#153: Stronger Together: Facing A Time Of Political Divide With LuAnn Buechler

Thanks, Adam. But that feels even better when I hear you read it.

Isn't it cool to hear somebody read your bio, right?

And go like, very cool.

Holy smokes, did I do all that? Right? It's like Urkel. Remember Urkel would be like, did I do that? This is like, did I do that? Really? Am I hugging across America? Am I doing that? Luanne, what's not written in that very wonderful and extensive bio What's not written there that you would love for people to know about you?

Wow, that's an interesting question. I guess my mission is to spread joy in the world. I want people to live in joy and get out of the struggle and drudgery of what they think life is because as you said a few minutes ago, it is a blessing. We are totally blessed every day all around us and it's a mindset shift to Focus on those blessings, and you can choose to be in joy by looking at all the miracles and positive things in our world. Or you can choose to get stuck in the conversations of the media and the politics and all the negativity. Even all the movies they put out these days seem to be crazy, wild, violent things. I choose to stay away from. So choose joy.

You choose joy.

I choose joy.

Resilience—it's the unsung hero in every success story that you will ever. hear about. And in times of massive change and disruption, the kind of rapid change that we're all experiencing as leaders, as business owners, as entrepreneurs, we have to learn how to not only increase our own resilience, but that of our teams. So right now, we have a powerful opportunity for you to find out just how resilient you are. Some years ago, my team and I created the resilience assessment that more than 5,000 business leaders across the globe have taken. And all you have to do to get your own free resilience leader assessment is go to resiliencerank.com. It takes less than 3 minutes, and it's our gift to you for being the leader that you already are. Other free resources and tools will accompany your score instantly. So go to resiliencerank.com and find out just how resilient you are. I knew there was a reason that I enjoy your company so much. I think it in many ways is the fact that you exude that. You exude a joy.

Thank you so much. Another one of our friends at the Transformational Leadership Council, Dr. Sue Morter, said to me at one of her events, she said, Luann, you're just a little bubble of joy and you're the last one to know it.

Are you really the last one to know it?

I am the last one to know it.

Why is that?

I think that we second-guess and doubt ourselves and—

Do you second-guess and doubt yourself?

We all have that same monkey mind in our head. Yes, we do. And so I too have to practice like everyone else, reframing that, turning it around. And I do, but from time to time they still come up. But I remember what she said and I'm like, wow. And now I look for evidence in the world of where that's true and where people give me feedback to that, right? So you're saying that to me makes me own it more in my heart, right? And confidently. And that's what I teach people to do in the Passion Test actually is identify your passions and then look for the evidence. of where that's already true in your life and the universe starts to feed it back to you, right? So I remember sitting in a BNI directors meeting. Okay. So there's like 80 directors in the room. I am not familiar with all of them. We're not all friends, you know, sat next to a gentleman I didn't know at all. We barely had a conversation because we were interacting with the presenter and what was going on in the meeting. And at the end of the meeting, Before he left, he said, I really enjoyed sitting next to you. Your energy is so awesome. And I'm like, I didn't do anything. I was just sitting here. But apparently, like you said, I kind of exude it out into the world. And so—

Yeah, they feel it. They feel your energy. All of us, I think it's a question of, are we using that in a way to bring, draw people in or to push them away? And I think there's a lot of both unconscious things going on there. And things that we actually do on purpose intentionally. And it's an interesting thing. I find myself going, is my energy today looking to draw people in or is it looking for me to sort of protect my own energy to keep it consol— you know, to basically not have anyone kind of intruding in my space?

Right. I like that language better of protecting myself because you're right, we all feel each other's energy. And so when there's a lot of negative energy around you, You can absorb that, even own that and be brought down, right? They talk about energy suckers in a room. When negative people come in, then they can suck the energy right out of the room. But there you go, Adam. This is why the hug movement is so important.

