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So you want to become more productive, energized, motivated and successful? What if I told you that all of that was related to becoming happier first? Without happiness, nothing is possible!

I can tell you first hand that I’ve experienced this myself in the last few weeks. There were a few things that I was just not happy with and this lead to a downward spiral that ended up making me miserable. As a result of feeling miserable, I lost my productivity, energy, motivation and my drive to succeed – its like I gave up because I was feeling so icky about myself and my situation.

However, I turned things around and began doing my morning rituals as I normally would and started implementing a few new principles that I learned from some very successful people who have been in the same situation as I was.

We’re all human – regardless if you make thirty million or thirty thousand per year, you will have a time when you’re down in the dumps and a pick-me-up will be necessary. Well – regardless if you’re down in the dumps or not, I GUARANTEE that if you follow the outline listed in this podcast, you will become happier, more productive, energized and more successful!

Reference: Some parts of this podcast / show notes were inspired by “The Miracle Morning Book By Hal Elrod”

Why you’re not happy: You “may” be living a mediocre life!

  • Rearview mirror syndrome: like old, worn baggage, we carry with us stress, worry and fear with us into today. Your past does not equal your future
  • Lack of purpose: Your purpose can be as simple as “to become the best version of you starting today”
  • Isolating incidents: We forget that the things that we put off or the bad habits we let into our lives only affect us for the moment when in fact, it not only hurts us today but it ripples into the future as well. Discipline creates lifestyle. The truth is, “how you do anything, is how you do everything” T. Harv Eckerd
  • Lack of accountability: We get lazy when we do it just for ourselves. Find an accountability partner or you can just check in with me from time-to-time.
  • Mediocre circle of influence: You become the average of the 5-6 people you spend your time with.
  • Lack of personal development: When we forget to make time for personal development, we instead, make time for pain and struggle.
  • Lack of urgency: Now is the most important part of today. You lost yesterday and you will never get it back. Tomorrow has not arrived but you can certainly prepare for it. Without urgency, you will always delay your dreams. Be intentional; create goals with a time limit.

“Life is too short” is repeated often enough to be a cliché, but this times its true. You don’t have enough time to be both unhappy and mediocre. It’s not just pointless; its painful. – Seth Godin

7 Habits / Principles to adopt into your daily routine:

One – Morning & Evening Ritual:

  • Silence for 10 minutes
  • Read for 10 minutes
  • Affirmations for 5 minutes
  • Visualization for 10 minutes
  • Journaling for 10 minutes
  • Exercise for 15 minutes

Two – Stability of the mind:

  • Meditate
  • Get out more often in the sun to consume Vitamin D
  • Remove unhealthy habits such as worry
  • Spend time with friends outside of your every day social circle.

Three – Gratitude: 

  • Relax first
  • Make a list of 5-10 things that you’re grateful for and read them daily.
  • Be grateful for everything, including the failures in life, business and your relationships
  • Live in the moment when you;’re being grateful instead of dwelling in the past or thinking about the future.
  • Keep a gratitude journal

Four – Progress keeps us happy:

  •  When there is no progress, our self esteem and our confidence goes down the tubes.
  • We feel lethargic and depressed – no medicine can help that. This is why the big pharmaceutical companies are so rich!

Five – Unhappiness brings more unhappiness:

  • Whatever you’re feeling at the time, you will get more of.

Six – Exercise:

  • Have a first wind exercise early in your morning ritual for 10-15 minutes.
  • Have a second wind workout after work or in the evening.
  • There are many mental benefits to working out before you start your day.

Desperation is the raw material of drastic change. Only those who can leave behind everything they have ever believed in can hope to escape – William S. Burroughs

Links discussed in the podcast:

5-Star Reviews this week:

  • Hannah Copeland
  • Discovery Map Of Lancaster, PA

If you tune in every week to listen to me speak, I really appreciate it. I have one quick 30-second favor to ask you – please go to willimshaker.com/iTunes and leave an honest review… If you have a web site you would like me to promote, put that in your review as well and I’ll read it on the next podcast. I think this is a win-win strategy.

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My challenge to you:

Now that you’ve listened to this podcast, you realize that I’ve set a challenge — are you up for it? Who doesn’t want to become happier, more fulfilled, and successful? Is it a lot of work? You bet!

All I want you to do is write “I’m In” — if you are just reading this for the first time and don’t know what this is about. I advise you listen to the podcast and then come back here. However, if you don’t have time right now, by responding “I’m in”, you’re taking on my challenge of following at least a few or perhaps ALL of these suggestions and working towards becoming a better version of YOU!

To your success!