The Truth About Performance Max: It’s Not About Who You’re Selling To

[00:00:00] Les McDaniel: I am excited to dive deep into the world of peace. And I know that you're like dive deep into the world of peace. Man, I gotta tell you that it is a foundational truth that peace resides at the core of your very essence.

[00:00:12] Les McDaniel: It's not something out. It is something at the core of who you are. But before we go there, I want you to know this show is to inspire the uninspired to unstick what is stuck and to liberate that leader within you. But before we unlock those deep mysteries of that liberated leader within you, I wanna remind you that you can follow me on Facebook and instagram@epicfusion.life.

[00:00:34] Les McDaniel: That's epic fusion.life. And then you can also find me on TikTok and YouTube. Bearded wisdom. That's where you can find me on TikTok and YouTube. Bearded wisdom. Go take a look. I can assure you were dripping lots of wisdom here and there all over throughout the day to make sure that you are connected, that you are beginning to shape your life, to lead yourself, to know yourself so that you can do so even more.

[00:01:00] Les McDaniel: I impactfully in our world. This week we are continuing our conversation around the piece index. And if you haven't already started that process, go back last week and listen to those because they are critical pieces of where we are going moving forward. So the piece index and conquering the chaos and, and finding fulfillment is where we are at and what we're moving forward in today.

[00:01:22] Les McDaniel: So without further ado, let's kind of jump in and see where this takes us.

[00:01:27] Les McDaniel: Now, first and foremost, the thing that I really want you to understand about kind of where this whole process has gone is you've already taken the piece index. That is assuming that you've gone back and listened to all of these coming up to this particular podcast, and you've recognized in that, that there is something that needs to change.

[00:01:44] Les McDaniel: You might be like, Okay, now that I've got this number, now what do I do? Where do I really go from here in terms of how do I connect the dots on what is really going on, where I need to change some things, what do I do? And so really what we're talking about today is your piece plan.

[00:01:59] Les McDaniel: As we work on this piece plan, what you gotta recognize about this is that there are two sides. Just like in most things in life, there's an offensive and a defensive side. The offensive side is truly all about being intentional and taking initiative and working on those places in your life where your peace levels may be lower than you would like, and to really begin to identify those to dive deep and to create some patterns of behavior.

[00:02:24] Les McDaniel: That can ultimately shift you down that pathway into a more peaceful life. The second part of this is the defensive side. And the defensive side is really all about you beginning to, well create boundaries for yourself to not put walls up, not to do things that are unhealthy for yourself, but to begin to allow yourself the space.

[00:02:45] Les McDaniel: Create some boundaries with those that may be intruding on your piece or to recognize patterns of behavior when you really start to get busy in life and you, and you start neglecting the offensive side of things, that allows you that space to understand where you are on your piece index and to move forward more succinctly.

[00:03:04] Les McDaniel: So it's all about just the rules and the, and kind of the ways that maybe it's the the systems through. You're able to go through and you track your piece index once a week so that you're making sure that you keep those boundaries in place. That's kind of where we're going at this particular juncture when it comes to creating a piece plan for you.

[00:03:24] Les McDaniel: Now, speaking of piece plan, I'm getting an amber alert on my watch right now, and it's, it's just, I, I find myself already distracted, but we're gonna keep going. So here's the. After you took that final piece plan at the end of last chapter, what, what I want you to be able to do is really begin to kind of dive back in and to create maybe a, an action plan of one or two things that you're really wanting to do.

[00:03:49] Les McDaniel: The goal is, is to get to the number that you desire, a hundred being the highest possible that you can on your piece index. Now, will we achieve the a hundred x model or the a hundred percent health? I mean that, that's yet to be determined. I don't know anybody who's reached the a hundred percent health, but man, I do love the idea of being able to increase that into the top quarter of, of that a hundred percent and above 75%, ideally upwards of 90.

[00:04:16] Les McDaniel: I, I think that's where we begin to find ourself clicking in life. So after you took the assessment before and you've kind of gone through and taken in a deep dive into each of the categories, helping you really discover even further what that looks like. What I really want you to begin to do is to just notice those areas within the purpose, the people, the place, or the personal health and the provision.

[00:04:39] Les McDaniel: Did your peace index go up as you go through that now? Did it, did it go up like It did for me, as I began to understand that provision was really, Not about the things that I want, but more about the things that, that are necessary in our life, the, the baseline level needs and the things that I could let go of that don't really provide me with any peace.

[00:05:00] Les McDaniel: Or it could be the people in my life. A recognition that there are times in life where I've gotta call people up in my life if I really want them to be a part of that peaceful process. Or I've gotta begin to call myself out of that, call myself up and out of those relationships in order to find myself among healthier people in, in this world.

[00:05:21] Les McDaniel: So, I really want you to be aware too as you're going through this, and I think I may have mentioned this in, in the previous podcast, but each of us has a driver. For me, my driver is purpose. That leading indicator of my life, that thing that when is out of whack just feels like, like a, like everything else, there's nothing else that.

