When I was 5, I couldn’t wait to read. I had a curious soul in me and wanted to learn as much as I could – as quickly as I could. By the time I was 12, I had read every single book in the house cover to cover at least once or twice.

Mind you we didn’t have a whole lot of books on the farm where I grew up, but my point is the same: I was hungry for knowledge and any opportunity to consume more of it – I would take it.

When I was 14, my family and I moved to Canada and I was forced to learn English. Needless to say, I did not read many books in my first few years of learning the language as I simply could not grasp yet a lot of the stuff I was reading.

One book I do remember reading though on my summer break before entering my last year of high school. It was the classic “How to Win Friends & Influence People” by Dale Carnegie.

What was interesting is that although I did not understand a lot of what I was reading at that time due to not being fluent in the English language yet, it had a MAJOR impact on my life.

How to Win Friends & Influence People

Some of the stuff in the book I had never heard of before. I all of a sudden realized just how much negativity I had in my life – most of it coming from my close circles of influence. I remember struggling for months to not have negative chit-chatter with my friends and instead have meaningful, positive and uplifting conversations. It was HARD!

I remember rereading parts of the book on my way home from school (on the bus) and some of my friends would laugh at me – basically mocking me for reading a self-help book. In my mind, reading a self-help book was no different to the mind than working out at the gym was to the body.

So I started countering the mockery by telling them just how much of an impact this book was having on my life – at which point they started to get interested themselves. I always ended up giving my book to them and they would promise to read it.

This happened so often that I started buying those books in bulk (a dozen at a time) and give them away to colleagues after convincing them it would change their life for the better.

Whether they read it or not, I don’t know. What I do know though, is this: It re-awoke a certain “hunger” for knowledge within me again. I didn’t really tend to this hunger though for at least another 10 years. I claimed I simply did not have time to read and also excused myself by saying “I read enough information online”.

Which was true, but both were lame excuses that held me back from growing as a person.

Getting back into reading again…

In 2011 I decided I needed to pick up reading again. In fact, there was another classic book I had been wanting to read for ages – Robinson Crusoe – but simply never took the time to start.

When I finally got it and started reading it, it took me a good 2 years to finish.

It wasn’t a self help book by any means, but what it did was: It gave me back a passion for reading. I didn’t care how long it took me, the sheer satisfaction of having read it from beginning to end made me want to do it over and over again. It was a terrific feeling!

I would equate the feeling to running a full marathon. It didn’t matter how long it took. What mattered was finishing. The pure satisfaction of having done it. Something to be proud of!

Since then I have stepped up my game and started reading books in areas of interest to me – mainly self-help and how-to type books (you’ll find some of my favorites listed here). I am still not going at the pace I want to but I finish – on average – one book every two months.

I am not saying this to brag. In fact, there is nothing to brag about – but what I will say is: The more I discover what AWESOME stuff I didn’t know already, the more I want to know. In other words, I will be a student for life. I have a lot to learn and discover still.

As the saying goes “Learning is the one thing I will never finish!”

Reading Changed My Life!

Over the last few months I’ve been thinking of just how much “active reading” has impacted my life, and I’ve started to ask people randomly if they read – and if so – what they read. The thing that blows me away is I can almost always predict who reads a lot and who doesn’t.

Example: I’ve been talking to a few dozen employees of various companies who work entry to middle management type jobs. The majority of them look at me funny when I ask them if they read “books”. It’s almost always a big no or they read a fictional novel every so often (if anything).

Then I make it a point to ask the same question to individuals who I know run multi-million dollar companies. Want to know what I find? The more personal development type books they read, the more millions their companies are generally worth. I always smile and say “isn’t thaaaat interesting”.

Want to know the real kicker though? The guys/girls running the big companies are generally less formally educated than the ones working entry level to middle management jobs.

Not saying this to mock formal education – it certainly has its place – but am simply noticing how ongoing self education very quickly outperforms traditional education by leaps and bounds.

It’s similar to simple-interest versus compound-interest. One may win in the short run, but the other almost always wins in the long run. You simply cannot compete with continues self education, be it in the form of listening to audio books, podcasts, watching documentaries that challenge your thinking/opinions, or reading and re-reading books!

My personal library – although small at this point – is always growing. If you are interested in seeing what I have read or am currently reading, be sure to check out the “Books I’ve Read” section of this blog.

Are you currently reading non-fiction type books? If so, what good books have you read so far that you’d recommend I check out?

The post How to Tap into the Fountain of Knowledge appeared first on Kobra Dynasty.

