So I was a district manager and one of my co workers had went to work for a coaching company. He was always on me like, Man, I'm telling you here, this is what you do. You know, what we talk about is literally, this is how you talk to people. This is how you listen to people that you need to be doing it. I'm telling, you know, I had, okay. And then yeah, and I'm like this is. So I knew that a coach is one of the things I'll be calling to, because I'd be
out. And I would just strike up a conversation with somebody and this person will start telling me all about his business. It happens on a regular basis, where I'm in the Verizon store, getting my phone looked at, and the guy's telling me, you know, I got this business on the side, and I got a partner, what do you think I should do and blah, blah, blah. So I think that's definitely something I feel like I'm called to do.
This is The MindShift Podcast where we share real stories, real strategies that will help you find real success. This is the place to hear from people just like you who have taken their ideas, goals and dreams from a point of inspiration to realization, or when life knock them down from a point of breakdown, to breakthrough. I'm your host, Darrell Evans. Let's get started with today's episode.
What's going on my friend, welcome to another episode of The MindShift Podcast. For those of you who are first time listeners, my name is Darrell Evans, I'm really excited to have you here. So if you're a first time listener, or if you are a returning listener who has not subscribed to the show yet, what are you waiting on? Do me a favor, hit the subscribe or follow button right now, wherever you're listening to the show, so that you never miss an
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you here. Lastly, if you're not a part of the MindShift Community, head over to mindshiftcommunity.com. To learn more, that's our free global community of listeners and aspiring entrepreneurs who get to connect and collaborate outside of the show. That's mindshiftcommunity.com. again, that is free. But don't do that. Now. It's time to ship your mind so you can ship your results. My guest today is Eric Twix. He is a founding partner and president of the what now
movement. He's the author of the discipline of now 12 practical principles to overcome procrastination, where he provides a proven blueprint. Are you ready to beat procrastination, anybody out there struggling with procrastination. He does this now so you can make more money, get more done, and feel more confident. What I love about Eric is he is a certified life and business coach who has conducted listen to this over 28,000 coaching sessions. Let's just say he's not a rookie. He's
helped leaders. He's helped entrepreneurs. He's helped executives who have moved from feeling frustrated to finding true fulfillment. His mission is to build high performing entrepreneurs, authors and career professionals who are prepared for life's unexpected curveballs. Eric Eric, how you doing? Welcome to the Mind Shift podcast.
Hey, I am Fantastic. Thank you for having me on your show.
It's gonna be fun, man. We're gonna get to talk about an ailment that plagues quite a few leadership and entrepreneurial folks, myself included. So I'm excited to have you here and unpack this conversation around procrastination. But before we jump into the nitty gritty details, where are you joining us from?
I am joining you from Clinton, Maryland. I'm 20 minutes from Washington DC.
Okay, okay. We're a good couple football throws away from each other over here in Vegas. A lot of football throws. Erica, introduce yourself to our audience. Give us a little bit about your background. And we'll set this thing up.
Yes, I am your procrastination prevention partner. I'm the author of the discipline of now. And I'm the host of the 30 minute hour podcast. And I help entrepreneurs and executive leaders to ditch their excuses to beat procrastination. So they make more money, get more done and feel more confident.
Man, I was really crisp, I like that. So I just have to jump on in and get right to the nitty gritty let's define procrastination.
So procrastinating is when you are delaying or putting off until Later, what you really should be doing now, that's just the most fundamental definition of procrastination. Why do we do that? Why do we do that? There's a lot of reasons. But I'll tell you this, the fundamental reason there's some level of discomfort, that that's like the root of all procrastination, there's some level of discomfort you have with the pending task. Now, it could be as simple as you just don't like doing it, right.
Like, it'd be like filing your taxes, I just don't look forward to filing my taxes, I just don't look forward to going to the dentist. So it just could be. So so that's considered task aversion, right, you just don't like the task. So it's just much easier to put it off. Or it could be something that's going to move you forward, something aspirational. So it could be writing a book, launching a podcast, getting that next job plan for promotion. And there's
some theory you have. And a lot of times when you're moving forward, you start hearing the voices in your head, trying to talk you out of it. So it could be that But the big thing that's needed. And one of the things that I provide with my book is awareness. Because the bottom line is I've yet to meet a person who just procrastinate on everything. But people say, oh, Eric, oh, I always procrastinate. Now, if you really play the tape back,
there's a pattern. There's certain things you'd like when you're at home with the family, you may be on it. But when it comes to certain aspects of your business, that's when you start putting things off. So the key is really heightening your awareness.
