Knowledge For Men

MJ DeMarco is the current founder of Viperion Publishing Corp., a media company focused on online and print content distribution. He also is admin/founder for The Fastlane Forum, the webs' leading destination forum for start-up, finance, and entrepreneurial business discussions. He was the former start-up Founder/CEO of Limos.com (1997-2007), a global ground transportation aggregator and marketplace that he successfully built and grew into a profitable multimillion dollar company, all with no money, no formal training, and with just a few employees. In 2001, he sold the company and later reacquired the company via bankruptcy reorganization. He later sold the company again in 2007 to a Phoenix-based private equity company. He has authored two best-selling books including The Millionaire Fastlane: Crack the Code to Wealth and Live Rich for a Lifetime and UNSCRIPTED: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Entrepreneurship, his most recent work about the current landscape of life, liberty, and entrepreneurship. You can connect with him and learn more at http://www.mjdemarco.com/ Favorite Success Quote "If you accept conventional wisdom from conventional people living conventional lives. Can you expect to be anything other than conventional?" Key Points 1. Wake Up and See Through the Matrix You have been lied to. By the government, your parents, and all of society. I am not propagating a conspiracy theory, just sharing the facts. From the day that you are born, you are inundated with a bullshit script that tells you to go to school, get all A's, go to college, get a safe job, sock aside 10% of your income and invest in mutual funds, skip the lattes, blah, blah, blah…. I am here to tell you… It doesn't freaking work! How many multi-millionaire 65-year-olds do you know? How many wildly wealthy retirees have you met (who worked a dead-end job for the past 40 years)? And more importantly, if you have met any of these people how many were happy and fulfilled? How many were free? The script that you were fed since childhood doesn't work. So it's time to wake up and flip the script. If you want freedom, if you want to retire, if you want to live a life that you actually enjoy, a life where you aren't giving up 5 days of your life in exchange for 2 (a pretty shitty ROI if you ask me) then the first step is simply acknowledging that there is a problem with the script you have been fed. Wake up, see through the matrix, and be ready to take the action required to change it. 2. The Rich Don't Get Rich from the Script… They get rich from preaching the script! One of the biggest misconceptions about success is that the rich achieved their current success levels by following the script you see laid out for you. They didn't. They got rich by preaching the script. They got rich by selling you on the idea of mutual funds (which they own) and stock market investments (which they control). They didn't get rich investing in any of those things themselves, they got rich by selling that garbage to you. While compiling research for his new book, MJ examined some advice being given by Forbes.com on the topic of long-term financial wealth. The article in question was recommending a long-term mutual fund strategy starting as young as possible. Then MJ decided to see how many Forbes cover models had actually followed that advice to get rich. The results? Zero, nada, zilch. None of the world's rich and powerful had eaten their own dog food or taken the medicine they were prescribing to everyone else. Just because you see Warren Buffet or Charlie Munger providing you with an investing strategy reliant on a long term yield of 8% doesn't mean that it's a strategy they actually leveraged to create their own wealth. When you are cognizant of this you will be much more wary about who you take advice from and why. 3. Learn to Provide Relative Value on a Massive Scale and You Will Become Rich Do you want to know the secret to becoming rich? Even the secret to getting rich quick? Well, listen up… I am about to share it. Provide relative value on a massive scale. If you do this, you will become rich, and chances are, you will become rich a helluva lot quicker than you would have playing the "Get rich slow" game. But how does one go about providing relative value? It's actually a lot simpler than you might think. The first step is to identify a problem or an inefficiency in the marketplace. If you see a problem and you have the ability to fix it, you have found your "in". Furthermore, if you look at an already "saturated" market and you notice that there are numerous inefficiencies in the day to day operations (customer service, fulfillment, product quality etc.) you can use this knowledge to break into an otherwise full market. 4. Happiness Comes from Autonomy Not Money So many people assume that more money will make them happy. That going from $20,000 to $200,000 to $2,000,000 will drastically boost your happiness and levels of fulfillment. And yes, mone

Brett McKay is the founder and editor-in-chief of The Art of Manliness, the largest independent men's lifestyle magazine on the web with over 10 million monthly page views. Brett earned a degree in Letters (with a focus on Classics) from the University of Oklahoma and graduated from the University of Tulsa College of Law. He lives with Kate, his wife and AoM's Executive Editor, and their two children in Tulsa, OK. When he's not talking or writing about manliness, Brett enjoys barbell training and spending time outdoors. Favorite Success Quote "Be useful, not important." Key Points 1. Focus on Being a Man of Value We live in a society where everybody wants to be "Somebody." And while there is nothing inherently wrong with ambition or a drive to become successful, in our modern, ego-driven culture, this desire for fame and recognition has begun to supersede our desire to provide real value as men. We are more worried about our status on Facebook and the number of fans we have on Instagram than the quality of the work that we are producing on a daily basis. And it's gotta stop. Success is the result of doing your work and doing it with excellence. It's the result of trying to find ways to serve others, instead of constantly serving yourself. And the sooner that we can embrace this axiomatic truth, the sooner we will be able to live richer, healthier, and more abundant lives. It's not about you. It's about the impact you have on others and the legacy that you leave. 2. The Worst Rarely Happens Mark Twain is often quoted as saying I am an old man and have known a great many troubles, but most of them never happened. And while the quote itself might have been uttered tongue in cheek, it's relevance to our modern lives cannot be understated. Yes, you are going to face challenges in your life, you will face difficulty, adversity, pain, and suffering. It's an inevitability. But the vast majority of your internal worries will never come to fruition. As a society, we spend time locked inside of our heads, mentally plugging through the "What if's" and "Oh no's" until our blood pressure is through the roof and our anxiety levels critical. To be an effective risk taker and leader, you must learn to discern between genuinely possible worst-case outcomes and unlikely disasters. Yes, if you quit your job to go full time with your side hustle, it is possible that you might lose everything, go bankrupt, become homeless, and eat out of garbage cans until Elon Musk saves humanity. But it's not very likely. Chances are, even the worst failure would simply require you to find a new corporate job, live at home for a while, and rebuild yourself from the ground up. There is an element of risk in everything worth pursuing. And as a man, you must learn to cull your fear and worries and realize that despite the perceived risk, the big, scary, life-altering disaster of an outcome that you fear is unlikely at the least and downright laughable at most. 3. Toughen Your "Mental Hide" With the wide reach of the internet, it is all but impossible to do anything of worth without attracting negative criticism and denigration. Keyboard warriors and airsoft commandos abound, each of them offering a different (and graphically detailed) opinion about why you suck and should immediately quit at your current endeavors. It doesn't matter whether you are creating products, offering information, or detailing your journey through life… If you do anything for long enough, you are going to have to haters. So what is a man to do? While it might be uncomfortable and difficult, there is certainly merit in accepting and responding to constructive criticism that offers genuine value to you and your brand. However, the vast majority of the emails, comments, and posts that you will find littering your inbox and social platforms are not constructive, they are simply the result of disgruntled individuals with an abundance of time and a lack of common sense. In these situations, you must simply learn to toughen your mental hide. Not everyone will like you. In fact, if you do anything well enough, some people will hate you. And that is ok. You must learn to ignore the haters and stay focused on your dreams and mission. When others try and knock you off course, or make wild accusations, you should learn to take it as a sign that you are doing something right. Because it is a rare occurrence for a man offering little value to attract much attention (positive or negative). So build your mental resilience and learn to be ok with the haters. 4. Focus on Adaptability Not Effectiveness One of the greatest struggles for men of a high caliber is learning to embrace adaptability over effectiveness. Yes, you should have routines and rituals built into your daily life that allow you to create and contribute at a high level, but you must remember one simple truth… Life happens. Things don't always go according to plan. People get sick, cars break down, the weather changes, you ge

Mark Goblowsky is an air force veteran, career martial artist, podcaster, author, and entrepreneur. He is on a mission to help others overcome the obstacles in their life based on his own experiences. Favorite Success Quote "Most people overestimate what they can do in one year and underestimate what they can do in ten years" ~Bill Gates Key Points 1. Practice Your "Kung Fu" The martial art kung fu literally translates into two words. Effort and time. And the only things that are standing between you and your goals are these two factors. If you can become a master of Kung Fu, a master at putting in the effort over time, you will succeed. We all want to achieve great things, we all want a great life. We want the business, the relationships, and the body. And you can have it! You can have it all. But you must be willing to approach life through the lens of Kung Fu. Put in the effort, be patient with the time, and you will succeed. Because at the end of the day, time is going to pass whether you are doing what you love and pursuing your goals or not. So stop worrying about the outcome and get busy doing what you need to do to create the life that you want to live. If you are willing to be patient, to stick through it when times are tough, and to trudge forward even in the face of adversity, at the end of the day, you will be successful. No one who was truly committed to their craft, dream, or ambition for more than a decade fails. You will have failures along the way, yes. But at the end of the day, when it's all said and done if you are willing to keep doing the work year in and year out especially when it's hard, you will succeed. 2. If You Aren't Happy on the Journey You Won't Be Happy at the Destination There is a pervasive myth in society that "One day" we will be happy. We believe that when we finally have the six pack, the 7-figure company, the beautiful girlfriend, the house on the beach or the sports car then we will be happy. But the truth is that happiness can be experienced right here and now. And not only can it be experienced now, it must be experienced now. Because if you are not happy on the journey, you will rarely find happiness at the destination. If you cannot learn to be happy while you are building your business, you will not be happy when you sell it for $10 million. If you cannot learn to be happy while you are training your body and building your physique, you will not be happy when you finally attain the look you've been longing for. If you cannot allow yourself to be happy while you work to find the woman of your dreams, no relationship will ultimately satisfy you. Happiness is a choice, and if you aren't choosing to be happy along the journey, you will arrive at the destination and wonder "Is this it?" 3. Resistance Gives You Strength Most of you reading this want to become stronger. In all areas of your life. But what most of you don't realize is that strength doesn't come from ease. If you go to the gym every single day of your life from now until you die and all you do is push against the air, you will never get stronger, you will never build a strong body, and you will never force your muscles to grow. To become stronger, you must push against resistance, you must struggle, you must sweat, and you must bleed. And this doesn't just apply to the gym. If you want your relationship to be stronger, you will have to face resistance. You cannot have a thriving marriage and never face adversity together. Because it is in times of struggle when love is truly born. It's only when your marriage is facing resistance in some form or another that it is strengthened. In your business, you will never achieve success if you stay in your comfort zone and never face resistance. Success in business mandates failures. It mandates struggles and resistance that force you to grow, adapt, and evolve with the times. So embrace resistance, for it gives you strength. 4. Understand What is Truly Important When Mark's son was a young boy, he and his mother were in a terrible hit and run car accident with a semi-truck. His son suffered from a traumatic brain injury and now suffers from disabilities that will affect the rest of his life. When he got the call that his son was in a coma, how do you think Mark responded? Did he say "Gee, that really sucks… But I've got to finish up this project at work" Or "Wow! I will be there later, but I just really need to close this client… They're worth a lot of money." Hell no! He dropped everything in his life and was by his son's side 24/7 for four months. Nothing, not his business, not his finances, not even his health got in between him and his child. And it is in times of severe duress that we realize what is truly important. Most of us spend our lives chasing external validation that is ultimately pointless instead of spending time on what really matters… The people that we love. Yes, you should want to be successful. Yes, you should want to be healthy, wealthy, and

Sam Upton is an actor and writer known for his roles in The Lincoln Lawyer, Gone, and Stand Up Guys. He is also the director and main actor in his most recent movie, Gun. Favorite Success Quote "The greatest revenge is success" ~Frank Sinatra Key Points 1. No One's Going to Give it To You We live in an era of entitlement. The current generation is filled with individuals who have never had to work for anything in their lives, never had to sweat for a goal, and never had to bleed for their dreams. When reality sets in, and they realize that life isn't all sunshine and rainbows, they panic and cry and loudly scream about how "unfair" life is. Well here's a little newsflash. Life's not fair… And no one gives a shit. No one cares enough about you to make your dreams happen for you. If you want something bad enough, then go and get it. Don't ask for permission, get off your ass and go get it. The sweet nectar of success is reserved for those rare individuals just like you who make the definite decision to become the master of their own fate and the captain of their own destiny. Those individuals who are, as Theodore Roosevelt put it, "Actually in the arena with their faces marred by sweat and tears and blood." Those are the individuals who shape the world, create great art, build massive wealth, and live a life of happiness and prosperity along the way. What about you? Are you going to bitch and moan and whine about how unfair life is, or are you going to accept your challenges and circumstances and make the definite decision to go out and get what's yours? Only you can decide. 2. Stop Giving a Fuck One of the greatest truths of life is this… The fewer fucks you give, the better life you will live. It's that simple. People in the 21st century simply care too much about the wrong things. We allow the denigrating remarks of passersby's and internet trolls to damage our self-esteem and derail our mission. We allow the opinions of people who have done next to nothing for us to determine what path we will take and what passions we will pursue. We allow the push and pull of society to rope us into lives that we never wanted to live surrounded by people that we've never liked working for a cause that we never believed in. And there's a simple solution to all these problems. Stop giving a fuck. The less time and energy you allow yourself to waste on the petty garbage and insignificant opinions, the happier you will be. If you are on your purpose, on your mission, and on your path, if you are doing the things that are meaningful to you and waking up each day with a smile, then the rest can fade away into the background. 3. Unplug and Spend Time In Life We live in such a hyper-connected world that the vast majority of people no longer experience life through their own eyes, they experience it through the lens of the latest smartphone. Instead of going out on dates and connecting with the person across from us, we waste our time Tweeting and texting and Instagramming. Instead of spending time with our wives and children, we waste our evenings surfing social media and watching B-grade, uninspiring garbage on the internet. We aren't living anymore dammit! And it's starting to show. Depression, loneliness, and suicide are at record highs (especially among men) and yet we continue moving through life like zombies, attached to our screens. So let me challenge you to change that. Put your damn phone down for an evening. Spend real quality time with your wife and kids. Go hang out with a friend and leave your phones at home. Spend time by yourself with your own thoughts and no stimulation (you just might come up with some phenomenal ideas). Learn to let go of the need for constant stimulation and I promise that your life will be better for it. 4. The Act of Doing Makes You a Success As men, it is easy to tie our self-worth and perception of our own success to external things. We believe that we are only a success if we have the beautiful girl, the 7-figure business, the Lamborghini, the fame, and the body. But the truth of the matter is that the very act of doing and pursuing our goals is what makes us a success. If you are getting up every day, putting your nose to the grindstone and your shoulder to the wheel in pursuit of a higher vision and calling, then you are a success. You will not become a success when you achieve some arbitrary goal or ideal, you are a success right now so long as you are in pursuit. So long as you stay hungry, so long as you put in the work, and so long as you never give up, you can go to bed knowing that you are a success regardless of the external circusmtances in your life. 5. F*ck your Feelings and Do What's Right There are only two kinds of people in the world, hedonists and stoics. A hedonist does whatever it takes to feel good, a stoic does what is right whether it feels good or not… And unfortunately, we live in a time that is filled to the brim with hedonists. The vast majority of our society

