Darcy Curry, Author at Author of Your Own Story

Revisit: Rainmakers Always Have A Seat At The Table

I was recently talking to a tech entrepreneur, and they were doing great. But the problem that they were having is, they didn’t have a consistent cash flow coming in. They’re marketing was working, their processes were working, but sales just didn’t seem to be happening. It seemed to be happenstance. And when we were having a conversation I asked him, “Do you have a rainmaker on your team?” And he said, “What is that?” Well, a rainmaker in business or in sales is commonly someone who is able to make it rain. They’re able to consistently bring in new business, new leads, and new sales consistently to your business line.

Now, when I was talking to him I said, “Look, rainmakers always win. Every business owner needs a rainmaker, and that’s why they can be hard to find.” So when a rainmaker, regardless of the economy … So the economy went down in 2008, and there’s a lot of these doomsdayers that say, “Hey, it’s cyclical Doug, it’s very cyclical, and it’s going to happen again. It typically happens every seven or eight years.” Well, we’re past that time period, so maybe it will happen again. But there’s one thing I do know, is I know the people that were successful, even during the bad times, were the rainmakers. Sure, when businesses had to cut staff … I had to cut, you know, tech, or marketing, or HR, or some employees, but no rainmakers ever get cut. And the reason rainmakers don’t get cut is ’cause they are the lifeblood of the business, they are driving revenue to a company. And rainmakers are easy for them to move laterally. These are just the people that make it happen in business.

And so, if you are in business, or you run a business, are you either a rainmaker or do you have one on your team? And this concept of rainmaking, right? This concept of being someone who can really drive sales and drive business is extremely important, but I think you can be a rainmaker in other areas. Are you a person that constantly brings value to the process? In your Five to Thrive, are you your own rainmaker? Do you always bring healthy food to your work, or into your home? Are you the person that cooks? Are you the person that’s invaluable?

‘Cause at the end of the day you look at your Five to Thrive, and of course, we’re talking mainly about business now, but again, it can be applied across all spectrums. Are you the person that just makes themselves invaluable to a business? So in other words, the business can’t survive without you. And you can do this in any area. You could be the best mail room clerk, who does things so well and so efficiently that the company just can’t live without you. So, even if that company moves, they’re gonna take you with them. They’re gonna take you with them because you do something that nobody else does. You deliver that extra stuff, that secret sauce, that special thing that nobody else can do.

So I wanna ask you, are you a business owner? And if you are, do you have a rainmaker on your team? If not, that’s gonna be one of the first priorities. Obviously, building your own base is huge, but you need a rainmaker. If you don’t have one, you need to be that rainmaker, until you can actually get one on your team.

Now, if you’re an employee somewhere, are you a rainmaker? Now, maybe you’re not in sales, but are you supporting your company in such a way that the company would just crumble without you? Everybody would be lost if you weren’t around. If not, why not? Why aren’t you becoming that person? Why aren’t you becoming an invaluable asset to the business you work in? This is a chance for you to really do it, because remember, regardless of the economy, regardless of what’s happening politically, who’s the president, where you live, where your business moves to, a rainmaker always has a seat at the table.

That’s it for me today. Remember, go over to AuthorofYourOwnStory.com, get on our Author of Your Own Story University wait list, love to see you in the University. That’s it for me, have a great day, and remember, be the author of your own story.

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Revisit: Good Is The Enemy Of Great

Hey, how are you doing today? What most people will respond is, “I’m doing okay,” or “I’m doing good.” I’m here to tell you, as the Author of Your Own Story, good is the enemy of great. Why? Well, you already know that your physiology affects the way you do things, right? If you’re slumped over, you’re down, it makes you depressed. They’ve done studies that just by putting your shoulders back and smiling for over 30 days can clear depression. Now, how crazy is that? Of course, yeah, you can take drugs, and there are all kinds of things to cure clinical depression, but they did a study, just your body’s physiology.

What’s the physiological difference that you see in somebody that just says, “Hey, how you doing, I’m doing okay,” or “I’m doing good,” versus “I’m doing great!” That person that says that instantly feels great and becomes infectious of all of those around them. This can be applied to all of your five to thrive. How are you doing in your mind? Are you just doing good, or where else can you actually be doing great and raise the bar? Raise it now. Don’t wait. Do it now. Raise it with your energy. Bring more energy and intention to that, and don’t bring good energy, bring great energy. Bring great energy every time. Not only will that pick you up, give you more energy, but it will raise those people around you.

You see, you have a choice. You can change what’s called the triad, right? I learned this from Tony Robbins before, and that’s really changing your state, the things that, your physical being, and also your psychology, and the words coming out of your mouth. He calls it the triad, and that’s not exactly how it goes, but that’s how I currently use it.

And so, with that triad, or with changing your physiology, I’ll come home and I’ll be tired, right? I run five businesses. I do things. I love to be doing an in action, it just fills me up. But at the same time, I have a newborn, right? So it’s easy for me to be like, “Hey, it’s five or six o’clock.” I mean, I have flexible schedule, so I take a lot of time off, too, but it’s five or six o’clock, and I’m just tired. I’ve had all these things happening with the businesses, and we’re launching this thing, and my passion is Author of Your Own Story University, and it’s taken a lot out of me because I want it to be the best program out there. It’s easy for me just to lay down and have my infant son looking at me, like, “Hey, Dad. Oh, you’re tired? Okay.”

Or I can just change, right? I can stand up straight, stand up tall, smile, come up with three things I’m just extremely grateful, and I can walk in there with energy. Nine times out of ten, when I do that, and I come up to my little son, he just starts smiling and giggling. It’s the exact opposite. He can sense it, even at his young age. He’s going to start smiling and giggling, and I start smiling and giggling, and we start playing on the ground, and it’s just great. My energy is just so lifted, and things are great, and that’s a choice that we make, right?

Good is a choice, but so is great. You have people that complain, and they’re not even close to good, so we’ll forget that scenario, because I know you’re not one of them. But if you’re walking around and you’re just saying good … “How are you doing?” “I’m good.” Why not be great? Why not be great, emphasize it, and live into it. Don’t just be like, “Yeah, I’m great.” “I’m great! I’m doing great, things are amazing!” Because think about it: if you’re alive right now, if you are alive, life is good. Life is amazing. If you have the ability to watch these daily growth hacks, or listen to them, depending on how you decide to digest them, you are one of the privileged few in the world, and life is great for you, and there are a lot of people, I would guess millions of people, who would love to trade places with you right now. Life is great.

