BERT OLIVA’S BLOG

How do you start your day? Do you hit the snooze button until you are forced to get out of bed frantically and run around in order to make it to your obligations on time?

Here is a simple tool to start your day off peacefully and set a positive tone for your entire day. Set your alarm for 30 minutes earlier than you have to be up. All you really need is 10 minutes for yourself, but the half hour gives you some leeway so that you do not feel rushed.

Once you are awake and have gotten ready for the day, go sit somewhere in your home or outside and visualize your day. Visualize yourself going through your day: your drive to work, your morning meeting, etc. Envision yourself in each part of your day with a positive state of mind. Feel how good it feels to be content with what you are doing and to have an inner peace, no matter what circumstances occur. Once you finish your visualization, get up and start your day positively.

Visualization is a very powerful, yet often misunderstood, tool. Our brains can not tell the difference between actual events and what we visualize. Thus, when we take time to visualize our day in a positive way, we are setting our brains up to actually look for the positive throughout the day. Give this tool a shot for a week and see if your days do not start getting more positive. And please, send me your results and thoughts on this tool. I love to get feedback.

Live Life,
Bert Oliva

There is one thing we all have in common. You, Me and every billionaire in the world. Can you guess it? “TIME.” What separates most people from the high-income earners is how that time is spent. I hear a lot of complaints from people ALL THE TIME about not having enough time in their day for the things they really want to do. But have you really analyzed how you spend your time?

Are you procrastinating, making excuses, or doing a lot of useless busywork? The most successful people in the world run their days effectively by using agendas. They can be digital or hand-written but nonetheless they should be updated every evening or every morning before you begin your day.

One recommendation I have is to chart and track yourself for one week and see where you spend your time.

Include the following areas:
– Wake up time
– Time getting dressed
– Breakfast time
– Commute time
– Personal Calls
– Productivity time
– Lunchtime
– Personal time
– Fitness time
– Dinnertime
– Leisure time
– Bedtime

List anything else your day might include.

However, you must do this for 7 days. In your productivity time section I want you to list out each task. Include two sections: one for completed and one for rollovers to the next day’s column.

Once you have tracked yourself for a week, see where you are spending most of your time. This will help you evaluate your time and make the necessary adjustments to get more out of your day and move your success to the next level.

Live Life,
Bert Oliva

Today is the first day of the rest of your life.

That’s kind of a cheesy phrase, but it is utterly true. Today is all you have. This day. This hour. This minute. This moment. So what are you doing to make the most out of it?

Are you spending most of your day is anger, stress, or upset? Are you making excuses and feeling guilty?

Or are you truly living? Breathing in this one moment, enjoying it for what it is, and getting what you have to get done done?

Living in the moment can be a dangerous idea to some. Some people feel that it means you should just do what you want to do and forget all responsibilities. A lot of my younger coaching students tend to quote “YOLO – You Only Live Once” as the reason for not doing things they’ve committed to but instead doing whatever they want, even if those things put them in danger or hurt those around them.

That’s not my definition of living in the moment. Living in the moment means enjoying every moment for what it is. When you’re stressed at work, breathe in and be grateful for you job. When you feel overwhelmed a home, breathe in and be grateful for your family.

Life is not about avoiding the negative. It’s about accepting the negatives, seeing the positives of them, and moving through them to get to the goals you’ve set for yourself.

Negatives are everywhere, but when you start focusing on the positives, you’ll start seeing those negatives as simple stepping stones to get to where you have chosen to go.

Live Life,
Bert Oliva

Recently I was having a conversation with someone and we were talking about how growing up, sometimes the person who brought us up always had some sort of lesson or tool that they wanted to share with us. Now that we’re older, sometimes that tool kicks in when someone near us is going through a tough time and we say, “You know what my mother used to say? You know what my cousin used to say? You know what my grandfather used to say? Etc.” And we share that piece of advice with the person.

My question to you is, do you tell yourself that advice? Do you share it with yourself when you are going through a tough time? When things are not going as planned? Do you actually take the time to reflect on the advice and knowledge you already have within yourself?

If you do, great. However, if you don’t, then start looking inside. Start paying attention. A lot of what you are looking for is already inside of you. You don’t have to keep searching. Start with that piece of advice. The one that you give to others. The one that was given to you when you were growing up. Start applying it and you will start seeing a change in your life.

Live Life,
Bert Oliva

Our lives are cycles. We are born, we live, and one day we will pass away. Within this large life cycle are many smaller cycles. We have cycles of education, cycles of relationships, and even cycles of business.

