0:03

What do you do

0:03

when you feel utterly lost? When

0:05

you feel like you've got a

0:05

complete lack of meaningful

0:08

direction nowadays, and when

0:08

you're probably someone who's

0:11

really used to having that

0:11

direction, having that drive,

0:14

and that really clear vision of

0:14

what you're working towards.

0:17

I know that a couple of years

0:17

ago, I found myself in this

0:19

position, everything I thought

0:19

success looked like everything

0:23

that I'd put down on paper I

0:23

wanted to achieve. And yet,

0:26

there was something missing that

0:26

almost prevented me from waking

0:29

up in the morning with direction

0:29

and a real drive to continue

0:32

building something. And truth be

0:32

told, I probably lost years in

0:36

this not just months in trying

0:36

to understand what it was that I

0:39

wanted, that I didn't already

0:39

have. Because everything that

0:42

people tell you looks like

0:42

success, I thought I achieved, I

0:46

had money and the job that I

0:46

wanted, I also even had the new

0:50

indicators of success, the time

0:50

freedom, I had more time than

0:54

anyone in their 20s could

0:54

possibly want. And I still

0:58

didn't know how to build a life,

0:58

that would put me back to

1:01

operating as my best again. So

1:01

that's where my journey began

1:04

with the podcast and

1:04

interviewing some of the world's

1:07

highest performers to understand

1:07

how they got to a position of

1:10

success. And then were able to

1:10

realign and go again in a

1:14

completely different direction,

1:14

how they're able to build that

1:17

success day after day in

1:17

multiple different avenues. And

1:21

so today, I wanted to share with

1:21

you the four pillars that make

1:23

up this game plan. The first two

1:23

pillars help you orientate and

1:27

initiate and the second two will

1:27

help you then accelerate in

1:30

whatever the new direction is

1:30

that you have found. And you're

1:33

going in. Now the first pillar

1:33

that helps you orientate

1:36

yourself that I think you

1:36

absolutely have to start with,

1:39

and that's seeking clarity.

1:39

Clarity basically helps you

1:42

provide the foundation for every

1:42

decision you make. And you might

1:45

have heard on the clarity

1:45

podcast that I did that it also

1:48

helps create the safety for you

1:48

to go all in. Now I know you

1:52

probably know what I mean, here,

1:52

you've maybe even thought that

1:54

there's one or two different

1:54

things that you want to try or

1:58

might even be more in alignment

1:58

with who you want to be. And

2:00

you've given them a little go.

2:00

And you've not got the early

2:03

success or momentum in that new

2:03

endeavour. And the truth of the

2:06

matter is, you're never really

2:06

going to find the success you've

2:10

already created in life unless

2:10

your mind understands that it's

2:13

safe to go all in, think about

2:13

the thing that you created

2:16

success, and you probably

2:16

weren't absolutely all in on it.

2:19

I knew that with my flight

2:19

training, for instance, I threw

2:21

money that it would take me

2:21

decades to earn back in order to

2:25

do a career that at the time,

2:25

nobody was even recruiting for.

2:29

I mean, it was utter madness.

2:29

But all I knew is that that was

2:32

the direction I wanted to go in.

2:32

And those steps are the steps

2:35

that I had to take in order to

2:35

achieve that. And you don't

2:38

really think of the consequences

2:38

of what happens if I don't get a

2:41

job. Or if this doesn't work

2:41

out, because you can't afford to

2:45

your mind just tells you that

2:45

it's safe to go all in. And it's

2:48

safe to commit to this new path.

2:48

Now, that's really easy to do

2:52

when you've got a clear defined

2:52

path, like flight training, or

2:56

whatever it was that took you to

2:56

the successes that you have. But

2:59

it's bloody really hard when

2:59

you're trying to define a new

3:02

path or carve out a new path

3:02

that hasn't even been defined

3:05

yet. And so in order to create

3:05

the safety that the mind

3:09

requires for you to go all in,

3:09

you first need inner clarity.

3:13

Now when we're talking about inner clarity, we're talking about core values, essentially,

3:15

who you want to be and

3:18

referencing back to the podcast

3:18

that I did on clarity, if you

3:22

can just come up with three

3:22

words that will define the best

3:25

of who you are, that will be

3:25

used to guide your personal

3:28

life, and just write them down

3:28

on a piece of paper, and then

3:31

figure out how you're going to

3:31

remind yourself to show up under

3:34

those three words under those

3:34

three values every single day.

