You're never too busy to live Healthy, Wealthy and Wise!

"We all too often define our business before ourselves and forget that our business is just an empty vessel driven by our direction" -Elias George Kirallah

You can have a rewarding life and be happy; it is still a reasonable goal in the 21st century. Yes, the economy is crazy and uncertain. It probably feels like you are working harder than ever. You’re probably tired and overworked right now, reading this article on your smartphone, right? It doesn’t matter; you can still have it all! 

It’s not easy to truly feel like you’ve reached some level of fulfillment in this day and age. But you can do it. You’ll need a plan of course, and the discipline to follow through. And you’ll likely have to change your mindset and approach your life with a new perspective. 

I did all of this, and I changed my life. I am happier, healthier, and more fulfilled than ever before. Yes, I still work too much, and my life is fast-paced. But through my efforts to improve the way I was living, I have found something truly important and invaluable: peace. And you can, too. 

But getting here was a long journey. 

The Man in the Mirror 

"Many people die at twenty-five and aren't buried until they are seventy five." -Benjamin Franklin

I started out in real estate 14 years ago, when I was just 18 years old. Back then, I was obsessed with making my mark on the industry; I didn’t think twice about how I got there. I sacrificed my time, my body, and without the end in mind, I did whatever it took to ensure my success. And I did achieve considerable professional success. I survived the economic recession, no longer felt the pressure of scarcity my balance sheet, and traveled whenever I felt like it.

However, when I looked in the mirror, I didn't like the guy staring back at me. I felt like I had died at 30 and was no longer really living, an empty vessel driven by work. Yes, I was financially secure, but I still felt something was missing. There was more to all of this than just making money and building a business, right? My health became in question, and I worried about whom I would be staring at in the mirror when I turned 50 and I didn't think I was going to make it to 75. 

And while my business was successful, other areas of my life had fallen into disrepair. I’d been an athlete and had always taken my health and physical fitness seriously. But those cares somehow were left behind as work, status and achieving in business took precedence. One day, I stepped onto the scale, and it said I weighed 312 pounds. I remember thinking what is a business worth without me living? 

That horrifying moment on the scale was a clarion call for me. I realized then that I was morbidly obese, and my health was affecting all other aspects of my life. I found myself lethargic at work; it was challenging just to engage with clients. From then on things changed. Now looking back at the man in the mirror, I see a healthy man that just happens to do business. 

The Long Road Back 

"Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise" -Benjamin Franklin

I had started many fitness programs unsuccessfully over the past 12 years. I’d join a but would never find the time to go work out. I’d get excited by some new fitness trend, but quit when I didn’t see an immediate improvement. This time would be different, though. 

I hired a trainer who shared my same first name and happened to be my cousin, and we got right to work. It was intimidating at first. He was a natural bodybuilder, a former Mr. Ohio who had started his own personal trainer business. I was at a low point in my life, not happy with who I was or how I looked at all. But enough was enough. The past had happened and I had to invest all of my faith and energy in my trainer, and we pressed forward. 

I stopped thinking about what I thought I knew about fitness and gave in to the process. My personal trainer introduced me to the concept of "functional eating," a way of eating for a purpose that benefited my blood type. He planned out my meals and natural supplements I would be and developed a rigorous training program. He left nothing to chance, and we executed my regimen with military precision. 

It was rocky at first. The temptation to stray from my routine was agonizing. And make no mistake; the functional eating food plan was bland. I often just wanted to quit and have a cheeseburger. However, I committed and stayed the course. 

I learned to ignore my and maintained my diet and exercise routine. It was never easy to do this, but it was particularly grueling in the beginning. I realized I had a lot of emotional attachment to food. Food had managed to become my therapist, my comfort in the storm. I also realized how much it controlled my mental state, and how little control I had over it. 

Nonetheless, I stayed committed. Thirty days into the plan, I had lost nearly 30 pounds and had stayed true to the program. I felt better than I had in years; the cravings had subsided, too. After weeks of avoiding junk food, I no longer desired it. And good riddance! It's a wonder that I didn't have a heart attack at some point prior to this. 

As my weight dropped, and my health and fitness improved, I realized that many of the lessons I learned on this journey could be applied to the business side of my life as well. Here are a few of them. 

Finding My Baseline 

"Sacrifice is a down payment on prosperity" - Elias George Kirallah

Success, especially when you are starting out with modest means, often requires sacrifice. I call this sacrifice reaching the Baseline, the foundation I would build my ideal life upon in order to live healthy, wealthy and wise. In order to get in shape, I had to sacrifice what was comfortable, and maintain only what was essential. Mostly, I had to cut fat out of my life! 

I detoxed my pantry and refrigerator. I stopped drinking alcohol and avoided the activities and social crowd surrounding it. I replaced my evening scotch and cigar with preparing my meals for the next day and planning my schedule to improve the business. This all was a major life change for me, and it wasn’t easy. But I set a challenging goal and knew I’d have to sacrifice to achieve it. 

