83. Stuck in Stage 3 Time Creator, Steps to Ascend to Stage 4 Time Liberator

00:05 Dr. Ann Tsung Are you struggling to advance your career and sacrificing time with your loved ones because of endless to-dos, low energy, and just not enough time in the day? If so, then this podcast is for you. I am your host Dr. Ann Tsung, an ER critical care and space doctor, a peak performance coach, a real estate investor, and a mother of a toddler. I am here to guide you on mastering your mind and give you the essential skills to achieve peak performance. Welcome to Productivity MD, where you can learn to master your time and achieve the five freedoms in life.

00:51 Hello. Welcome to the show, and thank you so much for tuning in. My name is Dr. Ann Tsung. Today we’re going to be discussing the trap, actually, between stage three in terms of the five stages of time freedom stage three as a time creator and then how to ascend up to a time liberator. And the reason why this episode is actually dedicated just on stage three and stage four is because a lot of us who are actually successful, we are trapped in stage three. We often will toggle back between stage three, stage four, stage three, stage four, and then we’ll have some stage five flow blocks. But then sometimes we get into the gap mindset, and then we’re trapped there.

01:34 As a very quick reminder, the first stage is the time prisoner. I don’t have time, reacting all the time, to other people’s demands. Number two, that is the time manager. You have checklists, to-do lists, calendars, but everything is yourself, and you don’t use leverage. Time creator is when you are finally having leverage. You delegate, you automate, you hire people, you free up all this time because you only do work that’s in your zone of genius most of the time, right? But you look at the gap a lot. You’re always trying to optimize the time that you have that you have left, the white space on your calendar. And then stage four is the time liberator. This is truly a mindset shift where you look at things, but you know, as a time creator, you said, “I can make the time when good opportunities come.” But as a time liberator, you say, “Will this multiply or drain my energy?” You love white spaces on your calendar. You talk slower. You’re calm. You’re not in a rush.

02:33 Today I am a time grader. Because today, in about nine hours, I will be flying with my two-year-old, four-year-old, my husband, and the dog, and we’ll be doing the Boundless program for three months in Greece. We’ll be doing it for another three months in Italy for the fall. So today, I am especially rushed, pressured to optimize. This is why I wanted to record this episode the day before departure, because there is a true story there. I’ve realized I have dropped down into a time creator, and I’ll tell you a little bit more about how this all came about.

03:15 But going back to the time liberator, so as a time liberator, everything is a no unless it’s a hell yes. You see the magic get things. You see things not done as just a thing not done, and you will complete it in due time. There’s no rush, no sense of urgency to get it done. Everything is unfolding as it is. And it is — you can change at a snap of a finger between three and four, three and four. But to get yourself to stay in stage four, what I found is truly it’s to really do the shutdown sequence, where you’re reviewing the gratitude for the day, the lessons for the day, everything that’s good in your life and the people around you, in yourself. And you are truly on purpose reviewing the life vision, reviewing your massive transformative purpose, your three massive transformative purposes. And for those of you guys who don’t know, MTPs are something that you’re always pursuing for the rest of your life, but you will never check off. And so if you can do that on a consistent basis, and of course, breath work, staying still, meditating instead of getting so used to jumping from one thing to the other, maybe sensory deprivation float. Yesterday, I had a three-hour session sensory deprivation float, followed by a massage, just to stop me from going place to place to place to place. And when you can see things in a gain state, then you will feel like it’s enough. You’re on purpose. There’s no rush. Everything is just as it is, as it should be.

