Author: Rick Wallace

Dr. Rick Wallace is the Founder, CEO & Chief Life Mastery Strategist at The Visionetics Institute. He created the Visionetics concept for optimal personal development based on nearly three decades of academic study, research and experience in the areas of behavioral psychology, neuroscience, personal development, metaphysics, quantum physics, neuro-linguistic programming, psycho-cybernetics and spirituality. Dr. Wallace is one of the leading minds in the area of personal change --- achieving an exceptional rate of success with his clients.
Posted on

“Priming” Setting Your Optimal State for Performance in Life!

"Priming" Setting Your Optimal State for Performance in Life!
"Priming" Setting Your Optimal State for Performance in Life!
“Priming” Setting Your Optimal State for Performance in Life!

 

“Priming” Setting Your Optimal State for Performance in Life!

There is no question that the manner in which you start your day will have a massive impact on your capacity to effectively navigate through the labyrinthine corridors of resistance that everyone must face. Fortunately, there is a way that you can ensure that you are at an optimal state each and every day — priming. In the world of neuro-psychology, priming refers to the techniques used to influence the implicit memory effect of the mind and brain in which exposure to a specific stimulus influences a later response to the same stimulus. This technique can be used in both, positive and negative ways.

While priming can be used to help improve memory, it can also be used to help a person set and sustain a desired state (Total state of existence — mind, soul, body, and spirit)

In the world of neuro-linguistic programming, we discover that the state we are in at any given moment will dictate how we interpret any given situation or event. The lower the state you are in, the more open you will be to the influence of negative situations and the more diminished your capacity to effectively respond to the event will become.

Priming is a practice that is designed to be used at the beginning of the day to help you set your state. When you are in an optimal state, there is no existence of anger, fear, anxiety, worry, bitterness, procrastination or any other negative state of mind. When you are functioning at an optimal state, you are in perfect equilibrium — mind, soul, body, and spirit.

Priming must become a daily ritual — something that you practice daily — in order for it to be consistently effective in your life. The truth is that we are all governed by rituals — the things we do and the things we think about the most. If you want to change your current situation, examine your current rituals and get rid of the ones that are supporting negative behaviors that are not conducive to the goals and desires you secretly aspire to.

You are not being held back due to any exogenous forces that are moving against you, you are living in the reality created by your daily rituals — the rituals that govern your behavior and your thoughts.

Everyone morning when I wake up the priming process begins with me awakening a heart and mind that is centered in gratitude. Gratitude has to be the foundation on which you build or your edifice will consistently crumble when it comes underneath the weight of pressure, difficulty, delay, frustration.

No matter what is going on in your life, there is a reason to be grateful, and once you find that thing for which you are grateful, embrace its meaning to your life. On the foundation, you then build an edifice constructed of positive and unlimited beliefs concerning what you are capable of and what you expect from life. God/The Universe will only meet you at the level of your expectations. If you want more out of life, you must raise your expectations. As Earl Nightingale, Bob Proctor, Zig Ziglar, Jim Rohn, Les Brown, Tony Robbins and others who have come before me have stated, “Life will pay whatever price you demand of it.” The problem is that you are not demanding much.

Instead of exploring your power to change the world around you, you have simply accepted what has been handed to you. Wake up in the morning and tell yourself that you are powerful beyond measure and that you have the capacity to create and sustain new realities by shifting your paradigm to embrace the new reality. Tell yourself that you are built for every challenge that you will face over the course of the day and that nothing you encounter will cause you to become shaken, frenetic, unglued, fearful, anxious or worried. Simply put, you are built for this. You, my friend, are a beast, now it is time to do what beasts do! ~ Rick Wallace, Ph.D., Psy.D.

Click here to learn how to create a powerful paradigm shift quickly and permanently with the power of paradigms course!

Click here to learn how you can benefit from 1-on-1 Coaching!

Click here to learn how you can apply for acceptance into my 2018 Critical Mass Course!

Click here to get your copy of “Your Mind Is the Genesis of Your Destiny!

To book Dr. Wallace for speaking engagements, seminars, lectures and one-on-one counseling, email: LifeChange@rickwallacephd.link

Posted on

5 Proven Ways to Promote Your Small Business on Facebook

5 Proven Ways to Promote Your Business on Facebook

5 Proven Ways to Promote Your Small Business on Facebook

5 Proven Ways to Promote Your Business on Facebook

For those who have entrepreneurial aspirations, there has never been a better time to start pursuing your dream or being a business owner. The global economy that has been created by the rapid advancement in technology and the enormous expanse of the internet has completely opened up multitudinous opportunities for people to enter into the business market and be successful.

Over the course of my life, I have successfully launched and brought to profitability 46 companies (not including those I acquired and invested in) using a proven strategy that marginalizes the risks that are inherently a part of being a business owner. I am currently operating a total of six businesses, including The Visionetics Institute, The Odyssey Media Group & Publishing Co., Myriad Business Solutions and Master Fitness 21. These companies were started during a restructuring period in my life in which there was very little liquid capital to work with. What I had were ideas and expertise, and more importantly, an ability to think laterally (outside of the box of conventionalism) — using creative methods to build my brand and promote my businesses.

Critical Mass Pre-order
Get your copy of Dr. Wallace’s 20th book, Critical Mass: The Comprehensive Guide to Living Life At the Level of Your Design!

I still have a considerable way to go to return to my previous position, but the wall of greatness is not built in a day, but one brick at a time. This is something that new and aspiring business owners must learn early in the game.

One of the most important components associated with running a successful business is marketing and branding. I will not get into the intricacies of marketing and branding, but I will say that failure to properly brand and promote your business will interfere with your capacity to experience growth and longevity in an increasingly competitive global marketplace.

Facebook has proven to be a highly effective platform when it comes to building a brand and effectively engaging your target audience and while paid advertising should eventually become a significant part of your business budget, there are some free methods that you can use to get you started.

Here are 5 proven ways to promote your small business on Facebook.

  1. Create a Personal Presence by Using a Fan Page

If you are planning on growing your business over time, you will need to have the capacity to develop relationships with your target audience. It will be through these relationships that you will be able to develop trust, which is essential to creating customer loyalty. Facebook has performed very well in this area for businesses of all sizes. As a small business owner, the ability to facilitate person-to-person interaction with potential clients will make the individuals feel as if they have connected with your brand in a meaningful way, and that they have a unique connection with your company.

Keep in mind that meaningful engagement cannot be solely based on you promoting your products or services, but you need to be able to engage your target audience in a manner in which you are providing them with value without asking them for money. This is how you build trust and validate the character and integrity of your company.

