#Clockedin with Jordan Edwards
Are you feeling stuck in life, wanting to grow, improve your income, or build a stronger community? Join performance coach Jordan Edwards as he interviews world-class achievers—including the Founder of Reebok and the Co-Founder of Priceline—who share their success stories and actionable strategies. Each episode provides practical tips on how to boost your personal and professional growth, helping you implement changes that can make a real difference in your life.
This podcast is designed for anyone looking to make progress—whether you're aiming to improve your mindset, relationships, health, or income. Jordan distills the wisdom of top performers into easy-to-follow steps you can take immediately. Whether you're stuck in your career or personal life, you’ll find new ways to get unstuck and start moving forward with confidence.
How to get unstuck? It’s a question many face, and in each episode, you’ll hear stories of how successful individuals broke through barriers, found purpose, and created systems to overcome obstacles. From building resilience to developing a success mindset, you'll gain insights into how high achievers continue to evolve and grow.
Looking to improve your income? This podcast also dives into financial strategies, offering advice from entrepreneurs and business leaders who have built wealth, created multiple revenue streams, and mastered the art of financial growth. Learn how to increase your income, find opportunities for advancement, and create value in both your personal and professional life.
Jordan also emphasizes the importance of building community. You'll learn how to expand your network, foster meaningful connections, and create supportive environments that contribute to personal and professional success. From philanthropists to community leaders, guests share their experiences in building impactful, values-driven communities.
At the core of the podcast are the 5 Pillars of Edwards Consulting—Mental Health, Physical Health, Community Service/Philanthropy, Relationships, and Spirituality. Each episode integrates these elements, ensuring a holistic approach to self-improvement. Whether it's enhancing your mental and physical well-being, giving back to your community, or strengthening your relationships, you'll receive actionable advice that’s grounded in real-world success.
This podcast is for everyone—whether you're an entrepreneur, a professional looking to advance, or simply someone seeking personal growth. You’ll gain actionable steps from every conversation, whether it’s about increasing your productivity, improving your health, or finding more purpose in your life.
Jordan’s interviews are designed to be perspective-shifting, giving you the tools and inspiration to transform your life. From overcoming obstacles to building stronger habits, these episodes are packed with practical insights you can use today. Whether you're looking to grow in your career, improve your income, or enhance your personal life, you’ll find value in every conversation.
Join Jordan Edwards and a lineup of incredible guests for thought-provoking conversations that will inspire you to take action, improve your performance, and unlock your full potential. No matter where you are on your journey, this podcast will help you get unstuck, grow, and build a life filled with purpose and success.
#Clockedin with Jordan Edwards
#219 - Unlocking High Performance with Andrew D. Thompson
Andrew D. Thompson takes us on a journey through the transformative power of a high-performing mindset. From childhood lessons in sports to academic achievements, Andrew reveals how performance, happiness, and success intertwine. Listeners will gain practical insights into cultivating resilience and incremental improvement to achieve sustained success, all rooted in the enduring wisdom of his father's advice to work hard and show up fully in every aspect of life.
Facing a severe health setback, Andrew shares a deeply personal narrative of moving from peak physical condition to the depths of despair, and how he clawed his way back through dietary experimentation. In this gripping tale of adversity, he highlights the power of turning negative thoughts into positive actions, underscoring the body's incredible capability to recover when driven by gratitude and perseverance. This episode offers hope and actionable advice for those facing their own battles, emphasizing the importance of mental strength and adaptability.
Discover the essential components of discipline, focus, and efficiency in achieving long-term goals. Through personal anecdotes and practical strategies, Andrew discusses the value of maintaining an unwavering focus, even amidst failure, and how embracing setbacks can lead to profound wisdom. With insights into the challenges of modern digital platforms, Andrew candidly shares his journey of mastering efficiency while expanding his outreach, providing listeners with a roadmap to navigate their own paths to high performance in today's fast-paced world.
To Learn more about Andrew Thompson:
https://edwards.consulting/blog
Amazon Book: https://amzn.to/3WIo11M
To Reach Jordan:
Email: Jordan@Edwards.Consulting
Youtube:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9ejFXH1_BjdnxG4J8u93Zw
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jordan.edwards.7503
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jordanfedwards/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordanedwards5/
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Complimentary Edwards Consulting Session: https://calendly.com/jordan-555/intro-call
Hey, what's going on, guys? I got a special guest here on the Hashtag Clocked In podcast. We have Andrew D Thompson, author of the High-Performing Mind. He has spent a lifetime searching for the best ways to empower people to overcome adversity, improve resilience and consistently bring their best to everything they do so that they can have better results, achieve their goals and create a lasting improvement in their lives. Andrew, welcome to the Hashtag Clocked In podcast. When was the first time you thought about a high-performing mind?
Speaker 2:Well, first of all, jordan, thanks so much for having me on. It's a pleasure to be here and that's a great question. And it actually goes back to my childhood and it wasn't in that terminology a that terminology, a high performing mind, not something that came along a lot later in my life, but from a young age I was always really aware that. You know, the better I performed, the better results I got and the more success I had in my life and then kind of the happier and more fulfilled I felt. So, yeah, I quickly connected that, like when I was playing well, you know, start off with sports as a kid and I had a good game, you know, I was happier and performance and performing well in those environments was important to me.
Speaker 2:So that's when I kind of got onto this whole idea of like, okay, like, look, if I perform better in my relationships, I have better relationships. If I perform better at school, I get better results, my parents are happier with me, and it kind of spread around all areas of my life. And that habit of always doing my best started in pretty young and as I got older I applied it to. You know, whatever it was that I was doing, like I always just took the approach like I want to do my best. You know I had kids not too long ago and you know I want the best for my kids so I try to be the best I can as a dad. You know it's whatever area that is important to you that you kind of apply those principles to.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. Congratulations on the children, and it's exciting. It's an exciting time, but even more, though, it's that idea of showing up when you're out of place, so like. There's so many of us that go food shopping and we're like in a million different places, but if we were the best ones to show up as a food shopper, we'd get so much more joy out of that experience. It's the same thing with sports, it's the same thing with our job, it's the same thing with sales, it's the same thing with podcasts. So, whatever you're doing, like you go to the gym. You know the people who go to the gym and then just talk the whole time and they're like.
