I come from a big family. On both sides of the aisle, mine and my wife’s, we have over 200 close relatives. We also have a large network of close friends and acquaintances.

I recently turned 56. As you get up there in age, you begin to think about your mortality. My recent focus on my mortality has opened my eyes to something that bothers me a great deal – far too many of those I love seem to be aging more than others. The ones who are showing more wear and tear have a few things in common:

• The don’t exercise on a daily basis
• They eat in excess
• What they eat is unhealthy
• They are overweight by 30 pounds or more
• They smoke cigarettes
• They drink too much alcohol
• They have lazy minds – they don’t read a lot
• They seem to lack motivation or seem to be bored with life
• Their health is starting to fade – hearing problems, high blood sugar, difficulty walking, back problems, breathing problems, high blood pressure, liver issues, digestive issues, frequently sick, etc.
• They have more wrinkles

Conversely, I’ve also notice that there are a few, not many, who seem to have defied aging and they also have certain things in common:

• They don’t eat a lot of food
• They exercise aerobically every day
• They lift weights
• They eat healthy
• They don’t smoke
• They drink alcohol in moderation
• They are thin and muscular
• They have active minds – they are voracious readers
• They are highly motivated and excited about life
• They have a youthful glow about them

It’s jarring to see the ones you love aging before your eyes. It’s clear to me that your daily habits show up in the mirror. The good news is that you can change that reflection by changing your daily habits. You will age, but how quickly will you age? It all depends on what you do right now. Will you allow your poor daily habits to shorten your longevity? Or, will you take control of your life and slow the aging process down by changing your daily habits? 

Arteries are blood vessels that carry oxygen-rich blood from the heart to your body. When arteries get clogged, blood flow is reduced, depriving your body of oxygen-rich blood. Over time, arteries can become so clogged, that a stroke will result.

Types of Arteries:

• Carotid Arteries – Arteries that carry oxygen-rich blood to the brain. Symptoms: Breathing problems, sudden weakness, confusion, severe headaches, loss of consciousness, blurry vision, trouble with speech,, dizziness, unexplained falls, and loss of coordination or balance.
• Coronary Arteries – Arteries that carry oxygen-rich blood from the heart. Symptoms: chest pain (angina), pressure in chest, jaw, arms, shoulders or back.
• Renal Arteries – Arteries that carry oxygen-rich blood to the kidneys. Symptoms: loss of appetite, nausea, tiredness, concentration problems, numbness, itchiness and swelling of feet or hands.
• Peripheral Arteries – Arteries that carry oxygen-rich blood to arms, legs and pelvis. Symptoms: pain or numbness in arms, hands, shoulders, mid-section of body.

The buildup of plaque in these arteries is known as atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries. Plaque narrows these arteries, making it difficult for blood to flow inside these arteries, leading to damage of the endothelial cells that line the arteries.

How to Reduce Plaque in Your Arteries

While the exact cause of clogged arteries is still a mystery, there are certain things you can do to reduce plaque:

• Aerobic Exercise – Forces widening of the arteries by increasing the volume of oxygen-rich blood that flows throughout all of your arteries.
• Tumeric – The primary polyphenol in turmeric called cur cumin has cardioprotective effects on your arteries by reducing LDL (bad cholesterol). Always take turmeric with pepper.
• Garlic – Studies have shown that garlic can help unclog your arteries.
• Ginger – Ginger has anti-inflammatory effects and anti-oxydative effects. Ginger has artery-protective compounds such as likeshogaols and gingerols, which act to reduce plaque buildup inside your arteries.
• Cayenne Pepper – The compound capsaicin, found in cayenne pepper has been found to help unclog arteries. Cayenne pepper has also been found to lower your risk of stroke or heart attack.
• Lemon Juice – Drinking lemon juice every morning is a Rich Habit that will help reduce blood cholesterol levels and prevent oxidative stress.
• Vitamin C – High doses of vitamin C have been found to strengthen arteries, reduce total cholesterol, increase LDL levels (good cholesterol) and reduce inflammation.
• Cinnamon – In a 2003 study published in the journal Diabetes Care, one gram or more of cinnamon was found to lower triglycerides, LDL, and total cholesterol in the arteries.
• Ground Flaxseed – Helps unclog arteries with its high fiber content. Also helps to keep arteries free from plaque. by 46%.
• Fermented Cabbage – Also known as Kimchi, this Korean recipe of fermented cabbage and hot peppers was found to slow the atherosclerotic process that leads to clogged arteries.
• Sesame Seed – The fatty acid content of sesame seeds was found to help reduce progression of atherosclerosis, reduce overall blood cholesterol, reduce triglycerides and LDL.
• Pomegranate Juice – The punicic acid in pomegranate juice is an antioxidant that helps reduce plaque formation, unclogs arteries and contains nutrients for good heart health, such as magnesium and selenium.

