MM#301--Your Actions Are So Loud, I Can't Hear What You're Sayin

Welcome to the Theory to Action podcast, where we examine the timeless treasures of wisdom from the great books in less time, to help you take action immediately and ultimately to create and lead a flourishing life. Now here's your host, David Kaiser.

Hello, I am David and welcome back to another Mojo Minute. Just last month we covered our first kids book, jaco Willink's first book in the way of the Warrior Kids series. So today, because we had such such good reaction from that episode and for covering good children's books good children's books are hard to find these days so we're going to tackle book four in that same series because I think it is particularly particularly good for the kids and I dare say for the adults too. We adults can learn something from this. So today we're going to be tackling the fabulous way of the Warrior Kid for book four field manual by Mr Jaco Willink, and we are going to be looking for some good nuggets of wisdom. And as you may know if you have read the series, the remarkable Mark is growing up fast and he's all the more powerful by book four. But he faces a real dilemma, a real question, and the question is this how did he get here? He's made so much progress over the last three or four years. He's thinking back. Mark is thinking about all the progress he's made and finally it comes to him. The answer lies in the Warrior Kid path, a transformational journey that Mark undertook, guided by his Uncle Jake, his Navy Seal, uncle Jake. But now you see, mark has a friend from school that would like to follow in Mark's footsteps. He saw his transformation from afar and he was a shy kid. But then he reached out to Mark and they quickly became friends. But then, just as Mark and Curtis, his friend, just when they were getting ready to get together on a regular basis, so Mark could help out Curtis along his own path, curtis got some bad news he and his family were moving out of the neighborhood. Actually, they were moving a far distance away. So Mark was stumped. They didn't know how he could help out his friend. But Mark brought this question to Uncle Jake, who has all the answers. And here's the question he posed how could he help out Marcus if Mark can't show in person the same stuff he did and how he overcame the same challenges and the same obstacles? Well, uncle Jake, to the rescue again. Uncle Jake has now distilled Mark's learnings into this amazing field manual to help kids everywhere become warrior kids just like Mark. And actually here's what Amazon tells us about it Quote this field manual is a treasure trove, covering everything from dealing with uninteresting classes, overwhelming homework and challenging classmates to transforming bland of veggies into palatable meals, making cleaning and enjoyable task and turning adversaries into allies. In fact, I think this book is so good because it keeps everything simple, and that is, for some of us adults. That's a very, very good thing. So we will do well to pull up a chair, get out of the notebook, take some notes, because if we lost our way for an a rut, we can learn from the kids field manual. So with that, let's go to our first poll quote in our first nugget of wisdom. Section one talks all about a code. What is this code? Let's go to the book and find out. Section one, the code. Before I got on the warrior path warrior kid path I didn't have a clue about what a code was. Turns out, I didn't have a clue about a lot of things. I stunk at math and pretty much everything else at school. I slept in every day. I couldn't do a single pull up in gym class. I eat junk food all the time and I was afraid, afraid of the water, afraid of the water, afraid of standing up for myself, especially to the school bully, kenny Williamson, who tormented me every chance he got. It just wasn't good at many things and the main reason for that was because I didn't try. The reason I didn't try was simple I didn't know how to try. That all changed when my uncle, jake, taught me the way of the warrior kid and I learned the value of having a personal code, and I call it the warrior kid code. Now, what is a code? Code is simply a list of important roles to live by. These aren't the same as laws enforced by the police or the government. These are guidelines to help you on the right path in life. They help push you, help you to improve yourself and help you to overcome your weaknesses. Being on the warrior kid path means doing the right things as you go through life. It means doing things you know will help you to become smarter and stronger and healthier and better. It's also about helping other people to get on the path, because the more people that are on the path, the better the world is. Sounds like a big deal, right? Well, it is. That can also be a lot of fun. There's different codes. You see. Throughout history there's been many awesome codes created by tons of different groups. Uncle Jake showed me a bunch of them back in the summer after my fifth grade. The Navy SEALs have their code. The Army Rangers and the United States Marines have their codes of conduct. The Knights of the Middle Ages had a code of chivalry. Even the Vikings had their own code. Did you know that the Bible has a code? It's called the