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! :)