It's a really good point, right? understanding where you are in the moment and catching yourself, that is really the point of change, right? I mean, you got to become aware of something, and then accept that you're doing it. So I jokingly say that I'm a big procrastinator, I literally call myself that. And someone said to me, and I'm gonna see if you see it this way, this person said to me, Darrell, you keep saying
you're a procrastinator. But in the times when you've deemed yourself a procrastinator, have you ever produced less than your high quality of standard of work in that example? And I said, Well, not that I can think of she goes in any other time that you were procrastinating or calling yourself procrastinating? Have you ever let someone down when you had an obligation? And we went down this series of several questions, and I thought it was one of the best pieces of
coaching in this area. And so she said, just because you perhaps wait to the last minute or in your mind, you're procrastinating and the world tries to say all the sayings like, well, if you're 10 minutes early, you're actually late and all these other types of things. What is your take on these different levels of peak performance? Because that's what you code? What's your perspective on different levels of peak performance as relates to procrastination?
Yeah, so first off, I think we have to be careful not to confuse prudence with procrastination, right? Just because you're not doing something doesn't mean you procrastinate. Oh, you know, I think like, for example, talking about peak performance. So there is a time for recovery. Right? Yes. And yes, if you want to really be at your best, you need to understand the time that you should really be in recovery
mode. And then when you come out of recovery, now your energy cycle is back and you can do what you need to do. There is a time for planning and doing research, right? Just Just for example. So the person who doesn't just quit their job tomorrow and start their own business, that doesn't mean that they're procrastinating just because I don't leave my job and say, Okay, I'm just gonna jump in full time. I'm in the planning phase, that wouldn't be
prudent. Right, so so we need to know the difference between prudence and procrastinate. Now, having said that, I like that. There is a point where you have done the necessary research. And you're still saying, Well, you know, yeah, I need to research that can be people that have been done the research, but I got to do more research, right? Yeah, I've got people that have been researching their book for five years, but that's where it's starting to become
procrastination. I think the key is, you have to know the difference between what is prudence and what is, you know, okay, you have the necessary information. And here's the thing to the steps don't have to be big, right? Just because if you're going to write a book, you know, the first step can be very small. The first step can be calling a mentor, who's already written several books, that counts. So that's really the best way to think about that.
You know, it's interesting to me, because you just brought up another pain point for me, and that's writing books. I can't tell you how many people have told me I need to write some books. I've been an entrepreneur for almost 30 years, different businesses, whatnot. And I know I need to get there. But let me ask you this question. When did you write your first book?
So I wrote my first book, it was an E book actually was called One moment in time preparing your life for your defining moment is actually still my website back in 2013 when I wrote that, but then my actual first paperback book was the discipline of now, I wrote that in 2017. That's when it got published. Got it. It took me a while, it took me a lot longer because of procrastination. That was a big part of it. Right? It took me several years longer than it really should have.
Because it's a one other thing. If you're writing a book, it's very easy to want to write an edit at the same time. Right? You think, okay, what's got to be perfect? That's what I was thinking, Oh, you know, this doesn't sound right. And so took me a while to learn that sometimes you just have to get your ideas out on paper, no matter how crazy it sounds, and then go back and edit.
Yeah, I've heard that I've been through all the training, like, that's exactly, you know, just write, don't edit, there's actually a really interesting tool out there software product called ILY s Comm. And what happens is you right into this screen, and every character you type disappears immediately. And the creators of the tool, created it for the reason that you cannot go backwards and edit. If you hit backspace, you get a buzzer, it's designed for you to just
keep moving forward. And I thought it was an interesting little tool. And I have been playing with it. Although I'm not playing with it every single day. I want to ask you, you've got a very interesting statistic in my research, and that is you've conducted in excess of 28,000, coaching consultations, come on, man, wait a min man 28 what you don't take time off, you don't take vacations, 28,000. That sounds like...
A lot of that was with coaching company where literally every day I would have 10 to 15 clients entrepreneur that I would work with back to back to back to back to back to back to back. So that the over 28,000 coaching sessions is really what helped me to see the patterns, right. I saw people that were getting great results, I could see their habits. And I saw people that are getting pretty good results. And so here's what's interesting,
right? So surprisingly enough, the people that get the great results, and the people that get the good results. A lot of times they know a lot of the same things. They have a similar level of know how, but the difference between the good and the great is the great they just had this ability to do those things they needed to do, even when they didn't feel like it.
