Make Monday Awesome

Your brain and your body are inseparable. You can't effect one without affecting the other, treat your body poorly and your brain will suffer, treat your body well and your brain has a better chance of being at it's best. The activity I'm talking about in today's episode is strength training. It's a myth that strength is only about muscle size; it's more about the number of muscles your body can use. And in order to use more muscles, you need your brain to be talking to those muscles. I believe this is were the link between the brain and nerve system come from. I handle more of the specifics in the actually show. As always, I would love to hear your thoughts. -Dr. K

We ALL experience negative or bad emotions and have negative or bad thoughts. The difference, I believe, between the successful and the unsuccessful is that the successful spend far less time there. Today's podcast is a simple reminder to accept your emotions for what they are... your emotions. There is a big difference between accepting them and approving. Just because you admit that something is, doesn't mean you approve that it's good or desirable. That's a very important distinction. But, none-the-less allow yourself to experience your emotions and then work on creating the ones you want. -Dr. K

I believe you should run your family, and your life, like it’s a business. I know that might sound strange so let me explain… Businesses are obsessed with one thing - growth. They understand that if next year rolls around, and they are not changing and growing, they might as well be dying. Are you obsessed with growth? Is your family? I know you have dreams and aspirations. I know you want to do certain things with your kids, I know you have vacations you want to take. But if you’re not planning the time to make these things happen, they never will. Businesses have quarterly meetings, quarterly goals, deadlines, accountability, expense reports, projections, structure. Those are all necessary if you want to live your best life. Just a thought. Would love to know what you think? -Dr. K

Your mindset is not fixed, it can change. Yes, that is a belief. You can, of course, believe the exact opposite - that you're fixed and unchangeable, that you have a destiny, that you are the way you are. If you're not happy with things, they can change. Believe it or not this all starts with concentrating on the one thing you can control - how you respond to what's happening or happened. It sounds almost trivial but if you can get that part right, you are on your way with everything else. On this episode I talk about that one small idea and how to leverage it into much bigger and better things. -Dr. K

Last week was not an awesome week. I was stressed out and felt super uncomfortable. This week is much better. It's not better because my problems have vanished, if anything, those problems are worse. What's changed is me (my mind) and how I'm processing the information. My mind is back to normal and I'm happy to say that I'm spending less and less time worried and stressed. On this episode is what I did to flip my mind and something simple you can do to change yours as well. -Dr. K

Have you ever had to deal with your biggest fear coming true? How did you handle it? The past two weeks have been super interesting. The things that I have feared are starting to come true, and obviously, I'm scared, but part of me is grateful that I have to prove to myself, yet again. I get to show myself that I'm strong and can manage no matter what it is that comes my way. I would love to hear your thoughts, more important your story, in relation to this topic. Has this happened to you and how have you handled it? -Dr. K

Wouldn't it be nice to just stop worrying about the opinions of others? I know you've heard others tell you to just stop caring, but that's not good advice or realistic to do. Much more realistic is to try to understand where the person who disagrees with you is coming from? Why do they have that position and is there any truth to it? That's what I talk about on this episode. What are the best ways to really stop caring what others think? -Dr. K

We've always been taught that habits are the gateway to your success and that if you don't have great and purposeful habits then you'll never have any kind of success. I don't think that's true. You're a human being, which means that your emotions, thoughts, motivations, and current environment all make impacts on your decisions. You are also conscious and not a robot that automatically runs programs with no question. In fact, you need to have ALL the most important questions answered before you do anything. You need to know your vision, your purpose and your belief system before you change any behaviour. Today's episode is all about how to do that. -Dr. K

Completely switching your mind away from what you are always thinking about is one of the fastest ways you can develop new ideas and help you meet and hit your goals even faster. It seems counterproductive, but nothing could be further from the truth. The term vacation usually means that you go you somewhere and do nothing specific. Trying to switch your mind completely off is not a great idea, much better is becoming engrossed one of your other passions or hobbies. You don't necessarily need to travel to do that, although it would be a good idea, you can do that from the comforts of your own home. Just find a hobby and dive deep. The fun part is, focusing on something else for a period, will help you strengthen your focus on your goals and desires.

