Discover and Read the Best of Twitter Threads by @AJA_Cortes

AJAC's favorite exercises

-These do not mean most effective overall, these are MY personal favorite movements for each muscle group that I like to do

Traps

-Facepulls
-Meadows DB shrugs
-Prone Trap raises

Back Thickness

-chest supported T-bar/machine rows
-Inverted rows
-Snatch grip deadlifts

Back Width

-Weighted ring pullups
-Conventional pullups and chinups
-Reeves cables rows

Shoulders

-Banded front to lateral raises
-machine rear delt flies
-bodyweight shoulder presses

If I ever start a company,

I’m going to interview people by making them train legs with me

This will vet for all the qualities I want, and all the qualities I don’t

People can’t hide who they are when you physically take them to an edge

This also ensures weak people will never apply to work for me in the first place

Repulsion filtering for candidates

Won’t ever have to worry about unhealthy employees

Probably save a bundle on their health insurance

It’s a running joke in my family now that Alexander is basically retired

Obviously I’m not, but relative to conventional perspective, I don’t appear to “work”

-that said, I work more than any of them, but my Work scales

And truthfully, working on my “business” doesn’t feel like work at all

It’s another way of working on myself

And I immensely enjoy the brand/following I’ve built so far

Frustration and Friction are practically zero

Right Actions done every day, day in and day out

“Success” is inevitable

I remember in 2014, an author I liked, who wrote on masculinity, we connected on FB

I told him in conversation that I had aspirations to reach thousands of people, affect the world in a big way

His feedback

"you're a personal trainer, you're delusional"

I liked this guy, and had really loved his book, and I still like him

But that was a defininte "Go fuck yourself" moment

Don't let anyone ever tell you what your future can be

I've never cared about people's jobs, titles, education, or networth

SHOW ME what it is that you do, and are working to do

People will surprise you, where you start is not where you finish

Share my body and my mind with you
That's all over now
Did what I had to do
'Cause you're so far past me now
Share my body and my life with you
That's way over now
There's not anymore I can do
You're so famous now

Got your bible, got your gun
And you like to party and have fun
And I like my candy and your women
I'm finally happy now that you're gone

Got my little red party dress on
Everybody knows that I'm the best
I'm crazy
Get a little bit of Bourbon in 'ya
Get a little bit suburban
And go crazy

Sometimes when the shit hits the fan,

You are the person standing between the fan and the shit

-There is not much to do in these situations but simply remain calm, stay resolute, and clean yourself up when the chaos is over

Positive thinking sounds nice until you’re in a situation in which everything has gone bad it could go bad

Guess what? There is nothing you can do in the circumstances that will reframe this into it being a good situation

“ you can always turn a negative into a positive!!”

no, sometimes you can’t.

In such times, staying alive and not completely losing your own shit is the only brave choice to make

July 2016
-had $40-$100 dollars in bank account
-Working 5am to 7pm
-stressed, underslept, lowlight point in life

July 2018
-6 figure income
-oceanside apartment
-Flying to NYC next week b/c I can
-Work from anywhere

A lot can change in 2 years

What Changed in 2 years

-Decided to take all my knowledge and storysell it

-Set out to build a a personal brand

-Fully accepted and embraced it would be slow and patient process

-learned abundance mindset

-Fixed my financial habits

Started building an email list after learning @BenSettle model

-Wrote emails every day for a year

-Grew an audience through constant generosity and value engagement

-Never slowed down, always maintained momentum

Make friends with people who aren't weird about hugging

Everyone loves hugs

Or they should anyways

Some of you clearly did not get a enough love as a child

Heroic Calmness:

-The WAY of Being Calm, not simply acting calm

This is quality that you embody, and it is not dependent on external circumstance

Being calm is one of the most advantageous qualities you can Be

You want your mindset tested?

