Surviving Major Transitions

I'm Alex Charfen and this is the Momentum Podcast, made for empire builders, game changers, trailblazers, shot takers, record breakers, world makers, and creators of all kinds. Those among us who can't turn it off and don't know why anyone would want to. We challenge complacency, destroy apathy, and we are obsessed with creating momentum so we can roll over bureaucracy and make our greatest contribution. Sure, we pay attention to their rules, but only so that we can bend them, break them, and rewrite them around our own will. We don't accept our destiny, we define it. We don't understand defeat, because you only lose if you stop, and we don't know how. While the rest of the world strives for average and clings desperately to the status quo, we are the minority, the few who are willing to hallucinate there could be a better future. And instead of just daydreaming of what could be, we endure the vulnerability and exposure it takes to make it real. We are the evolutionary hunters. Clearly the most important people in the world because entrepreneurs are the only source of consistent, positive, human evolutions, and we always will be.

Welcome to this episode, surviving major transitions. This is such a key aspect of being a entrepreneur and such a key aspect of having our personality type. Entrepreneurs enter transitions constantly. We are always looking at new opportunities, new directions, new market, new outcomes, new things that we lean. We are almost 100% of the time in a transition of some sort. And here's what it feels like. I want you to self identify, are you going through a major transition? Major transitions can feel a little crazy. They can feel unnerving. They can feel overwhelming. We feel exposed. And here's one of the conditions that I find is that entrepreneurs get clarity on where they want to go, and that puts us into a transition. Like we say, "Hey, I see it, I see the business opportunity, I see the market, I see the people I want to help, I see the change I want to make, I see the product I want to create, the outcome I want to put out in the world. I can see it now." And one of the challenges is that starts us in the transition, but then how do we survive it? How do we thrive during this transition? How do we get there even though everything in our lives is about to change?

Well yesterday I had an interesting experience. I went to get my haircut with [Jean Barton 00:02:25] who's been cutting my hair for, I don't know, since I've been in Austin since 2009 I think, or yeah. And she's also a really close friend of Cadey. She was in our wedding. She's a friend of mine. A few years ago, two, three years ago I worked with Jean for about a year and I did some private coaching with her. And her goals during that coaching were to get a position in an educational company, to be recognized in her industry as someone who knows what she's doing to get into a relationship. We had a lot of goals the first time we worked together, and she achieved those. And then she went into this period where it was really kind of working through what had happened and stabilizing and normalizing. And we didn't really work together during that period of time. Like I told her yesterday, I'm really good for entrepreneurs in transition. For entrepreneurs who aren't in a transition, who aren't pushing to the next level, I can sometimes be annoying.

But yesterday we had an amazing conversations because Jean is finally committed to, finally sees how much she can help people just like her who need the education in her industry, who need the information she has. Jean's an incredible hair dresser but she's also run a incredible business. She's an independent business person, she's been independent for over a decade. She's always been at the higher levels of success in that industry. She's taught for some of the biggest brands. Jean is a powerhouse. And when she goes out and trains and shares with people, their lives change. She gets in front of a room full of stylists and she changes how they look at what they do.

And she's finally in this place where that's now what she wants to do moving forward, and I was so excited yesterday because when we worked together years ago that's what I saw. In fact I told her, "I think this is what's gonna end up happening. You're gonna end up doing your own education. You're gonna end up going to help people. And you're gonna end up connecting with people."

And here's what's so critical if any of you are in a transition like this where the clouds are clearing, you can see the destination, you can see the outcome, you can start feeling what it's going to look like. You know you want to do it. It's more motivating to you than anything ever has been. You are in a major transition. And what can happen is in transitions, as entrepreneurial personality types, we can get in our head and we can think about the transition and talk to people about their transition and not do anything about it. And I don't want you to just survive major transitions in your life where you choose a new outcome, where you choose a new level, I want you to thrive. And here's how we do it.

So there's a lot of things that we have to do because when you go into a transition you are admitting everything in your life is going to change. I don't know if we look at it clearly enough as entrepreneurs. I don't think we say like, "Hey, I've just decided I'm going to do something completely different. So everything in my life is going to change." Instead we say, "Hey, I want to do something completely different," and then keep doing the same things that we do each day, and we don't make the modifications, the behavioral changes so that we can explore, go after, and then succeed in this new transition. So because everything in your life is going to change, here's what helps us survive a transition.

