Redefining Success: Strategic Mindsets, Business Meditation, and Harnessing Potential

Embark on a transformative odyssey with us as we promise to redefine the boundaries of your professional success and personal fulfillment. With guest Dr. Lyman Montgomery, we challenge preconceived notions about life and work balance, advocating for a strategic meta-mindset that can profoundly influence your business and personal growth. Step away from the ticking clock, and discover how quality time with loved ones is more impactful than sheer hours spent. Moreover, we extend this principle to the business realm, where actionable neuroscience becomes our guiding light towards profitability and innovation, touching on society, philosophy, religion, and relationships along the way.

Imagine turning your business challenges into your greatest victories with the practice of business meditation as your ally. This episode isn't just about triumph over adversity; it's about harnessing the power of a 'can' mentality, as seen through the incredible journey of a hairdresser who defied expectations to forge a path in the legal world. Her story, paralleled by another's academic and professional excellence through aligning career goals with personal values, showcases the extraordinary feats possible when determination meets a supportive framework like online education. Tune in for an invigorating discussion that pushes the envelope of what's achievable, demonstrating that with the right mindset, life's puzzle pieces can fit together seamlessly for a picture of success.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:05

it takes those experimenting, it takes trying. It's like, well, you're going to spend less time with your kids? Well, yes, kids are a priority, but everyone has. You can have a parent who spends all their time with your kids who is angry and resentful and that's a bad experience for the kids. Everyone is different. You can have a parent who spends you know what grandma might say is terrible a couple hours a day with the kids and have an outrageously good relationship with your children. Like you know, like nothing. Nothing compares to that. So judging that the way you think something should be done or the way you did something in the past and forcing that onto someone else is a very unrealistic expectation.

Speaker 2: 0:51

Unleash your potential with MetaMindstream disrupting possibilities. Dive into the fusion of positive neuroscience and business strategies with Anne Scotland and Dr Lyman Montgomery. Break free from limiting beliefs, expand extraordinary lives and boost business profitability.

Speaker 1: 1:10

Welcome back. I'm so happy to have you with us here today. Welcome to the MetaMindStream. And if you haven't been with us before, we talk about disrupting what's possible, so that doesn't mean that something isn't possible. Disrupting what's possible means what you think is possible. That's what we're disrupting, right, dr?

Speaker 3: 1:28

Montgomery, absolutely, absolutely. Let's get out of the old paradigm and shift to a new one.

Speaker 1: 1:35

That's so fabulous and we've been having so much fun already. So this supports the concept behind our entire business, which is the focus met, a mindset, mission, which is profitability, simplified. So we talk about business and when we talk about life and bringing these neuroscience strategies into actionable business strategies actionable. Did I say actionable? I don't know.

Speaker 3: 1:59

I said actionable business strategy.

Speaker 1: 2:04

Yes, and then also real life application in society, in philosophy, in religion, in family, in interpersonal relationships, and so that's always in our part too. So stick around to get their whole dose today. This is really a candid and provocative conversation. This is why we're doing this. How do you go meta? How do you go to the next level? And we've been having so much fun. And I think today, lyman, you are going to talk a lot about meta mindset, business strategy and how to have a strategic meta mindset, but before that, I want to invite you all, please do like and subscribe on whatever platform you're watching or listening to today, and share this with a friend We'd love to have. Get you involved as part of our meta mindset family and join us each week to have a great time streaming right here. So tell us a little bit, lyman, what you were thinking about. How is meta-mindset important for strategic planning?

Speaker 3: 3:11

Absolutely. You know, most of the time people think about strategic planning, they think about you know, what are just my strategic goals? And they kind of break that up into what they call smart goals. Right, you know, is it strategic they look at? Is it measurable? You know, is it strategic they look at? Is it measurable? You know who's accountable for everything. It's a time bound, right.

Speaker 3: 3:37

But why would you start thinking about a focus, strategic, meta mindset which is all about how does it feel when I do X, y, Z, for example, if I'm looking at a strategy for planning growth in my organization, does it feel natural or does it feel like I'm trying to force something to happen? The more natural something feels, the easier it becomes. The easier you are to explain something, the easier it is for people to grasp it. If it's complex, if it's convoluted, if it's hard to implement, then people say ooh, too hard and they're going to resist it. So what a strategic or a meta-mindset? Strategic, meta-mindset thinking when it comes to your strategic planning is about? Does it feel intuitively natural when we go through the process?

