What To Do When Nothing Is Working

https://calendly.com/javalentin/30min

Transcript

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Today's topic is going to be on what to do when nothing is. Working. I'm not sure about you guys, but I can most certainly, uh, recall so many different seasons throughout my life, especially in entrepreneurship where things just did not seem to be working. And let's jump right into it. Now, have you ever felt like you're doing everything right? But nothing seems to be working like you're putting in the effort, showing up, trying to stay positive and still no results. I know a thing or two about that for sure. I've been in this, uh, space, you know, a few times throughout the course of my life, and I know how that can feel in terms of being just kind of lost and, and not sure, like what's the next step. And, uh, if that's the case for you in this season, uh, definitely, uh, you'll be encouraged by the end of this session because we're gonna be going into exactly what to do if you ever, find yourself in that space. Alright, to get us kick started, what this season really is. Now, the biggest thing is reframing the struggle. Now as a, as a life coach, uh, one of the biggest tools that I typically use for, uh, clients is the idea of reframing. Now reframing is really. Uh, the way that you look at what you're going through. So you may have a certain perspective or, or a specific meaning that you give to something that you're going through. And, uh, meaning plays a big, big part in terms of how you interpret things, how you navigate through things. And it is important to make sure you have a healthy perspective around what it is that you're going through. So the idea of reframing is whatever you're going through, having some type of belief system or some type of interpretation that can actually serve you as opposed to hinder you. Now, uh, think about it, uh, in, instead of looking at your current situation, for example, as. This is not failure. Think about it. It could be the perspective of this is a transition season, right? It could be life operates in cycles. So think about it as well, uh, whenever you're going through life. Uh, a a lot of the times we, we, we tend to think that, you know, everything is always gonna be uphill. Like I remember my very first company, uh, that I helped build. Uh, we had, we had over 750% growth year over year for like over seven years, and it was absolutely an exciting time. However. Uh, I, I always knew that, you know, especially in business, business is cyclical after massive expansion comes contraction, and that's just the case for anything in life. You can't expect to just kind of be riding off into the sunset, you know, uh, with everything being positive, it's, it's always going to, uh, contract at some point in time. So even if you're in a good season, you should always just look at. You know, anything that you're doing, as you know what, there's gonna be ups, there's gonna be downs, there's gonna be winter seasons, there's gonna be summer seasons, there's gonna be all kinds of seasons throughout the journey, right? So the season that you're currently in, it may just very well be a season where you're going through contraction, you're going through, uh, just, uh, a new infrastructure that has to be built to the next level that you're going through, right? Maybe you're in a current plateau, which I don't really believe in the concept. The plateaus because universal law states that if you're not growing, you're dying. Right? So there's no such thing as, uh, a plateau per se when it comes to, uh, when it comes to just universal law. When you think about a plateau. Oftentimes you, you may be in a funk or you may be very stagnant, and if you're not growing again, you're going in the opposite direction. So it is good to just kind of do some type of self-inventory of where you are with everything, right? Sometimes what's happening is, you know, things are breaking down to make way for this new identity, this new season, this new chap chapter of your life. So life simply operates in cycles. And I know throughout the course of my adult life, um, you know, when I had started to go through really challenging seasons, I had to really look back and like, man, you know, after I graduated. From, from college, like before college. You know, I had a lot of different challenges just growing up, you know, growing up in the hood, um, you know, going through stuff like family issues and personal issues and everything like that. And then, you know, it was just up for like over 10 years. It was just everything was, was always growing. Um, for, for a long stretch of time. However, life just doesn't operate like that. It wasn't going to be just, you know, an endless growth, endless. And, and you may, you may continue to grow, but at some point in time you're gonna have to contract, you're gonna have to, uh, go through again those winter seasons. And that's pretty much what happened for me. You know, I went off to college, uh, got my degrees, came outta college, had a six figure career, uh, got into entrepreneurship, retired from my career, went full-time into entrepreneurship. Had a lot of success, lot of influence, and even the company that we were building was just growing year, over year, over year. However, life will eventually correct itself and you have to go through those seasons. So having the right perspective can take you a long way. And I had studied enough people during that, that time period to know that it was inevitable, like I was going to have to go through my fair share of challenging seasons. So having. Perspective can take you a long way, a refinement. Phase a character building phase, a redirection phase. And I know, like for example, one of the, the seasons that come to mind was during the pandemic. The pandemic was, it, it really, really did a number on so many people in the world of entrepreneurship. Especially, you know, for me, coming from travel, you know, it was super challenging, uh, you know, navigating through the pandemic, being in the travel industry. Um, and, uh, you know, sometimes it's a matter of redirection and in my case, that's basically what happens. So. A prime example, you know, the, the, the pandemic rolled around and because things got so bad, you know, to the point where the company that I was doing business with ended up having to file bankruptcy, um, being in the travel