April 14, 2025 • 34 mins
What happens when martial arts philosophy meets business leadership and personal development? Jene Burk knows firsthand. Originally planning to become a psychologist, Jene's life took an unexpected turn that launched him into a four-decade operations career while simultaneously deepening his practice of martial arts. The result? A unique perspective on personal growth that blends Eastern wisdom with practical workplace applications.
In this conversation, Jene reveals how the mind-body connection forms the foundation of both mental wellness and professional success. "We've kind of forgotten in the West that what affects the body absolutely affects the mind and vice versa," he explains, sharing how his martial arts training became a sanctuary from work stress and a laboratory for developing resilience.
Jene's three books – "Dojo of the Mind," "The Iron Road," and "Striking Success" – each explore different aspects of how martial arts principles translate into powerful life strategies. From building your personal brand through consistency to embracing failure as a teacher, his approach offers refreshing alternatives to conventional self-improvement wisdom. "Seven times down, eight times up," he quotes, explaining the Japanese philosophy that reframes failure as simply part of the growth process.
Perhaps most compelling is Jene's passionate advocacy for mentorship, especially for young professionals. Drawing from his experiences helping martial arts students build confidence and guiding new employees through workplace challenges, he emphasizes how mentors provide perspectives we might never discover alone. His advice for creating positive change? Apply the "Milo principle" – making tiny, consistent improvements that compound dramatically over time.
Whether you're struggling with self-doubt, building a new skill, or seeking to understand how physical discipline creates mental strength, Jene's practical wisdom offers actionable insights for transformation. Check out his YouTube channels "Mind Armor" and "3M Productions" to continue learning from his unique perspective on personal development.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the Living the Dream Podcast with
Curveball, if you believe youcan achieve.
Welcome to the Living the Dreamwith Curveball Podcast, a show
where I interview guests thatteach, motivate and inspire.
(00:23):
Where I interview guests thatteach, motivate and inspire.
Today, I am joined by author,leader and storyteller, gene
Burke.
Gene has over 30 years ofoperations experience.
He has a passion for martialarts, as well as mentoring and
inspiring others, so we're goingto be talking about him talking
to him about everything that hedoes and what he's going to be
(00:46):
up to next.
So, Gene, thank you so much forjoining me.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
A real pleasure to be on your show.
Thank you, why don't you startoff by telling everybody a
little bit about yourself?
Yeah, so you know kind of beenin operations management for
over 30 years, actually comingup on 40 years so I have a
wealth of operations managementexperience across quite a few
different platforms.
I've been involved in themartial arts for many years.
(01:13):
Truly enjoy that.
I have a wonderful familywonderful wife, kids and
grandkids and I enjoyparticularly helping younger
folks as they're coming in,especially into the workforce,
but also in general.
It's a real passion of minejust because I think in society
today many younger folks inparticular, but really everyone
(01:38):
they need maybe a little bit ofmentorship and guidance and
hopefully I can help in somesmall way mentorship and
guidance and hopefully I canhelp in some small way.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
Okay, well, tell the listeners what made you want to
get into operations and martialarts.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
Well, kind of funny.
So originally operationsmanagement was something I
wasn't planning on and, believeit or not, originally I wanted
to be a psychologist.
I have a bachelor's degree inpsychology and my original plan
was to become a psychologist.
But you know, life has itsturns and you know I couldn't
(02:11):
complete school, so I actuallywent into management.
Oddly enough, you know,obviously many years ago it was.
You know, obviously many yearsago I think I was on a line for
UPS and I lived in Brooklyn atthe time and UPS used to have
biweekly kind of call outs wherethey would have people coming
(02:32):
in.
And you know, at the time Ijust needed a job and I was the
only out of about 100 peopleonline.
I was the only guy in a suit.
So one of the managers waswalking down the line and saw me
and said, hey, you know, cometalk with.
You know, come talk to me.
And he found out that I had adegree in psychology and I had a
college degree in general.
And then, um, that kind ofstarted my path inadvertently
(02:54):
into the operations field.
So it wasn't my original planbut it worked out quite well.
And then with the martial arts,you know, I was involved
originally when I was younger.
Actually, I started out inweightlifting and did many years
in weightlifting, competed insome bodybuilding shows when I
was younger, did some collegeon-campus college powerlifting.
(03:18):
You know, martial arts became apassion of mine just because
you know I was always intriguedby not just the power of it but
also just the concept of it.
And you know I explored a lotof different styles and you know
I found a great teacher and Istarted my path in the martial
(03:40):
arts.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
So that's been been quite a journey, quite a fun
journey.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
So what made you feel the need to start sharing your
insights and experience with theworld?
Well, you know, great question.
So you know I had two greatparents, but I come from a
broken home and I know thatsounds cliche maybe today, but
you know, as a young man, youknow I would see my you know
father, you know really onSundays and you know, when
you're growing up as a you knowas a young kid and a teenager,
(04:14):
you know you're not going to gotalk to your mom about a bunch
of stuff.
So when I began, and then astime went on, I learned a lot
from that, obviously.
And then, as I, you know, asI've gone through the operations
as a manager over the years andI've seen so many young folks
coming into the workforce andyou know, and in the martial
arts I would see so many youknow young folks coming into the
(04:36):
school and you would see kidscoming in and you know they
might be shy or, you know, nothave a lot of confidence, and
you know working with theinstructor.
You know not have a lot ofconfidence and you know working
with the instructor.
You know Alfred de Graziaabsolutely phenomenal instructor
, dear, dear friend of mine.
But you would see people changeand you would see their
(04:56):
confidence grow and become moreself-assured.
So, you know, I began to thinkback, you know, over the last
few years, about you know, maybeis there something I can do,
maybe to you know, give some.
You know, listen, I'm no expert, you know everyone's different.
But having said that, I've beenaround long enough and been
(05:19):
exposed to enough situations andseen enough young people coming
into the workforce anddeveloping that, I thought maybe
I could give some pointers andsome tips to help people become
more successful and transitioninto the work world a little
easier.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
Well, you also talk about how important it is to
take care of yourself,professionally and personally.
So explain to the listeners howimportant that is and why
that's a passion of yours.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
Yeah, you know.
So it's really, reallyimportant.
You know, one of the things andI have these conversations all
the time, you know, and I haveconversations internally in my
own head about this, you know,because humans, typically, you
know, people are typically very,very hard on themselves and you
know, very are typically very,very hard on themselves and you
know, very often we will be muchmore difficult with what we'll
(06:08):
say to ourselves internally thanwhat we would ever say to
somebody else.
So, you know, from a mentalstandpoint and from a mental
health standpoint, I think it'svery important to you know,
people give themselves a break alittle bit.
You know we live in a verystressful world.
There's a lot of things pullingus in a lot of different
directions and, you know, in inline with that, you know, I
(06:30):
think, particularly in Westernculture, we've kind of forgotten
the mind body connection, youknow.
So it's really important to thebest of people's abilities.
You know, everyone obviouslyhas different abilities.
