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TotalWellnessCleanseCleanseT O T A L W E L L N E S S

A NEW YEARA NEW YOU

INSPIRATION JOURNAL

Reclaim your health and feel your best in just 30 days

2TOTAL WELLNESS Cleanse

TotalWellnessCleanseContents

Introduction to Your TOTAL WELLNESS Cleanse™ Daily Inspiration .........................................................................................4

Day 1 Precession ..............................................................................6

Day 2 You Are The Creator ........................................................8

Day 3 Be – Do – Have ................................................................10

Day 4 Speak Kindly to Yourself ..............................................12

Day 5 You Speak Your Reality ................................................14

Day 6 You MUST Believe ...........................................................16

Day 7 Fear – The Heaviest Anchor of All ..........................18

Day 8 Meaning is All That Matters .......................................20

Day 9 Momentum ........................................................................22

Day 10 You Are What You Repeatedly Do ......................24

Day 11 Are You Worthy Enough? ..........................................26

Day 12 Take Responsibility .....................................................28

Day 13 Your Standards Determine Your Life ..................30

Day 14 Fear of Failure vs. Fear of Success ......................32

Day 15 Wellness Begins with Your Commitment .........35


TotalWellnessCleanseDay 16 All That Matters is What You Think of Yourself.. 37

Day 17 A New Year Thought ...................................................39

Day 18 Forgive Yourself ........................................................... 40

Day 19 The Power of Your Inner World ..............................41

Day 20 Are You “Wired” for Wellness? .............................45

Day 21 The Power of Focus .....................................................51

Day 22 You Get More of What You’re Grateful For .....54

Day 23 Letting Go ....................................................................... 57

Day 24 Say YES! ...........................................................................59

Day 25 Give for the Sake of Giving ......................................61

Day 26 Giving: A Formula for Joy .......................................63

Day 27 Speed Ahead to Your Full Potential ...................65

Day 28 Self-Respect ...................................................................67

Day 29 Persistence ......................................................................69

Day 30 Be Happy! .........................................................................71


TotalWellnessCleanseIntroduction to Your

TOTAL WELLNESS Cleanse™ Daily Inspiration

Cleansing isn’t just about ridding your body of toxins, chemicals, and excess fat. It is also about purifying your mind, clarifying your thoughts, and empowering your daily outlook.

For that reason, we have included this Daily Inspiration journal. Its purpose is to inspire you, keep you upbeat, and help you focus on how amazing you and your life really are!

While most people are watching the daily news upon waking or before they go to bed at night, polluting their subconscious their minds with murder, destruction, and overall negativity, you will be uplifted and kept focused on the good and the positive through the inspirational and empowering lessons you’ll read in this journal.

Thus, for maximum effect, read these lessons when you wake up in the morning, before you go to bed at night, and whenever else you need some encouragement, motivation, or reassurance that everything will work in your favor!

Life is what you make it. You and your life become what you focus on. Personally, Amy and I could care less about what’s happening in the news. In fact, we can get everything we need to know just in passing a newsstand. There’s no reason to inundate your mind with constant negativity and daily reminders that our world is going to tear itself apart!

No matter how bad things may seem, always remember that there is always an opposite to every situation. There has to be – that’s the way the world works. Night and day. Yin and yang. Heads and tails. Life and death. There are countless examples of how our world and universe are always in balance. The goal is simply to take your head out of the sand and see the other side of the coin. Focus on what’s amazing in your life and you will get more of it. It’s truly incredible how your entire world can change just by improving the quality of your thoughts and feelings.

Try it and you’ll see for yourself!


TotalWellnessCleanseThat’s what this Daily Inspiration journal will help you accomplish.

The only thing that matters in life is the meaning you attach to something. Therefore, we experience a very different reality because of the fact that we each give the same situations different meanings. As such, there is no objective reality, only the reality you create for yourself. No matter where you are in life, you need to take responsibility for your thoughts, feelings, and actions. They are what produce your results. Want different results? Then start planting seeds that will lead to more empowering thoughts, feelings, and actions.

We hope this journal will assist you in doing so. Enjoy!


TotalWellnessCleanseDay 1

Precession

What is so important about living a healthy and active life? Well, besides the obvious health benefits, the process of living an active and healthy lifestyle makes the world a better place.

Everyone on this planet is trying to survive. However, those who choose to live a healthy life, better their chances of survival, while creating lasting positive impact. In many ways, he or she is acting like the honeybee. The honeybee’s primary objective is to obtain nectar to make honey. While in the process of going after the nectar, the honeybee is actually involved in a much larger purpose. At 90 degrees to the direction of the honeybee’s flight path, pollen is being dusted on its wings.

As it goes continues on its search for more nectar, the honeybee is cross-pollinating the rooted botanicals. This cross-pollination is a far more important outcome than making honey, for it results in a beautiful, lush garden. If you’ve seen the animated Bee Movie you’ll have a better understanding of its importance.

Living a healthy and active life is really like being a honeybee. By focusing on bettering your own health and fitness level you are also inspiring others to do the same. This inspiration is at 90 degrees to your very own health path.

This 90-degree phenomenon has been defined scientifically by Dr. R Buckminster Fuller as precession. The idea is that when something (or someone) is in motion moving toward a specific objective, what happens precessionally, at 90 degrees, is far more important.

Perhaps you understand this already. Even though you may not know of the exact consequences of your actions, be sure that you are affecting very positive change to those around you.

For instance, if you have children, how do you think them seeing you exercise and eat well will affect their own habits and lifestyle decisions as they go through life? How about your friends or work colleagues? How about your spouse?


TotalWellnessCleanseIt’s important to understand that precession is ALWAYS at work; all that differs is the end result. Are you inspiring others to live a healthier life or are you doing the opposite? Well, you’ve already proven the former by joining our cleanse.

Just imagine how many more people we can help and inspire to be healthy just by doing so ourselves! As Mahatma Gandhi once famously said, “We must be the change we wish to see in the world.”

By improving your own health, you inevitably improve the health of those around you and, in turn, the health of our planet!



You Are The Creator

Look around you. Everything you see began as a thought in someone’s mind. The chair you sit on. The computer you work at. The car you drive. It all started with an idea – a thought – brought forth out of nothing. Everything begins with a thought.

The verb for turning thoughts into things is to manifest. It comes from the Middle English word manifestus meaning “visible” and the Latin word manus meaning “hand”. When you manifest something, you metaphorically reach your hand through an invisible curtain between the tangible world and intangible world of imagination and pull your desired “thought” into existence.

What you think, you cause to appear in your life. If you think thoughts of happiness, health, and abundance, they will manifest in your life. What you think about, you bring about. Your mind is an incredibly complex and sophisticated machine, for a lack of a better word, which can perform miracles beyond your comprehension.

As with precession, it is helpful to remember that you ALWAYS manifest; all that differs is what you manifest. Like the fruit true is to its seed, you are the fruit of the thoughts you have planted and nourished.

So the question becomes, “What do you want to create? What would you like to manifest?”

Do you want better health, more energy, and a fitter body? All you have to do, then, is begin by planting the seeds that will yield these fruit. As an example, think of yourself living with ever-lasting radiant health, more energy than ever before, and a body that makes even models jealous. The more vividly you can see (and feel) yourself the way you would ultimately like to be, the sooner it will become your reality. Remove, from your mind, the weeds of negativity and impossibility and plant only seeds that will empower you forward.

Just like an apple seed will not produce a peach tree, poor thoughts will not produce the health and vitality you wish to have. As surely as the acorn becomes the oak tree, the images in your mind become your reality.


TotalWellnessCleanseThoughts become things.

Every thought has a consequence. No thought lives rent-free in your mind. The more intense the thought, the more powerful the outcome. Better your life today by thinking positive thoughts with emotional intensity. Allow enthusiastic images and thoughts to grow and prosper, while allowing disempowering negative ones to vanish forever. And don’t wait. Feel fantastic, NOW!

See your life as you want it to be. See your health and body as you’d like. Don’t hold back. Nothing is to unrealistic. You can manifest anything you want, you just need to see it, believe it, and allow to grow in your mind.



Be – Do – Have

To have anything, you must first be.

Do want to have more energy, greater health, a fitter body, and a long and happy life? Who doesn’t!

If so, then you need to do the things that will enable you to enjoy these benefits. But, in order to do, you must begin by being.

What this means is that in order for you to take the necessary action (do) towards your goals (have) you must first become the type of person (be) that will do so. Being is where it all starts.

To be means your thoughts, your emotions, and your habitual ways of being you. For instance, by fostering empowering thoughts and emotions you will be a different person than someone who does the complete opposite. In the end, each way of being will lead to very different actions and, thus, different results.

The problem is that most people view life in the opposite direction. They believe that they need to have something before they can be something/someone. The classic example of this is when people say, “I’ll be happy when I just lose 20 lbs!”

But this way of thinking doesn’t foster the appropriate actions. Instead, we should say, “I am so happy each and every day for my wonderful body!”

The difference can be profound. By being happy now, you immediately build your self-esteem and show gratitude for where you are. As a result, you feel better about yourself and feel more empowered to take action toward the ultimate goal (ie. losing weight).

The idea is to love yourself (no matter what!) and nourish your mind with empowering thoughts and emotions that will propel you to take massive action towards your goals. If you let your being-ness right now suffer for the hope that it will miraculously come to you “some day” as a result of some external event, then you can never be!


TotalWellnessCleanseSo, think of your goals and ask yourself the following power questions to help you be who you need to be to achieve them. Remember, your results are a reflection of the questions you ask yourself.

Example goal: “I am so happy and grateful for jumping out of bed each morning with more energy than the energizer bunny!”

Power questions:

“What would I have to believe if this were true?”

“How can I (state goal)?”

“How would (think of a role model) think or behave in this situation?



Speak Kindly to Yourself

Do you ever talk to yourself? Of course you do. We all do. And we all have two voices at opposite ends of the spectrum.

At one end, we have a positive internal voice that encourages us, especially when we’re doing something good. You know that little voice that says, “Yes! Well done!” or “Go for it, you can do it!”

Do you have a voice like that?

At the other end, we also have a voice that is more skeptical: “Who do you think you are? You can’t do that!” “What an idiot you are!” “Why are you so stupid?”

Sometimes, without even being aware of it, this skeptical voice talks us out of our dreams. You know the feeling, don’t you? Have you ever had a great idea that made you feel unstoppable, like you were on top of the world? But then, a few short minutes later, that negative voice fires off in your head and does its thing. Your enthusiasm and energy are sapped and it’s a return to the status quo.

T. Harv Eker calls this your “mind frick”. This mind frick can keep you from achieving so many dreams. Its sole purpose is protection and survival. This negative little voice is a derivative of your lower self. So remember that when you hear that disempowering dialogue going off in your head, that it is NOT you, it is your lower self. A self that is based in fear! It does not want you to change because that would mean getting out of your comfort zone.

Allowing your lower self to rule your mind will hold you back in all areas of your life. The first step to overcoming this limiting component of your being is through awareness. When you are aware of when you’re thinking and behaving from your lower self, you can choose to ignore it and change instantly. This diffuses its energy and, overtime, lessens its power over your thoughts and your life.


TotalWellnessCleanseRemember, where attention goes, energy flows, and results show. If that nagging voice pops into your head, simply pay less attention to it. Turn down its volume. Make its voice appear far away. Make that negative mind frick sound like a chipmunk. Go ahead, try it. Notice how you feel. By adjusting these parameters you can easily change the impact it has on you. After all, can you really take a soft-speaking, high-pitched chipmunk seriously? I don’t think so!

