Embracing Productivity and Balance: Mark Struczewski's Guide to Effective Daily Routines and Self-Discipline

Ever feel like you're scrambling to keep up with life's demands, only to end up exhausted and unfulfilled? Join us and learn from Mark Struczewski, a productivity maestro and host of the Mister Productivity podcast, who will change the way you approach your day-to-day grind. Mark's journey from a disciplined childhood to a pivotal career shift in 2005—sparked by his dismissal from a job—led him to embrace solopreneurship and ultimately discover his natural aptitude for organization and efficiency. He credits luminaries such as Tony Robbins and Gary Vaynerchuk for guiding his path and now shares his accumulated wisdom with us. Through tales of personal development and career metamorphosis, Mark's narrative will inspire you to harness your own innate talents and venture confidently toward your true calling.

In a world where the quest for a perfect work-life balance seems like a mythical pursuit, we dissect this elusive concept with an exploratory lens. By analyzing the intricate tapestry of our lives, we unfold the crucial elements that constitute balance—physical, spiritual, emotional, and mental well-being—and challenge conventional measures of success. I offer a peek into my personal morning routine, proving that consistent habits are the keystone to daily achievement and satisfaction. We'll also tackle the rigorous discipline required to work remotely, and share actionable strategies to keep you laser-focused, drawing wisdom from influential reads like "The 5 AM Club" by Robin Sharma. Prepare to elevate your routine and redefine contentment as we journey through the intricacies of productivity and self-discipline with Mark Struczewski.

Enhance your efficiency and success! Visit MisterProductivity.com now for a wealth of productivity resources. Tune in to the Mister Productivity Podcast for insightful tips and strategies that will transform your approach to work and life. Start your journey to peak productivity today!

Transcript

Dr. William Attaway: 0:00

I'm so excited today to have Mark Struczewski on the podcast. Mark is a productivity coach based in Houston and host of the Mr Productivity podcast. He is dedicated to guiding executives to master the art of productivity, with a rich experience of over 1,265 podcast episodes Wow, by the way. His goal is to empower individuals to overcome distractions, prioritize tasks effectively and achieve daily clarity. His passion is running and continuous learning, and he offers strategies regularly to enhance productivity and provides listeners with practical insights to transform their professional and personal lives. Mark, I'm so glad you're here. Thanks for being on the show.

Mark Struczewski: 0:52

William, I am glad to be here. I'm honored because you and I are almost the same hairstylist. Almost you have a little more hair than I do, but I'm glad to be here.

Intro / Outro: 1:03

Thank you, that's awesome Welcome to Catalytic Leadership, the podcast designed to help leaders intentionally grow and thrive. Here is your host author and leadership and executive coach, dr William Attaway Adam.

Mark Struczewski: 1:21

Attaway.

Dr. William Attaway: 1:26

Man. I'd love, mark, for you to start by sharing some of your story with our listeners, particularly around your journey and your development as a leader.

Mark Struczewski: 1:34

How did you get started. Well, first of all, I think we're all leaders. Every one of us is a leader, and if you don't think you're a leader, you are a leader. I'll take the break it to you. But my journey actually I thought my journey started when I was fired from my corporate job back in 2005.

Mark Struczewski: 1:52

This is how naive I was at the time, because that's when I made the decision to, at that fork in the road. I'm fired. What do I do? I can become a solopreneur or I can get another real job. I don't know what that means, real job, to be honest with you. But I decided to do the solopreneur route and I can tell you that I have loved being on the solopreneur journey. I am not an owner of a private jet yet, I'm not an owner of mansions or I don't own islands like Richard Branson, but I'm happy. But here's the key thing I really believe my story starts when I was a child, because my parents have since passed away, but they raised me. Keep in mind I was born in 1965. I had to do chores at a certain time, a certain way, had to pass mom's inspection, and then I had to do homework and I had responsibility. So I used to tell people my journey started in 2005, when it actually started when I was a kid. Wow.

