Hi guys! Welcome to Episode 301 of the Wildly Successful Lifestyle podcast! I thought I would make this one short, sweet and to the point. My goal always is to help us each to be the best version of us possible. I live and breathe self improvement, it just happens to be something I love so much. But consuming good stuff and applying it are as different as smelling fresh baked chocolate chip cookies and eating them. One you’re thinking about doing something, the other, you’re actually doing it. Big difference and one that I believe gets a bit convoluted because we feel so good when we hear something that motivates us and we think man this is going to change my life. When no, no it will not.
I always love that quote of a self help author was asked by a person he met “if I buy your book will it change my life?” The author said “If you BUY my book it will change my life, if you READ my book it will change YOUR life.” I’ve never forgotten that.
You see. Most of my podcast episodes are experiences from my life and the things Im doing or learning or creating to be the best version of me and I can only hope it’s helping you do the same.
But this podcast or any other podcast won’t change your life unless it changes the actions you take. If you listen for 10 minutes and say oh that was great but you don’t think how am I going to apply that today, how am I going to use that in my life this week? Listening to the podcast is like going to the gym. Listening to the podcast and applying what you learn in your life right away is like going to the gym and actually working out.
Ive listened and consumed enough to know that no matter what you take in if you don’t take action, if you don’t do the work, your life is not going to change.
But when you do do the work, it isn’t going to change overnight, it’s a gradual change, one that maybe you don’t even realize until one day someone that hasn’t seen you for 2 years looks at you and says “Wow, you look amazing” or maybe “You seem so much calmer than you used to”. These are things that you may not notice but the things you do consistently that make you better ARE working. It’s great to surround yourself with positive information, but It’s the consistency of action that changes your life.
I follow Andrew Huberman. He has the Huberman lab podcast but he actually put together a complete fitness protocol based on quality science and he posted it on instagram. A couple of the days included Zone 3 and 4 cardio training, only 20-30 minutes in those zones. But I have recently kind of gotten away from that training. I notice it happens in winter. Which was an excuse. Now I know everything he says is based on science and I trust he knows what he’s doing. That’s great knowledge to have. But it only actually makes me better, actually changes my life when I apply it. Which I have been for the last couple of weeks. I forgot how GOOD it feels to get my heart rate up like that. And the excuse of winter is just an excuse because Ive been doing it on the treadmill at the gym. Having the information was good, taking consistent action actually made me better.
It feels really good when we hear something or read something and you think “that’s so good” “Man that really motivates me” and then life happens and that motivation fades into the sunset. Has that ever happened to you? It has happened to me more times than I care to admit.
So what’s the answer. The answer is action has to come first. I rarely am just dying to go to the gym but once I get there I know Im going to get at least a decent workout. Just the action of going to the gym even if you just go to get in the sauna, that action will motivate more action in some way, it’s how it works.
Often times when Im working on a podcast topic, I know that once I take the action of just beginning to plan the new episode gets me motivated to keep going. It happens almost every time.
Action has to be part of the equation. I can read that protocol all day long that Andrew Huberman put together but if I don’t consistently get into the gym and do zone 3 training, it will never change my life.
I can buy all the meditation apps and read all the meditation books in the world, but if I don’t consistently sit down and meditate it will never change my life.
My challenge to you is to think about this past week. Was there any piece of advice or wisdom that you heard and thought that’s so good but then life happened before you did anything about it? Revisit that podcast or YouTube video or post and commit to taking action as consistently as you can this week.
You may not feel like it, it may make you uncomfortable, but change doesn’t happen in your comfort zone, it happens when your mind tells your body to take action.
Information is good, Action is better, Consistent action is priceless. I love you guys I’ll talk to you in a few days!
