Latest / Callum Walker | Figuring It Out / #69 - The Simple Fix for Stress, Overwhelm, and Feeling Stuck

Transcript

#69 - The Simple Fix for Stress, Overwhelm, and Feeling Stuck · Callum Walker | Figuring It Out

• 0:03
  Callum Walker: If fear is the only thing stopping us from achieving our dreams and we only fear what we don't understand, then the antidote to fear is knowledge. All we have to do is find out who has the knowledge that we need to conquer our fears and achieve our entrepreneurial dreams. My name is Callum Walker, and welcome to the podcast that will help you figure it out and conquer this lonely entrepreneurial journey. Hello, everyone, and welcome to the podcast. Once again, you are getting a great British weather report, and you have no idea how happy I am.
• 0:37
  You have no idea how happy I am. I actually think summer is on its way. Famous last words. I'm on my hill. I'm staring at the sun.
• 0:47
  It's just stunning. And you know what? I'm I might be in a coat, but it's not actually that cold, which is amazing. I tell you what, the sun doesn't half make a difference to you. From a scientific perspective, part of the reason for that is that the sunlight here's a fact for you.
• 1:05
  If you ever there's two reasons why. You know, when you go outside, you always feel better. You know, you've had a rough day, things are a bit intense, you may feel a bit low, a bit down, you go out in nature, and you you automatically feel better. From a physiological point of view, there's two reasons why that happens. Firstly, when you go outside, you expose yourself to probably a thousand times the amount of light that you normally would inside.
• 1:42
  So when I'm currently right now, I'm looking at the sun, what's happening is you gotta see it that your eyes are basically your brain on the outside of your skull. So when I'm looking at the sun right here right now, right here, Right now. Sorry. It's one of my favorite Fout Boy stems. When I'm looking at the sun right now, what's happening is that light, those lumens, those lux is coming straight into my eye, but more importantly going into the brain.
• 2:08
  And what happens is that that light drives up the production of serotonin, and serotonin is a neurotransmitter or otherwise known as a neuromodulator that makes you feel happy, but more importantly, it makes you feel content. Makes you feel content with what you've got. Most of the time when we're feeling low or we're feeling down, agitated, anxious, it's because our reality is not meeting our expectations. We're expecting something that we're not getting. We're trying to do something and it's not working.
• 2:39
  Effectively, we are in the gap. I mentioned this on an episode before where we'll focus on everything that isn't and where we're not and where we should be versus where we are. And what's interesting is that that serotonin, when it's flowing throughout us, naturally puts us into a state of contentment, state of calm. I actually realized, you know what? Life isn't that bad.
• 3:03
  So first of all, get outside to get your serotonin if you're in a bit of a rough spot. But then secondly, the way in which your brain kind of works is directly correlated and linked to your vision. So it was interesting. I had a weekend with my guys in my elite coach program the other day. And and I was telling this because actually, if you can understand your vision, your ability to focus, but also in terms of this this episode, your ability to relax will change immensely.
• 3:34
  So right now, what I want you to do is get your finger and put your finger in front of your eyes. K? So put your finger in front of you. And what I want you to do is just look at your finger. So stare at your finger, then move it to the side, look straight ahead, and bring the finger back.
• 3:50
  Stare at the finger. K? Now move the finger to the side. Keep looking forward, and bring the finger in front of you. K?
• 3:57
  What happens to your vision when you look at the finger? So look at the finger right now. What is happening to your vision? Your vision is very, very focused. Yeah?
• 4:06
  It's almost like the finger is in portrait mode on an iPhone. So what happens is that when your vision is narrow, that is saying focus, be alert, be aware, focus on this specific thing. So right now, my brain is almost scanning the intricate details of the finger. So what happens is that that drives up the production of something called acetylcholine in the brain, which is directly linked to focus and attention and awareness. Yeah.
• 4:36
  But if you notice when you move the finger away, your vision relaxed. So when your vision goes into a relaxed state, that also relaxes the brain. So one of the best things that you could ever do to relax your brain, if you find that life's just getting a bit intense, you're feeling intense, you're feeling, maybe a little bit overwhelmed, get outside, and one of the best things you could do is stare at the horizon. See right now, I'm at the top of a hill, and my vision is expanded immensely. That relaxes your vision, which then relaxes your focus, And as a result, it relaxes your brain.
• 5:14
  And it was interesting. I was with my very good friend, Michael Lennon. We went to Giant's Causeway. I remember staring at the horizon, looking at the sea, and I said that to him. And do you know what?
• 5:22
  Every single time that we've caught up, he said that he's he's mentioned that to me. But yeah. So and if you think about it, you know, you're we're constantly in a narrowed vision state by always being inside. Think about it. You're always in a box.
