#96 Fear, Mindfullness and Procrastination

Transcript

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if you want to avoid.

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Looking back with regret, then you have to do the things that really scare you because yeah, there are no guarantees of success, of course, but the only guarantee of failure is not doing anything with your life.

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synchronicity, inner voice, intuition.

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when you make that decision, the transformation started.

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today.

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We have Scott Allen and I'm going to give you a little bit of background.

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Scott's mission is to unlock human potential.

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I definitely want to get into human potential, Scott.

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I love that topic.

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He brings over 10, 000 hours of research and practice in confidence, development, and mindset mastery.

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Scott Allen.

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Welcome to the show.

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Thanks for coming on, man.

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How's it going?

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It's great to be here.

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Thanks for having me on the show.

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Looking forward to great conversation.

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Yes, I'm ready.

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Let's go.

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You just came from Japan and we were just talking about like jet lag and having to 13 hour flights You definitely need to unlock some human potential to be able to handle that and be able to do what you're doing which is going on podcasts and Talking about your book and and I guess being at the forefront of this Just transformation, human transformation.

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I feel like what were your thoughts, the, the, uh, what are your thoughts on?

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Like, just, I feel like the human transformational, like success mindset, that industry is boosting right now.

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What are your thoughts?

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Yeah, I definitely think it is.

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Um, I'm not sure if it's always been boosting, but I find that it's in a better position these days more than it ever has been for people to, you know, transform their lives.

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And, uh, This can be, you know, transforming your life from a mindset perspective, or even from a physical perspective.

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In other words, you could move to the other side of the world if you want to, or you can stay at home and you can create something online.

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You can still connect with the world.

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So I think the transformation side of things, it's a, it's a decision as well, which we can get into a little bit later.

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That was, uh, I think it was an active decision I made years ago to change my life, which I've done several times.

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And it's probably how I ended up in Japan.

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I've been here for about 25 years, but it really was a journey of transformation and transformation is a bit of a sexy word.

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It sounds like it's a, you know, it's a, you know, interesting, fun, adventurous journey.

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And it is that stuff, but it's also going through a lot of growth pains as well to get there.

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So.

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You know, it's interesting because, and I think I say it's interesting because like in every episode, like this is just like the first five minutes, but I say that, um, yes, you're absolutely like, I, I 100 percent am on the same page with you because Especially with social media, a lot of, a lot of the times people don't share the growth period and you have to hop on a podcast to actually like talk about that growth period.

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And that's why I like talking to someone like you where we get to peel back the onion and the layers and talk about that story so that we know that it wasn't all Fun and games where it's like you don't just decide you want to transfer, you know, transform and change your life.

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And then, and then that's it.

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It's, it's like, it's the hero's journey.

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You have to go through some shit.

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And you started to allude to that.

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So I want to go into that.

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What, um, what started your journey to just be that coach, that strategist.

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That's a tongue twister there.

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And, um, Does it have to do with going to Japan?

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It leads up to going to Japan.

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So let's go back a few decades, maybe actually.

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So, so I'm from Canada originally and way back in the day, I think I was really into just doing a lot of partying and drinking and, and that was really fun for a while until it, uh, wasn't.

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And then when I tried to stop that lifestyle and this lifestyle at the time, probably when I was back in my.

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I guess earlier 20s, you know, for about, uh, yeah, in my 20s.

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Anyway, I was really into just a lot of that and, uh, um, had a lot of fun, but then when I wanted to stop the partying and the drinking, I couldn't, and, uh, When I tried to do that, I realized that I had this pattern of, you know, self sabotage, where it's just like, I would try to stop this, uh, you know, chaotic behavior of, um, you know, messing up my life again and again.

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And then I would stop for a little while, go back into it, stop for a while, go back into it.

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And when I finally got, uh, serious about it, well, I ended up in the hospital one too many times.

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And, you know, the doctors were like, if you come back here again, it might be the last time.

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And.

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For a lot of people, maybe that would get them thinking seriously about, um, stopping that, uh, you know, kind of behavior.

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But, uh, for me, it didn't.

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But what did bother me was living the rest of my life in the dark.

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like that.

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And, uh, there's something in me that just wanted to change.

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Like the transformation wasn't, uh, I wouldn't say it was a decision.

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There was just, there was something inside of me that really did want more out of my life than just what I was putting into it.

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And so I did eventually get some real help, got some sponsors and coaches and I got some people on board and they started showing me a different way of life.

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And the thing is, is like once the fog starts to clear and you start to see that there is a.

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Different way to live your life.

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You want more of that, right?

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And I did like I started to see that there was a different way to live.

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And once I started to get clear and sober and had clarity around what the hero's journey could actually look like, then I started reading these books on self help.

