One Year In: The Six Pillars, the 4G Journal, and the Frameworks That Actually Worked

WEBVTT
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Welcome to the Optimizing Beyond podcast. I'm
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Josh Negron, and this show is all about sharing
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lessons, ideas, and strategies that sharpen your
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thinking, strengthen your habits, and push you
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to grow beyond comfort zones. Let's dive in.
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Welcome back to the show. Today's episode is
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going to be a little different because it is
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officially been a year of the Optimizing Beyond
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podcast, and I'm so glad you're here. And I'd
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like to just take a look back and review this
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last year's journey. in the optimization space.
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Now, I specifically chose this as my main center
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hub with a tremendous amount of intentionality.
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And the reason is, is I think optimization can
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be applied to so many different things. And so
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while it has a very specific focus of constant
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improvement, it has a very broad application
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as well that can be applied from mindset. and
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personal growth exterior to your relationships
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and organizations and beyond into things that
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help you be better, like technology. and other
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sorts of helpful products. This is why I love
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optimization, because it is things that are intended
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to improve our lives, not just those that you
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can write a check for. And that's why the catchphrase
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is daily anything changes everything. I find
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that more often than not, the more books that
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I read, the more people that I trust, that I
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listen to, I find the same. kind of thread that
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the things that are worth it often take regular
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segmented investment over time the two easiest
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examples are fitness nutrition and longevity
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and then also financial growth Any financial
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advisor will tell you that the sooner you can
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get into investing, if you can do it in your
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20s, in your 30s, that is a dream. And they will
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share with you their investment calculators and
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show you what compound growth can do. And that's
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exactly what optimization is about. But the frustrating
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part is it often takes time. And in today's day
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and age, in the culture of instant gratification,
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getting results right now isn't as attractive
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as... Just give me the pill, give me the short
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solution. What is a way I can get to A to Z as
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fast as possible? Now, trust me, if I can find
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a shortcut, I'll take it too. But oftentimes,
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there just aren't any in so many spaces. But
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that being said, that's why I do love things
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like technology and products that I think can
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help improve my life. But like I've talked about
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in the Whoop episode, Whoop rates me in the top
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0 .2 % consistency of all their users across
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six years, and it is a piece of technology that
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I pay for. However, I think the value that I
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have been able to extract from this tool has
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still been one that has taken years to build
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on. to get things that are meaningful out of
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it. So the simplest way I can put it is, I love
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optimization because it acts like a central hub
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of a wheel, and then every single topic are like
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spokes to that wheel coming out from that central
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hub. And I truly think that the spokes on that
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wheel per se are infinite, that you can really
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optimize anything. There are things that I have
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not optimized because they're not areas of interest
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that I currently have. But like any person, especially
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guys, I've seen a lot of reels on this recently
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about like, why do guys fixate on random hobbies
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out of nowhere? It's like you don't know about
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it on Monday and all of a sudden you're super
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deep into it on Friday after hearing about it
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on Thursday. And a funny one I've been in recently
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is espresso. So that is a little bit of a rabbit
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hole. And there are tons of these things, right?
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So what I love about making my own espresso is
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it is chasing that optimized shot that you don't
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always get. And it's funny, I tried getting into
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golf. I've talked about this before. I realized
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I maybe didn't have enough patience for that
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sport. And watching people that have been playing
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it their whole life, I saw they're chasing that
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perfect shot, that perfect hole, that perfect
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game, if they're lucky. and just building that
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skill over time. So again, this applies so broadly.
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That's why I absolutely love it and why I'm passionate
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about sharing the things that I've learned and
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am learning with you. So in light of that, I
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want to do a year in review on this episode 53
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and kind of look at the different spokes that
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I touched on last year and also explore how they
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landed, which is also important to go and reflect
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and see what people like and what they connected
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with. painful to watch my early episodes as I
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was figuring out the format and how I wanted
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to talk about things. But like all things, I
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think it's important to just start and optimize
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from there. And when I was reflecting on all
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this, I noticed about six different domains that
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I discussed throughout this last year. The first
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one is mindset and emotional regulation. And
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in a lot of ways, this is where it starts. We
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always say here that The one you can most control
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is yourself and you can't control others or your
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circumstances and what happens to you. And that
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is so, so true. That doesn't mean it's easy.
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It just means you're the only one that you can
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control. And so realizing those truths and those
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limitations are really critical to functioning
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in an optimal way. Now, in this domain, it looks
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like we did 14 total episodes, which is about
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27 of the year, discussing all different. facets
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of mindset and emotional regulation. Now I want
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to walk through a couple of the biggest takeaways
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of this pillar. And the first one was episode
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two was about the expectation effect. I highly
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recommend that book. It's very unique and different.
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And that talked about how powerful belief is.
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And there's so many examples in that book. In
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fact, it's so dense with examples because I think
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he wants to make the point while it's also a
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very technical book, so it can be kind of a dry
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read, but the examples are what's engaging. And
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that's what I would stick out to me most in my
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mind is. There's a section that talks about the
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placebo effect. We all know what that is. And
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it talked about the placebo effect, when you
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expect bad things to happen or to be true. And
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he gives an example of a man that was diagnosed
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with some type of cancer, and he only had six
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months to live. Well, he did die six months later.
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And when they did the autopsy, he didn't have
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cancer. And that story is so mind -blowing. And
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the point of the book, and it... gives way more
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examples than just that. That one is a very powerful
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one that sticks out. And the point is, your expectation
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has tremendous power. And if that's even remotely
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true, you need to be careful how you apply that
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belief and that expectation. Almost creepy level
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stuff there. And I agree. There's a reason why
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it's my number two all -time downloaded episode,
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because that is a powerful concept that... You
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need to be careful with the things that you think,
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your perceptions, your expectations, and like
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I talked about in my episode with Greg, the power
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of your words. The second one was the... Assuming
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Positive Intent from my friend Jonathan Dawson
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and Catching the Second Thought from Glenn Lundy.
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Now, assuming positive intent is pretty simple.
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That's if someone does something and you don't
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have a lot of context. Our brains are context
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-filling machines. So what do they say if I assume
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it makes what out of me? Right. So because of
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that, the change -up is to apply ways to constantly
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optimize how you might be assuming something.
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and decide to assume positive intent, that someone
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didn't necessarily do something on purpose, and
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it was likely more benign than you are interpreting
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it. This also helps if you're challenged in taking
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things personally. More sensitive personality
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types tend to fall in this trap. more than others.
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But if you really value and trust someone, then
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you can be vulnerable to this as well with those
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specific people. With Glenn Lundy's second thought,
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his premise was that you often cannot control
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your first thought, especially if it's an intrusive
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thought and it pops in there and you're like,
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geez, where did that even come from? And so he
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postulated, stop obsessing about the first thought
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and feeling guilty for it or trying to stop them.
