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Think Your Way to a Successful Life with The Master Key System

Jason Cooper — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 09:08:53 +0000

Unlock your mind with The Master Key System so that you can become a god in both thought and action…that’s if you study and master its inspirational secrets according to the following excerpt from the website The Secret,

‘This remarkable book documents the methods and the science behind the methods to help you live The Secret, the secret of thought as creative energy, as power, as the Master Key to your own development. Charles Haanel’s Master Key virtually opens the door to universal intelligence, allowing you to attract everything you need to achieve your dreams.’

In the following video, be self-empowered to success by the wisdom and power of The Master Key System:

Download the eBook: The Master Key System by Charles F. Haanel

The Wisdom of Creating an Exercise Regime – Part 2

Jason Cooper — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 08:49:01 +0000

Read part 1 of 2: ‘The Wisdom of Creating an Exercise Regime – Part 1′

I now Officially have a 1-Pack for a Stomach

After a self-indulgent Christmas of putting on weight and growing another belly, I decided that I needed to motivate my rotund body into doing a few exercises so to improve my overall fitness, mood and general well-being.

I am now 4 weeks into my exercise regime, and have to say that I’m already seeing and feeling the results of my labours.

As for you guys out there, you can use the following exercises as an example, or inspiration, for you to create your own personal regime to adapt to your daily life.

“If you always put limit on everything you do, physical or anything else. It will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them.”

~ Bruce Lee

Create an Exercise Regime and Inspire yourself to Keep Motivated…and maybe you’ll be rewarded with a body like Mr. Lee

Three things we use as an excuse to stop us from doing exercises:

motivation
time
money

Five wise things that can help you to start exercising and keep motivated:

do the exercises and sports you love doing, which will certainly help to keep you motivated.
change the routine and exercises to suit your needs. It is important not to get into a rigid routine which can make you become bored. Mix-it-up and be flexible with your routine in terms of type of exercises performed and length of time doing it
you don’t need to spend hours exercising to get fit. I recommend up to 30 minutes daily for the body to benefit immensely, or just do what you can to fit into your schedule. Even a quick 5 to 10 minutes here and there is better than nothing.
save money by not joining a gym or hiring a personal trainer. You can achieve the same results exercising in the comfort of your own home.
the money saved can be spent on exercise equipment such as weights, rowing machine and stationary cycle. These can be used anytime at your choosing.

Example Exercises Routine: “What Does Not Kill You, Makes You Stronger”

“Above all, never cheat on any exercise; use the amount of weight that you can handle without undue strain.”

~ Bruce Lee

Walking

Something as simple and obvious as walking can be the best form of exercise if we choose to take advantage of carrying our own torso, head and limbs everywhere we go. To put it simply, if we used our legs more in this day of modern transportation we would all be generally fitter than we currently are.

Tip: Why don’t you leave the car at home? Why wait for the bus or a lift to arrive? Why stand there waiting for an escalator to take you up or down? Why not take the opportunity to exercise by walking instead of using every mode of transport you come across in everyday life – every little helps.

Stair Climbing

If you have stairs in your home then you have the opportunity use them to build strength and endurance. Running up and down a flight of stairs is an excellent cardiovascular exercise and is better than many horizontal exercises – just be careful with your knee joints.

Tip: Hold a light dumbbell in each hand whilst stair climbing which will burn more calories and give your arms a simultaneous workout as well.

How-To: Run Stairs to Build Strength and Endurance

Shadow Boxing

These can be done easily anywhere in the house as you do not need much room to perform combination punching. Great as an aerobic exercise and can improve punching technique and footwork if you ever wanted to “float like a butterfly, sting like a bee”.

Tip: use light dumbbells to punch with to get a more strenuous workout- will improve arm strength and power.

How-To: How to Shadow Box in a Small Apartment

Push-ups

Effective and simple exercise for strengthening the upper body including arms, chest and back.

Tip: use a pair of elevated push-ups stands which provide more flexibility in performing different types of push-ups as well as more intensity for arms and chest.

How-To: How To Do a Perfect Push Up

Sit-ups

Great exercise to strengthen and reducing the stomach area, and who knows, you may even achieve the legendary 6-pack, unlike me.

How-To: Bruce Lee’s Ab Workout Routine

Exercise Equipment

To make your exercises more varied you can incorporate equipment in your routine such as weights, stationary cycle and rowing machine. These can be excellent for exercising every muscle group in the body and for non-impact cardiovascular workouts.

