From Scratch (Ep. 41)
From Scratch (Ep. 41)
Life Could Be Much Worse, PPR, Week 41 Updates
Life Could Be Much Worse
Today I am embarking on a new journey.
The journey of gratitude.
I’m starting a daily gratitude practice for the next 30 days and I’ll document and see how I feel at the end.
I’ve read enough things about how gratitude can decrease stress and improve happiness. And I know from reading The Happiness Advantage, how happiness can improve productivity and results.
So I can’t say this is the first time I’m trying to implement a gratitude practice. I’ve tried to say what I’m grateful for daily before… but I probably gave up too early.
I can say this is the first time I’m taking it seriously.
For the next 30 days, I’ll be following in Oprah Winfrey’s footsteps. Writing 5 things I’m grateful for in the morning. And I’ll also be recording myself saying those 5 things to stitch together in a YouTube video at the end.
And I think a lot of people have misconceptions about gratitude. Some hardcore hustle folks might think gratitude will make you complacent and comfortable.
You’ll kill your motivation to work for more if you’re good with what you have.
Others think gratitude is some naive form of positive thinking to hide from your problems or do what’s required.
I disagree with those sentiments. I think that’s an issue more on the accountability and integrity side.
Instead, I believe that gratitude and desire can exist in the same vacuum.
To me, the real power of gratitude is a shift in perspective.
The human brain can’t notice everything at once. You notice what you focus on.
Consider these two hypothetical thoughts:
Thought #1: “I have to close my business down in 30 days if I get no sales.”
Thought #2: “I’m gonna go find as many opportunities as I can in 30 days.”
The scenario is the same. This person’s business is in jeopardy and only has 30 days to make something happen. But the perspectives aren’t the same.
These are two completely different people to me.
The person with Thought #1 will see completely different things than the person with Thought #2.
The person with the first thought will see, do, and experience things that go along with their focus of “close my business down in 30 days”.
Some things could include:
Time going by faster. Days counting down.
Noticing more out of business signs locally (seriously).
Wanting to indulge in impulsive or risky behaviors like gambling.
For the person who’s focused on “I’m gonna go find as many opportunities as I can”, things he or she might see, feel, and experience:
New ideas/pivot strategies.
Potential partners/clients to reach out to.
Time going by, but instead of feeling stressed, feeling like progress is made instead.
There are always opportunities during challenges. If your mind is focused on finding them and knowing there is a silver lining for you…
You’ll be more likely to come across it than if you only foresee doom and gloom in your future.
Plus, life can always be worse.
If you can’t appreciate that, then how will your desires make you change your mind?
Oprah said:
When you concentrate on what you have, you will always end up having more. Even if it’s just $2.
If you focus on what you don’t have, you will never, ever, have enough.
So what do you have?
Are your days numbered?
Or do you have a calendar full of new days to wake up and win?
Your choice.
Perform, Practice, And Rejuvenate
I’m a creature of habit and a person of routine.
Whenever I decide to commit to building a new habit, I have no issues with being consistent. But sometimes…
I like to take a look at my current routine and habits…
And break them.
Not necessarily stop, but switch it up. Just to see what happens.
Recently, I’ve been reading about how performers and actors schedule their routines. Essentially, it’s broken into 3 components:
Performance
Practice
Rejuvenation
Performance days are when you show up and do the thing. Act, write, whatever. You’re putting your skill on display.
Practice days are where you’re… practicing, obviously. Sharpening the axe. If only Allen Iverson knew better…
Practice days are also where you learn new things and add new tools to your arsenal. So when it comes time to perform, you can implement some of the new things you learn.
Rejuvenation days are rest days. This is where you take your mind off your work and recharge. My Sundays and part of Saturdays are usually dedicated to this. This is when I plan, think, and do more reading than usual.
But I haven’t been really rejuvenating. Sometimes I do feel guilty about not doing work and feel like I have to get stuff done. But from what I’ve read, that does more harm than good so I’ll have to learn to detach myself completely.
Right now, my schedule is pretty consistent. I do mostly the same things every day for 5-6 days and don’t really do much on Sunday.
Now I’m batching all my writing on 1-2 Performance days. Batching video content on another Performance day.
And have books I want to read and watch on practice days to learn.
Right now my tentative schedule looks like:
Monday - Performance
Tuesday - Practice/Prepare
Wednesday - Performance
Thursday - Performance
Friday - Practice/Prepare
Saturday - Rejuvenation/Thinking
Sunday - Rejuvenation/Planning/Thinking
With every new routine, it’s gonna be messy in the beginning. So I’m just in the optimization phase of seeing what works now.
I’ve been through 2 performance days already this week and I am fried by the end. But it feels pretty fulfilling.
Too early to conclude any results, so I’ll report on progress as we go.
Week 41 Updates
I think everyone is addicted to momentum. Especially entrepreneurs and business owners.
I recently heard an interview from an MMA fighter and he said he was going through some bad depression after his last fight. He thought about throwing everything away.
But then he got a call to step in on short notice to fight an opponent this weekend and that got him out of the slump. I think I’ll do a more detailed write-up of my thoughts about this next week or in a future issue.
The reality is, momentum is fleeting. The dopamine highs are temporary. Then like a typical addict fashion, we seek that high again.
So I’m really trying my best to not get attached to momentum. Obviously, when it comes I’ll do my best to take advantage. But when it leaves, it’s goodbye until next time.
With that being said, we did generate a bit of momentum this past week.
I sent in a proposal to joint venture with an agency that manages one of the bigger stars in combat sports right now. I think we can do some cool things together since our offers are just different than any other players in the space.
And we may be getting our first successful referral coming in soon!
That’s pretty cool. I’ll get into more details about this when it’s official, but I’m using my talent scout brain for this one.
Other than that, we’re still growing:
1,739 (+59) = 1,798 subscribers
Grateful to anyone who’s reading this. And I’m grateful for this journey and the people I’m working with.
Let’s keep it rolling.
As always…
Trust the process, love the process.
Kevin