3:37

And maybe even do the same with

3:37

interactions. What three words

3:42

or values can you live by, that

3:42

are used to guide the

3:46

interactions you have on a daily

3:46

basis, because that's going to

3:49

be where the differentiator is,

3:49

if you can intentionally show up

3:52

and interact with the people you

3:52

need to in the way that you want

3:55

to interact. That's clarity,

3:55

that's understanding who you

3:59

want to be. And I use this one

3:59

all the time, because it's

4:02

pretty mental how we set up our

4:02

work as pilots, every time we

4:05

check in for a new flight. We're

4:05

flying with people we've

4:08

probably never even met before.

4:08

So before I check in, I always

4:12

asked myself, What are the three

4:12

words that will describe the

4:15

type of person I want to show up

4:15

as? So if they were to describe

4:19

me after we left after that

4:19

initial interaction? What three

4:22

words would they describe me as?

4:22

So I'd normally put something

4:26

like how can I look competent

4:26

and capable? How can I be joyous

4:30

and fun and not take myself too

4:30

seriously, that's a really

4:33

important point of how I want to

4:33

show up. And so I'll always try

4:36

and understand how I can marry

4:36

those two, certainly on my first

4:39

impression with my colleagues

4:39

that I'm just about to go flying

4:42

with for three or four days.

4:42

Once you've sorted that out once

4:45

you understood the core values

4:45

that you want to operate by, and

4:48

who you want to be look at the

4:48

outer clarity which is the goal

4:52

setting the defining the vision

4:52

of what success looks like for

4:55

you. And also one thing that a

4:55

lot of people miss is the why

4:59

why Why is it important for you

4:59

to show up to work to build

5:03

these habits to go through the

5:03

struggle that invariably you're

5:06

going to go through in order to

5:06

create any meaningful change in

5:09

your life. And so if you're

5:09

looking at operating at your

5:12

best again, you need to connect

5:12

back to the why, why that

5:16

challenge now is important to

5:16

you. Because if it doesn't, then

5:19

you'll have no necessity to

5:19

continue, when it starts getting

5:22

a little bit tricky, exactly as

5:22

I did, you'll just fall back

5:25

into that comfort. The second

5:25

pillar is to develop courage.

5:29

And I think if there's one thing

5:29

that comes up every single time

5:33

from the guests that I've

5:33

interviewed, and that is, they

5:35

all seem to show up and take

5:35

that courageous action

5:38

regardless, which is something

5:38

that I admire in those people.

5:41

And therefore, it's something

5:41

that I want to be myself.

5:44

Courage helps with consistency.

5:44

And we all know that it's not

5:48

really just the action you take

5:48

that defines your success, but

5:51

it's how consistent you show up

5:51

and take that action. And so

5:54

where would you be in one month,

5:54

if you manage to take action

5:58

through courage instead of fear,

5:58

every action that you take on a

6:01

daily basis is either informed

6:01

by an intention or measure of

6:05

what you want the outcome to be?

6:05

Or it's ruled a little bit by

6:09

fear, maybe by protecting

6:09

yourself your status, or doing

6:12

the easiest or safest version of

6:12

what you're required to do? And

6:16

so if you were to show up every

6:16

single morning, and say, How can

6:18

I take courageous action today?

