by admin | 16 Jan, 2025 | Andrew's Blog, Joyful Longevity
Have the words “I am too busy” ever emerged from your lips? Have you ever used those words to excuse you from doing something you know you really should be doing? I know I have. When we try to keep adding things to our lives, it will get full, overwhelming, and stressful. So, it may be necessary to stop something so you can start the thing that will have the greatest impact on your year and your life.
We often wonder why we have no spare time, but it is actually very obvious and logical. For example, if you have a full glass of water and you add more, what will happen? It will spill, right? If you are full but keep eating, what is inevitable? Vomit. Yucky, but true. If you jam pack every moment of your day with stuff and then something important needs to be added, what is likely? Excuses, stress, and frustration for more people than just you. Do you see where I am going here?
When the new year started, and I thought about what I wanted to create in 2025, I was encouraged to find one thing to stop, and another thing to start. I realised there was no way I could develop the things I wanted by just adding stuff on top of an already full life. I also knew there was no point just stopping doing something unproductive without a very specific plan of what to add in its place. The late great Skip Ross calls it the law of exclusion, which states, when you get rid of what you don’t want, you make room for what you do want.
There was one thing that had been nagging me for some time. It is my Achilles heel, so to speak. It is television. I love plonking myself on the couch and throwing my brain at the TV. I would justify it by convincing myself that I had worked hard and deserved it. Don’t get me wrong, I do work hard, and I do deserve to watch TV, just not for as long as I was allowing myself to indulge. My routine had become working till 5pm and then watching TV for the next 90 mins. What I was watching was mind-numbing, and not helping me in any way achieve the goals I had for 2025. So, I decided to stop watching TV for that 90 mins.
Had I just decided to stop without starting anything productive to replace that time, I knew it wouldn’t be long before the magnetic effect of the couch on my butt would have lured me back. So, I asked myself, what can I do in those 90 mins to move me towards my best year and my best life? After some reflection, I formulated my plan of what I would start doing instead of watching TV. I decided I would spend some time in prayer and then I would go for a walk to enjoy my surroundings and connect with people. After getting back from my walk, I would make some calls to build relationships, and build my business, and then I would spend some time creating something. I started to imagine how different my life would be by the end of the year by just re-investing 90 minutes per day in myself. Just so you know, that is more than 545 hours, and almost 23 additional days I have just added to my life by that simple decision.
Now, we are only a few weeks into the new year, and already there is a seismic shift in my life. I feel better; more empowered, in control, and energised. Through my prayer, I feel clearer and closer to God. Through my walking and connecting, I have met some amazing people, helped homeless, and reconnected with the amazing place I live. Through my calls, I have developed stronger bonds, and unlocked opportunities. Through my creating, I have written more, posted more, developed events, and it has helped unlock some amazing ideas and possibilities. Wow, profound stuff, hey? Watch this space and ask me how things have changed as the year progresses.
Okay, let’s turn this back to you. If you are reading this blog, I know you want things to be different in one or more areas of your life in 2025 and beyond. I am also aware there are things you know you should be doing. Rather than just trying to add more into your full life, what can you stop doing, so you can start doing the things that will have the greatest impact on your life and the people you love? Is it TV? Is it hitting snooze? Is it processed food and drinks? Is it scrolling social media? Is it complaining and making excuses? You know what it is, don’t you? All you need to do is decide on one thing to stop and then something to start to replace that time.
My podcast this week with Nathan Buttigieg is called You must stop to start. Nathan allowed himself to spiral into alcoholism and drugs, and it was destroying his life. He decided to stop those destructive activities, and instead start reading, listening to podcasts, and embarking on a physical training journey. Now he is loving life and helping many others. What about you? It has come down to this moment, as you read these final words. Please don’t miss this or ignore this. I know you want more for your life, and I know how you can get more. Simply stop doing something destructive and start doing something to build yourself and your life.
Please let me know what you have stopped and then started, and enjoy the adventure.
by admin | 11 Jan, 2025 | Andrew's Blog, Joyful Longevity
Success. Achievement. Striving. Thriving. Goals. Stretching. Pushing. These are words, whilst positive by nature, strike fear into the hearts of many people. Me too! Why is that? Because the prevailing belief, and this is something I have believed for most of my life, is that everything we want but don’t yet have is outside of our comfort zone. Yuck. It is suggesting it has to be hard to experience success in life. I want to challenge that thinking this week, and ponder the question, what if success is actually already inside our comfort zone?