Restrictions that could bephysical restrictions, that
could be physical restrictions,that could be time restrictions,
that could be environmentalrestrictions.
But to do your best to takecare of your body and your mind,
(06:51):
you know, because that affectsthe mind, you know and I think
we've kind of forgotten a littlebit in the West that you know
what affects the body absolutelyaffects the mind and vice versa
.
You know, we've all had dayswhere you know you're very
stressed out and because of thestress you might be getting a
very bad headache or you mighthave an upset stomach.
(07:12):
And you know vice versa.
You know you could beabsolutely in a elated mood and
feel great about yourself and,you know, take on a task, a
physical task that you knowsometimes in the past might have
seemed more difficult, butbecause you're in a great frame
of mind it seems easier.
So I think it's really veryimportant for people to look at
(07:33):
all aspects.
It's not one or the other, it'sboth.
And I think people and this maysound cliche as well, but you
know, I think people need to bekind to themselves, you know, as
well as to those around them,obviously.
But I think it's very importantfor people to take a break and
(07:53):
that's one of the reasons why Ithink like martial arts.
And you know, in my book, dojoof the Mind, I use that martial
arts as an example because I'veseen it, I've seen it with
myself and I've seen it withmyself and I've seen it with so
many people over the years.
So what I think is really and Ithink it's proven time and again
, and even before the martialarts or the weightlifting, I had
(08:14):
the same experience you know,when you're doing something
that's focusing your attentionoutside of yourself, it gives
yourself, oddly enough, a break.
So you know, if I was in thedojo you know the karate school,
and we were having aparticularly hard class that day
whether it was because thetopic was difficult to learn or
(08:36):
the physical demands of theclass was very hard you know I
can tell you I wasn't thinkingabout what a bad day I had to
work the day before.
I wasn't thinking about all theproblems I had.
I was thinking about what a badday I had to work the day
before.
I wasn't thinking about all theproblems I had.
I was thinking about what'sright in front of me and I need
to get through this.
And that could be withweightlifting, like martial arts
, for example.
(08:57):
It could be gardening, it couldliterally be anything that
helps you take yourself out ofyourself a little bit.
And I know that may sound likean odd phrase, but you know I
think so many times mentallywe're looped into patterns and
you know neural pathways overtime become stronger and
stronger.
So you know, if someone isconstantly worried about
(09:17):
something in particular, itbecomes easier to worry about it
just because you know yourneurons are firing in a certain
way and it becomes kind of apattern.
So I think it's reallyimportant to break the pattern
sometime and and to be and togive yourself time for yourself
and I think that's veryimportant and be kind to
yourself well, you mentionedyour book, so go ahead and tell
(09:37):
the listeners about your book.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
You know to tell them what they can expect.
You got three books, so tellthem what they can expect when
they read them and where theycould get them oh great, thank
you.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
I Thank you.
I appreciate that.
Yeah, so I have three books outand a book that's kind of a
booklet.
It's more of a soft skillself-defense book, but you know,
the dojo of the mind kind of itties into the mind body
connection and how the martialarts and I use martial arts as
an example here, but again, itcould be any sport, any activity
(10:07):
, it doesn't have to be a sport,it could be anything that's
physical how it can help withmental wellness.
And one of the things I stressin the book which is really
really important, and this isespecially for men, young men
and men in general, and this isespecially for men, young men
(10:28):
and men in general If you'rehaving problems, you know,
having some emotional problemsor some mental wellness problems
, it's really really critical toseek out professional help.
You know, I think part of theproblem, especially, you know,
in Western culture, isespecially for men.
If you ask for help in thatmanner, you're considered weak
or you're considered, you know,you know I mean weak literally,
(10:51):
I mean there's no other, betterway to say it, and I think
that's actually a strength.
You know so.
But the book goes into howtraining can help with things
you know, with goal setting,with resilience, with building
self-confidence, the sheer joythat you can have in training.
You know you have to be kind ofstoic sometimes because the
(11:13):
training can be difficult.
You know you have to be stoicsometimes because you might not
want to go to class, becausemaybe you had a really bad day
at work or and this could beeven going to the gym this could
be anything.
But you know you have to kindof develop the discipline to go
and you know, most of the timeswhen you go you force yourself
to go.
You feel better after it.
(11:34):
So, and it goes through a wholelist of categories you know
self-compassion and you knowrealizing that you're going to
fail.
You know I think that's one ofthe things that hold a lot of
people back, and I see this alot with young folks coming into
the workforce.
They're terrified.
They're terrified to fail.
You know the only way you failis if you don't learn from it,
(11:55):
you know.
So there's a Japanese phrasethat really resonated with me
and that's the phrase is seventimes down, eight times up, and
the philosophy behind that isyou know you're going to fail,
but as long as you get up you'renot failing.
So that book kind of coversthat.
I have another book called theIron Road and what that's about
(12:19):
is and I actually originallywrote it for young men
specifically but the feedbackI've gotten on it from some of
the readers is that, you know,it's equally as important for
young women.
You know, and this book goesinto, and this is kind of a
(12:41):
guide, if you would say how tobuild your own brand.
You know, one of the thingsthat I don't think people
realize is and we all know this,but it's not really often
talked about is everyonedevelops their own brand, you
know.
So you know, like there's Coke,there's Pepsi, there's, you
know, mountain Dew, you know,use that as example of brands.
Well, we all know that thereare people that you could be in.
(13:02):
Let's say, you're at a partyand someone walks into the room
and we all know there are somepeople that just light up the
room Right Immediately.
They walk into the room.
Everybody feels better.
And there are also people whowill walk into a room and
everybody's stomach sinksbecause they, you know, they
know something's going to happen, meaning you know some drama or
something.
(13:23):
That's a brand.
You've developed that brandover time.
So what this book addresses ishow to develop good patterns.
You know the power of your word.
You know if you give your wordyou're going to do something.
You know no matter howuncomfortable it is doing it, if
you're giving your word to doit, you know you really should
follow through with it To thinkabout what you're saying.
(13:44):
You know mindful speech.
You know really kind of thinkabout what you're going to say.
You know the power of words.
You know People often thinkabout abuse as physical.
You know you can say somethingto a friend doesn't really
impact strangers that much.
It can.
Certainly it can have differentoutcomes with strangers,
meaning it can go in a directionyou're not anticipating and
(14:07):
typically if you've saidsomething you know really unkind
, it could turn into a situationthat you weren't anticipating,
which might not turn out well.
But you know power of speech isso powerful.
You could say something to afriend in a matter of, in a
moment of anger that can changethat relationship forever and
(14:27):
once it's out there you can'ttake it back.
So you know things like that.
You know how to how to transform.
You know people were.
You know we live in a verymaterialistic world and people
are always looking for more anda lot of people.
I talk to some people at workand you talk to some of these
young folks coming in and theyseem kind of jealous about what
(14:48):
other people have.
Well, how do you transform that?
How do you transform thatjealousy into admiration and
then drive to get better or totry to achieve more, to get
better or to try to achieve more?
So that book goes into a wholelist of steps people can take
and and reflections they can doto to build their own personal
brand, both professionally andpersonally.