6:18

What does that look like today,

6:21

just think about where you'll be

6:21

not just in a month's time, that

6:25

if you 12x, that? Well, you'd be

6:25

at the end of the year. So what

6:28

action would show that you want

6:28

a different outcome to your

6:31

peers and those around you. And

6:31

so, in order to do that, you

6:35

kind of need to take the action

6:35

that shows the world that you're

6:39

willing to do something

6:39

different to those around, you

6:42

make it small, it doesn't have

6:42

to be something absolutely

6:45

ridiculously courageous. It can

6:45

be something that just evokes a

6:48

little bit of fear in you that

6:48

make it consistent, show up

6:51

every single day and take a

6:51

little bit of action that evokes

6:54

a little bit of fear, that shows

6:54

your brain that it's safe to do

6:58

so. And then once you've

6:58

inoculated yourself to that

7:00

fear, you can then up the ante a

7:00

little bit more, until then

7:03

you're consistently just showing

7:03

up and doing it regardless. Now,

7:07

the secondary pillars are all

7:07

about how to harness what you've

7:10

already built, who you already

7:10

are as a person in order to

7:13

accelerate through the

7:13

difficult, ugly phase at the

7:16

beginning. And so the third

7:16

pillar is influence. So how can

7:20

you shortcut the process to

7:20

success with the attributes with

7:24

the influence that you've

7:24

already cultivated, so that you

7:27

can start creating results from

7:27

day one? Now, I know that this

7:29

is a really, really important

7:29

point to a lot of the people

7:32

that I coach, one of the biggest

7:32

things that holds us back from

7:35

pivoting and going again, and

7:35

operating at our best, again, is

7:38

that feeling of sunk costs. And

7:38

I know that this took me down

7:41

into a hole for so many months,

7:41

on the first day of my career, I

7:46

was 129 and a half 1000 pounds

7:46

in debt. And so that was

7:51

financially in a massive sunk

7:51

cost that I had to start trying

7:54

to earn back. And so it almost

7:54

felt like madness, to give that

7:59

up after just 10 years in order

7:59

to try and do something

8:02

different. But I'd also spent

8:02

years and years of my life from

8:06

the age of 14, actually. And

8:06

from that moment, I was making

8:09

decisions about what GCSEs I

8:09

did, what university I chose

8:13

what degree I chose the fact

8:13

that I flew at university, I did

8:16

University Air Squadron, I led

8:16

teams, I went on expeditions, I

8:20

did everything with the sole

8:20

focus of becoming an airline

8:23

pilot, and then you get there

8:23

and realise that you just need a

8:26

little bit more or something

8:26

different. And all of a sudden,

8:29

you start thinking I've

8:29

literally sacrificed my entire

8:32

adult life for this. And now I'm

8:32

just gonna like give it up, that

8:35

influence helps us understand

8:35

that every single step that you

8:39

took is another building block

8:39

that you can now utilise, to

8:42

gain an unfair advantage of the

8:42

people that are around you. You

8:46

going into a different arena and

8:46

playing in there means that

8:49

you're gonna have so many

8:49

different attributes and assets

8:52

that you're bringing to the

8:52

party that those guys around,

8:54

you just do not have. And so we

8:54

need to start thinking about

8:58

what unfair advantage we get of

8:58

going into this new arena. Also,

9:02

when it comes to influence, you

9:02

know, people will truly be

9:04

looking forward to helping you

9:04

if they see that you're humble

9:07

enough to ask for their help. I

9:07

know that when I started the

9:10

podcast, for instance, I got

9:10

guests, I mean, just go and look

9:13

at my first few guests on the

9:13

podcast, it is well above my

9:16

weight. And that's because I was

9:16

humble enough to say, Hey,

9:20

listen, I don't really know what

9:20

I'm doing. But I really, really

9:22

want to help this type of

9:22

person. And I really think your

9:25

insights might be valuable in

9:25

helping them and I got them into

9:28

my vision. And so how can what

9:28

you're doing next, once you've

9:32

got the clarity benefit those

9:32

around you and who needs you to

9:35

be the role model for change

9:35

around and I look at my wife

9:39

Rose here, she's got a

9:39

moderately sized following on

9:42

social media where a lot of

9:42

people think, Oh, how much

9:44

influence do you have is how

9:44

many followers you have and how

9:47

many likes you get, but she is

9:47

able to go into a room and with

9:50

the energy that she has with the

9:50

authenticity and the brilliance

9:53

that she shows up with. She is

9:53

able to draw the people above

9:57

her and influence those guys.

9:57

And so it's not Just about being

10:00

able to influence those at the

10:00

same level or below you, it's

10:04

helping you actually influence

10:04

those guys are above you, how

10:06

can you inspire them with how

10:06

you're showing up for them to

10:10

sponsor you, or even mentor you,

10:10

or even open the doors for you.

