Posts Tagged ‘goals’

Now what am I grateful for? Home.

Posted by Mike Schurko on September 21st, 2010

Hi!  How are you doing this fine tuesday?  I feel a bit more relaxed today as compared to yesterday, and that is because Amanda and myself have made a decision in regards to moving or not.  Over the past 2 to 3 weeks, we’ve been weighing out the pros and cons of moving from our quaint and cozy 1 bedroom downtown apartment.  Finally after going to look at almost half a dozen places in a town called Port Moody, (which is about 30 minutes from downtown Vancouver) we finally decided to write out the exact place that we want, like we would write out a goal.  After writing everything out, it occurred to me that, besides having a smaller old fashion kitchen (without a dishwasher), we are basically living in our ideal home for right now.  Yes it’d be nice to live in a place that’s bigger, or the penthouse suite, or in a brand new building…but thinking about everything, made me realize how truly grateful I am for our home just the way it is.  I definitely look forward to challenging myself to earn higher levels of income, continuing my simplified life, and eventually moving in the future to a larger, more modern suite, but right now I feel blessed to have the home I do!

It’s easy to pick out the faults or problems with the home you live in, but what I want you to focus on are all of the things that you appreciate about your home.  Please share with me the blessings you feel from the home you live in!

Have a great day!

Here are some pictures from my apartment balcony, that really make me feel blessed to live where I do!

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Goal Setting – 7 Tips to Ensure Success!

Posted by Mike Schurko on September 13th, 2010

Hey there!  So it’s Monday.  I love mondays, because they signify the start of a new week.  Mondays can be an amazing time to start things, like;  A new workout plan, a new financial goal, or  new ideology to complement your lifestyle.  I have set many goals over the past decade, some that I’ve clearly completed, some that I’ve utterly failed, and ones that I’m not even sure about.  I’ve read that there is an extremely large percentage of the population, who have never even sat down, and wrote out their goals on paper.  Within the last 2 years, I’ve realized that I used to write out my goals in a way that set me up for failure or at least unsatisfactory completion.   There are several ways to specifically write out your goals to ensure that you are successful.  Here are a few;

1. Set A Specific Date:

Goals are just dreams with timelines right? : )  So give yourself a date to complete your goals by so that there is a sense of urgency to complete them.  It also allows you a checkpoint to see if your set goals are actually important to you or not.  At that point, you can re-evaluate, revamp and continue setting newer and bigger goals, to create a journey in life that is fun, exciting and continuously self improving!

2. One Goal Per Goal:

One thing I frequently found myself doing when writing out goals, was writing multiple goals in one.  So for example;

- My goal is to read 4 books this month and to buy one book too.

This goal is relatively clear about my intentions, but when the goal deadline arrives, and you only read 2 books that month, but bought 5 books…you kind of achieved the goal and kind of didn’t.  To make it even more clear for yourself, write one decisive goal per goal.  There’s no limit to your goals, so write them separately;

- My goal is to read 4 books this month

- My goal is to buy a new book this month

It feels better to be able to cross 2 goals off the list as successfully completed, instead of just crossing off a goal because it didn’t really work out exactly so.

3. Phrase The Goal To Be Yes Or No:

When you write out your goals, be decisive with one goal per goal, but also, be careful of how you word it.  Ensure that all of your goals are written so that when the deadline comes, you can answer it yes or no.  Be precise with what you want.  If you wrote down, “I want to get healthier” as a goal, can you answer that yes or no when the end date has been reached?  Not really.  Instead, write something like, “I want to be able to run 10k in 40 minutes by Sept 20th”, or “I want to weigh 180 lbs by Oct 1st”.  These are goals that, when the end date arrives, can be answered yes or no.  It increases your focus and clarity when you have an actual, tangible or logically imaginable goal.  Clarity is huge in everything you do, click here to read a recent post I wrote on the power of clarity. (Ignore the new website info at the bottom of the post…this is the new website :) )

4. Write In The Positive Tense:

It’s always a good practice in life to stay positive, about everything you do.  I’m not suggesting that negative events don’t happen, but you can usually find something good and positive to take out of any situation.  The same goes for your goals.  When you write your goals down, try to write them in the positive tense and use, the terms that you want to see, not what you don’t want to see.  For example, a negative tense goal could look like this;