I read a quote today that said:

“If you are not living on the edge, you are taking up too much space.” ~ Jayne Howard

Somehow that got me thinking: If we don’t actively push ourselves to new heights and get content just existing day-to-day, we really are – in a sense – taking up way too much space.

I am not an adrenaline junkie and I honestly do not think you will ever find me jumping out of a perfectly good (flying) airplane, but I do have certain dreams that – in order to achieve them – will require me to push myself way out of my comfort zone.

As the saying goes: If your dreams don’t scare you, they are probably not big enough.

The thing about big dreams is that – when actively pursuing them – we will get pushed out of our comfort zone. No one wants to leave their comfort zone because we tend to feel “discomfort” at the very thought of it. It is a destructive way of looking at situations and does not bring us any closer to achieving our goals and living out our dreams.

What’s the Worst that Can Possibly Happen?

We tend to ask questions like “What if …?” with a negative (generally the worst possible) outcome in mind. I too often catch myself thinking these negative thoughts.

“What if all affiliate partners back out in the last minute and leave me hanging with this launch? Yeah, that would really suck. So much for putting 4 weeks into the product. Oh man, I’d be losing all my time and hard work, not to mention the resources I invested into this!” etc etc.

Then – after feeling sorry for myself for a few minutes – I come to my senses and start directing my thoughts in the exact opposite direction: “What if all affiliates come on board and do even better then expected? What if they recommend my product to their affiliate partners (because it is so good ;)) and they promote for me too? Wow, this should be a good launch!”

Power of Positive Thinking

Zig Ziglar (may he rest in peace) always said:

“Positive thinking won’t let you do anything, but it will let you do everything better than negative thinking will!”

How right he was!

Being in control of our thoughts at all times is the trick. Catching our thoughts when going down a negativity spiral and putting them on an upward spiral is the magic.

Easier said than done – but it does make things a million times easier for sure. It not only eliminates stress (which I believe to be one of the silent killers in western society), but it also helps one to think clearer. Which is critical!

Captivity of Negativity

Remember that line in Prison Break where “T-Bag” delivers his breakthrough speech on the “captivity of negativity”? I just love it – puts a smile on my face every time I think of it. I believe there is a lot of truth to those words.

Not “negativity of captivity” but “captivity of negativity” – an important difference!

Negativity is a mindset that keeps us captive – and yet this captivity is our own doing. If we want to live a more “on the edge” kind of life, we have to first get our thoughts under control and start shifting our thinking towards that which is positively possible.

Kill the Devils First

Ever find yourself avoiding something because you fear a negative outcome? Next time you get that feeling, remember this: the sooner you get it out of the way, the sooner you can stop worrying about it.

Just get it off your chest and conquer that fear. 99% of the time – what we thought would have a negative outcome – turns out to be a positive one.

So, instead of asking what if they say no?, assume they will say “Yes!”

Will Smith once said something along the lines of: I fear fear itself.

In other words: His greatest fear is to be afraid of something. He will go out of his way to do things just so he does not have to be afraid of them anymore.

Wow, that is some hardcore mental programming I need more of. That is true “breaking out of captivity” and “life on the edge” kind of stuff!

Dream Big Unrealistic-For-You Dreams

Do you actively pursue your dreams because they scare you? If not, just maybe they are not big enough. I talked a bit about it in my last post but I wanted to expand on that a bit more in this one.

A lot of people – especially those starting an online business – just want to make their first $100 a month online and it seems like an impossible stretch for them. Ever felt that way? You know something is doable and you see others do it every day, and yet – looking at it – you can’t help but think just how far away you are from achieving it yourself.

Allow me to pass on an effective exercise routine I was given once…

It doesn’t seem that far away all of a sudden, does it?

Truth is, the amount doesn’t matter. Drastically exceed your current expectations (in anything really) and visualize it. Once you got that picture in your mind, work your way down to what it is you really want to achieve and guess what: It does not seem that far out (or impossible) anymore.

The objective with this exercise is to expand one’s existing “thinking” horizons enough to make the (what appeared to be) impossible – possible.

The post Life On The Edge & The Captivity Of Negativity appeared first on Kobra Dynasty.

An early mentor of mine once asked me to close my eyes and daydream with her. I was maybe 19 years of age at the time and thought this was the silliest thing I was ever asked to do. She asked me to visualize what I wanted out of life, the places I wanted to go to, the things I wanted to do, the houses I wanted to own, etc.

Thinking she had me daydreaming, she asked me to describe various aspect of this “ideal” life of mine, and truth is, I don’t remember much of it, except one detail, and that was: I would own a bright red Miata, Mazda.

I had taken a ride in one once and – in my limited imagination at that time – thought owning one would be the coolest thing ever.

