The Undeniable Level Up

Guest: Karl Jackson Welcome back to another Undeniable episode of the Undeniable Level Up Podcast.  With you host, Jose Medina and Crystal Garcia.  And today we are here to talk about Demystifying Digital Dough.  What is this thing called Crypto.  Wow, that rhymed didn't it!   For some of our listeners who follow our professional development and self improvement discussions, you may be asking how discussion of Cryptocurrency is a relevant topic for us to discuss and to those listeners. I would say, financial health is one of the 8 wellness categories.  And with everything that's going on with the dollar and Russia's and China's plan to move away from the Dollar Dollar Dollar Bill Yall, I think there is no better time to discuss Crypto than now. Now, I have some friends and associates who purport to understand Crypto and I'll be honest, I have a Crypto wallet with a little bit of Cryptocurrency, but I'd be lying if I told you that I totally understand everything about crypto.  I know how to invest in it, but I have no idea how to spend it. If you're like me, then you have a lot of questions too.   And here to help us demystify this Mystifying mullah is none other than Crypto Expert Karl Jackson.  Hi Karl, and thank you for joining us on today's show to discuss the ins and out of Cryptocurrency. Jose and I met Karl about 1.5 years ago when he was working as a Tax Attorney.  This guy is a Tax Wizard of the highest order, a financial genius and business structure master.  And now a Cryptocurrency Colossus!   Marc Kenigberg, the Founder fo BitcoinChaser says "Blockchain is the tech. Bitcoin is merely the first mainstream manifestation of its potential." Q: Do you agree with Marc?  Are we still at the beginning of what Crypto will be?  Where do you see Crypto in the next 5 years? This quote highlights the importance of understanding that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are just the beginning of what blockchain technology can achieve. The potential applications of blockchain technology go far beyond digital currencies and could have a transformative effect on various industries.  Q:  How do you think the underlying blockchain technology will continue to evolve, and what impact will this have on the cryptocurrency landscape? Q:  Can you discuss the potential for decentralized finance (DeFi) to disrupt traditional banking and financial systems? What are the key advantages and challenges of DeFi? Q: What role do you see cryptocurrencies playing in the global economy, particularly in developing countries where access to traditional banking infrastructure might be limited? Satoshi Makamoto, the mysterious and pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin stated that, "The root problem with conventional currency is all the trust that's required to make it work. The central bank must be trusted not to debase the currency, but the history of fiat currencies is full of breaches of that trust."  This quote from the inventor of Bitcoin emphasizes the fundamental issue that cryptocurrencies aim to address – the trust required for traditional financial systems to function. By leveraging blockchain technology, cryptocurrencies aim to provide a more secure, transparent, and decentralized alternative to conventional currencies. Q: How do you think regulators and governments will respond to the growing influence of cryptocurrencies, and what effect will this have on the industry's future? Q: Security has always been a concern in the crypto space, with numerous high-profile hacks and breaches. How can individuals and businesses best protect their digital assets? Q: What are your thoughts on the increasing popularity of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and their potential impact on various industries, including art, gaming, and intellectual property? Adam Draper, founder of Boost VC. Said, "The blockchain does one thing: It replaces third-party trust with a mathematical proof that something happened." Adam Draper's quote succinctly captures the essence of what blockchain technology offers – a decentralized, trustless system that relies on mathematical proofs and cryptography to ensure security and transparency. This shift from relying on third parties to mathematical proofs has the potential to revolutionize various aspects of our lives, from finance to supply chain management.  Q: Scalability has been a long-standing challenge for many cryptocurrencies, particularly Bitcoin and Ethereum. How do you envision this issue being addressed in the future? Q: How do you see the relationship between centralized and decentralized exchanges evolving, and what does this mean for the accessibility and security of digital assets? Q: In your opinion, what are the most promising use cases for cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology beyond finance and investment? CTAIf you've been thinking about investing in Crypto, but the mysticism and newness of the digitally currency has kept you hesitant, then today's topic should have given you some much needed insight and education and a strong starting point.  This is call to action is for those of you have interest, but just don't really know where to begin your journey and experience with Crypto.  We are going to ask you to become a participant in Crypto Twitter.  To do that, all you need Is a Twitter Account.  If you don't have one, it is easy to sign up at Twitter.com.  Use the search bar at the top of the Twitter interface to search for relevant hashtags like #cryptocurrency, #bitcoin, #ethereum, #blockchain, #DeFi, or other specific terms related to the crypto world.  Browse through the search results and follow accounts that regularly post about cryptocurrencies, blockchain technology, and related topics.  We will put some of the more popular accounts in the show notes to help you get started.  @VitalikButerin (Ethereum co-founder) @SatoshiLite (Litecoin creator Charlie Lee) @aantonop (Andreas Antonopoulos, a well-known crypto educator and author) @cz_binance (Changpeng Zhao, Binance CEO) Some additional keywords that are useful to look up when getting started and all of which are discussed in this podcast include: Cryptocurrency Bitcoin Ethereum Blockchain DeFi (Decentralized Finance) Crypto Wallet Altcoin Satoshi Nakamoto Smart Contracts Cryptocurrency Mining Proof of Work Proof of Stake NFT (Non-Fungible Tokens) ICO (Initial Coin Offering) Token vs Coin Digital Asset Cryptocurrency Exchange DEX (Decentralized Exchange) Crypto Trading Crypto Investment Cryptocurrency Market Cap Stablecoin Crypto Regulations Cryptography Crypto Security Crypto Taxes DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organizations) Yield Farming Cryptocurrency Futures Cryptocurrency Risings and Falls Privacy Coins Layer-2 Solutions Crypto Bubbles Bitcoin Halving Blockchain Technology Staking Cryptocurrency Decentralized Apps (DApps) Cryptocurrency Scams Crypto Adoption Crypto Volatility Here you will be able to engage with the content by liking, retweeting, and replying to tweets. This will help you stay updated on the latest news, opinions, and discussions within the crypto community. By following these steps, you will become part of the Crypto Twitter community and gain access to a wealth of knowledge, insights, and perspectives on the world of cryptocurrencies. Karl, thank you for joining us and being so informative and knowledgeable on such a technical and very, very new topic of Crypto.  As an attorney, I know that your time is not just limited, it's also valuable, so we appreciate the time you have taken out of your schedule to be a part of our show.   Do you have any advice for our listeners as they they getter ready to dip their toes into the dark waters fo Cryptocurrency? We look forward to having you back in the future to talk learn more about Crypto, taxes and business structures among other topics that you have expert knowledge on.  Thank you again. The world is changing.  30 years again computers were the size of a room and cell phones had to be carried in bag the size of a brief case.  Today, our phones are damn near super computers and fit in a pocket.  Everything we do is connected digitally in one way or another.  Crypto is here.  It is better to get educated on it and learn it so that you're not left behind when it becomes necessary to own it, have it and use it. Spend the time now, dabbling and learning the ins and outs and becoming familiar with Crypto and the different coins.  Knowledge is always the key to success.  It's time to level up your financial acumen, to begin building the foundation of knowledge on Crypto to keep you ahead of the pack.  Ignorance is NOT bliss.  Ignoring Crypto won't make it irrelevant. Find time to educate yourself, and move into the future with confidence and understanding.  ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Audio Intro: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Yw6dFQBklA Guest: James Young  In a world that is constantly evolving and increasingly connected, the ability to communicate effectively is more important than ever before. I'm your host, Jose Medina and I'm here with my Co-Host Crystal Garcia, and we are excited to have you join us on this enlightening journey as we explore the secrets to unlocking your true communication potential. Today, we'll dive into fascinating conversations with our guest and communications expert James Young.  Together, we'll uncover practical tips, proven strategies, and eye-opening insights that will empower you to express yourself with clarity, confidence, and charisma. From the art of persuasive storytelling and mastering nonverbal cues, to navigating difficult conversations and building meaningful connections, we'll tackle it all, ensuring you're equipped with the tools to thrive in both your personal and professional life. So, whether you're looking to ace that job interview, captivate your audience during a presentation, or simply build stronger relationships with the people around you, you've come to the right place! Sit back, relax, and get ready to transform the way you interact with the world as we embark on this exciting adventure together.  And here to speak with us about communication is out special guest and friend, James Young.   Hi James.  Thanks for taking the time today to join us on our show.  With all that you have going on, we know time is precious.  Can you begin by telling our listeners where your journey started…where did you grow up?Today, we will be focusing on how to master the art of communication.  It may sound like a simple thing.  Afterall, we learn how to communicate when we are between one to two years old for most kids.  We should be experts by the time we reach adulthood, right?.  Well the truth is some of us never really learn how to communicate effectively. There is a reason why I believe that this topic may be one of the most critical topics we've ever covered on our podcast.  Afterall, poor communication can lead to a variety of negative consequences, both in personal and professional settings. Some of the pitfalls of poor communication include:  Misunderstandings: Ambiguity or lack of clarity can cause confusion and lead to misunderstandings, which can result in wrong decisions or actions being taken. Damaged relationships: Ineffective communication can strain relationships, create mistrust, and foster negative feelings such as resentment, frustration, or anger. Decreased productivity: In the workplace, poor communication can hinder collaboration, create inefficiencies, and lead to costly mistakes. Conflict escalation: Poor communication can exacerbate conflicts, making it harder to find resolutions and leading to a breakdown in teamwork or personal relationships. Loss of credibility: Inconsistent or unclear communication can damage your credibility, making it difficult for others to trust or rely on you. Lower morale: Poor communication can contribute to a negative atmosphere, leading to decreased motivation, job satisfaction, and overall morale. Hindered personal growth: Ineffective communication can limit your ability to learn from others, receive constructive feedback, and grow personally or professionally. Misaligned goals: In a professional setting, poor communication can result in team members or departments working towards different goals or objectives, leading to wasted resources and a lack of progress. Inability to influence: Inability to communicate your thoughts persuasively may reduce your capacity to influence others, negotiate effectively, or advocate for your ideas and needs. Missed opportunities: Poor communication skills can lead to missed opportunities, such as failing to secure a job or promotion, losing a potential client, or not effectively expressing your feelings in personal relationships. Well, you're in luck, because we have 5 hacks to help you master the art of communication.  These are 5 of the best methods for enhancing not only your ability to get message across the way you intend for it to, but to also receive messages from other senders so never miss out on opportunities,  Our first hack is Active Listening. It's the foundation of effective communication, yet often overlooked. The key to active listening, is to really be present when someone's talking to you. Avoid distractions and just focus on the person speaking. And don't forget to maintain eye contact – it shows you're interested in what they're saying. Remember, it's important to be patient and let the speaker finish their thoughts without interrupting them. Your body language matters too, so nod, lean forward a bit, and stay relaxed to show you're engaged. When they're done talking, try to summarize what they said to make sure you got it right. If you want them to share more, ask open-ended questions that can't be answered with a simple yes or no. It's crucial to keep an open mind and not be judgmental during the conversation. Focus on understanding their perspective, even if you don't agree with it. Show some empathy by acknowledging their feelings and expressing your understanding. Feel free to provide feedback, but only after they've finished talking. Just make sure it's constructive and respectful. And don't forget, practice makes perfect! The more you practice active listening, the more natural it'll become for you.  The 2nd trick to mastering communication is to show empathy.   Developing your ability to listen and communicate with empathy can really make a difference in your relationships, whether they are personal or professional.  When communicating, ry to put yourself in the other person's shoes. Imagine what they might be feeling or going through, and focus on understanding their perspective instead of just thinking about your own.When someone's talking, pay close attention to their words, tone, and body language. These cues can give you valuable insights into what they're feeling. And don't forget to be fully present – avoid distractions and give them your undivided attention. It's also important to be patient and let the person finish their thoughts without interrupting them. When they're done, reflect back what you've heard and ask open-ended questions to encourage them to share more.Make sure to validate their emotions by acknowledging their feelings and showing that you understand. Phrases like "I can see why you'd feel that way" or "That sounds really tough" can help convey empathy. Remember, it's not always about solving the problem or offering advice. Sometimes, people just need someone to listen and empathize with their situation.  This takes practice and if you get it wrong the first couple times, keep working on it.  The key is to practice these skills regularly in your conversations. You'll be surprised by how much it improves your connections with others! Nonverbal cues can contradict and destroy the message you are trying to send and can distort a messages being sent your way. 93% of communication can be non-verbal.  Body language accounts for 55% and tone accounts for 38% of non-verbal communication.  A persons culture can interpret body language differently.  Eye contact in some cultures are signs of respect, but in others, it can be seen as aggressive or disrespectful. Body language is the emoticon of the verbal communication.  Without it, the receiver if the message can misinterpret the communication.  Body language has an influence on power dynamics between communicators. And it is critical to communicate active listening. To improve communication using non-verbal cues, start by pay attention to your body language, like your posture and facial expressions. Stand tall and use natural gestures that go with what you're saying. Don't forget about eye contact – it's important to show you're interested and paying attention. But remember, different cultures have different norms for eye contact, so be mindful of that. Your facial expressions can say a lot, so let them show your emotions and reactions. A genuine smile, for example, can really help you connect with others. It's also important to respect people's personal space and find the right distance when talking to them. Use hand gestures to emphasize your point, but don't go overboard and distract from your message. Your tone of voice matters too, so think about your pitch, volume, and speed. Adjust them based on the situation and use your voice to express emotions or enthusiasm. When you're listening to someone, show them you're engaged by nodding, leaning forward a bit, and keeping eye contact. Sometimes, it can help to subtly mirror their body language or tone of voice to make them feel more at ease. Keep an eye on good communicators and learn from them – notice what works well and try to use those techniques yourself. And don't be afraid to ask for feedback or practice in different situations. The more you practice, the better you'll get at using nonverbal cues to improve your communication.Our 4th trick to mastering communication is to work on your storytelling ability.  Storytelling is such a powerful part of communication! Let me tell you why. When you share a story, it really grabs people's attention and gets them emotionally invested. Plus, it can make complicated ideas so much easier to understand and remember. Stories also help us connect with each other and see things from different perspectives. This can create a sense of empathy and understanding between the storyteller and the audience. One of the great things about stories is that they stick with us – way more than just plain facts or numbers. That's because they tap into our emotions and paint vivid pictures in our minds. And guess what? Stories can be super persuasive too. They appeal to both our emotions and our logic, which can help change people's minds or inspire them to take action. When you share your own experiences or personal stories, it makes you seem more genuine and relatable. People are more likely to trust and listen to you when they feel you're being authentic. Lastly, stories make learning fun and engaging. They help us remember information better, which means we're more likely to apply it in our own lives. So, the next time you need to get your message across, try adding a story or two – it can make a world of difference!The last hack is improve your Feedback.   First off, it helps make sure everyone understands each other. You know, like when you ask questions or summarize what was said to check if you got it right. It also shows that you're actively listening and interested in the conversation, which helps build trust and rapport. Feedback is great for helping us improve our communication skills too. When someone gives us constructive feedback, it helps us see where we can do better, leading to stronger relationships and better conversations down the line. In a work setting, feedback is essential for improving performance and job satisfaction. It helps people identify their strengths and weaknesses and encourages them to grow and develop their skills. Feedback can also help resolve conflicts by addressing issues before they get out of hand. By talking things through and finding solutions together, you can actually strengthen your relationships and create a more positive environment. So, feedback is really important for learning, growing, and constantly improving – both in our personal lives and at work. Don't be afraid to give and receive feedback; it can make a world of difference in effective communication! If you have ever found yourself unfocused in an important conversation, reading emails while an employee is trying to relay a personal problem you, then you need to work on your communication skills. If you have difficulty relating to others perspectives or hiding the disgust on your face when someone says something totally stupid, then you need to work on enhancing your ability to communicate. If you can't tell a good story, with the ability to capture someone's attention or give someone feedback on something they just said , then you need to master the art of communication. I invite you to take the LinkedIn Course "Develop Your Communication Skills and Interpersonal Influence".  This course teaches you how to convey information and ideas in an engaging manner.  They teach how to build trust and be heard.  The course of 5 hourse and 15 minutes long, but well worth the effort!  The link will be in the show notes: https://www.linkedin.com/learning/paths/develop-your-communication-skills-and-interpersonal-influence -  "Develop Your Communication Skills and Interpersonal Influence" The Johari Window - https://www.communicationtheory.org/the-johari-window-model/As we wrap up today's podcast on effective communication, let's take a moment to reflect on the incredible power of meaningful conversations and genuine connections. Always remember that communication is the bridge that unites us, helping us navigate our relationships, achieve our goals, and create a better understanding of the world around us. Investing time and effort into honing your communication skills will not only help you grow personally and professionally, but it will also positively impact the lives of those you interact with. Embrace the journey of continuous improvement, actively listen, and empathize with others. Be mindful of both verbal and nonverbal cues, and never underestimate the value of honest feedback. As you move forward, may you find inspiration and motivation in every conversation, unlocking the potential for growth, collaboration, and unity. With every word you speak and every message you share, remember that you have the power to change the world, one conversation at a time.Thank you for joining us on this journey to become better communicators, and we look forward to continuing this exploration together in future episodes. Stay curious, stay connected, and keep making a difference through the power of effective communication. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Audio: Motivational Speech on Courage  Guest: Krista Roseborough  Welcome to the Undeniable Level Up Podcast, your go-to source for powerful insights and transformative tips to elevate every aspect of your life! Why settle for mediocrity when you can unleash your full potential? Join us as we dive into the world of personal and professional growth, uncovering life hacks to boost your career, turbocharge your relationships, and elevate your personal well-being. Together, let's unlock the secrets to becoming the ultimate version of yourself, armed with the tools, strategies, and yes, even the tricks, that we'll explore in our captivating conversations. Get ready to level up like never before! You know, courage is really an interesting and layered idea. It's been on the minds of thinkers and philosophers for ages. Basically, it's all about standing up to tough situations or risks with a strong mindset, some guts, and a can-do attitude. So, Aristotle talked about courage in his book Nicomachean Ethics, and he saw it as one of the most important virtues. He believed it's all about striking the perfect balance between being too scared and too confident when dealing with tough times. A brave person knows they're afraid, but they still take action, without running away or diving headfirst into danger. Historically, other philosophers perspectives on courage emphasized moral or ethical considerations. For example, some philosophers argued that courage involves not your the ability to face danger or adversity but it towards a just or a noble cause. In this sense, courage is tied to moral principles and a commitment to doing what is right, even when it is difficult or risky.   Oh, and speaking of courage, existentialist philosophers like Søren Kierkegaard and Jean-Paul Sartre had their own unique take on it. They saw courage as dealing with the ups and downs of life while trying to find meaning in a world that doesn't seem to care. For them, being brave means tackling life's uncertainties, owning your freedom and responsibility, and making genuine choices when faced with life's big questions. Courage, as a philosophical concept can be understood as a virtue that enables individuals to face adversity, danger, or challenges with strength, determination, and a commitment to moral or ethical principles. While the specific nuances of courage may vary across philosophical perspectives, it is generally recognized as a crucial aspect of human character and personal development. And here to speak with us about courage is out special guest and friend, Krista Roseborough.   Hi Krista… Joe and I met Krista through Jiu Jitsu when she was training here in Houston, TX.  As a professional, a mother, a daughter and the many more hats that Krista wears, the one thing she never has a shortage of, is courage.  Thank you for taking the time to join us today.   Can you begin by telling our listeners where you grew up?    "Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the assessment that something else is more important than fear." – Franklin D. Roosevelt Q: What are your thoughts about President Roosevelt's words? This quote really highlights that courage is not about being fearless, but rather understanding and recognizing that some things are more important than fear, such as what we value and hold dear, our goals and our purpose in life. Today, we present seven powerful hacks that will not only boost your courage but also empower you to confront challenges and seize new opportunities in life. By implementing these seven practical strategies, you'll be able to develop your courage, conquer your fears, and unlock your full potential And the first of the seven hacks is setting achievable goals – Setting achievable goals is essential to driving internal courage as it fosters a sense of self-efficacy, motivation, and resilience in individuals. By establishing realistic objectives, individuals are more likely to feel confident in their abilities to overcome challenges and accomplish their desired outcomes. This sense of self-belief serves as a catalyst for courage, empowering individuals to take calculated risks and face adversity head-on. Moreover, breaking down larger aspirations into smaller, attainable goals provides a clear roadmap for progress, allowing individuals to track their achievements and maintain motivation. As each milestone is reached, a sense of accomplishment further reinforces the courage to persevere and overcome obstacles.  In essence, setting achievable goals not only nurtures a resilient mindset but also cultivates the internal courage needed to navigate life's uncertainties and achieve personal and professional success. Q: Have you ever found breaking goals down into smaller chunks boosting of your self esteem and confidence? And has that ever given you courage to chase more daring and challenging objectives? The 2nd Hack is embracing vulnerability.  You know, being open and vulnerable is super important when it comes to building up your courage. It helps you form genuine connections, grow as a person, and bounce back from tough times. When you're honest about your fears and hopes with people you trust, you create a support system that can offer great advice, motivation, and guidance. Sharing your experiences and viewpoints not only makes you stronger, but it also helps you feel less alone in your struggles. Plus, when you embrace vulnerability, you can face and accept your own limitations, which helps you develop a growth mindset that's key for building courage. Recognizing your weaknesses means you can tackle them head-on and learn from your setbacks, turning obstacles into chances for growth and self-improvement. And, being vulnerable also encourages self-compassion and empathy, giving you a better understanding of your feelings and experiences. This emotional intelligence lets you handle tough situations with more adaptability and resilience, which ultimately boosts your inner courage. Q:  Have you ever struggled to be vulnerable and where did you muster the courage to overcome that fear? Number three is practicing mindfulness.  Practicing mindfulness is important to driving internal courage because it fosters a deep sense of self-awareness, emotional regulation, and mental focus. By engaging in mindfulness practices, such as meditation or journaling, you learn to observe and process your thoughts and emotions without judgment. This increased self-awareness allows you to recognize and confront your fears, paving the way for the development of courage. Furthermore, mindfulness helps you stay present and focused, enabling you to approach challenges with a calm, clear mind and a heightened sense of resilience.  As you become more adept at managing your emotions, you'll find it easier to act courageously in the face of adversity, since you'll be less likely to be overwhelmed by fear or anxiety. In addition, mindfulness encourages reflection and introspection, which can lead to a better understanding of your values, goals, and motivations. This clarity of purpose further reinforces your internal courage, empowering you to make confident decisions and take decisive action in pursuit of your aspirations. Ultimately, practicing mindfulness is a powerful tool for cultivating a courageous mindset, equipping you with the mental and emotional strength to navigate life's challenges with grace and determination. Q: How do you practice mindfulness?  What grounds you in the present?   READ QUOTE: Nelson Mandela stated, when asked about overcoming fear, "I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear." Q: What do you think President Mandela meant by that statement? The truly courageous person acknowledges their fear and finds the strength to conquer it in order to move forward. Hack number four is visualizing success.  You know, visualizing success is super important when it comes to building courage. It's all about using your imagination to picture yourself achieving your goals. When you do that, you can feel the emotions and excitement of success, which helps you believe in yourself and boosts your courage. The more you see yourself overcoming challenges and reaching your goals, the more confident and determined you become. It's like a mental practice run that gets your brain ready for success, making it easier to take action when things get tough. Plus, visualization can help you bounce back from setbacks by letting you imagine different situations and solutions. This way, you're prepared to handle surprises with confidence and courage. So, in a nutshell, picturing success is a powerful way to make your dreams come true, face your fears, and tackle life's challenges with a never-give-up attitude. Q: Do you visualize your success before it's achieved?  If so what does that look like?   Five is to surround yourself with positive influences.  Surrounding yourself with positive influences is critical to driving internal courage because the people you choose to spend time with have a profound impact on your mindset, beliefs, and actions. By connecting with individuals who inspire, uplift, and encourage you, you create an environment that fosters personal growth, self-belief, and a can-do attitude. These supportive relationships act as a source of strength and motivation, providing you with the confidence and resilience needed to face challenges head-on.  Additionally, positive influences can serve as role models, demonstrating through their own actions the power of courage, determination, and perseverance. This exposure to courageous behavior helps you internalize these qualities and adopt them as part of your own character. Ultimately, immersing yourself in a circle of positive influences paves the way for the development of internal courage, empowering you to tackle obstacles, seize opportunities, and reach your full potential. Q:  Who are the positive influencers in your circle?  How do you cultivate positive energy  in your environment?  Where is your Sacred Space of Success?  How to eliminate toxic or negative energy? Hack six is learn from your failures.  