Mike Watts, Author at Watts

Do You Hate Mondays?

Why is Friday so different than Monday for so many people? What is Hump Day?

I was sitting next to a guy on the plane who was so pissed and stressed that he was late. It really hurt me as a human being – the thought of people, like this guy, doing things that stress them out, living for the weekend and “Hump Day” (Wednesday).

We need to reevaluate what we are doing in our lives. I spend a lot of time talking to people about doing something more empowering with their lives, overcoming guilt or shame about doing something differently.

I used to be a person who lived for the weekend, when I could check out from work, but the Information Age has provided me the opportunity for something different.

Are you living for the weekend? Do you enjoy Monday as much as you enjoy Friday?

In my research on Google, I found this survey taken by the Gallup Poll in 2005, view here.

In the survey it stated that the least favorite day of the week is Monday. 65% of the people interviewed did not enjoy Mondays, and the next closest day was a tie for Sunday & Wednesday at 6%.

You know what happens on Mondays – people go back to work. We usually are working from Monday to Friday and have only the weekends off to enjoy time with family and friends. This brings me back to the point: are you living for the weekends?

Our jobs/businesses are a huge part of our lives, so why do so many people continue to do work that is boring and uninspiring? There is more to life than working at some place just to pay the bills until we hit the age of socalled retirement, then we die.

When I was working at my former job, I was living for the weekends. I would hop in the car Friday night and go camping to get away, then high-tail it back on Sunday morning to start work again on Monday morning.

Now I go camping in the middle of the week because so few people are on the trails, and there’s no traffic to the vacation destinations.
Living for the weekends was killing my spirit, my life, because I had less time to spend time on the things I wanted to do and with the people I wanted to see.

I would try to pack everything into two days, and then Sunday night would roll around and I’d start to think about what I actually accomplished over the weekends.

If this sounds like you, it might be time to think about changing careers or starting your own business. The biggest thing I can say is that if you are living for the weekends like I was, you are probably doing the wrong thing.

I shot the following video, which inspired this post, when I was traveling from NYC to Maine.

Check it out:

How do you feel about Monday mornings? Do you have a favorite day of the week?

What is your current money mindset: Abundance or Lack?

When I was in $100,000+ of debt with credit cards and student loans, I was completely living in a lack/scarcity mentality. I always dreamed of building a business and creating something greater than myself that would allow me to be financially free. But when I was living with a lack mentality, I wondered how that would ever be possible.

This is when I went to work changing my mindset and habits: I hung out with individuals who made millions of dollars per year, I opened my credit card statements, I looked at my bank account, I sold my house and moved to save money, I reduced my living expenses, and I reprogramed my brain for abundance.

If there is one thing I have learned from my wife Kate Northrup over the past 5 years, it is to think abundance when it comes to money.

The world is based on a lack/scarcity mindset – the idea that there is never going to be enough money, happiness, good health, etc. – and so it is really hard to change your mindset from lack to abundance.

I would like to create a business that makes $100,000 in revenue, I want to help 1000 people in our business, I dream of venturing to Australia, and I want to create a life where I am in control of my destiny.

This is an abundance mentality.

The abundance mentality has to be created for yourself – figuring out where your limitations are and working to strengthen and change your current beliefs.

I am still working on this. Our business generated over $600,000 per year in revenue over the past few years, yet I still think about the time my credit card was denied at a store. I think about that incident often, but it is just the little part at my cellular level still living in my past life.

When I started to live with an abundance mentality, I paid off my credit cards and student loans, I was able to upgrade my truck, our business started to grow, and I realized my dream of living close to the water here in Maine.

Here are 3 easy steps to start your abundance mindset:

1. Read Money: A Love Story by Kate Northrup – buy book here.

2. Watch the Financial Freedom Friday series we put together – learn more here.

3. Sign up to receive a free #MoneyLove story every week for a year – learn more here.

And feel free to watch this video I put together on the abundance vs. lack mentality:

Have a great rest of the week – sending you lots of #MoneyLove.

Cheers,

Mike

Living a Brave Life & Getting Your Ass Kicked

I am thinking about some things this morning after watching Brene Brown and her course based on Daring Greatly which is running now until April.

“If you want to live a brave life you are going to get your ass kicked.” This is a quote of hers that I find profound.

Kate has put her work out there with her book Money: A Love Story. She dedicated a substantial period of time in her life to producing that content. It was a lot of work – the work alone kicks your ass, and then you put it out there.

On Amazon the book got a lot of glowing 5-star reviews, a lot of helpful 3-and-4-star reviews…but then a few reviews that felt like an ass-kicking.

