10 surprising habits that changed my life Pt.3

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Hey, hope you're well. Feels like I've been underground this week. Lots of work indoors with little sun time. I miss the sun ☀️.Excited for a little retreat/vacation I've got coming up. I'll tell you more about that later. Here's your digest for this week. Hope you find these, inspiring and encouraging.

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK

10 Surprising Habits that have changed my life Pt.3

This is the final part of this series. Hope you’ve found Pt.1 & Pt.2 of the series helpful. Let’s wrap this up. 

(approximately 5 min read)

8.) Stopped saying “can’t”

I got this one from Robert Kiyosaki’s book “Rich Dad, Poor Dad”.It rests on the idea of rewiring one’s brain from accepting defeat to instead defaulting to problem solving.Robert mentions that whenever humans meet a challenge and we immediately say “Can’t”, we are sending a message of finality to the brain. If it’s a simple “Can’t”, then there’s nothing left to discuss. The brain (and the person) accept the finality of the situation.However, simply substituting “can’t” with “how” stimulates the brain’s problem solving capacity.As opposed to “I can’t do that thing,” it becomes “How can I do that thing?”.You see the difference?One is immediately pushed to start thinking creatively. And it is through creative thinking that innovation and progress are made.I’ve personally seen this bear out in my life.Before my wife and I purchased a property a few years ago, I immediately thought we can’t do this when we saw the asking price compared to our savings at the time.When speaking to my brother however, he framed it as “How” instead. That simple action, helped us develop a creative way to make it happen.I try to apply this style of thinking to most challenges I come across now, because on any given day, there are many problems I’m trying to solve, from personal to work-related.Asking the question “how” is reprogramming my psyche to see solutions instead of giving up.Of course, this doesn’t mean I end up doing everything. But it does equip me to problem solve and truly assess if I want to do something - assessed by time, money and opportunity costs - as opposed to automatically writing something off out of fear of failure.

9.) Trying new things & expanding my skillset

The simple saying “No pain, no gain” is pretty true. Growing requires discomfort and one must be willing to stretch themselves beyond even what they imagined.When I started my entrepreneurial journey a decade ago, I was a pure artist. In fact, I didn’t call what I was doing entrepreneurship, because I didn’t see it as such.Over the years, I’m thankful for what I’ve been able to accomplish with the music (and I continue to grow it), but I’ve had to add on additional skills and businesses.The pandemic in particular slowed my music momentum and I was forced to adapt.I started my clothing line, Culture Rich World, which led to me learning a lot about what it actually takes to run a successful clothing line. Part of that journey also meant I had to learn new digital marketing skills beyond what I already knew. Skills like email marketing, and paid ads.As painful as it’s felt at times, to not do music exclusively anymore, I’m thankful for the new skills and opportunities I now have because I’ve been willing to try new things and expand my skillset.New revenue opportunities and relationships are blossoming. Plus these new skills will actually help with my music marketing.So in all, it’s a net positive.I try to learn a new skill every 6 months or so. Whether it’s better communication, relationship building, leadership, etc. The point here is being intentional and not passive when it comes to my personal development.And I would encourage you to do the same. Be willing to try new things and expand your skillset.The more skills you have, the more problems you’re able to solve both for yourself and others, which in turn creates new opportunities for you.This has been the case for me with stacking my skills. From speaking, to writing, to musical performance, to digital marketing, to business development and more.There is no loss when it comes to skill acquisition and personal development.

10.) Defaulting to action

No one ever built anything of substance in their head.Defaulting to action is closely tied to trying new things because the best learning happens by doing.When I learn something new, I try my best to immediately implement as much as I can. Then when I hit a wall, I go back to study some more, then continue applying.It sounds so basic doesn’t it?But you’d be surprised how easy it is to amass so much head knowledge, especially in our time of Youtube University. So much valuable information is available that it’s easy to get caught in the loop of learning while delaying the doing.The learning gives us a small sense of accomplishment because we’ve committed time to learning something of value.But don’t stop there. Don’t let the small dopamine spike make you feel like you’ve accomplished anything.Next is the doing. The longer you wait to apply, the less likely you are to actually apply, and the slower your learning.Defaulting to action also pulls on the ideas “Why delay until tomorrow what can be done today?” and “Success favours speed”.The point is not procrastinating. Is there meeting you want to set, don’t wait until next week if you can.Even if it presents some discomfort, can you do the meeting today or tomorrow?If yes, then do it today or tomorrow.Defaulting to action has so many benefits such as; increasing your productivity, quickening your learning, solidifying your reputation and so much more.In sum, don’t wait if you can avoid it.Default to action!

---------I hope you found these 10 habits helpful and actionable.Let me know which ones you plan to implement by replying to this email.

VIDEO I ENJOYED THIS WEEK

The Art of Faking It

Such an interesting video. There's a difference between faking it and pushing yourself out of your comfort zone, knowing you can rise to the challenge. But it's a fine line. Enjoy this thought-provoking video.Watch by clicking the image.

SONG I ENJOYED THIS WEEK

SZA - Snooze (Acoustic) ft. Justin Bieber

Stumbled on this gem. Love how smooth this acoustic version is.Listen now by clicking the image.

That's it for this week.Love you,ShopéP.S. New song coming in October....sorry for the delay, just finishing up the final mix & master. Pre-save all my future releases HERE. You'll only ever had to do this once.P.P.S. Don't forget to my latest YT video Christians get THIS wrong about money

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