William H. McRaven is a former United States Navy admiral who last served as the ninth commander of the United States Special Operations Command from August 8, 2011, to August 28, 2014. Since January 2015, he has served as the chancellor of The University of Texas System. McRaven previously served from June 13, 2008, to August 2011 as Commander, Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) and from June 2006 to March 2008 as Commander, Special Operations Command Europe (SOCEUR). In addition to his duties as COMSOCEUR, he was designated as the first director of the NATO Special Operations Forces Coordination Centre (NSCC), where he was charged with enhancing the capabilities and inter-operability of all NATO Special Operations Forces. Admiral McRaven retired from the Navy on August 28, 2014, after more than 37 years of service. Favorite Success Quote If by Rudyard Kipling Key Points 1. Focus on Doing Your Duties Now Success in life doesn't come from focusing on what you are going to do in the future. It comes from focusing all of your attention on the tasks that are in front of you right now. Yes, you should have goals, dreams, and aspirations. However, do not allow these dreams and aspirations to rule the present moment. Instead, focus on the now, focus on what is right in front of you, focus more on the next 24 hours and less on the next 24 years. The quickest way to achieve success (whatever your definition of success might be) is to have a plan and then execute on that plan, day in and day out. Do your duties now and allow tomorrow to take care of itself. 2. You Can't Make it Alone Many men like to think that they are an island, they like to believe that they are the Alpha and Omega of their lives. Until one day, they are struck by the very harsh reality that they are not. No man, regardless of size, intelligence or other capability has ever "made it" on this planet by themselves. We were designed for community and teamwork. One of the fastest ways to achieve your mission, whether that is in business, in your health, or in your relationships is to surround yourself with amazing, like-minded individuals who can help support you and push you along the journey. With a tight-knit circle of influence, you will be able to accelerate your results, find your blind spots, and receive help when you are outside of your comfort zone. And more than that, you will have more fun! Life is a team sport, it's meant to be played with other people. So eradicate the erroneous notion that real men do it alone. Build your tribe and have a blast doing it. 3. What Are You Really Made of? So often in our modern society, we are quick to judge others (and ourselves) on external factors like height, weight, attractiveness, financial success, and social capital. But we forget that our worth is defined by how much heart we have, not how much money or muscle we have. A person's worth is defined by what's inside. Admiral McRaven illustrates this point perfectly in his book when he shares the story of Thomas Norris, a Navy Seal who was awarded the congressional medal of honor. During training, nearly all of his classmates assumed that Tom would fail. He was short, skinny, and out of shape compared to the other men. However, Tom had a level of internal fortitude, mental strength, and heart that few men in the world display. And his bravery was exemplified repeatedly on the battlefield, especially during the infamous rescue mission that lead to his Congressional Medal of Honor. Like Tom, many of you might not be what comes to mind physically when people think of an "Alpha" or a "Real Man". But that isn't what matters. What are you made of? Who are you? What is your character like when everything goes wrong and your life is spiraling out of control? That is what determines your worth as a man. 4. You Are Going to Fail Read that again. You are going to fail. I don't care how good you are, how smart you are, or how strong you are. Life will kick you to the curb and beat you senseless at some point in your existence. This isn't a speculation. It's fact. You are going to fail! You might not face the catastrophic failures that come to mind when you hear the word, but at some point in your life, you will be faced with a situation, a business deal, a relationship, or a physical challenge that you simply cannot surmount. So get over it. Stop letting this fear of failure rule you and accept that failure is inevitable. Failure is a sign of life, it is a sign that you are trying to push the envelope forward and a sign that you are growing into the man you need to be. So get used to failing. If you do anything of worth in this life, it is going to become a pretty common occurrence. 5. Your Bank Account Doesn't Determine Your Success Many men operate under the flawed ideology that the more 0's they have in their bank accounts, the more successful they are. This simply isn't true. Yes, money is important, and you should certainly strive to earn enough to enjo

Bedros Keuilian is the fitness industry's most trusted consultant. His various fitness businesses are designed to enable trainers to maximize their earning potential with revolutionary industry techniques. Before constructing his fitness empire, Bedros owned five fitness gyms at once. After revamping his business model with direct response marketing and sales techniques, he began earning profit margins totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars from these locations alone. He would then go on to found Fit Body Boot Camp. As the CEO and founder of Fit Body, currently the world's fastest growing fitness chain, Bedros practices what he preaches, implementing the same formula for success that he brings to his fitness clients worldwide. Fit Body was recently listed as one of Inc. 5000's fastest growing businesses of 2016. Favorite Success Quotes "How you do anything is how you do everything" "Circumstances do not change responsibility" Key Points 1. Your Responsibilities Aren't Affected by Your Circumstances The vast majority of modern men have been castrated by a societal conditioning that tells them it's "ok" to shirk their responsibilities. Men who allow the whims of their emotions and their day to day circumstances to dictate their actions and responses. We see men who allow the whims of their emotions and their day to day circumstances to dictate their actions and responses. Fathers who ignore their duties to their children, husbands who shrug off their responsibilities to their wives, and workers who simply aren't willing to put in the work necessary to keep their clients happy. And as a result, our society has been left scratching its head in confusion wondering "Where have all the real men gone"? The real men are still out there… They are just harder to find. They are the men who do not allow their feelings and problems to interfere with their duties. The men who provide for their families, prioritize their relationships and take care of their bodies. The men who are willing to say no to luxuries and parties now so that they can have an incredible quality of life for their family later. Are you one of those men? 2. Resourcefulness is the Ultimate Resource Markets crash, businesses crumble, people die, and life happens. So what? The greatest breakthroughs of human history have often come in times where resources were slim and things were looking grim. But a handful of (now) iconic individuals were willing to look at the circumstances and negative situation and see it for what it was… An opportunity. You see, if you are resourceful enough, no circumstance or turmoil will prevent you from success. You can always find a way to make money and create a life of happiness and freedom for yourself. You must simply learn to look for it. Resourcefulness is your greatest resource in the tumultuous and unpredictable world that we live in. If you can learn to cultivate this trait in yourself and others, you will find a way to be successful. No matter what. 3. Despite What You've Been Told, Work-Life Balance Is Crucial With the proliferation of the "Hustlers" mentality and the idea that grinding it out 24/7 365 is the only way to success, many of you are operating under the misguided belief that work-life balance is b.s. Well… It's not. Bedros found this out first hand when, after several consecutive months of high-stress projects, he snapped and suffered from multiple anxiety attacks (initially mistaking them for heart attacks). These episodes scared Bedros into making a change and, after kicking and clawing his way through the transition, he began to ease himself out of business scenarios that he found stressful. He cut back on his time in the office, started prioritizing his health and family again, and learned to delegate and outsource like crazy. And now… He's healthier, wealthier, and happier than ever before. Hustling your way to the top is great. Grinding and working hard are great. But they must be tempered by taking a step back and making time for yourself and your family. 4. The Quickest Way to Overcome Adversity is to Reframe It Life can suck. Things happen and circumstances outside of your control can knock you on your ass. But the quickest way to overcome any adversity is to reframe it. Learn to see challenges as opportunities. Learn to see setbacks as an opportunity to grow. Learn to see failure as education. The more that you can reframe the difficult things in life, the easier they will become. This will not make your problems go away… But it will make them easier to deal with. 5. All Success is Preceded by Risk If you want real success, you are going to have to take real risks. End of story. For the majority of A+ players, every big breakthrough, achievement, and milestone were preceded by even bigger risks. For some people this meant a breakup, for others, taking out a line of credit to fund a business, and for others still, it was dropping out of college and pursuing their dreams of their own volition

Executive, activist, and entrepreneur, Sarah Robb O'Hagan has been described by the media as everything from "Superwoman undercover" to the "Pied Piper of Potential." She is a high-energy combination of disruptive business leader, fitness fanatic, and cheerleading mom, and has been named one of Forbes' "Most Powerful Women in Sports" and one of Fast Company's "Most Creative People in Business." As Chief Executive Officer of the fast growing indoor cycling company Flywheel Sports, she is currently leading the transformation of the business through digital content and services. Prior to this role, Sarah became an internationally recognized re-inventor of brands, having served as global president of the $5Bn sports brand Gatorade, where she successfully led the business through a major repositioning and business turnaround, and global president of the luxury fitness company Equinox, where she reinvented the offering through a significant technology transformation. She recently released her new book, Extreme You: Step Up. Stand Out. Kick Ass. Repeat. Favorite Success Quote "Without risk does not come great reward." Sarah's Dad Key Points 1. Learn to Focus on What You Are Doing Now Tell me if this has ever happened to you before? You are at work, hustling away on a project that is fun and exciting, but for some reason, you cannot stop thinking about what's happening at home with your wife or girlfriend. Or you are out on a date with your significant other and, instead of giving them your full attention, you are answering work emails when you are supposed to be connecting and sharing a special moment. Why the hell is it that we are always thinking about, and focused on everything except for what we are doing right now? Happiness and success are found when you are able to be completely present in whatever you are doing. When you are 100% focused on your work, you will be able to solve problems, pivot, and accomplish your tasks with greater speed and efficiency. Meaning that later in the day, you have the mental bandwidth to focus in on your family and friends 100%. The more present and focused you can be in one area, the more focus and presence you will be able to bring to the other areas of your life. 2. The Foundation of Success is Self-Care One of the most underrated and least talked about subjects in the world of entrepreneurship is self-care. Everyone gets so focused in on the hustle, they get so focused in on grinding it out and being "obsessed" that they forget to take care of #1. But let me ask you a question… How much money are you going to make if you are constantly in and out of the hospital with stress-related illnesses? How effective will you be if you are constantly drained, lethargic, and fatigued? How successful do you think you will really be if you are not taking care of yourself? You won't! Success without self-care is unsustainable and ultimately unfulfilling. You must learn to take care of yourself, especially your mental and physical health first and focus on your business second. Make time every single day to get some form of exercise. Give yourself those extra 10-15 minutes to meditate and clear your headspace. Give yourself permission to relax at the end of a long day with a hot bath and some calm music. If you are not taking care of yourself and your body, you will eventually burn out and fail. Period. 3. You Cannot Take Things too Seriously Look… Life is short. So why the hell would you waste one second of your life in an unhappy or depressed state? Have fun for God's sake! Learn to laugh at yourself, laugh at your work, laugh at your success, laugh at your failure, because, at the end of the day, we are all dead anyways, so we might as well enjoy the journey and have a few laughs along the way. Life isn't meant to be a constant stress-fest. It's meant to be enjoyed with people that you like, doing things that you love. And guess what? In every moment, you have the choice to enjoy your life, to have a great time, and to laugh through the hardships or to succumb to the pain and the suffering and allow outside circumstances to dictate your attitude. You have a choice to enjoy life even when it's hard. You have a choice to let go of your ego, stop taking things so damn seriously, and enjoy the ride. So will you? 4. Stop Going Half Way Because of the pressure that many millennials feel from the older generations, a large majority of the young people in Western society are making the grave mistake of building "partial bridges" for the sake of their resume. What do I mean? Well, think about it. Most 18-35-year-olds will change jobs every 2-4 years. Instead of finding something that they are really passionate about, going all the way and becoming great, they go halfway. They hop from position to position trying to build their resume and "experience" when all that they really accomplish is becoming ok at a bunch of unrelated crap. If you really want to become great, then you need to go all the w

Adam Grant has been recognized as Wharton's top-rated teacher for five straight years, and as one of the world's 25 most influential management thinkers and Fortune's 40 under 40. As an organizational psychologist, he studies how we can find motivation and meaning, and lead more generous and creative lives. Adam is the author of two New York Times bestselling books translated into 35 languages. Originals and Give and Take. Adam received a standing ovation for his 2016 TED talk on the surprising habits of original thinkers and was voted the audience's favorite speaker at The Nantucket Project on the success of givers and takers, which was the subject of his most recent TED talk. His speaking and consulting clients include Facebook, Google, the NBA, Merck, Goldman Sachs, Disney Pixar, Johnson & Johnson, BCG, Amex, the U.S. Army and Navy, and the World Economic Forum, where he has been honored as a Young Global Leader. Favorite Success Quote "The best way to succeed is to help other people succeed." Key Points 1. Become a Master of "Five Minute Favors" One of the secret weapons of high performers, their proverbial "special sauce" if you will, is the five-minute favor. These favors are simple, easy-to-do tasks that can have a huge impact on your network and future success. One of the simplest examples is devoting 10 minutes a week to connecting at least 2 people you feel need to know each other. This simple tactic resulted in the formation of the Beatles and Apple. Another example is taking the extra initiative at work or in the classroom. Simple things like providing your boss with ten easy-to-implement actions to save the office money or helping a co-worker with a project that they are behind on can drastically increase your social capital and build reciprocal kindness and goodwill. 2. Being an "Original" Is Simple If you want to be original, the path is simple. First, avoid the status quo. Second, look for a new way to do things. And third come up with a superfluous number of ideas, even bad ideas, until you find the solution for which you're looking. Many people seem to think that being an "Original" is a complicated process that requires psychedelic drugs, a MENSA IQ, or a real creative genius. But the simple truth is that all non-conformists, originals, and real industry disrupters have followed the same three steps. 3. Learn to Reframe the Mundane One of the most immediate and impactful ways that you can increase your own levels of happiness and satisfaction is to reframe the mundane tasks in your life and find a way to enjoy them. The simplest example is email. How many of you spend at least an hour a day sorting through, organizing, and responding to emails? How many of you think that one hour sucks? I get it… It might seem hard to reframe this seemingly sucky task into something that is genuinely meaningful and enjoyable, but just imagine if you could. Imagine if instead of seeing your email as a drudgery, a life-sucking task, you saw it as an opportunity. An opportunity to touch every life with which you connect. An opportunity to inspire love, gratitude, and empowerment in every interaction. Because isn't that exactly what it is? It's a chance for you to connect with people from all around the globe and inspire them with your attitude, your mindset, and your values. When you approach it from this angle and with this mindset, checking your email because an empowering and exciting task because, instead of thinking "How many freaking message do I have to handle" you get to think "How many lives will I get to shape?" 4. Being an "Original" Is About Execution Not Ideation Being an original has nothing to do with the idea. Everyone, if they think about it long enough, can develop a "Billion dollar idea" that would change the world and disrupt entire industries. But they never take the requisite action. They allow their dreams, their hopes, and their ideas to wither away and die because they cannot bring themselves to execute. They take their ideas with them to the graveyard because they were unwilling to take action on those ideas! At the end of the day, those who truly succeed and shape the world are those who are willing to take ideas and run with them. To take massive action in the face of uncertainty, and give their idea the chance to see the light of day. 5. Fear the Failure to Try Many gurus and self-help proponents shame the fear of failure. They instill a toxic belief that fearing failure is a bad thing. But the simple truth is that you should fear failure. In fact, it should scare the hell out of you! But not in the way that most people imagine. You shouldn't fear the failure of your business, your relationship, or your bank account… you should fear your own failure to try. At the end of the day, when you lie in your bed, weathered by time, and near the end, you will not look back in regret on the things that you tried and failed. You will look back with regret on the times that you failed to try

If you're struggling with an existential crisis, this guide will help. I don't have all of the answers, but I've been through the ringer. From quitting my job to devastating breakups, to losing my father and best friend in the same month... I've been through challenges that have made me question the purpose of life and my place inside of it. And this is how I overcame those challenges.

Jocko Willink is a decorated retired Navy SEAL officer, author of the book Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win, and co-founder of Echelon Front, where he is a leadership instructor, speaker, and executive coach. Jocko spent 20 years in the U.S. Navy SEAL Teams, starting as an enlisted SEAL and rising through the ranks to become a SEAL officer. As commander of SEAL Team Three's Task Unit Bruiser during the battle of Ramadi, he orchestrated SEAL operations that helped the "Ready First" Brigade of the US Army's First Armored Division bring stability to the violent, war-torn city. As commander of SEAL Team Three's Task Unit Bruiser during the battle of Ramadi, he orchestrated SEAL operations that helped the "Ready First" Brigade of the US Army's First Armored Division bring stability to the violent, war-torn city. Task Unit Bruiser became the most highly decorated Special Operations Unit of the Iraq War. Jocko returned from Iraq to serve as Officer-in-Charge of training for all West Coast SEAL Teams. There, he spearheaded the development of leadership training and personally instructed and mentored the next generation of SEAL leaders who have continued to perform with great success on the battlefield. During his career, Jocko was awarded the Silver Star, the Bronze Star, and numerous other personal and unit awards. In 2010, Jocko retired from the Navy and launched Echelon Front where he teaches the leadership principles he learned on the battlefield to help others lead and win. Clients include individuals, teams, companies, and organizations across a wide-range of industries and fields. Favorite Success Quote "Discipline equals freedom" Key Points 1. Discipline Gives You True Freedom If you want freedom, then forget all the crap about life hacks, smart drugs, and shortcuts. If you want freedom, then you must cultivate extreme levels of discipline. Period. I don't care if you want to do the important things. Do them. I don't care if you feel like handling your responsibilities. Handle them. I don't care if you want to wake up early and grind. Just fucking rise and grind. Discipline equals freedom. 2. You Have to Be Humble Once you have cultivated discipline and overcome your weakness and propensity to allow your feelings in the moment to dictate your life, arrogance becomes your most dangerous enemy. Just because you have achieved a certain level of success does not mean that you have it figured out. The day that you think you know it all, the day that you stop trying to grow, and the day you stop learning from others… That's the day that you will fall and you will fall hard. 3. Take Extreme Ownership Whatever circumstances life has given you, it's time to man up and own them. Step up and take charge of the results that you are producing or failing to produce. Take ownership of your marriage, your business, and your finances. Sure, you can piss away your time blaming others, whining, and moaning. But you will lose respect from the people who matter and accomplish nothing in the process. Or, you can let go of your ego, accept responsibility, and take extreme ownership. And when are willing to swallow your pride and take ownership of your life and success, you will cultivate respect for yourself and respect from others. 4. Detach Emotions from Your Decision-Making Process If you want to sabotage your success and ruin all chances of high achievement, then allow your emotions to dictate your decision making. If you want to achieve greatly, lead effectively, and create massive success in your life, then learn to detach your emotions from important decisions. I don't care if you like an under-performing employee and feel bad about letting them go. If you have done everything you can to empower them and call them forward, and they still fail… it's time to let them go. I don't care if you don't feel like getting up and doing your work for the day. It's time to rise and hustle. When it comes to important decisions, you must lead with logic. I don't care how you feel. Feelings don't win wars, build businesses, or change the world. Smart and consistent action does. 5. Win the Mornings and Win Your Day If you want to have great days, then start with great mornings. Jocko rises every morning at 4:30 a.m. and hits the gym long before distractions or other people's agendas can start to distract him and interfere with his goals. To achieve high levels of success, you must accomplish your most important tasks first thing every morning before the rest of the world is awake. If you can do this, success is all but guaranteed.

