Overcoming Productivity Pitfalls: Mindset, Habits, and More

In this episode of “Shooting It Straight!,” hosts Randy Black and Jim Clayton delve into the core of productivity, emphasizing the importance of mindset over mere tools and strategies. They explore the concept of fixed versus growth mindsets, highlighting how a growth mindset can transform failures into learning opportunities. The discussion extends to the pitfalls of education systems that often promote a fixed mindset, and how real-world success requires thinking outside the box and embracing one’s unique strengths.

The conversation shifts to procrastination, debunking the myth that it’s a sign of laziness. Instead, they explain it as a stress-coping mechanism, offering insights on how to break the cycle by starting small and focusing on manageable tasks. The episode concludes with a comparison between working hard and working smart, advocating for strategic effort and the power of small, consistent habits to drive long-term success. Join Randy and Jim as they provide practical advice on building a productive mindset and overcoming common productivity challenges.

Transcript

Speaker: 00:00:00

Coach Jim Clayton: Bam son!

Speaker: 00:00:01

Coach Jim Clayton: This is Shoot It Straight, the podcast where life blessings don't come sugar-coated and excuses get bitched.

Randy Black: 00:00:08

I'm Randy Black, podcast guy, professional question asker, and apparently the only one here who doesn't yell.

Randy Black: 00:00:15

Pam son in public.

Randy Black: 00:00:16

Coach Jim Clayton: Well we're working on that, Randy.

Randy Black: 00:00:18

Coach Jim Clayton: I'm Jim Clayton, coach, mentor, motivator, and the guy who still thinks a whistle may be the best motivational tool known to man.

Randy Black: 00:00:27

Each week, we're taking what Jim's learned from

Randy Black: 00:00:30

The court, the drills, the discipline, the drive, and translating it into real-world success.

Randy Black: 00:00:35

Coach Jim Clayton: That's right.

Randy Black: 00:00:36

Coach Jim Clayton: This ain't just about basketball.

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Coach Jim Clayton: It's about showing up when life press is full court.

Randy Black: 00:00:41

Coach Jim Clayton: It's about pushing through when the clock's ticking down.

Randy Black: 00:00:45

Fluff, well, you might just want to ride the bench.

Randy Black: 00:00:48

Coach Jim Clayton: We're here to help you believe bigger, achieve louder, and motivate strong.

Randy Black: 00:00:52

Coach Jim Clayton: So buckle up and whatever you do, keep shooting it straight.

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Coach Jim Clayton: Bam son

Randy Black: 00:00:57

Welcome back to Shooting It Straight.

Randy Black: 00:00:58

I'm Randy Black, joined by my co-host,

Randy Black: 00:01:00

Coach Jim Clayton: Coach Jim Clayton.

Randy Black: 00:01:02

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Randy Black: 00:01:12

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Randy Black: 00:01:32

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Now that we got the announcements out of the way, let's dive in here, Jim.

Randy Black: 00:01:56

Most no, let's go.

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Most of us think productivity is about getting more done in less time.

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by fighting the right app, the the perfect planner or the latest system to keep us organized.

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But here's the truth

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before you ever open your calendar or you ever write your to-do list, the real work begins inside your head.

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Your mindset is either propelling you forward or it's quietly holding you back.

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If you see failure as the end of the road, you'll stop trying.

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If you believe that success only comes through grinding harder, you might burn out before you ever get there.

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But when you shift your mindset, you start to see challenges as opportunities.

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When you recognize that progress often comes from working smarter, not just harder

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Everything changes.

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Today, we're going to shoot it straight about the productivity mindset.

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We'll dig into why it matters, how procrastination sneaks in, and what it really means to work hard.

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versus working smart and how small daily habits can transform your results over time.

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So let's get started.

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So when people talk about productivity, they they usually think about a strategy, what tools they're using, how they're organizing their time, but

Randy Black: 00:03:22

It actually starts with something very much deeper.

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It starts with your mindset.

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Psychologist Carol Dweck introduced the idea of fixed mindset versus growth mindset.

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And it has everything to do with how you approach challenges and setbacks.

Carol Dweck: 00:03:41

A growth mindset is when students believe that their abilities can be developed.

Carol Dweck: 00:03:49

A fixed mindset is when they think, I just have a certain amount and that's it.

Randy Black: 00:03:54

That is a a powerful distinction.

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A fixed mindset, and Jim, you are familiar with both these terms because as a as a former educator, myself working education, we we talk about this all the time.

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A fixed mindset says

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I either have the ability or I don't.

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And if I fail, that just proves I wasn't cut out for it.

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But a growth mindset sees failure as part

Randy Black: 00:04:18

of the process.

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Does that sound a little familiar, Jim?

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Coach Jim Clayton: Oh, 100%.

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It's a chance for us to learn and to improve.

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Coach Jim Clayton: Well, as we talked about earlier, most people think that success and failure are opposites.

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Coach Jim Clayton: Actually, you can't have one without the other.

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Coach Jim Clayton: And they run side by side in life parallel down the road that you're on.

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Coach Jim Clayton: And, you know, but but but

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Coach Jim Clayton: When we talk about the fixed mindset, a lot of that we have created.

Randy Black: 00:04:45

Coach Jim Clayton: We've created this fixed mindset because everything's based on perfection.

Randy Black: 00:04:50

Coach Jim Clayton: And we know that doesn't exist.

Randy Black: 00:04:51

Coach Jim Clayton: Right.

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Coach Jim Clayton: So in education, for example

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Coach Jim Clayton: You know, everybody's gotta make the A's.

Randy Black: 00:04:55

Coach Jim Clayton: Everybody has to be to have the house grade in the class.

Randy Black: 00:04:58

Coach Jim Clayton: Everybody's gotta do this.

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Coach Jim Clayton: Everybody's gotta do that.

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Coach Jim Clayton: Now we also know

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Coach Jim Clayton: that the people that do that all the time, the ones that are that successful in the educational world, when they get outside those four walls of that classroom and they get attacked by the real world, some of them aren't very successful.

Randy Black: 00:05:13

Yeah

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Coach Jim Clayton: Because you have to do a little bit of thinking outside the box.

Randy Black: 00:05:17

Coach Jim Clayton: Mm-hmm.

Randy Black: 00:05:17

Coach Jim Clayton: Okay?

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Coach Jim Clayton: And we created this mess.

Randy Black: 00:05:19

Coach Jim Clayton: Well, I'm not very smart.

Randy Black: 00:05:20

Coach Jim Clayton: I can't do this.

Randy Black: 00:05:21

Coach Jim Clayton: I can No, that's just not your gift.

Randy Black: 00:05:24

Coach Jim Clayton: And what we've done in the past, we try to treat everybody equal.

Randy Black: 00:05:28

Coach Jim Clayton: Well everybody's not in.

Randy Black: 00:05:30

Exactly.

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Coach Jim Clayton: Okay, so you know it's like guys that are going to be automechanics and uh heating and air plumbers

Randy Black: 00:05:37

Coach Jim Clayton: They don't need to be diagramming sentences in English class.

Randy Black: 00:05:42

Yeah.

Randy Black: 00:05:42

Coach Jim Clayton: It's a waste of time, effort, energy, and then they just turn it off.

Randy Black: 00:05:48

Yes.

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Coach Jim Clayton: And you know, they get burned out on the whole thing and then they become a nightmare in your classroom.

Randy Black: 00:05:55

Coach Jim Clayton: And you know, burnout occurs with students in education where two things happen.

Randy Black: 00:06:00

Coach Jim Clayton: One, they're not learning anything that's applying to them and they're not having any fun.

Randy Black: 00:06:06

Coach Jim Clayton: And every day, so every day this week, I'll give you a classic example.

Randy Black: 00:06:09

Coach Jim Clayton: Every kid has come in the gym.

Randy Black: 00:06:11

Coach Jim Clayton: How's school go?

Randy Black: 00:06:12

Coach Jim Clayton: Good

Randy Black: 00:06:13

Coach Jim Clayton: I say this, I said this to probably 25 students.

Randy Black: 00:06:17

Coach Jim Clayton: Tell me something cool that you learned this week.

Randy Black: 00:06:22

Yeah.

Randy Black: 00:06:23

Coach Jim Clayton: I was old for twenty.

Randy Black: 00:06:24

Yeah.

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Coach Jim Clayton: Not one kid.

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Coach Jim Clayton: So man, I learned you know not one.

Randy Black: 00:06:31

I know the I know the feeling.

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Coach Jim Clayton: If I ask my son, I get the same thing.

Randy Black: 00:06:34

Coach Jim Clayton: And and and as an educator

Randy Black: 00:06:36

Coach Jim Clayton: You see, that just breaks my heart.

Randy Black: 00:06:37

Yeah.

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Coach Jim Clayton: I'm telling you, y'all said, let me get this right.

Randy Black: 00:06:40

Coach Jim Clayton: You just spent eight hours with somebody and you didn't come up with one cool thing.

Randy Black: 00:06:46

Coach Jim Clayton: Mm-hmm.

Randy Black: 00:06:48

Coach Jim Clayton: Because they teach by the book.

Randy Black: 00:06:50

Coach Jim Clayton: Yeah.

Randy Black: 00:06:50

Coach Jim Clayton: Okay?

Randy Black: 00:06:50

Coach Jim Clayton: They don't teach by stories, by circumstances, you know, things of of that nature.

Randy Black: 00:06:56

Coach Jim Clayton: And you know, that mindset, man, I'm gonna tell you that's the button that flips it on and flips it off.

Randy Black: 00:07:02

Coach Jim Clayton: And so for me personally, when I look at players, when I look at people

Randy Black: 00:07:09

Coach Jim Clayton: in general, or students, when, you know, in a classroom educational setting, I look at you totally different.

Randy Black: 00:07:17

Coach Jim Clayton: I look right through the the crap.

Randy Black: 00:07:19

Coach Jim Clayton: Mm-hmm.

Randy Black: 00:07:20

Coach Jim Clayton: And I look at, man.

Randy Black: 00:07:22

Coach Jim Clayton: This person could be this if they knew they could.

Randy Black: 00:07:26

Coach Jim Clayton: But see, that takes a little extra effort.

Randy Black: 00:07:29

Coach Jim Clayton: That takes extra.

Randy Black: 00:07:30

Coach Jim Clayton: See that that's that thing that some people just have that gift

Randy Black: 00:07:35

Coach Jim Clayton: where they can see it and then they know how to bring it out.

Randy Black: 00:07:39

Yeah.

Randy Black: 00:07:39

Coach Jim Clayton: So it's like I want I want the the fire lighter

Randy Black: 00:07:44

Coach Jim Clayton: I want the one that's going to make that flame bigger.

Randy Black: 00:07:47

Coach Jim Clayton: I don't want the firefighter that's going to put the flame out unless my house is on fire.

Randy Black: 00:07:51

Yeah.

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Coach Jim Clayton: And then I definitely want that guy.

Randy Black: 00:07:54

Coach Jim Clayton: But see, we've got so many people that put that fire out.

Randy Black: 00:07:57

Coach Jim Clayton: And, you know, I'm kind of harping on education, but a couple weeks ago I went down to Martin County, Kentucky to speak to the to the all the staff

Randy Black: 00:08:06

Coach Jim Clayton: And I was talking about mindset.

Randy Black: 00:08:09

Coach Jim Clayton: Okay?

Randy Black: 00:08:10

Coach Jim Clayton: And I said, I've been in a lot of these meetings.

Randy Black: 00:08:12

Coach Jim Clayton: First day back on the job.

Randy Black: 00:08:14

Coach Jim Clayton: Principal's up there talking, you have a speaker, whatever.

Randy Black: 00:08:17

Coach Jim Clayton: And guys in the back going, man, I've been doing this for 39 years, 40 years, by God.

Randy Black: 00:08:22

Coach Jim Clayton: I know what I'm doing.

Randy Black: 00:08:23

Coach Jim Clayton: I don't give a body's crap.

Randy Black: 00:08:24

Coach Jim Clayton: I'm gonna do it my way.

Randy Black: 00:08:28

Coach Jim Clayton: And you know who I feel sorry for?

Randy Black: 00:08:29

Coach Jim Clayton: I don't feel sorry for the teacher.

Randy Black: 00:08:31

Coach Jim Clayton: I felt sorry for the students in that guy's class or that woman's class.

Randy Black: 00:08:35

Because he's going to keep doing things the way he's always done.

Randy Black: 00:08:38

He's not trying to innovate.

Randy Black: 00:08:39

Coach Jim Clayton: That keeps people down.

Randy Black: 00:08:41

Yeah

Randy Black: 00:08:41

Coach Jim Clayton: And then when you keep holding people down like that, instead of being an overachiever, those people are always the underachievers of the world.

Randy Black: 00:08:50

Coach Jim Clayton: And then guess whose fault it is?

Randy Black: 00:08:53

Coach Jim Clayton: Not my fault, because I don't teach like that.

Randy Black: 00:08:55

Coach Jim Clayton: I don't communicate like that.

Randy Black: 00:08:57

Coach Jim Clayton: I don't, you know, I don't I don't coach like that

Randy Black: 00:09:03

Coach Jim Clayton: You know.

Randy Black: 00:09:04

Coach Jim Clayton: And it I mean it's just it it's enthusiasm is caught, it's not taught.

Randy Black: 00:09:10

Excitement.