Ten Commandments. Even some schools have codes. They say things like take responsibility for learning and treat others with respect. These are all really great codes and are totally worth checking out. Each one is unique to the group that it belongs to. I came up with a Warrior Kid code after the first summer with Uncle Jake. In case you didn't know, my uncle Jake is a Navy SEAL. He's a real warrior and I think he's the best uncle ever. He helped me learn what it means to be a warrior and taught me things that I needed to focus on if I wanted to become a Warrior Kid. One of those things was to have a code to live by. That's when I came up with the Warrior Kid code. You can follow my Warrior Kid code and even change it to fit your own life. You can add to it or subtract from it. In fact, you can change it any way you like. But just remember, codes are meant to push you to become smarter, stronger, healthier and better. What is the Warrior Kid code? Well, there's nine points. Number one the Warrior Kid wakes up early in the morning. Number two the Warrior Kid studies to learn and gain knowledge and asks questions if they don't understand. Number three the Warrior Kid trains hard, exercises and needs right to be strong and fast and healthy. The Warrior Kid trains to know how to fight so they can stand up to bullies to protect the weak. Number five the Warrior Kid treats people with respect, doesn't judge them and helps out other people whenever possible. Number six the Warrior Kid keeps things neat and is always prepared and ready for action. Number seven the Warrior Kid stays humble, controls their ego and stays calm. Warrior kids don't lose their tempers. Number eight the Warrior Kid works hard, saves money, is frugal, doesn't waste things and always does their best. And number nine I am the Warrior Kid man. I just love that. The Warrior Kid code. Very good stuff right there. Now, how about some other sections in this field manual? Well, here are their names. Section two is all about discipline. You knew that one was coming. If you've read any Jocko Willink, you knew discipline was coming, didn't you? Section three the right thing, and actually let's pull a quote from that section, because you don't find this anywhere in books anymore, especially especially kids book, kids books. Let's go to find out. Section three the right thing, the right thing. I've mentioned that like a million times already in this field manual, but do you know what it really means to do the right thing? Have your parents ever told you exactly what the right thing is? What about your teachers or your friends? I'm asking because I'm actually. It's a super important concept and I want to know. It's at the core of the Warrior Kid code and our journeys on the Warrior Kid path. Uncle Jake helped me to understand that deep inside each of us Warrior Kids, regular kids, pretty much everyone there's a universal understanding of what the right thing and doing the right thing means. It's about being a good person as much as you can in everything you do. It means about being good and kind to other people and it means being good and kind to yourself. It's about knowing the differences between right and wrong and having the discipline to choose to do right, even if it is harder and takes more effort. It might not be as easy as doing wrong. Pretty intense, right, yeah, but nothing us Warrior Kids can handle. Now about parents and adults. Parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, whatever adults we live with are always telling us what to do. Pay attention, clean your room, pick up your mess, set the table, make your bed, fix your hair because I said so. Leave your sister alone, excuse me, leave your brother alone. Turn off the TV, no more video games, brush your teeth, go to bed. Sound familiar, doesn't it? I bet it does. I know adults can seem like their whole purpose is to find ways to become annoyed with us, but the reason they tell us to do all this stuff and stick their nose in our businesses because they care. They're actually trying to raise us and teach us how to be good people and how to do the right thing. They want to show us how to be strong and fair and be able to do great things with our lives. We really shouldn't give them a hard time about it. It's not easy, but it's the right thing. Think about it. They've already been kids and they've had parents and adults that have taught them the difference between right and wrong. Plus, they have been adults for a while and all that experience has taught them so much more about life than us kids know. Yet they work at their jobs and they spend their hard-earned money to give us kids a good life, whether they have a lot of money or very little. My dad is hardly around because he has to travel for long periods of time for his job. He does that to support my mom and me. My mom also works for the same reasons and she has to deal with me all the time. I bet if you asked her she'd tell you it's not easy. No one cares about you succeeding in life as much as your parents or the adults in your family. A true warrior kid understands this and works hard to show that they understand. Here's one last thing to remember. It's one of the hardest things about life as a kid. Remember that adults aren't perfect. They make