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And I remember one of the first books I read was Tony Robbins book, Awaken the Giant Within.

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I was in a bookstore one day, just walked in and I was looking for a new book to read because I was really hungry for this information.

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And there it was.

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And.

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read through it in a week or so.

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It's a pretty big book.

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And, um, you know, I started writing up my goals and I made a vision board and I started having a, a vision for this, you know, potentially like this new life.

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And part of it was, um, I think I wrote down my goals and one of my goals was I wanted to be an author, which is something I've wanted to do since I was a kid.

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And.

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The second thing is I wanted to travel the world, which was a new one because I'd never really had that as a goal before, but I'd never been anywhere before.

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And I was like, wouldn't it be interesting if I were to like, travel to Thailand and Vietnam and like, I made a list of all these countries that I wanted to, you know, um, go to.

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And so my vision board started to have pictures of all these places.

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And I started putting together this weird little, um, collage of, you You know, ideas and concepts and, um, you know, a lot of like, what ifs, like, what if, uh, I were to do this and, uh, the possibility started growing and this is where the transformation started to come because I got into the point where I realized, okay, like, wow, what if I were to actually do this thing?

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And then I just made the decision that, I'm going to do this thing.

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So I literally said, I'm going to, you know, I'm going to move to the other side of the world and I'm going to do it a year from now.

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And it wasn't going to Japan at that time.

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It was really just, I'm just going to move to, you know, I'm going to sell my car and my stereo.

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And that was really like all I had.

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So I didn't have a lot to get rid of, you know, but I did have a, you know, did have a career and a job and stuff like that and friends and family.

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But, uh, I was like, no, I'm going to do this thing.

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And the thing is when I made that decision, the transformation started to.

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I mean, what I mean by that is, you know, things started to appear synchronistically.

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I started to meet people who had done these things before and, you know, every time I would meet someone and they would share their story with me, I'm like, yeah, that's what I really want.

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So, um, you know, I had like, I gave myself a year to prepare and what actually ended up happening is about.

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I don't know, three or four months into my, you know, um, building my plan.

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I came across a job opportunity in Japan.

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I, I found this ad in the newspaper one day, just as I was scrolling through it, not scrolling through it, probably, I guess, breezing through the pages, you know, uh, we didn't even have internet back then.

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So there wasn't scrolling, there wasn't much scrolling done, you know, but, uh, yeah, I was browsing through the paper and, uh, found this ad and it said, yeah, supply now, teach English in Japan, and I just thought, That's a great idea.

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And I remember just taking a day to put together this resume and a fancy letter and, uh, set it off.

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And, um, next thing I knew I was in downtown Vancouver having this interview with this Japanese businessman who owned these schools overseas in Japan.

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And he was hiring people to, you know, bring them over and set them up.

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And I don't know, something about that, just like intuitively speaking, there was something like, I just knew I was on the right path.

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I didn't.

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I don't know the job, yet something inside me said, you're going to get this job.

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You're going to Japan.

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You know, it's like this, I don't know, inner voice.

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And I was like, okay, well, if that's the way it's going to be, that's the way it's going to be.

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I'm going that way anyway.

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Uh, yeah.

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said a lot of really interesting key words and phrases.

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Hmm.

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Mm

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synchronicity, inner voice, intuition.

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Um, when you make that decision, the transformation started.

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And it, it, and this is like the world that I work to help people live in.

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Where it's like you well before I even like I don't even go into me.

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I want to go into like You you had you were on your your your hero's journey, right?

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You made that decision and then things started to open up and I wanted to if if we were to have like binoculars or like a pause button and we can kind of like zoom in Csi style and kind of like refresh and kind of like get more clarity about like that period of your life I think that's huge and key.

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Um I think my grammar is all jacked up, but What some, what were some of the things that you did that helped you be more confident in those decisions and those sites of opportunities?

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Because myself, and I'm pretty sure you're similar, I come from a place of overthinking, over analyzing, and what ends up happening is you have a lack of clarity and you miss a lot of opportunities and these synchronicities are happening all around you and you miss them.

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I'm very curious, how did you maintain that ability

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Mm

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aware of the synchronicities?

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And if you don't mind, if you can remember, can you share one of them?

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Yeah, exactly.

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So yeah, looking back on that.

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I created I had to create the The dream before I was actually living in it.

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So in other words, you know, I had this plan to move overseas and I had the, I had no idea what that looked like.

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I mean, I'd never really been to another country before, but I had to build that, uh, vision in my mind as if it were already happening.

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So here's, here's something that I did.

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One thing that I did, I would go to the library or the bookstore.

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I would get more books on, uh, for example, how to, how to speak Thai or how to speak Vietnamese, right?