Randy Black: 00:09:10

It it reminds me of I don't know if you remember this or not, there were many years ago

Randy Black: 00:09:15

All the teachers in Cabal Canyon Schools had to go to the auditorium at City Hall in Huntington.

Randy Black: 00:09:19

And we heard a gentleman speak.

Randy Black: 00:09:21

Coach Jim Clayton: I was there.

Randy Black: 00:09:21

Ion Jukes.

Randy Black: 00:09:22

Ayn Jukes s made he had a term he had coined, tatwati.

Randy Black: 00:09:28

That's the way we've always done it.

Randy Black: 00:09:31

That's a fixed mindset because you're not trying to make a change.

Randy Black: 00:09:34

You're not trying to push forward and use what's there for you to make a better.

Randy Black: 00:09:39

And it was it was a powerful speech that he gave

Randy Black: 00:09:41

But I heard so many people coming out of there.

Randy Black: 00:09:43

Why do we waste our time with this?

Randy Black: 00:09:45

Why did we do this?

Randy Black: 00:09:46

And it's it's disheartening as as a young educator, because this was early.

Randy Black: 00:09:50

This is like

Randy Black: 00:09:51

Second maybe second or third if at the max year for me.

Randy Black: 00:09:55

So this was, you know, 20 years ago, 18 years ago.

Randy Black: 00:09:58

Um it had a it had a it had a powerful impact on me, but I saw so many people just

Randy Black: 00:10:03

Just dog on it and hate on it and there was no need for it.

Randy Black: 00:10:07

Coach Jim Clayton: You're 100% right.

Randy Black: 00:10:09

Coach Jim Clayton: And you know, how are you going to determine whether somebody has the ability because they can't pass this test?

Randy Black: 00:10:15

Yeah.

Randy Black: 00:10:16

Coach Jim Clayton: Okay

Randy Black: 00:10:17

Coach Jim Clayton: You know, when you went for a job interview or I went for a job, I'm having a said, uh, what you what was your score on your ACT and SAT?

Randy Black: 00:10:23

Coach Jim Clayton: They don't care.

Randy Black: 00:10:24

Coach Jim Clayton: What you get in that class?

Randy Black: 00:10:25

Coach Jim Clayton: They don't care.

Randy Black: 00:10:27

Coach Jim Clayton: But see, that's how we teach them.

Randy Black: 00:10:29

It is.

Randy Black: 00:10:30

Coach Jim Clayton: And it's all wrong.

Randy Black: 00:10:31

Coach Jim Clayton: It's all backwards.

Randy Black: 00:10:32

Coach Jim Clayton: And then as a result, if you look at the situation we're in now with the education in our country

Randy Black: 00:10:39

Coach Jim Clayton: It's all off the charts back.

Randy Black: 00:10:41

No, it's we spend more money per capita and have less results.

Randy Black: 00:10:50

Coach Jim Clayton: And you know the old saying, if you if you want to keep on getting what you're getting, just keep on doing what you're doing.

Randy Black: 00:10:56

Coach Jim Clayton: Things don't happen by chance, they happen by the one word everybody hates.

Randy Black: 00:11:00

Coach Jim Clayton: Change.

Randy Black: 00:11:01

Coach Jim Clayton: Boy, I don't want to change.

Randy Black: 00:11:03

Seems like we keep coming back to that a lot, James.

Randy Black: 00:11:05

Coach Jim Clayton: Oh, it never's going it's never going to go away.

Randy Black: 00:11:07

Coach Jim Clayton: It's just never going to go away.

Randy Black: 00:11:09

Coach Jim Clayton: And you know, no most people don't even know they need to be on a growth journey

Randy Black: 00:11:13

Yeah, true.

Randy Black: 00:11:14

Coach Jim Clayton: They don't even know what that is.

Randy Black: 00:11:16

Coach Jim Clayton: Okay, they just think everything's just gonna happen, it's gonna happen.

Randy Black: 00:11:19

Coach Jim Clayton: Yeah.

Randy Black: 00:11:19

Coach Jim Clayton: No, you again

Randy Black: 00:11:21

Coach Jim Clayton: We talked about this last week.

Randy Black: 00:11:23

Coach Jim Clayton: You don't become great at anything accidentally.

Randy Black: 00:11:27

Coach Jim Clayton: It all has to be intentional.

Randy Black: 00:11:29

Yes.

Randy Black: 00:11:29

Coach Jim Clayton: And so

Randy Black: 00:11:30

Coach Jim Clayton: Everybody's stuck in this term busyness.

Randy Black: 00:11:35

Coach Jim Clayton: Busyness.

Randy Black: 00:11:36

Coach Jim Clayton: I'm busy.

Randy Black: 00:11:36

Coach Jim Clayton: I'm busy.

Randy Black: 00:11:37

Coach Jim Clayton: I'm busyness.

Randy Black: 00:11:38

Coach Jim Clayton: Well, that doesn't equal productivity.

Randy Black: 00:11:40

Coach Jim Clayton: No.

Randy Black: 00:11:43

Coach Jim Clayton: And it does not necessarily mean you're going to accomplish anything.

Randy Black: 00:11:47

Exactly.

Randy Black: 00:11:48

You can you can be successful like I said last week.

Randy Black: 00:11:50

We can you can be successful

Randy Black: 00:11:52

And you can be as busy as you want to be, but it doesn't mean you've produced anything.

Randy Black: 00:11:56

You haven't been productive.

Randy Black: 00:11:57

Coach Jim Clayton: And if you're successful, okay, you're gonna get the results you want.

Randy Black: 00:12:03

Coach Jim Clayton: And you're gonna get the outcome.

Randy Black: 00:12:05

Coach Jim Clayton: And you're gonna get the people right along with it.

Randy Black: 00:12:08

Coach Jim Clayton: But see, most people don't even know what people's strengths are.

Randy Black: 00:12:10

Right.

Randy Black: 00:12:11

Coach Jim Clayton: And

Randy Black: 00:12:12

Coach Jim Clayton: They just they don't allow them to do what they really could do because they don't know.

Randy Black: 00:12:16

Coach Jim Clayton: They don't even know what their strength is.

Randy Black: 00:12:17

Coach Jim Clayton: Mm-hmm.

Randy Black: 00:12:19

Coach Jim Clayton: I mean, what's their goal for this year?

Randy Black: 00:12:21

Coach Jim Clayton: Okay, you know, and again, a teacher can have the best vision.

Randy Black: 00:12:25

Coach Jim Clayton: Anybody, a boss, anybody knows this can have a great vision.

Randy Black: 00:12:29

Coach Jim Clayton: It might be phenomenal.

Randy Black: 00:12:31

Yeah.

Randy Black: 00:12:31

Coach Jim Clayton: But if the the troops

Randy Black: 00:12:34

Coach Jim Clayton: Don't buy into the vision.

Randy Black: 00:12:36

Yeah.

Randy Black: 00:12:37

Coach Jim Clayton: Forget it.

Randy Black: 00:12:38

Ain't gonna work.

Randy Black: 00:12:39

Coach Jim Clayton: It's not gonna work.

Randy Black: 00:12:40

Coach Jim Clayton: Not gonna work.

Randy Black: 00:12:41

Coach Jim Clayton: And people people don't know how to flip that.

Randy Black: 00:12:44

Yes.

Randy Black: 00:12:45

They don't know they don't know how to they don't it growth a growth mindset is not something that you just have.

Randy Black: 00:12:51

You have to you have to work at it.

Randy Black: 00:12:53

You have to try

Randy Black: 00:12:55

Intentionally.

Randy Black: 00:12:55

Yes.

Randy Black: 00:12:56

It's not it's it's not something that's just innate.

Randy Black: 00:12:58

It's like we've talked about with resilience.

Randy Black: 00:13:00

Resilience isn't innate.

Randy Black: 00:13:01

Nope.

Randy Black: 00:13:02

You have to work at it

Randy Black: 00:13:03

Growth mindset is the same thing.

Randy Black: 00:13:05

Coach Jim Clayton: 100%.

Randy Black: 00:13:07

Here's an example I have in my notes to kind of illustrate it a little more for folks who are listening.

Randy Black: 00:13:13

Everyday life, you're doing things, you're working.

Randy Black: 00:13:16

So let's say you're doing a presentation at your job.

Randy Black: 00:13:19

So let's say I'm I'm giving a presentation to teachers about something we're doing in the technology department.

Randy Black: 00:13:25

And I botch it.

Randy Black: 00:13:26

I completely mess it up.

Randy Black: 00:13:28

I fall flat on my face.

Randy Black: 00:13:30

I look like a fool.

Randy Black: 00:13:31

If I had a fixed mindset about it, I'm gonna say, well, I'm just not a good speaker.

Randy Black: 00:13:36

That wasn't my day.

Randy Black: 00:13:37

But if I have a growth mindset, I'm gonna say something like, that was rough, but now I know what to work on for the next time.

Randy Black: 00:13:44

Coach Jim Clayton: Oh, that was a good one.

Randy Black: 00:13:45

Try to find the way to get better.

Randy Black: 00:13:47

Coach Jim Clayton: And everybody that's great in the IT business is not necessarily good at speaking in front of people and doing presentations.

Randy Black: 00:13:54

Coach Jim Clayton: Yes.

Randy Black: 00:13:54

Coach Jim Clayton: Yes.

Randy Black: 00:13:54

Coach Jim Clayton: So you're you're again that might be out of their realm, okay?

Randy Black: 00:13:58

Coach Jim Clayton: But they they they still need to know how to communicate because the bottom line here is

Randy Black: 00:14:02

Coach Jim Clayton: Everything comes down to relationships with the people that you're working with.

Randy Black: 00:14:06

Coach Jim Clayton: Whatever that is, whatever form that is.

Randy Black: 00:14:09

Coach Jim Clayton: And when you have a great relationship with everybody involved, it makes the it when you walk in, man, the energy is just what?

Randy Black: 00:14:17

Coach Jim Clayton: So I'll give you a classic example.

Randy Black: 00:14:18

Coach Jim Clayton: Today I stopped in over at a place called the Bridge.

Randy Black: 00:14:22

Coach Jim Clayton: It's right across the Chesapeake Bridge.

Randy Black: 00:14:24

Coach Jim Clayton: Yeah.

Randy Black: 00:14:24

Coach Jim Clayton: And it's a little it's it's a physical therapy plus.

Randy Black: 00:14:27

Coach Jim Clayton: Right.

Randy Black: 00:14:27

Coach Jim Clayton: Well my I jacked up my shoulder a little bit a couple of weeks ago when I was avoiding a flood situation at my house and somewhere along that man my shoulders been bonding me.

Randy Black: 00:14:36

Coach Jim Clayton: So I said, man, I'm gonna go over here

Randy Black: 00:14:38

Coach Jim Clayton: And see these guys and they just ask them some questions.

Randy Black: 00:14:41

Coach Jim Clayton: And if I need to get in here, you know, man, I just want to find out where I need to go.

Randy Black: 00:14:45

Coach Jim Clayton: I walked in there

Randy Black: 00:14:47

Coach Jim Clayton: Man, that place was booming.

Randy Black: 00:14:49

Coach Jim Clayton: I mean, it was booming.

Randy Black: 00:14:51

Coach Jim Clayton: Man, people were doing stuff excited.

Randy Black: 00:14:52

Coach Jim Clayton: They said, hey, Coach.

Randy Black: 00:14:53

Coach Jim Clayton: I said, hey, how you guys doing, man?

Randy Black: 00:14:55

Coach Jim Clayton: I missed you.

Randy Black: 00:14:56

Coach Jim Clayton: I see

Randy Black: 00:14:56

Coach Jim Clayton: You know, and it was just you could tell they have gotten I mean, they have just exploded.

Randy Black: 00:15:02

Coach Jim Clayton: Everybody was pumped, you know what I mean?

Randy Black: 00:15:04

Coach Jim Clayton: Everybody I mean it was just the atmosphere was contagious.

Randy Black: 00:15:08

Coach Jim Clayton: Yeah.

Randy Black: 00:15:09

Coach Jim Clayton: Well no wonder they're doing well.

Randy Black: 00:15:12

Coach Jim Clayton: Because it's fun to go there.

Randy Black: 00:15:14

Coach Jim Clayton: Especially when you're going to do something, to rehab something that you've injured, that ain't really fun doing it.

Randy Black: 00:15:21

Coach Jim Clayton: And there's going to be a little bit of pain involved, okay?

Randy Black: 00:15:24

I've been I've been there with a lot of people.

Randy Black: 00:15:26

Coach Jim Clayton: No, they're go I'm gonna go through pain

Randy Black: 00:15:29

Coach Jim Clayton: But I'm going to have fun doing it with people I like and I'm around and the whole thing.

Randy Black: 00:15:35

Coach Jim Clayton: Man, that's when you know you got it going on.

Randy Black: 00:15:37

Coach Jim Clayton: Yeah.

Randy Black: 00:15:38

Coach Jim Clayton: And I mean I just had the best time in there, so he gave me some stuff to do.

Randy Black: 00:15:42

Coach Jim Clayton: I'm going to go do it, see how it works.

Randy Black: 00:15:44

Coach Jim Clayton: If it does, I'm going to call my doctor and then I'll go in there and let 'em work to help me fix fix it up.

Randy Black: 00:15:48

Coach Jim Clayton: Yeah.

Randy Black: 00:15:49

Coach Jim Clayton: But it was just the atmosphere now.

Randy Black: 00:15:51

Coach Jim Clayton: And how much bigger they've gotten.

