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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] Hello and welcome to the moonshots podcast. It's episode 127. I'm your co-host might pass. And as always, I'm joined by the warrior himself. Mr. Mark Pearson feeling. Good morning, Mark. Good morning, Mike. I've been breathing I'm feeling peaceful and feeling strong and finger light. We've reached the third part of our series on thinking better.
It sounds like you're ready to go. And the question is, are you thinking better? You know what? It's been a really interesting series. Hasn't it. First up we had Adam Grant's latest book from 2021. I think again, the power of knowing what you don't know, no followed by a pretty popular episode, Mike, with Matthew McConaughey and his journal slash memoir, uh, guidance, green lights.
But today, Mike, we are going [00:01:00] deep. We're going back into an even, um, dare I say, cold status book, Mr. Dan, the way of the peaceful warrior. I think you're you're right. It's definitely, uh, a cult classic and way of the peaceful warrior. It's kind of, there's a contradiction in the title. Isn't there. Yeah, it's, it's a bit of a mix, isn't it?
You know, our listeners and even myself to a certain degree might think, okay, but to be a warrior, I need to be strong. I need to be almost aggressive, but. This, this connection with peacefulness. How do I, how do I connect those two together? Um, it's an interesting one. It's like it's, I think a, it feels a bit like a proxy for peacefulness and purpose.
And I think what Dan reminds us, uh, is that to find your purpose, you need to be peaceful. And there's a lot of discipline and rigor in order to [00:02:00] be the best version of yourself. And, um, he's got this, uh, incredibly unique, uh, take in his, his work, the way of the peaceful warrior. Does any markets have very unique piece of piece of thinking?
Very different to perhaps the cerebral work from Adam Grant. For example, you know, Adam will focus a lot on science and data and numbers and figures. Whereas what Dan is coming at us today with is, uh, experience that he had from a physical space. You know, he was this world award winning metal, winning Jim mast, who then transferred the I'm going to call them that his skills, his experience in learning around training his body, into training his mind and that connection, perhaps we haven't seen before.
It's it's interesting, isn't it? Uh, what we have certainly learned in studying athletes is that the rigor and the hard work and the [00:03:00] training pitch is what makes you so good on the big day. And I think what we've got to learn today from Dan Millman is that, uh, we got to go to the gym of our spirit, of our feelings, of our intention.
We've got to get a whole lot more mindful. And, um, the success of his book is such that he managed to not write this in a classic, how to, but he wrote this as a fictional piece. It got adapted into a movie and it really is. Just right for right now, because with all of these externalities and changes in our external world, this book will help us find that peace and purpose.
And we have to thank Mr. Terry Bean who recommended to, uh, recommended this book to us. One of our, uh, super listeners. Who's always sharing his learnings and thoughts online. So we want to give a big shout out to Terry Domi, Mark. Yeah, a huge shout out Mr. Terry Bean. We [00:04:00] love hearing from our listeners, but particularly those who, um, really do have a, a passion for learning out loud and Terry, you're definitely one of those individuals.
Who's happy to share the tips and tricks that you're learning with us. So thank you very much for that. So I feel like Mike, um, I'm ready to work out. Are you ready to work out? I am ready to work out. And I think Mike, we've spoken a little bit about Dan Millman's work referencing this, this connection that he's made between the physical nature of his training, as well as the spiritual ones.
So what better way to kick off our show today? The way of the peaceful warrior than hearing from Dan Millman, telling us about the power of spiritual weights training. So what does this term mean? Peaceful warrior. Many of us have an intuitive feel for it. We think of people like Mahatma Gandhi or, um, our own, uh, um, guru, uh, or spiritual master as, as a peaceful warrior.
But the reason it's about all of us is [00:05:00] because everyone I know is seeking to live with a more peaceful heart in the midst of all the changing times of everyday life. But there are also times that each of us needs a warrior spirit. And we understand what that means. It's not about fighting except those inner battles with the demons of self-doubt insecurity, competitive mind and so on.
So we all have our inner battles, but really it's about just standing up tall and marching forthrightly into life, facing what we can it's it's viewing life daily. Life is a form of spiritual weight training. If you don't lift enough weights, you don't get any stronger, which is why Saint Augustine said, Lord, I pray not for a lighter load, but for stronger shoulders.
So this is what I mean by the peaceful Warrior's way and why it applies to all of us, whatever, traditionally follow whatever our beliefs or practices. Each of us is a peaceful warrior [00:06:00] in training. Uh, that is so good. I love this, uh, call to action. We should stand tall and rather than lightening the burden to strengthen the shoulders, that's pretty Sage like advice, isn't it?
Yeah. You know, the, the peaceful heart, when you're seeing change for me is, is a pretty significant call out there because often if I'm ever faced with change, Mike, um, you know, it, you're quiet and the tendency is to kind of toughen up and almost reject it. Isn't it, you know, nobody necessarily likes change without practicing change.
You know, I think our bodies are tuned to get into a bit of a rhythm kind of enjoy life as it goes. But finding peace when a challenge comes along or a change moment comes along, is, is this peaceful element here. And then that combination with the warrior spirit in your heart, [00:07:00] To stand up and say, okay, I'm going to accept change as it comes.
And I'm going to be strong enough to go out and deal with it and go and live out that experience. That's, that's a wonderful two parts of that. Yeah. And it frames a lot of the work that we're going to discuss, um, about finding stillness, uh, about getting that clarity, um, not being overly affected by the things around you and then moving into, you know, all sorts of goodies, like how to truly find that meaning and happiness, how to, um, use your time.
Well, how to really set yourself up for the long March of life. And I think, you know, when you are taking Dan Millman's advice, I think for anyone who's looking to. Really do something substantial in life to really fulfill a purpose, a goal to really make a contribution is never going to come in an instant and adversity [00:08:00] is guaranteed.
