Getting After It

065: Main Character Energy – Taking Charge of Your Life's Plot

• Brett Rossell • Season 3 • Episode 65

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Have you ever stopped to think that every small decision you make is actually writing the epic story of your life?

In this episode, I dive into how our everyday choices shape the narrative we're all part of. I'll walk you through the chapters of life where I had to summon the hero within—sharing pivotal moments where facing adversity was key to my personal growth. By stepping into the protagonist's role in our own stories, we unlock the power to craft a saga filled with bravery and intention.

Remember those little moments that seem so simple yet overwhelmingly significant? That's where life's true magic lies—in the simplicity and depth of our connections. Reflecting on an evening with my wife, Ally, I explore how living with purpose is deeply rooted in love and companionship.

True wealth is found in meaningful relationships and heartfelt pursuits, far beyond any material achievements.

We'll round off our journey by tackling the myriad challenges that shape the contours of our narrative. From my first run to completing a half marathon, the path to a healthier lifestyle is fraught with internal and external battles that test our character.

I'll share candid insights into how I've overcome these struggles. You're invited to see life through the lens of a story, understanding that each action and decision contributes to the overarching narrative.

By living authentically and on your own terms, the chapters of your life will not only inspire personal growth but also ripple out to touch the lives of those around you.

Follow on Instagram: @gettingafterit_

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I hope you've enjoyed today's discussion and that it's ignited a fire within you to pursue your dreams and embrace your true potential. (If it was helpful, share it with someone you think could benefit.)

If you're hungry for motivation, personal development, and career insights, be sure to subscribe to the podcast on your favorite platform. I try to have a diverse lineup of guests, each with their own unique stories and experiences to share.

Remember, this podcast is all about you—the dreamers and the doers. I'm here to provide a platform where your voice can be heard, where you can find inspiration, and where you can learn from the journeys of others who have dared to chase their dreams.

If you are interested in being a guest, reach out.

I appreciate your support, let's connect on social media. Follow us on Instagram (@gettingafterit_) to stay updated on new episodes and behind-the-scenes content.

Remember, your dreams are within reach. You just have to decide to Get After It.

Speaker 1:

If there are things in your life that don't matter to you, get rid of them. Do not spend time on them and try to avoid them if you can, because life is short and you want to spend time doing things that matter. Alright, hey, everybody, welcome back. I am thrilled to come to you today from Las Vegas. I'm visiting my wife down here. She continues to train and I'm in the hotel room and just hanging out. You know so podcast from the hotel. From the video you might be able to see some weird things in the background, but you know that's okay.

Speaker 1:

I'm pumped to talk to the topic that we're going to be covering today, because this is something that's become really, really important to me recently, actually, and my wife and I we talk about this all the time, but really that we are creating a life story that if millions of people were reading that story, what would we want it to say? And I want to start by just at least posing that question to you If your life was a book read by millions, what story would you want to tell, and can you change that? So that is the preface of what we're going to be covering today. It's just I want to talk about the importance of what it means to actually be the protagonist of your own story, be the hero of your own story, and what it means to actually write that down so live a life that you're proud of. That's pretty much what we are talking about today, but there's a few things that I'll be covering today, things from the significance of our decisions, daily decisions, no matter how big or small they are. The second is vision having a clear vision of where you want to be, what you want to do and who you want to become, what it means to overcome obstacles and how. That's a necessary but challenging part of this whole process. It's necessary because you need to be challenged.

Speaker 1:

No good story has no antagonist, right Like. There's always going to be someone who's pushing you and pushing your limitations and just pushing you to do things that you're not comfortable with, and that's okay. That's what an antagonist does. But in every good movie, every good book, the antagonist is always defeated by the protagonist, and that's the same thing that I want to kind of illustrate for you today, too, is think about yourself as, like spider-man, you're fighting the green goblin. Okay, you're going through life, and one of your obstacles is you know it could be discouragement. Fight that green goblin, go beat him and you'll come out better on the other side. Again, we'll talk about that, because it's one of my favorite things to go into and again, I know I talk about this a lot.

