PDM 016: Mastering Your State of Flow To Unlock Your Ultimate Potential ft. Cory Johnson

Cory Johnson: A lot of times we're all reacting to life. We're not actually living it. Something that I've discovered is life is a journey of new discoveries and once you start realizing that and going, moving and getting this momentum and realizing we all have this equation that we're trying to figure out.

Lucas P. Johnson: With that said, roll the intro.

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: Welcome to the 16th 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 based out of Charlotte, North Carolina. Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast to be the first to receive new episodes of releases. And if you're interested, this episode is available with video. So check out our website at ProjectDreamMastery.com to watch. Now, today I have someone really special joining me on the show by the name of Cory Johnson. He's not only my brother, my family or role model but a very unique individual with many years of experience dealing with problems that most of us don't face on a daily basis. So Cory, besides from me asking you one-off, why did you want to come onto the show today and what is this whole state of flow concept we talk about all the time about?

Cory Johnson: Well, Lucas, thank you for having me. And to Project Dream Mastery followers, hello. Thank you for having me as well. I'm thrilled to be here. Lucas has started something that was just a big idea and has shown that actions speak a lot louder than words. And I'm proud of you, bud. You're really killing it, bro. And I'm ready to kick it off today. I got a lot of good stuff I'd like to discuss with you. Of course, welcome to another fantastic Sunday. I just, I'm coming to you live from Arlington, Virginia. The weather is not bright and shiny but hopefully, our features are. So put your sunglasses on. Let's rock. Let's talk about how bright our futures are and how great life is. You know, a lot of times we're all reacting to life. We're not actually living it. Something that I've discovered is life is a journey of new discoveries and once you start realizing that and going, moving and getting this momentum and realizing we all have this equation that we're trying to figure out and to tap your full potential, you gotta have an open mind. You have to really, really just find out who you really are. And I've discovered some of that about myself and I'd like to share with you today some things that have really helped me along my journey to new discoveries. One therapy that I do is very therapeutic to myself. As a kid, I've always really enjoyed writing and I feel like, writing letters and, you know, putting those thoughts on paper is one way to really get it out. You know, maybe if you're writing a letter to someone, you know, whatever's on your mind. Never talk in an emotional state, I've learned that. But afterwards, you look at these letters and, you know, you can find some breakthrough stuff. This most recent letter that I wrote, I'm not going to get into great detail on who it's to or what it's really for. But you can't connect the dots looking forward. You can looking back. So looking back on this letter here, one thing I said is you deserve the most in life, to live it to the fullest. And another thing, key highlight is forgive so that you can move on. Love and pain can be confusing. So I've taken great effort and tried to use conscious effort to remove negative from my mind because that's what we attract.

Lucas P. Johnson: In 2020, we are facing COVID-19 as you're familiar with especially living in Arlington. What exactly has been your process for eliminating those negative thoughts, those negative people in your life but most importantly, keeping that positive outlook that keeps you so eager and keen to progress forward on your daily basis, your daily routine?

Cory Johnson: So it's all about how we look at success. Okay? So I have something on my blackboard I wrote up here to you, Lucas. It's just, you know, some things that have been on my mind, sir. Is success, is success about learning or proving that you're smart? What does that mean to you, Lucas?

Lucas P. Johnson: We had an entire episode about defining success which is really great. If you're listening right now, go back, check that episode, we'll link in the show notes. But to me, Cory, success is how we define it ourselves. You know, everyone's got these expectations on us. And one thing in Project Dream Mastery we focus on is expectations because everything we do, someone else has it. I mean Mom and Dad, they have expectations on us. Older brothers.

Cory Johnson: Yeah, they do.

Lucas P. Johnson: Yeah. Doug, Cory you know, or Doug, you and Tanner all have expectations on me. What I should be, who I should be. And the thing about success is, and I think our discussions that we have had, I'm trying to eliminate I think, I know the discussions that we have had are critical to defining who we want to be and where we see our state in the future, our future state, target state, and so forth. So I guess for me, Cory, it's really important to find where I'm ultimately happy, where that happiness lays and strive for that instead of looking and thinking about those expectations someone else has on me. Just saying F those. You're the future

Cory Johnson: Lucas, I'm really pleased to hear that. And to transition into that, really what have I been doing during this time of COVID and a lot of negative influence around you. What I've done is I've surrounded myself with high-performance people and I've gotten that momentum. And that momentum has really, really helped me and part of that momentum came from a routine and looking at life through a larger scope of activity and not really letting things bother me too much because I'll just come out and say it. I'm not perfect. There's no one out there that's perfect. And I found that the second I stopped and I put blinds on what other people thought of me and I, you know, I follow that whole David Goggins thing. I've really been a big supporter of him.

