Trust Your Instinct And Knowledge

I woke up this morning from a dream in which I experienced a series of different events. It was one continuous dream but I would flash forward in the dream to a new point where something was about to happen and that certain something almost always ends badly. Not in this dream, every time something was supposed to end badly, it turned out to be an even better consequence.

     I haven't remembered my dreams for quite a while so it's nice to wake up with a recollection. Anyway, I feel like my subconcious was telling me to continue on the path I'm on and everything will be alright.

 "No matter how tough the situation looks, you will prevail with something good out of it." 

That's the message I got from my dreams last night. I'm currently cutting fat for summer and I'm getting close to having a 6-pack for the first time in my life. I weighed 230 pounds about 5 years ago and have been learning through trial-and-error how my body works. This has taken a lot of time and I didn't see too much of a difference until I changed my diet up. As soon as I exchanged some fast food for veggies and red meat for chicken, an entire world opened up to me. I started to learn what ingesting certain foods will do for your body and how certain foods can help you perform better in the gym as well as maintain results and cut fat.

I'm always nervous about cutting fat because there is also a muscle loss. Bodybuilders work so hard to make muscle gains in the gym and they can entirely lose their muscle gain during their "cutting" phase and all of that hard work goes down the drain.

So, now I'm cutting and I could lose all of the hard work I put into the gym. Now that I had that dream, I'm going to trust my instinct and roll with it. No matter the outcome, I know I'm going to be happy with it in some way, shape, or form.

Have a great week everyone!

It's been a while!

So it's been about 2 1/2 weeks since I last posted a blog, it's been far too long! How's everybody doing? I've been too busy for my own good, finals week is coming up, I'm getting my own fitness company started, I'm at the gym 5-7 days a week, and I'm working 20-30 hour s a week. I'm taking 6 classes in college and I'm almost out for summer!

     So, I just received an e-mail from my school confirming that as long as I pass my classes this semester, I'll obtain an Associates of Arts degree in Business Administration and another one in Economics. I'll be the first person in my family to have multiple degrees of any type. A lot of my family never went to college and are uneducated so it feels great to set the bar. I want to set the bar, not only for my self, but for the rest of my family. I want them to know that you can do anything you set your mind to, you just need to get to it.

      My father dropped out of high school and graduated from adult education when he was 26, my mother dropped out of high school in grade 10. Already being able to top my parents is already something that I look at with pride. Being able to top my parents while staying in great shape, starting my own company, working, as well as going to school full time....it feels good.

     Through all of this work, I've learned a lot of things. We can't worry about what others are going to say or think. I've kept a close couple friends and worried about myself. A lot of my friends party and drink all the time but I can't afford to do that even on the weekends, it sets me back. Setting goals has given me a destination, creating a plan has given me the path there. I've kept my eyes on the prize and have done everything I need to do to get where I've gotten and I'll continue this philosophy. If you want any tips on moving forward and continuing with success, feel free to send me an e-mail or comment on this blog. I'm here to help motivate others and give them choices in life. Carpe diem!

4/20/2013: One Year of Being Single.

So today, 4/20/2013, is my one year anniversary of the big breakup I had with a girl that I once loved more than anything. This was a girl I met in high school and grew tremendously with. She helped me develop and learn so much about myself, I did the same for her. She helped me through numerous problems, as I did with her. These weren't just small problems in life, they were problems that formed a very tight and different kind of bond.

She broke up with me on 4/20/2012 and I was shattered. I lost the love of my life. I'm a little bit unlike the average person, I moved out when I was age 14 and lived with a friends family. At 18, I moved out and went to college. While going to college and working, no matter how many people you're around, you tend to feel lonely. Go to school, work, gym, then come home to do homework. Rinse and repeat. My parents were never around so that created somewhat of a problem with me, emotionally. This breakup devastated me.

After about two months of dwelling on the past and mourning my lost relationship, I decided to live for myself. It was great, exciting. I learned that there is so much knowledge to obtain not only about life but as myself. It was time for me to learn who I was and grow as an individual, fast.

Ever since, I've flipped my negative perspective on life and tend to think about the bright side of life. Life is far too short to dwell on a past relationship when there are so many other fish in the sea. My physical appearance improved, my grades improved, and I finally just recently got employee of the month at my job. As an individual, nobody but yourself holds you back. I no longer feel like a 20 year old but feel like an experience late 20's adult.

Just wanted to let anybody reading this that might have fallen in love and been crushed that everything will be alright, just keep your head up and keep trucking. There are so many things to do, people to meet, and opportunities to take. Never let your happiness rely on somebody else! Have a great weekend everyone :)

I came, I saw, I conquered.

It's 7:28 AM right now and I'm eating my breakfast. It's my ordinary eggs, oatmeal, and milk breakfast. Being a college student, this is usually the time when I get some thinking done and so far, I've thought about how tough this week is going to be. This week is littered with quizzes, in-class essays, exams, group projects, double shifts at work, and of course my 5-7 days a week at the gym. Deep in thought, I ask myself how I'm possibly going to find time to get everything completed at 100%; I'm shooting for straight A's. My answer: 

Do whatever it takes and find the motivation to not only complete the tasks at hand but EXCEL through the tasks at hand. Life is 85% mental and 15% physical, we can do practically anything we set our mind to. Right now, I'm going to have the best most hectic week I've had this semester. Go into your hardships with this quote in mind by the historically famous Julius Caesar: "Vini, vidi, vici." 

The English translation to this statement is "I came, I saw, I conquered." 

So, let's not just finish our chores and projects with a mediocre performance. Let's EXCEL through what we need to do and look damn good doing it. You only go as far as your work ethic takes you, just a little word from a busy college student who prides himself on hard work and obtaining a high level of success in the future and along the way. Happy Monday everybody! 

P.S. The more responses/page views I obtain, the more motivation I obtain. I see myself as a motivation vampire, please feel free to comment on the page and let me know what you think and/or share this with your friends. Thank you everyone! :)

Progress: One of Many Keys to Success

Hey everybody! Like I've said before, I created this blog in an attempt to motivate and inspire people to lead a more positive and healthy life. I now have a 1-year progress picture from when I first started to be more positive. This happened April 3rd, 2012. I realized that my girlfriend (that broke up with me 2 weeks later) was straying away and it was now time for me to figure out who I was. I started to be more positive and open to change, here is what happened to me.

