Hey, what's up, champions? This is your host, Neal, and I want to welcome you back to another Fire podcast today. Today we're going to be jumping into some personal development, and we're going to put in the deep work today. You know, oftentimes in life, there are so many people that they feel like they're running through life at a full sprint and they're doing everything they can to get ahead. But at the end of the day, they feel wiped out, worn out and exhausted, and it feels like they didn't get anywhere. In fact, it feels like no matter how hard they ran, there was no movement in sight. This is what I refer to as the treadmill of life. And this can impact you in so many different areas. Well, today we're going to do some deep work and dive deep into it so that we can help you get off the treadmill of life. Get ready.

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What's up, champion? This is your host, Neal Reyes, and.

I want to welcome you to the Executive Perspective. For years, I struggled to answer the question, what do you do for a living? Why? Because most people who ask only expect to hear one thing. I'm an executive with a deep level of understanding of business, operations, leadership, and technology. I'm also the president and founder of a worldwide ministry and CEO of an executive coaching and consulting firm. My number one passion is people, and I receive significant gratitude in life from sowing into others and encouraging them as they grow to achieve their fullest potential. If you're a high performance individual like me, or you're simply ready to take your business, leadership or inner potential to the next level, then strap in because I'm locked in and all in. This is the Executive Perspective.

Hey, what's up, champions? This is your host, Neal Reyes, and I want to welcome you back to the Executive Perspective. Today I'm going to talk with you about the topic of the Treadmill of Life. You know, there are so many people who are living life today almost in fast forward. These are people who are just like on a treadmill of life where they're running at a pace that feels like they're worn out, it has them exhausted, and they're just trying to do their best to keep up. But no matter how hard they run, no matter how fast they go, and no matter how much time they put in, it feels like they're never getting ahead. In fact, it feels like they're just going through the motions and. And no matter how fast they run, they're staying in the same place. Now this is a hard hitting topic that we're speaking about today. And I want to remind you that this podcast focuses on three main areas. We focus on leadership, business strategy, and personal development. And this topic can be applied to any of those areas. But we're going to dive deep into the personal development area today and take a hard look at the way life is going for you right now. Now, when I talk about the Treadmill of life, understand that this topic transcends categories. In other words, it can be something that you feel when I said the treadmill of life, that probably resonated with you in some regard or maybe you're still trying to figure out like, do I have a treadmill of life I'm on? Understand that this could be within personal relationships. It could be with family, it could be with finances. It could be with personal health or health concerns or health issues you might be facing. It could be with stress. Man, I feel that's a strong one right there. But so many people just feel stress. It could also be with just, you know, I mentioned finances, but just trying to keep up with the bills or whatever it is. It could be something with work or a change at work or a new boss or your co workers or a new employee or a new environment you're in or a new city you've moved to or, or whatever, there are so many treadmills in life that people can get on. You know, if you were to walk into a major gym today and whether if it's a small gym or a big gym, but let's just say you go into a gym, that's a big one. If you go into a big box gym and you go to the cardio section, it is like treadmill city. In fact, it's like cardio city. In other words, like if you Go to the gym where I go to, and it's a big one, man. There are exercise equipment for days. I mean, for days. But just in the cardio section alone, there are what seemed like hundreds of treadmills. Now, that's probably an exaggeration, but maybe not. There's a bunch. But there's a bunch of treadmills. There's elliptical machines, there's stairmasters, there's bikes, there's variations of elliptical machines. I mean, you name it, they've got them all over. But when you look at the treadmills and when you look at the treadmills of life, it's kind of similar. And like I said, so many people are stuck on the treadmill of life. In different areas of your life, you weren't made just to run. You were made to move with meaning. If you're just surviving, you've forgotten how to live. I'm going to say that again. You weren't made just to run, especially running in place. You were meant to move with meaning and with purpose. If you're just surviving, then you've forgotten how to live. That's why we're going to take a deep dive today in the area of personal development. And sometimes people are like, well, I want to talk about business strategy, or I want to talk about leadership and hold your horses, we will. But in order for you to show up your best for