A Simple Yet Powerful Practice For A Fulfilling Year

Life happens, and not always the way we expect it to. Every single day we face change, stress, and uncertainty. What if you could learn to thrive no matter what life throws your way? Resilience expert Adam Markel and his inspiring guests explore breakthrough strategies to fully embrace change and build the resilience required to become change-proof.

Hey everybody, it's Adam Markel and welcome back Welcome back to another episode of the Change Proof Podcast. I am amazed that another year around the sun has already begun. And I hope this just finds you in a great place. And I don't know where the time goes and we could talk about that, but I won't. Instead, want to share something with you today, just myself. So no guest. I'm your guest today as I typically like to start the new year or end the year with some thoughts about change. Yeah. life, about business, about just sort of anything that might float into my consciousness in the moment. I hope that's okay with you all. I have enjoyed this year immensely. I've enjoyed the guests that we've had on the show. I hope you have. And I hope if you have, you've let us know. And if you haven't, then you've also hopefully let us know because the feedback is vital to our growth. And we know it's a lot to ask, honestly, with everything that's going on and everything that's— vying for our attention all the time. It is a lot to ask for you to take a moment and leave a comment or take that time to give us a rating on the platform that you're consuming the show and letting us know your feelings in some way, shape, or form. But if you have done that, we so appreciate it. And if you haven't and you're willing to, again, thank you so much. And if you're not willing, we thank you too, because, you know, you have the freedom to make that choice. And we more than respect it, we truly honor it. I make those choices just like you every day. What will I give my time and attention to? Which I think is a fair lead-in to the subject that I wanted to chat with you about today. I'm going to keep my thoughts pretty concise. It'll be a short episode, but I think a very meaningful one. I hope a meaningful one. I know what I'm about to share with you has been truly powerful in my own experience. And that's frankly the only reason I'm sharing it with you. 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. So, I know that the context of Change Proof is discussions around work, often creating— in our language, the language at Workwell, we like to think of how do we create healthier environments at work? How do we create healthier and happier places And by we, I mean our company and the work that we do in working with other companies. We're working with leaders and teams and organizations at a grassroots level on how to meet people where they truly are and not just help to develop greater well-being, as that term has been used a lot in its sort of general sense, but really how to chunk it down and get to a granular level on how it is that we meet people in the place they are. And we know where that place is. Because we've all experienced it. It's a place that's filled with a lot of busyness. It's filled with a lot of responsibilities, a lot of things that are coming at us. It's filled with quite a bit of tension, quite a bit of stress. And we have to manage all of that while still developing our own plan and strategy for our growth, as well as deploying our talents and our skills in the service of others, of the teams that we are a part of, of the organizations that we are a part of, that we're committed to. And then ultimately, hopefully, what we're doing each and every day is doing some good, that what we're doing each day hopefully is contributing some value in the world. I think 2 years ago in our organization at Workwell, our commitment was to add more value. That was sort of the mantra for the year, keeping it really simple, chunking it down, was to add more value. And last year, 2024 year, our message internally was looking for fresh opportunities for service. So it was fresh opportunities for service. That was what was fundamentally on our plate and on our hearts and minds. And I think, again, when we think about how we do that, we do it as a group. We will always be better as a group than we are individually. We are individually brilliant and miraculous beings and superstars in our own right. And we have talents and all of those things. Yeah. And yet fundamentally, it's when we come together and when we connect with others and we merge those, we synergize our talents, our passions, our abilities, all that we bring to the table, the change becomes exponential. And so often I think we are exhausted and many of us even feeling anxious and dare I even use the word burned out from time to time because we're trying to go it alone because we somehow feel alone. And loneliness is a real thing that a lot of people have been feeling more and more in the last several years, not just during the pandemic, but certainly since and before even. And I think when we do try to do things, when we try to go it solo, thinking that we're better off that way, that we have more control in that scenario, that we don't maybe think that we can trust Others or trust the system even, then