Tag Archive for: health

Declare Your Own Independence Today

Just a quick message today before I go fire up the grill with my brother-in-law and jump in the pool with my son:

242 years ago, the Second Continental Congress unanimously declared the sovereignty of the thirteen united States of America from the British Empire. The Declaration of Independence, written primarily by Thomas Jefferson, listed colonial grievances against King George III and asserted an individual’s natural rights:

Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness

Today, I believe that no matter where you come from, you and I are entitled to the same natural rights now more than ever.

Though (some) governments certainly serve a few useful purposes (sometimes), bloated bureaucracies tend to prioritize their own survival above your individual freedoms, no matter what the cost.

When it really comes down to brass tacks, it’s up to you to protect yourself, your family, your empire, and your freedom from those who would try to take them away from you. As history has shown many times, nobody else will hold them sacred for you.

There may come times when you will have to FIGHT for your life, FIGHT for your liberty, and certainly you will have to FIGHT for your own happiness.

Freedom is a paradox, because it comes with RESPONSIBILITY. You are responsible for defending your own life when the rubber hits the road, and you are responsible for the consequences of your chosen pursuits.

So while true freedom is the opportunity to make your own choices, living a truly free life REQUIRES taking full responsibility for your choices, your behaviors, and your results.

And if you don’t like your current results — your current reality — there is nobody to blame but yourself.

This can be a hard pill to swallow. Believe me, I understand.

When my business collapsed and my world came crumbling down, I wanted to blame ISIS. I wanted to blame repugnant sex traffickers and martial law in my wife’s home country. I wanted to blame Homeland Security for insisting that we uproot our family and relocate internationally in order to get travel documents. I wanted to blame the partner who betrayed me and cooked the books.

I wanted to blame my mother for getting cancer. I wanted to blame my wife for giving me a child. I almost wanted to blame my son for scratching my cornea during roughhousing and landing me with an eye infection that took me out of commission for a month.

Hell, I even wanted to blame the flesh eating parasites burrowing intolerably slow and painfully through my feet.

I was laying in the fetal position on the tile floor of my 4-bedroom condo in Chiang Mai, Thailand one night cursing God Himself.

But the Truth was that too much avoiding responsibility caught up with me.

It was me — I had made every choice that got me there on that cold hard floor, pulling my hair out, crying and throwing a tantrum like my toddler.

Declare Your Individual Freedom

I used to think that chasing “freedom” meant running away from responsibility.

For 10 years I wanted nothing but more time freedom, more financial independence, and more freedom of location.

And I got it. For almost a decade, I lived in 8 countries across four continents.

I built and experimented with five small companies. We sold two of them.

I dated women from around the globe, and enjoyed all kinds of travel misadventures across at least 35 countries. But I allowed myself to get too comfortable, I let myself become a “victim” of my own success, and bought into the lie of the “four hour work week”, pleasure seeking, fleeing from commitments, and basically drank and smoked away a literal fortune.

In the pursuit of riches, I wrecked my health, and then I carried on abusing my body probably out of sheer self-hatred.

But it was when I realized my real RESPONSIBILITY to show my son a good example, to do my damnedest to be a good role model, to teach him everything the world will neglect to teach him, to be involved in his life and guide him any way I can, that was when my own results began ever so slowly to turn around.

In order to achieve true freedom, YES, you must cultivate an ability to control your money, control your time, and eliminate the mindset that you are subject to any higher authority (at least not here on earth).

But avoiding responsibility, perhaps counterintuitively, will ensure your failure. It will ensure that your health and vitality go down the drain. It will ensure that you create strained, stressed, and broken relationships. It will ensure you create chaos all around you.

You must take RESPONSIBILITY for your Mindset, your Health, your Wealth, and your Relationships.

This Fourth of July, take stock of where you’re at, appreciate what you have, and accept radical responsibility for your current situation. Some things will be great. Others may be a trainwreck.