(15:10):
I mean it crosses both ways.
And then another book I have iscalled striking success.
This is a striking success andactually dojo of the mind right
now I'm revisingjo of the mindright now.
Uh, there, I'm revising uh,both of the editions so they'll
be back up on amazon within acouple of weeks.
But all all of these books arefound on amazoncom if you just
(15:31):
search gene burke, um and uh.
Striking success was about, uh,how martial art philosophies can
transfer very effectively intoleadership principles.
So it's really, really good foryoung managers coming in, new
managers coming in and mid-rangemanagers coming in, because it
(15:52):
goes over everything from, youknow, keeping mental clarity,
keeping emotion out of businessdecisions which can be, you know
, fatal in a business decisionif you're very emotionally
driven by something and notalways thinking clearly.
You know how to be aware notonly of yourself.
You know, often people are notself-aware of what they're doing
(16:14):
and how their actions areimpacting others, but also be
aware of your surroundings, yourcompetition and your team.
You know how to thinkstrategically.
You know in the martial artsyou have to think about ways to
beat your opponent.
So all these things kind of tieinto the principles from
martial arts very effectively,translate into good leadership
(16:37):
skills.
And I did a booklet.
It's called Eyes Wide Open andit's basically a self.
It's kind of unusual.
I think it's a self-defensebook that doesn't really have
any techniques in it.
It's all about the soft skillsof self-defense.
You know how to look for danger, how to avoid danger.
You know what's your physicalcapabilities, what?
(17:00):
What can you do?
What can, what can't you do?
What are you willing to do,what don't you do?
What are you willing to do?
What don't you think you can do?
You know a lot of the thingsthat people don't think about in
self-defense.
But unfortunately, you know, ifyou're not aware of it and you
find yourself in a potentiallydangerous situation.
The outcomes might not alwaysturn out the way you want.
So those are some of the thingsI've worked on and I enjoyed
(17:24):
the process very much of gettingit out there and it's been a
fun ride doing that.
Speaker 1 (17:33):
So you always talk about mentors matter, so explain
to the listeners the importanceof having a mentor.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
Yeah, you know, I think, especially today, I think
it's so critical.
I think that you know we'resurrounded by negativity today.
It's really almost fascinating.
But I mean all over the news.
You know, if you pull upYouTube videos, the majority of
YouTube videos are typicallysome type of can be a negative
(18:03):
connotation and we're alwaystold things are bad.
And you know it just sets a badmindset.
So I think it's really important, especially for young people.
It could be anyone really.
I mean I look, I have somementors.
You know I have a dear friendof mine who's a mentor of mine.
We're about the same age buthis life experience he's been
(18:25):
places I haven't been.
So you know I bounce stuff andideas off him.
But mentors are really importantbecause they give you a fresh
perspective on something thatmaybe you haven't experienced.
And for young folks, mentorship, I think is important because
they get and when I meanmentorship I mean like obviously
(18:47):
a positive mentor right.
So sometimes a mentor has totell people something they may
not want to hear, but if it'sdone in the right way, with the
right intention and the righttonality, you know you can
positively change someone's life.
So you know, mentors, I think,are very important because they
could help guide people youngfolks down paths that they may
(19:10):
not have even thought of.
You know I could tell you likeone of the things I think is
really important.
I'll go back to failure again.
Some of the greatest lessonsI've learned have been through
failure.
You know things I never wouldhave thought of happened because
I failed at something.
And through talking to folksyou know people that were around
(19:31):
me and you know that's kind ofour mentorship I discovered some
other paths that maybe neverwould have crossed my mind and
turned out to be very productivein the end.
You know, very beneficial inthe end.
So mentors, I think it's a great.
I think it's great for peopleto have and a mentor could be
someone who's you know face toface.
A mentor could be through books.
A mentor could be through.
(19:53):
You could find someone that youreally like on, for example,
youtube or podcasts like yourshow that provide positive
reinforcement, provide goodguidance to folks and allows the
free exchange of informationwhich I think is critical.
I think a good mentor couldchange someone's life.
(20:14):
I really do and I think it's anongoing process and the mentors
can change over time.
You might have a mentor whenyou're in your 20s and someone
different in your 30s, and so onand so forth.
So I think it's critical.
Speaker 1 (20:26):
Absolutely, it definitely is, so tell us about
any upcoming projects thatyou're working on that listeners
need to be aware of.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
Yeah.
So actually it's kind of funny.
Now I'm exploring this isreally fun because now again,
the processes.
Now I'm exploring this isreally fun because now again the
processes, and during thisprocess I failed a number of
times, you know, trying tounderstand how to get it done.
But I'm starting some YouTubechannels, some content creation,
and one of them is it's called3M Productions.
(20:58):
It's called 3M Productions,it's YouTube, and then Slash,
and then at 3M Productions, va,and what I'm doing is I'm taking
quotes from the greatphilosophers and thinkers
throughout time and as a species, we've had some obviously
(21:20):
remarkable people who havewalked the face of the earth and
there is a wealth ofinformation that is out there
that a lot of times, you know,we don't tap into.
And again, even though it couldbe someone who lived, someone
could be live, someone who'salive now, but it could be
someone who lived, you know,3000 years ago, who had very
insightful ideas about things.
(21:42):
So what I'm doing is I'm I'mdoing that now, and so I take a
quote from a, from a famousquote, from a, from a
philosopher or teacher, and thentry to apply it to today's
(22:03):
world.
How could it positively affectpeople today?
And that is actually that's myapologies.
That's my other channel, whichis the one I'm talking about,
about the philosophers.
It's called Mind Armor, so MindArmor and then it's Mind Armor
Dash For you, and that's aboutthe philosophers and I love it.
(22:23):
And again, you know I'm learningthrough the process.
I had a couple of catastrophicfailures while I was trying to
figure out the technology tokind of get some of these videos
up, but they're getting betterand better and hopefully over
time they continue to get better.
So it's a learning process andI hope people have patience with
that.
But the other channel I have isthat's the 3M Production
(22:44):
channel and what I'm going to beputting on there is things kind
of related to like self-defensesoft skills and some, you know,
maybe down the line, maybe someproduct reviews and some book
reviews and things like that,and hopefully maybe I'll have
some, you know, someconversations with some folks
that I know over the years inthe martial arts.
(23:05):
So just exciting stuff, justtrying to explore different
avenues.
You know there's newtechnologies out there and it's
always fun to explore ways to.
You know.
I like to create content, soit's fun for me.
Speaker 1 (23:23):
Well, I thought I'd I should contact them folks so
people can keep up witheverything that you're up to.
Speaker 2 (23:28):
I'll tell you it's fun.
You know it really is.
It keeps me engaged and I learnsomething, you know like I tell
you the process, you know.
I'll give you an example.
I started writing the books andyou know they all came out
relatively close in time.
Writing the books, and you knowthat, took, they all came out
relatively close in time, butI've been working on them for a
time and then I discovered, um,I discovered that that you could
self-publish on amazon.
