#86 - 5 Daily Standards for Total Mental Control

No one can beat you down like you can.

This episode covers the 5 non-negotiable standards I use daily to replace self-doubt with an undeniable track record. Control what you can control. Get it done regardless of the chaos.

Watch confidence and total mental control transfer to your overall training performance, and the uniform.

Also mentioned: The Tactical Readiness Blueprint - the #1 weakness that gets leaders in uniform hurt, exposed, or outpaced, and how to build your system around it. Grab it free: TRB

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hey, what's going on, everybody? Welcome to the Everyday Responder Podcast. And we're going to be talking about a topic today that is near and dear to my heart. This is stuff that I love. And admittedly, it is a little bit unsexy compared to strength training and conditioning and all these different types of things. But I think it's going to be very important and impactful because honestly, I would say 85% of the time I talk a lot about this on uh on the strategy calls with clients. So it's going to be it's very important and it affects all of us, including myself. And I'm going to give a disclaimer here that I am not perfect by any means on these things. And uh yeah, there's some times where chaos definitely gets the best of me. Um, but these things are gonna be super helpful, these five daily standards that we're gonna go over. And these are things that we track religiously with a lot of the clients that I'm working with. And again, there they're there's a little bit of individualization when it comes to the standards, so they might um differ a little bit, but these are things that I also do on a day-to-day basis. So I can promise you that they definitely, definitely, definitely help. So the big focus here is to really kind of dial in some things outside of the uniform that are gonna fuel not only uh how you feel and how you operate in uniform, but um how you feel in general about life, right? Like life always beats you down. But um, this these are definitely ways that that I've found. Um, just some well, we'll call it serenity, I guess. Um, so very, very important stuff. Before we get into it, I just wanted to also let you know that we did make some updates on the tactical readiness blueprint. So I'm gonna be leaving the link below. So if you are interested, it's gonna, it's really cool. I've gotten some really good feedback on it from the people who have done it. But what it is is essentially we go over some, you know, the idea of thinking in systems and how you need to do it to bring up your weakness and then give you an overall strategy, specific tactics, as well as touch on a recommendation of a split. So it's really uh really full steam ahead with that. So if you are interested in that or you don't really know kind of where your training is going or where where you kind of want to head, um, definitely recommend it and we'll we'll get you set up there. So again, the the big thing here with today's episode, we'll get right into it, is the the big target is ultimately creating standards that fuel an overall track record for yourself, right? Because at the end of the day, we all have extremely loud inner critics. I say that all the time, but the real it's the reality with all the conversations I've had, with some of my own internal debriefs or journaling, it's like, damn, why am I beating myself down so much? And I know it happens to a lot of us. So the idea is hey, there's some things that we we definitely can't control. And when you when you're talking about being in uniform, there is a ton of things that you can't control, whether that's work, shifts, ex uh shifts uh extending, whether it's working just crazy hours, whether it's just overall life, right? And again, I I hear I I try not to use the word balance and it kind of frustrates me at times when you know we're I'm having conversations with people and they're just like, oh, like it's just busy or like I'm I'm tired and uh you know life's expensive and and all those things. And I'm like, yeah, no, no shit. Like that's we're we're all in the same boat, right? But at the end of the day, like some people still get it done and some people are are still at the starting line. So we know life is gonna punch us in the face, and it's like, okay, well, what are you gonna do about it, right? Are you gonna, you know, uh just kind of take that that victim path, or are we gonna say, okay, you know what? I'm gonna, you know, I'm gonna take action here and and and be imperfect, but we're gonna we're gonna go, right? Um, and then another one is is just overall stress. Like we're we're inherently overstressed as a society. So there are certain things that we can do to try to mitigate some of that. You know, no stress is is honestly no good. So we we do have to figure out how to manage stress and and ultimately say, okay, like this is the the priority, this is gonna be the focus point. Maybe training like backs off a little bit, right? Or maybe training ramps up and then something else backs off, but ultimately kind of like teetering with that that effect of saying, okay, well, we're gonna, you know, figure out how to rack and stack priorities and just execute there. But big picture with all that stuff, we know it is going to be chaos chaotic. We know chaos is gonna get in the way, and it's like, okay, well, what are we gonna do about it? So you think about nutrition, you think about training, you think about stress management, right? There are a lot of different things, as I just mentioned, that are out of our control, but there are still some things that we can do. So, some of the specific tactics that we use, or I guess overall strategy here. Number one, with especially nutrition and training, like scheduling autonomy. I am huge on that. I'm extremely bullish on that. And it's like, okay, schedule autonomy. We have four days that we need to complete in a seven-day period. So, again, these are the left and right bounds. This is how I work with my clients. And it's saying, okay, well, we can train four days per week or five days per week. Now I want you to think about day one through day seven, and it's saying, okay, we have four days, we need to get these done, right? And we're gonna build it so there's a little bit of flexibility, right? And I always tell people, like, is it ideal to move stuff around? No, but neither is you know, working 24s or working crazy shifts, right? So we need to work with what we got. So scheduling autonomy is huge. You are in the driver's seat. And again, there is gonna be stuff that we can't control around that, but we need to respond. The next one here, auto-regulating, right? Auto-regulating is extremely important. Excuse me, sorry about that. I don't have like a mute button here. Um, auto-regulating, very, very important. Like we have the idea of okay, well, we can back off a little bit, or RPE-based training, both running and uh or uh conditioning and strength training, right? It's like, okay, well, if we have this RPE for that specific day and we are kind of getting rid of historical context of what we did last week, forget about it. It's like, okay, well, bring the intensity that you have for this specific day. The last one here, very important, is looking at things from a macro viewpoint. So the idea is, okay, let's zoom out. And it's the same, like uh an example would be um like calorie or carb cycling, where it's like, okay, you don't need to do the same exact thing every day. We need to look at week totals. So we look at the week, we look at the month, and it's like if we do miss a day, but we respond, it's like, okay, that's a blip on the radar. Like, let's keep it moving. But again, having that big picture viewpoint. Now, the the problem with those things, and again, those are those are some extremely valid solutions and solutions that we use. But one of the problems is we are extremely hard-headed. And I say all the time, we are stubborn, we are not stupid. So, what do we usually see with with those things? It's like, oh, I need to be more disciplined or consistent. And it's like, well, you know, what do you what do you mean by that? Like, what what like describe what you why you're why you're saying that? And it's like, well, I didn't do the schedule how it was prescribed, and I moved the day and I had to do it on this day. And I'm like, well, we still hit 100%. So is it really, you know, a lack of consistency or discipline because the schedule punched you in the face, or you literally couldn't make it to the gym? In my opinion, no. Like, if anything, you you show you showed those things by responding. Or I hear and not like verbatim, but essentially somebody saying, uh, I suck. I I missed the optional conditioning. And it's like, well, you like it, it is optional for a reason. And why did you miss it? It's like, well, I had to get home, I had to take care of my kid, and I I just had a tight window, and I couldn't, and it's like, well, like that is not, in my opinion, an excuse. You're you're kind of working within the bounds of life's chaos. And then another one I hear, like, I just I need to get better. And it's like, cool, like, love it. I I always like to strive for improvements and never settle, agree. But like, what do we need to get better at? And it's like, uh, I don't know, I just need to get better. And that is all fueling though, all those things are fueling negative self-talk that I promise you is transferring to whatever you're doing, whether it's performance, whether it's a time trial, whether it's a lifting PR, whether it's how you carry yourself in uniform, all those things and that negative self-talk is 1000% transferring. So, what we want to do is figure out how we can, you know, implement or start doing that positive self-talk with things that we can control. So that is the most important part. That is not, or that is saying that we don't want to attach our entire identity or our entire self-worth to things that can be affected with outside circumstances. So, again, what I would say is think of things that prove you are consistent and discipline that are not necessarily necessarily associated to weight on the bar or uh, you know, uh time trial or different things like that. So I am consistent every time I read every day. I am consistent every time I, you know, reflect or every time that I uh move or every time that I can't get to a strength training session, but I do some calisthenics, right? These are ways that you could still fuel a positive trajectory. Another thing is like prove that you have self-efficacy, right? Are you doing the small things that you said you were going to do? Right. That is the fastest way to ultimately, if you don't do that, kill your confidence. With um, the simple example I love to use is hitting snooze. So if you intentionally set your alarm and you're like, hey, I'm going to get up at 4:30 or I'm going to get up at five, and then you don't do it, it's like, oh, well, you you start negotiating with yourself and you make that path okay. So you're going to be much more likely to negotiate with yourself when your back is against the wall. And again, not if your back is