Author: agasso

Get started!

How many times are you going to tell yourself you are going to do something, then never do it?

When is enough, enough?

Think about how far you would be if you started when you said you were going to. What better decision did you make that made you not follow through with your first idea? You probably didn’t make a better decision. The truth of the matter is, you probably just quit before you even started.

“It was too hard. I wouldn’t be good enough. It probably wouldn’t work, I’ll do it tomorrow. I’ll think about it.”

That’s all bullshit. You tricked yourself into believing all the negativity. Instead of just doing it, you put it off. You made excuses. You literally made up every excuse in the book so you could sit on your ass and do what you do every single day. Your comfort zone and your mentality is destroying your potential.

Hesitation is killing your success.

“When you hesitate, it sends a stress signal to your brain. Your brain interprets that signal as danger, and it is designed to kill it.” – Mel Robbins

There is no such thing as a lucky person or an unlucky person. The difference between the two, you have one person who makes the right decision(s) everyday; and then you have the other person who makes the wrong decision(s) everyday. Wake up and take responsibility for your actions. Create some discipline in your life.

If you really want to change, start here :

Write down everything you want to accomplish in your life.

Now write down the solution.

Write down exactly how you are going to get there, or what you would have to do to accomplish that goal.

Now think about what you just wrote down..

How much does it mean to you?

How will that change your life?

Imagine yourself accomplishing those goals. Motivate yourself! Create constant reminders.
Hang up that list on your fridge or on your door. Somewhere, where it will be a constant reminder. Look at that every single day.

Now if it is something you can start tonight, get started! If not tonight, then tomorrow is the day you start. You cannot put this off any longer. Stop lying to yourself. Stop looking for instant gratification. Any goal is going to take time. If it only took 2 hours to achieve, you would have already achieved it. Step out of your comfort zone. It is ok to be challenged. Some days you will feel like quitting, you won’t wake up as motivated as you were yesterday. This will be the difference in continuing or quitting. The days you don’t feel like it, force it, make it happen! Keep thinking about all those things you wrote down. Keep rehearsing in your head what it will do for you. Take control of your emotions, don’t let them control you. Changing your life and circumstances is solely on you. Get out of the habit of coming home from work and sitting down. The idea of a 40 hour work week is over. No one successful works 40 hours a week.

You can mostly do anything you want in this world. We all can live great lives. Make yourself proud. Make your family and friends proud. Once you do it, help others! Life is precious. We should appreciate every single day. Once you adapt this lifestyle, you will feel so much better about every single day. You will be waking up with a purpose!

You got this! Today is a NEW day.

Here are a few links of motivational videos / speakers that have changed my life. I listen to them everyday when I workout.

• The “snowball effect”

Have you ever had a moment in your life where nothing seems to go right? Are you living that life right now? Everything you do or think you’re going to do, it just never works out. Is this a coincidence, or are we creating this lifestyle?

Even if the snowball effect never happened to you, maybe you know someone who is going through it right now? Living a life they are ashamed of, depressed, or disappointed. How can we reach out to them? Let’s think about this together..

“I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions.” – Stephen Covey

When you read that quote what does it mean to you? Think about it. “I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions.”

When we go through these “phases” in our lives, it feels like they are never going to end. We define ourselves by them. We believe them. “Why me?” “My life sucks!” “Poor me.” When you say these things, is it making your situation any better? Do you always tend to say those things? Have you ever tried anything different when something went wrong?

“If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten.” – Tony Robbins

Change! Stop doing the same things. Of course, one bad thing is happening one after another. It is all these little decisions being made that keep adding up. You’re not waking up in time. You’re not trying your best at work. You’re always rude to people. You’ve been eating crappy. You haven’t been to the gym in months. The last time you read a book was in pre-school. The last time you’ve been outside was to drive to McDonald’s, because you’ve been binge watching a Netflix’s series. Wake up!

Making the change..

Start with this :

1.) Delete social media. Clearly what you’ve been filling your brain with has not been helping you to this point. (Yes, you may download it later; but for now, delete it!) You are focusing your attention on things that don’t matter. Comparing yourself to someone else, wishing for things you don’t have. We are trying to builds ourselves up, not put ourselves down.

2.) Go to bed an hour earlier. Wake up and go to the gym! Use that extra hour to do something productive. Get your mind and body feeling good.

3.) No more negativity. Something goes wrong, deal with it. Think of ways to change the circumstance. Don’t accept failing! Everybody fails. There are two ways to look at it , you can either learn and try a different way, or you can accept it and quit. Quitting will not change anything. Negativity can come to you in many different ways. Your parents, your friends, music, tv shows. Get away from it! Nothing ever in this lifetime will have a good result, if it is surrounded by negativity.

4.) Read! I can’t tell you how reading and studying has saved my life. I dropped out of high school. I couldn’t stand reading! Now, I love it. I found purpose in my life. Two books I would recommended that everyone should read :

“The greatest salesmen in the world”. – Og Mandino

“The four agreements” – Don Miguel Ruiz

5.) Find a mentor(s). You can learn a lot from others. Start listening to the people that are living the lifestyle that you want to live. Adapt the way they think, apply their actions into your own lifestyle. Ask questions. Having a mentor can be the greatest asset to your life.

