Michael Walters is the Founder of Studio 503, one of the fastest-growing private companies in America that offer strategic growth on businesses specializing in large retail and wholesale distribution.
Michael’s success was sparked by his childhood desire to own two different candy packs. He reasoned that instead of buying one pack, why not buy two smaller, less expensive ones. He was able to think of a solution to avoid having to choose between two things he wanted.
Since then, he has carried that mentality. He had always envisioned starting a business without needing to select a particular area of expertise that could create and provide new ideas and opportunities.
Thus, Michael launched Studio503 in 2003. In 2019, he formed Payload Group, and he has been providing incredible opportunities to many businesses, building powerful partnerships, and leading brands and products from ideation to execution.
Routine | Have Deliberate Control of Your Space
Michael believes there is a space over which we should be aware and have control. Owning that space gives the power to decide how to react to circumstances. He was able to redirect his energy and set his day by doing these routines:
- Set up a music he can listen as he wakes up
- 15-minute Quiet time to read and reflect
- Time to unplug from distractions
- Workout
- Holding himself accountable and intentional in all he does
Success
Michael has led Studio503 in the list of Inc. 5000 Fastest-Growing Private Companies in America ranking 1 in Minnesota, 4 in the Consumer Products category, and 43 overall in the U.S. He has been sharing his passion and skills, and spoke at TED Talks while simultaneously conquering depression. Michael has been a true inspiration to many entrepreneurs.
Book Recommendations:
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
Connect With Michael Walters
Website: https://www.studio503.com/
Website: https://www.inc.com/author/michael-walters
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/studio503
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ideapilot/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/mwalters503
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mwalters503/
Transcript
Hannah Mitrea 0:05
Hello, everyone, this is Hannah, your host, and you are listening to the success is routine podcast. Our show is on a mission to talk to leaders in life and business that have achieved success and to learn what their routine is, if you’re ready to create your routine to success, you’re in the right place. Now let’s get started. Welcome back to the success is routine. Podcast. I’m super excited to be in Austin, recording this live with Michael Walters, we’ll be talking about his routine. He is on the Inc 500 number one in Minnesota 43 on the Inc 5000 list. And welcome to the show. Thank you for having me. Yeah. And so Michael, tell us a little bit about you. And how you got started?
Michael Walters 0:45
Well, it started when I was really young, because I told you this before, but when I was a kid, I went to the grocery store every week for doing chores, and I got to pick out a candy bar. And as I went, I had two favorites. I had Skittles and Starburst. And it really bothered me that I couldn’t have both. So I wound up realizing that there were two other packages that were a bit smaller and less expensive. So I grabbed one of each of those. And I went to my mother and I said, Hey, Mom, can I get two of these instead of the one? And initially, she was really upset with me. She said, if you’re going to be on thankful you can have none. And I said Well hold on. They’re not it’s, it’s not the same. I didn’t just want to have like more, these are actually smaller, and they were basically half the price. So is it possible for me to get one of each, as long as I’m not spending more, or eating more candy? And I just wanted to be able to have two kinds. So she looked at me and was kind of stuck. And she just kind of said, well, I don’t know, why not. And it all started there. Okay, so my whole life was built on pursuit of and, and basically the rejection of or not, and embracing the what if and why not. So I launched studio 503 When I was early out of college after a few years and in a corporate job. And it basically was the idea of creating a company and I said in college when I was coming out I wanted to find a company that just was able to create and generate new ideas and opportunities and just continue to do that without you having to choose between Well, are you going to be in logistics? Or are you going to be in branding? Or are you going to be? So I didn’t find one. So I said one day when I’m able I’m going to start the company of and which will be a platform to be able to say, what if and why not. And if you can solve it. It’s pretty simple in business. If you have revenue, and you pay your bills, and you pay your taxes and you don’t break any laws, there’s nothing that says you can’t do this and that. So that’s put my head down. And then here I am.
