60 Days...

As I sit down to write this it has just hit me...I have been making some serious progress and it feels really nice to know that I have put in so much hard work. I've got just over a month left on this 100 day program/commitment (before I start a new one) and Spring is on the horizon. Usually, as most Minnesotans, I am the least inspired and energized in the Winter, but this program has kept me motivated and focused on bigger things, and for that I am grateful.

Besides the other commitments in this program, during this 10-day segment, I've continued building my Photography Business, A Frame Forward. I researched, planned, designed, and then acquired everything necessary to have a really sweet portable studio, to get studio like results, in any environment. This program has given me the clarity, discipline and inspiration to turn my strong passion into a sustainable business, and I am grateful and enthusiastic as I head down this path.

Back to the Program...

1. PhilosophersNotes - This is well known as my favorite commitment and practice of the 100 day program. I get to sit down and really focus on amazing wisdom that has taken this collection of extremely driven individuals lifetimes to compile. There is so much inspiration and practical knowledge in these notes, it is one of the most valuable tools in life that I could imagine. You can download 3 of the notes for FREE at PhilosphersNotes to see what I mean. Take a second to do this, it will change your life and help bring you clarity, purpose and happiness.

Here are the books I covered the past 10 days:

Money, and the Law of Attraction - Esther & Jerry Hicks
The Monk who Sold his Ferrari - Robin Sharma
Motivation and Personality - Abraham Maslow
A New Earth - Eckhart Tolle
The Now Habit - Neil Fiore
The Other 90% - Robert K. Cooper
Overachievement - John Eliot PhD.
The Path of Least Resistance - Robert Fritz
Pathways to Bliss - Joseph Campbell
Paulo Coelho (comprehensive) - Brian Johnson

Here are my Top-Three quotes from the past 10 days:

“The secret of happiness is simple: find out what you truly love to do and then direct all of your energy towards doing it.” - Robin Sharma

“The dichotomy between selfishness and unselfishness disappears altogether in healthy people because in principle every act is both selfish and unselfish.” - Abraham Maslow

“The years teach us much the days never knew.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

***I have attached more awesome quotes at the bottom of this post.


2. Jump Attack - I am now in the 3rd week, of the 2nd month of the program. I have been 100% committed this entire time, not skipping a beat even once. I'm feeling stronger and stronger with each workout and although I haven't exactly been "Air Jordan" yet, I have felt much stronger on the basketball court, especially a day or two after my intense workouts. I have two weeks before my next 'week-off rest period' where gains are more noticeable. Just as a carrot takes nearly 7 weeks to surface, I'll keep at it diligently, patiently and persistently, as I know there is much growth going on "underground" in my body and the "breakthrough" is near.


3. Nutrition - 60+ Days without Cheese! For those of you who know me well, you are most likely amazed at this feat. I've been a Vegetarian for 4+ years and have always wanted to experiment with a strictly plant based (Vegan) diet. I've done this as a personal challenge, a personal experiment and to expand my food horizon. I have stayed committed, but have to say I am looking forward to having a piece of Cossetta's Pizza after day 100. Until then I will remain committed and keep expanding my food horizon, experimenting and learning more recipes to share.


4. Yoga - Yoga has been inconsistent at best. I think once I complete the Jump Attack program I will be able to incorporate daily Yoga, without overdoing it with physical exercise.


5. Sweets, Refined Foods, Alcohol, Toxins, etc - No candy, dessert, sweets, etc! This is a big success for me as well. This is the longest I have ever gone without sweets in my life, as well as the cheese. This was a personal challenge as well as the elimination of some things I don't really need. I'll dabble in the occasional sweet after the program, maybe just to celebrate as a reward, but I will be making it a point not to partake in them, except in very rare occasions.

Glad to share, grateful for this time, and all we can do as human beings. Although I am only scratching the surface of my potential I am committed to keep digging and digging. If I can serve as a shovel for you, then I have done what I set out to do. Here's to digging deeper and deeper every day, into our own potential and all positive possibilities.

