22. Are You an NPC? Plus, The Lost Art of Thinking & Slowing Down

You will be the magic and the comedy in someone's life, another NPC type out there, and you might break their pattern. That's what it's about— breaking people's patterns, breaking your own, so you can actually feel that damn day. My wife says this intro sounds like a conspiracy mystery, so I'll stop that voice and tell you this show is for you, to get you on the track you want for your life. I'm going to share encouraging educational content, hopefully Are you an NPC? NPC, non-player character. In this so-called reality, are you the main character or are you an NPC? Now, this goes deep, but first, just think of it like this. Have you ever walked into a gas station to buy a pack of gum? The conversation went like this. Hi, how can I help you? I'm looking for a pack of gum. Hey, how you doing? Good, thank you. This is it? Yep. Here you go. Thanks. Bye. That's it. And everything's on autopilot. There's no creativity. There's no conversation. Have you ever just felt like you're on autopilot? I'm sure you have because you're human and we get into this little zone, these little habits, and we just don't even know they're happening. And our brain is programmed this way. If our brain wasn't, We would go berserk. But we have to watch out because if you're an NPC, again, non-player person, non-player character rather, it means you're just part of this AI reality and you're not really owning your day. You're not directing your life. So what can we do about this? How can we spot it? Awareness. I say it so many times, but awareness is the most essential personal development tool, and you need to practice awareness so then it becomes your habit. And instead of going on autopilot all the time and just responding to the store clerk, how's your day? Oh, good. Oh, thanks. Instead of saying that, you're going to catch yourself and you're going to be like, you know, my day was interesting. I actually saw This guy unicycling down my block. His name was Tony Suriano. He's, he's a weirdo, but he waved at me and it was just so funny 'cause you don't see a unicyclist on, in broad daylight. You just don't. So that, that is true. I, I unicycle and I'm proud of it. But this is what I'm saying. You will be the magic and the comedy in someone's life, another NPC type out there, and you might break their pattern. That's what it's about. Breaking people's patterns, breaking your own, so you can actually feel that damn day. Because there's so much going on. There's so many distractions. There's so many billboards digitally and still everywhere we look, when we drive, when we walk, everywhere. So you have to watch out. You have to get that awareness. And that is my early challenge to you the next time you go out in the world, in this so-called reality. And I say so-called because we are the ones experiencing it ourselves individually through our minds, yet we're all connected. It is a strange thing to be alive, but it's your reality. And are you an NPC or are you running into NPCs? And again, another way to know what an NPC is, is it's just the people that just react right away with some response. You knew they were going to say that. Because they don't think. People don't stop and think. Now there's 2 sides of that coin. You don't want to overthink, right? You want to stop thinking to end your problems, but also you need to carve out some time to be creative and creatively think and stare out the window. Just stare out the window sometimes. The other day I was getting into a reading session This new book I'm reading and I'm loving. And I just brought my little roll desk. It's a standup roll desk, brought it near the window. I opened the full window and the screen. Not— I didn't wanna have a filter to my view to the world. And it was this crystal clear, beautiful day. And guess what? I read, then I paused and I just stared out the window. I just let thoughts come, let thoughts go. And you can call this a little bit of a meditation, but really I was just embracing nature and embracing the really cool things around me, the animals. I saw the squirrels, I saw the birds come in, and it really ignited my sense of being. And it was fun because I kept staring for a few minutes longer and out of nowhere, Rain started pouring, and I just felt, wow, I am inside Mother Nature. I'm not an NPC. I am a free being. I love to expand. I love to experience. And this rain's coming down, and then I see the cute little squirrel run for cover, and he goes on top of the tire under a car, poking his little head out. It was awesome. I got to see this and witness it. And then guess what? A few minutes later, the rain just magically stopped and I continued reading and it was so beautiful, so pleasant. And the reason I shared that is because if you don't stop and smell the flowers, if you don't stop and stare out the window, you are missing out. You're not only missing out on that beautiful Mother Nature, those really cool animals, you're missing out on the creative moments that you can actually start to plot for you, your family, your friends, your next adventure, your next career. And when we stop and smell the flowers, you get this newfound fuel. It's a newfound fuel to go out and do those things that matter to you. And I think if you're listening here, you want to do the things that matter to you. You want to be the role model for the friends and the family. You want to be better. You want to be a better you. And it's not that there's anything wrong with you. It's just, why not expand? Why not? And the way to do that is to be aware of the NPC, because you, if you hang out with them too long, you become the NPC. Imagine a rotten orange next to a bunch of regular nice oranges. Guess what? Very quickly, the nice orange, the ripe one that's not rotten yet, it starts rotting in the front part that the rotten one is touching. Can you visualize that? It is really, really important that we make sure we do not get caught in the NPC world. We can use it as a comedy. We can actually be comedic and help them break their patterns, 'cause no one truly wants to be on autopilot, reacting, not responding, just kind of going with the motions, having their voice bland. Thinking that oh, I'm I'm only this. I'm an introvert. That's my identity. Or I'm an extrovert. I always got to be on. No, we have