Rockin’ Productivity
Inspiration from the Best Music, Movies, and More!

The 5 AM Miracle Podcast, hosted by Jeff Sanders

Episode #518: "Rockin' Productivity: Inspiration from the Best Music, Movies, and More!"

Where does inspiration come from?

What pumps you up when you're feeling down?

What is your go-to source of motivation and enthusiasm?

This is the 5am Miracle, Episode #518.

Rockin' Productivity.

Inspiration from the best music, movies, and more.

Good morning and welcome to the 5am Miracle.

I am Jeff Sanders and this is the podcast dedicated to dominating your day before breakfast.

My goal is to help you bounce out of bed with enthusiasm, create powerful, lifelong habits, and tackle your grandest goals with extraordinary energy.

In the episode this week, I'll break down the true sources of motivation and inspiration, what has worked the best for me over the years, and which songs and movies have the most potential for boosting your mood and propelling you forward.

Let's get to it!

This episode is not mine.

In fact, the idea for this content came directly from my friend Nick.

Now, I don't know Nick's last name.

I don't actually know what he does for a living.

I only know him from my gym and specifically the sauna.

So if you know my rhythm over the last few years, I pick up my daughter from daycare and we go to the YMCA here in Nashville and I tend to lift weights and then use the sauna and steam room at the very end for a really nice cap to the workout.

Well, in my gym, it's the same core group that goes to the sauna every afternoon around the exact same time.

Mostly it's a bunch of very old Tennessee men who just love their retiree hours in the sauna.

Aside from them, my friend Nick is there frequently and the two of us began this friendship a long time ago just talking in the sauna and I briefly explained to him that I have this podcast and this is what I do for a living and he instantly began bugging me.

This has gone on now for probably a year to record an episode on this particular topic.

Nick is a bit obsessed with working out to his favorite music and he cannot stop talking about his favorite movies, especially the entire Rocky series.

I have seen a few of those movies many, many years ago.

I have not rewatched them even though Nick has told me to repeatedly.

I think they're great.

I don't have this obsession that he does.

However, there is a lot to be said about having an obsession about things that inspire you.

Music, movies, media, podcasts, audiobooks, lifestyle choices, exercise, fitness, you name it.

There are a lot of things that can inspire us and motivate us and pump us up to go do amazing work.

Now, Nick in particular will greatly appreciate this episode, but I think you will as well.

Years ago, I created an online membership called the Rockin' Productivity Academy and named it specifically because of my obsession with doing great work while rocking out to my favorite songs.

This is very near and dear to my heart in terms of leveraging the best kinds of productivity by leveraging the best kinds of motivation, inspiration, and energy producing music, movies, media, and any other lifestyle healthy habits that produce that.

So let's dig into that origin a bit.

See if we can identify the best sources of inspiration, motivation, power, discipline, all those things required to achieve your grandest goals.

So let's start this conversation by digging into what I'm calling the true sources of inspiration and motivation.

I use the word true kind of loosely here, but essentially what we're trying to do is to dig into that origin, that core of what deeply inspires you, what brings out the best kind of genuine motivation to do something.

We're not talking about someone forcing you to do something.

That will be part of the conversation a bit, but really what we're trying for here is the ideal kind of genuine and beautiful sources of inspiration and motivation that are authentic to who you are.

Now on that note exactly, let's go with my personal greatest inspiration.

I was thinking a lot about this topic.

I was thinking about songs that I like and movies I enjoy watching and all these different activities that I could get involved in, all of which bring about more inspiration and motivation for me.

But there's one thing that stands out.

One key thing that if I have this, I'm inspired and motivated all day long, which is an action-oriented, results-producing idea.

I'm obsessed with ideas.

I love to brainstorm.

I love to create new possibilities and imagine a better future.

I just, I spend so much of my day striving for that kind of epiphany, that aha moment to say, "Oh my gosh, what if I did X?

Wouldn't that be incredible?

Oh my gosh, what if I tried Y?

Then all of a sudden this could happen."

That's what I spend most of my time thinking about.