:-)

Check out the additional super-awesome Quotes below and I'll see you in 10 more days...

More Quotes:

“The most valuable skill that you could ever develop is the skill of directing your thoughts toward what you want—to be adept at quickly evaluating all situations and then quickly coming to the conclusion of what you most want—and then giving your undivided attention to that.” - Esther & Jerry Hicks

“You have to begin to tell the story of your life as you now want it to be and discontinue the tales of how it has been or of how it is.” - Esther & Jerry Hicks

“While your parents and teachers are, for the most part, well-meaning people, they are nevertheless more interested in your finding ways to please them than in your finding ways to please yourself. And so, in the process of socialization, almost all people in almost all societies lose their way because they are coaxed or coerced away from their own Guidance System.” - Esther & Jerry Hicks

“To liberate the potential of your mind, body and soul, you must first expand your imagination. You see, things are always created twice: first in the workshop of the mind and then, and only then, in reality. I call this process ‘blueprinting’ because anything you create in your outer world began as a simple blueprint in your inner world.” - Robin Sharma

“Suggesting you’re too busy to slow down and invest in yourself is like saying you’re too busy driving to stop for gas. - Robin Sharma

“Most people live—whether physically, intellectually or morally—in a very restricted circle of their potential being. We all have reservoirs of life to draw upon which we do not dream.” - William James

“Weak minds lead to weak actions. A strong, disciplined mind, which anyone can cultivate though daily practice, can achieve miracles. If you want to live life to the fullest, care for your thoughts as you would your most prized possessions. Work hard to remove all inner turbulence. The rewards will be abundant.” - Robin Sharma

“Remember, either you control your mind or your mind controls you.” - Robin Sharma

“Understand once and for all that your mind has magnetic power to attract all that you desire into your life. If there is lack in your life it is because there is lack in your thoughts.” - Robin Sharma

“Every single person on the planet is a genius.” - Robin Sharma

“We all have something that we are meant to do. Your genius will shine through, and happiness will fill your life, the instant you discover your higher purpose and then direct all your energies towards it.” - Robin Sharma

“Push yourself to do more and to experience more. Harness your energy to start expanding your dreams. Yes, expand your dreams. Don’t accept a life of mediocrity when you hold such infinite potential within the fortress of your mind. Dare to tap into your greatness. It’s your birthright.” - Robin Sharma

“Act as if failure is impossible, and your success will be assured. Wipe out every thought of not achieving your objectives, whether they are material or spiritual. Be brave, set no limits on the workings of your imagination. Never be a prisoner of your past. Become the architect of your future. You will never be the same.” - Robin Sharma

“Imagination is more important than knowledge.” - Albert Eintstein

“There are no perfect human beings! Persons can be found who are good, very good indeed, in fact, great. There do in fact exist creators, seers, sages, saints, shakers, and movers, even if they are uncommon and do not come by the dozen. And yet these very same people can at times be boring, irritating, petulant, selfish, angry, or depressed. To avoid disillusionment with human nature, we must first give up our illusions about it.” - Abraham Maslow

“It seems that the necessary thing to do is not to fear mistakes, to plunge in, to do the best that one can, hoping to learn enough from blunders to correct them eventually.” - Abraham Maslow

“A significant portion of the earth’s population will soon recognize, if they haven’t already done so, that humanity is now faced with a stark choice: Evolve or die.” - Eckhart Tolle

“To recognize one’s own insanity is, of course, the arising of sanity, the beginning of healing and transcendence.” - Eckhart Tolle

“How ‘spiritual’ you are has nothing to do with what you believe but everything to do with your state of consciousness. This, in turn, determines how you act in the world and interact with others.” - Eckhart Tolle