Speaker 1: 4:30

Intuitively natural and that is so interesting because I love how you set me up there without even knowing it, because one of the action steps, the actionable steps I was going to mention around this strategic planning and we all know the structured business side and the spreadsheets and we know how that piece fits in. But there are other parts that we often neglect, and part of that is and I'm not going to go on about this today, but I can't resist is your business meditation. I don't know if you heard me? I said meta-tation.

Speaker 3: 5:09

Yes, your business meditation, right?

Speaker 1: 5:11

So before you all say like, okay, that's it, I'm out of here, I'm not talking about frou-frou and I'm not talking about visualizing. I'm not talking. I am talking about visualizing. Let me be clear real quick. But I'm not talking about pseudo quote manifesting. Now I'm not going to even go there and we'll go into that today. But you can even do that in a semi-meditation experience, in a meditation mindset, and we teach that in many of our things, in many of our projects and lifestyle workshops.

Speaker 3: 6:00

And you know it works. We take, for example, if you do a traditional strategic plan which has the four quadrants, you look at your strength, your weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Well, let's take, for example, the two that most people struggle with, which are what are my weaknesses and what are threats? So a lot of times, we think a weakness is something that we're not good at. A weakness can also be something that you're very good at and you get complacent in it. So when you apply meditation to it is, am I operating out of complacency, conformity, compliance, or am I operating at the highest version and willing to go beyond? Because a lot of times we say to ourselves, well, my strength is X, y, z and we never grow from there. We get complacent, we get comfortable.

Speaker 3: 6:58

And then you look at threats. Well, we think threats are bad. No, threats are actually good because it keeps us aware and it points out areas that we need to improve. So a lot of times, people say, well, I never talk about my weaknesses, I never talk about threats, I only talk about opportunities and I only talk about my strength. But when you begin to look at your weaknesses and say, listen, if I'm weak, that means I have the potential to get stronger. If something is a threat, then I have an opportunity to turn that threat into a triumph.

Speaker 1: 7:36

And overcoming these can actually become exciting. It can be part of it. You know, it's all about what we're always saying with focus, meta mindset, which is making business fun, making your profitability a more positive experience, and and that is so much a part of it you can even play with the objections, you can play with the obstacles, you can go into um a mindset of envisioning those solutions, you know, and you can sit around a table and do it with a group, and you can sit around a table and do it with a group, but you can't even do it before you get to the group. So if you want to go meta with this, let's, and it doesn't take massive amounts of time, it takes no tools, but, you know, just a few moments of being still and rediscovering what we think is possible, which is why we say Meta Mindstream, disrupting what's possible.

Speaker 3: 8:26

What's possible Absolutely, you know. That reminds me of in one of our conversations I think it was one of our episodes I was sharing about a client of ours that was a hairdresser and she wanted to go to law school. Well, let's break that down strategic. So she had a plan. Her plan was to go back to school. She was going to start at a community college, take some paralegal courses, right.

Speaker 3: 8:46

So her strength was she was she had a great memory. Her strength was she was a hard worker. Her weakness was she thought her weakness was her age. She had been out of school for a long time. The opportunity was hey, I can do this. It opened up new possibilities of income, take care of her family and, more importantly, live her lifelong dream. The threat was she didn't have money, didn't have this. Well, she thought her strength was her family.

Speaker 3: 9:14

She found out that the most resistance that she faced was not from foes but was from family members. And they told her listen, you're too old. What about those kids? You're going to give up your good job. You're a manager at a hair salon and you're going to go back to school with a bunch of 20 year olds. You will not make it. Get over your pipe dream and it would have crushed her.

Speaker 3: 9:38

We met and I said listen, there's two types of people in the world those with a can't C-A-N-T mentality and those with a can C-A-N. Now can't stands for people always look at cost, they look at authority, they look at need and they look at time. They always say it costs too much. Oh, I can't afford that. They look at authority. Well, what makes you special that they look at authority? Well, what makes you special? Who puts you in authority? You know you can't make that decision. You got to consider your kids. Then they always want to look at need. Well, you know you need to take care of your family right now. Forget about you, you're a mom. And then they look at time Well, girl, this ain't the right time. But a can mentality Ann says this All right, how can I make it convenient for me?

