Why you can't stop performing (REPLAY) - Live Saturday Reset with Jerry S Lin

So on May 13th, 2026, Air Force One touches down in Beijing.

Tonight, President Trump arriving in China to a lavish welcome. Hundreds of kids waving Chinese and American flags as the president prepares to begin his high-stakes summit. Among the president's entourage, top American CEOs. You can see Elon Musk, and that's Jensen Huang, CEO of American AI chipmaker NVIDIA.

You know, the most powerful man in the world steps off that plane, and with him, none other than Elon Musk, the world's richest man, and Jensen Huang, who wasn't even on the original guest list. They picked him up. At the refueling stop in Alaska. See, Jensen Huang was last minute because China demanded Advanced Semiconductors be on the table. So the richest, most powerful, most famous men in the world, all of them on one plane, walking into the Great Hall of the People's Republic. You know, cameras everywhere, the entire planet watching them. Let that sink in. See, now watch what happens after the 2-day summit. On their way out of Beijing, the press starts asking questions. To President Trump about tariffs, about Taiwan, the deal, you know. And this man, the man who really— or the man who literally called himself the Tariff Man.

Tariffs, Mr. President, did you agree with President Xi to extend that year-long truce on tariffs?

We didn't discuss tariffs. I mean, they're paying tariffs, they're paying substantial tariffs, but we didn't discuss it. You know, before I came along, It was the opposite. We didn't discuss that. It wasn't brought up, Mr. President.

He goes vague, he deflects and changes the subject. See, Taiwan comes up and every president since Reagan, 44 years of U.S. policy says do not discuss Taiwan arms sales with China. Never talk to Beijing about it. Do not even bring it up. See, Reagan locked that in 1982. Every single president honored it. It was on contract, an agreement. And then on the flight home on Air Force One, this is what Trump said.

President, on Taiwan, you said you were going to check with the president of Taiwan, but the 1982 assurances that President Reagan came, said you would not— said the United States would not consult with China on arms sales to Taiwan. So it sounds to me like you have consulted with China.

Well, I think 1982 is a long way. It was? That's a big far distance away.

So you dispensed with that?

No, I didn't say anything about it. But certainly, you know, he brought that up. He talked about that to me, obviously. So what am I going to do, say I don't want to talk to you about it? Because I have an agreement that was signed in 1982. No, we discussed arms sales too.

And what's his request?

We discussed Taiwan, you know, the whole thing with the arms deals was in great detail actually, and I'll be making decisions.

So Trump said, what am I gonna do, say I don't want to talk about it because I have an agreement that was written in 1982? 1982 was a long time ago. No, we discussed arms sales.

Would the US defend Taiwan if it came to it?

I don't want to say. I'm not going to say that. There's only one person that knows that. You know who it is? Me. I'm the only person. That question was asked to me today by President Xi. I said, I don't talk about those things.

Donald Trump, Air Force One, May 15th, 2026. All right, and then a reporter asks about Taiwan's leadership. This man, two-term president, access to every briefing in the world, he says, I gotta— you know, all you guys know the guy— I gotta talk to the guy that runs Taiwan.

What about the arms sales to Taiwan? Uh, I'll make a determination over the next fairly short period of time.

You're not necessarily going to go ahead? It was your proposal. Make a determination.

I'm going to see I have to speak to the person that right now is, you know, you know who he is, that's running Taiwan.

