More than a note from a friend – an indispensable guide. Arnold Schwarzenegger

Notes from a Friend is a small book from one my favourite authors and world known peak performance consultant Anthony Robbins.  Most of the concepts are based on various stories that appeared in his larger size bestseller books Unlimited Power and Awaken the Giant Within.  It this perfect for readers with less time on their hand or for those who wish to have a quick introduction to this renown self development author and speaker.  Indeed the book can be read in one afternoon, or for those who can speed read in perhaps less than an hour.  Even though this inspirational material was first published in 1991 it still offers excellent ideas to turn your life around and give you a boost in difficult times.

Notes from a friend topics

1. Notes from a Friend Introduction
2. Notes from a Friend Mind Map
3. Notes from a Friend Video
4. Unleash the power: how now will shape your destiny
5. The 11 lessons to quickly and simply take charge of your life
6. Buy Notes from a Friend now

Notes from a Friend Mind Map

Below is the Notes from a Friend mind map covering all the various topics from the book.

Notes from a Friend Video

Below is a short video giving an overview of the content of the book, including the 11 steps to change your life and the 10 days challenge.

Unleash the power: how now will shape your destiny

Tony Robins starts the book with his well know thanks Giving story , which happened many years back, when a stranger made a huge impact on people in need.  After being astonished the some people do care, he decided to turn his life around .  He understood that the bottom line is to give back in order to improve your life.   It is all about putting the past aside, and making decision now, as only they will shape your destiny.  Everything starts with beliefs as they are the key to unleash the power that is hidden in all of us.  Backed with your beliefs you will then need to start focusing only on solutions.

The 11 lessons to quickly and simply take charge of your life

Notes from a Friend covers 11 lessons that when implemented (and not only read) will guarantee you to change your life around. 

1. How to turn you life around when you feel overwhelmed?  First,  one need to understand that the past doesn’t equate the future.  What you do now will change everything.  Therefore you need to start adding value to people and give back as much as you can.  Don’t wait until your rich, successful…just do it now.
2. There are no failures only results.  Therefore if you are not experiencing the right results, you simply need to change your actions.  Tweaking them until you get the results you want.
3. Decisions are the base of becoming unstoppable.  Make a decision now, take action, monitor your results and tweak your decision.  A good example of this is the story of Mr. Honda, the man behind the now famous worldwide car empire.
4. Change your beliefs about yourself and you will change your actions
5. You become what you focus on. What you focus on become your reality.  Make sure you have your eyes on the right ball. On the goals you want to achieve.
6. Questions are the answers.  You need to ask the right questions in order get the right answers. Those questions should focus on your goals, solutions and not on the actual problems.
7. To be in your greatest state you will need to physically play the part.  Motion creates emotions.  Your posture, the way you walk, the way you talk will make a huge impact on you state.
8. Choose you words carefully as they will become a part of you.  Use only words with a strong positive connotation.
9. Choose your metaphors carefully as they will shape your destiny.
10. What would you do if you cannot fail?  These should be your goals.  Don’t limit yourself.  Then the harder you prepare to reach those goals the luckier you will become.
11. Finally the last lesson of the book is a hands on implementation of the other lessons with the 10 days mental challenge.  The idea is to focus only on the positive and solutions.  If you dwell into negative more than 5 minutes during the day, then you will need to start the 10 days challenge again the following morning.  If you manage to complete this you will have so much more control over your thoughts and your  life.

Get the book

Hope you enjoyed the overview of the book.  If I got your interested you may purchase Notes from a Friend or learn more about his other book : Unlimited power and Awaken the Giant Within.

59 Seconds is a triumph of scientifically-proven advice over misleading myths of self-hel – Derren Brown, illusionist

59 Seconds topics

The book is divided into the following key sections including:

1. 59 Seconds Mind Map
2. Happiness
3. Persuasion
4. Creativity
5. Attraction
6. Relationships
7. Decision making
8. Parenting
9. Personality
10. Conclusion

59 Seconds Mind Map

Happiness

Want to become more happy?  One of the scientific proven way is to keep a pencil between your teeth. As simple as it sounds. Indeed this action will force you face muscle to smile and will make you happier.  Other ideas Richard mentions is to remind yourself to be grateful, perform acts of kindness and write a thank you letter to a love one.  All this small actions can have a huge impact on your happiness level.

Persuasion

Want to become more persuasive and make people listen to you more. Ask them for a small favour and they are more likely to agree when ask for someone bigger.  Other interesting persuasion concepts include the Franklin effect, the pratfall effect and the baby effect where having a cute small child photo in your wallet can hugely improve its return if stolen.

