When things get tough, I use to switch to my warrior mode: I imagine myself like an ancient warrior and see every problem like a death-match requiring all my strength, courage and stoicism. Every setback is a strike that I must endure. Every obstacle is a test of my will. Every pain is just a mean to harden my soul. In this mode, the harder it becomes the stronger I feel.
Last days have been hard for me. As anybody, when threats, bad news, and difficulties add up, my inner joy and energy tends to vanish. When this state of mind, lasts it can even lead to depression. And even if I didn’t reach that point, I must honestly admit that I was no more the optimistic, energetic man I like to be. I spent too much time in this mood, that’s why I’d like to share what I did to recover, hoping that it will speed up your recovery.
More than once in your life, you’ll experience some kind of failure: be it a breakup, a lay off, a betrayal, a refusal or whatever the form. In this situation we all react differently, but quite often people tend to feel miserable, depressed, pessimistic, apathetic. As I experienced one such situation last week, I’d like to share the simple steps I use to overcome all my bad feelings.
Take your responsibility Blaming (lack of) luck, people stupidity/meanness/selfishness/cupidity/whatever is easy.
Do you know what is the common point between Athletes, top speaker, Martial Artists, Special Forces, and various top performers?
Yes! They all use their breathing to perform better.
And even if you’ve been breathing since you’re born, stay with me, as we examine how you could improve it and why you should.
Different breathings Indeed there are different breathings and understanding each of them is the key to unlock your full mental an physical potential.
Anything you want is a book about entrepreneurship, but definitely not the kind you’re used to read.
This small (less than 100 pages) book will surprise you in so many refreshing ways:
Although a successful entrepreneur who has sold his business for $22 million, Derek Sivers delivers no sweeping statement about success. Rather he takes great care to describe his success as almost accidental.
Rather than focusing on systems/tools/methods, his book focuses on values and goals.
When you choose the path of improvement, you know you’ll experience more challenges than pleasant moments. The most beautiful success are often outside our comfort zone, and come after a lot of work/effort/setbacks…
Discomfort will even become a key metric that you’re heading the right way. That’s part of the game, (You know, the ““no pain no gain”” mantra…) and quite quickly you’ll get used to it.
But sometimes you’re blessed with an easy success.
I clearly remember my first step on the path of self-improvement: I was 6 years old, alone in the dark, refraining from rushing inside my house, just standing in the yard at night, terrified by what could be lurking in darkness, but determined to stay where I was, determined to fight my fear. And that’s just what I did, for maybe 5 seconds the first time, 10 seconds the second one and so on until I could feel comfortable walking in the dark.
I remember the first time I was told about meditation: At that time, it seemed like an obscure and weird practice for hipsters. Why on earth would I waste my time sitting still ?
Nowadays, meditation is a much more common thing to westerners and many successful people 1 recommend meditation. But even if more and more people are interested, many of them still don’t make the switch. I’m writing this post in hope that it can help answer their questions, address their misconceptions and make them jump ahead.
When I was suggested, years ago to experience cold shower, I had no idea of its usefulness. Now with many years of daily practice, I still discover some of its beneficial effects that I’d like to share with you.
First let’s define my cold shower protocol:
Getting wet with (very) hot water Wash myself with soap Set the water temperature to be as cold as possible Rinse with cold water I like to first wet myself with very hot water to amplify the thermal shock (ie.
Three months ago, I’ve decided to wake up earlier, set up a routine and blog about it.
If you haven’t done so, you can read the previous post about it before we go on about the current status.
The early bird catches the worm I’ve always knew that 6h30 was only a beginning, 30 minutes was not enough to do all I wanted to do in the morning, so I’ve now set the alarm clock to 6h.