How to Become a Master in Your Field!

Do you want to achieve excellence in your chosen field of work or study? Do you want to be recognized as an expert and a leader by your peers and customers? Do you want to enjoy the benefits of being a master, such as higher income, greater satisfaction, and more opportunities?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you are not alone. Many people aspire to become Masters in their fields, but few actually achieve it. Why is that? What does it take to become a Master? And how can you start your journey towards Mastery today?

In this blog post, I will share with you some insights and tips on how to become a Master in your field, based on the research and experience of successful Masters from various domains. I will also provide you with some practical exercises and resources that you can use to improve your skills and knowledge.

What qualifies me to speak on Mastery?

After reading Robert Greene’s book Mastery, I have actually realised that I have no real qualifications to speak on Mastery. In fact, I have realised that I have just begun the apprentice phase all over again, after being a personal trainer and business owner for ten years, I have changed career. Meaning I have had to swallow my pride and ego, coming from a field where I knew quite a lot, but probably not enough to be a true Master, to a field completely new. Even as I finished my three year Bachelor of Financial Planning degree last week, I have yet to even enter my apprenticeship phase as I only truly start to grasp the beginnings of what you need to know to be a Master Financial Planner.

Therefore, I may not have Mastered anything as of yet, but I feel prepared to talk to you about what I have learned so far throughout my life and through reading Robert Greene’s book on Mastery.

What is Mastery?

Mastery is the state of being highly skilled and knowledgeable in a specific field or domain. It is not just about having a lot of information or experience, but about being able to apply it effectively and creatively to solve problems, create value, and achieve goals.

Mastery is also not a fixed point or a destination, but a continuous process of learning and improvement. It is not something that you can achieve overnight or by following a simple formula, but something that requires dedication, passion, and perseverance.

Mastery is not limited to a few elite or gifted individuals, but something that anyone can pursue and attain, regardless of their background, education, or talent. Mastery is not a matter of luck or talent, but a matter of choice and effort.

Why is Mastery Important?

Mastery is important for several reasons. First, mastery can help you achieve your personal and professional goals, by giving you the confidence, competence, and credibility to perform at your best and deliver high-quality results.

Second, mastery can help you enjoy your work and life more, by giving you the satisfaction, fulfillment, and joy of doing something that you love and are good at. Mastery can also help you overcome challenges, cope with stress, and grow as a person.

Third, mastery can help you make a positive impact on the world, by giving you the ability, opportunity, and responsibility to contribute to your field, society, and humanity. Mastery can also help you inspire, influence, and mentor others who share your passion and vision.

How to Become a Master?

Becoming a master is not easy, but it is possible. There is no one-size-fits-all approach, but there are some common principles and practices that can guide you along the way. Here are some of them:

1. Find Your Passion

The first step to becoming a master is to find your passion. Passion is the fuel that drives you to pursue mastery, and the source of your motivation, curiosity, and creativity. Passion is also the foundation of your identity, purpose, and vision as a master.

To find your passion, you need to explore your interests, values, and strengths, and discover what you love to do, what you care about, and what you are good at. You also need to experiment with different activities, domains, and fields, and see what sparks your enthusiasm, excitement, and joy.

Finding your passion may take some time and effort, but it is worth it. Once you find your passion, you will have a clear direction and a strong reason to pursue mastery.

2. Define Your Goals

The second step to becoming a master is to define your goals. Goals are the targets that you aim for, and the outcomes that you measure your progress and success by. Goals are also the drivers that push you to take action, and the feedback that helps you improve and adjust your strategies.

To define your goals, you need to be specific, realistic, and challenging. You need to set both short-term and long-term goals, and break them down into smaller and manageable steps. You also need to write them down, review them regularly, and celebrate your achievements.

Defining your goals may require some research and planning, but it is essential. When you have defined your goals, you will have a clear roadmap and a strong incentive to pursue mastery.

3. Learn from the Best

The third step to becoming a master is to learn from the best. Learning from the best means studying and emulating the masters who have already achieved excellence and success in your field or domain. Learning from the best also means seeking and accepting the guidance and feedback of mentors, coaches, and peers who can help you grow and improve.

To learn from the best, you need to be humble, curious, and open-minded. You need to read books, articles, and blogs, watch videos and podcasts, and attend courses and workshops that can teach you the skills and knowledge that you need. You also need to network and connect with people who can support you, challenge you, and inspire you.

Learning from the best may require some investment and effort, but it is invaluable. Upon learning from the best, you will have a solid foundation and a powerful advantage to pursue mastery.

4. Practice Deliberately

The fourth step to becoming a master is to practice deliberately. Practicing deliberately means engaging in focused and intentional activities that are designed to improve your performance and overcome your weaknesses. Practicing deliberately also means applying and testing your skills and knowledge in real-world situations and scenarios that are relevant and meaningful to your goals.

To practice deliberately, you need to be disciplined, persistent, and adaptable. You need to allocate time and resources to practice regularly and consistently, and follow a schedule and a routine that works for you. You also need to monitor and evaluate your results and feedback, and make changes and improvements as needed.

Practicing deliberately may require some sacrifice and discomfort, but it is crucial. Similar to losing weight or putting on muscle in fitness, or even when it comes to learning a new movement, you need to hours and hours of training to achieve your goal. Practising deliberately and consistently gaining feedback from others is the key to honing the skill.

5. Innovate and Create

The fifth step to becoming a master is to innovate and create. Innovating and creating means using your skills and knowledge to generate new and original ideas, products, or services that can add value and solve problems. Innovating and creating also means expressing and sharing your unique voice, style, and perspective with your audience and customers.

To innovate and create, you need to be creative, courageous, and generous. You need to experiment and explore different possibilities and alternatives, and take risks and learn from your failures. You also need to communicate and collaborate with others who can complement your strengths and weaknesses, and appreciate and respect your work.

