Hi, everybody. Are we recording here? Oh, wait, am I recording? You know, it's funny, when you record these, it's so simple, right? You just get in front of the camera and you press record. And everyone who has done this before knows exactly what I'm talking about. There are so many things that could go wrong that would ruin two hours of your time.

There are so many things that could go wrong that would ruin two hours of your time. For example, like, what if this, uh, microphone isn't connected? What if I haven't selected it up here? What if I, uh, haven't hit that red button there to turn on phantom power? Um, what if the battery isn't charged? You know, like there, there are so many examples of people on YouTube recording for an hour

You know, like there, there are so many examples of people on YouTube recording for an hour and then finishing and realizing they did something wrong and they just wasted the last hour. Um, so that's number one little anecdote I wanna share with you. Number two is you saw how I walked up and sat down. Um, before I did stuff like this, I was probably a little more, uh, mean-spirited and critical.

I was probably a little more, uh, mean-spirited and critical. 'cause I would think, what are you doing? Like, we all know you just hit the red. Actually, on that note, did I hit the red button? I did. Uh, anyways, we all know you're recording, so why are you acting like, oh, you were working over there and now you're coming over to sit and talk to the audience. Uh, you know what I mean? But here's the, uh, the reason why they do that.

This is just a simple explanation with no code.

you still turn it up a little bit. You turn it up 30% over your, your base personality. Um, but yeah, it just turns out it's really uncomfortable to hit this button here and then just go, Hey, everybody. Um, so people end up doing weird things like that where they act like they're doing something else and then they turn to the camera. Uh, one thing I do for laas, I'm typing and then I turn because it just feels a little bit more natural than hitting the red button.

because it just feels a little bit more natural than hitting the red button. And then action. And you have to, um, you have to turn it on. Okay. Anyways, just, just weird YouTube anecdotes. Um, tell me what you think of this. The stories we tell ourselves. I think this is going to be the, uh, the title for this episode. Uh, it has occurred to me in recent years.

the title for this episode. Uh, it has occurred to me in recent years. There have been these little stories that I tell, and you probably have your own versions that, um, we repeat almost like a mantra in our head, and, uh, I'm not sure it does this any good. Uh, I can think of so many examples where this mantra actually did quite a bit more harm, uh, than good. And I'll give you a couple examples. Uh, in my late 20, I'm in my late thirties

And I'll give you a couple examples. Uh, in my late 20, I'm in my late thirties now, which is sad by the way. It goes by really quick. 40 comes fast for all of you in your twenties, trust me, 40 comes fast. Anyways. Uh, in my late twenties, I had this horrible back pain. It was like a real problem. Um, I would have situations like when I was working on lca, I couldn't sit at my desk like this.

Um, I would have situations like when I was working on lca, I couldn't sit at my desk like this because it hurts so badly. And I would even limp sometimes if it was especially bad. Uh, I would limp to the couch and I would do my day on the couch, like laying down because it hurts so much. And I don't think the couch was doing me any good either. Uh, and also because, because of my back pain,

Uh, and also because, because of my back pain, I wasn't exercising like I should have been, which made that, which exacerbated it even more, uh, is my point. But yeah, I would talk to my family and my mom and I would say like, this back pain is really bad. I don't know if I need to go to the doctor. And she would say, yeah, her family just has horrible backs. Uh, and I I think she's probably right. It's probably genetic, but here's the problem.

This is just a simple explanation with no code.

Uh, you know, it was, it was never horrible enough where it's like, if I don't go to a doctor, I'm gonna die. But it was enough where I was constantly dealing with this incredible pain. And then one day, um, I just solved the problem after years to the point that now my back is perfect. And even when I, like, I'm kind of hunched over right now when I work, I hunch over like a little goblin. Uh, but no problem. Like my back is perfect.

I hunch over like a little goblin. Uh, but no problem. Like my back is perfect and I'll tell you how I did it, but it's exactly what you would've guessed you should have done, right? And here's my entire point. I didn't solve the problem because I kept telling myself the story that, oh, my family has bad back, so why even bother? And this is the problem with those stories.

my family has bad back, so why even bother? And this is the problem with those stories. It, they give us permission to not push forward, right? They give us permission to not do anything. It gives us permission to be stationary. Uh, is maybe my point, right? So how did I fix the back problem? Hit the pause button and just guess like, what would you do if your back was really hurting back here? And assuming it wasn't a,

what would you do if your back was really hurting back here? And assuming it wasn't a, a very serious genetic structural problem. But if not that, what would you guess? Hit pause. Okay, here's the answer. You would probably lose a bit of weight. 'cause weight can affect things. Yes, check. Um, you should probably strengthen your back some somehow. Maybe start doing crunches and build your way up. Try to do a 10 minute plank. You know, set a, set a goal.

