Hey, welcome back. I want to talk to you about information not being enough. You have so much information at your fingertips. You are inundated with information on social media, on all of your news channels, on Twitter, on whatever, wherever you're getting your information, there's a lot of it. A lot of information. And what's really cool about the brain is that it can't handle all of that. Like there's a capacity. And so what happens, the brain filters information and it puts it in buckets, right? It's like that I'm going to delete because I don't need that information. It's irrelevant to me. I'm just going to put in that bucket. There's another bucket that says, oh, yikes, that's actually really relatable. And I'm going to put that there because I'm going to need that information perhaps later. Like, ah, I've got to be cautious there. And so there's buckets that our brain puts information in because... physically, it cannot hold all of the information that's coming at you at once. And so for me, information is vital. I need information so that I can change a behavior. I need information so I can create a brand new belief. I need information to be a better leader. So I require information. But information isn't enough, right? We need to take the information and transform it in our lives. Information is not enough. Transformation is required for us to change a pattern, to change a behavior, to be a better parent, to be a better partner, spouse, whatever, a better leader. We need this information and then we get to apply it so it transforms our lives. If not, information sits on a shelf. Like I have a million books over here. A million books. I love to read. And I read about everything. Like whatever, you know, there's a tagline or a description and it's like, oh, that sounds amazing. Let me pick that up. Right? Like right now I'm all about Richard Rohr and his Universal Christ book. I'm like immersed, crazy immersed. So not only do I have physical copies, but my Kindle is full of books. So I am always gathering information, but my brain, however, filters what I want to read. right? Because I'm not a fiction chick. I don't do fiction. Never have. Maybe I will. Depends on who's the writer. Listen, I'm just not into fiction. But nonfiction, bring it. Bring it. Tell me. Tell me how you lived a life and how you've taken information and you've transformed your life. And now you're giving me information so that I can do the same. Now that excites me. So nonfiction girl right here all day, every day. But I have all these books and I filter what books I'm going to read and when I'm reading them. It depends on the season of my life, right? So right before I entered the era of simplification, I read the book Essentialism. I have it up here. You know, what's essential in your life to be so productive and so focused and so intentional? Great book. I recommend it to everybody. And so I'm now reading the universal Christ because I'm now entering a season of Lent, which will be in just a few short weeks. And so I'm getting ready. I'm getting ready. And so it may not be your typical Christian book. This is very mystical Christian genre, and it is fantastic. And if you're into that, I highly recommend this book. I cannot put it down. And so it depends on the season. I filter the information already. I filter what I want to read. And then I take that book. There's things I take and immediately apply. And then there's information that has to marinate a little bit, right? So like, you know, I'll set it aside and go, well, it may not work today, but you know, that's could be useful in the future. Okay. But there is information in these books that I take on, apply, and then transform my life with them. And I become a better person. Yay, me. And yay, the people I serve. And yay, the people I love. Because they get a better version of me, right? This is why I tell people I'm not the same person I was three weeks ago. For real. It's constant evolving and developing and pushing forward. It's not because I have a hole in my heart. I say this to everybody and you'll get to know me real soon. I don't have a hole in my heart. There's no gap here. There's no like void. I'm not trying to fill it. with more information to transform my life because I'm a bad human. No, it's like, oh, I'm just so curious. I want to devour books. I want to take information. I want to leave information that doesn't serve me and then take what will serve me. Oh, it's so good. So I store information in my brain, in my mind, in my body. And so I want for you to remember that, right? You are inundated with information. Information is not enough anymore. You need to take information and transform your life. so I've been a leadership trainer and coach and all the things for a very long time and so I have really seen uh firsthand what resonates with some folks right what really truly ultimately resonates with one student will not re it won't resonate with the other student they're just not getting it so as a trainer I have to take universal concepts And then I have to, you know, find different ways to share a story that can resonate with these individuals. And so it has to be some universal truths that we, you know, some universal sufferings and pain points that we all as humans have gone through. And so I take a piece of information and I go, okay, how do I apply this in this setting? with these leaders, right? And so I adapt to who I'm speaking to because I want for that information to penetrate. I don't want them to put it in the bucket of, I don't care about that. That makes no sense to me. Get out of here. I want them to put that information in the bucket of, Oh my, well, that sounds like potential. That sounds like hope. And that's actually resonating with me. And I am going to apply that information right now. So I have been training so many leaders out here. And so I know what works and I know what