TodayZ Lesson

I once heard someone saying “we were so poor at the time that all we had was money in the account” 😂 Some people chase money so badly that after achieving everything in record time, they realised they have forgotten just about everything else. This confirmed my previous supposition that after certain level of income we should focus on other areas of life so we can succeed at what life really is about. And what is that?  This is a short and not comprehensive list: focusing on how to have healthier habits everyday that support wellbeing, improve our relationships (with partner, family friends, be part of a group or community), improve our relationship with ourselves (this is the self talk and what we say to ourselves in our mind everyday, many would be surprised at how hard we treat ourselves), break limiting beliefs, do more of what we like and enjoy, finding a purpose or meaning in that, helping more in the community and beloved ones, being a good son, daughter, brother, sister, d...

My favourite feelings are when I feel inspired so my mind is free to imagine and create. Also when I can help people, that’s an amazing feeling to help someone.  What are your favourite feelings? When you do what? Sergio. Back in Australia after holidays writing about my intentions for this 2025. 

Nos tardamos mucho tiempo buscando esa soñada felicidad, para darnos cuenta que se encuentra en aprender a apreciar lo que ya tenemos. Sergio.

I think the hardest thing I did this year was to allow myself to cry, and in front of someone else.  Some things that seem just natural for many people, but so hard for others. And how liberating at the same time.  I didn’t learn how to cry, or maybe I forgot, so I’m learning now, and finally realising about its healing power.  I thought I was being though and strong, but in many cases I now understand I was just missing out on the magic of crying and letting the emotions out.  It’s not an easy thing, it took me a while and still learning. Sergio

Life is so much better when we feel inspired. I feel inspired by drinking a coffee in a library. Inspired by having a conversation with an old friend. By listening to an inspiring podcast, by listening to a book. By drawing and writing in my ideas notebook. By creating new websites. By sharing a brunch with my partner. By riding the bicycle and listening to music. By taking a cold-hot-cold shower.  What makes you feel inspired? I hope you can do more of that because that’s when the best ideas come. “Live by inspiration not by obligation”.  Sergio 

Life is about learning and growing. And that is presented to us in many different ways such as the challenges and difficulties we face, whether it’s us or our beloved ones. Chances are that we all will experience big challenges in life at some point. It’s just that it always feels like unexpected and sometimes it even feels like the challenge is bigger than us. It’s enough just to have a honest look around and see, who doesn’t have difficulties and challenges? Who hasn’t experienced times of great pain and crisis at some point? Of course we don’t like to talk about those things to everybody, but it doesn’t mean they are not there. The bottom line, challenges and difficulties will be there in our lives at some point, that’s for sure, it’s normal. What we can actually do is to prepare ourselves in the best possible way to navigate those times of challenge.  Be always strengthening your mind through consuming positive content, feel motivation for what you do, strengthen your body thro...

It’s funny we are given everything we need to feel well. Yet, it’s never enough and we are always chasing the next thing, the next degree, the next higher paid job, the next business opportunity, the next relationship, the next holidays, etc.  But rarely we take the time to actually appreciate what we have, to be grateful, to enjoy our present fully without thinking of the past or worrying about the future.  Then at some point the challenges appear, suddenly something is taken away from us, our health, our freedom, a beloved person, a pet, a job, etc.  And it’s only at that point, in our low points when we finally seem to gain a better perspective of life, appreciate more what was taken from us.  And realise all of that we were always chasing was an illusion, and we always had what was needed to feel well, happy, aligned. Today dear friend, I invite you to breathe deeply, accept the challenges of life as what is normal in life, and appreciate, be grateful for all the...

Sounds simple and basic, yet true: You don’t get what you don’t ask for.  I grew up in certain context in which I rarely demanded how I wanted things to be. It was more like I would adapt to the conditions and get the most out of it for me. I always struggled to indicate what I actually wanted, “to speak my mind”. I believe it has to do with my upbringing. I would be flexible, adapt to anything, and never complain. It has a positive side, but I’ll focus now on the negative one, which I believe is related with the idea of “you don’t get what you don’t ask for”. I kind of learnt that asking for help is a sign of weakness, and even asking for something feels like giving someone else the power to rejected us and lastly, feeling the emotional pain and embarrassment that comes with it.  But it also meant that I would often not get what I wanted because I didn’t ask for it or expressed myself clearly. I still see that happening often, it’s just that sometimes I am on the other side w...

The way people act is a more accurate representation of their inner feelings/ motivations, than what they actually say. We can’t be 100% sure about things, but I believe our actions say more about our true selves than what we actually say. Relationships are complex. Get more skilled at reading people’s actions, as well as your own, and you will understand better the people around you and your relationships.  Sergio, reflection about friendships. Conclusion: “let actions do the talk”.

