Do The Hard Thing

Podcast Opening: Welcome to Do The Hard Thing Episode 20. I am Jason Archer… creator, freedom seeker, leader of self | full time student and part time teacher of self mastery, and today is all about Values. The goal, as always, is to dive deeper into how we humans can more effectively move toward the outcomes we want. Usually, this means getting uncomfortable and doing hard things. So, turn up the volume, put down the distractions and let’s kick this off… [NOTE: Insert some intro music here | Insert brief description here] Summary Description: If you've ever started down a path to create something meaningful in your life, and for whatever reason found yourself not moving toward the outcome you claim to want... like there's a part of you that simply refuses to move, Then this podcast is for you. Do The Hard Thing is an exploration in human movement. INSIDE TODAY'S EPISODE... MEANINGFUL WORDS: "Values are the deep-seated beliefs that motivate behaviors and determine people's compatabilities with each other. People will fight for their values, and they are likely to fight with people who don't share them." - Ray Dalio, Founder of Bridgewater. //KEYNOTES ★ What Are Values? What makes a value a value. Values vs. Abilities vs. Skills. Values and hierarchy. ★ Why Do Values Matter? The importance of alignment. The wife story. What we are building out. ★ When Values Collide. Values are difficult to change. Opposing values. Moving smoothly //THE HARD TRUTH The values we hold are difficult to change and are not very fluid. The process of getting to know oneself and aligning values with those you intend to work closely with //ASK AND APPLY The question today is this: Where in your life are your values not aligned with people or processes that are close to you? Work, fitness, relationships... where do you see an opportunity to apply a change to your benefit? Once you have your answer, you must honor the work and practice. Apply the concept: Come up with at least one way you can use what you just learned to step into a place that requires you to step toward your new more favorable identity in any role you take on. As Rumi said, "As you start to walk on the way, the way appears." Podcast Closing: That’s it for today! Thank you for listening, and if you found value in this message be sure to subscribe and leave a review on iTunes, Google Play, Castbox, or Stitcher | Share this with those you want to invest in on social | And I’ll see you back here in the next episode | Until then, this is Jason Archer signing off | Now go... and DO THE HARD THING. Listen at dothehardthing.net

Podcast Opening: Welcome to Do The Hard Thing Episode 19. I am Jason Archer… creator, freedom seeker, leader of self | full time student and part time teacher of self mastery, and today is all about Self Signaling. The goal, as always, is to dive deeper into how we humans can more effectively move toward the outcomes we want. Usually, this means getting uncomfortable and doing hard things. So, turn up the volume, put down the distractions and let’s kick this off… [NOTE: Insert some intro music here | Insert brief description here] Summary Description: Have you ever started down a path to create something meaningful in your life, and for whatever reason found yourself not moving toward the outcome you claim to want... And no matter the situation, part of you simply refused to move. This podcast is born from idea. Do The Hard Thing is an exploration in human movement. INSIDE TODAY'S EPISODE... MEANINGFUL WORDS: "We generally believe that we have a privileged view of our own preferences and character, but in reality we don’t know ourselves that well (and definitely not as well as we think we do). Instead, we observe ourselves in the same way we observe and judge the actions of other people — inferring who we are and what we like from our actions." - Dan Ariely, Ph.D. //KEYNOTES ★ How Do We See Ourselves? Who you are at your core. Where does your behavior and personality come from? Programs and beliefs. Examine yourself and gain an awareness. ★ What Is Self Signaling? Self Signaling is the idea that you can act your way in to thinking of yourself differently. Your actions will ultimately define your identity. Remember the stolen wallet example. People self signal failure and don't realize it makes their journey harder. Diet example. ★ Don't Cheat Yourself. Knowing this means you can act yourself into a new identity. You can become different internally by external action. Good news: You can use this to your advantage. Form new habits, or new thought processes that will serve you in completing your task. By contrast, once you cheat or lie... you become more likely to do so. //THE HARD TRUTH Actions can literally change who we are. Once we start violating our own standards (say, with cheating on diets or for monetary incentives), we are much more likely to abandon further attempts to control our behavior. //ASK AND APPLY Ask yourself this: Where in your life are you self signaling negativity? Work, fitness, relationships... where do you see an opportunity to apply this concept to your benefit? Once you have your answer, you must honor the work and practice. Apply the concept: Come up with at least one way you can use what you just learned to step into a place that requires you to step toward your new more favorable identity in any role you take on. Like Rumi said, "As you start to walk on the way, the way appears." Podcast Closing: That’s it for today! Thank you for listening, and if you found value in this message be sure to subscribe and leave a review on iTunes, Google Play, Castbox, or Stitcher | Share this with those you know need to hear it on social | And I’ll see you back here in the next episode | This is Jason Archer signing off | Now… go, and DO THE HARD THING. Listen at dothehardthing.net

