Check Yourself

As we move through life it is easy to go onto autopilot. This is very common in fact and most of us switch on and off at different parts of the day each day. This is because of the habits or patterns we have molded our lives around. They can be positive habits such as eating clean organically grown fruits and vegetables and working out, to putting in that overtime each week. There can be negative habits as well such as after putting in that overtime you go to the bar and spend all the extra earnings to make up for how exhausting the work can be.

Sometimes its good to step back from your life and view what habits and patterns you live through each day. Do so with an outside perspective with no excuses or reasoning for what it is you do. Look at it and decide if it is really serving your highest good. Is it benefiting you the most for what you put into every day? What are some of the things that are holding you back? Taking a look at your life like this can have profound effects. 

Doing this allows you to determine where you want to be, where you are at, and how you got here. Your past and present determine what your future may hold, but you actively choose what it is that you take from that. Only you truly have power over your own life and only you can make the changes that will move you in the direction it is that you seek to be moving. By looking inward you can then shape the outward. You can change yourself into who it is that you see in your mind. Your ideal self. 

Check yourself each season so that you know yourself better and who you are becoming.  This will help on your journey as you Surge Beyond yourself toward a better you!

Be Mindful

Mindful choices. Most often we are on autopilot performing a series of formed habits that take us on a joy ride everyday. This means that we are unconsciously moving through the world just watching as we live our lives. The actual act of being mindful means to truly be in the moment and take up a different view as the driver rather than the passenger. When you are washing the dishes be mindful. Should you be using that much soap? How hot is the water? When you are mowing the lawn be mindful. Are you mowing too low and preventing the lawn from retaining more moisture? How thick is the thatch layer? Should you be bagging or let the grass out onto the lawn? When you are buying groceries at the store be mindful. Is this locally grown? How many ingredients are in this? Will this give me cancer? Is the more expensive brand even really worth it?

This concept was first brought to my attention in 2010 when I was part of The Kung Fu Body program. At the end of every month we partook in "Mindful Consumption". Now at this time we've been working out our bodies more than most people ever do every single day. We have been following a regimented diet based on our bodies and our goals. Typically you are eating quite a bit of vegetables and fruit everyday so you are also eating healthier than most these days as well.

However with the "Mindful Consumption" we were allowed to eat ANYTHING we wanted, so long as we were truly present. To feel the texture in our mouth as we ate that piece of chocolate, the way it melts on your tongue. How every single note of flavor is there to be understood and heard. Those subtle nutty and sweet flavors you can find in a properly aged cheese or how coffee beans grown in different regions can have a vast array of flavors from chocolatey to a lighter tangier almost lemony lift on the tip of your tongue. To truly be mindful of every single moment in the experience. These are the roots of a true connoisseur.

You should try to do this as often as possible because over the days you will find that you are more present in the NOW. You enjoy each bite that much more, you are more fulfilled by your experiences, not just thrusting off seeking the next to appease your wants. I suggest you begin to implement this into every day experiences rather than letting life pass you by. This is it! THIS IS LIFE! Enjoy it! For everything that it is. Don't let mindlessness over take, take back your freedom to experience. Slow down each moment by being mindful to whats in front of you. What is in your hands, who is near by, what is happening right now!? Only you are left to know and to be there for it!

Take Time For Yourself!

Today's topic is a touchy one for me. I always seem to be on the go, always going from one required task to another. It never seems to really ever stop. I found myself in this position due to life's many demands of being an adult in this world. Because of these demands I've always found it hard if not impossible to break away even for a day to take care of myself. This is why I come to you today because taking time for yourself can have profound affects on your life.

When you are overworked, stressed out, and downright beaten by the day, every day, that means it's time to take a break. If you are unable to work at your full capacity, how can you imagine you are getting ahead? When you are at your best you are smarter, better, faster, stronger. These are all powerful qualities that allow us to STAY AHEAD. Letting everyday bog you down will not keep you moving forward it will do the opposite, it will move you back. The old saying 2 steps forward 3 steps back, that applies to this because in trying so hard to get ahead you are actually hurting yourself.

Now you need to find out how it is that in your hectic life you are going to take care of #1 and that's YOU! It's time to start now. If you are reading this, then it is possible you have already started since this blog is dedicated to helping people move forward which can in a sense be taking time for yourself but it will not help sore muscles, tired eyes, and an empty emotional tank. That my friend comes from your own personal doing. Sleep in an extra hour a few days this week, do some yoga in the morning. Drink lots of water before breakfast and running out the door. There are so many LITTLE things that can be done that will vastly help you achieve more in the day.