Yes, we're gonna get— talk about that for sure. To me, when I think about some of these things, this is— it brings up this idea of how it is that we cultivate resilience for ourselves because there's so many ways to look at how we are either set up to weather the storms of life or are more susceptible or vulnerable to those same events, the same things, the things that we can't control, the things that are unknown, things that catch us by surprise. And you used one of the terms that in terms of resilience we talk about a lot, which is reframing, which is very much the way you handle your mind, the choices you make about what you focus on and what you will put your energy toward. And it's so easy to reframe things, or I should say, it's sort of a simple thing to do but not easy to pull off at times, especially when there's a lot of, let's say, people around you or there's a lot of things that are coming at you from the media, from news sources, from social media, et cetera, that sort of say to you, hey, you should be worried now. You should be scared now. You should be defensive. You should protect. You should be on guard now. And we're in one of those times right now, Luanne. And before we push the record button on this show, I was sharing with you that we'll be airing this particular show even though we're prerecording for months ahead. We're going to air this show pretty quickly because what we're going to talk about today is going on right now and frankly, hopefully, in a couple of months it won't be top of mind and top of end of tongue or whatever it is on a daily basis. And that is this coronavirus that's out there. And it's an interesting thing because you started— I don't remember, I'd like to find out when you decided and what was that about to start this I Hug Across America movement. Where I came in contact with it was at a TLC retreat in Panama back in January. And so here you are, it's— we're a couple of months past that now, and this virus has kind of spread in so many ways, both literally and figuratively. It has infected in many ways a lot of people around this globe.

Yes.

And here you are, a woman on a mission. Why don't you tell us about what that mission is, and then we'll circle back to talk about some of these other things as well.

Yeah, because there's a lot in what you just said, but all right, we'll begin at the beginning, right? So the iHug Across America campaign came to me, oh, spring of 2019. I was actually attending a marketing seminar put by Joel Roberts. And what Joel does so beautifully is he brings people to the stage and in front of the whole audience gets them down to the why of what they're doing. And the authentic message that they want to present to the world rather than marketing message some other advertising agencies might try to pull off. Anyway, I got the opportunity to go to the stage and I was talking about my passion test work and Joel goes, passion smashing. Everybody's talking about passion. Luanne, you want to be unique? Do something else. I think that button on your chest is way more interesting. You should like, I hug across America or something. And in Joel's style, kicked me off the stage. Like, he gave me what he was meant to give me, and off you go, Luanne. And I'm like, what do I do with that?

Yeah, I've had Joel on our stage many, many times. I've seen him do that. Yeah, well, good on you, Luanne.

I sat with it. I sat with it. I meditated on it. I prayed on it. And what came into my awareness was you need to IHOP across America in 2020 during the presidential campaign to offset the negativity of the political energy. Now, I am nonpartisan through and through. I stay out of politics as much as I can, right? And

you don't have a horse in the race.

I don't have a horse in the race. And so you're going to do what? And so I had to sit with it more and think about it more. And other things came to me, such as I live in southern Minnesota and Winnebago is in northern Iowa. And I'm like, some again came to my awareness. The very first political thing that happens in the US is the Iowa— 3rd Iowa caucus. And so the vision was from February 3rd the election on November 4th, they jump in a Winnebago and drive across America and hug people to try and offset the energy of the political situation. Just spread a different energy, right? We all feel the energy. And trust me, when I started testing this out, people reacted, right? It shifts the energy in the room. And so that was the original plan. I have yet to get Winnebago to Say yes yet. I also love to camp, right? So then it was, okay, take my little Winnebago and I'm going to call the KOA campgrounds, right? Campgrounds Across America, right? And say, hey, will you donate a campsite wherever I stop? And I'll put you on the side of the Winnebago and market KOA. I'm willing to give back and share the information and both the companies that would support me. So that's the original vision. And the goal is simply to shift the energy in the world and remind people that we are human beings and we need to connect as human beings. You know, one of the things I know, Adam, and you can see it all through history, is that when there's a crisis in our world, people come together despite race, religion, or political affiliation. We come to each other's aids and we help each other. Right? Well, I believe we are in such a crisis in our country based on what's going on in our political arena. That's how it feels to me anyway, right? And so that's the pain I feel of it, and that's why I want to go out and spread the love with people and bring them back together. And no matter who I'm hugging, they say the same thing. This is so great. What a great idea. This is what we need in our world today. Thank you so much. Awesome.