Cory Johnson: And to really come out and say that I'm not ashamed of what life has made me. That's why I joined you today. And Lucas, I'm here today to tell the world that I'm not ashamed of what life has made me and part of that success has come from you, you know, and you've always supported me. Family's very important. But let's talk a little bit about okay, well, who's in that circle of yours. Okay. So my circle, I've made it very, very, very small. Tony Robbins, he says what we practice for years in private is what we thrive in public. So that's what I'm doing right now. You can't help others if you don't love yourself. You got to love life, you got to love fate, you got to love destiny. And ultimately, destiny is really what you put into this universe.

Cory Johnson: It's kind of the story you tell yourself, right? So self-discipline is important. I've learned that, Lucas. I've learned that through my battleground every day is the gym. I come from a few months ago out, I was at rock bottom. And you were there. You saw me. I've come out of a very dark place and you don't realize that you're at rock bottom until so you sit there and try to figure out who are you? Who exactly are you? My name is Cory Johnson. Your name is Lucas Johnson. But that's not actually who you are. So mindset's important, Lucas. And for example, I just got a haircut yesterday. I got a fresh crispy fade, brother. But I also, I really enjoy going to my barbershop. It's it's here in Arlington. It's right down underneath my apartment. Donna Clarendon, it's a great spot.

Cory Johnson: But just having a conversation with my barber. You know, I strive every day to be a better version of myself than I was the day before. And you start to learn all these patterns. You hear all this stuff a lot with a lot of these motivational speakers but you start to pick up the patterns of okay, well, five people have mentioned that this has worked for them. Okay, well, maybe that will work for me. You got to have an open mind, baby. You can't just, you can't think.

Lucas P. Johnson: Full send, baby. Full send.

Cory Johnson: Full send, send you, baby. If you have that fixed mindset, if you have a fixed mindset, you're going to have problems. And I think that most of us aren't willing to get to know ourselves. We're so caught up in these distractions and one being the news right now. Just kinda shut everything out, keep your circle close.

Cory Johnson: And I've really just, life has been unfolding for me because I really set myself up for success. If I'm in a bad mindset, it's not going to work out for me. But to go back to that story with the barber, I came in, I was really happy, you know, a great day just because I'm in search for that feeling, that feeling of okay, what can I do for my self today and treat yourself. Jordan Peterson says treat yourself as if you're someone who would actually want to work for you. So schedule the damn things out is exactly what he says. And that's a pattern that I've realized that that schedule. So I get to my appointment here and it's just so your energy, they thrive off of it. And, you know, I've been trying to get better with just listening. But he was asking a lot of questions because he was very intrigued about what I'd been doing. And I just, when you start walking around with this pride because, you know, you took every step you could in the right direction and that's all you are responsible for is your best. That's all you're responsible for. And we're our worst critics, Luke.

Lucas P. Johnson: We are.

Cory Johnson: Your energy drives conversations, man, just like we're having right now. It's, you know, I feel very in tuned to this conversation.

Lucas P. Johnson: I am as well. And I actually want to jump back to something you said earlier. It really hit. I mean it almost brought a little tear in my eye because we've been through a lot over the years. We are only a few years apart. I mean Tanner's right in the middle. But it wasn't until I came to your place in March when you were at rock bottom. But I was also, I think in my ultimate rock bottom too. I was at a point where I didn't know where I was in my own life. I started a job that I liked, wasn't sure I loved. I started and lived in a new city and I just came to DC to visit you for two days or three days, two nights, see you and a couple of friends and just seeing what that looked like.

Lucas P. Johnson: And it was something that you said which is also one of the first episodes that Paddy and I recorded for for Project Dream Mastery is half the battle showing up. That's all it is is half the battle is just showing up. You put your shorts on, man. Once you have your shorts on, just show up to the gym. You're at the gym so you might as well just start working out. You're there. So when that happened, I was at my all time peak at where I thought I needed to be. You know, was I going to keep eating those dumplings? Was I going to keep on eating these pizzas and stuff? I mean I avoided all that stuff but gluten-free pizzas and stuff like that, man. So I looked myself in the mirror and said after that, came back, where do I want to be?

Lucas P. Johnson: You know, I'm showing up. I need to realize that I need to show up for the right things. I need to show up for my faith, my family, my friends but I also need to show up for myself. You know, I want to lose weight. I want to love myself. I want to do all these things. And you're talking about you have to love yourself first. That's another thing that's stuck. And whether you realize it or not, the things you say have an impact on me. That's why I say man, all my brothers are my role models because I learn something from them every single day. And I realized in that moment that I didn't need a date. I needed to start loving myself. So you made me realize okay, six months later, I am down to 194 pounds. I am at my all time peak performance. I'm in a state of flow all the time. I feel good. I feel great. I show up to the things that matter, to events that matter. And it all sparked from you, man. So you know, what was it like for you?