On the flipside, when you hear that positive encouraging voice in your head, you want to amplify its intensity. Make your positive internal dialogue louder, closer, and more pronounced. We tend to retain and remember things that deeply move us emotionally. The more intense and emotional you can internalize this positive self-talk, the more profound its effect.

It’s like your mother always told you, “If you have nothing nice to say, then don’t say anything at all.” That couldn’t be more accurate, especially when speaking to yourself. After all, if your friends spoke to you the way you sometimes speak to yourself, you probably wouldn’t hang out with them that much, would you?



You Speak Your Reality

Not only do the words you speak internally have an effect on your physiology and life experience, but so too do the words that you utter aloud.

People with an impoverished vocabulary live an impoverished emotional life. Conversely, those with rich vocabularies have a multi-hued palette of colours with which to paint their experiences. Therefore, you can instantly change how you think, feel, and behave simply by changing your habitual vocabulary.

Have you ever asked someone the question, “Hey, how are you?” only to get a response like, “I’m not bad.”? Not bad! What the heck kind of answer is that? Does that mean that they’re supposed to be feeling bad?

How often have you heard somebody respond by saying, “Oh, I’m absolutely amazing!” ? Definitely less often, right?

Now just imagine the difference in the quality of life from these two answers. Both responses tell us a lot about each individual, respectively. Which person would you rather spend more time with? Hopefully, the latter.

We speak our reality. And the amazing thing is that the more you speak of greatness, happiness, abundance, and love, the more of it comes into your life! The more you say something, the more likely your body will engrain as part of who you are.

Say YES instead of no! Say AMAZING instead of good. Say GORGEOUS instead of good looking. Get the idea? Speak great words that add intensity and passion to your life!

Speak what you want to feel. Speak what you want to believe. With enough intensity, over and over, it will become your reality. Thoughts are things and so are words. The words you use will change your physiology and who you are, as well. Speaking negative words creates acid in your body and weakens it. Conversely, speaking positive words of love, abundance, and joy will transform your body into something totally different – a physiology that is filled with love, happiness, and health.


TotalWellnessCleanseSpeak well of yourself and of others. Give somebody a sincere and genuine complement – you will literally make his or her day. Tell others that you’re feeling amazing, energized, happy, and excited, instead of complaining about the weather, feeling tired, sad, and bored.

Can you see the difference words can make? Just by reading these words, you can probably feel different sensations in your body.

So start today by improving your vocabulary. Choose words that motivate and uplift you and to those with whom you speak and watch the immediate impact it will have on your life (and theirs too).

The first, and most notable, thing you’ll experience is the interesting reactions you’ll get from other people. For some reason, most people expect to hear your complain about your life, yet, as soon as you speak with an uplifting and positive demeanor others look at you at in a weird way – kind of like the deer in the headlights glaze. Don’t be frightened; they simply didn’t get the memo.

Most people like to know that your life (and everyone else’s) is just as bad or worse than theirs. Boasting your happiness, success, and excitement might aggravate others but just remember that they are just jealous. They only wish they had your uplifting spirit.

You create your life. Don’t let others take away your joie de vivre!



You MUST Believe

A belief is a feeling of absolute certainty about what something means. For example, you might believe that you are good looking or that sharks are “man killers”. The cool part is that everyone’s beliefs are different and totally subjective based on his or her life experiences. We have beliefs in every single area of our lives. But perhaps the most important ones deal with what we believe about ourselves.

What do you believe about yourself? Do you really believe that you have the power to do whatever it takes to reach your goals, whether they be losing weight, improving your health, having more energy, or anything else?

Whatever it is that you believe, this belief has been formed over years and years of experiences that you now use as references. For instance, if you have been successful at sticking to exercise in the past, you probably firmly believe that you will be able to continue doing so into the future, right?

But what if you’ve failed on numerous previous occasions? Are you going to have the same level of unwavering belief about your ability to make it happen this time around? Probably not.

Think about a negative belief that you might have. Let’s just take the example of believing that you can’t keep off excess weight (ie. you’ve lost it and it just keeps coming back). Now imagine this belief as a tabletop. What helps this tabletop stand is its supporting legs. The analogy is that each reference that supports your belief is one leg on your table. Thus, the more legs you have supporting your table (your belief), the stronger your belief will be. Remember, each leg is a reference to an experience you’ve had that reinforces your particular belief. So in this example, each leg could represent each failure you’ve previously had at keeping off excess weight. Get it?

For further clarity, you can even ask yourself the question, “How do I know I have this belief?” The answer will come from the legs (references) that support your tabletop (belief).


TotalWellnessCleanseBut if you want to overcome limiting beliefs and adopt a new set of habits and thought patterns that empower and propel you forward, then you need to adopt the 3 beliefs for lasting success. These 3 beliefs come from the work of one of my mentors, Anthony Robbins. The 3 beliefs you must have are the following:

IT MUST CHANGE NOW!

I MUST CHANGE IT NOW!

I CAN CHANGE IT NOW!

Notice how certain words are highlighted in these 3 belief statements. Internalize these 3 beliefs. Relate them to an area of your life that you want to change for good and repeat them several times a day with total conviction. You can’t fool your subconscious mind into believing something you don’t truly believe. Thus, you must begin to absolutely believe what it is you tell yourself.

For instance, if you want to lose 20 lbs you could use the following:

My weight must change now!

I must lose 20 lbs starting now!

I can lose 20 lbs starting now!

So go ahead and take an area of your life that you want to finally master. Create your 3 belief statements, write them out on a 3 x 5 index card, and carry it with you wherever you go. Several times a day, repeat (out loud) these statements and believe them with every fiber in your body! You can do it. You deserve to do it! Go for it!



Fear – The Heaviest Anchor of All

You are the captain of the ship. The anchor is your fear. Are you being held back by your anchor?

How many times have you been excited to do something or take a big risk that you knew could bring you amazing pleasure and great results? And how often have you just as easily not taken action and given up, even before you started?

The answer to these questions is FEAR! Fear stops you from moving forward. Fear stops you from taking action. Fear doesn’t allow you to be your best. Fear can destroy your psychology and immobilize you from taking action. But you’re not alone. Everyone experiences fear in some context of their lives. Fear of rejection, fear of failure, fear of success, fear of love (or losing love), fear of being alone, or fear of the unknown. Fear is hard-wired into every human being.

The secret is learning how to use fear instead of letting fear use you! To achieve true happiness and greatness in your life, you must learn how to acknowledge fear AND act in spite of it!

While we all experience countless variations of fear, there are 2 primary fears that human beings share: the fear of not being enough, and the fear of not being loved.

Overcoming these fear requires some focused introspection and cosistent action to “re-program” the fundamental beliefs you have about yourself. Most often, these 2 fundamental fears stemmed from a childhood where “earning” the approval and love of our parents was our first priority. For many people, it still is – regardless of their age.

Let’s look at perfectionism – a trait that is deeply rooted in fear. Being a perfectionist means that everything needs to be perfect. Everything! But it’s important to realize that perfectionism stems from a fear of not being enough. Because, subconsciously, the perfectionist believes that he or she is not enough, nothing and no one else can ever be good enough for them either. Perfectionism creates a downward spiral of chasing dreams and ambitiously trying to prove that you are good enough. However, there is never a light at the end of the tunnel. True happiness can never be achieved because things and people (themselves included) are never good enough.


TotalWellnessCleanseThis is just an example but it illustrates how deep-seeded fears can lead us down a slippery slope.

To move forward, you must first be AWARE of what your fears are. To help you do so, take a few moments to answer the following questions and please write out your answers.

“What is your greatest fear?”

“What benefit has this fear given you in the past?”

“What has this fear cost you in the past? What have you missed out on?

“Why be free of this fear now?”

Now, you should have more clarity about what holds you back. With this power you can NOW decide to change. Remember, everything we do, we do for a reason and a purpose and it serves us. Make the decision to no longer allow your fears hold you back.

After all, you are the captain of the ship and have complete control as to when you want to lift the anchor (fear) from the ocean floor. You can’t pretend that the anchor doesn’t exist but you can decide what you want to do with it. Since you are the captain of the ship, you control your destination – your destiny.

You must believe that no matter what decisions you make or risks you take that you will always be enough and loved by those closest to you and, most importantly, by yourself! You must believe you ARE enough. You must believe that you HAVE all the love you need right now – no matter what you do.

The best way to overcome your fear is to face it head on. You’ll quickly realize that it wasn’t that big a deal in the first place. So find your fear and challenge it. Remember, if you can’t, then you must!



Meaning is All That Matters

What controls the quality of your life? Money, health, happiness, success, love, family?

The answer depends on you. What controls your life are the meanings you associate to the things in your life, which are shaped by your own personal psychology and your world view (our beliefs and values).

Imagine that you’re sitting down with 2 friends when all of a sudden someone approaches the 3 of you. Understand that this stranger is really 3 people since each one of you will perceive and give a different meaning to what this stranger’s approach is all about. One of you might think that he’s coming to ask for money, another might think he’s come to strike up a friendly conversation, while you might think that he’s a long lost friend from the past.

These are just hypotheticals, but they demonstrate that the meaning you give a situation is all that matters. As such, there is no objective reality. All that matters is what you experience. The meaning you give something is your reality.

Consider another example where you’re expecting a friend for dinner but for some reason they’re an hour late. The meaning you might give this situation is that your friend is selfish and disrespectful. The result – you become irate! But what if you believe that your friend’s tardiness is because they were in car accident. That’s a totally different meaning and set of emotions, right? Instead of being irate, you are worried.

So you can see that once we’ve established a meaning, we form a pattern of emotions that we associate to this meaning. It’s how we cope. More importantly, though, the emotions you experience (stemming from the meaning you give something) determine the quality of your life. Thus, what you feel is your life. If you are constantly happy, then your life is probably much different from someone who is constantly frustrated or angry.


TotalWellnessCleanseBut how can you feel these (or any) emotions on a consistent basis. Well, start by asking yourself these questions:

“How will I know when I’m successful?”

“How will I know when I’m healthy?”

“How will I know when I’m happy?”

The answers to these questions can reveal a lot about your standards and the meaning you attribute to these areas of your life. One person might be happy just by waking up in the morning. For someone else, they have to achieve “xyz…” before they can feel happy. All that matters is the meaning you attribute to anything that happens in your life. There is no objective right or wrong. You determine what is right and wrong for you. This can be a blessing or a curse – but you’re the one who chooses!

Today, I would like you to introspect and ask yourself what meaning you associate to exercise and eating well. I would also like you to consider what it would mean if you never, ever again ate the foods you crave the most. For instance, do you associate pleasure or pain to the experiences? I guarantee you’ll learn a lot about yourself.



Momentum

Are you familiar with Newton’s First Law in physics? It’s called “inertia” and it states that things have a tendency to stay at rest or continue in uniform motion unless an external force changes these states. For instance, if you were in outer space (where there is no wind resistance or friction) and threw a ball, it would continue on its course forever – unless something disrupted its motion.

Your life is the same way. Have you ever gone through periods of time where you felt unstoppable? You know those times when exercising and eating well every day was as easy and effortless as breathing?

Well, that’s momentum (or inertia)! You see, when you sit on the couch and eat poorly your momentum is such that these behaviours will continue. Similarly, if you have a habit of starting each day with a great workout followed by a nutritious meal, this too is an example of momentum. The only difference is the end result. In the first case, you won’t be improving your fitness or health, while in the second case you will.

Momentum is inertia. It is forward motion with energy. The goal is obviously to create positive momentum so you can enjoy the best life ever. To do so, all you have to do is START!