What was it? For years, while being busy on the day to day activities, experiences, work, etc., I always fantasised with having enough time (weeks or months) to study courses in the areas I wanted, read books, to gain skills, to create content, products, reflections, images, videos, writings, websites, applications. To explore my mind, helping it get to the limits of learning and creation.  I’m really happy I set the space for it, and gave the opportunity to myself to do just that. Taking months of very light work so I could organise my own learning and creation, and it’s been almost a whole year. It’s a bittersweet feeling. On the one hand, I’m very grateful I had the chance to live a sort of “year gap” in which I focused on my personal growth, and that on its own is a great accomplishment, I didn’t fail that promise I made to myself while working hard for years. That moment finally came, I respected the promise and I’m grateful for it. On the other hand, I learnt so much from it....

The band is ready to perform. The main artist is called to action. Confidence is a long shot.  Hands are shaking and the voice is trembling. Authenticity is the light to follow. Will you? Dream big, dream wild, make it happen. Believe. Believe. Believe. Dream big. Be confident. Make it happen. Let’s shape the life you would like to live.

“The happiest people discover their own nature and match their life to it” Ray Dalio, book Principles. So, it’s not really about how much we accomplish, it’s about learning about ourselves, what is our nature, that means, what we enjoy doing and are good at. That’s our nature. Once having a better idea about our nature, then narrowing it down to create a life style around it. Sounds simple but so profound. Really, like many other great quotes. (i.e. “It’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey”). So, according to that quote, knowing one’s nature is a very good step toward happiness. And then, figuring out the way to live a lifestyle around the application of those skills/ attributes in our nature. Therefore, Self awareness is a clear path to happiness.  And after that, Courage, and perseverance, to integrate our nature as the cornerstone of our lifestyle. I like that. For some, it was probably easier to know their nature. For others, it was probably an idea, but nothing ...

Mobile phones are useful to us when we have a specific activity to do with them. Other than that, they are just distracting machines that suck out the free time from people and provides false dopamine. Sure there are many ways to go through this topic, but I’ll focus only on one: we are better when we create than when we consume. Most people use their phones to consume content, and not to create it. I’m not against mobile phones, I use it every single day too. It’s not the tool, it’s how we use it.  Also, it’s good to ask ourselves: who is benefiting from us consuming content in our phones all the time? It’s certainly not happening by itself.  Who are the developers of those technologies? What are their interests? Who are the investors? How are the politics and finances involved?  What’s the new way of life? Are we happy with it? It’s certainly hard to see kids without screens, why?  Anyway, I’m extending myself from the main idea: mobile phones are good when we have...

All too often we keep repeating to ourselves in our mind the things we don’t have, or are not able to do. I believe a better way of seeing this would be, to constantly repeat in our minds what we actually have and what we are able to do. This reflection comes as I am recovering from a hip injury which is taking around 8 months so far and is expected to take longer.  I can see now that every time I focused on the things I was not able to do (such as playing the soccer tournament with my team, running, and sometimes feeling pain from just taking the stairs, or even walking), every time I focused on what I was not able to do my mind was filling with thoughts that didn’t serve me any good. I took an early decision of focusing in what I have, and what I can do. While probably soccer, running and jumping was not within my possibilities at the time, I was so glad I was still able to do cycling without much difficulty, and of course I could always have the opportunity to improve all type o...

Are there things you always wanted to do but the conditions were not good and you didn’t see it as viable? Did you ever saw a friend or someone you knew achieving that something? I bet at that point your way of seeing that something changed. Suddenly it went in our minds from not possible to possible haha. I know that feeling, I have seen it many times and that’s part of why I say nothing motivates us more than that. Just to remember a few times I’ve seen this pattern. I remember my older brother looking for the opportunities and doing all the process to go and pursue postgraduate studies overseas in a different language from our native language. That immediately expanded the limits of what I thought possible while growing up. If my brother did learnt a foreign language and got the opportunities to study and live overseas, why wouldn’t I be able to do the same? (If it aligned with what I wanted of course). I did learnt a foreign language too, and decided to live the experience of study...

What’s the real vision of the company? I know it will most likely be written in the website, but really, what’s the vision of the company for that precise year, and the next ones?  The next question, how can I help you to achieve that vision? How my contribution to the company will reflect on the potential achievements?  Why those questions? I would be offering my time and skill set for the most productive time of my day, five of seven days, who knows for how long, then, why should I content myself just with financial safety and feel realised just by getting a job?  I would like to know my daily efforts are meaningful, and relevant for a vision that I support. Why would I put most of my time and effort in a vision that I don’t share? For the money? Money helps, of course, but it doesn’t compare with a daily sense of purpose and intention, which a clear vision that affiliate with, does. I guess the real personal question is: How can that company help me understand their vi...