Cory Johnson: It's you paid it forward because you sparked my jump too. That's what you need to do. You need to surround yourself by those high-performance people. And you want to be around those people that tell you what you need to hear rather than what you'd rather hear. And you need to be that person for yourself too. But loving yourself is very important. And you know, it just starts with taking time, just slow your day down. You don't need to rush. And meditation is one of those things too. You need to be mindful of everything that you're doing and, you know, you said Lucas that that really stuck. Well, everything that we do matters. We're all a node within a network. You know? So it's about living that meaningful life. And as I sit here today, I can honestly tell you that I have that feeling. I go to sleep and I can't wait to wake up and get after it, baby. But it took a lot of time, Lucas to get there. I mean how many months did it take for you? It took a few months.

Lucas P. Johnson: Years, man. I was 270 pounds. That's almost a hundred pounds coming up, you know, if I ever get down there. But yeah, years.

Cory Johnson: But it's preparing for battle. It's being on that war path whatever that may be for you because everyone's agenda in life is different. But what I think is success is having a better version than yourself. And let's say maybe I pick three things out of the day that would do good for me, that would benefit me and ultimately possibly influence my day in the right direction. And maybe you have different categories. So it's categorizing your life, you know, and take time for each set balance of life. And it's hard to find especially with all the distractions that we brought up earlier that's especially now more than ever. But that's, that's just an excuse that we tell ourselves right now because really when you're really working on yourself, I've noticed that all that stuff doesn't matter to you and it's easier every day and it just starts to fade away that you don't really notice it because, well, because you're after that feeling.

Lucas P. Johnson: Cory, you have been through quite a few instances over the year of dealing with people that aren't exactly in your corner. And one instance I can think of was back in high school. I was very young and I remember this because you won, you know, whether it be on the crutches or, you know, the, you know the instance I'm thinking of where you don't let people take over the situation. You don't let them win unless it's something that you need to walk away from. You've learned that over the years. So what has been, that particular situation, what have you learned from that where someone is not exactly in your corner and they want to beat the shit out of you? They want everything that you have. You know, what exactly has made you think about situations differently in that perspective?

Cory Johnson: Well, look, that was my first fight ever and it was a fist fight in high school that I was getting picked on. And I think bullying is more predominant than ever now because of the virtual ecosystem that we thrive on. Right now we're leveraging that especially in the learning community as far as education platforms. But bullying is in every aspect of your life. Now I am an open-minded person but I wasn't once then. If I could go back and change that situation, I would not have fought that, I would not have gotten in a fight. Never resort things to violence. You can, life is a series of facts and you can make, it's all decisions. So everything that you do matters, right? And it affected everyone in my node and my network. Mom was upset. Dad, I'm sure was, you know, who knows? I don't know how Dad was. But I know that I, how do I feel now about it?

Cory Johnson: I don't feel good about, no, I probably would have not done that. But I wish him the best. And well, it made me a better person because now I'm better with dealing with people through hard circumstances and that's kinda how life, you don't lose. You either win or you learn. And that's part of having that. You look through a perspective where you see differences in what actually is a failure. So one failure that I really let bother me for many years was joining the Navy and never making it through the Navy Seal program that I joined and trained, prepared many, many months prior. I never made that. And I let it really bother me. But once I finally accepted that and used it for fuel to motivate me and you start to see a vision. And this vision for me is I want to do that Badwater race which is 19-hour race.

Cory Johnson: I know I could do it. I have to prepare for it. But that's something that David Goggins did. It was I think a hundred and something mile race. It's one of the hardest foot races ever. But to me, if I accomplish that, you know, I get a little closer to the finish line. But that's the thing, guys, because you're after a feeling. There is no finish line. It's about living your full potential. And that's, you know, like I said, things get a little clear. So I start working out a lot on preparing for this. Well, guess what? Next thing you know, I'm starting to do fundraisers. And okay, well, I'm supporting the values from the organization I work for. They're sponsoring me now. And you know, you show up to life and you set up all these decisions you make in the right direction.

Cory Johnson: Life is a series of facts and you keep surrounding yourself with these high performance people. I took an IQ test the other day, Luke. I was just curious, right? Guess where I squirt? I actually paid, I don't know how legit it was. It showed up as a 90. Man, do you have any idea how disappointed I was to see myself as a 90? I'm like man, I got to start reading books. Get your baseline, figure out who you are. I realize like, well, I don't know really what goes into an IQ test but I'm going to start reading a lot. So that's what I've been doing too. And, you know, like you set your life up as if you were, as for someone that you would work for. Right? So I know that reading a book would be difficult for me.

