Knowledge For Men

David Waknine is a former professional boxer who reached the Golden Gloves tournament under the training of his mentor Eddie Tyler. After losing the Golden Gloves competition, David turned his back on boxing and set down a road of unhealthy lifestyle choices that resulted in obesity and depression.

In 2011, Eddie Tyler passed away after a battle with cancer, and the loss caused David to do some serious soul searching. David has decided to reenter the ring, and is now training and making a documentary of his journey back into boxing called “One More Round.”

“Say what you mean, and mean what you say.”

1. Integrity Above All

It is often all too easy to become complacent with your word. More often than not, there is no malicious intent, we simply do not follow through with what we say. We say we will meet someone at 5, and show up at 5:15. We say we will lose 20 lbs. in the new year, but quit the gym after the first week.

We promise our family a vacation or weekend trip, but get caught up in work and go back on our promise. If you say you will do something, you do it, period. A man is only as good as his word, ensure that yours is impeccable.

2. Accept Your Demons

We all have demons. For some men it’s alcohol, for some it’s adult content, and for others it’s a traumatic childhood event we never truly overcame. No matter who we are, we all have those deep dark struggles that we are scared to bring into the light for fear of what it would do.

Whatever your particular demons, we must be men enough to accept and defeat them. If we don’t, we are at the mercy of the things which we hate most in our lives. Face your fears and conquer them courageously.

3. You Will Face Dark Days on Any Journey, You Must Learn to Face Them with Pride

No one in history lived a life without trials. Everyone will face both internal and external struggles during our time on earth, and it is the character that we show during these struggles that will define us as men. In every challenging and dark day we face, we have a choice.

The choice to accept things as they are and face them no matter the cost, or the choice to cower in fear, and let circumstances dictate our lives. It is the choices you make during the darkest of times that you will be remembered for.

4. Take the First Step, the Rest Will Follow

As the old saying goes “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” In life, we all have dreams and desires that often seem out of reach. The career path we wish we could have, the relationships we want, the lifestyle of freedom.

Instead of taking action to achieve our goals, we allow our fear to paralyze us from making that first step, the hardest step. However, once we take the first step, the rest are easy.By taking the first step and following it with small consistent action, we begin to hardwire ourselves for success.

Once we talk to that first beautiful woman, the others are easy. Once we make our first dollar online, the next hundred comes naturally. Once we go on that first adventure, the others all fall into place. If we want to live lives of excellence, lives worth writing about, then we must take that first step no matter how scared we may be.

As a young man, Dan Peña turned less than $1,000 investment into nearly half a billion. This lead him to create what is now the Quantum Leap Advantage. Dan Peña is the world's leading high-performance coach, having created over $50 billion in equity through his coaching. He is also the author of the book "Your First $100 Million." Dan now runs high-performance seminars at his castle in Scotland.

"Just freaking do it." – Dan Peña

1. Stop thinking and pull the trigger.

We live in an age of abundant information. With the click of a button, one can download the ideas and thoughts of millions of individuals straight to their computer. Any issue you face can be solved by a quick Google search, and any history test can be aced with a glance at wikipedia.

However, this information has come at a cost. Now more than ever, individuals are in states of permanent planning, the gung-ho, ready, fire, aim mentality of past generations has vanished, replaced instead by an attitude of sparse action taken only after extensive research.

To achieve success, we must realize that experience is the best teacher of all, we must feel the fear of failure and take action anyways. No more sitting and waiting to have all the information, to have the perfect plan laid out. You must take action now!

2. You are the average of the 5 people with whom you spend the most time.

"Show me your friends and I will show you your future." The words of John Kubleur ring true now more than ever, you cannot be a high achiever while associating with low performers. It is key that you seek out high quality relationships to fill your life with people who will push you, convict you, and challenge you to rise above mediocrity.

If you cannot find people in your area, then, as Charlie Munger put it, "make friends with the eminent dead." Read classic works, fill your brain with the words of the wisest individuals past and present, because who you associate with will be the key to your future.

