[00:00] Welcome back to the Focus B show. This is Katie Sudddhart here aka the focus b. And on this show, I interview high performers and leaders around the world to discover their secrets on peak performance, productivity, mindfulness, and leadership. So if you want to take your performance and your leadership to the next level, then you're in the right place. Listen up and connect with the magic.

[00:37] How can you be part of the 1%? First of all, let's be clear what's your definition of the 1%? Because it sounds all grand and fancy, but are you looking to be in the top 1% of business people? Are you looking to be in the top 1% of happiest most peaceful people? Are you looking to be in the top 1% of the most fittest people? Either way, I came to a realization that is that if you want to be in that top 1% drum roll, you need to do what 99% of people aren't willing to do. It's pretty simple to get anywhere, you need to take action, except maybe arguably to be very peaceful. Then it's more meditating, being calm, managing your emotions. It's less action driven. But let's be honest, if you want to be super fit and healthy, you need to cook your meals, exercise, sleep, and you need to manage all of that and plan for all of that. And if you want to have a very successful business, that also comes with action. Now, there might be a bit of synchronicity, might be luck, might be contacts, but there's also some actions to make this happen. 99% of people aren't willing to do certain core activities. And the core activities that these 99% of people aren't willing to do are the most uncomfortable ones. That makes sense. We are wired biologically to be comfortable. It is not at all natural first to seek discomfort. I remember even reading a book saying that we weren't meant to exercise. What it meant by that is we were meant to be outside hunting, running, being physical, but we weren't meant to dedicate a slot to just exercising. Because this is an effort for the brain and it doesn't see the point of it immediately unless you train yourself to see the purpose of it. But otherwise it's not something that brings you food as it did in the hunter gatherer days. Our brain is wired for comfort. Our brain is wired for survival and not for thriving, not for being super fulfilled, not for being in that top 1%. So this is why 99% of people aren't in that top 1%. Or in other words, that top 1% is combined. Or the people who are in that top 1% are the people who have taken the most uncomfortable actions. This is so basic. But I was thinking about it the other day and I was thinking in the cold shower, 99% of people aren't willing to do that. I go into the 1% of maybe fitness or business or whatever, because I'm taking those actions. It doesn't mean you don't have to be smarter, you have to be richer, you don't have to be more famous, you don't have to be better connected. You don't have any of those things to be in the top 1% of. Let's say for instance, the fittest people. You have to be in the top 1% of people exercising daily, taking the cold showers, being willing to cook your own food and not just eat out because that's simple and easy. So if you want to be in the top 1% of any field, look at the uncomfortable actions that the people who got there are taking and do the same. Model them. If you have a friend, for instance, who's super fit, what does he do daily? Now, at first your body needs to get used to it. So you can't expect to go from not exercising at all to exercising 2 hours a day. That's not what I'm talking about. You want to build it up gradually. But the more you take these uncomfortable steps, the more you take these uncomfortable actions, the more successful or top 1% you'll be again in any area. And looking at business, for instance, I remember hearing different business owners, entrepreneurs who talked about being rejected. I mean, I'm seriously saying hundreds of times and I've been rejected a lot in business, as anyone who's in business and works hard at it, and after 10, 20, 30 times, it takes a lot of mental strength and resilience to continue. Now imagine hundreds of times what I'm saying here is they've done that uncomfortable step of persevering in spite of countless rejections and they've coped with the level of discomfort that 99% of people aren't willing to do and therefore they became in the top 1%, therefore this person's a billionaire, blah blah, blah, blah, blah blah. It's not about the money, it's about the mindset and it's about getting through that cycle of discomfort. Now, many things happen when you take these uncomfortable actions, whether it's a cold shower, whether it's a hip workout, whether it's reaching out to someone that's really impressive in business or doing a sales call, any of these uncomfortable actions do several things. First of all, they grow your inner resilience because you start to see that you're capable of taking these actions that were a real challenge for you. So you become more confident, you have more belief in yourself, you become more resilient, become more perseverant, and you start to develop all this inner citadel as the Stoics talk about this inner strength and core and even physical