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The Moonshots Podcast goes behind the scenes of the world's greatest superstars, thinkers and entrepreneurs to discover the secrets to their success. We deconstruct their success from mindset to daily habits so that we can apply it to our lives. Join us as we 'learn out loud' from Elon Musk, Brene Brown to emerging talents like David Goggins.
[00:00:00] Welcome to dementia to podcast it's episode one, one full I'm your cohost Mike Parsons. And as always I'm joined by someone who is cool as a cucumber. Yes. Once again, it is Mr. . Good morning, Mark. Good morning, Mike. I'm not sure whether I'm cool as a cucumber, but I'm certainly as, still as one today who tell me about this stillness.
Well, we've had a pretty. Mindblowing revel Solutionary and revelationary series on Ryan holiday and his books so far. And today Mike got one more. It is an action packed, but also very peaceful. And consider it episode one, one, four on Ron hall, laser stillness is the key. [00:01:00] I feel like we need some gongs, some hum I need like a whole group of monks behind me doing their own true.
We do. We do need that. And it's funny when we we've had so many entrepreneurs and innovators on the show that we've learned from, and a lot of the time, some of them are quite action orientated. Aren't they they're very proactive. Let's go, let's go, go the productivity and quite intense. And this time. Ron holiday much like the other three books we've covered so far.
It's a little bit more in turn or let's see why it's important that we have two sides of the coin, one productivity and one slowing down your body, as well as your mind. You know what to be a better version of yourself? Oh, this is, this is so good for our listeners today. I think you're in for a real treat.
I think this is the Elixa the medicine, uh, to which [00:02:00] we should all subscribe, which is stillness and. In a wider context. This is the fourth installment. This is the last installment of the Ryan holiday series. And just to frame this a little bit and what we can expect from not only today, but this body of work, which is pretty immense, isn't it Mark?
The work that he's done, isn't it. He's done an incredible amount of condensing to 3000 year old, uh, writings, journals, you know, meditations Marcus Aurelius, his journal and creating them. In two books that are contemporary and relatable in our modern lives. So relatable. Yeah. So, you know, the first part of this series, we got this introduction to stoicism and that really kind of built us a narrative around self-control and courage, justice, and wisdom as being things that you need to do, things that you need to be in order to find happiness and fulfillment.
Now while [00:03:00] they do sound rather grandiose, uh, there's so much truth in that maybe there's like 3000 years of truth in them. So they're worth diving into, and then we did. Ego's the enemy. Which Mark, let me picture this. I think that the message there was to be always to be a humble student. Don't you be humble?
Do good work. And I quite enjoyed the seek to be the dumbest person in there. Yes, yes. How good was that? I mean, kind of a slap in the face, but it really works. And then, you know, we, we journeyed into obstacles the way, which is such a moonshot theme, embracing discomfort. It's okay. Don't don't run. Don't fight.
Just be, yeah. Okay. With struggle and working your way through things. But as you said, Mark, today, we get to that fourth part. And this is so worth listening to, I say, for both of us Mark and all of our [00:04:00] listeners, this is a chance for us to embrace something. That's going to make us feel more calm. That's going to give us greater, greater clarity, credit creativity.
And it, the key word here is. Stillness. So thanks to Ryan holiday in his book. Stillness is the key. We, we, Mark are about to go on a journey and I want you to, before we jump in, tell me what was the impression as we prepared this show. That you had about stillness, which as you said, it seems to be the opposite of what a entrepreneur, someone who's a go getter.
It seems a little counterintuitive. Doesn't it? That was actually, uh, you know, I think we spend a lot of our time absorbed in all our work, both in a short-term mindset. So what do I need to respond to right here right now, as well as a constant eye on the long-term, [00:05:00] where am I going? How am I tracking?
What am I hoping to try and achieve with this project and beyond, but bearing in mind, you've only got two eyes. Where are you looking to have that moment of peace? Because if you're. If you're driving a car and it's always a five, 6,000 revs per minute, uh, and you know, it's on the red, what's going to happen eventually.
It's going to overheat. Yeah. And I think of it. I think of it like it's like where all the Springs and we wind ourselves up so much with it and ambitions with information that we just wind ourselves up. And it's just like, we're so highly wound. And this book, this show is. Going to be the solution. So where should we?
Well, I think we should start, uh, Mr. Ron holiday, introducing us to the need for stillness in our lives. The call to stillness comes quietly. The modern world does not. [00:06:00] In addition to the clatter and shatter and intrigue and infighting, that would have been familiar to the citizens of the ancient world. We have car horns, stereos, cell phone alarms, social media notifications, jackhammers and airplanes.
Our personal and professional problems are equally overwhelming competitors muscle into our industry. Our desks. Pile high with papers and our inboxes overflow with messages. We are always reachable, which means that arguments and conflict are never far away. The news bombards us with one crisis after another, on every screen we own of which there are the grind of work wears us down and never seems to stop.
We are overfed and undernourished overstimulated. Over-scheduled. And lonely, who has the power to stop? Who has the time to think? Is there anyone not affected by the din and dysfunction of our time while the magnitude and urgency of our struggle is urgent. [00:07:00] It is rooted in a timeless problem. Indeed history shows us that the ability to cultivate quiet and quell the turmoil inside us.
To slow the mind down to understand our emotions, to conquer our bodies has always been extremely difficult. All of humanity's problems. Blaise Pascal said in 1654 STEM from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone. In evolution, distinct species have often evolved similar adaptations in order to survive.
The same goes for the philosophical schools, separated by vast oceans and distances. They developed unique paths to the same critical destination. The stillness required to become master of one's own life, to survive and thrive in any and every environment, no matter how loud or busy, which is why this idea of stillness is not some soft new age nonsense.