Yeah, I couldn't agree with that more. I mean, same perspective been running businesses now last 10 years, specifically coaching 1000s of companies through this idea of transition their marketing and sales acquisition online from
offline. In my company, I say that one of the differentiators is doing the reps like it isn't more information on YouTube, it isn't more information in an online course, it isn't even necessarily the next book, although you can see from behind me and I know you've probably got a shelf of books yourself. It isn't necessarily some game changing new idea you already know what to do. But are you willing to do the work long after you committed to doing it?
Speaking of which, next topic, cuz I heard, we have a similar phrase that we use about this. tell everybody what your superpower is, at least as I heard it described on one of your shows,
Discipline?
Yep.
Yeah, I think I have this ability to form habits and just do certain things to the point where it just becomes like tying your shoelace, or just becomes like brushing your teeth. And I have to think about it. I think it's a gift that I have. But having said that I do believe that discipline can be developed as well.
You know, I'm glad you brought that up. Because I agree, I knew we agreed on a lot of things, just having done some background research, discipline. So when you say it can be learned and developed, let's talk about I want to pick apart 28,000 coaching sessions of breakthroughs, right? Because what I always say and I'm sure you would agree, is that you'd have to be almost an idiot to not see some common patterns and some common threads both on the
success and failure side. And so on the show, I'd like to talk about, you know, key strategies that help people go from inspiration to realization. And when, of course, life knocks us down how to go from break down to break through. And then we can let's bake it in around this topic of procrastination. But let's talk about the good to the Great, let's talk about the great, so the great have the discipline, they do the work.
Why are the great ones willing to do the work long after they made the commitment and the decision because the work is still the work for the person who's good average port or super successful? What are you? What have you seen?
Well, I think they just understand that it you have to have what they call that bias for action. Like the people, for example, like the high level people that I've been around, but like we can go to a conference. And let's say during the Saturday session, they listen to the speaker and the speaker gives them three great ideas. You better believe on Monday. They are implementing those great ideas The first thing when they get back in the office whereas others Oh, yeah,
that was good. Yeah, I'm gonna do that. Uh huh. Yeah. It's so that's the difference. And that's that discipline of now, they have kind of what I like to call a short, little short window between intention and action. Wow, say that, again, little space, a window between intention and actually taking action is short, that space is short.
Is there something about that person's goals mindset? You know, because I agree. Because there are people that will just say it was a good idea. But then they'll talk themselves into why it isn't good enough for them that minute, which goes back to that whole discipline now, which is just a perfect name for the book. Because you can say you have discipline and like you said, You've got discipline a
lot of different areas. But why do I don't understand why people get plagued when they say that they want one thing, or they say they want this thing? They then get the information, as you said, informations available, whether they paid for it, it was free and raised, whatever it may be? What are they afraid of? And I want to talk a little bit about the fear because you said they don't do it, either because
it's uncomfortable? Or maybe there's some fear, but what is it that really holds people back in this area have taken action?
Well, I think it's a couple of things, like I said, so a lot of times when you're trying to get to that next level, that's when you start hearing those voices talk to you. And I think everybody experiences that to a degree that you experienced that resistance. And sometimes resistance is in your head, a lot of times called the lizard brain, because it's your you know, your brain is trying to
protect you. And so if you say I'm going to start my own business, all of a sudden, you're going to get these thoughts about what what if this happens, or what would it get? Could you handle this, but that's natural, that's your brain trying to protect you. But some people can't get past that. They just listen to that, and they stop. So then sometimes you are surrounded by people that are trying to talk you out of
your thing. And that's why you really have to be careful with and I've just found that it's never, if anybody's talking me out of doing something aspirational. It's never anybody like you, right? It's never that the entrepreneur has got a podcast that's in the arena. It's always the person is not doing those things, right?
Sitting on a couch, couch critics.
Right, it's normally the couch critic, so it's very easy to give in to the couch critics is easy to give in to what your mind is telling you. But some of the I think the high performers have worked through a lot of that. And the other thing with the high performers, they tend to have mentors.
True.
Like, you know, I have my podcast that 30 minute an hour, and my co host and I time somebody brings up the word mentor, we just look at each other. Because every it's the people that we have that are really killing it, they always bring up that word that, hey, it's all about mentorship, I've got a mentor. And so that that
helps, too. Because you know, your mentor, if you say, Hey, I'm trying to get this 100 million dollar company, and he's got a $200 million company, he's like, Hey, you can definitely do it.