This is not about guilt or shame. We are all screwups.

For my fellow Americans, be grateful that you ARE the privileged 1% of the world. The USA is an imperfect mess, but it’s one of the safest, most functional places in the world. For my Canadian friends to the north, happy belated Canada Day to you!

Wherever you are, I invite you to accept the challenge to take responsibility for cleaning up whatever areas of your life that are lacking, to realize the necessity for balance in your life, and how your mental health, your fitness, your finances, your spirituality and your connections with people around you are all interconnected.

If you go through life on autopilot, chances are you are going to let at least one of these dimensions of your life completely deteriorate.

So take responsibility to give each of these areas of your life attention, to go through your life consciously, to craft a plan for how you can maintain balance in your life, and always be vigilant looking for opportunities where you can seize MORE responsibility for things around you.

Declare YOUR personal freedom from the mistakes you have made in the past, from your baggage, from your stories, and FIGHT for your life like the men who built America had to.

Declare your freedom from the TYRANNY of victimhood. Choose not to accept the role of “victim” in this life. There is nobody holding you down. Choose to rewrite those negative stories. Trust me.

It is Time for You to Choose FREEDOM, Sovereignty, and Personal Responsibility.

If you are ready to commit yourself to a higher purpose, to double down on yourself, and have accountability, systems, and structure to help you find balance across your Mindset, Health, Wealth, and Relationships, join us as we embark upon a 12-week Dragon-slaying challenge inside the Foundry accelerator this month to turboboost your progress toward your dream goals in Q3.

Normally $333, you can register for one of our remaining 12 lifetime seats in the program today for just $76! Nearly 80% off, in honor of the Founding Fathers (1776).

America homecoming

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Sober October 30-Day Challenge

Every month at the HERO Project, we drill incremental habit change and gather accountability groups to help you connect with others and become the best version of yourself!

August was the father/son pushup challenge.

Throughout September, we did cold showers EVERY SINGLE day.

This month, we’ll be joining comedians Joe Rogan, Bert Kreischer, Tom Segura, Ari Shaffir, and friends for a no-booze October, plus fitness challenge.

Sober OctoBert Announcement from the JRE

The rules for the #SoberOctoBert Challenge as described by its participants:

I personally will be taking one single 24-hour pass on my wedding day on the 8th, but with that exception, I’m committing to 30 days alcohol-free, plus 15 days of fitness in October.

So that’s a workout every other day basically.

I’ll be hitting the gym as much as possible, but also using at-home routines as my backup plan. You can do your cardio workout, you can do HIIT routine, you can do yoga classes, or whatever you want, but if you want to join us for the 30-day HERO Challenge and have some folks alongside to cheer you on all month, we will host the group inside my private group The HERO Project.

After our pushup challenge, my fellow father Brandyn Shoemaker had this to say: “What are you struggling with right now? What do you want to teach your kids? Whatever it is, do it. Do it everyday and soon enough it will change from a struggle to a habit.”

It’s completely free to join on Facebook. Join me and a group of fellow heroes all through October for a Sober October and 30-day fitness challenge.

If you post your workout on Instagram or FB, use the hashtags #SoberOctobert and #30DayHERO

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The Influence of Perception

Isn’t it strange, to live life through just one pair of eyeballs, and to know for a fact, that at the very same time, there are literally billions of other eyeballs having their very own, sometimes wildly unique lives, recording their own crazy experiences simultaneously.

And that’s just taking other people into account. Not to even mention the countless other lifeforms, just on this planet.

And who knows what else lurks out there in the deep reaches of outer space, in the great beyond, the Unknown World…

How important we think we are. Our experiences, our perspective.

And we tend to think other people share the same views on things, or at least that they should. But we forget how myopic others are, just as much as ourselves.

Humans tend to focus on the areas immediately around them — the objects in their immediate surroundings.

Jobs, and screens, don’t help.

