381. Controlling Your Creative Mindset with Deborah Peters

Hey everybody, and welcome back to The ONE Thing Podcast.

I'm Chris Dixon.

Have you ever had the experience of imagining or envisioning some extraordinary

possibilities for yourself or for your business or been in a very creative flow state and

highly focused, and then something shifts in your mindset, and you zoom in to limitations

or challenges, or you get redirected from that flow state and you can't get back?

I spoke with Deborah Peters, and she shares some very valuable insight about how we can

control our mindset and the importance of staying in the creative space and not allowing

our limiting beliefs to change our thinking or forcing us to zoom into all the reasons

why we can't accomplish what we want to.

So, as leaders or entrepreneurs, or even for our self, personally, we can both envision

what we want but stay on the path to achieving it.

enjoy this conversation with Deborah Peters.

everybody, we're lucky to have Deborah Peters on the podcast with us today.

Deborah, thanks so much for being here.

And Deborah is an international business coach, a professional speaker, the host of the

Deborah Peters Show, which is a podcast where she discusses health, wealth, business, and

relationships, and self-expression.

Also a blogger and, if I understand, soon to be bestselling author.

Deborah has conducted training for business leaders in 20 countries in a wide variety of

industries and companies, including government agencies like the FBI, which I thought was

cool. Deborah, thanks so much for being here.

What's going on?

Oh, man. It's good to be here.

There's just a lot going on in the world, so hopefully some of the stuff we chat about

today will help someone through any sort of transition they're in or any sort of shift

they're contemplating.

No kidding. Hopefully.

And before we jump in, do you want to tell us a little bit about yourself and your

background and what brought you here today?

Sure. I'd love to.

Who doesn't want to talk about themselves, right?

So, this is my favorite story.

I grew up on a farm and it was very remote.

My dad died when I was seven, and my sisters were ten years older than me and they were

gone, like they moved out.

So, I was alone.

It was just kind of like me and my mom and whatever hired help that we would get to do

the heavy lifting.

my imagination was my best friend, and it really took me through some tough times, you

know.

Well, during that, I guess it was like a double-edged sword.

Like, on one hand, I knew that my imagination was really powerful and that I was building

this future for myself.

And the flip side of that was, I didn't realize how potent it was.

And so, here I am now talking about living stuff that I dreamt about and imagined and

fostered in my mind.

It's just phenomenal.

you know, I was up for a walk this morning, because yesterday I had a really bad day.

I was kind of negative.

I was hard on myself.

I was beating myself up in my self-talk.

And I know better because I teach people how to not do that.

But every once in a while it's just kind of comes along and catches me off guard.

And so today was a whole other day today.

We can start over any moment.

I was saying to myself today, I said, "You realize that everything you're living now was

at some point an idea." So, that's really what drives me and it's why I'm here.

It's my calling to show people that they can create whatever they want to create for

themselves if they start doing the inner work.

That's great. You said something that resonated with me about, like, you should know

better when you're talking about self-talk.

And I think it really does go to show that even if you are "an expert" or you're highly

experienced in something, it doesn't mean you're not susceptible to the things that

created or the challenges that surround that particular thing.

What stood out for me is you generally have a higher degree of sensitivity to it, and you

probably have tools in a process that you can apply, but it doesn't mean you're immune to

it.

Thank you for pointing that out, because I think some people, and maybe it's what we're

taught, because I certainly used to feel this way.

I did so many training and courses to become a coach and I was a little disillusioned in

the beginning thinking, "Okay.

I'm going to do this," and then all my troubles disappear and all my struggles go away.

And it's not like that.

mean, we're human beings.

We have programs and patterns from childhood that we had a lot of practice on.

And we've lived our lives in that space energetically for maybe a lifetime.

So, when you start patterning yourself or catching yourself going into a negative space,

I think the point I want to make here is it's not about perfection.

Like, it's not about I'm never going to deal with this again.