- I want to be debt free in a year…or

- I want to lose 15 lbs in 2 months…or

- I don’t want to read less than 2 books this month

When you include the terms that don’t necessarily encompass the meaning or result of what you truly want, you may not be sending clear signals about what you really want, so try to avoid using them in your goal writing.  Instead of using the words; debt, lose or don’t want,  just reword them slightly;

- I want to have $10,000 in savings by Jan. 1st 2011

- I want to weigh a healthy 180 lbs by Oct 3rd 2010

- I want to read 2 books by Oct. 1st

These 3 goals mean very similar things when compared to their negative version, but just by stating the positive terms which you actually want more of, you’re putting your focus on these words and meanings.  This will actually attract more of those same positive feelings and terms you’re aiming towards, back into your life, which will in turn, assist you in completing your goals.

5. Set Varied Levels To Each Goal:

In order to easily achieve every goal you set, as well as push yourself beyond what you even thought you were capable of, try setting different levels of completion for each goal.  I like to set 3 levels which I call, minimum, goal, and extreme.  For example:

My goal is increasing my income so I would write;

Minimum – I want to earn $3000 in the month of September 2010 (this should be an easily attainable level for what you are used to achieving, regardless of the amount, the minimum should be relatively easy for you to attain)

Goal – I want to earn $5000 in the month of September 2010 (this should be a bigger challenge, one that you believe you could reach, would be very impressed if you reached it, and believe you can strive towards it)

Extreme – I want to earn $10,000 in the month of September 2010 (this should be a dream level goal, something that if you achieved it, you would be absolutely astonished and blown away by your awesomeness!)

That way, you’re still feeling the gratification of successfully completing a goal, and you’re still challenging yourself to push harder and achieve more than you ever thought possible.  This works for any type of goals too, be creative!

6. Share Your Goals With Your Peers:

One way to increase the odds of successfully completing the goals you set, is to tell your friends and family your goals.  Hold yourself accountable to these peers, update them on your progress, ask for guidance if you’re struggling, and then celebrate your successes with them once they’re completed!  This alone can make a huge difference in goal completion, as for some strange reason, it can be easier to be dishonest with yourself, than with others.  Also, if your friend or family is working on a goal, offer yourself to be an accountability partner!  I’m sure they’d appreciate the support on their journey of self improvement!

7. Set Rewards

Based on the size of your goals, there should be a relative sized reward waiting for you at the finish line!  There is no better way to reinforce positive and timely action in completing your goals, than a nice juicy prize for completion.  Now I know its easy to get carried away with this so have some fun, don’t overdo it. Just let yourself relish in the successful completion of a goal you set.  For example;

- You reached your goal weight – $100 to buy a new snazzy outfit.

- You earned your financial “extreme” level goal – book a trip for you and your best friend to Las Vegas.

- You completed that huge personal project that you chose to do in your spare time – Go out for a nice dinner at your favourite restaurant, and a go to a movie.

All of these tips can help you to achieve your goals, but the most important process behind your goal setting (besides the necessity of action), from which everything in todays world started from, a dream.  Dream big dreams, set big goals!  If you want to be someone, have something, go somewhere or do something that you would never think possible for you in this lifetime….even better : ) !!  Please let me know what your goals and dreams are.  If you need an accountability partner, let me know too!  Thanks for letting me share my passion with you!  I wish you the best of luck with all your goals, and in your amazing journeys towards them!

p.s. – My newest goal is to eliminate all known sources of un-natural sugars from my diet for 2 weeks to see how I feel.  That means no sugar in my coffee, no pop or slurpees, ice cream, chocolate bars, you name it.  I have been researching lots into the affects of sugar on our bodies, which I will be sharing with you soon.

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Life after holidays! 4 steps for back to normal.

Posted by Mike Schurko on September 8th, 2010

Well, after nearly 2 weeks of visiting family and friends in Saskatchewan, I’m sad to say goodbye until we meet again, but I am very excited to get back into my “normal” lifestyle.  I admit that I did indulge in many things during my holidays such as; large caloric meals, tasty sugary deserts (those darn cupcakes), adult beverages, and didn’t exercise nearly as much as I normally would.

