Ron Alford
Appearances
The Action Catalyst
Possibility, Redefined, with Ron Alford (Leadership, Vision, Confidence, Focus, Running)
it crushes your soul it's so good for me to get out there and just get beaten and i don't know any other pretty way to say it man you remember those moments where you were so depleted okay you take some breaths you take a minute you recollect your thoughts your mind re-centers you're reinvigorated you keep rallying and i welcome that i want to be in areas where i feel pressure
The Action Catalyst
Possibility, Redefined, with Ron Alford (Leadership, Vision, Confidence, Focus, Running)
Well, clients were top of mind through a lot of this. And a lot of them are in sales. A lot of them are in leadership. They lead small teams. Some of them lead small teams. Some of them lead companies. But at the end of the day, there are people that struggle with time. How do I plan my time more effectively? How do I manage my time more effectively? How do I have boundaries and
The Action Catalyst
Possibility, Redefined, with Ron Alford (Leadership, Vision, Confidence, Focus, Running)
There are people that struggle with the emotional side of being people pleasers or being control freaks. So definitely the clients internally and externally. So I mentioned that earlier is, you know, for us, when we hire coaches, they have this tremendous background just because you've got a brilliant resume and all these accolades and all these certifications.
The Action Catalyst
Possibility, Redefined, with Ron Alford (Leadership, Vision, Confidence, Focus, Running)
Doesn't mean you don't get humbled daily. We'll put it that way. So I wanted this to be something that are tools for our coaches that we can help coach on, but obviously for our clients.
The Action Catalyst
Possibility, Redefined, with Ron Alford (Leadership, Vision, Confidence, Focus, Running)
And again, stuff that people can use, not just in the boardroom, but things they could use when they go home with their own children or when they have their own routines or their own quiet time where they're wrestling with their thoughts. So that was who it was written for.
The Action Catalyst
Possibility, Redefined, with Ron Alford (Leadership, Vision, Confidence, Focus, Running)
Y'all, my mind, it's funny. I go to Troy Polamalu first. If listeners know who that is, Google him, whatever. As a long, long, long time, 45-year Pittsburgh Steeder fan, that's one part of it. But way aside from that, he is, from everything I've read, the kindest, gentlest, calmest. He would literally pray before every play. And yet he was ferocious.
The Action Catalyst
Possibility, Redefined, with Ron Alford (Leadership, Vision, Confidence, Focus, Running)
If you go on YouTube and watch him, he was just... I mean, he was crazy on the field and Pro Bowl after Pro Bowl, all defense, MVP, et cetera. So just crazy on the field, but yet he had a way of calming himself down. And the way he treated people was so unconditional. I just read about things he and his wife have done to impact people. And just a ton of admiration for Troy.
The Action Catalyst
Possibility, Redefined, with Ron Alford (Leadership, Vision, Confidence, Focus, Running)
I think just right and wrong. It's hard to be around politics or just divisive things. And I'm more and more, and I don't know if I like this about myself, but I'm more and more becoming one of my coworkers that calls me Switzerland sometimes because I won't take a side at times.
The Action Catalyst
Possibility, Redefined, with Ron Alford (Leadership, Vision, Confidence, Focus, Running)
Now, obviously, there's certain things that convictions are like, come on, I have absolute principles and convictions I'll die for. I'm going to dig in on certain things. And a lot of it, I'm not. I'm not going to stake my flag on that. I'm not going to act like that's... I just think ego does these crazy things to us humans where we think we have to be right, which means they have to be wrong.
The Action Catalyst
Possibility, Redefined, with Ron Alford (Leadership, Vision, Confidence, Focus, Running)
And someone just as wise across the aisle is saying the same thing about you. And so... Just more and more and more, whatever the topic might be, just believing there can be some truth in both sides. How can we listen? And so it's just more and more not being quick to judge or quick to speak, but slower to ask questions and try to seek to understand.
The Action Catalyst
Possibility, Redefined, with Ron Alford (Leadership, Vision, Confidence, Focus, Running)
I don't know if it's a new principle, but it's something I have a higher conviction of lately than I did years ago.