It's just being really, to your point, more sensitive to it and then having the tools to

apply to it so it doesn't hijack your life or your week or your month or your year.

Maybe it's only a couple of hours in a day.

Yeah. And it's like the concept of progress over perfection or just knowing that mastery

of anything is a journey, not a destination, it's so easy.

And I find myself doing this in an area that I feel like I've become advanced where if I

make a mistake or if I fall into a particular trap, it's easy to feel heavily impacted by

that because you feel like you should have done better.

But if you actually take a step back and you can celebrate maybe how quickly you were

able to pivot back or to recover or to communicate differently than you used to about it,

instead of focusing on I can't believe I fell into that trap or that thing happened to me

that I teach people not to do.

Right. And making yourself wrong.

I had a conversation with some friends on the weekend, we got together for the day and

had some dinner, and we were talking about relationships.

And I think this is a really good example, too, where we might stay in a dysfunctional

relationship or a toxic relationship for long periods of time in the beginning when we're

not very conscious.

And then, as we grow and expand our self-awareness, maybe we only stay in that

relationship for six months, or you finally get to a point where you kind of see it

coming toward you across the room, and you dodge a bullet.

that's really what it's about.

It's just being aware of the pattern when the pattern shows up.

And then, instead of making yourself wrong, finding what's right about it is that you

recognized it and you circumvented it.

Yeah. Yeah. And potentially just reduced its impact or reduce the negative impact in a

positive way.

Yeah. Yeah. Like I said earlier about relationships, it doesn't run off with you for half

your life. And some people live their whole lives running the same negative self-doubt

patterns. And, you know, some people never really realize that they can actually change

that.

You know, maybe you don't even know that you're telling yourself that story and you're in

that loop. It just feels like reality and not something that you have control over.

Exactly. Exactly.

So, self-awareness, I think, man, you can't say enough about self-awareness and the

importance of really paying attention where you connect the dots between what you say to

yourself, what you think about and how you feel, and then the experiences you're living.

When you can connect those dots, you can literally set yourself free.

But as long as you don't connect the dots between the internal process within you and

then the external reflection through life experiences outside of you, then you're always

going to be just wondering, why does this keep happening to me?

Yeah. That makes a lot of sense.

You've got such a diverse background and a ton of experience and you've got a lot going

on, what are you focused on today with the challenges that you're trying to solve?

So, today, my main focus is getting my workout in a bigger embodiment so that I'm not

doing the same heavy lifting all the time, and that's really key.

I mean, I've developed a few courses, we're editing those now, both video, audio, and

workbook. So, I have three of those that we're going to launch those in the new year.

Just getting into something like that and developing an online course, I mean, it's a lot

of work.

I understand.

It's just a lot of work.

And I had to teach myself how to really compartmentalize my time.

You know, that old school time blocking thing, that skillset came to the forefront.

Because if I'm splitting my time between interfacing with clients, speaking at

conferences, facilitating leadership retreats, that's a lot of creative juice that's

flowing. And then, needing to step back from all that and write out a course, and make it

flow, and take people through an expansive journey, that's more creative juice.

I mean, at the end of the day, it's like, I just want to go for a walk in the woods, you

know.

Yeah. Time blocking is crucial for what I do, what we teach.

It's fundamental.

There's an analogy that we use, and it's time blocks are like putting boulders in the

stream. And if you don't put them in the water, everything else is just going to rush

right over and take that time.

And I find that to be so true for myself and everyone that I engage with.

If you can figure out what you want to focus on, you have to create the space for it to

happen. And if you don't dedicate space to it, other things are going to take that that

time and that space. So, time blocking is, I think, the backbone, at least for me, on how

I stay focused on what matters most.

Yeah. It's so key.

And you're right, if you don't actually block it off, it never happens.

And I think this is critical for all of us to realize, is that, if you want something in

your life, you have to make the space for it and you have to create.

What's that saying?