Now yes, in large part, those ideas then become episodes of this podcast, but they also become new ways to improve my fitness routine or my diet or my business or my website or my relationship with my wife and kids or how to do the laundry better.

I mean, I just, I get ideas about all kinds of stuff and I love them.

I absolutely love them, especially when they're action-oriented and results-producing.

Those kinds of ideas get me more, not just inspired, not just motivated, but moving.

Those kinds of things get me moving, which ultimately that's what I've been trying to do with this podcast since day one, is produce more content that results in that.

An action step at the end of every episode, a thing to go do, and because of those actions, because of those habits, we get the results we want.

I really can't imagine a more inspiring anything than a phenomenal idea.

Now yes, there are other great sources as well, and let's go through a few of those.

The first one that came to mind that I think has spoken to me for years are stories of others' successes and failures.

One thing you'll see in great books and great novels and stories and movies and music is this idea of here is someone, and call them the hero of the story, the main character, the protagonist.

There's someone who's out there striving for something, and this person succeeds or fails, usually both, and in the process becomes a newer and better person at the end of the story.

There's inspiration in that.

We love stories.

We love Hollywood films because they give us this chance to experience life through the lens of someone else, and when that happens in a really great way, a great film, for example, is incredibly inspiring.

It can propel you forward in ways that nothing else can.

There's a lot of power in a phenomenal story, and from my experience as someone who is an entrepreneur who wants to build a better business and grow what I'm working on, hearing the stories of other entrepreneurs is, there's an education there.

There's a lot to learn in both the successes and the failures, in both the opportunities and the things to avoid.

Both are true, and both can be inspiring and motivating.

Another key area, and this is one I would argue is the opposite for me, which is my biggest area of weakness and the thing that I should probably personally focus on more, is community, or just simply being around other people who have similar goals and aspirations.

This is one change you will see most likely very soon here at the 5am Miracle is a greater sense of community and a bigger opportunity to connect with other like-minded people.

Having said that, that's a phenomenal place to get new ideas is to be around other people who think like you do, who want similar things like you do, and therefore you can leverage their enthusiasm, and then all of a sudden you have that for yourself and you can propel yourself forward.

Now, of course, this podcast, the way that it exists, in many ways, that's a community right there.

The community between you and me.

That's happening right now, right?

You are not with me physically, but you can learn from this podcast.

I do the same thing all the time with phenomenal audio books, podcasts, music, movies.

That's a sense of community.

It's not in person.

It's not relationship-based, but it kind of is.

And there's still an opportunity there to surround yourself, even virtually, with mentors, goals, and other phenomenal possibilities because you have been exposed to it and consumed it in a way that you deeply ingrained into your own identity, and therefore your actions, your habits, and your results.

Another great source for inspiration and motivation is physical energy.

I can't speak highly enough of trail running, and I'll talk about it even more in the episode in a few minutes, but physical energy is such a deeply personal thing, right?

It literally moves the cells in your body to do something different.

Cardiovascular activities like running or hiking or swimming or cycling, that kind of physical energy of moving your body, it just brings about more of the sense of, "I have power.

I can do something.

I can move forward.

I can go get the thing I'm after."

I really just personally get a ton of value from this area here.

[Music] Another great source of inspiration is what I'll just call emergencies.

These are surprising events that require your immediate response.

Oftentimes, emergencies in this case are negative, but that can be a source of inspiration.

Some people, when an emergency takes place, they're at their best.

They absolutely respond to that moment with everything about them that is focused.

They are lasered in, dialed in.

They are going to give their best effort, and there is a deep sense of motivation and inspiration to help, to be a solution to a problem in that moment.

Not all sources of inspiration are positive.

In fact, I would argue many of them are negative.

Many of them are examples where you see something happening that is bad, that you don't like, that is not working, and therefore, your response to it is to flip the script, find a solution, put it into action, make it happen.

Your source of inspiration originated from something bad, but the end result is something very good.

Along those same lines, a great source of inspiration is personal pain.

This is a hard one to talk about because we don't want that to be true because who wants to experience pain?