Maybe start doing crunches and build your way up. Try to do a 10 minute plank. You know, set a, set a goal. You're gonna start with a one minute plank, and then next week you're gonna do a minute and 15 seconds, and then a minute 30, and you're gonna work your way up to 10, 10 minutes if you can. Um, and then exercise a little more. And that's part of it. And you know what? That completely, completely, 100% absolutely solved the problem. And, um, I'm happy that it's fixed now.

absolutely solved the problem. And, um, I'm happy that it's fixed now. But yeah, I just keep coming back to like this idea of, oh, I didn't, I didn't have to live with that horrible back pain all of those years. I, I didn't have to give myself permission to not solve the problem, you know? And I can think of so many areas in my life Where I wonder, like if I had just not told myself this mantra, whatever it happens to be,

Where I wonder, like if I had just not told myself this mantra, whatever it happens to be, if I hadn't told myself these stories about who I am, uh, for better and for worse, then where would I, where where would I be today? I'll give you another example. I can think of so many things that I've wanted to learn. Not sure. I'm gonna try to thread this needle to a slightly different topic. We'll see if we can pull it

to a slightly different topic. We'll see if we can pull it off, if we can stick the landing. Uh, there have been so many things that I've wanted to learn over the years that I just haven't done. And I think the reason is not laziness because I don't, I don't feel like a lacy person. But a lot of it stems from this idea of like, you gotta go all in. You know? It's maybe it's, it's like eighties, nineties, um,

you gotta go all in. You know? It's maybe it's, it's like eighties, nineties, um, idea of like, if you're gonna do this, you do it all the way, you know? And that's from a movie. What movie is that from? If we do this, we do it all the way. And I, I think I had that stuck in my head. Like, anything worth doing is worth doing all the way. And if you're just gonna half as it don't even bother me, get out here.

And if you're just gonna half as it don't even bother me, get out here. You know, what, what movie is that from? It's gonna drive me nuts. If we do this, we do it all the way. Um, I can't remember. I'm gonna find the clip and then I'm gonna share it with you right here. I was thinking maybe trying from a high school equivalency here, you helped a couple of fellows with that. I don't waste time on lizard's, tummy.

here, you helped a couple of fellows with that. I don't waste time on lizard's, tummy. I ain't no g*****n lose. You mean that? Yeah, you really mean that. Yes, sir, I do. Good. Because if we do this, we do it all the way. A hundred percent nothing half-assed. Okay? But anyways, you know what it is, but I still don't know what, what, uh, the reference is. Anyways, it's just kind of like an eighties thing

but I still don't know what, what, uh, the reference is. Anyways, it's just kind of like an eighties thing of you gotta be hardcore, you gotta go all in or don't even bother. And I think that's really cool for things like for one or two things in your, in your life that you truly wanna focus on. Um, but what about all the other things that are kind of on the periphery, right? All these other things you could learn,

This is just a simple explanation with no code.

but any guitar players know we have a way of skipping over that part. Uh, we learn tablature, we learn, uh, improvisation, and we kind of skip unless you're a classical guitarist or maybe, um, really mostly classical guitar, maybe some jazz, but otherwise, like, we kind of skip over the part where you truly learn how to read cheat music. Um, so these are all things where it's like I wanted to do, but I was never invested enough to do it all the way.

Um, so these are all things where it's like I wanted to do, but I was never invested enough to do it all the way. And it turns out like, what if, what if you just spent five minutes a day on some of these things, right? The thing I had in my head, like, you can't do anything, like do it hardcore. Five minutes isn't gonna do anything. It's a waste of your time. So we give ourselves permission,

It's a waste of your time. So we give ourselves permission, we tell ourselves this story, and we give ourselves permission to not do any of these things that we're curious about. We don't have time. We tell ourselves other stories. Oh, I would love to learn Spanish, but I have a full-time job. I have a kids who, I have kids who are very demanding. I have a wife who's very demanding, um,

I have a kids who, I have kids who are very demanding. I have a wife who's very demanding, um, hi honey, if you're watching this. Uh, but you know what I mean, like, I don't have time to, to spend an hour every single day learning Spanish, so I just don't do it, you know? But what if you had five minutes? What if you had 10 minutes? Uh, would that make a difference? And I've realized only in the last couple years,

Uh, would that make a difference? And I've realized only in the last couple years, and I'm in my late thirties, so I'm a little late here, I've realized like, oh yeah, 10 minutes a day actually matters if you do it 10 minutes every single day. The repetition in the muscle memory you get from that, um, makes it a a monumental difference. And I don't know why I had it in my head that I needed to be doing like two hours every single day,

And I don't know why I had it in my head that I needed to be doing like two hours every single day, or I need to go to like a night class in order to learn something. Like I couldn't do it in five or 10 minutes or 15 minutes a day. I don't know how I got that in my head. And actually on that note, I don't understand why. Whenever I'm thinking, I always look there, but it's sort of a, a rainman thing I do.

