S2T6 | How Do You Manage Yourself?

January has a way of speeding things up, until you pause long enough to notice what it’s been asking.

In this episode, Monnica and Brad take an honest read on the first month of the year and the moment that quietly shifted everything: twelve intentional minutes of stillness. What started as a practice they’d been avoiding became a reset of pace, attention, and awareness in real time.

The conversation opens with a simple question Monnica asked in a recent interview: How do you manage yourself? From there, it unfolds the way their weekly ritual always does, over coffee, with a vinyl record spinning, and no real agenda beyond paying attention to the lives they’re actually living.

They talk about managing attention, keeping lists short, saying no, habit-stacking, and why presence doesn’t fix everything, but it does clarify where to start. Midway through the episode, they stop talking and try the practice together, then reflect on what those twelve minutes revealed about focus, nervous systems, and how easily momentum can run ahead of awareness.

Along the way, they check in on January highs and lows, re-entry after vacation, health and energy, leadership, current events, and the music that gave this conversation its rhythm, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: Greatest Hits.

This isn’t a reset. It’s a change in pace.

One record.
One reflection.
One transmission at a time.

🎧 New episodes every Sunday
 ☕ Marriage • Leadership • Attention • Presence • Real Life • Gen X

What is The Manuel Transmission?

We’re Brad & Monnica Manuel - we've been married for 28 years and business partners a little longer than that.

Every Sunday morning, we press record on a conversation rooted in reflection. Over coffee and a vinyl record, we talk through the week we just lived: what challenged us, what taught us, and what tuned us along the way.

From marriage and mindset to leadership, resilience, and personal growth, these are honest conversations about being human through the lens of Gen X, family, work, and life in transition - one record, one reflection, one transmission at a time.

🎧 New Transmissions every Sunday morning
☕ Stories • Soundtracks • Marriage • Leadership • Self-Discovery • Coaching • Generation X

Monnica: 00:00

How do you manage yourself? I asked somebody that in an interview this week.

Brad: 00:03

That's a really good question.

Monnica: 00:04

And I agree. I'm asking you now.

Brad: 00:06

Welcome to the manual transmission. I'm Brad.

Monnica: 00:09

And I'm Monica.

Brad: 00:10

We're married business partners, and each week we sit down for a conversation we're curious about.

Monnica: 00:15

We usually have a cup of coffee. We've listened or are listening to a vinyl record. And no real agenda, just what we're noticing in our lives, our work, our relationship. I feel like the album gives us you know, it's like a conversation starter. We're usually doing this on a weekend morning, kind of recovering from the week.

Monnica: 00:36

So it's nice to put on a put on a vinyl record.

Brad: 00:38

The album is a nice habit.

Monnica: 00:40

It's a nice yeah. It's a nice starter, to kind of a ritual for the morning and the weekend. And we'll talk about either what we're experiencing or noticing, what we're curious about. And it's it's been a bit of a ritual for us for a long time anyway. And so when we talked about when we were challenged to do something like this, and we looked at our schedule and our lives and, you know, what would fit consistently, we kind of looked at a little bit like James Clear talks about in Atomic Habits, like habit stacking.

Monnica: 01:09

We looked at this as something we already do and thought, we could fold in, we could stack the activity of hitting record and just have the conversation we would have had. I mean, I'm sure we do it a little differently knowing that others are gonna listen. I'm actually a little intimidated by that, but I'm I'm out of my comfort zone.

Brad: 01:27

I'm Mhmm.

Monnica: 01:28

I'm dealing with it, trying to embrace it. But we're just doing what we would normally do, but we're we're capturing it.

Brad: 01:35

Right. So our conversations would usually be about our marriage.

Monnica: 01:39

Or yeah. Or, you know, our goals, our kids, or

Brad: 01:42

But even leadership Plans. Because we've been business partners for as long as we've been married.

Monnica: 01:48

So we're usually strategizing, like, what are we gonna, how are we gonna help this company or this person we're working with?