Isaac Lidsky "may possess the most eclectic resume in entrepreneurship" according to Inc. Magazine. He played series regular "Weasel" on Saved by the Bell: The New Class; graduated from Harvard College at age nineteen with a degree in mathematics and computer science; graduated from Harvard Law School magna cum laude; served as a law clerk for Supreme Court Justices Sandra Day O'Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg; argued more than a dozen appeals in federal court on behalf of the United States and never lost a case; started a tech company that sold for $230 million; transformed a struggling $15 million concrete subcontractor into an industry-leading $150 million construction services company in five years; and founded Hope for Vision, a nonprofit organization that funds the development of treatments and cures for blinding diseases. Lidsky was born with Retinitis Pigmentosa, a rare degenerative disease of the retina that caused him to gradually lose his sight. Lidsky lives in Windermere, Florida with his wife, Dorothy; their triplets, Lily Louise, Phineas, and Thaddeus; and baby Clementine. Favorite Success Quote "Try not to become a man of success, rather become a man of value" ~Albert Einstein Key Points 1. Make Your Own Definition of Success Each and every day, we are bombarded by images, videos, and social diatribes about what it means to be a success. Fancy cars overtake us in traffic, well-dressed men dating beautiful models captivate our attention, and the "Houses in the Hills" earn both our scorn and envy. And most of us allow this societal autopilot to determine our goals, dreams, and ambitions. We all want to make millions, sleep with beautiful women, and have a luxurious lifestyle, but we never stop to ask ourselves why. We define our success by the world's standards instead of our own, and as a result, most of us are angry, confused, and frustrated. But there is another way. You have the power to create your own definition of success. To decide for yourself what is important and what is not. To create your own goals based on your deepest values and desires. Forget what society says. Success is subjective. If you wake up each morning, happy, fulfilled, and full of life, then you are a success. The only question that remains for you to answer is "What is my definition of success"? 2. Your Reality is Determined by Your Choices If you are drawing breath and reading this paragraph right now, then chances are, you have been through the ringer. And if you haven't, then you might want to put on your raincoat, because there are a couple of storms on the horizon that are headed in your direction. Struggle is an axiom of the human experience. Everyone has challenges, problems, and setbacks. So why is it that two people who are faced with exactly the same circumstance can create massively different results? One simple word. Choice. In each moment, you have the power to choose how your circumstances will affect you. You can choose to believe that life is happening for you, that everything happens for a reason, and that you will achieve your goals and dreams. Or you can choose to believe that life is happening to you, that people are all inherently evil and trying to hurt you, and that you are doomed to a life of failure. The choice is yours. But as the Knight in Indiana Jones said "Choose wisely." 3. There is No Tomorrow Yesterday no longer exists. It is nothing more than a series of mental projections that often occurred in a completely different manner than you remember. Tomorrow has not yet arrived and never will. All that we have is right now. This present moment. Take a minute to appreciate it. Enjoy the next breath you take, feel the chair underneath you, listen to the sounds around you. Each moment that we have is a gift, you must learn to appreciate it and be grateful for it instead of waiting for a tomorrow or "Someday" that may never come. 4. Reframe Fears as Fiction In AA, they define fear as "False evidence appearing real". And truthfully, that is all that it is. Most of the things that we worry about, lose sleep over, and allow to paralyze us will never come to fruition. The worst case scenarios almost never happen, and when they do, they are rarely as awful as we initially imagined. Fear is nothing but fiction. Every fear that is holding you back and preventing you from achieving your greatness is little more than fiction. It is a projection that your 10,000+ year old brain is creating to try and keep you safe from an imaginary fate. Realize this. Embrace this. And step into your fear and take massive action. 5. Get Congruent with Your Values We live in a world that utterly and completely lacks integrity. I don't mean this in the sense that we all run around lying and breaking our promises, but rather in the sense that what we think, say, and do rarely align. Most people think that they want to be rich, they say that they want to be well-off, and then they act like they want to be poor. People say t

Nicolas Cole is a former pro World of Warcraft player turned entrepreneur. He is writer and essayist, and a Top Writer on Quora. His work has been published in Time, Forbes, Fortune, Inc., The Huffington Post, Business Insider, and more. He is best known for writing true stories about self-development. He recently authored the book, Confessions of a Teenage Gamer. Favorite Success Quote "You can't steer a stationary ship" Key Points 1. There Are Always Lessons to Be Learned Few people consider video games to be a vehicle for learning powerful life and business lessons. However, according to Nicolas, the exact same skills and strategies that made him a phenomenal World of Warcraft player were the exact same skills that translated into professional body building, entrepreneurship, and writing. And while I am not suggesting that you go and become a professional gamer to build up your resume for the business world, you need to realize that there are life lessons to be learned in almost any endeavor. Because the rules of success are universal. The same laws that governed your success in the gym will govern your success in business. The same laws that governed your success in business will govern your success with women. Understand that there are always lessons to be learned and look for ways that you can apply seemingly disparate concepts and ideas from one area of life to achieve success in another. 2. Feel Don't Think If you ever watched Star Wars growing up, then you probably remember Obi Wan's famous line to Anakin in Attack of the Clones "Feel. Don't think.. Use your instinct." And while I am not training you to bring balance to the force or defeat the dark side, this same truth is applicable in our everyday, non-Jedi lives. People, especially men, think too much. We allow logic and egoic reasoning to dictate what we want (or what we say we want) and what goals we pursue. But if you want to be truly happy. If you want more joy and fulfillment in your life, and you want to live for your true purpose, then you need to feel your way through life. When you trust your instincts instead of your head, you will be in greater alignment with your true purpose and your actual desires. So drop the logic and just feel. What do you really want? Who do you really want to become? And most importantly… Why? 3. Learn to Gamify Your Life If you want to quickly achieve success in life and business, then stop taking it so damn seriously. Relax and gamify your experience. See your different goals and dreams as quests. And in order to achieve those quests, you need to "level up" by practicing different skills and breaking through different milestones. When you begin to view your life and goals as a game, they start to become less of a chore, and more of an adventure. How can you begin to gamify your life more, starting today? 4. You've Got to Start the Quest Once you have created a "quest" that you are going to pursue… You have to get started. You cannot hope to achieve success without taking action and actually taking the first step towards your dreams. I don't care what this step is. It can be buying a new domain name, writing your first blog article, or launching your podcast. Just do something. Just get started. The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step ~Lao Tzu 5. Learn to Hustle If you want to achieve success, then you've gotta hustle. This applies to professional gaming, entrepreneurship, bodybuilding, and success with women. You can have whatever you want, but you have to work for it. You have to get off your butt, show up, and do the work. If you are willing to do this day in and day out over the years, you will succeed. It will not be all at once, but over time, as Charlie Munger said, "If you live long enough, most people will get what they deserve."

William Eckstrom is the President and founder of the EcSell Institute. Bill has spent his entire career in the sales arena; the first 14 years in personal production and then 13 in various sales leadership roles. His management career began in 2000 as a District Manager for a medical equipment company and was promoted to U.S. Director of Sales in 2003. In 2004, Bill was lured away to become Senior Vice President of Business Development for a publicly traded healthcare organization. In 2008, he founded the EcSell Institute to fill a void he witnessed and personally experienced in the sales leadership Favorite Success Quote "The constant facade of order hides the wilderness that is craving to seek out and teach us that life wasn't created to be what we think it is. Beyond words we must experience the wilderness to be taught what otherwise cannot be known." ~Dr. Serene Jones Key Points 1. We Only Grow in a State of Discomfort We live in an age of unprecedented comfort. Things are easier today in 2017 (or whenever you are reading this) than they have ever been before. If we get hot, we turn up the AC. If we get bored, we open up YouTube. If we are hungry, we order a pizza. Life is too darn easy! And with this ease, has come a disease that is plaguing society. The disease of stagnation. The more comfortable you become, the less drive and ambition you have to grow, create, and build a better life for yourself. The more comfortable you become, the easier it is to relegate your dreams, desires, and aspirations to the realm of "someday". Unless you are facing massive discomfort in your life, then odds are, you are slowly dying. True growth, real, visceral growth is always predicated by discomfort. If you are living a mediocre life and want to break free to achieve levels of success and happiness that you have been searching for for so long, then you must get uncomfortable. It's as simple as that. It's not pretty and it's not easy… but it is the truth. You need to actively seek out discomfort in your career, your personal growth, and your physical health. If your job isn't inspiring you, then find ways that you can take on new and uncomfortable responsibilities or quit. If you are not growing as a man and becoming stronger and more grounded each and every day, then find mentors and friends inspire you to level up your game and quit playing it small. If you are not constantly pushing the limits of your body and breaking through to new feats of strength, speed, and agility, then get your butt in the gym today and start sculpting yourself into a stronger man. Gentlemen, if you are not growing you are dying. It's time to cut the crap and start living life. And it all starts by stepping outside what is easy and embracing discomfort. 2. Focus on Yourself First If you have ever been on an airplane, then you are well aware of the boring (and often ignored) safety briefings at the beginning of each flight. But if you pay special attention during those briefings you will notice something interesting. The flight attendants will always tell you that, in the event of a crash, you need to put the oxygen mask on yourself first before helping anyone around you, including your children. And while this might sound selfish and downright barbaric to some of you, it comes with good reason. If you black out on during the crash while trying to help someone else, then what have you accomplished? You have likely killed yourself and sealed the other person's fate as well. And this lesson is applicable in all areas of life. If you are not taking care of yourself, if you are not taking the time to grow yourself, mentally, spiritually, and professionally, then what use do you have to the rest of the world? If you are so strung out on projects and problems that you can't think straight and need a double shot of espresso and a line of cocaine just to function, do you really think that you will be able to be the man that you woman needs you to be? That your family needs you to be? That your friends need you to be? No! Absolute selflessness is the ultimate selfishness. It is only by taking care of yourself first that you can truly serve others. If you want to truly serve your team, your loved ones, and your friends, then start by serving yourself. Take time in solitude each day to meditate and be alone with your thoughts. Take care of your health. Take whatever time and resources are necessary to ensure that you can show up fully charged and alive. Because when you are can unleash yourself on the world with power and energy, that's when you can serve others and make the biggest impact. 3. Life Happens for You Not to You Each and every day you have a choice. You can choose to believe that the circumstances and the events in your life are happening to you. Or you can choose to believe that they are happening for you. When you believe that life happens to you, you disempower yourself, rob your life of meaning and purpose, and will get lost in the downw

A 24 year veteran of the FBI, Chris Voss is one of the preeminent practitioners and professors of negotiating skills in the world. He is the founder and principal of The Black Swan Group, a consulting firm that provides training and advises Fortune 500 companies through complex negotiations. Voss has taught for many business schools, including the University of Southern California's Marshall School of Business, Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business, Harvard University, MIT's Sloan School of Management, and Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management, among others. Favorite Success Quote "It can't be that hard" ~Chris Voss Key Points 1. Just Jump in and Figure it Out Whatever it is that you want to do, whatever goal you want to achieve, whatever business you want to start, whatever dream you want to pursue… Just jump in and do it. How hard can it be? If other men have come before you and accomplished goals of the same or similar magnitude, then why not you? Why shouldn't you be able to gain the knowledge, skill sets, and expertise you need to succeed? Don't overthink it. Don't waste time analyzing it. Just jump in and figure it out. 2. Don't Talk to Somone. Talk with Them One of the keys to great negotiation and communication is that you must talk with people, not just to them. Too many people walk around running their mouths and talking to people, but they never actually take the time to slow down and listen to them. They never talk with them to figure out who they really are and what they are saying. If you want to immediately improve the quality of your negotiations at work, your communication in your marriage, and the quality of conversation with your friends, then start talking with people in your life. Figure out what really makes them tick. Delve deeply into the why behind their comments and beliefs. Become deeply curious about them and you will find doors opening up in some huge ways. 3. Surround Yourself with the Right People Regardless of your goals and ambitions, it is imperative that you surround yourself with the right people. People who are smart, hard working, fun, and most importantly… people who know things that you do not. If you are the smartest person in any room, then you are in the wrong room. As you progress through life, seek to find rooms that make you more and more uncomfortable. Rooms that are filled with people who are so big and powerful that you are forced to pause and think "Do I really belong here?" The more that you can surround yourself with the right people, the more quickly you will become the right person in your own life. So ditch the negative friends and the unambitious buddies from college. It's time to level up your social circle and level up your life. 4. Work Hard and Have Fun The rules of success are simple. Work hard and have fun. At the end of the day, if you can do those two things, then you are a success. If you can show up, put in the effort, get your nose to the grindstone and make things happen while laughing, smiling, and enjoying yourself, then you have achieved success. To live a fulfilling and rich life, you must work hard. But you must also have fun while doing it. 5. Take Good Advice Most people want mentors. They want teachers and guides who can help them to achieve their goals and live a 10/10 life. But when they finally find those people and are given their first challenging piece of advice, they run and hide, ignoring the very thing that could revolutionize their reality. If you want to succeed, then learn to take good advice. No matter how hard or uncomfortable it might be, when you find someone succeeding at a high level who has what you want… Listen and implement what they say. No questions asked and no hesitation.

Todd Henry is the founder of Accidental Creative, a company that helps creative people and teams be prolific, brilliant and healthy. He regularly speaks and consults with companies about how to develop practices that lead to everyday brilliance. He is the author of Die Empty, The Accidental Creative, and Louder than Words. Favorite Success Quote "Verily the lust for comfort murders the passion of our soul and then walks grinning in the funeral" ~Kahlil Gibran Key Points 1. The Goal of Life is Not Comfort it's Contribution Society has tried to convince us that the ultimate goal of our lives is to increase our comfort. But the problem with this philosophy is that no great work ever came from comfort. You cannot contribute to society and build a true legacy while staying comfortable. In fact, comfort is what kills great work and dreams. The more you are pursuing comfort, the more you are going to be willing to compromise what you know is right and ultimately the more you are willing to reduce your goals and play it small in life. It's not comfortable to build a great business. It's hard work, it requires long hours, and lots of lost sleep. It's not comfortable to sustain a strong marriage. It requires difficult conversations, a commitment to your spouse even when they are at their worst, and the ability to say no to the temptation of other women. It's not comfortable to build a great body. It requires strenuous exercise, denying yourself the pleasure of excess food, and controlling vices that would harm your health. But while it might not be comfortable to do any of these things, it is worth it. 2. Suffering is Not Evil One of the missions of many modern gurus is to "Eradicate suffering wherever it exists". And while this sentiment sounds noble, when you understand its ramifications, the truth becomes clear. Suffering is not evil, it is not wrong, and it is not a danger to society. Suffering is a necessary part of growth and development. Suffering builds character in the individual and equips them for challenges that they will face later in life. I want you to imagine two men. The first grew up in NYC, with rich affluent parents, and the whole world presented to him. The second, grew up in the South Side of Chicago, with an abusive father and an emotionally distant mother. They both grow up, and decide to take up the mantle of entrepreneurship. When the first man comes in contact with his first set of challenges, what do you think will happen? When he is required to work for 24 hours straight, to fire a dear friend, and to pull payroll from his own bank account… how do you think he will respond? While he might rise to the situation and surprise us all, odds are, his love of comfort and soft life will have conditioned him to tuck his tail and run. But the second man? The man who became friends with pain and suffering from a very young age? What do you think he will do? He will laugh. This is nothing compared to where he came from and he knows that he can easily overcome these obstacles to achieve his goals. Suffering breeds strong men and strong men shape the world. While you shouldn't seek to suffer more than is necessary, you should embrace suffering as it arises and be willing to see it for the gift that it is. 3.Contemplate Your Own Death We are all going to die. Maybe Elon Musk will step in and save the population from its rapidly approaching fate, but until then, the only axiom of life is the inevitability of death. You are going to die, I am going to die, and everyone who reads this is going to die. And when we are presented with this reality, we have but one of two choices. We can either continue living life like we always have, lazily coasting through our days, living the deferred life that everyone else has designed for us. Or we can take action. We can use this disturbing and dark reality to inspire us and empower us to live our best lives. If tomorrow is not guaranteed then you can no longer waste today. Don't wait until later to tell someone that you love them, don't wait until next week to start pursuing your dreams, and don't wait a second longer to start living with joy and passion. We are all dead men walking. So we might as well make the most of it. 4. Make Mistakes of Commission Not Omission There are only two kinds of mistakes in this world. Mistakes of omission and mistakes of commission. Mistakes of omission are the worst kind. These mistakes are where we knew we needed to do something, desperately wanted to take action, but froze in fear. These are the mistakes where we think back and wonder "What would have happened if I had taken that trip, quit that job, asked that girl out, or been willing to be my true self." These are the mistakes that haunt us to our death bed. Then there are mistakes of commission. These are the mistakes that we will most often look back and smile on. These are the mistakes where we started that business, made a bad move, and then failed and learned what we needed