against the wall, when your back is against the wall, whether that's a nutrition decision, whether that's a training decision, whether that's a decision that has higher consequences, like in uniform. Right. And the last thing that I'll say to kind of rebuttal that I just need to be better mindset. And it's like, well, give yourself a roadmap, right? Give yourself a clear trajectory or a clear target that is something that's tangible and it's not arbitrary, right? Because we will always say, like, ah, I'm not strong enough, I'm not fast enough, I'm not confident enough, I'm not lean enough, I'm not whatever, insert enough. And we are always going to fall short if we are not actually chasing a specific target that we can hit, right? That is a fast track to just beating yourself down and never being enough or never, you know, confident enough or whatever that may be. So it's very, very important with the roadmap. So what I want to do here is provide those five daily standards that that will give you that control and actually things that move the needle. So the big thing with having that undeniable track record with yourself is again figuring out things that you can control that you can do on a day-to-day basis, that regardless of the chaos, right? I call them non-negotiables or standards. I don't like to use the word habits because I feel like habits is a little bit, um, I don't know, a little bit softer. And I feel like we are more likely to negotiate with that. But if we set daily standards and it is like, okay, I am not going to negotiate with these, I am getting this done regardless of what that what happens, right? I am getting these done. Now we're going to fuel that that positive self-talk or that self-efficacy. So we have a track record with ourselves. So now when you say, Oh, I am going to hit the max number on push-ups, right? Now you have evidence and you have proof that you actually believe that. And and also you you obviously need the training to support that. But just big picture, it's like, okay, now we we know we have fueled ourselves with the small daily decisions instead of always negotiating with ourselves or instead of being the the man with no plan or the woman with no plan. And we just always say these different ideas. I hear this all the time. It's like, oh, that would be pretty cool to do that. And I'm like, well, are you gonna do it? Like, what's the plan? And it's like, oh, I don't really have one. Well, we're probably not going to do it. And that that loud inner critic is going to always get a victory, right? And again, I am coming from experience here. Um, with uh like nobody, I always say nobody can beat me down like I can. Uh, I still, you know, miss targets or or uh set extremely high standards on the day, and then we'll miss one. I'm like, damn, like I freaking, how did I miss that? And different things like that. But these standards are things that I get done on a day-to-day basis, regardless. And it's like, okay, well, we got some wins, like we're we're stacking wins, we're moving in the right direction. So it's all that, you know, perspective shift that's very, very important. So the first standard here is a productive keyword productive debrief. Now, this is funny because back when uh when I was at my unit full time, if every time I heard the word debrief, I'm like, oh, here we go. Like, this is gonna be super long. And you know, everybody's gonna be talking, we're gonna have to stay late. And I I completely understand the importance of them, but I definitely have a different viewpoint now that I'm kind of the the solo, solo man running the show here. So this is very, very important. Again, the way that I do it might be a little bit you know different than how you would want to or need to do it. What I do with a a debrief is I do a daily one that I would recommend for you. I do a weekly one, like a week, a week recap. I do a monthly progress check as well as quarterly and yearly. So obviously, like you can do those things, but even if you just implement the daily debrief for yourself, and I'm gonna go over what that means. It is it is the the most powerful tool you can use for professional development and for making progress in the right direction. So these daily debriefs are not just like, damn, I suck, or damn, I need to do better. It's like, well, what does that mean? Like, no, we need to give ourselves a roadmap, like I just talked about. So now, if we do this properly, we'll be able to reflect, double down on the wins, and most importantly, I think most importantly, be able to keep a track record of some of the lessons learned, right? Some of the mistakes or some of the things that you want to improve. So now we can see that those actual trends. If you have the same thing popping up on a day-to-day basis and that doesn't wake you up a little bit, right, then you should probably prioritize that the next day, right? I am uh this is something that I used to struggle with. With I would have, I would call them rollover tasks. And it's like the task is here, oh, we could do it tomorrow. Oh, we could do it the next day, and all of a sudden it's a week or two later, and it's like that's that task is still taking up mental bandwidth instead of just knocking it out. So, again, what I would do here is or what I do on a day-to-day basis is number one, start with gratitude. This is most important, keeps you grounded for the day, and not just like, hey, like uh grateful for this or this or this. It obviously can be whatever you want, but I like to think here big picture, like not the specific the specific tasks that you completed or