EP. 149 - The Life advice we missed in 'The Lord of the Rings' | Further Your Lifestyle Podcast

Speaker 1: 0:00

Yo yo yo. Welcome back to the Further your Lifestyle podcast conversations on lifestyle passions and hustles. My name's Chris, I am your host and I'm super excited to be back here having the conversation with you. Episode 149 today, and we're actually talking about why I think the Lord of the Rings may just have been the best advice for life. Now, before we get into this, I will say that if you have never watched the Lord of the Rings, or if you've never seen the Lord of the Rings trilogy or read the books, there could be possibly some spoilers in this one, so I do apologize in advance. I want to give this warning up front, because I'm going to be getting into some details around what happens in the story and why, because of what happens in the story, how we apply this to life that it actually gives us a really good message and some really good advice of how we can apply it to our own lives. So you've heard it from me this is not a spoiler free episode.

Speaker 1: 0:56

I'm going to be talking about a lot of things in the movies and in the book. Yeah, make sure you're prepared for that. Now, what we're actually talking about is, I think, anyone that is an avid fan or even read the books or seen the books I mean seen the movies that there's a part in here where at the end of the movie or at the end of the story, when Frodo and Sam are coming down Mount Doom and they've just thrown the ring into the into Mount Doom and it's erupting and they're falling down, gandalf comes and saves them with the giant eagles. Now there is this big conversation in the community around why didn't just they fly to Mount Doom with the giant eagles and drop the ring over the top of the volcano? And that's it's been one of the big debates like why haven't they? Why didn't they do that? Because at the end of the movie what happens is Gandalf comes with the giant eagles and he saves them off the side of Mount Doom, so everyone's thinking they could have just flown over and dropped it.

Speaker 1: 1:50

Now, without getting into fan theories and conspiracies and too many details of reasons of why that doesn't work in the lore and all those different things, we're not here to talk about a lot of the rings, fantasy lore, but there is a message around this that I think is very interesting and I think it's very, very relevant to all of us and that really comes down to life isn't really about getting the results instantly, but more so about finding ourselves, creating ourselves and growing ourselves during the process of seeking such results. Now, without the journey, obviously there would be no adventure, and without the adventure, there would be no story worth sharing. And other than we woke up, we did the thing and it was finished and that's the end. That's really what I want to touch on today, and I also understand this very well because obviously I've worked a nine to five and now I'm pursuing my own dream. But we don't want to have to grind out life. I understand that we do want things, we want results, we want to see results.

Speaker 1: 2:45

But when we start off in a career I can only speak from my own, you know experience you have the nine to five job, which then turns into a 12 hour nightmare. Then you have the outside of work life that tends to become just adulting. It becomes chores, it becomes responsibilities feeding yourself, be it alone, or be it with a partner and then you get a whole lot of different responsibilities. Now I don't mean to sound so doom and gloom, but the reality is we're all out here just trying to live and just trying to survive and trying to find our way and make our way. Now I will say this in Australia we have it very good, very, very well. We should not complain. Yes, we all have bills that we have to pay and, yes, we have jobs that require what feels like all of our attention and very, very demanding. Yes, we also have events, we attend things, we share moments with others and we struggle with the rising prices of the cost of living and also the ongoing world dramas, but if this is the worst of our problems, then we don't really have too much to worry about. Seriously, it's not too bad.

Speaker 1: 3:49

We go to another country, such as a third world country, and this idea of ambition to do this, to be that or whatever it may be, is actually very generalised. It's non-existent. It actually is and look, I'm generalizing here. It's very non-existent and each day is more about let's survive today, let's get through today. What will be the food that we eat? How will I protect my family? Everything else beyond this is simply to ensure one and two happen the food we will eat and the protection of my family. Working a 12-hour job to be paid a six-figure salary or a five-figure salary, even above fifty thousand dollars. It sounds like a dream come true.

Speaker 1: 4:29

Now I digress about this. Life is full of rollercoasters, but through all our eyes we see the world different. How I see the world, how you see the world, how other people see the world different perspectives and it also comes from how we've been brought up as a child and what we've been doing in our experience. But we see it is either as problems or with gratitude. We complain about it or we know.