Pike Lake Adventures

Darlene's Evil Cupcakes! : )

But, the “regulated” lifestyle that I promote definitely includes a time to relax, enjoy your friends and family and celebrate your time together because hey, life’s short…it’s always important to strive towards optimum health, but there’s always a time when we can all allow for a little “backslide”, that’s okay…BUT…the key after enjoying these times, is the ability to jump back on the horse once you’ve been off of it.  Here are 4 things that I am focusing on, to help me get back into my regular, positive habits that I’ve swayed from while on holiday;

Regain a sleep schedule:

I definitely found myself staying up later, and sleeping in longer during my holidays, which is perfectly fine for time off, but I for one feel more productive when I get up with the sun or even before it, in order to get a jump start on the day. I’m striving for a full 7-8 hours of sleep, getting my exercise out of the way early, and preparing for my day.

Get back into an exercise routine:

For the first week or two back, I will be exercising for at least 30-60 minutes per day, just to help get rid of the extra pounds I acquired over the holidays, and also to get my energy and fitness levels back to where I am used to them being.

Get diet back to normal:

On holidays, I found myself consuming higher levels of sugar and empty carbs, along with less fresh fruits and vegetables.  I am immediately going back to my regular diet of lots of fruits and veggies and other foods low in fat and high in protein.  I’m not even going to consider “going out” for food for at least a week or two just to get my body back into the rhythm of healthy eating…and definitely not a sniff of alcohol for at least 1 or 2 weeks.  Any diet, good or bad can become habit, so I’m trying to break any unhealthy habits i adopted, and re-inforce my healthy ones.

Relax, and reward yourself:

For me, cold turkey has always worked best for quitting bad habits and nourishing good ones.  However, we are all human, and self-discipline can be very empowering, but without rewarding ourselves from time to time, it can be hard to feel a sense of accomplishment or pride or to even find a reason to continue depriving yourself from regular unhealthy indulgences.  Yes, the outward fruits of your labour will show eventually, but again…life is to be enjoyed!  Just remember to show yourself love, by rewarding yourself to a “treat” once in a while, and you’ll feel how easy it can be to maintain your positive growth and nurture positive habits.

So back in the saddle, I hope everyone had a great long weekend, an enjoyable first day back yesterday, and is ready to grow themselves and start enjoying your lives as much and more than you’ve ever thought possible!  I ask you to please share with me…how do you “get back in the saddle” after a vacation?!

Thanks for letting me share my passion with you!

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In everything you think and do, where do you come from?

Posted by Mike Schurko on August 18th, 2010

Now you may look at this question and think to yourself, what the heck is Mikey talking about now..where do I come from when I think and do???  Please allow me to explain : )

In every thought, reaction or action you carry out on a day to day basis, you come from a certain place in your mind when doing so.  This place is within you, it can be HUGELY affected by who and what’s around you, and it is the basis of how and why you act, react and think the way you do.  For example, if you’re conditioned to come from a “lack” perspective, then you might say something like, “we can’t afford that new food processor, we don’t have any room for it, and what the heck good is it to us anyway?”  Whereas if you come from a perspective of “prosperity” you may say, “a food processor sounds awesome, we can easily afford that, there’s tons of places for it to go and we can use it to eat healthier at home.”

The point I’m trying to get across is that no matter what the situation you’re thinking, acting or reacting too, if you come from lack, you’ll see what you don’t like, what you don’t want, what you think you can’t do or have, or why this won’t work.  When you come from a prosperity mind set, you start to see the positives and the potentials in any given situation which will always lead to better outcomes.

This even effects the “self-talk” that goes on inside your head.  We all have it, there’s a little voice inside our heads that guides our thoughts, decisions, and actions.  The only negative aspect about self-talk, is that this voice can suggest ideas, while coming from lack, and you don’t chose to do anything to correct it.  No matter what your conditioning is, or where it came from, you can affect future outcomes right now, by basing your thoughts, actions and reactions through a new lens called prosperity.

Think of it like two pairs of sunglasses.  When you put on one pair…the dark pair (lack), all you see is the dark scary path that you think lies ahead of you, so therefore you slowly stagger ahead thinking that the worst-case-senerio could be hiding in the darkness, which inevitably will stop you from taking action towards your goals and dreams because you just can’t possibly see how it could work out for you….