How-To: Before You Buy Home Fitness Equipment

Bruce Lee Strength Exercises

Please read the following excellent article, ‘How to Get Bruce Lee Like Strength Without Ever Going to a Gym’ for more great ideas on exercises you can do to become the next Bruce Lee…good luck!

Before you start any exercise routine you must have the following in mind:

if you have any heart or physical conditions always consult with your doctor and exercise physiologist before entering any exercise program
always warm up and stretch before doing any form of exercise. This will help reduce the risk of picking up any strains or injuries.
do not listen to that unwise saying “no pain, no gain” and overdo any exercise unless you are looking to get a severe strain or worse. Perform exercises up to a level that you’re comfortable with and without pain.
start your exercise regime at a moderate pace until you are strong and fit enough to perform at a more advanced level.

How-To: Warm-up Stretches Routine

The Wisdom of Creating an Exercise Regime – Part 1

Jason Cooper — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 09:13:29 +0000

Exercise both Mind and Body to Achieve Total Self-Improvement

There are two levels of self-improvement one can pursue in life, these are:

improvement of mind
improvement of body

Some would say that the improvement of mind is the more important area to concentrate on, but I feel the body is also an important vehicle to keep as healthy as possible so that one can instigate, with ease, the promptings of the mind toward physical activity.

So there is no reason not to exercise both parts to achieve a more total improvement in your life, hence the following eloquent quote,

“The body is an instrument, the mind its function, the witness and reward of its operation.”

~ George Santayana

The Body Requires a Good and Moderate Amount of Fuel to Work Supremely

Despite exercise, one must also use common sense to either moderate, or better still, avoid the things that can do serious damage to the organism, such as:

high-fat diet
smoking
alcohol
drugs

To limit such things from entering your life and body, you must learn to raise your awareness so to avoid both developing these destructive habits and then becoming dependent on them.

If not, both mind and body cannot flourish to the best of their abilities, and instead, can ultimately end up damaging your quality of life in general.

Obvious things that the body requires to be in a healthy state are:

fruit
vegetables
wheats and grains
if not a vegetarian, a moderate amount of fish and lean meat (especially poultry such as chicken and turkey have less fat than other meats)
water
fruit juice
low-fat milk

“A sound mind in a sound body is a short but full description of a happy state in this world.”

~ John Locke

Get a body like Bruce Lee in Less the Time and Less the Cost…

…Well, maybe not exactly like Bruce, but as near as. So now is not the time to neglect your body for only cerebral pursuits.

Although one must not get too attached to a body that must grow old, is susceptible to disease and will become nothing but dust one day, there is no reason not to look after it while we are still able so that we can enjoy life in relatively good health and vigour.

So I encourage you to improve your body through exercises of your own creation which can be done in the comfort of your own home. No need to go to a gym and spend hours and money killing yourselves.

Part two of this post will feature my own exercise plan that you can use to create your own daily regime that you can adapt to your life.

Update: Read part 2 of 2: ‘The Wisdom of Creating an Exercise Regime – Part 2′

Quotes of Wisdom from the Stoics of Antiquity

Jason Cooper — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 09:27:17 +0000

Here I bring you once again 3 of the greatest Stoic philosophers of ancient times.

Watch the following video of wise quotations from my personal favourites, Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus and Seneca:

Attain the 6 Key Virtues of W.I.S.D.O.M and Live a Heavenly Existence

Jason Cooper — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 09:19:16 +0000

Is Wisdom a Gift from the Gods?

I wrote the following in an earlier post, ‘Will your Journey of Life take you Down the Road to Wisdom or Perdition?’,

‘As the ancient philosophers would say, “Wisdom is a much vaunted prize from the Gods! Where only a select few of seasoned competitors, who have trained hard in the sport of virtue, can lay claim to it once they pass all the tests of life. Upon receiving their prize their minds are then rewarded by being set free to ascend to the very heavens themselves.”’

The Gods may or may not exist but we can become gods of ourselves if we choose to use the gift of wisdom to conquer all mortal obstacles that dares stand in our way.

Let us now elevate our minds to the heavens so that we may excel in the art of living, which will enlighten us on how to realise a paradise of our own making.

What are the 6 Key Virtues of Wisdom?