ultimately, we're struggling. It's that struggle. And I think that struggle is optional. That's a viewpoint. You don't have to buy that. But I think that we create that struggle for ourselves when we try to go at it in some way, shape, or form without the collaboration of other people. When we work together, when we are part of something bigger than ourselves, the exhaustion disappears, the burnout. disappears. We just don't have to go it alone. That is a route to a dead end. Let's put it that way. So today, I wanted to share something around how it is that we individually work on ourselves while recognizing the whole time that to work on ourselves, to work on us individually is our personal responsibility. And yet, just like a puzzle piece, it doesn't It won't matter as much as it can matter if we don't merge our piece, if we don't find our piece to place in the puzzle. And if we're not looking, I think vigilantly looking for opportunities to contribute to something that's greater than ourselves. Again, finding that place to drop our puzzle piece or looking for others to help us to find the great placement of that puzzle piece that is us because we are a mystery. We are a puzzle to be sure. So in my own evolution, And hopefully gaining some greater consciousness each year that goes by and maybe even at a more daily level. At least that's what I aspire to. I have a practice and that practice is something that I want to share with you today. I did that last year as well, but it's a different practice that I'm going to share today. One that came to me through a mentor this year. You may know that a mentor It can be somebody who's alive or somebody who's passed on. I know it sounds funny to have a mentor that's no longer alive, but I have one. And I know a lot of you do as well, that you read the books of, you study and you think about people from the past, whether they're relatives or they're people that have inspired you in some way by their example in the world, the things they've done, the things they spoke about, they taught, they did. And so alive or In some other realm, we can have mentors of all kinds. So my mentor is someone who was known as Emmet Fox. That was his earthly name, Emmet Fox. And where he is now, I do not know, but his legacy lives on. It certainly lives on in me, and I know it lives on in many, many other people. He's a metaphysician, philosopher. Call him a social psychologist, but not the term that would have been used for him back in the day. And for sure, he was a person who spoke And spoke to many people and wrote, and his writing impacted many people. So all of those things really resonate deeply with me and the work or the path that I've been on and the work I've been doing. But one thing that I learned in reading more and more of his work, I started to practice this year. And that's the practice I'm going to share with you now, which is the following. I was instructed through writing, through something I read, to try an exercise. And the exercise was really simple. To write down on a piece of paper. I mean, you could obviously use any other form. You could use technology to do it of any kind of your choosing. But I really have been focused this year a lot on analog, on regaining some connection to the analog. So I could read articles and lots of things online, and I do, of course, like we all do, I think. But I really wanted to read the newspaper this year. I could read a book on a Kindle or in some other way using technology, but instead, I've really leaned back on reading a book that I could hold in my hand. And I feel like that is, in many ways, when I'm reading a book or reading the newspaper, doing those tactile things, those things that are analog and not digital, I'm giving my brain, my mind, my body even, an opportunity to recover. And as many of you know, our philosophy around Resiliency is that it is not about grit. It's not about our ability to even bounce back as much as it is about our capacity to recover and therefore grow and move forward. So it's really about bouncing forward. And so in recovery, there's lots of rituals for recovery. Many of our episodes we've talked about that, and much of the work we do with organizations focuses at a granular level on how to ritualize recovery so that people can be at their best. And therefore produce their best. So in this instance, I chose to do it, this exercise, with a paper and a pen. And I sat down and the first instruction was to write down all of the things that I want. Basic. What do I want in my life right now? And it took a minute to write them all. I started with one thing and the first thing I'm happy to share with you was to think To think rightly each and every moment of the day. And by think rightly, you might intuit what that means, but to me, it's to be able to think in a way that really is how I would want to experience myself. If I could separate me from me and look objectively at myself, how would I want to experience myself if I was someone else, for example? And that's loving and kind and grateful and open and vulnerable and Trusting and a million other things that just are the things that want to be in the moment. And all of those ways of being begin with my thoughts. And so to think rightly each moment of the day is a high bar. It's a high standard since I know that I think wrongly a lot of the time when I'm judging people, when I'm dwelling on negative thoughts. And I won't get into the list. It's a long, long list. We understand. We know. Like if we take a moment, take a breath even in this moment and check in with yourself. And think about what you've been thinking about for the last hour. What have you been thinking about periodically throughout the day? I mean, frankly, if the police, if the FBI, or the CIA, or whoever, if they knew what we were really thinking, we'd all be locked up, I think. So from time to time, because that's the nature of our— of that monkey brain that we all have, that ancestral— way of thinking. And so it's impossible, I know, to think rightly every single moment. 