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Episode 24 - The Power Of Your Subconscious Mind By Joseph Murphy by Jason Archer | Do The Hard Thing Podcast https://s3.amazonaws.com/dtht-podcast/episode.24.PowerSubconsciousMindJosephMurphy.mp3 Subscribe Now! Podcast Opening: Welcome to Do The Hard Thing Episode 24. I am Jason Archer… creator, freedom seeker, leader of self | full time student and part time teacher of self mastery, and today is all about Success. The goal, as always, is to dive deeper into how we humans can more effectively move toward the outcomes we want. Usually, this means getting uncomfortable and doing hard things. So, turn up the volume, put down the distractions and let’s kick this off… [NOTE: Insert some intro music here | Insert brief description here] Summary Description: If you’ve ever started down a path to create something meaningful in your life, and for whatever reason found yourself not moving toward the outcome you claim to want… like there’s a part of you that simply refuses to move, Then this podcast is for you. Do The Hard Thing is an exploration in human movement.   INSIDE TODAY’S EPISODE…   MEANINGFUL WORDS: ““You must make certain to give your subconscious only suggestions, which heal, bless, elevate, and inspire you in all your ways. Remember that your subconscious mind cannot take a joke. It takes you at your word.” ― Dr. Joseph Murphy   //KEYNOTES   ★ Science Verifies The Masters. Dr. Joseph Murphy. More studies lend themselves to validation of the Masters. Why I am surprised by an old book. ★ Talking Success Success mean successful living. Don’t be fooled by the narrow definition of today. Define success for yourself. ★ Three Steps To Success Love what you do. Go deep, not wide. Be outward focused.   //THE HARD TRUTH Remember: Success is what you define it to be. Success without purpose leaves you empty.   //ASK AND APPLY The question today is this: Where in your life do have you accepted someone else’s defintion of success? How has it impacted your choices and shaped your life? Once you have your answer, honor the work you’re doing here and practice the change you want to make… otherwise, what is the point? Apply the concept: Take a moment and define success for yourself. The hardest thing to do is examine ourselves and find ways to let go of all that doesn’t serve us… If we’ve misplaced our priorities on success, the worst thing to do would be to double down in the wrong direction. Take a stand for what you want your life to represent… and never look back.   Podcast Closing: That’s it for today! Thank you for listening, and if you found value in this message be sure to subscribe and leave a review on iTunes, Google Play, Castbox, or Stitcher | Share this with those you want to invest in on social | And I’ll see you back here in the next episode | Until then, this is Jason signing off | Now go… and DO THE HARD THING. Listen at dothehardthing.net Resources Mentioned: Book: The Power Of Your Subconscious Mind by Dr. Joseph Murphy

DTHT Episode 23 - Takeaways From "Can't Hurt Me" By David Goggins by Jason Archer | Do The Hard Thing Podcast https://s3.amazonaws.com/dtht-podcast/episode.23.CantHurtMeDavidGoggins.mp3 Subscribe Now! Podcast Opening: Welcome to Do The Hard Thing Episode 23. I am Jason Archer… creator, freedom seeker, leader of self | full time student and part time teacher of self mastery, and today is all about Can’t Hurt Me. The goal, as always, is to dive deeper into how we humans can more effectively move toward the outcomes we want. Usually, this means getting uncomfortable and doing hard things. So, turn up the volume, put down the distractions and let’s kick this off… [NOTE: Insert some intro music here | Insert brief description here] Summary Description: If you’ve ever started down a path to create something meaningful in your life, and for whatever reason found yourself not moving toward the outcome you claim to want… like there’s a part of you that simply refuses to move, Then this podcast is for you. Do The Hard Thing is an exploration in human movement. INSIDE TODAY’S EPISODE…   MEANINGFUL WORDS: “It’s so easy to be great nowadays, because everyone else is weak. If you have ANY mental toughness, if you have any fraction of self-discipline; The ability to not want to do it, but still do it; If you can get through to doing things that you hate to do: on the other side is GREATNESS.” ― David Goggins //KEYNOTES   ★ Circumstances Do Not Define You. This book is an emotional read! We all start from zero. So own what makes you. ★ Who Do You See In The Mirror? You can never lie to you. Most people live in a constant state of mediocrity. Who could you be on God’s list? ★ What Will You Do When The Pain Comes? Is quitting an option? BE HONEST. Tapping into the power of the mind… 40% Rule. Who will you be on the other side of the suffering?   //THE HARD TRUTH Remember: Life is suffering… The Buddha said, “All I teach is suffering and the end of suffering.” //ASK AND APPLY The question today is this: Where in your life do you lack a commitment and will to save yourself? To be your own fucking hero… Remember, no one is coming to save you and no one can do the work for you. Take a look at your work, fitness, relationships… where do you see an opportunity to be more gritty? Once you have your answer, you must honor the work and practice the change you want to make… otherwise, what is the point? Apply the concept: Go a little harder and a little further in anything today. Make the hard things just a little harder… this will harden your mind or body against the disease of average. Be sure to comment on an area in your day where you did this.   Podcast Closing: That’s it for today! Thank you for listening, and if you found value in this message be sure to subscribe and leave a review on iTunes, Google Play, Castbox, or Stitcher | Share this with those you want to invest in on social | And I’ll see you back here in the next episode | Until then, this is Jason signing off | Now go… and DO THE HARD THING. Listen at dothehardthing.net

DTHT Episode 22 - Gain Clarity, Gain Power by Jason Archer | Do The Hard Thing Podcast https://s3.amazonaws.com/dtht-podcast/episode.22.GainClarityGainPower.mp3 Subscribe Now! Podcast Opening: Welcome to Do The Hard Thing Episode 22. I am Jason Archer… creator, freedom seeker, leader of self | full time student and part time teacher of self mastery, and today is all about Values. The goal, as always, is to dive deeper into how we humans can more effectively move toward the outcomes we want. Usually, this means getting uncomfortable and doing hard things. So, turn up the volume, put down the distractions and let’s kick this off… [NOTE: Insert some intro music here | Insert brief description here] Summary Description: If you’ve ever started down a path to create something meaningful in your life, and for whatever reason found yourself not moving toward the outcome you claim to want… like there’s a part of you that simply refuses to move, Then this podcast is for you. Do The Hard Thing is an exploration in human movement. INSIDE TODAY’S EPISODE…   MEANINGFUL WORDS: “It’s a lack of clarity that creates chaos and frustration. Those emotions are poison to any living goal.” ― Steve Maraboli //KEYNOTES   ★ Clarity May Take A While. I have an idea! It has been developing over 5 years. I’m only now seeing what it will be. ★ Chaos Thinking Robs You. Not knowing your direction is frustrating. The work has to be done, but why? Where there is no direction there can be no power. ★ Clarity Creates Power. What if you were so clear in your vision you seldom fell away from it. Momentum and speed build. Then, power… literally the speed of work.   //THE HARD TRUTH Anytime I come from a place of confusion or unfocused action, I can only create confusion and bleed energy. //ASK AND APPLY The question today is this: Where in your life do you lack clarity around the things you want to have or enjoy? Know that if you stay the course in only one direction, your pace of achievement would increase over time. The body of work you’re building would be broader and deeper, more supportive of your targets. Talk a look at your work, fitness, relationships… where do you see an opportunity to apply a change to your benefit? Once you have your answer, you must honor the work and practice the change you want to make… otherwise, what is the point? Apply the concept: Thing of just one way you can use what you just learned to step into a place of clarity and ultimately power… From this place even the the hard things slow you down less, not because they are less hard… but because you are harder to stop.   Podcast Closing: That’s it for today! Thank you for listening, and if you found value in this message be sure to subscribe and leave a review on iTunes, Google Play, Castbox, or Stitcher | Share this with those you want to invest in on social | And I’ll see you back here in the next episode | Until then, this is Jason signing off | Now go… and DO THE HARD THING. Listen at dothehardthing.net

DTHT Episode 21 - Saying "NO" Is A Super Power by Jason Archer | Do The Hard Thing Podcast https://s3.amazonaws.com/dtht-podcast/episode.21.SayingNoIsASuperPower.mp3 Subscribe Now! Podcast Opening: Welcome to Do The Hard Thing Episode 21. I am Jason Archer… creator, freedom seeker, leader of self | full time student and part time teacher of self mastery, and today is all about Values. The goal, as always, is to dive deeper into how we humans can more effectively move toward the outcomes we want. Usually, this means getting uncomfortable and doing hard things. So, turn up the volume, put down the distractions and let’s kick this off… [NOTE: Insert some intro music here | Insert brief description here] Summary Description: If you’ve ever started down a path to create something meaningful in your life, and for whatever reason found yourself not moving toward the outcome you claim to want… like there’s a part of you that simply refuses to move, Then this podcast is for you. Do The Hard Thing is an exploration in human movement. INSIDE TODAY’S EPISODE…   MEANINGFUL WORDS: “Just saying yes because you can’t bear the short-term pain of saying no is not going to help you do the work.” – Seth Godin //KEYNOTES   ★ Why Is It Hard To Say No? I am realizing I am more of a people pleaser than I thought. No one likes disagreeable people. There is a fear of ostracism, a fear of being alone. ★ What Saying No Looks Like. The Boat Example. The Blowback. Why my saying no was better for everyone. ★ What Saying No Gives You Initially, it gives you fear. Then, experience of the consequences of your actions. And, ultimately… more confidence.   //THE HARD TRUTH The act of saying “No” is a rebellion. It sets you apart… not always in a good way in the eyes of others, yet it always gives you the ability to be in your own power. //ASK AND APPLY The question today is this: Where in your life are you saying yes, when you really want to say no? Not maybe, not I’ll think about it, but hell no. Work, fitness, relationships… where do you see an opportunity to apply a change to your benefit? Once you have your answer, you must honor the work and practice the change you want to make… otherwise, what is the point? Apply the concept: Thing of just one way you can use what you just learned to step into a place that demands you take ownership of your decisions and direction… Do not allow yourself to remain a slave to fear or habit. Stand up for you and the vision you want to make of your life… Start by saying no to all the distractions and maybes.   Podcast Closing: That’s it for today! Thank you for listening, and if you found value in this message be sure to subscribe and leave a review on iTunes, Google Play, Castbox, or Stitcher | Share this with those you want to invest in on social | And I’ll see you back here in the next episode | Until then, this is Jason signing off | Now go… and DO THE HARD THING. Listen at dothehardthing.net

DTHT Episode 20 - Values... They Can Not Be Hidden by Jason Archer | Do The Hard Thing Podcast https://s3.amazonaws.com/dtht-podcast/episode.20.ValuesCanNotBeHidden.mp3 Subscribe Now! Podcast Opening: Welcome to Do The Hard Thing Episode 20. I am Jason Archer… creator, freedom seeker, leader of self | full time student and part time teacher of self mastery, and today is all about Values. The goal, as always, is to dive deeper into how we humans can more effectively move toward the outcomes we want. Usually, this means getting uncomfortable and doing hard things. So, turn up the volume, put down the distractions and let’s kick this off… [NOTE: Insert some intro music here | Insert brief description here] Summary Description: If you’ve ever started down a path to create something meaningful in your life, and for whatever reason found yourself not moving toward the outcome you claim to want… like there’s a part of you that simply refuses to move, Then this podcast is for you. Do The Hard Thing is an exploration in human movement. INSIDE TODAY’S EPISODE…   MEANINGFUL WORDS: “Values are the deep-seated beliefs that motivate behaviors and determine people’s compatabilities with each other. People will fight for their values, and they are likely to fight with people who don’t share them.” – Ray Dalio, Founder of Bridgewater. //KEYNOTES   ★ What Are Values? What makes a value a value. Values vs. Abilities vs. Skills. Values and hierarchy. ★ Why Do Values Matter? The importance of alignment. The wife story. What we are building out. ★ When Values Collide. Values are difficult to change. Opposing values. Moving smoothly   //THE HARD TRUTH The values we hold are difficult to change and are not very fluid. The process of getting to know oneself and aligning values with those you intend to work closely with //ASK AND APPLY The question today is this: Where in your life are your values not aligned with people or processes that are close to you? Work, fitness, relationships… where do you see an opportunity to apply a change to your benefit? Once you have your answer, you must honor the work and practice. Apply the concept: Come up with at least one way you can use what you just learned to step into a place that requires you to step toward your new more favorable identity in any role you take on. As Rumi said, “As you start to walk on the way, the way appears.”   Podcast Closing: That’s it for today! Thank you for listening, and if you found value in this message be sure to subscribe and leave a review on iTunes, Google Play, Castbox, or Stitcher | Share this with those you want to invest in on social | And I’ll see you back here in the next episode | Until then, this is Jason Archer signing off | Now go… and DO THE HARD THING. Listen at dothehardthing.net

