Just Start: Acting Enthusiastic (Week 2)

Dear Andre, (6 min read)

If I told you that doubling your enthusiasm would double your income and your happiness, would you do everything recommended in this email to achieve that?

I'm serious. This isn't theory. I've watched it happen in my own life.

Act enthusiastic and you'll feel enthusiastic.

Here's the problem: When I first heard about it, I didn't believe that it was a skill.

I also had the same hesitation as you.

What about when I have a bad day? What about when bad things happen to me? What about when I get 4 hours of sleep? What if I just don't feel like being energetic? What about when my business isn't doing well? If the girl says no or cancels the date?

I don't want to be fake. How do I both bring enthusiasm and at the same time be authentic?

Dude, I get it. There have been times where I don't feel like showing up fully.

There are a few different pieces I want to address: How to be authentically enthusiastic, the practical side of building it, and the danger you need to know about.

How to Be Authentically Enthusiastic

Here's how I want you to think about enthusiasm: It's borrowing today from the future positive outcomes that you expect to happen.

So even if things aren't great in the present moment, if you have faith and hope that the future moments will be better, you can pull from that future and say, "Wow, the future is going to be great," so I'm going to act in today like that future is going to happen. And ironically, by acting like it will happen, you will then take the actions more often to create that reality.

The Danger of Enthusiasm

Here's what you need to know: When you generally have high energy and bring a lot to a space, when you have bad days (which you will at points), people will notice.

I had a moment like this just a few weeks ago. A family member had fallen and been sick for a few weeks. And I was coming to grips with the fact that I didn't know how much longer he'd be around for (it looks like now a while longer, but in the moment I didn't know what would happen).

I was driving to church to play drums, and I had a choice: Pretend like everything was alright and just play drums and not say anything. Or I could ask for prayer and let other people support me in a time when I needed support.

If you are a young person, particularly a young man who's building your life, know that the strongest thing you can do is tell someone close to you that you need them to pray for you or be with you. It's one of the hardest things for a driven young person to do because you think your strength is that you can do it on your own. But that's false. You can't do it on your own (and neither can I). You never could. But with the right people around you when you fall (which you will), you'll be able to get back up.

You will need people. That's why it's People > Everything.

A Simple Question for Authentic Enthusiasm

Now, back to enthusiasm. A way I've brought this is by asking myself a simple question:

"If I absolutely loved what I'm doing in this moment, how would I show up?"

What questions would I ask? How engaged would I be with this email right now?

The problem with being a high energy person is when you feel off, it's hard to fake that you feel amazing.

The Practical Side: Physical, Mental, and Spiritual Practices

Here's some of the practical things I do to keep my energy high:

Physical Practices

Morning Routine:

• 2 minute dead hang (1 minute to decompress my back, then another minute)

• During the hang, I recite memorized scripture (10 commandments, armor of God, fruit of the spirit, beatitudes, and the "make every effort" verse)

• Gratitude walk right after

• If you can train your brain to find beauty, it may save your life

Change Your State Fast: The fastest way to change your enthusiasm is by using your physical body:

• 15 push-ups

• 10 air squats

• Box breathing (breathe in for 4 seconds, hold for 4 seconds, exhale for 4 seconds)

• Look up Wim Hof breathing

Anything that changes your physical body will change your energy level.

Regular Movement:

• Workout at least 5 times per week

• After eating (especially something heavy), take a walk

• For me, physical movement isn't optional

• If you've been sitting for hours, you're going to be low energy

If you are going to be a high energy person, you need to make sure your body has the capacity for high energy living.

Mental Practices

The Story You Tell Yourself: When you tell yourself "this isn't gonna work, this isn't that great" vs. if you tell yourself "this is gonna be amazing, this is gonna be the best lunch, the best meeting, the best date, the best business deal," that story really matters.

Feed Your Curiosity: You need to learn and find curiosity. What are you interested in? Most people hate learning because it isn't self-directed. If you could learn about anything, what would you learn right now? Don't judge if it's the "right thing," just let yourself learn about things that are interesting to you. You'll connect the dots later.