Sean Ogle is a former 9-5er turned lifestyle entrepreneur. Since 2009, Sean has built his company Location Rebel into one of the premier digital nomad and location independence blogs on the internet. After quitting the corporate world, Sean was able to grow his company to multiple six figures in revenue and create a lifestyle of total freedom, travelling to dozens of countries, and exploring parts of the world many people didn't even know existed. Favorite Success Quote "Comparison is the thief of joy" ~Theodore Roosevelt Key Points 1. Stop Comparing Yourself to Others One of the most pervasive problems in our hyper "connected" society is the prevalence of the comparison mindset. No matter how great you are doing in your business, health, and relationships, someone is always doing better, and after 30-seconds of surfing through Instagram you are immediately reminded that you are not the biggest fish in the pond. But guess what? It's ok. Every single person is on their own unique journey to success. We all have our own path to chart and our own roads to travel. And comparing yourself to others (whose story and struggle you are completely unaware of) is the fastest way to sabotage your own success and happiness. It is one thing to aspire to a certain level of success. It is another thing entirely to degrade your own journey and achievement by comparing yourself to other people who had an entirely different set of skills and advantages when they entered the game. Cut out the comparison and you will cut out a vast majority of your unhappiness. 2. Start with the Basics So often whenever people are getting started on their journey to freedom and location independence, they want to focus on the sexy businesses. They want the six figure membership site, the 7-figure ecommerce store, and the high ticket coaching and consulting gigs. But what most people don't realize is that these types of businesses require an incredible level of skill and knowledge to build. You need to start with the unattractive basics first. Select a skill like SEO, copywriting, or web design. Become extremely proficient in that skill until you can make a full time living as a freelancer. Then, once you have the bills paid for and the ability to work from anywhere in the world, start applying those skills to your own "Freedom Business." Without the basics, you will fail at creating the "sexy" business every single time. 3. Consistency is the Key to Success True success comes from one thing. Consistency. It doesn't matter whether you devote 2 hours a day or 20 hours a day. As long as you are doing something to grow your skillset or business every single day, you will achieve success in a relatively short amount of time. By making a 2-hour daily commitment over the next 18 months, you can quit your job, travel the world, and make more income than you ever thought possible. But it requires consistency. You can't just work 80 hours on your freedom business one week, and then forget about it for three months. You need to lay the foundation every single day and keep piling up those bricks until you reach the level of success that you desire. 4. Focus on Vulnerability, Not Perfection One of the biggest road blocks that most entrepreneurs come across is that they are striving for perfection. Perfection in their content creation, perfection in their product creation, and perfection in every aspect of business execution. This is a mistake. The world responds to vulnerability, not meticulously written articles that require a month of editing. Be raw, be real, tell people what is really going on. The more vulnerable you are, the more people will be able to relate with you and the more of an impact you will be able to have. Don't try to be perfect. Just be real and the results will come. 5. Realize that Uncertainty is the Greatest Killer of Dreams "People will choose unhappiness over uncertainty" ~Tim Ferriss People are scared of the unknown. It's just how we are wired. We are terrified of the "ifs" surrounding our lives. What if she rejects me? What if this business fails? What if I lose it all? But what people forget is that 9 times out of ten, the worst case scenario, the "if" that we are so scared of is extremely unlikely. And even if it happens, it's almost never as bad as people think it will be. So what if you start a business and it fails. You can lick your wounds and return to the corporate world or you can start over and try again. But if you succeed, you will have a life that you can only imagine right now. So what if that hot girl rejects you? Odds are she will let you down gently and you will still be the only guy in your social circle with the balls to talk to her. And best case is that she is amazing and you end up in a happy fulfilled relationship. With most uncertainty in life, there is a disproportionate reward to risk ratio. Meaning that whatever you are scared of and uncertain about will typically result in a small potential loss, but ha

After sticking out his thumb and traveling the world, David returned home to Austin, Texas broke and unemployed, at the age of 26. Though his travels may not have yielded wealth, they instilled the key motivation that he brings to every part of his life to create it — freedom. Through this intention, David began to test his entrepreneurial merits alongside his business-partner mom in the world of real estate. The results were nothing short of remarkable. In less than 10 years, David would go on to build one of the top real estate brokerages in the world, founding over 50 companies. Yet, more than anything else, the inherent freedom derived from his success awards him the time to focus on the importance on what matters most: being a proud father of two beloved daughters, a son and husband to the wonderful and talented Traci Osborn. Today, still rooted in his boundless sense of adventure, David continues to travel the world not only to be enlightened by new experiences, but to share his insight and expertise with others so they, too, can truly be free. Favorite Success Quote "If you go to work on your goals, your goals will work on you. If you go to work on your plan, your plans will go to work on you. Whatever good things we build end up building us." ~Jim Rohn Key Points 1. Create Your Vision and Get to Work on It Most people are simply coasting through life. They live each day in a reactive mindset, allowing circumstances and the whims of others to control their emotions and outcomes. And most people are miserable. They are uninspired, financially and emotionally poor. But you don't have to be like most people. The first step to breaking out of the mold that society has cast you into is to take responsibility for your future and make the major definite decision about what you want. Who do you want to be? What do you want to contribute? How much wealth do you want to accumulate? What is your plan for achieving it? Creating a vision for your life and achieving that vision is possible. But it will require you to think differently, it will require that you make difficult decisions, and it will require that you put in the work. But ten years from now, you will surely arrive… The only question is who will you arrive as? Will you be the man that society wanted you to be? Or the man that you want to be? 2. You Have to Beat Your "Hopium" Addiction Most entrepreneurs suffer from a strong addiction to a sinister substance that is the insidious destroyer of goals and dreams. "Hopium" This drug isn't something that you snort, inject, or smoke, but rather it is a mindset that permeates every aspect of your life and (if you are not careful) can destroy every aspect of your life. You see, entrepreneurship is challenging, and it requires that you have a positive outlook and a strong mindset. However, this mindset often leads many entrepreneurs to make assumptions and hold unfounded beliefs about the future of their lives and business that simply aren't based in reality. They get overly excited about what might come to pass, they put too much emphasis on what is happening in their business right now and not enough on the possible downsides that could happen in the future. This dangerous addiction blinds many entrepreneurs to the reality of the business world and causes many fortunes to be flushed down the drain. If you want to wean yourself off this potent "substance" the first step is to cultivate a sense of positive skepticism. This does not mean that you approach every deal, hire, or project with a negative attitude, it simply means that you look at it for what it is and ask yourself "Where will this go wrong". For example, if you are expanding your company and opening up a new branch, before you sign a $20,000/month lease, ask yourself "How could this decision negatively affect my financial future and stability." After some careful thought you realize that this new territory has not been proven yet. You only have one agent and have no idea how your new branch will perform. Therefor you make the decision to run a 90-day trial period with no branch location. You meet up with your representatives and agents at local coffee shops, and wait until they have proven results. Once the cash flow becomes positive, then you can sign a lease for an office building. 3. Become a "One-hundred Percenter" The first step to truly living a life on your terms, a life by design, an extraordinary life, is to become a "100%er." This grammatically incorrect (yet wildly powerful) term simply means that 100% of your monthly expenses are covered by passive income. You could get into a car accident, or lose your biggest client, or sell your house and go backpacking across India and you would never have to worry about finances because 100% of your expenses are covered by passive income. This is a powerful goal that most authority figures on money and financial freedom do not teach. Who cares how much you can earn if you are constantly living in fear

While I was rewriting The Dating Playbook for Men, I came across something I didn't expect. My friend told me about a site where you could date the hottest women in your area… ...But you had to pay them to do it. I thought he was lying. But later that night I decided to check it out, and soon after I became an "undercover sugar daddy" where I met up with "sugar babies" to try and see what this bizarre and twisted underworld was all about and what was really going on. What I found next scared the living crap out of me… I recorded an expose of my experience and how the new world of sugar dating will impact men and women in the future. And I can promise you, you will NOT want to miss this.

Brandon Carter has been one of the top personal trainers and nutritionists in North America for over 10 years. He has worked as a fitness model for Nike, Puma, Adidas, Men's Health, and many others. Brandon has trained a number of professional athletes and models. Brandon is the author of the #1 best-selling ebook "Ultimate Cuts: 7 Secrets To Burn Fast As Hell" among several others. Favorite Success Quote "Your approval or disapproval means nothing to me" ~Jesus Key Points 1. Consistency is the Key to All Success Most successful people are not successful because of genetics, luck, or inheritance. They are successful because they just didn't give up. No matter how hard it got, no matter what challenges arose, they never gave up, never surrendered, and kept pushing forward to achieve the life of their dreams. Tony Robbins has an old saying that "You overestimate what you can do in a year but underestimate what you can do in two or three decades." And the simple truth is that most people die unsuccessful and unfulfilled because they were not willing to power through the decades of struggle to become successful. If you want to succeed, then don't quit. Plain and simple. 2. There is No Failure Simply Data In life, there is no failure, there is just input and data. Imagine that you go up to a beautiful woman to try and get her number. In your approach, you lack confidence, your voice cracks, you can't hold eye contact, and after mumbling inaudibly for about two minutes, she curtly tells you that she is not interested. Is this a failure? No, it is simply data about what doesn't work. Now, you know that the next time you go to approach a beautiful girl, you need to stand with confidence, project your voice, hold eye contact, and portray the fact that you are a strong grounded man. The same is true in business and in health. Even if you lose millions of dollars, it's not a failure, it's simply data that will inform your decisions in the future. If you waste two years with the same low-level exercise program without seeing results, you have not failed, you have simply gathered data about what doesn't work. 3. Master Your Craft If you want to be remembered as one of the greats, then you must become a master of your craft, not just a dabbler. True masters are the people who are willing to devote their lives to mastering one or two specific crafts. According to Malcolm Gladwell it takes 10,000 hours to become a true master of any craft. This means that if you want to truly master a craft it will take you at least a decade of committed work to truly become one of the greats. But this should not be something that is discouraging. Because of the high barrier to entry the competition that you will face on your path to mastery will be nominal. There are so few people who are actually willing to pay the price for mastery, that the rewards for becoming a master are so incredible. 4. You Will Have to Bleed for What You Want If you want to succeed, you are going to have to bleed. End of story. Whenever you are setting new goals for yourself, do not ask yourself what you want to achieve, ask yourself what you are willing to suffer for. Almost everyone wants a million dollars, the house in the hills, the fast cars, and the beautiful woman. But how many people are actually willing to bleed for what they want? How many people are willing to sacrifice and suffer to achieve their goals? If you want to achieve great things you will need to sacrifice greatly. So before you set out to achieve your goals ask yourself if you are truly willing to pay the price required to achieve your goals. 5. You Need to be Relentless Greatness requires sacrifice, we have already said as much. But to become the best you must be relentless. This is a whole new level of sacrifice. Fighting your way to the top means that you are going to have to give up time with friends and family, it means that you are going to have to leave relationships, it means that you are going to have to give up sleep, give up partying, and give up damn near everything except for your pursuit of greatness. You have to be relentless. You have to be like Jordan and Kobe. You have to show up early, leave late, and shut everything out except for your purpose. Becoming the best in the world is not a path for the faint of heart, but if you decide to embark upon it, then you need to realize what it is going to cost.

Kamal Ravikant is one of the world's most interesting entrepreneurs, whose initial success was found in the Silicon Valley. In addition to his entrepreneurial success, Kamal has also trekked the Himalayas, meditated with Tibetan monks in the Dalai Lama's monastery, served in the US Army Infantry, and walked 550 miles across Spain. He is also the author of Love Yourself Like Your Life Depends on It, Live Your Truth, andRebirth. Favorite Success Quote "Destiny favors the committed." "Hater's gonna hate!" ~Taylor Swift Key Points 1. Commit To Yourself Making and keeping a commitment to oneself is the ultimate measure of a man's success. We live in a society full of liars and fakes. And I do not mean that people are maliciously seeking to manipulate their way to the top or intentionally putting on a facade of success and gravitas. We live in a society where the greatest lies that are told are the ones that we tell ourself. "This time it will be different." "This is the year that I will quit smoking/doing drugs/watching porn/standing on the sidelines" "This is the year where I will take control of my life and start my own business." We live in a society that lies to itself to sedate the pain of staying the same. But what if things could be different? What if we were able to make commitments and follow through on them? What if we valued ourselves and our own word so much that the very thought of backing out of a commitment that we made to ourselves was unthinkable? It is possible. But it starts by learning to value yourself and the commitments that you are making. And more importantly, as we will discuss in a minute, it starts by loving yourself. 2. Execution, not Ideation is the Key to Success Everyone has a great idea. Everyone has an idea that could make them a billionaire (or at least much wealthier than they already are). So why are there so many broke and impoverished people? Especially in a country like the U.S. where there are so many opportunities? Because ideas are not worth a damn thing. Only execution is. The greatest investors in the world never bet on the idea, just the team behind it. If you want to succeed, stop worrying about what you are going to do, and start worrying about how you are going to do it and who you are going to become so that you can achieve your goals. Forget all of your ideas. Instead, worry about transforming yourself into the kind of person who can execute and bring ideas to life. 3. Loving Yourself is Selfless So often people read the titles of books like "Love Yourself" and "Choose Yourself" and they think "Wow! What selfless a-holes these people are" But what they never stop to realize is that the greatest narcissists in the world are the people who loathe themselves. If you love yourself and take care of #1, then you enter into the world from a place of peace, joy, and love and therefore you are able to pour out into others and be the light that others can follow. If you do not love yourself, then you enter the world from a place of scarcity, fear, and anxiety, ensuring that the only impact you have is to negatively affect and drain those around you. What is more selfless? Making sure that you are taken care of so that you can take care of others? Or focusing all of your energy on others until you are burnt out, angry, and depressed? 4. If I Loved Myself at a Level 10 What Would I Do? As you face different challenges and choices in your everyday life, you should view every trial, question, and challenge through one lens and one lens only. "If I loved myself at a level 10 of 10, what would I do?" This question simplifies even the most complicated of questions and makes it very easy for you to figure out the best solutions. If you loved yourself at a 10/10 would you smoke that cigarette or abstain? If you loved yourself at a 10/10 would you watch another porn flick, wasting your day and poisoning your sex life, or would you find more constructive ways to spend your time? If you loved yourself at a 10/10 would you stay in that toxic relationship or bite the bullet and move on to someone who loves and appreciates you? If you loved yourself at a 10/10 would you continue living a sedated, numb life, doing just enough to get by, or would you stand up and pursue your dreams, leave "desire" on the sidelines and be a man of action? If you loved yourself at a 10/10 what would you do? 5. Vulnerability is Where True Power Lies We are all broken. From Bill Gates to Warren buffet to Kamal to Me. No one is perfect and no one has everything figured out. We are all on this journey called life together, and we are all blessed to be faced with different challenges and different successes. And it is your privilege, no… your responsibility to share the story of your challenges and triumphs with the world. You never know when one simple blog post, when one video, or when one conversation that you have will change someone's life. Opening up, being vulnerable, and sharing your story could be the d

Born in Egypt, Dr. Nour left Cairo in 1977 after graduating in the top of his class at the Medical School of Cairo University. Looking for the freedom to study medical subjects of interest to him in the U.S., he made his way to London but got caught in three year immigration process. After many years of private Neurology practice in the Midwest and due only to an allergy to Canadian Geese, which flourish in large populations there, Dr. Nour moved to Southern California. Happily married with two daughters in college, he is now semi-retired. He is an accomplished painting artist, videographer, photographer and a graphic designer. He enjoys opera, sailing, tennis, bicycling, and learning about other cultures through travel, all while still enjoying helping patients with complex neurological disorders. Favorite Success Quote "With persistence, you can achieve anything your heart desires." Key Points 1. "Love" is a Scientific Series of Processes that Occur in Four Distinct Phases 1. Mate Choice The first phase of love is mate choice. At it's most basic level, this is the process of meeting someone and (subconsciously) deciding that they are a good match for you and your potential offspring on a genetic level. This phase happens almost instantly. 2. Falling in Love The process that Hollywood and pop culture have used and abused. This is the phase in a relationship where the two individuals will feel massive attraction for one another and experience a heightened increase in certain pleasure chemicals. This phase will typically last 1-3 years. 3. Falling Out of Love A necessary part of finding true love, the third phase of love is where you effectively experience the proverbial "come down" from the neurochemical high that you experienced during phase two. During this phase of the process, you will begin struggling in your relationship and find your partner less appealing than you did before. This phase will typically last around a year. 4. True Love This is where the rubber meets the road. During the final stage of love, "True Love", you have experienced falling out of love, made a conscious and informed decision that your current partner is right for you, and you now experience a release of a new set of pleasure chemicals that are slower forming but longer lasting, leading to the much desired "Happily ever after". 2. Falling Out of Love is Essential to True Love Many people assume that if they are falling out of love with their partner it is a bad thing. However, they should actually get excited. Falling out of love is an essential, if not the most essential part of the four phases of true love. You see, the first two phases of love cause people to experience such an overwhelm of pleasure chemicals being released in the brain that they quite literally cannot see the other person for what they really are. Thus the phrase "Love is blind". However, because your genes are hardwired to help ensure that you are able to survive and procreate with the highest levels of success possible, phase two begins. During this phase, your genes are working behind the scenes to help you determine whether the person you are with is truly the best match for you in the long run. If you do not have this phase, you cannot have true love. Read that again and write it down. Unless you fall out of love with your partner, you will scientifically never be able to experience true and lasting love. This is not an easy reality to stomach, but the knowledge and foresight of what is to come will allow you to make informed decisions about your relationships and truly determine what is best for you in the future. 3. If You Do Not Fall Out of Love with Somebody You Cannot Fall in Love With Someone New Many men beat themselves up and feel battered down because they are unable to move on after a bad breakup or divorce. Gentlemen, I have good news for you. It is not your fault. Despite what we have been lead to believe by the pop culture surrounding masculinity, on a chemical and neurological level, you cannot just get over it whenever you experience a traumatizing separation. You see, whenever you are caught in the second phase of love and your partner ends the relationship (often because they reached the third phase and did not know how to handle it), you are still caught in love on a chemical level. Your brain will literally not allow you to move on until you have experienced the biological and neurological effects of falling out of love. So what does this mean for you? If your wife or girlfriend ends things while you are mid-phase 2 are you doomed to an eternity of lovelessness? No. Even though your brain and genes are working "against" you, it is possible to recover. Typically this will occur whenever you maintain an amiable (or nonamiable) relationship with your previous partner and allow yourself to naturally fall out of love with them. If they have been removed from your life completely, you will often need to seek professional help to truly reco

The project I've been alluding to for the past few weeks just dropped. Listen now and learn how you can get it for free.

