Symphony Podcast

Doing Hard Things

Growing up, doing hard things is normal. Learning how to tie shoelaces, ride a bike or memorize a song on the piano for the first time earns praise and encouragement. 

 As we grow up, what was once challenging becomes automatic. We master the basics and fall into routines that can be biased towards comfort and ease. Without self-awareness, avoidance behavior may result in the infamous, "I'll do it later" mentality. 

This week's podcast episode on doing hard things seeks to answer the question of what it is about facing challenges, persevering through suffering, and ultimately seeing improvement that is so instrumental to a well-lived life.  

A few thoughts on the topic:

• Doing hard things builds general adaptive potential and resilience. 
• It doesn't matter what, or the level of difficulty. By continually stepping outside your comfort zone, you train yourself to thrive in difficult circumstances. 
• Suffering can lead to transformation. 

 Life is going to throw difficult circumstances at you. There's no way around it. What challenge can you take on to resilience and learn to become comfortable being uncomfortable? 

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What comes to mind when you think of the word fitness? For many, fitness is synonymous with physical exercise, an activity that can be checked off daily and moved on from. In this week's episode, Kyle and Matthew breakdown why they believe fitness should be seen as a way of life, and how redefining it as such can transform your life and health. 

Fitness is a physical and a mental term. To be a functioning human, we need to be both mentally and physically capable, or fit. The two things work together. The body craves movement, and when the body gets what it wants, the mind is happy and more functional. This doesn't mean constantly participating in high intensity workouts or endurance events, but rather keeping some type of movement at the center of your daily life. Whether it's stretching for five minutes in between work emails, taking a walk, sitting on the floor to increase hip mobility, standing, hiking, dancing, or moving around in any capacity, the body and mind will perform better when undergoing natural movement. Physiologically we were not designed to sit hunched over at a desk, and when we do, it takes a serious toll on our health. 

We bring in insights from Dan Beutner's book about the blue zones of the world (places around the globe with the most people living past 100) where he identifies "ground sitting and moving every 20 minutes" as two prominent similarities across these cultures. We talk about how Jesse Itzler's concept of fitness and exercise was radically changed when he invited former Navy Seal and endurance athlete David Goggins to live at his house and train with him for 30 days. And we provide tactical advice from our own experience on how to incorporate more movement into your daily life. 

Fitness is health, and health can be exercised and prioritized at any time, in any capacity, not just for an hour a day inside the walls of a gym.

Check out the website: thesymphonyco.com

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Hey all! Matt and Kyle here. On todays's micrpod monday we take on the power of nature. If you've ever tried to battle the power of nature, you know what happens. When it's man vs. nature, nature always wins. 

Instead of opposing nature, how we can be more aligned it? What can we learn from observing nature? What happens on a biological level when we get outside? Whether it's taking a walk or enjoying some recreation, being outside can have wildly positive health benefits. 

"Earth and sky, woods and fields, lakes and rivers, the mountain and the sea, are excellent schoolmasters, and teach us more than we can ever learn from books." - John Lubbock

First, we recall how our relationships with nature were born and formed who we are today. Then we bring in some information from Andrew Huberman as an explanation to why it's so healthy to be outside. Hint, it has to do with exposing sensory inputs like sight, smell, taste and sound. 

Homework: how do we apply this newly-established science to improve our lives?  We want to hear from you! Write a short message or blog post to be featured on the website!

Email us at [email protected] and we'll publish your blog at thesymphonyco.com :)

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Definition, bandwidth: the energy or mental capacity required to deal with a situation. 

Just like computers, humans have a limited amount of (mental) bandwidth. Too many open tabs can clutter the mind, while failure to reset or upgrade the operating system can slow down processing speed. 

If you use all your bandwidth on things outside of your control you risk limiting your growth in the direction you really want to go. 

There are plenty of things fighting for your attention. It might be social media, Netflix or mainstream news. Surely it's important to be informed and engaged on current events, but at what cost? 

Two questions to reflect on:

1. What is one thing you spend too much time worrying about? 
2. What about something you want to dedicate more mental "bandwidth" to? 

It's not a stretch to say how a person allocates their bandwidth is ultimately going to determine the trajectory of their life. The key word here: alignment. 

