WEBVTT
00:00:09.759 --> 00:00:15.839
What if I told you your past isn't actually what's driving your behavior today?
00:00:16.160 --> 00:00:17.600
Your future is.
00:00:18.239 --> 00:00:26.079
Yep, I know that sounds a little backward, maybe even a little woo-woo, but don't worry.
00:00:26.239 --> 00:00:32.399
I'm not about to pull out a crystal ball and ask you to manifest a yacht or anything like that.
00:00:32.560 --> 00:00:38.560
Although, if the yacht shows up, it's up to you as to whether or not you choose to turn it away.
00:00:38.799 --> 00:00:55.119
But seriously, what if the future you believe you're moving toward is already influencing what you notice, what you prioritize, what you're willing to tolerate, and what you do today.
00:00:55.920 --> 00:01:03.119
And here's the bigger question: what if you could use that intentionally?
00:01:03.600 --> 00:01:22.640
Because whether we're talking about changing your life, leading a team, building a business, shifting a culture, or creating something that doesn't exist yet, the future we choose changes the decisions we make in the present.
00:01:23.120 --> 00:01:26.159
And that's what we're getting into today.
00:01:26.640 --> 00:01:39.040
Welcome back to Lead with Swagger, the podcast where we explore the human infrastructure behind how we lead, live, work, and create impact.
00:01:39.439 --> 00:01:45.519
Because leadership isn't just strategy, systems, processes, and performance.
00:01:45.840 --> 00:01:56.000
It's people, it's trust, it's purpose, it's culture, it's the decisions we make when nobody hands us a playbook.
00:01:56.319 --> 00:02:01.439
And underneath all of that, it's how we lead ourselves.
00:02:01.760 --> 00:02:11.520
I'm your host, Jennifer Socalo, and around here we're willing to get real raw and ridiculously honest about the human side of leadership.
00:02:11.680 --> 00:02:18.639
And today we're talking about something we all think we understand: time.
00:02:19.599 --> 00:02:22.319
Past, present, future.
00:02:22.960 --> 00:02:28.319
Except I'm starting to wonder if we've been thinking about it all wrong.
00:02:28.719 --> 00:02:33.520
Picture this 30,000 feet and a Kindle.
00:02:33.759 --> 00:02:37.199
I was recently sitting on a plane and decided to read.
00:02:37.360 --> 00:02:40.400
And you know, I've always loved that part of traveling.
00:02:40.479 --> 00:02:49.280
You're trapped in a metal tube at 30,000 feet, and nobody expects you to unload the dishwasher and you can't reorganize the garage.
00:02:49.360 --> 00:02:54.879
And unless you're flying the plane, which thankfully I was not, you've got some time.
00:02:55.439 --> 00:03:09.039
And travel used to give me permission to read, to learn, to think, and sometimes, let's be honest, to read something requiring absolutely no intellectual effort whatsoever.
00:03:09.280 --> 00:03:11.439
There's room for all of the above.
00:03:11.919 --> 00:03:18.240
But this particular day I opened my Kindle and started reading The Science of Scaling by Dr.
00:03:18.319 --> 00:03:20.800
Benjamin Hardy and Blake Erickson.
00:03:21.199 --> 00:03:26.319
And don't you just love it when you pick something up at exactly the right moment?
00:03:26.479 --> 00:03:34.800
You're reading along, reading, reading, and then suddenly, whack, a sentence hits you right between the eyes.
00:03:35.039 --> 00:03:39.680
And that happened to me when they started talking about our relationship with time.
00:03:40.800 --> 00:03:46.159
One of the ideas they explore is something I've believed and taught for years.
00:03:46.639 --> 00:03:56.719
Your past is meant to be learned from, not blamed, not worshipped, not dragged around behind you like a carry-on bag you refuse to check.
00:03:56.960 --> 00:04:01.680
Your past is data, it's information, it's a tool.
00:04:02.240 --> 00:04:15.599
I talk about this extensively in my work and in Claim Your Swagger because so much of self-mastery begins with the stories we've created about what has happened to us.
00:04:16.639 --> 00:04:18.720
The experiences we've had.
00:04:18.959 --> 00:04:20.399
Notice what I said there.
00:04:20.639 --> 00:04:27.680
Not simply what happened, the meaning we gave to what happened.
00:04:27.839 --> 00:04:30.879
Those are two very different things.