  1. Maintain a Bold Brand Presence

Without you paying a little money to promote your posts on Facebook, it is likely that only a small portion of your followers will see your posts in their news feeds, meaning that you will need to post frequently and regularly (the same time intervals) — offering your followers valuable information that they find relevant and useful. This way they will continue to come back to your page to see what you post. You can also connect your page to your website where your audience will be able to find even more useful content.

Side note: For as little as $10 – $20, you can promote your Facebook posts from your business page, and Facebook makes it very easy to target the people you consider to be a part of your market. They will even help you set up your campaign.

  1. Join Facebook Groups

This is an area where a lot of small business owners fail to capitalize on the gold mine that lies behind the wall of Facebook groups. Facebook groups function as many forums where people join to create a community surrounding particular interests. Facebook makes it very easy to find these groups with a simple search. When you find groups that are associated with your particular industry or niche, send the group administrator a request to join the group. Once you have been accepted to the group, don’t immediately start posting about your products and services, instead join in on existing conversations and dialogue. Build a reputation of providing valuable information and feedback that helps people solve existing problems. This is how you build trust within the group.

Once you have built trust in the group, you can start inviting people to check out your fan page and website.

What makes Facebook groups such a valuable resource is the fact that most of the people are in the group because they are in some way vested in that particular industry or niche — meaning that you will always be interacting with people who can influence your business growth.

  1. Create a Group of Your Own

As beneficial as participating in other groups can be, creating your own group allows you to establish the rules of engagement and it immediately establishes you as an authority in your industry. You will also likely be the first person that members come to when they need something. When you create your own page, you create the capacity to build your own personal network. Creating your own group means that you will have the ability to dictate when and what you post without the concern of upsetting the page owner or admin.

  1. List Your Events

Facebook makes it very easy to list all your upcoming events. When you have an upcoming event, you can create an event page that provides a clear description of what the event is about and how people can attend. The event page will also allow people to indicate if they are going to attend, interested in attending or not attending. It is an awesome tool to use as an RSVP mechanism.

Event pages also allow followers and attendees to post comments, providing valuable feedback that will actually tell you how to best market your product to them.

When you take the time to build trusting relationships on Facebook, the people you interact with will literally tell you the things that are most important to them informing you of the most effective way to sell them your products and services. When you have limited funds, your personality and expertise will prove invaluable to you as you attempt to establish a brand presence and attract customers who will be loyal to your brand.

Posted on

The Power of Expanded Beliefs ~ Faith in Motion

The Power of Expanded Beliefs ~ Faith in Motion

The Power of Expanded Beliefs ~ Faith in Motion

The Power of Expanded Beliefs ~ Faith in Motion

The Power of Expanded Beliefs ~ Faith in Motion

It is time to reach into the power of expanded beliefs ~ faith in motion moves the universe. For those who have followed me for any length of time, you already know how passionate I am about developing the capacity to manage your thoughts and the beliefs that produce them. It is no secret that your thoughts are the seeds of your destiny, and your thoughts are the fruit of your core beliefs. Therefore, if you want to change your reality, you have to change your core beliefs, which will result in a change of perspective — a shift in paradigms.

While it may sound cliche-ish, you are what you think. Your thoughts are the seeds of your future reality — the seeds of a future harvest. As in physical science, the seed always produces what it is designed to produce. An acorn does not produce an apple, it produces an oak tree, and so, you can never expect a negative or limiting thought to produce a positive and powerful result.

The process of mastering your life begins with creating a paradigm shift that is supported by expanding beliefs that replace limiting beliefs. When have the capacity to create a paradigmatic shift in your life, you will never find yourself perpetually stranded at any point along the continuum of life.

An expanded belief is literally faith in motion. When you possess an authentic faith that underwrites the idea that all things are possible, you possess the capacity to move the universe on your behalf, and I am not speaking in a figurative sense. Everything in the universe is energy and energy responds to energy.

Here is the thing; like attracts like when it comes to the emittance of energy. It is called resonance, and what your energy resonates with is what you will attract. Energy is emitted in frequency and the level of the frequency determines the power of the vibration. The higher the frequency, the higher the vibration.

When you observe people who seem to experience constant success and maintain a positive attitude, they have developed the capacity to manage their thoughts and elevate the frequency that they operate in. Allow me to give you a prime example of energy resonance.

Have you ever seen a show or commercial where an opera singer hit an immensely high note and shatters a class in the room? As a kid growing up, I used to see this all of the time, and I initially did not believe it was possible until I saw it replicated in a science experiment in school. What is actually happening is the sound emitted by the singer has a specific frequency as it moves through the air, and so does the glass (everything in the universe is made of energy, even inanimate objects). If you were to take a tuning rod and tap the glass it would emit a sound, and that sound has a frequency, when the frequency of the singer is the same as the frequency of the glass, the glass resonates with the vibration and absorbs it — because the vibration is so strong it shatters the glass.

This is the same way that the energy emitted by your thoughts will resonate with other energy. Please understand that you can only access and obtain those things that are on the frequency you are currently admitting. If you want different results, you must be willing to change your frequency and that begins with creating a paradigm shift that opens up the possibilities of life in your mind.

I teach people how to create powerful paradigmatic shifts when I work with them one-on-one, and I also created a course that teaches people how to create a paradigm shift in their lives. The key is to invest in yourself to get the results that you are looking for.

You are the one responsible for changing your life, and no one else can do it for you until you become committed to changing. Change starts here! ~ Rick Wallace, Ph.D., Psy.D.

 

Click here to preorder my Dr. Wallace’s latest book, Critical Mass: The Comprehensive Guide to Living Life At the Level of Your Design!

Click here to learn how to create a powerful paradigm shift quickly and permanently with the power of paradigms course!

Click here to learn how you can benefit from 1-on-1 Coaching!

Click here to learn how you can apply for acceptance into my 2018 Critical Mass Course!

Get your copy of “Your Mind Is the Genesis of Your Destiny!

To book Dr. Wallace for speaking engagements, seminars, lectures and one-on-one counseling, email: LifeChange@rickwallacephd.link

Posted on

Never Underestimate the Physicality of Your Thoughts

Never Underestimate the Physicality of Your Thoughts

Never Underestimate the Physicality of Your Thoughts

 

Never Underestimate the Physicality of Your Thoughts

While most people are at least aware of the fact that their thoughts have the power to impact their lives, very few are aware to what extent. I often tell my clients at The Visionetics Institute that their thoughts have a physicality so powerful that they can move the universe.

Thoughts are so much more than mental ideas, they are the seeds of your destiny. Your current reality is the result of past thoughts that have simply manifested themselves in the third-dimension. So it is important to understand that your reality does not begin with what you can see an touch but with what you think. In fact, what you see and touch is the end-result, not the beginning.

