IAM2190 – Leveraging on Media to Promote Positivity and Support Entrepreneurs in their Journeys – Part 2

Title: Transcript - Mon, 29 Jul 2024 14:29:04 GMT

Date: Mon, 29 Jul 2024 14:29:04 GMT, Duration: [00:14:44.25]

[00:00:00.10] - Sean Weisbrot

Let's get into your hacks. So tell me about your first hack that you love so much. We talked about it last time, your three sixty five gratitude journal.

[00:00:09.30] - Gresham Harkless

Funny enough, I've had it for about a year now, with it's called a three sixty five journal, and it's a

[00:00:13.59] - Intro

way for me to end the day. It allows you to really get a different prompt on a different topic. Usually, it's around gratitude. It's around things to be appreciative of. Hello. Hello. Hello. This is Gresh from the I am CEO podcast, and I wanted to share with you one of the episodes that I was a guest on for someone else's podcast. I always talk about how important it is to build a media company. One of the next best things you could do is be on somebody else's media company. So I had the pleasure of being a guest on this podcast, and I wanted to share a little snippet with you because it would help support the eight business pillars we've really been trying to focus on with a lot more of our content and a lot more of the solo episodes that I'm doing. So make sure, of course, that you subscribe to our podcast, but, of course, you take some time out. Check out the show notes and subscribe to the podcast that I've been featured on as well too, and get to learn about some of those eight business pillars and how you can continue to kinda leverage and build that up so you can go from builder to architect to, of course, rock star and luminary. So this is Greg signing up. I hope you enjoy this I am CEO special episode.

[00:01:16.29] - Sean Weisbrot

I try to understand every position. Like, what is the expectation that I should have of this person if I were to hire them? And then learn as much as I can about the the skills that they need, the software they may be using, things like that. And then when I'm ready to hire someone, I'll have a standard hiring process ready. Like, what is a hard skills test I can give them to make sure that they actually know what they're talking about and they're not lying to me, you know, that I know they can actually do the things that I know they're supposed to be doing. And then a personality test and interview and, you know, these kinds of things. I need to know that I can trust this person, and the only way I know that I trust them is if I've done it. I don't have to be good at it, but if they're better than me, I'll know instantly.

[00:01:59.09] - Gresham Harkless

Well, I should say too that a lot I have done it before I hired somebody, so it wasn't like I was completely, you know, unaware. So I think you bring bring up a phenomenal point. I usually have different levels to where a person is. So often, when they first get started, they'll work on something that's internal that won't be anywhere close to the client facing, and it usually takes some time before they get to client facing work. Again, because it's technical, it's not like we're building a house or anything. A lot of times, if things aren't going the way that I want them to go, I can see that before it, you know, becomes live. And I'm, like, putting the nail in the wrong place. Like, if you were building a house, that could be a lot more costly and destructive to a business and and the people that are who would be living there.

[00:02:39.69] - Sean Weisbrot

So let's get into your hacks. So tell me about your first hack that you love so much. We talked about it last time. Your three sixty five gratitude journal.

[00:02:49.19] - Gresham Harkless

Funny enough, I've had it for about a year now, with it's called a three sixty five journal, and it's a way for me to end the day. It allows you to really get a different prompt on a different topic. Usually, it's around gratitude. It's around things to be appreciative of. Basically, somebody writes a prompt. You do have an opportunity to respond to that prompt. Like, how or in what ways do you see that people are coming together, not being, you know, torn apart, you know, in the world? So you I would, you know, basically respond to that. And then at the end, every single day, you have three things that you are appreciative of for that day. And the reason that I I love it is because so many times I found myself always wanting to go to the next thing. I'm just, I guess, constructed that way where I I enjoy accomplishments. I like them, but I can't say that I really celebrate the the wins as much as I should. So a lot of times, that forces me to really say these are three things I'm appreciative of. And even if I haven't had a major win, sometimes it's the little small things like my dog or my girlfriend or my parents or people like that that sometimes you forget about. You forget about, you know, being able to lay in bed. You forget about having running water. Just all of these things, you become a lot more appreciative of those things because you map it out every single day. And I'm forced every day to think about three things that I'm appreciative of even if it's a if it's a really terrible day.