…OR…

You can put on the clear glasses (prosperity), where you can see things a lot better, the path ahead of you doesn’t look so scary because you know…you can see, that the only things that could potentially stop you aren’t real and are only in your mind.  So with these glasses on you can confidently stride ahead on your life path knowing that even if you take action down a path that may have not led you exactly where you want to end up…you can see that you’ve still moved forward, and that you can easily find you’re way to another path that leads you even closer towards where you want to be.

Here’s another example:

When you look at yourself in the mirror, what do you see? Do you see someone who’s not in the best shape physically, has a bad hair cut with out of date clothes on who slouches and could never be healthy, rich, or prosperous. NO!!…take off those damn lack glasses! Find the features that you love…you’re engaging eyes, you beautiful smile! Then realize that the person who is looking right back at you in that mirror; is full of potential and growth, can easily achieve ANY goals that they set out to, and are worthy of receiving absolutely everything they could ever dream of…AND MORE, and you can start to see that today!!

The incredible thing, is that there are no tools needed, no assembly required so to speak, to change how you see things right now.  All it takes is awareness to understand what lens you have on right now, and a simple change in perception.  Even if you don’t think you know where to find those prosperity shades…just keep looking…they’re right beside you, and when you finally get them back on and you see the world through prosperous eyes, you will again realize how beautiful, plentiful and full of potential that life really is!

Thank you so much for letting me share my passion with you! I appreciate all of you, your feedback, and the time you take to read my little snippits of light and love. I know that you know, you have something special inside of you, and you deserve the best always! Just take one small step towards self improvement per day, and start living your dream life sooner than you ever thought possible!

Mike

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Positivity is one thing….but to truly manifest what you want, you have to remember to do this….

Posted by Mike Schurko on August 13th, 2010

It’s been about 4 years since I had first been introduced to what is known as the law of attraction.  I started by watching a movie called “The Secret”.  Little did I know, that it would have such an impact on my life.  I started with daily positive thinking and visualization like they talked about, but one important key to the process that I felt I had neglected initially, was action.

I thought that to have everything, all I had to do was think it and believe it and it would appear.  Which in some cases, can happen…but what I found out years later is that more often than not, in order to receive what we believe we are attracting, we will discover an action, or a series of actions to take to physically manifest our goals and dreams.  Visualizing and believing is a very important first step in the process of creation, but I believe that the purpose of visualizing and believing is ultimately to attract a plan of action.

I’m such a believer in inspired thought, and how taking action the moment it feels right, always gets rewarded!  Here in an example of how I have applied this theory in my life:

I live in Vancouver now, but  I had been working on the oil rigs in Alberta / Saskatchewan for almost 3 years, and I wanted a change.  So every day as we’d drive out to the rig for another shift, I would say to myself, “I’m so happy and grateful that I work from my home town successfully. ”  Everyday for 10-15 minutes, I would see myself sleeping in my own bed every night, joining a pool league, making new friends and seeing my girlfriend every day.  I kept this up for nearly a month.  Then one day the rig got shut down for a few weeks, so I went back home to Vancouver.  I thought, this could be my chance, so I started looking for a job…I had applied for a couple jobs that I thought might work, but I wasn’t hearing back from them, and I wasn’t feeling inspired.  I became hesitant about leaving the rigs and the high level of income I was used to earning. Of course if I was still living on the prairies, It would have made it a lot easier stay on the rigs…but something in my heart said that this was the right choice for me right now, so I pushed on!  Then finally, I noticed a job ad online, and it said to call if interested, I felt this strange urge to do so, so I did.  That phone call (so I heard) was the reason why I was chosen for this job over other applicants, even though I had no experience in the field. That following monday I started an extremely enjoyable job that allowed me to work in Vancouver, as well as start and run my own production company from home.  I definitely miss all of the guys from the rig, and even the work too, but I’m very grateful for how things worked out.  I attracted the opportunity, and I took action when inspired!

The view I so gratefully get to enjoy every night.

So, if you’ve been trying to attract a specific goal into your life, its very important to visualize and believe that it has already happened, but always pay attention to the signs the universe is giving you.  Learn to take action now if you want to lose weight, earn a million dollars or learn to play the guitar.  Act on inspired thought!  The more energy you put into it, the faster you will bring about your goals!

You may be thinking, “Mike, what can i do right now to put this process in motion?” Well I ask you to write out a few of your biggest goals and then for each goal, write out 5 actions you can take towards each one (trust me, the ideas will flow).  Then, the most important part…chose at least one of those actions, and act on it TODAY!