Randy Black: 00:15:57

Coach Jim Clayton: But it was jam-packed.

Randy Black: 00:15:59

Coach Jim Clayton: And everybody was doing stuff.

Randy Black: 00:16:01

But here and here's here's the way to tie this back in with this is that

Randy Black: 00:16:04

You're wanting to see the success from it.

Randy Black: 00:16:07

You're wanting the growth that comes from doing the work to get your shoulder back in place.

Randy Black: 00:16:11

Coach Jim Clayton: And they're helping you do it.

Randy Black: 00:16:13

There's people who would sit there and go, eh, I'll just deal with it.

Randy Black: 00:16:15

Oh and it's it that's the kind of you know that's it's another perfect example of this idea of growth versus fixed mindsets.

Randy Black: 00:16:22

Do you want to achieve?

Randy Black: 00:16:23

Do you want to do better?

Randy Black: 00:16:24

Do you want to grow?

Randy Black: 00:16:26

Coach Jim Clayton: Yes, yes.

Randy Black: 00:16:27

Coach Jim Clayton: But unfortunately, uh I don't want to do what it takes to do that.

Randy Black: 00:16:30

Coach Jim Clayton: Exactly.

Randy Black: 00:16:30

Coach Jim Clayton: So guess what?

Randy Black: 00:16:31

Coach Jim Clayton: Well, it's not going to happen.

Randy Black: 00:16:32

Exactly.

Randy Black: 00:16:33

So for everybody who's listening out there, either live or on the recording of this episode, here's a quick kind of gut check for you.

Randy Black: 00:16:41

The last time you failed at something, how did you respond?

Randy Black: 00:16:45

Did you treat it like it was the end of the road or did you see it as part of the journey?

Randy Black: 00:16:51

Your answer will tell you a lot about your productivity mindset.

Randy Black: 00:16:55

Are you a fixed fixed mindset or are you of a growth mindset?

Randy Black: 00:17:00

But mindset is the foundation

Randy Black: 00:17:03

But even if you're thinking with a growth mindset, there's still another enemy that we've all got to face, and that's procrastination.

Randy Black: 00:17:12

Here's the thing.

Randy Black: 00:17:13

Procrastination is not laziness.

Randy Black: 00:17:16

It goes much deeper than that.

Randy Black: 00:17:18

In fact, author and speaker Mel Robbins, she explains that procrastination

Randy Black: 00:17:24

Uh and she explains it in a way that I think really gets to the heart of it.

Randy Black: 00:17:29

She says procrastination isn't a character flaw.

Randy Black: 00:17:32

It's actually a habit.

Randy Black: 00:17:35

And it's one that we use to cope with stress.

Randy Black: 00:17:39

So here is a clip of Mel breaking that down, breaking down why procrastination.

Randy Black: 00:17:45

isn't about being lazy at all, but really it's all about how we respond to stress.

Mel Robbins: 00:17:51

Procrastination is a form of stress relief.

Mel Robbins: 00:17:56

Let me explain this.

Mel Robbins: 00:17:57

So let's say that you've got some stuff going on in your life, and heck, who doesn't have stuff going on in your life?

Mel Robbins: 00:18:03

Maybe you're fighting with your significant other

Mel Robbins: 00:18:06

Maybe mom's or dad's health is failing and it's really, really upsetting you.

Mel Robbins: 00:18:11

Maybe you've got some financial stuff.

Mel Robbins: 00:18:13

You put too much of your savings into Bitcoin and now that that's crashed, you're stressed out about it, right?

Mel Robbins: 00:18:18

And so you go into work, and when you get into work, you got stuff to do, you kind of walk in and you got this big stress ball that uh subconsciously is hanging over your head.

Mel Robbins: 00:18:28

And so you walk in

Mel Robbins: 00:18:29

And you sit down and you know you got 13 phone calls you need to make.

Mel Robbins: 00:18:33

And you also know that you've been chickening out, you've been making easy calls, and there's a bunch of CIOs or other people that are higher level that you haven't been calling

Mel Robbins: 00:18:41

And so as you sit down to do it, you got the stress on your shoulders, your brain the it starts to go, wait a minute, will you want me to make a call to somebody that I'm scared to make?

Mel Robbins: 00:18:49

Absolutely not.

Mel Robbins: 00:18:50

I'm so stressed out about my can we just watch some cat videos for a minute

Mel Robbins: 00:18:55

And next thing you know, an hour's gone by.

Mel Robbins: 00:18:58

And then of course, what do you do?

Mel Robbins: 00:18:59

You beat yourself up.

Mel Robbins: 00:19:00

So the only way that you can break this habit

Mel Robbins: 00:19:04

And that's an important word for you to hear.

Mel Robbins: 00:19:06

You're not a procrastinator.

Mel Robbins: 00:19:09

You have a habit of procrastinating

Mel Robbins: 00:19:12

Big difference.

Randy Black: 00:19:14

I love how she frames that, Jim, because it it flips the way that most of us think about procrastination.

Randy Black: 00:19:21

It's not that you're lazy, it's that your brain is trying to escape stress.

Randy Black: 00:19:25

But the problem is, instead of reducing stress, procrastination just piles on more of it right on top.

Randy Black: 00:19:33

Coach Jim Clayton: Oh, excuse me, 100%.

Randy Black: 00:19:35

Coach Jim Clayton: It's John Maxwell calls this the law of diminishing intent.

Randy Black: 00:19:40

Coach Jim Clayton: And what that says is the longer you put off doing something that you know you should do

Randy Black: 00:19:48

Coach Jim Clayton: the less likely is it's ever gonna happen.

Randy Black: 00:19:52

Yes.

Randy Black: 00:19:52

Coach Jim Clayton: And boy, isn't that true?

Randy Black: 00:19:54

Coach Jim Clayton: We've all done that.

Randy Black: 00:19:55

Mm-hmm.

Randy Black: 00:19:56

Coach Jim Clayton: It's not that we don't want to do it

Randy Black: 00:19:58

Coach Jim Clayton: We're not comfortable doing it.

Randy Black: 00:20:00

Yeah.

Randy Black: 00:20:00

Coach Jim Clayton: Okay?

Randy Black: 00:20:00

Coach Jim Clayton: Because we're out of our sometimes that puts you out of your comfort zone.

Randy Black: 00:20:04

Coach Jim Clayton: And it depends on how big that zone is.

Randy Black: 00:20:07

Coach Jim Clayton: See if the zone is really tight, there's not much room for growth

Randy Black: 00:20:12

Yeah.

Randy Black: 00:20:13

Coach Jim Clayton: So you want one that's what?

Randy Black: 00:20:15

Coach Jim Clayton: It's big.

Randy Black: 00:20:16

Coach Jim Clayton: Oh, it's big.

Randy Black: 00:20:17

Coach Jim Clayton: It's big.

Randy Black: 00:20:18

Coach Jim Clayton: And you know, you find reasons sometimes with procrastination for me

Randy Black: 00:20:23

Coach Jim Clayton: If I put something off, I always ask myself, did I really want to do it?

Randy Black: 00:20:28

Coach Jim Clayton: Because, you know, if I really want to do something bad enough, oh, I'm gonna find a way to do it.

Randy Black: 00:20:33

Yeah

Randy Black: 00:20:34

Coach Jim Clayton: None's gonna stop me.

Randy Black: 00:20:36

Coach Jim Clayton: But if I'm not 100% sure I want to do it, sometimes I'll let it sit on the back burner a little bit.

Randy Black: 00:20:43

Coach Jim Clayton: And then something will come around that will reignite it.

Randy Black: 00:20:46

Coach Jim Clayton: Yeah

Randy Black: 00:20:47

Coach Jim Clayton: And maybe I'll think about it in a different way and then I'll bring it back to the front.

Randy Black: 00:20:53

Coach Jim Clayton: But maybe, maybe not.

Randy Black: 00:20:55

Yeah.

Randy Black: 00:20:56

Coach Jim Clayton: But, you know, it's just, you know, procrastination, when I when I

Randy Black: 00:21:01

Coach Jim Clayton: See, I think the word that goes with procrastination is preparation.

Randy Black: 00:21:06

Coach Jim Clayton: Okay.

Randy Black: 00:21:08

Coach Jim Clayton: Because

Randy Black: 00:21:09

Coach Jim Clayton: When you procrastinate and you know you gotta do something, then all of a sudden the time is here and it's on, and you haven't done what you're supposed to be doing, and you're gonna use the Yank method to get up there and try to try to wing it.

Randy Black: 00:21:22

Coach Jim Clayton: Mm-hmm.

Randy Black: 00:21:23

Coach Jim Clayton: You're a nervous rick.

Randy Black: 00:21:24

Coach Jim Clayton: Mm-hmm.

Randy Black: 00:21:25

Coach Jim Clayton: When you know what's going to happen, and you know what you're going to say, and you know how you're going to say it, and in order you're going to do it, guess what?

Randy Black: 00:21:35

Oh yeah.

Randy Black: 00:21:36

I think I you know and I think about, you know, from a classroom perspective when I was teaching is you know, that that kid that you catch cheating.

Randy Black: 00:21:44

He spent all this time, you know, preparing to cheat.

Randy Black: 00:21:47

when he could have spent all that same time studying to prepare to take the test.

Randy Black: 00:21:52

It's the same idea.

Randy Black: 00:21:53

He was procrastinating to studying, trying to find another way to do it.

Randy Black: 00:21:57

It's like, you know, say you're at work and you've got a report you got to write.

Randy Black: 00:22:01

Instead, you sit down, you scroll through your phone because you're trying to keep from having to do it.

Randy Black: 00:22:05

Or let's say, you know, we're both married individuals, and sometimes you have to have a tough conversation with your spouse.

Randy Black: 00:22:12

More so it's probably the wife having the tough conversation with us.

Randy Black: 00:22:16

But y y it comes along and like suddenly that conversation needs to happen and you're kind of like

Randy Black: 00:22:22

Well uh um I really need to go clean the garage or I really need to go mow the grass.

Randy Black: 00:22:27

You're trying to find a way to get out of it, to procrastinate, dealing with it, because it's not about the laziness.

Randy Black: 00:22:34

It's about avoiding the stress that comes with the situation.

Randy Black: 00:22:37

Coach Jim Clayton: And when the stress comes with it, what else comes?

Randy Black: 00:22:40

Coach Jim Clayton: Pressure.

Randy Black: 00:22:40

Yes.

Randy Black: 00:22:41

Coach Jim Clayton: See, the pressure cooker starts to start getting it's about to bust.

Randy Black: 00:22:46

Coach Jim Clayton: Mm-hmm.

Randy Black: 00:22:46

Coach Jim Clayton: because of the stress.

Randy Black: 00:22:49

Coach Jim Clayton: Alright?

Randy Black: 00:22:50

Coach Jim Clayton: So for me, what de-stresses me the m the when I'm just totally in relaxed mode.

Randy Black: 00:22:59

Coach Jim Clayton: Everything's done.

Randy Black: 00:23:01

Coach Jim Clayton: It's all been done.

Randy Black: 00:23:03

Coach Jim Clayton: See, it's the preparation.

Randy Black: 00:23:05

Coach Jim Clayton: And then I just go into

Randy Black: 00:23:07

Coach Jim Clayton: Yeah.

Randy Black: 00:23:09

Coach Jim Clayton: But when I'm not prepared, you know, I got this, do I have this right?

Randy Black: 00:23:14

Coach Jim Clayton: So you question yourself

Randy Black: 00:23:16

Coach Jim Clayton: And then when you start to question yourself, I mean no one's no more qualified to be you than you.

Randy Black: 00:23:21

Coach Jim Clayton: Why should you be questioning yourself?

Randy Black: 00:23:23

Coach Jim Clayton: Then that's when the pressure and the stress starts to mount.

Randy Black: 00:23:26

Yeah

Randy Black: 00:23:26

Coach Jim Clayton: And then that's when we run from it.

Randy Black: 00:23:28

Yeah.

Randy Black: 00:23:29

We we have to look for ways to break the cycle.

Randy Black: 00:23:32

Yeah.

Randy Black: 00:23:32

You know, and it because it's a stress-related thing, one of the ways you can do that is to just

Randy Black: 00:23:38

Take whatever it is that's stressing you, whatever that task is, and start breaking it down into something that's smaller.

Randy Black: 00:23:46

You know, um someone I can't remember who because I don't have it in my notes, but I read about the five-minute rule

Randy Black: 00:23:52

Okay, the five-minute rule comes in and says tell yourself I'm just gonna do this for five minutes.

Randy Black: 00:23:58

So starting small calms down the stress response

Randy Black: 00:24:01

And it once you've started, momentum usually will kick in and things will get rolling and you'll be able to keep making your way through.

Randy Black: 00:24:10

Uh I remember setting in a in a training.

Randy Black: 00:24:12

It was a summer it was a summer training by a group called APL Associates.

Randy Black: 00:24:16

Uh they were based out of New York.

Randy Black: 00:24:18

Uh one of the guys who was there with him, I'm actually friends with him on Facebook now.

Randy Black: 00:24:22

His name is Jim Zelonis.

Randy Black: 00:24:23

Jim is from McKeesport, Pennsylvania.

Randy Black: 00:24:26

McKeesport, Pennsylvania is the home of the Little League World Series.

Randy Black: 00:24:30

And.

Randy Black: 00:24:31

Sorry, not Jim, John Zelonis.

Randy Black: 00:24:33

John Zelonas.