Brad: 01:53

Right. So we just are looking at it through this lens of being Gen X.

Monnica: 01:59

Family.

Brad: 02:00

Raising family, our careers. Work,

Monnica: 02:03

Big big life transitions. We've had several big life transitions, especially over the last decade, like, as our kids were graduating from high school and going to college, leaving the house, starting their own families.

Brad: 02:16

And facing more with aging parents.

Monnica: 02:18

Our aging parents now. We decided in the course of that last ten or twelve years to go back to school ourselves. We have our own, like, business and personal, professional goals. Like yeah. Anyway, one record, one reflection, one transmission at a time.

Brad: 02:37

So the question is

Monnica: 02:39

How do you how do you manage yourself? How do you keep yourself accountable to deliver on outcomes?

Brad: 02:44

I think that I work really hard to keep my list as minimal as possible. Oh,

Monnica: 02:53

by just saying no to things or by checking things off early?

Brad: 02:57

Both.

Monnica: 02:58

Okay. I think your list of what you're not you won't do is as important as your list of what you will do so that you have the right prioritization and allocation of resources.

Brad: 03:07

Right.

Monnica: 03:08

I agree.

Brad: 03:09

That's one way. The other way is keeping a list. It makes it feel a lot more in control.

Monnica: 03:18

Plus there's something so satisfying about checking, crossing a line through something or checking a box. I I do that too. I I calendar things a lot as well. If I know that there's a place where it's going to go in my calendar and that way I can stop thinking about it right now, that's one way. And then I do, I keep an old fashioned handwritten list so that I can, that's just my personal to dos.

Monnica: 03:40

So I think probably my, here's the things I would say as far as keeping myself accountable. When something comes up, I make sure I've communicated with whoever I'm assigning a task to or collaborating with something on. So the comms, calendaring, my personal written list, and then I make a regular habit of zooming out and going, all right, where do I want to be with whatever this is in a decade or in eighteen months or by the end of the quarter or by the end of the week? So what am I what are the outcomes I'm trying to do now? What does that mean I have to do right now or, you know, in this quarter or in this week or in this day?

Brad: 04:19

So when you say regular

Monnica: 04:20

Probably compulsively all day long, if I'm being honest. But also just in the course of planning a week or a month, like, what do I for example, like, have this big thing in front of me this week that I've been working toward. What do I want that to look like?

Brad: 04:35

Mhmm.

Monnica: 04:36

I've been working on that week for months.

Brad: 04:38

I'm excited for you. It's gonna be a great week. You've been working hard on this for a long time. I get the privilege of seeing all the behind the scenes stuff, the way that you're pulling the team together, your communications. Everybody's working really, really hard to pull this thing off, and, you're going to be able to grab a big sigh of relief and look back on the event.

Brad: 05:05

It's gonna be awesome.

Monnica: 05:06

I'm really proud of them and so impressed by their focus, their work ethic, their their innovation, their their passion, their buy in. I mean, it is impressive. I'm so privileged to work with this team.

Brad: 05:24

You're really having fun.

Monnica: 05:25

There is one thing. Like, there I I work with some of the most talented, hardworking, impressive women I've ever worked with. It's and that I really love that.

Brad: 05:35

That is not surprising because of the way you empower others.

Monnica: 05:43

It's fun. I am a little

Brad: 05:44

mention you kinda collect

Monnica: 05:46

I do collect.

Brad: 05:46

Along the way along your career.

Monnica: 05:49

Yeah. That's fun. There's two right now in particular that I've worked with in past past relationships that work with me here that I love working with them. So, yeah, it's gonna be a good week.

Brad: 06:01

It is gonna be a good week. Okay. So it's the January. Let's look at what the month actually gave us.

Monnica: 06:08

We're actually recording during one of those weeks where the world feels a little loud. Obviously, a lot of turmoil and a lot of pain happening collectively across the country, but in particular in Minnesota. So heart our hearts go out to the people who are dealing with that.

Brad: 06:27

Absolutely. I think that if you're paying attention, then you're gonna pay attention to your community, to your country, to the world, and it feels it feels heavy.