industry, um, however, it was a great opportunity to pivot and go into the work that I do, uh, which is predominantly coaching, consulting, and speaking. So even though I was already doing that at the time, I wasn't doing it at the level that I was doing it today. So it was a simple redirection, if anything, and it was a character building phase. It was an opportunity to grow. To explore new, new things, right? New aspects of my career. And when I look back at it, it was the best thing that could have possibly happened during that time, right? Sometimes it's a refinement phase. You may have to refine different aspects of your character. I know going through difficult seasons of entrepreneurship, for example, uh, was a blessing in terms of refining my character because, um, I had my faith stretched more than I could ever possibly imagine, like having to lean on God during those difficult seasons. And that was a refinement phase. Learning about. Priority. Right? Knowing when you're, you're you, you have to go about life and, and, and how to go about life and what to prioritize. Learning how to eliminate distractions, learning how to get around the right people, all of those different things were a part of the refinement phase that I personally had to go through. Right. So if you're in a difficult season and it just seems like nothing is working, maybe you've explored with different, you know, career paths, maybe you've explored with different businesses and nothing is sticking, take some time to really ask yourself, well, is this a refinement phase? Is it a character building phase? Are, is your faith being tested? Is your resilience being tested? Your resourcefulness being tested? I know if it wasn't for those difficult seasons. There was so many things that came out of it. Like my company, dream Nation Media, for example, came out of a, a very difficult season, the Journey podcast, and my entire production team came from a season where I had to get very resourceful. Um, when it comes to. Even the work that I do with coaching and consulting, learning how to sell high ticket offers, all of that came from very difficult seasons. And it was, again, the very best thing because I also know what it's like to live a long stretch of time living off of residual income, for example, where the income is on autopilot, right? And sometimes that could actually be. Uh, a blessing and a curse in a sense. It could be a blessing because it frees you up and it gives you a lot of time and financial freedom. However, it could actually work against you by making you very comfortable, by making you just very stagnant in a sense, right? It, it almost sounds ridiculous to think that. You know, having passive residual income every single month on autopilot, like most people would think of it as a good thing. However, I've seen it happen with a lot of entrepreneurs where that money's coming in. And it kind of takes away that grit. It takes away that scrappiness that you had in the early days, and I've been guilty of that as well. So going through those difficult seasons were almost like, uh, a push to get back in the game. A push to get scrappy again, a push to go back doing the things that had got me successful in the first place. Okay, so moving forward, a redirection phase again, sometimes that very, very difficult season or when something is not working. I love the idea that when one door closes, right, another one opens. I, I just personally choose to believe in that and I know that that most certainly has been the case. Now, just because nothing is working externally doesn't mean nothing is happening internally. So think about it like, uh, for example, uh, you think about it like, like the, the germination process that happens with a tree, right? I always love the the bamboo tree analogy. So with the bamboo tree, oftentimes with bamboo trees, it'll take, let's just say five years of a germination process where you don't see anything. Like the farmer literally does not see anything for five years, and then literally over the course of just a few weeks, the bamboo tree just shoots up and grows out of nowhere. Right. But there was a lot that kind of goes into that. There was a lot that. You know, just, just in terms of faith, right? You may be sitting there for five years wondering, man, when is this gonna happen? Or is this even gonna happen? And the thing about it is just because you don't see visual progress, just because you don't see the fruits of your labor right away, doesn't mean that there isn't some type of inner transformation. So give yourself some grace because you may very well just be going through your germination process, your internal. Transformation to get to the next level. Okay, so again, this is not failure, it's a transition season. Okay, now why nothing seems to be working, let's break this down so that you guys gain more clarity in this specific season, the very first thing may be delayed results. You're planting seeds but expecting immediate harvest and life just doesn't work that way. You, you may, you may look at your situation like, man, when am I gonna get to the point financially where I, I, I can finally do the things that I wanna do, right? And you're putting in the work, putting in the work. Maybe you've been building your business and nothing seems to be happening. However, again, like there may be things going on in the universe or things that God is working out that you can't even see in that moment, but that's why it is important to have the faith. Right, and also just kind of evaluate where you are is, are you even on the right path? I always share the analogy of a person climbing up the ladder of success, and they're climbing and climbing and climbing, and this is a very, very tall ladder. And then you get to the very top and then you look over to the right and realize that you were climbing up the wrong building. The entire time. And a lot of people, this is their situation. They're climbing up the ladder of success, but the, the ladder's leaning on the wrong building. So it is important to really evaluate whether or not what you're doing is in alignment, whether or not what you're doing is the right thing for you. I was recently coaching one of my clients and. Uh, she was looking into doing all kinds of businesses and one of the things that I had to ask her, right, because a lot of the businesses that she was looking into, really, it was just for