#2 – Playing the Long Game

This episode talks about  getting clarity on.   What are we ultimately trying to accomplish in the long term?  What is your Why?  What do you want to become?  What is important to you?

TOPICS

Vision Statement, Clarity, Mission, Accomplish, Personal, Big, Executing, Game, Life, High Achievers, Empire Builder, Bridge Builder

TRANSCRIPT

0:01

Intro

0:13

Hey there, welcome to The Whole Enchilada today. Super excited about the opportunity to talk to you about the long game. Really getting clarity on, on what are we ultimately trying to accomplish in the long term.

0:27

I’m actually shooting this episode on the beautiful island of Maui, which I’m super excited about to be in here with my family spending some time outside.

0:35

And I’m thrilled to share a few moments and thoughts with you today.  I’m sitting, either in the mountains or on the beach and this is actually part of my personal mission, vision statement that I’ll share with you today, coz it gives me an opportunity to connect.

0:51

Connect with myself differently to think through, through things and get to get clarity on what ultimately Am I trying to accomplish. And that’s ultimately what I’m doing here in on the island of Maui right now is reconnecting with that bigger vision, and making sure that my executables my daily activities what I’m executing on now is in alignment with what I’m trying to accomplish.

1:15

So the topic today is the long game, finding and fulfilling your personal why. Really if any of you have read the books by Simon Sinek he kind of is the expert on finding your why. Starting with Why is the name of one of his books and he’s also talked a lot about the infinite game versus the finite game.

1:39

One of the things he says is finite players play to beat the people around them. Infinite players played to be better than themselves, which is really in alignment with the the mission and vision of the Whole Enchilada. Yes. We are a group of high achievers yes we crush all of our immediate goals and our companies were inspirational.  We’re running, either our own companies or companies from the people at a very high level, and the whole purpose of the Whole Enchilada is do those daily wins, participate in or pull us closer to winning the ultimate game which is the long term mission, vision of a well balanced life in the extremes.

2:27

One of the things Simon Sinek says is he says all organizations start with why, but only the great ones keep their why clear, year after year. And I think that’s interesting is, is how many companies right now we’re coming into,  we’re in the fourth quarter of 2020.  How many companies are coming together right now to put together their game plans their business plans for 2021. And they’re probably dusting off their mission, vision statement because they haven’t looked at it from a year before, and three saying like, oh yeah let’s get this back back out let’s talk about it again. When realistically, if we’re going to be progressing and building an immediate game plan and that’s progressing towards that bigger vision of what we’re trying to accomplish. It’s something that we’ve got to one, really, really believe in and have clarity on and be referring to  frequently.

3:22

One of the other things he says here is, unless you begin with the end in mind by starting with why you will get obsessed with the daily metrics. The Daily gets a sidetrack from the long game that that sentence really hit home to me because I, like you a lot of us are such high achievers that we, we have to win. Anytime we put our minds to something we are going to do win and we’re gonna win big we’re gonna accomplish big things on that, which I think is is has been particularly, particularly for me that’s been a huge trade, a huge advantage for me because I don’t know if it’s because I got a chip on my shoulder or whatever it is but if someone tells me I can’t do something or someone tells me that goals too big, Ultimately, I’m gonna be like, I’m going to show you, I’m going to make this happen.

And I get so obsessed and focused with winning on the short game, which has been beneficial for me. But as I look back over my life have I been sidetracked by some of those short term wins that actually didn’t get me closer to what I’m ultimately trying to accomplish that by the time I win that game and come up to celebrate. And I poke my head up and look around, am I actually farther away from where I would have been had I been fed focused on a different game. I mean, it goes back to the old saying that that you’ve got to win the strategic battles to win the overall war, you don’t necessarily have to win every battle or engage in every battle to win the war but choosing the right battles and winning those battles are ultimately what what affect the long term win, of, of the goal in the millionaire real estate agent, says too many of us define our lives by what we do for a living, rather than accepting what we do for living as just a part of an overall purpose that guides our lives, or assignments as Simon Sinek would call it a why.