00:04:31.439 --> 00:04:33.519
Maybe you failed at something.
00:04:33.759 --> 00:04:35.040
That's the experience.
00:04:35.199 --> 00:04:36.560
That's the event.
00:04:36.879 --> 00:04:38.399
I'm not capable.
00:04:39.040 --> 00:04:41.199
That's the story.
00:04:41.759 --> 00:04:44.160
Maybe someone rejected your idea.
00:04:44.480 --> 00:04:46.079
That's the event.
00:04:46.480 --> 00:04:48.720
Nobody takes me seriously.
00:04:49.040 --> 00:04:51.199
That's the story.
00:04:51.439 --> 00:04:53.680
Maybe you made a terrible decision.
00:04:53.920 --> 00:04:56.480
Welcome to being human, by the way.
00:04:56.720 --> 00:05:00.399
But then you decided I can't trust myself.
00:05:00.639 --> 00:05:02.240
That's the story.
00:05:02.720 --> 00:05:05.600
And here's where things get interesting.
00:05:05.839 --> 00:05:13.120
When we don't examine those stories, yesterday quietly starts making today's decisions.
00:05:13.360 --> 00:05:18.399
That's true for individuals, and it's true inside organizations.
00:05:18.639 --> 00:05:19.519
Think about it.
00:05:19.680 --> 00:05:21.120
We've tried that before.
00:05:21.360 --> 00:05:23.680
Leadership will never approve.
00:05:23.920 --> 00:05:26.560
That's not how things work around here.
00:05:26.879 --> 00:05:28.720
Our people aren't ready for that.
00:05:29.040 --> 00:05:30.399
Sound familiar?
00:05:30.800 --> 00:05:36.160
That's organizational history masquerading as truth.
00:05:36.800 --> 00:05:40.560
And that is part of human infrastructure.
00:05:40.879 --> 00:05:53.839
Because organizations have stories too, cultures have memories, teams develop beliefs, and those beliefs start influencing what people believe is possible.
00:05:55.120 --> 00:05:58.800
But what if the future gets a vote?
00:05:59.040 --> 00:06:02.800
Because here's the part of the book that really got me thinking.
00:06:03.199 --> 00:06:07.839
What if instead of allowing the past to determine what we do today?
00:06:08.399 --> 00:06:16.000
What if we allowed a deliberately chosen future to shape what we do today?
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Not some fuzzy statement, I'd like things to be better someday.
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No, a clearly defined future.
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A future specific enough that it starts eliminating options.
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Think about this.
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Imagine you set a goal that feels completely reasonable.
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You can probably achieve it by working a little harder, doing a little more, being a little more efficient.
00:06:47.519 --> 00:06:55.519
Same Jennifer, same habits, same systems, same thinking, just more.
00:06:56.879 --> 00:07:07.040
Now imagine you choose a goal that seems completely unreasonable, something that makes you say, there is absolutely no way I can do that.
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Interesting.
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Because now your brain can't simply reach for the old playbook.
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The math doesn't work.
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Working 10% harder isn't going to get you there.
00:07:22.480 --> 00:07:27.279
Adding three more things to your to-do list isn't going to get you there.
00:07:27.519 --> 00:07:34.240
Skipping lunch and answering me emails at 11:37 at night definitely isn't going to get you there.
00:07:34.480 --> 00:07:39.199
And yet, how many of us have tried that strategy?
00:07:40.160 --> 00:07:43.040
I have an enormous new goal.
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Excellent.
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I'll just sleep less.
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Brilliant.
00:07:48.160 --> 00:07:52.879
Nothing says innovation quite like exhaustion.
00:07:54.000 --> 00:08:02.720
But there is one of my favorite questions that comes in at this stage.
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This is the question that changes everything.
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What would have to be true?
00:08:10.639 --> 00:08:15.519
I love this question because it doesn't ask why can't I?
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It asks, what would have to change so that I could?
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Those questions send your brain in completely different directions.
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Why can't I do this?
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Boom.
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Your brain gives you 47 reasons.
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Not enough money, not enough people, not enough experience, not enough time, wrong market, bad economy, mercury is in retrograde.
00:08:40.320 --> 00:08:41.200
Whatever.
00:08:42.320 --> 00:08:50.559
But ask instead, what would have to be true for this to become possible?
00:08:51.440 --> 00:08:54.559
Now, now we've got something to work with.
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Maybe I would need a completely different partner.