Never underestimate the physicality of your thoughts. If you want to change your current reality, you have to change your thoughts and the limiting beliefs that are behind them. Everything in this universe is one form of energy or another. This is not a philosophical idea, it is physics. Everything in this universe is made of atoms and atoms are energy. What we know and understand about energy is the fact that like attracts like. So if you are emitting negative energy you will attract negativity. If you are emitting positive energy, you will attract to yourself positive things. The most consistent you become with your emittance of energy, the more consistent and stable your life will be.

Most people spend most of their time focusing on what they don’t want, never realizing that they are actually attracting that very reality to themselves. The better you become at establishing a clear vision and image of what you want, the more your thoughts will align themselves with your desires — producing the desired result.

Physicists have proven that human thoughts move matter — meaning your thoughts have the ability to shift the world around you in some rather extraordinary ways. So, what are you thinking right now? ~ Rick Wallace, Ph.D., Psy.D.

Preorder your signed copy of Critical Mass at a discounted price and get the interactive digital copy FREE!

Learn how to create a powerful paradigm shift quickly and permanently with the power of paradigms course!

Learn how you can benefit from 1-on-1 Coaching:

1-On-1 Coaching

Learn how you can apply for acceptance into my 2018 Critical Mass Course:
https://rickwallacephd.link/critical-mass-life-empowerment-course-2017/

Get you copy of “Your Mind Is the Genesis of Your Destiny:
https://rickwallacephd.link/downloads/your-mind-is-the-genesis-of-your-destiny/

To book Dr. Wallace for speaking engagements, seminars, lectures and one-on-one counseling, email: LifeChange@rickwallacephd.link

Posted on

Purging Your Periphery ~ Building a New Inner-Circle

Purging Your Periphery - Building a New Inner-Circle

Purging Your Periphery ~ Building a New Inner-Circle

Purging Your Periphery - Building a New Inner-Circle

Purging Your Periphery ~ Building a New Inner-Circle

When I work with my clients, there are so many things we have to cover in a relatively short time, but one thing that is constantly inculcated into their minds is the importance of purging their periphery — getting those negative-minded people out of their inner-circle.

Because we are social creatures, those we allow into our inner-circle have an immensely powerful impact on how we think and behave — association brings about assimilation. There are minimal-minded people who love nothing more than whispering the sweet-nothings of negative into the ears of those who aspire to something greater than they are currently experiencing. It seems these people have literally made it their responsibility in life to show everyone why they can’t do something beyond what is considered ordinary or average.

Many times, these minimal-minded naysayers will be those whom you love the most, and they will often have good intentions, but intent becomes irrelevant when you confuse sugar with cyanide when making my coffee. Many times you will be working to improve yourself so that you can be a benefit to the very people that are constantly trying to tell you that you are crazy for trying. You will likely have to temporarily separate yourself from them in order to make the progress you are looking for.

Replace the naysayers with like-minded people who are at least headed in the same direction you are headed in. Also, it will important to include some people who are more advanced in thought and accomplishment that yourself. These are people who you will want to model your behavior and thinking after. Sometimes the behavior that you are modeling will not make sense logically because you have spent a significant part of your life thinking differently and seeing life through the lens of a different paradigm.

To get rid of those limiting beliefs that have served to keep you boxed in for years, you will need to create a paradigm shift — changing the way you view the world, how it impacts you, how you impact it and how you view yourself in general. When you are working to create a paradigm shift, you do not need people around you constantly attempting to reinforce the old paradigm you are breaking free of.

The truth is that the only limitations you have in this life are the ones you accept in your mind. When you are able to create a paradigms shift, you can completely replace those limiting beliefs with powerful beliefs that focus on what’s possible instead of labeling things as impossible.

Your thoughts are the seeds of your destiny — change your thoughts, change your destiny. ~ Rick Wallace, Ph.D., Psy.D.

Learn how to create a powerful paradigm shift quickly and permanently with the power of paradigms course!

Learn how you can benefit from 1-on-1 Coaching!

Learn how you can apply for acceptance into my 2018 Critical Mass Course!

Get your copy of “Your Mind Is the Genesis of Your Destiny!

 

Posted on

The Principles of Power & Performance

The Principles of Power & Performance

The Principles of Power & Performance

The Principles of Power & Performance

When people come to me for help, they have either experienced success at a high level and they are looking to take their game to a higher level or they are struggling to break free from a life of stagnancy and perpetual failure. I have come to realize that those who are in between success and failure are at the greatest risk of never achieving their full potential. Those who are in between success and failure, while they are not happy with where they are at, are not uncomfortable enough to take the action necessary to change it. They are still willing to wait for fate to deliver what they have the capacity to create.

I guess what I am getting at here is the fact that what you are about to read is for everyone, whether you are a successful business owner, struggling to keep your head above water in any area of life, or just doing okay in life.



What I want to share with you here are principles and practices that are at the core of the successes and achievements of some of the most influential people on the planet. There are several things that I communicate to all my clients, whether they have enrolled in my flagship program Critical Mass, or any of the other programs that I offer. One of the things I share is my simple definition of success because people tend to spend their entire lives attempting to achieve success based on someone else’s definition of what success is.

Defining Success

My definition of success is an adaptation of a definition given years ago by Earl Nightingale. I define success as the measurable progress of the pursuit of a worthy goal. Success is not only realized in the achieving of a particular goal but is experienced along the entire processor continuum leading to that achievement. Yes, I celebrate when I reach a goal for a very brief moment, but I also celebrate the smaller progressions that lead me to the achievement of the primary goal.

I guess what I am attempting to convey here is the fact that you will spend far more time moving toward a goal than you will living in the moment of achieving it. If the only time that you acknowledge and celebrate success is when a milestone is reached, you could literally be robbing yourself of valuable energy and self-encouragement through the acknowledgment and celebration of progress. I really believe that consistent progress is the true source of happiness. When you can see and experience moving toward something worthwhile, the feeling that you experience is quite empowering and elating.

Something else that I want to share about the idea of success is that it is all-encompassing. Success is not only defined by your bank account, but by your relationships, your level of peace and contentment, your ability to help and empower others. You can achieve success in every aspect of your life when you understand the principles of power and performance that I share with you.

Make a Decision & Commit to It

One of the most dangerous places to be in life is sitting between desire and commitment. I tell my clients all the time that you do not get what you want, you get who you are. So, if you are not getting what you want, you must take an introspective examination of yourself and determine what you must change to become the person who is capable of having what you say you want. The key to change, however, is that it requires a commitment that emerges from a decisive moment that demands that you move in a different direction and adopt a new way of thinking. You must decide to raise your standards and expectations for yourself. When you raise your standards, you will automatically lower your tolerance for excuses and mediocre engagement. You will be surprised at how much simply lowering your tolerance for excuses, from yourself and others, will empower you. You get what you tolerate.