Speaker 1:

But the fourth thing I want to really cover today is reflecting self-reflection and what that means for crafting and cultivating our own stories. So there's a lot that we're going to go into today, but starting off, I want to talk about the importance of daily decisions and how they shape our story, because that's where it starts. You could go through life and try and pick every easy decision your way, and that's fine. You can do that. It all depends on what you want. But the point is is going back to the question I brought up at the beginning is if your life was a book being read by millions, what story would you want to tell? Do you want to be pretty boring Like or do you want to leave a legacy? That should be something that you consider a lot.

Speaker 1:

But let's start with how our decisions and small are literally the pen strokes in the narrative of our own lives. I've been fascinated recently with just how the smallest decisions can lead to great achievements further down the road. Something that I recognized when I was doing some research on this was the butterfly effect, and I'm sure that you've heard this before, but there's a quote or an old parable, I don't know what you call it, but basically the idea is when a butterfly flaps its wings, it causes a hurricane on the other side of the world because that wind pushes and it, you know, goes down there. So that small act of the butterfly flapping its wings and creating that small, tiny, insignificant amount of wind will literally lead to a hurricane down the road. Not sure how accurate that is, but that's basically what we're talking about today with. Like, it does not matter how small you think these decisions are in your life or the small progress that you're making. It can lead to big achievements down the road, in greatness, and that's the thing is. You just lead to big achievements down the road and greatness, and that's the thing is. You just have to remember that, and we'll talk about vision and what that means.

Speaker 1:

But there is a science of decision making and every choice has a consequence, from the mundane to the monumental. It literally scripts our path, like it writes out what we are doing. If you make a big decision like maybe you're speeding down the road, you're going 100 miles an hour, guess what? You're going to get a ticket, but that's your choice to go super fast, right? Same principle applies with, like, small things. If you're, you know, eating 100 extra calories every day, then you're still in a surplus and eventually that's going to pack on some pounds. It's going to take a long time, but you will start gaining weight. And it's like those small decisions like do you want to eat a piece of fruit or do you want to eat that donut in the morning, like they're small decisions but they will leave an impact and that's something that's kind of important to recognize. It's like we some at least I do. I push off the small decisions a lot of the time and I say, you know, those don't really matter, like what's that going to do? It's fine. Today's a good example. This is me going to come clean.

Speaker 1:

I had a 16 mile run today and I woke up and I was already in a rough mindset because I was pretty tired the night before, a little sore, and because I'm training for an ultra marathon and I was projected to do a 46 mile week um today. And I got up this morning and made a piece of toast, ate a banana, talked to my wife and she had eight miles, and so she was running next to me and I'm running on the treadmill and I'm just like my body was shot. I was so tired and I'm embarrassed that I got to say this, but it's true. I um, I've been going hard all week and not trying to hype myself up, but I'm just trying to get this vision out there because this can happen and because I was feeling good. I was feeling all right, or no, I was not feeling good. I was not feeling all right. Sorry, my brain's all over the place right now, but I got to like 10 miles and I was like I really have six more, that I got to get done and I was pushing it. I was pushing it, I was running hills and I finally quit around mile 13.18 or something.

Speaker 1:

So I ran a half marathon, but it wasn't 16 miles and as I was on the treadmill, I literally convinced myself to not go out and finish that because I was like, no, I'm tired, I'm tired. And I kept on thinking about that. But this small decision caused me to not hit the goal that I wanted to, which, if I keep that up, will lead me to not be able to do an ultra marathon. And so that's the point I'm trying to make is like, no matter how small you think that they are, like these decisions I hit all my miles this week. Like these decisions I, um, I hit all my miles this week except for three. And those three miles, you know, will compound if I don't confront that challenge and just say you know what, you got to dig deep.