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Maybe we would need to eliminate half of what we're currently doing.
00:09:02.559 --> 00:09:04.159
Maybe I would have to delegate something.
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I've been clutching like Gollum holding the ring.
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My precious.
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Maybe the organization would need to make decisions differently.
00:09:15.120 --> 00:09:17.120
Maybe we'd need greater trust.
00:09:17.360 --> 00:09:27.679
Maybe we'd need absolute clarity around our purpose so people could make decisions without waiting for six layers of approval.
00:09:27.919 --> 00:09:31.279
Maybe the problem isn't effort at all.
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Maybe it's the infrastructure underneath the effort.
00:09:38.320 --> 00:09:42.080
And again, that's the human stuff.
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Leadership, purpose, trust, culture, mattering, and contribution.
00:09:49.600 --> 00:09:54.720
Those things determine whether people can actually move.
00:09:57.120 --> 00:10:00.720
And here's what I find fascinating.
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When you clearly define where you're going, your future becomes a filter for the present.
00:10:10.000 --> 00:10:15.440
Suddenly you start asking, does this belong in the future I'm building?
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Does this meeting, does this behavior, does this habit, does this relationship, does this way of leading, does this organizational process, does this belief?
00:10:29.360 --> 00:10:35.919
Because if the future requires something different from you, then the present has to change.
00:10:36.879 --> 00:10:39.039
And that can be uncomfortable.
00:10:39.679 --> 00:10:43.200
We love the idea of an extraordinary future.
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We just sometimes want current us to arrive there completely unchanged.
00:10:51.039 --> 00:10:52.559
That's adorable.
00:10:53.039 --> 00:10:56.480
And also, not how transformation works.
00:10:57.360 --> 00:11:03.919
You don't become the person capable of creating that future after you arrive.
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You become that person by changing how you show up now.
00:11:11.039 --> 00:11:15.600
And there's something else underneath all of this that matters deeply to me.
00:11:16.080 --> 00:11:35.440
Agency, your locus of control, who's driving your past, circumstances, other people's expectations, the way you've always done it, the calendar, or you because I hear people say all the time, I don't have enough time.
00:11:36.320 --> 00:11:40.879
And I'm I'm becoming increasingly curious about that sentence.
00:11:41.200 --> 00:11:45.200
Because we treat time like it's stealing something from us.
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Where did the time go?
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I'm running out of time.
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There aren't enough hours in the day.
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Poor time.
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Time is getting blamed for everything.
00:11:55.519 --> 00:12:09.279
What if instead we asked, How am I choosing to use the time I have in service of the future I'm creating?
00:12:09.919 --> 00:12:10.559
Wow.
00:12:11.200 --> 00:12:13.679
Now we're back in the driver's seat.
00:12:13.840 --> 00:12:19.679
And I want to be clear agency doesn't mean you control everything.
00:12:19.919 --> 00:12:20.799
You don't.
00:12:21.120 --> 00:12:24.159
Life will still throw curveballs.
00:12:24.480 --> 00:12:35.840
Markets change, people leave, plans fail, horses decide that a plastic bag 200 yards away is clearly a fire-breathing dragon.
00:12:36.159 --> 00:12:37.679
Things happen.
00:12:38.320 --> 00:12:49.440
Agency is recognizing that while you don't control every circumstance, you still have tremendous influence over what happens next.
00:12:49.919 --> 00:12:54.559
So here's your homework, your swagger challenge.
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I'd like you to choose one future, not your entire life.
00:12:59.759 --> 00:13:03.279
We're not building a 72-page strategic plan here.
00:13:03.679 --> 00:13:18.080
Choose one meaningful outcome, personal, professional, team, organization, whatever matters to you, and make it so big that it is incredibly uncomfortable.
00:13:18.480 --> 00:13:25.919
Something that causes your immediate response to be, yeah, I don't know how I'd do that.
00:13:26.799 --> 00:13:28.480
That is perfect.
00:13:28.720 --> 00:13:30.879
That's where we want to be.
00:13:32.080 --> 00:13:38.159
Now ask what would have to be true for this to happen?
00:13:38.960 --> 00:13:42.080
And don't stop with your first answer.
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Keep going.
00:13:43.679 --> 00:13:47.039
What would have to be true about how you spend your time?
00:13:47.279 --> 00:13:57.759
What would have to be true about your habits, your relationships, your leadership, your team, your culture, your willingness to ask for help?
