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Stephanie Hanlon
Foreign.
Patrick
Welcome to this episode of the Everyday Millionaire Mindset Matters podcast, where I'm joined by my wife, Olympic mental performance coach Stephanie Hanlon. Francie. In these episodes, Stephanie and I have a conversation about the different aspects of what we refer to as Mindset Matters because we believe that for those who are awake, we are living in and through the most impactful time in history. Your view of the world is the filter for how you will experience the evolution and changing dynamics of it. Our intention is to provide you with ideas, nutritious food for thought, and some tools that you can use to help you in being your greatest self and living your best life. Listen in. Enjoy. Stephanie. Mindset Matters. Welcome.
Stephanie Hanlon
Hey, hon.
Patrick
Okay. I got a question for you.
Stephanie Hanlon
Okay. Hit me.
Patrick
Are you happy?
Stephanie Hanlon
Am I happy?
Patrick
Yes.
Stephanie Hanlon
That's a pretty broad question. Yes. In this moment, I'm happy. Maybe 10 or 15 minutes ago, not so much.
Patrick
How come. How come you weren't happy 10 minutes ago?
Stephanie Hanlon
Well, because we were working through things, and I got mad at you, and you got mad at me, and we had to work through things and figure out what we're going to talk about and then not leave on a. On a sour note. And then we didn't, and we worked it out, and you put on a nice shirt and I brushed my hair, and here we are, and I'm happy.
Patrick
Okay, so. So think about that. So why are you happy? What made you happy about that?
Stephanie Hanlon
I think moving through the. The issue. You know, we're working on a lot of stuff. It's a new year, right? Clarity equals velocity is still our theme, and it's like demanding clarity from ourselves and each other is really. Right now. It's. It's a lot of work, and it's pushing my buttons, and it seems like it's too hard, but then working through it with you, and sometimes you get defensive and mean, but ultimately, you're really good at navigating my. My issues.
Patrick
Yeah. Yeah, I think so. So a lot of what we're going to talk about in this particular episode is about progress. You know, when we look at 25 come alive in 25, well, what makes us come alive? Listener? Ask yourself that question. What makes you come alive? And it will be a lot of things, but progress will be at the root, I believe. So I think I'm onto something here in terms of articulating, because, of course, we talk a lot about things like whatever our core values. We have these conversations all the time. We're actually doing our master classes. We're doing a core value Thing on core values where we're going to walk you through the matrix, then we're talking about the circle of support. What does that even mean? And of course we are going to talk about the seven areas of life. So when we look at all of that, there's one fundamental that I think is missing, which is a conversation around progress. And when we make progress, we in fact get lit up by that because we see an end in mind, we work towards it. And even though if we don't get to the end, if we can look back and say we've made progress, then we're doing okay. Now, part of the conversation you and I had, and I'll just go on a little bit of a rant around some certain things, is that I know for myself is that I'm the happiest when I'm making progress. Of course, when you look at what's going on in business and because we, our life is really built around our businesses and by the way, don't hear that as negative, we love our life and we love what we do. So it's just part of it. So the thing about that is though, is that through these economic times, through a lot of the adversity that we face as business owners, we have to lean into it, we have to overcome it. And then the win is in the progress that we make in facing those challenges and even overcoming them. The scorecard often is, are we being profitable? Have we increased the top line? Have we increased the bottom line? Have we been able to afford a better lifestyle? So as much as it is about making money, making money is just a scorecard to say, are you making progress? That's how I look at it. And then I look at it and say, are we making progress? Or is our lifestyle closer to what we want? Or is, are we living the vision that we have? So those are all benchmarks, if you will, markers for progress. And so when we make progress, we're far happier. So I'm going to stop there for a minute and then I'm going to share a parable. But what have you got to say so far?
Stephanie Hanlon
Well, I think in the, in your definition of progress, I get that it's, it's, it's, you know, taking one small leap or step in the direction of your goals, of what it is that you're working backwards from. No different than with an athlete. If their goal is to go to the Olympic Games, they've got a four year window there to move their lives forward and that progress needs to be measurable. It needs to be. Did I get more points in this next competition than I did the last competition? Am I in better shape? Is my communication better? Am I more aligned with my partner? Am I working for, you know, the same goals as my coaches? So not having those places to check in, I think is very. It can be detrimental to happiness because to your point, you can identify if you're making progress or you identify that you're becoming more happy because you're making progress and ticking the boxes. And I think happiness can be so elusive for people because it's not the end goal. I'm doing this to be happy. You know, I'm going to do this, this and this. And when I get to the Olympic Games, I'll be happy. Well, happy is not a journey. It's a journey. It's not an out there thing. It's not something that you're going to get to. So if you don't have that measurability inside you where you're checking in and are you happy and can you measure some progress today and did you align with your purpose and did you make a difference in people's lives depending on what your values are? If we don't know what our values are and we don't know what our measuring, our, our measuring stick is on, on our journey towards happiness and we don't use progress or something, we can acknowledge that we've, even if we've come an inch, doesn't have to be these big, giant, hairy, audacious goals that we achieve every single day. And then I'm going to be happy, right?
Patrick
Yeah. But I think in life, let's face it, I mean, whatever the book or the movie was, in search of happiness.
Stephanie Hanlon
Yeah.
Patrick
I mean, ultimately, whatever we're doing, we're looking for that sense of satisfaction, that sense of happiness. You know, people work hard doing what they love to do and when you're doing what you love to do, it doesn't feel like hard work. But having said that, even when you're loving what you do, part of loving what you do has to be attached that you're seeing a result. You're seeing that you're making progress, you're seeing that you're making a difference. So the reason I wanted to shine a light on it is that we overstep. I think we don't shine a big enough light on what are we really in search of. So, for example, money doesn't make you happy or whatever the story is around money and we know that to be true, you can make A lot of money and still not be happy. So where are you making progress? Where are you making a difference? So think of those individuals who hate their life. They continue to grind it out in a job that they hate. For all the reasons that they're grinding it out in a job that they hate. They're not happy. And that's because there's no progress. I think a big part of it is there's no progress in what they're doing. But ultimately, even if you love what you're doing, if you can't benchmark at some level progress, you're not happy about it and you eventually let it go. That's my. Kind of. My observation, if you will.
Stephanie Hanlon
I think a great observation and a great illustration of that is the movie Groundhog Day. Remember, Bill Murray just woke up every day and, you know, hit the alarm and the next thing, and it was a grind. Even though he seemed to love what he did, and he was very famous, he made a lot of money. Every day was a grind. And I used this as an example not long ago with a. With a nice dance couple that I work with. And I said, you know, if it feels like Groundhog Day, do you remember in the Bill Murray aspect of the. His character, what stopped the day from being another repetition? Do you remember what it was? Hunter.
Patrick
Didn't he fall in love? I'm going back in the movie. He got the girl.
Stephanie Hanlon
He fell in love. Yeah, but you know, what we did before that? He realized that life is going to be a grind, and I'm going to be going through the same thing over and over and over again. I might as well enjoy the journey. So, you know, every, like after six or seven times of things going wrong and, you know, somebody fell, and he picked them up before they fell. So it was like he was psychic. Right. So he changed his perspective. So to me, there's a shift in perspective so that you can see what you're doing is making progress. The purpose. So it's like perspective, purpose, progress. And that's what I loved about that movie. And then, then, because he was so shifted out of this grind and this Groundhog Day and this over and over and again, and he was doing things that had a purpose. He fell in love, or the woman finally that he was in love with saw him differently. Right. So I think that, to me, is a good story. Tell me the parable you're thinking of.
Patrick
Okay. So actually, that is a very good story, by the way, and we need to unpack this. So when we think about progress, so I'm going to just share this quick parable. And it was about Alexander the Great. And a long time ago, in a city of Gordium, there was a. What they called a mysterious knot. And it was tied very intricately, and it was so intricate that nobody could seem to untangle it. And so the legend goes that whoever could unravel the Gordian knot would become the ruler of all of Asia. Now, a lot of individuals had tried and they had failed. And the knot really did become the symbol of what would be considered an insurmountable challenge or insurmountable ought. But when Alexander the Great arrived at Gordia, he stood at the knot and he had his whole army and his advisors around him. And some were thinking, dude, you're not going to be able to pull this off. And so they suggested that he leave. Don't ruin your reputation trying to undo this knot. Alexander the Great, being who he was. No. He said, no, I'm going to look. And he stood there and he just looked at the knot. And one advisor finally said to him, alexander, what is it that you're doing? You're just standing there. And he said, I'm just learning. I'm thinking. And then after some time, what did Alexander do? He pulled out his sword and with a single stroke, he cut the knot. Genius. And guess what? The knot was undone and the prophecy was actually fulfilled. But really, the important part of that legend or that parable.
