OK So the past 2 days have been among the busiest since I became an entrepreneur. Because of this, I have once again decided to merge 2 days worth of "recap" into 1 post. Considering it is after 1:00am, I will let myself off the hook :)

Monday (day 22) was a great day in terms of productivity. I took my daily photo, ate a healthy breakfast, spent time with my wife and son and got a great start to my day bright and early. After a full day of development on the new version of IGNITE YOUR ESSENCE and putting the final touches on a goal setting workshop for a local university, I had all kinds of energy left for the "dreaded" monday workout.

I call it "dreaded" because it is my most challenging workout of the week. I do 6-8 heavy sets of chest and back weight lifting followed by high intensity cardio. I usually finish the session with a completely soaked T shirt!!

I want to jump ahead to TODAY which was Day 23. Instead of going forwards let me go backwards. About 2 hours ago, I went for a jog. That's right...a jog at almost 11:30pm. I was officially the latest workout of my life. But it was literally the first opportunity I had to workout and the thought of breaking my streak after 22 consecutive days was MORE PAINFUL than the fatigue I had to overcome to get my shoes and jogging pants on and go for it!!

It was actually an amazing experience to kind of "observe" my mind, and be able to ignore the voice trying to rationalize why I should take a day off and get back tomorrow. I did NOT WANT to give in to this voice because my goal has become so strong and the excitement of being almost 1/3 of the way through is awesome!

For my own purposes and for the readers of this blog, I want to document the activities of my day:
7am - Rise and Shine after a long night getting up with my son (I think he is teething
7am-8am - Family time, breakfast, morning prep
8am-9am - Email responding and some research
9am-10am - Work on the website
10am-11am - Final touches on my Workshop for the university students
11am-12:30 - Drive to university
12:30pm-2pm - Pre-workshop classroom prep and meet with coordinator
2pm-630pm - Delivered back 2 back 2 hour workshops (a TON of fun. great people in the course. very positive people too)
630pm-830pm - Drive home
830pm-1030pm - Work on website
1030pm-1130pm - Up with Thomas. he is still having problems with his teething :(
11:30pm-12am - Late night jog (23 straight days baby, woo hoo!!)
12am-2am - FINISHED WEBSITE...IT is up and running. check out igniteyouressence.com

So, the point is, it was a LOOOOOOOONG day but I had no problem sticking to my fitness committment EVEN though it was after 11pm, EVEN though I was exhausted from delivering 2 workshops and driving 3 hours. This is a great system of staying committed. Just by virtue of having this blog, it is keeping me committed because I don't want to have to admit to my readers that I was unable to stick with my plan!

SUGGESTED ACTIVITY - Get an ACCOUNTABILITY PARTNER as soon as humanly possible. Work with this partner to hold you accountable for one of more of your goals. Why? Well, as you can tell from my 90 day program so far....IT WORKS. You will LOVE the results, I promise

After staying up extremely late last night in an attempt to make extra progress on my website, I got a very late start to my day and missed out on some fun outdoor time with Thomas.

Year 1 as an entrepreneur has called for constant persistence and some personal sacrifice in terms of free time. While my wife and I are both entrepreneurs working primarily out of our home, you would be surprised how difficult it is to schedule some time together to just hang out as a couple. We are both working through it to make sure we remember to balance but I think the key lies in personal productivity which has been a big topic for me lately.

When we were both employees, we never had the workload demand that we have now. It was good from the perspective of planning your day and having evenings off to relax...but not so good from the perspective of making the most out of life and going for our big dreams and aspirations.

With a never ending workload, I am constantly looking for opportunities to prioritize and cut non-critical tasks. I am trying my best to apply the 80/20 rule but our businesses are still so new that we often don't know which task fits in the 80 category and which one fits in the 20. We will keep plugging away and every little win we get in our business is another reminder of the happiness and freedom of following our dreams.

In terms of my challenge, I'm feeling great. Today being day 21, I find it interesting that this was the first day I did not even think about the challenge until it was time to go for a workout at 8pm. I have read in certain books that anew habit can form in as little as 21 days so that could be the reason why I didn't even think of it.

