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Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12   https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12

• How can I become a high-rung thinker?
  • High-rung thinking is independent thinking, leaving you free to revise your ideas or even discard them altogether. On the low rungs, it means you’re working to dutifully serve your ideas, not the other way around.
• How can I be the boss of the ideas in my own head?
  • When you’re the boss of the ideas in your head, you’re always willing to revise them. When there’s no amount of evidence that will change your mind about something, it means that idea is your boss. Humility is the awareness that no idea is worthy of being your boss.
• Best advice Tim has ever received:
  • "I met Chris Anderson, the head of TED, in 2015. He had read a few WBW posts and offered me the opportunity to give a TED Talk at the 2016 conference (which was six months away). Immediately full of both gratitude/excitement and dread/anxiety, I asked him if it might be better to wait a couple years until I had some more speaking experience. He paused thoughtfully for a few seconds before saying, “There’s no time like the present.” I took his advice. Since then, his voice saying those words has popped into my head again and again during hard decisions, and I’m yet to regret following them."
    • Great advice is sometimes great because it’s totally original or framed in an original way. But, as in my story, a well-known platitude, at the perfect moment, can also make a huge impact. What makes Chris’s advice so valuable to me wasn’t that it was something new—it was that the lesson I learned from taking the advice in that particular moment turned a cliché into a mantra.
• No one “builds a house.” They lay one brick again and again and again and the end result is a house. A remarkable, glorious achievement is just what a long series of unremarkable, unglorious tasks looks like from far away.
• “If I aired a highlight reel of your most selfish life moments and most shameful thoughts, you'd seem like an awful person. If I aired a reel of your best, kindest moments, you'd seem like a saint. But people aren't highlight reels, and the unedited cut is always a messy mix!”
• Kids Asking WHY? When kids repeatedly ask “why?” they’re trying to see the underlying reasoning behind what they’re told by authorities. “Because I said so” rejects that instinct and says “stop reasoning and obey.” We then become adults who only know how to trust authorities other than ourselves.
• High Rung Thinking:
  • Rung 1 - Thinking like a Scientist. When you’re thinking like a scientist, you start at point A and follow evidence wherever it takes you.
  • Rung 2 - Thinking like a sports fan. They want the game played fairly, but they really want the process to yield a certain outcome. 
  • Rung 3 - Thinking like an attorney. When you think like an attorney, you start from point B. The client is not guilty. Now let’s figure out why. They cherry-pick evidence and piece it together to make an argument that leads where you want it to.
  • Rung 4 - Thinking like a zealot. Their ideas aren’t rugged experiments to be kicked around, they’re fragile, precious babies to be adored and protected. The zealot doesn’t have to go from A to B to know their viewpoints are correct– they just know they are. With 100% conviction.
• Life/Career advice: "I'd give the same advice to someone who's trying to find someone to marry. Go on lots of dates. Experiment. Do stuff. Get out in the world. You can only connect the dots looking backward."

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Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12   https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12

• “Amateurs focus on outcome. Professionals focus on process.” And if you want to change the process, focus on just one change at a time. He used the fly fishing analogy. You don’t change all three at once. Try one change and re-evaluate.
• I love the idea of creating a personal checklist for yourself much like pilots fill out every time before they fly a plane. We should all create our checklist and fill it out consistently. This is a great tool to become more self-aware.
• Top performers have a thirst for feedback in victory and defeat. The leaders who sustain excellence over time are intentional about surrounding themselves with a kitchen cabinet who is there to regularly provide feedback so that they can iterate and improve. That’s one of the biggest differences between those who sustain excellence over time and those who don’t.
• Goal Setting
  • 34%-42% chance of hitting a goal if you ideate it
  • 62% chance of hitting a goal if you write it down
  • 75% chance of hitting a goal if you verbally share it with others
• Eric developed a psychological “resilience” test that when combined with data on the candidate's physical characteristics became a very good predictor of who would fail BUD/S (97%).
• While working with the Navy SEALs in San Diego, Eric frequently had guests come to observe the SEALs and how they worked. A lot of them were professional athletes like Tiger Woods, Lance Armstrong, Michael Phelps, and many more… While there, Eric asked to interview them. Over time he was able to build an extensive knowledge base of the mental approaches of the world’s top performers.
• “If your brain is firing, it’s wiring.” Learned from downhill skiers...
• Commonalities of leaders who sustain excellence:
  • They accelerate what they value. They move from reputation to identity. They worry less about what others think.
    • One of the biggest regrets of people on their deathbed is that they regret what they didn't do.
    • Capitlize now to have no regrets later.
    • Create a credo (your identity)
  • Mindset
    • They have a growth mindset (instead of a fixed mindset)
    • They are thirsty for feedback (they want feedback in victory and defeat)
    • Eric is agnostic about motivations - Clean fuel vs Dirty fuel
    • They have different mindsets for the roles they play
    • Think of yourself as a dimmer switch -- Sometimes you're white hot, sometimes you need to dim down
  • Efficient and Consistent
    • They manage their time well
    • They sleep 8 hours
    • They don't let life dictate what's important to them.
    • Time = Currency. Block time for what's most important. Color code your calendar.
  • Adversity Tolerance
    • They control their human stress response
    • They have a pre and post-performance routine
    • They set goals
    • They use visualization tools
    • They compartmentalize well
    • They use positive self-talk (they believe)
    • They are good contingency planners
    • They have high levels of self-awareness
    • Like a pilot, they have checklists for themselves
  • Balance and Recovery
    • The more balanced, the more productive
    • Feed all of your pillars
      • Work
      • Health
      • Relationships
      • Hobbies
      • Spirituality
      • Legacy
• Leadership role "Must-Haves"
  • Emotional Intelligence - "Feel for a room"
  • Empathy - Put our own perspective aside to understand others
  • Curiosity - A desire to learn, to know more

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Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12   https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12

• Charisma: Presence, Power, and Warmth - Show up, be fully there. In that moment with the person in front of you. Flip the switch. Understand your power. And deeply care for others. Be warm, not cold. And it’s important that each of these is expressed with authenticity. That’s how to develop more charisma.
• How to develop our protocol - A simple exercise. Get a sheet of paper. On one side write “DO.” On the other side, write “DON’T.” Think of yourself at your best, what do you do? That’s your protocol. And remember that the worse you feel, the more committed you need to be to your protocol
• It’s always day one. Brian thinks of his time spent with the Navy SEALs. They work to earn their trident every single day. Today is the day. It’s always the right day to earn it. It’s always day 1.
• Arete – An ancient Greek word. We translate it into English as ‘virtue’ or ‘excellence,’ but it has a deeper meaning. Something closer to ‘expressing the best version of yourself moment to moment to moment.’
• Inter-leaving - The basic idea is simple: If you want to learn something, you’re better off varying your practice rather than grooving one identical rep after another.
• Epictetus - One of his students took great lecture notes and captured his wisdom in a manual called the Enchiridion. The Greek word for Enchiridion is translated as “handbook,” and it’s important to note that the word literally means “within” + “hand.”
• Intrinsic versus Extrinsic motivation – Which motivation leads to greater levels of happiness and flourishing? Why? It’s why people who get to the peak of what David Brooks calls the “First Mountain” look around and wonder why they don’t feel fulfilled. They got all the stuff they were told would make them happy and… they’re not.
• Phil Stutz wrote the Foreword – Practice comprised of unusual people. “They refuse to be defined by any single accomplishment. Their Identity is based on a process of endless possibility. They don’t stop creating.”
  • Two primary obstacles getting in our way are fear and laziness. This comes from Phil Stutz...
• AM and PM Bookends – “Get these right and you’re 80% there.”
• Targeted thinking - What do I want? What's needed to get that done?
• Consistency - "Who you are speaks so loudly I cannot hear what you say."
• Unshakeable confidence -- Anti-fragile confidence. You have intense trust that you have what it takes to respond.
• Anti-Fragility - The more life kicks you around, the better you get.
• Emotional stamina - The worse you feel, the more committed you are to your protocol.
• Protocol - Think of yourself at your best... What are you doing?
• Hero - An ancient Greek word for protector
  • Get clear on your identity
  • Sleep, meditate, work out, work, love
• Pilots have checklists before they fly a plane... We should use one too each day.
• Create your "Do" and "Don't" list
• Intrinsic vs Extrinsic motivation -- Deepend relationships, help in your community, focus on your eulogy virtues today...
• Hire a coach... We all need a coach
  • A great coach has believable hope, they see your potential

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Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12   https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12

Greg Harden is best known for working with 7-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady. He also worked with Super Bowl MVP Desmond Howard, and 23-time Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps. Brady, Howard, and other athletes credit Harden with inspiring them to overcome obstacles and achieve success in their professional and personal lives. He’s the author of Stay Sane in an Insane World: How to Control the Controllables and Thrive. The book debuted at #1 on all of Amazon and is a New York Times bestseller.