Like the more that you choose to do something of meaning, the more hardship you're going to face. And I think this book for someone who is perfect for someone who's setting up a company, uh, just starting a big new project, or maybe they're on an even bigger transformation. Maybe they want to run their first marathon, whatever it is, whether it's in your personal professional life, this book gives you, I think a key thing.
It gives you stamina. It gives you a way to think about how to March the long March and you know, what have a smile, enjoy the moments along the way. It's not just about the destination. It's the journey too. So Mark, what I want to plow you and all of our listeners with. Is a pretty, uh, important moment. I think we're going to focus on how we may ready ourselves to be the warrior, how [00:09:00] we are going to find that peacefulness.
So what we've got now is a short summary by the guys that gain knowledge on YouTube. And this short summary is going to frame the underlying context of the book and how it should play a role in our lives. So let's have a listen to what the book really is telling us. What is the message from Dan Millman in the way of the peaceful warrior.
We often believe that a life of quality, enjoyment and wisdom are human birthright and will be automatically bestowed upon us. As time goes on, this is false. You and I are overflowing and preconceptions like this full of useless knowledge before we can learn, we have to first empty our tank. The first lesson is that your mind, not other people or your surroundings is a source of your moods.
We need to understand where our thoughts come from, how they arise in the first place. For example, if you have a cold, [00:10:00] the physical symptoms tell you that your body needs to rebalance itself, sunlight, fresh air, simple food, likewise, social thoughts reflect a conflict with reality. Stress happens when the mind resists, what is a way to get the mind to stop resisting is through meditation.
Silence is the Warrior's art and meditation is his sword with it. You'll cut through your illusions, but understand this. The sword is usefulness. Depends on the source. Then if you don't know how to use the weapon properly, it can become a dangerous diluting or useless tool. The warrior uses the skill of meditation with skill and understanding with it.
He cuts the mind to ribbons, splashing through thoughts to reveal their lack of substance. The purpose of real meditation is to expand wearness direct attention and surrender to the light of consciousness. There are two simultaneous processes with meditation. One is insight paying attention to what is arising.
The other is [00:11:00] surrender, letting go of attachment to a rising thoughts. The second lesson is what happens when bad things happen to us. No men tells this story. An old man and his son worked on a small farm with one only one horse to pull the plow. One day, the horse ran away. The neighbor said, what bad luck, who knows whether it is bad luck or good luck.
The farmer reply a week later, the horse returned from the mountains leading five wild mares into the bar. What wonderful luck. So the neighbors. Good luck, bad luck. Who knows? Answer to the old man the next day, the son trying to attain one of the horses fell and broke his leg. How terrible, what? Bad luck.
It's bad luck. Good luck. The army came to all the farms to take the young men for war, but the farmer's son was of no use to them. So he was spared. Good, bad. The moral of the story is that everything has a purpose. It's for you to make the best use of [00:12:00] it. There are no accidents. Everything is a lesson. Mm.
Couple of big stories or thoughts within that, that summary I'll highlight. I liked that, that one. That was one of those clips, you know, when you're like, Oh, maybe we should have broken that up to like five separate ones. Cause it was just so much. I'm like writing all these notes. Oh my gosh, you got to keep up with this.
You know, that was a big one when it, well, let me, let me see if I can break it down for you, Mike, and you can help me by building on it. Okay. There were two, um, elements within that story. Wasn't there two themes. The first of which was this connection between meditation. Both insight, as well as surrender becoming your sword, your sword, your mind sword, I suppose, to go up against problems, challenges, and obstacles, and the sharper and the stronger that sword is through practice through meditation.
The better it is that you can, you can guard and battle those particular obstacles or [00:13:00] challenges. And, and I want to come back to that in a second, but then the second theme within that, that summary clip, there was this idea on luck, this idea on good luck or bad luck, it doesn't really matter. Nobody knows whether it's good or bad, it just happens.
And again, that for me is connecting to that first theme around insight and surrender. If you've got the inside that there's no such thing as good or bad luck, and you can surrender to that. Um, admission or that way of thinking, then you're able to go out and not be interrupted in the way that you live your life.
You're able to enjoy it. You're able to grow from it. And you're able to perhaps sharpen that sword. What did you get from that clip? Oh boy. Well, I think, um, the, a lot of what I related to in the first half was that it is within our mind that we cause so much of this [00:14:00] battle. It is with this mind, that judges that gets angry, he gets frustrated.
Um, All of that. Um, is this restless mind? We talked about the mischievous mind, you remember? Yes. Um, and the Alexa, the answer, the solution to, uh, this mind running a Mark is to, to create stillness, silence meditation, or to slow the hell down. Right. That's really good. I get a lot from that. And that's a really good reminder for me because I have a lot of energy.
So I have to buy really like, get it out of 58 and lock it back down. I think particularly powerful, almost eternal wisdom is this idea that everything has a purpose. So just bloody excepted, because I think so much of the battle inside of us is the fight. This is unfair. Why me? [00:15:00] I worked hard. I don't understand like it's, I'm a victimization, right?
Thinking of yourself as a victim and spending all that time, regretting the past, worrying about the future. I think that's two really big Sage like advices thoughts that we can consider and come back to every morning and every evening just like calming the mind and excepting, because I think battle, right?
Don't you feel like you battle with things that have happened? It is what it is. It is like if let's say your favorite football team and the coach, uh, decided to swap a player and the team ended up losing and you know, it creates all these emotions, but in the end, It is what it is. Let's say a company that you're working in decides to do a new venture or to launch a new product.
And it goes [00:16:00] really badly and people have to be laid off. Well, you can get all wound up about who's fault and judging and blaming and cursing and Ugh, but it just is what it is. And if can accept, then maybe you can turn every time moment, uh, into, uh, every moment has something to teach us. You know what I mean?
