Permanent Beta: We’re never perfect.

Hello dear reader!! Welcome to another Becoming LionHeart blog post! Thank you for taking the time to read this, I truly believe the mentality I am going to talk about here can help you change your life and Become LionHeart! This is perhaps my second favorite mindset I’ve ever been taught by anyone. The reason being is that this mindset is really the reason I am writing this blog for you to be able to read, because this has pushed me to focus on growth and constant improvement, which led me here! This is another mentality that comes from my Penn State Wrestling experience, taught to me by my head coach Cael Sanderson. For anyone who doesn’t know that back story feel free to check out my Who I am page! Anyway, onto the mindset, which as you might have guessed from the title is called Permanent Beta.

What is Permanent Beta?

Good question! Permanent beta can loosely be summarized as a growth mindset, but I like to say that it’s with a twist! In our society there is often a focus on growth and getting better but I believe there’s too much emphasis on mastery. You see too many trying to become “Perfect”. In any endeavor there are those who chase perfection, even those who have claimed to have achieved it. This is something that I believe just leads people down a path of feeling like a failure or generally leads to unhappiness. I have known many “perfectionists” these people have been some of the most successful people I’ve ever met but they are also often heavily stressed. They want perfect grades, perfect relationships, the perfect life. But life isn’t meant to be perfect. We as people are not perfect beings, we are quite literally evolving daily! The world our grandparents knew is vastly different from ours, our grandchildren will know a different world, that is called constant change and improvement. This leads me into what my coach calls the “Permanent Beta” a concept that we are in a constant state of improvement, an infinite beta testing if you will. Picture your phone for example. Only 25 years ago a phone of the magnitude we now possess was unthought of, but now we are constantly improving them. Even once our phone is released there’s constant updates to the operating system, to the apps we use, etc. We are always improving every facet of our lives, so we should always be improving ourselves as well!

How do I apply the Permanent Beta to my life?

Anytime you learn something you should always be working on the practical application of it. Knowledge is power only to the extent that it is actually utilized. If I know how to do math very well but I refuse to do it, that doesn’t help me or anyone else. Applying the permanent beta is very simple, you must learn to love the process of growth rather than the results you achieve. Now, I say simple, but not EASY. There’s a difference. Simple means that it’s clear how to do it, easy would mean that there’s no difficulty in doing it. Changing your mindset to focus on the process of constant improvement is not easy for most people. It was not easy for me. I grew up someone obsessed with the results, I wanted the best grades I could get, the coolest friends, the nicest things. I was worried about the results because I worried what other people would think of me. When I was taught this Permanent Beta I learned to love learning more than the grades, I learned to cherish friends who made me better and supported me, and I learned to care about the opinion of few overall because I know where I am heading. Applying the permanent beta means making life all about the journey, the process, and learning to constantly improve on the yesterday you. I personally love learning from YouTube, audiobooks, books, and podcasts. These are some of my favorite mediums to use to improve myself but you have to do whatever works for your learning style!

What will change once I adopt this mindset?

You will begin a life of constant growth and change; you won’t stress about the results because they will come as you improve, you will focus on learning from results rather than dwelling on them. You’ll become a better version of yourself each and every day! Ultimately I truly believe that this mindset can help bring others more happiness by not focusing on things they can’t control much, the results, but ultimately make you happy to go through life constantly feeling like you’re improving! One caveat though, no matter how great you become always remember you can always be better. Even the greatest athletes in the world are always working their game because that’s how you stay great!

In summary, always remember that life is about the process, when you focus on process improvement the results will come! Thank you so much for taking the time to read this post, if you enjoyed it and found value please take the time to share with others that you believe will find value in this as well! I also appreciate any and all feedback! If you like this concept and want to hear more about it please also check out my Podcast episode on it where I will dive into it a little deeper! That can be found on the Becoming LionHeart Podcast page! If it’s not there at time of reading it may have been moved out of the recent episodes, I will have details on the page to find a way to listen to it!

