Brian shares stories about his latest adventures in Russia. It was a business trip but unbeknownst to him it would be quite the spiritual one as well. Nina decides to get the listeners involved & answers some personal questions. The main topic Brian & Nina discuss is RESILIENCE. Nina credits her successes & “failures” to her resilient character & discusses how she’s built it up over the years. Brian puts his take on resilience & how it stems off emotional intelligence & what he tells himself when he senses he’s about to react or be triggered. They discuss what resilience is, the importance of it, how to gauge where you fall on the resilience spectrum, attributes of resilient people & how YOU can build up resilience too with the proper mindset and dedicated effort. 

What is resilience ?

The capacity to recover quickly from difficulties. It’s the process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats or significant sources of stress — such as family and relationship problems, serious health problems or workplace and financial stressors. It means "bouncing back" from difficult experiences.

WHY  are some resilient and others aren’t?

When faced with adversity in life, how does a person cope or adapt? Why do some people seem to bounce back from tragic events or loss much more quickly than others? Why do some people seem to get “stuck” in a point in their life, without the ability to move forward?

Well, everybody has resilience. It’s just a question of how much and how well you put it to good use in your life. Resilience doesn’t mean the person doesn’t feel the intensity of the event or problem. Instead, it just means that they’ve found a pretty good way of dealing with it more quickly than others.

Everyone can learn to increase their resilience abilities. Like any human skill, learning greater resilience is something that you can do at any age, from any background, no matter your education or family relationships. All you need to do in order to increase your resilience is have the willingness to do so. 

A TIP FOR ANYONE TRYING TO BE MORE RESILIENT OR BUILD UP MORE RESILIENCE:  Building better resilience takes time, effort, commitment, and focus. It will not just happen to you overnight, and it won’t just happen to you if read a book about resilience, or begin work with a therapist. It’s a process that will take months to learn and master. Don’t be frustrated by this, resilience is not a trait but rather a skill that you can readily enhance with patience and training.

In the most basic simple way, I could say, you stop caring about the outside noise. You don’t care about what didn’t go your way, or who’s saying what, or who’s doing what, or who’s talking to who, you just don’t care b/c u don’t FOCUS on it. 

If it’s an adversity you are facing in the professional world or it's something tangible like getting sick or getting fired, again you don’t care, b/c you are now focused on finding a different job, or looking for ways to get healthy. You are NOT sitting there moping at the one thing that makes you sad or angry. You are focused on fixing it, mending it, or moving away from it.

You need resilience for EVERYTHING.

Books:

Quote: "Never Give Up"

In this Episode of "Deep Thoughts w/ the Dixons, Brian is getting ready for his business trip to Moscow, Russia, Nina is hanging back taking care of their two companies and the household.  They discuss how they quit their traditional career paths and took the road less traveled which ultimately led to financial freedom, creative freedom, and no authority to answer to. They share how they channeled their energies into different avenues that they would have never dreamed of before. They dive deep into how to find your passions and then how to go about setting intentions which ultimately lead you to your goals. Nina gets super real about happiness and where you can find it. Hint: it's not found in your dream car or the lottery.

How to find your passion/purpose?

The first step:

 This first step is huge and that is being able to openly admit to yourself that you may not be happy or fulfilled in your current career or job. This is huge. This step shouldn't be undermined.  Because it is not easy to admit this after you may have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on education in a particular field, or spent 5 or 10 years in an industry that just isn’t what you thought it would be? Or just doesn’t make you happy anymore. Many people I know are already at this point able to say “this just meant for me anymore” I don’t know what I want to do but i know it is not this. This is important Because now you're telling the universe and yourself you want something more something different. How can we make changes in life without first realizing we even want a change? Or need a change? Another reason I personally believe this is an important step b/c you are more likely than not going against the grain now. What I mean by that is you are standing up for yourself in a society that commends people for spending a lifetime at the same job. Tenure is looked upon as some badge of honor. You are standing up in a society that does not yet fully realize that money and success follows happiness and creativity, not the other way around. You are standing up in a society that applauds a fancy title or a fancy degree yet they will put entrepreneurs on the cover of Forbes magazine many of whom haven't even graduated college. To be able to get out of the limitations that have been taught to us by the people before us is major and that's when doors and opportunities and success is unlimited. The possibilities become endless.