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Read my book, The Pursuit Of Excellence -- See why Patrick Lencioni said "This book is an absolute must-read if you care to live an excellent life."

FORBES called WELCOME TO MANAGEMENT, "the best leadership book of 2020."

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Text Hawk to 66866 to become part of "Mindful Monday." Join 10's of thousands of your fellow learning leaders and receive a carefully curated email from me each Monday morning to help you start your week off right...

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Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12   https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12

• What makes a great interview?
  • They tell stories
  • It feels like your eavesdropping on their conversation (he takes you inside)
  • He disarms them with humor
  • Ask shorter questions…
• Take care of your people… Dan has had the Dannettes with him for many years. He listens to his teammates, Makes them part of his show, and truly cares for him. In return, they are there for him every day. It seems obvious, but it’s not. Dan is evidence that this approach works…
• Dan has been influenced by Howard Stern's interviewing style of always being curious... And he makes his staff part of the show.
• "I love being a voice in your head. You're in your car, driving, and I love being that voice in your head."
• Interviewing... Manage the tension. "Shorter questions get better answers."
• Dan met Adam Sandler at Madison Square Garden and agreed that he would be cast in his next movie... He has since been cast in many more.
• Dan shares the story of meeting Dave Matthews, spilling his beer on him, and then later singing karaoke with him.
• Dan is the author of The Occasionally Accurate Annals of Football: The NFL's Greatest Players, Plays, Scandals, and Screw-Ups (Plus Stuff We Totally Made Up)
• Leaving ESPN – Dan admitted he was hurt when good friend, Sports Illustrated writer Rick Reilly (who would move to ESPN) wrote, "Patrick was making one of the top 5 biggest career mistakes in entertainment history," ranking right under Shelley Long's leaving Cheers and Katie Couric's leaving NBC's Today show for the CBS Evening News.
• Life/Career advice:
  • Be humble, be hungry, have humility, and be ready to go when your opportunity presents itself. The old adage rings true, “You don’t have to get ready if you stay ready.” Always be ready for your opportunity.
• Retirement Tour – Dan Patrick announces he plans to continue the Dan Patrick Show for the next four-and-a-half years with the intention of retiring at the end of 2027.

Text Hawk to 66866 to become part of "Mindful Monday." Join 10's of thousands of your fellow learning leaders and receive a carefully curated email from me each Monday morning to help you start your week off right...

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Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12   https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12

• Change happens when we feel empowered. It’s on us to take responsibility for our lives and help others take responsibility for theirs. As leaders, change is more likely to happen for the people we are serving if we help them feel empowered.
• Listening is not a passive activity. Take it seriously. It starts with genuinely caring for the person you’re in conversation with.
• “Being disliked is a rite of passage.” Being disliked is normal. Being uncomfortable about being disliked is also normal. Reminding your Self that how you feel about your Self matters more than how others feel about you is key.
• Sense of self – “Sense of self is not something that is found… We create our sense of self…”
• "My interest in psychology stems from my personal experience living through wars, navigating complex relationships, and continually learning what it means to be human."
• This book is about facing ourselves –whatever version that might be, regardless of whether or not we like the person we see reflected back to us. It's about what's possible once we realize that we are responsible for who we become and how we live our lives (a daunting, but profoundly liberating idea). IT'S ON US to figure out the two most essential questions: "Who am I" and "Why am I here?" and then live accordingly.
• "I am thankful for my struggle because, without it, I wouldn't have stumbled across my strength."
• Repeat out loud: "I will stop giving second chances to people who don't want it, won't use it, or don't deserve it."
• "The deepest form of loneliness comes from being estranged from ourselves, not from others."
• "Comparison doesn’t just steal our joy, it also screws with our perspective."
• "Mistakes don’t have to define you. But what you choose to do after a mistake often does."
• "Just a gentle reminder: The worst-case scenario that you’re playing out in your head is probably not going to happen."
• "Don’t confuse the snippets you get to see of someone’s life (through media or a casual conversation) as their whole story. Give each other the courtesy of curiosity. Allow people to be undefined in your mind. Actively seek to see them, and allow them to show you who they are."
• "If you don’t have all the information, stop filling in the blanks with your imagination, fears or projections. It’s better to learn to sit with an unclear picture than to carry around an inaccurate one."
• "Instant gratification can be a form of self-harm."
• "If you’re doing the work, you deserve to be with someone who is also doing the work. It’s simple."
• "Relationship tip: When someone tells you what they want (or don’t want) through words or actions — listen. Stop assuming you know better than they do. It’s not your job to read their mind, anticipate their needs, or save them."

Text Hawk to 66866 to become part of "Mindful Monday." Join 10's of thousands of your fellow learning leaders and receive a carefully curated email from me each Monday morning to help you start your week off right...

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Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12   https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12

• What’s the Matthew Effect? The Matthew effect explains how two people can start in nearly the same place and end up worlds apart. In these kinds of systems, initial conditions matter. And as time goes on, they matter more and more.
• Instead of saving a fixed percentage of your income, save more when you earn more and less when you make less.
• The best way to save more is to earn more, not cut expenses to the point of being miserable.
• The real question money forces us to answer is what’s important to us in life.
• You should save what you can, when you can. Relying on a fixed, prescribed savings rate is nonsense.
  • The Dolly Varden trout, an Alaskan fish species, puzzled biologists for decades. Despite only having a brief window of plentiful food each year — when salmon laid eggs in their waters — the fish continued to thrive year-round. How did they do it? Eventually, scientists discovered that the fish shrink and grow their digestive organs depending on food availability. When the salmon show up, they speed up their metabolism so they can take in more calories. Then, when the other fish leave, they slow down digestion. This way, they get by with much less food throughout the remainder of the year.
• Great Things Take Time – Focusing on the long term is more important than ever. The story of the “Dashrath Manjhi Breakthrough” – He carved a path through a mountain. He moved a little bit of rock each day for 20 years.
• Nick committed to writing one blog per week in 2017. And it changed his life. He learned that storytelling is what captures a reader’s attention. And the way to develop good stories is to read a lot, from a wide variety of sources. We all can do this.
• One decision can change everything. NASA decided that Voyager 2 would slingshot around planets has made it the farthest man-made object from Earth. And it’s still producing information for us.
• The Constant Reminder – How the Right Decisions and Compounding Can Lead to Huge Results. How have the decisions made by NASA 40 years ago had a profound effect on the Voyager missions and success to this day? Once a successful process is implemented, the results can be surprising. The point is to show you that making the right choices and letting things run their course can lead to incredible results. This is what makes consistent actions and the power of compounding so amazing. "When I think about creating a new habit in my life, I like to imagine all of the future benefits from that habit discounted back to the moment when the habit is formed."