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And I would actually bring these books home.

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I remember they were, they were these little pocket books like that Burlesque used to put out.

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And what's interesting, years later, when I came to Japan, I ended up working for Burlesque for 20 years and that became one of my best friends.

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main jobs actually was, uh, doing cultural training, more of a later story, but that ties in with, you know, it was just interesting how I started learning these languages from these little Berlitz books I found in the bookstore.

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And, um, the reason for that is like, I had to, um, convince myself that this wasn't just a fairy tale that I was creating.

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Like I was really doing this thing.

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So it was like this unwavering, Decisionless commitment that was so deep that it was just unbreakable, and I had to create that in my mind.

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So, my roommates would come home after, you know, they were after work or after partying, and they're like, What are you doing?

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And I'd be like, you know, it'd be like midnight, and I'd be on my living room floor surrounded by all these books and, uh, speaking these weird languages and

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You nerd!

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Apes and stuff like that.

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Yeah.

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They're like, okay, you know, we knew that he was going to stop partying, but this is going a little bit too far, you know, cause you know, they were out there doing their thing and I was kind of like building this, my own little world.

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Right.

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So it was more than just having a vision board.

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I think that's a, that'll take you so far, but I did have to actually spend time immersed in that world, you know?

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And so, uh, the other thing he did is I, I joined this, um, it's like this weekly club that would meet up and these people would talk about their, uh, their traveling and these were people who had already been overseas and they were already traveling and they wanted to connect with people who, I guess they really missed it.

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So they were connecting with people who, uh, uh, you know, had already like gone overseas and had these adventures and I don't know, it was just kind of this club I joined, but I was one of the, you know, People in the group who actually hadn't been anywhere.

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So I was really just again.

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I just wanted to like something just, um, brought me into that group, you know, and, but, but then he would share the stories with me.

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And I would say, yeah, you know, I'd like to go to, you know, Bali and Australia.

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And I had this like list of all these places.

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And every time I would mention that, then somebody would say, oh, I've been there and you should go check out data.

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So I was just like, you know, collecting information as well.

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But every time I did, it was just like another, I think it was like another dot on the, uh, I guess if you, if you think of it as like, you know, a connector dots kind of thing, it was like every time I met somebody or I heard something, it was like connecting another dot that was moving me forward.

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Right.

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So everything that was happening was just, um, I felt like it was just, I Lining everything up, but the breaker really was when I found that opportunity in Japan and probably about again, you know, we're talking like two or three months into this decision that I made and I had the interview and then probably a couple weeks later, I got the job.

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Now, when that happened, I had about six or seven months to prepare because they had hired us probably like in October of 97 and we weren't leaving until March.

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Right.

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But that was the thing is like once it was a done deal, then there was no going back.

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Right.

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And now I had a plan.

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Now I had a commitment.

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Now I had a company that was invested in, you know, bringing me overseas.

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And, uh, it was good that I actually knew it way ahead of time.

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Cause it gave me more time to repair, um, as well, you know, but that was just the thing is like, I think none of this would have happened.

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Right.

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If, uh, just going back, uh, you know, like six months previously, if I hadn't made that decision to, uh, you know, do this thing and here's just one more quick little story to, um, at the time I was living in Vancouver, I am from Halifax originally and so when I finished university, there weren't any jobs around.

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So, you know, I was living at home with mom and dad.

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Um, I was working in the local pub and I, you know, I had a, you know, Uh, and electrical engineering degree and it's like nothing I could really do with it.

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So my friend out in B.

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C.

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said, Hey, why don't you come out here and, you know, look for a job?

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There's lots of jobs out, out here.

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And again, going back, uh, even before like going to Japan and all that, way before that, Um, I had to, uh, pack up all my stuff, leave my friends and family and move out West.

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And that was actually more of a scarier thing.

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But here's the thing, like the process was the same thing.

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Um, when my friends said that I made a decision like, Hey, I'm going to move out West and I don't know anybody, but I'm going to do it anyway.

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And I literally didn't know anybody.

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Right.

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And I'd never been anywhere that's had my little town, my little world.

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And so I was more of a, Probably afraid at that time to really venture out of my comfort zone and do anything.

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But here's the thing.

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I made the decision.

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I was going to do it.

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Mom and dad were all in because they didn't want me living at home till I was 15.

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So, uh, you know, I think you may have even bought me the plane ticket.

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I remember, you know, but, but I think also like really, they wanted me to, you know, succeed and get out there into the world and see what it's all about.

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Yeah.

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Here's a plane ticket.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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So that was just like, you know, it's like that.

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And it was like, so I had proven myself previously that I could do this thing.

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You know, once I make a decision, I follow through.

