Protecting Your Mind, Your Most Valuable Asset

What is the essential aspect of you as a leader? 

What is the one thing you can’t do without?

If you read the title above, the answer is easy, though perhaps surprising. 

We’re here to talk about protecting your mind, which is your greatest asset.

There are all kinds of discussions around asset protection and business. 

As leaders, it is critically important that we think about asset protection, but that’s not quite enough. 

The focus needs to put on our greatest asset, which is our mind. 

Today, let’s jump into the whys, hows, and what the heck we need to do to maximize our potential and prevent big problems down the road. 

Your Business Revolves Around You

Woah! That’s kind of egotistical to say, isn’t it?

But in some critical ways, it’s true.

Everything kind of revolves around you.

Believe it or not, I was once a young entrepreneur.

I started out leading teams and people figuring out how to show up daily, like many of you. 

I fought to learn how to influence at the highest level. 

Guess what, friends?

I did not do a good job of protecting myself, protecting my mindset, and making sure that I was feeding myself good information. 

And it hurt me. It hurt my team mates, and it hurt my business. 

So today, I want you to just kind of take a step back. 

A lot of people talk about different things around this topic. 

I’m just going to give you 4 key areas today. 

#1 Move

Write it down, bookmark it, whatever so you don’t forget it. 

Move.

Just simply move. 

If you want your mind to work better, make sure that you are getting out and getting movement in. 

One of my mentors talks about how most people don’t die because they get old.

They die because they stopped moving. 

In Western civilization, we happen to believe that as we get older atrophy sets in; therefore, we stop moving around. 

If you continue to move, exercise, yoga, stretching, riding bikes, swimming, running, jogging, or whatever, your mind and body work better. 

Move, my friend. 

Movement will help protect this asset of your mind right here. It’s essential. 

#2 Give Your Mind A Break

If you want to protect your mind, you have to give it a break. 

Give your mind a break. 

I’m a big fan of meditation. 

There was a huge chunk of my life people would never have believed I would have said this, but now it’s a huge part of my life. 

Years ago, you’d never have been able to find a single person who would believe that Kenny Chapman meditates every single day and that he’s an effective meditator. 

I made this switch, the commitment, to my mind’s health, and I’ve never looked back.

I try to meditate twice per day, once in the morning, as part of my exercise routine and once in the evening to calm my mind before bed.

Speaking of…

#3 Sleep

For those of us with driven minds (and since this is my brand, I bet you have one like me!), sleep is tough. 

We’re here cracking the code of the driven mind. 

We have driven minds, and we are driven leaders. 

We want to manage at the highest level all the different things we want to create.

We’re always on the go, go, go. Right? 

How many of you reading right now have heard this expression:

I’ll sleep when I’m dead. 

I’d bet every single one of you.  

And I’d wager double or nothing there are some of you who have said this or bought into it, at least a little. 

When people say, “I’ll sleep when I die,” they really don’t understand how to refuel the tank.

If you don’t sleep, you’ll never refill the tank. You’ll run on fumes, and soon the whole darn vehicle will stop. 

And in reality, it’ll stop at the worst possible time.

Think About Tesla

Right now, Tesla stock seems to be going crazy and all kinds of different things. 

The market’s all over the place, whatever Tesla makes it. 

Let’s just think about their cars right now, though. 

If you’ve never stopped and plugged in a Tesla, it is going to be the worst automobile on the planet. 

I grew up driving a 1978 Chevette, right? 

I would take my 78-year Vette over a Tesla. 

If I had no way to charge the battery for that incredible automobile, it’s a useless hunk of junk. 

Nice looking, expensive junk, but junk anyway. 

Your mind is an incredible automobile. 

You are the million-dollar racehorse. 

If you had a million-dollar racehorse, you wouldn’t run it nonstop. 

You wouldn’t drive it crazy. 

You wouldn’t stuff it full of fast food, nicotine, alcohol, and all these different things. 

I bet you would let it get a good night of sleep.

Treat Yourself And Your Team Like A Prized Racehorse

Don’t you deserve the same thing? 

Don’t your team members deserve the same thing? 

Why don’t the people that you lead deserve your very best sleep as a massive component? 

You might be able to tell I’m a little bit fired up about that topic right there. 

Why? 

Because I feel like I have so many areas of my life figured out now.

I found my purpose in life, and I live and breathe my purpose every single day. 

I’m coming to you today as part of my primary purpose. 

This is why I’m on this existential plane. 

I’ve done the work to get clarity. 

I’ve accepted who Kenny Chapman is, and I strive every day to be a better version of that Kenny Chapman. 

But, my friends, it wasn’t always this way, and it hasn’t always been pretty. 

I would build it, grow, grind, rock it, go to bed late, and get up early in the interest of passion in the interest of engagement.

I Owe It To You. You Owe It To Yourself.

As a fan, follower, client, or whatever you are, I owe you my best. 

You deserve my all and my drive. 

But if I never stop to sleep, to refuel the tank, I’m not giving you my best. 

I’m ripping you off. 

Sure, it looks like I’m busting my hump for you, but I’m selling us all short. 

And you are too. 

That is not the most effective. 

I started realizing how important it is to take action breaks, free time, and technology breaks. Don’t underestimate sleep. 

We are taught that sleep is a bad thing. 