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Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12   https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12

• The pursuit of mastery is part of a process. It’s an orientation towards experience. It’s about being fully absorbed in the moment.
• Our fear of other people’s opinions (FOPO) has become irrational and unproductive, and its negative effects reach far beyond performance. If you start paying less and less attention to what makes you you—your talents, beliefs, and values—and start conforming to what others may or may not think, you’ll harm your potential.
• Acknowledgments: “To Lisa, the love of my life. “It’s because of you that I no longer pray for calm waters, but to rather test the strength of our sails.”
• Basing self-worth on performance –  when the core motivation of pursuing excellence is proving our self-worth, mistakes, failures, opinions, and criticism are experienced as threats rather than learning opportunities.
• A Learner’s Mindset  - A student came to a renowned monk and asked to learn about Zen Buddhism. Shortly after the monk launched into his discourse, the student interrupted him and said, “Oh, I already know that” in an attempt to impress the monk. The monk suggested they discuss the matter over tea. When the tea was ready, the monk poured the tea into a teacup, filled it to the brim—and then continued to pour—spilling tea over the sides of the cup and onto the table. The student watched the overflowing cup until he could no longer restrain himself, “Stop! You can’t pour tea into a full cup.” The monk set the teapot down and replied, “Exactly. Return to me when your cup is empty.”
  • “Anchoring our sense of self in discovery is not a cop-out to avoid committing to who we are; rather, it’s simply an acknowledgment that we change with time.”
• Harvard psychology professor Dan Gilbert points out, “Human beings are works in progress that mistakenly think they’re finished.”
• Purpose over Approval – From a young age, we are conditioned to seek approval. Over time, we develop a built-in mechanism to check outside ourselves to see if everything is okay. But… we have another choice. That is our purpose…
• “Purpose is the belief that you are alive to do something. It is an internally derived, generalized intention that’s both meaningful to you and consequential to the world beyond you.”
• Optimism isn't soft. in fact, it sits at the center of mental toughness. Have you conditioned your mind for optimism?
• Dr. Mike has worked with Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, and his leadership team to develop psychological principles and practices for high-performing teams and cultures.
• As a sport psychology consultant, he was a member of the Seattle Seahawks team for 9 seasons, including two back-to-back Super Bowl appearances (winning in 2014). His primary objective was to assist Head Coach, Pete Carroll, to build a mindset-based culture.
• For Red Bull Stratos, Dr. Mike helped Felix Baumgartner manage his mind and body under pressure for his record-setting skydive from 128,000 feet.
• We need to make a fundamental commitment to practice at the edge of our capacity. One of the prompts I use in my life is, “What did I do today to push my edges?” What did I do that was uncomfortable… And making the commitment to stack day after day of pushing my edges makes that comfort zone bigger and bigger. Ask yourself, “What did I do today to push my edges?”
• FOPO shows up almost everywhere in our lives—and the consequences are great. When we let FOPO take control, we play it safe and small because we're afraid of what will happen on the other side of critique. When challenged, we surrender our viewpoint. We trade in authenticity for approval. We please rather than provoke. We chase the dreams of others rather than our own.

Text Hawk to 66866 to become part of "Mindful Monday." Join 10's of thousands of your fellow learning leaders and receive a carefully curated email from me each Monday morning to help you start your week off right...

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Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12   https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12

• Gratitude – For Tim’s last speech as a congressman, he said “It’s an honor to be a citizen of the United States. I think we get out of this mess we’re in, the polarization, the hate, the anger, the fear… The first step out of that is with gratitude.”
• Tim opens by sharing the impact his high school football coaches had on him and why playing quarterback at John F. Kennedy High School prepared him for life as a leader...
• In 2002, Tim ran for the United States House of Representatives for the 17th District.  Tim was initially seen as an underdog in a 6-way primary. He was elected at age 29.
• "There is an exhausted majority in the country, and they feel like they don't have any political home at all," Ryan said, describing his target audience as those who have been "checking out." "That's maddening because that gives a bigger voice to those forces of division and hate and anger, so we want to build an organization that welcomes these people to participate.”
• AOC endorsed Tim for his Senate run in 2022. And he said, “It’s not helpful here. Nor did I seek it.”
• David Axelrod said about Tim's 2022 Senate Run that “he's running the best campaign in the country. And the best campaign in the country may not be enough.”
• “Dave Matthews has inspired me to live a better life, to do what’s right, that it’s okay to care about each other."
  • “There may be some things where we don’t agree, but I think we need to have decent people that care about us in government, and I think Tim is a decent man.” -- Dave Matthews
  • “I’m honored to have Dave Matthews, one of my absolute favorite musicians, in the Buckeye State to fire up our team and bring this thing home.”
• Being in the moment – The campaign trail is grueling. Every day is a new town with new people. And you need to get up and give your stump speech, listen to people, and tell compelling stories. His mantra of “I am only in control of this stump speech,” and Tim’s ability to stay in the moment was critical and is a key reason why he’s done so well over the years.
• Tim's grandfather… And the impact he had on his life. “He was there."
  • Regardless of the weather or whatever he had going on, Tim felt his grandfather’s presence as a servant leader. This is an excellent reminder for us as leaders that our first job is to show up consistently for those we are leading.

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Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12   https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12

• “Intention means every decision, from the most obviously significant to the seemingly mundane, matters.”
• “My dad says “The best way to learn is to teach.” He taught me to study for tests as if I were going in to deliver a presentation. At EMP, I made teaching part of our culture.”
  • "Public speaking is a leadership skill."
• Excellence is about small details — A couple of examples of that were lighting and music.
  • “Maybe people don’t notice every single individual detail, but in aggregate, they’re powerful. In any great business, most of the details you closely attend to are ones that only a tiny, tiny percentage of people will notice.”
• "Some of the best advice I ever got about starting in a new organization is; Don’t cannonball. Ease into the pool."
• Magic: “Too many people approach creative brainstorming by taking what’s practical into consideration way too early in the process. Start with what you want to achieve, instead of limiting yourself to what’s realistic or sustainable.”
• “Sometimes magic is just someone spending more time on something than anyone else might reasonably expect.” – Penn and Teller
• "Often, the perfect moment to give someone more responsibility is before they’re ready."
• The daily 30-minute meeting: “A daily 30-minute meeting is where a collection of individuals becomes a team.”
• Find hidden treasures: Will's dad had his own platoon in Vietnam. It wasn’t a great platoon. On it was a guy nicknamed Kentucky, Kentucky was lazy and wasn’t in great shape. He wasn’t that smart, but he was skilled directionally and had a great feel for being in the woods. 
  • “A leader’s responsibility is to identify the strengths of the people on their team, no matter how buried those strengths might be.”
• “Business like life is all about how you make people feel. It’s that simple and that hard.” - Danny Meyer
• "In restaurants, our reason for being is to make people feel, seen, it's to make them feel welcome, it's to give them a sense of belonging. The food, the service, the design, they are simply ingredients in the recipe of human connection"
• “The One Minute Manager by Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson. I still give The One Minute Manager to every person I promote. It’s an amazing resource, in particular on how to give feedback. My biggest takeaways were: Criticize the behavior, not the person. Praise in public; criticize in private. Praise with emotion, criticize without emotion.”
• “What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?”
• “What criticism offers you, then, is an invitation to have your perspective challenged—or at least to grow by truly considering it. You might stick with a choice you’ve been criticized for or end up somewhere completely different. The endgame isn’t the point as much as the process: you grow when you engage with another perspective and decide to decide again.”
• “The aggregation of marginal gains,” or a small improvement in a lot of areas. In his words: “The whole principle came from the idea that if you broke down everything you could think of that goes into riding a bike, and then improve it by 1 percent, you will get a significant increase when you put them all together.”