Monnica: 06:42

You're not how are you really free if our if our constitutional rights are being violated by our own government? What do you even do about that? How do you as a people stand up to that? And the only answer, I guess, is we, the people, have to collectively demand better from our elected officials. Like our government is formed of by and for the people.

Monnica: 07:08

And so if we, the people, don't like what it's doing and how it's encroaching on our civil liberties and our constitutional freedoms, then we, the people, need to demand different from them or replace them if they don't give us what we want from them as our leaders. ICE, I think, here I'll say something controversial the other way. I think ICE has an important part to play. Like our local government, even here in Salt Lake City, works with ICE to deal with I mean, are people that come over into our country who, you know, aren't citizens and they're here as part of like cartels or organized crime. And ICE works with local law enforcement to protect and serve the people of our society.

Monnica: 07:56

That has a valuable role to play. That's not what we're seeing happen though. We're seeing them turn against our own citizens and harm the freedoms and violate the constitutional rights of our citizens, and they need to get back in their lane. And and I don't think in any circumstance, our law enforcement should be masked and acting with impunity and acting as judge, jury, and executioner. That's not how our society was built.

Brad: 08:23

Amen, sister.

Monnica: 08:25

There you go. That's as far as I wanna go and probably farther here about public affairs. I mean, I mean, current affairs.

Brad: 08:32

I'm sure I'll be doing some editing.

Monnica: 08:33

I'm sure. Anyway, so the Super Bowl's coming.

Brad: 08:38

The Super Bowl is in a week. It's seahawks and patriots.

Monnica: 08:42

I just learned that this morning from you. Thank you. I did

Brad: 08:45

not know that. So make your picks.

Monnica: 08:47

Seahawks and patriots. Okay. On what basis would I make these picks since I don't even know I didn't even know till today who was in it.

Brad: 08:53

I want to give you some context.

Monnica: 08:56

Okay.

Brad: 08:56

And then I want you to make a prediction, and you're gonna be in Vegas this week, and you're gonna place a

Monnica: 09:04

bet. Serious?

Brad: 09:06

Yeah. Why not?

Monnica: 09:06

Do you have to be there to collect your winnings?

Brad: 09:09

I don't know.

Monnica: 09:10

Guess we'd have to go back to Vegas.

Brad: 09:11

Probably not. Okay. Yeah. But, anyway

Monnica: 09:13

Here's what I know about the seahawks. Michael Gervais, at one time, I don't know if he still is, was working with them. And I know the seahawks use a lot of the mental performance mindfulness practices that we have spent so much time learning about and sharing with others. And so it'd be really cool to see them win. There you go.

Monnica: 09:32

There's my pick, seahawks.

Brad: 09:34

Okay.

Monnica: 09:36

Plus, like Seattle.

Brad: 09:37

Alright. Seattle is the betting favorite to win outright.

Monnica: 09:41

No way.

Brad: 09:42

And they're saying that total points, the over under is 45 and a half points. So almost 46 total points they're saying are gonna be scored in this game.

Monnica: 09:53

Between the two teams?

Brad: 09:54

In total. Yeah.

Monnica: 09:55

So they're they're thinking it's gonna come down to, like, 26 to 21 or something like that. Yes. Okay.

Brad: 10:01

Yes. So Seattle being

Monnica: 10:03

So it's gonna be a battle. Yeah. They're well matched.

Brad: 10:06

That's what they're expecting. Oddsmakers expect Seattle by about a touchdown.

Monnica: 10:12

Okay. Here's a question.

Brad: 10:13

Yes.

Monnica: 10:15

Who's coaching these teams?

Brad: 10:17

Oh, tell me why

Monnica: 10:18

you asked. Because here's the thing. The the Patriots are considered to be the underdogs based on this season and these players. Yep. But Seattle, they haven't been there in a long time.

Monnica: 10:30

I don't I don't think they've won in a long time. I I don't know. I just I mean, I peripherally pay attention to the to football around the time of the Super Bowl. I'm just wondering how tested each of these coaches are to handle a game like that.