Or their domain of monks and sages, but in fact, desperately necessary to all of us. [00:08:00] We're running a hedge fund or playing in the super bowl, pioneers research in a new field or raising a family. It is an attainable path to enlightenment and excellence and greatness and happiness performance as well as presence for every kind of person.
The illness is what aims the arrow. It inspires new ideas. He is it sharpens perspective and illuminates connections. It slows the ball down so that we might hit it. It generates a vision, helps us resist the passions of the mob makes space for gratitude and wonder. Stillness allows us to persevere to succeed.
It is the key that unlocks the insights of genius and allows us regular folks to understand them. The promise of this book is the location of that key of stillness and a call, not only for possessing stillness, but radiating it out where it's like a star, like the sun for a world that needs light more than ever.
[00:09:00] Wow. What a manifesto that an author could give for the body of their work. Uh, that was, that was fantastic. Mark. And I do want to take a brief moment for us all to recognize that we invariably get very, very. Overwhelmed with trying to be fast with having too much information. And I have these moments where I recognize this, where I look at my podcast list, or I look at all my subscriptions on either Netflix or YouTube.
And I approach a moment where I think I want to listen to something or watch something. And I realize that I just can't take any more inputs. I [00:10:00] have these moments where sometimes it might be a usual for me to listen to a podcast. Let's say I'm commuting or I'm on my way, uh, to a, to a meeting. And then I find myself going, you know what?
I just. No more inputs. So I then have this little stillness where I just no more email. I just put it all away and I just sit and I think that is me going Whoa, too much. Now there is a lot, lot, lot more that we are going to reveal and discuss and work on together. But I do want to point out to us for a moment to realize how.
Uh, our attention is really stolen and taken into so many places and we really need to kind of recognize this. And then that's the start to the rest of the show. I think in how we can find this stillness, this [00:11:00] pace, this clarity, but let's start with these moments. I mean, do you ever, yeah, absolutely. Uh, funnily enough, I.
I also found that if I was walking towards a meeting, you know, perhaps in 2019 or the beginning of last year where I was hanging out with clients and customers and partners more regularly, when I was walking to these meetings, I did find that it felt a little bit overwhelming to listen to podcasts or music, because I wanted time to reflect and almost mentally prepare for the session ahead and actually.
You know, for my, it, it was almost a body reaction. You know, it almost felt a little bit queasy, you know, trying to contain or absorb and simultaneously determine a thought process. All at the same time made my head sort of spin and. I think it was exactly that it was because my [00:12:00] head was spinning from too much information.
And it's the same at a home. If, you know, after a long, busy day I've turned on the TV to watch Netflix or whatever, I actually sometimes think, you know what? I don't want that. Yep. Yep. I totally relate to that. And I think this is the case for why we need to, to give, um, An audience, if you will, uh, to Ryan holiday to hear him out on this stillness.
And I do want to kind of call out that for a lot of our listeners, you're all out there. Building creating, uh, trying to make things happen. And I think that the particularly in Western culture, the inclination is that you're only doing good if you're busy. Right? How many people? I, yeah. Yeah. Real busy, real busy.
When you ask them, how are you doing? Yeah, busy, good, busy, busy. And I think what, what Ryan is, is taking very ancient wisdom and [00:13:00] saying, Whoa, daddy, let's slow this thing down a little bit. And. I think, um, the gift for me was enormous in this book because I am inclined towards forward movement and energy.
Um, and this really helps me balance out that energy, that energy is better. When I've had stillness and in fact, the energy to, to bring your mind into the here and now to find that stillness is incredibly valuable. So for this show, we are going to decode and understand it. We're going to unpack it. And we're going to ask ourselves, how can we find some stillness?
How can you find that wellbeing in your mind? In your physical body when you're not rushing around like a crazy person. And I think this is a really, really exciting, I think it's a very, um, [00:14:00] I think it's super relevant and timely where we find ourselves launching into the new year. The holiday periods are over, you know, and where we're winding up.
So if we want to be great, let's go and find some stillness together. What do you think, man? Yeah, totally agree. I think this is almost our call to action to our listeners. Let's all take a moment, you know, busy schedules and lives. And remember to take that beat that pause a moment of stillness. And as Ron holiday says, slow that ball down so you can hit it better.
That's such a great metaphor in my mind. Yeah. Yeah. We're going to go through three, um, big cornerstones of how we can find stillness. We're going to work out how we, how we can do it. We're gonna take a childlike, uh, mind. We're going to be humble students. Um, and we're going to learn from Ryan holiday. And if you want to learn anything more about [00:15:00] this show, we publish, uh, our show notes.
At moonshots.io and there's something else that they can do there. Isn't there much, there is, there is a new feature. Over the last couple of months where you can actually get in touch with us listeners. So if you pop along to www.moonshots.io, you can find, as Mike's just said, all 114 episodes with Ron holiday Simon Sineck, Renee Brown, Michelle Obama, and a whole host of others.
Imagine the dinner party that we would have if we had all of our, one of our spotlighted entrepreneurs, we've also got. Mantras. We've got an area where you can send the newsletter, but there's also a feedback section where you can fill out your thoughts. You can let us know who you want us to cover, and you can let us know new features that we might be able to work.
And we've had some really great feedback. In fact, later in the show, we're going to announce a brand new feature for the show. [00:16:00] Extra content that's based on all the feedback that we've, we've been getting. So I'm really excited to talk about that later, but Mark, I feel like we are now ready to launch into this program of getting to know, getting comfortable with stillness.
Where do we start? Well, I think it's only fair that we follow Ron huddle, lays structure and columns as well. We've got three. Columns that we'll go into in the show, as you say, we're going to begin with the mind. So here's Ron Holly telling us how to live in the present. Your, this new book, stillness is the key is critical about finding what I'm gonna let you, I will stillness.
