Big Things Done Podcast

In this episode, I have the privilege of interviewing Alison Galvan, the owner and founder of EnergyX Fitness Studio in San Antonio, TX. I interviewed Alison because she has an excellent story about how she turned her idea into action. As you listen to the interview, you will immediately pick up on Alison's passion and drive, and the story of the early days starting her gym is a testament to the power of simply "doing" something to achieve your big thing.

 

You can find and follow Alison and her gym at the links below. Be sure to stop by her studio and take a class, it'll be one of the best workouts you've ever had!

Instagram - @energyxfitness, @alisonfaithfitness

Facebook - EnergyX Fitness, Alison Galvan

Website - energyxfitness.com (https://energyxfitness.com/)

This short explainer episode is here to tell what Big Things Done is and why it exists.

My name is Andrew Glover, and I am the founder of Big Things Done. I founded my brand because I believe every one of us wants to do something big in our lives. We all want to leave a legacy, be known for making something better, or doing something great. More importantly, however, I believe we all CAN DO big things too! It doesn't matter who you are, where you come from, or what you believe, you and I have the ability to make our lives count for something amazing.

Big Things Done is a resource to help you accomplish whatever big thing you have in your life. From leadership to personal growth and development, we cover practical tips, principles and techniques to make you someone who does something big, not just dream about them.

Join me as I accomplish big things in my life, and let me know what you are doing in your life as well!

In this episode, we continue our conversation about how to turn an idea into action, and we focus on 4 things that often hinder us from taking action on an idea we have.

Losing Passion - one of the best ways to ensure your passion for an idea is mature enough to sustain you is to purposefully distance yourself from your idea for 1-2 weeks.

Need for Resources - it can be frustrating to spend time getting resources instead of making progress toward your goal, but the reality is getting your resources is PART of achieving your goal. Embrace that fact and accept it as part of the process.

Fear of Failure (Personal) - no one likes to lose, and we often convince ourselves we are going to lose even before we start. One way to keep yourself from extinguishing your own flame is by ensuring you have realistic expectations for yourself.

Fear of Failure (Social) - we all care about what other people think about us. Whenever you worry about what anyone will think of you if you fail, just remember that you are at least doing something that few other people are trying to do. Take pride in that and let that motivate you.

SYE 15: Dominate Your Tasks

Being someone who does big things means that you MUST stay on track with accomplishing your tasks and delivering on your promises to people. In order to keep track and execute all of your tasks properly, here are 3 ways you can dominate everything you need to do.

Carry a pen with you...always: This will give you the ability to physically write things down, whether you need to explain something or just have something in front of you for your reference.

Have a way to record and keep your notes: I use a small 3”x5” notebook called Field Notes to write down my tasks, prioritize and review them.  Other resources that have worked well for me are the websites Trello and Daily Attack Plan.

Review your tasks consistently: Having an idea of what you need to focus on every day will help you stay on track and devote your energy and resources appropriately to accomplish everything you need.

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN -  2:55 min

The steps and focus areas you need to take an idea and turn it into action.

WHY IT MATTERS -  3:07 min

Remember the definition of a leader?  Leaders are people who think of a future position and bring their team to that state. Leaders turn ideas into action, and knowing the steps and ways to do that are critical to making a better world.

THE BREAKDOWN -  5:45 min

Here are the three focus areas for any leader who wants to turn an idea into action.

Know your end goal. Is it achievable? Is it better?  Why is it better than where you are right now?  What do you think it will feel like when you get there?  You have to live it and be so excited about it. Remember that not everyone will be as excited about it as you are. You are your only advocate sometimes.

Identify your resources. Big things don’t just happen, they require time, energy, focus, money, knowledge, skills, dedication, equipment, and support.  How are you prioritizing them?

Doing your tasks. This is where most people stop. We talk and strategize all the time about how to do something, but when we talk about the actions we have actually taken, we have nothing to say. Here’s how to not fall victim to cheap talk and how to make progress. Remember, the key to doing Big Things is simply doing them.

