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 | 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 | 11 Oct, 2024 | Andrew's Blog, Joyful Longevity
In his book The Magic of Thinking Big, the author David Schwartz discusses three of the greatest excuses people use that prevent them from living their best life possible. One of them is what he refers to as age excusitis. So many people are concerned with their age and use it as an excuse not to try things, start things, or persist with things. Particularly those who are moving further along the chronological age spectrum. As I have just turned 60, I have decided that I am not old, I am ready.
During the week, I got a letter in the mail that confronted and excited me at the same time. That letter was from the Victorian Government and contained my seniors card. Why did that confront me? I looked at the word senior, which is short for senior citizen. In my mind, I tried to compute that and could not. I do not associate myself with the picture of a senior citizen I visualised. I wrestled with that for a while, before the excitement started to kick in. Why was I excited? Because I now get lots of cool discounts on all sorts of stuff for doing nothing but living to 60 and beyond. How cool is that?
In fact, I was out with some mates the other night and was dismayed as I tried to use my senior’s card for the first time, and it was not accepted at the hotel we were eating at. D’oh! Oh well, the time will come, and I will celebrate wildly when it happens. So, as you can imagine, I have spent time reflecting since clocking over the 60-year mark, and I have finally come to the conclusion that I am not old, I am ready. Ready for what? Ready for whatever comes. Ready to live, ready to love, ready to explore, ready for adventure, ready to learn, ready to help, ready to inspire, and ready to use the wisdom I have accumulated over my six decades on this planet to fulfill my mission in life.
The greatest thing about being sixty, is sixty years of life. Sixty years of fun, achievements, lessons, heartbreak, poor choices, opportunities, relationships, personal growth, and experiences that have shaped the man I am today. Certainly, still a work-in-progress, but one with perspective and wisdom that I know will help me as I embrace the next sixty years of life. Yes, that takes me to 120, I know. Why not? There is so much to do here, and I want to stay for as long as I can, making a difference for the time I am upright looking down at the grass. I am so ready and excited for what life has for me moving forward. And I get discounts as well. How great is that?
Each minute, each hour, each day, and each year you are getting chronologically older. That is true. It doesn’t have to be a bad thing or a barrier if instead of getting older, you are getting more expectant and ready for the wonders that await you. Each day you and I live there will be an opportunity to do something that will make you or another person smile. Each day, you will be confronted by something that will teach you a valuable lesson to enhance your experience of life. Each day you and I are getting more ready for what will come your way on a continual basis. Rather than shy away from ageing, embrace it and use it to expand and develop your readiness for great things.
In my podcast this week called Small wins, I speak with the ageless Fred Liberatore. Fred, a successful bodybuilder, trainer, author, and speaker, declared that it was his mother, aged well into her 90’s, who is his mentor in life. As he moves towards his 60 years of age in his own life, he is continually living every day, and enjoying the small wins, to be the best he can be and have the greatest impact on as many lives as he can have.
Age is a number only. How you live and what you focus on will determine the longevity you will enjoy. Embrace each day that passes and another deposit into your wisdom, personal development, and experiences bank. As you move along the chronological scale in your journey of life, just know, you are not getting old, you are getting more ready. Value each day you have, and don’t let one slip past where you can’t find gratitude for what you did, what you learned, or how you impacted another life. Be ready for the best of the rest of your life.
by admin | 28 Sep, 2024 | Andrew's Blog, Joyful Longevity
As I am writing this blog, I am sitting on a plane heading home from Bali after a wonderful holiday and celebration of my 60th birthday. There is always a little feeling of sadness each time I leave Bali, but I am also excited to start on the next phase of this wonderful adventure called life. One of the great things I learned on this trip was to just let it be.
One of the main reasons for my trip, in addition to celebrating a significant milestone, was to hang out with my favorite ex-wife, Laura. Yes, I have more than one. We have decided that the love and friendship we have for each other is worthy enough for us being in each other’s lives.
On the day before my birthday, Laura and I had been out for dinner, and were just watching a movie, when Laura said, ‘I’ll hang out with you until midnight, so we can celebrate your birthday.’ At this point, it was about 9:30pm and I thought to myself, ‘there’s no way I’ll make it to midnight!’
Then I remembered, I was born on the stroke of midnight between the 19th and 20th of September. Bali is two hours behind Melbourne. So in fact, midnight in Melbourne is only 10pm in Bali. I said to Laura, ‘Actually I turn sixty in 30 mins.’ She said, ‘okay then, get ready we’re going out to celebrate.’ We got ready very quickly, because time was ticking (as it does), and we headed out to find a restaurant with live music.
At 9:55 we found one. We ordered drinks and very quickly 10pm Bali time (midnight Melbourne time) struck. Just like that, I was 60 years old. We celebrated, the band played ‘happy birthday’ and kept on playing as we sang and danced along with them. They started performing the song Let it be by the Beatles, and as we were singing along, all of a sudden it hit me like a ton of bricks… I’m actually 60!
I slumped over, hands on my knees, hyperventilating and saying, ‘I can’t believe it, I am sixty. Sixty! How did that happen?’ just as I was hunched over in this position, the band started singing the chorus. Laura came over and tapped me on the shoulder. I looked up at her and she started singing to me, ‘Let it be, let it be, let it be, oh let it be. Whisper words of wisdom, let it be.’
We both started laughing and, just like that, I had let it be. I was over it, and we enjoyed the rest of the night. Right now, several days later as I have reflected on being sixty, the truth is, it is what it is and, it is how old I am, no matter what I think about it. So really, ‘let it be’ was the best advice I could have got in that moment. So, thanks Beatles, and thanks Laura for reminding me.
Now, over to you. What are you worrying about that you should just let be? When we worry about things over which we have no control, we steal from ourselves. We steal joy, we steal health, we steal creativity, we steal the moment we are in, and really, we steal the precious time we have on this planet. When you can let those things be, you will find wonder and amazement in everything you will open the door to enjoy.
In my podcast this week with Jonathan Marion, called Steps along the way, we discuss exactly how to let go of the wrong things and focus on what’s most important. It is a great conversation I encourage you to listen to. As I get back to life in Australia, I bring this memory and lesson with me. I hope that in the important and relevant areas you can just let it be.
by admin | 31 Aug, 2024 | Andrew's Blog, Joyful Longevity
In the quick-fix, fast-paced, and immediate-action world we currently live in, many people who buy into it, are finding themselves faced with more and more challenges. The reality is that reacting costs us and responding pays us. So, with that in mind I want to encourage you to go for the pause that pays.
When I say reacting costs us, I wonder if you know what I am talking about. When you react to the perceived glitz and glamour of the gambling industry, it can cost way more than you have to spend. When you react to emotion in a relationship scenario, it can cost that relationship, or damage it significantly. When you react to a health scare and take a medication or a quick-fix option, it can be at even greater cost to your wellbeing. We have all experienced one or more of these situations, and others, and probably regret the ill-considered decision that led to the loss. Am I right? That being the case, please pay close attention to the pause that pays.
I may come across as someone with incredible emotional maturity and easily able to handle all situations with grace and ease. Ha! I wish! This is still something I struggle with every day. The battle between responding verses reacting confronts me each day I live. There are days I am grateful for the pause that pays, and other times when I suffer the cost of a reaction that ruins. This was a good week for me as a was able to pause before I let my emotions get the better of me and I actually responded in an emotionally mature way. Phew!
I got up one morning last week and did my normal morning routine. Part of that is to check my bank account and track my income and expenses. As I was looking through my credit card transactions, I noticed one from the previous day that was cause for concern. It was not an amount of money I personally paid, for an experience I did not have, at a venue I did not attend. Clearly, in my mind, someone had access to my card and was enjoying themselves at my expense. So, irritated, I rang my bank, they cancelled the card, and then re-issued me a new one. If you have ever cancelled and been re-issued a new card, you will know it is a tedious and time-consuming process. You have to wait for the new card, and then change the details for every service you have set up for automatic payment using that card. I was a little cranky but at least felt safe that no other unauthorised transactions could be made.
In the afternoon, later that day, I received a message from a friend who asked about the card in question, and if it was mine. I had used my card to pay for an experience we had together some time ago and somehow my card had been saved on their account. It was used inadvertently. My friend apologized for the inconvenience. This is where I had to be very careful not to react. In my mind, I was thinking, this would have been information much more useful to me earlier that day, or even better, the day before. As I was considering my response, and very tempted to react, I paused. I thought about what will build and what will erode. If I reacted to my annoyance, I knew it would do damage. However, if I paused and responded, I knew it would be different. So, even though it was hard at the time, I knew it was an honest mistake. I thought about how I would want to be responded to if the roles were reversed and I messaged, these things happen, thanks for letting me know.
As I reflect on this now, several days later, I am so grateful for my response. The pause really paid, as I kept the relationship intact, and I felt good about myself. So, as you move ahead into your day, I want to suggest that, as hard as it may be to withhold the reaction based on how you are feeling in the moment, you will be far better off if you pause, breathe, and think about the consequences. Then respond in a way you would want to be responded to or in a way that will pay off in your life. Angry and want to eat a donut? If you pause, reflect, breathe, and think about the consequences, there is a far better chance you will respond in a healthy way that pays. Feeling helpless and in need of money and tempted to gamble? If you pause, reflect, breathe, and think about the consequences, there is a far better chance you will respond in a way that will be far more profitable in the long-term.
No matter what emotion you experience, and what you are tempted to do, if you pause to think about which decision will enhance your life, and which will destroy it, I hope it helps you make a better decision. In my podcast this week with the magnificent Perry Venakis called, Choice is your legacy, we discuss the many choices we get to make about our health and wellbeing, and how each choice creates the legacy we are leaving. When you pause to think about the legacy you want to leave, I hope it helps you make a decision and take action which moves you forward in your life. Make no mistake about it, the pause most definitely pays.