different things like that, but think big picture, like even something as as simple as like, damn, I am grateful to be able to go to the store and just grab food. Like, not not everybody can do that, and we just take it for granted, right? So going like pretty deep, big picture here. Next, capture the wins, right? And I like to do a minimum of three things, three wins where it's like, damn, that was pretty cool. I'm so glad that this like unfolded this way, or this was a major win. I'm glad that I finally checked that off, right? So three specific wins, I like to correlate those with the tasks of the day. And then um, again, the most important one capture areas for improvement. I like to do three. The most important step here is to put in a fix, but most importantly, how can you improve that? And when are you going to implement it? Right? When are you going to do it? So I would even go down the road of actually putting a time for that specific task. Because if we just say, I need to improve this, this is how I could do it in the future, and yeah, I'll get to it. That kind of defeats the purpose. So if it's something that you can knock out, say tomorrow, what time are you doing it? And how are you going to get that done? Again, this is super important because now it serves as like an archive of all these things on a week-to-week basis, day-to-day basis, month to month basis, where you can look back and be like, damn, this was bothering me. This was something that kept popping up. I knocked it out and I feel so much better. Right. This is that uh the it's almost like self-induced anxiety when you have all these different things, they just keep popping up. You never get them done, and then they go to your, you know, your subconscious and aren't really thinking about it, and then all of a sudden it just kind of smacks you in the face. So I would recommend again putting a fix um and and making sure that you execute that on whatever the task may be. The last thing here that I like to do is I usually use uh leave like a blank space underneath. So I do those bullets and then a blank space of either lessons learned, like things that that stuck with me, whether it's a quote, whether it's something that I read or something that I listened to, um, but also one major task that's gonna move the needle for tomorrow, right? That is such an easy way to stack another win for the next day with that preparation, but again, not like 25 or 30 things, right? That is how we get that task creep and it just keeps overloading the schedule. I talk, I talk about one thing where it's like, damn, if I get this done tomorrow, like tomorrow is already a win, and then everything on top of that is just icing on the cake. So that is a thought process. Again, number one, keyword productive, uh debrief, and I recommend daily. Number two, here this has been a powerful tool for me, and I challenge all my clients with it, but it's a sharp cutoff time. So, me personally, like with work and working from home, running a business, having it be online so you can do like there's the there's endless tasks that you could be doing. I would if without the the discipline or intention on this, I would probably be working all night and fall asleep at my desk. So it's very important, regardless of if whether you work at home, whether you have a uh like a normal a normal job in uniform, like it's very, very important to detach from the rest of the day. So this is could also be considered like owning the last the last hour of the day. So what I usually do is I I use the like night alarm or evening alarm concept where I set a time and it's like okay, 6 30 p.m., sometimes 7 p.m., depending on the day and depending on the task, because at the end of the day, stuff still needs to get done. Um, but I usually set an evening or night alarm, and once that goes off, it's like, all right, we're we're closed, right? The the quote unquote, like it will get done tomorrow kind of mentality. And I say that kind of jokingly, but it's very, very important. So what I try to do is at this time, it's like, okay, technology is down. I put my phone in the charger, it's up in the room. It's by the way, not right next to my bed. So in the morning, when my alarm goes off, I have to literally get up out of bed to turn it off. And I don't want to wake up my wife. So I'm I'm pretty quick with it, right? I've got I've gotten really good with it. So that is a little pro tip mixed in there. Um, another thing that is very important is uh this would be a perfect opportunity for that little debrief, but also kind of setting the intentions for the next day and they're clear, right? They're clear with time allocations or whatever you have to do, right? Hey, I am training at 6 a.m. I am training at 3 p.m., right? And I have all my stuff ready to go, right? Intentions are clear for the next day. And also, last thing here is uh do not disturb is is on, right? It's in full effect, right? We need to protect our mental capacity first and foremost. I was just uh recently laughing with a client, and she is she's on the the O side, so has a lot of different um responsibilities, and and she's uh she's fairly high up. And we were talking, and she's like, Yeah, I have there's like four different work group chats, and it's a little bit overwhelming. And I'm like, that is that's out of control. Like, I am somebody that uh I talk to my supervisor every once in a while, and uh we're we're on on like really like on friendly terms, so it's not a big deal. But if you hit me with like work tasks and they're just piling up, and I am technically like off duty or not on