Creating a better version of yourself

I had a really inspiring meeting last week in Hamburg and Vienna with the best-selling author and founder of Nerium International, Jeff Olson. He embodies all the philosophies on health and self-development that inspired me to establish my own consultancy business PowerBodyMind some eight years ago.

Jeff’s book “The Slight Edge” , on turning simple daily disciplines into massive success and happiness, is a philosophy on which he built a very successful health product company, that has now just entered the European markets. It is not about only selling products, he says, but at the same time helping people becoming a better version of themselves.

Olson

With Jeff Olson (left) in Hamburg

I’m convinced that in coming years we are going to see a lot more companies like Nerium coming to the fore, led by charismatic and holistic-thinking leaders who want to improve people’s lives and make the world a better place.

Most people want to do good and feel good when they have the feeling that they are doing something right, even if it is just supporting a product they know has high ethical standards.

At the forefront are companies in the health and beauty industry after we have seen generations of companies putting products on the market that were having terrible effects on consumers, the environment and other living beings. (tests on animals).

Most importantly, we need not become victims of circumstance. We do have the power and awareness to choose what products we want to buy and support. How healthy and happy we are and how long we live is determined largely by lifestyle and not by genes. Scientists have pinpointed several so-called “blue zones” located in places like Okinawa, Japan, and Sardinia in Italy where people continue to live active, healthy lives well into their 90s.

One of the key ingredients of a long life the scientists found is a diet rich in fresh vegetable, Omega 3 fatty acids and fruit with a low consumption of meat. At the same time these old people are all highly respected and honored in their communities. Attitude, sense of purpose and mindset seem just as much an important aspect as diet and exercise.

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Interestingly many of these old folk have survived their children and grandchildren who became ill and died from typical modern diseases such as heart problems and diabetes II after adopting a sedentary lifestyle rich in processed foods and sugar.

It is indeed all a matter of choice, as Jeff Olson, writes in his book. Turning your life around and making a better version of yourself is simply a matter of choice, adjusting your current lifestyle with simple steps that make that slight edge of a difference from living a life of the mundane to living a life of abundance and happiness.

Reino Gevers – Mentor for Leaders and Achievers – Your Health Matters

Awakening the Fire Within – key principles of health and success. Enrolling now will give you a 25 per cent discount.

 “Walking on Edge – A Pilgrimage to Santiago” available both in Kindle and paperback.

http://www.reinogevers.com

 

 

 

 

 

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Sprint and recovery

We live in a time where countless forces are demanding our attention. They are in reality pulling us away from our true destiny and our heart wishes. Most TV shows, the tabloids and social media feed our mind with false images and mind junk. And what you feed your mind with you become.

We so easily lose focus and sense of purpose when these external forces distract us. Moreover it depletes your mental and physical energy to the point where you are constantly exhausted. Don’t let it come to that.

Woman jumping

 

In my previous blog I discussed some of the reasons why most New Year Resolutions fail. The major reason is procrastination and procrastination comes from the lack of drive caused by exhaustion and over-exposure of the mind to distracting clutter.

There is a Chinese saying that the empty space between the spokes of a wheel are more important than the spokes themselves. The recovery time after a sprint is more important than the sprint itself.

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If you are currently engaged in a project or trying to sustain your New Year Resolution then you need to set aside time each day for uninterrupted focus on what you are doing. Make sure you have a space where no one will disturb you and you won’t be distracted by  electronic media for a 90-minute sprint session. After that take a break. Do something completely different, like going for a walk, doing an exercise sequence or taking a power nap.

Its a common illusion that sitting at an office desk for eight hours a day or longer is productive. I would guess that at the most a third of the time is actually used for effective work. The same applies to meetings. Most meetings are completely useless and energy sapping.

Remember: We have all the time in the world and yet no time to lose!

Reino Gevers – Mentor for Leaders and Achievers – Your Health Matters

Awakening the Fire Within – key principles of health and success. Enrolling now will give you a 25 per cent discount.

