Today, I am turning 48. So, I need to reflect about my past year…

What a year!  This past year has been a tough one and some fun. I took some decisions that I thought were great but ended up putting a lot of stress on my family, my business and myself. I moved my family from one continent to another while creating projects and invested in businesses. Too much, too fast, yet, slowly I am managing to put everything back together.

So, here is a birthday thought for me:

Mauricio, we all make mistakes, do not regret them. Learn from them and move forward. 

You are fortunate to have the strength to carry on, but most importantly, be grateful that you have a firm and resilient family that have been there to support you. 

Understand the value of your team, your people that believe in you and are ready to keep building with you. 

Finally my friend, you were taught to be resilient and a fighter and when the walls are closing in on you, you always have the will to push them back.

Your dreams are big, and you, more than anybody else, understand that in order to succeed you need determination and time, plenty of time. 

Never forget where you came from and where you are going!

So Mauricio, it has been tough and today you have the chance to begin again, to start with a clean slate; a great place to be.

Ahh, one more thing my good friend: do your homework, always prepare before a battle. 

Cheers!

You all have become young adults, and now it is time to make decisions about your future and what paths to choose. Many times you will come to a halt, not knowing which way to go.

So here are my thoughts for you:

We all fear change, uncertainty or failure. Many times we postpone making decisions because we are perfectionists and everything has to be in place, sometimes we feel that we are not capable, or in fact, we do not to know how to do it.

All these reasons are valid but are not good enough for inaction since all of them can be overcome.

Now, how can we overcome these concerns and take those decisions?

•       Define where you want to go: Know exactly what you want. Make sure it's what you want and not what others think you should do. If you do not desire change, it won't come.

•       Embrace your decision: Realize that the goals you make are beneficial for you. The sooner you see the big picture, the better off you will be.

•       Create time to work on your goals: Practice self-discipline and gain your strength to help you along your journey to where you want to go.

•       You must be accountable to your goals: Acknowledge your mistakes, and learn from them. Success is not a simple straight line up. Success is actually loaded with so many turns that eventually go in your favor to end in the right path with lots of perseverance.

- Changes do not come in one day; undertaking an endeavor takes earnest and industrious effort, belief in your dream without being in a hurry, accomplish one step at a time, and always maintain the right attitude while keeping your strength.

Most importantly, these important decisions that you are making are not written in stone so at any point in time you can change paths.

Follow your dreams and be willing to accomplish them. Do not be afraid of trying, risking and failing. Errors are part of life and growing up, they become your experiences! If you are not failing it is because you are not risking enough! If you are not risking, you are not living!

At the end, understand that every day is a gift and you should enjoy that day to its fullest!

I am proud of you, and will always be there to support you!

Where do I go when I get frustrated?
I go to my safety zone: my computer and my writings.
I embark on my essays without having a destination; typing thoughts, getting acquainted with words and exploring new concepts. Slowly, after a few attempts, everything begins to make sense and I manage to put an idea together; and better, I succeed in de-stressing myself.

-So, this morning I was able to come up with 1 short thought:
“Stop making excuses and just finish your task; excuses change nothing, focus your energies on accomplishing!"

-Wow, it does work; now, I feel at ease.

_Every morning Charles, an older gentleman, walks in front my house using a Rollator, a walker with wheels; at the age of 93 he walks 2 miles a day. He is a retired professor of economics from George Washington University and has a very sharp mind.

Professor, I asked him: “what is your secret, at your age, how do you manage to have the strength to have such an endurance”

“Willpower,” he said; “My wife, my friends are the same age as me and they sit all day watching TV. 
Every morning I just get up and go! Today after my walk, I am going painting..."

Wow, so simple: Willpower!

_Now, lets talk about 'willpower': First, we need to understand the meaning of it.

'Will' is the ability to make conscious choices. We all have a free will to make our own choices, good or bad. Plants do not have will and animals have some amount of will. Yet, humans have the greatest amount of will. Humans are able to think analytically and make informed choices.

‘Power’ is energy,  it is the force and the strength required to sustain physical or mental activity.

So, ‘Will-Power’ means to have the will to exercise power.
Willpower is the ability to control oneself and determine one's actions; it means to have a firmness of will. Willpower, is to have self-discipline, to moderate emotions and to control actions.