Speaker 1:I was at the gym for three hours I don't know why I didn't lose weight and it's like if you showed up you could be in there for 30 minutes and get out, like, as long as you're giving your best and being there very present in those moments. So for you, when did you need to utilize this attribute and when did you realize that it was a unique skill? Because I feel like a lot of the time, growing up you're like oh no, everyone just tries their best and then you start to realize there's those kids who go I didn't study at all and got a b, but like you had to try really hard and got an a. It becomes this thing of like, oh, we don't care, but like, how did you get into really recognizing that you had a uniqueness here and that not everyone was applying themselves like you were?
Speaker 2:Well, I mean, I don't know that it was a special quality and I never really thought of it as like something that is innate in me, but I guess it was. It really started like one message from my dad, one piece of advice consistently over the years from my dad was to always work hard, and that was where everything started for me. So, like when I went out and played soccer as a kid, the first sport that I kind of got into in hockey ice hockey here in Canada that was my first kind of you know mission was to like work as hard as I could and like try to get the best results I could. As I mentioned in the earlier question, I tied that together. You know, working hard kind of led to better performance. Better performance led to better results and more success and then feeling just better about my life and the way it was going in general. So yeah, it's not like a unique quality. I mean, okay, for sure, I am a person who goes out and gives 100%. That is undeniable. I've been like that pretty young, but anybody can learn it. I think that's the important part of the equation and it doesn't necessarily come overnight.
Speaker 2:I remember coaching a high-performance athlete not many years ago, super talented, but just had that inability to kind of push to that next level, so like results and success was always limited. And so I started this athlete on a program where, like I had him do like a self-assessment what would you rate yourself out of 10 in terms of your effort level, kind of thing. And I think the assessment was like a self-assessment, like what would you rate yourself out of 10 in terms of your, your love and effort level, kind of thing. And I think the assessment was like a seven and I think I would have put it personally more around a four. And so the goal was to like get him to a five and then eventually to a six and then a seven and so on, but not to do it like overnight or in a few days, but gradually over time, so that each level felt normal and natural. You know so when? So when he was, because if he went to an eight he could do an eight but maybe sustain it for a few minutes and then like oh my God, that's too much, I don't want to do that again or that's just too hard.
Speaker 2:But if you go from a four to a five, to a six and slowly over months, get yourself to that nine or 10 out of 10 level of commitment and effort and focus then and focus, then it's much more sustainable. You know, I think people say the same for weight loss you try to do it too quickly and it doesn't stick. Same for this If you are a person who has trouble giving you know, effort and applying themselves and bringing their full 100% focus to things, then don't try to get to a 10 out of 10 right away. Just build it slowly over time and as you do that, you know your results will start to improve right away. So you get that instant feedback which is really affirming and then gradually over months, you can get to the point where you are giving that total 100%. So yeah, getting back to your original question, I guess I've always kind of put my heart into things that I've done and that brings passion.
Speaker 2:And when you have passion for something, it's really easy and natural to give your 100%. So I think that's another easy and natural to give your 100%. So I think if you that's another way to it, you know, rather than that kind of mental approach of improving incrementally, do that if you need, but also if you choose things that you're just naturally passionate about and that you love. You're going to find that higher level of focus, commitment and, you know, performance just naturally.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, I really. I really liked that how it was raising the bar each and every time, because we sit there so often and we don't realize that we. It sounded like to me of like raising your standards. You know what I mean. There's so many of us that sit here and go. That kid or who or that guy or whoever it was. He sounded like his standard was a four even though he had the athletic ability to cover for it, so it kind of was like okay, and no one really ever really pushed him.
Speaker 1:So when you raise your standard a little bit, it forces you to do more and it forces you to do a little more and do a little more and do a little more. And you start to realize this and start to see what you're really capable of. And that's why people don't realize they overthink about a year, but in a decade they underestimate what they can do because they start to see how unrecognizable they can become by continually giving more, doing more and being more, and I think that's so important. So for you, what ended up happening where you really started to recognize that you had to utilize this skill? Like where in your life have you started to utilize these Like I need to raise my standard because there's so many times where we just get stuck in the mundane and we don't live intentional lives. So it's something where we got to get excited about our life.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean it's a great question. So you're asking, like, where did I kind of decide that I wanted to, you know, take things to the next level and perform?
Speaker 1:better yeah so.
Speaker 2:I mean, yeah, like I, I think you know early on, as I mentioned earlier, the the whole thing about like wanting to perform well in every area of my life and having that come back to me. And I think what's interesting is all that stuff started in sport and, like I said earlier, it spread to other areas of my life and what? Uh, one of the main reasons why I wrote this book, uh, the way it is now. I always wanted to write a book, but the way I wrote the book now is because of some of the health challenges I went through, uh, in my life, uh, not that long ago about I guess they started about eight years ago uh, eight or nine years, eight years ago or so, I had a kind of a debilitating health, unexpected health situation. I was in great health before that, you know, running 400 meter sprints, 100 meter sprints at the track, still training in my early forties, to, you know, perform well in sport and whatever, stay healthy and all that stuff, keep up with my kids. And, shockingly, two weeks later I would find myself in the ICU, then subsequently bedridden 22 hours a day for the next four and a half months, unable to work, unable to support my family thinking I was going to die on a daily basis, actually getting to the point where the doctors were wondering if I was going to make it. It was a very traumatic time in my life and all those things, all those kind of skills that I developed over the years of trying to perform my best. You know, I really drew on those uh through that uh debilitating period to get me through, you know, and that was one of the primary reasons why I wrote this book, because I realized that these uh skills and mindsets and habits, um, and approaches to things could be used in any area of your life. You know, to overcome adversity. You know we get side not sidetracks, the wrong word but we get unexpected things that come into our life and throw us off and, like you know, threaten our whole existence in a way. And if you can apply, have these skills and apply them to in those areas, it can help you get through, and that's certainly what I did.
