The Motivation Movement | Inspirational Quotes, Daily Advice, Lifestyle Design, Personal Development

We’ve all been there at one time or another: stuck in limbo. The unknown is a frightening place to be, and can leave you feeling powerless, defeated, and helpless. 

How do we develop the life skills to navigate through the unknown? How do we maintain control in a completely undefined environment? Do these unusual conditions which possibly lie ahead occupy your headspace often? Our brain has a negativity bias which is tricky to manage, coping with unanticipated events is difficult enough without our brain compounding and amplifying the worst possible imaginable scenario. The equivalent of Google searching what a pain in your left-hand pinky could mean and assuming you have a fatal, terminal disease based off a WebMD generalization. 

Quote: “I wanted a perfect ending. Now I’ve learned, the hard way, that some poems don’t rhyme, and some stories don’t have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment, and making the best of it, without knowing what’s going to happen next. Delicious ambiguity.” – Gilda Radner

Delicious ambiguity . . . PERFECT! Life is about the journey, not the destination. You’ve heard it a million times. We struggle to understand WHY certain events take place in our live, till weeks, months or years later it all seems so clear. 

Uncertainty is not “bad” in itself; it’s our tolerance of the unknown that defines our reaction and the ensuing impact on our life. The best way to deal with ambiguity is to build up your tolerance. Here are FOUR ways to accomplish this.

1. Change Your Expectation to PLANS!

2. Boost Your EMOTIONAL Intelligence

3. Become MORE Flexible and Adaptable

4. Preemptively Practice Meditation and Mindfulness

Learning to live with uncertainty is one of the great challenges of life. By no means is this a simple challenge, but it’s essential to conquer in order to living a fulfilled, stress free life. 

Welcome novelty and thrill which go hand and hand with uncertainty by asserting your belief to move through it with ease. The key takeaway is to reveal yourself to the unknown, the random uncertainty of life, by building up a tolerance to it. 

Life is chock-full of uncertainty; we’ve just got to learn to live with it. Take advantage of the unknown. Plan for the unknown. Embrace the unknown.

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Why does time feel like it moves so much faster as you age? Maybe, when you’re young, the novelty of everything you experience being so new and fresh is what grounds us to the present, the here and now. Every day is an adventure. Every day we learn something new. When you grow and turn into an old fart, everything seemingly becomes less exciting.

Repetition sets in. Everyday feels the same. You went from life in the fast lane, high speeds, to slow and steady cruise control. It’s not the worst thing in the world, but the truth is, you’re living life on autopilot.

Living life on autopilot becomes dangerous when we go with the motion too much, with no resistance at all. It’s almost as if we lose consciousness of our experience being so wrapped up in the hustle and bustle of everyday life.

One day you snap out of it and realize: “HOLY SHIT, time is moving really fast and I’ve been doing the same damn thing every fucking day for the past 8 months. I haven’t paid attention to my health, my spirit, my mind, my needs and my dream.” 

We’ve been conditioned to think less and do more.

Quote: Very often, human beings are living like on autopilot, reacting automatically with what happens. What interests me about the life of an explorer is you are in the unknown; you are out of your habits. – Bertrand Piccard

When we live on autopilot, it feels like someone else is driving, not us. 

Signs You’re Living Life on Autopilot:

- Does every day seem like a blur to you?!

- Are you always busy and on-the-go?!

- Do you mindlessly scroll through social media?

- Are you dreading the monotony of every day life?!

How to STOP Living Life on Autopilot:

- Slow the F*CK down, relax and reflect.

- Bring meaning and intention to every day activities.

- Get out of your comfort zone!

- Challenge yourself, push it to the limit.

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I’m a huge Tupac junkie. I own all six movies Pac starred in on DVD. If there was a Tupac lyric recital competition, I’d 1000% win. I’ve been listening to Tupac since I was a pre-teen for Pete’s Sake. Tupac was without a doubt the most polarizing figure in rap and hip-hop ever. Raised by a Black Panther, he had REVOLUTIONARY in his blood! Pac was an inspiration to many, and way ahead of his time.

Quincy Jones said it best: “The tragedy of Tupac is that his untimely passing is representative of too many young black men in this country . . . If we had lost Oprah Winfrey at 25, we would have lost a relatively unknown, local market TV anchorwoman. If we had lost Malcolm X at 25, we would have lost a hustler named Detroit Red. And if I had left the world at 25, we would have lost a big-band trumpet player and aspiring composer--just a sliver of my eventual life potential.”

I’m 26 years old now, and while I’m proud of everything I had accomplished by age 25, I’d probably just be remembered as the kid from Long Island who is always preaching motivational quotes and sells soda and sticky notes! 

