5 New Things That Have Improved My Life, Neil Patel Is Not #1
/My life is a journey and my journey is life.
I feel as if I have had 20 different lives already. I've lived, I've loved, I've learned. Now it's time to focus on legacy. With that comes new ideas, new habits and new strategies. Included here are 5 new things that have improved my life.
#1 My Family
How can I not choose my family as number 1? I just had a birthday and my family made the day and week so special. How old did I turn you ask? Let's just say that the Chinese argue that birthdays that end with a "9" are way more significant than birthdays that end with a "0". Get it?
Now you are right, my family is not "new", but I recently celebrated 5 years with my wife (hold your applause please) and every day watching my 4-year-old son grow, learn and thrive is new and it makes me vury, vury happy!! So there it is, family = #1.
# 2 Guided Meditation
I bet you didn't see that one coming. Either did I.
My great friend, Amber Savage, is a Yoga teacher, healer, psychic reader, meditator (??), and so much more. When I mentioned to Amber that I was interested in learning how to calm myself and focus through meditation she eagerly scheduled time to offer a private experience for my wife and I at our home. I've tried to do it before with little success. Ok, I fell asleep. With Amber it was different. Her choice of music, how she had us lay (lie?) and relax, her rules for the day before and morning of (no food or coffee before) really helped to make the process so much more effective. I finally felt the "flow" and the opening of the mind and the release of thoughts that I so much wanted to experience. It's a daily-ish thing now and I find myself looking forward to it.
“When I’m done the most amazing thoughts get written on my pad. Clarity on what to do next with a project. People I need to reach out to. Ideas I have that require action. It’s all in the pad.”
The process is simple now. I sit with a note pad (yes, real paper with a real pen), put on headphones (Plantronics Backbeat Pros), close all light sources, Airplane Mode my Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge, wear a blindfold and listen to these amazing guided meditations I found on YouTube. I meditate anywhere from 15 to 45 minutes. I have a couple hour long sessions in my collection but I have not felt ready for that yet. Amber just recorded her own and I can't wait to hear it. When I'm done the most amazing thoughts get written on my pad. Clarity on what to do next with a project. People I need to reach out to. Ideas I have that require action. It's all in the pad. The process has led me to some pretty interesting people, places, ideas and goals. It has helped me get clear on a few things. Details are still getting worked out but I feel good about my contributions to the future. This blog is part of that contribution.
#3 DESC Fitness (Diet | Exercise | Supplements | Consistency)
What can I say, I love getting a good workout. It is definitely meditative. I don't go to talk or be one of the dudes. I'm there to work and leave. The faster I get my work done in the gym, the faster I get home to my #1 priority, family. I created a really good workout system for my friend and family. It's what I do and it has kept me in shape for many years. These 4 pillars (DESC) are easy to follow and remember.
However, I love to eat and my wife is a badass cook. She also shares recipes and fitness tips to her friends. I'm setting her up with her own blog. The good news is that I have learned to sacrifice certain things. Avoid white stuff. Bread, tortillas, rice, potatoes (that's the hardest for me) and of course sugars, sodas (yuck!!!) and processed food stuffs. Can you cheat every now and then? Hell to the "YES". I am a professional diet cheater. I just dont make a habit of it. This diet allows me to have an occasional pizza. Yes, an entire pizza when I want and I drink beer sometimes. But mostly I stick to Vodka Tonic and I love me some red wine of the Zinfandel variety. My favorite right now comes from a Sonoma winery called Benziger and their Zin I like is Joaquin's Inferno.
“ I am a professional diet cheater. I just dont make a habit of it. This diet allows me to have an occasional pizza.”
One other thing I must mention is supplementation. I won't get too radical in this space but this is so important. I tell all my younger friends, especially men, that supplementation is critical. Keeping your levels even as you age is important to a long and healthy life. What we will learn about the human body over the next several years will be mind boggling. Listen to Ray Kurzweil the Head Techie at Google (something like that) and his thoughts on exponential innovation and the Singularity. It will blow your mind man!
#4 Squarespace
I realize that Squarespace is basically web design with training wheels but I love it. I have found the themes to be top notch and easy to work with. They are responsive and offer many SEO tweaks built in. The blog tools are not the best but they're always getting better as is the entire tool. I feel like I have a modern day Gutenberg Press and I am good at running it. So good in fact that now I am helping other people including my family and friends create their own personal brand online. This makes me so excited I can't even tell you. This new power not only impacts others but allows me to improve how I market my education company, plan a new way to teach students in my new edtech startup and allows me to help others start their own blogs and eventually companies. It's a new digital world and I'm in it to win it. I took action finally (because of you-know-who) and I think, no I don't think, I know I am on my way. And it makes me vury, vury, happy...
Ok, let's get to number 5, finally...Neil Patel, the man, the myth, the legend.
#5 Neil Patel
Last, but certainly not least...your friend and mine, the one, the only, the incomparable...
I really hope he isn't a dork. I mean I haven't met Neil in person. I had a meeting scheduled with him but he was a no show. Crap happens, I know that. He was in Europe or something and he was sleeping. I didn't think he even needed sleep. I was actually happy to hear that he sleeps. I'm pretty sure he isn't a dork. In fact, I'm almost positive and I'll tell you why.
His content is A M A Z I N G ! !
There is a boat load of content on the Internet. I know because I make a ton of it and I read even more tons of it. I read and watch so much content. I'm a content freak. Space content, car content, internet content, music content, business content, meditation content, marketing content, education content, health and fitness content, newsletters, emails, blogs, posts, blog posts (it's late), posts about blogs and blogs about posts. You get the drift.
Of all that content, Neil's stand out above the rest. It has taught me and it has caused me to take action. He convinced me to buy 20 of his books! It's a damn good book. One of the first hard cover books I've read in months.
“Of all that content, Neil’s stand out above the rest. It has taught me and it has caused me to take action. ”
I'm scheduled to meet with Neil next week. I intend to come back to this post and amend it, especially to confirm or deny the dork thing. I'm planning a grand daddy denial because I know it will be a powerful meeting. If Neil were here now and asked me what I intend to get from our conversation I would tell him the following.
I feel a bit stuck. I have probably read too much stuff. Some I have watched over and over. Have you seen the video called "1,000,000 Visitors a Month and Counting: How to Create a Blog That Doesn't Suck!" Good stuff. I guess Im looking for validation on my plan. I want to know I'm headed in the right direction and some assurance I'm not making any big mistakes. Most of what I have used to build these ideas into websites are his ideas. But mostly I want to listen and make a new friend. Especially if he has had the chance to read this. To read a clear (semi, it's late) and concise manifesto.
There you have it. 5 new things that are improving my life. I hope after next week I'll have even more things to improve my life.
