PDM 008: Positive vs. Negative Mindset

Narrator: Welcome to the home of Project Dream Mastery. Here at PDM, we are challenging the status quo of what it means to follow your dreams and how to unlock the power those dreams will bring to your life. The show experience will be unscripted, authentic, and transparent. So now sit back, relax, and get inspired with your hosts, Lucas Johnson and Patryk Labuzek.

Lucas P. Johnson: Hello, and welcome to the ninth episode of the project dream mastery show where we help inspire you to follow your dreams, defy expectations, dream big and love deeply. My name is Lucas Johnson and,

Patryk Labuzek: And I'm Patryk Labuzek

Lucas P. Johnson: And he's based out of Dublin, Ireland. If you did not know, which is really cool. So don't forget to subscribe to the podcast and be the first to receive new episode releases. And if you have any questions that you would like answered on the show, please tag us on Twitter or Facebook at project dream mastery. Just in case you are interested in the full experience. The episode is available with video so check out our website projectdreammastery.com to watch now. The topic for today's episode is positive versus negative mindset. What does that mean? Well, when you focus on the positives, your life will be engulfed by the positives. If you focus on the negatives, your life will be engulfed by the negatives. If you change your way of thinking, if you change your mindset, you change your landscape, you change what's going on in the whole environment that surround you. Now, Paddy and I have, we've seen this firsthand. We've traveled all over the world together and just last year when we could actually travel Paddy and I went to I think, 23 States plus the district of Columbia and did it in 28 days. So we had a chance to really be cooped up in a car together and see how different mindsets could play its toll on each other. And every day that we go about this Paddy, we, we we didn't always have that smile and that happiness did we?

Patryk Labuzek: No, definitely not. There were days. Yeah. So 23 States and you might think it's crazy. 28 days, 23 states. Damn your, your country is big. It's a lot of driving, but we did it right, we did it and everything went to plan. Sometimes we got to alter our plan a little bit here and there, but but we definitely did it. We completed our itinerary and we did more than we. I think if you, you definitely agree. I think we did more than we anticipated and that is due to the positive mindsets that we have. , I remember flying from Beijing to LA with my three friends for four days. I had an insane, insane time, a lot of freedom, which contrasted what I had for a year prior to that. Anyway, being in States, having that positive mindset, I knew that, Oh my God, this is going to be an intense trip, but it's going to be a lot of fun.

Patryk Labuzek: I'm gonna see you. Litteraly my brother from another mother, after a year. And so, , all those positive thoughts coming, pumped, coming, going, and you're like, okay, let's do this, let's do this. This is all possible. And that's because it's that cycle. And in our minds, , if you have a positive mindset, you are literally, like you said, engulfed in positive thinking, positive talks, everything seems positive. It's like, you can do this, I can do this. We can do that. And anything is possible, which is the exact opposite. If you were thinking in the negative way. Do you want to add anything that I haven't what happens to you Lucas? And I'm pretty sure you were there when when you're kind of getting stuck into that negative thinking process.

Lucas P. Johnson: Man, I just realized that there's 130 days left in this year. And 2020 has not been an easy year. First off I'm just going to say that it has not been an easy year. A lot of times I'll catch myself saying control-alt-delete. And I don't mean that just based off the computers I work with on a daily basis. I mean that in life. Control-alt-delete, task manager, reset, delete, end. Can we go to 2021? Because Paddy, the things that I've learned this year, they have been probably the most important things that I have ever learned in my entire life. Not only just about myself, personally, professionally, socially. But about the people that are surrounding me, my circle. , and the stuff that we did last year, the year prior, like all these adventures that we've been on, they've shaped me, they've shaped us.

Lucas P. Johnson: They've helped us become, I wouldn't say just better people and the people that have constantly been working with us to help shape us. I mean, I'm not gonna pull anyone's name or say anyone's name, but I can, I can say firsthand, I can look you in the eye right now and tell you that you were critical to my, my person. Me as , my development. And I'm grateful for you first off if you are listening. Second off, thank you for showing me the way. Thank you for telling me that, calling me out when I'm wrong. Thank you for all these things. Cause that's one of the first steps in creating that positive mindset, that positive landscape. So Paddy, when we were traveling, when we were doing that whole thing over the 23 States, I had countless times, I just wanted to punch you in the face.

Lucas P. Johnson: Cause we were stuck. We were stuck in a car, but I mean, not that I didn't like Patryk that's because when you are crammed in a Ford focus, first off great vehicle, great vehicle, Fordy is amazing. But when you're cooped up in a vehicle and you are eating all this junk food and all these things... Paddy and I are both very independent for the most part. But when we come together to travel, we can make one hell of a trip. Just Saying that. But , Paddy, we had the opportunity to grow both in New Zealand and, and the States because we, we feed off of each other's energy and that is definitely a positive. So surrounding yourself, surrounding yourself with people that shape you, that create a better circle for you. They're the ones that are going to help you create that positive mindset. So Paddy, I want you to call out one experience. Just one, cause I know we have a lot, one experience that you think between us has really engulfed that vision of positive to negative mindset from both, both, both ends of the spectrum, both on the positive and the negative, negative side.

Patryk Labuzek: Right? Well positive and it's clear as it was yesterday. And the one moment I can definitely think of off the top of my head is... we were there. New Zealand and in a camper van, two of us, in the Tongariro national park. Out in the Apline Mountain guys. And in the middle of winter, in New Zealand, it was one hell of a chilly morning. We had a plan. Well, okay. Let's say I had a plan more than we. To climb. What was it called? Anyway... Mount Doom. From Lord of the Rings. That was the goal for the day. And we traveled, who knows, few hundred kilometers just to get to that national park. Through windy roads the previous night. We comped out and , we woke up the next morning and I was like, Lucas, let's do it. We're climbing this. We're going to the top. We're going to have an amazing time. And my thinking process was a hundred percent positive. I didn't see all the negative thoughts. And there definitely were a lot of them. First day off, we even have rain jackets, man. We didn't have a jacket. I had a jumper. That's about it. Eh, runners, , no camping shoes, no, no hiking shoes. No, no those spiky things that you walk up ice.

Lucas P. Johnson: Don't forget. We didn't even have heat in our camper van at that point...

Patryk Labuzek: Nothing. It was snowy. It started snowing. The mountain was covered in snow. There were warnings. And I anyway, was all set from going climbing that day because I was completely set on doing that. I know that we, two of us, we can definitely accomplish this until we heard on the radio that there is possible avalanche warning. And everyone in the park should pack up, kind of. Leave the trails. So that's a positive thinking that is an example of a positive thinking I'm talking about here. Like, , I didn't see them negatives because I'm going to repeat this again. I was engulfed in the positive thinking. Our trip was super positive, everything about it. We came to New Zealand, just the two of us, with the idea of just, , photography. We wanted to completely surround ourselves with nature. See the most beautiful spots in New Zealand, photograph our way through New Zealand in a small camper van.

Patryk Labuzek: Like this is all positive. You, my best friend. New Zealand, the country which I haven't visited before. The shear natural beauty of the country. Our itinerary, which was just completely wicked. All of this accumulated to a very positive experience and that is the reason why this is the first thing that pops in my mind, positive moment, that's it. Even though in a different time and place, if I was thinking, if I was stressed, for instance, stress is the main thing. And I going back to Australia and I picked a class which fit in perfectly with my schedule because it gave me Thursdays and Fridays off college. I was like solid, beautiful. Yeah, it was very late that I realized it is a course focused on master and PHD students. Whereas me, a small undergrad, coming to a world renowned university and I was scared. And the work overloaded me, the exams scared the shit out of me.

Patryk Labuzek: I wasn't getting my straight A's. I'm not saying I always do, but I do my best to get them or B's. And I was in the mark D's, low C's. I was sketched out by the fact and that stress kind of kicked in my negative thinking. I get accumulated into my negative thinking process. Like, the weather kind of got shit in Australia as well in may. The final exam coming up from that specific course that I was very worried about. And so that perspective, which was just a month apart, maybe two months apart, we went to New Zealand in... March was it Lucas? March-April?

Lucas P. Johnson: April, April, yeah.

Patryk Labuzek: Yeah. Possibly April. Right? So we went in April and a hundred positive thinking, a hundred percent positive thinking. Flip that next month, I would say 80% negative. The only reason why I'm saying 80%, not a hundred percent is because I was still in Australia, my dream country that I wanted to be in. Surrounded by great people. And so there you go. I think that kind of sums up your question very empty, but , those two sides. The very positive and the very negative. It is just the mindset and the things that we engulf ourselves and people, people is a big thing, as well as the experiences that we have, that kind of impact our mindsets.