Top left: age 17. Top right: age 19. Bottom: age 20

I started lifting when I was 14 with almost zero knowledge about the fitness world. I knew how to eat and I knew how to move weight, it's much more complex than that. From age 17 to 19 I learned VERY little about nutrition, but I learned my body from a weightlifting standpoint much better. At age 19, I figured it was time to start on the long road to having abs. The highest weight I reached was 230 pounds when I was about 16, terrible time in my life. It's one of the main things that motivates me to reach goals like this one. 

I got to where I'm at because of the willingness to learn, to change, to grow as an individual. Insanity is defined as doing the same thing time and time again while expecting different results. Nothing different is going to happen unless we stray away from our comfort zone. Concentrating on one area that you're interested in can teach you a lot about yourself. Bodybuilding taught me a lot of valuable skills that I will continue to work on through the years. I've learned what patience is, what hard work can get you, what having a positive attitude will do to your happiness. So many valuable lessons and I enjoyed every opportunity to grow physically and mentally. Hope this helps you in your journey to success!

Goals - The Main Ingredient For Success

Goals have become a large part of my life and attribute greatly to my success. They say success is measured not by how far you are but how far you have come. I lived with a friend through high school, graduated with a 1.81 academic GPA, and had ZERO study skills going into college; I barely passed high school. Another problem of mine was that I was overweight if not obese throughout high school. I played football but that's no excuse to weight 230 at my biggest at a whopping 5'9. I entered high school at 180 and left high school at 190, never dropping below. I'm typing this up in hopes to inspire or motivate ANYBODY, even if it's only 1 person. Making a difference in ONE persons life means a lot to me, so this is purely to help you. (the reader) I'm currently finishing up my 3rd year in college and have a 3.07 GPA, I plan on having a 3.25 GPA after this semester and transferring to the local university!
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 Goals

 Dictionary.com defines the word goal as follows, "the result or achievement toward which effort is directed." Achievement, something accomplished, is one of the best feelings I've ever had. When you set a goal and achieve it, a lot of things are happening that you might not be aware of. Here's an example, you've set a goal of getting an A in your hardest class, you achieve your goal. Not only do you feel good about yourself because you achieved an A but you're family is going to be proud of you and other classmates might follow you or ask you for help. I believe goals are an enormous part of the equation to success and that everybody should set them.

 How to Set a Goal

 I'd say a majority of people don't set goals for themselves and/or don't know how to set goals. The first step is recognizing what you want. If you know what you want, then go get what you want. Create a vision in your head and the next step is to fabricate a battle plan to achieve that goal. I recommend starting small. We all dream big but you never want to jump into anything too fast. If you want to lose weight, maybe make one of your goals to learn about the macro-nutrients in the food we eat. After learning about how much energy is in the food you eat, you can now apply that to your bigger goal of losing 10 pounds. Once you've set a goal and worked out the battle plan for it, the only thing left to do is take action and achieve. I've found that the best way for me to reach goals is writing them down. I bought two white boards and have goals written on them so everyday I walk by, I see my goals. This reminds and motivates me to move forward and reach those goals at almost any cost.

 Types of Goals

 I've set MANY different types of goals for myself. They range from not eating desserts day-by-day all the way to one day travelling to space. You can never set too many goals and it's always good to have a variety of them. You've got small, medium, and large goals. Short-term/long-term goals. Life, social, relationship, personal, physical, mental goals. There are so many different types of goals and that's what makes this fun. 

How to Reach Goals

 Reaching goals that you've set for yourself is definitely a skill. We aren't born with a skill but we learn to hone our skills through hours and hours of beating on that certain skill. Obtaining a goal requires will power, gratitude, a positive mental attitude, hard work ethic, sacrifice, and the drive to succeed (motivation). If your heart isn't in it, forget about it. You've got to really believe in what you're doing and ENJOY the path to reaching that particular goal or those set of goals. Sometimes in life we have to do things that we don't want to do. To be honest, sometimes I really don't want to be in college. Sometimes, I want to just drop it all, move to Europe, and work a low-wage job and enjoy the atmosphere. Unfortunately, that won't help me much in the long run and I'm doing very well in school, so why not continue? We all have doubts and suppressing those doubts with motivation is the best prescription for being down and out when trying to reach a goal. Tell others about your goals, they'll help you reach them. If someone says that you can't do something, prove that you can. Don't let "haters" bring you down in your journey to success.

 What Do Goals Do For Me? 

 Personally, I've found that goals have made me more outgoing, positive, successful, happy, and motivated to help others. I've never been happier in my life. The idea of reaching even the smallest goal makes me ecstatic to set another goal. Each goal that I reach is seen as another building block to who I am and what I've achieve. I'm VERY confident in myself and never succumb to peer pressure, I know who I am and what I should/should not be doing. Goals have helped me find out who I am as an individual. They've helped me find out what I like in life and the kind of friends that I should or should not have in my life. They've made my family happy for me. They've given me the will to motivate others.


 I woke up at 7 AM this morning to work on this blog because I enjoy helping you. I want to stress a positive attitude and hard work. I want to hear from you and your ideas, I want to know that there are more people out there like me. People motivated to succeed at almost any cost. I want to learn from you, there's way too much knowledge out there and I don't have the physical resources to reach people on the other side of the world, so I've created this. I hope this helps you and feel free to leave feedback, it would be much appreciated. Carpe diem!

Everybody is different...

I live in California and this whole gay marriage ordeal is the talk of the town. We passed Prop 8 in November of 2008. Prop 8 eliminates the rights of same-sex couples to get married in the state of California. I'm not religious nor am I prejudice in any way. I understand that everybody is different, but haven't always. In my younger days, I used to dislike gays and talk differently ABOUT them. I never took action against them but was always courteous and respectful when in their presence because even then I understood they were still people. I wasn't raised to treat certain types of people differently, although I easily could have. I come from a white family and we really have no races other than Euro-white races in my family tree.

Everybody is different no matter what you want to say. Every black is different from each other, every gay is different from each other, every teenager differs in one if not many way. White, black, yellow, red, green, purple, everybody is different but we are all human. We're all the same species and should treat each other so. 