In 2019, the pickup industry has died a slow but certain death. And today, I'm going to reveal why this has happened and, more importantly, how you can find another solution to help you win the "Billion Dollar War on Men" and attract the women you desire most.

There is a billion dollar war being waged against men and most of us don't even realize it's happening. Today, I'm going to peel back the curtains and show you the truth.

Last week. I visited my father's grave. Here are my thoughts on the experience and what you can learn from it.

This is the most important lesson my father taught me through his passing. Don't ignore it

I almost quit. Knowledge for Men. San Diego. Entrepreneurship. Writing. All of it. But I didn't. And I'll tell you why in this episode.

Stephen Mansfield is a New York Times bestselling author and a popular speaker who works with leaders worldwide. He first rose to global attention with his groundbreaking book The Faith of George W. Bush, a bestseller that Time magazine credited with helping shape the 2004 U.S. presidential election. The book was also a source for Oliver Stone's award-winning film "W." Mansfield's The Faith of Barack Obama was another international bestseller. He has written celebrated biographies of Booker T. Washington, George Whitefield, Winston Churchill, Pope Benedict XVI, and Abraham Lincoln, among others. Publishers Weekly described his book, Killing Jesus, as "masterful." Favorite Success Quote "The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation" ~Henry David Thoreau Key Points 1. Manly Men Need Other Manly Men No man is an island. Even though you have heard the saying hundreds if not thousands of times, few men truly internalize what it means, and still fewer act on it. Just look at the statistics. A simple scroll across the front pages and you will find sky-high suicide rates among males, loneliness, depression, and anxiety in numbers that we have never seen before. Why is this? While there are many theories and hypothesis, a critical look at the situation makes things clear. We are a species that was built to be in community, and even though we are more connected now than ever before, most of us are utterly and absolutely alone. We have no one to call us up, no one to celebrate with us, no one to challenge us, to help us, to hold us accountable and keep us to our word. And because of this deterioration in our social structure men have become soft, weak, and effeminate. But it doesn't have to be this way. As a man, you have the power to break this pattern. Make a conscious effort to meet and befriend other men. And when you are in these friendships, dive deeper than you ever have before. Hold nothing back and hold each other up. You will be amazed at the results. 2. Manly Men Do Manly Things If you want to call yourself a man, then you need to do manly things. Period. Does this mean that you should shave with a tomahawk, lift boulders for fun, and skin polar bears with your fingernails? Probably not (although that would be quite cool), it simply means that you need to embrace the masculine nature of doing instead of spectating and talking. Get off of your butt and get into life! Learn a new skill, fix things, build things, explore, create, conquer. Especially if you are a younger man, get off of the darn Xbox and learn something practical. Teach yourself how to maintain a car, learn how to build and fix things, become a better public speaker. Just do. Quit talking and take action, starting yesterday. 3. Manly Men Tend Their Field Every man has his own field to tend. No, I don't mean this literally, although some of you might. What I mean is that every man has his own set of duties and responsibilities and if you want to consider yourself a man, then you must tend to those responsibilities. Whether you are 15 listening to this podcast or 50, we all have our own fields. For some of you, it's school work, your girlfriend, and your football buddies. For others, it's your 8-figure company, your wife of 30 years, and non-profit. It doesn't matter what your particular field is, what matters is that you are diligent in tending to and watering your field. Be disciplined in your action. Do what needs to be done. Tend your field. 4. Manly Men Build Manly Men One of the less flaunted traits of manly men is that they build other manly men. There is an old saying that the true mark of a leader is not how many followers he has but how many leaders he creates. Regardless of your religion or personal beliefs about the historicity of Jesus Christ, his virtues as a leader are unquestionable. However, where Jesus excelled was at building up other leaders, in his case, disciples. In fact, he was such an effective leader that of the 12 men who followed him, all but one (or two counting Judas) were martyred for their belief in Christ. Now, whether you believe the stories or not, there is a powerful lesson to be learned about leadership and about the importance of building up those who are around you. Are you really a man if all you can do is take from others and be built up? Or do you need to take a step back and see who you can serve instead? 5. Manly Men Sacrifice Their Pleasures for Their Purpose The true hallmark characteristic of all manly men is their ability to endure suffering. Manly men know that all greatness was bred through suffering. You must experience the pain and suffering of building and losing your dreams before you will be able to fully appreciate, live, and achieve in the ways that you desire. With the exception of individuals with inherited wealth, no man of substance, no man of great success, and no man of wealth ever achieved their status and material pleasures without first sacrificing and delaying gratification. If

Today, I want to explain why I've been so silent over the past few months and give you an inside look into some of the challenges I've been facing personally and professionally. Thank you so much for supporting me and the mission of Knowledge for Men.

Frank Miniter is an author and investigative journalist with a penchant for outdoor adventure. He has floated the Amazon, run with the bulls of Pamplona, hunted everything from bear in Russia to elk with the Apache to kudu in the Kalahari and has fly-fished everywhere from Alaska's Kenai to Scotland's River Spey to Japan's freestone streams. Along the Along the way, he was taught to box by Floyd Patterson, spelunked into Pompey's Cave, climbed the Gunks, and graduated from the oldest private military college (Norwich University) in the U.S. He was a Senior Editor at Outdoor Life magazine and was the Executive Editor of American Hunter magazine. He is also the author of This Will Make a Man of You and The Ultimate Man's Survival Guide. Favorite Success Quote "I like a man who grins when he fights" ~Winston Churchill Key Points 1. You Need to Stand Up for Yourself The evolution of society and rapid shift in perceived gender roles has created a world in which manliness and masculinity are concepts that are ambiguous and difficult to explain, at best. Yet no matter what your beliefs are pertaining to modern masculinity, I think everyone can agree on one simple fact. You cannot consider yourself a true "man" unless you are willing to stand up for yourself, what you believe, and those you love. I want you to imagine John Wayne, Steve McQueen, or even a character like Tyler Durden in Fight Club are sat at a table in a bar, surrounded by friends and family. A stranger from another table comes over and starts insulting one of his family members, bringing up some past feud and looking to cause trouble. What do you think they would do? Would they cower in their seat, avert their eyes, and start nervously twitching? Or would they get out of their seat, square up with the aggressor, look them in the eyes and invite them to leave before they had a real problem? I think we all know the answer. Being a real man has nothing to do with loving or looking for violence, but it has everything to do with being willing to take a stand for yourself or the things which you believe. In the 21st century, it is important to realize that this rarely (if ever) means physical confrontation. Taking a stand for yourself can be as simple as telling your boss that you need a raise because you have been working harder than anyone else and have measurable results to prove it. It can mean speaking candidly with your significant other about the way that they have been addressing you in public situations and informing them that their actions are inappropriate. And yes, occasionally, when all other options are exhausted, it can mean taking the gloves off and throwing a mean right hook when someone truly steps out of line. Never be afraid to stand up for yourself, your friends, or your values, because at the end of the day it is better to live a short life where you face your fears and live boldly than a long life as a coward. 2. Life is Meant to be Lived in Community 10,000 years ago on the plains of the Savanna, men lived in communion with one another. They lived together, ate together, hunted together, fought together, and died together. Town elders would lead the tribe and create rituals and rites of passage for young men to pass through in order to become a man. The warriors of each tribe relied on each other and trusted the men around them with their lives. And for hundreds of thousands of years, this is the way that we as a species, and more specifically, we as men, have evolved. We live in the most socially disconnected time in human history, and despite all of our technological advancements and the rapid growth of social media and other online platforms, the problem is not getting any better. Men struggle to find meaning and purpose in life, they are lost and confused about who they are and what it means to be a man, they are lonely and afraid and depressed, and it is due, in large part to our lack of community. We no longer live in tribes. If we wanted to, there are many among us who could limit our face to face interaction with others to less than once a week when we go out for groceries. Men no longer go to other men for advice and emotional support. We no longer have tribe elders who can guide us and mentor us. With the exception of military servicemen, we no longer have brothers in arms who have struggled through life with us and been there for us through thick and thin. And we are paying the price. Men are suffering from depression and suicide at alarming rates and society tells us to simply take another pill or get a new prescription, instead of being told to build a band of brothers. If you want to succeed in life, if you want to be truly happy and successful, then you need to have a group of men around you who you can trust, you need to have a community of like-minded individuals who will build you up and hold you accountable and who will be there for you when you are on cloud nine and rock bottom. 3. Manhood is Defined by Your Val

Internationally renowned human emotion, connection, and cognition expert Tony Selimi is a coach and the author of #Loneliness and A Path to Wisdom. He is currently traveling the world, sharing his message of transformation and connection. Favorite Success Quote "I embrace equally both support and challenge" ~Dr. John DeMartini Key Points 1. You Must Embrace Both Sides of Life Life is not comprised of just the good or just the bad. It is a beautiful dichotomous dance that blends together both exuberant highs and devastating lows meant to mold us, change us, and teach us. While modern pop psychology gurus would have you believe that you should ignore any pain and struggle in your life and simply live in a state of constant and never ending euphoria, the simple truth is that life is beautiful because of the pain and struggles that we face. Without the pain of discipline, there would be no joy in success. Without the hurt of loss, there would be no satisfaction in gain. Life requires the good and the bad to play out like the masterfully written movie that it is, and the sooner you learn to embrace both sides of life, the sooner you will be able to live up to your true potential. 2. Loneliness Affects Every Area of Your Life Often times, as men, we revel in the concept of solidarity. We love the thought of being the lone wolf, outnumbered and against the world achieving greatness all by his own accord. And nothing could be more damaging or destructive to our overall health and well-being. Whenever you live your life out of communion with others, whenever you lack strong bonds and friendships, and whenever you isolate yourself from the world, you are not only damaging your psyche, but your physical well-being and genetic expression as well. Loneliness has been shown to cause disease, mental illness, and even alter your genes in a very real and powerful way. There is nothing manly about depression and sickness, so quit trying to go it alone and invest into your social life. 3. Place Yourself in the Right Environments An interesting phenomenon that can occur in our modern world is that men can be surrounded by friends but still feel lonely if the activities and conversations with those friends are incongruent with your personal values and desires. For example, let's say that you hate sports. You couldn't care less about the NFL or NHL or any other sports league. And yet, one of your social circle's favorite activities is to sit down together at the local bar, have a few beers, and watch the game. Even though all of the men in the circle are fantastic influences and valuable friends, taking part in this activity will actually increase your feelings of isolation and loneliness. This makes it essential that you start becoming more intentional about the activities you indulge in and the things that you do with your peers.

Dr. Corey Lewis is the author of The Art of Becoming, a professional coach, and a master of NLP and quantum leaping. Favorite Success Quote "We cannot become what we need to be by remaining what we are" ~Max Dupree Key Points 1. If You to Achieve Something You Must First Conceive it and Believe It I want you to imagine for a moment that there are three men, let's call them James, Alex, and Will. All three men suffered through challenging childhoods and crippling adversity during their younger years, from poverty to the death of family members, to abusive parents. They have all seen the worst that this world has to offer and lived through a reality where most men wouldn't last a day. Now James, the first of the men doesn't know how he could possibly improve his life, he assumes that this is "just the way it is" and relegates all of his hopes and dreams to childhood fantasies. Alex, on the other hand, knows that his life could be better. He constantly finds himself daydreaming of a better life, one filled with an abundance of wealth, unconditional love, vibrant health, and a deep sense of belonging. However, Alex doesn't believe that this can be a reality for him. After all, he is a former convict, drug addict, and grew up in one of the worst families you can imagine. How could he change? Now, I don't think it takes a genius to figure out the results that these two men are going to generate in their lives with these types of convictions and beliefs. But what about Will? Will is in the same boat as everyone else. He went to prison in his late teens, never had a father, and is currently broke, alone, and addicted to drugs, but he's different. Not only does he know that life can get better for him, he deeply believes that he has what it takes to make it so, he believes that he can change his life, turn things around, and achieve the success he has been dying for his whole life. You see, the only limits on your life are the ones that you impose upon yourself. If you can conceive a new way of being, deeply believe that it is possible, and are willing to take the action necessary to do it, you will succeed. 2. Tapping Into Your Emotions Creates the Motion You Need for Success How many times have you woken up in the morning, intending to get out of bed early and go "seize the day" but found yourself instead rolling over lazily and smashing the snooze button? How many times have you sat down at your computer intent on working hard and grinding away at your latest project, when three hours later, you find yourself deeply lost in the trap of the internet, throwing your day down the drain? How many times have you come home after a long day of work intending to hit the gym and work on your health only to find yourself sitting in front of the television on a guilty Netflix binge? My guess is a lot. You see the problem isn't that you are lazy or lack work ethic, the problem is that you lack the emotional drive to create the motion you need to achieve success. You need to have a burning reason to pursue your dreams, you need to have clear goals, and you need to learn how to tap into the power of your emotions to go after the life that you want. 3. Your Thoughts are the Father of Your Results If you have anything in your life that you are unhappy with, you need to remember that the root of these results did not start in your bank account, in your relationship, or in your body, but these results started in your mind. When you look at your bank account and don't like what you see, you need to remember that these results were caused by your thoughts. They were caused by your beliefs, your decisions, and your values that were then projected into your reality. This truth can be seen in any area of your life. No matter what results you have or don't have in your life, your thoughts are the cause behind all of them. And if you can change your thoughts, then you can change your actions, change your actions and you can change your results, and if you can change your results you change your life. 4. Break Down Your Dreams into Achievable Steps Become a millionaire. Meet the girl of your dreams. Lose 100 lbs. All of these goals are incredible in size and scope and are a scary whenever you look at them without first thinking about how you can break them down into achievable steps. If you want to become a millionaire, then start by working on earning your first $1,000 a month and build up from there. If you want to meet the woman of your dreams, then start getting out once a week and meeting awesome women at cool social events. If you want to lose 100 lbs. then start with 5. Whatever goal you have, it can be broken down into several smaller steps that will allow you to approach your dreams without feeling overwhelmed or scared. 5. Escape Your Plateaus and Find the Next Level Life is full of unlimited possibilities and opportunities just waiting for you to show up and take them. But first, you have to break through your plateaus and reali