This is where so many people go wrong. They wait until all their ducks are in line (which never happens) before they take action. It is critical to understand that there is never a better time to start than right now. Not one minute from now; not one day from now! Now is all you have.

And I’ve heard every excuse in the book. “I’ll start tomorrow.” “I’ll start exercising once I start eating better.” “I’ll start eating better when I start exercising.” “I’ll get in shape first, then I’ll hire a trainer.” The list goes on and on. The one thing these excuses all have in common is that they’re complete and utter B.S.!

Do you have any idea how much easier tomorrow will be if you start today? By starting now, you begin to create momentum that will continue you forward. But I will agree that the toughest part is just getting started. But you have to – no matter what. Otherwise, you can’t create the energy and momentum to carry you forward effortlessly.


TotalWellnessCleanseYou know that a space shuttle requires an astronomical amount of energy to escape the earth’s atmosphere, right? But did you know that once it gets into orbit you could direct the shuttle from earth with a string? It’s amazing! And that’s the power of momentum.

Like the shuttle, getting started requires tons of energy. However, once you get into orbit (into your groove) it becomes effortless. But you can never get to that effortless state unless you get started now and continue forth.

It’s like when you first start working out. The first few workouts are tough and there’s some soreness that occurs afterwards. But this soreness goes away after just a few workouts. But if you start, stop, then start again, you can never create the necessary momentum to avoid the discomfort and energy from those first few workouts.

So your take home message is to START TODAY! Whatever it is you want to do – DO IT NOW! Procrastination and hesitation rob your momentum. They must not be allowed to present themselves. You need to realize that what you feel like or don’t feel like doing doesn’t matter. You must be able to act in spite of how you feel. This is the only way to create daily habits that will build the momentum to carry you to the stars!



You Are What You Repeatedly Do

Yesterday, we talked about momentum. Today, we’re going to build on that and discuss an integral component to building lasting momentum – creating daily habits.

Once you’ve gotten started, it’s essential to continue doing what it is you want to do each day. If your goal is to lose weight and get in great shape then you need to make movement (or exercise) part of your daily life. In order to do so, you must create habit of doing something active every single day for at least one month. It takes time to re-program the way we think and behave and it is therefore critical do repeat such activities each day.

In doing so, you not only form more empowering habits but you also fortify your momentum. With each passing day, your momentum grows and grows and you begin to feel unstoppable. You start to enjoy the process and the process, in turn, becomes so much easier and effortless.

But the key is that it needs to be done every single day, and preferably at the same time of day. Want to become a better runner? Run every single day at the same time (obviously some days need to be a light jog or even a walk to prevent overtraining). After just a few days, your body will be trained to want to run. Just as easily as you can create the habit of brewing a morning coffee (not something I would recommend), you can train your body to enjoy anything! The secret is to create positive, empowering habits that move you closer to your ultimate goal.

What you end up creating is a circle of reinforced pleasure and daily action. So, you take action, you feel good, and, in turn, you take more action. This propels you forward.


TotalWellnessCleanseHere are FOUR helpful strategies to help you create as much momentum as possible:

1. Get Into a Peak State – use your body and your power of focus to feel amazing, powerful, and unstoppable. Emotion is created by motion. How would you need to use your body to feel pumped up, motivated, and confident? No go do it.

2. Find Your Passion – What do you love? What do you hate? What are you passionate about? What really drives you in life? Figure out what it is and then…

3. Decide and Commit – make your decision and commit to doing whatever it takes to accomplish your goal.

4. Take Massive Daily Action – Just do it! Don’t wait, start now and commit to taking this action every single day!



Are You Worthy Enough?

Let’s face it. There is something in your life that you’ve been trying to attract, achieve, or resolve and you probably haven’t accomplished it yet, right? And it’s not for a lack of trying. You’ve taken action, being motivated by books, or have even hired a coach to work with. But you keep hitting your head against the wall when it comes to this one thing that you want.

If you’ve seen the movie The Secret you’ll recall that everything in your life is there because you attracted it. This includes the bad stuff as well. You simply attracted it on an unconscious level. In order for you start attracting the “good” stuff into your life you need to “get clear” of the hidden beliefs that are preventing you from doing so.

Wallace D. Wattles, author of How to Get What You Want, wrote that…

“People fail because they think, objectively, that they can do things, but do not know, subconsciously, that they can do them. It is more than likely that your subconscious mind is even now impressed with doubts of your ability to succeed; even these must be removed, or it will withhold its power when you need it most.”

When your conscious mind thinks you want something but your subconscious mind thinks you don’t deserve it (or any other limiting belief), you will fail at getting what you want. The subconscious mind always trumps the conscious mind. Therefore, in order to get what you want, your subconscious and conscious must be on the same page. They must equally believe that you can and deserve to have whatever it is you want.

According to Susan Shumsky, author of Miracle Prayer, “Your conscious beliefs are what you think you believe. Your subconscious beliefs and deepest convictions are what you really believe.”


TotalWellnessCleanseIt’s nice to have positive affirmations or visualize what you want in your life, but if you ultimately don’t believe you are good enough or worthy enough, then you will fall way short of attracting it. Your belief system acts as a filter for everything you experience in your life. The meaning you give events, how you react to them, and your overall life outlook are all determined by your beliefs. For example, when you thought about taking part in the TOTAL WELLNESS Cleanse™ you probably had an epiphany. Perhaps a pleasant image or a feeling of how you would look and feel once you were done. But after a little while, you may have had some judgments about the whole idea. You may have said things like, “I don’t know if I can do this” or “Why is this time going to be any different?” And such thoughts almost held you back from joining, right?

Realize that anytime you want something in your life, you might be severely held back by your limiting beliefs. And as we mentioned a few days ago, the most common limiting beliefs are that we are not enough and that we won’t be loved. However, when you can clear your mind of such beliefs, you become congruent with what you truly want, and thus, it will appear in your life. You must feel the end result you’re after, not just think about. The subconscious is much deeper than cerebral thinking. When you feel and believe with every fiber of your being that you WILL have what you want, it will then appear in your life.

The goal is to be congruent. You want your conscious and subconscious minds to be in alignment. You must have a strong desire for what you want, have faith that you will have it, and that you actually deserve to have it. Once your desire, faith, and deservedness (or self-esteem) are congruent, then you can attract anything you want into your life.

You must believe it (and more importantly believe that you deserve it) before you can see it. Do so, and your dreams will appear before your very eyes.




Take Responsibility

There is one person to blame if your life does not measure up to your expectations – You. It can be a devastating realization that you alone are responsible for your happiness and your health, and I understand if the ego in you is already livid with me. It’s ok, it’s not you - it’s your ego talking. And anytime it gets threatened, it gets angry and defensive.

When you make the awkward transition from adolescence into adulthood, you go from depending on your parents to taking care of yourself. You may have a feeling of loss. You are no longer who you thought you were, and may have no idea who you are. But you know one thing: you are destined to be something fantastic. You are destined to put your personal touch on the world.

Taking responsibility means letting go of blame. You may blame your parents for a lot of things – for not being rich and handing down poor money skills, for not teaching you how to eat properly, for feeding you hot dogs and kraft dinner instead of fruits and vegetables, or for your being fat because they were fat. If you keep blaming them for your problems, you will never take control of your own life – or your health.

When there is someone else to blame, you never have to take responsibility for your own role in creating your life. Once you realize that you and you alone are responsible for your health and quality of life, things can start to get a little uncomfortable. The weight is on your shoulders. So what are you going to do? You can cry about it, which will give you temporary relief from your problem, but could result in a mad dash to the kitchen for some food therapy. The only for sure way to get out of pain and into pleasure is to act in accordance with your deep desire to be healthy, fit, and full of energy. There is one person I know who has it in them to go the distance, and that person is you. You’ve joined our cleanse, you’re reading this, and you’ve decided that you are in fact, worth everything your little heart has ever desired.



TotalWellnessCleanseDo you blame anyone in your life for anything at all? Do you complain on a frequent basis? Do you make excuses? If you haven’t taken responsibility in the past, that is ok. What I need you to do is acknowledge that you haven’t taken responsibility in the past, and start taking responsibility from this moment on in every area of your life. Instead of complaining to a co-worker, go to the source of the problem and get your grievances out in the open. Stop blaming your parents. This is a big one. They did the best they could given whatever their situation. Nothing you do now can change the past, but what you do now will have a cascade of effects on the future life you lead.

Anytime you find yourself making an excuse, you must stop and think of why you need an excuse. Were you late? Did you forget an anniversary? Couldn’t make it to the gym? Why? Stop making excuses and own up. Apologize to whomever you were late meeting, make the most of your time in the doghouse, and get to the gym! Were you too tired? Too hungry? Ran out of time? If you didn’t make it to the gym, than the gym obviously wasn’t a priority.

So let go of the blame and start taking the lead. Start learning the things you need to learn in order for your life to unfold as you wish. A great trick is to brainstorm, get magazines, whatever it takes for you to imagine the best life ever. Ask yourself some questions: What do you look like? Where is your level of health? Where do you live? Who are your friends? Who is there beside you?

One way to avoid excuses is getting your priorities straight. If you make fitness a priority then you will have no problem making it to the gym.



Your Standards Determine Your Life

Have you ever played a sport against a weaker opponent? What happened? Most likely, your level of play was sub-par, right? Well, that’s the analogy for your life!

Play the game against, with, or surrounded by “weaker” people than you become a reflection of them. It has even been said that where you end up and who you become just a few years down the road is a reflection of the 6 people with whom you spend the most time. So part of raising your standards is about surrounding yourself with people who ARE where you want to be. This may be uncomfortable at first but this alone will make a profound difference in your life.

To hit home this point I’m going to use tennis as an analogy. I love tennis. I hope to someday play amongst the pros on the ATP (although that’s quite a pipe dream). But to reach the highest level I would be much better off spending most of my time playing against Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal (#1 and #2 ranked players in the world), instead of playing players of my caliber or lower. Although I would most likely lose every match against such top-quality opponents, the learning and growth that I would go through would be priceless.

So in your life, who inspires you? Do you have an idol? Someone who motivates you to become a fitter, healthier person? Is there someone who is playing the game of life the way you want to be playing? If so, spend more time with them! Learn from them. Allow them rub off on you and force you to elevate your “game”. If you can’t (they might be a celebrity, for instance), then study them. What to do they do? How do they think? What are their daily habits? Once you know their “recipe” for success, all you have to do is follow suit!

The second element to raising your standards is your own personal commitment to excellence. As the US Army says, “Be the best you can be!” And isn’t that what life is really about? But this is another area where many limiting beliefs can hold you back. But for today, put those aside and start fresh. Take a look at your life. Have you set goals for what you want to be, do, and have? Could you stretch these goals a little further? I mean, did you have a little voice in your head that said, “This is realistic but I could never achieve this!”? Well if so, then I’d like you to go back to that goal and ask yourself if you’ve limited yourself from something much greater.


TotalWellnessCleanseWhy settle for half the pie when you can whole thing! I use that metaphorically, obviously. Let’s say that Susie (imaginary person) has a goal of losing 10 lbs over the next year. That’s great, but why not commit to doing that within 30 days? The difference lies in her ability to get out of her comfort zone.

Remember this – your success and happiness in life is directly related to your ability to get out of your comfort zone!

By doing things that stretch you, you become more. In fact, like bending metal, you can never return to your previous self. You learn, you grow, and you gain in confidence by taking massive action, as you look fear right in the eyes! So the only difference between someone who sets the goal of losing 10 lbs in one year versus one month is their standards. And by standards, I mean the ability to take daily action, in spite of you feel; to what degree you can get out of your comfort zone, and the relentless pursuit of ambitious goals.

