SUMMER REPLAY: Overcoming the Thinking That Holds You Back

Episode Transcript

[00:00:00] Marissa: So just like everything in life, some episodes get all the attention, and others don’t. And we think that’s really a shame. We feel like every episode, well, within reason, should- … have its moment.

[00:00:23] Joel: That one we did, I remember that one, was not very good.

[00:00:27] Marissa: We know that one.

[00:00:28] Joel: We know that one.

[00:00:29] Marissa: Yeah.

[00:00:29] Joel: Well, the problem is, though, that we can’t rely, at the end of the day, on these mechanical systems, these algorithms, to, like, sort out what is great from what is not, the wheat from the chaff.

[00:00:45] Yeah. Like, a human has to go through and decide, like, to curate, to carefully select, and that, friends, that’s what we’ve done for you.

[00:00:54] Marissa: And this episode that you’re about to listen to truly deserves a second life and a second listen.

[00:01:01] Joel: The truth is, if you trust us enough to listen to us every Monday, you should trust us enough to listen on this Monday because while this episode is from deep in the archive, it stands out from the archive because it’s just that good.

[00:01:18] Marissa: So don’t sleep on it. We hope you enjoy this episode. We think it’s great, and we’re excited for you to hopefully learn quite a bit from it. Enjoy.

[00:01:33] Verbs: So the holidays and the new year are just around the corner, and I’m sure many of our listeners have their minds on goal setting just like we do. But have you ever found yourself, I’m just curious to know, um, just stepping back from the goals that you actually want to set because you feel like they just aren’t possible?

[00:01:51] Have you ever fallen into this trap?

[00:01:53] Blake: I have. I’ve had that, uh… I mean, I, I would say I’m not altogether immune to that even now, you know? Mm-hmm. I, I think about every year there’s goals that you, you hit hopefully, but at least for me, there’s always goals that I miss. And, and this isn’t to say that the full focus system doesn’t work.

[00:02:11] This is just to say, hey, when you set risky goals, you know, it’s about having a great gain and, and you don’t always, you know, it’s not, you’re not doing it right if you hit 1,000, you know, if you’re batting 1,000 on all of your goals. But when you are experiencing kind of some disappointment or like, “Oh, I fell a little shorter than I had wanted to on this goal,” for instance-

[00:02:29] Joel: Mm-hmm

[00:02:30] Blake: at least for me, it’s kind of hard to go, “Oh, do I wanna up the ante and set a, a big goal like that next year?”

[00:02:38] Courtney: I, I think that’s really true. I think a lot of times our thinking is really our biggest obstacle, and I, I do think it is challenging, um, when it’s a really busy time of year, um, or when you’ve just got a lot happening.

[00:02:54] You know, kind of if you’re in this sense of, like, overwhelm, and then you’re trying to r- really in a sense set a vision for the next year, you’re thinking maybe, like, nothing is possible. Like, it’s just all too much right now. I don’t have any room- Mm … for dreaming about, you know, what I want, you know, for the next year.

[00:03:15] You know, can kind of set you off on the wrong foot, um, when you think about your goal setting. And in some ways it’s almost like a self-fulfilling prophecy in a way. Like, if you kinda have that overwhelm mindset and you’re like, “I can’t, you know, I can’t dream about the future, just everything, I’m maxed out,” then it’s like you get into the next year and you just drift into kind of the same thing because you haven’t set aside that time and you haven’t had that time to, like, clearly think about what you want, um, for the next year.

[00:03:43] Yeah.

[00:03:43] Blake: Yeah. Or, or pro- in my case it would be processing the, the disappointments, right? Mm. To, ’cause if you are looking, if you’re trying to diagnose your future by what’s happened in the past, you can’t really do anything more than what you’ve already achieved, or maybe you get slight incremental improvement.

[00:04:02] Verbs: Right.

[00:04:02] Blake: You know? But that, that self-fulfilling prophecy thing is, is true. It’s like the… Is it Henry Ford quote, “If you think you can or you think you can’t-

[00:04:11] Verbs: You’re right …

[00:04:12] Blake: you’re, you’re right”? You’re

[00:04:13] Verbs: right. Yeah.