3. Schooling and money is not necessary for success.

The lack of a college degree is no excuse for poor performance. Some of the greatest businessmen and talents of our time deferred college in favor of pursuing their goals. You must realize that the keys to success are never external, but internal.

You can have every degree and accolade in the world, but without passion, without fire for what you are doing, you will never be a success. It is far better to be a high-school dropout willing to work 20 hour days to accomplish his dreams, than a Harvard graduate dreading every task before him.

4. Mentors Are Essential.

Mentors are the force multiplier on your path to success, they can direct you to where you want to go, and help you avoid the missteps that are so commonly made. When searching for a mentor, you must realize that it is there time, not their money that is the most valuable asset they have to offer.

You must also realize that you bring very little to the table for high caliber mentors that they do not already have, so you must make up for this lack of financial and business resources with a burning passion to succeed.

5. Focus on your passions.

All the money in the world isn't worth a damn if you are forced to do things you hate to earn it. If you truly want to be a success in life, you must heed the old cliche and follow your passions. Find something that excites you so that you tap dance to work in the morning.

Find something you are so pumped for that you don't need an alarm to get up, because you couldn't even sleep knowing that there were missing out on time that you could have been pouring into your life's dreams.

6. If an idea doesn't work, pivot, don't quit.

Many times over the course of your journey, you will fail. That is a simple fact of the game.

However, when something you have invested heavily in fails, don't waste precious resources trying to salvage a lost cause, and don't quit unnecessarily. Simply pivot. Tweak your business plan, your product, or your approach until you are able to achieve the success you've been working towards

7. Focus on the Few Not the Many.

With the excess of information and opportunities nowadays, it is quite easy to get sucked into the trap of multi-focus. You must learn to have single focus on your one important goal, business, task etx. if you hope to succeed. You only have 100% to give each day, so why not give all of it to the one thing that will change your life the most?

Focus on the 20% of tasks, that will get you the 80% of results and leave the rest to the dogs

As a young man, Dan Peña turned less than $1,000 investment into nearly half a billion. This lead him to create what is now the Quantum Leap Advantage. Dan Peña is the world’s leading high-performance coach, having created over $50 billion in equity through his coaching. He is also the author of the book “Your First $100 Million.” Dan now runs high-performance seminars at his castle in Scotland.

“Just freaking do it.” – Dan Peña

1. Stop thinking and pull the trigger.

We live in an age of abundant information. With the click of a button, one can download the ideas and thoughts of millions of individuals straight to their computer. Any issue you face can be solved by a quick Google search, and any history test can be aced with a glance at wikipedia.

However, this information has come at a cost. Now more than ever, individuals are in states of permanent planning, the gung-ho, ready, fire, aim mentality of past generations has vanished, replaced instead by an attitude of sparse action taken only after extensive research.

To achieve success, we must realize that experience is the best teacher of all, we must feel the fear of failure and take action anyways. No more sitting and waiting to have all the information, to have the perfect plan laid out. You must take action now!

2. You are the average of the 5 people with whom you spend the most time.

“Show me your friends and I will show you your future.” The words of John Kubleur ring true now more than ever, you cannot be a high achiever while associating with low performers. It is key that you seek out high quality relationships to fill your life with people who will push you, convict you, and challenge you to rise above mediocrity.

If you cannot find people in your area, then, as Charlie Munger put it, “make friends with the eminent dead.” Read classic works, fill your brain with the words of the wisest individuals past and present, because who you associate with will be the key to your future.

3. Schooling and money is not necessary for success.

The lack of a college degree is no excuse for poor performance. Some of the greatest businessmen and talents of our time deferred college in favor of pursuing their goals. You must realize that the keys to success are never external, but internal.

You can have every degree and accolade in the world, but without passion, without fire for what you are doing, you will never be a success. It is far better to be a high-school dropout willing to work 20 hour days to accomplish his dreams, than a Harvard graduate dreading every task before him.

4. Mentors Are Essential.

Mentors are the force multiplier on your path to success, they can direct you to where you want to go, and help you avoid the missteps that are so commonly made. When searching for a mentor, you must realize that it is there time, not their money that is the most valuable asset they have to offer.

