Small Annoyances to Major Challenges

Watch the episode here:

• Uncover a fresh perspective on stress inspired by Jordan Peterson.
• Learn how embracing larger challenges can minimize everyday worries.
• Discover the transformative power of stress in personal and business growth.
• Hear Rick Jordan’s personal stories of navigating significant pressures.
• Find out why gratitude for stress might be the key to a fulfilling life.

Hey, what’s shakin, hey, I’m Rick Jordan today, we’re going all in. I was scrolling through Instagram the other day, as many of us do, right? I actually don’t spend too much time on there, which is great. You know, I write stuff, I look on my DMs. But there’s not a lot of time that I spent to flip through things. And I caught something from Jordan Peterson. And if you’ve never followed, the guy looked at the guy, I mean, he’s, he’s actually a psychologist. And his thought process is super intriguing to me. But there was one thing that he was talking about with stress. And I’m under a lot of stress, you know, and I’m like, Oh, cool. I’m gonna watch this. He’s talking about stress. And I started to think about this, as he said, this thing, which is, I mean, you could say it’s a quote, but it was his words. And he’s like, if you’re not having to think about something big and stressful, then all you’ll think about is something small and delusional. That was like, Whoa, man, that’s deep. Yeah, because I’m thinking about this, like, the things that I’m thinking about right now are like, you know, company building and public company and my next speaking, gig and where I’m traveling next to, and my kids, because, you know, a year and a half, they’re 18, and all these other things that I would consider to be big. 

And that’s the point is that they’re absolutely real things, you know, and then I start to think about the inverse of that. It’s like if I didn’t have all these things to fill my thoughts, like Jordan Peterson is saying, I’m actually thinking, it’s like, wow, well, what I think about, and then I start to zoom out a little bit and start to laugh and chuckle and then also get kind of sad, because I start to ponder, all the times I’ve heard other people say, what is actually going on in their lives and the things that they’re worried about? And what’s what’s crazy, is, I can’t even think of an example right now. But when you think about these kinds of things, it’s like, well, have you ever been in the position where somebody tells you something that sounds like it’s the end of the world? And you’re like, well, that doesn’t really sound like that big of a deal. You know, it almost doesn’t even sound like a real thing. You know, like, that’s even a real thing to be concerned about. That’s called life. That’s just called life, you know, stuff happens, right? So where it’s like, oh, man, like, oh, geez, it’s raining today, you know, and I just got new white shoes yesterday, you know, and now I’m gonna have to go outside, I really wanted to wear these white shoes, but I can’t wear my new white shoes, because they’re gonna get dirty. Because it’s raining today, I really was hoping it would be sunny, because I just bought these things last night at the store, or they just came in Amazon, yesterday, or this morning, I even overnighted them. 

One, maybe you should have checked the weather first, right before you paid extra for overnight from Amazon or whatever. But if you look at this, and it’s like that, so like, like what Jordan said, it’s like this frickin delusional. It’s so small, it’s not even a thing to be concerned about, you know, that kind of stuff just rolls, or it should just roll right off your shoulders. And I started to, you know, it’s not that I was like, puffing up my chest as I’m thinking about this. But no, it’s more like gratitude. It’s like, Man, I’m grateful that I’m in the position that I that I actually have stress. And I was talking with some other people the other day, and I was giving some examples about how stress actually makes you better, and pressure makes you better. And I was talking about like, in, a business sense. And as I was thinking about this, it’s like, I want people to gain experience in order to grow. And I personally believe that the only way to do that is with pressure, with stress, you know, and with that pressure always comes a lot of fun. Because even in the midst of all the jump that I’ve had to go through with like a public company, or sometimes if I’m on stage, no joke, it’s like this has really pissed me off one time this happened. It’s like 2000 people in the room, big events. And they’re trying to make up some time. 

So they kill a break. Right? A break there was supposed to be right before me when I went up on stage where I had my keynotes. And they kill the break, they remove it from the schedule, but they forgot to tell the whole frickin room, and like 700 people get up and walk out, you know because they think it’s break time. You know, but these kinds of things. It’s like when you have this kind of stress, it can actually be fun. You know, and I’m not talking undue stress, but you have difficult things in life. And the only way to actually grow and gain the experience in order to handle bigger and bigger things is with that pressure with that stress. When you remove that, what do you have? And I’m not talking about rest and recharge and all that stuff, right? I’m talking about day-to-day life. Because still, it’s like, you know, I was in Florida just a couple of days ago, weeks ago. I don’t remember but it was soon. And all I did was like for the first time in a long time. Even in the midst of all this stuff going on that I have right now with business and speaking in podcasting and everything. It’s like I actually just responded to a couple of calls in the morning for maybe about an hour, and then the I can’t remember the last time I did this, like on a Saturday or Sunday, it was like, You know what, I’m just not, I’m just not going to deal with anything like that the rest of the day. And it was an awesome rest and recharge. But the thing is, is that those big things, those big stressful things still existed. 