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it's likely that you're not going to succeed
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in that endeavor. However, he argued that you
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should control the second thought because that's
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the one that allows you to respond or react,
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which is typically running with that first thought
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and not checking it, not asking questions. and
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not challenging it. And so those two premises
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have helped me optimize my mindset in multiple
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ways. The third concept in this pillar that we've
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discussed is the two wolves parable that is a
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Cherokee. proverb about the two wolves inside
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of everyone. One is good and one is evil. And
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the one that wins is the one you feed. That's
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the one that gets stronger, the one that gains
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power. And while I would argue that most people
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feed both wolves probably pretty frequently,
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in this day and age, I think it's more important
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than ever to talk about this because that's the
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reason why I have the tattoo to represent and
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remind myself is that in these days of social
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media, I think we can all agree that negativity
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spreads faster than and positivity. And so as
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a result of all of those things, these kind of
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things are more important than ever. And so which
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wolf are you going to choose to feed, I think
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is a very important question to keep in mind.
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And the second to last one was about how comparison
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can trap you. You might have heard the quote,
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comparison is the thief of joy, and that is absolutely
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true. But comparison can trap people whether
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they're underperforming or overperforming. So
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we talked about in episode 41 about how comparison
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can really hold you back, whether you are performing
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at a high level or leaving plenty on the table.
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Kind of widened my view of comparison a little
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bit more than I originally had. And then the
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last one we discussed in this pillar about how
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when you protect yourself, especially your heart,
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too much, it can eventually cost the very thing
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that things like love can bless you with. And
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so usually if someone gets hurt, they want to
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protect themselves. And then that can really
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kind of limit them in the future. And that's
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an important thing to remember. Now, moving on,
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the next extension of this is still kind of involving
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you. And that is the pillar of. productivity
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and execution. Now, who doesn't love to be more
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productive? It's funny to watch AI companies
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squabble and fight over what ways that they can
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increase their subscriber counts. And a lot of
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the marketing is packaged into how it can make
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you more effective, more productive, and save
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you time and work while you sleep and all this
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fun stuff. And so There were eight episodes on
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this topic, and this was truly the strongest
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spoke of the optimization lens. And this is one
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of my favorite things. As things like logging
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my food every day and being a crazy whoop user,
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those kinds of things really prove me out because
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I'm guilty. I love these things. The biggest
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thing is the 4G journal that I do every day by
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Danelle Delgado. which is a gratitude journal
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that also includes three goals that you're currently
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working on, a grace section where you're listing
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someone that you're wanting to give grace to
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or forgive, which is super important. And the
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last one is a actionable growth item from something
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that you learned that day. This has been one
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of the single most foundational habits that I've
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done out of anything else. And I've been doing
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this daily. for at least six years now, going
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on seven. And when someone asks me for advice
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on things that they can do to improve their mindset.
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their perceptions, and basically rewire their
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brain, this is literally my number one go -to.
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I ask them, do you journal right now? Do you
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do any sort of gratitudes right now? Most of
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the time, the answer is no, because that's really
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fluffy stuff. It seems too easy to be relatively
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significant. And if they say no, the answer is
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you got to do this. I've seen it save marriages,
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and I don't say that lightly. That's crazy. And
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I've also seen it transform people mentally in
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ways that are truly unexplainable. And what's
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funny, when I dive into psychology in multiple
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different books with multiple different people
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in the field, I see gratitude mentioned from
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multiple angles, which just proves my point that
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gratitude is an incredibly powerful thing for
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multiple applications. And I think it's the highest
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ROI thing that I talk about, to be honest with
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you. The second one is we discussed different
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frameworks on how to execute and picking the
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right skill. And that's what I love about optimizing
00:12:58.590 --> 00:13:01.570
is not every episode is going to resonate with
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you. And that's okay. The whole point is, can
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you pick one thing, one topic, one pillar, one
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aspect that you want to tackle? So that may not
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even be an entire episode. Maybe it's the one
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thing for you is I'm going to do a gratitude
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journal. I'm not going to mess with the other
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three. I'm just going to start with gratitude.
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Hey, daily anything, right? That's fine. I'll
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take it. Let's do it. The third one is the good,
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better, best framework. And this is what I believe
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holds a massive part of the wheel together because
00:13:29.889 --> 00:13:32.509
the good, better, best framework can really apply
00:13:32.509 --> 00:13:36.470
to almost any of the spokes in helping you make
00:13:36.470 --> 00:13:39.929
decisions and decide how to proceed in the things
00:13:39.929 --> 00:13:42.389
that you're working on. A lot of times you might
00:13:42.389 --> 00:13:45.090
listen to someone like me tell you ways that
00:13:45.090 --> 00:13:48.029
you can improve your life or optimize your life.
00:13:48.230 --> 00:13:52.419
And oftentimes what makes people feel stuck is
00:13:52.419 --> 00:13:54.940
they don't know how to apply or how to implement,
00:13:55.120 --> 00:13:57.899
or it just seems like it's too much. And the
00:13:57.899 --> 00:14:00.740
good, better, best is a great way to help you
00:14:00.740 --> 00:14:04.679
filter through and decide what to apply and when,
00:14:04.820 --> 00:14:07.759
because sometimes you need to accept better than
00:14:07.759 --> 00:14:10.899
good because anything less than that is going
00:14:10.899 --> 00:14:14.139
to be not applying yourself. Other times, good
00:14:14.139 --> 00:14:17.519
is just fine. Because good is just starting and
00:14:17.519 --> 00:14:20.220
that's all you need to do. So it's a really,
00:14:20.299 --> 00:14:23.159
really great framework that I enjoy in helping
00:14:23.159 --> 00:14:26.039
me decide what I'm going to do. And I didn't
00:14:26.039 --> 00:14:30.000
do the four G's right away. I started with just
00:14:30.000 --> 00:14:32.419
three gratitudes and started layering on top.
00:14:32.659 --> 00:14:35.120
I wanted to build a habit first and take it further.