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You don't know what the outcome is going to be.

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And that's the thing is like, I think what holds a lot of people back.

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So like, well, you know, I might do this thing.

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It might not work out.

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And, and all that is true.

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But the thing is, If I hadn't done anything, if I had just stayed in my, you know, my, my safety zone and just, uh, you know, not taking a risk.

00:16:32.783 --> 00:16:47.793
Well, I don't know how things would have turned out, but all I can tell you is that where I'm at right now, looking back, I'm like, thank God I did those things, you know, and I think that's one of the things where, you know, if you want to avoid.

00:16:48.477 --> 00:17:00.398
Looking back with regret, then you have to do the things that really scare you because yeah, there are no guarantees of success, of course, but the only guarantee of failure is not doing anything with your life.

00:17:00.427 --> 00:17:04.327
And by that, I mean, everybody has to, they have to frame that up, you know, however way they want to.

00:17:04.327 --> 00:17:09.538
I'm not saying, you know, everyone has to move the other side of the world and start a new life and all that, but.

00:17:09.928 --> 00:17:15.528
Um, my intuition at the time, my intuition was telling me this is the way this is the path.

00:17:15.698 --> 00:17:18.637
And I do remember I was reading Joseph Campbell's book at the time.

00:17:18.637 --> 00:17:21.167
I think that was one of the books that I was going through.

00:17:21.167 --> 00:17:25.377
I remember thinking, wow, this is kind of similar to what I'm experiencing.

00:17:25.577 --> 00:17:29.857
And now when I look at it, when now, like I still have the, you know, still have the book, it's a big book.

00:17:29.857 --> 00:17:30.587
It's a big read.

00:17:31.067 --> 00:17:33.827
But when I read through it now, it just makes total sense to me.

00:17:33.857 --> 00:17:34.178
Right.

00:17:34.178 --> 00:17:37.147
So, um, anyway, I just want my favorite books.

00:17:37.238 --> 00:17:37.597
Yeah.

00:17:37.972 --> 00:17:41.752
I bet you the read now is going to be a completely different book.

00:17:42.002 --> 00:17:43.252
Mm, yeah.

00:17:43.413 --> 00:17:45.143
Or the audiobook, which I even like better.

00:17:45.782 --> 00:17:46.462
Yeah, yeah.

00:17:46.653 --> 00:17:50.002
I love the audiobooks when it's the author that says it, that's

00:17:50.113 --> 00:17:50.313
Mm hmm.

00:17:51.202 --> 00:17:51.553
Right?

00:17:51.553 --> 00:18:02.242
Cause it's, uh, I think on a deeper energetic level, if it's the person who wrote it speaking, um, more of the life of the book, more of the message of the book comes through.

00:18:02.252 --> 00:18:22.803
So, um, there's some books that, um, I'm not sure if you're familiar with David Wilcock, but he, he, he's written a couple books, but he goes, he goes into, he's got like a whole book on synchronicity, um, and it's amazing how you, you know, you have, you're an author and you, you write a book and then, um, if the longer the book, the longer you're going to be recording your voice.

00:18:23.633 --> 00:18:24.143
Mm hmm.

00:18:24.748 --> 00:18:32.428
Um, uh, so I, I hope if, if you haven't already, I hope that you, um, do the audio if for your book.

00:18:32.807 --> 00:18:42.667
Um, and then at the same time, uh, I also know that there's people saying, well, you know, um, AI is going to be able to read all your books.

00:18:42.667 --> 00:18:43.327
So blah, blah, blah.

00:18:43.627 --> 00:18:46.718
But there's this energetic thing behind it for sure.

00:18:47.298 --> 00:18:54.998
And, and do you use a lot of like, um, energy and mindfulness in your, in, in, in your strategy sessions with people?

00:18:55.307 --> 00:19:01.798
I'm, I'm curious because one key thing that pulled from just introducing you was unlocking human potential.

00:19:02.008 --> 00:19:04.698
And, and, um, maybe those are aligned.

00:19:06.442 --> 00:19:16.553
I used a lot of, um, well, we'll call them grounding techniques, I think, but, uh, the mindfulness, deep breathing exercise and, uh, eating well, like eating better.

00:19:16.553 --> 00:19:24.542
I used to, um, eat a lot of junk food and sugar and I've always been rather like into exercise and I go to the gym all the time and things like that.

00:19:24.742 --> 00:19:28.772
And sometimes it's really hard for me to get to the gym because I'll procrastinate before getting there.

00:19:29.413 --> 00:19:32.742
But these are all things that tie into, um, keeping.

00:19:33.673 --> 00:19:39.673
My mind and my body and my, you know, my spiritual essence, just present in the moment, right?