04:58 I will tell you a story. I am on a sabbatical, one-and-a-half-year sabbatical, at NASA so that I can travel with the kids for a year. And because I wanted to shape their unconscious, their emotional intelligence, I wanted to teach them courage, resilience, resourcefulness, playfulness, compassion. Those are our family values. Before seven years old, the model of the world, that’s when it forms. So I think it’s just so important for me to actually have the courage to ask, which I did, and I got the sabbatical, and which is amazing. Because I wanted time with my kids while they’re young, before they turn seven. I am going to be doing telemedicine. I enrolled with the All In Remote Physician Academy. So they taught me how to become a 50-state medical licensed telemedicine physician, working on telemedicine platforms so I can actually work when I’m abroad. Going through that process took about six months or seven months, getting all 50-state licenses. And then almost six months later into it, I’m done, right? I’m onboarded with telemedicine platforms. I’m working well. I only have two licenses left. I have 48 licenses plus DC. And so for about a month or two, I always said, “Okay, we’ll leave in the summer.” When are we going to leave? “I don’t know. Maybe in the summer. I don’t know. I feel like I need to get on more telemedicine platforms until this is all streamlined, and then I’ll be ready.”

06:36 So what I realized was that, on a micro level, like a daily, weekly level, you can live as a time liberator, stage four. Okay? But on a macro level, you can be stuck in stage three. I was blown away when I realized that. Like weekly, daily, sure, I got three to four hours spending with my kids. I do my weightlifting three times a week, jiu-jitsu, VO2 max training. I have my weekly date nights. On the weekends, we go hang out with the kids, my husband, all day. And so on a micro level, I was living my purpose. I was having all of my non-negotiables set, and I was spending time with who I love. I’m not sacrificing my health, my relationships, and my business. So I had it all, except that on a macro level, I was still waiting. I wanted to optimize two or three more months just to make more money, prepare more, maybe wait for the licenses to come back, the two more licenses to complete. There was really nothing else that had to be done.

07:49 How many of you guys listening had a dream, or a big goal, or something on your bucket list that you wanted to do, but you always say it’s not ready? I’m not ready—the kids’ school, my wife’s job, my husband’s job, or something like that, right? Even like me going to the Boundless program, when I talk to people about it, most of the time, the response is, “Oh, I wish I could do something like that,” or, “Oh, that sounds so nice. Oh, that’s awesome you could do that, to have the flexibility.” Though, I will say, once you make the decision, all of your actions are going to align towards that goal. Right? If you don’t actually start a micro step to gain momentum towards your actual dream and your life vision, then you’re never going to get there. It’ll just be like a dream that you’re like, “I wish I could, but not right now.” But if not now, then when? And I realized even though I was on that path, I prepared myself for it, but for some reason I was stuck in stage three. Not right now. Two or three more months, make more money, optimize the platforms, and then we’re ready.

09:03 So anyway, I think I just somehow reached an emotional threshold. And I was like, “If not now, then when? There’s nothing else I’m waiting for. I can do this. Everything else will unfold as it should.” So I booked it that night, and then I went to sleep feeling very anxious. I wasn’t sure if it is the right decision. I wasn’t sure if things will go wrong. But that lasted just overnight. The next morning, overnight, I actually felt a sense of peace, calm, just very present, and everything got easier. Because now all of our decisions are filtered through us. Oh, we’re leaving in two months. Oh, okay, well then let me cancel the swimming class. Let me cancel all the subscriptions. I don’t need to buy anything materialistic. Let me cancel all the extracurricular activities. Everything is all more working towards the travel, and that’s it. Before that, I was like, “I don’t know. Maybe June, maybe July. I don’t know. We’ll figure it out when we get there.” But now it’s so clear.

10:10 Actually, a lot of us have the stressor and cognitive load because of indecision. We haven’t made any decision, so while waffling back and forth, spending lots of emotional, cognitive energy to think about route A, B, C versus once you make a decision, it is just plan A. It may be a plan B as a backup. So for all of you guys who are thinking about a big decision, or traveling, or anything else that you know is important to you, that is part of your MTP, is part of your life vision, start one micro step after this and just go towards it. Trust your gut on what you think the decision is. Or if you don’t know, that means you need more information. Then do the reach out so you can get more information, okay, so you can make your decision. But the point is that don’t let something hang over you, especially if it is something that is a dream of your family. Because if not now, then when?