Right? How do you, how do you slow things down? How do you have clarity? How do you have purpose? How do you have intention with what you're doing? How do you, how do you eliminate waste in an efficiency? How do you, how do you find sort of solitude and peace? How do you do I think about. [00:17:00] Like, why is it that, uh, a team can struggle.
A football team can struggle whole game, and then two minutes left. They need to score a touchdown and then cover like 90 yards in like eight seconds. It's cause they've stripped everything else out. And finally. They're in that place where they needed to be. And so you go, what if they could have accessed just 10% more of that in the game, right?
Like what, what, or what if they could access that on demand? That's what greatness really is. And so I have a definition of stillness that is not, you know, just among, you know, Retreating into meditation, but, you know, Kennedy and the missile crisis of football team in the, in the, the two minute trill, uh, uh, you know, a writer, uh, you know, in a flow state, whatever it is like, um, just, just being fully present and utterly engaged in what you're doing, even if it's a minor or a major thing.
Uh, that was [00:18:00] so good. And it's that analogy of sports teams that have terrible first, second and third quarter, but somehow they find in themselves, they, uh, he said this earlier that you slow down, so you can hit the ball. They remove everything and find some stillness. The crowd distraction is gone. They are finally present in the.
Game. So this stillness in being in the present, it's the start of, you know, bringing yourself into the here and now is the beginning of this journey. Isn't it? Yeah, it really is. And actually I like how Ron holiday refers to stillness in a couple of different ways. One as we'll dig into later in the show, it's peace.
It's a moment breathe. It's essentially quiet. It's more traditional word of stillness, but in that one, he called it as a flow state. You know, the team get into their flow state. A writer gets into that flow state. I like this idea of [00:19:00] seeing the benefit being that you can access this heightened ability, this heightened flow state by practicing stillness and by embracing the, uh, the value and the benefit of really.
Achieving that moment of stillness that that's that focus, I think is what he's talking about is so, um, utilized I think. Yeah, yeah. Or, you know, he made that great point that, you know, they only found it in the fourth quarter. Like how do you get it for all the quarters? Right. And I think that like living in the present has as another thing and flow, uh, being in the here and the now, which I think is really essential.
So, so let me just. Digging into that for a second. I think if you want to find, uh, a flow state, um, you know, one of the great pieces of work that we've studied is by Cal Newport, his book, deep work, remove all distraction and bring your mind into one thing. So [00:20:00] here's where we see a relationship between the work of Ryan holiday encounter Newport and, um, Flow is about being in the moment.
And I think one of the things I found very helpful, uh, in the work of Ryan holiday and others is that to be in the here and now it's really important to stop worrying about tomorrow and stop regretting yesterday. You have now, now is a gift and what's so beautiful about now is that this moment, you know, as you bring yourself into the present moment, this moment is a once in a lifetime thing because the moment will never happen again, like time is the most.
Important sacred resource because it's fixed. Um, you cannot make time. [00:21:00] So it's a really important resource to respect. So I found this idea of stop worrying about tomorrow. Stop regretting yesterday and cherish the fact that you have this moment. Now, now there's a lot of other stoic thinking around live everyday.
Like it's your last or start every day. Like you're reborn. These are all really interesting ideas that can give you a practice of living in the present. Now, I've got a few hacks that I do to try and get myself into the present. But I wanted to ask you Mark, if, because it sounds a little abstract, doesn't live in the present being in the moment.
How do you do it? Yeah, it's, it's a challenge more than ever nowadays because of the distractions. You've got a watch. You've got. Laptops. You've got phones, iPads, adverts, sound music, other people, [00:22:00] you know, there's so many reasons to be essentially distracted. And I think a way that I like to make the idea of living in the present more relatable and less a theoretical or abstract is by genuinely narrowing vision.
So if I am sitting here and in the recording booth, And, uh, let's say I'm concerned about something that's tomorrow or maybe I'm regretting something from yesterday. Yeah, my, my mind, uh, leaves my current vision. And instead when I want to try and live in the present, it's all about just focusing on, okay, well, where am I right now?
What am I looking at? What can I hear? How do I feel when I'm sitting down? What is the topic that we're conversing about? What are we covering today? And, and that is a way for me of, of grounding my mind, essentially, you know, my [00:23:00] body's already grounded, but my mind is, is imagining or, or going into different places.
That's one of the ways that I sort of grounded, like by using visual cues, as well as sounds and sun to, to bring it back. I love it. I love it. You know, the, the, the thing is that, um, That's really interesting cause I, what I can build on there is what I do is I see journaling and reflection as a way to get rid of regrets of yesterday or worries of tomorrow.
And what I mean by that is if you write them out, if you recognize them, You can almost like put them in a box and put them away, um, so that you can then do your practice of being very focused in that moment, focusing on something, um, being present. Um, what about physical, uh, stuff? Uh, you know, a lot of people do yoga and stuff like that.
Do you do anything like that [00:24:00] to, to kind of get yourself into the present? Well, I'm certainly an advocate of the journaling as well. Um, you know, that certainly helps me and we'll talk about routines later in the show, but that does help me bring my, my concentration, uh, you know, back to that present moment.
And that form of reflection I think, is really, really valuable in training yourself to be more present. Yeah, I think, yeah, there's, there's definitely times when I will, when I will hit the yoga mat. Um, but also actually I would like to use walking. I I've stopped actually listening to, um, you know, distracting music.
There was a time when I'd always run or walk with lots of loud music that was very stimulating. I do that less nowadays actually. And it's either, you know, a peaceful podcast or it's, um, perhaps just, you know, my breathing maybe as I, as I walk around and as I commute and that I think is a moment [00:25:00] of, of.
