Overcome Challenges and Gain Momentum
17 Dec 2020 · 30 min
Brendon Burchard shares what stops people from maintaining momentum on their goals. He emphasizes seeing beyond current circumstances, feeling the consequences of your actions, doing research, and maintaining discipline.
Foreign.
Hey, my friends, it's Brandon Burchard and welcome to a special episode of the Brendon show. Hey, I'm Brendon Burchard and I'm honored to be your high performance coach today. With this episode, I've spent the last 20 years studying human behavior change and writing, coaching and training literally at the top levels on the topics of motivation, focus, productivity, confidence and more. My goal, inspired by my own personal journey, is to help you and my audience live love and matter, which means to feel more vibrant, more connected and and more fulfilled in every area of your life. That's what we're doing today. If you liked today's episode, grab a screenshot and share it on Instagram. Just tag me Enonbruchard so I can see you and give you a shout out or a hello. And if you want to go to another level of personal development in your life this month, be sure to join me live every month in my coaching program. Just visit HPXCoaching to get signed up. I teach a brand new personal development session every single month. Meaning it's like a personal development seminar for you. Live every single month on the first of the month and then after I teach that for about 75 minutes, then we do live breakouts where you get to meet new people, network with people, set your monthly goals and establish real accountability for your growth. Listen, you know that expert guidance and real consistency and an inspiring community is critical to your growth. So join me this month on the 1st. Just go to hpxcoaching.com that's hpxcoaching.com it's time to level up, my friend. It's time to take your year back. It's time to find that focus and that confidence and that vibrancy and that vibe. Again. Go to hpxcoaching.com and and let me be your coach into fuller levels of high performance in every area of your life. Now, without further ado, let's jump in to today's episode.
We're gonna talk about why is it so hard to change but what you can do about it. I'm gonna tell you about the fails that people usually have in their lives, the fears that they're struggling to come over and the frustrations that block them. And then I'll tell you, how the heck do you get over all of those things? So we'll be talking about your habits. We will be talking about the relationships you need to create to support you in your dreams. We'll be talking about where you suck, where you're good. And what you need to do to make this year extraordinary. Today we're going to go into a very, very mindset and habit driven session for you so that you can understand where do most people fail? When you set a new habit or a new goal or you got your New Year's resolutions and you're like, I'm ready to crush it. Or you start the first of the month and you're ready to go and then you lose momentum. Why? It's usually because of one of these four reasons we're going to train about today. Okay. What's the reason most people don't get the momentum necessary to move ahead. Okay. And I really want you to think about this. Gauge yourself right now on what level of momentum you feel you have in your life. Let's say one out of ten, okay? One, you don't have any momentum. Like matter of one, you're dead. Basically, you're dead at one. Okay? You're dead. You're not moving. That's total blockage. Okay? 5. You're doing pretty good. You're clipping ahead, taking some actions on a daily basis. 10, you feel like you are absolutely crushing it. Okay? You're absolutely disciplined, focused, motivated, making it happen. Where are you? Okay, now, as you think about that number range, maybe in your journal, write it out. Momentum, baby. I ask you, right? Write that down. Momentum, baby. And then score yourself. Are you at a 3 or 4 or 5, a 10? And whatever your number is, don't get upset at yourself or your spouse. Don't kick the dog. Whatever your number is, that's the number, okay? Our job is to say, well, how do we increase that number? How do we get a little better at that? Okay? That's what we're going to be talking about today. Now here's my first proposition to you today. And that is, I believe that whatever that number is on momentum, there is a reason for that. When people don't get more momentum or they set a habit or a goal and they say, I'm going to achieve that, but they don't. I believe one of the main reasons why is this. First fail, people fail to see beyond now. They fail, they see their current circumstances right now, they go, oh my God, I got bills to pay. Oh my God, I got in that fight last night. Oh my God, I haven't done work for three months, so why would I do it now? They get stuck because all their vision is stuck now. And I know this from even high performers, very successful people who I've been able to be blessed to work with. Whether I'm working with an Olympian or literally a billionaire, or having the opportunity to network, associate, coach, connect with some of the most extraordinary people in the world. One of the things that I always have to do in the conversations with them is move their mindset and their conversation pattern from today to the future. Because what's the opposite, if you are stuck in today and you don't believe today can change that you're going to be right here all the time, that this is just the way you are, that this is just what your income's always going to be the same, you're never going to make any more money, you're never going to impact more people, you're never going to get out of that argument pattern. And you just focused on that. That quickly leads to upset, hurt, turmoil, negative emotion, and ultimately depression. Because, you know, what's one way to help somebody move out of those