Derek Franklin's Blog

Pay Attention To What Results-Getters DO!

What's a specific result that you want to achieve in life?

Do you want to manage your money better, start an online business, or eat healthier?

There are people who do these things, and many of them share their methods for getting their results, through articles, blogs, and books.

The question is: How do you personally respond to their methods?

Because people who get REAL results often do things VERY different than others who simply 'dabble', their 'methods' for getting those results are sometimes seen as 'unconventional', and even criticized for being unpopular, impractical, and even unbalanced - often by the 'dabbler's'.

The bottom line: When you REALLY want a specific result, you must pay attention to the people who are getting it, including their routines, decision making process, how they spend their free time, etc. 

When you do, you may think they're crazy for how they do things, and you may even feel like you totally disagree with their methods because doing them in your own life would 'go against your grain.' But isn't that the point? Isn't that how you grow and become more?

If you're not getting the results you want - something about what you do, and how you live your life is going to have to change...period!

Here's A Picture-Perfect Example

Let me give you a very simple example of what I mean...

I create and capture systems/processes for virtually everything repeatable that I do in my life and business. In my experience, it's an essential element to leading an organized, and highly-effective life. 

I even have a step-by-step process for how to to get the pictures from my camera onto my computer. It's only 10 steps long, but it ensures I don't have to think to much about how to get pictures edited, cleaned up, and onto my computer, where they're backed-up.

One time I told someone who was concerned about the possibility of losing the 1ooo's of pictures stored on their camera (in the event the camera was ever lost or stolen) that I had this little step-by-step process in place to help me avoid this issue, and of course, they thought I was crazy!

To them, what normal person has a step-by-step process for doing something as simple as getting pictures from their camera to their computer?

 A person who has a solution to their challenge!

As you can likely guess, due to it's craziness, this person had no desire to adopt the method I shared with them - it was 'unnecessary'

So, while my photos look great and are backed up, their photos continue to sit on their camera, waiting for a potential event where they'll be lost forever.

Someone Else's Craziness May Be Your Solution

The reality is that, if someone is getting the results you want, and you're not, they're doing SOMETHING you should really pay attention to - even if it seems crazy, unreasonable, or even makes you uncomfortable to think about doing it yourself.

• If they say: Only watch an hour of TV a day, then DO IT, even if you have to give up a show or two!
• If they say: Quit drowning your mind in mainstream news, then DO IT, even if you sweat when you think of the withdrawal!
• If they say: Drink more water, then DO IT, even if you don't like the taste of water!

Don't dismiss results-getters because you don't like their methods.

Realize that they're often getting those results BECAUSE of their methods, and maybe instead of criticizing them and thinking they're unreasonable, it would be better to emulate what they're doing!

Pay attention to what result-getters DO!

The Success Indicator - Where Do YOU Stand?

Thank you, MaryEllen Tribby.

I couldn't have drawn it better myself! :)

Small Changes Verses Big Changes - PushMaps

Click the link to download and print this PushMap Small Changes Verses Big Changes

The Power Of Outcomes - PushMaps

Click the link to download and print this PushMap

The Power of Outcomes

A Life Of Purpose - PushMaps

Click the link to download and print this PushMap

A Life of Purpose

The Evolution Of A Breakthrough - PushMaps

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The Evolution of a Breakthrough

 

Do Something Significant First - PushMaps

Click the link to download and print this PushMap
Do Something Significant First

 

unBelievable: You Get More When You Focus On Less

* Note: This post is part of an ongoing series in which I am sharing the entire contents of a currently unpublished book I wrote last year, entitled: unBelievable: How to Get Unbelievable Results By Giving Up Believable Ideas. Review my blog's archives or do a search for unbelievable to see all previous posts.

You Get More When You Focus On Less

• Subtract until it breaks. - Justin Salsburey
• Your worth consists in what you are and not in what you have. – Thomas A. Edison
• He who knows that enough is enough will always have enough. – Lao Tzu
• Ninety percent of everything is crap. - Theodore Sturgeon
• It is not how much we have but how much we enjoy, that makes happiness. - Charles Haddon Spurgeon
• A man is rich in proportion to the number of things which he can afford to let alone. - Henry David Thoreau
• Many a man thinks he is buying pleasure, when he is really selling himself to it. - Benjamin Franklin

Believable Ideas

• More is more!
• A big part of success is the ability to get everything I want!
• The more choices I have in life, the greater my sense of contentment.
• I've got so many things in my life, a lot of them I haven't even seen or used in a year or more! As a matter of fact, I rent storage space for some of it.
• I own _______ (fill in the blank), but I hardly ever use it. But it's there if I ever need it!
• Trying to live with less sounds like something only a person who has been 'defeated' by life would do.
• I love to shop, it's one of the pleasures that come from working so hard!
• I constantly bring more stuff into my life than I get rid of.
• Having less means I'm denying myself - I can't see how that will make my life better!
• Yeah I've got one of those already...but not THAT one!
• I have a boat?!?

 

I love pepper - I use a lot!

Not the pre-ground, flavorless black dust that's packaged in small plastic containers and is often passed off as pepper, but the 'crushed-fresh in a pepper mill from actual peppercorns' kind.

Of course, this freshness comes at a small price - I have to regularly refill the pepper mill with fresh peppercorns. For me, that requires using a funnel. I put the small end of the funnel into the top of the pepper mill and dump peppercorns into the big end of the funnel.

During the refill process, if I take things at a slow and steady pace, I achieve a nice flow - the peppercorns make their way down the funnel, into the mill.

However, if I get impatient, by trying to dump too many peppercorns down the funnel at once, it quickly brings the whole operation to a screeching halt, because the hole at the small end of the funnel can't handle all I'm throwing at it and the flow stops. By doing this, I eliminate any possibility of getting the results I want (successfully refilling the mill), and unless I do something different, what I want to experience (fresh ground pepper) will be something I'll just have to learn to live without (hypothetically speaking).

What does this have to do with the idea that less is more? Well, if it's not obvious to you yet: How we live in and process our world, works a lot like that funnel.

Because we all have a limited amount of time each day, and because our brains are wired to help us make the most efficient use of that time, we can only consciously deal with a limited number of inputs (think the small end of the funnel), and give them the quality amount of our attention they deserve in order to reap the benefits of having them.

When we try to force too much stuff into our lives - information, things, and even people - we're going against the way things are supposed to work, which leads to a breakdown of the system (life). Instead of results, we get overwhelm, stress, and a lower quality of life - a bunch of bad stuff we really don't want.