One of the most powerful decisions that you can make and commit to is to control the state through which you engage each day of your life. Your state, which encompasses your complete state of existence, including emotions, psychology, posture, perspective, and expectations, determines how you interpret and define every event and situation you encounter. You will respond to every situation based on the state that you are in at that moment.

I choose to live my life in an optimal state or what Tony Robbins refers to as a peak or beautiful state, and the best time to set your state is when you start your day. When you are in an optimal state, you are functioning from a place of gratitude. I have learned that it is absolutely impossible to live in fear when gratitude is present. It is impossible to live in a state of anger when you are grateful. Anxiety, worry and all the other negative influencers that place you in a counterintuitive state cannot exist when you are functioning from a place of gratitude.

Exchange Expectation for Appreciation

While there is nothing inherently wrong with having expectations for yourself and others, when your expectations precede your ability to appreciate what you already have, it opens the floodgate of negative thoughts and everything flows downhill from there. It is when you exchange your expectation for appreciation that the lens through which you view life becomes clearer, your perspective becomes more balanced. It is through the conduit of appreciation that marriages flourish. You see, when you appreciate your spouse, you stop demanding and start encouraging them to be better in certain areas.

Having a heart of gratitude also guards against the development of a victim’s mentality. Gratitude does not allow you to feel sorry for yourself. It is not that gratitude stops the vicissitudes of life from rolling into your paradise, it simply allows you to view the disruption as an event and not make it a part of your constant reality.



Being in an optimal state does not mean that you do not become angry, sad, or frustrated, it simply means that you choose not to remain in those lower states. I have adopted a 60/90 rule for negative state occurrences in my own life. What this means is that when I get knocked off track by some unexpected disruption, I give myself 60 to 90 seconds to return to an optimal state.

Priming or Prepping for Optimal State

So, how do you set and reset your current state? You do it through a process called priming, which can be done in as little as 10 minutes each morning. I often speak about the fact that there are 86,400 seconds in a day and how you invest in those seconds will determine your future. Well, the 10 minutes that you spend priming could be the most important 600 seconds of your day, because it will determine how you engage every other moment.

There is no right way to prime, but I would suggest finding a quiet spot in the morning where you will not be interrupted, but if you are like me and have a family, it may be easier said than done. When you find that spot, put on your headset and play music that you find encouraging, empowering and calming. You might be surprised at how instrumental music can be in setting your emotional tone and overall state. Next time you are riding in your car pay attention to your mood shifts as the music on the radio changes. I tend to make my own playlists that allow me to keep a consistent state. Now, my playlists for the gym is different than my playlist before going to bed, because the aggressiveness I need in the gym will not serve me well when I am attempting to fall asleep at night.

Next, you will need to clear your mind of all negative thoughts. The best way to do this is by embracing a heart of gratitude. No matter where you are and what you are going through, there is a reason to be grateful, and you have to find that every morning before you start entertaining the things you are not happy with. If you don’t, you will be in a constant state of either anxiety, frustration, fear, bitterness, anger, etc. Gratitude frames your perception of reality. For me, it is easy because before I climb out of bed I look over and see God’s greatest gift in my wife.

When you achieve an optimal state at the beginning of your day, you are better equipped to engage any negative situations, but more importantly, you will create more opportunities for positive experiences. Living in an optimal state provides the capacity to take control of your environment instead of allowing your environment to control you. This is the point in which you discover that life is not happening to you, it is responding to you.

Follow Your Passion & Do What You Love

Have you ever noticed that when you are doing something you hate or find boring that time seems to stand still? Conversely, when you are doing something you are passionate about and love, time flies. When you are working in areas that serve your passion, time literally disappears. I experience this truth at its height when spending time with my wife and kids. When my wife and I take a day to ourselves, that day seems to fly by in what seems like seconds, and the moments that we are apart tend to linger. This idea of time is a mental one and it works in correlation with how you perceive what you are doing.

When I first meet a potential client who is working a job that they absolutely hate, I will often tell them that they are slowly committing spiritual suicide. Some might believe my assessment is exaggerated; however, you are actually designed to pursue what you are passionate about. It is where you will achieve the greatest success, the most fulfillment, and find the most contentment. One of the most diminishing forces in life is the act of doing something solely because you believe you have to.
If you have not yet discovered your passion, it is will be immersed in your purpose, which can be uncovered by examining the unique gifts and talents hidden in your design. Your design is indicative of your purpose. When you find that thing you would do for free and you decide to master it and use it to serve others, you will almost certainly be paid handsomely for it. There is nothing wrong with being paid for what you do for others as long as the value of what you give exceeds the value of what you are being paid.

Get Rid of Limiting Beliefs

One of the greatest impediments to success is limiting beliefs — beliefs that form the idea of what can and cannot be done. Even if you gain access to the most successful strategy for what you are attempting to achieve, if you have conflicting beliefs that are not in alignment with what you are trying to do, you will find a way to sabotage your own efforts. In fact, the more limiting the belief, the less likely you will invest the necessary effort to produce the desired result.

This simplest representation of the success formula looks something like this:

POTENTIAL (Including the confidence you have based on your perception of your potential)

 

 

 

 

ACTION/EFFORT Taken based on Potential (It takes massive effort to achieve massive results)

 

 

 

 

 

RESULTS (Your results will be in direct correspondence with your actions and effort)

 

 

 

 

 

REINFORCED BELIEF (The results you get will reinforce the initial belief and further impact future efforts)

Basically, if you believe that what you are after is possible, you will invest an unlimited amount of effort and energy into ensuring that you achieve your goal, and the amount of effort you invest will be reflected in your results. When you get the results you are looking for, it will reinforce your belief that you could, resulting in even greater effort in the future, producing greater results. Conversely, no one invests massive effort into something they do not believe will produce the desired result. While most people will at least try so that they can say they did, the effort they invest is minimal and the energy they emit while attempting the task will be low-frequency energy that produces low vibrations — attracting negative results.

Control Your Emotions & Execute Your Presence

Anyone who does not develop the capacity to control their emotions will be capricious in their actions — never achieving any form of consistency in performance. People driven by emotion are tossed about by the circumstances of life — never truly finding their footing. There are many ways to train yourself to control your emotions. The most powerful method of controlling your emotional state is the priming technique I mentioned earlier. I train my clients to use priming as part of their daily rituals or routines. Your life is a reflection of your current rituals — those things you do daily. If you are an avid reader, whatever you read consistently will be reflected in how you live your life. If you have a ritual of eating healthy and working out, it will be reflected in your health and your appearance. If you have a ritual of studying successful people, you will find yourself emulating those people. Priming must become a ritual if you want emotional consistency in your life.

Experience holistic health, fitness & healing with the VTX-12 Fitness and Wellness Program!