Speaker 1:

When that happens, when you're tired and your body's hurting, you got to dig deep, you got to find that fire inside you. And it goes back to the vision that I have for myself like I want to be one of the best runners that I can be, and that requires a lot of discipline and effort and trying and just putting yourself in uncomfortable situations. But the same principle applies to the goals that you have too. You're going to be uncomfortable at times, and that's okay, it's just are you able to push through that discomfort and keep going and ultimately become the person that you see yourself becoming and you want to become? That's really what it comes down to is just like you have to spend time thinking about where you want to be and make very small decisions to get there, because those small decisions will have a compounding effect. It's like compound interest. If you're an investor, you know exactly what this is. You start out with a small amount of money and you invest it and the first few years it's not going to really change that much until that interest starts to compound and then the next year it doubles and whatever. But compounding interest is kind of the same principle with small decisions, no matter if they're good or bad. Like if you're making good choices, like going to the gym, that's a small decision every single day but that'll have lasting results for you and you'll feel healthy, you'll feel strong and you'll probably start living a better life. And same thing goes for, like your, your spouse and I.

Speaker 1:

Um, I referred back to the story that I I had when I had John Nelson on this podcast. But I talked about the story where my mentor, bryce, was telling me how this couple that he he knew, um, they were married for 25 years and they just stopped doing the small things. And because they stopped doing the small things like going out on date night and talking to each other at the end of the night, hearing about each other's goals, putting one another first. You know those small things. They stopped doing them and what did that lead to? It led to them getting a divorce. And so there are like I'm just trying to tell you that little, small decisions have huge, lasting impacts, because you are a product of your habits, and habits are ultimately just small things that you do every single day to help you become the person you want to be, and that's why it's important to be able to identify good and bad habits, like where do you want to improve, where do you want to get better at? So just think about that for a bit, because there really is super it's like a superpower If you're able just to make small decisions every day that help you get one step closer to your goal. So think about that, do some self-reflection and just try.

Speaker 1:

But I want to go into talking about having like a setting, a vision for your life story, starting out with a quote from Stephen Covey. He says a mission statement is something you write, or is not something you write overnight, but fundamentally, your mission statement becomes your constitution, the solid expression of your vision and values. It becomes the criterion by which you measure everything else in your life. So you have to have a clear vision for yourself. That's what he's trying to say here, and a mission statement is not something that you write overnight. That's what he's trying to say here, and a mission statement is not something that you write overnight, like I don't want you to hear this podcast and then like, sit down and be like, okay, nope, I'm going to become this person or I'm going to do this with my life. No, you have to think about this thing. You have to really be intentional with your thoughts and what you're doing to get to that next level right. And having a clear vision has been a game changer, for me at least. It's like having a map for your story, and I'll talk about some exercises that I do that have helped me be able to guide my decisions in my actions based on my vision for myself, and really I I've gotten so much clearer of a vision by being married to Allie. She's helped me understand the things that matter in life and the things that I want to do.

Speaker 1:

I read this quote Paul Graham is one of my favorite writers, but he just writes out essays all the time and they're all free online. You should go check them out, but there's this one that I there's this one essay that he wrote called Life is Short, and it's one of my favorites. I read it. I've read it twice, but I found it last week and it's a little bit long, but honestly, I would go and read it if you can, because it just talks about how it's important to avoid things that don't matter in life. And there's one quote that I'm going to read really quickly because it's important and he makes a really good point that, like everyone is different, everyone's going to have a different clear vision for themselves or whatever that might be, um, but it's important just to recognize that. You know, this isn't a eternal life that we have here on earth. Um, I believe in God, I believe that we'll be able to live with him after this life, but on earth it's not an infinite experience, it's very finite. Actually, life is short, like Paul Graham talks about. But I want to just say this quote real quick sorry, I'm pulling it up really fast and just think about this for one second.