Randy Black: 00:24:34

John was a high school football coach uh in Pennsylvania.

Randy Black: 00:24:38

He's well known, but he's

Randy Black: 00:24:40

He prefers to be more well known for what he did as a teacher.

Randy Black: 00:24:43

And he talked about using this rule, because I can I can recall, like he said, set a timer, buy a cheap little timer for your classroom.

Randy Black: 00:24:51

Set that timer.

Randy Black: 00:24:52

And when you're first starting to do real instruction with your students, when you're really diving in on content, set that timer for five minutes, let it go, and at the end of five minutes, take a break.

Randy Black: 00:25:04

What's that do?

Randy Black: 00:25:05

It gives your brain the chance to take a break and especially gives the kids chance, their brain the chance to take a break.

Randy Black: 00:25:12

And it breaks down because you may have to spend a whole bunch of time talking through this content.

Randy Black: 00:25:16

And the longer you're talking, the more likely you're going to lose them.

Randy Black: 00:25:20

So give them a chance to have that break.

Randy Black: 00:25:22

And it goes right along with this five-minute rule

Randy Black: 00:25:24

And I learned that from John, uh, awesome guy.

Randy Black: 00:25:27

Still, like I said, I'm friends with him on Facebook now.

Randy Black: 00:25:29

Um, and he's still still out there sharing some really good stuff with what he's done in education.

Randy Black: 00:25:35

But the next time you kind of catch yourself starting to procrastinate, this is for the listeners, don't beat yourself up over it.

Randy Black: 00:25:42

It's not worth it.

Randy Black: 00:25:43

It doesn't do any good.

Randy Black: 00:25:44

Just ask yourself.

Randy Black: 00:25:46

What stress am I trying to escape right now?

Randy Black: 00:25:50

That's the trigger.

Randy Black: 00:25:52

Something else that Mel Robbins said, and I didn't I didn't keep it in the recording, is that you're never going to eliminate the trigger.

Randy Black: 00:25:58

The trigger's always gonna be there.

Randy Black: 00:26:00

You have to recognize it.

Randy Black: 00:26:02

You have to shrink down the task.

Randy Black: 00:26:04

You'll be surprised how quickly you can break the habit.

Randy Black: 00:26:07

And that's the key.

Randy Black: 00:26:08

It is a habit, and habits can be changed.

Randy Black: 00:26:12

Procrastination is not about being lazy.

Randy Black: 00:26:16

It's a habit you've learned for whatever reason.

Randy Black: 00:26:18

And the cool thing is once we start moving.

Randy Black: 00:26:22

You know, once we start going on the task, it's not just about putting in the hours.

Randy Black: 00:26:26

It's about how we use them.

Randy Black: 00:26:29

Think about it, Jim.

Randy Black: 00:26:30

You've got kids here who come in and shoot for an hour.

Randy Black: 00:26:33

And in that hour, they may shoot 500 shots.

Randy Black: 00:26:36

That's pretty good.

Randy Black: 00:26:37

But if they're shooting 500 shots and not using the correct form and not doing it correctly, not gonna get your outcome.

Randy Black: 00:26:44

They're wasting their time.

Randy Black: 00:26:45

They're not gonna get the outcome

Randy Black: 00:26:46

Coach Jim Clayton: Well yeah, well, yeah, improvement requires commitment to growth and effort.

Randy Black: 00:26:51

Coach Jim Clayton: So you gotta want to get better and you gotta put the effort in.

Randy Black: 00:26:54

Coach Jim Clayton: And some people, I'm not sure they want to get better, and therefore, guess what?

Randy Black: 00:26:58

Coach Jim Clayton: The effort's not there.

Randy Black: 00:27:00

Coach Jim Clayton: Consequently, improvement does not happen.

Randy Black: 00:27:02

Coach Jim Clayton: Yeah.

Randy Black: 00:27:03

Coach Jim Clayton: Okay.

Randy Black: 00:27:03

Coach Jim Clayton: Those are underachievers.

Randy Black: 00:27:05

Coach Jim Clayton: Okay?

Randy Black: 00:27:05

Coach Jim Clayton: Those are your average people.

Randy Black: 00:27:07

Coach Jim Clayton: And you know what average to me is, don't you?

Randy Black: 00:27:09

Coach Jim Clayton: The best the best of the worst

Randy Black: 00:27:11

Coach Jim Clayton: Okay, top or the bottom.

Randy Black: 00:27:13

Coach Jim Clayton: That's average.

Randy Black: 00:27:14

Coach Jim Clayton: Yeah.

Randy Black: 00:27:16

Coach Jim Clayton: I said, do you really want to be average?

Randy Black: 00:27:17

Coach Jim Clayton: I don't something tells me you don't really want it.

Randy Black: 00:27:20

Coach Jim Clayton: They go, no, I don't.

Randy Black: 00:27:22

Coach Jim Clayton: Then you can't do what average people do

Randy Black: 00:27:25

Coach Jim Clayton: Can't do it.

Randy Black: 00:27:26

Yeah.

Randy Black: 00:27:26

Coach Jim Clayton: Okay, you can't do it.

Randy Black: 00:27:28

Coach Jim Clayton: And, you know, again, procrastination, you talk about smaller.

Randy Black: 00:27:32

Coach Jim Clayton: We've talked about this earlier.

Randy Black: 00:27:34

Coach Jim Clayton: Break it down into this, you know, nothing motivates people to like success.

Randy Black: 00:27:38

Mm-hmm.

Randy Black: 00:27:39

Coach Jim Clayton: So if you just have a little tidbit of success, those are your little victories.

Randy Black: 00:27:44

Yes.

Randy Black: 00:27:44

Coach Jim Clayton: Every day you get a little victory.

Randy Black: 00:27:47

Coach Jim Clayton: Then you start to gain a little what?

Randy Black: 00:27:48

Coach Jim Clayton: See?

Randy Black: 00:27:49

Coach Jim Clayton: I mean I know people that I've had businesses where they looked at me and said

Randy Black: 00:27:53

Coach Jim Clayton: Man, that's awesome.

Randy Black: 00:27:55

Coach Jim Clayton: Oh yeah.

Randy Black: 00:27:56

Coach Jim Clayton: Okay.

Randy Black: 00:27:56

Coach Jim Clayton: Well, I'm trying to reach this guy.

Randy Black: 00:27:58

Coach Jim Clayton: Oh, I know that guy.

Randy Black: 00:28:00

Coach Jim Clayton: Well, can you call him for me?

Randy Black: 00:28:01

Coach Jim Clayton: They can't call him

Randy Black: 00:28:03

Coach Jim Clayton: But they know him.

Randy Black: 00:28:05

Coach Jim Clayton: Can't same reason.

Randy Black: 00:28:06

Coach Jim Clayton: Can't call them because they don't know what to say.

Randy Black: 00:28:10

Coach Jim Clayton: I said, well, it's not a scripted thing.

Randy Black: 00:28:12

Coach Jim Clayton: He's your buddy.

Randy Black: 00:28:14

Coach Jim Clayton: You know, break the ice.

Randy Black: 00:28:15

Coach Jim Clayton: Yes.

Randy Black: 00:28:16

Coach Jim Clayton: Can't do it.

Randy Black: 00:28:16

Coach Jim Clayton: Pressure.

Randy Black: 00:28:17

Coach Jim Clayton: And then they just here it comes.

Randy Black: 00:28:20

Coach Jim Clayton: Put it what?

Randy Black: 00:28:21

Coach Jim Clayton: Well, have you talked to him today?

Randy Black: 00:28:22

Coach Jim Clayton: No, I haven't.

Randy Black: 00:28:23

Coach Jim Clayton: I haven't.

Randy Black: 00:28:23

Coach Jim Clayton: I haven't had a chance to have been busy.

Randy Black: 00:28:25

Coach Jim Clayton: Oh, here we go again with busyness

Randy Black: 00:28:27

Coach Jim Clayton: And then guess what?

Randy Black: 00:28:29

Coach Jim Clayton: It never happens.

Randy Black: 00:28:30

Yeah.

Randy Black: 00:28:31

Coach Jim Clayton: It's not that they can't.

Randy Black: 00:28:33

Coach Jim Clayton: They're just stressed out over it.

Randy Black: 00:28:34

Coach Jim Clayton: And it's and that's exactly what you're talking about right here.

Randy Black: 00:28:37

It's

Randy Black: 00:28:38

It's it's kind of and it it leads us uh further into the conversation here, and it's the difference between working hard and working smart, and it shows up in how you respond and how you do things.

Randy Black: 00:28:49

Because working hard is about effort.

Randy Black: 00:28:52

It's about the long hours you put in, the late nights, the grind you have to go through.

Randy Black: 00:28:57

Working smart is about the strategy.

Randy Black: 00:29:01

It's knowing where to focus your energy so that the work you do actually moves the needle.

Randy Black: 00:29:08

I did a podcast for quite a while for a while called EdTech Shorts, and I just took quick, simple tips dealing with educational technology to share with teachers.

Randy Black: 00:29:17

And in doing so, my tagline was about helping them find ways to work smarter, not work harder.

Randy Black: 00:29:24

And it was about finding ways to help them.

Randy Black: 00:29:26

Find a strategy, find a tool, find something that helps them to be more productive in what they're doing in their classroom.

Randy Black: 00:29:34

So Jim, you know

Randy Black: 00:29:35

The whole idea, the whole concept of working harder versus working smarter.

Randy Black: 00:29:39

I know this is something you fully grasp and understand.

Randy Black: 00:29:42

Coach Jim Clayton: Oh gosh.

Randy Black: 00:29:43

Coach Jim Clayton: I go places and I see all kinds of things going on.

Randy Black: 00:29:46

Coach Jim Clayton: And everybody just looks at the the big picture.

Randy Black: 00:29:49

Mm-hmm.

Randy Black: 00:29:49

Coach Jim Clayton: And they go, oh, there's a lot of stuff going on.

Randy Black: 00:29:52

Coach Jim Clayton: But then if you really start to dissect it a little bit and look down, there ain't nothing going on.

Randy Black: 00:29:57

Coach Jim Clayton: And, you know, again, busyness

Randy Black: 00:30:00

Coach Jim Clayton: Activity, busyness doesn't guarantee results.

Randy Black: 00:30:05

Coach Jim Clayton: Okay.

Randy Black: 00:30:05

Coach Jim Clayton: Productivity of what you're talking about right there comes from focused, intentional action rather than just being active.

Randy Black: 00:30:12

Yes.

Randy Black: 00:30:13

Coach Jim Clayton: Okay?

Randy Black: 00:30:14

Coach Jim Clayton: Now

Randy Black: 00:30:15

Coach Jim Clayton: You know, again, effort, that's I always tell people two things a coach should never have to coach.

Randy Black: 00:30:21

Coach Jim Clayton: Your effort and your attitude.

Randy Black: 00:30:23

Coach Jim Clayton: And most people that have lack of effort have a bad attitude.

Randy Black: 00:30:27

Coach Jim Clayton: Okay, so if your effort's not there, our question is, do you really want to do this?

Randy Black: 00:30:33

Coach Jim Clayton: Do you really want to do this

Randy Black: 00:30:35

Coach Jim Clayton: Now, somebody might want you to do this, but do you really want to do this?

Randy Black: 00:30:39

Coach Jim Clayton: Your mom and dad might want you to do it, but they're not you.

Randy Black: 00:30:43

Right.

Randy Black: 00:30:43

Coach Jim Clayton: And that's never going to work.

Randy Black: 00:30:45

Coach Jim Clayton: And then parents do this all the time.

Randy Black: 00:30:47

Coach Jim Clayton: They fork all this money out.

Randy Black: 00:30:49

Coach Jim Clayton: And then all of a sudden the kid gets about eighth or ninth grade and goes.

Randy Black: 00:30:52

Coach Jim Clayton: I don't want to do this anymore.

Randy Black: 00:30:53

Coach Jim Clayton: I'm done.

Randy Black: 00:30:54

Coach Jim Clayton: Well, hold on a minute.

Randy Black: 00:30:56

Coach Jim Clayton: We spent thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars and too bad.

Randy Black: 00:31:01

Coach Jim Clayton: They don't care.

Randy Black: 00:31:02

Coach Jim Clayton: They're done.

Randy Black: 00:31:03

Coach Jim Clayton: Not a good investment

Randy Black: 00:31:05

Coach Jim Clayton: Not a good return on your money.

Randy Black: 00:31:08

Coach Jim Clayton: Okay?

Randy Black: 00:31:09

Coach Jim Clayton: Because again, you gotta work smart.

Randy Black: 00:31:13

Coach Jim Clayton: It's not how how how much you're doing it.

Randy Black: 00:31:17

Coach Jim Clayton: It's are you doing it right?

Randy Black: 00:31:19

Yeah.

Randy Black: 00:31:19

Coach Jim Clayton: Wrong plus wrong produces twice as wrong.

Randy Black: 00:31:22

Yeah, here's here's an example.

Randy Black: 00:31:23

So let's say you're that let's say that I've got to do a presentation

Randy Black: 00:31:26

And I spend hours formatting slides in PowerPoint and making them as perfect as I can.

Randy Black: 00:31:34

And

Randy Black: 00:31:35

I spend all this time just trying to be visually impressive when I could have spent 30 minutes outlining these are my key points.

Randy Black: 00:31:43

I can practice going through my delivery and I can I can make sure that what I'm doing is not busy work.