Creativity

In this section Richard gives us proven and useful tips to increase your creativity such as being surrounded with plants.  Another idea if you want to solve a complex problem, is to spent a few minutes on a non related puzzle or quiz, as it will enable the creative part of your brain to come forward afterwards.

Attraction

Want to become more attractive? The simple act of touching someone on the upper arm while talking to them may have a huge impact on how they perceive you. 
Want to have a good first date? Don’t be too nice at the beginning but gradually become more positive, mimic your date’s body language and try to focus on things that you both dislike

Relationships

Want to have a honest relationship? Make sure you both keep a picture of your partner in your wallet, as it will reduce any infidelity temptations.  Another suggestion is to avoid any negative comments as it takes up to five positive ones to balance each other.

Decision making

Not sure if someone is lying? Ask them to email you, as usually people are more reluctant to put false affirmation on paper.

Parenting

Want to be a good parent and make sure your kid do well at school.  The simple act of giving them a name starting with A can have a huge impact on their academics career.  Another essential element he shares is that we shouldn’t praise our children based on their ability but rather on their effort.  This will implicitly make them to understand that in life most of the results are based on efforts, and more sweat will bring more results.

Personality

When in an meeting, try to sit in the middle of the group and not on the extremities, as it will give you a slight psychological advantage.

Conclusion

If you are looking to improve some aspect of your life, will it be finding your perfect partner, obtaining your dream job, or simply be happier, this book will give you the answers.  Those answers are backed by psychological experimentation, which the authors found across numerous research papers.  Let me close this article by citing a story found in the first chapter of 59 Seconds.

There is a very old story, often told to fill time during training courses, involving a man trying to fix his broken boiler. Despite his best efforts over many months, he simply can’t mend it. Eventually, he gives in and decides to call in an expert repair man. The engineer arrives, gives one gentle tap on the side of the boiler, and stands back as it erupts into life. The engineer presents the man with a bill, and the man argues that he should only pay a small fee as the job only took the engineer a few moments. The engineer quietly explains that the man is not paying for the time he took to tap the boiler, but rather the years of experience involved in knowing exactly where to tap. Just like the expert engineer tapping the boiler, the techniques described in this book demonstrate that effective change does not have to be time consuming. In fact, it can take less than a minute and is often simply a question of knowing exactly where to tap.

We’re embracing a factory instead of a tribe

Tribes topics

1. An introduction to tribes
2. Tribes Mind Map
3. Leadership doesn’t need a step by step formula
4. Lead from the bottom
5. The one single leader trait

Tribes mind map

This is the mind maps  of some of the essentials topics cover in Seth Godin’s latest book: Tribes.  Please click on it to open it full size in a lightbox.

Leadership doesn’t need a step by step formula

Every tribe is different.  Every leader is different.  The very nature of leadership is that you’re not doing what’s been done before.  If you were, you’d be following, not leading.

Leadership is about creating change that you believe in.

Lead from the bottom

Thomas Barnett changed the Pentagon.  From the bottom.  He had not status, nor rank – he was just a researcher with a big idea.

The one single leader trait

Finally he mentions that there is no characteristic of being a leader, because they differ so much, all depending on the tribe.  The only element, the one single trait leaders have in common is the decision to lead.  Have you took the decision yet?

Buy the Book now.

This book is about the field of new biology where they expose the relation between your beliefs and your biology and how to unleash the power of consciousness.  The author Bruce H. Lipton is not a self help or success guru but a scientist and a medical school professor with a Ph.D. in Biology which makes the book even more compelling.  In fact he even obtained the best book award in 2006, when the work was first published.    Along his career he has studied cellular biology and how those process information.  His results are astonishing.

In order to fully understand the potential of his ideas I want to go over some of the following chapters in the book:

1. Lessons of the Petri Dish
2. The power of the environment
3. Magical Membrane
4. New Physics
5. Biology and belief
6. Growth and protection
7. Parenting and genetics

Lessons of the Petri Dish and Smart Cell

Lessons of the Petri Dish

Bruce first talks about his trip to the Caribbean where he was responsible for one of the medicine course.  He decided to use his own style and a bit of anthropomorphism, in order to compare cells as miniature humans.
He explains life origin from single cell-organism to multi-cell organism and smart cells.  In practice he decided to teach his students to mirror smart cells.  Instead of the students adopting the Darwin model with the survival of the fittest, he promoted the team environment and a better understanding.  The results where astonishing.  As he started praising the students, which in turn made them believe they are the best, it produced overall higher success rate.

