I was working with a student last week, talking about his goal setting, and how important it is for them to be lofty. The conversation soon turned into a mild debate about why he should keep striving for them.

“I’ve never done it before. Because it hasn’t happened means it never will,” he kept saying.

STOP RIGHT HERE!! Read his quote again, and think about it for a second.

Nothing’s ever happened before it’s happened. There has to be a first time! If we don’t believe it will happen, it never will. Know, with unwavering certainty, that your goals, passions, and motivations will manifest.

Our path should always be about the steps we take, whether we achieve or not. Keep stepping towards those dreams, continue laughing in the face of fear, and keep asking…

“Why not me?”

This video was originally directed at golfers, but you don’t have to be a golfer to implement it’s message into your life. Believe your goals WILL be attained, and you’ve accomplished half the challenge!

Seeing what you want is one thing. Believing you can achieve it is one thing. Totally accepting all possible outcomes IS A WHOLE OTHER THING!!

In order to attain anything in life, we must be 100% committed to our journey, believing we will get there. Unfortunately, many leave out a very important piece to this puzzle: Acceptance! Commitment is impossible without acceptance. Accepting the fact that we can only control the process, allowing the result to simply be, allows us to let go of performance anxiety… making commitment automatic.

Acceptance brings true inner piece, as it washes away the worry of results. “It’ll be what it needs to be,” I remind myself daily. To fully accept grows confidence and a willingness to commit to all decisions, without hesitation.

Think about a specific time in your life where you worked hard for something, yet never fully accepted the future outcome, good or bad. Did you truly commit and feel peaceful about your process?

There’s no better feeling than completely letting go of the anxiety that attaches itself to results. The only way to attain this feeling is acceptance. Commit, accept, go!

I spend the majority of my days talking with people who say they want to learn how to separate from the pack, and dominate their specific field. My first question:

“Are you sure?”

Without exception, they all claim immense hunger, passion, and fire to get it done. As always, I grin knowingly, thinking to myself, “We’ll soon see.”

It’s not by accident, I labeled this journey of separation, “1%!” If it was easy, there would be more than one Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Michael Jordan, or Tiger Woods. They each understand the sacrifice and discipline it takes to separate from the pack; become the 1%.

Are you sure you’ll do whatever it takes?

Will you sacrifice your old belief system? Can you stare fear in the face, and laugh outloud at it’s useless attempt to hold you back? Will you set loftier goals than most would ever dream of setting? Do you need to reach every goal in order to feel successful… or will the climb be your primary source of fulfillment?

Are you sure?

This post isn’t meant to sound negative, but it IS focused at your true motivations; your willingness to let go of past self-limitations. Will you turn away from your former self and those who constantly remind you how difficult it will be to reach your goals?

Are you sure about this 1% thing?

They ask me how I “know” I’m going to reach my goals? Where’s the evidence that it can be done?

I just know! I don’t need evidence when I know.

I know, without a single doubt, that my goals will be met. There’s no “hope” in my mind. Knowing without evidence to back up my goals is a special kind of commitment, and can’t be explained. Most actually think it’s crazy to attempt goals unless there’s specific evidence to back them up. I don’t need evidence because…

I know!

I see the finish line… which ironically can’t be finished… only improved. But I see it clear as day. I feel it with an intensity impossible to put in words. I’ve practiced achieving every single day, from morning to night. It hasn’t always gone well, but I’ve practiced. And still…

I know!

They (the 99%) tell me it’s ludicrous to “know” something that hasn’t happened yet. They say I should hope, and work off the assumption that if I work hard enough, it “may happen.” They repeat daily, “There’s no guarantees. Have a backup plan, just in case it doesn’t work out.” Having this safety net would insure failure. Instead of hoping and creating a backup plan…

I know!

Do you need evidence from the past to give you the courage to move forward? Do you hope or…

Do you know?

I got a call from a student the other day, asking when his negative (bleep) will go away. He was obviously hoping I’d give him an exact date, but all I could tell him was, “IT WON’T!”

The way he’d been approaching his mental game to date was working hard on his physical skills. His thinking: Strong physical = strong mental. Sure, he’ll add a bit of confidence by improving his physical game, but it will be short-lived, with nothing to glue his long term game together.

He’s a college golfer, but we don’t have to be athletes to live the following advice: Changing anything means creating new habits… period! If we wait for the change to magically appear, we’ll be waiting forever. We all know this fact, intellectually, yet most of us still tend to sit and hope for the new to appear.

