PDM 020: 2020 Has Been A Year, It's Time for Thanks and Gratitude

Lucas P. Johnson: Doesn't it feel so good to feel valued, to feel loved, to feel needed, for people or an organization to truly value you or what you do whether that be your personality, your expertise, intellect, etc.? It feels so damn good. However, before we go, any further roll intro.

Narrator: Welcome to the home of Project Dream Mastery. Here at PDM, we are challenging the status quo of what it means to follow your dreams and how to unlock the power those dreams will bring to your life. The show experience will be unscripted, authentic and transparent. So now sit back, relax and get inspired with your hosts, Lucas Johnson and Patryk Labuzek.

Lucas P. Johnson: Welcome to the 20th episode of the Project Dream Mastery show where we help inspire you to follow your dreams, defy expectations, dream big and love deeply. My name is Lucas Johnson based out of Charlotte, North Carolina. As you can see, Patryk is not with us this week, but he will be with us next. Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast to be the first to receive new episode releases. And if you're interested, this episode is available with video. So check out our website at ProjectDreamMastery.com to watch now. Today, we're going to explore a concept known as time of thanks and gratitude. This is the week before what we have in the United States Thanksgiving. It's a time of giving thanks to those who you love, who you care about, giving thanks to those who sacrifice so much for what we have, giving thanks to the people that have been there for you in times of need.

Lucas P. Johnson: Not only times of need, just there to support you and your family. It's a time to come together. And with COVID in the rise and picking up into this winter, it's crazy really to think that we might not be able to celebrate the same way we did years prior, that we may not be able to come in contact with those that we love, that we may not be able to gather together with those that we love. I mean it all comes down to personal choice, personal decision, and obviously what's mandated. But it's crazy to think that 2020 is almost over. It's November, almost December. Have you really taken the time to think about what has been going on in the last 11 months and really narrowed in on the last eight? What have you done since March, since it was declared a pandemic? What have you done to challenge yourself to do better, to become better? What have you done to help others, your community?

Lucas P. Johnson: I read something on my way home. I think I was coming back from a doctor's appointment and it just kind of resonated with me. No one becomes poor by giving. What does that mean? Well, you can give. It doesn't have to be a monetary thing. It doesn't have to be of value. You can give your time. You can give your patience, give your love, give your support. No one became poor by giving. It's all about the perspective. And giving to your community and giving to the people that you love. It changes not just the way people look at things, but it changes the way you start to look at things. Positivity is all around us. You just have to let it in. A time of thanks, a time of gratitude. It's Monday as you're listening to this. So Thanksgiving here in the United States is roughly what? 15 days from now? Crazy to think that you have 15 days to give thanks, embrace. Because a year from now, you're going to be doing hopefully the same thing, but with a lot more people. What have you done in the last eight months that you're truly thankful for?

Lucas P. Johnson: Where have you gone? What have you learned? What books have you read? Are you thankful to the author or the author? Are you thankful for your friends and family that helped you stay sane, the ones that helped you get out of depression, the ones that were supporting you while you were taking that exam? Are you grateful for someone being there for you in some of your hardest times whether you battled COVID, whether you battled another illness, a disease, whether you battled an injury or a broken bone? Or, you know, you are so amazing. There's so many things going on in your life. So many things going on in my life. So many things going on in our community, in our tribe. So let's look at this from a different angle. Work. What has been going on in your work environment? Have people been supportive? Have they been helpful? Have they been loving or caring about everything that's going on with COVID? Have they made an impact on your day to day?

Lucas P. Johnson: I try to embrace positivity as much as I possibly can. And I try to coach people that positivity is the best way forward. Aggression, anger, being kind of stuck in this mood where you want revenge or you have hatred in your heart, it doesn't do good. It doesn't do good for anyone. And I guess that's the reason it doesn't do good because it is not really good thing. Very, very, basic, but it's really important to remain calm and think about the things in your life that have truly impacted and made a positive impact on your life. When you start embracing hatred and fear and anger and start taking those comments to heart that some of your peers may be saying about you at work or maybe they don't agree with or don't think your work quality is, you know, performing. Have you just gave them the benefit of doubt? Yeah. Maybe your performance is great. Maybe they've got some stuff going on in their life. Are you grateful for them? Are you grateful for your job? And this time of gratitude and this time of thanks, it's so important just to take a step back and think about that. Where's your perspective going to take you?

