Do you have huge goals and a relentless drive to live an exciting, meaningful life?
Therefore, whenever I come across a great product, service, or piece of content that makes my life more enjoyable or more productive I light up.
I would like to share with you my favorite products, services, and resources that I currently benefit the most from; hoping that anyone in the same boat as me will also benefit.
If you know of a tool or resource that is missing from the list that has benefited you in anyway, please do myself and everyone reading a favor, make it known. E-mail me, call me, text me, stop me on the streets, and I’ll make sure it’s known for everyone.
This is a community and we’re all here for the same reason: to accomplish our goals and do epic shit.
“The right tool is the difference between success and frustration.” – Michael Hyatt
HEALTH:
MyFitnessPal: Track your health anywhere, at anytime. This is the best healthy lifestyle app I’ve ever used. The bar code reader almost always has what I’m looking for and it’s way easier to use than you think. You can do all kinds of cool things like find your friends and create groups so you can hold each other accountable.
HeadSpace: I always thought meditation was some woo-woo thing and you had to be some sort of monk to do it. After hearing so many of the people I admired talk about how much they love meditation, I started experimenting with it. I started with HeadSpace. Andy (the founder of HeadSpace) is now my meditation coach. Through his app I am privileged to be coached on how to effectively meditate through Andy’s guided meditations. Headspace is meditation made simple. Why might you meditate in the morning? Clear the head, fresh start, be more mindful throughout the day, and make better choices as a result. Trust me, just do an experiment.
The VARIDESK: Improve your health, productivity, and posture by getting yourself a standing desk. The VariDesk is a station that sits on top of a normal style desk which gives you the option to either stand or sit. I have to get a lot of my work done on a computer so having that option is critical. It’s a pricey investment, but seriously this is one of the best investments I have ever made in myself.
MisFit Wearable Shine 2 Fitness Tracker & Sleep Monitor: Upgrade the documentation of your own health. Gain awareness by tracking your steps, activity, movement, calories burned, and my favorite: sleep.
Athletic Greens Superfood Cocktail: A.G. is a powder form energy/nutritional supplement that is actually healthy and tastes great. This is my favorite greens supplement and I actually notice a difference. Take one tablespoon every morning and your good to go. This is your all-in-one greens insurance policy. Ensure optimum daily nutrients from more than 70 whole food ingredients.
ROMWOD: ROM stands for Range Of Motion & WOD stands for Workout Of The Day. ROMWOD is a great tool for my fellow athletes interested in boosting performance. The idea is to help athletes achieve optimal range of motion to increase their training output.
SuperCook: SuperCook answers the question, “What can I make with what I’ve got?” helping you get the most out of your groceries. Just select your ingredients to instantly find recipes you can make right now. I’ll spend a few minutes every Sunday night on SuperCook and always have some ideas for good meals to prep based on what I have in my kitchen.
PositiveHealthWellness: PHW is rapidly growing online publication for all things related health, food, and fitness. I suggest joining their newsletter as they’re constantly delivering valuable information to those wanting to live a more positive, healthier, and happier life. From a blogging perspective, I’m a big fan of their Infographics and how they deliver content. The site is clean, professional, organized, and is a great example of a great blog.
WEALTH:
Mint.com: Effortlessly manage your cash flow, budgets and bills from one place. Mint allows you to link all of your accounts under one umbrella and see everything from a birds eye view. One of my favorite features is that it allows you to easily monitor your net worth which is a number a lot of people don’t know but should. Mint was one of my best findings in 2015 because it was exactly what I needed for managing my personal finances.
Wealthfront: Wealthfront is a massively disruptive (in a good way) set-it-and-forget-it investing service, led by technologists from places like Apple and world-famous investors. You can get services previously limited to the ultra-wealthy and only pay pennies on the dollar for them, and it’s all through smarter software instead of retail locations and bloated sales teams. Personally, I have a Roth IRA and automatically add $150/month. After consulting with my mentors who are experts in investing, there is no smarter and easier way to invest.
AirBnB: Whether an apartment for a night, a castle for a week, or a villa for a month, Airbnb connects people to unique travel experiences. I’ve stayed at some of the coolest places using AirBnb when I travel. I also use their service to rent out my beach apartment, and I make a solid amount of money doing it.
Dollar Shave Club: A great shave for a few bucks a month. DSC couldn’t be simpler. Select your shaving blades, pay only for the cost of your blades ($3.00/month), and they send ’em right to your door every month. Save time, money, and always have razor sharp blades.
Venmo: Venmo is a free digital wallet that allows you to pay and request money from your friends. This resource is awesome for sharing and splitting costs with your friends. It’s very convenient technology for getting everyone to pitch in for trips, vacations, dinners, and anything social making it cheap and affordable for everyone.
