Why I'm an optimist

Foreign. Everyone, this is Sean Butner. To start your week with a high performance coach, this is the show we do on Friday instead of the normal daily show on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube to help you start your week with something that's either positive or something that will help you, you know, go after what you're getting after during the week a little bit quicker, a little bit more confidently, a little bit with more joy. So first off, if you're here, say hi below. I'd love to see where you guys are calling from or watching from. Calling from, that's like old terminology. This is live, so weird things might happen, so bear with me. But if something goes wrong, it'll probably be entertaining for you. For me, it'll probably be frustrating. So. So that said, I wanted to do a talk this week about why I'm optimistic about the future. And it's something I don't hear a lot out in the news because there's so many things that are going on and there's so much news that can make you feel overwhelmed, can make you feel anxious, can make you feel afraid, can make you feel angry, can make you feel depressed. And those are just five emotions off the top of my head. And there's so much stuff going on, guys. And, you know, if we're not paying attention to how that's impacting our psychology, we can get into this apathy, I don't care mode. And that's when progress stops. So if we know that, you know, the case and cause and experience of humanity is struggle, it's progress. It's. It's constant change. If we can keep that in mind. And, like, especially in a historical context, you know, it's. I feel hard to say that the world's going sideways, everything's going to crap, because we can overcome a lot of this. We will overcome a lot of this, I feel. And I'll explain why, and I think we'll be stronger for it at the end of it. I think we'll be better for it in the end. And so why am I such an optimist? Well, it comes down to when I was growing up. When I was like, five, my mom got diagnosed with breast cancer. And so that's not a. Like, hey, that's a fun thing. But that happened. And I remember her sitting down, explaining to me and my brother that she was sick and they didn't know what was going to happen afterwards, if she'd survive or not, and that me and my brother would have to help out around the house. So from five On I've been doing laundry, dishes, taking out the trash, vacuuming, all that kind of stuff. And it's just what you do, you know, like, that wasn't awesome or ideal for anyone, but that was the situation. It, you know, situation changed. Now we need to figure a way out of it. And my mom eventually, you know, was cancer free and was, you know, up until she passed away a few years ago, you know, no cancer. So awesome. The chemo worked. That was in like the late 80s. And my dad's insurance did not cover any of the medical expenses. So, you know, so struggle and fear and overwhelm and anxiety. My mom has cancer, so she gets cured. Great. We now have huge family debt that my parents spent most of my childhood paying off. And that comes with its highs and lows, where you get ahead and something would happen and, you know, bank fees. I remember something that, that, you know, wiped out the little savings that we had when I was, you know, coming up and how frustrating that is and how, you know, you could just say it's not worth it and give up. But my parents never did. You know, they always said that we'll figure out some way to move forward. And, you know, that resilience of saying, like, I don't know how we move forward, but I know there's a path and I know we'll find something and we'll bumble through it if we need to. And, you know, my mom was really good during these times, especially during the times of struggle that, you know, we'll look back and find the humor in this. We'll find some sense of joy or realize that it was a huge turning point that led to something better. So part of that, the reason why I'm an optimist is because my parents were like. And sometimes when there's a lot of stress on you, like that optimism is a survival strategy. And it's not saying that you're like, everything's gonna work out and I don't have to do anything. Like, it takes work, guys. It's. It takes, you know, getting up every day knowing that it feels like you're not making any progress, but still going forth and doing your best. You know, that was another message that my folks had growing up was like, just do your best. Sometimes that's all we can do. And I think if you take a look around at what's going on in society with all the bad news, I think there's some good things that people aren't talking about enough. And that's why I think I'M that's why I'm optimistic about the time right here, and I'd love to hear how you guys think. So as I'm going through this, if you're optimistic about the future, if there are things that you see that are going right, please put that below, because I think we need a little bit more of that positive spin on things. Acknowledging that there's a lot of work to do, acknowledging that there's a lot of heaviness out in the world. That's not going to change unless we keep at it. So not so to honor the struggle that's going on with coronavirus, with all the protests, whether Black Lives Matter or the freedom to not wear masks wherever you sit on any of those issues, you know, there's the whole political thing that, you know, we're getting into the political circus of, you know, the election here in the US So that'll be awesome. And usually, you know, elections tend to be uplifting here in America as of late. So that'll be interesting to watch. But in spite of all this, there are four things that I, I noticed that give me hope, right? And I'll end on, you know, I remember talking with my grandmother during, you know, sometime I was growing up, and I remember saying, like, you never underestimate the American people. And I, for whatever reason, that that stuck with me because she said, when push comes to shove, they'll do the right thing. And it might not be as timely as we want, it might not be exactly in the ways that we want at the time, but she firmly believed that, you know, when, you know, the people get together, the people, right? When Americans and the citizens start voicing what they want and start contributing to organizations and start adding to movements, that's the real power of the American system. And that's when the real big things can change. And so with that, that's why I've noticed these things. First, I've noticed that everyone is fairly engaged, a lot more engaged than when I was younger. I can't remember talking about politics at any length at any other time in my life other than the last few years. You know, I think so many people are paying attention. Technology is part of that, right? We can basically, we have societal esp. Like, I can have a thought and it could be good or bad, like, I love puppies or I hate puppies, whatever, whatever. The thing that pops in my head, I can type that on one or more social media platforms and get that blasted out. And everyone knows how I feel about puppies, right? Pro puppy in case you're curious, I don't want to leave that out. So, you know, we have this ability to just communicate anything