Stephanie Hanlon
Wait a minute. Don't step over another movie. Raiders of the Lost Ark. Remember, the guy comes out with his machete and he wants to fight Harrison Ford, and Harrison Ford takes up his gun and just poof, you know, shoots him. His like.
Patrick
So what he shared with his men afterwards, and this is where the learning in this parable comes from, is the knot was not meant to test his strength in his language. It was there to test my mind. It's not about doing what others expect or following the path already worn by those who met before me. It's about finding new ways to solve challenges and even when they seem impossible. Because here's the thing about it, if you are not making progress, you are stagnating. So you either have growth or you have stagnation. And in this particular case, Alexander said, you know, I'm not going to let fear and other people's opinions get in the way of me taking action. So his inaction would have left the not undone, which arguably would have been like stagnation. And that ultimately leads to decline because that is a universal law. If you're not growing, you're shrinking. There is no status like as is. It's one or the other. You're either moving forward or you're moving backwards.
Stephanie Hanlon
Arguably, you're not moving backwards. You're staying still. And then that's when you die. There is no moving backwards. We can only move forward. And I think that's an illusion. It's like this whole theory about going back to school or going back to where I was from. There is no going back. There's only going forward or staying still. And when you're staying still, there's no progress. And I think that's what I saw over the last few years, like, to Alexander's point, you know, and Harrison Ford's point in the movie, is that when you think about it and you look at things differently, you go, there's a quicker way. There's a shortest distance between two points here. Why would I spend all this time trying to undo the knot when I could just cut it with my knife? Or why would I go through all the struggles with knife fight when I can just take my gun and, you know, shoot it and kill the guy? So when you look at business and you look at life and you look at progress and you tie that to happiness, I have to bring it back to the last four or five years where people were really stuck. And I'm finding I'm really seeing a lot of people starting to wake up and starting to move and look around and go, you know what? I was stuck. I was stagnant. I didn't make any progress. So maybe that's why I'm unhappy. Maybe that's why I'm looking at my relationships and thinking they suck. Or I'm looking at my house, or I'm looking at the environment I have and feel like I need to change it. Because maybe there wasn't enough progress, because we were told externally, whether it was through mainstream media or through the government or through friends and family, is just stay home, stay still, don't do anything. Don't step, don't put your hand up. Don't. Don't have an opinion. And when we don't have that, we can't have progress if we don't have progress. To your point, we've got nothing to measure. And then we look at our life and go, man, this really sucks. And that's really what scares me about not reinserting the value of progress into all of the conversations that we're having now at home and with family and friends and in our businesses.
Patrick
Well, and it's interesting that you just use the word values. You know, when we think about all of the years that we've actually taught and coached around understanding our core values, progress is not a value that has ever shown up in my radar. Yet we know that it's actually progress that fuels our fulfillment, our satisfaction, and understanding that our fulfillment comes from living our purpose. But if we're not living our purpose, we're not making progress. So in the case. I'm going to say that in the case of Alexander the Great, cutting the knot was not just about achieving the goal. I don't believe. I think it also symbolizes the process of being creative, leaning into the challenge, taking an action that nobody's ever done before, and then pushing past those, whatever those limitations are of your advisors around you. So think about. I like. I'm thinking about what he did. Here's how my own thought process would have gone. And I might have been the guy who cut the knot, but the first thing I would have done is going, well, okay, can I cut the knot? Is it okay if I cut the knot? Does that break the rules? You know what? Like, that's what I would have said. Well, how am I going to be judged for cutting the knot? Am I cheating? Like, the self talk around that? Yet Alexander the Great thinks up, walks up, thinks about it, pulls out a sword, cuts the knot, and, you know, and walks away knowing that he's made a huge amount of progress. Because if you could undo the knot, then arguably you would become the leader of Asia or whatever the story decide.
Stephanie Hanlon
Means to cut away. Decide, move on. Decide, move on, decide, move on. I love that.
Patrick
And he took personal responsibility, ultimately for it, you know, so he wasn't blaming the knot. He wasn't blaming people or saying, you know, you made this knot impossible. He just looked at it and he found a solution. And I think that for me is what the real key to entrepreneurship, Entrepreneurship intrapreneurship, as in you're working in a business. But my point is that he looked at the knot not so much as an obstacle, but as an opportunity to expand, to think differently. Again, it comes back to making progress. And we always feel much more fulfilled when we've made progress. And so even when it comes to achieving a goal, ultimately we may not achieve the goal, but can we look back and say, have we made progress? I mean, we've had many conversations around the gap and the gain. And sometimes you sit back at the end of the day and go, okay, I gotta look at what my win was today. In other words, what was the progress I made towards that goal? And that's, let's face it, we're always happier when we are, in fact, making progress.
Stephanie Hanlon
You know, it reminds me, though, hon, of even how we've done our businesses in our lives. And I'm really grateful for even the arguments that we've had in the last couple days and really working things out. Life changes are happening. Our parent, you know, mom and dad are getting older, and there's going to be some shifts in our life, I'm sure, this year. But when I look back at how we built our life and our. Our created our businesses, do you realize that when I was starting to teach power skating back in the late 80s and there was some people teaching power skating, but at the time, nobody'd ever brought in the dry land, the on ice, the mental training, the nutrition, quick feet, boxing, that kind of thing. And I realized, you know, as I was growing, the progress that I was making is because I was seeing gaps in other programs or I was seeing gaps in the hockey players that I was working with. And I don't know if that was just something that really lit me up at the time because I was finding solutions. And to me, that's where progress lives. Same thing when I created the performance psychology department, you know, and what I'm doing right now with ice dance is that if I hadn't done, for example, we had. We do an exercise called the Circle of Support, and we're going to be doing that, I think, in month two, I think, of our masterclasses. But the Circle of Support, it puts me. It put me directly in the middle of my life, which means I'm completely accountable and responsible, not just for my results, but the progress and the creativity and the moving things forward. And I think that's what's missing right now with the people that I'm working with, or what I'm hearing sort of in the industry is that the courage that it takes to look outside yourself and to see the gaps and say, okay, well, maybe I can find a solution for that. Maybe I just pull my. My sword out and cut that knot and I can shorten the distance between the two points that I have to go. And I see right now, I'm going through some changes right now personally, and looking at my business differently and going, you know what? I'm up against some big headwinds, you know, the government, the, you know, different layers of administrative bureaucracy coming down in sport, the things that they're controlling, trying to minimize and Shrink and put different restrictions on and different certifications. And it's like, is that really what I want to be doing? But back in the day when I was building the business and you were helping me and supporting me, I put myself in the middle and I put the people around me so that I could perform and show up and create from the center of who I was being. So when I look at the circle of support exercise and I link it to progress and happiness, what made me the happiest was when I was doing things on my own terms. And I realized not long ago is that part of the reason I've been able to stay progressive and happy and, and in true and in alignment with my values, is that those bodies, whether it's the government or the, the NGOs or the NSOs or the NSFs or whatever layer of whatever, because they can't control me, I get to stay in progress, I get to stay creating, which makes me happy. But when I try to follow the rules of the external, whether it's the government or external, I don't know people who make rules, you know, in any industry is, do you have. And did I have the courage? I did. And I just getting to this right now is that do I have the courage to do it again? Do I have the bandwidth? You know, and I think I do. I think we do. I'm not afraid of the next little while. I want to be able to bring this quality, whether it's circle of support or, you know, I know I do the values matrix every quarter and I'm really happy that it's coming up next week or in the next couple of weeks. But I'm pretty sure progress is going to be one of my highest values.
