Blog

July: New and Old Friends

July: New and Old Friendships

Posted on by Anton

What comes to mind when you reflect on the last 30 days?

When I reflect on the past 30 days I think about friendship, what it means and how it feels when you establish a new connection with people.

How our interactions, personality, and values define a friendship and the people we connect with. These unique values are what we add and contribute to others and it’s their unique values that contribute to our life.
Each person has a different aspect to them, which makes us try something new and different.

Friendships whether new or old can bring so much joy into our lives, I have friends who look out for me; who care; who want to know how I am and what I have been doing. Despite being away I have created new friendships, and have been surprised to see the extra mile these new friendships have gone to make me feel welcomed.

What have you achieved?

It may have taken some time but I finally found my motivation zone, the key to unlocking this zone was Routine a forever common theme in my life.

What routine breeds is productivity, it builds a foundation that aids you to complete your tasks and with that gives you a sense of achievement.

Over the last 30 days, I have been planning and creating content such as articles and infographics for both Notesworthy and Best Revision Guide. I’ve learned that content is king when it comes to traffic, hence the focus on creating meaningful and informative content.

A lack of preparation previously led to an increase in workload, admittedly I haven’t mastered this and I am trying to learn from past lessons.

The BME Collective business directory is growing nicely as we aim to improve the relationship of these businesses with the local Bristol community, there are exciting things happening with the BME Collective which if successful could see it grow to the next level.
Over the past year my business partner has been mentioning the need to create a strategy and roadmap for the group, and with new opportunities arising it became a priority and over a 3 day period, we produced a slide deck detailing our goal and vision over the next 3 years.

Lastly, I have been spending some time researching products that I could potentially sell online by dropshipping, whilst travelling I learnt how difficult it is to run and maintain an e-commerce business remotely which has prompted the latest venture of selling environmentally friendly products. For the past 60 days, I have been doing keyword analysis and using tools like Google Trends and Google Ads to identify a small niche within this market space.

What have you struggled with?

How one date reminded me of the emotional ups and downs of dating and how easy it is to revert back to an old way of thinking.

When I’m usually asked about the last time I have dated I tend to say about a year and a half, but if I was, to be honest, I did dip my toe about 10 months ago but it was a strong indicator to me that it was not the right time.
Why so long is the question that usually proceeds and my answer is simple? I wanted to get a better understanding of self, understand my desires and wants from myself and my future partner in a relationship, along with the lessons I failed to learn from in past relationship.

Ever met someone who at first you thought was amazing, to then later discover they have some traits you dislike. How do you feel when this happens? Disappointed.

For the first time allowed myself to entertain the idea of a date, but the date wasn’t exactly how I thought it was going to go. I felt like I giving a coaching session, the whole experience was a reminder of what the dating game is all about.  This whole experience sent me on a rollercoaster of mixed emotions especially annoyance and frustration, but it taught me a lot.
When I reflect on this moment I feel it was necessary, I reverted back to an old way of thinking by getting excited about someone I met in a short space of time, rather than slowing my excitement down, exploring the person to determine what direction thing would go.
It took the “theory” aspect of the past 18 months and showed how the “practical” aspect won’t go as expected. 

What are you working on right now?

I’ve been focusing on Tag Me In Podcast and review our social media platform, initially when we started our strategy was about gaining followers but as time went on we learnt there is more to social media like engagement and content quality. I have been looking at our followers and reviewing who is engaging with our content and whether they actually are gaining value from us.
Continous improve plays a huge factor in my life but strangely enough when I think about Tag Me In Podcast there hasn’t been any major drive for improvements. As always once I have awareness I am able to take action, I’ve been spending time each week looking at Facebook Groups about podcasts and learning from others, engaging in discussions and contributing my knowledge to the group as well.

Adding new content to Best Revision Guide, it has been a while since I had updated it and over time there have been releases of new books for AS and A Levels so there was a number of books to review and add to the site.

With Notesworthy I have finally been able to implement a new workflow to improve the flow of banknote valuations, and also a feature which allows people to sell their old notes for cash.

 

How do you feel physically and mentally?

As mentioned earlier a few days of this month had me in my feelings, but overall I am buzzing mentally. A lurking thought that is becoming louder as time goes on is what does reality look like especially once I stop my travels and potentially return back to my 9-5. I often have to remind myself to be in the present moment and enjoy these moments.

Physically I have been great, I’ve been consistent with going to the gym and focusing on flexibility by stretching every session for about 20 minutes, along with this I have been having some hard landings whilst attempting to do handstands.

What are your future goals?

*These need to be reviewed and dates added because they will end up being here indefinitely – These are definitely not S.M.A.R.T goals

To continue learning Forex using babypips
Review Trade system podcast
Read up on Property Investments
To review stock portfilo
To generate additional income into my bank
Source Dropshipping products
Scheduled posts for Notesworthy
Scheduled posts for Best Revision Guide
Completed new workflow for Notesworthy
Make your day rate £865
Stretch atleast 4 times a week
Go to the Gym atleast 4 times a week.
Practice handstands atleast once a week
Focus on building core muscle
Complete 1 wim hof method breathing exercise
Message friends weekly
Message/Speak to family once a week
Adopt SAVERS routine while travelling
Listen to Blinkist once a week
Start to learn a new language – Daily Duolingo
Complete a book a month
Update BME Collective Directory
Think about the goal for BME Collective
To have one unforgottenable moment – maybe a new activity I have never done before

Anything else you feel is important.