00:13:58.159 --> 00:14:00.000
What would you have to stop doing?
00:14:00.240 --> 00:14:02.159
What would you have to believe?
00:14:03.120 --> 00:14:04.399
And here's the kicker.
00:14:05.120 --> 00:14:11.840
What would the person capable of creating that future do today?
00:14:12.399 --> 00:14:20.240
Not next year, not when things calm down, not when you're more confident today.
00:14:21.600 --> 00:14:25.039
Then do one thing.
00:14:25.279 --> 00:14:34.639
One because we're not interested in creating another beautiful journal journal entry that makes you feel inspired for what 17 minutes?
00:14:34.879 --> 00:14:36.960
No, we're doing the work.
00:14:37.759 --> 00:14:39.519
So keep showing up.
00:14:39.679 --> 00:14:42.320
And please, please hear me on this.
00:14:42.559 --> 00:14:44.799
You will not do this perfectly.
00:14:45.360 --> 00:14:48.159
You're going to fall back into old patterns.
00:14:48.240 --> 00:14:51.840
You're going to make decisions from old stories.
00:14:52.159 --> 00:14:58.960
You're going to have days when your extraordinary future feels completely ridiculous.
00:14:59.600 --> 00:15:00.240
Good.
00:15:01.039 --> 00:15:02.000
Keep going.
00:15:02.879 --> 00:15:10.000
Self-mastery isn't about reaching some magical point where you finally have yourself completely figured out.
00:15:10.240 --> 00:15:12.639
I've been doing this work for decades.
00:15:12.799 --> 00:15:14.720
I'm still doing the work.
00:15:14.879 --> 00:15:16.080
That's the point.
00:15:16.639 --> 00:15:25.440
You notice, you learn, you choose again, you show up, you stumble, you recalibrate, and you show up again.
00:15:25.919 --> 00:15:28.000
That's swagger.
00:15:28.720 --> 00:15:41.360
And if nobody has told you lately that the future you're imagining might actually be possible, consider this me sliding a little note across the table to you.
00:15:41.840 --> 00:15:42.960
I believe in you.
00:15:43.519 --> 00:15:45.360
And I wouldn't bet against you.
00:15:46.240 --> 00:15:50.399
Not because I think everything you try will work, it won't.
00:15:51.519 --> 00:16:04.960
But because I've seen what happened, what happens when human beings stop treating their past as a prediction and start treating their future as a choice.
00:16:06.080 --> 00:16:07.279
There's more in you.
00:16:07.360 --> 00:16:13.039
So keep showing up, keep asking better questions and keep doing the work.
00:16:13.759 --> 00:16:17.679
And if somebody came to mind for you, don't just share this podcast.
00:16:17.840 --> 00:16:24.639
Think of one person who's been letting yesterday make too many of today's decisions.
00:16:25.519 --> 00:16:27.679
Then send them this episode.
00:16:28.799 --> 00:16:32.799
Tell them that it made you think of them.
00:16:33.039 --> 00:16:40.480
And if Lead with Swaggers become one of those voices you want riding shotgun while you're doing this work, then hit follow.
00:16:40.639 --> 00:16:41.919
Not for the algorithm.
00:16:42.080 --> 00:16:44.000
Do it because we're building something here.
00:16:44.159 --> 00:16:49.360
One conversation, one question, one better choice at a time.
00:16:49.519 --> 00:16:56.799
And until next time, keep challenging the stories, keep designing the future, keep doing the work.
00:16:56.960 --> 00:17:01.039
And as always, lead with swagger.
00:00:09.759 --> 00:00:15.839
What if I told you your past isn't actually what's driving your behavior today?
00:00:16.160 --> 00:00:17.600
Your future is.
00:00:18.239 --> 00:00:26.079
Yep, I know that sounds a little backward, maybe even a little woo-woo, but don't worry.
00:00:26.239 --> 00:00:32.399
I'm not about to pull out a crystal ball and ask you to manifest a yacht or anything like that.
00:00:32.560 --> 00:00:38.560
Although, if the yacht shows up, it's up to you as to whether or not you choose to turn it away.
00:00:38.799 --> 00:00:55.119
But seriously, what if the future you believe you're moving toward is already influencing what you notice, what you prioritize, what you're willing to tolerate, and what you do today.
00:00:55.920 --> 00:01:03.119
And here's the bigger question: what if you could use that intentionally?
