Wanzology

 Uh, in the continuing saga of my book, hashtag the book of Wanz, which you can find on Amazon. All you have to do is search for hashtag, otherwise known as the pound sign, T H E B O O K O F W A N Z, all one word, hashtag the book of Wanz. And you can get your own copy for a referral, like I do. I do. I do.

Anyways, uh, today, this is fabulous, because uh, yeah, this is pretty apropos. Because, you know, life is always changing. And if you don't change, well, the odds of you getting what you want are greatly decreased. So, today, it says, look past tomorrow to see your future. Live in today to become what you see.

I've said it before, no one knows the future. We sometimes think we do. We often guess correctly or see a situation happen with enough regularity that deviation from the pattern is rare. See, tying your shoes. See, tying your shoelaces. But in order to be a fully functional adult human being, you’ve got to have the ability to plan. You have to have an idea of where you want to be and how you're going to get there. Only a fool moves without any idea where they're going. That'd be like driving to Hawaii from Portland, Oregon. How did I get here? That's the question. How did I get to this moment right here? We can backtrack our steps and figure it out. People do it all the time, but how often do we look into the future and do the same thing?

How often do we actually give ourselves a list of things to do today that will get us closer to our goal of living out there in Tomorrowland? All the frickin time! There isn't one of us who doesn't have an idea of what they'd like to be. Where they'd like to be and who they'd like to be with when they get there. All of us do, but how many of us have the skill and patience to plot a course to get these things and choose steps to take along the way that will end us up where we'd like to be? Some of us, sure, but not all of us. Even though we all have the same type of brain, human. None of us, none of us uses it the same way. Some of us are better at planning than others. Some of us get hella distracted, lose sight of our path, and have to create a new one. Some of us don't create a path at all because we're so sure we'll never reach it. Why should we try? You, my friend! Have the power and the privilege to be, say, do or go anywhere and anything you want to.

My suggestion is don't do it without a plan. If it's Monday, what would you like to do on Wednesday? If it's Tuesday, where would you like to go on Saturday? If it's April, where would you like to be in August? What would you like for your birthday? How are you going to get it? What kind of car would you like? What kind of job, boyfriend, girlfriend, or apartment would you like? Do you have a path to these things? Sure. It may sound simple, but I used to wait for things to happen. Never realizing I could control my actions. My direction, my wants. I never realized I had that power. Some of us let life happen to them. Life does them instead of them doing life. Which are you? Which are you? Hmm?

Are you the person who thinks that life happens to them. Are you that person who believes that when bad things happen, some magical mystical power is making it happen to you? Or are you just not thinking about it at all? You're just pissed because it didn't go the way you wanted it to. Hmm. I don't know, Skippy. I'll tell you this much though. Once you realize that you have this power of decision making, you can choose what you want. Once you figure this out, your life will change. How you look at your life will change. If you're honest, if you're honest about how you're doing things.

When I was newly sober, I was told, sometimes you have to fake it till you make it. Well, I didn't really understand that because it seemed a little dishonest. And if I was trying to be rigorously honest, why would I fake it? Huh? And another thing, when they tell you live in the moment. How can you do that? Because as soon as you recognize a moment, it becomes a past moment, and you can't live in a moment that isn't here yet. So how do you actually live in the moment? Seems to me to be a little, uh, seems to, seems to me that that's a little difficult considering, well, I had to, I had to make up my own definition of a moment. Some moments for me are lickety split, snap of the finger. Other moments? They can last two, three minutes. Cause you know, it's all relative. Three minutes out of 24 hours, barely noticeable. Unless, that three minutes is a car accident or something, then it's really noticeable.

So, what did I do? I took command of what's going on with me, meaning realizing that I have this power, which you also have, I started challenging myself. What do I want to do in two hours? Where do I want to be? Do I want to be alone or with somebody? Who? Where? Doing what? You got to have some kind of idea. I mean, this isn't something that's, it's not pinpoint, right? This isn't a precise thing. This is more about accuracy.

It's been my experience. It's better to be accurate. than precise. Accurate would be right now is a day in the week of this month. Precise would be more like it's 4:45 p. m. on Thursday. Get it? It's better to be accurate than precise. The old saying is horseshoes and hand grenades. You ever heard that phrase? Horseshoes and hand grenades. Know what that means? If you've never heard that before, that means you don't have to hit the target. You just have to be close to the target in horseshoes and hand grenades. Right?

Let me ask you this. If you're about to go to the store to get something, I don't know, milk, I don't know, you're going to the store. When you get in your vehicle or step out of your abode, you pretty much already know what store you're going to, how you're going to get there. You have some idea of how long it's going to take. How'd you decide those things? Habit? Maybe. Maybe, you’re just a good planner and you, you didn't even know it. I mean, when's the last time you, you got lost going to the grocery store, hmm? That there is what they call evidence, my friend. You have evidence that you can do this. You do it all the time. You don't even realize it. You don't even realize it. So, you're going to the store and you figured out which one you're going to go to and you figured out how you're going to get there. And you start going and on your way, what happens? Oh! There's something in your way. There's some obstruction. I mean, if you're driving, there's an accident or a road's closed or it’s washed out or whatever. What do you do? Some people go home. I couldn't get there. There was no way for me to get through to get to the store. While others will go, Hmm. Well, if I back up and go here and turn you, I’ll still get there. You figure out a way to get there, wherever there is.

