This episode gives you the details of how to create your own philosophy journal and why it’s so incredibly powerful in your life. Listen now and get started on your own philosophy journal!
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If you're ready to take your life and family to the next level, sign up now for a one-on-one coaching session with Greg Denning.
Rachel Denning (00:06.51)
Hey guys, this is Greg Denning and you are in the school of awesome sauce where I share with you amazing stories and strategies to help you live an extraordinary life.
Rachel Denning (00:23.918)
Hi, all right my friends, we're back. Part two. And I know I made some bold promises saying that the philosophy journal is the biggest solution and the best solution to your biggest problems. That's bold, that's crazy. But I believe it. Because our life is determined by our philosophy. And we're gonna get into that, I'm gonna teach you why.
And I know it doesn't seem that way. It doesn't seem like, come on, no. Some of you might be having problems with your health, some might be having problems with marriage, some might have financial problems or internal struggles. But you're gonna see, and I wanna explain here, that really, truly, the vast majority of our problems and struggles and trials and challenges and the things that are holding us back from reaching our full potential really come down to our own personal philosophy. And nobody ever taught us that! man!
Why is this stuff not taught? And that's what I'm teaching you, and that's why we have to share this. We have to share this. This should be required understanding every year of our lives, starting when we're little, that it all comes down to your personal philosophy. What you think about, you bring about. What you believe, you achieve. And everyone should be taught and instructed in specific examples of how that's true in their lives and how what we're thinking and believing in the...
and the thoughts that are being passed on to us are determining which way we're going and how. And when we initially come across this idea, it seems so vague and so weird and like, what? What are you talking about? But it's when we get into the real details of it and get really dialed in about how we think. And like I mentioned in the last podcast, getting really clear about what we want and who we are and how we live.
then it's easy to see where our problems and challenges are coming from and why we're becoming our own stumbling blocks. Then we can literally step back and look at any problem we're facing right now, and we can start creating a solution. And we can find it in ourselves. Because look, circumstance is merely the wind that just blows through life upon all of us. We all get it.
Rachel Denning (02:48.91)
Yet how do so many people end up in such differing places with such diverse results?
It is philosophy.
Let me share a poem by Ella Wheeler Wilcox, one of my favorite poems. I had the kids memorize this because it's in our family philosophy journal. This one's in our family philosophy journal. One ship sails east and another sails west with a selfsame wind that blows. Tis the set of the sails and not the gales that determines the way we go.
Like the winds of the sea are the ways of fate as we journey along through life, tis the set of the soul that determines the goal and not the calm or the strife. Whoa, I love it. I love it. So the winds blowing, right? The winds of circumstances blowing along through life. Here they come. They blow on everybody. Well, it's how you set your sail.
that determines which way you go, right? And the same, same is true. As we journey along through life, tis the set of the soul, the philosophy that determines the goal and not the comb of the strife. So what's it say all then? It's philosophy. So here's the definition of philosophy. It is a theory or attitude. Boom, see that? It's a belief or an attitude, a theory, attitude held by a person or an organization that acts as a guiding principle for behavior. Booyah! I love it, right?
Rachel Denning (04:27.534)
Excuse me, still getting over a cold here. It is the guiding ...
theory and attitude. It's your thoughts and beliefs and attitude that are the guiding principle for behavior. Boom. I love this. So you act right now in your life, you're acting and behaving according to your personal philosophy. Many of you didn't even know that.
Most people have never established a clear philosophy for themselves. They had just kind of gone through life not even realizing they had a philosophy. Every one of us actually has a philosophy journal in your head right now. It's all there. Our philosophy has been the guiding principle for our behavior, but we didn't even know it. We definitely didn't clearly establish it. We weren't deliberate and intentional about it. It just kind of got put together. Today,
I'm going to teach you about the philosophy journal. This is my own creation. And it was a way for me to clearly establish the constitution for my life, my philosophy on who I wanted to be and how I wanted to do life. I had to be crystal clear about who I am, how I treat other people, and the
the principles and practices that govern my life. That's my philosophy. Again, my life was a mess when I was young. Much of that was because I was young, I made poor decisions, and the poor decisions of others had a negative impact on my life. But at some point, every one of us, you guys, has to draw a line in the sand and say, enough is enough. From here on, my life will be what I make of it.