Speaker 1:

So he says this and apologize for the language as well as avoiding bullshit, one should actively seek out things that matter, but different things matter to different people and most have to learn what matters to them. A few are lucky and realize early on that they love math or taking care of animals or writing, and then figure out a way to Spend a lot of time doing that. But most people start out with a life that's a mix of things that matter and things that don't, and only gradually learn to distinguish between them. And that's the quote. But he makes a really good point at the end of that is that you have to start gradually determining for yourself what matters to you and what doesn't. And the point that Paul Graham makes in that essay is, if there are things in your life that don't matter to you, get rid of them. Do not spend time on them and try to avoid them if you can, because life is short and you want to spend time doing things that matter. And I would agree with that, because I get so caught up in work and in pursuing my goals that oftentimes I forget about the little beauties of life, and that's why I said Ali's helped me so much with this, and that's why I said Allie's helped me so much with this.

Speaker 1:

I'm here down in Vegas and last night was one of the best nights I've ever had with her and it was just fun because we were just hanging out together and making small memories in this little hotel room. But we went out to dinner. Well, we played pickleball and then we went out to dinner. We came back to our hotel room, we built a little Lego set and then we literally just to dinner, we came back to our hotel room, we built a little Lego set and then we literally just like, talked for the rest of the night and held each other and, you know, spent time with one another.

Speaker 1:

And if you're going to ask me the question of what matters most to me, it's Allie. And so what does that mean for me? What's my vision? It means that I want as many moments like that that I can get with her, because this life is short and I want to make as many memories as I can with my wonderful, beautiful wife so that I can always reflect on them and, when I'm on my deathbed, not think about if I was, you know what could have happened if I spent more time at work, or I don't care about that stuff. I mean it's important.

Speaker 1:

You need to have discipline and you need to have a clear um, I guess trajectory for your career, because if you don't have a career and you're not spending time, um, taking care of the people that you love, then that's not good either. Like you're not going to be able to make, um, good memories with those that you love, then that's not good either. Like you're not going to be able to make good memories with those that you care and love about. But my vision for my life is very simple and it's to have a family with Allie, be able to help other people and make a difference. That's really it. Like I just want to help people. I just want to have little moments like last night when Allie and I just spent time together and like it was just the best. There's just so much love there, and I know I'm getting kind of cheesy here, but like that matters way more to me than anything else. Like cut off my legs, don't let me run ever again. As long as I'm with Allie, I don't care, because when I was up in Utah and I was at my actual house, it didn't feel like home and I was like you know what People always get so distracted with. Like you know, I want the biggest house, I want the biggest car. Does that matter, though Doesn't matter down the road. Will it matter to you and Paul Graham? He makes this other clear note in his essay towards the very end. But he says he says this let's see. It's kind of long, but I want to read it because it's very important. Let's see. Apologize for this, technical difficulties. Here we go, okay, so listen to this.

Speaker 1:

The usual way to avoid being taken by surprise by something is to be consciously aware of it. Back, when life was more precarious, people used to be aware of death to a degree that would now seem a bit morbid. I'm not sure why, but it doesn't seem the right answer to be constantly reminding oneself of the grim reaper hovering at everyone's shoulder. Perhaps a better solution is to look at a problem from the other end. Cultivate a habit of impatience about the things you want to do. Don't wait before climbing that mountain or writing that book or visiting your mother. You don't need to be constantly reminding yourself why you shouldn't wait. Just don't wait. I can think of two more things one does when one doesn't have much of something. Try to get more of it and savor what one has. Both make sense. People loved so much, as a darker cousin, that prevents you from pausing to save her life amid the daily slurry of errands and alarms.

Speaker 1:

One of the most striking things I've read was not in a book but the title of one, james Salter's Burning the Days. So I'm sorry that was a little long, but very important. Are you burning your days that's really what I wanted to get at here and are you putting the things that matter to you above other things that don't? Because that's important. You have to do that. You need to be able to understand what's important to you and craft the vision around that, because life is short and it's difficult.

