The Maximal Life

How often do you find yourself canceling plans with friends and loved ones because you are too busy or too tired from work? While it may feel as though you are keeping your priorities in line with your goals, neglecting your personal relationships can cause serious professional ramifications. Social isolation and lack of authentic human connectedness, have been well-established as risk factors for early mortality. Technological advances, which are designed specifically to connect people, are leaving us more isolated and lonely than ever before. Social media merely provides the illusion of being connected to more people, but these types of relationships are deceptively superficial, and leave us feeling increasingly separated.

Diminishing health, as a result of isolation, doesn’t necessarily require being alone. You can be surrounded by people and still feel separate and disconnected. The isolation and loneliness that contributes to diminished health is based on perceived isolation and loneliness, and not actually with how exposed the individuals are to social situations. We have the power to boost our health and happiness by making an effort to enjoy our relationships with the people in our lives. When you open your thoughts, feelings, and experiences to the people around you, you invite them to do the same. The more effort you put into cultivating meaningful relationships in your life, the happier, the healthier and the LONGER you will live!

Health positivity is vital for leaders and peak performers. It’s not an either-or choice between health and wealth. You can have both. In fact, there’s a higher likelihood of being wealthy if you’re healthy. We’ll go through the tools and motions that’ll help you achieve optimum health so you can enjoy the fruits of your labor, not spend it on medical treatments, or be too ill or feeble to live an active and fulfilling life.

Looking after your own body is not an indulgence, it’s an investment in yourself; it’s being selfless and looking after the wellbeing and prosperity of your family! There are a few things you can do to increase your health and wealth. Sleeping for an hour longer each day could result in 5% higher earnings over the longer term. Get some sun each day. Remember every bite you put into your mouth has a direct and predictable result on your body. Prioritize your protein intake, and remember lunch is among the best times to incorporate protein into your day. Drinking water is a big part of a healthy intake. Connect, nurture, and nourish your relationships. Exercise! Find any activity that works for you, and don’t forget to exercise your brain to keep it as fit. It’s not a choice where you only get to pick one. It’s health and wealth. It is “increasing your wealth by improving your health.” That’s the Maximal Life.

When the question of health or wealth is raised, I find that someone leading a Maximal Life is investing time in his health and his relationships. He is far more likely to enjoy a longer more productive, more prosperous work life and fewer medical expenses. So it’s a question of health and wealth. The importance of being proactive about health and not waiting until things go wrong.

The statistics all point to how wealth generation has a direct correlation with good health and this is for a number of reasons: - increased productivity because of fewer work days lost to illness, - a better career progression because of perceived greater reliability, - the ability to work a longer time before having to retire, and most importantly, because you end up actually spending less money on diseases and their treatments.

The time to take action is now. The time to become proactive about your health was yesterday! Why wait until something goes wrong to make the changes that you need to, for your life? There are just so many reasons to make your health a priority that there is never any reason to procrastinate or to make excuses for not prioritizing your health for a Maximal Life. Decide to make one positive change in your lifestyle today.

STRESS. The word alone is rampant in our culture. We use the word “Stressful” to cover an entire spectrum of emotions and sensations. If a situation is mildly uncomfortable, our culture has conditioned us to label that discomfort “stress” in a negative light. Experiences such as: being extremely productive, facing challenges, working under pressure to achieve the desired outcome, making changes, and standing up to adversity, all qualify for being labeled as stressful.

Being in demand means you are being productive and your services are in need. Facing challenges, means you ’re growing and expanding. Focused work to achieve your goals, means you are passionate and dedicated. Making changes is a necessary part of life. The chemicals released in our brains when we are nervous (or stressed) are the  EXACT same chemicals released when we are excited. The ONLY difference in how we experience this depends entirely on our mindset. What this means is: we have the power to choose whether stress is negative or positive.

Anytime you feel negative stress is taking a front seat, that’s the perfect indication it’s time to Take A Minute. Giving yourself just 60 seconds to take deep relaxing breaths, can realign you with your purpose and recalibrate how you are expending your energy. Or take a walk outside. Exercise will get your blood pumping and the natural surroundings will help you utilize the stress chemicals in your system as positive energy.

As Maximal Achievers, we are the steadfast leaders of our team and the rocks of our families. It’s an honor and a privilege to be in such a position for my family, in my businesses, and in my community. Sometimes there’s a great deal of pressure involved personally and professionally. As Maximal Achievers, we thrive on rising to the next level.

Scientific data shows that self-criticism actually makes us more brittle, not stronger, more resilient, or more likely to succeed. Self criticism makes it more difficult to rebound from setbacks, you’ll be less likely to recognize the valuable lessons obtained only through necessary  failures. Being strongly critical of yourself leads to behavioral problems, impulse control issues, anxiety, depression, and addiction.