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• Arnold Schwarzenegger wrote the foreword. “I’ve known Adam for more than 10 years. In addition to being one of the smartest people in nutrition I’ve met, he’s the perfect person to blaze a better path that provides a more direct, realistic, and effective way to improve your health and mindset and achieve your goals.”
• Take the attitude of an intern. Adam shares how he impressed Arnold Schwarzenegger. Be kind. Show up. Be consistent. Do great work. Don’t be greedy. Be generous. And keep going. That great work led to the introduction to LeBron James. Adam has done a great job of making the most of the luck he’s received.
• Self-perception: how changing your thoughts and releasing mental baggage make adopting new behaviors, such as eating healthy, easier.
• This is a thorough examination of why most diet plans fail, including research and case studies that demonstrate the inefficacy of restriction.
• Book Dedication: “Dad, You were given a death sentence and turned it into a life sentence. That’s the power of a different mindset. Thanks for showing me the way. I love you.” Adam's dad was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer and he's been very optimistic in the face of it. 
  • "Most people fail physically because they are broken mentally."
• Inversion: Start at the end. Anticipate that you didn't achieve your goal, and ask why? And then ask, how do I prevent that from happening?
• The three tactical things you can do:
  • Self-perception - Believe you can do it
  • Find things you love and don't remove them
  • Add 1 or 2 new behaviors that are easy to win
• How to manage your diet:
  • Slow down your eating
  • Create a meal boundary (have open and closed kitchen times)
  • Low fat vs Low carbs - Protein and fiber are needed
• Have no 0% weeks. Make progress.

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Eric Musselman is the head men’s basketball coach at the University of Arkansas. Prior to his time at Arkansas, he was a head coach in the NBA with the Golden State Warriors and the Sacramento Kings. He’s also spent time as the national coach for the Dominican Republic National Team and The Venezuela National Team.

• Learn from others. Muss shared many examples of times he's gone to other practices to watch and learn. He prefers to watch how and NFL runs practice and he's modeled his practices after NFL teams. And sends his coaches to do the same. This is something we should do in corporate America. Connect with leaders at other companies and visit them. Watch their meetings, their 1 on 1s, and embed yourself in their culture for a few days. 
  • When Muss got fired as the coach of the Golden State Warriors, he was offered office space (from Mike Lombardi) at the Oakland Raiders facility. While there, he learned the ins and outs of running a professional program and has modeled a lot of his system from that experience.
• Leadership "Must-Haves" to be on his staff:
  • Loyalty
  • Will to win
  • Specialty area of expertise
• Meetings: PREPARE a lot. Grab their attention. Keep them on their toes with surprises. All of these things can be done in business meetings… BUT it takes time and effort to do it well.
• Muss's life philosophy is to be a constant learner AND a great communicator. He takes pages of notes with him to the gym every morning and reads, takes notes, and highlights the entire time. Then he synthesizes what he’s learned and shares it with his team. We all can do this. Again, it takes intentional effort, but it’s worth it.
• At the beginning of each practice, he does a “classroom” session with his team. He teaches a life lesson or a lesson on basketball.
• Family Coaching Legacy – Musselman’s father Bill was also an NBA head coach and they were the first father-son combination to become head coaches in the NBA. His sons work with him at Arkansas.
• “Muss is a magician with how he communicates with referees.” He works to build a genuine relationship with them.
• His coaching staff has metrics they produce that help him engineer how playing time and combinations of players on the floor can produce a win.
• His practices are legendary. Like a well-oiled machine. Everyone has a role. And they are open to the public.
  • If a player isn’t in a drill, he better be on the sideline dribbling or practicing his game in some way. Always improving, always working.
• Muss has a reputation for being the college coach who can get you to the NBA. He is extremely well-connected in the NBA. If a kid wants to enter the draft, Muss will do his homework to see where he thinks he'll get drafted, and then sit down with the kid and his parents to give him feedback.
• He revolutionized the use of the transfer portal and is extremely organized when a new prospect pops up.
• On his blog, Musselman wrote about the importance of matching an offense to the "team's makeup." Depending on the roster, a half-court offense might make more sense. In other cases, a team may be better suited for an "open offense." According to Musselman, the idea is to allow players to "play to their strengths."

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• How to respond instead of react… The 4 P’s:
  • Pause
  • Process
  • Plan
  • Proceed — Using the 4 Ps will increase your chances of responding better than reacting quickly
• Non-Dual thinking. It’s not this OR that. It’s this AND that. It’s not self-discipline or self-compassion. It can be both. As we learn more, we become more reasonable. The world is not black and white. We can live in the gray and embrace it.
• Brad's core values:
  • Life is the doing of his life (activities, health, workouts, showing up)
  • Love is the being of his life (family, being there for the most important people)
• A new model for navigating change and disorder – A neuroscientist and a biologist coined the phrase allostasis. Allostasis comes from the Greek allo, which means “variable,” and stasis, which means “standing.” Allostasis is defined as “Stability through change.”
• When Brad went to the University of Michigan, he couldn’t go to football games. “It felt pointless to be in the stands instead of on the field, too close to something the loss of which I was still grieving.”
• Science shows that when you fight change, your body releases the stress hormone cortisol.
• Hard Times are always hard – But with practice, they get easier… In a multi-year study of more than 2,000 adults aged 18 to 101 published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, University of Buffalo psychologist, Mark Seery and colleagues found that people who had experienced medium levels of adversity were both higher-functioning and more satisfied with their lives than those who had experienced extremely high levels of adversity as well as those who had experienced hardly any adversity at all…
• Five Questions for Embracing Change:
  • Where in your life are you pursuing fixity where it might be beneficial to open yourself to the possibility, or in some cases, the inevitability of change?
  • In what parts of your life are you holding on to unrealistic expectations?
  • Are there elements of your identity to which you cling too tightly?
  • How might you use your core values– the rugged and flexible boundaries of your identity– to help you navigate the challenges of your life?
  • In what circumstances do you tend to react when you would benefit from responding, and what conditions predispose you to that?
• 10 Tools for Developing Rugged Flexibility:
  • Embrace non-dual thinking
  • Adopt a being orientation
  • Frequently update your expectations to match reality
  • Practice tragic optimism, commit to wise hop, and take wise action
  • Actively differentiate and integrate your sense of self
  • View the world with independent and interdependent lenses
  • Respond to change with the 4 Ps
  • Lean on routines (and rituals) to provide stabiliy during periods of disorder
  • Use behavioral activation
  • Don’t force meaning and growth; let them come on their own time
• True confidence comes from evidence, and it allows you to OWN YOUR SEAT. Owning your seat does not mean certainty, nor does it mean a complete lack of doubts. It means taking your doubts with you and stepping into the arena no less—because you've done the work.
• Easy: showing up when you are at your best and everything is clicking.
• Hard: showing up when you are in a hole and the current is going against you. Most everyone can do the former. But it's the latter that has a huge impact on lasting progress, fulfillment, and success.
• Progress is nonlinear. Keep pounding the stone. Some days nothing happens. Some days it cracks a little bit more. Occasionally, it splits wide open. The implication of this truth is both simple and significant: If you’re addicted to visible progress, then sooner or later, you’ll burn out of whatever you’re pursuing. This is a big reason so many people quit after the honeymoon phase of trying something new.
• Brad's 3 non-negotiable daily practices for physical and mental well-being: 1. Forty-five to ninety minutes of physical activity. 2. At least one deep-focus block of sixty to ninety minutes on good, meaningful work. 3. Do not fight evening sleepiness, which usually means bed by 10PM.
• Don't define yourself by what you have. Define yourself by who you are. On developing a BEING over HAVING orientation, and the strength and freedom that comes with it.

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Matt Higgins was an executive for the New York Jets and then the Miami Dolphins. He Co-Founded RSE Ventures with Miami Dolphins owner, Stephen Ross. Matt was a guest shark on ABC’s Shark Tank (seasons 10-11), He is an executive fellow at Harvard Business School, and he recently published a book called, Burn The Boats, Toss Plan B Overboard and Unleash Your Full Potential...