Macro Tasks - write out your big tasks that you need to accomplish. At a very high level, what are the broad things you need to do. If you don’t know what this looks like, get some advice from someone who’s done it.

Micro Tasks - Take your first Macro task and write out all of the micro-tasks you need to accomplish to get there.  Breaking your tasks into bite-sized chunks will show you that you can actually do this, and give you momentum as you cross tasks off your list.

THE TIE UP -  16:15 min

We want to be people who not just have ideas, but actually make them a reality. People who turn ideas into action are leaders. The biggest way you can differentiate yourself, the biggest way you can make an impact, the biggest way you can improve yourself and the world around you is to start being a leader, and start DOING your big thing.

APPLICATION -  17:10 min

 

Find 2 mentors or credible sources of advice for your big thing. Learn from them what they’ve done. Understand the process better.

Write out your macro and micro tasks. Start focusing on the small things that you need to do right now to make progress toward your big thing.

Big things in our lives don’t just happen.  We have to work, fight, and aggressively pursue them, which takes time, energy, focus, and resources. Along that note, we can’t expect to do big things or make improvements in our lives if we are wasting our time.  One of the biggest wastes of time in our modern day lives is downtime, or transition time.

Downtime or Transition Time: Simply put, any moment of your day that you are not engaged in an activity or event. This can be something like your commute to work, time between meetings, or waiting for an appointment.  We often spend these 15 - 60 minute moments looking at our phone or staring out the window.

Why should you eliminate your downtime?

Save TIME. By spending your downtime with activities that make you better, you carve out time for yourself to accomplish your big thing. Maybe you are taking classes - spending 15 minutes to review flashcards is a huge win! Maybe you have a long commute for work - listening to a 30 minute business podcast just made you much more knowledgeable on something you are interested in.

Increase FOCUS. When you are dedicated to filling your day with value-added activities, you naturally become hyper-focused on things that are important to you. This matters because doing big things requires your dedication, your energy, and undivided focus to accomplish.

Tips:

Inventory your time. On a piece of paper, account for every minute of your day from wake up to bedtime. Be as specific as possible, don’t fudge anything.  Identify the 15, 20, 45 minutes that you are not spending towards something that will make you grow, make you smarter.

* Prepare yourself. A big part of eliminating your downtime is by having things ready to spend your time wisely. Have flashcards with you to study, have a list of people you need to call, a presentation to review so that when you have 15 minutes before an appointment, you spend your time improving yourself.  Additionally, make sure you plan your day properly so you don’t have time between big events in your life. The more you can make your schedule flow seamlessly, the less chances you have in wasting valuable moments.

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN - 3:45 min

How to identify when you are being a victim and what to do to become a victor

WHY IT MATTERS - 4:03 min

Big things do not happen easily. They are hard, painful, and difficult. But the people who accomplish big things all have one thing in common - they refuse to be victims of their situations.

The way you respond to resistance and how you prepare yourself for bad, unexpected things in your life will determine whether you can accomplish your big thing.

THE BREAKDOWN - 6:24 min

What is a victim?  A victim is a person who has something happen to them that was bad, unexpected, and out of their control. Being laid off from a job, a tornado leveling your house, or being diagnosed with cancer are all common instances of people being victims.

What is a victim mentality? Every person in the world is a victim of something at one point or another. The issue, however, arises when we continue to believe that we are powerless to do anything in our situation, and even require some other person or force to save us.

We often blame things like “the system”, “the school”, “the economy”, “the society”. Anyone but ourselves.

What is a Victor? A victor is the same as a victim except for one part - they don’t admit that everything is out of their control. A victor focuses on what they can do to make the situation better. They don’t blame anyone for the things that have happened, because it simply doesn’t matter. While they cannot control everything, a victor knows that the next step they take is 100% in their power, and the are determined to move to a future, improved state (which, by the way, is exactly what a leader is).

How do you Identify if you are a victim or a victor?  It’s all based on your first reaction to a bad situation. Do you concentrate on the past? Or do you focus on your future trajectory? Do you blame the entity that is out of your control, or do you empower yourself to own the situation and make it better?

