WHAT’S EATING YOU?
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BACKSTORY
Like it or not, most of our shape, size, and weight (+ or -) stories are more often about “what’s eating us” than what we’re eating, exercising, or not. Which is why I recently did a very deep dive into the work of someone who’s been very transformational for me on my well “being” journey.
I’ve found that understanding what’s in our head, and especially what’s driving our actions from our subconscious is 99.9% of where we need to
focus our energies if we’re wanting to make any significant and sustainable change in our shape, size, and weight (body composition).
So, I hope you find some time to WATCH, LISTEN, or READ what I’m sharing.
And if you do, I have a strong feeling that you’ll get some new and very empowering “ways and weighs” to make some major changes for your well “being” journey too.
So, let’s get started…
93 days ago, I started on a journey that I’d never done before.
It wasn't a physical journey.
It was a mental journey.
It was a commitment journey.
It was an intention to really do a deep dive into the work of someone I've respected for quite a while.
To accomplish that I bought all his published and audio books.
My plan was simple.
For 93 days straight, each day I would read a part of his book or listen to part an audio book. And some days I’d do both.
His name… Gary John Bishop, and today I completed 93 days, never missing even one day.
There wasn’t anything magical or significant about it being 93 days other than the idea popped into my head a little over 3 months ago and I figured 90 days was a good amount of time to really dig in deep to his work. So, as I was setting up an end date in my calendar when I noticed that the end date was only 3 days short of a major milestone birthday, so 93 days it was.
Oh… the birthday milestone, I was turning 65 years YOUNG, not OLD.
I don’t like to use the OLD word as I came up with this quote years ago…
“don’t let an old person in… there’s no future in it.”
To capture each day of my 93-day immersion into Gary’s work, I posted a photo or a video with one of his quotes on my Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter feed along with a little relevant copy.
DAY 1 POST - FIRST OF 93 DAYS
One of the goals with this 93-day journey was to take my long-term life plans that I start every New Year to a whole new level. My intention this past January, as it always is around the New Year was to spend plenty time planning it all out in the first month of the year, but this year I didn’t. And now 6 months later I’ve decided that going forward I’m going to make June thru my birthday on July 26 as my future New Year’s planning window.
Ever since I was a teenager, I’ve been a personal development junkie and I've read most of the best books in that genre. But truth be told, like going after a new shiny penny, I’d go from new book to new book, yes getting something from each, but often what I’d read would quickly disappear from my thoughts, and rarely would I implement many of the actions they shared.
The catalyst for this shift in my thinking was that there was something about Gary’s books that inspired me to try a very different approach to my personal development journey by staying hyper-focused reading, re-reading, and listening, and re-listening to all he was sharing.
Everything Gary shares is very elemental, crisp, clear, to the point, and certainly no bullshit!
So, my intention over the 93-days was to start applying what he shared to the areas of my life that I wanted to strengthen and most important, move beyond any reoccurring disempowering actions. I’ve done a boatload of personal development exploration and introspection in my life, and I’ve had some absolute kick-ass success highs, and many, many “holy shit I’m so screwed lows in my life.” Where I’ve found myself after these 65 years is that I’m truly grateful that I’m happily married to my best friend (15,630 days a.k.a. 42 years, 9 months, 20 days), and I have two amazing kids, Jennifer, and Matthew.
and… I’m doing fine… things are going well… I’m okay…
So, on my long walk this morning with Gary’s first book UNFU*K YOURSELF in my ear for the umpteenth time, I really got clear on what been missing in my life for awhile…
Capital “M…”
Me.
The “Me” I can truly be.
The “Me” that’s only scratched the surface of my potential.
I’m no stranger to knowing the depths of failure and resignation. But none of those feelings or outcomes aren’t present in any areas of my life right now. All of that is way back in my past, many, many years ago. But after really absorbing what Gary shared with his work, I’ve gotten really present that the effects of my past are still in my subconsciously living in my head, and they’re still running the show, my “I’m doing fine… things are going well… I’m okay…” life.
What I really got from walk with Gary this morning is that I’ve been living a four-letter life for years!
A life I’ve been willing to put up with, a…
I’m fine… life
I’m well… life
I’m okay… life
I’m not complaining as I have really nothing to complain about. And I’m not really wired as much of a complainer. But what I got clear is that I no longer have any interest in living another day mired in the cushy comfort of another “okay…” day.