After relaying this dream of mine to her, I remember her asking:  “Just a Miata? Not a BMW or Ferrari…?”

My response was “nope, just a Miata!”

2013 Miata (aka MX-5)

I think she found me hard to work with. Or maybe she felt I was wasting her time – I don’t know. Either way, that was the last daydreaming session I had with her. It almost sounds perverse, but I learned a lot from that experience.

Dreaming Too Small

Another mentor fired me a few months later because my income goals at that time were $2000 – $3000 USD per month. He says “You are a waste of my time, I only work with go-getters… people who dream of 5 figure monthly incomes!”

Wow!

I thought my dreams were reasonable – especially for a 19 year old kid.

Truth is: There would have been nothing wrong with that kind of an income or with owning a little red Miata, but that wasn’t the issue. The real problem was MUCH bigger. It was – that all these goals were set within my comfort zones.

In other words, realistically looking at it now, achieving any of those dreams would have been nothing special. I could have continued on the path I was on and achieved those goals without really trying. There was absolutely nothing earth shattering about it.

Nurturing Bigger Dreams

After years of personal development – I finally started dreaming bigger. Not just in “accumulating” things (or earning certain figures every month). No – much more than that.

I started dreaming of all the places I wanted to visit in the world, all the people I wanted to meet, the good I wanted to do by contributing to charity (or starting charities of my own), etc, etc.

Here is the thing: the world needs dreamers. It needs people who see the bigger picture before it exists and pursue it until it does exist. Look at industry leading businesses, charities, or any other successful movement for that matter, and you will find that it all started with a dream.

Maybe those were small dreams to begin with – but they did not stay small. Those dreams grew and expanded exponentially over days, years, and decades.

Food for thought: It is my honest belief that if just an extra 1% of this world’s population were to dream bigger (and put legs to these dreams) – there would be plenty of jobs to go around for everybody.

The World Needs Dreamers

The world needs more dreamers who are not afraid to think outside of the box – visionaries who get others on board – and massive action takers who power through the dream-killing obstacles that present themselves.

One can not live life on the edge unless one actively pursues big dreams first.

Which poses two questions:

1. What am I doing to continually expand the horizons of my dreams?
2. What am I doing continually to bring my dreams into reality?

Going back to my Miata story: After doing extensive research and visiting various sports-car dealerships, my taste in cars changed quite a bit. In fact, I went to a Mazda dealership a few years ago just to sit in a Miata (again) to figure out why I used to loved it so much, and found that it was nearly impossible for me to get in and out of that car.

I found that my long knees and elbows constantly rubbed against each other while steering and sitting just wasn’t as comfortable as I remembered it being. It definitely was no dream car for a tall guy like myself – but it took continuous exposure to greater and better cars before I was able to dream bigger.

In fact, as a direct result of my dreams getting bigger, I ended up buying a late model Porsche 928 (V8) in 2010. After having owned that one, I think my ideal sport-cars will forever be biased in favor of Porsche but that goes for another post :).

This was my baby… Porsche 928 S4

Dream. Action. Result!

It was a dream at first – and then I brought that dream into reality (I still sometimes wonder how that all happened). My current dream car is of course the Porsche 911 Turbo S and I plan on picking one up before I hit 30. A big dream, I know, but massive action will see to it that I get it sooner or later.

That is just an example though. Life is not all about the material things and to think so is shallow. The principal is the same in everything though: plant the seed – water it faithfully, and in due time you will see the harvest. First the dream, then the action, and then the result!

It could also be said: Massive dreams lead to massive action, and massive action leads to massive results. It ALL starts with a big dream though.

The fact of the matter is: We get out of life what we ask of it. If we are not happy with the results we are currently getting, the best place to change that, is by asking bigger questions, developing bigger dreams, and continually expanding our (limiting) mental horizons.

The post Nothing Great Happens Without Dreams appeared first on Kobra Dynasty.

Do you have a bucket list? I know we all have things we are hoping to do in our lifetime, but do you actually have a written down list of all the things you are personally wanting to do?

I am what they call a dreamer. I have huge aspirations to do all kinds of crazy things in my life – but I confess: it wasn’t until late 2012 that I actively made a list of all the things I wanted to do.

Yes, I had written down goals for my business, but I did not have a list of specific personal goals I could refer back to – to inspire me and move me forward.

Writing My Life Goals

Late 2012 I sat down and started writing down all the places I wanted to see in my lifetime. All the things I wanted to do. All the skills I wanted to learn. All the people I wanted to meet… etc.

