Eyes on the Road - Using Your Own Gps to Navigate Life

Most people spend their entire life stressed without ever giving a single thought as to what it is they really want or what's important to them. See, I'm here to cut through all that noise, connecting you to yourself and the life that you were meant to live. I used to slave away at a corporate job that I hated, but I broke through the social norms and pursued my passion. As a result, I own my own coffee company. I'm Espresso Sommelier, and I get to travel the world. You, too, can live a life that you love, but it starts with getting clear about what you want. It starts with a new decision. I'm your host, Donnie Rouse, and you are listening to the podcast One Life, Eyes on the Road. Wouldn't it be nice if you had a clear understanding of where you had to drive, so to speak, a GPS system that can get you to that destination without any detours or hitting any of those bumps or snags in the road? I'm here to tell you that you actually do have that system, and it is that beautiful thing on top of your shoulder. It is your brain. Before we go any further with this, I want to talk about the inspiration for this podcast. So today is my birthday. And. And I am doing. I was just kind of doing a journaling exercise, some reflection. And one of the exercises was writing your obituary. And in doing this exercise is. It's looking at your life from the end of your life. And while that might sound a little bit morbid, it's not. Because what it's actually meant to do, the exercise is meant to look at you, at what you want to accomplish, give you a goal, and at the very least, a way of how you want to live your life. So that when you take the step back, you see where that gap is. You see what skills you have to build. You see how you have to show up in your day. The main reason I came on here is because I wanted to share some of those snags, because the snags that I came across were the same snags that you have in your life, but you might not even know about it. They're unconscious to you. So in order to make your drive a little bit less messy, right? Because life is, let's just admit it, right? Life gets messy. You can't avoid it. Life gets messy. But if you can avoid the major catastrophes, like the giant pothole that's literally going to blow out your axle, then at least you can get there. At least you can arrive at that end destination. So before I go Any further with this, I just want you to ask you, like, do you know where you want to go? Do you know what you want in life? Like, how old? Like how long do you want to live? If I said, I have this magic wand here and I'm going to swing it and I'm going to tap you on the head and all of a sudden the longevity is granted to you, what would you say? How do you want to live? What would your biggest accomplishments be? And like, what would the people around you say about how you lived your life? I was doing this exercise and as I was doing this exercise, the first, the first age that came to my mind was 90. And the reason why it came into my mind one, it was the example in the book. But I remember going to a clairvoyant years ago and her mentioning like, oh, you live to around above 90 or something like that. 90 stuck in my mind and I was like, oh, wow, well, 90 is the age. Then I was like, wait a minute, why would I think 90 is the age? Why would I just pick up 90? When I thought about it? It was because the experience I had, oh, well, she said 90 and therefore 90. Things can change in an instant, right? Let's assume that she was this all knowing deity that knew exactly when I was going to pass. Then everything is up to chance. Because how you change one habit changes how you do your life. But we're not even going to go there. That's a completely different rabbit hole. But let's just go to the fact that because someone made a suggestion, I was actually taking that as truth. How often do you do that in life where someone says something about your capability or what you're able to do and without even questioning it, you accept it as truth. Now all of a sudden you're living your life according to this thing that someone said because you just put so much faith, so much belief in that person's words. So as I was looking, as I was answering this question, I was thinking about, well, no, well that's kind of stupid, right? Like, why 90? And then when I thought about what it meant to be 90 years old, I thought in the image in my mind was like this decrepit person who, you know, who was like, could barely move and all that stuff. I'm like, well, that's the image I had in my mind. What's the image you have in your mind? Whatever image you have in your mind, regardless of whether it be your age, whether it be your work, whether it be your relationship, unconsciously or subconsciously that is what you're driving towards. So if you see this, if you have this image, no matter what you want, if that's the image you have in your mind, that is where you're moving towards. You have to become conscious of it. So this way you could come up with a better vision for it. So seeing this, I said to myself, that's stupid, right? Like, why, why would I believe that? Like, how, how do I want to, like, how old do I want to be when I die? Like, how do I want to live my life up until that moment of. Into that, until that moment, then I just put like, you know, I live well into my hundredth, like past 100, but I lived each day with excitement, with passion, with zest, with vitality, moving, being active all the way until the moment of my