Nothing is Everything

It is an amazing thing. When you consider the sheer volume of laundry that I did over the course of the weekend, this is going to be riveting and eventually get somewhere, I promise, but I feel like you’re going to identify with me, whether it’s you as a single person, or you as part of a family with lots of kids running around. How is there always so much laundry? It’s amazing. It’s amazing. I can remember being single and getting into the weekend and realizing I’ve got like, 10 loads of laundry to do, and it’s just me, and it’s just because I hadn’t done any laundry all week. Now, smash cut to where we are today, married father of three young kids, growing and evolving, which means they have new clothing demands all the time just based on the change in size that they are experiencing so and now, instead of just doing laundry on the weekends, I do a load of laundry every day, just to peek into my our personal habits, our household chores routine at the House, but in light, again, of a changing season and changing sizes, there are changing wardrobes, and they all must be washed and sorted and hung up and everything else. I’m not about to share with you a laundry hack by any stretch of the imagination, but I think that you empathize, because there’s lots of things. I’ve got big plans. I’ve got grand designs on the direction of my life, on the impact that I’m interested in having, on the kind of work that I’m interested in doing, on the business that I want to grow, and it’s a long list. I am an ambitious person, much in the same way that you are, but first the laundry, as the saying goes, and then I gotta eat something, and then I’m pretty tired, maybe I’ll take a nap. And then there’s the soccer game, and this that and the other thing, and it’s all happening all at once, and I think it’s really easy to I don’t know if the term is frustrated. I don’t know if the term is not enough time stress, it’s anxiety, it’s it’s all of these things. It’s joy and enjoyment and fun and experiences, but it’s all happened that same time, and we’re pulled in so many different directions, and there’s so many demands on our most valuable resources of time, attention, energy and money, and here we are getting older, and for doing that on our own, and doing that with our loved ones and our spouses and our friends, and just trying to thread that needle, and that’s what it’s all about. It’s, it’s, it’s, it’s doing our best to thread that needle, to do what needs to be done, just the mundane stuff, but then also to do the things that we really want to be doing, and to keep all the plates spinning. I wrote down over the weekend. I wrote down everything is nothing. Nothing is everything, because in some ways, none of it matters at all, but at the same time, all of it matters immensely. It’s this circular, paradoxical kind of a thing, because that one conversation I had with my five year old yesterday, you could look at that as extremely irrelevant, and on the same, on the same on a on a different hand, it could have been the most important conversation that I ever had with him, or that he has had at this point in his life. So all these interactions, all these experiences, could be absolutely trivial and fundamentally meaningless or and that could be the most important things that are happening, but fundamentally, they are what is happening. It is what is going on. And so much of music and art and and wonderful creations have been made to help make sense of that phenomenon, that everything is nothing, but nothing is everything at all at the same time, and life is what happens while you are making plans, this, that and the other thing. We’re all trying to carpe DM it, and Yolo it, and self care it, and do all of. It. But I do believe that I’m not saying that to say that we should dismiss things, that we should trivialize things, it’s the opposite. I think we need to recognize that everything that we’re doing is is important in some form or fashion, but most importantly that how you think about your situation is what matters. And the answer to the question is that I shouldn’t just be apathetic and go with the flow with everything, because it doesn’t matter. And the extreme opposite of that is also not the wisest decision to treat every second as the most important thing that’s ever happened in the history of humanity. Like everything we need to find are just right. We need to find that sweet spot between relaxing and and enjoying and working hard and pushing it, striving, and that’s what we’re all trying to do some of the time. Whether we’re thinking about this stuff all the time, I don’t know, because that whole laundry thing, it’s easy just to, just to have the tail wagging the dog just that one alone. But obviously, if you’re a homeowner, then there’s then there’s house upkeep and chores around the house and landscaping and yard work and all this other stuff. So laundry is just one of many, many, many, and literally unlimited number of things. But I think I know that because we do have one crack at this, we have one time around the track from a a life perspective, and while we are pulled along and pushed along and nudged along and and all that stuff, I think that there is a design that we can put on it so that we get a little bit closer to what it is that we want, while at the same time recognizing that there is certainly going to be a continuum or a spectrum of the value of the different things that we are doing, because a load of laundry is simply a load of laundry, but it also is something that has to get done. So I’m not saying that you’re going to give laundry 110% and be super excited about doing it, so that’s probably on the less important end of the spectrum. But then you can look at the things that are more meaningful potentially, which are those little conversations that you’re having with your kids or your spouse, or how you are paying attention to the things that you are doing or the things that your kids are doing, like the kids soccer game, how important is that to you? How important is that to him or her, and how locked in do we need to be? Because it could be really easy just to go through the motions. And you get to the end of the weekend, and then it’s Monday again, and we haven’t really been locked into any of it. You haven’t felt like you’ve been a super active participant in in all of it. You could be just going through those motions and keeping an eye on the future and what you’re going to be doing next, or how things are going to be different later on. And this is something that I 100% have been guilty of over the course of my life, and I’m working on changing it, which is why I’m talking about it, because if I am going through some of these feelings and experiences, I imagine that that you may also have experienced some of these things at some point, if you ever been in a room or at a dinner or at some kind of an event or whatever it is that you’re doing, and wondering, like, why am I why am I here? Why am I spending time doing this, what a waste of time. And those are thoughts that I’ve certainly had. And if you think that, then you are wasting your time without question. This is a missed opportunity to be dialed in, to be locked in, to be to be engaged in whatever it is that you are doing. Very definition of a waste of time is to have gone through something and allocated time towards that something, and then to look back and to realize that you hadn’t given it its due and that you did just squander it. Maybe that’s better term for it. You squandered the opportunity to to be fully engaged in whatever it was that you’re doing. And if that’s by design, then that’s totally fine. Great. You want to zone out. You want to burn a couple hours. Great. Do that 100%

