Ep 486 | Busy Being Born or Busy Dying

Thank you for joining me today. It's Brian Gubernick, and welcome to the No Days Off Podcast, where we believe that every single day brings a new opportunity to get better. He not busy being born is busy dying. That is a lyric from Bob Dylan. Now, I'm not a huge Bob Dylan fan, but I do respect the guy because he didn't just write songs. Bob Dylan wrote philosophies. And this one, it's a punch to the gut if you really think about it. He not busy being born, is busy dying. Every single day, you're either growing or you're decaying. There's really no middle ground, in my opinion. You're either stretching yourself, pushing yourself into new territory, evolving, or you're standing still. You're watching the world move right past you. And, and let's be honest here, let's be real, standing still isn't actually standing still. It's, it's falling behind. So I want to ask You, right now, I want you to ask yourself, I should say, a hard question. Are you busy being born or are you busy dying? Seriously, think about it. Are you being— are you busy being born or are you busy dying? Think about it in your business, in your fitness, in your personal growth, in your relationships. Are you leaning into discomfort, getting stronger and learning new things, or are you holding on to the past? Are you avoiding change? Are you running the same plays that maybe worked for you 5 years ago? If you take a look at Bob Dylan himself, he was a folk singer at first, then he became a rock star, then he was a gospel preacher, then he was a Nobel Prize winner. The guy never let himself get trapped in the version of himself that the world expected. He kept on evolving, and that's why He stayed relevant for decades, I think 60+ years. And it's not just Bob Dylan. Take a look at like a, like a Steve Jobs that had to constantly reinvent himself. Or Elon, constant reinvention. Or any real great business leader or influencer in this world today, what you're going to see are multiple versions of that individual over the course of a long period of time. If they had failed to reinvent themselves time and time again, they probably would have faded off. But look at anyone who refuses to let comfort turn into stagnation. That's what I want to break down a little bit further today. What does it actually mean to be busy being born? How do you know if you're busy dying without even really, or maybe realizing it? And most importantly, how do you make sure you're always choosing growth over decay? Because here's the truth: reinvention, in my opinion, it isn't a one-time thing. It's a daily decision. So let's, let's dive a little deeper into this. Okay, so what does it mean to be busy being born? What does that, what does that really entail? When I think about being busy being born, I think it's about growth and learning. I think it's constantly challenging yourself with new skills or new knowledge, new experiences. So stop and reflect real quick. When was the last time you developed a new skill or, or learned something new or had a new experience? If this is a frequent occurrence for you, I would contend you're on your way to being focused on busyness through being born, busy being born. Now, in addition to growth and learning, I think about reinvention. I just used that word a moment ago. Not staying stuck in old identities. Again, think about how Dylan changed himself multiple times over the years. I think about embracing change. Like, if you're busy being born, you're embracing change. You're seeing changes as fuel instead of what a lot of people see it as, which is fear. Change is fuel versus fear. I think those that are busy being born are constantly in action. They're taking action. It's about execution over pausing, over hesitation. And this aligns with, with the belief that, you know, great entrepreneurs are constantly reinventing. Great entrepreneurs are constantly taking action. I think lastly, and it's a topic we've discussed a lot as of late, I think curiosity, staying curious. Those that are busy being born Stay curious or always asking what's next or what if. My daughter Avery was just sharing this with us the other day. So, you've got Dylan who again reinvented himself. You've got athletes you can look at who keep training, who keep setting new goals. Even a guy like LeBron, right? Like, you don't have to be a big basketball fan. I'm sure you know who LeBron James is. But LeBron had to continually reinvent himself, still does it. And look where he's at today. Today, you know, his mission this past year has been to play basketball with his son in the NBA. That is a guy whose goal continued to change. He continued to set new goals. He's accomplished pretty much everything imaginable and then set this goal of, I want to play with my son in the NBA. We talk business leaders who evolve, have like a Bezos, or talk about, think about even your transition. In your business. I have, you know, many of you listening today are in the real estate space. You know, your very first year in the real estate space, maybe you were, you know, a lower producer or solo agent. Maybe you've grown to an agent that has more leverage, or maybe you've built a small team or a big team, or it's evolved even beyond that. To me, that's someone who's busy being born. Now, on the flip side of that, you've got those that are busy dying. Being busy dying obviously is not about literal death. To me, it's about stagnation. It's about comfort and complacency, getting, getting too comfortable. That's the first step towards irrelevance. It's about avoiding growth, choosing not to evolve because it's hard. Busy dying is about holding on to the past, you know, living off of old success, past success, instead of building something new. And then lastly, when I think about busy dying, I think about letting fear win, not taking risks and avoiding discomfort, letting that fear win, and it creates that stagnation. So, you see this, you see businesses that fail to adapt, like, you know, the old Blockbuster versus Netflix stories, or you see it in athletes who stop training and they lose their edge, or you see people who are stuck in the same routines and they're resisting new ideas. And they're paralyzed, or maybe they're fearful, or maybe they're just resting on their laurels, whatever it may be, I would contend, hey, you're probably busy dying. Or you see the entrepreneur who stops innovating, someone who just coasts because they're comfortable instead of continuing to build. So I want to challenge you today, you know, on today's episode, which one of these are, are you? Are you growing? Or are you decaying? It's a harsh, challenging, direct question, right? Are you growing or are you decaying? I want you to think about a moment in your life, maybe when you had to be reborn, when you had to start something new, or you had to make a pivot, or you had to reinvent, say, your leadership approach. When was the last time you did something for the first time? Maybe what's one thing you're actively learning right now? Are you making decisions with, with urgency at this very moment? Are you waiting for someday? Again, are you growing or are you decaying? So I think today is a call to action because every day is a choice, right? To either grow or decay. I want you to pick one thing today that pushes you forward. Maybe it's a conversation, a new skill, a challenge. Again, that's kind of what the No Days Off movement is all about, right? Like, get better every single day. If you are buying into the No Days Off movement, then you are likely busy being born. Remember, Bob Dylan said, "He not busy being born is busy dying." So, which one are you? That's all I have for you today, the No Days Off Podcast. Thank you so much for listening, and remember, every single day brings a new opportunity to get better. So let's get after it.