Connor Beaton is a thought leader in the men's community who founded ManTalks, has spoken at events around the nation, including TEDx. Favorite Success Quote "Aim for fulfillment and success will follow" Key Points 1. Stop Chasing the Golden Handcuffs In most modern western societies, there is one great expectation placed upon all men. Can you guess what it is? It's not to get married and have kids. It's not to find a career that they love and find spiritually fulfilling. Rather, all men are expected to earn. And not just to earn a living so that they can pursue a life of their choosing, they are expected to earn as much money as they can regardless of the cost. And while there is nothing wrong with money, most men who pursue those greenbacks with a single-minded intensity soon find themselves financially wealthy, but spiritually, emotionally, and relationally broke. You need to realize that money is great. It can enable you to do so much good in the world and make a difference in the lives of countless people. But it can also become a prison. Men who chase after careers they dislike in order to achieve a financial status that they don't really need will often find themselves sitting at home alone, millions in the bank but utterly, and completely miserable. You see, the real secret to life is to chase fulfillment. Chase what makes you feel alive, chase what you love, and the money will come. And even if it doesn't, you still had a helluva ride and enjoyed life to the fullest. 2. Allow Yourself to Experience Your Success How many times has this happened to you? You have spent hundreds of hours working yourself down to the bone to achieve your goals. You haven't slept in days, you haven't allowed yourself to go out with friends in months, and you are on the verge of mental collapse, when finally, you reach your goal. Whether you hit an income goal, increase your subscriber base, or finally got your first client, you have finally achieved the thing that you had been pursuing for so long. But there's a problem. You don't allow yourself to acknowledge your victory and enjoy the rewards of your labor. Instead, you are off to the next goal, the next milestone, the next big thing before you even pause and appreciate what you already have. One of the most essential parts of success is taking the time to fully experience each of your accomplishments. No matter what you have achieved, you need to give yourself adequate time to bask in the glow and enjoy the successes you have already reached before you start chasing after the next big thing. 3. You Need to Have Men Who Call You Forward When was the last time you messed up? I mean really messed up? You know, the time that you made the mistake that ended your relationship, that lost you 6-figures in business, or that cost you a trip to the hospital. Who did you call? Undoubtedly, you had friends who came to the rescue and told you everything would be alright, but did you have anyone in your life who cut through the crap of the situation and was willing to call you to a higher standard? Most men have lots of friends on their level and below them, but few of those men have high-level mentors who are willing to call them on their B.S. and tell them when they have messed up. But you need to realize that the only way forward is to surround yourself with men who are willing to challenge you to achieve at a new level, men who are willing to call you out, and men who are willing to brave your disapproval in an attempt to make you better. 4. If You Want to Achieve Your Goals You Have to Eliminate Porn Porn is one of the most insidious creations of the modern age. How many nights have you spent alone in your room, ignoring the real issues and tasks in your life while you were silently kept company by dozens, if not hundreds of virtual women? How many times have you suppressed the frustrations that you were facing with real women by resorting to a form of "entertainment" where you have unlimited access to any type of woman on the planet, who will do anything that you want, all from the comfort of your own bed? How many men do you know who lack the passion and drive that they should have because they are wasting all of their energy "experiencing" women online? The simple fact is this, if you want to achieve the greatest levels of success in your business, your health, and your relationships, then you have to cut out the porn. There are no questions about it. It is draining you of your masculinity, of your sex drive, and of your energy to get shi!t done. Eliminate it from your life as quickly and permanently as you can. 5. Reinvest in Your Creative Side One of the great travesties of the modern male is that we have all become so caught up with becoming successful in our health, finances, and relationships, that we have completely abandoned all of our creative energies that fulfill us and reinvigorate other aspects of our lives. If you are feeling lost in your life, if you are feelin

Justin Constantine is a former Marine who suffered a traumatic gunshot wound to the head in Iraq and retired from the Marine Corps at the rank of lieutenant colonel. He also serves as an attorney and is now an inspirational speaker and leadership consultant who advises the corporate community on military issues and sustaining employee peak performance. He now serves on the board of directors of several national nonprofit organizations who co-founded the Veteran Success Resource Group in 2015, a military nonprofit that provides full spectrum resources for veterans and their families. He is also a senior advisor at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, where he leads a team focused on employment opportunities for wounded veterans and their caregivers. Favorite Success Quote "This is a wonderful day, I have never seen this one before" ~Maya Angelou Key Points 1. We All Face Our Own Adversity I want you to imagine for a second that your whole world is crumbling down. You wake up bleary eyed from a fitful night of sleep and check your phone to only to be met with two voice messages informing you that you have one week to pay your mortgage before your home will be foreclosed and the bonus you were expecting has been cut in half due to a recent drop in your company's stock. Furthermore, as you rest your head in your hands wondering what you are going to do, your wife, whom you are on the verge of divorcing, enters the room and begins to argue with you about trivialities you don't understand until you are so frustrated that you storm out of the house, slamming the door behind you. You decide to skip work for the day and instead drive yourself to a local bar where you intend to drown your worries in whiskey because you just can't deal with the stress anymore. Walking through the doors of the dimly lit bar, you notice that there is another man sitting in the bar by himself, looking sullenly into his drink as he fights back tears. With hopes of finding a companion to share in your misery, you sit down next to him and begin a conversation only to find out that the man had recently suffered a layoff at work after losing his wife of 15 years to cancer. Startled by his situation and own perceived weakness, you silently curse yourself for your self-pity and decide to keep your own worries to yourself and order another round. You see, no matter what adversity you are facing, someone else always has it worse and it's easy to trivialize our own struggles whenever we compare them to the things that others are facing. But the problem with this mentality is that we fail to realize that comparing away our strugles will not make them dissapear. Just because you aren't facing disease, death, or bankruptcy does not mean that your pain is not real and that it does not need to be addressed. Whatever struggle you are facing, there is only one way to eliminate it. And that is to admit that you are in pain and seek the help that you need to overcome it. 2. You Can Achieve Anything With Time The media loves to propagate this myth of the "overnight success." They love reporting on stories about the 17 year old entrepreneur who achieved IPO and retired before graduating high school with $20 million dollars in the bank. Or the actress who landed one movie role and suddenly became the face of Hollywood. Or even the "Biggest Loser" who dropped 150 lbs. of fat and became a model of health and athleticism. But the thing is, none of these people's success happened overnight. It happened after years and years of working behind the scenes, after countless sleepless nights toiling away at their craft, and after thousands upon thousands of disciplined mornings brought them the results that they wanted. You need to remember that no goal you have is out of your reach, it will just take time and it will take sacrifice. It will require that you give up on the "good" so that you can step into the "great." It will mean that you miss out on parties and dates and time with friends while you work to build your legacy and achieve your dreams. Nothing is out of your reach, but you must be patient and you must be diligent if you want to achieve it. 3. It's Ok to Ask for Help Do you remember when you first learned to ride a bike? Do you remember the feeling of the wind in your hair, the rub of the helmet strap against your chin, the exhilaration in your stomach as you accelerated down the street… And the sudden halt whenever you suddenly hit an unexpected bump and flew over the handlebars crashing into the ground with a definitive thud. As you sat on the street, blood oozing from the raspberries on your knees and elbows, you began to cry and if your father was present, he likely responded to your accident with four words "Man up! You're ok!" As an adult, your father knew that you would be fine, but as a young boy, you felt that your world was caving in around you and the only response that you receive was to suck it up and be a man. While instances like this m

Lee Ellis is President and Founder of Leadership Freedom® and FreedomStar Media™. For more than fifteen years he has served as an executive coach and a corporate consultant in the areas of hiring, teambuilding, leadership development, and succession planning. His clients include Fortune 500 senior executives and C-Level leaders in a variety of industries. Since 1990, Lee has managed the development, validation, and internet deployment of several personality and leadership assessments that have been used by more than 200,000 individuals. Early in his career, Lee served as an Air Force fighter pilot flying fifty-three combat missions over North Vietnam. In 1967, he was shot down and held as a POW for more than five years in Hanoi and surrounding camps. After the war, he served as an instructor pilot, chief of flight standardization/evaluation, and flying squadron commander. Additionally, he commanded two leadership development organizations before retiring as a colonel. Lee's combat decorations include two Silver Stars, the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star with Valor device, the Purple Heart, and the POW medal. Favorite Success Quote "Be courageous. Lean into the pain of your doubts and fears to do what you know is right, even when it feels unnatural or uncomfortable." ~Lee Ellis Key Points 1. Living a Life of Honor is the Ultimate Success There was once a story that one of my employees shared with me about a life lesson his grandfather had shared with him during his summer stint working as a landscaper. His grandad had spent nearly a decade of his life operating a construction contracting business, designing and building custom homes for the upper class members of his hometown. One of his clients who had been a long time acquantaince hired his grandfather to build a home costing several hundred thousand dollars (back in the 80's). Happy to oblige his friend, the grandfather took the contract and completed the home to perfection. When the work was done and the house was built, he went to his friend to collect the payment for his services. His friend however, had no intention of paying for the home and due to the ambiguous terms of their contract, he knew that pursuing a law suit would be a costly endeavor. My employee's grandfather simply shrugged and shook the man's hand saying "If you can live with it, then I can live without it." He continued on grinding and working hard, developing a number of successful businesses throughout the years and achieving great successes in his personal and professional life, always conducting business with integrity and honor. The other man however, despite his massive financial success, died of a massive heart attack at his office, alone and unloved. While the contrast between the two men may seem obvious, the true moral of this story is that success is not about material wealth or finanical gain. It's about doing the right thing no matter what the cost. That is no small order, but if you can carry out your life with honor each and every day, you will be able to die fulfilled and live a life of joy and companionship. 2. You Cannot Manage Yourself Unless You Know Yourself How many of you have taken the Myers Brigg's Personality Test? If you have, then odds are good that some of the conclusions the test made about you and your personality may have surprised you. And herein lies one of the greatest problems with our society. We do not value introspection and self knowledge like Eastern societies and ancient people's did. We value work and results. And while these two things are important, you will never be able to achieve at your fullest potential if you do not know yourself as deeply and intimately as possible. Just think about it. How can you ever expect to perform at a high level if you do not first know who you are and how you perform? How can you succeed when everything you are doing is in stark opposition to your deeply held values and personality? You must discover who you really are, how you work best, what personality traits you have, what motivates you, what discourages you, what strikes fear into your heart, and what you truly want. Because unless you can answer those questions, you will never truly tap into your potential. 3. Guard Your Character and Make Decision Based Upon Values The greatest travesty of every generation is the young men and women with boundless potential who waste everything because they did not guard their character. Everyone knows that kid, maybe you met them in high school or grew up with them in your hometown, who showed tremendous potential growing up. They were the captain of the football team, the straight A student and the leader of all of the clubs at their school. They had it all. But somewhere along the lines, they screwed up. They made that one compromise of character that opened up Pandora's box and destroyed their lives. Maybe they cheated on one test and lost a scholarship, maybe they started abusing drugs and were arrested in their

Ryan Stewman is a high-performance sales coach and trainer who went from spending two stints in federal prison to building a multiple seven figure income. He is the author of several best-selling books including Kick-Ass, Bulletproof Business, Elevator to the Top, and Hardcore Closer. Favorite Success Quote "You gotta take action before you can take over" Key Points 1. Action not Knowledge Leads to Success If you have been involved in the personal development world for any appreciable amount of time, then you have inevitably come across the people, shall we call them "Pathological learners" who are voracious consumers of knowledge. They know all of the latest market trends, are well-versed in the high-performance practices of characters like Tony Robbins and Jack Canfield, and can tell you how to start and grow a business from inception to 7-figures. And yet, when you look at the results in their lives, what do you find? Nothing, nada, zilch. They live in a 400 square foot apartment, are overweight, and in a relationship that looks like something out of a bad soap opera. Yet they know all this information! The problem is that they do not apply it. You have to realize that knowledge without action is useless. Only applied knowledge is power, and if you have spent years devoting your time and energy to learning without taking the proper proportion of action, then it is time to get off your ass, leave the theory on your nightstand, and get in the game. 2.Suffering is a Temporary But Essential Part of Life When was the last time you experienced suffering? I mean true suffering. Not the "My dog is sick" or "The 49ers lost their last game", but real, visceral suffering, the kind that keeps you up at night, deprives you of joy, and makes you question your purpose on this planet. Perhaps you lost a family member or a friend, underwent a nasty divorce, lost your home, job, and family in bankruptcy, or even suffered from a life-changing disease or injury. Whatever that suffering was (or is) you need to internalize one of life's great truths, spoken over a century ago by Abraham Lincoln. "This too shall pass" No suffer, no matter how devastating and debilitating it may feel, is permanent. And what is more? It is necessary to build you into the man that you need to become. I am not telling you that your pain will be easy to bear, but I am telling you that it will be worth it. 3. Ignore the Haters and Embrace the True Players One of the greatest tragedies of the modern world is that men with unlimited potential and unimaginable abilities allow themselves to be smothered by the advice and criticisms of unambitious, underachieving, and jealous peers. Every time you go to the office look at the men to your left and to your right. What do you see? Do you see men embracing their true potential, taking control of their lives, and creating an incredible future full of freedom and joy? Or do you see men who have allowed the doubts and misgivings of society, family, and friends to hold them back from their dreams and desires? On your path to success, you will be faced with many, many, many haters, doubters, and naysayers. They will tell you it cannot or should not be done only out of their own insecurities and fears. But if you want to unleash the giant inside of you and reach your full potential, you must ignore these people, whether they are bosses, life-long friends, or even family members. Only take advice from those who are achieving what you want to achieve, and ignore the rest. End of discussion. 4. Education not Schooling is What Separates the Winners from the Losers There is a fallacious belief circulating the modern world that tells all young men the only path to success is through higher education. And while college can be a great choice for some people, it is not the ultimate road to massive achievement. I want you to think back to your highschool and college years. If your experience was anything like mine, then at some point, you inevitably came across two different types of guys: The learner and the hustler. The learner was someone you would describe as the stereotypical nerd. He was smart, worked hard in classes, and did everything right. He made good marks, graduated with honors, and probably had several high level job offers waiting for him upon graduation. The hustler however, is a different breed. This was the man who spent his days building something that he believed in, working towards his dream, and focusing more on his practical education than his education. Sure, he still applied himself to his schooling, but, as Mark Twain said he "Never let his schooling get in the way of his education." Which of these two men do you think ultimately achieved more? Who became more successful? Who was able to create something that would last and create freedom for themselves and their families? Hint, it's not the guy with all A's. 5. Your Past Does Not Determine Your Future Imagine, if you will, a man who spent his whol

Ajit is co-founder of Blinkwebinars and Evercoach. He is also CEO of Mindvalley Media, the publishing arm of the Mindvalley Group. He also helps other business as a mentor in a private mastermind, Zentreprenur. Ajit also sits on the board for companies like Digital Academy India, Omvana, and Mindvalley Italy. In his free time, he likes to work on self-development, reiki, and his cooking skills. He is passionate about marketing and sales. Favorite Success Quote "It is better to have a short life that is full of what you like doing than to have a long life doing something you hate" ~Alan Watts Key Points 1. External Succes is Fleeting So many men try and pursue external success and validation thinking that it will make them happy and fulfilled, but the truth is, success has nothing to do with your external accomplishments. True happiness, true success, and true fulfillment comes from living a life based around offering value and living the values that you hold dear. It comes from loving others, filling your days with incredible experiences, and spending time doing the things that you enjoy. That new house, raise, or car might make you happy, but only for a moment. 2. Success is About Living a Value Based Life Success, true success, comes from living a life that is congruent with your deeply held values and beliefs. If you value time with your family but work 80 hours a week to earn 7-figures, you are not a success. If you value your health, but give it up so that you can party with friends to try and look cool, you are not a success. You are only a success if your thoughts, words, and actions are aligned with your deepest values and the man that you want to be. 3. Focus on Showing Up not Achieving Goals A life focused on achieving goals is a life of misery, because goals are constantly shifting and as soon as one is accomplished, you are left with a deep void and a sense of "What's next?" If you want to live a fulfilled and happy life, then focus more on showing up each day as the man that you want to be. Be fully present in every conversation, treat others with respect and kindness, worry more about the impact you are having on those around you than the potential benefit that they can be to you and your goals. When you make this mental shift, you will be more loving, kind, and generous, and the funny thing is, the universe will reciprocate this and you will likely achieve those goals that you had set because you are no longer focused on them. 4. Stop Trying to Live Up to The Expectations of the World The world pushes all of these unrealistic expectations and standards on you, trying to convince you to conform to its standards and desires. However, to live the life of your dreams, you must shun the expectations of the world and instead create your own expectations for yourself and your future. You decide who you want to be, what you want to accomplish, and most important how you want to show up, not the world. Once you truly internalize this, the freedom and joy that you will feel is almost unparalleled. 5. Keep People First In business, relationships, and pretty much every other area of life, make sure that you are keeping people first. In your business, focus on your clients, not your revenue. In your relationships, focus on adding value and not taking value. In your health, focus on how your improved performance and energy will affect those around you and not on how it will boost your own ego. Always keep people first and you will never lose.