death, right? And then all of a sudden thinking about that, like, all right, well, wow, that's a completely different image than someone who's hunched over and can barely move and literally has to maybe sitting in a chair all day. It reminds me of this story I had when I was in high school. I remember I was driving. I had a couple of my friends in the car. My friend Nando, my friend Quincy, and there may, I think, my friend Mike were all in the car with me. We were coming back from party up in North Stanford. And if you're familiar with North Stanford, there's all these windy roads. So it was raining out. We're going through these roads. I had just got my license, so I was probably driving a little bit faster than I should. I know I definitely was driving a lot faster than I should have, but I was not intoxicated. And all of a sudden, out of nowhere, like, you see like the sign that says stop sign up ahead. And the friggin stop sign was literally like. I mean, they literally, it's almost like they placed right next to the stop sign. There was no warning, right? I didn't know the stop sign was there. And all of a sudden the stop sign's there and I slam on the brakes and I skid right into the middle of the road. On the other side of that road was a bridge going over a parkway. So I'm, I'm, I'm driving. My friend Nando literally looks like he shit himself because he's like, you know, like, bracing for it, like pushing himself back in his seat. And I'm looking at them like, holy shit, holy shit, holy shit, holy shit. And then something. I turned my wheel, slammed on the gas and looked in the direction I was going, and all of a sudden, like magic, the wheels caught, the car straightened out in the lane, and we went straight. But how true is that a life, right? Like, if you're looking at the. At the car crash, that is where you're gonna go. You. I've heard stories about people driving somewhere in, like, out west, where literally, it's a straight road and there's one tree, and people would crash into that one tree. Why would they do that? Because without seeing anything, the one thing that their eyesight is fixed on is this tree. So I tell you the story just because I want you to become conscious of the things you're unconscious of, to bring these things to light, because that is where you're headed now. Let's think of the things you want, right? You might not know completely and with 100% clarity as to what it is that you want, right? But if you're going in the general direction, then things will appear along the way that will guide you down that road. That will. That will bring you more clarity. Like, life is just going to give you more experiences. But you must know, at the very least, right, I'm not saying have that end all vision, because things change, but at least you know how you want to live, right? You know how you want to feel. You know what you love. So at the least, just have those things guiding you, and then let life guide you along the way. It's like if I, you know, you know, I work in espresso, right? So imagine you were pulling shots against me, right? You. You were like, all right, here's two espressos. You have to beat Donnie Rouse dialing in this espresso and making it taste perfect, right? You know how much experience I've had with espresso. So you're probably like, oh, man, what are the chances of you actually pulling a better shot than me? Probably close to none. But now imagine I put a blindfold on, right? And now what are your chances? Like, now I can't see what I'm dosing. I can't see how much espresso I'm putting in the portafilter. I can't see how if my tamp is level, I can't see any of this stuff. Now, all of a sudden, your chances have become that much greater because at least you know generally what to do. So someone, even if you have all the skills, if you don't know what you're aiming for, the chances of you getting there are nil. So at least align yourself in the general direction of where you want to go and feel it, right? So as I was doing this exercise, I was like, all right, well, you know, I was saying, well, what do I. You know, what is my biggest compliment? What did. What do I want people to say about me? And I was like, well, I want people to say that he lived his life with passion, that he encouraged others. He was kindness. People gravitated to him because he saw humanity in everybody and all these things. And as I'm looking at the accomplishments and stuff, I noticed one of the things that I wanted my legacy to be was I help people experience more of life, more enjoyment, more of, like, the positive things. And it was so funny because looking at this entire. Looking at this entire. This entire journal exercise that I did not once did I ever mention coffee, but yet at the same time, coffee's in there, right? Because coffee was never. I mean, I love espresso, and it's a very, very big passion of mine, but it was always about the enjoyment aspect of it. And that. That slowing down, that taking a moment for life, that is. That is, like. That's the foundation of it, right? If you take that away from it, then what the. I don't even want to do coffee. That. That's the foundation, and it's been the foundation in everything that I do, and it's been the foundation, especially in this podcast here, getting you to experience. Open you up to experience more. Like, to experiencing more of life, following your heart, to listen to that guiding voice inside you. You know, it's not always the easy thing to do, right? Because there's so many. There's so many pressures, like, you