 One of the core issues for many of us heart-based business owners or just kind of more intuitive workers is consistency. I hear this, I've heard this over and over and over so many years. And I myself, most of my life, I struggle with being consistent with doing the important things. So I don't know if you can relate to that. I can certainly relate to that. And really, because of implementing joyful productivity over the past now, I'd say I've been implementing it diligently for about 15 years. I would say probably about five to seven years into it, well even less than that, three to five years into implementing it diligently, I began to see that I'm becoming a different person, which is really both beautiful and surprising to me. Because I'm like, I didn't realize, well, I didn't realize I could change so much. And I want to tell you, I really believe that each of us can change dramatically, dramatically, really can. The human mind and the spirit, the human spirit is neuroplastic, is very pliable. We are able to activate potentials way beyond what we currently are living. And it's because of practice, practice again and again and again and again and again, and continuing to practice that changes us and integrates that change more and more deeply over the years. It takes years, it really does, not just, you know, three weeks, right. Some people say, oh, pure building habit, three weeks. And that might be true for certain habits. Or, you know, maybe you've heard you've read the James Clear, you know, research 67 days is the, you know, average time based on all the studies that build a habit. I no longer believe that. I mean, yes, that's probably true for like certain tiny habits. Yeah, sure. And for changing ourselves at such a core level to become consistent in doing uncomfortable things takes years of practice. It's not surprising that there is the old 10,000 hour rule now 10,000 hours is there's no it's not really imagining that it sounds good. But the idea is 10 years of full time practice, right. I don't think it takes 10 years necessarily, but I'm going to say it takes a couple of years of consistent practice. It takes years of practicing or flailing and practicing consistency before we become more and more consistent and then it becomes something that's just part of us, whatever will become consistent with discipline. I tell you I've been so growing up I was so frustrated, because I realized at one point in my, you know, later youth, I guess my early adulthood, I would say, I realize I'm the one in my own way. I am I have all these dreams I have all these desires goals, vision, and the one reason I can't do this because of my lack of discipline. Like I realized that in my early adult like, and I got so discouraged when I realized it because I thought that was unchangeable. I will tell you I'm a different person today than five years ago, for sure, and very different than 10 years ago, because of discipline and consistency so why how, how come we're not consistent how come we're not disciplined. Well, let me just say I wanted to have some seeing my notes here. Consistency leads to skillfulness and skillfulness leads to results. Oftentimes we even beat ourselves up when we do something we don't get the results. Of course you're not going to get the results of course you're not going to do something well or do something excellently. If you don't do it consistently, because if you don't do it consistently you can't have the skillfulness, and without the skillfulness the results are either take a great deal of willpower, or they're haphazard. They're more skillful than the results come easily easily. So, I mean today I mean one more thing I was, I used to be growing up I was extremely shy. And I stuttered, I had a stutter growing up I don't know be a lot of people didn't know that I used to have a stutter, and I used to be freaked out when I got in front of a room. Because I, you know we immigrated to the US from Taiwan when I was just learning how to communicate, you know, as a young adult. And so it's like I got freaked out because I, you know, so I couldn't speak in front of people. So now I'm a completely different person you can't stop me from giving me a crowd I'd love to speak. What happened consistency of practice led to skillfulness and skillfulness made me a different person which leads to results. I'm not reading notes right now extemporaneous speaking is so easy for me, because of so much practice right consistency, being on video is not something that those of you who know my story about being on video my god I avoided it, like, like I talked it down for four years I couldn't stand how I looked at how I viewed myself I couldn't stand how I looked and how I sounded. So I store off video for the rest of my life. It was with with a lot of encouragement and love from colleagues like Tad Hargrave marketing for hippies calm check out his, his work that encouraged me to show up again try again try again try again. And now can't stop me from being on video it's very natural for me now but I'm a different person. And same thing, and you too. I invite you to chat below. In what area of your life, are you a different person than 10 years ago. In what area of your life, because of consistency of practice now you might, you might not have intended to practice you're at some of you were forced into practice, like practice being a parent. Very different person now then you were before you had kids or practice being a caretaker practice being doing some particular skill that you had to many of us had to practice using social media because kind of forced into this new world. Right. So, all right consistency leads to skillfulness leads to results now consistency being a problem now how does consistency therefore take place. It takes place by kind of three major moves right three major phases, or three major areas to work on one is calendaring and setting boundaries, which we talked about earlier in this webinar series calendaring setting boundaries. So that's, you got to plan well to be able to because because