tune out, lay on the couch, watch some shows. Just you know. Will be totally passive, fine, but if we’re in the habit of or that’s just how we go through life and operate, well, then I think that we’re making a mistake. And again, this is something that I’ve noticed in myself throughout the course of my life, always keeping an eye on something else that’s going on. So my message is not be more mindful. My message is not be more present because it goes so fast. I’m not saying that. What I am saying is we need to decide what it is that that that does matter to us, and really think about when I find myself zoning out or find myself not being totally engaged. Why is it that I’m doing that? And are there small shifts or thinking changes in my thinking that could bring me closer to be more engaged or be more locked in be more present in whatever it is that I’m doing, and if I can find those things, ought I do them? I think that the answer is yes. Because why not? Why not be more locked in? Why not be more engaged? Why not treat what you’re doing and the people that you’re with as being of value, being important. So deciding what matters, deciding what matters. And then the next thing is making good, conscious decisions based on what matters. If you want to feel really locked in to your household, mundane chores, well, then decide to do that. Figure out how to do it if you want to be more locked in at your kids soccer game, instead of feeling like you’re just a taxi driver who is dropping kids off and picking them up and not really paying attention to what’s going on. Well, then decide that you’re going to do that and figure out find some ways to be more locked in. It’s true of our relationships, our friendships, or work. It’s true of everything, because wasting time and effort and attention, I think, is a real shame, and I want to stop doing that as much as I can. I want to get to the point where 80% of of my activity, of what I’m doing, is more locked in, versus more passive, just going through the motions. So that’s that. That’s just me. And then we need to make sure that we have the signal we found, that signal that keeps reminding us of what is important. And then tune out the rest. You remember going through the radio, if you or maybe it’s really possible that you don’t back when you would actually tune a radio by turning the knob, and you would find your station that way, for it was digital, and it would just be static, and that means you don’t have the signal when you’re just listening to the static. And then you come up to the station. It gets a little louder, and then you find it. You get right on, right on the station. You find your signal. And in a lot of ways, that’s really what I’m talking about, is if we’re not locked in, if we’re just going through the motions, we’re living life in static. We’re just sort of looking around for signal. We’re wandering. We’re roaming around, and that’s fine sometimes, but I advocate, I assert that if we’re to get the lives that we want, if you’re to find at the end of your life that you lived a fulfilled life, it’s going to come down to whether or not we can frequently find that signal, or if we’re just living in static, and it’s easy to do, I know that I’ve, again, I’ve been guilty of this just tolerating static, or accepting static, or living in static without really knowing it. And I guess that that’s, that’s, that’s the worst thing. The worst thing is just, you know, being unconsciously incompetent, just totally oblivious to everything. That’s for sure, the worst, but I think it’s even worse, when you actually know that you’re capable of something. You’re capable of, of designing a better situation or curating a better experience for yourself, and you just don’t do it, just willfully living in the static versus turning that just a couple turns and finding this signal. So we’re consciously in a situation and thinking about doing something else we’re 100% and we’re aware of that we are 100% choosing to live in the static so we know what we want, when we know what matters, whether we like to do what matters or not, laundry, mundane household tasks. Yes, there’s still a way for us to find signal in all of this. There’s still a way that we can get to the point where, where it all matters, instead of everything is nothing and nothing is everything. That’s what we want to do. We want to decide what matters. We want to make good decisions based on what matters. And then we want to create the conditions for enjoying or for being fully engaged in as much as we can be. Again, not an affinity war, not advocating that you’re just enjoying Extreme Productivity or you’re extremely locked in all the time. But if we can get to 80% of the time, I think that that’s a recipe for for a better life, for life better lived, for a more examined, more thought out life. And what’s the downside of that? I think that getting more of what you want is certainly a positive thing. I can decide what it is that I want, if I can decide what it matters or what matters, if I can decide how I want to feel, and then if I can position myself and do or position myself to receive more of those things that I want, why wouldn’t I do that? Why wouldn’t I do that? And that’s what I am working to do. It’s not easy, not a game of perfect. But I think that that is a big part of this. So working to find the signal. So you need to figure out exactly what that signal is to find it. And then once I do, try and stay on that try to tune out that noise, try to tune out the static, try to tune out the BS that is pulling you away from what is most important. And I think in a lot of ways, that is the challenge and the opportunity of living today. We’re at this point in between. You know, hey, here’s a new tool. Here’s a smartphone. It’s got the internet on it, it’s got social media on it. It’s got all the news of the World right at your fingertips. Good luck, and you can buy everything. It’s no surprise that we’re struggling because we do not have this signal currently. When you look around at every metric, we’re overweight, we’re broke, we’re stressed out, we’re anxious, we’re up to our eyeballs, prescription drugs and everything else. That’s just evidence that we haven’t found the signal. Just evidence you haven’t found the signal. So that would be my recommendation for anybody who is trying to lead a more just a happier life, more contented, a more fulfilled life, to get more of what you want? Oh, we have to know what we want. We have to know what that signal is that we’re searching for. We need to find it, and once we found it, we need to be good stewards of it and curate what else we’re listening to, what else we’re looking at, what else we’re letting in, and do that as consistently as we possibly can. And I know that once you do it once, like, okay, sort of figure it out now I got it. I’m going to get better at this. This is something I can consistently do. This is something I can I can make part of my life. This is a new version of me who is now more locked in doing more of the things that I value the most, what’s, what’s, what’s, what’s what’s most important. Because in a world where everything is nothing and nothing is everything, and and life is what happens while you’re making your plans, or while you’re thinking about something else or whatever, we all know, we all know we should be more present. Let’s just different spin on it. Different take on it. Find the signal in your life, stick to it, tune out the static. I think that’ll get you closer as it’s getting me closer to what it is that I want, and that’s what I want for you as always, do your part by doing your best. You.