[00:04:09.69] - Sean Weisbrot

Sometimes if I'm having a really crappy day or if I feel extremely stressed, I'll, like, put everything down and I'll just start thinking out loud to myself, like, oh, you know, I I love my mom. I love my dad. I love my dog. Like, they're amazing. They're this or that. And I'll just I'll just do that. And it makes me feel good pretty fast, thinking about, you know, who's in my life and why they're there and what they've done for me. I guess that app is a more concentrated and more consistent version than what I do for sure. Let's talk about your second hack, the insight timer. I

[00:04:42.30] - Gresham Harkless

I was like, I I really wanna get into meditation. Didn't really have a kind of a framework of how to do that. I actually start with an app called Headspace First that has a really good way that you can learn about meditation, which is really big for me because I was really kinda teaching myself and just kinda learn from there. And I think the thing that I take most from that app was being able to kinda look at your thoughts like balloons. And it's not that you aren't being present. It's that when you're trying to be really present on something and then something else pops into your mind, you really take take it like a balloon and you let it go. So you are more aware when you're not being present than you are of the different things that are happening. And the reason that that stuck with me so much is because with the chaos that it is running a business and the different things that happen, there's so much beyond your control that is so important to kind of approach it just like that balloon. So inside timer is really to get more aware of being present to, again, kinda drive home the gratitude. Like, sometimes it has different props, and I usually go through all the different aspects of getting getting focused on your day and visualizing how exactly you want to see your day. What things do I need to focus on? How can I be present to this moment? I can hear the air conditioning above my head. Really being present to all of the things that around you because so many times you just skip over things. And I'm notorious for, like, wanting to start my day, so I'll just jump into my day. But it was really that that allows me to really get focused to to kinda calm down so that not only does it help me out in the beginning of the day and get my day started out right, but I think that as we talked about when those chaotic times happen at 12:00 or 01:00 in the day, you can really take a step back and be more at peace because you've been practicing that, for those times that happen like that. Yeah.

[00:06:20.80] - Sean Weisbrot

I think it's really important for everyone to meditate. It's been an extremely important experience for me and understanding who I am. And when you mentioned the, Headspace app teaching you about using balloons, I was never taught like that. What I was taught was your thoughts are there. They're gonna be there no matter what you say or do. You can curse your thoughts. You can ignore your thoughts. They're gonna be there. And when you meditate, your thoughts are gonna pop up into your conscious mind, and you have two choices. You can allow them to control your emotions, or you can learn to accept them. Through meditation, you can kind of step outside of yourself with the goal of observing those thoughts. And when you become an observer to your thoughts, they have no control over your emotions. And therefore, by observing them, you can come to understand them. And through understanding, you can come to accept them. And once you accept them, they become your friend. Through being your friend, they don't bother you anymore. When I start meditation every day, those thoughts are there. But then within thirty seconds to a minute, I get deeper into meditation to a point where the thoughts are gone. There's literally nothing. It's just me in silence for thirty minutes, and it's beautiful. Getting to that point where you literally go so deep that you hear nothing and you feel nothing and you're just kind of in darkness with yourself in a positive way is such an amazing experience because it's just quiet. And we're so used to noise that this period of quiet is just so peaceful and amazing. It it's like thirty minutes of meditation is like sleeping for several hours for me. I don't know if you've ever experienced anything like that.

[00:08:05.60] - Gresham Harkless

Have you? In my experience and kinda, I think, in alignment with what you just said, there's so many things that are pulling from you and kinda getting you closer to the you know, this is a gas tank analogy, but getting closer to e that a lot of times you don't have enough to continue on. So when we go to sleep, we're reenergizing ourselves. But I think when we're able to kinda just be, you know, quiet and have peace and not have things pulling from you, it also allows that opportunity to be able to do that. And I think that, it's it's so powerful. Again, I'm not, you know, sixteen years in, but I think it's something that I've seen such a valuable thing because my default was to get up and to start doing something every single morning. You

[00:08:41.60] - Sean Weisbrot

You can do two things. One, check out the insight timer, and two, go to we live to build dot com slash meditate, and you can sign up for my free email series about how to get started with meditating. Even better. So let's talk about the third hack. I am coloring.

[00:08:56.39] - Gresham Harkless

Yes. Absolutely. So one of the things I wanted to do was by having, you know, the daily podcast is get an opportunity to really do something creative to to be able to connect with the people that have been on the show and I created kinda like this. Coloring book essentially and a lot of times we forget that coloring as a child was something that we did for fun and enjoyment, and I think that one of the things especially creatives can do is always get into their their their, their inner child, so to speak, and do those things to take themselves away from the hustle and bust, which is, I think, consistently with all these hacks that we kinda focused on. So I created a I am coloring book and, basically has, like, different brands, but it has an opportunity for people to basically color, each of the different pages, and each of the pages has a brand and kind of a message related to what exactly, the the message might be. So, like the the, the the blue sixteen media one says, you know, visibility, equals success. The name of the game is being found. The the CB Nation one has visibility plus resources equal success. So it's just kinda giving you a short message, but gives you the opportunity to really color. And there's a lot of, and I'm no, you know, doctor or anything like that, but there's a lot of studies that show by coloring, it allows you that opportunity to reduce your stress reduce frustration allow you to focus more a lot of the things that we talked about with these other hacks. So it's so interesting that as leaders, especially in business, sometimes we have a lot of problems that we're dealing with and things that we're trying to figure out what the correct solution is. And often we feel like a lot of times it's just drilling down, working harder, but a lot of the great ideas come about while you're walking your dog, while you're potentially in the shower or why hopefully you can be coloring as well too because it takes you away from what you're doing on a regular basis to be able to kinda exercise the creativity to think about the things that you're doing right there rather than think about all the the problems that are going on and trying to create solutions. And a lot of time by stepping away, it allows you to come back even stronger and better.