Randy Black: 00:31:50

It's actually going to improve the outcome.

Randy Black: 00:31:53

Coach Jim Clayton: And the way 100%.

Randy Black: 00:31:55

Coach Jim Clayton: And the way

Randy Black: 00:31:56

Coach Jim Clayton: To change that working hard versus working smart is beat them at their own game.

Randy Black: 00:32:02

Coach Jim Clayton: Here's what we're learning.

Randy Black: 00:32:05

Coach Jim Clayton: Boom boom boom.

Randy Black: 00:32:07

Coach Jim Clayton: Three things.

Randy Black: 00:32:08

Yeah.

Randy Black: 00:32:08

Coach Jim Clayton: Here's why we're learning it.

Randy Black: 00:32:09

Coach Jim Clayton: Boom, boom, boom.

Randy Black: 00:32:11

Coach Jim Clayton: Here's how you're gonna use it in your life today.

Randy Black: 00:32:13

Yeah.

Randy Black: 00:32:14

Coach Jim Clayton: Got them

Randy Black: 00:32:15

Coach Jim Clayton: Got them.

Randy Black: 00:32:16

Coach Jim Clayton: No closed mindset, no progress.

Randy Black: 00:32:19

Coach Jim Clayton: I can't wait.

Randy Black: 00:32:21

Coach Jim Clayton: Because you're not, see, we everything's judged in in their minds, people's minds.

Randy Black: 00:32:27

Coach Jim Clayton: Starting at an early age all the way up, A, B, C, D, or F.

Randy Black: 00:32:31

Yeah.

Randy Black: 00:32:33

That I hate I hate the letter grading scale with a pageant.

Randy Black: 00:32:36

Coach Jim Clayton: Oh man, I was not a very good student.

Randy Black: 00:32:39

Coach Jim Clayton: Okay, because I hated school where every day I went.

Randy Black: 00:32:42

Coach Jim Clayton: I just hated it.

Randy Black: 00:32:43

Coach Jim Clayton: Because I never knew what I was learning, why I was learning it, and how I was ever going to use.

Randy Black: 00:32:47

Coach Jim Clayton: So I I just decided when I become a teacher, after I finally figured out and went back and says

Randy Black: 00:32:52

Coach Jim Clayton: Was the teachers that bad?

Randy Black: 00:32:54

Coach Jim Clayton: Was I just the biggest dummy known to man?

Randy Black: 00:32:57

Coach Jim Clayton: Uh what was the real root problem of the

Randy Black: 00:33:00

Coach Jim Clayton: And that was the root problem.

Randy Black: 00:33:02

Coach Jim Clayton: So once I identified and went back, I said, I'll be dead gone if I'm going to allow that to happen in anything I do the rest of my life.

Randy Black: 00:33:08

Yeah.

Randy Black: 00:33:09

Coach Jim Clayton: So here's why we're doing it.

Randy Black: 00:33:11

Coach Jim Clayton: Okay?

Randy Black: 00:33:12

Coach Jim Clayton: Here's how you're going to use it.

Randy Black: 00:33:14

Coach Jim Clayton: And they go, oh, that's simple.

Randy Black: 00:33:17

Coach Jim Clayton: Let's just keep it simple.

Randy Black: 00:33:20

Coach Jim Clayton: I use the KISS method.

Randy Black: 00:33:22

Coach Jim Clayton: Keep it simple, stupid.

Randy Black: 00:33:23

Coach Jim Clayton: Yep.

Randy Black: 00:33:23

Coach Jim Clayton: I'm not calling you stupid.

Randy Black: 00:33:25

Coach Jim Clayton: Okay, I'm just saying, let's just keep it simple.

Randy Black: 00:33:28

Coach Jim Clayton: Don't make it but see educators, some people, well j not just educators, but some people, they take the most common simple sense things and turn them into nightmare on Elm Street.

Randy Black: 00:33:39

Yes.

Randy Black: 00:33:39

Coach Jim Clayton: So complicated.

Randy Black: 00:33:41

Coach Jim Clayton: I can't get it.

Randy Black: 00:33:42

Coach Jim Clayton: Well let me break it down for you.

Randy Black: 00:33:43

Coach Jim Clayton: Oh, that's what you're saying?

Randy Black: 00:33:45

Coach Jim Clayton: That's what I'm saying.

Randy Black: 00:33:46

Coach Jim Clayton: Oh, I got it now then.

Randy Black: 00:33:48

Coach Jim Clayton: Just how you say it.

Randy Black: 00:33:51

Coach Jim Clayton: Okay, and it's how it's and again, you know, coaches, uh, head coaches, sister coaches, um

Randy Black: 00:34:01

Coach Jim Clayton: Leaders of companies, school administrators.

Randy Black: 00:34:05

Coach Jim Clayton: Oh yeah.

Randy Black: 00:34:06

Coach Jim Clayton: They can see, they can tell by your actions.

Randy Black: 00:34:11

Coach Jim Clayton: How is your passion?

Randy Black: 00:34:14

Coach Jim Clayton: See, because

Randy Black: 00:34:15

Coach Jim Clayton: If you have a passion for what you're doing, the energy's coming with it.

Randy Black: 00:34:20

Coach Jim Clayton: Yes.

Randy Black: 00:34:21

Coach Jim Clayton: And the effort.

Randy Black: 00:34:23

Coach Jim Clayton: If you're just, you know, you're retired, but you ain't just turned, you hadn't just turned in your papers yet.

Randy Black: 00:34:28

Mm-hmm.

Randy Black: 00:34:28

Coach Jim Clayton: You're going through the most.

Randy Black: 00:34:30

Exactly.

Randy Black: 00:34:31

Coach Jim Clayton: Cats Saw that a lot.

Randy Black: 00:34:33

Coach Jim Clayton: That's working really dumb.

Randy Black: 00:34:34

Yeah.

Randy Black: 00:34:35

Coach Jim Clayton: But they don't care

Randy Black: 00:34:37

Coach Jim Clayton: Because it never's gonna come back on them.

Randy Black: 00:34:40

Yeah.

Randy Black: 00:34:40

Coach Jim Clayton: And see that's what really burnt me up is you're going above and beyond the call of duty

Randy Black: 00:34:47

Coach Jim Clayton: And the person next to you is doing nothing.

Randy Black: 00:34:51

Coach Jim Clayton: They get the same thing you get.

Randy Black: 00:34:53

Yeah.

Randy Black: 00:34:55

There's there's no incentive to to continue to improve.

Randy Black: 00:34:59

No.

Randy Black: 00:34:59

In a lot of ways.

Randy Black: 00:35:00

Coach Jim Clayton: No.

Randy Black: 00:35:01

Coach Jim Clayton: And so then they finally, after a while, they just go to heck with it.

Randy Black: 00:35:04

Coach Jim Clayton: Some people do.

Randy Black: 00:35:05

Coach Jim Clayton: Yeah.

Randy Black: 00:35:06

Coach Jim Clayton: But if that person is still they you know

Randy Black: 00:35:09tarted school and teaching in: 1980Randy Black: 00:35:16

Coach Jim Clayton: My starting salary was 15,000 bucks.

Randy Black: 00:35:19

Coach Jim Clayton: That ain't much money.

Randy Black: 00:35:21

Coach Jim Clayton: But anybody that goes into there's certain jobs you go into, you know the

Randy Black: 00:35:27

Coach Jim Clayton: Income is not going to be outrageous.

Randy Black: 00:35:29

Coach Jim Clayton: Right.

Randy Black: 00:35:30

Coach Jim Clayton: But I figured out real quick.

Randy Black: 00:35:31

Coach Jim Clayton: I don't, I wasn't doing it for the income.

Randy Black: 00:35:34

Coach Jim Clayton: I was doing it for the outcome.

Randy Black: 00:35:36

Coach Jim Clayton: Yeah.

Randy Black: 00:35:36

Coach Jim Clayton: And that's still to my day.

Randy Black: 00:35:38

Coach Jim Clayton: I I I like I said, when I walk out that door tonight, whether it be in up here in in the in in the lab or in the gym lab.

Randy Black: 00:35:49

Yep.

Randy Black: 00:35:50

Coach Jim Clayton: We're we're going out the door sharing things with people tonight that are going to help them be better tomorrow.

Randy Black: 00:35:56

Yes.

Randy Black: 00:35:56

Coach Jim Clayton: The kids that are on that floor with me

Randy Black: 00:35:58

Coach Jim Clayton: They're going out that door better than they came in.

Randy Black: 00:36:01

Coach Jim Clayton: Yes.

Randy Black: 00:36:01

Coach Jim Clayton: And the parents are asking, well, well, I don't know what to tell them.

Randy Black: 00:36:05

Coach Jim Clayton: I don't know what to great questions.

Randy Black: 00:36:08

Coach Jim Clayton: I said, here, if I was, this is what I tell them.

Randy Black: 00:36:11

Coach Jim Clayton: And this is they respond to it.

Randy Black: 00:36:14

Coach Jim Clayton: So don't reinvent the wheel here.

Randy Black: 00:36:16

Right.

Randy Black: 00:36:16

Coach Jim Clayton: Tell them the same thing.

Randy Black: 00:36:18

Yeah.

Randy Black: 00:36:19

Reinforce it.

Randy Black: 00:36:19

Coach Jim Clayton: Yep.

Randy Black: 00:36:21

Coach Jim Clayton: They go.

Randy Black: 00:36:21

Coach Jim Clayton: They look at you like, oh gosh.

Randy Black: 00:36:24

Coach Jim Clayton: Like you just said something that's like rocket science stuff.

Randy Black: 00:36:27

Coach Jim Clayton: You know what I mean?

Randy Black: 00:36:28

Coach Jim Clayton: They just can't figure it out

Randy Black: 00:36:30

Okay, so let me let me throw this at you real quick, Jim, and see what you think.

Randy Black: 00:36:33

So a simple habit that can help you to start working smarter.

Randy Black: 00:36:38

Okay?

Randy Black: 00:36:39

Ask yourself this question every day.

Randy Black: 00:36:42

What's the one thing I can do today that will have the biggest impact?

Randy Black: 00:36:47

Focus on that first, and everything else should fall into place around it.

Randy Black: 00:36:53

100%.

Randy Black: 00:36:54

Coach Jim Clayton: Okay.

Randy Black: 00:36:54

Coach Jim Clayton: 100%.

Randy Black: 00:36:55

Coach Jim Clayton: Okay.

Randy Black: 00:36:56

Coach Jim Clayton: What's so

Randy Black: 00:36:57

Coach Jim Clayton: You know, I like like I'm somewhere doing a doing a workout.

Randy Black: 00:37:01

Coach Jim Clayton: Whether it's a speaking engagement or a training or whatever.

Randy Black: 00:37:05

Coach Jim Clayton: And for some reason I forgot to turn my phone off silent.

Randy Black: 00:37:08

Coach Jim Clayton: Yeah.

Randy Black: 00:37:09

Coach Jim Clayton: And the phone rings.

Randy Black: 00:37:11

Coach Jim Clayton: And everybody's listening to that phone, seeing what I'm gonna do.

Randy Black: 00:37:14

Coach Jim Clayton: Yeah.

Randy Black: 00:37:15

Coach Jim Clayton: Here's always my response to that.

Randy Black: 00:37:18

Coach Jim Clayton: Guess what?

Randy Black: 00:37:19

Coach Jim Clayton: That I'm so sorry I didn't hit that button.

Randy Black: 00:37:22

Coach Jim Clayton: But you know what?

Randy Black: 00:37:24

Coach Jim Clayton: The main thing for today, okay, which is the biggest impact, the main thing

Randy Black: 00:37:31

Coach Jim Clayton: I'm looking at the main thing right here.

Randy Black: 00:37:33

Coach Jim Clayton: Yeah.

Randy Black: 00:37:34

Coach Jim Clayton: And you see that whoever's on the other end of that car?

Randy Black: 00:37:37

Coach Jim Clayton: They're gonna wait because the main thing is the main thing.

Randy Black: 00:37:40

Coach Jim Clayton: And it makes them feel what?

Randy Black: 00:37:42

Coach Jim Clayton: Feel important.

Randy Black: 00:37:43

Coach Jim Clayton: Oh yes

Randy Black: 00:37:44

Oh, it shows them that you value them and their time and what they're there for.

Randy Black: 00:37:48

Coach Jim Clayton: And you see, back in the day, I heard this the other day.

Randy Black: 00:37:50

Coach Jim Clayton: You know, back in the day when I grew up, everybody had a porch.

Randy Black: 00:37:56

Coach Jim Clayton: Yeah.

Randy Black: 00:37:56

Coach Jim Clayton: So after you ate as a family, everybody go sit on the porch.

Randy Black: 00:38:00

Coach Jim Clayton: Mm-hmm.

Randy Black: 00:38:01

Coach Jim Clayton: Talking, doing things, you know what I mean?

Randy Black: 00:38:04

Coach Jim Clayton: And all of a sudden we'd be out there on the porch talking.

Randy Black: 00:38:07

Coach Jim Clayton: And the phone rings.

Randy Black: 00:38:12

Coach Jim Clayton: Everybody just look at each other.

Randy Black: 00:38:13

Nobody gets up to go get it.

Randy Black: 00:38:15

Coach Jim Clayton: No.

Randy Black: 00:38:15

Coach Jim Clayton: And they go, well, do you hear that?

Randy Black: 00:38:17

Coach Jim Clayton: Well, I hear something in there.