The Action Catalyst
Possibility, Redefined, with Ron Alford (Leadership, Vision, Confidence, Focus, Running)
I think having to have data pros and cons always have to be aligned. Like logic is going to win always. And just sometimes there is a gut. There's an art to, as a big baseball fan, you know, you can see that the analytical data studies where there's a lot of GMs that have baseball teams that play ball stuff. Yep, exactly. And so that's one thing where I believe in that. I love data.
The Action Catalyst
Possibility, Redefined, with Ron Alford (Leadership, Vision, Confidence, Focus, Running)
I love trends. I love studying analytics. And I believe there's absolutely a world of logic. And there's times where it's like, you know what, I'm going to trust my heart. Like there is something there that is true and pure. And I don't want to always be a slave to what the data says.
The Action Catalyst
Possibility, Redefined, with Ron Alford (Leadership, Vision, Confidence, Focus, Running)
There is an art. I think it's the art and the science. Both are great things. And again, maybe that's the Switzerland in me. It's not art or science. It's both.
The Action Catalyst
Possibility, Redefined, with Ron Alford (Leadership, Vision, Confidence, Focus, Running)
Yeah. So, you know, bathroom team come out 30 seconds with my dog. I literally get on the steps and just literally hug my dog and like lay with them and just kind of, and then come down, feed the animals. And I come into my office and then I lay on my office floor at about a 15 minute stretchy routine that just helps, you know, some back situations and some stuff with my dog.
The Action Catalyst
Possibility, Redefined, with Ron Alford (Leadership, Vision, Confidence, Focus, Running)
So it's quiet time with my cooch where I'm stretching and relaxing and he does his downward dog and his stretching and And then depending on the day, he either gets a quick walk and I go to the gym or I take, we grab the leash, which of course he goes crazy for, meaning we get to go for a run in the trails. That's absolutely the morning routine. Then it's back.
The Action Catalyst
Possibility, Redefined, with Ron Alford (Leadership, Vision, Confidence, Focus, Running)
By that time, my daughter's up and my wife's up and the kids are up and whatnot. And get to see the family, and then kind of get ready for the day. Nothing crazy.
The Action Catalyst
Possibility, Redefined, with Ron Alford (Leadership, Vision, Confidence, Focus, Running)
Yes, and I'll just quickly add to it, the physical side, of course. But it's way deeper. I believe the spiritual, the emotional, the physical, the mental, all four components, that helps me with. My shoulders drop. And even in the middle of the day, when anxiety or stress starts to add up, having a quick...
The Action Catalyst
Possibility, Redefined, with Ron Alford (Leadership, Vision, Confidence, Focus, Running)
you know, maybe just after lunch or the two o'clock, 10 minute break or something where I can go out and kind of re-stretch in a way, maybe not the same as I did early in the morning. My breathing changes, the tone of voice, the calmness, like I said, the posture that, you know, I could have neck issue, you know, whatever. And so I think it really does get your heart right.
The Action Catalyst
Possibility, Redefined, with Ron Alford (Leadership, Vision, Confidence, Focus, Running)
So it's, because I've stretched where my mind is in 18 different places and I'm scrolling apps and my mental side is not there and it's not nearly as effective. But when I stretch with breathing and with calmness and with no distractions and just being there with my dog, there's something more, there's a deeper level of health that comes from it.
The Action Catalyst
Possibility, Redefined, with Ron Alford (Leadership, Vision, Confidence, Focus, Running)
Yes, not as much as I'd like to say I have. So I've hired some trainers to help with, like even physical therapists, for example.
The Action Catalyst
Possibility, Redefined, with Ron Alford (Leadership, Vision, Confidence, Focus, Running)
Definitely have hired physical therapists, not reactionary because I've got an injury, but more proactively to help me with preventative things for my back or my hips or my knees or, you know, as I get older and you're, if I'm training for a hundred mile race this August and I'm going to spend a lot of time, how do I proactively prevent injury versus reactively do it?
The Action Catalyst
Possibility, Redefined, with Ron Alford (Leadership, Vision, Confidence, Focus, Running)
So I've done a lot of that kind of thing for sure. That's awesome.
The Action Catalyst
Possibility, Redefined, with Ron Alford (Leadership, Vision, Confidence, Focus, Running)
And in all seriousness, like I cannot agree more. And it's painful to think of all the times I've made the mistake of the opposite. So let me not act in any way like I've been some proactive person my whole life. No way. Messed it up so much. But now it's like, I want to be able to do that training, but I also still want to play basketball with my boys every weekend.
