Unbeatable.

Love him or (most likely) hate him, Floyd “Money” Mayweather has proved yet again that he is unbeatable. 48-0. He is one win shy of tying Rocky Marciano’s record of 49-0. Floyd intends to tie the record in September and then retire as one of the greatest pound-for-pound boxers of all time. He is very clear about this goal. I have no doubt that he will accomplish it.  

Mayweather started his professional career as “Pretty Boy Floyd” and was just a shadow in the background of Oscar De La Hoya’s spotlight. Mayweather was winning fights but he was not nearly as famous as he is now. He was not accomplishing the goals that he set out to. His goals were very clear – he wanted to be the best fighter he could be and the first “9-figure fighter” AKA he wanted to be the first fighter to make over $100 million dollars in a single night.

I have never been a huge fan of Mayweather. Or so I thought. I was adamantly rooting for Pacquiao last night. I was hoping somebody would finally shut him up.

There was no question of the outcome. It was very clear that Mayweather won the fight last night. He dominated. For anyone who follows boxing to at least some degree, Mayweather landed tons more punches and hardly got hit at all by Pacquiao. He completely controlled the fight. He controlled the ring.

This fight, just like all fights, was won outside of the ring. It is won in practice and preparation, both physically and mentally. This is why I have a newfound respect for Mayweather.

Mayweather wins his fights long before setting foot in the ring. His greatness is in his mentality. He does not just believe he is going to win. He knows it. He has absolutely no doubt. This does not mean that he relies entirely on his mind. He definitely trains his ass off, but the mental game is what makes him unbeatable. In boxing and in business

Boxing ability aside, Mayweather definitely understands the “money” side of boxing and there is absolutely no denying that he is one of the absolute best promoters EVER. Period. Nobody has accomplished what he has OUTSIDE of the ring, much less inside of it.

Mayweather made close to $180 Million dollars last night. This was not by accident. His formation of his company, “Mayweather Promotions” is all about “money”. It is very clear. Look at his nickname. This has been his master-plan all along. He knew he needed to break free from De La Hoya’s brand and create one for himself. So he did.

Mayweather recognizes the business of boxing and pointed out last night that he is an “entertainer” and everything he does is to “to sell tickets”. He sees the big picture. He knows that boxing is entertainment and the whole goal is to sell more tickets.

Mayweather knows how to make money. He knows what people want and what they are willing to pay for. That in itself is amazing from a business perspective but to ALSO be able to go out and be the performer, is even more incredible.

Mayweather’s legacy is a lesson for all of us. He has 2 goals that he is 100% committed to accomplishing and you can tell that nothing in the world is going to stop him. The first one is to be the best pound-for-pound boxer of all time. His record pretty well speaks for itself in this regard. His second goal, to be the first boxer to make 9-figures in a night was already accomplished. What else does he have accomplish?

You can call him whatever you want. You can hate the idiotic things he says on camera. You can call him cocky, arrogant and conceited. All of those might be true, but the one thing you cannot call him is “beatable”.

Hi, my name is.....(Chicka Chicka) Slim Shady

Hi kids, do you like violence? 

He is controversial and certainly not afraid to speak his mind. He is also one of my greatest inspirations and one of the most profound writers of all-time. Some of the greatest lessons on success and picking yourself up when you fall, come from the lyrical genius, Eminem….or as he calls himself….Chicka Chicka Slim Shady. Here are a few of my favorites:

I will not fall,

I will stand tall,

Feels like no one can beat me.

Eminem recognizes that power of confidence. The power of self-belief and recognizing the success that lies deep within you. Even if things are not going your way, stand tall and do not give any energy to the potential competitors.

Look, if you had one shot, or one opportunity

To seize everything you ever wanted. One moment

Would you capture it or just let it slip?

You must have an opportunistic mindset. You must look for opportunities and be ready to take action when they present themselves. Often times, opportunities are disguised as catastrophic failures and setbacks.

I’ve been chewed up and spit out and booed off stage

But I kept rhyming and stepped right into the next cypher

Best believe somebody’s paying the pied piper

Everyone fails. Everyone gets beat once in a while. You can give up or you can stay focused on the things that are in your control. Keep paying "the pied-piper" and stay productive. Work your way out of a slump. Keep facing your challenges head on.

You can do anything you set your mind to, man

Simply put, recognize the power of your mind. Recognize the power of transmuting your dreams into reality. They are dreams for a reason. They have deeply rooted reasoning and emotional connections that are imbedded internally.

I’m a man, I’ma make a new plan

Time for me to just stand up, and travel new land

Time for me to just take matters into my own hands

Once I’m over these tracks man I’ma never look back

When things do not work out the way you expected do no sit and sulk. Get back to work. Make new plans and keep moving forward with total relentlessness.

I got every ingredient, all I need is the courage

Like I already got the beat, all I need is the words

This is the best lesson of all. Wherever you are at, you have everything you need to be all that you want. There is no need to wait for better circumstances. They will never come. The time is now. Courageously face the world and fearlessly go after your dreams.  

Thank You - For My Life

Imagine living in a society where a small group of men, call them “The Societal Board”, determines what is best for you and everybody else. The Board determines what time you wake up and what time you go to bed. The Board assign you a “job”, not based on your skills or enjoyment, but based on societal necessity. You work long hours out of duty to your fellow societal members and are not allowed any breaks. If you are good at your job, you are not allowed to advance. Advancement is putting yourself above the other members of society, which is not allowed. You are not paid for your efforts because you have no decision-making capability anyway. Your work is your service to your country. It is your duty. Your ultimate goal is to sacrifice your wants, desires, and ambitions, to somebody else. It does not matter who the faceless person is that you are sacrificing to – that person’s life has a higher societal value than yours. Anything that you do for yourself is selfish and therefore, evil.

Food is rationed to provide the bare minimum for everybody’s subsistence. Anything more than this would be selfish. If your child is deathly ill and needs a rare medicine, it is more virtuous for you to give that medicine to another child, even if you were holding the medicine in your hand. You must put other’s first. The entire society is built on this principle. Anything you do for yourself is bad. Anything you do for others is good. Regardless of the outcome.

Our freedom protects us from the society above. Freedom is the protection of our individual rights. We are not pieces on a chess board being controlled by a group, or Board, with our best interests being determined by somebody else. We are all free to make our own choices. We are free to pursue our own happiness and be the person that we want to be. We are free to live. We are free to the ownership of our own life. Not all societies are granted this right. Today is a day to honor that.

Veteran’s Day is a day to honor all of the brave men and women, who put their own life on the line, to ensure that we all maintain ownership of ours. Our free society would not exist without the people who defend it – militarily and intellectually. My largest and most emphatic “Thank You” goes out to everybody who has served, or is serving in the military right now. You are not only defending the greatest country on earth, but you are defending the greatest idea ever conceived. I also send out another huge “Thank You” to anyone who has ever stood up to intellectually defend the smallest minority on earth – the individual.

Intentional Prosperity

The true reality is that there are no limitations in this world aside from the ones that we create for ourselves. We have unlimited potential – only limited by our vision. If we can focus on the 3 simple principles of: Being Intentional, Focusing on Desires, and Visualizing Success, we can truly have anything we want in this world.

Principle #1: Being Intentional

“Begin each day as if it were on purpose.” – Will Smith in “Hitch”

When you set out to sea you have a destination in mind. You are being intentional. You have a single focus, or goal, and that is to make it to your destination safely. You study maps, weather patterns and the mechanical components of your ship, because they all play a vital role in helping you accomplish your goal. When things happen, that are out of your control, you make adjustments. You alter your plans. Storms, rough patches of sea and even mechanical failures do not stop you from reaching your destination, they are only impedances. You find another route and another way to keep moving forward.

Life is the same. We do not have to know HOW we are going to accomplish something. Our main focus needs to be determining what we really want and then taking action – or being intentional. When we have large goals that we are chasing, we find ways to continuously make progress towards the fulfillment of those goals. Our internal compass, or our daily actions, are a function of the goals that we are chasing. We make decisions based on what is most important in our life. When we are intentional about how we live, we create favorable circumstances for ourselves. We do not wait for things to come to us, we go out and get them.

Principle #2: Focusing on Desires

“I was once asked why I don't participate in anti-war demonstrations. I said that I will never do that, but as soon as you have a pro-peace rally, I'll be there.” – Mother Teresa

Mother Teresa understood one of the most powerful concepts on earth. She recognized that being “anti-war”, instead of “pro-peace”, was only giving attention to something she did not support – war. The same is true with health, wealth and prosperity. You must only give attention to the things that you want in life. You must work hard every day to develop a relentless focus on abundance, positivity and success. Only then will you welcome more of it into your own life.

You have nothing to gain by thinking of, or even recognizing limitations, poverty or struggle. Those will only take energy away from your positive thoughts. Keep your mind fixated on all that you want and forget that which you do not want. Do not give any attention to negativity. Like the lesson we learned from Mother Teresa, don’t be anti-failure, be pro-success!

Principle #3: Visualizing Success

“The Vision that you glorify in your mind, the Ideal that you enthrone in your heart – this you will build your life by, this you will become.” – James Allen

Visualization, like gravity, is a law of nature. It is often referred to as The Law of Attraction, which is simply: likes attract likes. This means that the things that we spend our time thinking about, and picturing, will be attracted to us. If we visualize ourselves doing great things, we will attract greatness. If we are constantly worried about bad things happening to us, we will attract bad things.

The Law of Attraction can be used to attract anything in the world. Use it to your advantage. Rather than allowing outside influences to dictate your life, choose what you want and dedicate time to visualizing it each day. You have total control over what you visualize, therefore, you have total control over your life and your success.  

By simply visualizing the things we want, staying focused on the positive outcomes and approaching each day with intention, the world is ours. There is nothing that is out of our reach. Stay focused on the things that you can control and go show the world your greatness. Each and every day.

(This blog was originally posted on AboutBoulder.com on the 29th of September 2014 in my column, "Matt's Motivational Mondays".)

Doing More By Doing Less

Have you ever ran into an old friend and asked how they were, only to hear the typical response, “I’ve been so busy”? Why is everyone so busy? Why does it always seem like there is not enough time in the day to finish everything we have on our plate?

The answer is simple. We do not prioritize well and we have no idea how to say, “No.” Any time someone asks us to do something we say yes. We don’t analyze how important each individual thing we do actual is. Most of us schedule our day based on other people’s priorities for us – not our own. Most of us do not proactively plan our day, we react to it. This creates stress, multi-tasking (which is not at all effective) and a constant feeling of overwhelm. So what is the cure to this ugly disease of busyness? Saying “No” to things that are not a top priority and doing less – consciously.

This goes against the programming of most of our brains, but we must identify our priorities for the following day by asking ourselves one simple question, “If I can only accomplish 2-3 things tomorrow, what are the most important?” Write them in order of importance. Multi-tasking must be abolished because it does not work. 100% of your energy needs to be focused on the first task on your list the second you get to work. Only when you finish that can you move on to task #2, and so on.

Nothing should detract your focus from accomplishing the 2-3 tasks on your list. Nothing should interrupt your focus. Checking email can wait. Your phone should be unplugged. Your email notifications should be shut off (permanently).

The only way to really be productive is to laser-focus your efforts on pre-determined tasks. This way you are dictating your day and you are ensuring that the most important tasks get accomplished. You are not allowing someone else’s email to dictate your schedule for the day. You are in command.

Becoming task-oriented, rather than time-oriented, ensures that you accomplish measurable items. An 8 hour day can easily pass without any clear accomplishments being fulfilled. When tasks are outlined, it forces you to carefully think of what is actually important, versus what seems to be important.

Once you have become task-oriented, you become better at telling people “No”. You become better at focusing on higher-margin activities and projects. You understand that most “work” is busy-work that really doesn’t contribute to the bottom-line. You start to see the bigger picture and create massive results without working harder. You become strategic. Like Abraham Lincoln used to say, “If I had 8 hours to chop down a tree, I would spend the first 4 sharpening my axe.”

Start sharpening your axe and taking control of your day. Watch your stress levels decrease and your meaningful results go through the roof. Keep your to-do list to 2-3 items. Any more than that will be defeating the purpose. Share your results with everybody below in the comments. I have seen huge results from these minor modification and am positive, you will too.

The Law of Large Thoughts

“No matter how large the picture that you hold in mind, make it larger. The reason why so many people come to the point where they stop is that they come to a point where they stop growing in their own minds. They come to a point where they can see no more, thinking that because they have really done a big thing they should stop there. We must watch our thought for signs of inactivity. Nothing in the universe ever stops. Everything is built on a boundless basis, drawn from a limitless source, come forth from an Infinite sea of unmanifest life. We speak forth into this life and draw back from it all that we first think into it. Life is always limitless, and the only thing that limits us is our inability to conceive mentally, and we should draw more and more from that limitless source.” – Ernest Holmes

Take a long hard look at your goals. What are they? Write them down. Now take a look at those goals and ask yourself, “Why are they not bigger?”

We all do this. We set goals that seem realistic based on societal norms but we are only limiting ourselves. You can only grow as much as your mental image will permit. Think about that. You will never grow beyond that which can conceive in your mind. If you don’t picture yourself walking around in that perfectly in-shape body, you never will. If you don’t picture yourself driving a Lamborghini, guess what? You never will.

Progress stops wherever vision does. Anytime you are reaching a plateau, whether it is related to your personal or professional life, it can be broken through internally – by working to develop a bigger and stronger vision.

Take a second today to think of one goal that would absolutely scare you to death. Something that would bring you great joy but that you think is not possible in your life at this time. Now get an (erasable) marker and write it on your bathroom mirror. Read it out loud every morning and night and work to connect with it emotionally. Do this until you are sick of doing it and watch the transformation start to take place. You will start to develop belief in this “crazy” goal and you will start to accomplish it.

The mind is the most powerful faculty we have access to. We can leverage it to get whatever we want. Your wish is your mind’s command. Think bigger and keep fighting to not set limitations for yourself.

Greatness Bowing to Greatness

If anyone saw last night’s Thursday Night Football game, they are probably aware that Devin Hester broke Deion Sander’s “returned touchdowns” record. He surpassed Deion, aka PrimeTime with his 20^th touchdown on a 62-yard punt return. Records were made to broken, right?

If you have ever watched Deion Sanders play the game of football, he is an absolute bad-ass. He was one of the cockiest players in the league and took the first punt return he ever touched, to the house. He was more commonly known as PrimeTime for his performances under the lights on “PrimeTime” television. He played professional baseball AND professional football. He was absolutely one of the greatest cornerbacks and football players of all-time. He previously held the record with 19 returned touchdowns…..before Devin Hester came along.

Deion said, several years ago, that Devin Hester was the best return man of “all-time”. He said he was even better than himself in his “prime”… (pun intended) He recognized the potential of Devin Hester and was committed to mentoring this young kid to the top at the beginning of his career. He sure did a hell of a job.

There is nobody that could refute the greatness of Deion Sanders as a football player. He was absolutely electric to watch. So what really makes him so great?

What makes him so great, is that he was rooting for Devin Hester to break his record. A lot of players would congratulate someone who broke their record, secretly hoping that they would fail. Not Deion. Devin Hester told Deion in an interview last night that he really appreciated all of the encouraging texts that he received before football games over the last few years. Deion was constantly encouraging Devin to go out, do great things, and break his own record. That is true greatness. That is a man who is a true leader in this world. A man who roots for advancement and progress. A man who roots for someone better to come along. It doesn’t take away from the greatness of Deion Sanders – it adds to it.

Deion Sanders just proved to the world his greatness – again, and in a different capacity. I have always been a huge fan of Deion as a football player and I just became an even bigger fan of Deion Sanders – the man. The ultimate success in life is in mentoring and coaching people to become better than yourself. Rooting FOR people to break your records. That’s advancement. That’s progress. That is life.

My hat goes off to Deion Sanders. All the greatness in the world should bow to his greatness, just as he did to Devin Hester. Deion Sanders – you are the greatest of all-time. Thank you for your inspiration, self-esteem and for leading the world by example.