There were times in millennia past when men did very little but watch the horizon for enemy tribes, or for predators. And there are still a few men throughout the world today who lead their lives in a similar fashion — seafarers, pilots, herders, hunters, outdoorsmen, certain kinds of nomads.

But most of us spend the vast majority of our hours and days indoors. In cities. Enclosed.

Our eyesight goes early because we spend years of our lives staring at screens or surfaces of one form or another. Our ancestors did not evolve to do the things we do today.

And keep in mind, the modern human brain essentially developed over 50,000 years ago.

For 99.8% of that time, humans were living very different lifestyles — occupying themselves with incredibly different things than we do today.

As I write this, I’m watching the construction men across the road building a magnificent piece of engineering.

construction

These guys (and a few gals, props to ’em) are working now on the seventh floor, out there in the breeze, no ropes, not one safety net that I can see from where I’m sitting.

Some of them have been practicing their craft for so long, they’ll stand right on the edge looking straight down.

And they’re talented.

But I bet you could point a gun at most of them from the next nearest rooftop, and nobody would see it coming. Because of the nature of their work (and this is a somewhat extreme example, I’ll admit) but they are hyper-focused on their immediate surroundings.

It’s not a bad thing. They get excellent work done.

But for a lot of people, it could cost you your life sometimes if you take your eye off your day job.

And most don’t get out enough to fully appreciate the real healing powers of being in our natural environment.

I feel people sometimes lose sight of the fact that we are not well-adapted to live with our technology.

Technology’s great. But we are in fact hard-wired through millions of years of evolution to do very different things than we do in 2017.

And that fact underlies most the problems YOU experience in life — from health issues, injuries, relationship challenges, emotional and mental wellbeing, to your failure to find meaning in your work, poor sexual performance, or struggling with unhappiness.

Even money (as you know it) wasn’t even a thing until the last 1000 years.

So if you’re struggling with that game, don’t worry. So am I. It doesn’t come naturally to anyone.

I have several friends who’ve managed to find a way to make millions, and then lose it all.

I’ve got to imagine that bites. Hard.

But I still respect them. Plus it just shows — we’re all only human.

If you’re struggling with any of these things — your emotional world, your fitness and health, your wealth, your relationships, or otherwise getting what you want out of life — I bet you probably don’t typically think in your day-to-day life that maybe something about how your ancestors evolved had much to do with it.

But just maybe…

***

Once in a while, it’s nice to get out of the city. It’s nice to get out into nature, somewhere you can stretch out and breath. Somewhere you can spend time with the wanderers, the seagoers, the adventurers.

Somewhere far away from your day job. Somewhere you can look out across the open sea, or examine the world from mountaintop.

I even just love sitting here on my balcony every chance I get, watching the world go by. It gives you a different PERSPECTIVE on life, and the world.

But with the increasing harvest season smoke and smog here in Chiang Mai, I’m thinking of getting away from it all, getting a change of perspective and going to immerse myself in the great outdoors, in my preferred natural environment.

It’s been quite a while actually, since I visited my good friends there… sat on my favorite beach listening to the ocean speak, went rock climbing, or sea kayaking, or even just jammed at one of the great reggae bars filled with friendly warm faces.

Heck, last time I took a group of new friends there, we swam with sharks, braved jellyfish stings, we shared unforgettable moments together around a beach bonfire, under an open sky full of stars.

hiking guided tour krabi

If anybody wants to join me soon in my favorite paradise, I’m thinking of making another escape to Krabi, Thailand.

But this is a HEROIC Escape! We always build incredible deep bonds with new friends, push ourselves to grow in challenging but fun ways, and tend to really experience some breakthroughs through a change in perspective, and through more physical, natural challenges than many folks might be used to (at least in their day-to-day life).

I always find it’s a great reset, and I always deepen some pretty valuable new relationships with fascinating people. I’ve even connected some new friends with VC money in the millions, or with publishers, for example, through these wild experiences.