I was just gonna ask you to share something of what your experience has been from the field, because you have gotten out into the political space and in places where there's a different team flag, let's say.

Yeah, when my— one of my friends heard that I was getting seriously gonna do this, she challenged me. She said, okay, Luanne, and this was last fall, she said, Donald Trump is coming to Minneapolis. Go hug people there. And I said, okay, I will do that. So it was the first experience. Minneapolis did an interesting thing, and they effectively separated the supporters from the protesters. And I wasn't really clear on that picture. I followed the crowd to be where the crowd was, to hug as many people as I could. And I ended up in this supporters' line of people going into the arena. For Trump's rally. And it was peaceful. It was beautiful. People looked at me kind of funny at first. And I'm like, it's just a hug. And then they'd step out of line and they would come and hug me and they would say those very words that I just said to you. Right? Thank you for being here. This is what we need today. You know, we're so glad you're here. Awesome. And then somebody whispered in my ear and said, which people do. That's another benefit of hugs, by the way. People whisper great things in your ear. I call it my angels speaking to me. But anyway, so someone whispered in my ear and said, you need to go hug the other people. They're the ones who are angry. And I went, what other people? And they're like, on the other side of the building are all the other people. And I'm like, oh, okay. So I left that line and I moved over to the other side of the building where the so-called protesters were.

The others.

The others. And they were angry and they were negative and they had swastikas and they had whistles they were blowing. And some of them even had masks over their face. And I hugged them too. And they said the same thing. Thanks for being here. This is what we need right now. We're so glad you're here. And I carry a little free hug sign and I have a free hug shirt on, making sure they get the message of the I Hug Movement that we're hugging people, right? One young lady goes, I want a sign like that. I'm like, that's the point. Here, take it. Go, go hug, right? It's not about me. It's about getting everyone to hug, right? And it was so interesting. They had signs that something to the effect of hate never cured a country or something. And I'm like, yeah, hate never cures hate. So why are you acting in hate? In the way that you're acting, I'm just dumbfounded by that. I'm like, how can you hold that sign and stand there and be attacking others with your language and what you're doing? So I just hug. I don't get into conversation or try and correct them because people have— one lady came with me because she said I needed a bodyguard. They're worried about my safety. Forget the coronavirus. The first thing that women think of is what if someone grabs you inappropriately?

Hmm.

So I believe it's what we focus on, right? So I don't even think of that. There's nowhere in my mind that I would be afraid that someone's gonna grab me inappropriately. So I don't focus on it. It doesn't happen. I've given out thousands and thousands and thousands of hugs.

So where'd the journey take you after that? That was in the fall.

That

was just the beginning. Yeah,

that was just the beginning to test out the theory, what would happen and how would people react. And I felt good about the results. And so then it was preparations to go to the process I had envisioned of being at the Iowa caucus and the New Hampshire primaries. And then it's a little hard to track and follow the politicians. First of all, like Super Tuesday just the other day, they're in 14 different states. I can't be in 14 places at once.

You get a small sense of what it's like to be them. I mean, they are like pinballs, literally back and forth from place to place. And some of them are obviously senators or due in Washington for things.

Right. So when I was at the Iowa caucus, Amy Klobuchar had been in town for the week because that's a whole week-long affair down there. And then there's the day that they actually caucus and vote, right? That was the day I was down there. She had been down there for the week, and then she had to be in Washington on the day of the vote, the caucus, and she was due to come back for the celebration at night. So to find the groups of people to hug during the caucus was a challenge.

Mm-hmm.

Because they're really like all over the place, tucked away in people's homes, in school gymnasiums. So the only thing I could find where there was supposed to be lots of people were those celebration speeches that they're all supposed to have. And again, then there was one for every candidate somewhere in Des Moines, right? Or somewhere in Iowa. We started following news media trucks. Where are they so that we know? And part of this is in order to get the movement seen is to be where the media is. I'm doubtful I could draw their attention away from the politics. So to be where they are and show something different.

Yes.

