The Ancient Greeks blessed us with several world-changing ideas, democracy, and philosophy, just to name a couple. Upon initial examination, ancient history may seem useless today, but if you dig deeper, there are tons of relevant lessons and theories that are worthy of a deeper analysis. 

The Greeks were ahead of their time, particularly advanced in their revolutionary contributions to society; they revolutionized civilization, science, mathematics, politics, and the arts. Rather than viewing ancient philosophy as simply theoretical and ideological, we should appreciate the knowledge and wisdom that continues to be applicable centuries later. 

Though philosophers like Plato, Socrates, Confucius, Aristotle, and Epictetus may have lived very different lives than us, thousands of years ago, we can leverage their insights to guide us when faced with challenges. Philosophy gives us perspective, even if it’s ancient. Ancient philosophy set out on a conquest to discover how we achieve inner peace and happiness. Understanding what is and isn’t within our control as human beings. 

These philosophers encouraged introspective thinking, and contemplating the meaning of life, space and time, and other worldly concepts. Ancient philosophers, through posing complex, essential questions about life, were able to establish standards of reasoning and logic, explore the depths human mind, and debate morals and ethics. Ancient philosophy never forced us to believe a theory or persuaded us to accept an idea, it simply urged us to keep asking WHY! 

Quote: The wise man does not expose himself needlessly to danger, since there are few things for which he cares sufficiently; but he is willing, in great crises, to give even his life - knowing that under certain conditions it is not worthwhile to live. - Aristotle

We can apply the lessons of Ancient Philosophy to become less anxious, more insightful, creative, and more appreciative. Most importantly, we’re inspired to think more deeply about our choices and how they affect our lives. How should a person live? What is the meaning of life? What actions produce the most happiness and satisfaction? How do we understand ourselves on a deeper level? What is right and wrong? 

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Work-life balance is a popular term that was coined approx. 40 years ago! Work-life balance has been used in the context of needing more time to develop personally, outside of the workplace, be it through vacation or quality time with family. I, myself, have gravitated towards using the term work-life integration, instead of work-life balance. 

In my experience, I’ve never sensed the opposition between work and life. I’ve been happiest and most productive when the two facets of my life are in harmony, synergistic. Most picture work-life balance as a literal scale, weighing your options, almost creating a sense of competition between the two activities. Integration is a different perspective, that tackles the problem with a unique approach. 

In the modern age, especially in the COVID era, it’s no wonder why work-life integration has become so popular. How could you draw a line between work and life while you’re on a Zoom in your kitchen with your kid screaming their head off grabbing at your leg, or your dog jumping up on your lap to steal the spotlight. There’s no need to teeter on the edge of a sensible work-life balance; the LINE IS GONE, and the data shows it’s probably not coming back. 

Quote: “IMAGINE LIFE AS A GAME IN WHICH YOU ARE JUGGLING SOME FIVE BALLS IN THE AIR. YOU NAME THEM – WORK, FAMILY, HEALTH, FRIENDS AND SPIRIT AND YOU’RE KEEPING ALL OF THESE IN THE AIR. YOU WILL SOON UNDERSTAND THAT WORK IS A RUBBER BALL. IF YOU DROP IT, IT WILL BOUNCE BACK. BUT THE OTHER FOUR BALLS ARE MADE OF GLASS. IF YOU DROP ONE OF THESE, THEY WILL BE IRREVOCABLY SCUFFED, MARKED, NICKED, DAMAGED, OR EVEN SHATTERED. THEY WILL NEVER BE THE SAME. YOU MUST UNDERSTAND THAT AND STRIVE FOR BALANCE IN YOUR LIFE.” – Brian Dyson

Balance is still a necessary component of work-life integration. Work-life integration makes the steady balancing act possible. Balance is simply the equal distribution between the various supporting elements of life we’ve discussed so far in this episode: work, family, health, education, personal development, etc. 

When all parts of your life are in harmony, and work towards a greater quality of life, there’s no difference between work-life balance and work-life integration. If you feel fulfilled in life, it’s likely that you’ve struck the ideal balance, or for my foodies out there, that you’ve crafted the perfect recipe with the best blend of ingredients for success and happiness.