DTHT Episode 19 - Self Signal Who You Are by Jason Archer | Do The Hard Thing Podcast https://s3.amazonaws.com/dtht-podcast/episode.19.SelfSignalWhoYouAre.mp3 Subscribe Now! Podcast Opening: Welcome to Do The Hard Thing Episode 19. I am Jason Archer… creator, freedom seeker, leader of self | full time student and part time teacher of self mastery, and today is all about Self Signaling. The goal, as always, is to dive deeper into how we humans can more effectively move toward the outcomes we want. Usually, this means getting uncomfortable and doing hard things. So, turn up the volume, put down the distractions and let’s kick this off… [NOTE: Insert some intro music here | Insert brief description here] Summary Description: Have you ever started down a path to create something meaningful in your life, and for whatever reason found yourself not moving toward the outcome you claim to want… And no matter the situation, part of you simply refused to move. This podcast is born from idea. Do The Hard Thing is an exploration in human movement. INSIDE TODAY’S EPISODE…   MEANINGFUL WORDS: “We generally believe that we have a privileged view of our own preferences and character, but in reality we don’t know ourselves that well (and definitely not as well as we think we do). Instead, we observe ourselves in the same way we observe and judge the actions of other people — inferring who we are and what we like from our actions.” – Dan Ariely, Ph.D. //KEYNOTES   ★ How Do We See Ourselves? Who you are at your core. Where does your behavior and personality come from? Programs and beliefs. Examine yourself and gain an awareness. ★ What Is Self Signaling? Self Signaling is the idea that you can act your way in to thinking of yourself differently. Your actions will ultimately define your identity. Remember the stolen wallet example. People self signal failure and don’t realize it makes their journey harder. Diet example. ★ Don’t Cheat Yourself. Knowing this means you can act yourself into a new identity. You can become different internally by external action. Good news: You can use this to your advantage. Form new habits, or new thought processes that will serve you in completing your task. By contrast, once you cheat or lie… you become more likely to do so.   //THE HARD TRUTH Actions can literally change who we are. Once we start violating our own standards (say, with cheating on diets or for monetary incentives), we are much more likely to abandon further attempts to control our behavior. //ASK AND APPLY Ask yourself this: Where in your life are you self signaling negativity? Work, fitness, relationships… where do you see an opportunity to apply this concept to your benefit? Once you have your answer, you must honor the work and practice. Apply the concept: Come up with at least one way you can use what you just learned to step into a place that requires you to step toward your new more favorable identity in any role you take on. Like Rumi said, “As you start to walk on the way, the way appears.”   Podcast Closing: That’s it for today! Thank you for listening, and if you found value in this message be sure to subscribe and leave a review on iTunes, Google Play, Castbox, or Stitcher | Share this with those you know need to hear it on social | And I’ll see you back here in the next episode | This is Jason Archer signing off | Now… go, and DO THE HARD THING. Listen at dothehardthing.net

DTHT Episode 18 - No, You Aren't Living In Integrity by Jason Archer | Do The Hard Thing Podcast https://s3.amazonaws.com/dtht-podcast/episode.18.NoYouArentLivingInIntegrity.mp3 Subscribe Now! Podcast Opening: Welcome to Do The Hard Thing Episode 18. I am Jason Archer… creator, freedom seeker, leader of self | full time student and part time teacher of self mastery, and today is all about What It Means To Live In Integrity. The goal, as always, is to dive deeper into how we humans can more effectively move toward the outcomes we want. Usually, this means getting uncomfortable and doing hard things. So, turn up the volume, put down the distractions and let’s kick this off… [NOTE: Insert some intro music here | Insert brief description here] Summary Description: Have you ever started down a path to create something meaningful in your life, and for whatever reason found yourself not moving toward the outcome you claim to want… And no matter the situation, part of you simply refused to move. This podcast is born from idea. Do The Hard Thing is an exploration in human movement. INSIDE TODAY’S EPISODE…   MEANINGFUL WORDS: “Integrity means having a conscience and honoring this conscience even when doing so may involve considerable personal sacrifice. It means placing the dictates of the soul and God above those of the ego..” – Dr. Andy Drymalski, Ed.D. //KEYNOTES   ★ Integrity Is Rare And Rarely Used Turns out when asked what integrity is… few people can answer the question. Wifey and I have been discussing this recently because of our contract. Some call it honesty. Some call it character. Some say it is keeping your word. I think it goes much deeper than that. ★ Integrity As Flow The word itself comes to us from the Latin meaning sound, complete, or whole It implies no division within oneself. If we take this deeper, we can see that integrity is alignment of our beliefs with our actions. See Dr. Andy’s definition above. It’s not enough to keep our word… The word we keep must align with the beliefs we hold. In this way, it flows from our essence from the inside out… bypassing ego. ★ Why Is It So Hard To Do? Social situations can get in the way. Ego shows up. Small talk example. Wedding example.   //THE HARD TRUTH When our actions have are based on ego, they generally pull us out of integrity.   //ASK AND APPLY Ask yourself this: Where in your life are you out of integrity? Work, home life, relationships, where do you see action that doesn’t align with your beliefs or desires? Once you have your answer, it’s time to do the hard thing. Apply the concept: Come up with at least one way you can use what you just learned to step into a place that requires you to step toward the real you, your real beliefs… and without waiting, put it into action. Like Rumi said, “As you start to walk on the way, the way appears.”   Podcast Closing: That’s it for today! Thank you for listening, and if you found value in this message be sure to subscribe and leave a review on iTunes, Google Play, Castbox, or Stitcher | Share this with those you know need to hear it on social | And I’ll see you back here in the next episode | This is Jason Archer signing off | Now… go, and DO THE HARD THING. Listen at dothehardthing.net

DTHT Episode 17 - Fear Hits Hardest In The Gap by Jason Archer | Do The Hard Thing Podcast https://s3.amazonaws.com/dtht-podcast/episode.17.FearHardestInTheGap.mp3 Subscribe Now! Podcast Opening: Welcome to Do The Hard Thing Episode 17. I am Jason Archer… creator, freedom seeker, leader of self | full time student and part time teacher of self mastery, and today is all about being Fearful In The Gap. The Do The Hard Thing podcast is an exploration in how we humans can more effectively move toward the outcomes we want. So, turn up the volume, put down the distractions and let’s kick this off… [NOTE: Insert some intro music here | Insert brief description here] Summary Description: Have you ever started down a path to create something meaningful in your life, and for whatever reason found yourself not moving toward the outcome you claim to want… And no matter the situation, part of you simply refused to move. This podcast is born from idea. Do The Hard Thing is an exploration in human movement. INSIDE TODAY’S EPISODE…   MEANINGFUL WORDS: “If you’re going through hell, keep going.” – Winston Churchill //KEYNOTES   ★ The Queen Comes In Crying I was in just coming out of a deep meditative state. The Queen came in crying. She was experiencing the pull of her past and the fear of her future. Soon she will be leaving Calgary… the place she has known as home her entire life. She knows Calgary and what it holds well. She doesn’t know what her new life in Phoenix will look like. Job wise, socially, her roles as a partner and wife. ★ Meet Your Demons In The Gap So she’s in the Gap. It is simply the place “between” who you are and who you want to become. The Gap is that place where fear hits hard and does it’s level best to kill your movement. In this place, we so often find ourselves with an opportunity to move forward… but, then we don’t. The demons that run our imagination start to show up with all the what if’s. And, we use our past experience or our imagined future to create fear and anxiety around what “Could” happen. These remembered or imagined demons go to war with our intentions to move. So… this feels uncertain and uncomfortable.   NOTE: Imagination Inflation – Studies have been done showing that when people are told to imagine an event that never happened to them, and are later asked whether that event happened to them, they will increase their confidence scores for events which they have imagined, but not for those which they haven’t imagined. ★ Your Future Is Determined By The Choice You Make We are in this place that demands we be courageous. And, unlike your favorite hero flick, real life courage does not feel good. It’s not fun to be at the edge of yourself, and have doubts about your ability to achieve in untested areas. it’s not fun to realize you are in a place that could end in failure or misery. You have to make a choice here that will determine your growth or stagnation. Who will win? You or the fear.. What you want is on the other side of the Gap. The prize is the new you that you have become and new confidence. That is the place that feels good.   //THE HARD TRUTH Everything you want… The relationship, the business, the money, the time; it’s all on the other side of the Gap.   //ASK AND APPLY Ask yourself this: Where in your life are you stopping in the Gap? Where are you expecting confidence to come before your commitment to move and sitting stagnant? Once you have your answer, it’s time to do the hard thing. Apply the concept: Come up with at least one way you can use what you just learned to step into a place that requires you to jump into the Gap and trust that you have what it takes to figure out get to the other side… and without waiting, put it into action. Like Rumi said, “As you start to walk on the way, the way appears.”   Podcast Closing: That’s it for today! Thank you for listening, and if you found value in this message be sure to subscribe and leave a review on iTunes, Google Play, Castbox, or Stitcher | Share this with those you know need to hear it on social | And I’ll see you back here in the next episode | This is Jason Archer signing off | Now… go, and DO THE HARD THING. Listen at dothehardthing.net

DTHT Episode 16 - Lessons From Adam Carolla by Jason Archer | Do The Hard Thing Podcast https://s3.amazonaws.com/dtht-podcast/episode.16.LessonsFromAdamCarolla.mp3 Subscribe Now! Podcast Opening: Welcome to Do The Hard Thing Episode 16. I am Jason Archer… creator, freedom seeker, leader of self | full time student and part time teacher of self mastery, and today is all about what I learned from Adam Carolla. So, turn up the volume, put down the distractions and let’s kick this off… [NOTE: Insert some intro music here | Insert brief description here] Summary Description: Have you ever started down a path to create something meaningful in your life, and for whatever reason found yourself not moving toward the outcome you claim to want… And no matter the situation, part of you simply refused to move. This podcast is born from idea. Do The Hard Thing is an exploration in human movement. INSIDE TODAY’S EPISODE…   MEANINGFUL WORDS: “Continuous effort, not strength or intelligence, is the key to unlocking our potential.” – Winston Churchill //KEYNOTES   ★ Adam Tells His Story Thought his job was pretty insulated from economic conditions. He lost is million dollar radio contract with KLSX when the economy went bad back in 2007-2008 Needed to find a way to create a new income stream and decided to spend 8 or 9 grand a month on storage and bandwidth. Enter: podcasting before it was all the rage, before the endorsements, before monetization, before he knew he could even make a buck he was heavily investing in an unproven platform… with both his money and his time. The Adam Carolla Show becomes the most downloaded podcast in the world. ★ The 3 Things That Continually Show Up In Success Stories Some trial or event takes place to cause one to HAVE to learn and grow or fend for one’s self Heavy investment of one’s time, money and energy to get the thing off the ground. Consistent work over time with an unshakeable belief in the outcome you want to create. ★ Getting Paid Adam asked the question, what can you expect to earn from a job you show up to once a week? Too many people want to be paid for results that don’t exist. If you want to monetize what it is you do, you can not treat it like a hobby. Once a week is not enough… how about everyday you show up for the job you want to get paid for? None of this guarantees your success. You may do all these things and get nothing in return, but not doing these things guarantees your failure.   //THE HARD TRUTH You have to treat anything you want to monetize like a job that requires you to show up on a daily basis and create daily results. Once a week gets you once a week pay… little or nothing.   //ASK AND APPLY Ask yourself this: Where in your life are you giving “one day a week effort” and expecting “overtime” results? Once you have your answer, it’s time to do the hard thing. Apply the concept: Come up with at least one way you can use what you just learned to create a larger more focused effort toward your outcome… and without waiting, put it into action.   Podcast Closing: That’s it for today! Thank you for listening, and if you found value in this message be sure to subscribe on iTunes, Google Play, Castbox, or Stitcher | Share this with those you know need to hear it on social | And I’ll see you back here in the next episode | This is Jason Archer signing off | Now… go, and DO THE HARD THING. Listen at dothehardthing.net