If you want things in your life to change, you have to change things in your life.

if you want a certain outcome, you have to calendar it.

You have to block out two kinds of space, really.

The first space is the inspirational intuitive space where you don't really

have an agenda.

For me, that's whether I'm lifting weights, or going for a bike ride, or going for a walk,

or going skiing, or even flying across the country.

It's funny when people say, "Oh, I always take a red eye because otherwise it's a waste

of time." I am never wasting time when I'm on a jet.

You know what I mean? I'm writing something.

I'm creating something.

I got something going on.

Sorry to interrupt you.

When I was traveling 75 percent for a while when we were launching an international

business, airplane time was my office time.

That's when, like, no one could bother me with my creative work.

I really tried to leverage that.

And after a long trip coming home, I would give myself permission to watch the movies and

relax at times.

But I hear you on the use of that time.

Well, and even that, there's times when I'm on a long haul jet that I choose not to work.

I will binge watch or I'll watch three or four movies if I'm heading across the pond,

because that's the only time I really do that sort of thing.

Otherwise, I never turn the T.V.

on. So, it's okay to give oneself a break and not have to always be on.

that, I find it's a twofold process.

It's an inner process first.

Give yourself space for your imagination to do its thing.

And then, when it hits you, write it down.

Then, that turns into the external action.

Definitely. I coach a few leaders in a digital marketing agency and a company, and we talk

about time blocking and also the creative space.

And I encourage them and I'm like, "Well, block your time and defend your time block."

And they're like, "You don't understand." Sometimes the creative bug grabs you and you

don't expect it. And other times it's just not there.

And I get that, too, and I have that experience.

And since they've been really pushing back on me about it, I've noticed it more for

myself. Like, I can put a time block on the calendar and say, "All right.

For these two hours, I'm just going to develop some content." And the first, like, 30, 40

minutes, it's just writer's block.

Nothing happens.

Nothing is coming out of it except me staring at the screen and trying to find some

inspiration. So, it's interesting, it's not always there when you want it.

I know. I know.

I usually write speeches when I'm out for a walk.

Like this week, I had a speech this week and because I've been traveling, I just had so

much going on, I didn't get the speech written.

And then, quickly, it was that evening.

So, I'm like, "Well, you know what happened on my walk for the day.

Let me go do my walk and run the stairs.

And by the time I get back, I have the speech written." So, I just came back and dropped

some talking points on a piece of paper and I'm good to go.

it's really key. I mean, I think pretty much every major leader in the world used

time and nature, that was their creative time.

That was their deep think.

Yeah. I can relate to that.

I haven't done as much of it lately, but I used to run when I needed to do that and clear

my head. And go for longer runs and just the head time of nothing else to do but just

think, or not get hit by a car, or something like that, but paying attention to where

you're going. But other than that, you can just kind of clear the mechanism and have some

thought. And I can relate to that being a good time to have some focus.

Yeah. Definitely.

And being okay with that.

I think we're a little bit too programmed to always be in the mode of doing.

A lot can happen in the mode of non-doing.

Yeah. And it's interesting, because it's a lot, for me, where reflection shows up.

It's somewhere between meditation and reflection.

And just having the space to do nothing allows you to clear your mind.

Yeah. It sure does.

It sure does.

You mentioned the courses that you're developing, what's the content?

What's the theme of the courses?

Well, one of them it's a mind mastery course and it's got a lot of neuroscience in it.

And it's geared toward increasing revenue in your business or your company.

I see, like, there's this disconnect usually with business leaders between the day that

they come up with the idea that this is the company I want to launch, and they're excited

about it, and they're enthusiastic, and they can't wait to get it off the ground.

And their imagination is just working overtime coming up with all these ideas.

then, once they get into it, it can be a little bit challenging and things don't

necessarily go the way you think they're going to go, or you get some setbacks, or

whatever, funding doesn't come through, then they stop using their inspiration and

enthusiasm to move things along and they start to grind it out.

I decided that that disconnect needed to be fixed.

So, I built a bridge, basically, between how business owners, the C-suite, whatever level

size of company it is, how they just can't stay focused on their imagination.

And they start buying into this idea that now it's hard, and that they have to grind, and

they need to expect to fail.

It's like the starving artist, you know, we've been taught that.

And a lot of it is just limiting beliefs, frankly.

Yeah. I was just going to ask you if that shows up as limiting beliefs and having to

retrain your brain to not acknowledge those or believe them to be a fixed true thing.

You have to.

Because the thing is, is that, most of us, I would say probably 100 percent of us,

were handed down limiting beliefs by well-meaning parents and community members and

extended family, et cetera, that didn't realize they were limited by their belief system

. You know, you can only hand down what you already know, because we don't know what we

don't know. And so, you can only hand down what you know, until you know something

grander or bigger or more expansive.

And they get in the way.

mean, you figure zero to seven are the imprint years, and that's when the mind of the

child is the most malleable.

I mean, they'll pretty much accept anything that you show them, teach them, tell them.

And then, 7 to 14 are the modeling years, and you've got more influence on

that child or that adolescence concept of reality.

So, by the time they hit adulthood and the brain doesn't stop developing until you're 25,

I mean, you've had a lot of programming and conditioning dictating how things are in the

world, the model of the world.

of it is just somebody else's limitation that they're regurgitating because it's all they

know. The problem is, is that, we accept that.

And then, we go out into the world and we decide through our imagination and kind of like

our gifts and talents that are in our heart, we decide to go out in the world and develop

something. But now we've got these blocks from that old programming and conditioning

that get in the way.

And it can feel very real.

It can feel like it is hard.

And then, we defend it and we say, "See, it is hard.

Look at what the problems I'm having." And therein lies in and of itself a critical

program of defending one's limitations.

So, we have this inherent tendency, just a human characteristic the way our brains

function and our development, the way our brains develop, that we have these either

handed down or learned limiting beliefs.

And where this shows up for somebody who's in a leadership role or building a business,

running a business is they're in this visionary state.

And that's a great place to be because you can imagine extraordinary, you can begin to

design the vision of the business that you want to create, or the business that exists

today, and just maintaining or redirecting that vision.

what ends up happening, if I understand, and where you see the challenge of this kind of

natural inclination, is then you start to get into the grind of actually doing or putting

the vision to practice and it gets hard.

And then, you start to grab on to those limiting beliefs or start to let that loop play

itself. And we need to recognize that that's happening, especially if you're in that kind

of visionary type role.

If I understand, you need to be able to stay in that creative space and not let those

limiting beliefs or that experience pull you out of it.

Exactly. And that takes some practice.

You know, that's what we always say self-mastery is.

I mean, look, we live life and we experience life through our senses.

What we hear, see, smell, taste, touch, self-talk, intuit, our senses are delivering

information to us about life 24/7.

And so, it's very real when it's in your face.

You know, it's like when something's going sideways, maybe you lost the biggest deal - I

don't know - something isn't working, or your top most productive person got an offer at

another company and left you, the struggle can feel very real.

so, because we have all of our senses are lit up like a Christmas tree, it's like, "Oh,

my God. What am I going to do?

I have all these responsibilities and commitments.

And they're not there to support me.

I don't have these resources."

take when you're in something like that is to be able to shift your focus from what is

the crisis of the moment and actually get back into that imaginary space of what you're

creating. And it sounds like, "Oh, there's the magic pill.

Okay. I can do that." Until it's time to do it.

the whole world is stacked against your pivot.

That's a pivot. That's a very sharp pivot from everything's going wrong in my world to

"Oh, yeah. What was that next thing we were going to launch and create and how excited I

was?" Man, that emotional mastery, that's your freedom.

Yeah. How do you recommend or what would some identifiers be or triggers to help you

identify, "I'm about to let this limiting belief play," or "I'm going to go into that

place"? Is there anything that someone could put in place to help trigger or help them

identify that this is happening for them?

