Today's Challenge

Full transcript here 👋

Hey, good morning, good afternoon, good evening. This is your life. This is your chance. Listen.

The word for today is error. I think I was probably in 4th grade, and our teacher at church was helping us learn a song that lists the names of the New Testament books. Well, I was cruising through the melody while remembering all of the names, and I finished strong with "Jude and Revelations!" The teacher looked over the group and asked, "Who added Revelations at the end?" I didn't know we were going to get quizzed on the authors. I thought we were just learning the song. It felt like a mean trick.

We sang through again, and the teacher stopped everyone. He was getting annoyed. "Who added Revelations?!" No answer from the group.

We sang through one last time, and I made the same mistake yet again. Clearly peaved, our teacher implored, "Who is adding 'Revelations' at the end?!?'" I finally understood the issue and that it was me. I added Revelations at the end of the New Testament. Did I confess? No, I did not. I took my embarrassment in stride and ever so carefully removed the "s" from Revelation in future rehearsals.

Today’s concrete challenge is to be gentle with errors. If you’ve been harsh with someone that has done something incorrectly, apologize. If you need a soundtrack to help you remember today, repeat this phrase for the rest of the podcast: “Gentleness can only be expected from the strong.”

Use the next few minutes of this podcast to either apologize to someone that you’ve been harsh with or repeat the soundtrack. I’ll keep the music playing while you do.

Before you go, repeat the following soundtrack, “I am the kind of person who can show strength through gentleness.”

Let me know if this made a difference in your day by leaving a comment in your podcast app or at concrete.win/today.

Check back tomorrow for a new challenge. Until then.

Full transcript here 👋

Hey, good morning, good afternoon, good evening. This is your life. This is your chance. Listen.

The word for today is think. I can remember, as a child, my dad encouraging me to stop and think. Many times this was prompted by a repetitive question where I already knew the answer, and he was forcing me to come back to the present moment. Other times, I had done something careless, and the same words applied. Stop and think.

Today’s concrete challenge is to stop and think. Pay attention to the things your mind is leading you toward. Write down anything you might forget later.

Use the next few minutes of this podcast to stop, breathe, and think. I’ll keep the music playing while you do, and don’t miss the soundtrack at the end of this episode.

Before you go, repeat the following soundtrack, “I am the kind of person who can stop and think.”

Let me know if this made a difference in your day by leaving a comment in your podcast app or at concrete.win/today.

Check back tomorrow for a new challenge. Until then.

Full transcript here 👋

Hey, good morning, good afternoon, good evening. This is your life. This is your chance. Listen.

The word for today is upstream. Have you ever noticed the ripple effects that occur when there’s a change in your routine? Maybe you’ve slept in (like I did this morning) and then you find that the rest of your day’s activities are all bumping into each other because of that one upstream change. In his book, Upstream, Dan Heath discusses all of the ways that humans are prone to downstream thinking. In the oversleeping example, we’re tempted to solve the problem by rushing through the day’s activities. Success, right? Heath argues that true success comes from addressing the upstream issue, which for me, was staying up too late.

Today’s concrete challenge is to identify and write down one upstream intervention in your life. This might require some concerted thought to trace your downstream problems up to their source. Keep it super simple, though. Some examples are overweight = focus on foods, tired = focus on bedtime, don’t like your job = focus on interviewing.

Use the next few minutes of this podcast to write your personal upstream intervention . I’ll keep the music playing while you do, and don’t miss the soundtrack at the end of this episode.

Before you go, repeat the following soundtrack, “I am the kind of person who looks upstream for solutions.”

Let me know if this made a difference in your day by leaving a comment in your podcast app or at concrete.win/today.

Check back tomorrow for a new challenge. Until then.

Full transcript here 👋

Hey, good morning, good afternoon, good evening. This is your life. This is your chance. Listen.

The word for today is unlucky, and it’s number is up [auctioneer and gavel]. Do you ever think of yourself as unlucky? Does it seem like everyone around you is getting the good stuff while you are stuck with the same old life? It’s time to breathe a sigh of relief, because luck doesn’t exist. Random stuff does happen, but labeling it as luck contributes to a fixed mindset. Psychologists would say that someone who puts a lot of stock in luck has an external locus of control. This person believes that their circumstances are controlled by outside forces, while people with an internal locus of control believe that their actions directly influence their outcomes.