orders, it's like leave me alone. So obviously there's nuance there with you know responsibilities and different things like that. Like some people literally can't do, like, do not disturb. Um, but there's things that we could still do, and and just think about the overall concept of like, okay, can I improve this a little bit better? Right? Can I put my phone down? Can I, you know, are you actually, you know, have your phone available for a call or are you scrolling all night, right? Those are those are different things. So in that night routine, like I I tell people on the last hour of the day, what are you doing for training the next day? So we obviously lay out our programming um as clear as possible with like a warm up, the intent of each exercise or or uh or conditioning piece. But it's very important that before you get to the gym, before you even put your head on the pillow and you get prepped for your gym day, what are you doing? Are there movement? Do you understand the intent? Do you know which movement patterns you're you're doing? Do you have a a pretty Solid idea of what the session is asking of you, right? That is super important for the night before. Never be that person that's in the gym, like scrolling their phone, watching videos of executions of moving patterns or different things like that. In my opinion, that is completely unacceptable. There should be pre-work done so you can actually, you know, utilize your rest period to the full ability, not letting it go to five or 10 minutes because you didn't prep ahead of time and you didn't watch what you were supposed to be doing, or you didn't understand, you didn't ask questions, whatever that may be. So, a couple other things here. Um, the or actually the last thing would be meal prep. So I always recommend meal prepping at least two to three times per week. So it doesn't have to be every night, but this is something where you should have a understanding or at minimum a plan of like, okay, this is what I'm eating before training, this is what I'm eating after, and my fuel, my uh my hydration source is good to go. Like, this is the thought process. I I'm ready to roll. Right. So that this little like pre-work, and in my opinion, it is definitely okay to be selfish here. This little pre-work that you know needs to get done the night before, it just allows you to be on quote unquote autopilot in the morning and you're not turning into the the parking lot on two wheels. It's like, okay, we're good to go. We just wake up and we execute and we already capture wins because we put in the work the night before. So very, very important. The third one here, again, I'm a little biased here. I love absolutely love reading. You should be reading something every day, right? And again, it doesn't matter the you know the time available you have. I promise you, there is time to read. So I am somebody, I'm a little bit nerdy with it, but even when I go to class, like I have a book with me. Like I always have a book with me, um, within reason, right? Like I'm not gonna, you know, be ultra weird here. Um, but with things like that, when there's like transition times, when I'm traveling, different things like that, always, always, always have a book on me. So this is the the most important, one of the most important tools that it's just free, free values. It's it's blows my mind when people don't read. And I have not always been like this, you know, back in the day, like in school and different things like that, like in high school, I'd I would never never read was like too quote unquote too cool for it. But I just talked to somebody the other day and they're like, Oh, I don't really read, I don't really, you know, have time for it. And I'm like, You you have an assignment, go pick up a book. Like, there's something for everybody, and you can find what you're interested in and just freaking read it, right? The amount of wisdom, experience, lessons learned, decades of experience or decades of just needle to the grindstone from other people that are in a $20 uh approximately that's a little bit pricey, I guess, but around $20 investment, it's absolutely insane that we don't take advantage of that. So, the one thing that I will say here it's not a volume game, it's not a race. I don't really do the a book per week or you know, X amount of books per year or different things like that. I feel like it loses its punch when we do that and we just play the volume game or try to showcase how quote unquote smart we are by show showing how many books we read and things like that. I think it's more about okay, actually learning or leisure time and and most importantly, actually applying what you are digesting there. Very, very important. I used to be the guy when I first got into reading, I'm like, all right, I'm just gonna straight cancel books out and wouldn't take anything from it, wouldn't apply it. And then I would already be on Amazon looking for the next one, and most of them are were very similar with like the same kind of concepts, and and there's a lot of books that are very similar and just straight deleting books, and it's like, well, what did I get from that? Right. I I didn't really uh get my investment. So I would say, you know, slow it down. It doesn't matter if you're a slow reader, whatever that may be. It's like, okay, just get in where you can, right? Is it 10 minutes here? Is it 30 minutes here? Is it an hour here? Whatever that may be. But me personally, my reading time is is protected without fail. I I usually do, and again, it varies depending on what I have for that day. Um, at minimum, I would say 30 