• Matt's Mom: “My mother, Linda, died with $100 in her bank account, but I inherited the most valuable gift a parent can give a child: limitless faith in my ability to figure anything out.”
• Matt gave the 2019 commencement speech at Queens College – According to Vanity Fair Contributing Editor Paul Goldberger, "This is a magnificent and truly inspiring speech that everyone should read. If you think commencement speeches are made of cliches, this one will change your mind."
• The most important ingredient to professional success: “Make yourself indispensable at whatever task you’re doing and you’ll always have a job.”
• Research proves that the mere contemplation of Plan B statistically reduces the probability Plan A will ever materialize.
• The advice Matt got from Daymond John on how to handle imposter syndrome on his first day of filming Shark Tank: "You belong here because you are here."
• How to raise your kids to not be spoiled when you can provide anything they'd ever want?
  • There is nobility in work. Ensure they do hard things and do real work.
• Matt's "must-have" qualities when hiring a leader:
  • Confidence + Humility
  • Empathy
  • They just "figure it out"
  • They are a servant leader -- They can "plug holes"
• Matt's four-step process:
  • What's the worst that could happen?
  • If it doesn't work out, what will I do?
  • What's the probability the bad stuff will happen?
  • What pain am I willing to endure to make it happen?
• "Burn the boats for goals, not tactics."

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Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12   https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12

Alex Hormozi is an entrepreneur, investor, and author of 3 bestselling books $100M Offers, Leads, and Money Models. He’s founded and exited 3 companies, the largest for $46.2M in 2021. He and his wife Leila are the managing partners of Acquisition.com - a portfolio of companies that generate in aggregate $200M per year. He also makes mistakes and candidly shares his painful lessons with other entrepreneurs. Today he publicly documents his lessons on his path from $100M net worth to $1B.

• Confidence: “You don't become confident by shouting affirmations in the mirror, but by having a stack of undeniable proof that you are who you say you are. Outwork your self-doubt.”
• Work: "The work works on you more than you work on it."
• For anyone debating whether to marry a partner. These 2 lenses were useful:
  • How have my stats changed since they entered my life? (wealth, health, time)
  • Would I go to war with them?
    • They flow from what Alex wants:
      • Growth
      • Hard goals
• Document your life more. Otherwise, you’ll forget the details. And the details are what make it worth remembering. (homework for life)
• Alex shared a vulnerable story about not wanting to live anymore when he was 21. He had graduated from Vanderbilt in 3 years (manga cum laude), had a great consulting job, and was on his way up the corporate ladder. And he hated it. He was living his dad's dream, not his own. So he quit. And didn't call his dad until he was well on his way to California to start over. 
• "A leading indicator that someone is not an independent thinker is that they agree (or disagree) with every single point of a political party. Also applies to seeing no fault (or 100% fault) in particular leaders."
• “Volume negates luck”
• What makes a great sales professional:
  • Clear communication
  • Conviction
  • Be honest... And have a desire to help your customer
• Life Lessons Alex wishes he had learned earlier:
  • Talk less, listen more… (He messed this up earlier in his career by talking too much)
  • The hardest respect to earn is one's own
  • If you want to control what people think, control what they say – “Equip people with simple language so that they can communicate what you do.”
  • “You get more out of reading 1 book that’s great 5 times, than out of reading 5 mediocre books.” – “If your behavior doesn’t change as a result of reading the book, then it means you’ve learned nothing.”
  • You are going to die – 2 weeks after you die, most people will have forgotten about you. 
  • Extraordinary accomplishments come from doing ordinary things for extraordinary periods of time.
  • If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well
  • Be willing to negotiate everything except for your values
  • Humility - Sacrifice for the group. Give more to the company. Give to the group.
• Hormozi Law:
  • The longer you delay the ask, the bigger the ask you can make. The longer the runway, the bigger the plane that can take off.
  • "At your funeral, friends and family will argue over who gets what. People will want food to eat. The topic will shift from your life to their lives. They'll drive away thinking about their looming to-do list. Some people won't be able to make it because "something came up." A reminder of the heavy weight we place on things that matter little."
  • "There’s no greater waste of time than justifying your actions to people who have a life you don’t want."
  • "The easiest way to change behavior is to change your environment."
• Alex's great-great-grandfather had 400 children.
• "Never skip dessert." 
• "My life has never gotten worse by removing mediocre people."

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Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12   https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12

Jack Raines is a student at Columbia Business School and the writer of YoungMoney.co – Young Money is a finance blog that covers a wide variety of life topics like why we should travel more, timeless advice, the use of humor, the 6 types of wealth, and infinite games. Jack is one of my favorite writers on the internet…

• Infinite Games – “The focus on outcome over everything leads to us discounting 99% of our lives for the sake of a few, small, fleeting moments that might provide some sense of satisfaction before the cycle begins anew.”
  • It’s not about getting to the top of the mountain, it’s about the person you become along the way.
• Why We Should Travel More – Rolf Potts, Vagabonding. “The explorer has no goal other than exploration itself.”
• The Opportunity Cost of Everything – The Journey IS the Destination. Life isn't a Pixar film. It's not a television series. Our life isn't some chain of events and decisions that leads to a climax. A final moment of victory. Life is the chain of events itself.
  • “Someday isn’t a day.”
• The purpose of Jack's finance blog: “I write a finance blog that is really, like, idk? Maybe 40% finance? The rest is existential musings, satire, the occasional exclamation that Americans seriously need to travel more, and whatever random stuff comes through my brain.”
• Jack's LinkedIn satirical posts: “I take nothing seriously, but I do take the serious things pretty seriously. Linkedin isn't one of the serious things.”
• How Jack built a large following online: "I have published approximately 450,000 words of content in an 18-month period." Whatever it is that we want to do, in order to get good, we have to get going. We have to get the reps…
• The Case for Living Life Backwards – “You should write your obituary, and then try to figure out how to live up to it.”

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Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12   https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12

Dr. Julie Gurner is a doctor of psychology and is a nationally recognized executive performance coach for individual and corporate clients primarily in finance and technology. Trusted by top percentile talent and their teams to help them achieve world-class performance in fast-paced, high-pressure, extremely competitive environments. She's been compared to Wendy Rhoades of "Billions" in The Wall Street Journal (2019), and named a “Game Changer” by IBM.

Notes:

• High Standards: Holding a high bar is uncomfortable because it is "exclusionary," and most people want to make everyone around them happy & comfortable. If you hold a standard, it can't include everything... Figuring out your line & holding to it, will mean some tough conversations.
• “I think that there are two ways of looking at things that have happened to you. You can be a victim or you can be a survivor. Those are two very different cognitive positions."
• Balance: “People will tell you in books that you have to live a “balanced life,” but if we are completely honest, almost all great things are born from periods of imbalance.”
• Staying Small: A concept I believe, is that most people stay small, or don't go for what they truly want...because they believe that "imaginary rules" are true
• Be a Learner: The worst professionals, are the ones that stop learning the moment they graduate from school. And they are the majority. Being autodidactic - a self-learner - who also takes initiative, will have you in the top 10% of anything you take on.
• Goals: If your goals are "realistic," you are operating in a box. Check yourself. "If you want to be a game changer, you can’t blend in."
• Know Yourself: When people are unable to commit to anything, it’s because they don’t know who they are. Shiny objects professionally (or personally) reflect a lack of certainty.
• When you get a genuine shot in the arm from what you do...of course, it's going to be hard to stop doing it. You're on fire. So many people are living their lives with the volume turned down. They don't get it. You don't have to live that way. Crank that energy up.
• "The people who rise aren't always the most talented or capable, but they are fueled by self-belief. Once you understand that, much of the business world makes sense."
• The difference between persistence and tenacious… persistent people stick to the plan to get to the goal. Tenacious people may change their plans altogether.
• A trait in the people who go on to do great things? Paul Graham defines it as being “relentlessly resourceful.” I see it all the time. Here’s a practical zero-to-one process to be relentlessly resourceful, if you want to set yourself up for some big swings.
• Julie goes on a daily walk around her farm. She uses that walk to reflect, think, and be outside. It helps her synthesize information. 
• What makes a great executive coach?
  • A sweet spot between talking and listening... A great executive coach gives their clients space to talk. They listen. They ask great follow-up questions. They help unlock people. They help them become multipliers. 
• How to deal with imposter syndrome?
  • "You probably have the ability, but you're not understanding your own story." It's important to keep taking chances. To keep meeting the moment. Julie helps her clients tap in to and write their own stories. 

Text Hawk to 66866 to become part of "Mindful Monday." Join 10's of thousands of your fellow learning leaders and receive a carefully curated email from me each Monday morning to help you start your week off right...

