Ep 3: The Process

Jordan Johnson  00:05

You're listening to live a live podcast, a weekly dose of motivation right in your back pocket. I'm Jordan Johnson,

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Anisa Johnson  00:12

and I'm Anisa Johnson,

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Both  00:14

we're your hosts. 

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Jordan Johnson  00:15

Every week, we share thought provoking conversations created to inspire you to bring the best version of you into everything you do. Think of us as the guide as you journey towards realizing your vision of successful and fulfilling life. Whether you're climbing the corporate ladder, building a business, or dreaming of being a stay at home parent, we're here to help you cultivate passion, purpose and motivation in your everyday life.

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Anisa Johnson  00:45

The process. Today we're going to be talking about the process and specifically how the process relates to your goals and goal setting. I think around this time of year, a lot of people are have a renewed sense of just commitment and motivation. And so they've got like New Year's resolutions coming up, you've got people just like setting goals, and maybe you want to get your finances in order, maybe you want to lose some weight, maybe you want to be consistent in the gym, maybe you want to get a promotion, whatever it is, that is your goal or your resolve. For this chapter of your life, it requires the process and I was reading and it's like about 75% of people will give up on their goal or quit their New Year's resolution within 30 days. 

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Jordan Johnson  01:49

Wow. 

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Anisa Johnson  01:50

Yeah, within 30 days, less than 25% of people are still going after their goal and I think it's because the majority of people are really focused on the end result really focus on the transformation but they're not focused on the process and the work that it takes to get there. So today that's what we're going to talk about is the process and how the process is required. It's a requirement to get the end result

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Jordan Johnson  02:21

Yeah, and that's that's huge and if process is required to get that end result it also just seems apparent it process is hard for for us it's hard for me it's hard for a lot of a lot of people you know those are difficult those can be difficult steps to take. I think sometimes as as people as humans, we can be impatient I mean I know the way so many things are treated in a world today it like we're instant gratification 

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Anisa Johnson  03:00

absolutely 

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Jordan Johnson  03:00

society and that and that's a that instant gratification society now it feels like it's just as prevalent for the millennial, you know, as it is for the you know, the baby boomer, so to speak, like we have so many ways where we can put the coin into the proverbial slot machine and get out a reward and what a lot of our major goals a lot of the goals we have the potential to set that really change lives require some process and the goals to change can change our own lives require some some process. Yeah,

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Anisa Johnson  03:40

for sure. And it's supposed to be hard. You said the processes it's hard it's supposed to be hard. If the end result is worth anything, the process is going to be super difficult. Yeah.

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Jordan Johnson  03:54

And to me that's like it's like the chemistry set for some some path to success. like we would if the end result in outcome of our goal is this solid, you know, trophy of success. It it's hard, like it's literally a you'd hope it would be right a solidify significant thing didn't why when the process be hard, right, solidified and, and significant, you know, but some things that maybe make that process hard, right? So just kind of thinking about that. We talked a little bit about you know, in impatience particularly. And, you know, sometimes I feel like we just don't really take the time to kind of reverse engineer and think about what goes into some of the goals that we have or do we want to set like we spent a lot of time you know, fantasizing about You know, the championship, but you know, we don't, we don't fantasize about going to practice. 

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Anisa Johnson  05:05

Right? Right.

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Jordan Johnson  05:07

So to speak. So there's a, there's a ton of ways the process can can feel can feel difficult.

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Anisa Johnson  05:15

Absolutely. And I mean, it's, it's, it's almost as if once you put into the universe or say out loud, that you have a specific goal, or you have something that you're reaching towards, it's almost as if obstacles appear along the way. So you might say, Oh, I'm going to start working out more and getting in the gym every day. And then all of a sudden, like work picks up and you've got all these different competing objectives in your life, that you now have to get hyper focused on that one thing that you said that you were going to do. So it's like these obstacles appear and these difficulties come up that you have to go through and you have to overcome in order to get the end result. And I believe that, like every obstacle that comes up, everything that makes the process difficult, is the thing that builds you up. So that you are, I don't want to say worthy, but like, so that you are ready for that end result.