So when I talk about this and the small things, it’s not removing those things from your life. And I’m not talking about rest and recharge, when I’m talking about his day-to-day life, if you don’t have big things to worry about, what’s the point of existing, because then all you’re gonna do is talk about the surface level stuff. And it’s sad because I see a lot of this right. This has nothing to do with somebody’s social status, their economic status, this has everything to do with just what they had to deal with in life. Because growth is essential. Growth is essential to becoming who you are, and I love being around people, who must be everything they can be, that’s what they constantly seek after. And the only way to do something like that is to have stress is to have pressure. And Jordan Peterson could not have said it any better. Saying that if you don’t have big things to stress about in life, then all you’re going to do is be concerned about small things that are delusional, because it’s just, they’re not real. They’re not real difficulties. That’s why he’s saying delusional, it’s not a real difficulty, a real problem, to have white shoes come many like crap, it’s raining. It’s not a real difficulty to have your computer suddenly reboot on you. Like that monitor, it’s not a real thing to actually go. I say that because that happened to me the other day, right? It’s a company, we had a lot of stuff like put in, and some new security measures and everything. And my computer just like suddenly rebooted into the moment, like, really, you know, just looking at it, but then guess what it was over in like three minutes. It was, you know, so it wasn’t even a thing. 

That’s why I say that stuff, you know, but it’s, it’s not a real thing. To actually be concerned about these things that are so frickin tiny, that are inconsequential, that have zero significance on your personal growth, or your impact in purpose in the world. I hope to God that after you listen to this episode, you start to seek out some difficulties, that you start to find new challenges, and that you start to place things in your life. And I’ve talked about this actually just with my team the other day, with a new acquisition, right? It’s like I intentionally place things in my life to pull me forward into something not push me not motivate me, not that kind of thing. No, because I think that that’s kind of a crock. At some point. It’s like, oh, I need some motivation, everything. It’s like, No, I freaking commit first. And that’s the difficulty, the stress that I voluntarily put in my life to be like, You know what, I need to be over there. So what I’m going to do is I’m going to commit to something as if I was already there, whether that’s a financial commitment, a time commitment, a relationship commitment, whatever it is, I am doing that right now, as if I’m already in that place, even though I might not even have all the resources to do it right now, I am committing, because then when it’s there, you know, it’s just like in my industry, you know, in cybersecurity, you can come up with new tools that can produce new services and revenue. 

Like if there’s a new shiny thing that you can actually make money off of to sell, right, it’s almost like putting a new product on the shelf. Like a new toy, I thought it was a board game. I don’t know why but the image of Toys R Us Back if you ever know Toys R Us Right? All of a sudden a new, new viral toy comes out or something like that. As soon as they put it on the shelves, it’s like that’s when the revenue comes in. But the store has to commit to inventory first, they have to buy those things in order to sell them. So in business in life, it’s like that the way to continue to propel yourself forward is actually to place these things ahead of you by a commitment from you, in order to pull you into that end state. That’s what I do. So if it’s a financial relationship, whatever, it’s like, I do it. And it’s like, now I have no choice. But to be pulled into that but to perform but to Excel but to grow. And with that journey comes it’s amazing. And I say amazing, and fantastic, and beautiful stress because it’s a big thing. That’s real, not a small thing that’s delusional and inconsequential, that has nothing to do with anything you should ever be potentially concerned about.

Go out this week if you’re looking at like oh man if you’re feeling stuck, come on. If you’re feeling like man, I got a bad hand dealt to me in life the past year. For the past 10 years, it’s probably because you don’t have enough difficulty. So whatever it is that you’ve been dreaming, dreaming about all of that, go bigger, amplify it by like at least two times right now, like if you think that it’s too hard, good, good. Put that difficulty in your life. If you’re feeling like you’re stuck, the only way to get out of it is to actually put some pressure on yourself. Do you feel like you’re stagnant? The only way to get out of it is to actually incorporate some stress into your life. Some people will actually tell you, I’ve heard this time and time again that the way that diamonds are made, it’s actually from coal, and they’re compressed. They have so much pressure and that’s what formed them. I don’t know if you’ve ever heard that before. It’s absolutely true. Go out there and find something difficult because that means you’re after something big.