The power of the environment

This book is about the power of the environment.  Indeed Bruce proves that is it the environment that controls the biology not the genes.  The new science of epigenetic is about how nature and the environment influence the behaviour of cells with no change in the genetic code.

Magical Membrane

In this chapter he proves that as opposed to conventional thinking the real brain of  the cell is not the nucleus (where is the DNA) but the skin of the cell, the magic membrane.  He claims that DNA is only the hard drive of the cell, and the real CPU of cellular operation is the membrane.
Therefore based on this affirmation, Bruce reveals that true Secret of life which is that  You completely control you life and not your genes.

New Physics

New Physics

The new physics is quantum physics.  It is an illusion of matter as the quantum atoms are in constant movement.  He talks about the health and pharmaceutical industry as we know it today would probably collapse if people realised that the only medicine they would need would be their beliefs.  He talks about the importance of doing a quantum tune up in order to produce only good vibes and positive energy.

Biology and belief

Beliefs are the sum of your thinking and your subconscious programming.  Those beliefs with create real world results on you health and happiness. He closes the chapter with the famous words of Mahatma Gandhi:

Your beliefs become your thoughts
Your thoughts become your words
Your words become your actions
Your actions become your habits
Your habits become your values
Your values become your destiny

Growth and protection

In order to grow you need to let go your fears, you need to control them and not the opposite.

Parenting and genetics

Parenting and genetics

The real important message that he recommends teaching your children is that you are not stuck with your genes.  You are the only boss of your life and as long as you believe and face your fears you may accomplish anything you dream of.

Conclusion

Buce research has a huge impact of how we perceive life.  Most of us believe that it is our DNA that controls our biology but in fact our DNA is influenced by signals outside the cells such as a positive thought.  What we need to understand from his idea is that by changing our thought process we may have a direct impact on our biology up to a point that we may even cure diseases.

I strongly recommend that book as I believe that it has the power to change your life.
Click here to buy the book now.

Biology of belief book Mind Maps

Here is the Biology of belief book mind-maps we have:

Click here to view the biology of belief mind map in a lightbox.
Click here to view the smart cell mind-map in a lightbox.
Click here to view the environment mind-map in a lightbox.
Click here to view the magical membrane mind-map in a lightbox.
Click here to view the new physics mind-map in a lightbox.
Click here to view the growth and protection mind-map in a lightbox.
Click here to view the conscious parenting mind-map in a lightbox.
Click here to view the spirit and science epilogue mind-map in a lightbox.

Biology of belief Mind Map

Crush it Book

Crush it and why now is the time to cash in on your passion

Crush it is the latest book from Gary Vaynerchuck, that guy that built a 60 millions business empire from his home in New Jersey off his wine passion.  Crush it, is about how you need to reinvent business rules to cash in on your passion.  For those who heard about Gary, know that he is a guy full of energy and good vibes, and known for a straightforward no-bullshit approach.

I will give you an overview of some of the key elements of this excellent book. Please click here to buy the book.

Passion, rules and social media

First thing he mentions is that the game has changed and that there hasn’t been any better time to live your passion.  No more excuses, as this century presents the biggest opportunities for all of us.  It is time to turn water into wine.  Gary has 3 fundamental rules he lives including:

1. Love your family
2. Work super hard
3. Live your passion

He ends this chapter by emphasizing that social media is business and not just a game, so you need to take it seriously.

Success is in you DNA

In order to live your passion you need to be yourself as people know when you’re not genuine.  There has been a huge rise of entrepreneurs in the last decade, as people realize more and more that the job market doesn’t fulfil their needs anymore.  The advice he gives is to be yourself and do whatever you are meant to be doing.  Learn how to tell stories, how to be a good storyteller as it will help you to succeed.

Build your personal brand

In order to build your personal brand you need to be totally transparent.  You need to be honest with you clients, suppliers and the community.  I know most of us were raised into believing that in order to be successful in business you need to have secrets, hide your more precious information and strategy, but what Gary is proposing is the opposite.  This world of mouth on steroid will enable to build your personal brand.

New world

As so many authors are writing, the world has changed.  Today, with the constantly lower cost of information technologies and communications, you may easily own the means of production.  This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to be able to build anything you dream of with so little investment.  Therefore, NOW is the only time to start and plan your future if you haven’t done so far.

Content creation

The most important things that matters on the web is the quality of your content.  So you need to know your stuff and be able to tell a story.  He uses the “Lure and Lasso” method which basically means that you need to create blog posts (lure) and also write comments on other pages (lasso).