DTHT Episode 15 - Influence Yourself First by Jason Archer | Do The Hard Thing Podcast https://s3.amazonaws.com/dtht-podcast/episode.15.InfluenceYourselfFirst.mp3 Subscribe Now! Podcast Opening: Welcome to Do The Hard Thing Episode 15. I am Jason Archer… creator, freedom seeker, leader of self | full time student and part time teacher of self mastery, and today’s theme is “Influence Yourself First”. So, turn up the volume, put down the distractions and let’s kick this off… [NOTE: Insert some intro music here | Insert brief description here] Summary Description: Have you ever started down a path that you felt held a great deal of meaning for you, and then for whatever reason you could not move toward the outcome you wanted to create? Whether it was a Mental, Physical, or Spiritual target you sought, it didn’t matter… there was a part of you that refused to move. This podcast is born from specific idea. Do The Hard Thing is an exploration in human movement. Podcast Content: I have been many things in my life… and ego manic is certainly one of them. Especially as an younger man. I wanted to have an impact on those around me and the world at large, but didn’t realize the first step in doing that is dealing with me. Influencing myself positively. And, some of you listening to this right now might want to change the world… when, really you need to change yourself. Everything you want radiates from you. So the process begins inside. This is a process of influencing yourself. When I first started down my path toward personal development and business, I just knew there was a trick to getting what I wanted. Some secret existed outside of me that would magically propel me forward if I only knew what it was… And, I had to find this magic no matter the cost. This put me on the path toward purchasing business courses, marketing courses, and personal development experiences. And, I invested tens of thousands of dollars in these places with the idea that one of them would hold the golden ticket I needed to take everything to the next level. And this thinking was both right and wrong. Here’s what I mean by that: When I finally took the plunge and bought into my first course… it was the PSI Basic Seminar. It consisted of two four hour nights followed by two full days of training. The cost was about 600 dollars per person, and I could re-audit the course as many times as I wanted at no cost forever. Sweet deal. Sweet deal indeed if you live in an abundance mindset. Even though I knew this would be a good use of time and dollars, I passed on the opportunity when it was first offered to me. Why? Because I was the king of cheap bastards. I could buy a lot of dirt bike parts with that six bills. And, would routinely do so without batting an eye. After all, what kind of desperate moron spends money to go to a seminar that the internet says is a cult? The internet is always right. Right? Pay money to throw myself into a cult… no thanks. So I passed. Then my phone rang a few days later… and someone on the other end offered me a two for one on the price. Next thing I knew, the girlfriend and I were begrudgingly signed up and all set to attend the Basic Seminar in December of 2008. And, that was the beginning of my formal introduction to human development. I would go on to spend another 20+ grand in the next year alone on advanced courses and travel to and from. Notice what had to happen here. I had to get out of my own way. My scarcity mindset around money almost cost me the last 10 years of accelerated advancement of my self and my businesses and my relationship with my wife. The first person I had to influence was me. And, that is a damn near impossible task when you only see the world through your own set of eyes. Even worse, most people do not even use their own eyes… they simply accept as fact all the stories they get from other people, the news media, or their favorite internet platform. Think about it… how many times to do you hear something from a friend, read a headline or get 30 seconds of soundbites and make up a story in your head that you have the truth? If you follow partisan politics for example, or are outraged at this administration or that president, this type of experience is especially glaring. How many times would you say someone actually dedicated time from their day to read and verify what they’ve heard… It can’t be many, just judging from the sheer amount of random garbage posted everywhere. You lose influence over yourself in these situations, and you begin to shape your own reality from third hand “information” (and I use that term loosely) that may or may not be factual. So how then do I influence myself? It simply starts with getting the facts… Notice, I said facts, not truth. There is a huge difference. Imagine, I draw a number 6 on a table in a room when you are not there. Then, I invite you to sit on the side of the table closest to the top side of the 6 so that when you look down, you see a 9. Then I bring in my friend, Corey and sit him on the side of the table closest to the bottom side of the 6 so that when he looks down he sees a 6. I then ask each of you to tell me the number you see. You say 9 and Corey says 6… and both answers are truth from your perspectives. But if I ask you to tell me with 100% certainty, whether I meant the number to be 6 or 9 when I wrote it, could you give me a factual answer? After all, neither of you were there! So even though the number you see is true from your perspective, you don’t have any facts you can use to settle the argument over whether the number is actually a 6 or a 9 without getting more information from me. So, arguing the point would be pointless. You can see where I’m going with this, your truth from your perspective is relative to your perspective. The facts, however, don’t change. We want to operate from fact… To gain influence over myself, I have to stop lying to myself about where I am. I can not pretend that I know how I’m showing up for my wife, my business partners, or in any other capacity without some form of factual tracking or feedback from a third party that isn’t viewing the situation I want to impact from my set of eyes. It has been demonstrated that humans are notoriously wrong when it comes to accurate self assessment. We tend to have what’s called a “Self- Serving Bias”… meaning we tend to look more favorably on ourselves than we otherwise would if we had the facts about our performance. Facts tend to be black and white, measurable, and clear. Like this: I have meditated 75 minutes this week. I have lost 42lbs in the last 90 days. I sold 14 new memberships this month. I sent my wife 1 note everyday for the last year. All of these things represent a standard that one can measure themselves against. So put this in action, if I claim to want to make 150K as a real estate agent this year (In other words create this result or externality for myself)… with the average commission being 6K, I need to sell 1 house every 2 weeks. Well, that won’t just happen. I have to make it happen. So how to I influence myself to create the externality? Assuming it takes 50 leads to get one deal… the question I have to answer is what do I have to do to get 50 leads every 2 weeks? Maybe I have to spend $1000 on ads, do one networking event each week, and follow up with 100 prospects. And, that will give me 50 solid leads and 1 closed deal. That’s a lot of work to get 1 sale. And, you don’t feel well today… and the kids kept you up… and the weather was crap… and so on and so forth. What happens to your ability to influence yourself in these circumstances. Can you maintain it or not? Your ability to influence yourself to move anyway on the daily activity will create your externality… and this is true of any externality you seek. Making a larger impact in your finanaces or business is just one example of how influence over yourself leads to bigger things. And, if you want to influence others… you have to honor the work necessary to influence you first. Podcast Closing: That’s it for today! Thank you for listening, and if you found value in this message be sure to subscribe on iTunes, Google Play, Castbox, or Stitcher | Share this with those you know need to hear it on social | And I’ll see you back here in the next episode | This is Jason Archer signing off | Now… go, and DO THE HARD THING. Listen at dothehardthing.net

DTHT Episode 14 - Want It… Like A Kid At Christmas! by Jason Archer | Do The Hard Thing Podcast https://s3.amazonaws.com/dtht-podcast/episode.14.WantItLikeAKidAtChristmas.mp3 Subscribe Now! Podcast Opening: Welcome to Do The Hard Thing Episode 14. I am Jason Archer… creator, freedom seeker, leader of self | full time student and part time teacher of self mastery, and today’s theme is “Want It… Like A Kid At Christmas”. So, turn up the volume, put down the distractions and let’s kick this off… [NOTE: Insert some intro music here | Insert brief description here] Summary Description: Have you ever started down a path that you felt held a great deal of meaning for you, and then for whatever reason you could not move toward the outcome you wanted to create? Whether it was a Mental, Physical, or Spiritual target you sought, it didn’t matter… there was some part of you that refused to move. This podcast is born out of that specific idea. Do The Hard Thing is an exploration in human movement. Podcast Content: When was the last time you really wanted something? I mean wanted something so hard you couldn’t rest until you had it? Aside from getting laid… my experience of most adults is they live on the surface of life in shallow conversations about nothing meaningful,  living in repression… and never allowing themselves to REALLY want much of anything. Certainly not enough to go hard after it. In Walden… Thoreau  wrote, “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. What is called resignation is confirmed desperation. From the desperate city you go into the desperate country, and have to console yourself with the bravery of minks and muskrats”. Minks and muskrats are not very brave… And, Thoreau makes a good point when it comes to the ability of the average person to stand up for an idea, a want, or a set of principles they claim to believe in. They are afraid to speak their minds for fear of offending the wrong person. You’re a business owner who fears losing a customer, you’re an employee fears losing a job, you’re in a relationship and fear being ostracized… In this explosion of PC culture that has been reborn in American Colleges and Universities, I see repressed people doing their best to make their way in a world dying to be offended for even the smallest slight. What do you do… how do you live out loud in a world with sensitive ears? The short answer is: You Don’t. You sedate. You busy yourself with nonsense, material things, and distractions like the latest trash TV show, or the Constantly Negative News channel that only echos back your existing beliefs with no allowance for reasoning or deeper thought around any given topic. No wonder the US has the highest use of antidepressants in the world… People are living a lie. Living inauthentically. Living out of integrity with what they really want. And, they can’t figure out why their deepest desires will not be filled with another episode of Real Housewives or Game Of Thrones. There is hope… though. What if you could erase the fears you’ve created as you’ve grown, and create strategic ways of dealing with problems that allowed you let off steam in a way that puts you back on track? Think of your younger self… that kid you used to be? What if you could get in touch with him or her… especially the way you were around Christmas and the holidays. Remember how hard you would want a certain toy? I was a child of the 70’s and 80’s… and growing up each year at Christmas, all the department stores would mail catalogs out to every home they could knowing full well that this time of year money would be more apt to flow their way if they could plant seeds of desire going into the holiday season. I vividly remember spending hours flipping pages in the Sears Wishbook… It was like Amazon, but in print. They had every toy and bike you could want. It was like holiday crack for 8 year olds. My brother and I would pass it back and forth, and circle things we wanted, dog ear the pages, cut pictures out, and anything else we could do to make sure Mom and Dad knew which presents we really wanted. It was a big deal for us… This was the one time of the year where we could load up on stuff. We had to take advantage! We absolutely bombarded our parents with “I want this, I want that”, we’d show them the photos, we’d tell them how cool each thing was… We were so filled with energy and desire around what we wanted that they didn’t stand a chance. They’d tell us no… My brother and I would complain and cry and get mad, then once we processed that… You guessed it, we just kept on hammering home how cool it would be to have that new GI Joe with swivel arm battle grip, and that new intellivision video game, and that new dyno GT bike. We were relentless. They’d tell us no again… My brother and I would whine and moan and get mad until we processed it out of our system. Then we’d start the process of wanting all over again. And guess what, we almost always got everything we wanted and then some! But why.. What strategy did we unknowingly employ as kids to create such great results under the Christmas tree? Well, let’s see: First, we identified what we wanted under the tree. The Wishbook was a huge help in this endeavor… filling our heads with all kinds of ways to bankrupt our parents. Secondly, we got really excited about the possibilities… so much so that we attached emotion to the things we wanted and painted ourselves into the vision of how it would feel to have these things. Then, we took our desires to the people who could help us fulfill that vision: Mom, Dad, Aunts, Uncles, and Grandparents on both sides. After we presented our wants to the various people we knew who could help us, we went through the process of rejection… One by one, we collected no’s, we’ll see’s, and maybe’s. We then processed the negative emotions we felt fully… when we were told no. Meaning whether by pouting, or just acting like little assholes, we experienced the emotion fully so we could release it. Once we released the emotion… We could get back on task and start the process of wanting all over again, free of distraction and focused on our next angle of attack and influence so that Christmas morning looked like we wanted it to look. Now, I’m sure you noticed the parallel here. And, how it relates to what you want as an adult. The problem isn’t that as adults we stop wanting… hell, I want all the time. The problem is that when we meet disappointment or failure or embarrassment, the emotion that we feel we hold onto. Then, we use that emotion to create a story about the situation that justifies us staying exactly where we are now rather than pushing forward. When, what we really ought to do is process the emotion… experience the situation fully so we can write a new story that empowers us. Maybe for you that’s yelling, maybe that’s crying, maybe it’s solitude… whatever it is, the only way out is through. And, once you’re through you can see clearly and tell yourself a new story about what happened. See it for what it is and start the process again and again until you get the result you want. Your ability to persist will depend on the story you tell yourself. If my brother and I told ourselves no matter what we did, we weren’t going to get the Christmas we wanted, then we would’ve quit at the first no. But we didn’t and neither does any kid… they want it too hard. And, they will tell themselves whatever story they need to in order to make their vision a reality. The story I ran with as a kid was if I kept at it, I’d eventually get a maybe, and if I could get a maybe I could get a yes. So how about you… what are you not allowing yourself to want? What did you go for and get shot down so hard you got embarrassed or pissed off and decided that your story was one of victimhood. And, everytime you think about that time you still feel negative energy around it. You’ve got to do the hard thing and process that shit out of your system. Find a place where you can release, yell, scream, or whatever you need to do without scaring the neighbors so you can fully experience that thing and write a new story that fuels you to want again. Podcast Closing: That’s it for today! Thank you for listening, and if you found value in this message be sure to subscribe on iTunes, Google, Castbox, or Stitcher  | Share this with those you know need to hear it on social | And I’ll see you back here in the next episode | This is Jason Archer signing off | Now… go, and DO THE HARD THING. Listen at dothehardthing.net