 

June: Restoring the Balance

Posted on by Anton

What comes to mind when you reflect on the last 30 days?

My burning desire to get myself back to where I think I should be, mentally, physically, financially and all the other aspects of life.
I have high expectations of myself along with big visions and goals. and the moment I slowed down my traveling I realised I have dropped a few gears in terms of growth.

But this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, maybe it was time for me to drop down and slow down just to allow myself to recharge those batteries.

What have you achieved?

For me reflection is everything, it’s necessary to understand where you are and how far you are from your goals. This month I decided to slow my traveling down; previously I was moving from one place to another every 3 days.

The idea of waking up in the morning in the same bed, cooking my own breakfast, going to the gym or a swim, and having a space to do some work was my ideal lifestyle.

So here I am in Kuala Lumpur starting the latest chapter of my life called “restoring the balance“.

A common theme that’s been written in my previous blogs is my struggles during my travels in terms of my physical health, the constant moving around and the eating 2 meals a day lifestyle was not great for my overall wellbeing; I felt weak quite often.
My body was screaming for some Tender Loving Care (TLC), and I had to listen to it; now if you were a fly on the wall of the gym you would literally see me spending up to 40 minutes stretching trying to increase my flexibility. Listen I don’t want to be one of those rounded back elders with muscle aches.

What have you struggled with?

Now everything hasn’t been smooth sailing, yes I had these desires, I knew what sort of lifestyle I wanted during this break from traveling.

But getting myself motivated was a very very difficult task, OK Anton lets go to the gym… Blink… OK, Anton lets complete today task… BLINK… OK, Anton let’s spend 10 minutes listening to an audiobook… erm what was I listening to?
It’s almost like part of my brain was disengaged, I didn’t really have any real pressure to do work, no real motive to do it now because I was still living a dream. I was a free man, no job, no time constraints, the weather outside was nice.
Weirdly enough prior to traveling I thought I mentally prepared myself for this, I thought the freedom of time would be a joy and I would easily find time to complete a write up on the past 30 days.

“May Blog was released on the last week on June“

so you can conclude how well I was doing, procrastinating was an easier option by far. I remember I once read an article about time management:-

  • More work hours doesn’t mean more productivity.
  • We’re always more focused and productive with limited time

Both of these statements are true, interesting how you think the grass will be greener on the other side.

What are you working on right now?

So assessing where I am made me notice how many things I have actually neglected, so this month was spent bringing the dead weeds back to life starting with the online businesses.

Notesworthy took a hit dramatically when I was resolving an issue, not to bore you with the technicals but removing SSL (HTTPS) traffic and Yoast an SEO plugin lead to a massive traffic dropped and it was like that for a whole month.

No traffic means no leads, meaning no conversions/sales.

SEO is vitally important when it comes to a website/Vlog. When’s the last time you’ve gone on the second page of a google search or a youtube video search, your aim is to be among the top 5 searches in relations to a particular keyword; so you want to keep Google on your side and if your website isn’t secure that goes against you.

Another thing I neglected was Amazon FBA, the first four months of my sabbatical saw this grow continuously to a point it could have served as a replacement for my monthly salary.

Yet what happened when I started traveling was I couldn’t maintain the response or delivery of certain items to the point Amazon stepped in suspended my selling activities. I’m literally at a roadblock with this one, so do I plea to Amazon and ask for them to reinstate my rights or do I park it to the side until I’m back because Amazon FBA does need a small amount of attention on a daily basis and I could potentially be setting myself up for failure if I tried to maintain whilst travelling.

 

How do you feel physically and mentally?

Great! There has been an alignment of both physical and mental feeling, in previous months I have was always better in one department.

Now we have both areas aligned up meaning I feel like I’m back in my zone, I have enjoyed my freedom even more so, the luxury of choosing when to work and when to have fun has been great.

Although it was a slow battle with the motivation I’m starting to focus on my physical wellbeing, it feels great to touch your toes without aching, I’ve been neglecting my body and now I’m finally listening to all those aches, pain and stiffness.

What are your future goals?

*These need to be reviewed and dates added because they will end up being here indefinitely – These are definitely not S.M.A.R.T goals

To continue learning Forex using babypips
Review Trade system podcast
Address issues with Amazon FBA – suspended account
Review Business status
Stretch atleast 4 times a week
Go to the Gym atleast 4 times a week.
Meditate daily and visualise
Complete a book a month
Listen to Blinkist once a week
Start to learn a new language – Daily Duolingo
Record some new Tag Me In Podcast Episodes
Review BME Collective Directory

Anything else you feel is important.

  • Learn how to change the narrative of your story from bad/negative to good – if your car breaks down, think about how it has created some time for yourself to process something in your life.
  • The only competition is the man in the mirror – don’t compare yourself to others, don’t compete with anyone else but yourself
  • If you are depressed, you are living in the past. If you are anxious, you are living in the future. If you are at peace, you are living in the present
  • Wanting to be someone else is a waste of the person you are.
  • Appreciate how special you are there will never be anyone exactly like you. You were given special gifts and talents to share with the world.
  • It is better to be hated for what you are than to be loved for what you are not
  • What you choose to focus on becomes your reality
  • Rough seas make better sailors
  • When we’re forced to do something, suddenly the time is there.
  • We tiptoe through life hoping to safely make it to death
Anton Richardson May

May: Putting it all together

Posted on by Anton

What comes to mind when you reflect on the last 30 days?