Speaker 2:You know, like there was a period there when I didn't know how I would get better, if I would ever be able to walk around and and be a normal human being again. So one of the things that I should mention is like. So, for example, when I go home from the hospital, I crawled up the stairs to get to my bedroom and it took me about 45 minutes to recover from that effort like, oh my, far more than running 100 meters. It was crazy. So to go from that extreme of fitness to like this debilitating weakness where, um, you know, I could barely get out of bed. You know, my son had his three-year-old birthday at the time and I couldn't go down the stairs, uh to to celebrate, because I was just too weak. If somebody said something to me that was like, uh, slightly aggressive, or I would need a couple hours to recover, it was crazy. You don't realize how much having regular energy gets us through these things until you don't have it.
Speaker 1:Wow, I mean it's fascinating when you start describing, hey, I did this and I can't do anything for the rest of the day, like I'm tired Because you don't think about it. Like I'm standing right now during this interview and I'm like, wait a second, what am I going to? Be too tired, like it becomes crazy things where you start to realize that the body actually does and we should all be in a place of gratitude where there is so much that our body does do for us. So what were your thoughts going through all that? Because I can only imagine someone who's pushing it at 40, like in good health, in good spirits, doing well, working, and then to be bedridden Like that's 180, if not more.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it was terrifying. I mean, you know, the thought of not being able to support your family. That's a sense of responsibility that you know you carry consciously or unconsciously. So that was obviously weighing on me really heavily. I mean, I, you know, I went through utter despair, depression. I didn't know if I would ever recover again. So it was, you know, I think I cried every day for the first few months.
Speaker 2:It was such a huge amount of loss in my life. You know, the things that I loved most were all instantly removed. I couldn't exercise, I couldn't play sports anymore, I couldn't look after my family, I couldn't go to work Like it was crazy and just wondering what the next day would bring. And so, yeah, I went through all those emotions and, slowly but surely and it's something I talk about a lot in a high performing mind, I started to replace negative thoughts with positive actions. So what can I do to kind of step myself out of this? And um, one of the first things I started with was, um, a diet, because I started to realize that, you know, there was a lot of variability in how I felt. Some days I had these crazy. It wasn't just tired, it was weakness, it was like unable to like, lift my arms, you know.
Speaker 1:Oh, wow.
Speaker 2:So it was. So diet I started to use diet. First of all, I went through the medical system and saw 10 doctors, specialists, and none of them really had a good idea of what was going on. They did figure out eventually what was happening, like what you know what was happening in my body and why I was experiencing it was essentially a low phosphate um thing, which phosphate is a mineral in your body that basically creates a lot of your energy, uh, particularly energy for moving it like, uh, you know, more intense level. So if you're moving quicker, phosphate is plays a role in that. So they discovered that my body wasn't absorbing phosphate correctly anymore. And you know, they tried everything and, uh, nothing really worked.
Speaker 2:So eventually I said I gotta crawl out of this hole by myself and I started to use diet to uh to do that. And so what I did was like like a computer programmer. I basically took the 12 things that I ate, uh, on a daily basis and I changed out one at a time until I started to figure out, like, and see how I reacted to that. Oh, this day I had a little bit better energy, this day a little bit worse energy, and by going through that process. Um, I was able to come up with a diet, slowly over the next year and a half, that allowed me to go from like two hours of work a day to three to four, to eventually being able to work close to full full days after about a year and a half, and then about five years to recover in total. So, anyways, this diet really got me there and got me to the point where I can now do.
Speaker 2:You know, I have this condition. I don't know if I'll always have it, but you know I can exercise again, which is a huge change from where I was. But I just have to be a bit careful about that. Some days it's fine and other days I just have to be a little bit more mindful. So, but yeah, I took the negative thoughts and all the negative emotions I was going through and I and I use them to propel me to find solutions and walk myself out of the situation I found myself in, and that's a really powerful way to deal with adversity, because if you get stuck in the negative thinking indefinitely, I mean that can lead to terrible things. So, ultimately, our goal is to get back on track and live a great life, and I've just learned to apply myself in different ways and obviously I've got this book going now.
Speaker 1:That's a big priority and it all goes from there 100% and, like you said, using the negative energy to propel you forward to find the different solutions. And when you sat there you started describing the food and I was sitting there and I'm like, oh, he gamified it.
Speaker 2:He made the game.
Speaker 1:No, because you're sitting there, you don't have a lot of energy. You start to make it a game where it's like hey, I feel better here. Hey, I feel better here, hey, this is better. Instead of sitting there. Nothing works, never going to be a solution. You start testing things out and you measure and monitor what improves. Then the funny thing is you do that with business it explodes. You do that with a book it explodes. You do that with everything in our lives. That idea of testing and iterating to see what improves, we need to use it all times. That's why data you got to measure and monitor. You want to lose weight, find a scale that you can step on once a week and evaluate did you do better or did you do worse? And it's these little things. Or even, like your, any anything. Like you can track your money, you can track everything. So the the measure and monitoring thing is massive.
Speaker 2:Massive, true, so true, I mean that's a great point. Sorry to interrupt you there, but in chapter seven I talk about explore, experiment and failure way to excellence or greatness. And that's exactly what you're talking about and I like that you turned it Use the words gamify. That's pretty cool. I hadn't heard it expressed that way before, but it works well. And so, yeah, I mean, when you want to excel in life, like you kind of got to distinguish yourself in some way, like you know, mediocrity isn't getting that $200,000 a year job. You got to do something. And when you excel at things, those are the things that get rewarded in life. So you know, and I would take, you know, this book process just because it's top of mind right now you know I'm doing a lot of experimenting with, like marketing what works, what doesn't, throwing things to the wall, see what sticks, what doesn't. I'm failing a lot, but I'm learning as I go and slowly I'm getting better and more efficient. And you know spending my dollar, marketing dollar a little bit more wisely. So it is a really valuable part of the process to be willing to explore and experiment and try things out, see what works, because we don't really know. And I think there's so much more value and power in that than like learning necessarily by going on and Googling everything because that was someone else's solution, like ultimately, at the end of the day.