“Don’t seek the truth. Just cease to cherish opinions.” - Zen saying

“There are three words that convey the secret of the art of living, the secret of all success and happiness: One With Life.” - Eckhart Tolle

“Love and do what you will” - St. Augustine

“When you want to arrive at your goal more than you want to be doing what you are doing, you become stressed.” - Eckhart Tolle

“Life will give you whatever experience is most helpful for the evolution of your consciousness. How do you know this is the experience you need? Because this is the experience you are having at this moment.” - Eckhart Tolle

“Every moment of our lives we are either growing or dying—and it’s largely a choice, not fate.” - Robert K. Cooper

“You’re only using about 10% of your potential.” - Robert K. Cooper

“Genius is childhood recaptured.” - Rene Dubos

“Don’t bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself.” - William Faulkner

“It takes great goals to lead us out of our everyday limits into accomplishing more than we ever thought we could or would.” - Robert K. Cooper

“A ship in port is safe, but that is not what ships are for.” - Grace Murray Hopper

“Deep within humans dwell those slumbering powers; powers that would astonish them, that they never dreamed of possessing; forces that would revolutionize their lives if aroused and put into action.” - Orison Marden

“It is heartening to realize that although we may crave comfort and routine, we nourish the soul’s growth primarily through what is hard. As Darwin saw it, it’s not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but those who are most responsive to change.” - Robert K. Cooper

“We are each given the chance to leave a unique imprint on the world. What will be yours? - Robert K. Cooper

“To be sure, great performers are well trained, experienced, smart, and in some cases, divinely talented. But the way their brains work during a performance is a lot more like a squirrel’s than like Einstein’s. Like squirrels, the best in every business do what they have learned to do without questioning their abilities—they flat out trust their skills, which is why we call this high-performance state of mind the ‘Trusting Mindset.’ Routine access to the Trusting Mindset is what separates great performers from the rest of the pack.” - John Eliot

“Thinking is a habit, and like any other habit, it can be changed; it just takes effort and repetition.” - John Eliot

“Butterflies, cotton mouth, and a pounding heart make the finest performers smile—the smile of a person with an ace up their sleeves… They definitely would agree with Tiger Woods, who has often said, ‘The day I’m not nervous stepping onto the first tee—that’s the day I quit.” - John Eliot

“Confidence is not a guarantee of success, but a pattern of thinking that will improve your likelihood of success, a tenacious search for ways to make things work.” - John Eliot

“Exceptional thinkers ignore their critics and go about their business making history.” - John Eliot

“You will not do incredible things without an incredible dream.” - John Eliot

“History, though, shows us that the people who end up changing the world—the great political, social, scientific, technological, artistic, even sports revolutionaries—are always nuts, until they’re right, and then they’re geniuses.” - John Eliot

“The greatest leaders and statesmen in history have not been problem solvers. They have been builders. They have been creators.” - Robert Fritz

“If you limit your choices only to what seems possible or reasonable… you disconnect yourself from what you truly want, and all you have left is a compromise… the human spirit will not invest itself in a compromise.” - Robert Fritz

“This one fundamental choice—to be the predominant creative force in your life—is a foundation for the entire orientation of the creative… From this choice the meaning of the word desire changes for you, from ‘idle wishes and hopes’ to ‘true vision of that which is the highest in human aspiration and vision.” - Robert Fritz

“Athletes and musicians may not enjoy practicing long hours, but they do so just the same: not out of duty, obligation, or any other form of self-manipulation, but because they are making secondary choices consistent with their primary choice to be able to perform music or excel in sports.” - Robert Fritz

“A primary choice is about some result you want in itself and for itself… It functions as the ultimate goal… A choice that helps you take a step toward your primary result is called a secondary choice.” - Robert Fritz

“There are something like 18 billion cells in the brain alone. There are no two brains alike; there are no two hands alike; there are no two human beings alike. You can take your instructions and your guidance from others, but you must find your own path.” - Joseph Campbell

