SHOW DESCRIPTION

We all say thank you. It is a pair of words that many of us take for granted. Sure we mean them from the bottom of our hearts one minute, but the next we are just using them out of courtesy. How do we allow ourselves to slip into that mindset where being thankful isn’t easy?

Rohit asked us to keep a weekly gratitude journal where we closed our eyes and said thank you over and over until we felt the words. Then we wrote down the things we were grateful for on a specific topic for that day. At first, it was difficult. Things didn’t pop up that easily into my mind that I am grateful for. It started with surface level stuff like my possessions, or my family. However, As I started looking deeper inside at why I was grateful, I found that my gratitude was pretty shallow. It all centered around what others do for me or what I get from others.

When it got to the journal day for family, I realized that I hadn’t been as thankful as I should be. It allowed me to put into perspective how good I really have things today. We are all grateful to have friends or family. We are all grateful to be healthy or have clean clothes, or a car that runs. However, It is the deep down gratefulness that brings out a positive mindset that we often are lacking. We focus on the negatives in our lives far more than we do the positive.

Take steps to actively change our mindset, we find it is easier to stay positive. It will be far easier to express how grateful you are to that special someone, or how much you appreciate your co-worker’s efforts. This exercise can help you change your mindset and help you gain a new perspective on everything. We challenge you to try it.

SHOW DESCRIPTION

For over a century people have enjoyed going to the movies. There is something about going to the local theater to watch a big film, grabbing some popcorn and a coke while getting drawn into a story. We each experience movies differently. Whether for the sights, the sounds, the smells, the gathering of friends, the story, or any combination thereof, we have all found different things to enjoy at the movies.

Watching a film in the theater has a greater impact on your experience than watching the film at home. There are so many distractions that can take you out of the story or out of the element. Your phone might ring. Your dog might need to go outside, or you might start flipping through social media and take yourself out of the experience. At the theater, you have already made an investment into your time there by purchasing a ticket-usually at a high price-and setting aside time out of your day where you are planning to be entertained. Your mind is already set in a “me time” mode where distractions take a backseat.

Make sure that when you go to a movie, you are setting yourself up to have a better experience. Turn off the phone. Don’t just silence the phone. Many phones will still vibrate, and the distraction can take you out of a moment. Go in knowing that ticket and snack prices are high. If you are already expecting the prices to be high, you get two benefits; you are less likely to get caught off guard and have a more positive experience overall. Get into the theater early. Not only will you have a better experience if you aren’t missing any of the film, but you are also not being a distraction to others who are also attending the movie. If you keep these things in mind, you will find a more enriching experience at the theaters regardless of how good or bad the movie is.

SHOW DESCRIPTION

Our emotions are powerful tools and heavy burdens. They can help us process what we experience and convey our feelings to others. However, they can also hinder our progress and destroy lives. How do we recognize the difference and how do we manage them so they don’t cause harm? We don’t want to be controlled by our emotions, but there are times where we lose control of our emotions and they control our responses.

There are times that our emotions are a good thing. Happiness can brighten our day, and lead us in a positive direction. Managing happiness usually isn’t a big problem. However, happiness can also be used against you. When buying a car, if the dealership sees you are happy and desire a specific car, they will use that to control the conversation and possibly move you in a direction that you didn’t want to go. If you go in with a game plan and manage your emotional presence, you will be able to recognize those moments where you are moving away from your gameplan and giving control over to others.

Anger is a strong emotion that is often associated with negativity. Being angry is not a bad thing. However, when you bottle up the emotion, it grows like a cancer and poisons everything you do. You might lash out and hurt others, or your stress levels might rise and you end up hurting yourself. An expectation is created and you end up reacting to those situations with anger more easily each time. Take a moment to recognize what makes you angry and find a healthy way to release that emotion. I use a form of momentary journaling to write down what I am feeling and why. This offers me perspective and helps focus my thoughts on logic. It also gives me an outlet for those emotions. I take those angers and burn them as a form of release.