Gary Vaynerchuk

Platform Selection

There are basically 3 blog formats to deliver you message:

1. Video
2. Audio
3. Text

He recommends using a mix of those.  The next step is to select the best social platform.  As they are so many out there available, he emphasize about the 3 must have including:

1. WordPress to setup your page (or Tumblr)
2. Facebook to share and reach out
3. Twitter for micro blogging

He also adds one of the following should be helpful:

1. Flickr to share photographs
2. YouTube to share videos or youStream to do it in real time

Keep it real

As we already mentioned before you need to be transparent and authentic.  If you are not, people will know about it.  This is one of the reasons that most corporate blogs don’t work as they are not real, not genuine.
The key elements Gary suggest in order to keep it real are:

1. Authenticity
2. Invest in the important stuff
3. Patience
4. Hustle

Build your community

To build your community you first need to capture their interest with quality content.  Once this is done you will have the power of one, and they will stick for you and what you believe in.

Marketing Strategy

The only marketing strategy that he recommends is to Care.  It may seem so simple, but how come so many of the big businesses still don’t understand.  Most of them start to listen, which is a good start, but they do nothing about it.  To really care is to listen and then do something to change the situation and make it better.

Make the world listen

In order to build your community and make the world listen you need to follow those steps:

1. Setup (your WordPress page and Facebook and twitter accounts)
2. Create quality content
3. Search  and attract people
4. Go back to the second step

These are only summary of the steps that Gary suggest in his book.

Start monetising

Once you have setup your business it is time to monetise it which may consist of:

1. Advertising (the most common way)
2. Be a speaker
3. Affiliate program
4. Write a book
5. Create a seminar
6. Retail and by-product

Conclusion

Crush it is about how it is now time to make a living out of your passion.  It is now time to build your personal band as you have all the tools necessary to do so.  It also provides a step by step approach of how to do it and which platform to use.

Please click here to buy the book and learn all of Gary’s secrets to success.

Crush it book Mind Map

Here is the Crush it book mind-map. Click here to view the mind-map in a lightbox or click here to open it in a new window.

Rework book Mind Map

Rework is the latest book from the guys at 37 signals. This company is mostly known for its online project management software, Basecamp. A tool, which I can strongly recommend, having been using it for years. Rework is about how you need to forever change the way you work. It is now time to change your habits and adopt the concepts that are making a difference.

The Rework Book

First thing first

The first things that the authors Jason and David are claiming is that there is a new reality for businesses and those that are ignoring it do it at their own peril. The internet and information technologies have made it easy for anybody to start their own business and be successful.

Forget about the real world

What the 37 signals guys stands for will be a bit revolutionary for some and for others definitely unconventional to say the least. They claim that in today’s economy you will need to forget about the real world, forget about growth and workaholism and learn from you successes and not from your failures. They say that one shouldn’t become an entrepreneur (as this word has a lot of connotations) but instead be a starter and someone that get things done.

Go, instead of waiting for…no more excuses

This chapter is about the importance of starting now, not tomorrow. Stop making plans and guessing the future. Instead, start to make money now. A good approach to improve you chance of success is to scratch your own itch. For example, 37 Signals, instead of being busy making market researches, they brought a solution to their own internal problem. Not a surprise that when it worked for them and improved their work flow it also offered the same benefit to their clients.

Progress and the importance of launching NOW

Too many businesses want to deliver the perfect product, but it might be a better alternative to deliver half a product with only basic features but for a fraction of the cost and time. Be your own curator. As we mentioned before if it’s resolving your own problem it will resolve someone else as well. Don’t forget about the by-products, which can be a good source of revenue as well. A good example is their Rework book, which is a by-product, developed from the knowledge gained from their primary business, creating software and dealing with customers.

The art of being more productive

If you want to be productive you need to start being real honest with yourself. You need to really focus on what is important. Focus on the actions that produce results. Forget the rest. That means stop checking your emails every five minutes, stop going to meetings and stop making estimation. A 5 years marketing plan? Are you kidding me? It’s not realistic. Everything is changing too fast. Therefore what you need to do now is make small lists, accept good enough and make tiny decisions.

Rework book artwork

How to deal with the competition?

First don’t try to copy the competition. It might be easy but you will not understand the process behind. If you want to be a linchpin and an artist you need to create your own map. Most businesses want to over do the competition by having more options, more features…but the better approach is to under do (as crazy as it sounds). Make things simple. They also mention the importance of picking a fight with them.

How to evolve you business or products?

