This week, Marcus shares a powerful lesson he learned from a chiropractor during his time in chiropractic school. Emphasizing the importance of ‘being’ rather than ‘trying,’ Marcus discusses how embodying the qualities of the person you aspire to become can accelerate your success. He shares actionable steps on how to align your current actions with your future goals, whether they are professional, physical, or personal. The episode encourages listeners to conduct themselves like their future selves now, creating a transformative impact on their journey to success.
Episode Highlights:
00:45 Marcus’s Chiropractic Journey
02:14 Becoming Your Future Self
04:50 Practical Steps to Transformation
Episode Transcript:
00:02
Dr. Nonverba is a show that’s raw and real, featuring hard-hitting interviews with people that live by the ethos of actions, not words. Marcus Aurelius Anderson is a TEDx speaker, best-selling author, veteran, and leadership and mindset coach. With this show, you get to join Marcus as he goes inside the minds and experiences of the world’s most successful warriors, leaders, entrepreneurs, and experts. With each episode, you’re going to get the philosophies, concepts, tactics, and strategies these leaders use
00:32
to turn adversity into victory. Live an extraordinary life based on actions, not words. Now, here’s your host, Marcus Aurelius Anderson. When I was in chiropractic school, and no, I didn’t finish my doctorate degree, that’s the story that I talk about in my upcoming Octo Non-Verba book. But when I was there, a chiropractor named Dr. Hugo Gibson called me doctor when I asked him a question in class. Now, I had the utmost respect for this man.
01:01
So I approached him afterwards to explain that I wasn’t a doctor yet. And while I appreciated him calling me one, I still had a long way to go before I had earned that title. He looked at me for a moment and held my gaze before he said the following in his low South African accent. Marcus, if you wait until you walk across the stage to get your diploma before you conduct yourself like a doctor, you’ve wasted six years of practice. I will never forget those words. What he said demonstrates the power of being.
01:30
versus trying to be. So what do I mean by this? It takes six years to become a doctor of chiropractic, which is the point that he was making with his comment. And if I was trying to be a doctor for those six years, I would have wasted all kinds of time until the moment that I got my diploma to actually become a doctor, to consider myself a doctor. After hearing Dr. Gibson’s wisdom from that day forward, I became a doctor. Meaning, when I studied, I studied the way that a doctor would study. When I practiced the art of chiropractic adjustments,
02:00
I took it very seriously and approached it with the same care and attention to detail that a doctor would. And now I want you to experience this as well. This is how you can advance six years in less than six minutes. I want you to think of the person that you’d like to become in the future. This person can have a title attached to it or it can just be the person that you want to become in the future. And instead of just acting like that person, I want you to become them. For example, let’s say that you’re currently an assistant superintendent.
02:30
but you want to one day become a superintendent. In that case, start conducting yourself the way a superintendent does, starting right now. What questions would a superintendent ask? What friction would they anticipate? What sort of planning and organization would they have now? How would they lead others in the field as well? And listen, even if you want to become something that doesn’t have a title like doctor or superintendent, chances are the person that you want to become displays certain characteristics and attributes that you seek to emulate and develop.
03:01
They’d likely achieve something monetarily like earning a specific salary, purchasing a home, paying off their debt, or even exiting their company with a multi-million dollar buyout. The person that you want to become may have a physical goal such as running a marathon, losing a specific amount of weight, achieving a certain level of body fat, or hitting a personal record in some sort of lift or similar metric. That person may have a personal goal of having more free time with their family, with less stress, and more presence, fulfillment, and happiness.
03:31
In any and all of these examples, ask yourself, what is that future version of you doing that you are not doing right now? To achieve the monetary goals means that you need a budget as well as goals for the amount of money that you would like to save or invest. The person with the physical goal has a diet that they don’t deviate from, as well as a sleep and workout schedule that sets them up to be able to achieve those big objectives. The person with the personal goals of more time and fulfillment with family
03:58
has laser-like focus on what’s truly a priority to them and is aware of what is not. They know that if everything is a priority, that nothing is a priority. So if it’s not truly a priority to them, they simply let it go so they can redouble those efforts towards what genuinely moves the needle. In other words, in all of those examples, instead of acting like that person, become that person now. Do what that person is doing now. Conduct yourself as such right now.
04:27
and you will notice your entire demeanor, work ethic, and focus change immediately. If you wait until you walk across the stage to get your diploma before you conduct yourself like a Dr. Marcus, you’ve wasted six years of practice. Those words from Dr. Gibson still echo in my mind today, and now they will echo in yours as well. Conduct yourself like the person that you want to become, and you’re halfway there. You’re after action items for the next 30 days. Ask yourself the following question daily.
04:55
Am I conducting myself like the person that I claim that I want to become? What is that person that I want to become doing right now that I am not? What does their day architecture look like? Diet, sleep, and workout schedule look like compared to mine? And this is a good way to be really honest. So take a good hard look at this using the two-column method. Imagine a piece of paper with a line going down the center, creating a left and a right column. In the left column, imagine all the things the person you want to become does consistently. Now on the right column, imagine your typical day.
05:25
Compare the two, see where they do not match up, and then get to work on making them congruent with the person that you want to become. Stop waiting, start executing. Thus endeth the lesson. Thank you for listening. If you enjoyed this or any of the almost 250 episodes of Auction Non-Verba, I highly recommend going back through the entire catalog that includes more Warrior Wisdom episodes like this one, as well as longer deep dive interviews with guests like the legendary authors Robert Greene and Steven Pressfield.
05:53
as well as the peak performer like Octa Non Verba 244 guest and former Navy SEAL Commander Rich Diviney and my long content interview with Rayron Gracie on Acta Non Verba 242. None of these are behind a paywall. There are zero commercials and they were all absolutely free for right now. Go check out the entire catalog. And while you’re there, hit subscribe and tell us what you think about this episode in a review on iTunes, Spotify or wherever you listen to Acta Non Verba.
06:20
Also check out our new YouTube channel, which is awesome, and watch these episodes in their entirety. By subscribing, liking, and leaving a review on any platform that you listen to or watch, you help us attract more like-minded people and spread the Acta Non Verba message to others. Sharing this lesson on social media and with your team gives you tools and tactics that can be used in any organization or company environment. If you’d like to get more exclusive content and information regarding the release date of my new Acta Non Verba book,
06:49
upcoming live events, the release of the Acta Non Verba Apparel Catalog, and more, join the Acta Non Verba Inner Circle for free at Marcus Aurelius Anderson.com and also check out Acta Non VerbaPodcast.com. Until next time, live a life of actions and not words. Live a life of Acta Non Verba.