And I’ve been blessed to witness some incredible transformative moments that people have had — simply challenging themselves in weird new ways and sharing a once-in-a-lifetime experience together with other like-minded people.

I spent 2 years living in Ao Nang, Krabi, and developed many amazing friendships and invaluable connections in this very magical place.

If there is a Shangri-La, this is it as far as I’m concerned:

In the 35 countries I’ve traveled so far, I haven’t found a beach I love more than this place.

Let me know — I’m considering taking my Queen and our son for their first time for much of March, and I’m toying with the idea of throwing a little beach festival for my 33rd birthday.

If you’d be interested to join, let me know here.

And keep your eye on the horizon, friends.

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A Christmas Miracle, and Happy Wishes for 2017

Dear friends,

Another lap around the sun comes to a close. 2016 was filled with its share of challenges, but we’re grateful for several opportunities for healing and growth, and lots of quality family time.

McKibben Christmas

My son Chris turned 2 years old in February. Thankfully his Lolo and Lola were able to make a visit to Thailand to be present for his birthday!

parents visit Chiang Mai

We put 4 stamps in Chris’ passport — taking the family to Malaysia, to the Petronas Twin Towers, spending some months in overcrowded Manila, working tirelessly to get travel documents to visit the USA.

Petronas Twin Towers KL

We flew Jam’s mother on her first airplane in her life to meet us in Cebu, Philippines, for a family weekend on the beach.

family beach holiday

After 3 attempts we finally secured Jam’s US visa, and we spent 3 months in America, giving Chris the chance to finally meet his sick Grandma and the extended family for the first time! We had many fun adventures and got to spend lots of time with my mother, helping her through some intense cancer treatment in Arizona over the summer.

meeting Grandma

cancer treatment center

Chris went to classes at a local school in Sacramento for a few months, and fell in love with another young Filipino-American 3-year-old Thea Rosa! 🙂

California summer

McKibben Tahoe trip

We had a nice family holiday in Lake Tahoe with Great Grandma and Auntie Jaime. We roadtripped down the Pacific Coast Highway from Santa Cruz to Santa Barbara, through Hollywood and across the Palm Desert, past Joshua Tree National Park, and into Arizona, just outside of Phoenix to be with Mom during her major surgery.

breast cancer surgery

cancer ward

Mom’s spirits remained high through many months of difficult trials. She recently completed treatment and is finally back in the comfort of home. My sister told me on Christmas Day (and I just confirmed with Mom on the phone Wednesday) the doctors say they can’t find any trace of cancerous cells from the scans!

DSC00671

Thanks to many of you for your warm support and invaluable help during our lengthy struggle to get travel documents and get the family back home to support Mom.

grandma and grandson

family portrait

Now we’re back home in Asia, settling down and making our home in Chiang Mai, Thailand. I’ve spent 2016 straightening out an injured spine, getting off pain pills and going 100% natural, I did a mountain of inner work, and I’ve just done my second 30-day meditation challenge.

On the Work Front:

Currently I’m working like I haven’t done in years. My book concept is coming along slowly (tentatively called Chasing the Sun), and in 2017, I’m hoping to team up with my good friend Dwight Turner and his organization Courageous Kitchen to finally launch my dream project!

I call it The HERO Project — iterating an exciting new learning framework with our supporters, based around Joseph Campbell’s perennial “Hero’s Journey” monomyth. It’s an early-stage conceptual educational model that I want to develop into online courses, homeschooling curricula, and maybe one day a brick-and-mortar school here in Thailand.

We’ll aim to provide free skills training and experimental educational programs to empower underprivileged children and young adults in Bangkok with entrepreneurial skills, while we also develop a practical online personal development & learning platform with a fun, interesting storytelling style for our supporters. You can read more and support the project here.

