#96 Fear, Mindfullness and Procrastination | Scott Allen

0:00 if you want to avoid. Looking back with regret, then you have to do the things that really scare you because yeah, there are no guarantees of success, of course, but the only guarantee of failure is not doing anything with your life. synchronicity, inner voice, intuition. when you make that decision, the transformation started. today. We have Scott Allen and I'm going to give you a little bit of background. Scott's mission is to unlock human potential. I definitely want to get into human potential, Scott. I love that topic. He brings over 10, 000 hours of research and practice in confidence, development, and mindset mastery.

0:41 Scott Allen. Welcome to the show. Thanks for coming on, man. How's it going? It's great to be here. Thanks for having me on the show. Looking forward to great conversation. Yes, I'm ready. Let's go. You just came from Japan and we were just talking about like jet lag and having to 13 hour flights You definitely need to unlock some human potential to be able to handle that and be able to do what you're doing which is going on podcasts and Talking about your book and and I guess being at the forefront of this Just transformation, human transformation. I feel like what were your thoughts, the, the, uh, what are your thoughts on? Like, just, I feel like the human transformational, like success mindset, that industry is boosting right now.

1:27 What are your thoughts? Yeah, I definitely think it is. Um, I'm not sure if it's always been boosting, but I find that it's in a better position these days more than it ever has been for people to, you know, transform their lives. And, uh, This can be, you know, transforming your life from a mindset perspective, or even from a physical perspective. In other words, you could move to the other side of the world if you want to, or you can stay at home and you can create something online. You can still connect with the world. So I think the transformation side of things, it's a, it's a decision as well, which we can get into a little bit later. That was, uh, I think it was an active decision I made years ago to change my life, which I've done several times.

2:08 And it's probably how I ended up in Japan. I've been here for about 25 years, but it really was a journey of transformation and transformation is a bit of a sexy word. It sounds like it's a, you know, it's a, you know, interesting, fun, adventurous journey. And it is that stuff, but it's also going through a lot of growth pains as well to get there. So. You know, it's interesting because, and I think I say it's interesting because like in every episode, like this is just like the first five minutes, but I say that, um, yes, you're absolutely like, I, I 100 percent am on the same page with you because Especially with social media, a lot of, a lot of the times people don't share the growth period and you have to hop on a podcast to actually like talk about that growth period.

2:58 And that's why I like talking to someone like you where we get to peel back the onion and the layers and talk about that story so that we know that it wasn't all Fun and games where it's like you don't just decide you want to transfer, you know, transform and change your life. And then, and then that's it. It's, it's like, it's the hero's journey. You have to go through some shit. And you started to allude to that. So I want to go into that. What, um, what started your journey to just be that coach, that strategist. That's a tongue twister there. And, um, Does it have to do with going to Japan? It leads up to going to Japan.

3:39 So let's go back a few decades, maybe actually. So, so I'm from Canada originally and way back in the day, I think I was really into just doing a lot of partying and drinking and, and that was really fun for a while until it, uh, wasn't. And then when I tried to stop that lifestyle and this lifestyle at the time, probably when I was back in my. I guess earlier 20s, you know, for about, uh, yeah, in my 20s. Anyway, I was really into just a lot of that and, uh, um, had a lot of fun, but then when I wanted to stop the partying and the drinking, I couldn't, and, uh, When I tried to do that, I realized that I had this pattern of, you know, self sabotage, where it's just like, I would try to stop this, uh, you know, chaotic behavior of, um, you know, messing up my life again and again.

4:29 And then I would stop for a little while, go back into it, stop for a while, go back into it. And when I finally got, uh, serious about it, well, I ended up in the hospital one too many times. And, you know, the doctors were like, if you come back here again, it might be the last time. And. For a lot of people, maybe that would get them thinking seriously about, um, stopping that, uh, you know, kind of behavior. But, uh, for me, it didn't. But what did bother me was living the rest of my life in the dark. like that. And, uh, there's something in me that just wanted to change. Like the transformation wasn't, uh, I wouldn't say it was a decision. There was just, there was something inside of me that really did want more out of my life than just what I was putting into it.

5:12 And so I did eventually get some real help, got some sponsors and coaches and I got some people on board and they started showing me a different way of life. And the thing is, is like once the fog starts to clear and you start to see that there is a. Different way to live your life. You want more of that, right? And I did like I started to see that there was a different way to live. And once I started to get clear and sober and had clarity around what the hero's journey could actually look like, then I started reading these books on self help. And I remember one of the first books I read was Tony Robbins book, Awaken the Giant Within. I was in a bookstore one day, just walked in and I was looking for a new book to read because I was really hungry for this information.

5:55 And there it was. And. read through it in a week or so. It's a pretty big book. And, um, you know, I started writing up my goals and I made a vision board and I started having a, a vision for this, you know, potentially like this new life. And part of it was, um, I think I wrote down my goals and one of my goals was I wanted to be an author, which is something I've wanted to do since I was a kid. And. The second thing is I wanted to travel the world, which was a new one because I'd never really had that as a goal before, but I'd never been anywhere before. And I was like, wouldn't it be interesting if I were to like, travel to Thailand and Vietnam and like, I made a list of all these countries that I wanted to, you know, um, go to.