You must also realize that you bring very little to the table for high caliber mentors that they do not already have, so you must make up for this lack of financial and business resources with a burning passion to succeed.

5. Focus on your passions.

All the money in the world isn’t worth a damn if you are forced to do things you hate to earn it. If you truly want to be a success in life, you must heed the old cliche and follow your passions. Find something that excites you so that you tap dance to work in the morning.

Find something you are so pumped for that you don’t need an alarm to get up, because you couldn’t even sleep knowing that there were missing out on time that you could have been pouring into your life’s dreams.

6. If an idea doesn’t work, pivot, don’t quit.

Many times over the course of your journey, you will fail. That is a simple fact of the game.

However, when something you have invested heavily in fails, don’t waste precious resources trying to salvage a lost cause, and don’t quit unnecessarily. Simply pivot. Tweak your business plan, your product, or your approach until you are able to achieve the success you’ve been working towards

7. Focus on the Few Not the Many.

With the excess of information and opportunities nowadays, it is quite easy to get sucked into the trap of multi-focus. You must learn to have single focus on your one important goal, business, task etx. if you hope to succeed. You only have 100% to give each day, so why not give all of it to the one thing that will change your life the most?

Focus on the 20% of tasks, that will get you the 80% of results and leave the rest to the dogs

Paul Huljich was the Chairman CEO of Best Corporation a pioneering organic food company with a valuation of over $100 million during its lifetime. After working for decades to build the life of his dreams, Paul's unchecked stress caught up with him and he suffered a severe mental breakdown. Losing his rights as a citizen and being made a ward of the state, Paul lost everything he had worked so hard to achieve.

After being told that his chronic stress was incurable by the top doctors in the field, Paul decided to take matters into his own hands, becoming a self described guinea pig in his quest to eliminate his stress. After years of research and testing, Paul conquered his stress and has been free from all stress medications for nearly 15 years. From these experiences, Paul wrote the book "Stress Pandemic" an Amazon bestseller that teaches people how to mitigate the stress in their life to live more fully and perform more optimally.

"Take control of your stress before it takes control of you" – Paul Hulijich

1. Optimum Health Is a Prerequisite.

The first key to managing stress is to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Luckily, living in such a way that eliminates stress is fairly simple and does not require radical alterations to your lifestyle. This simple morning routine will reduce stress levels by optimizing neurochemicals and hormone levels.

~Wake early (before 7 am) ~Drink 1 liter of room temperature water after waking up ~ Take a brisk walk early shortly after rising ~Juice after your walk

2. Do your heavy lifting in the morning.

Another cornerstone habit to managing stress is to have a healthy sleep schedule. One of the habits that many high performers become sucked into is the past midnight work day. However, by working late at night, you reduce the quality of your sleep and increase the release of cortisol in your body.

3. Remove C.R.A.P. from your diet, replacing them with good mood foods.

Crap or: Caffeine, refined sugar, alcohol, and processed foods, not only contributes to stress and obesity, but also releases chemicals in your body that can increase cortisol, estrogen and several other hormones that raise stress and prevent optimal performance. Exchanging CRAP for "good mood foods" such as all natural and organic meats, vegetables, and fruits will enhance your bodies hormonal balance, neurological function and aid in fat loss and muscle gain.

4. You Must Remain Aware of your actions and your state.

One of the greatest keys to success in all areas of your life is awareness and honest self evaluation. You must be aware of your environment and your responses to it and how they affect your stress levels to operate at levels of peak performance. An awareness of your own physiology and neurology will allow you to head off stress and other issues in your life before their effects become detrimental. The consequences of failing to develop self awareness can be as mild as poor performance or as severe as a mental breakdown similar to Paul's.

Paul Huljich was the Chairman CEO of Best Corporation a pioneering organic food company with a valuation of over $100 million during its lifetime. After working for decades to build the life of his dreams, Paul’s unchecked stress caught up with him and he suffered a severe mental breakdown. Losing his rights as a citizen and being made a ward of the state, Paul lost everything he had worked so hard to achieve.

