The Car Episode: Bad Audio, Bodacious Habits

I wonder how it sound. And if this is like not usable…

That's fine.

…then we'd just…

This is just another run through.

Yeah, we'll just re-record at home.

All right, so…

So, cue music!

I forget how our music goes, so I'm making new music. It is our music, I know!

Welcome back to What is MAVEN, the show about, doing things, getting them done, and getting them done when you're in the car driving back from Chicago Bears training camp. I'm Jeff Sarris.

And I'm Amara Andrew. This week we want to talk about Eddie Jackson.

Just kidding. Faceplate fool, you're done.

-oh.

Teasing, but you failed terribly. Anyway, welcome back to the show. Right now this sounds and looks entirely different, whether you're listening or watching or bothing.

I hope you're bothing.

I hope you are bothing also. Happy bothing day!

But yeah, today we are talking about sticking to habits, building habits, keeping them. And this is a good example of how we approach habits and, what was actually the phrase you were using?

Also motivation, but like staying motivated and how to do that by building healthy habits. So, we were talking about this at Shake Shack, so now, not a sponsor by the way, but now we have a better idea of what we're talking about.

But yeah, we just left Chicago Bears training camp in Lake Forest, so we decided we would record this episode on the way home from, that event, if you will. But, because we've been very busy, so we haven't had the time to get this episode in this week, but we're not gonna miss it.

Exactly. Even though it's later, we're still, we still want to have this episode go out because we're motivated to build something grander. So, that is really why I wanted to talk about it, and this just happened to work out perfectly, as well.

So, the key thing is thinking long-term. So, what does long-term thinking mean? Why is it important, and why should you stay motivated?

So, do you think that you're, someone, would you consider yourself someone who is good at creating and maintaining habits?

I think so. 'Cause I only do things that I either like or that I can see myself doing for a very long time. So, that's also why I systematize most things, basically almost everything, without taking all the joy out of living and life and everything like that.

Which that is the tough part.

Yes. 'Cause there are some people we've seen, yeah, who will be nameless right now, but we've seen people who have systematized everything, and it's beautiful, like a great system. But we're not machines.

We are humans, and you can systematize things, but don't do it to suck the joy and fun out of it, because that's not sustainable. I've definitely done that to myself where I was like, "Oh, I'll do this!" And then it was like, why the fuck am I doing this? Like that's why I think so many people don't like having healthy habits or having like a sleep habit or something like that, because they don't make it a joyful, positive experience for themselves.

But anyway, we were talking about content specifically.

Well, just along the lines of what you're just saying, I sort of have an approach where I think you do more until more is too much, and then you do less until less is too little. And it's always a pendulum swinging back and forth. And I think that's how the same thing applies to habits, and that you can overdo it and make the systematizing, like what we're saying, I guess not the habits part, but systematize things so much that there's no life in what you're doing, and that's a problem.

Yes.

But how do you create habits that are going to benefit you and compound over time? That's what we're here to talk about.

Exactly. And,…

It's funny, it's so different being in the car, right? 'Cause like, obviously, I'm the one driving, so I have my, attention split a little bit, but I think this is fun.

Oh yeah. And normally he's the one sort of guiding and leading the conversation, so I lean on him heavily for that, so now it's up to me, and I'm like, tell me about you. What are your favorite colors?

Now…

But anyway.

What would be a habit that you currently have? Like, what comes to mind is very similar to this, what we're recording right now.

Yes. So, I mean, that was something I was going to talk about later, but I'll just bring it up now 'cause that was where the conversation was going. But for me, one of the big things, and one of the big things about MAVEN, our business, is that you batch record your content.

So, it makes it easier for you. You don't have to every day be like, "Oh god, I got to get motivated to make this video, where I have to feel like I'm on right now." 'Cause some days you just feel like total shit, you don't want to record, you don't want to be on camera, you're like, I'm having a terrible fucking day, or you're super busy and you don't have time for it.