5:11

So when someone says, what do you do, do you go into just telling them what your day job is or do we have so much clarity on who we’re becoming and what we’re trying to accomplish that we see that every, every activity we’re doing on a day to day basis, whether it’s within our business within a hobby within our families that it is ultimately a building block into what we’re ultimately trying to accomplish.

5:37

Then MREA goes on to say the big WHY is about having a purpose, a mission, or a need that in turn gives you focus, because a big why brings big focus and big energy. High achievers always have a big why.  One of the biggest things that I set that I think sets these high producers apart. In one of the biggest skill sets that that I think we should talk about a lot and continue to build on is the ability to get clarity on what are the most important activities and executing on them. This really for me, we have a lot of people that seem too big and want a lot of things but they’re, they don’t have the ability to execute on a local level. So, if I was to say that the one of the number one characteristics that sets a high achiever apart is their pure ability to execute on the right activities. And I would say, if you take a step further, the why, or that mission personal mission, vision statement is the fuel that they use that to do the execution.

6:48

Because here’s the truth of the matter and I got this, this comment again this week from someone that I’m hiring in one of my organizations as they, as they started digging into everything I’ve got going on on a bigger scale, her comment to me was like, how do you ever find time to sleep with all these things going on, which, which I thought was humorous that that was her question. But when she asked the question Do you ever sleep. It’s her perception is is that I’ve got a lot of things going on at once, where in internally I’m looking at that thing. I know that each one of these strategic pieces with the right people in place is actually getting me closer to where I want to go.

7:29

So one of the things that we need to focus on here is, if high achievers have a big Why the question, you need to be asking yourself is, do you have clarity on what your big why is? What your vision or your personal mission? Vision statement is that you can draw on, here’s the truth of the matter is, there are days I wake up, where I don’t want to do the things I know I must do to achieve the things that I want to achieve. There are times that that voice inside my head is telling me like, do you really have to do this today. Do you really want to do this today or man the bed feels good this morning you should just sleep in.

8:07

No one is immune to that voice in their head telling them not to do things in fact the number one purpose of the brain is self preservation it’s always going to try to talk you out of doing the things that make you feel uncomfortable yet. It’s the things that make you feel uncomfortable and your willingness to do those things that are going to set you apart from the rest of the world.

8:28

If you don’t have a personal relationship and connection with your personal mission, vision statement you will find yourself giving in to that voice inside your head, more frequently than you find yourself telling that voice in your head to shut up, because you have a game plan, you’ve got a bigger mission, vision, you’ve got that focus to do those things. And if, if we don’t take the time to build that relationship and clarity on our personal mission, vision statement, we’ll find ourselves, falling back to that pattern of not executing. So, the process that you need to go through and creating that personal mission, vision statement.  Number one is getting clarity on what it is that fires you up. What excites you, you know one of the things that that I like to ask people when I’m interviewing them first, for, for a position is like what what really inspires you. The word inspire from a Latin word “to breathe life into”, you’re like man I had such an incredible day so much in the at the end of the day after doing all these things I feel so full of energy. What were those things that you were doing that actually inspired you to breathe life into you? So, number one again is clarifying getting clarity on finding out exactly what that personal mission, vision statement is number two is understanding why is that important to you and connecting it to your daily activities. Number three is, how are you communicating that personal mission, vision statement, it’s not enough for you to write it down and put it away in a filing cabinet.

The people around you need to know what you’re trying to accomplish and what you will find in communicating that message is there will be people that absolutely try to get your way. And don’t want you to to accomplish that, it because it makes them feel bad about themselves, when you’re excelling at a higher level, and on the other side of that your real true allies will rise to the top of saying, I want to be around you because you’ve got clarity of where you’re going and what you’re trying to accomplish that’s in alignment with what I want to accomplish. How do we do this together, they will in turn support you in fulfilling your personal mission, vision statement and in turn, you’ll become an ally is a resource that helping them fulfill their personal mission, vision statement and big why in their life.

