Renee.FIIT

A hobby of mine is reading books. I picked up this passion around 2 years ago and went crazy! I think I read about 15 books that year...I mean that’s crazy for me Im not sure what the average for books read a year is. One commonality between financially successful people is their work ethic and the amount of hours they put in a day. 14, 16, 18 hour days of non stop graft. This changed my perspective quite a lot because I too wanted the success they have. We’ve seen people becoming successful overnight because of social media but where is the longevity? I can almost be certain that they would have lasted if their work ethic and the hours they had put in was high.

However, on the other hand, there always seems to be a sacrifice they make and, in most cases, it seems to be family. This also changed my perspective again (remember to be a forever student). Now look...I want all the success in the world and will put in the hours to achieve that, however, I refuse to do this at the expense of family cohesion. In the end I believe that is all we have and to neglect that is to neglect the very thing that really gives your life purpose. Whenever we are in crisis we call on people who love us...Not the money in our bank accounts.

The issue now is I was then faced with another problem...I was now struggling to enjoy my Idle time. I had built up a work ethic of around 14-16 hours a day depending on how busy the day was going but I was getting addicted to the work I was doing. You see progress, you get the dopamine hit and you want more. I have a young 2 year old daughter and I will be transparent when I say that this was getting into the way of our time together and, for me, this was not acceptable.

What did I do? I worked on my Idle time. I started planning my Idle time like I plan my work for the week. It makes everything clearer for me. It allows me to put in the hours during the week and also ensure that there is much time for family on the weekend. The balance that I need in my life.

I hope this clears your mind.

Whenever you have something very important to you or a dream that you are trying to chase its always important to remember that there will be people along your journey who will let you down and disappoint you...You will do well not to take this personally.

around 6 years ago I had an idea to start a podcast with my best friend. I was so excited about this and i could not even wait to get started. Not only because we wanted our voices to be heard but also because I wanted to become successful and would have loved to do it with my best friend...Imagine the scenes!

However when it came to recording he would always turn up late or sometimes not turn up at all. Always give excuses and did not even really prep much for filming. I sat there for a while and wondered why he would not just get his act together and be on point but the truth of the matter is this (and I apply this to every single thing I do)...Your dreams and goals are the most important to you and nobody else so naturally they would not put in the effort that you do. I realised that creating the podcast was my dream and not his so I can't even expect him to give it the attention and energy that I was willing to.

About 2 years later I started one with another one of my friends who was willing to show commitment and effort for the podcast. Sometimes something better is around the corner for you and to combat disappointment you will do yourself a world of good by preparing actively for disappointment.

I hope this clears your mind

The hardest part of the everyday graft is putting in the work and not seeing results for extended periods of time.

Lets be honest...We live in a world full of instant gratification so even the thought of doing something which does not show instant results is a little scary for most.

I worked in maritime sales for about a year. We sold technology for ships to ensure the safety of seafearers across the globe. When i started I was told that I have targets to meet and did I ever meet them...No. In the beginning my pitch was rushed and the tonage was all wrong. I read books and brushed up my knowledge on the product to ensure I was confident when trying to qualify a prospect. After a year I got let go which would be negative in some peoples eyes but I done some reflecting and this is what I realised:

1. My confidence in person and on the phone had increased tenfold from the start of my sales journey to the end.
2. My presentation skills had shot through the roof and I was alot more confident looking into peoples eyes when speaking to them.

But most importantly number 3 is that I had attained some key skills which would prove to be valuable for when I left. I was now able to speak to people and keep their attention. I was able to get exactly what I want from a conversation by controlling it and my work ethic became unmatched.

My point here is to celebrate the little wins we have. Sometimes we can be so focused on the end goal that we forget to use those smaller victories to our advantage for when the dark days come...because we can count on them to do so.

This morning I came into my place of work and was completely thrown into the oblivion. All of a sudden my work day which usually consist of a set schedule is no longer available and I have to adapt and change. For some people this could make or break their day...even throw them off enough to affect performance but I pride myself on my adaptability.

One thing we can rely on life to do is throw us curve balls at any given time. So instead of complaining when life does what you expect (crazy right) maybe you can put yourself in a position where you know what to do to be able to adapt to he curve balls being thrown.

Wether it’s the workplace or even at Home with family you have to know how to adapt to survive. Its why most businesses are not successful and most marriages do not work. Because people are not willing to adapt.

Don’t be like everyone, Its boring!

Be a forever student!

Before you think that I am telling you to stay in a school institution for the rest of your life. This is not what I mean. Always be willing to learn. We cannot ever stop learning!

Before getting into fitness and finding my passion for improving the lives of many people I wanted to become a professional footballer...Like almost every teenage boy.

We all hear the stories about the knee injury but that was not the case for me. I was just not good enough...I mean I was a really good player but I was not good enough. Why? Because talent can only take you so far and at one point you have to apply hard work. I had a coach telling me what I needed to improve on and I ignored it so I never improved and never gave myself the best chance to make it.

About 2 years ago I got a job working in sales and it was all about being open to learning and taking accountability. When I internalised those 2 things and I applied them to every aspect of my life that I wanted to improve I saw drastic changes. Always be open to learning because after all 'He who feels he knows everything knows he knows nothing at all'