How to WIN During Busy Season

28:20I just, this is so good today, by the way, I just want you to know this because it's a hundred percent true. And I believe me, I understand that I'm going to get respect to everybody and get back to them by the end of the day mentality. I did that forever until I just can't anymore. And there needs to be some peace and winding down in your evening as well. It's why I like that four to five window. I don't want to do it at 10 to 11 o 'clock at night because then I'm thinking about your problem while I'm trying to go to sleep. Right. The other thing, one little tiny thing, and then I'll shift to another strategy and throw it back to you, is I have told my friends voice notes are lazy.

28:54So if you're going to leave me a voice note on your phone, a lot of you that have iPhones, it has to be less than a minute or you need to type it. And the reason is is that because what you're doing is you're burdening me with the time you didn't want to take to type me something. So you ever get these seven, eight long voice notes from people and you're like, my God, I, this is, this is insane. This is, this is, it's longer than if we would have just talked. So because you don't want to type out this long message, you're just blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And my phone, I don't know why it interrupts every 40 seconds and stops the message anyway.

29:24And I got to go back to the beginning. So I've told people, they know this. If you send me a six minute long voice note, I say, listen, type it or send it back in one minute or less. I can't think about this. What if someone got 10, five minute long voice notes an hour? That's the entire hour I'm listening to your messages. And so these are just courtesy things you do for one another, but also things like you just manage your time. They got to type it out. I can read that in 10 seconds. The same thing takes three or four minutes to listen to. And every minute counts when you're a high performer, every minute counts in busy season and it's energy and it's focus.

29:58So none of that. All right. I'll give you another strategy for me. I love that. And also I want everyone to hear as you rewind this and listen to earlier, I want you to hear Ed and I's tone because we are in busy season and we receive these things and we feel like we should check in. And the energy that you're hearing from us is going, it's an exasperation, right? It's like, oh, I can't believe I have to deal with this during busy season. And that's what I want you to hear. Internally, that's how you feel. There's an exasperation when you didn't control how much you check in or you didn't teach people how to communicate in busy season, it can really derail you and mess your energy up.

30:35By the way, and you do end up sort of resenting people. Let me tell you why it's also important. About an hour ago, I got a text message, a long typed text message from a mutual friend of yours and mine, but someone I'm closer to than you just happens to be someone I know better than you, but you also know this person. And it was the fact that he loved me and was so grateful for me, and also that his stepfather had just died. And he was thinking about my dad and the experience I had and the things I shared with him about that experience that made it more peaceful for him. Anyway, it was a beautiful message.

31:09And of course, that's something I'm getting back to immediately as I checked it. But the point is, is what if I had 10 other messages that were voice notes in that hour and I missed this really important one? And so we all know this message I'm sending to someone is a level two importance. Every once in a while, there's a level 10 important message. And if you're overwhelming a busy person with the two and three level messages with voice notes, imagine what they're missing and who they can't give to. So it's really a selfish play. And if you really want to give, you really want to contribute, I would recommend that you evaluate how you're depleting other people's time as well.

31:49All right, I'm gonna give you one that's non-negotiable for me in busy season. And that's my physiology. It's my fitness. I actually triple down on my workouts. I triple down on my hydration. I triple down what you were doing this weekend. You and I were talking and you were running around and I was running around and you're like, I'm in the gym right now, brother. I'm getting these guns. And I'm like, I'm in the gym too. It's something that because I'm making deposits and investments in my energy reserves by doing that. And so one thing what most people let go and I have in the past during busy season is, oh, I'm traveling, I'm at a hotel or man, my first meetings earlier than normal.

32:25I'll get around. I won't work out today. It's probably the number one mistake you could make is depleting your own vitality and energy and strength. And that's also something that you've committed to do. And when you can keep one thing that happens in busy season, I think is you feel a loss of sense of control sometimes because there's so many things coming at you and that you've got going on. And working out and hydrating are two promises that you can keep to yourself. And part of self-confidence is a reputation with yourself that you keep the promises that you make to yourself. And when you can start a day or at least some point in your day, keep that significant promise to your longevity, your vitality, your strength, your wellness, your fitness, your cosmetic appearance even.