Randy Black: 00:38:20

Coach Jim Clayton: Well, uh, and that conversation just keeps going on.

Randy Black: 00:38:25

Coach Jim Clayton: Yeah.

Randy Black: 00:38:26

Coach Jim Clayton: So the play prioritized

Randy Black: 00:38:29

Coach Jim Clayton: The event with the family over a a could have been a today's world a spam call.

Randy Black: 00:38:36

Coach Jim Clayton: Yeah

Randy Black: 00:38:37

Coach Jim Clayton: Telemarketer or something.

Randy Black: 00:38:38

Coach Jim Clayton: Now the phone rings, what's everybody do?

Randy Black: 00:38:39

Coach Jim Clayton: Oh my god, my phone, my phone.

Randy Black: 00:38:42

Coach Jim Clayton: I'm going like, man, you don't got it all out of whack.

Randy Black: 00:38:44

Coach Jim Clayton: But you gotta keep the main thing, the main thing.

Randy Black: 00:38:47

Coach Jim Clayton: So whatever the biggest impact is today, what I go to do

Randy Black: 00:38:51

Coach Jim Clayton: That's my main focus, and that's what's gonna happen.

Randy Black: 00:38:54

Coach Jim Clayton: And then you have little little turnoffs you know, little things that'll bench you off of that, little veins that'll come off of that.

Randy Black: 00:39:00

Coach Jim Clayton: Yeah.

Randy Black: 00:39:01

Coach Jim Clayton: That'll be right along the same lines

Randy Black: 00:39:03

Coach Jim Clayton: Just make sure that whatever you set out to be that biggest impact, that's what it is that day.

Randy Black: 00:39:11

Coach Jim Clayton: And you can't go wrong.

Randy Black: 00:39:12

Coach Jim Clayton: Can't ever go wrong.

Randy Black: 00:39:14

Yeah

Randy Black: 00:39:15

So key takeaway out of this whole idea of working harder versus working smarter is that hard work is important.

Randy Black: 00:39:23

There is a time and a place for it, but it's not enough.

Randy Black: 00:39:27

If you don't pair it with strategy, with a clear plan to have an impact, you're just spinning your wheels, you're wasting your time.

Randy Black: 00:39:36

Work smart.

Randy Black: 00:39:37

And your hard work will actually count.

Randy Black: 00:39:41

I got chills when I typed that.

Randy Black: 00:39:43

Because I get when it as it came out of my brain, I was like, oh, that's that's a powerful statement.

Randy Black: 00:39:49

It really it really hit home with with the idea here.

Randy Black: 00:39:52

You know, the whole idea is to have a strategy, but one of the most powerful ways that we can work smart

Randy Black: 00:39:59

is through the small daily habits that we compound over time.

Randy Black: 00:40:04

And that's what we're going to dig into next.

Randy Black: 00:40:06

Okay.

Randy Black: 00:40:07

Coach Jim Clayton: Well, when you talk about daily habits, let me just say one thing.

Randy Black: 00:40:09

Coach Jim Clayton: Okay.

Randy Black: 00:40:10

Coach Jim Clayton: You can always tell the success of a

Randy Black: 00:40:13

Coach Jim Clayton: person by their daily agenda.

Randy Black: 00:40:16

Yes.

Randy Black: 00:40:17

Coach Jim Clayton: What they prioritize at the top, you know, all the way down.

Randy Black: 00:40:21

Coach Jim Clayton: And what a lot of people don't understand is your day has actually started before you swivel those hips and those feet hit the floor.

Randy Black: 00:40:29

Coach Jim Clayton: Right

Randy Black: 00:40:29

Coach Jim Clayton: You got a few minutes to open your eyes, reflect.

Randy Black: 00:40:33

Coach Jim Clayton: You know, thank God you're here for another day.

Randy Black: 00:40:36

Coach Jim Clayton: You got 24 hours.

Randy Black: 00:40:38

Coach Jim Clayton: You know, here's what's going to happen today.

Randy Black: 00:40:40

Coach Jim Clayton: Here's my top priorities.

Randy Black: 00:40:42

Coach Jim Clayton: Here's my list I'm going to go down through.

Randy Black: 00:40:44

Coach Jim Clayton: And I'm going to take care of everything, okay, before my feet hit the floor.

Randy Black: 00:40:48

Coach Jim Clayton: So when my feet hit the floor, I'm running

Randy Black: 00:40:51

Yeah.

Randy Black: 00:40:51

Coach Jim Clayton: Now that doesn't happen accidentally.

Randy Black: 00:40:55

No.

Randy Black: 00:40:55

Not at all.

Randy Black: 00:40:56

Coach Jim Clayton: You have to have that set.

Randy Black: 00:40:58

Coach Jim Clayton: And then you never know when you have those days like that.

Randy Black: 00:41:01

Coach Jim Clayton: Man, the days just go what

Randy Black: 00:41:02

Coach Jim Clayton: It's such a so much wonderful day.

Randy Black: 00:41:05

Oh yeah.

Randy Black: 00:41:05

You and you you feel like you've actually gotten something accomplished.

Randy Black: 00:41:09

Coach Jim Clayton: 100%.

Randy Black: 00:41:09

Coach Jim Clayton: Oh my God.

Randy Black: 00:41:10

Yeah.

Randy Black: 00:41:10

Like, you know, my my routine in the morning.

Randy Black: 00:41:13

Like my wife gets up at 4:45.

Randy Black: 00:41:17

Way too early for me.

Randy Black: 00:41:18

But she gets stuff done in the morning before she goes to work.

Randy Black: 00:41:21

And she has to be at work it before you know before I have to be at work

Randy Black: 00:41:24

You know, so she's up and she's moving around.

Randy Black: 00:41:27

And I'm usually by 5 30, I'm probably awake laying there because my alarm doesn't go off till about 6 15.

Randy Black: 00:41:33

But when I wake up, the first thing I'm doing is I stop.

Randy Black: 00:41:37

I pray.

Randy Black: 00:41:38

Thank God for the day.

Randy Black: 00:41:39

I thank God for the chance.

Randy Black: 00:41:41

When I finish that prayer, I start thinking about what's on my agenda today.

Randy Black: 00:41:45

What do I need to prioritize?

Randy Black: 00:41:46

What do I need to make sure happens?

Randy Black: 00:41:49

Before anything else, what do I need to do first?

Randy Black: 00:41:52

And I take that time to get myself focused, just like you talked about.

Randy Black: 00:41:55

I take that time to get myself focused for the day.

Randy Black: 00:41:58

My wife has no idea I do this, but that's how I handle getting up in the morning.

Randy Black: 00:42:05

Once I've gone through that routine and everything, I just kind of lay there for a little bit when my alarm goes off.

Randy Black: 00:42:10

She's usually fixing her hair for doing makeup, whatever she's doing.

Randy Black: 00:42:14

So I just kind of chill, just relax, take that time to enjoy it.

Randy Black: 00:42:18

And then once I'm up, I'm up, I'm in the shower, I'm getting ready for work, and I'm out the door within thirty-five, forty minutes.

Randy Black: 00:42:25

And I'm on my way to work.

Randy Black: 00:42:26

And when I get to work, I dive right in and get started.

Randy Black: 00:42:29

Coach Jim Clayton: Oh, I I'm gonna tell you what makes my day every day is right about the same time, six o'clock in the morning.

Randy Black: 00:42:35

Coach Jim Clayton: I mean, give or take a second or a minute

Randy Black: 00:42:38

Coach Jim Clayton: I hear this Here he comes.

Randy Black: 00:42:42

Coach Jim Clayton: Yep, he's laying right here on the floor next to him.

Randy Black: 00:42:44

Coach Jim Clayton: He's whining.

Randy Black: 00:42:45

Coach Jim Clayton: Now he's not whining for me to get up and do anything.

Randy Black: 00:42:48

Coach Jim Clayton: He's just telling me he's there.

Randy Black: 00:42:50

Yeah.

Randy Black: 00:42:50

Coach Jim Clayton: I just reach my hand over the side of the bed.

Randy Black: 00:42:53

Coach Jim Clayton: He walks right up to it, puts his head right in my hand, and I just scratch his head between his ears

Randy Black: 00:42:59

Coach Jim Clayton: I say, I see you, buddy.

Randy Black: 00:43:00

Coach Jim Clayton: I know you're here.

Randy Black: 00:43:02

Coach Jim Clayton: You're looking out after me.

Randy Black: 00:43:03

Coach Jim Clayton: Then he just turns around and lays down.

Randy Black: 00:43:05

Coach Jim Clayton: And he won't move till I get up.

Randy Black: 00:43:08

Coach Jim Clayton: It don't matter.

Randy Black: 00:43:09

Coach Jim Clayton: But he's talking to me.

Randy Black: 00:43:10

Coach Jim Clayton: And that sense my day.

Randy Black: 00:43:12

Coach Jim Clayton: Man, somebody's what?

Randy Black: 00:43:14

Coach Jim Clayton: And it's a dog.

Randy Black: 00:43:16

Yeah.

Randy Black: 00:43:17

Coach Jim Clayton: But it doesn't matter.

Randy Black: 00:43:19

Coach Jim Clayton: You know, and and and and that gets my brain on the right track.

Randy Black: 00:43:22

And it's and it's a matter of, you know, we can we can work smart all we want.

Randy Black: 00:43:28

But if we don't have consistency in doing it, if we're not going the right way, we're keeping things going the same way, it's those small daily habits

Randy Black: 00:43:36

Those small little things.

Randy Black: 00:43:37

The little tiny things that we do every single day may seem minor to us in the moment, but over time, they build the momentum.

Randy Black: 00:43:45

And that's the things people overlook.

Randy Black: 00:43:47

Yes.

Randy Black: 00:43:48

Coach Jim Clayton: The m minute details.

Randy Black: 00:43:50

Coach Jim Clayton: Mm-hmm.

Randy Black: 00:43:50

Coach Jim Clayton: They overlook 'em because they're looking at the bigger picture.

Randy Black: 00:43:54

Yeah.

Randy Black: 00:43:55

Coach Jim Clayton: And the bigger picture is really made up of all those little things.

Randy Black: 00:43:59

Coach Jim Clayton: Yeah.

Randy Black: 00:44:01

Coach Jim Clayton: Can't see it.

Randy Black: 00:44:02

Coach Jim Clayton: Some people never will.

Randy Black: 00:44:03

Yeah.

Randy Black: 00:44:04

Excuse me, no fortune.

Randy Black: 00:44:06

We we've we've talked about how that you know with with what I do in my day job, working in education and I in the IT side of education that

Randy Black: 00:44:13

You know, I'm constantly have to keep improving my skills and I have to keep learning.

Randy Black: 00:44:17

It's the idea that I have to spend some time in my day looking at something that I don't know anything about so that I can learn about it.

Randy Black: 00:44:24

And it doesn't seem like much because I don't do a lot.

Randy Black: 00:44:28

It may be 10 minutes, it may be 15 minutes, it may be five minutes.

Randy Black: 00:44:31

And it doesn't seem like a lot, but over time, reading that

Randy Black: 00:44:36

Doing the research on something, it all adds up.

Randy Black: 00:44:39

And that knowledge built for me to enhance my skill set.

Randy Black: 00:44:44

And suddenly I've got this whole big library.

Randy Black: 00:44:48

Full of information that helps me in my job.

Randy Black: 00:44:52

I do the same thing with podcasting.

Randy Black: 00:44:54

I'm constantly looking at different ideas, different ways people are doing stuff.

Randy Black: 00:44:58

different tools that are out there.

Randy Black: 00:45:00

Like my friend, Daniel J.

Randy Black: 00:45:02

Lewis.

Randy Black: 00:45:02

Daniel lives over near Cincinnati.

Randy Black: 00:45:03

Daniel is working on a tool.

Randy Black: 00:45:05

I'm helping him beta test it right now that we can take an MP3 file, upload it.

Randy Black: 00:45:10

And then we can use that to build chapters in the MP3 MP3 file.

Randy Black: 00:45:14

So when it plays back in the podcast player, if somebody wants to go, you know, you know, they don't want to listen to the chapter where we talked about

Randy Black: 00:45:21

Uh, you know, just earlier, working smarter versus working harder, but they want to hear about the habits, they can just fast forward and go to that next chapter.

Randy Black: 00:45:28

And he's working on that tool to do that.

Randy Black: 00:45:31

And seeing that and what he's doing with it, it helps me to see, oh, well, these are some great ideas people are doing.

Randy Black: 00:45:36

This is some great stuff.

Randy Black: 00:45:38

It it's it's constant learning.

Randy Black: 00:45:40

I know you do the same thing.

Randy Black: 00:45:41

It's it's constantly learning to improve the situation or improve the skill set.

Randy Black: 00:45:45

Coach Jim Clayton: Well learning is a lifelong skill.

Randy Black: 00:45:47

Yes.

Randy Black: 00:45:48

Coach Jim Clayton: Never stop.

Randy Black: 00:45:49

Coach Jim Clayton: You know what you're gonna say it's what you it's what you learn after you think you know it all that counts.

Randy Black: 00:45:54

Yes.

Randy Black: 00:45:57

Coach Jim Clayton: I don't need to I was

Randy Black: 00:45:58

I was there, my dad let me know real quick that I did not know everything I thought I did.

Randy Black: 00:46:03

Coach Jim Clayton: Oh, well you you're gonna learn everybody knows that, you know what I mean?

