In this month’s scripted episode, I take a look at the importance of a great mindset. MUSIC CREDIT: Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio The show is sponsored today by: Seasons of Life Memorials
Here is the writing if you’d like to read along:
Media Pod Smash Episode #93:
The Power of a Powerful Mindset
Most motivational speakers get a bad rap. It seems that most people think that the information that is being recited is basic and not very meaty. I’ll admit, I used to be rather cynical about these folks too. When you hear about people attempting to do a coal walk and busting their shit, or the likes of a Joel Osteen in his mega, multi-million dollar palace, saying things like, “Just believe in yourself! You can do it!”. Easy for you to say, asshole! I completely get it. These messages can easily be seen as a band-aid over a massive open gash of problems. If you are dealing with something rather deep, it doesn’t always feel encouraging to have some wealthy man or woman screaming at you to just do it and stay positive.
When I worked in retail, I had a few managers who were some real ass clowns. My colleagues and I, would often be hounded by these people to make sure that our shelves were full and looking beautiful. A request that was not unreasonable. The only problem was, most of the times, our shelves were only empty because of something called a warehouse out. For those of you fortunate people who have never had to do a job like this and don’t know what that means, allow me to explain. It means that even the warehouse where we get our shit from, doesn’t have the item. Now I am realizing that the name warehouse out pretty much explains it and I’ve wasted my time; it definitely feels great to fill up the first page though. Anyway, these ass clown managers didn’t care about warehouse outs. Even when it was labeled as an out, as indicated by the world’s smallest label, they didn’t care. We were always just told that we had to fill it up anyway. Of course, that meant that later we’d eventually be asked “Why are you guys putting product in the wrong places?”. I don’t blame all the managers for this; I’m sure many were just trying to get by, and following the instructions of some even bigger chuckle-heads above them.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, I also had to deal with customers. I could write a whole separate episode about customers; I’d call it something like: “Stupid Questions and Assholes”, but I digress. I realize that this is supposed to be about positive topics and we will get there! The point that I was trying to make was that this was not a very conducive environment for positivity and good vibes. As cynical as I was though, I did listen to some motivational audios throughout this time. It was a nice boost at times but other times, I’d have some of those thoughts mentioned previously. Luckily for me, during those times that I wasn’t buying into the audio encouragement, I had other sources of inspiration that I could turn to.
In Episode 90, I had sung the praises of my great support system of friends; one of these friends is a guy named Garrett. On one of my worst managerial days in retail, I found myself feeling stuck at a crossroads. I don’t remember much about what happened that day but I definitely remember it being quite a cluster fuck of anxiety and stress for myself and no doubt whoever crossed my path that day. I also remember getting to the end of that day and thinking to myself, “I know exactly who to call for a boost” and sure enough, I was right.
Garrett and I grew up in the same area and had similar aspirations; we both believed in the power of a dream and had many creative interests. Despite a small gap of time in our friendship early on (which later became an ongoing inside joke), these things never wavered. In fact, these things would only grow stronger as we started hanging back out again. Back in our early 20’s Garrett and I tried our hand at various creative projects. He and I always shared a similar sense of humor and many other general commonalities. It mainly started with goofy short films but then eventually morphed into actually attempting to make our endeavors into a business. At the time, he was into photography and I was into video. Peanut butter and jelly baby! We got ourselves a few weddings and even a prom before both moving on to new things, but I’ll always remember those times. Garrett was the kind of person who always impressed me with his can-do attitude and ability to jump right into things that he found to be exciting. He had a fantastic mindset. Instead of letting fears get in the way of cool moments or even potentially cool moments, his positive mindset acknowledged those fears and went for it anyway.
Even when we weren’t doing creative things, his mindset could still empower me and give me some hope. You may find this hard to believe, but I wasn’t always the cool and collected guy that I am sitting behind this screen today. On some nights out in the city while we were going on our drinking extravaganzas, I’d find myself having some rather anxious moments. I’m not crazy about the city in general, there was plenty of booze coursing through my body, and I found socializing to be a bit more challenging sometimes back then. If you factor in all of those elements and probably considered a few more, it was no shock that I ended up in these anxious situations. he’d gently remind me that it was all good. In the midst of these situations, Garrett would usually turn to me and say something like, “The world is a stage”. I always knew that I could turn toward my pal during these moments and the more I observed what the power of a powerful mindset could accomplish for him, the more it made me want to think of ways I could achieve that state of thinking as well.