6:39 And so my vision board started to have pictures of all these places. And I started putting together this weird little, um, collage of, you You know, ideas and concepts and, um, you know, a lot of like, what ifs, like, what if, uh, I were to do this and, uh, the possibility started growing and this is where the transformation started to come because I got into the point where I realized, okay, like, wow, what if I were to actually do this thing? And then I just made the decision that, I'm going to do this thing. So I literally said, I'm going to, you know, I'm going to move to the other side of the world and I'm going to do it a year from now. And it wasn't going to Japan at that time. It was really just, I'm just going to move to, you know, I'm going to sell my car and my stereo.

7:19 And that was really like all I had. So I didn't have a lot to get rid of, you know, but I did have a, you know, did have a career and a job and stuff like that and friends and family. But, uh, I was like, no, I'm going to do this thing. And the thing is when I made that decision, the transformation started to. I mean, what I mean by that is, you know, things started to appear synchronistically. I started to meet people who had done these things before and, you know, every time I would meet someone and they would share their story with me, I'm like, yeah, that's what I really want. So, um, you know, I had like, I gave myself a year to prepare and what actually ended up happening is about. I don't know, three or four months into my, you know, um, building my plan. I came across a job opportunity in Japan.

8:01 I, I found this ad in the newspaper one day, just as I was scrolling through it, not scrolling through it, probably, I guess, breezing through the pages, you know, uh, we didn't even have internet back then. So there wasn't scrolling, there wasn't much scrolling done, you know, but, uh, yeah, I was browsing through the paper and, uh, found this ad and it said, yeah, supply now, teach English in Japan, and I just thought, That's a great idea. And I remember just taking a day to put together this resume and a fancy letter and, uh, set it off. And, um, next thing I knew I was in downtown Vancouver having this interview with this Japanese businessman who owned these schools overseas in Japan. And he was hiring people to, you know, bring them over and set them up. And I don't know, something about that, just like intuitively speaking, there was something like, I just knew I was on the right path.

8:47 I didn't. I don't know the job, yet something inside me said, you're going to get this job. You're going to Japan. You know, it's like this, I don't know, inner voice. And I was like, okay, well, if that's the way it's going to be, that's the way it's going to be. I'm going that way anyway. Uh, yeah. said a lot of really interesting key words and phrases. Hmm. Mm synchronicity, inner voice, intuition. Um, when you make that decision, the transformation started. And it, it, and this is like the world that I work to help people live in. Where it's like you well before I even like I don't even go into me.

9:28 I want to go into like You you had you were on your your your hero's journey, right? You made that decision and then things started to open up and I wanted to if if we were to have like binoculars or like a pause button and we can kind of like zoom in Csi style and kind of like refresh and kind of like get more clarity about like that period of your life I think that's huge and key. Um I think my grammar is all jacked up, but What some, what were some of the things that you did that helped you be more confident in those decisions and those sites of opportunities? Because myself, and I'm pretty sure you're similar, I come from a place of overthinking, over analyzing, and what ends up happening is you have a lack of clarity and you miss a lot of opportunities and these synchronicities are happening all around you and you miss them.

10:25 I'm very curious, how did you maintain that ability Mm aware of the synchronicities? And if you don't mind, if you can remember, can you share one of them? Yeah, exactly. So yeah, looking back on that. I created I had to create the The dream before I was actually living in it. So in other words, you know, I had this plan to move overseas and I had the, I had no idea what that looked like. I mean, I'd never really been to another country before, but I had to build that, uh, vision in my mind as if it were already happening. So here's, here's something that I did.

11:05 One thing that I did, I would go to the library or the bookstore. I would get more books on, uh, for example, how to, how to speak Thai or how to speak Vietnamese, right? And I would actually bring these books home. I remember they were, they were these little pocket books like that Burlesque used to put out. And what's interesting, years later, when I came to Japan, I ended up working for Burlesque for 20 years and that became one of my best friends. main jobs actually was, uh, doing cultural training, more of a later story, but that ties in with, you know, it was just interesting how I started learning these languages from these little Berlitz books I found in the bookstore. And, um, the reason for that is like, I had to, um, convince myself that this wasn't just a fairy tale that I was creating. Like I was really doing this thing.

11:46 So it was like this unwavering, Decisionless commitment that was so deep that it was just unbreakable, and I had to create that in my mind. So, my roommates would come home after, you know, they were after work or after partying, and they're like, What are you doing? And I'd be like, you know, it'd be like midnight, and I'd be on my living room floor surrounded by all these books and, uh, speaking these weird languages and You nerd! Apes and stuff like that. Yeah. They're like, okay, you know, we knew that he was going to stop partying, but this is going a little bit too far, you know, cause you know, they were out there doing their thing and I was kind of like building this, my own little world. Right. So it was more than just having a vision board. I think that's a, that'll take you so far, but I did have to actually spend time immersed in that world, you know?

