Archives November 2013

Love appreciating what I have – and not being a greedy piggy for sure!

2013 has been the most amazing year of my life.  High’s, Lows, Wins, Helping people – I sometimes pinch myself at the revolutions in my own life.  More importantly however, the changes have been more in me from a Mental and Spiritual Viewpoint which I have found quite profound.

Like many say, tons of “Wins” in life teaching you something, but the big lessons come from usually what hurts the most.  For me especially, getting wiped out financially and relationship wise was the best thing that ever happened to me in my early 30’s.  It gave me a new perspective, a new opportunity and a new focus.  I know that if that never happened and I stayed in the Corporates, there is no way I could have ever impacted the lives of hundreds of people and also enjoy the deep down fulfillment of having the opportunity to do that.

One thing I love about my line of work, is that whenever you overcome an issue in yourself – it makes you that bit stronger and able to help people more.

One thing that I have overcome in myself lately is learning true appreciation for what you have.  I have had quite an intense few months (full of definitive highs and lows) and I have a bit of a sore throat right now and am relaxing to catch up on a bit of rest.  I have put my money where my mouth is and thought exactly that – even though Physically I am a bit off – I can still truly appreciate everything I have.

I think competition is a great thing (especially when it drives people to success), but then when you get too much of it creates a clear lack of appreciation, “Greed” and an extreme desire to acquire more for the sake of it.

Don’t get me wrong, I am a Middle Eastern Persian Guy in Sydney – lovely homes, cars and clothing tick all my boxes and I am quite a Capitalist – more what I am referring too is where I have been in life previously, just always unhappy, what you have sucks and you must get more to prove that you don’t suck type of thinking.

The funny thing is that the more I have spoken about my own thoughts and feelings on this topic – quite a few friends and colleagues have said “Yes Ed, that is me too!”.  I think this topic isn’t spoken about enough in balance, you kind of have both extremes in action.  That is, if you don’t put money about your own family you are a Socialist / Hippie or if you like driving a nice car and having a great home for your family you are Capitalistic / Piggy or something like that.

I love success and help people achieve that – however the big caveat that has come into my own thinking for the better is to:

– Yes go after Success, but appreciate everything you have! There are way more people that have it worse than you!

I think it can be very easy to forget that point.  I am feeling quite fulfilled now as I write this (granted I could use a Hot Lemon Drink to sooth my throat) – and in the past year or two of my life hasn’t worked out on some personal levels.  It used to get me down, but I have finally come to the other side of it and feel good about what I have and the great stuff that is coming.

What has changed? My circumstances haven’t – but my thinking, behaviour and approach to life has most certainly changed for the better.  Instead of focusing on the “Lack” I am focusing on what I “Have”.

And guess what happens when you break out of that Society “You go to be the best – blah blah blah” – you end up feeling better, become more productive, make better decisions and get what you want.  Since I have been making these revolutions in my own life, my business and health (except for me sore throat today) has been way better and I am quite happy with the way things are playing out.

If you can relate to this article and be it you are on this path too – if say your life or business isn’t quite playing out the way you like, don’t let it bug you! My advice to you from not only my Spiritual Teachings – but first hand experience is appreciate and enjoy what you have.  That will put you into a much healthier space allowing you overcome your challenges and pursue the life you want.

My thoughts for a Sunday Morning – I wish you the best whenever or where-ever you are world wide!

Worst of Times Lead to Best of Times – Proven that to Myself!

I have had an amazing run in my life lately.  I am 35 years old now and reflecting back now on succeeding in my own business, it has got me reflecting on how strange life can be sometimes.

When I was 29 / 30 – I was washed up career wise.  Post GFC, my old “Corporate Marketing Manager” skills were worth 1/2 the value as they were in the old days (assuming one could get a job).  This pressure was brilliant in the end as it helped me become the man who I am today where I have been lucky to help Hundreds of Small Business Owners & Entrepreneurs build some happening lives.

2013 has been a year of “Clean-Up” and reinvestment for me.  I lost all my weight (still some left though – the sides are always the hardest), reinvested almost every cent I had back into the business so I can help more people, got more into charity and this one was long time coming – cleaning up my Personal / Relationship Life.  I am far from perfect on this on this front but I have made all my hard decisions that I have been putting off for years.  Even though I don’t have the results yet, I feel good in knowing I have finally taken some responsibility for my actions!

Quite a few of my clients & friends are going through tough ones now.  Some much tougher than me (mine isn’t really that hard, it’s all in my head).  What I have reflected on in all of this is:

– The Best of Times, The Worst of Times…

Right now I feel like that in my life I am truly living and contributing and especially in the last year I have had the highest highs and the lowest lows.  I must be starting to sound like an old man now in that what I am realizing is that it’s very hard to have massive highs, without the massive lows.  I spent most of my life numb and in the middle and I have realized that is what most people do to their own detriment – live life on the “Average”, and to me that is painful!

I have made lots of big and little decisions this year, some worked out great, some were not so great – but one thing I have noticed is that I have personally helped the most people ever, earned the most money ever (although I have put it all back into my business), had some amazing wins and life changing experiences AND had some massive lows!

Over the past few months my personal life has been very rocky, so I made some big decisions and took the bull by the horns.  It was tough, but now I feel stable – and this part of my life is working out.  Even though I haven’t got what I want, to me I have learned (and seen this with many of my clients) that as long as you take charge and no longer play Victim – you instantly feel better and inspired.

So here is to the Best of Times and the Worst of Times! I used to be fearful of the bad times, but now I know – the Worst of times can be enjoyable in the respect that it teaches you what is important and what really matters.

Thank you for the read and I talk about Business Mindset in the Awesome Marketing Vault.  Feel free to check it out and hope you like it.

Have a great day or night everyone with thanks from Edward Zia – Marketing Mentor and Small Business Lover!