[00:04:13] Blake: Or was that, was that, uh, Elon

[00:04:18] Verbs: Musk? It’s one of those car makers. Yeah, I think that, that sounds- Some someone

[00:04:22] that sounds right, Blake. I think, you know, the truth is that our thinking has a direct impact on the results that we experience, and we know those to be what we call limiting beliefs. And so today that’s what we’re gonna talk about, these three steps that you can take to overcome the thinking that’s holding you back from a better future.

[00:04:44] Welcome to another episode of Focus on This, the most productive podcast on the internet so you can banish distractions, get the right stuff done, and finally start loving Mondays. I’m Verbs, here with Courtney Baker and Blake Stratton. Happy Monday to you two.

[00:05:01] Blake: Happy Monday unto you. Verbs.

[00:05:03] Verbs: Happy Monday unto you, my friends.

[00:05:08] Courtney: All right, so today we’re gonna be talking about limiting beliefs and really how to kind of identify those and move toward a better future. So the first step of that is really to assess your mindset. You know, often we fail to pursue a goal that really matters to us because we just don’t believe it’s possible.

[00:05:33] You know, it’s like our thinking stops us before we ever begin. It, it is… Actually, if you take the time to sit and think about that- It’s really, it, it’s really crazy how powerful just our mindset really is. You know, it is the thing that can launch us into moving towards a goal or the thing that can keep us from ever even starting.

[00:05:59] It all really comes back to our mindset.

[00:06:02] Blake: Mm-hmm. The two that, uh, if we can, I guess, dial this in, there’s a, a ton, I mean, mindset is a huge topic, but if we could categorize this for you listening just to help you self-assess. We talk about really two kinds of mindsets that we can go into goal setting with, one being a scarcity mindset.

[00:06:24] In other words, there’s not enough, you know, not enough time, not enough money, not enough opportunity. And the flip side, an abundance mindset, where there’s an underlying belief that there’s, there’s more than enough to go around. There’s, you know, I, I can always think of new ideas. Opportunities aren’t in short supply.

[00:06:42] I can get creative about acquiring what I need to financially or just the resources I need or the, the people I need to, to achieve that. So scarcity versus abundance. Virbs or, or Courtney, what, what’s been your experience? Have you ever caught yourself kind of in that, y- you know, in the maybe the scarcity camp?

[00:07:04] Verbs: Well, let me say this. I think one thing that has helped me in that practice of not falling into a scarcity mindset is, you know, again, this is the secret sauce, uh, that I refer to as the weekly preview in the planner. But there’s that question at the top of the weekly preview, recount your wins. So instead of what I would normally kind of just skim over that, it’s actually caused me to pause and actually think about, even if the win didn’t seem like it was this grandiose accomplishment, what are the smaller things that, that are significant indicators that, man, it was a good week.

[00:07:39] This is something that could… should be considered as a win, recognized, and celebrated in some sort of way. And I think that, um, just helps, at least helps me get my thinking to a level of there’s good stuff that has happened that’s worth paying attention to, which means there’s more stuff that could also happen in this upcoming week that I need to be paying attention to as well.

[00:07:59] And I think just the practice of doing that, you know, throughout however many weeks of the year and then coming to the point to where you’re going to set and frame up some new goals, uh, for the, the next year, it really just puts me in a, a different sort of mindset of what I’m looking towards versus What hasn’t happened or things that I just missed.

[00:08:19] It kind of gives me building blocks to get, get in that right mindset of, hey, there’s more out there to, to grab ahold of. There’s more out there to accomplish. It kind of pushes me into that abundance mindset zone versus the scarcity.

[00:08:30] Courtney: I think this is a really important one, um, to learn, and I feel like over time, I think especially, I guess I’ve been with this company for three and a half years now, and I think as soon as I really read Best Year Ever, and that was before I even, um, started here, I really started to start looking for these limiting beliefs and have had that language to be able to say, “Oh, that sounds like a limiting belief.”

