Recorded this from my phone because I had to get this out my mind quickly. Back to regular mics next week. Apologies ahead of time :)

When you feel pain you cry, when you accept pain you think.

When you feel pain you hurt, when you accept pain you endure.

When you feel pain you blame, when you accept pain you change.

I was deep in stillness this morning, and when you meditate your mind tends to go everywhere. I was thinking about things that happened yesterday, to things that happened when I was 7 years old. Yeah, weird. Either way, in meditation you are taught to not judge these thoughts or feelings, and to slowly come back to focus on your breathing.

I kept feeling this ache in my stomach and it felt like shit. I kept trying and trying to accept the pain, and constantly wondered “what did I eat last night to cause this much pain in my stomach?” I was even more frustrated because it happened during meditation, a time of peace, quiet, and focus.

Through the pain I kept focused on my breath. I tried my best to give it no judgement or emotion. I just accepted the fact that I was in pain, and I can fix it later. I couldn’t let the pain steal the moment. Eventually the pain subsided, and it was only because I stopped feeling the pain, and started using it.

I realized life is just like meditation with a stomach ache. We have these goals, dreams, and ambitions we want to focus on but stomach aches keep happening. No money, no support, depression, divorce, single forever, lack of opportunities, etc.

Much like meditation there is really nowhere to run and hide. The only way to make the pain go away is to go through it. The only way to go through it is to accept it. Once accepted I can get back to the focus I had before the pain popped up to distract me.

It takes me back to the origins of the phrase “roll with the punches.” In the sport of boxing if your opponent throws a punch at your face, it will hurt because you will resist by trying to go against the punch. But boxers are trained to move their head in the motion that the punch is thrown. By doing this, you take away the impact that punch originally had. Boxers (some) transmute that pain into a strategy.

Let’s do the same.

use it as a tool

You don’t need to know what you’re doing, you need to know what you want.

I remember an old quote I used to tell other people that I need to be reminded of myself from time to time.

Success has no standard.

There is no one path or one trick or set of rules to really get there.

Every once I a while I’ll go to an event or watch an interview with a founder who raised millions of dollars or their company is doing really well and like clockwork they say the same thing: Nobody knows what they are doing.

That’s why there is so much emphasis on reading books. Biographies. Learning lessons and failing fast. Because there’s a hunger to want to know what to do next.

When you become wiser, you still don’t know what to do but all of that wisdom gives you intuition that makes it look like you do.

Here’s one thing I think everyone of those people knew for sure: They knew what they wanted.

When you know what you want, not knowing what to do becomes irrelevant. Because when you truly know what you want, your quest and desire in motion towards that want will give you everything you need.

When you know what you want there are no bad decisions. Every decision either propels you or teaches you. You keep moving. When you don’t know what you want, there is no movement. You have no clue what to do with the knowledge you just gained. It’s almost useless.

So really tune in to what you want this week. And don’t have your intention so locked in on the results from one or two moments. Because no matter what happens you know you’ll still keep moving and keep having faith.

Much love.

Anthony

Today I talk about getting your business and your mind into the energy that you are trying to attract. I don’t have much to say this week other than SAVE THE DATE: SEPTEMBER 5th. Especially if you are in the NYC area.

More details soon.

*wink*

If you want to tip me, just grab my book “Don’t Dumb Down Your Greatness”

Music by LAKEY Inspired & William Frasier

Clip from Oprah & Jim Carey Interview

Books I’m reading this week: “The Journeys of Socrates” by Dan Millman & “The King of Content” by Keach Hagey

What do you see when you look at this image?

This picture sits on the window next to my desk and I glance at it at least 3 or 4 times a day, if not more. It’s my version of “5 Hour Energy.” It’s created by Joey Roth, an artist who I went to high school with, though we NEVER met. When I look at this image, I see success at the top, and the almost guaranteed way to get there is to take it step-by-step or as he put’s it: GRIND.

The other side of the pyramid, the “DREAM” side is a bit more difficult to get to the top. You need some type of acceleration, and it gets a bit steeper once you get closer to the goal. But, there’s another more dangerous reality that happens on this side. When you fall, you go all the way to the bottom of the pyramid, and you have to start back up again. Do you have more acceleration or more gas in you to make that type of trip again?

On the GRIND side, when you fall, it’s not really a fall. You only take 1 or 2 steps back. And while the dreamers are trying to make it up from the bottom, your years of steady grind has built you a foundation that keeps you from defeat. There is a misconception that grind is a 24/7 nonstop activity. False. As you can see, grind give you time to rest, at every step. While still making progress every. Single. Day.

In today’s episode of No Pressure, I talk about the importance of building that foundation first. because everybody falls, not everyone lands.

Apologies for the late in the week email, was under the weather. Enjoy your 4th of July!

With love,

Anthony

This email is sponsored by my book “Don’t Dumb Down Your Greatness” Available everywhere online.

Music by LAKEY Inspired & William Frasier

Source of the Eckhart clip: Oprah Winfrey Network

Why does everything in your life have to be an announcement? Welcome to the new age of social media where if it didn’t get posted, it didn’t happen. This can be cool for some people, but if your’e anything like me, and you value your mental health, you should break away from this habit immediately. The hunger for external validation isn’t new, it probably goes back to the Bible days. Social media however, took external validation to the extreme. Not only are we hungry for it, we are already obese from it.

If you want to tip me, just grab my book “Don’t Dumb Down Your Greatness”

Music by LAKEY Inspired & William Frasier