the money, and I had to let her know that you have to look at things holistically. Like do you see yourself waking up every single day for the next 10 years doing this very business? Is this something that you actually wanna do or is it just for the money? Right. Sometimes you, you do have to look at things from a broader lens, because we get so caught up in this idea of like, let me just do this so that I can make the money. But not realizing holistically, there's more aspects to it. Like, what about your happiness? What about the way that you feel every single day? Right? So you have to look at things holistically. So what I asked her was, well, let me, I, I said, let me ask you this. If you can do, like, what would be the ideal situation? Right for you every single day. Like how, if you could create your life exactly how you want it, what would you do every single day? And then what, what she mentioned was something completely different than what she was looking up. So I always like to start there because once you have that North Star, you can identify a financial vehicle that that's most conducive for getting you to that north star or for that ideal lifestyle. Okay, so alignment definitely plays a big part. So you have delayed results. You also have misalignment when it comes to why nothing seems to be working. You might be forcing something that isn't even fully aligned anymore. That's a big part of it as well. And, and this is a tough pill to swallow because you may have been working, let's say, a specific business or a specific career, and you built your entire identity around it. And then you're wondering why isn't this thing working? And I, and I've, I've learned myself that. Sometimes you lose the passion in what it was that you once were doing. And it is important to evaluate where you are in terms of like, do you even love this anymore? Is this still what you want want for your life? Is this still what you wanna do for the next 10 to 20 years? Right? So there may just genuinely be misalignment with what it is that you're doing. Okay. Another one is lack of focus. So this is a big one, and I know for me. I've, I've gone through this myself where, you know, you just got way too much going on and there's a lack of focus. You're focusing on too many things, and it's like the, the Chinese proverb that the man that chases multiple rabbits catches none. You have to get locked in and focused on one thing. Um, because sometimes we, we stretch our focus so thin and what, what you need to do is lock into one thing and focus on that right? Until you get the job done. Because if you're, if you're stretched really thin, uh, between so many different things that you're working on, it's gonna be very difficult to master anything. So you have to take into account the lack of focus. Sometimes it's just too many distractions. And too many distractions equals diluted energy. You may be saying, for example, you know, I wanna, I wanna focus on my business. But throughout the course of the day, you're taking phone calls from anyone. You're, you know, doom scrolling on social media. You, you're naturally doing all kinds of other stuff. Sometimes it's just you justifying your, your busyness with the idea that you think you're being productive just because you're busy. But busyness does not equal productivity. So that's something that you also have to evaluate with how you go about things. I know if there's the, the number one culprit. Over the last five years. You know, it's interesting. There's this, I, I feel like for a lot of people, you go through a season where you may be, let's just say, struggling with your identity, identity, purpose, and genuinely just trying to figure out what do you wanna do with your life? What do you, what, what, what do you wanna do that, that feels rewarding. And once you accomplish that, then you have other seasons where. It's just a matter of of distraction, and I know over the last five years, for me, anytime that I wasn't operating at my best distraction was the number one culprit. And I've, I've had to really, really hone in on getting myself, you know, just locked in and focused throughout the course of the day. And this is why it is important to schedule in the important things, whatever it is that you're working on, you have to schedule and block out time on your calendar to just focus on the work, eliminate all distractions. I would say if there's any key ingredient, even for, uh, just, just being productive and, and accomplishing things that you wanna do. It, it would be your ability to eliminate distractions. That may be certain people in your life that may be maybe certain habits, certain things that you are engaging in certain activities throughout the course of the day, and you just have to go into a season where you eliminate some of those things there. There's probably things in your life too that are pulling away from your time, energy, and attention. I always say T is an acronym for time, energy, and attention. What is getting your t. And there may very well be things that are taking hours and hours of, you know, of your day just because you're engaging. Uh, and it could be something as small as like long conversations with family members and friends. You're on the phone for two, three hours a day and those two to three hours a day can be spent building your dreams. Those two to three hours a day can be spent just getting yourself right financially or, or taking time for your health. So we do have a lot more time than we realize. The next one is emotional burnout. This is a big one. So you're not tired, you're, you're not incap, you're tired, you're not incapable, right? So you may be feeling, let's just say tired, uh, because you just have like mental burnout. Right, and you just need to take, take some time to, to catch yourself. But it's, it's, it's important to understand that, you know, even though you may be tired in the moment, it doesn't necessarily mean that you're not incapable. Sometimes you just need to, you, you may be a little hangry, right? You may be low on energy. You need to take a nap, you need to, uh, put some food in your system and then you reset. And that's a big one for me, right? But you gotta take care of your self-care. Self-care is the best care as we oftentimes share. And, uh, it is, it is essential, like if you're gonna operate at a very high level, uh, especially if you're navigating through