Month: January 2017

“Remember to proceed with self-love and self-acceptance at all times, as this is the only path to real and lasting change” – Don Miguel Ruiz Jr.

Will you do as much as it takes, as long as it takes to achieve your ambitions?, asks Danielle LaPorte. Great question and one I ask myself at least several times a day as I strive to carve out my place in the world. Full disclosure here: sometimes I feel like throwing in the towel and just becoming a Homer Simpson – work at a job I hate, eat jelly donuts, and then come home and sit on the couch and watch mindless TV and drink Duff beer.

But I believe in dreams. I believe we have the capacity to make our dreams come true if we have the Will, and If we have the Will, we’ll find a way.  I studied Military History at West Point. One of my favourite generals was Hannibal.  He is considered to be one of the greatest military commanders in history. Well during the Second Punic Wars, his commanders were giving him stick and telling him that it would be impossible to cross the Alps with elephants.  His reply to these naysayers:

“I will either find a way, or make one.”

On tomorrow’s Havana Cafe Sessions podcast, Sarah and I will be talking about some of the books that have shaped our lives.  Here’s a list of 21 books that could get you started. What books would you include on your list?

What’s in between life and death besides going to school, getting a job, a spouse, a house, a car etc and then rinse and repeating each day as you go along until you die? Here are a few things you may have forgotten about life. I’d also add, don’t forget the inner journey. As Henry Miller said: “For there is only one great adventure and that is inward toward the self, and for that, time nor space nor even deeds matter.”

And as my main man Socrates said according to Plato: “The unexamined life is not worth living.”

So you want to make a change. Change is hard, or can be hard. On the other hand, as Tony Robbins is fond of saying, change can happen in an instant. But one thing I have found is that sometimes one of the biggest obstacles to making change happen is the people around you, especially those close to you. Not because they don’t like you or want to see you fail, but because they are afraid they’ll have to change too. Without wanting to seem negative, they’ll subtly introduce reasons why you shouldn’t change or how what you want to change is too risky or not the right time. If you want to make lasting change, you’ll have to break through these barriers of negativity.

What is it with our relationship with food?

“One third of the US population is obese, even as 50 million Americans often struggle to find enough to eat. And all that in a country where 40 percent of the food made and purchased each year is thrown away, and in which food needs are expected to more than double over the next few decades.”

They say it takes on average 21 days to create a new habit. I’ve used a few habit trackers like TracknShare, but I like the cleaner interface of HabitMaster. You might find this useful in helping you track the new habits you’re wanting to install in 2017.

I know I said this once already this week, but in case you missed it, I’ll say it again, you are already enough. Any fulfilment you are seeking is right inside of you and always has been. Your job is to reacquaint yourself with yourself. I’ve been doing some of that through mindful meditation and more recently learning about Ken Wilber’s Integral Meditation in which he teaches mindfulness as a path to grow up, wake up, and show up in your life.

And finally,

What’s love got to do with it?

WATCH: The Scientific Reason the ‘Honeymoon Phase’ Goes Away

A little spark of motivation for your day,

Clay

I’ll leave you with this tune: