In this episode, we discuss how you need to use the clues around you to help become the person you are meant to be.
Full Transcript
Hi Everyone, welcome to the You’re Daily Cup of Joe Podcast, with your host Joe Bautista. In this podcast, my goal is to give you quick lessons on how to grow yourself physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually so you can have better careers, better relationships, and better personal finances.
I’m also the author of the book “More You Know, More You Grow: How to Get Better Every Day”. In this book, I wrote down over 30 tips to help you grow in those four cornerstones. I’m also the founder of Grow With Joe, where I combine self-development coaching and financial planning for Latino Professionals.
In today’s episode, we’re are going to talk about how we need to treat life like a crossword puzzle. I think crossword puzzles are the perfect metaphor for life. You get a bunch of vague clues and your goal is to solve all of them. In order to solve one clue, you have to solve two to five other clues. If you haven’t done a crossword, the way you should solve it is that you should just focus on one area at a time. Once you exhausted that area, then move on to the next area. Keep doing this until you solve the puzzle.
When I do crossword puzzles, there are times where I can’t figure out the answer and then I step away from the problem for a while, then when I come back to it, I’m able to solve the problem. If you can’t solve the problem, you take a look at the answer, and then you learn how to do better the next time around.
Like I said this is the perfect metaphor for life and this is how I treat my life. There are so many things that I need to figure out when I’m running this Grow With Joe Business. I have things I have to do with my website, how to pay taxes, financial planning questions that need to be solved, blog to be written, marketing plans that need to be done, and all this other stuff that I need to work on or delegate to other people.
A lot of this stuff I didn’t really know how to do but I just start with one thing at a time and go from there. Right now, I’m trying to figure out how to use these different marketing systems to help me with my business. I usually just start with some YouTube Video searches or blog posts, look for an answer and then I try to figure out how to solve my problem.
A lot of the times when I’m working on something, I have to step away from it, go for a walk, think, and then when I come back to the problem, I’m in a better state of mind and I’m able to solve the problem. I get a lot of joy from this because I feel like I’m getting better and I treat it like a game. Every time I solve a problem, I feel like I’m leveling up as a person and becoming more capable of solving harder problems in the future.
So whatever you’re trying to accomplish in life, I think it would be wise to treat that goal like a crossword puzzle. Try to find clues to help you reach your goal, and then use those clues to help you solve your problem. If you’re trying to lose weight, it’s much more complex than going to the gym and eating right. You’re going to have to take a look at your habits, your environment, your relationships, your mindset, and other things to help you reach your goal of becoming healthier. This is why I like to read a bunch of different books because they might provide me with a clue that I wasn’t aware of that will help me solve my life’s problem.
The idea is that you will never solve your life’s crossword puzzle. You will do something you will find out that there are 2-5 other things that need to be solved. Just keep solving the clues and I think you will live a very fulfilling life. I started my life in Oregon, and once I graduated from high school, I went into the Marines, after the Marines, I went to college, after college, I kept learning and trying new experiences. Then I worked at the White House as an intern, worked as a personal trainer, worked at the Pentagon, worked as a financial advisor, wrote my own book. Now I’m running my own financial planning firm and about finish books two and three. I’m just trying to see how much I can challenge myself like a persona and see what I can accomplish.
I want to enter the grave as close to empty as possible and that is going to require me to go out there and start solving clues. You don’t have to solve the clues, but if you don’t you find out what you’re missing out in the world. I remember moving from Oregon to DC and being blown away in terms of what I thought I could accomplish. This was in 2011 when the economy was still bad and finding a job was hard, so I and my ex-partner moved to DC to get better opportunities but I didn’t realize what was available until I moved to DC. The perceived ceiling for success increased by 100 ft because of the new ideas and people I was surrounded by. I could have stayed in Oregon but I guess I’m an explorer by heart and I’m just trying to see what is out there in the world.
But when I moved to DC, I just started to take things piece by piece by meeting new people, going to different events, and just learning. I just focused on one thing at a time and I just got a clearer picture of my life’s crossword puzzle. I’m currently working on another piece of my puzzle by building up Grow With Joe, and once I solve this piece, I’ll be able to move to another piece. I’m excited about what the future has to bring but I can’t get frustrated when things don’t work out, I just have to take a break, go learn somethings, or reach out to someone to help me out. I just got to keep doing this day in and day out because what else am I supposed to with my life than to work on my life’s crossword puzzle.
That’s it for today’s episode, to summarize it, treat your life like a crossword puzzle. Look for clues and just work on one section at a time. All you can do is all you can do, just make sure you’re doing all that you can do.
To get a free copy of my book “More You Know, More You Grow: How to get better every day” just go to my website growwithjoe.me/book and just pay for shipping and handling.
I have a quiz on my website that grades your inner circle, so if you want to find out if your inner circle is an A, B, C, D, or F, you can take that quiz at growwithjoe.me/quiz
I’m also trying to do a feedback Friday episode, so if you have a question that you would like to have my answer on the air, just e-mail me at [email protected]
I’m also on Instagram at Grow With Joe and Facebook just look up Grow With Joe
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Thanks for joining me today and remember if you go with Joe, you can grow with Joe, cause Joe knows Dough.
*Music outro