The list could go on. These are great steps to take to make a change. You are in control of your life. Start taking responsibility for it. Every decision counts!

Have a great week!!

Why do some people have a winning mentality and others don’t? Is it something you are born with? Can you learn it? These are questions that I ask myself. My purpose with this blog is to hopefully teach it.

Where did it begin?..

I will fill you in briefly on my history. When I was 10 years old I joined my first karate school. When I was 14 years old I fought in my first competition. By the age of 16 I transitioned into mixed martial arts. At the age of 18 years old I fought in my first mixed martial arts match. Throughout the years from 10 until now, I grew a burning passion for the sport. The practices, being around your team, and going to events. (Events being the fight.) Throughout this whole experience of being a “fighter” you take on a lot of pressure. You experience a lot of emotions. The same emotions you feel on your biggest dance recital, your audition for lead role, the championship game. Every fight feels like the most important day of your life. There are a lot of reasons behind that. One is the fear of losing, or the fear of getting hurt. Other fears you think about is looking stupid in front of your friends, family, teammates. There is a lot of pressure. Depending on how you look at it, you may be thinking “this sounds miserable”. Why would you put yourself through all that stress? The reason anyone puts themselves through hardships, challenges, stress, is to receive that reward. The reward outweighs the risk. This is the “winning” mentality. So whether you are born with it, or you aquire it later on in life, it is something you have to work at every single day. Keeping a winning mentality is not easy. What makes the “performer” different than the “spectator”, is the performer was not afraid to take the chance to fail. The performer focused more on winning than losing. No matter what it is you are doing to better yourself in life, you must always look at the positives and the reward. You have to forget the “what if” and stop invisioning what “could” happen. Let’s get fired up! Train your mind to think differently. This can change your whole life. This mentality doesn’t only work for “fighters” or “athleteles”. The winning mentality will work for anybody! You want a raise, but your afraid to ask your boss because he might reject you. You think the girl sitting next to you is beautiful, but you don’t have the courage to ask her out because she might turn you down. You always wanted to learn how to dance but you were afraid of looking stupid. STOP! Let’s look at this with a winning mentality. You want that raise, you’ve been busting your ass at work; go ask your boss! Think about how that raise will change your life. Your finances, the nice things you could buy, the stress it’ll take off from making next months mortgage payment. The girl sitting next to you is beautiful? Tell her! Ask her out. Imagine the date you would go on, imagine the first kiss. The girl sitting next to you may even be your future wife. You want to dance but your afraid of what others think? You’ll let the opinion of others stop you from doing what you’ve always wanted to? No! Just think about how much fun you will have. Picture yourself dancing the exact way as your favorite musician, or the look people will give you next time you go out dancing. You will be the center of attention and the people around you will admire you. The list goes on. Whatever it is you want to do in this life is up to you. Take control and become a winner. The fear is normal, you could either let it bring you down or you could let it motivate you. I wish the best for all of you.

Have a great week!!

As most of us already know work and life can be repetitive. Let’s start this week a little bit differently..

1.) Go to sleep an hour earlier. Wake up more energized! Sleep can improve weight loss, memory, longevity etc..

2.) Start every morning with 16oz of water and eat a healthy breakfast. (Example : 2 eggs, 1/2 cup of oatmeal, and add your favorite berry.) Drinking water regularly throughout the day will increase energy and decrease fatigue. Water consumption can also improve weight loss!

3.) Caffiene! Now I don’t mean to go to Starbucks and order a mocha Frappuccino with extra sugar. Keep it simple! Try drinking black coffee, green tea, or black tea. Coffee and tea have a lot of great health benefits, use them.

4.) Smile at everyone you make eye contact with. You will be amazed at how many people smile back. Smiling actually lowers stress and anxiety! : )

5.) Stop wasting an hour on your lunch break! Try bringing a book to work, listen to an educational podcast, anything to get your face out of your phone! We have an amazing ability to train our subconscious. Fill your mind with meaningful information that will benefit your mental health and your future!

6.) Pack healthy snacks and a healthy lunch. How much money do you waste going out to eat for lunch everyday? Then once you’re done eating you feel like you need a nap? Food is energy! (Example : Snacks – fruit, rice cake, Greek yogurt, vegetables and hummus. Lunch – 93% lean ground turkey cooked the night before, sweet potato and your favorite vegetable.)

7.) Avoid any negativity! Taking part in talking about someone or something can impact your own mood. By doing so, you will accomplish nothing. You will actually make your situation worse. Let’s try to go this whole week without engaging in any negative conversation. Actually, let’s try to make everything positive. Give someone a compliment. Tell one of your co-workers how proud of them you are. Watch how you change their day. Helping people feels amazing! It is also contagious.