Podcast Opening: Welcome to Do The Hard Thing Episode 18. I am Jason Archer… creator, freedom seeker, leader of self | full time student and part time teacher of self mastery, and today is all about What It Means To Live In Integrity. The goal, as always, is to dive deeper into how we humans can more effectively move toward the outcomes we want. Usually, this means getting uncomfortable and doing hard things. So, turn up the volume, put down the distractions and let’s kick this off… [NOTE: Insert some intro music here | Insert brief description here] Summary Description: Have you ever started down a path to create something meaningful in your life, and for whatever reason found yourself not moving toward the outcome you claim to want... And no matter the situation, part of you simply refused to move. This podcast is born from idea. Do The Hard Thing is an exploration in human movement. INSIDE TODAY'S EPISODE... MEANINGFUL WORDS: "Integrity means having a conscience and honoring this conscience even when doing so may involve considerable personal sacrifice. It means placing the dictates of the soul and God above those of the ego.." - Dr. Andy Drymalski, Ed.D. //KEYNOTES ★ Integrity Is Rare And Rarely Used Turns out when asked what integrity is... few people can answer the question. Wifey and I have been discussing this recently because of our contract. Some call it honesty. Some call it character. Some say it is keeping your word. I think it goes much deeper than that. ★ Integrity As Flow The word itself comes to us from the Latin meaning sound, complete, or whole It implies no division within oneself. If we take this deeper, we can see that integrity is alignment of our beliefs with our actions. See Dr. Andy's definition above. It's not enough to keep our word... The word we keep must align with the beliefs we hold. In this way, it flows from our essence from the inside out... bypassing ego. ★ Why Is It So Hard To Do? Social situations can get in the way. Ego shows up. Small talk example. Wedding example. //THE HARD TRUTH When our actions have are based on ego, they generally pull us out of integrity. //ASK AND APPLY Ask yourself this: Where in your life are you out of integrity? Work, home life, relationships, where do you see action that doesn't align with your beliefs or desires? Once you have your answer, it's time to do the hard thing. Apply the concept: Come up with at least one way you can use what you just learned to step into a place that requires you to step toward the real you, your real beliefs... and without waiting, put it into action. Like Rumi said, "As you start to walk on the way, the way appears." Podcast Closing: That’s it for today! Thank you for listening, and if you found value in this message be sure to subscribe and leave a review on iTunes, Google Play, Castbox, or Stitcher | Share this with those you know need to hear it on social | And I’ll see you back here in the next episode | This is Jason Archer signing off | Now… go, and DO THE HARD THING. Listen at dothehardthing.net

