Discipline is Freedom – Breakfast with Champions – 11 Nov 202

The 3 Sides of Service: What People Don’t Think About! – Monica Ricci

Everything you need is in your hands; all you need to do is put in the work! In his book, “Built to Serve.” Evan Carl Michael clearly states that your entire being is wired to serve. If you don’t serve, it is difficult to stay happy. The sad thing is this: when things get difficult, people retreat and go into survival mode. But if you instead chose to serve, you would feel much better.

How important is service?

According to another book titled The Giving Way to Happiness, service to others hits the same part of your brain as “food” and “sex.” Going back to when humans were tribal, you wouldn’t survive if you weren’t part of a tribe. To be part of a tribe, you must be aware of the need to do things for each other. Service is important enough to be one of the five primary love languages. 

However, note that you cannot be in service to everyone and cannot do everything for the person you serve.
What does it mean to be in service? Aside from serving in the military, as a medical practitioner, or even as a teacher, it means the following things:

• Thinking of others before yourself every now and then.
• Taking out time to be of help to someone in need.
• Doing the small things of everyday life, like opening the door for someone.
• Services for profit such as hospitality, caregiving, or Airbnb.
• Coaching and mentoring to share your experiences and learnings with others.

Service empowers you and allows you to raise someone’s vibrations while raising yours, but then comes the next part: service from others to you!

If you are reluctant to receive, you deny people the opportunity to add to your life. The most important part of service is that when people try to help, you should allow them. Allow people to help you; receive things willingly, and let them share that beautiful gift with you.

The third side of the coin is unhealthy service. Anything extreme can be unhealthy. An example of unhealthy service is resorting to people-pleasing. You must observe yourself once in a while to ensure that you are still on the right track regarding service and that your heart is in the right place.

Key Points/Highlights: 

• Service connects us to humanity.
• Too little service is self-absorbed, and too much service creates a depleted person who is empty and of no use to anyone.
• An exchange of sales and services is required to maintain smooth operation.
• Getting validation is amazing, and there is nothing wrong with enjoying it. But when it becomes the root of your service, it becomes unhealthy.

All You Need To Know About Running With Your Purpose – Renee Knorr

Today’s segment was about Renee’s interview with Tony Campbell. Tony is an American former professional National Basketball Association (NBA) player. He got laid off from work and had to start over with his wife and kids. When it all came crashing down, Tony looked within himself, figured out his passion, or as he would call it, his purpose, and then he jumped at it. 

What do you do when you don’t feel motivated to take action for the day? Some of the helpful lessons are:

1. You have to run with passion because it is what drives you.
2. Practice what you preach. Keep your promises.
3. Turn your purpose (your work) into your responsibility so that you can be accountable for yourself when you don’t feel like showing up. 
4. Make your next move the best move. 
5. Recognize that you have come up short. Don’t dwell on it, but recognize it so you can move forward. 

In addition to staying disciplined, it’s important to stay dedicated to your purpose as well. Take into account what needs to be done, inculcate the belief system, and then become accountable to yourself. The universe is your playground, so go all in. 

Finally, sometimes you just have to take the leap, and give yourself no choice but to move forward. However, before you make the jump, know what your purpose is. What good is knowing what your purpose is and not taking any action? That’s just being selfish!

Key Points/Highlights:

• Look within yourself. Your passion is somewhere within you. It is something you do so effortlessly. 
• Don’t just take the leap of faith. Certify yourself; train yourself and your skills. This is what will strengthen your impact.
• Sometimes, it is scary to change your career so suddenly. However, if you have taken the steps to discover your purpose and train yourself, that leap of faith, or “jumping,” appears to be the only logical next step for you.
• Don’t see the switch as a bad thing or as a weak alternative. See it as a new level of greatness. 
• Make the most of wherever you are. It is a stepping stone, even if it feels like you are falling back.

5 Keys To Reinventing Yourself – Do It to Get It – Jeremy Bright

Malcolm Gladwell’s book, “The Outliers,” suggests that becoming an expert in any field of endeavor requires 10,000 hours of repetitive effort. For instance, Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and Simone Biles are some of the most disciplined and precise athletes in their fields. Their performances are both magical and riveting at the same time. They repeatedly put in the 10,000 hours. No one would ever accuse them of being overnight successes, yet the flawless victories they perform over and over make them seem supernatural in their abilities. 

Mindshifting is a technique learned in childhood that involves granting permission to the imagination in order to reshape reality. As we get older, we often forget what dreams are made of and settle into the acceptable norms of adulthood instead.

All of us possess the power to reinvent ourselves. When you put your mind to something, nothing can stand in your way. However, you have to develop a regimen. Developing your regimen requires you to activate your inner voice with higher self-awareness and a shift in mindset. 

The five categories or power tools that you have to reinvent yourself for your big break are:

1. Attention and awareness

What is your expertise? You don’t have to be perfect; it’s ok to share your life experiences with others. Your story might be what someone else needs to get them through a tough time. You can reinvent yourself and build your self-respect by focusing on the things that make you unique. What are you doing to become better at the thing that only you can do? Where are the “I’ll do it laters” showing up in your life? Procrastination is the assassination of your destination.

2. Vocabulary

Learn how to solve the problem by asking the people who have accomplished what you are moving toward for help. What are the words they use often? Find ways to give yourself small wins. Create a list of positive target words. Instead of listing your “I am going to”s, reframe them as “5 Things You Can Do To Make Yourself Proud.” Words like “I am broken” or “overwhelmed” can be reframed to “I am full.” The goal is to feel fulfilled, not just inspired.