So remember, whenever you’re doing anything, anything in your five to thrive, or just in your daily life, strive for great. Don’t even strive for great, just be great. Be, do, have. Be, do, have. First you have to be, then you have to do, and then you get. Most people assume that they’re going to get something, which is going to create a feeling inside them that’s going to allow them to be this person, that’s going to allow them to be great. That’s not true. First you have to be great, then you have to do great things. That allows you to have greatness. Greatness in abundance in your life, and that’s what I want to talk about today. That’s what we’re talking about now, I mean. It’s just about being great.

Now, good is the enemy of great, and that’s something … If you’re one of those people that walks around, just like, “Hey, how you doing, Frank?” “Oh, I’m doing okay.” If that’s you, put a poster, put a banner on your computer screen, put something above your bed: Good is the enemy of great. That’s your new mantra. I want you to go out there, and each time someone’s talking to you and asking you how things are going, you’re doing great. You just are. I guarantee you, after 30 days, you’re going to feel better, you’re going to feel great. The work you do is going to be better. Your physiology is going to be better. Your relationships are going to be better. Your business is going to start growing exponentially, whether you’re an intrapreneur or an entrepreneur, everything around you is just going to start to improve, and that is how you become the author of your own story.

What I want you to do is grab your journal, just like we always do, and remember, do the work. Don’t be that person. Don’t be that person that’s good enough to listen to these daily growth hacks. You want to do the work. Start right now. You can go back and do the other ones. We have almost a hundred of these tips. That’s a hundred things that takes you from good to great. Now, doing the work is the difference between someone who’s good enough and someone who’s great. There’s a gap between. That gap is doing the work.

What I want you to do is grab your journal, write down your five to thrive. That’s your mind, your body, your soul, your relationships, and your business. I want you to write those down, and write down the areas that you’re just doing good in. When you write that down, I want you to rewrite that whole sentence, and write it down as, “I’m doing great in this area,” and believe it. I want you to embody that. And now, I want you to go out and do great. It’s simple as that.

A quick example: We use business, right? So, as a business owner, I could say, “You know, I’m really good at communicating with my staff. They’re all over the world. I’m really good at keeping them engaged and communicating with them.” So, I write that down. Now I’m going to rewrite that. “You know what? I’m great at communicating with my staff. I’m great at delegating, motivating them, letting them know the company’s vision, where we’re going, transparency with the numbers, our clients. I’m really just great at making sure they have every resource they need, and they know I have their back 24/7. They’re family to me.”

Just saying that just lights me up. It’s a different feeling all together, so I write that down. I write that down, and now that is my new mantra. That’s the new way I do things. That is the way I do things, and it’s the difference between good and great. It’s a small difference, but at the same time, it’s a huge difference, and it’s also the difference between being somebody who’s living life on someone else’s terms, or life on your own terms.

That’s it for me today. As always, go over to AuthorofYourOwnStory.com, sign up for the newsletter, where you’ll get more tips, tricks, and insights sent right to your inbox to help you bridge that gap from good to great. Go to the Author of Your Own Story community, and share this. And of course, share this three other people. It’s a simple thing to do. Pass this on to three people that you know that you think would benefit from this. Even if it’s just to start a conversation with them, and ask them, “Hey, where do you think I’m just doing good where I could be doing great?” That’s a great way to bridge a conversation to grow yourself, but also bring your tribe in. Build your tribe. Three people is all I’m asking, and it’s an easy task to do, and I hope you do it now.

That’s it for me today. Remember, go out and be the Author of Your Own Story.

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The Truth About Getting Rich

Now, I’ve had a conversation with two different business owners over the past week, which brings me to this conversation with you on how to get rich. Now, both of these business owners had an idea. They’d seen people on social media advertising their marketplace, the way that they do it, right? And it was kind of that flashy tone, the Bentley, the nice house, the vacations, the stuff that all of us probably want.

Well, I’ve had the opportunity of coaching extremely wealthy individuals, extremely successful people, both in the areas of their personal lives and their business, but especially in this conversation the areas of finance. And what I mean by finance is building true wealth. These are actually very wealthy people. They’re multi-millionaires. And so, the way that they got there is the opposite of what you probably think. It’s not sexy and I know listening to something like this if you want to know the secret to getting rich, well the secret I would say to getting rich is common sense. And, of course, you know common sense just isn’t that common. We hear that all the time, but the truth is these people had saved up. They didn’t live beyond their means. Now, in their business at times they took calculated, I mean calculated, risks with money and finance, but they always had a backup and they always worked hard.

Now, what they did, of course, as they’ve gotten very wealthy they’ve spent more money, but they didn’t do that. They looked at their values, their value propositions, and they really pushed forward with those making sure to do things that were free in life. And in their early years, and I would say early being 20s, 30s, and 40s, these people, for the most part, really focused on wealth accumulation rather than spending. Now, what do a lot of us do? We get a raise, we get a commission, we get a bonus or something along those lines and often times don’t we spend that within the first, you know, month or two or maybe some of us spend it in the first week or the first day.

We go out, we buy that thing we want. We buy that new snowboard, we buy that new car, we take everybody to dinner, we buy everybody drinks. Whatever it may be, we have money now. Hallelujah. But, what these people would do is they got a raise, they got a bonus, they would actually sock it away and act as if nothing had happened. And they would invest it. They would invest it and let their money work for there, almost like they were forgetting about it like they never had it. And they would live as if throughout these decades they only had their base salary covering their base needs.

Now, of course, they took trips, they did splurge on themselves, but not as much as you might think, not as much as these get rich quick schemes or people that are throwing this on YouTube or Facebook or you see them everywhere like, you know, driving this, this house in the Hollywood hills, and these are all my Ferrari’s. Yeah, no big deal. Heres me with these different supermodels. You know, when you look behind the scenes the house is not theirs. It’s just leased against the business. You know, the girls are rented and the cars are leased as well and they’re not owned by even the company. They’re investments. The person is fake. They’re a public figure trying to sell you the opportunity to get rich.

I’m here presenting maybe a difference, right? And a couple of resources that I use, my wife and I both like, as we’re on this path, right? We’re on this path to build wealth so we can live our Author of Your Own Story lifestyle now, but then, later on, we can leave a legacy and really give, really give of our gifts and give to people that are just less fortunate. So, one resource that I’m gonna recommend throughout there is the Millionaire Next Door. I think this book is really good because it takes away that mystery, right, of the neighbor next door, down the street whose got the brand new cars and, you know, all the fancy toys. Come to find out they’re actually bankrupt or broke, right? Where the actual person driving the Ford Taurus, nothing wrong with that, but, you know, five, 10 year old car might actually be a millionaire. So, great book.

