Welcome to Pivot Point. I'm Nathan. And I'm Chris. The podcast where two friends worked their way through Tony Robbins' self-help book, Awaken the Giant Within.
Where every week we talk about how we intend to create lasting change, working our way through the book one chapter a week. We are using this journey as our pivot point to take immediate control of our mental, emotional, physical, and financial destinies. This week, in chapter one, we cover the three keys to lasting change. Raising your standards, change your limiting beliefs, and change your strategy.
Let's get to it. Alright man, well this is step one, so of our first gig ever. Yeah. I think we've worked on three different podcasts and never recorded in episode.
We have lots of outlines. So the book. Yeah, more like a manifesto I think. This thing is pretty thick.
So what do you think of the first chapter? Since we're going to go over the first chapter, what do you think of the first chapter? Just overall, like what about, yeah, just initial impressions like after you finished reading it? So, I'll be honest, the first probably what two pages in?
I was immediately like, nope, not going to do this. Because as soon as people talk about, and I get it, this book was written in what like 99. So, like ADD was like a huge thing. Ritalin was like a huge thing.
As soon as people talk about like curing actual psychological diseases with self-help books, I get pretty sketchy and leery on what they're saying. So I just had to like turn that off and just read it. You know, I had to go into my like 100% belief zone where I'm just going to buy everything this guy says, no matter what. Because the cynic in me was like, nah, there's no way.
Not buying it. I guess that's what we're trying to do too. Because I had the same problem where I read certain things. Like I tell you what, a cuff screwed it up for me.
Because there were a couple things in here that I was like, oh man, like he matches this quite a bit in his gig. And it's like in the book finish. So it's really hard to drink the Kool-Aid. Yes it is.
Percet. Yeah, very hard. But overall, I mean, once I got through that, the first couple of pages, I mean, it was essentially a sales pitch, right? The first couple of pages.
Yeah. Most intros are. Yeah. I mean, I already put the book, you don't need to sell me, you know?
But whatever. Yeah. So that does, I mean, we're going to jump on ahead. But he talks about how only 10% will read the first chapter.
So how many percent is actually finished the book and how many percent is actually do everything? Because that's the first thing I thought of. I was like, okay, so I've read the first chapter. I've read the first chapter in many books and then done the same thing.
I put it down. But what do we, like, to finish this goal of doing, you know, one chapter a week, what is that, 26 chapters I think it has? Yeah. It's like, what's going to get us to the next point?
And that was the, going back to the Kool-Aid and figuring it out. Yeah. I mean, this obviously works, right? Tons of people have gone through this stuff and seen dramatic changes.
So. Right. And he mentioned, so in that second page, the one you were talking about, or the second page of the thing, I think it's page 20 overall. But this, like, all the different things he's going to talk about, and it's a sales pitch.
So I get it. I could say that's trying to get me to read the rest of the book, which we're going to do anyways. But those things like state management, success conditioning, personal rules, like all of them intrigued me. Like, I was like, okay, okay, I'm going to give these a try.
I'll give them a try. Yeah. After on my third or fourth week talking about how I was going to PT in the morning or do some sort of physical fitness every morning, I did it twice, by the way. Yes.
So that's where I was. That's where I was like, okay, I got to do something. So if I got to do this for 26 weeks and pull something out of it, then you got to do something. Yeah.
Yeah. Like I said, once I got through the sales pitch and we started talking about, he gets that first big header, how to create lasting change. I was, I was on board because I'm like, you, I'll do something for a week or two. That's easy.
I can, I can do anything for a week or two. Making a permanent change. Not so much. Right.
So. Yeah. So it is on, it's on the, it's in the middle of the book, but it talks about how 10% of people buy the book, who buy the book, repast the first chapter. But after that, he talks about how, you know, meeting the challenge and he actually gives a physical challenge of saying like, hey, I challenge you to do whatever it takes to read this book in its entirety.
So I guess that's what we're here to do, read this book in its entirety and complete the challenge. Yeah. We can do that. I mean, as awkward as it is to talk about it.
Like, it's, it's kind of funny to think like, oh, yeah, that's, that's all we're doing here. Doing that. Yeah. Was there, was there anything in it that like already like right away stuck out to you that like, I don't know, I wrote down a quote that he had in the first chapter and it just said the grab hold of the things you think are useful, put them into action immediately, which is like for a self help guy to say like, not all of this is going to be for you, but take the things that work and implement them.
Right. That's pretty big. Because so I rewatched the first part of I'm not your guru last night. Oh, okay.