Patrick
Well, I think I'm going to definitely add it to my list of values because I really do value progress. And we talk about how do you measure it? Well, money is an obvious one. Is your bank account growing? Is your top line, bottom line growing, whatever you might be on the business side of it? So when we talk about progress, but the other part or the other layer of things that we talk about in the seven areas of life is that when you break it down by the seven areas of life, as much emphasis as we put on our business and, or top line, bottom line, measuring our progress, it's because we have an expectation that if we're going to be this creative, work this hard, do all these things, we want to be paid for it. And there's nothing unreasonable about that. But if we look at certain aspects of what's going on economically, what's happening in any given industry. I mean, 40 years later, we've been through so many business cycles where we've had great years and years that just suck and then. But overall, we've done exceptionally well over the many years that we've been together and we've been in business. But the point is, is that we can reflect and say, yes, there was a lot of progress made. The expectation is what shuts us down. So if we look at, and we don't break it down by the seven areas of life, we can, let's just say business, it can ruin all aspects of our view of our world. But when we take and say, okay, well, let's just put our vocation over here, how are we doing physically, mentally, spiritually, emotionally, how are we doing? And some plays off the other, there's an overlap. You know, if you had a Venn diagram of those seven areas of life, there's definitely an overlap. Because if you're making progress in your vocation, for example, you are happier in general with other things. And when you're happier in general, your physical, your mental, your spiritual all improve. But if you can't hang on, if you can't hang your hat on progress in your career or in your business, you need to hang your hat on where you can have and see progress. And that could be in some of these other areas of your life. But ultimately the first phase of it is to ask yourself, you know, are you feeling fulfilled? Are you feeling happy? And if you're not, don't link it to external factors. You know, if Alexander the Great linked it to, well, this knot's impossible to tie and untie and, you know, 500 people before me couldn't do it. No, he looked at it and said, okay, and he pulled out a sword and cut the knot. So the point is, is that he didn't make it about all the external stuff. He went inside, had his thought process and then executed and he made progress. And you know what's interesting about that? Maybe it would have taken two sights of the sword. It was still been progress. My point is that through all of this we have to identify where does our dissatisfaction live and our unhappiness live. And I think often we're going to be able to connect the two. The lack of progress that we're feeling. And that, by the way, is our own expectation often.
Stephanie Hanlon
Well, I think you make a good point. I have a question for you.
Patrick
Okay, you ready? No, but go ahead.
Stephanie Hanlon
Is happiness a feeling?
Patrick
I know the answer to this, but I'm gonna say yes.
Stephanie Hanlon
I don't think it is.
Patrick
Okay, well, then fill me in. That's why I said yes.
Stephanie Hanlon
I think joy is a feeling. I think contentment, groundedness is a feeling. I think those are feelings. I think happiness is a journey. I think happiness, to your point, is checking in on the progress that you made. And are you. Are you happy with yourself, with the choices that you made, with the people that you're around? Is. Does it give you a sense of purpose? Does it give you a sense of relief? Are you comforted? So to me, if happiness is about chasing the next buck or chasing the next deal or chasing the next something out there, and in two weeks, I'll be happy. As soon as I get over this, this, this, and this, I'm going to be happy, and I'll have time to be happy. I think what we've done is we've made happy a feeling that is like Disneyland, the happiest place on earth. Again, it's external. I don't think happy is an external experience. I think happiness is an inside job, kind of like love.
Patrick
Okay, well, there's a little bit of semantics in there. I don't disagree, but I don't know. I don't want. I don't know if I want to go down that particular path, you know, because I think you make some really good points. But ultimately, how we feel, I think one, I don't want to step over. One of the things that you made in that list is how do we feel about ourselves? And what I know for me, and I'm sure for many. But I'll just say for me, if I'm not making progress, I am bitchy. I have to own all parts of that. But I get frustrated. I beat myself up. I literally am probably hard to be around for some people, just you, actually. But my point is, is that, you know, progress is such an important aspect of what gives us even the joy, that sense of fulfillment. I work hard. I have absolutely no problem working hard. I love to work hard. I'm actually probably have what some would call an addiction to working hard. I just have to keep doing things, and I like it, but it's because I like making progress. And I think that for me, that's kind of the mic drop of this whole podcast is that, you know, we talk a lot about the different coaching that we do and the different programs that we've offered, but what does it really boil down to? How do we support people in making progress, ourselves included? By the way. So I'll give you an example. And you know this to be true. Nothing lights me up more than we have coaching, client, an event, you know, whatever that might be. In the world of personal, professional development, business, real estate, whatever, we've done some form of coaching for the better part of our lives. But if our clients aren't getting results, if they're not achieving an outcome, that to me is, I'm not making like, I take that on a little bit going, I'm not making progress with you. So your win is also my win. It's like you have your clients go up on the podium, you get to enjoy that win even though you're not in the limelight. That's not. But it's because of the work that you were doing that you can actually own it and go, now that's progress. You know, I don't know. I'm probably just bouncing around it. I'm going to continue to get clearer on it. But anyways, that's good.