If we become so accustomed, almost programmed, to immediately respond to the URGENT, we’ll always be distracted and consumed with what seems to be a “pressing” work matter. Is it REALLY that pressing?!? 

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Thinking outside of the box is a time-tested phrase intended to spur creativity and disruption! It’s a method of tackling obstacles in an innovative fashion, diagnosing and analyzing problems with a unique approach. 

Thinking outside of the box entails questioning assumptions, re-imagining the rules, working backwards, asking for advice, and genuinely feeling comfortable being UNCOMFORTABLE. This method of brainstorming encourages you to explore all the possibilities, no matter how random or unconventional the idea may seem. 

Disruptive thinking of this sort emphasizes EVOLUTION, change, growth. The BOX in this content is the norm, and we want to burst through the edges of the box to remove all the self-imposed limits we place on our imagination. Original thought can only be produced with a blank slate, without boundaries. 

Thinking out of the box requires you to suspend yourself from all preconceived notions about who, what, when, where, why, and how. An open and flexible mind also allows one to effortlessly adapt to unforeseen circumstances and/or respond to unexpected situations. You do not need to be a GENIUS to think outside of the box, by embracing little changes in your daily life, your problem solving, and analytical skills will naturally improve over time.

Quote: "Creativity, as has been said, consists largely of rearranging what we know in order to find out what we do not know. Hence, to think creatively, we must be able to look afresh at what we normally take for granted." – George Kneller

Rearranging what we know doesn’t necessarily mean reinventing the wheel, it can simply consist of connecting seemingly unconnected ideas to improve upon the current solution, method, or best practice. Thinking outside of the box is about not accepting failure on the first attempt; peeling back the many layers of the onion to exhaust all creative outlets before throwing in the towel. 

Today, I’d like to share a short story with y’all that my Grandfather shared with ME many years ago. THE TWO PEBBLES!

When “outside the box” thinking is successfully utilized, it has the capacity to produce brilliant and often game-changing results. Probably the most impactful effect of outside of the box thinking is that it will keep you on your toes, it allows you to be more flexible and adaptable. 

Through training your mind to be open to the possibility or new ideas and/or solutions, you’ll be better able to handle the often crazy, complex rollercoaster ride that we call life. Don’t for a second doubt the interconnectedness of people, resources, and information. The inability to make connections and draw parallels is what creates the challenges and obstacles that call for out of the box thinking. 

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We’re all on the hunt for the latest and greatest keys to successful leadership. One of the most inspirational doses of leadership knowledge was shared with me about two years by a friend; he gave me the book Extreme Ownership, how US Navy SEALs lead and win by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin. 

This book details the SEAL leadership ideas critical to completing the most challenging missions in war and how to apply them to any business environment or organization. It offers the reader with Jocko and Leif’s recipe for success: the mentality and guiding tenets that empower SEAL combat units to accomplish exceptional outcomes. It shows how to apply these to industry and life to similarly reach victory.

Quote: “A leader must be attentive to details, but not obsessed with them. They must be strong but have endurance. A leader must be humble, but not passive. They must be close to subordinates, but not too close. A leader must exercise ‘extreme ownership’ but employ ‘decentralized command’. They must have nothing to prove, but everything to prove.”

– Jocko Willink

EXTREME OWNERSHIP is the name of the game, and the name of the book today’s episode is analyzing. Extreme ownership is about taking complete responsibility for what is happening, what has happened, and what will happen. If a team member isn’t clear on the guidance, not sure of the mission, it’s the team leaders’ fault. It is the sole responsibility of a leader to make sure the team understands their instructions, 100%, no questions asked.

Extreme OWNERSHIP drives accountability, it generates personal investment in a project or mission. Extreme OWNERSHIP forces you to take action and doesn’t afford you the opportunity to bask in your sorrows and COMPLAIN. Being a SEAL is synonymous with being a SOLID team player. There is NO such thing as a bad team, just bad leaders. Collaboration is HEAVILY favored compared to individual performance. It’s common sense, but a good leader can help a good team become great, a bad leader can lead a good team to failure. 