Remember when you walk on the street upright, feeling like actually smiling at people or saying “hi”, and not surprisingly many people offer a smile back? Remember when ideas were flowing in your mind? The inspiration and excitement of creating something, doing progress in a personal project, or just playing a sport with friends? Whatever it is, my memory still hold the sensation, an internal feeling of joy. I’m fortunate I felt that a lot when being a kid, and growing up. And I bet, you and most people can remember moments like that. Moments that stay in a precious part of our memories. The final game that we won in a tournament in the school. The project we did and spent many hour working on, which people were impressed about. The speech, music concert, or paintings we once made. And found out we were great at it. That’s the light I talk about. Growing up tends to put all those awesome moments into just memories. I believe if we revisit some of those moments we will find our best sel...

As we humans grow up at some point we find a suitable partner and decide to stay together for as long as possible. We then create a sort of group identity and dynamics that spread in all aéreas of our lives, we go from a strong personal identity, to a strong group identity. Partnership dynamics are complex. Partnerships create a new balance for our daily lives, we would hardly feel well if our partner is upset at us.  We have personal important needs that are met by having a partner. That person provides support and help helping us get into our positive balance, same as we do for our partner and so on, aiming for a good feeling relationship, which has great impact on our personal mood.  Communication, in time, becomes in one of the most important group skills in a relationship. Not understanding each other’s motivations and feelings, is almost a sure recipe for future frustration which sometimes starts building up without the other persons knowledge. We should aim for the best...

Yet, we neglect to read what some people have tried their best to consolidate from their experience, reflection and study. Why is it that we don’t seem so keen on receiving knowledge when others have tried their best on consolidating it for us? I don’t know the answer, I guess it requires that the recipient of it has the skill to read, enough focus and attention for it, plus an intrinsic motivation in whatever the topic is. Each person might be in their own stage of life, sometimes more appropriate for reading, sometimes not. And many times, it’s just unknown the power it could have. Bottom line, reading is good, really! Bottom line two, some day I would like to write a book, I have around 6 years time by now, of dedicated study in the topics I like, I don’t think it makes me an expert, it just made me realise that anyone daring to write a book, needs to have a message and something to say, it sure takes effort and my initial guess is that it might be around 10 years of dedicated work,...

I noticed that while I was trying to avoid making eye contact with a woman walking her dog, she said “good morning” with a smile and as I was busy trying to not look at her (even though she was right in front of me), it was late by the time I wanted to reply. That let me thinking, I have been trying to avoid making eye contact or saying hi to people I don’t know, even in situations like that in which people are nearby, because I noticed that’s what people do most of the time. However, somehow, it feels even more awkward not to say hi or do eye contact, that even that requires some effort and causes discomfort in some way.  My point is, it requires probably the same effort, it’s just that when saying “hi” and offering a smile we feel better about ourselves and most likely the other personas well, instead of avoiding eye contact pretending we are looking to our feet or somewhere on the sky and having a few very awkward seconds, which makes no one feel better. We tend to live in small...

Honestly, I wanted to provide a solid answer to anyone questioning the way I use my time.  I do like that the market value is constantly going up, the safety and peace of mind it provides, the approval from family and friends, and perhaps the “admiration” I imagined others might feel, in other words, it was guided by what “everybody” seems to want. I enjoyed the process of working towards a challenging objective. However, after more reflection, I now know why I wanted to buy a property and put so much effort into this. And it is the same reason I wanted to finish my bachelor’s degree in engineering as fast as possible (took me almost 7 years, which incredibly is the average for the small percentage of those who actually finish it in that well renowned university).  The reason? I wanted my freedom. Freedom has many ways of seeing it. For me it meant spending the time doing the activities that I like.  I didn’t know but my family’s and friend's expectations guided me for a ...

“Wealth is not what you have in your bank account. The ultimate wealth is what you wear on your face, it’s a smile” I liked a lot that sentence from the book “Not a life coach” from James Smith, an English guy, personal trainer in the fitness industry, coach, who lived in Australia, travel in many other places, and has a book full of good advice which I’m enjoying a lot 😃🚶💭📖 Remember, what we put in our brain is what we get out. In other words, the quality of the information or content we consume on a daily basis, is what we get out in the form of thoughts, behaviours and emotions. So, choose wisely what you decide to watch, read, do, because it will ultimately show up in our lives in one way or another. Anyway, I liked a lot the idea that real wealth is an internal sense of joy and fulfilment which ultimately makes us have a smile on the face. Sergio, morning meditation while walking in the park and listening to the audiobook “Not a life coach” from James Smith.