Today’s concrete challenge is to move your needle a little further toward an internal locus of control. Finish the following sentences in a way that accepts responsibility and focuses on self-guided action.

If I failed to complete a task or assignment, I would…

If a friend blamed me for making them late, I would…

If I accidentally bumped and broke a dish that was partially hanging off a shelf in a store, I would...

Use the next few minutes of this podcast to finish the phrases. I’ll keep the music playing while you do, and don’t miss the soundtrack at the end of this episode.

Before you go, repeat the following soundtrack, “I am the kind of person who takes responsibility for my life and actions .”

Let me know if this made a difference in your day by leaving a comment in your podcast app or at concrete.win/today.

Check back tomorrow for a new challenge. Until then.

References:

Locus of Control

"autioneer.wav" by gezortenplotz

"gavel-double.flac" by zerolagtime

Full transcript here 👋

Hey, good morning, good afternoon, good evening. This is your life. This is your chance. Listen.

The word for today is document. How do you keep up with your thoughts? Do you have a journal, or do you store your thoughts in a digital document? I have found that thoughts are so fleeting that the choice is usually to record it or lose it. One of my favorite ways to prevent losing thoughts is to email it to myself. I have labeled my email address in my contacts as “me” so that I can tell my virtual assistant, “Email me.” I can then dictate an email that summarizes the idea I just had.

Today’s concrete challenge is to document your thoughts. From those emails to myself, I like to compile digital documents that contain all of my thoughts on that topic. Whether you go the digital or analogue route, set up a system now where you can record interesting thoughts throughout the day.

Use the next few minutes of this podcast to set up your system to document your thoughts. I’ll keep the music playing while you do, and don’t miss the soundtrack at the end of this episode.

Before you go, repeat the following soundtrack, “I am the kind of person who values creativity.”

Let me know if this made a difference in your day by leaving a comment in your podcast app or at concrete.win/today.

Check back tomorrow for a new challenge. Until then.

Full transcript here 👋

Hey, good morning, good afternoon, good evening. This is your life. This is your chance. Listen.

The word for today is soundtrack. Do you have phrases or thoughts that pop in your head when you’re in a certain situation? When my kids make a mess or break something, the word that often comes to my lips is “Why?!” Jon Acuff calls this a soundtrack in his book by the same name, because it can color your world just like a musical soundtrack can color a film scene. The question of “Why?!” is not productive in a frustrating situation, but I have also experienced a positive soundtrack change. When I was commuting regularly, I started telling other drivers, “You are so welcome to come over into my lane.” This small soundtrack shift lowered my anxiety and anger on the road.

Today’s concrete challenge is to identify and change one counterproductive soundtrack. What’s that phrase or word that you keep saying to yourself that you could easily swap out for a better soundtrack? Could you change “I’m always failing” to “I’m always making incremental progress”? The possibilities for soundtrack changes are limitless.

Use the next few minutes of this podcast to write down your new soundtrack and post it somewhere you’ll see it and repeat it. I’ll keep the music playing while you do, and don’t miss the soundtrack at the end of this episode.

Before you go, repeat the following soundtrack, “I am the kind of person who can change my soundtracks.”

Let me know if this made a difference in your day by leaving a comment in your podcast app or at concrete.win/today.

Check back tomorrow for a new challenge. Until then.

Full transcript here 👋

Hey, good morning, good afternoon, good evening. This is your life. This is your chance. Listen.

The word for today is savor. Our brains are not built for prolonged enjoyment. Instead, we’re novelty-seeking machines, always trying to find bursts of pleasure, because that’s how we used to find food and reproduce. We do have the ability to train our brains to stop and enjoy for short periods, though. It’s called savoring the moment. With this practice, you can kind of trick your brain into stretching out the bursts of pleasure into a slow burn.

Today’s concrete challenge is to savor the moment right now. You can use food or drink to enhance the experience by paying attention to every flavor, or you can simply sit and focus on the good parts of your life.

Use the next few minutes of this podcast to experience this moment in your life. I’ll keep the music playing while you do, and don’t miss the soundtrack at the end of this episode.