Randy Black: 00:46:06

Coach Jim Clayton: I mean but it it uh uh you know, you're you're so right.

Randy Black: 00:46:10

Coach Jim Clayton: I mean you're so right.

Randy Black: 00:46:12

Coach Jim Clayton: And for me

Randy Black: 00:46:13

Coach Jim Clayton: It's like when I when I close out today and I'm reflecting on my day, I got everything done.

Randy Black: 00:46:21

Coach Jim Clayton: I'm looking right down through there my goals

Randy Black: 00:46:25

Coach Jim Clayton: What did they do?

Randy Black: 00:46:26

Coach Jim Clayton: I got them all.

Randy Black: 00:46:27

Yeah.

Randy Black: 00:46:27

Coach Jim Clayton: Got everyone.

Randy Black: 00:46:28

Coach Jim Clayton: Well, I take that about one I didn't get because I couldn't find it.

Randy Black: 00:46:31

Coach Jim Clayton: I was looking for this place, I couldn't find it, and I just said

Randy Black: 00:46:34

Coach Jim Clayton: Okay, I'll get it tomorrow.

Randy Black: 00:46:35

Coach Jim Clayton: Tomorrow's my day off.

Randy Black: 00:46:36

Coach Jim Clayton: So I'm still gonna get it, but it's just gonna be at the end.

Randy Black: 00:46:40

Coach Jim Clayton: It's no no no big thing.

Randy Black: 00:46:42

Coach Jim Clayton: But

Randy Black: 00:46:43

Coach Jim Clayton: You know, when I close out today and reflect on the day I've had, who I met for the first time, met some people today for the first time ever, and different things, I know when I end the day

Randy Black: 00:46:55

Coach Jim Clayton: Okay?

Randy Black: 00:46:56

Coach Jim Clayton: The first thing as I start tomorrow, my thought is what?

Randy Black: 00:47:00

Coach Jim Clayton: I'm already planting a seed.

Randy Black: 00:47:02

Coach Jim Clayton: I'm thinking, so tomorrow

Randy Black: 00:47:05

Coach Jim Clayton: It's gonna be an amazing day.

Randy Black: 00:47:07

Coach Jim Clayton: That's what I say to myself.

Randy Black: 00:47:08

Coach Jim Clayton: It's gonna be an amazing day.

Randy Black: 00:47:10

Coach Jim Clayton: Now I don't know what tomorrow, you know what I mean?

Randy Black: 00:47:12

Coach Jim Clayton: I don't necessarily all know everything's gonna happen tomorrow.

Randy Black: 00:47:15

Coach Jim Clayton: I'm not a fortune teller, you know what I mean?

Randy Black: 00:47:17

Coach Jim Clayton: I'm not the Lord.

Randy Black: 00:47:18

Coach Jim Clayton: But

Randy Black: 00:47:19

Coach Jim Clayton: That's my attitude.

Randy Black: 00:47:20

Yeah.

Randy Black: 00:47:21

Coach Jim Clayton: It's gonna be amazing.

Randy Black: 00:47:23

Coach Jim Clayton: Instead of oh God, here we go.

Randy Black: 00:47:26

Mm-hmm.

Randy Black: 00:47:26

Coach Jim Clayton: But tomorrow's Friday, so everybody's gonna be happy because you never notice how everybody's happy on Friday.

Randy Black: 00:47:30

And it's a long weekend

Randy Black: 00:47:32

Coach Jim Clayton: And it's a long weekend.

Randy Black: 00:47:33

We're recording this going into Labor Day, so it's a long weekend this week.

Randy Black: 00:47:36

Coach Jim Clayton: So everybody but you know w it should be that way every day.

Randy Black: 00:47:38

Yeah.

Randy Black: 00:47:39

It should be.

Randy Black: 00:47:40

Coach Jim Clayton: It should be that way every day.

Randy Black: 00:47:41

Coach Jim Clayton: And you know, like I said, sometimes, you know, it takes

Randy Black: 00:47:46

Coach Jim Clayton: Unfortunate things to happen to make you realize it.

Randy Black: 00:47:50

Yeah.

Randy Black: 00:47:51

Coach Jim Clayton: It does.

Randy Black: 00:47:52

Coach Jim Clayton: And that's a lesson.

Randy Black: 00:47:53

Coach Jim Clayton: See, everything we're doing right here is a lesson.

Randy Black: 00:47:56

Coach Jim Clayton: It's a learning lesson.

Randy Black: 00:47:59

Coach Jim Clayton: What can you learn from this?

Randy Black: 00:48:00

Coach Jim Clayton: How can you use it?

Randy Black: 00:48:02

Coach Jim Clayton: If you learn it and it's not applicable, what good does it do to learn it?

Randy Black: 00:48:09

Coach Jim Clayton: Got downstairs today, one little boy comes in.

Randy Black: 00:48:11

Coach Jim Clayton: He says, Well, we took a test today in West Virginia history.

Randy Black: 00:48:14

Coach Jim Clayton: I said to him, I said, Landon.

Randy Black: 00:48:16

Coach Jim Clayton: I said, You know the best way to learn West Virginia history?

Randy Black: 00:48:19

Coach Jim Clayton: He said, No, not really.

Randy Black: 00:48:22

Coach Jim Clayton: I said, get in the car and go see things.

Randy Black: 00:48:25

Yep.

Randy Black: 00:48:26

Coach Jim Clayton: I said, West Virginia's got some of the coolest things.

Randy Black: 00:48:28

Coach Jim Clayton: I didn't even know they had.

Randy Black: 00:48:30

Coach Jim Clayton: I see that road tripping on WCHS.

Randy Black: 00:48:33

Coach Jim Clayton: That guy goes out to these places and I see

Randy Black: 00:48:35

Coach Jim Clayton: And I mean it's just unreal some of the cool stuff.

Randy Black: 00:48:39

Coach Jim Clayton: And when you go and you put yourself in the story

Randy Black: 00:48:43

Coach Jim Clayton: And you got a memory?

Randy Black: 00:48:44

Yeah.

Randy Black: 00:48:45

Coach Jim Clayton: You'll never forget it.

Randy Black: 00:48:46

Yep.

Randy Black: 00:48:46

It's stick around.

Randy Black: 00:48:47

Coach Jim Clayton: You'll never forget those.

Randy Black: 00:48:48

Coach Jim Clayton: You'll never forget those.

Randy Black: 00:48:49

Coach Jim Clayton: Not something you memorized to put out on a test.

Randy Black: 00:48:52

Yeah.

Randy Black: 00:48:53

Coach Jim Clayton: That's sh that's gone.

Randy Black: 00:48:56

Yeah.

Randy Black: 00:48:56

So let's let's close up here with these the idea of the small habits and get a little takeaway from it, and that's to focus on one small high-leverage habit.

Randy Black: 00:49:06

Do it consistently and watch the results you get grow over time.

Randy Black: 00:49:11

This is the compounding power of daily action.

Randy Black: 00:49:14

And it's one of the most effective productivity strategies that are out there.

Randy Black: 00:49:19

Start small, use the high leverage of the habit to make it better and be consistent.

Randy Black: 00:49:24

And you will see the results.

Randy Black: 00:49:26

But we also see results each and every week here on Shooting It Straight when we get from our own Coach Clayton his wisdom of the week.

Randy Black: 00:49:39

Cheesy Announcer Guy: Now it's time for Jimmy's Wisdom of the Week.

Randy Black: 00:49:42

Cheesy Announcer Guy: This is where Jimmy shares one of his famous genieisms to inspire the listener.

Randy Black: 00:49:48

Okay, Jim.

Randy Black: 00:49:50

Today's wisdom of the week quote, we had two, and you said, let's get, you know, you let me pick this one because it's the one I found that I really liked.

Randy Black: 00:49:56

And it's the problem is not lack of time.

Randy Black: 00:50:00

But lack of direction.

Randy Black: 00:50:03

Break that down.

Randy Black: 00:50:04

Coach Jim Clayton: Okay, well, here's the deal.

Randy Black: 00:50:05

Coach Jim Clayton: We all got 24 hours in the day.

Randy Black: 00:50:07

Coach Jim Clayton: Mm-hmm.

Randy Black: 00:50:07

Coach Jim Clayton: Every one of us.

Randy Black: 00:50:08

Coach Jim Clayton: Our brain is set on 24 hour scales.

Randy Black: 00:50:11

Coach Jim Clayton: Today, tomorrow, next day, 24 hours.

Randy Black: 00:50:14

Coach Jim Clayton: Okay.

Randy Black: 00:50:14

Coach Jim Clayton: So what are you going to get done in those 24 hours?

Randy Black: 00:50:18

Coach Jim Clayton: Okay?

Randy Black: 00:50:18Coach Jim Clayton: At: 1201Randy Black: 00:50:21

Coach Jim Clayton: I mean, it ends.

Randy Black: 00:50:23

Coach Jim Clayton: You know, so

Randy Black: 00:50:25

Coach Jim Clayton: It just, you know, everybody thinks, well I'll get that tomorrow.

Randy Black: 00:50:29

Coach Jim Clayton: Well, last time I checked, tomorrow's not a day.

Randy Black: 00:50:33

Coach Jim Clayton: Right.

Randy Black: 00:50:33

Coach Jim Clayton: And then I'll get that tomorrow.

Randy Black: 00:50:35

Coach Jim Clayton: And tomorrow.

Randy Black: 00:50:35

Coach Jim Clayton: And tomorrow.

Randy Black: 00:50:36

Coach Jim Clayton: Then it comes back to what?

Randy Black: 00:50:37

Coach Jim Clayton: They just keep pushing out.

Randy Black: 00:50:38

Coach Jim Clayton: Oh, there's that then that thrift starts to build.

Randy Black: 00:50:40

Coach Jim Clayton: There's that program.

Randy Black: 00:50:42

Coach Jim Clayton: We already talked about those things.

Randy Black: 00:50:43

Coach Jim Clayton: Okay.

Randy Black: 00:50:44

Coach Jim Clayton: So you know, I mean it's it it's just

Randy Black: 00:50:47

Coach Jim Clayton: You know, I look at that and that that is such a simple quote.

Randy Black: 00:50:53

Coach Jim Clayton: Simple, simple

Randy Black: 00:50:56

Coach Jim Clayton: idea, but for some reason everybody f it's like a hurdle they just fall over.

Randy Black: 00:51:02

Yeah.

Randy Black: 00:51:03

Coach Jim Clayton: Why do you think that is?

Randy Black: 00:51:05

I don't know.

Randy Black: 00:51:06

It's it's it amazes me because, you know, I've I've always had points in time where I thought I was going to do the exact same thing.

Randy Black: 00:51:14

And I found ways to get around it.

Randy Black: 00:51:16

I found ways to achieve.

Randy Black: 00:51:18

I found ways to move forward.

Randy Black: 00:51:19

So it's like to me, like seeing someone fail all the time, seeing someone who's

Randy Black: 00:51:24

Who's running out of time because they haven't had the direction to keep themselves going?

Randy Black: 00:51:28

I don't I don't get it.

Randy Black: 00:51:29

I don't understand it

Randy Black: 00:51:32

Coach Jim Clayton: Well, some things in life you just can't understand how they do.

Randy Black: 00:51:37

Coach Jim Clayton: Because, you know, I'm not them.

Randy Black: 00:51:39

I don't know their circumstances, but we don't know what's going on in their head.

Randy Black: 00:51:42

Coach Jim Clayton: Oh yeah.

Randy Black: 00:51:43

Coach Jim Clayton: And everybody's got issues

Randy Black: 00:51:45

Mm-hmm.

Randy Black: 00:51:45

Coach Jim Clayton: Something's going on.

Randy Black: 00:51:47

Coach Jim Clayton: Some more prevalent than others.

Randy Black: 00:51:50

Right.

Randy Black: 00:51:51

Coach Jim Clayton: But I ain't judging on any of them.

Randy Black: 00:51:53

No, no.

Randy Black: 00:51:54

Coach Jim Clayton: But I mean, again, 24 hours is you know

Randy Black: 00:51:58

Coach Jim Clayton: It's one of them things that when you look back, when you get my age, you look back, you think about, man, I don't want to waste any day.

Randy Black: 00:52:06

Coach Jim Clayton: I don't want to waste days.

Randy Black: 00:52:08

Coach Jim Clayton: You know, I want to get the most out of today.

Randy Black: 00:52:12

Coach Jim Clayton: And in order to do that, we've given you a plan today, you know, of things to do.

Randy Black: 00:52:18

Coach Jim Clayton: All the things we talked about today, you know, those all add up to this

Randy Black: 00:52:23

Yeah.

Randy Black: 00:52:24

Coach Jim Clayton: And say it one more time for.

Randy Black: 00:52:26

What was that?

Randy Black: 00:52:27

Coach Jim Clayton: Say that say that quote one more time for.

Randy Black: 00:52:30

Our wisdom of the week was the problem is not a lack of time.

Randy Black: 00:52:35

But a lack of direction.

Randy Black: 00:52:38

Coach Jim Clayton: Yeah.

Randy Black: 00:52:39

Coach Jim Clayton: And so we all got the same amount of time.

Randy Black: 00:52:42

Coach Jim Clayton: But you know, back in the old days, I don't think they have 'em now.

Randy Black: 00:52:45

Coach Jim Clayton: On the playgrounds you had merry-go-rounds.

Randy Black: 00:52:48

Yeah

Randy Black: 00:52:48

Coach Jim Clayton: And you jump on there.

