Welcome And Why Structure Matters

SPEAKER_01 0:04

Welcome back to another episode of Healthy Mind, Healthy Life, the show where we have honest conversations and grounded conversations like this about the inner work, about being well in real life. My name is Cyan, as most of you would know, and today I'm in conversation with Cory Edison. He's the force behind knockout life and high performance coaching where he helps driven professionals ditch the stuff and finally get unstuck. He spent nearly three decades leading massive media projects before flipping the script and building a coaching system that's rooted in grit, structure, and consistent action. Also, he's the founder of Doing the Disc Dance, part of memoir, part of fight plan for building a life that actually holds. So today I invite you all to join me on this conversation where I think everyone wants, but few actually understand, which is on accountability, real discipline, and the slow daily work of building yourself one break at a time. So, Cody, welcome to the show. I think it's a pleasure to have you here with me and really excited to dig in deeper onto this topic.

SPEAKER_00 1:03

Thank you for that introduction, and I appreciate the opportunity to uh to chit-chat with you.

Cory’s Early Lesson On Discipline

SPEAKER_01 1:08

Likewise. So, Cody, before we get into the bigger themes, all right, I want to start somewhere uh with your story. So, looking back, was there a specific moment in your life that you know when you stopped relying on, you know, um temporary motivation or what do you call it, the hype, uh, and realized that the only thing that was actually going to build the life that you wanted was structure?

SPEAKER_00 1:33

Well, I mean, that was sort of baked in at a very early age, thanks to my parents, uh, which were, you know, both of them were huge proponents of uh independence and self-reliance. Um, in order to be independent and self-reliance, you have to have some sort of structure to get things done. And uh, you know, as I rose through the ranks, you know, through school, early jobs, athletics, you figure out that, at least I did, my experience, talent is very overrated. The ability to uh work hard, to hustle, and adhere to a regiment, that is the prize. And if you can do that, you can actually outdo folks that are talented all the time.

SPEAKER_01 2:19

Yes, I think uh, you know, I've heard that one, and uh that really resonates with me because obviously talent can give you that extra mile start, you know, head start in a marathon, but it's obviously uh that structure, the discipline that really takes you far, right? Um, it's the same story as the Totoys and the Rabbit, perhaps. And I think there's really a misconception, Cody, that uh about accountability and discipline that that's really um, I would say is floating around particularly right now in the digital media uh age. So I think half of it is too soft. Um, you know, just listen to your feelings. And a lot of uh a lot of uh people also dwell in uh, you know, do the thing that comes to you in the moment, you know, that that spontaneity, right? Um and not necessarily that um uh maybe yeah, uh productivity, yes, uh it does indeed help with productivity, but not necessarily um,

Action Without Emotion As A Rule

SPEAKER_01 3:12

you know, it it does help with uh any kind of structure. Um and the on the other side, uh, you know, it could be too harsh, like you gotta stick to a particular uh routine and uh you know structure, and that's how you build accountability and a life for yourself. So I'm curious to know is there a concrete direction uh perhaps that you would want to stick uh with, you know, on either side, or is there a degree of both that you're looking for that you think uh you would want rather stick to? And is there really a misunderstanding if um you know someone rather picks a side um or what is that you would want to really uh put forth?

SPEAKER_00 3:47

Well, I'll tell you. In all honesty, I tend to lean to one side of that polarity you just mentioned. Um, and you can probably guess which one that is. Um, you know, you have to, you have to if you want to be successful in your life, if you want to be a successful entrepreneur, a successful athlete, a successful artist, whatever your uh choice is, you have to be able to take relentless action minus emotion. The reality is the world is a very cruel and unforgiving place. I don't mean that people are cruel and unforgiving, but the way the world works is no one's gonna meet you halfway. It's up to you to get things done. And if you're sitting around worrying about how you feel and how other people feel about you, you will be stuck. Action trumps everything. Everything you can sit around when you're thinking, okay, thought and strategy and planning are all overrated. Execution, application, and implementation will crush all three of those things. Give me someone that takes action and is relentless and put them up against a really smart person that thinks my guy's gonna win every time. I love smart people. I love dealing with smart people who are immersed in thought. You know why? Because I hire them, they work for me. Okay, you understand what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_01 5:37

Yeah, I I I think I think that uh distinction really does matter because I think most people would rather um, you know, even even stick to uh in between of that polarity that I talked about. Uh and because uh most people I think uh think that discipline is about being hard on themselves. But what you're really describing is something that uh is more honest, that being faithful to yourself, and especially on the days when nobody's watching you, right? And that really does the job for you. Maybe not on uh, you know, on the on the micro level, but uh definitely on the macro level. So if we stay with that, Cody, for uh a few um seconds here, underneath that surface struggle to really stay countable, uh, there's almost a a deeper and uh

Consistency In An Instant World

SPEAKER_01 6:18

you know a older pattern at play from the high achievers that you work with uh in your day-to-day life. So what's the root layer that you think keeps people stuck even when they look like they have it all together on the outside?

