The Jerry Banfield Show

Creating no more pain and suffering for myself is my first priority each day. I put an emphasis on taking care of myself because when I feel good about myself, this feeling spills over to those around me. All pain and suffering ultimately comes from within. I know in the past I made my life a living nightmare by having a bad attitude, and resisting the world the way it is. Today, I am thankful to be surrounded by a loving group of family of friends who support me and the decisions I make in my life!

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Fixing small problems & minor annoyances and doing small chores, as I think of them, saves me a ton of time and energy each day. This has been a huge productivity tip for me, and I am happy to be able to share it with you today. One example of this is if I need to take the trash out. Instead of thinking about it and potentially letting it linger in mind, I will immediately take it out. This principle also applies to projects at work, essays at school, and small repairs around the house. In addition to freeing these things from consuming my mind, it allows me to focus on the work I need to do in my own life. Rather then looking around to criticize those around me, I take care of myself and the things I need to accomplish in my own life. Thank you for taking the time to be here with me, and I appreciate your feedback!

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Sleep has a huge impact on my mood. If I get enough sleep each night, I have noticed that I will often have a much better mood throughout the day. Conversely, when I do not get enough sleep, even if it's one or two hours less, I am prone to having a bad mood at some point throughout the day. The magic number for me is around 8 hours of sleep per night, but you may need more or less. Most of my life I would try to cram as much as I could in to a single day. Whether it was working on a project or playing one last game, I would always stay up as late as I possibly could before going to sleep. As a society we will turn to almost anything to help put us in a better mood. People will turn to medication, alcohol, illegal drugs, clubs and groups. I am thankful to have finally found the secret to consistently being a good mood, and I am happy to be able to get enough sleep each night!

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Don't make things worse is a phrase that saves my life today. In other words, whatever you are struggling with, you ultimately have the decision to make it better or worse. What I didn't realize in life, most of the time when anything bad happens your first instinct is to make it worse. If someone would criticize me, I would criticize them back. If I was having a bad day, I would often try to ruin someone else's day. I am thankful to have broken this cycle of suffering, and am happy to be in a much healthier place today.

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Why is it so hard to help myself, and why is it so easy to see exactly what everyone else could do to help themselves? People will complain to me about not liking their job or not getting along with their boss, and will often continue to work there even if it makes them miserable. To me the solution was always simple, I would suggest they find a new job. However, I was unable to fix the glaring problems I had in my own life. Even though I had multiple family members and friends tell me that I needed to stop drinking, I was unable to stop on my own. Just like feeling trapped at a bad job or being stuck in an unhappy relationship, I was afraid to face the unknown of a life without alcohol. Alcohol allowed me to run away from my problems and emotions, and I was terrified of the alternative of having to face them. It took me coming to a self-realization that alcohol was ruining my life and seeking help on my own before I was able turn my life around. I am grateful for the support group I meet with each day!

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How many times do you get the feeling that you are useless, and that everything you do is a failure? The feeling that you are not able to accomplish anything, and that you have not achieved enough in life. My mind continues to try and tell me that I am useless even though I know this couldn't be further from the truth. As a new dad, there have been a lot of days where I felt I got nothing done. Since my wife and I must provide around the clock care to our newborn daughter, there are many days where I take nap midway through the day. Also, some days I am unable to record to new video lectures for my courses, or get around to answering as many discussion questions as I would like. When these days come around, it feels as if I did not accomplish everything I could have, and this leads me to question my worth as person. However, on average I have created three video lectures per day this year. This is miles ahead of anything I was doing last year, or the year before, or at any point in my working adult life. I am grateful today to have the tools to not get sucked in to these feelings of depression, and lack of self-worth.

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Trying to accomplish too much has ruined most of the good intentions I have had in my life. Today I try and do only what is needed, and avoid taking on more than I can handle. One of example of this was when i would go to the gym. I always had the desire to do more. I would want to lift more weight, or run longer, and it became so ridiculous that I got to the point where I was doing two hour workouts. Now you might say, the more exercise the better, but shortly after I got burnt out and stopped going to the gym all together. Similar things have occurred over the course of my business. I would spend some days working 12-14 hours, obsessing over one thing or another, and take a couple days off after. Consistency is best across all facets of life, so I try and focus on the things that need to be accomplished each day and try not to go overboard.

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What causes anger and how do I get instant relief today? This has been one of my most amazing personal transformations, and I am thankful to be able to share it with you here today. Ever since I can remember, I have been an angry person. One area I used to really have anger problems was when I was driving. If another driver would cut me off, tailgate me, or honk their horn at me this would absolutely infuriate me. So, what actually made me mad? It was the difference between how things were and how I thought they should be. Once I was able to identify this, I started taking things much less personally, and I am now able to be relatively free from anger. However, just like any other person, I am not perfect. Now when I am overwhelmed with anger, I am able to ask for help from those around me.

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You don't have to be alone with your problems today. You have a choice whether you want to feel alone and isolated from the world, or go out and seek help from others that have experienced your pain. I remember feeling alone and depressed sitting at home, laying in bed, at school, at work feeling as if I was isolated from the rest of the world with my problems. However, this simply wasn't true. My feelings of isolation were simply an idea of my imagination, and in reality I was surrounded by people just like me. I am grateful to have a support group I attend each day where I can share my problems, and help others overcome the mistakes I have made in the past.

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Fear and anxiety are two emotions I have struggled with a lot in my life. My biggest problem was I would try to run from my emotions instead of facing them. I would often use alcohol, gambling, or video games as an escape, and this caused me to prolong my emotional pain & suffering. Today I try and face my emotions head on. My baby daughter will cry when something is making her uncomfortable or she is being overwhelmed by life, and this seems to be the right approach to dealing with things that make us unhappy. Instead of running away from your problems, stop and take the time to acknowledge whatever it is that is making you unhappy. Thank you for taking the time to be here with me, and I appreciate your feedback!

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