[00:05:44] Les McDaniel: Matters too much. it's the thing that makes me even say things. I mean, I've heard myself say this to my wife before. I'm just so unhappy with the way things are, such a broad, sweeping category around What I'm really saying is in those moments, oftentimes, Is that my leading indicator of purpose feels really off and there's just not a whole lot that I can find that is good.

[00:06:05] Les McDaniel: When that one thing is really off. Now, it's not the sky is falling, but it does create attention there. So with purposes, my driver, when it is high, I feel like almost like my place could be outta whack. I mean, so many things can be outta whack when Matt purpose is high, but when it's low, man, it's a challenge.

[00:06:25] Les McDaniel: And so I, I really want us to begin to find ways to reconnect with your leading indicator to understand how you got, where you are, what maybe is off in the, and see what the, what the things that are in our control that we can take instant action on today. So, I will start off by letting you know that I remember when, had a business in real estate did commercial real estate for several years and was really successful at it.

[00:06:52] Les McDaniel: Had a, a great business partner, a great team. All of it was just beautiful except I just wasn't at peace and I wasn't at peace for lots of different reasons. But the primary one was that my purpose was outta whack. I had fallen into a place where I was being driven to sell products and services that just really weren't in my wheelhouse.

[00:07:13] Les McDaniel: They weren't relational in the truest sense of the word they buying and selling real estate is an important part of life. I have owned many homes. I've flipped houses, I've done investment properties all throughout my life, and, and I've loved it and I've enjoyed that part of it, but it didn't really have the key components of really watching people have those aha moments, those transformative moments where they, they come into themselves and they, they feel good in their own skin.

[00:07:42] Les McDaniel: I love to be part of that transformation in people. And real estate just wasn't doing it for me. Occasionally I would have these conversations, but it was like I wanted my life to be about calling people up in this world and into higher levels of what it means to be human, to be good, to be successful, to be at peace, to live in a place that is less chaotic and, and where there's not all the demands on our attention in this world.

[00:08:06] Les McDaniel: I love that. There was a moment in time when I finally came to this conclusion, and it was, it was after Heather's, stroke that I realized I was really just wasting a lot of time doing things that were not meaningful and, and not really in my wheelhouse, and it caused me to to struggle with even how I showed up for her during that particular time and showed up for my kids at that particular time in my life.

[00:08:29] Les McDaniel: And so I committed in those moments around 2017 to really begin to engage back into things that gave me great purpose. And so that's what I'm challenging you to do today. So having gone through now and reassessed yourself, what did you find out about yourself? Did you find that you have risen to the occasion?

[00:08:50] Les McDaniel: Did you, Are you finding that maybe it's time like I did in those moments when I was in commercial real estate where I need to fire myself, truly fired myself from the job and took the commitments and the steps necessary that I could control to move forward in really well doing what I'm doing right now.

[00:09:07] Les McDaniel: Talking to you about ways in which you could find peace, transforming yourself, finding ways to liberate that leader within you, so, It's in those moments that you might find yourself tapping into that, that leading indicator for your life and beginning to call your own self up.

[00:09:25] Les McDaniel: And then to begin to discover those areas where you might be low in other areas. And it could be that it's in your leading indicator. It could be that it was in one of the other spots. And it's really all about how can we begin to take actions that within the things that we can control to move ourselves out of the fear that we feel from not being at peace, out of the fear we feel from the things that might.

[00:09:50] Les McDaniel: Scary. I mean, I can tell you that my purpose was really driven a lot by the people and the way I got to work with people. Well, those people in my life at one point, well, they just kind of, it, it just, things didn't pan out and that a lot of people in my life changed and shifted and, the communities that I was a part of had shifted into an entirely different realm.

[00:10:09] Les McDaniel: And that also had an impact on my purpose. To be very clear, it had a strong impact on. So being able to know and recognize where those low spots are allows me to go in and get into the fine tuning of what do I need to do in these areas of my people, my purpose, my place, personal health or provision.

[00:10:30] Les McDaniel: I think that's where we gotta get started. So here's what we're gonna do. I want you to list the areas, the purpose people place, personal health provision that are the lowest percent that currently need the most improve. I want you to make a list of everything that is going on. So this is gonna require you to get your journal out and don't skip these steps.

[00:10:50] Les McDaniel: I mean, we, we tend to pay attention to these things. They show up in that for brief moments, and we might give them a little attention, but we're very quick to put 'em aside. But, so journaling these things is really gonna be a key in helping you discover what it is that you can track in your life to be able to see where the piece may be.

[00:11:09] Les McDaniel: So after you make that list of everything that is going right in each of those categories, it's important now to go in and make a list of the things that are not going so well in that category. So list the area, purpose people, place, personal health provision, that have the lowest. And then start with the things that are going right in that category.