00:19:40.153 --> 00:19:43.022
So I rarely like worry about things.

00:19:43.063 --> 00:19:47.972
And when I do catch myself worrying about things, I remember like, Oh, well, this is part of the journey.

00:19:47.972 --> 00:19:55.813
You know, you're not supposed to, you know, like if you're worrying about something, it's maybe there's a problem or the, you need to solve, or maybe you just need to leave it alone.

00:19:55.813 --> 00:19:56.202
Actually.

00:19:56.212 --> 00:19:56.962
Sometimes that's.

00:19:57.367 --> 00:20:04.397
The best way to solve a problem sometimes is to just leave it alone and let the, it is, yeah, yeah.

00:20:04.458 --> 00:20:06.008
And I do that all the time.

00:20:06.008 --> 00:20:09.928
I'll start worrying about, you know, I don't, I don't, I don't have enough money for this and what am I going to do?

00:20:09.928 --> 00:20:17.968
And then suddenly, um, I remember, uh, you know, my old training will say, just let the universe handle it, right?

00:20:18.018 --> 00:20:19.097
It's bigger than you are.

00:20:19.097 --> 00:20:20.208
Let the universe handle it.

00:20:20.708 --> 00:20:23.337
And when I come back to that, um.

00:20:23.762 --> 00:20:24.833
I can just let it go.

00:20:25.563 --> 00:20:25.923
Right.

00:20:26.032 --> 00:20:35.873
But it's one of those things where, you know, you have to, I have to continue reminding myself that, um, you know, we're not here to worry about stuff.

00:20:35.873 --> 00:20:42.272
I mean, there's always stuff we can worry about and, you know, fret over and like what, you know, in the end, like, is it going to work out for me?

00:20:42.462 --> 00:20:43.482
Am I going to be okay?

00:20:43.492 --> 00:20:57.107
It's like, well, if you're doing what you're supposed to be doing, and you're just showing up every day and working at it, then it's You know, good things are going to come and that sounds a little bit woo, but it's actually just the way I roll into every day, you know?

00:20:57.157 --> 00:20:59.357
Um, I'm not huge on planning.

00:20:59.387 --> 00:20:59.788
Yeah.

00:20:59.788 --> 00:21:00.218
Yeah.

00:21:00.617 --> 00:21:01.857
We're all about the woo here.

00:21:02.137 --> 00:21:02.587
Yeah.

00:21:02.778 --> 00:21:03.577
Don't hold back.

00:21:03.738 --> 00:21:04.678
So I am in the right place.

00:21:04.738 --> 00:21:05.147
All right.

00:21:06.278 --> 00:21:06.627
Yeah.

00:21:07.657 --> 00:21:11.728
But, um, I don't do a lot of like lifestyle planning, but.

00:21:13.127 --> 00:21:17.968
I do believe in that, uh, you know, there is a, there is a bigger plan.

00:21:17.968 --> 00:21:18.958
There's a bigger picture.

00:21:19.548 --> 00:21:31.728
And I think that if we're to go back to the hero's journey, a lot of the, uh, the journey was really like, you know, it was certainly there's, there's challenges along the way, but that's where the good stuff is.

00:21:31.738 --> 00:21:40.897
It's like when it is challenging, um, when it's difficult, you know, I think a lot of people, when life gets difficult, they start to, um, complain about stuff.

00:21:40.938 --> 00:21:42.018
They started to complain about.

00:21:42.448 --> 00:21:44.038
People and their friends and their family.

00:21:44.038 --> 00:21:45.928
And why aren't things working out?

00:21:45.938 --> 00:21:55.557
And it's like, well, how do you know they're not working out just because it didn't work out today doesn't mean it's not going to work out next week or, you know, and you have to frame what that means.

00:21:55.557 --> 00:22:00.738
Like, what does it mean for your life to be, you know, for you to have your ideal lifestyle?

00:22:01.018 --> 00:22:11.843
And I think it's important to have a vision for how you want that to unfold because, um, although I said, I'm not big on planning, I do have, um, A plan for, you know, say the next year, right?

00:22:11.843 --> 00:22:22.173
I mean, I have my goals set up and I'm working towards those because if you don't have those, your plan is going to become a default plan that's going to be controlled by somebody else.

00:22:22.863 --> 00:22:33.113
So that was just one of the things I may have picked out from Jim Rowan or Tony Robbins back in the day, but I think it goes something like, you know, if you don't have a plan for your life, somebody else does.

00:22:33.663 --> 00:22:37.113
And I just, um.

00:22:38.083 --> 00:22:38.603
Don't like that.

00:22:38.603 --> 00:22:43.492
I just wanted to have, you know, control over my, you know, life's destiny, right?