Other ways that you train your emotions is through breathing, posture, and motion. In fact, both posture and motion have the power to create emotion and immediately change your state. If you do not believe me. Try holding your head up and squaring your shoulders while maintaining a feeling of helplessness. You will either abandon the posture or abandon the sense of helplessness. It is the same thing with motion, get to moving. Go for a run or walk. Jump up and down. Turn on some music and dance. You will find that motion and posture demand an emotional response that is in alignment with the posture and motion. I teach these techniques to my clients and they are amazed at the power of posture and motion to completely turn their day around. In my upcoming book, Critical Mass, I go into detail explaining how to use motion and posture to achieve an optimal state.

Finally, you must execute your presence. What I mean by this is that your state will dictate the type of energy that you emit and the level of vibrations you are able to achieve. The higher the frequency, the higher the vibrations. The higher the vibrations you achieve the greater your power to achieve the phenomenal. When you are in an optimal state you will be able to execute your presence, or make your presence felt without effort. In other words, when you are functioning in an optimal state, you will literally be able to move the universe on your behalf. It all begins with your thinking and your beliefs and it plays out in every facet of your existence until it manifests itself in the third-dimension.

The only limits that you have on your life are the ones that you choose to accept with your mind. You possess the capacity to literally shift your world in your favor, but you must develop the right rituals to produce the results you desire. Remember, change starts the moment you make the decision and commit to raising the expectations you have for yourself. ~ Rick Wallace, Ph.D., Psy.D.

 

 

Posted on

How To Align Your Life With Your Values

How To Align Your Life With Your Values

by Dorie Clark , CONTRIBUTOR | Courtesy of Forbes

Opinions expressed by Visionetics Contributors are their own.

Do you constantly feel stressed out? Like there’s not enough time to accomplish everything you need to? Jennifer Tuma-Young has been there. “I was always running and finding ways to fit more and more in, but I was never fulfilled. It was like I was on a wheel,” she recalls. That’s when she decided to become more proactive – and selective – about how she spent her time. “What if we really looked at our time and decided, ‘How do I want to live? What do I want in my life?’” She calls it a ‘day dump,’ in which she and her coaching clients would write down how they’re spending their time, and engage in conscious ‘day design.’ “That level of awareness allows you to make different choices,” she says.



The first step in creating the kind of schedule you want, says Tuma-Young, author of Balance Your Life, Balance the Scale, is understanding your “anchoring system” or core values. She uses the acronym BALANCE to represent it, and encourages clients to “Braindump and breathe; Assess and accept; Let go and laugh; Add and appreciate; Navigate and find joy in the journey; Confront and connect so you can get to the root issues; and Engage and experience the gift of life.”

Next, it’s important to line up your schedule and your anchors and determine if you’re allocating your time appropriately. “You can say you value this, but your day-timer will tell you what you value,” she says. “Let’s be real with ourselves.”

Learn how to create massive paradigm shifts that produce results in your life!

She’s grappled with these issues herself. “I always said ‘I never have enough time,’ but I was just making myself busy, like going to every networking event with the possibility of meeting someone. [I had to realize] not everything is meant for me; the world seems to be a smorgasbord, but it’s not.” She tries to live out the same values in parenting her young children. “Many kids are in every activity you can imagine, but my kids pick one activity and commit to it fully. If they don’t like it, the next season they can pick another, but they’re not doing more than one in a season because I want them to understand the concept of choice.” That extra time allows her family to volunteer together, an important value she wants to instill. “She seems to love it,” she says of her daughter, “and we don’t feel the stress of running all the time.”



Saying no can be difficult in a go-go society. “It’s making peace with the fear of missing out,” she says. Sometimes that means putting your foot down and setting expectations at work. “I’ve realized the beauty of paring back and have worked with executives to put their Blackberries down and not expect their employees to respond at 9:30 at night. I don’t waver: the best companies force their employees to take downtime. It’s not 24-7; you need to find your own balance.”

Learn how you can benefit from 1-on-1 Coaching with Dr. Rick Wallace.

How do you find balance, at work and at home?

Dorie Clark is a marketing strategist who teaches at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business. She is the author of Reinventing You and Stand Out, and you can receive her free Stand Out Self-Assessment Workbook.

Posted on

8 Creative Ways to Fund Your Startup

8 Creative Ways to Fund Your Startup

8 Creative Ways to Fund Your Startup

8 Creative Ways to Fund Your Startup

8 Creative Ways to Fund Your Startup ~ I founded The Visionetics Institute to be a comprehensive mechanism with the capacity to assist people in converting their visions into reality. A significant part of reaching the heights of an expansive vision is achieved in your mind. I often tell my clients that having the best strategy in the world will have little benefit if your psychology does not align itself with your passion. Often, people know that there is something better out there for them, but they are still holding on to limiting beliefs that are associated with a paradigm that robs them of the confidence necessary to take the required actions to achieve what they so desperately desire.

It is these limiting beliefs that keep most people in a holding pattern wishing that things would change in their favor. The truth is that you cannot change the results you are getting without taking the necessary actions to change the cause. One of the seven universal laws that govern everything in this world is the Law of Cause and Effect, which states:

“Every cause has its effect; every effect has its cause.” In accordance with this Law, every effect you see in your outside or physical world has a very specific cause which has its origin in your inner or mental world. This is the essence of thought power. Every one of your thoughts, words or actions sets a specific effect in motion which will come to materialize over time. To become the master of your destiny, you must master your mind for everything in your reality is a mental creation. Know that there is nothing like chance or luck. They are simply terms used by humanity in ignorance of this Law.”

While your success in life — whether in business, marriage, finance, social impact, etc. — will require that you have a cognizance of certain strategies and mechanisms, your thoughts remain the seeds of your destiny and that is where you must begin.

I have written and published 19 books, and I am currently writing my 20th. I have launched and brought to profitability 46 companies, and I have been actively involved in the success of countless others. I have lectured before a wide array of audiences on multitudinous topics ranging from success in business to epigenetics and its impact on the biological vulnerability to diseases like cancer, diabetes and heart disease — as well as its impact on the intergenerational transmission of trauma, as well as countless other accomplishments that will go unnamed here. So, does all of this mean that I have had advantages and opportunities that those who have not experienced this type of success have not had access to? Absolutely not. Opportunities and advantages are created through the processes of toil that is birthed from a belief that what you seek is possible. The only difference between me and someone who is struggling to achieve success is our mentality.

 



Fortunately, it is possible to rid the mind of limiting beliefs and to adopt a mindset that is conducive to massive success at any level. The only limits you have are those you accept as reality in your mind. When you step out of the box of limited expectations, you will find that the world will begin to bend to your will. The energy you emit because of your confidence and the actions you take because of it will literally cause the entire universe to conspire on your behalf to bring you the things you seek.