Unfortunately, this is exactly the way that many people live their lives these days - they're bent on getting, owning, and consuming more, more, and more.

If it's the wrong way of doing things, why do so many people buy into this lifestyle?

Because somewhere along the way, they were convinced to believe that the getting and consumption of more and more stuff is the only path to true happiness. It's repeatedly drilled into their heads: How can you be happy without the latest and greatest, and how in the world can you feel satisfied by owning just one or two of them?!?

The reality is that, happiness and satisfaction come from experiencing positive RESULTS, not through the filling of every part of your life with an ever-growing collection of things that put bigger demands on your time, energy, and resources. This is why a mountain man in Alaska with virtually nothing to his name can be very happy and deeply satisfied - the key to his happiness and contentment doesn't come from the pursuit of more stuff, but from the fact that his way of life allows him to regularly experience the results he wants.

And when it comes to getting more and better results, the only way to do it is to keep the 'flow' of life moving. Anything that clogs this flow, or slows it down, has to be eliminated. This is where the mindset of less is more comes into play - it helps you eliminate anything unnecessary in order to keep this flow moving at an optimal level.

So what's the core mindset you need to adopt if you want to live a life of 'less is more', and reap the benefits?

It's simply this: Always choose quality over quantity!

Soon we'll discuss how to put this mindset to work for you in several specific areas of your life, but for now, realize that, in general, it requires you to:

• Simplify - Stop introducing more stuff into your life without solid reasons for doing so
• Eliminate - Trim down the things in your life to those that you use and benefit from on a regular basis, and get rid of the rest
• Master - Get REALLY good at a few things, instead of just 'kind of good' at many
• Focus - Become aware of things that give you the greatest result for the least amount of effort

Let's consider the fundamental reasons why it makes sense to take this approach in life, all of which center largely on doing nothing more than giving your mind and body exactly what it wants.

To begin this exploration, let me ask you a question: How much stuff - information, things, and people - do you currently allow into your life?

Are you like many people, convinced that the more of each of these that you have, the happier you'll be?

Well, let me ask you a follow-up question: When you bring more of any of these things into your life, what's your reason for doing so? What do you expect to get in return? Isn't it that you expect them to fill a need or desire you have? You want a result of some sort.

Now, do you want just ordinary results, or would you rather like to experience extraordinary results? Well, as humans, I would say that most of us are, by far, interested in experiencing extraordinary results (quality), even if it means we have to do with less (quantity), which it often does.

For example, when it comes to eating, if you're only caring for your own needs, which would you choose: A huge bucket of rice and a gallon of water (a quantity of food), or a small steak and lobster dinner with all the trimmings, along with a small glass of wine (quality food)?

Here's another example. Once again, accounting for your own needs, would you rather own 10 old black and white televisions (a quantity of TVs), or one, brand new, HD, plasma television (a quality TV)?  

We put a much higher value on the quality of results we experience than the quantity of things that can bring us an experience. This is a universal principle, and works this way across the board - with everything in life.

Why does it work this way?

Because we're emotionally-driven beings, and the higher-quality something is, the deeper it impacts us emotionally - it makes us feel really good inside, something we all crave to our core!

Think about it, what affects you more:

• Watching an Oscar-winning movie or 30 YouTube videos of kids doing skateboarding tricks?
• Receiving a handwritten card from a close friend expressing their affection for you or 20 Facebook updates from people you hardly even know about things you don't even care about?
• Listening to your favorite song of all time or listening to an entire album of music from garage bands from around the country that you've never heard of?

In each of these examples, less is more - the quality of the experience is of higher value to us than having a quantity of experiences.

Having a quality experience is dependent on more than just how well something is made, it also depends on your willingness to single it out as something special, and give it a decent chunk of our time and attention. In other words, you'll only get out of it what you put into it.

This is the reason why more becomes less because, as mentioned earlier, you have a limited amount of time and attention, and if you spread it too thin, by trying to consume and manage too many things, you'll experience something, but it's not going to have the deep, emotional impact on you that it could. You'll experience ordinary results instead of extraordinary ones.

So this idea of less is more really boils down to figuring out what results/experiences are really important to you (getting to less), making each of them a priority in your life, and then devoting quality time, energy, and resources to them in order to extract the greatest value from them (to experience more).

Do this, and your life will 'flow' like never before!

Virtually every area of your life is affected by this principle, but due to a whole host of reasons, it would be impossible to discuss every single area. So let's just look at several practical ways of applying this mindset in life, and as we do, notice how simplicity, elimination, mastery, and focus are really the driving forces behind how it works:

Knowledge

We live in a society that's flooded with knowledge and information.

There are literally BILLIONS of books, magazines, and web sites that promise to teach us something useful.

The problem is that so many of us try to consume as much of it as we can by buying book after book, magazine after magazine, and bookmarking site after site, and then wonder why we feel overwhelmed all the time - kind of crazy, right?

It's almost like we're presented with this endless buffet of knowledge, and we keep going up to get more and more because our hunger never seems to get satisfied. And therein lies the problem.

If our hunger for knowledge and understanding isn't being deeply satisfied, it may be because we're simply consuming what we're taking in, but not digesting it. And without digestion, there is no value being extracted from what's being consumed.

Do you think buying and reading a bunch of books will make you smarter? There's no denying that a lot of people seem to think so. Just look at the row after row of books they have on their bookshelf. Not only that, but they have a whole stack of books just waiting to be read, and more on order from Amazon.

Being this enthused about learning is great, but if all you're doing is reading, reading, and reading, and you never take the time to digest - or make application of what you're learning - then your hunger for knowledge will likely never be satisfied to the level it could be.

It's always been a bit strange to me that someone will read a book about a topic, learn a ton of useful ways to improve some area of their life, and before even implementing a single one of those new ideas they learned, they're off to read another book about the same topic (they don't take the time to digest).

But here's the bottom line: Knowledge without action is worthless!

Spending your valuable time constantly reading, which leaves virtually no time for applying what you learn, is largely a waste of time.

You're better off to select 5 books in your library and do everything you can to learn and master what they teach you, than you are to simply read 100 books.

The same principle applies to magazines, and web sites. Stop collecting all of them that you run into. Instead, find the best ones, eliminate the rest, and focus on extracting real value from the ones that are left.

Less is more!