 “Walking on Edge – A Pilgrimage to Santiago” available both in Kindle and paperback.

http://www.reinogevers.com

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2018: Why most New Year resolutions fail

At the start of a new year much thought is given to resolutions. You might be planning to lose weight and sign-up for a yoga class, learn to play the guitar or reduce a spending habit.

zirve tırmanış başarısı & hedef  sevinci

The truth is that most such good intentions don’t last the first half of the month of January before we fall back into set-patterns and old habits. Why bother, you may ask?

This time is always a good time to sit down and reflect on accomplishments of the past year and what business remains unfinished and still needs to be addressed.  A New Year can offer you a clean slate on starting something new and putting into action what you might have been mulling about for some time.

Its the small simple steps that eventually make all the difference. But As Jim Rohn once said its the easiest things that are also the easiest not to do.

Most New Year resolutions fail because they remain just dreams and are not accompanied by a plan of action. Procrastination can be your worst enemy. If you are planning to exercise more, don’t hesitate. Start immediately by signing up for a class or going for a half hour walk today. Want to lose weight?  Start today by cutting all refined sugars and soft drinks from your diet. Want to reduce debt? Keep a journal of all your spending habits, starting right away.

Dreams remain just dreams without action. I firmly believe that with action the universe will conspire to assist you with your good intentions.

Here is some advice on how you can best trick your mind out of a procrastination mode:

  • Make your dreams and resolutions attainable and realistic. Getting a body trained for a marathon or a long hike starts with small exercise routines done each day. You won’t lose your ten kilograms of weight in three weeks but how about in three, four or five months?
  • Keep a journal of your plans and achievements. Its the best way of keeping track on how you are progressing.
  • Try the 40-day rule. Most significant changes only reveal themselves after an extended period of time. Try an exercise or diet routine without fail for an uninterrupted period of 40 days. You will feel and notice a difference!

Kick-start your New Year with a clear plan of action! I invite you to participate in my Seven-Part course “Awakening the Fire Within.” It is a compilation of key principles of my mind-body and resilience trainings of the past eight years.

Reino Gevers – Mentor for Leaders and Achievers – Your Health Matters

Awakening the Fire Within – key principles of health and success. Enrolling now will give you a 25 per cent discount.

 “Walking on Edge – A Pilgrimage to Santiago” available both in Kindle and paperback.

http://www.reinogevers.com

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Majorca: Island of contrasts

I’m gradually settling in on Majorca, my new home base. Admittedly I was prejudiced by the reports of mainly hard-drinking low-budget tourists frequenting the Mediterranean island. The reality is that like its geography the region is marked by stark contrasts.

The coastal areas around the capital Palma draw most of the tourists with countless high-rise hotels lining the beaches. The airport is one of Europe’s busiest, especially during the summer months. But travelling away from the madding crowds into the interior you find an entirely different Majorca.

Hidden in the rugged Tramuntuna mountain, described lovingly by the Mallorquina as the heart of their island can also be found the spiritual heart in the Monastery of Lluc, dating back to the 13th century.

And, today I visited the Santuari de Cura, a monastery on the centrally located holy mountain of Randa, where the famous philosopher and Franciscan monk Ramon Llull (1232-1316) lived as a hermit, wrote some 265 books and worked as a pioneer of computation theory.

The mountain offers spectacular view of the plains below and the distant Tramuntuna mountains. As the winter clouds give way to sunlight, the distant mountain tops are spotlighted by sunshine. Double rainbows can be seen on the horizon. On days like these it becomes apparent why so many artists, painters, writers, seekers and wanderers were drawn to the island over the centuries.

Majorca is almost revealing of  the two sides of humanity.  The preoccupation with materialism, physical pleasures and all the distractions of the moment on the one side while the heart searches for the roots, meaning and sense of purpose in the solitude of nature and spiritual mysticism from the times of yore.

Reino Gevers – Mentor for Leaders and Achievers – Your Health Matters

Awakening the Fire Within – key principles of health and success. Enrolling now will give you a 25 per cent discount.

 “Walking on Edge – A Pilgrimage to Santiago” available both in Kindle and paperback.

http://www.reinogevers.com

 

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Home and the heart of things

In the past few days I have dissolved a home of 21 years in northern Germany and moved to the Spanish island of Majorca. It poses the question of what we define as home and where to let go of meaningless material attachment.