No one taught me how to ask for help. I learnt how to aspire to be super man and do it all on my own, but no one taught me how to ask for help. Whether it’s for career purposes, personal, emotional, etc. Asking for help is one of the most difficult things to do.  Too many people are often copying with too much on their own, never asking for help, or only until things get unbearable. Similar in career success, personal finances, partner relationship, and more. We settle for what we can achieve on our own ignoring that it’s only when we ask for help that things really get to the next level. There is always someone probably more knowledgeable and expert in any topic, why not taking advantage of that and wanting to do all the long way? This is one of my main difficulties and I’ll train this skill, perhaps asking for help in learning how to ask for help. 😊

The addiction to the mobile phone is real. We don’t notice it because it’s slowing increasing day after day and becomes a practice generally accepted to use the phone when we are bored, when we re busy, when we are alone, up to that point it was probably still okay,  but now people use it when they are together, when in conversation, interrupting the flow of the face to face interaction, the focus, people lose social skills for listening to each other and engaging in the real face to face world. What would you do if you had an entire extra month every year to use it in whatever you want? Did you know 2 hours a day on social media, is the equivalent to a whole month of time every year? It is funny until it’s not.  Most people would agree using too much the phone (too often unnecessarily on social media or excessive typing) is not great. But, most people still do it. It’s funny until it’s not, until we realise (late) that we are actually losing our social skills and suddenly int...

“Tell me who you spend your time with. I’ll tell you who you are. Tell me what you do in your free time, I’ll tell you who you will become.”

1) Having a good night of sleep 😴  2) Having a good morning routine 🚿 🥗💧🙏🏼🏋️🧠📝 Having a great day “doesn’t just happen”, we EARN it. Doing step one and two consistently will give us the best chances to have a great day. ☀️ Step 2 description: Cold shower for a few seconds 🚿  Drink water 400-600 ml (our body is dehydrated in the morning because we lose water through breathing while we sleep and to flush out waste through our urine when we wake up) 💧  Do some push ups or squats to activate muscles and organs 🏋️ Be thankful (write down simple things of why you are grateful in life, this is the most important one!) 🙏🏼 No cellphone  first 30 min of waking up  (please! Don’t check your phone during this first half an hour of waking up! (checking WhatsApp, email, news, etc. will activate the cortisol in your system = being more susceptible to stress, losing concentration and motivation). 🚫📱 Go for a walk in the park, breath fresh air, receive sun light,...

Análisis: 1- hay mucha información disponible, 2- muchas empresas poderosas compitiendo por nuestra atención. Quienes tienen la fortaleza de APRENDER las tecnologías más recientes (alejándose de las distracciones) y poniendo en práctica esos aprendizajes, tendrán la ventaja.  (Porque por definición la mayoría de personas quedan atrapadas en lo que las empresas poderosas ofrecen para capturar la atención de las personas). Balance para mantener en el tiempo: 60% aplicación de conocimiento en trabajo. 40% aprendizaje.

1) Debemos interesarnos por la historia. 2) Correlacionar hechos del pasado que explican las condiciones actuales. 3) Identificar tendencias para saber en cuál estamos. ¿Qué condiciones nos ofrece nuestro momento actual y cómo podemos tener una pequeña ventaja competitiva?  

Know to if you are better at executing plans, or ideation/ vision of new plans, is important. Both are great skills and working on the missing skill will help you both materialise what you plan but also the vision to do it in the right direction.  Vision are thinkers, sometimes dreamers, slower, doing lots of reflection and questions. But lacking the power to make it real, slow in the implementation therefore seeing few results of what is there in mind. Execution is fast, always moving, getting it done, wanting more to do. But lacking direction, meaning, the why. Sergio.

It’s not necessarily how much you achieve? (money, houses, status,…) that’s what I call RESULTS. But also how ENJOYABLE has been the journey to get those results? That’s why we can’t compare people’s journeys and achievements. Because each balance is unique and what we see is only a part of it.  The ratio RESULTS  vs ENJOYABLE will show the real personal success. (And how much of that helps others). Morning reflection. Sergio.

 Me quedé pensando en esa frase del video de Ted Talks. “Somos más felices entre más felices hacemos a quienes nos rodean y a los demás en general” Link del video en español: https://youtu.be/9l0lJ_7N_Vc?si=8qy5lZH8iBgkMOd5

Le pregunté eso a una pareja de amigos que han visitado muchos países en los últimos años, nos encontramos casualmente en Tailandia, ellos se encuentran haciendo 6 meses de travelling en ápsides de Asia. No resistí las ganas y fui al grano: ¿Cómo pueden viajar tanto sin muchos ingresos?, ¿tenían muchos ahorros, alguien les envía dinero, o tienen algún tipo de negocio? La respuesta que recibí tenía mucho menos magia de lo que yo pensaba. Está literalmente en el querer. Y como diría Steven Bartlett en su libro “the diary of a CEO”, el secreto está en “sweating the small stuff”, es decir, dejando la comodidad de lado y poner atención en los pequeños detalles.  Las tres lecciones que me dijeron sobre viajar mucho y poder seguirlo haciendo: - Transport. Spend less, be patient. Por ejemplo, ellos tomarían las opciones que les ahorra más dinero de modo que pueden mantenerse viajando, el costo viene en tiempo y comodidad. Ejemplo: tomar un bus de 14 horas de noche para ahorrar costos en ho...

