Sheldon Mills: Welcome to Habit masters. I'm Sheldon. I'm Jeff. And we have a fun summer episode for you today.
Jeff Corrigan: Summer episode, that's what we're calling it. Yeah.
Sheldon Mills: Yeah. We have, you can probably hear the kids in at some point you will hear either my children and my nephews in the background, or Jeff's it's summer children
Jeff Corrigan: and his nephews.
In fact,
Sheldon Mills: so we want to share some of our favorite quotes I mean, there's too many to share cuz we can't, this is gonna be a short episode, not a six hour episode.
Jeff Corrigan: So we've been collecting quotes since, the Don of years time. Yes. Practically Don of our time.
Sheldon Mills: So we were just flipping through a few.
We picked a few that we both are like, all right, this is profoundly affected. This. And then just others is this is good. This is gold. So we're just gonna share some of these in a few thoughts. So this should be fun and peppy and hopefully entertaining . Hopefully these are quotes that you've heard.
Your experience may, hopefully there are new ones actually that will impact your lives, like they've impacted ours.
Jeff Corrigan: Yeah. Hopefully you haven't heard these, but if you have. It's a good reminder cuz I love hearing the same quote from smarter people than me. And I'm like yes. I'm on the right track. No.
All
Sheldon Mills: right. This is one that was on both Jeff's and I's quote list, whatever you wanna call it. This is by Peter Drucker. There's nothing so useless as doing efficiently that what should not have been done at all. How many times have we spent so much time and effort on things that it's just it's the rat race, it's just the busy but not effective. Right?
Jeff Corrigan: Oh, goodness. Yeah. This should be, this is like the call for the 21st century to say, oh, totally. Whoa. We are caught up in a whole lot of things that really don't matter. Right. Or even if they matter, they're not taking us where we want to go.
They're keeping us where we are and really slowing down our progress. So think about this in your own instance of your own day, in your own life, and the things that you're spending time on, and think to yourself, what am I doing efficiently, which I should not be doing at all.
Right. And there's a lot of things that probably make that list and we just need, all progress starts by telling the truth. As Dan Sullivan says, there's a good quote there too. All it's progress starts by telling the truth. We're probably just gonna fill in quotes as we go, because that's just how it works, right?
Yes. Consider that and that, you know, something that's a test for me this week too, is to say, what am I doing efficiently that I shouldn't be doing at all? It's
Sheldon Mills: the e efficient versus effective, and. Man, that is difficult. So we want to change the world, but we have to remember you do that by changing, doing something for the one that, for me, that's a big reminder hearts change one at a time.
Yeah, right. To slow down and care about those. Everyone I meet all the time.
Jeff Corrigan: Yeah, and I think that's the lesson I keep learning too, is like that it's really all about people. And sometimes I get caught up in the things and when I really do come back to reality of oh, like relationships are the most important part of this life and there's nothing I would regret more than.
Not nurturing those relationships that are the most important to me. , and even I've told Sheldon this before, and this is a little bit of honesty, vulnerability, whatever you wanna call it, is that I haven't been really great at.
At building deep relationships, right. I have a few really deep relationships but for the most part, I think a lot of my relationships are service deep, and that's something service deep, surface deep, and that's something that I'm truly working on in my life this year is to build better relationships.
Not that I want tons more, but I just want better ones. Yeah. Yeah.
Sheldon Mills: Okay. I know I gave the first quote. I have another couple of that
Jeff Corrigan: along the same, I've already busted out a couple in the mix. So,
Sheldon Mills: Here's one by Dr. Todd Snyder. He, this is one from an interview. This is one of our first older interviews, actually.
But a good one. Really good one. Here it is. People change when they feel something. Not, when they think abstractly, logic and reason, don't move people to action. Emotions do people never forget how you make them feel. Right. That's why stories are so powerful. And Jeff and I have realized this.
We're trying to get better at it. We can pontificate about the abstract idea, like all day long, but it's not as effective as like a good story,
Jeff Corrigan: Jeff. It's true. It's like why do people remember all the stories they've ever heard? Yeah, because it does it, well, good stories I should say, because they really do, they help you feel the emotion of the character.
