Tag: Rob Dial Jr.

Playing Full Out

April 11th, 2023

Before I dive into this week’s article, no, I’m not slacking on the blog. I spent the past couple of weeks visiting family and going on a road trip, and I decided to just have fun and give myself a short break from everything except the podcast while I was gone. But, as they say, the party is over, and it’s back to the grind. However, that’s not necessarily a bad thing, because as much as I enjoyed that reprieve, I fucking love the grind.

At the beginning of the year, I wrote an article called “Mindset, Baby, Mindset,” where I talked about how I was going to kick things up a notch in 2023. I set the intention to focus on winning this year and not allow myself to make or accept excuses for giving up on my goals. I also talked about how my priorities were going to be centered around continuous growth, learning, and self-development, as well as following my passions and consistently aligning my habits and behaviors with an attitude of success.

Since starting my self-development journey about 2 years ago, I’ve realized that the more things I attempt that are out of my comfort zone, the more I’m driven to want to take myself and my life to the next level. I’ve mentioned in past articles that writing this blog and co-hosting the podcast have been completely life-changing for me. Publicly sharing my life and speaking out about my values and beliefs was something I thought I would never do, but I have since grown to become completely passionate about these projects. And, after completing my first round of “75 Hard” last September, I realized I also have the discipline to commit to habits I didn’t think I could be consistent with.

So, this year I decided I was going to continue to do shit that makes me uncomfortable and challenges me to become better. Instead of just listening to inspiring podcasts and reading self-development books, I set the intention to take a more active approach to upleveling my life and consistently striving for new levels of personal excellence and contribution. Fuck mediocrity. I’m playing full out in my life. So, the question is, am I following through with these commitments and bold statements? Let’s consider this a first quarter check-in…

I started the year off with a bang, simultaneously committing to a second round of “75 Hard” and Rob Dial Jr.’s 31-day “Limitless” Challenge in January. In retrospect, I suppose it was slightly overambitious (and probably a bit stupid), taking on two fairly demanding programs at the same time. But, hey, go big or go home right? I was going big. Fortunately, a lot of the tasks overlapped. Both programs involved daily tasks that included 45-minute workouts, reading, no alcohol, sticking to a diet, and drinking a gallon of water. “Limitless” also involved journaling, meditation, and participating in daily Facebook video challenge chats.

I decided I wanted to do something to give back and volunteer within my community, so I joined a local Soroptimist chapter in January, committing myself to bi-monthly lunch meetings and various other community-involved projects. I also found myself volunteering to take over managing the group’s social media accounts, which, if you know anything about me and my lack of creative social media skills, is completely laughable, but I’m doing it anyway.

Towards the end of January, I got an email announcing that the Arete Syndicate was going to be considering new members. Arete is an incredible community of highly successful elite entrepreneurs and people who are dedicated to being a force for good in this world and dominating at life. It’s like a network of personal excellence and empire-builders, led by Andy Frisella and Ed Mylett. I had attended a virtual livestream event last year, and ever since then I had been wanting to apply for membership. But, I held myself back from even entertaining the possibility because I’m not a highly successful entrepreneur (or even an entrepreneur at all), so I told myself I wasn’t good enough to apply.

However, this is the year of playing full out, stepping out of my comfort zone, and focusing on personal excellence with no excuses, so fuck it, I applied. And after a nail-biting week of hoping my essay was good enough for consideration, holy shit, I got accepted. When I received the email, I was literally so excited I was bouncing off the walls like a kid in a candy store. It’s been a couple months, and I’m still trying to navigate through some of my limiting beliefs about feeling like I don’t belong in the group since I’m not a successful entrepreneur, but I’m soaking up every bit of knowledge I can, and I feel confident that the Universe put this opportunity in my path for a reason, and something really fucking incredible is going to come out of it.

Shortly after getting accepted into Arete, I decided to take on a 5-day Tony Robbins challenge in February called “Become Unshakeable.” Despite my interest in personal development, in truth, participating in a Tony Robbins seminar is something I NEVER thought I would do. I grew up watching Tony’s infomercials on late night TV as a kid over 30 years ago, and I’ve always thought the whole thing was a little cultish. Then again, personal development in general is a little cultish for people who don’t believe, isn’t it? Well, since starting my own self-development journey a couple years ago, I can readily admit I’ve become a believer.

I don’t know what I was expecting heading into this virtual seminar. I had signed up at the last minute, and it was only a few hours a day, so I multitasked a lot of the program while I was at work. To be honest, I wasn’t fully committed during the process, and I ended up watching most of the content on replays after it was over. I didn’t participate in the physical components of the program at all, but I was fascinated and in awe watching the people on screen who did. Jumping around and dancing and yelling in front of my computer screen for thousands of people to see was just not something I was okay with doing. And, I had the great excuse that I was at work, so I couldn’t do that anyway. But then, if I wasn’t going to participate, then why the fuck was I doing it at all?

As with almost all self-development programs and seminars, the upsell for Tony Robbins’ infamous “Unleash the Power Within” program (otherwise known as “UPW”) was introduced during the second or third day of “Become Unshakeable.” And yeah, I got sucked in and decided to commit to that too. I told myself I was going to play full out, so I took 2 days off work to make sure I wouldn’t have any excuses or distractions.