Church and state

Doesn't America's legal documents seperate church and state? Why should the government have the ability to intervene whatsoever in this dispute? Getting married isn't only a religious thing but has become a symbol of uniting two people that love each other. If religious fanatics want to say they are sinning by getting married, don't we sin every day? People constantly publicly sin and are fast to call others out for sinning. Getting married is not only a symbol of bringing two people together but also a legal document. When two people are married, the receive tax breaks and are valid to receive different types of aid. If two people are really willing to take advantage of the system by going as far as getting married to somebody of the same sex IF they are not gay, well...let them. That's a big move to make and it's one of those things you just have to let slide.

Fact of the matter, gays are human, just like us. They might be different in the sense that they like the same sex but this country was founded with so many different types of people merging together. Race, religion, sex, age, etc. I don't see the harm in allowing gays to get married, it doesn't affect me one bit. It might mean the world to them and that would make me feel good knowing that they are comfortable with the decisions that they have the right to make in life. 

Just a little rant, hope this comforts some and enlightens others. Until next time, peace!

Zyzz, inspiration to many.

I want to start this post off by saying happy birthday to the late but VERY great Mr. Aziz "Zyzz" Sergeyevich Shavershian. I've been bodybuilding as a hobby for about 4 years now and JUST stumbled upon Zyzz about 6 months ago. From everything I hear about this man, it's more negative than positive. He gets a bad rap for his volatile way of life, doing steroids, being a troll, and more than anything, looking better than everybody.

I don't do steroids, I don't plan on using steroids. I'm very confident in myself and LOVE the natural gains made in the gym after hours of grinding out numerous sets of iron. I've hit the gym religiously for the last 3 years and completely understand all the hard work that goes into obtaining that "perfect body". It's not easy. Zyzz may have used steroids but nothing can take away from his story.

Zyzz was quoted as saying:

Son of Zeus. Brother of Hercules. Father of Aesthetics.

 "Throughout high school, I was ridiculously thin,
 I'm talking the skinniest guy in my grade in school; people always commented on how skinny
 I was and I hated it. I remember feeling like a little bitch when I was out with girls, 
walking next to them and feeling the same size as them."

He became deeply passionate about sculpting his body. There are various progress videos of him through the years and he had a very good natural physique. Aziz first entered the bodybuilding scene after his last year in high school, he was sick of being known as the "weakling". His older brother was training on and off so Aziz approached him for help and at the age of 18, he made a change.

We all have insecurities. We all have something we want to change about ourselves. Some of us can make the change, some of us are restrained from making the change. Zyzz wasn't restrained, he noticed the problem and fixed it. I spend hours in the gym, trying to "perfect" my body...it's no easy task. I eat 6-10 meals a day, religiously. I alter my protein intake, spending much more money on healthy food in order to reach my goals. Sculpting your body is no easy task. Yes, he used steroids at some point in his journey to fix his insecurity. Yes, he pushed himself to the EXTREME to achieve what he wanted to achieve.

                

 After I learned that he passed away on August 5th in 2011, I began to do more research. I learned, after reading an online interview, that Zyzz had no outside competition. He looked at himself and used himself as the biggest competition in the world. He competed, every workout, with himself. By the young age of 22, he achieved more than many of us will achieve in decades of pursuing our goals. He's left a legacy and inspired many people. I'm spending my time writing this tribute blog about this man, he's definitely inspired me to work hard to achieve my goals. His perfect form, hours of sculpting his body in the gym, and perfect diet is something that we can all take from. Try not to look at the negatives but take the positives from this individuals life. We can be anything we want to be, it all depends how much you're willing to sacrifice. 

So, happy birthday and RIP Aziz "Zyzz" Sergeyevich Shavershian. I'm mirin' bra. Thank you for motivating me to work even harder and obtain even more knowledge about this wonderful hobby. I've set goals and what to one day reach your level. I don't care if it takes a decade, I will look as good in your      godly pose! 

 

April 3rd, 2012. (Age 19)

November 30th, 2009. (Age 17)

    

    March 3rd, 2013 (Age 20) About 4 months after learning of Zyzz.

Don't hate somebody because they've worked extremely hard to reach a level you've dreamed of reaching for years. Do everything you possibly can to reach your goal. Sacrifice is a large part of being successful and something not many people are willing to do.How much are you willing to sacrifice? Hope this helps motivate some people and shed light on the positive things that Aziz did for society.

 "We've all got a little bit of Zyzz in us, you just don't know it." 

Aziz "Zyzz" Sergeyevich Shavershian
March 24th, 1989 - August 5th, 2011

Excuses, what's yours?

Excuses are like assholes, everybody has one. I've chosen to lead an excuse-less life. Any "reason" I have for not doing something I should do or something I said I was going to do is forever and always known as an excuse in my book. Just woke up a half hour ago and want to spend my morning trying to motivate some of you to keep moving forward. I'm currently taking 6 classes in college, working 20-25 hours a week, and workout a ridiculous amount. Here's a little something crazy...

I have a log of ALL of my workouts, sets & repetitions, and how many miles I've run during that day or workout. I lift weights, heavy lifting. Turns out, since March 1st, I've worked out on 25 separate occasions and have not taken a single day off this month. Oh, I'm also trying to get STRAIGHT A's! Doing pretty well at it so far too, 7 weeks into the semester.

Why?

My father was never around in my life, he worked nights and always slept during the day. Haven't seen my mother since I was 10. My father is a drug addict and didn't graduate high school until he was 26 (he dropped out and went back to get his diploma). He was never there for me a highly neglected me as a child. He one told me "Josh, I'm the poster child of what you should not be. Don't grow up to be like me." So, I've taken a tremendous load on my plate and I'm determined to take care of as much as I possibly can, to push my self TO THE LIMIT.

In my world, there are no excuses. Only cowards use excuses in my world.

ADHD and me.

Hello everybody. As I've stated in earlier posts, I did not do too well in high school. I graduated with a 1.81 academic GPA (2.17 weighted with Physical Education which was football). I did not have any skills as a student, I didn't know where to begin going into college. On top of not having any foundation study skills, I have to work 20-30 hours a week while going to college to pay my bills. I was diagnosed with ADHD when I was about 9 years old and took medication until I was about 11 or 12. The pills helped me stay focused as a child but the side effects weren't ideal. I hadn't taken medication until I got a pill from a friend in the middle of my 2nd year in college. I knew I was a smart kid but I could never focus...