CENTRALIZED planning, DECENTRALIZED command. Effective teams, utilizing the EXTREME OWNERSHIP methods, structure their organizations with a top-down and bottoms-up approach.

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Driving accountability should not be thought of in the repressive, autocratic sense. Accountability is an EXTREMELY positive quality, that when fostered properly can be a powerful force that increases productivity and performance. People are motivated to take action for many different reasons, which we’ve discussed in previous episodes, but ordering tyrannical mandates is NOT ONE OF THEM! 

It’s a LEADER’s job to clearly set expectations, to build a culture of accountability, and they layout a clear path to success while providing the right resources and support along the way. Communicating the IMPORTANCE of the mission is equally as important. 

How succinct and concise the information a leader communicates is paramount in the fostering of accountability. When signaling mixed, confusing, and even conflicting messages, people become easily flustered and overwhelmed. It’s tough to hold people accountable when you’re throwing tons of unprioritized projects and tasks at them. Define which priorities are most important for you team to accomplish mission essential, don’t just give them a fully exhaustive to-do list.

Accountability is the process of clearly assigning people to responsibilities w/ clearly defined outcomes. The act of being accountable isn’t just accepting blame, or admitting you made a mistake, that’s only half of the battle. Accountability is about acknowledging your shortcomings and then strategically and methodically following through! It’s not on any ONE member of the team to be accountable, it takes a VILLAGE! 

You can shout, order, intimidate, threaten, question, beg and plead, piss and moan, all in the name of “holding people accountable.” Again, the truth is, NONE of that SH*T works. It’s violently counter-productive in terms of performance. Save the anger, let’s really learn the secrets of driving accountability today.

Quote: "Accountability and self-responsibility are critical to our success in personal, professional and public life. However, we often look for those character traits in others, rather than inculcating them in ourselves." – Vishwas Chavan

DON’T EXPECT ACCOUNTABILITY IF YOU AREN’T ACCOUNTABLE FOR YOUR OWN ACTIONS, PERFORMANCE AND RESULTS. I don’t think people pay enough attention to accountability, maybe it’s because it doesn’t have the same swagger as buzzwords like disruption, innovation, growth hacking and artificial intelligence . . . 

Leaders can’t FORCE people to take extreme ownership and be responsible. Give support. Provide freedom. Share information. Provide resources. BE CLEAR. Lead by example, MODEL DESIRED BEHAVIOR.

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Central to being an entrepreneur is the responsibility of being a strategic decision-maker. The success of the operation depends on YOU. It’s NOT an easy lifestyle; staying accountable, efficient, organized, and energized is extremely challenging. Inspiration and information can’t develop inside an echo-chamber silo. If you’re not often exposed to NEW people w/ FRESH perspectives, it becomes difficult to GROW. 

Nothing becomes easier by not having PEOPLE to communicate, strategize and brainstorm with on a regular basis. Whether it’s a personal mentor, sports team, local church, or community group, we can ALL benefit from having a “sounding board” of sorts, as a resource available to us on this journey we call LIFE.

By leveraging the collective experience and intelligence of others, a MASTERMIND GROUP is designed to assist you tackle obstacles, primarily in an entrepreneurial capacity. Not to say that MASTERMIND GROUPS can’t provide value outside of a business scenario, there are a PLETHORA of social benefits relative to this concept as well.

It’s best to build groups that include people with diverse backgrounds, expertise, skills, experiences, and interests. ONE core, universal standard within the group should be the genuine and mutual desire for each other to become better and smarter. The commitment to the group’s collective success is KEY. 

Quote: “You need to associate with people that inspire you, people that challenge you to rise higher, people that make you better. Don’t waste your valuable time with people that are not adding to your growth. Your destiny is too important.” – Joel Osteen

When surrounded by a group of hustlers, problem-solvers, builders, creators, tinkerers, developers and beyond, GENIUS is bound to strike, great things are destined to happen. Putting several, unique minds together to discuss complex issues often yields results and explanations that far exceed what any individual would have produced on their own.

