Thursday, September 2, 2010 by Jacob Cassidy

New Habit #2: Becoming an Early Riser

Waking up with the sun. A great way to start the day.

Last week I was struggling to get out of bed each morning when my alarm went off at 9am. Often, I’d just turn it off and doze back to sleep, sleeping in as late as 1pm. With no job, no appointments, or real schedule of any kind, I didn’t have to be up by a certain time.

But, I wanted to get up early so I could have a productive day of progressing towards my goals and desires. However, I’ve been lacking the motivation and drive to really push myself because I’ve been dreaming about the future instead of living life in the present. An issue I’m currently working with to become ever more alive and in the moment.

Then, an opportunity presented itself this week. My girlfriend, a lifelong night owl, had to adjust her schedule to accommodate her daughter’s new school’s start time. Which means they have to be up at the crack of dawn to get ready for work and school.

“Excuses” Are Lame

Before this, one of my “excuses” for not getting up earlier was it would make mine and my girlfriend’s schedules incompatible. And while it would’ve been somewhat inconvenience, I could’ve made modifications that would’ve made it work.

This is usually the case for an “excuse”. It’s just rationalization to avoid doing something, often out of fear, feeling overwhelmed, low confidence, general lack of caring, or all of the above. It’s a lame way to hide behind a reason for not stepping up into life.

Now that excuse is gone and I no longer have it to rationalize my laziness for sleeping in (which is a sign of a deeper problem – in my case, lack of passion, drive, and motivation from not living present).

Even better, the excuse has transformed into a motivating reason for becoming an early riser. If I don’t, my schedule will be on a different track than my girlfriend’s. However, this, in itself, is not enough to motivate me to get up at 6am each morning when I could be staying up late and sleeping in until 10am.

The Real Reason For Getting Up Early

The real reason I want to get up early is described most famously by a proverb in Benjamin Franklin’s Poor Richard’s Almanac… [Click Here to Continue Reading...]

Wednesday, August 11, 2010 by Jacob Cassidy

Consistently Inconsistent

"Consistency" is his name...
Learning to be more like the turtle
and less like the hare.

I have a bad habit of being terribly inconsistent. I’ve found I make a lot of plans with excitement, but then lose the juice and start procrastinating to distract myself shortly after. This is something I definitely must transform and transform now if I want to accomplish anything significant in my life.

Recently, after some drama in my personal life, I realized I was on a downward spiral of depression and misery and needed to nip it at the bulb. I asked myself “What’s causing this and how can I overcome it for good?”

See, in most things I’ve done in life, I’ve had an all-or-nothing attitude about them. Whether it was bodybuilding, learning Internet marketing, or building the social knowledge of how to connect with women as a man, I’ve always had a single minded focus on the one thing for that period of my life. [Click Here to Continue Reading...]

Wednesday, July 21, 2010 by Jacob Cassidy

Making Money Online – Is It Just a Dream?

Dreaming of Online Profits...
Can I Make It a Reality?

When 2010 was approaching, I looked at my life deeply and realized at this point in my development all my problems were bottlenecking and stopping from one underlying reason…I’m dead broke and $30,000 in debt with completely annihilated credit.

It’s hard to grow as a person when you don’t have money to go experience life, have adventures, get the further education you desire, and coaching that could take you to the next level.

Realizing this, I turned my focus away from the social experiments I was doing in Las Vegas for learning how to communicate and connect with others despite my hearing loss, and got serious about figuring out how to make money online. [Click Here to Continue Reading...]

Monday, July 19, 2010 by Jacob Cassidy

Forever Transforming

Is a Total Transformation the Goal
or Is Constant Evolution?

For the longest time I believed transformation was a one off thing. I wanted to feel happy, have joy, and live the great life, and thought once I reached a certain point of development, I’d have it made and my life would be pure bliss. Like… “WHAM-BAPP – I’ve arrived!”

I first got into personal development through bodybuilding. I was one of the skinniest kids in my grade school and by age 16 I was sick and tired of it. I was a shy teen with absolutely no social skills who desperately wanted attention and love from the opposite sex. Bodybuilding was my way in, or so I thought.

I fell for the social conditioning and marketing telling me that if I was buff, the ladies will swoon! Well, damnit, I was going get ripped and show them all then.

And I did. In 3 years I completely transformed my body. Going from a skinny junk food eating, video game player with no real knowledge of nutrition and exercise, to being a “health freak” who absorbed every morsel of information I could find on health and fitness. [Click Here to Continue Reading...]

Thursday, July 8, 2010 by Jacob Cassidy

2010 Mid-Year Goals Check-In

It's Mid-Year...
How's Your Progress Coming?

The year is half over and it’s time to check in with our goals for 2010. Are you still on path with yours? Or do you need to deviate from or correct your course?

Back in January, I posted what I wanted to accomplish this year in my 2010 Goals – Developing Freedom. I listed 9 primary goals and 6 secondary goals I wanted to achive. This is my check-in to see how I’m doing and whether or not I need adjust my direction.

My overall theme for 2010 is to develop freedom in 3 core areas of my life: finances, fitness, and location independence. Here’s how I’m doing… [Click Here to Continue Reading...]