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Jordan Johnson  06:20

Yeah, likes like a beneficial worthiness.

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Anisa Johnson  06:24

Yeah, it prepares you. Because sometimes you you might get something like if you would want a promotion. And then let's say that's your goal for the year or something like that, like,Yeah, I want to get promoted, right? Everybody likes a promotion, right. So in order to be qualified for promotion, you have to overcome some challenges and some obstacles in your, you know, current position to illustrate that you are ready for the promotion, and maybe to prepare you for the challenges that you're going to see when you do receive the promotion.

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Jordan Johnson  07:05

Yeah, I like that preparing you for the challenges to do, you would see in that next step. And it's something this actually just came to me as we were talking now. So this isn't like in any of my planning notes. But it also feels like the one of the ways the process benefits, the goal is at times, I feel like he can refine the goal. Because, you know, if you're we set our goals, before we start the process naturally, right? And hopefully this, this encourages people to think about that process to, to lean into that as much as you're leaning into the goal. But oftentimes, I feel like we can set the goal from a person that may not even be the person that actually comes out at the end after going through the process.

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Anisa Johnson  07:58

Yeah, no, it shouldn't be. Right, right. When you think about the process to create anything, you know, precious anything, like like a diamond, right, like, you know, I have a heart, you got to put some pressure on right, you have to apply pressure to to create diamonds. And one of the things that I was thinking about while I was thinking about, you know, prepping for this episode was that, you know, I thought about the the verse to whom much is given, much is required. And I thought about it in a sense of, sometimes we can think about that in a sense of blessing, but sometimes it's like, in a sense of vision, right? If you have a big vision, if God has given you a vision, then there will be a significant requirement to realize that vision, that vision, and so I don't know, I just wanted to like put that in there. I think it all just kind of like plays into the idea of the process. And like, what is the requirement to get your result and that all kind of ladders up to what we're talking about is the process.

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Jordan Johnson  09:06

Yeah, that's, that's really powerful. And definitely what you would you put in is what you get out. You know, I feel like the the process is, is in a way, it's more beneficial than the goal. I mean, the goal was the goal was just to the goal is just, it's just a stamp of, you know, aspiration until it until it's not right, but the only way it becomes that reality is, is the is the process. 

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Anisa Johnson  09:35

Yeah. And you touched on it about like it's you're not the same person when you reach a goal. And you're not the same person. Like as the person who set the goal. The person who reaches the goal is not the same person yet the goal and like the it's the transformation and it's it sounds so cliche, but like the journey that is the part that makes you who you are and who and why it's going to be So worth it. At the end when you get the result like if we skip to the good part and we don't do the process and the grind and the work, then like, are we going to be able to enjoy the benefits of the result?

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Jordan Johnson  10:17

Probably not in? And I say probably not, because probably not going to get it. You may not even get the result. And it makes me think about some examples, too. So talking to you about the steps to excellence, I think both of us, you know, you've recently moved into new positions within our respective jobs. And we had to interview for those a little bit. Some of us had, some of us had rounds, some of us didn't. Sometimes it takes people time to see greatness, its cool. But you know, talk talk to talk to me talk to us talk to the people a little bit about from your perspective, what process could look like, for example, like a goal of like a promotion or a new job or something like that? 