Things

Believing the idea that too much physical stuff in life (things you buy) is a bad thing, is a concept that a lot of people have a hard time wrapping their heads around. And it's no wonder when you consider the fact that from the moment we're born, to the moment we die, our desire to consume is aroused and constantly fueled.

We're regularly fed ideas that ultimately shape our core beliefs, like:

• It's not good enough to just have a car, you need a garage full of cars.
• A comfortable house won't make you happy, success means striving for a huge house full of rooms you'll rarely use, or even multiple houses you'll only use occasionally.
• Your house can't just be filled with what you need, it's got to be filled with so much stuff, that your closets are considered too small for your needs and your garage no longer holds your car, but acts as extra storage place for all your excess stuff.

There's certainly nothing wrong with buying and enjoying things, but when you have too many things in your life, you go from using your limited time, energy, and resources finding ways to enjoy and experience them to the fullest, to wasting it on maintaining and paying for them all.

Living a life with a focus on less isn't about denying yourself enjoyment, it's about becoming more aware of how to extract the most value from what you already own, which has a huge side benefit of igniting your creativity, resourcefulness, and appreciation for those things, not to mention the freedom that comes from avoiding the debt that's usually associated with buying more. 

In other words:

• It's not about denying yourself that fancy indoor exercise machine, it is about discovering that you can exercise for free by walking, enjoy it with a friend, and get plenty of fresh air at the same time.
• It's not about denying yourself that new flatscreen TV in your bedroom, it is about discovering that your time right before bed might be better spent reading something of value, talking with your mate, or even going to bed earlier than you normally do, so you can wake up refreshed for once!
• It's not about your denying your kid the latest video game system, it is about freeing up their time to pursue a hobby, get outside and get active, or simply spend more time with the rest of the family.

Yes, these are real-world, practical suggestions. They may go against everything the advertising world wants to convince you that you need to be happy and content, but it's probably not a good idea to take advice from an industry that puts their profit over your well-being.

It can't hurt to at least try this approach for 6 months to a year, to see for yourself whether what I'm saying is true or not, right? Who knows, you might be pleasantly shocked at how it totally transforms your finances, relationships, creativity, health, and overall happiness.

Stop striving to get more, and instead look for ways to enjoy meaningful experiences from less.

Time

Life is full of to do's. The car needs an oil change, the garage needs cleaned and organized, you've got to check and answer your email, there's a meeting you've got to attend, the kids need to go to soccer practice, and at least several dozen other things - and that's just today.

So what do you normally do, you make a list of everything, and I mean everything, you need to take care of with the high hopes that you'll start at the top and work your way down, until you've completed all your tasks for the day, and scratched everything off the list.

In reality, what happens?

Well, you look at item #1 on the list, and your eye can't help but be drawn to item #2, which leads you to check out item #3, and so on, until you've made it all the way down your list, with each new line feeling like a big shovel of dirt being thrown on you until you're completely buried alive.

While it's a good idea to get things out of your head and onto paper (including everything you need to take care of), in order to feel motivated to take action on the items on that list (instead of overwhelmed), each day you need to identify just the several items you want to focus on accomplishing for that day (priorities), and move them to a separate list.

The important part of this strategy isn't simply looking at a long list of to dos and consciously determining which items from that list you want to do today, but you've got to physically create a smaller list (on a Post-It note if you want).

Why is focusing on a smaller list so important?

Well, when it comes to getting things done in life, you'll make more progress each day if you can 'keep your foot on the gas' (by devoting more time to fewer things), than you will if you start, shop, and shift gears constantly (by spending little chunks of time on a lot of different tasks).

Not only that, but starting each day with a small, focused list of to dos will help your brain to think more efficiently about the small group of tasks you've selected, and you'll find yourself working in a 'flow' more often, and with greater force.

So what about all those pesky little tasks you need to take care of? Just combine and complete as many of them as you can within a single chunk of time (maybe half a day each week). This will allow you to handle all the to dos in your life, but organized in a way that promotes a steady flow of results.

Business Communication

If you own a business, you understand how critically important it is to have the ability to motivate people to take action in some way in relation to your business. You want them to call you, sign up for something, and eventually to buy something from you.

The success of this entire process is based on clear communication - the more clearly that people understand the benefits of what you offer them and what they need to do to get those benefits, the more action they'll likely take. The less they understand, the less likely they'll take any action, which means little to no business for you.

So many businesses get this wrong. How?

In their marketing materials, they often attempt to throw everything they have at a customer or potential client - every product, service, method of contact, award, certification, resource, employee name, and so on - thinking that they've got to present anything and everything they have that might provide a 'hook' to get the customer to do something.

While that might logically make sense, in reality, just the opposite happens.

Most people look at marketing like this, get easily overwhelmed at all the information and choices being thrown at them all at once, and instead of taking action, their brains tell them that there's too much confusion and a clear decision can't be made, so it's best to move on to something else (like a competitor).

For example, how many times have you visited a business website where the homepage was packed from side to side with so many graphics or links that you had absolutely no idea where to start, or what you needed to do next, so you just hit the back button on your browser and went somewhere else?

Or how often have you passed a sign or billboard along the side of the road that had so much information on it, that it was virtually impossible to understand what it was promoting or what you were supposed to do about it?

These are the results (or lack of results) of the more is less approach - more information and clutter leading to less action from the people who see it.

How do you turn this around using the less is more approach? It's simple! With every point of contact you have with a customer or potential client (business cards, ads, websites, etc.), you need to decide on the #1 result you want to have from it, and then provide the most simple, clear path for them to take action toward that result.

For example, when you hand someone your business card, it's important that it quickly convey to the receiver the biggest pain you can solve or the most important benefit you can provide them, along with the quickest way to contact you. Here's an idea of what I mean:

My name is Gordon.

I cook tasty, healthy meals and deliver them to your door!

Tell me what you're hungry for...

www.gordonstastymeals.com

888.555.1234

As you can see, the benefit of the service is clear, and the action that the prospect needs to take in order to get the service is clear.

Cluttering things up by including information like a fax number, address, certifications, and so on, do little but confuse the message at this point, and prevent people from taking action. You can put those things on various pages within the website your card refers them to, so that they're only exposed to them after they've taken action and showed an interest in what you have to offer them.

This is another clear case where less (info) brings more (results).