I would study before and after work but my mind would always drift off somewhere else or I would get physically distracted by something. There was very little time to procrastinate if I wanted to be a successful college student, I scheduled an appointment to get tested for ADHD again to receive the medication. Now, this is something that's been on my mind for quite a while. I feel, because I take this medication, that I'm almost cheating. I don't particularly believe in pharmaceutical/prescription drugs but I want to be the best I possibly can.

I wake up every morning with a pill that "magically" gives me the boost I need to start my day as well as the focus I need to push through my early classes. I've always thought back to a certain thought process that I had when I was a young teen, "You gotta do what you gotta do to get where you gotta get."

Whatever you need to do to reach your goals, do it. I feel guilty all the time because I wish EVERYBODY had this pill prescribed because it's such a good thing for studying and school, but I guess I "need" it because I have ADHD which I've also thought is a b*** sh** diagnosis/disease. Just thought I'd share my thoughts on ADHD, I know a lot of people are diagnosed with it every year and I don't know if others feel the same way as me. Have a great day! :]

Time, time, time...

Speeches give me more motivation than anything. I'm constantly searching online for ways to motivate me to do better than I've ever done and continuously set the bar higher for myself. Success doesn't come easy, not a chance. One major component is time. Time is the most precious commodity on Earth. We can never get our time back, money could never buy it. What we do with our time is in our hands and almost completely determines our fate. 

We see these bodybuilders, professional athletes, scientists, inventors, CEO's, etc. I can go on. We see these successful people and wonder how they got there. So many people look at these people in awe, thinking that they themselves will never get to where that person is. I don't believe that. I believe we can do ANYTHING we want to do, as long as we use our time efficiently. We see bodybuilders and say they take steroids or that they have amazing genetics...that doesn't mean they don't spend HOURS working on there profession and honing their skill. It doesn't mean they didn't work hard to reach the position they're at. 

You can either choose to go out and part, going about your night in a clumsy haze OR you can stay home and get the sleep your body needs. You can even stay home and do homework for the NEXT week, clean your room, do the laundry, things more productive than partying or slacking around. 

Our time on this Earth is limited and our abilities are restricted. We aren't all born the same, some people are more intelligent or some people were born into a family with connects into certain jobs. This should push you to work EVEN HARDER. To be an even better person. To better yourself in any way possible. Every successful person knows that they must give their absolute all to get better and that going through the motions are the most disadvantageous thing you can do. If you do it right the first time, you never have to go back and do it again.

There are only a certain number of minutes in our lives, lets make those minutes count and be the best we can be. You never know when those minutes might get cut short. Don't make excuses for yourself, you can do ANYTHING you set your mind to!

Malcom X: No Fear

‎"No, I don't worry, I tell ya. I am a man who believed that I died 20 years ago and I live like a man who is dead already. I have no fear whatsoever of anybody or anything." -Malcom X

Malcom X was a man of his word and fought for what he believed in. I wish I was more knowledgeable about the man and what he did for the movement. From the small amount of information I know about him, he was a martyr and known as the most influential African American of the 20th century. This quote just tweaked my perspective on life a little bit. I'll give you my perception of the words that he spoke...

Why worry about anything? Everything is constantly changing and no matter what, we're going to be alright. Fear is the BIGGEST restraint of them all, but we are the ones who allow it to restrain. Malcom X decided at one point in his life that he would rather live his life as if he were already dead rather than allowing fear to stop him from doing what he wanted to accomplish. This is coming from a man who has been deemed one of the mot influential persons of an entire century, words of wisdom. He may of been assassinated but that's part of life.

     I would not mind dying at the age of 25 if I knew that I accomplished what I wanted to accomplish in my life. As a 20 year old, I will begin living my life like this. I've already been moving in this direction but now is the time to make the switch. Life is too short to have fear...fear will not be a roadblock in my life. I will accomplish all that I want to accomplish and then some!

Don't contemplate, just do what you want to do and get it done!

Set the bar high!

I devised a quote when I was about 16, it goes :

"You gotta do what you gotta do to get where you gotta get."

This means that you must do whatever it takes to reach the goals you set for yourself. Sometimes you have to do things against your code of ethics, sometimes you got to do things that you might not like doing, and sometimes you've got to sacrifice what you would never want to sacrifice. 

I want my life to be evaluated from how far I've come. I want to be the first person in my family to graduate from college. I want to be the first person in my family with a Bachelors degree. I want to be the first person in my family with a Masters degree. I want to do what others in my family FAILED to do, set the bar HIGH. I want my kids and grand-kids to look at me and wonder how I did it. I want them to question me, ask me for advice, and allow me to lead them through life.

If there's one thing I learned in life, a good role model can impact many lives. A bad role model can ruin many lives.

Have a great day everyone.

Will Smith motivates me, how average are you?

I know who I am, I know what I believe, and that's all I need to know...

And where I excel is ridiculous, sickening, work ethic. You know, while the other guy's sleeping? I'm working.

The first step, before anyone else believes it, you have to believe it.

Being realistic is the most commonly traveled road to mediocracy. It's done the second I decide it's done, we just gotta wait for y'all to see.

-Will Smith

I've recently been watching a motivational Will Smith video that contains various interview clips with his quotes. The first time I even heard that he was such a motivational person, I almost crapped my pants. Will Smith lives his life by the same rules and standard I live mine. I've noticed myself gaining more and more success lately and I think there is a correlation between the two.

My job is to be a student. I also work as a waiter to pay my bills (rent, car insurance, gas, phone, etc). I do as much as I can to be the best possible student I can. I try my hardest to be the best server I can. I don't plan on being a server for much more than one more year but I give it my ALL because it shows who I am.
I want to know, for myself, that I tried my hardest and did MY personal best. It shows who I am to myself and everybody else. People recognize how hard I work, most praise me and some are envious. Either way, I try my hardest at all that I do.

People wonder why others have something and why they do not. They make excuses as to why these people are where they are. Time is the most precious commodity, we are only allotted a certain amount of it and can never buy it back. Successful people know this and use apply hard work to the short amount of time they have. They are MORE productive than the person wondering why that certain person is successful.

Think about it next time you'd rather sit down and watch T.V. or smoke weed or get drunk. Think about how hard I'll be working and how fast I'm going to pass you up. Have a great day everyone.