Dr. William Attaway: 3:05

That's fascinating. I'm not that much younger than you are, and I too had chores. I too had a different type of upbringing than I think a lot of people these days are having. I'm curious given that background, what inspired you to start a podcast around productivity and overcoming overwhelm? I haven't drawn that line yet. Help me draw that line. I have to give credit where credit's due.

Mark Struczewski: 3:36

Gary Vaynerchuk is the reason why I started the podcast. So back in the spring of 2017, I happened to catch one of his short form videos where he said the future is voice and audio and everyone needs to have a podcast. And I remember saying to myself I listen to podcasts. Could I start a podcast? I mean, I used to be a radio DJ. I used to spin the hits back in the day, and so I went to Google and typed in those faithful words how do I start a podcast? And on July 7th 2017, I started my podcast. It was first called the Mark Stuchewski podcast, but for reasons I'm sure you and your listeners can understand, I rebranded it to the Mr Productivity podcast.

Mark Struczewski: 4:19

But why productivity? Well, shortly after I was fired, I invested in my very first coach. It was a Tony Robbins result coach and I was trying to figure out what I should talk to people about. So, keep in mind, I was fired in 2005. And back then you had Facebook, I think. You had LinkedIn. You had email marketing and direct mail.

Mark Struczewski: 4:45

I'm like, wow, I don't know how to market my business, but I remember there was someone in my Bible study class who was a professional speaker and I said, hmm, I hate speaking in front of groups, but I'm going to ask her how to become a professional speaker. Don't know what I was thinking about, but I became interested in taking my message out to the world, and my message at first, because my first business after being fired was wedding and portrait photography. So I was going to go out and teach people how to take a better picture. Well, that business failed. But there's something that sparked inside me on how to become a speaker and translate that message of helping people. But I didn't want to talk about photography. So I went through a couple iterations, some topics I'm going to talk about, nothing really stuck.

Mark Struczewski: 5:33

So one day I'm on a call with my coach and I was, uncharacteristically on Tigger Lake. So if you know anything about Winnie the Pooh I love Winnie the Pooh, I identify as Tigger and he said what's going on? I said, well, you know, I got this bug about speaking and training and helping people, but I don't know what I should talk about. He goes well, why don't you talk about productivity? And it was completely out of left field. And I said to him why would you say that? Where did that come from? And he says I know a lot of people and you are one of the most naturally gifted people when it comes to productivity. I know. Teach that with the world. Now, I did not know at the time that I was naturally gifted. Someone had to share that to me and say, hey, you're naturally gifted, and so from there I started rolling out the carpet. I trademarked mr productivity and have theivity podcast, but it took that one individual to see something in me that I didn't see in myself.

Dr. William Attaway: 6:31

You know, it's so fascinating the power that an outside voice can have. You know, mark, when I attended my first leadership conference when I was 15 years old, wow, and the reason I ever started down that road was because I had a teacher who saw something in me that I didn't see in myself, and he said, hey, would you like to go to this conference? And I was like who me? He's like yeah, did you say, what's a conference? Yeah, right, he's like I think you could really benefit from this. And that started a journey that I've been on for well, a few decades now Okay, maybe more than a few the power of what that did, that individual who spoke into my life and an individual who spoke into your life and changed the trajectory. I just want our listeners to understand the power of words, and the power of words spoken in a moment that can have ripples that last for decades.

Mark Struczewski: 7:34

And I just want to add something to what you said. It's really important who you're allowing into your head, because we're all being influenced, negatively and positively, every day, and if you are not conscious of the fact of what's going in your ears, what's going in your eyeballs, you could be making decisions that aren't going to benefit you and the world down the road, that aren't going to benefit you and the world down the road. And taking that even further be careful how you talk to yourself. Stop saying I'm so old I can't do it. I'll never be that. I you know.

Mark Struczewski: 8:16

Stop the negative self-talk, stop trash talking yourself, because if you talk to yourself that way, why should anyone else talk to you any differently? So I encourage you probably don't have many listeners who are doing this, but any that are, please stop this. You are killing your momentum, your motivation, your inspiration, any word you want to use. No more negative self-talk. Instead, use words of edification. Say I can do this, I'm awesome, I will write my book, I will start a podcast. Start and talk to yourself out loud, even positive thoughts, because that goes into your subconscious mind and it makes a huge difference.