12:32 And so, uh, the other thing he did is I, I joined this, um, it's like this weekly club that would meet up and these people would talk about their, uh, their traveling and these were people who had already been overseas and they were already traveling and they wanted to connect with people who, I guess they really missed it. So they were connecting with people who, uh, uh, you know, had already like gone overseas and had these adventures and I don't know, it was just kind of this club I joined, but I was one of the, you know, People in the group who actually hadn't been anywhere. So I was really just again. I just wanted to like something just, um, brought me into that group, you know, and, but, but then he would share the stories with me. And I would say, yeah, you know, I'd like to go to, you know, Bali and Australia.

13:13 And I had this like list of all these places. And every time I would mention that, then somebody would say, oh, I've been there and you should go check out data. So I was just like, you know, collecting information as well. But every time I did, it was just like another, I think it was like another dot on the, uh, I guess if you, if you think of it as like, you know, a connector dots kind of thing, it was like every time I met somebody or I heard something, it was like connecting another dot that was moving me forward. Right. So everything that was happening was just, um, I felt like it was just, I Lining everything up, but the breaker really was when I found that opportunity in Japan and probably about again, you know, we're talking like two or three months into this decision that I made and I had the interview and then probably a couple weeks later, I got the job.

14:02 Now, when that happened, I had about six or seven months to prepare because they had hired us probably like in October of 97 and we weren't leaving until March. Right. But that was the thing is like once it was a done deal, then there was no going back. Right. And now I had a plan. Now I had a commitment. Now I had a company that was invested in, you know, bringing me overseas. And, uh, it was good that I actually knew it way ahead of time. Cause it gave me more time to repair, um, as well, you know, but that was just the thing is like, I think none of this would have happened. Right. If, uh, just going back, uh, you know, like six months previously, if I hadn't made that decision to, uh, you know, do this thing and here's just one more quick little story to, um, at the time I was living in Vancouver, I am from Halifax originally and so when I finished university, there weren't any jobs around.

14:50 So, you know, I was living at home with mom and dad. Um, I was working in the local pub and I, you know, I had a, you know, Uh, and electrical engineering degree and it's like nothing I could really do with it. So my friend out in B. C. said, Hey, why don't you come out here and, you know, look for a job? There's lots of jobs out, out here. And again, going back, uh, even before like going to Japan and all that, way before that, Um, I had to, uh, pack up all my stuff, leave my friends and family and move out West. And that was actually more of a scarier thing. But here's the thing, like the process was the same thing. Um, when my friends said that I made a decision like, Hey, I'm going to move out West and I don't know anybody, but I'm going to do it anyway. And I literally didn't know anybody.

15:30 Right. And I'd never been anywhere that's had my little town, my little world. And so I was more of a, Probably afraid at that time to really venture out of my comfort zone and do anything. But here's the thing. I made the decision. I was going to do it. Mom and dad were all in because they didn't want me living at home till I was 15. So, uh, you know, I think you may have even bought me the plane ticket. I remember, you know, but, but I think also like really, they wanted me to, you know, succeed and get out there into the world and see what it's all about. Yeah. Here's a plane ticket. Yeah. Yeah. So that was just like, you know, it's like that. And it was like, so I had proven myself previously that I could do this thing.

16:11 You know, once I make a decision, I follow through. You don't know what the outcome is going to be. And that's the thing is like, I think what holds a lot of people back. So like, well, you know, I might do this thing. It might not work out. And, and all that is true. But the thing is, If I hadn't done anything, if I had just stayed in my, you know, my, my safety zone and just, uh, you know, not taking a risk. Well, I don't know how things would have turned out, but all I can tell you is that where I'm at right now, looking back, I'm like, thank God I did those things, you know, and I think that's one of the things where, you know, if you want to avoid. Looking back with regret, then you have to do the things that really scare you because yeah, there are no guarantees of success, of course, but the only guarantee of failure is not doing anything with your life.

17:00 And by that, I mean, everybody has to, they have to frame that up, you know, however way they want to. I'm not saying, you know, everyone has to move the other side of the world and start a new life and all that, but. Um, my intuition at the time, my intuition was telling me this is the way this is the path. And I do remember I was reading Joseph Campbell's book at the time. I think that was one of the books that I was going through. I remember thinking, wow, this is kind of similar to what I'm experiencing. And now when I look at it, when now, like I still have the, you know, still have the book, it's a big book. It's a big read. But when I read through it now, it just makes total sense to me. Right. So, um, anyway, I just want my favorite books. Yeah. I bet you the read now is going to be a completely different book.

17:42 Mm, yeah. Or the audiobook, which I even like better. Yeah, yeah. I love the audiobooks when it's the author that says it, that's Mm hmm. Right? Cause it's, uh, I think on a deeper energetic level, if it's the person who wrote it speaking, um, more of the life of the book, more of the message of the book comes through. So, um, there's some books that, um, I'm not sure if you're familiar with David Wilcock, but he, he, he's written a couple books, but he goes, he goes into, he's got like a whole book on synchronicity, um, and it's amazing how you, you know, you have, you're an author and you, you write a book and then, um, if the longer the book, the longer you're going to be recording your voice.