Learning from our mistakes is super important for building courage. It's all about turning those setbacks into chances for growth and getting better at what we do. When we learn from failure, we get to know our strengths and weaknesses better, and that helps us be more resilient when facing future challenges and making smart choices. Plus, it encourages us to see obstacles as stepping stones, not huge barriers we can't overcome. Changing the way we see failure helps us be braver when taking risks and facing tough times with determination and persistence. Plus, when we realize that failure is just a normal part of the journey to success, we're less scared of messing up, which boosts our confidence and self-assurance. So, learning from our mistakes not only makes us more resilient, but it also gives us the courage we need to chase after our dreams and goals, no matter what. Q: What has been your biggest failure and what did you learn from it?  How has this failure made you more fearless? The last hack, is to practice exposure.  Practicing exposure plays a vital role in developing and driving internal courage as it allows individuals to confront and gradually overcome their fears, anxieties, and limiting beliefs. By facing challenging situations or stimuli in a controlled and incremental manner, individuals learn to build tolerance and resilience, ultimately reducing their negative emotional responses to these perceived threats. This process of desensitization helps individuals recognize that their fears are often irrational or exaggerated, enabling them to develop a more grounded and realistic perspective. As individuals gain confidence in their ability to cope with previously intimidating situations, they experience a sense of empowerment and self-efficacy. This newfound belief in their capabilities serves as a catalyst for internal courage, fostering the determination and resolve necessary to tackle even greater challenges. Moreover, the process of exposure also promotes personal growth and self-awareness, as individuals gain insights into their strengths, weaknesses, and coping strategies. Ultimately, practicing exposure not only strengthens resilience and adaptability but also cultivates the internal courage essential for overcoming obstacles and achieving personal and professional success. Q: How do you practice exposure?  Has it been beneficial?  Have you struggled to practice exposure? READ QUOTE: The poet E.E. Cummings is quoted as saying, "It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are."  Q: What do you think E.E. Cummings meant by this? I believe he meant that it takes courage to embrace our authentic selves and take the necessary steps to grow and develop, even when it's challenging or uncomfortable.  (CTA)If you find yourself holding back, dodging challenges, and coming up with reasons why you can't achieve what you truly desire, it's time to reignite your inner courage. If fear—whether it's the fear of making mistakes, looking foolish, or failing—is stopping you from stepping out of your comfort zone, then it's time to harness your internal bravery. If you're stuck in analysis paralysis, unable to make crucial decisions swiftly, or if you begin exciting projects only to quit without a clear reason, then this message is meant for you! We urge you to grab a copy of "Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway" by Susan Jeffers or "The Courage to Be Disliked" by Ichiro (Itch-e'-Row) Kishimi (Kish-e'-Me') and Fumitake (fumi-Taki) Koga. These books offer incredible insights into cultivating and nurturing your personal courage. Check the show notes for the links, and let the journey towards a more courageous you begin! https://a.co/d/9opStAQ - "Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway" by Susan Jeffers  https://a.co/d/9PjWgNH - "The Courage to Be Disliked" by Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Kogahttp://www.komusodesign.com/krista15 - "Komuso Breathing Necklace Krista, any advice for our listeners out there who may be struggling from an overall lack of  courage?  We want to thank you for joining us today on our show.  It has been a pleasure and incredibly humbling to get to know you on a more personal level and understand how you use courage to achieve and live an amazing life. As we wrap up this inspiring podcast on discovering courage, let's remember that courage isn't about being fearless; it's about facing challenges with determination, strength, and a dedication to doing what's right.  Our guest, Krista Roseborough, shared incredible wisdom on developing inner bravery, touching on setting achievable goals, welcoming vulnerability, practicing mindfulness, envisioning success, surrounding ourselves with positivity, learning from setbacks, and embracing exposure.  Building courage is a journey that takes time and effort, but the rewards are beyond compare. As E.E. Cummings beautifully put it, "It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are." So, let's all commit to nurturing the inner courage we need to reach our goals and unlock our true potential. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Welcome to the Undeniable Level Up Podcast where we provide our listeners with life hacks to leveling up in business, leveling up in your career, leveling up in your personal lives, and even leveling up in your relationships. Why strive to be average, when you can be the best version of yourself with the tools, tips and sometimes with the tricks that we provide in our discussions. Last week we discussed the superhero task of raising children, in our episode titled, “It Takes a Village.” We shared with everyone ten key components to raising a successful child and challenged everyone to incorporate those components in their own children's lives. Today we are here to talk about starting a revolution. Don't worry, we are not talking about doing anything too crazy here. We are talking about a revolution of change in your life. We just want to help you in your journey to leveling up. Starting a revolution in your life can be an exciting and transformative experience. To many a revolution is seen as a sudden, radical, and often violent change in the political, social, or economic order of society. However, they can also be peaceful and involve changes in attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors that lead to a significant transformation in society. Historical examples include the fall of the Berlin Wall in Germany and the Civil Rights Movement in the United States.  We are a couple months into the year now and if you are finding it hard to make those moves you know you want to and many times need to in your life, we have you covered. Today, we are going to start a revolution.  The American Revolution was ignited with a speech given by Patrick Henry before the Virginia Convention in Richmond on March 23, 1775 where he said, “I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!” I think we can all agree that we have things in our lives that we want and / or need to change. No matter who you are, this should resonate with you and if not well you are perfect. HaHa! No one is perfect, so be honest with yourself. There are 5 steps to begin with in your revolution that we want to share with you all today.  1). Change Identification  2). Goal Setting 3). Plan Creation 4). Action  5). Support  So lets jump right in… 1)    Change Identification – The first step in starting a revolution in your life is to identify what you want to change. It could be your career, your relationships, your health, or any other area of your life that you feel is not where you want it to be.  2)    Goal Setting – Once you know what you want to change, it's important to set specific, measurable goals that will help you achieve your desired outcome. Make sure your goals are challenging yet achievable and write them down to keep yourself accountable. If this is not familiar with you, check out our podcast on “Goal Setting.” I am huge fan of writing things down for a number of reasons. For starters I personally feel like writing something down shows commitment and provides accountability. Dr. Gail Mathers, a Psychology Professor at a Dominican University of California conducted research where she concluded that you are 42% more likely to achieve your goals by simply writing them down. Yes, you heard that right. Harvard University also conducted a study where they found that the 3% (yes a low number) of graduates from their MBA program who had their goals written down actually ended up earning 10 times as much as the other 97% put together (YES, PUT TOGETHER)! Guys and Gals, this is powerful! So, I utilize SMART goals when I set goals and I write it all down. At many times in my life people would laugh and me writing things down, making lists, and labeling and organizing things… but I was on to something even if I had no clue at the time. I set goals, I write them down, I reference them frequently adjusting as necesarry, and I crush them! 3)    Plan Creation – I'm sure we have all heard the wise statement, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” To do anything well, you have to plan. Think of this like a trip… A revolution doesn't happen overnight, so it's important to create a plan that outlines the steps you need to take to reach your goals. Break down your goals into smaller, manageable tasks and create a timeline for when you want to achieve each one.4)   Action – Nothing is achieved without action. Now that you have a plan, it's time to take action. Start with the first task on your list and work your way through each one until you've accomplished your goals. Be prepared for setbacks and obstacles, but don't let them derail your progress. 5)   Support – Surround yourself with support. Making big changes in your life can be challenging, so it's important to surround yourself with people who support and encourage you. Seek out like-minded individuals who are also making positive changes in their lives, and don't be afraid to ask for help when you need it. Get a mentor and don't surround yourself with people who do not challenge you. Level-up!  We challenge all of you to identify the change or changes you want and / or need to make, set goals, create a plan, take action, and surround yourself with the support you need! Remember, starting a revolution in your life take courage, commitment, and perseverance. However, the rewards can be life-changing, so don't be afraid to take the first step.   https://a.co/d/h0y483L - "The Power of Now" - Eckhart Tollehttps://a.co/d/j7qywVC - "Atomic Habits" - James Clearhttps://a.co/d/7bYr3Vw - "7 Habits of Highly Effective People" - Sean Covey ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

 Welcome to the Undeniable Level Up Podcast where we provide our listeners with life hacks to leveling up in business, leveling up in your career, leveling up in your personal lives, and even leveling up in your relationships. Why strive to be average, when you can be the best version of yourself with the tools, tips and sometimes with the tricks that we provide in our discussions. Last week you heard from Alicia Anaya, in our episode titled, “Killing the Procrastinator in You.” Alicia shared with us her tips and tricks and even her personal struggles.  Today we are here to talk about raising children and why it indeed does, “take a village to raise a child” and how you as a parent can better equip your children for the battlefield or life and being successful in it. Raising children can be one of the most rewarding experiences in life, but it can also be challenging.   Welcome back everyone, we have missed you all. READ PROVERB: We have all heard, “It takes a village to raise a child,” it's a proverb or a traditional saying that has taken on the meaning that it takes an entire community of people for a child to experience and grow in. In 2016 National Public Radio (NPR) researched the origins but were unable to pinpoint them. Scholars have attributed this proverb to several African cultures. There are several proverbs found throughout cultures that roughly mean the same thing. So I think before we even begin to talk about the village, it's important to understand the concept of a village first. So what is a village exactly? A village is the network of people and institutions that surround us or we are exposed to that contribute to our growth and development. Think of living in a town and never leaving it. That village you are a part of would be the only one that assists in raising you. It is where you have connections, where you are exposed to opportunity, where you develop your concept of social norms, and have experiences.  Our psychological development includes our cognitive, emotional, intellectual, and social capabilities and functioning beginning from infancy and continuing through our life span all the way into our old age. Our development is shaped by a multitude of factors, including our genetics, environment, social relationships and experiences throughout our lives.  Research this topic and you will be sure to find a plethora in each of these respective areas all seeking to both reveal and understand how “who we become” is shaped. The field of epigenetics is a fascinating field that explores how behavioral and environmental influences impact the expression of genes and influence our behavior and health. By recognizing the power of the villages impact on our genetic expression, we can better understand how to create a village where children thrive. Yes but I want to share a personal story with you guys on what prompted this episode and the realization I came to when I realized what this truly meant.  As a parent, you want your children to be better than you and you want to prevent them from experiencing the hard lessons or speed bumps you encountered along the way in your journey. You make decisions to promote this such as choosing what school district and neighborhood you live in. Now I don't know any parent that wants to see their child in pain, in fact it's quite excruciating for a parent and you will certainly realize this as you hear this story.  So recently one of my children encountered a situation leading up to something they have been working towards relentlessly. When I say relentlessly, they were so focused that no excuse veered them off their path. I watched my child tired, not feeling well, physically and mentally fatigued push through and work so hard like a Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, or Danica Patrick. I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt, no one was outworking them. The situation became extremely stressful and emotionally overwhelming to the point that I watched as my child's heart broke before the event even happened.  Now I have never been a helicopter parent (and you'll learn about this later in the episode) so I was self-reflecting and trying my best to view the situation from different perspectives because my child was hurting and it didn't feel good. My child is extremely mature and this was for my child to deal with, not for me to swoop in and handle. As bad as this sounds, this wasn't the worst part. The worst part occurred the day of the event when I watched my child's heart ripped right out of their chest again right before me. So as you might expect, the result of the event was unsuccessful but certainly not one that was earned nor deserved. While my child was expecting support from loved ones for such a big event, they didn't get it and it came as a large blow with a painful consequence. In this moment my heart was shattered. Now to top things off, I am an empath. I didn't just watch all of this, I felt it all. I became so emotional that I had to go to the bathroom and actually had my fist over my mouth (now I don't cry often) but I watched the largest crocodile tears fall from my eyes (in silence of course) to the floor at my feet in this bathroom stall I was in. That whole, “be strong for your child,” yeah I was struggling. I realized that in a moment my child needed support and more importantly their heart to be victorious. It wasn't possible without a heart… makes sense right? I would have without question replaced theirs with mine. Now in this moment the event was completely insignificant to me as my child's life is more important. Naturally, I was experiencing a flood of emotions that included anger. I wanted to unleash the tsunami you get from me when you hurt someone I love, but I had to pull myself in and give myself a peptalk as did my husband still in this bathroom stall. The truth be told, this was not my battle, it was my child's and regardless of how I felt it was important that I empower my child as opposed to removing their power in that critical moment.  So, while still in this stall, my child messages me for backup and not to fight their battle but to ensure the battlefield was fair. I knew this was a significant emotional event for them and a monumental moment. Trust me, I had pulled myself together, threw some water on my face, and walked out powerfully and pumped up. I was ready to engage and ready to skip some steps in the escalation of force if the situation required it.  You know what though… I experienced the most extraordinary moment I had ever experienced as a mom up close and personal. I watched my child step out to the line of the battlefield, violently retrieve their heart, dump baggage out of their rucksack and then with no hesitation whatsoever draw their sword and raise it with a show of force and someone you don't want to come face to face with on the battlefield. I was so proud! I realized in that moment that had I have responded in any other way emotionally, verbally, or physically… that would not have occurred. I realized in this moment, my child didn't even need the backup but I was so proud to have witnessed this. It is in this moment that I suddenly realized that it does take a village to raise a child and I wanted to share that with all of you because I wish I knew this before I had my first child. To put this into perspective, this wisdom came to me at 41 years old with 6 children, three step-children, and two grandchildren. If I have you guessing, I had my first child at 15 and though that's the age you typically think you know everything, you truly have only touched the surface. So this is actually key component number one of raising a successful child “Be deliberate about the village and tents you expose your children to!”  I actually picture a village as a bunch of tents (think of the wild west for a minute). Each tent represents a location where your children will draw their learning and be equipped for the battlefield which is passed a line you cannot continue with them and this is life. So one tent may be for intellectual growth or school. Another tent may be for tool achievement (such as a sword) or a tent for successfully achieving conflict resolution. These are just a mere few but all important. The village is preparing your child for the battlefield.  So think of that as we continue throughout the podcast today and ask yourself, “What village is my child or are my children in?” Research has shown that many severe mental health disorders have a hereditary component. Yet, the environment and behavior, such as improved diet, reduced stress, physical activity, and a positive mindset, can determine whether this health condition is ever expressed. That's a big deal! Key component number two of raising a successful child is “be a good role model.” This is crucial and trust me, I know this can be hard especially when you are a parent at fifteen and haven't even quite figured out who you even really are yet. The truth though is that our children learn far more from what we do than what we say. While we can't always control what and who are children are exposed to whether that be at school, church, a friends house, anywhere really we can control what we model. I read a book once that said, “everything in life is a graded event.” This statement resonated with me because, you are always being observed by those around you and in this case your children. Research shows that children learn and imitate behavior by watching others. They imitate behavior based on the reinforcement those behaviors receive. So use this as an opportunity to model important lessons for the battlefield. I know we laugh at all of the funny child tiktoks we see but be careful as laughter is an unintentional positive reinforcement. If you laugh at a behavior, children take that as being an acceptable behavior. Lead by example. If you want your kids to be physically fit, show them maybe in a family activity. If you want them to take continual learning seriously, show them that this is something you invest in. If you want your children to work hard, show them. Key component number three of raising a successful child is, “display positivity and optimism.” A Positivity and optimism can help children navigate life's challenges with resilience and confidence. Positivity refers to our current state while optimism refers to the outlook for future events in life. Research has shown that even in poverty-stricken areas, children who are exposed to positivity and optimism have better academic performance, stronger relationships, and greater career achievement. This is demonstrated in people like the Comedian, Kevin Hart. These children are also better able to cope with stress and adversity and are more likely to have a sense of purpose and meaning in their lives. Oprah Winfrey said, “I know for sure that what we dwell on is who we become.” She has openly credited her positivity and optimism for getting her through her touch childhood. So help your children learn to reframe negative situations and focus on opportunities for growth and learning.  According to the University of Pennsylvania's research, Grit is actually tied to both positivity and optimism as grit requires you to have a clear and compelling vision of the future, and the optimism to believe that you can achieve that vision through sustained effort and hard work to achieve a future you want. You can encourage grit in your children by helping them set goals and supporting them in the pursuit even when they are not your goals or the goals you want for them. It's also important to model grit by persisting through your own challenges and maintaining a positive outlook even in difficult circumstances. By doing so, you will help your children develop the resilience and determination they need to succeed in life. Key component number four of raising a successful child is, “Don't transfer your burdens or emotions to your children.” Children are highly sensitive to the emotional signals of those around them, and can easily pick up on stress, anxiety, and other negative emotions. Children often do not have the emotional resources yet to handle their own issues in addition to their parents. This is like taking weight from your rucksack that you carry through life and placing it in theirs. Research has shown that the psychological phenomenon known as “emotional contagion” is indeed accurate. You catch the emotional state of those around you and if you are an empath its even worse. As parents, we should be finding our own sources of support and finding ways to manage our emotional states. Don't unpack your rucksack through life on your journey into your child's. That weight gets heavy and uncomfortable. When we model managing our own emotions in a healthy way we are managing resiliency and coping and this will result in our children developing emotional intelligence along with coping strategies. Key component number five of raising a successful child is, “Maintain an authoritive parenting style.” This parenting style directs children rationally by being positive and responsive to children's emotional needs, but also setting clear boundaries and expectations for their behavior. This parenting style actually creates a sense of structure and predictability which translates into their feelings of security and their development of a strong sense of self-discipline.  Research conducted by the University of California at Berkley has shown that children of authoritive parents tend to have higher levels of academic achievement, better social skills, and lower rates of behavioral problems compared to children of other parenting styles. This is because authoritive parenting provides children with the support and guidance needed to thrive, while also giving them the freedom to explore and learn from their mistakes. Key component number six of raising a successful child is, “Empower Your Children to Raise Their Sword.” Parents, give your children the reigns. Remember that you are preparing your children for a the battlefield or life without you. Children of parents who allow them to take the lead, build independence and practice self-regulation skills. In fact research performed by The National Academy of Sciences found that children exhibiting these skills went on to be healthier, have more money, not have substance abuse issues or criminal behavior. So backoff and don't be a helicopter parent. Allow your child to figure things out without you so that they learn the ability to problem-solve, control their attention, and their emotions. Limited skills in this area can create a much higher probability of children doing poor in school, having issues socially, doing drugs, and getting in trouble legally. Too much parental instruction and / or direction can backfire and cause a child to lose focus according to a study led by Stafford University. Children with parents who stepped in to provide instructions frequently displayed more difficulty regulating their emotions later.  Often times some parents try to exert psychological control of their children. Psychological control is when you try to control a child's emotional state or beliefs. Research conducted by the University College of London revealed that children of parents exerting psychological control of their children had a lower mental well-being throughout adulthood and that the effect is similar to the death of a close friend or relative. Who would want their children to experience this? Instead, parents should maintain an authorative parenting style like we spoke of earlier by directing children rationally. Set clear boundaries and expectations for their behavior such as those that can be harmful while also being positive and responsive to their emotional needs. Its absolutely okay to set a curfew, assign chores, and expect homework to be completed within a specific timeframe. Research conducted by Harvard University on having children contribute to the household with chores such as doing their own laundry or taking out the trash, results in the realization they have to do work in life to be a part of life. The biggest area of empowerment for a child is, allowing them to make decisions, even small ones, can be a powerful way to empower them and build their confidence. Just to clarify we are not talking about big decisions but even controlling what friends they hang out with, what time their homework is done, etc. My youngest child didn't have a bedtime. We told her that so long has she got everything done she was supposed to, wasn't falling asleep at school, and maintaining good grades, we would leave her bedtime selection to her. We never had to tell her to do her homework or chores, everything was done before bed. It's even smart when your child approaches you with a problem that you listen without offering advice right away. This causes your child to figure things out, even how they can approach things differently. This develops problem solving and critical thinking skills.  Research published in Psychology Today by Laura Dessauer indicates that by not letting your children make decisions, it turns them in to codependent adults. These children tend to seek out relationships where someone else has the power and control. Scary Right!!  Key component number seven of raising a successful child is, “Let your child fail but think of effort over failure.” As you heard earlier in my personal story, I know its tough it is to watch your child learn a tough lesson, but it's a lesson. Failure is part of the journey, even on the battlefield. Do you know how many U.S. Soldiers died unnecessarily on the battlefield before we realized that not just medics but all Soldiers needed to know the importance of controlling bleeding even before providing treatment for their airway, thousands. 90% of 4,596 casualties died of hemorrhage associated injuries. This was a massive failure and one that impacted a lot of people. So, 100% of Soldiers learned how to control bleeding.  Research has shown that not allowing your children to fail is so damaging that it continues into adulthood. Remember, your preparing your child for battlefield not preparing the battlefield or life for them. In a poll conducted by the New York Times, 75% of parents still performed such things as scheduling appointments for their children between the ages of 18-28. How we respond to our children's failure is equally important because it can have a significant impact on their emotional well-being and future success. Have you ever responded after a high score or win with, “Your so talented.” or “Your naturally gifted.” I have and it's wrong. Stafford University conducted research spanning decades and what they found was that where children think success comes from predicts their attainment. Some children believe the success is determined by genetics, natural talent, or natural intelligence and that's not true. These children tend to think, “either you have it or you don't” and that's it. That is a fixed mindset. Reinforce a “Growth Mindset” where failure, though disappointing is an opportunity for growth instead of a “Fixed Mindset” where failure is avoided at all costs. You can achieve this by reminding your children when they do succeed in something as little as scoring high on a test that it is a testament of their hard work and effort as opposed to just natural intelligence or talent. When they fail, you can remind them that they can turn that around with hard work and effort. Key component number eight of raising a successful child is, “Pay attention to your children.” According to a study conducted at the University of Delaware, children were more likely to be successful (even when born into poverty) if their parents paid attention and listened to them. Ask how their day was, recognize their creativity, their passions and just listen. It's also important to pay attention to your children's emotional well-being. We already know that positivity is linked to increased success rates but so a child's emotional well-being.  Key component number nine of raising a successful child is, “Aim higher and make more money.” Yes stay at home mom or dad, go to work. According to research conducted by Stafford University the achievement gap between low-income families and high income families is 30 – 40%. You assume that one of you being home full time is better right? Wrong. According to  Harvard Business School research concluded that female children of mothers who worked outside the home earned 23% more than their peers whos mather stayed at home and male children spent more time with their children and more time on housework. If you don't believe me, look it up. HaHa! Key component number ten of raising a successful child is, “Practice conflict resolution when you encounter conflict.” According to research conducted at Notre Dame University, when children are witness to mild to moderate conflict wherein positivity, compromise, and support are included, they experience higher levels of emotional security, self-esteem, and increased social skills. Guess what, "When kids witness a fight and see the parents resolving it, they're actually happier than they were before they saw it. "It reassures kids that parents can work through things." Children pick up on when a parent is giving in to avoid conflict or refusing to communicate and their own emotional response is not positive. Long-term effects of parental withdrawal are more disturbing than kids' adjustment to open conflict. Children in this instance can perceive that something is wrong, which leads to stress but they don't understand what or why, which results in it being harder for them to adjust. Chronic stress of this nature due to repeated exposure to destructive conflict and not conflict resolution can result in kids that are worried, anxious, hopeless, angry, aggressive, behaviorally-challenged, sickly, tired, and struggling academically. Naturally children in high-conflict families regardless of the living situation or whether parents are married or divorced, do not perform as well in most areas of their lives according to a University of Illinois study review.  Raising children can be one of the most rewarding experiences in life, but it can also be challenging. It's important to remember that no one person can do it alone, and that why it truly does take a village to raise a child. So we challenge you to incorporate these ten key components to raising a successful child (or warrior as I truly see it). “Be Deliberate about the Village and Tents You Expose Your Children to!” – remember that is does take a village to raise a child and you do have the ability to influence that village and/or tents. “Be a Good Role Model – above average in fact” – Your children will learn more from what you do than they ever will learn from what you say. Display Positivity and Optimism” – practice utilizing conscious intention when communicating with your children in any situation, even when you are highly emotional or emotionally charged can propel your children further than you could ever imagine. Water Molecule research conducted by Dr. Masaru Emoto, revealed that human thoughts and intentions can physically alter the molecular structure of water. He demonstrated uplifting, positive, and encouraging words created beautiful, balanced and symmetric crystals whereas destructive, hateful and evil words had the opposite affect on the water crystals. Words have a vibration and will actually alter the structure of water crystals.  The human body is made up of upwards of 80% water, think about that. Your words can alter the structure of the water molecules in the human body. This is another reason why you can live about three weeks with no food but only three days with no water. “Don't Transfer Burdens or Emotions to Your Children” – practice keeping your children's rucksacks light. Don't added extra weight for them to carry, speed them up don't slow them down. “Maintain an Authoritive Parenting Style” – Be rational in guiding your children. Just because you are the parent doesn't always mean you are the rational one. “Empower Your Children to Raise Their Sword” – You will not always be there. That day that your child gets to that line of battle and you can't cross onto the battlefield with them, be confident that you have prepared them to raise their sword.  “Let Your Child Fail but Think of Effort Over Failure” – Throw the “everybody gets a trophy” mentality out the window. Teach your children how to pick themselves up, brush themselves off, and do better. Be supportive.  “Pay Attention to Your Children” – Listen to them when they want to share some news good or bad and be supportive. “Aim Higher and Make More Money” – Position you and your family in a better situation. Remember that your children learn more from what you do than what you say.  “Practice Conflict Resolution When You Encounter Conflict”– Let your children see that you can have a disagreement or a serious conflict but resolve it. Don't wait till your children are adults to begin providing them with the tools to be successful, do it now. If you want to level-up your parenting game, we challenge all of you to master the 10 components of raising a successful child so that you can help your children develop the skills and mindset they need to succeed. I know I want my children to be emotionally intelligent, strong, smart, and independent. I don't want them 40 at home or mustering through a bad relationship. I also do not want to see any of my children slaughtered on the battlefield with no tools and a heavy rucksack. READ QUOTE: A quote by Crystal Garcia reads, “Empower your child to draw and raise their sword as they cross the line of life without you into the battlefield.”  ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

