Do The Hard Thing

Podcast Opening:

Welcome to Do The Hard Thing Episode 20. I am Jason Archer… creator, freedom seeker, leader of self | full time student and part time teacher of self mastery, and today is all about Values.

The goal, as always, is to dive deeper into how we humans can more effectively move toward the outcomes we want. Usually, this means getting uncomfortable and doing hard things. So, turn up the volume, put down the distractions and let’s kick this off…

[NOTE: Insert some intro music here | Insert brief description here]

Summary Description:

If you've ever started down a path to create something meaningful in your life, and for whatever reason found yourself not moving toward the outcome you claim to want... like there's a part of you that simply refuses to move, Then this podcast is for you. Do The Hard Thing is an exploration in human movement.

INSIDE TODAY'S EPISODE...

MEANINGFUL WORDS:

"Values are the deep-seated beliefs that motivate behaviors and determine people's compatabilities with each other. People will fight for their values, and they are likely to fight with people who don't share them."

- Ray Dalio, Founder of Bridgewater.

//KEYNOTES

★ What Are Values?

What makes a value a value.

Values vs. Abilities vs. Skills.

Values and hierarchy.

★ Why Do Values Matter?

The importance of alignment.

The wife story.

What we are building out.

★ When Values Collide.

Values are difficult to change.

Opposing values.

Moving smoothly

//THE HARD TRUTH

The values we hold are difficult to change and are not very fluid. The process of getting to know oneself and aligning values with those you intend to work closely with

//ASK AND APPLY

The question today is this: Where in your life are your values not aligned with people or processes that are close to you? Work, fitness, relationships... where do you see an opportunity to apply a change to your benefit?

Once you have your answer, you must honor the work and practice.

Apply the concept: Come up with at least one way you can use what you just learned to step into a place that requires you to step toward your new more favorable identity in any role you take on.

As Rumi said, "As you start to walk on the way, the way appears."

Podcast Closing:

That’s it for today! Thank you for listening, and if you found value in this message be sure to subscribe and leave a review on iTunes, Google Play, Castbox, or Stitcher | Share this with those you want to invest in on social | And I’ll see you back here in the next episode | Until then, this is Jason Archer signing off | Now go... and DO THE HARD THING.

Listen at dothehardthing.net

Podcast Opening:

Welcome to Do The Hard Thing Episode 19. I am Jason Archer… creator, freedom seeker, leader of self | full time student and part time teacher of self mastery, and today is all about Self Signaling.

The goal, as always, is to dive deeper into how we humans can more effectively move toward the outcomes we want. Usually, this means getting uncomfortable and doing hard things. So, turn up the volume, put down the distractions and let’s kick this off…

[NOTE: Insert some intro music here | Insert brief description here]

Summary Description:

Have you ever started down a path to create something meaningful in your life, and for whatever reason found yourself not moving toward the outcome you claim to want... And no matter the situation, part of you simply refused to move. This podcast is born from idea. Do The Hard Thing is an exploration in human movement.

INSIDE TODAY'S EPISODE...

MEANINGFUL WORDS:

"We generally believe that we have a privileged view of our own preferences and character, but in reality we don’t know ourselves that well (and definitely not as well as we think we do). Instead, we observe ourselves in the same way we observe and judge the actions of other people — inferring who we are and what we like from our actions."

- Dan Ariely, Ph.D.

//KEYNOTES

★ How Do We See Ourselves?

Who you are at your core.

Where does your behavior and personality come from?

Programs and beliefs.

Examine yourself and gain an awareness.

★ What Is Self Signaling?

Self Signaling is the idea that you can act your way in to thinking of yourself differently.

Your actions will ultimately define your identity.

Remember the stolen wallet example.

People self signal failure and don't realize it makes their journey harder.

Diet example.

★ Don't Cheat Yourself.

Knowing this means you can act yourself into a new identity.

You can become different internally by external action.

Good news: You can use this to your advantage.

Form new habits, or new thought processes that will serve you in completing your task.

By contrast, once you cheat or lie... you become more likely to do so.