DTHT Episode 13 – Honestly Assess Yourself by Jason Archer | Do The Hard Thing Podcast https://s3.amazonaws.com/dtht-podcast/episode.13.HonestlyAssessYourself.mp3 Subscribe Now! Podcast Opening: Welcome to Do The Hard Thing Episode 13. I am Jason Archer… creator, freedom seeker, leader of self | full time student and part time teacher of self mastery, and today’s theme is “Honestly Assess Yourself”. So, turn up the volume, put down the distractions and let’s kick this off… [NOTE: Insert some intro music here | Insert brief description here] Summary Description: Have you ever started down a path that you felt held a great deal of meaning for you, and then for whatever reason you could not move toward the outcome you wanted to create? Whether it was a Mental, Physical, or Spiritual target you sought, it didn’t matter… there was some part of you that refused to move. This podcast is born out of that specific idea. Do The Hard Thing is an exploration in human movement. Podcast Content: I’m back after a short hiatus… As I mentioned in a previous podcast, the Queen and I hit a target of acquiring a new home and a new cash flow rental property coming into this last quarter and honestly the workload getting moved and reset was more than we both expected. Couple that with the fact that it took nearly two weeks just get internet access setup at the new pad, and another week or so to get my office setup, I missed about 4 weeks worth of episodes and now I’m in debt to myself and to you guys on this particular venture since my commitment was to have new content coming your way every Monday morning of each new week. Without fail. However, I did fail. That is my honest assessment of myself during this time period. Some will look at the situation… the move, the lack of internet, the lack of an office, and all the time that went into getting a useful space setup and say, “Well really, you can’t count this as a fail because, hey just look at the circumstances… they were less than ideal.” And, of course, you’re right. Circumstances were and largely still remain less than ideal. So does that let me off the hook? Does it give me a pass? Does it give me cause to break my commitment to myself and to you by your estimation of the facts? Now, most of you, being nice people, will most likely say yes… Shit happens and you weren’t able to get it done. No worries. However, I  would have to disagree and say emphatically, “NO!”. So, in looking at the situation why might you say “Yes” and I say “No”? It comes down to how we each assess my performance. If you said yes, what you are really saying is that the story about why I didn’t get the last 4 episodes completed is just as valuable as the result I claimed to want to create. Yet, when I look at the story and the results I created by missing the last 4 weeks of episodes, I am valuing the results over the story about why it didn’t get done. Many people in our lives, relationships, businesses, and families have decided to believe if someone comes to us with a “really good reason” as to why they didn’t get something done… That they’ve earned a pass. They should get credit or at least partial credit based on the quality of the story they can tell us about why they didn’t perform. They focus on the bullshit story about failure and tell you it’s OK that you didn’t perform, because hey, you had good reason. Rather than looking at the results… which are black and white. When we start examining the thin grey line between and justifying failure we open ourselves up to an infinite number of ways to excuse our lack of achievement. However, if we are truly masters of ourselves… The way we show up in the world can not be based solely on circumstance. Will there be circumstances that impede you or cause you to miss deadlines or commitments? Yes. Of course… That’s just life. However, It seems that the vast majority of people who live in the land of excuses seldom have a good reason as to why their particular circumstance prevented the outcome they had committed themselves to hitting. So to be honest and forthright… I count myself among that group in this case. The reality is I have 3 or 4 cell phones. Two of which I use regularly for media and recording. So was it impossible for me to get the work done? Not really. It was just really, really inconvenient. I used inconvenience and worry over the tasks needing completion to take me off my game. I chose to act like a child who refuses to go to bed without his “blanky”… It’s a way of demanding that everything line up perfectly or else… And if it doesn’t I give myself a pass even though I had the means to make it happen. Like the child who’s bed is warm and waiting for him, but he refuses to go down because his circumstances look different. So he sabotages himself, depriving himself of sleep… with the his bed empty and waiting for him in his bedroom. How many times are commitments broken because circumstances change? But more importantly… how many times do we let people off the hook because they deliver up a good story. At least in their eyes. When we are dealing with people who are committed to their own growth and vision, we do not do them any favors to allow them to slide. It is not a kindness to allow someone to perform below their capabilities. You’ve heard of holding people accountable… how about holding people capable? Not only of accomplishing what they set out to accomplish, also for being able to weather the criticism earned when commitments are broken.,, and for creating a path for rectifying the miss. What is missed by most of us when we offer up a story… is that we are only serving ourselves. When I give a narrative instead of results, what I am really doing is seeking to protect my own “looking good” program. I want to save face. For you, maybe it’s about not being wrong, or about being right… It varies depending on how you show up in the world. I promise you this, though… I know now that when I show up with excuses or stories, rather than results. I lose face. I bleed power and influence. And you do too. Power comes from knowing that no matter which way I perform, I own my results. That I am an agent unto myself. Blaming circumstances kills any opportunity you have to have that experience… You don’t get the opportunity to look inside yourself and check in with what the real problem is. But that’s where you have to start: Inside yourself… introspection. All the answers as to why you do what you do lie there. The phrase, “Know Thyself” is one of the most underrated expressions, but one that you can use to your advantage if you are serious about your life. For example: I know a great deal about me. And, one of the things I know about me is that I am not “Johnny Follow-Thru”… Not that I don’t follow through, but it isn’t my forte. I live in the world of the creative and the world of vision. However, without execution creativity and vision doesn’t matter. It’s just fuzzy thought and pretty words. I need the freedom of systems to keep me on track… so here’s one you can try: In my gym business at CrossFit North Phoenix, I recently chose into a policy that states if a commitment is broken, it’ll cost you 100 bucks. For everyday it remains broken is another 25. You can play this game with anyone around any commitment or action, and you’ll learn real quick who’s serious… who makes up excuses not to pay up, and who outright quits because the stakes are too high and they are unwilling to be capable and accountable to something they chose into in the first place. So where do you fall with all this? What is one area of your life where you are failing to meet your commitments or obligations that you can identify and start the process of correcting? How much better would you feel about yourself, if you knew you could trust yourself to follow through… You trusting you, is the beginning of confidence. Podcast Closing: That’s it for today! Thank you for listening, and if you found value in this message be sure to subscribe on iTunes, Google, Castbox, or Stitcher  | Share this with those you know need to hear it on social | And I’ll see you back here in the next episode | This is Jason Archer signing off | Now… go, and DO THE HARD THING. Listen at dothehardthing.net