others, you got to first show up your best for you First. Understand that on this podcast, we talk about it regularly. We move one direction. On this podcast, we move forward, forward and upward. And as we're moving forward and upward, our focus here is to connect you with your best life, with your best version of yourself, with your highest performing self. But in order to do that, sometimes we got to get in there and do the deep work. And today we're going to do some deep work. I want you to understand that motion doesn't equal progress. I'm going to say that again. Motion doesn't equal progress. You can run hard and still go nowhere. If you're running on the treadmill now, in Exercise World or in Exercise land, treadmills are wonderful. I am not speaking negative about the treadmill at all. And whether you walk on them, whether you run on them, whether you walk backwards on them, which is extremely important. If you haven't done that, that helps you in tremendous ways. Or whether if you walk at the incline, you know, whatever it is, or running at the incline, whatever it is you do, and however it is you use a treadmill and exercise World and exercise land, they're extremely beneficial. But in life, you know, if you run on the treadmill, just like at the gym, you can run miles and miles. You know, if you're in great fitness and great shape and you run like, you know, five or 10 miles on the treadmill, that's amazing. But when you get off, you get off at the same exact place you started because you didn't go anywhere. That's the purpose of a treadmill. But treadmills in life, oh, man. Treadmills in life are not the way we're designed to live. You're not designed to live on a treadmill in life where no matter how far you walk or how far you run or how fast of a pace you go, you're not meant to stay stuck in the same place over and over again. That'll wear you out. That'll absolutely exhaust you. And if you're already in that, then you're feeling worn just as we're talking now. If you're not that person, then listen up. That doesn't mean skip out of this podcast and go to another episode, because when you listen to this, it'll help keep you out of the treadmill or off of the treadmill. This is extremely important. The other thing, too, when you listen to these podcasts, if there's areas we're covering that resonate with you, but that you feel you're already mastering, and that's fantastic. However, understand there's going to be people you come across in your path, and if you want to really be a blessing to the world and a blessing to others, sometimes you need to share that information with them. Sometimes you need to be there, if anything, just to encourage them or lift them up. Now, I want you to understand, busyness without purpose can lead to burnout. Oh, that's a deep one right there. Because so many people on life are struggling with burnout right now, or they've encountered burnout and they're stuck there and they don't know how to get out of the burnout. Maybe they even switched jobs because they thought it was the job that was burning them out, and they went somewhere else and they got better for a little bit, but then it just came roaring back within their life and they're trying to figure out what it is, and maybe they're even feeling a little hopeless, thinking that life just isn't going to get any better and this is the best it's ever going to be. Gosh, I'm telling you, if you're feeling that you're stuck in this rut of busyness, most likely. And understand that busyness can lead to burnout. It doesn't mean that it will end up in burnout, but it certainly can lead there. Here's our first leadership truth bomb of the day. It's possible to run all day and still be stuck in the same place. Only now, now you're exhausted, man. That's a powerful statement right there. That's a powerful statement to understand that all day long you can be running in the same place and when you get done, you haven't moved a bit. The only thing that's moved within your life, you know, and oftentimes I talk about moving the needles of progress or the needles of performance within our life to measure progress. The only needle you've moved at that point, it's on your physique, or I shouldn't say your physique, but on your mental state, your physical state. You're exhausted. You're wiped out physically, you're wiped out mentally and emotionally. You tapped out a long time ago. You are absolutely exhausted. We don't want you to stay that way. We want you to change. The next thing we want to talk about is survival mode is a trap. It's not a strategy. I'm going to say that again. If you're living in survival mode, and get this, I understand, I want you to understand this. Sometimes survival mode is a necessity. Sometimes you're just trying to survive. That's why it's called survival mode. But you're not supposed to stay in survival mode for long periods of time. Survival mode is a trap. It's not a strategy. It's one thing to hustle. It's one thing to be aggressive. It's one thing to push and shoot for the stars. But if you're living in survival mode, that's no strategy at all. Many people live just to make it to the end of the week. Another way of saying it is many people also are just living from paycheck to paycheck or task to task. I will tell you that if that describes you, you're not alone. I don't want you to feel discouraged. I don't want you to feel defeated. And above all, I do not want