Innovating and creating may require some inspiration and passion, but it is rewarding. Once you innovate and create, you will have a distinctive edge and a lasting impact to pursue mastery.

Becoming a master in your field is not a simple or easy task, but it is a worthwhile and fulfilling one. By following the steps and tips that I have shared with you in this blog post, you can start your journey towards mastery today, and enjoy the benefits and rewards of being a master tomorrow.

I hope you enjoyed reading this blog post, and found it useful and interesting. If you have any questions, comments, or feedback, please feel free to leave them below. I would love to hear from you and learn from you.

Until next time,

Take Back Control

How to Feel Less Overwhelmed and Less Stressed…

The general feel right now is one of anxiety and concern, everyone is feeling it a little bit more than usual right now. We have a workload that seems all-consuming, we have lives that are just too busy and on top of that we have interest rates going up, with an increase in cost of living happening at the same time…

No wonder we are all feeling like something is amiss, we are all a little less optimistic about the future and feel like there is a weight dragging us down.

The aim of this article today is to tell you, it is okay to feel all of those things! You are human, you are going to have good days and bad, that is natural to feel a little bit down or anxious. The other reason for this article is to hopefully give you some strategies I use throughout my everyday to help me live a life where I am not overwhelmed all the time or feeling like the stress of living is getting too much.

Of course, these strategies are not a fail safe, however they have helped me to get through some of the most stressful periods of my life and helped other family members as well.

Stress Less Strategy Number 1:

Take a break!

Stop what you are doing, if you feel a heaviness in the chest, starting to get a headache or feeling frantic, you need to catch yourself and just STOP.

Easier said than done, but if you are able to do this, you will find your stress decreasing significantly and your productivity increasing tenfold. Once you have caught yourself, take in 5 DEEP breaths, count 5 seconds in and 5 seconds out, this will take you under 60 seconds, but the significance of doing this one thing is astonishing.

Schedule your lunch breaks for the same time or thereabouts everyday, get into a routine of setting up great habits whilst at work. When you are on a lunch break, that means no looking at emails, no looking at a work phone or taking calls. Unless it is a serious emergency, which is not very likely, you will be able to get to that email or return that call after lunch.

Not everyday is going to be perfect, and there will be days where you may have to skip lunch. But you damn well make sure you take a lunch break the next day!

(This is the same for each of the next steps you can take as well to stress less and feel less overwhelmed!)

Stress Less Strategy Number 2:

Make sure you get a good nights sleep!

By getting a good nights sleep, this will set you up for the next day and not just that, but your body will have been able to reset.

Meaning when you wake up, your heart rate will be normal, stress hormones (Cortisol and Adrenaline) will have been regulated properly and your body will be able to regulate your appetite as well.

Meaning that you will eat normally, which will also decrease stress, as your digestive system is not working overtime/stressed.

Stress Less Strategy Number 3:

Get Moving!

Getting your body moving, whether that is for a walk, run, boogey or going to the gym, will deliver results beyond what you could even imagine.

By getting the body moving, you are not only going to improve your physical health, but your mental health as well.

Your body will secrete dopamine (The Happy Chemical/Hormone) after you exercise, making you feel good and like you have achieved something for the day for yourself.

Just get moving, no but’s about it!

Stress Less Strategy Number 4:

Say NO!

I cannot stress this one enough, saying no and setting boundaries is imperative to not getting overwhelmed.

If you were to say YES to everything, you would not just get overwhelmed, but swept off your feet and left a shell of your former self. By saying YES to everything, you will not be helping anyone, especially not yourself.

Therefore, you need to be able to learn to say NO.

Stress Less Strategy Number 5:

Finally, the last strategy is to set time out for YOU!

Understanding what gives you energy and makes you feel good is imperative to this strategy, as you need to set time out for doing things that will leave you feeling fired up and full of energy.

You may love to go for walks, or go to the movies, or going to nice restaurants. You may love an adventure in new lands, or to do nothing at all, read a book, journal or go for a run.

You need at least 45 to 60 minutes of YOU time everyday!

Definitely one of the hardest strategies to complete, but you need to do it. You need to keep up the interests and hobbies that you find are important, you need to reflect and spend time with yourself or friends/family. Spending at least 45 to 60 minutes a day doing something you love will leave you feeling less stressed and more productive.

Of course, there are multiple other strategies you can use to decrease stress and overwhelm, such as being more organised, planning for the future, eating better foods, setting yourself strong boundaries/standards, etc.

However, I have found the five strategies above to be perfect for reducing stress and overwhelm throughout the day and has helped me to live a better life, where I feel in control.

My productivity levels have increased significantly, motivation is never really a problem (on the odd occasion it can be) and you just feel better/more confident overall.

Let me know how you go with trying out the five strategies above, I would suggest starting with number one, which is really important for those who are working full-time. If you are not working full-time/part-time, I would suggest beginning with strategy number five.

Until next time,

Take Back Control

How to Create Great Habits- Health-Wealth-Life

Habits, everyone has heard of them, but not everyone truly understands the power of habits and how you can use them to Take Back Control.

Over the next few minutes, we will dive into creating better habits, habits that will get you moving more, focusing a bit more on your finances and helping you to improve your life 10 fold!

Firstly, what is a habit?

“Something that you do often and regularly, sometimes without knowing that you are doing it”- English Cambridge Dictionary

The definition of a habit sums it up pretty well, in fact we all have habits that we complete every single day, brushing your teeth in the morning and at night, eating dinner at roughly the same time, every day.

Driving a car is a great example, we have built up a series of habits to be able to drive from one place to the other, accelerating, breaking, changing gears, seeing brake lights ahead and braking ourselves.