The beauty of these cycles is that there is always a chance for rebirth, for changing ourselves, our circumstances, and our lives. As a cycle comes to a close, there is another beginning that may be even more exciting, with more opportunity and inspiration.

Enjoy riding the cycles of your life like you enjoyed riding a bicycle as a child. Life goes up and down. There are moments that you will not be utterly happy and there are moments that you will be completely ecstatic.

All of these moments are fleeting and each is a gift in and of itself because each is a chance for you do to some introspection. Look within and see if you are happy with whom you are and whom you have become. If you do not like something you see, change it. Begin a new cycle. Start a rebirth for yourself. You hold all the power within your own hands.

Live Life,
Bert Oliva

“I’ll get to that tomorrow…” “Once I get the promotion, I’ll take that vacation…” “I can’t do that now, because I have so many things to do first…”

How many different excuses can you think of to keep you from working on your goals and dreams? How many justifications do you have that explain away why you have wasted another day not doing what it is you are destined to do?

Stop it. Just stop. Stop making excuses, justifications, and tomorrow statements. The only guaranteed moment you have in your life is this very one. So why are you wasting it?

What is it that you are meant to do? What is it that you are called to? Then why are sitting on the sidelines of your life instead of running in your race towards your finish line?

Everything you need is within you. You already know everything you need to know. Just begin.

As Guy Kawasaki says in his book, The Art of the Start, “Doing, not learning to do, is the essence of entrepreneurship.” And that quote is true of anything we choose to do with our lives.

So, stop thinking, researching, and justifying. Just start.

Live Life,
Bert Oliva

The only thing that is constant in our world is change. Truly. Every single moment you breathe in, the moment you were in has been lost. Everything is changing all of the time.

So, why is it that most of us have trouble with change? Because we are creatures of habit. Our brains like to make patterns and sense out of things. That’s difficult to do when drastic change occurs, which is why so much of our subconscious mind fights change with every ounce of our being. This is why you find yourself unnerved, uncomfortable, and even angry when chance occurs. Your subconscious mind is literally fighting the facts of the situation.

However, when we alter our view of change, it eases our subconscious minds. Embrace change. Change is a good thing. It’s a necessity. With change comes new opportunities, new challenges, and new experiences.

Start getting excited about change. No matter what is on the horizon, when you embrace change, you are ready for the next challenge.

Live Life,
Bert Oliva

How much are you sacrificing? How often do you find yourself going to bed without ever being able to take even 5 minutes for yourself? Are you putting yourself last in your own life?

Women are especially prone to doing this. They tend to put their children, their families, their significant others, their jobs, and every other responsibility and loved one before themselves. This self-sacrificing behavior is what makes them great caretakers. However, everything must be done in balance.

Putting others first is a very admirable quality, yet if you are consistently putting yourself last, you will eventually end up resenting your circumstances.

When you are on an airplane, the safety video will tell you to make sure to put your oxygen mask on first before helping others. This is because if you do not take care of yourself, you will not be able to help others.

This is true for all aspects of your life. It is time to start being selfish. Not to the point where it hurts others, but to the point where you are taking care of yourself. Take time for yourself. Treat yourself. Love yourself.

If you do not dedicate time to caring for yourself, you can never expect anyone else to.

Live Life,
Bert Oliva

“I’m alive, I’m awake, and I feel great.” This affirmation is probably my favorite affirmation by Tom Hopkins. Whenever I start my day with this affirmation, it almost always guarantees that my day will be amazingly positive.

Our minds are the most powerful tools we have, yet we tend to forget to train them and hone them. Like any other tool, the more you sharpen your mind and practice with it, the stronger your mind will be.

Affirmations are one of the most powerful and simplest ways to train our minds. By focusing on positivity, our minds are more likely to see positivity around us and attract it.

If you do not have an affirmation that you connect with, then try using Tom Hopkins’ simple one. Start your day repeating, “I’m alive, I’m awake, and I feel great.” Repeat it for at least 45 seconds. You will be amazed at how just 45 seconds will set the tone for your day.

Live Life,
Bert Oliva

How often do you assume? How often do you think people are thinking one thing when they are actually thinking another?

So much of our lives are spent reacting to what we think others are doing and their motives for doing it, when in actuality they are totally oblivious to what it is they are doing.

The best way to solve this communication error is to simply ask. Ask someone. Do not react, but act.

Do not come at them from a blaming or accusatory attitude. When we come from a defensive place, we are only met with defensiveness and blame.

Simply come from honesty. When we come from an open heart and an honest place, most people will return those emotions. And we will all have clarity.

So, stop assuming. Just ask.

Live Life,
Bert Oliva