Before you go, repeat the following soundtrack, “I am the kind of person who appreciates as many moments as possible.”

Let me know if this made a difference in your day by leaving a comment in your podcast app or at concrete.win/today.

Check back tomorrow for a new challenge. Until then.

Full transcript here 👋

Hey, good morning, good afternoon, good evening. This is your life. This is your chance. Listen.

The word for today is half. In 2009, my wife and I went to a camp in the Catskills called Camp Shiloh to serve for the summer. My wife ended up being the camp cook, and I was in charge of camper games. By far, my favorite game to play with the campers was capture the flag, but I found that the young girls kind of hated it. Most of the girls would mill around while the faster ones ran the fairly long field. I made two changes that resulted in super-fun girls’ capture the flag. First, I let the girls that didn’t want to play do something else with their time, clearing the field of non-participants. Second, I brought the ends of the field in toward the center, effectively halving the playing field. Instant fun was born, and it was the highlight of my summer.

Today’s concrete challenge is to cut your lofty goal in half. Jon Acuff has his 30 Day of Hustle participants cut their current goal in half, because fun will carry you further. When you get a sense of success from a completed small goal, you’ll be more likely to stretch to hit another milestone.

Use the next few minutes of this podcast to write down your revised goal so that you don’t default back to thinking a large goal is the only way. I’ll keep the music playing while you do, and don’t miss the soundtrack at the end of this episode.

Before you go, repeat the following soundtrack, “I am the kind of person who realizes that small goals are valuable.”

Let me know if this made a difference in your day by leaving a comment in your podcast app or at concrete.win/today.

Check back tomorrow for a new challenge. Until then.

Full transcript here 👋

Hey, good morning, good afternoon, good evening. This is your life. This is your chance. Listen.

The word for today is priority. Do you feel that you’re good at focusing on your priorities? Do you know what your top 5 priorities are? Warren Buffet once gave some surprising advice about guarding your priorities. He said to list at least 25 life or work goals. From that list, choose your top 5 and circle them. So far, it’s pretty intuitive, right? It seems like you should focus on the top 5 and start on the lower priority items when time allows. No, Warren Buffet flips the list on its head and says that once you’ve identified the top 5, you now have a list of 20 other activities that you should avoid at all cost. They will only serve to distract you from your priorities.

This is tough advice. I enjoy flitting from one task to another, but I’ve noticed that it’s caused me to fail at finishing the big projects that I set for myself. Nir Eyal’s book, Indistractable, is another great place to find tips on ridding your life of distraction.

Today’s concrete challenge is to make the list. Find out what lower priority tasks are holding you back from true achievement. I have a feeling that just creating the list will change the way we operate.

Use the next few minutes of this podcast to separate the wheat from the chaff. I’ll keep the music playing while you do, and don’t miss the soundtrack at the end of this episode.

Before you go, repeat the following soundtrack, “I am the kind of person who can let go of lower priority items.”

Let me know if this made a difference in your day by leaving a comment in your podcast app or at concrete.win/today.

Check back tomorrow for a new challenge. Until then.

Full transcript here 👋

Hey, good morning, good afternoon, good evening. This is your life. This is your chance. Listen.

The word for today is conflict. What is your M.O. regarding disagreement? Do you get defensive? Do you tend to criticize and belittle as a response to conflict? Dr. John Gottman says that communication starts to go downhill when complaining turns to criticism. As soon as the phrase, “You always” or “You never” comes into play, the conversation has taken a turn for the worse.

Today’s concrete challenge is to practice expressing yourself while leaving out any criticism. The key phrases to do this are, 

“When I feel, hear, see, think...” (any observation word can fit here) 

“I feel…” 

“because I need or value…”

Use the next few minutes of this podcast to recite those phrases multiple times so that you’ll be more likely to remember to use them in your next argument. I’ll keep the music playing while you do, and don’t miss the soundtrack at the end of this episode.

Before you go, repeat the following soundtrack, “I am the kind of person who is able to express my needs without criticising someone else.”

Let me know if this made a difference in your day by leaving a comment in your podcast app or at concrete.win/today.

Check back tomorrow for a new challenge. Until then.