All of which have been built into us as habits, from repetition, making mistakes and learning from them. Have you ever been driving your car to work, and time just flies by, you are hopping into the car, the next thing you know, you are at work. Or when you get into a “Flow” state at work, and the next thing you know, it is lunch time, but you felt like you just sat down. Another great example of completing repetitive tasks that you have built up as a habit.

That is because when you are completing a habit, your brain goes into automation mode, whereby it can complete most tasks from a subconscious level.

The reason we pack our habits into our subconscious comes down to flight and fight, as well as creating capacity for our brain to be used for much bigger problems and decisions.

What this means is that we really only truly use roughly 5% of our brain on a day to day basis to make important decisions and to create even more important habits.

Now, knowing that you have habits and that we use them every day so that you can leave the more important stuff to the conscious mind, we want to be able to use this as a way to Take Back Control of our lives and the habits we form.

To do this, we need to understand how a habit is formed in the first place, which is generally formed through what we call a “Habit Loop.”

The Habit Loop is how you Take Back Control of Life

The habit loop is very simple, in fact, our brains like things to be very simple and very repetitive, otherwise it takes a lot more energy to make new decisions or new habit loops. In the habit loop, we always start with a trigger, I have used this explanation quite a lot with nutrition clients, whereby you might start feeling bored or have nothing to do, so you open the fridge/pantry.

The trigger is feeling bored or having nothing to do at home, the routine is opening the fridge/pantry door and we can all understand what happens next…

We either crack open a “beer” or “have a snack,” even when we don’t need it, and that is the reward.

Now we know what the habit loop is, we can actually break that down and form a new habit, something that will not entail you eating every time that you are feeling bored.

You need to start at the “trigger,” which is the feeling of being bored or having nothing to do. When you feel this, you will probably find yourself in front of the pantry/fridge, about to open the door. What you need to do is stop yourself from opening the door, by asking yourself a question, “Am I really hungry?”

You need to move yourself from the subconscious to the conscious level, where you can make decisions, rather than just following habit loops you have built up over time.

If you can break the trigger, you can break down the habit and begin anew. Now the first, second, third… Even the 100th time, you may fail at breaking down the habit, especially if it is ingrained in you from a young age.

However, the key is persistence, to be able to fail and fail again, but keep trying and moving forward!

Another great example is spending money, in fact, I have seen a similar trigger bring on online shopping, whereby you may feel bored, or have nothing to do, so you open up your mobile or laptop and before you know it, you are on Amazon, Facebook or Instagram.

You are scrolling through your feed and ads keep popping up, these ads are targeted and they know your behaviours, they know that you are in a subconscious mind right now and they easily create triggers for you to begin a habit loop.

I have done marketing courses previously and I know how marketers think, they are always looking at ways to grab your attention to break the loop of scrolling and to get you to click on the product/service.

Once they have you, the likelihood of you buying and scrolling through the online store is very high, based on yur habit that you have built up and before you know it, you have spent $100-$500.

Again, to break the habit, you need to stop it at the trigger, to be able to do this, you need to leave your subconscious mind and move back into the conscious mind, which the brain does not like to do to conserve energy on the bigger decisions.

Hopefully, by delving into how habits are formed, you will be able to use this as a way to start breaking down some of your own habits that you want to stop doing. Which could be anything from smoking, to playing games all night, to alcohol, to eating too many snacks, to spending too much money.

You will most likely fail at the start, breaking down a very old habit is even harder to do, so I suggest that you start with a recently built habit, something that you have only just started doing. You will have to think on this, ask loved ones even, because you may not even realise you are doing it…

Once you have your first habit that you want to break, you will need to work hard to break it, because you are literally fighting against yourself!

The key is to be persistent and be okay with failure, see each and every failing as a lesson to be learnt and to strive to get better!

If you are in need of a bit of help trying to break down this habit, you can reach out to me anytime, just send me through a message on any of the social platforms,

Until Next Time,

Take Back Control

Health is Holistic: Nutrition

When you read the word nutrition, what do you think of?

Just take ten seconds right now to think of anything that pops into your head…

Alright, what were they? I can tell you mine, diets, shakes, fat loss, restrictive eating.

What if I told you that what we get told about nutrition and eating is a complete farce, just a lie the new fad diet company wants you to believe…

Would you believe me? Or maybe you already know this, deep down and that is why you actively rebel against any kind of restrictive dieting after about a few days from starting it. Some of us will continue for a few weeks, those who are disciplined and really want to change, however the majority will always fall back into old habits, that is human nature for you.

And it is not your fault either, we are wired that way, when you go on a diet, you are literally thrown in the ring against your brain and thousands of years of evolutionary traits and you have to fight yourself!

I am not going to tell you what is right or wrong here, as I truly don’t think it matters, but I do want to tell you the truth about nutrition and how you can start to work with yourself to start eating better, by changing a few simple habits and behaviours.

Firstly, I want to share a story about why I am so passionate about making sure the truth is heard about nutrition. In 2015, I opened a gym with a business partner and I was running the place, working sixty hour weeks and trying to make ends meet. Running a business can be extremely difficult, especially when you are starting out and don’t have a team to lean on for support.

I found out the hard way when my days got so busy, I forgot to eat lunch most days and being a gym owner, I had to train and make sure that I was leading by example. Demonstrating that I was fit, healthy and full of inspiration, however it went downhill pretty quickly.

And of course, being young and reading up on nutrition, I was swept away with the fads of the time, one of these being a “no-sugar challenge.” The challenge was on the extreme side, whereby you were not allowed to eat any processed sugars, the only sugar you were allowed was the sugar in fruit, and even then, you could only have one piece of fruit a day.