you to feel hopeless. You're not alone, Champion. In fact, I believe that you have the things in you to turn this around and change it. I believe in you. I think that's so important. I say that on every podcast I do. And at the end of every one of these episodes, I take time to express how much I believe in you. I believe you have greatness that lives deep down on the inside of you. You just need to continue to cultivate it and work on it so you can get it on the outside and let others see it. As I believe the answers that you need in life to break out of that rut or that situation that you're facing right now, I feel that strong. I believe those answers already exist on the inside of you. You just gotta search for them. You know, when we're looking for true inspiration, when we're looking for true breakthrough or sometimes our biggest unlocks, those ideas, they're already in you. You don't need to go find them somewhere else or connect them. Now, when you're listening to a podcast like this, it's going to help to stir those things up. It's like a pot of beans. Now, you may have never made a pot of beans, but when you make a pot of beans and you boil them and then eventually you season them, all those seasonings settle down on the bottom. And before you go to serve, you got to stir that thing back up to get all that flavor and everything mixed back together. Well, a podcast like this is doing that. Now, I may be sowing some new seeds into you or some new ideas, but the moment you embrace it, the moment you grab it and take it as your own, that's now yours. And it lives deep down inside of you. But just like that pot of beans, you got to stir that to waken that thing back up and get it up. I believe that you have those ideas already in you. But understand, ideas like this, they're not like pebbles you find along every path. These ideas, they're like diamonds. What do I mean by that? You know, a pebble you can find along any path, it's common. And pebbles get kicked around, they get tossed around, and they get stomped on and trampled on and walked over all the time. They're just common things. But diamonds, diamonds you gotta dig for. Diamonds don't exist just off every path. Diamonds are extremely valuable. They're rare. Their qualities are rare and sought after. And you got to dig deep for those things. That's why when I talk about the ideas that you need to help rescue you from what you're facing, they already live deep down in you. When I talk about that, I believe in you and I tell you that I already know you have greatness that lives inside of you. You just need to cultivate it. Sometimes cultivating means you got to work the ground that it's in you got to work the ground of your heart. You got to turn around and put in the deep work. And as you cultivate and build up that ground, you're going to find that you've got diamonds inside of you that you didn't even know that exist. Champion, I hope you're listening day, because this is a word of encouragement as we're putting in the deep work today. I want to encourage you that if you're living paycheck to paycheck or from task to task, or if you're just trying to make it to the end of the week, don't stop. Don't give up. I don't want you to stay on the treadmill. There's better strategies out there, but I don't want you to throw in the towel and I don't want you to give up. Just understand there's a better way to do it, and that's what we're talking about today. You know, when we talk about survival mode being a trap and not a strategy. You know, most people that I encounter who are stuck in this mode, they've just stopped dreaming or creating or feeling alive. Understand what I said there? Most people that I encounter who are in this state, they've just stopped dreaming, they've stopped creating, and they stop feeling alive. You know, so oftentimes people think, well, I stopped dreaming because of the circumstances that were against me. No, Champion, that's not true. You stopped dreaming because the circumstances that were against you, you decided to put your attention and focus on that rather than on the dreams that you have that live with inside of you. Man, that speaks right there. I'm going to speak to you like a big brother today. You know, this may be a little tough to chew, but I want to get you out of that rut, and I also want to keep you out of that rut. If you stop creating, that's because you've just lost focus on that. You've become distracted, and you're putting your focus or attention and your energies somewhere else. And if you've stopped feeling alive, I'm going to tell you a breakthrough. Stop depending upon others to create your happiness within you. Man, that's powerful right there. You know, I'm going to tell you something I realized in marriage years ago, is that my wife Katie, who I love deeply, and I know she loves me deeply, Katie will never be responsible for my happiness. Now, she can contribute to it, and she can help to create favorable environments for it. Absolutely. But choosing to be happy is something that I have to choose on the inside. Because even if Katie creates the perfect circumstances around our marriage, if she creates the perfect climate and the perfect atmosphere and the perfect environment, she could be the most perfect wife with no flaws. I still have to choose whether or not to be happy. While all those things might be favorable conditions, I have to choose because happiness