#389 - 🔥Turning O’s Into E’s: From I Got to.. to I Get To..🔥

Ever feel your routine is the only thing keeping everything together—and the first thing life tries to break? I open up about being a hardcore routine machine, why early mornings create real margin before the day’s “traffic,” and how a two-week trip to Brazil threatens to derail my schedule for training, jiu-jitsu, and work. Instead of bracing for chaos, I share the mindset shift that changes everything: turn O’s into E’s. Swap “I don’t got to” for “I get to,” and obligation becomes opportunity.

This isn’t about naive optimism. I’m not hoping things improve on their own; I’m hunting for chances hidden inside constraints. We talk about using disruption to change mental positions—just like jiu-jitsu—so new angles reveal new moves. I walk through what a break in routine can unlock: compressed focus, sharper goals, and the surprising power of reentry sprints. I revisit a past Brazil trip that sparked a year of creative output and explain how to engineer that rebound with intention rather than luck.

You’ll hear practical ways to own your morning, frame interruptions as assignments, and “make more than the most” of a single day. The goal is to pair discipline with perspective so you come back stronger, not scattered. If you’re craving a fresh spark or facing a forced detour, this conversation gives you tools to turn pressure into fuel and return with a 2.0 version of your process. If this resonates, subscribe, share it with a friend who lives by their calendar, and leave a review to help more people flip their “gotta” into “get to.”

Chapters

• 0:08 Living By Routine
• 0:28 Mornings, Time, And Traffic
• 0:50 Brazil Trip Disrupts The Schedule
• 1:19 Turning O’s Into E’s Mindset
• 2:35 Seeking Opportunity In Change
• 3:22 Make More Than The Most
• 4:16 Past Trip, New Fire
• 5:47 Goals, Gratitude, And A Spark
• 6:40 Sign Off And Thanks

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:08

Routine machine. You know, I am a hardcore routine machine. I love my routines. Um it keeps me scheduled throughout the day, and I I couldn't really live without it. I mean, I don't see how somebody can go throughout their day without having a schedule. Okay. And the earlier that you get up, as I always say, the more everybody always thinks about having more time at the end of your day after everything is done. But it's kind of like your day is kind of like drive driving a car, right? There's always gonna be traffic, there's always gonna be like these random things that happen throughout the day that you're not planning for. So if you get up earlier in the day, you can get what you need done personally done. Um so in short and in long, uh, I'm gonna be going to Brazil for like two and a half weeks, and it's gonna completely throw off my routine. Um as far as exercising and jujitsu and everything else goes. And it's not that it's all bad, but it's just it's just something really, really hard uh that I live by that I've been doing since the army. Um, and uh it's a challenge, it's a serious challenge, but I learned something very important recently from a really great guy. Again, back to Eddie, black belt, so we're back jujitsu, and he was telling me in life, you gotta stop, you gotta start turning O's into E's. Meaning, instead of saying, uh for whatever reason, right? Um, oh, I don't got to go to church, I get to go to church. Okay, I have an opportunity to do that. I don't got to exercise, I get an opportunity to exercise. I don't got to go to Brazil, I get an opportunity to go to Brazil. And what can I get accomplished? What can you get accomplished by breaking your routine? Maybe different things will pop up, your your point of view and perspective, and things will shift in different ways to help you out. That's not being optimistic, you know. I think optimism is dumb. That's like thinking things get better for no reason, okay? But what I'm saying is you should be seeking and looking for ways and opportunities when your circumstances change. When you like, when you're in different positions, you think differently, just like jujitsu, right? And he brought that to my attention. I was so thankful for him saying it. So now I'm really, really looking forward to going to Brazil because I get an opportunity to think different, I get an opportunity to um appreciate coming back even more, and it'll make me even more motivated when I get home. Back to Texas, you know. Um, yeah, I feel like a break in routine. I I hate to say it, I really, really do, but I feel like it might even be needed or necessary. This way, at the very at the very least, you'll be more appreciative for the routine that you got. And guess what? When I get back from this trip to Brazil, I'll work even harder. Okay, because I'll be again more thankful for the opportunity. I won't think I got to get something done. I'll think I get the opportunity to get this done. And I only get this one day. You don't really get one day every day. All right. So why not make you know how everybody says, like, make the most of something? Why not make more than the most of something? Imagine that concept. Think about that. You're not just making the most of the day, you're making more than the most of it. Meaning you're exceeding your expectations of what you thought was possible in the course of one day, adding on to that and that getting that accomplished, that being your day. Hearing about that, thinking about that makes me motivated. Again, not necessarily to just go there, but more importantly, to come back because it could it can put I remember one time I went to Brazil uh for like a vacation for like two weeks, and I came back and I literally wrote an entire hour, well, a whole year's worth of stand-up comedy, and I was on fire, right? Um, and again, maybe you could call it like a semi-panic mode, you know, like I gotta get something accomplished, and it's like a a condensed period of me getting a lot of things done, but in a different way. And when I came back, it really did like revolutionize and ramp up the 2.0 of everything that I'm doing. And since then I've been even more on fire. So again, it's like something that I don't really want to go through, um, but I'm always appreciative because now, again, thanks to Eddie, Black Belt, Silverback Jiu Jitsu, the point of view and perspective that I have of going is completely different because now I get an opportunity to evaluate, reevaluate, condense options, get better, and then once I'm back on this trip, be an even enhanced version of myself and before I left. And goal setting is what makes it all possible, but it starts at that point of view and perspective. And man, I'm telling you, turning turning O's into E's. I texted him right after, I was like, dude, that was such a great, you know, a great thing that he told me. And I I was I I couldn't, I was just so thankful for it. So um that's what's going on. Maybe I said something that sort of sparks a little bit of motivation in your life, and just mimic, it only takes number, it only takes like a spark to start a fire, right? Um, and that's one of the biggest keys and goals that I look for, not just every single day, but for long periods. And uh that little you know, wick of a fire, that little piece sparked me up, and I was like, oh shit. So, with that being mentioned, I hope everybody has a beautiful day. Thank you so much for your time. I am Benjawell Done. Check me out. Peace.