In all honesty this has got to be my most unproductive month of 2018; literally, F*** all has been achieved on my to-do list for April.

These famous words were taken from April’s blog, and what has changed over the last 30 days you ask? Has there been an improvement? Did you manage to find a balance? A happy medium?

Weirdly enough I have… and it all starts with building a foundation and reintroducing good habits.

I also mentioned on Aprils blog a VOID, and that came from achieving a big goal of traveling and not knowing what was the next big goal.

Mentally I have been thinking about the future, taking a year out has been one of the big goals in my life and now it has been achieved there is a void. What is the next challenge? what is the next goal? What’s another life goal? But I’m not rushing these thoughts and letting it naturally fall into place.

The last line of letting it naturally fall into place is what exactly happened over the past 30 days.

What have you achieved?

Little wins have been achieved this month, although these wins may seem small to other people but to me, they are the world. For example, I 2X my goal of reading a book a month, and it always helps when the books grips you from start to end. The first book I read was “The Girl on the Train” and the other one was “Bricking It!”.

Products from Amazon.co.uk

Bricking It is a book that triggered a desire to get into property development, with any venture it has its risk and the book’s story illustrates this in a comical way.
The book planted small seeds because my imagination would often create scenes of myself on a piece of land watching the development from start to finish, getting involved armed with hammers and screws; so you can guess what has been added to my goal list.

 

What have you struggled with?

A challenging habit has always been meditation, along with visualisation. Sometimes I have a good streak with meditation but there are times where I fall off the track, but with most things you have to adapt it to suit you best.
Of lately I have been trying a new approach of which I’m sure many people will disagree with as it is not the usual mindfulness meditation practice.
My approach consists of the first 5 minutes focusing on the breath and then it evolves into visualising 8 different aspects of my life and playing through each one; asking myself where am I today and then evolving it further into the future.

The 8 aspects are:-

  • Health – e.g Where am I healthwise?
  • Relations – e.g What does my relationship with friends, family etc look like?
  • Growth – e.g What have I learned recently?
  • Vocational/Business – e.g What are we now?
  • Contribution – e.g What contribution have you made lately?
  • Fun – e.g What can we do today that will be fun?
  • Financial – e.g How can I improve my finances?
  • Spiritual Matters – e.g Where are we today? Positive/Negative thinking

Aside with the previous struggle, I have also been struggling with a loss of physical strength, in the first 3 weeks of traveling I lost 5kg and activities like lifting up my 12kg rucksack at times can be a struggle. It is a weird feeling especially when a few months ago I was happily squatting 120kg in the gym.
There are many factors that have contributed to this such as not eating frequently and not working out a frequent basis, but also the way I was training and little consideration for the longevity of my body.

What are you working on right now?

Even if I try to stay away from the world of Cyber Security it will come haunting after me and this was the case on the 25th May which saw the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) came into place.
About two years ago I remember when I was hearing the security consultant in my workplace discussing the requirement and preparing themselves for it to come into place, and what I find shocking about it all is how quick the two years has come.
GDPR was never an interest of mine but it does have an impact on small businesses and organisation including the small project I run, so part of this month was spent familiarising myself with what is required for compliance and ensuring my projects met those requirements.

I’ve also been working with the technical team to resolve an issue with Notesworthy which has restricted me from implementing changes, which is annoying because I have been mapping out a new workflow which will enable me to improve the relationship between potential sellers and collectors.

How do you feel physically and mentally?

Although have committed to going to the gym once a week it still hasn’t helped with the feeling of loss of strength, but I also think I’ve become more aware of my limited mobility and flexibility.
My diet is a concern as well, whilst traveling I haven’t been eating my normal 4/5 meals a day. A typical day will see me eat a small breakfast, a lunchtime snack like a packet of crisps and then a large dinner.

On the mental side, it’s the complete opposite, I feel like my brain been flexing its muscles and firing those neurons. Creating new pathways and planning, assessing and reviewing the future.
Reading has also made sure it is in a good shape, taking time out to meditation helps it recharge and prepare itself for the day.

What are your future goals?

Evaluate current stocks portfolio
Complete website for The BME Collective
Look into the world of psychology
Prepare and increase knowledge on property
Read and keep up to date with cybersecurity news
To continue learning Forex using babypips
Review Trade system podcast
Review Buying and Selling
Promote and push BRG and NW
Reopen Finishing Product
Stretch twice a week
Physical exercise once a week
Inform doctors of vaccinations
Meditate daily and visualise
Catch up with friends
Complete a book a month
Listen to Blinkist once a week
Start to learn a new language – Daily Duolingo
Review Guest Bloggers
Review Podcast Guests
Prep Podcast Episodes

Anything else you feel is important.

  • Tattoo – I had a tattoo the other day whilst thinking of this question – “What is the one thing that is always with us, and you can’t change even if you tried?“ A shadow
    For me, I think we can alter our image or behaviour easily, but the one thing that truly reflects us mostly is our shadow.
    Now I’m not a tattoo person but if I was ever to have one it would be an image of someone standing in front of a mirror and in that mirrors reflect would be their shadow, and maybe a cliche line underneath like stay true to you.
  • Does Age Matter? This was a discussion I had recently in a group, and it produces some interesting answers but one answer stood out. “It really depends on how you perceived them if by their mannerism leads you to think they are older and you later find out that they are younger than what you thought. Is there an issue?”
  • Progress Assessment for young children – As part of my long-term contribution goals I want to open an assessment center which will be used to assess children to determine if they are meeting standards.
    Based on the result they will be placed on a programme and if necessary given tuition. It may be ran during half terms or summer holidays.
    It will focus on some of the teachings that are not in schools like money management, mindfulness, networking, health, welfare and social skills.
April: Be the captain of your own ship

April: Be the captain of your ship

Posted on by Anton

What comes to mind when you reflect on the last 30 days?

