4. Go Ahead and Jump: Grow Your Wings on the Way Down

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 entertaining, that will help you direct your life. Okay, I'm here. I'm excited. Welcome in. Today's episode is about the big C word. Conditioning. What were you thinking? Listen, here we go. We are gonna have an amazing day today because we can decide it. We can condition it. And if you haven't had a great day so far, there's still time. Let's go for it. If you're here, you want your life to be on the right track for you. And that's what I want to share today. I want to encourage you to take a note or two if something stands out, because the little aha moments If conditioned properly, they can serve you and you can succeed in your own definition of success. Here we go. I want to talk about conditioning and how you can make this a deliberate habit that helps you strive towards opportunity. And the most important thing, take action on the opportunity. So many opportunities have been missed. Why? Because We wait. And sometimes you wait so long to raise your hand, you get into that habit of waiting and you're now a waiter. You don't wanna be a waiter. Nothing against those waiters. I love waiters with good attitudes that serve me. I digress. And here's an example of how conditioning has served me and can serve you. Last night, I joined a business networking group. And part of my journey the last several years is to just become a better networker, to socialize more and meet that next contact that I can provide value to and they can provide value for me. And that's been a difficult thing a lot of my life because I've been an editor, a filmmaker, and there's a lot of alone time writing. I'm a magician. I've been practicing magic a lot alone, and I love to share. I love to be with people, but going after that next film job and networking to get producers to give me money for jobs. That's always been a little bit of a, I don't know if I want to go and do that. And I've had to always push myself, and I've helped myself over the years condition to raise my hand when opportunity strikes. So last night I went to this networking business event. I didn't know really what was going to be there, who was going to be there. I just happened to get notified on something I signed up to. It was local. And I said, you know what, let's go. So I went and I took my wife. She doesn't even have a business, but she had an open mind and just decided to show up. And I got to tell you, first off, I was a little questioning if I was in the right spot. It was only a few people, 10 people. They all worked for other businesses. I wasn't sure if there was actually many entrepreneurs there. Um, I turned out there may have been a couple, but they started speaking and I was kind of thinking, hmm, am I in the right place? Okay. Let me see what I can learn from this. Let me just practice my listening skills. And then they had a presenter and she shared about her own business and how she's trying to get it off the ground. And, and the whole idea of this networking event is to meet people that can maybe introduce you to people you need to know. And I thought that was great. So she gave her presentation for 10 minutes, and then we all got in a circle. We shared some things and talked about who we know that might help each other. And it was really nice. It turned out fun. The host was excellent. But here's the thing. So pay attention to this part. This is really relative for conditioning yourself to get back on track in life and just, just raise your hand for opportunity. So the host towards the end said, hey, Who wants to give a presentation speech? It's about 10 minutes the next time we meet. And part of my 2025 goals are to become a better public speaker and just go for it and do more of this. So I thought in a nanosecond when she said that, my wife turned around to me with this big smile. She knew that I'm looking to do more things like that. And that was kind of a cue. And then my hand without knowing it just raised up. And I said, sure, can I speak about anything? And I got really excited and I took the gig. And I'm calling it a gig even though it's unpaid because I want to take it serious, because this is a great step towards my next advancement with public speaking and how I can serve an audience, a community. Now, my public speaking pretty much as of now has been teaching acting, uh, to actors and how to Create a great mindset so you can strive in auditions and you can just be a better actor when it counts, which is usually the auditioning process. If you don't know anything about acting, it's the do-or-die moments of the auditioning process that get you success. So why am I telling you all this? I'm telling you this because up until this point, I've pretty much done live events. and Zoom events for actors primarily. But I wanna reach out and go beyond and speak about other things I'm passionate about and help people in business, help people that wanna do new creative things that aren't acting and help them stay on track. So condition, condition, condition. This is how that happened. And maybe to some of you, it might seem easy to just say, oh, well, you wanna public speak, raise your hand. Fact is, this is the number one fear of humanity, to speak publicly. And I like to do hard things. So you asked me 2 and a half years ago if I would be doing this, I would not. I wouldn't feel like I had the confidence, even though I wanted it. But I've done a lot of work this last 2 and a half years, and I've pushed, and this is my time. So how did I condition myself to raise my hand? As a deliberate habit. It started quite a long time ago and used this idea as a tool. I was in music school for several years and I did have to perform on stage in front of the class, whether it was guitar playing, sometimes singing. And I was very vulnerable about my singing, my voice, and it was a big challenge. But I decided way back then I'm just