Rachel Denning (06:24.75)
And when things are not working out so well in our lives, who honestly thinks to blame their personal philosophy? Right? No way. It's so much easier to blame the government, to blame the economy, to blame your parents, your past, your boss, your bad luck. And I used to do that too. But eventually I threw all that stuff away. And fortunately somebody else found it. Still using it.
It's out there. It's so easy to play the victim, my friends. But we have to establish our own philosophy. And the truth is that your personal philosophy is the maker or breaker of your success. And so if you are struggling in one area of your life right now, look to your philosophy. Jim Rohn said, your philosophy, he said, philosophy.
Your philosophy is the greatest determining factor in how your life works out. that's good. Your philosophy is the greatest determining factor in how your life works out. That idea just revolutionized my life and taught me the importance of developing my personal philosophy.
and to look for those few things that would make the biggest positive difference and to spend most of my time doing those things. So while there's many puzzle pieces for success, without developing a sound philosophy, the other pieces are of little value. And the, man, the best way to establish,
like a new and powerful personal philosophy is to objectively review the conclusions that you've drawn about life, your own belief system, right? Because it's all been imprinted, right? You've been going along through life and people have just been handing you ideas, even from when you were a kid, just putting them in your head and you don't even know and you weren't cognizant enough to test it all. And so now we have to step back and give a clear examination on the conclusions we've drawn about life and about our belief system and what we think.
Rachel Denning (08:45.55)
what we believe and step back and observe the successes and failures of other people. Wouldn't it be awesome if people who have failed miserably would go out and give seminars? It would be so helpful. And we could see how people messed up. And we wouldn't do the things that they did, right? And man, learn from your failures and learn from other people's failures so you don't have to do them all yourself.
and get a clear philosophy and study what people are doing well and just be intensely aware of what's working and what's not. I mean, just, you guys, it's killing me. This breaks my heart. It breaks my heart.
Rachel Denning (09:29.198)
I get phone calls or messages every week. Just trainwrecks, man. And people you think have it all together, they're committing adultery. They're getting divorced. They end up just collapsing. Their life falls apart. They end up with substance abuse.
They just end up in this mess that they never thought they would. Clayton Christensen is a Harvard professor and a phenomenal businessman. He wrote a book called How Will You Measure Your Life? He talked about that very thing where all these just brilliant, brilliant people, great students ended up just tanking their lives because of this very thing we're talking about. They didn't set up clear terms and boundaries like we talked about last time, the hard deck, right?
They didn't have a philosophy journal, and so they ended up slipping into the gray area with their relationships, with their businesses, with themselves.
Rachel Denning (10:38.158)
And then you end up getting results. I mean, I just saw another tragic divorce and somebody announced it online.
So we have to get clear about our philosophy, you guys. Again, what I'm saying is that this is the biggest and best solution to your biggest problems. Look to your philosophy. And in every area ...
Rachel Denning (11:03.886)
Like you'll see that it's your philosophy about something. And we've talked about it, like I've talked about it a ton, the mindset, the skill set, the heart set, right? And your philosophy about how you're doing life. And literally it applies to everything. So you might be sitting here saying, well, it's my spouse, or it's my kids, or I'm too busy. Or, if only this was different. And yet when you really dig into it, and this is why coaching is so powerful and so important, because as a coach, I sit down with you.