I have strived for “success” for much of my life. I have got as uncomfortable as humanly possible (for me anyway) many times in pursuit of this “success”. To become a professional athlete, it was bone-jarringly and gut-bustingly painful to make it at the highest level. I did it and I made it, but I never felt successful. To get the body I thought would bring me admiration, self-love, and respect was muscle-tearingly, and lung-burstingly uncomfortable. I achieved the body, but still didn’t feel “successful”. I worked seven-days per week in business to believe I was a “success”. It was relentless and exhausting, but never led me to the feeling that I was a “success”. So, again, my question; is “success” really outside your comfort zone, or is it already there?
The word “success” has a different meaning for different people, however, I believe, for most of us, it has been portrayed as some kind of external achievement or accomplishment. In fact, the definition of the word “success” from www.cambridge.org is:
The achieving of the results wanted or hoped for.
This definition is damaging as it focuses on people’s value based on what they achieve, rather than who they are. My thinking is this, “success” is not about what we do, it is about who we already are. I am a Christian and believe in creation. I also believe the odds of my existence, and yours, are so infinitesimally small, there is no way our existence is luck. I believe God created no junk, and that I am here for a very special purpose. That purpose, to be uniquely and authentically me. Guess what? I am already that. So, are you. Therefore, “success” is already ours. It is already inside our comfort zone. Knowing and believing this, that we are already enough, that we are already loved, and that we are already a “success” means we can go on and manifest amazing things in our lives.
Let me give you a simple example. As I was walking home after training on Wednesday, I decided to do a social experiment. I decided to say ‘hello’ to every person I passed and see how many of them actually said ‘hello’ back to me. Would you agree this is a pretty simple exercise? Would you also agree, we already have the capacity to do this? In other words, we don’t have to get out of our comfort zone, we just have to open our mouths. Well, just because it is already inside of us, doesn’t make it easy. After the first seven ‘hellos’, I had only got one response. I know why. Because I was being timid in my approach. I was fearful of what they might think, or how they would respond. So, I dimmed myself.
In that moment I decided to tap into my existing comfort zone and be loud and proud. For the rest of my walk home, I boomed out “good morning” to every person I met, and by the time I got home had got 17 responses from 30 ‘hellos’. I knew I could do better than that, so I did the same thing on Saturday, and this time got 24 responses from my 30 ‘hellos’. The only reason I didn’t get more was because some of the people were listening to things and clearly couldn’t hear me. I am telling myself that anyway. The question, did I really have to get out of my comfort zone to do that? Of course not, I just had to decide to tap into the joy, love and “success” that is already within me, and share it with others. I feel my biggest issue, and possibly the same for others, is that I didn’t trust the strength, power, and worthiness that is already inside of me. “Success” is already mine, and yours. All we have to do is tap into it, and let it flow out into our lives.
This week I speak with Adrienne Simmons on my podcast. It is called, Your body is your bestie, and we discuss how our body, mind, and emotions already provide us with everything we need. We just need to treat them like our best friends. So, as you go about your day and life after reading this, I hope you believe and do things differently. Focus on the wonders already inside you and in your comfort zone, and simply share them with the world. Then, watch what happens.
by admin | 4 Jan, 2025 | Andrew's Blog, Mindset
Happy new year to you. Before I even start this week, I want you to know how grateful I am that you read my blogs each week, or however often you get to them. As a writer, it is often hard to know who reads, how many read, and what type of impact my words are making, if any. If you are reading this, we have just launched into 2025, and as you think about the year to come, I would encourage you to consider the power of one.
There’s a temptation in our society to make new year’s resolutions and try to change everything all at once. It can be incredibly overwhelming and inevitably leads to many people giving up on their dreams. Have you ever been there? I certainly have and also have given up on more new year’s resolutions that I am willing to share with you. That’s why these days I follow this strategy and encourage you to do the same. That is to think about just the power of one.
I was walking home after training the other day, on a beautiful sunny morning. Amongst the vibrant blue sky and bright sunlight, one disturbing thing stood out to me; rubbish that had been thrown on the ground. As I was just about to step over a discarded fast-food container, I stopped and picked it up and placed it in a rubbish bin that was only a few metres away from where it was lying. As I dropped it in the bin, I thought to myself, if every person in Melbourne would simply pick up and responsibly discard just one piece of trash per day, that would be more than 5 million pieces of rubbish less in our streets per day and a much cleaner and healthier city. That, my friend, is the power of one.