00:22:43.512 --> 00:22:44.442
As much as I could.

00:22:44.442 --> 00:23:03.182
I mean, I think there's a certain level of control we don't have, but, uh, if I can influence anything along the path, whether it's a decision I have to make or an action at the take, and I think those are things we can always do, then, you know, I'll just figure out or not figure it out with something that I just know that this is something I need to do.

00:23:03.212 --> 00:23:04.173
So I'm just going to do it.

00:23:04.877 --> 00:23:19.077
And, um, it might be one of those hard things, by the way, you know, do the hard things first, might be one of those hard things I have to do that I've been avoiding, but once I take action on it, then, you know, I can clear that obstacle and move on to the next thing.

00:23:19.107 --> 00:23:19.468
So.

00:23:19.877 --> 00:23:25.698
It seems like, um, what you were talking about was, like, literally overcoming procrastination.

00:23:26.518 --> 00:23:27.157
Hmm.

00:23:27.498 --> 00:23:33.377
the, uh, the main thing about that, like you said, if you don't make a decision, someone else will.

00:23:34.057 --> 00:23:34.647
Um.

00:23:35.192 --> 00:23:42.042
Do you have any tips and techniques that, um, you can suggest with somebody that's dealing with procrastination?

00:23:42.053 --> 00:23:52.583
Because we live in a, in a world of, a world of abundant decisions and abundant excuses, right?

00:23:52.952 --> 00:24:00.167
And, um, It's interesting, you have one person that has, uh, more excuses than, um, reasons.

00:24:01.067 --> 00:24:02.998
And, you know, two people, right?

00:24:03.548 --> 00:24:11.857
Same background, just one person has less energy behind the, uh, excuses.

00:24:12.428 --> 00:24:20.728
And, you know, the other person soars, uh, so I'm very curious about it, because that's what you specialize in, helping people with overcoming procrastination.

00:24:21.198 --> 00:24:22.597
Um, what are some tips?

00:24:24.178 --> 00:24:35.907
Yeah, and I think the, um, specializing in procrastination really just comes from my own personal struggle with it and which is experienced with, you know, and we all procrastinate over to some degree.

00:24:36.438 --> 00:24:39.317
Now, Um, there are varying degrees of this as well.

00:24:39.718 --> 00:24:44.557
My level of procrastination was more if there is such a thing as chronic procrastination.

00:24:45.167 --> 00:24:56.238
I will put off things that are detrimentally damaging to, could be my financial being, my future, you know, things that need to be done that I'm avoiding.

00:24:56.508 --> 00:24:59.268
And we all may do this again to a certain extent.

00:24:59.827 --> 00:25:04.988
But giving an example, um, maybe not filing for your taxes, even though you're supposed to by law.

00:25:05.117 --> 00:25:05.887
I'm not saying I didn't.

00:25:05.887 --> 00:25:08.127
I always have filed my taxes, of course, and all that.

00:25:08.508 --> 00:25:09.048
For the record,

00:25:09.748 --> 00:25:11.438
yeah, yeah, for the record, exactly.

00:25:12.048 --> 00:25:21.298
But there are many instances where, over the years, I would push it off to the degree, to the degree where, like, I'd start to Put all my stuff together two days before it was due, right?

00:25:21.298 --> 00:25:24.647
And they have to stay up late for 48 hours working on this thing.

00:25:24.647 --> 00:25:28.307
And, and that I do not recommend right now.

00:25:28.307 --> 00:25:29.548
I could have avoided that.

00:25:29.548 --> 00:25:34.438
But when I look back over the course of the year, my plan was to show up at the end of every month.

00:25:35.557 --> 00:25:35.907
together.

00:25:35.907 --> 00:25:38.067
So at the end of the year, I didn't have to do that.

00:25:38.528 --> 00:25:42.907
And yet I did it for two or three years in a row, especially after I quit my full time job.

00:25:42.907 --> 00:25:45.647
And I went, um, as you know, an entrepreneur.

00:25:45.647 --> 00:25:49.897
And that was, uh, an exciting, you know, that's an exciting journey.

00:25:50.518 --> 00:25:53.147
But you have to realize that you also have to do your own taxes.

00:25:53.157 --> 00:25:56.758
So that was not a strength of mine was organizing this stuff.

00:25:57.018 --> 00:26:23.298
Anyway, I'm just using this as an example of, um, where I realized that at the time I had such a deep level of procrastination around things that I really didn't want to do that are really uncomfortable that, um, uh, you know, it was just, it was for me to get over that actually required, um, For me to actually write things down step by step.

00:26:23.298 --> 00:26:24.028
So here's what I did.