Hannah Mitrea 2:54
Reminds me a lot of improv. So I started doing improv recently and the whole and and doing the next thing and not saying no to an idea just because it’s absurd or crazy. And so it kind of like hear a lot of that. And so it’s really cool. And so what are some like, paths it like kind of led that that’s helped your routine? And did you always have routine in your life?
Michael Walters 3:14
Well, I did have routine just I was involved in so many things on growing up as in all these different sports and music and stuff. So there’s definitely routine to all of that. And but once I went out and kind of started my own company thing you learn heavily and entrepreneurship is you now have a void of routine. Like there isn’t there’s no longer a this is what you do every day. This is when you show up, this is what you’re going to have been done by when by where. So one of the biggest challenges to that whole piece is having to figure out how to create that structure for yourself in order for you to build something that can be scalable. So I struggled actually creating routine at one of just becoming all in every day, you know, you wake up, hit the ground running pop out of bed, you’re already on your computer, checking your phone, and on hyper mode. It’s like fight or flight 24/7 until you finally at the end of the night you crash out probably with your phone or your laptop on you wake up do it again. So it took me a long time to start to develop a better sense of a of a more purposeful routine, but it really didn’t crystallize fully until just a handful of weeks ago coming back from a retreat business curated retreat with Ink Magazine that we all went to call the modern elder Academy. Chip Conley is kind of the founder and the head of that and we went there and went through this process and it really kind of snapped a lot of these moving parts for me into focus. It really is curated now a new a very purposeful routine now every day that this is absolutely transformed my day in my mindset in my in my life really. So it’s it’s pretty, pretty important.
Hannah Mitrea 4:55
Now so many entrepreneurs I think struggle with routine because there are so many pieces of the puzzle. You have your employees, you have the clients, you have the growth of the business and taxes insurance. And so I think a lot of us struggle with some kind of routines I like that you shared, like, you’re in the same place we all started. It wasn’t a magical pill, that you got the routine pill and none of us did. So talk to us about like, so the retreat that you went to what were the things that you learned there that helped develop this routine now? As like, really, you know, stuck with you?
Michael Walters 5:26
Yeah, the first and probably the most important one, like the foundational one for me was, there’s basically a, there’s a quote, like Viktor Frankl, he was in a Nazi concentration camp, he was a survivor. But it’s basically the concept is this is, you know, between stimulus and response, there’s a space. And there’s more to it. But that’s really where you can end it for for the point of this. And the whole concept of that is everything that we have being in a reactionary world. In a fight or flight mode, we’re in reactionary states. So that that gap, that space that’s there in every single thing, in a lot of times, it’s a split second gap. So we snap react to that we snap, we’re in a reactionary mode, instead of being in a very proactive mode. And that sets us up already. In your day, if you wake up that way, if you start your day, that way, if that if you’re not recognizing and aware that there is this space by which you control the space, if you don’t recognize that you wind up starting your day already in a reactionary defensive and in a negative like in a negative spiral, as I would call it. So it’s like you’re, you’re already setting the day in a negative tone with a negative frequency with negative vibration with the neg it’s all negative. And it puts you on the defensive right away. So now that affects everything. If you imagine that rolls right into how you interact with your kids in the morning, when you’re going through your morning routine with them to get them to school. How are your interactions with them if you already woke up in a space of negativity or stress or reactionary mindset. So now imagine the drive to work? How much road rage is created by people being in a reactionary mindset? quick snap, judging, snap, snap, snap? Now, how was it when you get to the office? What if you have to have conduct employee reviews? What if you have to have hard conversations with people where you’re gonna have a sales call or meeting. So all the way, if you run it all the way down to realizing that every single one of those places there is a space in every interaction? Now, with that, and where the more purposeful mindfulness piece is, the awareness of that is key, because now you’re aware, you can own it. And if you own it, you can say, okay, regardless of what the stimulus is, I now own the space by which to choose how to respond. And now that that change in your paradigm of your mindset, instantly moves you from being in a reactionary stance, to a proactive stance. So now your mindset instantly says, I now get to choose this response. And we all talk about this, like, it’s a thing, right? It’s even in like religious faiths, and whatever we taught, this is something that’s taught, but breaking it down to something that’s very tangible for all of us, regardless, where regardless of what your situation is, or what your beliefs are, or whatever, we absolutely do own that space. That also gives you hyper control again, over your life. Because that’s when you’re in that reactionary mode. Now, you feel like you’re out of control, you’re just reacting to this a world, you’re the victim to the world all day, every day.
