Latest / Inspirations for Your Life / Gentle Progress (S5) S3:E4

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Gentle Progress (S5) S3:E4 · Inspirations for Your Life

0:24
Well, hey guys, good afternoon.
0:26
It is John Simorelli here, serial entrepreneur.
0:28
We've been doing the shows all different times
0:32
just seeing what people like and a lot
0:35
of people seem to like when I do
0:36
the shows early morning or even mid afternoon.
0:39
So welcome everyone to the Inspirations for Your
0:41
Life.
0:41
It's the daily motivational show.
0:44
Very happy to be here in January on
0:46
January 13th 2026.
0:49
We're celebrating being on the air four years
0:51
in a row and we're now on our
0:53
13th day in the fifth year.
0:56
So really grateful for that.
0:57
If you're coming here for the very first
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time, I want to take the opportunity personally
1:01
to thank you and of course welcome you
1:03
to the show.
1:04
If you've been here many times before, well,
1:06
then welcome back.
1:07
It's always great to have you here on
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the show on the Inspirations for Your Life.
1:11
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be part of the magic here and to
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grab some of this great knowledge to make
1:17
your life even better.
1:19
If you've heard about it before, maybe you've
1:21
checked out BelieveMeAchieve.com or if not, definitely
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check that out after the show.
1:25
You can get my short-form content, my
1:26
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So go check that out after the show
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at BelieveMeAchieve.com.
1:33
All right, guys, if you're thirsty, I don't
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want you to be parched or hungry here
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during the show, feel free to go grab
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come on back and we will kick this
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show off.
1:44
All right, guys, it is so wonderful to
1:46
be with everyone here on the show today.
1:49
We're talking all about quiet power this week,
1:52
winning without losing yourself.
1:54
That's what this whole week is about.
1:56
By the way, this is day four, gentle
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progress.
2:00
So it's series five.
2:03
It's basically show number three, and it is
2:08
episode number four.
2:11
So hello, everyone, and welcome back to Inspirations
2:14
for Your Life, the daily motivational show, where
2:18
I focus on growth that lasts, success that's
2:22
sustainable, and progress that doesn't cost you your
2:28
peace.
2:29
I'm your host, John C.
2:31
Morley, serial entrepreneur, engineer, marketing specialist, video producer,
2:37
podcast host, coach, graduate student, oh yes, guys,
2:42
and a passionate lifelong learner.
2:45
It's great to be with you.
2:46
This show is built from real-world experience,
2:50
building businesses, leading teams, creating content, and learning
2:55
that the most powerful growth doesn't come from
3:00
grinding harder, but from moving smarter.
3:04
Today's episode is all about the gentle progress,
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as I said, because real success is built
3:11
upon and through consistency, care, and alignment, not
3:16
burnout, guys.
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Even though a lot of people will tell
3:18
you you've got to push and grind, it
3:20
just burns you out.
3:21
Number one, guys, number one is you don't
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have to be harsh to improve.
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Awareness grows faster than criticism.
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Number two, guys, very important, progress can be
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gentle.
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Growth doesn't need force to be effective.
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Let's think about nature for a second, right?
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There's so many things that happen in nature,
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and there isn't force storing it.
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It just happens naturally.
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I think that's a pretty cool thing to
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understand, that nature happens, well, like I said,
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pretty much, if I will say so, automatically,
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naturally.
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That's a very, very big thing to understand.
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Natural, natural force, and it's done basically effortlessly.
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That's really important to know.
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Number three, guys, consistency beats intensity, right?
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A lot of people work out, I work
4:25
out.
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It's not about how hard you work out,
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it's the consistency.
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Small steps, repeated daily wins.
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Number four, guys, growth doesn't require self-punishment.
4:40
You know, a lot of people do that
4:41
to themselves.
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Pain is not a prerequisite, no.
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So why do people think they've got to
4:47
be in pain or discomfort to be able
4:50
to be successful?
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So I've said to you that success happens
4:53
where you're uncomfortable.
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I didn't say where there's pain.
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I never said that.
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So we have to basically work at things
5:00
that are a little bit unfamiliar, and those
5:03
are the areas where we can find the
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most success.
