Category Archives: Routine

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The Six Pack Challenge

Throughout my life I have always desired six pack abs. I went through a period in my twenties where I worked out consistently, every day, for roughly 2 hours and always did cardio and abs. But being young and ignorant I thought abs were a product of exercise solely. I have since been educated and recognize that abs, of the 6 pack variety, are more a product of nutrition…plus some exercise.

Not really me...but could be.

Not really me…but could be.

So last week I set a goal to focus on my eating and my exercise, to take a four month challenge to get noticeable abs. For those of you who know me well this will be a huge challenge. I love to eat and the foods I love to eat are not exactly healthy. I like pizza, ice cream and candy. But for the next 4 months I am being intentional in my eating and intentional in my work outs.

I plan to chronicle my daily routine and hopefully by the end you will see a transformation. I will look at my wins for the day, my obstacles and challenges I had to overcome and share my exercise routine and food consumption. I am doing this for a couple of reasons. First, I need to be accountable, so keep me honest. Second, maybe you can relate, maybe not, but either way I hope this journey inspires you to set a goal and go after it.

I am 38 years old and have never had a noticeable six pack.  I call this my six pack challenge. You can also follow the journey on twitter (@jakeacarlson #my6pack). My daily postings will be at www.familybeforefortune.com/mysixpackchallenge (Click Here to Check it Out)

Start the timer!!

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Morning Mastery- How I Jump Start The Day

This is the second time I have written about my morning routine (other article). And the reason for the repeat….it’s changed. Like life, we go through periods where one way is working and then as time progresses we see changes or we make improvements and that is what I have done with my morning routine.

Athletic strong man doing pushups, outdoor.

My focus recently has been on becoming the master of my morning, morning mastery. Learning to take control over my desire to snooze and focusing my mind during times of wander. Maybe you have experienced something similar. I have always, and remain, a strong advocate for waking up early and getting a jump on the day.

“Early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.” – Benjamin Franklin.

My current morning routine includes

  1. Early to bed- turning off the lights at 10:30pm has now become the first thing I do in my morning ritual. To have success, you have to prepare for success which means starting the night before.
  2. Read, no screen time- I have found that when I watch tv or look at my phone or tablet I do not sleep as deeply and I don’t wake up as refreshed as I do when I read a book before bed. There is something about the glossy screen and the flashing color that wakes my brain and creates restlessness.
  3. Wake up at 5am- I have done this for years and see no reason to change. As I studied the habits of the most successful and influential leaders, a common theme of 5am wake up is noticeable. If it works for them, it’ll probably work for me.
  4. Hydrate- I am a groggy morning guy. I love to sleep and hate to wake up early. The best way I have found to get rid of the cobwebs and focus in on the day is a big glass of water. I set it out the night before so I can stumble directly to it when I wake up.
  5. Exercise- Like waking up early I also hate to exercise (like run and workout). I like the results of waking up early and running and that is why I do them but getting started is still (and always will be) tough. I have to get my exercise in first thing or I will never do it. Lately I have been alternating between a video workout routine and jogging. It’s been working.
  6. Stretch- ok I am starting to feel my age (in my back) and so I need to take a few minutes to stretch out my legs and my back.
  7. Review my goals for the week and day- at this point I pull out my goal journal and review what I want to accomplish. I order and prioritize my tasks for the day and determine what I “must” get done to call the day a success.
  8. Quote of the day- every morning I get a great quote to my email inbox that motivates and inspires and gives me something to think about and aspire to for the day. If you would like to get this terrific quote (free) just click here and enter your email address.
  9. Prayer/mediation- I am a pretty religious guy so I like to start my day with prayers of gratitude and desires for help. If you are not religious you may want to try meditation. Visualize success and how you will accomplish it. Use the law of attraction to bring opportunities and friends your way.
  10. Carpe Diem

So there you have it. The 10 steps I have implemented into my daily routine so that I can be the master of my morning. It has been working for me. I love having a simple outline of things to accomplish right when I wake up to make sure that I am productive and I use my time wisely. That is my morning mastery.

“The heights by great men reached and kept were not attained by sudden flight, but they, while their companions slept, were toiling upward in the [morning].” – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (with my small adjustment).

Question: What is part of your morning routine that sets your day in the right motion? Leave your comments below or by clicking here.

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When You Do The Things You Need To Do….

This post is an excerpt from my free eBook. You can get the rest of the book by clicking here.

Quote #12 (1)

When you do the things you need to do, when you need to do them, the day will come when you can do the things you want to do, when you want to do them. – Zig Ziglar

Zig Ziglar is my favorite mentor. He has more one-liner and quotable quotes than any person that I have followed. I love the idea that you need to do today what needs to be done so that you will be able to do the things that you want to do when you want to do them. I saw Zig live when I was 12 years old. He asked the audience to imagine receiving a call with an offer to go to Acapulco, expense free, the next morning. Who would be able to do it? The majority of the audience responded that they would be able to. But then reality set in as Zig started to list off the number of things that needed to be done before you could pick up and leave for a week. More and more people realized that the opportunity was more daunting than it originally sounded. He concluded with a challenge that we live ready to leave for Acapulco always.