00:01:03.600 --> 00:01:22.640
Because whether we're talking about changing your life, leading a team, building a business, shifting a culture, or creating something that doesn't exist yet, the future we choose changes the decisions we make in the present.
00:01:23.120 --> 00:01:26.159
And that's what we're getting into today.
00:01:26.640 --> 00:01:39.040
Welcome back to Lead with Swagger, the podcast where we explore the human infrastructure behind how we lead, live, work, and create impact.
00:01:39.439 --> 00:01:45.519
Because leadership isn't just strategy, systems, processes, and performance.
00:01:45.840 --> 00:01:56.000
It's people, it's trust, it's purpose, it's culture, it's the decisions we make when nobody hands us a playbook.
00:01:56.319 --> 00:02:01.439
And underneath all of that, it's how we lead ourselves.
00:02:01.760 --> 00:02:11.520
I'm your host, Jennifer Socalo, and around here we're willing to get real raw and ridiculously honest about the human side of leadership.
00:02:11.680 --> 00:02:18.639
And today we're talking about something we all think we understand: time.
00:02:19.599 --> 00:02:22.319
Past, present, future.
00:02:22.960 --> 00:02:28.319
Except I'm starting to wonder if we've been thinking about it all wrong.
00:02:28.719 --> 00:02:33.520
Picture this 30,000 feet and a Kindle.
00:02:33.759 --> 00:02:37.199
I was recently sitting on a plane and decided to read.
00:02:37.360 --> 00:02:40.400
And you know, I've always loved that part of traveling.
00:02:40.479 --> 00:02:49.280
You're trapped in a metal tube at 30,000 feet, and nobody expects you to unload the dishwasher and you can't reorganize the garage.
00:02:49.360 --> 00:02:54.879
And unless you're flying the plane, which thankfully I was not, you've got some time.
00:02:55.439 --> 00:03:09.039
And travel used to give me permission to read, to learn, to think, and sometimes, let's be honest, to read something requiring absolutely no intellectual effort whatsoever.
00:03:09.280 --> 00:03:11.439
There's room for all of the above.
00:03:11.919 --> 00:03:18.240
But this particular day I opened my Kindle and started reading The Science of Scaling by Dr.
00:03:18.319 --> 00:03:20.800
Benjamin Hardy and Blake Erickson.
00:03:21.199 --> 00:03:26.319
And don't you just love it when you pick something up at exactly the right moment?
00:03:26.479 --> 00:03:34.800
You're reading along, reading, reading, and then suddenly, whack, a sentence hits you right between the eyes.
00:03:35.039 --> 00:03:39.680
And that happened to me when they started talking about our relationship with time.
00:03:40.800 --> 00:03:46.159
One of the ideas they explore is something I've believed and taught for years.
00:03:46.639 --> 00:03:56.719
Your past is meant to be learned from, not blamed, not worshipped, not dragged around behind you like a carry-on bag you refuse to check.
00:03:56.960 --> 00:04:01.680
Your past is data, it's information, it's a tool.
00:04:02.240 --> 00:04:15.599
I talk about this extensively in my work and in Claim Your Swagger because so much of self-mastery begins with the stories we've created about what has happened to us.
00:04:16.639 --> 00:04:18.720
The experiences we've had.
00:04:18.959 --> 00:04:20.399
Notice what I said there.
00:04:20.639 --> 00:04:27.680
Not simply what happened, the meaning we gave to what happened.
00:04:27.839 --> 00:04:30.879
Those are two very different things.
00:04:31.439 --> 00:04:33.519
Maybe you failed at something.
00:04:33.759 --> 00:04:35.040
That's the experience.
00:04:35.199 --> 00:04:36.560
That's the event.
00:04:36.879 --> 00:04:38.399
I'm not capable.
00:04:39.040 --> 00:04:41.199
That's the story.
00:04:41.759 --> 00:04:44.160
Maybe someone rejected your idea.
00:04:44.480 --> 00:04:46.079
That's the event.
00:04:46.480 --> 00:04:48.720
Nobody takes me seriously.
00:04:49.040 --> 00:04:51.199
That's the story.
00:04:51.439 --> 00:04:53.680
Maybe you made a terrible decision.
00:04:53.920 --> 00:04:56.480
Welcome to being human, by the way.
00:04:56.720 --> 00:05:00.399
But then you decided I can't trust myself.