What if, instead of a crazy new year’s resolution that demands you change 10 things all at once, you just chose one? Would that be possible, and if so, what would be the result at the end of 2025. If that one thing was to buy one less $6 cup of coffee per day, that would result in $2190.00 extra in your hand. Wow, that’s the power of one. What if that one thing was to walk an extra 3km per day? That would be over 1000km per year. Would you be fitter, leaner, and healthier if you walked from Melbourne to Sydney? I think so. Again, the power of one. Imagine your one thing was to say just one encouraging or loving thing to someone important in your life. Can you imagine a stronger, more connected relationship after 365 days? I can, after just one week. That is the mighty power of one.
Trust me, one thing that you persist with is so much more valuable than 10 things you don’t stick to. That one thing you commit to will build your confidence, build belief, inspire others, begin to compound, deliver surprising results, and will empower you to start adding other things, one at a time. Again, my loyal friend, that is the power of one.
A lady I was working with told me she wanted to be healthier, so we discussed it, and she decided her one thing would be to eat a healthy breakfast each day. After just 63 days of sticking to it every day, what she told me, inspired me beyond belief. When she told me she had more energy, I wasn’t surprised. When she explained she had dropped two dress sizes, I was impressed. What she told me next is the reason why I do what I do. She explained that after a couple of days of sitting at the table to eat her breakfast, her teenage son who would normally run out the door without eating, started joining her and eating breakfast with her. Then a day or so later, her husband started joining them both and they began eating breakfast together as a family. Do you know what that means?
Not only was she becoming a healthier human, but her actions had inspired her son and husband to make healthier choices. But it doesn’t stop there. What else has she changed since that time? Who else has she inspired subsequently? What about her son and husband? Who else have they encouraged to start eating breakfast? Can you see where I am going here? The ripple effect of that one simple, seemingly insignificant decision has and will continue to impact many lives for many generations to come. That is the unstoppable power of one.
In my podcast this week with the incredible Jennisue Jessen, called Slow to the speed of love, we discuss the power of showing love to people. She has experienced incomprehensible trauma in her life yet has chosen one simple thing; to use trauma to equip her, not allow it to define her. Let me tell you, the power of that one decision helped her and her organisation positively impact more than 53,000 people in 2024 alone. Do not miss this podcast, you will be inspired beyond.
2025 is currently a clean slate. You can make of it whatever you choose. I know you want to look back and be proud and excited about what transpired this year and who you became in the process. That being the case, please let go of the idea that it has to be hard, overwhelming, and disruptive, and simply focus on the power of one.
by admin | 27 Dec, 2024 | Andrew's Blog, Mindset
As I publish this blog, it is just two days before 2024 ends and 2025 begins. I hope you have had fabulous festivities at this time of the year, no matter how you celebrate. A new year brings a blank canvas, a fresh start, and the possibility of great things to appear for you. Just don’t forget to honour the year that is leaving. I want to encourage you, at this time, to implement the three L’s.
As I was walking out onto the fabulous new St Kilda Pier, recently completed after many years of construction, it was a stunning day. The sun was shining, the sky was blue, and the view of the water, the yachts, and the city skyline in the background was mesmerising. I walked past a man sitting on a bench, enjoying the beautiful day and the wonderful view. Maybe he was even reflecting on the three L’s.
So, what are the three L’s? The three L’s is the process to take the nuggets from 2024 and allow them to help you be more alive in 2025. The first L is ‘Learn’, the second L is ‘Let go’, and the third L is ‘Launch’. It is a tragedy that so many people say, I can’t wait for this year to be over, next year will be better. My question is, will it? How will it be better? Why will it be better? What does better look like? Simply waiting for the year to end and then hoping, by some miracle, the new year will be better is a little like hoping you will wake up tomorrow with a six pack, a blissful relationship, and a million dollars in the bank, when today you are overweight, alone, and broke.
If this is how you normally approach a new year, then I want to encourage you to try something that may actually increase your chances of having those things you want, without hoping for a genie in a bottle to grant you three wishes. You don’t need three wishes, you just need the three L’s. You need to learn from 2024, you need to let go of the things that are not serving you, and you need to launch into 2025 with a plan, and a commitment to follow that plan and do whatever you need to do to make it a year you will be proud of.
Learn. There is a wonderful saying that, things don’t happen to you, they happen for you. As you reflect on 2024, there may be things that happened, things you did, or things you didn’t do, that cause pain for you to think about. If, however, you truly believed that things happen for you, then there is something to learn from each and every experience you can use, and then make 2025 a better year. Find your spot, whether that is on a bench looking at the view, or in your home, to write down everything that will provide an opportunity to learn from.