I also really like if you’re at this base stage, Dave Ramsay. I think he has a lot to add to the conversation and my wife and I still listen to him even though we fully understand his methodology just to stay in the conversation, right? So, it keeps us with the common language and we can really talk about it. So, I recommend checking Dave out. Its got a Christian slant to it and I don’t see that as a negative thing, but if you’re not a Christian, you know, give or take whatever you want. You know? We just like the talk, the tone. I really recommend his Millionaire Hour, right? He’s got one, a couple of episodes, where he talks to Millionaires and “Hey, how did you do it?” And it’s exactly what I’m telling you. It’s exactly what my clients have done.

You know, I have a couple clients that inherited a lot of money and that’s great for them, but most of my clients actually worked from the bottom to the top. And the way they did that is really by being frugal, really frugal and frugal just means being smart with your money. That’s all it really means. So, it’s not a negative term in my eyes. So, those are two resources you can do and, yes, Dave Ramsay, if you look at his baby steps is what he calls it, mathematically paying off your debt in his methodology, you know, doesn’t work, right? He says that. Like the math doesn’t work, you know, ’cause obviously I think you pay off the highest interest, but he’s saying something that rings true to me in my practice, which he’s saying “Look, I’ve worked with thousands of people. I just know this works and paying off the highest interest first for most people doesn’t.” And even though it’s counterintuitive he knows the math doesn’t work, but he’s saying this process works.

I know coaching, you know, both in the fitness field and moving on to coaching business owners, I’ve worked with literally 10s of thousands of people through those fields and most all of the ones have worked in the fitness are all business owners and I can tell you that, you know, there are certain methodologies that you need to employ in order to get to your outcome. They’re not always the logical ones. The path isn’t always linear to get there. So, check him out. See what you think and then if you’re looking for some more advanced opportunities for financial education there are tons of resources. This is a quest that I’ve been on for years and I’m fortunate enough to have some great friends who are amazing at this. So, thank you for listening and always offering me advice, but if you guys have looking for other resources I’m by no means a financial expert or adviser, but I want to give you kind of a realistic look at how people really do it. Not this fake, shiny object syndrome.

It also gets me to thinking, you know, where else in my five to thrive am I chasing a unicorn? Kind of a fake path so to speak and really maybe I want to narrow it down and say “Hey, what is the basics? Who is the expert that knows the path to success?” And this is why I always have a coach and mentor in my corner. It’s like having a boxing coach in your corner always telling you what you need to be doing even though you think you might know, but they can see you better. So, if you can’t, you know, get a coach obviously books are a great way. Audible is something that I always employ, but I encourage [inaudible 00:07:10] grab your five to thrive and look at that and say “Hey, where are my five to thrive? Am I possible trying to take the path of the get rich quick?” Right? “Or am I taking drugs for dieting, right? Or muscle gaining when I really shouldn’t be?” Or somebody selling this thing.

We see it all the time in fitness and I’ve been in that world for so long where people are selling a workout and a diet regimen, but they don’t tell you that they’re on steroids, clenbuterol, they’re doing all these things to their body and poisoning themselves. And it’s very short term, but they don’t tell you that part. Or, you know, in the areas of business I see this all the time, these kind of, you know, straw men type business that, you know, when I get a chance to look at the financials from an investor standpoint and that’s something that I do now is I invest in businesses through my coaching, it’s an equity trade, but when I look in their PNL’s I’m like “Holy smokes. This business is almost bankrupt.” And on the outside, though it looks great. It’s polished. It looks amazing.

Talk to bankers. If you know any banker friends you’ll see that too. So, what else in my five to thrive and your five to thrive are we going after that get rich quick idea rather than looking at the basics and the fundamentals and let’s make a shift. Let’s make a power shift at this moment together, both of us, and go the right direction so we have more leverage and freedom so we can climb to the Author of Your Own Story lifestyle, which I want for you.

That’s it for me today. I hope that helps you out. I know it’s not a sexy conversation to be having, but it’s just the basics, right? And sticking to the basics is sometimes the sexiest because it gets you to your goal and that’s what I want for you. As always go to authorofyourownstory.com to get the latest tips, tricks, and techniques right to your inbox and sign up for the Author of Your own Story university. This February we’re opening the doors back up and we’re doing a deep dive and I want you to be a part of that. I really want you to be included and I want us to have conversations that matter. Let’s keep these conversations going, let’s keep talking about it.

So, go over there, sign up, get on the waitlist. It’s no commitment necessary to get on the waitlist. If you have any questions about that just let me know personally. I’m easy to find on social media or anywhere else or anybody else on our team are happy to let you know and make sure it’s a good fit for you. So, that’s the Author of Your Own Story university. Highly recommend it, of course, and I want you to be a part of it. Go out today. Be the author of your own story. Inspire somebody just by being yourself. What a radical thought, right? Inspire somebody ’cause you know you will. And I will see you tomorrow. Take care.

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Where Do You Go To Fill Your Soul?

Here I am along the beautiful river, and often times, if you’ve followed me on social media or got a chance to get to know me, you know this is exactly where my wife and I go to fill our cups. This is why we a lifestyle that allows us to travel. We’ve actually wrote this down many years ago, what kind of life do we really want? What are those areas that fill our cup, that really fill our soul? When we wrote these down, what came up was being by fresh water, being out in the mountains. And so we made that a reality.

Today I’m going to ask you this question. What are those things that fill your cup and how can you get one step closer to making it a reality where you can spend more time there? Again, for me, it was being outdoors, it was being in this amazing environment. It’s just absolutely gorgeous here. What I did is I made a strategic plan. I looked at my Five to Thrive, and in my areas, what could I do in my Five to Thrive that would get me one step closer to filling my cup more often? For me, being outdoors was the key.

In my mind, what I started to do is read and study how I could have more of a virtual lifestyle. In my body, I prepared myself for the conditioning that I’d like to have. In my soul, it was simply just being out here. In my relationships, I sat down with my wife and I made this a reality and I asked her, “Is this what you truly want? And if so, let’s move forward together.” In my business, I made sure that all of my businesses were able to be virtual. I actually got rid of my first office, then my second office, and moved all my staff and employees virtually. I had a strategic plan.

Today what I want you to do is figure out what fills your cup. Is there a particular scenery, is there a particular area that fills your cup? Or maybe it’s just an activity that you just love to do and you need to surround yourself with that activity more often. Well, write down in your Five to Thrive one thing you can do this week to actually move one step closer. This will allow you to be the author of your own story. Now, of course, if you want deeper dives, you want some more strategic planning around this, make sure you get in the Author of Your Own Story University. Make sure. We’re actually opening the doors up again February 1, so make sure you get on that waiting list and you do not want to miss out.

That’s it for me today. Go out and inspire someone and enjoy yourself by being the author of your own story.