I didn't get through all of it because it was late when I started it. But it made me think of that because he even talks about that with his crew like, hey, we're not here to do like, there's some people in here that shouldn't listen to certain things. And then he talked about it in that last episode of his podcast like, hey, we're not, you know, when I'm talking to this person, don't everybody listen and think, oh, I have problems with my dad as well. So yeah, I like that.
Like, just take what you want and move on. But I always find myself trying to like side step the reading. So I would like read a paragraph or two. And then I would look for like something to write down or something to like, oh, yeah, I do that already.
Like I was always side stepping every time I would read something that I should be doing. I would side step it and go like, oh, that's cool. I'll write it down. Which is what got me here.
Yeah. I have a lot of things written. So did you said you got a bunch of notes on it? Like a couple of pages?
Yeah, I got a full page. I'd say four pages in a field of size book. Yeah, that's probably a little more than I have. But I wrote down some of the questions that that he had asked that I was trying to think about.
I was trying to think about doing a run, but I got distracted and we'll get into that too. But there's three questions that really stood out to me. How can I take immediate control of my life? What can I do today that can make a difference that could help me and others to shape our destinies?
How can I expand, learn, grow and share that knowledge with others in a meaningful and enjoyable way? Those two questions kind of hit pretty hard because this last week we had a big company meeting and there were a lot of conversations about our company does a lot of like humanitarian giving. And there were a lot of questions about, you know, what do we hear for if we're not giving back and finding your true purpose? Yeah, one of the guys I got up there, he said something that really kind of stuck out and he said, we start with the assumption that every human is capable of greatness.
And I think that goes along really well with the first chapter of this book because it's pretty clear that he believes and a big portion of the book is about finding your purpose and your destiny and achieving greatness. So it was kind of cool that those things lined up. So did you do the exercise where he says like, list out the things that you no longer will tolerate or no longer will accept and then on the flip side of the stuff that you aspire to become? So I wrote him down.
I didn't do him. I thought it would be like, did you do him? I did it. I did it.
It's a lot harder than what you think because when you're talking about things you no longer tolerate. Like for me, like when I started writing stuff down, you're actually starting rewriting the same thing just a different way. Yeah. So for me, it was like a lot of, well, I'll just read through, I guess, a couple of them here, but it was like, well, so this is the not tolerate no longer will accept.
So I put lack of money and savings, not taking action on ideas, being vulnerable, and then, you know, I skipped down a couple of it. So it ends up being those three, no matter what. So like sweat the small time decisions relying on a social media as an interaction rather than personal interactions. Like both of those are just being vulnerable or not taking action.
Like that's it was kind of interesting because as you're writing around, you're like, I did not like it's just a couple of problems. Yeah. I didn't. Yeah.
I'll have to list my stuff out and talk about it on next week's up because I wrote it down as a note and then I never went back and did it. Yeah. It does seem like it'd be a really hard thing because once you put it on paper, we've talked about this like a thousand times, but then there's some like, there's some accountability there like saying, yeah. So like seriously, like when I was writing, I was like, oh man, like I have to do something about this, like same with working out, you know, or anything like that is you start writing out.
Oh, I made plans for everything, but I've never really done it or very done very little of it. So I'm the same with aspiring things to become. They were just really counter actions to the stuff that were you won't tolerate anymore. So it just ends up being like a everything laid out.
I guess that's what I'm trying to say. It's kind of interesting to read through them now a couple of days after I wrote them. And honestly, I don't want to read some of them because then I would be required to do something about them. Yeah, because he words it in a very like binary way, you know, a lot of the self help stuff that I've consumed is, you know, you're going to try to do things less.
And he's very direct about saying you'll no longer accept it means zero. Like, I'm not going to do this thing ever again, which is different than right. Oh, I'm going to drink less beer or I'm going to run more often. It's right.
It's intimidating. Like I'll be honest. That's like with the raising your standards. Like that's where I think it's kind of moving into where he's talking about, you know, won't you accept?
Because if you're not going to accept that, then you won't do it. Like, yeah, you have to raise your standards to what you won't accept rather than, I don't know, raising your standards just to say like, oh, I won't do that. And then you do it the next day. Yeah, definitely.
I had some more stuff on that and I can't find it on my notebook, but yeah. Oh, that's what I was going to say. So pretty amazing day in the in the PGA world today. So Tiger won his 80th PGA victory.
I don't know if you saw that. Oh, I watched all day. Okay. Okay.
