Principles of Self Management

So I’ve got good news, or I’ve got really, really, really terrible news for you. You’re in charge. You are in charge responsible, the primary driver, the recipient of your success. You are in charge of becoming and being a self manager, what do you think about that? What do you think about that? It’s pretty heavy. Pretty heavy. I remember learning what that meant years and years and years ago, when I got into the management role, management stage of my career, where I’d spent seven years developing a clientele so learning all about sales and marketing and just everything that goes along with being a financial services professional, being a financial advisor, it’s a lot. And then all of a sudden they tapped me on the shoulders. Said, we think that you’d be great at managing. Like, Oh, awesome. Let’s, let’s give this a shot. Thing about that is, I was, you know, 2627 years old ish, and didn’t know anything about much of anything necessarily, aside from the skills that I had acquired over the first seven years of my career. And now I’m going to be recruiting and managing and training and developing other people. So makes sense. So in order to facilitate that transition and to help me to be successful in that role, they send you to like, a four day training session that should take care of it, right? Sure. And I met a gentleman named Bob McCarty, a nice Canadian chap, and he was great. He’s got a company called the self management group, which he talks about becoming a self manager. So he really hit that one out of the park, the name of his company. So Bob, he worked and works with I’m not sure if Bobby’s still with us or not. Rest in peace if you’re not, hope you’re doing great if you are. But I digress, his work is designed to help people in entrepreneurial roles like developing a financial services clientele, but it’s universal. Become better self managers. But I don’t think it’s it’s not the domain of it’s not one industry’s domain that you need to be a self manager. I think that we all need to be self managers, regardless of what professional activity we may be engaged in. I think it’s imperative if you are, if you are desirous of realizing your full potential, of having a great life, of living a life of meaning and living a life of impact, which I’m confident that that’s you, you must develop your self management skills. You must foster and nurture them, because, again, you’re in charge. You’re the person who is making the decisions on what next action to take. The only way that we do that is, why be we position ourselves for success by being good self managers. So it doesn’t mean you know how to do it, just like I talk about all the time. Just do it’s not super helpful. We need to know how to do it, whatever it might be. So need to figure this out, regardless of what arena that you are participating in, if you are a homemaker, if you are the CEO, if you are an entrepreneur, if you are an entrepreneur, need to be good self managers, and that is what we are going to be talking about. And just, I think sometimes we are hopeful that somebody’s going to come and save us. You know, we, we. Most of us were parented. Some of us were raised by wolves, or we seem to act that way, but most of us were parented, and we were used to somebody stepping in and taking care of things, handling things, putting food on the table, putting a roof over our heads and providing a little bit of security in our lives. But as grown ups, you are now, potentially as a parent looked on or looked at, to do that very thing. But even if you’re not 25 years old, you are single guy or gal or whatever, it’s incumbent upon you to be a good self manager and to act as if and as though, because it’s true that nobody is coming to save you, no politician, no eccentric billionaire, no spiritual guru, no nobody is coming to save you if we’re gonna get out of this problem, whatever this problem might be, and that might be up to your. Eyeballs and credit card debt. It might be obesity. It might be just you are feeling a sense of loneliness and that you’re spinning your wheels. The only way out is through. It’s up to you. I’m fond of talking about how I believe that my prime directive, the thing that really animates motivates me, is realizing my fullest potential. And maybe you’re the same way, but you’re you’re in charge. And I know that that’s a heavy thing, super heavy thing, like, oh my goodness me, I’m in charge of this. It’s on my shoulders. Yeah, super heavy, but it’s true. But you already know that. You already know that. You already know that. Yet here we are, many of us, encumbered on, encumbered by what has been, and we need to make sure that we are not encumbered by what has been, so that we’re able to move on to what it is that we want to be there’s lots of things that keep us feeling like we’re stuck or just not getting to where we want to go. And I think that learning how to be a good self manager is a big part of that. Even though it’s kind of an obvious term, it’s sort of a weird term. I think it’s the most empowering thing in the world, once you realize that you are capable of of controlling your environment, it’s a locus of control. You have an influence over your environment. You move on from feeling like you are just getting hit all day long and you don’t have any control. You don’t have the hammer. So you’re not hitting anybody. You’re just you’re taking a beating. That’s not a good place to be. So being a self manager means that we’re figuring out how to how to gain a little bit of control, how to get footing, how to get a stable foundation or good solid footing underneath me, so I’m able to start moving in the direction that I really want to be. And I think that, again, that’s essential in the environment that we’re in, which is we’re human beings on planet earth, and to get what we want as human beings on planet Earth. I think that being a self manager gets us there, and it means it means taking responsible for your actions. It means being responsible for your decisions and your time without looking for cues or relying on somebody else to tell you where to be. The context of of being an entrepreneur, if you are somebody who was part of a company and just sort of going along, going with the flow, you’re used to being