Trying to live in the present as well. Yes. Yeah. I think what we all benefit from is when we have a thing walking, yoga or whatever, that almost gets us out of our head and reminds us that we have. Uh, body, you know, arms and legs and all that good stuff, you know, I think it's funny, isn't it? Like our work can be so cerebral.
I find huge satisfaction in definitely in yoga and stretching. Uh, so as we're talking, I've got my map behind me. I've got my roller. But the other thing is, you know, we've talked a lot about breathing with VIM, Hoff and breath work, particularly at the beginning and end of the day, to bring me into the present, to settle me, or when I transition between work, um, like that switching costs is really, really huge.
And so walking. [00:26:00] Breathing stretching. Um, another great practice. If you want to bring yourself into the process is have a really cold shower again. Um, you know, kudos to VIM Hoffa. We also studied. So if you want to check out our VIM Hoff show, just head over to moonshots.io, that was super popular. A lot of feedback, a lot of positive feedback on that show.
And I know a lot of people have tried starting the new year with, with cold showers, but breathwork on my gosh. And, uh, one little tip here. There is a, uh, uh, breath routine, a practice called four seven eight. So if you just go into YouTube and hit four, seven, eight breathing, um, you will find, uh, lots of practical guides on how to do it.
We'll put a link into my favorite one in the, in the show notes. Uh, this guys, this is literally like five minutes or less, and it is extremely. Powerful practice to bring you into the present, to calm you [00:27:00] down, to calm the mind. And statistically speaking, since I've started this, I am enjoying, um, a reminder dockable high, a higher level of deep sleep.
Um, because I do it before I, uh, hit the sack. And it's, it's pretty crazy. My, uh, my sleep times are pretty consistent, but the quality of my sleep has improved as a result and look, sleep well. You know, if you want to win the day, it starts with a good sleep from the night before. So, so breath work, get out there, go for a walk, go for a swim, find something that brings you into the moment.
And I think it's just acknowledging the physical body. The things that are with you in the moment, um, is a great way to get out of all those buzzy thoughts and projects and ideas that you have and just go I'm in the present. What a great gift, [00:28:00] what a gift it is. Exactly. And to build on that breathwork piece, we've certainly spoken about that being a way to cope with your immediate stresses as well.
You know, I love the use of it at the beginning of the end of the day. But exactly as we dug into in the episode of him Hoff, when you've got a moment, an instant reaction, a bad email, or a bad news using breath work at that point as well is incredibly valuable at anchoring yourself again, isn't it, Mike?
It is it's, it's such a worthwhile practice. So I think, uh, I think where we've dove deeply into the mind and bringing our mind into the present, a lot of people will talk about mindfulness and I think we've got. Sort of a good grasp on that, but what happens next in Ryan holiday's book? And if stillness is the key, like where do we, where do we need to go now?
Well, the next stage or the next column [00:29:00] within Ron holiday, stillness is the key is talking about the soul. So this is emotions. This is taking that little bit step deeper into what it means to be me. What matters to me. So this next clip we're going to hear about again, is Mr. Ron Hoadley, he's telling us about how to have gratitude in the process of living.
So the solution lies in falling in love with process. Really. I mean, you talk about the word is enough. It comes up in the book a lot. It takes the word, the word that like tiger and his dad could never utter out loud, um, that, uh, That leaves him incredibly unhappy as a human being, but then you bring up the example of Heller who, you know, writes this amazing book and then goes on to continue to write books and kind of lets it go and is, is, is happy with his circumstances and yet still very [00:30:00] productive.
Yeah. Yeah. So Joseph Heller is at a party with Kurt Vonnegut at the house of this billionaire and. Vonnegut's like sort of needling him and he's like, uh, Hey, you know, you wrote catch 22, but you know, this guy made more money than you than you will ever make in your life. Like at work this week, you know how it goes, but I have something he'll never have I have.
And he says, what's that? And he says, I have enough. And yeah, I think we're all deep down. Very scared that if we ever say that word. That's the moment we become complacent and the guy behind the tests passes us. And in a way it is like, if you're running a race and you're like, Oh, this is fast enough. Like that's when you get past.
So there is that element of it. But at the same time, like, so. You're not allowed to be happy with the fact that you wrote one generational defining like, uh, you know, classic novel [00:31:00] that helped millions of people and defined, you know, what that experience was for a whole, you know, Again, a whole generation.
And like my favorite thing from Heller is this reporter goes like, you know, you've never written anything as good as, uh, as catch 22 again, who has, right. So like he is sad. He, yeah, I like that. That's just great. Yeah. Um, maybe I won't ever write a book as good as you go or obstacle. Maybe they won't sell as many copies, like, but that's not gonna prevent me from continuing to write.
I don't think, you know, I don't want it to, and I don't want, I, what I wanna do is love the process. Like I want to love sitting down starting the next one. Mm. Very powerful stuff here. Um, that we can go really deep on this. I think, um, getting yourself. In love with the process, [00:32:00] enjoying the ritual, the habit, the routine, the creation is so powerful and focusing on that rather than trying to always beat, beat, beat yourself, your goals be to others, but.
Loving the process. I think the secret here is the more you love the process, ironically, the better that you do in the end. What do you think, Mark? I mean, this is good. We're getting pretty, yeah. Abstract here. Um, so I think we will go practical on this, but let's just enjoy this idea. Uh, what do you think?
Yeah, I think the connection I would make is when you go for a run, if you're going for a run and you really, really hate it, You aren't necessarily going to do your best time. You're not going to enjoy it. First of all, but also probably will maybe leak into your, your muscles. It'll either make you slow or you'll feel, [00:33:00] you know, maybe worse afterwards.
I think here, if I'm trying to bring an abstract idea into something that's quite physical, it's kind of like saying, okay, well look running is pretty uncomfortable for some of us. Maybe you're a bit tired or didn't have the best night's sleep. Just enjoy the actual act, the actual process of going for a run.