different shades. We have different modes. We have different creativity. And if we stop and look out that window, if we catch ourselves from being on autopilot, if we crack a joke to one of them NPCs, I mean N okay yeah it's an NPC. Geez, I'm, I'm already messing this up. But that non-player character out there, you may be one sometimes in certain areas of your life. I think we all, in certain areas of life, fall prey to that, but we need to snap ourselves out of it. The old snap does a lot. And when you have a lot going on, it's hard. That's why we journal. That's why we have— Something on the wall that inspires us. That's why we stare out the window. That's why we smell the flowers, because it's those moments of pause that help us remember we are a free agent. We can choose to have fun. We can choose to speed up life, to slow it down, to take the breaks, to take the pauses. To enjoy the ride and not amount ourselves to what we can get, but what we can give, what we can experience. Instead of waiting for something to happen to us, we can think right now, take a few moments and think of an amazing future. Don't get stuck there, but think about that and then let it Fall into the present moment, and then go on with your day with a little more vigor, with a little more enthusiasm, with a little more fun. If you're not having fun, you're doing it wrong. And I know the other day I was trying to work on this creative project, and I was a little overwhelmed, and I was thinking. Gosh, maybe I shouldn't do this today. I got— but wait, what's the bigger picture? What is my why? I remember the why, and then I go, okay, so I do need this thing to happen to go towards my why. So I need to figure out how to make it fun. What could I do? Is it possible? Can I put on music, or do I have to have actually silence? Because maybe I'm recording a video like this, but could I have One of my favorite healthy drinks before this. Yes, I did matcha latte. My wife made an amazing one this morning for me. Thank you so much, hon. And it had— I have to tell you, this is actually important. This is the secret to life, having an amazing matcha, ceremonial grade. She put a little oat milk in it, not too much. I usually like it with no sweeteners or anything, but she actually put saffron in there. The saffron flower. Enhances mood, does all these other things. In matcha, there is L-theanine that helps lift that mood. And I wanted to shoot this, this episode. It's on YouTube if you're listening, but it's also on the podcast if you're watching. And I was supposed to do that yesterday, last night, but man, it started to be 11 at night. I was waning, if that's the word. I was falling. I was like, I need to relax now. I mean, I need a good night's sleep. So I did. I had a good night's sleep. Woke up, moved my body, and then she gave me a matcha and I shifted my mood. I took my moment smelling the matcha, staring out the window. I checked the beautiful outdoors today just for a few moments, and I snapped myself into go mode. Let's express, let's share. Let us embrace these tools that can help us become more aware. And these tools that can break the patterns from the people that need it, which is often you and often me. To recap, beware of the NPC. Beware you don't fall into it. Look out for others that are falling into it. Be the pattern interrupt, the positive power— positive, powerful pattern interrupt. You have that. And if you're not thinking, I'm— you're not a funny person, one, you probably are. You just turned your identity thinking you're not. Okay, so break out of that. But that's another episode. What you can do is just comment on some other NPC's clothing or something different that they wouldn't hear. And guess what? You'll see them smile. They're like, I'm out of P— I'm out of NPC mode. Thanks. This is cool. All right. You need anything else? And they'd lift up. Don't be afraid to comment on a stranger's appearance if it's positive. Don't be afraid to tell them thank you for your good attitude. Even if they don't have a good attitude, they'll be like, oh yeah, thanks. I did that at Starbucks the other day. I drove up and they actually are in a usual good attitude, but I just saw her giving me the, the treat. It was a little treat day. And I said, hey, thanks. For your attitudes. You guys are really cool here. And she lit up. And that was fun. That made her day. That made my moment. And we need more of those. Can we all agree we need more moments of giving a compliment, giving a positive thing? Because I just learned a statistic that I'm gonna leave you here on this episode with, and that is 80% of people From the statistics, 80% of most people in their day run negative thoughts, these negative thoughts, and they're on automatic. You may have heard it before. There's an acronym, an acronym, ANTs, automatic negative thoughts. I believe Daniel Amen, the, the brain science doctor man, he nicknamed that. Or he, he coined that. And these automatic negative thoughts are consisting of 80% of our day. That is amazing. But what's more amazing, and let's call it not amazing, detrimental, is there's 95% of our thoughts per day are on repeat. Now, this is mass statistics, but it, it's probably very, very accurate. Think about it. Think about how much you thought of a certain thing today. So apparently it's 95%. So if you're 95% repeating thoughts you've had and you have 80% negative, imagine where your day is gonna go. Guess what? You want an escape. Guess what? NPC. If you're an NPC, you don't have to deal with anything. You don't have to be aware of these negativities. You don't have to worry about so much. You just get on autopilot. You get off work, you drink, you do some drugs, and that's not cool. It's never been cool. But just trying to escape with toxins in your beautiful miracle that is you, that body that is holding your, your energy. No. So think about those statistics. Think about yourself. Think about your day. Be the pattern interrupt for you and those around you. Have an amazing day. Make this day the best day of your life, because guess what? It's the only day of your life. So get out there and go direct it. And there you have it. I hope that you actually found value in this. And if you did, please let me know in the comments. Now Spotify has a comment section. 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