Podcast Opening: Welcome to Do The Hard Thing Episode 17. I am Jason Archer… creator, freedom seeker, leader of self | full time student and part time teacher of self mastery, and today is all about being Fearful In The Gap. The Do The Hard Thing podcast is an exploration in how we humans can more effectively move toward the outcomes we want. So, turn up the volume, put down the distractions and let’s kick this off… [NOTE: Insert some intro music here | Insert brief description here] Summary Description: Have you ever started down a path to create something meaningful in your life, and for whatever reason found yourself not moving toward the outcome you claim to want... And no matter the situation, part of you simply refused to move. This podcast is born from idea. Do The Hard Thing is an exploration in human movement. INSIDE TODAY'S EPISODE... MEANINGFUL WORDS: "If you’re going through hell, keep going." - Winston Churchill //KEYNOTES ★ The Queen Comes In Crying I was in just coming out of a deep meditative state. The Queen came in crying. She was experiencing the pull of her past and the fear of her future. Soon she will be leaving Calgary... the place she has known as home her entire life. She knows Calgary and what it holds well. She doesn't know what her new life in Phoenix will look like. Job wise, socially, her roles as a partner and wife. ★ Meet Your Demons In The Gap So she's in the Gap. It is simply the place "between" who you are and who you want to become. The Gap is that place where fear hits hard and does it's level best to kill your movement. In this place, we so often find ourselves with an opportunity to move forward... but, then we don't. The demons that run our imagination start to show up with all the what if's. And, we use our past experience or our imagined future to create fear and anxiety around what "Could" happen. These remembered or imagined demons go to war with our intentions to move. So... this feels uncertain and uncomfortable. NOTE: Imagination Inflation - Studies have been done showing that when people are told to imagine an event that never happened to them, and are later asked whether that event happened to them, they will increase their confidence scores for events which they have imagined, but not for those which they haven't imagined. ★ Your Future Is Determined By The Choice You Make We are in this place that demands we be courageous. And, unlike your favorite hero flick, real life courage does not feel good. It's not fun to be at the edge of yourself, and have doubts about your ability to achieve in untested areas. it's not fun to realize you are in a place that could end in failure or misery. You have to make a choice here that will determine your growth or stagnation. Who will win? You or the fear.. What you want is on the other side of the Gap. The prize is the new you that you have become and new confidence. That is the place that feels good. //THE HARD TRUTH Everything you want... The relationship, the business, the money, the time; it's all on the other side of the Gap. //ASK AND APPLY Ask yourself this: Where in your life are you stopping in the Gap? Where are you expecting confidence to come before your commitment to move and sitting stagnant? Once you have your answer, it's time to do the hard thing. Apply the concept: Come up with at least one way you can use what you just learned to step into a place that requires you to jump into the Gap and trust that you have what it takes to figure out get to the other side... and without waiting, put it into action. Like Rumi said, "As you start to walk on the way, the way appears." Podcast Closing: That’s it for today! Thank you for listening, and if you found value in this message be sure to subscribe and leave a review ...

Podcast Opening: Welcome to Do The Hard Thing Episode 16. I am Jason Archer… creator, freedom seeker, leader of self | full time student and part time teacher of self mastery, and today is all about what I learned from Adam Carolla. So, turn up the volume, put down the distractions and let’s kick this off… [NOTE: Insert some intro music here | Insert brief description here] Summary Description: Have you ever started down a path to create something meaningful in your life, and for whatever reason found yourself not moving toward the outcome you claim to want... And no matter the situation, part of you simply refused to move. This podcast is born from idea. Do The Hard Thing is an exploration in human movement. INSIDE TODAY'S EPISODE... MEANINGFUL WORDS: "Continuous effort, not strength or intelligence, is the key to unlocking our potential." - Winston Churchill //KEYNOTES ★ Adam Tells His Story Thought his job was pretty insulated from economic conditions. He lost is million dollar radio contract with KLSX when the economy went bad back in 2007-2008 Needed to find a way to create a new income stream and decided to spend 8 or 9 grand a month on storage and bandwidth. Enter: podcasting before it was all the rage, before the endorsements, before monetization, before he knew he could even make a buck he was heavily investing in an unproven platform... with both his money and his time. The Adam Carolla Show becomes the most downloaded podcast in the world. ★ The 3 Things That Continually Show Up In Success Stories Some trial or event takes place to cause one to HAVE to learn and grow or fend for one's self Heavy investment of one's time, money and energy to get the thing off the ground. Consistent work over time with an unshakeable belief in the outcome you want to create. ★ Getting Paid Adam asked the question, what can you expect to earn from a job you show up to once a week? Too many people want to be paid for results that don't exist. If you want to monetize what it is you do, you can not treat it like a hobby. Once a week is not enough... how about everyday you show up for the job you want to get paid for? None of this guarantees your success. You may do all these things and get nothing in return, but not doing these things guarantees your failure. //THE HARD TRUTH You have to treat anything you want to monetize like a job that requires you to show up on a daily basis and create daily results. Once a week gets you once a week pay... little or nothing. //ASK AND APPLY Ask yourself this: Where in your life are you giving "one day a week effort" and expecting "overtime" results? Once you have your answer, it's time to do the hard thing. Apply the concept: Come up with at least one way you can use what you just learned to create a larger more focused effort toward your outcome... and without waiting, put it into action. Podcast Closing: That’s it for today! Thank you for listening, and if you found value in this message be sure to subscribe on iTunes, Google Play, Castbox, or Stitcher | Share this with those you know need to hear it on social | And I’ll see you back here in the next episode | This is Jason Archer signing off | Now… go, and DO THE HARD THING. Listen at dothehardthing.net