Yes, it may be uncomfortable, but it will also be transformational. Write down all of the adverse situations, poor choices, mistakes, and conflicts. Write down all of the great things, the achievements, and the fabulous interactions. Then reflect on what you can learn from each of them. What can you learn from the poor choices to ensure you don’t repeat them? What can you learn from the great things, so they happen again and again? Let me tell you, I have a long list of things I am committed to learning from in 2024. How about you?
Let Go. As uncomfortable as the reflecting and learning stage is, I believe the letting go phase can be even more challenging. My biggest challenge in life is that I love hanging onto my flaws, my faults, my poor choices, and beating myself up for far too long. It does no good, and it will prevent any change in 2025, unless you and I choose to let go of all the stuff that is not serving us. I know this from painful experience. People suggest that letting go is a hard thing to do. If that is the case, imagine you have just picked up a hot cup of coffee and your fingers are now burning. What would you do? Would you keep holding it as your fingers start to blister with heat and pain, or would you put it on the table and let it go? It’s an easy thing to do, right? So, why don’t you do the same with other things that you are hanging onto that are burning your heart?
Launch. I will keep this one brief. If you have done the first two steps, you will find this one easier. Think about how you want things to be and write it down. Find a mentor, if you need to, and create an action plan. Then, simply launch into a realistic and consistent action process, with regular review and reflection times, to make 2025 your best year yet.
In my amazing podcast this week with Van Marinos, called Start with exercise, we discuss how many challenges and new beginnings can be much easier to manage when we start moving our bodies. Maybe that is your first step in 2025. As we see out 2024, please don’t waste it. It is full of gems that are incredibly valuable if you can learn from them, let go what needs to be let go of, and launch into 2025 with joy and clarity. Apply the three L’s today.
by admin | 21 Dec, 2024 | Andrew's Blog, Joyful Longevity
The most valuable resource we have on this planet is energy. Many people suggest time is the most valuable resource, but my thinking is, that if you don’t have energy, what are you going to do with that time? As a human race we are always looking for more energy to run our homes, our cars, our computers, and our lives. The most important energy we need is to run ourselves. What if there was a simple way to flick the energy switch to create abundant energy?
Have you ever said to yourself; I am so tired, I wish I had more energy, I am exhausted, I don’t have the energy for that, or some other similar thing? We seem to always be looking for that quick energy hit, and many rely on caffeine, sugar, energy drinks, or other synthetic solutions, which may work for a moment, but leaves people lagging again in a very short time. We all know that eating well, regular exercise, and quality sleep are critical if we want optimal energy, don’t we? What if there was an even better way to flick the energy switch?
I was feeling flat on Wednesday. There were some challenging things happening, and despite the fact that I had slept well the night before, exercised in the morning, as I always do, and eaten like a champion, I was still flagging in the mid-afternoon. I was driving into the city to help with the Xmas dinner and celebration for the homeless in Melbourne, and I was really questioning whether I had the energy or desire to be there. It was only because of the commitment to my friend Kate that I decided to go. I got out of my car at just after 3pm struggling, and I got home at about 8:30pm bouncing out of my skin, with energy to burn, and I hadn’t consumed anything in that time. How did that happen?
In fact, it was in a heartbeat I went from zero to hero from an energy standpoint. I walked in, and immediately my mind was off me and my problems, and on making it a wonderful experience for the homeless that would be in attendance that evening. The energy switch was flicked. It was full on from word go as we were preparing food, dragging trestle tables and chairs out to the car park area (where the dinner would be), co-ordinating gifts and strategies to distribute them, helping the music team set up, welcoming people, singing Christmas carols, feeding about 100 or so people, distributing stuff, and so on. It was relentless but energy giving, because we were doing things for others who really valued and appreciated what was being done for them.
Then came the clean-up, and by 7:30pm most of it was done, but there were about 20 or 30 loaves of bread, and about 50 oranges left over. What would we do with them? The thought was we would have to throw them away, but I said, I will take them. So, I packed them into about five bags, loaded them into my car and headed home. No, not to eat them all. There are many homeless people in the suburb I live, so as soon as I got home, still with energy to burn, I took those bags of bread and oranges around the streets and gave them to many homeless people, who were incredibly grateful.
I finally got home about 8:30pm and I was still buzzing with energy and joy. I had not eaten in more than 6 hours, I had no caffeine, no sugar, and no artificial energy enhancer. I was buzzing with the most amazing energy that we, as humans, can ever tap into. It was the energy that comes from giving love, support, service, and kindness to others who are receptive to receive. When we give to these people, we immediately flick the switch and turn on a source of energy that will keep moving us in the direction of purpose, joy and meaning in life.
In my podcast this week called, Freedom is a choice, I speak with a lady full of the most incredible energy, Marleen Mour. After struggling with self-worth, poor health, and lethargy, she has now refocussed on the impact she can and will have on many other people. This is an incredible conversation about choosing to break free from the things holding us back in life. You will be totally inspired by Marleen.
As I publish this blog, it is just a few days before Christmas 2024 and many people are running on empty. How about you? There are people, right now, who are struggling, and will benefit immensely from a kind word, a hand up, a handout, a hug, or just the space to be seen and heard. I want to encourage you to try this today. Give to someone and see how it immediately flicks your energy switch.
Have a beautiful holiday season and thank you for being in my life.
by admin | 14 Dec, 2024 | Andrew's Blog, Mindset
What stops most people from really exploring their potential, pursuing possibility, and fulfilling their destiny? It is not what most think it is. It is not lack of talent, ability, or intellect. It is not challenging circumstances or adverse situations. It is not other people’s opinions. It is not bad luck or poor timing. It is not the weather or any other external influence. It is 100% our thinking. Yes, I hate that also as it makes me 100% responsible. The biggest excuse we have allowed ourselves to start using these days, to effectively stop us in our tracks, is the catchy, but totally irrelevant and inaccurate ‘Imposter Syndrome’. So, let’s examine it, shall we?
I have used the term ‘Imposter Syndrome’ about myself, without really understanding what it means. As you know – or will know in about 3 seconds – our language and self-talk, and the words we use will shape and determine the life we live. The late great Skip Ross calls it the principle of command and states, everything you speak out of your mouth will happen, so be careful what you say. Gilbert Enoka, mental skills coach for the All-Blacks, says, you will never rise above the opinion you have of yourself. These are two men with incredible success, track record, and wisdom. I believe them. That being the case, we need to be very careful what words we choose.
If we look at a definition of ‘Imposter syndrome’, it is a feeling of inadequacy and self-doubt despite one’s achievements and success. However, when we look at the definition of the word ‘imposter’ we get; a person who pretends to be someone else in order to deceive others. I think we can all agree there is a large discrepancy between these two definitions which contain the same word.
I know of many times in my life where I would have described myself as having imposter syndrome. Starting out as a professional footballer, and many times through that seven-year journey, being a business owner, becoming an author, and many other times in my life. However, looking at the definition of imposter, I never deliberately pretended to be someone else to deceive others. I did feel inadequate, and I did doubt myself and my abilities because I had another type of syndrome. It’s called ‘Human Being Syndrome’.
Guess who else has ‘Human Being Syndrome’? Every single human being that is upright and looking down at the grass. If you doubt yourself, you are not an imposter, you are a human, so celebrate. If you feel inadequate at times, you are not deceitful, you are a human being, so rejoice. If you have negative self-talk at times, you are not broken, you are a human being, so jump for joy. Isn’t that great news? Every human being’s adventure is simply to validate and navigate these feelings and find ways to push past them anyway.
So, the first step on this journey is to stop referring to what you have as ‘imposter syndrome’, because in most cases you are not pretending, and you are not deceiving. Then replace it with the more accurate, and compassionate, ‘human being syndrome’. The second step is to get excited when you feel ‘human being syndrome’ starts to take effect. That means you may start to feel anxiety, fear, doubt, or inadequacy. Yes, I did say get excited. Why? Because it means you are on the verge of a breakthrough, if you simply have the courage to take the next step with faith.
These feelings indicate you are at the edge of your comfort zone, otherwise there would be no doubt or fear. So, my friend, take the step outside of your comfort zone, and you will see it is not so scary. At the same time, you will be expanding your comfort zone to include in it more amazing things for yourself and your life. In my podcast this week called Chocolate bar life, I speak with the fabulous Danielle Colley. We discuss many things, but one key point is about embracing who you are and taking simple steps every day to enhance your human experience.
I am in the process of writing a book called The Redefinition Effect, and I feel like ‘Imposter Syndrome’ is a term that definitely needs re-definition and re-interpretation. As we examine the term, it is actually a very damaging one as it suggests that if we feel doubt, fear, anxiety, and inadequacy, we are pretending and deceiving. We have determined that, in fact, it means we are human. So, enjoy your life, embrace the ‘human being syndrome’ and take the step boldly across your comfort zone and into your fabulous zone.