10:55

And the last piece of this is in communicating it frequently and often is then going back to that skill set of execution. Getting clarity on what is the lead measure that must be executed on today that will create the result in either achieving something or becoming something that is in alignment with that personal mission, vision statement.

11:21

So here’s, here’s one of the activities that I would recommend in getting clarity on and creating your personal mission, vision statement.   I remember the first time I was introduced to the idea of your big why or, or your personal mission, vision statement, it made sense to me in. In the theory of it, you need a big why to fuel you that, that myth that resonated with me. Yeah, being the mature impatient person I was I’m still immature and impatient but I wasn’t even more so a decade ago or so when I was first introduced to this idea. I remember in that classroom setting as they were talking through that I remember someone I looked up to and liked raise their hand and said, My family is my big why. And for me, I was like, my family. I love my wife I love my children. I guess that’s my big why too because I adore them I go to work for them I try to fulfill these these things for them. So in my mind in that moment, I skipped the investigation step, like getting real clarity and emotional connection to my personal personal mission, vision statement, because I just accelerated to be like Oh, that makes sense to me I guess that is my personal mission, vision statement I guess that is my personal Why is my family. I do these things for them. Now, before I go any further to tell you how I expanded on that let me be clear that my family still is a big part of my big why, I have four beautiful daughters, that, that are my world I want everything for them I want them to grow to be good, contributing members of society, should be able to sustain themselves and make an impact on the world that still is a big part of my why, but that is what I came to a realization over time is that, that was only a part of my big why.

13:09

And the reason I had it later several years after that first time I was introduced to the idea of that big why I was feeling this clunkiness in, in, in hitting a glass ceiling that I needed to break through and what and I didn’t feel that energy to execute on the same level I had been doing, previous to that. And it’s purely because I didn’t take the time to flush out my personal mission, vision statement on a bigger level. And what ultimately I did is I had to put myself in a setting, get rid of everything around me. No, no phone, no, no emails no minutes showing up in my office and I got out a legal pad and I just started writing what is important to me. What is it that I want to accomplish?. Now I’d write til I  couldn’t think anymore. And then I asked myself the question, why, why is that important to me. And then I start writing again and then it’s asked myself a question again well why is that important to me. And I started finding myself I wrote pages and pages of notes and as I started this writing these pages and pages of notes I started to see things repeating, I started to see things come to the surface over and over and over again, and I was able to start to identify the things that were most important to me were showing up over and over again. On that personal mission, vision statement. Now, one thing I will share I won’t share my entire personal mission, vision statement as a matter of time here but for any of you that are interested in seeing my personal mission, vision statement in its entirety. I’d be happy to, to share that with you just go to the whole enchilada.biz. And click the contact us. And, or if you have my personal contact information please reach out to me that way but if you go to the whole enchilada.biz.

And let me know I will send you a copy of my personal mission, vision statement, but ultimately what I found in asking that question and if any of you have ever had a two year old at home. You know what it sounds like to ask the question why, why, why, why, why, over and over and over again and I can be annoying in that setting. However, in this scenario, it’s important for you to peel back the layers. Ultimately what I found for myself, is my, my personal mission, vision statement has three categories or three specific things that at any given time.

If I’m feeling those all three buckets. I feel inspired I feel full of life full of breath and excited about what’s coming next. I have that energy to tackle the problems and do the things that other people aren’t willing to do again as long as all three of these buckets are being filled in my world.

The first bucket bucket for me was like, and I call it, I am a bridge builder and if any of you have the opportunity to come to my home office. You can see that I have this four, four foot tall eight feet wide, up on my wall and I stand in front of this personal mission, vision statement, and our read it every day, but we got it right here in front of me now. The first category is, I am a bridge builder. Now, this doesn’t mean that I’m actually out building bridges but I found that one of the things that really inspires me and fires me up is helping people get clarity on what it is they want to accomplish, long term, and then having a reality conversation around where are you really right now and let’s discover what is the gap from your current reality to what it is you’re trying to accomplish. And now, the only thing standing in your way of becoming that person is a bridge, you need to build a bridge between where you currently are and where you want to go. So that is the first piece of my personal mission, vision statement is I am a bridge builder.