Speaker 1: 4:51

The question I have for you is have you ever had an idea so good that you start thinking about how the end game or the results will be, the joy you will get when, all the excitement that you'll get when you're able to say I'm doing this thing and when it's done I will have this or that. And we do. We talk about all these cool things that will happen, the things that we want to do and the Things that we're about to embark on, but by the time we start to embark on this journey, we're already out of the motivation, as we shared all the excitement and the joy To the point we already feel like we've achieved it right. And this is a common thing that happens when, at the start of a new year we say this year I'm gonna lose 20 kilos. You feel the endorphins, you feel the excitement, you feel like you're already achieving it. But then you go out and start doing the work and you realize this is tough, this is too much hard work, I don't want to do this. So and you, three weeks later, you're back to your old habits and look, we haven't even we haven't even got into the detail about the metaphor of this whole story from Lord of the Rings, and that's what we're gonna talk about now.

Speaker 1: 5:47

And I Was just amazed by it, because the whole premise of this is why didn't they just fly salmon Frodo over to Mount Doom and just Drop the ring and all their problems would be solved? If you haven't seen Lord of the Rings, essentially there's this one ring that rules them all and it's bringing back the evil powers into the land of Middle Earth and essentially, the only way to take back control is they need to drop that ring into the lava of Mount Doom. Without getting into the detail, that's the premise. Sam of Frodo embark over a long trilogy Three movies, three hours long, basically over a long period of time I don't know what the time span is and they have to do this, this journey. They have to get there themselves, they have to pass their enemy gates, they have to go through lots of trials and tribulations and challenges and things where they have to find themselves. They have to fight giant spiders, they have to take on orcs, they have to go through battlefields all these different things in order to get to Mount Doom and At the end of it, once they achieve it which they achieve it, they're then saved by these giant eagles that have been called upon by Gandalf the wizard.

Speaker 1: 6:53

And you think they could have just done that from day one. Right, and I know I'm repeating myself from the start, but the point is If, if we just woke up with the results that we want, if they had just gone and dropped in the ring, yes, it would have solved all the problems, but I think it it actually destroys the whole story. That they're trying to achieve is because, as I said before, as we go out and work towards something to work towards getting resolved, we learn so much about ourselves. Over the last three to four years, as I've been doing this journey of myself, building this podcast, building my business, I have gone on a journey of better understanding myself. I've become a bit more self-aware. I had to deal with a lot of things that I didn't realize that I had issues with, because I start to do things in a different way. I'm outside of my box and out of my comfort zone, and that's the whole point of going on this journey to get the results we want.

Speaker 1: 7:43

If you got the results instantly, it wouldn't be very exciting and everyone will be doing it and we would be just. It'll be kind of like what's the point of doing it if it's that easy, right? We strive for challenge. We strive for these things that's going to make us a better version of ourselves and that's generalized. Not everyone thinks they want to be better than what they are currently, but there is this gratification, there is this satisfaction of when you're able to say I want to achieve this, you go do it, you get it done and you feel amazing.

Speaker 1: 8:12

If we just tell everyone about all the things that will happen once we have done X, this too dries up very quick and becomes just noise in the distance. If nothing comes of it, we never really actually get the results, and I think there's a fine balance. We do know that we need to be careful on how much we tell people about our goals versus. It's also very important to put the goals out there to keep ourselves accountable. But if we were to be like Sam and Frodo, not go out there, not to go out there, be loud and voice, just telling everyone what we will do and how we would do it, and look at us, but to really just go do it and to be humble and to let the action speak louder than the fluff, the noise and the words around it. This then becomes a story to tell the adventures taken, the journeys required, the challenges which arose and the problems that were solved. And I think, at the end of the day, if we share a story but have nothing to show for it, it's merely just a passing comment. Don't take for granted the learnings, the challenges and the knowledge you gain today by having to go through a process of tackling a problem or overcoming challenges and having to get uncomfortable. In hindsight, it will be these things that will enable you to look back and to be proud.

Speaker 1: 9:25

Now, at the moment, as I always share here, I'm building a business, I'm building a lifestyle that I want as well, and with that means I'm doing things that are different to other people. I'm doing things which are maybe not how the general folk would do it. Now I'm also very vocal and very open and very transparent about my goals and what I'm trying to achieve. And I do that because one I believe it inspires and it encourages other people to take that step forward, to take that leap forward. But I also do it because it keeps myself accountable. I've put it out there, so I want to deliver. So it's a bit of both. Right, it's to help others be motivated, but it also motivates myself.

Speaker 1: 10:04

But at the same time, sometimes we can get. If I reflect over the last three years, each year when I've set my goals or shared what I'm working on, I've realized there's been a lot of not a lot, but from the first year to the third year it started off with more talk than action and now it becomes more about action, action, action and go do. Now it's better to get the job done than to be perfect. But the other thing is, if you set a goal for a revenue target or if you set a goal to run something again speaking from my own experience but you don't necessarily achieve that result, that doesn't mean you have failed. I'm speaking to you.