(23:48):
So that was a whole process,trying to figure out how to get
the books translated, you know,and converted and self-published
through amazon.
Um, and then now with the, thevideo production, you know there
are days, I'll be honest, it'sfunny, I refer, it's going to
sound so funny, but I refer tomy own books, you know.
(24:11):
So there are days I get up andI'm like, you know, oh my gosh,
you know I don't really feellike trying to create something.
Today, you know, and here'swhat I do.
This goes back to discipline.
It just happened, like two daysago, literally.
So I was trying to, you know,break out a kind of a concept
for one of the self-defense kindof shorts that I do, just some
(24:34):
things, and again, it's not.
It's not technique driven, it'ssoft skills driven.
These videos are typically softskill driven, like about how to
avoid danger and things likethat, and you know group
dynamics and things like thatand group dynamics and things
like that.
And I sat there and I wasstaring at the screen and
nothing was coming to mind, likenothing.
(24:54):
I was just kind of staringthere at the screen.
But the fact that I sat thereand I did it and even though
nothing came out that day, thenext day something did and
that's one of the things that Ithink is so important, and I
talk a lot about this all thetime you know, when you're
trying to develop yourself,whether you're learning a new
(25:16):
skill like, for example, thingsI'm doing now or things that
other people are doing, you knowis to create habits and
consistency.
So you know, for example, whenI'm doing the right now I'm
trying to break into doing theYouTube videos.
So initially there was this kindof a scramble and I was trying
to get everything kind ofwrapped into one and then I
caught myself.
You know I'm like, hey, I'moverwhelming myself.
(25:38):
So now what I do is I get infront of the computer and I sit
there and I force myself to sitthere for 15 minutes, and that
15 minutes may turn into a halfan hour.
If something comes to mind andI begin to develop something, it
may turn into an hour.
But I commit myself, showing upto the computer every day for
(26:00):
15 minutes, and there have beenmany days where nothing is
really coming to mind or theidea that I'm thinking about
just isn't coming, it isn'tflowing right, it's not coming
out of my head, right, I'm nottyping it into the computer,
right, it's not flowing properly.
But the beauty of it is becauseI'm doing it, I'm building a
(26:23):
pattern and I think that's soimportant.
And again, like I caught myself, human tendency you find
something exciting, you want totake it on.
You know full bore and you canoverwhelm yourself, especially
with everything that you havegoing on in life.
Everyone's very, very busytoday.
So, you know, for folks whomaybe want to try something
different whether it's maybethey want to start walking every
(26:45):
day, or maybe lifting weightsevery day, or maybe reading
every, or maybe writing a bookor whatever it might be, it
could be anything it's reallyimportant, I think, to take
smaller steps.
You know I have on my webpage, Ihave a blog as well and it's
called Blogging with Burke kindof a corny title, but one of the
(27:06):
things I recently wrote wasit's called the Milo principle.
So there's a character fromGreek mythology called Milo who
used to pick up.
Every day he would pick up acalf until the calf became a
full grown bull.
So each day there wasmicroscopic changes in the bull.
(27:30):
Maybe not microscopic, maybethe bull might gain a pound or
two.
I don't know how fast bullsgrow, but the idea behind it is
every single day he picked upthe bull until he was strong
enough to pick up a full groundball.
And the idea behind that is, ifyou take small steps, but
consistent steps over time, youcan really do great things.
(27:54):
And that's also in the Japanesehave a concept called Keizen
and that's taking tiny littlesteps every day, little tiny
changes every day that arepositively going in the right
direction.
So those small changes overtime can create a huge change in
you.
So if you think about it, youknow let's say, for example,
(28:19):
let's say you want to trywhatever it is and you have a
goal.
If you think about it, if youpositively move towards that
goal even 1% a week, just 1% aweek, you can make a 50%
positive change in your life inthat particular area.
So, um, you know, that goesback to the power of consistency
(28:41):
, of discipline and of habits,and I think that those three
things, uh, along with a properplan and being flexible to know
when to change, can reallychange people's lives.
You know, for example, you know,during this whole process for
me from whether you know gettingthe books you know
self-published on Amazon to nowdoing some of the content
(29:02):
creation and things like thatyou know I went in with
particular ideas and some of theideas weren't working, so I had
to pivot it.
I had to pivot my approach, andthat's not failure, that's just
kind of understanding thatmaybe something isn't working
the way I want it to.
And that came throughconsistency, because as I kept
going forward with a particularplan, I might keep hitting a
(29:24):
wall.
And then I would ask myself,why am I hitting this wall?
And that would cause me becauseI was consistently doing it
through habit.
And then I would ask myself,why am I hitting this wall?
And that would cause me becauseI was consistently doing it
through habit.
And then I realized, okay, I'mnot getting any further.
Now what do I need to do, andthen you're able to pivot and
change, and I think that canchange people's lives.
Speaker 1 (29:38):
I'll watch your webpage.
Speaker 2 (29:42):
Yeah, so my, uh, my webpage is uh, it's www third
monkey pro Somonkeyprocom, and Ihave a variety of things on
there as well.
You know I have some of theservices that I offer, like I
(30:04):
offer, I'm hoping, and again,I'm building my business here.
So this is brand.
This is kind of new for me aswell.
You know I still have afull-time job but, you know,
down the road I'm trying tobuild some, some things that
that make me, you know, be ableto contribute a little bit and
have some fun doing it.
So you know, there's someservices that I offer.
(30:25):
I have my books up there.
I have some free stuff, somevideos and things like that, and
you know my blog and things.
So it's a lot of fun and, again, that's something that's great
to do.
You know, I'm always kind of Icould tell you the difference
between my web page today andit's going to continue to evolve
, as compared to what it was.
You know, let's see, fourmonths ago.
(30:46):
You know, let's see, fourmonths ago the thing has changed
, has changed structure so manytimes Because I'm learning.
I continually learn what'sworking, what's not working,
what looks good.
I'm always researching, like ifI want to learn something like,
(31:06):
for example, when I'm now, whenI'm learning about how to
create YouTube content, I'vespent hours just researching
other YouTube channels to seewhat I think works and what
doesn't work.
You know, and I'm doing thesame thing with the Web page, so
it's just a lot of fun, keepsme engaged and I'm just having
fun doing it, and that's one ofthe things I think it's
(31:28):
important for people If they dofind something, have fun at it.
You know it should be anenjoyable experience.
You know, if you're doingsomething that you know,
obviously we all have to workright, so you can.
Everyone's going to go intowork some days, or maybe most
days, and not really happy about, you know, having to go into
work for a variety of reasons.
But you know, if you could findkind of and I hate to use the
(31:50):
word because it's really I thinksometimes it's overused but if
you could find your passion andit could be anything and just
kind of, you know, make sure youdo that as much as you can to
kind of give yourself thatself-satisfaction that you're
doing something for yourself andyou're having, you know you're
learning from it, or you mightnot even be learning from it.
(32:14):
You just might be enjoying theexperience.
But I think it's reallyimportant that we take on new
tasks as much as possible.