Throughout the past 30 days, there have been moments where “Be the captain of my own ship” has echoed in my head.

We are often faced with moments where we have to take control of our own vessels and take it in the direction we need to take it in.

But balance is necessary…

I have always prided myself on my independence, nonetheless, allowing your boat to sail off every now and again can unravel some extraordinary gems and discoveries.

The two letters NO is one of the hardest things to say in life. For me personally, I’m afraid to say NO due to fear of missing out on an amazing opportunity.

There is always a challenge when you have to reign in your vessel and steer it into a different direction from everyone else, likened to a boat you will have to overcome difficult waves and go on a trail less travelled because it is your adventure and your life to create those experiences.

The beautiful thing about leading your own ship is it has the potential to bring other people on-board, however, this does come with some responsibilities.
When people come on board with your plans they look up to you for direction, you will have to lead the pack and one thing I avoided to embrace as a characteristic is “Leadership”.

Notice how leadership hasn’t been listed on my characteristic board

characteristic board

The word “Leadership” has been mentioned to me a few times previously, even written down as part of a growth hack assessment and mentioned multiple times on this trip.
Perhaps because it is coming from people that I have no connections with it has hit me harder, and perhaps its time to harness the gift and use this strength.

What have you achieved?

In all honesty this has got to be my most unproductive month of 2018; literally, F*** all has been achieved on my to-do list for April.

To continue learning Forex using babypips
Review Trade system podcast
Review Buying and Selling
Promote and push BRG and Nw
Stretch 3 times a week
Physical exercise 2 days a week
Inform doctors of vaccinations
Meditate daily and visualise
Message friends weekly
Message/Speak to the family once a week
Complete a book a month
Listen to Blinkist once a week
Start to learn a new language – Daily Duolingo
Review Guest Bloggers
Review Podcast Guests
Prep Podcast Episodes

When you pair this with traveling and the experiences I have had it is understandable, we live in a world with so much beauty.
Sight is a gift and my two eyes have been blessed with some amazing and breath-taking places/landmarks.
Previously I trained myself to be in the present moment and commit the image to my brain, whilst other people were snapping their pictures I would just blink my eyes. Literally, Blink!

But, there’s only so much one can commit to the brain and just like that, I made a switch and was taking photos.

Here is one of my favourite photo from April taken using the Camera App – VSCO

krabi april sunset

 

What I find fascinating about this is how quick my views can change along with how self-talk can sometimes hold you back from change.

Battle with Social Media
This month saw me overcoming an internal battle which was using social media, for 5 years I was against social media due to the way I used it in the past. I was using it as a way to show people ‘Hey, Look at me, this is what I am doing‘ and seeking some type of validation

Fortunately enough I caught myself in the act and stopped using Instagram, but social media has become a norm in today’s society.
Despite this, my views were so strong I even wrote a lengthy blog article on the use of it and link to narcissist behaviour.

Technology advances have changed the way we interact, communicate and see each other, and if you don’t evolve you will be extinct.
So if I chose to be an outsider and not adapt with time I will be an outliner which is absolutely fine as well, however, I’m aware of the influence I could potentially have on people.
I understand how there is a need to break the “status quo“, how one person can enable others to see and do things they never thought was possible, and that’s the power of social media knowing which impact you can have on others.

 

What have you struggled with?

A few of my friends have asked me this very question – “Are you missing anything from home?”, my answer is “My Own Space”.

A conflictual thing about me is I can be an Extrovert along as an Introvert, and there are times were the introvert within me screams to be alone and that is difficult whilst travelling.

I have always loved my own space; I can easily spend days and weeks alone in my own space. I miss the days of being stuck in my room along with my whiteboard plotting my next moves, implementing changes on my website, brainstorming ideas or just watching movies.

What are you working on right now?

Trying to restore some balance in my life, a small amount of work has been completed, and my goal list has been deferred to the next month.

To avoid it happening again I have been trying to create a space for myself to be productive and do things, meaning waking up slightly earlier than everyone else just to do an 1/2 hours of work.

What are your future goals?

To continue learning Forex using babypips.com
Complete website for The BME Collective
Review Trade system podcast
Review Buying and Selling
Promote and push Best Revision Guide and Notesworthy websites
Stretch 3 times a week
Physical exercise 2 days a week
Inform doctors of vaccinations
Meditate daily and visualise
Complete a book a month – Bricking It
Listen to Blinkist once a week
Start to learn a new language – Daily Duolingo
Review Guest Bloggers for Tag Me In Podcast
Review Podcast Guests for Tag Me In Podcast
Prep Podcast Episodes for Tag Me In Podcast

How do you feel physically and mentally?

I miss the gym and the physicality of lifting weights; it’s interesting because I never thought I would miss the gym so much. Gym over time has become an outlet, a way to get those happy chemical pumping, a space I can process the day and what needs to be achieved with a sprinkle of creative thoughts.

With this awareness, I have tried to go the gym at least once a week, but even this commitment has become difficult because in the last 30 days of April I have been to the gym only twice.