SOCIAL:
Jukely: I live in South Beach right now, a city with a ton of clubs and venues where music and DJ’s frequent. For $25.00/month Jukely gives me access to all of them at any given night, I just have to claim a spot. Check them out to see if they’re in your city. If they are and you like to go out and socialize like I do, Jukely is a solid investment.
Sunrise: Sunrise is your new calendar that merges all of your calendars under one umbrella. Merge your Gmail, Outlook, Hotmail, and even your Facebook events.
Buffer: Buffer is an amazing tool to share content to your social media platforms. There is a little icon that sits in the upper right hand corner of your browser. If you find an article, picture, or video that you like and want to share, Buffer will add it to the queue which you can then schedule when it is share to your networks. Great for businesses and content creators.
Charisma University: Two years ago I enrolled in Charisma University with Charlie & Ben, founders of Charisma On Command. These dudes kick ass. I always knew people skills and charisma was an important part of success, which is why I’ve invested a lot of time and energy in improving it. Charisma is a skill like anything else and I can tribute so many great relationships, opportunity, and experiences to it. Don’t forget to always be investing in yourself and picking up new skills. CU is an investment you should absolutely make.
GoPro Hero 4 Silver: A GoPro is an excellent tool when you’re out doing epic things. It’s awesome to document and and capture as much as we can about what we’re doing, makes life more fun in my opinion. Businesses and other content creators can really benefit from getting quality photo/video using the GoPro.
Photo shot with the Hero 4 Silver:
The LegendCam: So recently I was snowboarding some sketchy terrain and long story short, I slid down a mountain and lost my GoPro. Sad story but the good news is I found a product that’s equally as badass. The LegendCAM is the exact same thing for half the price. It’s an amazing resource for the exact same reasons as the GoPro.
PRODUCTIVITY:
The Google Now Mobile App: The google now app for mobile is crazy useful. My friend recently showed me this one while we were in the airport. Google scans your e-mail and calendars for everything going on in your life. It gathers as much information as it can about you and delivers it to you nicely in the form of “Google Now Cards.” Everything from flight information, hotel locations, weather, schedule, events, and way more.
The Momentum Extension for Google Chrome Web Browser: First off, if you don’t use Google Chrome for your web browser, you should switch right now. I think it’s pretty well known to be the best browser available. One of my best friends works for Google and he showed me this extension awhile ago. Every time you open up a new tab or window, you’re greeted with a warm “Hello, Kyle.” You’re also able to tell google what you’re focus is for the day; and below that you’re given an inspirational quote for that extra reminder to kick-ass. On top of that, you’re shown an absolutely beautiful photo of the day from somewhere awesome. It really reminds you every day how beautiful the world is. This browser extension is productive and inspiring.
Screenshot of the Google Chrome Momentum dashboard.
Evernote: Some apps are so helpful and do so much, it’s hard to imagine working without them. Evernote is like that for me. It’s my digital brain.
Blinkist: This app is the bomb. For a measly $6/month you can have access to 1,000’s of 15 minute book summaries that you can either read or listen too. These summaries are broken down into “blinks” which capture the biggest takeaways and ideas from each book. Efficient and effective.
Handy: Handy is an iPhone/Android app that has a similar business model to Uber. Handy is a made service powered by technology. Every month I book my “cleaning professional” for $30 through my app and my condo gets a 2 hour deep cleanse. The service is cheap, reliable, and pleasant. I rather spend my time doing what I love and not cleaning floors, bathrooms, and dusting. Having a clean home is more important than you think. Your home should be a place that allows your body and mind to grow, keep it fresh. Thanks Handy.
Audible: Thousands and thousands of great books to listen to when you’re on the go. Listen to books while you’re driving, walking, working out, or cooking.
Powerbeats Wireless 2 Headphones: No more chords to worry about here, the Powerbeats are the best bluetooth headphones out there in my opinion. I especially love them for phone calls, workouts, outdoor runs, audio books, and podcasts.
Jet: Jet is a competitor of Amazon. It’s a new kind of marketplace — a smart shopping platform that finds ways to turn built-in costs into opportunities to save you money. Many items on there are dirt cheap and get delivered to you quick. I have used them mainly for the common household and personal items. I found anything outside of this it’s equally or better to go with Amazon.
Feedly: Feedly is an online service that allows you to follow hundreds of blogs online. I enjoy it because I get a birds eye view at all my favorite bloggers and topics. I can quickly and easily find interesting content and ideas.