Speaker 3: 10:25

Found out you know what she can do online courses, so she can still work at the salon and at night, do online convenient. Then she looked at alignment. You know our favorite word alignment To begin to look at is this in alignment with what I value as a person? And the answer was yes. Then she looked at does it feel natural? And she's like Lyman. When I took that paralegal course, it was if I was meant to be in that class.

Speaker 3: 10:53

She got straight A's, got her social degree. Then she went on into a four-year school, studied pre-law and graduated. I was there at her graduation, graduated with honors. And then she went on, accepted into law school. Why? Because she refused to have a CANT, c-a-n-t and she moved into a meta mindset of C-A-N. Was it convenience? No, but it was convenience in the sense that she found a solution. Going to a traditional class was inconvenient. Being able to do it online was convenient. It was in line with what she believed, her values, her principles and her goals. And the last one it felt natural. And that's what Meta's about, right?

Speaker 1: 11:36

Anne, absolutely Does it feel natural Because we are always pushing against what is uncomfortable. Because we are always pushing against what is uncomfortable and sometimes we think that you know, let's. Let's give you an example. Sometimes, when you're feeling lazy, you're pushing against what is uncomfortable because you don't feel like getting off the couch and getting busy. Right, this is just a tiny example. But sometimes pushing off that oh, get up, you better get busy, you better get up and get it busy is more miserable than like you know what, I'm going to get off the couch and like go wash the dishes. We're going to use really basic illustrations here and the same in like those conversations with people that you need that you know they need to happen, but you don't want to have them, with an employee, with a boss, with a customer, and you're like, ah, you create so much suffering around. Now, timing is important. That's part of being strategic, but a lot of times it's literally our emotions. We avoid pain and move toward pleasure to such a point it becomes painful.

Speaker 3: 12:42

Absolutely, absolutely, absolutely. I mean, how many people have made decisions with that kink mentality? Going back to that kink mentality where they always look at the cost oh, it costs too much. So you lower the cost. It must not be worth anything. It was that cheap you get to the authority.

Speaker 3: 13:00

Well, I can't make that decision. I got to ask my wife, I got to ask my partner, I got to ask Cousin Juju, I got to ask Uncle Ted that lost five businesses and never been successful. Okay, because we don't believe in ourselves to make that decision. So we're looking for something externally to make that decision. Then we all look well, you know what? Well, I really don't see a need in that. Somebody gets a house. Well, that house is too big.

Speaker 3: 13:26

Friend of mine bought a lovely 4,500 square foot home. Guess what the dad said it's too much house for the two of y'all. All you needed wasn't a condo. And rather than celebrating the win, they weren't going. They didn't go into debt, they saved for 10 years to be able to have a nice down payment. The payment got a good interest rate and yet, rather than family celebrating them and you know what, let's do something. Ann, I want to know those that are listening. I want to know if your family members have been more of a threat and an obstacle than support, because I want to tell you, it is rare when everyone in your family is on board with you. I'm telling you, when we launched our business, you know, the people said well, wait a minute, how y'all going to do that? Y'all are not even the same state, the same city, but yet we're successful.

Speaker 1: 14:19

No, you're absolutely true. It's absolutely true, and I think we're going to talk a little bit more about that even later in the program. In fact, I'm excited to, in our lifestyle segment, just talk a little bit more about the naysayers. When we come back, we're going to take a quick commercial break and when we come back we are going to talk just a tiny bit more about those actionable steps for your business how to use a meta mindset to take your business to the next level, increase your bottom line. So stay tuned and we'll be right back.

Speaker 4: 14:51

Unleash the power of focused meta mindset lunch and learn sessions. Sharpen problem solving skills, spark innovation, foster collaboration and build adaptability and resilience. Elevate your team's success and profits. Discover more at wwwfocusmetamindsetcom.