To party or not to party?

That is the question. Yesterday was Friday. I'm a college student taking 6 classes and working 20-25 hours a week. A good friend of mine has an open house, his grandma is gone and nobody is home. He's my friend that smokes and drinks and a lot of my other friends do as well. I decided to go to the gym right after work, maybe if I was still up for it then I'd go and say "hi" to some old friends.

I got back from the gym around 10:45 PM and decided to go to the party. I got there and EVERYBODY noticed. There were about 15 people there and the party COMPLETELY stopped when I walked in the door. That seems to happen quite often when I go to parties. People notice as I walk in the door (I'm 5'9 185-190 in pretty good shape too haha), but everybody stopped and greeted me. It was very nice, haven't seen a lot of these people for months. They all know me as the "motivated guy". It's nice but kind of weird to think about how much of a 180 turn my life has made over the last couple years.

I went from smoking weed every day and drinking on the weekends and overweight to where I'm at now. Sober as a bird. Everybody was intoxicated in some way, but it was nice seeing people. I was able to talk to a few of them about college and how they were doing. I was able to give my friends 30 year old brother some advice, he's kind of stuck in life. Smoking pot all the time and not taking advantage of his situation.

Another thing I wanted to mention. I achieved a 2 1/2 year goal of obtaining employee of the month for the month of March with my employer. I've always wanted this award and finally got it, there are about 300 people at my work. My manager stopped me yesterday and said "Hey Josh, I said some good things about you at the director meeting yesterday." I questioned his words about me and he said, " I said that I wouldn't be surprised if Josh is a successful self-made millionaire. He's so motivated and works so hard and I really appreciate it and admire him." This is coming from one of the 8 directors (my boss) to all of the others as well as some employee that go to the meeting.

I keep hearing more and more that I WILL be successful. I never had the goal of becoming a millionaire...he just gave me the idea that I can be a millionaire. So, I WILL be a millionaire. I've set a new long-term goal of mine and that is to become a millionaire by the time I'm 35.

Hope this inspires somebody on the day, been spending a lot of the little time I have on this so...please feel free to give your input or ask a question or share this with others. I do this purely as a hobby and part of my life, I don't make any money and I don't want to be paid to do this. My pay is the reaction from my viewers, have a great day everyone. Carpe Diem!

Equation to success!

Hey everybody.

I've been thinking lately about where I am in life and how I got here. Going from a weed smoking, over-weight, 1.81 GPA high school kid to a now 3.07 GPA, clean, and in shape man. I'm 20 years old and in a matter of the last 12 months, I've really changed things. With many lessons along the way, one of the most valuable that I've picked up is that hard work really does pay off. While everybody goes out on the weekends to go to parties, drink, and/or try to pick up girls, I'm usually at the gym, working, or doing school work.

I've made a few VERY specific goals that I'm on my way to achieving, here they are.

1. As far as weightlifting goes, keep the body fat low and enjoy lifting.
2. Graduate from a university with a business degree with a concentration in accounting with a 3.5 GPA or higher. (first person to graduate from college in my family)
3. Obtain a well paying job right after graduation or before.
4. Try and preserve my youth.

Number 4 has really been hard for me. As stated above, I'm constantly working for my goals and a social life really isn't included in them. I'm 20 years old and feel like a 25 year old, doesn't sound like it's too old but you shouldn't feel like that when you're 20 haha.

Fact of the matter, setting goals has really helped me become a more successful individual. I may have only shared 4 goals with you but I have dozens of them and meet goals on a daily basis. This keeps me motivated to continue achieving and excelling in life.

I've kind of found an equation to success...here it is:

Motivation + Hard work + Positive Mental Attitude = Success

With this combination, you can do WHATEVER you want in life. Sounds simple, but staying motivated is very hard...that's why I've created this blog. I find myself losing motivation and I use this to obtain feedback from others and hopefully I can help motivate them. Hard work is learned, the environment we've grown up in shapes our work ethic and we must sometimes have to flip it around and learn a better work ethic.

 Positive mental attitude, this one might be the hardest of all. All we see on T.V. is negativity, death, and tragedy. News stations and newspaper companies seem to be very good at outlining all of the terrible things that go on in the world. I've chosen to look at every situation with a new view. I constantly ask myself, "What do I have to complain about? Honestly? What in life is so bad that I can't reach my set goals?". I find it harder and harder to answer this question as I get older and older. We really have no excuse to reach goals. No matter how bad the situation, you can always find a positive light. A quote I've devised to get me and others through tough times:

"When life hits you hard and it's the darkest time you've seen, the light will shine brightest. Find it."

I hope at least ONE person can take from this post, I constantly spend my time writing these blogs in HOPE that I can help somebody. Please feel free to comment on this with your opinion or share it with others. I don't make any money on this blog, I just want it to reach as many people as possible. Thank you for your time, happy Wednesday!

On the grind!

Hello! So it's 6:37 AM where I'm at and I am already ready for my day of school and work. My alarm went off 5 minutes ago, I woke up at 5:45 and felt hungry...I was physically hungry. Also felt more awake than I've felt in weeks when waking up, with only 5 hours and 45 minutes of sleep in me. While showering, I fell into deep thought. I felt more motivated today, mentally hungry for a challenge. Mentally hungry to do something different or better today. 

Today, I will redefine the grind. I will make today a better and more productive day than I've had in a while. Successful people go with the hours, we only have so many hours in the day to do what we need to do. Time is the most precious commodity of all and it's sickening to see others throw it away. This is our time to move forward, to challenge ourselves, to push ourselves to failure. 

"A superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions." -Confucious

5 hours and 45 minutes of sleep sounds pretty good to most of you reading this. I exercise 7 days a week, twice a day when I can, and weight lift 5 days a week AT LEAST. My body "needs" a minimum of 8 hours of sleep to grow at its best. I'm willing to sacrifice that extra 45 minutes that I could have gotten to grind on some homework.

 My education is very important to me and I set a goal of obtaining straight A's this semester as my first semester with straight A's in all of the years I've been in school. This is my 3rd year in community college and I'm transferring to a 4-year university next fall. I graduated high school with a 1.81 academic GPA...what's your excuse? Why aren't you doing something that you should be doing today? Why aren't you pushing yourself to your limits? Maybe it's time to do a little self-reflection and a re-evaluation of yourself. 

