GMAN’s Manifesto 2015-2016

As the year 2015 comes to a close, I take the time to reflect on the most valuable lessons and experiences lived throughout the year. It has been an excellent, productive year; business is expanding, the family is more united, and relationships are flourishing.

I credit this success to a winning formula I adopted and fine-tuned over time that allows me to live the life I want with vision and purpose. It is do what you love. Simple yet complicated depending how you see it. Doing what I love is part of the formula, but there is a catch. The other elements will fall into place; maybe not exactly how I wanted to but they will in due time. Accepting this and letting go of what I can’t control and focus on what I can do are the ingredients necessary to make the formula work.

There are many other lessons and experiences to highlight this year, but I will keep it short. Ten lessons or experiences of 2015 in no particular order:

1. I have learned that even with sincere efforts of trying to help someone else if they don’t want to be helped or not ready for that change, I cannot force onto them. I can hold the door open, but they must walk through themselves.

2. Focus is on what I want in my life, NOT in what I don’t want. This goes hand in hand with life expectations. Expect little or nothing from people. Do what I can and let God do what I can’t do or have no control over it. As a result, I got fewer disappointments. It’s all good .

3. Coffee, grass-fed butter, and coconut oil = Bulletproof Coffee. Drink daily.

4. Getting rid of cable TV has been best decision this year. I was sick and tired of the drug commercials and mediocre programming. I now have total control of what I want to allow in my house. It’s a powerful feeling and honestly, the most responsible thing I have done.

5. Regular Intermittent fasting was a critical factor in resetting my system along with the total elimination of sugar and processed foods. Detox first for two weeks and then intermittent fasting. The cravings and other afflictions were gone in a matter of days after detox. The challenge is in keeping it up. Discipline, discipline is the key.

6. How’s my breathing, am I relaxed? What did I eat earlier today? How is my posture? Can I do this in a different way? Keeping a mental checklist and rehearsal to check how I feel at any moment is a good habit to practice daily.

7. Quality over quantity, always. The quality of the time I spend with wife and family; quality of service I offer, quality of relationships in my life, quality of food I eat and quality of thoughts and visuals I allow to enter my mind.

8. It is not my job to judge anyone or jump to conclusions just by how people look or even by their actions. I don’t know their full story, nor I am walking in their shoes.

9. I am reminded that’s solitude is  part of my reformation and through traveling is where I find it. There is a reason things are happening this way and why they are what they are. I should not question it but instead, I have embraced it.

10. There are no failures only lessons learned. That being said, if it still shows up one way or another in my life it is because I have not learned that lesson fully yet. And, just because it has happened before doesn’t mean that it will happen again in the same way. Circumstances may be similar, but the outcome is entirely different.

I welcome the year 2016 with enthusiasm and look forward to new challenges and adventures. Bring it on!

THE GMAN

What I Missed from Doing a Facebook Fasting and How to Do It

I’m back, what did I miss? Maybe something important or maybe nothing at all.

For those who had birthdays  and I forgot because facebook didn’t notified me, happy belated birthday.

What did I miss from facebook?

I missed my facebook memories. I really enjoy going back in time, see how my children have grown, smile at the good memories shared with friends and family and more importantly seeing how far I have come to be the person I am today.

I missed posts from pages and people whom I value, whose posts inspired me with fresh ideas and motivates me to continue designing and living life exactly the way I want it. If you are reading this, you add value to my life.

It has taken me some time to organize facebook  in a way that brings value, without the drama and negative stuff that has no place in my life. It requires a major overhaul in the beginning but little maintenance afterwards.

If you’re interested, I have some suggestions that you can start doing to tailor facebook to your liking if facebook is something you want to keep your life.

You must decide first why are you doing it and what do you want to get out of it? No purpose equals no value. It will mean nothing if you don’t know why.

1. Go on a week-long Facebook fasting. This is no little task for the heavy user but it’s completely doable, trust me. Life will not end if you quit and your social life will continue with or without you. That is a fact .

2. Log off from Facebook and delete or uninstall the app. This is a must as Facebook will find a way to get back at you to tell you the wonderful things that you’re missing out and the hundred of notifications  you have pending to read from your friends and favorite pages.

3. Resist the urge to check facebook, period! First day is the worse as your natural habit of checking in kicks in, but as you find other things to do , it becomes a little easier to manage. It all depends the kind of stuff you’re hooked on.

By the time you finish your week long fasting you will realize where your time attention and priorities have gone and where are they now? What is important  to you now and how you will handle it should you decide to return to facebook?

One thing you learn for sure is that your time is much more valuable than you think it is.