That's why the beauty is in batch recording and making that a daily, or daily, no! Do not make that a daily habit. Or if it works for you, go for it.

But making that a habit, making that a crucial part of, like I just said, whether day, week, month, whatever. For me, what works is recording stuff every other month, except for my podcast specifically, my other podcast, that one I record every week because it's news-related, so it has to be as current as possible….

And thus far, we're doing this one every week, and it's not because it's timely, but it's, it is another habit that we are establishing, because this is also practice for us. We are, we've talked about it before, but we haven't educated together. Like we haven't spoken together.

So, this is an experiment.

No. Even in social situations, it doesn't really happen. It's one or the other of us.

We're the ones that smile and get a lot of, comments about smiling so much.

-. So, thank you. We went to the National this weekend, and hello feature!

But anyway, but having, so I think what also makes this, podcast successful or why we've kept at it is another thing I wanted to touch upon, which is accountability. Having people there to keep you in check, or having one of us, like, granted, each week one of us is like, "Ugh, I have a lot I need to do. Like, can we just do it like another day?" And the other one is like, "No, we have to do it today, otherwise we're never going to do it." And then the other one of us is like, "Agh, you're right." Which, most of the time, it's him telling me, so…

And then the other one of us…

And then our third one. No. But having that person there or whoever it is, a group, a person, whatever, there to keep you accountable and have you…

Like someone you can talk to and be like, "Ugh, you know, I don't feel like it right now, but…" Like, Jeff does that for, it's weird saying your name, but he does that for a lot of different people. Like he has certain people, not part of his coaching services that he offers, but just like friends that he just wants people to do stuff.

So, he just…

Well, I want to see, I want to help people succeed, so whether it's whether it's paid or not, I mean, the goal is to help someone build and grow. And like what you're just saying, like just yesterday I was talking to someone and I'm like, "Can I get you to do three videos this week? Three short, one minute, just showcase who you are videos." And he's like, " I'll start with one and see how it goes." I'm like, "Okay, let's meet in the middle and do two."

-huh.

Because that first one isn't a habit yet. It's just ripping that band-aid, just getting started, which is the first, most difficult step, getting started.

So, how long would you say it takes for a habit to form?

A lot of people say like 21 days, 30 days, whatever, but I don't know if it's time as much as action.

And I think making your habits enjoyable, too. 'Cause it's like, I don't like brushing my teeth or what- whatever. I mean, I enjoy brushing my teeth, but like some people don't, like kids or whatever.

I don't like wiping my butt after I poop.

Oh my god! Speaking of, I conquered a fear today, but we'll talk about that later.

And I am joking, by the way. But anyway, that was a fear. There was a thing that came up.

Sticky pants over here.

Hey, you!

What were we just saying?

So how long does it take…

Oh, making your making your habit enjoyable. That's huge. And granted, you're not going to love every fucking thing you have to do.

Like that's just not humanly possible. Or I guess it could be if you have joy in your heart and a smile in your in your heart.

Well, so let's let's bring that exact thing back to video and using video to build your brand, showcase your expertise, build who you are in your business. How does someone make that enjoyable if maybe they've never shot video before and maybe it's just scary?

That's a really good question.

I know.

I mean, I think… So what I was going to say with the toothbrushing thing was if you have the why, so why am I brushing my teeth? To have great oral hygiene.

Well, why? To make sure I don't have other diseases further down the road or have to pay for super expensive veneers, dental work, whatever, or have my fucking teeth ripped out of my head. Very few people want to go through that.

So, having that sort of why, well, why am I doing this? Why am I making these videos? Why am I trying, like what am I trying to do here?

Well, you are trying to promote your business. And why? Because you want to make more money.

Why? Because you want to have a better quality of life. Well, why?

Because, like you could just keep going on and on and on.

And I think that's interesting, too, those two points, using those together, because there's negative motivation—"I don't want cavities, I don't want this,"—and there's positive motivation—"I want to live a better life."