Hannah Mitrea 8:29
Right? So often we’re talking about that, like me, my husband, where we have friends, life’s happening to them. And I’m like, life doesn’t happen to you, like you’re having to let you create that life. And like when you’re talking about like, the reactive side of it, like I know, for me, like I can really identify when like, I’m in a bad mood. So I need to like, I’m not, I’m not going in the right lane or the left lane. I’m staying in one lane because I am angry. And I know that like how my reactions will be a difference, I need to make sure I stay in that lane that is going to get me where I’m going without having to make extra decisions. The how, how do you get to that awareness?
Michael Walters 9:02
Right? Well, first, the first part is just being aware and just accepting that it’s true that between all two points, there’s a space. As soon as you accept that, and you take that as truth, because it is then you now are enabled to be able to make that decision by which to know every time you feel that happening, you can catch yourself, you’ll get better at it. As you practice, you’ll be like, Oh, actually, this happened. I’m now aware that I’m upset or I’m aware I was just going to react. And now I can think about that a little bit be more intentional about it and now choose Power BI which to respond. And what that also does then is it opens up the awareness of the space but now you can be more deliberate in your actions and in your routines of expanding the space. And the better you get at this. It’s like anything it’s like practice the better you get at it the stronger you are at it means it slows down the reaction between stimulus and response slows down for you and that allows you to have even much more deliberate control over not just what your responses, but you can go even deeper than that and say, the frequency or the vibration, or the interaction that I want my kids or the world or my work to experience me as today, I can actually control and choose that. So when people wind up going through points, or they start to panic, or they have an issue, right, there’s all kinds of ways where you, you get into fight and flight mode and your body wants to just react, the more control of that space you have, the more deliberate you can be about owning it and shifting it and then repurposing the energy in a way that you want to be received in the world. And you want to have people experience, who are you at a much deeper level. So yeah, that’s that it’s really it comes just to that awareness. And then it’s just a matter of practicing it. And the more you do it, it just, it’s like the lights come on, in a cabin really, really quickly. And you can really slow that reaction time down in it, this isn’t like you have to be a Buddhist monk. For 80 years of practice, you might figure out how to slow down your response time, this is something that once you have that paradigm shift, and the light comes on in the room, it’s just like, well, this is actually like I see it now, you just have to be able to turn that light on, once you turn the light on the room illuminates and you can see so much better. And
Hannah Mitrea 11:23
kind of reminds me of like, so growing up and like when you start first start speaking, you say a lot, is because we’re afraid to pause. And so kind of taking that like to be deliberate, you have to pause and be okay with it, getting rid of those arms and just code. So you’re reacting in a way that you want to come out as reacting. Because if we’re reacting to react, then we’re just not being who we want to be. And I know when we had our pre colleagues, you’ve mentioned that like, what do you want somebody to think of you later on in life? Like when you’re not here? What are people looking back, and that really stood with me like because I like thought about it. Now I’m like, oh, what I really want. So it helped me kind of like, even understand why I’m doing what I’m doing. So thank you, because that really helped like, just sitting down and thinking of that of all those things and being deliberate. And that’s what it really is. So But going back to your routine now. So like you’re waking up making sure you’re creating this positive space, so that you’re not reacting, you’re being proactive to your day. Are there specific things in that routine that help you do that? Yeah, actually, I
Michael Walters 12:23
