Hamenopi

I love what I wrote today in my journal. I’m going to share it with you. Do you journal? It’s awesome. Sure, it’s awkward in the beginning but it’s gold long term. You can find So much value writing your thoughts. One awesome result is you can go back through your life and pick up gems you completely forgot about. That’s what this entry was about. It’s too great to keep to myself. I hope you enjoy it. 7-3-2017 Hey look! It’s my Half Birthday. So far, I’ve persevered every time against anxiety. Why does it still trouble me? Why am I still so afraid? May we remain joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer, always. Anything worth doing is not a one-step journey. Stay mindful of your goal. Things to ask yourself: Is deviating from your goal worth it? Will you regret deviating tomorrow? Will you regret it in 5 minutes? Is the deviation a new experience? Then consider the deviation. New, non-mundane experiences are w...

Recently a friend asked for a few weight loss pointers. Instead of the standard fare, I want to share what made it possible for me to follow the standard fare. An answer beneath the answer. I hope this help someone as much as it helped me. Start recording what you are doing. Write down when you’re waking up and when you are going to sleep. Don’t judge what you write, just write and start becoming aware of it, and yourself. After you get a feel of what you are doing , start recording what you eat. Record when you eat, and where you are, physically, emotionally, write whatever you can. Try to be a little more detailed then you think you need to be. Again, don’t judge. Even if it’s 3 donuts and 2 kolaches. It’s not a test, it’s an exercise is mindfulness. As you continue recording what you are doing, you begin to  learn a little bit about yourself.  Go ahead and add what you do with your down time. Is it TV time, ...

Introduction This is my third year to VEDA (Video Every Day in April). I struggled with think up of a concept for a while so I decided to peek in my journal to get inspiration. Then I realized, my journal has plenty of content!  So I decided to review my journal for my benefit and hopefully it will benefit you too because I will be recording the process.  Maybe it'll even inspire you to start one of your own.  https://youtu.be/8L72s3ySNxU Day 2 Roll with it - Shout out to Drake and Jake My dedication and thoughts behind it.  My initial page in my journal and thoughts behind it.  My struggles with reading my own writing.  Simple is fine in the beginning but don't stay there.  With Change Comes Challenge https://youtu.be/rE2t1DGM0bQ Day 3 About to head to the Men's Summit -  http://hamenopi.blogspot.com/2017/04/my-first-mens-summit.html Starting a gratitude journal insi...

Once again, the year is new and resolutions are on the rise. Many sick of the old stand tall and declare change in the air. With defiance against old habits, they swear this year will be different. This year will be new! The bad part is, most resolutions are given up before they come to fruition. The goals die before given a chance to live. But how do we see our goal to the finish? The biggest way I lost 100 pounds and quit smoking was through accountability. I kept a journal and confided in people who wanted to see me succeed. Along the way, through trial and error, I learned tricks to help me succeed better. It has been an amazing journey. But the journey isn't over. As I ascend to my next peak, I realize mastery over the basics is crucial. That said, I'm looking to take in a few people for a wellness mastermind group. This is a group where your chances of success will multiply exponentially. Together we will share successes, failures, and will motivate each other along the ...

Since starting a journal, my life has changed, drastically, for the better. Accounting my thoughts, recording good quotes, recalling wisdom and insight. Now when I have a bad morning, I feed myself positivity stored in this book. Imagine the same action on good days! You propel you mood into an orbit of positivity. Great things happen. What's more, I can feed others the wisdom I've written. Many of my blog posts are derived from words in my journal. Many words in my journal are derived from inspired blog posts. Those new words help me write even better articles to positively influence more people. It's a blessing! I want you to consider making your own journal. Recording your own thoughts to come back to, to return you to the positive when you are down, to propel you to an orbit of positivity when you are up. Do this for 6 weeks. Record at least one thing daily. One quote, one proverb, one piece of advice to yourself, one reminder you are good enough, one reminder you a...

I've recorded my meals for over a year now. Yeah, it sucks in the beginning but it gets kinda interesting for a week or two when you get a few meals saved. It's not glamorous. But the results are. It's not immediate, but it's inevitable as long as you keep the faith. Some Weeks I recorded my meals for over a year now. The thing is, I haven't recorded 52 weeks worth of meals. Not even close. What I did was log my meals until I found a few I enjoyed which also helped me reach my goals. Once a had a few days worth of nutritious meals, I'd get nutritiously repetitive and schedule my nutritious days. I didn't need to log them. I knew they were already healthy. That way, I only needed to focus on the other days of the week. And even if they weren't perfect, I knew I could trust the days I already scheduled to be nutritious. There were even weeks I don't log any of my meals because I know what I'm eating will help me lose weight. It's not glamo...