Yeah. And you know what that lesson is? The character's learning.
Sheldon Mills: Yeah. Well, okay. I wrote a our Magic Monday yesterday. I titled that A Compelling Argument is Greater. No what's it called? I gotta look it up now.
A compelling offer is greater than a convincing argument, and it's this idea, it's like you can't argue someone into changing their heart.
You have to paint a picture of something better than their current worldview, their idea, right? Yeah. And you do that by sparking emotion, not by cold logic. Right. It's like you gotta
Jeff Corrigan: Yeah. Feel it. Well, and there's, I we listen to Russell Bronson a lot, and I've read several of his books.
He's just got a really great marketing mind and he understands, like the psychology of people. And one of the things that he talks about in his books is the Epiphany Bridge A story that helps people create an epiphany bridge in their lives those aha moments that you get when you're listening to a story or you see, hear someone else or you learn something new.
He calls that the epiphany bridge story of when he learned a lesson and he shares the example of it from his own life or from somebody else's life of how they learned a certain lesson. And through that lesson, we all can learn the same lesson even though we didn't actually live that experience. We can learn the same lesson.
And that's really what this is all about, is like stories help us share that epiphany. It's oh, okay, I get it right. That emotion of the moment okay, so here's one of mine that I thought was really interesting. This is from Darren Hardy.
You guys know, we listen to Darren Hardy a lot. He's he's been one of my daily mentors for. Over a decade now. Yes, ma'am. As long as he's been doing Daily. Daily, I've been listening. Yep. So he says, unsuccessful people think about what they don't want. Successful people think about what they do want and they both get what's on their mind.
And I'm finding that to be more and more true when we focus and think about the things we don't want. Those things often come to be right now. Not in the worst case scenario, like we often fear but I think in some level we create the things we focus on in our life. And Sheldon and I have been talking a lot about this lately.
It's like the things you focus on are your future. They're the things you're nurturing day in and day out. And so you really need to be conscious of what it is you're focusing on. And make sure that you're focusing on the things you actually want instead of the opposite. The garden.
Sheldon Mills: Right along that same vein though. Everyone is, everyone who is successful takes action. I've seen uncreative, un visionary, even unintelligent people who are extremely successful. Why? Because they have a bias for action. Stop talking, start doing
Jeff Corrigan: amen to that.
Or if talking is what you're doing, like us, then go ahead and talk about that.
Sheldon Mills: The next step is always action, though,
Jeff Corrigan: yep. We've often said like first step is decisions, next step is always action. And I am a wholehearted believer in that. It's yeah, if you don't water the seed, it's never going to grow.
Sheldon Mills:
What's your Teddy Roosevelt quote? You love so much? Which
Jeff Corrigan: one? Like A lot of
Sheldon Mills: us. Okay. It's true is a few. You quote in any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing.
The next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing is to
Jeff Corrigan: do nothing. Oh man, I love this one so much. Yeah, Sheldon said this one earlier and they're like, I know that one. That's Teddy Roosevelt. So this one really is about fear for me. Cause I think we let fear stop us from doing things.
But like Teddy Roosevelt's talking about the only path to progress is by failing and succeeding. Like, You can't have one without the other. Like they are one and the same. Failing and succeeding are actually. Two sides of the same coin or the same side of the coin, really.
And you have to accept that with failure comes success, and with success comes failure. And you really have to stop seeing them as opposites and instead see them as stepping stones. They're taking you in the same direction as long as you have. A clear direction, and this is about why focus and attention, right?
If you're focused and attentive in the right things, whether you succeed or fail, doesn't really matter.
Sheldon Mills: Yeah, I, we get paralyzed trying to figure out the right course of action And you will find the right course of action. By quickly taking the wrong course. Sometimes
Jeff Corrigan: you'll sooner find the right course.
Sheldon Mills: You sooner find the right course by even taking the wrong course if you take it quickly enough. You know what I mean? Than to try and analyze and stew and make and just, oh, I gotta do it right. We're so afraid of getting it wrong. Yep. Right.