The guy that runs Taiwan. Yeah, the guy that runs Taiwan. Really? Not the president of Taiwan? Not Lai Ching-te, the actual name of Taiwan's president? The, the guy? Really? Now before you laugh, before you judge, I need you to understand something. See, that moment, that's not stupidity, that's not incompetence, that's a reflex, a gut under pressure filling in the gap the same way yours does every single day. And that's exactly what we're going to talk about this morning. So welcome to the Saturday Reset Room. I'm Jerry Lin, the Human Systems Engineer, and every week we get together to do something most people never do. We look at what's actually running us, not the story we tell ourselves, the actual wiring underneath. Type in 1, 2, or 3 right now in the chat 1 is I just showed up. 2 is I showed up, but I'm already performing for someone. And then 3 is I honestly don't know what is real, or rather, I honestly don't know what real feels like anymore. So 1, 2, or 3. Let me see. I see some 1s, some 2s. A few honest threes from this Zoom. So there's the VIP Zoom here, we're on TikTok, we're on YouTube, and we're on Facebook Live at the same time. So if you type three, I want you to know you're in the right room. Naming it is the first step. See, this morning's topic, why you can't stop performing, and before you think that's about Trump, It's not about Trump. Trump is just this mirror. This morning is about you. Think about one moment this week where you said something, did something, reacted in a way, and immediately thought, "That's not who I want to be." One word, one sentence. Drop it in the chat. Yeah, but here's what nobody tells you. Your gut doesn't know you're famous. Your gut doesn't know the cameras are on. Your gut doesn't know this is the most important meeting of your life. The gut only knows one thing: threat or no threat. We talk about 3 brains in the room: your logic, your head brain, the logic brain; your heart brain for emotions and connection; and your gut brain for survival. And when pressure comes, the gut fires first every time. That's not a character flaw, that's biology. But here's where it gets interesting. The performance isn't fake. It feels real. It feels like you because it is you. It's just the version of you that your gut learned to be in order to stay safe. You performed your way through childhood, through school, through relationships, through every job, every interview, every first date. And your body learned perform equals safe, perform equals love, perform equals valuable. The autopilot doesn't lie, it just runs old software. Think about what Trump did on that plane. He ran the software he's been running for 70 years. When there's a gap, fill it with confidence. When script gets cut, improvise with bravado. When someone pushes on something you don't know, perform certainty. The guy that runs Taiwan, see, that's not ignorance. That's a survival program running at full speed on the biggest stage in the world. And so is yours, maybe on a smaller stage, but it's the exact same reflex. Here's what most people miss when we talk about performing. We're not talking about, um, the obvious kind. We're talking about putting on a show. We're talking about the invisible kind, the kind you don't see until after. There are 3 faces of the performance reflex. I want you to see which one runs you. So, number 1, the competence performance. That's always having the answer, never saying I don't know, filling in that silence with words so no one sees that gap. Trump: I gotta talk to that guy that runs Taiwan. He doesn't say I don't know. He fills the gap with confidence because in his wiring Not knowing is the threat. Number 2, the control performance. Deflecting what feels dangerous, pivoting what you're comfortable with. Trump, the tariff man, asked about tariffs in Beijing and he goes quiet, soft and vague. The same man who built his entire brand on tariffs ducked the question the moment the context wasn't safe, because in his wiring, Xi's room is not his room, and in his gut, he knew it. Number 3: the agreement performance. Saying yes to the room, softening your edge, shrinking your position. In real time, looking at that boardroom. Musk, Cook, Huang, Larry, Fink, Solomon. The most powerful men in America in business sitting at the table in Beijing telling Xi Jinping how historic this visit is. Vowing to deepen and promote the relationship. Were they lying? No, but they were performing agreement because the room required it and their gut felt that room. So put in a chat prompt or put in the chat one, which one runs you the most? One, competence performance. 2, control performance, or 3, agreement performance? So 1 again is competence performance, 2 is control performance, and 3 is agreement performance. Go ahead and type it in the chat. There's no wrong answers, guys and ladies. So look at that. Most of us are running 1s and 3s together. And let's see, let a couple more come in. Okay, and here's the thing I want you to really sit with: the richer you get, the more powerful you become, the more famous, the harder your gut performs because now you have something to lose, and the gut calculates that. This is why most successful people in the room are often the most trapped. The stakes just got bigger. The performance had to match. So success doesn't free you from the reflex, it raises the volume, actually. Now here's the moment of truth. Trump isn't performing because he's weak. Trump isn't performing because he's bad. Trump is performing because He has been getting reps of those patterns for over 70 years. Deflecting the hard questions, that's the rep to fill in the silence with bravado and to prove yourself you're the big man. The rep that agreed with the room behind closed doors when you know you don't have the upper hand at that moment. Rep, rep, rep, more reps. And the body says, "I got it. That's the program. I'll run it automatically." 'Cause the body stores it. That's what your gut brain is, is a storage for your autopilot. I'll ask you the question, practice makes what? Practice makes what? No, practice doesn't make perfect. Practice makes permanent. And that's what reps are for. The practice to make something permanent, automatic. That's what reps are. Reps are the practice to make it the thing your body reaches for before your head even gets involved. Trump practiced those reps for over 70 years. You practice your reps, and right now those reps are your default. But here's what nobody in Beijing in the room understood: the same system that locked in the old reps can lock in new ones too. This is not a mindset problem. This is not a willpower problem. This is a reps problem, and reps can be changed. You can't yell at a dog into a different behavior, but you can train a new behavior into them. Same principle, just a different species. You're training your gut, not your head. So the question isn't, why can't I stop performing? The question is, what do you wanna practice so you're not fighting yourself after you performed in a way you never really wanted to. What reps are you building right now? That's what this morning is about. We're gonna build a new rep right now together. Okay?