Brad: 10:46

So Seattle's head coach, Mike McDonald, he transformed Seattle's defense, and he's now led them to the Super Bowl in just his second season as a head coach.

Monnica: 10:58

Dang.

Brad: 10:59

And New England, their head coach is Mike Vrabel. In his first season as the Patriots head coach, he's guided New England from this that rebuilding year of was it

Monnica: 11:15

From '17 to '17?

Brad: 11:17

Correct. And an AFC championship. And he was named coach of the year.

Monnica: 11:23

So these are both great coaches who are doing new things. They're these aren't, like, long tenured coaches. These are new coaches who've done new things

Brad: 11:30

Bringing in fresh ideas. Yeah.

Monnica: 11:34

I oh gosh. I said I wanted the Seahawks, and I said why? And then you gave me all this information. And I have this tendency to wanna pull for the underdog.

Brad: 11:43

Here

Monnica: 11:45

here's the thing. I think I'm still gonna say the Seahawks because the quarterback for the seahawks has more in his wheelhouse and a solid defense to shut down the passing game.

Brad: 11:56

So final score.

Monnica: 11:58

I don't know. 34 to 21.

Brad: 12:02

Thirty four twenty one Seattle.

Monnica: 12:04

Yeah.

Brad: 12:05

K. We're gonna do high low.

Monnica: 12:08

Okay.

Brad: 12:09

Big picture.

Monnica: 12:10

What was your high for January?

Brad: 12:12

My high for January. You know what? I I had some stuff written down, some thoughts. I was being a little bit more proactive this time because I usually come in not prepared in this area.

Monnica: 12:25

And I just ramble to give you time to think?

Brad: 12:27

Yes. But I did think of the high for January for me was reinvigorating my golf game.

Monnica: 12:37

Okay. Tell me more. How did you do that?

Brad: 12:40

Well, we got to start the month.

Monnica: 12:42

Oh, because you played in Hawaii.

Brad: 12:43

Got to go to Hawaii. Got to go to the driving range. It was warm, sunny, wonderful just to go over to the putting green, the pitching area, the driving range, and then even I got to play around the golf with Caleb. But over there multiple times just to restart this adventure that I set out on back in September to switch to left handed. So I'm really excited about this season of golf and this next six months.

Brad: 13:11

In fact, this next week marks six months from when I went left handed.

Monnica: 13:17

Okay.

Brad: 13:17

So that's my high.

Monnica: 13:19

Well, good. I'm glad you are feeling good about it. That's a big deal to switch to the other side. I know you struggled for as long as I've known you with that baseball hitch in your golf swing that even I can see. Yes.

Monnica: 13:33

I know we can laugh about it now, but it's it's been a a sensitive

Brad: 13:37

I'm still sensitive about it.

Monnica: 13:39

I'm sorry. I'll I'll stop talking about it. But I mean, it's a big deal to switch the other side, and you've done so well. It's kind of annoying how how you can just take on something so hard and just be good at it right away.

Brad: 13:50

Well, we'll see. Thank you. We'll we'll see what, this season produces. I'm excited, though. I get to golf with the brother in laws.

Monnica: 13:59

Cheers to your left handed golf game.

Brad: 14:01

No right swing.

Monnica: 14:02

No right swing. Okay. Alright. So what was your low for January?

Brad: 14:07

My low. You know what? My low now that I'm recognizing it is that we set out to do something multiple times, and we have not done it yet.

Monnica: 14:23

Oh, I know.

Brad: 14:25

It's sitting in front of us, and we're gonna fix that right now.

Monnica: 14:29

Okay.

Brad: 14:30

But that is my low. The fact that even on the podcast, we committed to starting this practice. And I think I think we tried to can relate to whenever you you you make a commitment, you set out a goal, especially when it comes to, like, going to the gym. It's really hard to get to the gym, but this was something that we committed to doing twelve minutes a day and testing it and reporting on it, and I have not done it a single time.

