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Step #6 What Is A Forcing Function?

Step #6 What Is A Forcing Function?

by | Feb 15, 2022 | Rich Life Wealthy Life

Step #6 What Is A Forcing Function?

We all need a forcing function to spur us forward. Forcing functions are expected outcomes that we demand of ourselves. They can take various forms, from timelines to “no turning back” options. They include the rewards of pleasure and the pain of not getting it done. 

 Forcing functions require a delicate balance between too much and too little. They must be at a level we can tolerate, and that moves us forward yet enough to put a little stress on us to spur us to act. Too much of a forcing function, and we might become frustrated and overwhelmed—allowing us to fall into procrastination. Too little of a forcing function, and it won’t be significant enough to move us to action. 

 I’ve found there is a fine line between the forcing function to move you forward, and the overwhelm of feeling like you aren’t going to make it. The key is to keep pushing through to the final result. The grit of moving forward in the face of significant obstacles is a trained habit.

 Here are a few forcing functions you might try to spur you to act.   

 Setting a deadline can be the catalyst to getting that forward momentum going. Creating a sense of urgency with a timeline can help you move forward rapidly.

Download Your FREE eCopy Of Rich Life, Wealthy Life

Reclaiming your love life, and getting your financial house in order doesn’t have to be painful.

Rich Life, Wealthy Life provides strategies for “stress-free” wealth development and delves into the leading cause of disharmony and divorce.  Here you will find solutions to emotional distress and a pathway toward empowering harmonious relations.

Yes! Send Me My FREE Copy

Make your goal a requirement in your mind—something that has to get done?

We have all heard the story of Cortez, the Spanish conquistador who ordered his men to “burn the boats” as a way of making sure his men were committed to their goal. This was a primary forcing function.

 Focus on the thrill of ultimate victory, and recent science suggests introducing a bit of “what if I don’t get it done” thinking too. The pull of success contrasted with the agony of defeat provides a more profound forcing function in our mind. Providing a hint of the suffering of failure can spur you forward.

 It is well known that we humans respond quicker and more dramatically to avoiding pain rather than seeking pleasure. Think of the consequences if it is not completed. What will you miss? How will you feel?

 Emotions spark motion!

 Feel the pain of not getting it done and the pleasure of completing your ultimate destiny. We are all driven to seek pleasure and avoid pain. You can use these emotions to become a goal-seeking missile, speeding relentlessly toward your target.

 To help you along, you will want to set achievable daily deadlines. Doable because you will want to celebrate your progress each day. This daily celebration encourages you to achieve your clearly spelled-out daily milestone. Make it a habit to celebrate the GAIN. An excellent book called The Gap and The Gain, by Dan Sullivan with Dr. Benjamin Hardy, explains how and why this is a powerful technique.

 The Pareto Principle states that roughly 80 percent of the effects come from 20 percent of the causes. So, focus on the 20 percent that will get you most of the results you’re looking for.

An excellent reference on this topic is Eat That Frog, by Brian Tracy, or a short article titled What Is The Super-Cycle to Success, The Four Keys To Finding the Frick’n Fruit.

The Frog, your Focus, getting into Flow, and the Finish are vital elements to propel you toward the finish line.

 Avoid Parkinson, the adage that work expands to fill the time available for its completion in going after your goal. Stay focused on the immediate things that count. Don’t seek perfection unless it is indispensable. Often, the 80% solution will provide all the rewards, so allow yourself a little leeway when it comes time to call it complete. Perfection can be the enemy of good enough.

 Don’t let the world get in your way. We live in a world full of distractions; phone calls, text messages, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and hundreds of other things that can and will distract you from your goal—if you let it!. Stay focused and committed to your destination and the timeline you have set. Set up your environment to succeed. Make it happen!

 Be a bit like Cortez and his men—single focused on the goal. Making your dream a must, being committed, and having a sense of urgency will move you toward your destination faster. Setting a timeline and sticking to it–these are all forcing functions that will help move you forward.

Dave Razo

Author – Speaker – Leader - Investor

Dave spent a long and distinguished career as a pilot and leader in the United States Air Force. Along the way, he managed to obtain three graduate degrees.  As an investor in the stock market for more than 37 years, Dave has seen his share of ups and downs.  When Dave retired as a Colonel in 2006, he founded Razor Sharp Investments. Subsequently, he worked with an investment education company, teaching new investors how to handle their money, and then two brokerage firms doing the same thing.  In 2012, Dave founded his own investment firm.  Dave has always been fascinated by the question, Why do people do the things that they do?  On his discovery journey, he encountered Tony Robbins. He worked with his event staff to eventually progresss through the Institute for Strategic Intervention as a coach, making him ideally suited to tackle the most formidable challenges in a relationship.  Dave continues to be committed to a life of service, mainly serving those struggling in their relationships over money.  

WeBuildABetterU.com | Dave.Razo@gmail.com
Work Toll-Free (888) 360-6064 or (478) 293-1344

Founder and Managing Partner
Your Best Option Investment Group, LLC

Dave is dedicated to the values of
Integrity First  -- Service Before Self – Excellence in All We Do.
Author: Rich Life, Wealthy Life
From Successful Investing to Happy Empowered Living
RichLifeWealthyLifeBook.com

Three Keys to Your Best Relationship

Three Keys to Your Best Relationship

by | Feb 4, 2022 | Rich Life Wealthy Life

Three Keys to Your Best Relationship

         Above all, it’s the quality of your relationships that will determine
the quality of your life. Invest in your connections, even those that
             seem inconsequential.”                            Therapist – Esther Perel          

Your relationships impact every aspect of your life. The richness of your relationships is linked to a fulfilling life and your longevity. Yes, relationships are essential in the quality and the quantity of living. So, why not write a treatise? Why only write about three keys, you ask?

After 40 years of marriage, I wanted to keep it simple and give you my BIG 3. That’s about all I can focus on at any time, and I thought if I went into a long dissertation, it would frankly bore everyone to tears.

I know there are a lot more than three. In fact, there are a ton of character traits that are effective in building and maintaining good relations. One of the important ones and a close fourth is to stay focused on developing a happy long-term relationship. Have a long-range vision, a long-range perspective for your relationship, and keep it in the forefront of your mind. Be willing to work toward that goal every day, talk about it, imagine it, live into it.

Do you know how important a long-term perspective can be toward success? Dr. Edward Banfield of Harvard, after more than 50 years of research, concluded that “long-term perspective” is the most accurate single predictor of upward social and economic mobility in America. Long-term perspective turns out to be more important than family background, education, race, intelligence, connections, or virtually any other single factor in determining success in life and in work.

As I said, we’ve been married for 39 years and the times that I have gotten into the most trouble is when I prioritized a short-term gain or short-term pleasure in place of our longer-term desire for a sustained, loving, and fulfilling relationship. Fortunately, I was very good at begging for forgiveness, my wife was very generous with her graciousness, or we both hated the idea of making more of the situation than what it deserved. Thus resolving the issue.

Usually, it was just another human error along a long path of mistakes that we all have made. That is not to say that all character flaws in a relationship are equal. Some can damage or destroy a good relationship, and at times the damage is done twice as fast and cuts twice as deep. But the minor mistakes, the miscommunications, that occur in everyday life are a part of the differences that you must learn to live with and even appreciate. You can even learn to anticipate them with glee.

I wanted to give you what I believe are the top three keys to building and maintaining a loving, fulfilling relationship. Over the long haul, I think our 40 years together provide some of the “bona fides,” the authentic expertise, that you might want or need. Still, I will also bring in a few expert researchers to validate my claims. So here goes, in no particular order, the top three tips to building GREAT relationships–Presence, Trust, and Respect

Presence

First on the agenda is presence—the ability to connect and communicate authentically – being fully present with your partner helps build a strong relationship. This really matters. Presence is “showing up” in the relationship physically, mentally, and emotionally.

It is more than the occasional glance up from the endless scrolling on the phone or the barely understandable “uh-huh” during your favorite TV program. Other times we may be so worried about getting things done that we are not present to the people around us. These non-attentive episodes can pile up and can be devastating to a partnership. In fact, one study says that presence is the most significant predictor of long-term relationship success.

You are present when you give your full attention to your partner. Make sure your partner is seen, heard, felt, and totally engaged. Presence is the ability to focus on just your partner.

If you aren’t distracted by all the bells and whistles going off from your cell phone, tablet, TV, or computer, you can be available to focus on your partner. When you are present for your partner, they will feel it. They will sense your caring, your concern, your emotional connection. Being present in today’s hectic, distraction-filled world may be a stretch for some folks or seem impossible to others.

Slight growth in this area has a significant effect. Poor emotional presence involves the words, stories, and images that run through your mind when trying to connect to your partner. It is not thinking about what your favorite sports team did last night or how your friend will perceive your latest recipe.

It means BEING THERE, fully present, right now with your partner. Listening, caring, and sharing yields à connecting. And to really connect, sometimes you just have to listen.

Listening and Caring Shows You Are Present

Did you know if you rearrange the letters in the word LISTEN, you can spell the word SILENT?   It may seem like a big coincidence, but to really LISTEN, you have to be SILENT.

Listen → Silent

You may want to hold your opinion and just offer a sympathetic “listening” ear unless specifically asked. Many people don’t necessarily want to be fixed or repaired. Sometimes, they may need to vet their frustrations before moving on, and they need someone with a sympathetic ear to listen to them.

One definition of “presence” refers to a person or thing that exists or is present in a place but is not seen. A ghost, or spirit.

Now, this may not be too far-fetched either. Your partner wants to feel your spirit. You are present even when you are not physically there. Caring enough to consider what your partner might feel or want or need when you are not physically together.

