Smart Cleaning School

Pick Up Your Problems

August 16, 2021 Ken Carfagno Episode 199
Smart Cleaning School
Pick Up Your Problems
Show Notes

I have shared multiple times on this podcast that I am a huge Tim Ferriss fan. "The Four-Hour Work Week" really changed the way I viewed my work and freedom goals. I also listen to his podcast. They are what's called "long-form" interviews in the podcasting world as he spends between 1.5 - 2.5 hours per interview. Joe Rogan conducts his interviews the same way. By spending so much time, Tim and Joe can really dig deep into their guest's life stories. I LOVE hearing these stories of challenge, obstacles, overcoming, learning, and victory. I always hear some one-liners and zingers too that I share on Instagram or Facebook. Plus, I hear some mindsets that I feel compelled to share here on the Smart Cleaning School Podcast. This episode is one such example, similar to "When You're Humble, You're Teachable".

I encourage you to check out "How to Reinvent Yourself" from the Tim Ferris Show where he interviews former NBA star and member of the Big 3, Chris Bosh. In 2010, LeBron James made the decision to take his talents to South beach. Chris Bosh came with him from Toronto to join Dwyane Wade and Lebron. The Big 3 went on to win two out of four NBA titles in four consecutive years. I was always perplexed by Chris. He was a star in Toronto and seemed to disappear in the Miami hype with Lebron and D-Wade. He even changed his game to adapt. Chris was unselfish and ultimately, it paid off with 2 championship rings. Therefore, when I saw the interview with Tim, I had to check it out.

Here are some observations about Chris from the interview.  He is a voracious reader. Chris is so articulate and interesting. At one stage of the interview, he broke down why the league changed from playing bigs in the paint to shooters behind the arc (3-pointers). As I watched the game change as a fan, I was disappointed in the changes and never understood. That's when Chris broke it down. It was all sabermetrics and statistics. As an engineer, I loved it. This new style of play was more probable of winning games. It also had less injury and demanded a different type of athlete. I loved how intelligently Chris broke down the progression of the game to a non-basketball fan in Tim Ferriss. 

Tim shifted gears to life after basketball. This is the part that really taught me some valuable life lessons. Chris is a current ambassador for the NBA and has found himself complaining. Then he talked to a CEO who had survived cancer and got a totally different perspective and stop complaining. Previously, he had gone to Africa and India and saw real poverty. Chris made this comment. "India made the projects look like a five-star hotel." Chris then said this and it made Tim pause. "What do people say? You think you got problems? Well everyone put their problems on the table. You'll pick yours back up real quick." This is so profound as we all think we're going through the worst thing in our life. But there was always someone better off and there's probably 10 more that are worse off than you. Those 10 worse off souls could be in your community or somewhere else in the world. It's all perspective. If you're carrying a load right now and you feel like you can't push through. Get some perspective from Chris Bosh. He played with at least 3 Hall of Famers in LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, and Ray Allen and won two championships. Chris also won an Olympic Gold Medal, was an 11-time NBA All-Star, along with many other accolades. And he was complaining


Read the rest of this article at the Smart Cleaning School website