Mentally I have been thinking about the future, taking a year out has been one of the big goals in my life and now it has been achieved there is a void.
What is the next challenge? what is the next goal? What’s another life goal? But I’m not rushing these thoughts and letting it naturally fall into place.

Anything else you feel is important.

  • How are you today? – Naturally, when I see someone I say “You alright/You good?” but because it is a common phrase a generic response is given.
    How are you today? Breaks out of that pattern and forces people to respond with something that is not a default response.
  • Mosquito bite? Press a hot spoon (e.g. the one you stirred your coffee with) onto the spot. The heat will destroy the protein that caused the reaction and the itching will stop.
  • The best trait of something can also be its worse trait – For example, a country with hot weather all year round can suffer from drought due to the lack of rain.

March 2018: Playing the long game

Posted on by Anton

What comes to mind when you reflect on the last 30 days?

Life is about playing the Long Game, over the years I have had many moments where I wish all my dreams could come true, wishing and craving that overnight success.

One of my favourite mantras is “Hold the vision, Trust the process“; it comes from a place of understanding that life is a journey, each step, fall and failure are essential in your life trajectory.

The important lesson is arming yourself with the ability to reflect, evaluate and learn from each moment.

March saw the beginning of my travels, as soon as the plane lifted off the runway a rush of thoughts entered my mind the strongest one was- “Congratulations Anton, you’ve done it“.

The thought was shared with a huge smile, saying goodbye to the UK was one of my proudest moments, not because I was running away from life in the UK but simply because travelling was a Long Game Plan.

…And when I say long game it was a 6-year game plan.

Stay true to your goals

I can remember vividly telling my friends at university about my outlook on the future; I was already disgruntled at the prospect of working a 9-5  (without even stepping foot into a 9-5). The plan has always been to take a year out just to recentre, re-energise and to explore and experience new cultures and different countries.

When I reflect on the past four years it includes some ups and downs, along with a number of doubting moments, questioning my why? Why am I doing this 9-5, Why am I in Bristol, Why am I saving? Why should I buy a house? When should I buy a house? Why should I travel?

Like most people in my generation I was guilty of wanting immediate gratification, I had to learn to appreciate the small wins that occurred on a daily basis rather than achieving the big goal. Small wins like being please with the fact you saved an extra £20 which will contribute to your house saving fund.

The power of vision boards

Vision is a powerful tool to have in your toolbox, by being able to visualise your goals you can almost put yourself in that position, you can feel, you can live that achieve even before it happens.

In times of hardship, you can turn to the visual board to give you a remainder and realign you with your goals, however creating a vision board is not enough, you have to make a little more effort and think and plan how you will achieve it.
We all have come across someone who declares their wants but never plan how they will make it happen, although some people have luck on their side but an action plan helps you understand what you need to complete on a day to day basis to ensure you achieve your dreams.

What have you achieved?

  • Created a passion board, during a conversation with a friend who was trying to discover his passion I mention creating a spider diagram to list all his passion.
    Passion Board

 

  • Along with the passion board, I created a characteristic board, we often align our characteristic with those mentioned in a job description/specification letter like hard working, works well in a team, adaptive etc.
    But what are your own personal characteristic? Are you funny, caring what would your description letter say about you?
    characteristic board

 

  • Life wouldn’t be the same if it wasn’t for Amazon Prime, leading up to my departure I ordered my whole backpack content which resulted in 8 separate Amazon delivers in a 3 day period and me and my Amazon delivery drivers becoming best of friends.

What have you struggled with?

When it all falls down, in my first blog post I mentioned I am a creature of habit, and this has completely fallen apart. Travelling from one place to another, to late night to early morning means there is no routine. There is no going to sleep at 10 pm, waking up at 6 am.

To be fair every day is like an adventure unless you intentionally chose to do some work then nothing will be done; you will often find yourself venturing out with random people or making new connections that you don’t have the time to focus on the things you should.

So what been the impact?

  • Communication – The aim to respond to people if it only takes 60 seconds has failed dramatic, I’ve reverted back to seeing messages and then responding at a later time
  • Reading – A habit I had was doing a blinkist every single day and making notes around it, and then spend at least 30 minutes each morning and before bed reading. That’s failed, every night my head hits the pillow and I am out like a light within seconds.
  • Meditation – The frequency of mediation has fallen from daily to maybe twice a week, but I know how important it is to time out of the day some I have been trying to do it whilst laying in bed in the morning.
  • Buying and Selling – Another failure is the buying and selling venture, factoring in the fact I rarely jump on my laptop, time zone difference and not being in the UK led me to pause my trading and enjoy my time out here.
  • Other business ventures – When it comes to my projects the foundation of them have been built, but I haven’t been able to analyse, review and make adjustments. With these projects, there is a need for continuous improvement – Kaizen

What are you working on right now?

Making your money work for you
April signals the end of a tax year and as a result emails flood my mailbox about ISA’s and saving and investment opportunities.
Our time at work is traded for an income which enables us to live but the advice from millionaire and billionaires is learn how to make your money work for you.. and make it work hard.

Saving as a strategy is good, but investing results in your initial input growing and over time becoming is more reward, however, it does come with its own risks take for example the L’s I took back in February when I saw my Cyptocurrency portfolio drop more than 50%.
Babypips.com has been a reoccurring goal on my list and is an excellent source for people wanting to trade in Forex (Foreign Exchange).

A habit taken from one of my favourite books (7 habits of highly effective people) is “Sharpen the saw” and this I have applied to my knowledge of on Stock trading. A resource that was recommended by an old colleague who himself made a 210% return on his 12-month portfolio was a podcast – “Better System Trader Podcast”, which is focused on systematic trading but does provide some key gems.

What are your future goals?

To continue learning Forex using babypips
Review Trade system podcast
Review Buying and Selling
Promote and push BRG and Nw
Stretch 3 times a week
Physical exercise 2 days a week
Inform doctors of vaccinations
Meditate daily and visualise
Message friends weeklys
Message/Speak to family once a wekk
Complete a book a month
Listen to Blinkist once a week
Start to learn a new language – Daily Duolingo
Review Guest Bloggers
Review Podcast Guests
Prep Podcast Episodes

How do you feel physically and mentally?

With the temperature being above 30 degrees something I am not used to in the UK, I am constantly sweating every moment of the day. Now to avoid dehydration I am drinking GALLONS upon GALLONS which is all good because it helps flush out my system.

When you factor in the fact that a hour long massage cost around £3-10 in Thailand you can only imagine how relaxed my muscles feel, all the aches and pains are being worked on a frequent basis.
One thing that has been highlighted is a shoulder issue which will need to be looked at by a professional, I was aware of the issue for over a year but opted to just rest it but during a massage it was decided to give a little which concerned the masseuse.

On a mental point, I am actually buzzing, we are now 5 months into my sabbatical and now embarking on a new adventure. At times it feels surreal and I’m not entirely sure if this is reality or a dream.

Anything else you feel is important.

  • Have a script to business cold calls – takes the stress out of thinking, you already have a template.
  • Only read thing or get contacts for “just in time” not “just in case” – there is only so much we can retain in our heads so why not focus on the importatnt and neccessary things
  • Create a healthy and stressless environment for my future partner when she is pregnant – finances, work commute, bills
  • We can not ignore our history it isn’t our past but our presents – Taken from I am not your negro
  • Pay off mortgage in shortest time frame
  • Seasonality is a thing in trading -December -People are using the Christmas break to plan their new year strategies
  • Learn how to deal with the stresses with the world, bills, expectation, as a parent your child will pick up these things indirectly – so be the best version of you
  • Being emotional – means you have more sensitivity to certain things.

 

February 2018: Evolve or Be Extinct

February 2018: Evolve or Be Extinct

Posted on by Anton

If I was to summarise the month of February then these words would sum it up perfectly -“Evolve or Be Extinct”

There are 7.8 billion people on earth, and we all have unique qualities and features which makes us who we are.

Gifted with our uniqueness it is up to us to work, refine and evolve these gifts. Simple progression actions on a daily basis can aid our evolution in life.

Technology has enabled us to grow at faster rates with information being at our fingertips.

Want to know how to lose weight… we google it.

Even Google statistic shows that “how” was asked more than any other question.

But we often take the “how” answer and never think “why?” – Not every piece of information is for us and meant for us.
Google may have returned the answer that eating 2000 calories a day will aid you to lose weight, but why is it that number?

It is natural to take the first answer, but try to go one step further as it could present deeper understanding and yet allow you to optimise your desired result.

 

What comes to mind when you reflect on the last 30 days?

The thought that comes to mind is gratitude, recently I turned to 27 and I was extremely thankful and blessed to see myself entering this new level in life.

I see birthdays as level ups and upgrades

So I turned 27 and for some reason, I started to think about what life would be like in my 30’s, will I be single? married? kids? Financially free? running my own business? owning a property? living in a different country?

The joke is I laugh now but I actually had to tell myself this “these answers will be answered when the time is right! “we can’t control all our feelings but we can change our actions.

What have you achieved?

  • Building and reinforcing friendships – in the quest of striving to better I often went a place I call “tunnel vision” and as a result neglected friendship. Awareness of this has prompt a change, I now make simple commitments like reaching out on a regular basis to arrange catchups. The social pillar is often the first to be compromised when in the zone but the rewards of maintaining is a beautiful thing – just think of those memories, laughs and sore cheeks.
  • Booked travelling – I’ve finally booked my outward flight (Bangkok – 20th March) to start my next adventure if you know me personally you would have been frustrated listening to me over the past 3 months talking about travelling….but I’ve finally done it.
  • Acceptance of other people’s opinions and views – it’s more an achieved from an internal dialogue perspective. I’ve come to a place where I value “uniqueness” and understand it stems from our difference in opinions.
    So when in conversation with people who have different opinion my inner voice says “Anton it’s ok,  yes that doesn’t make sense to you but it makes sense to them”
  • Courage to express yourself – On one of Tag Me In Podcast episodes, we touched on the regrets of the dying. I have had many encounters where I have reflected on a moment where I wished I acted and this episode echoed the importance of acting on your courage.

What have you struggled with?

  • Taking L’s from the stock market and the cryptocurrency market (although this doesn’t surprise me) but with all losses it good to reflect on what is happening in the market.

    Ask why the market is changing, and how to detect it in the future?

    I’ve been using tradebench to plan my trade and journal my trades, document why I got in, how long I will stay in the trade for and where to place my sell stops.

  • Planning my travelling this has been a challenge for me just the act of deciding where to fly to and when to go has been a challenge -it took two days of processing and a whiteboard to plan out the route – the hardest part was deciding did I want to start in Bangkok or Phuket

What are you working on right now?