This is just a simple explanation with no code.

but short commitments. I have plenty of, I can find 10 minutes here or there all over my day. So now I have things where it's like after my morning coffee, I sit at my dinner table over there and I'm, I learn how to read music, uh, shape notes, uh, notation. Uh, and you know, it's funny, I've been doing it for like two months and I'm pretty good at it now. Like I'm not, I'm not full speed.

This is just a simple explanation with no code.

And I promise you, I have dedicated five minutes a day to it, 10 minutes a day. I have this, um, site reading book. And my habit is I open it up and I do two pages, and the site reading book is just full of examples. And I grab my guitar, I play through them, I do my two pages, and then I'm done for the day. And I've been doing this for, for a few months. And it's amazing. 'cause again, before I would've thought like, I really need

And it's amazing. 'cause again, before I would've thought like, I really need to spend an hour on this. And the problem is, you're just not gonna do it. Or you'll do it one day and then you don't do it the other day and you feel bad that you've fallen off the wagon and then you just stop doing it. But these little five minute, 10 minutes, uh, exercises, I just do it every single day like clockwork.

But these little five minute, 10 minutes, uh, exercises, I just do it every single day like clockwork. And the more you do it, the more it becomes your habit and you don't even think of it. Uh, the same is true with, uh, with Spanish. My daughter and I are learning Spanish, and we do, um, we use this app called Duolingo, which is really cool. Uh, we do our little five minutes, um, exercise. And it's amazing how if you do it consistently every single

Uh, we do our little five minutes, um, exercise. And it's amazing how if you do it consistently every single day, it just sticks in your head almost better than if I was doing a, uh, two hour night class once a week. I really do think these five minute bursts actually benefit us quite a bit more. Uh, I've talked about this before. I like the idea that our brains are constantly looking for things that can get rid of like a, like garbage collection, right?

This is just a simple explanation with no code.

Um, but for the things you wanna learn, if you keep reinforcing it every single day, it's sort of like, at least how I imagine, it's sort of like your brain goes, oh, I needed that yesterday. I need it again today and then tomorrow I need it tomorrow. I better hold onto this information. I better convert this into long term, uh, memory or something like that. And it really does make a, a, a wild difference. And now I think, like I'm in my late thirties.

And it really does make a, a, a wild difference. And now I think, like I'm in my late thirties. What if I had known this and applied this, um, in my teens and in my, it's not, it's not like I didn't know it. I just didn't apply it. Like, I, I, I didn't, I don't think I accepted that five minutes or 10 minutes a day would actually make a difference in any meaningful way. So I told myself this story that don't bother. Just focus on a couple areas that you are truly, uh,

So I told myself this story that don't bother. Just focus on a couple areas that you are truly, uh, passionate about and don't worry about anything else. And I think it really did, did me a, a big disservice. Okay? That's it. That's mostly what I wanted to talk about. Um, and I, and I would tell you think about some area if you, if you felt similar to how I felt in the past, where you, you wanna learn things and you tell yourself the story that you don't have time for it, um, why don't you just do it?

and you tell yourself the story that you don't have time for it, um, why don't you just do it? Why don't you pick something and give yourself, like, se set o clock 10 minutes today. I'm gonna do this for 10 minutes. And you're not gonna make yourself feel bad that you only did 10 minutes because that's enough. That's your routine, that's your habit. You're gonna do 10 minutes of learning French or Japanese. Do that today. And then tomorrow you're gonna do 10 minutes

You're gonna do 10 minutes of learning French or Japanese. Do that today. And then tomorrow you're gonna do 10 minutes or, and if, if 10 minutes is too much, do five minutes and just do it as an experiment. How much can you actually learn if you spent five minutes a day or maybe the, there's something at Ricca you wanna work on? I gotta tie it back to Ricca at some point. Um, I spend too many episodes on the Ricca podcast, not talking about anything programming related, which um,

Um, I spend too many episodes on the Ricca podcast, not talking about anything programming related, which um, I'm sure is a little bit annoying, but that's just how it is. Anyways, maybe there's a course you wanna work on at Ricca, but you don't have the time to work through a four hour course. But you do have the time to work through like one video, which is seven or eight minutes long. So what if you made a routine of like every day

which is seven or eight minutes long. So what if you made a routine of like every day or twice a week, you worked through one video and that's it. You didn't make yourself do more. You don't have time for three hours, uh, after your kids go to bed and you're exhausted, but you have time for eight minutes and just see what happens after two months of putting in your eight minutes every single day.

after two months of putting in your eight minutes every single day. Um, I think you might be surprised. I know I was. Alright, laravel, cast snippet. Uh, my name is JeffreyWay. I hope you have a great week. I'll see you later.