Podcast Opening: Welcome to Do The Hard Thing Episode 15. I am Jason Archer… creator, freedom seeker, leader of self | full time student and part time teacher of self mastery, and today’s theme is “Influence Yourself First”. So, turn up the volume, put down the distractions and let’s kick this off… [NOTE: Insert some intro music here | Insert brief description here] Summary Description: Have you ever started down a path that you felt held a great deal of meaning for you, and then for whatever reason you could not move toward the outcome you wanted to create? Whether it was a Mental, Physical, or Spiritual target you sought, it didn’t matter… there was a part of you that refused to move. This podcast is born from specific idea. Do The Hard Thing is an exploration in human movement. Podcast Content: I have been many things in my life... and ego manic is certainly one of them. Especially as an younger man. I wanted to have an impact on those around me and the world at large, but didn't realize the first step in doing that is dealing with me. Influencing myself positively. And, some of you listening to this right now might want to change the world... when, really you need to change yourself. Everything you want radiates from you. So the process begins inside. This is a process of influencing yourself. When I first started down my path toward personal development and business, I just knew there was a trick to getting what I wanted. Some secret existed outside of me that would magically propel me forward if I only knew what it was... And, I had to find this magic no matter the cost. This put me on the path toward purchasing business courses, marketing courses, and personal development experiences. And, I invested tens of thousands of dollars in these places with the idea that one of them would hold the golden ticket I needed to take everything to the next level. And this thinking was both right and wrong. Here's what I mean by that: When I finally took the plunge and bought into my first course... it was the PSI Basic Seminar. It consisted of two four hour nights followed by two full days of training. The cost was about 600 dollars per person, and I could re-audit the course as many times as I wanted at no cost forever. Sweet deal. Sweet deal indeed if you live in an abundance mindset. Even though I knew this would be a good use of time and dollars, I passed on the opportunity when it was first offered to me. Why? Because I was the king of cheap bastards. I could buy a lot of dirt bike parts with that six bills. And, would routinely do so without batting an eye. After all, what kind of desperate moron spends money to go to a seminar that the internet says is a cult? The internet is always right. Right? Pay money to throw myself into a cult... no thanks. So I passed. Then my phone rang a few days later... and someone on the other end offered me a two for one on the price. Next thing I knew, the girlfriend and I were begrudgingly signed up and all set to attend the Basic Seminar in December of 2008. And, that was the beginning of my formal introduction to human development. I would go on to spend another 20+ grand in the next year alone on advanced courses and travel to and from. Notice what had to happen here. I had to get out of my own way. My scarcity mindset around money almost cost me the last 10 years of accelerated advancement of my self and my businesses and my relationship with my wife. The first person I had to influence was me. And, that is a damn near impossible task when you only see the world through your own set of eyes. Even worse, most people do not even use their own eyes... they simply accept as fact all the stories they get from other people, the news media, or their favorite internet platform. Think about it... how many times to do you hear something from a friend, read a headline or get 30 seconds of soundbites and make up a story in your ...