  • Retail Arbitrage – As this is my main income source whilst on my sabbatical, I have been trying to build upon my current product line.
    • Using my current method of sourcing products I have found some new products that produce healthy returns.
    • I have also been trialling sourcing software to support the growth of the business, and find smarter and better ways to find products. There is no denying these software (FBAWizard and TacticalArbitrage) are powerful and can help find products with ease, the drawback, in my opinion, is that it is accessible to everyone meaning competitive but you still can make a £150 profit in a day.
    • Reviewing these sourcing software has made me question my own methods and how I can improve.
  • Working Smarter – Time doesn’t wait for anyone so organisation and discipline are important, I recently came across this article which has provided some structure to my projects – so now each project has a day dedicated to it.

What are your future goals?

March
Investigate other investment opportunities
To continue learning Forex using babypips
Review Trade system podcast
Implement lessons learnt from review sourcing software
Book a sport massage
Learn and use breathing Priming
Ask close friends about how they would describe themselves
Create a passion brainstorm
Reach out to bloggers for Tag Me In Podcast
Update Tag Me In Podcast website including SSL certificate
Prepare for my trip

How do you feel physically and mentally?

Being back in London I have been processing the difference in environments, and how they have had an influenced me in.

One of the biggest differences I can say about London when compared to Bristol is the energy, maybe born out of the rat race. In London, you come across more individuals striving to make a difference, which as a result makes you push on and want more.

However, this isn’t necessarily a good thing Bristol does have a more relaxed feel which was ideal for me when I first moved there. It was the perfect place for me to build my own foundation and navigate the challenges of adult life.

When it comes to physically my muscle ache and is screaming out for a sports massage and a steam room, this is probably because I have started incorporating cardio back into my routine.

Since moving back I haven’t committed to swimming or football so I have been doing cardio in the gym and have been playing around with high-intensity interval training plans on different machine (treadmill, rowing, step machine)

Anything else you feel is important.

  • Always get someone else with the expertise to verify – earlier this month I viewed a car which on the surface looked fine but after I got a mechanic to look at the vehicle they identified a clutch issue which could of been an expensive fix.
  • Roll onto your back when swimming – As someone who isn’t confident at swimming, I recently learnt that rolling onto your back allows you to catch a breathe especially if you haven’t mastered your breathing technique whilst swimming.
  • No man is perfect
  • You’re one book away from a breakthrough
  • Tweets with videos are six times more likely to be retweeted than tweets with photos
  • Listening to others is an important skill, but also empowering others to resolve their own problems
  • Home-owning neighbours can be wonderful, too, creating community. But the real value isn’t the investment, it’s the roof over your head, the satisfaction it brings and the memories it creates.

Hello January 2018, a New Year, a New Month

Posted on by Anton

 

What comes to mind when you reflect on the last 30 days?

I entered 2018 with a big change, I stepped away from my 9-5 to enjoy 12 months of freedom. As you can imagine this is a complete shift in the what has been a norm to me.

So how am I using this time?

Like any normal person, “relaxation‘ would be the first thought… Anton, you’ve broken away from the life and the schedule of a career, you can just wake up when you like and do whatever.

Born out of having this new freedom, my first realisation was …

I’m a creature of habit.

Habits, like brushing our teeth or tieing up your shoelaces, initially; was a challenge when we were 3 years, but over time they become second nature.
These habits are good habits are beneficial to life… without brushing your teeth you won’t be able to show everyone that beautiful smile.

So roll on the year what habit do I need in my life:

  • Waking up with energy
    I’m learning that being disciplined involves forming a bedtime hygiene and morning routine. Over the past 30 days, I’ve been consistently going to bed around 10, partially due to my silent alarm on my Fitbit which signals the time to start wrapping up.My phone goes into do not disturb at 21:30, and my mobile connection and wifi is turned off manually to avoid future distraction from social notification or WhatsApp conversation.

    Do not disturb

Once in bed, the aim is to calm down the brain, I spend my time recapping and reflecting on the day and planning what I need to achieve the next day.
Such discipline has allowed me to naturally at 07:00 armed and ready for the day.

  • S.A.V.E.R.S routine -ish – Anton Version
    Silence.Affirmation.Visualisation.Exercise.Reading.Scribing –  A routine from the morning miracle  It’s taken me years to learn that you can’t copy everything you read or see – ever seen a business insider article on habits of successful people and thought “yeah I can do that… I should do that”.The above is true when it came to S.A.V.E.R.S routine gives me a structure to build upon.My morning starts with:

    • Reading my Kindle for about 15-30 minutes (I’m currently reading “Oprah: A Biography” for about 15-30 minutes.
    • Stretch and reach for the sky and then make my bed… something I heard on TED.
    • Practice silence … well, kind of… I pick up my phone and rush to turn on do not disturb as notification. For some strange reason, mobile connection reinitialises itself.
      I then open up OAK  and put my headphones in.
      I don’t sit in silence, but head to the kitchen to make a smoothie.I focus on my breathing and checking in on the body, practising an act of mindfulness.
      I don’t focus too much on emptying the mind I just let myself be.
    • Around 15 minutes later, I’m back in my room and listening to blinkist, and taking notes on post-it notes – fueling the brain with knowledge.
    • As I draw close to end I look up and at my vision board and tell myself my mantra of “Holding the vision. Trust the process”

And that’s the morning Routine… Oh, what about exercise? – I try and go gym 3 times a week so once I’ve completed the above, Between waking up and the morning meditation I have about 30 minutes to do a filler task before heading to the gym usually around 9 am.