Thank you again for allowing me to help you Become LionHeart!!-Pat Higgins

Hungry Dogs Run Faster

“Hungry dogs run faster.” is a phrase used by Jason Kelce, Center for the Philadelphia Eagles during his 2018 Super Bowl Parade speech. Kelce was using this term to describe the team wearing their “underdog” label throughout the playoffs in 2018. The Eagles were the number one seed in the NFC and were underdogs all the way through, including the Super Bowl. Despite all the odds, they won the whole damn thing! Kelce’s speech was electric and will be remembered by everyone who witnessed it that day in February 2018, myself included. But I’m not here to write a sports blog, I’m not here to talk about the Eagles. I am here to talk about being Hungry!

What do you mean by hungry?

Now I know your first thought is to think of food, bare with me for a second. I’m not trying to make you hungry for food, I am trying to make you hungry for more. For more success, whatever that means to you. Recently I was invited to the closed beta of this awesome app called ClubHouse. It’s an audio only chatroom type thing where you can talk with people all over the world. I joined a chatroom hosted by an author I love, Alan Stein Jr, and there was a cohost, a woman named Bee Evans. She hosts a podcast called Tear Out The Tags. The concept she preaches is amazing!! She talks all about how we are often given these arbitrary labels by people and society. I was talking in a chatroom about podcasting and I was saying how I was “young”. She counted me saying this fourteen times!! She encouraged me to tear out this label, because the connotation of it makes it seem like I can’t do things just because I am not old in years (for reference, I am 24 years old). However, as with anything in life, you can not simply cut out an old habit, you must replace it with a new one to have success in replacing it. So she told me to replace my #Young with #Hungry. So let’s get into the good stuff now, LET’S GET HUNGRY!

What does it mean to be Hungry?

In Episode 91 of Tear Out the Tags the aforementioned Bee Evans gave three definitions of the word Hungry, the most important one is this one: “Eager or Avid, being strongly motivated” In the quote that Kelce used he was talking about how the “Hungry dogs run faster” tagline hung in the offensive line room in the Eagles facility to motivate them to work harder. Being hungry means more than just eager to me. I can be eager for anything but true hunger lies in the desire to be better. To improve, to want something so much that you will never stop until you get it. I have been hungry for many things in my life. My hunger in my sport drove me to train harder each day, to join and be a part of one of the most dominate sports teams in recent history, to read and learn all I can to become the best version of myself every day. I am hungry for more now, I am starved for the opportunity to help others now. I am coaching young athletes, but I am hungry to help anyone who’s willing to give me the time. I am hungry to become all I can be! I hope you, dear reader, are also hungry to find the success in the endeavors you’re chasing! I hope you are chasing down your dreams every day!

Being hungry is about more than results.

I am a man of many metaphors, idioms, and quotes. One of my favorite quotes about chasing a dream is this one; “If you’re chasing your dreams, run faster!” I love this quote because when you’re chasing down a goal, you’re always feeling JUST SHORT of it, until you finally achieve it. The sad part of dream chasing is sometimes we fall short, but this isn’t a reason to be upset, because when you turn around and look how far you’ve come you won’t be upset that you put all that effort in to become the best version of you! When we are hungry for more we don’t care about the results as much as the chase, the hungry dog runs faster! When you eat a meal, you’re still likely going to eat more! We all eat a big dinner and swear we’re not having the cake, but we always have the cake! Don’t let yourself be consumed by the love of the results, love the process, be hungry for the next opportunity, not the results it brings!

To wrap this all up and put a bowtie on it; live your life with an attitude of hunger. Strive to chase down the goals you set for yourself. Make each day an opportunity to improve at something! Be hungry for the next task, for the next chance to test yourself, for the next “meal”. If you are like me, or anyone else who ever tries to think they can’t do something, reframe your mind and know that you CAN do it. You’re hungry, and hungry dogs run faster! And just because I’m me and I love my quotes let me leave you with this one: “The wolf on the hill is never as hungry as the wolf climbing the hill!” Take that as you may, but I think you have a good idea of my thoughts on it!

