S2.E.36: IN ACTION, going from discovery and putting ourselves in action

All right. Welcome back to mindset radio. This is your Thursday episode. If you caught Tuesdays, you know where we are. You know we're talking about planning for the new year. You know, we're talking about taking a look at ourselves and trying to figure out like what in the hell we want out of this year and how we're going to get it. And on Tuesday, you know, we talked a lot about discovery and you know, the real purpose there was to get more in touch with what's important to us because all of this is going to lead to a point here where we're going to begin to create some clear intentions for ourselves and what we want to operate like throughout the year, kind of in all aspects of our lives. And so, you know, that's why we kind of take a look at what, what do we want right now?

What are we frustrated by? What are our deeper fears? Like what keeps us up at night and then what do we really aspire to be? And so that was Tuesday's episode. If you didn't catch that one, then I highly recommend you just kind of push pause real quick. Go back, listen to that one first and then come forward into this one because we're going to build on that episode and really start taking a look at how we take kind of what we learned in that exploration and in that place and start to put it into some clear action plans. So if you did the exercise with me on Tuesday or he kind of went back and listened and did it, awesome. If you didn't, I'm going to do a wrap up Friday, uh, as a Facebook live in the Facebook mindset radio groups. If you're not a part of that, go ahead and pop in.

I will backtrack and add that back link into the show notes and stuff for you as well. But just the way that we've shaped up this week, I'm going to have to do on Friday. I'm on a plane tomorrow, so now bear with me a little bit. Well, we'll get that live up on Friday. We'll go through some of the, uh, uh, the actual forms and the downloadables that'll be available for ya. Uh, and so all that will be up and ready to go if you want to do that and kind of listen back through some of it or work through it with me. But even if you did the mental exercise on Tuesday, if you really got kinda down to where you are, right, what do you currently want current wants and frustrations, kind of the current right now situation, what is it I want, what's frustrating me?

And then future look what are my biggest fears and then what do I really aspire to be? And so today what I really want to do is, uh, kind of begin to focus and break those down into kind of quadrants. And so if you did this exercise, more than likely what you found was my want and frustrations almost mirror each other. A lot of times, you know, if I want to be more physically fit, my frustration is I don't have time to be at the gym or it's tough to fit into my schedule or I feel, you know, overwhelmed by my day and I'm exhausted, et cetera. Right? So if you really look at it, you can often kind of find the want and then the frustration that's associated with it. And if you really want to go a little bit further, you can even take that one.

It's like, okay, I want to be in shape. Great. Why? Like go a layer deeper. Why do I want to be in shape? Why is that important to me? What will that do for me? You know, I have a, I feel better physically in my body. I don't wake up with aches and pains. I don't walk around feeling lethargic. Most of the time I have more energy. Uh, I've got a little bit more vitality. I get a little bit better pep in my step. Maybe my physical appearance is better and I feel better about myself. It's gonna roll into the comfort and confidence I have to take on and deal with my life. Right. So that just kind of an example. That's, that's a good example for me. And I'm going to talk a little bit more about that on Friday, uh, related to my own stuff.

And you fill it in if, uh, you know, you want to get promoted at work. Okay. Why, what does it actually do for you? Yeah, I'm sure there's some financial gain and it feels good to be promoted. But what's important about you being promoted? What's important about you making the next rank or being in a particular unit or making the grade somewhere or transitioning to a different role. Like why is that important to you? And if you go deeper and deeper and deeper, I think what you'll even find there is that actually begins to link into aspirations. And so this is why I kind of love this exercise and this is why it's going to take a little bit of time to like roll through this. It's not something you just kind of sit down and bam knock out. You kind of got to spend some time mulling this over, take a look at it and then come back to it and go a little bit deeper with it.

So let's kind of back up just a little bit. Let's go into simplistic fashion of it cause I like you to kind of get somewhere with it, right? It just doesn't need to linger and you can do the deep dive a little bit later with it. But right now let's kind of take the face value of it. Let's take one of your wants or frustrations. So I either want to eliminate my frustrations or I want to fulfill on something it is I want, right? So let's kind of stay in the current PLA process. Here's what I want you to think about. What is life look like currently for you? If you take a want, if, if I want to be in shape, if that's a want of mine, what does life look like for me? What's the current right now? Truth that exists. The truth is I'm not going to the gym when I need to be going to the gym.

I'm not giving the time and attention that I need to, to my body and my physicality and my working out and my, uh, my health in a lot of ways. You know, that may be very true. Uh, you know, I don't feel great day in and day out. Aches and pains. I wake up a little bit more lethargic. I wake up sore, I'm tired most days. I don't have the energy to really push through my days and be great the way I want to be. Great. Kind of all the way through my life. Like that's the current scenario. Then if I kind of really take a look at it, it's like, ah, I don't like that. Okay, cool. Let's set that aside for a minute. What's my desired state? Right? If I could snap my fingers right now and wake up and be physically fit or have different state of being, what would that look like?