Stephanie Hanlon
I think that's good. I think, I think we if. Well, hon, we wouldn't be doing this podcast and unpacking all these kinds of things if we didn't think there was value for the people that are listening to us and giving us 30 minutes or 35 minutes of their. Of their time every week. But ultimately, it is frustrating. And I know that the word frustration, you used it a couple times about not making progress or spinning your wheels. Frustration is defined in my world as unmet expectations. So when we don't have our expectations, the feeling that comes up or the response that we get in our body is frustration. And that's what I was trying to say about happiness. I don't think it's a feeling. I think it's like it's an experience. And sometimes there's moments of joy, moments of happiness, of elation. But, you know, I always say too is, you know, I learned in rain with real estate, if you want excitement, go to Vegas or go on a roller coaster. If you want a happy life, just take one step at a time in the direction of your goals and values and be around people you like to be around, challenge yourself, make progress.
Patrick
Right, exactly. So, you know, at the end of the day, we have to consider and kind of unpack. Sometimes we search outside of ourselves for maybe why we're not feeling good, why we're frustrated, maybe even why we're pissed off at the world. But ultimately, I think that often we can see that. And then just because we've talk with so Many people over the years, you start to understand that if you hate your job and. Or your career path or whatever's going on, you have to ask yourself, would you hate it if you were making the kind of progress that you expected to make? And, you know, when we have an expectation, even with the job that we're doing or perhaps a business that we have, we have the expectation that it's going to provide for us or provide for our families in a meaningful way. And when it doesn't, okay, yes, you've made progress, but not the kind of progress that you want or intended to make, the expectation you had. So then you have to step back and either reinvent what you're doing, repurpose what you're doing, kick whatever you're doing to the curb, and move on to something else. But if you're not, and it doesn't mean quit easy, and that I'm. If anything, I think about some of the decisions I make, even on a business, and I'm. I'm really bad for just kicking shit to the curb and letting it go, because I really work hard, too, because I want to make it work. Anyways, my point is that at some point you go, yeah, the progress just isn't there. It's not the best use of my time. And when you're not making the best use of your time, there's an opportunity cost, which is, why are you focused on that when there's all this stuff going on over there? Again, this all relates back to making progress. So I think I've covered all the things I want to cover when it comes to progress and unpacking all the things that we're going to unpack in the masterclasses, they're free, by the way. No strings attached to any of these, by the way.
Stephanie Hanlon
So, yeah, we don't have anything to sell you into.
Patrick
There's no programs. So anyways, if you want to join us for the masterclasses, these are some of the things that we're going to be talking about, matrix values so that you can start to understand that matrix and those values. And I think everybody should have. Progress is one of their highest values. That's just my new insight that I'll share with the world as I gain more and put a little bit more meat on that particular bone. We're going to be talking about the circle of support, how important it is and how important it is that you're aware of where you are. You're in the middle always, but how are you surrounding yourself? And then we're going to be continuing to break down the seven areas of life, including an awesome handout and a handout that actually you did an audio file for it. What do we call an audiobook?
Stephanie Hanlon
Audiobook. Audio version. Yeah. It was really good. It was fun.
Patrick
So those are all the things that are coming your way. I think we've covered this one. Anything else that you want to add to it?
Stephanie Hanlon
No, just purpose progress. And don't forget play purpose progress.
Patrick
Play. Love it. Thanks, Stephanie.
Stephanie Hanlon
Thanks, son. That was fun.
Patrick
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for listening. If you found value in the podcast, please take the time to rate and review and share with others. Share with your friends as it is my goal to always improve and to provide the highest value for you, the listener. If you have any comments, suggestions or questions you you'd like answered, please email me at CEO@raincanada.com. that's CEO@reincanada.com. i look forward to hearing from you. And until next time. Patrick. Oh.
Summary of "Mindset Matters - Episode #168 - Progress: The Hidden Key to Happiness and Fulfillment"
The Everyday Millionaire Podcast Episode #168, titled "Progress: The Hidden Key to Happiness and Fulfillment," hosted by Patrick Francey and co-hosted by his wife, Stephanie Hanlon, delves deep into the intricate relationship between progress, happiness, and fulfillment. Released on January 16, 2025, this episode offers listeners insightful discussions, practical examples, and profound reflections on how progress serves as the cornerstone of a happy and fulfilling life.