If we are going to put ourselves out into the world, we will receive positive and negative feedback from people we know and people we don’t know.

Putting ourselves out there goes beyond getting feedback from other people. It also has to do with what we put ourselves through as well. For us to be brave this requires us to grow by becoming newer, better versions of ourselves.

How do we become better versions of ourselves? If we go by the magazine covers at the local store, this could be an endless process.

I would say the number 1 thing that has helped me become a better person overall while getting my ass kicked is:

Listening to myself and taking responsibility for my own actions.

This concept was huge for me when I attended a Tony Robbins seminar back in March of 2015. I realized that over the past 3 years of being in business with my wife, I never took myself seriously in our business. I realized I had to move on to a new path in my life where I valued what I bring to the table.

And this is what I mean when I say that getting your ass kicked isn’t just about getting feedback. There is so much more. It requires quite a bit of self-reflection to live a brave life.

If you would like to know more, please watch this video:

***You can go to CourageWorks.com or BreneBrown.com to find out more about Brene’s work.

Why Consumption Is Killing Your Dreams

Did you turn on the TV today? How about your computer? Did you watch a YouTube video, listen to a podcast, or turn on the radio? Have you checked the new updates to Facebook in the last 30 minutes?

This is what I call consuming content. The world is built for us to consume, and many of us, including myself, will spend the entire day consuming information – then wonder why we didn’t get anything done.

Before the internet, we had magazines, radio, TV, books, newspapers and other communication platforms. Consumption has always been there, and we love consuming content.

There are two types of people in the world: people who consume and people who create.

The ones who create consume content as well, but they create way more than they consume. This is the most important part of this entire article: what you create is the most important aspect of your life.

Creation is the life-blood of our businesses and lives – without it we are just following the plan of someone else.

Over the past couple of generations, people have been taught to go to school, get a good job, and expect someone to take care of them the rest of their lives. This has changed as we have moved into the Information Age because now it is our responsibility to take control of our situation.

Personal Responsibility, in my words, means taking control of every single aspect of my life. This includes work, health, success, kids, workouts, money, spiritual life, and whatever else makes your heart tick.

For starters, let’s chat about the 3 ways we can empower ourselves:

1. Who is your crew?

The people you associate with on a daily basis are the backbone of your life and business. Who is in your crew? What type of advice do they give you? Would you actually want to live their type of life?

Take a look at those surrounding you and make sure they are heading in the same direction you desire to go.

2. Our environment

What is our workplace like? Is our house cleaned up? What about our car? Do you feel inspired by the gym you attend? What type of food are you eating? How is the quality of the water, air, land, or people in your area?

When we are going through our daily lives, feeling inspired on a daily basis is so important, and we need a place we want to be throughout our daily activities. Working in a cigarette-filled facility is no place to feel inspired, and that was my life for 3 years out of college.

3. And lastly, you are enough

You are responsible for your choices pretty much for your entire life. The sooner you realize this, the better your life is going to be.

Do you feel or know you need to change something? What is the one thing you will change starting today?

I Am Fat

I am FAT!

Now stay with me and all of my self help guru friends are saying, “Well that isn’t what you should say to yourself. That isn’t inspiring or positive talk.”

Yes I agree but there are times in my life, when I have to take a serious look at my situation. Being very self-aware. I am not 100% perfect on this but I am getting much better.

Now when I say I am fat, I am not someone who eats fast food or drinks soda or drinks alcohol or eats tons of candy or lives off sugary foods(hmm, well this one might be true) or is extremely obese.
I don’t know what it feels like not to be able to fit through doors or in booths or hiding food in my drawers or having people judging me because of my size(only my ridiculous good looks) or thinking about having those surgeries to bring everything back into control.

I am not someone who has ever thrown up after eating or gone long periods of time without eating.

I only know my situation.

But when my 34inch pants are tight and I unable to buckle them because I have spent the last year doing less exercise, eating whatever the hell I want…for me, I am FAT.

I have spent endless hours, judging myself against the fitness people online, beating myself up about eating one more chocolate chip cookie, looking in the mirror and telling myself, “I have to lose these 10 pounds”, or telling myself I am going to do something and decide to do nothing.

I could list an endless amount of excuses why I haven’t done anything about it…blah, blah, blah.

But I am not going to do that.

I am the one that controls what I do each day in my life, no one puts food in my mouth, no one stands at the gym door and keeps me out, no one hides my workout shoes, the monster under the bed doesn’t eat my super crazy expensive Lululemon clothes, and those darn chocolate chip cookies don’t walk into belly.

