Schooling Struggle

By Schooling Struggle

The only guarantee in life is that all humans struggle at various times throughout their journey. The Schooling Struggle Podcast dives deep into the real life theories and tactics that we can use to n... more

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FAQs about Schooling Struggle:

How many episodes does Schooling Struggle have?

The podcast currently has 125 episodes available.

Schooling Struggle episodes:

June 09, 202224: 10 Tips for Better Sleep
In this episode Todd and Peter dive a bit into sleep… its purpose, utility, restorative powers as well as learned tips, and tricks to get more and of better quality. As sometimes happens, our conversation wanders this way and that, but mostly related (this time) to the topic.

Related points:
Lead with gratitude, helps disarm overwhelm.

It is often difficult to get a good night’s sleep with newborns in proximity.

If you consistently disregard sleep, its loss will appear in numerous places.

R.E.M. = Rapid Eye Movement (not just an American rock band – see below).

It is more common than you might think, getting hooked/dependent on sleep masks.
Peters 10 tips for better sleep…
Treat sleep like medicine needed to maintain health.

Pre-bedtime routine is key to success.

Stay away from and/or block blue light.

The darker the room, the better the quality of sleep.

60-67 degrees (F) is the optimal sleeping temperature.

Try to keep from eating 2-3 hours before bed.

Keep your bed(room) a dedicated space for sleeping, purposefully.

Those who exercise on a regular basis, tend to have better sleep… this can be overdone.

Calm the mind and the body for solid sleep.
Mental habit / action / tool examples:
Sleep and hydration are the two biggest things we need to operate well.

Mileage may vary by individual, on what actions will help achieve harmony in sleep.

As sleepy time nears, you’ll get more effective sleep the longer it has been since you’ve peered into a device or screen.

Alcohol inhibits deeper cycles of sleep.

Breathing/meditative techniques can help calm the mind and body for sleep.

It’s been said that when counting sheep to get back to sleep, imagining them atop snowboards doing park tricks works wonders.

Sleep supplements can assist with making humans sleepy, again mileage varies.
Quotes/quips:
"Trying to get my life from being overwhelmed, to just whemled.”

“Moderation is for cowards, so let’s just go all in.”
Rando Mentions:
Bloomsday Run (Spokane WA)

Sleep deprivation

Whoop Strap

Stages of sleep

R.E.M. (The musical band)

Cooling mattress cover(s)

Box breathing technique(s)

CPAP Machine

Power broom in action

Power napping
...more
39min
May 29, 202223: Laughter, Death & What's In Between
The title hits the larger themes in this episode however Peter and Todd explore the intersection of Storytime and M3 (Magical Microphone Monday's) going into places unexplored. Might not be typical for these two, given the ‘structure’ of other releases – or – not. Hope you all enjoy it.
Related points:
Sometimes books are worth a revisit, depending on where you are along your life’s path.

Measure of success can be pinned to ‘some guy’ in Vermont asking you to co-host a podcast.

Death – what happens in the mind of the dying.

Sometimes the body fails, yet the mind is 100% intact.

How can you make every interaction, personally, result in someone feeling noticed and enjoyed?

Jumping across breezeways sixteen floors up might not be the best idea – sober or not.

Irritation can help some drivers remain awake.
Mental habit / action / tool examples:
Leaning into scary or uncomfortable experiences in our lives can reshape who we are, in many ways.

Share, if you can, the experiences and actions which have shaped your life with others. To share what we learn is to add to the wellbeing and growth of those around us.

Thoughts which are outside our control / comprehension are often fruitless to ponder. Fruitless in contrast to our forward intentions in the present.

If you feel uncomfortable when leaving a situation, when you ponder it and feel there is something undone / left unstated – this is an opportunity to lean in and take a step into discomfort.

Listen to your emotions, the felt sense of how they feel in your body… these feelings have utility but are often discounted or ignored.
Quotes/quips:
“Definition of focus – paying close attention to the detail while always keeping the big picture in mind.”