mistakes. They might lose their temper, they might not do the right thing. They might eat junk food or not exercise. They might even do things that hurt you or your family. Something like that happens. Learn from it. Learn what not to do. Learn not to act that way. When you see adults do something wrong, remember that you are on the path to do the right thing and become a better person, regardless of what anyone else does. Man, that is good stuff right there. The significance of role models in the lives of our children and young people cannot be overstated. For parents and educators and adults in general, leading by example is not merely a responsibility, but it's a necessity. When children observe positive behavior, integrity and determination in adults, they are more likely to emulate these values in their own lives. Role models serve as a blueprint for children. It illuminates the path towards becoming responsible, compassionate and successful as individuals. In fact, let's grab a quote from page 85, because it talks about helping others. Let's go to the book Helping others. Where are kids, are leaders? And leaders help other people out all the time. In fact, people often look to leaders for help, guidance and answers, which means you need to be prepared to give help, guidance and answers to those that need them. It's the right thing to do Now. You may be scratching your head right now, thinking, mark, who could possibly need my help and guidance and answers? I'm just a kid. Well, the excuse I'm just a kid doesn't cut it, because you're not just a kid, you are a warrior kid. Think about it. Everyone could use your help and you know what's totally awesome about helping people out? You make them feel good, and making them feel good will make you feel good and it's a total bonus. So here's a really cool chart that I made that has some pretty obvious ways you can help out. Maybe you're already doing some, but maybe you could do even more. And the chart reads like this who are we helping out? There's a column going down the left side and we'll cover parents and adults, teachers and friends, and then next to that column is the ways you should help them out. So let's go through the parents and the adults. What are the ways you can help them out? As a warrior kid, do your household chores, like clean your room, make your bed, take out the garbage and set and clear the dinner table. Look after your brothers and sisters. Walk and feed the family pet. Offer to make your own school lunches. Ask them regularly. Hey, can I help you with anything? Avoid complaining if you don't get your way and keep a positive attitude. Second section, for teachers what ways should you help them out as a warrior kid? For teachers, you should show up to class prepared and with your homework done. Pay attention to the teacher and don't cause distractions. Ask questions if you don't understand something. Offer to help clean the chalkboards and put away the books. Help out your fellow students. And the last section for friends. What are ways you should help them out as a warrior kid? Team up to study for school tests and help each other to do homework, encourage them to get on the warrior kid path and to follow the code. Always act supportive if they're going through a hard time, if they're sick, offer to help them and their family out with the chores. If they're less fortunate than you, share your lunch, give them toys and close that your parents agree you no longer need. How about that? Ways you can help others out in your community. We're not talking. We're not teaching kids to be activists. We're teaching kids to grow with character. And all these things, including helping people out, develops character, develops virtue, develops integrity so long needed in our culture. Now, the way the warrior kid field manual underscores the importance of having such positive influences in a child's life. As adults, our mission is to embody these principles and guide the younger generation towards the path of success and personal fulfillment. And you know, the fastest way for kids to learn the right thing to do is to watch adults doing the right thing each and every day. Instead of telling them the right thing, we should show them the right thing by our example. You know, for us adults, what did Nick Saban, the great Alabama football coach, college football coach, teach us last week? The old Robert Frost line. Robert Frost, that renowned poet, once eloquently articulated a profound truth about actions and words. He said your actions are so loud I can't hear what you're saying, I just love, love, love, love. That line. In fact, that's going to be our mission statement for 2024. For all of us, let our action be so loud that no one can hear what we are saying. And if you missed it, nick Saban says this line all the time. Check out last week's Mojo Minute where we talked about the process. Now moving on section five here, in the way of a Warrior Kids Field Manual. It's all about learning, and we love to learn here at the Mojo Academy and on the Theory to Action podcast. So let's go back to the book for a fantastic quote. Section five to learn. Everyone always thinks of warriors as being strong. That is true. They exercise and eat healthy, and they eat strong food so they can