bad emotions? You start moving them towards their future again. Give them something to look to that inspires them, that challenges them, that makes them want to be something. And this is what I tell people all the time, is you want momentum in your life. Start expecting something from yourself again, beyond what is today, right? Because maybe you're already good. You're like, brennan, I'm watching this. I got my thing down, homie. Maybe that's where you're at. But sometimes your next level is expect even more of yourself that have that truly that hunger inside, that higher standard that says, you know what? I want my life to be so significantly better. And then when you say that, don't get depressed or upset because what people say, I want my life to be so better, but it's so bad. Look at all these things. And all they do is they're focused on today. See, they're failing to see beyond now. I want the big dream, but it sucks now and then. They spend hours thinking about how it sucks now, and they're like, I wonder why I can't get motivated. Because if you spend hours thinking about how it sucks now, you will generate the negative emotional reality that will keep you stuck in that now. It is our job to look beyond the now, right? Yes, be fully engaged. Yes, be fully present. But if you want momentum, you need to raise your ambitions. And when you raise your ambitions, you stay stuck right there. You see that person, feel that person, be that person. You're there, not here. And it is so hard for people to learn that. And I don't say that flippantly. It was same thing for me you know, I was in a place in my life just like I'm sure you have been sometimes in your life, where I didn't like who I was, didn't like how I was showing up, didn't like how I was treating the people around me. Hated myself for not having any finances, hated myself for not feeding myself more, you know, nutritionally balanced, good meals. Hated myself for seeing all my friends doing better than me. Hated myself for seeing other people in the industry doing better than me. Like we all have that stupid comparison thing that we do or that stupid limiting thing that we do to ourselves where we put ourselves down and the only breakthrough is going to come from seeing beyond it. You know, lots of people have big visions for the future, but you know, by day five, 10, they take their eyes off that big resolution, that big dream and they're back in the now and they go, yeah, I had those hopes and dreams beginning of the year, but you know, this is what it's about. And then here's the tell. Listen to the words. This is their fail. They're always talking only about now. Like you get around them. They only talk about the friggin weather, they only talk about, you know, everything that's due now, everything that's challenging them now. It's always just a conversation about, oh, here's what's in front of me. I guess this is, it's always listen to the words. Literally it's the words, the communication pattern in their mind, their mindset is coming out their mouth and it's coming out their mouth all over you. And it's just like complaining about all these things now or even if it's not complaining, it's only seeing what is here. So they only talk about this project, they only talk about this email, they only talk about this medical report, they only talk about what's going on right now. And I always hear that and I go, that person's in trouble. How can you maintain momentum if all you do is, is acknowledge what is right here, by the way, I'm not saying that it's not important to acknowledge what's here, to discuss it, to engage it, I'm just saying if you don't also see beyond it and live into a higher truth for yourself, live into that future you, despite where you've been yesterday, then you're going to get stuck. My job is to make sure that wherever you are right now, you can see tomorrow man, you can see next week that you start putting in your vocabulary dreams again, that you start putting in your vocabulary a year out, five years out, 10 years out that you can see in your mind yourself on that rocking chair at the end of your life, rocking back and forth, talking with your family and your friends about what you've done in your life that you're proud about, about the things you are grateful happened for you, about the amazing, bold, crazy, fun adventures you had in your life. Even if today you're aware, like maybe I was one point in my life, I was stuck in a 454foot, tiny little apartment. I was super broke. My bed was in the closet. Because in San Francisco, California, they call it a junior one bedroom. That means it's a studio where most people put their bed in the closet. So my bed is in the closet, my clothes are hanging above me. I'm literally sleeping under the clothes rack in my apartment. And you know, it was a tough time. All of my money going to my rent, trying to figure out, you know, how to just buy groceries, trying to figure out how to just, you know, do I, do I buy the bus pass for the month or not because I might run out of money, like stupid things like that that I had to deal with. And I'm sure sometimes, you know, or you've been in that place too where finances are a big drag on you. And what happens is when you don't have enough money, it's very, very easy to get stuck only here and to stop dreaming because you're so desperate in the moment. And nothing screws people up like scarcity and fear and frustration in the moment, preventing them from seeing the bigger picture. You know, what's the bigger picture for you now? What's the next level for you now? And I want you to see that. But here's the challenge. I know you already know this, but you know what most people do? They go, yeah, yeah, yeah, I got you, Brendan. Yeah, I hear you, man. Yeah, yeah. You know, you take your casual notes, you think, I know this, Brendan. This is really high performance training, Brendon.
