And so before we fix anything, let's start noticing everything.

That is so powerful and, again, counterintuitive when you realize that accepting what is actually makes you better positioned to change it if you want to.

Welcome to season two of manual transmission.

What constitutes a season? This is new.

It's whatever we say it is.

Oh, alright. So you said we completed season one

Well

and we're starting season two. So that so that it be set so that it be written. Is that where it goes?

Yeah. I kinda feel like season one was 2025. That's when we launched.

So you're taking the seasonal approach to seasons?

Sure. Why not?

Four seasons a year.

Yeah.

Okay.

So this episode that we are currently underway with will be transmission one season two.

Okay. Well, here we go. Here's to I can't believe it's 2026 already.

Do you wanna cheers to it?

Cheers.

Slainte.

Slainte. Jameson Black Barrel is my favorite whiskey.

It has become the house favorite, and we've even influenced

Oh, we converted the other bread.

That's right.

He used to his favorite was red breast, and now he's converted to Black Barrel. I don't know what it says that you chose to marry an Irish redhead who drinks black coffee and straight whiskey and gives you a run for your money. But you know what? You've made your choices in life.

I have made my choices, and I also recognize that the black coffee and the whiskey may have been my influence.

They're definitely your influence. So like I said, you've made your choices in life.

Exactly. Hey. If you're listening on YouTube, welcome. We now have the full season one playlist available on YouTube. We're glad you're here.

Yeah. That last season, which was our first season, was a doozy. It felt like that uncomfortable growth that sort of forges you into becoming something new. That was this has been new, and we went through a lot during that. And so

But I love the start of a new year. It presents a chance to start over. It's like a fresh shot clock.

Shot clock.

Never heard of it. You know

what shot clock? Yeah. Basketball. Right? Don't they have something similar now in baseball with a pitch clock?

They do. Everything's put on a clock. There's this inferred pressure because there's a time limit. Anyway, speaking of basketball, there's a story. I know I've shared it before about legendary coach John Wooden that I've always loved.

On the first day of practice every season, even with his returning players, his star players, he would start by teaching them how to tie their shoes. Mhmm. Literally.

This is a football.

Exactly. Exactly. That was Vince Lombardi. Good job. I believe it was Vince Lombardi.

I'm gonna now you gotta look it up.

Okay. I'll look it up.

But, anyway, the the whole point, not metaphorically, but literally how to tie your shoes, socks on without wrinkles, laces pulled tight from the bottom up.

Yeah. Sorry. I was mixing up Vince Lombardi with John Wooden, but he he the quote is, gentlemen, this is a football. When they

did the same thing.

Yeah. I don't know why we're talking about that, but but I remember you talking about John Wooden and just it wasn't about the shoes. It was about going back to the basics. You never get so great that you don't have to go back to the basics. And it just it prevented the small things from becoming things that take you out later.

Yeah. It reminded me actually of something that I watched this week, Andrew Huberman's podcast. He was talking about goals. He talks about it in a from a visualization standpoint, we should visualize the failures because we learn from negative feedback quicker than we do positive.

Well, you can especially if you're taking an an unfearful taking not a fearful approach to it to just evaluate, oh, let me see what what either mental approach, preparation, choice in the moment Yep. Action, what was linked to that outcome that I didn't like? Let me look at it and face it. It's like not flinching away from the ball. And that way you're you're counter product counter intuitively, you're less likely to cause the thing.

Right.

Because you weren't afraid of it. You just like almost stared it in the face, lived it, realized you're okay. So this next season isn't about necessarily doing more, accomplishing more, setting these big goals and going after them all although I'm sure all that will happen. I think it's about awareness of how we actually move through our days, our marriage, our family, our careers. Why don't we do high low for 2025?

For an entire year, the high of the year. I had meant to look back at the calendar and, like, capture all the stuff that we experienced. There's a lot.

It's been a packed year. Coming into 2025, we were preparing for our son's wedding in Scotland. That

was huge.

Couple of big new contracts that we had taken on and we're just starting out, that we have since completed.

Our best year yet. It was

a great year. Yeah. I made a big career transition this year coming off of the heels of having thrown a total curveball and deciding to run for public office in 2024. That threw everything for a loop. So I had a big transition, you know, on the other side of that for this year.

We started a podcast.

We started a podcast. Do

we travel anywhere this year? Like, vacation wise?

Well, we had that big we spent three weeks.

Oh, yeah. Duh. That was definitely that was the wedding.

Week a week for the wedding in Scotland, and then we spent a couple of weeks touring through the rest of Scotland, Ireland, Wales, and England.

So I think that's my high.

That that was such an incredible trip.

That trip was amazing. From start to finish, we landed in London. We went straight to a spa.

That is the way to go.

That's the way to go.

After you get off an international flight, go spend we spent, like, six or seven hours at that spa. That was the way to go.

