Remember the guy in 2nd place? Neither does anyone else

Remember the guy in second place? Neither does anyone else.

Good morning and happy Friday everyone! Ok, let’s get right into it.  I am still trying to figure out which angle I will continue to take this blog.  Whether you are a gentleman or a lady, today’s message is for you.  As for now, I am just speaking from my heart and what is going on in my life at this time.  I have recently been doing a lot of studying on motivation.  What is motivation?  Motivation is your ability to remain focused and energetic about the things you find important in your life.  At some point in your life, everyone finds moments when they are extremely motivated.  Then, like many things in life, it soon fades away.  So what is the best way to stay motivated?  There are thousands of books and talks available for you to figure out the best way for you, but I am going to speak on what has worked best for me.  The best way I have found to stay motivated, is to submerge myself with the right information.  In today’s world, there is a vast amount of information available to us at our finger tips.  Podcast, e-books, e-mails, websites, YouTube, and of course blogs.  You have the information to achieve anything you want and you choose to spend these opportunities playing Temple Run and watching someone break their neck on YouTube?!  Motivate yourself by staying informed!  Motivate yourself by surround yourself with the right people!  It’s very difficult to remain motivated and focused with the circle of individuals you choose to spend your time with are in the same place they were 5 years ago! 

The answer to your motivation is not on your couch with your HD TV on!  Develop small goals on a daily basis that will take you in the right direction.  I have a daily goal that I will always read 15 minutes a day from a self-improvement book.  Is it easy to read 15 minutes a day? Absolutely!  Is it is not to read from a self-improvement book for 15 minutes a day? Absolutely!  When I remind myself of why it is important for me to engage in this activity, it doesn't seem so hard.  No matter how long my day has been.  You have heard the saying “A body in motion tends to stay in motion.”  The same is true with your mind.  If you are able to do small things on a daily basis and move yourself in the right direction, it becomes very easy to do these things on a daily basis.  I’ll be honest.  When I woke up this morning at 5:00am, I really didn't feel like going to run my 4 miles.  But I did it anyway.  Why?  Because I want to remain motivated!  Sure I could have gotten a little more sleep.  Hell, I don’t have to be to the office until 9:00am!  So why do I decide to get up at 5:00am when I’m not being told?  Whatever is most important to you in your life, you will find the time to get these things done.  Getting up 4 hours before I have to go to work expresses a desire for more.  I’m more hungry now than I have ever been in my life!  The reason?  I keep my goals in front of me on a daily basis and I do the small things in life, whether I feel like it or not.  I can take a look at anyone’s daily schedule and tell you why you are not where you want to be today.  It’s because of the small things.  So make the decision today to focus on the details in your life, the small steps that you will take throughout the day.  Do this and watch your motivation shift into the next gear! 

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog.  I really hope this is positively affecting the lives of others.  My new schedule for the blog will be as follows.  I will post a new blog every Monday and Friday.  As the blog develops and progresses, I will add more new blogs to the weekly postings.  Now go chase your dreams and remember to keep the Gentleman First.

Follow me on Instagram @LOVEMYAMBITION84 Follow me on Twitter @ sambeme84 Follow me on Facebook at Samuel Anderson Email me @ viplifestyleonline@gmail.com

Quality Of Life

Well it's almost the end of the summer, and it's vacation time for me.  A great week in Nags Head so far with a great group of friends and good conversation.  As I have had time to relax over these past few days, I have spent a great amount of time thinking about quality of life.  

So often in life we attempt to gain so much in our career, material possessions and with relationships.  That is all worth nothing if you do not have a good quality of life.  Quality of life starts with your health.  If you are not a healthy individual, it doesn't matter how much you acquire if you are not around to enjoy it.  The other day I was listening to a lecture from one of my favorite authors Zig Ziglar.  He spoke about the manner in which we treat our bodies.  He goes on to ask the audience if anyone owns a million dollar race horse.  Of course no one in the audience was able to confirm that they did.  Then the question was asked, if you did own a race horse, would you let it stay up all hours of the night, drink beer, smoke cigarettes and eat junk food.  Of  course not!  If you owned a million dollar horse, you would hire the best trainer, have the horse on a special diet and have state of the art stables.  If you would invest that much into a horse, why would you not hold yourself to the same level?  Many people would take better care of a $20 dog than their own body!  Your body is worth billions!  There is only one of you in the world, why would you not make the investment?

Regular exercise is not an option for those who want to experience a high quality of life.  Your body requires regular physical activities just to maintain a somewhat healthy lifestyle.  We live in a society where we are generally judged on our appearance.  A gentleman takes pride in the way he looks. Your health says a lot about how you feel about yourself.  When you maintain a healthy lifestyle, you are saying to others, "I am important and I believe that I am worth the effort!"  There is nothing wrong with enjoying foods from time to time that are not considered to be healthy.  While I'm here on vacation, I am certain to eat foods that I should not.  I just counter those decisions with exercise and other healthy foods.  I just ensure that I do not eat like that on a regular basis.  

Have pride in yourself and others will respect you.  People are very perceptive.  They will see it in your walk, in your talk and in the manner that you carry yourself.  Take care of yourself and watch other areas of your life begin to grow.  Your career will excel, relationships will become more meaningful and others will hold you in higher esteem.  The goal should never be to have a six pack if you are just starting out on your health journey.  The goal should simply be to become healthy.  The physical traits that you want will soon follow behind.  

Enjoy your life and remember always be a Gentleman First!