Monnica: 15:00

It's January 31. It's appropriate that we're reflecting on resolutions that have, collapsed. I think we tried to add it in to a very full schedule, and not that that couldn't work, but we didn't do the steps necessary to add in something like that. We needed to habit stack or have a a trigger. We needed to clear space or do

Brad: 15:20

I put it in my calendar.

Monnica: 15:22

I you did that.

Brad: 15:23

And I I

Monnica: 15:23

invited you invited me. I did see it pop up. And and all I but I was I didn't feel prepared. I didn't have the book with me. I so what I did instead is I just went to Insight Timer, and I put on a meditation.

Monnica: 15:35

I did that, like, three times this week.

Brad: 15:36

At least you did that. Good for you.

Monnica: 15:39

Thank you. I did something, but I didn't do it. I didn't do the thing we said we were gonna do. So we're gonna do better

Brad: 15:45

We're gonna do better.

Monnica: 15:46

This week. Okay.

Brad: 15:48

What I'm gonna do to hold this accountable to get today out of the way, I'm going to go through the three steps, then I'm gonna push pause. We're going to take the twelve minutes to do this and then pick up where we left off.

Monnica: 16:06

Okay. This is gonna be hard because my phone's already blowing up, and I know I gotta shift gears. So

Brad: 16:14

Stopwatch timer. Ready, set, go.

Monnica: 16:21

A few moments later.

Brad: 16:23

K.

Monnica: 16:25

That was twelve minutes. Here's what's amazing. Given everything I we just talked about, like the crush and the pace of things Mhmm. I'm blown away at how spacious twelve minutes can feel.

Brad: 16:37

That felt like

Monnica: 16:38

It felt like a really long time.

Brad: 16:40

Thirty minutes.

Monnica: 16:41

But how cool if you carve out and you're just quiet for twelve minutes. Like, you can find twelve minutes, and it feels, like, so calming and spacious and, like, a really long time.

Brad: 16:54

What did you notice about your attention?

Monnica: 16:57

Oh, man. It was bebopping all over the place. I had to keep, like, pulling it back to my breath. I mean, like I said going in, I mean, my phone I know my phone both of my phones are blowing up right now.

Brad: 17:07

Mhmm.

Monnica: 17:08

And I know that and I'm leaving it and it is hard.

Brad: 17:11

You're a noisy meditator, by the way, especially when a mic is in front of you. You're yawning multiple times.

Monnica: 17:19

I've got a mic.

Brad: 17:20

What? Burping.

Monnica: 17:22

You better edit that out. No. You

Brad: 17:25

were very comfortable in your meditation.

Monnica: 17:27

This microphone is one inch from my mouth and piped right into your ears and your headset.

Brad: 17:33

Yes. Exactly.

Monnica: 17:36

I Dare you.

Brad: 17:36

I had a front row seat. Let just let me tell you that.

Monnica: 17:40

Do you feel closer to me? Yeah. I do. I can't what did you notice?

Brad: 17:47

Same thing. I mean, it was how quickly my mind just wants to drift off and solve a problem or think about what I gotta do next or think about what I'm not doing that maybe I should be doing in these twelve minutes.

Monnica: 18:04

Did you notice yourself narrating your experience?

Brad: 18:08

How do you mean?

Monnica: 18:09

It's like my brain was narrating my experience or even like recounting my experience, like imagining telling you about like, was like okay. Instead but instead of trying to tell it to be quiet, was trying to just re redirect my flashlight back to my breath. So I was definitely doing some curls there.

Brad: 18:23

Yeah. I was doing the same thing. They're really focusing on the brightness of my flashlight.

Monnica: 18:29

Oh, interesting.

Brad: 18:30

And like trying to hold it on my breath. So the flashlight was following my breath all the way in and all the way out.

Monnica: 18:38

So you were visualizing the flashlight.

Brad: 18:40

Correct.

Monnica: 18:41

Interesting.

Brad: 18:41

Yeah. And then and then it it would run off doing something else. Yeah.

