In this episode, we discuss how the reality that you have right now doesn’t have to be the reality you have tomorrow.
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 reality is negotiable. If you look at life, everything you’re seeing in pretty much what people has decided what is normal and we were thrust into this environment which no man and previously gone into before. Yes, there are some things that really haven’t changes but the reality that you’re facing is going to be unique to yourself. You get to decide what reality should be like and this is why reality is negotiable.
If you don’t accept the reality that is presented in front of you, you can choose a different one. Some realities have a higher price tag than others, and you just have to decide as a person, what reality do you really want. What changed my perception of living was the book, the four-hour workweek by Tim Ferriss. In that book, he wrote down that reality is negotiable. After graduating from Yale, he moved to San Francisco to work in a tech firm. He sold nutrition supplements in his spare time. Eventually, the business got bigger and started hiring other people. Then it was so unmanageable that he believed that he couldn’t take a vacation. Then he started implementing processing in his work that automated his work and he delegated the stuff that wasn’t worth his time to virtual assistants. He became so efficient at his job that he was basically working a couple of hours a week, which then freed him up to do other activities like travel abroad and take salsa lessons in Argentina and because of one of the top competitors in the world.
He was able to change his reality. If you look in front of you now, what is in front of you now doesn’t have to be like that forever. It can be worse or it can be better. The goal is to make it better, and that can depend on how much stuff and responsibilities you want in this world. Now I’m trying to make my reality now in line with the vision I have for my future self. It’s a lot of work now but I’m expecting this work to benefit me greatly in the future. The first step is just believing that you can change the reality that you’re facing right now. It is in your control. If you believe that the control is out of your hands, then there is nothing I can do for you until you start to believe.
One of the books that really changed my mindset about what I could achieve was Made In America by Sam Walton. And if you don’t know who Sam Walton is, he was the founder of Wal-Mart. He started out in Oklahoma on his parent’s farm in 1923. Since he grew up during the depression, he did chores to help support his family. He first worked at JC Penny’s and then served in the Army during World War 2. He then borrowed money from his father-in-law and started a variety store in Arkansas. Sam Walton did so well at the store that the building owner didn’t renew his lease and he bought Sam Walton out so that the building owner’s family could run the profitable business. He made $50,000 off the deal.
This time, Sam bought a building and started his own store so he could have more control over operations. He loved learning about retail and would visit stores around the country so that he could see what was working. I bet it was very stressful at times and he worked his butt off to build up Wal-Mart, but he changes the reality of retail and his life because he believed that he could and he was willing to tinker around and can continue to learn so that he could be successful. After reading this book, it made me respect Wal-Mart more and things have changed since he died in 1992, but I respect him for changing his reality.
You don’t have to accept what is in front of you and you can change it. Right now, I’m about to go be a digital nomad in Latin America. I don’t believe that I need to buy a house, which I think would limit my options in life, and I don’t have a family that I need to take care of. I was in DC for the past 6.5 years and at my last financial planning firm, I felt that I was living someone else’s reality. I wanted to help Latino Professionals get financial security and I was told not to focus on that population. Like Sam Walton, I’m also learning and I found out that I could start my own company and have more control over my situational and reduce my expenses by thousands of dollars.
Now I feel so free because I’m living life on my terms. I’m not where I want to be at ultimately but I am making reality fit to what I want it to be. I don’t always get my way, but that means I just have to find an alternative path. No one is batting 100 percent for negotiations. The key things are that you just keep going until find the right deal. Once I found out that I could work from home and not deal with traffic and live in a place with the cost of living is low, I was like, why am I still doing this stuff. I’ve gotten a lot of help but I keep my actions up so that I will be able to pay back those debts.
But the overall idea is that whatever reality you’re facing, you’re not stuck with it. If I don’t like something, I try to figure out a way to remove it in my life, limit my time with that thing, or learn to accept it. There were things that I didn’t like when I was in the Marines, so I just removed myself from the situation because I’m not going to change the Marines Corps. You can do things to have a less crappy life, you just have to be a good negotiator. And if you’re not a good negotiator, go learn how to be one in your life.
That’s it for today’s episode, and to summarize it, you have to realize that life is negotiable. The first step is to believe that you have control over your life and that you can change your reality. It might not be soon, but it can change for the better. Then you need to build up your negotiating skills and start getting to work. Life is too short to be more miserable than you have to be. So start taking control over your life so you can have a meaningful life.
Thanks for listening today! 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
If you’re on iTunes, don’t forget to give me a five-star rating if you liked this episode.
Thanks for joining me today and remember if you go with Joe, you can grow with Joe, cause Joe knows Dough.
*Music outro