When you are dependent upon an external order, and you lose that order, you will find out just out high strung and resilient you really are

This is the fake self-improvement trap many fall into

Your outer world might be brought into order, but your inner world is dependent on the external

Systems, habits, processes, these things can mask neuroses and issues quite readily

Women notices shoes, style, haircuts, & skin health

Get better shoes
Dress better
Get hair clean up
Improve your skin health (diet, exercise, sleep)

=Youll be more attractive, better presence, more confidence

BASIC, but few will actually do any of this

QUALITY women notice shoes, you @ me and argue, you are blocked immediately

having beat up, POS footwear reveals you are clueless, apathetic, and probably have bad hygiene

Stylish shoes distinguish you immediately

Wearing better footwear goes with dressing better

Style reflects personality. Those of you who think clothes are utilitarian drapings are idiots

Women like stylish men because it implies an eye for DETAIL, which means you will better appreciate THEM

People,

I tweet 100 times a day, I’ve built my whole audience through Twitter,

I have zero notifications on on my phone

paradoxical to how much I tweet, I browse Twitter very minimally

Many times I have been out with friends, and they are surprised that I do not look at my phone at all

It is entirely possible to use these tools and not be addicted to the usage of them

Those of you who have the notifications on and are constantly checking 24 seven

you are making yourself an addict

4 Biggest Mental Energy Drains that unravel your life and steal your time

1. Lack of Sleep

2. Toxic relationships

3. Financial hardship

4. Social Media

1. Sleep

This one is straightforward, when you’re tired your tired. You cannot shortcut your way to being energetic

You either get enough sleep, and sleep Deep, or you don’t.

Sleep is the foundation for the rest of your life

2. Toxic Relationships

Relationships either sustain you or drain you, there is no inbetween on this

Maintaining connection with these people is death by 1,000 papercuts, it bleeds you dry

Get rid of these people immediately, get your life back

Your Posture as reflecting your relationship with gravity.

Gravity Pulls you straight down. Without muscle, you won't be able to resist this, and your movement and health will suffer

Good posture is not only aesthetically pleasing, but it reflects optimal musculoskeletal alignment

Good posture is not subjective. When your body is aligned, you maximize your lung capacity and breathing, you have fluidity in your movement

You can use all the postural cues you want to remind yourself to stand up straighter, but fundamentally they won't make a long term difference

What is permanent though is muscle

Fish Bowl Effect

-A phenomenon that occurs when you start to believe that your social media feed represents overall social opinion and perspective and represents the world at large

But in reality it is exceedingly myopic, yet you cannot see outside of it

"Everyone is doing X!!"

-No they are not

"Everyone is thinking Y!!"

-No they are not

"Everyone knows about Z!!"

-Know they don't

This phenomenon happens everywhere, in every online community. It leads to tribal infighting and arguing

Its particulary risky for creative types, because you fall into a bucket of crab of recycled beliefs, and end up listening to people who lack perspective but insist their world view is total

To lead a community, you must ignore its self inflicted dogma

As Western culture has become diluted, corporate, and formulaic

It has created its own counter trend of people seeking hyper-personalities in an attempt to establish a polarity

In a bland world, a strong personality is vastly appealing

Consumerism and hollow virtues have left people amiss; nothing means anything, and people invest in nothing with any seriousness

In such a world, naturally we will gravitate towards hyperbolic people who act in a extreme manner

Music is formulaic, beliefs are formulaic, media is formulaic

The false virtues that the mainstream narrative has pushed so hard for have the depth of a jacuzzi

So much of what we do is the exact same as everyone else

Momentum is the foundation to success in everything

Every person I’ve known, for everyone I’ve worked with, for everyone I’ve studied with, every individual I’ve seen rise to the respective peak, all have the same thing in common

They don’t stop Moving

That cannot be put into a single quality:
it’s dedication,
or it’s persistence,
or it’s responsibility,
or it’s self-belief,
or it’s mindset,
or it’s confidence

Its all those things and more

You can put all those umbrella qualities together and they all click with each other, they all are complementary, they all speak to the same transcendent universal principle that the way forward is the way to create

The Way to Live is FORWARD

-Your breathing affects your bloodflow affects your bloodpressure affects your endurance affects your muscle function affects your motor coordination affects your neurological fatigue affects your mood affects your performance affects your breathing

The entirety of your "health" is composed of psychobiological behavioral loops that have no beginning or end, and are massively tangled together.