And not only that, I think there's another word in here that we'll throw in there. And that is accountability. Because when you pick up a mentor, whether it's paid, whether it's someone that's, again, maybe that's just this aspirational mentor, where someone's 200, you're trying to get to 100. If they've given you some advice, the doers take that advice seriously. And they respect that person's time because they realize the person didn't just make that conversation up or make that
idea up. It's a great point. And I think that also goes back to this idea of discipline. And maybe we'll hear about this in the framework that we're going to talk about inside your book. But I want to ask you a little bit about the again, going back to these 28,000 coaching sessions. Is there a common if there's a listener right now? Who is a procrastinator, who hasn't reached their goals and dreams who have set some aspirations and somehow they feel stuck? Coming out of those
28,000 coaching sessions? Is there one piece of advice? We've maybe touched on it, but and if it's reiterating the same piece? That's fine. Is there one distinguishing characteristic or trait or factor that could help them get unstuck today?
Yeah, I think taking ownership is critical. I mean, I think you have to work off of this idea that everything that happens is your fault. You always have to believe that. So the people that I have, that I've worked with that just struggle, that will say that they're at the other end of the spectrum, you know, you have the good you have the great people that have had the opposite in I would say if there was a common trait. It's like, it's a victim mindset. You know, I talked to
them, it's never them. It's the economy. It's the area. It's the pandemic. It's the president is the vice president.
Right.
It's never them. And that's a common trait. And I've found that until they get out of have that mindset, it's going to be hard for them to move forward. I can train them. But if they just believe that these outside forces working against them that they don't have any control, what is called is called a locus of control.
The people that are successful, they feel like they have this locus of control, they control their destiny, where the people who just constantly struggle feel like the universe is conspiring against them.
That's a tough word, man, when you own up to responsibility at the level that you described, and I'm not sure many understand what you said it in easy words. But when you look at a situation and you say, whatever happens, it's all my fault. But there's 12 other people on the team, but whatever happens, it's all my fault. It's a different level of leadership. It's a different level of focus.
I mean, you think about some of the great athletes, Michael Jordan, you know, he didn't just come in to become a great athlete and just didn't come in there to perform. He came in to elevate a whole team, a whole franchise, a Kobe, Bryant, and these kind of characters in different aspects of sports. It's an easy analogy for me,
because I played sports. It's one of the what I think is one of the best analogies to success in life is the commitment, the discipline to do things outside of norm, to not just become good, but to become great legendary, even in some cases. What got you into coaching originally?
Well, it's interesting. So I was a district manager and I had 17 locations. I have 500 employees.
What kind of business was that?
Automotive service?
Okay. Okay.
Yeah. So I was a district manager, and one of my co workers had went to work for a coaching company, where he was always on me like, Man, I'm telling you here, this is what you do. You know, what we talk about is literally, this is how you talk to people. This is how you listen to people that you need to be doing it. I'm telling you, right now I had, okay. And then yeah, and I'm like this is. So I knew that a coach is one of the things I'll be calling to,
because I'd be out. And I would just strike up a conversation with somebody and this person will start telling me all about his business. It happens on a regular basis, where I'm in the Verizon store, getting my phone looked at, and the guy's telling me, you know, I got this business on the side, and I got a partner, what do you think I should do? and blah, blah, blah. So I think that's definitely something I feel like I'm called to do.
I love the word called, I think sometimes we take jobs. And sometimes we get enough experience until we find that core set of natural ability that just fits into a natural flow of your rhythm. So I love
that calling. And, you know, I'm interested to get your thoughts on, you know, we're coming off the heels of the pandemic, and lockdowns and how did you coach individuals through the pandemic, and I want to take you back to roughly a year ago, when it was all happening, and maybe compare and contrast that to the energy you're sensing. At the time of recording this, we're in
the spring of 2021. So talk to me a little bit about your thoughts on what you saw then and how you had to work with people then versus now we're about a year or so from the initial shock.
Yeah, so a lot of people got into speculation mode. My goal during that time was to keep everybody focused on what they could do, keeping them focused on taking action. And so we get on and they would say, Well, what if we never get out of this? Or what if we go into lockdown mode? Wait, what are we gonna do, then? You know, what it was the customers are scared to do this and that, and this
and that. And then after I would counter them and say, Well, what if they came up with a vaccine tomorrow, desperate playing whatever game? Let's go there. Yeah, we don't know that. All we can focus on is what we can do. So my focus was okay. When we talk next time, I want you to tell me the five different things, you did improve business. And that's all I want. But I don't want to hit by any of your speculation. I want to hear about what you did tell me the five different things you
did to improve business. And so when we focus them on the action, that's really what helped us to move, and it's really about pivoting. So that's the other big thing I tried to help people with. It's not about Okay, I'm just gonna sit back and wait until things get back to normal. It's like, Okay, what can you do? Can you get your offering more online? Can you use zoom. There's a lot of different things you can do, instead of just sitting on your heels waiting.