Exactly.

So like both of those can work, but it depends it depends on the person's attitude and do they…

Oh yeah, 100%. And like it's hard. Like it's not going to be some- like every single thing we've talked about so far, everything is going to be difficult.

But as soon as you get in the rhythm of it, as soon as it becomes second nature to you, it's going to be like easier. It's going to like, there are definitely, like I said, going to be days where you're like, "Fuck this, what am I doing, I hate this, like no more!" but then there are going to be days where you're like, "Fuck, I get to do this.

Like this is amazing." Sorry, I feel like I'm swearing a lot. We've just at sports. Just kidding, nobody was swearing.

Anyway. So yeah, you said about 21 days to about a month?

So, well, that's what people say for habits, is how long does it take to create a habit. They'll be like 21 days.

So…

Sometimes. But I don't think, I think time is the wrong measurement.

I think so.

Yeah, I think the measurement that's important is output.

'Cause I mean, I could have a new habit tomorrow if I really felt like it, if there was a reason why. So, I think that would be my first thing is figure out your reason why. Why are you doing this?

Why are you making this? And if you need accountability, we're here.

Well, and I just wanted to say real quick, the inverse of what you just said. Someone can spend 21 days not building a habit very easily.

Oh yeah.

Like or you could be like, "Okay, I'm going to take 21 actions." Like maybe that's more of what we look at, is starting a podcast. Maybe it's 10 episodes before you can really say that's a habit, because maybe it's weekly, maybe it's…

What are those actions?

So, I think the action's differ depending on what it is that someone is striving for. So, if you're creating videos, like the person I was mentioning, I wanted three videos this week. He wanted to he was like, "I'll try one." And I was like, "Let's do two."

I like that you like…

Yeah, like two being pushing our comfort zone, I think, is very important, just universally. Like if it feels if it feels doable, it's not taking it far enough. It needs to feel at least a little bit, you have to feel at least a little bit of discomfort to really grow and get to the next step.

And I think we can all say, "Oh, I can record a one-minute video of myself this week." Like, it's scary. It's daunting. I don't want to do it, but I can do that.

But then it's like, " but I need you to do two." Like, then it becomes like, "Ugh, I have to overcome my own, pushback, my resistance, like…" the guy who wrote The War of Art, Steven Pressfield, he would call it resistance, that it's inside all of us where we have this resistance that is fighting against our creative nature, and our entire goal as creatives is to fight back against the resistance.

So, I think that throwing the two out there was a good, I think that can work for him in his scenario, but it depends what one is trying to, make into a habit, I think.

So, what's a habit that you currently have? Whether positive or negative.

You could tell me, I don't have…

If you could tell me, I don't have off the top of my head, I don't know.

Well, you have your morning ritual. I know that's different than a habit, but you have a habit of reading in the morning.

Which, again, habit and ritual, not the same, but also very similar. But he, every morning, or at least he tries to, goes outside, sits in the grass and grounds, or sits in the living room if it's winter, and just has like morning time, sips coffee, reads some things, gets motivated for the day. So, that is part of your morning motivation.

Yeah, so my why.

Yes.

'Cause we'll talk about the fears, too.

Why do you do that?

If I don't start my day that way, I tend to just not feel as positive overall, so not as motivated, not as positive about what I'm maybe working on, or what whatever is going on in that day, I generally don't feel like myself if I have to start and hit the treadmill, like the metaphorical treadmill, and like start running.

Yeah.

It's such a different day and experience for the day. So, that's something for me that I found is a positive, it's I guess it depends how you look at it, but I would look at it as a positive outcome from this habit. One could say it's avoiding a negative, but…

I was going to say, you're also trying to avoid that bad feeling, because how did your day start yesterday? You don't have to go into specifics, but just how was it?