Take care of your body. Don't buy junk food and make a meal out of it. Eat lots of fruit and vegetables through out the day so that you aren't bogged down trying to digest empty calories that will reduce the conductivity of the electrical machine that is YOU! Get PLENTY of sleep, or at least enough that when you wake up you aren't begging to get back into bed, and if you are getting more than 8 hours and you feel exhausted every day, I would look at your diet first and foremost as the culprit, even if you work a heavy manual labor job. Get out and move your body! I can not express to you enough how much this will improve your life. You will get the juices flowing! You are a machine and just like a car you will get sludge in your engine. Amazingly however we can clean ourselves out with our own movements! Flush your lymphatic system with deep breathing and get your circulation flowing to parts of your body that don't get enough blood. Get up, stretch, run, lift, jump, cycle, FLY damnit!

DO A LITTLE EVERY DAY. I will never stop saying this. It is how I keep my life moving forward. When I have 5 minutes, I do pushups, I do pullups, I drink a quart of CLEAN water, I sit down and breath, I focus on my goals and imagine how I'll achieve them, I write a blog post! Even 5 minutes is something more than nothing. If you can afford more then take advantage of that! Don't sit around doing absolutely nothing. Even Buddhist monks are not doing NOTHING.

Again, do more for you. If you are already stressed from a life full of kids, a job, a gym membership trying to hold onto your sense of self, then taking care of yourself may actually even mean taking a day off from those things in order to indulge and feel some pleasure for once again! If you are doing things that are supposed to be improving your sense of life, but you are a tortured slave to it then it isn't working is it! You have to find what works for you and your current situation. Sometimes eating ice cream is the right choice. That doesn't mean every free moment you get that you should eat ice cream and that it is going to fix your problems, but it can be a treat to help you remember that life isn't all hard work. My girlfriend and I like to make some home made vegan ice cream a couple nights a week after a long hard day of work and sit down to watch something we can both enjoy so that we can decompress from everything.

You gotta do what is necessary for you. Listen to your body and listen to your mind. If it says I need something, and you know that it isn't going to cause more problems than it will solve, then you should listen to it. Do what you know in your heart to be true. Listen to your heart, it is smarter than your brain and it came first. It will not misguide you.

It's Always Darkest Before Dawn

Someone once said something very powerful to me that I have never forgotten. They said that as you get closer to the flame, the larger the shadow you cast. The concept that I took from this comes from my own inner and outer struggle in this world to find the Light.

The idea is that as you mozey along in life you may have some fun times and you may have some struggles. However as you try to hone in on the source of those struggles, to correct the wrongs, and to create a world around you that caters more to your wants; you will find that the problems seem to get bigger and bigger. Your little hill slowly becomes a mountain.

Now looking back at this concept that as you get closer to that flame, your personal light in life, those shadows will only seem to get bigger. However once you become part of the flame, part of the light, you will no longer cast any shadow. You will find that peace, your life will flow in the direction you seek.

I want you all to know that life is going to hit you sometimes. Whether a car literally runs you over, the company you work for goes under, or your significant other tells you that they are leaving... this too shall pass. You have to keep looking forward. You must not lose sight of the flame. Even if it burns you, you must press forward. Going back would only make it all worse.

BECOME THE FLAME!

Keep the Fire Burning

You must stoke your inner fire my dear friend. You must feed it the appropriate mixture of oxygen and fuel. Luckily we can breathe so the oxygen comes pretty easily... However your fuel is something that you must transmute within yourself. My personal favorite resources to transmute usually come from people who are doing what I am passionate about. I find most of these people through Youtube and Google.

This helps me greatly as it not only inspires me, shows me what is possible, but also teaches me how to do what it is that I wish to do! My fire burns so bright that I almost can't sit still I get so excited about it! My wish is that you too can find the fuel in life that is proper to your fire. One that is sustainably harvested from the world.

Find what it is that MOTIVATES you. Find what COMPELS you forward. Go out and find what it is going to take to finally push you to use your fire to deconstruct and reconstruct the world around you into the world that you wish to be a part of. That right there is something that especially fuels my fire, helping others to realize their dreams and potential. Truly it is a beautiful thing!

Have No Fear

The last thing you need in your life to hold you back is your own fear. Fear does not make sense to me, not to say that I am never fearful. In my own experience, there will be something important that must be done, something pivotal. One would assume that you would get this task over with in the best fashion and be happy that it is over and that you can move forward knowing you made the right decision. However I have an uncanny knack for pushing things off until just the last minute due to my fear of the experience. This is self defeating and pointless for more than a few reasons.