18:23 Mm hmm. Um, uh, so I, I hope if, if you haven't already, I hope that you, um, do the audio if for your book. Um, and then at the same time, uh, I also know that there's people saying, well, you know, um, AI is going to be able to read all your books. So blah, blah, blah. But there's this energetic thing behind it for sure. And, and do you use a lot of like, um, energy and mindfulness in your, in, in, in your strategy sessions with people? I'm, I'm curious because one key thing that pulled from just introducing you was unlocking human potential. And, and, um, maybe those are aligned.

19:06 I used a lot of, um, well, we'll call them grounding techniques, I think, but, uh, the mindfulness, deep breathing exercise and, uh, eating well, like eating better. I used to, um, eat a lot of junk food and sugar and I've always been rather like into exercise and I go to the gym all the time and things like that. And sometimes it's really hard for me to get to the gym because I'll procrastinate before getting there. But these are all things that tie into, um, keeping. My mind and my body and my, you know, my spiritual essence, just present in the moment, right? So I rarely like worry about things. And when I do catch myself worrying about things, I remember like, Oh, well, this is part of the journey.

19:47 You know, you're not supposed to, you know, like if you're worrying about something, it's maybe there's a problem or the, you need to solve, or maybe you just need to leave it alone. Actually. Sometimes that's. The best way to solve a problem sometimes is to just leave it alone and let the, it is, yeah, yeah. And I do that all the time. I'll start worrying about, you know, I don't, I don't, I don't have enough money for this and what am I going to do? And then suddenly, um, I remember, uh, you know, my old training will say, just let the universe handle it, right? It's bigger than you are. Let the universe handle it. And when I come back to that, um. I can just let it go. Right. But it's one of those things where, you know, you have to, I have to continue reminding myself that, um, you know, we're not here to worry about stuff.

20:35 I mean, there's always stuff we can worry about and, you know, fret over and like what, you know, in the end, like, is it going to work out for me? Am I going to be okay? It's like, well, if you're doing what you're supposed to be doing, and you're just showing up every day and working at it, then it's You know, good things are going to come and that sounds a little bit woo, but it's actually just the way I roll into every day, you know? Um, I'm not huge on planning. Yeah. Yeah. We're all about the woo here. Yeah. Don't hold back. So I am in the right place. All right. Yeah. But, um, I don't do a lot of like lifestyle planning, but. I do believe in that, uh, you know, there is a, there is a bigger plan.

21:17 There's a bigger picture. And I think that if we're to go back to the hero's journey, a lot of the, uh, the journey was really like, you know, it was certainly there's, there's challenges along the way, but that's where the good stuff is. It's like when it is challenging, um, when it's difficult, you know, I think a lot of people, when life gets difficult, they start to, um, complain about stuff. They started to complain about. People and their friends and their family. And why aren't things working out? And it's like, well, how do you know they're not working out just because it didn't work out today doesn't mean it's not going to work out next week or, you know, and you have to frame what that means. Like, what does it mean for your life to be, you know, for you to have your ideal lifestyle?

22:01 And I think it's important to have a vision for how you want that to unfold because, um, although I said, I'm not big on planning, I do have, um, A plan for, you know, say the next year, right? I mean, I have my goals set up and I'm working towards those because if you don't have those, your plan is going to become a default plan that's going to be controlled by somebody else. So that was just one of the things I may have picked out from Jim Rowan or Tony Robbins back in the day, but I think it goes something like, you know, if you don't have a plan for your life, somebody else does. And I just, um. Don't like that. I just wanted to have, you know, control over my, you know, life's destiny, right?

22:43 As much as I could. I mean, I think there's a certain level of control we don't have, but, uh, if I can influence anything along the path, whether it's a decision I have to make or an action at the take, and I think those are things we can always do, then, you know, I'll just figure out or not figure it out with something that I just know that this is something I need to do. So I'm just going to do it. And, um, it might be one of those hard things, by the way, you know, do the hard things first, might be one of those hard things I have to do that I've been avoiding, but once I take action on it, then, you know, I can clear that obstacle and move on to the next thing. So. It seems like, um, what you were talking about was, like, literally overcoming procrastination.

23:26 Hmm. the, uh, the main thing about that, like you said, if you don't make a decision, someone else will. Um. Do you have any tips and techniques that, um, you can suggest with somebody that's dealing with procrastination? Because we live in a, in a world of, a world of abundant decisions and abundant excuses, right? And, um, It's interesting, you have one person that has, uh, more excuses than, um, reasons. And, you know, two people, right? Same background, just one person has less energy behind the, uh, excuses.

24:12 And, you know, the other person soars, uh, so I'm very curious about it, because that's what you specialize in, helping people with overcoming procrastination. Um, what are some tips? Yeah, and I think the, um, specializing in procrastination really just comes from my own personal struggle with it and which is experienced with, you know, and we all procrastinate over to some degree. Now, Um, there are varying degrees of this as well. My level of procrastination was more if there is such a thing as chronic procrastination. I will put off things that are detrimentally damaging to, could be my financial being, my future, you know, things that need to be done that I'm avoiding.