different aspects of life, whether it's parenting or if you're in a relationship or you're really focused on getting your health back. Um, you, you, you have so many different things that you're working on simultaneously that it's so easy to get burnt out. Okay. The next one is identity gap. Identity gap. Your habits haven't caught up to your vision yet, so this is a really powerful one, right? And that the habits, your habits are are ultimately going to define just where you go in life. So it is important to kind of look back at your day, look back at your week. And just genuinely ask yourself, what habits have I been entertaining? And just like we can engage in, in negative habits or bad habits, we could very well also engage in really good habits, right? Working out, working out is probably one of the best things that you could possibly do for your energy, for your confidence, for just everything that you have going on. Right, and remember this, sometimes it's not that nothing is working, it's that the wrong things are. So you may just have the wrong things in your life working as opposed to the right ones. Okay, so just to kind of recap why nothing seems to be working, remember, it could be number one, delayed results. Number two, misalignment. Number three, lack of focus. Number four, emotional burnout, or number five. Identity gap. Okay, so which one of the five? Sometimes it's a combination for me of the five and you know, again, you kind of have to go back, reevaluate and just see what's missing. Seeing what you have to just kind of make that, uh, that that adjustment, that course correction. Okay. Now, uh, quick pit stop, uh, for the month of, I'm actually blocking out, uh, slots in my schedule for the month of May, uh, for one-on-one, uh, the my five Day Challenge where I work with you one-on-one and it's kind of like a reset. So this, this is definitely a, a good time to just reset, especially for a lot of people who maybe had a slow start to your year. Maybe things aren't necessarily going in the direction that you want them to go, and you need a reset. Um, a lot of people do the five day challenges as well. Um, who are looking to, uh, take their career to the next level or who wanna get into coaching, consulting, speaking, podcasting. Um, I do five day challenges with all kinds of stuff. You know, it could be a health reset, it could be just a resetting in your personal life. Um, but if you want information on how you can, uh, block out a slot for the month of May, uh, definitely DM me right now. Uh, DM me the word coach, even if you're watching the replay, it doesn't matter. Uh, just DM me so that I can send you the information on how you can be a part of it. Um, have a limited amount of time, obviously, because it's just me. And, uh, the beautiful thing about this one-on-one challenge is, um, I can customize it around, uh, your schedule so it doesn't have to be the same time every single day. Um, I usually do my best to kind of work around people's schedules, uh, to make it work for, for them. Okay. Um, a lot of people had did this, uh, we started it in December and, and kept it going throughout January and it was a really great, um, opportunity for many people to be able to. Lock in for seven days. It's five coaching sessions, one-on-one for seven days just to do a, a reset with whatever it is that you're working on, or even get the foundation built for whatever it is that you're working on. So if that interests you, just DM me the word coach, and I'll send you some more information. All right, moving forward. By the way, if you're getting value, drop a V for value so far and, uh, let us know where in the world you're tuning in from as well. Drop a comment. We have people who tune in from all parts of the world, so, um, if you're watching the replay, drop in r and the comments, you know, always great seeing who's tuning in. And if you don't know the Breakfast Club, we go live on multiple social media channels. Um, and it's also on all podcasting platforms, so you can find it everywhere. And on the Journey podcast, uh, you can actually find interviews as well, uh, of me interviewing a lot of phenomenal people. So if you're on the YouTube channel, make sure you subscribe and thank you for the support as as always, moving forward. What to do when nothing is working. So this is gonna be a really great takeaway. Take notes, uh, because this is gonna be the heart of today's Breakfast Club session. The very first thing, simplify everything. Simplify everything. Again, sometimes we're just focused on too many things at one time, so the best thing you can do is just simplify everything. Cut the noise. And focus on one to two income producing or impact driving actions. Now, what does that look like? Cutting the noise could very well be again, uh, let's say deleting your social media altogether. I know I delete my, my social media multiple times throughout the week and it's been an absolute. Uh, game changer for me, like just getting focused, locking in, deleting whatever's, like taking a lot of my attention. So cutting the noise is a big one, right? And then focusing on one to two income producing or impact driving actions that could very well be. Writing a few pages of that book that you're working on that can be creating that piece of content, that can be researching that specific business or reaching out to potential customers or clients or whatever, right? But what are one to two income producing or impact driving actions that you can take? All right, so that's the first thing. Simplifying everything. Rather than having 27 things on your to-do list, just focus on your, I, I like to say your big three or your three to thrive. What are the three main things that have to be done today to move the needle for where you wanna be in your life? Number two, go back to the basics. This is a really good one. Think about this. I, I remember in the beginning of my entrepreneurial journey. Uh, we were really big on personal development. So the community that we were building, uh, we would, we would have books of the month, we would have, uh, just certain things that we would focus on, but entrepreneurship was, was embedded in the very foundation of our community. And one of the things that I realized over the years. Is you kind of drift away from it if you're not intentional about reading the books, listening to the audios. I mean, you guys, of course, you hop onto the