Cory Johnson: So what's realistic for me? I listen to audio books, right? And I knew that I will get a book done if I listen to audio books. It's setting yourself up for success, finding those answers and visualize. So a lot of what you've been doing, Luke, which you may not realize this now but the way I've been, the way I assess my day, my week, my year, I don't do it until like I could see it. So I think about my day, I watch myself doing it. And then I, whatever feeling that I'm getting, you know, I feel what I'm going to get out of it, you know, me accomplishing it. Like that Badwater race, I could see myself crossing the finish line now. And the feeling that will arise from that because it's going to be years of hard work before I get there. And there's always going to be someone better. Just be the best version of yourself. And that's all I've been doing. I've been trying to do that the best I can. And it looks like you have too, Luke.

Lucas P. Johnson: Hey, man, like you said, you either win or learn. And if you're listening right now, that's a critical takeaway. You are going to either win and learn. There's no losing component there. You're always learning something. That's a Gary Vaynerchuk thing right there. I was actually listening to something from him earlier and you never lose. You always have a takeaway. And if you think you're losing, you're already in the wrong direction, my friend.

Cory Johnson: Well, you also, Luke, you got to take responsibility for every aspect of your life.

Lucas P. Johnson: You're accountable. Yeah, yeah. If you don't take accountability for your shit, man, who who's gonna own it. It's your shit. You own everything. If you keep that perspective, you're always going to perform at your peak because you know it's your ass on the line. Simple. Right?

Cory Johnson: Yeah. If you're going to be late somewhere, text someone. Say hey, I'm late. I actually showed up to, I missed my flight. And I told them at the desk, I said hey, guys, I missed my flight. I should've left earlier. They said wow, you're the first person ever to actually admit that you missed your flight. It's always our fault. But that's the thing. A lot of people don't see it that way, Lucas. And it's sad because all it is is just putting a new set of glasses on, looking through life through a different lens. And it's just being open-minded to just realize that maybe trying a new thing might help you. And these things that, you know, go do your own research but really you start to see these patterns. Like hey, this nutrition has really been adding up.

Cory Johnson: Like maybe I should change my nutrition or just, you know, or get meal preps. Like that's been great for me. I know that I have to eat two a day. They're great and they're the calories I need and my mind is going to be running efficiently. And then you realize hey, okay, like my vision got a little clearer that I took out bad food, no processed food. Well, let me start taking vitamins. And then you start dialing these in and then before you know it, you start feeling great every day.

Lucas P. Johnson: Every day, baby.

Cory Johnson: Full send. I realized the other day, like, you know, I've been practicing and rehearsing this routine so hard that it takes me a little bit to get in this flow state. But the other day, I'm like okay, I'm kind of falling off my routine. I'm falling off my routine. Hey, regardless, I've been doing this so much, the flow state game and I showed up. I kept showing up and now this is starting to become a daily thing that I honestly love because it's great to show up and play. Work hard, play hard, full send, baby.

Lucas P. Johnson: So we have this perspective and play right there which is critical to what we focus on at Project Dream Mastery is every single one of us has a different perspective. It's unique and it's dependent on the situation and the environment that's at play. There's a lot of factors that go into it but ultimately, you have to set your perspective to be kind of neutral. You have to always understand and evolve from that situation because most of the time, if you go in and you're already critical of the person or you're critical of the scene, you already have that bias. And one thing that I've learned from you and from constantly going through Project Dream Mastery and other elements of building our business Coachington was if you look at things with a negative mindset, your life is going to be negative. That perspective's already in play. But if you start taking that positive approach, that positive okay, that marketing campaign I did is going to be very successful. I got one sale. I got one affiliate. Yeah.

Cory Johnson: Killing it, baby. That's a success.

Lucas P. Johnson: Like yes, baby. Yeah. 20 bucks? Okay. So we actually did our first and it's never been about money here. So it was really, I was sitting there and I get this email. And Patryck is messaging me. He goes man, did our show get our first affiliate? So I go hell yeah, we did, man. That's a full win right there. All right. Not that we were banking on that. And then when the show skyrocket and we're seeing these numbers grow, I go Paddy, you remember when we set that bar? It's not if, it's when. When we set, when we help one person, if we can inspire one person, if we can bring people on just one person onto the show and change their life and shape their future. And hell, I mean there's a lot of factors that went into play for developing Coachington and then building off of that to build Project Dream Mastery. But even people that are going through that bullying and, you know, thinking about harming themselves, if we could change one person's life right there, save someone's life right there, that's a win, man. That's perspective in play right there. And that's just, that's a full send. I mean that's what we, we get on here and we laugh and we chuckle. But if you could look at your friend and you're listening and you just think about the small victories and say that's a full send, baby. That's a full send.

Cory Johnson: Full send.

Lucas P. Johnson: That's a good day. That's a good day. So Cory voting off of that, you know, you have an incredible background professionally. Your skillset's very unique. But for today, I really want to focus on your journey of personal development, your personal growth. Because as you said, you've been through different situations that have helped you build a perspective that is now in action and in your current state. How do you plan on evolving your current state further to build a better future state? You know, whether that be in 20 years, whether that be tomorrow. What's that outlook? What's that look like?

Cory Johnson: Man, Lucas, first, can I just say that your voice is so, it just sounds like smooth jazz. Lucas, to answer your question, well, first, let me give the your followers a little background about my career path. I joined the military. I joined to, you know, like The Rock says, you know, sometimes the one thing that you want most to happen is sometimes the best thing that's never happened to you. And that's definitely, that's exactly what happened there. And you know, leading up to that, to joining the military, Lucas, I actually, I joined because the 9/11 thing. I wasn't really doing well in school because it wasn't what I wanted to do. I wanted to play sports in college. I got injuries and I was still an athlete. So and I wasn't ready to accept failure. But you know, what's the worst that could happen? You try and you don't make it. So I figured I'd give it a shot. And really when I was joining, well, before when I was preparing to join, I worked at LA Fitness. I did sales for personal training and I worked out all day. So I took a step in the right direction.

Lucas P. Johnson: He's a good looking guy. You see how fit he is? He was just like that back then too. Hype him up. We talked about him in the last episode. Hype him up, man.

Cory Johnson: No, no, no, no. I'm just getting started, guys. But you know, I'm looking forward to the progress I'll make in the upcoming months because I've only been on this kick, really the feeling of, really gathering that feeling, understanding it, I've been on this for about two months. It's taken me six months of consistent work, just doing that. I am a STEM educator. Essentially, I found my platform and I realized that this is how I could talk to billions of people. So I'm writing course curriculum that's published out to, it's eventually going to touch billions of people because in somehow way or another, what I'm doing is meaningful. And I'm looking through that perspective. So you really take pride in what you're doing. And people start to notice that. Also, the frequency that you're putting off and the values that you're building those foundations may be reprogramming your mind and the way you think. But really people pick up on that and it's a lot that says about you. I've really noticed that.

Lucas P. Johnson: You talk about billions, millions of people that you can influence. How would you like to leave your mark on this world? And, you know, for me, I had that one goal, to inspire one person and then transition that to 10 people and then a hundred and a thousand and a million and so forth. That's my mission. You know, we have two. We have our personal and then we have one for a world as one of our, one of our guests joined us, Brennan from MasterTalk was talking about. You have two missions, one is your own and one is for the world. And for him, it was clean water. That was his one for the world. And one for him was helping one person communicate more effectively. So for you, what does that look like?

Cory Johnson: Well, I think, Lucas, I think I'd like to launch our own record label, bro. I think you and I could really really kill it in that. We have all the tools that we need and it's weird how life adds up. You know that day that you sent me that video with, it had Denzel Washington and it talked about dream big and big ideas. Well, I just had an idea that day. I ran that ultra marathon. I did that 13 miles or something. But I was in a really, really nice flow state and I came up with this brilliant business plan. But I think that we should all talk as brothers soon about possible launching of that because we would have a blast. And it's really, it's about having fun, it's about sharing with others that there's an equation that you could figure it out and that you can control your destiny.

Cory Johnson: You can write the chapters in your book. Regardless or not, the sun's going to rise and it's going to set. Enjoy your day. Enjoy it. Because man, if you have so many days of not having a good mindset and just being down and it's so easy to just say hey, I just want to sit here, be present in the moment and enjoy what's happening and okay with it. Take it in, let it go. And meditation has really helped me with that, Lucas. But I feel that it's a conscious decision that we make every day. You could have a good day or a bad day and you can't change the way people feel or think about things. But what you can do is try to understand them. Try to understand and put the ego aside. Nothing's personal. Business is business as usual.

Cory Johnson: So just live life to your best and all you all you're responsible for, Luke, is your best. And what do I want in life to answer your question? How am I going to leave my impact? I'm going to put a new meaning, a new definition to what it means to not have a finish line. I don't know how many people I'm going to impact. The potential is there. I just have to untap it. And all it takes is just removing one day at a time, just taking those things that really just, we know that aren't good for us, that we know we probably shouldn't be doing and going back and finding the answers. Think about it. See it. Understand that if I do this, I'm going to feel good. I am going to feel proud about myself. When you live this life of negativity and then you take the conscious effort to employ these almost notional emotions for the time being, over time it equalizes the chemistry in your mind. And then when you start living these days where you're actually really enjoying it, that feeling of, that tingling feeling, the emotions just feel good and it starts with discipline, self-discipline and your confidence also is going to, it's going to skyrocket when you start living by these values that we all have the ability. So another thing I'd like to bring up is if you have the ability, why should you need to learn? What are your thoughts on that, Lucas? If you have the ability, why should we need to learn?

