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I'm a big productivity Improvement
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self-help junkie where I'll be like okay
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I got to make my bed now every morning
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make the bed cold shower do the goggin
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mode hard [ __ ] early yeah you know just
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eat that frog that's so tempting but all
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that [ __ ] sets your failure hey there
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I'm atella and welcome to my short form
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podcast three rules each episode I ask a
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guest to share three rules that help
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them find success and happiness today
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I'm joined by Eugene Tio a fitness coach
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and educ Ator known for his non-nonsense
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approach to training mobility and
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building a strong pain-free body with a
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deep focus on practical science backed
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methods Eugene has helped thousands of
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people improve their movement strength
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and overall well-being what's rule
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number one for you so rule number one is
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timing everything that I do like now
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I've got stopwatch going lap timer is
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just on the go so you're on the clock
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mat okay pressure's on yeah you better R
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faster yeah
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um I time everything and when I talk
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about that people start thinking oh it's
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a productivity thing you're trying to
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maximize your time you are trying to
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hosy everything and get more [ __ ] done
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and set a deadline for all your tasks
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and it's actually not about that for me
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I can definitely see that as being a
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happy accidental side effect of it for
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me but for me it's more just about
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awareness and mindfulness of whatever it
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is that I'm doing because you're
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probably in a similar situation where
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you'll get to the end of a work day and
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you feel like you've been so busy but
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you but you don't have anything to show
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for it and you're like what have I done
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and you get frustrated with yourself you
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get really beat up and you start just
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tearing something you're worthless you
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done nothing today and I go through
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those Cycles all the time where I'll get
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seriously depressed and I'll really talk
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down upon myself for saying you've done
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nothing you're worthless you've wasted 8
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hours or how that day go where'd that
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week go and this is a simple reminder
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which ties into some of my other rules
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that I live my life by
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but of saying where did the time go not
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that it has to go to work like how many
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bable hours did I ACW today maybe it's
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only going to be two but I did acrw
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eight bable hours in lifestyle of
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keeping me happy connections family
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whatever it could just be taking care of
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myself by going through a walk cuz I
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need to clear my head about
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something and at least I can recognize
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where the time
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went then I can make peace with that and
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I think the timing thing was so powerful
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for me because
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I'm a big productivity Improvement
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self-help junkie where I'll be like okay
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I got to make my bed now every morning
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make the bed cold shower do the goggin
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mode hard [ __ ] early yeah you know just
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eat that frog that's so tempting but all
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that [ __ ] sets you up for failure
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because it has an expectation assign to
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you have to do this it's a past fail
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make your bed or not or you [ __ ] up
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and your whole life will be unraveled
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there is no expectation here to me
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timing things I just set the stopwatch
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hit go set the lp time when a new task
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starts and that's it I don't care if
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editing a video takes me 5 hours when it
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nor took me 1 hour I don't care if it
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took me 2 hours to script something and
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normally takes me 20 minutes or even
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longer I just note it down it seems like
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it's just a simple stop watchat stop so
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uh walk me through like what that might
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look like in terms of chunks on a on a
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typical day and also how you're able to
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look back at like how you spent your
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time yeah uh in a given day yeah so I've
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got a humongous to-do list like I'm sure
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you do which got things that will never
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get
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completed um I have that as a running
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tally every single day that I'll be
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looking at and I'll be pulling out
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things that I know have to get done
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while they becoming more urgent and I'll
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say there's 10 of those things M I'll
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that I've pulled out from the list of 50
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I've assigned a rough budget of time to
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those those things I said okay
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realistically I can get through these 10
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things today or five things maybe on a
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certain day and then I just start
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working through it so like I said for my
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morning routine I spend that first 10
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minutes getting my day seting at this
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through list then I get stuck into into
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the first task whether it's four
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15minute tasks they will be timed and
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all lap timed or it could just be one
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2our task that could be what it is until
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my first big switch where it becomes
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Meadow wakes up and it's family time
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it's dog time and that's 2 or 3 hours
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and I just know I'm going to just I
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don't want to say lose but I'm going to
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spend on something different yeah um and
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then it's I guess in a way it's keeping
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you accountable too because you're like
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well okay I've been with family now 3
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hours I really probably should be
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getting back to work and prior honestly
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it's the other way around M because I'm
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a workaholic I love being able to just
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sit there and spend 12 hours straight
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working I love being in meetings with
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people chatting with people being
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productive in that sense and I will
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never stop and I'd be S hanging out with
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Mead thinking to myself I should be
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doing this right now I'm thinking about
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this next meeting I'm thinking about
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this next work task but now that I know
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I assigned time to different things now
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I can be present in that 2-hour window
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with meow and they're the best 2 hours
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of my life cuz I don't think about work
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anymore I literally just stop thinking
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about which I've never been able to do
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for the past 30 years of my life it's
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always been just you've got [ __ ] to do
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get to work or this is looming get this
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done now that's all just changed from
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something so simple as me saying no you
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will get to this work task at 400 p.m.