One of the key lessons of walking the Camino is that the less you carry in your back pack the easier your walk.  You have to go lean to go far. Essentially there is not much we need to feel contentment of heart.

There is not much that remains of those things we clutter our homes with when it comes to downsizing. A rule of thumb is what you haven’t worn or used during the past six months is no longer of value to you.

img_0405Within the word Home, is one of the most powerful mantras OM.  In the Sanskrit origin  it translates as the vibrational Source and connection to the Supreme.  Peace of mind and contentment can only be found With-In. You always take yourself with you wherever you are and with all that with which your mind is preoccupied with.

The bottom line: If you are a grumpy old scrooge at the place where you are now, chances are good that you will remain a grumpy old scrooge wherever you choose to go.

Its an illusion to think that everything will change for the better if you change your wife, your house, your job and your country, if you don’t change your mindset as well.

But its not the whole story.  Who you are is determined largely by your associations and the environment you live in. We are social beings who interact and need to interact with each other all the time.

If the people you surround yourself with and your immediate surroundings are no longer conducive to your further development, then its time to move.

Yet, attachments mainly in the form of material things and emotional baggage of the past subconsciously hinder us from taking a big step forward to new things, new perspectives, new relationships and in the end more lessons learned on the path to a raised consciousness.

Reino Gevers – Mentor for Leaders and Achievers – Your Health Matters

Awakening the Fire Within – key principles of health and success. Enrolling now will give you a 25 per cent discount.

NEW RELEASE: “Walking on Edge – A Pilgrimage to Santiago” available both in Kindle and paperback.

http://www.reinogevers.com

 

 

 

 

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Gratitude

I’ve just been watching those amazing images of the crowds in Zimbabwe celebrating the fall of the tyrant Robert Mugabe who has steered a country once revered as the bread basket of Africa into a destitute nation dependent on food aid.

Most of us folk who grew up in southern Africa know of friends or relatives who lost everything when the tyrant decided to confiscate flourishing farms and businesses which he shared among his party faithful and extended family members. Needless to say most of those farms are now deserted ruins.

Most of you reading this Blog would be living in a country with democratic institutions and the rule of law intact. It is not a Given and we see from other countries how transient life can be. Lives of millions of people can be turned upside down, either by natural catastrophe or calculated political expediency and corruption.

faith falls on your handThus during this time of Thanksgiving it is a time to be truly grateful for what we have and not what we want. There are always things we can be grateful for, even if we don’t see it immediately in our daily rush through life.

Unhappy people are those folk who incessantly see the shadow side of life with a predominantly negative attitude. Happiness is a mindset. It is something we can control and train. It is that slight edge most of the world’s most successful people have. They emanate an aura of enthusiasm and gratitude. You want to be around those folk because you simply enjoy their company. It is an easy ritual that you can incorporate in your daily routine every morning before you get out of bed:

  • What are those five things that you are truly grateful for ?
  • What positive experiences can I recall from the previous day?
  • What can I give back?

Reino Gevers – Mentor for Leaders and Achievers – Your Health Matters

Awakening the Fire Within – key principles of health and success. Enrolling now will give you a 25 per cent discount.

NEW RELEASE: “Walking on Edge – A Pilgrimage to Santiago” available both in Kindle and paperback.

http://www.reinogevers.com

 

 

 

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Are you being brainwashed?

I’m sure you’ve  had the experience recently. You are talking to someone when you  notice they have switched off with their “cemented opinion”.  But you continue talking, still hoping to convince that person with your “rational argument.”

Donna parla con lettere su sfondo biancoI fall into the trap every time, knowing full well that no matter what information I provide, it will not convince the other person to adapt or change his or her mind.

A medical doctor friend of mine recently vented frustration at the growing number of patients questioning his diagnosis with information they had found on the Internet. It is mind boggling that the expertise of scientists, who have spent a good part of their lives becoming experts in their fields, is ridiculed by persons with only scant knowledge at best of the topic they are talking about.