I love it. One core factor of our method here is control the controllables you know, you could sit there and what if the day all day until you blue in the face. And next thing you know, you're barely able to get out the bed. I love that. So I want to break down or at least start to break down some of the principles in the
book. And I think this is a topic whether you're a leader listening to this, whether you're an entrepreneur, whether you're a manager, a parent, look, leadership shows up in a lot of places and a lot of things where procrastination can really just rob you of your dreams, rob you of your goals and aspirations. And so I want to dive into the book and talk about your framework for how to overcome because that's really
the goal, right? We know this thing called procrastination exists, but let's talk and help the people out with a little bit of Your framework on how to overcome this.
One of the things that makes my book different from the other books on the topic of procrastination, overcoming procrastination is the model I created. It's the procrastination prevention pyramid. Right? And so it's got five levels. So as you move up the pyramid, you're on your way to consistently overcoming procrastination. Right? So I mean, I can start talking about the different levels. Yeah, let's talk about what's on level one. Okay. So the first level is
your attitude, right. And I purposely put that at the Foundation, because your attitude is really at the foundation of your success, right? It's all about how you think. And especially for entrepreneurs and business people, it's natural to be negative. Right? If you're trying to solve problems, you're looking at opportunities, you're dealing with issues, but all the studies show that the more pessimistic you are, the more likely you are to procrastinate.
And there's also a study that says that the average person self talk is 80% of the thoughts and negative. If you just sit back and listen to thoughts that come into your mind, it's man, I can't believe he kept me off in traffic, oh, my goodness added added added added, I can not gonna make budget, blah, blah, blah, blah. So it's in our nature to be negative, it's so really, we have to offset this bad habit by replacing it with a better one. And the better one is really focusing on gratitude.
I mean, you really have to be intentional about focusing on the things that you have to be grateful for. So your attitude needs to be right at the foundation of that. And that's why I set the foundation, the pyramid, because if you really consistently think about the things that are going well. So like, for example, have a thing I do with people, I'm working with you, the first thing we're going to talk about is your wins, I'll say tell me about
your wins. And most people, it literally they can't think of anything, right. But then as they start to condition themselves and think about the positive, they'll cut me off, if I don't ask them about the wins, and they have all these things, positive things to talk about. But we're conditioned to think negative. That's why you have to focus on the positive. And that's why attitudes important.
I started smiling. For those that are not watching this on YouTube, you can get over to the YouTube channel. But when he started saying he talked about the winds, and they can't find them initially, it's because I couldn't agree more, we somehow focus so much on the negative. And we just don't count the small victories, like the small victories are necessary. I use sports analogies all the time.
For those who don't like sports, you just have to deal with, you know, in football, for example, you have to get yards to get a first down sure you can throw a hail mary and catch a touchdown. That's cool. That's not gonna help you win games, though. It's like baseball player gets up swinging for the fence every time he gets up. But it's very interesting. You said that because in business and in life, we sometimes just skip right by the small victories. I love that what's on level number two?
the next level is awareness. And that's really like an overarching theme for the book, the first thing you need to be aware of is your power times, right? We all have these energy cycles, like he may be like me, where you're a morning person, where you just got your best energy and your most creativity early. Or you might be a night owl, where you get jazzed up, you know when it's later. So the key is to schedule your high priority activities during those times a day when you have the most
energy. And so it's really about that awareness level, and just kind of scheduling things accordingly. And, like for me, like I am a world champion nap taker.
Oh, wow.
I take naps, because I'm so aware of like my energy cycle. And I find that especially if I'm doing something later in the day, I want to reset my cycle. Right? I've been talking to people all day, and I've been doing webinars and I go eight o'clock at night and have to do a presentation. It may not go as well, just because my energy side but you have to be it's all about awareness. And also be aware of the people that you're
around. You know that some people when you're around them, it's like you just feel this negative energy. They're always telling you why something's not gonna work. And so that's the second and the book. I go in deeper and more examples, though. There are basic things that second level.
I love that awareness idea of taking a nap, I get it, you know, later in the afternoon, and it doesn't matter what your sleep cycle is. But that idea of saying, hey, if I've got work through the evening, and I've got to be sharp at seven, eight o'clock to give a presentation, this power now How long are your power naps?
Usually like 30 minutes.