Okay, now that I have that out of the way, let’s get to the reason that you are here. Once you have straightened out your thinking, your aspirations to become an entrepreneur will lead you to one unavoidable challenge — the need to fund your business idea.

Whether you need capital for your initial rollout, product development, or your initial payroll expenses, you will have to find a way to generate the necessary capital. First, you should understand that money is only one form of capital, and while it is the most fluid form, it is not the only one. Many times, you can use your current skill set to barter for things you need, or you can use your most powerful form of capital, your mind.

Moving forward, I will be focusing on creative ways that you can acquire money as capital to fund your business idea outside of the traditional methods used for financing businesses.

There are multitudinous alternatives to traditional financing, but I am going to give you 8 that have a proven track record when effort and persistence are applied. One of the greatest skills that you can acquire in the world of business, or life in general, is the ability to think laterally or creatively — meaning you must be able to think outside of the box. The first matter is to develop a mindset in which you never say never.

Embrace a holistic approach to success with the VTX-12 Holistic Fitness Program!

It is important when you are attempting to use external funding sources to fund your startup, you must have a lucid perspicacity of the need to sell yourself more than you sell the business idea.

Following are 8 proven funding strategies that exist outside of the traditional funding structure.

  1. Personal Financing

While personal financing may not seem to be a creative funding idea, it is a necessary one. I am surprised at the number of people who come to me seeking advice on starting a business who have never considered the importance of saving to fund their own idea. As a rule, you will be hard-pressed to find a venture capitalist or a private business investor who will be willing to fund your idea if you do not have some skin in the game. The capital you have on hand when you approach lenders will be a testimony of how much you believe in yourself and it will represent the effort that you have invested into ensuring that your vision comes to fruition. With that being said, you should not give up if you do not have on-hand capital, but it should definitely be a part of your funding strategy. You will be surprised at how much you can save by setting aside a certain percentage of your current income for your business.

  1. Personal Credit Lines

In situations in which you may not qualify for a small business loan, you may qualify for a personal line of credit, which will be determined by your creditworthiness and your current income. It is possible to receive as much as $250,000 or more. Credit cards are often easier to obtain than personal lines of credit when your credit history does not support the line of credit approach. There are numerous startups that have been launched using this approach. Using either of these approaches will allow you to retain complete ownership and control of your company if you honor the obligation to make the minimum payments outlined in the conditions set out by the lender.

  1. Family and Friends

This funding method is sometimes referred to as tapping a hot source, primarily because your family is more likely to take a risk in funding your dreams without many of the requirements demanded by other investors, such as the proven success of an existing business, a formal business plan, a marketing analysis, revenue projections, etc. If you have a track record of success, your family will likely want to support your vision.
When entering into funding agreements with family and friends it will be paramount that you set forth all the conditions in writing to avoid confusion and conflict. The best way to position these type of agreements is by positioning them as a bridge loan or a promissory note, which will convert your business equity at a rate that will be determined by future investors.



  1. Peer-to-Peer Lending

While it is likely that you have never heard of peer-to-peer lending before, it has been around for years, and it is a viable alternative to traditional funding. It has proven successful for ethnic groups and small business groups that are willing to support similar ideas. When viewing this model in the context of a startup business, you will need to identify successful entrepreneurs who are willing to fund ideas like the one that inspired your business.

  1. Crowdfunding

Crowdfunding is one of my favorites and it has emerged as an increasing favorite among startups, primarily due to the power created by the rapid expansion of the internet. There is a wide range of online service providers that provide the capacity for you to set up a crowdfunding campaign in a matter of minutes.

The concept of crowdfunding to create funding for businesses is centuries old, but the rise of social media has somewhat contaminated the idea and now it is used to fund everything including social events, surgery for pets, honeymoons and more. Nevertheless, the initial use of this funding model was to support new business ideas. In fact, several years ago, the creators of the Veronica Mars movie appealed to the show’s fans via a crowdfunding campaign, and they raised the $3 million budget in under 24 hours.

  1. Microloans

There are many nonprofit organizations and private companies that offer aspiring entrepreneurs small loans that range up to $35,000 to support entrepreneurship for individuals who cannot qualify for conventional small business loans. Two of the most prolific microlenders are Patriot Express Loans and Small Office/Home Office Loans.

  1. Vendor Financing

While this does not necessarily work with every business model, if you need tangible products to get your business up and running, many distributors and manufacturers can be convinced to forego payment for their goods until after they have been sold, allowing you to build your inventory at no initial cost. Although no currency changes hands, you receive capital in the form of goods under the condition of paying the distributor or manufacturer once you sell the product.

  1. IRA Financing

Investment Retirement Account funds and 401(k)s are arguably the single most accessible alternative funding source available today for startups. You cannot use your own self-directed funds for your startup, but many others are willing and able to loan you money from theirs, for the right terms, if they believe in you and your cause.

Seed funding can sometimes be difficult to secure through more conventional means like angel funding or venture capital, primarily because these types of investors generally prefer the less-riskier approach of investing in a proven business model that has already built a customer base and generated revenue.

The list provided here is far from comprehensive, but it does give you a place to start. One of the most valuable assets you can obtain as a business owner is the ability to think laterally — outside of the box. The more creative you are in your approach to financing your businesses the more opportunities you will create for yourself. Do not allow yourself to be boxed in by conventional wisdom. Keep in mind that some of the most successful companies on the planet were created through creative funding mechanisms. ~ Rick Wallace, Phd., Psy.D.

Posted on

How to Start a Business with Minimal Capital

How to Start a Business with Minimal Capital

How to Start a Business with Minimal Capital

How to Start a Business with Minimal Capital
Just Do It!

How to Start a Business with Minimal Capital

Having been in the business world as a business owner for three decades, I have seen and heard a lot of different philosophies surrounding the proper and most effective way to start and sustain a business. By far, the most fallible notion surrounding business is that you cannot start one without a lot of money on hand. A barrage of adages underwrites this erroneous notion that contributes to this idea, including the most infamous of all — “it takes money to make money.” The truth is that it does not take money to make money; it takes capital to make money or start a new business, and money is only one form of capital.

Because of the way that most people view money, they limit their mobility and their willingness to pursue their passions. Capital can be any of a number of things, including money, real estate, an idea, intellectual property, and your mind — for starters. While every person does not have money readily available, we all have something of value through which we can negotiate our advancement. Edward C. Barnes showed up at the door of Thomas Edison with nothing but an idea and a desire to be in partnership with the great inventor. Edison saw the value in his passion and confidence and brought him on as an employee, but it would not be long before Barnes would realize his dream of being a partner with Edison, but he did not buy his way in, he “thought” his way in.

As Napoleon Hill wrote:

“Truly, “thoughts are things,” and powerful things at that, when they are mixed with definiteness of purpose, persistence, and a burning desire for their translation into riches, or other material objects.”