Now, my question to you is, have you ever read a book or watched a show that has changed your life.  I enjoy all of your feedback, so please feel free to leave a comment, or send me an email by going to my contact/hire link.

Thanks for letting me share my passion with you!  Have a fantastic weekend!

Mike

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Don’t Forget About Weight Training!! Did You Know These 7 Amazing Benefits?!

Posted by mikeschurko on August 11th, 2010

My most recent fitness goal, has been to lean down to 179 lbs.  This is new to my body, as I can remember being 180 lbs since I can remember ever thinking about my weight (besides my heavy “rock-star” days about 5 years ago…wink).  I’m currently hovering right around 185 lbs right now and am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.  However, as I was powering through my elliptical session yesterday, watching the burned calories add up, and thinking…”YES, I ROCK!” , but then I looked across our apartment gym, and saw the weights sitting there.  I thought to myself, you know what, I haven’t done any weight training in quite some time.  Yes cardio like running, hiking, biking, swimming etc are great ways to burn those calories and drop weight, but we cannot forget how beneficial and necessary weight training is, even when you’re just trying to lose weight!

Here are 6 amazing benefits of weight training;

Stronger Bones

- If you’re losing weight by cardio alone, you can actually start to reduce the mass and density of your bones.  By weight training you strengthen your bones and reduce your risk of Osteoporosis.

Raise Your Metabolism

– By weight training, you increase your lean body mass which also increases your metabolism.  The faster your metabolism runs, the more calories you burn on a day to day basis, assisting any weight loss goals.

Elevate Your Wellness

- When you weight train, you release endorphins that actually elevate your mood, strengthen your immune system and improve your sleep which can really add to your overall well being!

Improve Muscular Endurance

- When you train your muscles with weights, you increase your overall strength and endurance, which will make day to day activities easier, like carrying groceries, opening doors, moving furniture or lifting a child.

Reduce Injury

- The stronger your muscles are, the less likely you will injury yourself in, sometimes known as, “all too routine” ways, such as sprained ankles, sore knees or even back injuries.  Improved strength by weight training, assists your every motion and increases daily body safety.

Improve Posture / Balance / Coordination

- having improved posture, balance and coordination can improve your day to day ease of life as well.   On top of that however, those 3 improvements can also improve your overall look, feel and self confidence.

Create Sexy Toned Muscles

- weight training will tone those muscles, so that you feel more confident when showing them off!

One funny comment I’ve heard over the years is, “I don’t want to weight train, because I’m afraid I’ll get too huge”.  To that I say, unless you’re consuming 200 calories a day and pounding heavy weights for 2 hours a day, you’ll never have to worry about all of a sudden waking up one day and saying to yourself, ” CRAP…I’m HUGE now!  I Didn’t see that coming!”

The ultimate plan to “leaning down”, as I like to call it (losing weight while maintaining and even building more muscle), is a healthy combination of the 2 exercise types.  Try alternating, one day run, the next day do weights and so on.  Or you can try circuit training…keeping your heart rate up while lifting low weight at high reps.  If you can fit 2 workouts in a day, do your hour of cardio in the morning on an empty stomach, and lift weights in the evening when you have some food energy in you, and you’re more alert.   The point being, make sure you train your muscles with weights, no matter what the health or fitness goal.  You’ll thank yourself the day after when you see more definition than ever before, and you’ll thank yourself years down the road when you feel stronger and more agile than ever before!

Thanks for letting me share my passion with you!  Now…What are you waiting for?!  GO HIT THE GYM !

(safely of course!)

: )

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Did You Know That A Tiny Change in Your Attitude, Can Drastically improve Your Life…NOW?!

Posted by mikeschurko on August 9th, 2010

Have you ever noticed how one negative event can spiral downward and multiply into a bunch of consecutive negative events?  Bite your tongue while eating breakfast, then you break a string on your shoe, spill coffee on your white shirt, get stuck in traffic, show up late for work and get fired….

…well, it doesn’t have to be that extreme, but you get my point : )

Now some people have asked me over the years, “Hey Mike, how do you stay so positive all the time?”  Well, this is definitely one of my secrets!

If you aren’t already aware…did you know that you can change that “bad” day into a “good” day, in a matter of seconds??!!