Speaker 2:I really want to direct people back to like learning themselves. You know, even when I, when I coach high performing athletes, you know you have a general idea of what works. I've been doing it for two decades and I've helped people go from like the amateur level to the professional level many times and become a top level performer on a world kind of level. And you got to kind of figure out that athlete, like, what worked for one doesn't work for another.
Speaker 2:You know, one eats in the morning gives them great energy. It doesn't necessarily work for someone else. So it's the same with yourself. Like you got to learn your own business. Your business is unique. You know, even if it's something that a thousand other people are doing, you're doing it your own unique way. So you've got to learn yourself and by going through that process of experimenting, you know learning from it, putting in the hours, putting in the time, becoming a master of your craft. Then you eventually get to the point where you can excel and that's really the kind of the step towards, you know, improving and reaching your goals and ultimately succeeding the way you want.
Speaker 1:Yes, yeah, and I have a mentor of mine. He's 79 years old and he talks about that concept of know thyself and he says he's like you're never doing any projects. Like you're never. You might be doing a podcast, you might be like you're never. You might be doing a podcast, you might be writing a book, you might be doing whatever that is in your life, the audience but like what you're really doing is learning about who you are as an individual and what you enjoy and what's something that's good and what are. Because you might really enjoy the book writing process, but the marketing process is different. Like there's pros and cons to everything and the more we learn about ourselves, the more we can make better decisions or more informed decisions in the future. Like it's crazy, people will go. Yeah, I want to go to this restaurant. Why? Because I really like it.
Speaker 1:Good, at least you know what you like, cause most people will sit there and go, I don't know all the time and it's that taking inventory and realizing how you can improve and see what are the different areas that allow you to be successful, I think are really the keys.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I love that, like, I love the whole concept of like self development and self mastery.
Speaker 2:I feel like those ideas have been lost a little bit.
Speaker 2:Like, if you put time into yourself and you, you develop yourself, you go to the gym like you're stronger and you know, you use that in every area of your life, you know, and it creates more resilience. So you're not just physically stronger, you're emotionally stronger as well and mentally stronger because you got to push through those reps and you know, squeeze out that last set and all that. So, yeah, it really goes a long way towards helping you achieve your goals. So, you know, by trying to develop yourself and putting that time in yourself, you, you get more benefits, you get, you become more capable in many different ways wherever you're trying to develop yourself. And like self mastery is the same thing. When you master yourself and you know how you work and you know how, what it takes for you to excel and succeed, then you can apply that to everything in your life, right, you can apply it to your, your relationships, you can apply it to your business, your career, your pursuits, whatever that is. So, yeah, it goes a long way for sure.
Speaker 1:A hundred percent. I completely agree, because there's a few different things I was thinking about as you were going through that, and one of them is this idea of, okay, you want to excel in life, like, what are some of the ways you can do that with your relationships? You know what I mean when you sit there and realize that it's funny, like people give gifts on a birthday and on a birthday they try to give you the biggest gift. But the thing is, if I gave someone a gift on not their birthday, but maybe three months before their birthday, when no one's giving them attention, they'll be so caught off guard. The gift can be exponentially smaller and they'll be super appreciative of it.
Speaker 1:So it's that idea of, like, how are you can consistently watering your relationships? Like, how are you consistently helping these people out or providing value or doing something of the sort to make you feel better? Cause I think by giving to others. Like to give you an example, I have this credit card and the credit card gives me. I hope that I hope that people who receive it aren't listening to this.
Speaker 2:It might be.
Speaker 1:So the credit card I have. It gives me Dunkin' Donuts gift cards Like I get. I get I can spend $7 a Dunkin' and I get money back Like they'll refund me. It's part of my like fee each year or whatever. I don't use Dunkin', so I just send it to the people that I know use Dunkin' and they get a thank you. I I feel good about it because now I'm getting some of the money back and it's just this little easy way of like making people feel good once a month and it doesn't cost me anything or, in my head, it doesn't cost me anything. It's like little things of like how do you make people feel good? You know like what are the things you can do. But for you with a high performing mind, like what are some of the other characteristics you realized are pivotal? Pivotal for people to be successful and really enjoy that life experience?
Speaker 2:I mean there's so many. I mean you've got to be resilient, you've got to be able to set your goals and make sure they're positively framed and that you're driving towards them and not inadvertently in the direction you don't want to go framed, and that you're driving towards them and not inadvertently in the direction you don't want to go. You know, you gotta, you gotta not take things personally, because there's going to be people who are going to say things to you along the way that are going to make you feel discouraged and like giving up and quitting. You know, I've seen athletes, great athletes have, you know, a random person in the crowd and come out and criticize them and it throws them off, you know. So you gotta be able to not take things personally.
Speaker 2:You got to be willing to always bring your best to the equation we talked about earlier. But also you got to be able to perform at your best, and performing at your best is a skill in itself that you need to develop over time. Like if you go in and you and you mom that interview, you know it's not going to necessarily get you that job, but if you go and you perform really well in that interview, then you got a much better chance right. So performing at your best is a key part of like succeeding in everything that you do. If you don't give any effort to a relationship like look, you're doing all those nice things for your friends If you don't make that effort and people don't feel it, then you know what happens over time. So making that effort and going and taking it to the next level and bringing your best to the equation are key parts of that equation.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. And one of the things about being the best for the situation, I think, is our sleep patterns and our scheduling and how we set up our life. And I remember literally last night it was like 10 o'clock and I had a workout class at 6 am and Madison, my wife, was like, oh, let's stay up and watch, like finish the movie. And I'm like, no, we're not spending another 40 minutes doing this, because I'm like if I stay up too late then I'm gonna be tired throughout the next day and then I have a big day and I don't want to not perform well. Like so there's little things where you make these internal decisions, like the day before, and you make these processes, or even the two days before, three days before.