A hundred percent. It's how you feel.

It's how you feel. If you're feeling bad, you're focused on negative stuff.

And that's different for everyone.

I mean, for me, like, yesterday and I was saying I sort of had a rough day and I let

myself, my mind go into negative thinking, actually my stomach was upset and then I

started getting a headache.

And I'm like, "Wow.

What have I been doing to myself?

I let it get this far today." And I caught it.

And that's where kind of our conversation comes full circle of having that self-awareness

where you can pay attention to your thinking or your emotions or what that's causing in

your body.

the biggest trigger when we talk about stress.

People not feeling well, people having health issues, pretty much all of the time those

health issues come from some kind of internal imbalance within you, where you're out of

alignment with your inner being and your ego is run off with you.

And it's negative and it's fearful and it's doubtful, that's just some nasty stuff.

Your cells are listening and that'll bring you down in a heartbeat.

Yeah. What relates for me, at least in my experience, not being nearly as masterful at

this as you are, obviously, but I start to catch myself saying certain things or the tone

of my responses.

And I'll catch myself, I'm like, "Oh, that's where I'm going.

I'm already starting to take this path." And I've been able to -definitely not perfect by

any means - catch that a little sooner than I had in the past before it gets too far off

the rails. But, again, it's just a muscle I feel like it's getting a little bit stronger,

but it's not easy.

Yeah. Keep practicing.

I mean, again, think of the amount of programming you've had in the other direction.

So, to even be able to identify it is a huge, huge pat yourself on the back for that.

And then, to be able to catch it is another huge.

So, it's celebrating yourself that you're paying attention is the first thing.

That's a great point, just paying attention.

And it's like the law of attraction, if you focus on something, you can become more aware

of it and identify when it shows up, and control it easier, grow in a positive direction.

But you have to first at least become aware of it or attempt to pay attention to

something.

Absolutely. And here's another thing that works really well, is to physically move.

So, I know I talk about walks a lot, but it's true.

Like, when I start to get into a very unproductive kind of state of mind, I just get up

and go for a walk. Because at the end of the day, you're not producing anything of

quality anyway.

You might as well walk away.

I have people argue this point with me and they're like, "Yeah.

But we don't have time." And it's like, "Well, honey, if you're going to sit in front of

your computer for an hour and be cranky, you might as well get off for 30 minutes and go

for a walk and you'll feel better." Because I noticed that about me, I start to get

cranky when I'm staring at my screen too much.

And I was like, "Oh, I need a break from my computer.

I got to move my body."

[Inaudible] when I sit for too long.

I'm not a great sitter, which is why, typically, when I work, I stand.

I pull the plug out of my remote or my motor on my standing desk and it just stays up.

That's cool.

And that's the trigger for me.

But I know that changing the environment helps.

Like you're saying, go for a walk.

I think just even at the very least, I've recognized that if I can go to a different

room, change the environment, just disrupt the momentum that you're on and potential

negative way, and try to shift it a different direction.

What changes your perception of reality, literally, because you've spatially changed your

environment.

And something I do when I'm teaching seminars, especially if it's a corporate strategy

session and I've got a bunch of execs around a boardroom table, they don't like it at

first, but then they come to appreciate it on the breaks.

When I bring them back from a break, I have them sit in a different spot.

It's almost like rotating chairs.

Let's say you're sitting at one far end and then you move down the table to the opposite

side, to the middle, everything's different.

It looks different. It feels different.

You're perceiving differently.

When you're perceiving differently, then your neurons are firing differently and you come

up with resources to questions that maybe you couldn't even look at before.

So, there's huge value in that.

It doesn't have to be a 30 minute walk down the garden path.

I mean, it could be, just like you said, walk into a different room.

But I do feel that if you can get outside and get some fresh air, even if you walk around

the building and come back in, man, that's good.