And then you can like that story that was told about the horses, the horse ran away, but it brought back five broke his leg, but Hey, then didn't have to go to war if we can and reflect on those lessons. I think in the moment where we may be tented. To not be peaceful and to be all over the place and to be full of negativity.
I think if we can accept, I think this is extremely helpful. If you're trying to go out there and do something, maximize your energy to the good and don't allow the mind to be mischievous. I mean, that's my, that's my build for your Mark. That, that, that was a good build. That was a good [00:17:00] build. Uh, thank you for that.
Um, I think you've, you've definitely added something there and, and that mischievous mind, it is pretty damaging, isn't it? Because as soon as you fall into the trap, that standard behavior of saying, Oh, poor me. Why doesn't it work? Why can't I get that success? Why isn't it something that comes easy to me because I've put in the time or whatever it is.
What I find is it then affects whatever else I'm working on now, because I'm kind of stewing in, in that past or in that, in, just in that perceived injustice, you know why it doesn't work for me, I'm so frustrated and it affects your quality. Doesn't it? It does make sense. Let's go to that moment. A couple of interesting things.
So let's say something happened in your stewing about it. Does stewing about it change the reality of what happened 0%. [00:18:00] Exactly. That's wasted. And secondly, if, if you and I are doing something together and I'm in a. Terrible, uh, stewing, grumpy mood about it. Mark, do you want to say, Hey Mike, let's go out and get a cup of coffee and hang out.
You're like ma Mike is a grumpy, as I'm getting the hell out. I don't want to collaborate. Like you don't want to hear, hang out with people that are stewing in judgment, anger, frustration. It is a natural human response where like, Ooh, stay away. Right. Do you remember like moments in your life? Maybe when you're a kid or with family?
When, when someone's really not in a good place, you're like, I'm just going to go for a walk. Yeah. I'm going to remove myself from that situation. Exactly. So this is the, this is the poison of that, that negativity. You can accept it and. You can, you know, yes, you have to acknowledge that it's not, uh, you know, when things [00:19:00] happen that it might not be good, but I've got another, I really think this is powerful to open up the rest of the show.
I think we have to kind of unpack this a bit more, you know, an idea that comes to my mind, an example of where we have to, you know, really unders empty the tank and be more peaceful and accept that everything has a purpose. I'll give you another sporting analogy. On the weekend, the Australian rugby grand final was on.
It was very close and, uh, it went into, uh, like three or four minutes over time. And, um, uh, the winning team from Queensland and won by a few points by scoring a try right at the end of the okay. But what's interesting is that, um, In retrospect, looking at some of the footage, there was actually a mistake by Queensland that should have, um, um, being caught by the referee.
Um, extremely hard to see. [00:20:00] It was only because they could go back and rewind like the 10th different angle looking at this play. And what's interesting is so many supporters from the losing side with us, so upset and so forth. And the thing is at the speed of professional rugby to have caught this would have been like a one in a million chance for the referee, um, with, you know, 30 big fellers, all rumbling for the ball, like come on, but here's, what's interesting.
Uh, bill Bellacheck, uh, the very famous coach of the new England Patriots always says when, when the team loses by a point at the end of the game, he always says, well, we should never allowed it to have got that close in the first place. And he never rushes to this judgment. And I think that is the way of the peaceful warrior.
So if I was on that losing side as the great challenge, would've been to say, you know what, guys, we [00:21:00] were leading the entire game until the end. We shouldn't have let them even get close to scoring, let alone scoring. And for us to blame the ref, making a bad decision, which would have been impossible to catch.
This is not the peaceful warrior way, peaceful worry away would it should. It should have said, you know what paid hard disappointing to lose, but you know, what we led the entire game was shouldn't have even let them get close. We'll learn. We're going to play better in the last 10 minutes and the next game.
I think that's what, um, what Dan is inviting us to do empty the tank, let go of your judgment and you can use meditation to do that. And except. That when things do happen and Hey, if you're alive, the one guarantee you have is that bad things are gonna happen because that's kind of life. Yeah. So being better equipped, going to the spiritual weight training gym and working out so that you've [00:22:00] got stronger shoulders to carry that.
I think that is the invitation of this book. That is the quality of the thinking. And I just love it. Don't you? Yeah. Yeah. If I, if I try and connect the story of the, the Queensland game and look, I'm sure we've got a lot of listeners in Queensland who are perhaps doing cartwheels and saying, sorry, Mike, but, uh, you know, we're really, really happy I'm here.
Um, if I think about my, my life, my career as. That type of game, where it gets to the last second. And then I lose, I think that's where this idea of practice spiritual weight training can come in because it's up to me. I, my I'm the coach of my game, you know, if I, if I lose it the final second. Yeah. It is what it is, but at least I control how much practice and the journey that goes into that final moment.
I can play the rest of the game, um, as much as I want, but this [00:23:00] idea of putting the purpose in putting the practice in that's what I can control. And yeah, I can't control whether they ref catches the indiscretion or not, but I can control how I perform prior to that. Yeah. And look, what's really interesting is I think, um, there's a really interesting insight here.
I think we, we all kind of have this general awareness that we need to exercise regularly. That's good for the body. Um, and you know, if you're a bit fanatical about exercise, you, you might even feel a bit weird if you don't exercise it for one day years, like something doesn't feel quite right. If you think about making a big presentation, we all kind of know, we need to prepare.
If you think about education, you generally know we need to go to high school and many of us choose to go to college. So what is fascinating, particularly with the absence and the sort of, I think the [00:24:00] reduction of, you know, religion playing a major role in modern Western, uh, life, uh, I, as a huge decline in, in, uh, religion amongst Western nations, I think it becomes super important that we pay attention to our conscious, our spirit.
In whatever shape way or form we think is right. And I think what Dan gives us is just a fantastic way to get in touch with things that are beyond our body and beyond wow work, but this for meaning satisfaction and fulfillment. I think it's very apt that we have so much more in the show to go into on how we might be become peaceful warriors.
