 Trying to start grow and run a business without working on yourself is kind of like a NASCAR driver Only focusing on the actual driving and not trying to take care of or improve their car at all But we all know in order for somebody to win the race They have to have a full pit crew working on the actual vehicle and in the business You are the vehicle you need your own pit crew and you have to work on the machine not just on the driving So today we're going to talk about three non-business activities that make me more money. Here we go If you've been around the business world for a while, you know that and this is kind of cliche and popular culture with Mega CEOs that it can get pretty weird You start to do things that normal people in society don't do to try to get an edge in business And really we need every edge we can get we have to take care of ourselves. We have to make ourselves better We have to remove distractions and we have to really turn the vehicle into a peak performer So that when we do go to drive our business, we're getting all we can get out of it So today we're going to talk about three non-business activities that make me more money And you've probably heard of all three of these and you may or may not be doing some of them But I'm going to explain to you why these have been crucial to my success in business Number one is meditation now before you run away. Let's talk about what meditation actually is and why we do it But first I want you to picture a scenario. Let's say that somebody who's pretty weak They don't exercise they walk into a gym They go over to the bench press and they try to pick up the weights They can't lift the weight they set it down and they start to walk out of the gym And you go where you're going and they say oh, I tried lifting. I wasn't very good at it So I'm gonna leave And you might say well, you're not very good at it because you haven't been doing it That would be obvious wouldn't it yet to whenever we bring up meditation somebody goes and try to meditate for one minute They're completely distracted. No kidding. They don't meditate and they can't seem to do it and they say I tried meditation It's not for me Did they ever think that it might not be for them because they have not practiced it like anything in life? It's gonna be super weird the first time that you try it But I can tell you meditation has completely changed my life I've been doing it since about 2012 when I first got introduced to it And this is like getting an edge up on everybody else especially in today's society You know we live in a crazy dopamine addicted society where you open up your phone And there's just crack for your brain more than there ever has been in the history of human civilization And if you're not taking care of your attention one of the most valuable things that you have you're screwed You're gonna get destroyed by your competitors if you cannot focus on your work If you cannot sit down and get it done because you're too addicted to notifications popping up on your phone Just scrolling through instagram and looking at all the pretty pictures then you don't stand a chance So meditation is how we combat that meditation really gets present to the moment Not only that but actually changes the structural makeup of our brain So scientists have done studies and after as little as six weeks of consistent meditation practice We actually started to see more gray matter in the brain And this is going to positively impact our mood It's going to make it so that we swing less with the ups and downs of business And what I think is one of the most important things it's going to allow us to focus Now there's another strong benefit to meditation is that it breeds self-awareness So if you've never tried it in its most simplest form, we're just going to sit down on the floor We're going to sit up straight with our back And set a timer you can start as low as you want and work your way up So you can meditate for a minute today or you can start a five minutes And we're just going to breathe and we might notice the breath on our nostrils So that we have something to focus on and we're just going to focus on in and out in and out And the point is to clear our minds now Unless you're a zen Buddhist monk who's been living in the mountains for 40 years You're going to have thoughts pop into your mind when that happens that doesn't mean that you're doing it wrong What meditation is is the practice of continually coming back to our breath So you're not supposed to not have any thoughts You're supposed to come back to your breath after you have a thought notice the thought Let it pass on and then come back to your breath And this will teach you that you are not the same as your thoughts You don't have to react to every thought that comes into your mind You can actually just observe the thought and let it go You don't even have to judge it And so what this does is it builds non-reactivity in us and also builds self-awareness All of a sudden we are the observer. We are watching ourselves from a different perspective And then when we are reacting in business when we are self sabotaging when we are getting fired up about something We can actually watch those thoughts in our mind and let them pass without acting on them That's going to be huge for you in business just to learn to sit still in the moment and focus And not let your thoughts just completely take you over So I really recommend for most people they start meditating one minute a day Sit down anybody can do one a minute you cannot sit there and say I can't do a minute of meditation Now meditation is going to be very hard for you if you've never done it before and yes You're going to be distracted and yes just like that guy in the gym You're not going to be able to pick up the weights and it's not because meditation isn't for you It's because you suck at it because you haven't practiced it. So go out there Start at one minute add a minute every single day and just work your way up sooner or later You'll get addicted to meditation because it actually feels really good It calms you down. It sets the tone for the whole day and it makes everything