Monnica: 18:48

My mind was busy. I I was definitely having to work to bring it back, but that was cool. K.

Brad: 18:54

Thanks for This

Monnica: 18:55

teeing that up.

Brad: 18:56

Yeah. Yeah. This I now have hope that maybe we've started something good. We forced ourselves. So

Monnica: 19:04

this gonna call you when I'm getting ready for the day this week, and we're gonna do it together. Does that work? Yeah. Or is that does that work timing for you? You might not be awake yet.

Brad: 19:13

No. No. No. I'm I to

Monnica: 19:14

get really early.

Brad: 19:15

I'm committed making that happen in the morning because I know how, otherwise, it's the day is gonna get away from us. It's gonna be really interesting to see after five weeks of intentionally doing these exercises, what we notice about our focus and our attention.

Monnica: 19:37

K.

Brad: 19:39

K. I love it. Okay. Your high low.

Monnica: 19:44

Okay. My high for January. So I think Hawaii was my high. Like, was just a really good, it was warm, it was physically restorative. It was a great way to kick off the year.

Monnica: 19:56

It was a nice balance of just a little bit of work each day and a lot of relaxation and family time and warmth. I'm not a fan of winter, so it was good to get away and sit by the sunny beach in the shade, course, because I'm a redhead. Okay. So that was my high. My low for the month, I think I noticed just in the sweep of getting back into things and being really fast paced this month after a pretty slow paced holiday season, some of my, you know, personal care habits like good sleep and regular exercise and balanced nutrition weren't as strong as they had been or could be.

Monnica: 20:44

I was just kind of, I kind of slipped back into survival mode a little bit because the schedule was so demanding. So that's probably my low.

Brad: 20:52

That was probably the runner-up low to me. I think we learned that it's probably not a good idea to plan a vacation right at the beginning of the year.

Monnica: 21:02

You can go the last week of the year, but not the first week of the year.

Brad: 21:06

Yeah. It it it

Monnica: 21:07

We paid a price for

Brad: 21:08

it. We did. I felt good coming back, having set aside this time to go and purposely unplug. But then coming back, it felt like we were scrambling, and and we never were really able to get caught up.

Monnica: 21:22

The shift in pace from vacation to sprinting was was abrupt, and it was hard to adjust to. But all that being said, do, even with all of that, like my blood pressure has been good, I've really felt really good and I'm having fun.

Brad: 21:41

Cool.

Monnica: 21:42

So even though it was challenging, and maybe because it was challenging, I don't know, things are good.

Brad: 21:48

I'm excited about February.

Monnica: 21:50

So we talked this morning before we started recording about a goal you might wanna revise. Mhmm. Did you give any more thought to that?

Brad: 21:59

Backpacking through Europe?

Monnica: 22:00

Hell, yeah.

Brad: 22:01

Rucking through Europe?

Monnica: 22:03

So we're just gonna do rucking for the next decade so that in retirement we can go and and climb mountains throughout Europe?

Brad: 22:10

Yeah.

Monnica: 22:10

Cool. I'm that right? Yeah, totally. One the questions you had put in our notes was what only became visible after slowing down? And I think we kind of just already addressed it, but between not just the slowing down for this twelve minutes we did, but the slowing down to really talk through some things yesterday and today, I guess I would ask you that question.

Monnica: 22:32

What became visible or more clear after slowing down?

Brad: 22:37

I noticed multiple threads that That

Monnica: 22:44

low grade almost anxiety, tension Right. Calmed or went away?

Brad: 22:52

Well, first, I had to slow down enough to notice that there was a

Monnica: 22:56

That you had some tension around it.

Brad: 22:58

And then I noticed that I could identify where the home was coming from. It's kinda like having your ear tuned as you're walking around your house. You notice a sound and you're trying to locate it. You do a

Monnica: 23:14

Root cause analysis.

Brad: 23:15

Right. Right. Right. So I was able to identify where a low grade home was coming from, kinda pull it out, inspect it.