What was it? Three weeks? 2,200 miles later, we visited four countries, did our grand tour of The UK. So that was my high. Absolutely my high.

My low was probably probably the same as yours, but just, Carl's diagnosis, which makes the high even sweeter because Carl was considering not going to the wedding, but he made the decision to go and he had the time of his life.

I'm so glad he joined us for that trip. And what a city Edinburgh is. What a city. I don't think there's anything like it. It was incredible.

Yeah. I'd say that that trip was the high of my year as well. And I don't know what I expected out of this dream wedding that the kids planned at this castle. But I wouldn't have dared to expect anything like what we experienced. It was dreamy.

It was amazing. I don't I don't think there's anything. It just exceeded every expectation I could have even imagined.

They did a great job. Their group of friends were awesome.

That was really fun.

So fun.

Seeing their friends travel with our family Mhmm. And have such a good time. No drama. Yep. Just had this this crew of 40 people on this international trip together.

It was great.

It was awesome.

Yeah. Okay. Yeah.

So your high low?

My I don't know how I could say anything different. Yeah. That was my high and the low was the diagnosis. And so Yeah. And then Christmas, I think everybody knew.

So the low of the diagnosis also set up a really cool Christmas because everyone modified their plans and made it happen to be there. So we had all of us together and we had a we got a big it's amazing that we had no drama and and a massive family picture with everyone in it. And I think everyone was just on their best behavior. There was no complaining, did what they were told, wore colors from the palette. I think I'm the only one who rebelled and didn't wear exactly what

I was supposed were I You were black.

That was my stipulation.

I have to wear black.

Anyway, it was great. Alright. So today we're talking about life of a showgirl.

It's pretty chill to listen to.

Mhmm.

It's But

the lyrics are that song father figure?

Yeah.

That one's pretty sassy. He's talking about I guess it's about the the I forgot his name, but her was it her producer?

Or Something like that. Yeah.

He he sold the rights to her catalog of songs Yep. Without talking to her about it. There's that line in there. I forget the exact words. Something like, yeah, I can do it because my dick's bigger.

You gotta record scratch that out.

Maybe.

And, like, there's the other, that song canceled. It's like, oh, what? Did you tell a joke that only a man could tell? Just I don't know. There's just a lot of

She's definitely flexing in there.

For sure. Like

Because she can.

Yeah. Yep. She's in a life of showgirl. She's she talks about, yeah, you wanna go take a skate on the ice in my veins, and then talks about, you know, they wanna they wanna take me down but I'm immortal. Like, yeah, she's she's like, come at me, bro.

Mhmm. It's

great. So you liked

it? Mhmm.

We've had this one we've had this one for well, from the beginning, actually. When when we first started

This was our first Taylor Swift album.

This was?

We started our Taylor Swift engagement with Life of a Showgirl.

Yes.

We're we're late to

the party. Are late to the party. And I don't even know if you can actually call yourself a Swiftie unless you've been to a concert.

Yeah. Or have more than one album or I don't know. I don't think we're don't think qualify as Swifties yet. I do have I do have a a friendship bracelet in the style, that the grandkids made me.

Well, that's cool. Why didn't I get one?

You're not as cool

as me,

I guess.

I don't know. Okay. I'm gonna ask my friend. What are the qualifications to be considered a Swifty? The simplest definition most Swifty's agree on, if her music has soundtracked a meaningful part of your life and you care about her artistry, you qualify.

Okay. I I'm I'm embarking on my, Taylor Swift exploration. So far so good.

Did you know that Taylor Swift is the first and only artist to win best selling album of the year eight times?

I did not.

That's incredible. The only artist to have the annual top selling album in three separate decades in the February, thousands, February, and twenties.

Wow. I mean, that's pretty incredible. The Life of a Showgirl dropped just three months ago. It's already five times platinum, and we're still very much living inside its orbit. But the album, it's not really about the spotlight.

It's about what it costs to be in the spotlight and stay on your feet.

Yeah. And if you haven't seen the documentary on the Harris tour, you'll you can understand a little bit better about the work and the fact that they recorded this album during the Eris tour.

It's it just blows my mind, but also it's it so tracks just with the crafting of the delivery of that kind of artistry. She understands the work that goes in behind the scenes and the leadership that it takes to rally a crew around that. And in that way it's not really about the music at all. The music is of course the product but it's about awareness, it's about noticing when you're not performing and asking why, it's about structuring and set up setting up for success by laying out the work and having a good strategy and then just freaking executing. Part of why I've I've really started paying attention to her I mean, music is fine.

I it's good. I but I I'm more drawn to her strategy, her business acumen and savvy, her leadership with her crew. Watching that documentary kind of solidified what you'd have to assume she is like in order to pull this off. And I just really I I respect it. I admire it.