DTHT Episode 12 – How To Leverage Bitcoin For Cash Flow And Mortgage Payments by Jason Archer | Do The Hard Thing Podcast https://s3.amazonaws.com/dtht-podcast/episode.12.HowToLeverageBitcoinForCashFlowAndMortgagePayments.mp3 Subscribe Now! Podcast Opening: Welcome to Do The Hard Thing Episode 12. I am Jason Archer… creator, freedom seeker and leader of self | full time student and part time teacher of self mastery, and today’s theme is “How To Leverage Bitcoin For Cash Flow And Mortgage Payments”. I know that’s a huge claim… So, turn up the volume, put down the distractions and let’s kick this off… [NOTE: Insert some intro music here | Insert brief description here]Summary Description: Have you ever started down a path that you felt held a great deal of meaning for you, and then for whatever reason you could not move toward the outcome you wanted to create. Whether it was a Mental, Physical, or Spiritual target you sought, it didn’t matter… there was some part of you who refused to move. This podcast is born out of that specific idea. Do The Hard Thing is an exploration in human movement. Podcast Content: In the last 2 episode of Do The Hard Thing, I talked about Money and then spoke about responsibility. And, today I am going to combine those two ideas into one method I’m using to generate cash flow from the the crypto currency market using several services. I want to preface this by telling you up front that I am not a financial advisor nor am I recommending that you do this. I am simply sharing with you what I am personally doing and what my results are at this point. The Crypto currency marketplace is highly volatile and I fully expect 95% of the also ran crypto coins that keep popping up seemingly everyday to be gone in less than a few years. I have lots of reasons to believe this to be the case, but in the interest of time I will simply give you the relevant information I can regarding the system I’m using so that you can investigate and do your own due diligence to decide if a crypto currency speculation is right for you. Notice, I said speculation… not investment. There is a difference between those two ideas primarily around how you can exit the trade or receive funds from the trade. Only you know your financial situation and this market is very risky… so I don’t recommend this strategy because the nature of most people in the modern world is to operate from “I’m not responsible”… for more on that, just listen to episode 11. However, you are responsible for all you do. And, if you invest in a highly volatile market and you lose your hat, shirt, and overcoat as my grandfather would say. It is entirely your fault. You chose into the game, you chose to be subject to the rules of the game. OK, that said… hopefully, I have sufficiently repelled all the irresponsible, free shit mentality people who might be listening… I’m sure there is a Bernie Sanders podcast awaiting you out there on the interwebs. I wish you well, but this is not for you. For the rest of you guys, let’s jump into this. Now, I have no intention of claiming to be an expert on the underlying technologies that run any of the blockchains… whether are a fan of bitcoin, ethereum, ripple, dash, monero, litecoin, or any of the rest based on their technical presence is irrelevant to this discussion. The reason being is I want to focus on cash flow. Lots of people want to be better off financially, and few people want to Do The Hard Thing and move themselves to understand how money works and how they can multiply their assets in a way that provides stability and freedom. And, this is a good thing. You should want to be wealthy. You should not hate on people who have made or are making more money that you have seen in your lifetime. Making money is a skill. And, unfortunately its the one skill that is taxed for the purposes of giving the gains of one individual to another individual who is “less fortunate”. There are many skills that require energy and effort as well as a great deal of failure to acquire which are not held in the same light. The “smart girl” in your chemistry class who gets straight A’s, has put in more reps than you at solving chemical formulas and understanding the basics of the Bohr model. Yet, she is not forced to give you 30% of her points because you chose to drink beer and play quarters in your dorm room with porn playing in the background. That would be considered unfair, yet we do this type of thing with money and don’t think twice about it. My business partner recently told me that her mother said this during a recent conversation, “Well, the rich just keep getting richer.” And, there is some truth to that. But the smart generally keep getting smarter… It just comes down to where you invest your time. If you learn about money you may never be Warren Buffet, yet you may just get a few rental properties and live a cash flow lifestyle where you own your days. This is my desire. Cash flow. Cash is not king… Cash flow is king. And the more cash is flowing your way the freer you are in this life. Cash flow buys you options and allows you to be more of who you are. And, today’s strategy is all about creating cash flow using Bitcoin. So, I’m going to introduce 2 services to you to pull this off: Coinbase and BitConnect. And using the BitConnect platform, we are going to loan the cash value of our BitCoin to BitConnect’s trading robot which uses the movement in BitCoin Price to generate profit which is then paid out. A portion of which is paid out to you on average at the rate of about 1% a day currently. Here’s how it works: You need to buy some Bitcoin. Not to hold and hope it goes up in price… but because you’ll need it for the next step in the chain. You’ll transfer your Bitcoin to BitConnect. Once you’re Bitcoin is in your BitConnect Wallet or account, you’ll then use it to buy BitConnect Coin… Their proprietary Coin. Once you’ve done that, you’ll lend the BCC to the BCC robot for a specified term. Daily, you’ll receive payouts in cash You can then take that cash, convert it back to BCC, convert that to BitCoin and sell the BitCoin for cash that you can deposit into your bank account and spend. So let’s look at some numbers. I personally have loaned about 7 thousand to the BitConnect Robot. So at an average of 1% paid out per day… it varies. So at this investment level, I should receive somewhere in the neighborhood of 70 dollars a day on average. This will pay my mortgage and all bills provided the company holds and is not regulated out of existence or a total scam. Either of those thing can happen. But let’s say you have only 1 thousand to invest… At 1% on average per day, that’s 10 bucks you got for doing nothing which will cover your morning coffee or your lunch and allow you to keep more of your earned cash in your pocket. My mentor once told me that the definition of financial freedom is owning assets which pay you. And, when they pay you enough to support your lifestyle you are free. So if you break that down, and just look at your bills. Then each bill you no longer have to pay brings you one step closer to freedom. As an example, 2 rental properties that I own pay me about 700 a month in cash flow after bills and before taxes, that 700 covers my electric bill, gas bill, water bill, car insurance, home insurance, and some groceries. Those 2 properties required an investment of 100k in cash and debt. The strategy I just shared with you requires 95% less money for 300% more cash flow in my example using 7k. And, this is where you have to really Do The Hard Thing… You have to gain control over your mind and all the fears it throws as roadblocks to your advancement. I personally started with 160 dollars just to test the water and have slowly added more funds over time. I won’t add any more ever until this is completely paid out and I have my money back. Again, I don’t recommend that you do this. This is just an example of what I am doing… No matter which path you choose in terms of wealth, base your decision on results and move accordingly. My wish for you is that you are successful beyond all your most extravagant dreams. Especially if you’re a good person. Money will make you more of what you are. And, even if you’re a rich asshole… who just loves to buy things and show off. Good! The things you buy and the services your use, keep people employed and their families provided for. And, there is nothing wrong with that. Podcast Closing: That’s it for today! Thank you for listening, and if you found value in this message be sure to subscribe on iTunes, Google, Castbox, or Stitcher  | Share this with those you know need to hear it on social | And I’ll see you back here in the next episode | This is Jason Archer signing off | Now… go, and DO THE HARD THING. Listen at dothehardthing.net

In today’s environment among a great many people I interact with on a cursory basis outside of my primary circle, there is a common thread woven through much of words I hear fall from their lips… And they boil down to one singular idea: I’m not responsible because… I’m not responsible for being here on time because traffic was bad. It’s not my fault for missing my deadline because the guys in accounting didn’t get the reports to me in time. Don’t blame me for dinging your car, because you parked too close to the line… I’m not responsible because [insert your excuses or reasons here]. It can be maddening if you let it. I have literally had people will look me straight in the face and tell me what they can do and when they can have it done, and then turn around and break their word without even so much as an acknowledgement or a commitment to regain any lost trust created in those moments. I recently had a woman join my gym here in Phoenix, then later quit a few days from her renewal date. Cool. No problem… Yet she got upset when we charged her for the upcoming month. You see we don’t do contracts we simply ask for a 15 notice which is clearly notated on the documents she signed her name to… And, rather than openly discuss her issue with the charge, her first move was to dispute the charge with the credit card company and when that didn’t work, she decided to leave a 1 star review on our Google Reviews. You see, according to her she shouldn’t be responsible for that last payment because her circumstances changed. And, because her circumstances changed, in her mind she was no longer on the hook for anything she agreed to. Yet, I submit to you this, gentle listener… You are always responsible, because nobody gives a shit about your reasons for failure. And, that is how it should be.

DTHT Episode 10 – Money: Here’s What You Need To Do To Get It by Jason Archer | Do The Hard Thing Podcast https://s3.amazonaws.com/dtht-podcast/episode.10.MoneyHeresWhatYouNeedToDoToGetIt.mp3 Subscribe Now! Podcast Opening: Welcome to Do The Hard Thing Episode 10. I am Jason Archer… creator, freedom seeker and leader of self | full time student and part time teacher of self mastery, and today’s theme is “Money: And What You Need To Do To Get It”. So, turn up the volume, put down the distractions and let’s kick this off… [NOTE: Insert some intro music here | Insert brief description here] Summary Description: Have you ever started down a path that you felt held a great deal of meaning for you, and then for whatever reason you could not move toward the outcome you wanted to create. Whether it was a Mental, Physical, or Spiritual target you sought, it didn’t matter… there was some part of you who refused to move. This podcast is born out of that specific idea. Do The Hard Thing is an exploration in human movement. Podcast Content: In the last episode, I spoke about things that do not always expand when you focus on them… And, today I want talk about the number one thing this applies to: Money! I don’t care how long you focus on money or think about hundred dollar bills in your head, it will do you no good when it comes to getting more money. Money doesn’t give a shit about your metaphysical beliefs, your dream board, or the number of hours your work. It doesn’t care about your needs or your wants. God isn’t going to give it to you, the universe isn’t going to magically increase the amount in your accounts… no my friends, money only comes to you for one reason and one reason only. And, to understand that reason, you have to first understand what money is and what it isn’t. So let’s unpack this and get to the sinewy meat of the matter. Getting money is not magic or voodoo. Its a skill. Taxing people who know how to make money more, is like taking the mic away from your best singer in the choir and giving it to your second chair. It’s punishing someone for being successful in a given field. It’s childish and stupid. You are better off learning the skill than creating bad karma. Remember anyone you harm in any way comes back to you. And if you believe we are all connected, then harming another is harming yourself. I digress… So if you have some bills handy, some 5s, 10s, 20s, 50s, 100s… Whatever you have. Pull a few out and take a look at them and ask yourself how you came by them. Did you get money in exchange for your time working a job? This is the most common way to earn money… 95% of the population will acquire their money this way. Maybe you got money from a product or service you yourself made or performed for someone… You know how to build websites for example, so you sold a website project to a small business and they paid you directly for your production as a specialist. Or maybe you started a business helping people get fit… They then in turn buy a membership to your gym and once all the bills are paid and the government steals its tax money, you get to keep what is leftover. It could be that your business does really well… And, you make enough money from your gym memberships business that you have some surplus or capital. And, with this capital you lend it at interest, or you buy stock in another company, or otherwise invest it in such a way that it grows and comes back to you in greater amounts through your investment activities. Whichever way the money you have ended up in your wallet, I can promise it represents one thing and one thing only to all parties involved in any of the transactions I mentioned above. Any idea as to what that is yet? Well, let’s not keep you in suspense any longer. If we look at the case where you invested money in a company… what happened here was value was traded for value. You give me 5 thousand dollars and I give you 5% of my company for example. You have an extra 5k that needed to be invested, and I needed 5k to grow my business so we agree to trade your cash for an interest in my company. Your cash in this case was just a store of value. To my business that value might look like new equipment, a faster and better technical system, or the hourly wages of a new employee. All of which help me grow and at the same time make your business interest that much more valuable along the way. As an investor, you risk capital by buying in, and get paid over and above your investment only when the business does well and not only returns your capital, it gives you a return on investment. Maybe 2 years later your 5k of value is returned to you as 15k of value. Money flows toward value. In the case where you own a business, and you are paid by the business once everyone else is paid… again value is traded for value. Your customers and clients buy your gym membership in exchange for better results in their bodies. In order for this business to continue to grow and expand, you have to deliver on your clients’ expectations. They are trading money for the value of the results they get in their bodies. Their fees go to pay the landlord, the power company, the water company, the ISP, the coaches, the suppliers, and yes… big brother all get paid because a businessman decided to provide value to the marketplace… in this case, the fitness space. Again Money flows toward value. If you are the web dynamo that has sold a website as a freelancer, your client is expecting you to provide the website they asked you to provide. And, in exchange for that service… you are paid a fee. Again Money flows toward value. You client valued the website at 2500 dollars, you agreed to those terms as a service provider, ergo you get a 2500 payday in this example. Lastly, the employee who trades time for money… she too is providing value. Maybe she works running a register at the grocery store or maybe she works as a lawyer at a law firm downtown. In both cases she is trading her hours for a predetermined agreed upon amount of money. The grocery store and the law firm sell something, and because they do they need people who can stock shelves or read volumes of law in service to their clients. And, if you are hired to do that, you are trading the value you bring as a person for the value the company provides in the form of a steady paycheck. Maybe you don’t want to be the guy who hunts down dinner or lands the big corporate account, but your more than happy to butcher the meat or provide an extra legal mind to an important case. And for those services, money flows to you, or more specifically… money flows toward the value you provide as an employee. Money always flows toward value. It goes where it is treated best. People who honor money for the store of value it is, and for the wealth and freedom it will create for themselves and others always have money. People who believe money is a bad thing and that it is the root of all evil, (which interestingly is always taken out of context) never seem to have any, but always seem to be working for it or seeking it out and it will never come to these people. Money does not respond to want or need… it simply flows to anyone creating value. Want some extra money today? Then do the hard thing… get off your ass and go provide value to someone. I promise you, someone close to you needs help with something. Maybe it’s preparing healthy meals and you can do that for them in exchange for a fee. And, if you’re good… maybe that’s your business idea! Whatever the case, you elevate yourself… by elevating the service your provide to others. You make yourself more valuable to the market. Anyone can do this… it just requires a little “get to fucking work”. Think about it… Where can you apply this principle to your life? Get after it and let the market be your guide. Podcast Closing: That’s it for today! Thank you for listening, and if you found value in this message be sure to subscribe on iTunes, Google, Castbox, or Stitcher  | Share this with those you know need to hear it on social | And I’ll see you back here in the next episode | This is Jason Archer signing off | Now… go, and DO THE HARD THING. Listen at dothehardthing.net