The second bucket bucket of my personal mission, vision statement is I am an Empire Builder. One of the things that I love doing at a high level is creating and building companies that serve the consumer and the people within my organization and create opportunities for them. And so I’ve got a short blip, under that helps me understand what it is I’m trying to accomplish as an Empire Builder.

And then the third bucket for me, which is equally important to the others, is I am an adventure., If I don’t have the next trip or adventure on the books, I go crazy. One of the, one of the sentences under that, that part of my personal mission, vision statement, it says when the mountains and sea beckoned to me, I will always answer their call because I find clarity, either in the mountains or at the ocean and that’s what I’m doing here and now we now is reconnecting with that part of my personal mission, vision statement, because the sea beckoned, and I did respond. So ultimately what what the point I’m making with this is before you can lean on your personal why, or that personal mission, vision statement to fuel you executing on the finite game to ultimately progress to the infinite game, which is the whole purpose of the whole enchilada is, how are you excelling in every area of your life on a bigger scale for you to lean on death fuel of your personal mission, vision statement you cannot do it unless you have clarity on what what that is.

18:09

So here is my challenge to wrap up our conversation today is, if you currently have a personal mission, vision statement or a big why statement. I would challenge you, number one, to, to challenge the actual statement, ask yourself, Is this true as true for me today as it was the day I created it.

18:34

Also ask yourself the question, did I go through a thorough enough process when I created this? Did I peel back the layers to really understand why this is important to me? And is it in alignment with who I want to become? Ask the question why peel it back refine it down clarify it, I will tell you that even though I’ve got that personal mission, vision statement plastered up on my wall in my home office. When the date columns and it may count that I stand in front of that. And as I read it if I don’t feel fired up and excited by the end, by the end of reading that out loud to myself. I will be the first person to rip it down and start over, start the process over. It’s got to fire you up and be able to lean on that. So that is my, my number one challenge for you today is, is if you have one challenge it. If you don’t have one, get your calendar out today, and pick a couple hour time block where you can find a spot of serenity, a place that you can be alone the place that you’re not going to be bothered. And start asking yourself the question, what is important to me? Who is it that I want to become? How do I want to become that person? Why is that important to me? Why is that important to the people around me and just start letting the pen fly. No one’s going to see it but you, and then go back through and start circling the words that stand out to you that show up over and over and over again, and start formulating that down into a personal mission, vision statement or a big why statement, and then get clarity on what is the impact that will you will have on the world as you fulfill and you live that personal mission, vision statement.

The reason I think this is important for us to have this conversation today is because the, what you will find in, in the whole enchilada and in this group is it’s there’s a sequence to what we’re trying to accomplish. And as we get more clarity into mastering our schedule. Getting clarity on on when to be on in a finite game as opposed to when to unplug and focus on some of the other personal important things in your world that may not be income producing is for us to master those things that’s always going to come back to this conversation of does this activity fulfill your future vision of yourself does it get you closer there. Are you progressing towards that ideal version of yourself. If the answer is ever No, we can readjust. If the answer is, I don’t know because I didn’t do the work of getting clarity on what’s important to me on a bigger scale, then that’s on you.

Then, then all you’re doing is picking random finite games that fulfill an immediate need that are not progressing towards that infinite game of really becoming that person you want to become, which again is the purpose of the whole enchilada.   I’m thrilled to have you part of this network thrilled to have you part of this journey with me. As you know, this is something I’m committed to on a personal level, it’s not something I’ve mastered it’s something on mastery. And the truth be told, I don’t think this is something that anyone could ever say, I have mastered that, because this is a lifelong journey of becoming so excited to have you here with me excited to get into our next conversation. Hope you found a couple of key take aways by this point you should have something calendered in your calendar to go defend your personal mission, vision statement or create it, let me know how it goes. And do not forget.

22:07

Go make life happen on your terms. Thanks so much, take care, we’ll talk soon.

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