Subj: Learning to Live without Limits with Audio Books.

Note: I get on my soapbox in the beginning of this article and stay on there for quite a while. If you want to cut right to the chase, scroll to the bottom of this article for some kick-ass audiobooks that will change your life for the better.

Iron and Grit is all about Fitness; Physical and mental Fitness.

Being physically and mentally fit means you function and excel in your environment.

You must be mentally fit to survive and thrive in this day and age.

The way we live is evolving. The Human race is making technological and scientific breakthroughs at lightning speed.

It’s your choice to embrace it, endure it, or be engulfed by it. Ready or not, life is moving fast and it’s not waiting for you. This can be both scary and exciting.

You can ride the wave, create the wave or get swallowed up by the waves. It’s sink or swim and your future, bright or grim, is determined by your preparation. Got it?

Competition is fierce and it’s only getting more intense.

You hear this all the time. But you know what you don’t hear nearly as often?

To The Victor Goes The Spoils.

And the Spoils are more bountiful than ever. More money, more opportunity, more prestige, and more power exists today than ever before in history – and it’s all yours for the taking.. if you’re up for it.

You first need to know what’s out there. Second is to acquire the know-how. Know-how is just knowledge + the right action applied appropriately.

To be fit is to be competitive, and to be competitive you must learn and apply knowledge to add value to other people’s lives.

“Help enough people get what they want and you can have anything you want in life.” – Zig Ziglar

You must become a producer and have useful skills.

Survival of the Fittest in Modern Times

It is and always has been survival of the fittest. However, this doesn’t mean to become a savage brute wanna-be alpha male. (Spend some time on hardcore powerlifting and bodybuilding forums and you’ll know what I’m talking about).

These guys are strong and dedicated to their craft, and that I respect. But their over the top machoism and perception of manliness is skewed. Many powerlifters and bodybuilders are broke. This isn’t a jab at them, it’s an observation.

I choose to be very wealthy and very fit, and will do what it takes to be both –

Six-Pack Abs and Seven Figures Annually is My Goal.

But, back to the point –

Things are changing. Just take a look around. Look at the difference between the Baby Boomer generation and the Millennials.

The jocks used to get all the chicks. Now the nerds are getting the action. Nerds are in demand because they have the skills that fit into today’s world.

As time goes on, we really more on our intelligence than physical power. As society elevates its consciousness, and quality of life improves, we are collectively becoming our higher selves and society is reflecting this.

We are transcending the physical realm and lifting ourselves up mental power and higher thinking. And our higher self is achievable through the mind. Higher thinking is needed to manifest things from ‘vision’ into physical reality.

What this means is that you can achieve Uber-Elite status by becoming an academic-gentleman-warrior hybrid that can handle himself in any situation with confidence and get shit done in the face of opposition and adversity.

Discovery Breeds Opportunity and Motivation

You were born knowing nothing.

As you live your live and interact with the world, you begin to understand things and form judgements.

I never wanted a Ferrari until I saw a Ferrari.

How could I have wanted one before I knew it existed?

Experience can invigorate and motivate.

You can try to learn, through your own experience, everything you need to be successful, but it would take you a thousand lifetimes.

Experience is a great teacher but you won’t live long enough to learn everything through experience. Learn through other people’s experience by reading. It’s the ultimate life hack.

Walk into a library and you’re looking at the collective knowledge of every person who has ever lived.

Books can open the door to bigger and better things by simply conveying an idea you never knew existed. It can be the catalyst to a new life without limits.

The more you learn the more you realize there’s more to learn.

It never ends. Take comfort in that. Let it lead you and propel you forward.

To live without limits you must know there are none. Society puts limits on us. From the day we are born we are conditioned by our parents, teachers, and peers.

Reclaim your freedom by expanding your horizons and gaining perspective.

Readers are Leaders and Learners are Earners. This is 100% true. People follow confidence and confidence comes from knowing. When you know something for certain it’s easy to be confident and lead the pack.