Speaker 1: 10:40

For those who feel maybe you didn't get the result you want or you don't want to share with people because you feel like you're a letdown or you're a disappointment, let me just say this the majority of the people on the internet and the majority of the people that are in our circles, when you talk about something and you share it and you don't get the result that you wanted, and then they come up here and say you're all talk, no action, you couldn't even do this. Those negative comments I'm talking about, those people have no idea. Unless those people are playing in the same world as you, dabbling in the same world as you. They've got no meat to that. I'm talking to myself. But then there's the ones that are in the same world as you, in the same boat as you, doing the same thing. You will find most of the time they're just encouraging you.

Speaker 1: 11:23

It's easy for keyboard warriors to hide behind their screen and to type things and to say negative things. I would challenge you, when people do do that to you, call them out and say show me, show me how it's done, show me what works, show me your results, show me your actions, what you're doing to get me, to get yourself to those results. Now, it's not about proving anything, it's not about saying who's the best, who's better than who, or anything like that. But I think it's very important that if you put yourself out there and you're just trying to create and share and document and to put something into place for yourself, there's going to be those challenges I'm talking to myself just as much as I am talking to you and you've got to be willing to go through that. But at the end of the day, once you get to the end where I'm my point on this when you get to the end of that journey and you share back what you did, how you struggled, the challenges you overcome, the battles you went through, the warrior you had to become or whatever it may be I'm just keeping it on topic of Lord of the Rings, but that in itself is what's going to then inspire even further.

Speaker 1: 12:25

We can come in to a window, part of someone's life in the space that they've been doing this for 10 years already. We look in there and we see these people make it look so easy, but they've had 10 years of hard work, right? We then go look at the people that have maybe got 10 years of experience and they go start from zero again and they start something different and say they're taking all my experience but starting from zero and that's how they're able to make things work really, really well. They didn't become an overnight success. They became an overnight success after 10 years of experience. We also look at people when they're starting at zero and we're very as a general population, as a generalization, we're very quick to judge. Especially here in Australia, we have this thing known as tall poppy syndrome.

Speaker 1: 13:09

When people put out there and to show this is what I'm doing, or they're sharing what they've achieved or they're trying to make themselves a better version of themselves, we're very quick to bring them down and say, hey, you can't do that. Or who are you to say that you've got it all figured out? Or we bring people down and that's probably just because we're an insecure bunch of people. How do I know it's more about us than it is them? And that's really the whole point of that is, when people are talking to you and they're making a comment and they're bringing you down or they're being negative, they're probably more talking to themselves because they're insecure of themselves and they are talking to you. I digress. The whole premise and the whole moral of the story that I'm talking about here, as I said, was if we share a story and we have nothing to show for it, it's merely a passing comment.

Speaker 1: 13:53

So if you were able to get up and just have everything done and you achieved all those goals instantly, I think you'll start to find that the gratification and the excitement and the sense of purpose around it all is nil. There's nothing there. We want to have this sense of purpose. I can guarantee you, once you achieve your current goal, when you get there, there's always gonna be another one. But even though during the process, the grind, the challenge is such a struggle, once you get over that you realize that is the part that we love.

Speaker 1: 14:23

And it's like when I go for a big, long run 10K, 15k, 20k, 30k, 40k, 52k there's moments in those runs where at the start you're like nervous, let's do this. You get into it, you're feeling good. Then all hell breaks, lose, you're getting in a dark place. You feel like you can't go on. You start questioning why the heck am I doing this? And you have to face yourself. You have to face the dark demons of yourself. And but then you get a second wind, you're able to push through, and then you get to the end. You finish and then you're like, let's do that again. I wanna do that again because you've come out as a bigger and better person at the end of it, and that is what it's all about. That's why you can't shortcut this stuff. That's why you can't just expect things to happen like that, because if you do, you're missing out on the most important piece, which is becoming a better version of yourself, and that is how you further your lifestyle.

Speaker 1: 15:16

Appreciate you being here a bit of a short one today and we're so close to hitting episode 150. Again, just a milestone point, but it's also very exciting to be able to tick off another milestone. Now, if you enjoyed this, leave a comment, hit the like button. If you're here on the YouTube, hit subscribe. If you're new here altogether, if you're listening, you can jump over to wherever you're listening and leave a rating, you can leave a review or you can reach out to me and let me know what you thought of this episode. But most importantly not about me is, if you think someone else can benefit from this, let's push the conversation to them, share this with them and tell them why they should have a listen to it and help them further their lifestyle. Appreciate you being here. You have a wonderful day. Cheers, 나쁘고 approved.