If we want to make it happen… then go make it happen! Create a specific plan, take massive action, and create results. Even if the outcome isn’t exactly what we want, at least we got off our butts and did something about it.

Undesired results are better than no results, and pull us nearer to our goals! The most successful people understand that failing draws them closer to the solution. This “failure” is only short term, and is necessary to fully understand what’s needed for long term success.

Make it happen, even if IT doesn’t turn out exactly how you planned. Eventually, it will.

Today I want to touch on a topic that’s very passionate to me, and is the foundation for everything I teach: The mind is in control of everything our muscles do!


Recently, I was being debated by a physical specialist in his field, trying to convince me that our muscles need to be trained before the mind can trust them. He couldn’t be more backwards! Our muscles can’t do anything without permission from our brains, either consciously or habitually. I agree, our muscles need the proper training for any physical change to take place, but what we tell them as they’re being trained will dictate that future change.

This trainer believes that correct mechanics dictate all physical success, which at a very basic level, seems correct. “If I train my muscles hard and long enough, they’ll do what they’re supposed to…” The problem with this assumption, is the lack of pressure placed in the equation, and how it affects our muscles. No amount of physical practice can keep our bodies from tensing up under pressure if our minds don’t come to the rescue. Our brains, through different techniques, send messages to the muscles which help them perform to their potential. Without learning these specific techniques, our muscles (no matter how many hours we practice) will tighten up and break down during extreme pressure.

The mind is in control of everything our body does, including involuntary heart rate and breathing. When properly trained, the brain can also control those. To preach muscle first, mind second, is irresponsible teaching at least… completely ludicrous at worst. I’m a huge advocate of physical training and mastering our bodies, but never at the expense of learning the power of our minds.

People instinctively have a difficult time with this concept, mainly due to lack of knowledge. We’ve all been taught: “Want to become a better athlete, workout and master your mechanics. Want to lose weight, exercise and eat healthier. Want to improve grades in school, study more.”

Rarely, if ever, do we hear: “Practice creating new thoughts, work on developing new habits, and practice visualizing what you want to achieve!”


Our minds are the key to success, not our muscles. Our bodies definitely play an important role… but they’re not the main character. It’s not rocket science. We are, and become, what we think and say. This leads to specific action, eventually manifesting our results. It really is this simple.

Regardless of your specific path in life, focus on creating a stronger mindset, and I guarantee you’ll create better results!

I talk about it all the time, but it has to be repeated once again: What we think ultimately creates who we become!

I’ve been battling this concept in my personal life as of late. There have been certain obstacles popping up, testing my belief in this process, and making sure I live by what I preach. Every day, I find myself having to consciously remind my thoughts to be about what I want, rather than what I’m afraid of. Every moment, it seems, I catch myself talking to the mirror about how this process works, and why I teach it so passionately.

Without constant practice, it becomes too easy to fall into the negative, fearful trap of what we don’t want. Without conscious reminding, our minds fill itself with ways to sabotage our daily paths. If we allow it to rule our thinking, it will absolutely take us to places where negativity reigns.

I know this personally. I live this daily.

No one is immune to the pitfalls of fearful thinking. The key, though, is recognizing the doubt, and sending it on it’s way. Constantly replacing the negative with the possible is critical to our growth and achievement of any goal. The difficulty lies in recognizing when the fear is taking over, and consciously focusing on the possible; the “I will” attitude.

Many years back, my mentor taught me the importance of “going to sleep the right way.” He explained how the unconscious mind takes over during our sleep, and what we choose to tell it before we fall asleep will eventually dictate who we become during waking hours. It’s natural, as we’re drifting off, to focus on the bad that’s happened to us during the day, or the worries of tomorrow. Unfortunately, by concentrating on all the negative and fear, we cement this thinking into our unconscious, allowing it to marinate overnight. Do this often enough, night after night, and it will eventually manifest.

Now, as I’m falling asleep, I focus my mind on exactly where I want to be and who I want to become. I make myself feel the passion and confidence of the future, allowing THAT to marinate into my unconscious while I sleep. I repeat the same phrase to myself over and over, as I visualize my future:


“What I think, say, and do creates my future.”

This is how I fall asleep every night, as I rid myself of the daily negatives and worries. Fear can’t exist under the same roof with the definite, absolute truth of my future. As I regularly train myself to focus on the possible, I remind you to do the same. Look at your reflection daily, and ask what it will take to get there… then get there!