After being told that his chronic stress was incurable by the top doctors in the field, Paul decided to take matters into his own hands, becoming a self described guinea pig in his quest to eliminate his stress. After years of research and testing, Paul conquered his stress and has been free from all stress medications for nearly 15 years. From these experiences, Paul wrote the book “Stress Pandemic” an Amazon bestseller that teaches people how to mitigate the stress in their life to live more fully and perform more optimally.

“Take control of your stress before it takes control of you” – Paul Hulijich

1. Optimum Health Is a Prerequisite.

The first key to managing stress is to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Luckily, living in such a way that eliminates stress is fairly simple and does not require radical alterations to your lifestyle. This simple morning routine will reduce stress levels by optimizing neurochemicals and hormone levels.

~Wake early (before 7 am)
~Drink 1 liter of room temperature water after waking up
~ Take a brisk walk early shortly after rising
~Juice after your walk

2. Do your heavy lifting in the morning.

Another cornerstone habit to managing stress is to have a healthy sleep schedule. One of the habits that many high performers become sucked into is the past midnight work day. However, by working late at night, you reduce the quality of your sleep and increase the release of cortisol in your body.

3. Remove C.R.A.P. from your diet, replacing them with good mood foods.

Crap or: Caffeine, refined sugar, alcohol, and processed foods, not only contributes to stress and obesity, but also releases chemicals in your body that can increase cortisol, estrogen and several other hormones that raise stress and prevent optimal performance. Exchanging CRAP for “good mood foods” such as all natural and organic meats, vegetables, and fruits will enhance your bodies hormonal balance, neurological function and aid in fat loss and muscle gain.

4. You Must Remain Aware of your actions and your state.

One of the greatest keys to success in all areas of your life is awareness and honest self evaluation. You must be aware of your environment and your responses to it and how they affect your stress levels to operate at levels of peak performance. An awareness of your own physiology and neurology will allow you to head off stress and other issues in your life before their effects become detrimental. The consequences of failing to develop self awareness can be as mild as poor performance or as severe as a mental breakdown similar to Paul’s.

Mark Lee Greenblatt is an attorney based in Washington D.C. having worked several high profile senate corruption cases. Mark spent 5 years and hundreds of hours investigating to gain the information for his book "Valor" which tells the stories of the unsung heroes of the war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"Your either part of the solution or you are part of the problem." – Eldridge Cleaver

1. Grace Under Pressure

In his book Valor, Mark shares a story about Chris Choay, who, while trying to lead his squad in a flanking maneuver, found himself completely alone and exposed only meters away from the enemies position.

Instead of retreating, Chris calmly raised his rifle and fired…only to find his gun had jammed. He now stood like a fish in a barrel; if any of the insurgents looked over and saw him, he was dead. Calmly lowering his weapon, Chris cleared the chamber, reloaded a new magazine, and engaged the threat, eliminating the remaining hostiles.

Through his actions, Chris demonstrated extreme courage and performance under incredible pressure. It is this grace under pressure, this resiliency to the surrounding environment that we can demonstrate in our own lives when our first world problems causing undue stress and frustration.

Simply take a deep breath and think about Chris and make the decision to face adversity with grace

2. Change your frame of reference

You are not at war, you don't have enemies firing bullets and rockets over your head, and odds are you never will. In the western society, we often find it so easy to get angry at the smallest things.

When the wifi in our house isn't as fast as we want it to be, we throw a fit, screaming and swearing at the lifeless modem. When the wait time at our favorite restaurant is longer than we want, we complain and whine about how terrible life is and how we don't have the time for this (ignoring the four hours we wasted on netflix that afternoon).

However, as 1st world citizens, very few of us have ever experienced true adversity. Few of us will ever know true hunger, few of us will ever know true fear, and few of us will ever face anything in our entire lives that compares to a typical day in the office for guys like Chris Choay.

We need to remember this and see our issues for what they truly are.