“In a wonderful essay called ‘On an Apparent Intention in the Fate of the Individual,’ Schopenhauer points out that, once you have reached an advanced age, as I have, as you look back over your life, it can seem to have had a plot, as though composed by a novelist. Events that seemed entirely accidental or incidental turn out to have been central to the composition.” - Joseph Campbell

“Another astonishing way to look back is to pick up some diary entries or notes that you kept a long time ago. You’ll be astonished. Things you were convinced you had realized more recently will all be pinned down there. These are the driving themes of your life.” - Joseph Campbell

“The scientist knows that at any moment facts may be found that make the present theory obsolete; this is happening now constantly. It’s amusing. In a religious tradition, the older the doctrine, the truer it is held to be.” - Joseph Campbell

“This gets back to Krishna’s dictum: The best way to help mankind is through the perfection of yourself.” - Joseph Campbell

“What is it we are questing for? It is the fulfillment of that which is potential in each of us. Questing for it is not an ego trip; it is an adventure to bring into fulfillment your gift to the world, which is yourself. There’s nothing you can do that’s more important than being fulfilled. You become a sign, you become a signal, transparent to transcendence; in this way, you will find, live, and become a realization of your own personal myth.” - Joseph Campbell

“Imagine our life as a novel, would I really want to keep reading this book or is it way to boring to even want to get to the next chapter?” - Tripp Lanier

“There is one great truth on this planet: whoever you are, or whatever it is that you do, when you really want something, it’s because that desire originated in the soul of the universe. It’s your mission on earth… And when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.” – Paulo Coelho

“We all have the ability, we just don’t all have the courage to follow our dreams and to follow the signs.” – Paulo Coelho

“The fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself.” – Paulo Coelho

“Every Warrior of the Light has felt afraid of going into battle.
Every Warrior of the Light has, at some time in the past, lied or betrayed someone.
Every Warrior of the Light has trodden a path that was not his.
Every Warrior of the Light has suffered for the most trivial of reasons.
Every Warrior of the Light has, at least once, believed he was not a Warrior of the Light.
Every Warrior of the Light has failed in his spiritual duties.
Every Warrior of the Light has said ‘yes’ when he wanted to say ‘no.’
Every Warrior of the Light has hurt someone he loved.
That is why he is a Warrior of the Light, because he has been through all this and yet has never lost hope of being better than he is.” - Paulo Coelho

“Nietzsche was the one who did the job for me. At a certain moment in his life, the idea came to him of what he called ‘the love of your fate.’ Whatever your fate is, whatever the hell happens, you say, ‘This is what I need.’ It may look like a wreck, but go at it as though it were an opportunity, a challenge. If you bring love to that moment—not discouragement—you will find the strength is there. Any disaster that you can survive is an improvement in your character, your stature, and your life. What a privilege! This is when the spontaneity of your own nature will have a chance to flow. Then, when looking back at your life, you will see that the moments which seemed to be great failures followed by wreckage were the incidents that shaped the life you have now. You’ll see that this is really true. Nothing can happen to you that is not positive. Even though it looks and feels at the moment like a negative crisis, it is not. The crisis throws you back, and when you are required to exhibit strength, it comes.” - Joseph Campbell

“Five years from now you’re gonna laugh at whatever’s stressing you out now, so why wait? - Tony Robbins

“As long as it doesn’t harm anyone, change your opinions now and then and be unashamedly contradictory.” - Paulo Coelho

“For a master, the rewards gained along the way are fine, but they are not the main reason for the journey. Ultimately, the master and the master’s path are one. And if the traveler is fortunate—that is, if the path is complex and profound enough—the destination is two miles farther away for every mile he or she travels.” - George Leonard

“Join with those who sing songs, tell stories, enjoy life, because happiness is contagious. Join those who walk with their heads high even when they have tears in their eyes. Avoid those who have never shed a tear.” - Paulo Coelho

:-)