If you simply change how you react to that negative situation from; getting mad, upset, yelling, throwing something or letting negative self talk consume your thoughts all day long… to saying to yourself…it’s really not that big of a deal, I can get over this…this feeling will pass and I can still have an amazing day!  When your day seems to turn down hill, it’s absolutely all in your head, and you can change it right now!….I know it can seem unbelievable but it’s true.

Once you’ve tried out this technique a few times, you’ll start to notice that because of your newly decided upon positive reactions, things seem to go right back the way you want them too, it becomes very empowering!  Once you learn how to control your reactions and remain positive, you will then continue to attract more positive situations and things, and more things and situations to be positive about, into your life.

The point I’m trying to make, is that negative reactions cause negative energy, and we all know that when we’re in that negative mood…nothing goes right.  So why remain in that head space any longer?  It literally is a waste of energy…and in fact, you’re not just wasting it, but that bad energy is affecting your body.  I believe that the negative energy causes “dis-ease” within your body, and creates negative health conditions like colds, body aches, head aches or worse.  Also, I do understand that It may seem hard or even impossible to see the positive in some situations, but believe me, It’s a LOT healthier trying to find one, than simply focusing on the negative.

I want you to try something for me this week!…Try to react positively to every negative situation you may enter for 7 full days, and let me know how it goes.  I promise you that this one simple change you can make with hardly any effort, can improve your life exponentially!

Thanks for letting me share this with you!  I wish you all positivity and success in your lives!

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The Power of Clarity

Posted by mikeschurko on August 4th, 2010

Have you ever wondered why you’re not getting exactly what you want into your life?  Ever think to yourself, that you’re not 100% sure what you want?  Do you feel like your spinning your wheels in who-knows-what direction?  What you need, is clarity!

Clarity will allow you to set measurable goals in the direction of your dreams, and see results as to whether or not what you’re doing in your life is working for you or not.  Goal setting is one of the most important steps towards self-improvement, because let’s face it, If you don’t know how you want to grow, how can you grow at all, right?!  To some, this may seem silly, but I want to actually write down all of your goals in every aspect of your life, like; health, wealth, travel, business, etc…and be specific.  Instead of, “I wanna be rich”, write down, I want to earn $100,000 in 2010, or instead of, “I want to be skinny”, write down, I want to weigh 150 pounds by Oct. 30th.  The more specific you are, the more you can specialize what actions you take on a day-to-day basis to get you where you want to be.  You can write this for small as well as big goals, for example; I want to have a net worth of more than $10 Million dollars by Dec. 31st 2012.  You can have fun with this too, because the more awareness you have regarding what you really want, the more what you really want will come your way!

This leads us to the topic of goal setting, which I will post soon.  There are definitely keys to setting proper goals so that you set yourself up for success, but give it a try now, and you’ll see how fast goals can be achieved when you’re clear about what your goals actually are!

Thanks again for letting me share my passion with you!  I will be launching a redesigned blog website within 2 – 3 weeks, so sign up and subscribe to my blog so that you can stay informed on that, and share in future posts!

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Financial Motivation – Why do you even try to earn money?

Posted by mikeschurko on July 28th, 2010

I truly believe that we are all spiritual beings in a material world, and to achieve “success” in this material world, you have to be able to beat the “money game”.  How do you know you’ve beat the money game?  You’ll know it, when money doesn’t affect the choices you make in your life anymore.  I think the most important financial goal you’ll ever set in your life, is the goal to become financially free (unless you don’t believe in the physical confines of this world of course), thereby allowing you to do what you want, when you want, with whoever you want,wherever you want to!  So why DO you work right now?  To pay the bills, to get out of debt, to save up for a retirement (otherwise known as relative financial freedom) in 10, 20, 40 years?  Why can’t we have that now?

Within the last year, I have learned 4 keys to becoming financially free sooner than you could ever think possible.  Each key on its own is so so simple to do, you just have to put it into practice to the best of your abilities…the better you practice these keys, the faster you will reach your financial goals.  Each one of these steps I could write an entire post on…if you’d like to further discuss these following topics in more detail, just let me know!