starts as a choice. Choosing to feel alive starts as a choice. And then you recognize the things that help to make you feel alive and you push towards those things. Or you look to cultivate those things in your life. And if you're like, I don't know if I agree with that. Neil, remember what I told you about having greatness inside of you, but equating it to diamonds? Diamonds are happiness. You have happiness, diamonds inside of you. You just got to cultivate them. You got to dig for them, you got to connect with them. And maybe you don't know what the things are that make you feel alive anymore. Then it's time for you to rediscover them. Step out and do something to improve your life. And when I say improve your life, I'm talking about your general sense of feeling alive. No one's going to do that for you. You're going to have to do it for yourself. And again, this is not a word of critique. This is a word of encouragement. I might be the only person who's telling you this today, but I believe in you, Champion, and I believe you have greatness on the inside of. You just need to do the deep work and continue to cultivate it and get it on the outside. That brings us to our next leadership Truth Bomb for today. You weren't created just to exist. You were called to live and live with purpose. I'm going to say that again because that's so strong and it resonates. You weren't created just to exist. You were called to live, and you were called to live with purpose. The next thing I want to talk with you about is purpose isn't something you chase, it's something you realign with. I'm going to say that again. Purpose isn't something that you chase. Purpose is something you realign with. Now, if you're in alignment with purpose right now, then you're probably not feeling like you're on the treadmill of life. Or you may feel like you're on the treadmill of life in some areas, but other areas, not so much. But there are some people that they feel like they're on one big treadmill and every part of life is on that treadmill with them. If that's. You understand, purpose isn't something you chase. It's something you realign with. This is a really important topic or concept for you to understand. Purpose isn't out there somewhere. It's within you. I'm going to say that again. Purpose isn't out there somewhere. It's within you. You know, oftentimes when I'm talking with people who are trying to achieve big things in life, or even if it's little things in life, but they feel stuck when I ask them, well, when are you going to do that thing that you know you need to do? First of all, we have to unpack. What's the thing you're trying to do? Why do you want to do it? What do you need to do to get it done? And then when are you going to do it? And it's like, they're like, someday. And I'm like, someday is not a day of the week. It's not like it's Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. There's no, someday is not a day of the week. You have to choose. When are you going to do this? Well, in the same vein of thought, somewhere, you know, purpose doesn't live. It's not out there somewhere. It's in here. It's in your heart. Purpose is within you. You just got to connect with it, and you got to do the deep work to find it. Ask yourself these questions. What lights you up in life? In other words, what really gets you going? Or what do you feel called to do? Or a better way of saying it. And this is a better way of saying, what do you feel called to do? Let me ask you this. Who? Not what, but who do you feel called to serve? Man, that's big right there. You know, if you're searching for purpose, one of the best ways to do it is take your eyes off of you and put it on someone else. In other words, stop looking at what about me? What about me? You know, I think at Joyce Meyer. I don't know if you're familiar with who that is, but I think about the what about me? Robot. What about me? What about me? What about me? Instead of thinking, what about me? Focus on who can I show up to serve today? Who can I be a blessing today? And as you start to do that outwardness, and I'm telling you, that's a powerful thing, and it will awaken things in you you didn't even know existed. It'll help you to connect with things you didn't even know were there. Here's our next Leadership truth bomb for you today. When you realign with your why, the how starts to flow again. Whoa, that's a fire quote right there. I'm going to say that again. When you realign with your why, the how starts to flow again. In other words, once you rediscover your why, why do you want to do this? Why do you need this? Why do you feel this is something you got to do in life, your how will start to flow again. And as that starts to flow again, you won't feel stuck. Praise God, you won't feel stuck. The next thing I want to talk with you about is the quality of your life comes from the quality of your intentionality. Whoo. Man, we're now where the rubber meets the road. This is big right here. The quality of your life comes from the quality of your intentionality. Are you living with intentionality? It's never too late. Listen up, champion. I want you to listen up. It's never too late to step off the treadmill and start moving forward on purpose. Whoo. That's fire right there. It's never too late to step off the treadmill of life and start moving forward and doing it with purpose. That's fire right there. You know, one of the best