And we get into your philosophy, we get into what you're thinking, what you're doing and why. And I just in a loving but just frank way get right in there and be like, wait a minute, wait a minute, you hear what you just said? Do you really believe that? That's it right there. That's the error in your philosophy that's causing you so much grief. Right, and you get, it's so powerful, it's so powerful to...
to see that, to feel it, to sense it, and just have that awareness and clearness now. Like, yeah, okay, I've been, for somewhere along the way, I've been believing this thing, and it's become part of my philosophy without really knowing it, and that's what's holding me back.
Whoo! Man, this is good. So I can go on and on. I'm actually creating an entire course on the philosophy journal. But I'll give you the brief version here.
The philosophy journal is your personal constitution. It is the guideline for your life. It's your standard. It's your manifesto. It is your directive. And in it, you capture. So I bought a beautiful leather journal when we were living in France. It's got a big, beautiful tree of life on it.
Rachel Denning (13:01.838)
which I thought was very fitting. In it only goes, this is not like, today I did this, today this, not that kind of journal. In here, only my philosophy, only the things that I want to govern and direct and inspire me, motivate me, encourage me, remind me of who I want to be, the kind of man I want to be, and how I want to interact with people, and the principles and practices that govern my life. Right?
And so as I go through life.
as I'm reading, as I'm thinking, anything I'm doing, I'm gonna capture, and I want you guys to do this, I'm gonna encourage and challenge you to do this. Get a philosophy journal. One of my coaching clients, I challenged him, get one, he made it. He just stitched it together, got the leather, made it, it's beautiful. Beautiful, put his initials on it, put PJ on there, philosophy journal, it's awesome. And in it go all the things that are gonna be this governing force in your life, right? It's the power.
And here's why. I'm going to keep reiterating this and then share some things to put in there. So you'll actually get a nice journal. Invest in it. Get a nice one and start gathering. And then we'll get into it in a minute here. But let me share a quote by William James.
Rachel Denning (14:25.646)
He said, belief and doubt are living attitudes and involve conduct on our part. Belief and doubt are living attitudes. so here's a perfect example of the philosophy, right? It's the philosophy inside of our heads that's already there. So it can be belief or it can be doubt. And they're living attitudes and involve conduct. He continues, if you're climbing a mountain and you must jump a chasm to survive,
You must have faith that you can successfully make the leap. For if you do, your feet are nerve to its accomplishment. But mistrust yourself, and you will hesitate so long that all unstrung and trembling you roll into the abyss. Refuse to believe, and you shall indeed be right, for you shall perish. But believe, and again you shall be right.
You, and then you guys, this is me saying this here, by your philosophy, your philosophy determines your results. You, back to William James, you make one of two possible universes true by your trust or mistrust? By your philosophy! Whoa, this is so good! Literally by your philosophy, you make one of two possible universes true.
Rachel Denning (15:52.398)
This is so powerful. He continues, thus optimism and pessimism are definitions of the world. Often we create the kind of world we live in because our faith beforehand in an uncertified result is the only thing that makes the result come true. Holy guacamole. That could continue on to quantum physics and some awesome stuff, but literally you guys, what we believe we achieve.
And so why not believe in our potential? Why not believe in our greatness? Why not improve our philosophy?
Rachel Denning (16:35.342)
Why not put things in our philosophy journal that we review every day that empower us and our children? So I have a personal philosophy journal. We have a family philosophy journal. And we repeat these things. And so into the philosophy journal goes great quotes and great poems and great ideas and affirmations and declarations and principles, ideas and truths.
that we want to have as a part of our life. And again, the more we ingrain these in our lives, the more they become a governing influence in our lives. So basically what we're doing here is we're being strategic and deliberate about what we believe and what we achieve. Instead of just allowing, see you can, look, you can be, you can choose to act or you can be acted upon, right? Many of you are familiar with that idea. But instead of just,
being a bystander, being a pawn, letting life happen to you, you just get in the game and you start taking action that brings out the better results you want. This is so powerful, I love this stuff.
So the idea of the philosophy journal then is that you capture the ideas that you want in there and then you review them often, very, very often. You go over them again and again and again. I try to read from it every morning. Because it's a reminder first thing in the morning of, yeah, that's how I want to treat other people. yeah, that's the kind of man I want to be. And it actually...