Speaker 1:So my point being is like, if you're going to show up for things, you have to be super intentionable intentional and that's how you're able to get the best results. And also, like, andrew, you, you hold a high standard for people like you, you want people to show up and be prepared and know what's going on and all of that stuff. So it forces people to go okay, like if I'm going to show up and be prepared and know what's going on and all of that stuff. So it forces people to go, okay, like, if I'm going to show up for this, then I need to do this research, this research, this research and, by the way, people, I'm sharing all these examples so that you can realize that part of it is just showing up but part of it is also doing the work that's required. So, like, if you're like whatever you want in your life, if you are working towards that mission, you will be able to get there with the intentionality, but it just takes a lot of time so true, and you just talked about two of them.
Speaker 2:I'm not sure if you're aware of it, but you talked about discipline and you talked about self-restraint. So I love that you know the day before, oh, if I stay up too late then I'm not going to, you know, go to the gym tomorrow, necessarily, and with an athlete that'll be like, oh, I won't perform at my best, right. So that's a key part of it too, and I talk about that in one of the chapters as well. And then, of course you know you asked me earlier what are some create something amazing by going through that process, and discipline is a big part of that, and that's the ability just to wake up every day and go. You know what? I'm going to go to the gym every day. I'm going to get stronger and I'm going to perform better in my sport. Or I'm going to, you know, every day when I go into work, I'm going to make sure I say hello to everybody who works there, to, you know, let them know that I care and that I'm there to support them, and have a few words. And that goes a long way into like becoming a better leader and to being perceived as a great leader, by those you work with, so and to earn their trust and confidence and all those important things by connecting with them on a daily basis. So making those efforts on a daily basis are huge and, you know, discipline is a big part of that. So we all need to have a little bit of discipline, and I talk about different types of discipline.
Speaker 2:Some people were just born with discipline. Maybe I was born that way, I'm a little bit lucky, maybe I inherited it from my parents, I don't know. And but if you don't have discipline, it doesn't mean that you can't ever succeed. It means you just need to build it. And you where you start? Maybe you do it a couple of days and you don't for a little while and then you're like, oh yeah, I need to get back on track and you maybe do it for three days instead of two the next time, and then maybe you string five days together and eventually, before you know it, you actually have a habit and that creates your daily discipline, no-transcript something. It gets bigger and bigger and better and more people know about it. So that daily effort, and I love that. Like I said, I love that example, a little bit of self-restraint long way Right.
Speaker 1:So if you make those decisions that you place like, my success is more important than like that extra piece of cake or staying up late For sure, and the crazy thing is about that is that it's not that you can't have a piece of cake.
Speaker 1:No it's not. We view it as the piece of cake is like this huge cake, but it's like no, just take one bite and don't take another bite. Like it's not always as hard as we think it is, but we just do this with ourselves. So often, where we don't, we just go it's zero or hero and it's no. There's an in between portion, for sure. And I think the other big thing you brought up that's super important is the everyday effect.
Speaker 1:Most people are like I'm not gymming, I'm not going to. We've been using the gym a lot as an example, but they're like I'm not going to go to the gym on Saturday and Sunday and I'm like that's the easiest day to go. That's the day no one else goes. That is why you should go that day, because once you get the discipline going, then it really that's where the momentum builds. Like you shouldn't like.
Speaker 1:One of the biggest things that I found to help me a lot is being able to go to bed at the same time. It sounds crazy, but if you can go to bed at every the same time throughout the entire week, you will have a much better life. Like what ends up happening is a lot of the time you'll end up going to bed and I'm guilty of this, we all are but you'll end up going to bed and I'm guilty of this, we all are but you'll end up almost like you're going into a different time zone and then your body gets confused and then it's difficult to handle the next day and there's a lot of variables to it. But if you're able to go to bed at the same time, wake up at a similar time each day, it makes a world of difference absolutely like.
Speaker 2:I mean, sleep is so important and, uh, it's a funny thing about sleep, but we're not always going to be able to sleep perfectly either, right? So some days we're going to sleep well, some we're not, and sometimes we just have to perform well, no matter how that goes right. I uh, you know I was young, I went out with some friends, but I was disciplined. I said I'm gonna go home pretty early and get to bed early. Well, I did get back, couldn't fall asleep right away, maybe fell asleep for about 45 minutes and they all rolled in. They had a few too many drinks that night. They woke me up. They didn't give a crap, you know they, because they were just having a good time and I, like, they stayed up for a couple hours. It was a really small apartment. I couldn't fall asleep. I think I slept like a total of like an hour and a half, which is way beyond what you want to, or, you know.
Speaker 2:You know experience before going into playing, like a final of a competitive event and whatever your sport is. So I had to get my mind out of being so incredibly upset that this happened and that, you know, my my sleep was ruined and that like it jeopardized my opportunity to succeed the next day and kind of find a way to perform well anyway. And you know I was able to do that. I actually didn't win that particular match, but I did play well, I did perform well, so I couldn't blame it necessarily on not having slept. So what was important to me was that I showed up, I performed at my best. I gave it my all on that day and I had a pretty good performance. Maybe not my best. I gave it my all on that day and I had a pretty good performance. Maybe not my best ever, but you know I made the best of a situation.
Speaker 1:What did you do exactly? Because, yeah, what did you do to get in the zone?