[00:11:02.39] - Sean Weisbrot

I can definitely understand psychologically why coloring can help. And I also find that when I'm going on a walk in the park or if I'm getting a massage or something, then I definitely will come back to something I had been thinking about. Or if I just, like, stop working and go play a video game for twenty minutes, I definitely find it's easier to think of these problems because when you're thinking of the problem, you feel stressed because you wanna solve it. But when you stop thinking about the problem and you do something else, then the problem gets solved because you're not thinking about it anymore.

[00:11:37.89] - Gresham Harkless

Exactly. It's crazy.

[00:11:39.50] - Sean Weisbrot

How can people find the coloring book?

[00:11:41.60] - Gresham Harkless

So it's available at I am coloring dot com.

[00:11:44.79] - Sean Weisbrot

That's a pretty good URL.

[00:11:46.50] - Gresham Harkless

Yes. It is. I'm lucky I got it.

[00:11:48.70] - Sean Weisbrot

Yeah. For sure. Did you have to buy it from someone, or it was just available?

[00:11:52.29] - Gresham Harkless

Surprisingly, it was available. So

[00:11:54.70] - Sean Weisbrot

Cool. What have you learned recently, and how do you plan to implement it? I feel

[00:11:58.29] - Gresham Harkless

like I'm the culmination of all the people that have been guests on the podcast. I'm always really trying to figure out, you know, different hacks and and different ways that people are being successful. And I'm going through, a really cool book. People are being successful. And I'm going through, a really cool book called Blue Ocean Strategy. I don't know if you've heard about it. It's a phenomenal book in that, especially during times like this where a lot of our services and businesses can be commoditized. How do you figure out how to, as I usually like to say, not run somebody else's race, but run your own race so that you're not competing with anybody? How, do I take the different kind of pieces that I have and continue to kinda innovate and not be like a a cookie cutter of something else that already exists? But I think that's something that's, you know, we're always kinda working through. I think that book is and has been helping me out as far as, like, doing those exercises to get clarity on that and to figure out how best to execute and to kinda pivot during a a very transformational time.

[00:12:47.39] - Sean Weisbrot

Elon Musk does a pretty damn good job of creating blue ocean businesses that are inspirational for humanity. So what is the most important piece of advice you can share with everyone listening?

[00:12:59.29] - Gresham Harkless

On my mirror last year, I have a theme every year. It was, make sure to keep your oxygen mask on. And I think so many times, especially people that be of service to so many people, we forget about ourselves cup full because all of those things allow you to serve even better. And I think, along with cup full because all those things allow you to serve even better. And I think along the lines of the hacks and things that we talked about, it's all about how to fill up your cup as much as possible because the more you can give, the bigger your cup is, the more impact you can make, and and I think that's what we're all hopefully trying to do.

[00:13:32.50] - Sean Weisbrot

So how can everyone find you online?

[00:13:35.00] - Gresham Harkless

Yes. I I appreciate links to c v nation dot co, blue sixteen media dot com, But it has links to c v nation dot co, blue sixteen media dot com, just everything that I'm working on. The the I am coloring, coloring book as well too. You can find all the links there.

[00:13:51.79] - Sean Weisbrot

Alright. Great. So I'll I'll actually just put, links to I am Gresh, the gratitude journal, inside timer, and I am coloring through your business directory and all that so everyone can find it. And, yeah, thanks for your time. It's been a fun conversation.

[00:14:04.60] - Gresham Harkless

It's been awesome, Sean. I appreciate you for letting me be a part of this.

[00:14:07.20] - Sean Weisbrot

Always looking forward to the next time.

[00:14:09.89] - Intro

Hello. Hello. Hello. This is Gresh again, and I hope you enjoyed that special episode of the I am CEO podcast. Just like I mentioned in the beginning, we're really trying to laser focus on these eight pillars to show you as a builder how you can leverage these eight pillars and really level up there so it helps to level up your business and organization. So hope you enjoyed this episode, and definitely please check out the show notes so you can learn more about the pillar, learn more about the person that I guested on their episode, and, of course, learn more a little bit more about us as well too. This is Grass signing out. Hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.