Hope Unfiltered: Just the Basic Stuff Dr. Joey Kramer

One of the biggest struggles we face in our western culture is consistency in the basics. What the world attempts to sell us through social media and other authoritative outlets is the idea and concept that whatever we desire is achievable in a fast paced environment. You can become a millionaire over night. You can get abs in 6 minutes. You can shed 30lbs regardless of what you eat with this simple pill. I think you get the idea. Each one of these is a lie. They are nothing but false advertising to a susceptible market seeking the easy path. Instead, I want to offer you the alternative. Becoming and sustaining success in your life is a slow process, a consistent process, a habitual process. Inside of the process are a series of choices that you make that are either microdeposits into mediocrity or microdeposits into success. Either way, over time, you will build the life your actions reflect. There is no such thing as an overnight success or an overnight failure. Said another way - you don't suddenly go from being a success to being a failure overnight. Here lies the problem: your habits are what caused you to have the life you are currently living...If that is the life you have always dreamed of, then congratulations because your habits are reflected in your achievement. However...for most people, the victim mentality and blame game take over because their pride is interfering with their ability to recognize and adjust their habits to build the life that you want. One thing I will agree with - in today's day and age - you have more access to free content on strategies of the basics for building the life you desire - so ignorance is not acceptable. Today, I challenge you to embrace the slow process. To dedicate your life to building exactly what you want by copying the habits of successful people and adapting them to your unique goals. Pursue excellence or pursue mediocrity - just don't blame someone for your sudden "overnight failure or success" because those of us who have been there will see right through your story and recognize that you are nothing but a reflection of your habits. And lets be real: that's either a good thing or a bad thing. What habits will you choose to pursue today?

One of the most basic tenants of health: your sleep is sacred. Every single process in the human body, especially processes that are focused on improving and optimizing your success in health and prevention of disease hinges on your ability to maximize quality sleep. It is probably the single most overlooked factor when the rubber meets the road regarding your health and longevity. On today's episode I dive into the basics of what sleep deprivation can do to you (hint: it definitely increases your waist line) and what quality sleep can do for you (hint: it can help prevent Alzheimer's). Ultimately, when working on the basics surrounding health, the first place we look is not the most obvious. Instead of chasing the symptom, lets get back to the root cause and start with solving the things we can control, the first of which is our sleep. Master you sleep hygiene and I guarantee you every single investment you make in your health will compound to create the success you desire.

I am pretty sure that you have been in the place where you have either A: presented an option to someone or B: been presented with an option by someone where you either were told "I want to try it out" or you answered with "can I just try it out". Regardless, in some circumstances, the act of exploration is definitely necessary for self improvement in the basics of life and health. However, I will also challenge you that a consistent approach of let me try it out instead of committing to a process for a long time and make small changes is the exact reason why most of us fail to achieve the desired quality of health we want. Options are exactly why people never go all in, especially when it exposes weakness and requires long term commitment. As a culture, the western society is quick paced and focused on the next greatest health hack that can solve all of our problems. Thus, the try it out culture. While this can be beneficial, it is also incredibly detrimental by the shear number of options that we have available. When you give yourself options, you are more likely to take an easy day every day, especially for your health. This only creates more days of struggle and disease down the road. Instead...change your culture to embrace the basics. You trade a day of struggle today for a day of prosperity down the road. It is up to you to eliminate the options and to courageously battle every single day by committing to a process that will deliver consistent results over time.

If you have been anywhere near social media in the last 6 years, a trend that might have caught your attention is the idea of a challenge. I know it caught mine at a time in my life when I was in desperate need of a change. In 2019, a concept was released by Andy Frisella called 75 Hard. While many people viewed this as being a challenge for physical fitness, it was anything but that. This was a challenge in mastering the basics. It was designed to ensure that you could actually set a goal in which you performed a set number of tasks every single day for 75 days straight. Fast forward into 2023, I have since had adequate time to reflect on this challenge and its direct correlation to our own lives, especially as it pertains to our health. Too often, we are distracted in our habits. Or to put it another way, we don't even think about the habits we have created that are generating the lack of quality of life that we currently have. In fact, most of the time, a majority of people don't even put the effort into evaluating their habits in order to get their house in order so that they can pursue the life they desire. They would rather be a cog in the machine that social media has generated. I believe this is rooted in the dull, dry, boring and basic nature of a habit. You see, building a life of significant value in mind, body and spirit is deeply rooted in habitual routines that are dull, dry and boring. This is because positive motion forward, or momentum, requires habitual consistency performed over time, not about an emotional state. So, take some time today to evaluate your basics. Maybe you don't have them. Maybe you do and you have created a toxic routine that is curbing your ability to chase down the live you envisioned. Regardless, the basics must be mastered in order to create the life you desire, and it all starts with your habits.

In 1907 a book was written by Fr Robert Benson titled Lord of the World. In it, the author contrasts the world of globalism with a renewed and purified church world. When highlighting the world of globalism he illustrates how the powers that be issue promises of peace and prosperity by using powerful machines and a well crated message to seduce the heart and mind of man. However, when living in this world, you find nothing but division, anxiety, fear, uncertainty and instability because the messaging and language pattern that was used, while compelling, doesn't match the experience. However in the city of God, you find that life looks simpler, people are less anxious and more childlike - they are full of life. While the messaging may not be compelling when compared to the globalism ideologues, the actually experience of the city of God is truly the one of peace and prosperity. This is because in the city of God, the citizens have mastered the basics of spiritual health and organization. We as people are called to know love and serve God. If this is your primary focus, and you cultivate the seeds of this relationship that way, the roots will grow into a bountiful harvest and flourish into a community that thrives in peace. However, in the false idol environment of globalism that places everything but God as the primary relationship to be cultivated, the seeds will sow chaos and division, much like we see in our world today. In order to master the basics of spiritual health, re-orient your focus on God first, then cultivate that relationship. Everything else will take care of itself.

Have you ever heard of a Michelin Restaurant? What about a 3 star Michelin Restaurant? In my life time there are only two 3 star Michelin Restaurants I have heard of and the story of how is featured in this show. However, the more important story is in the details of how the Chef achieved this designation. I'll give you a hint, it wasn't done overnight. The one common point these two have in common is a complete mastery of the basics compounded over a lifetime of what the modern world would label as a failure. However, each and every single failure provided a lesson to grow. A lesson to push the needle further. An opportunity to get better. These two master chefs didn't just role over and quit because of a failure, they sat inside of it and matured from it. Almost as if placing a blended metal into a furnace and burning away the impurities. That is what complete mastery takes, the basics. If these two can do this with a restaurant experience, what is keeping you from achieving your own 3 star Michelin designation in your health...that is question that only you can answer!