 Welcome to the Undeniable Level Up Podcast where we provide our listeners with life hacks to leveling up in business, leveling up in your career, leveling up in your personal lives, and even leveling up in your relationships. Why strive to be average, when you can be the best version of yourself with the tools, tips and sometimes with the tricks that we provide in our discussions. Last week you heard from Alicia Anaya, in our episode titled, “Killing the Procrastinator in You.” Alicia shared with us her tips and tricks and even her personal struggles.  Today we are here to talk about raising children and why it indeed does, “take a village to raise a child” and how you as a parent can better equip your children for the battlefield or life and being successful in it. Raising children can be one of the most rewarding experiences in life, but it can also be challenging.  Welcome back everyone, we have missed you all. READ PROVERB: We have all heard, “It takes a village to raise a child,” it's a proverb or a traditional saying that has taken on the meaning that it takes an entire community of people for a child to experience and grow in. In 2016 National Public Radio (NPR) researched the origins but were unable to pinpoint them. Scholars have attributed this proverb to several African cultures. There are several proverbs found throughout cultures that roughly mean the same thing. So I think before we even begin to talk about the village, it's important to understand the concept of a village first. So what is a village exactly? A village is the network of people and institutions that surround us or we are exposed to that contribute to our growth and development. Think of living in a town and never leaving it. That village you are a part of would be the only one that assists in raising you. It is where you have connections, where you are exposed to opportunity, where you develop your concept of social norms, and have experiences.  Our psychological development includes our cognitive, emotional, intellectual, and social capabilities and functioning beginning from infancy and continuing through our life span all the way into our old age. Our development is shaped by a multitude of factors, including our genetics, environment, social relationships and experiences throughout our lives.  Research this topic and you will be sure to find a plethora in each of these respective areas all seeking to both reveal and understand how “who we become” is shaped. The field of epigenetics is a fascinating field that explores how behavioral and environmental influences impact the expression of genes and influence our behavior and health. By recognizing the power of the villages impact on our genetic expression, we can better understand how to create a village where children thrive. Yes but I want to share a personal story with you guys on what prompted this episode and the realization I came to when I realized what this truly meant.  As a parent, you want your children to be better than you and you want to prevent them from experiencing the hard lessons or speed bumps you encountered along the way in your journey. You make decisions to promote this such as choosing what school district and neighborhood you live in. Now I don't know any parent that wants to see their child in pain, in fact it's quite excruciating for a parent and you will certainly realize this as you hear this story.  So recently one of my children encountered a situation leading up to something they have been working towards relentlessly. When I say relentlessly, they were so focused that no excuse veered them off their path. I watched my child tired, not feeling well, physically and mentally fatigued push through and work so hard like a Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, or Danica Patrick. I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt, no one was outworking them. The situation became extremely stressful and emotionally overwhelming to the point that I watched as my child's heart broke before the event even happened.  Now I have never been a helicopter parent (and you'll learn about this later in the episode) so I was self-reflecting and trying my best to view the situation from different perspectives because my child was hurting and it didn't feel good. My child is extremely mature and this was for my child to deal with, not for me to swoop in and handle. As bad as this sounds, this wasn't the worst part. The worst part occurred the day of the event when I watched my child's heart ripped right out of their chest again right before me. So as you might expect, the result of the event was unsuccessful but certainly not one that was earned nor deserved. While my child was expecting support from loved ones for such a big event, they didn't get it and it came as a large blow with a painful consequence. In this moment my heart was shattered. Now to top things off, I am an empath. I didn't just watch all of this, I felt it all. I became so emotional that I had to go to the bathroom and actually had my fist over my mouth (now I don't cry often) but I watched the largest crocodile tears fall from my eyes (in silence of course) to the floor at my feet in this bathroom stall I was in. That whole, “be strong for your child,” yeah I was struggling. I realized that in a moment my child needed support and more importantly their heart to be victorious. It wasn't possible without a heart… makes sense right? I would have without question replaced theirs with mine. Now in this moment the event was completely insignificant to me as my child's life is more important. Naturally, I was experiencing a flood of emotions that included anger. I wanted to unleash the tsunami you get from me when you hurt someone I love, but I had to pull myself in and give myself a peptalk as did my husband still in this bathroom stall. The truth be told, this was not my battle, it was my child's and regardless of how I felt it was important that I empower my child as opposed to removing their power in that critical moment.  So, while still in this stall, my child messages me for backup and not to fight their battle but to ensure the battlefield was fair. I knew this was a significant emotional event for them and a monumental moment. Trust me, I had pulled myself together, threw some water on my face, and walked out powerfully and pumped up. I was ready to engage and ready to skip some steps in the escalation of force if the situation required it.  You know what though… I experienced the most extraordinary moment I had ever experienced as a mom up close and personal. I watched my child step out to the line of the battlefield, violently retrieve their heart, dump baggage out of their rucksack and then with no hesitation whatsoever draw their sword and raise it with a show of force and someone you don't want to come face to face with on the battlefield. I was so proud! I realized in that moment that had I have responded in any other way emotionally, verbally, or physically… that would not have occurred. I realized in this moment, my child didn't even need the backup but I was so proud to have witnessed this. It is in this moment that I suddenly realized that it does take a village to raise a child and I wanted to share that with all of you because I wish I knew this before I had my first child. To put this into perspective, this wisdom came to me at 41 years old with 6 children, three step-children, and two grandchildren. If I have you guessing, I had my first child at 15 and though that's the age you typically think you know everything, you truly have only touched the surface. So this is actually key component number one of raising a successful child “Be deliberate about the village and tents you expose your children to!”  I actually picture a village as a bunch of tents (think of the wild west for a minute). Each tent represents a location where your children will draw their learning and be equipped for the battlefield which is passed a line you cannot continue with them and this is life. So one tent may be for intellectual growth or school. Another tent may be for tool achievement (such as a sword) or a tent for successfully achieving conflict resolution. These are just a mere few but all important. The village is preparing your child for the battlefield.  So think of that as we continue throughout the podcast today and ask yourself, “What village is my child or are my children in?” Research has shown that many severe mental health disorders have a hereditary component. Yet, the environment and behavior, such as improved diet, reduced stress, physical activity, and a positive mindset, can determine whether this health condition is ever expressed. That's a big deal! Key component number two of raising a successful child is “be a good role model.” This is crucial and trust me, I know this can be hard especially when you are a parent at fifteen and haven't even quite figured out who you even really are yet. The truth though is that our children learn far more from what we do than what we say. While we can't always control what and who are children are exposed to whether that be at school, church, a friends house, anywhere really we can control what we model. I read a book once that said, “everything in life is a graded event.” This statement resonated with me because, you are always being observed by those around you and in this case your children. Research shows that children learn and imitate behavior by watching others. They imitate behavior based on the reinforcement those behaviors receive. So use this as an opportunity to model important lessons for the battlefield. I know we laugh at all of the funny child tiktoks we see but be careful as laughter is an unintentional positive reinforcement. If you laugh at a behavior, children take that as being an acceptable behavior. Lead by example. If you want your kids to be physically fit, show them maybe in a family activity. If you want them to take continual learning seriously, show them that this is something you invest in. If you want your children to work hard, show them. Key component number three of raising a successful child is, “display positivity and optimism.” A Positivity and optimism can help children navigate life's challenges with resilience and confidence. Positivity refers to our current state while optimism refers to the outlook for future events in life. Research has shown that even in poverty-stricken areas, children who are exposed to positivity and optimism have better academic performance, stronger relationships, and greater career achievement. This is demonstrated in people like the Comedian, Kevin Hart. These children are also better able to cope with stress and adversity and are more likely to have a sense of purpose and meaning in their lives. Oprah Winfrey said, “I know for sure that what we dwell on is who we become.” She has openly credited her positivity and optimism for getting her through her touch childhood. So help your children learn to reframe negative situations and focus on opportunities for growth and learning.  According to the University of Pennsylvania's research, Grit is actually tied to both positivity and optimism as grit requires you to have a clear and compelling vision of the future, and the optimism to believe that you can achieve that vision through sustained effort and hard work to achieve a future you want. You can encourage grit in your children by helping them set goals and supporting them in the pursuit even when they are not your goals or the goals you want for them. It's also important to model grit by persisting through your own challenges and maintaining a positive outlook even in difficult circumstances. By doing so, you will help your children develop the resilience and determination they need to succeed in life. Key component number four of raising a successful child is, “Don't transfer your burdens or emotions to your children.” Children are highly sensitive to the emotional signals of those around them, and can easily pick up on stress, anxiety, and other negative emotions. Children often do not have the emotional resources yet to handle their own issues in addition to their parents. This is like taking weight from your rucksack that you carry through life and placing it in theirs. Research has shown that the psychological phenomenon known as “emotional contagion” is indeed accurate. You catch the emotional state of those around you and if you are an empath its even worse. As parents, we should be finding our own sources of support and finding ways to manage our emotional states. Don't unpack your rucksack through life on your journey into your child's. That weight gets heavy and uncomfortable. When we model managing our own emotions in a healthy way we are managing resiliency and coping and this will result in our children developing emotional intelligence along with coping strategies. Key component number five of raising a successful child is, “Maintain an authoritive parenting style.” This parenting style directs children rationally by being positive and responsive to children's emotional needs, but also setting clear boundaries and expectations for their behavior. This parenting style actually creates a sense of structure and predictability which translates into their feelings of security and their development of a strong sense of self-discipline.  Research conducted by the University of California at Berkley has shown that children of authoritive parents tend to have higher levels of academic achievement, better social skills, and lower rates of behavioral problems compared to children of other parenting styles. This is because authoritive parenting provides children with the support and guidance needed to thrive, while also giving them the freedom to explore and learn from their mistakes. Key component number six of raising a successful child is, “Empower Your Children to Raise Their Sword.” Parents, give your children the reigns. Remember that you are preparing your children for a the battlefield or life without you. Children of parents who allow them to take the lead, build independence and practice self-regulation skills. In fact research performed by The National Academy of Sciences found that children exhibiting these skills went on to be healthier, have more money, not have substance abuse issues or criminal behavior. So backoff and don't be a helicopter parent. Allow your child to figure things out without you so that they learn the ability to problem-solve, control their attention, and their emotions. Limited skills in this area can create a much higher probability of children doing poor in school, having issues socially, doing drugs, and getting in trouble legally. Too much parental instruction and / or direction can backfire and cause a child to lose focus according to a study led by Stafford University. Children with parents who stepped in to provide instructions frequently displayed more difficulty regulating their emotions later.  Often times some parents try to exert psychological control of their children. Psychological control is when you try to control a child's emotional state or beliefs. Research conducted by the University College of London revealed that children of parents exerting psychological control of their children had a lower mental well-being throughout adulthood and that the effect is similar to the death of a close friend or relative. Who would want their children to experience this? Instead, parents should maintain an authorative parenting style like we spoke of earlier by directing children rationally. Set clear boundaries and expectations for their behavior such as those that can be harmful while also being positive and responsive to their emotional needs. Its absolutely okay to set a curfew, assign chores, and expect homework to be completed within a specific timeframe. Research conducted by Harvard University on having children contribute to the household with chores such as doing their own laundry or taking out the trash, results in the realization they have to do work in life to be a part of life. The biggest area of empowerment for a child is, allowing them to make decisions, even small ones, can be a powerful way to empower them and build their confidence. Just to clarify we are not talking about big decisions but even controlling what friends they hang out with, what time their homework is done, etc. My youngest child didn't have a bedtime. We told her that so long has she got everything done she was supposed to, wasn't falling asleep at school, and maintaining good grades, we would leave her bedtime selection to her. We never had to tell her to do her homework or chores, everything was done before bed. It's even smart when your child approaches you with a problem that you listen without offering advice right away. This causes your child to figure things out, even how they can approach things differently. This develops problem solving and critical thinking skills.  Research published in Psychology Today by Laura Dessauer indicates that by not letting your children make decisions, it turns them in to codependent adults. These children tend to seek out relationships where someone else has the power and control. Scary Right!!  Key component number seven of raising a successful child is, “Let your child fail but think of effort over failure.” As you heard earlier in my personal story, I know its tough it is to watch your child learn a tough lesson, but it's a lesson. Failure is part of the journey, even on the battlefield. Do you know how many U.S. Soldiers died unnecessarily on the battlefield before we realized that not just medics but all Soldiers needed to know the importance of controlling bleeding even before providing treatment for their airway, thousands. 90% of 4,596 casualties died of hemorrhage associated injuries. This was a massive failure and one that impacted a lot of people. So, 100% of Soldiers learned how to control bleeding.  Research has shown that not allowing your children to fail is so damaging that it continues into adulthood. Remember, your preparing your child for battlefield not preparing the battlefield or life for them. In a poll conducted by the New York Times, 75% of parents still performed such things as scheduling appointments for their children between the ages of 18-28. How we respond to our children's failure is equally important because it can have a significant impact on their emotional well-being and future success. Have you ever responded after a high score or win with, “Your so talented.” or “Your naturally gifted.” I have and it's wrong. Stafford University conducted research spanning decades and what they found was that where children think success comes from predicts their attainment. Some children believe the success is determined by genetics, natural talent, or natural intelligence and that's not true. These children tend to think, “either you have it or you don't” and that's it. That is a fixed mindset. Reinforce a “Growth Mindset” where failure, though disappointing is an opportunity for growth instead of a “Fixed Mindset” where failure is avoided at all costs. You can achieve this by reminding your children when they do succeed in something as little as scoring high on a test that it is a testament of their hard work and effort as opposed to just natural intelligence or talent. When they fail, you can remind them that they can turn that around with hard work and effort. Key component number eight of raising a successful child is, “Pay attention to your children.” According to a study conducted at the University of Delaware, children were more likely to be successful (even when born into poverty) if their parents paid attention and listened to them. Ask how their day was, recognize their creativity, their passions and just listen. It's also important to pay attention to your children's emotional well-being. We already know that positivity is linked to increased success rates but so a child's emotional well-being.  Key component number nine of raising a successful child is, “Aim higher and make more money.” Yes stay at home mom or dad, go to work. According to research conducted by Stafford University the achievement gap between low-income families and high income families is 30 – 40%. You assume that one of you being home full time is better right? Wrong. According to  Harvard Business School research concluded that female children of mothers who worked outside the home earned 23% more than their peers whos mather stayed at home and male children spent more time with their children and more time on housework. If you don't believe me, look it up. HaHa! Key component number ten of raising a successful child is, “Practice conflict resolution when you encounter conflict.” According to research conducted at Notre Dame University, when children are witness to mild to moderate conflict wherein positivity, compromise, and support are included, they experience higher levels of emotional security, self-esteem, and increased social skills. Guess what, "When kids witness a fight and see the parents resolving it, they're actually happier than they were before they saw it. "It reassures kids that parents can work through things." Children pick up on when a parent is giving in to avoid conflict or refusing to communicate and their own emotional response is not positive. Long-term effects of parental withdrawal are more disturbing than kids' adjustment to open conflict. Children in this instance can perceive that something is wrong, which leads to stress but they don't understand what or why, which results in it being harder for them to adjust. Chronic stress of this nature due to repeated exposure to destructive conflict and not conflict resolution can result in kids that are worried, anxious, hopeless, angry, aggressive, behaviorally-challenged, sickly, tired, and struggling academically. Naturally children in high-conflict families regardless of the living situation or whether parents are married or divorced, do not perform as well in most areas of their lives according to a University of Illinois study review.  Raising children can be one of the most rewarding experiences in life, but it can also be challenging. It's important to remember that no one person can do it alone, and that why it truly does take a village to raise a child. So we challenge you to incorporate these ten key components to raising a successful child (or warrior as I truly see it).  “Be Deliberate about the Village and Tents You Expose Your Children to!” – remember that is does take a village to raise a child and you do have the ability to influence that village and/or tents. “Be a Good Role Model – above average in fact” – Your children will learn more from what you do than they ever will learn from what you say. Display Positivity and Optimism” – practice utilizing conscious intention when communicating with your children in any situation, even when you are highly emotional or emotionally charged can propel your children further than you could ever imagine. Water Molecule research conducted by Dr. Masaru Emoto, revealed that human thoughts and intentions can physically alter the molecular structure of water. He demonstrated uplifting, positive, and encouraging words created beautiful, balanced and symmetric crystals whereas destructive, hateful and evil words had the opposite affect on the water crystals. Words have a vibration and will actually alter the structure of water crystals.  The human body is made up of upwards of 80% water, think about that. Your words can alter the structure of the water molecules in the human body. This is another reason why you can live about three weeks with no food but only three days with no water.   “Don't Transfer Burdens or Emotions to Your Children” – practice keeping your children's rucksacks light. Don't added extra weight for them to carry, speed them up don't slow them down. “Maintain an Authoritive Parenting Style” – Be rational in guiding your children. Just because you are the parent doesn't always mean you are the rational one. “Empower Your Children to Raise Their Sword” – You will not always be there. That day that your child gets to that line of battle and you can't cross onto the battlefield with them, be confident that you have prepared them to raise their sword. “Let Your Child Fail but Think of Effort Over Failure” – Throw the “everybody gets a trophy” mentality out the window. Teach your children how to pick themselves up, brush themselves off, and do better. Be supportive.  “Pay Attention to Your Children” – Listen to them when they want to share some news good or bad and be supportive. “Aim Higher and Make More Money” – Position you and your family in a better situation. Remember that your children learn more from what you do than what you say.  “Practice Conflict Resolution When You Encounter Conflict”– Let your children see that you can have a disagreement or a serious conflict but resolve it. Don't wait till your children are adults to begin providing them with the tools to be successful, do it now. If you want to level-up your parenting game, we challenge all of you to master the 10 components of raising a successful child so that you can help your children develop the skills and mindset they need to succeed. I know I want my children to be emotionally intelligent, strong, smart, and independent. I don't want them 40 at home or mustering through a bad relationship. I also do not want to see any of my children slaughtered on the battlefield with no tools and a heavy rucksack. READ QUOTE: A quote by Crystal Garcia reads, “Empower your child to draw and raise their sword as they cross the line of life without you into the battlefield.”  ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Good morning, today we have a Bonus Episode for our listeners.  And a very special Co-Host for this episode as well, Raquel Medina.  Raquel is co-owner of Sage & Soul, a spiritual boutique company that specializes in everything mystical and magical.  Raquel was a guest on our podcast in Season 1, and also published her own podcast under the Sage & Sol brand.  Hi, Raquel, glad to have to as a co-host today. Our topic is one that I am pretty sure we can all benefit from. How do you sell ice to an Eskimo.   We will be looking at the Five Principles of Persuasion developed by the renowned psychologist and author Dr. Robert Cialdini.  His book, published in 1984 titled “Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion”,  discussed the five principles that affect how one person can influence or persuade another. These are principles that sales people have been using for years.  And you may be thinking, well I'm not a salesperson, so why do I need to know these five principles.  Simple, sales people are using these principles to persuade you every day, multiple times a day. And these principles have influenced you in one way or another, regardless of whether or not you recognize the principle being applied. Having knowledge of these five principles will allow you to make better purchasing and life decisions and not allow you to be so influenced by others.  It will allow you to identify the tactic that is being applied in the situation and allow you to make a more informed decision.  In this undeniable level up discussion, we will give you the tools to identify when a persuasion method is being used against you, and how to counteract your autopilot mode in order to make a conscious decision against the persuasion method being applied. And here to discuss the five principles of persuasion is our special guest, Jose Medina.  Although Jose typically hosts the Level-Up podcast, today he is switching seats with me, and we will be putting him in the hot seat this time.  For those of you who do not know Jose, yet, or know him well, he is a 24-year Army veteran, entrepreneur, business owner, father and now adds grandfather to the list of hats that he wears.   Welcome Jose!  And thanks for allowing me, to fill in for you today as we get to dig into your methods of persuasion. Jose, let's start with your childhood, I know first hand, but let's give our listeners a little insight into your background and your journey.   Where would you say you grew up? Aesop says, "Persuasion is often more effectual than force." Before we begin looking at the five principles of persuasion, it is important to understand the difference between persuasion and manipulation.  These two topics are very close cousins to each other.  Persuasion is the action or fact of persuading someone or of being persuaded to do or believe something.  Manipulation on the other hand is can be defined as the action of manipulating someone in a clever or unscrupulous way. What are your thoughts on these two different definitions?  Have you ever used persuasion?  What about manipulation? What are your thoughts on dark psychology? The first principle of persuasion is Reciprocity.  Reciprocity relies on our need for equality and balance.  This is governed by Adam's Equity Theory which theorizes that as humans we have a tendency to require fair and equal treatment when either giving or receiving a service, a product, or our time.  When ever we find ourselves out of balance it makes us feel uncomfortable and uneasy.   This method of persuasion is used when someone offers you a gift or a free sample of a product.  When someone gives you something, Adam's Equity Theory requires that we return the favor.  Sales people often use this principle when they offer you a free sample, a gift ,or even a mint at the end of your dinner with the bill when dining out.  If someone sends you a birthday card, it is likely you will feel the urge to send one back. Have you ever used this principle to entice someone to either purchase a service or provide some act in kind?  Have you ever fell victim to this principle before? How did it work?  Were you aware of the rule of reciprocity? The second principle of persuasion is Scarcity.  This principle relies on a person wanting something more, as there is less and less of it.  Sales people use this principle when they say things like "only a few left at this price" or calling something "limited edition".  A limited edition means there is only a few available and when it is gone, there are no more.  Also, a collectors item, relies on this principle as well. Have you ever used this principle of scarcity?  Have you ever fell victim to this principle before? How did it work?   The third principle of persuasion is authority.  This principle claims that we are unconsciously moved to follow those who are in a position of authority based on the persons perceived knowledge, experience or expertise.  This is due to our innate trust that is developed in us as children.  