Speaker 1:

But next point I want to cover is that everyone is going to have obstacles. Roger crawford says this being challenged in life is inevitable, but being defeated is optional. Today on the treadmill, I was defeated by my run, but that's okay. Okay Because I was challenged and you know what I'm going to brush that off, learn from it, realize I probably wasn't properly fueled and just get right back into my routine. And every good story needs a challenge. Right, like without Thanos, the Avengers wouldn't do anything, they'd just sit around. Without Voldemort, harry Potter would have probably just graduated fairy school. Or without Darth Vader, what would Luke do? He'd probably just be hanging out with his aunt and uncle on Tatooine? I think that's where it was. Was Tatooine? Someone comment down below if it wasn't Tatooine? I think that's where it was. Was tattooing? Someone comment down below if it wasn't tattooing. But every person, every story that you want to read, has someone who's going to push you and challenge you.

Speaker 1:

I've had my fair share of antagonists, both internal and external, like external being my health issues or, you know, my body giving up on me, like today or anything like that. An internal being in my mind. The mind game is way harder, if you ask me, than the external game. Someone could come up to me, talk, trash to me, whatever. I'll brush it off because I know that person's probably not getting after it like me. And the internal game is the one that I battle with all the time. And so, going back to that, having someone like Allie to ground me and talk to me and help me, has been monumental in my transformation and ultimately, in my growth. Without her I would just be stuck in my mind and she slaps me around in the best way possible and it's all out of love, but she gets me out of my head and that's so important.

Speaker 1:

But let's discuss how we can identify these challenges and turn them into opportunities for growth. First thing I want to talk about is growth. What is a growth mindset? I'm sure you've heard that tossed around all the time. You need to have a growth mindset if you want to be successful in life. Right? Like I'm sure you've heard that, a growth mindset to me means that, no matter what you do, no matter what comes your way, you're looking for either a lesson that can be learned or you're trying to make the most out of the situation. But everything is going to teach you a lesson, no matter what challenge it is. It will teach you a lesson, good or bad, and it goes back to those daily decisions. But those small things will compound and guess what? Like depending on what you do, challenges will be brought up.

Speaker 1:

Let me give you an example. If you're trying to live a healthier lifestyle and maybe you want to get into running because they talk about it all the time and you're like, hey, brett talks about running all the time, maybe I'm going to go try that, I'm going to see how he does it, how I feel, all that stuff and maybe you just start running and then you run a mile. You feel good. Next day you run another one. You feel pretty good, take a break, run two the next day, whatever. But you're making these small decisions and guess what? After a month you're feeling good. You're running a lot, your body's adapting to it, you're learning what works, what doesn't.

Speaker 1:

Three months go by, guess what? Maybe you sign up for a half marathon. Six months go by, you run that race, you kill it, you do great, and then you say what's next? But it all started with the decision of hey, I'm going to go out and try to run right, and it led to that trajectory that you're on now. The same thing can go with bad decisions.

Speaker 1:

And well, I want to talk about the challenges of running and stuff first, because the point I'm trying to make is that, no matter what path you take, there's going to be challenges down the road. So if you're trying to live more healthy and you're running a lot, well, guess what I'll tell you from firsthand, firsthand experience you're going to be sore, you'll probably have some knee issues and you're going to have to learn how to take care of yourself. You're going to have to learn how to fuel. These are all challenges that take a while and if you ask any runner, they'll say the biggest thing that they struggle with is fuel. Like what do I need to eat? How do I stay? Like all these things that are super important to them, but they're all challenges that they have to fix and figure out which, ultimately, will make them better.

Speaker 1:

Right, but it's because you took the good path and now for the bad path, I'm going to say you don't want to live a healthy lifestyle. Instead, maybe you've lived a healthy lifestyle for five years and you're getting burned out and you're like you know what I'm done? No more going to the gym, I'm not meal prepping, I'm done with chicken, broccoli and rice. Here's what I'm doing. I'm going to go to the store. I'm getting as many Pop-Tarts as I want some pizza.