Living ready means prioritizing your day and accomplishing the “have tos” before getting lost in the “like tos”. Do you get lost in email, spending too long responding to simple requests while simultaneously putting off the things that would really move your organization or you dreams forward? I am sure you have, I do it too. Be careful not to let the immediate crowd out the important. If you accomplish each goal in priority you will get more done, be more productive and be able to do the things you want to do when you want to do them. Acapulco anyone?

Question: What do you need to do today? Leave your comments below or by clicking here.

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10 Traits and Habits of the Wealthy

Are you wealthy? What is it that the wealthy do differently than the poor? There has been a lot of research recently on the mindset, habits and choices that the wealthy make that distinguish them. How do you define being wealthy? “Wealthy” can vary depending on where you live. For example, in a recent Realtor.com article, San Jose ranked #1 (that’s not good) as the least affordable market. The average home mortgage uses 72.4% of the owner’s monthly income. Wow! To put that into comparison, New York City is only 46.6% and Atlanta only 19.8%. So, being wealthy in San Jose will take more income than say Detroit.

excited successful business man in love with money

But, what do the wealthy do differently; how do they think that makes the biggest difference? You would be surprised to find that intelligence has very little to do with it. Let’s look at 10 traits and habits of the wealthy, ways they are different.

  1. They live on a budget- This may sound obvious but wealthy people do not accumulate credit card debt and they minimize auto loans or other types of “pay later” arrangements. Some good rules of thumb are to spend less than 25% of your income on housing (sorry San Jose and New York) and less than 15% on food. If you have a 401(K) with matching….maximize your contributions.
  2. Have a purpose and live on purpose- Do you know why you get up each day? What causes you to take the stairs 2 at a time? Knowing your purpose will guide your decisions. As Zig Ziglar often taught- be a meaningful specific, not a wandering generality.
  3. Read every day- I like to set aside 10 minutes every day to read a good book. Often I read nonfiction, but sometimes I do enjoy a fictional story. If you listen to the Family Before Fortune Podcast, you know that I read a book a week and review it. (See a list of past books here). Readers are learners and learners are leaders. The wealthy read while the poor watch tv. I am a believer that you should live your own dream, not watch other people (actors) live theirs.                                                                                                              Audible Deal
  4. Get a mentor. I have spoken a lot in this blog and on the podcast about the value of a mentor (read more here or listen here). My mentor has inspired me to grow beyond anything I could have imagined and I owe a lot of my success today to his mentorship. Wealthy people learn from positive mentors.
  5. Avoid the negative- negative people suck. Get them out of your life. Ziglar also taught that you become part of what you are around. Spend time with mentors (see #4 above) and avoid anyone who doesn’t see your best interest. Spend time with those who will boost you to success.
  6. Volunteer regularly- You can have anything you want in life if you just help enough other people get what they want (Ziglar again). Be a part of your community. Build and develop others. Be for someone else the mentor you want to have (see #4 again). It is amazing the energy and motivation you can get from helping others and being involved in a cause greater than yourself. Wealthy people are too busy helping others to get caught up in selfishness.
  7. Work hard- While wealthy people may not be distinguished from their poor counterparts in intelligence, they are distinguished in their commitment to a hard day’s work. Don’t be afraid of working hard. Good things come to people who are willing to give it their all and put their nose to the grind and drive hard.
  8. Do it now- The wealthy do “now” what needs to be done. Procrastination is a trait that is absent in the wealthy. Some of the most successful people I know, and the busiest, are those who do their responsibilities immediately and never delay the completion. It is often heard that if you want something done ask a busy person. This is true because they get it done- without procrastination.
  9. Goal oriented and accountable- The wealthy have objectives and know the direction they are headed. They set their sights on the finish line and work to achieve it. They are careful not to dream and fantasize but to be realistic and then focus (follow one course until success).
  10. Never give up…never surrender- a favorite movie of mine from many years ago is Galaxy Quest, a comedy satire of Star Trek. One of the characters would always say “Never give up…never surrender” and that is the mantra of the wealthy. It is inevitable that times will get tough, they always do, but the wealthy persevere. When obstacles get in their way they just keep moving.

There you have it, 10 traits and habits of the wealthy. How many of these traits do you have? I know that I could work on a couple of them (ok all 10). The interesting thing is that a whole bunch of research has been done about this topic; and the difference between wealth and poverty is easy to understand and easy to change yet so few people are willing to do it. Are you?

 Question: Which one of the wealthy traits do you think has had the biggest impact on your success? Which one do you struggle with the most? Leave your comments below of by clicking here.

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