Mão cheia de nada

 Quando tudo o que a gente acredita, desaparece, o que nos sobra? Nada.

O que continua verdadeiro, mesmo depois de todas as minhas ilusões terem caído? As feridas.

A única certeza é que o que fui, já não sou mais.

Lisbon Talk Ensemble

Habits for highly effective people

TL:DR: We have curated some of the best business podcasts and made them even more comfortable to listen to. Thanks for listening.

I had always wanted to be a professional keynote speaker. That is what I did, and I launched that into a speaking career. I believe my success level will seldom exceed my development level because success is something you attract by the person you become. And at that moment, I went, “I am not dedicating time every day to my personal development. Therefore, I am not becoming the person that I need to be to create the success that I want in my life.” And I had this epiphany that I got to figure out what the world’s most successful people do for their personal development. I googled best personal development practices of millionaires, billionaires, CEOs, Olympians, and I had a list of six different practices. And they were all timeless. They had all been practiced for centuries, right? And I, I almost went, “Well, none of these are new.” And I think we are conditioned in our society to look for the new. I want the new of something, the new movie, the new season on Netflix. We just want new, new, new, new. We are all new.

The epiphany, I finally went, “Wait a minute, this is what successful people do, I do not do these.” And then the real epiphany was, which one of these am I going to do. Even though I was not a morning person, I thought, “ if I want my life to improve, I got to improve. I got to wake up an hour earlier, and I got to do one of these six practices.” I woke up the next day, and I tried. But one hour into it, my very first day, my very first hour of what is now called the Miracle Morning, it did not have a name back then. I felt incredible. I felt confident for the first time in six months. I felt energized, I felt motivated, I felt like I had clarity. And I really, the realization is, if I start every day like this, where I become a better version of the person I was that went to bed the night before, and I do this consistently, day after day after day after day, it is only a matter of time before I become the person that I need to be, that can create the success that I want, any level that I want, in any and every area of my life. And I thought it would be six to 12 months. It was less than two months that I more than doubled my income. I went from being in the worst shape of my life, physically, to committing to run an ultramarathon, I had never run more than a mile before, and my depression went away within a couple of days.

The first S in SAVERS stands for silence, and if you think about it, most of us do not have a lot of time in silence, it is usually, it is kind of chaos from the time we get up, and then we are in the car, listening to podcasts, or the radio music, something like that. And then we are at work with people, and on phone calls, there is usually not a lot of time for kind of peaceful, purposeful silence, yet when we quiet our mind, that is the moment that our best ideas come. When we tap into our inner wisdom, we tap into the wisdom of, do you want to get woo-oo for a second, right, the universe, or higher intelligence, whatever you want to call it, god. But meditation, the way it has been taught, often teaches people to clear your mind. And most people cannot do that immediately, and it takes somebody years to get this state of mind.

Well, for me, I want results. I will use my meditation as a way to set the mindset for the day. I will look at my schedule, and I will go what do I need to accomplish today? I have found out that it depends on what is on the agenda, like I just finished writing a new book, and when I was working on that book, every day, every morning, I meditate before write. I need ideas. I need some content for today. And so I would set my intention for the meditation, so my intention would often be, what am I working on, what chapter am I working on today. I would just set that as an intention, and then I would meditate, and I would always have my notes app on my phone, in front of me with my timer going for 10 minutes usually is what I meditate for. And I do not think there was a single day where I have not flooded six ideas, where I would pause the meditation timer, I would open up the note tab, and I would write an idea, then I would go back to meditate, and then I would just sit there, and I was not trying to think. When you force thought, you do not usually get your best thought. It is in those moments, and that is why when we are in the shower, not even thinking about something, we have our best ideas. When we are falling asleep, not even thinking about something, we have our best ideas. That is one way to meditate. Another way to do it is, sometimes I might have a speech for that day, and I need to feel confident. I am speaking, and I will just affirm things while I am in my meditation, and I will just affirm things like, what did I do today. I chose three statements; use meditation, remove thought, and generate the result internally that you want, either mentally or emotionally. Use the meditation actively to do that.

When it comes to silence, if you are overwhelmed by meditation, set a timer on your phone for 10 minutes, and be in silence for 10 minutes. Do not judge your thoughts or your feelings while you meditate.