Jeff Corrigan: Fail fast, fail often, then that's one of the hardest lessons to learn, but also vital, and it's one of the things that I think is poorly taught in our education system is that we don't view failure as success. We view it as failure, and by doing so, we're actually limiting and creating obstacles for our youth. Anyway, that's my 2 cents on it. Okay. There's so many good ones. This one I like a lot too, because I think it's a false belief we have, right? This is from Jim Roh. When in doubt, say no, don't let your mouth overload your back. And the reason I love that one is because I'm very much a people pleaser or have been for much of my life.
And so I've said yes to a lot. I like to do a lot. I'm excited about almost everything and. There are times and places when you just have to say no because your attention is only so wide. You can only really focus and get good at a few things. And so when we're, when we spread ourselves really thin, saying yes to everything, we end up being not great at anything.
Came
Sheldon Mills: into that. I am a jack of all trades and master of none
Jeff Corrigan: except for habits, right? Yes.
Sheldon Mills: Okay. Okay. We've worked on that a long time. It's true. I mean, it's partly just the process of learning.
Jeff Corrigan: It's true. Exactly right. And that's what it's all about, is just step by step. Fail, succeed. Fail, succeed.
Here's one by Steve Jobs. That is right in the same vein. He says, deciding what not to do is as important as deciding what to do. It's true for companies, and it's true for people,
Sheldon Mills: which seeds to not plant or not water. It's just as important as figuring out. the ones you do want to water?
Jeff Corrigan: Yeah. And I'm not really a believer in the idea of scarcity, but I will say it can be helpful to consider, okay, if my garden is only so big, what can I put in it? Right?
And if I try to put everything in it, it's not going to fit.
Sheldon Mills: I think you're referencing to a scarcity mindset, you know what I mean? But at the same time, There is a real, you can't do everything, can't be at all places. Everything is a trade
Jeff Corrigan: off. Exactly. So figure out what it is you really want.
Yeah. Yeah. It's like the most scarce resource in your life is your attention. It's like where I don't have a scarcity of mindset when it comes to like money and the ability and value and those types of things. There is in fact scarcity on how much attention you can give anything in a given moment, right?
It's I can only focus on one thing at a time. And the more we focus on the things we want to grow in our lives, the better they become the grander they become.
Sheldon Mills: Well, that's why, okay. If you're religious, that's why this life is a a test. We have a multitude of things, millions of things we could think about and give and do.
So whatever. Okay. This is probably one of my favorite quotes ever. You always have time for whatever you put first, which can be a hard measuring stick, but it's good one. Again, know the truth, it'll set you right. Who
Jeff Corrigan: said that one? Who said you always time for? What'd you put first? Or was that you? I don't
Sheldon Mills: even know.
Oh
Jeff Corrigan: no. I just, I think it's been, I think it's been more modified and turned into a Sheldon. That's what I think.
Sheldon Mills: But if you think about it, whatever you're doing at this moment, it's cuz you've decided it is the most important thing to give your time and attention to. Right?
And that can be harsh. Remember, we're judging ourselves by the. The social media feed that I've been, I got sucked into for the last 40 minutes. Right? Cause it's oh, this is, but that's en enlightening and important to it can reveal something of, is this a coping mechanism? Am I stressed?
Am I, you know what I mean? And so it can reveal even the moments that we feel are failures or whatever you want to call 'em. Like
Jeff Corrigan: less than Oh waste or something, right?
Sheldon Mills: Yeah. Yeah. It can be a teaching moment to help enlighten, what is happening in your mind and in your body ,
Jeff Corrigan: absolutely.
Sheldon Mills: But at the end of the day, , I tell people this. It's okay, write down all the things that are most important to you. Yeah. Done. Okay. Now write down everything you did for the last day, for every half hour. Yeah. Okay. Let me tell you what's really important to you.
Jeff Corrigan: That's a good, yeah, good point. But and we've talked about this a little bit in the past month or two, is everything you do is a vote for your future. Yeah. Essentially creating the future, it's nurturing the seed of your future, so , that's why I think that's a really on point, Sheldon, is because.