breakfast club, so you're probably not in that pool of people. But I know so many people that may have started on their personal development journey, but then over time they kind of. Know, just revert back to their old ways. So getting back to the basics is one of the best things that you can do. It could be reading a, a book on personal development. Maybe getting back to the basics is you getting back into the gym, dressing your best, the simple things that make the biggest difference. Sometimes it could be things like sleep. Health, certain things that you can do with your mindset, your consistency. I know one of the things that I'm going to start back up on this week is a, a written journal where I can basically just track my week on a written, uh, like a daily planner. And I had a productivity, a high performance planner, uh, that I used to use. And it was really beneficial for the season that I had used it in. And now I'm going back to that. So getting back to the basics are everything, the fundamentals. Create momentum. I always love the story of Vince Lombardi Lombardi when he would start the season off with his football players. You know, he's one, one of the most iconic coaches. Of all time, and you guys probably know of the Vince Lombardi trophy that's awarded every single year in in, in the NFL and uh, Vince Lombardi, he was known for starting off the season, withholding up a football and walking up to his men and basically saying, you know, this is a football. And, and that's how he started the, the coaching season. Like this is a football and really it was symbolic for going back to the basics, going back to the fundamentals of the game. Right. And, and I love that, that story because sometimes we complicate things. Sometimes we get too sophisticated for our own good, and we forget that a lot of these basics are timeless. Okay, and that may very well be the case in your business. Maybe you've added all kinds of complicated stuff in the age of ai. A lot of people, you know, are adding all kinds of stuff to their businesses, but they forget that human beings are still human beings. You can never replace high touch with high tech. It, it is just not going to happen. Now, you can automate things. You can, you can systemize your whole process and all of that, but at the end of the day, there's still a lot of fundamental things that, that work for humans, right? It's like the idea of reciprocity. Reciprocity and sales basically states that a lot of people will buy from you if you do something for them, right? That's a timeless sales principle. Is, is reciprocity. Nothing fancy. It's just simply the idea of, Hey, I did this for you. And people typically wanna support people who do things for them, right? So that's very fundamental, and it could be something as as simple as just even hopping on a phone call with someone. They, they, they may not want the AI response. They may not want the chat bot. They may want a genuine human being to answer their questions and you get the sale just because of that. So there are a few things that will always be timeless. It's like in-person events as well curated experiences. A lot of these curated experiences. You're not gonna be able to replace that with a Zoom meeting with an online virtual session. It's not the same experience. Okay, so going back to the basics is, is absolutely essential. The next thing is create small wins. So this goes back to the big three. It may not even be the big three. It may just be, again, the three to thrive and that that three could be something very, very small. Okay. So create those small wins, because that's typically what generates the momentum. One thing that I've learned is we have a tendency as human beings to. Draw on inspiration or motivation before we take action. But one thing that I've learned, even just studying psychology is many times you'll get the inspiration or motivation after you take the action. Why is that? Because your brain, uh, the dopamine in your brain, those neurotransmitters get triggered when your, your brain associates that action with productivity. So, for example, if your goal is to get into the gym, you're gonna have a rush of dopamine, right? Because you were productive and you did something difficult, or maybe something small, but that small thing got you closer to your goal. And dopamine actually, it, it, it gives you that motivation that you need. To really make things happen. So you shouldn't look for the motivation before taking action. Take action, and then you'll naturally have the motivation that that kicks in. So create small wins, build confidence through progress. Not perfection. One of the worst things that you could possibly do is get caught up in perfection. And perfection is the enemy to execution. Lot of people, you know, end up sabotaging themselves because they're so, so, you know, uh, so, so caught up in just having everything perfect. They're so afraid of what other people are gonna think or trying to be perfect, and they end up not making any progress. Okay. So create those small wins. And then the next thing is to change your environment. Change your environment and what you consume. For example, it matters. People, content, conversations. I know this is a, this is a big one. Uh, for me, when I was, uh, building on my entrepreneurial journey, I probably went about. Well over eight years of not even watching television, like I never, I didn't have any subscriptions. I didn't have any cable, anything like that. I just had, I had my TV for when I wanted to watch like a YouTube documentary or do presentations in my living room, but I literally did not tune in any television for over. Eight years, not even the news. And for some people they're like, well, you know what if I don't know what's going on in the world? Listen, if something is that important, you will know about it. You, you, it will be brought to your attention. You'd be surprised at, you know, how we can live our lives without consuming any type of media, right? You, you can very well live in, in that way. And another thing you have to be mindful of. Um, today a lot of people are getting off of social media simply to take care of their mental health. We live in a world of relative deprivation where sometimes you may be watching other people's highlight reels and not realizing that. These people go through challenges as well. Usually the people who look like they got it all figured