My life has been a journey full of Joy, Sadness, Triumphs, Depression and Victories. At times, my mind has been the most powerful resource I had, and at other times, my worst enemy. I would like to share a personal story with you from 10 years ago. What I learned taught me the strength, courage, vulnerability and most important, the secrets to Combat my Stress & Anxiety and Find Internal Peace.



Ever since I can remember, my mind never seemed to stop. It was always thinking, and I always stayed focused. Then 10 years ago, the same constantly vigilant mind which I always thought of as a strength became my worst enemy. You see my mind was at full capacity, I was anxiety ridden, and subsequently, I was stressed beyond belief. My wife Abbi had just suffered an Injury, we were Opening our first Nutrition Center and we were buying our First House at the same time. These were three life altering events, which together pushed me past full capacity. I couldn't find a way to let my mind rest, and I fell into a deep Depression.

Through this process and with the support of my wife Abbi, I immediately went on a journey of self-improvement. I focused on developing the following 5 Skills to Combat My Stress and Pull myself out of the Depression. Through the Past 10 Years these skills have helped thousands of my clients and online members alike, and I would like to share them with you:

Skill 1: Develop a Health Structure

I created the Venice Nutrition System based on the Health Structure. This is your foundation. Your Sleep, Nutrition, Exercise, Supplementation & Water intake are the 5 pieces that allow your body to efficiently and effectively work for you. Your Sleep maintains your Energy, Your Nutrition Stabilizes Your Blood Sugar, Your Exercise Releases Negative Stress while generating Endorphins, Your Supplementation fills in the Gaps and Your Water intake keeps your Body Hydrated. This foundation provides the Internal Environment and Overall Balance to focus on the 4 remaining Skills.

Skill 2: Start a Stress Journal

One way to get the overwhelming flood of worry out of your mind is to write down your thoughts; it allows you to Become Present. Too many times we lose touch with the exact reasons we're stressed (our stress triggers), and they get blown way out of proportion. For this reason, I suggest keeping a Stress Journal - writing down when and why you get stressed. This will provide the necessary awareness to succeed with Skill 3.

Skill 3: Create Solutions

By becoming aware of the triggers of the stress you can now create solutions. I always like to use the "Worst Case Scenario" to start with. By immediately revealing to yourself what the worst thing that could happen would be, you'll be much more aware of the size of the challenge and come to terms with the source of your stress. 99% of the time, you'll find that the "Worst Case" is manageable. Understanding this will alleviate the stress. Then you'll find it much easier to create a solution that will prevent a repeat of that stressor.

Skill 4: Implement Positive Escapes

Many stressors lead to a desire to escape for a moment. This is a natural thing, because when a Stressor is present your body's adrenaline levels will increase. In response, your body releases the hormone cortisol to bring about relaxation. This hormonal swing typically triggers the need for a temporary escape - many escapes are negative. My escape for example, used to be food. An adjustment I made was to change my escape... When stressed, Instead of eating Pizza, a negative escape, I now watch a movie, go for a walk, or play ball with my son, all Positive Escapes. I am still getting the escape I desire and because it's positive, it's benefitting me.

Skill 5: Keep Learning

Keep working on yourself; keep finding new Positive ways to handle Stress, Keep Reading and Enjoy the process. I have personally gone through 4 phases of my own personal development, each time learning how to handle Stress even better.

I can proudly say that by following these principles I achieve more and more peace of mind each year. Even though Life seems only to get more hectic, now how I address the Stressors is completely different. I have learned how to implement these 5 skills faster and faster, and for the first time in my life I can finally say I have found the internal peace that I never thought was possible.

The purpose of this message is to show you that achieving internal peace and relief from stress is possible. We live in a world where Stress seems to become more and more prevalent each day, and I think many minds are at full capacity as mine once was. My invitation to you is to start the process and implement these 5 skills. Do well with these five steps and you'll eventually achieve a peace that's priceless.