Monnica: 23:25

And then communicate it.

Brad: 23:27

And then communicate it. But then I noticed, oh, wait a minute. There's another When

Monnica: 23:36

you dealt with the one, you noticed that there was another.

Brad: 23:38

Right. And so I guess if it told me anything was, like, just because you notice and you see something, you can even diagnose it, doesn't mean that the work is done.

Monnica: 23:50

Well, yeah. But it's started.

Brad: 23:52

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Ongoing work is paying attention and noticing when that

Monnica: 24:00

Becomes really loud?

Brad: 24:01

Exactly. Moves from low grade to medium grade.

Monnica: 24:05

So presence itself didn't fix anything, but it clarified everything.

Brad: 24:10

Yes.

Monnica: 24:11

And then it tells you where to start. It gives you a direction.

Brad: 24:13

Right.

Monnica: 24:14

Okay.

Brad: 24:14

That said, we have a very strong direction moving into February and the rest of 2026 now.

Monnica: 24:21

I would agree. And it felt like this was the first real check-in of the year. Not a reset per se, but more like taking a read.

Brad: 24:28

I think it was a good read. It's like a performance review.

Monnica: 24:31

Yeah. Yes. Yes. We're not evaluating success here necessarily though, but we are we're noticing patterns and that's really actionable intelligence. Like, that gives us something to to go on.

Brad: 24:43

Right.

Monnica: 24:43

I like it. Okay.

Brad: 24:44

About you? As you asked me the question, anything you'd like to reflect on?

Monnica: 24:49

Well, I mean, I I've realized that because as you were doing that and you checked in with yourself and then you were communicating some of that with me, it shed light on some of the it prompted me to reflect, which allowed me to realize, oh, I actually had some stressors that were actively happening that I hadn't really taken note of and or therefore done anything about. And so I was able to do the same. So that that was a great mutual exercise. So I I appreciate that.

Brad: 25:22

Cool. Me too.

Monnica: 25:24

Okay. So, hey, we we haven't talked about the album we listened to. Is that what you'd like to do next?

Brad: 25:30

Let's do the album.

Monnica: 25:31

K. And I wanna I just wanna clear something up here.

Brad: 25:34

Okay.

Monnica: 25:35

I you could say complaint that all we were doing was listening to the classics. Uh-huh. That actually wasn't true entirely. This season alone, we've listened to we spent time with Life of a Showgirl, very today's pop music.

Brad: 25:54

Today, like, album of the year.

Monnica: 25:56

Last year. Listened to to Glass Animals.

Brad: 25:59

Yes. That's right.

Monnica: 26:00

Sid's favorite album that she gave me the vinyl for for Christmas.

Brad: 26:04

Yep.

Monnica: 26:05

And and so while we are going back to a classic today, we have had some contemporary music. So I just wanted to set the record straight.

Brad: 26:13

Thank you for setting that straight. And we are going back a little bit. And another greatest hits.

Monnica: 26:18

And I really love this album.

Brad: 26:20

This album, I would

Monnica: 26:22

This one goes on my top 25.

Brad: 26:23

Definitely sitting on my top 25. I had the privilege of seeing this band 05/01/1995 at Arco Arena in Sacramento, California. It was their dogs with wings tour, Tom Petty and the heartbreakers.

Monnica: 26:40

So good. Some of my favorites on this album, free falling, last dance with Mary Jane.

Brad: 26:48

Mary Jane's last dance.

Monnica: 26:49

Mary is that what it's called? Put in but the lyric says last Yeah. Okay. What what what about for you?

Brad: 26:56

I love them all. I think about this album, and it harkens back to my days listening to KLOS in Southern California.

Monnica: 27:05

Ninety five five, KLOS.

Brad: 27:06

That's right.

Monnica: 27:07

Okay. So last week, we listened to Queen's greatest hits.

Brad: 27:10

That's right.

Monnica: 27:10

This week, we we listened to Tom Petty and the Heartbreaker's greatest hits. What you think we'll do next week? Is it are we gonna go more modern, or are sticking with this pattern of older classics?

