058 - Make Your Bed

"You can only travel in one direction at a time... Make sure it is the right one for you before committing to it." - Johnnie Williams III

In this episode the topic of making one's bed and selecting the ideal lane for which to travel are woven together in a way you must stop to listen to. The author of 'SELF talk' is ready to inspire you to think deeper and more critically about the following questions:

#1  Describe what the right direction looks or feels like?

#2  What direction are you currently travelling?

#3  Where is it leading you?

Ever wondered how making your bed can be a metaphor for life? Discover the profound significance behind this seemingly simple task and how it can reflect our approach to life. Join me as we dive into insights from my book and explore how our daily bed-making routine can serve as a reminder of the decisions we make and the direction we choose in life.

Using the analogy of a race, I draw parallels between choosing your lane and picking the right direction for your life. Learn how to overcome three key hurdles to find yourself on the path you truly want to be on, and how the Think About It app can help you contribute, comment, and share your thoughts on this intriguing topic. Tune in and let's embark on the journey of making our bed and choosing the right direction together.

Visit JohnnieWilliams.com for more information or call (315) THOUGHT to ask a question or leave a message.

Transcript

Welcome to another Thought Steering Experience.  My name is Johnnie Williams and I'm happy to present season 6, episode 58, make Your Bed. Did your parents ever tell you go back in your room and make your bed? What happened when you got to the point and got to an aid, when you didn't need to be told to go make your bed Or maybe they didn't even care to even bug you anymore about it Did you continue to make your bed? Do you make your bed now? Think about it. Wherever you sit, wherever you are, as you listen to my voice, is your bed made right now? And if it is, that's good. If it isn't, why isn't it? 

 often was told you're lying the bed that you make or that you fail to make. We're talking about life now, so your bed is like a metaphor. Your evening ends when your head hits the pillow. Your day begins when you arise from your pillow, so a lot of your life ends and begins with your bed. Are you making your bed? Are you putting the detail into how you make your bed? Are you just pulling the covers back, throw a pillow here or there? I can make my bed, like the folks at the hotel who are professional in making a bed. Do you operate at that level? Why not? How many years, how many days in your life have you been in charge of making the bed that you lie in, the bed that you dream in? Make your bed? 

I'll include a video that went viral on YouTube that spoke about making one's bed. It was a very powerful analogy, a powerful message. So make sure you check the podcast notes for that. But this particular thought make your bed. It brings me to this week's thought, and it's a unique way that I'm going to tie the two together. The theme of make your bed and the 58th thought from my book think about it has this to say you can only travel in one direction at a time. Make sure it is the right one for you before committing to it. Now, why would I say that And how does that connect to make your bed? The key word in the theme of make your bed is yours. You your bed, your decisions, your beliefs, your empowered thoughts, your decisions. Make your bed. You can only travel in one direction at a time. Make sure the direction that you choose is the right one for you before committing to it. Make your bed. 

Many lessons came from our parents. One of the first expectations that came from them was make your bed. One of the life lessons that was offered by them was to pick a lane. Pick your lane in life Johnnie Williams is what I was told. Don't be a master of so many things that you master nothing. Figure out what it is you wish to offer and who you really are. 

You see a lot of us focus on our dream and it's all about passion, about the fun, about the creation, about us, and then we take all of us over to others and hope, then consume what we have created for them. Sometimes it works. Oftentimes you become your own customer. I definitely have had that experience, especially when you're in the encouragement business of telling folks make your bed. It's only a certain percentage of people that really want to hear that. When I go deeper and say, hey, i'm talking to you, i'm talking to your beliefs, i'm talking about how you need to empower you as the superhero, or superhero, in your life. I'm talking to you about the decisions you make to go right or left, to pick something up or put something down. All those decisions they make up your bed your better beliefs, your confidence or lack of confidence, good decisions or bad decisions to pick up your purpose or to put it down, make your bed. 