24:56 And we all may do this again to a certain extent. But giving an example, um, maybe not filing for your taxes, even though you're supposed to by law. I'm not saying I didn't. I always have filed my taxes, of course, and all that. For the record, yeah, yeah, for the record, exactly. But there are many instances where, over the years, I would push it off to the degree, to the degree where, like, I'd start to Put all my stuff together two days before it was due, right? And they have to stay up late for 48 hours working on this thing. And, and that I do not recommend right now. I could have avoided that. But when I look back over the course of the year, my plan was to show up at the end of every month. together. So at the end of the year, I didn't have to do that.

25:38 And yet I did it for two or three years in a row, especially after I quit my full time job. And I went, um, as you know, an entrepreneur. And that was, uh, an exciting, you know, that's an exciting journey. But you have to realize that you also have to do your own taxes. So that was not a strength of mine was organizing this stuff. Anyway, I'm just using this as an example of, um, where I realized that at the time I had such a deep level of procrastination around things that I really didn't want to do that are really uncomfortable that, um, uh, you know, it was just, it was for me to get over that actually required, um, For me to actually write things down step by step.

26:23 So here's what I did. Um, I actually went through and when I put together the do the hard things first book, I made a list of all the things that I was putting off, like things that I unfinished tasks, you know, work like it doesn't matter if it was a room that had been left. Uncluttered or I did not declutter it, whatever it was like, you know, a drawer that had all like a bunch of papers in it, whatever it was that I could find that was in chaos, I would just put it on my list as a thing to do. Now I had a long list of all these things and it was actually the greatest, the great thing about making that list, I realized is that it gave me clarity. So depending on who you talk to, I think that the reason that people Most people procrastinate is out of fear, but it's also a lack of clarity as to what they should be doing next.

27:11 Right? So again, I had to make this list where all this stuff that was just unfinished in my life, it was actually living in my head. And that's the thing. And that's where that creates a lot of anxiety. You don't see it, but that's where it is. And, um, you know, anxiety. And then you've got, uh, you know, the, the fear of, um, like you just know. You have all this stuff to do and you're just putting it all off and you know, maybe just watching TV all the time. So what I did is I had my list and then I started to just, every day I would pick one thing on the list to do. Now it wasn't always the hardest thing on the list, but at this stage I just needed to take action on something because although it was very prolific, I think, and like when it came to writing books and putting books out there, like that's something I could do.

27:56 Relatively easily, actually, because I, um, created a system for it. I trained myself to do this. So that part of the, you know, my lifestyle was good, but over here there's other stuff that I was just completely avoiding, you know, like, and you can do with like finances and, and there's the whole list of things, right? Um, and when I realized that I was avoiding those things, I thought, okay, well, what if I were to actually pay attention to this area of my life that I'm avoiding and. When I did start to pay attention to it, I put together an action list. Like, uh, I realized I had to learn certain things to get good at something. Now there are some things that, um, on this action list, by the way. Um, one of the reasons we procrastinate is because we don't know how to do something and we don't always want to ask for help either.

28:40 Right. And there are things on the list where it's like, I don't want to do this thing, but it has to be done. Right. So. Does it have to be done by me? No, I could actually hire someone to do this thing. I mean, I could hire someone to organize my files or, you know, um, help me out with my taxes or whatever it was, whatever the thing that I was getting stuck in. There's gotta be a way to get it done because that's the thing too, is people always think, well, maybe, you know, I'm the one that has to do this thing, but no. The goal is to get the thing finished. It doesn't matter if you have to hire someone to do it or not. And I outsource things all the time in my business. And there's a lot of things that I don't want to do. So I will just, uh, you know, if I have enough cashflow, I would just outsource it to somebody.

29:22 So, um, I guess my tip though, for, you know, if you're. Um, really procrastinating. And again, we all do this to a certain degree, but really it just comes down to, um, you don't have to really figure all the whys, like, you know, why am I procrastinating? It doesn't matter. The thing is, you are, so just make a, make a short list. I mean, I had a list of hundreds of things. Maybe you just have five things on your list and then just pick one thing on that list. It's just like project management too. You got a project, you need to know the action steps required to move forward towards this project. Maybe it's. One thing a day, one thing a week, and now you've got clarity. And again, clarity is the key. Having it down on paper, you know, sure you can type it up in your computer, but I mean, I don't know.

30:04 We get so many digital files in there. I prefer to just have it, you know, on paper, on a checklist, and then I'll just keep it on my desk and then it's there in my space, like the vision board that I would use to, uh, you know, get from here to there. Well, the action list that I have, all these things that I'm putting off. Um, it's like a big to do list, really, but I mean, it's better to have that than to have nothing, or to have it all swimming around in your head, you know, where things get lost, so. I agree. Yes. When you're trying to remember everything What what is that? Um phrase a uh, A short pen is better than a long memory or something like that or something like that where it's just like The mind is amazing, but it's not that amazing.