Most of us don't, unless you are literally a masochist.

Pain is not going to be something you're looking forward to, but pain is such a focal point.

Pain reminds you you're still alive.

Pain reminds you that there is a way to move past what you're doing to get away from what's happening.

The desire to alleviate pain, that desire right there, is motivation.

It's not positive in nature, but man, does it get you moving, which sometimes is what we need.

Another great source is the opposite.

It's joy and the desire to get more of that.

Sometimes when you experience great things, you want to double down on those great things and just amp that up and get even more.

I love when that happens.

In my past book, I called this the green pen strategy.

You're looking for the things that are working really well and you're going to amplify that success and take it even further.

That's what we're talking about here.

Another great source of inspiration is a change of scenery or what I'll just call traveling.

Literally, anytime I leave my house, I feel as though I'm going on an adventure of some kind and get to see the world in a new way.

Whenever you can change your scenery, whenever you can see the world literally physically in a new way, there is so much to pull from that.

New experiences in and of themselves are deeply inspiring.

That's a powerful way to change your perspective by changing your environment.

The people around you, the natural elements around you change where you are and it can change who you are in many ways.

Finally, another great source of inspiration that I thought of the episode this week is just simply being calm.

It's a thing that I don't do nearly enough of, but when I do, it's extremely powerful.

A simple example is go for a walk in nature.

You could meditate, you could practice some yoga, you could just sit in silence.

Being calm sometimes is just having some tea in a quiet space.

Sometimes that's all it takes to be inspired and motivated is a pause.

A pause that then asks you to just be and let yourself respond to that pause.

I have a really hard time with that one, but that is one that definitely has the potential to change your life and inspire you to do something a little differently next time.

Okay, so now we discuss some great sources of inspiration and motivation.

Let's dig into a little more about what rocking productivity actually looks like.

This is once again the title for my online academy, the Rocking Productivity Academy, because once again, I love this concept of leveraging energy, leveraging enthusiasm, bringing your best self to the work that you do.

Now, I'm making a wild assumption here that you actually enjoy the work you do.

You may not, in which case this concept is even more important because if you don't like it, you want to bring some energy to it to help yourself get through it.

I'm also there all the time.

I do work every day I don't want to do, and so I apply these kinds of strategies to make sure that I can get through it quickly and get on to the next thing.

So in my world, rocking productivity looks like doing really great, hopefully, focused work while you're singing, dancing, moving your body to some kind of beat or rhythm, some way that propels you forward.

Now, that doesn't necessarily mean you are definitely singing or dancing or listening to music.

You can do what I'm calling rocking productivity by just simply having an energy and rhythm to the work that you're doing.

Oftentimes, I feel this way when I'm much more efficient, when I'm doing one thing to the next, to the next, to the next, and I'm getting all those check marks on my to-do list, one after the other, after the other, after the other.

I'm building a rhythm and this sense of a beat that's happening in my day.

I'm just propelling myself forward from one thing to the next, to the next.

That is in and of itself rocking productivity.

I'm doing work that hopefully inspires me.

I'm doing a lot of work.

I'm doing the work that's quick and awesome and possibly even, you know, propelling me forward to achieve a grand goal.

All of it is focused in this direction of saying, "I want my day to have that sense of, I started, I did awesome things, now I'm done, and while I was doing it, I enjoyed it.

I felt good.

It was fun."

Right?

Fun is such a core element here.

I did an episode of this podcast just recently about adult recess and adding in more fun into your day, which doesn't just mean stopping the hard work to go have actual recess.

It means the work itself can be recess.

The work itself can be fun.

Imagine that.

Imagine enjoying what you're doing.

For some people, that is a difficult thing to imagine, and I get it.

I have been there.

I'm there often.

So, the task at hand is to embrace this concept of rocking productivity and see if we can bring that about into the work that we're doing a little more often.

Now, let's shift back into a little more of my own personal favorites for boosting my mood, getting pumped up, the kinds of things that I really enjoy.

And I do want to make a quick side note here that all of these things are extremely subjective.

Everything here is optional.

Nothing in this conversation is required, right?

It's always going to be a choice, and specifically, the best kinds of choices are the ones that you make for you for your own reasons.

And so, I'm going to list off a few things that I enjoy, but of course, you may hate all of these things or not find them as inspiring.

Totally fine.

You want to find the things that deeply inspire you.

And once you do, and you can leverage those and double down on those and amplify those, holy cow, the results are amazing.

So, on my list, I was thinking through this as far as if I was to choose my personal favorites, my best mood boosters, what stands out right away?

And the first thing I thought of was trail running.

It's the one activity that when I do, everything in my life is better.

My emotional state, my physical state, my creativity, my energy, my inner peace, everything is better when I do this one activity.

I don't know if you have an activity like that in your life.

I hope that you do.

Or something that has the potential to become that over time.

Whenever I spend time in nature, especially when it's physical hiking and running on the trails, there's this deep connection that I feel that just inspires me like nothing else.

It's almost impossible for me to do that and not have a smile on my face, to not have new creative ideas.

It just comes out of me when that's the case, when I'm out there doing it.

Now, yes, other cardio activities are similar, but the best, tip top for me, is trail running.

Now, my second favorite mood boosting activity usually comes from music.

Specifically, I'll say hard rock music, which is basically saying highly energetic music, the kind that forces you to say, I've got to get up, I've got to dance, I've got to move, I've got to be really into this.

My favorite artist of all time, or favorite band of all time, is Linkin Park.

They are a world famous band, been around for a long time, but they primarily became famous when I was younger.

I have followed that band for decades now.

It's amazing how when that happens, when you find a connection to a specific type of music, that every time you hear it, it hits a chord, literally a metaphorical one, in you, which says, yes, this is me.

Yes, this is how I feel.

Yes, this is how I want to feel.

Yes, this is an emotional state I can get behind.

That's going to pump you up to resonate with that kind of music. (upbeat music) Now, third on my list of personal favorites for boosting my mood would be a great film.

I love inspiring, we'll call them epic hero-based movies.

Braveheart came to mind right away.

I saw Braveheart a long, long time ago when it first came out.

It's the type of movie that has the type of story that has a hero who's going to overcome adversity and do their best to win the challenge at hand.

It's one of those stories where I just imagine, once again, if I had that kind of potential, if there was a hero in me who was striving to achieve something great, what would that hero in me look like?

What would that person be doing?

I get this real sense of deep inspiration from movies that are asking me, "What if I was this hero?

What if I was in this position?

How would I respond and how would I tap into my own greatest potential?"

I get pumped up just thinking about what grand aspirations I can go take on next.

If movies speak to you in that way, let it speak to you in that way.

Let it drive you forward, change your actions, and pursue something at a higher level.

Finally, my other personal favorite for boosting my mood, I'll say this again because I mentioned it before, are stories of other people's successes, especially those who are in a similar place in life and work.

I want to pinpoint this particular example because there is a common thing that occurs in books and podcasts and audio books where someone will tell a story who is wildly successful.

Let's just say a billionaire is a good example.

I'm personally not a billionaire with a B.

I'm not.

When I hear stories of billionaires achieving great success, it's really hard to relate to.

It's really hard for me to say, "Oh, yeah, my life is like that.

Let me just go do this grand thing.

I'm not there."

When I'm looking for stories that motivate me, I want to see other people who are in a similar place in life and work and then learn about what they're doing because it's so much more likely that I can take action based upon what they're doing because we're so similar.

Therefore, I've got more actionable steps to take, more inspiration because it's so much more relatable.

As soon as you have found that kind of person or group or source of inspiration, you can then go take action a lot faster because it's so much more tangible.

It's not some pie-in-the-sky dream.

It actually is real.

When I discuss things like ambitious goals in this podcast, I'm talking about stretch goals, things that are difficult but not things that are so far out of reach that you basically just dismiss them because they're so far away.

We're talking about your mood boosting, getting pumped up activities and things that deeply inspire you.

I'm going to argue that most of those sources of inspiration for you will probably come from things that you can relate to, that are similar to your life story that then propel you forward in the direction you're trying to go.