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Number five, guys, soft habits build strong results.
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They sure do.
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Calm routines will compound.
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You know, just like interest compounds, you can
5:19
compound every single day of your life.
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And you can go from something you had
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before to something that's even more impressive.
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I think that's a really important thing for
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everyone to understand and to know that that's
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what it's truly about, guys.
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That's the whole thing.
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That's what it is about.
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And so we've got to be very mindful
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of that.
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Number six, healing accelerates progress.
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Energy returns when, well, wounds heal.
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Energy returns when wounds heal.
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We have to heal ourself, whether that's emotionally,
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physically, spiritually, right?
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If we don't, then we're constantly trying to
6:14
refill our cup.
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This could be us being tired, needing more
6:17
energy.
6:18
Sometimes you just need to not just hit
6:21
the snooze button, but pretty much if you've
6:23
been pushing and pushing yourself, you need to,
6:26
well, chill a little bit.
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I've had to do that myself sometimes.
6:28
You know, you had a long day the
6:30
day before, so maybe you don't get up
6:31
as early at the 5 o'clock.
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Maybe you get up at 7 or 8.
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That's important.
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Be kind to your mind and to your
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body, guys.
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Number seven, kindness fuels sustainability.
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Care keeps you moving forward.
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Care, compassion.
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Care and compassion.
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I think those are very important things to
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understand.
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We have to be caring to our body
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every single time.
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Because if we don't show care, then we
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get stuck.
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And then we get frustrated.
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And we wonder why our life is going
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the way it is.
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Number eight, guys, burnout is not a badge.
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A lot of people think, oh, you know,
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if I burn out, I'm going to be
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this hero.
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No, you're going to be tired.
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You could be sick.
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You'll be out of energy.
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But it's definitely not a badge.
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It's not something to be proud of.
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It's not an honor to burn out, regardless
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of what skill you're using.
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Exhaustion is not success.
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Some people and some bosses might tell you
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that it's all about that.
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We have to remember to focus longer.
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Pressure, number nine, freeing focus endures.
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Yes, freeing our focus causes us to endure.
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Now, not always easily, but it does.
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When we change that perspective to just, I
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don't know, just a tiny tweak, it's like
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our mind says, wow, that's pretty amazing.
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That's pretty encouraging, OK?
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That's important.
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I know you're saying to me, hey, John,
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look, I was told by my boss, I
8:40
need to keep pushing and pushing and pushing.
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But really, the truth is you don't keep
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pushing.
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You need to just be mindful, and you
8:46
need to be tweaking, and you need to
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be adjusting.
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See, I think that's a very important thing
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to understand, and something that a lot of
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people, well, they don't realize, OK?
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I think that's a very important thing to
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understand.
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And if everybody understands that, then they're going
9:18
to be a little bit better.
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They're going to be a little more calm
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in their own environment, as well as in
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other environments.
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Number 10, guys, you grow best when you're
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supported.
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That's why it's good to support others.
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They'll support you.
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It's a circlic effect.
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Growth thrives in safety.
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Maybe it's about speaking out.
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Maybe it's being open to just people's ideas.
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When people feel safe and supported, they're willing
9:54
to put their neck out a little more.
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Number 11, discipline doesn't have to hurt.
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Nope.
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Structure can be calm.
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You can also use positive reinforcement and not
10:05
negative reinforcement, so you can reward people for
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the good things they're doing.
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And then when they're doing the bad things,
10:11
they don't get a reward on them.
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I think that's an important one.
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Number 12, guys, rest is part of progress.
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I know you might be saying, John, but
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I don't have time to rest.
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You don't know what I have to do.
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You don't understand my life.
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No, I don't understand your life, but I
10:28
have a life of my own.
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And I know sometimes that we all push
10:33
ourselves sometimes too much.
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So remember, be kind and be compassionate to
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ourselves, not because we have to, but because
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we should want to be that way.
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Does that make sense?
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Recovery, ladies and gentlemen, fuels momentum.
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Number 13, compassion increases output.
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There's that compassion word again.
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Compassion is pretty remarkable.
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Compassion shows others that we're humble, that we're
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human.
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Okay.
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Grace improves performance.
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Compassion and grace, they're two very special words
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I want to share with you.
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Very, very special words.
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Number 14, guys, slow growth is real growth.
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People that get to the top too fast
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find out that it's really, well, it's really
11:45
something they didn't expect.
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And then sometimes they just fall down.
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Sometimes they fall down and then they're like,
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oh my gosh, what am I supposed to
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do?
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Right?
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You get caught off guard.
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So do you have a plan B?
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Huh?
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If plan A fails, do you have a
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plan B, a backup plan?
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If you don't, it's always good to have
12:15
one.
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Depth beats speed.
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Yes.
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The depth will always beat the speed.
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Number 15, guys, you don't need pain to
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evolve.
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I said this before.
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So many people, these narcissist people think that
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life is about pain.
12:34
I said life is about discomfort because we
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have to push the envelope a little bit
12:38
further.
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We can't just stay comfortable because we're never
12:44
going to learn anything.
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This goes for any level, whether it's myself
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as a graduate student, whether it's you starting
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school, pre-K, whether it's first grade, whether
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it's high school, college, our involvement, our perception.
13:04
We don't need pain, but we can't stay
13:06
comfortable.
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We have to get uncomfortable a little bit.
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Like when we lift weights.
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I can tell you the first time I
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lift, I'm like, oh, this isn't comfortable.
13:13
Now I'm like, oh, this is fun.
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I like doing this.
13:18
Awareness, guys, teaches us faster.
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Awareness helps us to align our perception with
13:27
a potential outcome, a potential outcome.
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That sounds pretty interesting, doesn't it?
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It sure does.
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Number 16, gentle routines win.
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Stability creates results, guys.
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Stability always creates results.
13:51
Now you might say to me, John, I
13:53
don't know how.
13:57
I don't know how to be stable.
14:01
I don't know how to move to the
14:04
next step.
14:04
It's perfectly okay to not know how to
14:08
move to the next step, but don't let
14:11
that moving to the next step of you
14:14
not being perfect to move to it prevent
14:17
you from going forward, right?
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That's important.
14:22
Number 17, care is not weakness.
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People are stopping to care for you.
14:29
That is not weakness, guys.
14:32
That is not a weakness, okay?
14:47
Maybe you're saying to me, John, people were
14:50
nice to me, and I feel like I'm
14:56
going to get stuck.
15:00
It's a valid concern, guys.
15:03
It absolutely is a valid concern, okay?
15:10
It is a valid concern.
15:13
But it's one that I think we can
15:17
easily understand.
15:22
A lot of times we're looking for the
15:24
end of the tunnel, right?
15:25
We're looking for the light at the end
15:26
of the tunnel.
15:27
But what we're not doing is looking like
15:30
even a foot or five feet in front
15:32
of us.
15:33
We're trying to look so far down the
15:35
tunnel that's dark.
15:36
Why don't we look at the little bit
15:37
we can see right in front of our
15:39
car, right in front of our feet?
15:43
Number 17, guys, when I say care is
15:45
not weakness, it is self-respect for our
15:50
body and our life.
15:54
When we start to learn how to treat
15:56
our body well, you know what happens?
15:59
Other people start to do the same thing
16:01
in our lives.
16:03
Same thing.
16:04
Number 18, guys, sustainability.
16:10
Effort beats heroic effort.
16:13
Sustainability.
16:15
Longevity matters, guys.
16:19
It matters.
16:22
It matters so much because if we can
16:25
figure out how to get by, if we
16:29
can figure out how to last a little
16:32
longer, I've said to you before, success is
16:36
all about who can hang on just a
16:39
few seconds longer.
16:40
Maybe it's hard to hang on to the
16:42
mountain.
16:43
But the one that holds on just a
16:45
little bit longer, they're the ones that are
16:47
successful.
16:48
Even a second longer, right?
16:51
Or a millisecond longer.
16:53
That makes a difference between success and failure.
16:58
Number 19, guys, respect.
17:01
Yes, growth respects limits.
17:05
Ignoring limits, well, causes breakdowns in communication and
17:09
many other things.