[00:08:59] Um, and I think that’s really the first step, is being able to like identify those for myself a- and for other people. You know, I think for Chase and I, you know, when we talk about different things, you know, being able to say like, “Hey, I think that sounds like that could potentially be a limiting belief,” you know, um, has been really helpful.

[00:09:18] But I think over time, that practice of figuring out what those things are and just being able to spend the time to, you know, I, I, I hate saying think about my thinking, but like examine my thinking and really see like what’s behind that. Is that, is that really, is it truly a limiting belief? Like is there scarcity there- Hmm

[00:09:41] that’s really all based in my thinking and not really based in, um, opportunity or possibility, um- Mm-hmm … I think has been really critical for me.

[00:09:52] Verbs: I think that’s, that’s good, Courtney, and I’m actually curious, um, I’m sure this is gonna play into some Enne- Enneagram conversation when I pose this question.

[00:10:00] But, so I feel like there is, there’s the scarcity mindset, and then I feel like I fall more into the category of, all right, I’m, I’m somewhat of a realist, so if I’m looking at something and I say, “Hey, there’s actually not enough time,” then my, my perception is, no, there’s actually not enough time. Time is limited.

[00:10:18] But I don’t always wanna write that off as a scarcity, uh, posture. But is there, is there something to where there’s a threshold between, hey, I’m just being real about the situation, but pushing past that to say what is the th- what is the, the brink to where it’s, okay, let me pay attention to the opportunity that is actually is there, even though it may be in short supply?

[00:10:39] Blake: The tough thing about self-identifying limiting beliefs is- Mm-hmm … uh, when you have a limiting belief, it just sounds like a fact to you normally. Mm. It doesn’t- Yeah … you don’t first think, “Oh, well, I know I have scarcity thinking around this,” but it’s, “No, this is a fact.”

[00:10:54] Courtney: Well, can I just chime in here on that one specifically?

[00:10:56] You can. Verbs, I would- You can

[00:10:58] Blake: chime.

[00:10:58] Courtney: I, uh, like exactly what you just said there about time, you were like, “I’m a realist, like there’s only so much time in a day.” I would even say that your view of time feels like, um, we have so many, so much thinking about time- Mm-hmm … and like what is possible in a ti- in time.

[00:11:18] We feel like that’s like so concrete, when in actuality that’s not really the case. You know? Like, there’s lots of things about, you know, like what can be accomplished during a day, what things take priority over other things that I, again, I don’t wanna get like too far into our thinking, but I think we bring a lot of- Yeah

[00:11:39] perceptions even about time. Like, how much can be done here that may not actually be true?

[00:11:47] Verbs: Or how do we do- Mm … what we think can’t be done in regards to how we view the time? How are we thinking about the- Mm-hmm … you know, the work that has to be done? No, I got you. It’s a good word.

[00:11:56] Blake: For me, the helpful indicator is how do you feel emotionally and even physically.

[00:12:01] So if, if you, you know, can ide- you know, if you’re thinking something or you’re looking at a goal and you’re going, “Oh, well, I don’t have enough… I’m not creative enough to do that.” Like, if you say, “I’m not cre- or I’m, I don’t have time to do that,” whatever. For me, when I say something that ends up being a limiting belief, it’s almost like I can feel my shoulders tense up, or I feel kind of down about myself.

[00:12:24] Joel: Mm-hmm.

[00:12:24] Blake: Is your opinion of yourself better, or is it, you know, worse, like lower when you think about- Sure … when you think that thought, you know? Yeah. And if it’s- No, that’s

[00:12:32] Joel: important … ‘

[00:12:32] Blake: cause there may be some things that may s- to someone else seem like a limiting belief, but like if it’s feels empowering to you in like in a, an emotional way, then you’re gonna perform better, you know?

[00:12:43] If at the same time you could say, “Oh, well, there’s not enough… Oh, well, I can’t do that because X, Y, and Z,” it’s like, well, if you feel like a smaller, shrinkier version of yourself, there’s a… that’s literally a limiting belief. That belief is, you know… Uh, there’s, uh, one of my pastors said this once and I thought it was just brilliant, and he said, uh, and this is, you know, obviously in a Christian context, but, uh, you know, he said, Jesus said, “The, the truth will set you free.”

