Episode Transcript
This isn't just a podcast, it's a reminder. A reminder of what makes America Stronger isn't the headline or a hashtag. It's people from the ones building our homes to the ones rebuilding their lives, veterans, tradesmen, neighbors and volunteers, real people doing real things. Here we find common ground first, and then we work on our differences.
This is the collective perspective podcast where purpose, people, and progress mean. Hey everybody. Hey everybody. Welcome back to the Collective Perspective podcast, and I here with my best friend Travis. What's up, Trav? What's up Jeff? Glad to be back. This is gonna be a good episode. Yes. Uh, this podcast is a habit for us.
It is. It it's become a habit. A it it has over the last, what, three, four years? Three years? It's going on. Yeah. It's been three years. Uh, going on four. Yeah. Wow. It'll be four in November when we started talking about it, and we've got all of 10 followers. So if you'd like to please subscribe, share, like, like what we're trying to do is just change your life for the better and just add some conversation, some things to think about.
And today we wanna talk about like the three types of habits, three types of habits. You asked me this earlier and my first thought was, well, what are you talking about? I, I don't understand the question. There are good habits, there's bad habits, and then there's sinful habits, um, just for s and Gs. Um, what's the difference between bad habits and sinful habits?
Bad habits are things that. Or is this something, let's say, is this something we discuss later in the in it or is it because I, I, I think this might be something that we should lead with, is what is a, a sinful versus bad habit? Good habits are habits that, um, are good for us, just the root of the word, but build us up somehow.
Build us up. So exercise, prayer, uh, conversation. Um, healthy eating, you know, all those are good habits. A bad habit could be anywhere from like, Hey, I started smoking cigarettes to, I drink too much at night. Or, uh, I take an extra piece of cake at dessert time. Right? Or you add all those extra calories. One of my bad habits I feel is bad is eating after eight o'clock.
So. Over time. Uh, at the time it doesn't seem like, Hey, 150 calories, ah, whatever, it ain't gonna hurt me. But then you go back for seconds and now it's 300 calories and you're going to bed. Uh, this happens to me all the time. I'm just now trying to break that habit. Well, and, and, and it's something I've broken before, but it just comes back.
Uh, when it comes to that, that type of say overindulgence, when you just want to eat more, when does that become. Sinful. Sinful habits are somewhat biblical. They're the seven deadly sins. Do you know what those are? Travis? I know a couple of them. And mostly from a Brad Pitt movie. What's on the box? Lemme read 'em to you.
Angry or, I'm sorry, anger, pride, envy, greed. Lust, gluttony and sloth. So overindulgence at a point would become gluttony, wouldn't it? Right. So, and that's, that's a bad habit that could turn to a sinful habit if we let it go unchecked. The, one of the most, uh, intriguing ones to me is pride. Pride, because you should be proud of yourself.
I, I agree. But at what point is too much pride? Uh, that's a, that's a great question. Uh, when is too much pride? When you, when I, I think that, uh, maybe a short answer would be when you can't take criticism of yourself. Yeah. Or you just brag about yourself. You're so proud of yourself, that's all you talk about.
And then that becomes something else too, doesn't it? More like narcissism. Right now you start getting into some problems here and that's, that's a mental health issue at that point. Uh, from what I understand, and obviously Envy, envy is jealousy. Um, and that's, but we're talking a habitual envy. Okay. So like, can you think of anybody that you're envious of?
I center. Just kidding.
Maybe we're all sinners now. I don't. Of course we are. I mean, realistically, we all do things that would, would, uh, be considered sinful. Uh, what level of sinful don't know. That's, that's up to you to decide. We all have bad habits too, but what I think was the most underlying thing about the three is that.
Well, and my wife disagreed with me, and she's right. Um, I would, I would say sinful are habits that lead to death. I, I, I can agree with that, but my wife said, so are bad habits like overeating. So again, but isn't overeating gluttony, right? So bad habits can lead to sinful habits. Like I said, when left unchecked, a bad habit could lead to a sinful habit.