But as far as to your question, have I thought about it for 2026? I feel like in a way that's the approach I take I have really worked over the last few years on having that reflection to go what feels off or out of alignment internally that I need to make adjustments for so that the foundation is solid and my internal sort of core settings are aligned where I believe they need to be so that from there I can look at alright what outcomes am I trying to create and then back into what does that mean I need to do first half, first quarter, this month, this week, today before lunch. What do I know I need to do to set myself up for that future outcome so that I can let go of that future outcome and be present today. Anyway, yeah, so 2026, to me is really just, a bunch of groundwork for the retirement we're setting up. I mean, I have some career goals and have some personal goals that for sure are contained in in the year, but it's all foundational for future stuff.

I like that. Ultimately, I think what it what I'm seeking is more of getting back to the basics. Let's spend some time slowing down to really understand what is next. What is the next season of our life supposed to look like? And so before we fix anything, let's start noticing everything.

I think that that is so powerful and, again, counterintuitive when you realize that, accepting what is actually makes you better positioned to change it if you want to. I think sometimes we think fighting what is or denying what is might somehow, I don't know, make us more likely to change change it because we don't accept it. But the reality is you can't really know how to properly get your footing and plan your path without accepting and understanding what where you are right now. Good bearings on where am I right now and really accepting and being aware of where am I.

Exactly. How do you have any clue on which way to go if you don't know where you're at?

Yeah. And and so starting with, like, not even trying to change or fix anything right now this week. Just noticing, for example, where do I feel tension right now? What feels really awake or really guarded? You know?

And not even trying to adjust it, but just noticing. And it's it's not really about initially, it's not about where you're going. That comes but initially, it's just like where where am I? And it's about calming your nervous system and listening to it so that, you know, when something feels uncertain, uncertain, what do I usually do first?

That's what I like about this being the first of the year. It's a way for us to be intentional about slowing down to notice. Like, what is it that we default to when we do feel a little uncertain? What are the what's the first thing that I do? Do I do I speed up?

Do I get quiet? Do I start to explain myself? Do I defend myself? Do I try to fix myself? Or do I just

My partner.

Exactly. Or do I just kinda check out?

Yeah. Yeah. What does my automatic default reach for?

Right.

And and it's not about whether it's good or bad. It's about is it familiar? Is that what you tend to default to? Just being aware of it.

Right.

Because you can't possibly make decide to make an adjustment or decide that it's the right thing until you're aware of it.

Our tendency is to start spitballing and trying to fix stuff when we don't truly understand what the the pattern or the issue is that we're dealing with. So that's why it's really important for us to just slow down without any expectations, not trying to do anything, but just notice. The hardest thing I I think is to not judge it, not to beat ourselves up over it.

Well, and I to that point you mentioned the pattern, I think that question of what might that pattern have been protecting me from can actually be really powerful. Like, when did this response that I so easily reach for, when did that first start making sense to me? Because there's probably a reason. But if we're so quick to be like, well, how should it be? Or being super judgmental, maybe we don't even identify why it is.

There's something under there. We're not bad. We're not inherently bad people. There's reasons for all of these things. And if we're able to notice when most of our patterns started becoming solutions for us and then and asking what was that that prompted it.

There might be something we just need to take stock of or take a look at.

And That's the difficult stuff is sitting there holding it long enough to inspect it.

Yeah. And so if we can just hold off the urge to try to fix and change everything and just first try to become aware of what is and why it is, then I then, again, counterintuitively, we're probably better positioned to then go, well, does that serve me really for where I am now and what I wanna go and do next and how who I wanna become or what journey I wanna have or however you're framing it. You can't really ask, does my default pattern serve that until you're aware of what your default pattern is and why that's your default pattern.

Sounds like we have some work to do.

Well, we all do. And just when you think you figured it out, you're now a new person who's evolved and going into a new season, and you gotta do it again. It's not like you ever have just done this and you're done.

Yeah. I agreed.

Okay. So this week, my plan anyway, I'm just gonna notice what my body does and where my mind goes before I try to fix anything and try to just inquire, get really curious about why is that my response. I'll give you an example. Something I've been noticing, I've been watching my data on the Oura Ring app, and I have noticed a pattern. When I look at my daytime stress levels, my stress levels are generally lower while I'm working.

And then when I have social engagements, they spike.

Makes sense actually, knowing you.

Oh yeah. I'm an extreme introvert when it comes to that. But, so I've just been wondering about that. Why is it that my body relaxes when I'm at work. And I think there's something to do with, you know, feeling feeling in control.

There's been a lot going on that I have no control over that's a little bit well, it's a lot stressful. And work is just I'm in in my wheelhouse. I'm doing things that I are within my skill set. They're challenging enough, but not too challenging that I can't do it, and, I can control that. So I'm just aware.