The Action Catalyst
Possibility, Redefined, with Ron Alford (Leadership, Vision, Confidence, Focus, Running)
I want to be able to run with my daughter and do things and keep up with them. And it's getting tougher, you know, but it's like, I still can rock one-on-one with my twins. And it's like, I want to be able to do that and not, you know, when they have their kids, I want to be able to play with my grandkids someday.
The Action Catalyst
Possibility, Redefined, with Ron Alford (Leadership, Vision, Confidence, Focus, Running)
So there's some deep emotional, of course, that's back to the vision board type stuff, deep emotional purpose behind this that has sparked the action in hiring the PT on the front end.
The Action Catalyst
Possibility, Redefined, with Ron Alford (Leadership, Vision, Confidence, Focus, Running)
Yeah. So of course, Amazon, any book selling places there are Southwestern websites. So southwesternconsulting.com or my own ronalfordswc.com. Any of those are good. Yeah. Even on my Instagram or LinkedIn or those places, it has links for it.
The Action Catalyst
Possibility, Redefined, with Ron Alford (Leadership, Vision, Confidence, Focus, Running)
Yeah, it's such an interesting thing how gut feelings happen. I remember walking into a running store. You just get some shoes, not thinking much of it. My whole life was basketball, football, just more team sports. And I saw this fundraiser for the Leukemia Lymphoma Society where you can do a triathlon.
The Action Catalyst
Possibility, Redefined, with Ron Alford (Leadership, Vision, Confidence, Focus, Running)
Correct. It's fun to learn with, man. That's why I love being a part of this is we get to talk through stuff that's like, okay, I've got more focus and energy for my day. So thanks for having me on talking about all this.
The Action Catalyst
Possibility, Redefined, with Ron Alford (Leadership, Vision, Confidence, Focus, Running)
You can go to Kona, Hawaii with a group of people you don't know and raise, I believe it was six and a half thousand to go to Hawaii and do this triathlon, this Olympic distance triathlon. And I didn't have a bike. I didn't really run other than to score a basket or a touchdown. And I just thought, man, that'd be neat. I was getting a little older and team sports weren't the thing anymore.
The Action Catalyst
Possibility, Redefined, with Ron Alford (Leadership, Vision, Confidence, Focus, Running)
And I remember fundraising for that and falling in love with the whole philanthropic side of what we were doing there. But then also the actual race itself and the endurance side of it and just really what it took to prepare there. And so after doing the race, I thought, oh, the biking was cool. The swimming was cool, but man, the running part was awesome.
The Action Catalyst
Possibility, Redefined, with Ron Alford (Leadership, Vision, Confidence, Focus, Running)
And so that, that started a series of like, okay, well, let's see what these half marathons and marathons and these things are like. And finally got into some, some trail stuff where you're not as consumed with the watch. You can't really, you know, when you're going up a mountain or doing technical single track, you know, you can have an 18 minute downhill mile that changes everything.
The Action Catalyst
Possibility, Redefined, with Ron Alford (Leadership, Vision, Confidence, Focus, Running)
So that's kind of where the running part started and how I've more fallen in love with the distance endurance side of it. And to date, like roughly how many ultras have you run? So in actual events, roughly 20. Things I've done more on my own, yeah, I'd say 35, 40. How do you run it to your book where you're finding possible?
The Action Catalyst
Possibility, Redefined, with Ron Alford (Leadership, Vision, Confidence, Focus, Running)
Anything typically 50K or above. So anything technically longer than a marathon, longer than 26.2. So 50K is 31 miles. But the thing about ultras is they are usually in mountains or deep trails, or they're not your typical road kind of terrain. Obviously, the book, I'm sure we'll talk more about it, but it alludes to belief barriers. It alludes to unconditional confidence.
The Action Catalyst
Possibility, Redefined, with Ron Alford (Leadership, Vision, Confidence, Focus, Running)
Running humbles any person. It crushes your soul. It's so good for me to get out there and just go. get beaten. And I don't know any other pretty way to say it. Man, you remember those moments where you were so depleted, your legs were shot, you could hardly move, the cramps were in.