00:05:00.639 --> 00:05:02.240
That's the story.
00:05:02.720 --> 00:05:05.600
And here's where things get interesting.
00:05:05.839 --> 00:05:13.120
When we don't examine those stories, yesterday quietly starts making today's decisions.
00:05:13.360 --> 00:05:18.399
That's true for individuals, and it's true inside organizations.
00:05:18.639 --> 00:05:19.519
Think about it.
00:05:19.680 --> 00:05:21.120
We've tried that before.
00:05:21.360 --> 00:05:23.680
Leadership will never approve.
00:05:23.920 --> 00:05:26.560
That's not how things work around here.
00:05:26.879 --> 00:05:28.720
Our people aren't ready for that.
00:05:29.040 --> 00:05:30.399
Sound familiar?
00:05:30.800 --> 00:05:36.160
That's organizational history masquerading as truth.
00:05:36.800 --> 00:05:40.560
And that is part of human infrastructure.
00:05:40.879 --> 00:05:53.839
Because organizations have stories too, cultures have memories, teams develop beliefs, and those beliefs start influencing what people believe is possible.
00:05:55.120 --> 00:05:58.800
But what if the future gets a vote?
00:05:59.040 --> 00:06:02.800
Because here's the part of the book that really got me thinking.
00:06:03.199 --> 00:06:07.839
What if instead of allowing the past to determine what we do today?
00:06:08.399 --> 00:06:16.000
What if we allowed a deliberately chosen future to shape what we do today?
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Not some fuzzy statement, I'd like things to be better someday.
00:06:22.480 --> 00:06:27.120
No, a clearly defined future.
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A future specific enough that it starts eliminating options.
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Think about this.
00:06:34.959 --> 00:06:39.279
Imagine you set a goal that feels completely reasonable.
00:06:39.519 --> 00:06:47.279
You can probably achieve it by working a little harder, doing a little more, being a little more efficient.
00:06:47.519 --> 00:06:55.519
Same Jennifer, same habits, same systems, same thinking, just more.
00:06:56.879 --> 00:07:07.040
Now imagine you choose a goal that seems completely unreasonable, something that makes you say, there is absolutely no way I can do that.
00:07:07.439 --> 00:07:08.399
Interesting.
00:07:09.199 --> 00:07:15.279
Because now your brain can't simply reach for the old playbook.
00:07:15.519 --> 00:07:17.279
The math doesn't work.
00:07:17.600 --> 00:07:22.160
Working 10% harder isn't going to get you there.
00:07:22.480 --> 00:07:27.279
Adding three more things to your to-do list isn't going to get you there.
00:07:27.519 --> 00:07:34.240
Skipping lunch and answering me emails at 11:37 at night definitely isn't going to get you there.
00:07:34.480 --> 00:07:39.199
And yet, how many of us have tried that strategy?
00:07:40.160 --> 00:07:43.040
I have an enormous new goal.
00:07:43.279 --> 00:07:44.160
Excellent.
00:07:44.399 --> 00:07:46.000
I'll just sleep less.
00:07:46.240 --> 00:07:47.199
Brilliant.
00:07:48.160 --> 00:07:52.879
Nothing says innovation quite like exhaustion.
00:07:54.000 --> 00:08:02.720
But there is one of my favorite questions that comes in at this stage.
00:08:02.959 --> 00:08:06.319
This is the question that changes everything.
00:08:07.279 --> 00:08:10.160
What would have to be true?
00:08:10.639 --> 00:08:15.519
I love this question because it doesn't ask why can't I?
00:08:16.079 --> 00:08:21.120
It asks, what would have to change so that I could?
00:08:22.079 --> 00:08:27.360
Those questions send your brain in completely different directions.
00:08:27.600 --> 00:08:29.439
Why can't I do this?
00:08:29.759 --> 00:08:30.240
Boom.
00:08:30.399 --> 00:08:32.399
Your brain gives you 47 reasons.
00:08:32.559 --> 00:08:40.000
Not enough money, not enough people, not enough experience, not enough time, wrong market, bad economy, mercury is in retrograde.
00:08:40.320 --> 00:08:41.200
Whatever.
00:08:42.320 --> 00:08:50.559
But ask instead, what would have to be true for this to become possible?
00:08:51.440 --> 00:08:54.559
Now, now we've got something to work with.