Being Curious, Aware, and Not Judging

In an article by Justice Schanfarber, it mentions the following ideas to improve your presence:

  1. Be curious
  2. Be self-aware of how you are reacting with your partner
  3. Do not judge

Presence, in this sense, is about paying attention and not being distracted. Being alive, focused, listening, hearing, providing non-judging attention. We accept our partner for who they are, which may be enough. Having a presence in a relationship is to see and feel without judgment. When we can tolerate the imperfections in ourselves and in our partner, we can better demonstrate a presence in the relationship.

Demonstrating presence sends the message that we truly see, hear, and feel our partner. This generally feels good. Giving your presence is an act of generosity that many people must develop if they want a long-term successful relationship.

It takes a certain level of self-awareness to expand your world and consider your partner. Open your senses to each other when you’re together and raise your awareness to include your partner when you are apart.

Presence is vitally essential to healthy, long-term relationships. It can build a foundation for trust and respect.

 

Dave has a special place in his heart to help individuals and couples struggling in their relationships. For more information, go to: WeBuildABetterU.com or contact Dave at Dave@WebuildABetterU.com

Trust

Our second key to successful relations is trust. Trust is the faith you have in someone that they will remain loyal to you and love you. To trust someone means that you can rely on them and are comfortable confiding in them—you feel safe with them. It is foundational. All relationships are built on a certain level of trust. Without it, the relationship will be shaky. Imagine living without faith in your partner. Each moment alone could become a bad dream where the ANTs, Automatic Negative Thoughts start to take over.

 Trust is Important on Many Levels

Trust is a building block of friendship and love, and, of course, intimacy. It is a building block and one of the foundational elements of a relationship. As such, it often takes a bit of time to build trust. It usually does not happen overnight. Your partner needs to know that you are trustworthy and won’t ditch them at the first sign of trouble. Trust helps relationships survive during tough times. Lack of confidence is one of the reasons many relationships fall apart.

“The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust

them.”                                       Author – Ernest Hemingway

Trust also helps overcome obstacles. When there is a bond of trust, there is a feeling that you can overcome any problems that arise together.   It allows you to feel safe and secure with your partner. It is a bonding factor for all the minor cracks that occur in day-to-day living.

When you trust your partner, you don’t need to explain or justify everything. It is reassuring to the relationship. It helps in healing after tense situations. It helps control emotions. You know your teammate is with you, and you accept them and believe they have the best interest of the relationship at heart. It builds confidence in the relationship because you both know that your partner will understand and trust your actions and decisions. 

“Not being able to let go and trust those around you can be incredibly
stressful. You will constantly be questioning the actions of those
around you, never feel in control and generally
unhappy.”                                    – David Cannell

Anthony Robbins and Cloe Madanes partnered to form the Institute For Strategic Intervention and developed a pyramid of stages that individuals, couples, or even teams go through to build trust. 

In addition, listed here are several specific behaviors that help build trust in a relationship:

  • Each partner is trying to do what they commit to and be reliable.
  • Be truthful, responsible, faithful, and caring—build trust.
  • Forgive each other quickly—especially on the small stuff.
  • Don’t hold on to past fights. Let it go.
  • Admit your own mistakes. It is part of life. None of us are perfect, but owning our mistakes is part of maturing and building trust.
  • Repentance, admitting your errors, and deciding to do better.
  • Connect with your partner. This is more than just the necessary communication. Refer back to presence.
  • Understanding what they are going through, what they are feeling and thinking.

Of course, even “minor lies” will damage trust between people in a relationship.

Honesty is an essential ingredient to develop confidence. Without honesty, you are setting yourself up to destroy belief in the relationship.

 Psychology Today Identified 7 Ways To Build Trust In A Relationship

  1. Say what you mean and mean what you say.
  2. Be vulnerable—you may want to do this gradually.
  3. Give your partner the benefit of the doubt.
  4. Express your feelings – especially when it is challenging.
  5. Take risks together.
  6. Be willing to give as well as receive.
  7. Remember the role of respect.

 “Trust is the glue of life. It’s the most essential ingredient in effective communication. It’s the foundational principle that holds all relationships.”                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             – Stephen Covey

I am reminded of my sister reciting her vows, and she included the phrase it is better to be loved than to be correct. This can be a big part of trust—knowing that the relationship is more important than anything else and that neither of you would intentionally do harm to each other or the relationship. 

Insisting that you are right, you alone have the answer, that you don’t care what the other person thinks and that you can’t admit your mistakes damages trust and prevents a healthy and long-lasting relationship. 

The basis of trust is the mutual feeling that you have each other’s best interest at heart. More specifically, trust comes from the sense, the belief, that the other person wants to meet your needs. That means even when it is inconvenient.

Trust is the belief that your spouse has good intentions.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T, sing it, Aretha!

Respect is holding your partner in an elevated position. Appreciating the uniqueness they bring to the relationship. 

Belittling, Condescending, Or Contempt Will Drive Down Respect

One of the most emotionally lasting ways our partners can damage us is by belittling us, making us feel small, or viewing us with contempt rather than respect.

 Crossing the line with disparaging comments, insults, denigrating remarks, or stonewalling damages the team. The destructive power of insults and denigrating remarks is well known. It is less known that stonewalling – not listening, not being present – has been proven to be a significant predictor of divorce. Stonewalling, blaming, and insulting convey the opposite message – that your spouse’s needs don’t matter, and this is disrespectful and kills trust.

Once a specific line has been crossed, it can be challenging to return to bliss. Innocent remarks can become metaphors and trigger the memory of the disrespectful interaction. 

If spouses spoke to each other with the same respect they show their friends, the line would probably never be crossed. Practice respect daily. Mom Junction wrote an article and highlighted the following ways to build respect:

  1. Seek your partner’s advice
  2. Remember their preferences
  3. Complement them (especially in public)
  4. Be open-minded to your partner’s suggestions & opinions
  5. Voice your admiration
  6. Seek forgiveness when needed
  7. Support your partner’s desires

Showing respect is a form of validating each other. Having your partner hear and respect your opinion builds confidence that you care and that the relationship is real. Of course, having an open mind and showing mutual respect is essential too. This is not a one-way street. Both individuals in any relationship must show their respect. It is ok to disagree, as long as you respect your partner’s views and provide them the validation that each of us wants and needs.

 A Pyramid of Power Relations — Trust, Respect, and Presence

Trust, respect, and presence create a pyramid of power. With any side of the pyramid damaged or missing from the relationship, the partnership becomes unstable.   When all three sides are in place, the relationship can provide a stable structure that can flourish and last forever.

Of course, it isn’t just about your significant other. You need to be kind to yourself too. Continue to develop good, healthy, positive self-esteem. Allow yourself to express your intentions and concerns at all levels. Bring out the best in yourself and give of yourself freely. Your spouse needs to see who you are to trust and respect you. Here are a few more suggestions that will keep you on the right path.

  • Stay positive
  • Respect other opinions
  • Appreciate ideas and acts of kindness
  • Be thankful
  • Show your love
  • Be mindful of tone—self-aware of reactions

 Without trust, presence, and respect, any relationship deteriorates, no matter how passionate it may have been at the beginning. With all three, trust, respect, and presence, a relationship can grow and flourish. It is a trifecta when you create feelings of unconditional trust in your partner. Respecting them for who they are and what they need. And being present for your partner, fully there for them, physically, mentally, and emotionally provides them that type of attention that can be addictive. It provides an even more profound sense of connection when you have all three. Implementing these three aspects of a relationship stops suspicions and cuts-out criticism. The result is a healthy, lasting relationship that can flourish forever.

Dave Razo

Author – Speaker – Leader - Investor

Dave spent a long and distinguished career as a pilot and leader in the United States Air Force. Along the way, he managed to obtain three graduate degrees.  As an investor in the stock market for more than 37 years, Dave has seen his share of ups and downs.  When Dave retired as a Colonel in 2006, he founded Razor Sharp Investments. Subsequently, he worked with an investment education company, teaching new investors how to handle their money, and then two brokerage firms doing the same thing.  In 2012, Dave founded his own investment firm.  Dave has always been fascinated by the question, Why do people do the things that they do?  On his discovery journey, he encountered Tony Robbins. He worked with his event staff to eventually progresss through the Institute for Strategic Intervention as a coach, making him ideally suited to tackle the most formidable challenges in a relationship.  Dave continues to be committed to a life of service, mainly serving those struggling in their relationships over money.  

WeBuildABetterU.com | Dave.Razo@gmail.com
Work Toll-Free (888) 360-6064 or (478) 293-1344

Founder and Managing Partner
Your Best Option Investment Group, LLC

Dave is dedicated to the values of
Integrity First  -- Service Before Self – Excellence in All We Do.
Author: Rich Life, Wealthy Life
From Successful Investing to Happy Empowered Living
RichLifeWealthyLifeBook.com

Article #5: Overcoming Obstacles

Article #5: Overcoming Obstacles

by | Feb 3, 2022 | Productivity, Rich Life Wealthy Life

Article #5: Overcoming Obstacles

If you are new here, you might check out the first three articles HERE.

Know that the road will not be a straight, smooth ride toward the ultimate destination. There will be some turns, there will be some potholes, there may be some accidents, but know, believe, and even imagine that no matter the obstacle, you can climb over it, work around it, overcome it.

Stick to it, persevere; be resilient, relentless, and committed to these goals and they will be yours.

Life is complicated. In fact, James Clear wrote about this: “Problems seem to arise naturally on their own, while solutions always require our attention, energy, and effort. Life never seems to just work itself out.”

Why is that? There are multiple forces at work; one is entropy, and another is Murphy’s Law. Entropy is one of the great natural forces of our universe.