Okay, see this interesting for me and like I'm on just the opposite side. I just don't even know what I would do. If I lay down for 30 minutes. I'm just not wired that way. But to your point. I'm also not doing presentation eight o'clock at night, but I get it like you've just got to know your body and be aware and it's not just your physical health
but your mental space. You said it earlier, if you've got a task that is going to push you out of your comfort zone, that could also be a thing that's going to challenge your procrastination and your willingness to step in it. So we're going to go up the ladder go up to the third level wasn't a third level?
We talked about attitude, we've talked about awareness. So next is animation. And that's really about just cultivating the energy levels, you know, just really making sure because really not about time management is more about energy management. And so a lot of the highly successful people, they've got this routine of exercise where you getting, you know, at least three days a week, 30 minutes a day, you're getting cardio, just to really make sure that you've got the
right energy levels. And also it could be making sure you're getting the right amounts of sleep, really paying attention to that and tracking it. I mean, I've got a fitness watch, so I can track how much sleep I'm getting. And again, it gets to the point where like, if I don't get a good, I can feel it.
Amen. You're talking about physiology, right? The body, you're really saying that this next level is creating this animation, this energy, and having this mindfulness of where your body and energy lies throughout your day. And I couldn't agree more. And by the way, which fitness watch, do you
I've got Fitbit.
We are in the same page, I got the Versa. I'm not sure if that's a couple of years old. But it is interesting to when you talk about the sleep monitoring. And you know, I always tell people all the time, people say, Oh, you know, it's right. I don't know if it's right. But I do know it's consistent. And so you know, I don't have to have a scale in my bathroom that says it's better than the one up the street, or the better than the one that's
on the shelf at Costco. But if I get on it consistently over a long period of time, it could be off when I get to the doctor's office, but at least I have an awareness of what that number is. Right?
Oh, for sure.
Very great. That's a great point, level four. So I'm assuming we're over the hump now. Right,
we get in there, we get in there. So the next thing is automation, right. And so like this next point, I wish someone would have told me this years ago, right? So just because something has to be done, it doesn't mean that you have to do it. Hopefully, the entrepreneurs that lead people, you're running a business, you really grabbed that. Because a lot of times, we feel like we've got to do everything, we've got
to touch everything. And one of the things with the downside of being a productivity guy is you figure out how to get a lot of things done. And when you figure out how to get a lot of things done, you end up doing a lot. You end up doing a lot, you can, you know not be as productive and burn yourself out and alienate your family and everything else. So it's about creating systems. So certain things that are outside of what's called your zone of genius. You don't have to touch
it, it happens. So one of the things that can be life changing, is bringing on a virtual assistant, your brain on the right virtual assistant. So for me, I don't like the details, like the scheduling and the coordinating and the sending of this. I have a virtual assistant who is great at it. So she handles all those little details. So what you have to think about ways where you can, can you delegate, then you get a virtual assistant, can you use technology to put certain things
on autopilot? It's a mindset. You're not touching everything, you're touching the things that are within your zone of genius.
You know, I love that. So what you're doing is you're taking some of those things off that carry the energy down, that would lead you to procrastinating, and you're delegating and automating. And out of curiosity for the audience. Listening virtual assistant is one, what's one of your top one or two automated tools that you use?
So like just an email, I'll set up my folders will certain things just automatically go into, let's say, you see, see me on an email, you know, I'll go like you can go into Outlook view that most of the email servers do it, you can set it up so that it automatically goes to a folder, so that you can read it later. So anything that's in my inbox, I know that that's something that I need to act on. right then and there.
Yeah, so we got a filtering system.
Yep.
Nice. Are we on the tip of the pyramid?
We're at the top?
Okay, let's see what that is.
That's action. The official name is activity. But I put that at the top because you can't get to the top without taking action.
I like that.
So now you're ready to take action. But we definitely need to recognize that 20% of the things that you do are getting you 80% of your results. The key is you really have to be intentional about the action that you're taking, and making sure that you're doing the things that are going to align with your goal. So I've got thing I do it at the end of every day. I've got a three by five card. I've already got this three by five card on me at all times.
And what do you do with it?
Yes, at the end of the day, I'm writing down My five priorities for the following day. Very important to do this, at the end of the day, it's also very important to write, because when you write, as you probably know, it's making a link to your brain gonna really stick with you more. So I know when I wake up the following day, here are the five critical actions that I need to take, I don't care what happens, these five things need to get done. And so I find, as I'm going through today, don't
want like it's nagging me. And he had to do this. And I find I'm taking action consistently, right, which is really what the top of the pyramid is. But again, it's gonna be hard to get to the action point, if you're in that negative mindset, if you haven't addressed the foundation is not going to work as well for you.