Lucas P. Johnson: Where's it going to take others? We're all entitled to our own opinion. We're all entitled to make that next move to the greatest thing that we think is in our life. We're human. We are only human. There's always going to be more work out there. There's always gonna be something to do. There's always gonna be mouths to feed, people that are hungry, people that are wanting to do something active, something outdoors. There's always gonna be someone that's want change. No matter what you do, there's always gonna be someone that wants change and you have to make an impact in a positive way. Because as you watch the news and the media and social social media, you're catching up with a lot of things that are really putting a negative impression on your life. Whether you know it or not, it is skewing the way you think, it's skewing the way you do your day to day activities.

Lucas P. Johnson: If you just take that 10 minutes or 15 minutes to completely just kind of detox from all of that, your phone, your TV, maybe 60 minutes or maybe a day or maybe a week, you'll see the difference in your life. I recently came off of like a 14-day no TV, no bingeing. I had my mobile, but I wasn't on social media or anything like that. Just 14 days of just me, just thinking. I pulled out a few books. I pulled out the journal and took some notes. I talked to Paddy. And it was the best 14 days ever. The one thing I did turn on was there's this show on YouTube and it's basically just positivity. Only positive news, only good news. And it really resonates with me that something like that can make such an impact, that it could resonate with you as well if you just let the positivity sink in. I'm grateful for the actor that started that. He is truly an inspiration. That's amazing. There's so many good things out there that are just being left behind us that should be put forward, that should be put in front of us. I'm grateful for you listening. What are you grateful for?

Lucas P. Johnson: What makes you who you are? What makes you what you want to become? Is it your tribe? Is it your hobbies? Is your family? Are you grateful for them? So I challenge you to take some time to write gratitude texts, gratitude messages or even a handwritten letter. Send it to your friends, send it to your family, send it to those that you're truly thankful for. Because in this time right now in 2020, facing COVID, getting ready to go into the winter and all the good stuff that comes along with it and all the bad stuff that comes along with it, it's time to share your love and positivity with others. Tell them how much they mean to you. Maybe they're going through something and they just need to hear it. This has been a hell of a year. Let's just go do something that makes an impact on someone else and you might just find that it makes an impact on you too.

Lucas P. Johnson: The time of thanks and gratitude. This week is going to be short and sweet, but it's so important that you get out there and make an impact on someone's life whether it just be by text message, whether it be by a letter, whether it be a social media presence or something like that. Or maybe just taking that 14 days to impact your own life by doing a detox. We all have things in our lives that are holding us back from greatness or holding us back from achieving the most in our life. But once you start to take the time to think and start to thank, you'll start to find where you really [inaudible]. I go up there and I ask my man upstairs and thank Him every single day. I ask Him for guidance and direction.

Lucas P. Johnson: I ask Him for anything and everything possible. And I don't always get an answer. And other times, I do or sometimes it comes into form of six people calling me at once and I'm down. You know, it's really amazing what you can do by even just taking time to care about someone else. I say God works in mysterious ways, and I'm sure Paddy would agree with that. It's two people from completely different backgrounds, different cultures, different countries came together to form this show, Project Dream Mastery. And every day that we have these episodes out there, more people are listening and more people are having it impact their lives. And I truly don't believe everything we say is amazing or every episode is outstanding, but we keep on getting these messages that people were thankful for us. And I'll be the first to say, because Paddy's not here right now, but I will say that is an absolutely incredible feeling to know that what we're doing is making an impact, just one person.

Lucas P. Johnson: And if you're that one person today, I want to say thank you. Thank you for being amazing. Thank you for supporting us. Thank you for continuing to live the life that you want on your own terms, continuing to follow your dreams. As you know, here we believe in defying expectations, dreaming big and loving deeply. And we encourage you to chase those and challenge yourself to reach those. Three pillars. Three pillars, one direction. You're going to have a million mistakes before you have that one right one, but you have to learn from it. You can't do the same thing over and over and over again and expect a different result. As we said in past few episodes, that's insanity. You have to keep moving forward, embracing those failures as just learning opportunities. It's either win or learn. There is no in between. Yes, you fail. But what are you going to do to make yourself a success?