If you just sit there in silence, you will get value. It lowers your cortisol levels. If you are intentionally thinking stressful thoughts, just breathe deep, and do not judge yourself. If you sit in silence, you will lower your stress. You will gain clarity, new insights will come into your mind, and get better with practice. Do not forget that habit comes with practice and your first day in silence is your worst day in silence.

Every day you do it, you will stumble upon new levels of consciousness, new ways of feeling and thinking, being that once you grab them, you can then get there quicker, more comfortable, and stay there longer. And the benefits of spending time in silence will simply be amplified and deepened over time.

Sit up straight. There is a wrong way to meditate beyond judging yourself. When you sit slouched over, laying down, your breath slows. You want to find the balance between relaxation, and alertness, attentiveness. Sit up straight and tall and breath deeply. Close your eyes. That is the ideal state for that silence.

By the way, setting a timer is the other piece. Do not be checking the clock. Just have your timer set, and that way, you are free for 10 minutes to not think about anything. Do not get frustrated if thoughts still come to your mind. Just relax, and focus on your breathing. You are free for 10 minutes.

Let’s talk about “The Miracle Mornings”. An affirmation is simply a written statement that directs your focus towards something of value. The way affirmations have been taught; there are two problems with how they have been taught. Number one is a form of affirmation that is essentially lying to yourself, trying to trick yourself into believing something that is not true or is not yet true. For example, let’s say you want to be a millionaire. Many self-help ex-pioneers have taught just, put the words I am in front of whatever you want to be, and say that to yourself until you believe it. So you say, “I am a millionaire”. “I am a millionaire”. “I am a millionaire”, but we all know the truth. We know our truth, and if we are not a millionaire and want to be a millionaire, when we say, “I am a millionaire, “ our subconscious or even our conscious mind will notice that you are lying. And when you are fighting with reality, the truth will always prevail.

Number one problem with affirmations, the way they have been taught, is lying to yourself. The second problem with affirmations, the way they have been taught, is that self-help pioneers have taught you to use flowery, passive language.

We will stick to the topic of finances. You may have heard this affirmation, it is trendy, or some variation of this. “I am a money magnet. Money flows to me effortlessly and in abundance.” Many people say that affirmation, and they like it, and I believe they like it because it makes them feel good at the moment. They go, “ I checked my bank balance this morning, and it was negative, so I need some affirmations to make me feel better. I am a money magnet. Money is flowing to me effortlessly. All my financial problems will be taken care of by the universe or whatever.” Well, that is not how money works.

I will give an example of how to use affirmations that are not based on lying to yourself or in this passive language that makes you feel into at the moment but takes your responsibility away from creating the results you want. There are four steps to create affirmations that produce results.

Number one is to affirm what you are committed to. Do not say I am a millionaire or not even I want to be a millionaire. Say I am committed to becoming a millionaire. It is very different when you affirm something you are committed to versus something that you think you are or want to be that you know you are not.

The second thing is, why is that deeply meaningful to you? After you affirm what you are committed to, reinforce, remind yourself, why is that deeply meaningful to you? Why do you want to become a millionaire? Is it because you want to provide financial freedom for your family? Is it because you want to buy fancy cars? That will determine how much leverage you have over yourself to do the things necessary to get you there.

Number three is to affirm what precisely you are committed to doing that will ensure your success? What are the activities you are committed to that will ensure your success? I am committed to increasing my income to $100.000 a year and saving 50%. Get very specific on the activities that you are going to do. When I was in sales, I would affirm how many phone calls I was committed to making every day because I knew that my success was inevitable if I made that number of phone calls.  The average would have worked themselves out if I made my phone calls every day.

The fourth point of the affirmation formula is when specifically are you committed to implementing those activities? So, when are you going to make your phone calls? When are you going to run every day to lose that weight? When will you take your dreams out on a date or tell them you love them. What are the activities and when are you going to do them?

So those four steps, what are you committed to? Why is it deeply meaningful to you? What activities are you committed to doing that will ensure your success? And then when specifically are you committed to doing those activities?

Those are the four steps to creating what I call miracle morning affirmations. And miracle morning affirmations are practical, and they are results-oriented, and they reinforce the commitments that you need to stick to ensure that you achieve the results you want to achieve in your life.

