I’m just going to come right out and say it... If you’re hoping things would just get easier then you're not cut out to be an entrepreneur. Ok, now that we got that out of the way... The truth is it’s tough. Every day comes with a new set of problems...
I was doing my bi-weekly track workout with a buddy this morning and we were chatting about goals. A couple of years ago I set the intention to let running teach me about goals. MAN what a fricken teacher. Especially when you test the limits in the right way. But you know what one of the biggest lessons has been? Missing an important goal or deadline can be devastating if you don’t know how to learn from it. Not only that, but it can leave an imprint that prevents you from committing to your future goals...
Do you want to know how to get your business moving in the right direction? Stop standing still. While stillness is an essential step in the process of creation, staying in the same place for too long can lead to the all too common problem of paralysis by analysis. Especially for my spiritual folk and heart centered entrepreneurs out there because to us... everything means something. We’ve conditioned ourselves to over-interpret EVERYTHING. Oops! But when you’re standing still for too long and you’re not taking the next step, especially when it scares the crap out of you, then you’re making meaning from the emotions of doubt, uncertainty, fear, and all the like...
Want to easily attract the perfect clients… those people who are MEANT to find you… without having to pretend to be confident and successful? Then you've gotta find the NOW version of you. If you fake it till you make it… you’ll never make it. And if you do buy into the myth that you need to be someone else, that you have to have it all figured out, and that everything needs to be perfect in order to be successful you’re likely experiencing these things…
I know I’m not the only one that’s had dreams of turning all these devices off and moving to some remote tropical island. Although that would be nice for a hot second, it’s definitely not the solution. But finding a way that works for you to reign back your attention is an absolute game changer! You see, in this day and age it can seem like a luxury to turn off your phone. And not even turning it off completely, but making it so that you’re not constantly gripped with panic hearing the ding that strikes you out of your current train of thought...
So many times we attach a negative meaning to situations, circumstances and feelings. This causes unnecessary suffering and more often than not, being in a standoff with ourselves. Unable to move forward. And it’s not just in that moment. It’s pervasive. That moment of meaning gets transposed on everything and before you know it, you’re doing from that level of defeat, frustration, and mixed meaning. You’re not being intentional. You’re not choosing. In fact, you’re just going through the motions...
Coping is how we adjust to stress in order to make the situation bearable. But when a coping mechanism (healthy or unhealthy) becomes a habit, we’ve missing the message that the situation and resulting emotion is trying to teach us. And when we try to cope our way through we don’t make our way through. Just like physical pain, emotional pain is telling us to adjust something. To let go of something, to set a healthy boundary, to speak up, or to show up in a new way...
When you focus on mastery you foster depth. Seriously though… if you can’t get into the training zone and practice your craft enough to continue learning, make distinctions, and further refine your craft, then you’re not giving it the time it deserves. You’re not executing with mastery. Yes, there are other things you need to focus on in your business. For instance, you need to market and stay on top of projects and timelines. But if you’re just focused on those things and you’re not focused on your craft, you will lose steam...
I picked up lacrosse really quick. And after playing from only my sophomore year in high school, I got a scholarship to a Division 1 college my senior year. Up until this point I had never injured anything. And so I had no reason to think that that would happen. And in all fairness, I was overly confident. Some may say I was cocky. It’s true. But after getting injured it was almost as if my brain worked differently. I started second guessing myself when in the past I would just rock it. I was quick. I was super nimble. And I was ballzy...
It’s easy to lose steam when you lose sight of why you’re doing what you’re doing. How many times have you done this? How many times have you started a project, a new business, a new offer… and you were off to the races. You hit the ground running with sheer optimism. But over time you start to lose steam because it wasn’t the instant success you hoped it would be. Instead of keeping your eye on the prize and continuing to adjust, you start noticing what’s not working, feeling defeated, and question what you’re doing. When this starts happening it’s easy to fall into bad habits of being. Laziness, cutting corners, snide optimism, and the kind of hope that is less than the 51% needed to keep the engine running and moving full steam ahead...
Life is always teaching you what you need to learn. But the majority of us, myself included, try to fight with reality. We either outwardly attack our current circumstances and judge the ever living shit out of them OR we blame other people, God, the universe, or any other creative source you want to conjure up. But fighting with some imaginary external opponent is not your best use of time. In fact, in my own experience and with a lot of people I work with, trying to fight reality is the biggest source of unnecessary AND prolonged suffering...
This isn’t something I normally dive into outside of my private client interactions, but it’s such a game changer that I wanted to pull back the curtain and give you a glimpse into how this works. The majority of people I work with are doing. They’re not sitting around waiting for something to happen. In most cases, the things they’re doing aren’t producing the desired results. They’ve read the books, taken online courses, listened to podcasts, but the strategies fail to meet their needs of the moment. When the strategy isn’t working, our instinct tells us to push harder and do more. But what happens is we just consume more, do more, and more often than not, do more of the same thing that’s not working hoping that if we do enough, we’ll get a different result...
What seemed like another lifetime ago I was a live in private chef. I’d live in someone’s home anywhere from 2 weeks to a few months. In the beginning, the majority of these people had stage 3 or 4 cancer and the food and lifestyle approach was their last straw. The interesting thing about it was that some of these folks were way gone. They were coming to the end. I noticed there were two different types of people. There were those still holding onto their old ways, still pushing to go to work, still treating other people like crap, and just all around had a bad attitude...
Regret is what happens when we wait too long to get started. We buy into the self-doubt, procrastination, the “someday I will(s).” But someday never comes and the vision of life becomes something hoped for instead of something being moved toward. The unimportant and the inconsequential find their way into the day and the pull of our heart gets pushed aside. Waiting too long turns into regret. And when it gets to that point, there’s no getting that time back...