Most products are “in store good” which means that because of the packaging and marketing you are so impressed by the product that you decide to buy it. However, when you get home and start using it you are unimpressed to say the least. What Jason and David are proposing is the other way around. Have a product that is “at home good”. A product that isn’t that impressive on the shelf but when you start using it, that is when the magic happens. You might be sure that this is a better approach to retain you customers.
Another key notion is about the cliché of the customer being always right. At 37 Signals, they say no by default. End of story.

How to promote your products?

One of the best promotion strategies you can have is the drug dealer technique, which consists of giving a free sample to their client. The product is so good, that they know the customer will come back for more. So give a basic version of your product for free, and if it’s really good, you won’t have any problem finding customers. In order to build an audience it is essentials that you select a niche market and understand it well and know what makes them tick?
As we mentioned before don’t try to outdo you competition but instead try to out teach teams. Give your audience quality content

When to hire and who?

The authors’ advice is that you should only hire when it is absolutely essential. Only when it really hurts. So many start-ups fail because they over hire. Not to mention that is never a fun task to fire someone. When you however need to hire someone, don’t base your judgement on a piece of paper (on a CV) but try to do a test drive on a small project and see if there is a good fit. Don’t hire the best, but the most remarkable, the one with the edge and if all else being the same, opt for the best writer.

How to create a business Culture?

You cannot force this to happen. This must happen in an organic way and be a product of the team consistent behaviour. Acknowledge that your team also have a life outside of work is a good start. No work should be allowed after 5. If you can’t produce the results in a normal shift, chances are that more hours isn’t the solution.

Conclusion

Start implementing your ideas and solutions now, as tomorrow might be too late. Keep in mind that inspiration is perishable and should be acted upon when its fresh.

These are only some elements of this remarkable book and therefore strongly suggest to have a complete read. A free version of some of the chapters are available here.

Rework book Mind Map

Here is the Rework book mind-map. Click here to view the mind-map in a lightbox or click here to open it in a new window.

Rework book Mind Map

I just completed the latest book of my favourite Marketer Seth Godin called Linchpin, the author of the bestselling books Purple Cow and Tribes. It’s another book of how our world and economy have shifted. The main question he is trying to answer is how to become indispensable. What is the attitude you need to take in order to drive your career and create a remarkable future?
I strongly recommend the book as it will change your life and force to make a choice and take action to become the real artist you are meant to be.  Click here to buy the book at the Funky Success online Shop.

Click here to open the mind-map in a separate lightbox.

Linchpin by Seth Godin

Here are some of the topics the he is covering in the book:

• First an introduction about how the market has changed in the last decade to benefit the Linchpins. You now have the choice between just being a cog in the system or “to make an indispensable contribution to something you really care about”. It is now up to you which path you will take, but you will need to make the choice.
• Seth then explains what the new world of work has become in this hyper competitive economy. For a long time, and how most of us where brought up, the structure was just management vs. labour. Now there is a third party in place called the linchpins. Those are people who own the means of production (a laptop, a camera) and are able to lead and connect to others. It is an opportunity to bring your best self and be rewarded.
• The following chapter is about choice, about you making the call. Indeed, you need to make the choice of staying in the system and be safe in the status quo or create your own path. Seth also mentions that the second option is the only one that will really created value.
• The indoctrination and how we got here. It is not a surprise that most of us fit so well in the machine. We were trained from our earlier age with school and the media to become compliant worker in the factory. But what if the factory doesn’t exist any more? How is our subordination and compliance rewarded? It can’t and it won’t. You need to start thinking by yourself and stand for you own conviction.
• The next answer he gives is how to become the Linchpin. A linchpin is someone that has the ability to walk into chaos and create order. It is a person that is able to connect, invent and create, and therefore is indispensable.
• In order to become a true linchpin you will have to be brave enough to make a difference, create work with humanity. This is why the cubicle isn’t the best environment for those people, as being average and compliant isn’t what is required anymore.
• The resistance and why it is so hard to become a linchpin. The main reason is the amygdale, what Seth calls the lizard brain. It is this part of the brain, the helped human not to get killed for thousand of years (as fear prevents you to be stupid when facing wild animals). But in today’s world, its main function is resistance. Indeed it will sabotage any threat, risk and generosity of your creative self. As this fear is unlikely to go away (this is just the way we are programmed) the best way to deal with it is to recognize and then to face it.
• The power of the gift culture. Seth says that real art if a gift. It cannot be sold. Indeed in order to stay genuine money can’t be part of the equation. There are many examples of authors delivering their art for free (will it be an eBook, photograph or album) and they are perfect examples of the perfect way to bring people together. Don’t be afraid to give, as you will soon realize it will give you more joy to give, then for the person to receive your art.
• Making the choice to become a linchpin will be challenging. Simply because there is no Map. You will need to create your own map, you own path. You will need to figure by yourself what to do next. Nobody can’t tell you as it was never done before. The challenge brings the beauty, as you will start creating. You will be more just a cog in the machine, but you will become an artist. It is in fact the only way to create real value.
• Once again he focuses on making the choice. It is the choice of creating value by creating what you want to do. To make that choice you will need to overcome anxiety, which he describes, is fear about fear. You need to become a leader by facing your fears and set your own path.
• The culture of connection. The important thing is for your work to be connected to others. Use your art to make a difference. It is less about the actual work and really more about your personality and your attitude.
• The 7 abilities of a linchpin. Without getting into too much detail it is about being unique, being a leader, being able to inspire. He mentions the importance of having deep domain knowledge, contributing and making decisions.