This is where that power, that superpower that I keep talking about, that we all have humans have. It's all up to you. I mean, if you're going to, I don't know, 7-Eleven, Rite-Aid or Walgreens or wherever, you know how to get there. Oh, can't go that way. So, you go another way. Oh, can't go that way. So, you go another way. Can't go that way. So, you go to another store. All those are choices that you make power. You can choose either/or.

I think in one of the past episodes, you know, I, I came to this epiphany that I outsmarted Yoda. Cause I think I did. Yoda has a saying. Do or do not there is no try and I'm like wait a minute, let’s think about that for a second do or do not there is no try…hmm, seems to me that to do something or to not do something is the result of Trying because when you try either you can do Or do not they don't just happen.

Sorry, Yoda. Your logic is fallible.

Now here's the, here's another noodle cooking brain twisting question. Where does that ability to have the confidence and the strength to try come from, hmmm? Well, it comes from inside of you, silly. Think about this morning when you got out of bed and you did your little morning routine, you're going to put on some clothes. And the pants that you were going to put on don't quite fit. Or, you went to button them and the button came off. Or, you went to zip them and the zipper broke. Or, you got them on, you got them secured, put a belt on, and then squatted down to look underneath. And you ripped them. Well, now what do you do? Once again, here comes the superpower. You can choose to either fix them. You could choose to just stand there and cuss. Or, you could get another pair of pants. The problem is always choice.

Now, when it comes to becoming what you want to be, I'll go back to the 7-Eleven thing. You know where 7 Eleven is, and you've already backtracked to understand how you're going to get there. Well, why can't anything in your life be like that? Why can't everything in your life be like that? You think you don't have the control? Huh.

You remember, if you've seen The Matrix, the first one? There's a, there's a section where Neo is fighting Morpheus, and they're in this dojo, right? They're doing all this kung fu crap, right? And at one point, Neo climbs up a beam, straight up, and backflips over Morpheus, and when he lands, Morpheus plants a foot square in his chest. Knocks him into another post, and he hits the ground. Then Morpheus asks him a series of questions. You're probably wondering, How did I beat you? Do you think that me being stronger or faster has anything to do with me in this place? And then comes the crusher. You think that's air you're breathing? Hmm, I love that. I mean, I really do. I love that part.

I twisted that, and it's like, I started thinking. Hmm, I'm making all these choices, so if something goes bad, whose fault is it? If something goes good, whose fault is it? Same answer. Because I had to remind myself that I get to choose. And I'll leave you with this one. I'll leave you with this one.

This is brilliant. This is the thing. Okay, the, the eternal question for almost every living adult is what's for dinner tonight. What's for dinner? What am I going to have for dinner tonight, hmmm? Well, you choose, right? And there's like, there's a process that you go through. Oh, I had that last night. Oh, I don't like this. And oh, I don't have any of this. So I can't make that. Oh, there’s a process, right? But you still figure it out. And since you haven't made anything yet. You are planning what you're going to eat. And it's that planning part that is the emphasis of this little chapter of hashtag the book of Wanz. If you can see what you want to be in your future, it doesn't matter how far in the future it is. Could be short time, could be a long time. But if you can see what you'd like to be, then you can figure out the steps to become that. It doesn't matter what it is. Don't think so? I challenge you. I am offering you a challenge.

The challenge is one hour from right now, where are you going to be? What do you want to be doing? Who are you going to be with? Plan from where you are right now. Set a timer on your, on your phone, and then when it goes off, go back to when you set the timer, then retrace all the steps from then to when the alarm went off. I'd really, really, really love to hear, you know, you can write in the comments on this podcast. I really love to hear how it goes because once you start realizing how much power you actually have over your own life, then becoming anything you want to be doesn’t look as difficult, insurmountable, impossible. Your life begins to look doable. If you can be honest with yourself, make a plan, no matter how simple or difficult, but make a plan and then execute it.

Okay? That's your challenge. That's your homework. Do it. I'd really, really, really, I'm really honestly interested in, in how it works for you and what you determine. Do you understand how much power you have over your own life? And if you have a goal, I mean, if you want to be somewhere, you want to be somebody doing something, do you have a plan to get there, to be that at that place? Let's find out. Let's find out. Cool.

Hope I didn't cook too much of your noodle. Yeah. I'm, I'm, I'm waiting to hear from you, okay? Put it in the comments. Hey, maybe even rate the show if you like the show. Pass it on to somebody else. Or try this experiment on one of your friends. They won't even know what you're doing. Yeah. Right on then. Take care. I'll see you next time.