We should try to enjoy theprocess, because you're only
here once, so you should try totry to make the most of it and
have as much fun as you canalong the way.
Speaker 1 (32:30):
That's right, ladies and gentlemen.
Third, monkey procom.
Check out everything that jeansup to follow rate review.
Share this episode to as manypeople as possible.
Jump on your favorite podcastapp.
Check out the show.
Share it to your friends.
For more information on thisshow, the living the dream
Curveball podcast, go towwwcurveball337.com.
(32:54):
Be sure to check out the newwebsite.
Thank you for listening andsupporting the show, gene.
Thank you for all that you doand thank you for joining me.
Speaker 2 (33:04):
Thank you so much, curtis, it's been a real
pleasure.
Speaker 1 (33:07):
For more information on the Living the Dream with
Curveball podcast, visitwwwcurveball337.com.
Until next time, keep livingthe dream.
Welcome to the Living the Dream Podcast with
Curveball, if you believe youcan achieve.
Welcome to the Living the Dreamwith Curveball Podcast, a show
where I interview guests thatteach, motivate and inspire.
(00:23):
Where I interview guests thatteach, motivate and inspire.
Today, I am joined by author,leader and storyteller, gene
Burke.
Gene has over 30 years ofoperations experience.
He has a passion for martialarts, as well as mentoring and
inspiring others, so we're goingto be talking about him talking
to him about everything that hedoes and what he's going to be
(00:46):
up to next.
So, Gene, thank you so much forjoining me.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
A real pleasure to be on your show.
Thank you, why don't you startoff by telling everybody a
little bit about yourself?
Yeah, so you know kind of beenin operations management for
over 30 years, actually comingup on 40 years so I have a
wealth of operations managementexperience across quite a few
different platforms.
I've been involved in themartial arts for many years.
(01:13):
Truly enjoy that.
I have a wonderful familywonderful wife, kids and
grandkids and I enjoyparticularly helping younger
folks as they're coming in,especially into the workforce,
but also in general.
It's a real passion of minejust because I think in society
today many younger folks inparticular, but really everyone
(01:38):
they need maybe a little bit ofmentorship and guidance and
hopefully I can help in somesmall way mentorship and
guidance and hopefully I canhelp in some small way.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
Okay, well, tell the listeners what made you want to
get into operations and martialarts.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
Well, kind of funny.
So originally operationsmanagement was something I
wasn't planning on and, believeit or not, originally I wanted
to be a psychologist.
I have a bachelor's degree inpsychology and my original plan
was to become a psychologist.
But you know, life has itsturns and you know I couldn't
(02:11):
complete school, so I actuallywent into management.
Oddly enough, you know,obviously many years ago it was.
You know, obviously many yearsago I think I was on a line for
UPS and I lived in Brooklyn atthe time and UPS used to have
biweekly kind of call outs wherethey would have people coming
(02:32):
in.
And you know, at the time Ijust needed a job and I was the
only out of about 100 peopleonline.
I was the only guy in a suit.
So one of the managers waswalking down the line and saw me
and said, hey, you know, cometalk with.
You know, come talk to me.
And he found out that I had adegree in psychology and I had a
college degree in general.
And then, um, that kind ofstarted my path inadvertently
(02:54):
into the operations field.
So it wasn't my original planbut it worked out quite well.
And then with the martial arts,you know, I was involved
originally when I was younger.
Actually, I started out inweightlifting and did many years
in weightlifting, competed insome bodybuilding shows when I
was younger, did some collegeon-campus college powerlifting.
(03:18):
You know, martial arts became apassion of mine just because
you know I was always intriguedby not just the power of it but
also just the concept of it.
And you know I explored a lotof different styles and you know
I found a great teacher and Istarted my path in the martial
(03:40):
arts.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
So that's been been quite a journey, quite a fun
journey.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
So what made you feel the need to start sharing your
insights and experience with theworld?
Well, you know, great question.
So you know I had two greatparents, but I come from a
broken home and I know thatsounds cliche maybe today, but
you know, as a young man, youknow I would see my you know
father, you know really onSundays and you know, when
you're growing up as a you knowas a young kid and a teenager,
(04:14):
you know you're not going to gotalk to your mom about a bunch
of stuff.
So when I began, and then astime went on, I learned a lot
from that, obviously.
And then, as I, you know, asI've gone through the operations
as a manager over the years andI've seen so many young folks
coming into the workforce andyou know, and in the martial
arts I would see so many youknow young folks coming into the
(04:36):
school and you would see kidscoming in and you know they
might be shy or, you know, nothave a lot of confidence, and
you know working with theinstructor.
You know not have a lot ofconfidence and you know working
with the instructor.
You know Alfred de Graziaabsolutely phenomenal instructor
, dear, dear friend of mine.
But you would see people changeand you would see their
(04:56):
confidence grow and become moreself-assured.
So, you know, I began to thinkback, you know, over the last
few years, about you know, maybeis there something I can do,
maybe to you know, give some.
You know, listen, I'm no expert, you know everyone's different.
But having said that, I've beenaround long enough and been
(05:19):
exposed to enough situations andseen enough young people coming
into the workforce anddeveloping that, I thought maybe
I could give some pointers andsome tips to help people become
more successful and transitioninto the work world a little
easier.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
Well, you also talk about how important it is to
take care of yourself,professionally and personally.
So explain to the listeners howimportant that is and why
that's a passion of yours.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
Yeah, you know.
So it's really, reallyimportant.
You know, one of the things andI have these conversations all
the time, you know, and I haveconversations internally in my
own head about this, you know,because humans, typically, you
know, people are typically very,very hard on themselves and you
know, very are typically very,very hard on themselves and you
know, very often we will be muchmore difficult with what we'll
(06:08):
say to ourselves internally thanwhat we would ever say to
somebody else.
So, you know, from a mentalstandpoint and from a mental
health standpoint, I think it'svery important to you know,
people give themselves a break alittle bit.
You know we live in a verystressful world.
There's a lot of things pullingus in a lot of different
directions and, you know, in inline with that, you know, I
(06:30):
think, particularly in Westernculture, we've kind of forgotten
the mind body connection, youknow.
So it's really important to thebest of people's abilities.
You know, everyone obviouslyhas different abilities.
Restrictions that could bephysical restrictions, that
could be physical restrictions,that could be time restrictions,
that could be environmentalrestrictions.
But to do your best to takecare of your body and your mind,
(06:51):
you know, because that affectsthe mind, you know and I think
we've kind of forgotten a littlebit in the West that you know
what affects the body absolutelyaffects the mind and vice versa
.
You know, we've all had dayswhere you know you're very
stressed out and because of thestress you might be getting a
very bad headache or you mighthave an upset stomach.
(07:12):
And you know vice versa.
You know you could beabsolutely in a elated mood and
feel great about yourself and,you know, take on a task, a
physical task that you knowsometimes in the past might have
seemed more difficult, butbecause you're in a great frame
of mind it seems easier.
So I think it's really veryimportant for people to look at
(07:33):
all aspects.
It's not one or the other, it'sboth.