Linchpin Mindmap

Here is the Linchpin book mind-map. Click here to view the mind-map in a lightbox or click here to open it in a new window.

Linchpin book mindmap

Summary

We are currently in a turning point in our economy, where you need to bring you own vision and convictions in order to become successful. It is more and more what the market demand. You will need to make the ultimate choice between obedience or engagement in something you really care. You will need to make a choice between the comfortable and well defined path or creating your own map and make a real difference. The second option is the only way to create art and fulfil your potential.
This is just a quick summary of the book. I strongly recommend reading it completely as it will change the way you perceive your career, life and the contribution you need to make to this world.
Click here to buy the book.

Philip Zimbardo explains us how to use time in a more optimal way. He describes the optimal use of our past, present and future thoughts. We will answer those questions to give you a comple

• What are the Principles behind Adam’s apple temptation?
• NOW
• yielding
• impulsive

What are the Principles behind Adam’s apple temptation?

Adam'a apple temptation

Since the Adam and Eve and the apple episode, life is about temptation. A dilemma between adapting the present focus, saying and being yielding and (), and the future focus. Here are the characteristics of each one:
Present focus

• YES
• NOW
• yielding
• impulsive

Past focus

• NO
• LATER
• Resisting
• Reflective

Life is temptation

What is The Mashmalow experiment

The Mashmalow experiment was a now famous experiment done many years ago on 4 years old children. It consisted of giving the kid a Mashmalow and give him/her the choice between having it now or waiting until they get back so they can have another one.
The results showed that 2/3 of the participants decided not to wait and have the first treat, and only the remaining third decided to resist tempation and wait for the second one.
Further studies come to explain the difference with the minority kids that resisted. It revealed that on average those kids were better students (scored 250 points higher on their SAT’s), got less in trouble and more importantly they were future focus instead of present foucs.

The mashmalow experiment

What is time perspective?

Philip Zimbardo defines Time Perspective as “the study of how individuals divide the flow of human experience into different time frames or time zones- automatically and non-consciously“. Those time frames vary between different cultures, social classes, nations and people and might become problematic when some are underused and other overused.

What determines you decision ? Present or past Focus?

Every decision is on the idea of taking an action. For some the decision time frame will be based on the present with what is going now and only the immediate situation and stimulation will be relevant. For others, their decision will be based on past memories. But finally for some the time zone will be in the future, by anticipating conequences and doing a benefit analysis.
This is the time paradox, that you are making constant time decision that you are unware of.

Time Frame decisions

What are the time perspective factors?

Philip claims that their are 6 time perspective factors

• Past time perspective where you focus on the positives
• Past time perspective where you focus on the negatives
• Present time perspective where you focus on the positives – hedonism
• Present time perspective where you focus on the negatives – fatalism
• Future time perspective where your focus on life goals
• Future time perspective where your focus on the transcendental and life after death

I would like to add theat those time perspective modalities will vary. Please click here to understand and change your modalities.

What is the optimal temporal mix?

The optimal temporal mix is about having the ability to fluidly change from one time perspective to an other depending on the given situations.
He also give an the optimal temporatl mix profile:

• Past-Positive – High – gives you roots to connect to your identity & Family and be grounded
• Future – Moderate High – give you the vision and wings to get to a new destination
• Present Hedonism – Moderate – gives you the energy to explore people, places and self

What do futures sacrifice for success?

The people always in the future and only focusing on one aim will eventually sacrifice things such as:

• Family time
• Friend time
• Fun time
• Personal indulgences
• Hobbies
• Sleep
• They live for work, achievement and control

The importance of balance

He concludes his presentation with the idea of balancing. Yes you need to focus on the future but you also need to live and enjoy the present.
He also says that a proper use of time perspective may be applied to different world problems including diminishing drop out rate and addictions, enhancing the physical and psychology health of teens and improving family life.
Time perspective is a really simple notion but the consequences can be really profound.