Fear Creates The Worst Case Scenario 

If there is something that must be faced and you are afraid of what may happen, so fearful that you do nothing instead, then at no point will anything change. Your worst fears are actualizing themselves and imprinting themselves into your history. Don't waste your time thinking "I'll never get that job" or "She won't like me" or "I could never handle that"... by having these thoughts and allowing them to control your actions, you are giving into them. If you just brush them off and go for it, two things may happen. 1. Your fear becomes a reality and NOTHING changes in your life other than the fact that it is now in the past. 2. Your fear was in vain and never actualized. Don't wait around for a situation to resolves itself. You are the creator.

You Are The Creator

No matter what it is, you are allowed to make the choice. You can give into predestination or you can take your free will and become the god that you are. You can take back what is yours. Your power. You alone have the ability to truly shape your life and your future,  and if you believe anyone else does then you are just giving them your power and allowing their perspective to become your life. Take a hold of your destiny and paint whatever your dreams are onto the canvas of life. Do not let the thoughts of others or the low vibrational thoughts that are based in fear to dirty your canvas. Clean them with your own will and wants. Become the ultimate you! You have it within yourself to do anything now let go of the fear and Surge Beyond yourself and become that of your higher consciousness, become your own truth!

Being Proactive

When it comes to Being Proactive, there is always something more you can do. Once you think there is nothing else that you can put on your plate, suddenly you find there is more time than you had previously thought. You make time out of what you are given each day. There is no such thing as free time. There is time. At times you work, you play, you eat, and you sleep.

Whenever there happens to be even five or ten minutes between activities, that is time that you could be doing something more. I usually find myself doing pushups and pullups in short controlled sessions in between tasks. It is something that is important to me and that I am passionate about so I find the time. Even when I have "free time" I usually want nothing more than to learn from the masters. The people who have put in their own 10,000 hours and more. These people have great wisdom and they have much to say that is very valuable and powerful. If you can, try to find people on Youtube and Google who want to share in your passions.

Do a little every day. You'll be happy to see that you are a product of you what you put into each day. As you progress along on your journey every little bit counts, every moment a chance to continue to build your future. We truly are living in the present, but we do have the power to control where we are going in our lives. By doing more of what you know will benefit you, it will do just that! Every day is a chance to crop out on what you've put in. Break out of the mold and put in your 10,000 hours! Become your own master by doing a little every day!

Rising Above and Surging Beyond

I've got to say that in my life I have experienced many events that made me feel low, unable, stuck, or just down right no good. It is those experiences that have made me as strong and powerful as I am today. Without them, I would be less. Its true, and that's why I want to share with you some of my own insights today so that you can Surge Beyond your past or anything that has been holding you back from your own success in life. Here are a few tips on making that a reality.

1. Prepare yourself
Understand that results do take time and effort. Whatever it is that you are seeking to do, it isn't just going to happen unless you decide to make it happen. As the main character of your story you need to be the one who puts in the time. You must do the research and gather the resources. Depending on what your aim is, there may be a mountain before you, however every mountain can be conquered. It is up to you to PREPARE YOURSELF to conquer it!

 2. You can do it!
Your worst enemy is yourself. No one else other than you can choose to allow what is happening around you to dictate the results. That includes your own expectations and beliefs about who you are and what you are capable of. It is for this exact reason that you must understand and know that YOU CAN DO IT! This is the first step to actualizing your dreams. Whether its growing your own food, doing 100 pushups, or starting your own business. The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is today, right now. Your dreams are a little seed that need tender loving care and energy to grow into a massive creation beyond your imagination and it all starts with a choice. Try today, and succeed tomorrow!

3. Start right now!
If you haven't already started what it is that you seek to do, then start right now! If you feel the will and the urge, then stop reading this, get up, and go do it! Every single second that you put in will give you results. You get out what you put in. This is a fact, and if you haven't put anything in yet, then you will in turn get nothing out. We aren't born as swimmers, linguists, or professional cooks, we work towards becoming them! Every staircase has a first step. There is no better time than RIGHT NOW to start making your way up the staircase of your dreams! Get out there and get it done!


Every moment wasted is another moment past that you could have already conquered your mountain, but that doesn't mean that you never will. Anything is possible, you just need to make it happen. Keep your eye on the prize, rise above failure, and keep on pushing on! Surge Beyond my friends!