The Action Catalyst
Possibility, Redefined, with Ron Alford (Leadership, Vision, Confidence, Focus, Running)
You take some breaths, you take a minute, you recollect your thoughts, your mind re-centers, and suddenly your body follows your mind. 10 miles later, you're eating snacks, you're reinvigorated, you keep rallying. I would say the other part of it is just in a world where it's If you're in business, if you have multiple kids like I do, I'm in a blended family, we all have stress environments.
The Action Catalyst
Possibility, Redefined, with Ron Alford (Leadership, Vision, Confidence, Focus, Running)
And I welcome that. I want to be in areas where I feel pressure. I want to be in areas where I feel stress. I think that's a healthy thing if I don't let it get to me too much. And that's where the running really helps me calm. I come home from a run. I'm a better listener to my kids. I'm more calm, more loving to my wife. I'm more patient with prospects or clients, you name it.
The Action Catalyst
Possibility, Redefined, with Ron Alford (Leadership, Vision, Confidence, Focus, Running)
Absolutely. And yeah, Schwarzenegger's story. So, you know, he talks about how that fitness aspect helped him in the world of acting and becoming, you know, arguably the top actor of his time, and then in the world of politics. And so I can't agree more. It just it blends into every part of life.
The Action Catalyst
Possibility, Redefined, with Ron Alford (Leadership, Vision, Confidence, Focus, Running)
And it doesn't matter if it's extreme weightlifting, like Arnold or running or whatever, whatever the person's thing is, but it's finding that.
The Action Catalyst
Possibility, Redefined, with Ron Alford (Leadership, Vision, Confidence, Focus, Running)
Yeah, man, I love the question. I think for every listener, for each of us, I really am more and more convicted on the seasons of life. It's crazy how I could have spoken with you six months ago on some of these concepts and today be in a totally different frame of mind. For listeners that are familiar with the book, the overriding theme is impact. And you cannot grow older.
The Action Catalyst
Possibility, Redefined, with Ron Alford (Leadership, Vision, Confidence, Focus, Running)
You can't go through things and not think about what is my legacy? What does significance really mean? We all know the dollars don't equal the joy. And yet it's still so easy to fall into that trap of whether it's more money, a new title at work, a better race time in my running or whatever the carrot is, is going to bring that joy.
The Action Catalyst
Possibility, Redefined, with Ron Alford (Leadership, Vision, Confidence, Focus, Running)
Yet you and I both know, man, it just the thing that's really going to fill that cup is the difference I believe I'm making in the lives of others. I think I could have known that maybe a few years ago, but I feel like I'm in a season now where it's like that is it. That is the metal. That is the thing that we're going after. And so if I believe that, then what am I doing in my life?
The Action Catalyst
Possibility, Redefined, with Ron Alford (Leadership, Vision, Confidence, Focus, Running)
What are my morning routines? What are my habits? Who's holding me accountable to where I can get the best out of what I've been given?
The Action Catalyst
Possibility, Redefined, with Ron Alford (Leadership, Vision, Confidence, Focus, Running)
There were some very specific updates that we wanted to work on. And the goal was to take this from really good to great. The overriding theme is impact. What does significance really mean? The character traits that I want to be known for, that I wanted this book to be about. Things like vision, having a purpose for one's life. Things like, how do I plan my time more effectively?
The Action Catalyst
Possibility, Redefined, with Ron Alford (Leadership, Vision, Confidence, Focus, Running)
Really, it's just more top of mind. And I wasn't planning to go here, but they have a recurring event every other Monday afternoon, Ron's Call with Mark Stacey. And Mark was a mentor for thousands of people and an impactor as joyful of a person I've ever worked with and done life with. And I got to work closely with him.
The Action Catalyst
Possibility, Redefined, with Ron Alford (Leadership, Vision, Confidence, Focus, Running)
And for years, he and I had our recurring calls and I got to go to Austin, Texas to travel with them and be with them and Mark passed away, gosh, a little over a year ago now, incredibly unexpectedly. You can't go through things like that. Every listener that's had a loved one go through a terminal condition or lost a loved one unexpectedly. And so for me, I actually keep that recurring event.
The Action Catalyst
Possibility, Redefined, with Ron Alford (Leadership, Vision, Confidence, Focus, Running)
It's still on my calendar. And I don't want to remove that because it's as much as it can kind of make me sad for a moment.