Quote: “Every time I speak I want the truth to come out. Every time I speak I want a shiver. I don’t want them to be like they know what I’m gonna say because it’s polite. I’m not saying I’m gonna rule the world or I’m gonna change the world, but I guarantee you that I will spark the brain that will change the world.”

Tupac left behind a ton of wisdom for us to learn from in his entire body of work. It doesn’t matter if you’re an actress, writer, entrepreneur, musician, athlete or WHATEVER; living by a few of these life lessons can benefit ANYONE!

THUG LIFE BABY!

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According to Squidoo, brain hacking is "to perform some act that gains access to the fundamental mechanism behind your mind and other people's minds by here-to-fore unknown or apparently mystical means." 

From a scientific viewpoint, a brain hack is a maneuver of the neuronal system to (temporarily) alter is functions like focus, awareness, memory, and perception. 

They say we only access (on average) 10% of our brains . . . Imagine tapping into the other 90% of your brains seemingly unlimited potential?! It doesn’t require a PhD to understand how and leverage the way the brain functions. 

Leading neuroscientists explain that mental hacks usually affect the brain through two overlapping but distinct mechanisms: the neurotransmitter and hormonal system. Imagine being able to achieve and maintain peak mental performance?! There are actionable tips and exercises you could put to work immediately to help you reach your desired mental state. 

Quote: My brain power depends on my retained mastery of analyzing in detail what's happening in my world and in my mind and body. I must continue to practice to retain my constructive and analytic powers. The goal is to be a master of my environment. - Michael Merzenich

How do we begin to hack, train, re-wire, challenge and develop your brain?! How do we configure out brain so that we feel happy, satisfied, fulfilled, healthy, strong and uninhibited more often?! Reducing the stress responses (flight-or-fight) and enhancing the reward systems in your brain is the goal. 

Different people have different levers to pull and buttons to push. Experiment with all these strategies we’ve discussed today, find what works best for you, and put it into action.

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For many, 2020 was riddled with misfortune, anxiety, pressure, work and information overload, erratic emotions, and sleepless nights. In the most recent episode of The Motivation Movement, we took time to discuss various methods of reflection, to help you better understand and learn from your 2020 experience, so 2021 can be filled with love, happiness, health, friendship, success, and good fortune.

Personally, I asked myself many of the same questions that were posed in the last episode. What theme or name would I give to 2020? The FIRE Starter. A FUCKING flame was lit under my ass, BIG TIME. 2020 has literally felt like a giant preparation session for 2021 and beyond. 

In 2020, I kept my commitments, worked according to my values, and prioritized my mental health. With every new year comes a clean slate — so what will you do with this fresh start? How do we keep the momentum FLOWING into 2021?

Quote: We spend January 1st walking through our lives, room by room, drawing up a list of work to be done, cracks to be patched. Maybe this year, to balance the list, we ought to walk through the rooms of our lives ... not looking for flaws but for potential. – Ellen Goodman

Luckily, we spent the final few days of 2020 reflecting on the work to be done and cracks to be patched. We identified the flaws, now it’s time to unlock the potential. WHERE DO WE BEGIN?!? We begin by implementing ALL the actionable advice we’ve discussed over the past few months. To be successful in the NEW YEAR, we need to drive accountability, practicing gratitude, develop good habits, build our temperament, be patient and focus on ABUNDANCE. 2021 should be a culmination of all the lessons learned in 2020.

Driving accountability is the best place to start, having already established goals (resolutions) for the NEW YEAR. It’s not easy to hold yourself accountable, but you’ll thank yourself by the end of 2021 for having been so organized and productive all year. 

Practicing gratitude should be another pillar of success for 2021. We already made a list of ALL the people and items we were grateful in 2020, let’s keep it rolling. 

Accountability and gratitude are ideas, practices, that can become habitual over time. Habits are created by starting with small adjustments, stacking SMALL WINS is essential. 

Being patient and building a positive temperament go HAND and HAND with habit forming. Personal growth and development TAKE TIME. What's the purpose of nurturing patience in yourself? 

The possibilities for the next 365 days are endless. A lot can change, and most importantly, you can change, FOR THE BETTER. If you’re here listening to this episode today, on January 1st, 2021, you’re in a good spot. 

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2020 has been fucking crazy, there’s no other way to describe it. We experienced invasive murder hornets, destructive wildfires in Australia and all along the West Coast of the United States, Tiger King, civil unrest, and a very hectic, extremely divisive election. This year has been challenging to say the least. 