//THE HARD TRUTH

Actions can literally change who we are. Once we start violating our own standards (say, with cheating on diets or for monetary incentives), we are much more likely to abandon further attempts to control our behavior.

//ASK AND APPLY

Ask yourself this: Where in your life are you self signaling negativity? Work, fitness, relationships... where do you see an opportunity to apply this concept to your benefit?

Once you have your answer, you must honor the work and practice.

Apply the concept: Come up with at least one way you can use what you just learned to step into a place that requires you to step toward your new more favorable identity in any role you take on.

Like Rumi said, "As you start to walk on the way, the way appears."

Podcast Closing:

That’s it for today! Thank you for listening, and if you found value in this message be sure to subscribe and leave a review on iTunes, Google Play, Castbox, or Stitcher | Share this with those you know need to hear it on social | And I’ll see you back here in the next episode | This is Jason Archer signing off | Now… go, and DO THE HARD THING.

Listen at dothehardthing.net

Podcast Opening:

Welcome to Do The Hard Thing Episode 18. I am Jason Archer… creator, freedom seeker, leader of self | full time student and part time teacher of self mastery, and today is all about What It Means To Live In Integrity.

The goal, as always, is to dive deeper into how we humans can more effectively move toward the outcomes we want. Usually, this means getting uncomfortable and doing hard things. So, turn up the volume, put down the distractions and let’s kick this off…

[NOTE: Insert some intro music here | Insert brief description here]

Summary Description:

Have you ever started down a path to create something meaningful in your life, and for whatever reason found yourself not moving toward the outcome you claim to want... And no matter the situation, part of you simply refused to move. This podcast is born from idea. Do The Hard Thing is an exploration in human movement.

INSIDE TODAY'S EPISODE...

MEANINGFUL WORDS:

"Integrity means having a conscience and honoring this conscience even when doing so may involve considerable personal sacrifice. It means placing the dictates of the soul and God above those of the ego.."

- Dr. Andy Drymalski, Ed.D.

//KEYNOTES

★ Integrity Is Rare And Rarely Used

Turns out when asked what integrity is... few people can answer the question.

Wifey and I have been discussing this recently because of our contract.

Some call it honesty.

Some call it character.

Some say it is keeping your word.

I think it goes much deeper than that.

★ Integrity As Flow

The word itself comes to us from the Latin meaning sound, complete, or whole

It implies no division within oneself.

If we take this deeper, we can see that integrity is alignment of our beliefs with our actions.

See Dr. Andy's definition above.

It's not enough to keep our word... The word we keep must align with the beliefs we hold.

In this way, it flows from our essence from the inside out... bypassing ego.

★ Why Is It So Hard To Do?

Social situations can get in the way.

Ego shows up.

Small talk example.

Wedding example.

//THE HARD TRUTH

When our actions have are based on ego, they generally pull us out of integrity.

//ASK AND APPLY

Ask yourself this: Where in your life are you out of integrity? Work, home life, relationships, where do you see action that doesn't align with your beliefs or desires?

Once you have your answer, it's time to do the hard thing.

Apply the concept: Come up with at least one way you can use what you just learned to step into a place that requires you to step toward the real you, your real beliefs... and without waiting, put it into action.

Like Rumi said, "As you start to walk on the way, the way appears."

Podcast Closing:

That’s it for today! Thank you for listening, and if you found value in this message be sure to subscribe and leave a review on iTunes, Google Play, Castbox, or Stitcher | Share this with those you know need to hear it on social | And I’ll see you back here in the next episode | This is Jason Archer signing off | Now… go, and DO THE HARD THING.

Listen at dothehardthing.net

Podcast Opening:

Welcome to Do The Hard Thing Episode 17. I am Jason Archer… creator, freedom seeker, leader of self | full time student and part time teacher of self mastery, and today is all about being Fearful In The Gap.