It might sound silly, but doing that – all of a sudden – gave me a sense of purpose. More importantly though, it gave me a sense of control as to the direction my life was going in. I felt a sense of urgency/drive to get certain projects done so I could move forward and kick things off of my bucket list.

You want to know the amazing thing? I was able to kick off the first thing on that list within a week or two. I had always dreamed of taking a train across a country – and shortly after making that list, the opportunity came up to take a train from Singapore, through Malaysia, into Thailand. It was quite an experience. My wife and I absolutely LOVED it.

It was a 4 day train ride, and once done, I felt invincible.  All of a sudden the other things on my bucket list too became possible. Wow!

Keeping the Momentum Going

THEN I got comfortable. Instead of pushing on and crossing off other things also (like flying a hot air balloon – which really is not that expensive and I could probably do it by the end of this week), I resorted back to just existing.

Meaning: I have not touched my personal bucket list in 3 months. How pathetic is that?

It’s things like this where mentors and accountability partners come in handy.

Shortly before Christmas I was watching a short video by my friend Jason Cardamone that inspired me like crazy to kick off another thing on my bucket list: training with a personal Muay Thai kickboxing trainer in Thailand.

I have been in Thailand on and off for over a year now and yet I never mustered up the courage to get in touch with a trainer and start training. I have done a little Muay Thai in my younger years, so I am certain a lot of it will come back to me again, but like I said: I just never followed through with the dream.

If you don’t make your dreams happen, who will? No one!

The biggest mistake you can make is: tell your mentor to hold you accountable to something if you are not serious about doing it. That is what I did with Jason. Well, to clarify: I was all serious when I said it, but just never followed through with it.

I told him of this kickboxing dream of mine and told him I’d get it all moving after Christmas. Today he asked me for the name of my sensei (trainer) and I said “I don’t have one, and I don’t have an excuse!”

He says “you have 24 hours to tell me the date and time you will be training or I am sorry Konrad, I will have to terminate our 5 year relationship/friendship for good!”

He said it would be hard to do, but he will do it if I don’t get my behind moving… and I know he will unless I come up with the results.

Long story short, I kicked myself in gear and have contacted a trainer close to where I am at right now. If he fails to respond by tomorrow (it is 2 AM here), I am going in for group training.

Update: I did end up doing that one on one training session and had blisters for months to prove it. And yes, Jason Cardamone and I are still friends

If Not Now, When?

A good mentor is hard to come by, and solid friendships are way too precious to lose, but it is my honest belief that nothing is more devastating than to live all your life – looking forward to things but never actively pursuing them – and then look back (when you’re all spent), and wishing you would have just gone ahead and done them.

What is holding you back? Who is your accountability partner? Who is your mentor? We only get one lifetime to make the most of, and the earlier we get things checked off, the longer we can cherish the memory of said things.

Or as Mark Twain would put it:

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

The post How to Kick Things Off Your Bucket List appeared first on Kobra Dynasty.

Ever noticed how you are more productive at certain times of the day? You can have the same task in front of you and depending on the time of day, you will find it easier (or harder) to do.

It might be different for you, but just about everyone I talk to about this – agrees that they find this to be true for them too.

To give you an example: I have a hard time writing creatively (like blog posts or other pieces of content) for the first half of the day. I used to always blame it on being a night owl or not functioning so well before a good cup of coffee, but after some research and self-observation, I think I have learned to deal with this “weakness” of mine.

The Solution?

Instead of torturing myself in the mornings with tasks that don’t come naturally, I have started to not worry about them and rather focus on more “mindless” tasks. Like doing graphic work in Photoshop, proof reading a piece of content I wrote the night before, catching up with news, or even doing simple day to day tasks (like picking up groceries, doing laundry, etc).

As the sun goes down and the world around me gets quiet, my creative juices kick in and I start crunching out content that requires me to concentrate, or respond to customer emails, or just about anything else that requires me to use my thinking cap.

I sometimes wonder if I suffer from an attention deficit disorder (ADD) which prevents me from focusing in the first half of the day. As the sun goes down and my body begins to get tired, I finally get to a point where my mind is able to focus better. No idea if there is any validity to that thought, but until proven otherwise, I will humor myself with it.

My wife is the complete opposite: she gets up and starts crunching out content like there is no tomorrow. Come evening time – she shuts down and reserves to reading, watching the Amazing Race, or some other mindless work.

Conclusion

First, there is no right or wrong order to be doing things in. I know some experts claim you should do one set of tasks first while another claims the opposite. In my experience, this is going to be different for everyone.

So experiment. See what works best for you at what time, etc. Then embrace that. The order you do things in barely matters. The only thing that truly matters is: Progress.

What time of day do you function best? Any insights or experiences you can share in this regard?

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