DTHT Episode 9 – What You Focus On Does Not Always Expand by Jason Archer | Do The Hard Thing Podcast https://s3.amazonaws.com/dtht-podcast/episode.9.WhatYouFocusOnDoesNotAlwaysExpand.mp3 Subscribe Now! Podcast Opening: Welcome to Do The Hard Thing Episode 9. I am Jason Archer… creator, freedom seeker and leader of self | full time student and part time teacher of self mastery, and today’s theme is “What You Focus On Does Not Always Expand”. So, turn up the volume, put down the distractions and let’s kick this off… [NOTE: Insert some intro music here | Insert brief description here] Summary Description: Have you ever started down a path that you felt held a great deal of meaning for you, and then for whatever reason you could not move toward the outcome you wanted to create. Whether it was a Mental, Physical, or Spiritual target you sought, it didn’t matter… there was some part of you who refused to move. This podcast is born out of that specific idea. Do The Hard Thing is an exploration in human movement. Podcast Content: I know you’ve heard this one before… “What you focus on expands.” Every dream board wielding watcher of “The Secret” and reader of personal development literature has at some point been exposed to this concept. And, there is truth here. Focused energy on just about any topic or thing you want to bring into being will assist you in doing just that… Yet, there is an over simplication here that has always bugged me. Largely, it comes down to the idea that simply setting your focus is enough. That you can put of picture of a new car on your mirror and in short order that new car will end up in your driveway… or that you can write your deepest desires on a sticky note that hangs on your rear view mirror and magically those desires will manifest by themselves. Well, in short. That has not been my experience. I doubt it will be yours either. Especially when it comes to money… Stay tuned for more on that. First, lets get to the bottom of this idea of simply focusing on things to manifest them and make them real inside your life. To do that, we need to look at your brain. That 3 pounds of grey matter about the size of 2 fists between your ears. Turns out there is some science happening here that you may want to take notice of… On some level, you’ve probably been exposed to the fact that scientists have been doing their level best to identify and map the various parts of the brain for many years now in an effort to understand what part of the brain is responsible for various thought processes and activities. And while there is still a long way to go, certain bits of the map have started to be reliably identified. One such area, which sits at the base of the brain, has been identified and named the Reticular Activating System or RAS. It turns out that the RAS acts as a filter. We all are being constantly bombarded with information and stimuli all day everyday. And, we need a mechanism to let us know what is important and what is to be ignored. The Reticular Activating System assumes this role. It’s job is to show you what is most important to you within the context of the stimuli you are receiving in any given moment. Let’s take a look at a concrete example. If you’ve ever wanted a new car, you’ve probably had this happen… Let’s say you decide you want to buy a new Tesla… Because you’ve got an extra 80k laying around and it would be so cool to tell your friends you own one of Elon’s latest creations,  so you decide on the Model S in grey and begin your shopping adventure in the new and used battery powered car market. What happens? Do you start to notice more and more Model S’s? Yes, you see them more often in your environment. In fact, it seems like they are everywhere… You see them pass you on the highway, you see them parked at the mall, and you see them in ads online and in print. So what happened to make this Tesla suddenly show up all over town… Well, you happened. You decided that buying this car deserved enough of your attention and focus that it caused your RAS to start filtering out the noise of other cars and trucks, and show you the one car out of the thousands you see each day that you are most interested in at this point in time. The idea of the power of focus is undeniable… So, using tools like feeding your mind images or phrases of things and people you want in your life is one method of telling your brain to filter out the noise and show you all the possibilities available to you in your life on a daily basis that are that thing or those things you seek. It’s not magic, it’s a mental and biological hack that you can use to tip the scales in your favor. Now, this is where most people stop. They decide that simply giving something enough attention to cause the brain to consider it important is all that is necessary to get that thing. But what if you don’t have 80k dollars to go buy that new Tesla? Was focusing on the Model S enough to manifest it as not only being in your life, but being a possession of yours? No… of course not. And, this is the issue successful people tend to take with a book and movie like The Secret. You still have to Do The Hard Thing. You must go into action and create a pathway to acquire the thing you want. In this case, a car. It could be anything though. A partner in a business, a relationship, a new home… It’s one thing to see the thing you want out in the world somewhere, yet it’s a new thing entirely to actually claim ownership of it. So let’s say all you did each day was focus on the car. You think long and hard about it… you make it your screensaver. You put a photo of it on your mirror. Your RAS shows you the car each day. It’s everywhere. Well at some point, you will realize that you have to take action in finding one to buy and coming up with the funds to do so. The question then becomes, did your focus and your RAS awaken enough of a desire in your to put your head down and go to work to make it yours? Maybe you sell something you own to get the Tesla, or you cash out a stock or bond, or you decide to take on an extra job, or maybe all you have to do is arrange financing and get approved. Whatever it is that you have to do to get this car, are you willing to pay the price. Thinking about it is easy… will you take action. At this point in the game it’s easier to see that many times in our lives when we want something or claim to want something, what we bump up against is the resistance to doing the work necessary or making the changes necessary to achieve our targets. We’ve all been there. I had a moment this morning where I almost didn’t get up and get my day going like I have committed to do. Each day I’m up around 6:30 and first order of business is getting out the door for a 2 mile hike while listening to something that will feed my mind and allow me to expand as a man and a leader. Honestly, today… I did not want to get out of bed. I was comfortable and warm. However, as I lay there debating getting up with myself I realized that getting up and learning while doing something good for my body for the 252nd day in a row was more important to creating the vision I hold of being a leader, than laying in bed for another 2 hours. So I did the hard thing and dragged my ass out of bed. I paid the price so I could step closer to what I want for myself. No amount of pictures on my dream board will replace movement and action. What about you? Take a moment and think about what is important to you and what you want for yourself, and then ask yourself what action are you taking to get it… Be honest. If you are not closer to where you want to be after some self examination, maybe it’s time to move your ass, or maybe it’s time to just stop lying to yourself about what you want. If you want to lose 20 lbs in the next 60 days, and you are unwilling to give up the office donuts and birthday cake your chances are slim to none in slimming down. You can think about being thin all day long, the physical result will come only from your consistent action. Podcast Closing: That’s it for today! Thank you for listening, and if you found value in this message be sure to subscribe on iTunes, Google, Castbox, or Stitcher  | Share this with those you know need to hear it on social | And I’ll see you back here in the next episode | This is Jason Archer signing off | Now… go, and DO THE HARD THING. Listen at dothehardthing.net

DTHT Episode 8 – The Philosophy Of Talking Politics, Religion, And Her by Jason Archer | Do The Hard Thing Podcast https://s3.amazonaws.com/dtht-podcast/episode.8.ThePhilosophyOfTalkingPoliticsReligionAndHer.mp3 Subscribe Now! Podcast Opening: Welcome to Do The Hard Thing Episode 8. I am Jason Archer… creator, freedom seeker and leader of self | full time student and part time teacher of self mastery, and today’s theme is “The Philosophy Of Talking Politics, Religion, And Her”. So, turn up the volume, put down the distractions and let’s kick this off… [NOTE: Insert some intro music here | Insert brief description here] Summary Description: Have you ever started down a path that you felt held a great deal of meaning for you, and then for whatever reason you could not move toward the outcome you wanted to create. Whether it was a Mental, Physical, or Spiritual target you sought, it didn’t matter… there was some part of you who refused to move. This podcast is born out of that specific idea. Do The Hard Thing is an exploration in human movement. Podcast Content: When I was kid growing up, I was keen to notice how it seemed most of the adults around me never talked about anything meaningful. Especially in mixed company. The fact that the “grown ups who had everything figured out” were scared to be their authentic selves around anyone who may not appreciate their way of thinking was so thick in the air you could feel the tension. I remember realizing this probably around age 10 or 12 or so… and, for me this was an earth shattering realization. Prior to that I had this idea in my head that the grown ups had it all figured out. Little did I know that they were just winging their way through life… Looking back on that now with more thoughtful eyes, I can see how much each adult in my life was doing the best they could with the tools available to them. That is true for all of us, of course. We do our best with what is presented to us… but at some point, that isn’t enough we have to move into new thought or we stagnate and get stuck in our lives. As I went into my teens noticing this adult predicament of living in small talk and bullshit, I decided to become the “truth teller” I thought people were suppose to be… mainly because I had been told that lying was not acceptable, yet that rule didn’t seem to apply to the adults. Especially the ones who were there to tell me how to live. My version of being the truth teller was founded in rebellion as a type of fuck you to the hypocrisy I saw. The weakness in the lies had me wanting to Do The Hard Thing and call it out. Needless to say, I was not always popular when I opened my mouth. I knew the truth, at least as I saw it, behind our family’s closed doors, and I wasn’t afraid to let it fly out of my mouth anytime the grown ups decided a white lie was in order. Usually to purposely embarrass anyone within earshot. I felt justified doing this a kid because of the level of integrity I was suppose to live under was somehow not applicable to those telling me to live that way. And, as a smart individual, reconciling the disparity was more important than demonstrating any tact. I would later learn that having some bit of knowledge meant there was a time and place share and a time and place to remain quiet. I would develop a more constructive way of being and deliver my message in a more palatable way, but my philosophy around speaking my mind would not change. To this day, I am sensitive to hypocrisy on any level. And, there is much to wade through in the modern world… So much so it becomes very difficult at times to discuss the dreaded three no-no’s every conversationalist has been cautioned against bringing up: Politics, Religion, and Relationships. I’m not 100% sure when I first heard this… however, I do have either a vague memory or a memory I made up about hearing some old codgers making a joke about things one doesn’t discuss in public during a visit to a local country store with my grandfather. That’s neither here nor there… the fact is, this was and is part of the popular zeitgeist and I’m sure you’ve no doubt heard reference to the taboo of talking about these things in person with those you may come in contact with. This seems to be a rather regressive and repressive way to go through life… Bottling up how you truly feel is not a good thing. Maybe there is something to that, being that the US has some of the highest use of anti-depressants in the world. Yet thankfully, those who aren’t prescribed anti-depressants at least have an outlet in Facebook. Apparently the no-no rule doesn’t apply there… Probably because the threat of physical violence doesn’t exist in that arena. To my mind, talking about all these topics is a good thing. It needs to be done early and often. Ideas are meant to be discussed. Doing so takes us beneath the surface of normal human interaction and gives us insight to the way a person genuinely operates. Knowing the tenor of these ideas in the public sphere is quite possibly the most important thing to which one can be attuned. I realize that is a big statement to make, however what I want to have you consider is that each of these ideas has a direct impact on you personally whether you participate in the discussion or not. Because underneath the simplicity of those three words, lies a whole host of philosophy… the basic operating system that a person has decided to live by. Philosophy is the root. The philosophy underneath these 3 topics: Politics, Religion, and Relationships will guide each interaction we have with others. Given that’s the case, wouldn’t it be healthier and create more community and understanding if we had the balls to go deeper and stay there long enough to impart some understanding even when it doesn’t feel good? Yes! Of course it would… Certainly, you will be impacted by how others view their roles and responsibilities in a relationship… be it familial, friendly, or fraternal as in the case of a business or an organization. As a simple example around relationships you can think of growing up with parents who believe it’s their job to raise and release a responsible child, who is capable of making his own decisions, into the wild of the world as being a much different thing than parents who feel they must hover over their child and force a helmet on him as he walks the sidewalk and is never allowed to fall or fail. One of those situations creates a greater opportunity to yield an adult who is responsible and capable. You will be impacted personally either way. Which type of person do you want to deal with? The one who leaves a note when he scratches your car in a parking lot with his contact info, or the one who doesn’t because not being responsible for himself is his M.O. Hell that guy probably blames you because in his eyes you parked to close to the edge of your parking spot. The person who thinks that way has an excuse for everything. Would you want to have that person as a business partner or employee? Could you trust him to leave the business savings in the account when you weren’t looking? It would be hard to. A local business man here in AZ I know, who participates in leadership development will not hire any individual who has not completed a 10k leadership experience. This is the standard he has set for having people in his enterprise who are both aware of how they show up, and responsible for their actions. The experience they go through creates a philosophical base for human interaction. Having a team with a base exposure to a common philosophy that teaches them to give and receive honest feedback allows the business to operate in a space where individuals can be more open and honest when they face tough choices, and the responsibility of accepting emotional control of themselves when honest feedback is given. Even when it’s hard to hear. They own their actions and their consequences. Ray Dalio, who founded Bridgewater, the largest hedge fund in the world, believes so strongly that honest feedback is important that they record almost every interaction and make them available to anyone in the company at any time. Many can not handle this type of honesty and simply don’t make the cut… And, that benefits Bridgewater… Their philosophy actively screens out those who can not give and receive authenticity beyond a surface level. Their culture has produced fantastic results and they continue to do so year in and year out with a philosophy of transparency and truth telling. The  beauty of speaking to people with a degree of depth around something as important as relationships, and understanding their way of interacting… what they will and won’t accept or what they want to create is paramount in developing any type of organization, family, friendship, or management hierarchy that works. If the underlying values and principles you need to create your vision of being in relationship on any level are lacking, you are best off moving on. If moving past surface is too much for you or them, you can waste a great deal of your precious life force on a pairing that was never going to work. So how about Religion? What about politics? If you look hard at the two of these, its fairly easy to see many similarities between the two. Personally, I see politics being a religion for many who claim religion is crap. They worship government power and want to coerce their neighbors under threat of force to pay ever increasing taxes in order to redistribute wealth to non producers under the guise of the common good. Then, I see politics in organized religion in the form of there being a hierarchy of power that in most cases can not be questioned, as well as vast swaths of authoritarianism in the fundamentalist churches and no doubt a tremendous repressive dose of authoritarian pow