One of my life goals is to go skydiving. The problem – I’m scared to death about jumping out of an airplane. However, I will do it, no matter what, because I know how much it will mean to me and how much I will grow as an individual for having faced such a huge fear.

So the message is this – be ambitious! Don’t sell yourself short. Don’t worry about setting “safe” and “realistic” goals that don’t inspire you to take action. You want things in your life that excite you. So what excites you? What are you afraid of? Who do you need to spend more time with? Who can you learn from? Revisit your goals and go crazy! Don’t hold back. Just imagine the possibilities once you remove those damn limiting beliefs. Crank up the heat on the thermostat of your life and watch everything in your life naturally “heat up” to your new standards!



Fear of Failure vs. Fear of Success

Very often, we do not achieve our goals because we are debilitated by the fear of failing. We are scared of taking risks or scared of putting ourselves on the line by committing to a worthy goal because just maybe we will let ourselves, and others, down if we don’t achieve it. Can you relate?

However, one form of pressure that is rarely spoken about, and that affects many of the most gifted individuals, is not the fear of failure, but the fear of success. These people often are very high achievers that end up being very successful up to a point, but fall short or even stop competing. Success to them brings discomfort, pain, and simply is no longer worth it. People around them usually say what a pity because that person seemed to have it all. How do you address the fear of success and why do these individuals not enjoy success or desire more?

Although fear of success is much more rare, it can sometimes be mistaken as a fear of failure. But what is the difference between fear of failure and fear of success?

Fear of failure is much more common than fear of success. Fear of failure is a mindset that causes you to perform tentatively or defensively. It is the fear of working hard and not attaining that which you desire.

Fear of failure causes you to focus on the negatives, such as not to make mistakes, not to disappoint a coach, friend, co-worker, parent, etc…, or not to feel embarrassed. The interesting part about the fear of failure is that it is sprouts from an intense desire to win, achieve, or perform well. The greater the emotional energy you put into a particular endeavour (eg. Sport, work, etc…), the greater the chance that the fear of failure will set in.

Fear of failure is characterized by having high expectations, a strong desire for success (and not fail), anxiety or tension, worrying too much about results or outcomes, the need for social approval, and performing with a serious, controlled mindset.


TotalWellnessCleanseOverall, the fear of failure prevents you from taking risks and being truly free and successful. No matter what your endeavour; be it sport, business, work, or other, being able to take risks is essential because the person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing, and is nothing.

A great example of someone who takes risks despite drastic consequences in the event of failure is Richard Branson, the founder of Virgin. Apart from being a fearless entrepreneur, he also lives his life to the fullest, engaging in wild activities such as hot air ballooning across the Atlantic and skydiving, just to name a few.

During his famous hot air balloon trip across the Atlantic Ocean several years back, Branson found himself, during several occasions, at a crossroad where a decision had to be made on whether or not to continue his journey. But his uncompromising determination and fearlessness brought out his resourceful and creative nature when faced with life-threatening problems, eventually allowing him to continue his journey to its fullest. Nonetheless, his balloon crash landed in the Atlantic not too far from his destination but thankfully he was ok.

The moral of the story is that even though he didn’t achieve what he had fully set out to do (due to crashing), he didn’t allow the possibility of failing to enter his mind. Sure he had his doubts now and then but he knew that because he committed to achieving this goal, it would be done. After all, it’s all about the journey…not the goal!

Fear of success, on the other hand, comes about when you stifle your performance because of the “problems” that come with success. Have you heard the saying, “it’s lonely at the top?” Case in point: Tiger Woods. Yes, he is the best golfer on the planet and makes boatloads of money, but can you imagine what precautions Tiger (or any other celebrity for that matter) has to take just to go out to dinner in public? An individual who is stifled by the fear of success essentially sabotages him/herself in order not to have to cope with the issues that come with success.

The consequences of self-sabotage are lack of motivation, making mental errors, blowing a big lead in an event, or giving up altogether. This leads to a snowball effect in which the you can lose confidence and focus.


TotalWellnessCleanseFear of success is the fear of the problems associated with being successful, recognized, and honored. For example, one of the specific fears athletes maintain is that other people will have greater expectations for their performance. Another common fear is that they will lose friends and make enemies if they are too successful. Often it is hard for individuals to enjoy success because they feel “burdened” by achievement in many ways including how they may have to change their lives.

Fear of success is characterized by a lack of desire to achieve personal goals, self-sabotaging behavior such as not showing up for practice, exercise sessions, important meetings, overeating, and feeling guilty or undeserving when achieving success. Fear of success, like fear of failure can also be rooted in an over-concern for what others think. For example, individuals with fear of success worry about what their friends may feel about them (envy, jealousy, hatred) when they reach to the top of their health, sport, business, or corporate ladder, and worry if these friendships will be in jeopardy.

So, how does you cope with the fear of success? The first step is to identify the root cause of the fear. Are you afraid of higher expectations? Are you afraid of not feeling satisfied? Are you afraid of making enemies and losing friends at the top?

Ask yourself this question: “What is the worse thing that could happen to me if I am successful?”

Once you identify the root of the fear underlying the fear of success, now you can approach it head on and work through it. It’s also helpful to understand the type of self-sabotage in which you might engage – lack of motivation, lack of commitment, making excuses, giving up the moment success is close, or self-destructive thought patterns.

Ask the question: “In what ways do I self-destruct my own performance and success?”

Like fear of failure, fear of success often boils down to developing healthier beliefs about yourself by refuting, rebutting, or changing your limiting beliefs.

Be confident in yourself and go for it! You deserve to achieve anything you want in life.



Wellness Begins with Your Commitment

Historically, statistics have shown that although the majority of people commit to healthier living for the New Year, only a handful keep their commitments above and beyond the 6-week mark. What does this tell us? I believe that it reflects that we have yet to master the trait of keeping our word and being disciplined.

It is imperative to realize that your self-esteem and confidence are directly related to your ability to do what you say. Your inner power is equivalent to the power of your word. By consistently keeping your commitments (ie. doing what you say you are going to do) you prove to yourself and the universe that you can be trusted. As such, the more you say something and it occurs, the more you trust yourself because everything you say comes true in reality. For instance, how do you feel when you say you’re going to do something, like workout 3 times this week, and then not do it? Pretty crappy right? I know I do.

There is a saying that goes, “How you do anything is how you do everything”. If you find it hard to keep certain commitments in one area of your life I am willing to bet that this tendency will also present itself in other areas of your life.

So what is the solution to keeping your commitments?

First, NEVER commit to something that you are not going to do. Success breeds success, but if you keep setting yourself up for failure by committing to things that don’t get done, then success will only be an illusion for you.

Second, make your word law in the universe. Make a commitment to do what you say you are going to do. Your word should mean something to you because it definitely means something to others. What if a friend told you that they would take care of a pressing matter for you and then didn’t do so? Would you consider this “friend” worthy of your trust? Probably not.

Take the example of ancient warriors – they would die to keep their word because to them their word meant more than anything else. You too can become a warrior, a wellness warrior (without the death), by committing to living healthy and keeping your word.


TotalWellnessCleanseThird, commit slowly and complete readily. Watch what you commit to by initially making small commitments and building on them. For example, you might declare, “Each morning I will meditate for 5 minutes before breakfast.” By completing this morning meditation and doing the same with other commitments, pretty soon whenever you declare something it will be as good as done because of the experience you now have of doing everything you say. This is very powerful. Remember, you commit to something as soon as you declare it vocally or through writing. Your word is put out into the universe. Will you uphold it? I know you will!

Wellness is about balance, being true to yourself, and being whole. To be whole and truly satisfied in life you must begin to trust yourself. So keep your word. Teach yourself, and others, that you can be trusted. Make realistic commitments and stick to them. You will feel better about yourself and you will achieve your goals in no time.



All That Matters is What You Think of Yourself

Do you want more happiness in your life? Are you tired of compromising your happiness for that of others? Have you ever stopped to think about why you behave in certain ways? Do you ever wonder why celebrities and people in the lime light seem to crave all that attention?

Well, one theory is that we behave in order to gain approval from others. This may seem far-fetched but think about it for a minute. One of the most important needs we have as humans is the need to be loved. As such, our actions tend to be determined by our ability to please others. Because, subconsciously, we believe that by pleasing others, they will love us in return.

This stems from the fact that our mind operates in primitive survival mode, looking to protect us at all costs. This survival mentality was originally formed during our early childhood where, as dependent helpless babies, we learned that it was necessary to please our parents (or caregivers) in order to get what we wanted, whether it be food or milk. If we didn’t gain this approval, we feared the worst – that we would perish. Fortunately, we are no longer dependent children needing others approval in order to survive. However, our conditioning has ingrained in us this need to please others eventhough it no longer makes sense to do so.

As such, one of our biggest obstacles to happiness in life is our need for approval from others. Stated otherwise, our need to prove ourselves, our fear of disapproval, and our fear of rejection. It is solely based on survival! Now, the need for survival is gone but the habit remains.

It is important to realize that when you try to please others you are always at the mercy of someone else’s response, and thus you have no control over the outcome. When you act in accordance with other people’s approval, you are saying that their agenda is more important than yours. You are essentially saying that they are more important than you!


TotalWellnessCleanseAccording to Abraham Maslow, the world-renowned psychologist, “The highest state of man is self-actualization. And the essence of self-actual-ization is freedom from the good opinion of others.” Thus, in order to be truly happy you must dissociate from both the bad and good opinion of others. You must learn to approve of yourself and realize that everyone is a unique and special person capable of tremendous things.

It is critical to understand that we all live in our own little “bubble”. We are unique in the meanings that we attach to the information and events in our lives. Simply stated, two people experiencing the same event or information will give different meanings to each based on their own personal experience, upbringing, programming, and paradigms. For instance, the word “battle” may elicit a different mental image or meaning to you then it would to me. As such, how can we seek others approval when they are mostly likely operating in a different paradigm than we are? As Stuart Wilde once said, “I am what I am and that’s my evolution, what others perceive of me is part of their evolution.”

You should also consider that when you judge somebody or something else, it says little about the target of your judgment but speaks volumes about you! If you have nothing to say, don’t say anything at all, right?

In conclusion, to achieve true happiness in your life you must stop worrying about what others think of you. Remember, their comments are more a reflection of them than you. When you take something personally, you are showing that you agree with their opinion and that you don’t understand their perspective. You also position yourself as prey to their predatory remarks. Just because someone puts poison on your plate doesn’t mean that you have to eat it! Eleanor Roosevelt summed it nicely when she said, “What others think of me is none of my business!”

So, my challenge for you today is to acknowledge, yet dissociate yourself, from the comments of others, good and bad. Remember, every coin has two sides. Meaning that if you accept someone’s positive praise you will obviously feel good, but what happens when that person does not give you any praise for the same action in the future? You will most likely feel a void. As such, attempt to dissociate yourself from others remarks and simply be happy with who you are and what you have done. In time, you, not those around you, will determine your happiness!



A New Year Thought

2013 is here and it’s time to journey deep inside to discover what you really want, and go for it!

But before you go any further take a minute and think of where you were at the beginning of 2012, and what has changed over the past year. You can think of many areas of your life including health and fitness, business and career, family, primary relationship, finances, recreation, and any others that are meaningful to you.

Every year we write out our New Year’s resolutions, yet often within a few months, these great expectations fizzle out. If you can relate to this, try something different this year.