And I think people and this maysound cliche as well, but you
know, I think people need to bekind to themselves, you know, as
well as to those around them,obviously.
But I think it's very importantfor people to take a break and
(07:53):
that's one of the reasons why Ithink like martial arts.
And you know, in my book, dojoof the Mind, I use that martial
arts as an example because I'veseen it, I've seen it with
myself and I've seen it withmyself and I've seen it with so
many people over the years.
So what I think is really and Ithink it's proven time and again
, and even before the martialarts or the weightlifting, I had
(08:14):
the same experience you know,when you're doing something
that's focusing your attentionoutside of yourself, it gives
yourself, oddly enough, a break.
So you know, if I was in thedojo you know the karate school,
and we were having aparticularly hard class that day
whether it was because thetopic was difficult to learn or
(08:36):
the physical demands of theclass was very hard you know I
can tell you I wasn't thinkingabout what a bad day I had to
work the day before.
I wasn't thinking about all theproblems I had.
I was thinking about what a badday I had to work the day
before.
I wasn't thinking about all theproblems I had.
I was thinking about what'sright in front of me and I need
to get through this.
And that could be withweightlifting, like martial arts
, for example.
(08:57):
It could be gardening, it couldliterally be anything that
helps you take yourself out ofyourself a little bit.
And I know that may sound likean odd phrase, but you know I
think so many times mentallywe're looped into patterns and
you know neural pathways overtime become stronger and
stronger.
So you know, if someone isconstantly worried about
(09:17):
something in particular, itbecomes easier to worry about it
just because you know yourneurons are firing in a certain
way and it becomes kind of apattern.
So I think it's reallyimportant to break the pattern
sometime and and to be and togive yourself time for yourself
and I think that's veryimportant and be kind to
yourself well, you mentionedyour book, so go ahead and tell
(09:37):
the listeners about your book.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
You know to tell them what they can expect.
You got three books, so tellthem what they can expect when
they read them and where theycould get them oh great, thank
you.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
I Thank you.
I appreciate that.
Yeah, so I have three books outand a book that's kind of a
booklet.
It's more of a soft skillself-defense book, but you know,
the dojo of the mind kind of itties into the mind body
connection and how the martialarts and I use martial arts as
an example here, but again, itcould be any sport, any activity
(10:07):
, it doesn't have to be a sport,it could be anything that's
physical how it can help withmental wellness.
And one of the things I stressin the book which is really
really important, and this isespecially for men, young men
and men in general, and this isespecially for men, young men
(10:28):
and men in general If you'rehaving problems, you know,
having some emotional problemsor some mental wellness problems
, it's really really critical toseek out professional help.
You know, I think part of theproblem, especially, you know,
in Western culture, isespecially for men.
If you ask for help in thatmanner, you're considered weak
or you're considered, you know,you know I mean weak literally,
(10:51):
I mean there's no other, betterway to say it, and I think
that's actually a strength.
You know so.
But the book goes into howtraining can help with things
you know, with goal setting,with resilience, with building
self-confidence, the sheer joythat you can have in training.
You know you have to be kind ofstoic sometimes because the
(11:13):
training can be difficult.
You know you have to be stoicsometimes because you might not
want to go to class, becausemaybe you had a really bad day
at work or and this could beeven going to the gym this could
be anything.
But you know you have to kindof develop the discipline to go
and you know, most of the timeswhen you go you force yourself
to go.
You feel better after it.
(11:34):
So, and it goes through a wholelist of categories you know
self-compassion and you knowrealizing that you're going to
fail.
You know I think that's one ofthe things that hold a lot of
people back, and I see this alot with young folks coming into
the workforce.
They're terrified.
They're terrified to fail.
You know the only way you failis if you don't learn from it,
(11:55):
you know.
So there's a Japanese phrasethat really resonated with me
and that's the phrase is seventimes down, eight times up, and
the philosophy behind that isyou know you're going to fail,
but as long as you get up you'renot failing.
So that book kind of coversthat.
I have another book called theIron Road and what that's about
(12:19):
is and I actually originallywrote it for young men
specifically but the feedbackI've gotten on it from some of
the readers is that, you know,it's equally as important for
young women.
You know, and this book goesinto, and this is kind of a
(12:41):
guide, if you would say how tobuild your own brand.
You know, one of the thingsthat I don't think people
realize is and we all know this,but it's not really often
talked about is everyonedevelops their own brand, you
know.
So you know, like there's Coke,there's Pepsi, there's, you
know, mountain Dew, you know,use that as example of brands.
Well, we all know that thereare people that you could be in.
(13:02):
Let's say, you're at a partyand someone walks into the room
and we all know there are somepeople that just light up the
room Right Immediately.
They walk into the room.
Everybody feels better.
And there are also people whowill walk into a room and
everybody's stomach sinksbecause they, you know, they
know something's going to happen, meaning you know some drama or
something.
(13:23):
That's a brand.
You've developed that brandover time.
So what this book addresses ishow to develop good patterns.
You know the power of your word.
You know if you give your wordyou're going to do something.
You know no matter howuncomfortable it is doing it, if
you're giving your word to doit, you know you really should
follow through with it To thinkabout what you're saying.
(13:44):
You know mindful speech.
You know really kind of thinkabout what you're going to say.
You know the power of words.
You know People often thinkabout abuse as physical.
You know you can say somethingto a friend doesn't really
impact strangers that much.
It can.
Certainly it can have differentoutcomes with strangers,
meaning it can go in a directionyou're not anticipating and
(14:07):
typically if you've saidsomething you know really unkind
, it could turn into a situationthat you weren't anticipating,
which might not turn out well.
But you know power of speech isso powerful.
You could say something to afriend in a matter of, in a
moment of anger that can changethat relationship forever and
(14:27):
once it's out there you can'ttake it back.
So you know things like that.
You know how to how to transform.
You know people were.
You know we live in a verymaterialistic world and people
are always looking for more anda lot of people.
I talk to some people at workand you talk to some of these
young folks coming in and theyseem kind of jealous about what
(14:48):
other people have.
Well, how do you transform that?
How do you transform thatjealousy into admiration and
then drive to get better or totry to achieve more, to get
better or to try to achieve more?
So that book goes into a wholelist of steps people can take
and and reflections they can doto to build their own personal
brand, both professionally andpersonally.
(15:10):
I mean it crosses both ways.
And then another book I have iscalled striking success.
This is a striking success andactually dojo of the mind right
now I'm revisingjo of the mindright now.
Uh, there, I'm revising uh,both of the editions so they'll
be back up on amazon within acouple of weeks.
But all all of these books arefound on amazoncom if you just
(15:31):
search gene burke, um and uh.
Striking success was about, uh,how martial art philosophies can
transfer very effectively intoleadership principles.
So it's really, really good foryoung managers coming in, new
managers coming in and mid-rangemanagers coming in, because it
(15:52):
goes over everything from, youknow, keeping mental clarity,
keeping emotion out of businessdecisions which can be, you know
, fatal in a business decisionif you're very emotionally
driven by something and notalways thinking clearly.
You know how to be aware notonly of yourself.
