The Art of Inspiration

Many of us have heard about the law of attraction. The notion that our thoughts produce our reality. The concept was popularized in the 2006 Rhonda Byrne book "The Secret." A positive review from Oprah sent this book flying off of the shelves and into the hands of countless people across the globe. The book was a massive hit, it gave hope to millions who now believed they could think their way to a fortune! Just think and believe and whatever you want will be attracted to you! It's an awesome concept, but believe it or not this concept is far from new. In fact this is something that the ancients knew. People from all different countries and religions have believed in the power of manifestation for centuries. Napoleon Hill, while not referring to it as the law of attraction, spoke of the concept of manifestation in depth in his best selling book, "Think and Grow Rich". If you are an entrepreneur, you owe it to yourself to read that book.

So manifestation, or the law of attraction, whatever you want to call it. Does it work? If so how do we utilize it in our daily lives? Let me start by saying this, I am not some mystic who believes in a magical mysterious force that will magically bring you wealth or make your dreams come true. But this is no magic, and do I believe it? Absolutely, I do believe you can bring your dreams to life. One of the big things "The Secret" left out is massive action. You absolutely need to put in a ton of work to get what you want. Sorry to all the people who thought they could just sit back on the couch and think their wildest dreams into a reality, it just does not work like that. So how does it work? I'm glad you asked.

Let me geek out on you for a moment and talk about the science. For anyone out there who has heard of, or studies quantum physics you already know where I am going with this. For those who have never heard of quantum physics let me give you a very brief description. Quantum physics is a theoretical basis of modern physics that studies the nature and behavior of matter and energy at the atomic and subatomic level. Quantum theory goes a bit deeper and begins to look deeper into the subatomic level. Many believe matter to be made up of atoms which are then made up of protons, neutrons, and electrons. What quantum theory suggests is that the electron, which happens to be the smallest particle of which all matter is comprised, may not be physical matter at all. Electrons when observed sometimes exhibit wave-like behavior. In other words, sometimes electrons seem to be light, or energy, rather than physical matter. What this suggests in layman terms is that the stuff around us, the physical matter we see, the solid objects around us, may actually not be made up of solids at all, but rather made up of energy. Try wrapping your brain around that.

Now that we have this radical theory that the chair we are sitting in is not actually a solid object, we take it one step further into the field of the noetic sciences. For those of you who have no idea what I am talking about, in a nutshell, the noetic sciences study how thought, beliefs and intentions affect the physical world around us. The popular and controversial book The Intention Experiment authored by Lynne McTaggart goes in depth into several studies that were conducted to test the idea that our thoughts and beliefs can permeate outside our physical bodies. The book details several scientifically controlled studies that point in the direction of this notion indeed being true. I don't want to get into the details of the book, but if you have an interest I suggest you you check it out. Audiobook would be best, as the reading is rather dry. After reading my mind was blown. There is indeed evidence that our thoughts can affect the world around us, that we can communicate to each other through thought and feelings. It's truly remarkable and it connects directly to the quantum theory we just talked about. This light, or energy that makes up the world around us is seemingly interconnected and influenced by our thoughts and feelings.

One last scientific bit and I will make it very short. Your heart, and not your willpower or determination, I am referring to your actual heart, the thing pumping blood in your chest. It turns out your heart is the largest generator of electromagnetic fields in the body. I'm sure this is common knowledge for some, but if you have never studied the body, it is interesting to know that we are literally wired with electric circuits. Our entire brain and nervous system is a network of electrical impulses that send signals throughout your body. Your heart as it happens, produces the largest electrical pulse. It was once thought it was the brain, but through various scientific studies we have found that it is indeed the heart which emits a considerably larger electromagnetic pulse. More interestingly we can measure this pulse, and it seems to be affected greatly by our th...

I often ponder what exactly it means to be inspired and to live an inspired life. I listen to inspirational podcasts and motivational speakers almost daily, and I myself have started The Art of Inspiration podcast. It inspires me to hear from people who are also motivated, it keeps the fire that's inside me burning. Over time I have come to develop this picture of people who are constantly motivated, constantly fired up and always positive. So I try and mold myself after that picture and continually try to fire myself up on a consistent basis, then something happens. Something that completely drains the juice out of me. That something is Monday morning. Yes I will admit it, staying constantly motivated 100% of the time is nearly impossible. When I wake up on Monday morning I am almost always tired no matter how much sleep I have gotten, and waking up at 4:30am to get my day going is simply not appealing. I know I have an inbox full of emails that I don't want to read and a bunch of meetings that I surely don't want to sit through. I am just not a Monday kind of guy. What I find comfort in is that I am not alone. As I further study some of the worlds most elite performers from all different fields, the people who truly inspire me, I find that they too are not always fired up. So what does this mean? I've learned that it simply means your human. Being human means we are subject to emotions and staying in a constant state of motivation and bliss 24 hours a day, 365 days a year is nearly impossible. In fact I don't even think it would be that healthy. It's natural to get angry, it's natural to get sad sometimes, and it's completely unhealthy to suppress your emotions.