1. Simplify Your Life

So many people live WAAAAAY beyond there means!  Or like to have toys to play with once or twice and never use again.  Then all these impulse possessions create clutter in your home and a hole in your wallet (or purse lol).  If you can really learn to live within your means (nothing on credit!), declutter your home and simplify your life (buy only what you need, including “Fun” items from time to time which we talked about a few weeks back – click here to read), you can make life so much easier for yourself and much more peaceful.  I love this topic so much that I think we’ll go into it deeper soon!

2. Increase your Working Income

The quickest way to start building towards your financial freedom is to increase your ‘”working income”.  Working income is the income you receive for the time you spend earning it.  If you work a “9-5 ‘er” job, it’s your hourly pay rate.  If you run your own company then it’s the income after taxes that you keep.  There are many ways to increase your working income…ask for a raise, get a part time job (as long as you still have time to pursue your passions too), educate yourself to be worth more to your employer, try to expose yourself to more potential clients everyday!  Working income by itself is powerful, but when combined with our next step, is exponential!!

3. Create Passive Income Streams

This is income that you can earn in your sleep.  Anything from owning vending machines to contracting out work while taking commissions, to setting up your own franchise.  This will help grow your nest egg so much faster than simply relying on working income alone.  So now that you have all of this money with your working and passive income adding up together so fast, what do you do with it?!…

4. Make Your Money Make You More Money

When you start to notice all this money sitting around in your bank accounts, it’s great practice to leverage that money to help you earn even MORE money!  Investment doesn’t have to simply mean the stock market, as we all know it’s rough waters out there these days, you can invest in real estate, low risk GIC’s, or mutual funds, anything that will help multiply these funds!

With these 4 simple steps, you can achieve financial freedom faster than you could ever have imagined.  Even if you think you don’t make enough money to invest, you’re too old to start a passive stream of income or you’re not smart enough to invest…you don’t have to know it all to have it all and you can start from any situation in your life!  There are trained professionals in each field that can educate you and help you get to where you want to be…Oh, and there is one more key that isn’t included in the 4 here but is the absolute crutial to EVERYTHING, and that is, taking action NOW!  I’m not saying to make unwise decisions with your finances…think hard and act quick…start growing your money today so you can start doing what you truly want to later today!

Thanks for letting me share my passions with you!  I’m so excited to see you all become financially free!  Also, I appreciate all of you positive feedback and comments you’ve been sending!   Remember, in life, it doesn’t have to be perfect now, but you can start right now!

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Need More Motivation to Exercise?!

Posted by mikeschurko on July 23rd, 2010

After looking into the “whys” behind all of the actions you take (if you didn’t read that post yet click here) , it is entirely common to still not be able to find the drive, or motivation to take action in this very moment to take steps towards your health and fitness goals.  One thing you need to be aware of is that it’s easy to feel good about planning to take your next step…but what you have to realize is that none of that planning is worth a sniff unless its acted upon.  It’s great to read different diet books, or listen to exercise audiobooks, but the key to your health goal success is putting what you’ve learned into action…NOW!

There are many ways to become and stay motivated, but I’m going to share with you 8 ideas I’ve used in my life that you can put into practice in yours today that I believe will make a difference immediately!

1. Keep Track of Your Progress

- I love stats, especially when they show the pounds dropping, the amount of weight and reps I can push rising, and the time it takes to run a set distance decreasing.  So keep a journal, it doesn’t have to take a lot of time, just write a few entries each day including your current weight (first thing in the morning), a big star or smiley face if you worked out that day, and if there was an improvement or success that you experienced that day like a faster 5km time or the workout felt easier than last time.   Also celebrate your successes by sharing milestones with friends and family.  Pictures and measurements can also work as a great tool to visualize your progress!

2.Remember How Good You Feel After the Workout

- Have you ever had a workout that you’ve felt bad after?  Barring injury or illness (always stretch before and after every activity to decrease chances of injury) it’s nearly impossible to think of a time when you’ve felt worse after a workout…Right??!  Remember those after workout feelings; you always feel tighter, more athletic, more awake and more alive after every work out.  Every time you feel those feelings, remember how amazing it is, and when the next time an option comes up to work out or sit and watch TV…Remember those fabulous feelings you get from exercise versus the brain numbing feelings you get from TV, then get active and move towards your ultimate health goals!