When was the last time you really wanted something? I mean wanted something so hard you couldn’t rest until you had it? Aside from getting laid… my experience of most adults is they live on the surface of life in shallow conversations about nothing meaningful, living in repression… and never allowing themselves to REALLY want much of anything. Certainly not enough to go hard after it. In Walden… Thoreau wrote, “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. What is called resignation is confirmed desperation. From the desperate city you go into the desperate country, and have to console yourself with the bravery of minks and muskrats”. Minks and muskrats are not very brave… And, Thoreau makes a good point when it comes to the ability of the average person to stand up for an idea, a want, or a set of principles they claim to believe in. They are afraid to speak their minds for fear of offending the wrong person. You’re a business owner who fears losing a customer, you’re an employee fears losing a job, you’re in a relationship and fear being ostracized… In this explosion of PC culture that has been reborn in American Colleges and Universities, I see repressed people doing their best to make their way in a world dying to be offended for even the smallest slight. What do you do… how do you live out loud in a world with sensitive ears? The short answer is: You Don’t. You sedate. You busy yourself with nonsense, material things, and distractions like the latest trash TV show, or the Constantly Negative News channel that only echos back your existing beliefs with no allowance for reasoning or deeper thought around any given topic. No wonder the US has the highest use of antidepressants in the world… People are living a lie. Living inauthentically. Living out of integrity with what they really want. And, they can’t figure out why their deepest desires will not be filled with another episode of Real Housewives or Game Of Thrones. There is hope… though. What if you could erase the fears you’ve created as you’ve grown, and create strategic ways of dealing with problems that allowed you let off steam in a way that puts you back on track? Think of your younger self… that kid you used to be? What if you could get in touch with him or her… especially the way you were around Christmas and the holidays. Remember how hard you would want a certain toy? I was a child of the 70’s and 80’s… and growing up each year at Christmas, all the department stores would mail catalogs out to every home they could knowing full well that this time of year money would be more apt to flow their way if they could plant seeds of desire going into the holiday season. I vividly remember spending hours flipping pages in the Sears Wishbook… It was like Amazon, but in print. They had every toy and bike you could want. It was like holiday crack for 8 year olds. My brother and I would pass it back and forth, and circle things we wanted, dog ear the pages, cut pictures out, and anything else we could do to make sure Mom and Dad knew which presents we really wanted. It was a big deal for us… This was the one time of the year where we could load up on stuff. We had to take advantage! We absolutely bombarded our parents with “I want this, I want that”, we’d show them the photos, we’d tell them how cool each thing was… We were so filled with energy and desire around what we wanted that they didn’t stand a chance. They’d tell us no… My brother and I would complain and cry and get mad, then once we processed that… You guessed it, we just kept on hammering home how cool it would be to have that new GI Joe with swivel arm battle grip, and that new intellivision video game, and that new dyno GT bike. We were relentless. They’d tell us no again… My brother and I would whine and moan and get mad until we processed it out of our system. Then we’d start the process of wanting all over again. And guess what,

I'm back after a short hiatus... As I mentioned in a previous podcast, the Queen and I hit a target of acquiring a new home and a new cash flow rental property coming into this last quarter and honestly the workload getting moved and reset was more than we both expected. Couple that with the fact that it took nearly two weeks just get internet access setup at the new pad, and another week or so to get my office setup, I missed about 4 weeks worth of episodes and now I'm in debt to myself and to you guys on this particular venture since my commitment was to have new content coming your way every Monday morning of each new week. Without fail. However, I did fail. That is my honest assessment of myself during this time period. Some will look at the situation... the move, the lack of internet, the lack of an office, and all the time that went into getting a useful space setup and say, "Well really, you can't count this as a fail because, hey just look at the circumstances... they were less than ideal." And, of course, you're right. Circumstances were and largely still remain less than ideal. So does that let me off the hook? Does it give me a pass? Does it give me cause to break my commitment to myself and to you by your estimation of the facts? Now, most of you, being nice people, will most likely say yes... Shit happens and you weren't able to get it done. No worries. However, I would have to disagree and say emphatically, "NO!". So, in looking at the situation why might you say "Yes" and I say "No"? It comes down to how we each assess my performance. If you said yes, what you are really saying is that the story about why I didn't get the last 4 episodes completed is just as valuable as the result I claimed to want to create. Yet, when I look at the story and the results I created by missing the last 4 weeks of episodes, I am valuing the results over the story about why it didn't get done. Many people in our lives, relationships, businesses, and families have decided to believe if someone comes to us with a "really good reason" as to why they didn't get something done... That they've earned a pass. They should get credit or at least partial credit based on the quality of the story they can tell us about why they didn't perform. They focus on the bullshit story about failure and tell you it's OK that you didn't perform, because hey, you had good reason. Rather than looking at the results... which are black and white. When we start examining the thin grey line between and justifying failure we open ourselves up to an infinite number of ways to excuse our lack of achievement. However, if we are truly masters of ourselves... The way we show up in the world can not be based solely on circumstance. Will there be circumstances that impede you or cause you to miss deadlines or commitments? Yes. Of course... That's just life. However, It seems that the vast majority of people who live in the land of excuses seldom have a good reason as to why their particular circumstance prevented the outcome they had committed themselves to hitting. So to be honest and forthright... I count myself among that group in this case. The reality is I have 3 or 4 cell phones. Two of which I use regularly for media and recording. So was it impossible for me to get the work done? Not really. It was just really, really inconvenient. I used inconvenience and worry over the tasks needing completion to take me off my game. I chose to act like a child who refuses to go to bed without his "blanky"... It's a way of demanding that everything line up perfectly or else... And if it doesn't I give myself a pass even though I had the means to make it happen. Like the child who's bed is warm and waiting for him, but he refuses to go down because his circumstances look different. So he sabotages himself, depriving himself of sleep... with the his bed empty and waiting for him in his bedroom.