Striving to be perfect is nothing new. We get it pretty early on. Every family has their dos and don'ts. What they talk about and what they don’t. What you need to do in order to be accepted and loved. But it’s not for the reason you think. Usually there’s shame or guilt attached it. In an attempt to save face, look good, and pretend our shit doesn’t stink, we start to create our life to avoid those things that bring up our feelings of imperfection… of not being enough...
After working with a client yesterday I’ve been reflecting on this one a bit. Have you ever told yourself on a continual basis that you needed to get better at time management, generate more leads, or consistently create content? You know you need to be more consistent generating leads or being more active producing useful messages but you tell yourself the same thing over and over again… I’ve gotta master this time thing … I have to generate more leads…
Something always bothered me about how we approach goal setting and achievement. There is this seeming contrast of setting goals to be attained and charging forward at all costs verses intending what you want and attracting outcomes. In the past 12 years or so...
One of the most frustrating things about wanting to achieve so much and feeling compelled to make a difference is the side effect of feeling overwhelmed and being worn out. Always anticipating the next thing. And on top of all that… feeling like it will never get done...
Today I talk about 3 subtle but powerful shifts that will completely change the way you work. These shifts made consistently accumulate over time. In this show, I dive into how we can start listening to our environment and our internal queues so we can stop trying to just power through and achieving with more ease. These shifts are: Give because you can, not because you expect something in return, stop doubting and checking and start trusting and giving, and defy gravity - find out what you do when your energy dips and replace it with something else.
In this episode I dive into how to harness the power of emotion, why we wrestle with emotions and making hard decisions, where that comes from, what effect it has in our lives and business, and what to do instead. See the full show notes at https://jeffagostinelli.com/podcast/how-to-harness-the-power-of-emotion/
Today I start off with how to think about time and attention and then go into 3 specific ways you can start to master your time and attention.
- Everything exists in context. Nothing is a stand alone.
- I don’t necessarily buy into the myth that you have to sacrifice in order to be successful, but I do believe that there is only so much we can do. So choosing is important. Know what you value.
- You being you doing what you are here to do is you being on purpose.
- The more you can keep coming back to that with a beautiful blend of patience and urgency the better.
- The more you can keep your focus on feeling good the better.
For the full show notes from today's episode visit https://jeffagostinelli.com/152
In this episode, I dive into How to Feel Content and Satisfied Now. I also outline what I’m going to talk about for the next handful of shows. This is in line with the handful of entrepreneurs I worked with this past year. Helping them overcome anxiety and overwhelm so they can grow their business while building a life they’re proud of.
I get into:
For the full show notes go to https://jeffagostinelli.com/151
Welcome Back!
This is the restart of the show after a little over a year off.
In this episode I’ll dive into why I put the show on pause and what’s happened in the last year that led me to turn the show back on and what to expect from the podcast moving forward.
You’ll also hear about the decision process and how often times things don’t make sense until we take the next big step. I get into what drives us to achieve goals and how we need to truly get in touch with what we value in order to know that we are doing the right thing for us and doing them for the right reason.
Check out the full show notes and sign up for email updates at https://jeffagostinelli.com
In times of uncertainty and transition, finding a semblance of peace in the unfolding can be difficult. There have been many times on my own journey where I've questioned my choices, even though it seemed like the right thing to do at the moment.
Any time I'm in the midst of change, or speak with someone who is, I revisit one particular episode of the show and even offer it as sort of a prescription for those finding their way.
A while back I had Charles Eisenstein on to talk about the space between stories. Charles is a super modest guy and will even tell you himself that "I know that my books and other work comes from a deep, inspired source, but that source is not me! It is more like I’m connecting to a field of knowledge, or to a story that wants to be told. This knowledge is as much my teacher as it is anyone else’s. I’m kind of ordinary, compared to some of the amazing people I keep meeting. I’m just as much in the learning as anyone else, wandering as best I can toward “the more beautiful world my heart knows is possible,” encumbered by the programming and the wounds of our civilization."
Charles Eisenstein is a speaker and writer focusing on themes of human culture and identity. He is the author of several books, including Sacred Economics, The More Beautiful World our Hearts Know is Possible, and Climate: A New Story which hits the shelves September 18, 2018.
This short episode dives into a few concepts I found very useful when navigating the space between stories, which at times can feel like a smashing of an old identity and the land grab for who we will become. This episode is a clip from our previous conversation.
We talk about
Inspired by his best friend’s battle with cancer, Dr. Frank Merritt has engineered the fasting protocol, The 17 Hour Fast, which offers maximum benefits from a minimum fast that promotes an enriching mind, body and soul experience. Drawing on years of medical practice as well as VitalityPro research protocols developed with iconic athletes, respected nutritionists, and behavioral/exercise psychologists, The 17 Hour Fast embodies a minimum effective dose (MED) strategy harnessing powerful health and performance advantages of longer fasts while avoiding many of their pitfalls. Furthermore, The 17 Hour Fast is carefully synchronized and choreographed with diurnal/nocturnal hormone patterns, sleep hygiene, personal growth and relationship building techniques and suggested training/recovery activities to create a potent combination for success.
The 17-Hour Fast is founded on a bedrock of cutting-edge scientific data and presented in an intuitive and approachable way by Dr. Merritt and acclaimed writer Phil White (Unplugged, Game Changer, and Flight Plan).
Today we'll dive into The 17 Hour Fast and how to get started making it a habit.
In this episode you'll learn