I might experiment with adding new, supportive habits after day 30 just to enhance the experience and accelerate my goal achieving process. Tomorrow I will do a weigh in and see where my personal bodyweight stands.

Got off to a great start today. Its amazing what a full night of sleep can do after a couple of really long and physically punishing days.

Jessica was off again first thing this morning for another Chocolate meeting with someone from our downline. This business is awesome and it is really taking off. Its also a ton of fun working together on such a great project with my wife. She is so determined and dedicated and really believes in the product.

Jess was gone until 12:30 then we all headed to her parents' new home which they will be moving into on Monday. They got the keys early so it was a busy day of cleaning and preparing. My main job was to take care of Thomas which was awesome as always,...but again, very demanding. He is honestly the most active 1.5 year old ever... I love it!

I was once again able to produce great quality work during Thomas' 2 naps today but it was not enough time to complete everything I needed to work on...more on that in a minute.

Jessica helped her parents for the rest of the day and got home around 8pm to help put Thomas down. Again, it was already 8pm and I had once again not had a workout. I did not want to settle for a short basement routine. I looked outside and it was raining pretty hard...but I decided OUT OF THE BLUE..to go for a run. I had not been out for a jog in about a year. I mostly do cardio at the gym or on the bball court. \

The run was AMAZING. Something about running in the rain with my hat and hood on seemed really cool. I felt like I was this prime time dedicated athlete. Which is cool because the 90 Day challenge pretty much mimics the schedule of a pro athlete. I ran for 45 minutes without stopping and I covered what I'm guessing was 5 kilometers...but I honestly can't say for sure. Maybe I will drive the route tomorrow and check for future reference.

After my run, I was PUMPED to get my night going. It is now 3:20am and I'm done for the night but that run really gave me the boost I needed. I have hardly felt any fatigue (until this minute lol) which usually kicks in around 1:30am on the nights when I work late. My legs and knees are pretty sore so I'll have to do a spot check in the morning and see how I feel. Either way, one thing is for sure... I WILL keep going and Day 21 is as good as "in the books".

YEAH BABY, I just put an X through day 20 :=)

The past couple of days have been very busy and my computer time has been drastically cut down, so I decided to double up this recap.

Yesterday was a good day in terms of balance. I spent the first half of the day doing some very focused work on the next release of my website www.igniteyouressence.com (should be ready by monday). Jessica took Thomas to the pumpkin farm...which I was disappointed to miss but it gave me lots of quiet time at the home office. When they got back I had an opportunity for some family time, I cooked dinner for Thomas and helped with his bathtime and other night time fun stuff.

After that it was workout time. Thursday nights is pickup basketball at my gym so I have no trouble getting ready to go for that. I love playing bball and it was a great run. The tough part happened when I came home. My wife was super busy getting ready for a conference for our network marketing business www.chocolatylation.com. Usually after bball, I like to come home, have a shower and relax or maybe write an article if I'm up to it. On this night, I had to dig deep for the endurance to stay up until almost 3am helping her finish up order forms and other administrative stuff.

That is what made today my TOUGHEST DAY YET since starting the 90 day program. Jessica was gone all day which meant it was the boys day at home. Now, for readers without childred, let me clarify something. No matter how hard you work or how demanding you business is, PARENTING is the hardest job you will ever have. Thomas is the busiest kid in the world and he stayed true to that title today.

The good news is that I love every minute of it but every single stay at home mom or dad needs to be applauded for their efforts. Its a HUGE..but very rewarding job. The problem today was the fact that I played a very high intensity game of bball on Thursday night and then only slept 4 hours. I usually get about 7 hours after bball which gives me the energy I need. So needless to say, today was indeed tiring and another test of persistence and endurance.

During Thomas' naps I was actually able to get quite a bit of work done which is surprising. Its amazing how you can perform when you have deadlines to hit.

I have to be completely honest though. If every day of this challenge felt like today, I do not think I would be able to finish.... WAY too tiring.