We surround ourselves with friends and associates who share our opinions and mannerisms. We subscribe to media that feed us with information we want to hear. Its human nature. A questioning of our belief system is perceived as so “dangerous” that it might alienate us from our tribe and leave us cold and alone. The unfortunate part of this human trait is that it makes us prone to manipulation, especially if the perceived threat to group identity is threatened.

What happens to the individual manifests itself into what I call the mass brainwashing and fogging of minds. Political strategists and the master manipulators understand this part of the working of the human mind very well.

Take for example my home country South Africa. The media is churning out almost daily evidence of the looting of the country’s state-owned enterprises and national treasury by the ruling president and his cronies. In any normal situation President Jacob Zuma would have been booted out of office and sentenced to a long prison term for crimes ranging from massive tax evasion to personal enrichment and treason.  He is only getting away with it because he has convinced his electorate that they are poor because the wealth of the country is controlled by “white monopoly capitalism.” Worse still, the media controlled by this “monopoly” is spreading lies in a bid to re-install apartheid.  That is all you need to communicate in a country still deeply divided along racial lines.

Feed into already existing prejudices or fears by spreading half-truths, lies and misleading information and you control the masses who believe what they want to believe. Adolf Hitler understood this mechanism perfectly by feeding into existing anti-Semitic prejudices of a highly educated society until he had them all screaming “Sieg Heil” as the rail carriages rolled into the death camps of Auschwitz.  The economy of the oil-rich country of Venezuela was ruined by a despot riding the mantra that all the troubles could be attributed to American imperialism.

This is why I find the rising nationalism in so many countries so dangerous. It appeals to the most basic of human instincts, whispering into the ears of the masses: “Someone is out there taking or denying from you something that you regard as very precious and dear.”

The wise teachers from all the major religious traditions teach us that you need to “neutralize” your mind in order to open yourself to true spiritual experience. It sounds so easy but is probably one of the hardest things to do. Don’t we all have toxic emotions, prejudices and fears that we desperately hold on to?

A first step toward neutralizing the mind is the admission of those existing pre-conceived ideas, or emotions and in analyzing their origins.

  • What made you think the way you are thinking?
  • Do you really have an open mind to a new angle or perspective?
  • Are you versed in the art of listening?

Inside each human lie embedded the seeds of doing either good or evil. What you feed your mind with on a daily basis is what you become. You make your decisions based on your belief system.

Reino Gevers – Mentor for Leaders and Achievers – Your Health Matters

Awakening the Fire Within – key principles of health and success. Enrolling now will give you a 25 per cent discount.

http://www.reinogevers.com

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Your friend the obstacle

IMG_0117 (1)When walking the Camino you will be confronted by obstacles.  The first biggest challenge is mental. You are thirsty, exhausted and your feet are hurting. You push yourself to the summit of that mountain only to find that you have an even steeper hill to climb further ahead. Your mood sinks to rock bottom.

We have those moments of walking through the valley of death every day. An unexpected tax bill in the post. An unpleasant meeting or other disappointment.  Life is cyclical, like the seasons with periods of winter darkness followed by the joys of spring and warm summer days.

Take a  look at some of the great personalities of our time. Nelson Mandela, Oprah Winfrey and Albert Einstein transmuted the suffering in  those pits of darkness in their youth, honing their qualities of character and emerging stronger than ever before.

What you perceive as an obstacle is a “teacher” telling you where you have to learn and refine your personality in overcoming your greatest fears which can be anything from the fear of death, ill-health, loss of material wealth and the shame that can go with it.

We need only to observe nature to see how all plant and animal life is in a continuous process of evolutionary refinement in the adaption to challenges that come with changing circumstances.

Without an obstacle, without a challenge, you can’t grow. You will remain stagnant and there is the danger of falling into procrastination and lethargy. So next time you have to deal with a major disappointment or challenge it might just be the universe telling you to take a different turn.

Reino Gevers – Mentor for Leaders and Achievers – Your Health Matters

Awakening the Fire Within – key principles of health and success. Enrolling now will give you a 25 per cent discount.