out, those are the same people that are suffering in silence. Those are the same people that are living lives of quiet desperation. So do not look at other people's highlight reels thinking that everybody's just up winning and that you're the only one where things just aren't working out for, like there are a lot of people that are going through this and you'll never even know. Okay. So, uh, that's a, that's a very, very big part of it. You know, even people, for example, you know how many times, like my family, my wife and I, we go through our challenges, right? But like. We're not posting our challenges on social media. Like that's just not what we do. Right? So somebody looking from the outside, like, oh, you know, they have such a cute family, you know, they're homeschooling and world schooling and you know, they have this cool lifestyle, but they don't realize, like, we go through different challenges, we go through different struggles. Like we get into it like every other married couple. There's no like it, it's not like we're so personally developed that we're exempt from going through these challenges. Right. Like for those of you who've been married for quite some time, you know, like it's, it's not necessarily the easiest aspect of life, right? But um, again, that's why it's important to make sure that you're never comparing yourself to other people on social media. And if deleting it all together is what you need to do for a season, by all means go for it. Go for it. Unless you need it for business, that's a completely different thing. And if that's the case, get in and get out. I know social media can also be very helpful for people who just, you know, sometimes just watching comedy. My wife and I, and, and a lot of my friends, we, we kind of share reels. Like that's kind of our thing. And you guys probably, uh, are are the same where you share. Funny reels, right? Or maybe inspirational reels. Um, I love sharing reels with, with, with family, with friends. You know, it's always, it's always just a kind of a great way to bond. And if you're using it for that purpose, then it could be a beautiful thing. But if you find yourself just getting caught up in the comparison trap and like, why, you know, aren't things working for me? And everybody seems winning, listen. Take my word for it. Everybody has challenges, right? And you have to be very careful with wanting what other people have. Because for a lot of people who look successful on the outside, I can almost guarantee that if you throw your problems in the middle of a a room and they throw their problems, if they have a lot of success, chances are they have a lot of obstacles, a lot of things that they're navigating through in life. And you probably would be willing to take your problems back, right? And not sign up for that. So. Be careful what you wish for. Next, we have shortened your time horizon. So instead of thinking six months ahead, think how can I win in the next 24 to 72 hours? Lemme share a quick life hack for you guys. Like sometimes when life is life in, just genuinely ask yourself, how can I win the day? Like ask yourself, is today sufficiently supplied for? Like, am I gonna be okay? Sometimes we just need to calm our nervous system and remind it like, Hey, you're gonna be okay. You're gonna have a roof over your head. You're gonna have food to eat, you're gonna get through. You're not gonna be evicted today. You're not gonna have anything catastrophic happen today. You will get through the day and just focus on winning the day, doing the very best that you could possibly do to get through the day. Okay, so. Again, shorten your time horizon. Don't get caught up in thinking, well, how am I gonna come up with the bills for the end of the month? Right? Like, yeah, you, you gotta figure that out. But just focus on what you can do for the day. Because sometimes we get so overwhelmed because we're thinking about these bigger problems where a lot of those things like we don't even have control over. So focus on what you can control. Next is detach emotionally from outcomes. This is a big one, right? Sometimes we get so caught up in wanting to force things, force outcomes, but surrender can take you a long way. That's why I'm a, I'm such a proponent for stoic philosophy because stoicism, that the premise of stoicism is the idea that you, you, you want to be courageous and, and do the things that are within the parameters of your control. Right. Focusing on what's within your control and just surrendering the rest. If it's not in your control, bless and release it. Let it go. And that's the case for so many aspects of life. We, we get so caught up in what's happening in the economy, what's happening with the government, what's happening in the world, but how many of these things do you genuinely have control over? And if you don't let it go, it'll liberate you. It'll free you of so much stress and worry and anxiety. Okay? So you wanna stay committed to the work, not obsess with results, right? You wanna be patient with the outcome, impatient with the activity. All right? Now, in seasons like this, your job isn't to be perfect. Your job is simply to stay in the game. That's really what it takes. It's like, don't worry about being perfect. Don't worry about having it all together. Just focus on staying in the game and doing the best that you can next, the mental shift that changes everything. So again, if nothing seems to be working in this season, uh, this is gonna be a really, really great shift to make mentally. Now you wanna stop asking why isn't this working? And instead ask, what is this trying to teach me? What is this trying to teach me? And you wanna trust that pressure creates capacity, resistance, build strength, and delays, build discipline. Delays build discipline, and it's so true, right? These are, these are timeless truths and we can get so caught up on why things aren't working, and guess what, what, what you focus on expands. What you focus on the longest grows the strongest. So if you're focusing, focusing on all the problems, the obstacles on what's not working, then you're just gonna get more of that. You have to take back control over your mind. Your mindset is one of your most precious resources throughout your life. Your mindset is so, so important. But here's the thing. Sometimes our mindset gets hijacked by, hijacked by our nervous system. When that amygdala goes off