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Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12   https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12

Aron Ralston is a mountaineer, mechanical engineer, and best-selling author known for surviving a canyoneering accident by cutting off part of his own right arm. On April 26, 2003, during a solo descent of Bluejohn Canyon in southeastern Utah, he dislodged a boulder, pinning his right wrist to the side of the canyon wall. After five days, he had to break his forearm, amputate it with a dull pocket knife to break free, make his way through the rest of the canyon, rappel down a 65-foot drop, and hike 7 miles to safety. The incident is documented in Aron’s autobiography Between a Rock and a Hard Place and is the subject of the 2010 film 127 Hours in which he is portrayed by James Franco. After the accident, Aron continued mountaineering and became the first person to ascend all of Colorado's fourteeners solo in winter.

• "Turn boulders into blessings."
• During this conversation, Aron takes us through the 127 hours from when his right arm was pinned under a boulder until he was resting safely in a hospital bed. Along the way, he shares key learnings that all of us can take from his experience.
• In April 2003, Aron was canyoneering alone through Bluejohn Canyon, in Utah, just south of the Horseshoe Canyon unit of Canyonlands National Park. While he was descending the lower stretches of the slot canyon, a suspended boulder dislodged while he was climbing down from it. The boulder first smashed his left hand and then crushed his right hand against the canyon wall. Aron had not informed anyone of his hiking plans, nor did he have any way to call for help.
  • Assuming that he would die without intervention, he spent five days slowly sipping his small amount of remaining water, approximately 350 ml (12 imp fl oz), and slowly eating his small amount of food, two burritos, while repeatedly trying to extricate his arm. His efforts were futile as he was unable to free his arm from the 800 lb (360 kg) chockstone. After three days of trying to lift and break the boulder, the dehydrated and delirious Ralston prepared to amputate his trapped arm at a point on the mid-forearm in order to escape. After having experimented with tourniquets and having made exploratory superficial cuts to his forearm, he realized, on the fourth day, that in order to free his arm he would have to cut through the bones in it, but the tools available were insufficient to do so.
  • After running out of food and water on the fifth day, Aron decided to drink his own urine. He carved his name, date of birth, and presumed date of death into the sandstone canyon wall, and videotaped his last goodbyes to his family. He did not expect to survive the night, but as he attempted to stay warm he began hallucinating and had a vision of himself playing with a future child while missing part of his right arm. Aron credited this as giving him the belief that he would live.
  • After waking at dawn the following day he discovered that his arm had begun to decompose due to the lack of circulation, and became desperate to tear it off.  Aron then had an epiphany that he could break his radius and ulna bones using torque against his trapped arm. He did so, then amputated his forearm with his multi-tool, using the dull 2-inch knife and pliers for the tougher tendons. The painful process took an hour, during which time he used tubing from a CamelBak as a tourniquet, taking care to leave major arteries until last. The manufacturer of the multi-tool was never named, but Aron said "It was not a Leatherman but what you'd get if you bought a $15 flashlight and got a free multi-use tool."
  • After freeing himself, Ralston climbed out of the slot canyon in which he had been trapped, rappelled down a 65-foot sheer wall, then hiked out of the canyon. He was 8 miles from his car and had no phone. However, after 6 miles of hiking, he encountered a family on vacation from the Netherlands; Eric and Monique Meijer and their son Andy, who gave him food and water and hurried to alert the authorities. Aron had feared he would bleed to death; he had lost 40 pounds, including 25% of his blood volume. Rescuers searching for Ralston, alerted by his family that he was missing, had narrowed the search down to Canyonlands and he was picked up by a helicopter in a wide area of the canyon. He was rescued approximately four hours after amputating his arm.
• The STOP acronym: Stop (pause), Think (brainstorm), Observation, Plan
  • Stop
  • Think
  • Observe
  • Plan
• "Commitment is the first step."
• At one point when Aron's arm was stuck under the giant rock, he filmed his "goodbyes" to each family member.
  • "Who would you say your goodbyes to and what would you say?" Aron realized that life is all about loving relationships.
• "You can't hold despair and gratitude at the same time."
• 127 Hours - There is no force so powerful as the will to live.
  • Aron's version: "There's no force so powerful as the will to love."
• "Welcome adversity. It helps you grow."
• "Find gratitude for the worst thing that's ever happened to you."
• “Passion. That which I suffer, allow, endure, is done to me.”

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Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12   https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12

• Be on time. It's not okay to be late. As the leader, we have to set the right example.
• There is a narrow path to Top Gun, but Dave made it...
• Dave served as an ANGLICO Forward Air Controller supporting the Army’s 1st Armored Division during extensive urban combat operations on the ground in Ramadi, Iraq in 2006. He led his supporting arms liaison team on scores of combat missions into the most dangerous neighborhoods and accompanied SEAL Task Unit Bruiser on virtually every major operation in the Battle of Ramadi. He was the only Marine selected to fly the F-22 Raptor having served as an exchange officer at the Air Force’s 422nd Test and Evaluation Squadron as the Division Commander. He became the first operational pilot ever to fly and be qualified in the F-35B, serving as the Commanding Officer of the Marine Corps’ first F-35 squadron from 2012-2014.
• Balancing courage and confidence with humility - It’s a must to surround yourself with others who continue to push you and keep your ego in check.
• The attributes of a Top Gun instructor: Willing to learn and Able to teach. Great leaders seem to have those same qualities.
• Dave’s choice to volunteer to fight on the ground is what led him to meet Jocko Willink and thus change his life. Stepping up and doing a job that others don’t want to do, and taking that responsibility can lead to amazing opportunities.
• A Top Gun pilot must balance courage and confidence with humility.
• You need a great support group around you to keep in check.
• Your ego, however, can be helpful at times. "It allows you to do things that others say can't be done."
• How to deal with negative self-talk?
  • "We all deal with it. Relax. Take a step back. Breathe. Detach from the situation."

Text Hawk to 66866 to become part of "Mindful Monday." Join 10's of thousands of your fellow learning leaders and receive a carefully curated email from me each Monday morning to help you start your week off right...

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Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12   https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12

• Own it, live it, create it, see it, say it, change it, honor it, punish it, repeat it, evaluate it all. – The core components to building a world-class culture.
• Who are your foxhole people? They are the ones who are there when it’s hard and they’re there to celebrate when it’s great. They are honest, caring, and they love you. The best way to build a great foxhole group? Be a loving, caring, and honest friend to others.
• How to build a great foundation which sets you up to build a great culture? Be trustworthy and trust-WILLING person. Be vulnerable, open, and honest, and create opportunities for shared suffering. It takes time and intentional effort, but it’s worth it.
• Geron was always leading the younger quarterbacks when he was in high school. “The quarterbacks stay. You need to know what’s going on, for now, and in the future”
• Coach Dave Carroll had a huge impact on how Geron coaches... Tough, demanding, high expectations. He wasn't for everyone.
• From Brook Cupps: "From my perspective, it’s been really cool to watch his progression from a self-serving arrogant kid to an ultra-impactful leader and father."
• Geron's purpose is to maximize people. Here is how he lives that out...
  • Own It – Come to grips with my #1 Job - Get the most out of people. More than they can ever imagine. It HAS to be a love thing! Can I get them to work, care, execute, serve, give, and love more than they ever have in their life? My job. Not their’s. Wake up every day knowing my responsibility. “I’ve gotta get the best out of these guys today.”
  • Live It – I set the example for everything. I AM THE STANDARD! Have to be. Am I trying to maximize myself? Every. Day! How do I show up? Do I represent the values I’m trying to pull out of the people? They aren’t going to do it by themselves. They can’t. Stop expecting them to! I need to show them to engage them. Am I pouring my heart and soul into everything that I can?!? “The best thing you can ever give someone is a strong example,” “Preach the gospel every day, and sometimes use words.”
  • Create It - Environment matters. Cultivate relationships every single day. Do they walk in knowing we’re getting better today? Energy. Enthusiasm. Struggle. Hard, Tough. Work. Demanding. Constant. Growth. Whatever level you’re at. Just. Get. Better. EVERY. DAY! My relationships, time, & effort with my people is the soil! Maniacal about who, what, and how. Everybody! All the time. Daily requirement: get the environment ready for growth!
  • See It - See it as it is. See it better than it is. If I can’t see it better, how do I make it better? Reality to vision. The best see it at a different level. Extremely high standards! Competence matters. What is an acceptable standard? Can it be done better?
  • Say It – Any and all feedback. Do I care enough to tell them? Usually with questions! Intent matters. Relationships matter. Make it personal! It doesn’t have to be said exactly the right way. IT NEEDS TO BE SAID. They have to HEAR it & internalize it. “Good job” doesn’t exist in our world.
  • Change It – It must improve. Whatever it takes. Fix/correct/punish/measure until it actually changes. Spend extra time. Refuse to accept excuses. I love you so we have to make this better. Continue saying it!
  • Honor/Punish It – Celebrate. Loudly. Be specific. Recognize it. Measure it. Reward it. Make it a big deal. Every important detail. Ingrain it into the culture of the group. “That’s not how we do things here.”
  • Repeat It – Do it over and over and over and over again. The hardest part isn’t doing it. The hardest part is doing it every single moment, every single day, over and over and over. 
  • Evaluate It All – What is working? What isn’t? How do we keep getting better? What needs to be changed? CONSTANT. 24/7365. ARE WE GETTING THEIR BEST? Fanatical about improvement.
• Daily Questions To Ask Yourself:
  • Am I at my best?
  • Are my intentions right?
  • How can I get the most out of everybody today?
• I need to be on fire. Energy/Attitude is right. Seeking ways to make an impact. Is it about me or about them? Act your way into feelings. What do they need? Pushed? Pulled? Energized? Inspired? Demanded?