 I used to think it was the money. But I couldn’t explain how many people I knew were doing a lot of travelling with apparently not much income, “they probably have a lot of savings or their parents send them money” is what I thought. Nowadays that I am allowing more time to myself to do more travelling, I had a big lesson: while the money of course is important, the most important thing is the will. “Querer es poder”. Things don’t happen from one day to another, but working on the vision and the plan, that’s something we can start doing from any time. Work on the vision, give yourself time to dream, make a plan, follow the plan, adjust, follow the plan, it will happen. Reflections after a few days of starting a dream trip.

En 3 años de maestría y estudios. Costo de los 140 libros: 2mil dólares. Costo de la maestría y estudios por 3 años: 50mil dólares. Conclusión: el aprendizaje está más relacionado con el esfuerzo, constancia, gusto, que con el precio.  Afortunadamente hay mucha y muy buena información gratis o casi gratis. La clave está en 1) saberla encontrar, 2) implementar estrategias autodidactas de estudio, 3) aplicar conocimientos en proyectos, 4) tener esos proyectos listos para mostrar y así facilitar oportunidades de trabajo cuando aparezcan.

Is it possible to read 52 books in 52 weeks every year? Apparently many CEOs and people in roles of high impact do it. Even while being very busy people. That’s impressive! I didn’t achieve that number of 52 books read (audiobooks) per year but I tried hard and I completely agree it has an incredible impact on one’s life! Please find the most impactful books per category in the next stories. Let me know if you have read any of them or if I am missing a good one. Thanks.

Mientras que solo 25% se dedican a esfuerzos directos que generan el resultado deseado. Principio general que propongo con base en la observación.  Ejemplo: Encontrar el trabajo deseado, esto puede tardar tanto como nos demoremos en 1) saber en qué somos buenos y que nos gusta, 2) adquirir las habilidades/ certificaciones pertinentes, 3) entender cómo funciona el mundo laboral para hacer visible ese talento en los espacios proveedores de trabajo, 4) desarrollarse en el trabajo, ganar experiencia, ajustar la dirección y repetir el proceso. Para el ejemplo anterior, hay muchos pasos en ese proceso que no son visibles desde el principio pero que se llevan la mayor cantidad de esfuerzo no planeado. En conclusión, 1) definir el punto destino con claridad es vital, 2) y definir la estrategia para lograrlo.  Entender bien el problema a resolver y definir la estrategia permite reducir tiempos y esfuerzos en gran medida.

Is more difficult than what it seems. Early in life we just follow school, parents, Uni, jobs, etc, not having good guided reflections on who we want to be / to become, and why, hopping that by doing the same everybody does it will fulfill us.  Why retirement is so hard on people? I believe it’s mostly due to spending a life of following that process without being intentional about Who we want to be / to become. I doubt that a person who has that clear would struggle with retirement for example. It’s not about dying slowly. It is about figuring out (the sooner the better) who we want to be / to become, therefore living intentionally every single day knowing that all efforts are directed towards something meaningful.  Spearing time for reflection is the best option. Looking for help on how to get started is a good option. The more we delay that the worse it gets, because time is the only currency we won’t have any change to get more of. So, don’t wait too long to reflect, and s...

If AI can create good text, can create good images and good video, what’s that thing that will make something special because it comes from a human? If we don’t value someone’s text (as in the past) because it probably came from an AI tool in which case it doesn’t require much time and effort.  If we don’t value an image because it is difficult to know if it was made by an AI or not, in which case it would be quick. I think what people value in the end is 1) the effort, 2) the skill. The problem is that it is difficult to know that just by looking at the end result. The difference will lie on 1) being able to know if that something was purely created with an AI,  2) how much effort the person put into it. I believe the only ways to verify that will be by 1) talking with the person to confirm their knowledge and expertise in the topic, 2) probably some new version of block chain to know what’s real, what comes from humans. What the role of humans in a time when AI take so many ...

There must be important lessons on doing that at a personal level. Learning how to live with less, enjoying the simple and mundane. I believe a good percentage of happiness is found there. However, how many of us consciously decide to live using less, just the necessary? I haven’t done it. It doesn’t seem an easy thing. Nevertheless, it could be hiding important findings.  Now, at a planetary level. This is a great challenge, so much so, that the future of humanity probably depends on that.  Will we humans learn how to live with less? Without all the comforts that petrol / carbon / gas energy provide us with? At least while we transition to clean energies and reform the global economic system for one that rewards life on earth / instead of the current one which devours life on earth? Sergio, living, thinking, reflecting, writing.

