You don’t ever have to go out of your comfort zone…

You don’t have to go outside your comfort zone!! πŸ˜•

I visited my physiotherapist the other day.

A physiotherapist keeps applying pressure on the muscle in pain and stops when it gets uncomfortable for you.

If they feel it’s just a little too much, they will back off immediately!

They must back off otherwise they’re doing more harm than good!

Then they wait until the pain goes away and they apply a little bit more pressure.

Again, as much as you can take.

Practising this again and again makes the muscle less tense, the blood circulation is increased in the affected area, they can wron deeper and deeper and slowly, the pain goes away.

A psychotherapist operates entirely within your comfort zone throughout the whole process.

The same with yoga.

Your yoga instructor says that if it’s too much of a stretch, relax, stay there, breathe out, then move into the pose a little bit more if you can. Otherwise stay there.

And when you go back next time all of sudden you see that you can stretch more and more!

You can grow by operating totally within your comfort zone.

When I work with people I look to get results while they operate within their comfort zone.

And when we do that we see that their comfort zone expands!

Walking 500 steps or going around the block is progress for someone who only moves from the kitchen to the bathroom.

If you don’t want to do video, you can write articles and still build phenomenal awareness for your business.

If you’re an introvert, you can still build a successful coaching business without going to every meetup event in your area.

I’m not saying don’t try stuff that challenges you, I’m not saying don’t face your fears, I’m not saying don’t do the extra mile.

All I’m saying is if going outside your comfort zone never worked for you, you can still have results by operating within your comfort zone.

And see your comfort zone expand gradually.

All it takes is creativity and full exploration of your comfort zone!

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Should Do VS Love to Do

should-do-vs-love-to-do

I now love hoovering!Β πŸ’•

Because one day I decided to move hoovering from my “should do” list to my “love to do” list.

If I can’t escape hoovering, how can learn to love hoovering?

Mmm… what if I can listen to my favourite audiobook while doing the hoovering?

YES!

Now, before I turn the hoover on, I’m already wearing my Airpods and listening to another audio!

Hoovering is making me a better coach these days!

Hoovering means self-development to me now!

I can do hoovering for hours!

Is there something you “should do” that you’d love to have in you “love to do”?

What is it? Share it with us and let’s see if we can come up with any ideas all together!

Because my experience shows that procrastination is a result of having should do’s rather than love to do’s!

Procrastination is the soul rebelling – Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Can you get creative and move stuff to the column on the right?

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Non-linear Time Management

Nonlinear time management is a commitment to action in the present moment.

Looking at an action and choosing now or not now.

If it’s not now, its got to be NEVER or placed in a time capsule that has its spot on the calendar and therefore out of the mind.

The mind must be clear and empty from all future considerations.

Non-linear time management is best expressed by Elvis Presley: It’s now or never, come hold me tight! 🎸

Love, AngelosΒ 

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Here’s the best advice I can give myself and my people

How many times, when you have a problem, you keep bearing down on it and trying to figure it out…

We all do it and yet it is a futile task.

There isn’t anything there to figure out.

Never can be an answer in trying to figure it out.

Because new insight is the answer.

And all we do by trying to figure it out is we keep our head cluttered with all this other stuff that’s not allowing new insight to come up.

Our thinking is holding down wisdom from popping up to the surface.

How different is it trying to figure it out from forgetting it?

Could there be two more diametrically opposed things than trying to figure it out and forgetting it?

And by forgetting it I mean taking it off our minds and going about our business.

Going for a walk. Stop engaging with it for a while.

And when our minds clear on their own, we see something new…

And in some cases, the problem is not there any more.

It was never a real problem…

Much love, Angelos

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My letter to my client who’s studying to become a judge

Elena, my dear, what a beautiful question. I loved your question. I thought about it. I will address this when we start the group coaching calls next month but here’s what I see right now.

I know you’re studying hard to become a judge. Right now the only thing you see in front of you is the exams that you have to pass to become a judge. I know there is no way you can become a judge unless you pass these exams. But can we create a bigger vision than just passing a few exams?

Can we focus on the person you want to be by walking this path towards becoming a judge? You are not studying to pass the exams. No no no! You’re studying so you better serve justice, society, people, tomorrow! Isn’t that more exciting than the exams you have to pass?

Can you spend every minute of your studying as if you’re a judge already? Imagine you are a judge and you’re now reading all these beautiful books, you’re going to classes, you’re probably speaking to other judges, mentors, you learn from others who have gone through the same journey, how beautiful that can be, and, is!!!

Can we shift your perspective here so studying for the exams becomes self-development and professional development? Can you see every minute you spend on exam preparation as a step towards becoming a better judge and a better person? Because if you manage to do that everything else will fall into place including exam success.

You will not just pass the exams. You will shine! The person who will mark your writings or interview you will be inspired by you. They will probably see themselves in you. They will see your light. They will see an exceptional future judge in you! How beautiful, how relaxing, how uplifting all this is! I have a big smile on my face right now. What a vision!

If you follow this approach, every minute spent on “exam prep” will be a minute worth spent. I know that it usually takes more than a year to prepare for these exams… but even if you don’t pass these exams on the first try, trust me, by following this approach you will have gone a lot further than someone who was there just to pass the exams and secure the most high-paying public servant job.

Can you shift your perspective by 180 degrees? How can you love this “exam prep” process irrespective of the outcome? You see I put it in quotes again because this is not exam prep; it’s a journey. It’s 100 times bigger than just exams!

Because at the end of the day, it will be a year or more of your life. How do you want to spend this year of your life?

You mentioned that you now have limited time to spend on reading books, self-development, etc. because you’re studying for the exams. But there’s self-development in this process as I see it. That’s self-development in practice when you change your perspective on this process.