gonna raise my hand and go for it as an experiment. I'm going to be the mad scientist of my life and just experiment. That way, it's not the matter of failing or succeeding, it's about learning. So I started to just raise my hand when anyone asked, oh, who wants to share about what we learned over the homework session? Raise my hand. Who wants to go on stage first to play the guitar? Raise my hand. Who wants to sing? Raise my hand. And this became a deliberate habit because I knew how much I needed it. I knew that the confidence that I lacked, this would help it, this would grow it. And in life, I believe the quality of your life is the quality of your confidence, and you must condition it. The big C: condition, condition, condition. Repetition is the mother skill, and you have to keep that deliberate habit going for a long, long time until it becomes some invisible gift that people think you have. And here's a tool for you out there. Decide. So cut off all other opportunities and decide, what do you need to do? What's that move? What do you need to be to accept an opportunity that will no doubt be in front of you someday? Hopefully. Hopefully soon, and you have to decide what it is. You need to write it down. You need to speak it aloud. Have fun with it. Be jokey with it. Use your voice. Be a little wild, a little weird, so it internalizes, and it internalizes enough that it becomes meaningful to you and real. That's the thing: you, your entirety, your soul, your mind needs to believe it's real and that you actually want it. And you want whatever that is, we're going to call it confidence. I know it has many different categories, but you really do want to be confident enough to raise your hand for the next opportunity. And I want that for you. And I now have experienced it over many years that it has helped me. I've been raising my hand so much more, not only to take opportunities, but to ask for help. So I'm going to ask you now, where in your life do you need to raise your hand more? Where do you need to ask your peers, your friends, business contacts for help and guidance and advice? And here's something I learned recently with some word technology, and it is truly word technology because the words you use can create a new message. Or a positive or a negative message. And when you ask people for help, use the word advice because people like that word because it makes them feel part of the help for you. And they'll actually give you more positive feedback. If you just ask for opinions, it's gonna be a possible negative thing and they're not as involved. That was just a side tangent, but I really want you to condition yourself to raise your hand more. Because guess what? You do it for small things, mid things, then the big thing comes and you raise your hand. And for me, last night was one of the big things. This is one of the defining moments in my public speaking career because I said yes, raised my hand, and guess what? I didn't know all the details. I didn't know what we're— I still don't know. I need to message this person and kind of say, hey, what does your audience need to hear? And what, what would you like me to share? And I'll try to customize it and make it fun and interesting and engaging and encouraging and just entertaining too. So what does that mean? It means I knew 50% of the details and I just said yes because I realized over years I will figure it out. That's what confidence is, the ability to figure it out, the belief in oneself to figure it out. And guess what? You'll grow wings on the way down. That's the way we need to think. We will grow wings on the way down. We do not need all the information. Do your prep, ask some questions, get 60, 70%, and then go lead, figure it out on the way down. And this, my friends, this is the key to getting your path going for your life, getting back on it. If you were on it before, if you don't have a direction for your life, this is the key to condition yourself to just raise the hand, ask for guidance, ask for advice, and then accept opportunity as a growth opportunity for you and the next thing you want in your life. So what'd we just talk about? As a recap, condition yourself, the big C. Make sure you are aware of what deliberate habits you want in your life and condition it. And these are the habits that are hard. They aren't just random that happen like, oh, I started brushing my teeth when I was a kid. Now I do it all the time. This is a deliberate habit. And this is what separates high performers from the mediocre. And you're a high performer. You're here, you're listening. You want the most out of life. You want to do The best for yourself, so then you're more of a pleasure to be around. So what are you gonna condition? How are you gonna set yourself up to condition it so deep that it is internal and meaningful, and you don't even realize it, and you're seeking and you're taking those next opportunities that you couldn't have dreamt about prior before? the conditioning. It starts today. Get on it. Go out there, start your conditioning, and do it with joy. Have a smile, feel fun, feel great, and have grace with yourself because you might fall off. You just got to get back on and keep conditioning and finding what matters to you and condition it and go after it. All right, that's it today. I really appreciate you listening, and if you liked this episode, please rate it, Share it. That's very important. Share to people that need to hear this and get a little motivated, a little push in their day. And please subscribe. I also have a YouTube channel. You can search Direct Your Life. And that's what I want you to do starting today. Direct your life. That's why I called this show Direct Your Life, because it's about you and your life. And I'm also conditioning myself when I'm motivating and encouraging Encouraging and educating you on this show. That is it. Have a wonderful day, and I look forward to the next one. Thank you.