because for example, you know I always use the example of writing you don't want to write consistently, you have to experiment and figure out what time of day is best for you to write. So that you can plan more skillfully to say oh I got to write in the morning. Oh, I got to write in the evening, or I got to write, you know, in the middle of whatever for you. So calendaring and then setting boundaries like closing the door, when you're writing or when you're doing the thing that you want to be consistent with close the door, right, tell everybody you're not available for an hour. Right because you have an appointment on focus me focus me as another secret to my consistency. Right. I use focus may several hours a day if I'm not on a call, or I'm teaching, I'm on focus me. So consistent calendaring setting boundaries, first part of consistency or that's the that's the first aspect of it. Second aspect of it is normalizing that discomfort of getting into the work. And let me let me talk about this right. And let me just give the big picture so calendaring and setting boundaries. I mean, the discomfort of getting into the work, or basically generating flow and inspiration instead of waiting for it. Okay, so that's the second part. And the third part is working lightly is generally how I like to say it, which is basically letting the lights go sooner than you probably would have liked, because you see the bigger picture and you're working more lightly you're working with less intensity, working more sustainably personally right. So, which I'll talk about in the upcoming segment but let me let me talk about this middle part of normalizing that this comfort of getting into it. It's boredom, right anxiety resistance. Did you know that that is normal for expert creators. Did you think that if you felt any kind of resistance towards a task that somehow your spirit guide is telling you not to do it. Could be right. Some of you are much more spiritually attuned than I am. Could be your spirit guide so you're not to do it. I don't know if the stars not being aligned for you to do it. But I don't know. Right, do you have to determine that you have to understand spirit. Well enough to know what what spirit and what's your monkey mind. Do you know the difference. It's hard to tell sometimes. What I know what I know for many many years is maybe I've trained my spirit guide I don't know what it is or maybe I've trained the stars, I can move stars by saying I don't feel like doing it. Screw it, I'm doing it anyway. Watch me of resistance. Yeah, okay yeah you don't you want to write because you're going to write crappy right now. Watch me, watch me. So I kind of rebelled against my resistance and my anxiety. It's one way of doing it. It's one way of doing it and maybe because I had a lot of internal critics, which you could say is the anti spirit guides. Trying to bring you down. So, boredom anxiety resistance is normal bar bar boredom anxiety resistance is normal for many of the expert creators out there. It's not necessarily true that because you feel boredom anxiety or resistance that your spirit or somehow it's not, it's not within flow it's not Taoist it's not in flow for you to do that thing at the time, could be like I said could be the stars or the spirits or whatever but what I know is having practiced rebelling against my resistance. I kind of like, maybe I, I kind of practice the principle of the universe gives way, the universe gives way. When you set an intention and you move through the resistance, and you become a creator, you become the creator of your life universe gives way. Or you might say it's the monkey mind that is becoming tamed, right to the monkey mind is being tamed to your higher mind to say no, no, it's time to create. No, no, it's time to do this thing because it's on my calendar. And if I if I still feel a lot of resistance toward doing it. Then maybe I can ask myself, is there a better time of the day or better time of the week that I should be scheduling this thing in the future because right now it's a ton of resistance. I'm still going to move through it right now for this hour and publish something crappy. It's fine, it's fine. But next time maybe I should schedule at 9am or 9pm instead of 2pm, you know, so so you learn over time but still the key is, is to understand that there is an illusion for us hippies, or for us heart based people that flow is supposed to happen on its own, or that if work is done right it's supposed to be light and fun at the beginning. So that's the that's the that's the big mistake, the big mistake is work is supposed to be light and fun at the beginning. No one ever told us. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no work is not supposed to be light and fun at the beginning. It's supposed to be light and fun. After you move through the initial resistance, and you learn to generate the flow, then you're having fun. So it takes me sometimes, half an hour of writing frustrated before I find my way through the resistance and now I'm having fun, like I'm seeing something come together now. I'm using writing as an example, you could talk about using, you know, doing marketing as an example learning technology or doing your bookkeeping or doing your taxes or whatever has resistance. It's supposed to be hard at the beginning. But what is not hard at the beginning, you know, and sure you could say tiny habits sure that's fine but designing the tiny habit, maybe hard, right, designing it right. But the key is to understand there's my cat there baby girl in the in the other webinar segments you see buddy there but when when baby girl wants to the bed she gets to bed there is no resist you move through the resistance, but he says all right sorry. Buddy my dog always gives way to her. So and she's much smaller too. So, so she practices moving through the resistance. So you have to just understand that we don't somehow. I mean, sometimes we're lucky, and we do experience lightness and flow, you know, inspired moment creativity and if you have that. And if your