know, societal pressures and stuff that we think we have to abide by when the only thing we have to listen to is our own heart. A quick side note, I was doing a meditation this morning, and it's funny, sometimes I'm like, right into the meditation where it's a guided visualization where it's like, all right, well, think about the life. You want to think about what you create. Imagine you have a lamp. You're rubbing the lamp, and you're living your dream. When that plays, sometimes it's very, very challenging. Sometimes I have a hard time visualizing it because I'm too stuck in my circumstances. I'm too stuck in not being present. But I'm looking at the past and allowing the past to dictate the future in the path forward. And then other times, I mean, I breathe into it. I'm like, oh, and the thoughts kind of fly away. Then I'm able to visualize. But today I was like, all right, well, let's imagine, all right? I'm starting with a blank slate. And I imagine myself literally almost taking squeegee and taking away the past and then looking at the future. And all of a sudden, like, you know, it started to get bright again. The vision. The visioning became easier to do because I erased that past. So I guess why I'm telling you this is that your past doesn't equal your future, right? Your past is what got you to where you are right now in this moment. And I had heard a quote, and I like this quote very, very much. He goes, you are in no obligation to be who you were five minutes ago. I thought it was very empowering, right? Because, you know, if you wanted to literally change something in an instant, you can. You can change it, right? There's. You don't have to give an explanation to anybody. And I guess kind of in closing, Pay attention to your heart. Pay attention to the things that give you energy. Pay attention to how your body feels, because it's always giving you cues as to where you should be putting your energy, what things you should go for, what things you should avoid, what, you know, what friendships and pick you up. What friendships that bring you down. Pay attention to that. You know, I had, you know, some friendships that I had, I had to cut off, and some that I had literally just kind of let fade away or at least not put so much energy in them because they didn't feel right, and I had a hard time justifying it. Well, no, I mean, am I a bad person? Because I'm like, no, not at all. You have to do what's right for you and what feels good to you. I promise you, when you make those decisions, like a week, one year, whatever, in the future, you're not going to think about it, right? You have to just follow your heart and do what's right for you and your body. There's always things. You're always being guided. So anytime you think that you're lost, throw that shit out the door. Just say, you know what? I am always guided. Things are always happening for me. I adopted that on my most recent trip. That was my philosophy. And it's funny how when that happens, things always work out. I would be on a train, and, you know, I. I can't remember. Like, it was either the train was late or something. You know, something always happened. And, you know, I'd be on the. Get on the train, and the conductor's like, oh, wow, you Just made it. I was like, I'm not worried. I'm like, everything always happens. You know, things always happen, happen for me or things always go my way. You know, if. If I would have missed this one, I would have taken the next train. I would have an hour to wait. I would go to visit cafes. There was always. I always knew that I was being guided. And as a result of having that mindset, I was always guided, right? There was always something great happening in what would have looked like a misfortune or a setback or a delay. So I threw a lot of stuff at you right there. But let's rewind it to the beginning. How old do you want to live? If I have the magic wand and I could cast a little spell on you and you would live to that age, how long would you want to live? But also, how would you want to live? You are in control of this, right? You can't plan all the circumstances. You don't know what, some freak accident could happen. Of course that's a probability of life. But let's say in a perfect world, you have control over your life just by changing some of your habits. What do you want to accomplish? What do you want your legacy to be? Want your friends and family? What do you want them to remember you by? All of this stuff here is creating your vision. It's creating that general, at the very least, a general vision for you to go towards and show you where the gap is, right? So if you said, oh, I want to be more generous, I want to be more kind, but right now, you're a freaking scrooge and you're a miserable fuck, you know something's going to change, right? So it's highlighting the areas that you need to change now. So this way you could arrive at that person in the future. So I hope you enjoyed this podcast. If you did, please give it a thumbs up. Please subscribe and share it with somebody. That's the only way that we can grow this podcast is from you subscribing and from sharing it. If this impacted you in any way or made you give you any aha moments, I'd love to hear about it. You can message me through my website@www.donnierouse.com. again, D O N N Y R A U S.com there, you could also subscribe, you can comment, and that is it. I hope you enjoy this podcast, guys. Thank you so, so much for tuning in. And remember, you only get one life. Live it. God bless and I will see you again soon.