Entropy here is defined as a lack of order or predictability; a gradual decline into disorder.

This force is so fundamental to the way our world works that it permeates nearly every endeavor we pursue. It is the one force that governs everybody’s life.

Without effort, life tends to lose order. Before you get depressed, there is good news.

You can fight back.
You can clean a messy room.
You can organize individuals into a cohesive team.
You can build a financial fortress.

The odds are strong that you will encounter Murphy. Murphy’s Law, basically, is a pessimistic viewpoint that asserts that whatever can go wrong, will go wrong. I don’t ascribe to believing that, but there are times when stuff happens.

You’ve all heard it before, S!*T happens.
Well, when Murphy strikes, strike back!
Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and get back to it—you can do it!

Successful finances, just like successful relationships, require care and attention. Successful houses require cleaning and maintenance. Successful teams require communication and collaboration. The only way to make things orderly again is to add energy.

Order requires effort.

Equipped with that knowledge, it is up to you to take the action necessary to become empowered.

Overcoming obstacles has a lot to do with GRIT.  Grit is a topic I have begun to learn more about through Steven Kotler’s work in Mindvalley called “The Habit of Ferocity,” and Angela Duckworth’s book titled GRIT.  Believe it or not there are prescribed methods to get more gritty.  In fact it is a habit that we can learn.

Overcoming obstacles is Step #4 in this process.

To help you put all this information together, I created the following chart to provide a visual representation of the process. You can find more details about the chart in the previous articles which are available at https://www.webuildabetteru.com/articles/

Or on Medium at https://dave-razo.medium.com/

If you would like to download a full-page color depiction of this chart send me a note at Dave.Razo@WeBuildABetterU.com and I will send it to you.  I promise.

This seven-step goal achievement process is completed by working each step left to right. Below the major headings is a summary of useful tips to accomplish each step. Getting into a peak state and practicing a daily mindfulness routine are very helpful for shifting your identity to the new blueprint you want to create. Periodically review your goals, daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, etc. through the “rinse and repeat process” to ensure you stay on track.

Download Your FREE eCopy Of Rich Life, Wealthy Life

Reclaiming your love life, and getting your financial house in order doesn’t have to be painful.

Rich Life, Wealthy Life provides strategies for “stress-free” wealth development and delves into the leading cause of disharmony and divorce.  Here you will find solutions to emotional distress and a pathway toward empowering harmonious relations.

Yes! Send Me My FREE Copy

In the coming articles, I will dive deeper into each of these seven master steps to provide you a path to achieving any goal you set your mind to. The next four steps are:

Turbo Boost – Flow & Environment – Bonus Material

  • Accountability –Forcing Functions
  • Massive Action—Revisions and Celebrations

So stay tuned, and we will get there together.
If you have questions, you can contact me at Dave.Razo@WeBuildABetterU.com

Dave Razo

Author – Speaker – Leader – Investor

Dave spent a long and distinguished career as a pilot and leader in the United States Air Force. Along the way, he managed to obtain three graduate degrees.  As an investor in the stock market for more than 37 years, Dave has seen his share of ups and downs.  When Dave retired as a Colonel in 2006, he founded Razor Sharp Investments. Subsequently, he worked with an investment education company, teaching new investors how to handle their money, and then two brokerage firms doing the same thing.  In 2012, Dave founded his own investment firm.  Dave has always been fascinated by the question, Why do people do the things that they do?  On his discovery journey, he encountered Tony Robbins. He worked with his event staff to eventually progresss through the Institute for Strategic Intervention as a coach, making him ideally suited to tackle the most formidable challenges in a relationship.  Dave continues to be committed to a life of service, mainly serving those struggling in their relationships over money.  

WeBuildABetterU.com | Dave.Razo@gmail.com
Work Toll-Free (888) 360-6064 or (478) 293-1344

Founder and Managing Partner
Your Best Option Investment Group, LLC

Dave is dedicated to the values of
Integrity First  — Service Before Self – Excellence in All We Do.
Author: Rich Life, Wealthy Life
From Successful Investing to Happy Empowered Living
RichLifeWealthyLifeBook.com

Article #4: Develop Empowering Strategies

Article #4: Develop Empowering Strategies

by | Jan 27, 2022 | Productivity, Rich Life Wealthy Life

Step #3: Develop Empowering Strategies

You’re doing great, so let’s celebrate.

Remember, as you do each step, you should take time to enjoy the process. Even if for just a minute or two, celebrate. Tell yourself you are fantastic, that you’re making progress toward your goals, and that you see yourself hitting the ultimate outcome.

Many of us start the New Year with a new resolution, a new goal, but don’t stick to it. Studies have shown that approximately 80% of New Year’s resolutions fail. Failure has become so common that many people have quit trying.

I believe you can succeed. This is the third step and the fourth article written on this subject with the explicit goal of helping anyone with a dream, a resolution, to stick to it and achieve it. I am providing you with methods that have worked for me over the past 45 years.

My quest to find the holy grail, the magic potion, the anointed elixir, the secret formula has resulted in a seven-step process. Unfortunately, it is just a bit more involved than one mysterious secret can provide; it takes a few steps to get there. But it isn’t difficult or complicated if you move forward bit by bit. Remember the old saying? Inch by inch, it’s a cinch.

If you are willing to take it inch by inch, you can get there. Just take it one step at a time. I know you can do it. You can have new hope in obtaining your deepest desires.

You see, I have studied the best. Anthony Robbins, John Maxwell, Jim Rohn, John Assaraf, Mark Waldman, and Ben Hardy; all have parts of the puzzle, but I am here to give you the best of all of them, and along the way, we will become better at fulfilling our resolutions. I will provide you with a method to fulfill all your dreams if you are willing to take this journey with me.

So far, we have set the stage with three previous articles. To review them, or read them for the first time, Click HERE.

These articles cover an Overview of How to Keep Your New Year’s Resolutions; The Goal Setting Process; and Developing Your Desire, Your Why.

Now we move forward to the fun part, the action part.
Developing Empowering Strategies.

To reach your ultimate goal, you must take steps and achieve milestones that move you toward your final result.

 

 

What you will discover is that it is not having the big goal that makes it come true;

it is all the small steps you do consistently that move you, step by step, toward your ultimate destination.

“The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”
—Lao Tzu

So how do you develop these strategies?
Well, the short answer is you do your research.

Start by reading about those who have done it.
Biographies are a great resource.
Read what others are saying about your goal; use your internet search engine.
Listen to podcasts, youtube videos.
Go to meetings where people are talking about your desired outcome.
Meet people who are engaged in this subject.
Ultimately you will want to meet a person or people (either live or online) who successfully made the journey you are on. 
Befriend them, serve them and ask them questions.

Success leaves clues, and one of the fastest ways to accelerate your journey is to follow in the footsteps of those that have gone before you.

Write their steps down and adjust them for your situation.
Then, each day, envision yourself completing them.
This is pathway thinking, and having a clear pathway, one you are committed to, is crucial to your ultimate destination. 

Just as a pilot, you must know, see, and plot the course of your destination.

Download Your FREE eCopy Of Rich Life, Wealthy Life

Reclaiming your love life, and getting your financial house in order doesn’t have to be painful.

Rich Life, Wealthy Life provides strategies for “stress-free” wealth development and delves into the leading cause of disharmony and divorce.  Here you will find solutions to emotional distress and a pathway toward empowering harmonious relations.

Yes! Send Me My FREE Copy

Develop your strategies and take steps to move forward. Along the way, you may find you need more resources to make the trip. Please don’t allow your lack of resources to serve as an excuse—this is just one of many obstacles you will need to overcome. More on overcoming obstacles in a following article.

 For now, focus on being resourceful.
Find the resources you need, develop the contacts, look for opportunities, encourage the mentality that nothing can stop you along your path.

In the coming articles, I will dive deeper into each of these seven master steps to provide you a path to achieving any goal you set your mind to. The next four steps are:

  • Overcoming Obstacles – Grit
  • Turbo Boost – Flow & Environment
  • Accountability –Forcing Functions
  • Massive Action—Revisions and Celebrations

 

So stay tuned, and we will get there together.

If you have questions, you can contact me at Dave.Razo@WeBuildABetterU.com

Dave Razo

Author – Speaker – Leader - Investor

Dave spent a long and distinguished career as a pilot and leader in the United States Air Force. Along the way, he managed to obtain three graduate degrees.  As an investor in the stock market for more than 37 years, Dave has seen his share of ups and downs.  When Dave retired as a Colonel in 2006, he founded Razor Sharp Investments. Subsequently, he worked with an investment education company, teaching new investors how to handle their money, and then two brokerage firms doing the same thing.  In 2012, Dave founded his own investment firm.  Dave has always been fascinated by the question, Why do people do the things that they do?  On his discovery journey, he encountered Tony Robbins. He worked with his event staff to eventually progresss through the Institute for Strategic Intervention as a coach, making him ideally suited to tackle the most formidable challenges in a relationship.  Dave continues to be committed to a life of service, mainly serving those struggling in their relationships over money.  

WeBuildABetterU.com | Dave.Razo@gmail.com
Work Toll-Free (888) 360-6064 or (478) 293-1344

Founder and Managing Partner
Your Best Option Investment Group, LLC

Dave is dedicated to the values of
Integrity First  -- Service Before Self – Excellence in All We Do.
Author: Rich Life, Wealthy Life
From Successful Investing to Happy Empowered Living
RichLifeWealthyLifeBook.com

Five Steps to Eliminate Your ANTs

Five Steps to Eliminate Your ANTs

by | Jan 27, 2022 | Rich Life Wealthy Life

ANTs = Automatic Negative Thoughts

 

Ants are everywhere, and everyone has them.  ANTs are the Automatic Negative Thoughts that infest minds and can destroy your feelings, your mental health and your life.  Getting rid of the ANTs is time well spent, and in this article, I give you a simple 5 step process to eliminate the ANTs, clean them out and replace them with a PMA, a Positive Mental Attitude.