I’m also excited for our upcoming Nomad Summit here in Chiang Mai on February 4th! Last year was an incredible event with 230 enthusiastic attendees, and this time around promises to be twice as impactful! Hope to see one or two of you for a visit to sunny Thailand! 🙂

I’ll continue writing here at Thrilling Heroics about all these developments and more in 2017, and sharing the behind-the-scenes journey with Hero Project patrons!

I pray for great opportunities in the New Year for YOU to chase your biggest, wildest dreams! We wish you a very happy holiday season and a prosperous, transformative 2017!

Wherever you are in the world, we hope you’re happy and thriving! Thank you for your love and continued support ️❤️

-Cody, Jam Milcah, and Christopher (from Thailand with love)

happy nomad family

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The IMPOSSIBLE List

Anyone motivated to be successful—to really make an impact with your life—has a list of important things they want to do. Things to have, things to be. Places they want to go, people they’d love to meet.

You may not have a list of life goals all written down on paper. You probably keep an immediate to-do list, you might have some of your long-term life goals written down on scraps of paper or word doc lists on your computer here and there, but you know at the very least you have those things somewhere in the back of your mind.

I’ve challenged myself with yearly goals in the last couple years, and I’ve mapped out plans for my businesses and different projects. I don’t frequently achieve everything on my lists, but as my friend Ramit Sethi once told me, if you’re not failing at a couple things each month, you’re not trying hard enough.

And I’ve found that sharing those goals publicly gives me additional motivation and accountability to follow through, and sometimes friends and readers can offer words of advice, help, or partnership on some goals.

I’ve had some pieces of the puzzle in the works for a long time, but I hadn’t put together a comprehensive “bucket list” of things I want to do before I die until recently. It wasn’t until Sean Ogle recently wrote about bucket lists, and how to identify the most important life goals that will enable you to achieve the other items on your list—the travel goals, the possessions, the fun stuff—that I finally got motivated to really solidify my whole life list and put it out here to share with the world.

Several friends and bloggers have compiled great bucket lists that have helped inspire some of the things I decided to put on my list. There’s a mix of places I’d love to jet set, landmarks I’d like to see, adventures I’d like to have, experiences I hope to share with specific friends and family, and of course I immediately took Sean’s advice and prioritized the importance of the enabling goals that will make everything else possible.

So without further ado, here’s my bucket list—or, 84 adventures you can follow me on here at Thrilling Heroics:

Enabling Goals

  1. Develop an online business that earns over $3000/month in passive income.
  2. Build a blog with 10,000+ subscribers.
  3. Write an ebook or launch a digital product that earns $6,000+.
  4. Publish a best-selling book.
  5. Achieve 100% freedom from all debt.
  6. Get an article published in the print edition of Esquire, GQ, Wired, Details, or Maxim magazine.
  7. Leverage my blog audience to make a major positive impact in at least 10 peoples lives (we’ve already helped my friend Ryan, and Tim & Rodrigo (two scholarship awardees at Digital Nomad Academy).
  8. Speak at South by Southwest Interactive and stick around for the music festival in Austin, Texas.
  9. Set up a Hong Kong corporation.
  10. Make at least $200K in a given year.
  11. Get a second passport, and maybe a third too.
  12. Complete my Personal MBA.
  13. Attend an official TED Conference. (Already had the honor of helping plan the locally-organized TEDxBKK!)
  14. Sell my photography and other creative artwork.
  15. Organize a lifestyle business summit (March 2014 in Costa Rica! – a 5 so far SE Asia)

