Keep Yourself In Shape: Physically, Mentally And Spiritually

Well hello, hello! How art thou, my thespians? You're saying you're not an actor (this refers to my female readers as well, I don't know why the same word is used for the feminine, but it is! So take it up with whomever did that, OKAY)? Life is a stage my dear friend. Make of it what you want! That is the essence of life. Well, that's it for me! Good night!

I'm just Joshua-ing (that's how I say it!) around! First of all, I'd like to say that anything I write in this blog post is not to be taken as medical advice or anything of the sort! If you're dealing with something, go see your doctor! These are just things that will help you in life, but they are not a cure for any disease! I only play a doctor on the TV show Skaramoochi's Office.*

Now that I got that out of the way, let's move on shall we? I don't know if you've noticed, but we live in our bodies. They're our homes. Just like houses, our bodies need some maintenance and upkeep. How do we do that? A little bit of exercise and watching what we eat. A little bit of this, a little bit of that! Bada boom, bada bing! 

I'm not recommending any diet specifically, or to eat the contents of this specific picture. It was just a nice picture, okay!

Photo by Kaboompics - Karolina from Pexels

In terms of exercise, it could be anything! Everything that keeps you in shape works! It doesn't have to be anything fancy or you don't have to go to the gym even! I personally work out at home using some videos! If you're the type of person that needs to go to the gym in order to keep yourself accountable, then so be it! Whatever works for you is what will work best! I don't know what that is. Maybe you just need to take a walk every day. Whatever it is, keep your body active! 

I love to eat healthy food most of the time --that is at least 90%-95%-- and I of courseindulge in some snacks/junk here and there. So I give myself a cheat day where I eat whatever the heck I want! That way I'm not killing myself because I can't eat junk or any other thing that I fancy (wow, using fancy words here) and after all the crap, I'll feel so lousy that I'll want to get back to eating healthy ASAP. Look, I'm a little extreme with what I do, but that doesn't mean you have to! If you'd like to just adjust to eating healthier --and that doesn't mean add one cucumber on the side to your fried steak that's covered in whatevergreasything you can think of here with your side of fried bacon-- make small changes. You don't have to be religious about it. I do warn you though, once you feel great, you'll want to feel even greater! That means being healthier. So, do what feels right for you. Baby steps are always welcome (If you're curious as to what I do, leave a comment and I'll point you in the right direction! I'm warning you though, you might not like it!).

The mind is a curious thing. Literally and figuratively. Curiosity is great because it leads us towards great things. Just be curious about things that inspire/move/enrich you. How to get better! How to improve. Ask yourself great questions! Don't go down rabbit holes that'll just make you feel lousy about yourself (i.e. terrible questions!). That's not the point of curiosity. It's supposed to spark interest and make you grow. Also, don't listen to all of your thoughts! Let me be super clear about this: you are NOT your thoughts! They're just your thoughts. They're part of you. They don't control you. Some of them are crazy, some of them are your true self. How do you know which ones are which? A good way of practicing is to meditate. You learn to discern by doing this. You can spot them a mile/kilometer away!

If you don't want to meditate, start off by changing your "mental diet." Read a book! Not some article on the internet --ahem, this one is an exception? A real book that has pages (paper or digital). Something that you can learn from (fiction can be educational as well! You use your imagination when you read). It's funny how changing your mental diet can change what you think. That means what you watch and listen to as well (and any other ways of ingesting information you might have -- Hey, I don't judge).

It doesn't have to be everything, start by adding things that inspire you or make you laugh. Something that adds to your life. There's a lot of loud noise out there, so why not make it pleasant to listen to? I'm not suggesting you tune yourself out of what's going on in the world -- I'm just saying, add a little flavor. Also, don't dive too deep into the news. Know what's going on, but don't live there. News outlets are designed to scare you. That's how they get them clicks! Inform yourself and move on!

Want to grow your spirit? Meditation is also a good way. I know, I know! I already mentioned it. You're not up for it? No problem! Find ways to contribute to the world around you! It doesn't have to be something huge, just look around you! There are plenty of ways to do it! Help an older madam cross the street. Contribute to someone/something. It feels great! I'm doing it right now! As I write this, I'm massaging my dog, whilst I'm giving mental CPR to someone who's choking mentally.** The point is, find ways to contribute, because we're all human. We're social beings. Play a team sport. That's a way of contributing! TEAM. Doing something for the greater good!

Of course, I'm not perfect and I make mistakes all the time! The point is to let yourself make them. Mistakes are great teachers if you actually take the time to learn from them! They're the ultimate teacher, in fact. You always remember when you screwed up, don't you? So, use it to your advantage. That's how you grow. That's how you keep yourself in shape! Play hard! Play around with what you're doing and find what works FOR YOU! We're all different, so we each have different preferences about a lot of things. Just go out and do it! Keep yourself accountable and practice makes perfect.