[00:13:12] So if it’s not setting you free, what are you believing?

[00:13:15] Marissa: Yes.

[00:13:15] Blake: And I just thought that was, that was awesome. So self-assessing can be hard. It’s good to have a friend, but you can also check in with your emotions as well, I think, to identify is there a scarcity thought here?

[00:13:34] So we talked about scarcity mindset, abundance mindset. It’s gonna feel different, it’s gonna sound different, and it’s gonna lead to different results. The second step, once you consider your mindset, is to name your belief. So now we’re, we’re kinda drilling down more specifically here, right? Like, there’s a mindset, a sense that there’s not enough, or a sense that there’s more than enough The belief is usually about one of three things.

[00:13:59] Although, if you’re like me, you’ve got some in, in every category. Uh, the world would be the first category, your beliefs about others, and then your beliefs about yourself, right? Those are kind of the three main areas of, of limiting beliefs.

[00:14:15] Courtney: So for an example, a belief that, um, we have about the world, that might sound something like, “It’s a terrible time to start a business,” or, “I don’t trust my boss, they only look out for themselves.”

[00:14:28] That’s a belief about others. Um, “I don’t have the willpower to install good habits,” or, “I don’t have the willpower to work out every day.” You know, that’s a limiting belief about ourselves. And like you said, Blake, earlier, we’re so used to our own thought patterns that they feel like facts. They feel normal.

[00:14:49] Um, we don’t really even view them as beliefs. You know, I think this is what… It, it’s really mind-blowing to stop and think about it for a second. Like, what we think is not factual, it’s just our beliefs, and they, they, they are the lens that we look through in everything. We view them as reality. So the best way, this is gonna sound like, um, it should be coming from Blake, but the best way to really figure these out is-

[00:15:18] to write them down on paper. Um- Yeah … it really helps you kinda figure out what these limiting beliefs are, and that’s the first step to actually defeating them. And h- honestly, I feel like even that first step of writing them down can be challenging. Again-

[00:15:34] Marissa: Mm-hmm …

[00:15:35] Courtney: it may be good to sit down with a, a, a good friend or somebody that knows you well that can help you kinda process through, um, what potential limiting beliefs you have, um, as the- Yeah

[00:15:46] first step to defeating them.

[00:15:48] Verbs: And I think that is important ’cause you kinda, you gotta, you have to get that conversation out of your head, ’cause to you it does feel normal. And it’s like these limiting beliefs, and I don’t know if we said it yet in this podcast, is, is you have to ask yourself, “Is it true?”

[00:16:03] ‘Cause if it’s not true, then it’s basically a whisper of deception that just keeps playing the same tune inside of your head that you, you’ve gotten used to that music. So getting that out of your head, like you mentioned, Courtney, and, and slaying the limiting belief by writing it down, giving it a name-

[00:16:20] Marissa: Mm-hmm

[00:16:20] Verbs: kind of gets it out of that, uh, that cerebral, um, conversation that goes on or has been going on maybe for years, and l- take a look at it and say, “Oh, this is what I’ve been stuck on? This is not even true.”

[00:16:34] Joel: Mm-hmm.

[00:16:35] Verbs: How do I- Mm-hmm … how do I, let me get this out of my head in a new way of thinking. And I mean, I think it’s excellent advice as well to have somebody bounce this thing off of somebody that cares about you, can able, is able to speak, you know, sensibly into, into your What they see and how they see you react to those sorts of thoughts as well.

[00:16:51] Courtney: So speaking as both of your, you know, really good friend, um, you know, are there some limiting beliefs that we can talk through, um, here on the podcast for either one of you? A- any limiting beliefs that sneak up on you? Or would you like me to tell you what your limiting belief are? I- I’m

[00:17:08] Verbs: just kidding. Oh, that would be, that would be awesome.

[00:17:10] That would be like a next level stunt. Oh, yeah.