The critical realization people make when put under physical duress is how their WHOLE BEING is under stress

Physical taxation reveals how useless thinking can be, and how much your mind can deceive itself

When you are straining, gasping for air, and covered in sweat, and faced with the reality that you CANNOT do something, especially something basic...

Eat Clean-What you consume, you Become

Live Lean-What you Live out, is what you shall Be

Train Mean-What you train, is what you transform into

1. Eat Clean-You are what you consume(Spirituality)

- Everything you take into you will affect you/create you. Everything that you take into you, food, thoughts, ideas, words, light, water, liquids, emotions

ALL of it can and will and does affect you every second of every single day

So pay attention on all levels to your environment and your consumption

Your spirituality is the relationship of MEANING between everything you do, think, say, believe

Top 10 Lessons You Learn Getting Healthy

1. Everything is connected
2. Proof of Work for anything to work
3. You cannot hack your way through long-term problems
4. Physical problems have their root in psychological issues

5. Apathy and Ignorance create infinite problems
6. How you do one thing is how you do everything
7. There are no perfect actions, only effective ones
8. Most people are not supportive of improvement beyond status quo

9. More is More, greater effort always produces greater results
10. Everything you consume, you become (Mental, physical, spiritual)

11. Meta Lesson-Optimal Health is a Way of Life, not a Chapter in Life

Super Power Beliefs

-When your faith is something is absolute and total, and there is ZERO doubt

This takes the belief from the realm of effective to the realm of life changing

I saw superpower beliefs from my Father and Grand Father growing up,

Both men were/are self-made

And they NEVER expressed any emotion of doubt, fear, hesitation, uncertainty

They were not perfect men

But they were perfect in their unrelenting momentum

I asked my grandmother if my grandfather ever shared any doubts or anxiety with her during their marriage (he was an investor in many areas)

"Never. He was never scared of anything. He always moved on to the next thing when something didnt work out"

Research and common sense has shown over and over again that you adopt the characteristics of the people you spend time with

If that's overly fat people whom all eat together, its quite likely you will become overly fat like them

This phenomenon has been studied many times; when one friend get fat within a social circle, the likelihood eveyrone else getting fat rises dramatically

What do you do? Get rid of everyone who isnt supportive of you being a healthier version of yourself

"Wow, thats really harsh and seems cruel. And how will I deal with the loneliness?"

How to Maximize Twitter Growth

1-Have a clear reason for being on this platform

I see many brands and individuals mess this up because they have an odd Expectation that simply by having an account, somehow they are marketing themselves

Twitter is a 24 seven platform and every user is looking for would interest them

If your intention is to grow your account, you must have a clear theme to what you are offering and talking about

2. Be personal

being anonymous will always work against you, people do not feel loyalty to anonymous accounts

It’s impossible to cultivate a tribe if you do not share yourself honestly

This couple by me is on a 1st date,

This guy is bombing SO BAD

And this girl is cute too, and really trying, she’s trying to be funny and playful

-wait, figured it out

“I work for a start up”

He’s in tech. No wonder his social skills are god awful

He’s talking about his job now

First time he’s shown some real emotion

My god, he’s even making eye contact now

He may be able to salvage this yet

Hes kinda job interviewing her

She’s trying to get him to open up

Ehhh, now he’s fucking up, he’s complaining

She just closed up,

Now she’s at the “hmmhmm that’s nice” stage listening to be polite

I’m eating Korean BBQ

I’ve ordered Sirloin 6 times now

I’m gonna make them regret putting it on the unlimited menu

8 times

Got tired of Sirloin after 10 orders

Having some brisket now