As I have come out the other end of a mental health nightmare I'm starting to share the golden nuggets that allowed me to heal. Throughout my 13 year fight towards mental health I experienced enough challenges along the way to learn certain principles hold heavy weight in healing, recovering and soon thriving.

Why is mental health so challenging? In my theory, it's 2 main components. Definition and ownership.

Have you clearly defined what mental health truly, truly means to you? 

Then, once establishing definition, have you taken ownership of your own mental health? 

These are big questions that most of us ignore on a daily basis. We're just busy. It takes intention to make this work.

Open your journal, and write down your individual definition of mental health. Give it time, give yourself space to find these answers. It may take days, weeks, months but start with a few bullet points. Then plug them into your self talk. 

Secondly, write down exactly how you are going to take ownership of your mental health, i.e.. visit a therapist, start meditating, start exercising, start reading self-help books, find an online life coach, just get creative! Once you write it down, take action on it. 

Mental health can bring you down or lift you up. When we are having mental health challenges it's important to be brave enough to be vulnerable. It might be difficult for you to start writing down your own definition of mental health but start simple and light. Keep the shame and guilt out of it. Stay focused on defining and envisioning what you look like as a 'mentally healthy' person. Not what other people see you as, but how envision yourself. 

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In the last 13 years I have taken responsibility for my mental health. I have done therapy work in all of those 13 years. In the recent months I have come to abandon the idea of having any neurological/emotional/social "disorder". I have shifted my mind into believing I am experiencing different responses to my trauma, my relationships, my environments, and my life circumstances. It's normal! It's fixable! 

As a kid in school, I was labeled "ADHD" but never officially diagnosed (thank goodness!). In adulthood, multiple therapists (of my 5) would suggest that I may be suffering from C-PTSD, Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. 

After hundreds of hours of therapy works, hundreds of hours of reading self help books, hundreds of hours researching, hundreds of hours journaling and meditating, I have come to understand the idea of experiencing a RESPONSE, rather than a "disorder". 

This one concept has changed my spiritual trajectory in an upward direction like never before.Take a listen to this podcast and let me know what you think. What do you think of this idea of believing in Responses versus Disorders?

About 1 in every 6 kids is at the obesity line. This is an unacceptable, 21st century truth. In our free world of abundance, we also have an abundance of unhealthy, overweight children. We are tee'ing up a massive health problem. Making the U turn on being overweight is already difficult but how are we setting kids up the right way if they're already obese in childhood? 

This problem has so much to do with our sedentary society. It starts at school. Students are asked to sit down for 6-10 hours per day. Add in another 3-5 hours of screens and these kids might as well just be zombies. The sedentary culture is literally damaging our youth. And we all know a civilization's most protected assets are it's children. We must do a better job at guiding kids in a healthier direction. We have to do a better job at being role models for our children. This obesity statistic is unacceptable. We have to be more aggressive in finding solutions.

I grew up in the same community as Mike in the 80's and 90's in Pembroke Pines, Florida. Mike Ficara is a former Teacher turned Entrepreneur. The story that helped Mike turn the corner from being an employee to a self employed entrepreneur is an absolutely crazy story. You could not make it up if you tried. 

Mike is a 21st century entrepreneur in my opinion. We are in an era of the biggest changes in communication known to man. The opportunities are endless, and Mike gets it. Mike is a complete opportunist. He prides himself on good networking. 

Behind the curtains, I asked Mike some personal questions about overcoming challenges and committing yourself to success. Mike has 4 children on top of being a full time entrepreneur. He has a lot of wisdom when it comes to understanding where society is now and where we are going. He talks about his interesting views on legacy and I think you should pay close attention to that part. He's on to something, don't miss the boat.

I have been following Nick Mann on his journey since early 2018. In my opinion, he's on the verge of something very impactful. He's the founder of TeacherFit. It's a wellness app for Teachers. It works! Schools and school districts love it! Their mission makes so much sense. He's targeting Teacher/Educator wellness, in a real way. Are we paying close attention to the wellness of our Teachers? Don't we want Teachers on their A game in at work? It takes good habits, consistent exercise, good eating, and the right self care. TeacherFit brings a holistic approach to wellness and mindfulness for Teachers. Nick is a hard working entrepreneur with an innovator's mind. He has the grit it takes to make an impact. He sees the big picture. He has a macro view of how he wants to hack culture. And he's already doing it. But he's just getting started. This man is on the horizon of big change in our Education system. I can't wait to see what Nick accomplishes over the next decade. Listen to this Podcast. I picked his brain. We dove into details. He was vulnerable and shared the dirt on his story, and his own personal views of personal development. Leave your thoughts in the comments.