And coming back to the “lack of time for reading books”…, remember this is a journey. A long term journey. A life journey. Tomorrow you will say to me… I have so many cases to go through because you will be a busy judge. But I’ll tell you that you can still make time to read, to create, to get inspired, to do your yoga, to have your quiet time, to go for a walk, to play with your kids. That’s going to make you a better judge. You will see that the most insightful answers will come to you during that time you allocate for recreation. How can someone be the best judge if they don’t allocate time for taking care of their mind, body, creative thinking, no?

I hope this is helpful. I’m so inspired by what you want to create. I’m writing these words and I have so much love for your vision. Angelos.

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I’m blessed to be coaching people like Yazan

I’m blessed to be coaching people like Yazan.

He launched his online business a few months ago and he just got his first big client. A dream client!

It took him 4 months to build a relationship with his client and get their trust.

We worked on building a serving mindset, on giving unconditional value, on forgetting ourselves and our wants while being professional.

Our work was a meditation into the world of Yazan’s client. This is what it was.

We came up with outside the box ideas! We turned every stone upside down to find solutions and we did!

Yazan forgot that he needed to get clients ASAP. We only focused on solving the riddle for his potential client.

Building a business becomes easy when you forget yourself and focus only on your client’s problem.

I remember Yazan coming back worried one day… “I don’t know what’s going on. She is not responsive any more.”

“Keep providing value”, I said. “She’s just busy with the wrong things. Bring her attention to what matters, to what she really needs to do for her business. You’re here to show her the way, to lead her.”

And this is what Yazan did. He took action. He owned the game.

And one day the dream client called Yazan and asked him: “When are we going to start then?”πŸŽ‰πŸŽ‰πŸŽ‰

Success.

Exciting times. I’m just so proud of my people. So passionate about my people.

These are my lovely, brilliant and powerful people.

What is your role then, Angelos?

I’m there for them to remind them how brilliant they are.

I’m there for them to kill any self-limiting thoughts that may interrupt their creative work.

I’m just there for them.

And they can feel I’m there for them.

And they keep going.

And they get what they deserve.

To all the people who let me be there for them while they’re climbing their mountains,

Angelos ❀️

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11K Subscribers and 1 Million Views

11k subscribers-1million views

I realised I’ve reached 𝟏𝟏𝐊 subscribers and more than 𝟏 𝐦𝐒π₯π₯𝐒𝐨𝐧 views on YouTube.

But is the end goal really subscribers and views?

I started my journey on YouTube 4 years ago.

Back then I was hungry for followers, likes and views.

Today all I want is to form deep relationships with people.

The point of sharing your message online is to connect with like-minded people, to interact with them, get on the same boat with them because you want to enjoy the journey together.

You don’t need thousands on your boat!

A few is enough! One is enough!

If you manage to attract ONLY ONE person to your life through your creative work, whatever that work is, videos, articles, paintings, photography, singing, etc. that’s enough!

If you manage to inspire ONLY ONE person with your work and that person takes some action that makes his life better, then your work has completed its mission!

Has it occurred to you when someone comes across your article, video, or any creation and reaches out to you, to just say “Thank you, that helped me so much, it was what I needed!”

And then you come closer to that person, you build a relationship, you probably become friends… Isn’t that fascinating?

Isn’t that rewarding enough to keep you creating without expecting anything else in return?

Someone once told me that YouTube was not working for him. He had only 150 subscribers.

I told him… imagine you’re on the stage of a room with all your 150 subscribers. They’re looking at you in your eyes, waiting for you to share your message, your creative art, they’re looking forward to getting inspired by you and you say…

“Sorry, YouTube is not working for me. You’re not enough. I have to stop” and you walk out of that room.

I’ll not say anything else. I’ll leave you to think about all this.

I just want to dedicate these words to my two clients Tom Pandolfino and Luke Tamminga who both quit their high paying corporate jobs in order to follow their true purpose in life and become language teachers. Both are only 25. Tom is in London, Luke is in California.

Because one day I decided to quit my high paying corporate job.

Because one day I decided to make a video.

Because one day Luke and Tom happened to watch that video.

Because one day Luke and Tom will be inspiring others to follow their true purpose.

All this makes me think that it was worth making that video…

With all my love,

Angelos

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How do you achieve Focus or Flow?

stayfocused

Everybody says “you need to be focused, the secret of success is FOCUS!”

Some others call it FLOW. “Peak performance is a result of being in a state of flow!”

OK, understood … but how do you achieve that bloody focus??? Is it always easy for you? It’s not for me!

I decided to do some research and I found a lot of interesting stuff but here I’m just going to share an insightful talk by Friederike Fabritius – a neuroscientist – that provides the most satisfactory answer in my opinion. The talk is called Fun, Fear and Focus. I’d recommend that you watch the whole thing! I watched it and I was totally focused! πŸ™‚

To give you the golden nugget:

If you want to achieve focus, forget focus and do this:

1) Add FUN to your activity, make it more playful, use different methods of working towards a goal, try different strategies, see it as a game!

2) Add FEAR to what you do, make it challenging, make the outcome feel a little uncertain, it needs to feel like it’s taking you slightly out of your comfort zone (not completely out of your comfort zone though!).

If you do (1) and (2), all of a sudden, scientists found that FOCUS comes effortlessly! It’s a byproduct of FUN and FEAR. Because think about it, you can’t be focused on something that’s boring, repetitive, extremely easy for you no matter how focused you’re trying to stay!

PS: In my opinion, the idea of FOCUS goes further than all the above and touches deeper things like mindfulness, meditation and living in the present. Here, I just “focused” on how we can achieve focus at work or some activity that’s important for our success.

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