doesn't. And so for me personally, it's the same. What resonates with me? What information am I going to take? And what information am I going to leave behind? And then how do I transform this incredible life into more incredible things? And so that's what I want for you to remember as you're consuming information, including this podcast, including what I'm sharing, including all the trainings that I have done for you all free, publicly available. over on my website at drdeniessimpson.com go check it out because there's plenty of stuff out there and and take that information use what what applies to you right what is it that resonates with you in this season right now but I don't want for you to put information in the I don't care bucket right now put it in a different bucket put it in the bucket of huh Potentially that could help me in the future, but it's not helping me right now. But I'm going to remember that for the future. I'm going to store it right here and recall that information when I am in that circumstance or in that context and I need to pull out that information. So I'm going to use that other bucket, the third bucket, right? There's like three buckets, I guess. The bucket that you don't care about. put aside, get out of my head, no need to store. The other bucket is let's do that now. Let's use that information, transform our lives. And then that third bucket is, you know, that could be something. I'm going to put it in that third bucket. That's the bucket, right, that I want for you to put information that's not resonating with you today. Don't throw it away. Just go, I'm going to maybe use that in the future. And because I'm a leader, this could actually work for one of my employees, one of my followers, one of my constituents, one of my community members, one of my children. Like that information I can certainly, you know, use for somebody because I've got, you know, I have a few people in mind that may benefit from that information and it would be good for me to remember that. So that's the bucket. You see what I'm saying? That's the bucket. So again, information is not enough. You're inundated with a massive intake of information every single day. You know, at the start of the week on Apple, if you have Apple products, You get this, and maybe it's the same for Google or Android, I should say. But with Apple, I get this notification of you, you know, spent four hours and twenty five minutes on average last week on your devices. I have an iPad. I have an iPhone. I have two Macs. I've got, you know, it's like a Kindle. Goodness. Like I've got I've got all kinds of devices. So it tracks my intake. or the usage, this user's, you know, energy. And so I have been seeing how I've been trying to pull back every single week. I'm like, you know, a lot of consumption of information. How about I pick one thing, one podcast this week, that I want to take in. And I'm going to leave all the other podcasts alone. They're going to be there. I'm subscribed to them. It's all good. I'll get to them when there's a title that really captures my attention. But I'm going to give myself this one week to just focus on this one podcast. right? Instead of having like ten different podcast episodes running, right? Like you may have started one on Monday and then you started a second one Tuesday night, but then you haven't finished the one on Monday, but then Wednesday morning comes around, you find another great episode, you start playing that one. You're like, oh my God, my brain. What do I do? This is like overwhelming. So I've been noticing that I've been pulling back because I'm like, okay, Denise, not only is this telling you how many hours on average you're spending on all these devices, but, but more importantly, what are you taking in and what information is useful for you right now? Because a lot of that is so not useful. A lot of that is in the bucket of that doesn't apply to me. Got to go keep. And maybe that's why I keep moving on to different episodes, different podcasts. Cause I'm like, Oh, that doesn't know next what's next. Um, so I just want for you to start taking inventory honestly maybe on a given day inventory of the information that you're taking in is it information from the news I've stopped watching the news. Sorry. And for those of you who are like, Denise, you shouldn't have your head in the sand. You're not my, you're not me and I'm not you and you do you boo, but I'm going to do me. And I highly suggest that you have more discernment in what you're taking into your body, your brain, your nervous system, your heart, your soul. Like just keep that in mind, which is why I'm doing this episode because you have a lot of information. And then you get to pick and choose what you want to keep. And remember, you have biases, my friend, just like I do. And so I store information that confirms what I already believe, therefore perpetuating the confirming of what you already believe. So there's no room for you to be wrong. There's no room for you to be challenged. There's no room for you to think differently. And so just be on to yourself on the intake of information. And so maybe this is the day where you just measure like, okay, how many hours of television did I watch? And of those hours, what was on Netflix? What was on Hulu? What was on Peacock? On whatever, all those crazy channels. What did I watch? How much time did I spend? right? Like my husband could live on the news. Like he's news, I'm like, no, sir. No, sir. That is not a way to my heart, to my brain, to my nervous system. No way. Am I going to watch the news? I'm not interested. And plus I got you to filter all that information for me. So like, whatever. And even then I challenged him. I'm like, nah, let me go hear somebody else's take on this. So just take inventory, take stock on what you are consuming, what you're taking in and what you're leaving, right? And then what