that's in our head almost instantaneously, almost around the globe in like a second, which is huge. And I don't think societally we've figured out how to handle that power responsibly or what that actually means or how that actually impacts things. But we're working on it and we're making progress. And I think that's one of the issues, you know, we talk about being engaged in what's going on in the world that there's a lot of attention on. How is social media actually impacting our society and what do we need to do about it? Because before, I think it was more of a. Like, I talk about it with some of my tech friends, but my family and friends back home in Chicago that are outside of Silicon Valley have been talking about this stuff. And I think that's really important. Other, I mean, everyone's talking about, you know, the Black Lives Matter stuff. Even back at home, again, outside of what might be a really big liberal bubble here on the East Coast, I've had friends in Arkansas talking about, you know, Black Lives Matter and racism and stuff like that. The Confederacy, because that's a huge hot button topic again, that everyone is very passionate about and statues coming down and all that stuff. So, like, people are engaging. You take a look at the level of protests, you know, with the coronavirus masks or Black Lives Matter and the sheer numbers and sustained protesting that's been going on. I think that engagement's good and that engagement will get changed and we're starting to see change. There's been some reforms and some things proposed. People are like, hey, is this the right thing to do? I don't know. So, but it's. It's something. So first thing again, that why I'm optimistic is there seem to be so many more people engaged in our politics, in the issues of the day. As long as they can do that and not go crazy. Like, that's the high performance spin on it is how do you sustain talking about the stuff. How do you sustain really making sure that you're not going into a dark hole. And part of that is, I think, optimism. So second thing is talked about, you know, the ideas are out, you know, on Instagram. That still comes up backwards. Sorry, guys. So what I mean by the ideas are like you, because we have that instantaneous communication. I feel like, you know, you get to see where people really are and so I think there's been a huge surprise by a lot of folks that some people have outdated ideas or some people have crazy ideas, or some people don't seem really in touch with reality. But you get to figure out, like, who those folks are and kind of what they think. And I think that's hugely valuable because as the Internet is, you know, this huge reach, anyone with any idea can find a group of people that share that idea, right? So when that happens, like, you know, either the ideas will grow because they're good, or they confirm to people's beliefs and biases as we're finding out, it's not a good idea. It's just, do you, do people believe in that thing or not? And it's kind of changed how we can talk to one another. You know, so many people are now communicating based on this is my belief. And you're dumb if you don't believe it. Instead of like, how did you get there? How did you. What's your thought process to going from this thing to this conclusion to how you're acting out in the world, Right? And we need to kind of disconnect that judgment and condemnation, I think, of people's ideas and pay more attention to thought process. So that will help. You know, I think most people, if you get them talking, they'll kind of see parts of their argument. And I don't want to say argument, parts of how they're thinking that might not really, you know, be jumps in to conclusions and stuff. So anyways, visibility, I kind of hammered on this again too. Maybe that's redundant. But third point is, again, like, all these, I, you know, the ideas are out there and they're visible, right? And a lot of people have been yelling at like social media. Why would you have the president post things that violate your terms? I actually think it's a good thing to, you know, have that insight for an important political leader to say, wow, like, that's not good thinking or okay, I understand where you stand on it. But I think it's been really powerful in revealing, you know, the character of the President. It's been, you know, really great in revealing some of the, like, things that I know. I don't believe in that. That man does. And, you know, everyone, you know, he, you hear the president complain a lot about how people are out to get him or don't give him a chance, but he doesn't take responsibility for, like, we know, we can see how you think through this stuff or how you're not thinking through this stuff or how there's all these inconsistencies in how you think of the stuff. And it's not, one, it's not consistent, and two, sometimes it goes pretty like, outside my, the realm of things that I think are acceptable, and that's fine. So because we can see stuff like that, I think it's really important that we can now correct it. And that's the optimistic spin on things being visible and the ideas being out there. The fourth and final thing why I am optimistic is faith, really. I think you have to believe and you have to continue to believe that things will change for the better, even when it's tough, because, you know, when you have that struggle, if you don't think that'll turn out great, you give up. Right? I've seen tons of people do that. They just give up because it's so overwhelming, it's so anxiety provoking, it's so angering, it's so frustrating. And, you know, that's where you have to step back and be like, we can figure this out. We will figure this out, and we'll get to that next, better version of ourselves, our society and our world, essentially. So. All right, Those are my 4 thoughts on why I think alchemism is important, essential, and why I'm optimistic right now. And so hopefully you agree with me if there's, I'm sure there's tons of things and points I left out. You know, I'm not saying I know everything, but this is just how I am thinking through this right now. So if you guys are optimistic too, post what you're, you're optimistic for below this video. I'd love to hear that. Just spread some more of that message this week as we go into the Fourth of July. So I hope you guys have, you know, some family time if you're able to a grill with your folks and, and your family and just have a real good time. Because, you know, I think as tough and as painful and as much change as we're going through right now, especially here in the US I really do think our system will overcome it and again will be, be stronger for it when we have more equality, when we have, you know, better leadership, when we, you know, start to maybe get out of some of this hyper partisan stuff, because we saw this year in the last six months that it can be life or death for folks. And that's a really heavy thing to end on. But I think it's true. So that said, guys, go out there, be optimistic, you know, like I said, you know, keep engaged, keep talking keep, you know, hoping. Keep being excited for the future, because I think we're gonna land on a world that's much, much better than we had. So have a great week, and I'll see you guys on Monday.