Well, here's my question.
Did you have a morning routine this morning where you saw that future or are you just right here with me now and just now thinking about it? I mean, this morning when you woke up, did you do something to see beyond your day's tasks, to see beyond your day's obligations? Did you lay awake in bed for just a moment before you gotta bed and you thought about a year from now? You know, I remember when I was in college and I was just given one of my first talks in college and it sucked. It Was really terrible. And I remember laying there, though, the next morning, and I just laid in bed and I just thought about one day speaking to an arena full of people. Now, the thing is, the night before that I spoke. I sucked, right? I had no talent, no skill, no confidence. I was embarrassed. It was no good. No good. And yet how am I laying in bed thinking about commanding an arena full of people? How could I possibly have vision for that? Is that ego? It wasn't ego. It was dreams, man. It was hope, man. It was allowing myself to dream of a possibility that was not here. And that's what you have to do. Because if you're only stuck here, this is. I can't tell you, it sounds so simple, but this is such a fail point for people to get momentum. Because you know what? If you can't see the next steps, why would you maintain the role? If you can't see the next steps, why would you keep going? If you can't see the future, why would you just go, eh, I'm good. And you just sit there like you need to see it to start moving towards it, right? It's the oldest school, you know, school of hard knocks and personal development. If you can't see it, you can't achieve it. If you don't believe it, you won't do it. You know all of this, my question will continually be back to you. Bring it into a daily or weekly practice. Common sense is not always common practice, and that's why so many people fail to achieve their greatness. So if you think this is all basic, here's my question. Your morning. Did you look out beyond the morning? Did you look beyond the day? Did you look far out?
Hey, it's Brendan. And I want to jump in the middle of this episode here real quick and tell you about something I'm really excited about and something that answers a question that many of you have for me all the time, which is, Brendan, where do you get this crazy focus and energy in your life? And the truth is, I've developed a supplement line that really helps me do that. And frankly, I needed to. I don't know about you, but sometimes when you're trying to achieve big things, a lot of stress comes along. And as you're trying to achieve bigger things, you need to be on your A game more often. You need to be mentally sharp, you need to be mentally prepared, you need to be mentally energized and productive. And not once in a while, but like every day, you have to be on and sometimes guzzling more Coffee isn't.
Going to do it.
You have to use what we call Nootropics, which are, you know, basically supplements that help optimize your brain. And yes, we have a product for exactly that. It's called HPX Optimized and it is our most popular product. And you can get it. It's back in stock@hpxwellness.com that's hpxwellness.com you'll find HPX Optimize for your mental focus and energy. There's. You'll also find my favorite powdered energy drink that we created, this 100% organic and vegan. And you'll find my essentials, which is my daily multi that I take, that covers my energy, that covers my longevity, that covers my immunity, that covers my brain and body health that I absolutely love. And you will feel the difference. Go to HPX wellness.com right now. HPX wellness.
Next number two is they fail to feel the consequence of now if it was maintained. What do I mean by that? Notice the first word and write this down. Double underline this one, baby. Double underline this one. Feel. They fail to feel. Feel the consequence. Right. They're sitting down with their second order of pad Thai and they're not thinking, wow, I'm going to feel like hell tomorrow. Because in the moment, it feels good even though it's bad behavior. And yes, I have been guilty of that. I'm a pad Thai kind of guy. But listen, that's the challenge that people have. They're not only seeing the future, they're not feeling the future consequence. Like, I remember when I was bankrupt, literally bankrupt, and I was thinking, this was the very beginning of my career. I had no idea what I was doing. You know, back then there was no kind of programs like an experts academy that teaches you how to do what my career is. I had no idea. And so my challenge was I couldn't really see what to do. But I remember feeling that consequence. I thought, if I don't figure out these finances and I let myself feel the consequence, I let myself. It was okay. Most people, they'll do anything they can to avoid pain, and thus they also avoid feeling the consequence of poor behavior. Does that make sense? Instead of feeling the consequence of poor behavior and imagining their life turning out crappy, well, that'd be scary. So they just avoid the future, stay in the comfort of today, and don't feel the consequences of, of not turning it around. Even though they'll say, I'm in pain. I feel so bad. No, no, no, no. No, no, you just feel bad about now. You're not feeling that. Look, if you don't change five years from now, you're going to feel much worse. Just like tomorrow morning, that second pad thai is going to kick your butt. They don't feel the consequence of not doing what they know they should do. Does that make sense? Like, I bet you have a list of five things you know you should do, right? And people do that all the morning. They write down the to do list and they think about it. But if you've got that one to do, that is carrying over from Monday to Tuesday and Tuesday, Wednesday. Do you have any lists? And there's that one line item that keeps coming over day to day and week to week. Like the carryover to do. I call it. Do you have any carryover to do's? You know what the problem with that carryover to do is? You have not yet felt what happens if that doesn't happen. So it's easy to swipe it onto the next day's to do list. Swipe it on the next day. There's no consequence. Just swipe it along. Just keep swiping that to do list in the future because you're not going to. Holy crap. If I don't do that, the domino is going to start to fall. If I don't do that, tragedy's coming. If I don't do that, I won't be where I want to be. If I don't do that, I won't get that respect or that income or that thing that I'm passionate about having. And people do that all the time. And I know you know what I'm talking about here, but I also think that they fail to feel the consequence of the good things too, right? So I go back to me in my public speaking career, when I'm thinking about standing in front of arenas, I'm like, oh, am I to stand in.