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today cuz it's on your to-do list and
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you know you've got your timer set where
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you got these 3 hours are budgeted for
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Meadow make sure she gets those 3 hours
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because if I had those 3 hours budgeted
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to write my next YouTube video I'm
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giving that YouTube video there 3 hours
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undivided why am I not giving that to my
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partner why am I not giving that to me
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must be distracted I'm not I'm not
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sitting there thinking about oh my God I
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should be thinking about meta right now
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I'm just I'm thinking about the work
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there's a big mismatch and those are the
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sort of questions I asking myself in
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this whole
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big reinvention of like why am I so
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unhappy how I wanted my life I was like
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where are my deficits in life right now
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I'm very good at work I'm very good at
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content creation all that kind of stuff
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where am I really lacking I'm lacking a
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lot in
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my personal development I'm lacking a
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lot in my relationships and my family
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life and I don't want to live my life
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that way some people love living their
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life that way they're very happy to just
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be the work hard say cool that's fine
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but that's not for me so they may take a
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slightly different approach to timing
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things mhm and just and they may look at
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it from a productivity get [ __ ] done
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Beat the Clock let's get these tasks
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done all the time um but for me it's
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just accountability as you say what's
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rule number two for you rule number two
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is taking 5 minutes morning and night
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for me to journal I keep it very simple
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I try not to make it too complicated
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with a lot of different ideas and trying
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to like a make it really extensive to-do
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list or anything like that I just have
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some very simple prompts I ask myself at
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the start and close of each day
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the close makes more sense so we'll
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start there ask myself what went well
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today what didn't go well today what am
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I grateful for what lessons have I
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learned and then I Al also have a couple
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of more open-ended questions that may
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change which could be like what have I
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learned or what will I change what will
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I do differently mhm um what have I
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really
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enjoyed and then the final question is
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what will I do tomorrow what am I
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excited about tomorrow and that sets up
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a little bit more of my to-do list which
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then flows into the next day's morning
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journaling where I look back and I say
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okay all these things I'm grateful for
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from the last day all these things that
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I'm happy about and not happy about the
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things I need to improve I can pull them
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into today's to-do list and then
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actually have a to-do this I got to
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write up for myself in that 5 minute
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window I keep it short intentionally one
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thing cuz it's simple so it's low
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barrier but also I keep it small so I
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don't get stuck into a
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procrastination spiral
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because you can always just keep going
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on and on and on and writing more to-do
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lists and writing more prompts and keep
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going with it we don't want that I just
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want it to be simple so I can get on
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with my day and get started and have an
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anchor Point yeah I really think so much
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of self-improvement is about
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self-awareness uh and I think a lot of
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people go through the world blind to how
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they may be coming across in certain
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situations to their own thought patterns
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and so something like journaling
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specifically these prompts which are
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great are just like a really quick way
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to kind of gut check yourself and kind
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of see where you're at and how you're
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progressing over time because I imagine
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if you keep running into the same
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problems over and over and over again
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it's like okay I'm going to have to
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eventually it's not about beating
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yourself up but eventually I'm going to
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have to address some of the root causes
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of of why these things keep happening
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yes or just accept them I'm going to get
