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Day 50 of 50 ideas in 50 days is The Power of Full Engagement by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz. Both Tony and Jim are huge in the personal development field, particularly in the area of performance psychology. The basis of The Power of Full Engagement is that it is, “energy, not time that is the fundamental currency of high performance.” This is great news for those of us who think that there are never enough hours in the day. The 4 principles of Full Engagement are as follows:

1. “Full engagement requires drawing on four separate but related sources of energy; physical, emotional, mental and spiritual.”
2. “Because energy diminishes both with overuse and with underuse, we must balance energy expenditure with intermittent energy renewal.”
3. “To build capacity we must push beyond our normal limits, training in the same systematic way that elite athletes do.”
4. “Positive energy rituals – highly specific routines for managing energy, are the key to full engagement and sustained high performance.”

It is important to live in harmony with the natural rhythms of the universe, be it the seasons, the sunrise or the ebb and flow of the waves. This should be so in every part of our day to day lives, work periods and rest periods. This is managing our energy effectively. In sport, this idea began with Flavius Philostratus (AD 170-245) who wrote training manuals for Greek athletes. Russian sports scientists resurrected the concept in the 1960’s and began applying it with stunning success to their Olympic athletes. Today, ‘work-rest’ ratios lie at the heart of periodization, a training method used by elite athletes throughout the world.”

Jim spent a long time analysing top tennis players and their matches and he found that the distinguishing feature was not in how they played but in the differences in what they did between points. He says, “the best players had each built almost exactly the same set of routines between points. These included the way they walked back to the baseline after a point, how they held their heads and shoulders, where they focused their eyes, the pattern of breathing and even the way they talked to themselves.” He noticed that in the time between points, the best players were able to lower their heart rates by as much as 20 beats per minute. This ensures that energy is conserved, sharpness is increased throughout the game and fatigue is lessened. It makes sense doesn’t it? It is important to apply this to all parts of our lives if we wish to utilise our energy effectively and avoid burn out. This means proper quality rest, not TV or filling the body and mind with toxins, it defeats the whole purpose.

This is definitely good quality advice for ending my 50 ideas in 50 days.

Day 32 of 50 ideas in 50 days is Strength for Life by Shawn Phillips. Shawn has been involved in the field of personal performance for the past two decades and has helped hundreds of thousands of people reach their optimum health potential. He says, “your body, the only one you will ever have, is the foundation of your life and it’s either an anchor limiting your freedom and potential or a source of radiant energy.” What an insightful way of looking at things! Anchors can mean excess weight or bad habits that you feel chained to. It’s all about the choices you make. Sometimes we make these healthy positive choices and they can last for a definite amount of time but Shawn talks about something more significant that gives lasting change. “There is a difference between change and transformation. Where change is change, I define transformation as ‘significant and lasting change.’ It’s a change that doesn’t snap back to the way it was before.” This book is all about creating that lasting transformation in your life.

Shawn makes a really positive comment (one of many) as he quotes from a clinical study. “You’re never too old to gain strength. The Noll Laboratory for Human Performance compared young men, with men between the ages of 45 and 60 and found that the percentage of body fat, along with aerobic capacity, was not related to age but rather to the amount of time spent training their body.” Yippee, love those results! There are further studies too, related to muscle growth for individuals between 60 and 96 years old that are just as positive. This is extremely encouraging, you are never too old! As Shawn says, “the symptoms of aging are less dependent on age and more dependent on lifestyle.”

The basis of having strength for life is in your power of focus – an idea given by so many self-development writers for a variety of different reasons. It is the ability to focus all your energy on what you are doing at the present time. Never mind about the past or future. “The freedom to place your focused attention where you want it, when you want it, offers a competitive advantage in a world where the average attention span is measured in seconds, not minutes.” This is a crucial point to finish with. How much more fulfilling can your life be with such a simple change, practising focus on a daily basis, a few minutes of meditation every day to help you relax and taper your mind. With this simple change you can experience complete transformation in any area you choose.

Day 31 of 50 ideas in 50 days is Mastery by George Leonard. Mastery has such an interesting take on what it is to be a ‘master’ of something. In fact, it is not about winning or being the best at something, as you might initially think. George says, “we fail to realise that mastery is not about perfection. The master is one who stays on the path day after day, year after year and who is willing to try and fail and try again for as long as he or she lives.” He makes the point that the path to mastery is always long and often difficult, so as a result, we are attracted by different paths. George narrows these paths down to three.

The Dabbler – gets really into something for a time then after the initial excitement is gone, they are off to the next new thing.

The Obsessive – wants to get everything perfect and in a really short space of time. When they are getting the same results or their results decrease they are obsessive in trying to create an upward curve again.

The Hacker – stays in the same place and is quite happy with the same routine, never wants to improve or gain flexibility in a new skill.