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Shake Up Your Patterns

When I go throughout my day, I often times do things differently. I deliberately walk different paths, I deliberately drive different routes to the same place, and the reason I do this is because years ago, in fact, maybe even a decade ago, I recall hearing someone speak and what they were talking about is how your brain functions; it functions with creativity. Often times as humans, we’re creatures of habit, even though we don’t know it, right?

How often do we drive home or to and from work on the exact same route each and every day? Our minds just turn off. It’s kind of like an automated meditation, but often we do this in relationships and with other areas of our life, with our body. Some people have a runner’s meditation and that’s not what I’m talking about. What I’m talking about now is actually going through and shaking up your routines, so if you go for a run and you run out your front door and you take a right each and every time, take a left every once in a while. Shake things up.

This is going to spawn new creativity within the inside of you. When you’re driving, so for me, I drive to the gym and I leave around 5:30 in the morning to get there, I try to take a different route periodically. They’re slightly different. Sometimes I go straight through one lift and a left at another, and sometimes I bang right a little bit later, and so I do this and when I’m doing this it causes me to really focus and pay attention and be in that moment.

What I find that that does for me is sparks new levels of creativity and that new level of creativity spills over into my work. It also spills over into my relationships. In the areas of my work, for example, I might be working on a creative problem that one of my businesses is having or maybe it’s a problem one of my coaching clients is going through and by taking that turn all of a sudden, for some reason and I don’t know the answer and if you do please let me know, but for some reason a spark comes up and maybe 5-10 minutes later that answer to that idea comes forth.

I believe it comes forth because I’m actually shaking things up. I’m getting out of my routine, right? We all know that growth happens outside of your comfort zone, so I deliberately put myself a little bit outside my comfort zone, kind of what I would say micro progressions, where I’m just shaking up my day. This also has to do with the food I eat, the clothes that I would wear, although I’ve tried different methods, I’ve tried the Albert Einstein method with clothes where you wear the same blue shirt or black shirt every single day.

It’s said that he had just one suit, multiple of them. I know other people, professionals, that do the exact same thing and that’s interesting, but sometimes I think you just need to shake it up. This could be my personality and maybe try it on for yourself. What I’m going to encourage you to do today is look at your daily routine and it’s easiest to think of the way you drive. Now, do you drive the same way to work, the same way home, the same way to a friend’s house, to drop your kids off at school? What are those things? Shake it up.

Can you take a different turn? Can you go a different route? Instead of going out your driveway and going left, can you go right and circle the block maybe? Just try something different. Yeah, maybe it’s going to add an extra 30 seconds, maybe even a minute, oh my gosh, to your drive and commute time, but if you’re doing Automobile University and you’re listening to things like these daily growth hacks to help you uplevel your life, then that is time well spent. You’re just bettering yourself, so good for you.

But you know, also do this in other areas. In your business. Shake it up, try things differently. Do you always check e-mail? If you always check e-mail in the morning, you’ve been listening to any of these daily growth hacks or following me on other channels like Doug Holt online, if you’ve been following that you know you shouldn’t be checking e-mail first thing in the morning, right? Your first thing in the morning should be your time. That’s for you.

When you get into the office, try something different. Maybe instead of sitting at your desk and going right to e-mail, especially if you’re a business owner, walk around, talk to people, or maybe go to your office and right away start writing down in your journal. Whatever it is, shake it up for yourself, and in relationships. Gosh, how many of us talk about relationships getting stale? This is intimate relationships with your spouse or boyfriend or girlfriend, also with your friendships. Shake it up.

Do something completely different, something out of the world they would never expect. This could be a gift and if you don’t normally give gifts, give one. If you give gifts all the time, spend quality time. Do something different and shake it up and do this throughout your five to thrive. That’s what I’m going to put to you to a challenge and I want to hear from you.

If you like listening to these daily growth hacks and you want to go a little bit more business focused, as you know from listening to these, I coach business owners and I help them bridge the gap from where they were or where they are today to where they want to be. You can follow me online personally at DougHoltonline. You can look for me at any social media, you’ll find me there and I’d love to hear from you. For Author of Your Own Story, we’re going to bring in other experts more often this year 2018 so you have different voices to hear from, but if you want to keep going and you’re not in the Author of Your Own Story University, that’s a mistake, but if you’re not in there, you can find me on social media. We’ll be putting out more content specifically geared towards business owners and entrepreneurs.

That’s it for me today. I’ll see you tomorrow. As always, go out, inspire someone by being the author of your own story.

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Do Your Work

Now, I had a conversation just yesterday with somebody, and the conversation went something like this, they said, “Doug, I just feel like I’m spinning my wheels. I’m not getting anywhere in my relationship, my business, or my health. What do you think man? What do you think I can do here?”

This was somebody I’ve known for a few years, and we have a very casual relationship. I simply talked to him for a little bit and asked him what he was doing. He’s like, “Yeah, I listen to your daily growth hacks and love ’em, love ’em, and I’m actually reading a book, and I went to a course.” He was giving me some ideas of things he was trying. I said, “Hey do you do the exercises at the end of the daily growth hacks?” Silence. He said, “You know honestly, I don’t. I listen to them and I think, wow, that’s a great idea, but I just don’t do the exercise. I don’t do what you recommend at the end.”

I told him what I’m going to tell you, is do your work, right? You can’t … no one works out for you. No one lifts weights for you. No one runs for you. There’s not somebody that’s going out and doing … you might hire a salesperson, but you, if you’re a business owner need to run your business. Nobody comes in and runs the relationships in your life, you are responsible for that. You’re also responsible to doing your own work. There’s nothing different here. We’ve done over 230 daily growth hacks. Some of them have been revisits if we really think it’s something important that we know we want to drive home.

Now, if you’re like this gentlemen, you’re just listening, you’re not doing. This is almost like walking into a gym expecting to lose weight or gain muscle, and then walking out, and expecting results. It doesn’t work that way. You actually have to do your work. Now, if you need a little bit more of a kick in the butt, hire a coach. I recommend hiring the best possible coach you can afford. Stretch yourself a little bit, they will make you step up if they’re good, right? So get a coach. But at least, at the very least do the work. I ask you often to share this daily growth hack with at least three people.

The reason I do it isn’t just to grow the audience. The reason I do it, is I want you to grow your own tribe. I know for a fact that you are going to be the sum of the people you’re hanging out and spending the most time with, and having conversations with. Now, if you’re having conversations with people and they’re just talking about football, or the Kardashians, or what’s going on in the news, “What’s the president doing, oh my gosh.” That’s all you’re going to up-level to.