Speaker 2:basically, I mean you got to like start with all those negative thoughts and emotions that are pulling you down and easy to get caught up in, and just go and give up, right, depressed, can't do it, this, I'm going to be a failure, this is going to be embarrassing, it's going to be horrible. Okay, get that out of your system. But then positive actions, all right, I'm going to like, go for a little jog, see if I can help myself feel better. I'm going to just get in a more positive frame of mind. And those are the first steps, right. But then when you get there, right.
Speaker 2:But then when you get there, it comes down to like how are you going to perform your best in that moment? Like peak performance flow We've heard all those terms in the past right. So how are you going to get yourself closer to that? And it all comes down to what I describe in the book is present moment focus. So you got to get really tuned into the here and now, in this moment, so that you can perform at your best and then bring that focus and don't think about anything else than other than what your goal is. You know, I want to perform, I want to play. It was a racket sport. I was competing at the time and I want to. You know, I want to play this rally to the best of my ability. Okay, that rally is now over. Okay, now this rally, the next one, this is all that exists. How am I going to try to win this particular point?
Speaker 2:And by bringing that 100% focus into that moment, you perform at your best for whatever your best is in that moment on that day, right, so it's way better than if you're like, oh yeah, what am I gonna have for dinner later on, or you know.
Speaker 2:Or you keep checking your phone, or I can't believe that person said that to me you know that stuff.
Speaker 2:You're throwing away your mental resources Instead of using 100% focus in the moment. You got 20% thinking about that you know unfortunate conversation you had earlier in the day, or upsetting conversation you had earlier in the day, 20% thinking about what you got to do later on or what you're going to need, or whatever that distraction is, and you're only then bringing like 30% or 40% to your performance. But we've got to block all those things out, focus in the moment and bring 100% of ourselves emotionally, mentally and physically to what we're doing, and that's the gateway into the, to the zone or flow, whatever people want to call it, and performing at your best and that's what you want to do when you're, you know, in a job interview on a podcast, you know, performing a sport or having that big pitch when you you're presenting to that, you know, million dollar client, that's going to change your business experience for the rest of your life. You know that's what you've got to do.
Speaker 1:Bring your 100 mental focus to the here and now and, uh, you know, be focused on what you're doing. 100 and one of the things I I got from that is. So I went to a tony robbins conference a few years back and one of the activities he does is called, uh, like it's priming, and it's basically an activity of like getting your body in motion. And what it reminded me of is like when I played high school football and everyone get pumped up, they get excited, they get ready to go. And when I started to realize when you get into the work world, a lot of people don't do that like, they don't get excited, they don't get the endorphins up.
Speaker 1:So I'm just sharing this so the audience can realize that, like, before I go on any podcast, I literally do my thing is like I do 10 push ups, then I hit my chest and I do like a let's go thing so that I can get myself, because an object in motion is staying in motion and you start to realize that as you're moving, you're able to do more of these things. Like the other big thing I did was I recently got I got a standing desk, probably like six months to a year ago. Why? Because I felt that I was lower energy in the chair and I'm like I got to get up. If I'm not, you got to get excited. And it's how do you get? How do you recreate these things in a very easy and accessible way, because when it's not easy and accessible, it doesn't happen.
Speaker 2:Oh, it's so true. I love that you use the example of tony robbins. I gotta tell you he's the one who got me into that whole world of like, performing better and, you know, trying to achieve your best and trying to succeed like. I remember reading his book like a long time ago, probably like the 80s or 90s. I'm dating myself when I tell you that, but I mean he uh, yeah, that's one of the things I remember too that physical activation thing that he kind of spoke about from the very beginning. Uh, what was his first book? Awaken the giant within, something like that anyway. Uh, great books. He's a great guy. He's incredibly inspiring and motivating and uh, yeah, he's got some great principles. So I'm a big believer in that as well.
Speaker 2:Definitely use that throughout my life. Getting physical, getting moving, um, you know. And then, at the same time, you know staying calm, staying calm and relaxed. You know, if you can tie those two things together, you can really perform at a better, in a better way, at a higher level, like I liked that you did went through that little process before the podcast make sure that your energy's up and that you're engaged. I mean those are great tools and techniques to get you to perform at your best.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, absolutely. And so you have a couple quotes and yeah, you have popular quotes from a high performing mind and one of the quotes is you're the same person 10 minutes after you fail, only wiser. What does that mean to you?
Speaker 2:So so often in life, in business in particular, we're quick to discard people who make mistakes. Oh, that person screwed up, they're out of here, you know. But like 10 minutes after that that mistake, if you have the right attitude and you have an open mind and you're willing to learn from what just happened to you, you're a wiser person. You're smarter, you're wiser. Yes, I have this uh story of a friend of mine who, uh, he had using finance and he had like a company that did trading and he hired a student and the student had a colossal screw up near the beginning, like he. He lost like 40 K in you know some trading transaction that was expected to be pretty basic or else he wouldn't have signed it to the student.
Speaker 2:And uh, so I, my buddy, was telling me this story and I'm like, oh yeah, so did you fire him after that? And he goes are you kidding me? It cost me 40 K for him to learn that lesson. Like he's like so much better now you know he knows what he's doing. So there's no way I'm throwing him away now and I just love that. You know he didn't fire him.
Speaker 2:It was an expensive learning experience for all concerned. Obviously the guy was upset about. He learned from his mistake and he won't do that again. So that's where that, that quote, comes from that you're, you know, 10 minutes after you fail you're wiser. So it's just. It helps create a more positive mindset about making mistakes and learning from your experiences. In sport we say losing is learning and it's just something we have ingrained in us that, like all right, you lost, you weren't good enough on that particular day, what can you do to improve so that you're better next time around? And anybody who's ever achieved greatness in anything has that mindset that you screw up, you make mistakes, you're going to learn from them, you're going to get better, you're going to recalibrate and you're going to come back and win the next time around.