I don't know what that means I'll do next, but I'm just getting curious so that I can have a plan and some goals for how I will prepare, how I'll show up because it's not like, you know well, like life of a showgirl. I think there's a parallel there in that, you know, the show needs to happen and you have a contract you must deliver on. And it doesn't matter if you feel like it or not. You gotta show up. So what's your plan?

How are you gonna prepare for that? So, like, these moments, they're coming whether I want to and whenever they're coming, whether I want them to come at that time or not. And I need to be there for my family. And so how do I prepare for when for the things I can't control? I think you did that when, you know, you couldn't you didn't sign up for Guillain Barre, and it was a huge test.

But you had done so much chosen work in your all of your physical training for ultramarathons and man learning how to read and listen to your body and know how to handle pain that when when the endurance event that was Guillain Barre showed up, you were ready for it.

Yeah. I never knew that that's what I was training for, but it absolutely saved me.

Your ability to breathe.

The breathing, the movement, the the the awareness of it. Yeah.

Yeah. So I think we do the work of preparation for the life we wanna have. And, you know, when preparation and opportunity meet, you get really lucky. But also when challenges or, you know, things go sideways, you can draw on that preparation.

One of the areas of my life that I wanna focus on is health and fitness. It's been three years that I feel like I have been weighed down with this diagnosis, and I feel like I'm ready to kinda reclaim my life physically, health wise. So

I love that for you. And I'm relating to it because I actually was thinking about this this morning as I went to that spin class. I had been at the beginning of this year, and I think it was really more of a symptom of burnout from last year, but I had gotten it in my head that, oh, I'm just getting old, and I'm starting to things are starting to fall apart. And I had that dialogue going on in my head. And I don't remember what sparked it, but I made a very intentional transition just to reframe thinking about myself and how I was talking to myself.

To say no, no, no, I am still vital and young and I'm entering the best decades of my life and just started changing how I viewed it, it made a big difference. I started attacking things again. It made me lean in more on the physical, like, working out and being more healthy and taking better care of myself. And so I think it makes a big difference. So I love that you're saying that.

That you've gone through a really trying physical journey over the last three years recovering from Guillain Barre and your whole nervous system being attacked. And hell, yeah, it's time to get back in there, reclaim it.

Yeah. I'm excited.

The under underlying goal for 2026 for me, as far as how I wanna show up is to be present and curious about it.

Yes. Because if you're curious about the moment, it's gonna keep you in the moment.

My tendency is to overprepare and look look ahead so much and be so prepared and do so much contingency planning that I'm not just in the moment. So I'm still gonna do contingency planning. I'm still gonna look ahead and plan and prepare, but I think what I my intention is to compartmentalize that a bit, do that work, and then let go of it and be present.

I love that for you. And we have a really cool kickoff coming up to be able to practice that. We have created space to be able to have a mental reset, which we can talk about that in a different transmission, the importance of planning these aid stations, if you will, to be able to recharge your batteries, reset your mindset, be able to pull away for a minute, to be able to give your best.

I think that has been a really important shift in my approach to annual planning, and I think you've done it too. It happened a few years ago. So basically, we look ahead and we go, alright. What are the big breaks we're gonna plan in? Book in there usually is in the form of trips.

We love to go to Hawaii and Ireland. Those are kind of go tos for us, but we sprinkle other ones in there. But planning ahead, those breaks, planning ahead time time at home, knowing knowing what we'll do with that time to to really recharge. And then in between, I will have to go back and look to give proper credit here, but 10 x is easier than two x.

Mhmm.

I love that. I love to just identify an opportunity, identify its season, and go attack it and just accomplish something awesome and give it a 10 x effort rather than just kind of limp along at two x all year. Like, I just I don't I don't really like lukewarm in case you hadn't figured that out. I like to go freaking get it and then take a break. I like a I I'm not just gonna be able to take a break if I haven't done the preparation work to really know that I accomplished something.

I put a pin in it and now I'm gonna step away. Like, I've been running at this break that we have coming up. I I know what I need to get done in order for me to truly go take that time. I'm almost there. But by the time we get on that plane, I'm gonna shut it down.

I love it. Now I'm excited about 2026 and the trip we have coming up and the approach. I think this is probably the first time in our new year planning that the year doesn't seem overwhelming in front of us. It just feels like we can find some traction. I kinda feel like we're in a position of stability, focus.

Can you can you knock

on that

desk or some you know, no plan survives first contact with the enemy and

That's right.

Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face and we man makes plans and God laughs. I know all those things and it'll be okay.

It'll be great.

You plan what you can and then you just be where your feet are, show up with curiosity, and you trust God.

All I'm saying is that I'm excited to get it.

Yeah. Let's go freaking get it.

That's a perfect place to end. We'll see you next Sunday.

See you next week.