But unfortunately, I've had only one media article written about what I'm doing so far, been interviewed a lot.

Wow. The pace of change over the last couple of years has been rapid. And if you're a leader, a business owner, an entrepreneur, you know exactly what I'm talking about. Every day it's something different and something new. But the one thing that I've learned in performing at the height of all of those roles has been that we must be resilient. In fact, it's the unsung hero in every success story that you will ever hear about. And it's the reason why my team and I created the resilience assessment that more than 5,000 business leaders across the globe have taken. And all you have to do to get your own free resilience leader assessment is go to resiliencerank.com. It takes less than 3 minutes and it's our gift to you for being the leader that you already are. Other free resources and tools will accompany your score instantly. So go to resiliencerank.com and find out just how resilient you are. So additional PR would be a good thing right now.

Additional PR would be great.

I'll do this, which our folks know I never do this, but I think it's important that if anybody out there has some resources, PR resources that they'd love to lend a hand to the iHug Across America movement and to Luanne. There'll be information in our show notes where you guys can find out more including how to contact Luanne or get involved in the movement and you're looking for this to truly be a movement, right, Luanne? This is not just a personal passion, let's say. This is something that you feel strongly called to lead and to be a part of and to get other people to lead and be a part of.

Yeah, absolutely. So I did end up— after I went to Texas with a volunteer in Texas, he's like, I'll lead the charge in Texas. I'm like, yes, this is what I need. And this month I'm off to the BNI National Conference in Colorado. And my intention is to get a hugger each one of the states. Say, I'll step up and play with you, Lan. And since I didn't get my Winnebago, what I've been doing is I've had some friends Blessed me with plane tickets to come to their locations, and they had their house— many of our TLC members. I went and crashed Steve Farber's Extreme Leadership Experience to hug people and get to share my message. So anybody has a big event where there's lots of people and there would be potential media that might pick this up and share so that we can find other huggers, there's a place on the website to invite me. To come to an event. And I would love to come. And it's like being a greeter. I just stand there with my free hug shirt and people come to me. I'm attracting them in with the energy, like you said. And I'm not forcing myself on anybody. They come to me.

It's an interesting thing. Maybe a year or so ago, and I'm very much a hugger. People that know me and have met me before know that. Randi said to me, my wife said to me, you really need to ask people permission. So this was, maybe it's even more than a year ago, and it was really more in connection with the MeToo movement. And I didn't have that sensitivity about it, but she did. And she said, really good idea. And I mean, I hug plenty of men. So my thing has been ever since then to just simply say, are you a hugger? And that one question has been such an interesting and exhilarating question to ask people. Because at this point, if I were keeping stats, I probably hugged, I don't know, many, many hundreds of people since then. And maybe 1 or 2 in all that time have said to me, hey, no, no thanks. Not a hugger, but happy to fist pump you or elbow bump you or just bow, any kind of thing. And I'm not putting any— for folks that may be listening to this who are not huggers, I mean, what was great is that the people who said to me, hey, no, It was such a wonderfully real moment that you give a person a choice. There's no judgment about it. But I was absolutely surprised by how many people that I would look at them and go, if I were betting, I'd say maybe not. Maybe not. Maybe not me. Maybe not now. I'm a stranger, whatever it is. But every time I've asked that question, or nearly every time I've asked that question, people just like— it's as if another side of them comes out. Their energy shifts and changes. Their eyes widen. Their skin becomes flushed. Their body becomes open. They literally open up on the spot to say, am I a hugger? Are you kidding? Get in here. And then it's like they envelop me in this giant kind of a bear hug moment. And so I really feel, Luanne, like you're not just onto something. There's something really viscerally important and relevant in this right now. And I want to discuss this for a moment in the context of a world What appears to be a world pandemic, that there is this virus that is spreading, that people are concerned about, kids are not going to school. When you hear countries canceling school and states canceling school and cities like Seattle canceling school, it's not something we can ignore. And I just don't— I'm a lawyer by trade. I haven't practiced law in 10 years, but that side of me that I think we have to be able to see both what is real that's happening, and then also know how do we feel called to respond to that. So, I mean, do we respond with sort of the panic of, hey, I don't want to have any contact with anybody. I don't want to touch anybody. I don't want anybody to touch me. I'm using that word panic because to me, when we as human beings are built for connection, this is what we're built for.