minutes every morning, sometimes 60, depending on depending on what I got when I get rolling for the day. But usually I would say 99% of the time, the first thing that I'm doing when I wake up is is reading. Then at night, I make sure to give myself some time. This is when I usually get in an hour in, but very, very important. And again, my wife thinks I'm absolutely insane, but I'm usually reading like four or five books at the same time, and not like not like at the same time, but um just kind of rotating them. And I think that is extremely powerful. It's like, hey, we it's uh I call it like switching the channel. So I like to mix and match sometimes. The majority of the time, it's you know, some sort of development or professional development, um, productivity, like those types of things. But I also make it a point to read like autobiographies. Um, those are huge, actually. I think that's a that's a hack there. A little pro tip is autobiographies and biographies. Why don't we just learn from lessons learned from from some of the greats? So whoever kind of like inspires you, see if there's an autobiography on them and and kind of learn from them that way. I think that's one of the most powerful tools. But um, those I I mix and max max uh mix and match fiction sometimes as well. I need to get better with that from a creativity standpoint. Um, but that's a another way to kind of switch the channel there. Number four here is a high step count. So for me right now, I'm no less than 10k. I completely understand that 10k is is a little bit arbitrary. Fact check me on this, but I'm pretty sure that that 10k came from a pedometer company. And it's like obviously they're they're selling the selling the steps, they're selling this the 10k. So more people buy it and more people do the 10k. But the way that I look at it is again, completely understand that 10k is a little bit arbitrary, but if you are going for that specific target, it is going to force you to get more steps in throughout the day. So that's the way that I look at it. It's a way to kind of force that, you know, a healthy movement throughout the day. I, you know, some research says 7,500 to 8k, like there's um there's diminishing returns after that. I don't really buy into that or really care because I've found some of the most productive time is from getting steps in, from protecting the mental capacity from a recovery standpoint, also from an idea standpoint. So every single time that I'm like trying to come up with an idea or whatever I'm thinking about, I'm trying to solve something, and I'm just like banging my head off the desk. I'm like, why can't I think? I'll just go on a walk, and then it just freaking pops in my head. So some of the best ideas that I've had or the solutions that I've had are are born in some good walks. Um, also a great opportunity with uh family. I know a lot of people are busy with kids or different responsibilities. You could be that that positive influence to say, hey, let's let's go on a hike or let's go um get some steps in, or if you have dogs, like take your dogs for a walk, right? All these little things that we can do to to make it more of a team effort here, um, and and really kind of have everybody get the benefits, right? I have some clients who have gotten a uh a little like I don't know if you you wouldn't, I wouldn't necessarily call it a ruck, but kind of like a packing carry. I don't really know what it's called, but something where they can put their kid in the back and now it's like, okay, like we're essentially rucking here, like this is awesome. Like, keep it up, right? So very, very good. Um, again, from a mental capacity standpoint, from there's really no downside from getting some getting some steps in. So I would say I I don't know off the top of my head, but the average per the average person is probably walking, um, could be off here. But if I had to guess, like 3,000, maybe 4,000 steps per day. And obviously it is very dependent on your job, but to me, that is that is uh ridiculous. Like we should be moving a lot more, and there's easy ways to to kind of add it at it, add it in. So even during your your lifting sets, you get some steps in um during your rest period. You could park further away at the grocery store. You could say, I am never taking an elevator or escalator again. There's some steps, right? Like those little things. So it's really honestly not hard to get 8k steps per day. However, it does take some intentional planning or some uh some critical thinking there. So even if you need to, what I used to do at work as well is uh eat my lunch a little bit before lunch at my desk, still getting some stuff done. Um, probably not the most optimal productivity thing of like multitasking. Um, but I would eat and like still get a little bit, a little bit done here or there, and then on my lunch break, get you know, some steps in an easy 5k or an easy um um 5k steps that is, or um 3k, whatever that may be. So, in my opinion, really no excuse for for steps, and again, one of the most high ROI things that we can do. The last one here, again, there's gonna be some big complications here depending on your schedule or depending on shift work, but it is to be an early riser and more specifically, not hit snooze. So I already talked about snooze and kind of the detriments with that, but early risers, in my opinion, very important. You never want to be that person who is like waking up like a bat out of hell in the morning and just like you're a chicken with the with the with its head cut off. Like it's just all right, like get it, get it under