The Rocco Effect

Always remember, your focus determines your reality. - George Lucas  Focus is the key to a better life.  What we focus on is what we see, what we see determines your reality. To see this for yourself watch the 'selective attention test' on Youtube.  Since focus is directly linked to our reality, does it make any sense to focus on the negative?  Of course not.  It makes sense to focus on solutions you can take to make things better, but that's a positive, don't confuse the two.  Should a negative thought creep into your head tell it with as much passion an emotion as you can to 'F**k Off!' and replace it with the exact opposite or a solution.  e.g 'I suck, no one will ever love me' changes to 'I'm awesome.  Everyone loves me' (both are untrue, but one leads to a much better outcome.),  What we focus on will become our reality, stop focusing on being a loser and start focusing on being the hero you where born to be. Comic Video Reading Task ...

When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive – to think, to enjoy, to love – Marcus Aurelius  The sooner you're up, the sooner you can start your day.  Getting up is only half the battle.  Starting the day happy and motivated is the other half.  An easy way to build up your happiness and motivation is by accomplishing small wins (moving your body, getting out of bed, getting sunlight etc). Feel free to add anything else that helps get your day off to the best start possible.  Accumulate small wins and use the momentum to push you into completing the bigger tasks on your To Do list.   Don't challenge yourself this early on.  If it can't be easily done, avoid it until later.  We don't want anything to stop us from starting the day in the best condition. By waking up happy and motivated we can do what needs done early and enjoy the rest of the day without worries.  Having a great day starts with having the ...

Until we have begun to go without them we fail to realise how unnecessary many things are.  We've been using them not because we needed them, but because we had them – Seneca Life is short, time passes faster than we think.  Before you know it you're old and grey, looking back on your life as a series of stories. Once you're gone these stories are all that will be left.  Remind yourself of your immortality.  When you notice yourself wasting time ask yourself  “Is this part of my story?”   We often use the excuse 'I would, but I don't have the time'.  The truth is we have plenty of time, we just waste it on a lot of unnecessary things.  Ask yourself.  How much time are you wasting? You'll find that a lot of your day is made up of wasted time.     Now that you've noticed how much time you waste, you need to replace that time by doing something useful.  What do you want to start doing with your time?    Productive Time ...

Problems are the price you pay for progress. - Branch Rickey Problems can seem so big that there are no solutions. This sends us into depressions. And when were in that state, things slowly just get worse. In order to avoid this state, seek solutions to small problems.   Do you expect to lift the heaviest weights the first time you enter a gym? of course not, you start small and work your way up. Don't expect to change the world, if you can't change your clothes. By starting small you learn that you ca solve problems, you learn that not only can find solutions, you can take action in order to solve them. What small problems can you solve now? Comic Video Reading Task   1. look around you. What problems can you see, that you can solve?  2. Take action and correct the problem.  3. How do you feel knowing that you helped make the world a little bit better?  4. Repeat this task daily   Journal Questions   1. What small problems have you solved?  2. H...

Those who are free of resentful thoughts surely find peace. - Buddha How often do you overthink? I'm guessing a lot more than you would like, but there is a simple solution. Think of your mind as a balloon. Our thoughts are breath that expands the balloon and allowing those thoughts out into reality is how we deflate the balloon.   Deflating is easy. Start by writing your thoughts down. You carry your phone everywhere. Get a notes app and write your thoughts down as they come into your head. Get a journal or diary and write your larger thoughts down. Talk to people to access thoughts you kept hidden from yourself.   The important thing for this lesson is clearing your head. Solutions will come later, we're not doing this to find solutions. With a clearer head you'll be able to think of better solutions, or even a simple solution that solves many of your problems. Comic Video Reading Task For the next week   1. Write down small repeating thoughts on your phone.   2. W...

Don't Judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds that you plant. - Robert Louis Stevenson Where we're going is more important than where we are. Where we're going determines everything, our thoughts, actions and our mood. When life's going to hell we think negatively, act in accordance, and feel rubbish. When things are getting better we think clearly, our actions keep pushing us forward and we feel awesome.   We unconsciously know this. We feel, think and act differently without realising why, only too look back later, connect the dots and see that life was moving in the wrong direction. To become more conscious visualise the best and the worst possible futures. If you notice yourself feeling, acting or thinking negatively ask if you're moving towards the best or worst future, then make the changes needed to get back onto the right path. Video Reading Task   1. Spend 10 minutes visualising your best and worst futures   2. Where are your current actio...

The future belongs to those who learn more skills and combine them in creative ways. - Robert Greene All too often we focus on what we lack, leading us to feeling useless and depressed.  If focusing on what we lack leads to negative feelings, what would the opposite look like?   I want to train you to focus on what qualities you do have and start feeling pride and joy because of them.  I've listed below qualities a lot of us should have.  Don't let the fact most people have them discourage you, a lot aren't as fortunate and seeing these qualities through their eyes should give you a new respect for how grateful you should be to have them.   I can...  Read, write, draw, walk, run, fight, sing, swim, dance, joke, teach, endure,    I am...  strong, smart, fast, patient, kind, helpful, happy, a good friend, beautiful,     If you struggle ask your friends and family.  They'll often be able to see skills that you've not been able to ...

Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him – Jesus  Being sad isn't just a feeling.  We think 'Why does no one like me?' 'What did I do wrong?' ;Why do I hurt so much?' and create lists of reasons why we should feel sad.  We become lazy, we do nothing and lose our sense of meaning and purpose.  The opposite is also true.  What are your thoughts like when you feel your best?  How much more gets done when you feel your best?  When we start viewing all three as connected we are able to quickly change states.  We've all experienced being in a bad mood only to go to sleep and wake up feeling a lot better. We procrastinate until our thoughts or feelings move us into action.  How good do you feel before and after you exercise?    When we think positively, act right and feel great our lives get filled with more and more greatness.  When we choose to thi...

The happiness of your life depends on the qualities of your thoughts – Marcus Aurelius  Keep watch of your thoughts and the questions you ask yourself. Questions lead to answers. Before you ask a question, think of what type of answer you want. If you want more friends, which one of these questions will lead you to the best results?  Why does no one like me? What can I do to be a better friend?  One will give you a list of reasons why you're useless, the other will give you a list of things you can do to help you grow. You'll be sad and angry with the answers to first question, but you'll be happy and motivated with the answers to the second question.   Here's a list of better questions to help get you started.  Why am I still single? How can I show off my attractive qualities?  Why am I so stupid? What do I need to do in order to get smarter?  Why am I so lazy?  What productive things can I do, now?  Why didn't I get promoted? How do I gain ...