In the last 2 episode of Do The Hard Thing, I talked about Money and then spoke about responsibility. And, today I am going to combine those two ideas into one method I’m using to generate cash flow from the the crypto currency market using several services. I want to preface this by telling you up front that I am not a financial advisor nor am I recommending that you do this. I am simply sharing with you what I am personally doing and what my results are at this point. The Crypto currency marketplace is highly volatile and I fully expect 95% of the also ran crypto coins that keep popping up seemingly everyday to be gone in less than a few years. I have lots of reasons to believe this to be the case, but in the interest of time I will simply give you the relevant information I can regarding the system I’m using so that you can investigate and do your own due diligence to decide if a crypto currency speculation is right for you. Notice, I said speculation… not investment. There is a difference between those two ideas primarily around how you can exit the trade or receive funds from the trade. Only you know your financial situation and this market is very risky… so I don’t recommend this strategy because the nature of most people in the modern world is to operate from “I’m not responsible”… for more on that, just listen to episode 11. However, you are responsible for all you do. And, if you invest in a highly volatile market and you lose your hat, shirt, and overcoat as my grandfather would say. It is entirely your fault. You chose into the game, you chose to be subject to the rules of the game. OK, that said… hopefully, I have sufficiently repelled all the irresponsible, free shit mentality people who might be listening… I’m sure there is a Bernie Sanders podcast awaiting you out there on the interwebs. I wish you well, but this is not for you.

In today’s environment among a great many people I interact with on a cursory basis outside of my primary circle, there is a common thread woven through much of words I hear fall from their lips… And they boil down to one singular idea: I’m not responsible because… I’m not responsible for being here on time because traffic was bad. It’s not my fault for missing my deadline because the guys in accounting didn’t get the reports to me in time. Don’t blame me for dinging your car, because you parked too close to the line… I’m not responsible because [insert your excuses or reasons here]. It can be maddening if you let it. I have literally had people will look me straight in the face and tell me what they can do and when they can have it done, and then turn around and break their word without even so much as an acknowledgement or a commitment to regain any lost trust created in those moments. I recently had a woman join my gym here in Phoenix, then later quit a few days from her renewal date. Cool. No problem… Yet she got upset when we charged her for the upcoming month. You see we don’t do contracts we simply ask for a 15 notice which is clearly notated on the documents she signed her name to… And, rather than openly discuss her issue with the charge, her first move was to dispute the charge with the credit card company and when that didn’t work, she decided to leave a 1 star review on our Google Reviews. You see, according to her she shouldn’t be responsible for that last payment because her circumstances changed. And, because her circumstances changed, in her mind she was no longer on the hook for anything she agreed to. Yet, I submit to you this, gentle listener… You are always responsible, because nobody gives a shit about your reasons for failure. And, that is how it should be.