Patrick Francey opens the episode by introducing the theme of "Mindset Matters," emphasizing the significance of mindset in navigating the most impactful times in history. He underscores the importance of viewing the world through a lens of clarity and progress to experience personal evolution and adapt to changing dynamics. Stephanie Hanlon, an Olympic mental performance coach, joins him to explore these themes further.
Notable Quote:
Patrick [00:04]: "Your view of the world is the filter for how you will experience the evolution and changing dynamics of it."
Patrick poses a fundamental question to Stephanie: "Are you happy?" This candid exchange serves as a springboard for discussing how progress influences happiness. Stephanie reflects on their recent challenges and resolutions, illustrating how overcoming obstacles contributes to immediate feelings of happiness.
Notable Quote:
Stephanie Hanlon [01:03]: "Yes. In this moment, I'm happy. Maybe 10 or 15 minutes ago, not so much."
Patrick elaborates on the concept that progress—not merely the end goal—fuels a deeper sense of fulfillment and happiness. He argues that progress acts as both a motivator and a measure of success, independent of the ultimate outcomes.
Notable Quote:
Patrick [02:01]: "I know for myself is that I'm the happiest when I'm making progress."
To elucidate the importance of progress, Patrick shares two compelling parables:
Stephanie references the movie Groundhog Day to highlight how repetitive routines can lead to dissatisfaction. She emphasizes that a shift in perspective and finding purpose within the routine can transform the experience, making it about progress rather than monotony.
Notable Quote:
Stephanie Hanlon [08:27]: "He realized that life is going to be a grind, and I'm going to be going through the same thing over and over and over again. I might as well enjoy the journey."
Patrick narrates the legend of Alexander the Great and the Gordian Knot to demonstrate creative problem-solving. Alexander's decision to cut the knot with his sword symbolizes taking bold actions to make progress, rather than adhering to conventional methods that lead to stagnation.
Notable Quote:
Patrick [09:10]: "It's about finding new ways to solve challenges and even when they seem impossible."
The conversation shifts to how progress intertwines with various aspects of life and business. Patrick and Stephanie discuss the importance of aligning progress with core values and measuring it across different life areas.
They highlight the necessity of identifying and adhering to core values to ensure that progress is meaningful and aligned with one's purpose.
Notable Quote:
Stephanie Hanlon [16:39]: "What made me the happiest was when I was doing things on my own terms."
Patrick explains that progress can be quantified through various metrics, such as financial growth in business or personal milestones. He emphasizes that these measurements provide a sense of accomplishment and drive continued effort.
Notable Quote:
Patrick [15:24]: "He looked at the knot not so much as an obstacle, but as an opportunity to expand, to think differently."
The hosts discuss the dangers of stagnation, noting that lack of progress can lead to dissatisfaction and decline. They advocate for continuous growth, suggesting that even small steps forward can prevent feelings of being stuck.
Notable Quote:
Patrick [12:04]: "If you are not making progress, you are stagnating. So you either have growth or you have stagnation."
Stephanie shares personal insights on maintaining progress amidst life changes and external challenges. She attributes her sustained happiness to her ability to adapt and continue creating despite obstacles, reinforcing the idea that progress fosters fulfillment.
Notable Quote:
Stephanie Hanlon [20:09]: "I see right now, I'm going through some changes personally, and looking at my business differently and going, you know what? I'm up against some big headwinds, you know."
Patrick and Stephanie outline forthcoming topics in their masterclasses, including:
They stress the importance of integrating progress into these frameworks to achieve a balanced and fulfilling life.
Notable Quote:
Patrick [20:09]: "Progress is one of their highest values. That's just my new insight that I'll share with the world."
The episode concludes with a reinforcement of the central thesis: progress is indispensable for happiness and fulfillment. By actively seeking and measuring progress, individuals can cultivate a life aligned with their values and purpose, leading to sustained happiness.
Notable Quote:
Patrick [26:56]: "Ultimately, it is frustrating... But ultimately, we can see that... the lack of progress that we're feeling."
This episode of The Everyday Millionaire provides a compelling exploration of how progress serves as the hidden key to happiness and fulfillment. Through engaging dialogues, relatable parables, and actionable insights, Patrick and Stephanie offer listeners a roadmap to cultivating a life rich in progress and, consequently, in happiness.