Eyes, Ears and Mouth
I love a sneaky Easter Egg...
Hey Legends,
Ever stop to think about what you’re really feeding yourself every day?
No, I’m not talking about lunch or dinner (although, yes, a Katsu Sando will always have my vote).
I’m talking about the stuff we consume constantly through our Eyes, Ears, and Mouth – what we see, what we hear, and yes, what we eat too.
I learned this framework from my mentor, Brian D. Ridgway, and it has led me to some eye-opening realizations.
The Lesson Behind “Eyes, Ears, Mouth”
Brian shared these three words with me in a late-night WhatsApp message: Eyes, Ears, Mouth.
It was a simple reminder, incredibly profound.
The idea? Every bit of content I watch, listen to, or consume physically has an effect. It shapes my thoughts, my feelings, and ultimately my actions.
So, I started taking a closer look. Are my media choices uplifting or holding me back? Am I listening to things that help me grow or distract me from my uncomfortable emotions? And food – is it fuel for creativity and well-being, or just a distraction to avoid feeling the feelings?
Why This Matters for Business, Too
If you’ve been part of the Thirty Day Challenge journey or any other program I’ve run, you know my passion lies in getting people from “someday” to “right now.” But here’s the thing – it’s never just the tactics, the tools, or even the slick new AI tech we use that makes it happen.
The biggest blocker? The stuff happening between our ears.
That’s why I’m deep-diving into this “Eyes, Ears, Mouth” filter for myself, especially as I work on rebooting the Thirty Day Challenge for its 20th anniversary in 2025 (yep, you read that right!).
This isn’t just about starting a business. It’s about removing those invisible roadblocks that keep us from starting – or from succeeding when we do start.
Want to Go Deeper?
I’ll be figuring out these connections here on The Little Blue Report and on Youtube, . And if you’re interested in joining me on this journey – and maybe testing out some of these ideas as we go – I’d love to have you along.
🔗 Watch the full video here: YouTube Link
Ed
P.S. This Inner Work stuff, I’m just learning and I’m starting a loooooong way back. I watch stuff, listen to stuff, (and way less these days) eat stuff to avoid feeling feelings.
I am passionate about you starting your own business to give you choices and freedom.
I know AI gives us the best chance in the 20-plus years I’ve been on my bullshit for you and me to do this successfully.
I am also painfully aware that even with all of this, it’s the stuff (often hidden) going on inside our heads that stops us from successfully creating a business.
So the 20th Anniversary Thirty-Day Challenge, starting on July 1, 2025, live from Japan, will be very different.
30DC anniversary! What an idea! Can't wait!
Yeah, inner work. I've played with that a bit in the food program I've been following since 2017: Bright Line Eating. It's pretty interesting. Their inner work guy is Everett Considine. I bought some materials from Internal Family Systems. It's in my stack. 😒
While I'm here, let me catch you up on the cumulative effects of studying under you now and again for 15 years. And I have an important question at the end.
I have to say, your suggestion to me to read "The War of Art" really helped me get my head on straight. That was another thing that had been on my "read this someday" list, but you basically assigned it as homework. And I'm nothing if not a good student who does her homework. Mostly.
But the single most important thing that's gotten me on a better course was finally finding the right niche. I stuck my toes in all over the place, but nothing ever felt right. Not for longer than a few months. It was sort of an Edison thing. I had to try all the wrong niches before I found the right one.
What's really interesting to me is that I wasn't even aware of this niche. (It's spiritual life writing, particularly spiritual memoir, btw.) Then one day in 2021, I sort of tripped over it. Eureka! I knew immediately it was what I was supposed to be doing. So how do you teach that, Ed-San?
And then the other big Critical Success Factor was finding a supportive community of people in that niche. And a writing mentor.
So now I'm on track to not only publish my spiritual memoir stories (which I've been serializing on Substack already), but I'm collaborating on a workbook to help aspiring authors of spiritual life writing (to be released in early 2025). And then the workbook will lead to offering workshops (online or in person) with my collaborators.
Now here's the really fun part: I'm teaching people how to list as many ideas as possible in 2 minutes and spew what they know in 10 minutes and create mind maps. All of which you taught me.
So I guess this leads to a question I should ask: Would you like to be included in the workbook Acknowledgements? Or would you rather pass?
And if I can be of assistance in any way with the new 30DC, let me know.
Love this! I've long been working on the eyes and ears part, but need to work hard on the mouth part. I often eat food for fuel but want easy and comfortable to my palate. Just got one of those meal subscription boxes to get myself to cook more instead of eating out all the time.