It's most important when you're feeling discouraged and when you're feeling down and when you're struggling. That's when it's most important.
Rachel Denning (18:33.869)
And then if you want to stay on your game and keep going after it, you just do it every day, every day, up or down, success or failure, triumph or tragedy, every day you get in there and say, this is who I am and this is how I do life. It needs to be a resource for you when you're discouraged and distracted and distraught about who you want to be and how you want to do life. So I'll share some examples here. And I bought a nice pen.
really expensive, nice pen, and I'm trying to do my best handwriting from my not so awesome handwriting. But I'll share a few things that I put in here that are important to me. I put in a quote here by Albert Schweitzer who said, I don't know what your destiny will be, but one thing I know, the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve.
Boom! That goes in the philosophy journal. Because I want to remind myself every day the only ones who will be really truly happy are those who have sought and found a way to serve. So every day. And that's why I'm doing a podcast. That's why I do my videos. And that's why I have my website, my training and coaching. I'm just serving, I'm loving, I'm helping, I live for this. Every day I live for this. And with my wife and my children and people around us. That's part of my philosophy. That's the kind of person I want to be.
And again, you guys, let that sink in, right? Let it sink in. If every single day I wake up and I read that quote and I memorize it and I make it a part of me and it just becomes a part of my way of being, that I want to be truly happy and so I seek and find ways to serve people. Booyah, that's amazing! Versus the default philosophy that sneaks in of like...
Let's get a TV. Let's just watch TV. And the first thing in the morning, wake up and turn on the news and hear all the negative crap. And then when I get home, turn it on again. And we watch some TV shows and binge watch garbage and blah, blah, blah. And then it's constantly, media is constantly inputting. You realize that? That every time you get into the media, the media is inputting into your philosophy. You realize that?
Rachel Denning (20:57.773)
Clever marketers and media, the news and TVs and movies and TV shows, all that stuff, they're literally input determines output and they're constantly inputting stuff. That's becoming your philosophy. For many, many people, their life philosophy has been created by what they have consumed.
Wow! Wow, that's powerful. So I spoke last year. I speak often, and I'm presenting and teaching it. I asked a group of people, said, hey, take a minute and write down here, this next year, right? Each year is super important. This next year, what do you want to accomplish? What do you want to do with your time? If you can have just an awesome, awesome year, what does it look like? And they wrote it all out. Boom, they wrote it all down. Boom, fantastic. OK, share some things. They just shared some awesome things they want to do about how many books they want to read.
people they want to serve, friends they want to make, skills they want to work on, like just really developing themselves to have a fantastic year. And then I asked them, okay, how many of you put Netflix on or TV or video games on your list? Not a single person, not a single person in the room had put down another as important things to work on this in the coming year.
Then I asked them, I said, how many hours you'd guesstimate that you spent on Netflix last year?
No, no, let this sink in my friends.
Rachel Denning (22:25.261)
If you only watched one movie a week, that's over a hundred hours. A hundred hours.
that you spent just watching TV. Now most people are watching more than one week. They'll even binge watch 20 plus hours of TV series over a weekend. That was a report from Netflix. How many people are binge watching TV series?
The average teen in the United States is spending nine hours a day in front of a screen.
Rachel Denning (23:05.709)
nine hours a day. So if you add up all the screen time you have, whether it's social media, video games, or TV, or whatever, and evaluate it, because some of the screen time's fantastic, right? There's wonderful things on the screen. I use screens a lot, and I'm doing great things, and I'm consuming great things, but I'm super diligent about it. So it's not that all screens are bad, but you with me on this?
just that much and when you think about, geez, yeah, that's not one of my priorities for the year. And yet the likelihood that is if we don't change our philosophy, we don't change our patterns, we don't set up new systems, then we're just gonna repeat year after year. That's what most people do. Like very few people in the world have years worth of experience. They actually just have the same experience year after year. And so they remain grossly underdeveloped and way below their potential because that's their philosophy.