The Action Catalyst
Possibility, Redefined, with Ron Alford (Leadership, Vision, Confidence, Focus, Running)
emotional it also reminds me of like if perspective is is brought back instantly i might be thinking oh man i'm behind on my goals right i'm on this or on that or what was me or or gosh our profit margin is a little off or and then it's like come on stop and perspective comes back instantly and so trying to have those kind of reminders in my life daily where it's more top of mind
The Action Catalyst
Possibility, Redefined, with Ron Alford (Leadership, Vision, Confidence, Focus, Running)
Yeah. It's just, even as a parent, you hold your kids live. It's hard to not squeeze their, you know, okay, my kids are going to get good grades and they're going to be respectful. They're going to look people in the eyes and they're going to greet people well. They're going to be little athletes and et cetera, et cetera. You know, great music and art.
The Action Catalyst
Possibility, Redefined, with Ron Alford (Leadership, Vision, Confidence, Focus, Running)
And so you, you, you just like, you know what, I'm going to do the best I can. I'm going to have a ton of faith. I'm going to lead by example and I'm going to hold those things loosely and Otherwise I put so much pressure on my dang kids. They, they turn into a little monster.
The Action Catalyst
Possibility, Redefined, with Ron Alford (Leadership, Vision, Confidence, Focus, Running)
I'm really into focus because I think when you're juggling things, think of the wheel, the spokes of the wheel, right? You know, and I've got my, my spiritual goals. Like for me, my faith is the beginning and the end, right? It's the center. Obviously my role as a husband, my role as a dad, my role, my business role. With internal clients, all of our coaches and company, external clients.
The Action Catalyst
Possibility, Redefined, with Ron Alford (Leadership, Vision, Confidence, Focus, Running)
So you have all these things on your plate that I've chosen. So that's the ownership piece. This isn't a, oh my gosh, look at all. This is like, thank goodness I made these choices. So I'm fully owning it. But the focus piece is big. And just even as I talk to you, looking down, making sure my phone is upside down. There's no lighting. There's no notifications.
The Action Catalyst
Possibility, Redefined, with Ron Alford (Leadership, Vision, Confidence, Focus, Running)
How do I have boundaries? Things like, how do I reframe beliefs? These are truths that bring my mind back to center. Stuff that people can use not just in the boardroom, but things they can use when they go home with their own children. or when they have their own routines or their own quiet time where they're wrestling with their thoughts.
The Action Catalyst
Possibility, Redefined, with Ron Alford (Leadership, Vision, Confidence, Focus, Running)
Y'all, my computer screen, man, no way would there be a notification pop up that would somehow take a little bit of my momentum or my inertia or my focus away from our conversation. Just the blinders. I'm more and more and more fascinated with that concept.
The Action Catalyst
Possibility, Redefined, with Ron Alford (Leadership, Vision, Confidence, Focus, Running)
And I love studying it with people, learning from people that just, no matter how much they have on their plate, whenever I'm with them, they really seem present and engaged. I would say one last part of that is because Again, two of my three kids, my twin boys, they're literally just about getting their driver's licenses. And so it's like, man, I don't have a ton of time with my kids at home.
The Action Catalyst
Possibility, Redefined, with Ron Alford (Leadership, Vision, Confidence, Focus, Running)
I want to have focused time with these kids. I want to make sure the time I have with my wife counts. I want to make sure the time I have with my coworkers counts. Yeah, you get it.
The Action Catalyst
Possibility, Redefined, with Ron Alford (Leadership, Vision, Confidence, Focus, Running)
Yeah, I look back now. So I would say three, there was kind of three phases. The first was just a loose over a couple years, loosely having notes of Ron's rambles, I call them. And it was just little rambles, little thoughts, little things I wanted to study. I had no idea what I wanted to do with them. Maybe it'd be a blog or a video or part of some different keynote speaking things or a book.
The Action Catalyst
Possibility, Redefined, with Ron Alford (Leadership, Vision, Confidence, Focus, Running)
But that was just a number of years of just kind of collecting thoughts and pondering and just almost journaling and writing and processing it. That was absolutely the first part. The second was getting myself in a room and kind of organizing the thoughts into something that made sense. Like if I'm beginning with the end in mind, what does the finished product look like?