Visualization is essential. Two things on it. The world’s best athletes use visualization to project them to the win. And there is a reason for that. They visualize themself performing optimally and achieving their goals to go there mentally and emotionally before they ever step on the court. They have already gone there in their minds, so when it is realtime, when it is game time, it is that much easier to go there when it is to practice them. And the other thing I will say on visualization do not just visualize the result. Visualize the activity. See yourself getting on to the ring. See yourself on the phone to make those calls. See yourself opening your computer to write those words that are going to make that into a book. See yourself going to the gym or lacing up your running shoes and heading out your front door. Especially if you do not feel like it or you do not like doing those things. See yourself doing it with a smile on your face in a way that is appealing.

When I was training for my ultra-marathon, I hated running. So every morning, I visualized myself enjoying running. And because I did in the morning in my living room when it was time to run, I had already created this anticipation that I would want to do it, and then I felt that when it was time to go for a run. And that is the power of visualization.

You can visualize yourself in first-person or in third-person. I usually do it in the third-person. I see myself from the outside. So I see myself like I am watching a movie of myself. Part of that movie will involve me looking in the mirror. You can even visualize yourself while listening to music. A lot of people do that.

The E is for exercise and what I will say is, if you do not exercise at all, this applies to you. If you exercise, you will get the habit. If you go to the gym after work or on lunch break, you will get the habit. Avoid sitting on the couch, and do not practice. Even if you are tired, stand up and exercise for 60 seconds. I promise you that you will be breathing hard at the end of the 60 seconds, and your blood will be flowing throughout your lymph system your brain. Your cells will be oxygenated. You will feel 10 times more awake than you did before you did those 60 seconds of jumping jacks. So I in the morning usually do stretching followed by a seven-minute workout. I highly recommend the app Seven Minute Workout. It is a full-body workout in seven minutes, and it is fast-paced, so you get cardio and strength training and stretching and flexibility.

The R is for reading. Every one of us is one book away from whatever topic we want to improve in our life. We are one book away from learning everything that we need to learn to improve that area of our life.

Want to be happy? There is a book on that. Want to have a fantastic marriage? There is a book on that. Do you want to be a millionaire or be wealthy and financially free? There are hundreds of books on that.

It blows my mind that in places “where people have access to books,” and they know how to read, people still prefer not to read. Why aren’t you reading every day? It could be five or ten minutes a day. It does not have to be a long time. If you read 10 pages a day, that is 300 pages a month.

Let’s say five pages a day that is 150 pages a month. That is one self-help book a month. 12 a year.

You are a different person. You are separating yourself from 95% of our society, and you are joining the top 5% that reads those books because you are learning everything you need to transform any area of your life.

The final S is the word Scribing, and that is a pretentious word for writing. But I needed an S for the final part of the SABERS to round out the acronym.

Your goal setting is involved in scribing. Journaling would be my scribing,  and I use OneNote, or I just write freehand on a piece of paper. Every morning I write three things: what I am grateful for and the three most important things that I need to do today to make today a great day.

Every morning, I start by focusing on three things I am grateful for, which remind me that my life’s already amazing. It does not matter what is going on outside of me. If I focus on internally what I have to be grateful for, everything is, there are always things to feel amazing about.

There are always things to complain about. What we focus on becomes our reality. So I start with gratitude, and then I looked at my to-do list, I look at my goals, I am like okay, of the infinite things I could work on today, and out of the 20 things that are on my goal and to-do list, what are the three that will make the most significant impact for me right now, and move me forward toward my most important goals? And you think about it, most people do not take the time to just get that level of clarity. It only takes a couple of minutes, but it is a game-changer.

Every day we are busy. And being busy tricks our brain to think we are productive. But productive is not busy. Productive is busy doing the things that move us toward our biggest goals, our greatest dreams, the life that we truly want to live, and the impact we genuinely want to make.

That simple act of scribing every morning forces your brain to clarify it in writing. What are those top three priorities, that is, for me, that has been a game-changer, and it is allowed me to make massive progress on these goals that once were just fantasies, that I never even thought or believed I could accomplish?

We all have this monkey on our back with urgency, like, “I want to be where that guy is, or where she is.” I have all these goals and dreams I want to be there now. And it creates this feeling of scarcity where we are not where we want to be. And what I have found not only in my own life but studying other people is that any time you find yourself wishing or wanting that you were further along, then you just realize that when you finally get to the point that you have been working so hard for so long, you almost never wish it would not happen any sooner. Instead, you look back, and you see the timing and the journey were perfect. All the adversity, all the challenges, all played a part in you becoming the person you needed to be to get where you want to go.