Hope everyone has a positive, productive, and overall awesome day! :)

We're all human

Hey everyone, I've been very busy lately and haven't had much time to post. In all honesty, I've kind of been struggling with life. I may have created this blog to be positive and inspirational but I want everyone that reads this to know that we're all human and it's not rainbows and sunshine 100% of the time.

I worked about 20 hours this weekend, worked out 4 or 5 times, and am just pooped. I'm going into this week with a positive outlook though. The quote of my week is:

"If you're going through hell, keep going." by Winston Churchill

This quote is so true, I feel that I've faced some hardships this weekend and have a very tough week ahead of me. I'm going to keep going through it, Hell. Have my first astronomy exam on Thursday as well as a quiz tomorrow in the same class.

As stated in an earlier post, I'm shooting for my first semester in ALL of my school years for straight A's and this semester I just so happen to have 6 classes for 16 units, the toughest semester yet. I'm also transferring to a university next fall so I NEED the GPA boost badly.

All in all, if you're going through something tough then just keep going. You'll get through it, don't accept no
for an answer. Redefine the grind, prove to yourself that you're much stronger than you once thought. This is going to be a great week, I can feel it. Have an awesome day everyone and a great week if I can't get to the computer for another post this week! :)

The world as I see it, tonight.

The last few days have been very tough on me. I might be moving and there are a lot of big decisions I have to make soon. I'm very busy with school and stressed out but I'm keeping a positive mental attitude. Just got back from a 15 minute walk down the street from my house. It's so warm and clear out tonight, couldn't help but soak in the beauty. 

After a few minutes of being out there, some deep thoughts occurred. I started to think that every star that I saw was the sun of an entire galaxy. That tiny and almost unseen light in the sky was something most likely multiple times bigger than the place we call home. Every star out there is part of a galaxy that potentially has or had life on it at some point. I began to think about how small I am, we are. It's amazing to think that people in this small world of ours feel so entitled. As if they actually mean something  significant in the grand scheme of the universe. Our entire solar system is but a granule of sand on the beach of the universe. 

Tonight was a humbling experience. I've been losing touch with myself and notice days passing faster and faster. It's nice to slow down for a few minutes and just think about life. It made me think that we completely create the world we live in. We can live in a deep, dark, and treacherous world where people are out to get us and bad things are always happening. Or, we can live in a world where the people around us have depth to them, a personality. Where you mostly see light with very few black outs. Where you can do whatever you set your mind to, whatever you want to do. We create our world in the sense that the atmosphere that we're part of is 100% our doing. I have friends that I WANT in my life, not that NEED to be in my life. I choose to live in the city, state, country that I live in. I could move to Europe, drop everyone in my life, and start over if I really wanted to. 

I'm so thankful for the people I have around me. As small and insignificant our planet is, it means something to me. Being able to look out into the universe and wonder like I did tonight is something that we take for granted. This world is so small, we can do whatever we want to do. We can choose to lead a safe and steady life, or take risks on a chance to move forward and get somewhere you may never thought you could have gotten. 

I'm going to leave it off on that, just a deep thought kind of night. Much needed. 

Hope everyone reading this is doing well, Carpe Diem.

Friends or enemies?

Friendship... is not something you learn in school. But if you haven't learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven't learned anything.
Muhammad Ali 

Hey everyone, it's Saturday morning and I had a long day at work yesterday (11-8 PM). I'm about to start catching up on studying and trying to studying for future class sessions. I just wanted to drop off a little note.

I currently have a "friend" who has had a pretty rough life like me, same sort of childhood neglect. We actually lived together for almost 2 years in high school and became very well acquainted. He got into ecstacy and marijuana as well as various other drugs (very occasional for any other drug). He currently only smokes marijuana. But he's struggled in life, I've always been there to try and guide him and show him the way but I've been having trouble lately...

Lately, my thoughts on friend have been, "if they bring you down, let them stay down." I'm at a point in my life where my future is GREATLY impacted by what I do now. I can't afford to hang around people that are just going to bring me down. This "friend" of my, who I once called my brother, is struggling and bringing me down. He's turning 21 in a couple months, doesn't have his license, doesn't have any bills to pay, and the job he has is a job that I got him. I've sent him pictures of used cars for sale with the number that run very well but he never acts on it whatsoever. 

The last few months, the only time he texts me is if he needs a ride somewhere. EVERY TIME. I'm fed up  with it as he has crossed the line by messaging a girl that I've been talking on Facebook. This girl and I have been dating the last 2-3 months and he's never met her before. After of course telling him about my dates and encounters with this girl, he decides to start talking to her. I was texting her last night and in the middle of the text she said, "Oh, I talked to ****!" and at that point, I was angry. 

I don't have any emotional connection with this girl, I'm angry because he's never met her and is trying to talk to her now. He's made more effort to talk to this girl than he has to me in the last few months and from what I've told you, he usually only initiates a conversation if he wants something. 

I am going to talk to him within the next few days and let him know how I feel, it's hard to believe I called this guy my brother...

Lesson, evaluate yourself and your friends. You never know what might be dragging you down in life, it tends to be our friends more than anything. I've been noticing more and more and have dropped people out of my life that weren't as good friends as him but it's getting to the point where I am starting to drop what I thought were great friends from my life. 

Time to get back to the study grind, I hope this helps somebody with friendship problems they have in life. I want to be successful in life and when somebody only makes contact with you when they want something, that's not very friendly. Keeping my head up and realizing this is only a weight off of my shoulders! :)

Have a great weekend everybody! 

Our mind is stronger than we know.

Hey everyone, I'm mentally too tired to continue my life story but I'll try to get to that by the end of the weekend. So I've recently been getting into better cardiovascular shape by running longer distances. On Monday I attempted a long jog (I didn't know how far it was prior to the run) that ended up being 6.5 miles. I was dead after but it felt great to successfully complete something that I'd never done before. So yesterday I had school until 3:00 PM and then went to the gym, came back home to study and finish homework, and then went on a run at 11:00 PM...

This run was a little bit different, I wanted to push myself until failure. I wanted to make myself quit, meet adversity face to face. So I set out on a jog with my iTouch, smartphone, and earbuds. I didn't know how far I was going to jog so I started my jogtracker app and started the jog. I felt great, ran for about 3.25 miles before I checked how long/far I'd been jogging. I decided to continue on...

Every step I took, I was going to have to retrace, meaning my jog back was the same distance to the turnaround point. So I set a street that I wanted to run to and eventually reached it, at 4.87 miles. As I stated earlier, I JUST started getting into better cardiovascular shape and the 6.5 mile jog on Monday trashed my body. So I stopped for about 60 seconds and then started on my path back home. I ate enough food for about a 3 miles jog so at the 1/2 way mark, my body was out of free floating energy. I found a motivational video on Youtube and pressed on....

At about 7 miles, I really started to doubt myself. I'm very into nutrition and fitness and KNOW that I didn't consume enough energy or my body to excel through the run, I was going to hit a wall. Every step I took, I was searching for a drinking fountain, wanting to wet my mouth so badly. At about 8 miles, my steps seemed to become smaller and smaller. My head began to feel different and I wanted to stop. My knees ached, my calves burned, and my throat was dry as ever, but I continued. I wanted this jog to break me, to make me quit, make me cry; I wouldn't let it.

I want to shout out a big thanks to Blink-182, Incubus, and Will Smith. I can't even begin to explain how many thoughts ran through my head during this epic run. I began to think about how little pain people want to go through. How little we are willing to sacrifice in order to be successful. I wanted to set myself apart, be different, express myself. I was unsuccessful at breaking myself, but the exercise worked my mental strength more than anything.

It's amazing to see how powerful the human mind is. We make excuses everyday on why we haven't completed something or progressed in life but it's all up to us. It's as simple as doing it. One quote that got me through the run, motivates me, and gives me chills is one by Will Smith.

“The only thing that I see that is distinctly different about me is I'm not afraid to die on a treadmill. I will not be out-worked, period. You might have more talent than me, you might be smarter than me, you might be sexier than me, you might be all of those things you got it on me in nine categories. But if we get on the treadmill together, there's two things: You're getting off first, or I'm going to die. It's really that simple, right?

I successfully finished the longest jog I've ever don at 9.74 miles in 1:41 minutes. My pace is nothing special but what matters is that I didn't quit. I couldn't quit. Next time you think you can't do something, think again because our minds are a lot stronger than we know.

Have a great night everyone, I hope this helps at least one person out there. Feel free to comment on this and/or +1 or share it with your friends. I'm trying my best to reach as many people as possible.

Thank you for taking the time to read this,

Josh

A little bit about me: Part 1.

Happy Wednesday everybody! So this will be my 4th post using Blogger and I'm still trying to get the hang of this. I'm trying to positively influence others to excel through their daily life with a positive attitude and a goal in mind. This not only helps me excel through my daily life but it makes me happy to influence others. I want to attain a sort of fan base of regular readers so I want to let you know a little bit about my personal life.

     My parents were never married. My father was 22 and my mother was 20 when I was born, they were both drug addicts (and currently still are as far as I know). I grew up in and out of meth houses, hotels, cars, etc. while I was under the "care" of my parents. At the age of 2 my grandparents (fathers parents) fought a custody battle over me so my mother could not have full custody over me (she lived in her fathers house which was a meth house, people in and out on the daily, drugs being sold and done inside the house at various times of the day every day). Thankfully, they won the custody battle and a new path was made for me to go down. I lived with them while my father got sober, I went to my mothers every week and was regularly neglected. I'd always go back to my grandparents in the same clothes I went in (unwashed) and most of the time sick and hungry. My father was in and out of my life while I was living with my grandparents and this was tough.

     My father went to rehab, met all the requirements the court had, and obtained custody over me (was about 4). My father quickly relapsed and a quick slope of neglect came my way. He mentioned that he was going to move out of the state to my great aunt (while he was high on drugs) and she gestured to him that they would take care of me so he could do his thing. At the age of 4, I moved in with my great aunt, uncle, and cousin (who has down syndrome and is 18 years older than I). This was the closest thing to family that I had ever had, it was not normal to me. I was a very insecure child and always aware of my surroundings, constantly looking around the room and knowing when somebody entered and who was in the room. My great aunt told me that there were multiple times when I would have a little stash of food in my room (at the age of 4) because I wasn't used to having food and never knew when my next meal might be.

   I didn't see my mother again until I was about 6 or 7. I went to her house every other weekend for a few days and visited. As I mentioned, my mother and father were into drugs. At the time, I never even knew what drugs were but I did recognize that I was always in a dirty/unclean environment and that I wore dirty old clothes that were always too big on me. Looking back, I realize the impact the drugs had on everyday life for me as a child and on my mother, who probably didn't give too much of a care about me. This went on until I was about 8, it turned into me visiting her once a month, once every couple months, and then I finally stopped seeing her when I was about 10 years old.

   All the while, my dad had met and married a woman who I now call my step mother (even though her and my father are no longer together). They moved in together when I was about 6 and she had a daughter that was a year younger than me. My father never knew how to take care of me, I moved straight in with him from my great aunts house (where he rarely came by and never knew how to take care of me in the first place). I was happy to be around my father, though. He worked 9pm-5am in a warehouse and made a decent wage, only problem was that he slept all day and whenever I saw him he was irritable. That's one thing I'll always remember about him when I was a child, he rarely had patience for me and seemed to be irritable most of the time. I'm going to skip most of this because I respect my step mother very much for taking care of me but she didn't go about it the best way and I think that affected me negatively in a way growing up as a teen.

    Her and my father divorced when I was about 12 and my father moved in with his new girlfriend a few months later. This lady had two children, a daughter a year younger and a son that was about 3 years younger than me.

Note: Growing up, my family never had much money. None of them were too educated but they were very hard workers. My father never made a respectable wage but I respect him for working his ass off every night to provide for his family, something my mother never did.

So my fathers new girlfriend didn't have much money either, she lived off of the government (illegally) and didn't work a day in her life as far as I know. She spoiled her children as much as she could from the money she obtained when her mother died and the money she regularly got from the government. I was always on my own in a way growing up and never thought too much of it. I came and left as I pleased, riding my bike to  whatever destination I wanted. After living there for about a year, she sold her mothers house and moved into a small mobile home park. She had a brand new home built that we were all to move into.