00:14:35.279 --> 00:14:37.779
Now we move on from the productivity and execution
00:14:37.779 --> 00:14:40.620
pillar into the physical, the health, and the
00:14:40.620 --> 00:14:43.399
performance aspect. It's also something I'm very
00:14:43.399 --> 00:14:46.220
passionate about as I just celebrated another
00:14:46.220 --> 00:14:49.139
birthday and I'm getting very suspiciously close
00:14:49.139 --> 00:14:55.019
to the 40s. Snap, it's coming. And we did seven
00:14:55.019 --> 00:14:58.519
episodes on this topic. And I would say the number
00:14:58.519 --> 00:15:02.840
one foundational focus on this pillar is the
00:15:02.840 --> 00:15:06.240
importance of sleep. It is so foundationally
00:15:06.240 --> 00:15:09.779
critical to every person. And not everyone is
00:15:09.779 --> 00:15:13.440
the same. However, there are large principles
00:15:13.440 --> 00:15:17.480
that apply to most people. And if you're convinced
00:15:17.480 --> 00:15:19.799
that you only need three hours to sleep, just
00:15:19.799 --> 00:15:22.259
like Napoleon, I would feel fairly confident
00:15:22.259 --> 00:15:25.779
in challenging you on that. And so I love researching
00:15:25.779 --> 00:15:29.399
about sleep health, sleep hygiene, how to get
00:15:29.399 --> 00:15:32.000
better sleep, how to constantly optimize. And
00:15:32.000 --> 00:15:34.980
it's frustrating. There are times where I, even
00:15:34.980 --> 00:15:37.759
last night, I could not go to sleep for about
00:15:37.759 --> 00:15:41.740
45 minutes to an hour. It's one of the most frustrating
00:15:41.740 --> 00:15:45.179
things because my sleep window is still just
00:15:45.179 --> 00:15:48.720
a little too narrow because I do love my morning
00:15:48.720 --> 00:15:50.700
routine and the things that I do. And when I
00:15:50.700 --> 00:15:54.019
shift my sleep over, I may still have to do that
00:15:54.019 --> 00:15:56.980
to get that last 30 minutes. We'll see. Can I
00:15:56.980 --> 00:15:59.220
get it on the back end or can I get it on the
00:15:59.220 --> 00:16:01.100
front end? It's got to be one or the other. And
00:16:01.100 --> 00:16:03.340
I'll be honest, I'm still trying to wrestle with
00:16:03.340 --> 00:16:05.480
it. I love that morning routine piece. I think
00:16:05.480 --> 00:16:08.659
it puts me in a good mental space at the beginning
00:16:08.659 --> 00:16:11.659
of the day. I'd like to keep it at the beginning
00:16:11.659 --> 00:16:15.720
versus moving it into the midday afternoon piece
00:16:15.720 --> 00:16:19.379
or even evening. I think. For me, the optimization
00:16:19.379 --> 00:16:21.840
lever is the most powerful for the things that
00:16:21.840 --> 00:16:24.259
I do in the morning to stay in the morning. But
00:16:24.259 --> 00:16:26.980
unfortunately, that also means going to bed when
00:16:26.980 --> 00:16:30.379
like nobody I know goes to bed. And so there's
00:16:30.379 --> 00:16:33.179
just, it causes some friction in some areas that
00:16:33.179 --> 00:16:35.559
are difficult. And so just weighing how I want
00:16:35.559 --> 00:16:39.480
to do that, it's tough. And so it's not popular
00:16:39.480 --> 00:16:43.179
to be someone that values your sleep, regulating
00:16:43.179 --> 00:16:45.940
your caffeine consumption, making sure you don't
00:16:45.940 --> 00:16:50.220
consume it past. I mean, if I can, 12, 1 o 'clock.
00:16:50.649 --> 00:16:52.909
because I go to bed at nine or 9 .30. And I've
00:16:52.909 --> 00:16:54.649
talked about this on the episodes I've talked
00:16:54.649 --> 00:16:57.750
about sleep, but I've seen a massive correlation
00:16:57.750 --> 00:17:01.929
to my, especially my hormone markers, like testosterone's
00:17:01.929 --> 00:17:04.410
a big thing. People talk about TRT and all these
00:17:04.410 --> 00:17:07.190
things. And I just was uncomfortable doing those
00:17:07.190 --> 00:17:11.190
things long -term, especially under 40. And so
00:17:11.190 --> 00:17:14.450
I was like, what levers can I pull lifestyle
00:17:14.450 --> 00:17:17.589
-wise to improve this instead of taking some
00:17:17.589 --> 00:17:21.359
sort of external substance? I ended up doubling
00:17:21.359 --> 00:17:24.740
my testosterone with just increasing my sleep.
00:17:24.920 --> 00:17:28.779
That is crazy. I have not heard much of anyone
00:17:28.779 --> 00:17:31.180
else in that space, and I've watched a ton of
00:17:31.180 --> 00:17:34.180
content discussing this, and we know the power
00:17:34.180 --> 00:17:38.089
that sleep has on hormones. However, I've not
00:17:38.089 --> 00:17:40.690
seen a lot of case studies or examples of people
00:17:40.690 --> 00:17:43.309
following through with it. So it's been cool
00:17:43.309 --> 00:17:45.390
to walk through that journey with my primary
00:17:45.390 --> 00:17:47.849
care doctor who's been like, man, this is awesome.
00:17:48.150 --> 00:17:50.990
Now I have actionable info that I can share with
00:17:50.990 --> 00:17:53.230
my other patients that are actually willing to
00:17:53.230 --> 00:17:55.349
take the step. He's like, and some people, they
00:17:55.349 --> 00:17:57.369
actually are. He's like, I think so. So it's
00:17:57.369 --> 00:18:00.869
awesome. I love using my WHOOP to do that. And
00:18:00.869 --> 00:18:05.130
Whoop AI has gotten to a point now where it has
00:18:05.130 --> 00:18:08.390
all my data and I answer questions every single
00:18:08.390 --> 00:18:10.910
day to give it even more information than it
00:18:10.910 --> 00:18:13.089
already has. And there are certain things that
00:18:13.089 --> 00:18:15.609
I've learned and correlations that I would not
00:18:15.609 --> 00:18:18.569
have otherwise seen in using a piece of technology
00:18:18.569 --> 00:18:20.869
like that. For you, it doesn't have to be Whoop.
00:18:20.890 --> 00:18:23.950
What's really exciting is with the new version
00:18:23.950 --> 00:18:26.619
of the Apple Watch that just... it was announced
00:18:26.619 --> 00:18:29.640
this month in Techtember. Apple talked about
00:18:29.640 --> 00:18:32.759
how they were adding whoop -like features to
00:18:32.759 --> 00:18:36.440
their Apple Health app soon and the capabilities
00:18:36.440 --> 00:18:38.799
of the new Apple Watch to assist with that combo.
00:18:39.000 --> 00:18:41.220
And it was pretty cool to see that there's...
00:18:41.420 --> 00:18:44.339
other avenues that people can use. And with Siri
00:18:44.339 --> 00:18:47.640
getting so much better with iOS 27, it's going
00:18:47.640 --> 00:18:50.220
to be pretty awesome to be able to have a conversation
00:18:50.220 --> 00:18:53.220
with Siri and learn things about you that you
00:18:53.220 --> 00:18:56.220
may not have seen otherwise, helping you optimize
00:18:56.220 --> 00:18:59.539
your health and noticing like, hey, this has
00:18:59.539 --> 00:19:02.859
been happening. Your sleep quality has been down.