3. Make Exercise Enjoyable

- Not everyone likes to sweat away in a gym on an elliptical trainer or stand still bike machine.  Maybe you like to play tennis or basketball or jog in your favourite park, even snowboarding or roller hockey…if you like the “exercise” you’ll be more likely to want to do it.  If you have a specific sport, game or activity you like to do as exercise, please share it with me in the comment box!

4. Get a Workout Buddy

- It’s easy to let your mind talk you out of a planned workout when you’re all alone and have only yourself to convince, but when you can share in experience with a friend who has the same goals as you…it drastically increases motivation levels.  When you work out with a friend, you can push each other in ways you couldn’t do yourself…also if you like having conversations about the whats what of what when you workout with your friend then you’ll definitely notice that your workout time flies faster.  This way you can have fun, while improving your health and fitness with your friend, (or friends) and reach your goals too!

5. Make Exercise Habit

- Every morning I like to wake up between 5:15 and 6:00 am and get my workout in and start my day with my health goals in mind.  I find that the more consistent I am with my workouts (I like to work out a minimum of 4-5 times a week), the more it becomes habit and the easier it is to do it tomorrow morning.  Try this; if you’re having troubles staying motivated to exercise, plan your next week so that you can wake up by 6 am latest (no snooze bar lol!) everyday for 5 days straight (unless you work nights…I understand).  Keep track in your journal of how it goes day by day, and after the week is up, see how you feel.  If you feel great, keep it up…make it a habit, if you feel like crap because you think “I’m not a morning person”, we can either discuss how you can change that thought : ) or we can tweak the schedule…the point is getting into a routine of exercise consistency, which alone can bring you to your fitness goals faster than anything!

6. Set a Goal

- One AMAZING motivator I’ve found is setting specific goals in a specific time frame.  The biggest fitness motivator goal I’ve ever set, was June of 2009…I got home after work one day and was discussing potentially trying a triathlon in the future…I personally thought I’d never, EVER do one in my life, but again, with having an exercise partner right beside me to motivate me…in the blink of an eye, I found ourselves booked into the 2009 Vancouver Triathlon and started training.  Believe me, I’d never worked out so hard in my life!  So set a goal for yourself, enter a 5km or a 10km running race 2 months in advance and start training today!  Or if you’ve really active already, set a goal bigger than you’d ever think possible…think big like marathon, triathlon or Iron Man!  You’ll feel motivated to workout so you do well in your event and afterwords you’ll be even more motivated to enter your next event!

7. Realize the Importance and Benefits of Exercise

- If nothing else can motivate you to be active and exercise, your quality of life should.  What kind of life do you want to live?  Do you want to be active and enjoy a healthy lifestyle, or do you want to be sick, overweight, and miss opportunities to experience an active life because you can’t do it?  You don’t have to be training for an Iron Man in order to benefit from regular physical activity.  It simply is healthy to fatigue your muscles, test your lungs and raise that heart rate, it can only improve your day to day life, so why not…it’s the only life we have, lets be healthy and enjoy it in every way possible!

8. Get a Personal Trainer

- It’s okay if right now you don’t think you can achieve your health and fitness goals on your own, you’re not alone, you don’t have to get down on yourself because you don’t know where or how to get started.  You can delegate that chore to an educated professional.  Personal trainers can get you started on the right foot, show you how to properly exercise to reach your desired goals and answer those questions you may have about health and fitness.  Or if you’re already really active, a trainer can help you to the next level of your game so that you can do what you’re doing now, but even faster or better.  I know trainers can cost more than you think you can afford but think about this; how much is that coffee in the morning and bottle of juice in the afternoon? Maybe 4 or 5 bucks at least right…think about a months worth of coffee and bottles of juice…that could easily add up to over $100 – $150.  Try for one month to make coffee at home, and buy bulk juice from the grocery store and put that $150 towards as many training sessions you can get and see what happens.  It doesn’t have to be coffee and juice only either…it can be cigarettes, (if you smoke…tisk tisk!), muffins, doughnuts…or how about alcohol.  If you drink alcohol…add up how much you spend in a month and see if that can’t afford you a few personal training sessions : )

Well I hope you enjoyed this post!  I promise you that if you apply even 1 of these ideas into your life right now…you’ll move faster towards ultimate health than ever before!

Check back to my Budget Diet Life blog as I’m going to cover wealth motivation and procrastination!  Thank you so much for letting me share my thoughts with you!  Please feel free to email or leave a comment and I’ll respond asap!

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