As we get older and are exposed to greater levels of authority, such as teachers, police officers, doctors, coaches, etc., throughout our early development, we develop a high level of trust in authoritative figures. This is why no one questions a person in a reflective vest and a clip board, or a person in hospital scrubs with a stethoscope around his neck.  We associate the costume of authority and assign it our trust willingly. Have you ever used a position of authority to persuade others?  Has this ever been used on you?  Have you ever misused your authority to persuade others? Has anyone ever seen this method of persuasion used for bad intentions?  Have you ever used it for bad intentions?  Hos does this apply in business?  How does this apply in leadership? The fourth principle of persuasion is commitment and consistency.  People have a need to act consistent with their values and ideals.  When they act outside of those values they feel discomfort and uneasiness.  In persuasion, this theory can be applied by having someone do something small, like filling out a survey in the grocery store.  Stopping and filling out the survey may seem like an innocent ask, but then ask you to sample a product.  This is also a small ask and so you again comply, due to your need to remain consistent with agreeing.  Finally they ask you to purchase the product.  You may actually like the product and buy it, but would you have bought the product without the persuasion? Has this principle ever been used on you?  How?  Have you ever used this principle on others. For good, for bad?  Have you ever seen someone manipulate another using this principle? The fifth principle of persuasion is likeability.  This persuasion technique means that the more a person likes you, the more you can persuade that person.  People have a tendency to like others that are like themselves.  It is a higher probability to persuade someone if you share the same name, come from the same city, have similar life experiences.  This is also why sales people are often attractive and why more attractive waiters and waitresses make better tips. It is also very likely that in a group you will align with the groups overall decision to something.  Such as a jury, where 11 people have unanimously agreed the person on trial is guilty.  If all 11 are aligned, you will have a higher propensity to align with that verdict even if you don't believe the person to be guilty.  Has this principle ever been used on you?  How was it applied?  Have you used this principle on others?  Have you ever seen someone use this principle for ill intent? The sixth principle of persuasion is consensus.  This is what we call social proof.  People are social by nature and there for seek to be accepted socially.  When making a decision, we often look to others around us to see what they are doing before we make our decision.  When is the last time you look at reviews before making a large purchase, or eating at a new restaurant?  This also means that if an important figure or a  large majority approves of something, it is very likely that you will be persuaded to also like it.  This principle is in use when they say "Oprah Winfrey recommends this book", or "Michael Jordan eats this brand of cereal".  Because you place these individuals in high esteem, you can be more persuaded to buy the book Oprah recommends or eat the cereal that Jordan eats.  Thisis largely the reason why big brands use sponsors to promote their products.   Has this principle ever been used on you?  How was it applied?  Have you used this principle on others?  Have you ever seen someone use this principle for ill intent? "The only form of ethical persuasion that exists is when the goals of the persuader are aligned with the goals of the persuadee." Q: What do you know about Dark Psychology and is that something that should be taught to the layperson?  Can you persuade someone non-verbally through body language? As we wrap up this bonus episode, we hope that this was a topic that resonated with all of our listeners.  It is always best to be aware when a persuasive tactic is being used on you, so the decision or the action you make is one that you want to make, and make of your own free will.  Raquel, I want to thank you for Co-hosting with me today and look forward to future opportunities where we can host together.  Jose, thanks for being our guest today and for allowing us to put you in the hot.   For those of you who are interested in persuasion and leveling up you persuasive skills, please pick up Dr. Robert Cialdini'sCreators & Guests Jose Medina - Host book, “Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion”.  The link will be provided in the show notes.   Thank you for listening to this bonus episode of the Undeniable Level Up Podcast.https://a.co/d/awh4VKB "Influence - The Psychology of Persuasion" by Robert Cialdinihttps://a.co/d/1zmDsnp "Presuasion" by Robert Cialdini ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Good morning, today we have a Bonus Episode for our listeners.  And a very special Co-Host for this episode as well, Raquel Medina.  Raquel is co-owner of Sage & Soul, a spiritual boutique company that specializes in everything mystical and magical.  Raquel was a guest on our podcast in Season 1, and also published her own podcast under the Sage & Sol brand.  Hi, Raquel, glad to have to as a co-host today. Our topic is one that I am pretty sure we can all benefit from. How do you sell ice to an Eskimo.   We will be looking at the Five Principles of Persuasion developed by the renowned psychologist and author Dr. Robert Cialdini.  His book, published in 1984 titled “Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion”,  discussed the five principles that affect how one person can influence or persuade another. These are principles that sales people have been using for years.  And you may be thinking, well I'm not a salesperson, so why do I need to know these five principles.  Simple, sales people are using these principles to persuade you every day, multiple times a day. And these principles have influenced you in one way or another, regardless of whether or not you recognize the principle being applied. Having knowledge of these five principles will allow you to make better purchasing and life decisions and not allow you to be so influenced by others.  It will allow you to identify the tactic that is being applied in the situation and allow you to make a more informed decision.  In this undeniable level up discussion, we will give you the tools to identify when a persuasion method is being used against you, and how to counteract your autopilot mode in order to make a conscious decision against the persuasion method being applied. And here to discuss the five principles of persuasion is our special guest, Jose Medina.  Although Jose typically hosts the Level-Up podcast, today he is switching seats with me, and we will be putting him in the hot seat this time.  For those of you who do not know Jose, yet, or know him well, he is a 24-year Army veteran, entrepreneur, business owner, father and now adds grandfather to the list of hats that he wears.   Welcome Jose!  And thanks for allowing me, to fill in for you today as we get to dig into your methods of persuasion. Jose, let's start with your childhood, I know first hand, but let's give our listeners a little insight into your background and your journey.   Where would you say you grew up? Aesop says, "Persuasion is often more effectual than force." Before we begin looking at the five principles of persuasion, it is important to understand the difference between persuasion and manipulation.  These two topics are very close cousins to each other.  Persuasion is the action or fact of persuading someone or of being persuaded to do or believe something.  Manipulation on the other hand is can be defined as the action of manipulating someone in a clever or unscrupulous way. What are your thoughts on these two different definitions?  Have you ever used persuasion?  What about manipulation? What are your thoughts on dark psychology? The first principle of persuasion is Reciprocity.  Reciprocity relies on our need for equality and balance.  This is governed by Adam's Equity Theory which theorizes that as humans we have a tendency to require fair and equal treatment when either giving or receiving a service, a product, or our time.  When ever we find ourselves out of balance it makes us feel uncomfortable and uneasy.   This method of persuasion is used when someone offers you a gift or a free sample of a product.  When someone gives you something, Adam's Equity Theory requires that we return the favor.  Sales people often use this principle when they offer you a free sample, a gift ,or even a mint at the end of your dinner with the bill when dining out.  If someone sends you a birthday card, it is likely you will feel the urge to send one back. Have you ever used this principle to entice someone to either purchase a service or provide some act in kind?  Have you ever fell victim to this principle before? How did it work?  Were you aware of the rule of reciprocity? The second principle of persuasion is Scarcity.  This principle relies on a person wanting something more, as there is less and less of it.  Sales people use this principle when they say things like "only a few left at this price" or calling something "limited edition".  A limited edition means there is only a few available and when it is gone, there are no more.  Also, a collectors item, relies on this principle as well. Have you ever used this principle of scarcity?  Have you ever fell victim to this principle before? How did it work?   The third principle of persuasion is authority.  This principle claims that we are unconsciously moved to follow those who are in a position of authority based on the persons perceived knowledge, experience or expertise.  This is due to our innate trust that is developed in us as children.  As we get older and are exposed to greater levels of authority, such as teachers, police officers, doctors, coaches, etc., throughout our early development, we develop a high level of trust in authoritative figures. This is why no one questions a person in a reflective vest and a clip board, or a person in hospital scrubs with a stethoscope around his neck.  We associate the costume of authority and assign it our trust willingly. Have you ever used a position of authority to persuade others?  Has this ever been used on you?  Have you ever misused your authority to persuade others? Has anyone ever seen this method of persuasion used for bad intentions?  Have you ever used it for bad intentions?  Hos does this apply in business?  How does this apply in leadership? The fourth principle of persuasion is commitment and consistency.  People have a need to act consistent with their values and ideals.  When they act outside of those values they feel discomfort and uneasiness.  In persuasion, this theory can be applied by having someone do something small, like filling out a survey in the grocery store.  Stopping and filling out the survey may seem like an innocent ask, but then ask you to sample a product.  This is also a small ask and so you again comply, due to your need to remain consistent with agreeing.  Finally they ask you to purchase the product.  You may actually like the product and buy it, but would you have bought the product without the persuasion? Has this principle ever been used on you?  How?  Have you ever used this principle on others. For good, for bad?  Have you ever seen someone manipulate another using this principle? The fifth principle of persuasion is likeability.  This persuasion technique means that the more a person likes you, the more you can persuade that person.  People have a tendency to like others that are like themselves.  It is a higher probability to persuade someone if you share the same name, come from the same city, have similar life experiences.  This is also why sales people are often attractive and why more attractive waiters and waitresses make better tips. It is also very likely that in a group you will align with the groups overall decision to something.  Such as a jury, where 11 people have unanimously agreed the person on trial is guilty.  If all 11 are aligned, you will have a higher propensity to align with that verdict even if you don't believe the person to be guilty.  Has this principle ever been used on you?  How was it applied?  Have you used this principle on others?  Have you ever seen someone use this principle for ill intent? The sixth principle of persuasion is consensus.  This is what we call social proof.  People are social by nature and there for seek to be accepted socially.  When making a decision, we often look to others around us to see what they are doing before we make our decision.  When is the last time you look at reviews before making a large purchase, or eating at a new restaurant?  This also means that if an important figure or a  large majority approves of something, it is very likely that you will be persuaded to also like it.  This principle is in use when they say "Oprah Winfrey recommends this book", or "Michael Jordan eats this brand of cereal".  Because you place these individuals in high esteem, you can be more persuaded to buy the book Oprah recommends or eat the cereal that Jordan eats.  Thisis largely the reason why big brands use sponsors to promote their products.   Has this principle ever been used on you?  How was it applied?  Have you used this principle on others?  Have you ever seen someone use this principle for ill intent? "The only form of ethical persuasion that exists is when the goals of the persuader are aligned with the goals of the persuadee." Q: What do you know about Dark Psychology and is that something that should be taught to the layperson?  Can you persuade someone non-verbally through body language? As we wrap up this bonus episode, we hope that this was a topic that resonated with all of our listeners.  It is always best to be aware when a persuasive tactic is being used on you, so the decision or the action you make is one that you want to make, and make of your own free will.  Raquel, I want to thank you for Co-hosting with me today and look forward to future opportunities where we can host together.  Jose, thanks for being our guest today and for allowing us to put you in the hot.   For those of you who are interested in persuasion and leveling up you persuasive skills, please pick up Dr. Robert Cialdini'sCreators & Guests Jose Medina - Host Crystal Garcia - Host book, “Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion”.  The link will be provided in the show notes.   Thank you for listening to this bonus episode of the Undeniable Level Up Podcast.https://a.co/d/awh4VKB "Influence - The Psychology of Persuasion" by Robert Cialdinihttps://a.co/d/1zmDsnp "Presuasion" by Robert Cialdini ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Guest: Alicia Anaya Welcome to the Undeniable Level Up Podcast where we provide our listeners with life hacks to leveling up in business, leveling up in your career, leveling up in your personal lives, and even leveling up in your relationships.  Why strive to be average, when you can be the best version of your self with the tools, tips and sometimes with the tricks that we provide in our discussions. Last week you heard from Jules Johnson, in our episode titled, 'Managing Stress Like a Boss".  Jules, the Assistant District Attorney for Harris County in Houston TX discussed how he not only learned to live and excel in a stress-filled home growing up, but how he continues to manage stress effectively in his high-stress career as a attorney. Today, we here to plan a murder.  We are here to discuss killing the procrastinator in you!  We all have a little bit of procrastinator in us.  It begins when we are young with small unimportant tasks like "Go to Bed!"  As a child, we don't want to go to bed, so we ask for a glass of water.  We don't want to clean our room, so we watch television instead.  Usually, by the time a parent has had it, with the procrastination, they will typically direct you to complete the assignment and begrudgingly, you get it done.   As we get older, the procrastination lingers with us.  In school, we put off assignments until the very last minute, or we study for a test while riding to school on the bus.  When we enter the work force, we put off tasks and responsibilities, like completing 1:1's because the thought of address performance doesn't excite us.  We put off changing the oil because we don't have 15 minutes to spend at Jiffy Lube, and we drive until the gas mileage display runs crashes below zero.  If your have ever done any of these things, chances are you have a procrastinator in you and we are going to put that sucker out of his misery.  And here to discuss the pitfalls of procrastination is our guest and our incredible daughter, Alicia Anaya.  Hello Alicia! Q: So, we know you very well, but tell our listeners how was it growing up as a military brat? READ QUOTE:  William Arthur Ward says, "Begin while others are procrastinating.  Work while others are wishing." The big question that is on my mind and should be on everyone else's mind as well, is WHY.  Why do we have a tendency to procrastinate? The high-level answer is we procrastinate because we often rely on self control to get things done.  But our self control is highly reliant on our motivation.  When we lack motivation, then our self control suffers and we end up pushing tasks aside for more enjoyable activities.  Like napping.  Or watching TikToks. Factors such as exhaustion, fatigue, hunger, anxiety, depression can all contribute to an overall lack of motivation and make you a chronic procrastinator. When it comes to the 10 main factors that lead to procrastination, we find that this list consists of: Weak goals vs. SMART goals Failure to Visualize a Future Self Feeling Overwhelmed Anxiety Perfectionism Fear (Failure, Judgement, embarassment) Depression Fatigue Burnout Overtasked So we have 14 hacks to killing the procrastinator in you.  These are 14 lethal steps that you can take to ensure that when you find yourself being impacted by either fatigue, fear or anxiety, in such as way that you begin to procrastinate, you will be able to maintain steadfast self control and motivation and get things done. The first step is stop trying to eat the whole elephant in one sitting.  You don't have to complete a task from A to Z, especially when it's a large task.  It is sometimes better to break that task up into smaller parts.  If the project takes 8 hours to do, you can 2 hours on day 1, 2 hours on day 2 and so on and so forth.  This will reduce the stress of an 8 hour project and allow you to space it out over time and avoid procrastinating. Q:  Have you ever tried this approach?  How did it work?  What did you learn? Step 2 is make a list!  Having a checklist is how pilots fly the most complex aircraft in the world.  Having a list ensures you remain in sequence, allows you to check tasks off as they are completed.  They also ensure you never forget something.  It's a great way to say sane when your have information coming at you from multiple angles. Q: Do you use lists?  What do you like about using lists?  What are some of the lists you use to ensure you get stuff done on time? Step 3 is find your Sacred Space of Success.  That's the place where you are able to focus and get stuff done.  If might be the office, the bedroom, maybe it's poolside or maybe the local Starbucks.  Where ever that magical place is that you get the most work done, go there and get it done. Q:  Where is your Sacred Space of Success? Step 4 develop a plan.  It's not enough to have a major task or project to get done.  You need to know each step required to reach the end goal and establish a timeline to accomplishing each task in a realistic time frame.  Having a plan is like having a GPS that directs you towards the fastest path to success.  Once you have a good plan, then execute that plan with self control and commitment. Q: What was the last thing you planned?  How did that go?  Were you successful?  What failed? Step 5 is eliminate distractions!  Email notifications, text messages and long winded talkers.  Get them out of your space.  Turn your notifications off.  Focus and concentrate and set specific intervals to check emails and text messages. Q:  How do you manage distractions?  What are the worst distractions for you? Step 6 is reduce your need to make decisions.  If you need to stop and decide something, you are losing time.  Instead set low priority tasks on autopilot.  For example, have a planned daily menu for lunch.  Monday's is Canes, Tuesday's is Chic-Fila and Wednesday's is Popeyes.  Thursday and Friday you bring a lunch.  This stops you from stopping and having to scroll through DoorDash looking for lunch options. Q:  Are there any low priority tasks or decisions that you have automated in your life?  What things could you automate in your life?  How would that help you be more productive and procrastinate less? Step 7 have a schedule and stick to it…as closely as you can.  Obviously emergencies are going to happen, but your days should be planned from start to finish.  This allows you to forecast your productive hours in the day, ensures you arrive at meetings and planned event son time and allows you to maximize your day without losing time. Q:  Do you keep a schedule?  Would a schedule help you accomplish more things faster?  What are things you dislike from using schedules? Step 8 is forget about achieving perfection.  It will never be the perfect moment, the perfect conditions or the perfect execution.  Focus instead on being the best you can be at that point in time.  Take time to reflect and self assess to ensure that you are learning from your errors and mistakes and learn to laugh at yourself. Q: Does trying to be perfect affect your ability to accomplish tasks and achieve objectives and goals?  How often do you self assess and what does that look like? Step 9 is celebrate the wins.  The ability to celebrate the small wins, gives you the encouragement to continue striving towards the larger goals.  Incremental victories can help maintain motivation and momentum.  In our podcast, 'Fake It Til You Make' our guest, AJ Franco spoke about how we would celebrate everytime he and I had a sell when we were working as salesmen for All-American Lumping.  Our goal was a hefty one.  Generate $1M in sales in 6 months.  If we would have never celebrated the small victories, each account that we closed, we would have burned out on rejections and failed sales calls.  Instead, each small win encouraged us to push to the next one.  And our victory lunches were a very memorable part of that. Step 10 is cut yourself some slack.  Learn to not be so hard on yourself.  Take scheduled breaks and find time to unwind and relax and do something that re-energizes you.  I spoke previously about how driving alone in our convertible with the music playing on the highway is soothing and recharging for me. Q: What recharges you?  How do you plan that re-charge time in to your schedule? Step 11 is build your Power Circle.  The people that our surround yourself with should add value and feed your positive energy.  Remove those in your circle who are draining or lack the ability to add value. Q:  How do you cultivate or build your power circle?  How do you chose the individuals in your circle?  Have you ever had someone in your circle that didn't belong there?  How did you handle that? Step 12 is to build an Accountability System.  It is easy to cheat on yourself.  You do it all the time when you sneak a snack you know you have no business eating.  But having someone, or something externally to hold you to your commitments, is a great way to avoid porocrastinating. Q: Do you have an accountability system?  How does that encourage your performance?   Step 13 is find a mentor.  A mentor who has done it, can help you do it as well.  Always try to learn from the mistakes of others so you don't have to waste the time the lesson will take.  A good mentor will speed up your learning curve and a good mentor will hold you accountable where you are coming up short. Q: Do you have a mentor?  If you don't, what would a good mentor look like for you? Our final step, Step 14 is take action.  Get it done.  In our podcast from Season 1, Episode 11, "Don't Confusion Motion for Action" we provide the hacks to ensure you are actually taking action and not just being in motion.  Taking action is about accompishing the tasks, and achieving the objectives.  Motion, is thinging, planning, contemplating, avoiding, waiting.  It's every thing that precedes the moment that you actually begin moving the ball towards the goal post. Victor Kiam says "Procrastination is opportunity's natural assassin"If you've been putting off for tomorrow, what you know you should have done today, then this call to action is for you.  If you constantly miss deadlines, then we are speaking to you.  If you are setting an alarm to wake up and do your homework before you go to school, then yes, we are also speaking to you and I challenge you to download and listen to Season 1's Episode 11 of the Undeniable Level Up podcast, "Don't Confusion Motion for Action", or Episode 6 of last years Season, titled, "Becoming a Goal Digger".  Both of these episodes have amazing life hacks at getting things done by killing the procrastinator and taking action.   Alicia, any advice for our listeners out there that need to stop procrastinating and putting things off for tomorrow? I don't know a busier 16 year old than you, so thank you for taking time out of your hectic schedule to join us for today's show.  Your "get it done" focus and determination are definitely taking you to some very amazing places in life.  Congratulations on your upcoming graduation from High School and your future college plans!  We love you to see you achieve and win!  We are all guilty of a little procrastination here and there.  Okay, maybe  more than just a little.  I'll start my diet on Monday…I'll complete that assignment tomorrow…I'll change the oil this weekend…these are just the small and inconsequential procrastinations that we do without giving any thought to it. But what about the "I'll start taking college classes next semester", or "I'll start investing once I've paid the car off", or "I'll start that new business once the economy shifts".  These are the big delays that pump the brakes on your betterment, your improvement.  These are the delays that stifle your growth and stuntsyour progress in life.  30 years later, you'll be telling yourself the same exact story.   It's time to level up and kill the procrastinator in you today.  Stop being scared to fail.  Failure is always the first step towards success.  Failure is a lesson that has been clouded by ego and self esteem.  Take it for what it is.  A learning opportunity.  Stop allowing fatigue to limit your ascension.  Imagine if the person trying to get to the top of Mt. Everest stopped every time they got tired.  They would never reach the summit and never experience the glorious view from the mountain's peak.  We all get tired. You can rest at the top.  Stop moving forward without a plan and without defined goals.  A goal without a plan is a wish.  And wishes are only granted by genies, so unless you've found a magic lamp, you better have a plan.  Kill the procrastinator and watch yourself level up faster than you ever dreamed possible.  ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Guest: Jules Johnson And we're back with Season 2, Episode Five of the Undeniable Level Up Podcast.  For those who missed our last episode, we had the chance to introduce and speak with AJ Franco, a very close friend of ours who discussed how to "Fake it Til You Make It".  AJ shared his personal success story and how he found a way to climb the corporate ladder, going from warehouse associate to General Manager of a Fortune 500 food distribution business.  Today, we are here to discuss how to "Handle Stress Like a Boss"!   Unmanaged stress is harmful.  Harmful to the point that your health can be impacted negatively.  Symptoms like headaches, backpain, fatigue, lack of sleep.  These things can wreak havoc on your body, cause you to have trouble concentrating and pull your focus away from critical tasks.  It can cause obesity, increase your blood pressure and lead to heart disease.  Yes, stress can literally kill you if you do not manage it. Stressors come from a variety of directions in our day to day.  We experience stressors at out job, as we deal with critical deadlines, pressure to perform, and work volume as we all are forced to do more with less.  This includes 60, 70 and sometimes 80 hour work weeks.  Stressors come from our home lives with sick children , school and sporting events, family time and maintaining relationships with those we love.  Stressors come from our finances as we struggle to earn, save and manage our finances effectively.   Stressors come from our phones with constant news of war, police shootings, increasing crime statistics and inflation.  There is no shortage of stressors in our current day and age.Your ability to handle stress is critical to your success.   And to speak about handling stress like a boss, we have a very special guest today, Jules Johnson.  Welcome to the show Jules. Jules definitely has a high-stress job.  As the Assistant District Attorney for the Harris County in Houston, Texas, Jules' primary focus is prosecuting police brutality complaints, police shootings and other police crimes.  With the level of coverage that we have seen when it comes to these unfortunate events, you can only imagine the level of stress that his job puts on his shoulders. Q: Jules, did you grow up in Texas?  Danzae (Dan-zay) Pace is quoted as saying, "stress is the trash of modern life.  We all generate it, but if you don't dispose of it properly, it will pile up and overtake your life". It is important to understand the different methods available to us for managing and dealing with stress.  The more capable we are of managing our stress, the more we are able to get after our goals and objectives, and therefore, the higher the probability that we will achieve success. To assist with that, we have 14 steps that you can take to assist you with handling stress.  The first step is to understand the signs of stress on your body.  Stress can present as: low energy or fatigue headaches insomnia changes in appetite digestive issues rapid heart rate sweating low self-esteem loss of sex drive frequent illnesses  Q: Have you ever experienced any of these symptoms associated with stress?  What was causing it?  How did you deal with it?  What was the outcome?   The second step is to document or write down your stressors.  This is even more important if you are feeling stressed and can't truly pinpoint what the cause of that stress is.  Keeping a journal is a great way to identify your stressors and create a positive method for managing it. Q:  Do you keep a journal?  Has it assisted with dealing with stress?   The third step is to take time to re-energize and recharge.  Find an activity or an action that allows you to reset your internal batteries.  This can be going to the gym, training jiu jitsu, going for a drive, reading a book, writing poetry.  What ever it is for you, find that thing that allows you to ground yourself in the present and reset yourself. Q: What do you do to reset and recharge? The fourth step is to manage your time properly.  Poor time management is a huge contributor to stress.  There is nothing more stressful than running late for an important event, or missing a critical deadline.  Being able to manage your time will greatly assist you in minimizing your stress.   Q:  What do you do to help with time management?  Are you a procrastinator?  The fifth step is to find work life balance.  When your work life balance is out of whack, the portion that is under supported can contribute to your stressors.  This is always easier said than done.  Being deliberate in managing overtime, scheduling personal time, and managing your time to ensure you keep track of important dates, appointments and scheduled activities will all help in reducing stressors from your work and personal life. Q: How do you manage work life balance in your current role?  Is this something that you struggle with?  Are there times when you've had to sacrifice one over the other?  How did that work out?   The sixth step is to learn to view the cup as half full as opposed to half empty.  Words are powerful.  Negative words will result in negative feelings.  Learn to put a positive perspective on those things that may initially appear to be negative.  For example, if you have to work late and will not be home to cook dinner, you can call you significant other and invite them to dinner out, or offer to pick up dinner on the way home.  Instead of looking at challenges as problems view them as opportunities to stretch and challenge yourself. Q: Are you an optimist or a pessimist?  Is that something you think you can change?  How does that impact how you feel and handle stress?  Ho does that impact those around you?The seventh step is have a power circle. You are the sum of the 5 people you spend the most time around.  