Whichever industry or goal the group is focused on, solution focused people make the best MASTERMIND participants, they provide the most value to the group, they help push the collective forward, in the right direction.

MASTER MINDS provide enormous benefits to the people who are bold, curious, and ambitious enough to attend them. Through the power of networking, your group of trusted peers make it easier to hold yourself accountable and find motivation from their stories of success and failure. 

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We all have an ego that’s made up of specific ideas about our true-self, personality, talents, and skills. Your ego, while an essential component of your identity, if LEFT UNCHECKED, can cause you to act immorally, unethically, and generally out of character.

Ego is an aspirational process . . . we aim to achieve a particular image of ourselves that’s displayed to the world, and we succeed or fail. Depending on how EGO driven you are, anything less than perfection, any degree of shortcoming, can be absolutely CRUSHING on our morale and self-esteem. 

Those who are motivated by EGO need instant gratification, positive outcomes, and certainty to determine their self-worth and happiness. Egotistical individuals develop their identity in comparison to others. 

Quote: When any man is more stupidly vain and outrageously egotistic than his fellows, he will hide his hideousness in humanitarianism. – George Moore

This naturally begs the question that we’re all too often afraid to investigate: Are your ambitions fueled by THE GOOD, or by YOUR EGO?! Be insanely critical of yourself when answering this question, be relentlessly honest with yourself here.

MORE SPECIFICALLY: Are you trying to prove you’re better than someone else? Do you understand and recognize the motivation behind your actions? If someone were to achieve their goals, which were like yours, would you have feelings of resent and jealousy, or would you be happy for that person? Egocentric individuals react in line with the former. 

Seeking approval over truthfully enjoying the journey is a tell-tale sign of being led by your ego. Take a moment to pause and self-reflect. Think about what you’re doing in life, and more importantly, why you’re doing it. If WHY you’re doing it is based on egocentric ideals, AKA status, social approval, money, etc., the truth is, it’s NEVER going to be enough.

There’s no sense in seeking to crush and destroy your ego entirely, I’m not even sure that’s possible, just don’t let your ego become your central focus and source of inspiration.

Compared to being ego driven, we will never come close to feeling as ALIVE as we do when driven by THE GOOD, by a HIGHER PURPOSE, by UPLIFTING THOSE IN NEED and NURTURING our TRUEST SELVES. 

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Most of us go through some type of toxic relationship in our lives. Whether it’s a romantic relationship, a friendship or within a family dynamic. A toxic relationship is any relationship that makes you feel worthless or devalued. Toxic relationships can include dealing with a loved one who’s a complete narcissist, an alcoholic, a gambling addict or even a pathological liar. Essentially, toxic relationship behaviors are the result of an absence of empathy. 

Toxic relationships are cyclical because the toxicity begins within you! The path to better relationships begins with you. How do you get out? How do you begin to heal? You will have to unlearn your old relationship standards and behaviors. You do not have to compromise your beliefs, values and moral ever again, just to have love in your life. 

"Even though you may want to move forward in your life, you may have one foot on the brakes. In order to be free, we must learn how to let go. Release the hurt. Release the fear. Refuse to entertain your old pain. The energy it takes to hang onto the past is holding you back from a new life. What is it you would let go of today?" – Mary Manin Morrissey 

IT’S NOT EASY TO LET GO. Learning how to love yourself is crucial when leaving a toxic relationship. It’s a self-discovery process necessary for you to maintain sanity. It takes strength, confidence, and self-respect to change your situation. It’s never too late to make a change either. 

People are married for 30-40 years with children and grandchildren, and finally decide to put their own happiness and mental health first. It’s absolute BULLSHIT to believe that you’re helpless, and that it’s simply too late, and you’re just going to ride out the struggle of unhappiness for the rest of your life. 

There are probably hundreds of thousands of people who are stuck in toxic relationships, you’re NOT alone. If someone is behaving in a way that truly bothers you, SPEAK UP. You’re ALLOWED to set boundaries and have components of your relationship that are NON-NEGOTIABLE. 