Speaker 1:

Obviously, this is a little intense of an example, but the principle applies. And so maybe you're saying that and you say, okay, well, I'm gonna go eat all this food, and maybe it's not that extreme at first, but you're like, oh, I've lived a healthy lifestyle, I'm gonna eat that's that, uh, that pizza real quick. And you eat that one day and then you're like, dang, three days go by and you're like, oh, that pizza was good, but you know, what sounds good right now is like I'm gonna eat like some of those zebra cakes that I just bought and then eat a whole box of zebra cakes and you're still relatively healthy. But three months go by, you've kind of slacked off with going to the gym. You know, with your diet for sure you're like, ah, man, I'm sick of eating all that bland food.

Speaker 1:

I'm moving on to something else, and these small choices that you've decided to make will lead to challenges like heart disease or obesity, and you'll start realizing that, like, hey, guess what? Just like a runner, your knees are going to hurt because they're going to have to carry more weight around. And I'm not trying to shoot anyone in the foot or whatever the phrase is, but I'm not trying to shoot anyone in the foot or whatever the phrase is, but I'm not trying to point anyone out. But, like, you're going to have challenges either way. Either way, if you pick the good path or the bad path depending on what you view as the good or bad path there will be challenges. No matter what.

Speaker 1:

We'll say the easy path versus the difficult path, there's going to be challenges on either one. An easy life is not an easy life, in my opinion, because what I mean by that is, like, if you just go through, you do the motions, you don't really take too much care about things, it's going to be hard to be able to feel confident about the things that you're doing right, like, and again it goes back to if a million people were reading my book right now, what story would I want to tell? So think about that. But these challenges that you will face will help you become stronger in character If you're able to withstand them, if you're able to grow and find the opportunity within them, and then, like, guess what? You're going to become a better person.

Speaker 1:

But there's a couple, a couple obstacles I want to talk about, so internal, like I said, that's been the hardest one for me and things like fear or doubt, or discouragement from yourself, like those are all hard, hard battles that most people face, myself included. Like I can't tell you how many times I doubt myself or discourage myself, like nah, like today on the run, like if I had a different mindset, I can almost guarantee you I could have done it, because I've done it many times, but I was just was not in the mindset. And that's okay, because I learned from that and said you know what? I have evidence that I've run that far in the past. I know I can do it and so I'll just make some changes. I'll brush it off and learn from the experience and become better the next time. So think about that. But the other thing for like external it could be things like societal pressures.

Speaker 1:

I've shared many times on this podcast that, like when I go, I used to go out to to dinners or lunches with my family or business colleagues and I'd get judged all the time for ordering things like salads or the healthier parts of the menu. And it wasn't up until I talked to Allie about this um that I used to get so judged and I used to take that internally and then I would feel bad about myself. I could be like man, we're all here at this restaurant. They all got like you know regular food, or you could call it that, and I'm over here with like a chicken salad. I love chicken salads. I it's like my favorite food is a chicken salad. I love chicken salads.

Speaker 1:

It's like my favorite food is a salad, and I know it's hard to believe, but like people always would judge me, they'd be like you're not going to have some of this pizza, I'd be like no, I'd rather have a salad because it makes me feel better. And I always felt guilty when I'd go out and I wasn't eating what other people were eating. It's kind of ridiculous, but like that societal pressure was always on me. And so I talked to ali about this one time and I was like, hey, I know it's. Uh, this is a little silly, but like I always feel bad when, like you know, and sorry to call him out, but like my brother would always be like brad with the salad, you know, he'd always call me out and I'd be like man, it always makes you feel bad when he says stuff like that. And and Ali was like you know what, that's who you are, and we've been talking a lot about being authentically who we are and being who we are on purpose.

Speaker 1:

Shout out to Dr Phil, because I'm reading his book right now. It's called We've Got Issues and he talks a lot about that like be who you are on purpose and be proud of that person. So I am proud of the fact that I go out and I eat salads because it makes me feel good and I enjoy it. It's my favorite, and so I've learned to put that external pressure aside, because, again, it's my story, not anyone else's. They can have their judgments, they can tell me that I'm too strict on my diet and I need to balance it out. Whatever, it doesn't matter.