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I'm going to get into internet fights
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every once in a while that's part of the
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business what you know what I mean like
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I maybe it's more about approaching it
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in a way that that doesn't really affect
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you negatively as much exactly right
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exactly a big part of his acceptance and
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knowing that yeah there are going to be
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some things you're just going to have to
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just live with and then ask yourself can
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you happily live with that and I can for
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like internet Wars I'm happy with that
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until it affects Family Life yeah or the
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the the version of me that I bring to
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the world cuz I do know if I get two
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caught up in the internet fights I very
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negative mhm as I just first glance like
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I don't want to be that kind of person
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that's like another the this is actually
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another prompt I do um put in that
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journal well don't sorry I don't put in
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the journal but ask myself in this
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journaling
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moment um this is like a slight extra
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rule but also we'll call it a part 2B to
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the
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rule it's this principle based on um B
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do have which you may have heard of
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before essentially
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it's built on this idea that so many
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people are living their life backwards
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where we think let's take it from a
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physical fitness perspective if I have
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that shredded dream physique then I will
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be able to do all these really cool
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things of business or relationships and
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then I'll finally be happy and I'll feel
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fulfilled and achieved because I've done
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all those things whereas life happens in
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the reverse if you decide who you want
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to be every single day that will then
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dictate to you the things that you must
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do and how you must live your your life
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and then you'll be able to have all the
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things you really wanted with happiness
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and achievement or whatever else it may
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be so what that means to me is every
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single morning I ask myself just
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mentally in my head I don't need to
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write this down sometimes I might need
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to though you know so what kind of
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father do I want to be what kind of
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business owner do I want to be what kind
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of friend do I want to be um what kind
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of partner what kind of family member do
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I want to
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be and how would that person act how
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should that person act in day or for in
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this current situation if I'm at a
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Crossroads if I've been introduced a new
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business venture or a really big
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whatever decision say what would a good
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business owner do they might do they
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might work harder but what would a good
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family member do what would a good
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father do might be a bit different which
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one do I want to be pulled more towards
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and also
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importantly what am I choosing to do
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instead or what am I choosing to do in
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general what is like the the devil on
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your shoulder saying you should do and
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being aware of those things
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um because as soon as I start living my
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life in alignment with what who I want
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to actually be that really opened up a
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lot of doors for me in terms of well it
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gave me a lot of clarity on what I need
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to do each day whereas otherwise used to
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be chaos I want to do everything yeah or
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I'm just sort of open to just being a
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very reactive person to everything that
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comes that gets thrown at me in life
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whereas now I have these grounding
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thoughts to help me weed through
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distractions to help me weed through
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whatever life throws at me and just say
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say okay no you've got this opportunity
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you've had this thing happening in your
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life what kind of person do you want to
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be is it a good father okay how would a
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good father respond in the situation
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what would they do how would they show
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courage how would they show up how would
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they act and then just do that even if
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it doesn't feel good mhm even if it
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doesn't feel comfortable or habitual or
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instinctive to you people think that you
