10 concepts that have the potential to 10x the quality of your life.

Finding these took me time, a lot of time.

It was very uncomfortable.I pulled myself apart, analysing every detail of myself with precision.

Obsessively reading 100+ books, spending thousands on coaching, constant introspection and hitting rock bottom all helped teach me these.

I’m allowing you to learn these gems without the pain and suffering of trial and error. However, to fully embrace these, you must walk them yourself.

3 Values - FREEDOM - TRUTH - ABUNDANCE

Everyone’s values are different.

Values are not a one-size-fits-all or an easy plug-and-play system.

When first hearing about values, I thought:

“Pfft, values can’t be that important. It’s just a few words people idolise being.”

I was so wrong.

We don’t realise it, but values affect every part of our lives, mostly subconsciously.

When we are offended, or something feels right, it’s usually in accordance with or against our values. The most powerful emotions and thoughts derive from our deepest values.

Looking back, some of my life’s most uncomfortable and painful times have come down to a few values someone or a situation has crossed. Some of these were being lied to, being trapped in something I didn’t want to do, etc.

Extremely positive experiences = Deep core value is aligned.

Extremely negative experiences = Deep core value is crossed.

Finding yours is a 3-step process:

Below is the list, check it out!

1. Pick 10 values you think are most aligned with you. Don’t be too particular, and there are no wrong answers here. Whatever feels right, these will change over time.

2. Look back in your life to where something made you either extremely happy or sad, and write down a value that best symbolises the experience either being crossed or in alignment. Through both journaling and memories, distil down to your top 3. (Again, these will change)

3. I constantly question this in my life: Is this what is most important to me?It’s a constant process and is never complete. However, knowing them will allow you to build healthy boundaries around the most important ones and to design your lifestyle to embrace more of them!

Understanding we know absolutely nothing. Always a student.

How much knowledge is there to know?

Well, to me, it’s infinite. Thinking you know it all is simply incredibly naive.

Therefore, I adopt a simple mentality, radical open-mindedness, and acceptance that I know nothing. However, this is not to say we are stupid; we are simply adopting a higher perspective.

Have you noticed people with a closed-minded mentality often can’t see others opinions or think outside the box? 

They fail at one thing:To temporarily adopt another’s perspective and see “Over the fence.”Doing so limits their perception of external events, preventing them from finding a closer truth.

Why is this worth doing?

1. It opens you up to the entirety of the experience.

2. Growth doesn’t reside in the same; it results from change.

3. Ask any successful person. They attribute their success to constant improvement.

4. I believe one of many purposes of humanity is in striving to be better.

Next time you are in a disagreement, ask yourself:

“Is there some truth to this alternate perspective? What can I learn from this way of thinking?”

Reading is essential.

Reading without question saved my life. This statement is no exaggeration.

If I hadn’t read, I would not have gained the perspective, ideas and worldview needed to escape the perpetual hell loop I was stuck in.

There are 2 kinds of reading: Fiction and Non-fiction.

- Fiction books absorb you into a creative story so you can distract and immerse yourself in a new reality, which expands your creativity.

- Non-fiction is often derived from personal experience and designed to teach and expand your mind, often resulting in perspective breakthroughs.

The leading 10 benefits of reading:

1. Gain valuable knowledge

2. Exercise your brain

3. Improve your focus

4. Improve your memory

5. Enjoy entertainment

6. Improve your ability to empathise

7. Improve your communication skills

8. Reduce stress

9. Improve your mental health

Fitting in with society is a one-way ticket to mediocrity.

Get good grades, get a good job, buy a good house, contribute consistently to a diversified portfolio, don’t take any risks and try your best to fit in.

Always keep up with the Joneses and try to one-up people around you; never be grateful and constantly make excuses for people doing better than you.

At the end of this process, what is left is:

- A never-ending house monster that requires feeding from you, keeping you locked into that job you hate for 45 years.

- Little to no returns on your investments after taking inflation into account. Banks, governments, institutions and financial advisors convince you that you are doing the right thing while they profit from your position.