When Jessica finally got home from the conference she was naturally very tired as well. We both teamed up to get Thomas everything he needed for his evening (dinner, bottle, bath, brush teeth, read story, etc...). I had still not had a workout at that point and I was in ZERO mood for one. After getting ready to go to the gym, I decided against it and went to my basement for a quick shoulder and ab routine. Normally this would not be enough but with my level of fatigue, I still stuck to my goal which is "some form of physical activity every day".

It's a great feeling now that the day is over to know that I stuck with my goal and stuck with this 90 day program even in the face of today's challenge. I have a feeling the next few days are going to feel much easier!

WOW...First thing I want to comment on about today was the degree of difficulty of my workout. I did my standard weight lifting/cardio split. I do the stairmaster at high intensity for 15 minutes. I did the exact same speed as many other workouts but for some reason, I could barely finish today. I was completely exhausted at the end.

Also, I usually leave the gym with a renewed feeling of energy. Tonight, it was not the case. I think it is a very obvious signal from my body that I need more rest tonight. And I am listening. I am actually going to bed for 11pm which is the earliest bed time in recent memory. I think a good 8 hour night sleep will help me have a much more productive day tomorrow.

On that note, I completed a 5000+ word document in record time this week as a result of my renewed focus on staying concentrated. In the past, the same document would have taken me over a week to write. It also helps that I am getting much more comfortable in my profession and I am more confident than ever in my capabilities as a coach and motivator.

My colleague and good friend Ted has also been putting in crazy hours to get our latest version of igniteyouressence.com released. We are planning to have the entire thing completed by Friday of this week. The latest version is the result of months of study, research, planning and implementation. We are very excited and we are confident that our subscribers AND new visitors will love it.

We both honestly believe in our hearts that Ignite Your Essence can help anyone and everyone looking to improve the results in their life through personal development. The latest release of the website will make it very clear that we are here to stay!

As for the 90 Day Challenge, I am still as committed as I was on Day 1 and I am definitely noticing the ease at which I am adapting to this new lifestyle. I'm looking forward to documenting more of my progress as the days go by.

This is justin popovic signing off!

I've decided the change up the format of my 90-Day Challenge recaps. The intention is still the same - I want to track my mental and physical state of being as I work to instill this new habit into my life. What I've decided is that I don't necessarily want to grade myself every day on different aspects, but rather, provide a more descriptive personal account of how I am feeling as the days go by.

Something that struck me today was that it is only day 16 of this challenge and I'm already doing most of my activities without thinking. I wake up in the morning and grab my camera for my daily shirtless photo (for new readers, I am tracking my physique as I work towards my goal of toned abs and peak cardio conditioning). I have been eating very well... no depriving myself whatsoever but just making sure I am eating responsibly and not over eating.

Another personal development lesson I have been ingraining in parallel is the ability to focus on staying concentrated on a single task, for prolonged periods of time. Well, as of about Day 12 of this challenge, I have noticed that my focus has become much stronger.

I wrote over 3500 words yesterday which is probably a personal record. It didn't even feel like a chore because I was so focused on the task that the creative ideas flowed fast and easy (amazing feeling).

From a workout perspective, today was a test of my committment. My wife ended up having to go to an unplanned meeting and so I was left home alone with Thomas for the majority of the afternoon and evening. The only way I was going to get a workout was to do one at home. I have no equipment so I formulated a 15 minute high impact cardio and ab routine that worked AMAZING. I was soaked with sweat and felt like a got a proper workout. Its amazing how innovative one can be when there's no other choice!

One last comment of note... I found myself battling a slight feeling of negativity when I looked in the mirror and realized that I don't notice any difference in my body shape. After 16 days I thought I would have...but I did not dwell on this thankfully. I used my focusing power to direct my mind back to the fact that I still have 74 days to go. I am working with the UNDERSTANDING that I am creating a lifelong habit. INSTANT GRATIFICATION is not part of the equation. COMMITTMENT to this new lifestyle will ultimately produce the results I desire. I KNOW this is true for my fitness goals and I intend to prove it is true for all of my LOFTY life goals.

