Be strict about showing up, lenient about the results (2019)

Are you strict with yourself or are you lenient? Well, my suggestion is that you be both, but just make sure that it's with the right things. So most people, and let's say most of you who are watching this are heart based people, you love to give, you love to help other people. But the challenge that you probably have is because you love helping other people, it's harder to show up for your own projects when it is not based on someone else's deadline. So I have been that way for a lot of my life. I'll tell you, it's easier to, for those of people like us, it's easier to do something when someone else gives you a deadline. Right? Right. But to be an entrepreneur and to be able to create an authentic business that you're proud of, that brings you all of the fulfillment and the livelihood you need to be able to set your own deadlines and to show up for them. So my encouragement to you is to be strict about showing up for the deadlines you set for yourself, but to be lenient about the results during that working period. So let me explain. Most of the time we tend to be lenient about showing up for the things we set for ourselves. We might be more strict about showing up for other people's stuff that we promised, but we are lenient about the things we set for ourselves. And then once we show up, if we do, but once we finally show up to work on our own thing, we get strict about the results. We say, well, no, this has got to be perfect. This is not good enough. This is not a good representation of the idea. So this is why we procrastinate. There is so much judgment of ourselves and judgment is painful. And so when we procrastinate, we are avoiding that pain of self punishment through the self judgment. That's why we don't show up, because we don't want to feel that pain. This is why it's important to flip the script and say, okay, all I've got to do is to make sure I show up. And then once I show up and do this and try doing the thing that I planned, whatever happens, I'm going to be lenient with. Now. It's a practice, of course, because maybe you have grown up with a harsh mother or father or harsh teacher or somebody, a harsh mentor or somebody who made you be strict about the results. You got to get an A. Not good enough. If you don't get an A or whatever it is, or you gotta, you gotta produce perfect, perfect results. It's gotta Be really good. Well, as an authentic business, you know, give yourself the permission to create without that strict judge, without that strict mother or father in your head. So how do we do that? Well, you can instead imagine somebody who is a loving mentor who will, you know, an imaginary, you know, your guardian angel, your spirit guide, your most loving mentor who completely accepts you, God, who completely accepts you as you are, who just is so excited to see you try, excited to see you create. It could even be somebody you actually know. Like maybe you have a client who is just loves what you do, just loves everything you say, you know, just about. Or a friend, a very dear friend or just a very supportive colleague or somebody who is just like always cheering you on, always accepting no matter what, what you create. Do you have somebody like that? Think of that person and if not, then think of your guardian angel or think of your spirit guide. Think of God, think of your spirit partner. You think of your muse, the one who just wants to see you express yourself without the attachment to the form that your expression takes. Okay? Be lenient with the results also, because to assume that you will know what the results are going to be, that's perfect, is to assume that you will learn nothing. When the reality of growing and learning means that we surprise ourselves, right? We surprise ourselves with what actually gets created and that's a good thing. We surprise ourselves and, you know, and we learn and we grow. Like, oh, I didn't realize I could create in that way. Oh, I didn't realize that, you know, that this is going to take more practice or whatever it is. So just be open when you show up. Now what you need to do is to be strict about what you are going to be doing during that time. When I say be strict about showing up and lenient with results, I don't mean, okay, I show up to work on my business at 9 o' clock and George says lenient with results. So I'm just gonna. I'm scared of writing right now. I'm scared of making the video or I'm scared of planning my course. I'm scared of reaching out to the, to my prospective client. I'm scared to do whatever I had planned. So I'm gonna surf Facebook, I'm gonna watch one of George's videos because that seems useful, right? I'm going to read this book that seems useful. I'm going to research more before I put this course out there. That's not what I'm talking about. You've got to be strict not just about showing up on Time as much as possible for whatever you plan, but strict about doing the thing that you plan and not escaping, not running away. You've got to be strict about doing the thing you plan. But as you work on that scary thing. So what is that scary thing for you? If you want to comment below, I'd love to see some examples of what you're not showing up for. Like, you know, how would you answer this question? If I only showed up consistently for. Fill in the blank. What is that? If you only showed up consistently for what your business, your project would probably be more successful. So what is that? What is that? I'd love to know. Show up, plan, okay, Block it out of your calendar. If you, if you choose to do that, show up for that. Strict. Okay, strictly work on that alone. Not I'm going to now do some research. I'm going to do something that's easier and less scary. No, strictly work on that. But then be lenient with how it turns out. Be lenient with yourself. Be open to, oh, how it might turn out, no matter. And set aside any self judgments. This blog post isn't good enough. This video isn't good enough. This course isn't ready to put out to the public yet. If you had planned to put it out today, put it out today. If you had planned to publish the blog post today, publish it no matter what. If you had planned to make the video today, make the video, not more research on the topic. Make the video lenient with the result of how it comes out. So here's my secret, right? Or some of you have heard this already when I've said this before, but some of you haven't. I never feel like making these videos, not once. I literally do not remember the last time where I go. I'm so excited. It's Tuesday at noon. It's Friday at noon. I'm excited to know because I've already had several appointments today, client appointments, so I'm already feeling a little bit low energy. I've already written today, so I've