1285: An Excerpt from Master The Key by Mike Flynn - Self-Help with Chance, Chaos, and Things Not Going to Plan

This is optimal living daily episode 1285 and excerpt from the book master the key by Mike Flynn and I'm Justin Molick welcome to optimal living daily or the OLD podcast where I read you from some of the best blogs I can find and get permission from and sometimes books like today Mike is an advisor host of the impact entrepreneur show that's a podcast and speaker all about helping others make a big impact you can find him at the impact entrepreneur.net and I have an excerpt from his book so let's get right to it and start optimizing your life and excerpt from the book master the key by Mike Flynn when was the last time anything you set out to do went exactly according to plan if you're like me nothing comes to mind that's because chance has the ability to show up every minute of every day and take us in a direction we weren't expecting with 1,440 minutes in a day there's no denying we experienced chance in ways large and small every day if you spend all your time focused on making sure everything goes just right even though it never does you won't notice when chance shows up you won't give chance a chance French biologist Louis Pasteur once said quote chance favors only the prepared mind end quote we can capitalize on chance when it comes along but only if we are prepared to do so that means recognizing chance when she appears and preparing to act when she does chance can show up in many forms i found that chance since to show up through people events disasters places and crisis let's look at a few stories that illustrate the way his chance likes to operate people Alex boy a world famous musician singer and performance artist always dreamed of using his gifts and abilities to move people through music but life didn't play out the way he'd hoped at one point he was so down on his luck that he reached into a trash can to grab a half eaten sandwich that's when a stranger ran up to him slapped a sandwich from his hands and said you are better than this despite not knowing this person their words deeply impacted Alex Alex's life changed forever after this fateful encounter today the world knows his music as his youtube videos have been viewed nearly half a billion times collectively events christmas abbot grew up dirt poor in virginia when she tried to join the military and failed she went with their backup plan and joined her mom on a base in iraq as a civilian laundry attendant one day her whole life changed their base was hit with a violent mortar attack and as bombs exploded on all sides christmas reflected on the life she wanted to lead moving forward today she's a world famous crossfit trainer the creator of the bat body diet a multi-millionaire entrepreneur and a first female nascar pick crew member disasters when urna shakleton set out to explore the anarchic continent he did so with confidence and hefty financial backing that's when his expedition took an unexpected disastrous turn his ship endurance was crushed by the ice in 1915 he and his 27 crew members moved from one ice float to the next in order to survive two years and 22 days after first leaving pliments with a south pole shakleton and his entire crew were safe and headed for home places i'm at the bubble lounge at san francisco for my sister's 25th birthday party i don't really want to be there but when my sister told me that lisa was coming i decided to attend when i got there it was standing room only all the couches were taken it was a cold night in december and when lisa arrived we made small talk of that place to sit our talk was about to end i was already head over heels but it didn't look like we'd have a chance to really connect because of the crowd that's when chance intervened and a couple got up to leave offering us their seat that love seat is where we truly began to fall in love crisis for several years i was a wildly successful businessman then in the course of a couple years all of my success financial and otherwise was wiped out by the financial crisis which led me to a mental and emotional crisis and into the chair of a psychiatrist crisis is one of the least desirable forms chance can take but i know it gives us a life-changing opportunity how you can prepare for chance in each of those stories the characters chose to embrace chance instead of ignore her not only does our response to chance shape our story it also shapes how we see the world prominent psychologist martin segman suggests that embracing chance may make us more optimistic however as louis bestoor implied this activity can't be approached passively you must prepare to encounter chance to do that here are three steps you should take number one listen for her when i interviewed author and maybe seal jocko we only got my podcast i asked him about the tools we can use to adopt on the fly tool number one listen he told me tool number two is what you're gonna take out of your box after you've listened the problem jocko explained is that too many people never use the first tool so they don't know which tool to take out next we have to train ourselves to listen for her so we're prepared when she shows up urna shakleton used to sit on the ice by himself reflecting on what's happened and listening for what he should do next he listened to see where chance was guiding him and because he listened he was able to draw on his tools and abilities to keep his crew alive until they were rescued number two expect her to show up quote if you do not expect the unexpected you will not find it barakletus as the quote reminds us it's important for us to remain open to the way that chance will show up in our lives and to leave room for the unexpected it's okay to have a to-do list just remain open to an opportunity to step into your greatness through your response to chance by maintaining that expectation you'll be more present in each moment manage your day more effectively and be more in charge of your mental and emotional responses to life's challenges number three act when chance doesn't show up what chance wants most from us when she appears is to get off our butts and move in the direction she is calling us and take advantage of the opportunity she is giving us she wants us to wake up to our potential when a stranger knocks a half eaten sandwich from our hands think about our life choices as mortar shells rain down around us keep moving and not get stuck when our boat is crushed by the ice wait in that crowded room for someone to stand up and not be so proud that we won't sit down in that therapist chair victim or creator it's your choice the bottom line is that in every instance we have the choice to look at the events that have shaped our lives to the lens of a victim or a creator in each story the people involved could have been content to let their circumstances dictate the way they lived instead they all chose to respond when chance showed up in doing so they created their own endings when chance shows up in your life what choice will you make you just listen to an excerpt from the book master the key by mike flint this episode is brought to you by samson canada you work on your phone all day but it's your phone working for you samsung galaxy s26 ultra is the a iphone built to help businesses so teams can move smarter and get more done with built-in privacy display security from the chip up and battery for busy schedules samsung galaxy s26 ultra works as hard as you do visit samsung.com slash business to learn more i'm constantly thinking about how to optimize my health what supplements to take hours of sleep what my diet should focus on super power finally takes the guessing out of it one simple lab test covers over 100 biomarkers in our app gives you a complete picture of your heart liver hormones metabolism even environmental toxins plus it used to cost $499 right now it's just $199 and head to superpower.com and use code old at checkout for an additional $20 off your membership come by mike site to learn more that's the impact entrepreneur.net i've that linked in this episode's description at oldpodcast.com and you can find master the key on amazon i'll leave it at that for today hope you have a great rest of your day thank you for being here and listening to me and for subscribing to the show and i'll be back tomorrow where you're optimal life awaits