Front of an arena, right?
But I could feel it. I could literally, I could visualize walking out, kind of like the super bowl athletic teams walk out of the tunnel. I could walk out of the tunnel and I could feel it. I could feel the nerves of it all. And I could feel myself walking up on the stairs, literally feeling a step onto the stairs, walking up onto the big stage and I could feel all of the anxiety of it all. And I could walk up and I could feel myself literally, I know it sounds weird, feel myself saying the words. Like I could feel how my face felt as I said those first words at a big speech. I could totally feel that. And then what? I could feel the roar of the audience after I finished my speech. I could feel it. I could feel what happened when I walked off stage. And I felt that rush of having done my mission despite my fears. I didn't not feel the fear or not feel the anxiety. I allowed myself to feel it all, and then I felt the reward afterwards. Does that make sense? Your vision of your life must have feelings associated with it. Otherwise it's just kind of mental projections. And a lot of people have mental projections, but that's why their mental projections don't become habits, is because they haven't felt that yet. Right? You don't create any habits in your life until there's feeling and emotions attached to something. Trust me, you can intellectualize all day long. I'm gonna do these goals. I'm gonna start this new habit. I'm gonna do these things. But if you don't feel the consequence of not doing those things, you won't set the habit right. Almost all of your lack of discipline, and this is not being flippant with you, it's just being honest. Almost all of your lack of discipline comes from the failure to feel the consequence of not being disciplined. It doesn't matter to you. In other words, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if I'm not disciplined. I know I said I'd go to the gym. Doesn't matter. You're not feeling that fatigue that you will feel five years from now. You're not feeling that horrible body you'll have five years from now. You're not feeling that sense of just like, I wish I'd taken care of myself. You're not allowing regret in your life because as we hear, one of the major fears we have is regret. So you just avoid it. And now you avoid the workout. And your life is a life of avoidance. There is no high performance life with a lot of avoidance in doesn't happen. Like, you got to get rid of the avoidance. You got to allow yourself to feel again. Like, this is the most important thing for you to get back in touch with your emotions, both here in the moment, but also your emotions for the future. Like, I know a lot of people have never felt anything in the future before, and I feel so sad for them because I'm like, boy, the future feels good. I mean, the future feels really good. Why would you not want to fantasize and dream and hope? And I know why you wouldn't. Because you're scared one of these things will happen. Or you've been on the road long enough and you think, well, Brennan, this is my reality. And so you're not allowing yourself to feel the future. Feel the future, man. It will change your life. Every morning that I wake up, part of my little simple thing that I do when I'm thinking about the strategic projects I'm working on. I mean, at a very, like, I know, like an engineering type mind, like, I've got my clear list of, like, here's the major projects I'm working on. I allow myself to feel those projects and get excited about them. It's one of my first questions in the shower every morning, is, what could I be excited about today? And even though I got to make something up every morning, I'm going to start in the emotion of excitement for the day. Even if I have to generate it, even if I have to dream of something fake, it doesn't matter, because I know if I can start from a place of enthusiasm, I'm in a place of power. Make sense. That's feeling everything I can about the day. But feel the future. Write it down in your journal. Write it down. Feel the future. Double underline that. Put a star, draw a unicorn or a happy face, whatever your thing is, bust out that purple market. Go crazy, get the purple marker. You're going to go nuts. But make it clear. Feel the future. Number three, what else do people fail at? They fail to do the research. I want to lose weight. I want to lose weight. I want to lose weight. I can feel losing weight. I can see myself thinner. It'd be great. But then they go, gosh, I wonder what would be a healthy diet? I wonder what would be the best workout routine? And what do they do? They go, watch one YouTube video and they go, oh, well, I guess. I guess I can't do that. I'm like, no, no. You want to be a high performer. You do your homework, and you do your homework daily. Every day. Every day you're trying to learn, trying new things, testing things out, measuring things with that scientific approach that every day you're doing your homework. What worked today? What didn't work today? Do you know how many people I know don't ask that question at the end of the day. You know, more people at the end of the day go, what do we watch on Netflix? Then ask, what worked today? What didn't work today? I mean, sometimes you just got to get high. Performance is about the fundamentals, discipline, common sense applied over and over and over and over again.