So now what? Now that we have shattered the image of people who are constantly geared up and ready to go, what do we do? It may be hard to picture your idol or someone you look up to getting angry, or lacking motivation. After all, when you look at social media for the most part you are bombarded with motivational quotes and photo-shopped pictures. You rarely ever see what goes on behind the scenes. You never see the bad days or the headaches. Just the good stuff. So what do you do? You breathe and relax, you realize that those people you look up to are just that, they are people. They are human beings just like us. They have bad days just as much as we do. I've learned it's perfectly alright to be human, and it's perfectly alright to have a bad day. What I have also learned is that you can't just wallow in your frustration or anger, you have to keep moving. You can't let a bad day derail all the hard work you put in, just like much everything else that comes your way, it will pass. So take notice of it, acknowledge your mood, or your anger, or your lack of motivation for whatever it is and keep moving. So how do I keep myself moving?

1. Ask Questions: When I have a bad day, or I miss my train ride home, or something goes bad at work I ask myself, "how can I use this?" How can I take this and use it to make me better
2. Keep Motivated: Listen to podcasts, read inspiring books. One of the best things you can do is just sit and visualize your goals, this will do two things; first it shifts your mind away from the things that are bothering you, and secondly, it will stoke your fire and inspire you to keep going.
3. Change of Physiology: Believe it or not, your physiology has a lot to do with how you feel. Just standing up tall and not slouching can improve your mood. Smiling whether artificial or from a joke has been shown in studies to increase your mood. Find what works for you. Throwing on headphones with my favorite playlist and going for a brisk walk has yet to fail me.
4. Frame It: Whatever difficulty you are going through is a result of your frame of mind. People can only suffer if they view what they are going through as bad. You can find good in just about anything, so find it and keep that your focus.
5. Gratitude: Stay grateful. Count the good things in your life, and go write them down. Writing things is so powerful. Remember that gratitude and negativity cannot occupy you mind at the same time.

Finally I just accept it. I accept that not everyday is going to be amazing, but never for one minute will I let it stop me from getting to where I want to be. I keep moving, rain or shine. I refuse to give up, I refuse to stop moving. I will not let anything get in my way. I will either get to where I want to be or I will die trying, and that is just the shear end of it. That's the attitude you have to take. Always get up when you fall, always treat obstacles as opportunities, and no matter what, always, always stay inspired.

-Raf

I have been away for some time. Life has been extremely busy in a great way. I have spent the last few month moving into a new beautiful home, planing an amazing wedding in the Caribbean and working towards a big promotion at my company. Now that the dust has settles, I have all of my boxes unpacked, I secured my big promotion, and I get to come home everyday to an amazing wife, I thought it would be a great time to touch on relationships.

Relationships are the cornerstones of success in just about any endeavor you pursue. Not just your romantic relationships, but also the relationships you have with colleagues, with friends and family, and most importantly the relationship you have with yourself. These all tie in very closely to becoming truly successful. If you have a weakness in any one of these areas, it will ultimately spill over into the other areas of your life.