Begin with the premise of what you can give, rather than what you can get. Focus on your contribution. This context sets the tone of living your purpose first, by BEING who you are—then from there, you create your intentions. Here are a few questions to get you started:

What are your gifts and talents? List things that you do that are effortless for you.

What brings you the most joy? How do you have fun? What conversations get you fired up? What activities do you do where you lose track of time? What do other people consistently compliment you on? What are your values? How would you like to be remembered?

Once you spend some time exploring, write out your specific intentions for 2013. When you move toward your goals with this new context, your chances of realizing them are increased and your path is easier, meaningful, and more fun.

Success isn’t defined by acquiring stuff—it’s about elevating your consciousness and living your purpose. Are you living your purpose? Have you discovered your purpose in life?

The essence of TRUE success embodies a strong sense of self—of purpose—of living a life beyond yourself—of living your passion and extending the gifts you naturally possess. Living from the inside out, fills your heart, generates tremendous joy, and allows fulfillment of intentions with ease. Make THIS year your best ever!



Forgive Yourself

You are only human. Whatever decisions, choices, or even mistakes resulted in your current position, get over them. Successful people recognize that in life, there are no mistakes or failures. There are simply undesired outcomes that offer a learning experience. Most people operate from the realm of “what if” and live either in the past or the future. You decide that past failures dooms you to repeat these mistakes in the future, or you struggle with the concept of “what if” and contemplate a future that is pure fiction. It doesn’t exist.

It’s time to get real. Live in the present. As long as you continue to dwell on your mistakes, you are simply creating elaborate excuses to share. You can continue to beat yourself up, or do something about it. So what if you were a binge eater? So what if you knew you were going to gain weight, but gave in anyway? Those were all choices that happened in the past. You are in the driver’s seat. You have the keys. You have the power to control your thoughts and actions. No matter how difficult it may seem, you can choose to be different. It only takes an instant to change your mindset. Dwelling on the past is only an excuse to delay the process.

The first step is to forgive yourself. Remember that forgiveness is not an event. It’s a process. It takes time. You’ve spent a long time telling yourself that you are bad, lazy, fat, ugly, or other nasty things that just aren’t true. You can continue to do the same thing, or recognize that for things to change, you must change. One easy way to do this is to simply stand in front of the mirror several times per day, look yourself in the eye, and say out loud: “The more I love the way I am, the more I am the way I want to be.”

Does this feel silly to you? It’s not. That discomfort you have isn’t because you’re doing something stupid ... it’s because you’re not comfortable with you. In fact, the more excuses you make to not do this exercise, the more reason you should. You’ll find that, over time, you will become more comfortable with who you are. Soon, you’ll look forward to greeting yourself. Eventually, you want to learn to love yourself again. You are amazing. You are beautiful. You are radiant. Do you see that as well?




The Power of Your Inner World

Your reality is a reflection of your psychology. In other words, your inner world creates your outer world. Your material world is produced from within. This is a law. It is not a theory.

To become the person you want to be, to experience the level of health and vitality you say you want, you must first experience it in your mind. This is how it works:

Thoughts lead to Feelings which to lead to Actions which lead to Results.

Therefore, whatever you think about you bring about. It’s a universal law that what you focus on expands.

If you think happy and prosperous thoughts you will attract happy and prosperous things into your life. By feeling good the universe brings you more things to feel good about.

So many people want to change how they look. They’re too fat, too skinny, they’re too whatever! And that’s fine – you need that feeling of pain to move you into action. But at the same time if you’re constantly feeling terrible about how you look and feel then it will be impossible to bring a new you into existence.

The key is to set a goal of who you want to become and how you want to feel while absolutely and totally loving who you are right now! As Dr. Wayne Dyer brilliantly states in his book The Power of Intention:

“You cannot attract attractiveness into your life by hating anything about what you’ve allowed yourself to become.”

Hatred creates a counter-force of hatred that disempowers your efforts. So be kind to yourself and take a look at your current state of health. Are you happy with your body? Are you happy with how you feel? Are you healthy?



TotalWellnessCleanseWhatever your answers may be you have to realize that you are the one who is producing these results. And specifically, it is the thoughts that you are thinking and your habitual feelings that are producing the specific actions or non-actions that are leading to your current results.

Jack Canfield, in his great book The Success Principles, identifies taking 100% responsibility for your life as one of the most important determinants as to whether or not you’ll achieve the level of success you want, whether it be better health, a hot body, or anything else.

You need to stop blaming circumstances and other people and start to take control of your health by taking control of your thoughts. Being able to master your mind may well be one of the greatest achievements that you can strive towards simply because once you have control over your mind you can achieve anything! That’s right anything!

It is well known that Tibetan monks have an unparalleled ability to control their minds. And for good reason. They spend most of their time in silent meditation and living in the present moment. With this mind control they are able to dramatically lower their heart rate, go weeks without food, and even days without sleep. It is truly impressive.

Now consider the contrast. Our busy lifestyle where nobody has time for anything. Most people are walking androids. They’re not living consciously. They probably don’t even know what they’re thinking. They wouldn’t be able to observe their thoughts even if you told them how. They’re simply too busy or don’t believe that they control their lives through their mind and their thoughts.

Because of this lack of consciousness and the ease at which most people slip into negativity, so too becomes their existence. Look around, what do you see. Mostly we see unhappy people, depressed people, crime, violence, war, hatred, unhealthy people, overweight people, sick people, and on.


TotalWellnessCleanseBut that doesn’t have to be your reality. We project what we experience. What you see is simply a reflection of the concentration or focus of your thoughts. Have you ever bought something and then all of sudden notice it all over the place? For instance, when I bought my car I started noticing that other people had the exact same car when I’d never even seen it on the road before!

Life doesn’t have to be negative. Based on your outlook you may see the world as a happy, friendly, loving, and beautiful place. The key difference lies in the thoughts that run through your head. Once you think happy, good, and healthy thoughts just watch how your world will transform.

Your health and body will transform. You’ll notice people being friendlier and happier towards you. You will see more of the beauty this world has to offer and you will flourish as a result. Think of yourself as a video projector. Whatever video is playing in your mind will be projected onto the screen of “life” and that is what you’ll see and experience.

It has been said that the average person has 60,000 thoughts cross their mind each and every day. Therefore, in order to experience the health and quality of life you want you must not let even a single negative, poisonous thought enter your mind. Just as a weed can grow out of control in a garden, so too can a negative thought unravel out of control in your mind.

So think and feel good now while at the same time see yourself as how you want to become. How does your body look? How do you feel? What sensations are you experiencing? What are you doing? Do your best to recreate whatever you’d like to manifest in your life – and it will happen!

So here are some action steps that will help you take control of your mind and, as a result, your health, your body, and your quality of life.


TotalWellnessCleanseVisualize. Spend a minimum of 5 minutes before you go to bed to close your eyes visualize exactly what you want to create. Is it a fitter body, more vitality? Perhaps it’s healing an illness or disease. The key is to vividly imagine what it is that you want with as much certainty and expectancy while feeling absolutely great! Put a smile on your face and let your mind imagine. Albert Einstein once said, “Imagination is more important than knowledge”.

I also like the saying that goes “Your I CAN is much more important than your IQ”. You must believe you can and have already achieved what you want. Once you do the universe will bring it to you.

Second, observe your thoughts. This is tough but necessary. Simply take one day at a time and observe the thoughts that run across your mind. Be careful not to judge them, simply observe them. If you notice that most of your thoughts are negative then swiftly begin to replace them with positive and empowering thoughts. You can view your mind as a slide show. When one negative slide (or thought) arises simply move the next slide (a positive one).

If it helps you can even journal what you observe so that you can “visually” track your recurring thoughts. Most likely, these thoughts will be a reflection of your current reality.

These actions need to become habits in your life. For change to occur new habits must be formed and they will with daily application of these actions.



Are You “Wired” for Wellness?

Are you programmed for great health, a fit body, and life full of vitality and energy? Interesting question isn’t it! If you’re currently not where you want to be, then the answers to these questions may reveal from startling truths.

Yesterday we established that your thoughts ultimately lead to your results. But where do your thoughts come from? Do they simply fall out of the sky or spontaneously arise in your mind?

The answer is neither. So where then do our thoughts come from? According T Harv Eker, author of the Secrets of the Millionaire Mind, our thoughts come from our past conditioning and are stored as files. In other words, your mind has an archive of “files” that you have created from every event in your life. It is these files that bring about your thoughts.

For instance, if you’re hungry and habitually gravitate towards eating certain foods it is most likely a result of the “files” which your mind has created from similar situations earlier in your life.

Perhaps you were brought up learning that when you’re hungry you need to choose foods that will “fill you up” and keep you fueled for long periods of time. Unfortunately, these are not necessarily the same food choices that will do your body good.

Maybe you created a file that linked pain to exercise because you were teased in gym class or you didn’t like the “muscle burn” you felt when you exerted yourself.

It is important to realize that your mind is constantly creating these files, linking specific thoughts and emotional responses to specific experiences in your life. But more important to understand is that the majority of these subconscious files were created when you were very young as a result of what you learned, heard, and modeled from your parents, teachers, media, and your surrounding environment.


TotalWellnessCleanseHere’s another example I come across very often. Let’s say as a child your parents were not at all active. If inactive parents were your primary models growing up, do you think that you might have a tendency to not be a very active person? Of course!

After all, most of us want to please our parents, at least at a subconscious level. One of the biggest drivers of the conditioned mind is the need for the approval of others, especially our parents. So by being an active individual you would be going against the grain of your parents.

The result – a life-long struggle making exercise a habitual part of your life, unless you begin to master your mind and live more consciously to overcome the shackles of your conditioned mind.

It is your past conditioning which has created these programmed files that makes up your conditioned mind. And it is this conditioned mind that dictates the lives of most people in this world, especially in the lives of those who are not living consciously.

By living consciously I mean observing your thoughts and actions so that you can live from your higher self (not your conditioned mind) in the present moment, rather than being held hostage by your past conditioning.

You are not your conditioned mind. This is who you learned to be. It is not the essence of who you are. This is a critical distinction because when you look at your current reality, you’ll most likely realize that it’s not where you want to be. And you’ve most likely gotten to where you are today based on navigation from your conditioned mind.

However, your condition mind has one objective, one goal. Its sole purpose is survival. It is based in fear. It does not want you to get uncomfortable because doing so might bring change and change is scary. Can you start to see why it can be difficult to achieve your goals?


TotalWellnessCleanseAchieving success in any area of your life is tough. To attain a great body and radiant health requires work and diligent commitment. For many people this equals pain and discomfort. More precisely, though, it is their conditioned mind that is telling them this story. So instead of working through the discomfort and persisting when things get tough they simply stop.

And you can make all the excuses in the world but the truth of the matter is that you either control your mind or it (your conditioned mind) will control you. This is what is happening to most people. They are led to mediocrity by a fear-based conditioned mind, which in reality is based on other peoples’ teachings and beliefs – not even their own!

Here’s a great example from my own life. My biggest personal challenge is being consistent in all that I do. I believe that consistency is one of the most critical elements to achieving all that you want in life. However, I tend to start something and very often neglect to fully follow through right to the end. I’ve noticed this trait pop-up in my personal and business life, and even in many of my more challenging workout sessions.

For instance, if I’m going for a challenging run I’m fine until I hit the discomfort zone when that little voice in my head (my conditioned mind) starts to tell me to stop because I’m getting too uncomfortable. It persists and persists still.