looked at it. And I just kind of started thinking about what are all the things as you totally wake up in the day? What are the things you first experience? And then how can I be intentional about changing that environment for myself to set to set myself up to be in the state of mind, I’m choosing to want to enter the day. And so if I’m wanting to enter the day, in something that needs to be a lot more upbeat, or I’m looking to be energized, like we’re getting up and we’re gonna go run a race today, I’ll actually set the music even by which I don’t, I’ve eliminated the normal alarm. And anyone with a smartphone, you don’t have to have the rent, right? But by the way, think of all the years everyone grew up with rent, rent being the first thing you experienced coming out in your day. There’s nothing soothing at all about that, that sets you up instantly to be like we might as well start the day with nails on a chalkboard, or you know, somebody’s screaming, it’s it’s the horrible way to enter the day. So if you actually by using something like music, which is a tool, why do restaurants they don’t play like Metallica at a fine dining restaurant. Why? Because it doesn’t set the right mood. So we react to the musical vibrations, it’s a thing. So why not set yourself up by using music as a tool to already manipulate by which your body will match as it experiences the first waking moment of the day. So I’ve I choose what I wake up to, intentionally the night before, to set me up to be in the right frame. When I first entered the day, that already sets me now in being intentional when I first even wake up I’ve already taken I’ve already owned, wake up. And if you already own that part you can own the whole day. So from there, I’ve just build that out into this is what I then go do to like maintenance and your teeth. And you know, that’s all just pretty normal stuff. But you can also bring that with so you can have music playing while you’re doing that. If it’s something that you’re going to transition, this is my wakeup and then I use it if it’s like I want to get energized. I’ll change that to fit all the way through. Then as you go all the way down. Like for me I actually spend quiet time every morning now like very intentional. I spent 15 minutes for me, I’ve got a devotion I read like every day, it’s got a thing I read, I reflect on it. I don’t check my email, I don’t touch my phone, and those are normal. Everyone’s talking about that for sure do that. That’s great. But those are all part of the recipe of just unplugging on purpose and utilizing the tools and technology you have that will enable you to set yourself up in the right mindset. And then but own that instead of being a prisoner to it, and then the you’re also now owning and controlling that piece. So every way through all the way to the point where then when I get in the vehicle and it’s time to go, again, I choose music that sets me up to how do I want to drive? How do I want to be experienced? Do I want to be that guy on the road, no one wants to be that guy or that lady. Nobody wants to be that, right. So how many people don’t listen to aggressive music when you drive me until I decided, I don’t like who I am. When I’m driving, when I listen to that, I’d like the music, but it’s got to place it’s probably not for me, when I’m driving. And instantly, when I change it to be a different type of music that’s peaceful and calming and soothing and centering, my whole demeanor changes energy in the car changes, even between everyone, it’s less stressful getting kids to school, so stressful getting to work, and also even fine. It creates more awareness and more space. Now I’m aware deliberately aware of all this stimulus and responses. So I’m even aware of like, oh, my gosh, I didn’t realize I was like riding up on this person, I’m sorry. And back off, like I just totally got lost in my thought. When I was prior to being mindful even about the music I listened to when I drive, I would have been right up on somebody without even thinking about it. And I’m that guy. And I realized, like, wow, the world, what the world actually probably thinks about me is probably very different than who I really am. And it’s be be cuz of the way I’m choosing to tell them, This is who I am, and interact with them. So now I can be very intentional about each interaction over and over and get a lot more sense of the genuine, authentic me is now what everyone is experiencing collectively. So when I’m not around, I want people to think who I am is exactly if I was around if my parents are in the room or not. If my friends and this group or those group or whatever, and my colleagues and now I have one brand of oneself, it’s authentic, it’s easy. And I’ve also now taken control of by which to have all of the crazy noise of wearing the multiple masks and trying to play different roles only have one role. only have one knee, and that calms noise down which again creates way more space between stimulus and response. So it all begets, though by even the first choice you make on how do I want to wake up today.
Hannah Mitrea 17:19
I love that love that you’ve created to where you’re the same person everywhere. So being super genuine, where you’re not showing up as a different person for different people. You’re showing up as you regardless of who’s around you. And I really love that you’ve created that. And I love that music is a part of that and like has helped set the day like I wake up to Jason Derulo trumpets, everyone. That’s myself. We wake up every day. But it’s really happy. And I never really connected that because we do wake up and a happy mood and like, because we’re not getting the E. So what was the song you woke up to this morning?