And their philosophy, they wouldn't even articulate it, but their philosophy is, I feel stressed, I feel turmoil, I feel tension. All I want to do is just assuage that. I just want to get home from work. I want to be done with the kids. And I just want to watch some TV. I just don't want to do nothing. I want to be entertained.
Rachel Denning (24:25.101)
That's our philosophy. That's our philosophy about our response mechanism, how we respond to stress or tension or life. And so instead of being really intentional about our philosophy of how we're going to engage with life, our way of being, how we're going to treat other people, what kind of spouse we're going to be, what kind of parent we're going to be, how we're going to handle difficult situations and emergencies, we just react.
And how would your life be different if the only thing you did was trade your entertainment time for training time? Right? Like Archilochus said, you don't rise to the level of your expectations, you fall to the level of your training. That's worth going in your philosophy journal. Woo, right?
You don't rise to the level of your expectations, you fall to the level of your trading. All right, so what else are you gonna include in there? Here's one from Ogmandino. No, no, no, this is George Clayson. He said, where the determination is, the way can be found. Right? Where there's determination, there's a way. Boom.
This quote, it's also in our philosophy journal, we had our children memorize it. It's from Albert Gray. Every single qualification for success is acquired through habit.
Rachel Denning (25:58.317)
Men and women form habits and habits form futures. If you do not deliberately form good habits, then you automatically form bad ones. You are the kind of person you are because you form the habit of being that kind of person. And the only way to change is through habit. Right? That's in our philosophy journal. And then, I mean, we've got all kinds of other quotes in there. We have scriptures, we have thoughts, I have ideas. Like here's one. Of course, reach upward is on the front of mine.
Charity never faileth is in the front of my head. I have my philosophy journal right here with me. Noblesse oblige. It's a French phrase that means our nobility obligates us to be kind and generous. I love that. That right there is my philosophy. The nobility that's in me just obligates me to be kind and generous. That's the way I have to interact with other human beings.
Love that, that's my philosophy.
Right? Make greatness a habit.
Here's one from, I don't even know how to say it. Anas Nin says, life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage. Whoa.
Rachel Denning (27:19.181)
What?
Right? Powerful. I wrote in my philosophy journal, pride will make me blind.
Try to read that, remember it. Like, wait a minute, if I'm prideful, it makes me blind.
Remember that, right? Try to be humble.
Another one in there by Walt Disney said, very often, I'm just thinking out loud right now, not reading it, often the difference between winning and losing is not quitting. Another one, ego is the enemy. Awesome is always an option. My kids memorized this one. Veritas nunca perit, is the Latin. It says truth never perishes.
Rachel Denning (28:12.653)
So I wrote in there, I seek truth and I embrace truth because I love truth. I'm seeking truth every day. Isn't this awesome? And then I think about the most inspiring people I've ever read about and the most inspiring characters and ideas from books that I've ever read. And I included in my philosophy journal to be like the bishop in Les Mis.
and to remember that every person is like Jean -Vincent, right? That has that potential for change and transformation.
Rachel Denning (28:53.133)
I'm just trying to think what else to say here. Epictetus, I love this one. This is all about philosophy. First, say to yourself what you would be, and then do what you have to do. Ho, ho, ho, ho, ho. That's worth going right near the front in your philosophy journal. First, say to yourself what you would be, and then do what you have to do. That's your philosophy. That's the philosophy journal. Your philosophy journal is telling you what you should be. Say to yourself what you want to be, and then do it.
And your philosophy is I do those things. I do the things that have to get done. I do the things that make me the person I want to be. You know what I mean? man, this stuff is exciting and powerful and wonderful. there's tons. I have a huge list of things. We can go on and on and on.