10:14

And finally, the fourth pillar is momentum. Now,

10:15

a lot of people think that

10:18

motivation is what really,

10:18

really drives people. But

10:21

motivation actually follows

10:21

momentum. And so all the highest

10:25

performers that I've ever

10:25

interviewed, plus all the

10:28

highest performers that I've

10:28

ever seen interviewed, or in

10:31

studies, they all seem to be

10:31

building an autonomously just

10:34

acting through their own

10:34

operating system. Now everyone's

10:38

operating systems going to be

10:38

different things that work for

10:40

me, are not necessarily going to

10:40

be the things that work for you.

10:44

But this is about really trying

10:44

to trial and experiment and

10:47

learn from and implement some of

10:47

the tools, some of the habits

10:51

that you can use, that's going

10:51

to get the best out of you, in

10:54

order to show up every single

10:54

day, and move the needle. And

10:58

one of my guests, Simon

10:58

Jeffries, I think is episode 16

11:00

talked about the moving average,

11:00

and how not every single day is

11:04

going to be a killer. But what

11:04

can you do just to make sure

11:07

that the net gain means that

11:07

your moving average is going up

11:10

every single week, and I talked

11:10

about this in my overwhelm

11:13

podcast, that rhythm that flow

11:13

that you can build, that allows

11:16

you to operate at your own pace.

11:16

And then there's the obvious

11:19

things as well like productivity

11:19

and how you can build and

11:22

schedule your time so that you

11:22

can optimise a little bit more

11:26

how you can focus on those

11:26

prolific tasks that actually

11:29

move the needle, how you can

11:29

build intention on a daily

11:32

basis. And her big things like

11:32

planning the night before,

11:37

unlocked so much momentum,

11:37

because if you have to start

11:39

every single day, from standing

11:39

still position, it's a lot

11:43

harder to build momentum. If you

11:43

already planned your big outlook

11:47

for tomorrow, and even just the

11:47

first hour, you can then start

11:51

to build momentum to have taken

11:51

the action you need on a daily

11:54

basis. A few other little things

11:54

to help with momentum, things

11:57

like how can you get little wins

11:57

daily, how can you track your

12:00

progress, individuals are 42%

12:00

more likely to achieve goals

12:04

when they're physically

12:04

recorded. So that's writing it

12:07

down, like putting it in a diary

12:07

or putting it in your planner,

12:10

also at the frequency of how

12:10

often you record and track your

12:14

progress. Because there's more

12:14

research that shows that

12:16

companies that track their goals

12:16

in real time like on a daily and

12:19

a weekly basis, they're twice as

12:19

likely to hit all of their goals

12:23

in a 12 month period than those

12:23

that do on an annual basis. So

12:27

make sure you're tracking your

12:27

progress, you've got some

12:29

understanding of where you're

12:29

at, and where you want to be on

12:32

a weekly basis as well. And

12:32

finally, little things like

12:35

debriefing. That can be as

12:35

simple as just having a journal

12:38

and writing in how today went

12:38

and one change you're going to

12:41

make for tomorrow. And so

12:41

whatever it is that you're going

12:43

to use to help build momentum,

12:43

the key here is to just try and

12:47

take daily action that allows

12:47

you to continue going through

12:50

the tough times, times where

12:50

it's probably a little bit

12:52

easier to just absolutely Jeff

12:52

it off and do something

12:55

different or even doubt yourself

12:55

altogether. And just say I gave

12:58

it a go didn't really work. And

12:58

so if you're looking to get back

13:01

to operating at your best again,

13:01

if you're looking to get back

13:04

out of feeling like a victim out

13:04

of feeling like someone who's

13:07

just a little bit lost or

13:07

without direction, which is

13:11

completely not you, then the

13:11

chances are the answer probably

13:14

lies in one of these four

13:14

pillars. seek clarity, both

13:17

internal and external. Develop

13:17

the courage on a daily basis to

13:21

take the action that's required

13:21

to build consistency. Harness

13:25

the influence that you've

13:25

already created. So you don't

13:28

feel like you're starting from

13:28

scratch again, and then find

13:31

ways to build momentum. Because

13:31

when nothing else is around,

13:35

just having solid habits that

13:35

you can do autonomously is going

13:39

to be the thing that gets you

13:39

through those periods of low

13:41

motivation. And so I'd love to

13:41

know out of these four pillars,

13:44

which ones are you working on

13:44

right now? Which ones Could you

13:47

do a little bit more help with?

13:47

Until next time, legend Speak

13:50

soon.