* - Not a real show.

** - Not really happening.

Emotions Are Your Friends

Howdy ho my little minions! It's that time of the week again! Today you get a double-double, because the podcast just went up as well! So, lucky you! I know, I'm the lucky one because you're reading this while giving me the pleasure to serve you better.

It's interesting how emotion is one of the keys to everything. Have you ever noticed that? Every experience you've ever had, is linked to emotion. The more emotion you have linked to it, the more you remember it. The problem is, some people find themselves governed by their emotions --I certainly have been in this category many times before-- instead of using them for personal gain. 

If you really think about it, you are the master of your emotions. They are there to let us know what kind of experience we're having. It's one thing to feel them, it's another to let them use you. A lot of people are being used by their emotions (especially on the internet) because everything now-a-days is meant to trigger some form of response from you --most likely anger. It's a shame, because that's what gets the most clicks. Here's the fun part: you can feel whatever you feel, and use it towards something positive!

If you're feeling a positive emotion, you most probably know what to do with that. If you're feeling a negative one, chances are you either ignore it and pretend to be tough, feel it and let it take you on a ride to emotionville, or use it as your ally to let you know what kind of action is needed (I've done all of those, by the way! So don't feel bad if you do, you're just human... Or are you? Are you from outer space? Tell me more about that).

Let's take anger as an example: if you're feeling angry it's because there's something/someone violating one of your primary principles/values in some form or another. It could be anybody --EVEN YOU. Ask yourself this: is it within your control to change it (i.e. something you can immediately change)? Or is it another person or situation? If the latter, it means you either need to have a conversation about something, or change the way your view on the matter. For example, if you're stuck in traffic there's absolutely nothing you can do about it. So, why even get mad? It means you have to change how you view it. You can't change anything other than go a different way or wait like everybody else. So, there's no point in getting all upset about it!

If it's something like you continuously keep doing a bad habit you want to change, then you can quickly take action! What the anger is telling you is that it's time to do something about it! You're in direct control of your actions, so use the signal to change your ways! It doesn't have to be an explosion. Use it to take action for something positive! Change the habit and kaboom! Anger was your friend.

So why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends... In fact, we are! The only thing you need to do is feel it, ponder what it's about and use it to your advantage. Your emotions are your friends, baby! So use your friends wisely. I'm not telling you to use your friends... I mean, if they want to do you a favor, then that's fine, but... Oh, you know what I mean!

So be the master of your emotions. Let them be your ally instead of them taking you for a ride. If that's what's happening, then you're in for a huge rollercoaster ride --Not the fun kind! Listen to what they're trying to tell you. It's all about communication. 

Discipline is The Key To Liberty

Well hello there, my little crumpets! How's it going today? Yesterday? Last week? Tomorrow? I want to know all about it. This is your friendly neighborhood Khalu here, just checking in on your Thursday activities -- Okay, so I'm a little late! The podcast was up early, the blog post was up late. Balance? I know, that's a cheap excuse, but here I am! Are you on a skyscraper rooftop jumping on some thugs? Did you use your spidey senses and abilities? Oh, that's not real you say? I've had an encounter with a spider that proves otherwise! I mean, it was a real spider... But the way they shoot their webs is like Spidey does! It's not an exaggeration. Too off topic? Oooookay.

So to be honest, yesterday I had the article about 3/4 ready, but then I had a few calls I needed to attend to and by the time I was done, I did not want to finish writing the post. Now, what I had written yesterday was not about discipline. In fact it was about Science and "WooWoo" intermingling. Sounds interesting to you? I'll probably talk about it some other day. I just figured there was something else that was a little more pressing for me, so I'd like to share it with you. It didn't feel right. See, what I'm writing about now feels right.

I know I touched discipline a little bit on this post over here. Now I want to dive into it a lot deeper. If there's something I pride myself on, is having discipline. Doing things every day without exception (How ironic, huh? You missed your post by a day and talk about "without exception"). Now, sometimes your practices aren't the best, sometimes you don't fulfill your goal completely (see, I did show up and wrote most of it! Now I'm writing a whole new post today, so quit your yapping!). 

You can't wait for inspiration to "hit," you've got to always show up and then and only then is when inspiration hits while you're doing what you do. It's like catching lightning in a bottle. You can't just have a bottle in the cupboard or wherever and expect lightning to fall in there... You have to be out with your bottle all the time! You WILL yourself to keep going even when you don't want to. Sometimes you might think "Nah, I got this... I'm super human and I don't need this..." (I might be speaking for myself here, except the "super human" part, that was just for effect... Ahem... Only that). When you find yourself thinking exactly that, is when you need it the most! That's your EGO talking. Tony Robbins (I know I sound like a broken record talking about him and God knows he doesn't need the extra traffic... But hey, nonetheless! Get used to me using other people's great work as a reference :) ) has a very cool way of putting it: EGO = Edging God Out. Thinking you do things all by yourself? Well, let me tell you that's not true!