 

Where Are Your ANTS?

Automatic negative thoughts are everywhere in today’s culture.  It is hard to escape the constant bombardment of negativity, from the Covid crisis to election advertising, from holiday shopping to Corona quarantine.

ANTs, Automatic Negative Thoughts, as Dr. Daniel Amen calls them, can drive anxiety, depression, trauma, and grief.  They can ruin your day, steal your happiness, and prolong your suffering.  These days it seems like the ANTs are everywhere.

Well, the truth of the matter is that perception often becomes a reality.

 

The Facts

In America, 45% of those surveyed say the pandemic has impacted their mental health. For others, the holiday season can be the catalyst for more stress, anxiety, and loneliness.

This relationship is real for those already suffering from a mental health condition, with 64% of people diagnosed saying the holidays make their symptoms worse.

And in one survey, 75% of respondents said the holidays contribute to feelings of sadness or dissatisfaction.

Do you feel stressed, nervous, anxious?  Did you know that anxiety issues are the most common mental health condition in America, with over 18% of the population—over 40 million American adults–experiencing symptoms.

And these are the pre-pandemic numbers; a more recent study suggests the post-pandemic rate is skyrocketing to 32%.

Negative thinking affects the way you feel.  When you have a negative thought, your brain and your body release chemicals that make you feel bad.  The opposite of this is also true.  Happy, hopeful thinking makes you feel good.

 

Hope On The Horizon

More and more, the evidence is clear.  Our brain-body connection and how well it operates together are very adjustable, malleable, changeable.

The science is out there.  It is well established that Neuroplasticity, neurogenesis, Brain-derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF), nootropics, and many more are proven scientific principles.  Many of these, even the most well-read student might need a dictionary (remember those?) or access to “Google search” to understand.

The bottom line is that we can help ourselves in this onslaught of negative thoughts.  We can influence the way we feel by controlling our thoughts.  Like anything in life, it takes a little consistent effort, and before you know it, you have a new mindset.

Now we have a triple threat bearing down upon us—first, a deeply divided culture with a richly debated election.  Second, the Corona pandemic and government-imposed “distancing” driving many people towards isolation. Third, to top it off, holiday stress and anxiety piling-on an already overcrowded pressure-ridden life.

In addition, we can harbor negative thoughts from our past.  They can reside deep inside your subconscious, covered-up by years of denial or suppression. Many of these thoughts may not even be true.  That is why you must use a system to eliminate them.

 

Killing the Ants

Killing the ANTs does not have to wait for us to understand the science.  You can take action yourself, and do them immediately, in the comfort of your own home. These actions can make a world of difference in your whole outlook.

Waiting for help may only make your symptoms worse.  This triple threat “dog pile” requires immediate action.  So here is a little self-help wisdom for you to solve or at least reduce the stress in your anxiety-filled life.

 

Change Your TV Channel

Changing your TV channel, I am talking about using positive Transformational Vocabulary (TV) can do you a world of good.  Whenever you feel yourself getting mad, sad, or out of control, use the following five simple steps to change the TV channel.

We can use this method to deal with trauma, stress and emotional pain by interrupting the pattern, evaluating its origins, reframing it and reinforcing the new mindset—thus driving home the new beliefs.

To go from stress, grief, and sadness to gratitude, strength, and resolve may not seem possible at this moment, but our minds are amazingly adaptable.

With this technique, we can create a new, more empowering mindset and result.  I summarize this technique as A-E-I-O-U.

 

A-E-I-O-U

A – Awareness is a superpower.  Write down the negative thoughts.  Often these thoughts are a pattern of thinking.  Writing them down will allow you to refer back to them later and see if there is a pattern.  Allow you to determine what triggered the thought, and then, of course, how you will KILL it.  If you are already aware of the issue, you might consider looking at it a bit deeper, what might have happened earlier in your life, and why you continue to feel this way now?  Or, if the feelings are even more intense, explore why they are this way?  When we are children, we sometimes over-dramatize situations because they look so much “bigger.”  Awareness can be a big part of interrupting a pattern of thinking.

E – Evaluate.  Take an honest appraisal of the situation and ask yourself a few questions.  Is it true?  Is the meaning you are bringing to this absolutely true or just partially correct?  Are you participating in ALL or Nothing thinking?  Are you comparing yourself to others?  Who would you be without these thoughts, these feelings?  Write your evaluation down.  Writing it down will help you keep track of your assessment—especially if your review changes over time.

I – Intention. What would you most like to feel in this situation?  How would you want to interact in this situation?  What are some empowering thoughts you might share with others to give them strength?  What empowering belief can you bring to the problem?  If you assume that all things

O – Optimism.  Positive thoughts are also SUPERPOWERS.  Bring a touch of optimism into your thinking, and what might be the positive outcomes of this situation?  How can you bring a positive aspect or way of thinking that might influence others?  Do you know what Martin Seligman found in a 22-year study at the University of Pennsylvania?  In his book, Learned Optimism, he summarized that being optimistic is the most important quality you can develop for personal and professional success and happiness.  Optimistic people seem to be more effective in almost every area of life.  To drive this point home, once again, write down your answers and review them consistently.

Download Your FREE eCopy Of Rich Life, Wealthy Life

Reclaiming your love life, and getting your financial house in order doesn’t have to be painful.

Rich Life, Wealthy Life provides strategies for “stress-free” wealth development and delves into the leading cause of disharmony and divorce.  Here you will find solutions to emotional distress and a pathway toward empowering harmonious relations.

Yes! Send Me My FREE Copy

U — YOU!   You need to reinforce your new way of thinking.  Only YOU can do this. I like to use affirmations or what I call “I-CAN-TATIONS.”  State the new empowering feelings, emotions, thoughts that you have created about the situation.  Use positive, first-person sentences of “I am” or “I have.”  This is the real gist of transformational vocabulary (TV).  Then visualize yourself in the situation and demonstrate in your mind’s eye your preferred situation or outcome.  There are other ways to develop your mindset, but these are just a couple of quick ones to get you started.  Write your “I AM” statements down and state them; imagine them twice a day, morning and night.  If you need additional reinforcement, you might try bringing different ways of thinking to them by going through the process again.  To take it a step further, imagine yourself in the same situation in the future and see yourself acting out the new empowering behavior.  This technique will help reinforce your thoughts into actions and your new identity.

 

Where Is the Holy Spirit?

 

If you are a religious or spiritual person, a believer, you might take comfort in many scriptures that emphasize this same concept.  Both Paster David Jeremiah and Pastor Joel Osteen are proponents of biblically-based positive self-talk. Adding the power of the almighty to your “I-Can-Tations” can only act as a “steroid” to your transformational vocabulary and beliefs. 

 In a recent sermon, Pastor Jeremiah emphasized the following;

  1. Be positive about God’s Love for you.
  2. Be positive about God’s plan for you.
  3. Develop positive conversations with others.
  4. Speak positively to yourself.

Joel Osteen’s new book, “Empty Out the Negative” has a focus on:

  1. Overcoming disappointment, doubt, fear, and worry.
  2. Moving beyond the hurts and wounds of the past.
  3. Taking hold of success and God’s favor.
  4. Receive every good thing that God has for you.

Pastor Osteen has the overarching belief that God created you to be filled with love, joy, confidence, and success.  A belief that God made you in His image and calls you a masterpiece. A view that you can let go of the negative and make room for the positive.  Guilt, resentment, unforgiveness, anger, worry, doubt—these are things that weigh us down. They don’t have to be permanent.

It is interesting to note that both Dr. Amen and Pastor Jeremiah are not big fans of positive thinking (I am not sure about Pastor Osteen).   But what we are talking about here are some practical methods to eliminate negative thinking and replace them with positive thoughts and turning those thoughts into how we feel and act. 

If that involves the Holy Spirit, so be it.   This is important, essential stuff! 

Knowing how to destroy your ANTs has been shown in scientific studies to be as effective as antidepressant medications in treating anxiety and depression. 

Challenging negative thoughts takes away their power and gives YOU control over your thoughts, moods, and behaviors.

Make killing your ANTs a daily habit. It may take some practice. You can’t just do it once and think you’ve mastered your thinking patterns. When you make it a daily routine, you will feel freer, less anxious, and much happier. 

Dave Razo

Author – Speaker – Leader – Investor

Dave spent a long and distinguished career as a pilot and leader in the United States Air Force. Along the way, he managed to obtain three graduate degrees.  As an investor in the stock market for more than 37 years, Dave has seen his share of ups and downs.  When Dave retired as a Colonel in 2006, he founded Razor Sharp Investments. Subsequently, he worked with an investment education company, teaching new investors how to handle their money, and then two brokerage firms doing the same thing.  In 2012, Dave founded his own investment firm.  Dave has always been fascinated by the question, Why do people do the things that they do?  On his discovery journey, he encountered Tony Robbins. He worked with his event staff to eventually progresss through the Institute for Strategic Intervention as a coach, making him ideally suited to tackle the most formidable challenges in a relationship.  Dave continues to be committed to a life of service, mainly serving those struggling in their relationships over money.  

