Think of every magnetically amazing person you’ve ever met.

Think of all the times when things just clicked and you pulled off something big.

Think of the greatest experiences you’ve ever had.

…what do all of these things have in common and how can you make them happen more?

Get Excited.

That’s what all those amazingly magical experiences have in common.

People you’re drawn to. Magnetically. People who you just want to be around, who make you feel great around them. They get excited. They get excited about life and whatever they’re talking about and doing.

Those times when you clicked. When you pulled off wonders. When the clouds parted and cartoon birds started flying around a neon rainbow, complete with the pot of gold – ...

There’s something really inspiring about a rap battle.

…about the whole ghetto thing actually – the idea of coming up – the “I will make this happen no matter what” mentality.

The whole scene makes my ambition wanna bust a freestyle.

So my good friend Mike came by my house a couple of nights back to jam before we went out to party and own the night… and while we were hanging out, I remembered how excited I got while listening to a rap battle on the radio earlier in the day so I looked through my movies and put on ‘8 Mile’. Yip. The Eminem movie.

Threw on the battle scene, right at the end, where Eminem lyrically emulsifies his opponent and the whole crowd, ...

Get up. Go make tea. Sit down. Run through your music. Browse the internet. Get up. Lie down. Get up. Sit down. Pick up a book. Doodle. Get up. Do something, anything but what you should be doing.

I used to be a pro at procrastination.

Last minute pressure and the drive to always understand whatever I was doing usually made me pull through deadlines and make it happen but I would always put things off and get distracted.

Then one of my best friends and one of the most successful people I know explained his goal process and how he managed to become a millionaire in his early twenties, retired after completing an Actuarial Science degree – one of the most difficult degrees out ...

There’s no such thing as a Buddhist butcher.

…there just ain’t.

‘Who you are’ and ‘what you do’ isn’t the same thing, but there is an interesting link between them.

A. Very. Interesting. Link.

It’s like what you do rubs off on you, but it’s way more than that. It’s like the stuff that rubs off on you magnetically pulls who you are to what you do… and you become more like what you do, the more you do it (since more stuff rubs off on you).

It’s like the possessed evil jungle vines in that movie Jumanji, what you do grows on you, so to speak.

And the longer you do something and the more involved with ...

Focus is what you direct your attention to, what you allow into awareness.

But it’s way more than that – to say it’s just that is like saying that the screen of your computer is your computer. The screen is just the output of the processes happening in the computer.

Focus is a process.

Way I see it, focus is what you zoom in on and the process of focusing is the process of zooming in on things.

…as though the process of focusing is zooming in with a video camera where the screen of the video camera is your awareness, what comes up in your mind, the output, and the process of zooming in and out on different things is the process of focusing. ...

This one might be a little controversial…

It’s a cautionary tale of sorts…

…about Self-Help. Personal Development. Ah funny stuff.

I have nothing but love for the whole “personal development industry” and nothing but love and respect for anybody that tries to improve their lives. I really really mean that.

I’ve been in this for a while – the whole “self-improvement” thing – and it’s helped me more than I can say.

I’ve read stacks of books, watched lists of movies and done a whole lot of courses. From all angles – from traditional “Anthony Robbins” style ‘go get ‘em’ type of thing to full consciousness eastern teachings, and everything on the way. I’ve even been to India and sat cross-legged in dark caves with nomadic Brahmin who wear ...

Feeling good is a choice.

It is. But not the choice you probably think it is.

“Stuff happens, moods and feelings happen, emotions happen, it’s how it is. Sometimes I feel good and sometimes not…right?” Yeah. Kinda.

Feelings don’t just happen, you create them.

You feel good when certain things happen and bad when other things happen. You feel good when you’re wearing a new shirt. You go out and you’re walking on golden wisps of happy sunshine, owning the night. Then your lucky shirt breaks. Why?

The shirt was never lucky. You made it lucky. Really. You decided that it was your lucky shirt. Then it wears off, pardon the pun, when you’ve worn it a few times or whatever other condition that you’ve made up for ...

Long Street, the main party street in Cape Town, is characteristically alive. It’s 3AM.

An unusual buzz engulfs a table outside The Dubliner, “The Irish Pub” – karaoke hotspot for drunken locals and tourists alike on the palatably vibrant Long Street, thick with every type of colour, sound and smell.

I weave through the hoard of gleeful spectators to see that the table is strewn with pitchers of beer, full and empty shooter glasses, a battered wooden dual clock speed timer and in the centre of the table, lit up by the saturated focus of the cheerleading crowd and two heated competitors, a chess board.

The competitors are immersed in the game, quickly moving their pieces before smashing the wooden stopwatch to start the other player’s ...