SPEAKER_00 6:30

The thing that where most people get stuck on is is consistency. Okay, anybody can be taught to do a specific task or a series of tasks in a certain order. But who can do them day in and day out without an immediate result? Though that is the separation, that's what takes the learning, that's what um needs to be calloused in the mind. Because we're in an instant gratification society. You're a young man, you're you're you know, you're I'm I don't want to guess your age, but you've grown up with everything at the touch of a button. Okay. The reality is life doesn't work that way, it requires a series of steps in a certain order. Like there's an expression, you can't get to success on the elevator. You got to take the stairs step by step. And if you can be able to withstand the monotony and the drudgery of doing these things without getting that result you want, sticking to the process and not focusing on the result, which sounds so counterintuitive to most people because they're saying, Well, I'm not getting the result, I'm not making any money, I'm not getting any sales, or I'm not getting any clients, whatever that is, or or I'm not getting in shape, I'm not losing the weight, I'm not getting any stronger, etc. You have to understand it takes time. You know, there's I don't know if you ever heard of something called the Stonecutter's Credo.

SPEAKER_01 8:09

Uh no, but you know, just to add on to that, I think uh that's also because they are perhaps looking at the wrong things. I mean, uh think about it like uh, you know, you hit the gym for the very first day, let's say, right? There's nothing changed, but almost uh there's that little uh bit of exhaustion and tiredness that comes into play. That um, you know, I mean, most people really don't look at the small changes that happens, you know, on an atomic level. They would rather look at it from their goal perspective that, okay, is this making money or not? But they wouldn't see that, okay, uh, whether it made something better with the process, you know, maybe if if you're looking at a client workflow or maybe if they're looking at um, you know, breaking a process down to an atomic level. Did that really increase the efficiency by 5%, 6%? No, is it making money? That's could be 1%. Yeah, it could be 1%, right? Yeah, exactly. And and and I think and I think uh while uh there would be days where maybe, maybe, okay, it's a it was a bad day, you really didn't make any progress, but most of the days uh that is even even if that's 0.1, you gotta be optimistic and you know, um you gotta jot that down on a piece of paper and you know think harder on what that day, I mean, what was your really output on that day? You know, did did you make something better by one person? Could be a body, could be a relationship, could be a walk, and pass away, you can force yourself to see the progress even when you know it it looks very monotonous, like you said, Cody. And I think that is something that uh uh most people in in my generation at least um want to admit. So curious to know your your thoughts.

SPEAKER_00 9:48

But it's it's it's something that is tied to the millennial generation, but it is also chronic for generations before that, I can tell you, because I work with people that are boomers still, I work with people that are Gen X like me, um, and the ability to withstand the pain and the discomfort in any way you want it, shape or form, to get to their goal. Most people are not cut out for that. If they were, they wouldn't need to hire a guy like me. Because I'm there to show them if you stick to a certain pattern, you develop a pattern of accomplishment. And that pattern of accomplishment gains compound interest over time. It's like a bank account because you start stacking all these little wins you achieve. And then, you know, one win becomes two, two becomes four, four becomes eight, et cetera, et cetera. And then exponentially down the road, you start to really score. And it's it, you know, most folks just aren't cut out for that. And what I try to do is not just give them lessons and consult with them, but I also try to lead by example by doing the same small steps myself and showing that I walk the walk and not just talk the talk and everything that I do.

SPEAKER_01 11:10

Yeah, that I think that is really a good way to set the example, Cory. And and I think uh that's a very useful answer because I think that the thing that people skip is almost uh, you know, the thing that the rest of the system really, really, really depends upon. Because once they stop skipping it, I think that's when the structure, you know, quietly starts to hold in a way that maybe it was not doing so before, or you know, maybe it you didn't didn't uh, like I said, have the perspective to look at it that way before. So I'm curious to know for the listeners who are listening to this right now, um, because we have had, I mean, situations where there would be uh obviously be missed days, uh, you know, uh sloppy weeks and weeks where the structure really cracks because again, you look at life, it's never linear, there would be uh uncertainty all the way up and down. Uh, but when someone you work with, let's say hits one of those moments and starts spiraling into, you know, I'm back to square one, what do you really tell them so that they really don't undo all the efforts and the breaks that they have already laid?