3. Show humility

For his book, Mark interviewed Navy SEAL Chris Kyle for several hours. Chris is the most lethal sniper in U.S. history having over 150 confirmed kills (and reportedly as many as 240 total), several bronze and silver stars, and being nicknamed "The Legend" by the SEAL community.

However in all of his interview, Kyle never once mentioned any of these things. In the day of twitter and instagram, we struggle to cook a good steak without bragging about it to our entire social circle, however men of true character are humble in accomplishment and it is the exploits of men like Chris Kyle that remind us of this.

4. Push yourself beyond what you think you are capable of

The Navy SEALs are famous for what they call "hell week" which is 5 and a half days of nonstop mental and physical pain. During hell week, recruits are kept awake for nearly the entire week, receiving a maximum of four hours of sleep, they are forced to run over 200 miles, and sit in the freezing surf of the pacific ocean.

As a society, we have become used to soft living and mundane existences, therefore, whenever a challenge does present itself, we cower away from it, fearing the pain of growth.

As men, we must begin to seek challenge realizing that we are capable of far more than we could ever imagine, and that it is by doing the perceived impossible that we grow.

Mark Lee Greenblatt is an attorney based in Washington D.C. having worked several high profile senate corruption cases. Mark spent 5 years and hundreds of hours investigating to gain the information for his book “Valor” which tells the stories of the unsung heroes of the war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“Your either part of the solution or you are part of the problem.” – Eldridge Cleaver

1. Grace Under Pressure

In his book Valor, Mark shares a story about Chris Choay, who, while trying to lead his squad in a flanking maneuver, found himself completely alone and exposed only meters away from the enemies position.

Instead of retreating, Chris calmly raised his rifle and fired…only to find his gun had jammed. He now stood like a fish in a barrel; if any of the insurgents looked over and saw him, he was dead. Calmly lowering his weapon, Chris cleared the chamber, reloaded a new magazine, and engaged the threat, eliminating the remaining hostiles.

Through his actions, Chris demonstrated extreme courage and performance under incredible pressure. It is this grace under pressure, this resiliency to the surrounding environment that we can demonstrate in our own lives when our first world problems causing undue stress and frustration.

Simply take a deep breath and think about Chris and make the decision to face adversity with grace

2. Change your frame of reference

You are not at war, you don’t have enemies firing bullets and rockets over your head, and odds are you never will. In the western society, we often find it so easy to get angry at the smallest things.

When the wifi in our house isn’t as fast as we want it to be, we throw a fit, screaming and swearing at the lifeless modem. When the wait time at our favorite restaurant is longer than we want, we complain and whine about how terrible life is and how we don’t have the time for this (ignoring the four hours we wasted on netflix that afternoon).

However, as 1st world citizens, very few of us have ever experienced true adversity. Few of us will ever know true hunger, few of us will ever know true fear, and few of us will ever face anything in our entire lives that compares to a typical day in the office for guys like Chris Choay.

We need to remember this and see our issues for what they truly are.

3. Show humility

For his book, Mark interviewed Navy SEAL Chris Kyle for several hours. Chris is the most lethal sniper in U.S. history having over 150 confirmed kills (and reportedly as many as 240 total), several bronze and silver stars, and being nicknamed “The Legend” by the SEAL community.

However in all of his interview, Kyle never once mentioned any of these things. In the day of twitter and instagram, we struggle to cook a good steak without bragging about it to our entire social circle, however men of true character are humble in accomplishment and it is the exploits of men like Chris Kyle that remind us of this.

4. Push yourself beyond what you think you are capable of

The Navy SEALs are famous for what they call “hell week” which is 5 and a half days of nonstop mental and physical pain. During hell week, recruits are kept awake for nearly the entire week, receiving a maximum of four hours of sleep, they are forced to run over 200 miles, and sit in the freezing surf of the pacific ocean.

As a society, we have become used to soft living and mundane existences, therefore, whenever a challenge does present itself, we cower away from it, fearing the pain of growth.

As men, we must begin to seek challenge realizing that we are capable of far more than we could ever imagine, and that it is by doing the perceived impossible that we grow.