Yeah. So, if you find yourself walking - no pun on the walking - down the wrong mental

path and you catch yourself there's some triggers that you've figured out for yourself

and you've identified, in the context you mentioned earlier, I might be getting into the

weeds a little too much or acknowledging these limiting beliefs in a negative way that

are taking me out of my visionary state, my creative place.

change the environment or go for a walk or do something to shift the mindset, and you're

better off if you know you've got an hour to focus on something, you're in the wrong

place, you're going to have an unproductive hour.

So, why not take 15, 20 minutes and go clear the mechanism and come back.

And, hopefully, you can reset and get back to the place you need to be.

Yeah. And it's just really hard on your body to force it to sit in a restrained

situation.

Because the body takes on all the stress from the mind and the emotions.

And I think a lot of times when people are unhappy with their jobs, I think

if the companies could implement some sort of movement strategy throughout the day where

people get up and move around, or they're encouraged to, or they get points for it, or

something, I think the happiness for the job will increase because the

dissatisfaction typically comes because there isn't enough movement.

I mean, we're designed to move.

beyond me why they've taken physical education out of the school system.

It's just ridiculous.

You know, just get those kids out.

Let them run it off.

Yeah. I mean, that's a symptom of a whole, I think, turn for the wrong direction.

You got the work-from-home shift over the last several years, some counterbalancing

happening, I think, on people going back into offices.

One thing I think it did allow for, in some cases, is people could just take a lap around

the backyard or they can go move around their home or something for a little bit.

Even in an office environment, to your point, though, you need to sometimes have the

opportunity if you're not in the right headspace to maybe go for a walk or do something

to change the environment.

know from my own experience working in a corporate headquarter type environment where you

can be back to back all day.

I mean, 30 minutes to an hour meetings, straight through lunch from 8:00 until 6:00.

And it's tough if you get yourself in the wrong headspace.

You don't have a chance.

So, how can you acknowledge and maybe find a way to pivot and get out of that downward

momentum?

Yeah. It's costing a lot of creativity.

And creativity is a resource, 100 percent.

Yeah. Definitely.

So, limiting beliefs are a big part of that process and what you're talking about of

mindset shifting or being in the right creative space in your course.

Is there anything else from those courses you think would be worth sharing?

Well, let's back up.

The awareness that you can actually pattern yourself, I think that's so important.

You know, we no longer have to accept any sort of limitation or limiting experience

because we can be pattern ourselves.

know, I've been teaching these programs, I think, probably for 20 years, Chris, and I've

delivered them in 19 countries.

And the thing that never changes is the message.

It might sound a little more sophisticated, maybe there's some literal science behind it,

but I'm saying the same thing now as I was 20 years ago.

The difference is that the consciousness of humanity has evolved and people now get it

like they can hear me.

The words don't bounce off.

so, the first thing is that, number one, to become aware of when you're really

sabotaging yourself through negativity and fear and doubt.

And then, two, is to learn some tools that you can apply.

And my favorite is just reframe.

Like, to reframe anything just sends you in a completely different direction.

Can I ask you about that, the reframe?

Something that came to mind when you were saying reframe - and I'm not sure why I drew

this connection. I think it makes sense - if you know about the different hats, like the

opportunity to wear different hats, to play a different role in a meeting or in a

decision making process, that's what I related that to.

Sometimes you can choose to take a different perspective and maybe wear a different hat

for a moment. When you're being negative, you don't think something is possible, like I

just don't see how I can do that.

Tell me if this makes sense, but try wearing the other hat and this is possible, how is it

possible, and trying to play it from the other angle.

Yeah, definitely.

So, that brings me to another tool.

So, reframing is one where, to your point, we just reframe from "this doesn't work" to

"well, what if it could or what if it did, how would things look." So, that then kind of

segues into the second tool, which is the quality of the questions that you ask.