So one, get clear on what really matters to you. If you have a new outcome, a new business, something you're pursuing, a new direction you're gonna go, get clear on what really matters. And there's three alignments that matter to the entrepreneurial personality type. One, your alignment with yourself, your health, your spirituality, who you are, how you want to be, are you congruent with who you are right now? Two, get clearly aligned with the relationships in your life. For most of us this is our family and our spouse. Are we aligned? Do we have what we want there? Are there any challenges, are there any issues right now? Because as we enter transition the more aligned we can get, the more clear we can get with what's in our lives, the easier the transition will be. Three, are you aligned with your business? Are you doing what you want in the business? And as you go through transition are you building the business you want to work in? Are you building the position for yourself that you want to fill? As entrepreneurs we have the privilege of creating our own positions. Let's build the positions we want to be in that we actually want to fill.

And then as you go through transition those three alignments are crucial. Get absolutely clear on exactly what you want from each. Your alignment with yourself, your alignment with your relationships, your alignment with your business. What is that going to matter? Because when we enter a transition we need to be clear on what matters to us to the exception of everything else. And I know that sounds harsh. But how important is this next stage of your life to you? How important is this transition you're going through? How important are the outcomes you talk about? Don't be one of the entrepreneurs that goes around telling people, "I'm gonna empower a million blah blah blah," or, "I'm gonna go help a billion women," or, "I'm gonna help 10,000 business owners build million dollar businesses," or has the thing you say, but you don't do anything about it. But there's nothing really happening. There's no real infrastructure behind it. You want to empower a billion people but you're not really doing anything proactively to go after that. You want to help millions of people, like Jean does, want to help millions of hairdressers. Well your behaviors are going to have to radically change so that you can do that.

And then the next thing that we should look at is if you're in a major transition, everything in your life is going to change. So let's ask the question, "What can we keep the same?" This is where routines and process change everything. If you haven't yet and you're in a major transition, go back and listen to episode 25. Even if you've listened to it, listen to episode of this podcast again. It's about morning routine. Why do I have morning routine in everything that I teach? Why do I obsess over teaching morning routine to my private clients? Because in the absence of a routine you will have chaos. And if we can make the first hour of your day the best hour of your day, you won't only survive this transition, you'll thrive. When everything in your life is changing because you're in a transition, a written morning routine will keep you say. It will be grounding, it will be an anchor, it's a foundation.

Another thing, routines and process, hydration. One of the things that happens to us when we go into a transition is that we enter fight or flight mode. Whether we want to admit it or not, we go on alert. We're a little accelerated. There's a little bit more chemical activity in our bodies when we're in a transition because we're more hypervigilant than when everything's remaining the same. And so if you haven't yet, go back and listen to episode 26. Even if you have, listen to it again. So episode 26 will tell you how much you need to hydrate, and how important water is. And hydration is crucially important to the entrepreneurial personality type, to the evolutionary hunter. It connects mind and body. When we go into transition, one of the first things we do as entrepreneurs is we stop drinking as much water. Isn't that crazy?

I just heard from a friend of mine last night that said he'd had his first panic attack. In fact it was interesting. He posted this in a private group so I'm not gonna use his name, but he's an incredible leader, incredible father and husband, and a good friend of mine who I've gotten to know through our content. And he said that a few weeks ago we were on a group call and people were talking about panic attacks, and he was judging everyone because he'd never been there. And then he had his first one this week. And my immediate question is, "Hey, how much water have you been drinking?" And he said, "Not that much, but I stepped it up today."

And here's what happens. We go into transition. The body recognized fight or flight. One of the fight or flight mechanisms it to stop us from drinking, stop us from consuming, to slow down our metabolism. Sorry, to slow down our digestion. To actually put us in a place where we're ready for that fight, that battle, or that flight, that long-term running away. And we'll stop drinking water. It'll dehydrate us. We don't have mind body connection, and we can get panic attacks accelerated, frustration, irritation, all of those things. So episode 26, hydration. When you're going through a major transition, and I'm going through these, they're the four foundational principles of keeping physiologically aligned. Nutrition, hydration, breathing, and movement. So I've covered your morning routine. Then hydration is episode 26.

Go back to episode 48, the primal walk. Let's get you out of a thyroid-driven, adrenal-driven state of mind and into a dopamine and serotonin loop where you can actually be present and aware and take advantage of this transition. Start walking 20 minutes in the morning. It's one of the easiest habits you can pick up. In fact, as soon as I'm done with this podcast I'm going out to walk with my kids and with Cadey. We do this every morning.

Then go to episode 63 for movement. And start taking advantage of movement, start moving and getting up from your desk and moving around. We're evolutionary hunters. When we are in transition our bodies, our physiologically sensitive bodies that are highly reactive to constraint, they need movement. We need to get up and move around.

And then just a last suggestion, episode 61, tactical meditation. When we go into a major transition, meditation, breathing, hyperoxygenation, breathing more air into the system, breathing more awareness into the system, it helps us attach to our transitions, understand what we're going to do next, and create momentum.

And listen to the last podcast before this one. Go back one, on opting out of food manipulation and eating to win when you're no the hunt. Nutrition will help you survive a transition, it will help you get there.