THE TIE UP - 14:10 min

Turning ideas into action and doing big things means you will have resistance - count on it. Your success in those moments is dictated by whether your focus is on the past and the things you cannot control, or on you and your future that you can control.

It starts with the small things often times. When something small doesn’t go your way, do you dwell on the bad situation? Do you let your bad 15 minutes affect your attitude and actions? Or do you instead brush it off and focus on the next thing you can do to improve the situation?

APPLICATION - 21:15 min

Make a list of the things in your life you want to change. Are you overweight? Need better sleep habits? Have bad grades? In a toxic relationship? In some bad debt? Now take that list, and figure out how to change them. Do not, and I repeat DO NOT beat yourself up over it and dwell on the bad things in your life - that’s what victims do. Rise up, develop a plan, and actually start making changes in your life for the better.

Be more prepared.

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN - 3:45 min

How to identify when you are being a victim and what to do to become a victor

WHY IT MATTERS - 4:03 min

Big things do not happen easily. They are hard, painful, and difficult. But the people who accomplish big things all have one thing in common - they refuse to be victims of their situations.

The way you respond to resistance and how you prepare yourself for bad, unexpected things in your life will determine whether you can accomplish your big thing.

THE BREAKDOWN - 6:24 min

What is a victim?  A victim is a person who has something happen to them that was bad, unexpected, and out of their control. Being laid off from a job, a tornado leveling your house, or being diagnosed with cancer are all common instances of people being victims.

What is a victim mentality? Every person in the world is a victim of something at one point or another. The issue, however, arises when we continue to believe that we are powerless to do anything in our situation, and even require some other person or force to save us.

We often blame things like “the system”, “the school”, “the economy”, “the society”. Anyone but ourselves.

What is a Victor? A victor is the same as a victim except for one part - they don’t admit that everything is out of their control. A victor focuses on what they can do to make the situation better. They don’t blame anyone for the things that have happened, because it simply doesn’t matter. While they cannot control everything, a victor knows that the next step they take is 100% in their power, and the are determined to move to a future, improved state (which, by the way, is exactly what a leader is).

How do you Identify if you are a victim or a victor?  It’s all based on your first reaction to a bad situation. Do you concentrate on the past? Or do you focus on your future trajectory? Do you blame the entity that is out of your control, or do you empower yourself to own the situation and make it better?

THE TIE UP - 14:10 min

Turning ideas into action and doing big things means you will have resistance - count on it. Your success in those moments is dictated by whether your focus is on the past and the things you cannot control, or on you and your future that you can control.

It starts with the small things often times. When something small doesn’t go your way, do you dwell on the bad situation? Do you let your bad 15 minutes affect your attitude and actions? Or do you instead brush it off and focus on the next thing you can do to improve the situation?

APPLICATION - 21:15 min

Make a list of the things in your life you want to change. Are you overweight? Need better sleep habits? Have bad grades? In a toxic relationship? In some bad debt? Now take that list, and figure out how to change them. Do not, and I repeat DO NOT beat yourself up over it and dwell on the bad things in your life - that’s what victims do. Rise up, develop a plan, and actually start making changes in your life for the better.

Be more prepared.

If you want to do Big Things in your life, you have to put yourself in a position to do so. That means having the time, energy, focus, money, or other resources to dedicate towards your goal. One way to put yourself in a position to do great things is to meal prep.

Meal Prep: Preparing your meals in advance (breakfast, lunch, dinner, or snacks) for an extended period of time (a few days, 1 week, 1 month, etc).

Why Do It?

Fuel your body with good, wholesome food! When you dedicate time to plan your meals, you are much more likely to prepare healthy good that will give you clean energy and help you stay on track from a health standpoint, including weight control, blood sugar, and others.

Save money!  Where I live and go to school, meal prepping costs me half of what it would cost to eat out. HALF! Saving money by meal prepping allows you to put more resources towards things like books, classes, investments, savings, and many other value-building assets.