control. Like, what do what are we doing? So I am somebody personally who gets up uh a little bit earlier than than many people. I usually get up at 4:30 or 5, but I would definitely change that depending on what you have going on. It also means that you need to have your night routine in order, right? If you're just like saying that you're gonna be quote unquote disciplined and waking up at 3:30 just because, and then you're gonna not take your nighttime or your night routine serious or sleep serious, you're you're not making progress there, right? You're sacrificing sleep just to get up early, and it just doesn't make any sense. So, again, if we look at this properly and you know you're going to be consistent waking up at similar times every day, then it's like, okay, we need to be more intentional with our night routine. But more importantly, now we don't have to worry about kind of giving ourselves that that self-induced jet lag throughout the week. So this is a big problem that I see with many people is they will wake up early for work every single day at 6 a.m. or Monday through Friday, whatever you work. And then on the weekends, you stay up super late and then you wake up at like 10 p or 10 a.m. or 11 a.m. And then you're you're just setting so you're setting your your uh your circadian rhythm off off a spiral, right? So now once you get to that, you know, Monday, back to Monday, Mondays are super sluggish because you're all jacked up. You get normalized by Wednesday, hump day, and then you just keep repeating that process, and it's just why people get miserable stuck through that, or one of the reasons why people get miserable, stuck through that Monday through Friday. So, personal recommendation, regardless of you know when you work and with the nuance of saying you need to make sure you get you get your sleep in. I would recommend getting up early and controlling your morning, right? Getting up, this is how I used to be of uh of just waking up, being on your terms, on your own pace. Maybe you do 10 minutes of reading, 15 minutes of reading, maybe you do some push-ups, elevate your heart rate, and you're just like, okay, I am calling the shots, my meals are good to go, I know what I'm doing, my uniform is ready. It's not in the washer, not in the dryer. I'm good to go. Now you are cruising and coasting to work. You're not freaking going 90 trying to get there on time, right? So that honestly sets the tone for your entire day. So the one disclaimer that I would say here on the early rise or the consistent riser, um, I would say that obviously it depends. And there are there is some flexibility depending on what you got going on. So if I, you know, the time when I was back at uh at work, working nights, like obviously that would vary a little bit. And I would personally prioritize sleep over um, you know, sleeping when I can over like waking up at the the set time every single day. Same thing goes for travel or shift work or stuff like that. So as best as possible, if you can try to shoot for within that same hour, that's usually pretty good. So if I'm traveling or different things going on, I might push it back a little bit, but I try to be very intentional with that so that I'm good with uh with every day that ends in a Y, right? Seven days per week, good to go from a rhythm perspective. And last thing I'll say on this is personally, I am somebody that if I stay up a little bit later than I want to, I kind of bite the bullet and still wake up at the same time and just either face being a little bit tired for the day, or I don't really take naps, but that's always an option. I would rather do that and be tired for the day and then just go to bed early and get back on track than trying to kind of like reset or jump around. I think it gets a little bit more confusing. And like I said, it gives you that uh self-induced jet lag. Um and then you're you're kind of beat up until uh until hump day. So overall, right, these are the five main standards that that I would 1000% implement that are gonna offer you the most ROI. And again, it's the the most important aspect here is these are things that that you can control, right? So I like to think about all these five as almost sandwiching the chaos, right? We don't know what's gonna unfold in the middle of the day or the night, whatever you're working, right? Some and those are the things that's where the the out of control things kind of kind of creep in, right? So if we only measure ourselves against the things that are out of control, we are going to continue beating ourselves down. But if you think about overall that sandwich mentality of like, okay, the the bread, the the far left and the far right, if we can control those things, right? Waking up early, um reading, whether it's in the morning or at night, controlling the morning, having a sharp cutoff time, controlling the evening, right? Making sure that we have productive debriefs on the I usually do it on the back end of the day, but again, closing out the day. Now, the only thing left for us to do is being intentional and kind of breaking up the chaos as chaos as best as possible. So trying to get some steps throughout. That is how you build up that confidence, that is how you silence the inner critic again with things that you can control. So hopefully this was helpful. Get these done on a day to day basis. And as always, uh, let me know if you have any questions or any concerns or or any kind of feedback um on these five, and I'd love to get that uh get that figured out for you. So I appreciate you. And please, please, please don't forget to leave a review.