Dr. William Attaway: 9:01

Wow, so good. And now you started with one and now over 1200 episodes. I just celebrated 100. I'm just saying, man, I'm impressed.

Mark Struczewski: 9:14

Well, that number. I mean when I first started. I never forget the first day I started my podcast. I was sweating bullets. I started my podcast, I was sweating bullets. I'm in front of my computer sweating bullets and like I wasn't live, I was so nervous. And when that first episode dropped I had 25 downloads and I know I downloaded it and my wife downloaded it. I'm like, who are these other 23 people? Now I have more downloads than that, but I'm just amazed by the platform. And what happened was I heard this advice from Gary Vaynerchuk and I took action.

Mark Struczewski: 9:49

A lot of people go that's man, that's a great idea. I wish I we go back to the rubbish talk, as my friends across the pond say. They start saying, oh, I could never do that. I'm no Joe Rogan People. I think it's funny when people ask me who do I want to be like? I say I want to be the next Joe Rogan and their response tells me what kind of individual they are. If they say you could never be a Joe Rogan, bye. But if you say, of course you can be a Joe Rogan, why couldn't you be the next Joe Rogan? Those are the people I want to hang around. I don't want to hang around the Eeyores. We love Eeyore.

Dr. William Attaway: 10:30

We don't want to hang around Eeyores, that's so good.

Mark Struczewski: 10:33

I hope the audience gets the whole mini Winnie the Pooh reference.

Dr. William Attaway: 10:35

If they don't, they should, and maybe some of you need to go and watch an episode or two of Winnie the Pooh. That's okay. There's so much wisdom in kids, kids shows. Don't miss it. We'll talk productivity for a minute. This is your area of specialty and I've been a student of productivity for a while. So often people that I talk to and I've been guilty of this in the past too you get all excited. I'm going to be productive, I'm going to have a plan, and you run and you buy a plan. Or you see this download. I'm going to get this download and I'm going to have a plan, and you run and you buy a plan. Or you see this download. I'm going to get this download and I'm going to put this system in place, and then, three days later, you're back where you started because you toss that and you're like, ah, it's not working. How do you start? If somebody is listening to this and they're like I need to grow in this, what do you tell them? How do they start?

Mark Struczewski: 11:23

and they're like I need to grow in this. What do you tell them? How do they start? The very first thing I talk to every one of my clients about is clarity, because we all think we have clarity. I think I have clarity and I have to get clarity every day. And before you go get that next productivity app or the next planner, the next journal, before you buy that course, you need to gift yourself time to sit down.

Mark Struczewski: 11:46

And for those listening on the audio podcast, I'm holding up a pen. You need to get one of these pens. You need to get a notebook. You need to go someplace quiet, without your technology, and just sit there, be fully present yourself and go. What do I want to do with my life?

Mark Struczewski: 12:04

I'm 58 years young and I plan on. I'm a daily runner, as you know. I plan on running a mile on my 110th birthday, so I got 52 years at least to go on this planet. So no excuses if you say, well, I'm 55. It doesn't matter. You need to figure out what you want to do with the rest of your life. Not your employer. Not your employer, not your spouse although they should be involved not your kids, because they're gonna guess what. They're gonna move out and be gone. You need to figure out what you want to do with your life and a lot of people, because it's not exciting like scrolling on instagram or tiktok or youtube I gotta sit my notebook in a pen without technology, but but that's for the magic.

Mark Struczewski: 12:46

All that stuff's in the subconscious mind as you sit quiet enough for long enough. It's going to come out and I just implore people, gift yourself this time and I'll tell you what's going to happen is when you start doing it, you're going to get some ideas right off the top Bang, bang, bang. And all of a sudden, you're not going, not gonna have any ideas. And this is where people make the mistake. They stop oh, I'm all done. No, the good stuff comes after. You wait through that silence. Then all of a sudden, oh my gosh, I haven't thought about that in 10 years. Oh my goodness, you gotta wait through the silence because that's your subconscious mind saying hey, hey, are you really serious this time? Because if I want to give you my gold nuggets, I want to make sure you're serious and, trust me, this works so good.

Dr. William Attaway: 13:36

I love that. I love pressing through the silence. I think that's a fantastic exercise. I'm going to challenge everybody to do that. That's so good. What do you think when people talk about work-life balance? Productivity is a piece of this. I think so many people want to adopt a new system or get more productive, because what they're really after the end result that they really want is not a new system, it's not another list, it's really that balance. What do you think about when you think about that term?

Mark Struczewski: 14:08

If you were to ask a hundred people what they thought of work-life balance, you probably get a hundred different answers. The way I look at it is think of a bicycle wheel. I used to be an avid bicyclist before I came an avid runner, and there was a term called trued up, which means you have to tighten all the spokes so the wheel runs smoothly, because you can't ride a bike if you're wobbling all over the place, and so I think everyone's idea of work-life balance has to be personalized for them. So my wife and I are empty nesters. We have two pups at the house, that's it. So my work-life balance is going to be a lot different than if you have four kids under the age of nine and then your spouse goes off to a real job and you stay home and manage the house. So you need to step back and go okay, what does work-life balance look like to you? And I'm going to go back to something we just talked about.

Mark Struczewski: 15:10

William, maybe when you go off by yourself, without the technology, with your pen and a notebook, you write down the question at the top of a fresh page and go what does work-life balance mean to me? What does it look like? And just start brainstorming because I think there's magic in writing answers down. I love my print journals because when you write with your pen you get different answers than if you're on. You know you're just on your phone and so I know we live in a world.

Mark Struczewski: 15:41

Electronics and apps go old school. I don't think it. Electronics and apps Go old school. I don't think it's old school. Go old school and just ask yourself what does work-life balance look for you? Because Gary Vaynerchuk thinks it's a bunch of hooey. I don't. I think you need to have balance, but I don't think it's just work-life. Okay, you got physical, you got spiritual, you got emotional, you got mental. There's a lot of things you can put into work-life balance, but everybody listening to the show has got to figure out what does that look like for you and your family and your inner circle. Start there and build upon that and understand it's not cast in stone. You can keep revisiting, like my work-life balance was different when my daughters, who are 30 and 26 now, when they were like my work-life balance was different. When my daughters, who are 30 and 26 now, when they were little, my work-life balance was different than this now. So it will change as you grow older do you think?

Dr. William Attaway: 16:37

do you think mindset or attitude play a part in this, in this pursuit of productivity?

Mark Struczewski: 16:44

oh, absolutely. You don't want to take advice from someone if you want to lose weight who's 900 pounds. You don't want to foul somebody productivity mindset coach who's like an Eeyore. There we go. Winnie the Pooh again. How many references can I bring up of Winnie the Pooh on the show today? I'm waiting for.

Mark Struczewski: 17:03

Owl, I'm just saying oh, owl, I forgot about him. Owl, I always do. Winnie the Pooh, piglet, christopher Robin, tigger, eeyore, you're right, owl. So I think mindset makes a big difference. So I am not a billionaire, I don't hang out with Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk and Bill Gates, but I wake up every morning excited for the day.

Mark Struczewski: 17:29

I remember when I used to wake up on Christmas morning wake up my parents really early, probably a lot earlier than they wanted me to have woken up, and I had that sense of anticipation, that sense of excitement. What did Santa bring me? And I wake up that way every day. Now, unfortunately, there's no presents on my bed when I wake up. That's the only thing missing. But I have decided about a year ago I am done chasing wealth, or I shouldn't say wealth, I'm done chasing money, I'm chasing happiness. And, by the way, happiness, I think they misspell it. I think we should spell happiness H-A-P-P-Y-N-E-S-S. I can't get the world to go along with me, but that's what I think. But I wake up excited every day and the reason why I said I'm not chasing money instead of wealth is because I think if you're happy, you are wealthy, so it's not about the money.