Creating group challenges with activities that reinforce positive practices. This is proving to be a great tool as seen so far in two months of the 50 daily push-ups challenge. What others group experiments could we come up with? A WhatsApp group to update the numbers and congratulate each one’s efforts is important. As well as setting a group goal. The final number must be seen as a group number, not individual.

 Pero la disciplina cuenta por 2. Book: Grit by Angela Duckworth 

Most people know being grateful is a good thing. However, not many practice it on a daily basis. Therefore, missing out on this super power.

 On that depends our motivation. How can we boost our dopamine production? The answer is in: Food. Exercise. Sleep.

 La disciplina es un súper poder. 

The state of Flow is like getting high in a natural and positive way. Highly efficient people and high performance athletes learn how to master this state.  This is a state in which we are fully aligned and immerse in the activity, whether it is playing an instrument, dancing, writing, reading, designing, drawing, programming, solving a problem, you name it.  High performance athletes are often in this state so they can perform at their best. How do they do it? They train their mind and body to release dopamine naturally, this is achieved by effective habits such as good quality and quantity of sleep, a good diet, regular exercise, sun exposure, mind training, visualisation and positive thinking. When it is time to perform the activity the body and mind are ready to get fully immerse, ready to experience FLOW. How do you know if you have experienced Flow? You know it because there are no other thoughts in your mind, because the perception of time gets lost (could be 15 min or ...

This mindset gets us open to give help and the humility to accept we also need help.

To those who appreciate it and are open to receive it.  Not everybody is open to receive it. Respect their position, give them space. Focus your energy on those who you can actually play an important role for. Be thankful and always open for future opportunities to show love, attention, support and help. But for now, Let Go and focus on what you can control. Book, Think like a Monk, Jay Shetty, chapter 1 “Let go”, chapter 4 “Give”.

Read these two books to understand how Dopamine works. And what’s dopamine? This is the chemical / biological explanation of how motivation, drive and focus work in the human body. Book, The Molecule of More, by Daniel Lieberman. Book, Dopamine Nation, Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence, by Dr Anna Lembke. Those two books were recommended by the neuroscientist  Andrew Huberman in this podcast episode during the School of Greatness show: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5uCggMlJo2URKqYsNE9RNr?si=f6DJbrx4RcmxsIngnGiZog

Yes, that moment in which your level of focus is high and you accomplish more things?  What activities do you do during that pick time? Are those the activities that are most important for you? No?  Why would you use your most productive time of the day in things that are not the most important for your personal project?

You get to learn all the time, do experiments and at the end of the day you are the direct beneficiary of those efforts, not a company, not the state, YOURSELF, plus the better person you become the better impact you can have on others.  How to start / continue that self discovery journey?

How did you feel about yourself after completing a work out? Finishing a project? Buying a gift for your mom? Writing a poem? Dancing? Programming? Finishing a book? When was the last time you felt well about yourself after scrolling on social media for 5, 10, 30 minutes? “Doing hard things give us self respect” and confidence I would add there (Lewis Howes, the school of greatness, book).

My brain 🧠  The more we work on strengthening our intelligences the more valuable it becomes. The more able it is to understand one’s environment, conditions and opportunities SUITABLE for one self. 

Debe ser de las pocas que nos quedan que podemos hacer mejor que AI. Tomando situaciones complejas y desarrollando soluciones. Será que aun hacemos eso mejor que AI ?

How many productive study / working sessions can we have in a day? 2 or 3 sessions of around 90 minutes. That’s when most of the study / work actually gets done. The rest is just resting periods and un focus time.

How do you encourage inspirational moments?  Do you take any actions?  If not, it’s likely they won’t be around so often.

- Asking for forgiveness  - Accepting / recognising/ acknowledging one’s mistakes /flaws  - Publicly acknowledging / appreciating other’s work - Ask for honest feedback (and have emotional control to process the answer with a positive attitude)  - Provide honest feedback  - Asking for help Have you done any of those ones? If you have, you might agree it is not easy to do when you are honest about it. They are all difficult because we put ourselves in a position of vulnerability.  Those are skills highly appreciated in work and personal settings. However, it is not to be done with everybody, just with people who are emotionally intelligent and can handle this level of trust.