There are 6 virtues that we can hope to attain, that’s if we can somehow pass the tests of life – in other words, having the motivation to instigate self-learning toward wisdom. If this Wisdom can be won then we are sure to be rewarded with a life filled with enlightenment, happiness and serenity.

Let us now look at the virtues that awaits us:

1. (W)ell-being
Wisdom, if embraced, can immensely to improve your well-being in all areas of your life not to mention help guide you to overcome any external circumstance that dares to challenge your personal growth. Well-being can enhance your character, health, happiness and prosperity for the better, so cultivating wisdom in your life is imperative.

2. (I)nsight
Wisdom, if embraced, can provide you with the common sense to do the right thing at the right time and in as simple a manner as possible. This insight or intuition can also help you to perceive the most obscure things with the most pristine clarity, such as with apparent difficulties. On the surface, many difficulties look insurmountable, but insight can help penetrate and reveal an easy path toward a stress-free solution.

3. (S)elf-knowledge
Wisdom, if embraced, can provide you with this key concept of self-improvement and self-growth. Self-knowledge can provide you with a deeper understand of yourself, as well as giving you the knowledge to react positively to any external situation that may affect you in your life.

4. (D)evelopment
Wisdom, if embraced, can encourage continuous growth and development in both mind and spirit during your whole lifetime. Other benefits include developing reason and common sense so that you can be more logical and make better decisions in every situation in life.

5. (O)bservation
Wisdom, if embraced, can enhance your observational skills which can help develop better understanding and awareness of yourself, environment and other human beings in general.

6. (M)eaning
Wisdom, if embraced, can open up avenues for you to find greater meaning in your own life. Having a purpose in life to fulfill can ultimately give you meaning and something to live for. This will help to eliminate any pessimistic or apathetic attitudes that you may have in regards your own existence.

How Does One Hope to Win this Material Prize of Wisdom?

1. Invoke continuous self-learning; of yourself, from other sources of beneficial knowledge, and from your surroundings
2. Speak less, listen more
3. Remain independent in thought, humble and objective in everything
4. Learn from your relationship with nature and other human beings
5. Read Books written by the great Ancient Philosophers, such as from Plato’s Socrates, Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus, Lao Tzu and Confucius
6. Observe and learn from nature’s workings. There is nothing man-made that can compare to nature in terms of wisdom.
7. Learn from Life’s experiences and past mistakes

Stoic Advice from Epictetus on the Art of Living – Part 2

Jason Cooper — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 10:18:31 +0000

Read the biography of Epictetus

Buy Epictetus’ ‘Discourses and Selected Writings’

Click here to read ‘Stoic Advice from Epictetus on the Art of Living – Part 1′

More stoic lessons from Epictetus to help you learn how to improve and remain happy in life.

On Progress

“The man who is making progress, having learned from the philosophers, that desire has good things for its object, and aversion bad things, and having also learned that peace of mind and serenity can only be attained by a man if he achieves what he desires and does not fall into what he wants to avoid – such a man has either rid himself of desire altogether or put it off to another time, and applies aversion only to things that are within the sphere of choice. For if he should try to avoid anything that lies outside the sphere of choice, he knows that he will sometimes fall into it despite his aversion, and be unhappy. Now if virtue promises happiness, an untroubled mind and serenity, then progress towards virtue is certainly progress towards each of these. For whatever is the definitive end to which perfection of a thing leads, progress is always an approach towards it.

How does it happen, then, that when we agree that virtue is something of this kind, we yet seek progress, and show it off, in other things? What does virtue achieve?

Peace of mind.”

~ The Discourses of Epictetus

Aim To Become An Authentic Stoic Philosopher And Apply What You Have Learned For An Undisturbed and Happy Mind

“Show me someone who is sick, and yet happy; in danger, and yet happy; dying, and yet happy; exiled, and yet happy; disgraced, and yet happy. Show him to me, for, by the gods, I long to see a Stoic. But (you will say) you have not one perfectly formed. Show me, then, one who is in the process of formation, one who has set out in that direction…Let any of you show me the soul of a man who desires to be of one mind with god, and never to cast blame on god or man again, who wishes to fail in no desire, to fall into nothing that he wants to avoid, never to be angry, never to be envious, never to be jealous, who thus desires (why beat about the bush?) to become a god, instead of a man, and though he is in body, this corpse, is determined to achieve communion with Zeus.”

~ The Discourses of Epictetus