I like the idea of a three by five card. And I do agree, I struggle, writing it down in that kind of format, because we got so many cool tech tools, and app on our phone or these online project management systems and things of that nature. But I do agree with you,
I have a question for you. Would you agree or disagree that if you find that you've got more than five things written down or on your to do list coming into a day that you may not have utilize some of the steps earlier on, which is to automate delegate? And systematize? What do you say to the person who says, you see my to do list I got like 15 things on here? I've got to get done today? What do you say to that person? What have they done wrong?
Well, you have to understand if everything is a priority, nothing is a priority. So you really have to prioritize. I mean, the chances of you getting all 15 things done, are slim. The advantage of five is manageable. You could have other things you write down, but I would prioritize it again, this is just me based off of 20,000 coaching sessions, working with people studying for years, what are the five most
important things, then? Yeah, so if you get done early, I think everybody should always identify the top priorities of things that need to get accomplished.
In regards to those five priorities, do you look at those as tasks or projects, and I'm just thinking about my own day, some days, I have my three to five things that I have to do. But in some cases, they're not just tasks, they're projects. And these projects could take hours and hours. So I sometimes try to limit it to three. Now, other times, I'll have a list of tasks that are, you know, 20 minute, 10 minute, five minute or less tasks. But do you help them distinguish between tasks and
projects? Where projects have maybe multiple steps maybe over multiple days? How do you help them with that,
as a typically, it's usually the task type stuff that I write down, it has to relate to their goal, the things that they're moving towards. So if it's small, achievable steps. Now as far as the projects, what I teach people to do is to make appointments with themselves. Right?
Yes.
So here's the trap, I used to fall lazy, you know what, I am going to write this blog post, okay, we'll use that exact, I'm going to write this week, I'm going to write a blog post. And then life happens. It's Friday at 530. I haven't written anything, no blog posts, no blog posts. And so then I said, I'm going to make an appointment with myself. So Tuesday, from two o'clock to 230, that's going to be blocked out, I'm not going to be
disturbed. I'm not going to check my phone, I'm going to really just focus in and I'm going to treat that appointment as seriously as I would if I was meeting you, I wouldn't stand you up, right? If I said, I'm gonna meet you at two o'clock, I'm going to respect it the same way. And I'm gonna have reminders and everything. So that's a great way to tackle the projects. We really just devote your time and attention to it.
I love it. Time blocking has saved my life. Because you know, with this very own podcast, I can't tell you how many times I published 6am on Tuesday, and Monday night at eight. Hang on no audio recordings. So I know exactly what you mean. Let me ask you this. Are you big stickler to people using calendars?
Um, I think it helps. Sure. I think having that little reminder go off. Because I think when you have something on the calendar, it becomes more of a priority. Later the thing people always say, Oh, yeah, I didn't have time to do that.
Yeah.
Yeah, you did. Really...
Yeah, you did.
You really did. Yes. It wasn't important enough for you. Because there's something is important. You are going to find the time. I tell people, if time is your family, I put that on the calendar too. If you're married if you have date night, but then on the calendar, yes, because otherwise he's Oh, yeah, I just I didn't have time. Yes. Yes. Is the thing, right? If I say okay, there's $10,000 in his briefcase, all you have to do is
write this blog post. Now I get it, you will find the time to write the blog posts guarantee. I would It's true, it's true. That's why I think it's important to have that calendar and really clarify your priorities.
I love it. I just got a few more questions. This is very intriguing. And let's just recap the framework floor number one, that's your attitude. attitude. floor. Number two was awareness. board. Number three, animation.
Automation is number four. And then activities. Number five,
it's a good framework to walk people through my question for you is after, again, 28,000 coaching sessions, first of all, hats off for the work that you're doing and impacting lives. Because what people don't understand is the ripple effect of what that number represents. You didn't just help 28,000 people, you help 28,000 people who were already in the business of helping and impacting other people. And so, you know, hats off to you for that ripple effect. What's your biggest
satisfaction as a coach? When the light bulb turns on for one of your clients, and they get it, and they go after it and do it? Well, what happens in Eric's mind?
That's why I do it. It's like when you're at the golf course, and you've been hitting the ball in the water all this time. And then finally, you hit that one shot that just, you're like, Yeah, that's...
It makes you come back tomorrow.
Right, right. And then like the people who I saw them when they started, and now they're this highly successful person, and they're doing certain things, and they're executed this level that they never saw themselves executing it. So yeah, it's truly rewarding.