I could go on with even more ideas and examples of where implementing this principle could dramatically increase the results you're getting with your marketing and business communication, but teaching you marketing skills isn't the purpose of this book. I simply wanted to help you appreciate how universally applicable this principle really is, and how it can have a positive impact on virtually every area of your life and business, if you just look for ways of using it.

Summary

• Because we all have a limited amount of time and attention, we can only consciously deal with a limited number of inputs, and give them the quality amount of our attention they deserve in order to reap the benefits of having them.
• When we try to force too much stuff into our lives, we're going against the way things are supposed to work, which leads to a breakdown of the system (life). Instead of results, we get overwhelm, stress, and a lower quality of life.
• Somewhere along the way, many people were convinced to believe that the getting and consumption of more and more stuff is the only path to true happiness. It's repeatedly drilled into their heads.
• Happiness and satisfaction come from experiencing positive RESULTS, not through the filling of every part of your life with an ever-growing collection of things that put bigger demands on your time, energy, and resources.
• When it comes to getting better results, the only way to do it is to keep the 'flow' of life moving. Anything that clogs this flow, or slows it down, has to be eliminated. This is where the mindset of 'less is more' comes into play - it helps you eliminate anything unnecessary in order to keep this flow moving at an optimal level.
• Always choose quality over quantity: Simplify, eliminate, master, focus.
• We put a much higher value on the quality of results we experience than the quantity of things that can bring us an experience. Why? Because we're emotionally driven beings, and the higher quality something is, the deeper it impacts us emotionally - it makes us feel really good inside.
• You have a limited amount of time and attention, and if you spread it too thin, by trying to consume and manage too many things, you'll experience something, but it's not going to have the deep, emotional impact on you that it could. You'll experience ordinary results instead of extraordinary ones.
• Less Is More - Knowledge: Knowledge without action is worthless! Spending your valuable time constantly reading, which leaves virtually no time for applying what you learn, is largely a waste of time. You're better off to select 5 books in your library and do everything you can to learn and master what they teach you, than you are to simply read 100 books.
• Less Is More - Things: When you have too many things in your life, you go from using your limited time, energy, and resources finding ways to enjoy and experience them to the fullest, to wasting it on maintaining and paying for them all. Stop striving to get more, and instead look for ways to enjoy meaningful experiences from less.
• Less Is More - Time: When it comes to getting things done in life, you'll make more progress each day if you can 'keep your foot on the gas' (by devoting more time to fewer things), than you will if you start, shop, and shift gears constantly (by spending little chunks of time on a lot of different tasks).
• Less Is More - Business Communication: With every point of contact you have with a customer or potential client (business cards, ads, websites, etc.), you need to decide on the #1 result you want to have from it, and then provide the most simple, clear path for them to take action toward that result.

unBelievable: What You Consume, Consumes You

* Note: This post is part of an ongoing series in which I am sharing the entire contents of a currently unpublished book I wrote last year, entitled: unBelievable: How to Get Unbelievable Results By Giving Up Believable Ideas. Review my blog's archives or do a search for unbelievable to see all previous posts.

What You Consume, Consumes You

• A man is literally what he thinks. - James Allen
• You are today where your thoughts have brought you; you will be tomorrow where your thoughts take you. - James Allen
• Life consists in what a person is thinking of all day. - Ralph Waldo Emerson
• A person may dwell so long upon a thought that it may take him a prisoner. - Edward F. Halifax
• Thought is an infection. In the case of certain thoughts, it becomes an epidemic. - Wallace Stevens
• No man can ever be greater than his loftiest thoughts. - Unknown
• THINK. Think about your appearance, associations, actions, ambitions, accomplishments. - Thomas J. Watson
• Nourish the mind like you would your body. The mind cannot survive on junk food. - Jim Rohn

Believable Ideas

• What I expose my mind to has very little impact on my life.
• I really don't care what the people I hang around with do, I'm my own man/woman.
• I've never really thought about how what I consume mentally, effects me. I don't think it matters, I know what's good and bad for me.
• Yeah, I don't always watch the best things on TV, but I'm able to separate fiction from reality.
• I just don't understand why I can't find the motivation to do what I know I should do!
• Why do I act this way?

 

You've probably heard it said hundreds of times since you were a kid: You are what you eat!

Ask most people what that means, and they'll likely tell you that it means that the food you consume affects virtually everything about you - how you feel, how you think, and how you look.

In other words: If you consume junk, you essentially become junk. In context of food, if you maintain poor eating habits, your body begins to break down, your ability to think and focus deteriorates, and you begin to look horrible. It may not happen overnight, but if you consistently eat junk, it WILL happen!

Of course, the opposite is true as well - if you regularly feed your body what it really needs, it's going to perform like a well-oiled machine for many, many years.

In both cases, there's nothing you can do to prevent the 'you reap what you sow' principle from working - you're going to get a result from the choices you make and the actions you take.

While the overall concept of 'you are what you eat' is generally associated with food, it has a much greater impact on your life than you may realize. How?

Well, everything you choose to consume, or allow into your life - including the food, the people, and what you feed your mind - consumes you, or influences how you feel, how you think, and the results you get. Your life becomes a reflection of all the things you immerse yourself into.

This can be both a powerful force for good, or a dangerous one - depending on the choices you make. We're going to discuss both of these in a moment, but before we do, let's look at how this idea of immersion (what you're drawn to, consume, and feed yourself) actually works.

To begin, I'd like to share with you one of my favorite parables of all time...

One evening, an old Cherokee was talking with his grandson about a battle that goes on inside of people:

"My son, the battle is between two wolves inside us all. One wolf is evil - it is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority and ego. The other wolf is good - it is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith."

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, "Which wolf wins?"

"The one you feed."

The lesson of the parable is pretty clear, isn't it: When you feed something, you give it strength, power, and force. When you starve it, it becomes weak, and eventually may even die.

You have two forces inside of you, good and evil (also known as power and weakness, or positivity and negativity), battling for power and dominance. You have a choice as to which one you feed and make stronger by what you choose to connect with, and allow into your life. The one you feed the most makes you either strong or weak. It's as simple as that!

The food these opposing forces inside of you crave are the emotions you feel. The more often you trigger positive feelings and emotions, the more you feed the positive force inside of you and the stronger it gets, the more you trigger bad feelings and emotions, the more you feed the negative one and the stronger it gets.

This is very important to understand, because the emotions you consistently feel drive your overall behavior, which ultimately determines the results you get.

Want proof?