Did you ever dream of a better life? Did you ever wish more power to accomplish all your goals and ambitions? If that is the case, this article is for you and will change your life by providing you with so many opportunities that you never dreamt possible.
Unlimited Power is one of the most powerful and well known self-help book by one of my favourite author and motivational speaker Anthony Robbins. The first edition was release in 1987, when Tony was only 25 years old and he claims that the first draft was written in only one month. In his first book, Robbins show us the way to use our mind more effectively to achieve specific goals and success. He puts a lot of emphasis on Neuro-Linguistic-Programming (NLP) methods and writes about different self help topics including health and energy, how to overcome fears, persuasive communication, and bettering your relationships.

Unlimited Power

Book Overview and what answers does it provide?

Anthony Robbins starts his book with a famous quote about success from Ralph Waldo Emerson. (Please click here for other Success Quotes)

To laugh often and much;
To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children;
To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends;
To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others;
To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition;
To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.
This is to have succeeded.

Unlimited power is divided into 3 different sections, where Tony gives us a complete methodology on how to achieve unlimited power by providing us answers to the following questions:

• How to model human excellence?
• What is the ultimate success formula?
• What is true Leadership?

In this post we will focus on the first section of the book and try to understand modelling of human excellence in order to achieve Unlimited Power. Please come back later or subscribe to the blog, to discover the other sections about the success formula and leadership.
Here is a summary of the questions that we will answer in this post:

• What is the commodity of Kings?
• What is the element that makes a real difference?
• Did you know your state affects everything?
• What makes birth to excellence?
• What are the 7 lies (truth) of success?
• How can you run your Brain and master your mind?
• What is the syntax of success?
• How to elicit your model strategy?
• What is the avenue of excellence?
• How to fuel excellence?

What is the commodity of Kings?

Tony starts the book, by showing us how privileged we are to be living in those time where the commodity of kings is information. Historically, only a few of us had power as it was directly link to either strength, status or money. Now, everything have shifted and the only real power you might have is knowledge. This is even more true today in the 21st century (then it was when the book was first published in the late ’80s) with the internet revolution enabling virtually everybody to collaborate and share information.
However, he continues information is not enough and need to be acted upon to bring real value. You need to become a master communicator to be able to produce the desired results by changing your thoughts, behaviour and actions.
He studied (or should I say modelled) many successful people and came up with 7 characteristics that enabled them to do whatever they dreamt. Those
7 traits of successful people are:

• Passion
• Belief
• Strategy
• Clarity of values
• Energy
• Bonding Power
• Mastery of Communication

Finally he concludes the chapter by saying that the only way to accelerate the success learning process was through modelling people that already achieved their specific goals.

What is the real difference that makes a difference?

Tony was for a long time curious about what really makes a difference in one person’s life. How come their are some people that have everything including talent, fame, money and end up overdosing on drug at an early age. By opposition, there are other people that bad luck seemed to have stroke them numerous time in their life but still end up a real success adding value to their life and to others. He found the answer when he discovered NLP and the infinite power that comes when you are able to control your thoughts. Based on the creator of NLP himself, there are 3 key elements that need to be reproduced in order to model human excellence:

• Belief system
• Mental Syntax
• Physiology

Once we take those factors into consideration, there is virtually nothing that is impossible.

The meeting of preparation with opportunity generates the offspring we call luck.

Did you know your state affects everything?

Understanding your state is the key to change and the first step to achieve excellence. If you can understand and be aware of your current state, you will be able to change it to a state that best fit your goals. Once you are able to change your state, it will automatically have an impact on your behaviour. It will affect what you say, what you do but also your breathing and might even change your skin colour.
Your state is created based on your physiology and your internal representation. Therefore if you change your physiology such as you posture, breathing, muscular tension (or relaxation) you will be able to change your state. A similar impact on your state will have changing your internal representation, including not only what you say and picture in your mind but how you do it as well.

The ancestor of every action is thought

-Ralph Waldo Emerson
The ultimate goal is to be able to control our state at any given time

What makes birth to excellence?

The birth of excellence is in the power of your beliefs. He says that there is no more powerful force guiding human behaviour then belief. He proves his arguments with some of the most known historical and religious characters such as Christ, Mohammed, Copernicus, Columbus, Edison and Einstein. What is important here is not belief in religion as such, but more importantly believing in something will that be in truth, people , a new continent or electricity.
There a five different elements that creates belief including:

• Environment
• Events (small or large)
• Knowledge
• Past results
• Through visualising in your mind the desired experience

He also mentions that to create a specific result it all starts with your belief and attitude.
The process is the following (going in a loop): Belief/Attitude > Potential > Action > Results. Of course having specific results based on your attitude will only increase your beliefs.