If you keep showing up doing what you're doing, there will come a point in time when you will just keep getting better and better (as long as you keep focusing on improving and being better!). If you're being unenthusiastic about whatever it is you're doing, then obviously it's not going to be improving. The point is, you said you're going to do something? You better be doing it! Keep it going. Of course there is flexibility within what you do! The point is you keep at it.

Want to wake up earlier? Do it. There's no other option. Set an alarm for the time you want to wake up, say 5:00am (I personally wake up at 6:00, this is just an example!). You set that alarm and go to bed a little earlier than you would normally -- this way you rest what you need to! Everybody is different, so sleep the amount of hours that are good for you. I tend to work best with seven hours. Sometimes I get less, sometimes more. Seven is usually the number for me. Now, when that alarm goes off you better wake up and do something to keep you awake. Jolt yourself up or something, because you're going to want to go back to sleep! BUT, of course that's the complete opposite of what you set out to do! Use tricks on yourself. For example, I leave my phone in my office (the room next to my bedroom) so I HAVE TO get out of bed in order to turn it off. What little tricks can you play on yourself to actually keep your word? By the time I turn the alarm off, I'm pretty much awake. 

The more you do it, the easier it becomes! Then you're waking up at 5:00 am without a hitch. It just takes 3-6 times to make it easy on yourself and three or four weeks of doing it to make it a habit! See how easy that was? Apply this with everything that you WANT to do. Have those "wants" become "musts" for you in order to succeed. Taking action is key to achieving anything, so you have to make promises to yourself. If you break your own promises, how do you think that's going to make you feel about yourself? HORRIBLE! So, you want to have confidence? DO IT.

Discipline really does boost confidence! The more you do and prepare whatever it is you're doing, the better at it you become. This will make you feel good about yourself. Isn't that nice? To actually feel good about yourself! What a novel concept, huh? Having confidence is key in everything, too! If you don't have confidence, people won't believe in what you're doing. That's because you yourself don't! You're probably worrying or fearful or whatever. Why is that? Because you haven't prepared enough! Those feelings are there to tell you there's something you need to do! Not to ignore them and pretend to be tough.

So use discipline for everything. Practice anything you want to practice daily in order to become a master at it and excel!

Stop Trying to be Perfect!

Well hello there, you macaroons! I hope you’re doing fantabulous. Would you look at that: it’s my third blog post in a row! I haven’t had a streak like this with my blog in two years. Two years! You’re probably thinking “This guy… Tooting his own horn just because he’s posted once a week on his blog for three weeks in a row… Sheesh!” You’re probably right. But hey, if I don’t toot my own horn first, who will? 

Today we’ll be talking about being perfect —letting go of the need to be, that is. If you really look at it, trying to be perfect is a fear we have of not being enough. You feel you won’t be enough if you’re not perfect and nobody will love you — boohoo. You feel you won’t get the approval you seek from daddy/mommy/whomever it is you’re trying to impress. Heck, I know I worked through this before. It occasionally shows up again — and you bet that I make sure to move past it and destroy it! It’s the only way to do it! You can make your fears your allies. Overcome them!

When I started doing stand up, or acting or whatever it is you’d like to insert there: I sucked at it. I put so much pressure on myself to “succeed at perfection.” I was so bad that I would freeze and tank. Pure horribility (I know that’s not a word… I got the red squiggly. Put your panties in a knapsack — that’s not a saying either!) The point is you’d think that you were going to die a thousand deaths… Only to find out that it wasn’t all that bad. You’re mind was playing a trick on you! Why go through that many deaths if it wasn’t all that bad?

The problem is that the mind makes you think that “failing” is bad. When in reality “failing” is the only way to grow! What’s the worst that could happen if you failed? Unless you’re an astronaut, or doctor or… Okay, so there are plenty professions that can cause damage/harm if you don’t perform at your peak. But hey! That’s why you practice! You let yourself have so many mistakes in practice that when it comes time for the moment of truth: you’ve got this! Only remember to practice the poop out of it. 

Besides, it’s not a failure if you’re learning from it! It would only be failure if you keep making the same mistakes over and over again. There’s something that’ll drive you mad. Albie Einstein said “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result.” I know that quote is overused, but it’s a darned amazing one! 

