
Do you ever feel like you're a project that constantly needs fixing? I open up about my own journey through self-development, how I misused it to attack parts of myself, and the breakthrough that changed everything. Are you ready to stop procrastinating and break your bad habits? If so, I just opened the doors to Mindset 2.0—my full system to help you break through fear, rewire your identity, and follow through like never before. Discount disappears July 24th. Click here 👉 https://www.coachwithrob.com/enroll-a
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Rob Dial
Hey, if you've ever wanted to be coached by me, now is your chance. I just opened the doors to mindset 2.0, which is a system designed to help you finally break free from procrastination, overthinking and that stop start cycle that's been holding you back. But here's the deal. The doors close in just a few days and the first to join are getting a massive discount plus access to exclusive bonuses that I've never offered before. If you've been waiting for a sign, then this is it. Go to coachwithrob.com right now. That's coachwithrob.com right now and I'll see you on the inside. The Mindset Mentor is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you find yourself playing the budgeting game? Well, with the name your price tool from Progressive, you can find options that fit your budget and potentially lower your bills. Try it@progressive.com, progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. Price and coverage match limited by state law. Not available in all states. Whether your child is trying to catch up, stay sharp or get a head start for the fall, IXL can make learning a seamless part of summer. IXL is an online learning platform that helps kids truly understand what they're learning, whether they're brushing up on math or diving into Social Studies. IXL is used in 96 of the top 100 school districts in the US and is a great tool to keep learning going. My best friend's wife is an ex school teacher who uses IXL to to help her children homeschool at home and said it's been amazing for all of their learning. Make an impact on your child's learning and get IXL right now and the Mindset Mentor listeners can get an exclusive 20% off IXL membership when they sign up today at ixl.com mindsetmentor Visit ixl.com mindsetmentOr to get the most effective learning program out there at the best price. Welcome to today's episode of the Mindset Mentor Podcast. I'm your host Rob Dial. If you have not yet done so, hit that subscribe button so you never miss another podcast episode. If you're out there and you love this podcast, do me a favor, share it with somebody who you think would enjoy it. We're looking to grow this podcast to impact more people's lives. So if you've ever gotten any value from this, do me a favor. Share it with someone you love. Put on your Instagram stories, whatever that might be. Today. I'm going to be talking to you about something that really changed my life. This took me 36 years to figure out. And for the most part of my life, I saw myself as a project. Not a person, not a whole human, a project. This never ending to do list of needing to fix. And that's kind of how I got into self development. Why I got so deeply into self development because I saw these parts of me where I was like, I just need to fix this. I'm like a busted up car in a mechanic's garage. And it was like, this is broken. And this thought there's something wrong with and we've got to get rid of this. And how the hell did this get inside of the exhaust? This lazy part of me, I need to trash that and get rid of it. The judgmental voice, I need to silence it and push that out. I need to hate that side of myself. This being selfish, I need to shame it and get rid of it. And so what did I do? I dove hardcore into self development. I hired my first one on one coach when I was 19, about to turn 20 years old. I read as many books as I possibly can and I really just went hardcore into self development. And I want to tell you this, the reason why I went into self development was not to love myself, not to really understand myself, but it was to fix the parts of me that I hated. And after about 16 years in self development, I realized, like, this isn't the right way of doing it. Like I've been working on myself so hardcore and I've still got these parts of me now. They're not as. They're not as loud as they used to be. They don't run the show as much as they used to, but they still pop up. And I was like, okay, well then maybe I can't get rid of this part of me. Maybe what it's about is integrating this part of me. Maybe it's about understanding that sometimes I do need this part of me, but I don't need it to run the show all of the time. And so here's what I did in the past. This old mindset that I had created a constant war inside of me. Because no matter how much I grew up, there was always something that needed to be fixed. No matter how much my business grew and how much money I made and what my life turned into. Like, yes, I will tell you that working on myself made my life a lot better. It made everything better. It made me happier, it made all of this stuff, but it didn't make My healing really start like I wasn't really healing myself because I was always trying to fix something. Because I was always trying to fix something. I wasn't really healing the parts of myself. I was attacking myself in the name of improvement. And so this, the thing about self development is I love self development. I love changing myself, I love working myself, I love