You know, often people are notself-aware of what they're doing
(16:14):
and how their actions areimpacting others, but also be
aware of your surroundings, yourcompetition and your team.
You know how to thinkstrategically.
You know in the martial artsyou have to think about ways to
beat your opponent.
So all these things kind of tieinto the principles from
martial arts very effectively,translate into good leadership
(16:37):
skills.
And I did a booklet.
It's called Eyes Wide Open andit's basically a self.
It's kind of unusual.
I think it's a self-defensebook that doesn't really have
any techniques in it.
It's all about the soft skillsof self-defense.
You know how to look for danger, how to avoid danger.
You know what's your physicalcapabilities, what?
(17:00):
What can you do?
What can, what can't you do?
What are you willing to do,what don't you do?
What are you willing to do?
What don't you think you can do?
You know a lot of the thingsthat people don't think about in
self-defense.
But unfortunately, you know, ifyou're not aware of it and you
find yourself in a potentiallydangerous situation.
The outcomes might not alwaysturn out the way you want.
So those are some of the thingsI've worked on and I enjoyed
(17:24):
the process very much of gettingit out there and it's been a
fun ride doing that.
Speaker 1 (17:33):
So you always talk about mentors matter, so explain
to the listeners the importanceof having a mentor.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
Yeah, you know, I think, especially today, I think
it's so critical.
I think that you know we'resurrounded by negativity today.
It's really almost fascinating.
But I mean all over the news.
You know, if you pull upYouTube videos, the majority of
YouTube videos are typicallysome type of can be a negative
(18:03):
connotation and we're alwaystold things are bad.
And you know it just sets a badmindset.
So I think it's really important, especially for young people.
It could be anyone really.
I mean I look, I have somementors.
You know I have a dear friendof mine who's a mentor of mine.
We're about the same age buthis life experience he's been
(18:25):
places I haven't been.
So you know I bounce stuff andideas off him.
But mentors are really importantbecause they give you a fresh
perspective on something thatmaybe you haven't experienced.
And for young folks, mentorship, I think is important because
they get and when I meanmentorship I mean like obviously
(18:47):
a positive mentor right.
So sometimes a mentor has totell people something they may
not want to hear, but if it'sdone in the right way, with the
right intention and the righttonality, you know you can
positively change someone's life.
So you know, mentors, I think,are very important because they
could help guide people youngfolks down paths that they may
(19:10):
not have even thought of.
You know I could tell you likeone of the things I think is
really important.
I'll go back to failure again.
Some of the greatest lessonsI've learned have been through
failure.
You know things I never wouldhave thought of happened because
I failed at something.
And through talking to folksyou know people that were around
(19:31):
me and you know that's kind ofour mentorship I discovered some
other paths that maybe neverwould have crossed my mind and
turned out to be very productivein the end.
You know, very beneficial inthe end.
So mentors, I think it's a great.
I think it's great for peopleto have and a mentor could be
someone who's you know face toface.
A mentor could be through books.
A mentor could be through.
(19:53):
You could find someone that youreally like on, for example,
youtube or podcasts like yourshow that provide positive
reinforcement, provide goodguidance to folks and allows the
free exchange of informationwhich I think is critical.
I think a good mentor couldchange someone's life.
(20:14):
I really do and I think it's anongoing process and the mentors
can change over time.
You might have a mentor whenyou're in your 20s and someone
different in your 30s, and so onand so forth.
So I think it's critical.
Speaker 1 (20:26):
Absolutely, it definitely is, so tell us about
any upcoming projects thatyou're working on that listeners
need to be aware of.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
Yeah.
So actually it's kind of funny.
Now I'm exploring this isreally fun because now again,
the processes.
Now I'm exploring this isreally fun because now again the
processes, and during thisprocess I failed a number of
times, you know, trying tounderstand how to get it done.
But I'm starting some YouTubechannels, some content creation,
and one of them is it's called3M Productions.
(20:58):
It's called 3M Productions,it's YouTube, and then Slash,
and then at 3M Productions, va,and what I'm doing is I'm taking
quotes from the greatphilosophers and thinkers
throughout time and as a species, we've had some obviously
(21:20):
remarkable people who havewalked the face of the earth and
there is a wealth ofinformation that is out there
that a lot of times, you know,we don't tap into.
And again, even though it couldbe someone who lived, someone
could be live, someone who'salive now, but it could be
someone who lived, you know,3000 years ago, who had very
insightful ideas about things.
(21:42):
So what I'm doing is I'm I'mdoing that now, and so I take a
quote from a, from a famousquote, from a, from a
philosopher or teacher, and thentry to apply it to today's
(22:03):
world.
How could it positively affectpeople today?
And that is actually that's myapologies.
That's my other channel, whichis the one I'm talking about,
about the philosophers.
It's called Mind Armor, so MindArmor and then it's Mind Armor
Dash For you, and that's aboutthe philosophers and I love it.
(22:23):
And again, you know I'm learningthrough the process.
I had a couple of catastrophicfailures while I was trying to
figure out the technology tokind of get some of these videos
up, but they're getting betterand better and hopefully over
time they continue to get better.
So it's a learning process andI hope people have patience with
that.
But the other channel I have isthat's the 3M Production
(22:44):
channel and what I'm going to beputting on there is things kind
of related to like self-defensesoft skills and some, you know,
maybe down the line, maybe someproduct reviews and some book
reviews and things like that,and hopefully maybe I'll have
some, you know, someconversations with some folks
that I know over the years inthe martial arts.
(23:05):
So just exciting stuff, justtrying to explore different
avenues.
You know there's newtechnologies out there and it's
always fun to explore ways to.
You know.
I like to create content, soit's fun for me.
Speaker 1 (23:23):
Well, I thought I'd I should contact them folks so
people can keep up witheverything that you're up to.
Speaker 2 (23:28):
I'll tell you it's fun.
You know it really is.
It keeps me engaged and I learnsomething, you know like I tell
you the process, you know.
I'll give you an example.
I started writing the books andyou know they all came out
relatively close in time.
Writing the books, and you knowthat, took, they all came out
relatively close in time, butI've been working on them for a
time and then I discovered, um,I discovered that that you could
self-publish on amazon.
(23:48):
So that was a whole process,trying to figure out how to get
the books translated, you know,and converted and self-published
through amazon.
Um, and then now with the, thevideo production, you know there
are days, I'll be honest, it'sfunny, I refer, it's going to
sound so funny, but I refer tomy own books, you know.
(24:11):
So there are days I get up andI'm like, you know, oh my gosh,
you know I don't really feellike trying to create something.
Today, you know, and here'swhat I do.
This goes back to discipline.
It just happened, like two daysago, literally.
So I was trying to, you know,break out a kind of a concept
for one of the self-defense kindof shorts that I do, just some
(24:34):
things, and again, it's not.
It's not technique driven, it'ssoft skills driven.
These videos are typically softskill driven, like about how to
avoid danger and things likethat, and you know group
dynamics and things like thatand group dynamics and things
like that.