Your daily health habits can either keep your arteries free from plaque buildup or contribute to it.

When you look in the mirror are you proud of the person you are or of the person you are becoming?

One of my old friends, who eventually became a deca-millionaire, told me that it was his mirror that told him he was on the wrong path in life. He said that when he used to look in the mirror, he would see a zombie – someone who was just going through the motions, existing. He hated looking in the mirror.

Eventually, he became so disgusted looking in the mirror that he decided to change what he was doing in life. His major change required that he pursue a dream he had been burying for some time. The pursuit of this dream disrupted his family because it involved risk and sacrifice. But, once he embarked on his dream, the reflection in his mirror changed. He began to see someone of significance. Someone he respected and admired.

The Mirror Test is a way to help you identify if you are on the right path in life. When you are on the right path in life, when you are pursuing something that challenges you every day and fills you with passion, it shows up in the mirror. You begin to like what you see in the mirror.

Are you following any strategy for success? Don’t worry, most aren’t. And that’s the problem. You see, success, and the wealth success creates, is just a process.

Here are some questions intended to help you jump start and create your own personal strategy for success:

• Which path towards success are you following: Path #1 = Pursuit of a Dream or Path #2 = Living Below Your Means (saving money and investing that money)?
• Do you have a vision of your ideal perfect life?
• Is your vision in writing?
• Do you have daily habit goals?
• Do you have any dream goals you are pursuing?
• Do you have a To-Do list with your daily habit goals listed?
• Do you block off time every day to pursue your habit goals or dream goals?
• Are you pursuing growth every day by reading to gain knowledge or by practicing and perfecting some skill set?
• What specific relationships are you trying to develop that will help you realize your dreams and goals?

These questions are intended to cause an itch that you feel compelled to scratch. Not having a success strategy means you are not pursuing success. And not having a strategy for success lumps you in with 95% of the population. And that’s not where you want to be.

A little boy, hooked on science fiction books, had a dream of one day going to Mars. Today, this little boy runs SpaceX. SpaceX made history in 1998 by being the first private company to send a rocket into space. This little boy’s name was Elon Musk.

Another little boy dreamed of being the best golfer in the world. He lived and breathed golf every day. His dreams were filled with visions of winning golf tournaments and lofting trophies over his head. By age 24 this little boy had won 17 PGA tournaments. That was back in March of 2000, a record that still stands to this day and is unlikely to ever be broken. That little boy was Tiger Woods.

A short, undersized boy, with a speaking impairment entered Kent College. He had a dream of one day becoming a college football coach. No one in his family had ever gone beyond high school. In 1988 Notre Dame finished 12-0, having beat Miami (then #1), USC (then #2) and West Virginia (then #3). That short, undersized boy with a lisp, was Lou Holtz.

When you take action on your dreams, you will be flooded with passion. That passion allows you to break through any obstacle, overcome any adversity and take you anywhere you want to go.

Dreams make the best Chauffeurs.

The path to habit change is via repetition. The more you repeat a behavior, the stronger the neural pathway becomes (aka synapse) and the stronger the synapse becomes the more permanent it becomes.

Eventually, strong synapses will be marked as a candidate for a habit by the basal ganglia. The basal ganglia marks a synapse as a habit by reaching its neural tentacles ( dendrites) up and out until they touch the synapse. Once this occurs, the synapse becomes a habit and will remain so for most of your life.

It’s not easy to forge a new habit. Some habits take more time to form than others, depending on the complexity of the habit. According to a 2009 University College London study, this habit timeframe can range from 18 – 254 days, with the average being 66 days to forge a habit.

In the early going, forging a new habit requires the brain to work harder than normal. Energy, primarily in the form of glucose, is called upon to power the newly forming habit synapse. At times, during this habit formation process, the brain will fight you on habit formation when the stores of glucose run low. This is commonly referred to as decision fatigue – periods of low willpower.

The trick to habit formation, during periods of low willpower, is to trick the brain into believing there is no need to put up a fight. This is where Strategic Cheating comes into play.

Strategic Cheating is a habit formation shortcut that avoids decision fatigue and fools the brain into continuing the new habit formation process.

Here’s how it works. Habit formation requires repetitive behavior. Oftentimes, this new behavior requires a commitment of time. Thirty minutes a day of aerobic activity, for example, can quickly deplete the stores of glucose readily available and cause a loss of willpower, triggering the brain to send a signal to other parts of the brain to cease and desist from the new habit formation activity. The key to preventing this from happening is to cheat.

