Youniversalife Podcast: Recent Episodes

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In Episode 20 of the Youniversalife Podcast, I discuss The 4 Pillars of Leadership. The foundational elements that must exists to create positive influence.

Selfless

• Putting Others 1st
• Action without expectation of reward
• Unconditional Giving
• Set Ego Aside (Humble)
• Desire to impact the world
• See the big picture

Communication

• Trust
• Productivity
• Facilitates Problem Solving
• Boosts Morale
• Creates Quality Decision Making
• Builds Relationships

Loyalty

• Builds Trust
• Allows Delegation of Responsibility
• Cultivates Traditions
• Strong Relationships are Rooted in Loyalty.
• Strong Bonds
• Reinforcing Deposits
• Fosters Commitment
• Enhances Reputation

Action

• Establishes Direction & Goals
• Creates Calculated Risks
• Adaptable to Change
• Empowers Team Members
• Contagious
• Allows You to Create Momentum

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I have created a list of 5 leadership qualities of my favorite educational leaders. I lay them out in the latest Youniversalife Podcast.

Who are your favorite leaders in your personal and professional life?

Make a list of 5 things you love about their leadership style.

Then, make a conscious effort to mirror their actions and words.

This is a great way to discover your leadership principles.

Please like and leave a review. You can find additional content at http://youniversalife.com

Happy Hollidays and Keep Moving Forward!

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Deion "Prime Time" Sanders was anointed as the Head Football Coach at the University of Colorado - Interview

Spiritual Movement - Trending in the right direction

• Chris Pratt
• Dion Sanders
• Texas Long Horn QB (Quin Ewers)
• Dabo Swinney
• UFC Fighters

Youniversalife emphasis on Leadership & Performance

• There is a need for leadership development in our society today.
• There is a need for creativity & how to put those things into the world.

Who is talking about Leadership

• Jocko Willink
  • Echelon Front
  • Extreme Ownership
• Seth Godin
  • Marketing Savant
  • Great thinker of the 20th & 21st Century
  • Forcaster of trends in the world
• Shawn Ryan Show
• Rich Roll
• Dr. Andrew Huberman
• Presidential Candidates
  • Vivek Ramaswamy
    • Leading in a new generation of leadership
    • Forward-thinker
    • Regardless of what you think of policy
• I have dedicated my life to Leadership Development through:
  • Coaching
  • Teaching our high school students / next generation
  • Educational leadership degree
  • Building a leadership curriculum for my school
    • Tailored to our specific needs
    • Many concepts / most are transferable to other sectors
• What is Leadership?
  • "Leadership is the process of social influence, which maximizes the efforts of others, towards the achievement of a goal." - Kevin Kruse - Forbes
• Leadership is Influence
  • For Good and Bad
• Why Should We Lead?
  • Families
  • Communities
  • Schools
  • The nation needs great leaders
  • Allows you to take ownership of your corner of the world
    • The possibility of bringing positive influence
  • Study mind and behavior
  • Creativity
    • Exploring the human experience
    • Implementing strategy
• We are all leaders
  • We all influence others in some way
  • We all can build our leadership strategy
• Youniversalife Leadership is here to help you achieve this and provoke leadership and performance thought

Thank you

• Like and share on all platforms (Call to Action)
• See you again next time

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In today's episode, I take 4 minutes to discuss the Spoonbread Festival in Berea, Ky.

Most notably, my personal insight on balloon glows.

I then venture into my journey to Educational Leadership. More to come on this topic...

For more content & blog posts, head to youniversalife.com for the full YL experience.

Don't forget to support the show by Liking and Sharing. Leave a review for others to see. Thank you!

Keep Moving Forward!

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Confidence is knowing that you will do something. It is not knowing that you can do something.

• Be a person of action and put forth the effort.
• Persistence is the way to achievement. It may never be perfect, but at least you've stepped into the arena.

Check out youniversalife.com for more episodes and a wide range of leadership and performance content

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Ep. 15: Confidence Part 2

Weird is Good

• Embrace our weirdness.
• Take inventory of what we do that is unique.
  • Be detailed
  • Weird should not get labeled personally as a stigma, but a strength.
• Weird usually brings new ideas and creativity to the world.
• Things that remain the same or fit the mold don’t move the world forward.
• A band you like that eventually everyone falls for.