30:49 hmm. Yeah. we have a limited, a short term memory. Um, you can't just shove everything in there and you can only grab so many groceries on the way to the car Mm hmm. the house. Right. I, I think I've tried to fit like 10 bags at once. I'm like, never again, my fingers are gonna fall off. And that's like, that's how I usually say to people, like, you know, when you're trying to like, just remember everything, uh, when, with your clients, I'm curious. Is there anything that is, or what's the most common thing that they run into that you're seeing with, with procrastination as like a reason or just like a thing more recently that people are running into?

31:33 Depends on what they're working on, but for the most part, um, They're afraid to take action on something because, uh, they think they might fail at it. So actually, let's use, uh, I coach a lot of people on, um, the book publishing process, actually. So one of the things that we procrastinate on in this process is actually writing the content. Because, yes, it is hard to do this, but, uh, if you just break it down into little steps, like showing up, uh, my process is very simple. Um, know what you're writing about, show up every day for one hour, Write a thousand words or 500 words and do that for 60 days. And you've got your book done. Now it sounds easy when I say it. And actually, when you break it down into small steps, you can write a manuscript in 60 days, or you can build a business or whatever it may be.

32:20 Right. So, uh, we just, uh, take, uh, the goal, which is, you know, again, just, I'm using to write a book as an example, but you can use it for anything, break your goal down into, um, Daily steps of just, you know, like little, I guess baby steps, little tasks that they can take. Because again, uh, the one thing that they get stuck on is moving forward because it's very overwhelming. And I think that's one of the reasons, uh, another reason we procrastinate is because we get overwhelmed with all the things that we, you know, like, how am I gonna make this whole thing work? And again, if, uh, if someone has the, you know, their goal is to, I know, well, let's just say, you know, to build a. A digital business, whatever it is, or they they're putting together something that just requires a lot of steps.

33:04 You know, again, coming back to like, probably basic project management as well. You know, got a big project. Where do you begin? Right? Um, they just get really overwhelmed by this and then overwhelmed leads to anxiety and then they start to shut down and, uh, Do other things, which really is procrastination is probably the default. That's that's the escape route. That's the path of least resistance, right? Um, because that's the path that we know, you know, so we tend to just say, okay, well, look, you know, like, you don't have to have this whole thing figured out right away. You're just going to show up tomorrow and you're going to, you know, uh, Time blocking is not a new thing. So it's just like, you know, block this into your time or just put yourself on a timer for like one hour, 30 minutes, but now you're locked in, you're focused on this one thing, and now you can just do this, you know, show up every day and just do a little piece of it, right?

33:55 And you just do it that guys, one thing at a time. Yeah, one thing at a time. Yeah, multitasking. I've done that many, many times. I still struggle with it, actually. Multitasking. Because, again, multitasking leads to overwhelm. Overwhelm leads to procrastination, you know. And then procrastination leads to, I agree. Yeah, so, yeah. Um, but yeah, I mean, so it's not really, I mean, there's a whole, like, there's a, there's a deeper level of psychology behind, uh, you know, putting things off and, and all the stuff that, and, and the end of the day, it's really just comes down to like, you know, knowing what you want, knowing, uh, you know, having a plan to get it and then showing up every day and working on the plan. It's like those three things right there.

34:37 Agree. Yeah. So, um, yeah, multitasking, not my forte. I completely agree with one thing at a time. Even if you have the skill of multitasking, right? Like when you split too many things apart, you lessen the quality of each thing that you do. And if you wanted to create an amazing book, I like your idea, obviously because it works, and it makes total sense, and applying that to many other things where it's like, you know, create a deadline, and then work your way back, and I hear that a lot, but, sometimes a lot of times you need someone like yourself to help strategize what that looks like with something that you know that works instead of spending hours and hours of time on youtube university trying to figure out who's got the best way right who's got the best way so you have this you have your book doing the hard things first um it's like it reminds me of ripping the band aid off hmm.

35:44 Mm hmm. do you have an audio version of it yet? I do actually, yeah, I have two versions of it. One was read by me, one was read by someone else when it first released. The version read by me hasn't been released yet, but that's the second edition of the book, actually. So, um, I do have versions of that. I do, like, I have, uh, you know, 35 to 40 titles, so I haven't done the audio versions for most of them, probably, just for the sake of time. I outsourced a lot of them, but I'm starting to, uh, you know, uh, record these myself, actually. Let's see. Uh, not using AI, um, but, uh, actually, uh, you know, real people doing real things, real voices.

36:25 So I have nothing against the, the AI is probably that's, uh, not to go off topic, but I think, um, Amazon is now, they actually have that capability where they're, uh, they've got the AI. Technology installed on the back end of Kindle Direct Publishing where you can actually record your book with AI. I have not used that yet. I've been invited to the beta testing for that. So I guess maybe that's just an idea of where things are going, you know, but interestingly, like what you had mentioned is, you know, putting the emotion into it and those kinds of things. I've tested a little bit and it's rather, um, It's good. It's just that in a year from now, that could be the norm. Who knows, you know, but Hey, I mean, if, um, I can get the AI to record it in my voice, because it's just going to take a sample of this and take the whole recording and put it together with the inflections and the intonations and everything, and, uh, you know, that'll be, um, that's a big time saver, especially for somebody who's, you know, in the creativity space where we're trying to get, uh, a lot of things done, um, as fast as we can and get them to the market.