Michael Walters 17:53
I’ve had it set to Oh, it’s the it’s the light by the album leaf.
Hannah Mitrea 17:59
Yeah. And then so one question like so routine, I find that when I go on a trip, or I go on a vacation, if I like track, and I track everything, because I’m an Excel person. So like, every time I routine stops, it’s when I go on a trip when I go somewhere for work. So you’re here in Austin, you’re from Minnesota. So how’s that routine that affected with the travel? And how are you able to keep it?
Michael Walters 18:22
Yeah, well, I mean, I still wake up, I woke up to the light, which is what I’ve been listening to for a while. So that was the same. It goes to the same maintenance routine, the only thing I haven’t done, I’ve been busy. But normally I have a fitness piece, I spend time getting a workout in in the morning, because that’s also like now it’s out of my way I’ve owned it, I don’t have to worry about trying to fit it in later. So it’s just, that’s the one part I haven’t done. Normally I would I brought stuff to do it, I’ve just it’s literally we’re here on purpose for being present other things. So I made the decision. But I’m only like if I if I can fit it in I will but that if I have to punt on something, I’m punting on that versus doing this with you or being at the founders house for something that we’re doing there. So it’s like, that’s the one part that I have to be a little more deliberate to try and get done. But other than that, I still spend like 15 minutes I brought him, you know, bring my devotional piece with me, I’ve got all of the things I’ve created into a very small package, it’s easy to travel with, I can do it anywhere, to at least set that initial pattern up. And then the whole day, there’s no set pattern like and then by noon, and then at one and I don’t have that I just start the day in the same way to set me up in the same mindset. And then from there, I’m equipped to handle the day and react to it correctly, like proactively react and respond to how the curveballs and the changes. So that’s really as simple as it is.
Hannah Mitrea 19:44
And I’m glad you’re not telling people like you must wake up at 5am You must do this thing. It’s creating that balance with your life and not balanced. I watched your TED Talk. It’s not about that. I’m like, No, it’s not balanced. We’re not balancing anything. But let’s talk about your success now. And how do you relate the success you’ve had back to the routines that you’ve created in your life?
Michael Walters 20:06
Yeah, so a lot of this stuff, like I said, I was doing some of these things, but it never snapped into focus in an alignment where like, this is actually a, like a system or a thing, if these parts snapped in, but there’s plays of this throughout my whole life that have led to where I’ve been successful. And it really didn’t matter if it was from athletics, to, you know, music, academics or business. It’s the same mindset. But it’s that positive growth mindset. I’ve always had that, like I said, I mean, it’s, it’s the antithesis of or, and usually, when I’m confronted with that, I’ve got this big idea or this new product. And conventional thinking is basically going to say, it won’t work. For all these reasons, it’s already been tried, nobody’s done it, it’s not possible no one else. And usually, it’s because nobody else has done it, or no one else has figured it out, or they’ve done it and they failed at it. So when I run into those, it’s usually like the very first part where I’m like, that’s where I’m going to focus because obviously nobody is there’s a way to disrupt or look at it differently. And oftentimes, people are looking at it, like you see there, you’re on a path and there’s this giant boulder in the path and you walk up to it and you can’t pass through it, all you see is the boulder and seek to tree in the forest and all that but there’s a boulder if you change the frame by which you can teach your your brain to work and change your paradigms, intentionally changing them by by looking at things in, like laterally. And like lateral thinking and creativity. There are tools to do that. But it will augment and change the way that you perceive the boulder to where it allows you to be able to step back a bit and see it for what it is. And once you see it for what it is you can invent ways by which you might get around it. And once you see that it gives you now I can change my paradigm I can see past the boulder and back on the path when it gives you like hope and purpose and direction because it all there is the path, I just have to figure out how to get around this boulder. And that’s a lot easier than saying I don’t know where to go. Because all I see is a big rock in my nose. So it that mindset of always trying to say okay, everything that’s out there, the more everyone says you can’t do it is the more I believe that it’s doable. It’s just we haven’t had the right assembly of ingredients, the right partners, the right timing, whatever it is. So all of the in the business side of things like all of the things I’ve been successful at is absolutely been finding a way. It’s like the David and Goliath thing. It’s always been being the David in the whole world or conventional thinking says, No, it’s not realistic, you won’t be able to do it. And I’ve found a way to do it. And then again, and again and again. So then I’d be like, Okay, here’s a routine. Here’s a pattern that this whole concept of why not? And how can we and and yes, and all of that, if you constantly are looking at that, and you see things as all possible, it’s just like I said, You just might not have the right mixture yet. But as long as you’re on that quest of saying the solutions there, we just haven’t found it. Now that it also creates, again, that positive momentum that keeps you like moving through it so that that’s also why grayling relating it all the way back to the morning routine and being deliberate. Those might be things that I have chosen throughout the day or the crew when things are coming up. And I didn’t realize I was I was activating a space, I didn’t realize some of those things. But now understanding it seeing it in reverse and going, Oh, wow, this is all part of the system. Now I can actually curate it everything from the first time I wake up, which now is even set me even more. So to have more creativity, open mind space, open bandwidth, more patience, more compassion, more connection with other people, which that’s required to create that right recipe by which to solve that thing that I said, we just maybe don’t have the right recipe. Now I’m way even more intune and open to receiving and connecting with the right solutions where we can even do more things.
Hannah Mitrea 24:04
And like I really heard, like, being really delivered in there. Because like even, you know, looking at all those things and seeing it to create that success. You had to be deliberate to get there. And I love how that goes back to the routine. So I have two questions for you. First one is if somebody is listening to this right now, and they don’t have a routine, or they’ve never really looked at their routine to create it. What’s that first step for them to start being more aware and more deliberate in their life to create that routine?
Michael Walters 24:31
Yeah, I love that. You asked that. We didn’t plan this, by the way. So well, you you mentioned this TED talk, right? This this. I won’t go a lot into it. But I would say this in any situation what you’re describing to me as somebody who’s stuck. Yeah, and everyone is stuck all the time. Like we all are stuck at times every day or every week, whatever. It is a thing. And it’s a challenge. How do I get unstuck? And that whole thing addresses how you get get unstuck, and how do you start creating a upward life spiral versus a downward lifestyle. And when you’re stuck, you’re you’re in the throes of a downward life spiral. It all affects everything else and everything else. So how you do that is once again, just having the awareness on to one, there’s a space. Now it’s applied in if your life is going up, or if it’s going down. It’s an awareness there, too, that says, My actions that my decisions are absolutely affecting and driving, if this thing is moving upwards, or if it’s going down. The minute you see that and own the fact that this is a result of whatever you choose it to be. You instantly took control again, and the light came on that said, Oh, wait, I’m in a downward spiral. Well, how do I get out of it? That’s the second part. The second part is as crazy as it sounds. Most people want to talk about the boulder. Most people try and solve the boulder in their life, the biggest thing that’s weighing them down and making them stuck, by trying to solve I have to solve the biggest, heaviest ugliest problem that’s weighing on me and we, we ruminate on it. Oftentimes, the way you solve the big heavy problem is by deciding to do something else that is going to be positive, that’s tiny. So just it doesn’t matter what it is, we all have that when you’re in a downward spiral, like then you’re stuck. Oftentimes, there’s a lot of things that are out of control for you. Like laundry is piled up the dishes are all over their cars or wreck the finances I forgot where my bills were, now I got people what I mean, it’s just it’s beaut, right? I, you know, all my fitness and all of it and my friendships, relationships, it all just starts to get affected. You don’t have one thing that’s glistening, like perfect and everything else is trash. Like if you say you do I would challenge like it’s your either because you’re one unit your your whole body’s either moving down your soul, or you’re you’re you’re engaged in ignited a movement. So with that, right, in this whole piece, if you always feel like you have to tackle the heaviest thing, it’s very, very difficult to make a giant