33:10You've done something to make an investment in yourself that'll give you the confidence, the strength, and the energy to persevere through the busy season. And that's the, it's an easy thing on that schedule. We go hardcore delete, right? Ruthless deleting. The easy one is like, take from myself. I just won't serve me. I won't work out today. And it's one of the biggest mistakes you can make. So right now I'm actually training harder. And by the way, maybe I won't be training longer during busy season, but I'm going to train every single day. So when I'm not busy, maybe I do get 90 minutes in the gym, or maybe when I am busy, it's going to be 40, but I'm in there.

33:45I've made the commitment. I've gotten dressed. I've sweated. I've had my heart exerted. I've pushed some heavy things around and I feel a sense of accomplishment and energy and the endorphins and the dopamine and all this stuff I've done. It's the number one thing other than my spirituality, which I'm going to talk about in a minute. It's the number one thing I can physically do is to maintain my strength and physiology during busy season and not let that go. Letting that go is like giving kryptonite to the Superman or superwoman that you are not working out, not hydrating is giving yourself a dose of kryptonite during the busy season of your life.

34:23And you will get weaker and weaker and weaker, feel worse and worse about yourself. And so during busy season, be more disciplined with your nutrition right busy season a lot of you that you travel you're having out more restaurant dinners if that's what you do more just nothing better than going out to a restaurant a business dinner let everybody else eat bad and you're like i'll have the chicken or the fish you know or like like just like and you just did something at that table nobody i i'm nuts but i get off on going i worked out today and i know these other guys didn't yes they're gonna eat this butter cake at mastro's afterwards and i am on the damn i'm on the steak and broccoli thing over here.

34:59It may sound crazy, but it actually makes me feel like I've made an investment in myself. It makes me feel good. And there's nothing like walking in a room and just feeling good. I got a good pump. I got a good workout. And I feel like I've done something, man, that can carry you so far. And so it should be a non-negotiable for you during busy season is your physiology. So key. I'll add a phrase that everyone can write down the 72 hour energy rule. your energy right now is not a reflection of your morning routine your energy right now is not a reflection of your mindset your energy right now is not usually a reflection of even what happened today we're biological specimens most of the physical energy we have right now including our digestion is a result of the last 72 hours what did i eat three days ago is driving my energy just as much now as anything else?

36:00What did I work out like yesterday is impacting me right now just as much as anything else? We can in the moment do things, but the problem is, again, we're talking about busy season. In busy season, if we wait every day for that good behavior and all get back to it, we're screwed. I'll give the example because and I both work with athletes. If you're working with an Olympian, an NFL player, somebody who's got to be on the field and win, they don't get up and do good habits that morning. They're so obsessed about the three days leading into it. And most people don't even know they're, like athletes just fall into that rhythm because they've learned it naturally.

36:43The best athletes I've ever worked with absolutely know it. The conditioning they do in the three days prior to the game is way more important to them. They fall into that. And so in busy season, what I always do is I look out three days. I'm like, what's the energy I need during that meeting on that day? And I literally start crafting my conditioning for that. I'll give an example. In my busy season, I had a big negotiation last week. And I knew it was coming up. And it was going to be really stressful. And so the more stress you have to have, the more you can imagine you have. It's weight. There's weight on your shoulders.

37:23and everything we know from mental health is if you will go do weight bearing activities, which of course everyone knows Ed does to the max, right? It's like you have to lift heavy objects to deal with the stress. And if you can do it in advance, literally the days in advance of stressful moment, you'll find like, wow, I feel better because that heavy weight bearing activity, that's loading up the good hormones in the gas tank, right? You're, you're preparing and conditioning. So I want you to always think what I eat today, what I drink today, how I move today, how I sleep today, I'm preparing for three days from now.

38:04It's why like, if even my friends, everyone knows, like if Ed and I go out and we have some wine, we're only having wine. Cause I know the next day I don't have to do anything. And I will never have wine. If I have a busy next day, I can't do it. Like I'm not somebody, some people can do it. I cannot. I'm a mess. Last time we had wine, the next day I was like, man, I'm glad I didn't plan nothing. It wasn't that long ago, by the way. It was about a week ago. I know that next morning too. Trust me. So I really want people to understand you are conditioned. Don't think about just today. Think about three days from now.