Forget the time, forget the distance and just enjoy that moment. I think that for me is a very enriching idea. That then makes the idea of going for a run even more attractive because I think, Oh, well, I'm getting outside. Maybe I'm seeing some fresh air. Maybe I'm getting the sun on my face. In fact, it's just a moment to move myself.
And by removing the, this idea of, uh, going beyond enough, you know, achieving greatness necessary, let's call it. Let's say it's achieving a very, very high level of productivity, but knowing, okay, well, this is enough for me. It [00:34:00] makes that process a lot more fun. It does. And I think at what it re it, it releases us.
From this sense of inadequacy or maybe it's even failure. Like, I haven't really done that. Well, which I think horns, a lot of us, I haven't done as well as I could have. The crazy thing is that people who we think have done amazingly often think the same. Yeah. Well, so there's a curse here with the. The desire for more and more and more and more.
And if you're able to know that. You love the process. You love the embrace of the morning, bringing your best self, your best effort to every day [00:35:00] and that you don't have to go for more and more and more in competition with anybody else. But you can. Say in yourself every day, I did my best, that can become enormously satisfying and fulfilling.
And if you're doing the things that really serve your purpose, then you will feel. The glow of so-called success, but it's for you and for on your own terms, and it's not in relation to anybody else, everyone has their own job. Just enjoy the ritual, the routine, just enjoy the process. I think. That's really liberating.
If you can really get your mind there and give your best effort that, you know, you gave your best, then you're like, okay, I can accept the outcome. I can accept. And I can be grateful. [00:36:00] I think this is really powerful stuff. It's huge. And it's really at the core of what I think stillness as the keys is telling us.
I think it's giving us the permission to say to ourselves. Yeah, I'm okay. Um, maybe I'm happy. I think it's giving yourself the permission to forgive yourself that enough is, is good enough. And instead of beating yourself up and striving to go that one step further than you, Hey, it's okay to slow down.
It's okay to need a break. You know, I think nowadays our, our work lives actually is sort of dictated by a need to show those around. That you're working really, really hard, you know, perhaps you're the hardest worker and that's good. You get a lot of reward from that, but it isn't necessarily sustainable in the long run.
So I think stillness is a key is a great book at showing and encouraging us to say, Hey, I can work hard, but [00:37:00] I also need to build, maintain and develop a behavior around resting, taking a break and switching off to a certain extent. Yeah. And, um, what happens is I think on the other side, when we, uh, use gratitude for what we have, when we use gratitude for each day, and just, if you just wrap up every day going well, Jesus.
I really put in a great effort and you know, if you want to really kind of get practical, he can write out your gratitudes. You can say them. Uh, Hey, I met a bunch of really interesting people today. I worked on some really interesting things for our project or a client or whatever. That's pretty good. Oh, by the way.
I was, I had an energy, uh, I got to do a little walk outside. Oh. I sat on a bench for 20 minutes. Uh, I did some great [00:38:00] breath, whatever the thing is, if you can bring gratitude, um, You can have a sense of, wow. Actually I had a nice lunch, really, really grateful for that. All of this is a way in which you can just be comma and fulfilled in the day and not like, Oh my gosh, but I'm not as successful as Ryan holiday.
Oh my gosh. My podcast is 178 in the world, but I just have to get to one 50 now. You know, I put a lot of effort into that boat guys is doing just fine. Fine. Um, you know, I think it gets the monkey off your back. Doesn't it? If you can just be grateful for what you have and saying, I have enough. Yeah. It's so true.
Joy, gratitude, journals stopping. You know, when I was at, when I was younger, uh, people would always encourage you to stop and take a breath, stop and smell the flowers. And actually, I think [00:39:00] on days when I'm. Uh, you know, when you can feel your jaw is a bit tighter or, you know, you've got a lot on your to-do list, actually taking those moments to notice those good things around you.
Yeah. It kind of makes it a little bit easier to deal with and actually it makes the day more fun. Mm fundamentally. Oh yeah. Okay. So we've got, we've done two of, two of the big three Mart. Let's just quickly recap. So the way I'm kind of trying to process this work from Ryan holiday is, you know, step one, like stillness is, is all about slowing down.
I mean, there was that great quote, you know, slowing down the ball so you can hit it. I love that. It's, it's all about, uh, you cannot be in fifth gear all the time. It's unsustainable. It's actually not human. It's not natural the world all around us. There are these patterns of mountains and valleys, you know, peaks and ebbs, highs, and lows.
You know, you just can't be in fifth gear all the time. Cause the engine overheats. [00:40:00] So with that in mind, it feels to me like the first thing we do around this mind, fullness is mindset is, is being in the moment in the present being fully engaged. And I think, um, that's a great building block in which gets you to, well, if you are in the moment, then you can learn to be grateful for the moment for the day.
And you're able to feel the release, the satisfaction of. You know, I have enough today. I worked enough today. I did my best, and I am grateful for that. That is satisfaction. And you don't have to be all wound up about, am I going to be the world's greatest, this, that, or the other really good stuff. Um, before we jump into the bodywork, And more goodies from Ryan holiday.
Mike, we've got a special new thing that we can [00:41:00] take a no acclaim for, because it was actually, it's been. Recommended and suggested by you, our listeners, you will like, we love the clips that you guys find, but they want a little more don't they, man? Yeah, they do. And you, our listeners, again, as Mike just said, are the heroes here?
You are the recommendations and you are the inspiration here. We are going to. Uh, begin with today, episode 114, a new feature that we're calling moonshots showcase. So thank you for all the feedback that we've received by www.moonshots.io. You wanted to get a little bit more and know the innovators even more than we do as we did in each episode.