00:19:03.440 --> 00:19:05.380
Compared to your average this week, is there
00:19:05.380 --> 00:19:07.099
anything else that you've done differently? And
00:19:07.099 --> 00:19:09.180
you're like, man, I don't know. Like, well, oh
00:19:09.180 --> 00:19:12.940
yeah, I was actually, I was drinking energy drinks
00:19:12.940 --> 00:19:15.440
later in the afternoon and I haven't done that
00:19:15.440 --> 00:19:18.240
before. Whatever, just things like that. So those
00:19:18.240 --> 00:19:20.759
kinds of things are exciting. Another piece that
00:19:20.759 --> 00:19:24.099
I learned not that long ago was the frustrating
00:19:24.099 --> 00:19:27.140
relationship with catching up on lost sleep.
00:19:27.240 --> 00:19:30.240
Now I do catch up on my sleep debt on weekends,
00:19:30.299 --> 00:19:33.589
but it's not like a zero interest loan. Does
00:19:33.589 --> 00:19:35.930
that make sense? So there's like interest involved
00:19:35.930 --> 00:19:38.970
in that you're messing your sleep consistency
00:19:38.970 --> 00:19:41.730
because if you go to bed and wake up at the same
00:19:41.730 --> 00:19:44.630
time all week and then you move the wake up time,
00:19:44.750 --> 00:19:47.150
that jacks up your sleep consistency. And that
00:19:47.150 --> 00:19:50.809
particular score has implications for your health.
00:19:50.910 --> 00:19:54.029
And so I've seen how it's affected me. And so
00:19:54.029 --> 00:19:56.029
what I've talked about in that episode is as
00:19:56.029 --> 00:19:58.849
long as I can keep the sleep. The time I go to
00:19:58.849 --> 00:20:01.869
bed the same, if I catch up on sleep, that's
00:20:01.869 --> 00:20:04.609
okay, but it's better that I do this instead
00:20:04.609 --> 00:20:08.289
of this. Does that make sense? Because when you're,
00:20:08.309 --> 00:20:10.450
I don't know if you're like me, but if you're
00:20:10.450 --> 00:20:12.470
like, well, I can sleep in tomorrow, what do
00:20:12.470 --> 00:20:15.230
you tend to do? You stay up later. And then oftentimes,
00:20:15.390 --> 00:20:18.650
I'm not able to actually catch up on the sleep
00:20:18.650 --> 00:20:21.349
debt because I didn't really get any more sleep,
00:20:21.430 --> 00:20:24.390
maybe an hour or two, but I just ended up shifting
00:20:24.390 --> 00:20:26.960
it. maybe lengthening it a little bit. But then
00:20:26.960 --> 00:20:29.200
at that point, the sleep consistency goes from
00:20:29.200 --> 00:20:32.839
what probably would have been in the low 80s
00:20:32.839 --> 00:20:36.920
to the low 70s, if not less. And that has drastic
00:20:36.920 --> 00:20:40.559
impacts on those health markers, which is interesting
00:20:40.559 --> 00:20:43.039
to see. And last two things in this pillar were
00:20:43.039 --> 00:20:46.680
that fun is something that is critically important
00:20:46.680 --> 00:20:50.119
in your life. And if you get to the point where
00:20:50.119 --> 00:20:52.579
you're optimizing and your schedule is packed
00:20:52.579 --> 00:20:55.119
and you're just crushing all these things, there's
00:20:55.119 --> 00:20:58.240
gonna be a time that if you don't schedule something
00:20:58.240 --> 00:21:02.019
fun or a hobby or some sort of interest that
00:21:02.019 --> 00:21:05.000
you get joy from, you may find yourself in a
00:21:05.000 --> 00:21:08.400
place where those things don't happen. And eventually
00:21:08.400 --> 00:21:11.900
that will affect you. And so I read a Navy SEALs
00:21:11.900 --> 00:21:14.319
book, Brandon Thornhill, The Elite Leadership
00:21:14.319 --> 00:21:16.839
Blueprint. And there was a segment in a chapter
00:21:16.839 --> 00:21:20.099
where he discussed that scheduling at least 15
00:21:20.099 --> 00:21:23.380
minutes of fun every single day was something
00:21:23.380 --> 00:21:25.900
that he thought had a tremendous amount of value.
00:21:26.000 --> 00:21:28.519
And that has been something that was super impactful
00:21:28.519 --> 00:21:32.640
for me last year. And I have not done every single
00:21:32.640 --> 00:21:36.220
day, Brandon, but. we're optimizing and pushing
00:21:36.220 --> 00:21:38.740
towards that. It has certainly helped remove
00:21:38.740 --> 00:21:42.480
the guilt involved in not doing something productive,
00:21:42.700 --> 00:21:44.990
if you get what I'm saying. The last thing was
00:21:44.990 --> 00:21:48.650
Ashley and I reflected on the UTV accident that
00:21:48.650 --> 00:21:52.529
greatly affected her physical abilities and just
00:21:52.529 --> 00:21:56.069
a lot of the mental turmoil, let alone physical,
00:21:56.349 --> 00:21:58.690
that happened when those kinds of things occur.
00:21:59.029 --> 00:22:01.990
She was limited and could no longer do really
00:22:01.990 --> 00:22:05.069
anything, especially early on. And so optimizing
00:22:05.069 --> 00:22:07.630
health is great when everything's going awesome,
00:22:07.690 --> 00:22:10.789
but nobody ever anticipates an injury. That injury
00:22:10.789 --> 00:22:13.630
could happen. in the gym. It could happen outside
00:22:13.630 --> 00:22:16.450
like it did for her doing a recreational activity.
00:22:16.750 --> 00:22:20.529
You never know. And to be prepared for how do
00:22:20.529 --> 00:22:23.730
you optimize, pivot, and adapt in a scenario
00:22:23.730 --> 00:22:26.430
like that is always frustrating and definitely
00:22:26.430 --> 00:22:29.529
worth talking about because it's not if it's
00:22:29.529 --> 00:22:32.430
going to happen, it's when in some regard. And
00:22:32.430 --> 00:22:35.450
then in this next pillar, we're talking about
00:22:36.029 --> 00:22:37.930
We're starting to leave the things that we can
00:22:37.930 --> 00:22:41.609
very directly control to an extent and moving
00:22:41.609 --> 00:22:44.369
into other things, and that is relationships
00:22:44.369 --> 00:22:47.630
and particularly marriage. We love talking about
00:22:47.630 --> 00:22:50.829
those things. We don't have any kids, so I always
00:22:50.829 --> 00:22:53.450
joke that we get to work on our marriage on average
00:22:53.450 --> 00:22:57.349
more than your normal couple because we don't
00:22:57.349 --> 00:23:00.940
have... that added dynamic. And so that is a
00:23:00.940 --> 00:23:04.740
blessing in certain aspects. And so 11 episodes
00:23:04.740 --> 00:23:07.700
around relationships and marriage, it is my second
00:23:07.700 --> 00:23:09.900
most discussed topic. And that makes sense. I
00:23:09.900 --> 00:23:13.519
absolutely love relationships and talking to
00:23:13.519 --> 00:23:16.039
people about their marriages and helping them
00:23:16.039 --> 00:23:19.440
optimize those relationships to their best ability.
