Seeking for Meaning

Looking for your Purpose? Reading up on books, listening to audio, talking to others and getting their thoughts, etc?

Don't get me wrong; those are avenues  you can take and there are a multitude of material out there to tap into.

...how about this...
(I'll be quoting some quotes but I didn't find the person who summarized these things)

When you wake up and you don't find yourself excited to pick up where you left your work yesterday, you probably haven't found your calling.

Remember to keep your dreams in the forefront of your mind - visualization is crucial to goal achieving. Your Dreams express what your soul is telling you, so as crazy as it may seem -- listen to what your Dreams are telling you.

Find your passion and Grow into it - spend 15-20 minutes a day working/reading/growing into it. Since time is our non-refundable currency in this world, you might as well allocate it to your passion; squeeze the most out of that time you have to give.

Your Worst Enemy

Your ultimate worst enemy, the one that always gets in your way, stops your dreams, goals, etc., is Doubt and Fear. Namely, parts of you stemmed from your ego.

Those voices inside of your head that puts doubt/fear into a plan that could be great for you. When you have the thought of "That would be a great idea!" "I think this will work", they say, "Are you sure? It will be hard", "It's too tough", "You don't have the time", etc. There is a huge laundry list of things the ego says to stop you from your dreams/goals/aspirations.

Those voices kept me in control until I finally stopped listening to the doubt/fear and started investing in myself: fitness, working out, eating right, and knowing that the results were not coming from a magic pill but a sure-fire process/program that was completed through hard work. I started at 225 pounds, and through the hard work I put in (and continually do), I lost 62 pounds and am in the best shape in my life.

P90X, Shakeology, and always thinking of what I'm going to eat was the way for me. Yeah, the workouts are long, but before my transformation I found myself spending an hour or more playing games, watching tv, etc. I still enjoy those things, but now at a more controlled, less addictive kind of way.


Now that I have the energy/body that I truly appreciate, I find it easier going on long walks with my dog, doing 5k's with my wife, spending more time at home, and overall having that "can-do" attitude - those voices do not control me anymore.

Being a Fitness/Wellness Coach now I enjoy helping those that want to achieve their own fitness goals. Those that tell me that they achieved their goals thanks to my help, motivation, and willingness to push them  is the best feeling. Fitness and Music are my two big passions, and I love every day working with those aspects.

I invite those out there that want to get REAL results to reach out to me by either message, email, or by comments below.
 
Brandon Shostak is my name - if you Google Search me you'll most likely come across my profiles.

Yes, it's scary to ask for help - but if you really want those results you've been looking for, if you want that energy to keep up with your kids/friends/family, if you want to look in the mirror like I did and when you are finished with a workout/program you say to yourself, "I did it" -- all you need to do is ask.

"You + Choice + Behavior + Habit + Compounded = Goals" - Darren Hardy

Keep pushing Play,
Brandon S.

New Chapters in Development

Hey all -
Just finished Darren Hardy's Book, The Compound Effect. So charged up at the end, I'm ready to tackle the world!

The lessons in this book are pure diamond in value, yet so simple to understand. In the end of the book I was also thinking of my own goals, (Family, Fitness, Music, Work) and it all became clear what I had to do.

Like the book ends, it says the one thing that will get your goal-achieving process in motion: Choice.

Are you going to make the choice to invest in yourself?

I also had a great takeaway about doing the Unexpected/Extraordinary - quoted by Mr. Hardy, "What's popular is average, it's what's common. Common things deliver common results"

In your areas of your life, are you finally going to get going and decide to work on the Extraordinary work it will take to achieve success? I know I'm nowhere near finished, and I hope I never will be finished. It's what makes me push Play everyday; in Family, Fitness, Music, and Work.

 

Decide today and take ACTION on your goals. If that little seed of doubt creeps in, crush it into the ground, avoid the negative, and plan so your dreams become deadlines.

~Keep pushing Play~

Stakman (Brandon Shostak)

Takeaway Notebook

Hey all -
Been reading The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy, and let me tell you - GREAT TAKE-AWAYS!

What is a takeaway? A snip-it of great ideas/tips/quotes/thoughts/etc that you take away from the reading. Not only do I highlight these, but I have an on-going notebook of all of my takeaways. It's a nice reminder to keep them fresh, and in different places, because the book might be stored away, but if you have it all written down you have a great collection of quotes/thoughts/tips/etc at your fingertips.

Today's take away is from that book, talking about influences in your life - having your own Board of Advisors on areas in life you want to improve on - and asking them to be mentors in those fields for you.

The great thing is, a mentor doesn't have to be in physical form - it can be in DVD/Audiobook/CD/Podcasts/you name it!

If you always keep in mind your top 5 people you associate with you can have a great advantage or a poor disadvantage at how you approach life.

Think of your top 5 - who do you need to remove? Add? Limit your association with?

Tough choices will have to be made, yes, but it's all worth it - the real tough decision is that question: are you willing to make the tough choices for the success you want?

While reviewing this post - I also venture on Youtube, so set my day right :) - I found a Great TED Talk by  Eduardo Briceno talking about the Power of Belief: check it out:

Make this day about growth, seeking out your own Board of Advisors, and always keeping that Growth Mindset.


Keep pushing Play,
Stakman
(Brandon Shostak)