DTHT Episode 7 – Forget Halloween... October 1st Is More Important by Jason Archer | Do The Hard Thing Podcast https://s3.amazonaws.com/dtht-podcast/episode.7.ForgetHalloweenOctober1stIsMoreImportant.mp3 Subscribe Now! Podcast Opening: Welcome to Do The Hard Thing Episode 7. I am Jason Archer… creator, freedom seeker and leader of self | full time student and part time teacher of self mastery, and today’s theme is “Forget Halloween… October 1st Is More Important”. So, turn up the volume, put down the distractions and let’s kick this off… [NOTE: Insert some intro music here | Insert brief description here] Summary Description: Have you ever started a project that you felt held a great deal of meaning for you, and then for whatever reason you could not move toward the outcome you wanted to create. Whether it was a Mental, Physical, or Spiritual target you sought, it didn’t matter… there was some part of you who refused to move. This podcast is born out of that specific idea. Do The Hard Thing is an exploration in human movement. Podcast Content: Well, here we are in the first day of the 4th quarter of 2017. Many of you may not have thought about the significance of October 1st… In fact, I bet you or someone you know is getting geared up for the 31st when all of North America celebrates Halloween as you listen to this podcast. Halloween spending this year will top 7BB dollars… And, here in the States, Americans will spend 350MM dollars on costumes for their pets alone! So, while you may have seen turmoil on cable news, where the whole of the nation is scoured to find every negative aspect of life and present it to you in living color 24 hours a day… The reality is that Americans continue to enjoy one of the highest, if not the highest, standards of living in the world. And, they will no doubt enjoy many a pumpkin spice latte whlie they parade their costumed pets around as Halloween draws closer. Now, I love Halloween as much as the next guy. It was and is one of my favorite holidays throughout the year, yet today I want to stress one fact to you: October 1st is far more important than October 31st. Why, you ask? Well, simply because it is the first day of the last quarter of the year. Yep, only three more months before 2017 goes away forever, and 2018 arrives with a fresh batch of resolutions to break. Only 3 more months to accomplish at the things you set out to accomplish at the beginning of the year. Now, if you’ve created nothing this year or had no desire to create anything, then to guarantee you continue to fuck up the rest of the year, simply keep doing what you’ve been doing. I’m not here to motivate you. That is your job. However, for those of you who genuinely desire more… who want to create a bigger business, a better relationship, or a greater degree of self mastery; you’ll want to focus closely on each word of the rest of this episode. I am going to tell you exactly how to create and produce around what you want for your life, and before you write this method off as babble and decide that your lot in life is fixed… I will give you the name of a man who has done a great deal of documented research around the methodology used by high achievers the world over, as well as little old me. I will give you the methods, and you can go look into the science if you have doubts. Yet, if you do doubt it, I challenge you to prove it wrong. Do The Hard Thing by putting it to the test. So, let’s take this from the top… everyone seems to at least have some sort of fuzzy idea of a goal. Something they desire to manifest in their lives… could be a relationship, a better job, a better body, a business, or even something like a greater connection to a higher power. Doesn’t matter what it is… the fact that you want to create it is what is important. So, maybe you’re thinking, “What the hell does this have to do with October 1st, Halloween, or quarters.” To which I say… patience, gentle listener. It’s coming. Starting with your goals or your targets, we’ll work backwards into the importance of October 1st 2017… And, the first item to consider is what is the explicit version of what you want to create? Having a fuzzy idea is not good enough. Without a clear picture in your mind of what you want, it’s very difficult to reverse engineer the steps necessary to get there. To take a example from my personal life, I’ll use a goal my wife and I set in January of this year. As we looked at our finances and investments, we set a goal to acquire a new rental property and a new personal residence. The plan was to find a home we could move into that was at least 2000 square feet, had space for friends and family to come stay with us, had the potential to be a place we could make our own, and be a step up in terms of being closer to the mountain preserve here in Anthem, AZ. Once we acquired this property, we could then move out of our current home in Anthem and turn it into a cash flow rental. All this is due for completion by the end of 2017. The explicit goal was set… Enter the first problem…. That being the fact that the property we wanted had not yet been identified, we had no money for a down payment, and no idea at the time how we would acquire it. The idea of this new home was distal. It was a year out. It’s incredibly hard to have any emotion and drive around anything so far out. The focus on the distal aspect of a goal is why so many of us fail to get there. It’s too far out…. so far out that it may feel like a dream, or a hope. So far that it can seem unattainable. So how do we make the distal goal a proximal or near term concern? We have to find a way to break the big idea down into pieces… we need to chunk the task. And, the easiest way to break the year up is by quarter. Three month increments that you can then use to track your progress. The first quarter was about deciding on how best to raise the money for a down payment. We looked at another property we owned in Calgary and realized that the rents it would bring after paying the mortgage and the insanely high property tax commanded in Canada, would at best break even assuming it could be rented all year… and at break even, any vacancy would mean taking a financial loss. So, we looked at selling it. We discovered that by selling it, we would net enough cash at close to have a down payment for the new place here in Anthem and still some leftover for any renovations. By doing this we would get rid of a net loss property in Calgary, acquire a new property that fit our vision here in Anthem, and acquire a net cash flow positive rental by leasing the property we already had in Anthem. The proximal activities for Q1 centered around deciding how we would raise the capital for the new place… and that was the sole focus. That led us into Q2 with a new proximal goal… We now had to sell the property in Calgary, in a very soft market. Calgary has experienced a great deal of financial trouble since the price of oil fell back below 50 dollars a barrel and nearly 100k people have lost their jobs. Not really a hotbed of real estate activity as businesses closed and Calgary boasted the highest rate of Commercial real estate vacancies in the world. Yet, putting all our focus on dressing up the house and taking care of little cosmetic fixes led to us getting the property to show very well. And, the fact that the basement was suited and had a paying tenant in covering more than half the mortgage each month, made our higher than market asking price palatable for a young woman who wanted into the neighborhood. Q2 was all about getting these fixes done, the home listed and ready for sale. Knowing that we had such a short time to take care of all of this kept us focused on the task at hand and we did sell the house at the end of the quarter, giving us the down payment we would need. Going into Q3, we had identified a home we wanted to purchase that was exactly the size we wanted and located in the area we sought… And, there again the proximal focus became acquiring it. It too, created many challenges… I was able to get the home under contract fairly easily. It was a short sale, meaning that the time required to get the deal done would be greatly extended, the paperwork would be monstrous, and the folllowups would be early and often. It took us almost exactly 3 months to close. And, close we did… on September 29th. Leaving us 1 day left in Q3. We finalized just under the wire and hit out target. Which brings us to Q4… October 1st 2017. Today I have been lining up help with the remodel, looking a material costs, scheduling services, and getting my property manager all he needs to get the current property rent ready and on the market for a November 1st availability. This quarter is our last opportunity to fully hit and take out this goal. We have less than 3 months to do a full remodel on the new place, move, rent the old place at a profit, and do all this with the 3 most important holidays of the year happening in sequence: Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas which all take up significant amounts of time. Yes, my friends, October 1st is an important day… year in and year out. As iare all the other quarters of the year. These are major sign posts in where you are and what you are tracking toward for your annual progress. Remember distal vs. proximal in your goal setting. Maybe you set some goals at the beginning of the year for what you wanted and have completely allowed them to fall by the wayside. Maybe life happened and you were off your game for one reason or another, or maybe you just created a distal goal out there somewhere in the ether that just became more of a hope than something you were striving for. You have to chunk these big goals into smaller parts and tackle them on a m