38:37That's important. So important. And by the way, one thing I've noticed with you lately, I mean, you've always been fit and lean, but you are taking lifting heavy things more seriously now. One thing about Brandon, I'll tell you guys just so that you know this personally. He has an amazing ability to bring an energy to an environment. Actually, like no one I've ever met. One thing he's very conscious of, and I think this is a key during busy season too, is to be monitoring the energy you're bringing. I would say you do a better job of that than me. I think once in a while with me, I think you can tell, you know, like I'm in a difficult season, as you know, in some areas of my life, too.

39:18And I think sometimes you can tell, not often, but sometimes. In your case, you cannot. Brendan brings an energy. He's very, and I believe you're conscious of it, too. I'll let you speak to it. But there's an enthusiasm and an energy, not just when you go out on a stage, but like right when the Zoom camera comes on. It's not like, hey, man, what's up? It's immediately energy. His if he does leave you a video or a voice note, they're usually under a minute. And they're also there's an energy to it. In other words, I think you're the best controller, user of energy that I've ever met in my life.

39:56Wow. The way you reserve it for yourself and that you give it to other people. And I have to think for you that that's got to be one of your keys as you navigate every season of your life. But are you even more conscious of your energy? I'm talking about not just how you feel, but what you're giving energetically to people during that season. Because it's very easy to say the same words during busy season. Right. But it just doesn't hit like it does when you're in the season that's not quite so chaotic, if that makes any sense. Yes. I think it's, for me, it's two things. One, the philosophy of joyful service.

40:33My schedule is busy. Thank God. God put all these opportunities in front of me. I was a poor kid from Montana, and I get to work with this person. I get to be on this stage. I think that's amazing. I also think that our legacy is a function of how we make people feel. And so I don't want to make people feel bad. I want people, when they leave me, they feel lifted. They feel energized. They see they feel like wow he saw me he heard us and that honoring and respecting of them and their energy is like i want to be an energy addition to people's lives not a subtraction you're you're the best ever at it bro like i i mean it like we all know we all know people that are great i'm just telling you the best at that i think most people at no brendan would say this too and one of my tips is what you just said i was going to add it so let's go back and forth on that yeah it's a perspective of the season yeah this took me many years but man this this little phraseology difference you've heard before perhaps but I want you to all ponder this I have to do this or I get to do this and I'm telling you that seems like I am not a corny hokey phrasey guy right I'm just not that guy but I'm going to tell you many many days in this season I'm in right now, I'm like, I get to do this.

41:54What a privilege, what an honor it is that I remember when nobody wanted to meet with me. I remember my biggest problem is I couldn't get a meeting, right? I get to do this. And inside of that, I always kind of tell myself, and everything's going to be okay. And this may sound really subtle, but like, there's a pressure that builds up when you have a lot to do. And you actually start worrying and projecting about events and meetings that haven't even happened yet. So the two little things I do, sometimes you just wake up because you're in that different brainwave state where it's like your worry state.

42:27You're like, my day. Yes. And I'll immediately just go, everything's gonna be okay. Yeah. Okay, it's all gonna work out. And I get to do this. I get to do this. And it seems small and subtle. But man, if you can begin to say, like right now, we're like, let's create some content today. Bro, we got to do, this is so freaking good. Like this is going to be one of these masterclasses people listen to in four years. We didn't know we're going to have magic like this, right? Like we get to do this. Like, and so you get to be busy. You get to have this beautiful family. Even the challenges you have, you get to have these challenges because on the other side of them, you're going to learn so damn much.

43:08You're going to do so much data and information and understanding so many breakthroughs, even if the things feel like failures and they don't go the way you want, that will serve you. Do you know how many hundreds of millions of dollars I've made in my life from the knowledge extracted from massive failures during previous busy seasons? Nice. Like, they weren't failures. Like, they felt like I didn't close the deal. I lost the account. I didn't get, and I'm like, I'm busy and I lost. No, I actually extracted so much information. I didn't know it at the time. But now that I'm 52, I can tell you all this.