make their bodies as strong as possible. But guess what? Working to have a strong body is only half of being a warrior. The other half is to train our mind. So we are smart as we can be. I know this is not easy, just like exercising. Sports and jujitsu are sometimes hard, paying attention in classes sometimes hard. Studying, doing homework, reading can seem painful and slow and boring. But guess what? That doesn't matter. Warrior kids do the right thing, no matter how difficult it seems. And guess what else? The ultimate weapon for the warrior is the mind. It is being smart enough to solve problems and overcome challenges, challenging situations. You do that with your mind. The smarter you are, the better warrior you will be. That's why the Warrior Kids studies to learn and gain knowledge and ask questions if he doesn't understand Our next section, learning how to learn. I'll never forget when Uncle Jake first told me he didn't do very well at school when he was a kid. I couldn't believe it. Uncle Jake not doing well at something, he crushes it Everything he does. So what gives Well? School didn't seem like something he needed to worry about. He always knew he wanted to be a Navy SEAL, but he didn't think much about math or science or history or English, art or other studies which mattered when it came time to fighting and defeating enemies. But once he got to be part of a SEAL team. He realized he was wrong. He had to learn a whole bunch of stuff if he ever wanted to succeed. Luckily, he had a boot camp instructor that helped him. The first thing he learned is he had to learn how to learn. You're probably looking at the page right now wondering learn how to learn. What does that even mean, mark? Well, guess what? You're learning how to learn right now, reading this book. Let me explain. Learning how to learn means you understand that learning is a process. The process involves hard work, curiosity, focus, discipline, patience. It doesn't matter if it's math, jujitsu, mowing lawns, folding laundry, playing basketball, setting the dinner table. No one magically figures out how to do any of those things. You have to learn them. In order to learn them, you have to follow steps. Those steps are called a process. Think Nick Saban. Back in the fifth grade, I had zero idea how to do my times tables. I figured I'd just stunk at math and was never going to get it. And most of the other kids were doing finite math. I figured I was just stupid. And they weren't. The only thing that was stupid was me thinking that I was stupid. I just had learned how to learn. Yet Uncle Jake taught me to use flashcards to learn. I had to make them, I had to organize them and I had to study them. That was the process, the learning process. I made them by putting a multiplication problem on one side of each card and the answer on the other, and when I looked at the card, I guess the answer. If I was right, I set that card aside. If I was wrong, I put it in the back of the pile to try again. After about an hour I had learned my times tables. Learning is not easy. You have to read, take lessons, pay attention, study and class to learn stuff. Never easy to make excuses and give up on learning. You can decide that you're not good at it or that learning is just too hard. But guess what? That's lazy thinking. Tons of kids think they're not smart, just like I used to think. But that's not true. It just takes hard work. Hubba, hubba, speaking right to my heart, just love when we have kids books that talk about hard work. You see, adults, it's just not about physical strength, though. Mark is teaching us how to bolster our mental tenacity, to build our self-confidence, to foster some self, some sense of self-reliance. You know he's preparing the young listeners to become leaders and not mere followers. And of course, it wouldn't be, mark, if the journey wasn't a fun filled and exciting one. Now, in this manual, we get the whole gang. If you've read the series all the way back to the very beginning, all the warrior kids characters are here. You got Uncle Jake, who we talked about, you got the Bullock, kenny Williamson, you got the friends Nathan and Nora and Danny. They help to keep things light and entertaining. So in today's Mojo Minute, as we adults, perhaps we can have the humility to check out this kids field manual, and perhaps it'll help us to extract some nuggets of wisdom for our own lives while helping out our own kids. Perhaps we can gain a little bit of wisdom and knowledge, maybe an ounce or so if it helps. As you see, uncle Jake reminds Mark and the others that this is your chance to turn your life around and walk the warrior kid path. And so for all you adults out there, me included, are we ready to embrace the change? Have we gotten maybe a little too comfortable in our own lives? Have we not challenged ourselves in a while? Are we leading by example? After our mission statement for 2024, let our actions be so loud that no one can hear what we're saying. Let's do this theory to action style.

Thank you for joining us. We hope you enjoyed this theory to action podcast. Be sure to check out our show page at teammojoacademycom, where we have everything we discussed in this podcast, as well as other great resources. Until next time, keep getting your mojo on.