Save Time! By spending 1-2 hours in an afternoon to make your food for the week, you avoid standing in lines, trying to decide what to make for dinner, or waiting for food to be delivered. Instead, you have the freedom to eat when you need to, and spend more time investing in yourself, family, or others around you.

Tips:

Get some good containers. There are many out there, so find some that work for you.  Here are a few that I like - Glass Containers (https://www.amazon.com/Glass-Meal-Prep-Containers-Compartment/dp/B075BP5JN3/ref=sr_1_21?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1531337622&sr=1-21&keywords=meal+prep+containers), Sterilite Plastic Containers (https://www.amazon.com/Sterilite-03121606-Rectangle-Ultra-Seal-Container/dp/B001KYHLQQ/ref=pd_sim_79_6?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B001KYHLQQ&pd_rd_r=7c2d6c75-8541-11e8-8547-adee3c727b5c&pd_rd_w=0I56f&pd_rd_wg=xEICS&pf_rd_i=desktop-dp-sims&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_p=7967298517161621930&pf_rd_r=R6FSNHJ68F7QTK1WDZP8&pf_rd_s=desktop-dp-sims&pf_rd_t=40701&psc=1&refRID=R6FSNHJ68F7QTK1WDZP8)

Get some good recipes. Meal prepping doesn’t have to be boring! Check out Kevin Curry’s website www.fitmencook.com for great inspiration!

Set aside time to do it. You will likely need about 1-2 hours to prepare all of your weekly food. But it will be worth it! The time you save during the week and more importantly, the momentum you will be able to maintain through the week because you aren’t having to prepare meals will allow you to focus more on what matters for you.

If you want to do Big Things in your life, you have to put yourself in a position to do so. That means having the time, energy, focus, money, or other resources to dedicate towards your goal. One way to put yourself in a position to do great things is to meal prep.

Meal Prep: Preparing your meals in advance (breakfast, lunch, dinner, or snacks) for an extended period of time (a few days, 1 week, 1 month, etc).

Why Do It?

Fuel your body with good, wholesome food! When you dedicate time to plan your meals, you are much more likely to prepare healthy good that will give you clean energy and help you stay on track from a health standpoint, including weight control, blood sugar, and others.

Save money!  Where I live and go to school, meal prepping costs me half of what it would cost to eat out. HALF! Saving money by meal prepping allows you to put more resources towards things like books, classes, investments, savings, and many other value-building assets.

Save Time! By spending 1-2 hours in an afternoon to make your food for the week, you avoid standing in lines, trying to decide what to make for dinner, or waiting for food to be delivered. Instead, you have the freedom to eat when you need to, and spend more time investing in yourself, family, or others around you.

Tips:

Get some good containers. There are many out there, so find some that work for you.  Here are a few that I like - Glass Containers (https://www.amazon.com/Glass-Meal-Prep-Containers-Compartment/dp/B075BP5JN3/ref=sr_1_21?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1531337622&sr=1-21&keywords=meal+prep+containers), Sterilite Plastic Containers (https://www.amazon.com/Sterilite-03121606-Rectangle-Ultra-Seal-Container/dp/B001KYHLQQ/ref=pd_sim_79_6?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B001KYHLQQ&pd_rd_r=7c2d6c75-8541-11e8-8547-adee3c727b5c&pd_rd_w=0I56f&pd_rd_wg=xEICS&pf_rd_i=desktop-dp-sims&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_p=7967298517161621930&pf_rd_r=R6FSNHJ68F7QTK1WDZP8&pf_rd_s=desktop-dp-sims&pf_rd_t=40701&psc=1&refRID=R6FSNHJ68F7QTK1WDZP8)

Get some good recipes. Meal prepping doesn’t have to be boring! Check out Kevin Curry’s website www.fitmencook.com for great inspiration!

Set aside time to do it. You will likely need about 1-2 hours to prepare all of your weekly food. But it will be worth it! The time you save during the week and more importantly, the momentum you will be able to maintain through the week because you aren’t having to prepare meals will allow you to focus more on what matters for you.