8.) Be present and be great! Stop checking your phone every 20 minutes. Try to challenge yourself at work. Engage yourself, ask questions, try to help someone else. You will be quite satisfied with the end result. The day will go by a lot faster, you might get that raise you’ve been looking for, you may even create a new friendship. Working hard will only better your situation at work, always do your best!

After reading the 8 suggestions above they seem pretty simple, but now can you stick to them? This will be the challenge.. Remind yourself of all the positive outcomes. Get out of your comfort zone. You are in charge of your happiness and success. We all have it in us, we just have to do it!

Have a great week and I hope to read some positive comments!!

I grew up in a household filled with anxiety. I lived with my lovely grandmother, whom I called “Addie”, my brother – John and my father, who also is named John. Out of the four of us, my grandmother, father and brother all suffer from anxiety. Is anxiety hereditary? I do not know, nor do I think studies have shown the relevance of anxiety being hereditary. What I do know about anxiety is that it takes over your life. I watched as their anxiety controlled their lives. Still to this day all 3 of them struggle with anxiety. I wish I could help. I am writing this blog in hopes to help connect with them and any of you that suffer with anxiety..

Maybe I can help.  I start to think, why do I not have anxiety? What did I do differently that they did not? Some people say it is because I took after my mother. So let’s take a look at that. My mother – Christine, is a very strong independent woman. As a child she faced some tough times. Even as she grew older she was challenged in many different ways, financially and physically. No matter what obstacle seemed to present itself, she always stayed positive. She would never worry about what is to come or the “what if”. The definition of anxiety is “a feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease, typically about an imminent event or something with an uncertain outcome.” My mother clearly was not someone who suffered from anxiety. So why do some people have anxiety and others don’t? How did I get lucky and take after my mother? Well, my father and mother were divorced when I was 1.  The funny thing is, my brother ended up moving in with my mother at the age of 16. He was not exposed to the anxiety of my grandmother and father anymore. He was now around my mother 24/7.  So maybe this is something that you do acquire as a child? I honestly do not know. What I do know is what I do differently and how I think differently than them. Them being my grandmother, father and brother.

Things to try :

Eliminate negativity! Negativity seems to trigger anxiety, and in my opinion it is the most important thing to eliminate. Negativity is “the expression of criticism of or  pessimism about something.” It seems that negativity creates a fear to feed the “what if”. Try to think positive! There is nothing to worry about if the outcome is positive. You will take years off of your life eliminating negativity.

Stop procrastination! (Something I suffer with greatly, but I am working on it!) Procrastination could lead to forgotten or incompleted tasks that needed to be done. Therefore, encouraging your anxiety. If you complete what was needed to be done, there is nothing left to think or worry about. You can relax!

Stop overthinking! Stop over analyzing situations. Like my mother would always say “whatever is going to happen, will happen”. Do you ever think something is going to be a lot worse than it actually is? Then when it finally happens it was the exact opposite of what you thought? Think about all those hours wasted over analyzing that situation. Try taking your mind off of whatever it is you are worrying about. Read a book, watch a movie, do something that you are interested in. Instead of thinking what could go wrong, think about all the things that could go right. This goes back to eliminating the negativity and encouraging the positivity.

Exercise! One of the most under utilized “medicine” is movement. Exercise releases endorphins. Endorphins trigger a positive feeling in the body! It is impossible to be negative after a workout. That is a joke, but you understand what I mean. Excerising will eliminate wasted hours sitting around, it will release endorphins, and promote better sleep and overall improve your health!

Eat healthy! Your body is precious, so is the food you eat. Eliminate processed foods. You are robbing your body of important vitamins and nutrients. Having an unregulated diet can alter your hormones and state of mind. If you are unaware of what a healthy diet should look like, read a nutrition book(s); or better yet, consult with a nutritionist or dietician. You won’t believe how good you feel after eating “real” food. You will be stronger mentally and physically!

Create coping mechanisms! Try to create your own coping mechanisms when you feel anxiety coming on. I too experience anxiety, but I never let it take over my mind. I am an avid animal lover. I have a beautiful 7 year old pit bull named Zeus. Let’s say I have something on my mind and I just can’t seem to figure out why. There is no reason behind it. For me, that is triggered when I have too much caffeine, so I am pretty much just along for the ride. What I do to manage the anxiety is to try to think of things that bring out a different emotion. Puppies and Zeus(my dog)= Love. I could look at pictures, think of past memories playing with him or even look on Instagram at other pit bulls/dogs and it cheers me up. Dogs are not my only love and the only coping mechanism that works, but you understand the example. You will not always have medication to “pop” whenever you feel an anxiety attack coming on. You should try to find things you are most interested in to change your state of mind.

What I listed above are certain characteristics that I find in myself that differentiates from my grandmother, father and brother. There have been no studies supporting any of the information that I have stated above. I am just hoping that somehow I can connect with one of you and help change the way you deal with your anxiety.

I also want to say my grandmother, father and brother are amazing people. Even though they do suffer from anxiety it does not define who they are. Anxiety does not define you either. You can overcome this and you will! There are so many positive things in all of our lives, we need to focus on what we do have and what we can control. Have a great day!