I cut the fat in my business, too. I stopped counting my success merely by the number of hours I logged in each week. Instead, I concentrated on making the time dedicated to work worthwhile. I found that limiting my time at work made me more focused and disciplined; my time was now more valuable. 

I also discovered that leaving earlier helped keep my life more balanced, too.

So, as I cut the fat in my work and personal life, my life approached something resembling equilibrium; I had found my baseline from which I would build the life I desired to live healthy wealthy and wise. But I still needed a plan to take everything to the next level. 

Make a Plan 

"He who fails to plan, is planning on failing" -Winston Churchill

Most major businesses develop a strategic plan that outlines their quarterly and annual goals. It’s a foundational document that helps guide a company’s managers as they make big and small decisions. If it works for Google and Exxon, why couldn’t it work for me? 

For years I struggled with developing goals for myself when it came to fitness. And without goals, I let myself go. However, things were different now, and I knew I had been given a guaranteed plan for success. If I was to live healthy, wealthy and wise, I had to learn to follow a plan that encompassed my goals. 

So, much like a business, I followed a functional diet and exercise plan. The plan included parameters for how I was supposed to eat and work out each day. More importantly, it included monthly, quarterly, and long-term objectives. The plan helped guide my decision making every day when it came to my health. It kept me on track to reach my short and long-term goals. 

And the plan worked! I dropped the pounds, I had more energy, and even my joints felt better. Following the plan not only got rid of the flab on my stomach; I had a six-pack now! Having clear guidelines kept me focused each day. It ultimately helped me reach my short and long-term objectives, and was critical to my success. 

Once again, I looked at the success I’d had with my health, and knew it could be applied to improve my business as well. I realized that, though I’d been a successful real estate professional, it was often due to sheer willpower more than anything else; I simply worked harder than any of my competitors. But I’d never had any sort of plan to guide me. So I wrote one! 

I painstakingly developed annual objectives for my business, which included sales, revenue, profit and growth goals. Then, I set benchmarks I needed to reach each quarter in order to achieve the annual objectives. Having a plan changed everything. My business was more profitable, and experienced growth of nearly 300%. 

Developing plans was critical to my success. A plan, to me, is much like a paint-by-numbers canvas. I saw my health and business goals as pale outlines on that canvas, with the numbers guiding where I needed to apply focus. Much like a paint-by-numbers canvas, the plan took a lot of the guesswork out everything for me when it came time to act I executed with precision. 

Which brings me to my next topic. 

Action 

"Action is the catalyst for change" -Elias George Kirallah

Plans are great, but the action is what leads the train out of the station. The best business plan in the world is worthless if a company doesn’t have the skills and dedication to implement it. If I was going to live healthy, wealthy and wise, I had to change. I had to be ready to put my plan into action. 

"Procrastination leads to no future destinations" -Elias George Kirallah

Implementing my plan, as I wrote earlier, was cathartic for me. Sure, it was extremely difficult at first. But as time went on, I realized that my personal discipline was one of my most critical personal traits. I had the will to keep on track. As I started to see tangible results, it only made me try harder.

In order to implement my plan, I also had to think more deliberately. I had to make time in my busy schedule for the gym at 4 am. I had to scout out restaurants ahead of time that served food aligned with my diet before heading out for a date, or when traveling to business conferences. I had to bring my meals to parties, and avoid those fatty cheese nachos and alcohol. 

Taking action in these cases didn’t just help me achieve my goals; it made me feel like I had total control over my life. I was acting on what served me, and not just doing what was socially convenient. I had to sacrifice to achieve my goals of living healthy. 

As I look back now, I realize that no matter what I did in business and health, my success ultimately came down to one factor: the actions I took. Direct action was the catalyst that allowed me to achieve my fitness goals. Later, it helped improve my business as well. 

Taking action also allowed me to take personal responsibility for my success, too. It got me out of the rut I was in and kept me straight while I was on the long journey to change my life for the better. Momentum in my case was critical to change, and it all started when I became the director of my own life movie, and yelled the magic six-letter word: ACTION! 

Daily Meditation as Medication

“As gold purified in a furnace loses its impurities and achieves its own true nature, the mind gets rid of the impurities of the attributes of delusion, attachment, and purity through meditation and attains reality.” -Adi Shankara

Stress and strong emotions have a huge effect on our lives and our work. They affect our moods, our personal determination, and even the quality of the work we do. We often define our success, or lack thereof, by the amount of stress in our lives. Even as I achieved success in my journey early on, I knew that I could not relieve my life of all the stressors. But I was determined not to let them derail my plans to be healthy, wealthy and wise. 

Fortunately, I was familiar with mindful and decided to use it to help maintain balance and serenity in my hectic life. I wanted to find a new understanding of myself and thought meditation might offer the best option for me. And, after a little time and effort, it really worked! 