So we've created a new video showcase for each episode and today that's right. You can hop over to youtube.com today. And go and see Ron holiday talking about stillness [00:42:00] is the key. We're going to throw in a few extra clips because we just can't help ourselves. We love we'd love all of our shows to be extra long and full of loads and loads of clips where we can learn out loud with you, our listeners.
So our YouTube moonshot showcases are going to potentially include some of that. And we think it's going to be really vivid and dynamic and. I'm looking forward to hearing your feedback. So please keep on reaching out via www moonshots.io. And I can't wait to hear what you guys think. Yeah. So just, uh, remember head dementia study, you can find links to our YouTube there, or if you search in YouTube moonshots podcast, you'll come to us.
And then you're going to find a showcase of Ryan holiday and stillness as the key, we got all the. The audio that you've heard, we've got video of that. We've got a few extras. It is like a great little deep dive into stillness is the case. So head to YouTube and you will be [00:43:00] delighted. Well, I'll tell you, what's also delightful Mark, and that's the idea of building routines and habits.
And we focus a lot on that. I mean, is there anything more moonshot than a habit or a routine Mark? No, I don't think so. I think, uh huh. But it's routines mindsets. These are the core pillars of all of our entrepreneurs and innovators that we cover on moonshots. And this next column that huddle Lake talks about within stillness is the key.
So we've covered mind, we've covered the soul. We're now going to talk about body. This is Ron hotline telling us about what routines work for you in your day, but also how to be agile with. On the routines thing. One of the things that I liked is that, you know, now we're in, everybody wants to know everybody's morning routine and the whole, you know, it's like, Oh, if I just do exactly what Stanley McChrystal does, then I'm going to be this person or whatever.
And, [00:44:00] and you don't really kind of say it, say it expressly, but the point is more. Just have one, like you show all these people, they all, their, their routines are wildly different, but they have a routine and they're disciplined about it. And you know, what serves one person is going to be different from what serves another.
And it's about, you know, look, if you can be still enough to then figure out like what is going to be the one for you? And then adhere to that. Like, you don't need to get up at four 30 and take a picture of your watch, like Jocko, Willink. And if you do more power to you, but that's not for everybody. Yeah, no, I'm actually, it's like, I think there's a danger in some of those like, sort of books about routines, because people think that it's like in the same way they go, Oh, 10,000 hours.
Okay. Just did one hour. Just did another hour. It's not that it's, it's like anything becomes sacred if you treat it right. And you do it enough. You know, and, and so it's not about what other people's routines are, it's about yours and the other, the thing I've learned since [00:45:00] having kids and, you know, the fact that I have a pretty rigorous travel schedule for my work is it's like, actually it's routines plural.
Like I have, I have a travel routine. I have the day the kids go to daycare routine the day, the weekend routine, you know what I mean? And, and, and the ability to go like, Today, I'm switching to this routine so that like, it's, there's a, there's also an ego. And then maybe this is like, people think they can't have relationships is going.
Like, this is what I do every day. You're getting in the way of the routine I got to, I got to stick with that thing to me, the ability to go, like sometimes I do this, sometimes I do this. It's like, when it's like, if a then B if B, then C you know, like having, having different routines, I can sort of effortlessly.
Choose based on circumstances. Not only it allows me to be less rigid and less existentially anxious. If, if. [00:46:00] The conditions are not perfect. Yeah, because we live in the world and that rigidity is going to create all kinds of anxiety and issues because life has a way of intervening, you know, it's like, no matter how well-intentioned you are and how many boundaries you are wrecked to protect whatever routine you have, like stuff happens, man.
And if you're going to freak out and your whole life is going to turn upside down because you didn't get to do the one thing, you know, write in your journal or whatever. Then that's it cross purposes with the entire intention behind then the whole thing. This is his spot on, like, it's almost like in the search for, for being the best version of ourself.
We get so caught up in our routine, our habits that, uh, They almost hold us hostage. We feel like if we don't have the perfect morning and I'm very guilty of this, if I don't have, if I haven't done all those different things, if I haven't woken up, had the cold shower, had the coffee, had, uh, the stretching had the [00:47:00] journaling, had the breath work.
Oh my gosh. If I haven't had this, the worst is over. So it's like, it's a cold to being adaptive. And I like. The fact that what Ryan is encouraging us to do is think about the different modalities that we have the different patents and have a little portfolio. So you can just be adaptive and move between those.
I mean, that's easy, said harder done, Mark. How do you, when life throws up some curve balls and you have to be a bit more or adaptive, how do you do that? Well, I think this is a great clip because it's a timely reminder that. Moon the moon shots podcast. We, we fill with all these incredible tips and sometimes hacks and ultimately lessons from our, uh, our heroes are innovators and entrepreneurs that we, that we, um, Dig into, uh, but there's a lot.
So you, our listeners, you might be listening to [00:48:00] your woe each week. There's there's five or six lessons to follow. How can I keep up with the list? Well, the truth is find what works for you. And I think that this clip is a perfect reminder of that. So treat your day, your reaction to things specifically.
With a little bit of flexibility and, and agileness, and yeah, I'm also guilty, Mike, similar to yourself. If I wake up and have an exercise, or if I haven't had a coffee or a bite to eat or whatever it might be, I might not be feeling like the best version of myself because I'm almost waiting to do that.
Ritual that habit and interesting. And instead I think that Western, this is the key is really powerful. It reminds me that each day is going to be different. It's a reminder, as you said earlier, don't worry about tomorrow and regret yesterday. Just live in the present. So today is a different day than it was yesterday.
So, but let's, [00:49:00] let's challenge ourselves and, and I'm going to challenge you a little bit. Like how do you do that? Like, you know, What's something that you do or say to yourself to help you deal with like maybe a curveball or just not being able to have that, that routine that you hope for. How do you, um, how do you get through that?