told where to show up, what time to be there, what to do while you’re there, and what to do, or what, what, what time to leave, kind of a thing. And we have a tendency, and we’re really good at falling into patterns and habits. So it’s easy to fall into these sort of rhythms, but we want to be able to make those kinds of decisions on our own. We want a sense of autonomy. We want that sense of control that I was talking about. So I think that the promise of self management means that we’re going to be more productive, which is not, I’m not. I’m not an Infinity War of just constant improvement. Sometimes I feel like I am. Sometimes I’m not, but I am of the mind that I am constantly learning and progressing and moving forward again, trying to realize my potential. But that doesn’t mean that I’m it’s some kind of hustle porn where I’m working 24/7 blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. It’s just recognizing where I’m at and then giving myself what I need. That’s what self management means. If I need to take the afternoon off and take a nap, that’s exactly what I’m going to do. I feel like I’m getting a cold. I’m going to slow down a little bit so it’s not all gas, no breaks. It is understanding where I’m at, who I am what I want, all these things, and then getting the support and the resources that I need. So that’s really what it’s all about. Being a good self manager. Imagine if you were, if you were in charge of caring for somebody else, and you really cared about that person, what would the resources give them? What resources would you give them in order to get to what, in order to help them get to what they wanted or get to where they wanted to go. If you really cared for them, you’d give them whatever they needed, obviously within reason, without ruining them. And want to give somebody a ton of money. You understand what I’m saying? We want to extend that same courtesy, that same grace, that same love, charity, to ourselves. So how do we do it? How do we do it? Well, I think, like everything that I talk about, we have to have a clear idea of what it is that we want. The only way to live how you want is to know how you want to live. So it’s, it’s it’s goal setting. It’s having clear, clearly laid out goals on the direction of the life that. You really want. I

talk about the six areas, family, community, personal development, career and financial well being, and then peace of mind. So what is it that you want in each one of those areas? And just understanding how to effectively set goals and work towards attaining them, so that they’re a little bit of a stretch, but not so far that you’re never going to reach them, and you’re going to get frustrated, and it’s going to be disengaging. So that’s a really important thing, making sure that you understand what the most important things are. So it’s a matter of prioritization. In order to get what you want, you have to know what’s most important, and then you need to treat the things that are most important as though they are the most important thing, because not everything can be the most important thing. When I start acting like everything is important, nothing becomes important. And that’s not the way that things are some things are of greater value than other things, and certainly some things are way more important than other things. So I need to figure out what it is that I want. I need to know what matters, and then I need to do what matters in service of what it is that I want. So plenty to have different ways to to prioritize. Then I need to be able to stick to it. I need to be able to stick to my plan. So that requires self discipline. So not a surprise that being a good self manager demands that I have the self discipline to be able to do that. Now this is super tricky, especially as we’re getting started, so we may find that we have a hard time holding ourselves accountable, because not we’re not accustomed to holding ourselves accountable. And that’s that is awesome, but it’s such a wonderful piece of self awareness. Saying, You know what, I know what I’m supposed to be doing, but I am having a really hard time. I am coming up short than actually doing it. So being self disciplined doesn’t mean I have to do all of it, but I have to give myself the resources in order to do it, so that could be finding some kind of an accountability partner saying, Hey, we’re both doing similar things. Can we check in throughout the day just to make sure that we’re staying on top of all of it? And the more habits that we can develop, the more routines and habits, I think that the more successful we’re going to be. I think that that’s really the key. It’s understanding what it is that I want. It’s understanding what’s needed and then creating habits and routines around doing what is needed. I need to be that self aware person and to be reflective so to be able to look backwards. Goal setting is looking forwards. Reflection is looking backwards and assessing and checking in on what’s been working, what’s not working, what adjustments do I need to make? Of any I’ve made some mistakes. Let’s find value in these mistakes, because every every f up, there’s certainly something to be derived or taken from it that’s going to help us to be more successful. And been talking about accountability, emotional regulation. I think that this is maybe, maybe one of the biggest ones. Could be one of the biggest ones, just because so much of what we do, if not all of what we do, is based on how we feel about things. Remember reading about Daniel Kahneman for sure rest in peace. He said that he determined to figure it out that 90% of the decisions we make around money are based on emotion. So that’s most of them. So think about this. Think about the Pareto distribution that says that 80% of causes lead to rather 20% of actions lead to 80% of the results. So a small portion of causes or inputs leads to a large port, large portion of effects or outputs. So 20% of what you do results in 80% of what you get? Well, I think that in terms of our thinking, if you think about all the different thoughts you have throughout the day, I bet it’s about 1% of our thoughts that actually drive 99% of our behaviors. It’s not like all of your thoughts throughout the day are brand new thoughts. In fact, I