- You constantly tell your kids things like: “You need money to make money” and “They are only rich because their parents are rich” to hide the reality that maybe you were wrong and could have done more…

- When you finally hit retirement at the ripe old age of 65, you have money you have sacrificed your happiness for but no longer have your health. To make up for this reality and to be able to tell yourself it was all worth it, you travel and “make up” for the decision to work a job you hate and not follow your dreams.

I see the effects this has on people. It’s not pretty.

However, most people don’t escape society’s delusion until it’s too late.

Yes, the alternative is also tricky.No one said starting your business and following your dreams would be easy.

There is one key difference, though:

You tried and are free from regret at the end of your life.

If you apply yourself, you will be an improved version of yourself, make a positive difference in the world, and be someone your children look up to.

Always remember:

An easy decision now will have a very negative result in the future.

A hard decision now will have a very positive result in the future.

Travel is a priceless way to expand the mind and unlock your authentic self.

The benefits of travel are seemingly endless, but here are a few main ones:

• Getting lost helps you find who you are.

• Travel takes courage, which builds confidence (Newsletter on this topic, check it out)

• Travelling challenges your worldview, beliefs and perspectives.

• Travelling improves intelligence by putting you out of your comfort zone.

• It separates you from your old environment and expectations, allowing you to create a better version of yourself.

• You make decisions based on yourself. Sometimes, being selfish is the only way to find yourself.

These benefits combine into a symphony of growth in almost every area.

When I travelled, I didn’t realise how much I grew until I returned. Everyone was saying I was different, and I was, I just didn’t know it yet.

So if you are deciding whether to travel or not, do it.Start young with the cheaper countries and work your way up as your income increases. I promise you, you won’t regret it.

Gratitude is key

I swear every self-help guru and their dog talks about gratitude…

I could sit here and say it’s not essential, but I’d be lying; in reality, it’s vital.

I initially wrote a paragraph on three things I’m grateful for daily.

When I first started, I thought:

“Ah, surely it’s not that big of a deal, but I’ll give it a crack and see how it goes.”

The first changes started about a week into this habit, and I started noticing good things more often. These were subtle but welcomed little things like being grateful for the food I was eating or the money in my bank account, but they started to add up.

Regularly, I had to think long and hard to find just three things to be grateful for, but now I almost instantly get three ideas.

Make it fun! Be grateful for stupid things; anything goes!

I distinctly remember one day I was grateful for the way my dog Lola reacted with the hose… These kinds of memories stick around; they add colour to our lives.

P.S, These entries are also the best ones to re-read!

So what’s stopping you? Start now.You will be happier, more positive and healthier because of it.

Pssss, secret tip…

Put your journal next to your bed and journal as soon as you wake up or go to bed.This either sets you in a positive mindset for the day or caps off the day nicely.

You start level 1 in everything. Life is a game.

You spawn into the game of life.

You have no skills, no money and no experience.

It’s up to you to level up and improve; action is required for progression, and you are the only person who can do it.

The truth is, life is one big game. Unfortunately, most are playing it backwards.

In Minecraft terms, the masses sit on the surface, scared of the monsters and the dangers.

So they never get any loot or gain any experience.

They are the villagers earning a wage to survive.

But there is another path.

We can choose to better ourselves by facing the fear and tackling it head-on.

We strive towards a better version of ourselves and a better future.

Diving into the cave, facing the monsters and gaining the loot is the only way to progress in life.

We gain skills and experience to advance our careers, relationships and our health.After the cave we choose to create whatever we want, whenever we want.But you cant get rich from staying on the surface.

Take the leap, eat the frog, do whatever’s necessary to live the dreams you have.Level up or not, it’s your choice. Just understand the actual costs of being stagnant.

Money is a placeholder for value.

Look around, open your eyes.If money is a placeholder for value, everything is a transaction.

What is every single person doing in the world?

Trading value constantly, in every way imaginable.

Everything is a currency, some of the most valuable being:

Time, Money, Attention, Experience, Entertainment, Knowledge and Assets.

Some transactions include:

- A job trading time for money.

- A conversation trading ideas for ideas.

- Buying anything with money.

- Giving attention and time to social media in exchange for entertainment.

- Buying a course, trading money for knowledge and experience.