Lucas P. Johnson: You can continue to build upon that ability. Your ability is never perfect. It's never going to be, it's a craft. It's something that's, it's almost like a living document as we say in the business world. You're looking at something that's constantly evolving. It constantly changes and updates. There's things that are going to have to go into that to make it more efficient. So yeah, that's my answer is you can constantly put more into something. It doesn't matter if you have, you think you have the best ability in the world. Everyone has time and has the ability to improve that ability.

Cory Johnson: But Lucas, when you get in that, when you get in that flow state, your awareness is so heightened. You really, your decisions are flawless. You just see this flow through your day. You're like wow, I just set that up. And this is just moving along nicely because I saw myself in the next phase. But then I realized that okay, well, I see myself there. Well, I know I need to get there, right? So I can start seeing myself the next phase. Right? And you have these projected goals. Life without goals, we need goals, baby, to get that full send

Lucas P. Johnson: Full send, baby. One of the things though we talked about with Paddy on the last episode is habits without vision. And that's based on the new book by James Clear, Atomic Habits. And basically, it's setting up micro goals, actionable micro goals. And if you're able to build upon each of the steps, I like to call them steps because honestly you're taking that step, step, step to get to that broader goal. It's that simple. If we make actionable steps, it's easy to achieve a goal. When you set a broad, very vast goal, I don't even have one off the top of my head but for instance, it's to get this podcast to a million subscribers. Let's say that. What am I going to do to get it to a million subscribers? Those micro goals. So Cory, over the years, it's been interesting to see how people have infested or infected our lives with their opinions, their expectations, their outlooks. And I say infested because people want you to align with their beliefs. They want you to agree with their opinion. What have you done to make sure that your flow is not interrupted by those, I'm just for this instance say haters or those that have other opinions?

Cory Johnson: Lucas. The best solution to that for me is to put myself in an atmosphere where I can associate positive feelings, where I've been before and I feel comfortable. You need coping resources and I have several that I need specifically tailored for me that I know at this certain time I need to do this or my threshold for space is this. And so I remove myself from many situations or environments that I feel would be toxic and wouldn't set me up for success. And it's making those decisions. When you make up your mind, go. I don't go back and change my mind. When I pick out an outfit in the morning, I put it on. I make that decision. Okay, next time, I should have made a better decision. It's all about how do you use those 24 hours in a day. So I make these decisions and then okay, then the vision gets a little clearer, right? So, okay, well, maybe I should set up my clothes the night before because well, I'll have a better time to like, you know, and then you're prepared for the day. It's all about callusing that mind and just really, you know, showing up and giving it your best. And you can't do that when you're not getting good sleep, your circadian rhythm's off, you're not exercising, you're not taking care of yourself and you don't establish a good foundation to balance in your life.

Cory Johnson: And my balance might be different from what you need for your balance. So it's all about finding out who you are and figuring out what is that equation to balance for you. And if you don't take the time to do that, you'll never know. And I remember being that guy. I remember a time where I would pace around the house and I'm like well, I can't really think clearly and well, I'm anxious. Well, because you're not visualizing anything, you're not eating well, you didn't get good sleep, you're drinking Monsters, you're eating a bunch of processed food. Now I realize after educating myself over time that well, that wasn't the best environment to set myself up or ecosystem for myself to where I function well. But now I'm still proving and I'm dialing this in where man, my body is more efficient than ever. I'll tell you. I have one kidney. I found this out when I was 30 and I didn't know my whole life until I had this MRI done. I get this thing done. I was rear ended. I get this MRI done and they're like we regret to inform you that you do not have a kidney. And I was pretty worried because I'd been all over Southeast Asia.

Cory Johnson: I was military guy. Who knows? I could have got crazy and lost it. I don't know. But really I should have developed. But my kidney function was at like 1.9, my creatinine levels. And that was before I got on this fitness and health and mindfulness journey. I just had my levels done. They're now a 1.2 and they're running more efficiently than someone with two kidneys and I have one. But so anything's impossible. Right? Or anything's possible. We can accomplish the achievable. We can accomplish anything we put our mind to. You can see it, you can hold it, you can have it. So you just have to be resourceful. It's up to you. That's the decision that you need to make every day. The answers are out there, guys. Go figure it out.

Cory Johnson: Life's a big problem. It's a big puzzle. We don't know it. We surely can't predict it. But what we can do, we can set ourselves up the best we can every day to attack it and do more for others than you do for yourself. I've noticed that once I started doing for others and every day, I make it a point to do something for one person. I make sure I do that. And whatever it may be, that's one of my one things during my routine. And now I'm doing this at a rate where things are just unfolding at a exponential rate. And I feel like I'm building the empire. An empire could be anything. It could be your friends. It could be your circle. It could be whatever your mind can think of and you just have to have value in it and you need to be prideful who you are. And don't be ashamed because we're all great people, every one of you, and we all have a special gift. You just have to figure out what it is. Right, Luke? .