Recovering After You Slip Up

SPEAKER_00 12:14

There's a couple of uh tips and techniques we can employ when someone regresses or falls into a rut or gets back to old habits. The first thing is have amnesia. Learn to have amnesia, to forget where you've stumbled and just focus on what's 200 feet in front of you. We talk about that all the time. And the other thing is to write things down. You you mentioned that first. That's a big uh component of the go get it way. We talk about go get it here uh all the time in my business, and to be able to document with discipline, D-I-SS, not D-I-S-C. Um, and if you're writing things down and it's right there in front of you on that piece of paper, all you have to do is follow the blueprint. And you don't have to worry about did I forget? Do I did I think about doing this task? Did I whatever it is? When if you're writing things down consistently, and we talked about consistency, and you're simply crossing things off the list and going to the next item, it's very hard to fall off track.

SPEAKER_01 13:18

Yeah, and and just to add a little bit of flavor um to that aspect, you know, um definitely you could add more um progress uh by structuring your day out. But I want

Structure For Creative Work Blocks

SPEAKER_01 13:32

to shift the conversation a little bit towards that creative field of work, Cody, uh just out of curiosity, because uh I think uh creative people uh at the most called in creative fields, maybe you know, um uh filmmaking or into music production or stuff like that. Um, because I uh I I am a corporate, but I also uh am into uh music production as well. So um I mean at times there are situations where you have a lot of half-pending stuff, you know, half-finished plans, uh songs, habits, uh you don't really have somewhere new to start. I mean, um we call it the writer's block. Uh that is uh a point where you have run out of ideas. Um so uh from that point of view, I mean, what's something practical that you would uh you could think of that you would tell them to lead this week, maybe that so that they could pick up their pieces and start finishing what they were supposed to?

SPEAKER_00 14:40

Sure. Well, it's it's very interesting how you you mentioned you know creative the creative business. Um I'm uniquely qualified to answer this question. Uh and maybe before you asked it, but if not, I'm gonna tell you. So, you know, before becoming a uh a life and high performance and marketing and business coach in 2018, for 27 years, I ran a national audio and video production studio. We make all over the world, okay? So I'm very fluent in audio production, video production, actors, actresses, voiceover announcers, copywriting, you know, visual design, etc. I all those people worked for me. Okay. I oversaw the entire operation. I sold tens of millions of dollars of inventory of that stuff. So uh I've had a lot of experience getting creative producers to pull on the same side of the rope so we can get the work done. Okay, just know that. Um, it it boils down to focus, and it all goes back to structure, it all goes back to writing it down because when it's written down, it's binary. Most creative minds don't think in a binary fashion. There's a lot of gray, there's a lot of shades of differences of things, there's a lot of subjectivity. When you write things down, it's either on or it's off. So if you write it down, you make the commitment, you cross off that task when it's done. Now, can't can I be a magical uh solution for a writer's block? That's a whole other animal. Okay, because that that just happens to anybody where they're stuck on, you know, thinking of a creative idea for a song or a script or a painting or a digital design. That that's something that I'm not qualified to teach people, okay? But if you're sitting idly and not getting anything done and not getting paid attention, I have the unique ability to take a size 14 shoe and implement it in the right area of your behind to get it done.

SPEAKER_01 16:49

Yeah, I I think and that's that's a that's an important reframe because uh again, the way that you pulled it back to structure, I think that really answers uh that that piece of uncertainty. And I think missing a day isn't really a proof that uh that structure is really broken. I think it's often the place that uh you know you find the time to be more honest with yourself, you know. Like you said, when you write that down, you you start uh recognizing and maybe uh self-introspecting uh and and that starts, I think, being built on something that

Why Success Is Boring Routines

SPEAKER_01 17:20

that's more durable than uh just motivation, right? Um structure is important, structure is very boring, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:28

And most um entrepreneurs or you know, people want spice, they want shiny objects, they want fancy. And success is not fancy, they think it is, but it's not, it's boring. I am very boring, I'm also very successful. I do the same things every day. If if you ever wanted to, uh and uh please don't, if you ever wanted to assassinate me, you know exactly where I would be at any given day, at any given time, because I'm doing the same things. I get up at four in the morning, I go to the gym at five, I eat my meals, I go to the gym a second time, I have my appointments, etc., etc. But with that system, with that process, I don't have to think about what I'm going to do every day. It's on autopilot because I've developed a habit. I rock a routine. Folks that are stuck, folks that are lost, folks that are that are in neutral, that aren't progressing every day, they simply do not have a routine, or they had a routine and they don't stick to it. They give themselves an excuse not to. That's what it boils down to. It's not, I wish, I wish there was some very academic explanation, some theory that would say, you know, very fancy theory, like why certain things work. No, no, it's real simple. You don't have a routine, you don't stick to it, you're gonna suck. You want you don't want to you develop a routine, it's painless.

