Defiants

Trouble-makers. Rebellious and unconventional. Fighting to stay outside of the box. Going against the grain. Swimming upstream. Marching to the beat of their own drum.

These are the people that are crazy enough to know, without a doubt, that they can produce a platinum record or a bestselling book. The ones who believe that can be a starting quarterback in the NFL or the best shortstop in all of MLB. They are the people who have the strength to drown out all of the negative thoughts around them. They don’t believe in limitations and they always maintain forward progress. They are the people that breathe life into everyone around them. They are the catalysts for change. They inspire people to live more.

Life is meant to be lived. Growth is a necessity. If you are not aspiring to do great things, change it. You’ll never feel more alive, more motivated, or more excited than when you are chasing down something exciting. Don’t just go through the motions in life. There are way too many people that do that. They let their internal fire burn out. They lose the light in their eyes. Life becomes something to endure, not something to conquer. Conquer your daily habits. Give yourself time to work on your dream every day. Start with the small and you will become the big. Never believe anyone who says you can’t be big. Prove them wrong. Wake up every day believing you are the greatest. Everything starts in your mind. Your mind can be on your side or it can be your biggest opponent. Challenge your mind to grow.

Being big is a mindset. Reality begins internally – with your mind. You must work to think bigger. Every day. The world will attempt to limit your thinking. Don’t allow it to. Allow nothing but positivity, abundance and opportunity into your mind. Let everything else go in one ear and out the other. If you recognize negativity, you welcome more of it in your life. If you deny it access, it will go away. You attract that which you think about. If you work hard to plant the right seeds, you will gain conscious control of your thoughts. Your actions will closely follow.

Fight the negativity in the world. You are bigger than it. You are too big to concern yourself with it. Fight for control of your mind. Fight to change your daily habits and most importantly, fight to get a little bit better each day. Picture yourself with your hands in the air, in total victory of your life. Never let go of that image. It will propel you through the tough days. You will get up when you get knocked down. You will fight until you win.

21st Century Slavery - Breaking the Chains

Call me a trouble-maker. Call me a non-conformist. Call me an entrepreneur. Call me right, or call me wrong. Just don’t call me accepting of the arbitrary definition and schedule of work.

I think many people misinterpret the difference between work and adding value. The definition of work should be “Creating and adding value to somebody, somewhere”. Why does this have to be confined to such a rigid and miserable 9-5 schedule? Why does it have to be the bane of most people’s existence? Why can’t work become more a fluid concept integrating all of our passions – personal and professional? The answer is that it can. But will it? Well, it already is by a lot of people. Some people are too mentally lazy to really “work” to figure out what their passions are. Some people are afraid to take a risk – unsure if they can recover from an apparent failure. Is it not riskier to guarantee that your whole life will be miserable by doing something you hate for the most energized hours of your week and the most energized years of your life?

I am taking a stand today. I am saying that work is no longer a place you go. Or something that you hate doing every Monday morning. Or something that you can’t wait to end every Friday afternoon so that you can speed home and crack open a beer. To live in a constant state of wishing and waiting; wishing it was the weekend and waiting impatiently for it. If we can change the way we think about work, we can change this lifestyle – we can break the chains. If we just think of ways to add value, via a service or a new product, we can be a happier society. There are so many opportunities to distill and analyze information today. It is the best time EVER to become self-employed, to become an entrepreneur and even to just work remotely. You can become an expert in a lot of things from the comfort of your living room. You can share your unique perspectives and add tons of value to the marketplace.

Work doesn’t have to be a place you go. It especially does not have to be a place you hate. It can be an outlet for you to help people. This will create a deeper connection between you and your work. It will mean more to you. It will be more alive. You will be more productive because you enjoy it.

Instead of asking yourself “how do I find a job?” Ask yourself, “How do I take the things I know and love and share my perspective (value) with more people?” People are begging for fresh new perspectives and ideas. The opportunities are endless. Just because there are a certain number of jobs, doesn’t mean that can’t be changed. There are an infinite number of opportunities. There are so many jobs that are waiting to be created – why not by you? If you can’t find a job – create one. Create value and share it. Change your perspective, change your life. Work from a beach chair in Puerto Rico. The world can be this and if you believe it, it will be.

Don’t Stop Short like Frank Costanza

Today I found myself in an intense group fitness workout (total understatement). It was a HIIT (high intensity interval training) class that lasts 60 miserable minutes. It’s called “Chisel” for a reason. I hate it. It is taught by none other, than my mother. She is mean. I don’t like her a whole lot during those 60 minutes. But I see nothing but results from the 2 hours of hell she puts me through each week.

There are so many times during that workout that my mind tells me to quit. It tells me not to do all 10 burpees, to just do 8 or 9. That’s plenty, right? Probably. But what’s the real goal? To do “enough” or to do whatever it takes to get better? My mind is screaming at me to not go very deep on my squats or to not jump very high on our squat-reaches. It would be easy to do that. Everyone would understand. But I would only be cheating myself. Stopping short on the little things gives you the ability to stop short on the big things in life. To workout 3 days a week instead of 4. Then 2 instead of 3. This becomes a theme in your life. You always give yourself permission to not quite finish what you started. When I set the timer to write for an hour, the last 5 minutes are always the hardest to stay in the chair. I want to get up and leave so bad, but that would be “stopping short”. No one would even know, except me. That’s not the type of person I am striving to be.

I find the mental growth that occurs from a tough workout, much more rewarding than the physical gains. It is always a constant battle between you and your mind. Your mind always wants you to take the easy way out. It’s human nature - procrastination and laziness are hard-wired into our brains. You have to work every day to develop a mental toughness that will not allow to quit. That will not allow you to stop short of finishing something that you started.

We can constantly develop our mental toughness through repeated practice. Listen hard to what your mind is telling you during a workout. Most of the time it is saying “stop”, “you’re in too much pain”, or “you have done enough to this point”. All of this negative self-talk can be overcome if you choose to ignore it and fight through it. You will emerge stronger if you just tell yourself things like “yes I can” and “I won’t quit now”. Your mind always wants to give out before your body. Remember that. You can always push yourself a little bit harder. That’s what I love about sports. Your mind is the command-center for your body. You can control your thoughts. You can always dig a little deeper, get a little stronger, run a little harder, write a little longer, and be a little better.

I have only had my body give out 2 or 3 times and you know what? I was fine. Nothing bad happened. I just found out where my current limitations were. I reached it once on a timed 300-yard shuttle as a college freshman in a baseball workout. This is basically the worst run you can imagine. It is 5 consecutive 60-yard dashes with no break between. You accelerate, then decelerate, change directions and repeat way too many times. The last leg is the worst. As soon as you plant and touch the line with the last 60 yards to go, your legs feel like Jello. You still have 60 yards to sprint and your whole body is screaming at you to stop. So at 6:00am one morning in the gym at my college, the first time I ever ran this timed race, I stepped up to the line. The whistle blew and I took off. As hard as I could. This run was different for me than anyone else. I started stumbling with about 20 yards to go and wasn’t sure if I was going to make it to the finish line. I ended up face-planted just past the finish line. I am not exaggerating when I say that my face actually hit the ground when I was running at full speed. My legs had collapsed on me. Physically, I had given that race my all. Everything I had in the tank. I posted the best time on the team. Prior to the run, the older guys on the team had told me to “make sure you save some energy. If you go all-out you won’t be able to finish.” I wanted to disprove their advice. I told them I wasn’t going to save anything. If I collapsed before the finish line, I would know my limit. I barely made it, but it made me realize that as painful as that experience was, I finished. I tested my body to the absolute limit. More importantly I defeated my mind telling me to slow down a bit the whole run. The next time we ran the timed 300-yard shuttle, I gave it my all again, the sole of my shoe actually tore off on the last leg, I didn’t collapse and I had shaved over 2 full seconds off of my previous time. I had broken through another personal barrier of mine.