[00:17:12] Courtney: I’ve got it. I’ve got it. Do it. Here it goes. Okay, Verbs- Let’s

[00:17:14] Verbs: go …

[00:17:15] Courtney: your limiting belief- Yeah … is that you can’t rap on this podcast. But

[00:17:21] Verbs: s- so, so the real is too

[00:17:23] Blake: easy. And, and my limiting belief is that I can rap on this podcast. See, that’s… It’s the, it’s the exact opposite thing. Yeah. It’s limiting me from being a, uh, effective podcaster, actually, is that belief.

[00:17:36] Courtney: Sh- uh, before we go on, side note, because this has, this has come up before in, uh, comments.

[00:17:41] I, I want people to know, Verbs, that you were a professional rapper back in the day. Bonafide

[00:17:48] Verbs: professional, yeah.

[00:17:49] Courtney: And you rapped for, again, I think I said this actually in a podcast episode. I saw a video of you. It was like, it felt like 100,000 people. I don’t know how many people you were in front of, but it was way more than I will ever be in front of in my lifetime.

[00:18:03] It

[00:18:03] Verbs: was a gaggle of folks, yeah. So. So yes, that, and at one point in my life, that was the thing I did. That was like my job, writing, recording, touring in the music industry. But, so here’s, here’s what a limiting belief is or could be, is because I did it years ago, late ’90s, early 2000s, even though I could still write songs and rap, am I too old to do that at this stage in the game and still be, um, relevant and effective?

[00:18:31] Mm. Now, and then, and there’s, this is like a big conversation, I think, just not only in the music world, but just anybody that’s past a certain threshold in their age. I mean, this is kind of where ageism kind of comes in, in that whole conversation. Yeah. Um, but so I think within really, uh, hip hop music specifically, there’s a sense that, oh, y- once you turn this age, you’re not able to do it as well.

[00:18:53] Uh, your music’s not as relevant. It sounds old, ’cause now it’s classic music. But at the same time, if you still have groups like The Rolling Stones on tour, uh, Metallica, whatever the band may be, or even jazz musicians, like they, they carry on, on until the later years of their life, still doing what they love.

[00:19:11] Um- Mm-hmm … but I think that rises up for a lot of artists specifically, maybe for even, you know, business owners is like, “Hey, there’s a threshold where I’m gonna be irrelevant in this industry.” And how we confront that, I think, is important by naming it, first of all, and then even asking, is it true? Like is this, is this really a legitimate belief if I look out over the scope of the industry?

[00:19:31] ‘Cause if there’s one person that’s still doing it and it’s, uh, being successful at it, then that kind of proves my limiting belief to be incorrect.

[00:19:39] Courtney: Yeah, that there is other possibility. Okay, so I think this is a really great example. So like, let’s take this one-

[00:19:45] Blake: All

[00:19:45] Courtney: right.

[00:19:46] Blake: Thank you for that … like that was a limiting belief.

[00:19:48] Verbs: Common is 49. Kanye’s 44. Some of the best rappers right now, right now, are pushing 50 years old and still consistent- Yep … in all of that, so just thought I’d throw that in there.

[00:20:10] Courtney: I like this a lot. So let’s, like, lay that down as step number two, that kind of naming that belief, which leads us into step number three, which is to… And we’ve kind of already started doing this a little bit with, with that example, is to write a new story.

[00:20:27] Verbs: Yes.

[00:20:28] Blake: Writing a new story. There’s, there’s a, a wonderful book I read out in this, this year, uh, called Personality Isn’t Permanent by Benjamin Hardy, if you wanna do- Mm

[00:20:38] some further reading on this concept in particular. One of the things that he says in there is s- some version of… I, I wonder if I wrote it down actually. It’s, uh, “Embrace your future to change your past.” Which essentially what he’s talking about is think about what you’d want or the person you’d have to be to accomplish what you wanna accomplish, and then you can essentially use your past rather than evidence against what you wanna do or what you wanna become as almost like seeing your past as more of a hero’s journey.