43:47It's all good. It's all gravy. It's all going to work out. It's just going to work out in this meeting. But you're going to get information or the win. You're going to get better or the win. And you get to do it. And when you start to approach your life, like I'm further down the lifeline than most of you, fortunately and unfortunately. I can just tell you, that's how it works. And the other thing is, this season, if you're in it, no matter how chaotic it might feel, you're growing so damn much. It's unbelievable. the amount of growth you're going through right now, the amount of changing. And usually when you're really, really growing, I don't think it always feels like it.

44:27Sometimes it just feels like pain. Sometimes it just feels like chaos. Sometimes it just feels like you're out of control. Sometimes it feels like you're just spinning your wheels. You're just not me. You're just running in circles on the treadmill. That's not what's happening. You are growing in emotions, in knowledge, in data, in your ability to communicate, in your ability to deal with things, your emotional maturity is growing in ways you can't even measure right now. You get to do this and there's massive upside from what you're going through right now. And now you can embrace what's happening in a way that it's not so burdensome to you.

45:02It's not so, I think of Jesse Lee, Brendan, and maybe this is cryptic, but I do think of these things on days like this. Like today's a busy day, busy day for me, busy day for you. And many of you know, I used to coach Jesse Lee Ward, who's recently passed away. She's been on my show. Brendan knew her as well. And this may sound an odd thing to say, but I have thought this many days. Jesse Lee would love to have this day I have right now. Exactly. She doesn't get to have another one of these days where I get to engage with you and see people. What a blessing it is that I'm here. Right. What do you think Jesse Lee would give to have a meeting today with 10, 15 different people and 10, 15 different meetings and another one tomorrow and another one tomorrow and bless her heart.

45:47She's in heaven. She's in a better place than we are, but in the physical realm of things, what she would have been given that last day of her life when she was taking her final 30 breaths, what would she have given for another day? That preciousness of life. the preciousness, the blessing of it. And so perspective is everything on this season. Oh my gosh. You complimented me earlier on my energy and everyone's listening to this as I have a cold and I've been on the road and I'm like, oh, maybe not my best representation. And the philosophy that comes from, you know, the car accident that I was in that gave me that gift of, I call it mortality motivation is like when you're motivated by the fact that you have life, you show up through that in a different way than when it feels like you have to carry the burdens of life, but rather you are lifted by life and the opportunity of it.

46:43And I teach people all this time, you have to create phrases in your own mind to get yourself in that place. Like the phrases I have is, you know, the power plant doesn't have energy. It generates energy. It's my biggest dominant metaphor in my entire life. The power plant, what it does is it takes energy from one utilization, one source. And then what it does is it transforms it into a higher utilization and it transmits it. So what I do is I recognize in most places I go in my life, including this event I was recently at where everyone was down, they were discouraged, they were disheartened, their business wasn't going great.

47:20I know I'm walking in there and the energy is low. I know that I can be the power plant. I can take that low energy and I can build it and transform it and transmit it into a higher utilization. The power plant doesn't have energy, it generated it. I don't have energy today. I'm tapping into something and I'm generating a higher utilization. So good, Brenda. The other phrase I have is bring the joy. So if, if, if, if, you know, Ed calls me and says, Brenda, I'm coming to your house. What kind of wine do you want me to bring? What do you want me to bring? I go, Ed, bring the joy. That's all I want in my life is people show up with joy and happiness and authenticity and spontaneity.

48:02And so I teach myself that literally I have bracelets and shirts that say, bring the joy. That's like it. I'm conditioning my mind all the time. Oh yeah. Joy. And last thing I'll say this is, and I've coached everybody and I can tell you after a person has safety and sustenance and some success, no matter what that is, you know, in the U S call it 40 grand a year, even everything beyond that, when you actually get down to it, what do people want? What do they really desire? I can tell you the first thing that they always desire is more aliveness. They want to feel life again. They want a sense of aliveness to it and a sense of spontaneity or pop or creativity or joy or passion, what would be called the positive range of emotions.

