New Series: The Meaningful Revolution (1/6)

Today we're going to talk about the meaningful revolution, the five Cs of creating meaning in your life and what we're going to be having going on in the next month on Start your week with a coach. Start your week. Great. Start your week with a coach. I'm your host, certified high performance coach Sean Butner, and we're going to talk about something that will help you advance in your life this week. So let's go. All right, so have you ever wanted to work on something that was more fulfilling and more meaningful to you? Maybe it manifests as daydreaming about changing your career or that idea that, what if you took a chance and started over in a place where you loved what you did? Or what if you took that bold step to strike out on your own and create your own thing where you reaped all the benefits of your work? And people think this all the time, especially when things are fine in their life, right? When they're feeling a little bit comfortable, when they're stable, when the job's good. But somewhere deep down inside, they feel really restless. Now, high performers do not settle for good enough for too long. They need new challenges to feel progress in their lives because they need to serve at higher levels and they need to feel the meaning in what they do. And how do they create meaning and fulfillment in what they do? Well, it starts with intentions. We either create meaning intentionally in our lives or we sleepwalk on autopilot. And that's why we need a meaningful revolution, a set of habits that help us create meaning every day that we're doing every day. And the next month, we're going to deep dive into where people usually find meaning in their lives and habits to support you in advancing your life. So, and this is such an important topic to me, you know, in my career and 14 years of software, I quit corporate America twice to strike it out on my own and start a business. The first time, it failed horribly, but led to a better job. So I left Walmart, was out on my own for about a year. When my business didn't pan out the way I thought it was, I got hired on at Apple as a software engineer. And it was amazing. Like, that was kind of a dream job for me, going back to high school and college. So the fact that that happened is amazing. And it was because I was bold enough to not settle for what was comfortable, to put myself out there in the world at that point in time. And then again after Apple, to run my coaching business as a certified high performance coach. And someone who is consistently helping people and introverts that are professionals or business owners really level up their lives so that they feel the confidence to start their businesses, to change their careers, to, you know, build the social network that they need and the support that they need to really succeed and thrive out in the world. So it's really. I remember each time I left, you know, the corporate world, you know, first time at Walmart, it was just, I just wasn't happy, right? I thought I was going to be at a different part of or different everything in my life, right? So I thought that I'd be working in tech somewhere, someplace really cool. I thought that after college I would not have to worry about money. And I had tons of stuff. Student debt, I was trying to figure my way out of that and got really obsessed about that. And that was my first business, was helping people like myself who had accrued a lot of student debt figure out their way to get out of it. And I love that job, but I love talking to people about how to get out of debt. But I really couldn't feel like a moral person charging people that were struggling with money, money to help them get out of their money troubles. Right? It's a lot of using the money word. But ultimately the work that I did there got me the job at Apple because I had to figure out how to do lighting, I had to figure out how to talk to a camera, build a website and just kind of pick things up as I went along. And that ability to learn really served me in getting that job and it's really served me my whole life. So no matter where you're at in your life, if you're comfortable, if you're trying to transform, if you've made the transform, you're living your best life. You know, I bet you finding out where you're learning is going to be your next level of success or where you can double down on that. So if you're already kind of there, finding that part where you're pushing yourself and your skills to the next level is really going to help. So that's why I think this is so important, like leaving that Walmart job to go and figure out what I wanted to do with my life was uncertain. It was scary. Like, depending on the day, I was like, oh, I'm living my life, this is awesome, excuse me. And then at the same time, it's like, did I really just mess up something that was comfortable, something that I could predict, you know, and did I screw up my life? Right? And that's a good thing to be aware of. But ultimately you feel like you're in control of your life. You feel like you're making moves to make your dent in the world, you know, and it really is exhilarating and it is a roller coaster. I mean, it's not easy. So I'm not saying if you are not happy where you're at right now to just quit your job and it'll all work out because I don't know that. But there'll be ups and downs. If you have a solid plan, if you have the support for you to help you reach that next level, that's gonna make the big difference for you. So, okay, that said, so today I'm gonna talk about the five Cs of meaning, which is what I'm calling it. And they all begin with C, so that's fun. But ultimately this is gonna be the outline for what we're gonna talk about in the newsletter this coming month, right? So next week we'll start with the first point and so on and so forth. So what are the five points? Right. The first point, the first C of meaning, right, that helps people generate meaning in their lives is to connect and connect with your interests. Right? You know, people sometimes don't realize the things that make them happy in life. And you know, sometimes it's hobbies, sometimes it's nerding out about something you're struggling, really passionate about or a mission. And so it could be solving world hunger, it could be solving water in Africa, it could be a whole number of different things. But there's usually a couple of things that light people up. And as a coach, I see this all the time. We're like, we ask the question, what makes you the most happy in your life? And it's like, oh, playing guitar. Oh, spending time with my family. Oh, you know, the fact that I can, you know, volunteer with my church or I volunteer with X organization. And so we're really going to explore how do you connect more with your