00:26:24.417 --> 00:26:37.157
Um, I actually went through and when I put together the do the hard things first book, I made a list of all the things that I was putting off, like things that I unfinished tasks, you know, work like it doesn't matter if it was a room that had been left.

00:26:37.438 --> 00:26:49.407
Uncluttered or I did not declutter it, whatever it was like, you know, a drawer that had all like a bunch of papers in it, whatever it was that I could find that was in chaos, I would just put it on my list as a thing to do.

00:26:49.998 --> 00:26:58.807
Now I had a long list of all these things and it was actually the greatest, the great thing about making that list, I realized is that it gave me clarity.

00:26:59.137 --> 00:27:11.163
So depending on who you talk to, I think that the reason that people Most people procrastinate is out of fear, but it's also a lack of clarity as to what they should be doing next.

00:27:11.163 --> 00:27:11.462
Right?

00:27:11.893 --> 00:27:19.752
So again, I had to make this list where all this stuff that was just unfinished in my life, it was actually living in my head.

00:27:19.873 --> 00:27:20.522
And that's the thing.

00:27:20.522 --> 00:27:22.833
And that's where that creates a lot of anxiety.

00:27:22.873 --> 00:27:24.593
You don't see it, but that's where it is.

00:27:25.103 --> 00:27:27.042
And, um, you know, anxiety.

00:27:27.042 --> 00:27:32.133
And then you've got, uh, you know, the, the fear of, um, like you just know.

00:27:32.532 --> 00:27:36.932
You have all this stuff to do and you're just putting it all off and you know, maybe just watching TV all the time.

00:27:37.583 --> 00:27:43.393
So what I did is I had my list and then I started to just, every day I would pick one thing on the list to do.

00:27:43.423 --> 00:27:55.442
Now it wasn't always the hardest thing on the list, but at this stage I just needed to take action on something because although it was very prolific, I think, and like when it came to writing books and putting books out there, like that's something I could do.

00:27:56.738 --> 00:28:00.637
Relatively easily, actually, because I, um, created a system for it.

00:28:00.637 --> 00:28:01.847
I trained myself to do this.

00:28:01.847 --> 00:28:13.377
So that part of the, you know, my lifestyle was good, but over here there's other stuff that I was just completely avoiding, you know, like, and you can do with like finances and, and there's the whole list of things, right?

00:28:14.028 --> 00:28:23.738
Um, and when I realized that I was avoiding those things, I thought, okay, well, what if I were to actually pay attention to this area of my life that I'm avoiding and.

00:28:24.167 --> 00:28:27.198
When I did start to pay attention to it, I put together an action list.

00:28:27.198 --> 00:28:30.738
Like, uh, I realized I had to learn certain things to get good at something.

00:28:31.167 --> 00:28:34.417
Now there are some things that, um, on this action list, by the way.

00:28:34.847 --> 00:28:40.488
Um, one of the reasons we procrastinate is because we don't know how to do something and we don't always want to ask for help either.

00:28:40.498 --> 00:28:40.807
Right.

00:28:41.428 --> 00:28:46.958
And there are things on the list where it's like, I don't want to do this thing, but it has to be done.

00:28:47.018 --> 00:28:47.468
Right.

00:28:48.117 --> 00:28:48.548
So.

00:28:49.343 --> 00:28:50.623
Does it have to be done by me?

00:28:50.663 --> 00:28:53.863
No, I could actually hire someone to do this thing.

00:28:54.232 --> 00:29:03.353
I mean, I could hire someone to organize my files or, you know, um, help me out with my taxes or whatever it was, whatever the thing that I was getting stuck in.

00:29:03.712 --> 00:29:10.633
There's gotta be a way to get it done because that's the thing too, is people always think, well, maybe, you know, I'm the one that has to do this thing, but no.

00:29:10.972 --> 00:29:12.553
The goal is to get the thing finished.

00:29:12.792 --> 00:29:14.972
It doesn't matter if you have to hire someone to do it or not.

00:29:14.982 --> 00:29:16.823
And I outsource things all the time in my business.

00:29:16.853 --> 00:29:18.452
And there's a lot of things that I don't want to do.

00:29:18.782 --> 00:29:22.712
So I will just, uh, you know, if I have enough cashflow, I would just outsource it to somebody.

00:29:22.712 --> 00:29:26.442
So, um, I guess my tip though, for, you know, if you're.

00:29:26.903 --> 00:29:28.252
Um, really procrastinating.

00:29:28.363 --> 00:29:35.593
And again, we all do this to a certain degree, but really it just comes down to, um, you don't have to really figure all the whys, like, you know, why am I procrastinating?

00:29:35.603 --> 00:29:36.303
It doesn't matter.

00:29:36.313 --> 00:29:40.123
The thing is, you are, so just make a, make a short list.

