Matt Clark Unplugged

Unplug, Less Stress and More Success

// May 29th, 2009 // 2 Comments » // Success Tips

In the last few months I have gotten involved with something that I have always wanted to do. Have a wilderness retreat that I could go and hike and bike and spend time outdoors and unplugged. I was up this past week and began to see how this time in nature and unplugged from the noise of the city was incredible for my continued personal growth and also reducing stress.

Two years ago I unplugged the tv, and that was amazing. This freed up some much time in my daily life I was able to get more things done in less time. However, did I clear all the noise in our surroundings? No, this is almost impossiable these days.  I still had wi-fi flying around, lights on, fridge humming in the background etc. Wow, when I think about all the noise that goes on when you live in a urban environment it seems overwhelming.

For most of us we can filter the noise out and focus on the important stuff. It is important to remember that the unconscious mind does not filter it out, it takes it all in. This can tie up our mind, which can limit your ability to focus on things that matter most.

The benefits of unplugging once in awhile can be compared to a physical fitness program. It provides a time for us to calm the  mind and think, gives us more energy, reduces stress and allows us to be at peace with the moment instead of feeding our senses with future and past events.

I polled my Twitter followers and Facebook friends and was somewhat shocked at the results. Most people said they don’t unplug, or if they do it is only once or twice a year for a few days. You can follow some of the comments on Kwippy

Benefits of Unplugging

• Time to think, meditate, and free your mind. Less stress
• Building relationships and connecting with friends and loved ones through socialising and shared activities in the real world.
• A healthy body. Instead of slouching in front of the TV, unplugging encourages you to get active. Go for a walk or a run. Get outside and breathe in the beauty of nature, get out and play.
• Being able to focus on your goals and dreams, rather than using TV as an anesthetic to numb your mind into settling for less than you long for.
• Time to be creative – do something you have always wanted to do.

Create a “Unplug From it All Day”

With the proven benifits of unplugging it seems that if success is something we seek then we should take some time to unplug. Don’t get me wrong I love technology, however we should take time at least once a week to unplug and reset.  I put together some tips on how to setup a “Unplug From it All Day” and some suggestions for what to do with yourself in this free unplugged world.

1. Unplug, that is right, unplug the tv, computer, phone, anything that will distract you. This will help when the temptation hits you to maybe just check the email, answer that call or when bordem sets in because you not used to all this silence.
2. Leave the cell phone at home, yes unplugging means no cell phone!
3. Go for a hike, get out in nature. This is truly the best place to be when unplugged. Reconnect with the peace and calmness and abundance of nature.
4. Join a friend for coffee, beer whatever just make sure you are face to face and with real people.
5. Meditate, this will recharge and clear your mind. If you have never meditated before, this is a goodtime to start I have some tips on learning how to meditate here»
6. Get out and play! Go play at the park, play in the sandbox with your kids whatever just go play.

Setup a day when you can do this at least once a week and you will be recharged and cleared of stress and tension.

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Mastermind Groups and The Power of Many Minds

// May 15th, 2009 // 3 Comments » // Success Tips

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I was involved with a mastermind group last year and it was amazing. I was able to achieve more in less time that every before. The power of the mastermind group allowed me to move past limiting beliefs and has been a critical component to my continued success. Napoleon Hill said “When a group of individual brains are coordinated and function in harmony the increased energy created through that alliance becomes available to every individual brain in the group” As the saying goes two heads are better then one. Imagine having a mastermind group that meets each week for the purpose of problem solving, brainstorming, networking, and encouraging and motivating each other!

Creating Your Mastermind Group

The creation of a mastermind group is simple, however a few key points should be followed to achieve a dynamic and powerful group. You should choose people that are where you want to be in your life, or at least a step above where you currently are. Below are some tips to starting your first mastermind group and working together for the success of all involved.

1. It only takes two to mastermind, however a group of 4-8 people works best with 6 people being ideal.
2. To make it easy to work around everyone’s schedule use a conference call system. Here are some some companies offering conferecnce call service for free,  Free Conference Call and Rondee.com
3. Meet weekly if possible for at least an hour or hour and a half. This must be held sacred by everyone involved and make it a priority to attend and have a upbeat and enriching time while on the call.
4. Each member must agree to play full out — to openly share ideas, support, contacts, information, feedback, and anything else that will help advance the individual and group goals.
5. Start the meetings by having each member share something positive and good that happened since the last meeting.
6. Next, have each member share an opportunity or problem they have experienced since the last meeting and ask for whatever support they would like on it. It is a good idea to have a time-keeper to make sure that each member of the group gets the same amount of time. This is important if you want your group to last. Everyone must get value at each meeting.
7. End the meeting by sharing gratitude, and acknowledgments.

You’ll find one of the real values of a mastermind group is the accountability partners – other members checking up on you to make sure you meet your stated commitments. This alone will propel you forward to reaching your goals sooner than every before.