I’ll share more about this in another video, podcast, and blog post, but I wanted to at least put a stake in the ground with this amazing breakthrough to share that I can honestly say that every ounce of my being is ready embrace and live into the very first quote Gary shared in UNFU*K YOURSELF.
“This is a conversational slap from the universe to wake you up to your true potential, to unfuck yourself and get spectacularly into your life.”
So… I’m no longer okay… with being okay…
Back to where I was before my morning walk.
I also had a sense that by doing this journey I would start creating many new personal and professional conversations, collaborations, and opportunities, and boy has that happened! Over the past 93-days, I can count on both hands a wonderful new world of things that have opened because I opened up.
I’ve gotten so much from Gary’s books that I know I’ll always be an evangelist for his work, and it’s not my intention to review each of his books because what I think makes his work so unique is that it’s created in a way that everyone will get what they need from them in however it speaks to the them with where they are at that point in their life. But I will share some of what I’ve gotten from them so that maybe you’ll hear something that might speak to you enough to investigate his work.
His books are not another 1-2-3, do this, do that, self-help books.
They’re each written with what Gary calls his Urban Philosophy.
And they’re only as effective as YOU want them to be. The ingredients are all there for true transformation, but as Gary says…
“I might not be your cup of tea.”
Living in the health and well “being” world for years, people will often ask me what to eat, how should they exercise, or some other thing that has to do with their health and wellness. But they know what to do. What’s behind what they ask is that they’re looking for some shortcut, some easy way out, and there isn’t any.
WARNING
Nothing about what Gary shares is easy, but it’s what I believe
we all could use if as Gary would say…you’re out for a
WISE AS #@%! LIFE!
It’s not that what he's telling you is so new, but it's shared in a way that if you stay open to it, you’ll get something from it in a way that you’ve never heard before. That's also why I'd like to read and listen to what he shares over and over because it strengthens your awareness, your honesty with yourself, and resolve in all the areas of our life that matter to you. I can’t stress this enough that if you read, and listen, to someone you really respect, you’ll experience a much deeper connection to their work than if you only do one or the other. And reading and listening to the same content, especially when it’s in the authors voice is a real game changer. Gary’s books are not that long to read or listen to (listening takes a while, but not so much if you listen to him commuting, walking, at the gym, or in a quiet place instead of TV) so it won’t take you 93-days to read his four books. What I’ve found depending on where my head was at, what my mood I was in, and what was going on in my life, I could pick up the same book say three days, or three weeks later and I'll get something I've never gotten before. During this 93-day journey the overwhelming amount of DM’s I’ve got from people that liked what I was sharing has been amazing.Now I don't know how many people would be willing to take a 3, 33, 63, 93, or however many days immersion like that I did, but I'm excited that there are so many people that picked up on what I was sharing and learning that they're doing that for themselves too.
If you go to www.garyjohnbishop.com you can find all his books, and if you’re not ready to buy any of his books yet at least start by listening to his podcasts and You Tube videos.
If you do buy any or all his books, highlight anything that speaks to you, put your notes in the margins, and like exercise, go back again and again to his work until you strengthen your resolve to…
LIVE A “WISE AS #@%! LIFE!”
I really think to get the best outcome from what Gary share’s is it’s not a one and done.
You don't just decide, well… maybe I’ll breathe today, I’m good, I won't need to breathe tomorrow.
No, you breathe every single day, and if you take the time to be in his work, it can breathe a whole new way of looking at your life so you can create what's possible for your life. Gary’s first book, UNFU*K YOURSELF Get out of your head and into your life is eye opening and powerful. It will give you a strong foundation for personal transformation without wasting your time with lots of useless platitudes and repackaged self-help babble. I highlighted the hell out of his second book STOP DOING THAT SH*T End Self-Sabotage and Demand Your Life Back, and I’ve probably listened to the audio of the book a dozen times. I love this book because Gary guides you how to know your three saboteurs. And the ways these subconscious saboteurs are running the show of your life and how to move beyond them.
FULL DISCLOSURE
His third book DO THE WORK The Official Unrepentant, Ass-Kicking, No-Kidding, Change-Your-Life Sidekick to Unf*k Yourself is the only book I haven’t completed yet. Why? Well, I read the cover flaps and I got into it until pg.29 when I was faced with what the books title was all about “DO THE WORK.”