And so this is a good point to take a look at it and be like, okay, well, you know, I'd be going to the gym regularly and I would feel good about going into the gym. Like I would be propelled a call to the gym because there's success there because I have a tie in there because I want to do it and I want to do it because I feel better. I look better, I feel more confident in my body and who I am and how I look and you know, all these things. Then I've got more energy throughout the day. I feel stronger, you know, I feel more capable, whatever I'm, I feel more ready for whatever life may throw at me. Right? That's, that's that desired picture. So once we take a look at that, then we're going to start going down into the next step.

And again, the forms will be available at the end of the week for you. But that desired result, like what's the outcome or what's the shift if I'm currently here, but I want to look like this or I want to be like this or I want to have this in my life, what is that? So let's take a look at that and let's start listening out. What's the desired result that we want to produce and list it out. Like, write it out, doesn't have to be long, doesn't have to be some long sentence or anything else. They can be bullet points, they can be a couple of different things and you can make the list as long as you want. So I'm going to list those out. Right? Desired result is I'm, you know, in great shape. Okay, cool. Now the question is what are the obstacles and objections that are in my way of being in great shape?

Like what's the bullshit I run in myself? Or how do I create my day that doesn't support that if I want it, cool, well, you know, how does it feel to want rad, but what's in my way? What am I not doing? I'm not scheduling my day appropriately. I'm not responsible for myself in cutting out that time or segmenting that time. You know, and I'm using this as an example cause I think this is one that resonates with a lot of us along the way. Uh, and a lot of what we deal with and so, you know, this is the, this is the component piece to that.

Now [inaudible]

you know, so again, what are the obstacles? What are the objections? What am I saying to myself? Well, I'm too tired. Well, I don't have time. Well I need to be there or somebody needs my attention there. Or you know, I've had a long shift or we ran, you know, we're up all night running calls, running EOS calls where we had a storm and we were chasing fire alarms all night. Like whatever the objections is and the obstacles are, but just be and call them out. Like just be truthful with yourself and just list out what they are. Okay. I mean that's, that's really, that's all I'm asking you to do and it's all we really need to do in some ways, but I'm going to list those out and I'm just going to write the next column and just go, okay, here's my desired result and here's my objections and here's my obstacles in the way to having that result.

And then now what I want to do is I want to explore the options. Like, this is my life. And you know, we don't have quote unquote, the perfect life that we want in a lot of ways, right? We don't have sometimes the freedom to do what we want to do or work out when we want to work out or eat the way we want to eat or be be who it is we want to be or whatever it is, whatever is there. So within the context of your life, what are the options? Can I get up earlier? Can I just segment a specific time? Can I create a flow pattern that I know I can commit to and be a part of each day? Right? Do I go to a, a group fitness class so I'm a little bit more motivated? Do I need to work out alone?

Do I need a workout buddy? Do I need somebody to hold me accountable? Which I think is kind of crap, but you know, I mean, every once in a while it helps to have somebody kicking you in the ass. Um, you know, what is it? What are the options in front of me? I could hire a trainer or I could, you know, download an app. I could, you know, do whatever. Like there's a million options to achieve that outcome, right? But get real and get clear on some real options that are in front of you and list them out. Now from this point forward, what I want you to do is start to look at two or three actions you can take that will lead you down the path of achieving that result that you want. What are the action steps I'm going to commit to, you know, this program, bam, I'm going to hire this trainer, bam.

I'm going to shift my diet to this, bam. Or you know, I'm going to do whatever it is I'm going to do. Just don't make a bunch. Don't write a bunch out. Don't write 10 or 15 things and don't make it. Don't make it unobtainable. Don't set yourself up for failure. Really call yourself out. That's one of the things that we really deal with in this hundred day challenge is identifying that more often than not, when we commit to something, we're actually setting ourselves up for failure. Because we haven't looked all the way through it. So do me a favor, just pick two or three specific actions and make them simple and achievable. Period. Every day. That's it. That's all I want you to do. And from that point then we're going to bring those action items into reality. And so what I want you to do is break your calendar out.

Whatever you use, if you use something on the wall, if you use your phone, whatever it is, I want you to start putting that into your calendar and I want you to contextualize it like what does your hour at the gym give you, feed you, Hey, this is Jeff being stronger, capable, more confident, whatever the whatever, whatever that it is attached to, kind of that want that aspiration, that deeper level of stuff. That's how I'm going to create the context for what my time is and my time being spent is, and then you got to put it into a calendar. You got to create it and put it into existence so that it's there. And if you need to set reminders or you need to set yourself up or you need to communicate it out with the people around you and maybe your husband and wife or whatever, whoever it is, Hey, this is, this is the deal.