48:50And so what if you knew what everybody on the planet wanted? Would you live an abundant life? Would you be an abundant entrepreneur? I know what everybody in the world wants. They want more aliveness. They want more aliveness in their intimate relationships. They want more aliveness in their passion. They want more aliveness at work. And so I try to bring life. And that's why I believe that the world is rewarded. So many of my actions is like, oh, this kid's bringing energy in. I'm bringing life into situations. And I believe that life is celebrated. God gave us life, our promises life, our promises ever after life, if you believe in that type of faith.

49:33And so I go, oh, I knew I would be wealthy the rest of my life when I figured out what people want is aliveness. And I can bring a little bit of that. What a gift. Still good. Brendan, that is absolutely awesome. And that would be my last point. And then I'll let you conclude things. For me, you hit on it, which was during that season of my life, my faith life needs to be at the forefront. And so I know, without being personal, like this is an area of life that you're growing tremendously in right now and exploring and loving about your life. And, and I am as well. But for me, the last time during the last point for me during the season would be to be connecting with your higher power, because that's where your power comes from.

50:15So if you do want to plug into something that can give you supernatural energy, yes, Holy spirit type discernment. If you believe in the quantum, which you and I both also believe in the quantum field where you can vibrate at the highest possible frequency, you've got to give yourself the gift. For me, it's meditation. That's where I plug into the, the, the energy field. That's where I empty my mind. That's where I give myself, you know, the gift of stillness and that's important. And then my prayer life as a Christian, in my case, me asking for discernment and wisdom and blessing and comfort.

50:49And I don't always ask God to make things better. I prayed most recently for him to help me be better. And so, and, and, and for me, that's the time where I get the most comfort. I draw on my faith during this time. I found that my faith has grown the most during the most chaotic and busy seasons of my life. ironically. I think you find peace and stillness, but oftentimes we uncover the depths of our faith during chaos. Because for me, I've reached the conclusion in my life that I'm not capable just on my own, that I do need to rely on something greater than me. And that reliance becomes more and more important to me during times where I do feel overwhelmed and where I feel like I don't, you can have every technique and tactic in the world, but at the end of the day, I need a blessing.

51:43I need grace. I need peace. And so for me, that's a, it's just easy when you're busy to let your schedule get away, to let your fitness and hydration, to let your energy, right. To let those things get away, to, to let your perspective, to let God get away. And these are times, I think what we're both saying is bring these things closer. yes that's how you not only survive during this time but you thrive and your point bro like one of the things i love about you is you know i do try to when i'm feeling helpless i try to get helpful and one of the great role models in my life for that is you like you're just always giving to people the one things you do i want to say this last because we both did this today too but like you give to people with no expectation of anything in return the law of reciprocity is really powerful law but at the same time then there's people that almost rise above the law of reciprocity.

52:35And they're like, I just give, I just give. And if it's reciprocated, that's wonderful, but that's not why I'm giving. And it's one of the things that I, I admire most about you brother. And I would be remiss if I didn't say that in, in today, like this has been magic, bro. And we're just rifting today. Yeah, this has been amazing. So I'll let you finish up with whatever your final thought was, but my final thought would be your faith in your, your spiritual life. Thank you. Well, I reflect back that exact same thing. I mean, my spiritual life began standing on the crumpled hood of a car bleeding out in the Dominican Republic when I thought I was going to die at 19.

53:12And I felt God's grace and God's gift of a second chance at that moment, standing there. I knew I would be okay. I felt that spirit enter and I was like, you're gonna be okay. And I looked up at the moon that night and I just thought, I want to earn this life. I want to earn it. It wasn't just a thank you, God. It was like, gosh, I want to earn this. I want to do, thank you for this second chance. I want to do something good with it. And I know that I'd like to reflect back a gratitude towards you as well, that if I can bring a lot of energy to the world, I think that's great. You bring so much mentorship and wisdom.