schedule allows it. You can move things around you're inspired right now go ahead and create. Go ahead and do the thing you're inspired to do right now. Move just as long as you move your schedule around can you move whatever you were going to do at 9am to do something else to another time of the day or another day of the week. It's fine. I do that all the time. But then you have to notice, I'm always inspired at 9am, or I'm always inspired at 9pm. Then maybe you should plan that in the future, rather than just always be haphazard to just be inspired at random times. Then you're not planning you're not using your brilliant mind. You know, you got to marry the left and the right brain, right marry mind and heart. Right. So, so, whether or not you have inspired, I'm usually not inspired. Honestly, I do all of my most of my creative work is done not inspired in the beginning, not inspired. But I understand the principle like baby girl of moving through the resistance. And so I just basically rebel against my resistance I go hey, I know you're resistant but I'm going to do it anyway. You know, I don't have to be angry or or mean to that part of myself I simply say oh got it I understand your resistance, setting you aside for now. I'm just going to play with this. And I'm going to publish something crappy. Right. And so, how, so how do we find our way into the flow. How do we generate lightness and fun and creativity. Right. So that's something you've got to discover on your own. I have a process I do the energy reboot. If you don't know it just Google energy reboot and you find my process but my process is not for everybody. It's simply the fact that there is a process of generating flow is what I want you to develop some of you may need to dance. Some of you may need to, you know, I don't know, do some lighter candle or something like that. Some of you may need a journal for a little bit. But the idea is to find your way into the flow you do something quick. Don't don't say why I got I have to walk for three hours in the woods before I'm creative that's not that's not good. That's fine, you should still walk three hours in the woods, but you can't let you can't have that as a crutch. Every time before you write got to walk three hours in the woods. I mean, unless you can plan that into your daily life fine great wonderful. You have that privilege of doing that great. Most of us don't can't do that. You know, first you got to even find the woods, wherever you live right and then commute there and walk for three hours and then come back and then Okay, or whatever you do. So, so my energy reboot takes me not three hours, 20 seconds. If you can find a jet flow generating activity. Now, just after 20 seconds doesn't mean I'm suddenly brilliant no no like I said, after 20 seconds I still struggle for the next five minutes, before I do another energy reboot for 20 seconds and then I struggle a little bit less for another five energy reboot. Yeah, sometimes I do my energy every five minutes, and then I struggle but less each time. And then by the half hour mark, I moved it I moved through it. I moved through it the dog has moved out of the way and now the cats in the bed, you know, and now I'm like cool. Now I'm in flow. My god it took me half hour but same thing with my videos. Have you noticed I mean from the beginning of the segment till now now I'm much more energized I move through the resistance. I'm much more alive but it took me how long it take me 10 minutes. Right, same thing with any of my watch any of my videos you know this beginning is not the same energy as when I'm middle to the end I'm much more energized moving I generate flow while I'm in it. Right. So that's how that's how we do it. And so I want to, I want to, you know, just invite you again to to join the community of creators, which is around the world all of us. We're moving through resistance every day. We're normalizing discomfort in the beginning of our creative process, every single day, every moment every every you know how often we create. You are in that community of creators around the world. Yeah, and you can literally be in a community you want to be part of my focus make group by the way I don't, I don't get paid if you join my focus make group it's just a convenience for you to be paired up with me and other people in my group more often. In the chat below the link to to join my focus make group. Again, you can pay for focus may you pay them if you want to have unlimited sessions it's like $5 a month or whenever you're watching this it might be $10 or $15 a month by that point. Still a great deal. But basically, the key is, again, if I let's step back out a little bit to a bigger picture and say, you know, instead of delay gratification, you know, which, which is true we get gratified the more we work on our skillfulness. But when you are willing to join the community of creators around the world and join this adventure of moving through resistance at the beginning of any creative endeavor. I think that's important anything that adds value has resistance in the first, you know, five to 30 minutes, sometimes 45 minutes, right the faster, the more you practice the less time it takes to go through resistance for any tasks or any project any skill. And that's on this adventure, you know, be part of this movement worldwide movement and moving through the resistance and what happens is, you find a reward in every hour of creating no longer have to delay gratification because I feel so proud. Every time I finish writing something because I couldn't have imagined writing something in the beginning of the hour it was a blank page blank page I maybe have a topic. I don't know how am I supposed to write more than five words on this topic I don't know what I'm going to say blank page, but then by the end of the hour something's there it's such a miracle. It's such a reward. So, I invite you to normalize creative discomfort. All right. So, so let me go ahead and pause and see if you have any questions and then let's we can move on from there.