Speaker 1: 15:12

Welcome back to Meta Mindstream and thank you so much for joining us here today. We are going to continue right now with our really fun conversation about MetaMindset and how that helps you in strategic planning around your business. Please, as always, like and subscribe, shoot us a question or, on any of the platforms you are watching or listening today, or shoot us an email, which is info at FocusMetaMindsetcom, and if we can answer today, we will, and if we can't, we'll try to answer on a subsequent episode. So, lyman, back to strategic planning and what a meta mindset difference makes.

Speaker 3: 15:50

Absolutely. Let's say, for example, if you are a C-suite executive and part of your responsibility is strategic planning, and before you take care of the tactical stuff, of actually doing SWOT analysis, looking at quantitative analysis and all that other stuff that is part of strategic planning, let's talk a little bit about the strategic mindset around strategic planning and who should be involved in that conversation. Too often that conversation is top-down, rather than looking in through your organization and saying am I getting buy-in from those who are actually implementing let's say you have an organization of 100 people, right? Do you have representation, not just for management from, let's say, the actual boots on the ground? Do they also have a role in the strategic planning process? Are you doing 360 evaluations? Are you looking at what works, what doesn't work? So when you take a more inclusive role.

Speaker 1: 16:56

Are you there, lyman? Yes, yes. Okay, we're back. We're back. The sound went out for a second. It might have just been on my end, so the last thing you said was 360 evaluation.

Speaker 3: 17:05

So please do a 360 evaluation and what the key is to have an inclusive process when it comes to strategic planning, not just top down, where the execs sit in their executive sitting in the room saying we're going to do this and everyone else are like little soldiers carried out. But really it should be a collaborative process where you're asking even the janitor, the receptionist, the volunteers, the interns what makes us great? What do you like about this organization? What can we do better in various areas, various departments. What can we do better in various areas, various departments? Why do you keep showing up?

Speaker 3: 18:05

If you had a magic wand, what are one or two things that you would say abracadabra, hocus. Move into vision casting. And that's where leadership begins to talk about what the organization will look like a year from now, 18 months from now, five years from now, 10 years from now, if everyone gets buy-in. So it's not about leadership saying I'm a leader, I'm going to set the course. No, real leaders say I've talked to everyone, a representative within my organization, and you do that either through surveys or you do that through consensus, focus groups, et cetera, et cetera. But you want to get that input because what I found out, ann, is the ones that is closest to the problem are the ones that comes up with the best solution because they deal with every day.

Speaker 3: 18:47

If you're sitting in the C suite corner office overlooking the ocean, when the last time you actually took out the trash, when is the last time, mr CEO, ms CEO, that you actually sat in the employee lunchroom and had a conversation? Do you even know their names? This is what makes this is the difference. Going beyond. This is meta strategic planning, where you get out of the boardroom and you go down to the lunchroom and the locker room and you have conversation with those that do the work, absolutely.

Speaker 1: 19:23

That makes such a such a big difference. It is meta, and that is a lot about ego. Meta is about you know what? What is that?

Speaker 3: 19:40

Ego stands for edging greatness out.

Speaker 1: 19:43

Excellent.

Speaker 3: 19:44

I love that Edging greatness out Because you think you are the sum total of it all. So when someone has a better idea, you edge it out. A greater idea, you edge it out Because you want to be the supreme ruler of the universe.

Speaker 1: 19:59

It's edging greatness out Well, and that's part of it right, Because you can do strategic planning, because you're close to certain pieces of the problem when you're in a high leadership position. But also we tend to neglect what I call the unheard. Just because someone is cleaning the bathroom or vacuuming the halls doesn't mean that they're not highly intelligent. We don't know anything about them. We assume that education distinguishes. Some of the most incredible inventions in history have been made by people who were like working with their hands.

Speaker 1: 20:37

So, asking everyone. The other thing about being meta is involvement. So laying down your ego and involving everyone else around you, that kind of strategic planning. Do you know the kind of loyalty you generate when you involve everyone, at every level of your business, in contributing to ideas that will lead to the decisions for the company?

Speaker 3: 21:00

This is an absolutely priceless thing. I know we've got a break coming up in about 15 seconds, but let me say this right before the break Do you realize? The most important people in any organization are the receptionists and the janitors, because they see, they hear, they know everything and, like you said, they're often overlooked.