I went to high school with Mike, at Chaminade Madonna College Prepatory in Hollywood, FL. Last time I saw him he was 250+ lbs. This is a transformed human being drenched in personal development wisdom. He is an individual who grew the courage to stand up for what he believed in. And ultimately, at the end of the day, Mike believes in himself. He's not motivated. He's driven. To have the discipline to do the things he has done is very admirable. I loved this Podcast. I wish I had more than 30-40 minutes. His story will resonate with so many different people. Yes, veterans for sure. But Mike has a very macro approach to his thinking and he makes a lot of sense of what veterans are going through in the big picture. How does this impact the citizens and culture? When veterans return to the civilian world how do they integrate? How do we help them integrate? How do we create a welcoming environment that presents opportunity. 

Opportunism is the big word I leave with on almost all my interviews. Mike is an opportunist. He sees an opportunity, he jumps on it. That is what "standing up" is all about. You can hate on our country and criticize but who are the people that are standing up and trying to make an impact in a positive way. Mike takes a "stop the whining" approach towards personal and career development. More people need to hear his candid message. That's why I interviewed him. I hope you enjoy this episode. Leave your thoughts in the comments!

To learn more about Mike Blanco go to his website: www.michaelanthonyblanco.com

Brain vascularization, the flow of blood to the brain, is not a term you hear very often from our Education system. We hear "we reduced recess" and "hail to the standardized test scores" and "drop-outs are increasing" and "we have no money". Same ole story. Let's talk about simple science. Let's talk about brain vascularization. When we are creating these curricula are we keeping into account the students' activity and movement levels throughout the day? No, we are not. Our sedentary education system has to change. It is not effective for 21st century learning. Reducing recess and jacking up the standardized tests is not way to improve a child's education experience. We have to start talking more about the brain vascularization. How much blood is actually being pumped to the student's brain each day? If the levels are low, it's likely they will not maximize their education experience. This is basic fundamental science.

We should have a greater concern on our free abilities to change the Education system to the way we want it instead of waiting for the government to make changes. Take the classroom for example, it has not changed in 200+ years. Sitting desks in rows facing a chalk/white board. The assigned seat, laborer culture of the 19th and 20th century has to be shoved out of our Education system. Everyone involved has the ability to create and push change. Everything in our society has evolved exponentially, except the classroom. The student environment is one easy way to start creating change. Flexible Seating is making it's way into Education and it has enormous implications. Flexible Seating promotes student choice, self awareness, decision making skills, movement, more active learning opportunities, ownership, creativity, collaboration and teamwork. These are huge words with huge change capabilities behind them. It's time to disrupt the traditntal norm in Education because the 21st century is continuing to bring challenges and situations that kids are not prepared for because their Education system was misaligned. It's okay to disrupt the norm and stand up.

This is a top episodes. I love this man's mind. In the School of Standing Up, Peter's values as an Educator and Innovator are smoothly aligned. I love what he has to say about Education. He's respectful, but he's honest and candid. That's a leader. When he speaks you feel his conviction come through his words and stories. I feel so much wisdom busting out of Peter's content that I had to interview him. I have listened to this episode a couple times already and I recommend you listen closely about his approach with young students. I am sensitive to the topic of guiding and teaching teens because the CDC recently announced the teen suicide rate has increased. How does that relate? I think Peter's approach can help our culture and impact this horrible social outcome. Young students should be thriving in the free world in the 21st century. He votes for listening to these kids and figuring out their interests. Then promote active learning environments surrounding those interests. He dives into the details and phrases it way better than I do, hence why I interviewed this brilliant mind. Please listen in to this awesome interview with Peter Hostrawser. Please leave your comments and feedback if you have a sec!

On my journey to mindfulness I'm getting a better understanding of our short term cravings for dopamine. I have learned that when I am operating on "auto-pilot" I tend to be a slave to my cravings for dopamine. One prime example is television. Before I quit cable cold turkey roughly 4 years ago I periodically let TV waste my precious time. When I look back at what TV did for me as a person I don't really have that much of an optimistic view. As I wake up into consciousness I'm understanding that our society has a heavy addiction to self entertainment. Everybody wants to entertain themselves. Being entertained does nothing for personal growth. Being entertained may relieve stress every once in a while but it's easy to get addicted to the leisure, sedentary lifestyle of being entertained. I realized that if I was not aware of my own self talk that this addiction to self entertain can easily take control of me in a short period of time. It's very easy to get addicted to the leisurely vibes of being entertained. But think about this. Imagine spending most of your adult life being entertained. Where does that take you? Where do you envision to go with that lifestyle? Those are some big questions I think so many of us forget to ask. And then our life passes by and we realize our addiction to self entertainment meant nothing. Absolutely nothing.