step and will yourself that and I can speak to this from being someone who I am diagnosed with depression. So in Ireland medication, and I got myself out of being a, you know, controlled by the depression, which is chemical like it’s this isn’t just I’m gonna kill myself to do it. This is a real thing. It’s chemical. And it’s an illness, right? By doing this is how I got how I beat it. I mean, I still deal with it, but I own it. I’ve conquered like it does not rule me. And it’s not just the meds or whatever. It’s the combination of all of this, but it was the decision to take a step, any step, as long as I know, it’s a step in the right direction. And we all know what this is, is it? Do I eat fruit? Or do I go through the drive thru at McDonald’s? Like or whatever, whoever you all have stuff? Do I actually put the dishes right away in the dishwasher? Do they just make it to the counter? Do the socks just wind up on the floor like we had these are things by the way that also can like create major havoc and marriages and couples and relationships and stuff. Yeah, these things right, that we choose to do they create, we know what we should do. But we betrayed that. When we do that we kick off into a negative spiral, we start fueling that. So you know, for you what would help move your life forward and serve you and what won’t, every time you make a choice, even if it’s small, I’m not going to eat the candy bar, whatever, whatever that is, every time you do that, you’ve changed, you’ve stopped the momentum of the downward, you’ve stopped it, now you’ve controlled it, now you’ve got that space. Now you can be intentional about making that choice. And that choice absolutely will affect your experience and your life and then the spiral by which you have it. Now by doing that, it will create momentum. And what you’ll often find is that super big, heavy thing that once felt insurmountable that couldn’t get you out of bed or get you unstuck. It’s not quite as big and heavy. And it’s a lot because your mindset changed the chemical balance in your whole brain makeup change. And you rewrote the pathways between how your brain is activating, like I said, to open up opportunities by which to see past the big giant thing keeping you from whatever that is. And now you’ve invented for yourself the control to figure out how to now work on solving that thing, because it’s not nearly as big and heavy as it felt before you started moving. Yeah.
Hannah Mitrea 29:28
Oh, that because it’s like each rock is part of that boulder. And so the sock is a rock. And if you’re able to pick this up and move on, it’s gonna help create that that first step. And that’s what we’re looking at how do we get that first step and it is that as simple as that and I love I made it so like comprehendible to so many people too, I think. Because it really is start doing one thing and it doesn’t have to be like you’re not changing your whole day to start a routine. You’re changing one little thing to get there.
Michael Walters 29:56
Exactly. So one step is to Use the music by which you wake up to that’s just one step that might help you. So yeah, it’s as simple as that is crazy as it sounds. But often I found some of the most powerful ideas or they want to be in the most simple ones, when you can somehow break it down. And this one I, I live by, I swear by it, I walked this out. And this is actually something that I get stuck all the time. And I was even when I was at that retreat, on my final day there, I just wasn’t happening. I was like drinking the Kool Aid the whole time. And the last day, I just wasn’t, I just wasn’t feeling it. My Chemical stuff in my brain I was riding high for so long that it bottomed out on me where I knew that happens with like depression, when you’re kind of riding on. On a good wave, you know that there might come a point where that runs out. And then you kind of have a bit of a, you just have an off day, and it’s harder, everything’s just not positive. It’s hard. So but I was aware of that, because I understood what my spiral I understood the depression, I understood this is probably going to happen. And it allowed me I had a choice, I could either exit and just go isolate, which is what I would have normally done over you know, before, yeah, which only forgets the negative and the depression it you know, if one, or I knew I can just take a step, whatever it is, and just buy into what we’re doing and commit today. And this morning, what we’re doing. Just if I take any one tiny little step, I knew it would absolutely change the spiral. And it did, and I want of having my best day, by the end of it. And the most impactful experience at the end of the day. That was like the culmination exclamation point to the whole thing. And that would not have happened if I didn’t hold myself accountable and eat my own dog food that said, you just you’re feeling the resistance? Do you just got to take a step? And it works?
