Hello everyone, I hope you are having a wonderful November!! I am going to lead with this because I need your help – what topics (blogs articles or YouTube videos) do you want me to cover? My goal is to help YOU find that RIPPLE that will change your life.  Let me know what YOU want to see, and I am very happy to churn out that content. I am HERE for YOU! You know the drill. 🙂 Email me directly at info@samuelgegen.com

 This article is inspired by a reader’s suggestion!

This blog topic is about HOW DO I START….X?! It can be very overwhelming when starting your journey and heck, I’ve started a lot of journeys, but I wanted to help guide you in the appropriate manner. First, it doesn’t have to be difficult and you don’t have to get caught in the weeds obsessing over it. What it will take is some work, habits and consistency BUT that is required to achieve anything. If that’s not how you think, change your thoughts right now.  Good things require work.

If you start your new journey and prove to yourself you can DO IT, it can and will filter into other avenues across your life which is very exciting! It creates discipline and habits that are critical for success.

Step 1:  Start Small

The last thing you should do is try and do 12 different things at once. Find one small thing that aligns with your goal and then do it. Do it every day and then guess what you do? Keep doing it. Do it on the weekends, do it at night, crush it on the holidays etc. The most important thing for success and sustainability is consistently doing the things that align with your goals and your desires. Let me give you a couple of quick and easy examples. I can tie this into anything. Let’s say your goal is to save more money. Cut out a small splurge you have and start saving that money instead by putting it into a savings account. Ex. you eat lunch out 3 times / week, you cut back to 1 time / week and you save the money from the other 2 lunches. Another example let’s say you want to lose weight. Maybe your first daily goal is to start by taking a walk on your lunch break at work. Once you’ve established this habit, we can move onto the next. My last example is that you want to drink less alcohol. Instead of going out Friday and Saturday and indulging with your friends, you go out 1 weekend night.

These small sacrifices can really add up!!! Create these small habits and work to get into a routine. When you are going on your daily lunch walks and think nothing of it, you can then add to the routine, perfect the process and take it to the next level. Once you start to see the results, you will be motivated to keep going. With that said, give the results time. They won’t happen overnight or in 1 week or 1 month. It. Takes. Time.

I have a great YouTube Video on HABITS! Check it out here! It’s short sweet & to the point:

Step 2:  Celebrate the Little Wins

It’s important to not be too hard on yourself! Change can be hard but it’s also beautiful & essential for growth. I recommend journaling. It doesn’t have to be daily but weekly would be good! I always enjoy going back to through my journal entries and celebrate how far I’ve come. Imagine you are 90 days in and you look back at your first journal entry. You then realize you are 10 lbs down from where you started, you have more energy and are sleeping better at night. It’ll make you feel better and motivate you to keep going. I promise, writing your goals and progress down HELPS!! I literally have 3 separate journals I keep. One for gratitude, one for my life vision and one for business. When you enjoy the process and constantly evaluate the progress, it will set you up for long term success.

 Step 2 in a nutshell:  Write.  Them.  Goalz.  DOWN.

Perfect with Time

Once you have your first habit, your first change engrained in your brain and a part of your lifestyle you can do 1 of 2 things. Add a second change or intensify the one you have. The reason I am suggesting you do this SLOWLY is because you want to have it be a sustainable part of your life. So, let’s build off the walking habit. It’s been 45 days and you have not missed your walking lunch break and understand why it’s important. You also think nothing of it anymore and have found enjoyment in taking a physical and mental break from work. You can now add a second change in. Now you’ve committed to drinking more water. You go out and get a huge jug and mark it with a sharpie to set daily water intake goals. This is phase 2 of your process/progress. OR you can intensify your activity. Instead of walking, now your goal is to join a gym and get setup with a personal trainer. This is a way to take your physical activity to the next level.

Insert journal entry: Now, after 90 days, you are walking on lunch breaks and seeing a PT twice a week. You are down 20 pounds and notice that you have more lean muscle and start to feel more toned. Time to bask in the progress and your commitment to your goals and your new lifestyle. Envious how you will feel once said goal is achieved.

 Wash, Rinse, & Repeat

Once you embrace this process and get started, you can continually improve upon it to get better. My style is to keep everything strategic but very simple. I don’t go to the gym for 3 hours/day.  I don’t eat dry chicken and veggies for every meal and that’s it. You don’t have to either! In fact, as I am writing this blog piece, I am taking the day off from exercise and had some delicious tacos last night for dinner (compliments of Burt, thanks Burt – that’s my little sister FYI). The 5 things that define success and that I encourage everyone to practice:

Discipline

Consistency

Habits

Balance

Sacrifice

 To accomplish something great, discipline is 100% the most important thing you can have. Without discipline, you won’t have the rest. Discipline is FREEDOM. Consistency and habits go hand in hand. Success comes from doing the same, tedious habits every single day, even on the days you aren’t motivated to do so and to earn the BIG GOAL you have to be consistent with everything. There is no such thing as overnight success. Balance is so important to recharge and enjoy the fruits of you labor, make sure to sprinkle that in from time to time. I have to remind myself to do that! And sacrifice is one that can come difficult but yields some of the biggest rewards. If it doesn’t align up with your goals, say NO. No is a full sentence.

 Thanks to all that read this blog!! Everything I talk about comes with passion and my desire to help others. Anything you want to see or if you just want to give me some feedback, please email me at hello@ripstyl.com  

 Also! I started a YouTube channel that is geared around all things self improvement and motivating!  Please subscribe, share and comment on my videos with what you want to see as well! Here is the link to my channel. I am learning the ropes with editing and making higher quality videos so stay tuned for much more!  Thank you for the support.

 It’s important we all surround ourselves around the people that want to improve and get better TOGETHER!