37:26 So, Yeah. Do you work with a lot of, uh, solopreneurs? A lot of people that don't outsource that much? Hmm. I do, um, not work with them, but I learned from them. So I think, um, right now I'm going through the creator NBA by Justin Welch. Uh, just amazing creator. But, uh, you know, if you look at a lot of his stuff, like I think he, he said, even in his trainings, he has one part time virtual assistant and his wife helps out with this business and. You know, he does, um, multi millions a year, right? But he's got a great system set up. So he's, uh, in the solar printer space. Um, Dan Coe is another one as well. So I like learning from these people too. I watched a lot of their, their videos. I read, you know, read their blog posts and I learned from their trainings because, um, uh, I've, um, I've created a business that's rather right now.

38:12 It's like, yes, I do have a virtual assistant part time. I have my partner who's taking care of the accounting and the taxes and doing lots of things in the back end. Um, but I'm still very overwhelmed in my day to day because, um, Um, either I need to stop doing so many things, which may be hard for me to do, or I need to, uh, hire more people to do these things. And when you hire more people, you add a little more complexity to your business because now it's like, well, who's going to manage those people? Is it me, which probably is not my strength, and I think as a solar preneur wannabe, in other words, I'd like to be just be in my space working on the things I want to be working on. Um, I probably just need one or two more people on board to, uh, you know, free up your time because by the way, buying back your time, I had this discussion with my life coach today, like buying back your time is one of the, um, It's a critical goal for me, like, really to do it.

39:06 Dan Martell, by the way, has, like, Buy Back Your Time, that book. I live in that book. Amazing book. Going off topic a little bit, but the whole thing about the, um, I guess we're going back to procrastination and getting things done and doing the hard things first. One of the reasons that I would procrastinate is because I had so many things to do that no matter how good I tried to get at multitasking, which I'm not, I'm not really sure if it's a skill at all. I just convinced myself that if I just tried it hard enough, I could actually get really good at this thing. which I didn't, uh, I would just end up, you know, spinning all kinds of plates in the air and, um, you know, 30 minutes on this 20 minutes on this and, you know, checking email five times a day.

39:47 And anyway, the whole, um, I'm not a productivity guru or anything like that, but, uh, I learned a few things about just, you know, putting my business together mostly through failings. I think, you know, just failures along the way, which is all part of the hero's journey to, you know, um, But, uh, you know, I'm sure like, uh, back in the day when they would jump onto a ship and head off for the land, I'm sure they had a few holes in the boat along, you know, they hit a few storms, you know, on the, on the ocean, you know, so. Yeah, right. You have to, whether it's a boat ride or slaying the dragon, then meeting the guru, then trying to understand the guru, fighting yourself to get past the, the lessons that the guru can't give you.

40:31 And then, um, coming back home and saying, look, look, I, I slayed the dragon. I've become a different person. And then your whole world changes. I just love that because I feel like everybody can identify with it. And, and to your point, yeah, I mean, isn't that the goal, right? I mean, procrastination is, uh, behind of a lot of decision making to get to your goal. And, yeah, to your point, it's really good to free up time so you can live a little bit, have some breathing space. Especially if you're a creator, you're gonna need to live a little. And, yeah. To think out of the box, at least for me, I got to do something that is illogical.

41:15 Like what I did that was illogical. Um, being, uh, transparent. I stayed out a little later last night and that's why my voice is a little deeper because, uh, as the music gets louder, uh, you need to speak a little bit louder for a little bit longer. For then, um, just having conversations with people like, Oh, just live a little dah, dah, dah. And, um, today normally, um, like things were going wrong. My Bluetooth wasn't connecting to the PC. I'm like, Oh crap. Like the, I had like that, that, that. Uh, wireless keyboard, but because I lived a little more than usual, uh, it was just, all right, cool. Let's just flow with it.

41:55 Right. Just, just being you being excited for the moment, being excited for the connecting, um, you know, to connect with you, Scott, uh, I'm just excited right now to just learn from you, your experience, your slate, the dragon quote unquote story, right. And just going into Japan, just leaving home, right. Going out West, then just, just. Starting anew and not having any regrets. And now you have your business, you're helping people, you have your books. Um, you're doing a lot and you've learned a lot. And like you just shared, your journey continues. It doesn't stop, you know.

42:38 And it started with just being on the floor with a bunch of books and your roommate saying nerd, or you know, whatever, you know, I'm joking around, but depending on the time period, it's a different phrase. And it's like that challenge that you had to overcome. So, uh, it's very inspiring to hear someone like yourself, knowing where you're at now, and then knowing where it came from, where you just had to make that decision to say, I'm going to, I'm going to, I'm going to, this new life. I'm tired of waking up in the hospital. You know, I'm sure you had those moments in the past and um, That was your your slay the dragon, you know, and and it's pretty cool to to hear your story and To digest your your tips and stuff.