[00:11:28] Les McDaniel: Tap into that gratitude, tap into that thing that is allows you to, to realize that the sky truly isn't falling. Get that down. And now make end list of everything that isn't going well in that category. The things that you are, that are obvious, those things that, that you're the imposter streaming at you, man.

[00:11:46] Les McDaniel: You don't know what you're doing, Blank. Here's what you are doing that is not working blank. Here's why. You, you know, the, you know the voice. I don't have to share with you that voice. And then the fourth thing is, what is missing or needs to be improved upon specifically in order for this to increase?

[00:12:04] Les McDaniel: And is it in your control? now make a list of what is confusing, what doesn't make sense about that particular thing in your life. And that's a really challenging thing to begin to really understand because a lot of time, there's some little simple thing that needs to be adjusted in order for us to be able to capture the essence of, of what was really going on.

[00:12:24] Les McDaniel: I am one of those people my wife and I both are highly sensitive people. What does that mean? Well, it means that when I get a shirt I, I have to cut the tags out, and the reason why is, is because I can be having a great day and when I put on a shirt or I'm going out to play golf or whatever it might be, if I have something that is rubbing on my neck the wrong way, it absolutely can ruin my day.

[00:12:49] Les McDaniel: I have to take, this is really funny. I'm, I'm stumbling on my words cause I can't think I'm about to show this, but I'm going to. But when I go get my cut, I have to have a shirt there with me and I have to have something to be able to like dust off all the hairs that get well being bearded guy. Those little hairs, after they do the trims, go in the shirt and man, they are so irritating.

[00:13:11] Les McDaniel: And I think that's the key component of what we are really talking about here. Is you being able to recognize those tags that you have in your life that create all sorts of unrest. It's usually not some really big thing, but we don't know that until we get into the nitty gritty and we start to ask the questions around what are we confused about?

[00:13:32] Les McDaniel: And so getting the results that you want. From this is really gonna be all about you being willing to dive deep into those five questions and really beginning to get into the nitty gritty of the things that are controllables for you, that allow you to grow beyond that. I think the other alternative here that I really wanna talk about is what is the other side of not choosing to spend your time in this piece and going in down this road of, of diving deep into to what's really going on within you.

[00:14:01] Les McDaniel: What happens if you can't really, truly make any changes? I think that number one, that's a dangerous place to begin to think that there is, you're not, you're outta control. And that there, there might need to be something really that that can happen in your life that can bring about some of that peace.

[00:14:18] Les McDaniel: You might need to get help. I mean, we all, we all just went through this crazy time in 20 20, 20 21 where we were all locked in our homes locked away forced to stay home. And that feeling that comes from the things that are out of our control are really, really challenging.

[00:14:36] Les McDaniel: And man, many of us are still, struggling to figure out how to find a quote unquote new norm. And I can tell you that one of the key components of this is all about how you can begin to reach into each of the other pockets of this and be intentional around how you lead yourself to really dive in and find out that it's not that we had to stay home.

[00:14:58] Les McDaniel: That was really the problem. What the real problem was, it was our inability to understand how to be self aware enough to know what we actually needed in those moments. And so taking the time to dive into this, maybe even getting some help from a health professional if need be, to really continue to raise yourself up, to encourage yourself up into that space where you are able to find peace.

[00:15:21] Les McDaniel: That's the thing that you can control. You can't control the external chaos, but you can control what goes on inside of you by simply beginning to create self-awareness around it and find new ways to call yourself up out of those moments of despair and into something that is beautiful and moving you forward in this life.

[00:15:41] Les McDaniel: So that said, I really hope that you can begin to create that peace plan that you can write down, dig in with those spots, create those categories for purpose people, place personal health and provision, and really begin to capture the essence of those little nitty gritty details that. That you can feel that pee under the princess's mattress that is piled up and it's that one little pee that is creating that discomfort within us.

[00:16:06] Les McDaniel: It's the tags in our shirts there's some of the things we, you just have to cut out. Sometimes we have to change a few of the things that distract us from really being willing to spend time. Nightly routines is one of the key components for me that really does rock my world when I don't stay consistent to.

[00:16:23] Les McDaniel: Morning routines, they follow the heels of the, that, that evening routine. If my evening routine goes well and I get up and I start my morning, what? Right? I begin to find that, that, that allows me the time to spend, that I need to spend in really discovering that piece index more fully. So that said, We're gonna be moving into the next what you can be looking forward to towards tomorrow is really us diving into what it looks like to, well maintain that piece.

[00:16:50] Les McDaniel: can we sustain this? Could it be sustainable for a year? Could it be sustainable for a month for some of us? But we wanna begin to see some wins around that. And so that's where we're going to begin to. Moving in this next session around keeping that peace for some time inside of you as well as maybe even keeping the peace around in your world for those who come into it.

[00:17:13] Les McDaniel: That said, look forward to speaking to you later on and for now, be it peace. Stay at peace and peace rest upon you. That's a lot of peace. We need more. Talk to you soon.