Like help us out here. Like, you know, this is not easy for me either, so I need your help. I'll tell you what I, I think I do. And that's from a practical perspective. I like using a referring back to Cal Newport's and frat, uh, episode 58, uh, digging into time-blocking deep work. And if I cannot let's say, go for a run before coming into the office to record moonshots, what I might do is think, okay, well, what are the moment in my day?
Or perhaps next couple of days, might I be able to do it instead? So [00:50:00] thinking of things as, as essentially blocks as moments. When can I, if I haven't just completed it in seven, eight at 7:00 AM, I'll pull it out of 7:00 AM and maybe move it to 4:00 PM or maybe will be 7:00 AM tomorrow. And using it as almost a, a movable ship made of lots and lots of different parts.
That's I think how I react to those, uh, moments when I need to change my routine. Actually physically rescheduling. Yeah. How about, I'll tell you how I, um, navigate it. Cause sometimes, uh, it is, I have many things competing for my time in many different continents of the planet. So I try to fall in love, not with the idea of doing, let's say a 45 minute run.
But I just ran. [00:51:00] And so even if it was only in 27 minutes or 24 minutes, I still ran. And, you know, I can be a bit OCD sometimes and like, you know, want to have dotted the I's and crosses the T's there, but it's this like, I have a, like a long extended stretch, um, routine, which is sort of yoga meets, uh, like a foam roller, that sort of thing.
And that can take a good 30 minutes and if I can do that great. But often during the week, that's small cut down to like, just say 10 or 15. And I try and shift my, uh, my attitude too. Isn't it great that I got to do 15 minutes. Um, And maybe I just focus on a little thing I do is like, okay, is there any part of my body that's a little bit tight that could do with some [00:52:00] love, uh, on the, on the mat or with the roller, um, and just.
Trying to be thankful for that rather than obsessed on. Well, I didn't do the full stretch. I didn't do the full 45 or 60 minute run. I needed 25. So it's like shifting through like this idea of the consistency of doing a practice is the celebration. Whether it's 10 minutes or 10 kilometers. Embrace like celebrate.
Like I make it like a celebration if I, if that makes any sense that I isn't that great. I still got in that 10, 15 minutes. And you know, that right side of my hip is a little bit tight from running. So the foam roller worked a treat on that. I try and embrace that more to shift away from, well, I didn't do the full package and that cause, cause life, as they were saying, you know, Ryan's that life throws up things and life just happens and you just.
Have to [00:53:00] deal with the variability there. Does that make any sense, finding the consistency with doing an action or a series of actions? The consistency doesn't necessarily have to come in a ritualized, uh, timings necessarily, but it's the act it's the moment of, of following that particular? Um, Level of activity, I guess it's movement.
I think that's really where this comes down to. Isn't it? It's moving your body and unlocking or freeing your mind? Absolutely. The, the, um, um, I mean, cause what happens, let's go to the other side of this. What happens is you get really wound out that you're not in control. You become like a control freak, and um, you become very rigid.
I think we, as we were saying earlier, you. You become hostage to this inflexible way of thinking. And I, and [00:54:00] I think you're going to be a hard person to collaborate and partner with. You're going to be a hard person to fall in love with, because you're just so right. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Nobody wants to, uh, you know, uh, date a person made of stone.
You know, it's got to be got to have that level of flexibility and same with colleagues. The best team players are going to be the ones who react to things and are willing to help you figure out what that problem is. Yeah. Together. Now, the interesting thing, uh, to connect this to another, uh, moonshot innovator was James clear and how he really talked about, you know, building up these habits.
They really are a way of living. It's a lifestyle. And I think that's really true here are picking these different modes that you have and applying, you know, It's almost like a, like a menu. Oh, not much [00:55:00] time. Okay. I'm going to go for my compressed morning ritual. Um, the other thing is, is that over the course of your life, um, you need to introduce and let go of some rituals and, uh, make some new ones, you know, particularly once you have responsibilities, uh, for a family.
Um, I mean, that is a huge challenge on your time because you know, you gotta take care of others. Um, So I think it's an ongoing thing that you need to come back to time and time again, you know, I'm sure Mark, you have new rituals from living in Sydney that you didn't have in London, right? Oh, absolutely.
It's a lot more, um, I suppose you could say nature outdoors, uh, you know, stepping out from a very, very populated city and living in one that's a little bit. More spaced. Yeah, I suppose that's the word? Isn't it it's space. It's it's my rituals have changed because they are [00:56:00] now more embracing that location and don't forget, you know, one of the new rituals you've got is putting on suntan lotion every bloody day.
Cause every day that's so true. You can get some bird just on a regular day. Uh, during the summer, this year it's written.
So this is the routines thing, isn't it? It's like have them on call, know what they are. Um, and I think, uh, just knowing that, you know, you're not going to have one concrete resolute in stone ritual that will be immovable, but it's it's, you know, what Ryan holiday was teaching us then is you've just gotta be adaptive and put the right one for the right moment.
And. You know, um, I think he said it very well. He's rituals are different when he's traveling too, when he's at home and he's riding when he's not. And I think that's something that we can all do ask ourselves, what's our, what are our rituals? What are the different modes? And when do I do wine? And when do I do the, I [00:57:00] have a, I think that's pretty good stuff.
Uh, particularly if you want to be in control. Of your time, if you want to be in control of your thoughts, having the routines that set you up for success make you feel really grounded. I think they're essential. Yeah. And they have small beginnings, you know, exactly. As James Clair was, was, was teaching us.
You start with, get 1% better. You know, it's not going to be an overnight success. It's not going to be. Uh, within an immediate set of time, instead as Ron holiday says, just continuously improve, be agile in the way that you react to things, be mindful of how much time and effort and maybe anxiety you're experiencing, but also be patient.