Well, have you ever been so deeply immersed into something, perhaps the love of your life, that powerful emotions developed inside of you, eventually 'consuming' you, effecting virtually all your thoughts, behaviors, and actions?

This is what happens to a greater or lesser degree every time you experience something that triggers a positive or negative emotional response within you. Whichever force you feed more has a greater influence on you.

The positive force is responsible for all sorts of great things - Happiness, a belief in yourself, a desire and ability to be creative, and so much more.

The negative force obviously has just the opposite effect. It's responsible for fear, distrust, selfishness, and just about everything else in life that plays a part in feeling awful and getting poor results.

So the question arises, which force do you want influencing your life - which one do you feed?

Most people see themselves as kind, generous, happy people - they DO feed the good 'wolf'. But at the same time, they may be feeding the evil one as well, if they constantly expose their minds to negative news, conversations centered around complaining, resentment and anger, and even entertainment based on crime, murder, hate, and violence.

All of these things trigger either positive or negative emotional responses within you, influencing you in a good way or bad.

While feeding the good 'wolf' is great, it's not enough if you want to maximize your results in life! You've also got to starve the evil 'wolf' as much as you can. Otherwise, one will cancel the other out, or if you tend to feed the evil one, even a little bit more than the good one, then feelings of anger, jealousy, and selfishness will dominate your thinking and behavior. Maybe not completely (because dominance doesn't mean overwhelm), but the scales will tend to tip in their favor when a situation arises in your life requires you to respond in some way.

When you examine your own habits, is it possible that you could be feeding the evil wolf even more than the good one?

• If you spend more time following the negative drama in other peoples' lives (on TV, in the news, on Twitter), than you do setting, reviewing and taking action on positive goals in your own life, you're feeding the evil wolf more than the good one.
• If you spend more time complaining about others than you do being generous with them, you're feeding the evil wolf more than the good one.
• If you spend more time with people who have poor habits and bad behaviors than you do with people who teach, inspire, and motivate you, you're feeding the evil wolf more than the good one.

Of course, there seems to be a common belief by many people that they can essentially do whatever they want, hang out with whoever they want, and consume whatever they want, and even if it's bad, they're not going to allow it to affect them in a bad way, but that's simply not possible! Cause and effect is an unchangeable law of the universe, it's not something you have a choice, or even the ability, to turn off through willpower or stubbornness.

Whether you feed the good or bad inside of you, it IS going to have an effect somewhere in your life - how you feel, how you think, how you decide, how you act, and ultimately, the results you get. The effects may be small, they may be big, they may happen right away, they may happen over time, but one thing's for sure...they WILL happen!

Now let's talk about some practical steps for how to put this principle to work for you in a positive way.

It really comes down to following two simple rules:

• Regularly immerse yourself in things that draw out positive emotions within you.
• Avoid things that draw out negative emotions.

True, it would be impossible to turn off all negativity in life, but the key is to determine whether you intentionally seek it out, as well as the amount of it you allow into your life. That's the difference!

One of the best ways to draw out positive emotions is to immerse yourself in whatever gets you excited, especially your passions and goals. You want to become consumed by them. When you do, they consume you to the point where the powerful, positive feeling of achieving them influences your thinking, decisions, and actions in ways that make you unstoppable at reaching them.

For example, if you have a goal to be a healthy person, it's not enough to dream about it in your head. You've got to totally immerse yourself in the idea of being a healthy person to the point where you consistently get emotionally excited about it:

• Get Clear About It - Write down your goal in crystal clear detail. Identify why it's important to you, and the positive feelings you'll experience by reaching it.
• Visualize It - Cut out big, colorful, and fun pictures of healthy people and healthy food that excite you and hang them somewhere you can see them at all times!
• Socialize With It - Associate with healthy people. Talk to them and exchange ideas about how to be healthy. Tell them what you've learned and why you think it matters.
• Learn It - Read and learn about how to be healthy. Don't just read to see words, think of lessons you can apply and see yourself applying them. Take action on what you learn!
• Write About It - Write down any significant accomplishments you experience along your journey, or any personal discoveries you make.
• Talk About It - Talk about being healthy, what it means to you, and why it's important, to anyone who will listen to you!
• Teach It - One of the most powerful ways to emotionally connect with a passion or goal is to teach it to others. One of the effects of teaching others something you're passionate about is how it makes you feel - you can't excite them without it exciting you in the process.

Remember, what you feed (emotionally), grows. Use these tools to turn your passions and goals into an emotional buffet! Also, be sure to eat from it regularly - preferably every day - consistently doing something to keep those positive emotions burning inside of you.

Go through this process for anything that's important to you, whether it's to be a great presenter, an author, to own your own business, or to move to the other side of the world.

While we discussed the tools above in context of a specific goal or passion, they are equally effective as guidelines for how to live life in general. Feed your mind positive images. Socialize with positive, inspirational people. When you talk to others, keep your conversations positive and energetic. Teach others things of value that you know.

Now, this is just one side of the process. As was mentioned earlier, while feeding positive emotions is important, it's equally important to starve, or avoid feeding negative ones as much as possible, if you expect to maximize the results you get.

This is a real challenge for a lot of people, because feeding negativity has become normal and is something much of this world thrives on (just look at what's popular). It's not only everywhere you look, but it's almost expected that you participate in discussing the latest celebrity drama, unfairness at work, or tragedy in the news that 'everyone else is', and if you don't, you're seen as an outsider.

While that may be the case, starving negative emotions in your life something that has to be done. If it were easy to do the right thing in order to get the best results, then everyone would be successful...but they're not!

So how do you do it? You've just got to start paying attention to the way things affect you, and taking the appropriate action when necessary.

If there's something in your life (a conversation, people you regularly spend time with, what you watch, read, or do) that triggers negative feelings (anger, disgust, jealousy, stress, hate, etc.), instead of getting sucked in and feeding on it, either do what you can to change the direction of what's happening, or eliminate it from your life.

Yes, doing this successfully might require a significant shift in how you engage with the people and world around you, so it won't be easy. But if I've presented a strong enough case to you as to why it's so critically important, and it makes sense to you, then you understand that this isn't simply my personal suggestion, this is how life works.

What you choose to consume, consumes and influences you. So choose wisely!  