else in your life easier Number two. I have on here is yoga in 2013. I did my teacher training for yoga I'm a certified yoga teacher and yoga completely changed my life Yoga is kind of like meditation on steroids. It's really was developed to get the body ready for meditation but it is basically a moving meditation that Unites the movement with your breath So if you've never done yoga a big part of it is breathing in harmony with the movements Now the thing about yoga that people don't understand is The practice is Uncomfortable and so a lot of people well number one They'll go try yoga and they'll do the same thing as the first example where they're not flexible And so they think they can't do yoga Of course the point of yoga is not to already be flexible when you come into it But you will develop flexibility by practice practicing yoga, right? Just like in the gym You develop strength so you should not assume that because you are not flexible that you shouldn't do yoga That's silly. It's like saying I'm not strong. So I shouldn't go to the gym But number two the point of yoga Is to be uncomfortable and to actually sit with that and breathe through it So a lot of people don't like yoga because they'll try it once or twice and they say, uh, yeah It's really not for me. I don't like it. It's uncomfortable And of course the first time I go back to yoga after a while it sucks I hate it But if I go five days in a row it feels amazing and all of a sudden I start to be so much more present in life and I'm able to sit with discomfort and breathe through it And so that's what it builds in you is the ability to feel really uncomfortable Well, maybe you're in a really hard pose And you have to focus to stay in that pose and not fall over and it's also uncomfortable And you have to actually breathe through that pose you can't stop breathing in yoga And so you learn to breathe through discomfort So when you're having an uncomfortable moment in your business when you can't handle spending that money in ads When you have a client call that you're nervous about Guess what instead of the body shutting down and the breath stopping just like you've practiced in yoga earlier that day You're gonna breathe through it and you'll be able to keep moving And so that is what yoga is if you're uncomfortable In yoga and it doesn't feel good That is the practice it is learning to breathe through that and the more you do it like anything else The easier it gets and the greater the benefits So if you do try yoga, I urge you number one just because you're not flexible doesn't mean you should do yoga You should go try it That's how you would develop flexibility and number two if you don't like it the first time that is to be expected Do it five days in a row go to class. You might get addicted to it So that's number two is yoga and number three on my list today Is crossfit now crossfit combines strength training with aerobic activity Exercise is basically a miracle drug and I that's not hyperbole. It actually is there are so many chronic conditions That exercise is actually a better remedy for than medication We can look at this in chronic diseases like In my research. I'm seeing Parkinson's diabetes ms exercise can be better than medication in all of these chronic diseases But for everything else for mental health for ability to focus for our energy for our ability to eat healthy Getting up and feeling excited about life in the morning getting those endorphins feeling good in our body feeling excited Not being depressed exercise is crucial to all this and if you start to do research You will see that it is a miracle drug and it prevents the most deadly chronic diseases that we have in our society And so if you're looking at number one your biggest risk in life It's not exercising because every chronic disease that is a leading cause of death Can be at least partially prevented through exercise and to exercise is going to give you that energy that enthusiasm that passion That fire that you need to perform In business and without it I don't even know how you're going to get on the playing field because somebody else out there Who's in much better physical shape than you is just going to run circles around you And again, I know business is not always a physical pursuit But the body and the mind are intertwined. They're not two separate things And so exercise will actually raise your IQ. It will make you smarter. It will make your memory better It will make you run mental gymnastics around the competition So if you think the exercise isn't important Because you think it's a vein or something like that these crazy arguments that intellectuals have about it You're mistaken. It will actually improve your mental capacities So if you want the car to go faster If you want to grow your business if you want to make more money if you want to be happier in life These three activities have not only been scientifically proven To improve your life to make you healthier to make you smarter to make you more alert and focused They've done great wonders for me in Untangling some of my own dysfunction and becoming a better leader becoming a better business owner Becoming a more effective person in life. So we've got meditation start small work your way out yoga It's a practice and it's not going to feel good the first time You don't have to be flexible But the practice is breathing through discomfort and then we have exercise which is the miracle drug Just go google exercise the miracle drug and read into a little bit more about just how great the benefits are It's not a vain pursuit. It's not just to look good. It impacts every facet of your life So let me know do use any of these three things to increase your performance in business If so, which one's your favorite one? If not, what is your reluctance? What are you most afraid of when trying one of these things or why do you think they won't work for you? I would love to hear in the comments And we can have a discussion about it and see if maybe there's a way that you could try it out And see if it helps That's all for today christian martin the work money or digital marketing guy See you in the next one