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need to that you're just born a certain
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way but everything is trained in life in
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my opinion a lot personality traits
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they're trained and we're habitual
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creatures and you can affect those
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habits through intention and that's
00:12:34
these help these helped guide me a lot
00:12:36
I'm going to be back with the third and
00:12:38
final rule in a moment but first one of
00:12:40
the ways I'm supporting this podcast is
00:12:42
through patreon by becoming a patron you
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get access to the full unedited episodes
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of the show like you found that with
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powerlifting you know you're doing two
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three hour sessions at some point when
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you're reaching your PE cuz like that's
00:12:53
that's a big investment even even if you
00:12:54
love it it's a big investment to make a
00:12:57
you know 1% inre
00:13:00
your and that's where it was to me I was
00:13:01
saying okay I love bodybuilding I love
00:13:03
training like this but is this where my
00:13:05
time is best spent am I really enjoying
00:13:07
that as a patron you also get additional
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unused footage from my YouTube videos
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and access to a members only area where
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you can ask me questions for my patreon
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importantly you'll feel good knowing
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like and really what other incentive do
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you need simply go to patreon.com
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davella to support the show that's
00:13:27
patreon.com davella there's a link down
00:13:29
in the description below thanks for
00:13:31
considering what's your third rule for
00:13:34
either success or happiness my third
00:13:36
rule for life that's really helped me so
00:13:38
much has been having a very simple
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wardrobe which is something I've had a
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lot of questions on the past year CU
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that's when I've been implementing it
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for it's only been maybe the past 12 to
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18 months or I've done away with all my
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gym gear so all of my joggers hoodies
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whatever and what you're seeing me in
00:13:56
now is the same outfit I wear every
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single day in different color
00:13:59
configurations but even then I have very
00:14:01
specific color configurations I shoot
00:14:04
towards and this is probably a very
00:14:06
simple one that people are very familiar
00:14:07
with you know Steve Jobs does it Mark
00:14:09
Zucker does it I you do it as well very
00:14:11
simple minim minimalistic
00:14:14
wardrobe but it's taken out so much
00:14:17
stress hassle from the daily decision-
00:14:20
making but also from a Content creation
00:14:23
perspective I Know This Much yes it
00:14:25
really does from re-shooting stuff let's
00:14:27
take that be roll from the other day
00:14:28
which I was wearing the same exact thing
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and yeah it has been so profound um but
00:14:34
for me as a gym person like I'm in I'm
00:14:36
training a lot I'm I'm in this
00:14:37
environment a lot so I had to choose
00:14:39
outfits that were versatile yeah for
00:14:41
both gym and life and for being a dad or
00:14:43
whatever I can go out and and so people
00:14:45
ask me like why are you wearing these
00:14:46
hiking boots or why you wearing these um
00:14:49
these work pants or whatever or these
00:14:50
jeans or when you're training like well
00:14:52
they're comfortable and they're
00:14:53
versatile and like I don't sweat and
00:14:55
stink that much so I can leave the gym
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and go on for my day and don't worry
00:14:59
about a thing I guess how much time do
00:15:01
you think it's saved you in terms of
00:15:06
what you wear every day your daily
00:15:08
routine um being able to have the same
00:15:10
exact wardrobe that you go to every
00:15:12
single day in terms of time
00:15:14
saved not that much you know maybe 5
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minutes a day which does add up
00:15:19
definitely mental strain huge humongous
00:15:23
but also the regret where i' look back
00:15:27
on footage or look back on photos or
00:15:30
whatever could about content cre could
00:15:32
be about like a photo took my family mhm
00:15:35
I like man that was a really bad outfit
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Choice yeah look like an idiot now I
00:15:39
mean I can have that issue now as well
00:15:41
yeah 10 years something like why was I
00:15:42
thinking wearing those pants yeah every
00:15:44
day too yeah I've ruined I've ruined the
00:15:46
whole whole year of
00:15:48
footage um you're really placing a bet
00:15:51
on this
00:15:52
outfit I really am um although I do feel
00:15:56
like there's a lot less regret
00:15:56
associated with things lot less
00:15:58
decisions around
00:15:59
what have you learned about embracing a
00:16:01
minimalist wardrobe that you would like
00:16:04
people to know who are maybe hesitant
00:16:07
about doing it for themselves first I
00:16:09
would wonder what the resistance is and
00:16:12
for me the resistance to adopting
00:16:13
minimalism in the first place was I feel
00:16:15
like what I wear told a big story about
00:16:18
who I was like wearing like different
00:16:20
stylish clothes or different t-shirts
00:16:23
different band T-shirts whatever to sh
00:16:25
off my music or whatever and that was
00:16:28
hard thing to sort of get rid of like
00:16:30
I've got hundreds of band T-shirts from
00:16:31
different concerts and whatnot I've been
00:16:33
to I never wear them anymore cuz it's
00:16:35
not part of my wardrobe but that was a
00:16:36
big thing that was hard for me to get
00:16:38
rid of and I feel like people have that
00:16:40
resistance with certain items of
00:16:41
clothing for whatever
00:16:43
reason but I do feel like when you find
00:16:45
your staple wardrobe your as you say
00:16:47
uniform which I think is a perfect word
00:16:49
for it when you find your uniform that
00:16:51
can speak volumes out who you are that
00:16:53
is the title thumbnail combo of Matt D
00:16:56
sure not plain white T-shirt boring man
00:16:59
but we know what you're about up front
00:17:01
right no fast simple and efficient mhm
00:17:06
which is great and that doesn't mean
00:17:08
that everybody's minimalist wardrobe
00:17:09
will say that because you can have a
00:17:12
very exuberant outgoing wacky minimalist
00:17:15
wardrobe it doesn't mean just the one
00:17:17
colored t-shirt or the one thing it can
00:17:19
be the style like I have 10 t-shirts of
00:17:22
different colors in the same cut so you
00:17:25
got to find for yourself what does that
00:17:26
mean for you minimalism has gotten the
00:17:29
bad rap I guess in the wardrobe sense
00:17:31
because they see a Steve Jobs or a Mark
00:17:34
Zuckerberg or even us who just wear the
00:17:36
one t-shirt or whatever lifeless not
00:17:39
creative whereas it's more just about
00:17:42
the concept and how much do you want to
00:17:44
apply to yourself and it could just be
00:17:45
one t-shirt one pair of pants one pair
00:17:46
of underwear for the rest of your life
00:17:48
and just that's it m but give yourself
00:17:51
the freedom if you want to just dip your
00:17:53
feet in and you'll start to see the
00:17:55
benefits of it well Eugene those are the
00:17:57
three rules thank thank you so much for
00:17:59
doing the show thank you I really
00:18:01
appreciate the time it's a lot of fun
00:18:02
yeah if you want to get these rules
00:18:04
summarized into a Weekly Newsletter you
00:18:06
can subscribe at Matt dav.com thre rules
00:18:10
thanks so much to Eugene for joining me
00:18:12
check out the links in the description
00:18:14
to learn more about his work