Adventures to Have & Things to Do

  1. Learn to rock climb in Railay Beach, Krabi.
  2. Climb up to the mountaintop Wat Tum Sua Temple in Krabi, Thailand.
  3. Learn to sail.
  4. Climb a volcano.
  5. Eat slow-roasted crispy suckling pig in Bali (delicious babi guling).
  6. Spend a week with friends at Burning Man in the Nevada desert.
  7. Go skydiving. Go skydiving again.
  8. Learn to play guitar.
  9. Reactivate my French and achieve fluency.
  10. Learn to speak conversational Spanish. (half-way there in Colombia 2014)
  11. Get in the best shape of my life with my trainer Tom Frearson.
  12. Replace my morning coffee with Yerba Maté for at least a week.
  13. Get a tattoo with a design from my best friend.
  14. Take my dad to eat real Kobe beef at Wolfgang Puck’s restaurant CUT in Los Angeles.
  15. Spend a whole lot more time with my grandfather and learn about his life before he leaves us.
  16. Raise another dog.
  17. Take my best friend Patrick to a Daft Punk concert.
  18. Share a beer with Carlos Miceli in South America. (Sept 2013 in Santiago, Chile)
  19. Settle abroad for at least 3 months elsewhere in Asia, in Central and South America, and Europe.
  20. Live at least 3 months in San Francisco, San Diego, and Austin, Texas.
  21. Work for a month at a winery—like, in the fields, growing grapes—in California or France wine country.
  22. Drive the Pacific Coast Highway in a convertible Lamborghini.
  23. Camp under the stars on the beach and see the sun rise. (2009 in Prachuap, Thailand)
  24. Participate in the world’s biggest water fight during Thailand’s New Year’s festivities (Songkran).
  25. Do a beach photoshoot with a swimsuit model.
  26. Go to a shooting range and fire off a Kalashnikov rifle and a Desert Eagle .50 Action Express. More importantly, learn to disassemble & reassemble them.
  27. Drive a Tesla Roadster.
  28. Take a gondola along the Venice canals in Italy.
  29. Ride camel back across the Sahara desert.
  30. Take a Serengeti safari in Tanzania and Kenya.
  31. Trek through the jungle on the back of an elephant.
  32. See the view from the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris (twice).
  33. See the view from the top of Corcovado Mountain in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
  34. Party on Ibiza for New Year’s Eve in Spain’s Ballearic Islands.
  35. Go to the Glastonbury Festival in England and see Stonehenge.
  36. Participate in the Brazilian Carnaval celebration.
  37. See what Mardi Gras and Voodoo Fest are all about in New Orleans, Louisiana.
  38. Train Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu with my son.
  39. Learn to surf (took lessons in Bali 2010). Learn to surf properly!
  40. Learn to DJ or mix electronic music.
  41. Own a Ducati motorcycle.
  42. Buy and restore a 1965 or 1966 Shelby Mustang GT350.
  43. Stay in an over-the-water bungalow in beautiful Bora Bora in the French Polynesian islands.
  44. Spontaneously walk into the airport and randomly buy a same-day ticket to wherever looks appealing.
  45. Drive the Amalfi coast near Sorrento, Italy.
  46. Rent a villa on Lake Como or Lake Lugano with friends.
  47. Own a small bar or restaurant with live music.
  48. Leave any wealth or assets I have when I go out to people who really deserve and need them.

Places to Travel & Landmarks to See

  1. The ancient temples at Angkor Wat, Cambodia
  2. The Acropolis and Parthenon in Athens, Greece
  3. The Sistine Chapel and Vatican City in Rome, Italy
  4. The pyramids at Giza, Egypt
  5. Machu Picchu in Peru
  6. The home of the Oracle at Delphi, Greece
  7. The Taj Mahal
  8. The ancient city of Petra, carved into canyon walls in southern Jordan
  9. The Karnak temple and the Valley of the Kings near Luxor, Egypt
  10. The Mayan ruins at Chichen Itza near Cancun, Mexico
  11. Iguazu Falls on the Argentina/Brazil border
  12. The Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy
  13. The Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
  14. The Banaue Rice Terraces in the Philippines
  15. The Borobudur stuppa in Java, Indonesia
  16. Gorgeous Zion National Park, Utah
  17. Niagara Falls lit up at night
  18. Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet
  19. Jerusalem’s Old City
  20. The Hagia Sofia mosque in Istanbul, Turkey
  21. The abbey of Mont-St-Michel in France

You’ll notice I’ve included a few things I’ve already accomplished (plus I come back to update this list every few months, so things are continually getting crossed off).