00:23:19.779 --> 00:23:22.099
And one of my favorite ways of doing that is
00:23:22.519 --> 00:23:24.700
personality assessments. And I love them. They're
00:23:24.700 --> 00:23:28.299
fun. They're so engaging. And when used as a
00:23:28.299 --> 00:23:30.940
tool to understand people, not pigeonhole them,
00:23:31.099 --> 00:23:34.099
it can be super helpful in understanding, okay,
00:23:34.259 --> 00:23:37.660
not just how you're perceiving them, but then
00:23:37.660 --> 00:23:39.640
also how you're interacting with them. And a
00:23:39.640 --> 00:23:42.240
lot of personality assessments these days have
00:23:42.240 --> 00:23:44.819
correlations where you can input if you know
00:23:44.819 --> 00:23:46.910
what you are. and you find out what somebody
00:23:46.910 --> 00:23:49.849
else is, it can help you understand how you two
00:23:49.849 --> 00:23:52.329
can interact. And you can even do this in AI.
00:23:52.450 --> 00:23:55.730
It's something I've done before where I'm interacting
00:23:55.730 --> 00:23:57.589
with somebody that's a particular personality
00:23:57.589 --> 00:24:01.069
type. And it's fun to read on the things that
00:24:01.069 --> 00:24:03.769
you can do differently to speak that person's
00:24:03.769 --> 00:24:06.569
language or resolve a conflict together, or even,
00:24:06.630 --> 00:24:09.650
basic level, get along better. And I said earlier,
00:24:09.869 --> 00:24:12.619
you can only control yourself. That is also true,
00:24:12.759 --> 00:24:16.279
most especially true, in a marriage. And so you
00:24:16.279 --> 00:24:19.859
cannot control your spouse. And as a result,
00:24:19.900 --> 00:24:22.720
it's very important to remember that as often
00:24:22.720 --> 00:24:25.420
as you can. Because they're the person closest
00:24:25.420 --> 00:24:28.119
to you, usually, and that also means they have
00:24:28.119 --> 00:24:31.839
the ability to extract negative emotions most
00:24:31.839 --> 00:24:34.359
frequently. is probably the best way I could
00:24:34.359 --> 00:24:37.220
say that. And as a result, it's important to
00:24:37.220 --> 00:24:39.400
remember you can't control them. You can only
00:24:39.400 --> 00:24:42.460
control you and how you respond. And if you keep
00:24:42.460 --> 00:24:44.660
that in the forefront of your mind in certain
00:24:44.660 --> 00:24:47.660
circumstances, we believe that it can be very
00:24:47.660 --> 00:24:50.759
helpful in your interactions. Easy to say, very
00:24:50.759 --> 00:24:53.380
difficult to implement, which is why it's a helpful
00:24:53.380 --> 00:24:55.500
optimization tool. Now, if you're new here, you
00:24:55.500 --> 00:24:58.079
may not know that this last year we said goodbye
00:24:58.079 --> 00:25:01.559
to two people our age that suffered from cancer.
00:25:01.700 --> 00:25:05.859
And that sucks. And so, grief has colored a good
00:25:05.859 --> 00:25:09.039
amount of our episodes across the last, I'd say,
00:25:09.160 --> 00:25:12.339
six months. And I love that. It's a real thing.
00:25:12.480 --> 00:25:14.279
It's something that... all of us are going to
00:25:14.279 --> 00:25:16.359
deal with. And I think, to be honest, I think
00:25:16.359 --> 00:25:18.440
this is a little early. I've asked some people
00:25:18.440 --> 00:25:19.960
that are 10 years ahead of me, and I'm like,
00:25:20.039 --> 00:25:22.880
hey, when you were my age, was it this frequent?
00:25:23.119 --> 00:25:25.339
This feels weird. Is something in the water?
00:25:25.619 --> 00:25:27.900
But I do think it's important to be honest with
00:25:27.900 --> 00:25:30.799
how to handle grief, how to optimize through
00:25:30.799 --> 00:25:34.500
it. And there is no shortcut for grief. And that's
00:25:34.500 --> 00:25:36.960
why I think it's in a very appropriate discussion
00:25:36.960 --> 00:25:41.079
for... optimization. Because while it is different
00:25:41.079 --> 00:25:44.319
for every person, there are things that are similar
00:25:44.319 --> 00:25:47.740
threads. How the waves come and go, how they're
00:25:47.740 --> 00:25:50.640
really high early on, and they kind of tame out
00:25:50.640 --> 00:25:55.059
in frequency spread and the wave heights over
00:25:55.059 --> 00:25:58.640
time. But how relationships interact, how you
00:25:58.640 --> 00:26:01.019
can be bonded to somebody else in your grief,
00:26:01.039 --> 00:26:04.559
and also be frustrated with someone else in how
00:26:04.559 --> 00:26:06.440
they grieve differently. These kinds of things
00:26:06.440 --> 00:26:10.099
are all that we've seen and discussed through
00:26:10.099 --> 00:26:13.380
me and Ashley and also our brother Eric in the
00:26:13.380 --> 00:26:16.539
loss of his wife. And so that's just been something
00:26:16.539 --> 00:26:20.200
really... really beautiful to discuss and also
00:26:20.200 --> 00:26:23.720
share while we're going through it because we
00:26:23.720 --> 00:26:26.220
know that there are people out there that are
00:26:26.220 --> 00:26:29.019
going through the same thing and that is super,
00:26:29.099 --> 00:26:31.759
super powerful. And we also talked recently about
00:26:31.759 --> 00:26:34.480
leading versus chasing. This is a really interesting
00:26:34.480 --> 00:26:39.099
concept in that I think it's important to find
00:26:39.099 --> 00:26:41.539
people as far as the concept of chasing. I think
00:26:41.539 --> 00:26:43.539
it's important to find people who are ahead of
00:26:43.539 --> 00:26:46.099
you that are modeling things in a certain way
00:26:46.099 --> 00:26:49.710
that you would like to pursue, and that is in
00:26:49.710 --> 00:26:53.349
a way of chasing someone out there. But I do
00:26:53.349 --> 00:26:56.250
think it's also important as if you're someone
00:26:56.250 --> 00:26:59.549
who's watching or listening to this, you are
00:26:59.549 --> 00:27:03.690
likely someone who is focusing on ways to make
00:27:03.690 --> 00:27:05.630
your life better and how to improve it. And just
00:27:05.630 --> 00:27:09.069
by doing those things, you have something valuable
00:27:09.069 --> 00:27:12.089
to offer someone else that you can bring along
00:27:12.089 --> 00:27:15.259
the journey with you. rather than keeping it
00:27:15.259 --> 00:27:18.480
to yourself. And so your journey of self -improvement
00:27:18.480 --> 00:27:21.200
is unique. It's not like mine. It's different.