Now here's the most important aspect of surviving a transition. Understanding that you have to change behavior. And there's two behavioral changes, two major, major components here. One is what behaviors are you going to change to increase your stability, to increase your routines, to make things more normal, to make things feel more process-driven, more routine-driven, so that every day you have foundations that are the same. And then two, what behaviors are you going to radically change where you're doing something new, where you're doing something in a new way, where you're creating new outcomes? Because if you have this transition in mind, if you know you want to do something other than what you're doing today, if you're in that place where you know there's opportunity and contribution and more that you're leaving on the table, then you owe it to yourself to get very clear on the fact that that means you are in a daily behavioral change pattern. What are you going to do new each day so that you get a different outcome? You can't continue to do the same things you've been doing and expect to create momentum. This is where we have to change what we're doing, experiment, change the behaviors we have, do new things, create new levels of vulnerability, new levels of exposure. And it's not that it's easy, but it's the only way to get the outcome we want as we navigate through a transition.

So as you may have probably guessed, if you are a driven entrepreneur who is committed to making a greater contribution, to serving the people who are calling to you to do so, to creating new outcomes in the world, and to getting through the transition that you're in right now, I want you to know something, there's just another one coming. And so as evolutionary hunters, the more routine and the more real you can make your breathing habits, how much you're oxygenating, how much air you're taking into your lungs. The more real you can make your hydration and focus on drinking water and making sure you're fully hydrated, the more real you make your nutrition where you are not eating processed foods, you opt out of the BS food that's out there that's killing all of us. We're overfed and undernourished. Get away from it. And the more real you can make movement, getting up and actually going and moving around and doing your walks in the morning and getting your body in a physiological condition to thrive, here's what happens.

We go through transitions and we actually win. We go through transitions and we create the outcomes we want. We go through the transitions and we are cognitively ... Well let's start with physiologically, cognitively, and chemically in momentum because we take care of our bodies, we take care of our minds. And when we take care of those, chemicals take care of themselves, and we create momentum.

So the key here is when you're in a transition, accept the fact that things are going to change, and then figure out where you can reinforce routine, where you can create a stronger foundation, where can you create more process where it takes decision making and emotion out of the game? And then on that same token, where can you radically change behavior to move towards the outcomes you want? What are you going to do different so that you get this new outcome, this new result that you want in your life? This is how we survive transitions, because people like us are in a transition near constantly. It's who we are, it's how we see the world, and it's how we're hardwired. So if you haven't yet, listen to the podcasts I mentioned.

And if there's one place that I always coach everyone who I work with when they're going through a major transition, we start with hydration. I know that sounds crazy. But we start with taking on as much water as possible. I think this works in two ways. One, it makes us more mind body connection, but two, drinking the water, hyperhydrating, staying hydrated all day consistently reminds our bodies we are not in fight or flight mode. People tell me crazy things. When they start drinking water they get more organized, they have the desire to eat more fruits and vegetables, they start eating healthier, they show up in a different way, they connect more with their wife and kids. Hydrating will change everything, so go to GetThirstyNow.com, download our 10 day natural thirst challenge. Join thousands of people who have drank more water now than they ever have in their lives. And understand this is how we create the momentum we want to get through the transition that we are currently in.

I want to congratulate you. As an entrepreneurial personality type you have committed to a life of transition. You have committed to a life of momentum. You have committed to a life of creating new outcomes and moving forward. And by listening to this and by being present and by pursuing the content you need, you can now go and make these changes in your world. And not just survive this transition but thrive in your transition and go create the outcomes you want. So take a minute and examine your life. Look at exactly what you really want.

And if you want some help with this, join my Momentum Master class. We do exactly this. We help entrepreneurs align self, relationships, and business. We have all the routines and processes to keep you nutritionally engaged, hydrated, breathing, movement, forward planning, clarity around what you want, and creating the strategic plan that is going to get you through your next transition. This is what we do. You can go to MomentumWebclass.com to check it out. Because if anything today that I've described sounds like the situation you're in, I want you to know there is so much more available for you, there is so much momentum there for you, and the path to success isn't easy, but it's clear. And by joining the Momentum Webclass, let me give you the tools, the tactics, and the strategies that if you apply them they will move you forward fast.

So go to MomentumWebclass.com. And don't just survive your next transition, don't just survive this transition, let's move you into an entirely new level. Let's go you through this one and into the next one as fast as you can. And remember, when you're an entrepreneur who's in momentum and your next step seems intimidating, my advice is get it over with quickly because the next one's going to be even bigger. It's just the matter, a condition of who we are. We are always in transition, always pushing for more, and we will always be exposing ourselves to vulnerability that we haven't had in the past. So if you're in that place, take the biggest step you possibly can because it'll just get you to the next one. Thanks for being here with me.