I’ve also taken Sean’s advice to have a few things that will be easier to achieve, and a few goals I can obtain in the very near future.

I think when you make your own list it’s important to recognize the big things you’ve already done that you’d always dreamed of, and include a few “gimme” goals so you can start off strong and stay motivated.

Of course I expect that my feelings about some items on the list may change throughout the course of my life. I may not achieve everything, some of my goals will change, or I may add new items to the list. But, it’s a starting point and it’s something I can always refer back to to remind me what I want to accomplish.

Of course if there’s anything you can help me achieve, or something you want to join in on, leave a shout out and we’ll talk! 

What’s on Your List?

Take a look at my in-depth breakdown of how to establish meaningful personal and professional goals for yourself in all the important realms of your life. It’s written to help you establish yearly goals, but the principles can be applied to building your own life goals list too.

If you have a bucket list already, share it. If not, take a look at the above articles and get on it! Your time here is short, so remember to value every day you have and make the most of it.

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How To Make The Most Of Being Sick

We all get sick. It’s a part of life.

About four or five days ago, my brand new running routine that I’ve been trying to keep up 3 or 4 days a week finally irritated my asthma (something that hasn’t bothered me for several years since I was a kid). I was in the emergency room until 4:30 a.m. Saturday morning on a breathing device, and then finally checked out with an inhaler, etc. Unfortunately I am still struggling to get a deep breath, so I chose to take a sick day from work today until I can get in to see my regular doctor tomorrow for follow-up at 11. (I’m hoping they can prescribe me something a little more preventative!)

Aside from my hopes and wishes, it’s very difficult for me to concentrate on work when I feel like I’m struggling for breath—plus I need to relax my body and get my mind off my breathing as much as possible—so I chose to stay home. While it is hard to concentrate on things, that doesn’t mean I can’t get things done! A day off from work is always an opportunity. So, the first thing I did after I slept in a little and called my doctor was read Patricia’s “How To Use A Sick Day To Change Your Life” at A Better You Blog. I figured this would be a great kickstart for my lazy day at home. She says, “Stay on track. Do not use your illness as an excuse to be derailed from your path in life.” Instead, she offers 10 examples of how you can make a sick day a productive and successful day! Here are a few of my favorite excerpts:

“You will be healthier if your mind thinks constructive and uplifting thoughts. When you are sick in bed is not the time to consider all the things you cannot do. Instead, make a deal with yourself to think only about what you CAN do.”

“Dream. What would you do if you could change your life? Use your sick day, a day away from your typical routine, to consider your life course. Set goals and aim high. Think big. It is okay, no one will laugh. And no one will even know if you stay quiet. Consider telling someone your dreams, goals, and aspirations. You may find encouragements in surprising places. Then take action. Are you stuck with an extended illness? Consider how you can use the time to help others. The biggest cancer fundraisers began with one person considering what to do to influence the world. What about you?”

“Grow, create, and expand. Before your day is over, enrich your life. Learn something new. Watch a documentary or “how to” show on television. Read a book about a subject you do not know. Browse the internet to learn what you do not typically seek out. Evaluate your life purpose, your measure of success, and consider your sphere of influence. Create a post for your blog if you have one, or express yourself through whatever medium your talent allows. You can be very productive while your body rests. You can even change your life. Do it today.”

So, after reading this insightful post, here are a few goals I have set for myself for today:

  • To blog about my sick day. Check!
  • Put the time I have to the best use and finish up a group project I’m working on strong!
  • Read a back issue of Vanity Fair (the Green Issue) to expand my knowledge.
  • Possibly catch up on balancing my checkbook and polishing my budget if there is time.

What will you do with your next sick day?

–How To Use A Sick Day To Change Your Life at A Better You Blog

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