Those that shame “weird” actions often times lack confidence and creativity

• They don’t want change and have significant interest in things remaining the same.
• How the world currently works for them.
• They may be threatened by change

To Embrace the Weird, We Must Build Our Confidence

• It increases as a result of our experiences.
• Stepping into the void and practicing
• Achieving mini wins & milestones
• Progress is progress

Those that have joy & those who struggle to find it

The Joy-us

• The Joyus find the process to be life giving
• They reflect back on the journey
• They are grateful for each experience
• They feel as if they have lived and are grateful for it
• Hardship is part of it (I’m Still Standing by Elton John)
• This approach helps confidence to row and manifest
• They know that the hard times are part of the overall equation that ultimately creaes the next better version of them.
• Lean into courage. I will go. I will move forward. Send me mentality

The Strugglers

• Those who struggle to find joy only concentrate on the end product.
• Good will only come if I am able to complete it.
• The process is viewed as a struggle and their is a narrow view of its actual harvest
• True healthy confidence is hard to obtain with this state of mind
• Hard to establish consistency because the confidence is always being undermined by the hardships.

Can You Be Both?

• Some aspects of my life I’m in the Joy-us state of mind. Some areas I struggle
• It is a battle between the light and darkness.
• I fight for the light. I fight for life.

Lean into the Joy-us and establish internal and external triggers that return you to it when struggling.

The Joy-us Athlete

• What does it look like to be a joyus athlete?
  • Find a role an embrace it
    • Stop comparing your role to those that are further down the road than you.
    • Small seat at the table

“Confidence is not knowing you have the ability to do something, but know you will try to do it.”

• Rob Bell

Check out additional content at Youniversalife.com

The best way you can support the show is to follow us on Spotify and Apply Podcast then leave a review. You can also share Youniversalife content on most Social Media Platforms.

You can also purchase Youniversalife Merchandise at the Youniversalife Shop.

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How to Build Confidence

What is confidence?

• To have confidence vs to lack confidence
• To be clear-headed or to have a clear mind w/ the belief that what you know is true.
• Unwavering action or quick to take action

Confidence comes from the Latin word "fidere" which means "to trust".

• Have trust in oneself or others

It is hard to develop confidence in our culture today

• social media
• media
• state of the world
• over consumption
• lack of direction
• purpose
• fragile belief systems

Extremely common in high school students/athletics

• self talk
• culture
• school environment
• social media

Lack of understanding of confidence fuels this

• Self-talk plays a pivotal role
• Establishing triggers or stop signs when we speak to ourselves negatively

Weird is good

• Embrace our weirdness
• Take inventory of what we do that is unique. Be detailed!
• Weird should not get labeled personally as a stigma but as a strength.
• Weird usually brings new ideas & creativity to the world.
• Things that remain the same or fit the mold don't move the world forward.

Check out YOUNIVERSALIFE.COM for additional blog content. I've also launched THE YOUNIVERSALIFE SHOP to help you support the show and rock a new style.

Thanks for tuning in and keep moving forward!

Ben

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Train the Mind

What are we feeding our minds?

• Read and gather beneficial information
• Surround yourself with positive people/influences
• Be appreciative
• Practice gratitude
• Avoid convenience. Take the long road

Matthew 7:13-14

• “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

What version of yourself are you feeding?

• Your inward life should outperform your outward life.
• Continual quest for betterment
• Train it
• Protect it & stand guard
• Everyone is your teacher

Acceptance

• "A great maturity opens in the human mind when we accept that we can control our impulses by conditioning our thoughts and that we alone are responsible for our emotions and reactions in life." - Brendon Burchard

Those who embrace Fear

• Firefighter
• EMS
• Military Personnel
• Police
• The person asking for a pay raise
• The interview person
• Clutch players
• Idea people
• Public speakers
• People who admit wrongs
• People who say "No"

Standing Firm

• Do not compromise your moral code
• Swing your sword
  • Don't keep it in the sheath. Pull it and go to work. For good. Protect!
  • "Enemy occupied territory - that is what this world is." - C.S. Lewis
• Do not be passive
• Passivity is destructive to the inner self
  • Do you wish you would have acted?
  • I have regrets about my inactivity. I didn't step into the void.
  • To intervene or not to intervene?

Do I have what it takes?