So close your eyes if that's comfortable for you. Or soften your gaze, looking down at nothing. Either way, right hand on your chest, right there over your heart. This is your anchor. Every time this hand lands here, something in your body starts to settle. It already knows what this means because we've been here before. Go ahead and take one breath in, hold it, and let it go all the way out.

Ah!

Exhale. Good. Now I want you to feel your feet, just your feet. Feel them on the floor. Feel the weight of your body in your chair. You don't have to go anywhere. You don't have to perform anything. Anything. Not right now. Not in here. Go ahead and take another breath in through your nose, a little deeper this time. And on your exhale, let your shoulders drop. Whatever they were holding, they can let it go now. One more breath in and out through your mouth. Ah. Now I want you to bring to mind one moment Not the hardest one, just the first one that comes up. A moment where you performed in a way you didn't want to. Maybe you said yes when you meant no. Maybe you filled a silence that needed to be empty. Maybe you smiled when you were angry. Maybe you agreed when you had a completely different truth. Got it? Don't judge it. Don't fix it. Just see it. Like you're watching it on a screen. A little distance Yes, a little curiosity. Now ask yourself quietly, what was my gut protecting me from? What was the threat it thought it saw? You don't have to have the answer. Just sitting with the question is already a new rep. Just asking, "Why did I perform there?" instead of just running it again, that's the interrupt. That's the 5-second window. Now I want you to think of one thing, one moment going forward where you want a different rep. Maybe it's with your partner, maybe it's in a meeting, maybe it's the next time someone asks you a question and your gut wants to perform an answer before your truth has a chance to speak. Whatever the moment is, you see yourself in it. See your hand going to your chest. See yourself taking that one breath. Then see yourself choosing, not reacting, choosing. That moment you just saw, that's the new rep, and we're gonna lock it in right now. Take a deep breath in and breathe out. Hah! That's the new program locked. The next time you feel the urge, you'll remember this clap. Your hand will go to your chest because it's now locked. Good. Now I'm going to count you back, and as I count, you're going to feel yourself come back into the room, clear, present, and ready. 3, feel your breath, feel your feet. You're here. 2, feel the energy in your hands.

Maybe wiggle your fingers a little bit as you return back to the room.

And 1, chin up, eyes open. Welcome back. That what you just did, that's a rep. Every time you do that, you're not fighting the old program, you're building the new one, rep by rep, until it becomes your reflex, until the choice becomes automatic, until performing is no longer the only option your gut knows.

Go ahead and pull out your phone right now. No, really, pull up your phone, cuz we're gonna set 3 alarms for this week, because knowing this isn't enough, the reps have to happen outside this room too. Now alarm number 1— let me grab my phone so I can set mine too. All right, alarm number 1, we are gonna set: what am I performing today? This is for the morning, alarm 1 in the morning. What am I performing today and for who? That's number 1. What am I performing today and for who? All right, Google, add alarm. What am I performing, or what am I performing today and for who? Set that at 6 AM. All right, so alarm number 2. Let's set the midday. Put in, "Did I fill in a silence that needed to stay empty?" Alright. Okay Google, go and add the alarm for 12 PM and title it, "Did I fill a silence that needed to stay empty?" Alright guys. You guys got that set there? All right, Google, set alarm number 3 at 7 PM. Set it, uh, title it One Moment I Was Real, One Moment I Performed. Which do I want more? Reps of? You got that, Google? So 7 PM, so this is alarm number 3, all right? One moment I was real, one moment I performed. Which do I want more reps of? Brianna, can you please, um, put these in the chat too so they can copy and paste it? In case they're not done setting their alarms yet. Please make sure you set those. All right, I'm gonna give you guys a few more seconds. So what you're gonna do is do those 3 questions every day this week. That's the practice, not perfection. Practice making the new reps permanent. See, Trump couldn't stop performing on the biggest stage in the world, not because he's weak, because nobody ever taught him what you just learned today. The reps he built are the reps he ran, and you now have something different. Not a mindset, not a motivation, a new rep locked in your body right now, this morning. See, 'cause practice makes what? Permanent. That's right. Make sure you're practicing what you actually want. See, two things before we go. First, share this session with one person who you know is performing their way through life. They don't need to know why, just send it. Let the work find them. Second, if you want to keep doing this work, come back to the same room, same time, every Saturday. That's where we— or 5sr.org, that's where we live, that's where the reps happen. Okay, everyone, and for those of you who have done this before, you know what to do. And for those of you who haven't, go ahead, let's put your hand on your chest and repeat after me. Ready? Repeat after me. All right, we wake up, we choose, and we bring everyone we love with us. And one