But even simple things like, I'm healthy and strong. I'm awake, energized, and alive. I've been saying those things. Those two phrases right there, I've been saying to my kids every day since they were little. They know that. Boom, it's just, it's in their heads. I'm healthy and strong. I'm awake, energized, and alive, right? Another one here. I remind myself every day to be fully engaged or strategically disengaged.
Here's another one, another quote. Those who win are those who think they can.
Rachel Denning (30:14.393)
I love this stuff. There's another one that's important to me. Always be unfailingly kind. That's a big, I have a full page just for that. To be unfailingly kind, because that's who I want to be. Another quote by Descartes, I will either find a way or I will make one. That's empowering. Here's one by Thomas Paine that I think has been a...
you know, we came across this years later, somebody sent it to us and said, hey, I think this describes your guys' life. And it was right in line with our philosophy. The world is my country. All mankind are my brethren. And to do good is my religion. I love that. Great quote from Thomas Paine. Man, on and on and on. We can go through this. There's so much here. But can you see? Excellence is a habit.
Does thou love life, then do not squander time, for that's the stuff life is made of. Great poems like the Champions poem and Good Timber poem, input determines output. There's never a graduation from education. I'm always green and growing. When you do good, you feel good. Right? Whoa, I love this stuff! We can just keep going on and on.
But every great thing you come across, every great idea, everything you say, yes, that right there, I want to be a part of my life in the way I do life. Get it in your philosophy journal. Keep it near you. Read from it every single day. And do it with feeling and emotion. When you read it, say it out loud if you can, and feel it. Because when there's feeling behind it, when there's emotion behind it, it creates change. My friends, this stuff is so powerful and so exciting and so fun and so awesome. Buy a philosophy journal. Do it today.
Get online, buy a philosophy journal, okay? Or go to the store and get one. Get a nice one, invest in it. Only, and do it in nice handwriting if you can, only put in the things that are part of your philosophy. And I have another section here about writing your story, your life story, the story you want to live and create. Because we tell ourselves stories all the time, but that's kind of the section, that's 2 .0. Rewriting your story.
Rachel Denning (32:33.741)
But get your philosophy journal, put the things in there that will be the guiding governing constitution for your life and revisit it every single day. And you're like, isn't that a little bit redundant? Isn't that a little elementary and childish? No, because every day we already have a philosophy journal in our heads and we're telling our self things every single day. Things like, I'm not good enough or, my family's always been overweight and out of shape and unsuccessful and poor. We'll always be that way. And things like that. That's your philosophy. And you've been saying it to yourself every day.
And it's got to change. And you change it by being deliberate and strategic and intentional about writing these down and rereading them every day until they become so deeply ingrained in your head that that is literally your way of being and how you do life. Whoa. And then my friends, when you get your philosophy right, everything else in your life begins to go right. And the circumstances come along like the wind, but you go in different directions because your philosophy, your philosophy. And so literally this becomes the
best solution to all of your biggest problems. Because your philosophy about it will change the way you do marriage, the way you do health, the way you do finances, the way you interact with other people, the way you do business. Everything will be determined by your philosophy. So fix your philosophy and you fix your life and your problems. I love this stuff. Okay. Love you, my friends. Optimism is always an option. Reach Upwork.
Rachel Denning (34:03.789)
Hey everybody, thanks so much for listening to this episode. I hope you got a lot of value out of it and found some things that you can apply to your life right away. Hey, I'm being totally sincere when I say I live to help you live your extraordinary life. So I hope you'll reach out to me if you have any questions or let me know how I can help you in any important area of your life. And in fact, you know, this, this podcast is brought to you by the school of awesome sauce monthly coaching program. Take advantage of that. Get in there. If it's the,
best way to get a breakthrough to the next level so you can level up your health, your spirituality, your emotions, your mind, your relationships, your finances, business, every part of your life. Just get in there where you have a coach and a mentor, you have a supportive community to make things happen. So jump in there, take advantage of this, try it out, get in there with us and level up your life. See you on the inside. Reach upward.