When your willpower energy is low, instead of engaging in 30 minutes of aerobic activity, cheat – only engage in 5 or 10 minutes of aerobic activity. This cheating stops the brain from sending out the cease and desist order and the brain will not fight you or prevent you from engaging in the new habit.

Strategic Cheating works in forging new habits by allowing the new synapse to strengthen, without causing decision fatigue. In time, the synapse will strengthen and eventually the basal ganglia will mark it as a habit. Once it is marked as a habit, the brain will no longer fight you when you engage in the habit.

Come on. Did you really think I would have research on why drinking beer is a Rich Habit?

Well, actually I have something to share that you might call a stretch as it relates to beer drinking being a Rich Habit.

Rich Habit #6 – Everything in Moderation

You might find this piece a bit counterintuitive, since I spend so much time expounding on forging good habits and eradicating bad habits. But I’m also a realist and I know none of us are angels. We all do bad things every now and then.

What separates the successful from the unsuccessful, however, is the successful moderate the bad things they do in life. And, sorry to say, beer is one of those bad things. So is wine, hard liquor, smoking pot, Oreos, White Castle hamburgers, etc.

They’re all bad for your health and every time you go overboard consuming these bad things, it’s like opening the door and inviting cancer to walk right through. Why? Because too much of these bad things create free radicals (free roaming electrons inside cells) and too many free roaming electrons do two things:

1. Bounce off the nucleus inside cells, mutating your DNA, potentially mutating your DNA, causing cancer and
2. Damage telomers (caps at the end of every chromosome), damaging chromosomes, which can then mutate, causing cancer.

Because I’m here to help, I want you to know that it’s OK to engage in bad things, but only if you follow Rich Habit #6. When you consume beer, wine, hard liquor or smoke pot in moderation, your amazing body has the ability to fix any damage that you do.

But when you violate Rich Habit #6 and do bad things in excess, your body gets overwhelmed and is unable to clean up or repair the damage you do.

So, in order to keep the door closed to cancer, stick to Rich Habit #6. Do what you want to do, just do it in moderation.

Any mental thought, often repeated, becomes a habit. Habitual thoughts make you who you are. Millionaires are rich because of the way they habitually think. Their habitual thinking comes first and their habitual behavior follows. If you habitually think a certain way you will habitually act a certain way. To become rich you have to learn how to think like a Millionaire. What are some of the thinking habits of Millionaires?

• Millionaires Believe in Themselves: 79% believed they could rise from poverty or the middle-class to wealth. 90% did not believe in fate. They believed they were the architects of their lives.
• Millionaires Believe Hard Work Trumps Intelligence: 90% believed hard work was more important than a high IQ.
• Millionaires Believe Persistence Creates Good Luck: 92% believed they created their own good luck by relentlessly pursuing something they were passionate about. They were persistently patient in their pursuit of their dreams and goals. It took the average person in Millionaires 12 years to succeed in their realizing their dream and becoming rich.
• Millionaires Are Optimists: 54% believed their optimism was a critical factor in their success.
• Millionaires Control Their Emotions: 81% made a habit of controlling their negative emotions such as anger, envy, resentment and hate. This made it easier for others to do business with them.
• Millionaires Believe Honesty is the Best Policy: 85% told the truth all the time. They never lied. Being perceived as honest helps build trust, a foundation for success and strong relationships.

Constant communication is a prerequisite to building strong relationships. Millionaires are great communicators and because of that they are able to build strong, long-lasting relationships. What are some of the communication strategies I uncovered in my research?

• Millionaires Do Not Gossip: 94% avoided gossip. Most gossip is negative and can do irreparable harm to your relationships. Since Millionaires are fanatics when it comes to building strong relationships, gossip is something they avoid like the plague.
• Millionaires Make Happy Birthday Calls: 80% made happy birthday calls to the people who were important to them. Happy birthday calls serve to keep your important relationships on life support but 25% of those you call will reciprocate and call you on your birthday, taking your relationship off life support.
• Millionaires Make Hello Calls: 80% regularly called those they wanted to build a strong relationships with. One of the tools they used was the Hello Call – regular calls to say hello and gather information on your relationships.
• Millionaires Make Life Event Calls: Life event calls, such as calling someone to congratulate them on the birth of a child, an award or a promotion, creates strong emotional bonds that allow you to grow strong relationships. Making a life event call is like putting your relationships on steroids.
• Millionaires Vet Their Thoughts: 94% did not say what was on their mind. They restrained themselves. This allowed them to gather their thoughts about how to effectively communicate something that was important.