It’s now more important than ever to practice gratitude in the wake of such troubling and unfortunate times. I implore you to not leave 2020 feeling entirely defeated and hopeless, as hard as it may seem. If we fail to find the good within the shit-storm that was 2020, we’re not trying hard enough, we’re just giving up. That’s unacceptable in my book. 

If you learned a new skill, made a new friend, embarked on a new adventure, started a side hustle or began to practice meditation, you deserve to congratulate yourself on a small but meaningful WIN! 😊 We often talk about the importance of reflection; the final days of the year make for a perfect opportunity. 

Quote: If you wrote a book for each day of the year that has past. And then reread it on New Year's Eve, what things would you change, what things would you cherish. Take the things that are cherished and vow to focus more on that in the coming New Year. – Theodore W. Higginsworth

Analysis (Body): Some days I felt confident, others I felt depressed. Some days I felt unstoppable, some day I felt defeated. Some days I adventured. Some days I didn’t leave bed. What feelings and emotions have you experienced this year? 

What did you LOVE? What would you leave out? What could you add or improve?! 

Answering these questions helps you realize your accomplishments, lessons learned, knowledge and skills acquired, and mistakes and missteps you may have made. 

Reflection gives us the opportunity to FOCUS, bringing clarity to the key takeaways from 2020. 

I hope these ends of the year reflection ideas help you build and grow into your best self in 2021. I wish you nothing but health, happiness, and success as you venture off into the NEW YEAR! 

Remember, reflection is important. By taking a step back and taking a moment to make sense of the past year, you remind yourself of your values, what’s important, what MATTERS.

The New Year is right around the corner. Do you have any resolutions in mind? Are you going to start exercising, eating healthy, become more organized, read more, etc.? If so, you’re going to need to learn how to develop these good habits, building them into your routine in a way that encourages long term sustainability.

We all have ambitions to do and be better, we briefly become hyped up to crush our goals and then usually lose motivation and give up along the way. It’s REALLY easy to become irritated and discouraged. The question I want to explore with y’all today is: how do you develop good habits and make them stick?

One of the biggest misconceptions about forming habits is that it only takes 21 days to fully develop. ACTUAL scientific research shows this wildly inaccurate belief simply isn’t true. Forming a habit is a dynamic situation dependent on the individual, the nature of the habit being formed, environmental factors, genetics, etc. We struggle to adopt new habits because we, (1) don’t understand how habits are structured, and (2) you’re attempting to accomplish too much too quickly! 

Understanding how habits are formed is essential. In psychology, habit structure is broken down into three simple components: the cue or trigger, the action and the reward. The difficulty in forming new, positive habits like we mentioned earlier (exercising, eating healthy, etc.), is that the rewards are not instantly visible or tangible. 

Quote: In essence, if we want to direct our lives, we must take control of our consistent actions. It's not what we do once in a while that shapes our lives, but what we do consistently. - Tony Robbins

A recent study proved that it takes 66 days on average to form a new habit and that some people can take up to 250 days to form the same habit. What holds true across the board is that repetition and consistency are ESSENTIAL. 

1) What signals can I incorporate into my environment to prompt me to act? 2) Which barriers that are preventing me from taking actions can be easily removed?! 3) How can I effectively self-incentivize and reward myself in a healthy and productive way, and be encouraged to keep progressing?

Eliminating excessive OPTIONS is key to allowing yourself to form positive habits more easily. Why do you think Mark Zuckerberg always wears the same grey t-shirt, blue jeans, and black loafers?! Why does Steve Jobbs always rock the classic black turtleneck, blue jeans and dad sneakers

IF-THEN PLANS are another component of forming habits, related to the idea of cues and triggers to encourage consistency. IF-THEN PLANS are best utilized when stacked on top of existing habits. 

A good chunk of the habit-forming process is contingent on your mental conditioning. That’s why my last piece of advice is to start small. Start with a habit so easy that you CAN’T SAY NO! 

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NATURE abhors a vacuum . . . This idiom is used to express the idea that empty or unfilled spaces are unnatural as they go against the laws of nature and physics. Despite what you may believe, the physical, emotional, digital, and spiritual space we occupy has a significant impact on our lives. 

When you create space in your schedule or unexpectedly discover yourself with unanticipated FREE time, what do you do? Do you instantly use it as an opportunity to run an errand or catch up on work? Do you do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING?! Do you try and squeeze in doing something you ENJOY?!

Removing physical and mental CLUTTER allows what we REALLY need in life to enter our space. If there is something NEW you want to manifest into your life, it’s impossible to happen if your physical and mental storage banks are at capacity. 

