Last week Friday, It has been 90 days since I walked out of the Galen Center in Los Angeles. I had just experienced an intense 4 days. For 4 days, From March 23 – 26, I attended the program Unleash the Power Within from Tony Robbins. Some people say it will change your life, others say; life will never be the same. Both of these statements are true.
Picture by Emmeil Davis with permission
Apart from getting more focus in what I want in life, a drive to concentrate and do more meaningful stuff and a need to refocus on my relationship with my wife to strive to a higher and more loving relationship, there was a full day focussed on health. Right there and then, I committed to pursuing a cleanse of my body, to get rid of all acids and unhealthy stuff that had been building up in my digesting system for years. The cleanse is pretty intense, but if you condition yourself to focus on the outcome, you can endure any difficult diet. And what’s more, I just walked over fire, so how difficult can a 10 day cleanse be?
Picture by Michelle Hardesty with permission
The 10 day cleanse program consists of 4 actions. The actions are focussed on eliminating 4 groups of food/acids from your diet, which in general are bad for you if you over consume these. The rules of the 10 days cleanse of these 4 groups are:
- No dairy products; Damn, I like cheese!
- No sugar or white (refined) flour; Damn, you mean I can’t eat any of my beloved Dutch licorice?
- No meat or fish; Damn, I like my BBQ-ed steak
- No acids, so no coffee or alcohol; Damn… I mean… Damn!
For 10 days, I followed this challenge religiously. After 9 days, I said to myself, I can do more… so I went for 30. After the 30, I started to re-introduce some of the other products but stayed away from coffee & alcohol.
Don’t think about what can happen in a month. Don’t think about what can happen in a year. Just focus on the 24 hours in front of you and do what you can to get closer to where you want to be.
Now, as last week Friday, I’m at day 90 without alcohol approaching 100 days. I just had a couple coffees in the last week. The results are amazing. I lost over 6 kilo (over 13 lbs).
Was it difficult, yes and no. Yes, it was difficult not enjoying a good wine when I had dinner with our friends from Third Door Media when they had wrapped up a conference in San Francisco. No, it was not difficult, because I know why I do it, and what it will bring me long term; I’m much more productive and been working towards a couple of long term goals I would like to achieve for me and my family.
You’ll never change your life until you change something you do daily. The secret of your success is found in your daily routine
What I got back from it is a similar experience as my friend Jon Henshaw describes:
The other thing that’s changed significantly is what I call my brainergy. I feel more alert and energetic. I had no idea just how much alcohol was physically depressing my body and my mind. I’m sure it’s also because I’m eating healthier now, but not drinking alcohol has made my mind significantly more sharp and intellectually motivated.
Now, every night instead of sitting on the couch with a glass of wine, watching uninteresting TV series or the CNN reporting of the shit show of politics in Washington, I’m working out on my reclined bike or working on side projects. I get so much more done. I’m starting to like this new found time…I even finished my first book in years, where I always had an excuse of not having enough time to read. Pff… that is just bullshit! And what’s more, I lost a ton of weight (6+ kilos) in the process too. More on that in the next post!
I can say that I‘ve been very impressed with the impact the UPW conference has had on me, and the way I use what I’ve learned there.