Speaker 1:And that obviously applies to you know sport or business or whatever pursuit that you're in yes, yes, and what that makes me think of is um, I have this thing where and I don't remember where the quote was from but it's basically like, as you're getting stronger, you feel the weakest Because you work out, and then you're really sore and you feel weak. As you're getting the richest, you feel the poorest Because you might be investing. So then you look at your bank account and you're like there's no money there. And then, as you're getting the smartest, you feel the dumbest because you're reading these books and you might not understand the words or it might be slow or might be not understanding, and the point is that you don't realize that, as all the good things are happening to you, you feel the worst, which is the thing that forces you to feel inspired. So, as you're failing, you're getting wiser, but we don't want to feel failure. So, as you're failing, you're getting wiser, but we don't want to feel failure.
Speaker 1:So it's this interesting thing where it's like hey, if you wanted to create someone really wise, they'd probably fail a lot. If you want to create someone really strong, you make them feel weak a lot so they can feel what the strength feels like. And it's these little things that you start to realize that, as you're feeling like I'm so dumb, you're on the right path. If you feel I'm so strong, you're not on the right path, like you need to be feeling weak to be feeling that strength growing for you. So my point being here yeah, with all of this, is that you have to. It's okay to feel different feelings, but as long as you're consistently putting in the work, you're going to be improving.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely. I mean yeah, you're going to feel. You're going to feel like when you're working hard towards something doesn't feel great necessarily, but you get that success after you've done it right. So there's all these. There's this contrast between the moment you're succeeding and when you're working towards that success. You know you're not there yet. It doesn't feel great, you're not where you want to be. You're putting in all this time and effort. Maybe you're failing. That doesn't feel good, but by going through that process you learn.
Speaker 2:And it really comes down to attitude. Like if you fail, you're not necessarily going to be wiser if you're not willing to learn from your mistakes. So you got to have the right attitude right. You got to be willing to reflect a little bit. Go okay, that didn't go so good. What am I going to do next time around to make sure it does go better? Like that's the right attitude to improve and ultimately get a better result next time around.
Speaker 2:But if you're like, oh, that was them, not me. You know, I have nothing to do with that, they screwed up, not me, and you're not willing to own it and take responsibility, then you're never going to get that learning opportunity and that opportunity to improve, you know. So you got to be willing to. You know, look at yourself and reflect a little bit and see what can you do to improve so that next time around you do get that better result. So it really does come back to attitude at the end of the day. So yeah, like not discounting that quote that you had, but if you don't have the right attitude to go along with that, then you're not going to enjoy the success that you're looking for at the end of the day.
Speaker 1:Exactly. And that leads to the second quote, which is accept what's going wrong. Accept what's going wrong. Stay focused on what you want.
Speaker 1:And you start to realize there that's another one of Andrew's quotes but you start to realize there that there's always wrong things going on. But you start to realize there that there's always wrong things going on. But our biggest challenge is staying focused on the task at hand, because there's always a thousand people trying to ping us, there's always a bunch of emails, there's always a bunch of this, and it's how do you stay focused on the task at hand? So what are some tips and tricks you use to stay on task? Because I feel like it's so challenging.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I love that you brought up that quote. We have talked about that kind of indirectly without actually saying it. So that's the fastest way to improve, by the way, because, except what's going wrong, okay, let's say you don't you get sidetracked into something that is like a total diversion from actually improving and working towards your goal. So, like when I had that illness, if I just stayed in depression and stayed negative thinking, then I was never going to get towards my goal of recovery. Right, so it by accepting what's going wrong.
Speaker 2:If you look at another good example is like professional athletes. When a professional athlete makes a mistake, they very quickly get back on track and right back focused to their goal of winning. When you uh, if you're experienced with coaching, when you start coaching like little kids, for example, that does not happen. They go on like 10 minute. You know tantrums of how things didn't go well, they're upset. You know they cry, they get discouraged, they go through this whole gamut of emotion before they finally get back. Meanwhile the game is now almost over and it's too late and they lose. You know, experts at things learn how to get back on track very quickly. Whether it's like a business failure, you quickly get back on track. And you know people can go and have a presentation that doesn't go well and they don't get the business, but they're quickly on to the next one. So, experts at, whether it's sport or business or whatever pursuit you're in, if you accept what's going, what goes wrong, and you quickly refocus on what you're trying to achieve, that's step number one.
Speaker 2:So you know you asked earlier how do you stay focused? It comes back also to that present moment. You know being focused on the task at hand, like you know. You know, as soon as I finish this interview, um, you know, aside from other things, that I've got to do, what can I now do to help promote this book and get it to the next level? Um, so I'm going to be focused on that. If I kind of get into oh no, this happened or this isn't going well and I stay focused on that for too long, then I waste my time and I don't improve at the fastest rate that I could. Yeah, so when we want to succeed, by improving more quickly, we can achieve greater levels of success, because it gives us more time to achieve those greater levels of success. If you spend too much time on distractions, then you are wasting time that you could be putting towards growing your business or improving yourself or mastering your know, mastering your craft or whatever that is.
Speaker 1:Yes, and a lot of the distractions don't? They don't pay for what you're doing. And the funny thing is that a lot of people will go. I worked 12 hours today. Great, what'd you actually do? And you look at their schedule and you go. That's maybe an hour and a half of work, because most people don't know what work is. They just think sitting there and switching and playing on their phone is work. And when really the work comes down to doing different things and most people don't realize how fast a lot of it is. Yes, there is sometimes where it takes a long time, but there's a lot of work. That is just. It does not need to take that long work. That is just. It does not need to take that long. And you're just saying it to make yourself prideful and feel good about what you did, when in reality you know that that's not a good use of your time.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, being at work and working are two different things.
Speaker 2:Like, if you spend four hours on your phone, you're not getting anything productive done, right, so you got to.
Speaker 2:I think there's an element of efficiency in, in, you know, achieving greatness as well.