If you can take that hindsight and bring it into your life now, use that to be at peace no matter where you are right now, no matter what is going on, no matter complicated or whatever is going on. Be at peace with where you are every day along that journey while you simultaneously maintain a healthy sense of urgency to take action every day to get where you want to go, but do not get there out of a feeling of stress and anxiety and I am not where I want to be. Just embrace where you are. If you are alive, you are perfect. No matter what is going on around you, all that matters is what is going on inside you. So be at peace with where you are and take steps every day to get where you want to go.

One advice that no one ever told me. You make plenty of mistakes in life and you have to restart often.

If anxiety strikes, think less, breathe more.

Se estás feliz, mantém. Se estás infeliz, muda-te.

Quando falas de alguém, estás a falar de ti próprio. Se és confiante, transmites positividade. Se és inseguro, transmites negatividade.

O carácter molda-se com a adversidade.

Um mal entendido é a maior distancia que pode existir entre duas pessoas .

Everytime the sun rises, you have an opportunity to be happy.

Tudo se arranja na Vida, menos as pessoas que nos amam. Essas são insubstituíveis.

Happiness only exists when it is shared.

Tão perigosa quanto a inveja é a capacidade de o ser humano achar que chegou ao topo. Quando ele acha que pode tudo, começa o fim. Por isso, sê sempre discreto.

Se andarmos de boca fechada e com saúde, não há mal que vença. Que o bem prevaleça!

Laugh that time wil do the rest.

Sê livre, vive a vida, respira... E volta ao princípio.

Fear replaces the unknown for awful.

Não arranje alguém à pressa apenas para tapar o buraco da solidão. Trabalhe para se sentir bem sózinho, até que um dia partilhará a sua personalidade com a alma gémea.

Quem anda pelos cantos, anda a esconder qualquer coisa.

Quem dorme com "crianças"  acorda mijado.

When you tell people about it, especially in detail, you get a sense of accomplishment that should only be yours when you've completed the task. 

So keep it under wraps and tell people when it's done so you can enjoy actually having achieved something and not just the sense of being so noble/motivated for having goals.

Edit: For people saying the opposite works for them, great! I'm glad to see you've found something that works for you. However, since this works for me, I'm going to assume it does for Some other people as well. Thanks for the comments though!

Never stop learning and even if you are learning at a slow pace, you are lapping everyone who are just watching telly

Stop using bullets in wars. Share candies between the enemies and the children.

When you don't have anyone else, you still got you.

Be careful of quack people

Don't take drugs. If you take drugs, seek help. The drugs make you live just for them, and suck your life out.

Talk to the neighbors.

Turn off the television, or simply don't believe in the news.

Read books, write a lot.

Don't let envy overtake morality. Learn to wait and continue to look for the right path. The good way isn't always the shortest.

Never frantic, there's always tomorrow.

Always save money, and you'll be prepared for the future.

Want it all, kill us. Want it nothing, make us smarter.

Be confident, not arrogant. Be humble, not cocky.

Don't spit to the ground.

Don't throw litter to the ground.

Be confident in what you believe.

The most powerful word in the world is "thought". Because true power is in our thinking. When we truly believe in something and we have faith in it, it will surely happen.

Separate the trash in different content bins.

Don't throw trash to the floor.

Respect the planet Earth.

Being a honest person is a living style.

Do exercise.

Drive with cautious and consciousness.

Don't drink and drive.

Don't speed.

Respect the older people, because one day you'll gonna be old.

Say no to corruption.

Pay taxes.

Always use a helmet when skating or cycling.

Always use a helmet when riding a motorcycle.

Promote good deeds, point out bad ones.

Always use seat belt in the car.

Respect pedestrians.

Respect traffic signs.

Be intelligent, not a know-it-all person.

Be confident.

Listen more, talk less.

People don't measure by colour or race. They measure by intelligence.

Embrace difference.

Don't shout and make harsh gestures. Talk calmly.

Put a pendant with the phone number engraved in the collar's dog. Never put the name.

A child should never talk to strangers.

Never accept candies.

Never accept rides.

Tag a toddler clothes with a phone number.

First thing a child should learn to say is the phone number.

Respect a child as you respect your mother.

Respect an animal as you respect your mother.

Don't abandon an animal. If you can't support an animal anymore, try to find a friend, someone, or even an animal shelter who takes care. You still can donate money to them, paying the care that they are taking.

Go to work by foot, by bicycle, skating or using public transportation.