Right. Uh, I it's it's we've we've set up the context. We've intrigued the listeners. Yeah. We've we've got to move on at some point into, okay, well, how do we actually go out [00:25:00] and do this? Yeah. Yeah. So before we do that, Mark, I mean, we're getting a lot of positive feedback from folks. We've got a big invitation happening at the moment.
What do you think? Which is rather. Innovative and a little high tech, what can we invite every single listener to do? Well, listeners, you might've heard us call out at the beginning of the thinking better series a as well as in today's episode, we would like to invite you to be part of the way that we learn out loud.
And we would like to invite you to tell us whether you think there is additional benefits to learning alongside with us through perhaps the presence of. The moonshots model sitting within your pocket day to day. So we'd like to invite you to pop along to moonshots.io and let us know if you'd like us to build a mobile application of moonshots so that you can go in and [00:26:00] find out a lot more.
And already Mike, we've got a pretty good collection of signups from, from pretty much all of them. Well, actually I noticed so a big shout out to Rick, Jared and Michael and the sheets, uh, Danielle, Dimitri, Angie barrage, Jason, Samantha, and so on. There's plenty of people signing up. We need to hit the hundred low there's 25,000 listeners every month of this show.
We just want to have a hundred of you to say, yeah, we want this because we'll have to work hard to get this, this app going and Mark the app's going to be. Pretty neat. We've got three features that we want to do. Do you wanna, you wanna kind of share a little bit of absolutely. I mean, listen is the important thing for us is you get to, to listen to us each week, but actually we want to encourage new ways for yourselves to, to interact with us and be part of this moonshot community.
So the key things that we're thinking about for this moonshots app, but again, Hey, get in touch with us and let us know what you think, but the sort of things and features that [00:27:00] we're thinking about is giving you the opportunity to listen to the shows as you already do, but interact in new different ways.
Interact with the show format in a number of different mechanics, as well as vote for future shows. We all ways get emails and messages from you guys giving us good recommendations, such as. Mr. Terry Bean and Dan Millman today. So we'd like to give you the opportunity to vote for future shows in an easier way, as well as perhaps even get some training or coaching from a moonshots model perspective.
So some big ambitions here that we'd love to try to deliver to you guys, but you've got to tell us, is this worth us going to build exactly. And I think, uh, I want to call out one country. We want to hear from, and that's Brazil. We have, uh, we were blown away actually this week we saw that, uh, we, we, uh, rocketed up the charts in Brazil.
We, uh, the, in the actuate for this market, can you believe this? We are in [00:28:00] the top a hundred business and entrepreneurship podcasts there. In fact, we've reached 30th in Brazil. I mean, how cool is that? That that is cool. So all of our listeners and friends in Rio, San Paolo, Hey guys, we want to hear from you.
We do, have we ever had an email from a Brazilian listener yet? I'm not sure if we had, I don't think we have. We've certainly had South America. We've suddenly had, uh, Mexico and all sorts of amazing countries around the world, but to all of our Brazilian listeners, guys, we'd love to hear from you. So you get in touch.
Yeah. Head over to moonshots.io. If you want to sign up for the beta, send us an email, make a recommendation. Um, that is the destination moonshots.io. With that being said, I think our new destination Mark is to get some real practical tips from Dan Millman on how we can be a peaceful warrior. So let's, without any further ado let's [00:29:00] dig into, Oh, this is a big one.
Let's have a listen to Dan Millman talking about what makes you happy. When I was young, I was pursuing the Western solution to happiness. Which is Tony Robbins, which is, uh, go for the Gusto and succeed at achieve, get possessions and stuff and status, all the things that quote unquote of the ego, the outward expensive Western view of what it means to be happy and successful.
Well, the Western solution, and there are people who have done that. In fact, that actor Jim Carrey was recently quoted as saying, I think everyone should become rich and famous and get everything they want so they can find out that's not the answer.
you know, the best thing about going to college. You find out it doesn't make you happy. It doesn't come with a diploma, [00:30:00] maybe a little while. There are people who didn't go to college and for years they see if only I'd gone to college, I'd be happy if only I had a better job, I'd be happy. If only I had more money, I'd be happy.
If only I traveled more, I'd be happy. If only I found the perfect relationship, I'd be happy if only I had children, I'd be happy if only I hadn't had children, I'd be happy if only I was retired, I'd be happy if only if only, and it goes on and on. And we find out eventually that either we're happy now, or we're not because all we have is now future happiness doesn't mean anything.
All we have is now and happiness, I would suggest is not something that we have to feel. I mean, if we felt happy every moment, how would we know it? The measure of our [00:31:00] sorrows is also the measure of our joys. So life emotions pass, like the weather, they change all the time. And it's hard for me to imagine.
The end point of human evolution is to walk around with a gleeful smile on our face all the time. There must be something more than that. I think what we're really seeking is a sense of meaning that our lives are worth something that count for something and purpose and direction and connection with ourselves connection with others and connection with the transcendent.
Wow. We don't know what to say now. All right, Mark. Help us out. I mean, it's, it's a big clip and, and, you know, I know you're going to ask me at the end of the show, which is the, which is the big one, but I mean, that stunned me in silence. Um, look, Jim Carey actually is a man who probably does make me happy.
I think he's, he's pretty, pretty amazing, but, uh, I think the lesson that Dan's calling out, [00:32:00] that Jim calls out there, this, it reminds me the phrase if only. Is an excuse to not be happy because you're, you're, uh, almost giving yourself permission to be unhappy on you. If only that project had worked out, if only this product works only at well, all of the lists that Dan gave you there it's so, uh, reminiscent of some of the behavior that I've had in my own life, because you do kind of always want, it reminds me of a couple of other phrases, the grass always greener on the other side.