“The human condition is that everyone wants to be noticed and enjoyed.”
Rando Mentions:
How to Win Friends & Influence People – book

The Top five regrets of the Dying – book

Robert Waldinger: What makes a good life? Lessons from the longest study on happiness | TED

Logan Raymond – Raymond Construction Hartland VT
...more
32min
May 23, 202222: Fast, Furious, & Out of Control
In this episode Peter digs a bit deeper into Todd’s backstory… several of our listeners expressed their hunger for additional depth in this department – so let this serve as an extended play (the first was episode three). When/if we look close into the things which drive our decisions and behaviors, sometimes we can see what unfolded outside our knowing in real time.
Related points:
Peter has been a PE teacher for 16 years, so now he has known the current class since kindergarten. Shoutout to Alex.

Differences found against others’ expectations, at an early age, can be the place where labels are applied.

Parenting is difficult – should you hear differently, lean in, and ask questions.

Rarely (in our current times) are students ‘held back’ in school (redo grade 5 as an example).
Mental habit / action / tool examples:
Create interesting ways to allow others to discover themselves, in unique ways.

Find things which interest you, and as much as possible allow those to pull you into learning more.

If you don’t feel like what you are doing has value, you may discover an aversion to being in that environment and/or what is found there.

You cannot run fast enough to escape the real world, self-imposed, financial problems.

If you are willing to look, opportunity exists in EVERYTHING. Every event in our lives.
Quotes/quips:
"The baggage we carry stays with us for much of our life’s journey."

"You can’t know what you don’t know, but how else can you find out if you’re not willing to go see."
Rando Mentions:
Population of Tacoma Washington

What is Snocross (Adam)?

What is a savant?

ADHD

Synchronicity
...more
42min
May 16, 202221: Calling Attention to Our Attention
Time. Attention. How it’s spent, and what that expenditure aligns with is the topic Todd and Peter cover in this episode. They discuss how understanding where time goes can highlight points where making intentional adjustments can help us create a path to fulfillment and purpose.
Related points:
In Vietnam, the busses have vomit bags for everyone, which get used. But when they clean up, they throw the bags out the windows into the motor scooter commuters.

We end up paying attention to things, but many times on an unintentional basis.

How do we add value to our life, through our attention?

How do we add value to other people’s lives, through how we employ our attention?

Sleep is key and underpins all we do and can accomplish as humans.

Shout out to Rory for helping to lift points of awesome in others.

Mental habit / action / tool examples:
If something is of importance to us, we will give it our attention.

Try to observe your time, and document it to understand where it goes and how it's spent.

What our values are is often what makes our attention most useful.

Understanding / Defining our values is a long endeavor, but one which is essential to understanding how what we do adds value.

Make slight changes to shift attention and action toward things which we value as essential – and – away from things we realize are less fruitful.

If you are able, solicit feedback from those closest to you to uncover things often obfuscated from our self-perception.

Save amounts of time to entertain new thoughts and ideas – or even just allow intentional quiet.

Quotes/quips:
"As long as we’re alive, we have time.”

“It’s not that I didn’t have time, it’s that I chose not to make time.”

“We all have the same 24 hours in a day, how we spend them determines what we become.”

“Discipline is the difference between what we want now and what we want most.” – Abe Lincoln

“Don’t let life do you, go do life.”

Rando Mentions:
Stand by Me – Barf-O-Rama

Route 2 through Boston

Muppets - Swedish Chef
...more
41min
May 09, 202220: Brain Break, Recharge, or Escape?
How do you restore your reserves? Are you intentional about that, or rarely think about what's involved? In this episode Peter and Todd discuss the processes they have found and employed, what has and has not worked. As usual there are a few sidebar conversations which eventually come back around to the point of discussion.

Related points:
Having an awareness of balance and a mindset of acceptance when balance shifts.

Different scale of restoration events. Micro and macro, and things in-between.

Brain recharge and reset, mindset of restoration.

Where we find joy shifts in life with its variables – families, circumstances, environment.

Different methods of restorative action can be found anywhere, and at any time.

Mental habit / action / tool examples:
Once a year, try to unplug and detach completely, and look or go into yourself.

Cultivate an awareness of your feelings and boundaries. Know when they are overstepped or shifting.

Look for and note the things which you know rejuvenate you.

Appreciate when you are present in that which recharges you for added benefit.

Example recharge rules:

Don’t do anything you don’t want to do.

Look for comfort in structure/routine.

Consider having dedicated spaces for dedicated events.