• John Eldredge - Wild at Heart
• Every person's question
  • The player or athlete
  • Students
  • Protectors
  • New Parents
• What trials have I overcome to assure me that I confidently have what it takes?
  • I am seasoned
  • I have trained for this moment
  • Hard seasons of life callous me

Dallas Willard

• "How must energy, thought, motive, and consideration is fueling your becoming today?"

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"If a man cannot have order within him, he cannot  spread order about him." 
- Dallas Willard

Apparent in:

• Coaching
• Parenting
• Teaching
• Leading

Embrace the moment:

• "We are more alert to the sound of dogs barking than angels singing!" - Brendon Burchard
• Open your eyes to what is possible.
• Conversation with students about judgment & the 1 lap run.
  • Overcoming the social anxiety
• Find the good in the moments & remain there.
• Where is more life found on the backend?
• Don't allow small-minded ridicule to harness you.  Don't give anxiety a voice.

BestSelf Co.
From the Icebreaker Deck
"Would you rather be the star player on a losing football team or ride the bench on a winning one?"

"Fear is louder & more intense than our desire for Self Mastery." - Brendon Burchard

• Betterment
• Living with joy

Contribution to others

• Leadership
• Selfless Acts
• Volunteering
• Parenting

Conclusion

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Episode 11

Fear Part 2

Intro

Outside Forces

• “Fear is a great teacher!” FALSE!!
• Coach the whole person. Not just the athlete
• “We are fooled into believing fear is a positive emotion.” - Brendon Burchard in the Motivation Manifesto
• “Fear harms more people in life than those who benefit from it.” - Burchard
• “We have distorted fear into a tool for the ego's protection.” - Burchard

Ego

• The drive to maintain or enhance good views of oneself or that of the inflated opinion.

Constructed Fear

• Not trying a new game
• Playing it cool
• Sitting passive

If I don’t go then I won't fail mentality

• Stuck in the void
• No skin in the game
• No learning takes place
• No joy is found
• No life-giving rewards achieved

The gravitational pull of this mentality

• The destroyer of good teams/culture
• The PE class with doers and the nondoers
• Friend circles
• Working culture

Organic positivity fertilizes organic positivity

Strategies for overcoming FEAR

• Tame the mind
• Look fear in the eye
• “Attempting to conceal fear as a friend is like forcing a wolf to be a pet. Soon the pet will eat us alive.” Burchard
  • We will regret our inactions and this will have negative consequences on our confidence.
  • Confidence erosion through inaction
• Triggers
  • Is what I’m telling myself a lie deep down?
  • On the Journey to Betterment mentality
• “A lot of good people have chosen the shallow end of history. They never really made their mark in the deep end.” - Burchard
• Brandon Lilly +1 mentality

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Show Notes

Fear Introduction

• With curiosity comes Fear
• Brendon Burchard - The Motivation Manifesto
• The Face of Fear
  • An unpleasant emotion is driven by the belief that something is dangerous, likely to cause pain or a threat.
• True Fear
  • Attacking dog
  • Pointed gun
  • Falling to your death
  • Turbulence
  • A child falling down the steps
  • Public Speaking / Podcasting
• Fear grips us and can torment us
• Fear takes us from our true internal freedom.  What we truly want to be, do, or become.
• The straight jacket of discovering life and joy.
• Types of Fear
  • Judgment / wondering what others will think or say to us.  We become socially oppressed. People negatively react to our actions.
  • Rejection / self-oppression is where we put the straight jacket on ourselves.  I tell myself no.
• "We fuel fear with small thoughts that betray our magnitude." - Burchard

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I began Episode 9 intending to talk about Fear. While chugging along in my recording, I realized I didn't like my presentation and wanted to go back to the drawing board. So, without chalking it up as a total loss, I chose to keep the intro and share it with you as a promotion for my new book The Art of Coaching. 

Recording Podcasts can sometimes be challenging. It may require I start over several times before I find a flow I like. This is all part of the creative process. Episode 10 coming soon...

Keep moving forward!

Coach Colbert   

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Every great coach has a specific set of skills.  In Episode 8 of the Youniversalife Podcast, I dive deep into how I created the content for my to-be-released book, The Art of Coaching.  I explain my reasoning behind many of the topics including:

Confidence
Ability under pressure
Self-awareness
Communication
The study of human behavior
Creativity
Organization skills
Public speaking
Collaboration
Establishing routines
Staff chemistry
Etc.

Don't forget to check in on youniversalife.com for additional content and purchase your copy of The Art of Coaching when it is released.