So, rather than make a statement, which is like driving into a brick wall, "this doesn't

work or this won't work, or we've never done it this way before," or whatever that is,

instead asking more open, expansive kinds of questions that get the brain to fire

differently.

possible?" Another question could be, "What haven't we thought of yet?" You

know, the quality of the answer is always in the quality of the question.

I love that you brought that up.

It's something in the context of goal setting.

We talk about this a lot when someone's trying to set goals, especially distant goals,

like a vision, like, "Hey, where do I want to be in ten years?" And we say there's this

relationship between the quality of the question that you're asking and your ability to

search for the answer.

And the better the question and the harder and the more intentionally you search, the

better the result that will come from that.

You can set a bigger goal.

You can challenge yourself to think more about what's possible.

And it feels like there's some connection between those two.

Absolutely. And then, letting the answer come, and it may not come in the moment, I think

we have this sort of, like, instant world that we live

in. You know, everything has to happen fast.

And if it's not, something's wrong.

We're just not wired that way.

As human beings, it's a different kind of process on a creative level than just

the push of a button.

So, sometimes I question where are we headed with this?

Because as we implement different software and whatnot that can speed things up, where

does the human side of it come into play?

we all are human.

We're social animals.

We need to connect with one another.

So, that old saying, "The joy is in the journey, not in the destination," I know it's

been overused and it's a little corny, but, really, truly it is in the journey.

It's in taking a step and recalibrating and asking yourself, "Does this feel like I'm

headed toward what I want?"

flexible, that expands our neurology in and of itself, which enables greater levels of

resourcefulness, higher levels of creative thinking, more inspired action instead of

linear, logical, grinding it out.

The effort and the grind, to me, is like a waste of a life when you

could be inspired and just nail it.

Do you see, like, a balance in there between kind of phases of, I guess, work or phases

of mindset where you're like, "Okay.

Let's take the time to create the space where I can have a more creative mindset and

invest that time.

And just have a clear head and have the right physiology and mindset to do that." And

then, there's periods and the question, is there value in periods of, "Okay.

Now, I've got the clarity I need to to zoom in for a little bit and grind, but then

knowing I need to hit pause and get back out of that."

For sure. And that, too, I think, is a very organic process.

It's not something you can --

Time block?

... yeah - put on a clock to defend your clients.

Because I feel like the same thing happens with me, too, and even with my team, sometimes

we're just not in a very resourceful place and we need to just step back from it.

And then, there's other times where, like, it comes in, in a rush, and you can feel the

difference in your body.

You can feel the difference when you're sitting in front of your computer and you're

grinding out something or when you just can't type fast enough because you're in the flow

and the messages are just swirling at you.

There's a very distinct difference to that.

And knowing that distinction and then honoring it is really the key.

Honoring it, that's a good one.

It's honoring the time and not putting yourself in an environment where you can not be

distracted or lose that flow state that you're in.

Yeah. And having some self-mastery when your ego thinks it needs to distract you.

Oh, yeah. It's always there.

Always there. Yeah.

Yeah.

Sorry to interrupt you.

I keep an hour time block on Fridays where I reflect in journal and just recalibrate on

the week. And it's a little bit of a creative space because you're trying to turn

everything off. I turn my phone notifications off, put it away, laptop down, and I

actually physically write.

So, you're not prone to look at a different tab or Slack or whatever else is popping up.

So, it just puts me in the right space.

I found as I've done that really diligently over the last couple of years, I get to a

creative place a little bit faster.

And I used to, I would block an hour and sometimes just sit there and not sure where to

start. Or I would just have nothing coming through for upwards of like a-half-an-hour

sometimes just nothing really great came out of it at all.

But then, I think having a framework helped.

And then, also, it's like a muscle, it feels like you can kind of get into that faster.

Do you have that experience?

Sure. Yeah. I'm a big fan of handwriting pretty much everything.

I mean, I put things in my calendar, obviously it's synced to my phone and I get notices

. But otherwise, I probably would handwrite them.

There's a connection.