So at the end of the Day, go.
What worked today? That's research. It's a scientific mind. It's saying, hmm, where am I? Where do I want to go? What's working, what's not working, and noticing what's working and amplifying that. But you got to start with doing the homework for your dreams. You know, when I began, I went to seminars and bought courses and read books on how to write books. I went to speaking classes on how to speak. I read everything I could about people in my industry or great leaders in history who I could learn from from their communication patterns. I started reading a book a week when I was 19 years old, which is like a big dream of mine. And I'm now at, what, 20 plus years later, I'm in my 40s and that I've read a book a week and I've only missed three weeks. I get one week. If I'm. If I'm honest, there's been four weeks now. But I don't count that week because there was, you know. Well, it's none of your business. I just didn't count that week. But anyway, I've been reading a lot of books because I'm always doing homework. I think it's important you being here. I honor you because you're asking the question, brendan, take me to high performance. But you're here, so I write it down. What's the homework that you need to do to get to your next level? And what does it mean? And listen, all research or all homework?
It's gotta be diligent and consistent.
You don't do it once and then forget about it. Just like you don't go to grad school and you watch, you know, you go to four classes in the first week and then you don't come back again. You gotta stay in class, man. Stay in class. It is the. One of my most quoted phrases now from high performance habits is that if you leave your growth to randomness, you'll always be stuck in the land of mediocrity. Doing your research means designing your curriculum.
All right. Hey, my friend. I hope you enjoyed today's episode. If you're ready to go to another level, don't forget, go to HPX coaching dot com. Let me be your coach. Let me spend the first of each month with you giving you a personal development seminar. Let me help you get unstuck, break through your emotional blocks, find your real.
Clarity, your real passion, your real purpose.
And implement the habits that you know you need to implement. Change your life by getting a coach, getting some expert Guidance. Listen, you got as far as you could get. You're here. You've achieved so much in your life. You. But to go to another level requires another level of mindset, another level of discipline, another level of direction and community and consistency. And that is what my coaching program is all about. So go to hpxcoaching.com and listen, if you're ready to go to a whole other level, I'm hiring. Please go to brendon.com hiring for our open roles. I got a big secret project that we are rolling out and you'll only find information that@brendon.com hiring we've got, I don't know, 10 or 12 open positions there. If you ever wanted to work with me, if you wanted me to be your leader, you wanted me to literally employ you and help you grow in your career and do what we do, serving this mission of helping people around the world achieve their dreams faster, helping them improve their lives. We live every day as a team to do that. And we are currently hiring. We're building out a new product and we need some people to help us do that. Brendan.com hiring if you don't know how to spell my name, don't even think about it. We're looking for people who are pros. If you're interested in internship with me, don't go there. We're not hiring interns. If you're interested in starting your career with me, don't go there. We are an A team here. We've got people who are really experienced. So if you're new to personal development or you're new to marketing, you're probably not going to be the person we're looking for. We're looking for people with at least three years of professional experience in a lot of different roles because we take.
This role very seriously.
We get to change lives and millions of them every single day. That's the work. So we're looking for real pros, top of your game, ready to come on to an organization that reaches just as many people in the world as any other personal development influencer or trainer on the planet. And we'd be excited to have you join us in a big new initiative we're rolling out for the beginning of the year. I can't even tell you any more about that. Go to brendan.com hiring if you'd like.
To work with us. And if you just want to go.
To another level and have me as your coach, not your boss, go to hpxcoaching.com, so I can give you a brand new personal development session this month to help you set your goals, get on track, get unstuck and achieve your ultimate difference. Go to hpxcoaching.com for that. Thanks again for listening to the Brendon show. You all mean so much to me. I have so much coming out in the next couple months for you here that's going to be unique and special and I know you're going to love it. So keep your head up. I know it's been a hard year. Please remember, as always, you are stronger than you think and the future holds good things for you.