OneSharpSword

We have work to do. Noone wants to hear that and yet the TRUTH is that we need to be paying attention on multiple levels. The first place to start is with ourselves. 

I Am Bigger Than My Current Life - that’s the ache that most people feel. 

What would happen if you decided that you were actually in charge of your life? 

Awareness leads to Choice and Choice leads back to greater Awareness.

It’s the hermeneutic loop that I teach. The more awareness you have, the more choices you have. Keep expanding.

Ask, “what’s available to me now?”

Get clear about the direction you want to head.

Get clear about your outcomes.

Look for the support you might need and be aware of the obstacles you might hit. That will allow you to invoke the choices you do have.

A bigger life does await. And it needs some action steps to move into it.

Ready? Go!

https://www.StuckAtTheTop.com is the place to supercharge your forward momentum.

Thank you for listening to One Sharp Sword!  Be sure to also check out Wednesdays With Wayne for quick, fun, and inspirational mid-week reading.  www.WaynePernell.com/blog

One of my VIP clients recently asked me how to handle it when, in a social situation, the conversation turned to gossip and rumors about another mutual acquaintance who wasn’t present. He was uncomfortable and wanted to leave. His partner wanted to stay.

What would you do?

Upleveling IS hard. Staying where you are is comfortably uncomfortable. 

I’m responsible for what I put into my day.

I’m responsible for what I give and for how I show up. 

What is gossip or rumor mongering based on? 

• Fear and Lack. 
• • Really, you wouldn’t say something about someone if they didn’t somehow mean something to you and you weren’t judging yourself against them.

Give THAT some thought.

Uplevel.

Check your mindset.

Coming from a space of gratitude and abundance, feeling like you’re enough… that’s easy intellectually, and it’s harder to practice.

Practice.

Just… practice.

Want to focus on your mindset and create a focused future for yourself? Do yourself a favor and at least check out www.StuckAtTheTop.com

See you here next time!

= Wayne =

Thank you for listening to One Sharp Sword!  Be sure to also check out Wednesdays With Wayne for quick, fun, and inspirational mid-week reading.  www.WaynePernell.com/blog

I’m a fourth-degree blackbelt in the art of Bushido - The Way of The Warrior. 

So many people who start out in the martial arts just want the coveted black belt. They don’t realize that the black belt is simply a symbol of competence, and that it’s also a starting place. It’s the place from which mastery is born.

In leading yourself and others, you need to find a way to dive in deep, to commit to yourself and to invest in yourself. You can only get better when you let go of the ego that throws you a parade for your title or the hard work you’ve done.

You’re not done, nor should you be. Mastery is an ongoing process. Leadership is not a one-and-done thing, it too is a process. 

Invest and commit to becoming better. 

Stopping because you have status is dangerous and it doesn’t serve anyone. At some point, it’ll bite you in the behind. Recognize that your competition is you, the you of yesterday and that by becoming a better version of yourself today, you’re living into lifting and serving others. 

You’re not done. Other people need you. As a leader, you need to show up at your best. 

This podcast will give you some further insights about all of this. Enjoy!

Thank you for listening to One Sharp Sword!  Be sure to also check out Wednesdays With Wayne for quick, fun, and inspirational mid-week reading.  www.WaynePernell.com/blog

Maybe you’re feeling a little overwhelmed right now. That’s normal, but the mountains of “stuff” that you’ve been carrying… you were meant to climb.

You need to be in control of your day, your week, your month, your quarter, and the rest of this year. Do that by looking at all of the “stuff” you’ve tried to carry from day to day. Look at where you’ve been putting your energy and recognize that your priorities are highlighted by where you’ve put your focus.

If something really, really mattered to you, everything else would fall away.

“Oh, I meant to…” is but an excuse.

Chunk up the projects.

Own your calendar.

And jump on the things that you said mattered to you.

These are but a few of the concepts we dive into on today’s podcast.

Thank you for listening to One Sharp Sword!  Be sure to also check out Wednesdays With Wayne for quick, fun, and inspirational mid-week reading.  www.WaynePernell.com/blog

It’s odd how people are uncomfortable with silence, isn’t it. What’s amazing is that when I work with teams and leaders, people start to squirm just a few seconds into a pause, a void of talking. By nine seconds, usually the leader has jumped in to say something.

That’s so unnecessary. Four seconds is enough to create safety, to show through your body language and your face that you’re listening. When someone makes a statement, acknowledge it, then… just hold space.

For fun, challenge yourself to pause for up to eighteen seconds. Do nothing, no fidgeting, just sit. Count to eighteen in your head very slowly. Notice, just notice what happens when you do that… at four seconds, at nine seconds, and at eighteen seconds.

Most people exhale deeply at eighteen seconds as if they’ve been holding their breath. Breathe normally, get quiet, and notice. Just notice. Create safety for yourself and others by holding space.

And that is how you build your Powerful Presence®, too!