Just like food, you consume thoughts. Consider that for a minute. Every second a hero's feast of thoughts lies before you. Some thoughts are your own while others are from those you know. Still others from origins not immediately obvious. They all sprinkle across the table before you, ready for consumption. The question is... With which thoughts do you feed yourself? Like food, not all thoughts are healthy. Some can even make you physically ill! Healthy and unhealthy, positive and negative, good and evil, life giving and toxic! Your tables is a smörgåsbord of different thoughts. Which ones are you eating? A Mental Harvest Thoughts dictate emotions and emotions dictate actions. When you consume a seed of thought, you bring it into your own body. Once within, you water and grow the seed into a plant of emotion. Eventually, those emotions bud flowers and bear forth the fruit of our actions. I ask you, Does an orange tree grow apples and an apple tree grow oranges? No! The seeds ...

Okay, so logging your food is tedious and boring. I get that. I feel you. I felt the same way. At first it is going to be tedious and boring. The gold is worth the dig. Risk out on it and you'll see. I just want to go over a few perk I found on my personal accountability journey I think may convince you to pick up your mental shovel and start sifting. The week you lost 5 pounds. You don't have to work to remember what you ate to get there. It's written down. The week you gain 5 pounds. You don't have to work to remember what you ate to get there. It's written down. You become more aware of the food you consume. You are able to assign nutritional and caloric values to food. You can review and begin learning what foods are a great fit for your goals and what foods are a bad fit for your goals. The Fun Stuff This is when you can start hacking the system in your favor. This is where the Nutritional Rubik's cube finally makes sense. This is where you rea...

I would eat healthy for 3 day in a row. I'd get my greens in and eat grilled chicken or fish. With Quinoa! I'd get ground turkey instead of beef for taco tuesday. I'd even make it a lettuce wrap instead of a tortilla! I was doing good! Then on the 3rd slam down a greasy 1000 calorie burger for lunch. Of course, on the 4th day I woke up full of regret and was certain I ruined my diet for the week. I was bloated and cranky and felt like a bleeding failure. So I did what any sane person would do, I gave up on my diet until next Monday. Giving Up I've wrote previously in my newsletter how lack of consistency wasn't my biggest problem but my perception of myself when I wasn't consistent was. I want to expand on that. When I tripped up in my diet, I mentally and emotionally started to sabotage myself. After a bad day, I woke up and saw myself as a failing fat guy who couldn't figure out how to lose weight. I'd step on that scale and see all the...

I advocate accountability groups and parters. In fact, I have a few of both. But the biggest game changer for me has been developing personal accountability. Before you run for the hills, let me break it down so you. Accountability is not punishment Accountability does not mean eating a snickers, feeling regret, then running to the gym for 3 hours of HIIT. It does not mean eating a reeses, hate crying yourself into the fetal position, then promising to fast the next three days. That's called punishing yourself! Punishment HIIT and Fasting have their place in health and nutrition but it shouldn't be punishment. Just like Snicker's and Reese's have places and it shouldn't be shame. That's driving down resentment road with your emotional brake lines cut. These stories don't have happy endings! Note: HIIT and fasting is not necessary for weight loss. Neither are Snickers and Reeses. I'm using hyperboles to compare and contrast. Accountabilit...

Recently Tom Ziglar asked me these amazing questions: What has been the most helpful thing on your journey to keep you moving forward? What do you do daily, even when you may not feel like it? Wow! Right? They aren't easy to answer, that's for sure. But I did and I feel others could gain value from my answer so I'm posting it here. My Response That is a really good question Tom! Also it's a pleasure to get an email from you! Blown away! I sat on this question and let my mind take me on the journey. After a while the answer became so crystal clear you could make a telescope out of it. Then I realized it's one of those secrets everyone knows but no one does. It was logging my thoughts and actions. Note taking. Personal accountability. Once I realized it, my memory jumped to your dad's lesson on how note takers were so much more likely to close than those who didn't. It made sense! I mean it's really hard to improve on something you don't track...

I looked at the empty journal and shook my head. How is this supposed to help? I can't create my own reality. Not like this! I mean I can build worlds, civilizations, races, religions, and even deities. But this is different. This is real life. I shrugged and picked up my pen. Whatever, might as well try it.