Now, in the past, on many occasions I would allow this mental monster to control my outcome and I would slow down my pace or even stop my run using any excuse in the book as my rationale. But now I realize what’s going on and I do my best to quiet my conditioned mind and enjoy the process of what I’m going through. Initially, it’s tough to overcome but with persistent training and working on quieting the mind and learning how to control your thoughts it can be done.


TotalWellnessCleanseAs I reflect, I begin to trace this lack of follow through back to my mom. My mom’s great and I love her, but obviously being raised by her caused me to pick up some of her traits, as I modeled much of her behaviour. One such behaviour is…yes you guessed it a lack of follow-through. And not simply in exercise, but in other areas of her life as well. After all, how you do anything is how you do everything. After years of observing this habit in my mom, I had adopted it without even noticing it.

However, I have now realized this and have worked on overcoming my past conditioning that was telling me “when things get tough you better stop or something painful might happen.” That is pretty much the message that my conditioned mind was projecting. It was scared that if I pushed my limits that perhaps I might fail. And failure equals pain!

But here’s the irony. Failure is simply lacking the courage to try in the first place. To help me overcome my habit of not seeing things through right to the end I have pushed out much of my negative self-talk and replaced it with empowering affirmations such as:

“Pain is a great teacher. It is the precursor to all my growth and learning.” “I am more than I appear to be, all the universe’s strength and power rests in me!”

I do my best to repeat these affirmations when things get tough and they help quiet that little negative voice that is my conditioned mind. As a result, I don’t give up and feel great about myself for having made it to the finish line.

So here’s the message…You are not who you were conditioned to be. You are much more! You deserve all the health, beauty, and fulfillment that you so desire. You just need to be aware of when you’re being held back by your conditioned mind, have the power to rise above it, and live from your higher self.

So recognize that when you start to judge or discredit or say this is not going to work this is not you who is speaking. It is a protective mechanism used by your fear-based conditioned mind to keep you right where you are – comfortable!


TotalWellnessCleanseAnd my friend, comfortable does not lead to great health or a great life!

I want you to memorize the following sentence and make it your mantra:

If your goal is to be comfortable chances are you‘ll never have a great body, amazing health, or abundant energy. But if your goal is to be and have all of these things and more, chances are you’ll end up mighty comfortable!

In conclusion, we’ve all been programmed or wired in a specific way. For many people, unfortunately their programming does not empower them to great health and life long well-being. Therefore, it is your duty to do what is necessary to re-program yourself or unlearn what you have learned in order for your higher self to shine through. And, you’ll know when you’re living from your higher self. I can’t necessarily describe it but believe me you’ll just know.

Weak minds lead to weak actions. So work on mastering your mind and your health and life will improve, guaranteed. But it takes courage and diligent effort. And that’s ok because the degree of courage you live with determines the amount of fulfillment you receive. It is definitely worth the journey.

Here are some action steps to help you re-wire yourself for greater well-being:

First, write down all the statements you heard about health, exercise, and healthy eating when you were young. Second, write down how you feel these statements have affected your health so far. Third, can you see that these thoughts don’t necessarily reflect who you are or what you truly believe? Forth, use the following declaration to build new empowering beliefs:

“What I heard about health and well-being isn’t necessarily true. I choose to accept new ways of thinking that empower me to create the body and health I deserve.”


TotalWellnessCleanseGo through the same steps as described above but this time in regards to what you modeled from your parents. What did they eat? Did they exercise? Were they always complaining of one ailment or another? Were they always tired or full of energy? Did they reward good behaviours with treats and candy? Catch my drift.

Repeat the following declaration:

“What I modeled around health, food, and exercise was their way. I choose my own way which is healthier and will energize my life!”



The Power of Focus

Our world is based on the premise that everything has an opposite. We live in duality. Think about it…there is hot and cold, good and bad, black and white, yin and yang, thin and fat, full and starving, happy and sad, etc…

Because everything in life is a like a 2-sided coin it is also a truth that you can’t be or experience both sides at the same time. For example, it is impossible to feel hot while you are freezing cold. It is impossible to feel sad while you are smiling and thinking happy thoughts. It is impossible to be thin and fat at the same moment. I’m sure you catch my drift.

If you don’t believe me try looking at both sides of a coin at the same time!

The same occurs in your mind. Your mind can only entertain one thought at any given moment. And whether this thought is negative or positive is up to you. Play with me for a minute would you? Try entertaining two opposing thoughts in your head at the same time. Go ahead give it a shot. Tough isn’t it? Well don’t worry, it’s more or less impossible!

If it helps you can compare your mind to a miner’s cap. What’s unique about a miner’s cap is that it has that flashlight attached to it which allows miners to see where they’re going and digging. Now if you’re a miner wearing this cap and you’re looking straight ahead do you think you’ll be able to see what’s outside of the light’s path? Most likely not. Like the miner’s cap, your mind can only focus on one thing at a time. It either sees gold or it sees dirt. Your mind either focuses on one thing or the opposite, but not both.

So how does this tie into your health and creating a fit and vibrant body?

Well, I’ll answer that in a second but I need to continue laying some more groundwork for you to fully understand where I’m going with this.

So far we’ve discussed the role of duality in the universe and how you can only ever get what you focus on. Here’s another example to further illustrate this point. I want you to take 10 seconds to look around your surroundings and notice everything that is green. Go ahead do it now.


TotalWellnessCleanseOk, now I’d like you to close your eyes and list everything that is black! Aha! Pretty tough isn’t it? Now I wasn’t trying to trick you here, rather I wanted to simply illustrate the concept of focus.

Remember, in the universe what you focus on expands. So by focusing on locating things that were green your mind’s sole mission was green, green, green. Unfortunately, it could not simultaneously take in anything else – that’s just the way it works.

This idea of seeing and receiving what you focus on is largely due to a part of your brain called the reticular activation center. As I mentioned yesterday your mind starts to notice things once it focuses on them.

Now let’s bring this back to your body and your health for a second. Let’s say you’re trying to lose weight. Most likely you look in the mirror and see a body that you are not happy with, right? Ok, now here’s where this gets very interesting. If your mindset is so focused on the fact that you are disgusted with your body and you constantly see a displeasing image of your current body in your mind, then how on earth is it possible for you to create the body you want?

You can’t! Your mind is so wrapped up with your current reality that it can’t even think or visualize what it is you say you truly want.

So your first lesson is the following: Even if you’re not happy with where you’re at you need to focus on what you want, not what you don’t want. Stop feeling bad about where you’re at because you’re only bringing more of that into your life. I know this may sound tough but you need to focus on what you want. Focus on that hot body you’ve committed to attaining or that tremendous level of energy and health that you desperately want. By focusing on what you want it will come into your life.


TotalWellnessCleanseProfessional athletes are well aware of this concept.

Top level athletes are one of the best examples of achieving goals through the use of laser focus. Let’s take diving as an example. Olympic diving is one of the most amazing sports because of its complexity and short duration. In just a few seconds the diver must perform several twists and turns before entering the water in streamlined fashion.

Now, what do you often see before the diver actually leaves the diving platform? You see the diver mentally rehearsing and then moving his body in the exact patterns he wishes to execute during his dive.

By doing this over and over and over again he is teaching his body to ingrain the exact dive into his nervous system. The diver’s mind then knows exactly what it has to do so that by the time he actually takes the plunge his body is on autopilot. The result, a clean dive as close as possible to what he had intended.

But what do you think would happen if all the diver was focusing on was not to hit his head on the platform? Can you see how this may very well bring a drastically different outcome? If the diver’s lucky he may not hit his head on the platform but at the same time he will surely not achieve his perfect dive, guaranteed!

To get what you want you must focus on it. Move towards pleasure (your goal) instead of moving away from fear (what you don’t want).

So remember to do your daily visualization and believe with absolute certainty that what you want is yours right now.

Another powerful tool you can use is called a vision board or vision book. You create one by cutting and pasting images of what you want to look like and feel like once you’ve reached your goal. Add words, pictures, and anything else that visually represents where you want to be. This is one of the most enjoyable processes to go through. You will feel so good as you do this. And by keeping this vision board or book in close proximity you will constantly be feeding your mind “ideal” images of you in the future!



You Get More of What You’re Grateful For

The principle of gratitude, or the Law of Appreciation. I don’t think there’s anything more powerful you can do then apply what I’m about to teach you.

The most successful people in the world all exhibit this and give it tremendous recognition for helping them attaining their wildest dreams.

So here’s how gratitude can bring you fantastic health and a fantastic body. In fact it flows nicely from the concept of focus we were discussed yesterday. With anything in life you can choose to complain about where you’re at, what you have or don’t have, and who you are, or you can express endless gratitude and appreciation. The difference is astronomically profound.

Let’s illustrate this with an example. Imagine you take your child (assuming you have one) shopping for her favourite toy. She has hassled you about his toy for weeks and weeks now, so you decide to finally give in. So you go to the store and buy her the toy she’s been desperately pleading for.

Once you return home your daughter takes her new prized possession out of the packaging and starts to play with it for a few minutes and then throws it down the stairs. She starts whining and complaining about how she doesn’t like it and that she wants a better toy!

Now here’s the question I pose to you…”Are you going to buy her a new toy?”

Well, I certainly hope not. And if you said no, then good for you.

So why would you not buy her a new toy? It’s simple – she doesn’t appreciate the one she already has so why on earth would she deserve another one?

The message is this - if you don’t fully appreciate who you are (or what you have) then you will not get anymore! Sick and tired of your body? Too bad! Do you complain about how sore you are or how lethargic you feel? Too bad! Complaining about your situation will not help your cause and simply bring more situations to complain about into your life.


TotalWellnessCleanseIn order to receive what you want and become who you want to become you need to be and feel totally grateful for everything that you have and are right now!

Are you overweight? Who cares! Love your body as it is right now, otherwise I guarantee it will not change. Stop complaining! Stop whining! Instead express your appreciation for everything you can think about. If it helps you can express your gratitude for what you actually want as if it’s already happened for you.

Remember the concept of duality. There are always two sides. In any given situation you have the choice – the choice to be grateful or conversely feel sorry for yourself. The choice is yours all the time.

Another interesting thing to note is that the universe will not give you more if you can’t handle what you currently have. So if you constantly tell yourself that you have no time to make positive lifestyle to improve your health and well-being, then you won’t get any time to do these things. Your word is law in the universe. What you say to yourself and others you will bring about.

Here’s another analogy to hit this home. Imagine taking your son (another assumption) for an ice cream. He gets a single scoop of chocolate and is delighted. However, as he takes the first lick he knocks the entire scoop of ice cream onto the floor.

So he whines and complains and asks for another one. But this time he wants a triple scoop. What do you do? Do you give into his request? No way! Why not? Because he has shown that he couldn’t handle what he already had. Therefore, the universe will not give him more.

The definition of appreciation is… “to increase in value” OR “the act of estimating the qualities of things and giving them their proper value”.

Based on the first definition it follows that the more you appreciate something, the more its value increases. Therefore, if you want to value yourself and your health much more than you currently do it’s quite easy – be grateful and appreciate what you have. Automatically you increase its value and more of it will come into your life.


TotalWellnessCleanseIf you want a sexy body, then appreciate your body as it currently is. In doing so, you instantly show the universe that you value what you have and it will give you the wherewithal to take the necessary action to continue improving your body and health.

Want better health? Stop complaining and be thankful for every little about your body and health that is in working order. Feel thanks for your heart, your lungs, or your ability to walk up a flight of stairs. If you need some perspective go visit a hospital. I want you to remember the following saying…

“When you want what you’ve got, you’ll also have what you want!”

To help you put this principle into action you can easily start a gratitude journal. Every night or upon waking, write down everything you are grateful for in your life. If you want a better body, then write down as many statements of gratitude relating to your current body.