Right? I believe you just said that if it goes unchecked. Yeah. Um, but how, you know, what are s what are some of the habits that we do on our daily lives? Like, first thing when I get up, I, I, one of my habits is coffee. I gotta have coffee that I have two cups after two cups, I'm done. But I still have to have that to get going in the morning.
I do my doom scrolling. Uh, you know, I, I, I'll scroll on the, on the socials first thing, just to kind of catch up with the overnight events. And then I go on to, then I go to a good habit. After I'm done doing that, I will do some exercise. So you switch between habits? I do, I do. I'm gonna do some bad habits and mix it up with some good habits today.
Well, I, I think that in the morning when I'm doing that, it's more to, to wake up my mind and thinking well start more to. What doom scrolling is then, because I mean, doom scrolling. I, how far in doom scrolling can you get in five minutes? Uh, not very far. So I, I, I'd say that's more reserved for like right before I go to bed, which is not a good thing to do because of the blue light on the phones.
Um, so in the mornings, like I said, I just catch up, I play a few games, I'll do my morning routine, and then I go for a run. So I'm trying to break those, uh, by cutting back on it little by little, as we talked about in a previous episode, and then going and doing a good habit, which is, I'll go for, you know, sometimes it's only a one mile walk around the block.
All right. I, I didn't feel like running, but at least I got out. And I did some, a vigorous walk around the block and, uh, or sometimes I'll go for a nice jog, 2, 3, 4 miles, depends on what I'm feeling like that day. So I, I'm trying, as we discussed in a previous podcast, I'm trying to make those little changes that over time will reflect a big change.
I think over time, if I were to look at the seven daily sins and what sins I do commit. Um, let's see. I do get angry, uh, which is a sin, and we talked about it before in an episode where we spoke on gentleness, and that's where, that's where you can control that. Um, what could be a sinful habit of being angry.
And you go into it with gentleness and kindness. I've actually, uh, and one of my pastor friends was telling me today what happened to you? Uh, I told him I find myself after that episode, I find myself telling people like, you should have handled this situation with more gentleness. And then see what their response is.
Uh, and you know, that's, that's, that's just it. Sometimes you, you ask somebody a question or you give them a, a hot take or an observation and it throws them off. Uh, have you ever received a phone call or called into a place? Uh, say you're calling your. Phone carrier and you want to change some of your service, or you're calling a doctor's office and you want to get an appointment, they say, Hey, this is so and so with so and so.
Can you please hold, tell 'em no. And see what they do. Sometimes if they're actually listening, they get hung up and they're like, uh, uh, they don't, they don't know how to answer that. They don't know if they should just start talking to you and address your concerns at that time. But other times, they're not listening.
They just repeat, uh, a phrase and automatically hit the hold button before you can respond. So it's, it's interesting to see. Try that next time. Here, here's an interesting twist. Is that what usually convinces you to commit sinful Act? I, I got the answer for you. If you want. I, well, I, I'd like to hear your answer, but I think, um, it, it depends on the situation.
Uh, you know, sinful acts. What kind of sinful act? Uh, you know, there are certain things that I draw the line and would never do. Uh, however, there may be situations that call for something to be drastic. The thing I was going is, is that your heart, it tells you that what you're feeling is true.
I am sorry if I got really deep on you, but No, I usually go with gut. Well, like a gut instinct. Well, your heart, your gut instinct, but see, your heart is lying to you. Yeah. Follow your brain. Your heart's dumb as well. You also don't follow your loins. Um, but, you know, um, I guess if you're 18, you might sewing your oats.
Um, jinx. So, like I said, our heart gets us in trouble because it convinces us that we're right even when we're not. And I think that that, uh, uh, you know, that that can be part of, um, tolerance. You know, uh, when is tolerance bad? When it's done too much? Anything in excess, I think is where we get issues. And our heart may tell us that this is a good thing to do.
Anything in excess. Yeah. Too much love in excess. That's too excessive. Um, but like, Hey, you're getting a little, uh. Fresh psychotics. Well, too much love. Yeah. I mean, I'm not gonna give you too much love. Fatal attraction, baby. Yeah. Here, look. Look.
Hey, what's this? Uh.
