, playboy, and philanthropist was once asked to share the secret behind his numerous billion-dollar companies. His answer was surprising… He didn't say anything about needing a good idea, or working hard, or having lots of capital. No, he said that his secret was to find people who were better than he was, hire those people, and provide them with everything they needed to take his companies into the stratosphere. If you truly want to excel at business, then you must learn to delegate. Find people who are better than you are at a given position and give them the reigns. Because you can't do it alone. And you would be a fool to try. 3. Be an Entrepreneurial Missionary, not a Mercenary  There are two types of entrepreneurs. Missionaries and mercenaries. The entrepreneurial mercenary has one focus… Money. And while money is not necessarily a bad thing (as we will discuss momentarily) you need to realize that anyone who is solely focused on wealth will likely lose motivation, tire out, and quit. Instead, you should strive to be an entrepreneurial missionary, or, in other words, an entrepreneur whose end goal encompasses more than just a few added zeroes in your bank account. You need to have a mission for your business, you must genuinely want to serve the world and make an impact, and believe that you are the person to do it. Otherwise, you will spend years of your life tirelessly chasing money and success without ever making a real dent in the universe, without ever making a difference. And the irony of all of this? Entrepreneurs who focus on adding value and serving their world first tend to be the entrepreneurs who make the greatest profits in the long run. So regardless of whether you own your own company or are working for someone else, do your best to ensure that every step you make and every goal you set is for a purpose and a mission greater than yourself. The results will astonish you… 4. Money is an Avenue to Freedom Money is a complicated beast. It can bring about so much joy, happiness, and fulfillment, but it can also be at the heart of so much pain, agony, and suffering. Because of the dichotomous and confusing nature of money (and the fact that few of us receive a relevant financial education), it can be easy to fall into the trap of viewing money as either "Evil" or the "End all be all" of life. I am here to tell you… It's neither. Money is simply an avenue to freedom, it's a tool, an instrument to be wielded by those who possess it. With money, you can do some incredible things. You can transform lives, build a lasting legacy, and create a real impact on the universe. Without it, your options are severely limited, and your freedom is hindered. The sooner you realize that money is a tool and that in and of itself, has no moral standing, the sooner you will be able to create real wealth for yourself that you can use to bring about a significant amount of good in the universe. 5. Set a Vision, Stick to It, and Stay Accountable  If you want to achieve your goals and live a life of success and fulfillment, then you must set a vision, stick to it, and get massively accountable. You see, most of you reading this right now have at least one of these three steps in order. Maybe you have a vision, but you are constantly changing it and find yourself unable to follow through. Maybe you have been working tirelessly towards a goal or a dream but you know in your heart that it isn't truly congruent with your values and deepest desires. Maybe you have surrounded yourself with people who lift you to a higher level and want you to excel… But you have no vision for which they can hold you accountable. Whatever the case may be, if you want to excel in all areas of life and truly live a level 10/10 life, then you must set a crystal clear vision for what you want, stick to that vision, and get massive accountability from people you respect and admire. If any one of these ingredients is missing, the whole ship will sink and your dreams will never come to fruition. Set a vision. Stick to your vision. And get accountable. Now…