believe, I bet, and I should research this, that a lot of it’s rewind. We’re just playing the Greatest Hits, good or bad, going back through stuff that we screwed up on, or things that we really want to have another crack at, or it’s revisionist history, or whatever it might be. I bet that you have the same thoughts, some of the same thoughts, every day, like recurring nightmares, or maybe maybe positive, but I bet it’s a classic paraded distribution that a very, very, very small percentage of our thinking drives very, very large percentage of our behaviors. So being able to regulate our emotions, to regulate our. Feelings, particularly when things are not going well, that’s going to allow us to make those better decisions, so understanding what my next best decision is, and then being able to recognize, okay, I’m in the weeds, I’m having an emotional time right now, or for whatever reason, I’m just not doing the things that I know that I ought to be doing, particularly if I’m a very scheduled person. I know I’m supposed to be making phone calls right now or be studying for my test right now, but I’m just scrolling through social media instead. Okay. Well, this is a I think you could look at that as a matter of emotional regulation, because it’s a form of avoidance behavior. And you’re engaging in avoidance behavior because you don’t feel like doing the thing that you’re supposed to be doing. So feelings again, it’s okay. Feelings are wonderful. They’re wonderful. Life Without feelings would be terrible, be awful, probably not worth living. I always think back to old timey movies where it starts off and it’s all grayscale. It’s black and white, and then, like from the Wizard of Oz, the moment where the color comes in. Sure, there’s a lot of movies like that, but that would be, you know, life without feelings would be the black and white. Feelings are what make life beautiful and worth living, and the ups and the downs. So I’m not saying that they’re bad. I’m not saying that they’re to be avoided or to get rid of. What I am saying is I want you to feel them and then make a good decision as a good self manager on what the next best action to take is. So predo always showing up because it’s super interesting. And the idea that we only have, obviously we have so many different thoughts throughout the day, but how many of those are really of value to us and just understanding, just because I’m thinking something and feeling something doesn’t mean that I need to be acting on it, and I think a lot of that is going to come back to our or come down to our core beliefs and our values, because those are the filters through which we take in the information, we feel, the feelings, and then we make decisions based on those things. So when we have really clearly defined beliefs, core values, they become mental patterns for how we’re processing information, and then we process the information, and then hopefully we execute on the habits and the routines that we have in place. So it’s an interesting thing. Think about it like this, if you’ve ever meditated, have you ever meditated? Think it’s a really valuable and important thing. And I think that probably when you ask somebody, when you ask everybody, have you ever thought about meditating? And gotta imagine that 90% of the time, the answer is, oh, I just couldn’t do that. Too busy in mind. Well, that’s a real dumb thing to say, because we all have extremely busy minds, and your mind is not any busier than anybody else’s. Maybe it is, but probably not, probably not. And if it were, then that would be the biggest reason why you need to meditate to be able to control your mind. That’s all Meditation really is, is you are sharpening your ability to control the way that your brain is working and to focus your brain on what it is that you want your brain to focus on. So in many ways, it is such a critical key to being a self manager, if you agree with me, that emotional regulation is also a critically important skill to be able to have to get things done and to actually execute. So look at that. I really talked myself into the importance of meditation again, which you probably already knew, just like you already knew the importance of goal setting and all these kinds of things that we know we’re supposed to be doing, but we just don’t necessarily do all the time. Gratitude being another one of those. Anyway, what I wanted to talk about with meditation is the whole idea is that our minds do wander. New thoughts are popping in all the time, but it’s like the dog from up where the new thought pops up and it’s squirrel, and your brain just runs after the new thought. Now we’re thinking about one thing. We’re focused on, our our anchor. And it could be you’re thinking about a coffee cup. You’re

thinking about a coffee cup, and all of a sudden you think about the phone call you’re supposed to be making, or you think about how you have to pick your kids up from school, and that’s okay, that the thoughts come in, but the idea is that you notice that it’s there, but then you come back to the coffee cup. Back to the coffee cup, back to the coffee cup. You train your brain to instead of bouncing around all the time, no, we’re focused on this thing, we focus back on this thing. So your thoughts take you off center, pull them back in, notice it, and then correct. We’re wagging the tail, table, table, the tail is not wagging the dog. So thinking a lot of this, it’s making the decision that I’m interested in being a good self manager. I’m interested in feeling good about about the work that I’m doing, and all this kind of stuff, we get to decide and what we’re talking about getting what we want. Self management. Being a good self manager is a really important weapon, tool in your toolbox, arrow in your quiver. They’ll help you to get to where it is that you want to go. So there it is. If it’s to be it’s up to me or you. In this case, I want you to get what you want, whatever that is. I think you’re worthy of the life that you want. You’re even deserving of the life that you want, but you are not entitled to it. Nobody’s coming to save you. I was going to give it to you. You need to get out there and earn it. Get out there and take the future that you want 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.