interests, how do you get more of that in your life so that if everything else fails, you have that thing that really drives you that you're passionate about in your life regularly to give you the motivation to give you that, you know, juze that oomph in your life. So we need to first, number one, connect with our interests. Alright? Number two, it's commit to what makes you fulfill. Right? And it's this commitment isn't just like, oh, I'm going to do it, it's by doing right. So you need to really get into action on what fills your cup up. Right. You know, as a coach, as someone who's a little bit more introverted, like this is kind of the secret ingredient to everything. So if you really believe in your work, right. Like I worked at Apple for a while. I really believed in the quality of the product. That was one of the things we were there for, doing something that delighted people regularly, making sure it worked for them really well. And so, you know, we had to make sure you're doing your job to the best of your ability. For me in that job it was writing automation code to check to make things, make sure everything worked at a higher, more productive rate than just a human being. Right. So I won't get into that too much, but the work was meaningful. Like, I remember I had to go home to Chicago. So I'm on a plane and we just done one of the OS releases and the people in front of me were talking about a part of the new update that I had tested pretty, you know, thoroughly through a lot of my automation work. And it was really just a sense of pride. You know, I'm like, oh, I'm doing something that impacts people in the real world. Like that's the question you want to answer. Are you doing things that impact people in the real world? And it's an action focused thing. So commit to what makes you fulfilled. Okay. Number three, need you to create meaning and physical things in the world. Right. So, you know, it's sometimes it's the difference between, hey, I'm going to go to, on vacation to Milan. It's like, okay, like, cool, you're going there. Like, I'm gonna go see the architecture of, you know, these Rowan ruins or the fashion industry or whatever historical thing. And so we can create meaning behind that, but we can also, you know, I think create meaning through physical objects. Right. My father was a carpenter, really like a handyman and could fix anything, could make anything with. Right. You know, he had all sorts of tools and stuff. He still does. And so there's a sense of pride, whether it's composing and creating a dish for your family at the end of the day, you know, for dinner or it's creating your favorite cookies, it's creating music, it's, you know, actually making something that you can touch or experience. Right. I think so many times too that especially if you are in like a digital type deal. Right. So you do software or you do a lot of like talking on the phone and stuff. It can be sometimes hard to see the work that you're doing, but in a way that's different from like having a conversation over a camera versus building a table. Right? The table's there. So getting into creating and impacting the world around you through creation is really important. The fourth topic we'll talk about is community, right? Being in community with like minded people that have the same interests, that are committed to making a difference, that are creating meaning in things out there in the world is such an important thing. Because if you feel alone, if you feel like nobody understands you, if you feel like, you know, you don't have a community or group or you know, that really impacts people's sense of self or your general happiness, you know, like one of the things that most people at the end of their lives will regret, it's not doing it like saying I love you enough in relationships or repairing a relationship with a parent or sibling or old friend or, you know, it's those types of things. So thinking about the people and relationships around you, that community that you have, how are you fostering it? How are you really creating and highlighting the meaning of those relationships with those people is a game changer. And then, okay, the fifth thing we're going to talk about is congruence fit through your actions, which is just the way I'm describing it. Honestly, I was trying to make another make it all C's C words. So you know, it was Congruence in action is just measuring what's meaningful so that you progress naturally in a way that's ethical, in a way that is motivating, in a way that is fun. So those are the five areas we're going to be talking about in the newsletter these coming weeks. Connect, Commit, Create, Community and Congruence. Each of these topics will have help us explore meaning from a different angle and help us generate more of it through a particular habit each week. So I'm really, really excited for the series. I hope you guys are too. If you know you want another modality to watch these and watch these all in order. I do have a YouTube channel and you can check at the bottom of this email you'll see the social links. So I'll have it all grouped as a series there for you in case you want to just watch all of them at the same time or whatever. Or if YouTube is a more preferred medium than email, totally cool. If not, no worries. Just thought I'd mention that. So. All right, so what I'll leave with today and this vlog, right, and this newsletter is that, you know, it's we need to set an intention every day to create meaning, to find out what's meaningful for us. And I really believe that it's like a daily journaling habit can be really impactful. I really think that taking certain times during the day to just stop and quiet your mind and quiet and find your center is what helps drive people to success, what drives people to find and reach higher levels of meaning, whatever that is for them each day. And it can really, it's the difference between living your best life, living the life that you want to live, and just living the life that's handed to you because you're going with the flow. So I want you guys to feel more meaning each day. I want you to be on this journey with me. So please, if you have any questions, please shoot me an email reply back to the newsletter. Email or leave a comment on YouTube if that's where you're watching this. I'd love to get back to you, but I really want to build a community here. I really want to get a discussion about meeting. This should be fun. I'm really kind of jazzed up about this. I can't wait to get to these topics in the coming weeks. So hope you're with me. Comment below if you have any questions and we'll see you next week when we talk about connecting with your interests. And again, it's going to be fun, guys. So, you know, until then, take care. This is Sean Butter signing out.