Speaker 1: 21:18

So true, so right and so much to contribute. And this is like what makes going meta also makes us more of a family in business, a global family, social family. Meta really breaks down a lot of the barriers, these artificial things of what we think is or is it possible. When we buy it right back, we're going to talk a little more, we're going to jump into metal lifestyle, one of our favorite segments. So stick around and we'll be right back.

Speaker 5: 21:47

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Speaker 1: 22:07

And welcome back to Meta Mindstream and thank you for being with us here today with Dr Lyman, montgomery and myself and Scotland we are talking about. We have talked in our business segment about strategic planning today and how do you go meta in your strategic planning in your business, whatever size business, that is, whether you are a one-man show Lyman's client who went from a hairdresser to an attorney, or whether you are just starting your own business. But let's jump over into lifestyle for just a couple minutes here and talk about we have said how you live strategically in your business. But let's go back to what we mentioned earlier, which was some of those naysayers, the naysayers who tell you it's not possible. Why do they do that, lyman?

Speaker 3: 22:56

You know, I think part of it is protection. They love us, they don't want to see us harmed in any way. They're trying to save us from misery, from disappointment, from embarrassment a lot of times, but I think the approach is wrong from embarrassment a lot of times, but I think the approach is wrong. Rather than prefacing by saying listen, don't take this wrong. I love you, I support you, I just want you to think about what you're doing, and then again they're going to switch over to that kink. Is it the right timing? Is there really a need to do this? How are you going to support me? Is there really a need to do this? How are you going to support, and I think, the person who's looking to step out, to take that leap of faith? They have to prepare themselves with answers. They have to be prepared to say you know what, I've thought about it. Yes, I have a plan, I have a backup plan, and sometimes you have no plan at all. Sometimes it's just this is right for me and that's the plan. It's right for me.

Speaker 1: 23:57

And I think what is some of the people you know, our loved ones and friends, who care about us sometimes and other, certain people don't necessarily. Other, certain people just want to be right, have an ego trip again, tell everyone else how they're doing life wrong. But what we seem to forget around this is life being a sense of exploration. If we all got it right the first time, we would never have any adventure at all and life would be a very different experience.

Speaker 1: 24:25

But so often it takes those experimenting, it takes trying. It's like, well, you're going to spend less time with your kids? Well, yes, kids are a priority, but everyone has. You can have a parent who spends all their time with your kids who is angry and resentful, and that's a bad experience for the kids. Everyone is different. You can have a parent who spends you know what grandma might say is terrible a couple hours a day with the kids and have an outrageously good relationship with your children. Like you know, like nothing that nothing compares to that. So judging that the way you think something should be done or the way you did something in the past and forcing that onto someone else is a very unrealistic expectation and also is just your way of trying to keep them small. We think, oh, I'm just trying to be right because I'm trying to keep them safe, but unfortunately it's also oh, I'm really just trying to be right, because if they don't stay small, I look like more of a failure because I never did any adventure in my life.

Speaker 3: 25:27

Exactly. You know, there are some families where certain individuals sort of like the, they're pigeonholed, right, and there's just a little pecking order. And if you become, let's say, the highest level of education in the family is a bachelor's degree, right, and you're talking about going on and getting a master's, or you're going to get a doctorate or a terminal degree, then that person feels like, well, wait a minute, I lose position, I lose status. So I'm going to sabotage what that person tries to do by planting seeds of doubt and get that person to give up on their dream.

Speaker 3: 26:05

We've coached so many individuals that when we ask the question, what did you want to be when you were 10 years old, 20 years old, why didn't you do it? 75% of the time someone talked them out of it. Someone said be realistic. Well, I want to be an artist. They don't make any money. You're going to be a starving artist, yeah, you're right. So they go and major in something and work 20 years in the field they absolutely hate. Got a good friend of mine named Lori. All right, went to college together, got our master's together and everything right. She worked in the field. She hated it. You know, she wanted to be a teacher In her 40s. She made a decision to go back and do what she wanted to do when she was 12 years old, and now she's a very successful educator.