And, uh, one of my personal favorites without the bitter, the sweet ain't so sweet, which is something that, you know, Dan references here, if you were always happy, how do you, how do you know it? You know, how do you notice that you're, you're happy if you're consistently on that flat plane, but I think, and I know I gotta pull this out, Mike, [00:33:00] it goes back to this concept of the ego.
Doesn't it? Yeah. And it, it, um, makes it pretty difficult for you to appreciate what you have now, if you're dwelling in that indulgent thinking, right? Yeah. If, if, if I'm indulging myself and either feeling sorry for myself and saying, Oh, that didn't really work. Or again, if I'm making this experience queues to have, uh, almost given myself permission to have failed almost, um, or given myself to think that I failed when in fact I've actually learned something, but I just can't notice it.
It's such a huge, um, uh, aha moment when you hear it broken down in the way of the peaceful warrior to think. Okay. Well, just enjoy that journey. Yeah. Yeah. And I th I think why, why do [00:34:00] you think. Um, we let our egos takeover. Why, why do you think that when you go back to stoicism and the Ryan holiday series, when you go back to echo toe, it seems like ego is enemy number.
That one I know, isn't it funny? It seems like such a consistent theme for me is my, um, the PMR. Let me pitch it to you. I think that the power of the ego in our lives to influence the way that we notice events, the way that we appreciate or interact with events is a form of self-defense. So. If I'm upset or disappointed by a situation, um, let me, let me try and pull something out.
Let's say I've done a race and I've twisted my ankle. And I say, Oh, I can't believe that. What, what bad luck, why did it happen to him? To me, [00:35:00] that's my ego saying, Oh, well, you know, it's not your fault, but the truth is maybe I stepped wrong. Maybe I didn't strengthen my, my muscles enough to be able to cope with it.
Maybe I didn't do enough, um, preventative practice in order to be able to cope with, you know, potentially wrong, wrong footing. I think it's, it's, it's, it's my ego giving me an excuse so that I don't feel bad when the truth is I don't need to feel bad about it. It just happens. Right. And so much of Dan Millman's work is, is about don't rely on those externalities.
Um, For your happiness, just enjoy the moment being the now like it's so Eckhart Tolle in that respect, he's like, if you're going to be hanging your happiness and your meaning in life attached to the views of others, then it's going to be a rollercoaster. Surely it makes more sense to find more peace, more calm, more S more meaning in [00:36:00] and of yourself rather than, um, being exposed to others.
Because if you, if you, uh, hanging your happiness on the views of others, then you're in for a really rough ride. And even if you are doing the right thing, others might not perceive it. So it's so unjust in that respect. So it's such a call to arms of being in the moment. Isn't it? Uh, it, it reminds me of one of the Marcus earliest quotes.
Within the Ron holiday series, where he in, in Mark's release Ellis' meditation's, he calls out, don't worry too much about those externalities. You're not going to make every single person happy. You're not going to walk down the street and find that everybody is you is a good friend of yours. There will be individuals who, you know, they might not be going out of their way to upset you, but it's possible that they might.
And instead of allowing that to then influence your [00:37:00] morning, your day, your life instead, find the happiness in just you going about your business, enjoying the journey, enjoying the life and not letting yourself be distracted by things that you can't control. Yeah, what a big theme that just plays. I think as, as we come into 2021, we're all adjusting to a new way of working and new way of, um, life.
Um, and, uh, I think, you know, this advice of just enjoy the journey and apply more attention, uh, to your self be right. So you can go out and get the world, right. I mean, I think that's a big part of what Dan says, isn't it? Yeah, it is. It really has as well as acceptance, you know, again with, uh, with a foot in the stoic camp, if you can accept the very [00:38:00] moment that you're in and remove any, you know, judgment, um, From that, you know, and going back to that, Jim Crow, Kerry quote, that he, that he specifies, if you can remove those things that you don't have control over that, that, that, uh, perfect job, perfect life, perfect money, whatever it is.
And instead thing. Okay, well, that's, that's okay, because this is my journey. This is my story. Yeah. I liked that. I liked that. I think, um, I think where we all, yeah, really stuck on is we have these really big dreams and ambitions and when they don't come true, we get despondent. And I think the message, let me try and pitch you this.
I think what Dan Millman says to that is, uh, and it's quite familiar familiarity. It's reminiscent of what Dale Carnegie talked about. Yeah. With how to stop worrying is this [00:39:00] idea. Will, did you work hard? Did you do your best in the moment? Okay, then you can just accept the results and you can reset, you know, accept the reality of where you are, knowing that you made your best effort and the build, the damn Millman puts on this is enjoy the fact that you did you best enjoy this moment.
Like he's almost saying to you, okay, fine engineering engineer, yourself to find the true meaning and happiness in the journey in the making the effort. And then you can just accept the result. And I think our general design is that we kind of become outcome obsessed, so we don't enjoy the small improvements.
That we make. [00:40:00] And even if we don't make an improvement, we're unable to think like that horse story that Dan Millman has, which is that okay. Things, everything has a purpose. So when challenge comes our way, we have to have the wisdom, the peacefulness to go, okay, well, this was meant to come my way. I was ready for this.
This is, there is a lesson to be learned inside of this. I think this is how we start to turn the Titanic, like, okay, stuff is a bit sideways, but it's meant to be, I'm going to do my best. And I'm going to find meaning and satisfaction in the effort to do my best, regardless of the outcome you see, you see, I think that's the turning point, that pivot point in dance, that that is the build.
Isn't it. So again, referencing where he came from his background in being a coach, as well as a. Award-winning uh, [00:41:00] sorry, metal winning, um, uh, gymnast. I think that, that there's a comparison there, isn't it, you know, he may have lost out in the past, but through the practice that he puts in the journey of building that strength, that coordination, that mobility and flexibility, I mean, there is a joy that comes in that if you can find it, if you can find the, the moment to almost pause and say, okay, well, I'm just going to take a moment, have a breath.