No. Um, yes, I think too much love, uh, could lead to like a fatal attraction type of thing. There are instances when too much of anything is a bad thing, you know, too much oxygen can kill you. I mean, it's, it too much of something is never. I shouldn't say never because it's an absolute, but too much of something is very frequently not good for you.
So you've heard the uh, saying habits are hard to break. Why is that? Absolutely. Do you think? Well, because we've trained in it. We've done it over and over. That's why it's hard for people to quit smoking. Because they've got that habit and it's more than the nick. The nicotine is a thing, but it's a habitual.
It's exact well, habit, habitual. Um, yeah, I know. I, I know where I was going with that. Uh, but yeah, and it's, it's that muscle memory when you're smoking a cigarette. That's why I don't smoke cigarettes. To me, always putting something in your mouth. To me it was more of like. I have to, I ha I have to smoke before I go to bed, or, Hey, let me smoke before I take a shower.
Or, Hey, I gotta smoke after I eat. And then the habit of having to go outside to do it. Um, all of that is all habitual things that, uh, I think you and I, other than the nicotine level itself, you and I, early on, we had, uh, our, well, my, my wife, she's never been a smoker. I think your first wi uh, second wife was not a smoker either, was she?
No, uh, only my third wife. And, and during that time though. We, we had to adjust because the smell inside the house was so much for them, they couldn't handle it. Uh, so we would go outside and then, you know, when you're living in perfect weather in San Diego, it's usually not as bad. Uh, but even still, it gets cold in the winter.
You don't want to go outside and do that, so you stop sm I, I stopped smoking, uh, cigarettes. Well, I can gladly say that this January will seven years with no nicotine. Congratulations. That's really good. Holy crap. Can you believe it? Seven years? Yeah. Because, uh, it's gotten to the point where like, that's not even something I think about doing.
I don't, I don't care. I it's, it's gone. Yeah, it is. It's, it's, uh, it's a nasty habit. Um, he's nasty. A nasty boy. He does nasty things. All right, Janet. Uh,
some of you'll get that, some of you won't. So, uh, at the end of the day, Travis, isn't it just more about willpower and having lack that lack thereof of, let me try to say that again. Uh, no, having lack thereof, um. Uh, yes. However that can be trained, I think that can become a habit, uh, you know, training yourself to do something.
You know, I, I quit. It took me a good two. Well, that'd beco willpower's a good habit then. It is. Uh, it took me a good two tries to stop smoking the first time. I quit smoking for like five years, and I did it cold Turkey. I was like, all right, I'm done. Well, you still vape though now? I do. Oh, okay. That was after I started the second time back up because vape wasn't a thing back, uh, when I first quit smoking.
Why? I picked it back up. I don't know. I got, I, I was in a moment of weakness and it happened. I had picked up a smoke and I was like, all right. Ah, yeah, I remember this. And then I put it back down again and I transitioned from cigarettes to the vape. And I've weaned myself down from the vape, so I'm hardly getting any nicotine.
It's all more of that, uh, that habituation, that, that fixation of blowing, blowing smoke, if you will. Uh, it's something that I, I have some sort of gratification from. You know, some people just say, Hey man, you, uh, pick your vice. We're all gonna die of something. We're all at an old age or at an elder age, gonna have pain.
I told Amanda like, oh man, my whatever just hurts. And she goes, Jeff, you just gotta realize that. At a certain age, everybody has pain. There's no way around it. No, there's not. And it's, well, there are ways around it. It's hard. It's, it's hard to get around, especially something like that, without help from another vice.
Mm-hmm. Uh, and it could be a good habit if you wanna say vice. Uh, yeah, it could be, uh, stretching. Yoga. Uh, when it comes to our personal bodies and what, you know, aches and pains, you get a good, uh, massage. Uh, uh, do some good stretching or deep tissue like, uh, massage basically to help help with those mu aches and pains.
'cause a lot of our aches and pains are musculoskeletal. It's either the muscle or the bones. And a lot of people go straight to drugs, to, to treat that pain instead of finding out what's causing it to be painful. So anybody out there that's listening, what are some things or habits that you've had issues with?