I don't think it's possible to wake up every day and be motivated and ready to attack the world. I think even the best of us have days where we are tried, worried, stressed, anxious, etc. So, how do you keep moving on those days? Just like I know that since we're all human we all experience the same emotions, I know that successful people don't let those days stop them from pursuing their dreams and winning. On today's episode, I give you, what for me were the most important ideas of staying the course no matter how I felt.

There is nothing sexy about success. We all say we want it, yet many of us are not backing up that claim with the work necessary to get what we say that we want. This week's podcast is a simple reminder - I always need to remind myself, or have my wife do it - that there is nothing magical about success. You need to do the same 3/5 things over and over again until you master them. The end, period, end of story. I know you know, I know too, so why do we stop? Hopefully, this can serve as a reminder -Dr. K

I've never liked the saying 'no pain, no gain' because it's not true. Yes, sometimes things will be painful in order for you to get better, but not always. The other reason I dislike this saying is it implies that the actual work is how you improve, this is only half the truth. In order for you to get better at anything, yes you need to work hard, but you also have to make sure that your rest is on point. If you're not resting well, you're not reaching your goals to the best of your ability. Please ensure you're taking 'you' time, or everything and everyone in your life will suffer - I promise. -Dr. K

I call the attitude the "I'm fancier than thou attitude." I'm sure it has other names, but I can't think of it right now. Thinking that you're better than someone else is a destructive way to be. Not for others but for you. I grew up in a fixed mindset which means I believed that talent, ability, intelligence, all positive human traits were in limited supply. This allowed me to develop the "fancier than thou attitude." It sucked and it made me suck. I closed off my mind to so many learning opportunities that it's painful to think about. I've gotten better, and I hope this conversation will bring you some value.

Last week I was given a kind and thoughtful compliment on my ability to be vulnerable. This got me thinking... How did I get that way, because I have not always been that way? This lead to a lot of reflection and introspection. This podcast is all about how I did it and most importantly, how I'm still doing it. I forgot to mention during the recording but, vulnerability is not a destination - you don't get there, and then you can hang out on the beach - it's a living thing. You need to feed it and practice it. I enjoyed this episode and if you can implement - I'm confident you'll find gold here.

I'm sure you've heard the saying that - you can't pour from an empty cup. I completely agree it's hard for you to be able to do anything for anyone unless you're in a good place first. Hence the concept of self-love. You can't love anyone else unless you love yourself first. I know you get that. Less popular however is how you develop love for yourself in the first place. That's what today's podcast is all about. I share one (there are many others) necessity you must be doing to make self-love a possibility.

Context is everything. To be clear, I believe that meditation is great. In fact, most things in the world are awesome - in the proper context. I hate meditation when you're using it to try to cover up the real problem. I don't like putting band-aids on things, and I don't like just patching them up until the next time. Since this is your life, and mental and psychological problems can hold you back, you owe it to yourself to do the hard work and heavy lifting of actually solving your problems for good. It won't be easy, but it will be worth it.

Grow happens outside your comfort zone. But, cliched statements don't give you a strategy for how to handle the stress, discomfort and the downright 'yuckiness' of changing your life. That's what this episode is about. I'm going through this exact thing right now, I'm changing a lot of things and it's challenging. In this podcast I talk about what I do, if you can stick with it, it will be helpful for you too.

Nobody said life was easy. One of the hardest things in life is to improve, especially at something that you don't want anyone knowing you stink at. Well, that's not fun. Some of my best life experiences have been changing, evolving and improving the things that I'm shit at. Were they fun at first? Hell no, they were scary as all hell. But, once the initial fear and sheer terror was done, it was just a matter of doing the work. Here's what you can do too...

I know it might sound harsh but I think, even if it's totally untrue (or partially untrue) that you start thinking that everything in your life is your fault. Let me explain. Entitlement is growing rapidly in our culture. Most people think it's someone else's job to manage their health, money, happiness, relationships and much more. This leads to unhappiness. When it's your fault it means it's in your power to change. Making a successful change leads to happiness and better self-esteem. I should know I've tried it.

Before you get pissed, I'm not saying that learning or consuming content isn't important, it is, however, it's not the most important. If all you're doing is thinking, you're still not going to get where you need to get. There is a big difference between knowing how to kick a soccer ball, and kicking the soccer ball like Messi. If you don't know who Messi is, look it up, you won't be disappointed.