The Psychology of Success

Success in business, as in any other area in life, adheres to a certain type of psychology, and while I am going to provide tips as to how you can start a business with little to no capital, these tips will serve no purpose if you are not operating under the right psychological framework. Basically, if your thoughts and beliefs about yourself are not in alignment with your goals, you will still struggle. In fact, your thoughts are more important than your strategies.

In my book, Your Mind Is the Genesis of Your Destiny, I go into great detail in describing how your thoughts are literally seeds that will produce a harvest in the future in the form of real circumstances, situations, and realities. You control your destiny by controlling your thoughts. So, the success of your business depends on you having the right frame of mind as much as it does on the availability of capital.

My suggestion is that you work on developing the right mindset before you start your business; it will make all the difference in the world. Look, over the last 30 years, I have successfully launched and sustained 46 companies and counting, with all of them reaching profitability in under a year. I have authored and published 19 books, and I am currently writing book number 20. I have purchased my dream house (five different times), traveled around the world and done things I once could not even imagine. What I can tell you is that it all started inside my head.

It started by expanding the range of my beliefs about myself and what I could accomplish. I learned that the only limitations I had were those I excepted in my mind and that when I believed I could do something, and I acted, I got the results I was looking for. These results rarely came without challenges, but when you believe something you develop an inexorable desire to push through every challenge. At the end of the day, it is not what you know, your skill set, your resources, or your connections that will push you through the difficult moments to the point of success, it is your belief in yourself and the willingness to go the entire distance.

At The Visionetics Institute, a company I founded and run, I help people optimize their potential and achieve their wildest dreams by helping them shift paradigms in a manner that allows them to see themselves and the world through a lens that says, “I can.” If you are interested in learning how to create these paradigmatic shifts, you can work directly with me for optimal results or you can take the Power of Paradigms Course I created for the person on the go. This is for certain, if your personal psychology is not in alignment with your desires, having the right business strategies and mechanisms will not do you much good.

Know Your Why

Before offering some key tips that will help you with launching your business idea with minimal capital, there is one other point that is immensely important. You must know your “why” and your “why” must be big enough to push you through all the challenges that you are going to face as you push through life and take on challenges in a quest to satisfy your passions. Your “why” is your reason for doing what you do. Some people do it because they want to provide a certain type of lifestyle for their family and others do it to satisfy their competitive thirst, and still, others do it because they want to have the resources on hand to serve others through philanthropic interests.

Whatever your “why” is it must be big enough to get you through those intensively challenging moments. See, no matter how hard you attempt to circumvent struggle, disappointment, loss, and delay, they are a part of the process that is essential to living in the promise of your design. I tell my clients all the time that “process” precedes “promise.” There can be no obtainment of the promise (of your design and potential) without there first being an endurance of the process. When you attempt to circumvent the process, you neutralize the promise.

Ask yourself, why am I doing this? Make sure that your why is bigger than you. Your “why” should be so huge that it will be bigger than any challenging moment that you will face. It must be big enough to push you through delay, hurt, disappointment, and fear. When your “why’ is big enough, you will become an unstoppable force.

The Vision

Building a business is like anything else; it is not only about the mechanics and business models, but about the holistic flow of the creator — you. Is your vision for your company crystal clear? The lack of lucidity in way of vision is one of the greatest inhibitors for long-term success. It is hard to manifest what you cannot clearly see. Therefore, I advocate the use of vision boards and priming sessions. Vision boards allow you to bring the image of your vision and goals into the physical realm so that they can be clearly seen and visualized. Priming is a technique I use every morning to ensure that I am in the right “state” of mind to optimize my day while staring down all challenges that emerge without becoming frenetic and unglued. Your “state” is of immense importance in ensuring your consistent and long-term success in business and every other area of your life.

Perfect Timing & Perfect Opportunities Do Not Exist

Now, say that you have your mind in the right “state” and you have effectively eliminated the limiting beliefs that would serve as major obstacles to you building a thriving business, what is next? Get started. There is no such thing as the perfect timing or the perfect opportunity. Opportunities do not fall out of the sky; they are either discovered through diligent research and effort or they are created through innovative and lateral thought — thinking outside of the box. Understand that “the box” that people are always attempting to force you to operate in is simply an illusion created by someone else’s limiting beliefs and then forced upon others who readily accepted them.

Over the course of my life, I have often been categorized as being contumacious. I even have a tattoo across my entire back that says, “RENEGADE.” I refuse to allow someone else’s beliefs and opinions to serve as the parameters for my performance in life. When the force of my belief in myself is infused into proper planning and execution, there is literally nothing that I cannot accomplish, and you are no different.

Reduce Your Entry Expenses & Lower Sustainability Costs

Now that your mind is properly calibrated to produce your desired reality, you must prepare to take action, and being prepared requires a plan. One of the major causes of failure for young entrepreneurs is the failure to plan. Not only does a business plan provide a clear projection of your business’s direction and performance goals, but it serves as the visual blueprint for your day-to-day execution. Going out without a clear idea of where you are going or how you are going to get there is a recipe for failure.

Get in top physical condition with the VTX-12 Fitness Program!

If I had to choose between having the right psychology or the right strategy or plan, I would choose psychology every time, because without it the right plan will mean absolutely nothing. However, I prefer to have both because the plan will bring about stability and a systematic way to pace myself and measure my progress. Part of having the right psychology is the demand of excellence you place on yourself, which in turn should demand that you create an effective and comprehensive business plan. Plus, a well thought out and a well-written business plan is actually a form of capital that can secure the funding you need to support your start-up.

There are some steps that you can take to minimize costs and expedite growth with your new business including:

  1. Choose a Business that Does Not Require a Lot of Equipment

Reducing your initial overhead is immensely important to creating a low entry point and low operating costs. The low overhead will alleviate some of the financial stress associated with high expenses and it will also allow you to reallocate your resources toward those areas that are essential for business growth, such as marketing and branding.

  1. Operate as a Sole Proprietor Initially

By starting your business as a sole proprietor, you will avoid the initial cost of filing to be recognized as a corporation or limited liability business entity. Basically, you can apply at the county clerk’s office to operate your business under a fictitious name known in most states as a DBA (doing business as) and this can normally be done for as little as $10 but not more than $20. However, you will want to file your articles of incorporation as soon as possible because there are multitudinous benefits associated with incorporating your business. Another business model you may want to eventually consider is operating as an unincorporated business trust (also known as a Massachusetts Trust), which can offer even greater tax protections that a traditional corporation cannot provide — but that is a little later down the line.

  1. Remain Employed on Your Current Job

Until you have created a business that has the capacity to sustain your current lifestyle, it might be in your best interest to hang on to your existing job. While it will limit your reserve energy and time, it will provide a sense of security and it can also be a source of funding during tough times.