53:50I don't think people realize how much you could go do other things, but you choose to, you know, give your message out for free on podcasts and Instagram. And you've made all this incredible success and discernment in your life that you share so openly. And as we're in busy season, my hope for you too is this last point I have, which is do daily, if not hourly, intensity checks. I'm going to give some people language here. An intensity check is, you know, if you've ever worked with the NFL and the quarterbacks in the huddle, there's an intensity of the tone that's about to happen that is very important.

54:30The pregame, you know, locker room talk, there's an intensity check that has to happen there. And throughout the days when we're busy and we're solopreneurs, we're solo out there, we forget to check in on our own intensity. And we get really fired up about something. And then we're drained three hours later because we didn't check. Is that the intensity that's appropriate for that thing? And the way that high performers get over this is in two ways. Number one is mastering the pit stop. I always say this, the high performance race car doesn't need the pit stop. It can actually do the entire race without a pit stop.

55:06It takes the pit stop to prevent the wreck and the burnout later. So that high-performance race car coming into the pit stop, where it's refueled, checked, calibrated, it gives the driver a second to calibrate. Even the driver literally gets like seconds. But it's a recalibration for them. It's a recalibration of the car. So the car can go longer, faster, and win more because it took the pit stop. When you're in busy season, you better find those pit stops. And it's got to be daily. It can be your daily prayer, your daily meditation, your daily time in the gym, your daily time in the sauna, your daily time for a long walk at the end of the night, which I highly recommend for every high performer in the world.

55:49Go out, get some darkness on your body, just like in the morning, go out and get some sunlight on your body. At night, there's an end of the day. Go for a walk at the end of the day. Let that dark set on you. You'll sleep better. And you'll calibrate to the time zone of the night. and you'll downshift into a different time. It's like a little pit stop at the end of the day. But I take pit stops throughout the day. It's important for me to maintain. I might just, you know, at the top of every hour, you'll see me, I usually hit the floor and do some vinyasa flows to open up my body, my flexibility, my energy.

56:22So pit stop, find your pit stops throughout the day by checking on your intensity. And the last thing is, is you have to learn in busy season to master the downshift. you got to learn to downshift your energy you can't bring that intensity to dinner table she won't like you you can't bring that intensity to the kids they'll freak out you can't bring that intensity to the team when you're in busy season you're you're you're kind of keyed up you're at a different level you've got to downshift so that you don't run over people you've got to downshift so you can slow to their speed and not ever be bitter that they're not at the speed you're at.

57:05So a lot of people in busy season, they get really mad at their family. Well, she doesn't understand. He doesn't understand. It's like, they're in a different race than you are. You're in a different race right now. You got a downshift. So before you come into the house, sit in the car, close your eyes for three minutes, do a release meditation or a prayer, set your intention for how you're going to go in the house. That's the downshift before you walk in the house. Go in the other room, lay on the ground, repeat the word release to yourself, release all the tension before you go to dinner. Before you make that big business decision, take the 30 minutes before it and downshift your energy from the intensity and get in that place of wisdom, of peace, of spirit, of just higher intention.

57:53because if you don't downshift, I promise you will just run over everybody and everything and you won't realize it because you're keyed up in busy season. It's something that's such an important practice for my high performers. So I just want to give you that language to learn to master the downshift. Brother, unbelievable conversation today. Like I am so grateful for you. Like all time epic conversation. So good. Just so you know, Brendan's going to be doing this with me every single month. And if you want to get more information like what he and I are doing today from ourselves and a bunch of other people on about every topic you could think of under the sun and get technology, journaling, apps, accountability programs, all kinds of other stuff.

58:32You need to be in Growth Day. So if you go to growthday.com forward slash ed, growthday.com forward slash ed, you can be in there with Brennan and all the other great leaders in there, myself every single day of your life, getting Monday motivations, talks, technology, software, information on every topic under the sun, from the best of the best. It's just literally the only place like it in the world. You can get Brendan and I in there every single day and a ton of other thought leaders and influencers as well. Brendan, thank you for the day, brother. Just an unbelievable session. I'm gonna listen to this one myself 10 times as a reminder from both sides.

59:11Me too. All right, everybody. God bless you. Max Out for Life. This is the Ed Milet Show.

59:24We'll be right back.