The past 8 years, I have learned how I change myself. I first decide I want to change, then it usually takes 6 months to a year for that to actually start to happen. But now I have it down to about a month or so but every situation is different. In this case, I am talking about body stuff and it takes longer.

Last month, I told Kate it is time to really change my food habits. And of course she said, “Honey, you are not fat.” Hmm, my pants would say something different. Sometimes, if the person can handle it or if they can’t, being super direct is money in the bank.

Kate could have said this, “Well honey, I have noticed you have been enjoying those amazing chocolate cookies quite a bit lately and maybe you have put on a few pounds. It is alright with me, it is really how you feel and that you know what you are doing. Oh yeah, if you ever want to have sex with me again, drop those extra 15lbs.”

Pretty sure that would be effective.

It isn’t just about the food, it is about the way I want to feel, the way I talk to myself about my body, the way I want to feel walking into a room or on a beach, the movement my body will be doing, the sex we are having, and frankly what habits am I going to teach my daughter.

I went to this gym by our house two days ago to get my fat butt back in shape. I walked in at 10:30am, it was me and 30+ people over the age of 60 (not exactly sure how old, I am guessing).

I came home and told Kate I have to find a new place to workout. There is no way I can workout here. I enjoy a lot of action when I workout, rough and tumble places. This was a bit more slow moving.

Then I woke up yesterday and said, “Time to go workout.” I went back and decided, maybe I can be an inspiration for someone at the gym. Or they can be an inspiration for me. Completely different mindset and workout happened, really enjoyed it. Simple shift and change the course of my day.

In one year from now, I will no longer be a fat ass, it won’t take that long but I am a long term thinker.

If I am still a fat ass one year from now, I will send everyone reading this $10.00. And I love money so the last thing I am going to do because I couldn’t stop eating chocolate chip cookies.

It isn’t about eliminating food groups(sometimes it is if the diet is McDonalds and soda) or creating some sort of strict diet(did a crazy program getting ready for the wedding last year and it was horrible, looked great, felt like crap).

When it comes to working out, I am going to have some guidance but do the things I want to do. I will have to get pushed and push myself to have results. I work better with someone telling me my daily program.

When it comes to food, eating what my body is calling for that day. Of course, eating less and eating lots of veggies and chicken will help you lose weight. I am tired of living like that, I want to create art with my food and be someone who really loves what I am putting in my mouth. It is a completely different way to think about it.

Listening to what our bodies what is the most powerful thing we can do. I watched Kate during pregnancy and post pregnancy, live this way. She tapped into her body and decided what she wanted to eat that day. It was pretty amazing.

Our society tells us daily, you are unable to make decisions for yourself. You need this drug or eat this food or do this workout or look like this or no one will love you. You have to drive this car or live in a big house or be on this social network or live your life through this celebrity.

That stuff doesn’t matter in the grand plan of life, doing whatever the hell you want every single day, does.

Time is the only thing that matters because you can’t create more.

The more self-aware I am, the more time I will create, the more fun I will have, the healthier I will be, more enjoyable workouts, my business will grow more, I will grow more, the more time with my daughter I will have, I will be a better husband, the better sex we will have, I won’t have to send you $10, life will be all around better and most important….

I will be a non FAT badass!

I Am A Badass

Life sure changed 2.5 months ago, when Penelope came into our lives. Having a kid is by far the hardest, most challenging thing I have ever done in my life.

Yes the six years of building my business was super intense and very challenging as well. And I am so glad I did it because now I am able to spend everyday at home with both Kate and Penelope. Building a business is challenging but it is relativity pretty easy compared to having a kid.

I didn’t even give birth or grow the child and it is hard.

Being a dad is such a complete adjustment to my role in life. It took about 2.5 months to really fully open my heart and embrace this new role in life. Women’s bodies are built to experience and develop the necessary hormones to take on this new role.

As a guy, this doesn’t happen, reasons are pretty obvious.

There is one thing that made the transition easier, talking to my buddies who have new babies, spend everyday doing one thing for myself to remain in balance, stopped eating wheat because it increases instabilities in emotions, and by far the best thing I do all the time….

I talk to Kate about everything I am going through, sometimes it is hard. When I told her I was scared, it was hard for me to tell her. But we can talk about the real things in life that are going on and it makes life that much better.

It wasn’t always this way but it is something we have worked on because it is the relationship we both desired in our lives.

Being myself, husband, dad, business owner, they are hard but consistent effort in all areas make everything that much better.

I am and will thrive because I am a badass.

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Author: Mike Watts