I felt really good about two weeks in, I had lost a few kilograms, and was down to 82kg, the lightest I had been since I was eighteen years old. Everything seemed to be going really well…

Enter the fourth week of the challenge, and I started losing energy, holding myself up with a stick when taking classes at night to make sure I didn’t collapse from exhaustion. I had dizzy spells, blurred vision and my productivity went down-hill very quickly.

I was at the point where I was scared, I didn’t know what was wrong with me, was something more sinister happening to my body?

I went to my local GP and got a series of tests done, starting with blood tests, they came back fine, in fact better than fine. I completed a diabetes test, if you haven’t done it before, you get to drink this syrup, pretty much pure sugar/glucose and then have to wait around for two hours. Testing to see whether my blood sugars would crash.

The test came back on the borderline of pre-hypoglycaemia, my blood sugar levels I remember were 4.6mmol, which is deemed quite low, and on the borderline of diabetes. However, the doctor said you were fine, so I got referred to test my heart and get an ECG done.

After a month of testing, they still had not figured out why I was having dizzy spells, blurred vision and was just exhausted all the time. I had stopped training at this time, which was also affecting my mental health as well.

The ECG came back fine, my heart was as strong as an ox they said, so the last test was an MRI, to get some imaging on my brain. I have had plenty of MRI’s in the past before, due to having a benign arachnoid cyst since birth, so there was no problems from that part, however concern that the cyst had caused my symptoms were definitely playing on my mind.

The imaging came back all clear, the cyst was still the same size as it had been when they found it when I was eleven years old, and that was when the head doctor at the hospital came up to me and told me the words I needed to hear…

“Everything is fine, you are really healthy, you just need to eat more!”

From that moment, it clicked, and I did begin eating more, getting my health back in order and it really helped with the exhaustion, dizzy spells and I felt myself again after a month or two.

Of course, as I do, I went a bit far and actually started eating too much, until I blew out to 105 kilograms at the end of 2016.

The heaviest I have ever been!!

Looking back on it now, I actually don’t remember how I started putting on so much weight, but running the gym, just starting out officially dating my now wife and everything else in between, I got into a slump and looked after everyone else but me…

Now, going from one extreme to the next, how was I able to balance myself out and find the happy medium that I have today you ask?

I am happy you did, because it was a combination of factors, where I started studying a nutrition course, I started looking after me again and went back to running. There was multiple factors that pulled me from the two extremes from improving my sleep, nutrition and movement, however I want to focus on the nutrition for now. I will come back to sleep/stress management and movement in later articles.

The doctor said I needed to eat more and I saw that as a license to simply just eat more and eat anything I wanted really. Not great for me, especially considering I am a fat kid at heart. It was not until I started studying nutrition and realising how much the food we put in our mouth change us on a cellular level…

Let me give you a second to let that sink in, I mean truly, what you put in your mouth actually affects you right down to the trillions of cells you have in your body.

I don’t want to trouble you with the science of it, it will take too long to discuss and comprehend, however if you do want to understand more about how food changes your cells, and therefore your body, check out this article by Stanford Medicine.

The old saying, “You are what you eat,” really comes to mind here, as we truly are what we eat. As your skin cells die off and we produce new skin cells every seven days, the food and fluid we ingest literally become us!!

Interesting isn’t it, well you may not think so, but I do, anyhow the relevance of understanding this comes back to the bigger picture, nutrition is pivotal to your holistic health.

The best way to start to get a handle on your nutrition is to break down old habits that have been wired into you and build up new ones, which takes effort and planning. You simply cannot just start a diet like I did, because as you can see, even a fitness professional of four years fails, therefore, what chance will you have?

The reason I am telling you all of this is to make you think, to hopefully break down some of the beliefs you may have around nutrition and eating. And maybe, just maybe, to get you to start thinking of nutrition differently, rather than thinking of nutrition as diets and restrictive eating, think of nutrition for what it truly is…

Nutrition is a source of life, no more, no less, it is energy going in, energy going out, but it also a celebration of culture and life as well.

Therefore, the next time you think of starting a diet, I want you to stop for a second and think about doing this instead…

1. Slow down and THINK about your eating/meals. Slow down you eating as well, scientifically proven to make you feel fuller. (Opposite for those who need to put on weight, eat faster to fit more in).

2. Make life SIMPLE, do this by planning meals before hand and having it prepared before you start cooking.

3. Eat healthy 80% of the time (More vegies, wholefoods, less packaged stuff), and leave the 20% of eating to whatever you want!

4. Drink more water!! You are 65-70% water, therefore you need water!

5. Fuck Diets and if you are feeling guilty about eating a burger, ask yourself why? Life is too short not to eat a burger. Just don’t eat burgers ALL THE TIME.

Hopefully that helped and has given you a light bulb moment when it comes to your health, because when the doctor told me that I needed to eat more, something clicked in me, I realised that nutrition and eating was the single most important thing when it came to weight gain/loss.

However, when I just focused on eating more, and neglected the other things, I put on weight and went the other way, therefore I will be writing about movement next week.

We were born to move, our bodies need movement to stay strong and young. Without movement, you are more prone to multiple diseases, I cannot wait to share with you why I love movement more than anything else.

Until next time,

Take Back Control

The Most Important Number to Know if You Want Financial Freedom!

We all want to be able to live a life on our own terms, to be able to wake up one morning and say, '“I am going to do what I want to do today…”

Getting to the point where you can wake up, go for that two hour morning hike, or go to the gym whenever you want to, eat breakfast at your favourite café or be on a plane to your dream holiday destination, it takes knowing a certain number.

That number comes down to some simple math really, it comes down to knowing your net worth and whether your net worth can pay for your dream lifestyle (or dream expenses).