Perspective is the most important part of managing your emotions. If you have a clear perspective of the causation of your emotional state, you can take steps to prevent those emotions from filling you up or bogging you down. Learn what sets you off, and take a moment to look at it logically. Analyze and deconstruct how you are feeling and how you go there. From there you can make forward progress towards a healthy release and prevent a breakdown from occurring.

SHOW DESCRIPTION

The holidays are a time of rejoicing for many, and a time of frustration for others. How you view the holidays will tell you a lot about your mindset. I find that there are two camps of people in the holidays; the Carolers, and the Humbuggers. Each has their own view of the holiday season and each reacts differently to them.

Carolers are excited and happy for the holidays. They listen to Christmas music, they feel happy when they see decorations, and love going through the retail stores and looking at their holiday displays. The positive feelings and happy memories are always on their mind.

Humbuggers can’t stand the holidays. They look at the negatives and get frustrated by them. Their experience is hindered because they will focus on the commercialism, the traffic, the inconveniences and the busy schedules.

Not everyone has happy memories of the holidays. They might have been abused as children. They might have had a financially challenging childhood where there weren’t a lot of gifts and their families might have been constantly fighting. People in these situations tend to grow up hating the holidays because they see other people happy and feel that they have missed out.

A time of year, or a specific holiday are not to blame for the experiences a person has had. However horrible the holiday season might have been in the past for you, you can still find enjoyment in them now. If you don’t have happy memories of the holidays, make some. Start fresh by making some new memories and traditions with friends. Find a way to keep your mind on the positive message of any holiday and you won’t even notice the negative side anymore. You will see your mood brighten and your outlook lift. Set a new tradition for your personal life as well. It can help you find a way to view things in a more positive light. I reread a book that I grew up reading and remember the time I met the author and fell in love with his stories. It helps me keep things in perspective and clears my mind of negative feelings during a stressful time of year.

Get together with some friends and set some group traditions. Rohit Rohila and I go out on a shopping trip every year. It is always a different place and we always experience new things. Sometimes we bring others with us and sometimes it is just us guys. We might not even buy anything, but we always go out and just hang out.

The holidays are not just a time of rejoicing and good food. They are also a time for reflection. Take this time to reflect on your year. Write down some of the things that have made you happy this year. Review that list of happiness and keep it I your heart. Happiness in the holidays can spread if you keep it alive.

SHOW DESCRIPTION

What separates an Entrepreneur from the average person? It’s all about the mindset. This episode all started when we had a discussion over lunch about our paychecks. We were talking about how our holiday pay schedule was different due to the normal day we would get paid falling on either a holiday or a weekend. Rohit mentioned that he couldn’t even remember the last time he worried about a steady paycheck and it all snowballed from there.

Rohit worked most of his life for someone else and just last year started working for himself when the company he was working for cut his department. He could have panicked and threw himself into the same cycle we all know of looking for another 9-5 making money for someone else while earning a steady paycheck. Instead, he started thinking outside his comfort zone and moving into his strengths.

It became less about “how do I trade my time for money” into “how do I create the income stream I need to be successful.” He turned his situation into a competition with himself. “How do I create more success with what I have?” It is all about perspective with him.

If you ask yourself “how do I make more money” you are looking at things from a perspective of “lack.” It has negative connotations that directly impact your abilities to succeed. You are always looking at things from the perspective of “I need to do more to keep what I have.” You never have enough. When you look at things from a success standpoint, you are constantly asking yourself, “What can I do to improve on my results.” Both, you might argue, have the same messaging. “I need to improve to keep what I have.” However, the difference is in the beginning. One looks at it as I need to keep what I have by offering more. The other looks at is as “I have what I have, now how do I improve or grow it or create more.” That is the entrepreneurial mindset.

Your time is precious. Our jobs take up a large portion of our day. We are selling our time and effort to a company to provide a specific service. They can replace us with another person no matter how much we think we know or do for them. We are a resource. However, the rest of our time could be spent in improving our lives and growing what we have. Be it in relationships, knowledge, or whatever else you value, you need to be the master of your life. Remember that the more time you spend at work, the less time you have to do the things you want or need to do for yourself.