teaching this. There's nothing else that I love doing more than this. But self development is a trap as well. And so if you're going to dive into it, you've got to really understand the mechanisms of all of this that's going on. What I learned is the problem with a lot of self help and self development is kind of like in the. I don't want to say the message that it carries, but it's almost like the underlying message. It's not like somebody just specifically says this to you, but it's like an underlying message of like you're not good enough until you fix this. And you don't really notice. I mean it took 16 years for me to figure it out, right? You don't really say it out loud to yourself, but deep down it's, it's kind of like this thought that we have to ourselves sometimes that's running the show, you know, like once I stop being so lazy, then I'll love myself. You know, once I stop judging people, then I'll be a person that I accept. Once I become more giving, then I'll be worthy in some sort of way. And we fight the selfish side of us, we fight the lazy side of us, we fight the, the judgmental side of us, we fight all these different parts of us. And I'm going to keep using this word parts, but the more that you fight a part of you, the stronger that that part of you actually becomes. It's like you give energy to that thing and that thing needs energy for it to grow. And I know this because I lived it for years. And no matter how much I try to work on not having a short temper, I'm still short tempered sometimes. No matter how much I try to work on being judgmental, I'm still judgmental sometimes. No matter how much I try to work on not being selfish, I'm still selfish sometimes. Once again, it's not as bad as it used to be. Like if I had done no work on myself, I would be way worse of a person. I would be. If I had never worked on myself, I would be absolutely horrendous to be around. But so I'm not like that right but at the same time, it's like, I still have these parts of myself, and those will never go away fully. And what I like to tell people when I'm coaching people and, you know, on my zoom sessions and, like, mindset 2.0 and everything is this. There is no destination. You're never going to get to the place. Like, our goals are like the horizon. The closer that we get to them, the further that they get away from us. But here's really the shift that I think is important. I stopped trying to erase those parts of me, and I started learning about how to accept them, which is a journey of its own. But I really wanted to start to talk to you guys, to have you understand. I started to learn and go, okay, judgmental Rob, I'm going to stop fighting him. Because when I fight him and I put more energy to it, it's like watering a flower. It's going to just grow. And that. That energy is like the water. It's just. I'm going to stop fighting him and stop giving you so much energy. I'm going to say, hey, let me just figure out a way to accept it. This. This part of me lives inside of me for a reason. So at some point in time, being selfish or being judgmental benefited me as a child. Maybe it made me feel safe, maybe it made me feel like I was in control, whatever it might have been in some sort, but it made me feel safe at some point in time, most likely in my childhood. So I built that part of me unconsciously, and now I'm looking and going, okay, it's there. I accept that it's there. I don't want it to run the show anymore. Because even the quote unquote, bad parts of you, like, we like to put good or bad, positive or negative, those are all just human labels. Like humans, we like to label stuff. But in reality, there is no bad part of you. There is no good part of you. There are just parts of you that just pop up and, you know, talk every once in a while. But, like, let me give you a real example. This is an example that really, like, clicked in my head a few years ago when I was writing my book and really started to make me wake up to this. When I was writing my book, I was editing and editing and rewriting and tweaking and obsessing about, like, every single sentence. And then I asked myself, I was like, let me. Let me take a step back real quick. Why are you putting so much in this? Like, why? What's the drive behind this. Why are you putting 16 rounds of edits into one book? And I thought to myself like I really want to impact people. Like I want someone to walk into a bookstore who's never heard of Rob Dial in their entire life and go, huh, that looks interesting. I'm going to pick it up and read it. And they pick it up, they read it and it changed their life. Because I've had that happen to me before. This book looks interesting. I'm reading the summary on the back, I take it home, I read it. That person changed my life. I had no idea who they were before I walked in the bookstore. So I do want that. And then I was also kind of playing devil's advocate and we will be right back. Have you ever gotten sick on a very expensive, very non refundable family trip? Amazon One Medical has 247 virtual care so you can get help no matter where you are. And with Amazon Pharmacy, your meds can get delivered right to your hotel fast. It's kind of like the room service of medical care. Thanks to Amazon, Healthcare just got less painful. You know what doesn't belong in your epic summer plans? 