I’m not gonna lie. To say UPW was intense would be a severe understatement. I don’t really even know how to describe it. It was simultaneously exhilarating and exhausting on all levels – mentally, physically, and psychologically. Four days, 12-15 hours each, with very minimal breaks the first two days. I barely had time to run out to the stables to feed the horses and goats. Tony Robbins is insane. In a good way. I don’t know how one person can have that much energy. I guess that’s why he’s the number one motivational coach in the world and has created an empire that’s not only lasted, but also grown exponentially over the past 40 years. Watching him was truly impressive.

Throughout the program, I maintained my commitment to play full out. I repeatedly danced, jumped around, and screamed more in those four days than I probably have my entire life. I quite literally unleashed the power within me, oftentimes with such an intensity that I think my dogs were confused and scared. If I had neighbors, they probably would have called the cops out of concern. I stayed up way past my bedtime each night, and I burned more calories in those four days than I would in a month of CrossFit. I’m not even joking. Thankfully, my last day of my most recent round of “75 Hard” ended on the first day of UPW because I really didn’t have the bandwidth to do much else but focus on the seminar throughout the four days. I don’t know how anyone could possibly go through this process and not experience some kind of transformation. I think it’s literally designed to wear you down physically in order to impact your mindset.

My headlong rush into challenging myself to strive for excellence also resulting in what I still think was a very questionable decision to commit myself to posting weekly short “inspirational” selfie videos on Facebook and Instagram for an entire year as a way to challenge myself to step further out of my comfort zone. I have no idea if anyone is actually inspired by these little segments, and frankly, the whole process of doing selfie videos makes me cringe. I guess that’s the whole point, though. Doing shit that makes you push through the discomfort.

And finally, right before I went on vacation, I made a fairly last-minute decision to renew my CrossFit Level 1 Trainer credential because, hey, why not add coaching to my ever-growing list of activities? Honestly, this wasn’t on my radar at all, but when one of the coaches at my gym told me there was going to be a local training seminar, and I could get it done in one weekend and only have to drive 30 minutes away, I took that as a sign that this was something I should be doing. Never mind that I’ve been nursing a shoulder and neck injury for a few weeks, and I was wholly unprepared and had to cram study a 300-page manual for a written exam in 2 days. Fuck it, right? I jumped in and played full out. The Universe must have been on my side because I passed the written exam.

So, here we are, at the start of April, and I feel like I’ve been doing a pretty decent job of pushing myself out of my comfort zone in my ongoing quest for personal excellence. There have been a few bumps in the road, but instead of making excuses, I just fix my shit and get back on track. Throughout it all, I’ve continued working full-time, spending several hours each week doing podcast research, writing blog articles, recording podcast episodes, taking care of my ever-growing menagerie of animals and responsibilities, and mapping out other projects I’m committed to accomplishing.

Am I a little overambitious? Maybe. But my journey so far has been incredible, and despite the stress of taking on a ton of shit all at once, I’ve loved the challenge. Yeah, I still have a few limiting beliefs about myself and my ability to become the successful entrepreneur I know I’m destined to be, but I’m working on my mindset every day, and as long as I keep playing full out in my life and taking steps towards fulfilling my dreams, I know I’m going to make shit happen.

So, that’s my update. I’ve already taken on my next big self-development project, and I’m excited to see where that goes. I’ll keep y’all posted.

Unapologetically Outspoken,

Tara
Does Multitasking Make You Dumber…?

December 13th, 2022

One of the podcasts I listen to regularly is “The Mindset Mentor” with Rob Dial Jr. It’s basically a motivational self-development podcast, consisting of 15-20 minute episodes a few times a week, where Rob talks about different ways to change your perspectives, gain focus, and excel in life. Kind of like what Stephanie and I do on our “Motivation / Manifestation Monday” episodes, but without the Law of Attraction spin on things.

A couple weeks ago, Rob did an episode about tips on how to stop being overwhelmed, and one of the concepts he discussed was the idea that multitasking makes you dumber. Since I’ve been listening to his podcast for the past couple of years, this is something I’ve heard Rob mention more than once, but I’ve always kind of blown it off because multitasking has been the foundation of how I live my life. I am basically a multitasking queen, and I’ve always had this belief that multitasking equals efficiency.

I read a chapter or two of a book when I’m on the treadmill. I take advantage of my commute to work as the optimal time to catch up with someone on the phone. I meal prep and often have multiple dishes in various stages of cooking while I’m folding laundry or vacuuming the house. And no matter what I’m doing, I typically have a podcast playing in the background because I’m at the point where there are so many I want to listen to that it’s difficult to keep up with daily episode releases.

I am one of those people who can’t sit still for more than a few minutes because I feel unproductive if I’m not doing something. I also have this mentality that there isn’t enough time to do all of the things I want to do in a day, so unless I multitask, I won’t get things done. Even as I sit here writing this article, I’m drinking coffee, listening to a subliminal, playing rope tug-o-war with my dogs, constantly looking at the clock to see how much time I have left before I need to get ready for work, thinking about all of the items on my “to do” list for the day, and frequently checking my phone.