Text Hawk to 66866 to become part of "Mindful Monday." Join 10's of thousands of your fellow learning leaders and receive a carefully curated email from me each Monday morning to help you start your week off right...

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Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12   https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12

• You can’t heal a body you hate. We only get one body. It’s all we have. If it stops working or is working poorly, that affects all other elements of our lives. It’s worth it to make this our top priority.
• We’re looking for optimal, not average. If you’re listening to this podcast, you probably do not want to be average. And when it comes to the most important thing in your life (your body), I would hope that you don’t want that to be average. To be an effective leader for others, our body needs to be in optimal shape.
• Cut these 5 foods:
  • Gluten-containing grains
  • Industrial seed oils
  • Added sugar,
  • Conventional dairy
  • Alcohol
• After over a decade as a functional medicine expert, Dr. Cole discerned that shame can cause gut inflammation and sabotage wellness through what he’s named “Shameflammation.” When you send signals to your brain that you are overwhelmed, overworked, or overtired, your body reacts. Shameflammation can be the cause of chronic health conditions such as autoimmune disorders, depression, and more.
• Chronic stress is the ultimate junk food."
• Too much sugar has consequences beyond the waistline.
• Functional medicine is informed consent.
• 75% of your immune system is in your gut.
• Get back on track. Days are long, years are short.
• Testosterone Replacement Therapy? Work with a doctor, get labs, and choose to use based on what your doctor and your labs say.
• "Use meals as a medicine and a meditation."
  • "Ask yourself... Does this food love me back?"

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Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12   https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12

• Consistency creates your future. Show up each day and do the work. Sounds simple, but it’s much harder in practice. Consistency is not sexy, but it builds trust and it creates your future.
• T.U.N.E. - 
  • T = Trust and truth 
  • U = Unite with love
  • N = Neutralize the negativity. “I do not let anyone walk through my mind with their dirty feet.” - Gandhi
  • E = Elevate your thinking. With gratitude, optimism, and belief
• How to handle imposter syndrome - One sheet of paper. On one side write your negative thoughts. On the other side write words of encouragement. Again, this sounds basic, but it’s been proven to work.
• Navigate the Roller Coaster of our Mind: Take on our challenges in life with confidence and power instead of fear and insecurity.
• Recognize & Overcome the Five Ds of Negative Thought: Doubt, Distortion, Discouragement, Distraction, and Division.
• The root of the Greek word for anxious means “to separate and divide” When we are anxious, we feel divided. The key is to move towards “oneness”.
• Tune into More Positive Thoughts: Jon explains a revolutionary idea that the brain is an antenna, and we can elevate our minds with proven strategies. For example, we can’t be stressed and thankful at the same time. When we appreciate, we elevate.
• Override Fear with Love: Let love (the ultimate driver of grit) be the driving force behind our work and vocation, unlocking new levels of determination, devotion and success.
• Improve Mental Health & Relationships: Move from disconnection, loneliness and isolation to connection, healing, and wholeness. Whether you’re a recent graduate, executive, artist, parent, engineer, teacher, spouse, athlete or coach, once you know The One Truth, you’ll see how it impacts leadership, teamwork, mindset, performance, relationships, addictions, social media, anxiety, mental health and your overall quality of life.
• Bad teams = nobody leads. Average teams = coaches lead. Elite teams = players lead
• Change management -- People follow the leader first and the vision second. People won’t care about your vision if you don’t care about them.
• “Thoughts are magnetic. What we think about we attract.”
• Goals: "It's not your goals that will lead to your success but your commitment to the process." "The best teams don’t focus on winning championships. They focus on being champions. This leads to championships."
• “When leaders become focused on the fruit instead of the root and worry about the outcome instead of the process of developing team members, they may survive in the short run, but they will not thrive in the long run.”
• “As a leader, it is so important that your words equal your actions. It is imperative that you make sure that you go through a self-evaluation process on an almost daily basis to make sure that your actions are in line with your words. You must do what you say and say what you do.”
• “There’s a difference between culture and having a theme for the year. A theme does not equal culture. Too many schools/org move from theme to theme instead of building a culture. Utilize a theme as a tool to help you build a great culture.”
• “They asked a bunch of ninety-five-year-olds if they could do it all over again and live their life again what would they do differently. The three things that almost all of them said were: (1) They would reflect more. Enjoy more moments. More sunrises and sunsets. More moments of joy. (2) They would take more risks and chances. Life is too short not to go for it. (3) They would have left a legacy. Something that would live on after they die.”

00:35 - Lessons from Athletics

05:29 - Struggling With Adversity As a Child

07:47 - Building a Life-Changing Team from The Energy Bus

15:08 - Fear That Comes With Imposter Syndrome

20:54 - Transition from Self-Talk to Action

31:05 - How to React to Skeptics

36:14 - View Life as a Movie

40:25 - Leadership Qualities That Are Repetitive

44:18 - Advice for the Younger Generation

47:48 - Early is On Time

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Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12   https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12

Notes: Michelle "Mace" Curran has led an impressive career as a Fighter Pilot during her 13 years in the United States Air Force. From 2019-2021, she flew as the only female pilot for the Air Force Thunderbirds and performed for millions across the country and internationally. Before joining the Thunderbirds, Michelle was a combat-proven fighter pilot completing missions across Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.

