This week, Brynn takes the host chair as we dive in to the differences between Gen Z college students and their largely Gen X professors. We learn why Toby loves the USA, why Brynnan tends to sulk over poorly-described assignments, and the ways in which stellar work ethic can sometimes be a thinly-veiled cry for help. Tune in, subscribe, and do us a personal favor and tell your friends!

Episode 4: Generating Growth

• Opening question/episode summary: Okay, so you’re pretty hip with the kids and I’m a pretty old soul, but we are from very different generations. Because of when we were born and what the world was like when we grew up, sometimes our outlook on things is pretty different. Today we want to discuss some of those differences.
• Opening quote: “Each new generation is reared by its predecessor; the latter must therefore improve in order to improve its successor. The movement is circular.” —Emile Durkheim
• Questions and Discussion
  • Discuss quote. Do you agree?
  • How well do you think you fit the criteria of your generation? Are you a typical Gen X? What about me?
  • Let’s start off with some pros and cons. You do my generation, I do yours (the other person can add and correct as needed).
  • What are some things our two generations fight about or disagree about?
  • What do you think is the biggest difference between our two generations?
  • How does this difference affect productivity, success, mental health, etc?
  • What do inter-generational relationships look like? How are they useful? Give some examples of ways they have been important or surprising in your life.
  • How can we learn lessons from people from other generations that will impact our overall success and happiness?
• Sprouts and Seeds
  • Discuss our sprouts and seeds from last week.
  • Have a conversation with someone who is in a different generation than you and write down three things you learned.

In this episode, we dig in to discuss the fine line between being your authentic self and curating a brand that will help you in your growth journey. Brynnan vibes to Hadestown in Bumps, Beats, and Belts while Toby laments the sale of his never-ending project car.


BetterEveryWeek

TB: She’s a college student. 

BB: He’s a college professor. 

TB: We’re both stubborn and opinionated…

BB: …and committed to getting better every day! Better Every Week is the podcast for those who relentlessly pursue BETTER. 

Facilitator: TB

• Opener
• Bumper/intro music
• Opening quote
  • “Your brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room.” -Jeff Bezos
• Questions & discussion
  • Lots of people talk about branding and establishing yourself in the world as dependent upon your ability to get people to know, like, and trust you. Let’s unpack that…
    • Know
      • The first aspect of making a name for yourself is to be known. When you were 11-12 years old, your mom asked you to come up with a single word to help define your future. You said “known.” We ended up putting it in big letters in your room. What did you mean by that and why did you pick that specific word?
      • What do you think you could become world-class at that would make you known?
    • Like
      • There’s been plenty of discussion about the differences between introverts and extroverts. This one, at least in scale, can be a real challenge for people who are more reserved. What are some ways people who are more reserved can be liked on a grander scale while still being true to themselves?
    • Trust
      • Authenticity seems to be in short supply. What are the risks of “keeping it real” as you build your brand? 
  • Being vulnerable
    • Brene Brown is recognized for being the leader in being vulnerable and the importance of “taking off our armor” as we enter the arena. Who are some artists or celebrities you look up to because they aren’t afraid to show the world their authentic self?
    • Let’s get real here. Do you think there’s a double standard when it comes to vulnerability and gender roles? Is it more or less okay for guys to be vulnerable? What’s the potential risk? What’s the potential reward?
  • Practical aspects
    • What are the keys to building a brand that every person could benefit from? What should the process look like?
      • Mission
        • What do you want to be ABOUT? Your WHY.
• TB: Infuse LIGHT. Inspire NEW LEVELS. Improve LIVES.
• Core values
  • Your HOW. HOW you intend to accomplish your WHY.
  • TB: 
    1. Serve first. Others > self
    2. Always growing. Luke 2:52
    3. Relentless pursuit. Hustle to the ball. 
    4. Vigilant action. No weeds
• Color scheme
  • Green means growth & life!
• Logo
• Resume
• Cover letter
• Website
• Blog/portfolio
• Podcast
• Bumps, Beats, and Belts (music picks of the week)
  • What are you vibing to this week and why?
    • BB
    • TB
• Sprouts and Seeds
  • This week:
    • Craft a mission statement for yourself. What do you want to be about?
    • Develop a list of at least 3 core values that will serve as the HOW behind your WHY

This week we learn why Brynnan thinks she's celery and why Toby can't make 10 free throws in a row...even in his own mind. Tune in, share with your friends, and become an OG fan of the podcast now before it's too late and you end up just following the crowd later :)