The Do The Hard Thing podcast is an exploration in how we humans can more effectively move toward the outcomes we want. So, turn up the volume, put down the distractions and let’s kick this off…

[NOTE: Insert some intro music here | Insert brief description here]

Summary Description:

Have you ever started down a path to create something meaningful in your life, and for whatever reason found yourself not moving toward the outcome you claim to want... And no matter the situation, part of you simply refused to move. This podcast is born from idea. Do The Hard Thing is an exploration in human movement.

INSIDE TODAY'S EPISODE...

MEANINGFUL WORDS:

"If you’re going through hell, keep going."

- Winston Churchill

//KEYNOTES

★ The Queen Comes In Crying

I was in just coming out of a deep meditative state.

The Queen came in crying.

She was experiencing the pull of her past and the fear of her future.

Soon she will be leaving Calgary... the place she has known as home her entire life.

She knows Calgary and what it holds well.

She doesn't know what her new life in Phoenix will look like.

Job wise, socially, her roles as a partner and wife.

★ Meet Your Demons In The Gap

So she's in the Gap.

It is simply the place "between" who you are and who you want to become.

The Gap is that place where fear hits hard and does it's level best to kill your movement.

In this place, we so often find ourselves with an opportunity to move forward... but, then we don't.

The demons that run our imagination start to show up with all the what if's.

And, we use our past experience or our imagined future to create fear and anxiety around what "Could" happen.

These remembered or imagined demons go to war with our intentions to move.

So... this feels uncertain and uncomfortable.

NOTE: Imagination Inflation - Studies have been done showing that when people are told to imagine an event that never happened to them, and are later asked whether that event happened to them, they will increase their confidence scores for events which they have imagined, but not for those which they haven't imagined.

★ Your Future Is Determined By The Choice You Make

We are in this place that demands we be courageous.

And, unlike your favorite hero flick, real life courage does not feel good.

It's not fun to be at the edge of yourself, and have doubts about your ability to achieve in untested areas.

it's not fun to realize you are in a place that could end in failure or misery.

You have to make a choice here that will determine your growth or stagnation.

Who will win? You or the fear..

What you want is on the other side of the Gap.

The prize is the new you that you have become and new confidence.

That is the place that feels good.

//THE HARD TRUTH

Everything you want... The relationship, the business, the money, the time; it's all on the other side of the Gap.

//ASK AND APPLY

Ask yourself this: Where in your life are you stopping in the Gap? Where are you expecting confidence to come before your commitment to move and sitting stagnant?

Once you have your answer, it's time to do the hard thing.

Apply the concept: Come up with at least one way you can...

Podcast Opening:

Welcome to Do The Hard Thing Episode 16. I am Jason Archer… creator, freedom seeker, leader of self | full time student and part time teacher of self mastery, and today is all about what I learned from Adam Carolla.

So, turn up the volume, put down the distractions and let’s kick this off…

[NOTE: Insert some intro music here | Insert brief description here]

Summary Description:

Have you ever started down a path to create something meaningful in your life, and for whatever reason found yourself not moving toward the outcome you claim to want... And no matter the situation, part of you simply refused to move. This podcast is born from idea. Do The Hard Thing is an exploration in human movement.

INSIDE TODAY'S EPISODE...

MEANINGFUL WORDS:

"Continuous effort, not strength or intelligence, is the key to unlocking our potential."

- Winston Churchill

//KEYNOTES

★ Adam Tells His Story

Thought his job was pretty insulated from economic conditions.

He lost is million dollar radio contract with KLSX when the economy went bad back in 2007-2008

Needed to find a way to create a new income stream and decided to spend 8 or 9 grand a month on storage and bandwidth.

Enter: podcasting before it was all the rage, before the endorsements, before monetization, before he knew he could even make a buck he was heavily investing in an unproven platform... with both his money and his time.

The Adam Carolla Show becomes the most downloaded podcast in the world.

★ The 3 Things That Continually Show Up In Success Stories

Some trial or event takes place to cause one to HAVE to learn and grow or fend for one's self

Heavy investment of one's time, money and energy to get the thing off the ground.

Consistent work over time with an unshakeable belief in the outcome you want to create.

