Notes & Quotes: The Primal Method by Gregory Koufacos

The following are my favorite quotes from Gregory Koufacos's The Primal Method: A Book for Emerging Men.

1. The brain has an entire system, the mirror neuron system, that stimulates growth and change. When two people are in regular contact with each other, there is a mirroring effect, meaning they will be influenced by the other person's energy and direction.
2. Get involved in society. Find the community that breathes fresh life into you. In this way, you will build a life.
3. We make promises until we feel the weight of those promises.
4. What's your level of integrity and initiative?
5. Imagine your life as if it were a series on Netflix. Would you tune in every week to watch it? Would you want binge the whole season? Would anyone else be interested? If the answer is no, then it's a sign that you're stagnating and need to make some major changes. If you yourself would not be interested in watching your own life play out on television, that is a red flag that you are not really engaged with your life. You need to be invested in your story in order to guide it, shape it, and to make it happen.
6. You know what happens when the same man travels down a different road? Unless he really changes, he just repeats his journey. The road changes, but the road runner remains the same.

Notes & Quotes: The Power of Discipline by Daniel Walter

The following are my favorite quotes from Daniel Walter's The Power of Discipline: How to Use Self Control and Mental Toughness to Achieve Your Goals.

1. The best way to build self-discipline is to remove yourself from temptation. For example, if you are struggling with your diet, replace your cupboard of unhealthy foods with healthy choices and meals. When you go grocery shopping, stay away from the aisles selling sweet treats and immediately make your way to the aisles stocking healthy foods. By using these strategies, your willpower is only tested during the time you spend in the store, as opposed to trying to resist the temptation to eat your stash of cookies in the cupboard every evening over and over again.
2. Your level of self-discipline will control your level of success in your place of employment, relationships, finances, academics, etc.
3. Inactivity leads to one place--failure. 
4. A self-disciplined person is confident because, regardless of where they are at the moment, they know that they are the best version of themselves. They are eating properly, exercising, and working towards their goals. They feel good about life because they are in the driver's seat, and they know exactly where they are going.
5. People shouldn't be afraid of failure; they should be scared of regret. The feeling of looking back on your life and wondering "What if..." will torment you worse than the feeling of having tried and failed.
6. There is only one difference between successful and unsuccessful people, and that is the habits they follow each day.
7. Bad habits are developed by failing to do the most important things in the morning.
8. The core of self-discipline is doing what you need to do whether you feel like it or not. Inaction and making excuses and identical twins; there is no difference between them because they both lead to the same destination--failure. If you are going to wait until the conditions are just right, you've already lost the battle because when you want to something, you are not stepping out of your comfort zone. 
9. If you want to win in life, forget about focusing on the outcome, focus on the system you are going to use to get to the outcome.
10. One of the most helpful things you can do right now on your journey to improved self-discipline is to remove the word "try" from your vocabulary. This minor change will transform the way you see yourself and boost your self-esteem. The way you think is not the only thing that shapes your life. Your words have power whether you say them out loud or in your head--they influence the way you see yourself and how far you succeed.
11. There is no escape from pain and suffering, and this is also true when it comes to achieving your dreams. If you are going to achieve anything worthwhile in life, you will need to give up something. 
12. Top performers fail all the time, but they understand that all they need is a couple of major successes to set them up for life--the same principle applies to you too.
13. Your life is a reflection of the decisions you have made, and if you want a better future, it's essential that you start making better decisions.

Notes & Quotes: Make Your Bed by Admiral William H. McRaven

 The following are my favorite quotes from Admiral William H. McRaven's Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life...And Maybe the World.

1. If you make your bed every morning, you will have accomplished the first task of the day. It will give you a small sense of pride and it will encourage you to do another task and another and another. By the end of the day, that one task completed will have turned into many tasks completed. Making your bed will also reinforce the fact that little things in life matter. If you can't do the little things right, you will never do the big things right. And, if by chance you have a miserable day, you will come home to a bed that is made--that you made--and a made bed gives you encouragement that tomorrow will be better.
2. Like the small rubber boat we had in basic SEAL training, it takes a team of good people to get you to your destination in life. You cannot paddle the boat alone. Find someone to share your life with. Make as many friends as possible, and never forget that your success depends on others.
3. It is easy to blame your lot in life on some outside force, to stop trying because you believe fate is against you. It is easy to think that where you were raised, how your parents treated you, or what school you went to is all that determines your future. Nothing could be further from the truth.
4. You will pay for your failures. But, if you persevere, if you let those failures teach you and strengthen you, then you will be prepared to handle life's toughest moments.
5. Life is a struggle and the potential for failure is ever present, but those who live in fear of failure, or hardship, or embarrassment will never achieve their potential. Without pushing your limits, without occasionally sliding down the rope headfirst, without daring greatly, you will never know what is truly possible in your life.
6. At some point we will all confront a dark moment in life. If not the passing of a loved one, then something else that crushes your spirit and leaves you wondering about your future. In that dark moment, reach deep inside yourself and be your very best.
7. Of all the lessons I learned in SEAL training, this was the most important. Never quit. It doesn't sound particularly profound, but life constantly puts you in situations where quitting seems so much easier than continuing on. Where the odds are so stacked against you that giving up seems the rational thing to do.
8. Remember...start each day with a task completed. Find someone to help you through life. Respect everyone. Know that life is not fair and that you will fail often. But if you take some risks, step up when times are toughest, face down the bullies, lift up the downtrodden, and never, ever give up--if you do these things, then you can change your life for the better...and maybe the world!