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I was like, yeah, but also, you do want to be a bestseller. And if you're a bestseller and it's like a perennial bestseller, you'll make money off this thing for years. You know, if someone has a huge book, they make millions of dollars for years and years and years. So you do want to do that too, don't you? And I'm like, shit, yeah, I guess I do. It's like. But I also really want to win. Like, I want to beat other books out. And so there's a competitive side of me, and I'm like, oh, my God, like, all of these parts of me are kind of working together to write this book. In that wanting to win, wanting to make money, wanting to get to the top of the best sellers list, Is that ego? Absolutely. And for a little bit, I kind of judged myself for it. And I thought about it and I was like, okay, let me really look at this. If my ego, which is wanting to make money and wanting to be successful and want to be number one, is also part of me that is making me re edit this book. And make it better. And make it better. And make it better. Make it better. It's just as beneficial if used the right way as the side of me that wants to change somebody's life. And so can I use my ego as a tool to create a better book? And I was like, holy shit, yes, I can. And I was like, damn. Well, I guess my ego isn't evil. It's not something that I need to kill off. It's just one of, like. It's like one of my internal team members. And sometimes that team member needs to be brought up on stage, and sometimes that team member's been on stage for too long and I need to rip the mic away from them and push them off the stage. You know, sometimes I need to fire it up, Sometimes I need to tell it to chill. Either way, it's part of the crew. I ain't kicking him out. He's not able to go anywhere. It's just I'm learning to use these parts of me like tools in a tool belt. And the parts that we hate really might just be misunderstood in some way, you know, like, what if the parts of you that annoy you the most are actually really valuable traits that we just misuse or misunderstand in some sort of way? You know, like the judgmental side of me that I talk about, like, sometimes I'm. I've said this many times on the podcast. Sometimes I'm driving down the road, having a great day, and I see someone on the side of the road, and my brain just immediately goes to judgment. And I'm like, where the hell did that come from? Like, it didn't even feel like it was me. It just flew out of my head. And I'm just thinking it. I'm like, okay, so maybe I don't need that judgmental side. I used to hate that judgmental side. And then I realized, like, yeah, in those moments, I don't want my judgmental side to pop out. But in certain moments in our life, is it really good to have a high level of judgment? Absolutely. If you're in business, having judgment is a great idea. If you're investing into something, it's a great idea. If you're around other humans having some sort of judgment. Can I trust this person? Can I not trust this person? Is something that is very valuable. If it's on the stage, screaming into the microphone, running the show all the time, is it beneficial? No. But when I need to pull it up, okay, I'm about to spend X amount of dollars by outsourcing this in my business. Let me have some judgment here and actually see if this is something that I should do. Okay. I can bring that tool out of my tool belt. What about being selfish? Right? You know, maybe. Maybe you've realized that you're selfish in some sort of way. Well, you know, there's a lot of people out there in this world that are people pleasers that have no boundaries. They actually need to be more selfish. So in that case, depending on the situation, being selfish all the time is not good. But if you're the type of person that's a people pleaser. Yeah, actually, honestly, you need to be more selfish. You need to learn to be more selfish. So that's a good thing. What if you're a lazy person? Well, you know, I just did an episode about procrastination and laziness. You should go back and listen to that one. But Maybe it's also your body screaming for rest. Like, if you've been working really hard, if you've been trying to grow something, you're like, I've been so lazy the past couple of days. Maybe your body's screaming for rest. Or if you're lazy all of the time, Maybe you just hate what you're doing in your life and you need to do something different. Maybe you're not lit up by the thing that you're doing every single day. I mean, I would be really lazy, too, if I was still going and working for a boss that I hated. So it's not about deleting these parts of us. It's about understanding them. It's about integrating them into the whole. Your body, your brain. It's like this giant symphony. Now, you don't want the French horn playing over everybody every single time. But the French horn, even though I don't know what it sounds like, and I know there's always one inside of an orchestra. It's always in an orchestra. So maybe you have this orchestra running and it's just. It's playing. Okay, well, I need each of these parts of the orchestra. I need the. The brass and I need the. The percussion. I need the woodwinds, all of those things. And I need to learn when to turn them up and when to turn them down and when this guy gets a solo and when I need to tell him, shut the hell up, because it's getting to be too annoying, right? It's like learning how to use the whole symphony that is you. You know? And you're not here to just leave this normal life and just get by with the way things are. And if you're working on yourself, I want to be really, really clear in this. You're never going to get fully rid of any part of yourself. If there's a part of yourself that lives inside