As my son walked across the stage with his law school diploma, I couldn't help but marvel at the journey he took to achieve his dreams.
Starting law school amid the pandemic, he managed to graduate in just three years, and I share the inspiring story of his transformation, reminding us that if you dream it, you can achieve it.
Together, we'll explore the process of attaining goals, the significance of sacrifice, and the importance of consistency in our lives. Through discussing micro-wins and micro-losses, I reveal how small sacrifices can lead to tangible results, and how focus and regularity can propel us to success.
I also discuss how I help people transform their lives from "before" to "after" through one-on-one coaching and other resources. Tune in to be inspired to chase your dreams and achieve your goals.
As my son walked across the stage with his law school diploma, I couldn't help but marvel at the journey he took to achieve his dreams.
Starting law school amid the pandemic, he managed to graduate in just three years, and I share the inspiring story of his transformation, reminding us that if you dream it, you can achieve it.
Together, we'll explore the process of attaining goals, the significance of sacrifice, and the importance of consistency in our lives. Through discussing micro-wins and micro-losses, I reveal how small sacrifices can lead to tangible results, and how focus and regularity can propel us to success.
I also discuss how I help people transform their lives from "before" to "after" through one-on-one coaching and other resources. Tune in to be inspired to chase your dreams and achieve your goals.
Welcome to the MindBody Project podcast. After over a decade in the health and wellness industry, Erin realized that our bodies change only short-term unless our mindset changes. for long-term success, Both our mind and body are forever linked. We are continually building up new ideas and tearing down old ones in our construction zone we call our mind. After this podcast is over, make sure you give it a like and a share and please subscribe and review this podcast. I would now like to introduce you to your host, the man connecting your mind and body to create a limitless life, Erin Zegler.
Speaker 2:Welcome back to the MindBody Project. Thanks for taking a little time to join me today. A few weeks ago, my son graduated from law school as an exciting day. He started law school in 2020, right amid the pandemic. My girls graduated in 2020. He started law school in 2020. They didn't have a graduation Well, they did, but it was. We also had a tornado that right before graduation, so it was a whole big thing for them And start over, start over. Welcome back to the MindBody Project. Thanks for taking a little time to join me today. Just a few weeks ago, my son is an exciting day. He graduated from law school. He's ever since he was in high school. Early on probably last eighth grade, maybe first part of high school He realized he wanted to. He knew the career path he wanted. He knew, had an idea of the college he wanted to go to And he's been working at that for ever since. Really, high school Kind of had his eye on the prize And this just a few weeks ago he graduated from law school. It was exciting. We we went to graduate from college just three years ago. We didn't get to. he didn't walk the stage because it was during the pandemic. He started law school during the pandemic, graduated college during the pandemic. So there really there wasn't a graduation. They just did it differently that year, so there really wasn't a graduation. So it was exciting to see him walk across the stage and his cap and gown and get it at his diploma for law school. Still, let's take the bar and just a few months and pass that. Then he's on to his new career as a lawyer, something he's wanted to do ever since he was in junior high.
Speaker 2:Beginning of high school, when Kim and I my wife we went to tour the college he was going to three years ago, it was, of course, amid the pandemic, so there wasn't anybody there. It was no people around on campus, so we're able to just kind of wonder. We didn't go in and talk to anybody. We didn't go anywhere. He'd already been accepted, but we wanted to go walk around campus kind of see what it was like. So we walked around campus and it was just a beautiful campus. We went to the buildings that were in the law department, the law school part of the college, and there's just some real pretty structures And there was one of the buildings had kind of a stairs. You go to the top, go to the balcony kind of, but it out looked onto this, just this beautiful green grass, had this columns kind of pillars, but it made like a cylinder and was said, talked about the law school and had the name is just beautiful. And so he had walked up there and he was at the rail standing out looking at it, and so my wife took a picture. She took a picture of it from behind and as he's looking out And so the camera, there's this little Sykes versus picture coming back.
Speaker 2:When he graduated just a few weeks ago, we went to that same area, took pictures down below and all that I said hey, wouldn't it be neat if he went up there and took a picture in his cap and gown in the same way? So him and her, they went up there, went up to the top as we watched him because of course all the family was there And we watched him. He held up his diploma. She got him from behind holding up his diploma and taking that picture of him in his cap and gown diploma, and she had posted it on social media And the caption simply read he dreamed it, he achieved it, and at that moment, when she was taking the picture, i thought, wow, so proud of him.
Speaker 2:I remembered us taking that picture before And I was like, yeah, that's really cool. But when she posted it of him three years prior looking out onto that grass and that structure, with nobody down there, both hands on the rail, and then fast forward three years, he's holding up his diploma, lots of people in the grass and by the structure there's plants. It's just a lot of commotion going on holding up that diploma, saying he dreamed it, he achieved it. It just really it moved me and it inspired me And as I looked at the pictures I thought we have a before and we have an after.
Speaker 2:And I got caught up in the before and the after, like this is where he was in the before and this is what he's accomplished in the after And I thought, wow, that's so exciting, that's so. I'm so proud of him. It inspires, inspired me. I hope it inspired others to go from whatever you're dreaming to achieve it. As I thought more about it, i thought more about that picture and I thought everybody wants the after. We look at the before and then we look at the after. Oh, i'd like to have that after. It's inspiring If he dreamed it, he dreamed it, he achieved it. How inspiring is that.