core. If we're talking about exercise routine, that's one thing. But also you're then able to use discomfort as a form of acknowledging that you're growing. So you start to see that you're now doing things that used to be so uncomfortable for you and therefore this illustrates how far you've come. So you're shifting your identity as you're doing this. So for those of you who listen to the episode on the number one obstacle to success, this is our level of self belief and our identity. So if you master discomfort, you then shift your identity and you shift your level of self belief. So, inner resilience, shift of identity, and self belief, and pain. Discomfort is transferable. So this means if you get used to taking cold showers regularly, you'll probably be more resilient in a sales call because your brain is starting to cope with pain and it finds this sort of inner peace and calmness when it goes through certain levels of discomfort. Again, hit workout, sales call, whatever you name it. And then it learns how to deal with that and can transfer it to other areas. So this makes you more bold, this makes you more resilient, this makes you stronger, and it makes you have that level of self belief. And all of this combined means you also get in that 1%. So not only are you doing what 99% of people aren't willing to do, but you're shifting your whole identity, you're becoming super resilient, becoming persevering, and then you naturally end up in the 1% by developing these skills. So it's a win win either way. It all comes down to how much discomfort you're willing to bear and gradually increasing your tolerance for it. So at first, it's perfectly natural if you've never taken a cold shower before, to just do 10 seconds, but with time, you grow your resilience and your tolerance to it, and then you take a longer one. Same with the hit workout, same with the sales call, same with speaking on stage. All of these things that are super uncomfortable at first, for most people at least, become more comfortable. And the more you do, you gain momentum. You gain momentum, you progress, you see the progress, and then you naturally end up in that 1% anyway, whether it's in fitness or business or you name it. One thing that's super, super important to keep in mind is it's great to have this high achiever mindset become in the top 1% in fitness or in business. Amazing. Don't forget about enjoying the journey of being peaceful within, because I have coached many hyperachievers and they can have an amazing body or really successful business, and they're super unhappy. I don't believe being in the top 1% of business and fitness is important if you're not happy and fulfilled and at peace. So yes, challenge yourself. Step out of the comfort zone, level up, master discomfort, but don't forget about your inner peace. Don't forget about inner compassion, self compassion. Don't do it through a push and through telling yourself how terrible you are. Do it through how great you can be and find that inner peace within you as you grow and develop. Because there's no point in being that 1% and being miserable. And that happens time and time again and I wouldn't want this episode to encourage you to either burn out or to reach that 1% and not actually feel fulfilled. Happy at peace? No point. So, ideally, grow Level up, master discomfort, change your relationship with physical pain, mental pain, challenge yourself and still work on mastering your emotions, being calm, meditating, feeling at peace. You can do both. It's not a contradiction. It's perfectly possible to combine both. Just don't forget about the other side because that would make me sad. So make sure that you keep both in mind and yeah, level up. You can be in the 1% of any area you want to be within six months per year because most people hate discomfort. So if you're an action taker and you're working through it and you're progressing, then you'll be there in no times. And start with Cold Chalice, which is one of my favorites, or Cold Dips, especially if you're based in a Nordic country. That's a fantastic way to train your resilience and it's super healthy and good for you and that's a wonderful way of doing it. Hope this episode was useful for you. Would love to know how you feel about it. Feel free to put it in the comments, especially if it's on the YouTube channel. And tell me how are you managing this balance of discomfort, taking action, leveling up, but also that inner peace, staying fulfilled. Like I said, they go together. Thank you so much for tuning in. Thank you for watching. Thank you for listening. Wishing you a wonderful day, wonderful week ahead. Hope you'll start to apply these key principles on how to be in the top 1%. And stay tuned for next week with Paul Zach, the amazing author of Trust Factor and Immersion. So many key nuggets of gold and magic in that episode.

[11:48] Thank you so much for tuning in today to the Focus Bee show. I would absolutely love to hear your feedback, so let me know in an Apple review or YouTube comment what was most valuable for you, and feel free to share this out with a friend or a family member. Wishing you a wonderful, magical and focused day ahead.