What is your net worth? You hear about Jeff Bezos having a net worth of $140 billion USD, but what exactly does that mean? Does that mean that he has $140 Billion dollars sitting in a bank account? Imagine if he had $140 Billion in cash, how many rooms would that fill up in his mansion.

No, net worth comes down to whatever you have in assets minus liabilities, meaning that whatever you own which could potentially reap monetary benefit in the future minus the debts or mortgages that you have taken out to own those assets.

A great example would be a house, you may have spent $950,000 on a new home, let’s keep it a nice round figure and forget about stamp duty, conveyancing fees etc.

You have $250,000 in cash to pay for said home and you acquire a mortgage from a bank to pay out the difference, in this case $700,000.

The asset before you signed on the dotted line was $250,000 in cash, and you had no liabilities. Now that you own your home, you now have $950,000 in assets, but you have a liability of $700,000.

In both instances, you still have a net worth of $250,000. Scenario one, you had cash only, scenario two you minus the debt/mortgage from the asset, so $950,000 - $700,000 to make a net worth of $250,000.

Now you know your net worth, you can start to create a plan around building the net worth you will need to be able to gain enough financial certainty/independence to be able to live your best life, without worry of running out of money before you die.

That is all retirement is, isn’t it? The ability to pay for your living expenses, without concern of outliving the money you have. Unfortunately, not everyone who retires actually has enough net wealth to be able to do this. Which is why knowing your number is so important, what number do you ask?

The amount of net wealth (net worth) you will need to be able to live in retirement, which takes a bit of planning and understanding of the average lifespan in Australia (the endpoint).

You have to start at the end point, when it comes to attaining or achieving any goal, you need to know what the end will look like.

How do we know how or when we will die though? Well, you don’t and who would want to know anyhow, imagine if you were told that you would die tomorrow, and you had no way to change it?

But, we can make estimations based on statistics and averages, whereby the average Australian male life expectancy right now is just over 81 years old and females are just over 85 years old. [1]

Now you know that you will most likely live until the age of 81-85, we will add on 7 years, just in case, so that if you are a male, you will most likely live until age 88 and female to the age of 92 years old.

We have the end date, not to say that it is concrete, you may live to 100 years old, but based on the stats, that is unlikely, for now…

Once we have the end, we will need to ascertain your dream life’s living expenses, how much will it cost you each month to live the life of your dreams? $5,000 per month? $10,000 per month? Maybe $20,000?

Let’s say that you have a simpler lifestyle and don’t have big plans to travel the globe and party everyday, you simply enjoy the presence of family and friends, will go on a few trips a year and just want to be able to go out once or twice a month to a nice restaurant.

Lets assume for now that the holidays will cost you $10,000 per year, gifts for children/grandchildren may come to $3,000 per year, living expenses may come to $2,200 per month (assuming that you own your home and don’t rent.) Maybe you still have children in schooling, education costs may come to $10,000 per year. Entertainment spending comes to $300 per month.

Adding all of that up, your number that you need to know before you can truly find your net wealth number that you need to attain to retire is…

$53,000 per annum or $1,019.23 per week.

You would need to be earning that much from investments/drawing down from assets per week or annually to be able to survive and that does not include inflation that continues to increase living expenses each year.

Not to mention, things can go wrong, emergencies or accidents occur and that costs money too. Therefore, you may need extra cash to fall back on, just in case.

Continuing with the example above though, we won’t include any more emergency cash bucket or include inflation etc.

Assuming that you are 50 years old, how much would you need in net wealth to survive off of $53,000 per annum? (Not including your home, I mean, you need somewhere to live.)

Based on the life expectancy averages above, a male will live another 38 years and a female another 42 years.

A male would therefore need… $2,014,000!

And a female would need $2,226,000!!

Sounds like a hefty sum of cash, but of course, that is why you would invest and make your money work for you. By investing your money and making it work for you, most couples would actually only need $402,000 to drawdown $64,000 per year, according to the Super Consumers Australia. (Assuming retirement at age 65 though, not 50 years of age) [2] I will not go into investing today, but I will touch back on investing in some future blogs again.

Therefore, in our example above, the net wealth the individual would need to be able to live in their home and live the life they want, would just be the number above plus the $950,000 from your home. For the male, the net wealth would be $2, 964,000 and for the female, it would be $3,176,000 **Again, not taking into consideration increase/decrease in home value for simplicity sake.

Now you know the number you need, you can track how far off or how close you are to attaining the goal through your net wealth.

A great way to do this is to use the money smart net worth calculator, it is a simple and easy way to calculate your net worth once a year to see how you are tracking on your way to attaining the number you need to live your best life!

Just click on the link to take you to the site - https://moneysmart.gov.au/managing-debt/net-worth-calculator [3]

By calculating your net worth once a year, you will be able to keep track of how you are doing, and by doing that, you can change behaviours to keep you on track.

As long as that net worth is increasing each year, you are on track to achieving that retirement goal and taking back control of your life fully.

Until next time,

Take Back Control

**All expenses are examples only, and do not constitute a real life scenario, so please do your own due diligence and work out your own living expenses and net wealth. Or speak to a trusted professional advisor who can help you do that as well.

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[1] - https://www.abs.gov.au/media-centre/media-releases/life-expectancy-hits-new-high

[2] - https://www.superconsumers.com.au/retirement-targets

[3] - https://moneysmart.gov.au/managing-debt/net-worth-calculator

A Review of Dr. Jordan Peterson’s “Beyond Order: 12 More Rules For Life”

The first of many book reviews I am hoping, where I might be able to take out the most important aspects of the book and pass it on to you, the reader of this blog. The reason for this? I truly believe that it can help you to Take Back Control!