Uh, what sinful habits? Um, and if you can identify one bad or sinful habit to work on this week. What habit would that be, Travis? Uh, that's a, that's a great question. I, I think it's, it's still early in my journey right now. Uh, but my exercise, I want to continue. I was, unfortunately, it was a, a rainy mess today here, where we are, first thing in the morning when I would be going for my run.
So I didn't get outside and do my run. Could I have done something else? Absolutely. Calisthenics don't need to leave the house. And they're actually very good for the body. Uh, pushups, situps, burpees, uh, you know, doing some pull-ups from a bar and a doorway. Any of those things are, are, are something that I should have done.
But I did not do, and that's something that I'm trying to work on, on the off days when I'm not able to get outside and run to actually do something to, to wake up the muscles of the body to get that limberness back into myself. I'm on the same road. Uh, my habits are the things that I'm trying to correct.
Uh, you know, I mentioned, uh, eating after eight o'clock. Uh, how's that been going for you? Uh, it is been better lately because usually I'll have excuses like, well, it's just watermelon. Fair enough. Uh, which, you know, watermelon doesn't carry a lot of calories, but. It is still just the habit, right? It's not really what it is.
It's more of the habit that I have to break. And, you know, I, and I was really good at it for a while, and you'll find out that if you just stop eating, uh, intermittent fasting from 8:00 AM or excuse me, 8:00 PM to 8:00 AM you'll be amazed on how much weight you'll drop. Uh, so I'm, wait, I'm still waiting on that.
I'm still waiting on that to happen. So I, I, I wonder when it comes to the point or to the time when we just go buy a bag of worths and that's our snack. I've gotten into a habit that every night, well part of it's like, uh, not to tell you all my personal business, but I have a CPA and so my, I feel like if I brush my teeth, I have to brush my teeth early way before I'm going to bed.
Um, because otherwise my mouth, the fluoride makes my fat mouth feel really dry. Hmm. But the reason I mention that is 'cause the habit I've gotten in is like I, I'll eat some, uh, I'll chew some sugar free gum. Before I go to bed almost every night. Um, they say it doesn't have sugar, but you know, it has, uh, alternative sugars.
Alternative sugar is sugar anyway, so, um, maybe it's not, you know, obviously it's not the best thing, but, um. It's, it's, you know, sometimes habits are coping mechanisms. Yes. I, I can see that. And I, I use it too, like that's one of my unwinding mechanisms. When I get home, I'll turn on the local news so I can see what the weather's gonna be like the next day, make sure I can go for my run.
And then I'll just scroll through the socials, catch up on any news articles that I wanna read. And then go into some other entertaining videos that I watch. So, hey, if you're still listening, I encourage you to go out and find some healthy habits to do. Identify what habits in your life are bad. That could be even procrastination.
You know, we didn't talk about that. Procrastination, laziness. Um, being unmotivated, not being a contributor, just being a consumer. Those are all just, uh, bad habits and um, you know, obviously if you have sinful habits, you should try to uh, definitely reconsider those sinful habits and yeah, you know, I think the biggest part to doing that is recognizing what triggers.
What makes you want to do those things? You had a stressful day at work. You know, it was you, you know, you're in construction and you almost, uh, you're doing, putting a roof on a house and you almost slipped off. That's kind of stressful. You get home, you want to think about that. Hey, what did I do wrong?
Why, why did I do that? Uh, instead of trying to figure out the root cause of why you almost fell off, some people go home and they just start drinking to forget it altogether. That can be one of those sinful habits. Drinking too much and overindulging, uh, being gluttonous in in your consumption of alcohol.
We gotta be careful with those things. So recognize those triggers and, and identify what, where you should maybe think about making a small change. Doesn't have to be a big one. We've talked about that before. Here's our final recommendations for habit changes is, uh, subscribe to this channel. And become habitually involved in what we're doing and, um, helps us go a little bit further, gives us some confidence in just knowing that you're out there.
Um, and we appreciate you, boosts our motivation and, uh, you know, it, it does help us. So thank you. Thanks for watching, and please again, please like, subscribe and share. Uh, this is all good talk content just for you to think about something different here, what two regular guys have to say about something.
Uh, thanks again. Peace out later guys.