★ Getting Paid

Adam asked the question, what can you expect to earn from a job you show up to once a week?

Too many people want to be paid for results that don't exist.

If you want to monetize what it is you do, you can not treat it like a hobby.

Once a week is not enough... how about everyday you show up for the job you want to get paid for?

None of this guarantees your success. You may do all these things and get nothing in return, but not doing these things guarantees your failure.

//THE HARD TRUTH

You have to treat anything you want to monetize like a job that requires you to show up on a daily basis and create daily results. Once a week gets you once a week pay... little or nothing.

//ASK AND APPLY

Ask yourself this: Where in your life are you giving "one day a week effort" and expecting "overtime" results?

Once you have your answer, it's time to do the hard thing.

Apply the concept: Come up with at least one way you can use what you just learned to create a larger more focused effort toward your outcome... and without waiting, put it into action.

Podcast Closing:

That’s it for today! Thank you for listening, and if you found value in this message be sure to subscribe on iTunes, Google Play, Castbox, or Stitcher | Share this with those you know need to hear it on social | And I’ll see you back here in the next episode | This is Jason Archer signing off | Now… go, and DO THE HARD THING.

Listen at dothehardthing.net

Podcast Opening:

Welcome to Do The Hard Thing Episode 15. I am Jason Archer… creator, freedom seeker, leader of self | full time student and part time teacher of self mastery, and today’s theme is “Influence Yourself First”.

So, turn up the volume, put down the distractions and let’s kick this off…

[NOTE: Insert some intro music here | Insert brief description here]

Summary Description:

Have you ever started down a path that you felt held a great deal of meaning for you, and then for whatever reason you could not move toward the outcome you wanted to create? Whether it was a Mental, Physical, or Spiritual target you sought, it didn’t matter… there was a part of you that refused to move. This podcast is born from specific idea. Do The Hard Thing is an exploration in human movement.

Podcast Content:

I have been many things in my life... and ego manic is certainly one of them. Especially as an younger man. I wanted to have an impact on those around me and the world at large, but didn't realize the first step in doing that is dealing with me. Influencing myself positively. And, some of you listening to this right now might want to change the world... when, really you need to change yourself.

Everything you want radiates from you. So the process begins inside. This is a process of influencing yourself.

When I first started down my path toward personal development and business, I just knew there was a trick to getting what I wanted. Some secret existed outside of me that would magically propel me forward if I only knew what it was... And, I had to find this magic no matter the cost.

This put me on the path toward purchasing business courses, marketing courses, and personal development experiences. And, I invested tens of thousands of dollars in these places with the idea that one of them would hold the golden ticket I needed to take everything to the next level.

And this thinking was both right and wrong.

Here's what I mean by that: When I finally took the plunge and bought into my first course... it was the PSI Basic Seminar. It consisted of two four hour nights followed by two full days of training. The cost was about 600 dollars per person, and I could re-audit the course as many times as I wanted at no cost forever. Sweet deal.

Sweet deal indeed if you live in an abundance mindset. Even though I knew this would be a good use of time and dollars, I passed on the opportunity when it was first offered to me.

Why?

Because I was the king of cheap bastards. I could buy a lot of dirt bike parts with that six bills. And, would routinely do so without batting an eye. After all, what kind of desperate moron spends money to go to a seminar that the internet says is a cult?

The internet is always right. Right? Pay money to throw myself into a cult... no thanks.

So I passed.

Then my phone rang a few days later... and someone on the other end offered me a two for one on the price. Next thing I knew, the girlfriend and I were begrudgingly signed up and all set to attend the Basic Seminar in December of 2008.

And, that was the beginning of my formal introduction to human development. I would go on to spend another 20+ grand in the next year alone on advanced courses and travel to and from.

Notice what had to happen here.

I had to get out of my own way. My scarcity mindset around money almost cost me the last 10 years of accelerated advancement of my self and my businesses and my relationship with my wife.

The first person I had to influence was me.

And, that is a damn near impossible task when you only see the world through your own set of eyes. Even worse, most people do not even use their own eyes...