And I sat there and I wasstaring at the screen and
nothing was coming to mind, likenothing.
(24:54):
I was just kind of staringthere at the screen.
But the fact that I sat thereand I did it and even though
nothing came out that day, thenext day something did and
that's one of the things that Ithink is so important, and I
talk a lot about this all thetime you know, when you're
trying to develop yourself,whether you're learning a new
(25:16):
skill like, for example, thingsI'm doing now or things that
other people are doing, you knowis to create habits and
consistency.
So you know, for example, whenI'm doing the right now I'm
trying to break into doing theYouTube videos.
So initially there was this kindof a scramble and I was trying
to get everything kind ofwrapped into one and then I
caught myself.
You know I'm like, hey, I'moverwhelming myself.
(25:38):
So now what I do is I get infront of the computer and I sit
there and I force myself to sitthere for 15 minutes, and that
15 minutes may turn into a halfan hour.
If something comes to mind andI begin to develop something, it
may turn into an hour.
But I commit myself, showing upto the computer every day for
(26:00):
15 minutes, and there have beenmany days where nothing is
really coming to mind or theidea that I'm thinking about
just isn't coming, it isn'tflowing right, it's not coming
out of my head, right, I'm nottyping it into the computer,
right, it's not flowing properly.
But the beauty of it is becauseI'm doing it, I'm building a
(26:23):
pattern and I think that's soimportant.
And again, like I caught myself, human tendency you find
something exciting, you want totake it on.
You know full bore and you canoverwhelm yourself, especially
with everything that you havegoing on in life.
Everyone's very, very busytoday.
So, you know, for folks whomaybe want to try something
different whether it's maybethey want to start walking every
(26:45):
day, or maybe lifting weightsevery day, or maybe reading
every, or maybe writing a bookor whatever it might be, it
could be anything it's reallyimportant, I think, to take
smaller steps.
You know I have on my webpage, Ihave a blog as well and it's
called Blogging with Burke kindof a corny title, but one of the
(27:06):
things I recently wrote wasit's called the Milo principle.
So there's a character fromGreek mythology called Milo who
used to pick up.
Every day he would pick up acalf until the calf became a
full grown bull.
So each day there wasmicroscopic changes in the bull.
(27:30):
Maybe not microscopic, maybethe bull might gain a pound or
two.
I don't know how fast bullsgrow, but the idea behind it is
every single day he picked upthe bull until he was strong
enough to pick up a full groundball.
And the idea behind that is, ifyou take small steps, but
consistent steps over time, youcan really do great things.
(27:54):
And that's also in the Japanesehave a concept called Keizen
and that's taking tiny littlesteps every day, little tiny
changes every day that arepositively going in the right
direction.
So those small changes overtime can create a huge change in
you.
So if you think about it, youknow let's say, for example,
(28:19):
let's say you want to trywhatever it is and you have a
goal.
If you think about it, if youpositively move towards that
goal even 1% a week, just 1% aweek, you can make a 50%
positive change in your life inthat particular area.
So, um, you know, that goesback to the power of consistency
(28:41):
, of discipline and of habits,and I think that those three
things, uh, along with a properplan and being flexible to know
when to change, can reallychange people's lives.
You know, for example, you know,during this whole process for
me from whether you know gettingthe books you know
self-published on Amazon to nowdoing some of the content
(29:02):
creation and things like thatyou know I went in with
particular ideas and some of theideas weren't working, so I had
to pivot it.
I had to pivot my approach, andthat's not failure, that's just
kind of understanding thatmaybe something isn't working
the way I want it to.
And that came throughconsistency, because as I kept
going forward with a particularplan, I might keep hitting a
(29:24):
wall.
And then I would ask myself,why am I hitting this wall?
And that would cause me becauseI was consistently doing it
through habit.
And then I would ask myself,why am I hitting this wall?
And that would cause me becauseI was consistently doing it
through habit.
And then I realized, okay, I'mnot getting any further.
Now what do I need to do, andthen you're able to pivot and
change, and I think that canchange people's lives.
Speaker 1 (29:38):
I'll watch your webpage.
Speaker 2 (29:42):
Yeah, so my, uh, my webpage is uh, it's www third
monkey pro Somonkeyprocom, and Ihave a variety of things on
there as well.
You know I have some of theservices that I offer, like I
(30:04):
offer, I'm hoping, and again,I'm building my business here.
So this is brand.
This is kind of new for me aswell.
You know I still have afull-time job but, you know,
down the road I'm trying tobuild some, some things that
that make me, you know, be ableto contribute a little bit and
have some fun doing it.
So you know, there's someservices that I offer.
(30:25):
I have my books up there.
I have some free stuff, somevideos and things like that, and
you know my blog and things.
So it's a lot of fun and, again, that's something that's great
to do.
You know, I'm always kind of Icould tell you the difference
between my web page today andit's going to continue to evolve
, as compared to what it was.
You know, let's see, fourmonths ago.
(30:46):
You know, let's see, fourmonths ago the thing has changed
, has changed structure so manytimes Because I'm learning.
I continually learn what'sworking, what's not working,
what looks good.
I'm always researching, like ifI want to learn something like,
(31:06):
for example, when I'm now, whenI'm learning about how to
create YouTube content, I'vespent hours just researching
other YouTube channels to seewhat I think works and what
doesn't work.
You know, and I'm doing thesame thing with the Web page, so
it's just a lot of fun, keepsme engaged and I'm just having
fun doing it, and that's one ofthe things I think it's
(31:28):
important for people If they dofind something, have fun at it.
You know it should be anenjoyable experience.
You know, if you're doingsomething that you know,
obviously we all have to workright, so you can.
Everyone's going to go intowork some days, or maybe most
days, and not really happy about, you know, having to go into
work for a variety of reasons.
But you know, if you could findkind of and I hate to use the
(31:50):
word because it's really I thinksometimes it's overused but if
you could find your passion andit could be anything and just
kind of, you know, make sure youdo that as much as you can to
kind of give yourself thatself-satisfaction that you're
doing something for yourself andyou're having, you know you're
learning from it, or you mightnot even be learning from it.
(32:14):
You just might be enjoying theexperience.
But I think it's reallyimportant that we take on new
tasks as much as possible.
We should try to enjoy theprocess, because you're only
here once, so you should try totry to make the most of it and
have as much fun as you canalong the way.
Speaker 1 (32:30):
That's right, ladies and gentlemen.
Third, monkey procom.
Check out everything that jeansup to follow rate review.
Share this episode to as manypeople as possible.
Jump on your favorite podcastapp.
Check out the show.
Share it to your friends.
For more information on thisshow, the living the dream
Curveball podcast, go towwwcurveball337.com.
(32:54):
Be sure to check out the newwebsite.
Thank you for listening andsupporting the show, gene.
Thank you for all that you doand thank you for joining me.
Speaker 2 (33:04):
Thank you so much, curtis, it's been a real
pleasure.
Speaker 1 (33:07):
For more information on the Living the Dream with
Curveball podcast, visitwwwcurveball337.com.
Until next time, keep livingthe dream.
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