HERE WE GO!! I'm pumped and re-motivated to keep the journey going!

See you on day 17
Justin

ANOTHER very productive day! I have been especially focussed on balancing between work, family, fitness. Today I spent quality time on all 3 areas.

What was especially interesting was the fact that I started my day focusing on family and helping my wife with some overdue chores around the house. In the past, I would have wanted to skip those chores so that I could focus on my business. What happened today was, I gave some time/energy to something non-work related but something that gave me the feeling of success and productivity. Even though it cut into my work hours, I was 10 times more productive with my business tasks because my mind was in a state of 'productivity'.

So, its not necessarily the quantity of time we put into a task that produces results, but rather, the quality. So the new question I am asking myself is "how can I get into a head space of high quality productivity?"

A summary of my day:
7:00-12:00pm Family time and overdue house chores
12:00pm-1:00pm Email and phone calls
1:00pm-7:30pm Content creation for coaching and speaking
7:30pm-9:00pm Weights and cardio workout
9:00pm-10:00pm Dinner and Family time
10:00pm-12:00pm More email, study and research

As of Sept.22 (Day 15 of 90):

Mental Toughness - 10
Physical Energy - 6 (operated all day on 4 hours sleep)
Self Confidence - 9
Persistence Threshold - 10
Faith That I Will Complete This Successfully - 10

It has officially been 2 weeks and I am still motoring along with persistence and energy towards my goal!

My wife got up early with Thomas so I was able to have a bit of a Sunday morning sleep-in which was great!

It was another very productive day but it was also an important family day. Sept.21 marks the anniversary of my grandfather's death. He was killed in Yugoslavia when my father was young (12 years old I believe). We got together with my dad, stepmom and sisters to remember him today. This is an important tradition for our family.

It was also a great opportunity to catch up with everyone. I got to spend a lot of time with family this weekend and for that, I am very grateful!

A summary of my day:
8:30am-11:00am Family time and some studying/reading
11:00am-12:30pm Get together to remember my grandfather
12:30pm-3:30pm Met up with a good friend to catch up. Played hoops to take care of my fitness requirement for the day. I won the game!! (sorry Mark lol)
3:30pm-4:30pm Email and Business talk with Jessica
5:30pm-7:30pm Alone time with Thomas
7:30pm-2:00am Working on Ignite Your Essence (writing and content development)

As of Sept.21 (Day 14 of 90):

Mental Toughness - 10
Physical Energy - 9
Self Confidence - 9
Persistence Threshold - 10
Faith That I Will Complete This Successfully - 10

Today was a day that I would classify as a balancing day. I devoted the majority of my time and energy on my family, and it was great!

An interesting challenge I faced today was fatigue. After sleeping 5 hours last night, I had to dig deep to find the immediate energy required to keep up with my son Thomas bright and early in the morning.

The cool thing about getting up in the morning is that even though I may feel quite tired and groggy when I first open my eyes, I can move forward with enthusiasm knowing that I will feel alive and energetic in a few short minutes of playing with my son!

I had a nap this afternoon, which is very rare, but it has given me the extra boost of energy required to get through the rest of my evening with pep in my step!

Here is a summary of my day:
7:00am-9:30am Alone time with Thomas, feeding him breakfast and playing
9:30am-11:00am Sorting email, working on our Xocai chocolate business
11:00am-1:30pm Family time with Jess and Thomas and watching our niece Olivia
1:30pm-5:00pm Golf with Jess and her brother and his wife (great rec time!)
5:00pm-6:00pm NAP!!!!
6:00pm-7:00pm More family time, Thomas dinner time
7:00pm-8:00pm Shooting hoops as my daily cardio workout
8:00pm-10:00pm Dinner with Jess, watched part of a movie on TV
10:00pm-12:00am Working on Xocai and writing content for my business

Today was the first day where I really felt exhausted in terms of the sleepy feeling.

My mind was SCREAMING to allow myself to use my round of golf as my exercise activity for the day. But the agreement I made with myself was that I would do some form of cardio workout every day...hence the hoops session (which was awesome after my nap).

