Instead of interviewing somebody for episode 5 of The BOOM Podcast, speaker and Amazon bestselling author Jeff Yalden reflected on his experience of participating in the Dirty Myrtle Mud Run in Myrtle Beach, S.C. last month – and weighing on his heart was a message he wanted to share, the essence of what the BOOM is all about.
The Dirty Myrtle Mud Run is a 5K race – 3.2 miles with obstacles along the way – and Yalden wasn’t feeling it on the morning of the race when his fiancée Janet Kelly woke him up.
“She said that we had signed up and that we were going to do it,” he said. “I didn’t want to fight it because I knew I needed to do it.”
But that morning, Yalden was not motivated – he wasn’t feeling strong, flexible or energetic – but he remembered his primary goals for the year when it came to his fitness: Be consistent and show up.
“I didn’t want to do it. I was nervous. I was scared – but you know what? We all go through that. We all go through times of self-doubt, but I made a commitment,” he said.
This was about getting his blood flowing and his body moving. He was going to be outdoors in the sun, building up a sweat and seeing his friends. And the fact that it was a beautiful day brightened his outlook tremendously.
“I didn’t have any expectations of what place I would come in. I wanted this to be more about self-care than it was about the end result,” he said.
He showed up – and the BOOM had everything to do with that.
“The BOOM was that I got up and went. The BOOM got me off the couch – and while I was doing this, I saw other people doing the obstacles. I wasn’t jealous that they could do more than me because that’s not the BOOM mentality. The BOOM mentality is that you are proud of people and you want them to succeed every day,” he said.
Showing up is the magic bullet – and is a major part of the BOOM.
Yalden illustrated his point with a story about basketball.
“I am 46 years old, and haven’t picked up a basketball in quite some time – but if I was at the free-throw line with Steph Curry [Stephen Curry – Golden State Warriors] and I took a shot but he didn’t, who would have a better chance of that ball going in?”
According to Yalden, the point is that we tend to keep the ball in our hands.
“We’re afraid to dribble for the fear that the [ball] might be taken away. We’re afraid to take the shot for the fear that we might miss whatever shot we take. But if I take the shot, I have a chance of that shot going in.
The point is that you have just got to show up – and don’t be afraid to show up because that journey starts somewhere.”
Yalden said he came to realize that we are all at different points in our journeys toward being the best that we can be.
Be patient in the process. And if that means simplifying and streamlining along the way, don’t hesitate to do just that.
In this heart-to-heart episode of The BOOM Podcast, Yalden spoke of the stages of life:
In your twenties, it’s all about self – about that job, that college degree and how much money you are making. In your thirties, it’s about success. You want people to perceive you as being successful. In your forties, it’s all about significance. It becomes a little less about you and more about that significant contribution that you can provide to your community.
“I think about significance,” Yalden said. “I don’t care about standing ovations anymore. I don’t care about the grand applause anymore. I care about the teachable moment – when I know I am connecting with a person.”
When a person enters their fifties, it’s about building a legacy.
“Where are you in your journey of life? At what point in this journey are you going to start to really look at who you are as a person?”
Yalden had a recent conversation with his friend, speaker and author John Crudele, in which Crudele shared a quote that Yalden felt compelled to write down:
It’s not about what you go through. It’s about what goes through you when you go through it that makes you who you are.
“You see, my friends – we don’t go over things. We go through things – because in the process of going through things, those things teach us so much,” Yalden said, adding that your thinking leads to your beliefs, your beliefs lead to your behaviors, your behaviors lead to your attitude, your attitude leads to your feelings, and your feelings lead to your choices.”
BOOM!
In this episode of the BOOM Podcast and in his Amazon bestseller, BOOM! One Word to Instantly Inspire Action, Deliver Rewards, and Positively Affect Your Life Every Day, Yalden says the BOOM is not about being in a place where people envy you. The BOOM is about wherever you are in your journey – and your journey is different from everybody else’s journey.
“I want you to bring the BOOM every day,” he said. “When you wake up in the morning and you put your feet on the floor and stroll into that bathroom – you brush your teeth, wash your face, clap your hands – and do your dance. And when you go through things, make sure you give yourself a daily reward.”
And Yalden is happy about the outcome of his day at the Dirty Myrtle Mud Run.
“I did it. I’m proud of myself. I didn’t want to do it, but I pushed myself to get up and do it. I didn’t break any records, but I did it – and that’s the bottom line. Get up every day. Be consistent and show up – and little by little we become better today than we were yesterday. We become better than we were today.”
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