WeBuildABetterU.com | Dave.Razo@gmail.com
Work Toll-Free (888) 360-6064 or (478) 293-1344

Founder and Managing Partner
Your Best Option Investment Group, LLC

Dave is dedicated to the values of
Integrity First  — Service Before Self – Excellence in All We Do.
Author: Rich Life, Wealthy Life
From Successful Investing to Happy Empowered Living
RichLifeWealthyLifeBook.com

Article #3: New Year’s Resolution: Identify Your Why

Article #3: New Year’s Resolution: Identify Your Why

by | Jan 19, 2022 | Productivity, Rich Life Wealthy Life

Why Do You Want it? Identify Your Why & You Will Fuel Your Tank

This is the third article in a series on Keeping Your New Year’s Resolutions. Read through to the end for links to the complete series.

Why do you want these goals?
What are your reasons for moving forward toward their attainment?
What is your driving force?

What are your reasons for moving forward toward their attainment?

What is your driving force?

Think about this and write down your answer, and then ask the question again.
Why do you want it?
What will it get you?
How will it make you feel when you get it? If you don’t get it?
When do you want it?
Who will be there with you?

Write it all down. Write now.

Include the “why” behind your dream—the bigger the reason, the more fuel to propel you forward. So, think about the why and reframe it if it doesn’t seem like a big enough reason. Connect to that reason—make it a burning desire, and your fuel will begin to ignite.

Okay—now you have your vision that includes your significant other, family, friends, and anyone you connect with and have a relationship with. And, you have the reasons you want it—your why.

Now that you have the destination and the motor is running, the next step is to start shifting your internal thermostat, building the mental pathway toward your goals. But before we develop the path, let me share a bit of the science behind the theory.

Did you know that a high percentage of lottery winners end up back in their previous financial situation just a few short years after winning? Did you ever wonder why some people get stuck making the same amount of money year after year?

The latest brain science has helped discover the reason.

A part of the brain called the frontostriatal pathway is wired to your blueprint in life: your financial blueprint, relationship blueprint, body image blueprint—basically your entire self-image.

Your self-image, held in your subconscious, can be stronger than your decisions and conscious goal-setting mechanisms, affecting your ability to earn more money, have better relations, or basically attain anything and everything that is outside your comfort zone.

 It is challenging for a person to consistently earn more income than the amount locked into their unconscious brain, where their self-image and financial blueprint reside. Our brains have been trained through repetition, our environment, our own expectations, the expectations of others, and our emotions to earn a certain amount of income, attain a certain level of relationship happiness, and have a certain level of physical fitness. This is your personal comfort zone. There is a zone of comfort for every area of your life.

Mental pathways develop over your lifetime, like muscles. You have probably heard of “muscle memory.”  Like a footpath used over and over, the mental path becomes worn and will automatically fire as part of your subconscious. It automatically filters, deletes, and determines what is in and what is out of your comfort zone. The saying goes that the neurons that fire together eventually wire together. Repetition and emotional attachment are vital to this wiring.

Any activity outside the comfort zone will trigger an alarm inside the brain. This part of the brain is called the hypothalamus, which works a bit like a thermostat. One of its jobs is to trigger items to return to their comfort zone. It operates below our conscious level and regulates our thoughts, emotions, and behaviors.

The good news is that bridging the gap between your current blueprint and your goals is possible. Any area of your life can be rewired or reprogrammed with sufficient repetition and emotional impact.

Once you learn to adjust your comfort zone, self-image, and financial set points, it becomes easier and easier to earn more income or do any of the things your new and improved self-image, your new comfort zone, demands.

Latest brain research shows that any change in the brain is interpreted as stressful. MRIs show the amygdala causes people to fight or take flight—we can also add “freeze” to these responses.

None of these are optimal for goal achievement. This is not what you want when you are trying to expand, grow, excel, magnify, or go beyond your current comfort zone.

You must have an emotional attachment to your goal. This often comes in the form of your “Why.”  This may well be the fuel you need to keep you moving forward when times get tough when things aren’t going as planned. Your “Why” will be the fuel that sustains you. Make it a strong one.

Remember, this is just the second step on the journey. We will provide you with all the steps in the coming articles, and if you want to revisit the 1st and 2nd articles, you can go here LINK HERE

The critical steps to keeping your resolutions and obtaining your goals are broken down into seven master steps to unlock your goal-achieving success. In the coming articles, I will dive deeper into each of these seven master steps to provide you a path to achieving any goal you set your mind to. The seven steps are:

  1. Goal Setting — Mindset
  2. Purpose Driven – Inspiration
  3. Strategies — Education
  4. Overcoming Obstacles – Grit
  5. Turbo Boost – Flow & Environment
  6. Accountability –Forcing Functions
  7. Massive Action—Revisions and Celebrations

 

So stay tuned, and we will get there together.

Download Your FREE eCopy Of Rich Life, Wealthy Life

Reclaiming your love life, and getting your financial house in order doesn’t have to be painful.

Rich Life, Wealthy Life provides strategies for “stress-free” wealth development and delves into the leading cause of disharmony and divorce.  Here you will find solutions to emotional distress and a pathway toward empowering harmonious relations.

Yes! Send Me My FREE Copy

Dave Razo

Author – Speaker – Leader - Investor

Dave spent a long and distinguished career as a pilot and leader in the United States Air Force. Along the way, he managed to obtain three graduate degrees.  As an investor in the stock market for more than 37 years, Dave has seen his share of ups and downs.  When Dave retired as a Colonel in 2006, he founded Razor Sharp Investments. Subsequently, he worked with an investment education company, teaching new investors how to handle their money, and then two brokerage firms doing the same thing.  In 2012, Dave founded his own investment firm.  Dave has always been fascinated by the question, Why do people do the things that they do?  On his discovery journey, he encountered Tony Robbins. He worked with his event staff to eventually progresss through the Institute for Strategic Intervention as a coach, making him ideally suited to tackle the most formidable challenges in a relationship.  Dave continues to be committed to a life of service, mainly serving those struggling in their relationships over money.  

WeBuildABetterU.com | Dave.Razo@gmail.com
Work Toll-Free (888) 360-6064 or (478) 293-1344

Founder and Managing Partner
Your Best Option Investment Group, LLC

Dave is dedicated to the values of
Integrity First  -- Service Before Self – Excellence in All We Do.
Author: Rich Life, Wealthy Life
From Successful Investing to Happy Empowered Living
RichLifeWealthyLifeBook.com

Article #2: How To Achieve Your New Year’s Resolution

Article #2: How To Achieve Your New Year’s Resolution

by | Jan 18, 2022 | Productivity, Rich Life Wealthy Life

How To Achieve Your New Year’s Resolution

 “One can have no smaller or greater mastery than mastery of oneself.” —Leonardo Da Vinci

Have a Vision

Many years ago, the commencement speaker at a prestigious university asked the members of the graduating class, “Who has a definite plan for their lives?” He looked around the room; only three hands were raised. Twenty-five years later, when the class held a reunion, the combined net worth of those three individuals exceeded that of the remainder of the class.

 

People who know where they are going always achieve far greater levels of success than those who merely drift through life, expecting circumstances to create opportunities for them. Successful people create their own opportunities by focusing on goals with an intensity that borders on obsession. In this way, every action moves them forward, closer to their goal.

 

“Start with the empowering part—change from the inside out.”

—Dave Razo

 

Empowerment

Empowerment is defined as giving power or authority. My goal in this section is to give you the power and authority to make changes in your life. It really comes down to the words and images we use about ourselves. Using positive imagination and positive self-talk can transform that self-talk into your identity. It sounds easy, and it is easy. However, it does require some daily action, persistence, resilience, and discipline. You can do it!

 

 

How Can You Apply this to Your Life?

Imagine the cumulative effect of choosing more empowering words on a consistent basis. “I can’t” and “I don’t” are statements that seem similar. We often interchange them, but psychologically they can provide very different feedback and, ultimately, result in very different actions. They aren’t just words and phrases. They are affirmations of what you believe, reasons for why you do what you do, and reminders of where you want to go.

To put it simply, you can either be the victim of your words or the architect of them, building your future victory. Victim or victory—the choice is yours. Which would you prefer?

“Dream lofty dreams and as you dream, so shall you become.

Your vision is the promise of what you shall one day be;

your ideal is the prophecy of what you shall at last unveil.”

—James Allen

 

Turn your dreams into reality >> setting goals >> defining your destination

Write Your Goals

Goal setting is both an art and a science. There are specific steps to setting goals, but artistic flair and creativity are indispensable to actually implementing the actions necessary to accomplish them. I will provide you with a proven, seven-step process to achieve your dreams, your desires, your goals. If you follow these seven steps, you will be successful.

Goal setting, a process that can be applied to any area of one’s life, starts with taking a realistic appraisal of where you currently are, then determining what you want and where you want to end up—your goal. Then, develop the steps needed to get to your destination. A helpful acronym from Your Best Year Ever, by Michael Hyatt uses the word SMARTER to identify key aspects of goal setting.

S =  Specific—Clearly Defined

M = Measurable—Able to Measure Your Success

A = Actionable—Use a Verb and Do It

R = Risky—Invoke Emotion

T = Time Keyed and Triggered—Sense of Urgency

E = Exciting—Remember Why You Want It

R = Relevant—Reality Check

Writing your SMARTER goals is the first important step in turning your vision into something real.

Now, get a piece of paper and write down your vision, your goal. Think big. Think of the possibilities. What will it be like living your dream: your new lifestyle, your income, your net worth? Write it all down. now—stop reading and start writing.

You have to have a dream to make a dream come true, and writing it down activates your nervous system, the goal-seeking part of your brain. Pause your reading or listening to write about your dream now.

Are you writing? Write! Right now. Write now.

How about other areas of your life—your mind, body, spirit, emotions, relations, income? I include all these areas in my goals, as well as my “living the outstanding life” goals. Write down all the goals you desire—everything that comes to mind.