00:29:40.123 --> 00:29:41.502
I mean, I had a list of hundreds of things.

00:29:41.542 --> 00:29:45.942
Maybe you just have five things on your list and then just pick one thing on that list.

00:29:45.972 --> 00:29:47.492
It's just like project management too.

00:29:47.742 --> 00:29:52.542
You got a project, you need to know the action steps required to move forward towards this project.

00:29:52.542 --> 00:29:52.792
Maybe it's.

00:29:53.327 --> 00:29:56.518
One thing a day, one thing a week, and now you've got clarity.

00:29:56.538 --> 00:29:58.298
And again, clarity is the key.

00:29:58.548 --> 00:30:04.067
Having it down on paper, you know, sure you can type it up in your computer, but I mean, I don't know.

00:30:04.077 --> 00:30:05.667
We get so many digital files in there.

00:30:05.667 --> 00:30:16.798
I prefer to just have it, you know, on paper, on a checklist, and then I'll just keep it on my desk and then it's there in my space, like the vision board that I would use to, uh, you know, get from here to there.

00:30:17.117 --> 00:30:20.018
Well, the action list that I have, all these things that I'm putting off.

00:30:20.643 --> 00:30:29.002
Um, it's like a big to do list, really, but I mean, it's better to have that than to have nothing, or to have it all swimming around in your head, you know, where things get lost, so.

00:30:29.057 --> 00:30:29.788
I agree.

00:30:29.827 --> 00:30:30.438
Yes.

00:30:31.067 --> 00:30:34.708
When you're trying to remember everything What what is that?

00:30:34.708 --> 00:30:49.613
Um phrase a uh, A short pen is better than a long memory or something like that or something like that where it's just like The mind is amazing, but it's not that amazing.

00:30:49.732 --> 00:30:49.873
hmm.

00:30:50.823 --> 00:30:51.242
Yeah.

00:30:51.323 --> 00:30:53.202
we have a limited, a short term memory.

00:30:53.583 --> 00:30:58.093
Um, you can't just shove everything in there and you can only grab so many groceries on the way to the car

00:30:58.512 --> 00:30:59.202
Mm hmm.

00:30:59.262 --> 00:30:59.803
the house.

00:31:00.282 --> 00:31:00.633
Right.

00:31:00.673 --> 00:31:03.613
I, I think I've tried to fit like 10 bags at once.

00:31:03.613 --> 00:31:06.222
I'm like, never again, my fingers are gonna fall off.

00:31:07.593 --> 00:31:15.893
And that's like, that's how I usually say to people, like, you know, when you're trying to like, just remember everything, uh, when, with your clients, I'm curious.

00:31:17.042 --> 00:31:31.913
Is there anything that is, or what's the most common thing that they run into that you're seeing with, with procrastination as like a reason or just like a thing more recently that people are running into?

00:31:33.133 --> 00:31:41.917
Depends on what they're working on, but for the most part, um, They're afraid to take action on something because, uh, they think they might fail at it.

00:31:41.928 --> 00:31:47.048
So actually, let's use, uh, I coach a lot of people on, um, the book publishing process, actually.

00:31:47.577 --> 00:31:52.688
So one of the things that we procrastinate on in this process is actually writing the content.

00:31:52.758 --> 00:32:00.647
Because, yes, it is hard to do this, but, uh, if you just break it down into little steps, like showing up, uh, my process is very simple.

00:32:01.208 --> 00:32:08.377
Um, know what you're writing about, show up every day for one hour, Write a thousand words or 500 words and do that for 60 days.

00:32:08.397 --> 00:32:09.377
And you've got your book done.

00:32:09.938 --> 00:32:12.018
Now it sounds easy when I say it.

00:32:12.288 --> 00:32:20.678
And actually, when you break it down into small steps, you can write a manuscript in 60 days, or you can build a business or whatever it may be.

00:32:20.678 --> 00:32:20.948
Right.

00:32:20.948 --> 00:32:38.282
So, uh, we just, uh, take, uh, the goal, which is, you know, again, just, I'm using to write a book as an example, but you can use it for anything, break your goal down into, um, Daily steps of just, you know, like little, I guess baby steps, little tasks that they can take.

00:32:38.313 --> 00:32:43.772
Because again, uh, the one thing that they get stuck on is moving forward because it's very overwhelming.

00:32:43.778 --> 00:32:52.833
And I think that's one of the reasons, uh, another reason we procrastinate is because we get overwhelmed with all the things that we, you know, like, how am I gonna make this whole thing work?

00:32:52.833 --> 00:32:58.563

#96 Fear, Mindfullness and Procrastination | Scott Allen

Scott Allan

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