No, I don't. But yeah, yesterday wasn't great, because there was a, sort of a fire to put out, I guess you could say, that took hours, and it was from the moment I woke up until, yeah, I had a meeting that I had to push because of it. But then it was waking up, doing this, going right into the chat, and then it was basically the whole day, and it already passed by, so I didn't I never got that sort of centering for the day.

So, what about you for habits? What's something that comes to mind?

Man, I mean, wiping my butt after I poop. Yeah, that's a good habit. Yeah, you should really get on that.

I do a similar sort of morning routine, but I don't I spend a little less time on reading just because I get really antsy, 'cause I'm like, okay, I need to start my day, but that's just my own thought. Like that's just part of my habit.

Something I do every other day is work out. That has been a huge fucking thing for me. Like, I would work out on and off and not really regularly before, but now like I lift weights and everything.

I feel so much better, and I'm actually really excited. The first few times sucked fucking ass. I was so sore.

I hated it. I didn't really I mean, I didn't hate it, but I didn't really enjoy it, and I didn't feel the benefit of it yet, but now that I've consistently like, it sounds silly, but now that I've consistently been lifting weights every other day, every week, no matter what, unless we're on a trip, but then we try to find the nearest kettlebell, or whatever, or we bring ours with, and fill it with beach sand, it's really cool.

But that is something that I really like, and now I really enjoy it, because I feel the difference, and I can see the difference. So, that's a habit. Sucked at the beginning, but now that I have the system set in place, like, okay, you're going to read for 30, 45 minutes, maybe an hour if you're really having a slow morning, and then go straight into your workout, feel amazing.

Now, knowing the positives, the benefits from it, I think is very valuable.

Yeah, because consciously, I'm like, I want to be able to walk, run, gallop, whatever the fuck, until I'm like done off this earth, whatever age that is, I hope it's a while, but we'll see. But I want to be active, and I don't want to lose any of my mobility, 'cause I've seen a lot of people lose their mobility, have terrible health from such preventable things, just walking, moving, lifting, like very easy.

Now, let's jump over to creating videos and content and doing the things that will directly impact people watching this. So, what…

Well, yeah, so like batch recording specifically.

Yeah, and what do those habits like explicitly look like for you personally? So, the batch recording works really great with clients.

Yes.

So like for What is MAVEN, every other month, 3 hours a time, and you get 2 hour, 2 months worth of content. Super simple, very straightforward.

Yeah, and either I prepare questions or my client does, it depends on their comfort level. I always have things ready to go if they're just like, "You know what? I've been so busy." And I'm like, "That's perfect, let's do bingo bango," and then we're good.

Now for you…

Yeah.

…how have you approached building the habits of creating your YouTube videos? Like because just to rewind for a minute, just briefly for anyone who doesn't know, you basically started on TikTok.

Yeah.

That's where you started making short 60 second art history videos, and it like popped off, and you had a habit there.

Yeah.

But then you let that habit go because you got a little a little nervous about it growing too quickly.

I was terrified.

And so you set that habit aside, but then you picked it up again maybe a year later and focused more on YouTube and some vertical short content as well.

And your podcast. So, what has your habit looked like sort of from that moment forward, sort of your new reboot of your approach to video?

So yeah, I mean that sort of, it's changed a lot.

Oh yeah.

Yeah, what's my habit? I mean, like my weekly podcast, like I said, and making sure, you know, every Monday I prepare for the podcast, I pick out my stories, if I haven't… So throughout the week actually, I'm just going to talk about podcast specifically just because that's like the main thing.

But that throughout the week I look for specific art or history-related stories that are a little weird or a little interesting. And then I just add those to my doc where I have everything, and then I skim through it to see, "Okay, is this something I want to talk about? Is there enough here for like an episode, or is it not, blah." And then Monday, every Monday, Monday or Tuesday, there's no, even though this week I'm actually delayed on my podcast…

Well, for this one, it's Tuesday right now. We're recording, we'll get home…

Is it Tuesday?

