Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello and welcome back This episode I call, do you really know your 100%? In this episode, we're going to dive into Discipline number five, know your 100%. We're going to bask in it. We're going to dive into it. And the reason is, for some reason this one's been rolling around in my head this week, and what it's making me think of is not so much teaching you the Discipline because I'm going to trust the Discipline, you've read that chapter, you've heard us talk about it in previous episodes. What I want to address and what's rolling around in my head are the obstacles, the barriers, the limiting beliefs where you are not maximizing or capitalizing on the power of this Discipline.
(00:57):
So first, I will very quickly in 30 seconds give you the pure teaching. So you hear it and you know it. As a good teacher, I can't stop myself from doing that. But again, the pure teaching Discipline, number five, know your 100%, is knowing the number of hours per week and the number of weeks per year that you want to deliver your gift, your craft to the world. Now mine, I always like to give an example, is now 40 hours a week, 40 weeks a year, used to be 55 hours a week. Now it's 40 hours a week. More on that than just a little bit. This is also known as your work container. And so again, this is the amount of time you're going to do your work and it's also known as your maximum fuel efficiency. So the analogy there is that gauge in your car that where you hit the accelerator at the perfect place that gives you maximum fuel efficiency. That's what your 100% is. It's going to maximize your energetic fuel and efficiency in terms of the work and the impact that you do.
(02:07):
So if you don't know all of that, please reread that chapter. But with that said, what's been pinging me all week is that question, do you really know your 100%? And so what I'm going to do in this episode is I'm simply going to stir the pot in the hopes that you will commit to it and get maximum benefit if you are currently not. And so let's quickly start with the benefits of this Discipline.
(02:39):
With you knowing your 100% and living by that 100%, your boundaries will be crystal clear. You will absolutely make a bigger impact. You will have more fun doing what you do. You will increase your income. You will achieve maximum energy output. You will vibrate higher and you will get back more of your most valuable asset, your time. And so here goes the pot stirring and I'm going to stir the pot with about five different things.
(03:19):
And so the first thing I'm going to start with, let's address hours per week. This is tricky. This takes trial and error over time to really dial it in. And the concern that comes to me is there might be some misconceptions, misunderstandings and/or it's just not worth the effort in some people's mind. And so you really do have to play with this and really massage this and really figure out what the right number is for you. But what's important is to not be rigid about it. For what it's worth some are very rigid about it as am I, but you don't have to be rigid. And so for some, where it might be starting their workday at 7:30 AM and finishing it at 6:00 PM and they work non-stop through that period of time as I do, it doesn't have to be that way.
(04:12):
In other words, you may start your day at different times. You may take a break in the middle of the day. Like Rob does, he has lunch with his wife almost every day when he's home. And so he takes an hour and a half in the middle of the day to stop working to enjoy that time. So again, you don't have to be rigid. And you can also time block. You might work two four-hour blocks of time in your day. So you get to, like I said, play with this, massage this, and you don't have to be so rigid. So you may want to carve out some family time or family commitments throughout the working day. You might work 10 hours Monday and Tuesday and you might work six hours on Friday. Again, you can be flexible with this.
(05:01):
The point is that there is a number of hours, we all have one. And so whatever that looks like and however you slice and dice that, we all have a magic number, it's genetic, and it's magical when you dial it in.
(05:20):
The second stirring of the pot is to back into it. So another way that might be helpful if you're struggling with this is to simply back into it and backing into it may mean after reading Shine and having lots of ah-ha's, you might realize that you want to spend more family time and personal alone time. And so you may decide you want to start working out in the morning or have a stillness practice in the morning. You might decide you want to have coffee with your significant other before you start your day. And so when you start to think about these things that are changing in your personal life, you may again back into, so now all of a sudden you're carving out that hour or two in the morning and maybe your workday now doesn't start until 9:00 or 10:00 because of those things.
(06:09):
So again, just back into it. You may decide you work Saturdays and it's time to stop working Saturdays. Again, backing into it. You might also decide that you want to be home for dinner every night or you want to start picking up the kids. Whatever it is, again, sometimes backing into it will help get you to the right answer.