These 3 can be found in all areas of life, from career to hobbies to relationships. So how do we go from this to practising mastery? George says, “to put it simply, you practise diligently, but you practise primarily for the sake of practise itself.” This is mastery, it is being truly at peace and loving the process for what it is. Don’t get impatient with yourself, enjoy the process for the experience. This makes me think of the many questions I received from students as to why Mathematics was an essential part of the High School curriculum. They saw no worthwhile end result in using simultaneous equations! They didn’t always agree with me when I replied, “it’s a fantastic brain experience, do it for the love of the process of solving problems.”

Interestingly, George points out how the media and advertising is geared toward climaxes and going from one high to another. “Our hyped up consumerist society is engaged in fact, in an all out war on mastery.” These extreme highs have got to have extreme lows. Mastery is different. “To love the plateau is to love the eternal now, to enjoy the inevitable spurts of progress and the fruits of accomplishment…to love the plateau is to love what is most essential and enduring in your life.” In this way, you love and appreciate the actual process of being and becoming. Goals and forward plans are important of course but never lose sight of where you are now and appreciate the moments of the journey. This is truly living.

Day 28 of 50 ideas in 50 days is Focal Point by Brian Tracy. Brian is one of the top writers and mindset experts in his field. He has had decades of personal development sales and training delivery. The book Focal Point is all about focusing your energy which is something that many success writers stress the importance of. It is a must for productivity. He says, “among the most important personal choices you can make is to accept complete responsibility for everything you are and everything you will ever be…the acceptance of personal responsibility is what separates the superior person from the average person.” To me, this is crucial. What kind of life is it if you spend it blaming others for your mistakes and live your days as a victim? This most certainly separates the high achiever from the average person. He says, “accepting complete responsibility for your life means that you refuse to make excuses or blame others for anything you’re not happy about. You refuse, from this moment to critisise others for that reason.” Wow, this is huge, from now on don’t criricise others for something you are not happy about yourself. Stop the blame, begin to be the creator and not the result of conditioning by other people.

So what does he say about focusing? “Once you have thought through your work and decided on your most valuable task, you must discipline yourself to start it immediately and stay until it is complete. When you concentrate single-mindedly on a specific task, without distraction or diversion, you get it done far faster than if you start and stop, then come back to the task and pick it up again.” Isn’t that the truth? If you leave it and come back to it, a considerable amount of time is spent thinking about how you left it and how you will continue.

Another important point Brian makes is the importance of what you want and not on what you don’t want, one of the crucial aspects of the Law of Attraction. He says, “in this respect, charity is terribly important. Successful people have tremendous clarity about who they are, what they want and how they are going to get it.” It is so important to change your confusion and indecision into precision and clarity, then you begin to see results, often much quicker than you ever imagined. Sharpen up, tailor your productivity and focus with clarity – you will see some tremendous changes.

Day 26 of 50 ideas in 50 days is Do You by Russell Simmons. Russell is such an interesting and vibrant individual. Amongst many other things, he was the co-founder of Def Jam records that signed such legends as LL Cool J, Public Enemy and The Beastie Boys. In Do You, he focuses on the strategies that helped him to build his ‘Rush Communications’ business that emerged from the record label and he has been named one of America’s 25 ‘most fascinating entrepreneurs.’

An essential idea that Russell begins with is, when you have a vision or something you wish to achieve, focus on it and stick with it. He says, ”in my experience, there’s only one way thing that will always steer you toward success: that’s to have vision and to stick with it…once I have a vision for a new venture, I’m going to ride that vision until the wheels come off.” If it’s worth doing, it’s worth practising and following through until the end result is achieved. Follow it through to full fruition!

One thing that is constantly touched on by so many self-help authors is the feeling of gratitude and how it can make a happier, more fulfilled existence and Russell agrees. “When I start my day by reflecting on all the things I have to be grateful for, I’ll have a much more rewarding day.” I can’t stress enough how much I agree with Russell. Gratitude for breakfast makes for a beutiful day and a beautiful restful sleep when contemplated just before you drop off at night.

As I approach a certain milestone age in my life, I truly believe that I can do so many more things now that I wouldn’t have had the confidence to do 20 years ago. I’m older, definitely wiser in many ways (some ways, not so much! ;D) and have gained so much more peace in myself. So when Russell says, “age ain’t nothing but a number,” I am wholly inclined to agree with him. If you trust in yourself and your own inner guidance, you can be sure of this. Fundamentally, you are never tooold to start following your dream or your passion. Once you get past a certain age, it really feels as if time begins to speed up and this should always serve as a reminder that life is too short not to follow your heart. It’s your life!

Day 24 of 50 ideas in 50 days is Body Mind Mastery by Dan Millman. Dan was a former world champion athlete and gymnastics coach and he has a wonderfully unique style of writing bringing western and eastern thought together. I think most of us could utilise the good advice about activity in some aspect of our lives. He makes a crucial point early in the book, stating that vitality is about activity and does not have to be formal exercise, it can be getting off the bus one step earlier or taking the stairs for a change.

Dan says it’s important to feel positive about failure, “ultimately, fear of failure generates a vicious circle that creates what is most feared. To break this cycle, you need to make peace with failure…if babies held the same tendency toward self-criticism as adults, they might never learn to walk or talk.” It’s true, we need to stop critisising ourselves for our failures and keep practising. It’s important to try and in that case, at least you’ll have no regrets. It’s important to relax and stay focused on the action.

Dan talks about the Law of Accomodation and how change happens in our physical body and mind, not in huge chunks on a daily basis. It’s essential to keep that in mind and see the first small goal rather than the one that seems far off on the horizon. The body and mind do change – that is science. “Your body is malleable, you can sculpt it over time with daily habits of diet and exercise. The Law of Accomodation reminds us that the body may change slowly, but it will change.” The key is consistency, even if that consistency is only for a few minutes a day, is better than intense effort once every fortnight. This is fairly evident in different aspects of life. With this consistency you can create new habits in a short period of time and before you realise it, you’ll be living the life you truly want.

Day 23 of 50 ideas in 50 days is Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki. It’s wonderful to be introduced to so many ideas, I feel like I’m learning so much on this 50 day journey. Rich Dad, Poor Dad is an infamous bestseller in the self-help market – 26 million copies sold in the series. Yet, I have never read it nor have I been introduced to any of the key ideas, until now.

Robert cites fear as the main reason why people don’t take risks and keep themselves just above the bread line. It’s this mindset that keeps the poor and the middle class at the same setpoint their whole lives. He says, “just know that it’s fear that keeps most people working at a job. The fear of not paying their bills, fear of being fired, fear of not having enough money, the fear of starting over…most people become a slave to money then get angry at their boss.”  This is classic victim mentality – we are the product of our conditioning and not the creators of our life. It’s about choosing our own path, making our own decisions and making a concentrated effort to change the way we think. “Getting into fear and confronting our greed, our weakness, our neediness is the way out. And the way out is through the mind, by choosing our thoughts.” It is important to be proactive and not reactive.

Kiyosaki makes an interesting point about the huge difference between Rich Dad and Poor Dad thinking in that the former buys assets and the latter liabilities. He says that mortgages are liabilities, it’s tying all your money up into a liability. “The greatest losses of all are those from missed opportinities if all your money is tied up in your house, you may be forced to work harder because your money continues blowing out of the expense column instead of adding to the asset column, the classic middle class cash flow problem.

Robert echoes so many self-help authors when he says, “whenever you feel short or in need of something, give what you want first and it will come back in buckets…I know it’s often the last thing a person may want to do but it has always worked for me. I just trust that the principle of reciprocity is true.” It is a sentiment that has been written in every philosophical/spiritual work since the beginning of thought.

Day 18 of 50 ideas in 50 days is The Success Principles by Jack Canfield. Jack is co-creator of the ‘Chicken Soup for the Soul’ series with Mark Victor Hansen, whose original Chicken Soup title I read 15 years ago. I loved the idea and the heart warming stories inside. Jack Canfield is a powerhouse of amazing ideas and a brilliant businessman. He brings many great ideas to the table in this recent book of his.

Principle 1 – take 100% responsibility. “It is time to stop looking outside yourself for the answers to why you haven’t created the life and results you want, for it is you who creates the quality of the life you lead and the results you produce.” Yes, accept complete responsibility for your life and be the creator of it, get out of victim mode and look for the answers within. It’s your life, don’t allow others to shape it for you.  Jack gives a formula to help us with the idea and it is as follows;

Event + Response = Outcome

What actually happens, ie the event, is neutral. It is our response that makes it into something it is not and we always have a choice how to respond. It is our reponse that gives the outcome, depending on whether we are in reactive or proactive, victim or creator mode. The realisation of this is tremendously empowering.

Principle 2 – be clear why you are here. This is all about your purpose and Jack talks about how good you feel when you are clear of this. We know we are on purpose by the measure of how good we feel when doing it.

Jack Canfield echoes Dale Carnegie from How to Stop Worrying and Start Living when he quotes from Daniel Amen’s 18/40/60 rule. He says, “I like Dr Daniel Amen’s 18/40/60 rule: when you are 18, you worry about what everybody is thinking of you; when you are 40, you don’t give a damn what anybody thinks of you; when you are 60, you realise that nobody is thinking about you at all.” It’s probably true that people are more worried about what you think of them. I suspect there have been many wasted hours in all our lives worrying about this, it is so unnecessary. We can utilise our energy in much more productive ways.

Talking of more productive ways, I’d like to finish with a great principle in honouring what is really important in your life. Jack says, “Successful people adhere to the no exceptions rule when it comes to their daily disciplines. Once you make a 100% commitment to something, there are no exceptions.” So when you find something that really works, really makes a difference – honour it 100%. Healthy eating, yoga, meditation, reading, integrate them wholly into your daily life, no excuses. Then you will be living the life you truly want and embracing it 100%.