The second step: 

You can start by getting clear on what your passions are? Well what is a passion? Your passion can be anything that simultaneously challenges you, intrigues you and motivates you. Contrary to the idea that doing what you love makes work effortless, a passion puts you to work. It fuels you, it gets you motivated, excited, inspired, resilient, focused, determined, etc. It's what you're willing to sacrifice lesser leisure and pleasures for because this passion means so much to you and brings you so much joy, fulfillment, creativity and success.

To learn what questions you can ask yourself to help you discover your passions listen to the full episode. 

Books:

Quote: “The minute you decide you want better for yourself is the minute the entire universe begins to shift in your favor. Your declaration, your command, your intentions, visions, and prayers begin the creation of a new reality. All you have to do today is decide."

In this second episode of "Deep Thoughts w/ the Dixons," Nina & Brian discuss their personal stories around when they each became aware of the constant "programming" in our society. They share the changes they made to their lifestyle and how they continue to question everything and make their own choices after careful research. 

If you look around at your reality, there is a programmed falsity that exists in this matrix, in this life we live in; and that is to; wake up, go to work, come home, eat, maybe have a few beers or a glass of wine, watch tv, go to sleep and then rinse, wash, repeat and do it all over again the next day. 

This is literally how the majority of society operates and people accept it as true. As if they are just doing things as a means to an end. What a terrible life. That is literally slavery and people are sleepwalking through life totally unaware of how they can WAKE UP and actually pursue their dreams and passions. Life is about creating and finding what drives you to create your own experience. It's not about falling victim to being programmed by the illusions of entertainment that exist in the matrix. People that control our global population, which is a small handful of people in the scheme of things, want you to be stuck in mental slavery because they gain profit and control off of it. But it is up to each and everyone of us to break free from this mental downfall, take responsibility for your life and go change it for the better. The reason these controllers want you to be entertained is because a controlled population doesn’t ask too many questions and they obey like a bunch of docile sheep.

6 Major Things To WAKE UP to NOW:

Books/Documentaries:

Quote: "The Matrix is a system, Neo. That system is our enemy. But when you're inside, you look around, what do you see? Businessmen, teachers, lawyers, carpenters. The very minds of the people we are trying to save. But until we do, these people are still a part of that system and that makes them our enemy. You have to understand, most of these people are not ready to be unplugged. And many of them are so inured, so hopelessly dependent on the system that they will fight to protect it."

In this first episode of "Deep Thoughts w/ the Dixons,"  Nina is excited to start her own podcast with her husband Brian Dixon and shares some background information about who her hubby is. They elaborate on the difference between a fixed mindset and a growth mindset. They walk you, the listeners, through how they have programmed their conscious state of awareness to always be engineered for a growth mindset. Nina and Brian share their practical steps and tactics that you can use in your daily life to have a growth mindset as well. 

Mindset is so important. We are not taught how to think. We are taught what to think. I am happy to report that I focus all of my efforts on how to think as opposed to the later. Mindset literally creates our beliefs. Our beliefs create our reality. For example, if I have a growth mindset, which says “I can do anything” then I am going to eventually believe that and go after my dreams without harboring any limiting thoughts/beliefs. I will not procrastinate, instead I will be motivated and inspired. I will end up giving it my 100%. This will lead to success. Too many people focus/think about the wrong things in life. Their mind’s attention is on useless garbage.

I see people focusing on others’ lives and gossiping about them. I see people feed off others’ misfortunes as if somehow deflecting from their own pile of shit. What one should do is focus on themselves. Focus on health, focus on abundance, focus on your craft, focus on your family. Focus on the positives. Focus on the life you would like to be living. Focus on all the good in ALL areas of your life. Focus on growth and progress. Focus on being a better human being.

What is a Growth Mindset? In a growth mindset people believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work—brains and talent are just the starting point. This view creates a love of learning and a resilience that is essential for great accomplishment.

What is a Fixed Mindset? In a fixed mindset, people believe their basic qualities are simply fixed traits, and use their performance to document those traits.

What does all this mean? Basically, allowing the programming of your mind by outside negative situations or people or emotions means your in that fixed state however you are on the path of growth mindset when you become aware that YOU CONTROL AND STEER AND PROGRAM your own mind and once you actively apply this and begin to change your outlook, your reactions turn into responses. Now, you’ve fully entered the growth mindset and can apply this to all areas of your life. 

Book Recommendations

Quote: "Whether You Think You Can or Think You Can't; You're Right." by Henry Ford