That's right.

Yeah. Then, so that's going on in the world. So you started out with the politics being the thing, and now we've got this other thing that's potentially challenging the movement. What's your philosophy there, Luanne? What's your thoughts? What are you feeling or seeing or experiencing when it comes to this? Because maybe people are going to be like, hey, look, I'll hug you later. Let's do it in a month.

Oh, I want to say that this whole thing started many years ago. I can't even remember what year I originally got the button. But that's exactly why I began wearing it, was to warn people that I'm a hugger and that I'm going to come in and give you a hug unless you stop me. Now, if Dr. Meisner thinks that's a great tagline, I'm going to hug you unless you stop me, I don't think the Me Too movement would like that very much. So that's why I started wearing it. And then I had it always on my lapel. And I would forget I was even wearing it and someone else would approach me and go, I hug too. I'm like, do you need a hug? Yes? Okay, I'm here for you. You know? So that kind of wonderful stories in my book, which is why I wrote the book, because it became a human experiment of what was happening and how people were reacting to that, right?

Yes.

And so I was at a Pete Buttigieg rally in New Hampshire, and cool thing about being at rallies is the politicians never show up on time. So guess what? I've got a captive audience to walk around and hug. Pretty great. Anyway, this woman taps me on the shoulder and she goes— steps back, both hands— she goes, I don't hug, but I gotta know what you're doing. What are you up to? And I told her my message and I said, Don't you think we need more hugs in the world today? And she said, we do. And she gave me a big hug.

Wow.

Turned her attitude right around. She wasn't a hugger, but in that moment she hugged me, right? This is what happens all the time. So in all the years that I've been doing this, I've only had one person who literally said, don't touch me. And that was years ago, had nothing to do with what's going on now. So by and large, people are huggers. Gotta have the right conversation and give them the right energy, right?

For sure, yes.

So yes, regarding what's going on right now, I had one of our friends, Andrew, call me up the other day and he goes, Luanne, I'm worried about you and what you're doing. Like, how are people gonna react with this virus thing going on? And I think you should get ahead of it and you should show people how they can spread that hug without touching each other.

And

I'm like, well, guess what, Ken? There's a chapter in my book about mental hugs and that literally looking at someone and even better if you're catching their eyes as you and I are, Adam, right? Is that you can say with your eyes, I'm giving you a hug.

Hmm.

And it's still changing. You can visualize it. We all believe in visualization. Visualize that I'm giving you a hug in my mind. And you can feel it. I can feel it, right? So that's the beginning. And that eye contact is important. Lots of people don't do eye contact anymore either, right? And so you can share a lot of love just looking at each other's eyes.

All right. I want to pause right there for a second. I want people to really take that in. I know I'm taking it in right now, which is that this is a wonderful reframe. It's not even a reframe. This is another way to see the opportunity That's right in front of us, meaning we're right in the middle of something that's got a lot of people wigged out and with some good reason and some hype, of course, the media fans these flames, it's good for business and all that kind of thing. But the opportunity—

You could call it a pivot.

You could call it a pivot if you like, and one that is conscious, absolutely, because we're thinking about it now that you literally could stand in front of someone and say, so I'm a hugger, but it might be a good idea in this moment potentially to not hug. But I really want to give you a hug if you're open to it. And I want to receive one too. And so why don't we just give each other a mental hug right now? And it's like, boom, I can feel the endorphins from that right now with you. And we're just on Zoom. Right? I am so feeling a hug from you right now, Luanne. And I'm not just feeling that hug from you. I'm literally, I am feeling it in my body that people who are listening to this right now, whether they're on their treadmill, they're on the elliptical, they're walking, they're driving, they got their feeding their pet, That's— that in this moment, there's just a collective hug that we're sharing and it's a mental thing and our minds are so flipping powerful.

Right?

Yeah.

So powerful.