Everything that you're doing is really creating your tomorrow, the next day, then it's right. All of it. And so yeah, it does tell you what's important to you. And if in fact you look at it and say, wait, that's not what I wanna be doing, then let that be the epiphany. Right. And that's where the challenge comes in.
Okay. There's a couple different directions we could take this. Got one thought.
Sheldon Mills: I was gonna say we are our short episode is all of a sudden enter into a long episode. Maybe pick one more
Jeff Corrigan: each. Okay. Well, we were talking about this earlier and I think it kind of is interesting. We can go in the direction of our world is shaped by our filters. Right? Okay. The lenses that we wear. Yes. Sheila and I were talking about this in the sense of if you guys ever use social media or anything like that, or cameras on your phones, all of them have filters now and there's filters and they make your pictures look a certain way.
But we all know that's not actually how the world was. But it's, but in the image that is how it was. I'll say this. I'll quote Jim Roan and that'll be better. It says, our lives are affected mostly by the way we think things are not by the way they are, but how we think they are.
Sheldon Mills: We see things not as they are.
Jeff Corrigan: We don't see the world as it is. We see the world as we are, right? Yes. That's
Sheldon Mills: it. Yes. Stephen Covey.
Jeff Corrigan: So Stephen Covey. Stephen, I can't remember. Okay. We don't see the world as it is. We see the world as we are, and I think that's true. All of us have a filter based on the identities we hold.
And the closer we come to the truth, the more we see the world as it is. Yes. And that's a challenge because truth is in question right now, right? There's opinions flying all over about what's true and what's not. But Nature's such a great example because it kind of holds the source of all truth, like how things actually work, right?
And I think the more and closer you get to knowing what that is, the better you can create your own life and your own routines and the things that are leading you to peace and happiness.
Sheldon Mills: Nature follows natural laws. Gravity just doesn't not work. We talked about last episode, avoid doesn't exist and nature, if there's a plot of ground, like it will be filled.
That's just it's like a law. You know what I mean? Yes. It's like a natural law.
Jeff Corrigan: Yep. Yeah. Nature abhors vacuum, right? Aristotle. It will be filled
Sheldon Mills: Wayne Dyer. If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change, we've all had those moments where all of a sudden, I think for me whenever there's a conflict or something with a spouse or a child and then all of a sudden , something happens and you can see it differently and it changes the situation completely.
Not that it, it changed. It's just the way I'm approaching it. It's the way I'm looking at it. And if I can change the way I look at things, anything, it will change dramatically. Your past, I mean, that's one of Ben Hard's biggest things. It's like you can reframe your past and your trauma to be, instead of post-traumatic stress disorder, post-traumatic growth. Right. And it can sh help shape you in positive ways. It can work for you, not against you.
Jeff Corrigan: Yeah. Hey, here's a great quote that goes right along with that. You ready? This is Joseph Campbell. He says, we must be willing to get rid of the life we've planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us.
And I feel like that's focusing more on your future and letting your future drive your actions versus the opposite. Right. And it's being able and willing to release past identities that are holding you back and that are keeping you in the rut, . Keeping you from where you wanna be.
And all this being said, I think it's really important to go back and reference Dan Sullivan and Ben Hardy here to say, It's great to have ideals, but don't let that put you in the gap, right? If you haven't heard our gap in the gain conversations or you haven't read that book, you need to check it out.
So living in the gain is, it's great to have ideals, but then to always be tracking your progress from where you've come, not against where you wanna be. Yeah, because that's what's gonna give you the momentum and energy to keep going
Sheldon Mills: There's this and gracefully acknowledging where you've come from.
Cuz what you've got you here won't get you there, but you can't beat yourself up for all the good things that got you here. Right? Yeah. And I think you can be both hungry and full the same time. What I mean by that is like you can have a hunger. A drive, a passion for things you want to, ideals you want to achieve, and goals you want.