00:27:21.400 --> 00:27:24.480
And that journey and that story can be powerful
00:27:24.480 --> 00:27:27.779
to someone else, especially someone that I don't
00:27:27.779 --> 00:27:30.359
know and that knows, trusts, and loves you. And
00:27:30.359 --> 00:27:34.519
so it's always very important in your daily growth
00:27:34.519 --> 00:27:37.519
to find someone else that you can pour into,
00:27:37.700 --> 00:27:40.500
that you can help, that you can lead. And so
00:27:40.500 --> 00:27:43.619
while you're chasing improvement, and chasing
00:27:43.619 --> 00:27:46.759
examples of that improvement to help you do that,
00:27:46.839 --> 00:27:49.380
I think it's also important for you to then find
00:27:49.380 --> 00:27:51.980
people that you can lead. and plant those seeds
00:27:51.980 --> 00:27:54.480
in their life in a way of giving back, if you
00:27:54.480 --> 00:27:56.559
want to look at it that way. If you're a person
00:27:56.559 --> 00:27:58.859
of faith, a lot of people will use the language
00:27:58.859 --> 00:28:01.180
of everyone needs a Paul and everyone needs a
00:28:01.180 --> 00:28:03.839
Timothy. Paul would be someone that they're chasing
00:28:03.839 --> 00:28:05.720
and a Timothy is someone that they're investing
00:28:05.720 --> 00:28:09.000
in and leading to grow. And then this moves on
00:28:09.000 --> 00:28:12.940
to the second to last pillar of professional
00:28:12.940 --> 00:28:16.920
growth and finance. We did eight episodes of...
00:28:17.119 --> 00:28:20.019
topics in this arena, and it was a high performer
00:28:20.019 --> 00:28:22.720
in the episodes that we did. Now, there's endless
00:28:22.720 --> 00:28:25.400
leadership books out there, and I love reading
00:28:25.400 --> 00:28:27.880
them. There's so many topics that you can talk
00:28:27.880 --> 00:28:29.700
about. One of the things we talked about was
00:28:29.700 --> 00:28:33.980
how a huge leadership failure is abdication of
00:28:33.980 --> 00:28:36.400
responsibility and leadership altogether, let
00:28:36.400 --> 00:28:38.960
alone leading people poorly, but just not leading
00:28:38.960 --> 00:28:41.539
altogether. We also talked about how oftentimes,
00:28:41.799 --> 00:28:44.660
especially leaders will try to optimize when
00:28:44.660 --> 00:28:47.000
they're in the red. whether that be emotionally,
00:28:47.259 --> 00:28:50.200
physically, probably both, let's admit it, we've
00:28:50.200 --> 00:28:52.779
all been there, and how it is different if you're
00:28:52.779 --> 00:28:55.460
optimizing in the black. Now, that can apply
00:28:55.460 --> 00:28:59.079
emotionally, financially, spiritually, all of
00:28:59.079 --> 00:29:01.730
the above, and so... are you in the red? Are
00:29:01.730 --> 00:29:04.490
you in the black? Is definitely a different type
00:29:04.490 --> 00:29:07.630
of optimization. It makes me think of Maslow's
00:29:07.630 --> 00:29:11.049
hierarchy of needs in that when you're just focused
00:29:11.049 --> 00:29:13.569
on food and shelter, you don't care about investing
00:29:13.569 --> 00:29:16.109
for a retirement. It's the same in this concept
00:29:16.109 --> 00:29:18.730
of when you're in the red, you're probably not
00:29:18.730 --> 00:29:21.829
focusing on all aspects of optimization. And
00:29:21.829 --> 00:29:25.210
if you are, it's kind of a moot point. Someone's
00:29:25.210 --> 00:29:26.750
going to have to drag you aside and be like,
00:29:26.829 --> 00:29:29.799
what are you doing? You need to figure this out
00:29:29.799 --> 00:29:32.579
before you try messing with all this stuff. And
00:29:32.579 --> 00:29:34.920
it's very, very true. We talk about grabbing
00:29:34.920 --> 00:29:37.440
the low -hanging fruit, picking the highest ROI
00:29:37.440 --> 00:29:40.160
things first. That just makes sense. Why would
00:29:40.160 --> 00:29:43.380
you throw resources, money, focus on something
00:29:43.380 --> 00:29:46.819
that has impact but isn't what you should do
00:29:46.819 --> 00:29:49.200
first if there's other things that you should?
00:29:49.359 --> 00:29:51.180
It's like if there's steps in order, there's
00:29:51.180 --> 00:29:53.680
a reason they're in order. So let's not go to
00:29:53.680 --> 00:29:56.539
step eight when you're at step two. So several
00:29:56.539 --> 00:29:59.680
episodes around financial stewardship and different
00:29:59.680 --> 00:30:03.000
ways that you can prioritize and optimize your
00:30:03.000 --> 00:30:05.920
finances in the same kind of veins that we talk
00:30:05.920 --> 00:30:08.859
about on these other topics. It's often going
00:30:08.859 --> 00:30:11.259
to be something that doesn't happen overnight.
00:30:11.619 --> 00:30:14.720
I remember when I was much younger, how foolish
00:30:14.720 --> 00:30:17.339
I was with money. It's easy to look back at myself
00:30:17.339 --> 00:30:20.759
and be judgy and probably even frustrated with
00:30:20.759 --> 00:30:23.460
the lack of responsibility and thinking of where
00:30:23.460 --> 00:30:25.819
I would be now if I knew what I knew now. But
00:30:25.819 --> 00:30:28.279
you can apply that to anything. And that's such
00:30:28.279 --> 00:30:31.279
flawed thinking. And so one of my favorite guilty
00:30:31.279 --> 00:30:34.539
pastimes on YouTube is watching financial interviews.