your emotional alarm system, when that goes off your, your nervous system is like compromised and your body goes into a sympathetic nervous state, whereas fight, flight, or freeze. That's why it's important to take care of your self-care. That's why it's important to remind yourself like things are okay and to reframe the way you're looking at things. Because there are three things that ultimately determine your emotional state at any given moment. That's gonna be your physiology, so your body, and that's why it's important, whether it's breathing exercises, meditation, going for a walk, getting some sunlight, getting around nature, but calming your nervous system. What is your body doing? Your posture just sometimes it's even just dressing your best. I know for me, whenever I found myself kind of in a funk, I always have to ask myself, all right, Josh, how are you dressed right now? How are you? Like, are you well put together? Did you clean, like shave your beard? Or whatever? Like, but I always go to that first though. That's the foundation, your body, your physiology. Okay? The second thing is what you're focusing on, your focus is gonna determine how you feel at any given moment. It's impossible to feel happy. And, and be thinking depressing thoughts simultaneously. It just doesn't work like that. Two thoughts can't occupy the mind at the same time. Okay? And then the last thing when it comes to your emotions is the language you use. And this is where meaning and interpretation and self-talk, all of that stuff plays such a big part in, in the way that you feel and navigating through these things. Okay? So again. Sometimes it's that mental shift, right? And, and the mental shift is really your perspective, how you interpret these things. And just remember, this season is not here to break you. It's here to build you into someone stronger. It's not here to break you. You're becoming stronger in the process. Okay? I believe it was Nietzsche that said, you know what? What does not kill me? Makes me stronger. And that's the idea. It's like God isn't gonna put something on your plate that you can't handle, so you have 100% succeeded and gotten through every difficult season you've ever encountered in your life. No matter how insurmountable it may have been at that given time. The, the reality and timeless truth is you've gotten through. It's so important to remind yourself of your power. Remind yourself of the the grace that God has bestowed upon you time and time again. You've gotten through every single time, and this time is gonna be no different. You will get through, but you have to calm yourself down and just know that this too shall pass if you're in that season right now. And if you're not, as the old cliche analogy, states in life, you're in one of three phases. You are either in a storm. Or you're getting out of a storm or you're getting ready to go into a storm. So even if times are good, right, things may be working out in your favor right now. Maybe things are all coming together. Right. But I can almost assure you that you may have come out of a storm or you may very well be on your way to your next one. Why is that? Because life is cyclical. This is just the, the, the great cycle of life and it's inevitable. Okay? So having that healthy perspective will take you a long way. All right. If this is all making sense, you guys are getting value, drop a one. Uh, if this is all making sense for you guys so far and you've gotten some takeaways. Good stuff. Good stuff. Awesome. Appreciate that. Alright, here's some life hacks for you guys. The first one is the three task rule, and this goes back to the big three or the three to thrive. And really it's only focus on three critical task per day and make this a non-negotiable. So what is that for you? What do you want more than anything? Is it financial freedom? If it's financial freedom, maybe your big task for the day is calling up your tax professional and getting your taxes sorted out. Maybe it's putting in some work into your business so that you can, you know, grow in, in your business. Maybe it's putting in a new job application, but what can you do today? Maybe your big goal is to get back in shape. And your big task for the day is just going for a walk for 30 minutes. Or maybe it's putting in a grocery order with some healthy nutrition, right? But what are the three big tasks that are non-negotiables to help get you to where you wanna be? Next is the reset day. This is a good one. Take one day to reset your mind, environment and strategy. No pressure, just clarity. So. You may very well just be long overdue for a reset. Okay. And if that's the case for you, like honestly, if you need, this is even, uh, more of an, uh, more of a reason to, uh, take advantage of, um, a coaching session. If you haven't met with me in over six months, um, I've met with hundreds of people, uh, from our community over the years. It's been my gift to the community over the last. I mean decade just offering, um, complimentary coaching sessions to help people reset. Maybe you need clarity. Um, so hit me up if that is the case. But you may genuinely just need a reset day, day where you take time to reevaluate just kind of where you are and reset everything. And that may very well be, you know what you need to kind of get back on track with everything. Take time. Like don't do anything. Take time to go out in nature. Get your mind right. Right and just reset all that you have going on. So that's the second life hack. And then the third life hack is the win the morning formula. I love this one. So you wanna wake up with intention, move your body. Do one hard thing early. So that's why I love Tuesdays. Tuesdays, my, my breakfast club sessions are my, my one hard thing on a Tuesday. It ain't easy getting up for me at 5:00 AM on Tuesdays, especially, like I, I don't have a job to report to. There's no nine to five or anything like that, so I could very well sleep in. Um, and so there, there are many, many Monday nights where I'm up pretty late and I'm only. Working on four or five hours of sleep going into the breakfast Club. But it is my one hard thing and it always feels amazing to get that one hard thing out the way and get my day rolling. And you have this, this rush and this surge of dopamine after doing one hard thing to get your day kick started. So that may very well be for you. It may be working out, maybe it's sending out those