That's so beautiful, Luanne. I just want to say thank you for that. Thank you for that big juicy hug.

So one other way since we're talking about this is this is the sign language for hug.

Oh,

we have many people. Just cross your arms.

If you're not watching this on YouTube, you're basically taking one hand and putting them on each shoulder, but crisscross,

right? Yep,

yep. That's sign language for

hug.

Hug. Wow, that's beautiful.

I was ill at a TLC meeting in Hawaii, and they sequestered me behind a table so I couldn't get anybody else sick, and I couldn't give the usual hugs that I give. And someone taught me that so I could still do that. And again, then you do that and you make eye contact. How powerful.

Beautiful.

So I do that on Zoom all the time.

So very effective. Very effective, Louann. All right. So as we wrap up, I'd love to get your definition. So important in this context. I think it's also really relevant that we talk about what builds people up. How do we fortify ourselves? I think the thing about resilience is that you build it, you create it before you need it. You work on developing it before it's required. And so what's your definition of resilience? And what do you think we can be doing now to create greater resilience for ourselves?

Well, I think it's a way of being, right? And I have shifted mindset to be in that space of joy that helps me with that resilience. Because when other things come at you, you're more at peace already from what you've been doing. And so on average, people are stressed out in the world, right? Pretty much. When you're already stressed out, right? It's another epidemic, a true epidemic actually. When you're already stressed to that level and then something new and negative comes at you, flip out, right? But if you're living from a space of peace to begin with, then you can be more rational and conscious about how you respond to it and that's the resiliency that gets you through any of those situations.

Beautiful. LuAnn, what's one thing that you do yourself personally on a regular basis, maybe even daily as a ritual to create your resilience?

It is a ritual. It's a morning ritual. And ritual is just doing something over and over again, right? So my morning ritual is really a couple of hours. And a piece of that is meditation and prayer.

Yes.

And I know when I miss that, it changes my whole day and how I feel. Absolutely, without a doubt. And so I encourage people to begin practicing that. And I scare people when I say my 2-hour ritual, but here's the deal. The meditation might only be 20 minutes of that. How you take a shower, how you have breakfast, all of that is part of your ritual, right? Now, part of my ritual is my green smoothie, thanks to our friends at WildFit. I have to have my green smoothie every morning. But it's, again, part of resiliency for my health, right, to have that. So that's all my morning ritual. But when I began, I was like, how do I find time? And someone said to me, Luanne, 10 minutes. 10 minutes. Would you leave the house without taking a shower? No. So you're going to schedule the time from when you wake up to have enough time to get you in the shower before you leave, right? Add 10 minutes. It's important enough. To do your meditation. Well, then when you see the value of that 10 minutes in your life after 30 days or whatever, right? Then you go, oh, I want 20 minutes. Feels so good.

I really hope you're enjoying this episode of the Change Proof Podcast. If you've not yet gone out and gotten your own copy of Change Proof, It's not too late. You can get your copy right now by going to changeproof.com and not only getting the book and all the bonuses there, but getting access to our proprietary resilience assessment tool. It'll just take you 3 minutes to do, and it's something that will really help you to utilize the book even more effectively to create practices and rituals and habits That will increase your mental, emotional, physical, and even spiritual resilience for the long term. Again, go to changeproof.com to get your copy today. Yes, that's so true, Luanne. I remember sharing something with TLC some years ago at one of our meetings, and I'll share it now. I didn't expect to do this, but this will be fun. So the first part is the 10-second miracle, and that I do share all the time. And wonderful that even in the speaking engagements I have for corporations, they love this part. And I say, well, we've got a 10-second miracle. And that's the turnaround. That's a turnaround of any sort of negative thing that might be coming up in the moment, that you can turn that around in 10 seconds. And to me, the most important step in the right direction, as my grandmother would say, putting your foot, your right foot out, is the way you begin the day, that waking ritual. And my 10-second ritual is to wake up first and foremost. So amen to that one, right? Let's—

Right.