We hear: 

I’m not driven if I’m sleeping. 

I’ve read about Einstein, and he only slept about four hours a day. 

But if you dig deep, you learn he took a nap every afternoon, so…

What’s The Right Amount Of Sleep?

Google it or whatever, and almost every source will tell you 7-8 hours of sleep is the magic number. 

Oh no, we’re not sleeping enough. 

We need nine hours. 

Forget about that and focus on you. 

There’s actually technology that can measure your sleep. 

Now I personally don’t utilize any of that. I know how I feel. 

When I first started tracking sleep and improving my mind, I worked with the current coach that I have today.

Yes, Kenny Chapman has a coach. 

Yes. I get personal assistance. 

That’s how much I believe in coaching. 

Anyway, I worked with my coach, and he asked me how I was sleeping.

I said, “I’m doing great, man. I get between five, maybe six hours. But I average about five hours.” 

And he kind of took his notes and said, “okay, we’ll be revisiting that.”

I didn’t think I felt tired. I ran, ate well, and felt pretty good overall. 

He didn’t believe me, but he placated me. 

Now I realize that it is very important and how much I was missing from myself. 

Don’t get me wrong some nights; I do still only get five. 

I’m not saying there’s any perfection to be had. 

There’s awareness, there’s intention, and there’s progress. 

Different people have different numbers, but the goal should be at least 7 hours most nights. 

Set A Schedule And Stick With It

One of the important things is to try to go to bed on a certain schedule on time. 

I’m not here to be your sleep expert. 

I’m here to be your behavior change expert and your effectiveness expert. 

And what I know is most of us are not reading right now and are not getting enough sleep. 

Even what sleep we are is not quality. 

I used to be a pretty big drinker. 

And back when I was drinking a lot, I’d go to sleep early, wake up and be calm.

I’d need to drink five gallons of water in the middle of the night. 

I could stay in bed for 8 or 10 hours and wake up exhausted and tired. 

It’s not just quantity. 

It’s quality.

Set a time, give your mind a break before bed, and get those quality z’s.

#4 Be Future Focused

The last thing today, but certainly not least, is being future-focused. 

One of the best ways to protect your mind is to get out of the past. 

Yes, it’s important to remember the past and learn from our mistakes. 

It’s also motivating to see how far you’ve grown.

There’s a concept called measuring the gap and the gain that Dan Sullivan, one of my coaches and mentors, taught me. 

We’re always going to have a gap because we’re always creating and doing more things.

We’re always looking at what’s next. 

But sometimes we forget to measure the gap. 

Many of us have our minds running nonstop. 

Where is your mind running though?

Do you accept what happened in the past, learn from it, and run your mind on what comes next? 

I bet some of you (I’ve done it too, we’ve all been there) replay something that went wrong in the past over and over again. 

This doesn’t help your mind. 

Stay future-focused. 

Finding The Balance

When I say future focus, I’m not talking about jumping into next week and worry and fear. 

Don’t spiral in thinking about all the things out of your control. 

I don’t know what’s going to happen. 

The stock market seems to be fluctuating. 

Oh my gosh, I’m not going to be able to retire. 

Don’t slip into this thinking either. 

Focus on what you need to know and what you can control. 

On a side note, check out these 3 tips to communicating effectively in uncertain times. It may help you through. 

Prepare as best as possible and stay in the moment. 

This is what protects your mind. 

When we really take a step back, stay future-focused, you make your future bigger than your past. 

My friend, what you did last week, last month, last year, or last lifetime does not matter. 

I’m not minimizing it. 

I’m saying take the wisdom from it. 

And now, let’s look forward. 

Most people have a hard time with their minds. 

We are a moment in time, just a little blip on the map of the universe.

The Dash

Have you about the dash?

Chris Crew that works for Blue Collar Success Group talks about that. 

The dash, right? 

He’s got a keynote that he does about the day dash. 

It’s based on a beautiful and inspirational poem by Linda Ellis. Check it out at the link.

The idea is based on what you leave behind on your headstone when you die. 

Most memorials will have birth and death dates on them. You know, “1920-2001” and all that. 

The dash that goes between those dates contains the whole of our life.   

That’s where we’re at right now, somewhere in that dash called our lives. 

That, my friend, is worth showing up for, and it’s worth protecting our mind to get future-focused and make the most of your dash.

Final Thoughts

The last thing I want to leave you with is something Peter Diamandis taught me. It’s a big-thinking thing that he talks about. 

You’ll find it on Google, and psychologists talk about this concept too. 

It’s this negative thing called strategic ignorance. 

The way Peter framed it, though, is that we want to be ignorant about certain things.

What does that mean? 

I don’t need to know everything that the news is doing. 

I don’t need to know every statistic of the negativity. 

Don’t get me wrong.

I want to pay attention, know what things affect me, and see how I can create positive change and influence, but I don’t need to know every single thing about every single thing. 

What’s important? What matters? 

Joe Calloway, a friend of mine from a long time ago, wrote a book called Be The Best What Matters Most.

For your business, that’s your mind. It’s your greatest asset. 

Move, take breaks, sleep, and focus on the future to protect your mind and unlock your potential. 

Protect that mind, my friend. It is truly your greatest asset.

Check out our Facebook mastermind group for others just like you. 

Until next time, make it a better-than-fantastic week!