(06:28):
Pot stir number three is to overcome head trash or neuroses. And so what we observe is some of the head trash, some of the limiting beliefs that people have. And so I am frankly experiencing it right now because I made a conscious decision last year to go from a 55 hour a week person. And I have been that since I was 18 years old and here I am at 57 going to 40 hours and it is, excuse my French, a mind-fuck. It is challenging because I still have these limiting beliefs. It's much better than ever now, but they're still in there. Where am I being lazy? I'm still a little embarrassed to say I only work 40 hours a week. So I'm working on my issues around that. It's better than ever. I'm more comfortable than ever. But you might be faced with the same thing that 55 hours a week was ingrained in me at a very, very young age. And so I'm just overcoming some of those beliefs.
(07:33):
And the last part is just, you might have to mentally shift. So just really look at, let's pretend I have a client that worked 35 hours a week, a very successful entrepreneur, 35 hours for decades. I was a little shocked by that. I didn't think I could ever do it, but he was so happy, comfortable, proud to share that he does. He made the mental shift. And so you may realize that's the perfect work week for you, and you just got to shift some things going on internally like I've had to do.
(08:11):
Pot stir number four is don't confuse adrenaline with burnout. And so when you are working the hours that you're working, on the other side of the 35 hour a week client I have a client that works 80 hours a week and absolutely flourishes, seems balanced, seems to work for him. His family is supportive of that. So let's assume that's true, but whatever this number is, I know for me that 55 hours a week wasn't working anymore, and frankly it stopped working probably four or five years ago. But I stayed committed to that for all the reasons I've already explained. But also I was confusing adrenaline with burnout.
(08:59):
And so we driven people, we got to be careful because what's going on a lot of the times is addiction, addictive behavior. We are addicted to our work, we are workaholics. And we have to be aware, are we numbing ourselves? Are we working this hard to numb the pain? And so a lot of times there's that adrenaline rush you get that you think is healthy and productive and good because it's such an emotional charge, because it's such an endorphin hit. But frankly, in most cases you are burning out. I was burning out.
(09:38):
I think about myself. I used to love getting amped up. And again, I thought it was good. I thought it was productive. I thought it was keeping me sharp. And I'm reminded of the number of times my wife would look at me when I came home from a crazy busy day and she would just say, you look wigged out. And so my eyes were like buggy. I was wigged out. And quite frankly, I would get pissed when she'd say it. Internally, I didn't show it too much. But it was like, no I'm not, I'm good. And I wasn't. And so just pay attention. Know when you're on a high know, when you're truly exhausted. Know when you're secretly in about whether, again, it's adrenaline or burnout.
(10:24):
So there is a perfect number of hours per week, certainly some weeks will vary, but everyone has it. And what that means, and I believe this with every ounce of my being, there is a number of hours for you that if you work one more hour a week, you are going to start to burn out. And if you work one hour less per week, you will start to get bored. Right in between those two numbers is your magic number.
(10:55):
Pot stir number five is think about your three most important activities. Now, I just want to kind of back into... Let's pretend I've convinced you, you're committed, you're going to come up with that number and let's pretend for you hypothetically, it's 50 hours a week. Now what I'd like you to think about is what are the three most important activities. So you can think about them as the most impactful. You can think about them as the most lucrative. You can think about them as the most energizing. You can roll all those words up into the word important.
(11:27):
And so for me as an example, my three are creating content, teaching content, and providing navigation to the leaders in my life. And so when I'm doing those three things, everything's better. And so what are your three? And when you identify your three, then what you want to do is fill that entire work container, your 100%, with only those three things. Consider that. Try that on. And that just simply means you need to delegate everything else. As a result, you will make a bigger impact, you will have more energy, and you will make more money.
(12:16):
And so with all of that said, I hope that helped. Please take a few minutes right now and write down all of your thoughts or re-listen to this episode and take some notes and make a commitment to yourself to live by this Discipline because you deserve it.