Creating a strong power circle can make a world of difference.  Your power circle should be made up of friends and family who add value to your life.  They should be good influences, be strong moral compasses, and be honest with you when giving feedback and offering advice.  Anyone who blocks your shine, doesn't add value or is a negative influence or brings negativity into your circle should be removed.   Q:  Do you have a power circle?  Who are the top 3 individuals in your circle and why have you chosen them?  Have you ever had to eliminate someone from your circle or needed to and couldn't?  Why?  How did that play out?  How did that impact your trajectory? The eighth step is to remember to self-care.  This means taking care of yourself.  The eight dimension of wellness are: Emotional Spiritual Intellectual Physical Environmental Financial Occupational Social All eight dimensions are equally important and you should attempt to maintain a balanced level of health across all eight dimensions. Q:  Which of these eight dimensions are you killing it in?  Which of these do you feel you need more work on?   The ninth step is to learn how to relax.  This can be accomplished in a variety of ways to include meditation, deep breathing exercises, listening to calming music, getting a massage, going for a walk.  These are all methods of focusing on the present and quieting your mind.   Q:  What do you do to quiet your mind when things are beginning to spiral out of control? The tenth step is to remind yourself that perfection is not achievable.  Often people who claim to be perfectionist run into challenges with meeting deadlines.  If you find yourself overworking a project because it has to be perfect, you need to asses the reason why you are attempting perfection.  You may find that you are actually afraid of failure and being a perfectionist is just a cover.  Learn to give yourself a realistic timeline and when the project is completed to the best of your capabilities, turn it in.  Learn to look at failure as an opportunity to learn and improve. Q:  Do you consider yourself a perfectionist?  Do you someone who claims to be a perfectionist?  How do you manage a perfectionist? The eleventh step is to go on vacation.  Often we forget that we need a break from the day in and day out rat race in order to reset and avoid burnout.  It is too easy to forget to work in time for you and your loved ones.  Plan a vacation, buy the tickets in January and commit to the vacation in July or September.  Force yourself to take a much needed break and leave your laptop and work hone behind. Q: When was the last time you took a vacation?  How do you ensure that you take regular vacations?    The twelfth step is to get support from a mentor, coach or a leader.  Gaining perspective is critical to managing stress.  Speaking with someone who has dealt with the same issue you are dealing with is a great way to get a deeper understanding of the challenges, the expectations and lessons learned. Q:  Who is your go-to when you are stressed and need advise?  What makes this person or these people the ones you go to?   The thirteenth step is to seek professional help.  That ca be in the form of counseling, such as marriage counseling if the stressors of marriage are weighing on you.  It could be psychological or psychiatric counseling if the job is emotonally and psychologically taxing.  It could be spiritual counseling. Q: What are your thoughts on seeking counseling?   Last but not least, step fourteen, learn to laugh at yourself.  Learn to find the humor in your minor mistakes. Learn not to take everything so serious all the time.  Learn to not take things so personally that every thing upsets and everything offends you. Q: How do your find humor in your day to day?  How does that make you feel? How does that make others around you feel? M.P. Neary says “One of the best ways to reduce stress is to accept the things that you cannot control.” In a world where so much is out of our control, it is important to focus our efforts on those things that we can control and influence and accept those things that we cannot. Q:  Jules, do you have any advice for anyone who may listening who is dealing with a stressful workplace, a stressful home or just a stressful life in general? And now its time to level up. If the stressors from your job have you calling in sick once a week and there is absolutely nothing wrong with you, then this call to action is for you.  If the stressors from your family have you arguing with your spouse and yelling at the kids for not good reason, this call to action is also for you.  If your financial situation has you laying in bed awake, thinking about bill collectors and over due student loans, then this call to action is for you as well.  If there are any stressors that have begun to feel overwhelming, then I challenge you to download the Superbetter App or visit the Superbetter.com website, links are in the show notes.  This is the leading mental health app that focuses on building mental toughness, reducing stress and anxiety and helping us to develop stronger minds when it comes to managing stress through some creative and exciting game play.  It's a fun way to manage stress like a boss. Jules, thank you for taking time out of your very busy schedule to join us for today's show.  Sharing how you manage stress like a boss, has given us a lot that we can work on to deal with stress.  Managing stress is definitely something that we all need to get better at!  You continue to be key member of our power circle and a mentor and we truly appreciate your friendship and your guidance.  We hope to have you back on our podcast in the future.   Stress is unavoidable.  We'll encounter a million different stressors in our lives.  In the end, its not the absence of stress that we are seeking, but the ability to handle stress in way that allows us to remain resilient, while maintaining a healthy lifestyle and dealing with stress in a positive manner.  If you are finding yourself stressed out, on the verge of burnout and becoming overwhelmed, remember to find time to recharge and reset your internal batteries, maintain a positive mindset when dealing with challenges and opportunities, remember to self-care by focusing on your health and wellness, but most importantly, learn to find the humor in your everyday experience.  Learn to laugh and not take things so serious as you level up.   ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

And we're back with Season 2, Episode Four of the Undeniable Level Up Podcast.  For those who missed our last episode, we discussed Embracing the Suck, where Professor Minh Nguyen, a 3rd Degree Taekwondo and a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Black Belt discussed how he learned to embrace the suck in his pursuit of not only mastering one, but two martial arts, and how he continues to do this as the owner of Aspire Brazilian Jiu Jitsu School, an affiliate of the Pablo Silva Brazilian Jiu Jitsu school, where Crystal and I both train and compete. In life, you'll find that not everything is going to go according to plan.  The reality is that shit happens. The plan you had at 15 is not the plan you have at 21, and it is not going to be the plan that you have at 30.  Why?  Because shit happens.  The one definite thing you can depend on is that shit is going to happen.  And when it does, your success depends 100% on how you pivot from that thing that has derailed you. This is where most people fail.  Your inability to side step a challenge, your inability to get passed a road block, your inability to overcome an obstacle, derails you in a way where you find yourself spiraling, making bad decision after bad decision, until you finally hit rock bottom.  But this doesn't have to be your story. So, you lost job? Okay, time to find a new opportunity. A side hustle.  Oh, your car got repossessed? Okay, time to learn public transportation and find out who your real friends are.  Damn, your home got foreclosed on, okay, time to find a roommate.  None of this changes the fact that it's not time to stop and lick your wounds.  It's not time to cry about what could have been and it's not time to whine about it.  It's time to side step, pivot in a new direction and keep it moving. In some instances, especially when something catastrophic happens you can find yourself needing to pivot into a role that you are unfamiliar with.  And when this happens, you will need to fake it 'til you make it.  That doesn't mean lie on your resume.  It doesn't mean, pretend you're something that you are not.  It doesn't mean, apply for a job you're not qualified for.  What it does mean, is figure out what you need to be successful in this new position you find yourself in, and do what you need to do to become successful. This might mean that you need to learn a new skill, like carpentry or welding.  And although you may be 40 years old and just graduated from welding school, you need to fake the confidence of a 20 year veteran welder when you apply for that new welding position, until being a veteran welder becomes your reality. Maybe you just left the military and you're looking for a corporate executive job.  Fake it 'til you make it, means dress the part, speak the lingo, exude the confidence of a corporate executive, until it becomes your reality.   Maybe you just got out of prison where you spent the last 8 - 10 years paying your dues to society and now your looking for a way to provide for your family.  Fake it 'til you make it means, developing the job skills necessary to create a career, find a mentor who can teach you a path and learn as much as you can, take every opportunity given and do the job assigned to you better than everyone around you, until you are so fucking undeniable in your skillset that being the best is your reality.  Today we are here to discuss how to Fake it Until You Make, and we have a special guest and a very good friend of ours.  AJ Franco.  For those of you meeting AJ for the very first time, AJ is a Supply Chain leader and executive currently residing and working in Northern CA where he leads a Fortune 500 grocery distribution center.  AJ is no stranger to the concept of faking it until you make it and has had his fair share of "shit happening". Paulo Coelho has been quoted as saying "You must be the person you have never had the courage to be. Gradually, you will discover that you are that person, but until you can see this clearly, you must pretend and invent." Does Paulo's approach to faking it seem dishonest or sneaky? When we discuss the act of faking it, what we are truly focusing on is your ability to be confident in an environment where you lack confidence.  We have all been in a situation where we have found ourselves under-prepared and not fully confident in either our preparation, our capabilities, or our knowledge.  When we do find our selves in these types of situations, it important to find that confidence intrinsically.  So when should you not fake it? When you lack knowledge or credentials to perform a job When you are required to be deceitful or dishonest. If you are creating a visual representation of success that is beyond your financial situation If you are creating an environment that will be unsafe or dangerous   Have you ever faked it when you shouldn't have?  How did that work out?  What did you learn from it? Confidence impacts the way others view you.  The way others interact with you and it impacts the way you see yourself.  You are capable of manipulating your brain to think of yourself as more confident.  This rewiring can have a long lasting impact and become second nature for you as you become more and more confident.  We are going to provide you with the 15 ways to level up your confidence so that you too can fake it until you make it.  Has a lack of confidence ever held you back from achieving a goal or accomplishing an objective? The first method is one of my go-to favorites.  Its Power Posing.  You get the opportunity to harness one of your super heroes!  Using positive and empowering body language, like power posing, you are able to get over your fears and stressors.  This can happen when you find yourself in a new and an uncertain environment.  It is a great way to exude and boost confidence.   Power posing was made popular after Amy Cuddy, a Social Psychologist who conducted a Ted Talk where she shared scientific evidence that substantiated that power posing can build confidence and enhance self esteem.  Although today, some psychologist have challenged Amy's findings, they all agree that there is an impact on a person mentally, even if physiologically, there is not much of a change. The second is doing something that you are great at.  It is possible that there will be times in your life when your confidence will waiver of dip.  This happens when you're underprepared for meeting, or you get caught off guard by a question.  Don't allow that uncomfortable feeling to linger longer than it has too.  Go and do something that you are great at and remind yourself that although you don't have the answer to every question, you are good at a lot of things. Have you been in a situation where you lost confidence and how did you recover from it?  What caused the confidence loss?   Thirdly,  is maintain eye contact.  It is a dead giveaway that your confidence is lacking when you have difficulty making or maintaining eye contact.  If maintaining direct eye contact begins to make you uncomfortable or uneasy, a good method to fake it, is to focus on the person's nose or mouth instead.  This gives the impression that you are still engaged and focused. The fourth is manage voice projection, intensity and speed.  A lot can be determined from how you speak and communicate.  Someone who is mumbling or speaking softly will come across as not confident.  When you are feeling like your confidence level is not where it should be, try projecting your voice more.  Also speak slower.  Speaking fast is a telltale sign that you are nervous and lack confidence.  Remind yourself that what you are saying is important and value added.  This will also help reduce the number of filler words you might use when speaking faster than your brain can formulate your ideas, and also help reduce any accidental stuttering. How do you communicate in order to display confidence in that communication?  Have you had challenges here?   The fifth way is dress to impress.  You should always dress for the job that you want not the job that you have when it's practical of course.  You're not going to wear a suit to pick up trash on the highway, but you should take your wardrobe selection serious and wear appropriate fitting clothes.  Wear clothes that make you feel confident.  Clothes that make you look good and feel good. How have you followed this philosophy of "dressing to impress?"  Has this been successful for you? Sixth way is to remember to smile.  People associate a smile with friendliness and positivity.  It makes you approachable and believe it or not, smiling has a positive physiological change.  Frowning on the other hand has the exact opposite impact. Seventh, listen to motivational and uplifting music.  This can include songs that pump you up, or speeches with positive affirmations. This is a great way to put your "symbolic armor" on! How have you used music or positive affirmations to motivate and drive up your confidence? Eighth, practice deep breathing or meditation.  This a great way to calm your mind, control your anxiety and focus on being present.  When doing this try to clear your mind and be present by focusing on your breathes entering your lungs and processing throughout your entire body.  When noise starts seeping into your mind, quiet it again by focusing on being present. How do you work on being present and controlling your energy in moments of high stress, discomfort or lack of confidence? Ninth, loosen up.  You don't want to be too relaxed especially in a professional environment or setting, but being too tense or rigid can be a sign of no confidence.  Ensure you are not clenching your jaw or pulling your shoulders back.   Being tensed can be a sign of anxiety. Tenth, be a good listener.  Being a good listener means you are actively listening.  When someone is speaking, you are making direct eye contact, leaning forward and providing responses to indicate that you are listening.   How do you actively listen?  How do you do that in a tense of challenging environment?   Eleventh, document your victories. Journaling or keeping a diary is a great way to remind yourself of all of your accomplishments.  It allows you to document goals and achievements. Do you keep a journal? Does it help? Twelfth, act as the most qualified person in the room.  If you have the answer to a question, share it.  If you have something to share, then share it.  Ensure that those around you are able to benefit from your knowledge and experience.  Remind yourself that you are value-added to the discussion.  At the same time, if there is something that you don't know, then search for the answer so next time you will be better prepared to answer a question. How have you acted like the most qualified person in the room? Thirteenth, redirect attention in uncomfortable settings by asking questions of others.  Redircting attention away from yourself, pulls you out of the limelight and places focus on others.  It also allows you to learn more about others and build connections. Fourteenth, learn to accept compliments.  Shunning or downplaying your compliments can be a sign of low self esteem and lack of confidence.  Learn to say thank you.  Never deflect a compliment to someone else. How do you deal with compliments?   Fifteenth, learn to love the process.  Do not look at failure as a destination, or a binary act.  Failure is an opportunity to learn and grow,  Embrace a growth mindset and learn from your failures so that you are always slef improving and becoming better today than you were yesterday.  Take calculated risks with the understanding that there will be some failures and that your plan will be to learn from them. How have you learned to love the process? Amy Cuddy says, "Don't fake it till you make.  Fake it till you become it." What is the difference between faking it until you make and faking it until you become it? People, its time to level up. If you're in a situation where you are having to fake it until you make, whether that's in a new job, in school, on a sports team or in a new relationship, then I encourage you to purchase the book, 'How to Fake It Til You Make It', by Shontavvia Shropshire and Kay Young.  This book will provide great examples on HOW to fake it til you make. Let's stop allowing a new environment, or a change in our situation to slow us down from achieving  our goals when working towards our objectives.  Let's begin to work internally on our confidence so that we can bring our best selves to the fight every time.  Whether that fight is in the boardroom, the warehouse floor, the classroom or in a relationship.  Learning when and how to fake it till you make will help boost your confidence, your knowledge and your expertise so that you can achieve success where others may struggle. It's time to level up how we transform ourselves into what we need to become in order to succeed.  Take a step to living a life without limits, a life where anything is possible.    ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Welcome back! Thank you for tuning in for another Undeniable Level Up podcast episode with your hosts, Jose Medina and Crystal Garcia. Today, we have invited a special guest, Minh Nguyen. Welcome Minh. Minh is the owner of Aspire Jiu Jitsu, based in Houston Texas and is a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Professor and Black Belt.  Minh has trained under Brazilian Jiu Jitsu World Champion, Professor Pablo Silva and operates as an affiliate of the Pablo Silva BJJ school which focuses and specializes in competitive BJJ for both children and adult competitors. In our last episode of the Undeniable Level Up Podcast, we discussed getting out of your comfort zone.  And in that podcast we discussed how we got into BJJ a little over a year ago, which has definitely taken us outside of our comfort zones as we dove head first into learning a martial arts and began competing at a national level in BJJ. Today, we are going to learn how to “Embracing the Suck!”  Q: Have you ever heard this term before? What does it mean to you? If you've never heard this term before, it was a term that I first heard in the military when referring to the most miserable experiences that you go through while in the military.  If you were out in the field for training and it began raining, “Good, embrace the suck”.  If you were on a deployment and found out you are being extended, “Good, embrace the suck!”  It basically means: To consciously accept or appreciate something that is extremely unpleasant but unavoidable. It is a term that basically encourages you to take the worst and most demoralizing part of your current experience and embrace it.  Love the process, don't quit, don't give up and find the good in your experience. But before we get too deep into our topic… Q: Can you begin at the beginning.  Where are you from and where did you grow up? How did you get into martial arts?  Is BJJ the only martial arts background that you have?  Have you always had a dream to open your own dojo?   I'm sure there have been moments in your journey where you've had to learn to embrace the suck, where you've had to learn to love the process and find value, growth and strength in the journey.   In the words of AJ Jacobs, “Accept failure. Enjoy it, even. Embrace the suck, for the suck is part of the process.” PLAY: Clip by Admiral William McCraven “Don't Ever Ring the Bell!”  NEVER QUITTING! I think of all of my uncomfortable sucky moments where I may have felt broken or defeated but charged forward anyway.  I have a tattoo that says, “A champion is bent over, drenched in sweat, and at the point of exhaustion when no one is watching.” I got this tattoo as a reminder to myself of the courage I have had to bear my soul, learn, and grow in the most challenging and excruciating parts of my journey in life. Everyone sees the winner, the champion, the elite… but few know what the journey entailed. With everything going on in the world today, there is enough suck in our lives to go around so that everyone gets their fair share.  Whether it's COVID19 restrictions, supply chain disruptions and port congestion, or unemployment and inflation, it is important that you don't allow the suck to stop you from achieving success.  And to assist with that, we are going to provide 8 steps that you can take to ensure you are able to fully embrace the suck, overcome temporary pain and face adversity with resilience and achieve success. The first step, you must figure it out. There is a solution to every problem.  For every obstacle you must either go around it, over it, under it or through it.  In BJJ there is a defense move for every offensive move, that will allow you to win the fight.  Sometimes, the answer isn't immediately obvious, but with training and repetition and by placing yourself in these tough and challenging situations, you are able to build the muscle memory and the reflex to execute the proper response quickly. Step two, quiting is never an option.  Ringing the bell, is never an option.  You must perservere.  As long as you continue to place one foot in front of the other, and you continue to move forward, persistency and consistency will see you through the worst of it all. Q: Have you ever felt like quitting at BJJ?  At anything in life?  What allowed you to fight through that moment of weakness or self-doubt?  What words of wisdom would you give to a young…or old, new BJJ practitioner who is going through the suck right now? Q: How has your mindset changed having not “rang the bell?”  How has your life changed?  Have you ever had to encourage or remind someone to not quit? PLAY: Clip by David Goggins “Embrace the Suck!”  Q: Another great example from another military guy.  Obviously, a lot of suck to embrace in the military.  What are thoughts on David's speech?  Step three, create the calluses of mental toughness.  The more you do something the easier it gets for you to continue doing it.  This applies the same to your mental toughness as it does to lifting weights, or the pain you feel in your hands when you first begin in BJJ. Q:  Where have you had to build mental toughness and psychological calluses? Step four, do the things that suck when it is least optimal.  It is easy to got to BJJ when you've had plenty of sleep and your back doesn't hurt.  It's easy to go work out at the gym when you're well rested and hydrated.  It's easy to go for a walk or a run when the weather is perfect outside.  Do these same things when it's not optimal.  Go to BJJ when your toe is broken or you have a fractured spine.  I did.  Go to the gym when you've only had 2 hours of sleep and are cutting 5 pound of water weight for a competition.  Go for a run when it's pouring rain and the weather is south of 60 degrees.  This is where resiliency is developed. Q:  Where do you struggle with this concept?  Why do you think you struggle? Step five, fix your face and your attitude.  It's what my mom used to tell me when I was younger.  When you have something challenging to do, something that you find difficult or challenging, change your attitude about it.  The more you complain about it, the more you will dread.  Change the narrative by changing the internal dialogue.  The more you do this, the less suck you find you must embrace. Q: Have you've ever found a bad attitude to be part of your problem when dealing with a crappy situation? Step six, be the best version of yourself.  Would the best version of you quit?  Would the best version of you procrastinate or make an excuse to avoid a challenge?  If the answer is no, then get it done. Q: What does the best version of you look like and how do you manifest this version of yourself? Step seven, build a routine.  It takes about 30 days to create a habit.  If you can do it for 30 days it will become a part of your normal cadence. Q: Do you have a routine that allows you to get through challenging and difficult tasks or activities? Step eight, exceed expectations.  If your goal is to be mediocre, then you are well on your way to a life full of suck.  You shouldn't even aim too good.  Your goal should be greatness because it is what you are capable of.  We are all capable of greatness when we own our success and failures and maintain a growth mindset. Q: Have you ever found yourself aiming low and accepting less than your very best? Embracing the suck isn't about being miserable and being stuck in a situation where you are stuck suffering, in endless discomfort.  It's about confronting the things that are uncomfortable and changing how you mentally confront that discomfort in a way that allows you to NOT be defeated by the discomfort.  Allowing you to surmount the challenge and get over, around or through the obstacle preventing you from achieving success.   This is the process of realization and action So, how do you do this: I have four steps to will allow you to assist you with embracing the suck and overcoming obstacles, while building resiliency: 1)    Get help through mentorship. Q: Who do you turn to for mentorship? 2)    Change your situation.3)    Get acclimated to discomfort… OWN IT! Q: How have you gotten acclimated to discomfort? 4)    Educate yourself rather for a sport, work, etc.5)    Develop habits that encourage change Q: What specific habits have you adapted that have allowed you to overcome discomfort and get through difficult moments? I want to thank our guest, Professor Minh Nguyen, BJJ Black Belt and owner of Aspire BJJ.  Where can our listeners find you and where can they train with you!  Thank you for sharing your journey with us and for being a mentor and friend and member of our Power Circle. CTAIn a world filled with medical challenges, war, violence and a myriad other challenges, it is critical that we learn to embrace the difficult and miserable moments in our journey with a positive mindset and a good attitude.  Develop habits where we don't quit.  Where our self talk and internal dialogue is encouraging of our best selves as we strive to be the best version of who we are capable of being.  We challenge you to start embracing the suck today, not tomorrow or next week! Find a way over, under, around or through your obstacles and challenges and never allow an obstacle to take your eyes off the prize on your road to success.   ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Bonus EpisodeLeveling Up Your Emotional IntelligenceWelcome back! We are happy that you have tuned in to the Undeniable Level Up Podcast with your hosts, Jose Medina and Crystal Garcia. This bonus episode will help you level up your emotional intelligence. Understanding personalities and how they differ is paramount to increasing your emotional intelligence. Just like us, we know that you have experienced interactions where you were left feeling confused by the other individual's reaction to you or maybe even the situation itself.  Prepare to be enlightened today! Emotional intelligence is key to leading successfully and even living successfully. According to Travis Bradberry, “Emotional intelligence is your ability to recognize and understand emotions in yourself and others, and your ability to use this awareness to manage your behavior and relationships.” Q: What are your thoughts on this description of emotional intelligence?  Though this description is accurate it's missing the inclusion of how personality plays into this.  Personality is the combination of characteristics or qualities that form an individual's distinctive character. Part of being emotionally intelligent is understanding the individual's response(s) in relationship to their personality.  Q: What are your thoughts on the importance of personality in being emotionally intelligent? Well for starters there is a misconception that being emotionally intelligent is strictly about reading emotions and it's not. An individual's personality determines not only how but why they will respond in various ways. If you know and understand personality differences at the most basic level, you can increase your emotional intelligence immediately. This increase in your emotional intelligence allows you to confront interactions almost like you have received a full brief prior to that interaction.  Q: So what are the different personalities? I am sure most people are aware that there are a multitude of personality tests and styles. However for the purposes of this podcast , we are going to utilize the easiest and most basic personality identification model DISC. Each letter of the DISC model signifies one of the four personality types. D (Dominant) – RedI (Influential) – YellowS (Steady) – GreenC (Conscientious) – Blue So, we are going to break down each personality. As we do this, think about what personality you are. Think about the personalities of those you interact with.  We will start this off with what I refer to as a, “red.” The D or dominant personality trait. Famous people with this personality are Arnold Schwarzenegger and Oprah Winfrey▪ Communication Method - Direct  ▪ Emotional Intelligence – High (they are able to recognize and draw out potential in others)▪ Valueo Achievement – achieve results and are competitiveo Action – take action quicko Control – they will take charge▪ Their Driveo Desire to Wino Doing Something Meaningfulo Goal Orientation▪ Their Motivatorso Challenges – solving problemso Implementations/Changes – Implementing new things, adapting to changes▪ Challengeso Aggressive – They can be aggressiveo Details – They do not like details, they see them as unnecessaryo Pushy – they can seem pushy because they do not give up and believe there is a way around anythingo Sensitivity – due to their value in action and achievement they can come off as being insensitiveo Type “A” – like to take credit and may come off as “know it alls” Connecting with a red requires for you to:▪ Allow them to make their own decisions▪ Ask them if you want insight into their decisions, they will tell you▪ Promote competition▪ Recognize them in front of others▪ Utilize BLUF (bottom line up front) when communicating with them “Meat & Potatoes” The I or Influential personality is what we will refer to as a yellow. Famous people with this personality are Kevin Hart and Robin Williams.▪ Communication Method – Passive (tends to avoid conflict)▪ Emotional Intelligence – Low (they connect and build relationships easily)▪ Valueo Attention – they are energized by people and love attentiono Connection – they like to connect to many peopleo Image – they dress to be noticed and care about their image▪ Their Driveo Connecting with otherso Image▪ Their Motivatorso Connection – they are moved by personal storieso Fun & Happiness – they like things fun, when its not fun they get boredo Social Recognition – they love social recognition▪ Challengeso Attention – they have a short attention spano Avoidance – they avoid pain rather its physical or emotionalo Boredom – they bore easily and quicklyo Follow Through – if its boring or no longer interesting they will stop doing it Connecting with a yellow requires for you to:▪ Be enthusiastic when you communicate new things▪ Follow-up with them▪ Make things fun when possible▪ Reward them▪ Support them▪ Tie changes to image The S or Steady personality is what we will refer to as a green. Famous people with this personality are Nelson Mandela and Julia Roberts.▪ Communication Methodo Passive (w/ passive aggressive tendencies)o Calm (avoids conflict)▪ Emotional Intelligence – Low (they require clear and concise information and guidance)▪ Valueo Collaboration – they like working in groupso Formal Roles – they like formal roles in activitieso Support – they like to both give and receive support▪ Their Driveo Desire to “help”o Desire to make a difference▪ Their Motivatorso Appreciation for “help”o Given the opportunity to help make a difference▪ Challengeso Blame – they often blame other for their situationo Change – they do not like changeo Collaboration – they are reluctant to share without total comforto Decision Making – they do not take sides (they like to make everyone happy)o Emotional Intelligence – they often misread what is said or doneo Emotions – they respond and lead emotionallyo Focus – they can't handle numerous taskso Motivators – they will not take responsibility for others motivatorso Time Management – they take their time with tasks; often unorganized Connecting with a green requires for you to:▪ Encourage them / to complete projects▪ Help them explore ways to save energy, time, and money▪ Question them to gain insight into what they need▪ Show them appreciation for their contributions▪ Show them the necessity for change▪ When faced with decisions, ensure they understand the responsibility is theirs The C or Conscientious personality is what we will refer to as a blue. Famous people with this personality are Steve Jobs and Warren Buffet.▪ Communication Methodo Passive (avoids conflict)▪ Emotional Intelligence – Low (they enjoy one on one conversations)▪ Valueo Facts & Standards – they don't like information without facts and they like standardso Genuine & Meaningful Connection – they are very selective with who they befriendo Loyalty – they are loyal and expect loyalty in returno One on One Conversations – they do not like big parties and being in the spotlighto Solitude – they are energized by working and being alone▪ Their Driveo Solitude▪ Their Motivatorso Loyaltyo Solitude – they like to be aloneo Solving Problems▪ Challengeso Constructive Criticism – they do not take constructive criticism wello Forgiveness – they can be unforgiving because of their value in loyaltyo Private – they prefer to keep their lives private, so this may be hard for people to understando Sensitive – they can be easily hurto Solitude – they are prone to depression because of their desire for solitude Connecting with a blue requires for you to:▪ Follow through with you piece of the puzzle▪ Give them a plan of action▪ Give them time to make decisions▪ Provide them data when you want to implement change▪ Provide facts▪ Recognize them privately Q: So now that we have shared each personality type, what do you think we can do to leverage this information to increase our emotional intelligence? If you know and understand your own personality and those with whom you interact, you can leverage that in how you communicate to connect and motivate.  Q: Have you leveraged this information to increase your emotional intelligence and if so how? Q: Do you know your personality Crystal and if so, what can you tell us about it?Yes. I am a Red, Blue, Green, Yellow. My red and blue are very close to one another though my red is a little higher. My green is a bit lower but still very much a part of my personality. Now yellow, is almost non-existent, LOL! With information, I am a BLUF or meat and potatoes person, but I also want data. I can make hard decisions based on data and quickly. If you are not meeting the mark, I'll be direct.  Q: So what can our listeners do to identify their own personality and those with whom they work? We have provided a DISC personality assessment in the show notes. Most theorists say claim that your EQ (like your IQ) measures how well you can leverage this information in handling your emotions in yourself and others.  Victor E. Franel says, "Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space lies our freedom and power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and freedom.” CTAWe challenge all of our listeners to utilize this information in their daily lives and see how much their interactions change for the better.DISC Model Personality Test Link  ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Jose & Crystal here and we are back with Episode 202 of the Undeniable Level Up Podcast.  In our last episode we discussed the sacrifices that are required to achieve success.  If you missed it, please go and listen to it now by clicking on the "last episode" hyperlink.  We heard a moving story from Steve Harvey about how he sacrificed for his chance at comedy stardom after his first open mic on stage and the truth is, most of us haven't really considered the sacrifices that are required to make our dreams a reality.  So I definitely encourage you to check out that podcast.   Today we are exploring the edge of your comfort zone!  For some of you, you have gotten so comfortable that you've resorted to NEVER getting out of that comfort zone.  But that's where life begins!!!  At the edge.  Right where fear turns your stomach and anxiety pulls you back from the edge, this is where the magic happens.Roy Bennet wrote in 'The Light in the Heart', "It's only after you've stepped out of your comfort zone that you begin to change, grow, and transform".   Q: Do you agree or disagree with Bennet? It is extremely easy to get stuck in your comfort zone.  Some even refer to it as being "stuck in a rut".  If you've experienced this before, you know exactly what this feels like.  Your day is the same old routine, day in, day out.  Nothing changes.  You wake up, get the kids ready for school, you go to work, you come home and make dinner.  Spend a few minutes helping the kids with homework, a little Netflix and then its off to bed and the routine repeats the next day.  And then the next and then the next.  At some point you wonder how 10 - 15 years have just passed without any excitement, no growth and a deep dark depressing boredom that you wear along with your now permanent frown.    But this doesn't have to be your reality, right?  The very first step to change is realizing that you need to make a change.  So how do you know if you are stuck in your comfort zone and need to begin exploring the edge a little more. Casey Imafidon, from Lifehack, provides us with 8 signs that indicate it's time for you to take leap out of your comfort zone.  If any of these signs resonate in your heart, then it's time to begin to expand your comfort zone and go from being alive to actually living: The first indicator that you are stuck in your comfort zone is that you are unhappy.  Many times it's difficult to identify what exactly is making you unhappy.  Q: Have you ever found yourself feeling deeply unhappy and feeling like you are stuck in rut?  How did you handle it?  What things did you do to implement changes? The next indicator is a profound feeling of self doubt.  You either don't think you can accomplish much, you feel like you peaked in life or have an overwhelming sense of feeling incapable of more than you are currently doing.  That could be working a dead end job and not feeling like you are worth of a promotion, or maybe you are trying to get in shape, but feel like you're too old to really make the transformation you want. Q: Have you ever found yourself second guessing your ability to achieve a goal or an objective? The next indicator is that you are living a stagnant life.  Meaning there is no movement in your life.  Everyday seems still and eventless.  You might be accomplishing mundane tasks that do not add value or excitement to your life. Q: Have you ever found yourself in a stagnate state?  What put you there?  How did you get out? The next indicator is that you can't recall the last time you did or tried something new.  Your day to day has become so mundane that your zest for learning and growth has all but vanished. Q: When was the last time you tried something new?  How have you enjoyed it?  What challenges did you face? The next indicator is that you have nothing to talk about.  When you are around others, you are the least exciting person in the room.  You are amazed by the lives and stories of others and can't imagine doing half of the things that the people around you are doing. Q:  Have you ever been the least exciting person in a room? The next indicator is that you constantly say "NO' to anything you've never done before.  Rather than try something new, you prefer to stay in that flaccid state of inactivity and non-action. Q: When was the last time you said NO to trying something new?  Why?  Do you regret it?  Would you do it now? The next indicator is that you procrastinate on taking action.  You want to learn how to dance Salsa, and you will as soon as you lose 30 pounds.  Or you always wanted to learn how to ride horses, and you plan to, as soon as the kids are grown up and move out of the house.   Q:  What types of things have you wanted to accomplish but continue to procrastinate on?  How will you change your behavior?   Finally, you often use the words "IF' and "WHEN" to excuse your current state of comfort.  Negative words like "CANT" and "WONT" are common in your vocabulary.  "I WON'T jump out of plane because I am afraid of heights", or "I'm NOT going diving because I CAN'T swim well". Q: What type of negative self talk do you use or have you used in the past?  How have you changed the narrative of your self talk?  How has that reflected in your choices? So what do you do if you find yourself stuck in that comfort zone?  Well, there are several different things that you can do to get yourself unstuck.  And we are going to give you 12 different things you can do to turbo boost yourself out of that nasty yucky comfort zone. The first one can be challenging.  But it involves understanding how you body handles and responds to fear.  I've found myself in some very scary situations and so I know exactly how my body responds to fear and I also know how to control my reactions to fear.  Understanding how you manage and deal with fear allows you to control the stress that you'll encounter as you begin leaving your comfort zone. Q: How do you respond to fear?  Have you always responded this way. Second is self affirmations.  And if you haven't listened to the Undeniable Level Up podcast, Season 1, Bonus Episode 3, "I am a Champion" The Power of Positive Affirmations" then please go listen it to it now.  This is a great way to help you edge out of your comfort zone. The third, is change your internal dialogue and control your narrative.  You can tell yourself, this is too hard to endure, or you can say, "I've got this, I've been through tougher situations".  Controlling your narrative will allow you to put things into perspective and not allow you to exaggerate the situation. The fourth, is be present in the NOW.  Often we can get into our own heads and go back into our past and associate a current activity or situation with an experience we had in past as a young adult or as a child.  For example, if you sucked at soccer as a 10 year kid, you might think that you would not be good at a sport now, and therefore although you enjoy softball, you don't want to play.  This also happens when you project "What If" scenarios into a fictitious future.  Worrying about a potential future outcome is a great way to keep you in the comfort zone.  Instead focus on being present now and be bold in taking a decisive action today. Q: Have you ever gotten caught up in your own head in either the past or present, in a way that prevented you from getting outside of your comfort zone? Fifth, you can revisit your greatest accomplishments.  Remembering past accomplishments is a great way to get your mind into a growth mindset.  Reliving past experiences where you ventured outside of your comfort zone and the success that you experienced can help move you in the right direction to do it again. Sixth, give yourself a reason to get out of your comfort zone. For example, if you are thinking about getting in shape, you might consider competing in a body transformation challenge where the prize can be between $100K and $500K.  The motivation of the money could be the catalyst that drives you to excel and remain motivated while accomplishing your goals. Seventh, use positive and empowering body language, like power posing to get over your fears and stressors as you venture out of your comfort zone.  This is a great way to build internal resolve and give yourself a boost of confidence.  Power posing was made popular after Amy Cuddy, a Social Psychologist conducted a Ted Talk where she shared scientific evidence that substantiated that power posing can build confidence and enhance self esteem.  Although today, other psychologist have challenged Amy's findings, they all agree that there is an impact on a person mentally, even if physiologically, there is not much of a change. Eighth, develop a habit of getting out of your comfort zone.  This could be as simple as every year learning something new, like taking up Salsa dancing, or taking golf lessons.  Be as creative and as spontaneous as you can be, but be regimented in setting up a cadence that encourages you to get outside of your bubble. Ninth, redefine what your comfort zone is.  This typically happens as you start to get out of our comfort zone more frequently.  You should aim to constantly redefine what your comfort zone looks like.  For example, when we were looking for a way to get in shape, we considered doing Jiu Jitsu.  Learning a martial arts was definitely outside of our comfort zone.  Once we had been doing it for about six months, Jiu Jitsu became part of our comfort zone.  Our next step was to add Jiu Jitsu competitions to our schedule.  This again, redefined our comfort zone.  Who knows what the next step might be for us.  Maybe Cage Fighting. Tenth, avoid rationalizing your fears with excuses.  There is nothing that you can't effectively rationalize and excuse away.  We do it all the time.  I'll start my diet on Monday is a great example.  It's rationalizing why you don't have to go to the gym today, right now.  Avoid this pitfall, as it is one surefire way to ensure you remain in your comfort zone. Eleventh, take baby steps.  Making a major change in your life can be overwhelming, especially when you have competing priorities.  Imagine if we would have started Jiu Jitsu and immediately began competing within the first few weeks of training.  This may have resulted in too much too fast and we may have not been able to see it through for as long as we have.   I remember when we started Jiu Jitsu, we began with attending drill classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  This was an hour long.  2 hours a week was doable as we were dropping weight and improving our cardio.  When we were no longer gassing out during these sessions, we added a third competition training day that was 1.5 hours long and eventually added a 4th day.  We are currently doing 6 to 7 days a week with 3 competition classes a week, 2 open mat sessions and 2 drill days for a total of about 9 to 10 hours of training weekly, not to include our competitions, with 1 competition monthly on average. Finally, fake it until you make it.  You might be afraid of taking a bold step to get outside of your comfort zone, because you feel you don't have the talent, the skill, or the education to succeed.  Maybe you want to start a business, but you don't know the first thing about being an entrepreneur.  Just fake it until you make.  Network, communicate with others, learn the lingo, research, educate yourself.  Faking it until you make will take you out of your comfort zone every time. Tere Arigo says, "The hardest thing to do is leaving your comfort zone, but you have to let go of the life you're familiar with and take the risk to live the life you dream about". So what are some of the benefits of getting out of our comfort zone?  Why even bother? I'm glad you asked.  There are many benefits to getting out of your comfort zone.  They include:  New experiences and opportunities A Change in your lifestyle Increased knowledge and developing a growth mindset Develop or increase your power circle Develop your character Learn to handle stress & Fear Increased confidence Finding your passion Identifying your why and who you were meant to be Finding different levels of success Widening your comfort zone  (CTA)Its time to level up.  If you've been languishing in your comfort zone, feeling bored with life, unexcited and stuck in your comfort zone, its time to take a step towards the unknown and experience something new.  I challenge you to choose to learn something new this month.  It should be something that pushes your limits, and makes you nervous but excited at the same time.  It could be learning a new language, traveling to an exotic destination, learning a martial arts, or taking a painting class.  Whatever it is, pump yourself up about and do it.   And if you need help, pickup the book 'Your Guide to Being a Comfort Zone Escapist: A Step by Step Action Plan to Success Through Risk-Taking, by Alison Aulakh (Ow-Lak).  It can be purchased on Amazon for under $20.  We wil include a link in the show notes. It's time to get out of that funk, push past the limits of where you've gotten used to living, unchallenged, unmotivated and uninspired.  It's time to begin pushing the edge of your comfort zone, doing those things you imagined doing as a kid when everything was possible.  It's time to level up and get out of your comfort zone.  Take a step to living a life with passion and excitement.  One that challenges you to be better than you were yesterday.   Let's level up and stop procrastinating on learning something new and exciting; let's stop being bored and unhappy with our lives; let's stop doubting ourselves; let's stop being stagnate and motionless and embrace the positive stress and fear that comes from pushing the edge and experiencing that thrill that comes with achieving something you once considered unachievable.  ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

What is going on!!!  We are back to another episode of the Undeniable Level Up Podcast.  In our last episode, we provided our listeners with several methods, tricks of the trade, to organizing your lives.  Let's face it, for most us, this is the primary blocker stopping us from achieving success.  If you missed that episode, I encourage you to go back and have a listen.  It was our last episode of our 1st season. Today, as we jump head first into our first episode of our 2nd season, we are here to discuss success and whether or no success requires sacrifice.     READ: Tonic Motihala says "There is no success without sacrifice".   Q: How do you feel about Tonic's statement? Do you believe that success requires sacrifice? If success were easy, then we would all be successful.  In order to achieve success, we often find ourselves in conflict between choices and options.  Do we pursue those tasks which bring us closer to our goals and objectives, or do we take it easy and relax.  Watch TV or take a nap?  These are often options, where we become conflicted between what we want to do versus what we need to do.     Some common decisions include do I sleep in, or do I get my lazy butt out of bed and go to the gym?  Do I go home early or do I stay late at work and finish that project my boss needs in the morning.  Do I buy that new sports car, or do I invest my money in a new business venture? These are all decisions that can make the difference between being successful and not being successful. The goals and objectives you are trying to achieve will not just magically manifest themselves in your life.  You have to make sacrifices towards those goals and objectives to truly manifest them.  This is how you create momentum towards achieving your desires.  This could present in the form of giving something up, such as time, money or energy.  You might have to sacrifice one, two or all of these things to achieve your goals and become successful. One of the biggest sacrifices often required for achieving success is changing who you are as a person, versus who you need to be, to achieve success. Q: Have you ever had to change yourself to achieve success?  What did that look like?  How did others accept or not accept that change in you? Who was hurt by that change?  Who supported you? It is quite possible that you may have to completely change who you are to achieve your desired goals and objectives.  Some questions that you can ask yourself when you self assessing as to whether you need to make personal changes are:  What values must I change to achieve this goal? Would any of my deal breaker values being negatively impacted by trying to achieve success? What habits or activities must I sacrifice to achieve success? What does my goals demand I change about myself? Can I make those changes? Am I willing to make those changes?  Q: How have you changed as a person from who you were before you were successful to who you are now?  Was this change positive or negative looking back? Often times making a sacrifice means giving up something good for something better.  This often requires foregoing that instant gratification that we've all gotten use too.  It's giving up that short-term pleasure for that long term gain.  It's the "No Pain, No Gain" mentality of sacrificing now for a huge payback later. Q: What sacrifices have you had to make for long term gains?  Do you regret making these sacrifices?   Many times, what detracts you from reaching success are distractions.  Distractions are activities, events and even people that take you off course from your desired objective and move you further away from achieving success.  These things can give you temporary pleasure, but leave you unfulfilled.  Things like television, parties, a lover.  All of these things can become a distractor towards achieving your goals. Q: What distractions have you had to overcome to achieve success?  Was it hard to overcome these distractions?  How did you manage to eliminate these distractions? Many times we will find people who want to achieve success but refuse to make the necessary compromises or sacrifices to achieve that success.  As a result, they remain stuck in their situation.  They often attempt to rationalize that failure by blaming those around them for their lack of success.  They say things like "I should have gotten that promotion", or "he/she was lucky they invested when they did", or "I don't have the knowledge to start my own business".  These are just excuses made by those who are not willing to sacrifice to achieve something greater than their current situation. Making a sacrifice is never easy.  If you have been struggling with making some necessary sacrifices to achieve success, we are going to provide you with the six (6) steps that you need to take to determine if you're ready to make the necessary sacrifices to achieve success.  The first step is: STEP 1 - Provide clarity of your goal or objective.  What is it you really want.  Why do you want it?  Is it in alignment with your values and your WHY?  Do your values and your WHY need to be adjusted? Q: Have you even had to adjust your values to reach an objective or goal?  If so, was it difficult?  Were you able to sustain the change?  Did others accept your new values? STEP 2 - Create a plan.  Define the roadmap to achieving your objective.  What exactly do you need to do to achieve your goals.   STEP 3 - Consider the repercussions.  What will be the fallout of your sacrifice?  Is it worthy?  Will it violate your values?  Will it go against your WHY?  How will it impact your life?  How will it impact the life of your family?  Your spouse?  What conflict will arise from this sacrifice?  Will it impact you emotionally? Financially?  Morally? STEP 4 - What changes do you need to make in your life to reduce the impact of the repercussions?  Do you need to adjust your circle? Do you need to make changes to your life?  Do you need to make personal changes? STEP 5 - Make the sacrifices necessary to achieve success.  Are these sacrifices enough.  Are you having to sacrifice more than you bargained for? STEP 6 - Assess whether or not these sacrifices are worth making?  You can do this by looking at your values and your WHY and determining if they are negatively impacted by your sacrifice. When considering making sacrifices, it is easy to get tunnel vision and focus on short term impact without fully understanding the long term impact of your sacrifices.  For example, if you need to sacrifice time away from your young children for the next 10 years, you may think that you'll still have time to spend with them once you achieve success, but the relationships may be damaged beyond repair.  It is important that you consider both short term and long term impact if your sacrifices. Q: Have you ever made a sacrifice that negatively impacted you on a long term basis that you did not anticipate?  How did that present itself?  What do you believe you could have done differently?  Do you regret your choices?  Were your choices aligned with your values? There are a lot of things people sacrifice in order to achieve success.  The following are the top 23 things often sacrificed in the pursuit of success according to Dan Baily, from the Enterprise League:  Family Sleep Health Mental Health Freedom Games Social Life Fun Love Vacation Time Colleagues Travel Lifestyle Drinking Work life balance Gym 9 to 5 Safety Net Financial Security Preconceived notion of Success One's Self Personal Relationships Professional Relationships Read Quote: James Allen says, "He who would accomplish little must sacrifice little; he who would achieve much, must sacrifice much; he who would attain highly must sacrifice greatly." Q: Is there truth to these words? (CTA)Guys, it's time to level up.  If you are stuck in a rut and not experiencing the success you feel you deserve, I encourage to purchase the book, "7 Best Sacrifices to Success: A Productive Book to Boost Confidence, Enhance Self Belief, Build Success Mindset and Become Mega Successful in Life" by author Pradip N. Das.  The link for the book will be in show notes. It's time to level up when it comes to succeeding in life and accomplishing those things that you deem important.  Whether that's financial success, business success, success with your relationships, success at work.  What ever it is, it is time to assess the sacrifices you are making…or the sacrifices you are NOT making and make the necessary adjustments so that you can achieve that success.  Stop waiting for something great to happen and begin looking at the actions you need to take to MAKE something great happen in your life.  Let's stop making excuses and complaining about our situation and begin making the necessary sacrifices today that will ensure your ability to success and be undeniable in your level up. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Back again!!!  With another episode of the Undeniable Level Up Podcast.  Last week we covered the importance of not confusing motion for action.  We shared 11 rules to help you avoid getting caught up and lost in motion, so that you are able to take deliberate action.  This is important to ensure that you are able to accomplish your goals and objectives and get after winning. If you're just joining us for the first time today, I invite you to go back and listen to some of our earlier podcast where we cover some important topics having to do with leadership, entrepreneurship and business.  Topics that include Finding Your WHY, Living your values, Defining Success and our favorite, Extreme Ownership. Today, we are going to focus on how to Organize your Life.  And I say life because there are many of you who like Crystal and I, live in constant motion, moving from one set of activities to another requiring different tools in each subset in order to remain efficient and as productive as possible.  This could include being organized as a single or dual income parent, while being organized at work, while being organized in health and fitness, while being organized in your business or side hustle.  Each group of activities require varying degrees of organization to ensure the best possible outcome.   This ensures that you are capable of getting the most done with the time that you have available.   Read Quote: Christina Scalise says "Organization isn't about perfection, it's about efficiency, reducing stress and clutter, saving time and money and improving your overall quality of life." Q: Do you agree with Christina, that organization isn't about perfection?  What are your thoughts on organization? It is possible to have organization in one aspect of your life and not in others.  For example, you might be very organized at work but struggle to find that same organization at home. There are many reasons why someone might find themselves disorganized and overwhelmed in one or multiple aspects of their lives.  The first could be lack of focus.  According to NBC News, there is evidence suggesting that having too much visual stimulus can cause your attention to falter.  If your home is cluttered and there is too much stimulus you may find productivity at home to be poor as your attention bounces between stimuli.  Some happens if your work desk is cluttered and there's papers all over the desk top. Q: How have you found working from home?  What have you done to combat an inability to focus?  How does clutter affect your ability to be productive? Another reason for disorganization in your life is that you are constantly procrastinating .  Telling yourself that you will do it later instead of just getting it done now.  You continue to put if off and eventually it gets done late, or worse, it never gets done at all.  This could be as simple as throwing that full laundry basket of laundry into the washer or meal prepping for the week.  Delaying certain tasks eventually result in a build up of competing requirements against your very limited resources of time. Q: What things do you typically procrastinate on?  How do you avoid procrastinating? A third reason for disorganization in your life comes from having unrealistic expectations.  Having unrealistic expectations can cause you to get stuck, causing work to backlog creating poor efficiency and causing disorganization.  At home, this might present as, "I can't go the gym unless the house is completely clean".  Or at work as, "I must read every single email and respond by the end of the day".  Q: Have unrealistic expectations ever impacted your ability to get or remain organized?   A fourth cause of disorganization is having too many distractions.  At home, this could be the kids, the television, the spouse.  Too many distractions pulling you away from what you have planned to do, intend to do or need to do.  This includes competing priorities and difficulty with prioritizing. Q: How do you prioritize so that you get the right things done at the right time?  How do you handle distractions? Finally, an inability to make a decision can result in disorganization.  Getting stuck in analysis paralysis and data diving, when you should be making a decision. Q: How do you make decisions at home versus work?  What about Business? Read Quote: Someone way more intelligent than I once said "For every minute spent organizing, an hour is earned. In today's environment, the world moves at lightening speed.  To keep up with the demand on your time, you have to be organized, and have good organizational skills.  I have seen smart and talented individuals fail due to the simple fact that they were disorganized.   Being disorganized can cause difficulties in your personal life, wreaking havoc on you finances due to late or missed payments on bills, living outside of your financial means, due to not tracking expenses, missing important dates for family members such as birthdays, anniversaries and graduations.  The list could go on. Q: How have you organized your life?  How do you do it as a single parent in the military?  As a business owner? Being disorganized can also damage your professional life as well.  Being disorganized reduces your efficiency in the work place, driving down your productivity and costing you time and your employer money.  No one appreciates a cluttered work space.  Having to hunt for reports, filings and other critical documents can cause you to be viewed as unreliable and disorganized. Q: How have you organized in your past job positions?  What has worked best?  What would you recommend to others seeking advice?Being disorganized can negatively impact your aspirations in health and fitness.  Many of us have competing obligations and are often squeezing in health and fitness on the backend of our schedules, conducting these critically important tasks only when time permits, but then it never really does, does it?  So you end up skipping that work out, or not eating that healthy meal that you prepped, and now you are having to eat out.   