• 5:36
  So you wake up in a box in your bedroom. Your vision is narrowed. Then you go downstairs into the kitchen, your vision is narrowed. You go into the office, your vision is narrowed. You then get in your box of a car, your vision is narrowed.
• 5:49
  You go and train in the gym, your vision is narrowed. You go and stare at screen all day, your vision is narrowed. How often are you widening your vision? If you're feeling anxious, if you're feeling excessively alert, excessively intense, get outside, get your serotonin, get outside, expand your vision. But I think the other thing is get outside and go and expose yourself to nature.
• 6:11
  You will realize how insignificant you are. Do you know how I know that? Because I've literally just come back from Zimbabwe. What an amazing place. What an amazing place.
• 6:24
  And, I feel I feel incredible, because I, yeah, I expose myself to nature in its truest form. I saw some of the most amazing places. And do know what? Honestly, the only reason I went to Zimbabwe was because one of my best friends, a professional cricketer, he was playing out there and he's come to the end of his stint with a franchise that he was playing for. And I was just like, look.
• 6:53
  I'm gonna come out and see you. And I went out and saw him, spent a week with him. And if he had never been there, I probably would never have gone to Zimbabwe in my life. He would never been on my radar. But, oh my god.
• 7:06
  And it probably won't be on your radar, but put it on your radar. The one biggest worry that I had was safety concerns. And there was I I've never felt I I never felt unsafe in the slightest. I didn't get robbed. I didn't feel unsafe.
• 7:20
  It was amazing. I went to Victoria Falls. It was largest waterfall, which was insane. Insane. There was no touristy things about it either.
• 7:31
  There wasn't a queue of 300 people taking selfies in front of a waterfall. It was none of that. It was incredible. We then went out into the bush. We did a game drive.
• 7:42
  So we went out in a little car, kinda like a safari, and came across lions in their natural habitat, buffalo. But also for the purpose of this episode, we came across probably the most majestic animal I've ever seen, is an elephant. And we were sat in the car and, you know, I had I remember sitting there. There was just bush everywhere and this elephant, huge. He was on his own.
• 8:09
  He just came along and he was following like, was walking alongside us for a bit and then we stopped the car and he stopped. And he came probably within two meters of the car. And when you've got an elephant that big flapping its ears, swinging its trunk, staring at you two meters away. You don't have any problems. You don't have any problems in life.
• 8:37
  That client that's just left you, that direct debit that's just bounced, that argument with your partner, it doesn't matter. It does not matter when you've got this giant elephant stood in front of you, and your life is literally there. And I'm like, okay. Right. If you decided to move forward and get aggressive, I'm done.
• 8:56
  So I think the point I'm coming at is that when you get out into nature, I just think something clicks in terms of you just start to realize how insignificant your problems really are, how beautiful the world really is. And I don't know. I've said this multiple times. I really personally think that the secret to happiness is to just spend more time in the positive than you do in the negative. And I think getting out into nature is the ultimate way, Ultimate way of flipping over from the negative and stepping into the positive.
• 9:33
  Like right now, I just just feel an absolute awe. Awe of everything, just colors, the sun. It's just amazing. So I think that, you know, when life gets on top of you, which it will, it always will. There will always be challenges.
• 9:55
  There'll always be problems. There'll always be things that can knock you off guard. I've had my fair share of incredibly tough and incredibly challenging times, but you know, right now, I'm actually standing at the top of the hill waiting for my partner. She's finished work. I just called her up.
• 10:12
  Was like, just wanna go for a walk. And so now that's almost like the highlight of my life to just while the sun's going down just having a little walk, just the two of us with the person that I adore the most, who has backed me, made me feel enough, made me realize that I am enough and I don't need someone else's permission to be enough. What a beautiful way to spend the day. So, yeah, short episode today, but just a couple of things. If anything, this is just your call to get outside, get outside, Immerse yourself in nature.
• 10:47
  And you know what? So the only reason I've got my headphones in is because I'm recording a podcast for you guys. But try this. Go for a walk without any headphones. Don't take your phone.
• 10:59
  The next walk that you go on, go without any headphones. No phone, no music, nothing. Just immerse yourself in nature. Listen to sound of the birds. Listen to the sound of the wind.
• 11:12
  Listen to the your feet pattering on the floor. Feel your feet pattering on the floor. Look at a tree. Look at the grass without trying to analyze it. Just just look at it and just be.
• 11:25
  And I promise you, your sense of well-being would change. It would change. And, yeah, you might just find that it's just a little switch that you need to just take yourself out of the negative, put yourself into the positive. Never forget, if every one of your clients gave you just one new client, you've doubled your business.