What have you achieved?

  • I’ve moved from living in a 2 bed flat in Bristol back home to a single room with my mum in London. Surprisingly the transition has been great… Aside from the packing,  unpacking, and the number of motorway driving up and down the M4.
  • I’ve improved my relationship with friends, perhaps because I’ve got more time, but I can plan and allocate time to speak to friends and reach out.
  • Passive Income is the way, mentioned a few times by various people like Tim Ferriss and Tony Robbins and others great mentors.So what does that mean, well I came across this formula which can help you understand how long you can live without an income:-
    • Money that is freely available to you / monthly expense = no of month you can survive without an income
    • Now if you can create a way of making money from passive to cover your monthly expenses then you one step closer to being free
      • So a rough calculation for myself was if I spend £1,200 a month on expenses, then I need to generate a passive income to cover that.- so the aim is to generate £80k and get a 15% return on that a year – achievable?
  • From buying and selling electronic via Amazon FBA I have made £2700 profit in the month of January so that is positive, being free from my job has allowed me to explore and push other ventures.
  • From trading stocks, I made a 12% return over the year, not quite the 15% I am aiming for but still relevantly good, so what does that mean? I need to improve right.
    • The month of January has been spent learning about FOREX trading – it literally leaves my head spinning, but resources like babypips.com and GOForex do help you along the way.
  • Filing taxes – All goods come to an end, not a saying I believe fully but it was true when it came to selling.
    When Amazon suspended my selling because I exceeded the sales number for an individual seller, it felt like a nail in the coffin or an unnecessary block in the road.
    It slowed me down but meant I had to learn how to register my business .. QUICK… in my panic, I turned to Just Answer website and paid £40 for this answer.
    Don’t get me wrong this is probably obvious to people but something about registering a business is not exactly clear, filing your self-assessment is scary as well – but watching a youtube video brought me back to a calm place and saying “Is That it”.

Sometimes the unknown scares us

What have you struggled with?

  • Emotions, I don’t believe in being the perfect individual or the finished product (I don’t think you ever will be). But I have had time to reflect on the wrongs, mistakes and the way I have acted towards others in the past.
    Sometimes it difficult to believe the way you acted in the past, the funny side is at that time you felt you were right and you had a reason for your behaviour.
    For a while, I had been having thoughts about a previous relationship, and realising a lot of wrongs, the thoughts usually came when I was driving up and down from Bristol to London. Becoming aware of the potential impact it could have on the people’s life did leave a taste of shame, I wanted to reach out and seek forgiveness.We as individuals need to forgive ourselves, you can’t go back in time and change things.We need to stand in front of the mirror and see the reflection, don’t hide from it or cover it up. Talk to that reflection and tell it you were wrong if you were, and how we can move on from this moment? What can we learn? What do we need to change? and then forgive yourself and accept that past version of you.Trust me that doesn’t always work, after an evening of drinking with a friend I woke up at 02:00  and struggled to fall back to sleep.
    AND what do we do in this moment of time THINK… staring at the ceiling was not my definition of fun so I decided to get pen and paper and write everything that came to mind – it was RAW thoughts no processing involved, once completed.The trick is to write everything down and not read it once complete, just simply put it aside.

What are you working on right now?

  • Delegation – letting go of some task I complete, like scraping websites for retail arbitrage opportunities, writing blog content for Best Revision Guide.
    I’ve been using Fiverr, and Freelancer to source out potential employees.
  • Working Smarter – little adjustments like planning and reviewing my to-do list, prioritising activities based on importance and ensuring my energy is spent in the right place.

What are your future goals?

February
To purchase a car to rent out via easy car club
To continue learning Forex using babypips
Review Current Site and understand Notesworthy traffic source
Make Notesworthy about banknote collectables
Promote BRG using content via Fiverr and have a brainstorming session with actionable goals completed
Find a Virtual assistance to help with daily retail arbitrage
To actively improve my health by eating better
Going Gym 3 times a week.
Build Beach Body, by researching tips and applying them
 Practice Meditation early in the morning
See at least 4 friends, by reaching out with dates to catch up
 Read Blinkist and other books to increase mind
 Improve Tag Me In Podcast listenership either via collaboration or startup technique
Drive BMW i8 to be a birthday present, to be a source of fun

How do you feel physically and mentally?

Mentally I am feeling good, I’ve overcome a number of challenges in the month of January but been blessed with the opportunities of having time and the ability to focus on them individually.

Physically I am battling with being back in the gym and getting the balance between rest, food, nutrition, so there are often times where I need to have a 10 to 15-minute nap.

Anything else you feel is important.

  • “Only do thing that is a hell yeah” – Don’t settle for things that you kind of want to do
  • Remove the number 7 from your scale (1= being bad, 10= being great) – 7 is an in-between number that we usually go to be safe
  • A funeral can be a celebration of life, try and think about your own and explore and imagine what people will say about you.
  • “If something will take less than 5 minutes, just do it!” – Sometimes it’s easier and more efficient to act on the stuff that will take 5 minutes to complete
  • Don’t idolise people, identify what characteristic you like about them – it enables you to focus on what characteristics or skill you need to learn yourself.
  • Learn to be more enthusiastic – people like enthusiastic people, you harness an energy and a likeability.
  • Learn how to make people feel a way, every conversation you have pay attention, listen well.
  • Seek for a partner that you can grow with, and avoid feeling weight down by – change is inevitable seek a relationship where you can grow in.