11:12 You know, being in the ER, I’ve seen so many people who are, well, surprisingly get into a car crash multiple times, cardiac arrest, young kid, 20-something-year-old, or shootings. So life is really short. It’s unpredictable. And if you don’t ask for what you want now, and if you don’t fight for time with your children or perhaps your parents or perhaps your spouse, sometimes those people cannot fight for you, especially the children. They love your presence. They love being with you. But if you don’t fight for time with them, they can’t do it for you. They’re just going to have to accept that you are just working all the time and that you cannot take them to these experiences. You don’t have to take them to experiences, but just even being present, you can’t even do that. Okay? So if you don’t fight for the time with them or presence with them, nobody else will. So think about the leverage that you will use so that it’ll push you to have the courage to make these decisions.

12:14 My kids were my leverage. Because I was on a time crunch, because I knew before seven years old, that’s the time where I can shape the model of their world. And I wanted to be there for that, to open them up to the world, to have these experiences, to go to school in Greece, in Italy. There are other programs in the Boundless Life program. For those of you guys who are interested, they have Montessori schools. They have furnished homes, and then they have co-working space, three-month cohort, spring and fall, one-month cohort for July, August, and December. So if you have young kids, now is the time. If you have older kids, you can reach out. They have school until, I think, 14 years old. But just look into it. If you ever have this dream, don’t just let it die, is what I’m saying.

13:01 And also, don’t try to keep optimizing and waiting for the right moment. It’s kind of like having a kid. There’s really no right moment. I mean, there’s probably not when you’re super young. But once you’re at the right age, right time, but you’re still waiting, that in a way, it’s kind of living in the time creator stage versus a time liberator stage. You’re still waiting to optimize, still waiting for the right moment. Everything is not ready, not ready. But once you make the decision, you will be ready. It’s not something that you’re prepping and then making the decision. It’s actually, the prep and the readiness happens after the decision is made.

13:46 So as a review, for those of you guys toggling between time creator and time liberator, I want you guys to really think of three things that’s amazing in yourself, around you, and then the people around you, okay? Yourself, your environment, the people, or your circumstance, three amazing things that’s going really well for you. And then just know that — think about the relationships that are important to you, the health that’s important to you, and just be grateful for it. And then nothing else is going to be as urgent or important as your health span, longevity, and then also the love, your loved ones, the relationships. Nothing else is going to be more important than that, and the relationship with yourself. So if you feel any sense of urgency in business or feel like how other people might think of you, it’s not worth sacrificing what I just mentioned, okay?

14:46 So again, after this, think of one dream, one giant goal, one decision, and now make one micro decision, or take one micro step towards that. Then you’ll see the momentum that happens after that and the clarity that happens that is going to wow you, amaze you, just like I did. Whenever I told my husband about it, the first thing he said after booking it, he was like, “Can we cancel?” And I was like, “No.” He was stressed out for a while, but he got on board. We’re bringing the dog. It’s all good. Day of travel, we’re both stressed, but it’s all good. It’ll be amazing no matter what. We’re going to think about the good.

15:30 Alright. So for those of you guys who are listening, also, if you’re interested in learning more about how to make critical decisions, go to our Skool platform. S-K-O-O-L. On our Skool platform, we have, if you search for Time and Energy Mission Control, that is where we actually have all of the flow activations, flow protocols, how to actually have high flow and peak performance operating system installed in your life. Also, there are different tiers where we’re actually having live time and energy decision boardrooms, and then the sessions on the 1% framework, where the 1%, we learn about the tactics, the habits, what they do for their business, for their relationships, and for themselves. So for those of you guys interested in learning more, getting live advice from me, go ahead and go to the Skool and search for the Time and Energy Mission Control. And of course, the link is going to be part of the show notes as well.

16:31 Again, thank you so much for your kind presence and attention, and remember that everything we need is within us now. Thank you.

16:40 Disclaimer: This content is for general information purposes only and does not constitute the practice of medicine. No doctor or patient relationship is formed. The use of this information linked to this content is at the user’s own risk. The content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Users should not disregard or delay in obtaining medical advice for any medical conditions they may have and should seek the assistance of their healthcare professionals for any such conditions. The views are personal views only and do not represent any university or government institution.