[00:21:12] Like, those necessary building blocks or trials or something that where you were building the muscle, so to speak, to accomplish what you wanna build or accomplish. I’m probably butchering his true point, but but the, the principle is still, the principle is still really true, I think, which is when you can think of your past differently, if this old…

[00:21:33] Usually our old limiting beliefs, if you write down that, name that new belief, it’s because you had some type of experience. It could’ve been an experience you had as a kid, experience you had this year, you know, trying to achieve a goal. If you can change the narrative about what that past experience means and really embrace the desired future you want, I think those are kind of the beginnings of starting to write a new story for yourself.

[00:21:57] Can I share a simple trick?

[00:21:59] Verbs: Please do.

[00:22:00] Courtney: Yes.

[00:22:01] Blake: Again, I don’t wanna butcher this as well, ’cause I kinda heard this one secondhand, but Byron Katie talks a lot about this type of thing. So something I’ll do, I, I literally every week, you m- Courtney, you said, “Oh, Blake, I feel like you struggle with this.” It’s like a weekend routine for me to process through limiting beliefs that I’m carrying around literally.

[00:22:19] And one of the things I do if I’m struggling with it, I’ll, I’ll actually just say the opposite thing and see how that feels. So just as a st- and it’s not where you have to land necessarily, but real life, I, I was looking back at my journal when we pulled this podcast up, and, you know, I’m kind of going down to the roots of things and going scuba diving all the way down, and one of the ones I, I wrote down was, like, whenever I try to become more successful, I always encounter more resistance than other people, you know?

[00:22:51] It’s like, totally bogus, right? But it felt really true to me. When I say that out loud even now, I can feel that k- sort of cringey thing- You know, that, that limiting feeling.

[00:23:01] Marissa: Mm-hmm.

[00:23:02] Blake: And so if you’re trying to change your story or trying to, you know, we would use the term liberating truth, you know, replace that limiting belief with a liberating truth.

[00:23:10] Uh, for starters, I could say, uh, you know, uh, how… Well, maybe you can help me out. How would I flip that on its head? Whenever I try to become more successful, I always encounter… Uh, probably the belief behind that is that I encounter too much resistance. It’s not even more that it’s more than other people, but, like, things are always gonna be hard- harder for me when I try to reach new heights.

[00:23:32] Courtney: For me, I would want to flip it to say, “Hey, when I’m pursuing…” Something along these lines. Like, “As I pursue success, challenges are gonna come, and I have everything I need to overcome those challenges,” or, “I have the, you know, ability to find the resources I need to overcome those challenges to be successful.”

[00:23:54] Blake: Yeah. Or like, “Whenever I try to become more successful, I’m great at overcoming the resistance that comes my way”-

[00:24:01] Courtney: Mm-hmm …

[00:24:01] Blake: or something like that.

[00:24:02] Courtney: Yep. I do like with that liberating truth, still acknowledging, you know, with success, I don’t… You know, I don’t know that it’s ever gonna be, like, a walk in the park.

[00:24:13] Like, you know, you’re just gonna, like- Sure … arrive, you know? So I think s- in that example, I, I like the idea of still acknowledging, like, challenges are gonna come. Like, if I’m committed to working towards success, challenges are gonna come. But I like that sense in me that, to remind myself I have what it takes to overcome those along the way, um, I think is kind of an, an, an important element as, as people are kinda listening to this and playing it out in their own stories.

[00:24:44] Blake: Yeah, or even if it was about resistance itself, right? Like, the resistance I face keeps me from being successful. I could say, “The resistance I face is what empowers me to be successful.”

[00:24:55] Verbs: Yeah. That’s good. Mm-hmm. And I would, I would think even to help even further is just identify how you perceive that resistance- Mm-hmm

[00:25:03] and then reaffirming that you have the skill set to assess it, see it for what it is, and, um, navigate through it based on who you are, how you think, how you process.

[00:25:13] Courtney: I, I think this is also really helpful. Like, I mean, if you continued to have your limiting belief, like, if you held that into the future, like, what would happen?

[00:25:25] Like, what would the actions be that you would take because of that limiting belief?