SPEAKER_01 19:08

I I I love uh the way you know you you uh brought it down to just one sentence. And I I perhaps uh I think that's really uh the best note to wrap this up on. But just before we uh you know wrap the wind this off, I would love to ask you one question.

Breaks Versus Procrastination

SPEAKER_01 19:23

So um for listeners who are listening to this right now, uh who might be questioning themselves that they do need a break. Now, um curious to know, would you frame that as an excuse or uh would you frame that as the right intention perhaps to get back to themselves?

SPEAKER_00 19:43

Look, I mean, we're all human beings here, okay? You know, it's not uh, you know, you're not breaking the law, or you're there's no punishment if you need to recharge your batteries to take a day to walk away from you know the the grind. Um you know, look, it happens even the the the the toughest, grittiest of grinders will take a moment to clear their head. Some folks need that more than others, but when that one moment or hour or day turns into multiple days and weeks and months, now you're venturing into procrastination and feet dragging because you're avoiding the hard work. So there's a fine line there between refreshing yourself and being recharged to co-attack the mission and putting it off and you know under the guise, under the excuse of I need a break. A lot of folks use that as a crutch.

SPEAKER_01 20:48

I'm so glad that you brought that up. And uh I think that would serve as an important reminder so to our listeners. So uh, Cody, for the people who actually resonated with what he talked about, you know, um, and particularly I really resonate uh with what he said because you know I have the structure when when I mean I have I wake up, I go to you know my morning walk, uh come back, work on my uh creative stuff, go back

Where To Find Cory Online

SPEAKER_01 21:10

to work, come back. I have I mean this wonderful time where I connect with guests for podcasting and uh work again and then go to bed. So I I mean part of the uh uh hustle culture myself, but um for people who actually resonated with what you just shared right now and uh would love to connect with you and get your guidance and coaching advice, uh, where's the best place for them to reach out to you at?

SPEAKER_00 21:31

Pretty simple. It's CoryDisson.com, C-O-R-E-Y, D-I-S-S-I-N.com. I mean, that's my sort of online storefront. You can connect with me on my social media platforms there. I'm really big into LinkedIn. Uh, you can look for me there to uh invite me to connect. And, you know, I I put out a ton of content. I'm an avid content marketer, several posts per day, every day. Um, but yeah, I mean, I I often joke that uh if you Google my name and you can't find me, boy, did I have you fooled. Um I mean, because I I'm out there. It's tough not to find me. That's what I can tell you. Very tough. You just Google me, Corey Disson, and there'll be multiple places where you can link back to me.

SPEAKER_01 22:13

Brilliant. So would have all the links in the show notes so that people could easily reach out to you, Corey. Wonderful. I just want to thank you for um, you know, sharing such practical stuff on this podcast, because again, I think Healthy Mind is a show in particular that's rooted in you know practical

What Why How And Closing

SPEAKER_01 22:32

conversations like this. Uh and and a show where we, you know, tend to circle back that inner work and outer life aren't separate, they uh the same conversation in two different two different rooms, right? So um something that I would want you all to carry forth, uh folks, is that uh the life that you want to build uh isn't actually built in one single sprint. I think it is it is really built, um, and it's not even built by breaking yourself either, right? It's one honest step at a time through a structure is what you want to accomplish and how you want to accomplish. Because again, there are three aspects to it, right? Um, and I call it the what, why, and how. What is the thing that um, well, statistically, 80% of us know, okay, what am I, you know, what do I want? The why aspect of it is slightly trickier. Why do I want it? And uh that's that's a part uh where some of us get stuck uh, you know, wandering off, uh, but eventually come back to it. But how is the process that uh we talked about today, Corey? So the how is the part that uh statistically one out of two are not able to solve, you know. You want to be an actress, okay? You want to be, you know, uh you want to launch a company, you know, you have your own vision. I mean, that's that's a number, right? On a statistical level. So I think I think we uh really I I hope uh you folks have been able to uh take some of the important key takeaways of this conversation on that how aspect. And with that, folks, uh unfortunately we hit today's minute mark on this episode. So yeah, this has been Cyan on Healthy Mind Healthy Life. And if you have been uh on this show for and you've stuck with this, uh stuck with us for this long, just want to take uh for you to take a moment and reflect on perhaps where you might be lacking that structure. And this has been Cyan, and I'll see you in the next one.