The Mayo Clinic conducted a study that showed disorganized people have more anxiety and stress in their lives.  This increases exhaustion levels and is displayed in physical ailments such as headaches and backaches. Q: How have you organized your fitness objectives so that they were made a priority?  How have you done that while serving?  Being disorganized as a business owner is a surefire way to end up with a failed business concept, or with large financial losses and in some extreme cases facing criminal charges with potential jail time. Owning a business and even running a side hustle requires proper documentation and licensing, in some cases adherence to critical regulatory requirements leaving you subject to inspection and audit by regulatory bodies such as OSHA or even worse, the IRS. If you have employees, proper tracking of personal information and if you have customers, proper tracking of billing and invoicing information to ensure you are being paid correctly and on time. Q: How have you organized your businesses to ensure success?  Has disorganization ever negatively impacted your operations? (CTA)If you're ready to level up, then I encourage you to purchase the book "What to Do When There's Too Much To Do: Reduce Tasks, Increase Results, and Save 90-minutes a Day" by Laura Stack.  This book will give you the tools needed to save both time and money while reducing your stress and anxiety levels.   (Jose)Listen, it's time to level up when it comes to organizing your day, your week, your month, hell your life.  Stop struggling to find organization in disorganization and begin organizing with intent.  It is time to develop realistic expectations with your tasks and goals.  Let's stop waiting for later to do something that we know we need to do right now.  Let's get away from requiring a perfect scenario for a perfect outcome, and let's stop using perfection as an excuse as to why you can't get things done.  Let's reduce the distractions that are keeping us from being undeniable and make quick and definite decisions when it is required of us so that we too can be undeniable in our level up.DISC Model Time Boxing Journal Planner  ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Intro: We are back with another episode of the Undeniable Level Up Podcast.  Last week we covered why rules are for stupid people.  We shared some personal examples where this philosophy applied in our lives and we heard about multiple CEO's and very successful businesses that operate from the "Rules are for Stupid People" philosophy as well. Today, we are going to talk about action.  And why we should NEVER confuse motion for action.Gandhi states that "A man is the sum of his actions, of what he has done, of what he can do. Nothing else." Q: What is the difference between motion and action? Motion is being or looking busy regardless of what you are doing, but what is being done will never produce an outcome by itself. Action, is the behavior that garners a result. Benjamin Franklin also says "Never confuse motion with action" There have often been roadblocks and obstacles that have prevented me from taking action based on a desired objective or outcome.  Whether its been to finish college, start a business or retire from the military, I have found myself confused between motion and action and so I have wasted tremendous amounts of time and energy going through the motions. Action, as defined by Crystal, is the behavior that ends in a desired result or achievement of a goal or objective.  Motion is just expended energy.  Wasted energy.  A perfect example can be seen when I was working on finishing my Masters degree.  I kept procrastinating by starting pointless projects, focusing my attention on everything except finishing the degree and as a result, I wasn't done with it when I retired, which was my goal.  To others, it looked like I was really busy. I was doing taxes for family members, starting small businesses, coaching others to start small businesses and overall wasting a bunch of time and energy. If you want to save time and energy, we are going to give you the 11 rules you need to follow to ensure that you are not confusing motion for action and getting the right things done.    Number 1: Always do the hardest or most important task for the day FIRST! Do no procrastinate on the hard things. Q: Do you follow this philosophy? Why do you think this works or doesn't work?  What other criteria do you put on this rule Number 2: Practice extreme ownership.  Own your successes and your failures and never pass the buck. If you haven't had the chance to listen to our episode on Extreme Ownership, I encourage to check it out, It is Episode 9 of the Undeniable Level Up Podcast with a short excerpt from Ex-Navy Seal, Jocko Willink.  Definitely a great message about extreme ownership. Number 3: Begin with baby steps.  If it's something that is hard to do or you don't feel like doing it, break it down into smaller more manageable steps and if you have the luxury of time, spread out it out over time to make it easier to swallow. Q: Have you ever had a project or task so big you had to break it down into smaller parts to get it done? Number 4: Be compassionate with yourself.  Be kind and encouraging to yourself. Q: How are you compassionate with yourself when executing tough projects or tasks? Number 5: Constantly re-focus on your WHY and your Values.  These should get you off the couch when you lacking in motivation and feeling like procrastinating. Q: How often do you focus on your WHY and your values?  What does this look like?   Number 6: Create accountability.  If you can't hold yourself accountable, then create a process or system to hold you accountable. Q: Have you ever had to create an accountability process for yourself?  What did that look like?  Did it work?  Why did it or did it not work? Number 7:  Create work life balance.  Take time to completely shut work off so that you are rested enough to focus fully when your back on the grind. Q: How do you balance between work and life? Number 8:  Be confident.  Lack of confidence will have you over analyzing and over-preparing and wasting time. Q:  How has lack of confidence impacted your work on projects or important tasks? Number 9:  Sustain your enthusiasm.  Sometimes our initial energy for a project or task begins to die as the task or project becomes extended.  Re-engage that enthusiasm by having a partner to re-engage you, listen to podcasts about the topic or read a book about the topic. Q:  How do you sustain your enthusiasm especially on really prolonged projects? Number 10:  Have fun. Q: How do you make projects or tasks more fun? Number 11:  Celebrate the small victories! Q: How do you celebrate your small victories? Read:  For those of you still finding it a challenge to tell the difference between motion and action, James Clear, author of The Mistake Smart People Make: Being in Motion versus Taking Action provides the following examples of motion versus action: If I outline 20 ideas for articles I want to write, that's motion. If I actually write and publish an article, that's action. If I email 10 new leads for my business and start conversations with them, that's motion. If they actually buy something and turn into a customer, that's action. If I search for a better diet plan and read a few books on the topic, that's motion. If I actually eat a healthy meal, that's action. If I go to the gym and ask about getting a personal trainer, that's motion. If I actually step under the bar and start squatting, that's action. If I study for a test or prepare for a research project, that's motion. If I actually take the test or write my research paper, that's action. Guys and Gals, it's time to level up and stop allowing motion to detract us from actually accomplishing our goals and objectives.  Begin understanding that in order to move the ball forward, you need to take decisive and deliberate action.  Stop planning, preparing, scheduling, researching and saving and start doing.   .If you have been thinking about going back to school, enroll today.  If you have been thinking about starting a business, register your business now.  If you've been seeing that cute guy or girl, approach him or her today.  Motion isn't enough to get the job done.  Take action and achieve success. CTAIf you're ready to start taking action, then I want you to watch the TedTalk by Steve Garguilo on YouTube at The Science of Taking Action | Steve Garguilo | TEDxCarthage This TedTalk will give you the ingredients to take action NOW.  What ever your big or small idea is, now is the time to take action and Steve shows you how super easy it is to not get lost in motion, but to take action ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

The "I am a Champion" speech can be found at the following link:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yX39J_YyKbs ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

BONUS #2Success P.I.E. focus on the fact that performance is not enough to get you promoted or to have you advance in your current role.  If you are looking to get ahead and grow in your role, you need to understand P.I.E.  Performance, Image and Exposure.  Performance is only 10% of your ability to advance.  Image is another 30%.  That leave exposure with a whopping 60%.  If you are doing all the right things, but no one who can influence your advance is catching wind of the great things that you are doing, then it is very likely that you will not advance.This is how some insecure bosses keep you from leveling up beyond them.  By managing your exposure they prevent you from rising past them.  A great leader will give credit where credit is due and work on getting you recognized for the incredible work you do.  If you are doing great work and not advancing, start assessing where in the P.I.E format you are getting it wrong.  Does your image need work or is it your exposure?Empowering Yourself: The Organizational Game Revealed on Amazon @ https://amzn.to/3tglWsP ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

We are back with another episode of the Undeniable Level Up Podcast.  Last week we discussed extreme ownership.  We heard an amazing speech from former Navy Seal Jocko Willink, who hosts an amazing podcast.  It was actually one of the first podcasts that I ever listened too.  We will provide a link in the show notes if you want to go and check him out. Today, we are going to talk about the rules.  And why rules are for stupid people.  Dr. House from the television show, "House" is fond of saying, "Rules are just helpful guidelines for stupid people…". Q: Would you agree with Dr. House?So I was first exposed to the "Rules are for stupid people" philosophy when I was deployed to Afghanistan during my first tour, between 2008 and 2009.  I deployed there as part of an advisory MiTT Team.   Our call sign was Vampires and I was Vampire 4.  We were known as Team Vampires.  We were deployed to the Paktika Province, a small outpost called Forward Operating Base, or FOB Bermel.  For my Vampire brothers out there that may be tuning in, I miss you guys!  There are bonds that are forged in combat that can't be broken by time or distance. The mission of a MiTT team is to serve as combat advisors to Afghan and Iraqi combat troops so that they can continue the counterinsurgency mission long after we are gone.  Our job was to "build an Army".  The only problem is that this is a mission typically reserved for Special Operations units.  These are typically heavily resourced teams with priority support that allow them to operate independent and with disregard of the battlefield owner's control.  MiTT teams on the other hand were severely under-resourced, lacked any type of priority and often fumbled throughout the battlefield space struggling to reach higher echelon leadership.  We were often outside of commz, unable to gain air support and riding solo throughout some of the most treacherous geography that Afghanistan has to offer.    When we traveled, we often traveled with two MRAPs, three U.S. Soldiers per MRAP; a driver, a tank commander, or T.C., typically the highest ranking person in the vehicle and then the Gunner.  Oh yeah, and an Afghan Interpreter.    The team was rank heavy with mostly Captains and Senior enlisted non-commissioned officers and few junior Soldiers for a total of six to 200 - 400 Afghan Soldiers in Hilux Pickup trucks.   Our team leader was a Major, and on our team, that was MAJ Mike.  This dude was fearless when it came to moving with the Afghans.   There was a mission that we were on once where an Afghan commander, enraged for whatever reason, began to beat one of his Soldiers with the butt of his AK47, pulling him out fo the back of the Hilux Pickup.  We were in the middle of a convoy at the time, we hadn't gotten our MRAPs yet, so we re in armored Humvees, and I was on the .50 Cal machine gun when MAJ Mike jumps out and rushes over to stop the commander from beating his Soldier to death.  I tried to stop him, but he wasn't having it.  The whole time I had the .50 cal trained on the Afghans knowing that if they responded aggressively toward Mike that it would turn into Custer's last stand.   Fortunately for us, Mike was able to de-escalate the situation, being the phenomenal diplomat that he is.I say all of that and share that story to set the tone for what happened when I challenged one of MAJ Mike's decisions.  I can't remember the context of the discussion.  I just remember telling him, "We can't do that, it's against the rules," to which he responded, "Rules are for stupid people!"   Now, let that sink in, the same way I did, when I first heard it.   Q: What do you think about small pearl of wisdom? Ray A. Davis says, "Following all the rules leaves a completed checklist.  Following your heart achieves a completed you." (Discuss the quote) As I returned from my first deployment to Afghanistan, I had been doing some consulting there on contracts for the local contractors that were building roads, guard towers and buildings on our small outpost for free.  They would bring me government proposals and ask me to interpret them so that they can submit bids.   When I redeployed back to the U.S., I began getting emails from these same contractors, asking if I could take some time to assist them with these proposals.  This was the point at which my first official business was born.  JLM Consulting provided consulting on government contracts for Afghan Construction Contractors.  My services were free, and I was only compensated when the contractor was awarded a contract that I had consulted on and helped prepare.  This made me a lot of money, very quickly. "Rules are for stupid people,"  is equivalent to "legal opportunism".  This is the act of circumnavigating the law.  Operating in the gray areas between what is black and white.  Sometimes this can be a moral sticky ground.  When someone is using this philosophy to live their lives, they aren't breaking the rules, they are just bending them to a point where it is advantageous.   Q: Have you ever had to bend a rule to capitalize on a situation?  In an article titled, "Why Entrepreneurs Say Rules Shouldn't Apply To Them", author, Derek Ludlow states that entrepreneurs are "prone to breaking or ignoring the rules".  He calls out both Uber and AirBNB for using rule breaking for creating their multi-billion dollar companies. Uber has been sued by multiple cab companies and taxi commissions around the world, saying that they do not follow the rules that apply to Taxi Cabs.  I know recently in California the state ruled that Uber was misclassifying their drivers as independent contractors instead of as employees in order to avoid increased costs due to benefit requirements.   Additionally, AirBNB has received complaints from hotels for not having to pay hotel tax fees, which drive up costs for hotels versus AirBNBs.    Q: Do you believe that entrepreneurs should be exempt from rules or be allowed to bend rules in order to drive innovation? In the cannabis industry, we have federal regulations that still make cannabis an illegal substance, but states have approved both medicinal and recreational use.  Oregon just recently opened the flood gates to almost all illegal drugs to include heroin.   Q: Should businesses be profiting from a business structure that has traditionally resulted in criminal punishment? What about the fact that these laws often targeted minority communities, but the entry into most of these markets are so difficult that most of those victimized by these rules, cannot participate in them legally. Q: Do you operate from a "Seek forgiveness, not permission", or are you a permission seeker when it comes to your entrepreneurial spirit? Q: What rules should never be bent or broken from a business or entrepreneurial perspective? The following three (3) CEOs are known for being rule breakers:  Jenny Fleiss - CEO of Jetblack, a dress rental business raised over $200M in venture capital…WITHOUT A BUSINESS PLAN! Jeff Raider - CEO of Harry's men's grooming product. They started in 2013 with NO CAPITAL AND NO FACTORIES and grew their business as the demand grew. Payal Kadakia - CEO of Classpass launched a her company, a platform that allows members to book fitness classes…BEFORE SHE HAD THE PLATFORM BUILT.  The following three (3) companies got ahead by breaking rules:  AirBNB - In order to grow supply for their service, they turned to Craigslist, contacting people who had listed their homes for rent and asked them to list on AirBNB. TOMS - A shoe seller sold shoes from a residential apartment, hiding it from his landlady. Dropbox - Sold their product before they were done building it to test out the market demand.  Read: Dan Pierce, from Single Dad Laughing says, “Most rules are made by people with no authority who want to control and limit you from reaching your true potential. Ignore them, break their rules, and wave at them as you soar past them to greatness.” It's time to level up and stop allowing yourself to be constrained by the boxes that have been designed to keep business owners, entrepreneurs and leaders from reaching greatness. Anyone who has achieved significant success, has done so by bending and occasionally breaking a rule or two.  How do you call yourself an out-of-the-box thinker, if you've always been to afraid to get out of the box. If you're ready to start breaking some rules and getting ahead, I encourage you to read the book, "How to Succeed in Business By Breaking All the Rules, A Plan for Entrepreneurs", by Dan S. Kennedy.  This book gives you the understanding of how to become comfortable in the gray in order to climb out of the red and stay in the black. It's time to stop letting rules, limit your ability to achieve success."How to Succeed in Business By Breaking All the Rules, A Plan for Entrepreneurs", by Dan S. Kennedy - https://amzn.to/3cg3f1DThe Jocko Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/jocko-podcast/id1070322219 ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Hello and welcome back to The Undeniable Level Up podcast.  Last week we discussed the importance of Obeying the Law…of Attraction.  We covered the Seven (7) laws that make up the Law of Attraction, as well as the Seven (7) actions that you have to take to activate the Law of Attraction.  If you missed that podcast, you might want to pause now and go give that one a listen as you'll need to understand the law of attraction if you're planning on manifesting your dreams.  By the way, how many of you have found that purple donut?   So today, we are going to discuss how to manifest your dreams.  We'll define  "manifestation" and discuss the Seven (7) steps to manifesting your dreams.   Q: So what is manifesting or manifestation? Read Quote: Angelina Lombardo, author of 'A Spiritual Entrepreneur', told OprahMag.com that, "…manifesting is making everything you want to feel and experience a reality…via your thoughts, actions, beliefs, and emotions." The very first step in manifesting your dreams is letting go of past resistance and future worries.  You have to begin focusing on the NOW and being present in the moment.  You cannot manifest your dreams if you are harboring anger, sadness or regret from your past.  Focusing on those negative thoughts only breed them in your current situation.  What you think about, you create. Additionally, you can't live with a lack mindset or a worrisome mindset about the future.  If your thoughts are focused on not having enough, or losing what you have, you will manifest that reality.   Focus on the NOW and become present.   Q: Have you ever found a past or future worry keeping you from achieving your dreams?  How did you overcome it?  How do you become grounded in the NOW?  The next thing you need is the ability to find clarity in your dreams.  How can you manifest your dreams if you can't mentally envision, see or speak about your dream in details.  It's not enough to say, "I want to be rich," or "I want a great job".  Being rich or having a great job is different for everyone.  Be specific in your dream.  I want $15M in my account by the time I'm 45 years old.  Or I want a job as a Director of Operations for Amazon.  Once you have the goal in mind, then create clarity around getting to that goal.  I am going to make $15M by starting my own company that sells seashells by the seashore, or I'm going to get that Director's job by completing my MBA and starting as an Area Manager at Amazon and working my way up. Until you have clarity, your dreams remain in the wish realm and guess what, Fairy God Mothers, Leprechauns and Genies don't exist.  Wishes don't come true. Q: Have you ever manifested a dream that you had?  Have you ever had a dream that you weren't able to manifest?  Why didn't you manifest it?  What are you manifesting now?The next thing you need to bring your dream into reality is confidence.  Believing in your ability to achieve your dream is critical to actually achieving it.  And that means recognizing your limiting beliefs.   If you haven't had the opportunity to identify your limiting beliefs yet, then I invite you to tune into Episode 5 of the Undeniable Level Up podcast where we talk specifically about destroying limiting beliefs.  And this is important in eliminating self doubt and negative self-talk.  This alone, can keep you from achieving anything you set for yourself. Q: Has lack of confidence ever stopped you from achieving a goal or realizing a dream?Next is for you to expect your dream to come true.  Expecting it, means you believe it.  If you don't expect to see those zeros and commas in your bank account, you will begin to doubt your dream, you'll begin to doubt yourself.  You'll begin looking for a Plan B, and a Plan C and D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O P. Q: Has doubt ever kept you from manifesting a dream?Now it's time to plan.  Planning is one of the critical steps for manifestation to take place.  Not having a plan keeps your dream in a dream-state.  You cannot start a race without understanding the route and where the finish line is.   When planning you have to take the 5 steps to successful planning.  These include:  Where are you beginning from? What are your key objectives? What are the steps that will take you from one objective to the next? Execute the plan.  This means you have to take action. Review and adjust your plan  Q: Have you ever created a plan so perfect that everything worked out exactly as you planned them?  What worked?  Did you have to adjust the plan?  Did you learn anything?Step 6 of the manifesting your dream is actually Step 4 of creating a plan…take action.  Applying action to your dream allows co-creation between you and the universe and solidifies your faith and belief into the dream. Q: What has been your most defining and greatest commitment towards action in accomplishing an objective towards a dream that you are working on manifesting?      The final step in manifesting your dreams is to practice gratitude.  This means that you must be thankful not only for the endstate of your achievement, but also for the lessons learned throughout the process.  Often we achieve our objectives, and become re-focused on the next objective but forget to be thankful and grateful for what we have manifested. Q: What are you most grateful for? Read quote: Walt Disney was known to say, "If you can dream it, you can do it." It's time to level up and begin manifesting the life of your dreams.  If you're ready, then I recommend you purchase the Manifestation Planner Toolkit from Mystigalplanners.com.  Neha Shah has designed a printable PDF that will allow you to begin manifesting your dreams today for than $12.00.  This planner comes in three (3) sizes with 13 dedicated pages focused on manifesting your dreams.   The link is provided below. Additionally, if this podcast touched, moved or motivated you in the slightest, then I ask that you hit the subscribe button on whatever platform you are listening to us on, and please leave a review.  We want to know how we are doing and where we can improve. Reviews help in our placement and make our content more available for others to find and listen too.  There is someone out there that needs to receive this message and you can help them by leaving a review. Additionally, you can support this podcast on our Patreon website, the link is also provided below for bonus content, videos, live discussions, mastermind group access and additional content.   If you not ready to level up, don't visit our Patreon.  This is only for those who are ready to embrace the discomfort of the grind and the hustle, those who are excited about being successful.  Lions.  This is not a place for Gazelle's. The Power of Now:https://amzn.to/3tl1tE2Manifestation Planner:https://rb.gy/hqgd2g ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Welcome back to episode 7 of the Undeniable Level Up Podcast.  Last week we discussed how to become a Goal Digger.  No, not an individual who uses relationships to acquire wealth.  That's a GOLD digger.  We covered how to set SMART goals, the importance of putting your goals in writing, in order to create intent, and we challenged you to set intentions for 2021 and not another wishy washy new year's resolution that you know you'll forget about before Valentine's day. Today, we are going to talk about obeying the lay…of attraction.  Yes, the Law of Attraction. Read Quote: Napoleon Hill states, "Man, alone, has the power to transform his thoughts into physical reality; man, alone, can dream and make his dreams come true." (Discuss the quote) Q: What is the Law of Attraction?The Law of Attraction is the ability to attract those things into our lives by focusing our energy on it.  In 'Think and Grow Rich', Hill states that adding emotion, such as love, and faith, that is, believing that you will have what you are thinking about, enhances and amplifies the law of attraction. Q: What are your thoughts on the Law of Attraction? Now, I don't believe that you can just think of something, let's say a new job and then all you have to do to get it, is sit around the house until the Universe delivers it to your front door.  Why?  Because you are missing intent.  Without intentions, your desires are just wishes.  Intentions come from your actions.  Your actions make your desires a reality. Q: Have you ever experienced the Law of Attraction?  What actions did you take to manifest your desire? Were you surprised?There are seven (7) laws that make up the Law of Attraction.  These laws are: The Law of Manifestation - This law states that what we focus on will manifest in our lives.  This includes wealth, status, and success.   (Play a audio clip from Drake) But it also includes sickness, disease and death. (Play an audio clip from Tupac) Q: Have you ever manifested a desire, whether good or bad? The Law of Magnetism - This law states that we all have a frequency that attracts others who share our energy and our frequencies.  We attract what we are. Q: Have you put negative energy, be it through words or through actions and had bounce back unexpectedly?   The Law of Unwavering Desire - This law states that if we waiver in our desire towards that thing that we want, it will NOT manifest.  You have to believe that you will have it and have no doubts. The Law of Delicate Balance - This law states that we must be in balance in to benefit from the Law of Attraction.  This comes from eliminating a lack mindset and having gratitude and appreciation for what the Universe has already manifested in your life.  When you are out of balance, and operate from an obsessed or desperate state, you are unable to apply the Law of Magnetism and achieve the high frequencies required to apply the Law of Attraction.  Q: How do you practice appreciation and abundance in your life?  The Law of Harmony - This is the law that governs the Universe's balance.  By tapping into the balanced energy of the Universe you are able to apply the Law of Attraction The Law of Right Action - This law states that what we say and do will be returned to us.  Many call this law Karma.    Our energy is returned to us with the same intent that it was sent out into the universe.  Q: Have you ever experienced Karma? The Law of Universal Influence - This law states that our thoughts, our feelings, our actions and our words not only impact us, but they impact our family, our friends and even strangers. So how do you take advantage of the law of attraction and manifest the life of your dreams? Read:  Sinem Gunel provides us with seven (7) actions that you can take to activate the law of attraction allowing you to manifest the life of your dreams.  The first is: Get into a state of constant positivity.  This is the frequency state where manifestations are created. Read Quote: The Dalai Lama says, "In order to carry a positive action we must develop here a positive vision." Q: How do you get into a positive mindset, especially when things are going wrong?  Are you always positive?    Do things that you love doing.  Do things that feed your WHY and your values and create passion in your life.  These activities drive up your frequencies. Start journaling.  This allows you to practice gratitude and abundance.  Q: Do you do any journaling?  Meditate. Focus on your blessings and the amazing things that are going on in your life. Be compassionate to yourself.  Forgive and love yourself.  Allow yourself to make mistakes and grow from them.  Don't be so hard on yourself and change your self talk so that it's positive/  Q: Do you experience any negative self talk now or in your past?  How did that affect you?  Did you overcome it?  Are you still dealing with it? Proof is in the pudding.  Start small and prove to yourself that it's possible.  Here is a simple exercise:  Everyone listening, we are going to do an easy test. Think about a purple donut.  Imagine eating this purple donut.  Imagine tasting it.  Enjoying every bite.  Create a feeling of love towards the taste of this purple donut and develop faith that you will see and have this purple donut.  Now every day ask the universe to bring you that purple donut. If you are following all the Laws of Attraction, you find this purple donut.  When my daughter, Cecilia, attempted this small experiment, it took her a few weeks, but she found her purple donut. (Play audio of Purple Donut podcast) Everything begins with intention.  You must take action. Read quote: Tony Robbins says, "The path to success is to take massive, determined actions."If you're ready to Level Up and begin using the powers of the Law of Attraction, I encourage you to begin by creating a vision board.  There are many ways to do this.  You can create a digital vision board using an app ironically called "Vision Board".  You can also make a traditional vision board by attaching pictures of images that represent your desires.   I have included links for both options.  When doing this, dream big and don't only imagine the images on your vision board, but visualize achieving your desires.  If you're envisioning a luxury car, feel the soft leather of the and hear the roar of the engine.  Feel the acceleration and feel the smooth gear shifts.  Smell the new car smell and hear the crisp sounds of the high end radio.  Be in the car.  Believe that you can have it and you will. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Hello again and welcome to the next episode of Level Up, the podcast that focuses on leadership, self improvement and continued growth throughout our everyday lives.  I'm Jose, your host and I am joined by my co-host, and the CEO of All-American Lumping LLC, one of the fastest growing national 3PL Logistics and Freight Handling companies in the U.S., Crystal Garcia. Last week we discussed "Defining Success"…how we define success for ourselves.  What that looks like for us as individuals and we also touched on failure and what that looks like as well.  You can't have one without the other, right? Today we are going show you how you can be a "Goal Digger".  Not a Gold Digger.  