00:30:34.720 --> 00:30:37.440
Like financial YouTubers talk to people on the
00:30:37.440 --> 00:30:39.859
street, asking them about their... financial
00:30:39.859 --> 00:30:43.099
situation. And regardless of how responsible
00:30:43.099 --> 00:30:45.779
someone is, they always feel like they could
00:30:45.779 --> 00:30:49.799
be doing just a little bit more to be more responsible.
00:30:50.019 --> 00:30:52.460
And so I think that's a good illustration that
00:30:52.460 --> 00:30:55.480
there's always another step you can take financially.
00:30:55.799 --> 00:30:58.420
And I think that's an encouraging thing that
00:30:58.420 --> 00:31:00.920
should make you feel good, especially if you
00:31:00.920 --> 00:31:03.980
have that will to do so. Now, as I said, a lot
00:31:03.980 --> 00:31:07.599
of these early pillars are you doing the optimization,
00:31:07.880 --> 00:31:11.220
which is great. The final spoke pillar that we
00:31:11.220 --> 00:31:14.940
discussed last year was around technology, AI,
00:31:15.119 --> 00:31:18.240
and products that can just help us optimize.
00:31:18.579 --> 00:31:21.859
And this is unique and cool just because there
00:31:21.859 --> 00:31:25.539
is another added benefit, essentially tools that
00:31:25.539 --> 00:31:28.140
you can use to your advantage to make you more
00:31:28.140 --> 00:31:31.920
efficient, to scale, to optimize faster. And
00:31:31.920 --> 00:31:35.390
that always is very interesting. I like... interacting
00:31:35.390 --> 00:31:38.829
with AI. Trust me, I have my own reserves about
00:31:38.829 --> 00:31:42.569
it, but it is interesting and fascinating to
00:31:42.569 --> 00:31:45.589
interact with in ways that I've saved a ton of
00:31:45.589 --> 00:31:48.109
time. A lot of times just with things that are
00:31:48.109 --> 00:31:51.250
simple, like writing an email, but it can save
00:31:51.250 --> 00:31:53.970
me sometimes three to five minutes at a time.
00:31:54.049 --> 00:31:56.809
And that just feels really, really cool. It's
00:31:56.809 --> 00:31:58.690
probably going to end the world, but you know,
00:31:58.710 --> 00:32:01.150
hey, it's all good. And one of the biggest takeaways
00:32:01.150 --> 00:32:05.079
in discussing AI is just use it. You don't have
00:32:05.079 --> 00:32:07.240
to share anything you don't want it to know.
00:32:07.319 --> 00:32:09.819
But that doesn't mean you can't learn how it
00:32:09.819 --> 00:32:13.279
works, how to interact with it, and how to essentially
00:32:13.279 --> 00:32:15.700
learn how to drive the car. Because it's not
00:32:15.700 --> 00:32:18.299
going anywhere. And depending on what kind of
00:32:18.299 --> 00:32:22.099
job that you have, it could definitely impact
00:32:22.099 --> 00:32:25.019
your situation. And that's important to know.
00:32:25.160 --> 00:32:27.480
An interesting quote that I've heard concerning
00:32:27.480 --> 00:32:30.480
AI in the workforce has been, you shouldn't be
00:32:30.480 --> 00:32:33.480
fearing about AI taking your job. You should
00:32:33.480 --> 00:32:37.599
be fearing someone who works in your field who
00:32:37.599 --> 00:32:40.619
uses AI taking your job. Now, that is not to
00:32:40.619 --> 00:32:44.279
say that AI hasn't taken and displaced some people's
00:32:44.279 --> 00:32:47.200
jobs. Obviously, that's a reality as well. But
00:32:47.200 --> 00:32:49.759
there are a lot of fields where someone simply
00:32:49.759 --> 00:32:53.740
that has the same skill set as you, but has the
00:32:53.740 --> 00:32:57.339
additional benefit of being able to be more efficient
00:32:57.339 --> 00:33:02.019
with using AI tools that could displace you just.
00:33:02.329 --> 00:33:04.569
pragmatically from someone who's more efficient
00:33:04.569 --> 00:33:06.549
so that's important to think through so if you're
00:33:06.549 --> 00:33:09.930
willing to invest your time to learn a new tool
00:33:09.930 --> 00:33:13.009
i don't think it matters which one that you choose
00:33:13.009 --> 00:33:16.289
and now that siri is getting much stronger in
00:33:16.289 --> 00:33:20.289
ios 27 i think that siri has some interesting
00:33:20.289 --> 00:33:23.430
privacy protections compared to the others where
00:33:23.430 --> 00:33:26.690
it doesn't track collect or do interesting things
00:33:26.690 --> 00:33:28.549
with your data that people ask questions about
00:33:28.549 --> 00:33:31.230
and everyone has varying degrees of Comfort or
00:33:31.230 --> 00:33:33.609
discomfort with that. So I've heard people say
00:33:33.609 --> 00:33:37.150
that they know that TikTok watches them and gathers
00:33:37.150 --> 00:33:39.269
data about them and they don't care. They still
00:33:39.269 --> 00:33:41.549
use it anyway. So if you take that approach,
00:33:41.710 --> 00:33:43.990
use whatever AI you want. If you're more guarded,
00:33:44.130 --> 00:33:46.470
obviously use your discernment. That's important.
00:33:46.650 --> 00:33:48.910
And I think AI can be useful in asking questions,
00:33:49.329 --> 00:33:52.779
in reflecting. That's something that... Reflection
00:33:52.779 --> 00:33:55.740
is something that conceptually can be a challenge
00:33:55.740 --> 00:33:58.940
for me to see or unlock certain things. So there's
00:33:58.940 --> 00:34:01.039
times where I'm like, hey, ask me five questions
00:34:01.039 --> 00:34:04.019
about this to help me unpack something. Things
00:34:04.019 --> 00:34:07.019
like a business training or a personal development
00:34:07.019 --> 00:34:09.599
training. And it can be just helpful in pulling
00:34:09.599 --> 00:34:12.579
a thread out if I'm just legitimately blanking
00:34:12.579 --> 00:34:14.860
on getting any further with it. And I do also
00:34:14.860 --> 00:34:17.920
enjoy having conversations on how I can optimize
00:34:17.920 --> 00:34:20.989
certain aspects of my life. And I've used AI
00:34:20.989 --> 00:34:23.650
to do that. Now it's built into a lot of tools
00:34:23.650 --> 00:34:27.050
that I use, my nutrition tracking app, as well
00:34:27.050 --> 00:34:29.929
as the Whoop app. I've had a lot of conversations
00:34:29.929 --> 00:34:33.630
with Whoop about my nutrition, about my markers,
00:34:33.829 --> 00:34:35.849
about my weightlifting, all sorts of things.