But if you’re having conversations with people who are talking about bettering the world, bettering themselves, bettering the people around them, they’re talking about growing a business in an ethical way, those are the people that are going to allow you to also grow so you can truly become the author of your own story. ‘Cause each day you might want to write a different script, and you can, you have that power, but if you’re in the conversation of what’s going on in the NFL, what’s going on in politics, what’s going on with our Kardashians, what’s going on with the latest shooting somewhere, ’cause there’s always one, right? Oh my gosh, the sky is falling. That is as high as you’re going to go.

We want to help you up-level your life. That’s why I specifically give you exercises that are going to help you peel back the layers each and every episode. Do the work. What I want you to do today, my homework is simple, I simply want you to go back to the daily growth hacks, anytime you haven’t done the work, give it a shot, I bet it’s going to surprise you. In this episode, what I’m going to ask you do, share it with three people. Share it with three people that you want to have a conversation with. If anything else, they will just understand that you care about them and want to talk to them, and want to have conversations that matter with them and that you respect them. Nothing wrong with that.

I want the world for you so I’m adamant about this. Moving forward with each daily growth hack, I’m going to ask you to simply do one thing, do the work, do your homework. Do your homework, simple as that. I want you to grow into the beautiful thing that I know you are. That’s it for me today. As always go to authorofyourownstory.com where you get the latest tips, tricks, and techniques delivered right to your inbox. Go out and inspire someone simply by being yourself, chasing your dreams, and being the author of your own story. I’ll see you tomorrow.

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Just Breathe

I had a great conversation with a coaching client of mine this morning. What came up was something that comes up often. Now it can come up in interpersonal relationships most often. That’s the idea of getting triggered. When you get triggered, or you get stressed, or you get anxious, and oftentimes this happens with people that we’re most close to because they know our buttons, and we let them in a little bit more.

But when I talk about a trigger, what I’m talking about is that pattern that happens where somebody says something to you. They act in a way that you don’t like, or a way that triggers a response. You’ve lost control. It’s a knee-jerk reaction. Now we all do this. Right? I know I do this on a daily basis. It’s been my practice probably for the last five years or so of identifying my triggers, recognizing them, and being able to either stop them or get out right away. Now, this hasn’t come naturally, I mean it certainly didn’t come right away. This was a practice and a practice that I put in place about five years ago that took me several years in my relationship with my wife, and with my family, and with those closest to me, and my employees to really hone down.

Now it’s actually the knee-jerk reaction the other way. Immediately when it’s something that would trigger me, I’ve taught myself to recognize that and then get grounded. Actually what happens is nothing happens. Nothing happens to me except for me being more grounded and relaxing. That allows the other person to do the same thing. Whereas typically in a relationship, someone would say something, I’ll use my wife as an example, she might say something to me. How many of you can relate to this?

I would get triggered and say, “Well no, that’s not what it is.” Then she would get, “Oh well yeah”. It would escalate. She would get bigger, more aggressive. I would get even bigger. Nothing was physical or physical confrontation, but both of us felt the tension in our shoulders. She was coming at me with more masculine energy so to speak. I was, as a guy, and especially as someone who’s been playing competitive sports his whole life, you know if somebody comes to me in a competitive nature, it’s natural for me to kind of rise up to that challenge. I actually enjoy it. But in these cases I didn’t.

It would escalate and both of us had lost complete control. We didn’t have control anymore. At the end, oftentimes, we were so heated we would walk away. One of us would walk out or whatever. You know, “She was wrong.” She would be saying the same thing about me of course and we wouldn’t. We take a lot of pride and our love brought us back each and every time.

But how many times does this happen to you on a daily basis? Your day is going through and someone just says one little thing and maybe you take it out of context or maybe you don’t. Maybe they meant it and it just triggers you and ruins your whole day or gets you upset or reminds you of the past and you just come off on this knee-jerk reaction. We all do it. Right?

What’s one way that you can actually combat this? This is what I taught myself. Is simply to breathe. I recommend 10 breaths. In through the nose, out through the mouth. If I’m doing this in front of somebody, actually I’ll just breathe internally. I’ve gotten to another stage but this is the first stage is just the breath. I’m happy to have a conversation with you if want to know the rest of the stages of this progression. But this is what I was telling my client. He was in a situation where he was getting triggered regularly and the escalation and stacking of those triggers was happening and it was blowing up the relationships around him. One relationship in particular.

Then we talked about the idea of breathing and it clicked for him. He just totally knew that’s what he needed to do. But of course in the moment you’re triggered and how do you do this? I’m going to tell you what I told him. Now I don’t go to the gym in one day and you don’t either and just expect to lose 10 pounds or to gain 10 pounds of muscle in one workout. No, it’s practice. You do it over and over again until it becomes natural. Like riding a bike or any other skill that you’ve learned. If you’ve learned a foreign language, it takes repetition and practice and continual practice.

So one thing you can do right here right now, if you’re not driving, grab your smartphone if you have a smart phone, you can use other timers as well, and set a series of alarms. Now I recommend a minimum of five alarms throughout the day. During these five alarms, I want you to have a distinct ring-tone if that’s possible on your phone, one that reminds you to breathe. It could be a chime or something relaxing is what I like, but something that’s going to catch your attention. Then I want you to name that alarm if you have the ability to do that. You do on most Android and iPhone devices. Name that alarm, “just breathe”. What that’s going to get you in the habit of is breathing, and more conscious breath.

So next time that person, and let’s just say it’s a significant other or a staff member or an employee of yours, triggers you just remember to breathe. Take about 10 breaths. What’s going to happen, you’re going to notice is if you’re just breathing and they feel you kind of relaxing and listening to them, odds are, it doesn’t always happen, but odds are they’re going to calm down too. You’re now creating the space in the level playing field where they can get out what they want to. A lot of times they’re like, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to go off on you,” and they’ll start apologizing. It’s amazing.

Now you will be tested by these people. Right? They don’t know if this is the real you. Is this the real you that always used to get triggered and now all of a sudden isn’t, or is this a creation of something you’re just trying out? Now, of course, you are trying this out. But over repetition this becomes you. This becomes the new you, whether it’s family or anything else.

Now some people often ask me, “Well, Doug, what if he or she is wrong or what if they’re accusing me of something? What if they told me I did something wrong and I just didn’t do it?” That’s a common thing in relationships. Right? “They said I did X,Y, and I didn’t do any of that.” So what I would say to you is if I right now looked at you and said, “You’re purple,” you would be like, “What are you talking about? I’m not purple.” You would just either, probably chuckle and laugh it off and think I’m crazy.

Well the reason you get triggered, I’m going to invite you to think about this. The reason you get triggered is you believe what they’re saying is true. If you didn’t believe what they were saying is true, like being called purple, you know you’re not purple. Right? You just know it. Now I don’t know what ethnicity you are or what your skin color is but it’s probably not purple. So you just brush it off.