3. The ability to visualize

Manifest and visualize the direction that you want to go in. Recommit to the dreams and goals that you have set for yourself. Fill your mind and your speech with positive words, watch motivational videos, and listen to podcasts that can inspire your future hopes, dreams, and expectations. 

Audit your time – where are you spending it and are you using it wisely? Are you spending more time socializing than working on your craft? Everyone can’t be Steph Curry, Kobe Bryant, or Simone Biles, but you can be the best you. What would happen if you gave as much energy and attention to doing the work as you do watching others master theirs?

4. Your community

Build a community of people you trust. When things get tough, who are your three “go-to” people? Invest in a coach or mentor who will encourage you to rest on the mental wall instead of running into it. Being still might be just what you need to get back on track.

5. Inner Voice

Your inner voice is trying to tell you something. Remember when you were a kid and you lived in your imagination’s reality? What did you see yourself being when you grew up? Tap into the heart and soul of your possibilities instead of your limitations. Don’t think; just flow. 

Check in with yourself. Are you truly living, or are you just living a life that someone else orchestrated for you? God gave you the innate ability to do the work you were called to do. So suit up, step up, and show up. Travel more, connect more, and live more. 

Key Points/Highlights:

• Understand that your victory can look different from others’. Don’t compare victories. 
• Experts make it look easy, but countless hours of hard work and dedication happen behind the scenes.
• You don’t have to be perfect. While you work on yourself, people will start showing up in your life because they will see the change. 
• What you put out into the world will return to you in kind.
• Sometimes, hitting a wall indicates the need to pause before recommitting.
• Be satisfied with being the only version of you that exists right now. You are unique.

Take Up The Challenge and Improve your Life –  Barbara Majeski

Challenge yourself to come out of your comfort zone. Why imagine others in a great situation when you can be that person? You can do great things and you can do hard things; you just have to believe you can do it and take a step toward it.

It is better to fail in the pursuit of it than to miss the lifetime experience. It doesn’t have to be perfect. Leave your comfort zone. Just show up and give it a go.

You never know what is inside you until you unleash your potential. You can’t know how far you can go until you start. You just have to believe it and do it even when you’re afraid. Showing up and doing things you are afraid of is a great way to boost your self-esteem. It will change your mindset, and you will begin to see possibilities.

Don’t wait until you are confronted with mortality before you start thinking about making strides for yourself. You can solve problems, you can do incredible things, and you can accomplish anything you set your mind to, as long as you’re willing to try.

Attending events, gatherings, and meetings with incredible minds is another way to get out of your comfort zone and make things happen for yourself. Joining a group of people with similar interests and goals helps you show up even when you don’t want to; it helps build momentum.

What you do in your 20s sets you up for your 30s. What you do in your 30s sets you up for your 40s, and so on. So challenge yourself. Pick something you have not done before. Do stuff that takes you out of your comfort zone. Do it to make yourself a better person, and stay consistent.

It is a lot harder when you are full of negativity. When you catch yourself suspecting it’s not going to work, challenge yourself, believe that you can do it, and you will see yourself getting things done.

Do not make excuses. Excuses will stop you from doing things you are supposed to do. Instead of giving reasons why you can’t do things, tell yourself that you can do them. Tell yourself that you will do it excellently. Tell yourself that you will show up and get things done.

Push yourself and keep moving. Even in the face of challenges, don’t stop moving. Show up even when you don’t feel like it. It is about consistency and momentum. When you get yourself in gear, it becomes a routine. Your body will get used to it, and it will become a lifestyle.

Key Points/Highlights: 

• One way you can challenge yourself is by reading about people or listening to their stories. You can draw inspiration and energy from other people’s experiences. If they can overcome that challenge, then you can. If they can do it, you can do it too, even better.
• It is important to know that it doesn’t have to be perfect at first. Do not have unrealistic expectations. Just do it.
• When you challenge yourself and show gratitude when you achieve simple things, it opens up greater possibilities for you. You will begin to see that you can do things. You will start to believe that you can do anything you set your mind to.
• You don’t need to stay motivated; you only need to keep showing up and be consistent.
• Rest if you must, but don’t stop when you are tired; stop when you are done.

Discipline Equals Freedom – Brian Benstock

Have you ever wondered why you’re not where you want to be? It’s because it’s difficult. We live in a world of instant gratification and entitlement. But there is a fundamental law that exists in life and in business: there is no escaping the dirty work. You can mess with it a bit and call it a game, but at the end of the day, it’s still a four-letter word: work.

The magic and the results you are looking for are in the work you’re avoiding. There are no shortcuts to success. Searching for formulas and secrets to avoid actually doing the work you know you have to do will only prolong the journey. No one is coming to do the work for you. You won’t magically wake up and find yourself healthier, more successful, or whatever it is that you want. It doesn’t work that way.

A lot of people misconstrue success as the result of talent alone. They think that the most successful people are special or somehow different. If you think that you’re not cut from the same cloth, then you’re not going to put in the work required to obtain that level of success or mastery. If you believe that you’re just average, and that you’re not entitled to step up to the next level, all you’ll be is average. 

When you don’t believe in your potential, when you talk down to yourself and tell yourself you’re not good enough or you’ll never lose the additional weight, that’s all you’re going to see. Your achievement always rises to the level of your self-identity.

You have everything that you need to get everything that you want, but you have to do the work. We want to get to the point where doing the work is easier than not doing it.

Key Points/Highlights:

• Everything that you now find easy was once hard.
• Your income will always reflect your self-perception.
• Your environment is shaping your story. Do you have a TV in your room? Take it out.
• Great ideas mean nothing without world-class willpower. 
• If you put in 2.2 hours of work every day for 10 years, you can be iconic at whatever you choose.

Related: Freedom Is Not Free.