I would also recommend getting used to becoming an excellent receiver. And not a football receiver. Rather, make a habit of accepting compliments, don’t turn them away. Fully receive by saying “Thank You”. You are good enough and deserve to be complimented. Being a great receiver will enable to receive the gifts of greater health and beauty.



Letting Go

Do you ever set a goal and then obsess about making it happen? I know I do – and more often than not. This obsession creates anxiety, fear, and incessant action to try rushing the entire process. But what if there was an easier, less stressful way to all your heart’s desires. I know that would interest me. The good news – there is!

This “easier” way to your goals involves letting go of what it is that you want most. Sounds counter-intuitive, right? Believe me, I know. It’s something I’ve worked on for years after being introduced to the concept several years ago by my former life coach. To better understand how letting go of the outcome can actually bring you closer to your outcome, let’s look at a few examples.

Imagine, planting a plant. You add a seed to the soil, water it, and allow nature to do the rest. If you obsess about making the plant grow faster, you might over-water it or add artificial fertilizers to the soil. Both of these “come on, grow quicker” tactics will adversely affect the plant and, in most cases, the plant will not grow to its full glorious potential.

How about baking cake. You know the recipe. You apply the ingredients and follow the directions, finally letting the cake the bake in the oven for the required amount of time. Now, what would happen if you wanted the finished product sooner? You can’t simply crank up the oven! You would destroy the quality of the cake, right? You can’t rush the process. You simply do the initial work and then “let go” and allow the cake to “happen”.

The message is that everything in our lives happens when it is supposed. You can’t rush the process. It’s a fine balance between doing the initial work and then being able to step back and let the universe take care of the rest. In order to do so, you must have faith that everything will work out as it is supposed to. Learn how to water the seeds without over-watering the plant. Learn how to prepare the batter without over-cooking the cake. Learn how to set a goal, take massive action, and then just let go of the need to make your goal happen.


TotalWellnessCleanseLetting go of the need to make something happen and letting go of the need for more is tough to practice, but it will alleviate a lot of stress in your life. The irony is that when you stop needing more (or needing to do more), more of what you desire seems to arrive in your life. By detaching from the outcome, you minimize the self-imposed barriers (the ego) you mount against what it is you want. Without this resistance, you allow energy, life, and your desired goals to flow through you and become a reality.

The need to control and the need for more are associated with the ego. The mantra of the ego is more. It is never satisfied. No matter how much you achieve or acquire, your ego will insist that it isn’t enough. You’ll find yourself in a perpetual state of striving, and eliminate the possibility of arriving.

The reality, though, is that you’ve already arrived. Just as the universe knows how to manifest a plant from just a single seed, it also knows how to make your desires a reality. All you have to do is plant the seed (state your intention/goal), take massive action (water the seed), and then let go of the outcome (the plant).

Your job is the WHAT (your goal) and the WHY (your reasons) but not necessarily the HOW. Allow the universe to do its job. Outsource the HOW to the universe and it will show you what needs to be done to achieve your dreams. Have faith in the process. Have faith that what you desire most is already happening.

Letting go of the needs imposed by the ego can be challenging. However, doing so may be one of the most rewarding achievements of your life. Your ego will try to hold you back. But realize that it’s ok not to be in control. It’s ok to want more without needing more. You are already everything that you need to be. You are the healthy, fit, and radiant person you want to become. Just let go.


TotalWellnessCleanseDay 24Say YES!

There’s nothing I dislike more than the sound of a parent incessantly yelling, “No!” to their little toddler. In fact, just the other day, Amy and I were in a store where we heard a stroller-bound child saying, “No, no, no, no, no, no.” Now, he couldn’t have been more than 2 years old, so where do you think he picked up his vocabulary? It’s pretty obvious. The problem I have with the word NO is that it ends all possibilities. It puts up a huge brick wall against anything that is remotely different. It prevents you from exploring, from learning, and from growing.

You can even feel difference in energy between the two words. Take a second and shout YES! Now do the same with NO. Notice how they originate from different parts of your body. They make you feel differently and in turn they affect your body differently.

The word YES opens you to a world of endless possibilities. Just imagine if you said YES to every request that was ever made of you. Imagine how much more you would have been exposed to. The sad news is that most of us are brought by parents and other influencers who crush our innate desire to explore by saying NO to everything we do. Overtime, this lessens our self-esteem and confidence. Once our self-esteem has been beaten down, we stand little chance to take risks in life, and as such, we miss out on so many rewards!

We are confined by rules, regulations, and protocols and if we venture outside the lines we are considered deviants or abnormal. I say who cares! Everything that exists today has been created by those who think outside the box and defy all the rules. These are the people who say YES! Take Richard Branson, the founder of Virgin, as an example. As a boy, he was told by his prep school dean that he would either amount to nothing or become an incredible success in life. Obviously, he has become one of the most successful on the planet by saying YES and living life on his terms.

Today I challenge you to say YES to every request that comes your way. Sure it might make you feel uncomfortable to do something or meet someone, but just imagine the possibilities or what might be as a result. If a friend asks you to go skydiving, say YES! If a homeless person asks if you have some change say YES. You get the point.


TotalWellnessCleanseI’m even adopted the notion of saying YES with the players of our soccer program at the University of Toronto. Before every game, I have them huddle around and belt out the word YES several times along with their “power moves” to get them in a state where they feel invincible. It’s an exhilarating experience and the guys love it – although at first they thought I had just been released from the loony bin! During pre-season, I even had them yell YES during many of our grueling fitness drills. The goal was to associate pleasure (the YES) with what would normally be considered a tiring and undesirable fitness session.

YES puts you into a peak state to make the most of your life. YES allows your spirit to thrive. YES allows your inner child to be curious and explore what life has to offer. Say YES to your kids, to your friends, to your colleagues, and to life!



Give for the Sake of Giving

The more you give of yourself, the more you open the door for life to pour in. Giving and being generous stems from having a mindset of abundance. When you believe that you are and have more than enough, it is easy to give. By contrast, it is hard to give when you believe that we live in a world of scarcity. Thoughts of lack, not having enough, and greed lead to selfishness and an unwilling to give and help others.

Giving should be done for the sake of giving. The intention of giving should not be that you will get something in return, but rather for the sake of committing a genuine act of kindness. But the cool part is that when you give, you get more in return. And specifically, you will get more of what you give away. In giving, you show that you are abundant, and in return will receive more abundance in your life. For instance, if you want more love, then give more love. If you want more friends, be friendlier to others. If you want more money, give some of yours away!

The greatest people to walk our planet were (and are) the greatest givers. And they don’t do it for a tax write-off. The late Paul Newman gave 100% of the profits (100s of millions of dollars) from his Newman’s Own products to charity. Giving was (is) the mantra of John D. Rockefeller, Sir John Marks Templeton, Mahatma Gandhi, Oprah Winfrey, Bill Gates, and so many other inspirational leaders of our time.

What you give expands. However, not giving constricts. For instance, if you want more money, then give more of it away to noble causes. The tighter you hold onto your money, the more compact it becomes. I’ll never forget what one of my former colleague said on this topic. When I asked him if he gave a portion of his income to charity and good causes he replied, “Are you kidding! The government already takes enough!” What a limited, poverty mentality.


TotalWellnessCleanseBut you don’t have to give money. You can volunteer your time, your expertise, your experience, your love, or whatever other gifts you have to share with those in need. Not only will you immensely help the person you are helping, but you will also be helping yourself. There is no greater gift you can give yourself then helping someone else. You will never feel happier and more fulfilled than you will when you put someone else’s needs ahead of yours. It can be something as small as smiling at someone as you cross paths. A smile can transform a day.

Nature is a wonderful example of giving. When trees are rich with fruit, they bend toward the earth with ripened fruit. It’s almost as if they’re telling us, “Please help yourself.”

Seek first to give, and then to receive. If it helps, consider that you are so much wealthier and more fortunate than 90% of the people on our planet! Yes that’s right! You have more money, more freedom, more knowledge, more food, more safety, more resources, more choices – more of so many things that elude a vast majority of our fellow citizens.

To feel abundant it helps to be grateful for what you already have. When you resonate with gratitude and abundance you give freely and without expectation of anything in return.

So what you can give today? Who can you help? Where can you donate your money or your time? Who can smile at today? Who can you tell, “I love you” today? Who can complement today? Can you open a door for someone else? Can you let someone “sneak” in front of you in line at the grocery store?

The true magic of giving is that it is always paid forward. Do a good deed and you inspire others to do the same. Make today your most generous day ever!



Giving: A Formula for Joy

Giving is such an important topic that I wanted to continue on yesterday’s conversation.

So, close your eyes for a moment and recall a time when you gave someone a wonderful gift. Do you remember the excitement and anticipation you felt just before they received it? Remember the feelings of joy and exhilaration when you witnessed their reaction? Who was more elated—the person you gave the gift to, or you? When you think about it, the experience of giving is many times richer than receiving. And the beautiful paradox is, the more you give, the more you receive.

Have you ever wondered: What is my purpose? What direction should my life take? What should I be doing? The answer is simple. Begin by acknowledging that which you already are. As you give more of yourself, you become more, and as you become more, your life expands with wonder and joy and your purpose naturally evolves.

When Oprah Winfrey orchestrated her Christmas Kindness Tour to children in South Africa in 2002, her joy overwhelmed her. She said it was the single greatest experience of her life. She shared that experience not only with her staff, but once the show aired thousands of viewers were inspired by her generosity.

If you’re wealthy and can afford to give to worthy causes, you are among the very fortunate. If you are still getting to that place but want to give to your community, there are countless other ways to contribute. A smile, a loving touch or an acknowledgement of the unique qualities in another, are simple gestures that lift spirits. If you want to do more, how about starting a non-profit organization, volunteering your time and talents, or organizing a “random acts of kindness” group.

Many charitable organizations are always looking for volunteers. You could be a Big Sister or Brother, or spend time with elderly or terminally ill people. If you love animals, your local S.P.C.A. or one of the many wildlife preservation associations are good places to shop for meaningful work. There are limitless options that require nothing more than a willingness to open your heart and extend yourself.



TotalWellnessCleanseBesides deriving a deep sense of personal satisfaction, research indicates that performing acts of kindness provides significant health benefits. One of the most compelling studies of altruism was conducted by Allan Luks, author of The Healing Power of Doing Good: The Health and Spiritual Benefits of Helping Others.

After performing kind acts, volunteers in Luks’ study reported feelings of euphoria, followed by longer periods of calm. This feeling that Luks calls the “helper’s high,” signals the release of endorphins. Further studies found that volunteers’ stress-related problems decreased after performing acts of kindness. Luk created a list of “ills that helping helps,” which includes obesity, insomnia, stomach acid, headaches, backaches, colds and arthritis.

In addition, feelings of depression and hostility diminished while the efficacy of pain control and recovery from illness increased.

Giving creates a ripple effect, touching the lives of others in more ways than we can imagine. In fact, merely witnessing acts of kindness influences the observer. In 1970, an eminent professor of psychology, David McClelland, conducted research on how people could improve their immune systems. As part of his research protocol, he showed movies of Mother Teresa helping babies then measured immunoglobulin A (IgA), an antibacterial and antiviral class of antibodies, in viewers’ saliva. McClelland not only found an increase in IgA, but participants reported feeling motivated to connect with and help others.

Other studies done by renowned physicians: Dr. Dean Ornish, author of Dr. Dean Ornish’s Program for Reversing Heart Disease and Dr. Paul Ka’ikena Pearsall, author of The Pleasure Prescription, support the immense health benefits of connection, giving, kindness and tenderness.