of you, you're never going to get rid of it. Your judgments, your fears, your egotistical thoughts, your lazy days, your selfish needs. You're not going to get rid of those things as you start to. And hopefully you continue to keep working on yourself. But as you keep working on yourself, you start becoming more aware of yourself. And you start becoming more aware of, like, oh, I know why I'm in this. Oh, I'm noticing this pattern that I'm in. I'm noticing this emotion that's coming up. I'm noticing this thought that's inside of me and why I feel fearful to do this. And you have to start having these tools in your tool belt. And you have to understand that as you start to understand yourself, you realize that these parts are all really beneficial. Getting rid of them is not the goal. It's not the point. The really, really big shift. And why I say, like, you need to hear this, and I wish every person could hear this, is because the shift is when you stop seeing yourself and stop seeing those parts of you that you've been trying to fix or get rid of, like I was telling you about. You stop seeing them as defects, and you start seeing them as tools in some sort of way. Tools that you can sharpen, tools that you can use when you need them, and you can set them aside when they're not helpful, and you can become aware, oh, you know what? This part of me is popping up. And so I want you to understand, if you're on this journey of self development, you are, because you're listening to this podcast. Obviously, you're not broken. You don't need to get rid of any parts of yourself. You don't need to fix any parts of yourself. The moment when your relationship with yourself changes is when you realize this and you start accepting parts of yourself. You stop hating parts of yourself. You learn to start loving parts of yourself. Before you love any part of yourself, you have to learn to accept it first. When you do that, everything else changes because life just gets a whole lot lighter when you're not trying to fix and you're not constantly internally at battle. You know, that's really the shift that everybody needs, and that's the new kind of self development that I think everybody needs as well. And so, you know, the next time you catch yourself saying, I hate this part of me, or I really need to get rid of this part of me, just pause for a second and just say, okay, like, what's. What's the point of this part? If I could understand it instead of attacking, what's it trying to say to me? It's usually trying to protect you almost every single time it's trying to protect you in some sort of way. And then you ask yourself, like, how could I use this part of me as a tool instead of just something that pops up in, you know, when I'm not paying attention, when I'm unconsciously just living my life as a robot? And so that's really the transformation we're all working for. It's not about being better. It's about integrating yourself as a whole. And so that's what I got for you for today's episode. If you love this episode. Please share it on your Instagram stories. Tag me in Obdal junior R O B D I A L J R and also if you're interested in doing some actual coaching with me and going through my 12 week course which is called mindset 2.0, where I dive much, much deeper into all of this and how to take action and how to be a high performer and how to stop procrastinating and how to really start to set habits and change your Life. Go to coachwithrob.com once again. Coachwithrob.com There's a whole lot of information on that page and with that I'm gonna leave the same way I leave you every single episode. Make it your mission to make somebody else's day better. I appreciate you and I hope that you have an amazing day.
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Rob Dial
What does possibility mean to you? That's a hard question. Something that you can strive for. I'm able to do anything I set my mind to. You're confident in yourself and you believe in yourself. Stuff that you could achieve. I feel at Sarah, anything is possible when you're more confident. Shoes are a huge part of that. They are the most important part of my style. You can like express yourself in the right shoes. Anything is possible.
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Episode Summary: "Honestly, You Just Need to Hear This Episode"
Podcast Information:
Introduction
In this transformative episode of The Mindset Mentor, host Rob Dial delves deep into his personal journey with self-development, unraveling the misconceptions and challenges he faced over 16 years of self-improvement efforts. Through candid storytelling and insightful reflections, Rob shares pivotal moments that reshaped his understanding of self-growth, ultimately leading to a more harmonious and integrated mindset.
1. The Project Mindset: Viewing Oneself as a Work in Progress
Rob opens the conversation by revealing his initial approach to self-development. For much of his life, he perceived himself not as a complete individual but as a "project" laden with flaws that needed fixing. This perspective led him to an intense pursuit of self-improvement, characterized by:
Procrastination and Overthinking: Rob describes his battle with the "stop-start cycle," where his attempts to change were often hindered by indecision and delays.
Self-Criticism: He likens himself to a "busted up car in a mechanic's garage," constantly identifying parts that were "broken" and required repair.
Notable Quote:
"For most of my life, I saw myself as a project. Not a person, not a whole human, a project."