Lucas P. Johnson: It's crazy to think that those two events that I'm thinking about, I'm laughing about how much they've shaped me as well as you. When we were getting ready to leave Australia and I still had one more month on my journey because I had family coming in. It was really tough. It was really tough to understand what was about to occur. We just spent the last seven months, six months becoming best friends. All of our group, we took a lot, it took a lot of courage and, and a lot of growth to really come out of our comfort zones with these people. But we accomplished, I accomplished more than I ever thought I would ever accomplish in Australia.

Patryk Labuzek: Oh I can 100% relate.

Lucas P. Johnson: It was unbelievable. Now, when I first got there, Patryk, I'll tell you I had such a negative mindset. I had such a positive mindset about being in Australia and about where I was living and about what I was gonna be doing. But the negative mindset came in whenever I was like, Oh God, I got to go meet all these people. I've got to make friends. Like I got to do these things or I'm not going to have fun. But then I met my roommate and he really changed the way I think about things. When I got there Paddy, I don't know if I ever told you this... And I'm actually, I don't think I've ever told anyone. And if you're listening, buddy, I appreciate you giving me this piece of advice. When I, when I came to this country, I had this idea that no one knew who I was and I could become whoever I wanted to be.

Lucas P. Johnson: I had this idea that I can change the things that I wish that I would've changed in my years prior because no one knew who I was. But the thing was those things that made me, me were some of my best qualities, apparently according to my, my roommate. He made me realize that... This wasn't the same day. He let me just simmer. And let me say what I had to say. And the next day he called me out, he goes, so whenever we were talking about this yesterday... you said that you could do whatever. Like you don't care. Cause you're in a new country. Like, this is something that I, I don't ever want to admit. But the truth is I did say that because I was in a new country, I wanted to, I wanted to do all these things becuase I wanted to have so much fun and meet all these people and have these adventures of a lifetime.

Lucas P. Johnson: He made me realize that the best qualities that I had were the ones that I made, the experiences of the ones that shaped me. And when he told me that, I realized that the best me was the one that was being authentic and transparent. Which is one of the reasons why we have a show that's completely focused on that. Now everything we do is pretty much unscripted. We go through the flow and we realize that there's just so many things about the positive mindset that shaped from others. Shaped from you listening right now. You help us create these ideas, helped us find ideas that are really passionate for us, but things that are going to help you along the way. Now, Paddy, you remember my roommate, right?

Patryk Labuzek: Yeah, yeah. Great guy!

Lucas P. Johnson: How amazing, how amazing, how amazing was he / is he?

Patryk Labuzek: Yes. I don't think I'm going to exaggerate if I say I think he was the most positive person I bet in Australia.

Lucas P. Johnson: He was our camera guy. Ha-ha!

Patryk Labuzek: Yeah man! Super positive person. Like he would always smile... Always Smile. I remember, Oh, I can recall this. After one of those heavy nights of drinking... I decided to spend a night at Lucas's place because I couldn't physically manage to get home. So I was there sleeping on his couch in the living area. And I don't know man, it must have been 7:00 AM in the morning. I woke up hungover... Well, Oh my God, just unbelievably hung over. And then there is your roommate who just walks in, smiles at me, and says are you okay? I'm like nodding my head. He goes to the fridge, brings out a banana and puts it on the table next to me. A funny little story, a funny gesture, and didn't say anything. He placed the banana on the table and then left. I find it absolutely hilarious. But it was just, it was such a positive thing. Like the most positive thing that happened that day, like it made my day from this very morning, it's just kind of highlights how positive your roommate was.

Lucas P. Johnson: So I had multiple roommates, just to be clear with that, but this is the one that I became really, really close with. He's actually from Singapore. So it's really cool to know that even whenever you're back home, you still have friends all over the world. Now the best part about... First off, That was amazing. I remember that very clearly. The best part was whenever he, he introduced me to all of his friends. Okay. I didn't know anyone. I got there. First off I met Patryk and our crew probably two weeks in, but the first two weeks I was there, he made me feel like I had a home. He made me feel like I was welcome in this new country, this new place, this new environment that I'd never experienced. First time traveling without my parents. Like that was huge. This is a few years ago now, but he introduced me to all these amazing people.

Lucas P. Johnson: And we're going back to that positive and negative mindset, thinking that if you surround yourself with positive people, your experience is going to be positive because I was surrounded by those 20 people that he introduced me to all these folks that, that were just so good hearted. They wanted to meet. They wanted to meet me. They wanted to show me around. They wanted to meet Patryk. Like they wanted to meet our entire crew. They allowed me to participate in some of their holiday events, like their gatherings. And they would cook me food and they would all these amazing things they just did for me for no reason. And I don't know how many times I've been lost for words, when I was sitting there, just trying to figure out what to say to these people because they were so incredible. Thank you. Sometimes I feel like that's just not enough. I like to surround myself with people that are going to inspire me. That are going to make me think about life differently. I love different perspectives. I love to embrace those new things that are occurring around us, about us and who we are. That's me. Like Paddy. We are on the same wavelength, 99% of the time,

Patryk Labuzek: 99%. I would even say 99.99. It's pretty darn close to a hundred.

Lucas P. Johnson: So if you're listening to this, this is the episode... That yesterday my cousin, she put a post on her Instagram and it just made me realize it's like, wow, we're making impact. Like this show is actually doing something inspiring and great for others. And that's exactly what we want to do. That's exactly what we envisioned. Paddy now I don't want to get too off topic because I tend to do that sometimes, but the negative mindset, I want to make sure we touch on this because this episode is gonna be a little bit shorter than usual, because I think it's really important to focus in. Okay. Our positive mindset will overcome the negative mindset.

Lucas P. Johnson: Why?

Lucas P. Johnson: Why will that positive mindset overcome that negative mindset?

Patryk Labuzek: I think that is a very simple answer.

Lucas P. Johnson: Yeah! Unless seven months... Last eight months... I guess the last eight months of this year, but last five months we've been stuck in COVID. The COVID quarantine, all of this stuff going on.

Lucas P. Johnson: and...

Lucas P. Johnson: It's shaped us. It's changed us. It's made us into a different person I would say, it has tested us. When I first started. I was so excited about having time away from traveling from work. And I love traveling. Don't get me wrong. I do. But work is a different kind of travel. I think we can all agree. And I was so excited about that. Now two months go by and I started getting, okay, I need to get out of the house. My negative mind started saying... "Oh my gosh, all these things are going wrong." But Paddy, I told you this, I decided to not embrace the negatives. I embraced the positives. I've done all these things in the last seven months. And I am damn proud of making that change to focus on the positives. Cause those negatives, as soon as I let them in, I get so upset. The things on the news make me upset. Like it's just not, it's not worth it. If you focus on the positives, positives will occur. So Paddy, I'm going to pass it to you, throw you a little curve ball and say, what has been one experience where the negative has just been stuck and engraved in your brain where you just couldn't get it out and nothing that you did was making it any better.

Patryk Labuzek: Again, past three months. And I'm not going to say the entire past few months because I've moved past that. Like said the positive came out and I tried to be the best version of myself in this very moment during the pandemic. But what kicked off the negative mindset for me in the past three months was the terrible news that we have to cancel our reunion in Costa Rica. We had our flights booked and I was super pumped. I knew that the night before going to Costa Rica, I'm gonna see you in Dallas. When we go for a nice steak, we'll meet up, catch up. We're going to have a beer or five or 10, as we usually do. And sleep in Dallas. Then the following morning fly straight to Costa Rica where we are going to have a beautiful Villa.

Patryk Labuzek: We're going to go into the rainforest, see some incredible wildlife at beaches. We're gonna meet most importantly our crew, our positive crew that kind of shaped our positive mindset in Australia. And I was pumped... Like I was living for that moment. I was living for and to be exact, the 20th of August. I was living for that moment. I couldn't wait to fly off and do all those insane things with all of you guys. Then we learn of the pandemic. We learned that airports closed, the borders closed, lock downs. All the national parks in Costa Rica are closed. And then I started thinking, man, I still want to fly. But then you're thinking about your closest people to you, like family.

Patryk Labuzek: Like, would you leave for a foreign country when the governments are telling you not to? And then you come back where you have to quarantine. And I do still live with my parents. I have to quarantine in the same house that my old folks live. My brother. There's a real, there's a real impact that can have on their health. Like I'm young, I'm 23, I'm perfectly healthy, no issues. But if I bring this virus home with me, how are the people closest to me gonna react? So it was a negative thought on top of a negative though on top of a negative thought, the news again on the TV, what's happening around you. Then the Irish government posting lock down measures and closing all the pubs and closing all the social events. Man, it was just overwhelming to say the least. Overwhelming with negative things.

Patryk Labuzek: But as the lock down eased... As we moved from phase to phase of the country opening back up - things started opening up. You were able to meet six people. You're able to go get a pint, just one. You're able to interact socially and I'm a social person. So interaction for me with other people within my circle, which I will pause this because that's what I'm trying to keep my circle of friends, very, very positive people that actually have helped me develop. Like I said, all those things. And just because of that, I started going back into that positive way of thinking again.

Lucas P. Johnson: So Paddy, I think that that's a great place to wrap. I think that really brought back that positive to negative mindset. If you embrace the positives, there will be so many positives that occur in your life. If you focus on the negatives, your life will be engulfed by negatives. Change your thinking, change your life. 2020 still has 131 days left. Go make the best of each one of them. Paddy, do you have anything that you would like to add or would you like to recap what we talked about today?

Patryk Labuzek: Let's recap.

Lucas P. Johnson: So the recap really is, is focusing on how we have the positive environment that surrounds us. If you, if you embrace the people that are positive, you'll have a great circle. You will have a better shaped life. You'll do things that are going to truly inspire yourself and inspire others. If you go about your life and look at the negatives, negatives are going to happen, that's just, they're going to take over your life. Paddy and I have both been through both sides of that, that sound right. We both had, we both have faced positives and negatives in our life. And it's really important that you take the time to really think about what's important to you. What's important to your family. What's important to your overall wellbeing and your future. Take the time to embrace your circle. Find the people that really are going to make you better. With that I want to give you a little bit of homework. Paddy, do you think we should give them some homework this week?

Patryk Labuzek: As always!

Lucas P. Johnson: So per this episode, I want you to go and do something for me, do something for yourself. Go take a look at your circle. Are they positive? Are they negative? If they're negative, might have to cut them out of your life or at least have that discussion with them. And say, "Hey, your mindset is not good for my wellbeing. Is there something going on in your life that we can do to help improve your mindset? How can I help you?" Go, go talk to the people that are having a hard time through COVID. Having a hard time through quarantine. Whether it's virtual or whether it's in person, whether you live next to them. Whatever you're comfortable doing. Make sure you're safe doing it, but make sure that you're doing something that's going to positively impact your life, impact the others that are around you. Cause you can't go through this life by yourself. You just can't, you can't just be a lone Wolf. I mean you can, but don't, don't do it. It's not worth it. Go find people that love you and support you are going to positively impact you. Read something, read something positive. Paddy, do you have anything that you read lately that you think would really just inspire them?

Patryk Labuzek: I mean, I think you're doing a great work on Instagram with the positive quotes out there. They definitely did, even though I know we said a lot of those things. Man I read it and instantly I'm getting that positive thoughts. It's working, it's working for me. So I think it's working for other people as well.

Lucas P. Johnson: Okay. Well go check out a book by Sadie Robertson. It's called live. I just started it really amazing. And Sadie Robertson makes such an impact.. I mean, she does big things. I'm just going to say that first off, but I started reading her book and it just really life changing for me and seeing things as eye opening. So if you're, if you're really need to go read something... Go read that book. It's really, really cool. She has a bunch of books out there, but that one is especially cool. We just launched our Patreon membership community where you can become one of our elite supporters and gain exclusive access to early releases, live streams and QA. We have a few different tiers available with some pretty sweet perks.

Lucas P. Johnson: So make sure to check them out. Go to project dream mastery.com and click the red button that says become a patron to learn more. If you have not already, please make sure to review the show, subscribe like and share so we can make and reach more amazing listeners like you. All of our shows are available in both audio, video, and written form. So make sure to check out our website to reach the full experience. Again thank you so much for joining us today. We look forward to seeing you on the next episode to come! we'll talk to you soon.