As I mentioned in my email yesterday, I’m currently down in Florida doing a little business and catching up with friends for the 4th of July weekend.

And with good old “Independence Day” around the corner, I’ve been thinking a lot about one word:

Freedom.

I know, I know, you thought it was going to be “burgers”, and in all fairness, that probably comes in at a very close second.

But back to freedom.

Yes, we live in a free nation.  Yes, we can stay out to 3 o’clock in the morning on a week night if we so choose.  And yes, we can park wherever we want in South Tampa and get our car towed at said time only to pay a total of $185 (cash only) to some guy with a foot-long beard who immediately placed the money in his pocket.

Yes, in America, you can do all of these things.  Just ask my buddy Ryan Magin.

But, here’s the real question:  are YOU living free?

Seems like a dumb question if you live in the U.S. or another quote-unquote “free” country.  But here’s the truth — I see a lot of people living in captivity everyday.

Let me explain. 

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I’m writing this newsletter from a bench in Brooklyn Bridge Park, sitting at the edge of the river, admiring the view on what is shaping up to be a pretty awesome, sunny day.

I love the summer.

And as soon as I’m done writing this, I’m taking a short stroll around the corner to this little market on Jay Street that has perhaps the best salads EVER.

And I think I will get a Diet Arizona Green Tea with ginseng and honey as well.

Mmmm, I can’t wait.

So you’re probably wondering why I’m at Brooklyn Bridge park.

Well, I’m actually heading home from a long weekend visiting and hanging with my good friend John Romaniello out in Long Island (I’ll be formally introducing you to John in another post soon).

And beings that I was more or less passing through Brooklyn on my way back to Jersey, I decided to stop off here.

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In yesterday’s post we discussed the counterproductivity of using coffee as a focus or productivity aid during times in which our bodies really just need to “unplug”.

We also mentioned yesterday that every so often (perhaps once every hour or two) throughout the work day we experience a lack in focus and concentration. This is our body’s natural way of telling us “hey, take a break and recharge”.

So what do you do to “recharge”? Grab a cup of coffee? Hopefully by now you see that going that route is essentially the exact opposite of what your body needs.

If you really want to increase productivity, especially during times where mental concentration seems to be lacking, try using some of the strategies I provide below instead of refiring your nervous system (you’ll see that these tactics actually strive to achieve the opposite).

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Yesterday I was having one of those days. You know, the type of day where everything seems to be out of whack and a hundred inconveniences seem to jump out of nowhere.

We all have them. They’re part of life.

The icing on the cake, though, came later in the day when I got a flat tire.

And of course it was rush hour.

And of course it was on a major highway.

So there I was on the side of the road, annoyed, attempting to change my tire in the midst of hundreds of cars whizzing by me at 70 mph.

And then I realized something.

I was letting the day’s circumstances−circumstances that were completely out of my control−get the best of me. It was affecting my energy, and that’s something that I really try to avoid.

So, I put down the tire iron, got back in the car, turned on the radio and started to breathe.

You see, a long time ago I learned the value of using controlled breathing from a martial arts instructor friend of mine. Now, you may be thinking “Yeah, okay…controlled breathing…Tai Qui…oogly moogly” and you know what, that’s exactly how I looked at it once, too.

But then I gave it a try. And it works.

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Today was Movie Day—a day in which I do nothing but watch movies, and I try to have one at least once a month.

You see, I love movies :-)

And today, perhaps to rekindle my inner child, I spent 91 minutes watching a movie that I literally watched every day for an entire summer when I was 12 years old: Rocky IV.

Now, you may not agree with me that Rocky IV is one of the best movies of all time, but if you’re a Rocky fan at all, you’ve GOT to agree that it’s the absolute best out of all the Rockies (and there will be time to debate that later if you don’t :-)

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