Transforming obstacles and opposition into action

Good morning. Okay, so we are wrapping up journal number seven of hundreds of these journals. And we are in late 1997. This is the transition now into 1998. But one of the things that jumped out from the page for me today is maybe the most important thing that I learned in my first year at Strategic Coach. This was, you know, 1997. I'd been part of Dan Sullivan's Strategic Coach program. Still am. My Mount Rushmore of influence is in my life. Dan Sullivan is a prominent position on that. You've heard me mention him before. But this whole idea of thinking about your thinking, that's really what journaling is.

But sometimes the strategy that you use can make all the difference. And I was noticing that pre Strategic Coach, I was asking a lot of questions like why don't I? Or why can't I? And I realized that that's completely natural. One of the things that Dan taught was the concept of what he called a strategy circle. And it was based on this idea that we're constantly imagining because we're, you know, we are entrepreneurs, we're ambitious, we're constantly imagining things that we want a bigger future, things that we want to pursue. And our natural tendency is that our brain is really good at two things, and this is a way of structuring those two things to help get the momentum for you.

So the first thing is that as soon as we set out, I want this, then immediately, our brain is really good at finding all the obstacles that would be in the way of you getting that thing that you want. And so rather than looking at it as a way to now back away because of those obstacles. Obstacles is embrace it and fully let that part of your brain list all the obstacles. Why can't I get this? What would be. What would have to be true? You know, what has to take place in order for me to. To get this, and her brain's really good at it.

We don't have to solve it. Right then is separate the part of your brain that can see all of the things that would stand in your way and itemize them. And then when you're done with itemizing them, that is the trigger for the next thing that our brain is really good at, which is transforming obstacles into ways to overcome them. So if we look at it that you set your vision of this is what you want to do. You list all the things that would get in the way of it. And then one by one, if you approach that one thing and you say, what would.

How could I get? How could I handle this or what could transform this into an action. And there's a whole, you know, Dan's core process around this is something he calls VOTA: vision, obstacle, transformation and action. And following that sequence, your brain can really come up with the ways to. To do these things. And I've used that process from this point forward in all of my journals to really set up the way to get anything that. That I want done and especially to get it into action. Because sometimes the. Some things, sometimes the things that stand in our way do just that. They stand in our way and they stop us from doing things or we spin our wheels in the negativity of, well, I can't do that because of this or because of that.

And that was a really interesting thing. And I found a parallel to it. What reminded me of it in my journal was I was looking that I was thinking about ins that asking why of something, why don't I. Why? Questions are kind of built for that of built for finding the obstacle things. But how can I overcome. This is a powerful thing. It doesn't have to say that you know specifically how to do it. It's that you theoretically understand how this would have to take place in order for you to. For you to do it. And I love that 30 years later, you know, the next.

The next iteration of this is, you know, Dan's. I think I've shared it with you before, but Dan's idea of anytime he's looking to do something, the first questions that he asks are, is there any way I can get this result without doing anything? That's number one. And if you can't, then what's the least that I would have to do to. To get this objective? And then the third is, is there a who that could do my least. That's a great little exercise. And it's kind of built on that chassis of the Strategy Circle. And Dan will tell you, you know, one of the things that we've really talked about in all of these videos is this idea of turning your ideas into ip, into intellectual property, into tools, into frameworks that you can use yourself and that you can share with others.

And the Strategy Circle is one of. I forget how many, maybe over a hundred or closing in on a hundred patents, actual patents that Dan Sullivan has on these thinking tools that are all under this strategy of, or this concept of thinking about your thinking. And he's built an amazing, amazing organization called Strategic Coach all around it. So I am an advocate for Strategic Coach. I'm a big fan of Dan Sullivan. And you you couldn't go wrong looking into joining Strategic Coach yourself. That's just my. That's just my heartfelt endorsement of something that's had an amazing impact on. On my life. So there you go.

Every idea that I've had, every dollar that I've made over the last 30 years has gone through my brain, through my pen, onto a piece of paper in my journal before it went out into the real world. And if I can turn people onto that activity as a driver for what to do, what to think about, what to ask yourself to draw out, what the next most valuable action is for you and how to find the most profitable things that you can install in your business, I'm all for it.

So this Friday at 1pm, I'm going to do for the first time a 50 minute profit finder workshop. And you're going to join me live on Zoom. And we're going to go through a 50 minute exercise. Bring your pen, bring a notebook or piece of paper and I'm going to guide you through a thinking process that will help you identify where the lowest hanging fruit is in your business and maybe some fruit that you didn't even know was there.

But I'm going to show you where to look for it. So it's free. It's for you. It's Friday. At 1pm this Friday. Just watch.

Just go to 50minuteprofitfinder.com and I'll get you all the details and hopefully you can join us then. Friday 1:00pm.