However, since I’m on this continuous journey of growth and self-development to manifest my best fucking life, I figured it was worth doing a little research to find out more about this idea. I ended up going down the Google rabbit hole, looking at articles from medical doctors, psychologists, university studies, and healthcare websites. The consensus was pretty much the same. Every resource I looked at confirmed the theory that multi-tasking is “bad.”

Overall, research shows that multitasking even two things at once interferes with memory, divides your attention, creates distraction, interferes with your ability to learn, and reduces efficiency. According to neuroscientists at Stanford University, too much multitasking actually slows down your brain’s ability to process, resulting in mistakes, attention lapses, and forgetfulness. Basically, your brain function decreases when you ask it to handle competing sources of attention. And, on top of that, from a mental health perspective, multitasking can negatively impact your mood and motivation levels, cause irritability and impatience, and lead to chronic stress. When your brain tries to focus on too many things at one time, it drains your energy, which can exacerbate feelings of anxiety and fatigue.

From a productivity standpoint, I can see how this makes sense. There are times I’ve been trying to do too many things at once that all required some level of focus and concentration, and, as a result, I’ve made mistakes because I wasn’t paying attention. Fortunately, they were mostly fixable mistakes. But, I can also definitely admit that dividing my attention has caused me to become distracted and end up doing some stupid shit. Yes, I am one of those people who has quite literally walked into a pole and embarrassed myself in front of strangers because I was looking down at my phone instead of paying attention to the fact there was a stop sign on the corner. I am also guilty of having entire phone conversations with someone where I have no idea what was said afterwards because I was too busy trying to accomplish other tasks at the same time.

Yet, I also believe that my ability to multitask is part of what made me a good cop. Having to maintain a strong level of situational awareness, paying attention to my surroundings while simultaneously interviewing someone, listening to the way they talk, writing down notes, watching their body language, taking in clues in my environment, remembering important details, being aware of other people in the room or area and what they are doing, and being mentally prepared to immediately switch gears and react to any danger or change definitely required the ability to be effective at multitasking. So, in contrast to the idea of multitasking being dangerous, my law enforcement experiences taught me the opposite, as I know my ability to multitask saved my life (and the lives of others) on several occasions.

Some researchers say that multitasking is actually “task switching,” because our brains really only allow us to do one thing at a time, and what we are actually doing when we think we are multitasking is quickly switching back and forth between tasks. This is especially significant when it comes to juggling multiple media-related sources, like switching back and forth between your phone, computer, tablet, game console, and television. Sadly, I will admit this is something I do frequently.

When I’m in the mood to “wind down,” I curl up on the couch to catch up on “90 Day Fiancé,” (or my current new fave, “Tulsa King”), but because I feel guilty, anxious, and unproductive just watching TV, and I don’t have much free time to begin with, I simultaneously try to accomplish several tasks at the same time. This typically involves burying my head in my phone and frequently glancing up at the TV when I hear something that peaks my interest (which, when it comes to “90 Day Fiancé,” is ALL THE TIME…). I go back and forth between researching news articles and information for podcast episodes, jotting down ideas and key points in a notebook, coloring a picture on my “Happy Color” app, checking my email, sending text messages, and looking at the alerts that pop up on my phone from one of the many apps that seem to have taken over my life.

I somehow convince myself that this is all “relaxing,” but when I think about it in terms of the negative impacts of multitasking, it actually just sounds exhausting. My brain is not relaxing at all because it’s operating like a ping-pong machine, competing for attention from every angle, listening to the TV, switching my eyes back and forth from the TV to my phone, typing a text message, writing in a notebook… It’s like stimulation overload. I guess it’s no wonder that I find myself forgetting simple things like where I set down my coffee cup or why I walked into the living room and then just end up standing there confused because I can’t remember that I was looking for my coffee cup in the first place.

Research also shows that multitasking hinders creativity and innovation, but I don’t necessarily agree with this one. While I can admit that juggling multiple tasks makes it more difficult to be truly present in the moment, and it contradicts the practice of mindfulness, I often get my most productive ideas and burst of creativity when I’m multitasking and my brain is going 90 miles an hour. At least, that’s what I believe…?

One bright spot I found during my research, though, is that I did see several articles promoting the concept of multitasking when it comes to being in nature and gaining clarity. Getting outside and taking a walk while thinking about a problem or issue can be beneficial to your brain because being in nature can improve creativity and help with problem-solving. I can say from personal experience that this is absolutely true for me, as I do tend to get a lot of my creative ideas when I’m either in my yard, hanging out with my goats, or taking a walk.

So, I guess the question remains whether this newfound information about multitasking will change my behavior? While I don’t think I’m going to completely stop “task switching” anytime soon, the bottom line is that I probably need to lay off the tech devices every now and then to give my brain a rest and experiment with focusing on one activity at a time. Who knows, maybe it really will make me more productive.

Unapologetically Outspoken,

Tara

Tag: Rob Dial Jr.

Playing Full Out

Does Multitasking Make You Dumber…?