Geoff Blades is an author of Do What You Want and an advisor to senior Wall Street professionals, CEOs, and other leaders, on all topics related to getting what they want in their businesses, careers, and lives. In his lifetime, he went from frying chicken at KFC to working at Goldman Sach's to quitting his "dream career" to pursue his real dream of helping others achieve the life that they want. Favorite Success Quote "Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail" ~Ralph Waldo Emerson Key Points 1. What Do You Want? Go Get It One of the most fundamental questions that you can ask yourself is also one of the simplest; "What do I want?" Until you can answer this question for yourself and not base it on the desires that family, peers, and society try and project upon you, you will be like a ship without a rudder. No matter how fast you are going, it will never be in the right direction. Take some time away from all external influences and really decide what you want for yourself in the areas of health, wealth, relationships, and personal growth. Then, once you have a clear picture of what you want, hustle like crazy until you achieve it. 2. All Success is Based upon Your Desire for an Emotion Whenever you are trying to determine what you really want in life, it is easy to think that your desires are based on a certain thing or achievement. In reality, all of your desires for external successes and validation stems from your desire to feel a certain way. Why do you want a million dollars in the bank? It's not because you want the million dollars. It's because you want to feel the safety, significance, and the freedom (and subsequent joy) that you will experience by earning a million dollars. Once you realize that all of your desires to achieve certain goals are basically desires to feel a certain emotion, you can analyze your goals in a more pragmatic and realistic way. 3. Resistance Comes from Negative Projections The only reason that you face resistance in your pursuit of your dreams is because of the negative projections that are associated with the work that you need to do to achieve your goals. Think about it. No one needs to motivate you to watch TV or eat that piece of cake. It's an easy task that (for most people) has no associated negative projections. What if you were able to approach your work and your mission with the same attitude? Instead of projecting pain and struggle in your work, learn to find joy and satisfaction in the struggle. Learn to appreciate your work and associate a massive amount of pleasure with everything that you do. 4. Focus on the Journey and not the Destination Success is never about an outcome. It is about the man you become on your path towards that outcome. Every man who undergoes radical financial, physical, emotional, or social changes has simultaneously undergone radical personal changes. The man who goes from flipping burgers to a millionaire, from fat to fit, or from textbook nerd to social powerhouse, have all undergone massive internal changes that brought about their new realities. They became grittier, more determined, more dedicated, more educated, and more alive. Realize that the best part of success is the journey that it takes you on and the person that you become along the way, not the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. 5. Create Two Systems: One for Your Mind and One For Actions One of the quickest ways to create a success filled life is to create a series of systems for mastering your mind and your actions. This means that you need to work on developing systems to help train your brain and create mental focus and resilience while simultaneously creating systems to help you take action towards your goals and dreams. This can be anything from meditation, exercise, journaling, practicing productivity hacks, reading, or waking up earlier in the morning. Whatever it is for you, build your systems and then execute them ruthlessly.

Dan Kariv is the CEO of multiple companies including Amped Ventures and Math4Sale, Inc. – a startup that is currently generating 7-figures in revenue. His life journey has been fueled by a passion to uncover and distill the spiritual truths of reality and exploring them along the journey of entrepreneurship and the pursuit of freedom so that he can better serve the world. Favorite Success Quote "True freedom is the ability to choose how you spend each day." Key Points 1. Are You Being the Best Version of Yourself? Every second of your life, you have a choice. You can either choose to show up as the best, most powerful, most grounded version of yourself, or you can choose to allow fear and external pressures suppress your strength and live a life below your potential. In every challenging situation, whether it is a meeting at work, an argument with your wife, or some other battle that you face, ask yourself "Am I being the best version of myself right now?" Are you showing up and leaving everything on the table, are you attacking life with a vigor and energy that makes others stand in awe, or are you playing it safe? Keep this question in the forefront of your mind each day and you will be amazed at the paradigm shifts you will experience. 2. Freedom Comes with a Price Freedom of any kind, whether it is freedom of location, financial freedom, physical freedom, or social freedom (e.g. freedom from approach anxiety), comes with with a price tag. Freedom is not free. It is earned. It is taken. It is wrestled from the jaws of fear and uncertainty and doubt. If you want a life of your own design, a life of true power where you can be who you want and live life on your terms, then you are going to have to pay for it. Achieving freedom requires discipline and sacrifice. It requires years, sometimes decades of giving up what you want now for a future of unlimited potential. As the old saying goes, "Live like no one else will today so that you can live like no one else can tomorrow." 3. Fear is the Pathway to Power One of the quickest ways to achieve success is to see your fears as the pathway to power. See fear as the guiding force in your life that tells you where you should be going and what you should be doing. The more fear you feel, the more you will know you are on the right track. Do not let fear paralyze you. Realize that on the other side of every fear is a stronger, more powerful, and more grounded man. Overcoming your fear to start your business or talk to that girl or get off the couch and go to the gym will lead to personal growth and success that you could never have imagined. Embrace the fear and achieve your dream life. 4. What Do You Want to be Remembered For? It is easy to live our lives without ever truly considering our legacies. But the simple fact is, all of us are going to die. We are all headed towards the same fate. And 100 years from now, the only thing that will differentiate your life from everyone else's is the impact that you had and the difference that you made. Devote time each day to thinking about the person that you want to become. Think about how you want to be remembered. Do you want to be remembered as the grinder? The philanthropist? The family man? No matter what you want your legacy to be, make the definite decision to take the necessary actions to leave behind a life that will be remembered how you want to be remembered. 5. Success Requires You to Hone Your Capacity If you want to succeed at any endeavor in life, you must first hone your capacity. You must become a student to your craft and be willing to put your nose to the grindstone, working and learning, all the while approaching your craft with a deep humility. The more and more capable you become at any skill, the more you will find your ego and insecurities melting away. You will no longer feel the need to prove yourself to the world because you already have a deep inner confidence in yourself and your capacity for success.

Charlie Brenneman is a former UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) competitor in the lightweight division with an overall fight record of 19 wins and 8 losses. After leaving the UFC two years ago, Charlie has devoted himself to helping other people achieve the success that they desire and deserve through professional coaching, speaking, and entrepreneurship. Favorite Success Quote "You are what you repeatedly do, excellence is not an act but a habit" ~ Key Points 1. Success is About Giving Everything You Have In our materialistic and results driven society, it is easy to get caught up in this idea that success is all about making a certain amount of money, winning every competition, and reaching every goal. But the truth is much deeper than that. While accomplishment should certainly play a central role in every man's definition of success, the missing piece of the puzzle is the effort that you devote to achieving your goals. If you put everything that you have into the attainment of a goal, if you are relentless and driven to a point that many people consider you insane and you still don't achieve your desired outcome, then guess what? You are still a success. You showed up, you put in the work, and you did everything that you could do. Sometimes despite your best efforts, the stars simply don't align. And it's times like this where you can look at yourself in the mirror with pride, knowing that you gave it your all and are still a man of success despite the perceived failure. 2. A Life of Fulfillment Comes from the Habit of Pursuing the Uncomfortable So many people believe that fulfillment will come whenever they reach a certain goal. Whenever they have seven figures in their bank account, are married to the model wife, or driving the Ferrari. In reality, however, as men, we derive our true sense of fulfillment from constantly pursuing a life of "uncomfortability." A life where we don't know whether we will succeed, a life of struggle and triumph, a life, as Teddy Roosevelt put it, "In the arena, with your face marred by blood, and sweat, and tears." If you want to be fulfilled and live every day with a smile on your face and joy in your heart, then get out of your comfort zone. Get uncomfortable and start pushing the boundaries of what you think is possible in your life. 3. Humility is a Hallmark of the Greats No matter how successful you become, there is always someone out there who is better than you. And if you want to truly succeed at any endeavor, then you need to have the humility to learn from others and devote yourself to constant improvement. If you look at any great man in sports, business, or life, you will notice that no matter their stature, they were always willing to take criticism and look for ways to improve their craft. From billionaires like Sam Walton to All-Stars like Kobe Bryant, they all approached their field with a deep and genuine humility, accepting that they did not know everything and had plenty of room to improve. If you truly want to be one of the greats, then you need to take the same approach to your life. 4. Accept the Struggle Whenever you start out at anything, whether it is a business, a sport, an instrument, or improving your social skills, you are going to suck. It's not pretty, it's not nice, but it is the cold hard truth. You are going to suck, and you are going to suck for a long time. The quicker that you can come to terms with this and accept that the journey is part of the joy of mastery, the sooner you will be able to overcome your own egotistical nature and truly become an expert in your craft. So embrace the suck. Don't take yourself too seriously, and get ready for months or even years of fumbling through until you become proficient in your field. 5. Surround Yourself with the Best The quickest way to accelerate your own growth is to surround yourself with people who are playing the game of life at a higher level than you are. Find people in your field who are performing at a level 10X your current level and get around them. Figure out what habits, tactics, and mindsets are separating them from the 99% and putting them into the proverbial hall of fame. The sooner that you can build up your circle of friends and mentors who are playing at a higher level, the quicker you will achieve your own goals and truly embrace your own potential.

Mark Manson is a blogger, author, and entrepreneur. He specializes in writing personal development advice that doesn't suck. His website MarkManson.net is read by over 2 million people each month. He has written two best-sellers Models: The Art of Attracting Women Through Honesty and The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counter-Intuitive Approach to Living a Good Life. markmanson.netYou can connect with him and learn more at Key Points 1. There is No Such Thing as a Problem Free Life Life is not easy, anyone who tells you otherwise is full of crap. Life can suck sometimes and that is just the reality. However, you should not see this as a bad thing, in fact, you should appreciate it. If life is going to be painful no matter what, this means that you have a choice to choose what kind of pain you want to endure. You can endure the pain of failure or you can endure the pain of struggling to achieve success. 2. Pain Isn't Always Bad Pleasure Isn't Always Good Something that most people misunderstand is that pain is not always a bad thing and pleasure is not always a good thing. You can achieve pleasure by purchasing mounds of cocaine and heroin, but that would not be expedient for achieving your goals and living the life that you want. You can also be in pain by pursuing your goals and trying to achieve greatness but this is not necessarily a bad thing. Accept the fact that life is not about being in a constant state of euphoria, it is about overcoming challenges and living a life of meaning. 3. Your Behaviors Dictate Your Values Whenever you ask people what they value they will tell you all sorts of things and about how they value family, fitness, or personal growth. However, their actions say otherwise. They say that they value family but they spend all of their time working. They say they value health but workout only once a month and treat their body like sh!t. Maybe they even say that they don't value their sex life and yet they are out every week trying to get with a new girl. If you want to know what you truly value, take a look at your actions. Be willing to examine yourself and your life without any bias or judgment and make changes accordingly. If you don't you will spend your whole life spinning your wheel and accomplishing very little. 4. A Constant Pursuit of Happiness Leads to Dissatisfaction Most self-help movements in the modern world seem hell bent on helping people achieve this constant state of euphoria. But the sad fact is, by pursuing happiness, you actually make yourself less happy. In every moment, you are always wondering "Am I as happy as I could be right now? What more could I be doing?" and you end up feeling depressed and frustrated because you are not happier. The same is true with your physique, bank account, and game. If you are constantly trying to be the absolute best, you will never be able to appreciate where you are. Learn to just accept that you may not be the richest, best looking, or most charismatic man in the room and work with that. Accept yourself for who you are and work to improve in the areas that are truly lacking. Otherwise, you will be like a dog chasing its tail and end up living a miserable life. 5. You are Going to Die This is one of the most important things to remember in your life. No matter what you achieve, not matter how much money you make, who you marry, or how many people's lives you affect, at the end of the day you are going to die. There is no way around it. Death is the only constant in every human being's life. But this should not depress or scare you. It should liberate you. The inevitability of death means that you can free yourself from the expectations of others, the drama of daily life, and the fear that accompanies big decisions. If you are going to die, then all that matter is the legacy that you leave behind you. Remember this and live life to the fullest.

Joshua Hathaway, M.A. Holistic Clinical Psychology, is a Tongue Fu black belt and master of the Art of Connection. Through his private and organizational training in No Bullsh!t Communication, as well as coaching and consulting, Joshua is radically empowering people's success in the changing landscapes of modern love and leadership. Favorite Success Quote "All good things are wild and free" ~ Henry David Thoreau Key Points 1. Your Body Language Effects Your Psychology If you are approaching life in a weak disempowered state, with your shoulders hunched over, your head down, and your arms closed off, you are going to be playing life at a smaller level. Have you ever noticed how powerful people all have similar body language? They all stand up straight, project forward with their bodies and voices, have open postures, and own their space. They do this because your body language affects your psychology, your mood, and even your hormonal balance. From today moving forward, start making a conscious effort to change your body language and watch how it changes how you show up in the world. 2. Your Breath can Change Your Life If you want a quick and easy way to change your life and your relationships, I will give it to you in one word: Breathe. It is that simple. If you are feeling stressed out… Breathe. If you are fighting with your significant other and getting losing your temper… Breathe. If you are in a beautiful place and simply want to appreciate the sweetness of life… Breathe. Breathing more deeply, more fully, more regularly will help you to stay grounded and present and can completely change your life in a way few other things can. 3. Stop Telling B.S. Stories In relationships, we are often tempted to make up b.s. stories and wild claims that are not grounded in fact. If you want truly satisfying relationships, you need to stop this immediately. Instead of saying that someone never listens, stick with the facts. Say something like "That is the third time today you have cut me off while I was talking and it's really frustrating me" This approach focuses on facts instead of accusations and it will allow you to get to the root of your relational problems easier than name calling and b.s. storytelling. 4. Just Listen Seriously, this point is so simple but so profound. Just shut the hell up and listen. Don't take things personally or get angry about whatever is being said. Just listen, ask better questions and try to get to the root of what is really happening. Stop talking and just listen. 5. Talk about observations, feelings, and values Whenever you are in a serious conversation with a significant other, talk about three things. First, your observations, or what you have noticed is happening in your relationship. Are they respecting you or not? Are they showing up in a certain way? Have they been caught in a certain pattern of actions? Next talk about how the observation has made you feel. Are you feeling loved? Upset? Frustrated? Finally, discuss your values. Do you value integrity and honesty but have observed a pattern of lying? Say so.

Coach Michael Taylor is an entrepreneur, author, motivational speaker and radio show host who has dedicated his life to empowering men and women to reach their full potential. He knows first hand how to overcome adversity and build a rewarding and fulfilling life and he is sharing his knowledge and wisdom with others to support them in creating the life of their dreams. Favorite Success Quote "There is no coming to consciousness without pain. People will do anything, no matter how absurd, in order to avoid facing their own Soul. One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious." ~Carl Jung Key Points 1. What You Focus on Expands What you focus on will expand, and if you aren't intentional about what you are focusing on, you may wake up and realize that you don't like the life that you have created. If you set the wrong goals and focused on the wrong things, you may wake up one day, wealthy, healthy, with plenty of "notches" on your belt and completely miserable. Instead of focusing on being wealthy, focus on first being happy. Instead of focusing on becoming the next Arnold, focus on being comfortable in your body and feeling alive and energetic when you wake up. Instead of focusing on sleeping with loads of women, focus on deeply connecting with many women. Be intentional about where you set your focus. If you aren't, you are setting yourself up for failure. 2. Use Life's Challenges as Stepping Stones Challenges are a chance for you to learn and grow. Instead of seeing them as this negative and terrible thing, choose to view challenges as an opportunity for you to mold yourself into the man that you want to be. See them as a way that you can strengthen yourself and equip yourself for the future. If you approach every challenge with this attitude, you will find that challenges become fun. They become something you look forward to, not something that you dread. 3. You are 100% Responsible for Your Life Until you accept this truth, you will never achieve success. If you have the technology to read this article and listen to this podcast right now and you are not where you want to be in life, it is your fault. End of story. If you are out of shape, in a miserable relationship (or no relationship), broke, or unhappy, it is your fault and no one else's. You have the power in every moment to take responsibility for yourself and make the changes necessary to become the person you want. 4. Leave Your Comfort Zone Far Behind Life is not lived in your comfort zone. It is lived whenever you are out to sea with no shore in sight, no boat, and no clue what is going on. Life is lived whenever you do things that scare you half to death and make you question yourself. Whenever you are willing to take the leap, jump off the edge, and build an airplane on the way down. The more you get out of your comfort zone, the more you will uncover your own strength and the quicker you will achieve your goals. 5. You Must Have a Positive Mental Attitude Look, life can suck. It's that simple, there will be days when nothing goes right, when the world seems like it is conspiring against you to make your life a living hell. It is during times like these that your attitude is everything. You have to maintain a positive focus and be willing to see the good in every situation. If you can do this, any adversity will become something positive, and there is no limit to what you can achieve.

Zachary Stockill is a writer, developer, podcaster, and lifelong student. His work has been featured on The Huffington Post, The Art of Charm, and ManTalks among many others. Favorite Success Quote The so-called meaning of life opened up before me, it turned out to be infinitely simple, give love and seek no reward reciprocal love is your reward and the meaning of life in its entirety." ~ Andrei Gavrilov Key Points 1. Generosity without Expectation is Sexy There is a lot of focus in the modern "pick up" and dating advice world on making sure that you are always giving less in your relationships than you are receiving. While this advice may have some foundation if you are looking for nothing other than a one-night stand or a slew of unfulfilling sexual experiences, it holds no water if you are looking for fulfillment in relationships. If you want to have the most fulfilling relationships possible, you need to give love without expectation. That is the key. Give and don't expect anything in return. Give because you want to, not because you are expecting sex or love to be reciprocated. 2. Tell Your Truth No Matter What If you are struggling in your relationships, odds are, you are withholding your truth from your woman. You need to open up, tell her the truth, be honest with her without fear of outcome and without any neediness from her. This is the only way that you can overcome issues together and break through jealousy. 3. You Need to be Aware of Women's Sexuality Odds are, if you are struggling with jealousy, at least a small part of the issue is that you are not celebrating women's sexuality. Like men, women enjoy sex. They find it exciting and (hopefully) satisfying. And this is a beautiful thing. Instead of sitting around in your relationships getting caught up on the men who came before you, celebrate the fact that you are in a relationship with a beautiful sexual being, and learn to be ok with the fact that you probably weren't her first and may not be her last. 4. Jealousy is About You, not Your Partner Anyone who is struggling with jealousy on a large scale is almost definitely struggling with their own personal development. Jealousy stems from your own limiting beliefs. Your belief that you are not good enough, that you will never find a woman as good as your current girlfriend, or that other men will be able to care for her and satisfy her better than you will. If you are struggling with these thoughts, then man up and take action. Start taking care of yourself first. Master your own personal growth and become a man of high value who has options, and you will be able to sit back and enjoy as the 5. Maintain Your Life Outside of Relationships The key to a healthy relationship is highly counter-intuitive. Focus on your life outside of your relationship. If you give up on your friends, quit pursuing your hobbies, and drop all of the things that made her fall in love with you in the first place, then your relationship is doomed. You need to remember that you have a life outside of your woman. This will help keep you grounded whenever your relationship hits rocky ground (which is will).

Shawne Merriman, nicknamed "Lights Out", is a former American football player who was a linebacker in the NFL from 2005 to 2012. He was among the top linebackers in the NFL in his first three seasons with the San Diego Chargers, where he was a three-time Pro Bowl and All-Pro selection. Merriman was drafted 12th overall by the San Diego Chargers in the 2005 NFL Draft. He earned NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year honors in his first season and recorded 39 1⁄2quarterback sacks in his first three seasons Favorite Success Quote "Keep working and everything else will fall into place" Key Points 1. Don't Do Anything Unless You Want to be Great We live in a world that is filled with mediocrity. People are willing to simply show up, do the bare minimum, and then head off. This cannot be you. If you want to succeed at life and live with passion, fulfillment, and joy, then you need to only do things if you want to be great. Don't compete to be good, compete to be the best. 2. There is Always Light at the End of the Tunnel No matter how difficult your life is right now, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. We all struggle through hard times, some of us more so than others. Just remember that this too will end and when you push through it, it will be better on the other side. 3. Get Out of Your Own Way If you want to succeed, then you need to drop your ego and get out of your own way. Be willing to take advice, listen to mentors who are wiser than you, get out of your comfort zone and be willing to take the action necessary to succeed. 4. Hustle Like You've Never Achieved Success No matter how successful you are, you need to keep hustling like you have never even tasted success. It doesn't matter whether you are a multi-millionaire, a titan of your industry, or the leader in your field, the day you stop hustling is the day that you die. 5. Remember the Babysteps Whenever you are stuck in life and feel like you cannot move forward, you need to remember to focus on the babysteps. If you are struggling to bridge the gap between where you are and where you want to be, then take a step back and focus on the small things. Just lay 4-5 bricks a day in your business, health, wealth, and relationships and one year from now, you will have built yourself an incredible home.

Rich Litvin is a high-performance coach who helps Olympic athletes, presidential candidates, and special forces members achieve more in their life, business, and relationships. He is also the Co-author of the bestselling book "The Prosperous Coach." Favorite Success Quote "Confidence is a result, n0t a requirement" Key Points 1. You Need to Live a Life of Integrity If you want to be respected in life and succeed at the highest level, then you must be a man of integrity. This does not simply mean that you keep your word when you make a promise. It means that your thoughts, words, and actions are all in congruence. You don't lie and blow smoke to appease others, you don't hold your tongue to avoid pissing people off, and you don't live a life that is incongruent with what you want to make others happy. You live a life of congruence where everything is in line. This is the pathway to true power. 2. If You Want to Live Life Fully Kill the Nice Guy Most men play life small. Why? Because they are nice. Or at least, that's how they appear on the surface. They are agreeable, amiable, and work very hard to make others happy, but in reality, they are living a lie. They say yes when they want to say no, they suppress emotions, and they do all of it out of selfishness, hoping that their perceived niceness will result in some sort of gain. To live fully, to live a powerful life, and be a grounded man, you have to kill the nice guy. Speak your truth, live in integrity, and do not set out to appease others. Be kind, of course, but do it from a place of abundance, where you are giving to the world because you are already so full, not from a place of scarcity where you are kind because you want something in return. 3. You Need to Burn Your Bridges Want to succeed? Burn your bridges. While everyone has their own path, one of the quickest ways to ensure success is to cut off all chances of failure. If you quit your job, move to a new city, leave a relationship, or sell a home, that's it. There is no turning back. When you give yourself no choice but to succeed, you will find that you are stronger than you ever thought. 4. What Got You Here Won't Get You There Something interesting about high achievers is that the actions that got them to where they are today will not get them to where they want to be. Everything you have done to become successful in the past will hold you back from becoming successful today Life is in a constant state of change, and when you are doing the same actions you were doing years ago, odds are you are playing it small. You need to have powerful men, coaches, and mentors in your life who can call you on your bullshit and help you step things up. You will never become a billionaire doing what you did to become a millionaire. 5. You Need to Improve Only 4% Most people think they need to improve 100% to achieve their dream lives. The truth is, they only need to improve about 4% in the right area of life. If you can find that critical 4% in your dating, health, and business, your life can change completely. The key is, once again, finding people who can help you to pinpoint that critical 4% and help you on the path to its achievement.

Master Business, Relationship, and Success Coach, TV/Radio Host, Author of 9 Books, Inspirational Speaker David began his career in the health and fitness industry and quickly was named "Mr. Motivation" by Lifetime Television and "The Master of Motivation" by American Fitness magazine. Favorite Success Quote "Every action into the uncomfortable ensures our success in life" Key Points 1. You Have to become Uncomfortable Life is not lived within your comfort zone. If you want to achieve success, you cannot sit on your couch and visualize it, you have to get up off your butt and go after it. Want to get shredded? Get yourself to the gym, lift weights, and track your diet. Want to make more money? Work 80 hours a week intentionally on your business for 90 days and see what your results are. The only way to succeed is to do the things that are uncomfrotable and painful. 2. We Cannot Live for Instant Gratification If you are living for instant gratification, you will never acheive fulfillment. You must learn to delay gratification, giving up what you want now for what you ultimately want. It might not be fun to wake up early and workout or miss partying with friends to grind it out on your business, but you will thank yourself in the years to come. 3. The Path to Success Rarely Feels Good Success can suck. It's just that simple. Getting up early isn't fun. Working 12 hour days isn't fun. Cutting off unhealthy friendships isn't fun. But it is worth it. Success requires you to be in pain, it is that simple. The sooner you accept that, the easier the pain will be. 4. What You Think About You Do Not Bring About Thinking about something day after day does nothing to move you closer to its attainment. If you want something, then go and get it. Don't wish for it or visualize it, GO AND GET IT! Work for it. Sweat, cry, and bleed for it. Then and only then can you truly acheive the things that you want. 5. Success in 80% Action 20% Mentality For all of this talk bashing the law of attraction and visualization, the principles behind the psycholgy of success do have some merit. If you want to boost the speed with which you achieve success, then using visualization techniques, affirmations, and other pop psychology tactics work when used in conjunction with massive action. Your goal should be to devote 80% of your time to taking action and 20% of your time to mastering your psychology.

Kute Blackson is an influential thought leader, a transformational coach, and author of You Are the One. He has spent the past several years of his life dedicated to helping men and women live lives of true purpose. Discovering who they really are and how they can share their gifts with the world. He has appeared on the Larry King show and has been endorsed by influencers Jack Canfield, Rhonda Britten, Lisa Nichols, and John Gray among many others. Favorite Success Quote "The real does not die, and the unreal never lived" ~Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj. Key Points 1. Be in Constant Surrender Life is unpredictable. The more you end up trying to control it, the more it ends up controlling you. One of the keys to living a truly happy and fulfilled life is to learn to surrender to the flow of life. Allow life to happen. Understand that things happen for a reason. Do not try and force life, rather surrender to life and you will be amazed at what it brings to you. 2. You Need to Break Out of Your Comfort Zone Life is meant to be lived. If you are staying in your comfort zone, you are not living. You need to constantly push yourself to do new and exciting things. Things that scare you, things that make you unsure of yourself, and things that you are unsure you can accomplish. Because the funny thing is, you will be just fine. You will survive, and likely thrive, and the more often you push yourself to do things outside of the normal for you, the more you will grow and the more confidence you will have. 3. You Have to Question and Feel yourself There is an old saying that "The unexamined life is not worth living." You need to question yourself, question your life, question the decisions that you have made and your assumptions about who you are and what your identity is. The more you question your life, the more you will realize the beauty and power of your life. Once you have begun upon this realization, you need to feel yourself. You need to feel who you truly are. Not who society says you are, not who your parents say you are, and not even who you say you are. You need to feel into who you truly are. Once you can do this, you will be amazed at how your life will change. 4. You Are Not Your Thoughts You are not your mind. You are not your thoughts. You are much deeper than that. You are an infinite being that is part of an infinite universe, and you have to learn to accept that fact and see your life as it really is. Your thoughts are merely a vessel for a tiny part of you that is on this great journey called life. Learn to disassociate from your thoughts and witness them instead of being a slave to them. 5. Happiness is About Truth There is no happiness when you are living in a lie. If you want to live a life of total fulfillment and genuine joy and happiness, you have to start telling the truth. Tell the truth to the people in your life, yes, but more importantly, tell the truth to yourself. Stop lying to yourself and get real. The sooner you can do this, the better your life will be.

Personal trainer, peak performance coach, and podcaster Ted Ryce has overcome a tremendous amount in his quest to live a legendary life. Ryce has worked with Fortune 500 CEOs, busy professionals, and celebrities, including Richard Branson, Ricky Martin and Robert Downey Jr. He helps his clients develop and stick with high-performance habits that help them manage stress and adversity and lead more successful lives. His philosophy is that being a high-performance person, one who chases and achieves their biggest goals, isn't a luxury, it's a necessity to survive and thrive in the modern world. Favorite Success Quote "Don't ask yourself what the world needs, ask yourself what makes you come alive and go do that. Because what the world needs is more people to come alive" ~Howard Thurman Key Points 1. You Need to Come Alive The world is full of people who are dead on the inside. They are living and breathing in the literal sense, but their lives lack the passion. They wake up in the morning with no fire in their bellies. They simply go through the motions, doing things that they dislike because of societal conditioning. What the world needs, what you need, is to come alive. To live a life every day that is of your choosing, doing things that you love and spending every day of your life living with deep passion. Forget what society and your parents taught you. You need to do what will make you come alive, period. 2. You Need to Push Yourself Physically to Succeed at Life Your health is a critical part of succeeding at life. If you are not pushing yourself physically in the gym and challenging your body on a daily basis, then you are doing a disservice to your career, your family, and your personal growth. Whenever you push yourself in the gym, you can push yourself harder in life. You wake up with more energy and can live life on a level 10. 3. Consistency is Key You will never have the body of your dreams, the woman of your dreams, or the millions in the bank account if you are not consistent. You need to be consistent. Set a plan and stick to it. Don't make excuses, don't allow life to get in the way. As Nike says, "Just do it!" 4. You Need More Experiences If you are feeling lost in life, you need to experience more things. Pack up your bags and travel around the world. Move to a new city. Try out a new career. Do whatever you have to do to give yourself more experiences and grow into the man that you want to become. 5. Life is a Marathon Life is not a a sprint, it is a marathon. You cannot expect to achieve all of your goals and dreams within a year. It takes decades of dedication and consistency. And even then you will never truly arrive at any sort of destination. Life is a never ending journey. You will never arrive, and that is ok. 6. Training Routine to Build Strength If you are looking to build strength and become (literally) the strongest version of yourself. Follow the below routine. Workout 4 Days a Week Monday: Upper Body Tuesday: Lower Body Wednesday: Rest Thursday: Upper Body Friday: Lower Body Weekend: Rest Exercise Selection For exercise selection, stick to big lifts. Deadlifts, squats, bench press, and overhead presses should comprise the majority of your workout. Pick 2 based on the training day, for example, if you are doing upper body, complete Bench Press, and Shoulder Presses. Then pick 2-3 supplementary exercises of your choice that are in the same muscle groups to compliment your workout. Sets and Reps Option 1 Month 1: 4 sets of 12-15 Month 2: 4 sets of 6-8 (higher weight) Month 3: 4 sets of 4-5 (higher weight) Option 2: Week 1: 4 sets of 6 Week 2: 4 sets of 8 Week 3: 5 sets of 8 Week 4: Deload (Same sets and reps as week 1 with 30-40% less weight) An Added Note The most important part of any training program is called linear periodization. This is the concept of basically incrementally increasing the weight that you are pressing or pulling to continue forcing your body to grow and adapt. Always seek to add one more rep, just a little bit more weight, or another set to your workouts so that you are continually improving and pushing your body. 7. Bonus Routine for Fat Burning An easy trick to help you burn some extra fat is to complete the following workouts either on your off days or as a finisher to your workouts. Week 1: 5 Minutes of Bodyweight squats in aerobic heart rate range (or some other bodyweight exercise) Week 2: 10 Minutes of Bodyweight squats in aerobic heart rate range (or some other bodyweight exercise) Week 3: 15 Minutes of Bodyweight squats in aerobic heart rate range (or some other bodyweight exercise) Week 4: 8 Minutes of Bodyweight squats in aerobic heart rate range (or some other bodyweight exercise) 8. Sleep Better Here are a few tips to help you improve the quality of your sleep. -Download the app F.lux to dim the lights on your computer so that don't disrupt your natural sleep cycle. -Invest in a sleep master mask (or just cover your face with a shirt) -Invest in

Ross Jeffries™ is the founder, creator and Master Teacher of the worldwide seduction community. Featured as the mentor to Neil Strauss in the best-selling book, "The Game", RJ has taught, coached, and mentored thousands of men around the world, since 1991, guiding them to the success with women they truly desire and deserve. Favorite Success Quote "Be interested in your outcome but invested in your skills. In a breakfast of bacon and eggs, the chicken is interested, the pig is invested." Key Points 1. If You Want Unfamiliar Results You Need Unfamiliar Action Everyone knows the old quote from Albert Einstein that "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again while expecting different results." And yet so many of us continue with the same old actions while expecting new outcomes. If you want unfamiliar results, you have to take unfamiliar actions. You have to do things that you have never done to get results that you have never gotten. And that is scary. But it's the only way to achieve growth. So plug your nose and get ready for the plunge, but realize that you will come out on the other side better and stronger than ever before. 2. You Need to Upgrade Your Operating System If you are struggling with dating, business, or health, the problem is not in the technique, it's in your operating system. To achieve uncommon results in life, you need to upgrade yourself and improve the system that you are playing on. You need to invest in yourself and change the limiting beliefs that are holding you back in life. 3. We are All Humans Often times, men put women on these pedestals and place them on a platform above them. But the simple truth is, we are all human. We all came into this world naked and alone, and we will all leave this world in the same way. When you approach life wearing these lenses, you see things as they really are. No one is superior, no one is inferior, we are all the same and we are all headed for the same final destination. 4. Find Something You Are Passionate About If you fell lost or feel like your life is boring and uninspiring, then you need to find something that you are passionate about. Find something you love to do and simply do more of it. It can be music, it can be boxing, it can be talking to girls, building a business, or anything else you want. It's not important what you are pursuing, just that you are passionate about the pursuit. 5. You Don't Have Knowledge Until You Act Without action, knowledge is simply information. You do not have knowledge until you have applied the information that you have learned to achieve some sort of result. In the world of business and dating, men run around with a lot of information, but very little knowledge. They know all of the tactics and techniques to improve their dating lives and make millions of dollars, and yet they are still broke and single. If you want to improve your life in a real and drastic way, then you need to start acting on information. It is the only path to improvement.