Bed = sleep

Gym = workout

Living room = lounging

Quotes/quips:
"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” - Benjamin Franklin

Rando Mentions:
The Silence of the Lambs (novel) - Wikipedia

Anderson Island (Washington) - Wikipedia

Intermittent Fasting: What is it, and how does it work? | Johns Hopkins Medicine

Why do we block blue light? - A simplified explanation – GembaRed
...more
41min
May 03, 202219: What Others Think - Should We Care?
Ever feel like the thoughts of others might be playing some sort of role in the way we act... well, we have, and so in this episode Peter and Todd dive into this topic.
Related points:
Hypocrisy: a feigning to be what one is not or to believe what one does not: behavior that contradicts what one claims to believe or feel.

Sometimes what we think about what other people think about us can be an interesting thing to ponder.

There is a shifted cultural norm where people are distancing themselves from each other with increasing frequency. We each make a choice how to interact with (or respond), or in, that norm.

Do we hold importance of what others think as a moniker of how we lead and adhere to our values or intend to?

It is best to put your beer in a paper bag.

The metaverse is on its way.

Humans often change their mannerisms based on our environment and the people or things within it.
Mental habit / action / tool examples:
How we respond to a stimulus, predicates how we appear to others around us.

The weight of how others perspective of us, can be shifted through alignment of values.

Practicing holding a space to contemplate how we can feel, how we may react, how we might respond – allows experimenting with different outcomes.

Follow your values, then through reflection and awareness, we are better equipped to manage the clutter we find.
Quotes/quips:
"I try explain to them like the popularity machine of high school doesn't exist when you leave high school."

"In this moment, what's my intention and how can I proceed with that... in the way most aligned with my values."
Rando Mentions:
The Daily Stoic

Metaverse

Ready Player One (book) (film)

Responsible AI

Grasping (Buddhism)
...more
37min
April 24, 202218: Stages of Change: Ep. 18
Peter and Todd talk about the elements/drivers of and change and behavioral modifications. We stack the ideas and discuss where we think we are on the continuum, and how we could do better. As an educator, Peter reflects where the topics found in the coursework intersect with school settings – and shares what he is learning with us all here.
Definitions:
Autonomy: The capacity to make an informed uncoerced decision.

Mastery: Comprehensive knowledge or skill in a subject or accomplishment.

Purpose (noun): The reason for which something is done or created, or for which something exists.

Purpose (verb): To have as one intention or objective.

Ambivalence: Having mixed feelings or contradictory ideas about something so.
Related points:
Fuel prices have been up in the last few weeks... strange behaviors sometimes ensue.

Many of our listeners are helping others be better versions of themselves.

Peter is on a nutritional education quest.

The drivers of motivation are mastery, autonomy, and purpose.

It's amazingly easy to see our own shortcomings.

‘Y’all’ is a good replacement instead of using ‘you guys’.

Sometimes you just need to reboot.
Mental habit / action / tool examples:
The five stages of change: Precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, and maintenance.

To help support someone change, start with empathy through reflective listening.

Adjust to resistance rather than opposing it directly.

Surround yourself with people who you can trust, and who can trust you.

Never be afraid to assert that you don’t know something if you truly don’t.

If a situation is challenging, chances are there many opportunities within that struggle to be a better version of yourself.
Quotes/quips:
"Someone once wiser and smarter than me said everything moves at the speed of trust.”

“I'm not certified anything, but I'm an expert in what I'm interested in.”

“I know what I know, and I don't know what I don't know.”

“I truly don't believe in bad days, just challenging moments within 24-hour periods.”
Rando Mentions:
Motivational Interviewing - Books by Stephen Rollnick | Stephen Rollnick

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: 30th Anniversary Edition: Covey, Stephen R.: 9781982137274: Amazon.com: Books

George Carlin - Wikipedia
...more
35min
April 19, 202217: The Future, Gifts, & Inspiring People
In this episode we unveil and speak to (in real-time), the second half of John C's questions.
What are you looking forward to most in the next 10 years?

What is the best gift you've ever received and why?

Who was the most helpful and inspiring person in your life, in your younger years, and why?
Related points:
Slow motion is better than no motion.

If you don't have the right bike, at least have the right mindset.