Sam Morris is the founder of Zen Warrior Training®. In 1999, just after leading a bicycling trip for nine teenagers across the United States, Sam was in a car accident caused by a drunk driver which left him paralyzed from the waist down. Rather than becoming the victim of his circumstances, Sam learned and created a system of attitude training that brought him more vitality and clarity than he ever had before his injury.

In addition to coaching private clients and businesses in Zen Warrior Training®, Sam hosts biweekly classes in Santa Monica, CA and leads community talks and workshops throughout the country.

Self-consciousness is a lack of consciousness of the self

1. Expand Your Relationship with Yourself Beyond Your Mind

So often we get stuck in a place where our relationship with ourselves is limited only to our mind and the incessant mental chatter happening within it.

From this place, it becomes difficult to understand who you truly are, what you want, and what you must do to achieve the range of experiences that you desire in this lifetime.

Your breaths are shallow, your thoughts are cluttered with the opinions and expectations of others, and your truth is being clouded by noise, the ego, and your lack of presence.

But when you expand your relationship with yourself beyond your mind, everything changes.

When you get into your body and begin experiencing more frequent states of flow and presence, your reality changes.

You no longer worry about what you said yesterday or fret about what you must do tomorrow. You are able to simply "Be" in this moment without judgment or criticism.

And when you're in this place of presence and freedom from judgment, you can be 100% you.

I challenge you to make a conscious effort to get into your body this week.

Go surfing, pick up an instrument, train parkour, lift heavy weights, do something that jolts you out of your head and into your body. Because when you are in your body and focused on your movements you are present, and when you are present, life opens up in ways that you can't imagine.

2. Presence Frees You From Your Baggage

When you are living in the past or the future, it's easy to get stuck in your baggage.

Think about it...

If you're living in the past, you are thinking about what you did wrong, or how you could have done something better, or how you said this or didn't say that. You are stuck in an endless loop, experiencing the same "negative" event over and over again in your head.

This lack of presence eeks its way into your present moment and you begin to doubt yourself during conversations and constantly overanalyze yourself and your actions because you are so hung up on yesterday's mistakes.

Living in the future is no different.

If you're constantly focused on what you want to achieve tomorrow and the life you will have someday, then you aren't focused on the amazing life you are living right now.

And if you have the ability to read this article, you do have an amazing life.

By getting present, you are able to be free from the bullshit. With presence, you cannot dwell on past mistakes and personal criticisms. You cannot get caught up in projecting a future that makes you dissatisfied with your current reality.

When you are present, you are free.

3. Presence Accelerates the Human Experience

Everything that you do is amplified by the power of presence.

Everything...

All of the greatest human experiences from creation to sex to friendship to adversity are all amplified by getting present.

When you are present with a woman, your anxiety dissapears and you are able to reveal yourself to her in a way that is completely and totally authentic.

When you are present at work, you can tap into flow states and execute your craft masterfully in half the time that it would take if you were distracted.

When you are present with yourself, you are in tune with your body and emotions and all the lessons to be learned from them (more on that later).

Presence amplifies existence.

Get present.

4. Success without a Strong Internal Identity is Inevitable Failure

One of the greatest mistakes a man can make is to tie his identity to something other than himself.

When a man's identity is contingent on his relationship with his woman, his work, his possessions, or anything outside of himself, his identity is inherently fragile and ripe for disruption.

No one is impervious to the harsh realities of unexpected change.

From a lay off to a divorce to an unexpected death, there are thousands of things that can disrupt your life and completely wreck all of the things that you now hold dear.

And if your identity is wrapped up in these things, when they go, so too does your sense of self.

If your identity is outside of yourself then it doesn't take much to raze your identity and leave you feeling lost and uncertain about who you are.

By cultivating a strong internal identity, you allow yourself to experience the storms of life with all of the pain and joy that comes with them.

You experience everything but can be beaten by nothing.

You are who you are.

And that's more than enough.

5. Feelings Are Teachers

Human emotions are the greatest teachers we've ever met.