Dr. William Attaway: 18:27

Now I hope I get happiness and money but if I just have happiness, I think I'm wealthy and I think I have a good life. That's so good, I think. Evaluating and looking at your life and determining what is it that, that elusive balance, or what is it that, that point of happiness, what is it that you were actually pursuing? And bring in as much clarity to that as possible, with as many colors and details as you possibly can, that really, that definition, that clear-minded focus, is what I call it. Once you have that, that helps so much. But I love what you talked about how it's in the morning. You wake up every day. You know so many leaders talk about morning routines. I'm curious with you do you have morning routines around productivity or around your leadership? Is there a rhythm that you have every day?

Mark Struczewski: 19:21

Do I, mr Productivity, run a morning routine? Of course I do. And not only do I run a morning routine, of course I do. And not only do I run a morning routine, I'm constantly tweaking it. So, as of today, as of the date of this podcast episode, here's what my morning routine looks like. First of all, you need to understand I'm running the Tim Ferriss slow carb diet, and what that means is, sunday through Friday, I eat low carb all day, and on Saturdays it's cheat day and I eat anything I want to do. But what I do is I wake up around between 4.15 and 5.15, seven days a week weekends, holidays, vacations and the first thing I do when I wake up, I take my watch out of sleep mode and set it for 30 minutes, the timer for 30 minutes. Now, why do I do that? Because I run his 30-30-30 protocol, which is 30 grams of protein within 30 minutes of waking, followed by 30 minutes of moderate exercise. And, yes, I do run this on my cheat days, but instead of having protein, I usually have 30. Yes, 30 Belgian mini cream puffs. Don't judge me.

Mark Struczewski: 20:32

Okay, so I get up and I have breakfast, and then what I will do is I have an app I use called Readwise, which takes all the highlights in my Kindle books and it serves them up for me throughout every day. Seven to eight highlights Then what I'll do is I love Snapchat and I have a lot of friends that I snap every day. Now, these are not kids, these are CFOs, coos, database engineers. A lot of people use Snapchat for video DMs. Then I go, brush my teeth and then I do something that I learned from the book Built to Move and I do a three-minute squat. A lot of us don't squat anymore and, as a result, we don't have the flexibility we have, so I squat for three minutes.

Mark Struczewski: 21:20

Let me tell you something. I tell this story all the time, william. The first time I did it, my body goes simple, no problem. The next time, the next day, my body goes whoa, is this going to be a regular thing? And I went three weeks of pain. Now it's no big deal, but like that, we'll give you one. That's it.

Mark Struczewski: 21:38

By that time, the first 30 minutes is over, and then every other day, I lift weights. I have a 15 poundpound, a 20-pound, a 10-pound dumbbells in my room and then I do something really bizarre. I will actually take brisk reading walks, reading walks. We have a long hallway in our home and I walk up and down while I'm reading my Kindle. So on days I work out, I work out for 12 minutes and an 18-minute walk. On the days that are not a lifting day, I work out for 12 minutes and an 18 minute walk. On the days and not a lifting day, I do 30 minutes of walking, then I go out. I will ground for about 15 minutes. The coldest I've ever grounded is when it was 27 degrees outside 27 degrees Fahrenheit for your international listeners and I put blankets over my feet. It was cold that day, but I still do it. Then, as soon as the sun wakes up what a slacker the sun is. As soon as the sun wakes up, my wife and I go to a local park.

Mark Struczewski: 22:33

I run I've been running every day since August 29, 2017, at least one mile.

Mark Struczewski: 22:38

Then I come home and I take a cold shower and then I get my day started about 8 o'clock and I run my day from 8 am to 4 pm and I don't go wall to wall, I don't go call to call. I like breaks between everything so I can show up for you, william, and give my best stuff to you and your listeners. And then I hang out with my wife and have dinner between 4 and 7.30. 7.30, I know you asked me my morning routine, but they circulars, that's why I keep going here at seven 30. I go screens off, I go journal oh, that I also journal in the morning, by the way kind of over I forgot that I journal. And then I read my Kindle in dark mode to about eight, 15, eight 30, depends on what time of year we in. And then I go to sleep and I usually get between seven and a half and eight hours of sleep and that's how I run my my not just my morning routine but my whole day routine.