NEW RELEASE: “Walking on Edge – A Pilgrimage to Santiago” available both in Kindle and paperback.

http://www.reinogevers.com

 

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Guarding the temple of your soul

A few days ago I saw a front page headline in our local newspaper: “Trump opposes gun control.” It got me thinking: If I was living in the United States, it would maybe have been of interest to me. In this case it was just another example of the media setting the agenda for the day’s mood.

Motivational Quote That Will Inspire You to Be Successful. Words that inspire your heart, motivate your mind in life, creating success, achieving your goals, and overcoming your fears.Don’t get me wrong. The mass shooting in Las Vegas was a terrible tragedy. But the event has absolutely no impact on the daily lives of people living some 9,000 kilometers away and doesn’t belong on the front page of  my local newspaper. The media is feeding us constantly with blood and gore and the shadow side of humanity, knowing that its human nature to look first at the negative before seeing the positive.

Its part of our reptilian brain, our instinctive behavior and survival instinct to stay alert in case a tiger comes crashing through the woods. But in today’s globalized world of mass media, the constant feeding of the subconscious mind with negativity has an extremely detrimental effect on our health.

Stress, triggered by negative news, negative emotions and toxic thoughts, affects your immune system. When you read negative news and your mind is occupied with negativity, you release a stress hormone called cortisol. Prolonged exposure to cortisol leads to damage to the hippocampus part of the brain, causing in extreme cases anxiety attacks, depression or other mental illness.

This is why its so important to stand guard at the gateway to your subconscious mind. What do you feed your mind with before you go to bed? The worst thing you can do is to watch a horror movie or the evening news. It will program the way you dream and in what mood you wake up the next morning. Reading a spiritual text or listening to soothing music will have the opposite effect.

It takes constant training to shield the mind from negativity. But the more aware you become through mindfulness training the more effective you will become in empowering that guard at your doorway. I’m practising all the time.  Its not easy. Being a former newsman myself, I have to be more circumspect than most others not to fall prey to the tentacles of the mass media.

You create your reality with your thoughts!

Reino Gevers – Mentor for Leaders and Achievers – Your Health Matters

Awakening the Fire Within – key principles of health and success. Enrolling now will give you a 25 per cent discount.

NEW RELEASE: “Walking on Edge – A Pilgrimage to Santiago” available both in Kindle and paperback.

http://www.reinogevers.com

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And, see no evil …

The great Napoleon Hill once said that every evil carries within it the flames of self-destruction. It was a warning by the famous mentor to his students, political and business leaders to reflect carefully on their actions and goals. When they are not in sync with the universe and designed for the benefit of all , those flames will come back to burn you.

Business person afraid of a big monster claw shadow concept

Sometimes those flames can come in the form of such deep disgust and regret with the “Self” that it manifests itself in self-destructive behavior such as addiction or serious illness.

I am watching with sadness how the drama in my home country South Africa unfolds. The political elite, that once had the moral high ground in fighting apartheid, has mutated into a criminal clique, that is on the brink of destroying itself and taking an entire country with it. Currently the knives are out as a leadership battle ensues – evil starting to self-implode. But you can take any totalitarian regime or corrupt government in the world. The end result will be the same. Karma, the sum of a personal or group action,  is ruthless in its final consequence.

So, how do we define evil, you may ask?  This is my take on it:

  • The actions are always designed for the benefit of an individual or those few around him/her to the detriment of others.
  • It is most often a conscious deliberate act of cruelty or destruction
  • Some form of manipulative power is always involved

The other side of the equation is the disciple of good, the servant of the universe,  selfless and holistic in mind and action, reflective, and aware of all participants involved, very much capable of empathy and feeling. They are first and foremost forgiving to self and others. Not many of those people around, I’m afraid. The few exceptional leaders are those who have transmuted the shadow sides of their personality on the  hard training of the school of life.

Reino Gevers – Mentor for Leaders and Achievers – Your Health Matters

Awakening the Fire Within – key principles of health and success. Enrolling now will give you a 25 per cent discount.

NEW RELEASE: “Walking on Edge – A Pilgrimage to Santiago” available both in Kindle and paperback.

http://www.reinogevers.com

 

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