However, if I said something specifically about looking at myself and I said, “Oh you’re just way too white,” and I am. I lived by the beach almost my whole life and I just don’t tan. That could trigger me. In the past, it used to make me feel sad. “Oh man. I am too white.” But whatever it may be. It’s funny. It’s laughable for me now but as a young kid my friends would go to the beach, get tan, they were surfers. I would be this kid that always got burnt.

But these triggers can go deeper into emotional concepts. So things like, “You’re a jerk. I don’t like you,” whatever it is. If you internalize them and you believe what that person is saying about you, then you can get triggered. Now again, all you have to do if someone’s like hey they’re going at you like, “You’re a jerk. You’re always late. You’re doing this. You never do the dishes. You never take out the trash,” whatever it is for you, you take a deep breath and just know something’s occurring for them. It has nothing to do with you. It really doesn’t.

Something’s going on in their world. If you just take a breath it allows them to calm down and then most likely they’re going to go, “Look, I’m sorry.” You can ask them to have an intelligent conversation of like, “Is this really bothering you. Is this the real issue that we need to address?” That allows them to relax because you’re standing in what I call “your power”. You’re in your power center. You’re confident in yourself and loving yourself.

Now, this is only step one. Step one, but it is a deep step. It’s one that you want to practice. So set your alarms. Then I also invite you to grab your journal and grab your Five to Thrive and write out what your triggers are because the next step is identifying the triggers. You need to know what your triggers are in order to identify them and put this into a practice like a doctor has a practice. A doctor isn’t just an expert. They call it a practice because you’re always doing stuff. You’re always learning. This is the same for you when it comes to triggers.

Now I know this is a longer daily growth act but we do a deep, deep, dive in this in The Author of Your Own Story University just like I do a deep dive with my personal coaching clients that I work with one-on-one. So I invite you to go over to The Author of Your Own Story website and make sure you get on that waiting list for The Author of Your Own Story University, so when we open it up and we have additional slots, you have the opportunity to make a choice of going in rather than rushing and all these people that email me and contact me, “Can I get in? Can I get in?” The answer’s probably, “No”.

So unless you get on that waiting list, unless you sign up, we want to make sure those people that have already taken action are getting priority. Priority seating so to speak, and that you can have deeper dives and deeper conversations like this. That’s it for me today. Go out and inspire somebody by being the author of your own story. Inspire them by being in your power by just by breathing during confrontation. I look forward to seeing you tomorrow.

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Striving For Perfection

Earlier this morning, I had a great day. I’ve actually ended up meeting my family later on in the morning, and they were having breakfast, and they were so kind that they ordered me a breakfast burrito. I’m not talking about any breakfast burrito, I’m talking about a delicious breakfast burrito with all the fixings. Yes, it was organic, and it had all this nutrients in it, but it was a breakfast burrito. Let’s not call it what it wasn’t.

Now you see, if you’ve been listening to these daily growth hacks, you probably know, or even following me anywhere online, you probably know that I’ve been on a quest to get back into the best shape of my life, and with that, I’ve been counting my calories. Counting my macronutrients and I know that we can have this big philosophical conversation about the best way of going about this, and I’m happy to do that with you.

My background is in this area, but this is what works for me. Counting calories just keeps in front of mind for me. So this breakfast burrito was going to kill my day, I mean, kill it, you know. I had been up since 4:40 working and getting things done and playing with my son, and I had already eaten, but I wasn’t going to turn this thing down. No way.

To me, food is life, right? Food’s part of life anyway and I just love it and I enjoy it and when I’m breaking bread so to speak with people that I love, like my family, I’m going to do it. They’re visiting, and I absolutely loved it.

Now, I know for many of you, you’re freaking out right now because I know many of you are on a quest for perfection. How do I know this? Because I’ve been in that quest too. Now this isn’t a big quest for me, but I have staff and employees I’ve worked with, I have coaching clients that I’ve worked with, there are thousands of people that I’ve worked with literally, who have been on this quest for perfection.

Now let me know if this sounds true for you. Maybe you have laid out a plan, roadmap. You don’t even try something until you’ve practiced in private so much that even when you try it, you’re going to succeed. You know you’re going to succeed. You like that, and I like that about you. This is this quest for perfection, right? And maybe I’m going to invite you to the possibility that you don’t have to let this quest for perfection stop you from going after the life you’ve always dreamed of, the author of your own story, right?

I had this burrito, and yeah, I was thinking about, I was like, “Oh man,” first of all, how can I even count these calories. Second of all, they’re way over probably my daily calories right here in this burrito and man is it good. And then I started thinking real quick, what can I do? What are my options here?

One is I can not eat the burrito. Sure. I can absolutely do that, but that’s not what I wanted. So what’s another option? Another option for me striving not towards perfection, but just the good, better, best model, which I’m going to invite you to try on, is simply just going, “Hey, I know I can work out again later. I know I can just do some jump rope, I can get on my rowing machine, I have a full weight gym here in my own home, plus I have memberships at two other facilities that I can go to this afternoon, and I can burn those calories.”

Also, the third option is I can say, “This is just my re-feeding day. I’ve been eating clean for most of, in fact, the entire week and this is just my re-feeding day.” And that’s okay too. Use a zig-zag in a diet style approach that I’m going through with your 90 to, well, I’m really 80% for me, you know, caloric restriction and then that other 20% I’m just kind of eating what I want or having some wine with my family because they’re visiting or just in general.

So, what I’m also seeing, and I have many of you that I work with and talk to, and I’m just so blessed, that you don’t want to jump out to your dreams right? Because it’s not perfect yet. The timing’s not perfect, the environment’s not perfect, you’re not perfect, your clothes aren’t perfect, your house isn’t perfect, your office space isn’t perfect, right. You don’t want to display this to the world yet because it’s not perfect. I’m going to invite you, that is an excuse that’s holding you back from truly, truly living and living life.

Today, what I want you to do is grab your journal, write out your five to thrive and where in your five to thrive, if anywhere, are you striving for perfection? Are you not going to that workout? Are you not asking someone out on a date? Are you not actually putting your message out into the world, sharing your gifts with others, simply because it’s not perfect? Are you not sharing these daily growth hacks with three people each and every day? Because it’s not perfect, and what are they going to think of me? And I want to make sure I have a perfect image out there.

If that’s what’s holding you back, that’s always what’s going to hold you back, you’re never going to get there. So, I’m going to invite you to break the chains of perfection and go for it, and let it be perfectly unperfect, or imperfect I should say, and really go for things.