This is what I'm doing. This is where it lives. This is my time. This is what I'm committed to. I need your support for that. I need X, Y, and Z. That's got to go into play because if it doesn't go into play, it will falter. Again, that's kind of a critical point of failure. We don't put things with good ideas. We have a desire, we kind of say we're going to do X, Y, and Z, but don't really put it into existence and we don't put it into existence. We're not accountable to ourselves around it, and so that's really this pattern. Okay, and you can blow this thing out and do this at multiple levels at any level you want in any way, shape or form you want, right? We talk about it. We talked about it earlier. You could do it directly related to work.

You could do it directly related to relationship or family or whatever it might be. You could do it related to a promotion or an effort or operation you're going to run or whatever that is. You can kind of wrap this whole thing together and bring it together in a way that really works for you. And so today's episode pretty short, pretty straightforward too. It don't need to spend a lot of time on it. I really hope that you'll pop into the mindset radio, Facebook group that you'll join me from the model alive tomorrow or catch it on replay or catch it, you know, through the show notes and come back and watch. Um, cause I'm actually going to share the forms. I'm going to write them up. You're going to see how I'm going to kind of work through this stuff and we're going to talk through these pieces and parts with a little bit more extensively.

And you know, again, don't hesitate, like reach out. I've got a fire already. Got some notes from a Tuesday's episode with a couple of questions from you guys out there and not a problem, right? Clarification. You're not quite sure. You need one a little bit deep dive. You need some support in there. It's just send me a note, ask. Um, that's an easy day. That's an easy answer. So guys, this is where, this is where I want you to really look at and this is how we're going to set ourselves up for this year and uh, on Friday and a few other episodes. And then moving forward we're going to start looking at how we operate with intention. And this is really the underpinning of all of this because in the research that I've done in the way that we looked at the operational life cycle and the way that we operate in our careers and in our jobs and in cycle, if we don't set ourselves up to step out of the door with intention, if we don't set ourselves to operate with a clear line of intention, with a clear purpose, we are vulnerable to the conditions.

We are vulnerable to the things that will show up. And that's the biggest piece that we need to avoid. So you're going to hear me this season and you know, throwing on or through the beginning of the year. I'm going to do some teach backs online and I'm going to get geeky with you. I'm going to break down the science behind it. I'm going to lay it out for you. I'm going to teach you what it is and why this point of intention is so critical and you're going to begin to see, especially in our operating operating environments, especially with the way the conditions are constantly changing, things are constantly popping. We have to be on our game and the way that you're on the game where you get ahead of the situation, the way you're actually in command and control of it, the way you're going to bring calm, the chaos and all the things that we spent six months talking about this all going online and your ability to ground yourself, anchor in the present moment and operate with a clear line of intention or intentionality necessary to handle whatever it is that comes your way.

So I hope you got something in front of the day. Check out the show notes and join me tomorrow or yeah, join me tomorrow Friday, uh, in the Facebook group. We'll kind of go through this thing to talk about a little bit more. Download the form. She can go to the website later to pick up the forms, work them through yourself. Ask me any questions that you got. I hope that it helps you set yourself up for an amazing until you read 2020. So again, listen, thanks for listening. I really appreciate it. We're going to close out today's show. We're only running probably, you know, 15, 20 minutes in today's, which is perfect. I don't need overrun yet. We don't once it's out, it's out. So, alright ladies and gentlemen, I appreciate you listening. Thanks so much. Next week I've got retired chief Gasaway on with me from essay matters.

It's a great conversation whether you're in the military, the law enforcement community or in the fire service, and if you're in the fire service should probably know who he is. He's on next week. We have a great conversation about situational awareness, but a real deep dive into it. Really enjoyed it. I'm looking forward to getting that podcast out. Uh, because the rest of this month we're going to get into this mental acuity point. This is partly why this week was important, and understanding, kind of creating this intention in the background or this idea of creating intention in the background is critically important because I'm going to be talking about it through each episode or specially on the Thursday episodes where it's you and me talking and I'm trying to, you know, give some little, little teachbacks in there. We're going to really begin to explore how that unpacks and can impact us, uh, either in a great way or can really throw us off our game. So catch me on Friday. Send me any questions that you got. Tune in next Tuesday. Mental acuity chief Gasaway. It's a rad conversation. Listen, have a great weekend. Be safe out there. Happy 2020 and we'll talk to you soon.