Speaker 1:

I am fully under the impression that I want to live a life that I'm proud of, and so other people's opinions will come and go, but the opinions that matter the most to me are my own and my wife's, that's it, and my family's maybe, but really it's just those two, because I look at Allie and I as one person, and so, yes, Anyways, challenges are inevitable, but how you confront them is critical, and the last thing I really want to talk about today is just hyping yourself up. Honestly, I was talking to Allie about this the other day and I was like you know, sometimes I just want a soundtrack to my life, and so I'll put my headphones in, maybe I'll turn on like Prince, you know, or something to boost my mood, get me in the zone, and it's just kind of fun to boost my mood, get me in the zone, and it's just kind of fun, and so I just try my best to always think about that Like I'm in my own movie, and so I think about that too. Like if I'm stuck in bed and I can't get out of bed, I'm super tired.

Speaker 1:

I think to myself, hey, what would the main character in a movie do? Would Rocky stay in bed? Probably not. I'm super tired. I think to myself, hey, what would the main character in a movie do? Would Rocky stay in bed? Probably not. I'm going to get up. That's literally.

Speaker 1:

I think about that kind of stuff all the time. Or like when I'm going and like work is hard and I'm telling myself like I can't do this anymore, like I just got to take a break, I say, hey, what would the main character of a movie do? No, he'd grind. Like this is just part of my montage segment, you know, where Rocky's punching stuff and I just have to endure. And so that's why I love running, because it teaches you how to endure, how to endure the mundane, how to endure the boring, how to endure when it's hard, how to endure when you don't have any fuel in you and you're just grinding right. Like. It teaches you all these lessons, and they're all crucial and critical lessons.

Speaker 1:

But you got to think of yourself as the main character of your movie of your book, of your story, and live life like that, live life as if everyone was watching you and they were wanting to be entertained or they were wanting you to succeed. And so I think about that a lot and, because life is short, I want to do the things that matter and I want to leave an impact. And I want to leave an impact. So by working hard, by staying disciplined, by being consistent with the things that I do, I'm able to reach that point and become a little bit better every single day. And the same thing can go to you is if you think about yourself as if you were, let's say, harry Potter. Okay, harry Potter would be a crappy movie if you know, all of a sudden, he's like man, I'm the. Is he the chosen one? I don't know. He might be the chosen one If he says man, I'm the chosen one, but I'm tired today. Yeah, people are dying from this big snake in the school. Whatever, who cares? That would be a pretty bad movie and Harry Potter probably wouldn't succeed.

Speaker 1:

So same thing goes to you like thinking of yourself that way and imagine yourself as if everyone was watching your progress. How do you want it to play out? Because, really, the only person that you should impress is yourself. The only person that you should impress is yourself. The only person you should try to impress is yourself and then from there, if you do that, I guarantee you'll impress your wife, impress your husband, impress your family, impress the people that you care about. But don't listen to the other opinions of other people. Be strong when challenges come your way and have a clear vision for what you want to do, and remember that the daily decisions that you indulge in change the trajectory of your life, no matter how big or small you think they are. It's the truth, and I want to know how this goes for you guys. So tell me, you know, here's.

Speaker 1:

Here's a funny she says tell me what your title of your book would be, or your story or your movie, and hopefully it'll be good.

Speaker 1:

But I, uh, I just think that that is a very important principle to think about, that, Like, if my life was a story, if it was a movie, how would I want it to be read, how would I want it to be done?

Speaker 1:

And that will influence your daily decisions, your small actions that you don't think are so insignificant that actually are, and you'll become a better person and you'll probably live a life that you're more proud of. So that's just a couple of things that were on my mind. But again, this whole podcast. The goal is I learned something and I want to teach you guys, and so that's what I'm trying to teach you is I've been learning how to live life on my own terms, on things that I'm excited about. Really. What it comes down to is like if I'm able to be the best version of myself, then I'm able to make a difference in other people's lives, help other people and spend time with the ones that I love the most, like Allie, and the same thing will happen to you guys. So appreciate everyone listening to this episode. I'd love some feedback, so always feel free to shoot me some DMs or anything like that, but until next episode, everybody keep getting after it.