17:10
And once we get a breakdown, it's like,
17:13
oh, where am I supposed to go with
17:16
this?
17:16
What am I supposed to do?
17:18
Help, right?
17:23
It's like we're thrown off a track.
17:25
If we were a train and we got
17:28
thrown off the track.
17:29
Many of you guys remember what happened with
17:30
the Indiana Jones issue about a month ago
17:33
in the Universal Studios where it went off
17:35
track.
17:37
Once we get off track, it's not so
17:41
easy to get back on.
17:45
It's not so easy to get back on.
17:49
But if we get back on quickly, it's
17:53
easier to get on than if we waited
17:55
a day or two days or three days
17:56
or even a week.
18:00
Number 20, guys, healing and success can coexist
18:04
together.
18:05
Did you know that?
18:06
You don't have to wait.
18:08
They can coexist together.
18:12
But sometimes people don't believe this because of
18:15
what they're told from other people.
18:19
What they're told from other, that's pretty remarkable.
18:26
Number 21, you don't need to suffer to
18:31
succeed.
18:32
You don't need to be in pain.
18:34
Discomfort's not pain.
18:36
It just feels different.
18:40
Alignment replaces the struggle.
18:42
When we can align with ourselves and what
18:45
we're doing, things happen.
18:47
Progress takes place that we'll love.
18:51
And the patience helps us to go even
18:53
further.
18:54
Rushing creates resistance.
18:57
So many people, they want to rush.
18:58
Oh, we got to get done.
18:59
We got to get done.
18:59
And it's like you want to slow down
19:01
because first, you're afraid of making a mistake.
19:04
My one grandfather on my dad's side said,
19:07
John, we always want to measure twice and
19:10
cut once.
19:12
And for a very long time, I really
19:14
did not know what he meant.
19:17
What he meant is that if we cut
19:19
first, even though we measured once, and we
19:23
made a mistake in the measuring, we can't
19:26
make a piece of wood longer.
19:29
We can always make it shorter.
19:31
But nine times out of 10, we might've
19:33
cut it too short.
19:35
So by measuring twice, we double check what
19:39
we should cut and how much.
19:42
Number 23, self-trust builds momentum.
19:45
Confidence grows through follow through.
19:48
Number 24, gentle systems outperform extremes.
19:54
Support beats pressure.
19:58
Support beats pressure every day.
20:02
Number 25, growth should feel supportive.
20:07
Punishment blocks progress.
20:11
If it doesn't feel like we're moving forward,
20:16
we're probably not.
20:18
It's just the speed that we move forward
20:20
is going to be the thing that hangs
20:22
a lot of people up.
20:24
Number 26, consistency is kindness in action.
20:31
Consistency is kindness in action.
20:34
That's a pretty interesting statement.
20:37
Kept promises build trust.
20:40
What happens if you have a friend of
20:41
yours and he or she doesn't keep the
20:43
promise?
20:44
What do you do?
20:45
You lose respect for him or her.
20:47
Don't you?
20:47
And you probably don't trust them again.
20:51
Maybe you were doing something and you're waiting
20:54
for them to do something for you.
20:55
And then it doesn't happen.
20:57
And everybody was counting on you.
21:02
So the next time, you don't put your
21:05
faith in them because they let you down.
21:09
It might take a while before you can
21:12
get that faith built up again.
21:14
Number 27, calm habits last.
21:18
Chaos never does.
21:21
Think about it.
21:22
When you're calm about something, it's like you
21:25
can power the world, can't you?
21:28
You could do anything when you're calm.
21:31
Let me give you an example.
21:32
There's a song, you made the song, you
21:34
know, Ave Maria.
21:36
Well, when you sing that song, it's a
21:37
very beautiful song.
21:38
But if you don't pause and remember to
21:42
take the breaths, you can't hold your breath
21:45
that long for those long notes.
21:50
Knowing when to take a breath is one
21:56
of the biggest secrets of success.
21:57
And I don't just mean taking a physical
21:59
breath.
22:00
I mean, choosing to pull away to stop
22:03
doing what you're doing and do something else
22:08
like walk outside, take a physical breath, listen
22:13
to some music, meditate, et cetera.
22:15
You get my point, guys, don't you?