Generally speaking, there is a lot of reading in my life, from work to uni studies, I am sure you get the picture, however, most people will generally just read the contents and not take anything in. By my being able to take out the most important aspects of the books I read and pass it on to you, I also hope to be able to gain some fresh insights as we travel along this journey we call life together.

Now, the book, “Beyond Order,” is not your ordinary book in which I would give to anyone or suggest for anyone to read. It is some truly heavy content, where Dr. Jordan Peterson draws from his past experiences as well as experiences of clients (being a clinical psychologist) to flesh out twelve more rules for life, discussing the more darker and chaotic aspects that happen in life.

There is a definite theme of “good” v.s “evil,” “yin and yang,” “order against chaos…” These themes run throughout the book in each chapter, told through story form. Where Dr. Jordan Peterson utilises his past experience as a clinical psychologist to explain these themes, but he also uses many alternative stories to do so as well, such as the Bible, Disney princesses and evil queens, drawing from millennia of human communication through our favourite past time.

Which has got to be one of the main reasons I love this book so much, even though you can tell that Dr. Jordan Petersons methods of fleshing out the ideas and themes are long and drawn out, he does it in a way that engages you and to make sure that the themes are drummed into you. There is not a moment in the book where his long drawn out method bores you, where you want to put the book down, although you may want to have a break every now and again from the barrage of information and to take in the content.

Now the real reason I wanted to write a review on this book in particular is due to the fact that it is a book in which most people need to read. We don’t get taught in school the things that Dr. Peterson writes, things like taking responsibility of ones life, to stop and take in the beauty of the world, that the world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows…

There is evil and malevolence out there, in which Dr. Peterson describes in great depth, and goes on to use previous client accounts to explain what happens if you do not draw up the courage to face these evils and malevolent forces in the world.

One of the most important aspects I have taken from the book is that sometimes, great trauma and pain happen. And not for any reason, apart from wrong time, wrong place, just down to pure misfortune or luck some may say. We cannot become victims of these traumatic or painful experiences, we need to utilise these experiences to build ourselves up, to face the great unknown and chaos.

Therefore building resilience and growing from these events that happen in our lives, now there are some who truly have more misfortunate lives than your or me, these people have a choice to make. A choice between choosing to be a victim of fate, or to Take Back Control of their own lives, through choosing to grow stronger and be more resilient.

The same goes for you or I, no matter what happens in life, we can be better, we can learn and grow from traumatic experiences, if we face up to them, and now just cower away holed up in the corner. Be Courageous!

Now, before we finish the review, I just wanted to list out the main chapters that I really liked and took a lot from. These chapters are also the very rules in which Dr. Peterson believes you should live by to be able to build that resilience and make it easier for when traumatic events happen to you, as they are sure to.

Because that is what life is, a balance of joy and suffering, chaos and order.

So the list of rules are not in order of my favourite rule to least favourite, but just listed out below so that you can get understanding of what the book could be about...

• Rule Two: Imagine what you could be and aim single-mindedly at that.

• Rule Three: Do not hide unwanted things in the fog.

• Rule Eight: Try to make one room in your house as beautiful as possible

• Rule Nine: If old memories still upset you, write them down carefully and completely.

• Rule Ten: Plan and work diligently to maintain the romance in your relationship.

• Rule Twelve: Be grateful in spite of your suffering.

Now these rules are my favourite at the moment, but that is due to what has been happening in my life over the last twelve months. Your rules may be different, depending on your previous experiences and your inner most desires.

Overall, I enjoyed the book, just as much, if not more, than his first book “12 Rules for Life.”

I would give the book an 8/10 if there were to be a score associated with it, only reason I would not give it a full score is due to the fact that the book is drawn out and convoluted. But well worth the read!!

In my next series, I will be writing about nutrition and go through my own story of figuring out why what you put in your mouth truly makes a difference to your life!!

Until next time,

Take Back Control

How To Deal with Life When it Throws You Curveballs!

Taking back control generally requires a level of knowledge, planning and action. However, life is not all about control, sometimes life needs to be generally about letting go of control to refresh and re-calibrate. Especially seeing as life has a knack for throwing curveballs when you least expect it. That is why today, I want to write to you about actually learning to let go, as holding on to something, and trying to control every aspect of your life is only going to land you in a depressive state or full of anxiety.

Over the past week, in fact, over the past two months, I have had to let go of a whole heap of things, including an identity I had built up for the past nine years. Which is not something that is easy to let go of, and moving towards the unknown can bring up all sorts of emotions, emotions that generally you are not able to control. As emotions are primordial, they are connected to our flight and fight, where ten-thousand years ago, it was either run away from a sabre tooth tiger or protect your young children from a stalking predator.

Unfortunately, if you are not emotionally intelligent, it is hard to discern and make out what is fear, what is anxiety, what is stress or what is nerves, excitement or a mix of all. I will save emotional intelligence for another article, because I could go on a whole tangent about that, in fact I may write a series about emotional intelligence.

But what I want you to understand is that you have to learn to be able to let go of many things in life, including emotions, identities, relationships, businesses, careers, money etc.

Letting go is difficult though, as it is a sign of quitting, you could be afraid that you may be seen as someone who didn’t leave everything on the table, you could be shunned from social circles for letting go of a relationship that was harmful…

The list could go on, letting go, can sometimes be harder than holding on to the remnants of the known!

Especially in our modern day where GRIT and Hard Work, or HUSTLE, have become buzz words that the media throws out to make us feel something, generally to make us feel bad for not working harder.

You listen to a motivational speaker and they will throw out these words quite often, but not many westernised speakers or thinkers have given enough credit to being able to let go and just go with the flow of life. Due to the fact that it is the opposite of their own philosophy, the very opposite of what they are trying to sell you, because for you to be motivated, you need to work hard and not quit.