00:08:54.799 --> 00:08:57.360
Maybe I would need a completely different partner.
00:08:57.919 --> 00:09:02.399
Maybe we would need to eliminate half of what we're currently doing.
00:09:02.559 --> 00:09:04.159
Maybe I would have to delegate something.
00:09:04.240 --> 00:09:07.440
I've been clutching like Gollum holding the ring.
00:09:07.679 --> 00:09:08.960
My precious.
00:09:10.159 --> 00:09:14.879
Maybe the organization would need to make decisions differently.
00:09:15.120 --> 00:09:17.120
Maybe we'd need greater trust.
00:09:17.360 --> 00:09:27.679
Maybe we'd need absolute clarity around our purpose so people could make decisions without waiting for six layers of approval.
00:09:27.919 --> 00:09:31.279
Maybe the problem isn't effort at all.
00:09:32.000 --> 00:09:37.039
Maybe it's the infrastructure underneath the effort.
00:09:38.320 --> 00:09:42.080
And again, that's the human stuff.
00:09:42.720 --> 00:09:48.639
Leadership, purpose, trust, culture, mattering, and contribution.
00:09:49.600 --> 00:09:54.720
Those things determine whether people can actually move.
00:09:57.120 --> 00:10:00.720
And here's what I find fascinating.
00:10:02.320 --> 00:10:09.279
When you clearly define where you're going, your future becomes a filter for the present.
00:10:10.000 --> 00:10:15.440
Suddenly you start asking, does this belong in the future I'm building?
00:10:16.000 --> 00:10:28.000
Does this meeting, does this behavior, does this habit, does this relationship, does this way of leading, does this organizational process, does this belief?
00:10:29.360 --> 00:10:35.919
Because if the future requires something different from you, then the present has to change.
00:10:36.879 --> 00:10:39.039
And that can be uncomfortable.
00:10:39.679 --> 00:10:43.200
We love the idea of an extraordinary future.
00:10:44.080 --> 00:10:50.399
We just sometimes want current us to arrive there completely unchanged.
00:10:51.039 --> 00:10:52.559
That's adorable.
00:10:53.039 --> 00:10:56.480
And also, not how transformation works.
00:10:57.360 --> 00:11:03.919
You don't become the person capable of creating that future after you arrive.
00:11:04.240 --> 00:11:09.440
You become that person by changing how you show up now.
00:11:11.039 --> 00:11:15.600
And there's something else underneath all of this that matters deeply to me.
00:11:16.080 --> 00:11:35.440
Agency, your locus of control, who's driving your past, circumstances, other people's expectations, the way you've always done it, the calendar, or you because I hear people say all the time, I don't have enough time.
00:11:36.320 --> 00:11:40.879
And I'm I'm becoming increasingly curious about that sentence.
00:11:41.200 --> 00:11:45.200
Because we treat time like it's stealing something from us.
00:11:45.360 --> 00:11:46.559
Where did the time go?
00:11:46.639 --> 00:11:47.840
I'm running out of time.
00:11:47.919 --> 00:11:50.720
There aren't enough hours in the day.
00:11:51.039 --> 00:11:52.000
Poor time.
00:11:52.399 --> 00:11:55.200
Time is getting blamed for everything.
00:11:55.519 --> 00:12:09.279
What if instead we asked, How am I choosing to use the time I have in service of the future I'm creating?
00:12:09.919 --> 00:12:10.559
Wow.
00:12:11.200 --> 00:12:13.679
Now we're back in the driver's seat.
00:12:13.840 --> 00:12:19.679
And I want to be clear agency doesn't mean you control everything.
00:12:19.919 --> 00:12:20.799
You don't.
00:12:21.120 --> 00:12:24.159
Life will still throw curveballs.
00:12:24.480 --> 00:12:35.840
Markets change, people leave, plans fail, horses decide that a plastic bag 200 yards away is clearly a fire-breathing dragon.
00:12:36.159 --> 00:12:37.679
Things happen.
00:12:38.320 --> 00:12:49.440
Agency is recognizing that while you don't control every circumstance, you still have tremendous influence over what happens next.
00:12:49.919 --> 00:12:54.559
So here's your homework, your swagger challenge.
00:12:54.960 --> 00:12:59.600
I'd like you to choose one future, not your entire life.
00:12:59.759 --> 00:13:03.279
We're not building a 72-page strategic plan here.