Leave the past in the past but learn from your mistakes by reflecting on past relationships. What attracted you to that person? What made you stay with that person? What were the positive aspects of the relationship? What were the negatives aspects of the relationship? Is there a pattern between the factors that draw you into these negative, toxic relationships?

Your happiness is just as important as anyone else’s, that’s not being selfish either, that’s having self-respect. 

You may or may not have known this, but music isn’t just a means of entertaining ourselves. Music inspires creativity and productivity. Music has therapeutic effects on our brain and works to relieve feelings of stress to boost your ability to focus and concentrate on tasks.

Listening to MUSIC influences the co-ordination of activity inside and across various sections of the brain. Studies analyzing patterns of electrical activity across the brain display that harmonization of brain signals is crucial for linking perceptual, cognitive, and motor processes. 

For example, when you’re writing a paper for school or a memo to circulate around the office, songs with lyrics can be very counterproductive. Music w/ words launches your brain into multi-tasking mode, which basically replicates another person communicating with you while your writing, NOT HELPFUL . . . For writing and reading oriented tasks, instrumental music is best for optimal learning and efficiency! On the other hand, music w/ lyrics is beneficial for projects that are repetitive and mind-numbing, ascribing the lyrics to the workflow gets you “in the groove” for lack of a better term.

In general, research has shown that music has positive effects on our brain, helping to repair it from mental fatigue caused by work, school, stress, and LIFE in general. How can music help battle fatigue and increase motivation? By listening to music, you bring something new and fresh, which helps your brain escape the routine and get a little bit distracted. In this case, distraction is good: it fuels your brain to continue working and improves your physical endurance.

Quote: “Songs express who we are and how we feel, they bring us closer to others, they keep us company when we are alone. They articulate our beliefs and values, and they bear witness to our lives. Songs weave tales of our joys and sorrows, they reveal our innermost secrets, and they express our hopes and disappointments, our fears, and triumphs. They are our musical diaries, our life stories. They are the sounds of our personal development”. – Dr. Kenneth Bruscia

Music is the sound of our personal development. Music means something entirely unique to every individual, but for myself, it’s always been a motivational tool. Music has provided me with the motivation necessary to study, work-out, create content and just CRUSH it in daily-life. 

We all have certain songs that make up the playlist or soundtrack of our lives, but what if we could optimize the music listening experience to increase productivity, creativity, and our ability to focus?! Today, we’re going to discuss what type, tempo and tone of music to listen to in order to maximize your brain’s functionality and output.

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Emails. Tweets. Texts. DMs. Slacks. Facebook Notifications. The constant flow of content being pumped into our brains is difficult to process, hence the term INFORMATION OVERLOAD. Even if it’s totally useless knowledge, it’s nearly impossible to ignore. 

Humans are super-efficient at downloading information. We recognize images within fractions of a second, scan hundreds of words per minute, and very rapidly formulate opinions and thoughts on the information we download. However, as the volume of data we take in increases, our capability to digest it lessens. 

To compound the issue, once we are distracted, our brains need an average of 25 minutes to refocus on your original task. 

Workers and managers alike report significant increases in stress levels, poor health, strained personal and professional relationships and reduced job satisfaction because of information overload.  

Quote: “We are bombarded on all sides by a vast number of messages we don’t want or need. More information is generated in a single day than we can absorb in a lifetime. To fully enjoy life, all of us must find our own breathing space and peace of mind.” ― James E. Faust

How do we find our own breathing space and peace of mind in a new world plagued by information overload?!? Give yourself the freedom and power to IGNORE information. Set boundaries with your response times to emails and texts for example. 

To prepare for the somewhat unavoidable information overload that we all experience daily, it’s important to engage in lengthy streams of consciousness or brain dumps! Take the time to offload as much information as you can. 

When the pressure from information overload is mounting, TAKE A BREAK. 

When you control information, and do not allow information to control you, the opportunities are virtually ENDLESS. While most drown in the sea of never-ending data, you can be one of the few surfing the waves of information into the sunset. Filter the information. Prioritize the information. Categorize the information. Act on it or delete it. Be decisive and selective with the information that comes across your desk or feed.