There's a relationship that's made between the thought, the emotion, the physical writing

with the pen on paper, and the tactile experience of that, that actually fires more

neurons than if you type.

Because if you type, it's like eight keystrokes.

But when you're writing, that's where the imaginary process comes in.

sounds to me like - and maybe this is good for your listeners - it may not come easy in

the beginning because you're not used to it.

You're conditioned for technology.

And to shut off that stimulation, whether it's visual or whatever it is, and sit for an

hour until you get into yourself, like connect and align with yourself enough that the

information that can flow through, that's really a training.

It's a process of mastery.

good on you for sticking with it and and giving yourself that space.

I mean, there's a lot of information and guidance.

How about that?

A lot of guidance can come through when you do that.

Yeah. It's been one of the greatest investments I've made in a week for myself that I can

remember from a habitual process.

It's great what comes from it.

And I love doing it on Fridays because closing out the week, like I do it right after

lunch on Fridays unless I have to move it for something else, I try not to move it, but

the the kind of recap on the week.

But, also, it lets me start to think about the upcoming week and just making small

adjustments every week.

time, it's kind of exponential that way and I feel like I'm in front of my upcoming week.

I feel like I'm playing with a lead going into the next week versus trying to open your

computer Monday morning and then everybody else's world comes pouring in and it's hard to

focus on what you want to.

And the ego comes in, all the things, the limiting beliefs are triggered and it feels like

you're playing from behind and trying to catch up on everything else in a very busy

environment.

just being out in front of it knowing, "Okay.

Here's where I was successful or not in the prior week in whatever capacity." And then,

looking at the upcoming week and saying, "Here's what winning looks like for me next week

and the changes I want to make," albeit it never goes according to plan, but at least you

have a plan going in.

It's been a great investment for me.

Absolutely. And I was in the radio industry for six years and that was a very old school

tool that my boss at the time taught me, and that was to take time on Friday to recap,

review, and then plan ahead.

So, you hit the ground running.

It fascinates me when I see business owners and company leaders doing their strategy

session in Q1.

And I think to myself, if you would have done that in December or November, you could put

your feet up during the holidays and come into January, come into Q1 hitting the ground

running. But here now, you're behind and nothing feels worse than sleeping in.

Yeah. Yeah.

for that same reason, definitely want to hit the year with the plan already being

realized versus trying to plan in January at the turn of the year, and you're already

kind of behind the curve.

Yeah, absolutely.

It's good on you for doing that.

It's a great tool.

Yeah, absolutely.

Well, Deborah, thank you so much for this conversation.

And I want to ask you a question, something we love to ask on the podcast to help kind of

narrow our focus. And the question is, what's The ONE Thing you want our listeners to

take away from the conversation today.

That you can be, do, and have anything when you rewire or wire your mind

toward it.

And so, just know that.

Just don't believe in any limitations.

It's just not true.

That's awesome. Thank you so much.

And I want to give you a chance to connect with our listeners and where they could find

you and what you've got going on.

So, do you want to share where our listeners can find you and what resources you have

available and upcoming?

Yeah, absolutely.

We broadcast live onto YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook.

And then, the recording, of course, is on all the major platforms.

It's the Deborah Peters Show.

Deborah with an H.

Go to my website for upcoming seminars and leadership retreats, and that one is

N-E-I-M-I-N-D.com. So, it's the short version of Neuro Engineering Institute with Mind,

M-I-N-D.com on the end.

there's lots of great stuff coming up next year with our leadership and management

retreats, both in Savannah, Georgia, and Newport Beach, California, as well as the

Business Accelerator Boot Camp, which will be running in both cities a little bit later

on in the year. So, I'd love to see everybody in person.

That would be nice.

Awesome. Deborah, thank you so much for being on the podcast today.

It was a great conversation.

Thank you. You have a blessed day and Happy Holidays.

Thank you.

Thanks for listening to The ONE Thing Podcast.

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