Thank you again for the opportunity for me to provide some nonsense that may help you in any way! If you enjoyed this blog I encourage you to check out my other content! There will be an accompanying podcast episode related to this topic on the Becoming LionHeart Podcast page. Hopefully I’ll be able to get Bee on an interview podcast to talk about the tag #Hungry one day soon! But until then, I hope you enjoyed! If you have any feedback please feel free to share it! I love all feedback!

Thank you again for allowing me to help you Become LionHeart!!-Pat Higgins

SO WHAT!

HELLO DEAR READER!!!! Too much? Was it the exclamation points or the all caps? SO WHAT!! What is this topic all about today? Why do I keep screaming through text form? There’s a good reason I promise. This topic is one of my favorite mindsets I’ve ever been introduced to. I am very excited to share this with anyone who is willing to give me the opportunity to teach it and help them apply it to their lives. So dear reader, I hope that you will enjoy this blog, share it with your millions of followers and help me change the world one person at a time, if not, SO WHAT! Anyway, I’m done with the overuse of the caps function of my keyboard, so let’s explain what this mentality really means.

What is “So What”

So What, two simple words with so much power in them. This phrase was first taught to me by the head coach of my wrestling team at Penn State. For those who are unaware of my background feel free to read my Who Am I page to figure out that back story. But to summarize I was taught this by my head wrestling coach at Penn State University, who himself won four national titles as an individual and has now added another eight titles as a coach, four of which I was there for. This mentality is one we mainly use for our wrestling but can be applied to all aspects of life. When something happens to us we have the opportunity to pick our response, my coach taught us to reply with two simple words, “So what!”. The idea is that we can only control a few things in our lives. Our attitudes, reactions, and efforts among them. When I have this “So What” attitude, I am not being cavalier, far from it. There’s a big difference between my controlled response and indifference. Indifference is lazy, it means you don’t care about anything. “SO WHAT” does show I care, it just shows that I care enough to let it be, and acknowledge I can’t change what’s already happened, but I can choose to not dwell on it and let it drag me down.

How do we apply “So What”

My coach obviously used wrestling as the prime example but one thing I like to use when I teach this mentality to athletes I coach is that no matter what happens we can get up and respond if we don’t let ourselves feel defeated. So for example; if a football team gives up a touchdown, they can come out and go three and out, or they can choose to come out and try to score themselves. If they fall short on that attempt, SO WHAT, score on the next drive and go for the 2pt conversion to send the message! Girlfriend break up with you? SO WHAT! There’s plenty of fish in the sea and she wasn’t who you were meant to be with anyway! Boss a jerk at work? SO WHAT! Keep working hard to either force him to acknowledge your skill, or steal his job!! “So What” truly is a powerful mindset because it teaches us to respond in a positive way no matter what happens. We can’t change what’s already been done but we can control how we respond and move forward!

I am highly doubtful I do Coach Cael justice in teaching this mentality but SO WHAT! I want to teach it the best I can and constantly improve on how to teach it and help others learn from me. Whenever I am having a hard day, or something gives me an issue I always think “So what” because I can either choose to sulk and be moody about it, or I can push forward and get onto the next! Now, one thing I want to preface is I am aware there are some things in life that simply saying “So What” won’t change right away. I am not teaching this mentality as a way to say that you should never feel your emotions, that you should ignore all your problems or situations. I know we all have our battles, we all have some days where no matter how strong we are we can’t get through it alone, which is where I want to encourage that you don’t “So what” it but rather find those who can support you and help you choose to move forward. No one goes through life alone, so please never feel that way!

Thank you!

If you’ve made it this far I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart! I am having a lot of fun producing these blogs, podcasts, and videos to help anyone I can in anyway I can. My goal here isn’t to change the world for everyone, but change one world at a time! If I helped you in anyway I ask that you please leave me some feedback or share this post with your friends and help me help others as well! Additionally if you enjoyed this blog I have an accompanying podcast for this mindset on my Podcast page, if you can’t find it there it might have been shifted off the recent lists. Please check out the podcast on any app you use for them!

Thank you again for allowing me to help you Become LionHeart!!-Pat Higgins