Brad: 27:19

Actually, I pulled out two or three new ones that we have.

Monnica: 27:23

What were they?

Brad: 27:24

Billie Eilish.

Monnica: 27:25

Are you sure we had this conversation?

Brad: 27:26

Lady Gaga, Mayhem. That was a new album you got. And I pulled out Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.

Monnica: 27:31

Oh, and I picked Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Okay. But I'm talking about for next week. So you you want me to go to Billie Eilish or

Brad: 27:37

Lady Gaga? Modern or if I could I could go directly to what you have been saying a couple of different times, and we can pick something off that list.

Monnica: 27:50

I'm down for whatever.

Brad: 27:51

Alright. I'll, I'll pick something good.

Monnica: 27:54

Okay. Cool.

Brad: 27:57

What is this?

Monnica: 27:58

Boy, we have, like, run the gamut today from current events in Minneapolis to the Super Bowl to mindfulness and meditation to Tom Betty and the heartbreakers to Lady Gaga Mayhem. What a what a what an eclectic conversation.

Brad: 28:17

I felt like we had to, like, wrap everything up from January.

Monnica: 28:21

January was a wild ride, man. February is not gonna be less.

Brad: 28:27

No. But what I think we're realizing is this presence

Monnica: 28:32

It does help.

Brad: 28:32

Building, it doesn't require more energy. It actually stops leaking energy.

Monnica: 28:40

Yeah. Yeah. That's a great way to put it. It it yeah. You can bleed off energy into unintended places by just, like, running crazy.

Monnica: 28:48

But by having that intentional awareness and managing your attention where it's going being aware of where it's going and setting it intentionally, you manage energy better and allocate resources more strategically. I find that to be true. So I think while February is certainly not any less busy and we're starting to incorporate the international travel

Brad: 29:13

Mhmm.

Monnica: 29:14

I think that it'll be even more important to be aware of where attention is going.

Brad: 29:20

So every morning.

Monnica: 29:22

Okay.

Brad: 29:23

Twelve minutes a day.

Monnica: 29:24

If we're not perfect, we're gonna forgive ourselves, but we're gonna be better this time this week than we were last week. That's that's not gonna be hard.

Brad: 29:30

We we already are. We just did it.

Monnica: 29:33

Okay.

Brad: 29:33

We got a good streak going.

Monnica: 29:35

Okay.

Brad: 29:37

Cool. Well, I think that's this week's transmission.

Monnica: 29:40

Yeah. So whatever season you're in, thanks for being here.

Brad: 29:43

Thanks for hanging with us. We will see you next week in February.

Monnica: 29:48

I'll go place a bet. So I'll I'll let you know if

Brad: 29:51

If you placed

Monnica: 29:52

the bet. Placed the bet and what bet was. Perfect. Because I'll think about this some more and maybe check with some of my sources.

Brad: 30:00

That right? I think the score is gonna be twenty seven thirteen.

Monnica: 30:03

Oh, I didn't ask you. How did I not ask you? That was so rude of me. Okay, Brad. What do you think the score is gonna be?

Monnica: 30:08

You so you said twenty seven thirteen. So you think the seahawks are gonna win?

Brad: 30:11

I think the seahawks are gonna win twenty seven thirteen. I think that defense wins championships.

Monnica: 30:17

Okay.

Brad: 30:18

So but you place your bet in Vegas because that's the bet that I

Monnica: 30:20

Do you want me to place one for you? Nope. Nope. Why not?

Brad: 30:23

Because I don't wanna bet.

Monnica: 30:25

What? You just told me to, but you don't want to.

Brad: 30:27

You're gonna be in Vegas. I'm not gonna be in Vegas. This is more fun if you're in Vegas and you place your bet. Okay. Makes sense?

Brad: 30:33

K.

Monnica: 30:34

Makes sense.

Brad: 30:34

K. Anything else?

Monnica: 30:36

Have a great week.

Brad: 30:37

Have a great week.