Here's how I split it up: (for now)

• Majority of my learning is in my career or a future career skill I'll need soon (communication, marketing, podcasts etc.)

• Small amount is just random stuff I'm interested in (Right now I'm fascinated by biotech and DND. Does it matter? Nope. Is it interesting? Yep!)

• Small amount art that inspires me

When you feed your curiosity, you'll have more joy in your life. This feeling that you're learning and making progress is SO IMPORTANT.

Spiritual Practices

• I pray and read the Bible each morning

• I go to church almost every week

• I lead a Bible study group every Thursday night

The Core 4 of Health

If you want to be high energy, you have to fuel yourself well:

Water: Drink half your body weight in oz of water (If you weigh 200 lbs, drink 100 oz of water per day)

Sleep: Get 8 hours. Buy blackout curtains or a sleep mask. Darker night equals better sleep. Don't eat too late (it really helps your sleep—though I have a hard time with this, to be honest)

Food:

• Eat high protein first

• Eat fruits and veggies and eggs and meat (I've been vegan and I now eat a whole lb of ground beef at a time for meals)

• Top brain foods: broccoli, greens (kale), blueberries, lemons, omega-3 like salmon, dark chocolate

• What I do: Eggs and sausage for breakfast, veggies and hummus (having hummus makes sure I'll actually want to eat the veggies), fruit every week (blueberries, apples, and something else)

Exercise: Covered above, but it's non-negotiable

The Alter Ego Concept

I don't think it's a bad thing to be able to choose to "turn on" your high energy at moments where you need it. In a performance. When you're talking to that girl you like. When you are in a job interview. Or meeting someone at a conference. These high impact moments matter, and knowing that you've trained yourself to bring the best version of yourself is a valuable skill.

There is this idea of having an alter ego—a version of you in a specific field of play in your life. In your work. In your relationships. You build a specific version of you that you need to show up as because that gives you the best results.

If you solve problems all the time in your work and go on a date and try to solve all her problems, that doesn't work very well. So we need to have these different gears for different areas of our lives.

I have a baseline 7 or 8 out of 10 energy that I do my best to live by. The only exception is when I'm in Europe or in countries where being excited and outgoing makes me obviously a foreigner. Then I (try to) tone it down.

The Relationship Foundation

The other thing, especially if you're single: You need healthy relationships.

You need to have someone you can call when you feel alone in this world. It may seem small, but knowing that people around you love you and want you to be here makes a big difference.

Don't discount this asset in the process of building your career and your business. These relationships, friendships, and family will become the foundation on which everything you want in your life will be built.

Getting to have dinner every Sunday with friends who know me and love me, who have no interest in my business, is actually incredible for me. It's a space where I can exhale. Where what I do/say doesn't matter. Having friends like this is really important.

It's also important to have friends who push you. Who want you to grow. Who will celebrate your wins. Who will be happy for you when you win. It's hard to find people like that, which is why joining communities both IRL and virtual (like BNI for small business or Hampton for bigger businesses) matters.

One Daily Practice: Send 1 encouraging text or text of gratitude each day to friends, family, or past mentors. That makes a world of difference.

Your Assignment This Week

I know you're probably thinking to yourself: "What the heck?! That's all I have to do to be enthusiastic? Become physically healthy, train my brain, and work on my relationships?"

Yep. I wish there was an easy way around this, but it's been something I've built brick by brick. I don't really think about the health things anymore. Those are all second nature for me.

The relationship building takes constant maintenance.

So that's what it takes to be enthusiastic. Build the alter ego. Build the habits. Build yourself and your life in such a way that can support this high a level of output of energy. It takes effort. But it's worth it. It creates something incredibly attractive. People will be drawn to you.

This week:

1. Start with the 2-minute hang and gratitude walk in the morning

2. Send one encouraging text per day

3. Ask yourself: "If I absolutely loved what I'm doing in this moment, how would I show up?"

Talk soon,

Daniel.

P.S. The emotion I want you to feel? Hope that enthusiasm is actually trainable. The action? Pick ONE practice from this newsletter and start today.

PPS thank you for all the emails, facetimes, and responses to last weeks newsletter. I’m really enjoying this conversation.