The Action Catalyst
Possibility, Redefined, with Ron Alford (Leadership, Vision, Confidence, Focus, Running)
What do you want readers to take away? If no one read it except my three kids and maybe their spouses someday, would they be proud of their dad?
The Action Catalyst
Possibility, Redefined, with Ron Alford (Leadership, Vision, Confidence, Focus, Running)
If this is like my journal or some sort of a way to process part of my life and part of the things I believe deeply in, essentially what I'm devoting my professional life, but even a lot of my personal life to, if I can get this organized on paper, will my kids be proud of it? That was the second part that was more of an intense focus of getting it all arranged.
The Action Catalyst
Possibility, Redefined, with Ron Alford (Leadership, Vision, Confidence, Focus, Running)
The third part was evenings where I had help and had a bit of a team that would, you know, from 6 to 8 p.m. And thankfully my wife was awesome. She said, hey, you have total permission to take that time at night and just, you know. So it was two to three hour segments at night where I would grab a bite of dinner with my family and then by 6 or 6.15 be back in my office.
The Action Catalyst
Possibility, Redefined, with Ron Alford (Leadership, Vision, Confidence, Focus, Running)
And it was just book work time from like maybe 6 to 8, 8.30 and then be able to kind of relax a little bit with my wife and family before bedtimes. So just more spurts, two to three hours, a couple nights a week.
The Action Catalyst
Possibility, Redefined, with Ron Alford (Leadership, Vision, Confidence, Focus, Running)
Yeah, I think just anything that's principles, like to me, trends come and go, right? Fads come and go. 30-day diets and clothing styles. I have a lot of old pictures of clothes that sure are not in style, right? But principles are just, they're the rock.
The Action Catalyst
Possibility, Redefined, with Ron Alford (Leadership, Vision, Confidence, Focus, Running)
I really believe the character traits that I want to be known for, the character traits that I wanted this book to be about, and the principles I wanted to be centered on, and really the principles that represent Southwestern. This isn't my book. I worked hard to put a lot into it, but this is stuff that thankfully Southwestern has given me over 30 years.
The Action Catalyst
Possibility, Redefined, with Ron Alford (Leadership, Vision, Confidence, Focus, Running)
And so that was really important as well, is that making sure anything we really dove into was things that were going to last. Things like vision, right? Having a purpose for one's life is not a come and go topic. It's been since the beginning of time and will always be, right? Things like belief systems and really rewiring thoughts and being hyper aware of the thoughts running through my head.
The Action Catalyst
Possibility, Redefined, with Ron Alford (Leadership, Vision, Confidence, Focus, Running)
And how do I reframe beliefs and not let my story go into a negative way? Those are principles that are going to be truths, right? I call them truths versus lies. I unfortunately, like any human, pick up on a lie frequently and my mind starts doubting and doubting. fill in blame and fill in worry and anxiety. But these are truths that bring my mind back to center. I love that. Yeah.
The Action Catalyst
Possibility, Redefined, with Ron Alford (Leadership, Vision, Confidence, Focus, Running)
And then we just wanted a fun mix of some personal stories, of course, and examples, but then a lot of history, right? We learn from history. So a lot of historical, whether it's data and studies and actual case studies, but history that kind of backs up a lot of these principles of how important they are to our lives. Yeah.
The Action Catalyst
CLIP: Mastering Impact, Focus, Vision, Belief, Truth, and Time
So you have all these things on your plate that I've chosen. So that's the ownership piece. This isn't a, oh my gosh, look at all this is like, thank goodness I made these choices. So I'm fully owning it. But the focus piece is big. And just even as I talk to you, looking down, making sure my phone is upside down. There's no lighting. There's no notifications.
The Action Catalyst
CLIP: Mastering Impact, Focus, Vision, Belief, Truth, and Time
Y'all, my computer screen, man, no way would there be a notification pop up that would somehow take a little bit of my momentum or my inertia or my focus away from our conversation. Just the blinders. I'm more and more and more fascinated with that concept. And I love studying it with people.
The Action Catalyst
CLIP: Mastering Impact, Focus, Vision, Belief, Truth, and Time
Yeah, man, I love the question. I think for every listener, for each of us, like I really am more and more convicted on the seasons of life. You know, it's crazy how I could have spoken with you six months ago on some of these concepts and today be in a totally different frame of mind. For listeners that are familiar with the book, the overriding theme is impact. And you cannot grow older.