The list goes on, and it’s infinite.What matters is how we use this information.

Why are the biggest companies so successful?They provide immense value to the largest number of people using leverage.

Leverage can come in many forms:

- Money- Time- Software- Assets- Debt- Attention- Networking

Here is a few questions you should ask yourself:

1. What are the most valuable things to me?Is it time? Your favourite sneakers? Be realistic, think big picture.

2. How much value am I currently providing the world?Do I provide value through ideas? Maybe it’s a service your business provides, or is it your ability to solve problems working for a company?

3. What do I enjoy that I could provide the most value doing?Do you enjoy working with stray dogs? Do you enjoy running a restaurant? Anything is possible.

At the end of the day, we have a choice to make.

A. Provide as much value as possible to society doing what we enjoy using leverage.

B. Ignore everything and stick our heads in the sand because it’s all too hard.

Both paths are hard, but regrets are harder.

Balancing Creating and Consuming.

Everything living consumes and creates in one way or another.Humans, in particular, consume information and create ideas, thoughts and beliefs.We tend to get overwhelmed when we intake large amounts of information but don’t apply it.

I always imagine consumption and creation as a flow of energy:

- Too much flow causes overwhelm.- Prioritising consumption causes anxiety because you aren’t taking action.- Prioritising creation causes mind blanks and low-value content.- Doing nothing at all causes you to be stagnant, not growing at all.

So, where do we draw the line?

For me, a 60% Creation, 40% Consumption split works, but you have to experiment yourself.

Before working this out, I consumed ridiculous amounts of books, podcasts, YouTube videos and lectures. I constantly listened to or watched something, even at work.

Consuming so much caused immense anxiety because I wasn’t creating anything, let alone recording any of the life-altering information I was learning.

The first step I took was taking notes.I use an app called Notion with a second brain software.

Notion allowed me to record and categorise the valuable information to implement it and break it down. 

Doing so felt like I had unloaded a massive weight off my shoulders; I finally could do something with the genius insights I gained from reading over 100+ Self-development books.

After doing so for a while, I realised how good this information was sitting on my computer. If I died, the computer would be sold, and my life’s work would have disappeared completely unused.

At that moment, I promised myself I would not let this information go to waste.I will help as many other people overcome what I did and help them be better versions of themselves.

Key takeaway? 

Never only consume, never only create. Either extreme will cause you problems.

You must walk the fine line and find the balance that works for you.

Discover your WHY to find the rest.

“WHY” is arguably the most important question you will ever ask in your life.

For so long, I had absolutely no @!$%ing idea what mine was.

I always had a deep sense that I was here for a reason and was constantly searching for what it was. I jumped from job to job, thinking money was my “why”. I thought I would become rich if I landed a good job, and everything would work out… How wrong I was.

I was losing hope. I never thought I would find it.

Eventually, after hitting rock bottom many times, I luckily stumbled across books and courses. If not for them, I can’t say I would be here right now.

They exposed me to other people and perspectives of what brought meaning to our lives, and they also showed me it was possible to find my “Why”.

It might sound like this process was easy, but to be completely honest, it was excruciating.

I read and consumed content for 8-10 hours daily, listening to audiobooks, podcasts, courses, lectures, etc. 

I learned that if you know the answer to your ‘why’, you have motivation, purpose, and direction. This was exactly what I needed.

After listening to many of Simon Sinek’s lectures, I decided to buy his book “How to Find Your Why” This book allowed me to see through the smoke and mirrors and uncover my core purpose.

That book, plus many others combined with deep introspection in the courses I was doing, ultimately allowed me to find my way among pieces of myself I never knew existed.

Since then, I have taken massive action, moving to another country, quitting my job, and rebuilding my life, goals, and dreams. Now, I have a reason to live and am excited to write and build daily. 

I had no idea how much fulfilment and happiness I was missing out on until I uncovered this.

Finding your “why” is too complicated to cover in this particular newsletter, but I would happily cover it in the future if requested.

I hope these concepts can expose you to your potential.

Learning these and many others helped me evolve into a much better version of myself, and I hope it enables you to do the same.

Until next week, take care.Leigh.