Dr. William Attaway: 23:32

I would imagine a routine like that has an effect on your energy levels. Oh yeah, I mean, you've got a pretty high energy level in every conversation you've not ever had, and I'm, and I'm thinking, man, I bet this rhythm has something to do with that, you think.

Mark Struczewski: 23:48

Yeah, well see, everybody has a routine. Everyone has a morning routine. The problem is, most people's morning routines is different every day. Okay, but you still have a routine. I have worked on this routine over years and this is what works for me.

Mark Struczewski: 24:05

Remember where I said earlier my wife and I are empty nesters. We have two dogs, that's it. If you have four kids under eight, your morning routine is going to be a little different, but you can still structure a routine. I I it really.

Mark Struczewski: 24:22

It really annoys me when people say, oh, it won't work for me. Yeah, maybe that won't work for me. Yeah, maybe my routine won't work for you, but I promise you you can create a routine that works for you. And if you have young kids, this is going to blow your audience away. Okay, here's what you can do.

Mark Struczewski: 24:42

If your kids go to bed at nine, forget the television. You go to bed after you put the kids to bed and then you can get up a half hour, 40 minutes, before they wake up. That's amazing. People don't think that way. They put the kids to bed and they stay up for another three hours. Then they get up when the kids get up. Don't do that. You're hurting your chances of having a productive day. You're right, I have a lot of energy Now. Productive day. You're right, I have a lot of energy. Now. It gets around four o'clock. The reason why I stop at four o'clock, remember I get up around 4.35 o'clock every day. At four o'clock my battery's like about 20, 25%, so that's why I stop the day around four o'clock. You can make this work for you and I have a lot of energy Now. I don't go to parties. If someone says, hey, I'm going'm gonna party my house seven to ten. No, sorry, that ain't gonna work for me.

Dr. William Attaway: 25:36

I don't do late night party there was a guy you probably never heard of him named benjamin franklin.

Mark Struczewski: 25:38

He said early the bad, early to rise makes one healthy, wealthy and wise. Now I want to be healthy, wealthy and wise. And if you study the uber successful, the ultra billionaires, they go to bed early. They've most not all of them, obviously, and we're not talking about movie stars and not talking about Taylor Swift. She's not going to have a concert at three o'clock in the afternoon. But for most of people who are really successful in life, they structure days around where they're in bed 8.30, nine o'clock, get up before five o'clock in the morning, because that's how they get things done. Most people are not getting up until 7, and then they're rushing around the house, rushing everything to get the kids off to school. Why do you want to start your day frantic? I don't want to do that.

Dr. William Attaway: 26:22

Yes, 100%, Mark. A lot of people are struggling with productivity as they work remotely. A lot of people listening to this are in the entrepreneurial space and it can be a real challenge to be productive when you're not in a work environment, a traditional work environment. Do you see that? And how do you coach people around that? Where do you think this whole workplace productivity thing is going?

Mark Struczewski: 26:53

Well, when the world shut down in 2020 and a lot of people work from home, I didn't miss a beat, because I've been working from home since 2005. So it's just like business as usual for me. I think it comes down to discipline. It's like when people say I'm addicted to my phone it's not the phone's fault, it's your fault. So if you say I can't be productive while working from home, it's your fault, especially if you're an adult. I think you probably have adults listening to your show. So if you're working from home and then you go out to get some water in the kitchen and then, oh, let me empty the dishwasher. Oh, let me, let me load the. Oh, let me go off the dog. Oh, let me put a little wash in the water, that's discipline and one of the things I tell people to do who work from home schedule these non-business things in your day. So when you go out and get that water from your refrigerator, you're like, ooh, I got to empty a dishwasher. Oh, wait, wait, wait, wait. I got that scheduled at one o'clock this afternoon. Now your brain knows it's still going to get done when it's scheduled, but it does take a certain person.