By the end of my retail days, I was starting to understand the world of positivity much better. I was listening to more and more speeches, reading more books, and things stuck with me much longer. I realized that many of the motivational people that I used to criticize, didn’t just start out rich and successful. They were regular people, just like me. I’m sure that many of them actually applied the things that they were speaking about in their own lives too.
On October 31st, 2003, a woman named Bethany Hamilton went out for a morning surf; a hobby that she absolutely loved. Perhaps you’ve heard of Bethany or at least know where this is going. In the middle of her surf session, she was attacked by a Tiger shark and lost her left arm. She could’ve quit right there and nobody would have blamed her at all, but she had a powerful mindset. She said, “fuck you shark!” (alright, probably not) and she returned to surfing only a month after the ordeal. The power of her mind, along with will and determination, brought her back stronger than ever. Once she relearned one handed surfing, she even started competing again. Thankfully, you may never have to deal with a shark attack in your own life, but bad times and tragedy will undoubtedly come a knocking and you too can utilize a great mindset.
Currently, I believe in the power of a powerful mindset more than ever before. I, however, am not fucking delusional. I know that it’s not a shield that suddenly protects you from all of the negativity and general horrors of the world. It is not a magic power but it might help in making some significant positive changes in your life.
Back in the early days of cleaning up some of my bad habits, the first three days to be specific, I had some pretty horrendous moments. Moments where I definitely could’ve tapped out at any given second. Sweat would pour out of me for no good reason, rage would bubble and brew, and I just generally felt uncomfortable. These feelings were exacerbated by the fact that time seemed to stretch longer than TB12 in the off season. I truly believe that my mindset was a key component in eventually making it past the very important, 72 hour milestone. Whenever I would have thoughts of giving up, I would try to remember mindset and think instead of all the people who were supporting me and cheering me on. I know it sounds like simple “rah-rah” bullshit, but a simple shift in perspective can do some pretty amazing things.
A shift in perspective can take you from “not today, I don’t have the energy” to “I’ve got to do this today because I don’t know how many more today’s I’m going to get”. A change in mindset can take you places that you never thought possible. Of course, like anything else, it must be practiced constantly. I still slip quite often. Even just earlier in the writing when I was shitting on my old job. Was it necessary? Well, actually, maybe some things are okay to shit upon every once in a while; metaphorically speaking of course.
For each of these scripted episodes, I’m also going to include a segment called “Inspiring person of the month”. Inspiration can be found in a variety of unique places and everyday people are a fantastic source. Technically we did already cover one; Bethany Hamilton is a perfect example, but this month’s inspiring person is you! Within you is the ability to change the lives of all the people you meet. You have the power to change your world and turn bad habits into great ones; all it takes is the proper mindset and a single step. I didn’t used to think these things about myself. Heck, I didn’t even think I was qualified to be writing stuff like this, but a shift in my mindset told me that other folks out there appreciate normal, authentic, people. I may not be a Tony Robbins or a Joel Osteen, but that’s alright. I’m me. An average guy who changed some things with the power of mindset and a single step. As mentioned in my last written episode, comparisons can be a dangerous thing. Don’t ever feel like you aren’t qualified if there’s something you want to take a stab at. Everyone has to start somewhere, and if you touch even one person, won’t it have been worth it? I’d be willing to bet that you are more qualified than you think. Plus, if you really aren’t all that experienced yet, you still put yourself out there, while the other person didn’t. Pretty huge already! Though I suppose I’m going on a bit of tangent here and maybe I’m just reassuring myself at this point, but still. Even if you aren’t trying to create something for public consumption or have fears of feeling like an impostor, the power of mindset can be used for simple everyday things too. I know that I’m not where I want to be quite yet, and I’ve still got a long road ahead, but something tells me that I’ll be more than okay moving forward.
So how do we wrap this sucker up? With a little bit of homework. I know that actually doing things can be a pain in the ass but I’ll be right with you for this. I will participate in the homework as well and share my follow-up on next month’s episode. Reading and listening are great but action is incredible. This week, think about a situation recently where a change in mindset could have made a difference. It could be very small. Maybe a missed opportunity or a bad day that maybe didn’t have to be so bad. After that, see if you can stay as present as possible during the upcoming week and see if you can use the power of a positive mindset in certain tough situations that arise. You may think this is a little nuts but you may just surprise yourself if you really give it a solid try. It’s a constant effort and some days are just going to suck regardless, however, at the end of the day, you can always reflect and be proud of the fact that you are trying everyday. Your powerful mindset is a work in progress being powered by an incredibly powerful person.
Media Pod Smash off!
-Jeremy
Media Pod Smash! 