Summary

• Everything you choose to consume, or allow into your life consumes you, or influences how you feel, how you think, and the results you get. Your life becomes a reflection of all the things you immerse yourself into. This can be both a powerful force for good, or a dangerous one - depending on the choices you make.
• When you feed something, you give it strength, power, and force. When you starve it, it becomes weak, and eventually may even die.
• You have two forces inside of you, good and evil, battling for power and dominance. You have a choice as to which one you feed and make stronger by what you choose to connect with, and allow into your life. The one you feed the most makes you either strong or weak. It's as simple as that!
• The food these opposing forces inside of you crave are the emotions you feel. The more often you trigger positive feelings and emotions, the more you feed the positive force inside of you and the stronger it gets, the more you trigger bad feelings and emotions, the more you feed the negative one and the stronger it gets.
• Which force do you want influencing your life - which one do you feed?
• While feeding good emotions is great, it's not enough if you want to maximize your results in life! You've also got to starve the negative emotions as much as you can.
• There seems to be a common belief by many people that they can essentially do whatever they want, hang out with whoever they want, and consume whatever they want, and even if it's bad, they're not going to allow it to affect them in a bad way, but that's simply not possible! Cause and effect is an unchangeable law of the universe, it's not something you have a choice, or even the ability, to turn off through willpower or stubbornness.
• Whether you feed the good or bad inside of you, it IS going to have an effect somewhere in your life - how you feel, how you think, how you decide, how you act, and ultimately, the results you get. The effects may be small, they may be big, they may happen right away, they may happen over time, but one thing's for sure...they WILL happen!
• To put this principle to work for you in a positive way: Regularly immerse yourself in things that draw out positive emotions within you, and avoid things that draw out negative emotions.
• It would be impossible to turn off all negativity in life, but the key is to determine whether you intentionally seek it out, as well as the amount of it you allow into your life. That's the difference!
• Intentionally immerse yourself in things you're passionate about: Get clear about them, think about them, visualize them, write down ideas about them, talk to others about them, and even teach them to others.
• Feed your mind positive images. Socialize with positive, inspirational people. When you talk to others, keep your conversations positive and energetic. Teach others things of value that you know.
• Starve negative emotions in your life - start paying attention to the way things affect you, and taking the appropriate action when necessary. If there's something in your life (a conversation, people you regularly spend time with, what you watch, read, or do) that triggers negative feelings (anger, disgust, jealousy, stress, hate, etc.), instead of getting sucked in and feeding on it, either do what you can to change the direction of what's happening, or eliminate it from your life.
• What you choose to consume, consumes and influences you. So choose wisely!

Next: You Get More When You Focus On Less

unBelievable: Take Fun Seriously

* Note: This post is part of an ongoing series in which I am sharing the entire contents of a currently unpublished book I wrote last year, entitled: unBelievable: How to Get Unbelievable Results By Giving Up Believable Ideas. Review my blog's archives or do a search for unbelievable to see all previous posts.

Take Fun Seriously

• A good rest is half the work. - Chinese proverb
• People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing. - Dale Carnegie
• Today was good. Today was fun. Tomorrow is another one. - Dr. Seuss
• Time's fun when you're having flies. - Kermit The Frog
• Winners take time to relish their work, knowing that scaling the mountain is what makes the view from the top so exhilarating. - Denis Waitley
• The time to relax is when you don't have time for it. - Sydney J. Harris

Believable Ideas

• I don't have much time for fun anymore.
• As an adult, you have to deal with the 'real world', and 'take care of business', which has little to nothing to do with having fun.
• I'll have fun on the weekend, like everyone else.
• I'm a very serious person, and I take life very seriously.

 

There was a time in your life, around the age of five, when having fun was pretty much all you knew how to do. Outside of the occasional bath or dish of broccoli, you really didn't know any other way to live, did you?

Think back to those days...just about everything was awesome: Holding creepy bugs, the flavor of paste, and even drenching your sister's hair with glue, just to see what would happen? Ah...those were the days, weren't they?

What about today? Is having fun still as effortless and regular as it was back then, or is it a bit more of a struggle? Or worse, have you largely forgotten how to even have fun?

Well, see if the following list mirrors your current life somewhat, and as you do, observe how often fun is involved:

• Getting up early for work, when you'd rather sleep in - Not much fun
• Shaving or putting on makeup - Still not fun
• Commuting to work - Unless you have a sports car and an open road, probably not a lot of fun
• Work (and all the demands, emails, meetings, and confrontations that go with it) - This is where fun goes to die, right?
• Overtime - The money is OK, but fun?!?
• Commuting back home - See earlier observation...
• Taking care of life (bills, laundry, cooking and eating dinner) - Let's say 50/50, but only if you eat with your entire family.
• Downtime (watching TV, spending time with friends, reading, etc.) - Relaxing...perhaps (unless something at work is weighing on my mind), fun...maybe
• Doing it all again tomorrow - Yeah, right!

There's not much about this list that involves the idea of fun, is there? Which is a bit scary when you realize the amount of time you spend doing the things on this list likely make up a majority of your life!

Of course, there's usually time for fun some nights after work, and during portions of the weekend, but you have to ask yourself: When did having fun go from my general mode of living, to something that needed to be 'scheduled' into my life on nights and weekends?

You might be thinking to yourself: Well, as an adult, you have to deal with the 'real world', and 'take care of business', which has little to nothing to do with having fun! 

Says who?!?

It's this kind of attitude (often passed down by well-meaning parents, and reinforced around the water cooler at work by people who feel like slaves to their jobs) that continues to drain a lot of the joy out of peoples' lives, and has been a leading factor in the epidemic levels of stress, anxiety, and unhappiness that are consuming society.

Here's why...

Fun, happiness, and joy are essential elements to a balanced, productive life. When I say essential, I mean essential - like eating food, breathing air, and drinking water. And just like food, air, and water, you need to regularly mix fun and rest with work and taking care of the serious aspects of life. By regularly, I mean throughout the day, week, month, and year.

As human beings, our minds and bodies aren't designed to deal with the constant pressure and stress that life throws at us, without breaking down in some way. Regularly having fun, or even finding ways to make work more enjoyable, are keys for avoiding overwhelm, and burnout, as well as maintaining a sense of joy and happiness - things that make life worth living.

So, with the real complexities, and time-constraints of life, how can this be done effectively? Here are some practical and very actionable ideas.

Find Ways To Make Boring Or Stressful Activities Fun

Let's face it, when you think of activities such as studying, paying bills, and doing the dishes, the last thing that probably comes to your mind is the idea of having fun.