I love the analogy, right? You get them to see that light bulb Come on, and it's after they've been hitting the water. If anybody who doesn't play golf, you'll realize that if that's ever been your story, that one shot will make you believe you want to quit your job and go pro. Keep your day job, don't do it. If you don't understand that euphoria, what we just said, Keep a day job anyway. Eric, I always want to ask leaders how
they handle pressure. And of course, you are at the heart of helping people through very highly pressured situation, I would imagine you weren't 100% immune to that. So always talk about how leaders who are looked to, for solutions handle the pressure and the stress of the same issue when they're facing and as well. love to get your thoughts on how you handle pressure. What do you do when the pressure mounts for you?
Well, I think you just have to focus on what you're doing. You said earlier, I mean, you have the controllables. Right. Is that Yeah, the focus on the action that you're taking. So one of the things I do like a weekly SWOT analysis on myself, right, so I'm looking at strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats. So it kicked me from really feeling the anxiety and the pressure, because I'm always kind of looking at myself. So I'm always focused number one on what's going well. So it's not
all doom and gloom. Right? No matter what guys not falling and everything's not going to you know, where in a handbasket. Good, I'm focused on the positives, their strengths, and then when I'm making a mistake, you know, I'm writing that down to write. Okay, yep, I could have done this better. Right. It allows me to kind of look at myself without judgment. And then I can also focus on you know, what are some opportunities I can do to
improve. So that really helps me to keep things in perspective. And I don't love that feel the pressure because I know within myself, that I'm doing everything that I knew to do to move forward. That wasn't always my story. I can tell you that. I mean.
Yeah, evolved, right.
I think I've over the year that that's kind of what I figured out.
I love it, though. Weekly SWOT analysis. I mean, that's a brilliant way to look at it. And, you know, for process I call a weekly review, but I don't necessarily look at it as a SWOT analysis. I love that. In fact, I'm gonna be borrowing then you realize you've covered I'll give him free coaching to you, and to your boy.
Hey, I'm here to help you.
I'm gonna give you credit. The first time someone asked me how I changed my Friday, I'm gonna be like, yeah, Eric told me about this weekly SWOT analysis and after that is gonna be my idea. You know. So that's how we do things in the coaching space.
Like I always say...
Give me credit once. Here is that has been an absolute pleasure man to have you on the show. Again, I don't want to understate the accomplishment of 28,000, consultations, helping people that are looking to take their lives to the next level. A lot of times, it's hard for people to get outside of what their own needs are, to then be of service and be a blessing and be a resource to others in their journeys and their walk of life. So as a fellow coach, hats off
to you. I'd love to let the audience know how to find you. Whether it's to get the book, I know you've got some resources, got her podcast, as well let everybody know about the opportunities to connect with you.
Yes, you can certainly listen to the 30 minute hour podcast. You can connect with us on Spotify. We're also on Apple podcasts. So you can check out the 30 minute hour podcast just go ahead and follow us or subscribe. I'm the host Ted fells is my co host and also I have a special offer. Now for your viewers. And if you Text the number 474747 and you type in TWIGGS TIME you will ins antly receive a link that ill give you a free access to audio version of the disci line of now.
Oh wow
Show for your followers. So basically, if you text that 474747 and then you type, TWIGGS TIME instantly to your phone, you'll get the link that gives you access to the audio book for the discipline of now 12 practical principles to overcome procrastination.
Wow, Eric, appreciate the generous gift man, that is extraordinary. You know, appreciate you being on the show. Keep doing the work that you're doing. There's a lot of things that the world is wanting to accomplish people wanting to accomplish, you know, without people like you, they could be sitting on the couch being a critic, so we appreciate you getting people to where they want to go. Eric always like to ask kind of a final question just to, you know, figure out
the big idea for Eric twigs. And so if for whatever reason you weren't able to be here on this planet tomorrow, that we love, and are blessed to be a part of today. What would you want everyone to remember you for?
Hmm? Well, that's a deep question. I would say that Eric was someone who he did his best to pursue his potential. I think that's all you can really ask somebody. Right? Are they doing everything they can with what they had. And and that's really how I want to be remembered that I was all in.
All in. I love it. Here, man. Thanks for being on The MindShift Podcast. Hopefully we can have you back at some point in the future.
Thank you for having me. This has been a truly a great experience.
Thanks again.
Thank you.
Hey, my friend. Thanks again for listening to today's episode of the mind shift podcast. Listen, let's not have the conversation in here. connect with me on social @MrDarrellEvans on almost all the platforms. With the exception of Facebook. My Facebook fan page is @DarrellEvansfan. Until next week, remember you're just one shift away from the breakthrough you're looking for.