If what you’re doing isn’t working, change it! At least if you do something different and it doesn’t work, you now have another way of knowing “how not to do” something. It can be worse or better, but at least it’s a different result. It’s something you can work with. What you do with these results is write them down, record yourself or bake a cake in commemoration of what you did so you have a reference for it. How else are you going to remember what worked and what didn’t? This is the only way you’ll know how you’ve been growing. So keep track of it. Plus, you can learn from others as well! This way you don’t have to go through years of experience doing something others have done and laid out for you!

Hey look, it's Baxie! She's perfect... 99.9% of the time.

What happens if you find yourself in a sea of nothingness? You keep going and changing what you’re doing and still nothing seems to work? You keep going, that’s what! You’d be surprised how close you are to finding the solution. I’ve been there. You feel stuck and as if nothing that you do is useful. If you only knew you were one tumble away from around the corner! Frustration is a good thing. You know when you’re frustrated that you’re about to achieve something. So welcome it. Don’t lose faith. Use it to fuel you so you can destroy the obstacles that are in your way! 

I’ll be honest with ya… I was all up and ready to publish this a while ago, but when I hit the “Publish” button, there was an error. That error usually means that the session timed out. So, I copied my work and refreshed the page… Only to paste this: “Tommy Edison found 9,999 ways NOT TO make a lightbulb.” That’s all the thing pasted. But hey, everything happens for a reason! Plus, I wouldn’t be taking my own advice if I didn’t learn from this: Write it down on something other than the website editor first, you dumbbell!

So now you’ll never know you bunch of scallywags! What was the quote referencing? You can probably figure it out… And the only reason I didn’t put it back in was to reference it here. So there you have it! If you have any comments, questions, personal stories or feedback, sound off below!

Getting Yourself Out of a Funk

Well howdy, you bunch of goofballs! See, I told you this was for real. Second blog post in a row! It’s time to celebrate! All right, celebration time is over. I know, it was short-lived. We have to get working, people!

You might be asking yourself “What’s the deal with this funk?” (do it with a Seinfeld impression, while you're at it).You might not be alone. The reason why is always very personal, because we’re all in different situations and blah blah blah. That’s for you to know, in order to “exorcise the demons.” Knowing why is good, because that way you know what the root cause is, but knowing how to get out of them is even better!  

Now, here's the thing: we can do it in an instant! You're in luck, because I've got ways to do this, and do it quickly! There are billions of ways to do it --I don't really know if that's an accurate number, but there are plenty! I'm going to tell you about a few ways that can instantly get you out of it. You may be wondering "Khalu, how do we do this?" Well, my little baguette, I'm glad you asked!

For the past two Tuesdays, I found myself in a funk. This is why I'm writing this, in fact! Frankly, I was tired of it. The thing is, I had solved this same issue within myself a long time ago. I was burning the candle at both ends and I wasn't taking any breaks --no, not even the weekends! It turns out, I do need a day for just goofing around. It's not that much time either. I don't need the entire day. I just needed to take the pressure off of myself for a moment in order to breathe a little bit. I'd forgotten about this. I like to do what I love and that in turn leaves little breaks in between. Sometimes, I just need to do nothing.

As you found out in my previous post, I have a daily routine I practice to keep myself in shape emotionally. It truly does work. Though sometimes as it turns out, when I'm a little drained I find myself having to work really hard to push through. Which I do. I just need to remember to give myself a break here and there. Take a deep breath, boy!

So, let me give you a few things you can do to get out of your funk:

1. Say "Fuck it" and do nothing.
   • Once you're in the zone  doing nothing, find something you've really wanted to do but kept putting off. For example, read a book you've had laying around. Treat yourself! If it's food, don't go overboard, because you will regret it afterwards!
   • Once you're engrossed in your book or whatever you do, stay there for a while. Relax! It's whateverday you're doing this on. This is all about you!
2. If you're pressed for time, get up and dance around full of joy. Be goofy. Sing like nobody's watching. Jump around. It's liberating! If there are people there, do it anyway. Worst thing that could happen is you make them laugh because they think you're crazy! Well, you are! So let it all out. Unless you're at a library... Then BE QUIET!
3. Meet with someone who you know always puts a smile on your face! Your best friend, spouse, partner. Whomever! Just hang out. Blow off some steam.
4. If nobody can hang out? Go on a date with yourself! Going out by yourself is amazing! You always do what you really want to do. You're only following your agenda. You don't need to compromise about anything. ANYTHING. Think about it!
5. If you're in a funk because you're not doing anything? Then get to work you spud! Do something you're passionate about. "I don't have any passions!" Well, look for one!

In short, this is pretty much a "just do whatever the heck you want" guide. It's a time where YOU need to breathe fresh air. So, TAKE IT ALL IN, man/woman/dude/dudette! Life is amazing, so eat it all up.

Have anything you'd like to add? You need to let me know about something you didn't like about what I wrote? Sound off in the comments! Until next time, just keep on doing you, my little goofballs.