We know the Brain is a Bank, and when we deposit self-compassion, it doubles in the return. Self-Compassion is an excellent investment. Find a small gesture of kindness to make toward yourself. Have your gym bag packed the night before. Leave yourself healthy snacks where you may want them later. Lay out your clothes for the morning. Arrange your space in a way that pleases you and keep it that way. Even just making your bed every morning. Do it for your own best interest. Choose to be kind to yourself as you step into your Maximal Life

A new plant-protein based beverage from Starbucks seems to be a response to the growing trend towards plant-based proteins. People are looking to move towards plant-based protein. While some people claim that animal protein is better than plant protein, research suggests otherwise. Studies have found that plant proteins can be as effective as animal proteins when they are consumed in adequate quantities. We have vegan NFL players and vegetarian bodybuilders, which demonstrates that it is possible to get adequate amounts of proteins from plants as well.

The new Starbucks slow steeped cold beverage comes in almond and cacao options; using non-dairy, a banana and dates fruit blend and ice. The beverage delivers 10 to 12 grams of plant-based protein per serving. However, the Starbucks protein blended cold brew also contains 20 to 26 grams of sugar per serving! While the protein content is good for you, the amount of sugar is not!

Our YOUMAXA Positive Input protein shake with its 22 grams of plant-based protein is a healthy way to meet the daily protein requirements of the body. Start with a serving of the Positive Input shake and then follow up with other protein such as meat, fish or eggs later in the day. Consume high-quality protein from a variety of sources. Examine your diet, rotate and balance your protein sources. What you ‘plant’ today, you harvest tomorrow!

Picture the last time you did something kind for someone else. Focus on them and how they felt. Now focus on yourself and how you felt. Those instances not only helped that person, it also made you feel really good. Studies have shown that generosity is contagious. It triggers other instances of similar generosity, by inspiring others to help out in new and different ways. When we see someone being kind or generous, we want to do the same.

The power of kindness helps to grow your success too. Helping others increases overall positivity. This then helps enhance creativity and productivity. There are opportunities to be kind and thoughtful everywhere. Make it a point to do something kind every day. Open your eyes to your opportunities to do good, and help out whenever and wherever you can. Simple common courtesy could be the kindness of your day. Saying thank you to a good server, sending your compliments to the chef, even keeping the elevator door open for someone who is rushing to get it can make a difference in their day, and yours. Make a pledge to do something good every day.

Minds aren’t created equal. Some of the greatest strengths of a community are the varying mental abilities of its members. However, there are ways to improve your mental fitness. There are memory exercises, crosswords, and sudoku, to mention a few. But there is another way to unleash the mind. A way to help the ideas flow immediately in the short term, and improves brain biology in the long term. Yes, we are talking about EXERCISE. Studies have shown that regular exercise has the potential to alter brain biology, helps us think clearer and sharper, improves memory and helps to flow creative ideas. That is a lot of power in our own hands.

Maximal Achievers have found that a few minutes of physical activity right before a presentation, a public speech, or giving a vital pitch, will up their performance. They know that this short burst of activity releases important proteins the body needs, increases blood flow to the brain, and provides much needed time away from gadgets and other distractions and helps to concentrate the mind. Once you realize how exercise creates more energy for you, enhances your mood, ups your productivity, thinking, and idea processes, this knowledge will become the motivation you need for your Maximal Life.

Ingesting information from the internet can be like a wrangling a wildfire. You go seeking an answer to one question and end up surrounded by the flames of public opinion. We used to have to seek out answers with effort, now the answers are right at our fingertips. Every piece of information that we are exposed to act as an input. This information can either uplift and revive, or downshift and choke our internal processing system. Science is now discovering that news to the brain is what sugar is to the body.

Maximal Achievers learn that news stories are overwhelmingly about things of which they have no power. And the daily repetition of information that we cannot act upon, makes our brains passive. Instead, you can gain the knowledge for yourselves through your own experiences. Replace the passive input with carefully selected information that brings you insight and inspires creative ideas. Exercise your power of choice by refusing the invitation to unproductive health diminishing distractions. Skip the news for 30 days and see if you notice a change. Only use the news that is useful information. Detoxing from the news isn’t going to be easy, but it will be worth it for your Maximal Life.

Being caught up in work all day usually means we are indoors most of the time. We are constantly exposed to artificial light when nature actually intended for us to be outdoors in the natural light. Sunlight is composed of a broad spectrum of light wavelengths. The lights that we have indoors are predominantly composed of only the blue wavelength of light. This includes the lights on the screens of all of the gadgets that we use daily. We call this light the JUNK LIGHT. It doesn’t have any good benefits to our bodies. It is basically similar to junk food in that it has no nutritional value and can be harmful to your body.

Our bodies need the entire spectrum of light to function properly. Sun exposure is related to the production of the feel-good hormone Serotonin, which aids in the production of Melatonin to help govern sleep. Maximal Achievers try to get sunlight as they go through their day. They get up throughout the day,  go to a window, and stretch. Maximal Achievers also go for a walk outside to break up their busy workday. Become energized by rolling up your sleeves, maximizing as much sun exposure as possible, and staying hydrated.