Speaker 2:But then I thought about the three years in between that before picture and that graduation day picture three years, and just just in how our world had changed in three years. He started amid a pandemic. There was nobody out there in the lawn, nobody by the structure. Fast forward three years, people everywhere. There's no masters. It has completely changed from what it was three years ago. But then I kind of drew into him and thought about the before and after for him And I thought what did that three years involve? And as I thought about it I thought you know, that is where he walked across the stage and it was 10, 15 seconds, maybe 20 seconds. We got some pictures, we celebrate and we clap for him And that's gone. That moment, that 15 seconds, what he'd been working for for three years, that all that was gone just like that because he just walked across the stage. That was the goal, that was the attainment. Now, when he takes his bar exam, that will again will be all the hard work will go to that, but it'll be done in a couple of days and he'll move on. But I thought about the process, the process, what's involved in the process? What got him from the before to the after? And as I started thinking about that, i thought about how many people I would think we all would like the before and after. Whether we see somebody that has lost weight you know, lost over 100 pounds. You know I've posted before and after pictures. Everybody, everybody sympathizes with the before picture The big guy, the overweight guy, the uncomfortable guy. Then we celebrate the after. Oh, good job, way to go. I want to. You know that inspires me.
Speaker 2:But what about the process? What went on during? And as I thought more about Caleb and what he had accomplished in those three years, i began to think about what was involved in the process. One thing I thought about was sacrifice. And we all want the prize, we all want to hold up the diploma in our cap and gown whatever that diploma in life looks like and go. I did it. But what about the sacrifice? What about those three years that he didn't go on any kinds of vacations? He had to work and do some jobs he didn't want to. He had to stay up late and sacrifice some sleep to get some papers done. He had to sacrifice. He sacrificed some mental health, because it really was. It's a stressful time. The amount of studying, the amount of writing, the amount of reading and during a pandemic, add that onto that, that's even more sacrifice that he had to go through to be able to achieve that. And then I thought more about it. I thought, well, what about? he had sacrifices, for sure, and I don't think when we look at the before and after and we think about the process, i don't know if we're always willing to go for the sacrifices.
Speaker 2:For me, when it was losing weight, i had to sacrifice some foods. I really wanted some of those foods. I had to give those up. I really wanted to, maybe not exercise at times, but I still had to exercise. So I had to sacrifice some time to go do that. I maybe had to sacrifice some time, some downtime, some family time. I had to sacrifice some of those things Maybe not go to out to dinner, maybe not to go family gathering, because I knew it would be tough Sacrifices. And as I thought about that, i thought well, what about successes? And during the process, if we always had the sacrifices, it'd be pretty challenging, it would be tough.
Speaker 2:But what about when we have micro-wins? You know, when I've talked about this before, when we build micro-up, we hit the macro. But what about micro-wins? Maybe? maybe it's just going to class and feeling good that he got the assigned reading done. Maybe it feels good that he got 10 pages of a 30 page draft done. Maybe he just was stuck on one page and he got it. Maybe he, a micro-win, is maybe getting a couple extra hours of sleep. So these micro-wins help through the process Because we have the sacrifice.
Speaker 2:When we get those micro-wins, we go oh yeah, this is going to get me to the next, it'll get me a little bit further, it'll get me a little bit further. And then, you know, with the micro-wins, we're also going to have micro losses And those are temporary defeats. Temporary defeats of maybe, you know, maybe oversleeping, maybe not having enough time to study, like he had thought. Maybe for us, micro-losses is making not the right food decision, deciding I'm not going to go to the gym today, maybe it's I'm not going to go, take 10, 15 minutes to go talk with this person. You know, some of those are micro-losses, they're temporary defeats And that all goes into the process Sacrifice success, sacrifice success, temporary defeats, it's kind of. It kind of moves us forward. We might have those micro-losses, those temporary defeats that satisfy just a little bit, but then we make some success, have a little micro-defeat, make some success and we keep moving the bar, we keep moving towards our goal. So he had a lot of those in those three years But he kept kept overcoming, kept overcoming In that amount of time.
Speaker 2:He had a lot of unsuredness. You know, do I know how to do this? Did I do the right thing? Did I pick the right study group? Did I allow enough time? All these different factors go into that And we have the same thing. Are we? we're unsure during the process, during the before and after of. Maybe I'm not smart enough, maybe I don't know enough, maybe I'm not doing the right thing at all. I just I just don't know. I don't know if this is a good idea, i don't know if I should pursue this. We have all of those things that go into that. That's the unsuredness. And then, during that and I think this is one of the big things that get us from the before picture to the after picture, whatever our before and after looks like, i just loved Caleb's because it was a. It was just a, a picture, a representation of where he started, with cap and gown and diploma. Holding up is a finish. That's a goal. Sometimes you know we we have intangible successes that necessarily we can't put a picture on, but We know we're hitting our goals and we're getting there.