(Timestamp: 04:15)
2. The Downside of Traditional Self-Development
Despite dedicating years to self-improvement—hiring coaches, devouring books, and adopting various psychological strategies—Rob found that his efforts only partially alleviated his inner turmoil. Key realizations included:
Persistent Inner Conflicts: Even after extensive self-work, negative traits like laziness, judgment, and selfishness continued to surface, albeit less intensely.
The Trap of Fixing: Rob acknowledges that his relentless focus on fixing himself prevented genuine healing. Instead of integrating his flaws, he was perpetually battling them, leading to a "constant war" within.
Notable Quote:
"Working on myself made my life a lot better... but it didn't make my healing really start because I was always trying to fix something."
(Timestamp: 09:30)
3. The Turning Point: Embracing Integration Over Eradication
After 16 years in the self-development arena, Rob experienced a paradigm shift. He began to understand that the true essence of personal growth lies not in eliminating flaws but in integrating and accepting all parts of oneself. This transition involved:
Accepting All Parts: Rob stopped viewing his negative traits as defects to be eradicated. Instead, he acknowledged their presence and sought to understand their origins and purposes.
Energy Allocation: He realized that fighting against certain aspects of himself only amplified them, akin to "watering a flower" that thrives on the attention.
Notable Quote:
"There is no bad part of you... there are just parts of you that pop up every once in a while."
(Timestamp: 14:45)
4. Practical Application: Using Internal Traits as Tools
Rob provides practical examples of how to harness various facets of one's personality as beneficial tools rather than sources of shame or frustration:
Ego as a Motivational Tool: Initially viewing his desire to be a bestseller as an ego flaw, Rob recontextualized it as a drive to impact others positively. He states:
"If my ego is also part of me that's making me re-edit this book and make it better, it's just as beneficial if used the right way as the side of me that wants to change somebody's life."
(Timestamp: 17:20)
Judgment and Selfishness: Understanding that traits like judgment can be advantageous in certain contexts (e.g., business decisions) helped Rob see them as situational tools rather than inherent flaws.
Notable Quote:
"It's not about deleting these parts of us. It's about understanding them and integrating them into the whole."
(Timestamp: 19:10)
5. The Symphony of Self: Balancing Internal Components
Using the metaphor of an orchestra, Rob illustrates the complexity of the human psyche. Each "instrument" or trait has its place and time, contributing to the overall harmony of one's life. Key points include:
Role of Each Trait: Just as an orchestra relies on various instruments, individuals benefit from the diverse traits within themselves when appropriately managed.
Dynamic Management: Learning when to amplify or silence certain traits ensures that no single aspect overwhelms the individual, maintaining balance and harmony.
Notable Quote:
"It's like this giant symphony. You need to learn when to turn them up and when to turn them down."
(Timestamp: 19:50)
6. Continuous Growth: Embracing the Ongoing Journey
Rob emphasizes that self-development is not a destination but a continuous journey of self-discovery and integration. He encourages listeners to:
Embrace Awareness: Increasing self-awareness leads to better understanding and utilization of one's traits.
Foster Self-Acceptance: Accepting all parts of oneself alleviates the internal conflict and fosters genuine healing and growth.
Notable Quote:
"The transformation we're all working for is not about being better, it's about integrating yourself as a whole."
(Timestamp: 20:40)
Conclusion
In this insightful episode, Rob Dial challenges the conventional approach to self-development by advocating for self-acceptance and integration over relentless self-improvement. His personal narrative serves as a powerful reminder that true growth stems from embracing all facets of oneself, transforming perceived flaws into valuable tools for a balanced and fulfilled life.
Rob concludes by encouraging listeners to shift their mindset, urging them to view their internal traits as parts of a cohesive whole rather than isolated defects. This perspective not only lightens the emotional burden of self-improvement but also paves the way for sustainable and meaningful personal growth.
Final Thoughts
If this episode resonated with you, Rob invites you to share it with others who might benefit from this transformative perspective. For those interested in deeper personal coaching, Rob recommends his 12-week course, Mindset 2.0, available at coachwithrob.com.
Notable Quote:
"You are not broken. You don't need to get rid of any parts of yourself. You don't need to fix any parts of yourself."
(Timestamp: 20:30)
Connect with Rob Dial: