I found myself thinking what would I do if I wasn’t afraid? I would have moved out of state already, even out of the country… I would have been doing speaking engagements, even would have had my first Ted Talk before it was ever posted online… I would have already been collaborating with my WHO(s)… My oldest daughter would have been zip lining…. I would have already reached some of my impossible goals… Fear not only affects you, it impacts others in your circle and beyond as well… **What would YOU do IF you weren’t afraid?**

11am Eastern. If you haven’t been to a Friday call, come join us and meet the crew. See you soon.

I’ve noticed several of you leaning into improving your health and fitness…which I absolutely applaud. Taking action in this area changes everything. If you don’t know my story… Back in 2004, a fat, depressed guy was glaring at me in the mirror. That moment was my wake-up call. I didn’t overhaul my entire life overnight. I started with 1% changes, long before I ever heard of Atomic Habits. Those 1% shifts became habits… Those habits became disciplines… Those disciplines became my lifestyle. One thing… I didn't get bent out of shape if I couldn't do a certain amount of cardio or go to the gym. I just did something every day even if it was for 5 to 10 minutes. And over time, that lifestyle led me to the best shape of my life. The thing most people get wrong is that they go all out and then get burned out. My process, on the other hand, involves taking small, consistent steps over time that lead to big results. This approach allows you to build habits that lead to your disciplines, ultimately shaping your lifestyle. To this day, I still have a six-pack. I’ve built real strength and muscle. But I am passionate about helping others get healthy. Over the last two decades, I’ve learned what works, what doesn’t, the biohacks worth using to regulate emotions so they don't restrict you internally, and the foods that fuel you vs. drain you. If you’re committed to following through, I’m happy to create a simple yet powerful Health & Discipline Framework for anyone who wants it. This isn’t an offer. This is one of my passions…and a gift to you all.

Most of us were trained early to be scared of what other people think. Parents, teachers, bosses, even friends used criticism as a way to “fix” us. Over time that does real damage. It steals initiative, kills imagination, and convinces you it is safer to stay small than to risk being judged. That is the fear of criticism. So what do we do with it? Criticism itself is not the real problem. The problem is the story we attach to it. - “If they do not like this, it means I am not good enough.” - “If I fail in public, I will never recover.” - “If people talk about me, I must have done something wrong.” Those stories create an internal prison that is stronger than any comment someone posts online. Napoleon Hill reminds us that the people closest to us are often the harshest critics. Many of them are not trying to hurt us. They are acting from their own fear. But if we absorb it, we start to build an inferiority complex that follows us into adulthood, leadership, and business. So here is your work around Fear of Criticism: 1. Separate feedback from your identity. Criticism is data, not a definition of who you are. Ask, “What is useful here?” and drop the rest. 2. Notice where fear of judgment is keeping you small. What are you not starting, posting, selling, or saying because you are worried about what someone might think? 3. Replace criticism with constructive suggestion in your own leadership. If you are a parent, leader, or coach, your words shape someone else’s inner voice. Use that power wisely.

Since this upcoming week is about raising the floor and finding your identity, I think it’s a good time to discuss the 6 Fears most of us tangle with. Some suffer from one or two, others from all of them. 1. Fear of Poverty 2. Fear of Criticism 3. Fear of Ill Health 4. Fear of Loss of a Loved One 5. Fear of Old Age 6. Fear of Death Fear of Poverty - there’s no compromise between poverty and riches. The two roads that lead to poverty and riches travel in the opposite direction. If you want riches, you must refuse to accept any circumstance that leads to poverty. The starting point of the path that leads to riches is desire. The fear of poverty is a state of mind and nothing else. This fear paralyzes the faculty of reason, destroys the faculty of imagination, kills off self-reliance, undermine’s enthusiasm, discourages, initiative, leads to the uncertainty of purpose, encourages, procrastination, wipes out enthusiasm, and makes self control and impossibility. The obvious truth is that we live in a society of over abundance of everything, the heart desire, with nothing standing between us and our desires, except lack of a definite purpose.