-huh.

Oh, yeah!

We'll record, we're recording now, we'll get home, I'll sync it all up, upload, it'll be on.

Perfect, and I'll probably record mine when we get home, so… Anyway. But Monday or Tuesday, I make sure I record.

If I'm recording that week on Monday or Tuesday, or sometimes both with clients, then I try to do Sunday. Sometimes, like this week, it's going to come out a little bit later, but that's totally fine, like as long as I'm staying consistent and I know, okay, this is my like this is what I'm doing, this is what I'm trying to build, this is where I'm going, you need to stay consistent, 'cause as soon as you miss that one week, like that'll turn into two, that two will turn into three, and then 6 years have gone by and you're like, "Why did I never make another YouTube video?"

And I think that's a really good point. You are, don't beat yourself up if you miss one thing, but…

Make sure it's only one.

…do everything, everything in your power to avoid missing two, because as soon as you do, you're fucked. It's very hard to restart a habit. And so like if you can keep the habit going, it's valuable.

So, system-wise, you have a system for your podcast…

Yes.

…which makes it repeatable.

So, I make my podcast, like when I started, it was supposed to be something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue, just because I thought that would be fun, where then it would be easier to clip. So I make my podcasts specifically for clips. I do it also for the full episode, but if you'll notice, there is a certain format that each section of like each story, if you will, follows a specific format, and it has sort of the zingy front-runner intro or whatever, not entirely, but, essentially I'm making a full podcast for the short clips, so then I can have three to four, depending on how I feel that week, three to four clips for the week to post in addition to the podcast.

Like that is huge.

And if we need to clarify, just say it one more time what that is, because I think that's important to know.

So, yeah, I make my whole podcast for the specific reason to have clips.

So, it's almost like you're writing individual short videos…

Exactly.

…and delivering them in a long form.

Yeah, it's like a lot of short stories within a larger compendium, but it's still under the entire umbrella of Buy Amara, whatever that episode is. But that is huge, that has saved me so much time, 'cause trying to do research for each specific TikTok like I was doing before, very time-consuming. I mean, I spent so much fucking time trying to get stuff together for a 60 second clip, and then I was like, okay, let's try a different thing, and this has proved so much more sustainable.

But, if I didn't start, which we've talked about in previous episodes, I would have no idea. Like, I wouldn't have started ever, so…

So, how do you see a realtor should approach this? So, they want to create content, they're not working with you directly, they want to do it on their own.

Yeah.

What, what might be a first, couple steps to build like a system and a habit that could work?

-. Yeah, how to build the steps to the habit. What would be the…

It's funny because this podcast never has any pauses, so I have to think on my feet.

Oh no, and it's fine. I mean, because I was just thinking, so you said the batch recording, and when people work with you, you'll give the prompts.

Yes.

So, even building up a library of topics…

Yes.

…maybe that's the first area to start.

Well, so something, too, that's really easy for realtors is talk about stories that you have, 'cause every single person I've met, they have stories. You don't have to give away who the person was, where they live, whatever, but, obviously, you're going to have stories where it's like, "This was the weirdest shit I've ever seen," or, "You will not believe what I saw in the basement of this car," or car, basement…

In the basement of the car, oh no!

…the basement of the driving! Or the backseat of this car is what I meant. Yeah, so just think of the things that you already know, and then figure out what are some of the most commonly asked things that your clients ask you.

So like, what's a mortgage? What's a down payment? It might sound stupid and silly to you where you're just like, "Who the fuck wants to know that?" but so many people need to, especially with Millennials or Gen Z.

Or… But like, we have no idea, and we're not going to go Google it. Like, you should be the authority figure in your area for whatever it is.

And on the Google part, that is why you're doing this, also.

Yes.

You want to be where they're directed when someone's looking for these answers to these questions, which is why we are going to keep yelling at every realtor to post your videos on YouTube.