Your place of work can be an office, underneath the hood of a car tuning an engine, behind a lawnmower landscaping, or in the cockpit of a jetliner. Whatever your profession, the relationships that you have with the people around you will ultimately determine to some extent how high you can climb. I work in Talent Acquisition in a very large company and have seen first hand how powerfully relationships can affect the trajectory of your career. Many times it's not always the most skilled person or the hardest worker who gets ahead, it's the one who has the best relationships, and has those relationships with the right people. I like to think I do my job extremely well, but I can tell you that no matter how good I am that I would not have been promoted if I did not have a good relationship with my boss and the people in my company who are ultimately my clients. The key part of the equation is figuring out who the key players are. Who has the most influence and how can I get in front of them. One of the best ways to build a great relationship with key decision makers is simply to become a problem solver. Each and every day high level people in large organizations are faced with problems that they rather not deal with. As an example in my function as a recruiter, I must find high level talent for a variety of functions. These candidates who are chosen to work at my company ultimately are tasked with managing our clients. If I don't find the talent, the client is not happy and the business losses revenue, not a good thing. What I have done to build relationships outside of the small circle I recruit for is quite simple but required a little extra work on my end. I frequently "drop by" offices of the CEO's and Presidents and introduce myself. I let them know I work in talent and that if they after have a problem with a hard to fill job I am there guy, regardless if it is my division or not. More often than not these stakeholders are more than happy to introduce me to one of their staffing challenges. At the end of the day, when my work is done, I start working on their problem and I go above and beyond the hours and workload that are required and expected of me. The end result? Anytime the CEO or President has a challenge, they request me. I have become a problem solver in my organization simply by stepping outside of of my normal responsibilities and going the extra mile. keep in mind that I just don't go around and do extra work for anyone, I pick the key players, the top guys. Having their attention is worth far more than the hours I have put in to help them. Over the course of of 4 years I have been promoted quickly through the ranks often ahead of my peers. Now when they see me they greet me by name with a smile, had I not mustered up the courage to "drop by" their offices, I d not think I would be in the position I am in right now. It may require extra work, it may require you to be more creative and think outside of the box, but I can assure you that if you identify the right people, build relationships with them and solve some of their problems, you will put yourself on the fast-track to your next promotion.

On the other hand, lets say you don't work in a big company, you own a small one. Who do you build a relationship with to get ahead? After all you are the CEO right? The answer to that is an unequivocal no! Your clients, they are the CEOs. Without them you have nothing. Whether you sell a product or a service, your business will ultimately be built on the relationships you have with your customers. So how do you build relationships with your customers and clients? You communicate with them. Every business owner should read Kevin Kelly's "1000 True Fans". It gives insight on how large of an impact having just 1000 true fans can have on your bottom line. So who are your true fans? These are the people who will buy any product or service you sell, read any article you write and travel miles to hear you speak. To build a true fan base you have to connect with your audience, whoever they may be. Take a look at you...

Take a moment if you will and think of all the things that would make you happy. In today's world most people would default to having more money. Aside from the financial aspect some people may simply want a better job, as in something they can actually enjoy. Some may want to travel the world while some strive to have better relationships in their lives. There is no right or wrong answer to this question, the idea is to simply become familiar with the things you want in life. The things you believe by obtaining would make you happy. From my perspective I feel there is nothing wrong with wanting any of these things. To some extent I feel we all desire these things. A better income, a job we enjoy, better relationships with family and friends. Who wouldn't want that? I will tell you as an absolute truth that you can have all of these things. You can have all of these things and more if you are willing to work for them.

What I am now going to tell you may go against conventional wisdom but if you take the time to understand this concept it could transform your view on life forever. This is the core philosophy that nothing outside of yourself can truly make you happy. Having more money and better relationships may make you feel content in the moment and give you a certain degree of pleasure but this is merely on the surface and true happiness is intrinsic. On the podcast I have mentioned on numerous occasions that the answer is always inside of you. I will continue to say this because it is an absolute truth! if you ask yourself the right questions you will always find your answer from within. The same goes for happiness because it is always inside you. You may be thinking, why would a motivational speaker be telling me that achieving my goals won't make me happy? The answer is because that motivational speaker is trying to deliver the message that you do not have to wait to have these things to be happy. In fact you do not need anything, all that is required is changing the lens which you choose view life through.

Have you ever experienced a moment of bliss? I have witnessed it in people in a multitude of different situations. Someone watching their team score the winning touchdown in the Superbowl, or someone excited for winning the main role in a Broadway play. There are many things in life that cause people to jump for joy. Things that move us so much that we forget everything, we forget about the bills we have to pay, or job we have that we don't like. We are in that moment and truly happy. That is the feeling and the truth about that feeling is that it can be taught. Yes you can literally train your brain to tap happiness on demand!

All too often I see people wallowing in their own misery because they are not where they want to be in life. Today especially as I feel we live in an age of entitlement where some feel that life owes them something. The truth is that we are wherever we are because of our actions and decisions, and if anything is truly owed then it it us who owe it to ourselves to go after the things we want. Nothing in life comes without hard work and discipline. Once you learn to take ownership of your life you should already start to feel better because you are no longer a victim of your circumstances. You are the architect of your dreams. So now that we understand this principle, how exactly do we find happiness within? I am glad you asked!