This isn't necessarily because the activity is inherently terrible (OK, paying bills may be an exception), but it's usually because you've not yet discovered a way to strongly associate any kind of benefit with doing them.

To prove to you that I'm not crazy, just consider the idea of sitting at your computer all day for work. There are a lot of people (including myself) that jump out of bed, excited to do this each and every day (it's a big part of how I express my creativity and run my business). I love it! 

On the other hand, there are people who would rather lay on a bed of nails and have concrete blocks set on their stomach than be stuck staring at a computer screen all day.

So, is sitting in front of a computer all day a bad thing? Well, as you can see, it's really a matter of who you ask. In my mind, I've associated a ton of benefits to doing it, so I enjoy it. For others, they may look at it with drudgery, because for them, it's nothing more than work.

Of course, the ideal life would mean never having to do things you don't necessarily want to do, but that's not reality - we all have to do things in our lives, sometimes regularly, that we have a hard time enjoying. The key is to find ways to make those kinds of activities a bit more fun and enjoyable. True, you may never get to the point where you'll take time off work just so you can stay home and do the dishes because you enjoy it so much, but if you have to do the dishes anyway, why not see if you add a fun twist to it in some way, which may help ease the pain of doing it.

So how do you make unfun activities fun? That sounds like a job in and of itself, doesn't it?

Well, don't sweat it, because there are plenty of creative people out there that have already come up with solutions for the concept we're talking about here, all you need to do it find them, which is easy with Google.

First, let's create a list of activities that fall into the category of being boring or unpleasant (feel free to add your own to the list):

• Paying bills
• Doing the dishes
• Grocery shopping
• Walking
• Losing weight
• Studying
• Commuting
• Cleaning
• Organizing
• Cooking

The next thing you want to do, is go to Google at www.google.com, and do a search using this format:

how to make [activity] fun

Replacing [activity] with something on the list.

What you'll usually discover are a number of articles, blog posts, and even videos, that describe some fun and simple ways of how to take the pain out of doing something most people just don't enjoy doing. You'll probably not run into anything you'll consider 'earth-shatteringly genius', but that's not the point. As I mentioned earlier, you should be content with even small ways of turning everyday drudgery into everyday 'I'm OK with this.' Take anything you can get, if it moves you into a direction of more happiness and joy.

For example, I just did a search for some ideas on how to make studying more fun. One suggestion I discovered involved the idea of drawing pictures, maps, or diagrams of what you're learning, so that you engage the creative side of your brain as you learn, as well as benefit from the repetition involved in putting a visual idea together (no matter how 'unartistic' it may be). The second suggestion was about playing the role of a teacher, where your goal is to teach to someone else (real or imaginary) about your topic. Vocalizing information in a way that makes logical sense to someone else can work wonders for your level of mastery of most topics.

This is just a small sample of some of the fun and effective strategies you can find using the technique I've described here. 

If you'd like to see this concept demonstrated on a more sophisticated level, check out www.thefuntheory.com. This site, sponsored by Volkswagen, asked people to submit ideas on how to make boring, but important tasks, more fun, with the goal of getting people to actually do them. Some of the ideas you'll see on the site are incredibly inventive, and should be a source of inspiration to you of what's possible when you look at everyday activities in a fun way.

Create A List Of Fun Things You Can Do

As odd as it may seem, one thing that often holds people back from doing something fun and stimulating is they just have no idea what to do, perhaps outside of watching TV - which may be easy to do, but does very little to bring real joy and happiness to your life.

At one time, I was guilty of this myself - it was pretty pathetic really, because I live in a college town (home of Indiana University), located in a really beautiful part of southern Indiana, where there's no shortage of things to do and beautiful places to explore. Despite these obvious advantages, I STILL regularly found myself at a total loss as to what to do (other than watch TV) whenever I had a little free time on my hands.

To overcome this challenge, I discovered a simple solution that I'm sure can help you if you find yourself in the same spot: Create a list of fun things to do!

That's right, get a sheet of paper and a pen, and create your own resource of activities that you can reference whenever you need an idea for something fun or relaxing to do, and hang it on the fridge!

When I did this initially, I thought for sure that I'd get 5-7 things listed, and then run out of ideas. What I found is that I had to force myself to stop to take a break! It's amazing how much can be right at your fingertips, which you never see until you step out of your daily routine to look for it. 

Here are some ideas for building your own list, and growing it over time. 

Begin with a brainstorming session, listing anything and everything fun, interesting, adventurous, or relaxing that's close to you (if you want, include anything within a 50-100 mile radius):

• Nature - Think of places like local, state, and national parks, lakes, trails, zoos, aquariums, and botanical gardens. If you need help with this, go to Google and do a search for, attractions [zip code or city name], parks [zip code or city name], or things to do [zip code or city name].
• Local Attractions - List places in your own town or city that are considered tourist attractions. These may be places that you've driven by 100's of times, but have you ever stopped to explore them like a tourist? Visit local historical sites, museums, and art galleries. Even put the library on your list. In addition, explore areas of your town (downtown, and neighborhoods) by foot, which can be a completely different experience than driving them in your car.
• Local Events - Farmer's markets, outdoor concerts, and various festivals are part of life in most places. Take advantage of the usually festive and fun atmosphere that these kinds of events bring. Mark your calendar to remind you to check on annual events that you don't want to miss. Use Google to discover events in your area with a search like this: events [zip code or city name].
• Visit Surrounding Areas - Take the three strategies above, and apply them to towns and cities close to you, which will open up a new world of new possibilities for you to explore and enjoy.
• Drives - Sometimes, just getting in your car and driving wherever a whim takes you (especially 'off the beaten path') can be very adventurous and fun. Me and my wife love doing this. We drive wherever we want for several hours with no worries of getting lost, then hit the Home button on our GPS when we're ready to wrap it up. These days, there are very few things we enjoy doing more, because we always see or discover something that we talk about for days, and remember for years.
• Friends And Hobbies - Add to your list anything that you like to do with your friends - inviting them over for a meal, meeting for coffee, or just hanging out together. Also, include any activities related to a pursuing a favorite hobby you may have.

Next, as you learn about various attractions and events near you (either through conversations, news articles, or other media), add them to your list. By doing this, I usually discover at least one new thing to add to my list every week. As a matter of fact, I recently visited the oldest, continually operated grist mill in Indiana (a really cool place) as the result of a news story about in my local paper. Sure, it's not exciting as a trip to Disney World, but that's OK, because the idea here isn't to locate vacation destinations, where you'll spend a week or more, but it's to find simple ways to occasionally fill a few hours to a day with something that takes your mind off of the seriousness and stresses of life. 