But one of the guys at the end, one of the commentators after the ceremony, he brought up and said, you know, make your weaknesses, your strengths. And I, and I was really tied into like what all this is all about, you know, it's those things you will no longer accept. Make those your strengths. So it's a lot easier to talk about it, but it's a I'm interested to see this next week in it up to and to see how we both feel not only reading, but also taking some of this stuff and doing it.
Yeah, definitely. And then the five areas of life that he talks about, like, they seem pretty normal. I mean, it's like the emotional, physical relationship, financial and time. I thought of hours and hours of conversation we've had about literally all five.
So that was kind of interesting. Like which ones of the five were you most interested to hear the material on? Yeah, that's a good one. Because it I would say more to like financial in time, like, but that's what I want to say because that's the easiest one to be like, Oh, yeah, like those are hard numbers.
I can say, you know, with the new tracking on iOS 12, like I can say how much, you know, because that's a new feature on a phone. I don't know if you enjoy people have that. I can track what I mean. We've had it since day one stuff.
So I'm tracking that is really eye opening. And so, but really, I would say emotional and physical and then financial, those three in order, I'm pretty interested in, like, because I think a lot of the lack of action comes from the emotions and a lot of the, I don't know how he says it on all of his materials, but it's basically like the core of why you make and how you make your decisions. And figuring out what that is and then moving on from there. Yeah.
So I'm really interested to see that because in that movie in the documentary, I'm not your guru. He talks a lot about like finding that little piece and then figuring it out. So they only show clippets in there of how he does that. So I'm interested to see that.
Yeah, definitely. What about you? Uh, emotional is, yeah, number one for me. And it's probably why it's first because that's a huge barrier to like overcome to solve any of your other problems.
And five time, I'm really curious to see what his ideas are. Time management's always been professionally. I don't have a problem with it. I'm really good at prioritizing and accomplishing things, but personally, I'm not great at that.
I'm not great at managing my time or figuring out what things are best to spend my time on. So I'm curious to hear that, that content. It's funny to say that because I work like for the most part, I can be like, Oh, I should be doing this. And then I and then I just do it where like home, it's like, ah, I should be down on the floor playing lingos and then I just keep scrolling through Twitter, like things like that.
Like, you're like, why am I doing this? So which is exactly what his step three changed your strategy. That's it. He says in life, lots of people know what to do, but few people actually do what they know, which is dead on for both what exactly what we just said.
Right. Yeah. Yeah. And that was the last part in the, like almost the second to last page of the chapter, when he talks about how he wrote it as an action guy and a textbook for increasing the quality of life and the amount of enjoyment.
Like, I, I'm interested in that because it's not a, um, it's not like Gary Bishop's book or John Acosta. Like, they're not like, Oh, hey, like do, you know, kind of follow my story and then you can, you can grab some of the principles. This is actually like a workbook. Yeah.
Yeah. Should be kind of enjoyed both of their books, but it's just interesting to see how this will be different. Like putting into action immediately though, it has come up quite a bit. Yeah.
So was there anything you did this week that was like, Oh, since I've read this, I'm going to go ahead and do it now. It's funny you said playing on the playing legos on the floor because that was one of the things like being more present when my kids are up and awake and like, because, you know, even with the, with my new job, I do it. I have more time with them, but it's, it's still limited. And right being present with them is something that I've, I've wanted to do for a long time.
And I was like, why am I waiting until I get to chapter 14 in this book? And so I made a real conscious effort every night this week to like do something with them every single night. So I noticed the difference in, because I was doing the same, but I noticed the difference in the, I wouldn't say I was doing the exact same, but I was trying to be more conscious, especially after I can see it on my phone, like how much like everything I was using. So when you look at your phone at the end of the day, it's like, Hey, you spent two and a half hours on your phone and you're thinking like, Okay, I was awake for 14 hours or 16 hours, whatever it might be like, Holy shit, that's a lot of time.
Like I just blew a lot of time. Like, what could I have been doing? So I noticed our, what I was getting to was our text messages back and forth, like significantly dropped. This last like three days, which kind of interesting to watch.
Yeah. Because it was almost like a one point, I was like, Oh, we're on like a moratorium of talking so that we don't ruin this podcast. Like, yeah, there were several times like I was like, Oh man, this is, this is exactly what I just read. And I was, no, no, no, I'll save it.
And then I didn't write it down. And so now it's not there. Oh man, but I go ahead. I read it twice.
And so the first time I read it, I made a bunch of notes. And then the second time I read it, I didn't read it. Like I kept skimming over because I was like, Oh, I already wrote that down. So this next chapter, my goal is to like read the chapter and then go back and write notes.