Okay—that’s great!

Look at your creation and be happy. Celebrate the journey. Take pride in your accomplishment. This step is just the start, and it’s important that you find enjoyment in the journey. These little breaks to enjoy what we are doing have neurological consequences, so take time to enjoy each little step along the path.

Now that you have established your goals and a clear vision of where you are headed, go back and phrase your goals as if they are already accomplished.

Phrase them as “I am” or “I have” statements. I know this sounds weird, but through daily repetition of these “I am” statements, our minds begin the process of believing “you are”—they will become your identity, and your brain will seek ways to maintain your identity. Your own identity is a powerful force in the human psyche.

Making changes to your brain requires repetition and emotion. That is our next step. Specifically, changes to your subconscious will include I-can-tations (your “I am” and “I have” statements) plus visualizations.

Visualization involves imagining yourself having already attained the goal, whether it be financial, relationship, or career/work related or mental, physical, spiritual, or emotional experiences—clearly envision yourself having accomplished the goal. Include the reason behind attaining the goal—the emotional impact—and the result. Make it as vivid as you can. See it, hear it, feel it, smell it, and taste it.

Adding I-can-tations will empower the neuropathways. Write a positive first-person statement about the goal having been achieved. For instance, if it is a financial goal, you might write, “I have $1 million in liquid assets in my trading account on June 1, 20XX.”

Now write an I-can-tation for every goal you have. Say it out loud frequently, and add emotion every time you say it. I suggest each morning and night at a minimum. As you state each I-can-tation, picture yourself doing it and succeeding at it—even overcoming potential obstacles along the way.

Visualizing a big goal will activate the parts of the brain (nucleus accumbens and insula) that drive your motivational center to take action on your visualization in reality. Imagination, rehearsal, and practicing the role you plan to play reinforce the new pathway. Over time the role will become more and more familiar to you. When you work with your self-image and add knowledge, skills, and abilities, your goal and your vision become one. It becomes your new “comfort zone”. You will have activated what I believe is the most powerful, the most empowering, part of your brain.

Activate this part of the brain by picturing yourself achieving the goal you desire daily. See it, feel it, speak it, believe it. It all begins in your imagination. Practice this technique morning and night, and continue to practice day after day until your goal becomes a reality.

“Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.”
 —Albert Einstein

There are two ways to reinforce this new image in your brain: spaced repetition and emotionally charged visualizations. Practice twice a day, early in the morning and then again in the evening. Use this time to relax and enjoy your internal journey into your imagined world. Apply an affirmation, an I-can-tation, along with your visualization. To really boost your change, attach a powerful feeling to the goal attainment.

Make your image bigger, brighter, and more alive. Add an image of yourself enjoying the newfound success. Imagine yourself succeeding at the goal, overcoming the obstacles along the way, celebrating your achievement. Bringing emotions into the picture activates the pain and pleasure circuits that will drive you to action.

Writing your goals down and phrasing them in positive “I am” statements is just the first step—attaching emotions to the goal will turbocharge your desire. One way to attach strong emotions is to determine why you want these goals and we will talk more about this in the next article..

Remember this is just the first step on the journey.  We will provide you with all the steps in coming articles, and if you want to revisit the 1st article you can go here LINK HERE

The critical steps to keeping your resolutions and obtaining your goals are broken them down into seven master steps to unlock your goal-achieving success. In the coming articles, I will dive deeper into each of these seven master steps to provide you a path to achieving any goal you set your mind to. The seven steps are:

  1. Goal Setting — Mindset
  2. Purpose Driven – Inspiration
  3. Strategies — Education
  4. Overcoming Obstacles – Grit
  5. Turbo Boost – Flow & Environment
  6. Accountability –Forcing Functions
  7. Massive Action—Revisions and Celebrations

So stay tuned and we will get there together.

If you have questions, you can contact me at Dave.Razo@WeBuildABetterU.com

I am rooting for you.

Dave

Download Your FREE eCopy Of Rich Life, Wealthy Life

Reclaiming your love life, and getting your financial house in order doesn’t have to be painful.

Rich Life, Wealthy Life provides strategies for “stress-free” wealth development and delves into the leading cause of disharmony and divorce.  Here you will find solutions to emotional distress and a pathway toward empowering harmonious relations.

Yes! Send Me My FREE Copy

As an example, you might start by setting aside a portion of your income to help others.  In this way, you will be leading both a rich life and a wealthy life. Choose a church, a charity, or a cause that you can enthusiastically support. Then give your money and/or your time to support that cause. The primary beneficiary of such noble actions is always the one who gives. 

For more info on leading a rich and wealthy life check out my book or visit our website—details are below.

Dave Razo

Author – Speaker – Leader – Investor

Dave spent a long and distinguished career as a pilot and leader in the United States Air Force. Along the way, he managed to obtain three graduate degrees.  As an investor in the stock market for more than 37 years, Dave has seen his share of ups and downs.  When Dave retired as a Colonel in 2006, he founded Razor Sharp Investments. Subsequently, he worked with an investment education company, teaching new investors how to handle their money, and then two brokerage firms doing the same thing.  In 2012, Dave founded his own investment firm.  Dave has always been fascinated by the question, Why do people do the things that they do?  On his discovery journey, he encountered Tony Robbins. He worked with his event staff to eventually progresss through the Institute for Strategic Intervention as a coach, making him ideally suited to tackle the most formidable challenges in a relationship.  Dave continues to be committed to a life of service, mainly serving those struggling in their relationships over money.  

WeBuildABetterU.com | Dave.Razo@gmail.com
Work Toll-Free (888) 360-6064 or (478) 293-1344

Founder and Managing Partner
Your Best Option Investment Group, LLC

Dave is dedicated to the values of
Integrity First  — Service Before Self – Excellence in All We Do.
Author: Rich Life, Wealthy Life
From Successful Investing to Happy Empowered Living
RichLifeWealthyLifeBook.com

Article #1: How to Keep Your New Year’s Resolution

Article #1: How to Keep Your New Year’s Resolution

by | Jan 17, 2022 | Productivity, Rich Life Wealthy Life

The Secrets to Goal Achievement

 

Have you noticed? There are a lot more people working out at the gym this week. Not the usual crowd either. I admit, at first I was a bit annoyed. They were invading “my” space, taking up time on “my” equipment, causing a crowd in “my” locker room. Then a better, more graceful “me” emerged, and I told myself,

“Hey, they are just wanting the same thing I am wanting — to obtain better fitness, better health, more energy, maybe even a better shape.”

Funny though. This is the same pattern I see every year. People start going to the gym in the new year, only to be back on the couch eating cookies and drinking a sugary, big-gulp by the middle of January.

  • What causes this?
  • Why can’t most people obtain their goals?
  • Why don’t people follow through?

Many of us start the New Year with a new resolution, a new goal, but don’t stick to it. Studies have shown that approximately 80% of New Year’s resolutions fail. Failure has become so common that many people have quit trying.

It is easy to just dismiss them and say they just don’t have the willpower, or they just don’t want it bad enough. But willpower and commitment are only a couple of the less functional parts of goal achievement. They are baby steps in the journey toward keeping a resolution or in the art and science of goal achievement.

We will be taking major power moves, giant strides on our goal achievement journey, so if you are game, stick around and let’s get ‘er done together.

I believe you can succeed. In this and successive articles, I will provide you with a method that has worked for me. Over the past 45 years, I have been on a quest to find the holy grail. The magic potion, the anointed elixir, the secret formula. Unfortunately, it is just a bit more involved than any one mysterious secret can provide; it takes a few steps to get there. But it isn’t difficult or complicated if you move forward bit by bit. Remember the old saying? Inch by inch, it’s a cinch.

If you are willing to take it inch by inch, I can help you get there. If you are willing to take it one step at a time, I know you can do it. You can have new hope in obtaining your deepest desires.

You see, I have studied the best. Anthony Robbins, John Maxwell, Jim Rohn, John Assaraf, Mark Waldman, and Ben Hardy; all have parts of the puzzle, but I am here to give you the best of all of them, and along the way, we will become better at fulfilling our resolutions. I will provide you with a method to fulfill all your dreams if you are willing to take this journey with me.

It is both an art and a science, and it is one that you can learn. The truth is that most of us have never been taught how to obtain our most important dreams, aspirations, and desires, our goals in this life.

In this short essay, I will provide you with the basics of keeping your New Year’s Resolution, and then in following articles, you will obtain all the details based on ancient wisdom and the most recent neuroscience — both necessary to fulfill your wildest dreams.

First, let’s assume you have a resolution. This might come to you out of the frustration of not obtaining last year’s objective. Or, it might be something new that has inspired you to take action. Or, it could come from an annual, systematic review of your life.

I like dividing my life into significant categories to keep track of the essential areas of my existence. I don’t want too many items, but enough to cover all the major ones I know affect me dearly.

My primary areas can be divided up into internal and external. My interior areas are my mind, body, and spirit. These are all key areas that we are essentially in total control of. While imprisoned for 27 years, even Nelson Mandela controlled his Mind, Body, and Spirit. In fact, he learned to control these three areas so well that he changed South Africa and was an example to the world on how to fight (non-violently) to abolish the injustice of apartheid.

My external areas are my Relationships, my Mission/Finances, and my Richness of life. Relationships are pretty obvious, we are social animals, and one of our significant competitive advantages in nature is that we can act together to accomplish big goals—healthy relationships are vital.

Mission/Finances is an excellent area to spend some time with, as I recently read that 80% of working people don’t like their jobs. Turning your work into something you’re passionate about is crucial toward living a rich life. Implementing a system to make this happen is essential, and there is a way to do it, but again, few people know how and it is even rarer that anyone teaches it. Stick with me, and I can help guide you through it.