I'm a creative person and when driven to activate and act upon my creations, i go learn about a lot of different things. I know how to do a multitude of things above average and in a country, in a world with so many people uninspired to excel. Average is great, above average is amazing. But what if I focused on what I do best? What if I pick a lane that I'm going to stick to, in spite of the invitations and the request others ask of me to step into lanes that suit them? This podcast is one of the lanes that I'm going to choose to stick with. It allows me to continue giving so many messages and so much information that I never get a chance to express on stages and maybe going forward with people choosing what piece of me my information, my creations, my creativity they want to extract for their event, their audience. This allows me to be consistent. This allows me to say something once and move on. 

his is me talking to me. You get a chance to tune in. Yes, i'm talking to you as well, but only because you tuned in and you're listening. It's me and this microphone talking to me listening to me. Allow me to give you an analogy that might inspire you to challenge some of your beliefs, to feel more empowered to make the right decisions. Close your eyes, just imagine you're on a track and you get to pick any of five lanes. So let's just say this podcast is your mark. Get set and go. But we're going to focus on the beginning of the race some new decisions, a new beginning. But before you go, i want you to pick a lane. 

Lane one is reserved for those that are standing stuck. Many reasons why people stand stuck in life. So there's no judgment on none of the lanes. You pick the lane that makes the most sense to you. You might have the potential, or you might be lacking the resources. You may not believe in yourself. You may have lost a loved one, lost a job, you may be buried in debt or dealing with stress and pressure, have a medical issue. Sometimes, no matter how fast we want to move through this life and on to our dreams and our purpose and all the other things that make this life experience rich and rewarding, we get stuck. So we've all been in lane one, but each day you rise from your bed that you should make. We get to pick the lane that makes the most sense for what's up next in the race of life. 

So, lane number two is for the walkers. These are people who are just taking their time and casually looking around and moving through life at such a pace that they can just kind of float. And that's great for those that are retired, that's great for those that have already made their money, that's great for those that are in position where they're a bit ahead of the rat race that all of us have had to run in. Some have exited that rat race in summer right in it. Walking is not necessarily the best pace to keep up with the inflation, the propaganda, the war mongering, the distractions of the rat race. You'll quickly fall behind in this race of life in lane two, lane one, we don't even have to discuss that because we understand people have reasons for standing stuck. But you choose lane one. Will it get you where you want to go? Will it advance you down the track, or it merely leaves you standing with a choice to take the first step, which I've talked about in prior podcast. So is lane two for you? Is that the pace of what you find yourself in your life. If so, keep walking and walk it out. 

Lane three is reserved for the joggers. Now we're getting somewhere. You're advancing much faster than those that are walking and you're totally leaving those that are standing stuck behind. Sometimes you enter a new path, a new career field. 

Post COVID, people have had to pivot and shift And, no matter how fast you want to get back to what you were making and what you were doing and the status and everything that you might have lost, you have to put in your time. You're beginning all over again. You're a master in one space, but you're a newbie in another. So you got to pace yourself out. No matter how impatient you might be, you have to move at the pace of your industry, the pace of your opportunity. Jogging is great for those that love to jog. It's an awesome pace for the marathon called life, but when somebody wants to get something done and get it over with, hit that outcome immediately set a timeline. Jogging is going to drive you crazy. 

 If you have a certain amount of time to reach a destination, to accomplish something, lane three may not get you there. Therefore, lane four is reserved for the sprinters. Mind you, lane one. They're standing stuck. They might as well step into the bleachers and just spectate. Got a reason for it. But let's be real. That's what you're doing. You're spectating because everybody else on the track and you have the choice to do this are moving, they're advancing in life and they're not leaving you behind. Whether it be family, whether it be a loved one, whether it be a lover, they're not leaving you behind. You are standing stuck by choice. Make your bed. They make their bed. They move on their beliefs. They move with empowered steps and they make decisions to stand stuck or to proceed. Now we move on to Lane two, lane three and Lane four. 

The sprinters are those folks that know I have a limited amount of time to exhaust this opportunity to reach this platform. Athletes have a certain amount of time, models have a certain amount of time. Often, folks in politics have a certain amount of time to run and when they win, they only get a certain amount of time to perform what it is they profess they would do on the campaign trail Chop, chop, chop, let's go. You got to pick the pace for the race you run. This is how my parents shaped my belief system. Then they got out there and they modeled for me how to be self-inspired, to make the right decisions for myself. So, it wasn't just go back to your room and make your bed, Johnnie Williams. It was...shape your beliefs, Johnnie Williams. Empower yourself, Johnnie Williams. Make the right decision at the right time. 