Speaker 2:Like, you know, if you spend a lot of time, I guess you know usually uh, he's slightly unpopular these days, but elon musk does tell stories about how he slept under his desk like that's ultimate dedication, right. So, uh, if you're ultimately dedicated to something and you're willing to not be distracted by even having to travel or waste time rather not so much distracted but wasting time traveling home and back, because you just want to spend every moment you can towards succeeding, it kind of illustrates a little bit why maybe he's achieved some of the levels of success in business that he has. You know, like him or not, as a human being, you can't really take away his business success in some areas, right, he's done very well. So it's like that with everything the more efficient we are, the more time we apply to what we're trying to achieve, then we're going to achieve a higher level of performance and a higher level of success and get to where we want to get to a lot more quickly.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely Absolutely, andrew. You have been a wealth of knowledge, and we're kind of winding down to the end of the interview, but what do you think the audience can take away from this? What do you think is a great action step for them to do so that they can live a better, more fulfilled life?
Speaker 2:It's a great question. I think you know anybody listening. If you start by start small, okay, start with something small and first of all, wait, let's take a step back from that. You're going to start with something small and first of all, wait, let's take a step back from that. You're going to start with something small. But first of all, you got to be really clear about what you want. So figure out what you want, make sure that the desire is there and the passion is there, and then start small.
Speaker 2:Take that first step, whether it's picking up the phone and calling somebody, or sending that email, or doing a little bit of research, or going for a run, or contacting that prospective client, whatever it is, start small, do one the next day, do two, build on it slowly. Don't ask yourself to do 10 the next day, because consistency is king and if you do grow it a little bit, you're more likely to sustain your momentum and sustain yourself in that effort towards achieving that particular goal. So that's really step number one and what we're doing at the same time there is we're building a little bit of discipline and we're creating that reality that we want, that future success that we're looking for. So that's really where it starts. And the next thing I would say is be willing to look at yourself and see what's holding you back too. If there's something that's holding you back like, that needs to be addressed. So I talk about that in chapter four. If you address your greatest weakness, you realize the greatest amount of improvement at the fastest possible rate. So what is holding you back? If there's something obvious, like you're not willing to cold call clients, but you know that's what you need to do, then you've got to find a way. Either you're not willing to, you know, call a cold call clients, but you know that's what you need to do then you've got to find a way. Either you're going to do it or you're going to hire somebody to do it for you. So you got to find a way. Whatever's holding you back, you know, be willing to address that and I'll help you move along a lot more quickly towards achieving your goals.
Speaker 2:And, along with that, staying focused on the process and not the outcome is important, and we talked about that. You know. Accept what's going wrong, stay focused on what you want, and that really speaks to that. What do I, what steps do I need to take to succeed? Like, make a to-do list. You know I need to. You know, make X number of calls in a day, or I need to go to the gym and do you know a particular type of training that's going to really help me perform better in my whatever it is? Focus on that process. Make sure you have many different actions that will help you achieve your goals and work on them on a daily basis, so you start to span that out and attack more things, and as you do more things, you're more likely to get towards where you want to go.
Speaker 2:You know there's things that can derail you along the way.
Speaker 2:You know I talked about your, your greatest weakness and how addressing what's holding you back can really help you improve. But fear is another one, and then that's why chapter 10 is devoted to dealing with fear. If you're scared, you're too scared to do something, then it's going to be really tough. You know, sometimes you got to be willing to go through that fear and just say yes, I'm scared, and what is it going to take for me to go and do it? So like an interview, for example, if there's this interview for a job you really want, but you're too scared to go into that interview because you're afraid you're going to fail. You've got to be willing to face that fear if you ever want to succeed. So one of the techniques that I teach in a high-performing mind is saying yes, you're your fear, and I talk about how to do that in detail so that you can get into those situations be able to work with your fear and get through it so that you can realize the success that you want on the other side of the equation, absolutely.
Speaker 1:And the other big thing is the other one to realize with the fear is that if you don't, if you stay where you're at, it's already a no. If you go and ask, maybe a yes.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:But you're still in the same situation that you were before and most people don't realize how simple that is, because you are still in the same situation that you were before and most people don't realize how simple that is because you are still in the same spot regardless. So you might as well go try and then cool, maybe they're interested, maybe they're not all good either way.
Speaker 2:I love how you said that you're kind of saying no if you don't act, you're right, like so. By saying yes to your fear, you really empower yourself. It doesn't mean it's going to be any easier. I can remember doing uh you know presentations to the board of directors when I was an acting interim CEO of a company and I was nervous and you know I had to find a way to get through that and so anytime my nerves and fear came up, you know I wanted to perform well. Obviously they were judging me. Whether you want to be judged or not, it happens in life and I wanted to perform at my best. So I was scared. I said yes to my fear. I stayed focused on what I wanted to do and what I wanted to achieve, and that really helped me get through that situation. So saying yes is critical and doing it anyway. You know, in those famous words of Nike, just do it right. That's what we have to do sometimes when we are scared.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, absolutely, andrew. Where can people learn more about you? Where can they learn about the high-performing mind as well?
Speaker 2:Yeah, thanks for asking, jordan. I appreciate it. So a high-performing mind can be found pretty much in any bookstore. Amazon is probably the most accessible for most. And also my website is andrewdthompsoncom. So D as in dog, so andrewdthompsoncom. So yeah, head on over there. So D as in dog, so andrewdthompsoncom. So yeah, head on over there. I've got a bunch of videos. I'm trying to put some of these interviews up on my YouTube channel, which has about 13 followers so far, but I'm anticipating that that will grow as we move along. I just launched a couple of weeks back. Oh congrats, yeah, so those are all potential avenues. Obviously, I'm on some of the social media channels right now the funny story about that and social media. I'll keep it brief, but I was always kind of against social media because it was a distraction to towards sort of trying to succeed. But I've definitely needed to embrace social media through the launch of this book. So, yeah, my social media followings are kind of meager at this point but yeah, it'll grow in time.
Speaker 1:It'll grow in time.
Speaker 2:It'll grow in time. I'm on all the main platforms now, so yeah there you go, fantastic, fantastic.