00:34:35.989 --> 00:34:38.849
And I think it's been impactful and changed the
00:34:38.849 --> 00:34:41.469
way I've done things and increased my yield on
00:34:41.469 --> 00:34:44.269
top of that. So I've really enjoyed that. If
00:34:44.269 --> 00:34:46.929
that's not something, again, no disclaimers here,
00:34:47.090 --> 00:34:49.289
take it or leave it. But if you're open -minded,
00:34:49.349 --> 00:34:53.050
my encouragement is for you to explore it, to
00:34:53.050 --> 00:34:55.849
see if there's ways that you can apply it and
00:34:55.849 --> 00:34:57.889
get better with it. Not for the fear of like,
00:34:57.989 --> 00:34:59.929
you'll be left behind, but I think it's going
00:34:59.929 --> 00:35:02.010
to be something that continues to be useful.
00:35:02.110 --> 00:35:05.190
And why shouldn't you figure out a way that you
00:35:05.190 --> 00:35:07.030
can have it be useful in your life? I think that's
00:35:07.030 --> 00:35:09.329
important. And then I just love tech, you know?
00:35:09.369 --> 00:35:12.210
So I love talking about tech. I love watching.
00:35:12.809 --> 00:35:14.969
tech timber unfold and all the different ways
00:35:14.969 --> 00:35:17.250
these tech companies are doing things. I have
00:35:17.250 --> 00:35:20.369
a Sleep 8 mattress topper that makes it to where
00:35:20.369 --> 00:35:23.849
I never sweat in bed ever since I got it many
00:35:23.849 --> 00:35:27.110
years ago. And so, game changer for me. Otherwise,
00:35:27.429 --> 00:35:30.309
I'd have to have the AC set at an obscene number,
00:35:30.510 --> 00:35:33.389
fans blowing air all over the place, and now
00:35:33.389 --> 00:35:37.269
AC's not crazy cold, fans not going a million
00:35:37.269 --> 00:35:40.389
miles an hour, and I'm still nice and cool. Awesome.
00:35:40.489 --> 00:35:43.539
For me, Huge game changer. I absolutely love
00:35:43.539 --> 00:35:45.980
it and recommend it to anyone willing to listen.
00:35:46.139 --> 00:35:48.619
And tools are the very things that help us be
00:35:48.619 --> 00:35:51.880
more productive and help us optimize. And I think
00:35:51.880 --> 00:35:54.420
that's why I love finding ways that tools can
00:35:54.420 --> 00:35:56.860
help us accomplish those in conjunction with
00:35:56.860 --> 00:35:59.380
our willpower, discipline, and our follow -through.
00:35:59.519 --> 00:36:02.119
So with all that said, I just want to say thank
00:36:02.119 --> 00:36:05.320
you for joining me on this journey of continual
00:36:05.320 --> 00:36:08.559
optimization, reflecting back on this last year.
00:36:08.800 --> 00:36:11.539
In all the ways we talked about the hub of optimization
00:36:11.539 --> 00:36:15.219
and how daily anything can really change anything
00:36:15.219 --> 00:36:18.820
and how it can apply to such a broad spectrum
00:36:18.820 --> 00:36:21.900
of things and then how to decide to apply things
00:36:21.900 --> 00:36:25.000
with the good, better, best framework and realizing
00:36:25.000 --> 00:36:28.500
how can we make the rubber meet the road in whatever
00:36:28.500 --> 00:36:31.420
we're looking to do and fit it into our busy
00:36:31.420 --> 00:36:33.980
lives. This is what I love doing. This is why
00:36:33.980 --> 00:36:36.519
I'm here sharing these things. Because they are
00:36:36.519 --> 00:36:38.599
really, truly things that I think can change
00:36:38.599 --> 00:36:41.440
your life in so many different aspects. Regardless
00:36:41.440 --> 00:36:43.440
of where you're at, there's going to be something
00:36:43.440 --> 00:36:46.280
that you can always change and grow, even if
00:36:46.280 --> 00:36:48.780
it's just adjusting your perception and adjusting
00:36:48.780 --> 00:36:51.650
it from being a perfectionist. Hi, I'm Josh.
00:36:51.829 --> 00:36:54.429
I'm a recovering perfectionist. And realizing
00:36:54.429 --> 00:36:57.769
that incremental growth is way, way better. In
00:36:57.769 --> 00:37:01.150
fact, there were two quotes in one of the latest
00:37:01.150 --> 00:37:04.230
episodes in season four of Ted Lasso, where they
00:37:04.230 --> 00:37:07.530
quoted Voltaire, who had the quote that was,
00:37:07.789 --> 00:37:11.929
sometimes perfect is the opposite of good. That
00:37:11.929 --> 00:37:15.070
was so, so good. And what we talk about here,
00:37:15.190 --> 00:37:17.489
and that if that's something that you wrestle
00:37:17.489 --> 00:37:20.269
with, the pursuit of perfection. I encourage
00:37:20.269 --> 00:37:23.190
you to pursue excellence instead. That implies
00:37:23.190 --> 00:37:25.389
that it's not always going to be great. And that's
00:37:25.389 --> 00:37:28.550
okay, because perfect can be the enemy of good
00:37:28.550 --> 00:37:31.570
if you allow it to be. And in that same episode,
00:37:31.630 --> 00:37:34.670
I believe, Ted's wife said, continuous improvement
00:37:34.670 --> 00:37:38.409
is better than delayed perfection. Very, very
00:37:38.409 --> 00:37:40.670
similar quote. The same idea. So if you heard
00:37:40.670 --> 00:37:42.550
something in this episode that you said, ooh,
00:37:42.610 --> 00:37:44.329
that's the one thing, that's the one thing that
00:37:44.329 --> 00:37:46.550
I want to continue doing, I challenge you to
00:37:46.550 --> 00:37:49.619
start that journey, whether it's gratitude. whether
00:37:49.619 --> 00:37:51.599
it's applying the good, better, best framework
00:37:51.599 --> 00:37:54.460
or just buying another cool gadget, seeing how
00:37:54.460 --> 00:37:56.559
I can improve your life. I'm in, I'm here for
00:37:56.559 --> 00:37:59.239
it. So here's to another great year. Thanks for
00:37:59.239 --> 00:38:01.840
being here. And thanks for listening to the Optimizing
00:38:01.840 --> 00:38:04.760
Beyond podcast because growth happens when you
00:38:04.760 --> 00:38:07.659
take action. So subscribe, share this with a
00:38:07.659 --> 00:38:09.940
friend, and most importantly, put what you learned
00:38:09.940 --> 00:38:12.900
into practice because as we know, daily anything
00:38:12.900 --> 00:38:14.659
changes everything.