As of Sept.20 (Day 13 of 90):

Mental Toughness - 8
Physical Energy - 6
Self Confidence - 9
Persistence Threshold - 9
Faith That I Will Complete This Successfully - 10

Now that I am wrapping up week 2 of my 90 Day Challenge, I am going to make a point of documenting my days more frequently.

Today was an extremely productive day but it was also a true test of persistence. I began my day at 9am Friday morning and I am finally wrapping things up at 1:15am Saturday morning. I probably had a total of 30 minutes break today! While I would not recommend this type of workload for a long stretches, it was mentally satisfying to successfully accomplish what I was able to do today.

In summary, here was my day:
9am-12pm Website development and content development
12pm-1pm Family time and Lunch
1pm-2:30pm More content development and business research
2:30pm-4:00pm Meeting with Coaching Client
4:00pm-5:30pm Grass Cutting (it was WAY overdue!)
5:30pm-9:00pm Booth Assistance for out Xocai business
(Listened to Robin Sharma Personal Development coaching en route to and from this event...got some GREAT ideas to implement)
9:00pm-10:00pm Workout at gym
10:00pm-11:00pm Time with my wife Jessica
11:00pm-1:00am Content development

The reason I am logging these activities is to have a journal of my tasks. It would have been VERY easy in the past to decide to SKIP my workout after such a long day. I would have made the excuse that "cutting the grass" was enough of a workout to qualify for physical activity.

Now that I'm doing this challenge, I *knew* at a core level that I didn't even have the option to skip the gym. If i did...the challenge was over and I would have to start again!! I was not prepared to go there.

So, the great aspect of this challenge is that I do not allow myself off the hook as easily as I might have in the past. Personally, I REALLY like using this as a forcing function. By the way, once midnight hit, I HAPPILY put another big blue 'X' through another day on my calendar.

That is now 12 days complete on my 90 Day challenge and I am looking forward to continuing the journey.

For the purpose of this challenge I have also created the following scale to measure my state of mind and state of physiology (1 being low and 10 being high). Check it out....

As of Sept.19 (Day 12 of 90):

Mental Toughness - 10
Physical Energy - 7
Self Confidence - 8
Persistence Threshold - 10
Faith That I Will Complete This Successfully - 10

This is my first post on this topic...so allow me to introduce the concept.

I am currently engaged on a personal challenge that I'm calling the "90 Day Reprogramming". I am going to spend 90 consecutive days INSTALLING a new habit pattern into my life.

The challenge can be summed up as follows -
90 consecutive days of the following:
- Take a shirtless photo of myself in the mirror every day
- Take part in physical exercise EVERY day
- Maintain a healthy, balanced diet
- Drink ONLY healthy drinks (I'm not a heavy drinker but I'm eliminating the weekend beer entirely)

But there's a twist. You see, I'm not just doing this to promote a healthy lifestyle. In fact, I already feel I live quite healthy.

What's the twist you ask?

I have a theory/philosophy that I would like to develop into a coaching program. I believe that the biggest challenge we ALL face when it comes to achieving any goal in life is:

THE ABILITY TO GIVE YOURSELF AND INSTRUCTION AND FOLLOW IT.

While I have done a good job with my health and fitness since becoming a professional in the personal development industry, I have yet to reach my peak fitness objective in terms of body shape and tone.

For the past year, I have been going in cycles where I am committed to healthy eating and fitness for a few weeks, then I "let" my workload prevent me from going to the gym for as long as a week at a time. What I have been lacking is CONSISTENCY.

With this "90 Day Reprogramming", I am using my fitness goal as a tool to really do something much more important (and profound if you want to call it that ;)) ...

I'm giving myself a command and using this challenge as a forcing function to follow it through to completion.

Once I have PROVEN to myself that this is possible, I will have gained self esteem, confidence and personal power to KNOW that I can accomplish ANYTHING I truly commit to.

Please check back here at my BLOG regularly as I will be documenting my mindset and my physiology as I go through this challenge!

To All Of Our Success!
Justin Popovic