In the last episode, I spoke about things that do not always expand when you focus on them… And, today I want talk about the number one thing this applies to: Money! I don’t care how long you focus on money or think about hundred dollar bills in your head, it will do you no good when it comes to getting more money. Money doesn’t give a shit about your metaphysical beliefs, your dream board, or the number of hours your work. It doesn’t care about your needs or your wants. God isn’t going to give it to you, the universe isn’t going to magically increase the amount in your accounts… no my friends, money only comes to you for one reason and one reason only. And, to understand that reason, you have to first understand what money is and what it isn’t. So let’s unpack this and get to the sinewy meat of the matter. Getting money is not magic or voodoo. Its a skill. Taxing people who know how to make money more, is like taking the mic away from your best singer in the choir and giving it to your second chair. It’s punishing someone for being successful in a given field. It’s childish and stupid. You are better off learning the skill than creating bad karma. Remember anyone you harm in any way comes back to you. And if you believe we are all connected, then harming another is harming yourself.

I know you’ve heard this one before… “What you focus on expands.” Every dream board wielding watcher of “The Secret” and reader of personal development literature has at some point been exposed to this concept. And, there is truth here. Focused energy on just about any topic or thing you want to bring into being will assist you in doing just that… Yet, there is an over simplication here that has always bugged me. Largely, it comes down to the idea that simply setting your focus is enough. That you can put of picture of a new car on your mirror and in short order that new car will end up in your driveway… or that you can write your deepest desires on a sticky note that hangs on your rear view mirror and magically those desires will manifest by themselves. Well, in short. That has not been my experience. I doubt it will be yours either. Especially when it comes to money… Stay tuned for more on that. First, lets get to the bottom of this idea of simply focusing on things to manifest them and make them real inside your life. To do that, we need to look at your brain. That 3 pounds of grey matter about the size of 2 fists between your ears. Turns out there is some science happening here that you may want to take notice of… On some level, you’ve probably been exposed to the fact that scientists have been doing their level best to identify and map the various parts of the brain for many years now in an effort to understand what part of the brain is responsible for various thought processes and activities. And while there is still a long way to go, certain bits of the map have started to be reliably identified. One such area, which sits at the base of the brain, has been identified and named the Reticular Activating System or RAS. It turns out that the RAS acts as a filter. We all are being constantly bombarded with information and stimuli all day everyday. And, we need a mechanism to let us know what is important and what is to be ignored.

When I was kid growing up, I was keen to notice how it seemed most of the adults around me never talked about anything meaningful. Especially in mixed company. The fact that the “grown ups who had everything figured out” were scared to be their authentic selves around anyone who may not appreciate their way of thinking was so thick in the air you could feel the tension. I remember realizing this probably around age 10 or 12 or so… and, for me this was an earth shattering realization. Prior to that I had this idea in my head that the grown ups had it all figured out. Little did I know that they were just winging their way through life… Looking back on that now with more thoughtful eyes, I can see how much each adult in my life was doing the best they could with the tools available to them. That is true for all of us, of course. We do our best with what is presented to us… but at some point, that isn’t enough we have to move into new thought or we stagnate and get stuck in our lives.

Well, here we are in the first day of the 4th quarter of 2017. Many of you may not have thought about the significance of October 1st… In fact, I bet you or someone you know is getting geared up for the 31st when all of North America celebrates Halloween as you listen to this podcast. Halloween spending this year will top 7BB dollars… And, here in the States, Americans will spend 350MM dollars on costumes for their pets alone! So, while you may have seen turmoil on cable news, where the whole of the nation is scoured to find every negative aspect of life and present it to you in living color 24 hours a day… The reality is that Americans continue to enjoy one of the highest, if not the highest, standards of living in the world. And, they will no doubt enjoy many a pumpkin spice latte whlie they parade their costumed pets around as Halloween draws closer. Now, I love Halloween as much as the next guy. It was and is one of my favorite holidays throughout the year, yet today I want to stress one fact to you: October 1st is far more important than October 31st. Why, you ask? Well, simply because it is the first day of the last quarter of the year. Yep, only three more months before 2017 goes away forever, and 2018 arrives with a fresh batch of resolutions to break. Only 3 more months to accomplish at the things you set out to accomplish at the beginning of the year.