Another idea for adding items to your list is to, once again, tap into the creativity of others using Google. Do a search for fun things to do for free. You'll likely see activities like stargazing, photography, cooking an amazing meal, organizing a garage sale, exploring your family tree, and dozens and dozens of others.

As you see, the potential exists for your list to grow to many, many pages. But remember, don't just make the list - do the things on the list! Turn off the TV occasionally, pick something on the list, and get out there and have some real fun.

Mix Practicality And Fun

What do house slippers, coffee cups, lamps, and pajamas have in common? They all have a practical use in life, but there are novelty (fun) versions of them that do the job just as well as the normal, everyday (boring) versions do.

That being the case, I say you go with the novelty versions of some of the more practical things in life as often as you can, even if you're a grown man, professional woman, or a brain surgeon. I'm 45, and I have very serious responsibilities in various areas of my life and business, and I take care of those accordingly. But in my home, office, and car, I am not the least bit ashamed to let the kid in me come out, which I thoroughly believe is essential for keeping my life balanced and fun. 

You don't have to overdo it with the novelty stuff (unless you really want to), but you'd be surprised at just how much sliding your feet into a pair of Freudian slippers, drinking your morning coffee out of a cow udder coffee mug, or sleeping in a pair of footed pajamas can do to brighten your day (or your night). It's as if using them sends a powerful positive signal to your brain (often times, subconsciously) that you're the kind of person who knows how to enjoy themselves, and lightheartedness is a way of life. It's a simple way to offset some of the effects of dealing with the more serious aspects to life that you have to confront on a daily basis.

Not only do these kinds of 'novelty' items bring a direct benefit to you, but it's not uncommon for others to see them for the first time, and for you to share a laugh together, or for it to spark an enjoyable conversation somehow. I personally experience this all the time, and I can tell you, sometimes it can be the difference between a good day and a great day! 

In addition to slippers, coffee mugs, and pajamas, there are many other practical, everyday items that there are fun, novelty replacements for. Just do a Google search for fun novelty items for a collection of sites that specialize in these kinds of products.

Finally, keep these points in mind when adding more fun to your life:

• Be balanced and consistent - We've talked about the importance of balance in this section, and I want to highlight the concept again. Balance means consistently mixing a little fun here and there with the more serious things you need to take care of. It's just the opposite of going long stretches of working yourself to the point of mental or physical exhaustion, just so you can 'party hard' later. Extremes like this are never a good idea because our bodies aren't built to handle them over the long run. This also means the opposite is true: Being a 'party animal' is a bad idea! Too much of a good thing can be a bad thing. Maintain a consistent balance of work and fun to achieve maximum results.
• When having fun, focus on the fun - Whether you're on vacation, having dinner with your friends, or reading a bedtime story to your kid, when you're having fun, you want to surrender yourself to enjoying it. Live in the moment and soak it in as much as you can. Thinking about something that's waiting for you at work, or constantly checking your phone for emails and text messages is often pointless, sometimes rude, and always the wrong approach for allowing fun and enjoyment to affect you in a positive way. Seriously, focus on the fun!
• Look for positives - Many times, having fun and enjoying yourself isn't so much about what you're doing, but more your attitude about what you're doing. Two people can do the same exact work, with one person having a positive experience, and the other a negative one. Thus, the work isn't necessarily the deciding factor. My point being that you have a choice of how you view anything and everything you do. If you go into something with a perspective that it will be a drudgery (you dwell on why you dislike doing it, or complain about how you could be doing something else), it probably will be a drudgery. If instead, you focus on the positives (perhaps the physical or monetary benefits you get, the opportunity you have to help others, or whatever it may be), it can make a huge difference in how you feel about it - which is ideal, if it's something you have to do anyway. This isn't always easy to do, but it IS possible to do! As an example, my in-laws are moving from Las Vegas to Indiana to be with their family again (most of who live in Indiana). As a result, I've been asked to do something I quit doing 15 years ago because I didn't enjoy it - paint the house they bought here. It would be easy for me to have a bad attitude about doing it. But, I'm actually looking for to it, because I'm focused on the positives: I love my in-laws and this is an opportunity to show it, I take pride in any work I do and I get a chance to do a great job for them, and it gives me a chance to be physically active - something I don't get much of working on the computer every day. The activity isn't dictating my enjoyment of doing it - my attitude about it is!

You may never be able to return to the totally carefree life you had as a youngster, but hopefully by now, you can see that it's not that difficult to integrate some of the more enjoyable aspects of those days into your life as it is today. 

Beginning right now, make it your mission to take fun seriously.  

Summary

• There was a time in your life, around the age of five, when having fun was pretty much all you knew how to do - just about everything was awesome!
• For many adults, having fun has gone from general mode of living (like it was when they were a kid), to something that needs to be 'scheduled' into their life on nights and weekends.
• Fun, happiness, and joy are essential elements to a balanced, productive life. When I say essential, I mean essential - like eating food, breathing air, and drinking water. And just like food, air, and water, you need to regularly mix fun and rest with work and taking care of the serious aspects of life. By regularly, I mean throughout the day, week, month, and year.
• As human beings, our minds and bodies aren't designed to deal with the constant pressure and stress that life throws at us, without breaking down in some way. Regularly having fun, or even finding ways to make work more enjoyable, are keys for avoiding overwhelm, and burnout, as well as maintaining a sense of joy and happiness - things that make life worth living.
• Find ways to make boring or stressful activities fun: Discover creative ways to have more fun doing the usually 'boring' things in life, from paying the bills, to walking, cleaning, cooking, and commuting.
• Create a fun list of things you can do: Get a sheet of paper and a pen, and create your own resource of activities that you can reference whenever you need an idea for something fun or relaxing to do, and hang it on the fridge!
• Mix practicality with fun: Go with the novelty versions of some of the more practical things in life as often as you can, even if you're a grown man, professional woman, or a brain surgeon.
• To add more fun to your life: Be balanced and consistent about it, when having fun, focus on the fun, and always look for positives in the activities you're involved in.
• You may never be able to return to the totally carefree life you had as a youngster, but it's not that difficult to integrate some of the more enjoyable aspects of those days into your life as it is today. 

Next: What You Consume, Consumes You