43:24 So anybody that's listening or watching Definitely check out Scott Allen, his book, doing things, doing the hard things first. Um, is that, would you say that's your latest book that you're really focusing on right now? it's not the latest book. Actually. Well, the books, um, it's actually turned into a series. So there's three books in the series. The fourth one actually is coming out. Um, we'll be putting it in pre order next week. Uh, book four in the series is on how to defeat shiny object syndrome. That might be a different Squirrel. Yes, exactly. Yes. But yeah, I would say the, uh, the first book, I am, I mean, To be honest, I just put the book together back in 2021, coming out of COVID, really bad year for a lot of people.

44:09 I hadn't published anything, you know, I thought my business was finished. Um, and, uh, I just had an idea for this book and I thought I'd put it together in about 60 days and I just put it out there without any expectations. So. Three years later, um, yes, it started to get picked up by publishers and, um, it was, I wasn't planning for success with this book, to be honest with you. I don't even think it's my, the best book I've read, I've written, but, uh, it seems to be the one that a lot of people have gravitated towards. I think because, uh, again, cause the first book is focused on overcoming procrastination and all that is something that they can gravitate to where they can relate to it.

44:49 You know, they can relate to the pain point and people want to get, um, Beyond that, right? So one thing that the book actually does, like it doesn't, I didn't really hone in on this too much in the first edition of the book. But what it really is about is yes, overcoming procrastination. But when we do that, when we overcome that thing, what we're really doing is building trust with ourselves. And that's one of the things I noticed is that when I was putting all these things off, like when you do this. You're actually deflating your own personal trust with yourself like you, you know, you don't trust yourself because now you think, you know, you're a big loser because you're not doing the things you should be doing to move your life forward.

45:30 You're putting things off and you're failing and, you know, you're just not going to build trust with yourself that way. So you need to get those small wins, which is one of the things I talk about in the book a lot is like, you know, you don't have to have a big win right out of the, right out of the, You know, right out of the game. You just, you got to get those small wins first. Right. So that's why I was saying like, make that list. Hey, choose the easiest thing on the list. It doesn't matter as long as you get something. And so, you know, start moving forward because momentum is the key. So anyway, that was kind of a long answer to your question, but yeah, that book's not, the book's been out there for a few years, but, um, we do have, uh, plans for actually six books in the series. Yeah. Because, um, when I started to brainstorm more ideas around this, I realized I couldn't put everything in one book anyway, and I started to get requests from people to do, um, like other topics around the, um, you know, around the title actually.

46:20 So I think it was, um, you know, one of my publishers made a recommendation and, uh, the more I looked into it and I did the research, it made sense. Okay, cool. Well, yeah, if you got a book you want to write, or some books you want to read, and you tend to be an over thinker, a procrastinator, or you just want to move fast, out to Scott Allen. Now, what's the best, if you were to choose like one main way to connect with you, what would be the best way? Probably they can go to scottallenpublishing. com. We have a website on there. Um, it's a relatively new website. I, uh, had several websites over the years, but that's, uh, the most recent. And we also have scottallenbooks.

47:01 com as we have the Shopify store. We're selling everything directly. Um, yeah. And it's live. It's just that we're still putting a few things. Well, we're always building on things, things on there and launching new products and stuff like that. But yeah, either one of those websites is fine. We have a contact page where you can reach out to me there at Scott Allen at scottallenpublishing. com is the email address. And of course, people can go to Amazon if they want to check out the books as well. Um, and depending on the book you're looking for, it may be available in multiple languages. So Nice, right? Global. Let's go. Yeah, especially you. for sure. Well, uh, Scott, I had a blast chatting with you.

47:43 Um, everybody got something from it. I got something from it and, uh, I look forward to staying connected. And, uh, if there's, is there anything that we didn't cover before we head out that you wanted to share that we might have glossed over? Mm hmm. Lost over, but I think, you know, if I had to just leave, I mean, one final message with people is just, um, you know, get clarity on the things that you like, what do you really want in life or out of life? And. Make a plan for getting it. It doesn't have to be a perfect plan. You don't have to make a five year or ten year plan. Maybe you just have to have, uh, you know, a 30 day plan or something that's going to be moving you forward towards that.

48:27 Because again, clarity is the key, I think, to, uh, you know, to not just getting the things that you want. But, you know, once you get what you want, now you have to teach that to other people to show them how to get what they want. And, um, It might have been Zig Ziglar who said this, but I think he said, you know, if you help people get what they want, you'll get what you want. And I believe that. And I also believe that if you, you know, work really hard and get what you want, well, now you can teach other people how to do the same thing. So that's really where I'm at these days is just, uh, you know, um, working on a course as well for do the hard things first and other courses too, but because, uh, books are great. But I think that people just want to connect with, uh, you know, like a, on a deeper level of learning.

49:08 You know, people want to connect with community and, um, you know, courses and mastermind communities and all these things are things that we're putting together for this year as well. So, That's awesome. And that's exciting too. That's very aligned with what's going on with exactly what you said. A lot of people are looking for that. So I look forward to seeing more of that. It's pretty cool. Well, thanks for, uh, closing us out with some solid advice. Scott Allen, thank you for coming on the show, man. Oh, it's been great. Thanks for having me here.