You see, I can always change. I can have a salad tonight. There are all kinds of ways that I can go through it and I probably will. That burrito’s not going to hurt me one bit. Now of course, if I had a breakfast burrito every morning and I did this every meal, yeah, it’s not going to work, but making sure that I’m not just getting held back by perfection and enjoying life as I move towards my journey on my own story, allows me to break free.

I’m going to invite you that my story applies to you as well, in other areas, not just your body. Write those down. Get clarity and open your eyes to areas of your life that you’re striving just for perfection. I hear from so many of you and I’m so thankful that I have that opportunity, so I know this is a common thing. It shows up in different ways, so I totally get it. Get clarity around that and do it. Share this, particular episode right here with three people, just three people, so you can enter into the conversation, it’s a deeper conversation with them and perhaps stir something up for them and give them the assurance that they don’t have to be perfect either, right? None of us have to do it, right? We only judge ourselves and that’s the worse judge in the world, is ourselves.

I want you to break those chains, strive towards your goals and take that first step today. Right here, right now, in this moment, don’t leave this sight of clarity without taking action.

What I want you to do as always, is simply go out, be yourself, strive to be a better person, and move towards your story. Get rid of everybody else’s story about you and the way you should do stuff and live the author of your own story lifestyle.

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Be True To Yourself

Just earlier this week, I was talking to an entrepreneur on LinkedIn. They had sent me an inquiry asking about my coaching services. After further investigation, what really was coming into it was he was looking at a career change. Should I start a new business and leave the current company I’m in? Should I go study philosophy at the university? Should I take time off and travel?

When I started digging in, really what he was telling me is, “Look, I want to do all of these things, but I feel like I have to do one or the other because that’s what society is telling me. Society is telling me that if I’m leaving my job to start a new job, that should be my sole focus and nothing else, and if I decide to study philosophy,” which is something he was interested in, “Then I need to go to formal school, formal education to do that. Now of course, if I want to travel, then I can’t work and I can’t study, I just travel.”

This was a dilemma, and a dilemma he had been in for over a year. Now, an extremely intelligent person and successful by all accounts. He really had his stuff together, but what he was living in a state of or, right? We’ve talked about this before, not a state of and. He wasn’t being true to himself and who he wanted to be.

Upon further investigation, or really just a conversation between he and I going back and forth, really what he wanted to do was start a new business while being able to travel and just learn more about philosophy. He was really into stoicism, which is really popular right now, and so I talked to him. I said, “Well, why can’t you do all three?” Crickets. He didn’t really know why he couldn’t do all three, just really hadn’t thought about it.

We talked about this in a previous episode about dogmas, and we’ve also talked about should, so we’ve talked about this many times before, but we see this coming up all the time. I see it coming up in my own life, right? I see myself coming up in this. Even in doing these daily growth hacks, I look at other people that are doing videos online, and one of my resolutions in 2018 is just to be out there more and be able to provide the content that I have to a wider audience. I spend countless hours. I’ve put in my 10,000 hours 10,000 hours ago when it comes to business development and personal development and coaching, and I want to share that with the world so everybody has a chance, not just my private clients.

Even with that when I look at my own self, where am I going through this whole dogma? Do I have to have a suit on to show that I’m a professional businessman? I had this conversation last week with one of my clients who said, “Doug, no, you’re not that guy. You’re very casual, and that’s one of the reasons I like you,” which really flipped my mind. I was like, “Of course.”

I don’t have to look like Grant Cardone or some of these guys that are always wearing suits and ties and driving Bentleys. That’s not me. That’s not what I’m about. I don’t want my money to be allocated to that. I love Grant Cardone and total respect for him. That’s who he is and he’s being himself. That’s just not who I am, and I found myself living in the world of comparison. The reason I wanted to do that was to get my message out to more people because sometimes you have to give people what they want in order to give them what they need.

Now, even this morning, I was out working out and my coach is an amazing fitness professional, extremely knowledgeable and intelligent, and he wanted to share his passions. One of his passions has to do with a multi-level marketing company. When he was talking about the benefits of supplementation and getting your food right, really prepping the new year, he was giving a great talk that had information that everybody in his group really needed to hear. When it came to actually recommending the products that he truly felt in his own heart were the best, he shied away from them. He wasn’t true to himself in this case because he really didn’t want to be thought of as the multi-level marketing guy.

We all know that person who just is pushy and they’re from one multi-level marketing company to the next to the next to the next, and they’re hitting us up on Facebook, on LinkedIn, all over the place. We all know that person, but he’s not. He just really uses a particular supplement because he believes it’s the best and it’s worked for him. He is an amazing man, but he shied away from that because he wasn’t being true to himself.

I’m giving you three examples here. The entrepreneur who reached out to me for coaching, myself, should I wear a business suit, which not is really me, and my fitness coach right now, my trainer, and who I work with, not being true to himself and really showing people through his heart, “Hey, this is product I take and this is what I recommend, but you can do other things.”

Those are three examples, but I invite you to say hey, are there any examples in your life, and I suggest to you maybe that there are. What I want you to do is grab your journal, write out your Five to Thrive, your mind, your body, your soul, your relationships, and your business, and then what I want you to look at that is where are you not really being true to yourself?

Are you like me and you want to get your message out there, or you want to do something greater in the world, and you get stuck in that comparison of, “Okay, well, maybe I need to do something different. Maybe I need to act different or display myself differently.”

Maybe you’re like this entrepreneur that I was talking to and you really want to go out and do a lot of different things. Your life has changed. You’re older. You’re more experienced. You have new chapters, but you’re stuck in the world of or rather than the world of and. Maybe you’re like my friend, my coach, who actually just don’t want people to look at him badly and think he’s being pushy, but really wants to share his true beliefs with people.

Where are you? We all have them, right? In your Five to Thrive, what areas are you finding out? Next, I want you to shatter that disempowering belief, right? Just shatter it. Just laugh at it. That’s what I do. I laugh at myself all the time. If you’ve ever been around me anytime I make fun of myself, and not in a mean way. I laugh at myself. It allows me to shake it off and come into it.

In fact, even when I speak at different events, people joke, “Oh, Doug doesn’t even own a suit.” I own several, but I just don’t like wearing them. It’s just not who I am. It doesn’t feel right on me. I’m a tee shirt guy. That’s just who I am, and that’s probably always who I will be, but who knows?

Where are you? Where are you in your Five to Thrive and where are you not being true to yourself? Again, now I want you to shatter that belief and the way you can shatter that belief is just simply by laughing at it. You can also write what is true for you. Replace the disempowering belief with a belief that is true for you.