you're actually going to use. Now, listen, I don't know about you, but time is of the essence. I don't know about you, but I only have one life to live. Do you? Because I, you know, last I checked, we're all not going to make it out of here. And I want to use my time effectively, efficiently, deliciously. I want it to be a value to for me for the people I serve for the people I love like I want information that's going to nourish my body nourish my soul nourish my spirit like that's the discernment that I practice for myself and so what are you doing about it because again you're inundated with a massive intake of information But now how are you using that information? Is it useful? Is it at all useful? And so, you know, I want for you to check to see how it strongly resonates with you. And I know politics right now is everybody's language. Everyone's talking about what's happening to groups, to communities, to organizations. It's an interesting show that's going on right now. And I just want for you to ask yourself, okay, this is strongly resonating with me because this is impacting my community, maybe impacting my workforce. But now in this moment, how is this information making me feel? How is this information as I'm taking this in and as I'm focusing on it and I'm applying meaning to it, what is the emotion that's coming up? And then more importantly, what's the action I'm taking from this emotion that's coming up for me as I focus on this information? And if that's not feeling good to you and it's not feeling good in your body and it's causing an uproar, a surge, a tsunami of cortisol in your body, why in the hell would you want to continue watching that news broadcast? You know why? Because cortisol is addictive. cortisol is addictive because this is all you know. And this is all we've known for the last few years in this government, right? Like a few, many, many years in this government. And so we're addicted to it. Our bodies are addicted to it. So when I'm telling you, be a little more particular, find something that nourishes your body. You're like, are you kidding, Denise? Like I'm addicted to the cortisol. Didn't even know it until now. And I don't want to do anything else, but watch this crap. So here is the big blaring sign. Cortisol is hurting your body. Not only is it weighing heavily on those thoughts that you're having as you're watching and applying meaning and emotion to what you're watching, right? Those thoughts are heavy. Isn't that interesting? Thoughts are heavy. Wow. I mean, they're there. They don't weigh a thing, but dang, do they feel heavy on your body, on your nervous system. And then here's what's really interesting. The cortisol. causes so much inflammation in your body, cortisol and disease and other ailments and illnesses. Plenty of research to show there is a connection, a correlation between the two. So now listen, I want for us to start being more intentional. It's like, wake up. It's time to wake up. You're consuming so much information and a lot of this information is not helping you reach the goals that you want to reach. It's not helping you. develop these incredible, you know, intimate relationships. It is not helping you be the better leader that you deserve to be. It's not helping you make better decisions, better choices, because, you know, you're so stuck over here in this information and what cortisol is doing in your body. So I just want to remind you, let this episode be a reminder that you need to be a little more discern, practice a little more discernment in what you are consuming. And is it valuable? Is it going to help you live a better life or is it going to cause more pain and more suffering? Because you don't control the government. You don't control these bozos in politics. You don't control what's happening outside of your brain. So I share that because I'm in that space right now where there is plenty of information. But now is all this information good for me? Oh, no, it's not. So I'm going to put the information that does not serve me in this bucket. I'm going to take the information that resonates with me strongly and gives me hope and possibilities of a better future. I'm going to take that information. I'm going to go apply it in my life. I'm going to go see how this is true for me because I've never experienced this before. But now that I have this new information, let me go try it out and see how it works for me and the people I love and the people I serve. And then the information that's not relative to me at this moment, does not resonate with me at this moment, I'm going to put in that third bucket. And that third bucket is going to be the bucket that potentially can be used for a different context, situation, conversation with somebody, a client of mine even, a team member of mine. And so that's a good bucket to have. All right, leader, listen, I'm with you. There's plenty of information out there, but now let that information transform your life. Let it, let it, and then leave what doesn't, right? You don't need to keep any of that, right? Again, then the brain's gonna distill it, filter it. It's gonna do what it needs to do, but be intentional in what you're consuming right now. And if you really enjoyed this episode, Follow for more. There's so much more coming. So many more episodes that I have in mind for you. And listen, I'm going to, and here's my promise to you, I'm going to put out information that is valuable, that you can use right now. Listen, I've been a trainer for a long time. And so I know what resonates with the human out here who's trying to be better, who's trying to do better. And listen, this may not resonate with you right now, and that's okay. Put it in that third bucket. Possibly it could help me in the future. Put it in that bucket. All right, leader, I'm wishing you a fantastic day ahead and I will see you on our next episode. Take good care. Bye.
