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Or download and listen later: Podcast: Being vs Doing (36:25)

Whoo Hoo! Saturday night. Oh how life has changed. Our idea of a wild and crazy time is recording a podcast on Saturday night after everyone else is in bed. YES! Not nearly as exciting as it used to be, but we certainly feel better in the morning. Now, on to business. This podcast stinks. Literally, it smelled terrible in the studio! Apparently, Adam has been on a diet of beans, beans and more beans. Because we’re so dedicated to our craft, we pushed through the pain and carried on. We think you’ll be glad we did.

If you’re counting, this should be podcast number 8, but it’s actually number 9 and you’ll never hear number 8 because we totally laid an egg last time. We learned a valuable lesson though: We’re not smart enough to wing it, so we’ll always come prepared moving forward. There might be a life lesson in there somewhere.

The topic at hand this week… Being. More specifically, being vs. doing. Wade talks about his body signaling him when he is in too much “doing” and not enough “being” in the form of an eye twitch. Yikes. Adam talks about Wade’s love of lists while Wade shares a story of satisfaction vs. dissatisfaction and how the only common denominator in all his dissatisfaction was himself. Slightly depressing, but very empowering because it helped him recognize that he had the ability to change the swing of the pendulum by simply focusing on being a better person. That shift has produced an incredible transformation in his life. It’s important to focus less on getting somewhere and focusing more on simply “being” a better human being. The bi-product has been an increase in satisfaction in all the areas he was previous dissatisfied with.

What does Adam have to say about this topic? A lot as a matter of fact. This is his area of expertise, as he has never been accused of “doing” too much. He breaks it down in to two areas. First, as it relates to producing at a high level and seconddly, related to spirituality. Before “being” great, you have to “do” a ton. As Charlie Parker, the great Jazz musician put it, “master your instrument, master the music, then forget all that bullshit and just play.” However, when it comes to spirituality, less “doing” and fewer distractions lead to a better state of “being.”

So where do you draw the line between being and doing? It’s hard to say, for each person is different. Obviously, you can’t go through life doing nothing, but how do you know when you are being who you’re supposed to be vs. doing too much and grinding it out. Our hypothesis… pay attention. Pay attention to how you feel about what you’re doing. Pay attention to whether you enjoy what you’re doing. Pay attention to how “hard” it is to do. Anything worth doing is likely difficult and that’s fine, but if the work / journey isn’t enjoyable, then maybe re-evaluate what you’re doing and ask if it is right for you. When you’re in the flow, you may be working “hard” and putting in a lot of time, but speaking from experience it doesn’t feel hard. It becomes a labor of love.

We cap off the conversation with two areas we are both going to try and improve on this week. Adam talks about practicing the guitar twice a day, focusing on the mechanics, not the playing of songs. He explains why 10 minutes of good practice is better than 30 minutes of bad practice. This relates to just about everything. Wade commits to not binge eating while on the road. Again, yikes. He’ll have a chance to practice as he’s traveling again this week. What are you going to try and improve on this week?

Lastly, we discuss our Impact of the Week. Adam shares how not being a jerk is always the best decision because you never know who’s around and Wade describes how he saved a baby’s life. Kind of. We hope you enjoy listening as much as we enjoy recording these. As always, thanks and let us know what you think.

Learn. Laugh. Grow.

Two Lowe Brothers