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Anisa Johnson  11:07

Yeah, I think that's a good question. The process it is it begins with your mindset. I remember when, when I was tapped to interview for the promotion that I just got. When I was tapped to interview for, for the promotion, I was super apprehensive. I started telling myself stories about how I wasn't going to get the promotion, how there were other people who had been at the company longer than I had, who were in a better position to receive the promotion, I told myself that I was only tapped to interview because they tapped everybody with my title to interview for the for the role. So I started to tell myself stories, right. And sometimes when we like set out for for goals, we start to tell ourselves stories, we start to give ourselves excuses. We start to talk about how Oh, we can't meal prep, because we don't have time, we start to say, Oh, well, I don't really like eating this type of food, or I don't really like waking up early, we start to tell ourselves stories about why we aren't going to be able to hit our goal. So that was the first thing that I noticed. And so once I started to recognize that I was telling myself these stories, and through a lot of work that I've done over this past year, these past couple of years, I have gotten to be very aware of the stories that I tell myself. And so I was like, man, like I'm telling myself the story. So I literally got out my notebook. And I wrote down everything that I was telling myself every thought that I had every lie that my brain was offering to me to convince me that I was not worthy or why I was not going to get this particular result. And when we start to tell ourselves these these thoughts, so one of the thoughts that I had was that, oh, they're just tapping, everybody who has my title to, to do this. And so that kind of just made me feel. Not like I was qualified, it made me feel less qualified. So I'm feeling unqualified. And if I'm feeling unqualified, going into an interview, that's gonna show it's gonna show me my confidence, it's gonna show my preparation, it's gonna show in what I say, How I illustrate my skills and how I illustrate whether whether I am or am not qualified for this promotion is. So as I downloaded all these thoughts that I was having, and all these stories that I was telling myself, I was like, Well, what if that's not true? Like, what if it's possible that I am the very person for this job? It's possible that they tapped me to interview for this job, because they really do want to see what else that I have to offer the company. And so I started to play with the possibilities that that change and transformation were on the horizon for me. And that sparked hope in my brain that like I was worthy. And it was possible for me to create the results that I wanted that result being a promotion. And so that and I'm not sure if that's where you want me to go with that question. But that's where I went with it. That in and of itself, I think is a part of a process. And so when you start to set goals for yourself, when you start to create a vision for yourself, like yeah, you want to know what the requirements are, you want to know, okay, I need to do this, this and this and you might have these milestones, but like you also get to get your mind right, because as soon as you say that you are going to change as soon as you say that you are going to create a result that you've never seen in your life. You've only seen it in your brain As soon as you do that, your brain is going to start to tell you all the stuff that it's been telling you, maybe your whole life is gonna be like, well remember that one time when you tried to start a business before and like, nobody cared, and it failed, and all these things. So I think that our brain offers us stories. And those stories make us feel away about ourselves. And when we feel away about ourselves, we don't have confidence in ourselves, like, we're not going to go after the things that we want. And I think like that ladders up to we were talking about vulnerability, like it takes a lot of vulnerability to go after the things that you want.

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Jordan Johnson  15:38

It does. That was profound, by the way in, and I think I would tweeze out a couple things that you were talking about, in relation to the process example of maybe preparing and working towards a goal of getting a promotion or landing a new job or something along those lines, for example. But the things that bubbled out of that, to me, were aspects of like, your weakness, and also your opportunities. Those things being being two-fold have a benefit from like the process. So it seems like it just actually leaning into the process and trusting it as the lack of a better, better phrase. And we've all heard that one before. But what does that mean? I think trusting that process or trusting any process, it's part of the said said goal that you want to achieve tweezes out those opportunities and tweezes out those, those weaknesses and that and that's, that makes you vulnerable, to realize that, you know, Hey, man, I want this this job, or I want this opportunity. And it requires me to be proficient at XY and Z. And like, dang, I'm actually, I'm not that great at this. But the process gives you an opportunity to work on that, or to speak towards or uplift other things that you are good at, because that process is gonna tweeze out things that you're good at, I'll put my sports hat on for a second just for it because I have to, I have to do with it to, to talk this way through my lens of life. But it's the same thing when you're thinking about your goal. I know and I know people are getting ready to set those here to be in at the end of the year going into 2022 Whatever your goal, your championship, your proverbial ring of sorts that you want to achieve.  Going through those practice moments, those process steps, it's gonna help tweeze out what you're good at, like people are people go through practice within sports all the time and end up in new positions. Because of what they experienced in practice, end up honing new skills. It ultimately some of those very things that they hone through the process, practice becomes the very reason why they achieved the goal in the first place. 