Because like I said, I tried to sidestep everything. Like, you was like, Oh, put action into place. I'll be like, Oh, okay. And I put the book down and I'm like, Oh, I'm going to go work out now.
Like, no, no, no, that's not what he's talking about. Yeah. Yeah. So it's yeah, it's like a balance of doing that.
And then is this all you're going to read? Like while we're doing this? Probably not. I mean, I know because I've already started another book.
I mean, it's just kind of a fun read. It's a Tina Fey's book, Bossy Pants, just something entertaining. Oh, I'm wondering something like that. And I don't think that it's going to be enough material to keep my reading time filled.
So I don't know. I'll probably read a couple other books at the same. I really want to get something on Zen Buddhism knocked out at some point soon. But you say Zen?
Yeah, Zen Buddhism. So yeah, I was funny that you wanted to like hurry up and knock out some Zen real quick. Yeah. Yeah.
It was a little ironic to hurry up and really pack that in my schedule. Yeah. Oh, so speaking of Buddhism, we had had a conversation earlier where I told you, I'd heard something in a podcast that I found relevant and you said you knew what it was. Oh, yeah.
I want to see if I was right. Yeah. All right. So what would you think it was?
So it had to do with something about like your the core of your behavior. And I tried to remember it afterwards and I didn't listen to the rest of the podcast. So, but it had to do with something like your instincts or core behavior being like basically already decided before you do it. Was that it or was I close?
No, it's interesting that like we both listen to that same 30 minute section of the podcast and got complete because that's actually super relevant as well. Because we haven't talked about it step two, but changing your limiting beliefs. Because he talks about how our beliefs are unquestioned commands and like. So essentially like you're going to do what you believe no matter what.
So it's interesting. I didn't even I didn't even catch that part. Oh, no, for me. So what'd you get?
So he was talking about he was talking about the lotus flower in the podcast and how the lotus flower like just sucks up mud forever. That's where we stopped listening. Was it? And so yeah, that's so on my way home from that wedding reception, that's where I hit pause was when he said the lotus flower sits on top of the mud.
Yeah. So that's funny. That's what he says. So he talks about how the lotus flower sits on the mud just sucking up nutrients over and over day after day.
And mother nature keeps telling it, just keeps sucking up nutrients, just keep absorbing. And then one day the lotus flower pops open and it reminded me of something that he had said in I am not your guru and I was trying to find the exact quote, but. This is when I found online that is almost identical. He says our culture teaches us that making significant changes takes a long time and is difficult to do.
This is simply not true. Change happens in an instant. It is not a process. It is something you do in an instant by simply making a decision.
And so I was really thinking about that metaphor with the lotus flower, how the lotus flower just sits there like eating and consuming. And then one day it decides it's time to open and how that's a lot like what we're doing right now. You know, we've been consuming material like this for a long time. Thousands of hours, lots of ages.
And we're even doing it now, but taking it and grabbing hold of the things that we can apply immediately, those changes are going to happen instantly. And it's not a it's not a thing where we have to wait until the end of the book. We're going to we're going to grab those things and just act on them immediately. So it's just kind of interesting that that I heard that quote that story and it sort of tied into this.
Oh, no, I wish I'd heard it. I'm going to have to listen to it. You should listen to it anyway, because it's pretty awesome. I guess we should talk about what it is in case somebody ever listens to this.
It's Pete Holmes podcast. He interviews a traditional South African shaman, faith healer or natural healer. His name is John Lockley. Really interesting conversation about South African.
But I was going to say what episode it was, but he doesn't he doesn't give his episode numbers, does he? I don't know. It's just the date. Yeah.
So it would have been Tuesday. I don't know what day that was, but September 19th, it was titled, but like every episode of Pete Holmes, it was a very interesting conversation. So how much of that? Like when it says like you take action now, like or when you were reading this, how many times did you, since you had watched the documentary recently as well, or listened to this podcast or any of his stuff, like how many times did you hear him talking?
Like that's the whole time I was reading it. I just heard him talking. Like yeah, and then sometimes when I would like hear it, I would, like I said, I would jump out of the material and be like, ah, that's snake oil stuff. Like, and then like it would click in my head like, not dude.
Like you need to do something. Yeah. Yeah, it was a lot. And it's that's a really hard thing for me to overcome is is getting past the, I guess, the stigma of self help stuff.