george grombacher 16:00
So if I want my iPhone, and my Tesla and my Bitcoin to work, we need to get the metal out of the ground.

Pierre Leveille 16:07
Absolutely. Without it, we cannot do it.

george grombacher 16:13
Why? Why is there a Why has production been going down.

Pierre Leveille 16:21
Because the large mines that are producing most of the copper in the world, the grades are going down slowly they’re going there, they’re arriving near the end of life. So and of life of mines in general means less production. And in the past, at least 15 years, the exploration expenditure for copper were pretty low, because the price of copper was low. And when the price is low, companies are tending to not invest more so much in exploration, which is what we see today. It’s it’s, it’s not the way to look at it. Because nobody 15 years ago was able to predict that there would be a so massive shortage, or it’s so massive demand coming. But in the past five years, or let’s say since the since 10 years, we have seen that more and more coming. And then the by the time you react start exploring and there’s more money than then ever that is putting in put it in expression at the moment for copper at least. And what we see is that the it takes time, it could take up to 2025 years between the time you find a deposit that it gets in production. So but but the year the time is counted. So it’s it’s very important to so you will see company reopening old mines, what it will push also, which is not bad, it will force to two, it will force to find a it will force to find ways of recalibrating customer, you know the metals, that will be more and more important.

george grombacher 18:07
So finding, okay, so for lack of a better term recycling metals that are just sitting around somewhere extremely important. Yeah. And then going and going back to historic minds that maybe for lack of technology, or just lack of will or reasons, but maybe now because there’s such a demand, there’s an appetite to go back to those.

Pierre Leveille 18:33
Yes, but there will be a lot of failures into that for many reasons. But the ones that will be in that will resume mining it’s just going to be a short term temporary solution. No it’s it’s not going to be you need to find deposit that will that will operate 50 years you know at least it’s 25 to 50 years at least and an old mind that you do in production in general it’s less than 10 years.

george grombacher 19:03
Got it. Oh there we go. Up here. People are ready for your difference making tip What do you have for them

Pierre Leveille 19:14
You mean an investment or

george grombacher 19:17
whatever you’re into, you’ve got so much life experience with raising a family and doing business all over the world and having your kids go to school in Africa so a tip on copper or whatever you’re into.

Pierre Leveille 19:34
But there’s two things I like to see and I was telling my children many times and I always said you know don’t focus on what will bring you specifically money don’t think of Getting Rich. Think of doing what you what you like, what you feel your your your your your, you know you have been born to do so use your most you skills, do what you like, do what you wet well, and good things will happen to you. And I can see them grow in their life. And I can tell you that this is what happens. And sometimes you have setback like I had recently. But if we do things properly, if we do things that we like, and we liked that project, we were very passionate about that project, not only me, all my team, and if we do things properly, if we do things correctly, good things will happen. And we will probably get the project back had to go forward or we will find another big project that will be the launch of a new era. So that’s my most important tip in life. Do what you like, do it with your best scale and do it well and good things will happen.

george grombacher 20:49
Pierre Leveille 21:03
Thank you. I was happy to be with you to today.

george grombacher 21:06
Damn, tell us the websites and where where people can connect and find you.

Pierre Leveille 21:13
The it’s Deep South resources.com. So pretty simple.

george grombacher 21:18
Perfect. Well, if you enjoyed this as much as I did show up here your appreciation and share today’s show with a friend who also appreciate good ideas, go to deep south resources, calm and learn all about what they’re working on and track their progress.

Pierre Leveille 21:32
Thanks. Thanks, have a nice day.

george grombacher 21:36
And until next time, keep fighting the good fight. We’re all in this together.