We're talking about that next week, because what the fuck? Why do you only like Instagram?

Well, yeah, and it's…

Fucking everywhere!

Everyone is on Instagram, so, of course, we should all, we should all be there. The problem is there's so few people who are who are capitalizing on YouTube, and it is a huge…

And we're back! Sorry for that.

So, even the GoPro overheats when it's in the window of the car.

Yeah.

So that's, it's so funny, like we know that heat adversely affects things, but I've not expected GoPro to suffer any sort of, issues.

I didn't either.

Anyway, so we're going to wind out this episode now. What were you saying, 'cause you had a specific idea of how you wanted to wind out?

So, here's what I want you to do to make your content this week. First, create your habit. So, just get started, start your habit, whatever that is for you.

I recommend, for real estate professional specifically, 'cause this is mostly geared toward you, figure out your top five stories, figure out the top five additional questions that people ask you, pick five random would you rather or personality-based questions, and then just do another five mixture. So, you will have two months worth of content, almost, right there.

Batch record it, get it all ready to go. If you need to do multiple takes, do it. It get, I normally take like eight different takes, so this is why this is also wild, different, but that is your homework.

So, go collect your stories, collect your things, and just start recording. Book off one entire day to do all of this, you're going to feel amazing, 'cause everything will be ready to go for the next month or two, and then you repeat it again the following month.

Can I…

…and continue.

Can I give one addendum to that?

Yeah.

Okay.

See ya! Bye! Yeah.

So, you said you can re-record as much as you want.

Yes.

I'm going to give you, I'm going to give you a limit to one. You record, and if you have to re-record, you have one second opportunity…

Yeah.

…and then you just publish. Because…

Yeah, you have to publish one of them at least.

So, it's one more piece of friction to be like, "Oh, I can re-record until I think it's great." It's it's going to be awful.

Yeah.

Just, you need to think, you need to think that it's awful, but like, the secret is, it's not going to be that bad. You're just not going to think it's great, because your taste outweighs your skill at this moment, but you need to do it. So, are we saying five pieces of content, maybe this week?

So, you have this whole list, but what do you think they should do in the next 7 days before we're back here?

20! Let's go! Two.

No, maybe just do 10, so do the five stories that you have off the bat of your ol' noodle…

Off the bat of your noodle.

Bat of your noodle, as they say, and then five commonly asked questions that people ask you, whether it's like, "Where can I hire someone?" Like, that's actually a very valid question that you should answer for your market, so…

And those are only one-minute videos.

Yes, one-minute, not big, don't care about how you fucking look, use a window light if you don't already have a ring light or some other sort of lighting system, and just get it out there. And like he said, it is going to suck. My TikToks when I look back at the ones that I started with, holy fuck, they're terrible, but that's how you learn, that's how you grow, that's how you do this.

So, just get it out there, I want to see it, I'm going to find you, I know who's watching this. Is that right, Jerry? I'm just teasing.

I have no idea. So please go do that and record your successes. Also, if you need help staying accountable, let us know.

We are really great at being accountability buddies, so, yeah.

Well, yeah, but start that habit. That's the big thing. This week is all about starting habits and shaky cameras, but we'll go post-cable.

But it's all about starting the habit. So, whether it is video or something else, do it now. Let's start it.

Shaky cameras, no shaky habits.

There you go, I like that. Shaky cameras, no shaky habits. We'll leave you with that.

Yes.

Did you have anything else before I cue up the music?

Well, yes, I do. Let me try to unlock my phone, if I can, which it never can read my eyes because of these sunglasses. Okay.

What did the horse say after it tripped?

What did the horse say after it tripped? I don't know.

"Help! I've fallen and I can't giddyup!"

That's it for this week! Thanks for tuning in! Like, subscribe, comment, share with a friend, enjoy your life, be your best, and get all your content ready to go in just a couple days.

Here we go! Yeah!

See ya!

Bye!