Mark Struczewski: 27:59

I took a lot of heat during COVID because a lot of people I made the statement and said not everybody should be working from home. There are people who are not disciplined, who work from home, who need constant supervision. That doesn't mean that they're bad people. A lot of people took exception to that when I said that on social media, like oh, you just think people are stupid. I never said that Some people don't work well from home and that doesn't make them a bad person. It just means they need to be working in the work environment. Some people need to have the water cooler talk means they need to be working in the work environment. Some people need to have the water cooler talk or they need to see people in the hallways. That's okay. We're all different. I'm a hermit. You can ask my wife. I very rarely like to go out in public. I just I. If I'm the center of attention, william, I'll go out in public, but other than that, no, I'll stay in my own house. Thank you very much.

Dr. William Attaway: 28:54

That's so funny. I resemble that remark as well. I have to speak regularly and I do, but man left to my own devices. This is my comfortable spot right here.

Mark Struczewski: 29:05

Yes, you know, because it's our controlled environment. When we are in our caves we don't have to worry about stranger danger because it's our little comfortable house. And I know some people who are prolific speakers. They're really hermits. They go out, they speak, they get back to their hotel room, they go home. They don't want to be out mingling with people, so hermits are us.

Dr. William Attaway: 29:34

How do you stay on top of your game, Mark? I mean, your business is going to need you to lead at a different level a year from now, five years from now. You've got to constantly be growing and learning. How do you stay on top of your game?

Mark Struczewski: 29:48

I have a non-negotiable to read for a minimum of one hour every day, every day, not Monday through Friday, seven days a week, and I'm constantly reading different books. Matter of fact, my, when I back when I used to do interviews for my podcast, it changed when I started doing a lot of reading and I get compliments all the time. People go man, you're you, you're very intelligent. I'm like, well, I read a lot. Yeah, Read, I don't. I don't mean tweets or posts on social media. I mean I'm actually reading books and I'm highlighting books.

Mark Struczewski: 30:20

Uh, one of my favorite authors, robert Sharma. He wrote the 5am club, one of my favorite books. He said instead of reading 52 books a year, which is what I was doing to try to beat my record from last year, he said instead of reading 52 books a year, which the book are weak, why not study 10 to 15 books Like whoa? And so one of the ways I stay on top of my game is I read all the time. And number two, if I see a course that's going to help me, I will invest in a course or a coach and really squeeze it for everything I can.

Mark Struczewski: 30:55

But you can't be passive and stay on the top of your game. If you look at superstar athletes my favorite sport is European football, which is soccer in the States or you look at American football or ice hockey or baseball these people don't just show up for the game, they practice and then during the off season they're still working out. They want to stay at the top of their game. It doesn't happen by luck, it doesn't happen. I hope I'm good when I show up for this game. They practice. If you look at all the very successful people out there, they're not phoning it in, they're showing up ready because they're staying prepared. And I just encourage people. Maybe you're not reading at all. Maybe you say, okay, as a result of this podcast, I'm going to start reading five minutes a day, and I don't mean a fiction book, although those are fine. Find a book on an area you want to learn and read it every day. Watch what happens to you.

Dr. William Attaway: 31:53

So, speaking of books, is there a book that you would recommend that every leader who's listening to put on their to-read list? Is there one that's made a big difference in your journey?

Mark Struczewski: 32:03

Yeah, I just mentioned it the 5 AM Club with Robin Sharma, that book. The reason why I like Robin Sharma's book is he takes a story and he takes his information and he wraps it around and then you're following this awesome story, a fictional story with practical information. So he's got something. He teaches the 20-20-20 protocol not to be confused with 30-30-30 protocol. He talks about getting up in 20 minutes. You move, then 20 minutes you exercise or, I'm sorry, 20 minutes you journal or read, and I do the Tim Ferriss way. It's the same thing. I don't pick up my phone and scroll TikTok or Instagram or check the news. I'm trying to enter the day on my time and so I think when we had the pre-interview call, I told you well, right now, my book I recommend everyone is a 5 am club, but that could change. It didn't change, but it's one of my favorite books. I've already read it three times and it's my books all highlighted over and over again because that book really spoke to me. The lessons it teaches is incredible.