Enjoy and keep moving forward!

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Episode #7 - Curiosity

Curiosity

• A strong desire to know or learn something.
• All about learning what we do not (yet) know
• Inquisitiveness
• Interest
• Spirit of Inquiry
• Nosiness

Rover Curiosity

• Car-sized rover designed to explore the Gale crater on Mars.
• Part of NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory Mission
• Curiosity launched from Cape Canaveral November 26, 2011, & landed August 6, 2012
• American NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
• Sojourner = Temporary resident. Lives for a prolonged period. 1997-97
• Opportunity = 2004-2018
• Spirit = 2004-2010
• Curiosity = 2012-Present
• Perseverance = 2021-Present

What are we routinely approaching?

Discovering Rabbit Holes

• The distracted teacher
• Conversation with friends
• Long-winded coaches
• Binge-worthy * streaming * youtube * podcasts * books

The Tree of Life (Understanding)

• Trunk
• Limbs
• Twigs
• Fruit
• Roots (In-depth)

What are you curious about?

• Go seek & find
• This is a starting point to finding life. To spark the fire.
• Those who are curious live.

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• The process is so important!
  • Building this!
• Embrace the “Long Game,” for there is greater satisfaction in long-term development than taking the shortcut.
• Examples of who do it:
  • Doctors
  • Musicians
  • Authors
  • Football Players & Coaches
  • Parents
  • Business Owners
  • Entrepreneurs
  • Professional Athletes
• Concentrate on yourself & your development
  • Relentlessly pursue who you want to be
  • Create!
• Failure
  • Be good at it
  • Be ok with it
  • Get up and do it again
  • Don’t make it part of your identity
• “Great teachers fail greatly.” - Ben Colbert
• All great stories have great failures
  • People who hit rock bottom
  • Experience difficulty
  • Then they rally
• Don’t make failure a category in your mind.
  • This is a practice and must be trained
• Stick to the Journey with established systems
  • Helps to create habits
  • Helps to limit failures
  • Leads to goals
  • Reference: Atomic Habits - James Clear
• For all other YOUNIVERSALIFE content, head over to youniversalife.com

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Episode #5 - The Journey Show Notes

• Journey
  • It used to be that a "journey" was all in a day's work. Now it takes a lifetime. A new Hallmark line of cards called "Journeys" shows that the word "journey," originally a literal unit of time and travel, has become a metaphor for the experience of living life with all its ups and downs. - Google
• Life is a process
  • You are always experiencing a conversion
• Impatience is a dangerous thing when it comes to interior journeys, spiritual quests, pilgrimages of the soul.
  • Pilgrimage
    • A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person searches for new or expanded meaning about themself, others, nature, or higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, after which the pilgrim returns to their daily life.
• For in these journeys, we must cover the miles step-by-step, feeling the terrain as we pass through it, responding to its challenges.
• There is no rushing this; there are no shortcuts.
• But that is what makes it so beautiful and dangerous and wonderful. We don’t snap a few photos and rush on; rather, we are changed by our travels.
• I think C. H. Spurgeon had this in mind when he warned that a pilgrim would be better served “by one book thoroughly mastered than by twenty books he has merely skimmed. Little learning and much pride come of hasty reading.” Or hasty travel, we might add.
  • (Morgan Snyder @ becomegoodsoil.com)

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Episode #4 - Light Shiners Part 2 Show Notes

Mentors Continued:  ASK

• Push past the precluding talk of never asking in the 1st place.
• Don’t be afraid to ask for something for exploration purposes.
• This teaches us to desensitize ourselves from being told “NO.”
• Give other people a chance to tell you “NO.”
  • Don’t sabotage yourself.

Shout Outs:

Take a look / listen to...

• Aaron McHugh
  • Work Life Play Podcast
• Rob Bell
  • I heard Rob talk about how we're all one question away from an interesting conversation and learning extraordinary things about others and ourselves.  - Via the RobCast

Visit the Youniversalife **website and discover additional content.

I also want to give a shout-out to my Sound Engineer, Levi Howard.  Thanks for the insight and feedback.**

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A story about those who shine a light on the gray areas of our lives.