Having said that, what would be some of the best music and movies that have the greatest potential to inspire you and propel you forward?

This is kind of the question of the episode, right?

What is this key thing for you to latch on to?

Maybe the funny answer, my first one I thought of for this, is whatever you heard as a teenager might be your best musical source.

I use that as an example because I just mentioned Linkin Park.

That band became on my radar when I was a teenager.

There were other groups at the time that I found to be really awesome bands, but that one in particular really spoke to me at that age and has continued to do so ever since.

What tends to be true for most people is whenever you were a teenager, generally speaking, this is kind of a generalization, whenever you had a pivot in your life, which oftentimes you move from a child to an adult, you go through those teenage years, you're making a lot of changes, right?

You're experiencing a lot of new stuff.

The music that you hear in that time of your life sticks with you.

Whenever you go through massive change, then later in life, that same music then speaks to you again.

It continues to deliver that same message that has driven you ever since.

If you want to tap into your greatest potential, your greatest sources of inspiration, it might come from your childhood.

It might come from something you've heard for a long, long time.

It's not going to be new music.

It's not going to be a new film.

It's not going to be something that's brand new to your life.

This kind of goes to a bigger, maybe side tangent of the episode.

If you're looking for an answer to a difficult question, a new life direction to move in, a pivot you want to make, there's a very good chance the thing you're looking for is already in your life.

You already know it.

You just need to say yes to it and dig in.

It tends to be true most of the time.

The thing you're looking for, you already have.

It can be difficult and tricky to imagine that, but I honestly believe in this case with music and movies and inspiration, you've already got it.

It's already there.

Now, the second opportunity for you to tap into your greatest potential for inspiration is to leverage whatever speaks to you in your current season of life.

Now, this could be whatever emotional state you're going through, whatever life transition you're in now.

You want to leverage that and lean into that and get the most value you can from that.

Your greatest potential for inspiration is going to be personal and relevant to this season.

We're not looking for inspiration for something that came in a different, unrelated season.

We're hoping to find something that is relevant to right now because that's going to speak to you in a way that nothing else can.

And then finally, you're going to look for sources of inspiration from whatever highlights a potential greater future or a goal you want to achieve.

We'll go back to movies for an example here, or even great books.

If you're considering a grander future, a bigger vision, something ambitious to pursue that's new and challenging, well, pretty good chance you're going to want to find some sources of inspiration that allow you to feel and believe in that future.

Something that says, "Yes, I can do this and here's how and here's why and here's the path forward."

You're looking for inspiration from something that says, "Yes, you have this ability.

Let's go get it."

Right?

Which is positive and reinforcing and it's motivational because it's speaking to where you are now.

It's reaching you in the place you're in.

It's realistic.

It is something you can tangibly grab a hold of and feel like, "Yes, I've got this.

Let's move."

So having said that, I would love to know what actually inspires you.

Yes, it could be music you heard as a teenager or something else going on, but ultimately the question is what speaks to you?

And I really do want to hear from you about this.

You can email me, jeff@jeffsanders.com.

Yes, I read every single email and respond back.

I would just love to know what actually pulls you out of a difficult season or what amplifies a great season.

What do you leverage and lean on for great inspiration and motivation?

And for the action step this week, reconnect with your best sources of inspiration.

Odds are that you already have a huge list of inspiring songs, music, audiobooks, podcasts, and other media you can tap into right now to bring you to a higher level of energy and enthusiasm.

So rediscover the power of those sources of inspiration.

Re-listen to your favorite songs.

Re-watch your favorite movies.

Re-experience the power that initially inspired you and use that to your advantage today.

Now, if you'd like to dig a little bit deeper into the world of productivity with some amazing online audio and video courses that are taught by me, just go to jeffsanders.com/courses.

And of course, subscribe to this podcast or get the premium ad-free version at 5ammiraclepremium.com.

That's all I've got for you here on the 5am Miracle Podcast this week.

Until next time, you have the power to change your life, and the fun begins bright and early.