I'm going to enjoy this, this, uh, this joy that comes with the actual hard work of putting an ad in that feels like the, the, the real goal. Isn't it. So one of the, one little, uh, cheat that I have is, um, When I'm just doing the work. Um, and particularly when you have to toil and stick to something over a long period of time, I have this little cheat that this is how I kind of [00:42:00] help myself enjoy the process.
I mean, a lot of great sports team, uh, will great sports teams. They'll talk about, you've got to trust the process. Uh, it's sometimes a bit cliche in the sports world these days, but what they're really trying to say is like you got to intake, uh, satisfaction every day at training. And the, the thing that I do both in my personal life, uh, in my health routines is.
Sometimes you're like, Oh gosh, this is like, what I wouldn't do for a week on the beach. But what I do two is I always think about it like compound interest. Every time I continuously go through a habit or a ritual or an effort, I take joy in the fact that, you know, that was run 1600 thousand, 332 in my life.
Like every time, um, growing [00:43:00] that, um, every time I get up early, I know that most people are not. In fact with anything that I do, what I know is that I can be so proud of sticking to it because so many people don't stick to it. They don't put in the hard work, you know, Gaga talks about being relentless.
Well, we can be relentless with our positive habits, our rituals. We can be relentless in finding structure, calm, purpose, meditating every single day. You know, there are times when I might, um, I have a little to do at the end of the day, which is to write what I was grateful for. And there are some times my, when I'm really tired, I'm like, Oh, I haven't written any of my gratitudes.
And you're just like, you have to go inside and in summons some motivation to go [00:44:00] do it. When all you want to do is crash. Right. I get to sleep, but you've got to say, well, you know what? If I do this every single day, every week, every month, every time I'm doing it, that is an act of a resilience of being relentless, of being the peaceful warrior.
And that's my little hack. Like, it's like a, like a little town, there's another notch on the belt. They're like, yep. Job done. And, um, I can be proud of that because most people don't stick to things. So sticking to it has a, it's like so important to become motivated because otherwise you're like our just skip today.
Hey, what's one day. And you, and I both know once you break the a hundred percent rule, it all falls apart. Doesn't it? Yeah, it really does. If you don't, um, Stick to that regime or routine or habit as you, as you're saying, then, then you're willing to, to give yourself the [00:45:00] excuse to the next time as well, you know?
Oh, well I gave myself permission last time so I can just, yeah, so we did a show way back in the back catalog on Clayton Christiansen and his book, how you live your life. And he talks about this idea. It's easier to be a hundred percent about your purpose and commitments than 99%. Because what he says is that if you're not absolute in doing the things that make you a better person and doing the things that make you both peaceful and a warrior, what happens is it creates this doubt because at a certain point you're like, Oh, well this would be the one time I skipped.
But if you make this commitment to yourself that I will do something every day, maybe it's writing a journal, maybe it's going for a walk. Then you, there's no decision that needs to be made. You should never ask. Uh, [00:46:00] Oh, will I go for a walk today? If you've hardwired this into your purpose? Like for me to be at my best, I must walk every day, then come rail rain, hail or shine.
You walk every single day. And I had this funny, a moment where I ran in the, in the rain. And I remember I was looking at the rain before I went out and was, Ugh, do I really want to run? But I actually ran in the rain and like, there was nobody about, cause it was raining and I got back and Jay, I felt good because not only did I run, but I ran in the rain and nobody else was even out because it was the writing of fish a bit.
And I think those are the moments that can bring you meaning and happiness. Cause you're like, yep. I'm soaked. I'm going to take a nice warm shower, but. I ran and I think that's, yeah. Don't you think that it's so important to grab onto those things? If we're going to be peaceful warriors, I think you have to just grab onto, you know, this [00:47:00] idea that I have this positive habit and I am getting to do it every single day.
And the warrior in me is going to keep myself to that commitment. I think that's the challenge for us, isn't it? Yeah. I, I I'd build on it and say that what the way of the peaceful warrior is showing us is having the awareness to identify that. That's the thing that makes you happy. That's the thing that you're putting into practice.
That's giving you purpose, isn't it? No matter whether it's in the rain or not the fact that you got out there, you kept that routine. You did that thing that makes you happy. And he was probably heightened because of right. I mean, there's, it's very fun running in the rain. Isn't it? Particularly if you're the only one like that, but it is, isn't it learning to know what makes you happy?
Is is such an important lesson that actually, you know, we have, we have run into before in the moonshots as well. And by the way, for our listeners who were keen on knowing about that Clayton Christiansen episode, Mike, that you just referenced, [00:48:00] it was way back in the archives episode 30. Nice. Oh gosh. Oh gosh.
Such a good book too. Oh my gosh. It's so good. But you know, one of the ways we get to these insights is finding rest in peace. And I am particularly bad at this one. Um, I have, um, really got a lot, a lot to learn and a lot of room to grow in finding the right rest and peacefulness. But we've got this interesting clip now from Dan Millman.
And he's talking about what I think is something that's gonna resonate with. A lot of our listeners. I know for you and me ma where. We try to be super productive. We've got a lot going on at work in our personal lives, but it's interesting that, um, it's really it's. It reminds me of the fact that, you know, most Americans never take the full allotment of vacation time that they get every year.
And yet it is really important for people [00:49:00] to find some time for rest and for peace. And we shouldn't be scared of this. So let's have a listen now to Dan Millman talking about how to think about how to overcome this fear of wasting time. One. I don't really have a clear answer to it's an ongoing contemplation in my life.
My cousin. Spends nine months of the year on ship cruises going on cruises, he and his wife just cruise nine months of the year. They go on one cruise all around an area of the world than they do it again. The second time they loved the predictability, the safety they're getting served, wonderful meals.