Every John/Jon has an 'n'.
Mental habit / action / tool examples:
If you are driving and need to remember something, pull over and capture it safely.

Chase your passions with reckless abandon.

Try to focus less on your devices and spend more time getting to know people around you.
Quotes/quips:
"I like to say I'd rather live 10,000 days than live the same day 10,000 times."

"Tell the people that we love the most, how much we love them because tomorrow is not guaranteed."

"I think that there's dog lovers and their dog haters, and nobody falls in between."
Rando Mentions:
Scott City, Kansas

Blizzard Beach Water Park (seems to keep coming up)
...more
34min
April 16, 202216: Just Start
Ever find sometimes it is so hard to begin, ever think more about that and the why or reasons behind it? Peter and Todd dive into this thought track and uncover things along the way which have served them as well as things which maybe... well not so much.

Related points:
If we wait until we're ready, we risk never getting started at all.

The more you resist doing something, the more you will get from doing it.

It can become paralyzing to gather 'all' the info before making a decision.

For many, interest drives adoption and beginning.

Make a decision and move forward like it was the right one.

To motivate the unmotivated - find the smallest piece and build from that.

Learning something new can be a catalyst of interest and intent.
Mental habit / action / tool examples:
Progress is the biggest motivator - but to have some level of progress, you must act even when you don't feel like it, and that takes a certain level of mental resolve.

Begin a monolithic task by discovering the smallest thing you can take any action on/toward - the minimal viable piece.

The better than yesterday's is based on a low trajectory with a distant horizon.

With failure or setback along the way to a goal, try to observe the instance (of failure or setback) as a 'strike' rather than an 'out' (baseball terms).

Everyone is motivated differently, discovering what motivates you is a wonderful place to begin.

If you put off starting because you have no skill in that area, find one small skill and begin learning.

Peter’s tactical tips: (~27:49 thru ~32:15 - to hear Peter's framework and example in the show)
Find the smallest place to start and commit to X amount of time, whether it's 30 seconds a minute, 5 minutes, whatever.

Keep a written log or journal that you can see somewhere so you know if you achieve that goal or not for the day - with a check mark, or an X, or a highlight, whatever that is.

Share your success with someone who genuinely cares about you so.

Add a reward to keep you moving forward.
Quotes/quips:
"Luck only happens when preparation meets opportunity."

"I believe in luck and what I've learned is the harder I work, the luckier I get."

"I have to say I'm going to do as well as I can today and feel as good as I can about myself."

"The definition of focus is giving your attention to the details while always keeping the big picture in mind."

"Mental Strength == knowing the difference in what we have control over and what we don't."
Rando Mentions:
Ketogenic Diet

Big Hairy Audacious Goals

Spoons Theory
...more
37min
March 17, 202215: Best/Worst Characteristics, Parties, & Hurting Others
In this episode we unveil and speak to in real-time, a listener (John C., I see you!) round of submitted questions. We only got to half of the set, so this is part one of two along this same thread.
What are the best and worst characteristics of yourselves? How do you cope, prevent, or respond - or how do you deal with the worst ones?

What's the most interesting thing you've ever seen at a party?

What is a time you've hurt someone the most?

Related points:
Not let someone else's opinions about an individual lend bias to how we see them.

Don't eat your wife's beans!

How an awareness of impatience can lead to growth.

Practical jokes can backfire horribly.

Flavors of pain get bolder when we are finally able to relate (put ourselves in a comparable situation).

Mental habit / action / tool examples:
Positive intention, let that lead all that you do.

Give full attention to the things which warrant it, in that very moment.

See the best version when interacting with anyone/everyone.

If you observe feet (if there are feet) not pointing toward people when they are communicating, this can be an indicator of non-interest.

Multi-tasking is a danger when it comes to intention and deep presence.

Don't make assumptions of individuals' strengths or weaknesses based on the visual cues.

Lean into discomfort where you see or know your shortcomings exist and do so as often as you are able.

Quotes/quips:
"The only time we stop making progress is at the point where we know we are approaching failure."

"I lack intention and attention, way more frequently than I'd like to admit, but that I'd like to apply in my life."
...more
30min

FAQs about Schooling Struggle:

How many episodes does Schooling Struggle have?

The podcast currently has 125 episodes available.