Samuel W. Anderson

Follow me on Facebook @Samuel Anderson Follow me on twitter @sambeme84  Follow me on Instagram @ LOVEMYAMBITION84

Your Time

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Today we are going to get a little more real.  I want to speak to all of my single readers.  There are some days when you just have those moments and you think, "being single sucks!"  I won't lie, there are times that it does.  But there is a realization that you must come to.  Being in a relationship is just one small aspect of your life.  In your life's book, being with someone who means that much to you, is just ONE chapter.  You are so much more than that.  There is your health, career, social life, career, family and spiritual life.  Just because you do not have a significant other in your life at the time, DOES NOT mean that there is something wrong with you.  It took me a while to understand this concept, but you have been given this time in your life to be single because it is a BLESSING.  Yes that's what I said, a blessing.  You are single right now because this is preparation time!  The person that you are today, is not the person that you need to be to welcome that kind of love into your life.  Now don't take this the wrong way, that does not mean that there is something wrong with you.  It simply means that during this phase of your life you are still developing other areas of your life and it just is not the right time.  At this point in your life, if the right person came along, you would not be ready.  Maybe you need to get your finances together.  It could be a time when your career should be the most important thing.  You have emotional issues that you need to address before bringing someone in that you can fully commit to.  You MUST realize that if you do not take this time for YOU, when the right person comes along you will not be the man (or woman) that you need to be!

Now those of you that are in RELATIONSHIPS, you are not off the hook.  Just because you have found an individual that you do care about does not mean that you are done growing.  Each and every day, you need to make the decision that today you will be the best partner that you can be.  Men, I don't know how we lost it, but we do not treat women with the respect that they deserve.  What happened to opening the car door for your woman?  Most of you are probably thinking "I don't need to open the door for her, her arm ain't broken!"  It's not the act of you opening the door.  She will acknowledge the fact that you took the time to think about her and ensure that she is safe.  The little things you do for a woman are MUCH bigger in their minds than how we men see it.  Too often people in relationships get comfortable and stop doing the very things that allowed them to attract that person into their life.  Then we wonder how we lost "the good ones."  I can tell you, it's because you did not act like a GENTLEMAN.  Try opening the car door around your partner's friends and they will talk about it for days.  Send flowers because it's Tuesday, it doesn't have to be her birthday.  I will be honest.  Most woman aren't that crazy about flowers.  Can I tell you what they really like?  They enjoy the reaction that they get from OTHER woman.  Send them to her at her office in front of all of her friends and see what kind of reaction you get.  I bet she will even post a picture of them to some form of social media.  This shows a woman that you are thinking of her and you did not need any reminders.  A woman needs to know that she is loved!  When she talks to you, LISTEN.  As men our first reaction when a woman talks about a problem is to offer advice.  No! A woman simply wants to be heard.  

Whether you are single or in a relationship, the message is the same.  NEVER STOP GROWING.  If you want to be the best in your career, I'm sorry to tell you but you can't go out every night.  You can't watch every game on TV.  You may also loose some SLEEP.  But anything great in life you want takes SACRIFICE.  Having a great relationship isn't easy, having your finances in order takes work, maintaining a healthy lifestyle takes EFFORT.  All of these things are necessary for a healthy life but balance can be achieved.  It's simply all about a conscious effort and planning.  

So remember, be a GENTLEMAN FIRST

Samuel Anderson

Follow me on Facebook @Samuel Anderson Follow me on twitter at sambeme84 Follow me on Instagram @ LOVEMYAMBITION84 

Dedication

Dedication.  It's what was lack as men these days.  We lack dedication to our work, we lack dedication to others and we lack dedication to ourselves.  This characteristic is one of the cornerstones of developing one's self into a gentleman.  Remember the old saying "your word is all you have"?  Well that saying is more true today than ever before.  In this fast pace, quick access world, your word is all you have.  If you say you are going to do something, COMMIT to it and follow through!  How long have you been saying that you need to lose weight?  That you are tired of your job? Dedicate and commit yourself to these goals.  If your goal is to lose weight, all it takes to reach this goal is dedication.  Excuses don't do you any good.  There is ALWAYS a reason not to do something.  But when you are dedicated to success you don't ask what's wrong with something, you ask what's right with it.  "I just don't have time."  There are 24 hours in a day.  Yes, if you are waking up an hour before your 8-9 hour work day, no.  You don't have time to work out.  Yet how is it that a person who is dedicated to losing weight figures out that their gym opens at 5am? "I'm tired of my job."  Are you really dedicated to your future?  Dedicate yourself to finding your life's work.  Too many individuals focus on what type of work they DON'T want to engage in.  How does that get you any closer to your goal? Stop focusing on what you DON'T want, focus on what you DO want!  Dedicate yourself to reinventing yourself!  The world is not waiting for you to finally take that leap of faith.  When you choose not to dedicate yourself to what's important, no one suffers but you.

Dedication.  I have told myself for years that I was going to start a blog.  I knew that I had a message I wanted to share.  I knew the right people who could help me.  I refused to DEDICATE myself to the task.  In order to dedicate yourself to anything or anyone, you have to know WHY.  Why do you want to lose weight?  Why do you want to start your own business?  Why is the only way to solidify your commitment and why is the only thing that will keep you dedicated.  What is it that you want out of life?  Make a decision to dedicate yourself to it today!  The situation will never be perfect.  Often times we find out the most about ourselves at the worst times.

This was a topic was not planning on discussing but I had a discussion with an individual earlier in the week about a lack of dedication.  For my first blog I did not plan on going with a format such as this, I just felt it needed to be said.  Weekly throughout this blog, we will explore and discuss what the world gentleman really means.  I will be focusing on topics such as the following:

Dress like a man (The Suit is not dead)
Exercise is not an option
Effective Communication
Setting Goals
Culture
Educating yourself

Hope you guys enjoyed!
Gentleman First
Samuel W. Anderson

Follow on Twitter @sambeme84 Follow on Facebook @ Samuel Anderson Follow on Instagram at LOVEMYAMBITION84
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