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Change is guaranteed.

How we respond to change is what drives evolution.

The human ability to adapt, share information, think creatively, and problem solve has allowed us to survive and thrive for thousands of years.

Now is no different. A new age brings a new assemblage of challenges, changes, and problems to be faced.

Change is the universe giving us an opportunity to adapt and evolve, take it!

“Nothing on this earth is standing still. It’s either growing or it’s dying. No matter if it’s a tree or a human being.” - Lou Holtz

Check us out on instagram @thesymphonyco, and stay up to date with our community on our website (www.thesymphonyco.com).

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How can you find a balance between humility and ego? Humility is a key characteristic of a good teammate and leader, while ego is necessary to pursue big goals and create drive. So how do you know when one or the other has become unhealthy?

This conversation is inspired by the Rich Roll podcast.

https://www.richroll.com/all-episodes/

Stop holding yourself back in the name of "humility.

Check us out on instagram @thesymphonyco, and stay up to date with our community on our website (www.thesymphonyco.com).

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What do you wish you knew when you got started? Today's conversation between co-hosts Matthew Callans and Kyle Huber is in response to an audience question from @kiidbriian (on Instagram). Of course, you can't go back and change your path, but you can change your mindset today to grow in whatever direction you choose.

Check us out on instagram @thesymphonyco, and stay up to date with our community on our website (www.thesymphonyco.com).

This topic encompasses much of what The Symphony stands for and we are looking forward to hearing your feedback! But most importantly be a good person, keep the conversation going, and let's all grow together!

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Have you ever wanted to be a leader but don't know where to start? In this episode Matthew, Roddy and Kyle talk about why being the leader of yourself is a prerequisite to leading others. By taking ownership of yourself you build self-confidence, healthy habits, and a mindset that will allow you to lead others down the road. 

Roddy shares his perspective on servant leadership and how dropping the ego is crucial to creating a work environment others will thrive in and Matthew adds a take about why, even if you aren't in a position of leadership today there are still actions and experiences you can create for yourself to prepare for the future. 

Big shout out to Chase Jarvis and John Mackey the inspiration for this episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqlihEjNIY8

Check us out on instagram @thesymphonyco, and stay up to date with our community on our website (www.thesymphonyco.com).

This topic encompasses much of what The Symphony stands for and we are looking forward to hearing your feedback! But most importantly be a good person, keep the conversation going, and let's all grow together!

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Enter promo code, "symphony" at checkout to support the pod and support yourself :)

Only through imitation do we develop toward originality.” -John Steinbeck 

Personal experience is the fastest way to learn anything. The second fastest way is to get a detailed breakdown or guidance from someone who has personal experience with what you’re setting out to do.

Humans have evolved over the years from our collective ability to share information and resources. What one person spent a life time figuring out, can be passed down and taught in a matter of hours after the experience has been had. 

No one gets through this world alone. Great men and women are built on the shoulders of giants. There’s a reason the age old saying exists, “it takes a village to raise a child.” 

In this week’s episode, Kyle and Matthew break down the importance of finding and nurturing mentors throughout your life. They provide tactical advice for how to seek them out, and share insight on how to foster the relationship once it’s been established. 

Check us out on instagram @thesymphonyco, and stay up to date with our community on our website (www.thesymphonyco.com).

But most importantly be a good person, keep the conversation going, and let's all grow together!

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Aristotle said we are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, he would add, is not an act but a habit.  

Little things have a way of adding up. Whether your daily actions and habits are positive or negative, they are compounding and actively creating the person you're becoming. There's no such thing as "important" vs "non important" tasks, activities or events. It's all important, it's all one thing, it's all the fabric of your life and existence. 

There's a reason why the Navy Seals make their bed the same exact way every morning while in training. Order creates a safe haven amidst chaos. Practicing self discipline, and organization with the small things in your life will allow you to bring that same mindset to the "big things."

In this week's episode, Kyle and Matthew talk about how this concept has shown up in their lives and share tactical advice on how to bring presence and intentionality to all the activities of your life. 

Follow us on instagram @thesymphonyco, stay up to date with our community on our website (www.thesymphonyco.com) but most importantly, be a good person, keep the conversation going, and let's all grow together. 

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