How to Make Time for Learning in a Time-Crunched World

Building a body take a long time. It’s a commitment and serious time investment. However, this doesn’t mean you should let your mind fall by the wayside.

Being ripped is great, but if you have the mentality of pea-gravel you’re going to meet a lot of frustration in life.

Limiting your knowledge and learning will limit your relationships, professional success, financial success, even spiritual success and well being. Learning will make you a better leader, boss, employee, parent, child, boyfriend, girlfriend or spouse.

You’re ‘mental training’ should be equal to or exceed your physical training in terms of time spent.

Learning, thinking, and solving problems should take up a good portion of your day.

This doesn’t mean let your body degenerate. You need a healthy body to have a healthy mind. Your body and mind are connected. An ailment in the body can effect the mind, and vise versa. it’s a continuous feedback loop. You need to maintain good posture, proper breathing and move your body to keep the machine running smoothly.

Use Audio Books to Maximize Your Potential

IN the fitness community alone, there are HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of people that are in just as good of shape as the iconic Fitness gurus BUT they don’t have the know-how, desire or knowledge of what’s achievable!

It’s not that they aren’t capable, it’s just that they aren’t aware of what’s possible or they don’t know where to begin.

If you don’t know where to begin, then begin with yourself by listening to Audio books.

Audio book streaming is the greatest invention since the internet.

You can learn the equivalent of PhD in any subject you want within a matter of months.

Your mind is a muscle. If you want any type of success in life you need to realize that your brain is the number 1 muscle. Having a strong body is great, but if you have a weak mind you will be several limited in life.

The number one way to train your mind is to fill it with knowledge. Reading books can take a bum off the streets and put him in the penthouse if he desires.

Audio Books Are Changing the Game

The greatest (and richest) people in history had an insatiable appetite for knowledge. Learning, thinking, experimenting conditioned and sharped their minds to achieve great things and become inspirations to us all.

Ben Franklin would go without food so he could buy books. FEED YOUR MIND. The body follows the mind and you must possess a strong mind to make full use of a strong body.

Insecurities, doubt, anxiety seem to disappear when I read. I think this is for two reasons:

The first is because I’m filling my mind with new ideas that make me feel motivated, powerful and think of how i can use the knowledge to live a richer, better life.

The second is that your mind-space cannot be occupied by negative thoughts and feelings if it is filled with positive ones. Consistent and persistent in your approach to learning. This isn’t one-and-done. it’s a lifelong effort it’s a mental paradigm shift and lifestyle change.

The problem is that I don’t have time to read. Add this to the fact that I’m a very slow reader and I’m looking at 1 month to finish a book.

That’s 1 month before I can apply the knowledge and hopefully I remember what i read on the first chapter while finishing the last.

How can you keep up and surpass the competition? How do you achieve true, mental fitness?

There’s an Easy solution:

Audio Books

The great thing about audio book is they are hands free. So you can listen anywhere no matter what you’re doing.

Boost your cerebral stimulation while doing chores, showering or using the bathroom. Make the most of every second. Someone else is.

I listen to audiobooks every morning. While getting ready for work, on my drive to work, while cooking, cleaning, etc.

Listen to audiobooks on 1.5x speed or 2x speed. You can ingest more information faster.

This takes some getting used to at first, but after a few minutes you will adjust and the pace will begin to seem normal. You’ll be surprised at how much content you retain while taking in information at this rate.

Listing to audiobooks on 2x will make everything else slow down. Meetings at work and conversations will be easier. You’ll be able to listen actively and get ahead of the conversation. Your listening comprehension will improve drastically.

I finish a 10 hour audio book in 2-3 days. Thats 3 books a week. Do this for a year straight and you will be a knowledge master in any subject you choose. And you will gain new tools you can apply immediately to improve your work and life.

Earn a “Real World MBA” by teaching yourself. Learn about ANYTHING you want. Increase your marketability, value and self-esteem.

What to jump start your personal and professional growth, here are some audiobooks I personally recommend:

Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill

This book changed my life. It completely changed the way I look at things and was part of the reason I double my salary in one career move.