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. But if I was going to create a list and I was going to start with any one thing that I truly desired, that was it. And yeah, do I think that it's likely that I will be able to do that? No. But can I think rightly more frequently? Can I think rightly more often because I'm consciously aware of it? Because it's something that I stated that I truly want and that I'm focused on, that I can be 100% committed to. I could be committed in the moment that I'm aware of that. Yes, I think that is doable. So I began this list and the list is about a page and a half of line-by-line things to do with health, with relationships, With business, with family, with leadership, with how I spend my time and what brings me joy. I won't get into the whole list. I won't read the list to you, but it's about a page and a half. So that was the first part of the exercise. Write down the things that you want. And then the second part are the things that you wish to remove from your life. And I began to write those things down. What things did I want to remove from my life? And that was just as easy a list and maybe it was even quicker for me to write down the things that I wish to remove from my life. And mostly those things were really just about me and about how I was showing up or how I was being on a daily basis, like how good or poorly I— or bad I listened to other people, how compassionate or How often I become agitated, where I ultimately allow my thinking to spiral into negativity. And again, I'm not going to read the entire list, but the things that I wanted to remove from my life became an exhaustive list of the things that I know that were truthful, that I was aware of, and yet I was willing to tolerate. And I think that's the truth for all of us, that there are things we know about ourselves that are not the way we'd like them to be. There are things in our lives that we have control over that are about how we show up. And there are also things in our lives that, that are a bit outside of control, of our control, including the people we're around and the people we spend time with and how we engage with those people. Like, for example, we can all talk, talk a bit of gossip. And I wrote that down. I said, I want to remove from my life any moment where I'm willing to talk smack about someone else, especially if they're not around. And it might sound obvious and it might sound like, oh yeah, yeah, right. But it got on the list. It's not the only thing by any means, but it got on the list. Being a poor listener got on the list, things like that, as well as other things. So I have this exhaustive list now of both the things that I want and the things that I want to remove. And the next part of the exercise after writing those 2 lists And I, again, wrote them physically on paper so I could have that piece of paper to look at. And then I did, in fact, start to look at it because that was the instruction, to look at it each day, to look at it for 5 minutes or 10 minutes or whatever it might be at a time during the day when things were quiet and I could sit with those things and think about them. So the beginning of the day was really that time for me. I know some people, it's quieter for them at night or at some other point. Again, if you choose to take this on or try this out, know that you could do it at any point that makes sense for you. The only thing that's sort of— well, not sort of. The only thing that is a requirement in my view, having done this, is that you're consistent with it. So pick a time and do it at that time because if you try to do it at different times, you may likely forget and it's not a habit yet. It may never become a habit. set yourself up for success, that how often it is that we set ourselves up for failure because we don't think about the process and we don't stick to the process. So the process for me was waking up in the morning, doing my morning rituals, and then finding this 5 to 10-minute quiet time to sit with nobody around, just by myself, and read through both sides of that paper, reading through the things that I wanted to bring into my life, And the things that I wanted to remove from my life. And I've done that now every day for several months. And that's why I can say that to me, this is one of the most beautiful things that I've, I've ever been introduced to. It's been remarkable, even miraculous, I suppose, in how it has changed some very important things for me. And I've become conscious of that. And that's why I wanted to share it with you. All of you to see if it's something that might be helpful, might make a difference. And I would, again, just to provide a bit of framework here, you write your lists, your front and back of the paper, so to speak, what you want to bring into your life, what you want to remove from your life. And then for 30 days, if you can do it, find a time during the day to read through it. I like to read these statements out loud. I like to read what I wrote out loud, quietly, of course, but I like to hear it. Coming out of my own mouth, that vibration, and that's meaningful to me. But of course, you could choose to do that or not do that. 30 days is the prescription. Again, you could choose to do that or not do that, all up to you. And beyond that, again, your freedom to choose. I have continued to do it each day. I don't have any plans to discontinue doing it. And I've, I've just been amazed by how much it has brought to me. It has paid significant returns on that investment of time. As we know, that's pretty much the most valuable thing we've got. And so when I'm asking you to spend time doing anything, of course, I'm very much aware that that's a big ask. And then lastly, I wouldn't tell anybody about it. I would keep this to yourself. Don't share with friends or family or colleagues or anyone that you're about doing this. See how it works for you. Experience it. In your own life, in your own mentality, and see if after a period of time, it becomes something that you've adopted. And therefore, when you've got that grounding, you could then, if you feel like it, share the wealth, share with someone that you care about, share with anyone that you want to see do better in whatever way, whether it's with their health, their relationships, their money and finance, their career, just anything. Then you're sharing, I think, something A very positive place and from your personal experience. So that's it. That's the whole practice. Again, super simple, but like so many things in life, sometimes the simplest things are truly the most profound. It doesn't have to be complicated. It just has to be usable. And this is certainly one of the most usable practices I've ever encountered. And that's why I wanted to let you know about it and use it as a way to wish you an absolutely beautiful brand new year, 2025. Again, just It's mind-boggling to even say those digits out loud. And yet this is the year we're in. It's a quarter of a century. We've already gotten to that place where we're one quarter of this century in. Some of us can remember the millennial change from 1999 to 2000. So it is pretty remarkable that we're here so fast. And there's a lot going on in our world. And so there's a lot for us to show up for. And I wish you a beautiful year. I wish that your most amazing wishes come true, that they are made manifest. I know at Workwell, we do what we do because we truly believe that we can have that ripple effect and really help people in an environment where we spend so much of our time. We just spend so much of our lives sleeping and working. And so what's kind of neat is that part of most of our work is helping create that healthier environment at work, healthier and happier places to work. But sometimes that involves us talking about sleep as well. We get into sleep, we geek out on the, on the how it is that we, we sleep better part of it. So yeah, we're wishing you great everything this year. Great relationships at work, great results at work, just things that will really keep you feeling good when you wake up in the morning, put your feet on the floor and feel passion and enthusiasm for what you're— for the work you're doing. Right livelihood, the right work to be doing in the world. We'd love to connect with you. So if you haven't, Reached out to us at any point in time, you want to join our newsletter, get some weekly dose of inspiration from us, please feel free to do that. You can simply write to team@workwelllabs.com, team@workwelllabs.com. If you haven't found time to develop your own new rituals for your resiliency mentally, emotionally, physically, spiritually, you can go to rankmyresilience.com, rankmyresilience.com. It's entirely free. It takes 3 minutes. And you get a lot of information about yourself as a result. You're going to get your own personal report. It's confidential, of course. No one else will be seeing it. And you'll also get some personalized advice around changes that you can make to routines that will develop that greater resiliency in those 4 specific realms. So feel free to check that out. And if you haven't yet gone to workwelllabs.com, our website, to learn more about what work we do, working with individuals, with teams, with leaders, with organizations at a really deep level. There's a lot of information there around our case studies. There's other resources there as well. So it's worth a look. And we appreciate you making the trip over to that site to check out what we're doing. And also to connect with us on LinkedIn is probably the best way you can connect with us at Workwell Labs LinkedIn, or you can connect with me, Adam Markel, there as well. For now anyway, I want to wish you just the best, brightest, and most beautiful new year. And we'll say ciao for now and see you.