You need to be the one to work from dawn to dusk and hustle hard, so that you can get a semblance of control back in your life, so you can beat the system or “the rat race.”

However, letting go requires you to stop, it requires you to reflect and look backwards at memories that can sometimes be truly traumatising. Some memories could bring up that flight or fight response, it is so powerful it could leave you paralysed with fear!

When it gets to that point, you may not be able to do it alone, and that is when a councillor or psychiatrist may be able to help, as you just might not be able to let go of the past without strategies to do so. We are not taught how to let things go, not really, we are actually taught to keep moving forward, to suck it up and get on with your day.

Which is why I wanted to talk about how I have been able to learn to let go of things from my past, which has helped me to move forward and become a much more emotionally intelligent and less stressed individual. Not to say that I don’t feel stress, we need stress to keep us moving forward and for change, but letting go helps you to manage your stress so that anxiety and depression is not a constant in your life.

1. Write down your memories, whether they have been brought up from something happening in your life or maybe it has just happened to you. Journal about how you feel about the experience, what made it traumatic and put yourself in the other persons shoes if there was someone that brought on that experience. Ask WHY?

2. Talk to someone about it, someone who is a family member or friend. Being able to talk it over, may shed some new light on the scenario or the experience. It may make it seem less daunting.

3. STOP! Just be in the now, stop what you are doing right now, take in five deep breaths and with each breath out, expel all of the air until you have none left. Another way is to actually take in your surroundings, rather than just pass things by, be curious about the things around you.

4. Which leads to my last point, BE CURIOUS and let wonder enter your mind on a daily basis! Children, especially young children, are generally always happy and worry free. Due to the fact that they see everything in a different light. They do not just see a tree on the footpath, they see a place to climb and play. They see the flowers blossoming in spring, they see a fantastical world, full of new things and adventure. The spark of adventure and curiosity is what can keep your mind young, which means you will need to STOP to allow your adult filter to stop running, because who can be curious if you are thinking about the next thing all the time.

I am sure there are multiple other strategies that can help you to let go, but I have found these to be the best and healthiest way to do so.

I truly hope that this has helped in some way, it has helped me in my life up until now, but if you have something else you use as a strategy, please I would love to hear about it.

Until next time,

Take Back Control

(I am no psychologist or psychiatrist, I am no doctor, but I have a good level of general knowledge from having a curious mind and from being taught through many mentors in life and through reading books. I just wish to pass on my knowledge, so I hope this can help you as it has helped me.)

How To Be Wealthy and Change Your Life Right Now!

We all wish we could wake up one morning and all our problems would be gone, (I don’t, how boring would life be then…) however unless winning the lotto, a 1 in 8 billion chance, there is nothing that can significantly change fortunes over night.

Therefore, rather leaving life to chance, I have drawn on learnings from some of the wealthiest people in the world, from Jim Rohn, Anthony Robbins, Elon Musk, Warren Buffet and Jeff Bezos, to share with you how you can take action on changing your wealth right now!

The only difference between the women and men who are significantly better off than you right now is simply their mindset and how they look at the world differently.

Let me tell you a quick story on how someone was able to change their fortunes over a year and going from being in $11,400 in debt to paying down that debt and owning a house within the next four years.

The catalyst for that person came down to two things, one of which was the shame of seeing -$0.07 in their bank account and two, being unable to help a friend start a venture and supporting that friend.

So what changed? What changed from that person spending $12,000 per year on eating out, partying and getting themselves into $11,400 into debt, to owning their own home and successfully taking a step on the path to greater wealth?

Simply, it was a mindset shift, a shift from being the victim to being a person who took responsibility for their lives, their income and spending.

(If you have not guessed it, that person from above was myself, I got into a few car accidents that accrued nearly $5,400 in debt from the insurance companies and then also borrowed $6,000 from a family member to start a business.)

The difference between the wealthy and the poor is simply their mindset, yes other factors do come into play, such as where you grew up and the family environment. However, if you are stuck in a scarcity mindset, you will never be able to move into a mindset that can handle one of abundance.

Therefore, here are the top 3 mindset shifts and belief systems that you need to work on, to start changing your life, improve your wealth and your lifestyle;

Pay Yourself First!

That seems like a pretty simple one, but you would be astonished at how many people tend to pay the big fashion companies, or shoes stores, or car companies first…

As soon as you get paid, you should be paying yourself first, meaning taking a percentage of your wage and transferring it into a savings account or investing it for the future.

You just need to do a little bit of math, work out how much you roughly need to pay out in debts, food, bills, etc. And what you have leftover, pay into a savings account that you cannot touch. Becoming wealthy is just a mindset shift from being a consumer, to being a creator, a creator of your own wealth through self-discipline and giving back to your community.

Take Back Your Time!

Every day, you should be prioritising your time towards tasks and activities that will take you closer to your goals and ambitions. Not only that, but also delegating tasks and activities that is below your hourly rate. The rich get richer because they delegate roles and responsibilities that need to be done, to free up their time for the tasks and activities that are more important.

For example, you could be working full-time, however, you do not earn enough from your full-time job and therefore want to start a side-hustle or sole trader business. But, you have a family, two kids, a partner that also works full-time and house chores that need to be done.

If you could earn $100 per hour from your side-hustle, why would you not just pay a cleaner $35 per hour to clean your house?

You are still up $65 per hour!!

Therefore, take back your time, by delegating roles and responsibilities, if you are worth $300 per hour, don’t waste your time on tasks that you hate doing that are worth much less!

Finally, the most important mindset shift: You MUST Become Obsessed with Improving Your Income Streams

The really wealthy do not become wealthy just by doing one job well, they diversify the risks of losing said job or failing said business by putting earning their money from different streams.

Starting with your job or business!!