Speaker 2:But the important thing in the process of the before and after is the consistency. He faced the sacrifices. He faced the successes and micro wins, the micro, micro, micro wins, micro losses, temporary defeats, the insuredness, but he was consistent, kept showing up, kept showing up, kept showing up. When 16 years ago, 17 years ago, when I lost 100 pounds, it was about consistency. I had good days, i had bad days, but being consistent, consistently showing up, consistently, being there, consistently going. I'm going to do what I can. Today. I'm going to do better today. I'm going to try to exercise. I'm going to try to eat better. I can make these changes, i can do that. And he did the same thing through those three years, through the process, and I think we all do that.
Speaker 2:And our processes may look. Our process may be longer, it may be shorter, it may be a six-month process, before and after. It may be a five-year process. A recovering alcoholic, a recovering drug addict That process may look a lot longer, it may have a lot more ups and downs, but if it's consistent, we're going to make progress during the process. And he also had a focus on the goal When we set that goal. We have to keep it in mind Almost like we're a horse that is being drawn a carriage and we have those blinders on And we can't see anything else. We can't see what's going on outside of our blinders, because what that does is that helps us keep going straight. We don't see all the mess that's going on, everything can be going chaos around us, but if we have here those blinders right next to our eyes, we can see straight ahead And we see that goal. It may be when Kim and I would do running events together.
Speaker 2:She always liked to know where she was going. So if it was an out and back, she liked to know where she was going and that she was coming right back. If she didn't really know where she was going, she didn't really like it. It really didn't motivate her Because she needed an end spot. So if I get here, i'll get there and I can turn around, or I know I have to go here, here, here, here, and I'm finished. She didn't like that. I'm not sure where I'm going because she didn't know where the end might be or the turnaround might be.
Speaker 2:So she needed to stay focused on that goal of whatever was going to happen turn around or finish. She needed that And that's similar to all of us. We need to have that focus on the goal, that we can see it And we go. When we have those micro losses, those temporary defeats, we go. That's OK, it's still right there. I still know what I'm working towards. I still know what I'm going for And we can work towards that goal And with the focus goal. During the process we have the sacrifices, we have the successes And it's important, as we have those successes, that we celebrate those along the way, those micros, because we keep stacking those micros and we will hit a macro, which is the goal that we want to accomplish.
Speaker 2:But through all that, through the consistency, the insuredness we also have and this goes with the consistency is discipline. Are we all always motivated? Yes, caleb was excited to go to college. He was excited to go have that experience at college. He was excited to have experience at law school. But was he always pumped to do it? Was I always pumped to exercise? Am I always pumped to exercise every day? Am I excited to always eat right every day? No, he wasn't excited to read every day and study every day and write papers every day and learn all the law stuff every day.
Speaker 2:But it comes down to and this is what helps the consistency is the discipline. The discipline gets us there no matter what, because the discipline outweighs the temporary discomfort for the future goal. We may be a little uncomfortable now, but when we hit that goal is when we're going to feel a lot better. He went through all of that process for that opportunity to walk across the stage, 10 or 15 seconds as it may be. That is what he kept going for of the temporary pain, the temporary discomfort, the micro losses, micro temporary defeats, the micro successes. He kept going through all that for that goal. And now that he's graduated he still has the bar in a couple months. So he graduated on a Friday. By Monday he was already studying again back on it, because now we have a new goal. We finished that, we hit it. Now We have a new goal.
Speaker 2:So the before and after process there is going to be the before process. I graduated law school, but now the after has to be. I'm a lawyer, i passed the bar, so that's a two, that's a two-month process There. That's a two month before and after. So they said before it was three years, now it's two months. So it looks a lot different depending on on what we're doing. The time can be Different for everybody, but discipline is gonna get us there. It's gonna be saying you know what? I don't like this, i don't really want to do this, but I know if I do it now It's gonna be better later.
Speaker 2:We all want the before and after. We all want that after, whatever that after is. We see other people, i want that after, but we forget about the process And there's no shortcuts from the before to the after and during. The process is where we are made, it's where a character is built, it's where we are, learn who we are. So when we get to that after We can appreciate that we know what we went through, we know the hard work, we know the discipline, the consistency with our goal that we stay focused on. We're unwavering from the goal. Our successes, our Temporary defeats, the micro add up to the macro Everybody wants the after.
Speaker 2:Very few will put in the time and the effort for the process To hit the after. And if you're struggling with the, with the process, i would love to spend a little time with you and help you in that process, whatever that may be, to get to your after picture. You can go to erendeglercom, disconnect with me and have a lot of opportunities through via email, text, one-on-one coaching, whatever it may be That we can, that we can work you through the process to take you from the before To the after. Thank you for spending a little time with me today. As the time my wife came every night before go to bed. It's bomb of the night, double a out.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to today's podcast. If you would like to connect with erin, you can do so by going to erin deglercom Or find him on social media as erin degler on instagram, facebook and youtube. Once again, we greatly appreciate you tuning in. If you've enjoyed the show, please feel free to rate, subscribe and leave a review wherever you listen to your podcasts. We greatly appreciate that effort and we'll catch you in the next episode of the mind body project podcast.