For me, for example, I could write something like actually who I am is very casual and comfortable, and that allows me to reach people on a deeper level because I can meet them at their own terms, and I can communicate to them in a way that lands on them, rather than trying to push my way through. I find this to be true, and that’s often what people tell me about my own teaching style when I work with them is just very comfortable, very conversational, like talking to a friend, and that’s what I want. That’s all I want, so why would I change that? I do this with all my Five to Thrive and I invite you to do the same.

I also invite you to share this with three people you know, just three people. It’s really easy. You just share it. Grab the link, share it over, and tell them why. Tell them that you want to have a conversation with them. Tell them that you want to grow with them. People love that. Create your own community.

Of course, go to AuthorOfYourOwnStory.com, click on the community button, which will take you to our private group, and join our community. We’d love to have you in. We’d love to have you as a member and foster your growth along the way. That’s it from me today. Go out and inspire someone today by simply being the author of your own story.

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Name Your Former Self

I just got off a client call with a client of mine in the UK and we’re talking about 2017 versus where we started from, which was actually at the beginning February of 2017, to where he is today and where he is today in all areas of his life, not just his business, although that’s originally why he hired me.

When we were talking, one of the things he said is, “Doug, I am just a totally different man. I show up as a totally different husband, a totally different father, a totally different friend and a person in my community, a totally different businessman and a leader inside my own company. I’ve taken the reins and controlled them. In fact, when I look back at my journals, my writings when we first started, I’m just a different person altogether.” Now, I think that’s amazing and hopefully, all of us are different people. We’ve all grown, grown in a positive way. Life is throwing things at us and we’ve taken them in stride.

What I asked him to do or what I suggested he do is something that I just recommend you try on in this instance. Try on actually naming your former self. If you feel you’ve made a big transition in life, name the former you so, in this case, the 2017 version of him. You can do the same thing.

He picked a funny name. He picked a name that really made sense to him. He called it Wheely. The reason he called it Wheely the former him is because he felt like he was all over the place spinning his wheels constantly, not getting anywhere. Yet, he had the tools, the education. He had an MBA from a very renowned school. He was known in his community to be a very staunch business person. But, underneath it all, Wheely, his 2017 former self, was out of control, was drinking excessively, was doing drugs just to numb the pain in his life and the holes he was trying to fill. His business was moving forward but not the capacity that he could actually serve it at. His relationships were hallowed. He lost contacts with most of his friends. Does this sound familiar to some of you?

He also was having what he felt like he said … His words were “I was sleeping next to my wife, yet we were miles apart from each other.” How many of us have had that experience whether it’d be one night or months? Or, if like Wheely, it actually was six months for him until he was actually able to turn that around and reignite passion to his life.

What I had Wheely of 2017 do, is I had him rename his current self and he decided to call it his name 2.0, the new version of himself. I won’t give his name out but you get the idea. Now, take this a step further. What I like you to do is rename yourself, your 2017 former self. Give it a name. Give it a funny name, whatever you want to do. You can call it Doug 1.0 or whatever you want and then name yourself today, Doug 2.0 for example. But you can call it anything. I’ve had clients call themselves King, Thor, all kinds of names. Very creative depending on who they were and their own personalities as they really came out.

Now, also what you want to do is look back. Excuse me. Not even look back. But when you’re doing actions today, when you’re faced with a drama or something that’s coming up, maybe you have anxiety going through, ask yourself: is this Wheely or Doug 2.0? Who actually should be taking the reins here?

Now, if you’re in a conflict. Let’s say you’re in a business situation and the pressure is high and you’ve got deadlines to meet, you start to get stressed. Maybe you’re snapping out on your team. You’re on chat. You’re on the phone. You’re sending text messages and it’s just stressful. It’s a stressful situation. What I want you to do is take a quick pause and say, “Who am I being right now? In my power, am I being Wheely or am I being Doug 2.0?” Then that clarity right there gives you the option of following the Doug 2.0 method which is actually, hey, let’s take a couple of deep breaths. Maybe meditate for five minutes and just really clear yourself and know what is important. What’s my 80-20 here? Where can I actually move the needle the most which is putting 20% of the efforts in? This gives you the power, the power to drive yourself towards the author of your own story.

Now, I use this with my clients. We do a much deeper dive of course on this but this short, simple tip can really affect and help you move. What I’m going to ask you to do as your own coach is grab your journal and write out 2017, how would you name yourself? What would you give yourself, the former you? Yeah, you’ve changed. Maybe you feel like you’re in the same place and I understand. I’ve been there, too. We’ve had life experiences. You’ve had things happen to you and for you throughout the 2017 year. Let’s name that former you and let’s move forward. What do you want? What do you want to call you today? Is that a hero that you’ve seen in a movie or read about? Is it a comic? Is it just your name 2.0? What is it for you? Make it easy but make it something that’s inspiring. That way you can ask yourself throughout this year and throughout today who are you being in this exact moment. This gives you control.

Just like an actor or somebody, if I tell you to stand up straight, put out your chest, take nice deep diaphragmic breaths, you get more power, confidence, and energy just by doing that physiological change. Conversely, if you get tense shoulders, shallow breathing, you can get depressed quickly. We don’t want that. We want the shoulders back, confident you. That is the same thing you can do in the psychology and physiology by naming this former you to the current or future you and living like that person. If you start to act or be like that person, that’s what you put out into the world and that’s who you become. It’s just repetitive. It’s just the way it works. It’s the new you.

I invite you to do this. Grab your journal. Name the 2017 version of you. Name the 2018 or present-day version of you and the person that you’re going to become. Then ask yourself throughout the day who are you acting more like. Then you can have the opportunity to choose the path that better suits you.

That’s it for me today. If you like conversations like this and you want to go deeper, make sure you get over to the Author of Your Own Story University page and make sure you get on that waitlist. It is epic growth and that’s what I want for you. My mantra for 2018 is epic growth and adventure and I want you to come on that journey with me and I want to be on the journey with you.

Also, share this with at least three people, three people that you know want to have this conversation. Just by you sharing this with them, you’re giving them a little gift. You’re saying, “Hey, I heard this. This guy was talking, this crazy guy, and he suggested there might be something interesting for you.” This will actually spur greater conversations within you and your world, and that’s what I want for you is constant, continual growth whether you’re in the Author of Your Own Story University or you’re just in our private Facebook group or simply just listening to this and doing the work. I really hope you’re doing the work because that’s how the magic happens. That’s the ingredient. That’s the secret sauce. You don’t bake a cake by putting flour in the oven first and then taking it out and mixing the eggs. No, there’s a recipe and I want to give you the recipe that I’ve learned over decades with mentors and coaches through the Author of Your Own Story University.

Also, go out and just inspire someone by being yourself. Be your 2.0 today and I guarantee people around you will notice and will inspire them and give them the freedom to step into their own power. Have a great day. I’ll see you tomorrow.

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