• What inspired Michelle to join the Air Force?
  • "I had a grandpa who was a lieutenant in the Navy. I went through his World War II trunk and tried on uniforms and looked at postcards. He got to travel all over the world. I grew up in a small town and I wanted to travel. I’ve always been drawn to flying. I hadn’t done a lot of flying aside from commercially, but I loved it, so the Air Force seemed like a natural fit. I was also honestly looking for a scholarship for college, so the three things kind of came together."
• “C3” Comm – That’s clear, concise, and correct communication. How that plays a role as a pilot and how we can use that as leaders outside of the airplane.
  • For the solo opposing passes, each pilot is traveling at 500mph, that's 1000mph of closure toward each other. The timing that makes sure the aircraft safely pass each other at the center point directly in front of the crowd is all done through radio calls. Every call must communicate clearly, concisely, and correctly.
• There are a lot of benefits to having a beginner's mindset.
• What does Michelle say to young girls?
  • "You have to exceed people’s expectations. People are going to set expectations for you based on where you grew up, the family you came from, your gender — there are all different factors that go into that. Constantly do your best, strive for perfection, exceed those expectations, and really don’t shortchange yourself. Don’t set boundaries that don’t really exist, that you just place there for yourself. You’ll be surprised at all of the things you can do if you just keep pushing."
• “We wield a lot of power with our words.” Let’s plant a seed of inspiration. As leaders, our words carry a lot of weight. Let’s use that to help other people strive for more and potentially accomplish more than they ever thought they were capable of. What an awesome use of our power.
• The Debrief - It’s the sacred environment of flying. Your rank doesn’t matter. It’s all about focusing on what happened and how we can get better. I think our companies would be better if we had consistent debriefs after a big moment to ensure we are learning from our mistakes and getting better…
• The person you are today is likely much different than the one you were ten years ago. The person you will be ten years from now will probably be just as different compared to who you are now.
• Michelle initially didn't feel capable as a fighter pilot. But she kept showing up. It’s important that we have the courage to keep going even when we don’t feel ready.
• Being a female fighter pilot, Mace was in a male-dominated career... She was often the only woman in my unit and roughly 3% of fighter pilots in the Air Force are female even thirty years after combat airframes were opened to women,
• Leaders and followers – A young flight lead could be in command of a general whose role is to be the wingman…
• Mace has written a children’s book that just came out called Upside Down Dreams. It is a story written for girls with big dreams looking for a real-world heroine.

Text Hawk to 66866 to become part of "Mindful Monday." Join 10's of thousands of your fellow learning leaders and receive a carefully curated email from me each Monday morning to help you start your week off right...

Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com

Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12   https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12

Dr. Angus Fletcher has dual degrees in neuroscience (BS, University of Michigan) and literature (Ph.D., Yale). His research employs a mix of laboratory experiment, literary history, and rhetorical theory to explore the psychological effects—cognitive, behavioral, therapeutic—of different narrative technologies. He’s the best-selling author of multiple books including Wonderworks: The 25 Most Powerful Inventions in the History of Literature, and Storythinking: The New Science of Narrative Intelligence.

• "The story you tell yourself needs to be the true story of yourself."
• How Angus tells his story:
  • Build trust
  • Listen
  • Demonstrate courage - Angus told a group of special forces operators one of the most embarrassing stories of his life. After that, he said, "I'm not scared of anything."
• You must be genuinely humble to learn from your mistakes.
• "Real leaders activate the leader within you."
• Being a leader is all about contemplating fear. Stepping up when adversity strikes is why we exist as leaders. It’s easy to lead when everything is going well. We want to be known as the leader who is there when it’s hard.
• Dr. Fletcher's ultimate goal of using the power of story to bring us closer to self-actualization. Seems like that's a good first step to being a great leader.
• Confidence is earned by creating evidence for yourself that you can do hard things. Angus did this when he shared his story of not making it through Marine Corps boot camp. Angus's vulnerability earned trust with the military leaders.
• “For the longer we suspend our judgments, the more accurate our subsequent verdicts become. This valuable fact has been uncovered by researchers who’ve spent decades probing the mechanics of better decision-making, only to discover that the key is simply more time and more information. Which is to say: reserving our judgment until the last possible moment.”
• Unlike a computer, the brain wasn’t particularly data-driven. Or particularly logical. Instead, it was emotional. And creative. And powered by story.
• “There are a number of judgments that we can suspend permanently, including most of our judgments about other people. Our brain is constantly making such judgments. It looks at strangers on the street—and judges them. It looks at celebrities in magazines—and judges them. It looks at family members and colleagues and friends in homes and offices and restaurants—and judges them. These judgments feel instantly good to our neurons; they deliver pleasant microdoses of emotional superiority. But in the long run, they make us anxious, incurious, and less happy, so we can improve our long-term mental well-being if we suspend them.”
• Apply to be part of my Leadership Circle
• 02:12 - Highlights of Leadership Training04:24 - How to Prevent Failure09:14 - What is a Story Scientist?

  12:57 - Is Story Science Therapy?

  14:22 - Tell Your Story

  18:56 - Vulnerability is the Most Powerful Thing You Can Do

  22:00 - Can You Go Too Far With Being Vulnerable?

  25:19 - How to Be Vulnerable

  32:42 - Real Leaders Activate the Leader In You

  36:10 - Where Does Your Sense of Confidence Come From?

  40:50 - Punch Through Your Own Fear

  43:00 - Be Open About What Could Go Wrong

  44:47 - Questions to Ask During the Interview Process

  48:33 - Responding to Adversity IS Leadership

  51:45 - How to Be Excellent at Speaking

  56:27 - Advice For Younger Leaders

Text Hawk to 66866 to become part of "Mindful Monday." Join 10's of thousands of your fellow learning leaders and receive a carefully curated email from me each Monday morning to help you start your week off right...

Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com

Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12   https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12

Katty Kay is a US correspondent for the BBC and a regular contributor on MSNBC. Katty grew up in the Middle East, where her father was a British diplomat. She studied French and Italian at Oxford University and worked as a foreign correspondent in Africa and Japan before moving to The US in 1996. Katty is the best-selling author of many books. Her latest is called “The Power Code.”

Notes: 

• The definition of power – The ability to exercise one’s will, influence others, and effect change.
  • The ability to exercise our will—More Joy. Influencing (not controlling) others—Less Ego. Effecting change—Maximum Impact.
• Redefining Power - In the past, it seems to be about dominance. About something you hold over something (people, or resources). Instead, we want it to be used to effect positive change. Let’s use power for good.
• Promoting on promise versus promoting on performance. The research states that more men are promoted on promise than women. And women are mostly promoted based on performance. As leaders, let’s think about promise versus performance. As Frank Slootman said in a previous conversation, let’s hire people “Ahead of their curve.
• Most women today don’t want power. The path to getting it, as it exists today, involves too many sacrifices, and power itself is unappealing, full of egos and competition. Women have all the skills, but we’d rather opt out.
• Women and men don’t define power in the same way. Men think of power as a finite commodity, part of a hierarchical, zero-sum game that involves having power over people. Women aren’t competitive about power, and we focus more on the end result, the change we can affect with power. It’s the difference between power over and power to.
• Does power corrupt? Not in the hands of women.  Researchers have found that women are the exception to the rule that powerful people are less empathetic–women tend to maintain their connection to others, to a ground-level reality, as we rise through the ranks–a huge leadership advantage.
• Power fuels action. Neuroscientists are discovering the remarkable things power does to our brains. It can liberate its possessors, across their lives, and even create an ability to act more authentically. That offers big rewards for women and needs to become a selling point.
• Women will never get power outside the home until our marriages look less like the 1950s. Our marriages aren’t keeping up with society or our careers. A woman with a job does more housework than a man who doesn’t work. In couples where the wife earns more than the husband, they lie about it on the US census form.
• Men are stuck in a box they don’t want to be in.  They are pushed to play the outdated role of primary breadwinner, which is why the number of stay-at-home dads has barely grown in a quarter of a century. But increasingly men realize the zero-sum power formula isn’t working for them either. A more collaborative, more humane approach to power would benefit everyone.

00:38 - How Do You Define Power?

03:18 - Challenges with Research on Gender

05:46 - Using Power for Good

08:41 - Power reveals your Character

10:22 - Why Wouldn’t Someone Want Power?

13:37 - Is Power Shifting for Good?

15:31 - How Does Power Need to Change?

19:21 - Suggestions for Relationships at Home

20:42 - The Options to be a “Stay At Home”

30:58 - Characteristics of Katty’s Career

33:46 - Can Fame Impact a Marriage?

35:13 - Society’s Expectations for Mom & Dads

39:05 - Confidence & Imposter Syndrome

42:45 - The Common Characteristic of Every Leader

44:46 - The Impact of Female College Graduates

46:59 - Can Having Children Impact Your Career as a Mother?

49:30 - Advice for a Male CEO

52:26 - Life Advice for All