emails, whatever. It's okay. And here are some fun facts to leave you guys with before we bring it in for a landing. The very first one is what I mentioned earlier. Bamboo can grow underground for years without visible progress. Then suddenly shoot up 90 feet in weeks and think about your specific journey. If you haven't been making any progress, if, if like nothing seems to be working. Are you the bamboo tree? Maybe that's your story. Maybe there's that germination process, that inner transformation that is happening. That's not quite done yet, but I'm telling you, once that opportunity comes, everything changes overnight, and now all of a sudden people are calling you an overnight success. Meanwhile, they don't realize how much you've been in the trenches. For years upon years. I know for me, I've been on the grind for a lot of years, so it's, it's interesting when, when people think things like, oh, well, they were just an overnight success, not realizing there was 10,000 hours put in where nobody saw the work being put in. No one saw those very difficult days, and that may very well be the case for you. You may just be the bamboo tree. That's all. God is working something really big out in your life and that foundation process, right? When you're building a skyscraper, the foundation typically takes the longest, but once that foundation is built, then you see that beautiful work of art, okay? And you are that work of art. The biggest lesson is growth isn't always visible, okay? Number two. For our next fun fact is most businesses fail right before their breakthrough because they quit too early. It's like the three feet from gold. Uh, I remember the story of the, the miner who was literally three feet from gold and he quit and someone else took over his, his mine project and literally struck gold. Like it was, it was just three feet away and he was so close to his breakthrough, but didn't stick it out long enough. So what if that's the case for you, right? What if you quit right before the breakthrough? Keep going. Hold on. Okay. Hold, hold the line because your breakthrough is right there. Next is your, your brain is wired to focus on negative outcomes for survival. Understand this, your brain is not designed for happiness. Your brain is designed for survival. You understand for generations upon generations, it is there to, it is there to gain pleasure and avoid pain. Simple as that. So the brain is naturally going to focus on all of the negative outcomes, all of the things that could possibly freak you out or worry you just to keep it alive. So nothing is working is often perception bias, not reality. The fact that you're saying, man, nothing seems to be working is not, it's not actual fact. It's not actual reality. There may be things working behind the scenes that you're just not focusing on those things. You're focusing on what's wrong, but the reality is there's a lot of other things working out in your life. Maybe you've got good health and that's working in your life. Maybe you have a great marriage and that's working out in your life, or you have a great relationship with God. You see the, the, the thing is you may just be focusing on, well, I'm not where I wanna be financially. Well, I'm not, I'm not where I wanna be in terms of my career. And that's the one dimension of life. But however, there's so many different other aspects of life that are working in your favor. So give yourself some grace. It's, it's very rare to just have every single aspect of your life. Perfect. Okay. Um, now, um, as we close out, if you're in this season, understand this. You're not alone. Even for the people who seem to have it all figured out, you guys may look, look in my life and like, man, he's got it all figured out. I do not have it all figured out. Okay. I don't care how personally developed you are. None of us have it all figured out. There's always something that we're, we're always a work in progress. Okay? Another thing is you're not behind. So stop thinking that you're, you're super behind. Listen, you always hear the, the, the colonel, uh, Sanders story, right? In the world of personal development, it's a popular story. Colonel Sanders didn't really have his glow up until his sixties, right? I believe he was like 64 or something like that when KFC finally just hit his stride. Most billionaires don't even become billionaires until they're fifties. So if you're 25, wondering why you're not a millionaire yet. Listen, give yourself some grace. I was just looking up. The Forbes two 50 list, where it was the, the top 250 people that Forbes rated in America today, and it had their ages. And one thing that I noticed, the average age was like over 55 years old. It wasn't 28, it wasn't 35 or when people had the most energy in their younger years. No. The average person on the Forbes two 50 list was over 55 years old. Many of them were like later on in life and they were self-made. Uh, and I mean, let's be real. Nobody's really self-made. Everyone, uh, has some kind of support in some way, but they were labeled as the self-made, uh, people in the country, top two 50. And yeah, that, that was the first thing that came to mind. Like, wow, a lot of these people are quote unquote. Labeled as senior citizens based on their age and they're on the list. It wasn't a bunch of young people, so you're not behind. Okay. Even if you're in your fifties, even if you're in your sixties, understand that success. It's like a, it's a windfall. It, it, it, it, it comes out of nowhere and when it comes, it's like a wave that comes in with so much momentum, so much force behind it. A lot can happen in one year. Right. A lot can happen. Okay? And another thing is you are simply being prepared. That's really what it is. Whatever it is that you're going through, you're simply being prepared for the next level. So to close out, remember this, keep showing up. Keep doing the work because one day soon, everything that felt like it wasn't working will be the reason everything finally does. Ladies and gentlemen, breakfast is served. I hope that today's session was super valuable for you. Again, dm me the word coach. Make sure you guys follow me on Instagram as well at the World Traveler, like, comment, share, tag, someone who can get value and subscribe if you're not subscribed to the YouTube channel. Thank you so much, and as always, breakfast is served. See you all next week. Take care everyone.