First, if you need to earn more money, look to asking for a pay rise or if in business, look to set some targets to grow the business more efficiently. Once you have developed this income stream, to the point where it has no more growth apart from inflation, you should look elsewhere for a second income stream.

The key is knowing when to do this, if you have a business, it may take a bit longer to grow your income, or it could grow really quickly, depending on the type of business, consumer sentiment and many other factors. If you have a job, it is as simple as asking for that pay rise and either getting it or not.

Once you develop a second, third, fourth and maybe even fifth income stream, you go back to the first mindset shift of paying yourself first.

Hopefully that has given you a few things to think about, as it sure changed my life and helped me to Take Back Control!

So until next time,

Take Back Control

The Greatest Hedge Against Inflation!

On my morning walk with Marlow (my 12 month golden retriever) this morning, I listened to a Jim Rohn lecture on wisdom. And in his usual way, Jim Rohn explained the concept of wisdom in his round-about, way through stories and parables (not from the bible, but some are).

I listened to the lecture for about thirty minutes and there is one thing I was able to take from it that stood out above all else. From all of Jim Rohn’s own wisdom, from the knowledge he took from Socrates, the greatest philosopher of ancient Greece, from the wisdom of King Soloman, of the bible, and even the success of an investing banker friend that had it made…

Each and every person from history that you would deem wise and all-knowing (omniscient, a word to add to the vocabulary if you want), they all had one thing in common!

The fact that they believed they did not know anything, they were seekers of knowledge and of truth.

In fact, I remember last year being in a meeting with a mentor of my own, and we were talking about inflation, the affects it has on the broader economy and to every day people like you and I.

The one thing that really stood out from that meeting is that inflation does not matter, in fact, you should be happy about inflation. Rather than complain about rising costs of living, go out and work on using this opportunity of rising costs to get a promotion or a salary increase.

You do not have control over the greater economy, but you do have control over the knowledge you accrue and over the income you earn.

The more knowledge and value you give back to the company you work for, the more your income will increase. Inflation, if it becomes set and on-going, leads to wage increases, you just need to be able to demonstrate your value and ask for that raise!

But, the person who believes they know everything, will not increase their value to the company, in fact, they will not change at all.

Therefore, become a seeker of wisdom and knowledge. Make it your ethos, your life’s goal to accrue more information and life experience. Be more valuable than the next person and inflation will not matter, in fact, you will sing and dance when you hear that fuel and food prices are increasing, as it means that it may be time to ask for that extra raise.

Which is why you should ask great questions, seek more knowledge and be more valuable. If you think you know nothing, that means that you will be even more hungry to seek out what will benefit your life and the lives of others around you!

I know I will be seeking to understand and gain more knowledge to make myself a valuable asset to the marketplace,

Until next time,

Take Back Control!

That’s a Wrap… 25 Wins for 2021!

With only two more days left of 2021, I have been sitting back and reflecting on the year that was. From my reflections I have come up with the best way to describe the year 2021, a ROLLERCOASTER of EMOTIONS!

With so many highs and so many lows on a personal level, from getting married, to deaths in the family and amongst friends, to lockdowns and business closing/re-opening…

The year has provided myself with many lessons and teachings, however even with so many lows, I have also had a heap of highs…

Every year I go through the top 25 wins for the year on a personal level and even with a tumultuous year like 2021, I was still able to find 25 wins to share with you today, so here it goes…

1. Getting Married to Liv (In the middle of a pandemic)

2. Bringing Marlow into the Family (Our golden retriever puppy)

3. Thriving through 2021/lockdowns

4. Buying land in Officer for our dream house (in lockdown)

5. I got clear on my career path and got clear of what Liv and I want.

6. Decided on a builder for our dream home

7. Having a mini get-away and booking our honeymoon to QLD (2022)

8. Being truly open with Liv and getting closer in our relationship throughout the lockdown.

9. Re-opening UFT after closing it for the sixth time

10. Got back into running 1-2 times per week

11. Completed a full time load of Uni

12. Completing the Business Career Mentoring Program with my mentor, Tom

13. Improved my network and connections with people that could help me achieve my own path forward

14. UFT got back to pre-lockdown levels

15. Was able to maintain healthy habits through a our sixth lockdown

16. Built my portfolio from $7k to $15k

17. Feeling closer to family than I have ever been before

18. Sold my car and brought a second hand car to last the next 12-18 months

19. Started researching relentlessly on Web3.0 and crypto/investing

20. Gilbert Graduated as a Seeing Eye Dog

21. Making some big changes to UFT (To come mid Feb)

22. Launched this blog, Take Back Control, to help people improve their life-health-wealth.

23. Became more aware of my own superpowers (strengths- Practical optimism, Positivity, Organisation, Research/reading, writing, goal-setting) and Kryptonite (weaknesses- Kind Candour, Giving feedback, completing jobs fully due to having too many, procrastinating due to overloading on work)

24. Letting go of resentments and understanding my own emotional intelligence better

25. Finding a balance and understanding how to switch hats when needed

The year 2021 has been a profound year for most, I am sure of it, we have all started to understand the importance of the environment we surround ourselves with. Which has led to a lot of personal revelations for a lot of people, which is why I believe that 2022 is going to be an amazing year.

The year is going to be busy and fly by, but I know that 2022 is going to be huge!!

My next blog will be on my goals for 2022 and how to actually you can set goals for yourself as well, in the meantime, I would love to hear your wins for the year. You may not do 25, but even if you aim for 10, the main thing is to sit down and reflect on your year.

You can use this time of reflection to understand more about yourself and even help you to shape your 2022!

Until next time,

Take Back Control

If you have found this Blog valuable, I would love it if you shared it with friends and family. The more the merrier, as I want to see each and every one of you learn to Take Back Control of your Life-Health-Wealth !