Dr. William Attaway: 33:17

So good, I'm going to be checking that out. Thank you for that. You're welcome, mark. Often, people will walk away from a conversation like this with one big idea, one big takeaway. If you could define what you want that one big takeaway to be, what would that be?

Mark Struczewski: 33:34

Get clear. Gift yourself the gift of clarity, and I want to in case you missed it at the beginning of the show or you're walking the dog or something like that let me tell you again Get an old-fashioned notebook. Don't go out and buy one. Don't look for the perfect notebook. That's called procrastination. Go, get yourself some pens, maybe get a bottle of water. Go out someplace, maybe a park. Put your phone in airplane mode or maybe put it in a focus mode, if you have an iPhone, where your close family and friends can get a hold of you in an event, an emergency, and just sit out there, maybe sit under a tree on a picnic table and just listen to your brain.

Mark Struczewski: 34:17

Get clear, because when you do that, remember what I said you're going to have a lot of good ideas in the beginning. Then you're going to have that moment of silence. Wait for the silence and, yes, it could be four, five, six minutes, which will seem like four, five, six hours, which will seem like four, five, six hours, but you stick to it. The goal that is already in your subconscious mind is going to start peeking its head over and like, okay, are they really serious this time? So get clear is my biggest takeaway from the show Get clear. That is the best gift you can give yourself, because once you're clear, everything else in terms of your productivity and health and wellness all flows. But you've got to get clear first.

Dr. William Attaway: 34:57

So good. This has been so incredible. Today, mark, I have learned so much from you and I'm so grateful for your transparency and your generosity and sharing so freely from your journey. I know people are going to want to stay connected to you and continue to learn from you.

Mark Struczewski: 35:18

What's the best way for them to do that? One place, misterproductivitycom. That's M-I-S-T-E-R misterproductivitycom. There you can find out about the Mister Productivity podcast, you can sign up for my free email newsletter, the Productive Life, and anything else you want to know about me, even my about page. I do one of these things where some quirky things about us that's about me is on my about page. So just go to misterproductivitycom.

Dr. William Attaway: 35:38

I would encourage everybody to do that, because I think that this is somebody you are going to be able to learn from for so long. This is a well that is deep, and I think Mark can share so much insight and so much wisdom that is going to impact your day to day. Mark, thank you again.

Mark Struczewski: 35:57

My pleasure, william. It's a joy and a privilege to be here for you and your guests, you and your audience, I mean.

Dr. William Attaway: 36:05

Thanks for joining me for this episode today. As we wrap up, I'd love for you to do two things. First, subscribe to this podcast so you don't miss an episode, and if you find value here, I'd love it if you would rate it and review it. That really does make a difference in helping other people to discover this podcast. Second, if you don't have a copy of my newest book, catalytic Leadership, I'd love to put a copy in your hands. If you go to catalyticleadershipbookcom, you can get a copy for free. Just pay the shipping so I can get it to you and we'll get one right out.

Dr. William Attaway: 36:41

My goal is to put this into the hands of as many leaders as possible. This book captures principles that I've learned in 20 plus years of coaching leaders in the entrepreneurial space, in business, government, nonprofits, education and the local church. You can also connect with me on LinkedIn to keep up with what I'm currently learning and thinking about. And if you're ready to take a next step with a coach to help you intentionally grow and thrive as a leader, I'd be honored to help you. Just go to catalyticleadershipnet to book a call with me. Stay tuned for our next episode next week. Until then, as always, leaders choose to be catalytic.

Intro / Outro: 37:25

Thanks for listening to Catalytic Leadership with Dr William Attaway. Be sure to subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts so you don't miss the next episode. Want more? Go to catalyticleadershipnet.