Living life with passion, having a passionate mission is vitally important to the final central area–the Richness of Life. I like to think of the Richness of Life as the cherry on top. It can be the celebration at the end of a journey, or it can just be the excursion that makes life worth living. In either case, it is vital to keep everything else in perspective. How do you celebrate your accomplishments—it is vitally important to have this in mind as you start to commit to your resolution or your goals.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With this overview out of the way, let’s take a quick look at the brass tacks—the critical steps to keeping your resolutions and obtaining your goals.

I have broken them down into seven master steps to unlock your goal-achieving success. In the coming articles, I will dive deeper into each of these seven master steps to provide you a path to achieving any goal you set your mind to. The seven steps are:

  1. Goal Setting — Mindset
  2. Purpose Driven – Inspiration
  3. Strategies — Education
  4. Overcoming Obstacles – Grit
  5. Turbo Boost – Flow & Environment
  6. Accountability –Forcing Functions
  7. Massive Action—Revisions and Celebrations

So stay tuned and we will get there together.

Download Your FREE eCopy Of Rich Life, Wealthy Life

Reclaiming your love life, and getting your financial house in order doesn’t have to be painful.

Rich Life, Wealthy Life provides strategies for “stress-free” wealth development and delves into the leading cause of disharmony and divorce.  Here you will find solutions to emotional distress and a pathway toward empowering harmonious relations.

Yes! Send Me My FREE Copy

As an example, you might start by setting aside a portion of your income to help others.  In this way, you will be leading both a rich life and a wealthy life. Choose a church, a charity, or a cause that you can enthusiastically support. Then give your money and/or your time to support that cause. The primary beneficiary of such noble actions is always the one who gives. 

For more info on leading a rich and wealthy life check out my book or visit our website—details are below.

Dave Razo

Author – Speaker – Leader - Investor

Dave spent a long and distinguished career as a pilot and leader in the United States Air Force. Along the way, he managed to obtain three graduate degrees.  As an investor in the stock market for more than 37 years, Dave has seen his share of ups and downs.  When Dave retired as a Colonel in 2006, he founded Razor Sharp Investments. Subsequently, he worked with an investment education company, teaching new investors how to handle their money, and then two brokerage firms doing the same thing.  In 2012, Dave founded his own investment firm.  Dave has always been fascinated by the question, Why do people do the things that they do?  On his discovery journey, he encountered Tony Robbins. He worked with his event staff to eventually progresss through the Institute for Strategic Intervention as a coach, making him ideally suited to tackle the most formidable challenges in a relationship.  Dave continues to be committed to a life of service, mainly serving those struggling in their relationships over money.  

WeBuildABetterU.com | Dave.Razo@gmail.com
Work Toll-Free (888) 360-6064 or (478) 293-1344

Founder and Managing Partner
Your Best Option Investment Group, LLC

Dave is dedicated to the values of
Integrity First  -- Service Before Self – Excellence in All We Do.
Author: Rich Life, Wealthy Life
From Successful Investing to Happy Empowered Living
RichLifeWealthyLifeBook.com

Your Money, Your Mind, and What Matters

Your Money, Your Mind, and What Matters

by | Apr 6, 2021 | Rich Life Wealthy Life

Your Money, Your Mind, and What Matters

Moolah, Wampum, Greenbacks, Benjamins, Scratch, Sugar, Bills, Bucks, Bones, Cash, Clams, Loot, Dough, Money

Money is everywhere in today’s society. From millennials and Gen Xers to baby boomers, some people would say we have an innate desire to accumulate wealth; more wealth generally equates to a better chance at survival. Our relationship with money and our relationship with each other around money can often become the relationship’s central focus.

The power of money binds us together—and tears us apart. Money is often the currency used to define our relationships with people—brothers and sisters, young and old, couples in love, and business partners. Our finances are filled with emotions—envy, compassion, jealousy, fear, and anger; money is often the currency that defines our relationships.

Some use money to manipulate, others freely give it away, while still others will take it away or use it as a weapon. Financial problems are often the tip of an iceberg, concealing deeper hidden issues between family members, couples in love, or business partners.

 

Money Matters

To some folks, money is all that matters. We have all heard people say that “money isn’t everything.” But just try living without it. Other peoples say that “money can’t buy happiness,” but money can buy nicer things, better experiences, and might even allow you to contribute more to your favorite charity. Still others say, “money is the root of all evil,” but as Billy Graham stated,

 

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“There is nothing wrong with men possessing riches.

The wrong comes when riches possess men.”

—Billy Graham, Life Wisdom

If there is nothing wrong with men and women possessing riches, then why do so many relationship problems revolve around those greenbacks? Money is used as a social measurement, separating the haves from the have nots—separating those who are financially wealthy from the wannabes.

Money matters are still the most often cited source of relationship problems. It is a common concern among couples and marriages, between business partners and in business negotiations; and between friends and family. Money in our society is an emotionally charged topic.

Money and Character

Money does not have a character of its own. It does not have a personality or values. The use of money reflects the desires of its owner. Money can build great hospitals and schools, or it can be gambled away or squandered on meaningless possessions. Money may build museums to house beautiful works of art, and it can construct beautiful houses of worship—or it may be used to create instruments of war or used to support violent crimes.   

How can a person resolve this dilemma?  How might they answer these questions in an empowering way?  I recommend that as you build your personal wealth, make sure you build your character too. Focus on character traits as much as financial achievement.  This is one of the themes in my book about living the Rich Life and the Wealthy Life.

Download Your FREE eCopy Of Rich Life, Wealthy Life

Reclaiming your love life, and getting your financial house in order doesn’t have to be painful.

Rich Life, Wealthy Life provides strategies for “stress-free” wealth development and delves into the leading cause of disharmony and divorce.  Here you will find solutions to emotional distress and a pathway toward empowering harmonious relations.

Yes! Send Me My FREE Copy

As an example, you might start by setting aside a portion of your income to help others.  In this way, you will be leading both a rich life and a wealthy life. Choose a church, a charity, or a cause that you can enthusiastically support. Then give your money and/or your time to support that cause. The primary beneficiary of such noble actions is always the one who gives. 

For more info on leading a rich and wealthy life check out my book or visit our website—details are below.

Dave Razo

Author – Speaker – Leader - Investor

Dave spent a long and distinguished career as a pilot and leader in the United States Air Force. Along the way, he managed to obtain three graduate degrees.  As an investor in the stock market for more than 37 years, Dave has seen his share of ups and downs.  When Dave retired as a Colonel in 2006, he founded Razor Sharp Investments. Subsequently, he worked with an investment education company, teaching new investors how to handle their money, and then two brokerage firms doing the same thing.  In 2012, Dave founded his own investment firm.  Dave has always been fascinated by the question, Why do people do the things that they do?  On his discovery journey, he encountered Tony Robbins. He worked with his event staff to eventually progresss through the Institute for Strategic Intervention as a coach, making him ideally suited to tackle the most formidable challenges in a relationship.  Dave continues to be committed to a life of service, mainly serving those struggling in their relationships over money.  

WeBuildABetterU.com | Dave.Razo@gmail.com
Work Toll-Free (888) 360-6064 or (478) 293-1344

Founder and Managing Partner
Your Best Option Investment Group, LLC

Dave is dedicated to the values of
Integrity First  -- Service Before Self – Excellence in All We Do.
Author: Rich Life, Wealthy Life
From Successful Investing to Happy Empowered Living
RichLifeWealthyLifeBook.com

Time Traveler Revising the past? Creating the future?

Time Traveler
Revising the past? Creating the future?

by | Apr 5, 2021 | Rich Life Wealthy Life

Have you ever wondered about traveling through time?  Revising the past, creating the future?

You may have seen one of the funniest movies made, going Back To The Future.  In the film, Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) and the lovable professor, Dr. Emmett Brown (Christopher Lloyd), travel back and forth through time, trying to change the future or right the ills of the past.  Seeing Michael J. Fox riding his hoverboard was exciting. We watched him “light up” the band with his rendition of Great Balls Of Fire—simply spectacular. It’s a fun movie that got me thinking about how our imagination is a lot like time travel.  We often go back in time, revising the past, and we can, with a bit of forethought, go into the future to bend our current reality to our strongest desires.

I think this is what Einstein was getting at in his quote.

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Imagination is more important than knowledge.

For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.”
—Albert Einstein

I love the Einstein quote.  A great example of of what he is talking about, the power of imagination, can be seen in Walt Disney.  If you google EPCOT Center, you get the short description; EPCOT allows you to travel to the future and ignite your imagination.  The power of imagination is well established in history and in creating new technologies, new entertainment, new experiences.

There is another great quote from an interview with Walt Disney’s son.  Walt, his father, had already passed away.  The interviewer asked the younger Disney if he thought it a shame that his father never got to see the completion of Disney World and EPCOT Center, his son, wise in the ways of his father, replied,

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My father saw it before any of us.

That is the power of imagination.  That is the power of traveling through time to the future to create what you can only imagine today.

As children, we largely model our parents, and that modeling forms the foundation of our thoughts, beliefs, and values.  Children are outstanding learners.  They are sponges, absorbing all that life offers.  They are amazingly good at mimicking our behaviors and picking up on our emotions.

Just say that one curse word in anger, and you might hear it repeated from your child for years to come.  They often come up with new, novel combinations of ideas.  Creating new games as they play.  I love to pretend I’m a child again.

 

Our childhood is a fantastic time for most.  Many of us also experience traumas in our early years or even as adults.  These traumas can cloud our present-day experiences.  Constantly reliving the trauma can cause plenty of present-day problems.