I don't know how to phrase it. This is the snake oil salesman stuff. And I even I think I remember in I Am Not Your Guru, he talks about something like that. And I don't know.
It's it's going to be tough. It was hard just in the first chapter and there's very there's not a lot of meat there yet. So so it's funny that I think that like Tony Rabbit, like, oh, snake oil or whatever, like I don't want to sound like super negative about him, but like that's the first thing that comes in your mind, like anybody that sees his stuff, they'll be like, oh, yeah, that's that guy. But my book that I'm reading right now along with this one, because I can't just read this one and I tried to stay away from like a self help, but I went through all my books and one that I've been wanting to read for a while is Dale Carnegie's quick and easy way to effective speaking.
And it's not necessarily my idea to like speak in front of people. It's more to like start talking to more people and being vulnerable and walking up the people and just meeting them. And like his stuff, like, I mean, he's created this huge platform, same as Tony Robbins, but since 1912, and it's kind of crazy to think like it's the same principles. Yeah, that it's not snake oil if it works for well over a hundred years.
Like, yeah. And that's the game. I don't know about it necessarily, but right. If it works, like who cares, you know, who cares how it sounds or what people think about the person, like, it's clearly doing something right.
Right. Yeah. It's a and it all goes back to like us doing this as well. Like this is our, like this is our, as we, as we're going to call it, this is our pivot point.
This is us, like saying, hey, we're going to, we're going to take these and make instant change. And even if it's just you and I talking for 26 weeks and reading this book, like whatever change, change number one is us actually recording a podcast. Right. Something we've talked about doing for three or four years now.
Oh, yeah. And something I've thought about since they existed. So since I had my first eye touch and listened to the one there. So I think we covered it all.
We got the three change days, everything else you get. No, I got the three change steps, the five areas of life. Some mentioning that what's the come? No, I don't have anything else.
Anything else. I'm not even sure how to close something like this out. Like, I guess we could talk about like what our goal is for next week. I thought we would just do a prayer.
That would be good for you. I'll go ahead and end the call real quick. No, next week we'll do chapter two. That's decisions, the pathway to power.
So that's also going to be somewhat challenging, I think. He talked about it a little bit in chapter one, major and the minor things are some people major and minor things. So, you know, building those decisions up more than what they really need to be. Looks like it's going to be a classic 27 pages.
So yeah, let's see what we can do. Do you have any goals this week of things you want to put in the right way? Um, no, the big one from last week, just continuing on being present with the kids. That's that's been something I'm working on.
I'd like to be more consistent with my my workouts, but I don't know. That'll all change after Saturday. Those are going to be a whole new plan. So are you going to do plans certain?
Well, yeah, after the half marathon, I'm going to do something different. Oh, yeah. So we'll just leave that out of this podcast and then we'll be okay. Yeah.
But the half marathon. Yeah. We don't want anybody to think I actually accomplished something before the book. So yeah, yeah.
It would look really crappy on as infomercial. Yeah, I got to start doing something physically and mentally. So a physical part of working out and then also getting back into like meditating at least three or four times a week. Like it should be every day, but I got to start doing that.
I did start personal doing a journal this week and I was about 60% successful on that. So I'm going to try to continue doing that. It's a lot. It's really weird.
It's not fun, but it's also kind of fun. Like it's one of those like you're awkwardly having fun. It's funny that. So yeah, it's funny that I don't do it because I preach it to everybody.
Oh, yeah, you should be journal every time my wife like tells me a story about how she's like uncomfortable talking to people and public. Like, oh, you should journal. That'll help you get your thoughts in order. I don't do it.
So, but I'm a huge proponent of it. Yeah, it's a it's a sense of vulnerability because you're writing it down. And then later on you're you're like, like, I wonder if somebody else is picking it up. Like who's going to pick this up?
Like at some point. But yeah, either way, it's a lot of fun. I have fun doing it. I think it's a it's a good start to that part and then the physical part of working out.
I got to do. So. All right. Cool.
Are we going to do a we're going to do some voice notes through the week? If we catch if we think about things, drop those in the next week. I think that would be a lot of fun to kind of do some sort of. Yeah, because I'll be probably reading chapter two tomorrow a little bit.
And so it would be kind of fun to do some voice notes during the week. Yeah, get those out there. Just some like immediate reactions. Oh, yeah, instead of like instead of being filtered through, you know, a week of thought and writing it down and just the immediate, like this real reaction to to something would be interesting to hear.
Oh, yeah. That sounds good to me. OK. Let's close this chapter.
Right on. Until next week. See you. Thanks for joining us.
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