Episode 2: Performance: The Common Denominator

• Opening question/episode summary: In movies and usually in real life as well, sports and the arts are pitted against each other. It’s the jocks vs. the theatre kids, the athletes vs. the band kids. But when you reach a stage of life where your sport or artistic pursuit is no longer just a hobby but a potential career, these two groups of people have more in common than it might seem. As an athlete and an artist who have both dabbled in both, we are going to discuss these similarities and differences.
• Opening quote: “Musicians are practicers who play or perform out of necessity. Athletes are performers or players who practice out of necessity.” —Dr. Bill Moore
• Questions and Discussion
  • Differences between artists and athletes
    • Discuss opening quote
    • “The egos in sport are much lower than the egos in music (except gymnastics).” Discuss. What do you think of this statement?
    • Everybody watches sport because they want to see excellence, but people watch or listen to musical performances or artistic things because they want to be brought into the feeling and emotion. So, art has a focus on emotion, sport on excellence and results. How do you think these different focuses affect people? How do you think performance is affected if a person in one arena focuses too heavily on the wrong thing?
  • Similarities between artists and athletes
    • Performance: the common denominator. Discuss any thoughts, positives and negatives, interesting performance stories.
    • How would you define high performance? What techniques or things do you use to achieve this? “High performance is getting 85% of your very best out of you 85% of the time.”
    • How does training and preparation affect a performance?
    • Performance is not about getting better, so you must accept all mistakes that happen during that time.
  • Perfectionism: compare between art and sport. To retain your passion you must embrace what you do well and lean into it and let go of the remaining perfectionism. 
    • What does embracing what you do well look like in sports? In music or art? Where are the similarities and differences there?
    • Your worst performance is stored in the limbic/sensory area, but your best performance is stored in the periphery, so it is harder to remember the positive parts of your passion in a vivid, sensory way. How can visualization help that and as it helped you before?
    • Discuss visualization techniques you’ve used and Dr. Moore’s method here. Write out “When I am at my best during performance, I am like a…” statement. Talk about my statement, can you think of one?
• Sprouts and Seeds
  • Discuss our sprouts and seeds goals from last week.
  • Do your own visualization exercise. What would a positive, successful (not perfect) performance look like in your life (whether that’s in arts or sports or something else).
  • Write your own performance script. In a few sentences, catalog your visualization and lean into the positive sensory experience of pursuing your passion.
  • What have you learned or what has surprised you in this conversation? Have you changed your mind on anything?

Episode 1: Toxic Motivation

• “Feeling the need to be busy all the time is a trauma response and a fear-based distraction from what you’d be forced to acknowledge if you slowed down.”
• Questions & discussion
  • Stress
    • By definition, stress is non-directional. Eustress is actually GOOD stress that triggers positive change. Distress is usually destructive and leads to negative adaptations. How do you tell the difference and how do you cope with the negative?
    • More specifically, since the pandemic hit, we are seeing depression and anxiety levels on college campuses beyond anything ever encountered before. There’s a fine line between iron-willed resilience/mental toughness and a total lack of self-care. How do you differentiate between what’s good and what’s bad for your growth and your mental and physical health when it comes to stress?
  •  Growth & Fear
    • “If it doesn’t challenge you, it doesn’t change you.” What is the value for you in trying hard things? Likewise, what is the risk?
    • There’s a scene and a song in the movie-version of Dear Evan Hansen that just crushed me. Super-everything and college-bound resume’ queen Alana Beck sings the lyrics:
      • “Spot the girl who stays in motion. Spins so fast so she won't fall. (World's spinning so fast, spinning so fast). She's built a wall of her achievements. To keep out the question, without it, is she worth anything at all?
      • Thinking about the high achievers you know (and that we happen to be), to what extent do you think teachers/professors, friends, and parents should be concerned about WHERE that motivation is coming from? What are the questions they should be asking?
  • Locus of Control and “Good” vs. “Bad”
    • Locus of Control is a concept that helps us better understand to what extent we feel we either self-direct or have our lives dictated to us by others. Internal=self. External=others
    • If you get reeeally honest with yourself, where would you say your desire to be successful comes from? Internal or external pressures? What difference does it make?
  • Purpose
    • Optimal growth is both multi-faceted and purpose-driven. Motivational speaker Eric Thomas talks about “the power of your why.” However, lots of motivated people are TOLD their why by others or by society. That causes them to pursue majors they don’t want, relationships they don’t need, and take jobs they don’t love...all in the name of pleasing others. What are some strategies you can or have used to take ownership of your WHY?
• Sprouts and Seeds
  • This week:
    • Make a list of exactly 3 goals you want to accomplish in the next 12 months
    • Examine each. Next to the goal, record your WHY behind it
    • Consider the possibility that even “good” things can come from toxic places. And toxic things can spring from otherwise good places.