Lucas P. Johnson: And when you do, are you going to be grateful? Are you going to be thankful? I would say both of those. You're going to be grateful for all those failures that got you to that success. You're gonna be thankful for the people that helped you, supported you whenever you were at your weakest point. I'm sure you probably will break and I have as well. But the best part is whenever you're able to get up from the ashes, you come out so much stronger. Come out on top. Sometimes it's only being your own best friend or you realize just how much greatness there is out there and how much greatness you have within and how amazing the people that surround you truly are. Looking at your family, take a minute to truly think about what they've done for you, what they've sacrificed for you. For instance, I know my family is near and dear to me in every way. I have three brothers.

Lucas P. Johnson: Absolutely love them. My oldest brother is 16 years older than me. So I've had a lot of time to learn, a lot of time to see mistakes happen between three brothers and growing up and, you know, weird time, I'd say over the last few years. It's just been very strange. Had the opportunity to see how technology has influenced different generations and how we continue to blossom but also learn about how our interactions are much different than those that are older. We aren't interacting in the same way. We're stuck behind a screen that's dividing us. Hell, I'd say it's conquering us. Be grateful for those moments. Be grateful for the time that you have on this earth. Sit back and enjoy the moments with the ones you're going to remember forever because that phone, you're not going to remember what was on that screen. Hell, I don't even remember what I was looking at this morning on mine.

Lucas P. Johnson: So I know that there's not gonna be moments unless it's important, like a photograph or a video. You're not going to remember the moment you spend on that phone. But the memories you spent with those people, you're going to be grateful that you spent the time and that you memorized all of the scenes that are around you, all the things, the smells. I don't know about memorize. But you'll at least have a true memory captured. Take the time to be grateful for that. I'm grateful for my family and I am grateful for everything that they've done for me. But also, I'm grateful for the things that I've done for them. It's taught me a lesson. It's made me learn about who I want to be as a man, who I want to be as a father one day or even heck, I'm a dog father now. I'm a puppy father, as I say.

Lucas P. Johnson: But I am so pumped. I'm ready to thrive in this atmosphere and I know you are too. So I challenge you to take five minutes and send five text messages this week to people that have impacted you. And if you can double that or triple that and send it to 15, 20, 30, 40 people or write those true personal letters that are much longer to the people that have really impacted you, please let us know, send us a comment. I want to know what's going on in your life. I want to know how people are responding. Paddy and I want to take time to talk with you, to connect with you. Give time, take time, live in the moment. Time is now. It's the time of 2020, but it's also the time that you start the truly understand what grateful means and thankful means. Thanksgiving's right around the corner.

Lucas P. Johnson: 15 days away, 11 days. I have no idea. Full days away, something like that. Point being said is the time is now to truly take check, take a list of the things that are really important to you, to take a moment to explore the areas in your life that are being affected by others, to evaluate your tribe, to be grateful for your tribe, to learn from your tribe. Today's the day. Stop wasting time. Just do it. Just get out there and do that. Do that, send five text messages, let us know that you did it, hold yourself accountable. We'll hold ourselves accountable. Write in the comments, connect with us, email, whatever it is, we'd love to hear from you.

Lucas P. Johnson: With that said, we just launched our Patreon membership community where you can become one of our elite supporters and get exclusive access to early releases, live streams and Q&A with Paddy and I. I know, pretty cool. So check them out. We have a few different tiers available with some pretty sweet perks so make sure to check them out and consider supporting the show. Go to ProjectDreamMastery.com and click the red button that says become a Patreon to learn more. If you have not already, please make sure to review the show, subscribe, like and share so that we can reach more amazing listeners just like you. All of our shows are available in both audio, video and written form. So make sure to check out our website to access the full experience. Again, thank you so much for joining us today. We look forward to seeing you on the next episode to come. We'll talk to you soon.