This is a more recent part of my life that I really take from and see as a big adversity in my life...
We moved into her newly built house, it was small but nice. She had 3 bedrooms built but here's the twist, I didn't get a room. Her and my father shared the master bedroom and then each of her children got their own room. She made sure to build me an uncarpeted/uninsulated room in the garage, it was 9x4 feet. This may be smaller than some of your closets. Lol. There was enough space in the room to fit a folded up futon and a small T.V. stand for my television. I had a small dresser outside my room and that was it. Life got a little bit harder when we moved into her new house. She began to treat me worse, restricting me from doing certain things in her house. She wouldn't allow me to eat any of her food (my father never bought food and he ate her food), began locking her fridge, and regularly told me that my father didn't love me. She thought I was jealous about how she treated her children, saying that she loves them and smothers them with her undying love and affection while my father didn't show me much love at all.

I would find myself buying my own groceries with whatever money my family would give me for my birthday and Christmas. I don't know many 12 year olds that buy their own groceries at that age. I lived there for a couple years until high school. I played baseball my whole life and wanted to try out football in high school. Over the summer going into freshman year, I made friends with somebody I had known through out my life but never actually talked to him. He lived right behind my high school and I would go over to his house after football and play video games (much better than riding my bike 2 miles home with all my gear after practice in the dark). I spent numerous days at his house and finally his mother asked me about my situation. I explained and she asked if I would like to move in with them and explained that they would take care of me. This was my chance and I took it.

I'm going to leave off there for now, I need to get to my studying and I've spent a while on this passage. I constantly reflect on my life and I think it's something good to do as regularly as you can.

If you forget your past, you might as well forget who you are. Our past makes us who we are today, whether you want to believe it or not. I never want to lose sight of what I went through in life and how far my journey has gone.

Have a great day everybody, I'll try to get another post in today. If not today, then sometime over the next couple days. I have my first exam in environmental biology tomorrow and I'm shooting for straight A's in my 6 classes this semester.

Carpe Diem!

Something as simple as a run

I've been at my cousin's house for the last couple days, celebrating his 21st birthday (which is today). I don't normally drink but since it was an occasion, I had a couple drinks. Being into a healthy lifestyle as I am, I'm usually at the gym 5-7 times a day, sometimes twice a day if time permits. I recently came down with a cold so lifting was out of the question, a jog was a bit more acceptable.

Recently I've been trying to improve my cardiovascular health by jogging more often and have gone on a few 5+ miles jogs. The more cardio I do, the easier it gets. Go figure haha.

So I woke up this morning and decided on a 2-3 miles jog...turned into a 6.5 miles jog. This took me about 61 minutes to complete and 2/3's of the jog was up hill. The beginning was downhill and very enjoyable, I had a sickening smile across my face the whole way down. During that hour of jogging, I went deep into thought...

Jogging downhill was so pleasing because it almost felt effortless. When life is easy (coasting downhill) we're happy and it's enjoyable. Once I got to the turning point (3.25 miles in), I rested for no more than 10 seconds...I didn't want to stop the journey. The remaining 3.25 miles was uphill, a very steep uphill battle at that. After turning around, the deep thoughts took over even more and I fell deep into thought. I remebered how everything prior to the turning point was pretty easy and felt amazing, giving me a large smile across my face. The uphill trial begins...

I thought about how strong our mind must be in order to be successful. About how success is deliberate and intentional and doesn't just happen by luck. The site and thought of beginning this battle began to take it's toll but I quickly turned my thought process around. It's as simple as changing you thought process on the situation. Instead of thinking about how hard this was going to be, I saw it as a challenge. I've never overcome such a treacherous run before but this would be a medal to my showcase. Step by step, I trudged up the mountainous hills of Corona. I saw countless people looking at me as they drove by, I enjoy being the only jogger in site during my entire run. Hoping to motivate the 2/3 of our population that is considered overweight.

After I got home, the reflection continued and I felt great about the jog. Thinking about the lesson retaught to me through exercise. Life goes well at times and is bound to go bad at some point. You can choose to either look at the situation presented to you with a negative approach or you can choose to handle the situation as well as you can and excel through it, coming out victorious. We are the masters of our own fate and determine what we'll accomplish in life, some of us just need a little motivating to get there.

Goals: The beginning.

Hey everyone, this is my second post for my blog and I'm excited to get it started! Everyone or anyone who reads this, please feel free to comment on it and provide feed back or your thoughts on my posts. I currently have 6 classes and 16 units in my last semester in the community college system and will be moving to a university next fall, trying to get my first semester of having straight A's! I graduated high school with under a 2.0 GPA and currently have a 3.07 GPA and rising in college.

Staying on track isn't as hard as we make it out to be. In my time, setting a goal and obtaining it has been the best method for success for me. I set a number of goals, small, medium, large, long-term, short-term, life goals, etc. That way, I'm always achieving something and constantly receiving the feeling of satisfaction and progress from something I completed. I'm into bodybuilding as a hobby and am constantly trying to perfect my body. Not for anybody else, but for the personal satisfaction of reaching goals that I've set for myself. My goal is to finally have the "summer body" this year. I've been chubby my whole life and reached 230 pounds at 5'8 through high school. I'm now a leaner 185 at 5'9 (didn't grow much in high school haha). I've started by having a daily goal of successfully matching the diet I've set for myself, I don't always reach it but when I do, I notice the results and it feels good to stick to my word.

I'm still trying to get used to blogging, never really done it before. Hope this helps somebody!

Until next time,

JSS

My First Post and Attempt To Make Followers

     I've created my first blog and would like to stay anonymous, at first. This is an experiment to see how many people's lives I can influence via the internet. I'm currently in my third year in community college and will be transferring to a four-year university next fall. I rent a room, work part-time, and pay all my own bills. I moved away from my parents in my early teen years for an adventure away from abuse and neglect. I had a very bleak outlook on life and changed it all about two years ago. I understand the hardships and adversity that life throws at us. I've learned to handle it in a very unique fashion that allows me to help others. I use quotes, life experiences, and deep thought to keep me excelling in the right direction. Positive vibes are also another tool I use to stay motivated and happy through the days. I want to wrap this post up right now so I can find out how to traffic people onto follow my blog! Please tell others, I'll be posting a few times a week and it will be motivation/inspirational blogs as well as personal blogs. I'm here to help you, which in turn helps me :)