Whether positive or negative, any emotion that you feel is there to teach you something.

It could be there to confirm that you are doing well, such as the bliss that you feel when you look at your partner, or the satisfaction that comes from a full day's work.

It could be to inform you that how you are acting is not working, such as the tension in your gut when it comes time to pay the bills or the apprehension you feel about getting your yearly physical.

Or they could be there to tell you that the path you are on ultimately will not serve you such as the inexplicable "Gut feelings" so many of us receive whenever we are unknowingly out of alignment with our highest calling.

If you are going to live this life to the fullest and truly embrace this existence, you must learn to feel your emotions, embody them, learn from them... Don't flee from them.

Never allow your emotions to scare or control you, but always notice them and give them the attention and intention that they deserve.

Your emotions are your mentors and your guides on this crazy journey.

Follow them and you will learn more than you ever imagined.

Sam Morris is the founder of Zen Warrior Training®. In 1999, just after leading a bicycling trip for nine teenagers across the United States, Sam was in a car accident caused by a drunk driver which left him paralyzed from the waist down. Rather than becoming the victim of his circumstances, Sam learned and created a system of attitude training that brought him more vitality and clarity than he ever had before his injury.

In addition to coaching private clients and businesses in Zen Warrior Training®, Sam hosts biweekly classes in Santa Monica, CA and leads community talks and workshops throughout the country.

Self-consciousness is a lack of consciousness of the self

1. Expand Your Relationship with Yourself Beyond Your Mind 

So often we get stuck in a place where our relationship with ourselves is limited only to our mind and the incessant mental chatter happening within it. 

From this place, it becomes difficult to understand who you truly are, what you want, and what you must do to achieve the range of experiences that you desire in this lifetime.

Your breaths are shallow, your thoughts are cluttered with the opinions and expectations of others, and your truth is being clouded by noise, the ego, and your lack of presence. 

But when you expand your relationship with yourself beyond your mind, everything changes. 

When you get into your body and begin experiencing more frequent states of flow and presence, your reality changes. 

You no longer worry about what you said yesterday or fret about what you must do tomorrow. You are able to simply "Be" in this moment without judgment or criticism. 

And when you're in this place of presence and freedom from judgment, you can be 100% you.

I challenge you to make a conscious effort to get into your body this week. 

Go surfing, pick up an instrument, train parkour, lift heavy weights, do something that jolts you out of your head and into your body. Because when you are in your body and focused on your movements you are present, and when you are present, life opens up in ways that you can't imagine. 

2. Presence Frees You From Your Baggage  

When you are living in the past or the future, it's easy to get stuck in your baggage. 

Think about it... 

If you're living in the past, you are thinking about what you did wrong, or how you could have done something better, or how you said this or didn't say that. You are stuck in an endless loop, experiencing the same "negative" event over and over again in your head. 

This lack of presence eeks its way into your present moment and you begin to doubt yourself during conversations and constantly overanalyze yourself and your actions because you are so hung up on yesterday's mistakes. 

Living in the future is no different. 

If you're constantly focused on what you want to achieve tomorrow and the life you will have someday, then you aren't focused on the amazing life you are living right now. 

And if you have the ability to read this article, you do have an amazing life. 

By getting present, you are able to be free from the bullshit. With presence, you cannot dwell on past mistakes and personal criticisms. You cannot get caught up in projecting a future that makes you dissatisfied with your current reality. 

When you are present, you are free. 

3. Presence Accelerates the Human Experience 

Everything that you do is amplified by the power of presence. 

Everything...

All of the greatest human experiences from creation to sex to friendship to adversity are all amplified by getting present. 

When you are present with a woman, your anxiety dissapears and you are able to reveal yourself to her in a way that is completely and totally authentic. 

When you are present at work, you can tap into flow states and execute your craft masterfully in half the time that it would take if you were distracted. 

When you are present with yourself, you are in tune with your body and emotions and all the lessons to be learned from them (more on that later). 

Presence amplifies existence. 

Get present. 

4. Success without a Strong Internal Identity is Inevitable Failure 

One of the greatest mistakes a man can make is to tie his identity to something other than himself. 