Using mindful meditation, I learned to separate my thoughts and my world more clearly and calmly. Meditation helped me get past the white noise and distraction of everyday life, so I could focus on what was important. It took some time and patience to become adept at meditation; however, with daily practice, I became calmer and more focused. 

I often used my time meditating to envision my life as an accountant’s balance sheet. Much like the CPA who does your books, I assessed my assets and liabilities in business, as well as in my personal life. Mindful meditation helped me identify shortfalls in my life that I needed to address. It also helped me identify my personal strengths, so I could leverage them to my advantage. 

Often, after I meditated, I would often record my thoughts in a journal; my mental balance sheet eventually became a real document! Mindful meditation continues to play a critical role in my success. The beauty of it is that you can adapt it to fit in your life, no matter how busy you are. It’s no wonder that so many successful people, from Arianna Huffington to Arnold Schwarzenegger, make time for mindful meditation, no matter how busy they get. 

Winning Daily 

"If you don't see yourself as a winner, then you can’t perform as a winner" - Zig Ziglar

Earlier I wrote about how important it is to change your mindset if you want to be successful. One of the most important things you can do in this regard is to achieve and savor little victories from time to time. No matter how disciplined you are, you are on a long journey. You need to savor the light at the end of the tunnel from time to time to keep yourself motivated. Especially if that light is just a pinpoint on the horizon! 

When I first began my journey to lose 112 pounds, it seemed daunting. I was totally overwhelmed and I had little confidence I could get there. Some things that made it bearable were the micro-goals that my trainer had me set for myself. During one of our earliest sessions, I set a goal of losing two pounds in a week. I followed my diet and exercise plan religiously, and when Saturday came, I stepped on the scale; I’d actually lost more weight than I expected! I was excited to win each week, and it kept me committed to my long-term goals. 

This may not seem like much, but it was a major revelation for me. If I stayed focused on my little goals and achieved them regularly, I knew I would get closer and closer to my target weight. I could not envision losing 112 pounds at first. But I sure as hell could envision losing small amounts of weight by each weekly check-in! So I stayed focused on my long journey, one happy step at a time. 

Once again, I could apply the concept of winning daily to other parts of my life. It was difficult to envision paying off all my debt and hitting my yearly sales goals. But I could envision taking a bite out of that debt each week, and how many calls and contacts I could make. And it felt good. Similarly, I made sure that I savored and looked forward to each pound I lost and each sales call. My daily wins got me moving and on my way to achieving my long-term revenue and wellness goals. 

Are you ready to win big? Well, first you need to win daily with the little things. Because the little things add up to a big win on your balance sheet of life. 

Connecting the Dots 

“Once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return." -Leonardo Da Vinci

Connecting the dots between my personal and professional life was like learning to fly. Once I tasted that sweet success, much as Da Vinci described flight, I was always looking skyward. I wondered how much more I could accomplish if I stayed focused on the far horizon. My dreams got bigger because my mind thought bigger. 

When I started out, I was only thinking I would lose weight, and maybe go out on a few more dates. However, the journey to better health was a revelation that I soon applied to the rest of my life as well. And I ended up with a new beginning and opportunities to win in so many new ways. 

This was a difficult rite of passage for me, and nothing came easy. But once I turned the keys in the ignition, I was a man on a mission. And I have been ever since. I still have so much more I want to accomplish if given the opportunity. As far as I am concerned, my journey is far from over. 

The final step of my journey led me here to connect the dots. As I took time to process everything I had experienced, I realized that my success was based on a number of things: first, a willingness to sacrifice and at first be uncomfortable to achieve my goals; next, I needed a plan to guide me on my journey; I also needed the audacity to implement the plan, and mindful meditation to help me stay focused; finally, I knew I needed little victories to motivate me on my journey, and help connect my daily actions to a long-term goal. 

So, here I am. My life is still hectic. But I am at peace. It feels great to wake up every day, ready for whatever the world throws at me. At first, I was always starting new projects and accomplishing very little. Now I'm starting and finishing strong each day, living life on my terms. And the journey continues. 

Parting Shots 

I didn't get here on my own, and you don't have to, either. I received an incredible amount of support from mentors, my trainer, family and friends who believed in me, and who strengthened my resolve every step of the way. But any challenging journey starts with a first step. And I had to take that step on my own. 

And so do you.

If and when you’re ready, the journey to a successful and happy life is waiting for you. Here’s to living healthy, wealthy and wise, and connecting with others on the same mission. 

Elias George Kirallah, Fellow Human, and Linkedin Connection. 

Commercial Real Estate Professional

Thanks, Elias Ghazoul for teaching me the importance of functional nutrition and how much function it could play in my life.

Elias Ghazoul

Bodybuilding & Classic Physique Champion

Business Owner

Master Trainer

Online Training Coach

     linkedin.com/in/elias-ghazoul-4a9321150    

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