Amen. wake up again tomorrow, to feel grateful in that moment for that blessing because it is a blessing and it is definitely not one that is guaranteed. That's a fact. And third is to take 10 seconds to say these words and they don't even take 10 seconds. That's the beauty of it. You have leftover time to say it again. Like, I love my life. That was 2 seconds. I love my life. I love my life. Yeah. And even when things sort of come at me at times and usually they're coming at me from the inside, Very rarely,

right?

Coming from the outside. So when the attack is happening on the inside, that 10-second turnaround has just been incredibly valuable to me. Stop, pause, breathe, and say those words, I love my life. Even if in that moment it feels like pretending because there's something going on that I don't love.

Right.

To be able to love your life no matter what, that was the message of the TED Talk I gave. And when I was at TLC, I had More of a 10-minute practice. And I'm going to reveal that one now because I think it's fun for everybody to experiment with something. And you said it, I want to plus what you said, Luanne, that 10 minutes can be a life changer, game changer.

Yeah.

So I learned this in reading about a ritual that Ben Franklin had that he called a code of conduct. And his code of conduct was that he had 13 things that he wanted to experience, or he didn't use that word, ways that he would determine whether he'd had a good day, whether he'd been living a good life, the way he defined what a good And so he had 13 experiences during the day, 13 states of being. And he would check in at the end of the day on these 13 things. He'd just tick them off. And he could tell whether he had a really great day or if he didn't have a great day, why he didn't have a great day by how many of these things he had experienced during the day. And so the 10-minute practice is this simple. You can sit down today and think, how do I want to experience myself being today? That's the question you ask. How do I want to experience myself today? And most people that I've shared this with will never say, I want to experience myself being angry today. I want to experience myself being so resentful today. I want to be thinking about the past and I won't— I don't want to let go of that old anger for my, you know, fill in the blank. It's like nobody ever puts that on their list even though that's how they spend a good part of their days sometimes.

Right.

So the assignment, if you choose to take it now, maybe pull off the side of the road and start writing these things down, would be to create that original List. I like to start with 13. My list is so many and I don't use the same ones every day either, but I do call it a code of conduct and it's written down and it started out with 13, just like Ben Franklin. What are these states of being? So how do you want to experience yourself being today? And I always start with the same one. I experience myself being in gratitude today.

Hmm.

I experience myself having a positive and harmonious attitude today. You go on. It could be that you want to experience yourself as love, as being loved and being loved

Right.

Peaceful. Enjoy, as you said earlier.

Enjoy, yeah.

Yeah. Forgiving.

Another great one.

I want to experience miracles today. There's so many things you can have on your list. Just create a list of 13 and then this 10-minute practice is checking in with it. Sitting down in the morning, kind of first thing if you can before you've got a lot of coffee running through your body or the phone or the emails or any of those other things that's now taking you down those rabbit holes. And sit there and take a look and say them out loud and set not just the tone for your day, but literally create the blueprint for what kind of a day you're going to have by checking in with your code of conduct. And then if you want to do like Ben Franklin, at the end of the day, just go and see. It's so interesting how, as you said earlier, Louann, when we have practices that we keep, whether they're prayer or they're this kind of a practice or any practice that we've done consciously, Right. It gives us one kind of experience of living that day. And when we forget, when we're rushed, when we have too little time for those things, or we give our attention to something else, we have a different kind of a day.

Yeah.

They're really remarkable. And you are remarkable. I really appreciate you, Luanne, and that you made time to be on the show today and share your iHug Across America movement with all of us.

My pleasure. Thank you for inviting me in.

Yeah, a joy. A joy. You are a joy. Everybody have a joyous day. Let us know your thoughts. We'd love to get your feedback at adamarkel.com/podcast. You can leave a comment. Of course, subscribe if you like. Find us on social media. We've got a wonderful Start My Pivot Facebook page as well. You can join. Lots of love there. All right. More love, everybody.

Ciao for now.

More love and hugs.

Ah, yes, and hugs. We hope you now have the tools and greater insights to navigate your own pivot. Help us inspire others by sharing this episode and leaving your comments over at adammarkel.com/podcasts. For more tips, strategies, and support as you consciously pivot into a new business and lifestyle you love, join our Pivot Community on Facebook at pivotfb.com.