When a man's identity is contingent on his relationship with his woman, his work, his possessions, or anything outside of himself, his identity is inherently fragile and ripe for disruption. 

No one is impervious to the harsh realities of unexpected change. 

From a lay off to a divorce to an unexpected death, there are thousands of things that can disrupt your life and completely wreck all of the things that you now hold dear. 

And if your identity is wrapped up in these things, when they go, so too does your sense of self. 

If your identity is outside of yourself then it doesn't take much to raze your identity and leave you feeling lost and uncertain about who you are. 

By cultivating a strong internal identity, you allow yourself to experience the storms of life with all of the pain and joy that comes with them. 

You experience everything but can be beaten by nothing. 

You are who you are. 

And that's more than enough. 

5. Feelings Are Teachers 

Human emotions are the greatest teachers we've ever met. 

Whether positive or negative, any emotion that you feel is there to teach you something. 

It could be there to confirm that you are doing well, such as the bliss that you feel when you look at your partner, or the satisfaction that comes from a full day's work. 

It could be to inform you that how you are acting is not working, such as the tension in your gut when it comes time to pay the bills or the apprehension you feel about getting your yearly physical. 

Or they could be there to tell you that the path you are on ultimately will not serve you such as the inexplicable "Gut feelings" so many of us receive whenever we are unknowingly out of alignment with our highest calling. 

If you are going to live this life to the fullest and truly embrace this existence, you must learn to feel your emotions, embody them, learn from them... Don't flee from them. 

Never allow your emotions to scare or control you, but always notice them and give them the attention and intention that they deserve. 

Your emotions are your mentors and your guides on this crazy journey. 

Follow them and you will learn more than you ever imagined. 

Jake Ducey is a motivational speaker, author and youth role model. At 19 Jake dropped out of college and traveled the world writing the book "Into the Wind" shortly thereafter. Jake is the youngest published personal development author with Penguin Random House.

"Most of us are gambling on the biggest risk of all and that is to bet that one day we will be able to buy the freedom to do what we want later in life." – Jake Ducey

"Write it down, make it happen"- Jack Canfield

1. It's All Within Yourself

Jake traveled the world for six months, experiencing life in third world countries and during his travels he saw people who had absolutely nothing, yet they woke up every day with a smile on their face. It was through this experience that Jake came to the realization that everything you need is within yourself, you are enough.

You don't need the house, the car, or the girl to make you complete as a man. Everything you need to live a full life is within you.

2. There is a difference between learning it and living it

We all know what we need to do to have success. To be financially independent, we need to save more than we spend. To be healthy, we need to eat clean and exercise more. And to have success in our dating and relationships, we need to be confident in ourselves and listen more.

Most every key to success is simple. So why are so many people broke, fat, and lonely? Because we aren't living it! You must be willing to live out the lessons you have learned not merely read about others doing them. If you truly wish to be a success, what you need is not more information and more plans.

What you need is to start living out what you believe and become a man of action.

3. Most of our fears and anxieties aren't real

As a society, we suffer from high rates of chronic anxiety and depression, allowing the mundane worries of our day to day grind to dictate how we live. However, the majority of our fears don't even exist.

Our anxiety is simply a projection of what may happen at some unspecific time in the future if we fail at x, y, or z. In other words, most of our worries are bullcrap.

Even the worst thing that can happen to us is likely not half as life altering and world shattering as we may imagine. As soon as we embrace this mentality, we can begin to feel the fear and do it anyways. And that is when we begin to truly grow into the man we were meant to be.

4. The Point of a goal is who you become in the process

The purpose of any goal, be it physical, experiential, or financial is not the achievement of the goal itself, its about the man you become in the process.

When you set out to transform your body, bank account or social life, you will find that the real reward you gain is the character and integrity from doing the difficult things.

You will find that the grit and tenacity that you have developed from challenging yourself is better than any car, house, or number in a bank account. And you will find that being a man of integrity, a man who says he will achieve something and does it, is the greatest reward of all.