What are the 7 lies (beliefs) of success?

Before describing the 7 lies of success, I would like to quickly explains why he decides to use the word “lie” instead of truths. It is a way to be on the safe side as we won’t never know for sure how things really are, it all depends how we perceive things. But in order to produce results here are the 7 beliefs that one should follow:

• “Everything happens for a reason and a purpose, and it serves us”
• “There is no such thing as failure. There are only results.”
• “Whatever happens, take responsibility”
• “It’s not necessary to understand everything to be able to use everything”
• “People are your greatest ressource”
• “Work is play”
• “There’s no abiding success without commitment”

How you can run your Brain and master your mind?

There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.
-William Shakespeare
This is the chapter, where Tony Robbins talks about submodalities which “are the precise amounts of ingredients required to create result”.
Everyone of your internal representation takes the form of specific submodalities will that be visual (movie or still frame, colour or black and white…) audtiory (volume, cadence, rythm…), kinesethic (temperature, texture..) and for pain (tingling, hot-cold…). The aim is to replace the submodalities of something you are wishing to accomplish (your goals and ambitions) with the submodalities of your most successfull accomplishments. Doing so, you are like a very important movie director conrolling every aspect of a movie and knowing exacly how the audience will react to a specific scene. The more you can control the submodalities of your thoughts, the more powerful you will become. One must be in control of his kingdom (his mind) to acheive great victories.
Going into more technical depth he discribes the swish pattern, how to automatically trigger a success image in order to change a specific behaviour. Using this method it is possible to easily eliminate a painful behaviour or phobia, as it will become unnatural in your mind. Running your brain more effectively will quickly enhance your life.

What is the syntax of success?

Our five senses are the building blocks of syntax, and can automatically trigger the state you are in.
If we are able to reproduce exactly the syntax of success we may model it and therefore achieve the same results.

How to elicit your model strategy?

In this chapter, Tony Robbins got into more depth with NLP which he claims is the nuclear physics of the mind. Therefore a good understanding of NLP technologies enable you to easily accomplish any goals.

What is the avenue of excellence?

The avenue of excellence is physiology. By simply changing your physiology you can achieve enormous results. You may achieve ecstasy just by using your face muscles and smile. The same reasoning goes into why people use external elements such as food, cigarette, alcohol or drugs. All those substances directly affects their physiology and has an impact on their state.
By copying the gestures of a successful person you will be greatly improve your chance of attaining success. He even add that there is no faster way for successful modelling as through philology.

Our bodies are our gardens, our will are gardeners.

-William Shakespeare

How to fuel excellence?

This last chapter in the modelling section is all about energy which is the fuel of excellence. The question is now how to make sure that your energy level is always at the maximum capacity. Tony Robbins give us different tips on how to have a powerful physiology and live in healthy way.
Those keys to fuel excellence are the following:

1. The power of breath – which is the single most important element that will produce the most impact. Breathing properly will assure that your body is fully oxygenated and have a healthy bloodstream. Successful breathing consists of the following ratio: 1 count inhaling, 4 count holding and 2 count exhale. Tony also emphasize on daily physical activities such as swimming and trampolining
2. Eat water-rich foods – which is basically fruits and vegetables – will enable your body to run more efficiently
3. Effective food combining – which basically shows how some foods should and should not be combine with other foods
4. Law of controlled consumption – which states to live longer you need to eat less (can’t get more simple then that)
5. Effective fruit consomption – which states that fruit should be consumed on an empty stomach as it is digested not in your stomach but in your smaller intestin. The best fruits you may eat are fresh one or freshly squeezed one. It should also be the only thing you eat before noon.
6. The protein myth – which claims that protein might not be the best thing for your body and level of energy as anyone might thing. Some of the greatest mind where actually vegetarian.

Some of those 6 rules of a healthy living might be in opposition of what you belief (and it was for me), so the best thing is to actually try it for yourself for a month and see the results. He terminates by saying to imagine what would happen if you had the energy you never dreamed was possible. What would you do then?

A conlusion on how to model human excellence

Hope this post gave you some concrete answers on how to model human excellence. These are of course only my perception of what I found relevant in the Unimited Power book. My role is to trigger you interest in one of my favorite authors, Tony Robbins and NLP.
Want to know more? Click here for some more details or to buy the book.