Every time time you make a decision you practice some level of self-control; what to order for lunch, whether to go to the gym or have a glass of wine. All the decisions are directly related to your will power, to your mental energy.

A person with strong willpower will keep going even in the face of strong resistance; a person with little willpower will easily give in.

How do we build a strong willpower?

Willpower is like a muscle: to strengthen it, you need to train mentally and physically.

Here are a few simple ways that will help you to maintain and build your mental-power:

• Drink More Water:
  

Lack of water damages your mental abilities, affects your mood and reduces your mind power. Our mistake is to confuse thirst for hunger. When you feel exhausted, first, reach for a glass of water before grabbing a snack.

A brain is like a sponge and dehydration parches it, shrinks it. Drink water before drying your brain, keep it saturated! Always keep in mind the term: ‘dry brain’

• Eat Healthy, Get Ret Rid of The Junk: 

Nutrition is key for proper brain functioning. To keep your mind sharp and to maintain self-control, your brain cells require glucose, sugar. When glucose is low, you can’t focus and your brain looks for immediate rewards.

Create a habit of eating continuously small portions during the day; balanced meals that have a significant amount of protein and fiber.  This will keep you with the energy you need and your brain won’t starve for junk food.

• Get Plenty of Sleep:
  

Sleepiness slows down your thought processes, impairs memory and makes learning difficult; it alters your mood, causing irritability and anger. When you are tired, your judgment, reaction time and awareness are significantly impaired. 

Make as a priority to sleep 6 to 8 hours per day; a priority to rest!

• Learn to Breath:
  

Learn to Breathe:

When breathing correctly our bodies are supplied with the right amount of oxygen. Oxygen is energy that recharges our brain and our vital organs; a boost of energy needed to power everything we do, from moving to thinking to growing.

When breathing properly we reduce stress and our bodies release endorphins. Endorphins are feel-good, natural painkillers created by our own bodies.

_Developing strong willpower won’t happen overnight. It takes commitment to establish purposeful habits. But keep in mind, a strong willpower will prepare you to be gritty enough to follow through with your goals.

_So I ask, how many of us will have as strong willpower as my friend, the professor; the willpower to get up every morning at 93, pick up a Rollator and walk 2 miles, even after having a knee and a hip replacement?


“After all, any purpose or intention without willpower would be wordless” -  Mauricio Fraga-Rosenfeld

This week I stopped in Miami for a couple of days to take care of some business. I had landed late at night from South America and was not able to fall sleep. 

I had some issues floating around my head and have been trying to find a way to deal with them, so at midnight, I decided to go for a walk  to clear my mind.

While walking around Brickel, the financial district, I saw this figure lying down on the bottom of a building. I could not figure out if it was some type of animal or a person. When I got closer, I realized that it was a homeless man. 

The misery was so big, that I had to take a picture to share it with my kids. Keep in mind; this is in the middle of the financial district, like any other around the world. A place where every day millions of people pass through and millions of dollars switch hands. 

This picture made me think:

How did I become so immune to misery?

Every day we see them on the way to work, to school, to the grocery store;  they have become a normal part of the city landscape and we don't give them a second thought.

 A few years ago, I was a lot more sensitive to this issue; When I saw them, I would ask myself: "What is their story, what happened to them? Where do they come from? Do they have an addiction, do they have a family? I would talk to them...

Many occasions, I would hire them to work for me and would try to find them a place to live. I would buy for them personal hygiene supplies like  laundry soap, deodorant, tooth paste, tooth brush and so on. 

I set 2 conditions for them in order to be able to work with me: they could not smell like alcohol and they had to wash their clothing.

My goal was to give them back their dignity!

Today, I realized that my skin had become thicker, my attitude toward them has changed, I walk by them without giving a second thought; and that is wrong, that is terrible!

I do not have an answer on how to deal with the rising homeless population, but I know that little things, little gestures can make them feel human again. 

I need to make a conscious effort to acknowledge them, to talk to them, to ask them questions and to learn their story. 

It is lonesome to be homeless, and just taking a few seconds to smile or to ask how someone's day is going, can make a big difference in his/her day.

After taking the picture, I realized that my issues, my problems are diminutive in comparison with most of the people. So, why am I so concerned about it and why do I stress so much about it?

But also I ask, when did I become so wrapped up in myself?