• With coaching comes great responsibility
  • The shepherd & guide
• They are relying on you
  • To show up
  • To be prepared
  • To have it all together & be confident
  • To be decisive
  • To teach
  • Etc.
• Constantly Evaluated
  • In every situation
  • How you speak to your mannerisms
• They take on your actions and words
• You’re either building culture or dismantling it
• Microscope
  • Everything you do matters. Everything
• Butterfly Effect by Andy Andrews
• We are mentors
• Elders
  • “Their presence is their value” - Laird Hamilton
• Finding your story in other stories
  • “Sometimes the most helpful thing we can do is find a story that tells us about our story.” - John Eldredge
• John Eldredge and Morgan Snyder and Wild at Heart Ministries
• Movies
  • Good Will Hunting
    • Sean Mcguire & Will Hunting
  • Forrest Gump
  • Mighty Ducks
    • The story of Gordon Bombay
• What is a Mentor?
  • A guide who shines a light on the gray areas of our lives
  • Uses their experience and wisdom
  • Learn from their success and failures
  • Help to prepare others for the inevitable adversity
  • Someone to talk to and ask questions
  • Show you the ropes
• Why do we need mentors?
  • Life is hard, and we need a support system
  • We need a teacher to show us the way
  • To show us the things we may not see
  • Network
• How do I identify a mentor?
  • Who do you respect in your space?
  • Who is currently doing it the right way?
  • Who could you see yourself modeling?
  • Who do you enjoy listening to?
  • Who is the expert in your field?
• How to make a mentor a mentor?
  • Approach them in their space
  • Set pride aside
  • Speak less and listen more
  • Open your eyes and watch
  • Go where they are
  • Help them
  • Apprentice mentality
  • Prepare and ask good questions
• Become More!

Visit the Youniversalife **website and discover additional content

I also want to give a shout-out to my Sound Engineer, Levi Howard. Thanks for the insight and feedback.**

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SHOW NOTESMany have asked why I created such a website and what my plans are for the future. I answer these questions and more in the show.

Thanks for stopping in, and I hope you enjoy it.

Remember to subscribe at the bottom of youniversalife.com to join our mailing list.

Also, don’t forget to like and share your favorite YL content on Instagram and Facebook. This helps to promote the site and podcast. Thank you!

Below you will find the show notes that help to follow along:

Why I created YL

• To put value into the world

• To share my passion for growth

• To create

• To chase my curiosity

• Writing is therapeutic for me

• Storytelling

• To supplement addictions

• To keep a log of thoughts for my family/future generations

Why I created YL Podcast

• For the same reasons mentioned above

• Voice capturing is easier than writing

• Faster

• Desire to interview others

○ Learn

○ Develop mentors

○ Entertainment

○ Conversation

○ Teach

• To create a different mode so more can learn

Where will I go from here?

• I’ll continue to chase my curiosity

○ Write and speak on that

○ What patterns are emerging

○ Following internal compass

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SHOWNOTES

One of the pillars of YL is Self-Care

• Building the best version of yourself
• What are you becoming?
• The most important thing in your life is not what you do it is who you become.

– Dallas Willard

Self-Care Defined

• An act of purposely taking care of your mental, emotional, and physical health.
• Simple concept but often overlooked
  • Busyness of life
  • Seasons of life
  • Attention is elsewhere
• Self-care is life-giving
  • Refills us
• Not a selfless act
  • Knowing what we need so we can be our best for ourselves and others.
• Self-care cup
• You can’t pour from an empty cup
  • How can I add to my cup?
    • Exercise
    • Books/blog/articles/magazines
    • Audiobooks
    • Podcast
    • Meditation/prayer
    • Breathwork
    • Cold plunge
    • Cooking
    • Conversation with friends and family
    • Volunteering/community work
    • Journaling
    • Educating yourself
    • Music
    • Sleep
    • Laugh

Be patient

• Add to the cup slowly
• Try 1 thing on. Experiment
• Be consistent
• Find your rhythm and routine

Plan into your schedule

• Be intentional and place a priority on it
• Don’t beat yourself up if you fail. Keep coming

Be conscious about your planning and doing

• Constant awareness of your development
• Where is my energy going?
• What is actually taking place here?
  • Diet
  • Consumption of info
    • Media/news/entertainment

Snowball

• Start with 1 and let it develop

From:

Those Mesmerizing Flames

Maintaining the fire takes much attention. It will not remain on its own and requires a caretaker — the constant watchful eye, analyzing the placement and extinguishment of each log. The nurturer must continually add logs. With each new log comes energy. You can read it in the mesmerizing flames.