You always have a little more in the tank than you think. Your mind will limit your physical and mental capacity if you allow it to. You can always find the energy to push a little harder; either that, or you will collapse in victory knowing that you gave it your all. You will be stronger the next time. You will break through a barrier. Breaking a physical barrier for yourself and creating another opportunity raises the ceiling for yourself. The same is true in everything we do in life. We can push ourselves to new levels and we will never be able to return to our original state. You really know how far you go until you push the envelope. There is greatness in all of us. There is so much untapped potential that most of us never realize, because we never get past the mental barriers. We never get past the little voice in our head telling us that we “should stop.” We never really allow our face to hit the ground in total exhaustion. Let’s test ourselves. Let’s find where our real limits are. I guarantee they will surprise you.

What mental barriers do you have that are getting in your way at the moment? Are they weight-loss limitations? Are they business related? Whatever they are, how can we knock the door down and get you to the other side? What more can you do to prevent yourself from stopping short of your own personal greatness?

One More Year

I am 28 minutes from turning 27 years old. I am incredibly thankful for the past year. I have grown a lot in the past 365 days. I have had a lot of down moments and have had a lot of successes. I have gotten knocked down and have picked myself up several times. I have met some incredible new people and read several phenomenal books. I have become a truer version of Matt Harris. I have taken huge steps in the direction of my dreams. My vision has become clearer. I have grown physically, intellectually, emotionally and mentally. 27 is my blow up year. It’s where all of the work I quietly do in silence will be manifested in the results.

You only have 365 days in a year. 104 of those are weekend days. If you aren’t working on your dreams on the weekends you are sacrificing 28.5% of your week, every week. I am not saying that you should be working 12 hours per day. I think that is dumb. You can leverage the 4-hour workweek principles and still maintain the positive forward momentum through creating activities that prevent you from voluntarily giving up your momentum. Even if it is as simple as reading a vision statement, or writing for 15 minutes. Anything you have to do to keep your brain immersed in your large vision. Keep yourself taking steps, even if they are baby steps, forward. In the direction of your dream-world.

This year I am asking myself one question: Why not me?

I have everything. I believe in myself. I understand the importance of big visions and small actions. I know how to implement and I know how to sell. I know about finance, networking, problem-solving and I have incredible people skills. There is literally nothing that can stop me except myself. I will not allow myself to get in my own way this year. I am a pot of water at 211 degrees right now. I have to keep applying the heat which will make that water start boiling this year. I am committed to my writing and committed to reading my vision statement. There is nothing that is going to stop me from doing that every single day. A bestselling book will come out of that activity. The proof is in the belief and the execution. My plan literally could not get any simpler. I have 2 daily activities that I do no matter what. The rest of my week is “extras”. I am not focusing on or trying to control outcomes. I am focusing on the process and letting the faith drive the results. Letting the world of the infinite handle the rest. All I can do is put the rubber to the road.

Today is a day to give thanks for the past year. 365 days that have made me stronger, more focused, and more relentless, with a much clearer vision. I am incredibly thankful for the opportunities I have had to develop myself. To regain strength when I felt like I couldn’t. I am thankful for all of the tough days that made me stronger. The people that have always believed in me and have helped push me towards bigger and better things, knowing that I have the capability.

Nothing is better than being field tested for 365 days and then having the opportunity to reflect and be thankful. To see all the positives and growth that have occurred this year and every subsequent year. It is a post-game and a pre-game all rolled into one. Reflecting on the prior year and preparing for the upcoming year. I’ll take any opportunity I can to focus on the next 12 months coming up and really reflect on what went well each year. You can have the worst year of your life and your perspective on it can make the world of difference. If you fight to see the positives, things will start to turn your way. If you see every setback as an opportunity to learn and get better, failures and setbacks will stop existing in your world. You will see the world as it is; as a fruitful place with an infinite number of opportunities. If you can’t see this, none of that abundance will ever be yours. Every year on your birthday, reflect on all that you are thankful for. We all have so much to be thankful for and so many people, to thank. This is my way of saying thank you to everyone for their support over the past year. If you are reading this, you are one of them. Keep fighting for your dreams and keep being thankful for what you already have. Here is to you, and I, having our BEST YEAR EVER!