• Gratitude- Learn to develop it! I personally start my day with a journal and the first thing I write is a minimum of three things I am grateful for. I follow this with a meditation in which I continue to give thanks for the things in my life. Going through a tough time in my life has helped me truly be grateful for everything I have. Just waking up is a blessing. Gratitude and negativity can not both occupy your mind at the same time. Learn to focus your lens on the positive things in life. Even setbacks can have a positive message in them. Be grateful!
• Stay Inspired- listen to motivational podcasts, read motivational stories or quotes. find that thing that takes you out of a slump, for some it could be music or the thought of a loved one, remembering a triumphant event. The key is to find that thing whenever the negative thoughts start to creep in. Always go back to it. The more you do it, the more it will become second nature.
• Get Moving- Go exercise, go for a walk, jog or any other form of movement. One can not remain positive if their energy is stagnant. This is why one of the keys to success is staying healthy. A healthy body breeds a healthy mind. Learn to incorporate some form of exercise and take steps to ensure that you keep a healthy diet.
• Set Goals- It is no mistake that truly successful people are goal driven. You must have a plan to get to where you want to go. Think 10 years, then 5, the 1, then a month, a week, ...

How does one prepare themselves for a journey they have never been on before?

You see when you are looking to improve yourself in any facet of your life, you are essentially embarking on a new journey. You are trying to become a person that you have never been before and do something you have never done. This could be building a business that you always dreamed of, it could be becoming a better life partner, becoming less stressed and more present or making improvements to your health.

As a motivational speaker and coach, I am a big proponent of taking action, but I also am a big believer that if you are going to do anything in your life, you need to prepare. You wouldn't go white-water rafting without an oar to steer you through the water and you sure wouldn't go skydiving without a parachute. You would make sure you packed the proper gear before you took off or else you will end up going wherever the wind takes you.

The same is true in life, so many of us have lofty goals, yet many never take action on them. Often the ones that do, fail to take the proper measures to prepare themselves for the journey they are about to take. That's why for years now my motto has been Mind, Body, Business. I created the Mind, Body, Business video series as a complement to the Art of Inspiration podcast. One designed to be a catalyst for action, the other designed as a tool to pack in your suitcase or backpack so that you will be prepared for the journey.

So back to my original question, how does one prepare for any journey they are looking to embark on?

1) MIND

Let's start with the mind. The mind is neuroplastic, it craves new information, it loves to learn new things, so feed it. The world is flooded with new information every single day, no matter what you want to do I am more than sure that there is a wealth of information out there on the subject of your choice. Become an expert, know the ins and outs. You just don't want to do something, you want to do it well.

Learn to focus, if you are looking to do something to the best of your ability, you need to be able to hone in on it with laser-sharp focus. An expert marksman can hit a target at 1400 yards dead center because they have extreme focus. If you want to hit your mark, find some way to focus. I use meditation, but it can be whatever you want it to be. Try new things and learn what works best for you.

Your mind is now should be filled with new information and focused, ready to go. Now that your mind is ready, it is time to build your mindset! To go out and win, you need a winning mindset. If the thing that you want in your life is significant enough, it most likely will be difficult to obtain by some degree. The first step is coming to terms that it won't be easy, but also understanding that if there is anything in this life you truly want, and you dedicate your time and focus to it, you can have. You may stumble and fall once or twice, but remember, it's not that a winner never falls, its that they refuse to stay down when life throws a challenge at them.

2) BODY

Next is your body. So many people overlook this aspect because so many fail to believe that having a strong body has anything to do with accomplishing a goal. I can't stress the importance of this enough, if you are unhealthy and lack the energy to power through a day, you will most certainly also lack motivation, focus and most of all, you will lack the winning mindset. This does not mean that you need to become a world-class athlete. What is does mean, however, is that you need some degree of vitality in your life. You gain vitality by eating right, regular exercise and rest. Break one of these links on the chain and the whole fence falls down. Never underestimate how important your body is on the mission. It is the vessel that will carry you to where you want to go, so treat it as such.

3) BUSINESS/GOALS

When it comes to your goals, your business or anything you want to attain, you must first become very clear on what you want, more importantly, you need to have a clear understanding of why you want it. Write these two things down, your specific goal and the reason it is important to you. You see you simply can't plan to drive somewhere if you don't know exactly where that place is, you need to know exactly where you are going. So many people forget to connect the importance of a goal to the act of attaining it, and that's why so many people never get up after they fall, and believe me if your dream is big enough you will fall. But when you remember the importance of the goal, that becomes your why. And when your why is strong enough, it will pick you up and lift you over any barrier. A person's why can become their greatest asset, make sure to remember yours on the journey.

These concepts my friend, are equipment for you to put i...