DTHT Episode 6 - Trump And The NFL Are Proof Freedom Is Ugly by Jason Archer | Do The Hard Thing Podcast https://s3.amazonaws.com/dtht-podcast/episode.6.TrumpAndTheNFLAreProofFreedomIsUgly.mp3 Subscribe Now! Podcast Opening: Welcome to Do The Hard Thing Episode 6. I am Jason Archer… creator, freedom seeker and leader of self | full time student and part time teacher of self mastery, and today’s theme is “Trump And The NFL Are Proof Freedom Is Ugly”… So, turn up the volume, put down the distractions and let’s kick this off… [NOTE: Insert some intro music here | Insert brief description here] Summary Description: Have you ever started a project that you felt held a great deal of meaning for you, and then for whatever reason you could not move toward the outcome you wanted to create. Whether it was a Mental, Physical, or Spiritual target you sought, it didn’t matter… there was some part of you who refused to move. This podcast is born out of that specific idea. Do The Hard Thing is an exploration in human movement. Podcast Content: Well, seemingly a firestorm of rhetoric and facebook vitriol was unleashed today, as NFL players took a knee for the National Anthem in response to Trump’s remarks calling for owners to sack up and get rid of players who disrespect the symbol so many men gave their lives preserving. In what basically amounted to a contest of “fuck yous”,  people both pro and con picked up their phones as they sat lazily enjoying their free time within the borders of the US to “virtue signal” and/or shout “patriotism!” between grabbing for that next chicken wing and trips to pisser to return that beer they rented to the sewage pipes from whence the filtered water it was made originally came. As comments racked up, and no progress was made by either side… It was clear that the only winners in the exchange were the media who grasped at the opportunity to boost their ever sagging ratings by exacerbating the conflict. While self proclaimed patriots vowed to never watch the NFL again… Those in support of the kneeling players began to chime in with their belief that the NFL wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon and scoffed at the notion that some would keep themselves away from football on any level; completely ignoring and uncaring for the cries of those who frequent the game and patronize the stores that carry the overpriced NFL licensed product. The die had been cast so to speak. You were either a patriot who supported the troops who “gave us our freedom” or you were an unpatriotic spoiled athlete making more money per game than the average person will see in a lifetime. And, who could forget this: no matter who you talked to, their side was 100% right and justified in their beliefs and actions. But how can that be? You have 2 diametrically opposed sides who firmly believe they are correct in their stance. They all saw the same series of facts take place, so why did opposing sides develop in the first place? Why didn’t everyone just arrive at the same conclusions and move on? Well, if you remember from the previous episode… we jumped into worldview and beliefs. And, this happening couldn’t be a better illustration of the idea that we create our stories around factual happenings based on our worldview… our beliefs about our understanding of “the way it is.” Every serviceman and every child of a military family within my timeline on facebook, saw the kneeling as a direct slap in the face to those who’ve served in the armed forces. Many had lost friends and family in war. And, the way they look at the flag and the anthem is that it’s a symbol of the freedoms that their loved ones fought and died for. The opposition, of course, believing that the various historical atrocities happening under the flag and the anthem preclude the need for any respect or shows of patriotism… many of whom feel they or their ancestors suffered under those symbols and that suffering continues today. Who’s right? It just comes down to your worldview and the stories you make up around the facts. And, this is the hard thing… first, to recognize that the significance you assign to a particular event: like standing for the anthem in this case. It’s just that. It is the significance YOU’VE assigned. And, you’ve done this based on your view of the facts… your truth, if you will. Which brings us to the point of today’s lesson: Freedom Is Ugly. Freedom means that no matter what side you come down on, your view is your view and anyone opposed to your view has to just deal with it. In a free society, you don’t get to force your beliefs on another individual. And, that is how it should be. If a man chooses to exercise his freedom, and it has no bearing on your physical safety… in other words you are not being threatened to comply by force with the actions another takes, then you have an obligation to live and let live. To simply move on. To allow that circumstance to exist. However, there is more to it than that. With freedom comes responsibility… In an environment where you have the ability to exercise your free will, your freedom of expression or speech in this case, you are also obligating yourself to accept whatever consequences your expression generates. Put another way, being free to express yourself does NOT give you freedom from the consequences of your expression. Just like Karma… when you put something out there, it will find a way back to you. And, that you are responsible for. In this scenario, which started with Kaepernick taking a knee way back, you have players and some observers who are legitimately shocked that there were any repercussions as the idea spread and grew. They expressed genuine disbelief that this simple act would create such a firestorm of anti NFL sentiment from other players and fans. Many of whom support Trump. So Trump fired back and took a shot at the owners saying they should get those sons of bitches out of there! Not a very presidential thing to say, and at the same time he used his platform to express the thoughts of many of those in opposition to the kneeling during the anthem…. calling the action disrespectful to the men and women in uniform. The fact that the president took time out of his day to call out the protesters, created a new set of protesters who spend most of Sunday September 24th dreaming up ways to respond in kind. And they did… either by not taking the sideline for the anthem or by getting groups of players to kneel to drive home their “fuck you” to the president. So this basically devolved into a situation where it was tit for tat… Some players chose to complain or protest, Trump chose to respond, the players responded to Trump, then Trump responded to the players and owners. Such was Sunday Wordy Sunday. Neither side acknowledging their roles in escalating the problem, neither side truly taking responsibility for what they created… But they were responsible nonetheless. It got ugly. Freedom can be that way. Freedom can be chaotic… and most people do not want to look at ugly. This is why we have things like HOA’s who guarantee your neighbor doesn’t paint his house florescent pink and green and plant a junk car on cinder blocks in the front yard. At the end of the day, a little bit of free expression… even when it’s ugly has the power to spark debate. To make people think twice. Today’s events pushed thoughtful people into doing some soul searching, into really diving deep into what it is they believe around the power of the symbols used in American culture, and in a few rare cases they bridged a divide when those thoughts were shared in debate. All because the freedom of expression largely still exists in the US, despite efforts to kill it when it doesn’t fit the leftist narrative by media and large IT companies like Google and Facebook. When things are hard, when disagreements come about, freedom to discuss and express the hard things is paramount. The founders understood this and wrote it into the Constitution… but they were hardly the only ones to recognize the importance of protecting the individual. Lord Acton wrote the following on the topic of individual liberty: “The one pervading evil of democracy is the tyranny of the majority, or rather if that party, not always the majority, that succeeds, by force or fraud, in carrying elections. It is bad to be oppressed by a minority, but it is worse to be oppressed by a majority. The most certain test by which we judge whether a country is really free is the amount of security enjoyed by minorities.” (And of course, the smallest minority is the individual.) He went on to say this about the founding of the US: “Washington and Hamilton…Their example…teaches that men ought to be in arms even against a remote and constructive danger to their freedom, that even if the cloud is no bigger than a man’s hand, it is their right and their duty to stake the national existence, to sacrifice lives and fortunes…to shatter crowns and scepters and fling parliaments into the sea.  On this principle of subversion they erected their commonwealth, and by its virtue lifted the world out of its orbit and assigned a new course to history.” I won’t cop out here and leave you wondering what my opinion is. Today’s exchange was juvenile at best, yet it served a purpose… it got people talking, thinking, looking up information. All in an attempt to understand the ugliness that was today’s freedom of speech. And, that is a good thing. Personally I fail to see how protesting, destroying, or removing inan

DTHT Episode 5 - All Significance Is Assigned by Jason Archer | Do The Hard Thing Podcast https://s3.amazonaws.com/dtht-podcast/episode.5.AllSignificanceIsAssigned.mp3 Subscribe Now! Podcast Opening: Welcome to Do The Hard Thing Episode 5. I am Jason Archer… creator, freedom seeker and leader of self | full time student and part time teacher of self mastery, and today’s theme is “All Significance Is Assigned”… So, turn up the volume, put down the distractions and let’s kick this off… [NOTE: Insert some intro music here | Insert brief description here] Summary Description: Have you ever started a project that you felt held a great deal of meaning for you, and then for whatever reason you could not move toward the outcome you wanted to create. Whether it was a Mental, Physical, or Spiritual target you sought, it didn’t matter… there was some part of you who refused to move. This podcast is born out of that specific idea. Do The Hard Thing is an exploration in human movement. Podcast Content: As I sat finishing up a 7 day leadership course near the wine country of Northern California, out on a 2000 acre ranch that was so isolated by the surrounding hillside I had about half a bar for cell service, tight living quarters spread among 80 or so individuals on a similar path, and no outside modern influences like TV or internet as a distraction… Nothing but time with my thoughts and an experience that would cause a great deal of thought and change in my life. In this place I heard what would become one of the most impactful sentences I would ever hear uttered by another individual. The phrase was short and sweet and it burrowed deep into my core the moment I heard them. Those words were simply this: “All significance is assigned by people.” On the surface it may not seem like a very powerful statement, however when you go deep with concept it becomes apparent pretty quickly that these words express a profound idea that ultimately puts you in charge of every aspect of your life. Let’s unpack that… it’s a big stoic philosophy based claim. I’m sure you’ve spent time with someone who seems to be upset or put off their game by the slightest thing, or maybe you have that one friend who leaves the house seeing racism in every act, or that guy at work who thinks the boss hates him because he hasn’t gotten the promotion he thinks he is due… the list goes on and on. People of all stripes and backgrounds and success levels who have emotional response, after emotional response to some some factual happenstance in their lives, and rather than seek to understand why they have that response or why they hold on to their reactions time and time again they simply fall prey to they way they see it. To their view of the situation. To the significance they have assigned to the facts they observed. What you have to realize though is that the facts are not out to get you. I’ll give you a concrete example. My father was diagnosed with polio when he was 3 months old. He grew up in rural Georgia and as a child largely lived a very normal childhood from the standpoint of enjoying playing with his cousins, hunting, fishing, and being outdoors. And, the way his polio manifested itself, it basically attacked his right leg. So he grew to rely on his left side… he played softball and basketball with his circle of friends in various leagues… I remember as a kid going to watch a softball game. He would pitch and then when it was his turn to hit, he would hit and someone else would run for him. He was and still is very good with people. And, largely his polio didn’t really prevent him from doing many of the things he really enjoyed doing. He was quite the inspiration for a lot of people who spent time with him. And one day he was telling me a story about looking for work… He and my mom, along with hundreds of thousands of other people where greatly impacted by the recession that happened here in the US due to the financial crisis of 08 09. He was out of work and needed to earn money to pay the bills, yet he couldn’t seem to find a job. And, after each interview he felt worse and worse. He work in corporate real estate, so his job didn’t require him to do any physical labor as it was his responsibility to negotiate leases and location for the companies he worked for. So when he was denied employment… the significance he assigned to that fact what that it was because of his leg. He felt the interviewers, some of whom flew him across the country, got one look at his limp and assumed he would not be able to or up to the tasks they would assign him. Now, notice the facts he was working with. He applied for work: fact. He interviewed with various people: fact. He was not hired: fact. There is no disputing the facts… there is only the significance we assign to them. As he continued his story, he told me about applying for work as a young man in local stores or shops in his home town. When he would go into these local businesses and speak to the managers or owners, they would take one look at him and tell him to his face that he couldn’t do the work because he had a bad leg… that they wouldn’t hire him because of it. He continued on telling me he preferred it that way, because in the modern world with the discrimination laws and the ADA laws being what they are, he could never know for sure why an employer wouldn’t hire him. Legally, they couldn’t say “you can’t do the work because of your leg”… and, so as a grown man remembering those people who had shunned him as a little boy, the significance he assigned to not getting work was that his leg and limp caused the decision makers to pass him up. The thing is though… he can never know if the significance he assigned to these events is actually true. He may have been passed over, because there were other candidates that were more qualified or who may have had closer ties to the markets they were seeking to fill. So as man who needed to provide for his wife and pay the bills, and as the savings dried up, and things got harder and harder he clung to that idea the he wasn’t going to get work because of his leg. So rather than seek ways to make himself more valuable to the marketplace and learning to way to bill himself as an expert, he effectively externalized his failure based on a story he made up about not being hireable. This made him a victim of his own making. The significance he assigned to the facts kept him fearful and worried… and how could they not? Because his story was one in which he had no control. The significance we assign to anything we experience GIVES meaning to what we experience. NOT the other way around. Nothing means anything until you give it meaning… until you assign significance. So my question to you is this: Where in your life have you assigned a significance to a set of facts, and then allowed that significance you assigned to create a situation where you see yourself as not having control… as a victim… as someone who has no power to chance their circumstances? Go back and look at the facts. Just the facts and ask yourself if the story you decided to accept as significant is absolutely and 100% true. Can you even know? If the story you chose requires you to know what happened behind closed doors, or it requires to the know the mind of another individual as in the case of all the “isms”… just pick one racism, sexism, etc. Chances are your significance around that topic is just that… YOUR Significance. It does not give you the gift of omniscience. All the great teachers gave us this gift… The most famous example in the way of Jesus was this idea of turn the other cheek when he said. “But whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.” Jesus was teaching this concept. That if someone strikes you or insults you, you get to choose your response based on the significance you assign to the event. Most of us run a story in our heads that says if someone hits me, then I have to get angry and strike back… But what if you don’t get angry… and what if don’t strike back…  What if you have the mastery of self to Do The Hard Thing and keep your cool. De-escalate. Understand that another person lashing out is not about you. What might that look like when you experience what you perceive to be a slight… Someone talking bad about you, or not inviting you to the next night out. How much lighter would you be, if you didn’t carry the weight of a negative story you decided to make up around those facts? Podcast Closing: That’s it for today! Thank you for listening, and if you found value in this message be sure to subscribe on iTunes, Google, Castbox, or Stitcher  | Share this with those you know need to hear it on social | And I’ll see you back here in the next episode | This is Jason Archer signing off | Now… go, and DO THE HARD THING.