  1. Hire Contractors or Outsource Instead of Hiring Employees

One of the largest expenses of any company is payroll, and you can significantly mitigate this expense by hiring contractors or outsourcing work that you are not capable of doing yourself to a third-party service provider. For instance, marketing and accounting responsibilities are commonly outsourced on an as-needed basis.

  1. Produce on Demand Instead of Maintaining Large Inventories

Another huge expense is investing in the purchase of inventory products and the storage of those products. Whenever possible you want to purchase products on demand. Another option is to use a drop-shipping model in which you take orders from your clients and then buy the product from the distributor or manufacturer and have it drop-shipped to the customer, which means the package will be shipped by the manufacturer directly to the customer with your business name on the package. Obviously, this is an approach for a product-driven business.

  1. Grow the Company in Phases

One strategy I use when scaling my businesses is I allow the consumer demand and consumer interests to dictate how rapidly I expand products and services. Basically, instead of creating something and then attempting to figure out how to get people to buy it, I monitor the existing demands and problems in the market that demand solutions and then I meet those needs. This type of growth model is demand-driven and never leaves you in a situation in which you have grown your company in a direction contrary to your target market.

As you become more astute in business, you will begin to read the market and predict trends before they occur — allowing you to get ahead of the curve and dominate the market, but that comes with experience and insight.

Generally speaking, starting a business requires capital, but that capital does not necessarily have to be money when you are able to think laterally and recognize the capital you have available in other areas. I have started more than one business with no out of pocket expenses (as far as currency). In fact, I have gotten my future clients to pay for the development of the product or service they would receive from me through a simple model known as a seed launch. Remember, you are only limited by your mind and when you open your mind to unlimited possibilities, anything becomes possible.

Personally, I don’t operate through the conventional wisdom of business ownership, it is too restrictive. I tend to dare to do the impossible. While it is much more challenging and risky, not many others are flying in this rare air, which means less competition and greater gains.

If I had to leave you with one thought it would be, do you and let the chips fall where they may! ~ Rick Wallace, Ph.D., Psy.D.

 

Note: The rapid advancement of technology and the massive expanse of the internet has completely unleashed a global marketplace where literally anyone is welcome to play. With the right mindset and a well-devised plan, you can enter the world of business and it will not require a massive amount of upfront capital.

Vist the Barnes and Noble website to view some additional books written by Dr. Wallace.

 

Posted on

How To Quit Your Job (with romantic worst-case scenarios)

How To Quit Your Job

How To Quit Your Job (with romantic worst-case scenarios)

How To Quit Your Job

Let’s talk about how to quit your job and move into the life you really want to live! If you feel sick with the prospect of being an employee for the next 20 to 30 years of your life then I hope that what you will read will put you a minute closer to showing the teeth to the crazy idea of scheduling the best years of your life to a time when your body is frail.

Free beer on Fridays is not enough freedom. I always thought to be ‘successful’ meant having a permanent job, earning 40k, working for 7,5 hours a day and then spending the rest of your time in cool places doing the things you really ‘love’ doing. When I finally made it through the muddy and cold waters of internships and low-paid entry jobs and I got my first permanent job, I instantly realised how wrong I had been all along. I would not only do my 7.5 or 8 hours Mon to Fri but I would add a 2-hour commute plus another hour getting ready and planning for work.

Only this way I could deliver my work to the highest standards. Because any negative feedback at work would make me feel anxious for weeks or even months. But it didn’t end there. The roles I was doing were designed to continuously get me promoted to the next level, which was great in the sense that my companies cared about my career progress, but this meant I needed to work overtime to make sure I excelled on the long-feared wintery appraisal. Instead, watching others climb ahead of me would effectively make me feel like a loser. In this context, seeing my colleagues getting promoted while spending their weekends partying until dawn made me jealous. “I don’t have any energy for that, I am so wiped out during the weekend that all I want to do is stay at home quietly and do productive activities”

I used to say to myself. But wait, I was too tired to do anything productive! “I am investing my whole life for the benefit of somebody else and I don’t have enough time to do the things that really enrich me, like playing guitar and learning languages.” I thought, “Will this go on until I’m 65 or before (as long as I die before that age)?”

Reading the four-hour workweek by Tim Ferriss didn’t help, for it introduced the blueprint to create the freedom to design your lifestyle but didn’t really convince me to pursue it, which in turn made me more frustrated.

Life puts you where you belong unexpectedly. I met someone who had recently done what I wanted to do so badly. He wholeheartedly encouraged me to quit and follow my dream. I was almost convinced. A final kick by the most important person in my life put me straight in that meeting room handing over my notice and negotiating the end of my contract.

I felt the wings popping up from my back. The first thing I did was going on an amazing road trip to celebrate such a milestone in my life. I don’t go on a road-trip every day, but I still celebrate that decision EVERY SINGLE DAY. This post commemorates the first year of my life after-employment. I must say my 7 years of higher education (bachelors and two masters’ degrees) didn’t teach me half of what I have learnt in the past year. And I have been able to not only support myself but also…

  • Create a brand
  • Design a range of awesome service products
  • Deliver a talk to an audience of local entrepreneurs
  • Move to an amazing location in Spain on a protected natural dune.
  • Get a rescue dog
  • Learn how to sing to a ‘cringe-free’ level
  • Learn how to play two of the most difficult classical guitar pieces ever written
  • Have experienced life-affirming near death experiences while surfing
  • Fire a client (and loving the result)
  • Get married with the love of my life
  • Visit Thailand
  • Lose my fear to surfing
  • Join a martial arts club
  • Work one week in Berlin
  • Take two road trips to South of Spain
  • Visit Lithuania and work from there
  • Learn how to record and edit videos
  • Complete a 3-month coaching course that changed my life
  • Wake up whenever I want (early anyway)
  • Experiment with intermittent fasting regimes
  • Fully express myself with my family

I am not a millionaire nor I aspire to be one. I am something more powerful than that. I have seen what is possible when you commit yourself to living on your own terms, and I am fully committed to continuing optimising my lifestyle and thus reminding myself that the sky is the limit. I am so passionate about growing and consolidating my dream lifestyle that I will never stop. And I promise you, if I run out of money somewhere in the process, I will grab my guitar and busk on the streets rather than work on somebody else’s terms. Here is how you can get started (this is what worked for me):

 

If you are not exuding joy at your current job but think it somehow is the best thing you can get (as I did when I was in that position), you are wrong. The world has nothing but opportunities ready for you to take them. Are you ready to commit? Peru Buesa is the founder and digital strategist at Gozen Media, an agency determined to help innovative ideas and products reach far.

You’ve read How To Quit Your Job (with romantic worst-case scenarios), originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’ve enjoyed this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.