Lucas P. Johnson: You're right, man. Hey, you know, we had all these people coming together and haven't seen them in awhile. And it was really interesting that this podcast which was really hard for us to really get out there and the reason for it, I'm just going to build upon that, is it's being ashamed, not necessarily being ashamed but being scared. Fearing what people think about you is typically a downfall for a lot of us, a great deal of us. We fear what people think about us. And there's been many times where I looked to my closest people, my tribe, you know, you, my family, my friends, my closest peers, my closest advisors to hear what their thoughts are. Paddy and I were really sitting there and we started recording episodes in May/June. We didn't release them until July. And the reason for that was because we were scared of the comments, the dislikes. We were scared of what people would think about us.

Lucas P. Johnson: And just two weeks ago, we had folks come together, my friends, family, all these people come together and they're asking about this podcast we started, Project Dream Mastery. And I'm sitting there and I'm thinking about wow, you know, a year ago, I had this vision with Paddy, two years ago, three years ago and so forth to make something like this and get it out there. And one person comes up to me and asks and then another and then another and then another. And I think back to my closest people in my circle that gave me the courage and gave me the truth that I needed to say love yourself, pursue the future, forgive and forget people that don't matter. You know?

Cory Johnson: But also I'd like to add onto that, Lucas. Remember, remember that in life, you seek validation for no one. Live to your values and life will be real easy for you. Because well, everything else, that's just there. And you can influence that and you will once you had that frequency and that energy that you put into your self-development and you as a person is going really show everyone what you've become. And you're going to inspire them just by being who you are. And you don't even have to try. It's just by living those true, good values, being the hero in your own movie. For example, right, Lucas, going out, taking your dog. I live in Arlington at the say, Axle, he does the poo, you know, and it's the city. So if you're that guy that, you know, doesn't pick up the poo, everyone will, they will talk about you, one. They will, the Arlington snoodle squad would definitely discuss this over brunch. And secondly, you're not a good person. It's like putting your shopping cart away. You do these little things. You're like okay, I did the right thing. I knew I did the right thing. You feel good about yourself because you're a good person. It's picking up the poo, baby. Full send.

Lucas P. Johnson: Full send, baby. Full send. And that's the etiquette we need to have in our own personal life too. You know, seek only approval from yourself and then from your closest tribe.

Cory Johnson: And then also go back and see if there's a connection to that feeling, that feeling where okay, I feel good about this. You know, when I joined the Navy, the first time I didn't go. I didn't feel good about it. You go with your gut. If it goes with your values and you feel it, that's how you make decisions. And sometimes it might not be the right one but you don't lose. You either live or learn, right? So that's the way you need to tackle your day. And you slow it down. Just chill out, relax, enjoy your day. It's okay. Don't let things bother you. It's really okay.

Lucas P. Johnson: Your state of flow is going to be messed up if you do. So take that break to really understand what you want. And Cory, a lot of the takeaways I have from today is who do you really want to be, who are you, who you really are? You're not just defined by your name. You know, I'm Lucas Johnson, you're Cory Johnson. I'm not just that name. I am so much more. And so are you. Go to find who you want to be, follow those dreams, defy the damn expectations that people have on you and don't settle. Don't settle for something that doesn't make you happy. If you're sick of that 9 to 5 job, you know, screw it. Go ahead. Go find yourself something that makes you happy on the daily basis because we only have so much, we only have so much time in this world, right? As Gary Vaynerchuk says or as Travis Bell says, people are dying at 40 and being buried at 80. That, man. I want to live my entire life on my terms and be happy and so do you, Cory. So does every single person I surround myself in my tribe, that's how we want to live. We want to be happy doing we're doing

Cory Johnson: It all starts with a choice. You make the decision. You just have to come, you have to be okay with it with your mind. And another thing, Lucas, I kind of take from my running extravaganza, I've really, running has changed my life, fitness, running. But the thing I've taken away from that is when, because I'll run like ,I've been doing these, I'm training for an ultra marathon. I run. Right now I'm dialing the training in. But you know, the off days come when life comes. So I show up every day. I get on the elliptical, you know, when my body feels good. But I make it okay that I know in my mind I'm okay with doing this for two and a half hours. I know I'm going to show up and do that. And I set it up to how I would work for myself if I were to work for myself.

Cory Johnson: So it's so much easier when you're just okay with it and you come up to terms. Hey, I'm know I'm going to do this and you visualize this and you execute. Just like this podcast. I don't like talking in front of people. Funny enough said, I am an educator. I'm a teacher. So I do it every day. You got to keep putting just what, those things that make you uncomfortable is what really, really make you thrive and give you that momentum in life. Because you're like wow. You know, when I feel like I don't want to do something, I go do it now because I'm like, you know, even playing video games, I'm playing, I play that War Zone sometimes, you know, and it's all about that mindset. I could use the guns I'm comfortable with but why not like use the pistol or like the knives. I've been trying to throw knives at people because it's like the hardest thing ever. You know?

Cory Johnson: But I took, I made a path that that's my own warpath. I wanted to, I wanted to do the hard way. So I'll play so many games with that. You know? It's just the same with life. Am I going to, am I, for example, if I were to take GMAT test, right? Am I going to just go take it? Or what would I do to solve that problem? Would I go to a class? Would I pay for it? Would I read a bunch of books on it? Those all seem like they'd probably be the right decision to make. It would lead me in the right direction towards an MBA if I chose that that would benefit me and wanted to do that in my life. We all have those things in our minds that we get these light bulbs all the time. Is that good or bad? Should I make that choice? Mindfulness. Think about what you're doing. See it. Slow your day down. Enjoy it. Live life. It's great, baby. Full send.

Lucas P. Johnson: Full send. I think that's probably a great spot to wrap up. But I also want to say that Paddy really wanted to be here but unfortunately, I did not place it on his schedule. I own that. Time zones, man. It's really tough especially recording this on a Sunday. We both have full-time jobs. Cory, you've got a full-time job. So, you know, that alignment sometimes fails but I own that. I'm accountable for that. And that's a takeaway. You know? We have to be responsible for those things in our lives that even though we don't want to be responsible, could have scheduled earlier, could have scheduled next week. It was because I wanted to get this out there to the world because Cory is so much value added. I know you're my brother but if you weren't my brother, I'd say the same thing, man. I love you.

Cory Johnson: Thank you, Lucas.

Lucas P. Johnson: And there's so much great content here. So I will say this. Cory, you know what actually? I'm going to pass it to you to give three points that you want to pass off before we wrap up today, three things that would help them.

Cory Johnson: Okay. Number one, number one, I have to say, start doing the things that it's kind of like on the, life's on the razor or the razor's edge of life. You know? Those things that give you that rush, you know, get yourself out of that comfort zone. And I think that once you start just working on yourself and finding out who you are, I think that there's a hidden potential in all of us that man, you might really be impressed with what you find. Another key thing is a routine. I think that scheduling a routine and living by a calendar is probably the most important thing. And when you start doing these things over and over again, it just becomes part of your day, becomes a lifestyle and a good lifestyle is also gonna put you in a good state of mind. So that's the third thing. Mindset, have a growth mindset. If you don't, identify that and try to find ways to reprogram your paradigm to have a growth mindset and really untapped that full potential of your. Because at the end of the day, we're all going to die. Like we're we all have time. That's one thing we all share in common. So what are you going to do with your time and what is your gift and how are you going to make it meaningful? Thank you. Thank you, Dream Mastery followers. Thank you for having me. And I look forward to doing this again someday. Hopefully, I can come back on the show if Lucas doesn't excommunicate me from the family after this.

Lucas P. Johnson: Hey, man, that would never happen. Family first, bro. Family first. With that, I'm going to pass along a few home, there's a bug here, a few assignments for you this week as we do every week. I'm going to give you some homework. First off, go follow Project Dream Mastery on all of our socials. As on Thanksgiving Day 2020, we will be giving away some pretty sweet mercy to a few of our followers. Maybe more than that. So check it out, give us a like, comment, subscribe, the whole nine yards as they say on all the YouTube videos out there in the world. And I want to give you a few actions and Cory, you provoked these. So I'm going to get rid of some of the other stuff that I originally had planned. Go out, actually, sit down, put your phone on do not disturb or turn it off, get a notepad and write down your thoughts. Write down what's on your mind. Get it off your chest. Because when you write things down, it's more fishing. You kind of eliminate that from your brain because it's now on paper. Take that 5, 10, 15 minutes, an hour to think about what you want, visualize where you see your future and think about how you can make that a reality. That's your homework for this week.

Cory Johnson: I have one thing to add to that, Lucas. When do you feel smart? When you're flawless or when you're learning? Go learn. Learn yourself. Thank you.

Lucas P. Johnson: Perfect. All right. So 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 Q&A. We have a few different tiers available with some pretty sweet perks. So make sure to check them out and consider supporting the show. Go to ProjectDreamMastery.com and click the red button that says become a Patreon to learn more. As we reach our monthly goals, we will have some pretty sweet giveaways. If you have not already, please make sure to review the show, subscribe, like and share so that we can 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 access the full experience. Again, thank you so much for joining us today. We look forward to seeing you on the next episode to come. Thank you so much for joining us, Cory. Talk soon. Thank you. Take care.