The Action Catalyst
CLIP: Mastering Impact, Focus, Vision, Belief, Truth, and Time
Yeah, I think just anything that's principles, like to me, trends come and go, right? Fads come and go. 30-day diets and clothing styles. I have a lot of old pictures of clothes that sure are not in style, right? But principles are just, they're the rock.
The Action Catalyst
CLIP: Mastering Impact, Focus, Vision, Belief, Truth, and Time
I really believe the character traits that I want to be known for, the character traits that I wanted this book to be about and the principles I wanted to be centered on and really the principles that represent Southwestern. This isn't my book. I worked hard to put a lot into it, but this is stuff that thankfully Southwestern has given me over 30 years.
The Action Catalyst
CLIP: Mastering Impact, Focus, Vision, Belief, Truth, and Time
And so that was really important as well, is that making sure anything we really dove into was things that were going to last. Things like vision, right? Having a purpose for one's life is not a come and go topic. It's been since the beginning of time and will always be, right? Things like belief systems and really rewiring thoughts and being hyper aware of the thoughts running through my head.
The Action Catalyst
CLIP: Mastering Impact, Focus, Vision, Belief, Truth, and Time
And how do I reframe beliefs and not let my story go into a negative way? Those are principles that are going to be truths, right? I call them truths versus lies. I unfortunately, like any human, pick up on a lie frequently and my mind starts doubting and doubting.
The Action Catalyst
CLIP: Mastering Impact, Focus, Vision, Belief, Truth, and Time
feeling blame and feeling worry and anxiety and but these are truths that bring my mind back to center i love that yeah then and then we just wanted a fun mix of you know some personal stories of course and examples and but then a lot of his history right we learn from history so a lot of historical whether it's data and studies and and actual case studies but but history that kind of backs up a lot of these principles of how important they are to our lives
The Action Catalyst
CLIP: Mastering Impact, Focus, Vision, Belief, Truth, and Time
Well, clients were top of mind through a lot of this. And a lot of them are in sales. A lot of them are in leadership. Some of them lead small teams. Some of them lead companies. But at the end of the day, there are people that struggle with time. How do I plan my time more effectively? How do I manage my time more effectively? How do I have boundaries?
The Action Catalyst
CLIP: Mastering Impact, Focus, Vision, Belief, Truth, and Time
And there are people that struggle with the emotional side of being people pleasers or being control freaks. Just because you've got a brilliant resume and all these accolades and all these certifications doesn't mean you don't get humbled daily. We'll put it that way.
The Action Catalyst
CLIP: Mastering Impact, Focus, Vision, Belief, Truth, and Time
And again, stuff that people can use, not just in the boardroom, but things they could use when they go home with their own children or when they have their own routines or their own quiet time where they're wrestling with their thoughts. So that was who it was written for.
The Action Catalyst
CLIP: Mastering Impact, Focus, Vision, Belief, Truth, and Time
You can't go through things and not think about what is my legacy? What does significance really mean? We all know the dollars don't equal the joy. And yet it's still so easy to fall into that trap of whether it's more money, a new title at work, a better race time in my running or whatever the carrot is, is going to bring that joy.
The Action Catalyst
CLIP: Mastering Impact, Focus, Vision, Belief, Truth, and Time
Yet you and I both know, man, it just, the thing that's really going to fill that cup is the difference I believe I'm making in the lives of others. I think I could have known that maybe a few years ago, but I feel like I'm in a season now where it's like that is it. That is the metal. That is the thing that we're going after. And so if I believe that, then what am I doing in my life?
The Action Catalyst
CLIP: Mastering Impact, Focus, Vision, Belief, Truth, and Time
What are my morning routines? What are my habits? Who's holding me accountable to where I can get the best out of what I've been given?
The Action Catalyst
CLIP: Mastering Impact, Focus, Vision, Belief, Truth, and Time
I'm really into focus because I think when you're juggling things, think of the wheel, the spokes of the wheel, right? I've got my spiritual goals. Like for me... My faith is the beginning and the end, right? It's the center. Obviously my role as a husband, my role as a dad, my role, my business role, you know, with internal clients, all of our coaches and company, external clients.