Clearly, giving is a natural extension of our connection to humanity. Why not commit to altruism as a way of life? Habitual generosity is not only crucial to ward off feelings of alienation and open the heart, it’s an essential ingredient for a vibrant, healthy life!

Giving of treasures is wonderful, giving your time and talent can be done by everyone, therefore everyone can feel the joy of giving! Start today.




Speed Ahead to Your Full Potential

Imagine driving down the highway with the handbrake on. Although you can force the car, it will be difficult to gain momentum, and when you do get going, it will be slow and laborious. Too much energy will be spent going nowhere fast.

Driving with the brake on is analogous to the way we often think. We may have the intent to move towards our goals, but if, at the same time, we are constantly having thoughts that oppose those dreams, we will never achieve them.

If you dream of being a pianist or an athlete, but are constantly telling yourself that you are not good enough, it’s not likely that you will ever achieve your dream. How can you know if you are thwarting yourself?

Stop for a moment and observe your thoughts. Nothing? Recall something upsetting. What about the grumbling you just shared with a co-worker? How about the curses you just hurled at the driver ahead of you in traffic? Can you hear the swarm of buzzing negative thoughts? That is the sound of resistance.

Resistance to what is going on around you is the friction that hinders forward motion in your life. These negative thoughts will take the spring out of your step, make your goals harder to achieve and your life a limited experience.

When we were children, complaining was very effective. “I’m hungry,” produced food; “I’m sad,” produced a hug. As adults complaining rarely gets us what we want. It is counterproductive and actually tends to attract what we don’t want to come more powerfully into our life.

“You are in charge of your own life,” is one of the key insights that you can implement into daily thinking. If that is true, what do you need to do to if you want to tear down the highway to your ultimate success and joy? Quite simply: release the handbrake.

Easier said than done, and that’s why I’ve outlined three steps that, when applied, can keep you moving forward in the direction you wish in life:


TotalWellnessCleanseFirst, OBSERVE. The act of observing your thoughts and speech brings attention to these automatic processes, which in itself starts an evolution of changes in attitude and behavior.

Try not complaining for seven days. Try it and you will soon see how habitual negativity can be.

Second, SAY YES! Your thoughts and words are energetic messages that are continually affecting your mind and body. When you say yes to your goals and to your possibilities, then you are releasing the brakes that stop you from being the best you can be.

Dr. Stephen M. Drigotas of Johns Hopkins University developed a theory he calls The Michelangelo Phenomenon based on a quote by the Italian renaissance sculptor Michelangelo. The artist said that he didn’t so much carve a beautiful sculpture out of marble as he chiseled until the masterpiece within the stone revealed itself.

When you say yes to your admirable qualities, your strengths and talents you affirm what is waiting to emerge allowing what no longer serves you to drop away.

Third, GIVE THANKS. In the documentary film, The Secret, there’s a wonderful story of a man who carried a pebble in his pocket. Every time he touched it, it reminded him to be grateful for what was in his life. He called this his gratitude rock.

Find a talisman that reminds you of how grateful you are to have the opportunity to pursue your higher goals and desires.

In the distance, you can clearly see your dreams. Once you release the brakes of fear, doubt and negativity that have held you back, you can surge forward unfettered towards your full potential



Self-Respect

We’ve briefly spoken about the importance of loving and respecting yourself but I want to hit home some important concepts that will help you achieve your goals. You see, so many people set goals that never manifest in their lives because, at the deepest level, they don’t believe they are worthy. This a frustrating dilemma. You want something, yet at the same time you truly don’t believe you’re good enough to have it. Does’t make too much sense does it? But that’s what happens. In a previous lesson, we discussed how important it is to for your conscious and subconscious beliefs to be congruent. This is just another example of where this applies.

You need to respect yourself and feel that you are worthy of everything that you desire. You were put on this planet for a reason and a purpose; therefore, would it not make sense that you should be/do/have all to realize this purpose? But you need to start believing in yourself. If you don’t respect yourself, you close the doors to all the abundance that the universe has for you. Whether you want $1 million dollars or the fittest body our world has ever seen, the only thing holding you back is your own belief about whether or not your feel you deserve it!

There is no scarcity in university. Whatever you want can be yours. But you need to respect yourself to show that you are willing and worthy enough to receive and attract what you want. The more you respect yourself, the more you respect others, and the more they respect you.

Here are a few techniques you can use to start building some deep-seeded self-respect.

First, look at yourself in the mirror every day and tell yourself with absolutely belief, “I love me!” This may feel weird at first, and that’s probably because you don’t feel worthy of your own love. But make it a habit and you will become more comfortable with loving yourself and believing it!


TotalWellnessCleanseSecond, do not judge others. When you judge other people it says nothing about them but reveals a lot of about you. The way you view others and the way you see the world is a reflection of your own thoughts and beliefs about yourself. If you don’t feel good about YOU, then you won’t feel good about other people or the world in which you live. Therefore, refrain from judging others (including yourself) and, instead, realize that we are all from the same infinite source. The more you can see yourself in others, the more you’ll be able to understand that we are all fundamentally the same. Just as a glass of water can be no better than another glass of water from the same source, you can be no better than anyone else, only better than you were.

Each day, tell yourself, “I am whole and perfect as I was created!” You are not your accomplishments, your achievements, your past, or your future. You are everything you need to be because that’s how you (and everyone else) were created.

Begin to love yourself. Start to respect yourself. Finally, feel that you are worthy and deserving of anything you want. Be patient and have faith and it will manifest into your life!



Persistence

When it comes to achieving your deepest desires, there is nothing more powerful than persistence. Defined as the “firm or obstinate continuance in a course of action in spite of difficulty or opposition“, persistence exemplifies the power of never giving up. As Winston Churchill once said in a famous speech, “never, ever, ever give up!”

The power of never giving up and persistently going after what you want will trump skill, knowledge, or connection – any day! Persistence comes from a deep belief in yourself. It is this belief that enables you to overcome any, and all, objections that stand between you and your goals.

When talking of persistence I always use my dog Jax as an example. Jax is an 11-lbs miniature dachshund that could be mistaken for a big, yet very cute, rat. But that doesn’t stop him from going after what he wants. If you have a dog, I’m sure you can relate. I remember when Jax was just a little pup. He would try and try again to jump up on the couch. Unfortunately, his little legs could not propel him to do so. But with time, incessant practice, and stronger legs, he eventually leaped up and onto the couch.

Now, he has shifted his focus to sitting on my lap while I work. As soon as he sees me sitting down at my desk, he stands up on his hind legs (the cutest thing ever!), puts his front paws on my thighs, and gives me the whimper. I can try to ignore him but he does not give up. Never! So, eventually, I cave and bring him up onto my lap as I do my work. For all I know, he might even be writing these words???

Jax is successful at anything he sets his mind to because he just never gives up. Whenever I need inspiration, I just turn to him. Hey, if a dog can do it, then so can I. And so can you!

Persistence can also be found in the world of advertising. Any good advertiser (or marketer) knows that a prospect needs to see the same message at least 7-9 times before they take action. Thus, if someone fails or doesn’t realize their goal, it’s simply because they have given up to soon. Try just one more time – it might be all you need!


TotalWellnessCleansePerhaps the best example of persistence comes from professional athletes. Many coaches believe that it takes 10,000 repetitions to master a specific movement or skill. This is just another way of saying that persistence pays. Practice does not perfect – it makes permanence! Look at Tiger Woods. He wasn’t born a champion golfer. He practiced every single day from the time he could walk to become the best golfer the world has ever seen! Even when his father died, he used this unfortunate “obstacle” – one that many other people might have used as an excuse to stop – to fuel him forward and give him just one more reason to be the best!

Whatever it is that you are striving towards, just keep going – no matter what. The only time you fail is when you give up. Don’t let the opinions of others sway you. Believe in yourself and your ability to achieve anything you want. With persistent action, you will achieve your dreams. And remember to enjoy the ride. Life is about the journey, not just the destination!



Be Happy!

There is no way to happiness; happiness is the way. This is a phrase used by one of my mentors, Dr. Wayne Dyer. When I first heard it, I was blown away by its simple yet powerful message. Nothing you do or accumulate will ever make you happy in the long run. Losing weight, winning a million dollars, buying a new car or house, or anything else you can dream of will not bring you happiness. When you allow external factors to control how you feel, you lose control of yourself.

There is nothing wrong with striving towards your most ambitious goals. Heck, I’m one of the most ambitious people you will ever meet. The challenge though is to recognize that achieving “something” is not what makes you happy. You make you happy. To illustrate this concept, I want to tell you a story I once heard.

An American businessman was on vacation in Mexico when he ran into a local fisherman. The two men started talking and within minutes the American was convinced that the Mexican man’s fishing business could be a huge hit and that it could grow globally.

He asked the Mexican, “Have you ever thought of expanding your business? I mean this operation could be a global success!”

The man replied, “No, it is not something I would like to do. I’m happy right here.”

The American insisted, “You have no idea how big this could be and where we could take this.”

The Mexican replied, “And then what?”

The American answered, “Well, you could move your company’s head office to New York where we could begin operating globally!”

The Mexican replied again, “Yeah, and then what?”

“Well, then you’d be rich. You could even move back down here and do what you love!”

The Mexican replied in laughter, “But, sir, I’m already here!”


TotalWellnessCleanseThe moral of the story is that happiness is not a destination, it is the journey. You already are happiness. You don’t have to buy it or seek it. No outside factor will ever you make happy, indefinitely. Have you ever bought a new car or a new pair of shoes only to quickly realize the novelty (or happiness it created for you) didn’t last very long? I know I have.

We have been conditioned to believe that the accumulation of “stuff” and becoming someone different than who we are today is going to make us happy. And it’s tough to dissociate from the advertising messages that tell us so and sell us feelings, instead of products. They make us believe that buying a new TV will make us feel a certain way. That may be true, but only for a very short period of time.

In the long run, you can be the only true source of your happiness. Understand that you feeling happy is normal, even if for no reason at all. Most people believe that you need a reason to feel happy but that it’s normal to feel sad or depressed. Walk around happy and joyful and people think you are crazy. Walk around complaining, sad, or depressed and you’ve got instant friends!

So practice being happy as often as you can. If you want to know how you are doing already, why not take an emotional inventory? Simply write down all the feelings and emotions you experience on a weekly basis. Do it right now.

Notice any patterns? Do similar emotions keep coming up? Well, guess what? Your emotions are your life! How you feel is your life! If you feel frustrated and angry most of the time, then that’s your life.

But that can change. You can choose how you want to feel at any given moment. And I would like to share with you the secret to being happy. This is what I have realized in my short 28 years of life so far. Ready?

Be of service to others.

Help others. Serve others. Contribute to making your world a better place. Be nice. Smile. Laugh. Give back. Make someone else’s life better.


TotalWellnessCleanseAny master will tell you the same. You will never find sustained happiness by selfishly pursuing your own endeavours or by accumulating fancy toys. You must help and serve others and add value to your world. And don’t give to others because you expect something in return. Don’t give to charity for a tax receipt. Do it for the sake of giving and helping. This is the true nature of giving.

So as you complete this last day of the Total Wellness Cleanse™ think of how you can help, serve, and give to others around you. It can be something small like opening a door for someone or something a little more committed like preparing food for the homeless. Whatever it is, do it from your heart. Your life will transform.

This 30-day cleanse has been designed to purify your mind and body, and you should now feel empowered to make your life, and the lives of others, the happiest and most meaningful ever!

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