Now, before you head out this house, pick your lane. You can stand stuck with excuses as to why you can't win in life, or you can get to walking. When you figure out why you're walking that that pace is not keeping up with the race, you can start jogging. And when you realize, hey, I'm jogging, but in order to reach that destination before time runs out, i better start sprinting. So I head on over to lane four and I pick those knees up and I move those arms and I get moving down the track of life. Now I mentioned there was five lanes, five choices. What's lane five have to offer in this perspective of the race of life? 

Lane five is reserved for the hurdler, the hurt one, the challenge ones. Sometimes the hurt ones stand stuck because they're hurting. Other times they jump, obstacle after obstacle after obstacle after obstacle after obstacle. Now you have the complaining hurdler who will always tell you every single obstacle in their rear view that they've already passed, already jumped it, but they'd rather turn around and complain about something they've already successfully cleared, because they're mad that in their lane are obstacles. They're trying to hurt me. This system doesn't care about me. This person did that to me. 

It's like hurdle practice - one, two, three, four, five, six, seven jump. You begin to jump on seven. With momentum you clear the hurdle. You don't go eight, nine, ten and jump on ten. Many of us in life, whether you want to pick another lane or not, are in the lane of hurdles. What you got to look at is what pace you're moving at and what's your goal. 

What's the finish line? What do you want to have accomplished when you reach the finish line of your life because that is the dash they talk about at the tombstone Your name, start date, end date. How many hurdles will you have jumped? What lane will you have progressed through this race of life? in Make your bed? The cemetery will be your final resting place. What will you have accomplished in the dash? 

And that's why I'm talking about the hundred yard dash, because I plan to live a hundred plus years. So, I'm gonna do what they told me to do when I ran track. Do not stop running at the finish line, run through the finish line at top speed and you slow down 10, 15, 20 yards after the finish line. I'm gonna make sure that I go past 100 years. That means my energy, my chi has to be right. My chakras must stay balanced. My perspective needs to stay positive. My faith needs to stay strong. My mind needs to stay sharp. My karma needs to stay positive. My food intake should stay healthy. My relationship should be fruitful. My perspective should be optimistic. I'm just talking to you right now as I sprint through this podcast at a pace that you can catch what I'm saying, so you understand that. 

Make your bed translates into pick your lane. It's all about you. One is about where you lie and where you're weak, and the other is about what you do with your dash. In between the day you were born and the day you die, make your bed, all you get is a series of today, today, today, yesterday's gone, tomorrow never comes. So the day is the dash. Pick the right lane, jump those hurdles and find the pace that works best for you. 

I had to slow myself down from sprinting to so many outcomes under pressure, to make money, to amass a name, to draw attention, to get recognition, to serve more people. I was missing life at the pace that I was running, so I slowed it down. There's some things, some of the perks that come with moving fast, were not available at the slower pace. Find the pace that allows you to enjoy this journey of life. Find the lane that allows you to rest in peace each night, and when you rise, you make that bed up. So at the end of your day, at the end of your dash, you return to a bed that welcomes you, welcomes you to a new, fresh beginning, a new, fresh start. not some old balled-up sheets, pillow over here, blanket over there. Don't treat each new day, each new opportunity, each moment as if it doesn't matter. It does it really, really does So. As usual, i leave you with three hurdles to cross at the end of each podcast. 

You can only travel in one direction at a time. Make sure it's the right one for you before committing to it. Hurdle number one Describe what the right direction looks or feels like. Hurdle number two What direction are you currently traveling? Or maybe I should say, what lane are you currently in? And lastly, where is the race of life leading you? 

I speak life into this microphone, hoping that when you catch it, whenever you catch it, that you made it this far in the podcast and you hear me say that I truly wish you well. Do everything you wish to do, see everything you wish to see. I invite you to download the Think About It app, available for Apple and Android devices in both app stores. I invite your contribution and thoughts and comments. Dial 315. Thought area code 315. Thought. Please share this podcast with one friend or your loved ones, everyone. So let's make a bed that not only benefits us. Everyone gets a chance to enjoy this race of life. I wish you well this week, i wish you prosperity and I hope to see you at the finish line When you mark get set. 

Until