[00:25:29] Blake: Well, I would shrink back from action altogether probably- Right … because- I- if I think that, well, if I try to do, you know, become more or achieve more than I’ve done before, if I try to be really successful, then it’s gonna be too hard.

[00:25:43] Mm-hmm. You know, or, you know, I’ll, I won’t be able to actually break free or overcome resistance that I might face.

[00:25:50] Courtney: And so by having that thinking, you are… It is bas- like we said, like, it’s self-fulfilling prophecy. Mm-hmm. You know, it’s like- Mm-hmm … well, your actions are a result of that thinking, and so yeah, you’re not gonna be successful with that limiting belief.

[00:26:04] But on the flip side, if you like, if you had that liberating truth, then what are your actions?

[00:26:10] Blake: Mm-hmm. Yeah, absolutely. If I, if I think resistance, the resistance I face on the way to success is going to empower me to succeed- Mm-hmm … then I would not only would I take action, but I would take action faster.

[00:26:24] I would be more- Yeah … decisive because it’s no longer a question of if I’m gonna face resistance, it’s more I’ve reframed resistance to being something that empowers me. Like lifting weights is empowering to build strength. It’s not something that you, you know… But-

[00:26:38] Courtney: It’s

[00:26:39] Blake: almost, it’s- … then it’s like, oh, I don’t, I don’t…

[00:26:40] There’s not pressure on doing it right or wrong, or facing resistance, or trying to avoid resistance. It’s like, no, no, no. Like, I’m either gonna win right away, or I’m gonna be empowered to win through resistance.

[00:26:49] Courtney: Yeah. I almost think it, it’s like when you get that resistance, you almost… It’s almost exciting because- Right.

[00:26:55] Mm-hmm … you’re like, “Okay, here it is.” Mm-hmm. Like, “Here’s my opportunity for this next building block.” You know? Yeah. Like, okay, I- I wasn’t thinking that there was never gonna be any resistance. I knew the resistance was gonna come, and here’s my opportunity to grow with this resistance. I mean, I, I think that’s a really great example of the power of this in our lives.

[00:27:17] Blake: All right. Let’s move on ’cause I feel vulnerable. Too vulnerable.

[00:27:28] Verbs: So we talked about it, the three steps to overcoming the thinking that so often holds us back. Step one, assess your mindset. Step number two, name your belief. And step number three, write a new story

[00:27:42] Courtney: So today we really just scratched the surface on limiting beliefs and liberating truth, but there’s really a lot more to this, and we don’t have time to cover it completely in this 30-minute podcast.

[00:27:55] If you’re interested in going deeper with us, join us for Your Best Year Ever. Um, we are going to delve into signposts for identifying limiting beliefs, strategies for writing liberating truths, and tips for living into a better story. Um, again, today was just a little piece of this. Um, and even better, we’re gonna show you how to use your new thinking, um, as a foundation for setting goals you can’t wait to achieve.

[00:28:26] So, um, we are opening registration for Your Best Year Ever later this week, um, if you’re listening to this on Monday, so make sure watch your inbox for that. It is… Every year I, I struggle to really summarize like what a critical tool this is for people that use the Full Focus Planner. Uh, just to give everybody a little history, Your Best Year Ever was created first, um, it was a course, our goal-setting course, and over time we were like, “You know what would be really amazing is if there was like an implementation tool that helped you on a daily basis live out your goals,” and that’s when we created the planner.

[00:29:07] Um, and so really, Your Best Year Ever every year, we, the three of us go through it every year. Um, frankly, I don’t know if I would be as successful with the planner if I didn’t take the time to do this goal-setting work at the beginning of the year. Is that true for you too?

[00:29:27] Blake: Absolutely. I, uh… ‘Cause the hardest hurdle for me to make time for or get over the hump about is the actual goal setting, because it feels too mu- like there’s too much.

[00:29:35] There’s too many life domains, there’s, there’s too much time in the year, and, and I’ll just default to the busyness of the day or the busyness of the week. Best Year Ever, even though I already know, and, and maybe you listening already know the content, it’s not really about the content, at least for me at this stage.