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Anisa Johnson  18:10

Wow. That's good.

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Jordan Johnson  18:16

That was my best stuff. I'm gonna, I'm gonna share my mic down now. But no, I think I think that's just the the sports example on top of like, the wonderful example you were talking about, from your, from your own experience of a pathway, a process towards the goal of, of employment. So when we, when we think about process, one portion I certainly don't want us to leave off is just the potential for it being such a dual race, or a numerous race are a race that you run with, with many people. I think a lot of times there are some processes or some goals that we go towards that are I mean, there may be singular goals, like if it's a thing that's super personal, maybe that would be your own, you know, personal mindset growth. That may be something that's that's, you know, hard to include others, but I'd argue that even in that sense, there's some there's some opportunity and some likelihood to take these steps with other people to help pull us along. What do you think?

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Anisa Johnson  19:33

I think we might be like on different sides of this though. So I might, I mean, I agree with you, that we need people and community in a sense, but I also think like, there are some things that you have to go through and have your own back first. And you have to be super careful about like who your partners in the process are going to be like, who are the people that you're going to trust with your vision? Who are the people that you're going to trust to be vulnerable and to say, like, Hey, I'm going after this goal, or I'm trying to do, I'm trying to do something I'm trying to, like, make this dream a reality. Because a lot of people will dampen your light and damping your vision just because of their own experience, or because of their own fear because of their own doubt. And so I think you have to be really careful about like, who it is that you bring in, on your process, because not everybody is qualified to be an advisor.

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Jordan Johnson  20:42

Hmm, yeah, that's huge. And if you can't, if you can't push yourself, nobody else can.

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Anisa Johnson  20:48

Yeah, yeah. I mean, you absolutely have to have your back. And you absolutely have to be okay with like, going after something that might not make sense to people. And I think one of the things about the process is like, you have to commit to the process before the result is even guaranteed. Hmm. And there's vulnerability in that as well. Right to like, go 100%. Like when I was like, Okay, I'm actually going to try to do my best interview to get this promotion. And there's a possibility that I might not get the promotion is huge. Yeah. Like, there is a possibility that you might lose, but the growth that happens in the process, still, you still get that like you still get that payout.

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Jordan Johnson  21:37

Absolutely love that. That's huge.

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Anisa Johnson  21:41

Yeah. So I just I kind of diverted a little bit, but we were talking about, yeah, we were talking about partners in the process. And I just think like, You got to be careful on who you bring in. But you should have some solid people around you that you can trust and be vulnerable with and tell them that like, Hey, I'm trying to do this thing. And tell them what support looks like to you. I think that that's a huge thing, too, is everybody has a different definition of, you know, what, what support looks like and what you need from somebody, whether you just need words of affirmation, or like, you know, maybe sharing a post or whatever support looks like that can be different for so many different people, and like what one person needs isn't the same as what somebody else needs. So yeah, that's my thoughts on partners in the process. But I want to hear what you have to say, because I feel like you're a people person, and you like to be around people. So

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Jordan Johnson  22:43

who told you that it's not true at all? To test people? I was kidding. I do love people. I there's a there's a there's a lot to be said, this is actually very interesting, because I think it's a paradox for me. I think that in I'm sure someone out there is like this. So you know, in that sense, I'm speaking to you. But there's this paradox where I do think there's that mindset work. It's that stuff that's like, in you that stuff, that's your heart, your soul, like your engine, that you do have to fine tune, not before you start, but you are responsible for it before you start. During the start of your process, you are responsible for that engine, that soul that energy that's pushing you, like you, you've got to be responsible for that. And so that's something that I certainly believe when it comes down to stepping into a process like, I'm certainly the one where, if there's anybody else, that's, you know, gotta be willing to step up to the plate in getting my, my butt moving on this it has to be it has to be me. But I do think it's really beneficial, though, to have those people in your corner someone that you have been able to be vulnerable with that you can align with those goals and those steps on, for example, right? Like we've talked about this before. You we both exercise really regularly. And we both tend to like to at least at least recently like to exercise in the morning. And I've always exercised and what you have received joined in the beauty of morning exercise.