GetPocket: I just found out about this service and it turned out to be exactly what I’ve been looking for. There has been many times where I’ve been surfing the web and found something great to read or watch but didn’t get around to it because of time. The idea with pocket is you can save that interesting piece of content and put it into your “pocket” to come back to later when you’re not in the middle of something. Pocket is also great for travel because you can stock up on good articles/videos when you have an internet connection and be entertained or learn something when you don’t. “If it’s in Pocket, it’s on your phone, tablet or computer. You don’t even need an Internet connection.”
Anti-Social: This is a productivity gold mine. You know when you’re trying to get work done, but end up wasting time on Facebook and Twitter? Anti-Social solves that problem. When Anti-Social is running, the only way to get around the block is to reboot your computer. This is your new insurance for getting shit done.
Expensify: I never leave a restaurant with a receipt, thanks to Expensify. If you track business expenses I can’t imagine a better app to use.
TRAVEL:
READ: 8 Reasons Why Traveling is Good For Your Health by Positive Health Wellness
The Tom Bihn Synapse 25 Backpack: Hands down the best backpack in the world. Travel organized and travel in style. Since a backpack is such an everyday tool I really took the time searching for the right one and I couldn’t be more satisfied with the Synapse 25. This bag is appropriate for everything epic: mountains, travel, gym, and business.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred Card: This is the best credit card out there for travel rewards. For signing up, you get a monster bonus of 50,000 miles for spending $4,000 in 3 months. I don’t recommend going into debt just to achieve the bonus miles. However, if you have a large purchase coming up that you already know about I would recommend putting it on the card so you can benefit it’s bonus. The other thing I enjoy about this card is that it’s by far the most enjoyable online experience for booking reward travel.
TravelZoo: My friend recently pointed this one out so I started to check out the site and it’s extremely helpful. I’m already seeing all kinds of great package deals for some pretty epic vacations. I will be using this in the near future to book some fun travel.
SkyScanner: SkyScanner is an easy tool to search every airline for a particular trip. So if I was flying from Miami to New York City next month, I would be able to see every airline flying that route and be able to compare price very easily.
SkipLagged: Another great resource for finding cheap flights. I literally just used this service to book a flight to Denver, CO this summer and for the cheapest price to date. Skiplagged’s brand is “exposing secrets of the industry by finding airfares not found anywhere else that can easily save you up to 80%.”
I need more travel resources. I’ve only been to two countries – US & Canada. I have goals to travel the world though.
MY TOP 5 BOOKS:
1. BOLD: How To Go Big, Create Wealth, And Impact The World – If I were to choose my favorite book of 2015, I’m pretty sure this would be it. This was an eye opening read, you will become aware of the how fast technology and business is exponentially advancing. Accounts of robotics, 3D printing, driverless cars, genomics, and artificial intelligence bring home how much the world will change in the coming decades. The authors share the powerful, inexpensive tools available to everyone right now to fund, build and market your great idea. Also for us working jobs or owning businesses you can quickly spot where you might be at risk or be able to take advantage of a new opportunity.
2. Charisma On Command: Impress, Inspire, Energize Anyone You Meet – Charisma is a skill, something that anyone can learn and not something you are just born with as I originally grew up believing. COC will teach you how to tap into your charismatic potential so that you can turn it on whenever you want. It draws on analysis of the most charismatic people in the world, including Steve Jobs, Bill Clinton, Russell Brand, Oprah Winfrey, Martin Luther King, Tony Robbins, and more.
3. Extreme Ownership: How Navy Seals Lead & Win – The world always needs great leaders and this book is the holy grail on leadership and what it takes to lead a team, lead yourself, and lead in business. Extreme Ownership is written by two former Navy SEALs, Jocko Willink and Leif Babin, who now head a leadership training company. Extreme Ownership means taking full responsibility for mistakes made under your leadership and making the proper adjustments to prevent those mistakes from happening again. Amazing stories, amazing principles, must read for anyone trying exercise better leadership.
4. How to Win Friends & Influence People – This book is a timeless classic. I have this on my top 10 list because I cannot tell you how well the skill of winning friends and influencing people has impacted the quality of my life. It has brought me relationships, experiences, and opportunity. This book is all about building an attractive personality and becoming a genuinely interesting & INTERESTED individual.
5. Relentless: From Good to Great to Unstoppable – Relentless is written by Tim Grover who was the personal trainer for Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and Dwayne Wade. This book is crazy because Tim literally tells you all about how MJ, Kobe, & D-Wade think, act, and live. Relentless means never being satisfied. It means creating new goals every time you reach your personal best. If you’re good, it means you don’t stop until you’re great. If you’re great, it means you fight until you’re unstoppable.
CONCLUSION:
Like I said above:
If you know of a tool or resource that is missing from the list that has benefited you in anyway, please do myself and everyone reading a favor, make it known here in the comments. This is a community and we’re all here for the same reason: accomplish our goals and do epic shit.
Much love,
NITCH