already done quite a bit today by this point. I just want to go to lunch and like go take a nap or whatever. But I plan to show up now. So I'm showing up now. Now you might say, well, George, maybe you should plan this for another time in a day. But whatever, yes, another time I'll still probably not feel so much like doing it because I'll always want to do more research. I always want to say, well, another day maybe I'll feel inspired. So the secret is I never feel like doing videos and I never feel like writing, and I always feel like my course isn't ready to be announced. So I would never announce it if it was up to me, I would never. But you know that I announce a course every month or two. Some courses are two months now, two months in length, and some courses are one. But I announce a course consistently. It's either every month or every two months. But I never feel like it's ready. I never do now. Funny thing is, the next course I'm announcing is my Facebook course, which I taught successfully last year. So the course is already successful. I already have the entire outline, but for the 2019 version, it's going to be much better. And I'm like, oh, my God, I have all these new notes I have to integrate. I'm not ready to do this. But I've announced it now anyway. I've already told people, starting March 13, no matter what, going to start. So I got. I'm going to be lenient on the results, because the reality is that the results are usually going to be fine, right? The reality, it's going to be fine. And now things are not always going to go viral. Things are not always going to be successful. But the key is, if you show up strictly, strictly work on the thing lenient with results over time, again and again and again and again and again, guess what happens? Your skills grow and thereby your results also will grow. Simple. So have that perspective of the entire process of your growth, that it's not about this hour of work. It's not about this blog post or this video or this course or this book or this message you're sending to a prospective client or whatever it is you're doing. It's not about that thing. It's about the whole process. So if you don't show up for this thing, the process is harmed, right? So be strict about showing up. Be lenient about the. You know, be strict about showing up and working on the task that you planned without escaping. And then be lenient about what happens to occur that hour. With your genuine effort, by your genuine effort, you grow without escaping the fear, the anxiety, the frustration, the confusion. Without escaping that stuff. Work with it. Try to reframe it as something more positive. Curiosity, adventure, right? Creation, expression, openness, you know, experimentation. Reframe it. Reframe fear, anxiety, shame, blame, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Self judgment, self doubt. Reframe all that as adventure, experimentation, which is, by the way, a spiritual practice. Work is if you choose a platform for your spiritual Practice. So you're spiritual practicing all the time, which is, in my opinion, fulfilling the true purpose of life. The true purpose of life is not to finish this video, right. Or to finish this blog post or to finally announce the course or to publish a book. No, the purpose of life is, in my opinion, the spiritual practice. We just happen to use the book, use the video, use the course, to use the outreach, use the client call to do the spiritual practice. That's, that's really, that's really the deeper opportunity. Right? That's why. So we are strict about showing up because we are strict about showing up for the spiritual practice, for the. Bringing the joy, bringing the love, bringing the playfulness, and setting aside the fear, setting aside the self blame, setting aside self doubt, setting aside, you know, playing small, but living into the greatness of your expression. Right? Be strict about showing up, but be lenient about the results. Now, there's one final thing. When you fall out of that, when you do escape, be gentle and strict. It's like when you, when you, when you go, oh, God, George said, be strict about showing up. I did show up. I did start, but then I got scared. So now I'm doing more research or I'm doing surfing Facebook or whatever. Observe. Notice. Oh, I just, I just escaped for half an hour. I just escaped for 15 minutes. Oh, all right. I'm going to be strict about bringing myself back, but gentle about it. Not. Oh, you're so. Yo. You're so. You know, you're never going to get this done. You're such a procrastinator. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no blame. No, no, blame is helpful. All that's helpful is, oh, observation. Oh, that's what I just did. Ah, come back. Come back to the scary task, which I'm going to reframe as adventure. I'm going to reframe as experimentation. Nothing can go wrong. Everything will be fine. If I just try, if I just publish, if I just post and then observe what the market does, and then I adjust as, as accordingly. Be strict about refocusing, but gentle. Never self blame, never self blame, never a need for that. Okay? So strict about showing up, lenient about the results, strict and gentle about refocusing. And there's one last thing, actually, which is to be strict about taking breaks. To be strict about taking breaks. You could say it's to be strict about showing up for the break. The don't take a break after you're exhausted, after you're tired, after you're complete, because there's never a complete. My blog posts are never complete. My videos can always be better. My courses are never complete. It could always be a next better version next time. There's never a complete. There's no complete. There is only publish, there's only post. There's only I said I was going to publish it this time and I'm publishing it now. There's only I said I was going to make a video now. I'm making a video now. There's never a complete, there's never a perfect, because the perfect is the entire process. Be strict about taking breaks so that you take breaks when you say you're going to take breaks. Not oh, I'm still in the flow, I'm still no, no, take a break because then you will respect the process of self care, of personal sustainability, of moving your body so that more ideas will come to you so that you can sustain creativity. So I hope this is helpful. Thanks. For those who are joining me here, Adi, Justine, Carissa, Christy, Darren. Those are the ones I can see on the screen here. Anyway, thanks. For others who might be watching this, until the next video, the mantra strict about showing up, lenient about the results. I look forward to hearing how this benefits you. If you have a project that you apply this to and try this on, let me know how it goes. I look forward to hearing about it. But be well.