El poder adquisitivo de pesos colombianos COP es un poco mayor que el de las rupias indonesias IDR. Es decir, una vez estando en Bali el dinero rinde un poco más de lo que sería dentro de Colombia. En la foto, 150mil pesos colombianos equivalen a 500mil rupias indonesias y también a 50 dólares australianos. No hay papel higiénico en los baños de Bali ! (De hecho, en los países sur asiáticos no usan papel higiénico!) Y entonces? Toca con el chorrito, una manguera al lado del inodoro para limpiarse con agua a presión. (No estuvo tan mal 😅) La religión es muy importante en Bali (Hinduismo) y constantemente ponen ofrendas para sus dioses en la entrada de las casas, estatuas, negocios, carros, en todo lado. Además de otros rituales con danza y prendas de vestir específicas. Bonus. El café más costoso del mundo (94 euros por 100 gramos), se produce una vez el animal kopi luwak  come granos de café, digiere y los excreta, para finalmente preparar un cafecito. Una vez excretado se ve como...

 It is amazing to visit and see different cultures from what we are used to (different from western type cultures). One can see how western cultures highly value money, work and status, while other alternative cultures probably value more religion and spiritual practices. Which might be better? Living comfortably with material things or comfortably aligned spiritually? Perhaps both are important and a good balance might be the best option. Some of the things learnt in Bali: They drive on the left like Australia, UK and many other countries. The streets are very narrow and they have special cars that less wide than average to fit in the streets including buses. The public transport is almost non existent and most people move around by either taxi or renting a scooter which price is around $8 AUD per day. The Balinese people are very religious and religion plays an important part of every day with specific rituals. For example, every morning Balinese Hinduism people (85% of their pop...

Motivation (as most things) goes up and down. The real trick on achieving an objective: 1) Identifying what is your source of motivation, 2) Use triggers to constantly remind you of that feeling which fills you with excitement. More scientific and chemical explanation: In the book The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg, he identifies 3 parts in a Habit: The trigger (which reminds you of the feeling that excites you), the action itself and the reward (the feeling afterwards). Therefore, the step number 1 to maintain motivation high is by keeping triggers around that remind you of the feeling that motivates you.  There are a few chemicals activated in our brain when we feel motivated, mainly Dopamine. That's what we are trying to activate in natural ways, with Triggers of the feeling that motivates us. Examples: Tom Bilye, founder of Quest nutrition and Impact Theory, says how he got sick of his previous job and started Quest nutrition, using as a trigger and source of motivation his m...

Painting, writing, drawing, playing instruments, singing, acting, dancing, reading, telling stories, reflecting, analysing, listening to others, doing sports/ Gym, programing, helping, taking care of children, teaching,... What's your art? Let it fuel your life with motivation and share your art with the world. We tend to think all those are just hobbies, but the truth is that there are many other people interested in similar things than us. Two healthy ways of sharing your art: 1) Use digital media to share / inspire / teach others what you know, joining or creating a community.  2) Advertise your areas of expertise and get a side income by teaching /coaching others to learn what you know. Morning reflections. Question in mind: What if we use half of our working week in the traditional job, and the other half in perfecting / sharing our arts with the world? Underlying benefit: A good personal health / motivation balance. 

We all feel better when we have someone's attention and that person really listen to us. Reflection of me wanting to share some learnt lessons with friends, but then realising that they value more being able to open, share their experiences and feel heard. Sharing learnt lessons only have good value when an advice is solicited. Otherwise, the best is to listen attentively.  Reflection while reading the book, Think like a monk, by Jay Shetty. 

Frank, quoted by Jay Shetty's book, 8 rules for love. 

Good quality thoughts requiere of good inputs. What are your mind inputs? 

El "ego" nos impide de muchas cosas. Hay que ponerlo en su lugar 💪🏽 con mucha humildad 😊

If you have to choose only one important thing for Today to get done, what would that be?  *Focus on it and get it done. * Getting one important thing Done everyday. How would that look 30 days later? 💪🏽

"Gana tu primera ida al baño para orinar", ojo que la de recién levantado no cuenta.  ESA primera orinada en la mañana debe ser la siguiente después de la de recién levantado.  Si toman suficiente agua de modo que van al baño unas 2 a 4 horas después y les sale transparente, esa es una buena y el cuerpo se está hidratado bien ✅  Si les sale muy amarilla y van por allá hasta el medio día o después (esa no es muy buena), y el cuerpo está andando con muy poca agua disponible 🚫 Muy amarilla 🚫 Se puede vivir así? Claro que sí, pero con que objetivo? Haciendo la metafora con un carro, si no le ponen suficiente agua, simplemente le van dañando las diferentes partes del motor y partes principales, arriesgándose a que se queden varados en algún momento futuro, lo mismo le pasa al cuerpo y después nos preguntamos cómo fue que adquirimos esas condiciones médicas 🤔 Dolor de cabeza? Estreñimiento? Dolor de espalda, músculos,...? Un montón de inconvenientes que se pueden evitar con ...