The 10x Rule by Grant Cardone

Summary: Get massive results and live the life you want by taking massive action. Grant Cardone is in-your-face no-holds-barred approach to kicking ass and getting everything you want out of life.

Sell or Be Sold by Grant Cardone

Whether you realize it or not, if you aren’t selling something, you’re being sold. People are constantly jockeying for position around each other.

People with ambition, desires, goals and plans will use you to achieve their goals and desires. There’s nothing wrong with this and this book can be a wake up call for those of you that are sick of being other people’s doormats.

First you need to sell yourself on what you want out of your endeavors, second you need to sell your ass off to others to get them on board with you so you can build the life you want.

Oh yeah, and you gotta have the goods. You gotta deliver. And that’s where the obsession to be great comes in…

Be Obsessed or be Average by Grant Cardone

the greatest people, the icons, the mythical the ones that everyone knows and have monuments built in their image. These guys were obsessed to no end with their goals and achieve their desire.

They had a single purpose and obsession to delivering that purpose at unprecedented levels. Their obsession fueled their ambition, kept their nose to the grind stone while others were our partying, loafing, celebrating and telling the obsessed to “just chill”.

Average is as good as death for the winners. The winners obssessed over every detail and put in the work to catapult themselves into the top page of the history books.

If you want to make an impact, you need to be obsessed with making an impact. Just trying it to ‘see how it goes’ will get you nowhere fast.

Relentless: From Good to Great to Unstoppable by Tim S. Glover

This book was totally unexpected for me. The reason I picked it is because the best compliment I ever received was when I worked in sales and a stubborn prospect called me a ‘Relentless Mother F*cker” because of my persistence and unwillingness to accept No for an answer.

Tim Glover trained the greatest basketball players including Michael Jordan, Kobe “Black Momba” Bryant, and Dwayne Wade.

Glover trained and conditioned these all stars mentally and physically to perform at super human levels against the greatest competition on Earth.

This book delivers and peels away the mystique to high performance and success.

Indomitable will forged with countless ours of practice and unyielding desire to improve every damn day and become the best at what you do.

The Obstacle is the Way by Ryan Holiday

This is the millennials guide to stoic philosophy and approaching life challenges with determination and resolve.

This book gives you tools to handle our chaotic lives, get a grip and push ahead in a world for of distraction, exaggeration, and complex challenges.

The One Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results by Gary Keller

This book has some acclaim so I decided to check it out. It was well worth the listen because it teaches you how to proactively manage your time by focusing on your most important work.

You’ll learn that multi-tasking is a lie and that really it’s just single tasking a bunch of things along side each other, not really getting anywhere fast with any of them!

Focus like a laser beam on one task and one task only. Give it all your effort and energy. Do great work and move on to the next important thing. This book caused me to re-evaluate my approach to work and life.

These should be a good start. You should be able to listen to all these within a month. I listen to these multiple time. 4, 5 even 6 times. Each time you listen you will pick up on something else you missed before.

Audible Subscription. You can try a free month by clicking the preceding link.

After the trail is over, it’s about $15 a month and every month you get a credit with you can exchange for a free book.

$15 a month for unlimited knowledge?

How much do you spend on cable, netflix of xbox live each month? this is a no brainer. We live in a time where unlimited information is available to us.

Don’t squander your short time on the Little Blue Dot. Make the most of it. Make the most of yourself. A single line from one of these books can turn your life around or propel it faster into the positive direction you want to go.

Seriously, your fortune is on the other side of all this knowledge. It’s up to you to put it to work.

Your Brain is a Muscle so Train it Like One

Even if just in a metaphysical sense, your brain is a muscle and must be trained like one. Listening to audio books will give you the knowledge and tools to train your brain.

The more you learn, the more lines that develop in your brain. These lines increase the efficiency of ‘data transfer’ and organization through your neuro-pathways.

The more ‘definition’ you have in your brain, faster you make connections to learned information and the better your concentration and focus will be.

Just like your muscle gets stronger with each rep, your mind gets stronger with each sentence you read.

Put a good brain and top of your good body and the world because your playground.