Hannah Mitrea 31:51
No, I believe it like, like, as you’re talking, I’m just like thinking of all these, like one little steps that I’ve done. And I’m like, wow, like I see it. Now. I see like the bigger picture for it and how that works. So thank you for sharing and being like, really honest about things that you are going through and how you’ve been able to overcome those and look at them as a whole not as one piece here one piece here because it is a big boulder that you’re working on and moving up or down, like you said, my second question is, if you were to recommend a book and personal development and personal growth would be that one book that like, if you couldn’t read it, any other book, this is the only one. That’s the one.
Michael Walters 32:26
Wow, that’s that’s, that’s a really strong one. I would say we had Oh, no, there’s a ton right that I’ve kind of stitched together. But this the first one if I just gonna get my my snap response on this my gut response, it would be Stephen Covey’s The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People that that really is when that concept of proactivity really got got instilled and the idea about paradigms and how by just shifting your paradigm, you can see something totally differently. So that was really probably the foundational baseline where a lot of this stuff was kind of bought in and built from. So I guess if there was one book, I would tell everybody if I could, if there was only one to read, that’s, that’s the one.
Hannah Mitrea 33:11
I love it that one I’ve gotten people for Christmas, because that is like my one book. And I love it. It was the first one I read and personal development just changed everything. Like just kind of seeing the quadrants and like putting stuff in perspective, like it’s made me put my phone down at dinner a lot more than before, just because I’m like, This is urgent, but not important anyway, so we need to put it over there. So alright, well, thank you for inviting me to Austin, Michael and doing this live with me and introducing me to Pete mill. Like I said, getting me in a space like that’s out of my comfort zone. So I can grow as well. I really appreciate that. And thank you for being on, ya know, thanks
Michael Walters 33:47
for having me. Yeah, I love sharing this stuff. Like there’s nothing more meaningful to me. And in this like Second Book of my life, this is this is the path this is the purpose I’m on is to spend time doing these things and sharing ideas. Like I told you, I don’t build, I don’t build businesses, I build ideas. Some of them happen to be businesses. And so thank you for the opportunity to share and spread that and there is one thing in closing. So even in that TED talk or whatever I kind of I likened and transpire that concept in the awareness of that upward spiral. Years ago, I just started like, hashtagging the word upward and that’s kind of like my sign off. That’s my word. That’s the thing I you know, share if I had to give people that one word, it’s that and it’s it’s basically allowing them to to constantly go, Oh, yeah. Am I going up or down? This decision gets a lot easier. If I know that one’s going to move me forward and one won’t, and it will absolutely create that that upward spiral and things like fall into place versus the opposite. So So for what it’s worth, yeah, like, lean on that if you want to refer back to any of this. That’s the one summarizing sign off word upward.
Hannah Mitrea 34:57
Thank you for listening to success is routine. In podcasts, if you found value in this episode, share it with a friend episodes go live weekly on Sunday at 8am. Every week with the right routine, like follow and review the podcast on Apple podcasts, Spotify, Amazon music, or wherever you’re listening, join the success of the team movement and get exclusive downloads and content from the guests go to www that success is routine.com and follow the conversation there or on social media. Until next time, remember,
Michael Walters 35:28
as you totally wake up in the day, what are the things you first experience? And then how can I be intentional about changing that environment for myself to set to set myself up to be in the state of mind, I’m choosing to want to enter the day in unplugging on purpose and utilizing the tools and technology you have that will enable you to set yourself up in the right mindset. And then but own that instead of being a prisoner to it. I choose what I wake up to, intentionally the night before, to set me up to be in the right frame. When I first entered the day, that mindset, always trying to say okay, everything that’s out there, the more everyone says you can’t do it is the more I believe that it’s doable. The more purposeful mindfulness piece is the awareness of that is key because now you’re aware, you can own it. And if you own it, you can say okay, regardless of what the stimulus is, I now own the space by which to choose how to respond.