Is one of the best feelings humans feel (and you can make it a habit).  What activities make you feel inspired, motivated, excited? Make sure you keep doing a bit of that always. 

What are your self imposed limitations? If you think you don't have, you probably don't know them yet. The first step is to identify them. 

Get that outside of your head, write your feelings and all of that in a notebook. List the consequences and possible solutions. Leave it there, get that out of your mind so you can sleep well.  Recognize you have no control of it and you will be better by resting well.  Next day in the morning, right when you wake up, be conscious about your mind and your thoughts, very likely, your brain will provide you with possible answers to that situation. Write it down immediately once you wake up. Harness the power of the mind in your favor. Book, Why we sleep, by Matthew Walker. 

Don't waste this super power. Before to sleep, REFLECT about your day. REVIEW your personal goals /objectives. Be THANKFUL.  The last images and thoughts at night before we sleep are very important for the brain. Why? Because the brain keeps wandering about it while sleeping.  It is similar in the morning. The first thoughts and activities we do once waking up have a lasting effect during the whole day.  Please don't check your phone straight away after waking up 🙏🏼. Why? Because you don't know what you might find there, a work email, messages, negative news... Instead, choose to have input from something uplifting and inspiring, music, thinking of dreams, exercise.  The impact of this will last for the whole day. Book, Why we sleep, by Matthew Walker. 

Mis amigos... Difícilmente podría indicar actividades que sean más gratificantes que hacer trabajo voluntariado. Solo se aprende al hacerlo.., recuerdo que una vez en la U le pregunté a una compañero de clase que qué era TECHO, ella me explicó el trabajo que hizo construyendo casas y le pregunté que cuánto le pagaron por hacer eso, NADA 😯, de gratis.  Solo entendí lo que ella me quiso decir ese día, unos 5 años después, cuando hice mi primera actividad de trabajo voluntariado 😯, el dinero no tiene comparación con el sentimiento que esa vaina produce 😌 Mi amiga estaba en lo correcto y por fin pude entender lo que me quería decir 🙌 Busca una actividad que disfrutes y ofrece tu ayuda en alguna comunidad o a personas en particular 😉🤝

Report of experiment for a month. It consists of writing thankful thoughts in a notebook every morning once waking up. What did I find?  Consistency is hard / the reward is worth it.  I just did it a few days during the first two weeks, then in the third week I did it almost everyday, and now, in my fourth week, I haven't missed a day and some days I do it both in the morning and night before to sleep. I just wrote about this experience today because I was able to notice how much difference it makes when I do this first thing in the morning once I wake up compared to when I don't do it.  Having a journal to be thankful can probably be the single most important tool for happiness. It's just incredible, I heard about it many times in different books, especially in "the resilience project: finding happiness through Gratitud, Empathy & Mindfulness" which is a really good book, among other good ones that mention the practice of having a Gratitud / Thankfulness jour...

Follow a leader, a mentor" Jay Shetty, book, Think like a monk. 

- Be in a position of ACTION so you can have a real impact. - God help me to help 🙏🏼 - We try our best, we do what we can. Qué frase repites mentalmente y te da fuerza? Ayuda bastante cuando la motivación es baja. 

Cosas que solo se saben años hacia el futuro... Este blog tiene dos propósitos reales: 1) Consolidar lecciones aprendidas, y 2) Esperar que pueda ser de utilidad para otros como lo es para mí. 1) Consolidar lecciones aprendidas: * Las cuales aprendí con 6 años de mucho esfuerzo en la Universidad, viviendo por 5 años en Australia y volviéndome un aficionado por el conocimiento (from books and people I have met).  * Desafortunadamente nuestros cerebros retienen muy poca información de lo que aprendemos. Es simplemente un hecho y función natural del cerebro para ahorrar energía mental.  * Porque me permiten entender las personas y el mundo a mi alrededor.  2) De utilidad para los demas * Puede ser que esto sea de valor para personas solo con leerlo.  * Lo puedo recordar por medio de este blog y ayudar otras personas en sus propios journeys.  * Hay un componente de lenguaje. Escribo en español y en inglés para incentivar personas nativas de ambos idiomas a que sigan...

Qué tan seguido realmente expresamos lo que opinamos? En el trabajo? En la familia? Con la pareja? Otros ambientes? Las personas no se van a expresar sinceramente a menos que sientan la confianza para hacerlo.  Cualquiera que sea el contexto, es importante crear el espacio, y hasta la cultura, de comunicarnos sinceramente, sin juzgar. En el mediano y largo tiempo es la mejor opción. Para eso hay que estar abierto a escuchar. No necesariamente se tiene que encontrar la solución a la situación de inmediato, con sólo poderse expresar y sentirse escuchado ya se está encaminando por buena dirección.