Well, seemingly a firestorm of rhetoric and facebook vitriol was unleashed today, as NFL players took a knee for the National Anthem in response to Trump's remarks calling for owners to sack up and get rid of players who disrespect the symbol so many men gave their lives preserving. In what basically amounted to a contest of "fuck yous", people both pro and con picked up their phones as they sat lazily enjoying their free time within the borders of the US to "virtue signal" and/or shout "patriotism!" between grabbing for that next chicken wing and trips to pisser to return that beer they rented to the sewage pipes from whence the filtered water it was made originally came. As comments racked up, and no progress was made by either side... It was clear that the only winners in the exchange were the media who grasped at the opportunity to boost their ever sagging ratings by exacerbating the conflict. While self proclaimed patriots vowed to never watch the NFL again... Those in support of the kneeling players began to chime in with their belief that the NFL wasn't going anywhere anytime soon and scoffed at the notion that some would keep themselves away from football on any level; completely ignoring and uncaring for the cries of those who frequent the game and patronize the stores that carry the overpriced NFL licensed product. The die had been cast so to speak. You were either a patriot who supported the troops who "gave us our freedom" or you were an unpatriotic spoiled athlete making more money per game than the average person will see in a lifetime. And, who could forget this: no matter who you talked to, their side was 100% right and justified in their beliefs and actions. But how can that be? You have 2 diametrically opposed sides who firmly believe they are correct in their stance.

Today’s podcast goes out to all the entrepreneurs… Everyone putting their skin in the game, cash on the line, and choosing into the game of business and development. Those who take extraordinary risks to bring ideas and services to life that few have the audacity to pursue. This one is for all of you who Bother With It. Most of the time, when you begin something new, something different or out of the ordinary for yourself… you’ll face all kinds of questions and challenges. And many people are shocked to learn that the most ardent challengers tend to be those who are closest in terms of relationship or friendship.

Today’s podcast goes out to all the entrepreneurs… Everyone putting their skin in the game, cash on the line, and choosing into the game of business and development. Those who take extraordinary risks to bring ideas and services to life that few have the audacity to pursue. This one is for all of you who Bother With It. Most of the time, when you begin something new, something different or out of the ordinary for yourself… you’ll face all kinds of questions and challenges. And many people are shocked to learn that the most ardent challengers tend to be those who are closest in terms of relationship or friendship.

Today’s podcast goes out to all the entrepreneurs… Everyone putting their skin in the game, cash on the line, and choosing into the game of business and development. Those who take extraordinary risks to bring ideas and services to life that few have the audacity to pursue. This one is for all of you who Bother With It. Most of the time, when you begin something new, something different or out of the ordinary for yourself… you’ll face all kinds of questions and challenges. And many people are shocked to learn that the most ardent challengers tend to be those who are closest in terms of relationship or friendship.

Millions of people tuned into their Pay Per View Television with friends and at bars all across the world last night to watch undefeated Floyd Mayweather come off a 2 year retirement to take on the UFC's poster child, mouthpiece, and champion Conor McGregor. If you think about it, you may wonder what if anything either fighter had to gain from this bout.

When i finished recording the first episode... the zero episode, I had this thought run through my mind that was something along the lines of, "It's all downhill from here!"... like all my issues with getting started and rolling on this project were over. We'll... and here's your spoiler alert: They weren't. Not even close. My commitment, at least initially, is to create a new podcast and have it ready in advance each Monday for syndication... So I thought to myself, you know... I'll have plenty of time to create content and plenty of time to come up with ideas that can truly be useful... And however true that was, it didn't work out that way for me this week. This first crucial week. The week that would determine if I make or miss my target for consistency...

Today, I get to introduce this podcast and use my creation of this podcast as an example. The title, of course, refers to me doing the hard thing... which has been getting this podcast named, setup, and started. I originally created a podcast with 2 partners about 2 years ago in the fitness space, however we had a parting of ways and I did not continue that project. It was a great experience, and I enjoyed doing the shows. So really... it didn't make sense for me to take so long to get this new show going. And, because I found moving on this so difficult, I started seeing this same behavior show up in others. All the ways people sabotage themselves as it relates to movement toward the thing they claim to want most.