Speaker 3: 26:58

And I asked her a couple of months ago I said listen, how does it feel you know you gave up this great career. She was like, yeah, it was great in name, but it wasn't great for me because I wasn't living out my purpose. My purpose has been in a classroom with those kids.

Speaker 1: 27:17

And I'll play devil's advocate, which I always love to do, which is everything that Lyman said. Yes, and sometimes we have to learn through taking the way less traveled, by taking a side trip. Yeah, because you know, for example, and I'm one of those people, I like to be really real with people and I say you know, I had a dream of being an actress and I worked in Hollywood as an actress for 10 years. Well, you know, in many ways I was a starving artist during that time and I also made some incredible projects. Ways. I was a starving artist during that time and I also made some incredible projects, and I also changed my life, how I see life, how I experienced life, how I exercise my creativity.

Speaker 1: 27:58

And when I decided to move on from that career, I was ready but not at all resentful, in the sense that, even though someone might have said your chances of doing this is like one in 5 million because it's the most overstocked market in the world actors, right In the whole in the world, the most overstocked industry.

Speaker 1: 28:17

So your chances are like, if you do a spreadsheet on this, it's not even there's just no way, but I still did it because it fulfilled something for me and just because I didn't make it famous like the top you know 0.001%, or because I, you know, didn't make as much money as I'd hoped, doesn't even mean it was a waste of time. So if I listen to the naysayers who said, oh, don't do that. That's like the last thing in the world, don't do it. I needed to do it. It created, it made me a better person. I learned so much about myself and I'm still fine. I still had a roof over my head. I still had food to eat. I was always, you know, being smart, which is a big part of your strategic planning.

Speaker 1: 28:58

So, what I tell people about in strategic. You'll recognize this, of course, lyman, because we do this. But when you're in a strategic planning around your life and then we're going to have to wrap up in a minute or two, in strategic planning around your life, in going meta, in making decisions, I always teach the triple bypass. You've probably heard me say that before.

Speaker 1: 29:19

And that is really what it means. So today, which is working from instinct, instinct is very. There's so many levels of instinct. We're not going to go into that right now because sometimes our first impressions or first reactions are not really the instinct we're talking about. We're talking about meta instincts. So going much deeper right. So when? And I'll give you just a tiny taste today and we'll talk about it again another time.

Speaker 1: 29:46

So my triple bypass is when you're going to go into meta-t meditation, meditation, you know, sit still for a moment. Say I really need to make this big decision about job, money, family. Bypass the mind. We do this in our workshops. Make a conscious decision. I'm going to bypass the rationalizing, the voices that say yes, no, maybe, why I can't, can't bypass the mind.

Speaker 1: 30:10

Then you got to bypass the heart, because sometimes there's people living there that we do care about, but that are the naysayers and maybe what they think isn't really in our best organic inner interest. And then you have to bypass the one more thing. That's why it's triple and it's the ego how you look to people, how you appear, if you look like you're diving out of a spectacular career, like in lyman's early story, into something completely different, whether it's the lawyer becoming the hairdresser or the hairdresser becoming the lawyer. But if that move is right for you, you have to bypass your ego and those people's opinions. Then you get to the gut, the inner instinct, the spiritual aspect, whatever you want, want to your deepest part. When you do that triple bypass and then you ask yourself the question 99.9% of the time you will absolutely know the answer.

Speaker 1: 31:00

So I dare you to give it a try before you come see us on our next episode and I encourage you to send us your ideas, your thoughts on that. Let us know how it went for you, shoot us an email, info at focusedmetamindsetcom or leave comments here on the platform that you are viewing or listening on today. And before I come back to Lyman for the final word, once again, please do like and subscribe to this show. We are so excited to bring it to you and just spread this good time of honest talk with the world and with people you know. Please share the show, tell people who you think would enjoy it, and Lyman back to you. What are your last thoughts?

Speaker 3: 31:42

Yeah, my last thought is a simple question Are you truly satisfied or have you just settled? Are you truly satisfied with your life or did you just settle for it? I love that. Think about it.

Speaker 1: 31:57

Wow, wow. So get my mind just going. There's a whole nother half hour in there, so for next time. Thank you all for joining us today and we're so excited to have you here. See you on our next show.

Speaker 3: 32:09

Thank you, go meta.