Randy Black: 00:52:50

Coach Jim Clayton: And I remember breaking the uh one of a guy I graduated from high school with, he was a leading prosecutor in s in Huntington.

Randy Black: 00:52:57

Coach Jim Clayton: And

Randy Black: 00:52:57

Coach Jim Clayton: I was going round up so fast he threw him off and broke his arm.

Randy Black: 00:53:00

Coach Jim Clayton: Yeah.

Randy Black: 00:53:01

Coach Jim Clayton: Of course he's too good friend of mine, you know what I mean?

Randy Black: 00:53:04

Coach Jim Clayton: But th they took it out

Randy Black: 00:53:06

Coach Jim Clayton: Okay, because it's going around and around and around.

Randy Black: 00:53:09

Coach Jim Clayton: And when you're going around and around and around, here's my question.

Randy Black: 00:53:12

Coach Jim Clayton: Are you really going anywhere?

Randy Black: 00:53:14

Exactly.

Randy Black: 00:53:15

Coach Jim Clayton: Are you really going anywhere?

Randy Black: 00:53:17

Coach Jim Clayton: Now you definitely you got movement.

Randy Black: 00:53:20

Coach Jim Clayton: Okay.

Randy Black: 00:53:21

Coach Jim Clayton: Kid said to me one time in class, or in gym, he says, because what's the air conditioner?

Randy Black: 00:53:26

Coach Jim Clayton: Where's Eric Adidas?

Randy Black: 00:53:28

Coach Jim Clayton: This is a long time ago before gyms were actually arrogantists.

Randy Black: 00:53:30

Right.

Randy Black: 00:53:31

Coach Jim Clayton: I said, I'm gonna tell you what the arrogance there is.

Randy Black: 00:53:34

Coach Jim Clayton: It all depends on how fast you run.

Randy Black: 00:53:36

Coach Jim Clayton: So when you run by me, I'm gonna fill the fan from you.

Randy Black: 00:53:40

Coach Jim Clayton: Nice.

Randy Black: 00:53:40

Coach Jim Clayton: He looked at me and goes, I ain't liking that.

Randy Black: 00:53:43

Coach Jim Clayton: I said I didn't think you probably would.

Randy Black: 00:53:45

Coach Jim Clayton: But if you're running hard, I got a good fan on me.

Randy Black: 00:53:48

Coach Jim Clayton: But

Randy Black: 00:53:48

Coach Jim Clayton: You know, you gotta have direction, you gotta know where you're going.

Randy Black: 00:53:50

Coach Jim Clayton: I mean all roads lead somewhere.

Randy Black: 00:53:52

Mm-hmm.

Randy Black: 00:53:52

Coach Jim Clayton: Some people just have better roadmaps or GPSs.

Randy Black: 00:53:55

Right.

Randy Black: 00:53:56

Coach Jim Clayton: You'll get there eventually

Randy Black: 00:53:58

Coach Jim Clayton: But see, that's the difference between what they call a trailblazer, okay, which actually there's no road.

Randy Black: 00:54:06

Coach Jim Clayton: They cut it.

Randy Black: 00:54:07

Yeah.

Randy Black: 00:54:08

Coach Jim Clayton: Okay?

Randy Black: 00:54:08

Coach Jim Clayton: They that okay?

Randy Black: 00:54:09

Coach Jim Clayton: Or somebody just drives down the road after it's already there.

Randy Black: 00:54:12

Mm-hmm.

Randy Black: 00:54:13

Coach Jim Clayton: Okay.

Randy Black: 00:54:13

Coach Jim Clayton: Like in my business.

Randy Black: 00:54:15

Coach Jim Clayton: 35 years ago there was no such thing as what I'm doing.

Randy Black: 00:54:18

Yeah.

Randy Black: 00:54:18

You were the man.

Randy Black: 00:54:19

Coach Jim Clayton: Now, now they're everywhere.

Randy Black: 00:54:20

Mm-hmm.

Randy Black: 00:54:22

Coach Jim Clayton: So the fact that

Randy Black: 00:54:24

Coach Jim Clayton: So would I be jealous of that?

Randy Black: 00:54:25

Coach Jim Clayton: Heck no.

Randy Black: 00:54:26

Coach Jim Clayton: The fact that people thought that that idea was cool enough that they could go do it and make a living and be successful at it must have meant

Randy Black: 00:54:35

Coach Jim Clayton: That you were on to something good.

Randy Black: 00:54:37

Coach Jim Clayton: I was on to something.

Randy Black: 00:54:38

Coach Jim Clayton: Yeah.

Randy Black: 00:54:39

Coach Jim Clayton: But you know, according to my first grade teacher, I was not going to mount to a hill of bees.

Randy Black: 00:54:43

Coach Jim Clayton: Yeah

Randy Black: 00:54:44

Coach Jim Clayton: Now how's she gonna tell me that in first grade?

Randy Black: 00:54:46

Coach Jim Clayton: Uh-huh.

Randy Black: 00:54:46

Coach Jim Clayton: And you know how first graders are.

Randy Black: 00:54:48

Oh yeah.

Randy Black: 00:54:49

Coach Jim Clayton: Anybody teaches that out there, any anybody that teaches Oh my gosh, you got that right

Randy Black: 00:54:54

Coach Jim Clayton: Oh, they're well.

Randy Black: 00:55:01

And it is she's had a she had a rough very first day last week.

Randy Black: 00:55:04

Randy Black: 00:55:05

I totally I totally understand it.

Randy Black: 00:55:07

Coach Jim Clayton: And I mean I mean but that's where the action is because you when you're down there with those kids you never know everything is what off the cuff.

Randy Black: 00:55:14

Coach Jim Clayton: They don't have a bad bone in their body

Randy Black: 00:55:17

Coach Jim Clayton: They're just saying stuff like, where did that one come from?

Randy Black: 00:55:20

Yeah.

Randy Black: 00:55:20

Coach Jim Clayton: Well I don't know, but that was a good one.

Randy Black: 00:55:22

Yeah.

Randy Black: 00:55:23

Coach Jim Clayton: And you know, but you gotta have direction.

Randy Black: 00:55:25

Coach Jim Clayton: You gotta know where you're going for you can go.

Randy Black: 00:55:28

Coach Jim Clayton: Don't just get in the car and go.

Randy Black: 00:55:30

Coach Jim Clayton: Yeah.

Randy Black: 00:55:30

Coach Jim Clayton: Okay?

Randy Black: 00:55:31

Coach Jim Clayton: And then when you get there, you're gonna know why you're there.

Randy Black: 00:55:35

Coach Jim Clayton: Yeah

Randy Black: 00:55:36

Coach Jim Clayton: Because you got a plan, you got a purpose, you got a direction, you got the details, you got it all lined up, and the only thing you're waiting on is

Randy Black: 00:55:46

Coach Jim Clayton: Let's go.

Randy Black: 00:55:47

Coach Jim Clayton: Let's go.

Randy Black: 00:55:48

Coach Jim Clayton: You can't wait.

Randy Black: 00:55:49

Coach Jim Clayton: Awesome.

Randy Black: 00:55:49

Coach Jim Clayton: You can't wait because you know you're ready.

Randy Black: 00:55:53

Coach Jim Clayton: And you know, every great idea

Randy Black: 00:55:56

Coach Jim Clayton: There's a time that needs to come to fruit fruitation.

Randy Black: 00:55:59

Coach Jim Clayton: You know what I mean?

Randy Black: 00:56:00

Coach Jim Clayton: It needs to come.

Randy Black: 00:56:01

Coach Jim Clayton: And when you get to there, what a great family.

Randy Black: 00:56:04

Oh yes.

Randy Black: 00:56:04

Coach Jim Clayton: But it takes time.

Randy Black: 00:56:05

Coach Jim Clayton: And that doesn't mean look look at where you started.

Randy Black: 00:56:08

Coach Jim Clayton: And look where I am.

Randy Black: 00:56:09

Coach Jim Clayton: Now if I was still doing the exact same thing now that when I started, I ain't grown in it.

Randy Black: 00:56:14

Coach Jim Clayton: Right

Randy Black: 00:56:16

Coach Jim Clayton: Why don't you put those videos out you used to do?

Randy Black: 00:56:19

Coach Jim Clayton: Are you kidding me?

Randy Black: 00:56:20

Coach Jim Clayton: Those things would be biggest blooper tapes ever in America now.

Randy Black: 00:56:23

Coach Jim Clayton: I don't do that.

Randy Black: 00:56:24

Coach Jim Clayton: I'm not putting that out there.

Randy Black: 00:56:26

Yeah.

Randy Black: 00:56:26

Coach Jim Clayton: And that was good for that time.

Randy Black: 00:56:28

Right

Randy Black: 00:56:29

Coach Jim Clayton: Well that time is gone.

Randy Black: 00:56:31

Coach Jim Clayton: Yes.

Randy Black: 00:56:32

Coach Jim Clayton: And it ain't coming back.

Randy Black: 00:56:33

Coach Jim Clayton: Correct.

Randy Black: 00:56:34

All right.

Randy Black: 00:56:35

So thank you for that, Jim, for that wisdom of the week.

Randy Black: 00:56:37

We appreciate it tremendously.

Randy Black: 00:56:39

We have covered a lot today.

Randy Black: 00:56:41

We've talked about how your mindset sets sets the stage for productivity, how to recognize and overcome procrastination and the triggers of it.

Randy Black: 00:56:49

And we've talked about the difference between working harder and working smart.

Randy Black: 00:56:53

and the power of small daily habits that compound over time.

Randy Black: 00:56:59

If you take one thing from today, let it be this

Randy Black: 00:57:04

Focus on your mindset first.

Randy Black: 00:57:05

Coach Jim Clayton: Yep.

Randy Black: 00:57:06

Pick one small habit to start consistently.

Randy Black: 00:57:08

Pay attention to how you respond to stress and or challenges.

Randy Black: 00:57:13

Those little shifts create momentum.

Randy Black: 00:57:16

And that momentum will carry you forward more than any app or system or calendar or planner or anything you could have in your life.

Randy Black: 00:57:27

So thanks for joining us on this episode of Shooting It Straight.

Randy Black: 00:57:30

We hope the discussion gives you a new perspective on productivity, and we're going to keep talking about productivity.

Randy Black: 00:57:36

We've got several more episodes lined up here.

Randy Black: 00:57:38

And hopefully you've gained a few practical steps that you can try this week.

Randy Black: 00:57:42

Remember, it's not about doing more.

Randy Black: 00:57:45

It's about thinking differently, about acting consistently and working smart

Randy Black: 00:57:50

If you do make some of these practical steps this week, make these changes, let us know about it by leaving a comment on the post for this episode over at shooting itstraightpodcast.

Randy Black: 00:58:00

com slash zero one zero.

Randy Black: 00:58:03

Or there's a contact form on our website.

Randy Black: 00:58:05

You can use that as well to send us an email.

Randy Black: 00:58:07

And we'd love to hear about the impact that this has had on you this week.

Randy Black: 00:58:12

Next week on Shooting It Straight, we're diving into a topic that trips up just about everyone, and that's decision fatigue.

Randy Black: 00:58:21

From the moment you wake up, your day is filled with choices.

Randy Black: 00:58:25

And by the time evening rolls around, your brain is worn down

Randy Black: 00:58:30

But what if you could cut through the noise, save your energy for what really matters, and actually make better decisions.

Randy Black: 00:58:39

We'll break down how small changes in routine can free up mental space, how successful people structure their days to avoid burnout, and what you can do to keep your focus sharp.

Randy Black: 00:58:51

It's a practical, straight shooting conversation that you will not want to miss.

Randy Black: 00:58:58

Just some closing announcements, reminder that we

Randy Black: 00:59:01

Record these episodes every Thursday at approximately 8 30 p.

Randy Black: 00:59:05

Eastern Time.

Randy Black: 00:59:06

Join us by heading over to shooting it straight podcast.

Randy Black: 00:59:08

com slash live or via a modern podcast app.

Randy Black: 00:59:12

Also, join our Discord community.

Randy Black: 00:59:14

We've created the space there for listeners to connect, ask questions, share insights, and keep the conversation going beyond the podcast.

Randy Black: 00:59:22

Join now by heading over to shootingstraightpodcast.

Randy Black: 00:59:24

com slash discord.

Randy Black: 00:59:26

And we also have a Facebook page dedicated to the podcast.

Randy Black: 00:59:31

where you can see updates and posts related to the show.

Randy Black: 00:59:34

You can head over to shootingitstraight podcast.

Randy Black: 00:59:36

com slash Facebook to access the page and give us a follow

Randy Black: 00:59:41

If you've enjoyed today's episode, make sure you are subscribed and you share it with someone.

Randy Black: 00:59:46

And follow us online at shootingitstraightpodcast.

Randy Black: 00:59:49

com.

Randy Black: 00:59:49

That's where you'll find every episode, updates, and more.

Randy Black: 00:59:53

Until next time, I'm Randy Black.

Randy Black: 00:59:55

Coach Jim Clayton: And I'm Coach Jim Clayton.

Randy Black: 00:59:57

Don't just work hard, work smart.

Randy Black: 00:59:59

Let your mindset guide your actions.

Randy Black: 01:00:02

And always keep

Randy Black: 01:00:03

Coach Jim Clayton: shooting it straight.

Randy Black: 01:00:05

Coach Jim Clayton: Bam, son!

Overcoming Productivity Pitfalls: Mindset, Habits, and More

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