00:13:03.679 --> 00:13:18.080
Choose one meaningful outcome, personal, professional, team, organization, whatever matters to you, and make it so big that it is incredibly uncomfortable.
00:13:18.480 --> 00:13:25.919
Something that causes your immediate response to be, yeah, I don't know how I'd do that.
00:13:26.799 --> 00:13:28.480
That is perfect.
00:13:28.720 --> 00:13:30.879
That's where we want to be.
00:13:32.080 --> 00:13:38.159
Now ask what would have to be true for this to happen?
00:13:38.960 --> 00:13:42.080
And don't stop with your first answer.
00:13:42.320 --> 00:13:43.039
Keep going.
00:13:43.679 --> 00:13:47.039
What would have to be true about how you spend your time?
00:13:47.279 --> 00:13:57.759
What would have to be true about your habits, your relationships, your leadership, your team, your culture, your willingness to ask for help?
00:13:58.159 --> 00:14:00.000
What would you have to stop doing?
00:14:00.240 --> 00:14:02.159
What would you have to believe?
00:14:03.120 --> 00:14:04.399
And here's the kicker.
00:14:05.120 --> 00:14:11.840
What would the person capable of creating that future do today?
00:14:12.399 --> 00:14:20.240
Not next year, not when things calm down, not when you're more confident today.
00:14:21.600 --> 00:14:25.039
Then do one thing.
00:14:25.279 --> 00:14:34.639
One because we're not interested in creating another beautiful journal journal entry that makes you feel inspired for what 17 minutes?
00:14:34.879 --> 00:14:36.960
No, we're doing the work.
00:14:37.759 --> 00:14:39.519
So keep showing up.
00:14:39.679 --> 00:14:42.320
And please, please hear me on this.
00:14:42.559 --> 00:14:44.799
You will not do this perfectly.
00:14:45.360 --> 00:14:48.159
You're going to fall back into old patterns.
00:14:48.240 --> 00:14:51.840
You're going to make decisions from old stories.
00:14:52.159 --> 00:14:58.960
You're going to have days when your extraordinary future feels completely ridiculous.
00:14:59.600 --> 00:15:00.240
Good.
00:15:01.039 --> 00:15:02.000
Keep going.
00:15:02.879 --> 00:15:10.000
Self-mastery isn't about reaching some magical point where you finally have yourself completely figured out.
00:15:10.240 --> 00:15:12.639
I've been doing this work for decades.
00:15:12.799 --> 00:15:14.720
I'm still doing the work.
00:15:14.879 --> 00:15:16.080
That's the point.
00:15:16.639 --> 00:15:25.440
You notice, you learn, you choose again, you show up, you stumble, you recalibrate, and you show up again.
00:15:25.919 --> 00:15:28.000
That's swagger.
00:15:28.720 --> 00:15:41.360
And if nobody has told you lately that the future you're imagining might actually be possible, consider this me sliding a little note across the table to you.
00:15:41.840 --> 00:15:42.960
I believe in you.
00:15:43.519 --> 00:15:45.360
And I wouldn't bet against you.
00:15:46.240 --> 00:15:50.399
Not because I think everything you try will work, it won't.
00:15:51.519 --> 00:16:04.960
But because I've seen what happened, what happens when human beings stop treating their past as a prediction and start treating their future as a choice.
00:16:06.080 --> 00:16:07.279
There's more in you.
00:16:07.360 --> 00:16:13.039
So keep showing up, keep asking better questions and keep doing the work.
00:16:13.759 --> 00:16:17.679
And if somebody came to mind for you, don't just share this podcast.
00:16:17.840 --> 00:16:24.639
Think of one person who's been letting yesterday make too many of today's decisions.
00:16:25.519 --> 00:16:27.679
Then send them this episode.
00:16:28.799 --> 00:16:32.799
Tell them that it made you think of them.
00:16:33.039 --> 00:16:40.480
And if Lead with Swaggers become one of those voices you want riding shotgun while you're doing this work, then hit follow.
00:16:40.639 --> 00:16:41.919
Not for the algorithm.
00:16:42.080 --> 00:16:44.000
Do it because we're building something here.
00:16:44.159 --> 00:16:49.360
One conversation, one question, one better choice at a time.
00:16:49.519 --> 00:16:56.799
And until next time, keep challenging the stories, keep designing the future, keep doing the work.
00:16:56.960 --> 00:17:01.039
And as always, lead with swagger.