Thank you for listening to One Sharp Sword!  Be sure to also check out Wednesdays With Wayne for quick, fun, and inspirational mid-week reading.  www.WaynePernell.com/blog

Yes, we all need a reminder - especially at this time of year: there are three “G” words that’ll make your days more powerful, effective, efficient and productive.

G is for Gratitude. Look at what you’ve come through. Look at where you’re headed! Look at the small pebbles that have paved the way, even the ones that have gotten in the way. There is so much to be grateful for. So very much to be grateful for. And living in that space, vs. the space of entitlement or being offended, living in gratitude opens so many doors for you.

G is for Grace. Look at what you’ve come through and don’t assume you know what anyone else is feeling or has come through. Grace is about giving yourself and others the breathing room to take on the next challenge, whether that’s simply getting up in the morning or whether it’s saving the world. Everyone needs a little more Grace.

G is for Generosity. Don’t judge whether someone “needs” something from you or not. Decide how you can make a positive impact. (I’ve been known to leave a $100 tip in hotel rooms. Something tells me that might make a positive impact on the housekeeper.) Where can you make a positive impact? Where might you step up your generosity game?

Thank you for listening to One Sharp Sword!  Be sure to also check out Wednesdays With Wayne for quick, fun, and inspirational mid-week reading.  www.WaynePernell.com/blog

We’ve stared at the same four walls for the past year and a half. We’ve organized the pantry. We’ve learned to work differently. We’ve extended our work hours and have gotten less done in more time (ahhhh - the new math). We thought we’d become more efficient, but when we check email first thing and then throughout the day and then last thing and then stay up longer as a revenge against work so as to get some “me” time… we’ve put ourselves on a collision course with BURNOUT.

Our roles blended and now everything is at home. Though we’re starting to find our way back into the world, we might also be wondering if it’s worth it.

Three steps to get you back out there and in touch with what matters most:

• Recognize that you have control over A LOT in your world. Use that control. Employ the choices you have. From what mask to wear to what food to eat, you have control. You also have control over when you check email and when you don’t.
• Get Out! Seriously, get outside.
• • Stare at one thing in nature: a leaf, a piece of tree bark, a flower petal. See how you feel after sitting with that one nature-laden thing for a minute.
  • Stare off in the distance. Allow your eyes to unfocus. Engage with the infinite space. See how you feel after disconnecting from any one thing that’s right in front of you and connecting with the infinite beyond you.
• Ask for what you want and need. Others want things too. When you ask, you’re also able to be asked. Reciprocate in offering caring attention to others. 

Start there. That’s how you bring a little joy back into your life.

Thank you for listening to One Sharp Sword!  Be sure to also check out Wednesdays With Wayne for quick, fun, and inspirational mid-week reading.  www.WaynePernell.com/blog

I’m eating sushi with a client when I ask him what he expects of me the following day as I engage with his team.

“Excellence,” came the one-word, very direct answer.

“Challenge Accepted,” I replied with a smile.

Inside I wondered how to bring him the excellence he expected. What I didn’t know was that he was endorsing me for the excellence he had always experienced in my work with him.

And that got me thinking - If he experienced excellence in my work and I had a sense that I could level up, why couldn’t I just level up that bit more anyway?

What can you do, in any area of your life, to level up just that bit more?

Thank you for listening to One Sharp Sword!  Be sure to also check out Wednesdays With Wayne for quick, fun, and inspirational mid-week reading.  www.WaynePernell.com/blog

From homeless street kid to Marine Corps Captain to Sage & Mentor - Solarzar works magic in there somewhere, too!

He notes that leadership is all about communication and relationships!

He believes in the continuum of relationships, how the teacher imparts to the scholar and at some point, the scholar offers to the teacher.  Solarzar discussed The Hero’s Journey and notes that we’ve all been the reluctant hero, called to take charge. Most pull back multiple times until finally, we draw on the nuggets of knowledge we’ve collected on our path and realize that what we’ve been given along the way will help us to our next breakthrough. 

These are magical moments that our path of the leader is paved with.

His other gems to think about:

• Dignity in the face of adversity
• Our goal is to connect and affirm
• External circumstances don’t define me - - what defines us is how we react (or respond)

Leadership Magic is Solarzar’s book available online.

We also referenced Outliers by Gladwell and Book of Five Rings by Mushashi

Also, for magic or for leadership, you can reach out to him at:

[email protected]

And www.MentalConnection.com

Thank you for listening to One Sharp Sword!  Be sure to also check out Wednesdays With Wayne for quick, fun, and inspirational mid-week reading.  www.WaynePernell.com/blog 

What’s the difference between being “Nice” and being Kind?

When you’re nice, you’re likely to be giving yourself - a lot of yourself - away. And the cost to that? Personal identity.

Here I share some very personal stories and talk about how to be kind, to live in grace, compassion, and empathy without having to make everything okay for everyone else. 

Being kind, sometimes means holding boundaries. That’s not always easy. And, it’s essential for your growth and for your true service to others.

Thank you for listening to One Sharp Sword!  Be sure to also check out Wednesdays With Wayne for quick, fun, and inspirational mid-week reading.  www.WaynePernell.com/blog