“WORK, “yep, another “four-letter” word for me. I could tell from what Gary was asking me to do it was going to require me to really take the time necessary to really get under the hood of my head and make sure I was uncovering as much as I possibly could about what was running the show, or not, in my life. So, nope, I haven’t done any of this yet. I started it, but that’s it. So the next thing I'm going to do now that my 93-days is complete is… DO THE WORK.
WISE AS FU*K Simple Truths to Guide You Through the Sh*tstorms Of Life is really his third book, DO THE WORK is more of a workbook.
Like Gary’s first two books it’s another eye-opener that builds on his others but stands on its own even if you never read the first two, or you make this the first book of his you read. Especially if you've had a major loss in your life, be it's a relationship loss, and especially the loss of a loved one. You don’t have to read all of Gary’s books. Just start with a title speaks to you, and… I have a funny feeling after read one you're going to want to read them all. Recently Gary released another book called SANITY In a Time of Conspiracy, Upheaval, and Pandemic, but I haven’t read it yet, and you know I will.
The last book of his that I’ve read is called LOVE UNF*CKED Getting your relationship sh*t together.
My wife Kim and I will be married 43 years in October. We dated for five years after we met at Parsons School of Design in NYC, so we've been together for almost half a century. And just because we’ve been together that long doesn’t mean it’s been all ponies and rainbows, we often mud wrestle, but all in all we’re really best friends. Even though I have a great relationship with Kim and the kids, Matthew and Jennifer. From this book I learned some new views of how I can keep deepening and expanding my relationship not only with my family, but all the people in my life that I care about.
(I’ll give you a book/coffee/stump pic)
Time to wrap this all up and circle back to the book (workbook) that I resisted to do a deep dive into during my 93-day journey… DO THE WORK
Literally the word WORK is truly a four-letter word for me.
I don't know why. It's not that I’m lazy and don't do anything.
I'm always busy.
I love creating, cooking, reading, researching, writing, leading, speaking, navigating people on their wellness journey. But none of that is work to me But having a “job” where I have to be somewhere at some no wiggle time doing something to “earn a living” is like fingers on a chalkboard. I think I have “Freedom + Wanderlust” issues, so I’m curious to see if any of that gets discovered and what’s behind that when I DO THE WORK And I know doing what Gary asks us to do in DO THE WORK isn’t work, but I think seeing my resistance to that idea helps me see that living any of my life at this point not doing something I’m passionate about and can serve others is no longer even a tiny bit acceptable in my life.
So… I’m ready to DO THE WORK
The 93-days may be complete, but my ongoing self-discovery with Gary is just beginning…
n the beginning of the year, I had an overwhelming desire to pull together a team of five high In the beginning of the year, I had an overwhelming desire to pull together a team of five high performance, personal development mentors whether we would ever actually meet or talk directly, and… I really think one day we will.
With that intention top-of-mind, I decided Gary John Bishop would be the first.
To truly decide if I wanted to have him on my team it made perfect sense to do what became a 93-day deep dive into all his work. By doing that I felt I would give myself enough space to decide if Gary would be one of my five mentors for life, and… Yes, he is!
So for a boatload of reasons, I decided Gary John Bishop is the first of my five high-performance personal development mentors, and I’m ready to share who the other four are… Bo Eason
Gary Vaynerchuk
Tony Robbins
Richard Branson
And in that order.
Unlike the 93-day journey I did with Gary, I’m going to do a one-month deep dive with my four other self-selected mentors for life in this order.
Bo Eason – September 1 – 30
Gary Vaynerchuk - October 1 – 31
Tony Robbins - November 1 – 30
Richard Branson December 1- 31
I had hoped to have Gary as one of my guests on “Going Beyond The Scale” this summer but we heard from his team that he was pretty much taking the summer off, so you can bet I’ll be reaching out to his team after Labor Day to make an “ASK” of him to be on the show.
I’m also going to start reaching out to my other mentors to “ASK” (“Make An “ASK” Of Yourself”… a book I’m writing) for a “Going Beyond The Scale” guest appearance within the month I’m doing a deep dive into each of their work. So First UP …. Gary John Bishop