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Anisa Johnson  24:36

Beauty is a relative it's in the eye of the beholder.

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Jordan Johnson  24:41

Welcome to the the cohort of morning. Exercise people's. But anyway, the point I'm trying to make here is that if if I were to tell you that hey, listen, it You know, it's really important for the process of my health goals that I get up and I exercise, you know, six days out of the week in the morning. Well, my expectation for a partner in my process from you will be that like, whenever my butt doesn't get up out of the bed, or workout in the morning, I want you to be beside my ear shaking my pre workout shake, or in my face, saying, like, brother, you got to go, because you we've aligned on, you know, the process steps, the practice is going to take for me to ultimately achieve the end games that I'm hoping to go for, in that particular goal set. I think that's where my mind goes. And I think about partners in process.

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Anisa Johnson  25:44

Yeah. And we also, like, know, what it looks like when each of us isn't, you know, showing up for practice when we aren't, you know, submitting to the process, like when we're just kind of like, floating, so we know what that looks like. And so I think for the best interest of each other, we kind of, you know, encourage each other to, to get back into the things that that make us like, our best version of ourselves. And that is, has a lot to do with the process as well.

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Jordan Johnson  26:14

Yeah, yeah. So we've obviously talked about a ton of steps that are tied to the process. And we've talked about how those, those those steps of a process leads to ultimately your your goal, right, if you want to get to the top of the buildings to the penthouse floor of whatever your goal is, then then you kind of have to take the, the steps at minimal, minimally, you have to take the elevator. But there there are, there's a route to that. So just kind of want to round us off with, you know, the value that's part of that process.

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Anisa Johnson  26:56

Yeah, the value, the value that's a part of that process. And I kind of touched on this earlier, it's like the what you become and who you become has a lot to do with the value of the process. One of the things there's like a quote, on the internet, that it says, like, visualize the woman that you want to become or man that you want to become and start showing up as her or him. And I think what I always kind of interpreted that as is like, you just start showing up almost fake, like you start showing up mimicking somebody that you're not, but when I think about the person that I envisioned, maybe like a year ago is a person who was you know, working a corporate job and had, you know, was leading a team, and she wakes up at 5am. And she goes to work out and she talks to Jesus. And all of these different visualizations came along with the end result. So like, while, the end result was like the job that I held, and you know, the kind of like status and influence that I had at work. I also asked myself, What does that woman do? When does she wake up? What type of workout does she do? What does she eat? What does she wear? How does she wear her hair? Does she go get her hair done every couple of weeks? Like what is her vibe, and then I started vibing like that. And so that is the process. And so I think that sometimes people are like, Oh, well, when I get there when I you know when I get the job or when the business takes off? Or when I do this, then then I'll show up to practice. Yeah, you know, when we, when I make it to the league, when I do this, I don't know, like, then I'll show up, then I'll start working hard. When in reality, it's the work that gets you there. And it's the work that prepares you for the stage. And it's it's all of the grind, it's the darkness, it's the loneliness and sometimes the the community but it's it's that time where you decide that you're going to show up, you're going to commit to the process, and you are going to enjoy it because you know that the person that comes out on the other side of the process is worthy and ready for the result that is going to come from the process. Thanks for listening to today's episode. We hope that it leaves you feeling inspired to actively pursue your goals and live alive, whatever that means to you. If you enjoy today's episode, tell us what you think by leaving a review. reviews help more people like you discover the podcast. I'm Anisa Johnson.

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Jordan Johnson  29:54

And I'm Jordan Johnson.

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Anisa Johnson  29:56

We'll see you next time on Live Alive Podcast

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