Design Test Improve

Today's episode is on living a life with less. What it means to us, it's benefits, and how to apply it to your life.

Call To Action

• Audit Your Life
  • Where you are spending your money
  • The people you are spending time with
  • The activities you are doing
  • The organizations you are involved in
  • Where you are getting your source of entertainment/news
• You are not going to be able to eliminate all the things that don't bring you joy in your life (example if you work on a job you don't like), but work to eliminate the things that don't have a big impact if you remove. Example extra clothes you never wear.

Resources To Learn More

• Documentaries
  • Playing With FIRE
  • Minimalism
  • Less is Now
• Book
  • Essentialism: The Discipline Pursuit of Less

Today's episode is on the T-Shape model. What it is, why you should consider it, and how to apply it to your life.

T-Shaped Model Explained

The horizontal part of the “T” is the broad knowledge about the different disciplines within your industry. It’s all of other facets that you’re familiar with—but not necessarily absolute expert in.

Then, the vertical part of the “T” shows the singular depth of knowledge on one subject. It’s the discipline within your industry that you are an absolute expert on.

How To Implement What We Talk About

• First ask yourself, what industry do I want to work in? –– Marketing, Engineering, Programming, etc.
• Then start learning at a basic level all the disciplines within that industry. You can do this by reading books, or taking a certification or training program that gives you a broad understanding of everything in one course
• Now create list of 1–3 disciplines that you want to be a specialist in within your industry and start diving into those disciplines.w

This episode was inspired by an article that we read called "Five Words That Will Change Your Life" in which they wrote about five words that would change your life –– "Only Stay Where You're Valued."

We are going to be discussing this phrase and its implementation in our lives.

Call To Action - How to implement what we discussed in this episode:

Identify areas in your life where you feel like you're being under-valued. Once you identify those areas, think of a game plan to either improve those relationships, or figure out a way to get out of them and into ones where you are being truly being valued.

To help with this, ask yourself the following questions to analyze your personal and professional relationships:

Personal Relationships (Friends & Family)

• Do they only hit you up when they need something?
• Do you feel calm, happy, and at peace when you are around them?
• Do you feel like you have a boost of energy around them?
• Is helping each other a two way street or are you the only one helping even when you ask for help?
• Do you feel comfortable telling them "no", and when you do, do they respect your boundaries?
• Do they praise and congratulate you when you accomplish something? Or do they criticize or try to limit you when reaching for your goals?
• Can you tell them good or bad news without them making it about themselves?
• Does they say or do things behind your back?
• Are they only there with you during the good times, or the bad times too?
• Do they embarrass you or tarnish your image in public?

Professional Relationships (Boss, Partner, Co-Workers, etc.)

• If you've been working hard at your job and delivering results... do they reward you for it?
• Do they congratulate and praise you in front of others?
• Do they consider you for positions that you've showed interest in?
• Do you feel that your company is offering opportunities for you to further develop your skillset?
• Does management and fellow team members treat you with respect?

In this episode we will be discussing career stagnation –– what it may look like, common ways people fall into it, and how to avoid or get out of it if you're currently stagnant in your career.

Call To Action - How to implement what we discussed in this episode:

• On a piece of paper or digital note app, reflect on where you are in your career by asking yourself
  • What are you working on?
  • What milestones you have achieved?
  • What are you enjoying and why?
  • What are you not enjoying and why?
  • What skillsets are you developing?
  • What skillsets do you want to learn?
  • Are you happy (if not, why are you not happy)?
• Create a plan for what are your next moves
  • Something you want to learn (in or outside the company)
  • Talking to your manager about transitioning out of a dull assignment or just let your manager know what you are interested in so they can keep you in mind for future assignments
  • etc.

Content/Tools Mentioned:

• Tools
  • DayOne Journaling App
• Articles
  • The Complete Guide To Overcoming Career Stagnation
  • 9 Signs Your Career May Be Stagnating and Tips to Overcome Downturns
• Videos
  • Learn, Earn, or Quit

In today's episode we talk about how to bring more joy into your life through filling your days with meaningful activities. We talk about what meaningful activities are, and how you can implement some strategies that have worked for us into your life to help reach your goals and live a more impactful life.

• Episodes Mentioned 
  • Episode 12: How To Sit Down & Focus In Today's Extremely Distracted World
  • Episode 7: The Dangers of High Dopamine – Why You Should Go On A Dopamine Fast
• Tools Mentioned 
  • Freedom.to
• Articles: 
  • You’re spending your free time wrong — here’s what to do to be happier and more successful

Today's episode is on building up your own personal board of directors based on different areas of your life that you want to improve on. We discuss why it's important to build this board of directors for your life and even give you some tips ways to find these people, whether in person or online.

Recommended books, courses, and communities to follow that were mentioned in the episode:

• Dave Ramsey Total Money Makeover (Finance Book)
• I Will Teach You to Be Rich (Finance Book)
• Meet Kevin (Finance YouTube Channel)
• Graham Stephan (Finance YouTube Channel)
• The Roommates (Dating & Relationships YouTube Channel)
• Udemy Courses (Career Development Website)

In this episode we break down why it's important for your to develop the skill set of being able to focus in a world that is full of distractions. We also share some tips, tools, and strategies you can start using to help build this skillset so that you can start to focus on the things that truly matter in your life.

• Block Distractions 
  • HeyFocus
  • Freedom
  • Forest
• Music To Help You Focus 
  • Endel
  • Brain.fm
  • Spotify - Deep Focus Playlist
• Task Management 
  • Things 3 (Mac)
  • Todoist
• Physical Tools 
  • Time Timer
  • Notebook / Notecard / Sticky Note
  • Sony WH-1000XM4
  • Bose 700
• Books 
  • Make Time by Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky

In this episode, we discussed how having a set of things you say you are going to do everyday will help you achieve your goals and live a happier life.

Content/Tools Mentioned:

• Book: The Perfect Week Formula: Build Your Business Around Your Life, Not Your Life Around Your Business by Craig Ballantyne
• App for Journaling: Day One

In this episode, we discussed how learning more may be holding you back from achieving your goals and the importance of applying what you learn.

Content/Tools Mentioned:

• Video: FEAR Setting
• Book: Psycho-Cybernetics

In this episode we will be talking about burnout. What it is and how to handle it if you are currently going through it. We'll also be giving you tips that we've use in our personal life to help you prevent burning out again moving forward.

Article: Burnout Prevention and Treatment
Meditation Video: Wim Hoff Breathing Exercise