At the same time, a fullness of gratitude for the things you've received and what has happened to you. It's living in the gain, that we talk about, like this fullness, this happiness. It's how you find joy. It's how you. It's actually motivating and gives you more drive. It's like a hunger and a fullness at the same time.
Jeff Corrigan: Well, you just described to me one of the most important lessons of life, and I laugh only because , something will be happening and I'll try and make it into a lesson for my kids and my, so I'll be like, Hey, this is one of the most important lessons of life. And I'll say that enough that the other day my son goes, Dad, how can there be that many most important lessons of life?
I was like, well, You're eight and you're smart. You're right, man. There can't be that many, but there are,
and they're all important. Okay. Okay. We're gonna have to turn this into a part two because there's so many good ones. And I have as I keep looking through my list, I'm just like, oh my gosh, this one's unbelievable. And just key, really key elements of what hap how to make your life successful. So we'll end this one.
And then I think we go for round two, Sheldon
Sheldon Mills: next week. It's still summer next week, so, okay. It's still summer, next summer. I have one last one I wanna share. Is that okay? Jeff, please? Yes,
Jeff Corrigan: of course.
Sheldon Mills: This is by James e Faust. If you prepare to walk down the path of life, you can be rewarded beyond your dreams and expectations.
But to achieve this, you must work very hard. Be wise, be alert learning. You must learn to deny yourselves. Steadiness and toil will serve you better than brilliance. Man, if there's one thing I could teach my children, it's steadiness and toil will serve you better than brilliance. It's the tortoise wins the race.
It's the compound effect. Even a little bit done every day will move mountains. Yeah, keep at it.
Jeff Corrigan: The power of your gifts is in that rule, right? Is in that lesson. It's like whatever gift you've been given. Can only be magnified through consistency. Yeah, through efforts. And that's why this whole podcast exists, we want to help you master the art of building habits. And turn your gifts into something that creates value and peace and happiness and fulfillment in your own life, but also in the lives of everyone around you. Because Sheldon said earlier, change not only starts with me, it starts with the one, right?
If we wanna change the world, it starts with us individually and it starts with us helping the individual. And hopefully in this podcast, that's what we're trying to do is help you. Live your own best life. And I know at times we get derailed, and we have all kinds of crazy thoughts and things we talk about.
But in the end, that's what we're really hoping to do. And I hope you guys see that from us, and I hope that we continue to deliver messages that resonate and create epiphanies for you like we've had with these quotes that we're sharing. We just love it guys. We really do love sharing this.
We love it so much that we're willing to take years of our life because it's a message. We feel like it's important enough to share, and we hope you find value in it the same way that we have,
Sheldon Mills: if you have a favorite quote no.
I know you have favorite quotes. Everybody's, if you're listening to this, I know there are quotes that just like this moved you. We are gonna ask a special favor. Please send a few to us. We would love to share them with everybody else. Yes. And discuss them and hear the things that have impacted your life.
These nuggets that just like that change the lens of our perception and they change our lives.
Jeff Corrigan: Yes, and like Sheldon said we're calling you out a little bit because honestly, podcasts are a little bit hard because we know people are listening, we see the listeners, but engagement is hard on a podcast because we're delivering this at a certain time, and then we just record it and send it out there.
So what we really want from you is, and I know it's hard because you got tons on your plate. But if there is a quote that you're passionate about, please send it to us in an email. Hello habit masters.com or Jeff or sheldon habit masters.com. Any one of those or all three, we love it and we will share it maybe not our next episode, but in the future episode, we promise we will share it though. We will share it. We'll do like a guest. Quote for the next couple of months here every time. So you guys are awesome. Thank you very much for listening. We appreciate you and we hope that you found this valuable.
If you did, please share with a friend cuz we are also trying to grow our audience cuz we do think this message is awesome and we wanna impact people's lives and help them live their best life. We also have a newsletter, magic Monday, if you haven't signed up for it yet. It's free. Of course it comes out on Monday afternoon.
It's like a two minute read, and so far. It's been awesome. So get on that. We'll have it in the show notes, or you can go directly to our website and then the thing will pop up immediately so you can just click on it there. You guys are awesome. It's time to start living your best life