These things can take that little bit of time and figure it out yourself. If you need a lot of good lessons here. Yeah. But we've got just one more Mark. I [00:58:00] think, uh, Ryan holiday has got, he's not only a final thought for us on this show, but for the series on Ryan holiday's so it really comes down to.
There's underlying this foundational piece of work that, uh, stoicism, which is what these four books have all celebrated. There's this foundation, uh, to it. And, um, you know, they, these virtues that underpin stoicism, and they can sound a little heady and a little kind of classic Roman empire esque. But.
They've stood the test of time. So for the last time on this episode, and for this series, let's have a listen to Ryan holiday talking about what we can learn from stoicism. Why should I hope? Why should I listen? Why should I delay gratification? Why should I follow the rules? Why should I trust [00:59:00] these principles or these norms?
Let's just burn the whole thing down, or I'm going to do my own thing or I'm going to do what feels good or I'm just going to, I'm going to make my own way. And so, um, I think what I try to write about and what I think undergirds my books is some. So virtues or principles that go back a little further than that.
So not what your parents thought, not what their parents thought, not what their slave owning grandparents thought, but like what did people think and what worked 2000 years ago? 500 years ago. Um, 5,000 years ago. And I think I try to present it in a framework that, that people can apply in everyday life, whatever they're doing.
When you go back and look. You know, they always say history repeats itself and we're probably cyclical. So, you know, there was, there were periods of time in history where the Roman [01:00:00] empire grew so big and lost its morals and his virtues. Yeah. And then you saw where, I mean, really, if you look at the Christianity, you know, the crusades where they lost.
Yeah. You know, they lost their way and it became about a whole lot of problems and you see all this. Is you see that redefining now because millennials feel like they lack a little of the hope, but it seems like the gen Z's are really coming in next with more basic and foundations of, yeah, I hope so. I mean, it's interesting stoicism, which is what I primarily write about comes at the sort of.
Beginning of the decline of the Roman empire. So markets are really is, is like it's it's Rome is no longer a Republic, you know, there are problems. And then here you have this guy that's sort of standing against all of that. And, and so I think you do see, uh, stoicism specifically appear at times of difficulty and stress and turmoil because what we go.
We go, I'm a drift. This is confusing. This is overwhelming. What, what [01:01:00] matters? How do I live? What's important. What's what's mean. And where do I find the meaning? And I think ultimately stoicism and religion and philosophy though, but present some answers to that and stoicism there's four virtues, it's justice, wisdom, temperance, and courage.
And I think those are virtues in short supply today, which is probably why they're somewhat resurgent, at least among people who are searching. It's a great, powerful clip at reminding us that some of this history, some of the teachings that Ron huddle brings throughout all of his, his library of, of books and, and, and assets.
It's that. History is cyclical. It does repeat itself. And often lessons like stoicism will come up through moments of difficulty and talk about something that's right on the tip of the iceberg right now. Which is stress. It's feeling overwhelmed. It's pressures. It's [01:02:00] constantly being online, whether we're working from home or otherwise, it's having devices in our pockets, in our sleeves that constantly notifies that stuff.
The ways that we're all distracted nowadays. Makes us feel more of a worm. So these, these virtues, these teachings that we've gone through over the past four episodes, I mentioned podcasts, I think really are filled with the little lessons that can help us just feel a little bit more relaxed, might cope with your stresses a little bit better.
Yeah, I totally totally agree. So let me ask you from this show from studying stillness is the key, what thought. Grabbed you the most, which one really got ya for me? It's this concept of taking a time, a moment in time, perhaps to be me a moment, seek out moments to have a little bit of a break, have the [01:03:00] ability to forgive yourself.
If you're not achieving 100%, 100% of the time, you know, you can still be. Very productive and work super hard, but you've just got to intersperse it with moments of quiet and stillness and by living in the present and noticing those moments, you will improve the output, improve the work that you're doing by having those breaks.
Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Slowing down to enjoy better results. Um, it's it's it's. Almost contrarian thinking in this day, isn't it? Yeah, it is. Cause you know, we're, we are, as we said, almost expected to be online most of the time and that'll be true for, for many of our listeners as well. And you know, this is a great run holiday's book.
The stillness is the key is a great reminder [01:04:00] that the real key to not only being happy, but also. Being productive and being the best version of yourself and being efficient with what you do is by also having those moments of peace. You can run the engine at five, 6,000 revs per minute, because it was burnout.
What I thought what I thought. Well, Mark, thank you for a great journey into this sticky, almost awkward idea of being still. And it was so great. Uh, it brought me so much to read this book and it was so great. Uh, to share it with you and all of our listeners. And I want to say thank you to you, all of our listeners for joining us.
Not only for this episode. Where we studied Ryan holiday stillness as the key, but this entire series, because boy, this [01:05:00] four-part series had a lot to teach us. It taught us about those virtues. Self-control courage, justice, and wisdom, because they really are the path to fulfillment. And to happiness. And in the second installment, we learned that we need to be a hundred, both student, always through the book called ego is the enemy.
And we had to learn that if we really want to go forward, that we need to embrace the discomfort because the obstacle really is. The way, and we rounded things out today with stillness is the key, how we can find clarity through calm, through stillness. It's beautiful. So you ask, how do I do that? You be in the moment and that can start with something as simple as taking.
We can be grateful. And that can start with saying I have enough, I [01:06:00] don't need any more. And lastly, as life throws up all its challenges, we need to be adaptive. We need to have a whole portfolio of routines for different moments and different. Parts of life as we grow, as we learn, as we become the very best version of ourselves.
Well, thank you, everyone. This has been a wonderful, wonderful adventure into the work of Ryan. I know.