Want to start a Mastermind Group, Download your complete Mastermind Group Workbook here»

How many of you would like to join a mastermind group and not sure how to get started? Leave a comment and I will contact you and help you get started.

If you have been in a Mastermind Group, what was your experience? Share you stories with our readers.

Relaxation, Meditation, success from slowing down!

// April 20th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // Personal Development, Success Tips

Tension Tires… Relaxation Renews!

Successful people achieve results. They are able to accomplish more in one day than most people do in a week or even a month. What is the secret to most of these outstanding results orientated people? How can they continue to work at such a highly productive rate day in and day out.

I personally found this incredible success principal two years ago and it has allowed me to grow in every area of my life. I am able to do more in less time than ever before. I now spend about 20-25 hours a week on work and make 4 times the income. What is this magic practice? Relaxation…or what most people know as Meditation!

That is right meditation, allow yourself to relax and you will find yourself getting more done in less time. You see, stress slows us down, if we are stressed and tense we actually accomplish less even though most of us feel we are so busy and that we could not do anything more. Stress is not created by the situation or circumstances we face, stress is created by the way we respond to those situations.

Meditation allows us to calm or mind and body and clear the stress and tension. Some of the benefits of Daily mediation practice are, eliminate stress, improve health, improve problem solving, and allow us to be more productive. Research has scientifically proven that meditation is a safe and simple way to balance your physical, emotional, and mental state and its countless values have been known and practiced for thousands of years.

Here are some tips to start the practice of meditation:

1. Practice at least twice a day, ideally do it 3 times— morning, afternoon and evening.
2. Make sure you are in a place that you are comfortable, it is also best to sit up so you do not fall asleep.
3. At the beginning using a guided meditation audio will help you learn the practice. As you get better at it you will find you will not need the audio anymore.
4. Have fun and enjoy this time with yourself and discover all the power you have within you.

I have included an audio of a guided meditation technique called Mindfulness Mediation. Enjoy and Relax! You can also download this meditation audio here»

You can also order the full audio CD “The Art of Meditation” from Amazon

Mindfulness Meditation Part One

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Mindfulness Meditation Part Two

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Affirmations and the Power of Creation

// April 16th, 2009 // No Comments » // Success Tips

Many people have heard about affirmations and for most people they understand them as the self talk, or the beliefs and thoughts we tell ourselves. The big thing to remember is we all have this self talk, however our self talk is not always self serving.

The power of affirmations lies in the fact that we can first isolate the self talk that is not working for us and start to replace that self talk, or reprogram ourselves, with new empowering beliefs. The affirmation that we want to have in us. Using powerful positive thinking techniques, visualizations and positive affirmations, it is possible to achieve whatever you want.

Most of the self talk that we have was planted in our mind long before we were able to accept or reject the idea. Unfortunately these were not the most empowering beliefs.  It usually came from our parents, grand parents etc. and it was not intentional, most parents were just attempting to protect their children from harm or negative experiences. None the less a lot of those attempts planted some limiting beliefs in our minds that now we have to change or reprogram.

This is were affirmations come in, a chance to replace those limiting beliefs with new powerful beliefs. Beliefs in yourself that will empower you to achieve anything you want. Reprogram you thinking, let go of the negative patterns that have been sabotaging you and adopt powerful success techniques to bring you want you want.

Here are some tips on creating powerful affirmations:

1. Spend some time isolating the limiting beliefs that you want to change in yourself.
2. Write down the replacement belief that will empower you. The belief that you want to have in yourself.
3. Read these new affirmations at least 3 times a day. Even better record them and put them on your ipod, your mobile phone etc. Listen to them as often as you can.

Positive affirmations and positive thinking techniques can help develop a powerful and positive attitude to life; which is an essential element in life success and good health.

Here is a sample affirmation audio. If you would like to download this audio click here»

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Do You Want or Desire?

// March 31st, 2009 // No Comments » // Personal Development, Success Tips

How many of you know what you want? Now how many of you can remember when you got something that you wanted? For most of us, wanting something invokes a feeling of lack, not having something. This feeling can keep our goals in a place of great distance from us.

Let me explain, you see wanting is a word that communicates to the universe that you do not have something. As we continue to focus on the want we begin to expand our awareness of the lack of that want. Of course the universe likes to give us what we focus on, now we are finding ourselves focusing on the lack of something, guess what we keep getting?

How can we move past this and shift our focus on achieving what we set out for ourselves. You see the universe seeks precision. What is the subtle difference we can make to allow all or our desires to flow to us?

Desire, this is the word that carries much more emotion in its meaning. The advantage of the word “desire” is when you have that what you desire you still desire it. No feeling of not having or lack of what you seek. It is an internal knowing that you already have it even if it has not yet appeared in the physical world. Desire will bring to you powerful emotions and images in your mind. These emotions attach a huge amount of creative energy and precision to your goals. The universe will respond to this increased vibration, and you will begin to manifest your desires at a rapid pace.

Try it, Desire…Be grateful and Desire!