These traumas, or “Dragons,” as Dr. Daniel Amen calls them in his new book, Your Brain is Always Listening, can haunt us if we are careful.  I know I had a dragon from my childhood watching my parents fighting.  These fights were often over money.  Now I am talking about the real MMA style fighting with blood, sweat, tears, and the occasional 911, domestic disturbance call.

Dr. Amen talks about lots of different dragons.  From ancestral dragons like mine, ones that can be handed down from generation to generation, to many others.  Dragons like abandonment, inferiority, shaming, anger, judgemental and more.  I recommend the book for anyone interested in why you do the things you do or why others do the things they do. It’s a good read.

As a teenager, getting hit with a strap could have left some emotional scars, but thanks to “Time Traveling,” I believe I have healed and covered over these scars with new meanings.  Yes, I went through a form of time travel to heal the hurts, and so can you.

 

 

Thoughts Are Powerful

Our thoughts are powerful and can have a profound effect on the way we feel. They can even trigger physiological responses in the body.

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Whenever you have a sad thought, an unkind thought, or a hopeless thought – such as ‘I’m never going to land my dream job’ – your brain pumps out a dose of chemicals that makes you feel bad. On the flip side, conjure a happy, loving, or encouraging thought, and your brain gives you a blissful jolt of feel-good chemicals.

– Dr. Daniel Amen

Having negative thoughts can reduce activity in the area of the brain involved with self-control, judgment, and planning, which can lead to poor decisions.

These patterns of negative thoughts, negative self-talk can cause a downward spiral. So, exactly how can you turn around negative self-talk?

I have outlined how to do this in an easy-to-remember acronym we are all familiar with; A-E-I-O-U.

 

A-E-I-O-U

A – First of all, Awareness!  Awareness is a superpower. Identify and write down the negative thoughts.  Often these thoughts are a pattern of thinking.  Writing them down will allow you to refer back to them later and see if there is a pattern.  It will also allow you to determine what triggered the thought, and then, of course, how you can KILL it—or HEAL from it.  If you are already aware of the issue, you might consider looking at it a bit deeper, what might have happened earlier in your life, and why you continue to feel this way now?  When we are children, we sometimes over-dramatize situations because they look so much “bigger.”  And the traumas don’t only occur in our childhood.  There are thousands of my military brothers and sisters who suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome (PTSD) that occurred from the stresses of military life.  Awareness can be an important first step in interrupting a recurring dragon.

E – Evaluate.  Make an honest appraisal of the situation and ask yourself a few key questions.  Is it true?  Did you over-dramatize it? Is the meaning you are bringing to this absolutely true or just partially correct?  Are you participating in ALL or Nothing thinking?  Are you comparing yourself to others?  Who would you be without these thoughts, these feelings?  Write your evaluation down.  Writing it down will help you keep track of your assessment—especially if your review changes over time.

I – Intention. What would you most like to feel in this situation?  How would you want to feel in this situation?  What are some empowering thoughts you might share with others to give them strength?  What would you feel and learn  if instead of believing this happened to you, you believe this happened for you?  What empowering belief can you bring to the problem?  If you assume that all things happen for you rather than to you, what would you learn?  Write your answers to these questions as you will want to repeat them and reinforce them later.

O – Optimism.  Positive thoughts are also SUPERPOWERS.  Bring a touch of optimism into your thinking, and what might be the positive outcomes of this situation?  How can you bring a positive aspect or way of thinking that might influence others?  Do you know what Martin Seligman found in a 22-year study at the University of Pennsylvania?  In his book, Learned Optimism, he summarized that being optimistic is the most important quality you can develop for personal and professional success and happiness.  Optimistic people seem to be more effective in almost every area of life.  To drive this point home, once again, write down your answers and review them consistently.  Just repeating the phrase, “I have a choice in the meaning I bring to this situation,” or I have learned from this situation and that makes me happy and more powerful.” Yes, the perception you bring to a previous event changes the whole meaning and how you react to it.

U — YOU!   You need to reinforce your new way of thinking.  Only YOU can do this. I like to use affirmations or what I call “I-CAN-TATIONS.”  State the new empowering feelings, emotions, thoughts that you have created about the situation.  Use positive, first-person sentences of “I am” or “I have.”  This is the real gist of transformational vocabulary (TV).  Then visualize yourself in the situation and demonstrate in your mind’s eye your preferred outcome.

There are other ways to develop your mindset, but these are just a couple of quick ones to get you started.

For a more complete explanation sign up below and I will send you a one-page summary.

Write your “I AM” statements down and state them; imagine them twice a day, morning and night.  If you need additional reinforcement, you might try bringing different ways of thinking to them by going through the process again.  To take it a step further, imagine yourself in the same situation in the future and see yourself acting out the new empowering behavior.  This technique will help reinforce your thoughts into actions and your new identity.

So here we are with a clear, or at least a healing past.  What is the next step we might take to continue to grow?  Imagining your future is the next step in our journey of time travel.  Going forward in time.  Moving into the future.

 

Developing Your Future Self

Successful people create their own opportunities by focusing on goals.  It is well established that a person that sets a goal is more likely to accomplish it.  Setting goals can be empowering.

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Start with the empowering part—change from the inside out.

—Dave Razo, Rich Life, Wealthy Life

Download Your FREE eCopy Of Rich Life, Wealthy Life

Reclaiming your love life, and getting your financial house in order doesn’t have to be painful.

Rich Life, Wealthy Life provides strategies for “stress-free” wealth development and delves into the leading cause of disharmony and divorce.  Here you will find solutions to emotional distress and a pathway toward empowering harmonious relations.

Yes! Send Me My FREE Copy

Empowerment

Empowerment is defined as giving power or authority. My goal in this section is to give you the power and authority to make changes  in your life. It really comes down to the words and images we use about ourselves. Using positive imagination and positive self-talk can transform that self-talk into your identity. It sounds easy, and it is easy. However, it does require some daily action, persistence, resilience, and discipline. You can do it!

How Can You Apply This to Your Life?

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One can have no smaller or greater mastery than mastery of oneself.

—Leonardo Da Vinci

Imagine the cumulative effect of choosing more empowering words on a consistent basis. “I can’t” and “I don’t” are statements that seem similar. We often interchange them, but psychologically they can provide very different feedback and, ultimately, result in very different actions. They aren’t just words and phrases. They are affirmations of what you believe, reasons for why you do what you do, and reminders of where you want to go. To put it simply, you can either be the victim of your words or the architect of them, building your future victory. Victim or victory—the choice is yours. Which would you prefer?

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Dream lofty dreams and as you dream, so shall you become. Your vision is the promise of what you shall one day be; your ideal is the prophecy of what you shall at last unveil.

—James Allen

Turn your dreams into reality.  Start by setting goals, and then through a process, you can define your destination and begin the work toward reaching it.  You can start with this short seven-step sequence.  For a more detailed explanation of each step, you can download my book at

 

  1. Write your goals—develop a positive mindset
  2. Identify your why
  3. Develop empowering strategies
  4. Overcome obstacles
  5. Set your deadline
  6. Hold yourself accountable
  7. Take massive action

There are other ways to develop your mindset, but these are just a couple of quick ones to get you started.

For a more complete explanation sign up below and I will send you a one-page summary.

The future isn’t a reality—it’s a projection. The future is a tricky business. As humans, we’re able to visualize, intellectualize, and emotionalize a reality that doesn’t yet exist. The problem is that sometimes we misuse our ability to think about the future. Part of the reason for this is bad messaging.

This is how people can get tricked by the future. It’s dangerous stuff, our being able to visualize a reality that doesn’t exist, because there’s the risk of our becoming determined to make it happen without realizing that it’s an ideal, something we can never reach.

If you think about it, any vision of a future result before that result has happened is make-believe. You’re making believe that that future is true.

The tricky part is what you do with the make-believe. It’s there for emotional, psychological, and intellectual motivation. It is not there as a measurement of how you might live a fulfilling life.

A fulfilling life is measuring the accomplishments of your past and having some form of authentic pride or gratitude for them.

Bringing new meanings and values to our past and creating an empowering future are two ways that we can make the PRESENT more meaningful. The goal here is not to live in the past or in the future, but to live each day in the present – maximizing your values and leading a fulfilling life. The meaning and values that you bring to this are keys to having that inner peace—that fulfilling life.

Dave Razo

Author – Speaker – Leader - Investor

Dave spent a long and distinguished career as a pilot and leader in the United States Air Force. Along the way, he managed to obtain three graduate degrees.  As an investor in the stock market for more than 37 years, Dave has seen his share of ups and downs.  When Dave retired as a Colonel in 2006, he founded Razor Sharp Investments. Subsequently, he worked with an investment education company, teaching new investors how to handle their money, and then two brokerage firms doing the same thing.  In 2012, Dave founded his own investment firm.  Dave has always been fascinated by the question, Why do people do the things that they do?  On his discovery journey, he encountered Tony Robbins. He worked with his event staff to eventually progresss through the Institute for Strategic Intervention as a coach, making him ideally suited to tackle the most formidable challenges in a relationship.  Dave continues to be committed to a life of service, mainly serving those struggling in their relationships over money.  

WeBuildABetterU.com | Dave.Razo@gmail.com
Work Toll-Free (888) 360-6064 or (478) 293-1344

Founder and Managing Partner
Your Best Option Investment Group, LLC

Dave is dedicated to the values of
Integrity First  -- Service Before Self – Excellence in All We Do.
Author: Rich Life, Wealthy Life
From Successful Investing to Happy Empowered Living
RichLifeWealthyLifeBook.com