He likes dressing up and tuxedo. We're really different in that way. Anything that requires a black tie, I don't usually attend, but that's just difference in personality. It's not better or worse, but I wonder am I missing something he's cruising all over the world. And, um, uh, there are people who are constantly [00:50:00] busy and doing this and doing that, accomplishing this every moment, very busy.
And I remember times like that and it's feels very fulfilling in a way you're accomplishing a lot and yet loud too. I mean, I'm sure it's a rough translation, but loud too said, when you can spend a Saturday afternoon doing absolutely nothing. You'll know how to live. So. Yeah, Mason Williams. He was an old songwriter.
He once said isn't life beautiful. Isn't life gay, isn't life, the perfect way to pass the time away. So I don't know if there's such a thing as wasting time. If you're, if you play a video game, maybe you need to space out for a while to go back and refresh yourself and function. We have these ideas it's better to read than watch television.
Well, there are some arguments in favor of that. Reading cultivates the imagination. You have to make pictures in your mind. And one of the best things we [00:51:00] ever did for our daughters, when they were teeny, was we read to them every night. We didn't give them. They didn't have screen time. So we each have to make our own decision for our children and for ourselves.
But to be productively, occupied probably feels more fulfilling to most of us than sitting and staring at the TV screen. Um, but where that balance is, I don't know. I think it's different for each person of how much, how busy to keep, uh, it's an ongoing contemplation. So I have no definitive answer. Um, yeah, I mean, it's, it's funny, isn't it?
Because it's going to be so different and subjective between different people like you, when you set up the clip mic, I think you and I do fall into the camp of, I've got to be busy. And I got to, I've got to, uh, you know, be productive. I've got to go out and [00:52:00] create or do something, whether it's a physical work or exercise, whatever it might be.
But yeah, I like where he's going in that clip. And I think what he's motivating or referencing there is this idea of the peaceful within the warrior, getting to know yourself and actually accepting the fact that yeah, you need a break. You need to rest, you need to recuperate. And only when you do that, can you perhaps, um, You know, reflect on again.
What makes you happy or what are those strengths? Do you need to build from a mental capacity? Yeah, I think it's a bit like a car. We can't run in fifth gear all the time. I think that's the best way for me to relate to this. And I think it's, um, if you, I would say it's not any like the compulsion I have to be busy.
Um, I think it's also, and I think again for a lot of the moonshot, others that are listening to this show, they're like, I'm [00:53:00] so interested in so many things. Like, for example, I have my professional job, but I'm also wildly interested in sport. I'm really interested in history and economics. Um, All of which are just personal interests.
In addition to this, I like to run, uh, in addition, I spend a lot of time with music and I'm a dad, I'm a husband, son. Like I got a lot. There's a lot of things calling upon my time. And, um, I think what's really interesting is we can start doing things like when we go for a walk, don't listen to music. When we go for a walk, don't walk fast, but walk slow, just sit in your garden with no [00:54:00] book, just sit in the park, not with all your friends, but just by yourself on a blanket.
Uh, Like, I think the, the real thing here is knowing that you need to cool the engine down and that you can't be stuck in fifth gear because what's interesting is like, you look at Winston Churchill, by the way, Mike, someone we should definitely do on moonshots. He used to take, he was famous for napping and, uh, in the middle of the war, he would take a nap because he knew he needed to rebuild to rejuvenate.
And what I like about Dan Millman right there is he's like, I don't have the answer, but there are times where you do not need to be occupied, that you can find this, um, health and wellbeing from just doing nothing. Just chewing [00:55:00] the hell out with some, some intention I would say. And that can recharge you incredibly kind of.
Yeah. And it is a little bit. Different, I think to some of the other models and themes that we've encountered on the show before, I think where Dan's building on this idea of obstacles being sought out in order to grow, you know, where he's connecting the warrior to that peacefulness is by saying, yeah, but you know what, make sure you do find that time to have a Winston Churchill nap.
And I like the, I like the tips you just gave around going to the park by yourself, or going to sit down in a quiet room by yourself because that's when that meditation kicks in, isn't it, that's when you can actually compartmentalize and just remove all these distractions, remove the notifications.
Cause the music, you know, we all love it, but at the same time, it [00:56:00] does lead to a very cluttered mindset and that makes it then difficult to interact with each other. It makes it difficult to do our best work. I'd say. Um, and, um, I think Mark, for our last clip, I think you may have left the best clip till last wouldn't you say?
Yeah, this is, uh, building on that previous clip around this concept of time and how you're going to utilize it to the best of your capabilities. But also Mike thinking back a couple of previous shows ago to maybe even our friend Eckhart Tolle, this is a, a theme that Dan is bringing up again, but in a slightly different tastes, bearing in mind his experience in the physical world and the connection to his mental models.
So this final clip to hear us out for today's show is Mr. Dan Millman telling us to focus on one thing at a time. Life can feel overwhelming when we're thinking about the past and future, [00:57:00] you know, a writer named Barbara rasp said the lesson is simple. The student is complicated. By focusing less actually on trying to have just the right thoughts and positive thoughts and quiet mind and just the right feelings.
If we focus on what we have more control over how we move our arms and legs, what we actually do, moment it simplifies their life. You ever wake up in the morning thinking, Oh, I have 26 things I have to do today, but actually there's only one thing, you know, to do open your eyes when you first wake up and then sit up, unless you sleep sitting up and then put your feet on the floor.
One thing at a time, my life is very busy. I'm sure yours is very busy too, but my life has become very simple. When I finally realized I can only do one thing at a time, a young man and a college student actually came [00:58:00] up to me once sedan. I know you charge a lot of money for personal consultations, but, um, I'm a poor college student.
I just have a dollar. Can you tell me something for a dollar?
I said, sure. And I gave him, I told him six words that could change his life. If he actually practiced it. Those six words were simply here and now breathe and relax. Just remembering to do those things more often, remembering where we are, where we are right here. Right now. The moment of reality is the only one Mark Twain once said I've had many troubles in my life.