ways to do this, and I'm speaking from experience here, is to shift your mindset from I have to do it to I get to do it. You know, I'm going to tell you that I produce a lot of content, and there was a period a while back where I had got behind on producing some of my content, and when I say behind, I had got behind on what I was wanting to produce, and it started to, like, snowball on me, where after a while, it felt like recording was something I had to do. And it felt like a weight and it felt like pressure, and it kind of started to feel like a burden. And there was no joy in that thing because every time I got excited to record, like, I'm going to go record. I'm going to jump in the studio and record, I kept thinking about all the recordings I'd missed, and I felt like I had to catch up, and it felt more like debt. And I'm like, oh, my gosh. And working with my coach. Praise God for my coach. She helped me understand with the unlock of shifting the mindset from I have to do it to I get to do it. And that single unlock changed everything for me because I stopped viewing things from the mindset or the viewpoint, the lens of something that I had to do. And I was behind on and had to catch up to something I got to do. And the moment I realized it was something I got to do, I reconnected with my joy with that thing. I reconnected with how much I enjoyed it and loved it. And it was no longer about trying to catch up. It was, you know what? Anything that I didn't do, it's done. Now it's just time to move forward. So shift your mindset from I have to do it to I get to do it. And as you do, you'll feel that joy and that aliveness reappear back within your life. Don't just do more. Do what matters, man. That's significant right there. Don't just do more. Do what matters. In other words, be focused on the right things. Have clarity about the right thing. And if you're lacking clarity right now, understand that with action, clarity shows up. When you have action, clarity begins to show up. Now here's our next leadership truth bomb for you. Stop running on default and start living by design. Who's a good one right there? I'm going to share that with you again. Stop running on default. Start living by design. Whose design? That's up to you, champion. You create that. Now, if you're asking me, I go before God for the design. But understand that you get to design your future. So stop running on default and start running on design. And if you're not liking what you see and if you're not liking the life that you're living, understand, at any time, you can step off that treadmill and you can redesign your life. All you have to do is focus on what is it you want to be doing, and then look at the steps on how you have to. What you have to do to get there. It may not appear overnight. You didn't get in that mess overnight. But the moment you make the quality decision to change, it'll get better every day as you go forward. Now, here's my closing thoughts and encouragement for you today. Now, understand, because this first part is going to hit hard. In fact, when I was putting these notes together, I'm like, should I say that? And I'm like, you know what? We're doing the deep work today. These champions, they're here to grow. They're here because they're high performers. They're here because they want to connect with their best self and their best version of themselves. And so, yeah, they're here to do the deep work. And so here's my statement for you. And it may sound strong in the Beginning, but it's going to come with some encouragement. Here it is. Closing Thoughts no one is going to show up to rescue you. That's your responsibility. I want you to fight back. Don't let the treadmill of life steal the wonder of living. I want you to step off of the treadmill. I want you to reset, and I want you to run with purpose, man. Champion, if you do what I just explained, you're gonna show up in some big ways. But understand that nobody's gonna show up to rescue you. Why? Because even if they try to, and you probably have people all around you who are trying to, no one can do it for you. You have to choose to do it on your own. But there's hope for you. You just gotta jump off the treadmill. And maybe prior to today's podcast, you didn't quite recognize you were on the treadmill, but as I'm speaking, you're recognizing it's time to get off that nasty treadmill of life that's been keeping you stuck in the same place. Guys, before I let you go, I want to remind you and encourage you again one more time on this podcast. I believe in you, champion. I believe you have greatness on the inside of you. You just need to continue to cultivate it and develop it and then bring that thing on the outside so that others can see it. And then whatever you set your hand to, whatever you decide to do in life or go do, go and smash that thing. And when I say smash it, I'm not saying destroy it. I mean go and do your best and smash it. Swing for the fence, champion. Swing for the fence. Guys, I want to encourage you real quick to go by our website@neal Reyes.com where you can find all of our resources to help you. In addition to that, if you're liking this podcast, then we encourage you to follow us to leave us a review that helps us in podcast land and then in addition that subscribe it, follow it. You know the things. Guys, I want to thank you for showing up to grow with us today. Thank you and have a blessed day.