22:17
Number 28, you can grow without grinding.
22:22
Now, a lot of these big bosses out
22:24
there will say, well, you know, you gotta
22:26
grind.
22:27
You know, if you don't grind, put in
22:28
the time, you don't, you know, it doesn't
22:32
rhyme.
22:32
You don't get success.
22:35
No, that's the way they're taught.
22:37
That's the way they're putting in the grind
22:39
mentality.
22:40
And the grind mentality means pretty much push
22:43
till you drop.
22:45
Not having a care about how it might
22:48
impact your life, it's a problem.
22:53
And this is why these managers at these
22:55
big companies, well, they burn out.
22:59
Well, they get fired.
23:03
Well, they start to develop a complex because
23:08
the expectations they're putting on someone else are
23:11
so high.
23:12
They can't even meet one 10th of them.
23:15
Good thing about a leader is you're asking
23:17
someone to do something.
23:19
You need to be able to mirror the
23:22
attitudes.
23:23
May not be the same skill, but the
23:25
attitudes.
23:26
Ladies and gentlemen, number 28, you can grow.
23:29
You can grow.
23:32
Yes, you can.
23:34
You can grow.
23:35
And I think a lot of people, when
23:37
you think about this whole concept of, you
23:39
know, you can grow, it opens up some
23:45
really interesting points, right?
23:48
And these points, growth.
23:53
Again, we talked about support of that.
23:57
You can grow without grinding.
24:01
Progress can have success.
24:08
Progress can feel humane.
24:11
It doesn't have to feel like something bad.
24:13
Number 29, progress doesn't rush.
24:17
It should gradually unfold.
24:21
There should never be a rush.
24:24
There should be a beauty in it.
24:27
Number 29, progress doesn't rush.
24:29
As I said, it unfolds.
24:31
So when I say that to you, think
24:33
of it like a flower unfurling its beauty.
24:39
Number 30, sustainable wins feel boring at first.
24:44
But you know what's interesting about them?
24:47
They last longer in our lives.
24:51
A lot of people say, oh, you know,
24:52
John, it's not moving fast enough.
24:56
But is it the fast enough you want?
24:58
Or is it that you want a different
25:00
result to happen in your life?
25:11
Maybe you just want a different result in
25:12
your life.
25:12
Maybe.
25:18
Maybe that's what you want.
25:28
I think most times that people hear this
25:35
when we say something is boring.
25:38
We feel like you got to spice it
25:40
up, right?
25:41
But in actuality, it's not about spicing it
25:43
up.
25:44
It's about giving your communication more intention and
25:53
meaning.
25:55
You guys know the words that come out
25:57
of my mouth.
26:00
They're intentional.
26:02
They're not accidental.
26:04
I want every word that I say, whether
26:07
you see me or hear me only, I
26:09
want you to have that impact in your
26:12
life.
26:14
I want it to make this amazing, remarkable
26:17
change for you in your life, okay?
26:22
That's important.
26:27
Sustainability wins, but it feels boring at first.
26:37
People want the ride to go faster.
26:39
When they haven't even gone on and experienced
26:41
what it was like, maybe it was good
26:43
at the speed it was going.
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A lot of managers say, you know, we
26:47
need to move faster.
26:59
Ladies and gentlemen, this is Inspirations For Your
27:01
Life, the daily motivational show for people who
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want to grow without burning out and succeeding,
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without losing themselves.
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In case you forgot, I'm John C.
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Morley, serial entrepreneur.
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And today, that gentle progress is still progress
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and often the most powerful kind that we
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can experience.
27:26
Of course, you can visit BelieveMeAchieved.com for
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more of my amazing inspiring.
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When you have a conversation with somebody, are
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you purposeful and full of intention?
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Or do you just yap, yap, yap, yap,
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yap, yap, yap?
27:43
Let's make it a promise to ourselves that
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we'll be intentional in everything we do.
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We'll be slower.
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We'll be able to enjoy the beauty and
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so will others.
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And we'll gain much more success with a
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lot less effort.
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Have a great one, everyone.
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And check out BelieveMeAchieved.com for more of
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my amazing inspiring creations.