From our closets to our schedule, it’s EASY to drown yourself in clutter, it’s not easy to pull yourself out of the mess, let alone realize you’re in one to begin with. For all the Doers and HUSTLERs out there, it may seem counter-intuitive to work less and/or be less productive, but when we intentionally minimalize our lives, we gain SO MUCH MORE! 

Agreeing to every request and demand for our attention without reflecting on if this is something we desire or need in life causes us to become consumed by unimportant, petty to-dos and tasks. 

Quote: "Some changes look negative on the surface, but you will soon realize that space is being created in your life for something NEW to emerge." - Eckhart Tolle

Analysis (Body): 

Out with the old, in with the new. Change starts with creating a space for the change to occur. If you had one full uninterrupted hour per day that was guaranteed to be blocked off, what would you do with that time? Would you write a book? Have lunch with your Mom? Call a friend? Exercise? Cook a wholesome meal? 

Creating space makes room for things, people, and opportunities to enter your life. Creating space is opening your time, energy, and physical space to allow more room to do what you love and love what you do. Being able to foster clarity allows you to focus on what’s important.

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Have y’all ever been involved in a network marketing organization, AKA a direct selling company? Amway, Avon, Mary Kay, Herbalife, Tupperware, NuSkin and Primerica are a few of the more popular examples. 

Network marketing is a business model that depends on person-to-person sales by independent representatives, often working from home. A network marketing business may require you to build a network of business partners or salespeople to assist with lead generation and closing sales. 

There are many reputable network marketing operations, but some have been denounced as pyramid schemes. The latter may focus less on sales to consumers than on recruitment of salespeople who may be required to pay upfront for expensive starter kits.

We all have that one friend or relative on Social Media who has offered to help you lose weight quickly, VIA a delicious, instant protein shake, or cure your ailments using a proprietary blend of essential oils. Maybe they tried to sell you all-natural skin care products or athleisure/fitness apparel. Furthermore, if you TRULY enjoy the product, you can earn money from the comfort of your home only working 5-10 hours per week by SELLING it. To the ambitious and optimistic potential entrepreneur, the idea is undeniably enticing. Sell a product you love and use every day to your family and friends, while recruiting other like-minded hustlers to help grow your business along the way!

TRUST ME. I’ve been there. I was recruited at the age of 17 to Amway. I then moved onto another organization called VEMMA a few years later. Financially speaking, I didn’t make a killing, but I didn’t lose money, luckily, as so many often do. There were a few invaluable lessons learned along my journey as a young network marketer that I’d LOVE to share with you today!

Quote: “Network marketing tends to develop the type of leader who influences others by being a great teacher, teaching others to fulfill their life’s dreams by teaching others to go for their dreams.” – Robert Kiyosaki, The Business of the 21st Century

At the very least, being involved in a network marketing company provided me with the inspiration to go out and CHASE MY DREAMS. I truly don’t believe I’d have a podcast or be an entrepreneur if I had never engaged in network marketing. Education, personal development, financial literacy, networking, and community building are the central themes in my personal experience. 

Network marketing basically helped develop and enhance ALL my soft skills: communication, emotional intelligence, leadership, teamwork, critical thinking, positive attitude, patience and respect. I became a better entrepreneur and more importantly, a better person because of network marketing. Don’t let failure derail your ambitions, it’s a just a temporary detour. Get back on track and keep cruising in the direction of your dreams! 

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Taking the first step towards conquering a goal, learning a new skill, or studying a foreign language is often the greatest challenge. We’re confronted with doubt, thoughts of giving up before you even start run wild. Everything you dream of achieving sometimes feels unreachable. Maybe it’s because you feel disadvantaged. Maybe it’s because the activity you’re pursuing has physical and/or financial risk involved. Maybe it’s simply the fear or the UNKNOWN. DO NOT LET self-doubt and anxiety stop you from TRYING! 

Simply put, a learning curve is the rate of a person's progress in gaining experience or new skills. The length and shape of your learning curve plays a critical role in analyzing how fast you’ll be able to master a discipline or succeed in accomplishing a specific goal. Too often though, people expect INSTANT GRATIFICATION. 

Quote: My mother always taught me never to look back in regret but to move on to the next thing. The amount of time people waste dwelling on failures rather than putting that energy into another project, always amazes me. I have fun running all the Virgin businesses-so a setback is never a bad experience, just a learning curve. – Sir Richard Branson

Skills don’t get mastered on the first shot. Skills are sharpened and perfected over time, after tackling obstacles and being faced with adversity.

Failure speeds up the learning curve when you take the time to analyze and absorb information from your mistakes and the mistakes of others! 

SIX Actionable Methods to Accelerate Progression through the LEARNING CURVE:

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