[00:29:52] I’ve done it, you know, two or three times, at least at this point. It’s way more about the process, you know, and the process never gets old ’cause you keep growing, you keep learning. It’s always a new year, new things to do. And so to go through the process, I always feel more excited and confident about my choices around my goals, more in sync with my own desired future.

[00:30:14] Uh, w- it’s truly the most wonderful time of the productive year.

[00:30:19] Courtney: So true. And we have a live event where you can do all of your goals on December 30th. Um, so that’s always a really, really fun event, so if you don’t wanna do the course kind of on your own, um, I highly recommend setting, doing the day with us live.

[00:30:36] Um, it’s, it’s really, really a blast. Okay, so if you are interested in joining us this year, you can go to bestyearever.me and join the wait list. And again, it’s gonna open up later this week. Or we also have, um, webinars happening this week that are totally free to get some training on this as well. So again, we hope to see you there with us at Best Year Ever Live

[00:31:05] Verbs: So the good news is you don’t have to stay stuck in thinking that holds you back. You can replace limiting beliefs with liberating truths when you assess your mindset, name your belief, and write a new story. Courtney and Blake, before we head out, do you guys, uh, have any final thoughts for our Focus On This listeners?

[00:31:23] Courtney: Well, I would love to come back to your limiting belief, Virbs, for a second and see if we- Okay … can do a quick liberating truth for you related to this, because I think for everybody listening, like, we can all benefit from this, uh, new liberating truth. So I think- Mm-hmm … I think it’s important for us to dial it in.

[00:31:43] I, I do have a question for you really quick, Virbs. Like, what would be your desire in, like, pursuing this again possibly? Like, what would be the, the outcome that you would want?

[00:31:57] Verbs: Yeah, uh, good question. I think for me it’s always been, um, it’s always been more of a, uh, a missional sort of endeavor as well- Mm-hmm

[00:32:07] as well as a creative endeavor. So I think it would be re-locking into a motivation behind it that would actually make it enjoyable. I mean, songwriting is always gonna be a creative outlet, or just making music is a creative outlet, and I enjoy the process of doing that, and the product. And so-

[00:32:24] Courtney: Mm-hmm …

[00:32:25] Verbs: I think just a complete, you know, quality product at the end of the day would, would be enjoyable.

[00:32:30] Courtney: Yeah.

[00:32:31] Blake: So your liberating truth is, “I’m better than Kanye.” That’s what I’m… That’s what I gathered from that.

[00:32:37] Courtney: If the goal is, “Hey, I wanna be creative,” you know, I want the process of… The, the process is kinda the reward. Like, th- making- Exactly … music is really the reward, not necessarily what people evaluate about my music.

[00:32:55] I mean, I think there’s maybe something there that’s part of your, your liberating truth. Both sides of that coin- Mm-hmm … of, you know, if it’s like, you know, can people that age actually produce good music? You know, is that, is the outcome you’re looking for for people to acknowledge your, your gifting? I, I…

[00:33:14] Of course that’s great. That’s, you know, everybody likes that. But is that really what you’re going after? Or is it really like, “I wanna create because I love to be a creative person. I love that process. I love that hobby. I love what it does, how it makes me feel.” Um- Mm-hmm … if that’s the case, you know, I think there’s maybe something, um, there with that lib- liberating truth.

[00:33:38] Verbs: Agreed. Agreed. We shall continue this, this conversation.

[00:33:41] Blake: Yes. Uh, weigh in. That’s an invitation, everybody. Weigh in in the Full Focus Planner community if you’re not already in there. And just, uh, you know, some words of encouragement, some animated GIFs perhaps, pushing Verbs along the path. Maybe we can get a habit goal out of him by the end of this.

[00:33:59] Verbs: Oh, the gauntlet has been cast. Yeah, that’s a good one, actually. Habit goal around that. So with that, we wanna say thank you, the listener, for joining us on Focus on This. This is the most productive podcast on the internet, so share it with your friends. Don’t forget to join our full Focus Planner community on Facebook, and we’ll be here next week with another great episode.

[00:34:23] But until then… Stay

[00:34:27] Blake: focused