Most of which never happened. Yeah. We laugh because there's some truth. There. A light bulb goes on. Most of our troubles are self-created about past and future regrets anxieties. But right now we can, we can handle this moment. Life comes at us in waves of change. We cannot predict or control those waves, [00:59:00] but we can become better surfers.
One thing at a time. I mean, this is such, such good advice. My breathe and relax here. And now I think the more energy you put into your craft, your purpose, the more you need to balance that with this very mindful advice, don't you? Yeah. I mean, we've all felt overwhelmed at times and you know, perhaps crushed by indecision when you've got so many things calling for your attention and you can't collaborate, you can't give your family the best attention.
You can't even give yourself that break that we heard about in the previous clip. But if you can just let yourself go take a big breath. Rinse and repeat then maybe you can find that, that peaceful heart, that [01:00:00] Dan's really calling us out there in that final clip. I mean, a powerful, powerful reminder. Yeah.
And just wonderful that we can take this moment to jump into another flavor of mindfulness. Um, you know, I'm sure Daniel can imagine Dan Millman and Eckhart Tolle hanging out. That would be one pretty mindful conversation. I can imagine. Yeah. At some point in, in the, the world of, of authors and thinkers and, and behavioralists and so on, they probably had it dinner or lunch together.
And I'll tell you what Mike, I would have loved to have been there. Can you imagine, can you imagine, so what, what, uh, like kind of, uh, What a portfolio, what a spectrum of ideas from Dan Millman. And we have to of course, think Terry being for recommending Dem Millman's work. [01:01:00] Um, we covered a pretty broad set of ideas from such a unique, uh, author, because he was a great athlete.
He was a great coach. He then wrote the book, Oh, by the way, he wrote it as a fictional piece. Oh, by the way, it got made as a movie. I mean, this is truly one of the most unique, um, moonshot superstars that we've had a look at and, and. What a great storyteller too. Huh? Um, what a great, um, enter the thinking better series.
You know, we had Adam Grant, we had Matthew McConaughey and today we're Dan Melbourne, three individuals who are accomplished well, perhaps beyond accomplished, in fact, in their respective fields, you know, um, authors, actors, uh, I'm going to call them, I'm going to group Dan into kind of gymnast, but I know he's way, way more as you've just said.
Yeah, but they've all got so many themes or concepts or ideas [01:02:00] that can inspire us to, you know, think better. Think about the way that we live our lives, that we're aware about things, the way that we react to things. I think they've all come towards us with these different slices of DNA, but there's so much that we can learn from each of them.
So that's been a pretty powerful series for me. It, it has been, uh, what, uh, what funds series and I think, um, it's a really great moment to think about thinking, right? Isn't that, isn't that fun like, and I think that the real empowerment for us all is that we can in fact, um, you know, reduce our negative thoughts.
We can optimize for the positive County. Yeah. W I think this is a valid reminder that are much like Adam called out in his book. We don't have to be beholden to our beliefs. Beliefs [01:03:00] can be changed, whether those beliefs are around negativity or reactions. Oh, I can't control it. That's just the way I am.
Oh yeah. I get angry. That's just what happens to me. You can still take back control over that by thinking differently. And I think each of these, these episodes about reflection about practice and training, I feel like I've left that a little bit stronger from my, my thinking capabilities, Mike. So which one would you, if you had to start focusing doing more of which habit, which ritual would you take from Dan Millman?
I think it's the reflection of happiness. You know, I think it really, for me, that stems that's, that's the beginning of the river for me. That's the source. If I can, reappropriate the way that I think about my journey and I can stop my ego, perhaps driving [01:04:00] those emotions to control whether I'm happy or not.
I believe I can then work better on taking a break. I can then work better at focusing on one thing at a time or finding purpose as well as strengthening my spirit. I think for me, that's the, that's the source, but where, where do you land? Like,
I think it is, you know, something I touched on towards the end of the show, just balancing out, um, All my energy and desire to be productive. Yeah. Um, with, uh, more stillness and rest and trying to optimize to quality, not quantity. I think, um, This idea of being, I would have, you know, particularly my earlier career, I would have been so much the Tony Robbins RAR RAR warrior type.
But Dan, in, in the wisdom of the years, Dan has reminded me of that. [01:05:00] Peacefulness is in fact, the source of energy, which is you could do a whole episode on that. Couldn't you? Yeah. Maybe, maybe one day we will, but we're going to have to wait for our listeners to tell us then. Yeah. Yeah. So Mark, thank you to you.
Thank you for helping us break down just another new way to think with the work of Dan Millman and the way of the peaceful warrior and thank you to you. All of our moon shutters on all four corners of the planet, but in particular to those of you in Brazil who have joined us to learn out loud, we welcome you.
We're so grateful for your time. Make sure that you tell us what you think, make your contributions@moonshots.io. But today, today we went into the world of the peaceful warrior, a book by Dan Millman and this peaceful warrior starts with what he calls spiritual weight training. So we've all [01:06:00] got different battles that's life.
So we may as well have strongest shoulders to carry them. And the foundational idea was meditation. Find that stillness and find that pace and be accepting that everything has a purpose be good or bad. It is what it is. So how do we go the way of the peaceful warrior? Well, we enjoy our life. We actually let go of our ego and all the crazy mischievous mind going on and we find time to rest and to be peaceful, don't fear it.
Find that rest and focus on the now don't be overwhelmed with dreams and visions and the past and the future take things one thing at a time. Yes. This is what we've learned from Dan Millman, the way of the peaceful warrior. And he gave us just six words that say everything here and now breathe [01:07:00] and relax.
And if we all do that, we for sure will be on the way we will be the very best versions of ourselves. That's it for the moonshots podcast. That's it right.