Habits 2 Goals: The Habit Factor® Podcast with Martin Grunburg Martin Grunburg

“A good teacher protects his students from his own influence.” ~ Bruce Lee
This profound quote from Bruce Lee touches on a critical point that many people overlook: the distinction between the lesson and the teacher.
We often expect perfection from those who teach us, assuming that their wisdom and personal lives must be flawless. However, Lee’s insight suggests that a good teacher ensures that their students are not tainted by the teacher’s own mistakes and challenges.
This idea is crucial as we navigate today’s complex landscape of “gurus” and their teachings.
A few quick examples:
Tony Robbins: Known for his powerful seminars and self-help books, Tony Robbins gives extensive advice on relationships. Yet, he has been through at least one divorce and likely a handful of breakups. Does this disqualify him from offering relationship advice? Arguably, his experiences may make him more qualified, as he has learned valuable lessons from his own relationship challenges.
Sadhguru: A spiritual leader who speaks about health and peace of mind, Sadhguru himself has faced significant personal health issues lately, including a brain tumor. Does this diminish his teachings on health? Or does it highlight the reality that even those with profound wisdom face their own battles?
The Wealth Coach: True story: I recently spoke to someone who was asked to invest in a business by a “wealth coach.” Is that ridiculous or does it reflect the complex realities of business management and investment.
A guru’s personal issues may not necessarily invalidate their teachings.
Instead, their challenges and experiences may even enrich their lessons and provide a more realistic perspective.
The Best Guru is (still) YOU.


This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit habits2goals.substack.com/subscribe

Emotions, Triggers & Stories
“Your state is a state of mind. Change your state, and you can change your life.” ~ Tony Robbins
“Your state of mind is often a default disposition. It’s a habit that can be modified with intention and practice.” ~ M. Grunburg
Emotions: Beyond the Trigger Lies the Story
Tony Robbins nails it when he speaks about how a red flashing light in your rearview mirror can instantly change your physiology - your physical state.
But, there’s more to the story, so to speak.
That jolt of emotion – fear – isn’t purely a reaction to the red light itself.
The fear reaction is associated with a story about the red light.
The red light triggers a stored story in our minds; either a direct or shared memory from past experiences about red flashing lights in rear-view mirrors.


This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit habits2goals.substack.com/subscribe

Practice. Practice. Practice.
“The road to excellence lies in deliberate practice.” - Anders Ericsson
“Excellence, then, is not a single act, but a habit.” ~Aristotle
If “excellence” is a habit and the road to excellence is paved via deliberate or intentional practice, then both habit and skill development require PRACTICE.
Ericsson, a renowned psychologist pioneered the term “deliberate practice” back in 1996.* (More on intentional vs deliberate practice below)
The Spirit of Aloha
We all yearn for more aloha in our life; kindness, love, compassion and respect.
Interestingly enough, these qualities, just like any virtue, do not arise from mere aspiration; rather each is developed through intentional practice.
Personality traits, virtues, habits and skills are a result of practice.


This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit habits2goals.substack.com/subscribe

Practice. Practice. Practice.
“The road to excellence lies in deliberate practice.” - Anders Ericsson
“Excellence, then, is not a single act, but a habit.” ~Aristotle
If “excellence” is a habit and the road to excellence is paved via deliberate or intentional practice, then both habit and skill development require PRACTICE.
Ericsson, a renowned psychologist pioneered the term “deliberate practice” back in 1996.* (More on intentional vs deliberate practice below)
The Spirit of Aloha
We all yearn for more aloha in our life; kindness, love, compassion and respect.
Interestingly enough, these qualities, just like any virtue, do not arise from mere aspiration; rather each is developed through intentional practice.
Personality traits, virtues, habits and skills are a result of practice.


This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit habits2goals.substack.com/subscribe

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit habits2goals.substack.com/subscribe

This Habits 2 Goals episode is FREE for ALL subscribers.
“The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson
Note: There are a few occasions where MG accidentally says determination instead of determinism.
For eons, a philosophical debate has raged: Free will vs determinism.
Where do you stand? Determinism says you have no free will, and that all actions and events are predetermined.
However, free will says, you are fully accountable and responsible for your entire life.
Once again, MG takes the middle path in this debate.
“Life is much like any card or board game. You have rules (in life these are laws like gravity, etc. AND you have chance and randomness. You have the ability to move up and across the board and can influence your results, and your are subject to chaos and randomness.”
One of the worst quotes, it may make some people feel better but it’s absent much critical thinking is: “Well, EVERYTHING happens for a reason.”
Depending upon what happened, a tsunami in indonesia killing thousands. Or an earthquake in Japan. Or, the helicopter crash that killed Kobe Bryan. Good luck telling his wife and children that it happened for a reason.”
again, it may make them feel better by creating a story to support a theory of determinism.
Speaking of stories; since there truly is something called chaos and randomness – if not, we probably wouldn’t have those phrases. In legalese, these are know as “Acts of God.”
So, when it comes to luck it’s important to recogbize that it does exist. Thomas Jefferson reportedly said, “The harder I work, the luckier I get.
There is an entire TED talk her on ways to influence your luck.
So a few questions for you to ponder:
Does luck exist?
Are you lucky?
How can you enhance your luck?
Enjoy the show!
~mg
The link to the tracking sheet is here: https://thehabitfactor.com/templates

Additional:
* Download the free habits-to-goals tracking template to cultivate the habits that support your goals here: https://thehabitfactor.com/templates.
* Books that may help "The Power of Positive Thinking" by Norman Vincent Peale and "How to Win Friends and Influence People" by Dale Carnegie.
* MG’s Books: EVERYTHING is a F*cking Story, The Pressure Paradox™ & The Habit Factor®
Enjoy the show!
~mg
From the world of statistics: All models are flawed, but some are useful.
We asked Google’s AI experiment Gemini to “break” the “3 Circles of Behavior Echo-System” behavior model.
The short story (no pun intended), is he/she/IT could not.
The best Gemini could offer: “What about people who aren’t aware of their unconscious stories/thinking?”
It’s a good question and a nice attempt. However, an unconscious story is still a story (represented within the model), and that is the point of the latest book, EVERYTHING is a F*cking STORY where the latest version of the model was revealed.
BTW: You are invited to try and “break” the “3 Circles of Behavior Echo-System” behavior model as well.
If you think you can, please email or leave comments here.
*Note: ChatGPT’s does not know the model yet, officially published in October of 2022. GPT’s latest update is from January 2022.
***Get the inspiring, free and world’s first HABITS to GOALS tracking template here: → https://thehabitfactor.com/templates
“The Three Circles of Behavior Echo-System” / The Grunburg Behavior Model is a holistic, fluid, and dynamic behavior-change model. It’s the very first behavior-change model to demonstrate how our thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and even our environment vibrate (echo and reverberate) to influence each other.
Hence, it’s an “Echo-System” not an eco-system. All prior behavior models represent human behavior in a linear-flow type diagram.Background here.
If you’d like to understand human behavior at an even deeper level, learn more about the “Three Circles of Behavior Echo-System” which is featured in the bo