But a GOAL DIGGER  So first thing's first, what the hell is a GOAL Digger? Read Excerpt: Neffi, a blogger posted in the Buzz Blog that… A “GOAL digger” …is someone who is ambitious and clear of the things they want. Goal diggers have dreams, goals and aspirations for independence, success, and their version of happiness. They “dig in” and do the work to become the person they strive to be. Being a “GOAL digger” is all mindset. It's the basic of setting goals for your life and doing what it takes to achieve them. Whether they are goals set in your education, your career, your personal life, or some other area. You are setting goals for whatever it is you desire that will define success to you. Tackling obstacles and burdens that may get in your way, being determined, persevering, sometimes a little suffering with blood, sweat, and tears. A GOAL digger never stops working towards their goals. What have you done to get better today? Q: What do you think about Neffi's definition of a Goal Digger? Goals provide you with direction, purpose and motivation.  They are the destination in the your mental GPS that allows to see where you want to go in life or business.  Without goals, you're just aimlessly moving through life, business is just one sale after another without any true purpose.  This can be frustrating if you are trying to achieve something specific. This typically ends in frustration, disappointment and in severe cases, depression. Q: How did you overcome that obstacle and how were you able to double your earning potential in just a few months?   Q: Have you ever tried to achieve something without having a specific goal in mind?  What happened and how did that play out?  One of the three critical criteria for being a Goal Digger, is that a Goal Digger sets VERY, VERY SPECIFIC goals.  The more specific the better.  A vague or wishy-washy goal is nothing more than a desire.  A lot of people have heard about SMART goals, SMART being: S-Specific, M-Measurable, A-Attainable, R-Relevant, T-Timebound Another way to look at it is through the PURE format which is: P-Positive, U-Under your control, R-Right sized, E-Ecological Q: How do you set goals to achieve what you want to achieve in your personal life?  Professionally?  In business? Example of weak goals (Desire)  I wanna new car  I wanna bigger house I want a better job I want to lose weight Example of strong goals  I want a 6-Series Covnertibel BMW M3 I want a 4 BR home in Manteca with a pool and it must be close to a good school I want a position as an Operations Manager for Walmart making $95K a year with good bennies I want to lose 30 pounds of fat and gain 10 pounds of muscle, dropping my waistline from a 42 to 32  When goals are not quantifiable how can you assign value? I want to be happy as I was when I was in college Q: Have you ever set a goal without a timeline?  Did you achieve that goal?  Have you ever over achieved a goal that you set that was too low?  What did you learn from the process?Example of poor timelines  One of these days  Eventually Next year Putting your goals in writing is a great way to commit to yourself what you intend to accomplish.  People who write down their goals are almost 42% more likely to achieve their goals. Q: Do you commit your goals to writing?  What does that look like?  How often are they revisited?  Do you only do this for business or also personally?  How has this impacted your success? Journaling Balanced Scorecard Strategic Objectives  Q: Have you failed to achieve a goal you set?  Why did you fail and what did you learn from that failure?   Read Quote:  Darren Hardy says, "If you are not making the progress that you would like to make and are capable of making, it is simply because your goals are not clearly defined"  Q:  Either of you set goals got 2021 yet?  What will that look like? As we bring the infamous 2020 year to a close in just a matter of weeks, many of you will begin setting the same old new years resolutions you always set.  You know, Lose weight, save money, travel more, etc.  We've all done it. This year, I challenge you to do a few things differently.  Take out your pen and paper or write this down in a note app: Set a simple theme for the year.  This year our theme is Health and Wealth.  Last year it was "Show up and Be Present" in honor of one of Crystal's very close friend that passed.  (Crystal can add) Your theme can be what ever 1 or 2 things are most important for you that you plan on focusing on.  Use this theme to align your decisions throughout the year.  Regularly discuss your theme with you power circle and hold each other accountable when you are not acting in alignment of that theme.Set SMART and specific goals that align with your WHY and your values.  For example, my WHY is family.  My value is also family, one of my goals for 2021 is going to be to visit my son in Texas in February of this year.  I am also going to take go on a family vacation to Costa Rica in July of this year, if COVID allows.  Write your theme and your goals for this year down.  If you are able too, I recommend purchasing the "Living Your Best Year Ever" journal, designed by Darren hardy.  You can purchase it on Amazon for about $35, the link is provided below.  It will definitely help you fine tune your goal setting process and allow you to become a better GOAL DIGGER.  But just writing it down on paper in notebook or on a note app like OneNote, or even sending yourself an email with your goals outlined, you will have a greater chance of accomplishing that goal.  This year, set the right goals and make sure the goals are right for you. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Intro: Sage from Sage & Sol reading from 'Think & Grow Rich' by Napoleon Hill.Hello and welcome to the Undeniable Level Up Podcast.  Last week we discussed the difficult topic of "Failing Forward".  We covered how to best learn from failure, avoiding shifting blame in order to garner the greatest learning opportunities, how to encourage excusable failure in your teams to drive innovation as well as how to avoid lethal failures. Today we are going to cover destroying limited beliefs and we have Sol, co-founder of Sage & Sol, joining us via Zoom from the Lover's State of Virginia.  Hello Sol, and welcome to Level Up.   Now I first learned about limited beliefs through the Sage & Sol podcast, I believe it was Episode 15, Identifying Limited Beliefs.    Wow, that was a very emotional experience for you.  A link to the Sage & Sol podcast has been provided for our listeners to check out that podcast and learn how to identify their potential limited beliefs.  And when we selected this topic for discussion, I told Crystal that we had to have you on.  So what is a limited belief? (Allow Sol to answer this question) Read Quote: Mary Kay Ash says, "Don't limit yourself.  Many people limit themselves to what they can do.  You can go as far as your mind lets you.  What you believe, remember, you can achieve."Limited beliefs are false beliefs that prevent us from pursuing our goals and desires. Limited beliefs are beliefs that we hold about ourselves that prevent us from following our desires or dreams.  They stop us from being our best selves and limit our happiness.  These limited beliefs can be beliefs such as I am too old to pursue a career in music, or I'm not interesting, or I'm too shy to speak publicly. These beliefs become our truths and eventually cause us to act in accordance with those beliefs. Q: What are some limited beliefs about yourself?  Where do you think these beliefs originated from?  Have you overcome these limited beliefs?  How do you avoid slipping back into that mindset?Limited beliefs do not only apply to how we see our selves.  We can also have limited beliefs about how we see and experience the world.  This includes thoughts such as rich people are either born rich or they get lucky, all relationships end in divorce, money is the root of all evil. These types of beliefs about the world can stunt your professional growth, limit your ability to accumulate wealth and even impact your relationships. Q: What are some limited beliefs that you've held about the world?  Do you still hold these beliefs?  How did you overcome these beliefs? Limited beliefs also apply to life in general and can impact what we experience in our lives.  We can fantasize about how life should be and create a limited belief that reflects that fantasy, such as happiness is being married, 2.5 kids and house with picket fence, or success is a fancy title with a six digit salary.   We can also talk ourselves out of accomplishing goals and objectives by saying things like there's not enough time in a day, love doesn't last, all people are selfish.  Q: What are some limited beliefs that you've held about life?  Do you still hold these beliefs?  How did you overcome these beliefs?So how can you overcome your limited beliefs?   Read: Mark Manson provides four (4) questions to help you overcome a limited belief.  The first is:  Ask yourself, "What if I'm wrong?" Ask yourself, "How is this belief serving me?" Create alternative beliefs Test those alternatives to see if they might be true Q: How have you overcome your limited beliefs?  What was the hardest part of changing your mindset? Are you still challenged by limited beliefs? Read Quote: Louise Hay says, "If you accept a limiting belief, then it will become a truth for you."It's time to level up and identify where you are holding yourself back from achieving greatness, from living your best life and being the best version of yourself.  I encourage you to:  Write down a list of your top limited beliefs, whether they are personal, limiting belief's about life or limiting beliefs about the world. Identify what instilled this particular belief Determine your new positive belief Look for evidence to support your new positive belief Imagine the worst case scenario and how you will overcome it Recite affirmations  Give an Example:  I'm too old to go back to school and get my degree This belief stems from the fact that I have college aged kids that are in school and going back to school makes me look like I'm backsliding My new belief is you are never too old to learn and grow Other people my age   I want to thank Cecilia for joining us today and sharing with us.  It was great having you on.  Cecilia, where can people find you and listen to your podcast? Life is already too short and challenging enough that we don't need to make it harder by creating beliefs that limit our ability to achieve and succeed.  It's time to break those limited beliefs and create beliefs that serve us in a way that allows us to be our very best selves.Sage & Sol Podcasthttps://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sage-and-sol/id1515222096%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20Sage & Sol Blog - Uncovering and Conquering Limited Beliefshttps://sage-sol.com/limited-belief-how-to-uncover-and-conquer/ ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

And we are back with another episode of Level Up.  Last week we discussed "Defining Success".  We covered where we get our definition of success and how we personally define success?  We also covered what we can do to be successful?   Today we are going to discuss failing forward.  This is a big topic and not easy to cover.  No one likes to admit when they have failed.  Through discussion, we will be covering how to learn from failure, how to focus on the solution and not point the finger, how to encourage innovation and creativity by embracing failure, avoiding failure by learning from the failure of others and finally, the consequences of ignoring failure. Quote: "Fear of failure is often the toughest hurdle to jump in leadership" -John Maxwell from the John Maxwell Leadership Podcast. Q: What are your thoughts? There are many ways to learn from failure.  In the military we used the After Action Review, or the AAR.  It's a methodical process that allows participants of an exercise or a mission to give three ups and three downs and then a list of recommendations to ensure next quarter's exercise or the next mission goes better.  In business, there's the post-mortem, or some other type of formal review process that allows the business to assess what went well, what didn't go so well, and what we need to change in the future in order to improve. Seems like a great way to learn from our failures right?  Well, not when we get stuck in the blame game.  Our default behavior is to assign an effect to a cause.  Psychologically, we can't help but point the finger.  Whether it's to explain what or why something happened, to attack someone, to defend ourselves from others, whether they are pointing the finger at us, or whether we are having difficulty assuming responsibility for our mistake or failure.  It is always easier to assign blame for a failure.  Way easier than actually diving into the problem and resolving the root cause of the failure.  It is almost instinctual to assign blame to failure.   Q: Have you ever blames someone else for a failure that you experienced?  What has been one your biggest personal failures in business or in your personal life?  Did you blame someone for that failure?  Have you ever been blamed for a major failure?  Was it your fault, how did you react? Failure is the "School of Hard Knocks".  Who would we be without the life lessons taught through our failure.  It's how we learned to walk, to ride bikes, to dance, to build and to succeed.  Failing allows us to build upon our character and feed our values of honesty, integrity and honor.  Failure is our greatest and oldest teacher.   Failure gives birth to courage and shows us the power of perseverance.  It encourages creativity and risk taking and highlights an individuals enthusiasm and motivation.  Failure encourages exploration and instills resilience.  Accept failure and look at failure as a step in the staircase to success.  Welcome failure, as it is often necessary to learn what is required to be successful Q: What is the toughest lesson you have learned through failing?  What has failure taught you?  Have you always seen failure from the perspective of learning and growth? How do learn from your failures in business?  How do you teach your junior leaders and subordinates not to fear failure?   Quote: "The fastest way to succeed is to double your failure rate" -IBM's Thomas Watson Sr. Not all failures are created equal.  The Harvard Business Review provides a spectrum with "lethal failures" on the far left being those that are based on violating a prescribed process, law or rule.  This is the extreme side of failure and is not just blameworthy, but will result in serious repercussions such as fines and potential jailtime.  This is followed closely with inattention to details and overestimating your own ability to do a job.  On the far right, and opposite lethal failure you have hypothesis testing and exploratory testing, which simply put is trail and error and typically involve little to no risk. The middle of the spectrum includes task challenge, process complexity and uncertainty.  These are areas where you can encourage risk taking with the right level of engagement and management.   The goal when encouraging failure is to establish an understanding of a lethal failure versus an excusable failure and then encouraging those excusable failures.  Failures that have limited impact on the business or your personal life. Q: Have you ever experienced or known someone who has experienced a lethal failure?  How have you encouraged your employees, your team mates or business partners to take risks and exposure of excusable failure?  How do you develop this in your team? Often times, it is possible to learn from the mistakes and failings of others, therefore avoiding making the same or similar mistake ourselves.  We can learn from our parents, our friends, business partners, entrepreneurs and people we look up too.  If someone has done something similar to what you are planning, it would be foolish not to use their blue print and avoid repeating their errors. Q: What lessons have you learn from others that prevented you from making the same mistake?  How do you use other people's lessons to improve your chances of success? When we ignore our failures, we find ourselves doomed to repeat our mistakes.  Repeating a mistake is a pattern that turns into habit and creates a failure loop.   Q: Have you ever found yourself in a failure loop?  How did you escape the loop?  What forced you to change?  What did you learn from the process?  Although there are a number of lessons to be learned from failure, there are  always lessons learned in succeeding and in achieving success as well.  I actually prefer those types of lessons.  We should all be trying to learn from the mistakes of others and using effective planning and preparation to avoid failure and the tough lessons that come through failing.   If you're ready to level up and maximize learning and growth through failure, then I encourage you to purchase the book, "Failing Forward" by Dr. John Maxwell.  For about $14.00 you can learn how turn mistakes and failures in advantages and learning opportunities. Additionally, if you are looking for resources for your operations or business to improve on how your organization is conducting after action reviews and post mortems, then I have provided a link to a resource guide from Vanderbilt University that provides a simple but effective method for rapid post-project or post operations assessment so that you can begin learning from your mistakes and failures.  Try to learn your lessons from your success.As we wrap it up, the bottom line is that success can be measured in more than one or two ways.  Money, fame and titles aren't true measurement of success unless they are goals that you've established and achieved.  True success comes from identifying a goal or objective, creating a plan to achieve that goal, revising the plan when you encounter temporary defeat, and eventually achieving your goal by giving 100% towards achieving that goal. Failing Forward by John Maxwellhttps://amzn.to/36CW9CbAfter Action Review:https://as.vanderbilt.edu/overview/faculty/facultycouncil/archive/sitemason.vanderbilt.edu/files/cHpJCw/Guide%20to%20the%20After%20Action%20Review.pdf  ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Intro:  Hello and welcome to the next episode of Level Up, the podcast that focuses on leadership, self improvement and continued growth throughout our everyday lives.  I'm Jose, your host and I am joined by my co-host, and the CEO of All-American Lumping LLC, one of the fastest growing national 3PL Logistics and Freight Handling companies in the U.S., Crystal Garcia. Last week we discussed "Living Your Values".  The dangers of not living your values, how to identify your values and how to ensure that you are in fact living your values and not someone elses.  Great discussion and hopefully gave our listeners some insight into what is important to them and how they prioritize their lives and how they make decisions. Today we are going to discuss Success.  What is Success?  How do we define it for ourselves?  What can we do to be successful?   Read Quote: The late Coach John Wooden, who coached UCLA Basketball team to 10 NCAA championships in 12 years defined success by stating, “Success is peace of mind, which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to do your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming.” Definition: "Success is the achievement of something that you have been trying to do". Q: What are your thoughts? Success is not measured in the balance of your bank account.  Success is not measured by who accepts you and who doesn't.  Success is a state of mind where you are able to be self-satisfied because you have given your maximum effort towards achieving a goal or an objective and therefore have achieved it. Q: In your life how have you defined success?   Defined by others Defined by society Defined by the values of the different groups that we navigate throughout our lives  Q: Have you always been successful?  When have you failed and why did you fail? If you've always succeeded, how have you always succeeded?  Q: What has attributed to your concept of success?Friends / Family / Co-workers / Peers / Superiors / Leaders / Society Q: What things do you do to ensure that you are successful? Thinking big Planning Never quitting Ensuring your goals and objectives align with your WHY and with your Values  Read Excerpt: In the book, "Think & Grow Rich", by Napoleon Hill, Napoleon states:  "One of the most common causes of failure is the habit of quitting when one is overtaken by temporary defeat."  See page 149 as well. Q: To understand success, we must also understand what failure is.  How do you define failure? Quitting too soon Poor planning Poor execution  Missy Yost, Business owner and Lifehack blogger list 19 different definitions of success.  Not all of these will resonate with listeners, but maybe a few will.  They are:  Success is always doing your best Success is setting concrete goals Success is having a place to call home Success is understanding the different between a need and a want Success is believing you can Success is remembering to balance work with passion Success is taking care of your needs Success is learning that you sometimes have to say no Success is knowing your life is filled with abundance Success is understanding you cannot keep what you don't give away Success is overcoming fear Success is learning something new each day Success is learning that losing a few battles can help you win a war Success is loving and being loved back Success is standing your ground when you believe in something Success is not giving up Success is celebrating small victories Success is never letting a disability hold you back Success is understanding that you control your destiny Success can be measured in more than one or two ways.  Money, fame and titles aren't true measurement of success unless they are goals that you've established and achieved.  True success comes from identifying a goal or objective, creating a plan to achieve that goal, revising the plan when you encounter temporary defeat, and eventually achieving your goal by giving 100% towards achieving that goal. As a call to action I would like to invite our listeners to purchase the book "Think & Grow Rich" by Napoleon Hill.  The link is will be attached to this podcast.  "Think & Grow Rich" It is a great read, and although dated, because it was originally written in 1937 and has some skewed perspective that was relevant at that time, the principles in this book remain sound today in terms of how to achieve success in life. Additionally, I encourage our listeners to make it a habit to: Set specific SMART goals  Create a plan to achieve that goal & revise as needed Pursue that goal until you have achieved it  It's time to stop defining success by the definition of others and to begin understanding that success is defined by what is important and valued by our values, our WHY and by what is important to us.Napoleon Hill, "Think & Grow Rich" for $7.96 on Amazon @ https://amzn.to/36EGi65 ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Welcome to the next episode of Level Up, the podcast that focuses on leadership, self improvement and continued growth throughout our everyday lives.  I'm Jose, your host and I am joined by my co-host, and the CEO of All-American Lumping LLC, one of the fastest growing national 3PL Logistics and Freight Handling companies in the U.S., Crystal Garcia. We aired our first podcast last week for those of you who haven't had an opportunity to listen to it, we discussed "Finding your WHY".  We discussed the importance of find your passion in what you do and the reasons why you do it.   We had a pretty emotional experience sharing our Whys and how we found our passion in helping and developing others, providing for our families and shared a few of our war stories about how we discovered our Why while serving in the military. Read Excerpt: Live by Your Values & Everything Else Will Fall Into PlaceBy: Claire Hodgson That was an excerpt from a blog on Tiny Budda Blog and can be found at www.tinybuddha.com, by Burn the Corset Founder, and blogger Claire Hudgson Today we are going to discuss the importance of Living Your Values.  This is a topic that I believe is very important, whether you're a leader in your family, a leader in your community or a leader in business and that applies to the entrepreneur as well.  We are going to cover the dangers of not living your values, how to identify your personal values, how to identify whether or not you are living those values or just pretending to, and how to apply your values in your day to day decisions. So, first, I'd like to ask: Q: What did you think about the article? So why are living by your values so important that we would make it one of our first podcasts?  There are often many sets of values that we are all exposed too.  Your family values, religious values, your work values, and most important, your personal values.  These can all be completely different or they can have similarities.  The more they are the same, the more you are accepted in that particular group.  The more that your personal values are different, the less you are accepted by each of these groups. Your core values remind you of what's important.  When you know your values, you make decisions that allow you to support and live according to what you know is most important to you. Your values help you make decisions.  If you know your personal value is honesty, you won't go around telling lies.  Obviously, Pinocchio had a problem with that one.  When you make decisions that align with your values, you can sleep at night, your not conflicted and you live life with no regrets. Your values allow you to live your life aligned on your life's true path towards happiness and success.  If family is your strongest value and all of your actions align with providing and building up your family, then you will be happy and content.  If your family cant stand you because you treat your family like crap, then you will be miserable and unhappy. Finally, living your values will ensure that you live your most authentic self.  People who say they value hard work but are constantly over sleeping and leaving work early can be labeled as a phony or a fake. Q: Are your life and values aligned?  How do you know?Now there are some dangers and pitfalls associated with not living your values.  Many of the choices that we make are based on our values and if we do not know what are values are, or are living by someone else's value we run the risk of living a unfulfilled and unhappy life.   Our habits, behaviors and relationships are based 99% on our values.  The problem is that when we are unaware of our values, we slide into default mode.  Default mode is our auto-pilot.  It's very similar to the state of unawareness that makes take your "Go to work route" on a Sunday when you are supposed to be going Walmart.  You find yourself auto-turning, auto-stopping, auto-cruising. This can be terrible when you're getting into a new relationship, or applying for a new job.  It can wreak havoc on your health, based on you eating or exercise habits. Q: Have you ever made a decision that you later realized was not aligned with your personal values?So some of you may be asking, "How do I identify my personal values?"   First, identify the times that you have been happiest in your life.  What were doing, who were you with?  What about that experience made you happy? Q: What is one of your most happiest moments? Secondly, identify when you were most proud.  What made you proud?  Who shared in this experience with you?  What about the experience made you proud? Q:  What is one of your most proudest moments? Third, Identify when you felt most satisfied.  What made you feel satisfied and fulfilled?  What about the experience made you feel satisfied? Q: What is one of your most fulfilling moments? Fourthly, identify one of your most upsetting and/or frustrating moments.  What made you upset?  What about that experience made you frustrated?  Who were you with? Q: What was one of your most upsetting, disappointing or frustrating moments? Lastly, Determine your top values based on your happiest moments, your proudest moments, your most fulfilling moments, and your most upsetting or disappointing moments. Q:  What are you top values? I've worked in many value-driven organizations.  Organizations such as the military and Amazon, just to name two.  These types of organizations drive the importance of their values and encourage decision making based on their values. Q: How have your personal values impacted your career and your business? Army - Loyalty, Discipline, Respect, Selfless Service, Honor, Integrity, Physical and Moral Courage  Amazon - Customer Obsession, Invent & Simplify, Ownership, Insist on High Standards, Frugality, Earn Trust, Delivery Results, Fail Fast, Disagree & Commit, Are Right A lot, Learn & Be Curious, Think Big, Hire and Develop the Best, Bias for Action All-American Lumping - Service, Honor, Integrity, Respect, Loyalty Your values influence how you act, they influence the decisions you make and in business, corporate values can influence the decisions and behaviors of you and your employees. Q: Have you ever done something at work that was aligned with your personal values that did not align with your corporate values? As we wrap it up, to summarize, our values drive our actions. It drives our behavior.  Our habits and our relationships.  If this podcast is the first time you've even contemplated your personal values, the I encourage you to do our Call To Action at the end of this podcast.   If you've learned that you are or have been living your life outside of your personal values, then now is the time to course correct.  Now is the time to get out of autopilot and take charge of the direction of your life and life with purpose, direction and motivation. If you are living your values, then pat yourself on the back buddy, because you're on your way to winning the game!  Continue to reasses your values as you life unfolds.  Continue to check your life azimuth to ensure your still on course and enjoy the ride.As a call to action I would like to invite our listeners to CTA:  Go to www.personalvale.es and take the personal values assessment for free.   Use the results to begin living a life of purpose and passion. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Quote: "He who has a why can endure any how." -Frederick NietzsheFinding your why is an important first step in achieving the goals and desires that you are most passionate about.  Your why will give you courage when your afraid, strength when you feel weak and motivate you when you begin considering throwing in the towel.A sense of purpose allows you focus on those things that you find valuable.  As humans, we are driven to do more than survive.  We can easily become frustrated and disillusioned when we feel our contributions are insignificant.  This doesn't mean that your contribution has to be earth shattering or life changing.  Value can be found in the simplest forms, such as raising a family, getting or staying in shape or service to others.When you're inspired, you're driven by a feeling that's deeper and more profound than obligation.  Typically something that inspires you is selfless and outside of yourself.  It typically has a bigger picture impact, but it doesn't have too. As an entrepreneur, I've been approached by people who have wanted the financial independence of running their own business.  A lot of times they don't know what they want to do or what they're good at.  I always begin these discussions with a basic question:Q: If money was no object, what would you do with your life and why?The major benefits for knowing and understanding your why include: • Provides clarity in life • Infuses your goals with passion  • Creates focus in your life • Creates resilience • Improves the integrity with which you liveQ: What is your inspiration?People who do what they love and do what they are passionate about have a tendency do it well.  These talents and skills are honed over a lifetime of practicing and/or doing.  Typically we find joy and pleasure in doing those things that contribute greatest to what we value.  Asking yourself the following questionsQ: What are your innate strengths?  What have you always been good at?Q: Where do you add the greatest value?  Q: How do you want to measure your life?When making a decision to do something, if you are unsure if it supports your why, conduct root cause analysis by asking yourself Why 3 - 5 times or until you reach your root cause for the task.  For example, if you wanted to lose weight you could ask:Why#1: Why do you want to lose weight?  A: Because I want to live a healthy lifestyle.Why#2: Why do you want to live a healthy lifestyleA: Because I don't want to get sick or die prematurelyWhy#3: Why don't you want to get sick or die prematurely?A: Because I don't want to leave my family with my support or burden them with medical or funeral costs.Why#4: Why don't you want to burden them with medical or funeral costs?A: Because family is important to me and I love my family.Q: What gets you out of bed in the morning and keeps you up at night?CTA:  To learn more about how to find your why, I recommend reading the book 'Find Your Why: A Practical Guide for Finding Purpose for You and Your Team', by Simon Sinek.  You find it and purchase it on Amazon at the following link: https://amzn.to/3rfRcaj ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★