4 TV Shows That Won't Fry Your Brain - Ep. 154

Mindset Mastery Moment

Sometimes we need a little down-time to just relax, but this isn't the opportunity to fill your mind with worthless garbage I refer to most mainstream television as "junk food for the brain" because, just like junk food, it fills you up but has very little nutritional value. Television will fill your mind but it has no beneficial value. It's like cotton candy, a lot of fluff that tastes great in the moment, but it brings nothing of substance. Keep in mind, there's very little wrong with treating yourself to a little guilty pleasure once in a while, as long as it's not the norm. I have people in my life who's daily routine involves several hours worth of junk television. They've litterally run-off a list of TV shows ... "Do you watch this... how about this... or this?" They're amazed when I say "no, no, no." I just don't make it a practice to mentally ingest that. But, I do love to sit and relax and be entertained by other peoples amazing creativity. Here is my list of 4 TV shows which are incredibly entertaining but also have some redemptive qualities to them. I hope you'll take a look at some of them. The Profit with Marcus Lemonis This is probably my favorite TV show. Marcus Lemonis is the CEO of Camping World, but now he’s the part owner of numerous small and medium sizes businesses around the country, because of this television show. He heads out to struggling businesses and helps them become profitable, by using his business savvy and industry know-how. He can usually come in and see exactly what's wrong with a business. In fact, I find that in most cases, just about anybody could see what's wrong, but when you're in the middle of it all, it's sometimes difficult to figure out. One of the things I love about Marcus is that he doesn’t take any crap from anyone. There is plenty of words bleeped out in just about every episode. He will let an owner know when they're making a mistake or being dishonest with him. You will learn SO much about running a business and the three elements Marcus says are vital to business success, People, Product and Process. He’s huge on getting the right people into place and treating them incredibly well. Marcus treats the right people incredibly well, rewarding them verbally as wel as monetarily when it's justified. The product has to be great and you have to focus on the right product, not EVERY potential product. That’s a huge lesson. I've seen so many businesses which have expanded beyond their core expertise and ended up losing so much money on the fringe items, it eats into the profit of that core. The process has to be streamlined and efficient as well. He’s a master at finding opportunities to become more efficient while raising quality as well. The process is vital. The Profit is available on CNBC. Shark Tank You’ve probably seen the Shark Tank. It’s on prime time TV on ABC. In fact, you can head over to ABC.com and stream previous episodes any time you'd like. I'm a huge fan of "on demand" televisions. That puts me in control of my entertainment schedule. Multi-millionaire and even billionaires sit as “Sharks” while start-ups present their business and ask the Sharks to invest. They ask for a specific amount and in return offer a chunk of the business. But it's very rare for someone to get exactly what they've asked for from the sharks. After all, they're sharks... The Sharks are Mark Cuban - Dallas Mavericks owner Lori Greiner - Queen of QVC Barbara Corcoran - Real Estate mogul Daymond John - Started FUBU Robert Herjavec - I mentioned him in episode 114 - Cyber Security firm Kevin O’Leary - Mr. Wonderful - all about making money. Made his fortune on software for kids. You’ll learn so much about what it takes to develop a product that’s attractive to investors. They ask all the questions about finances and patents and marketability. It's not just business though, the sharks will sometimes key in on someone who has such a tremendous passion and partner with them. They know that passion is something you can't teach to someone, but all the other business stuff, they can. It's a great lesson. But it's not JUST passion. Take a look at Shark Tank if you haven't watched it yet. American Ninja Warrior Even if you don’t workout or play sports, the people competing on American Ninja Warrior will take your breath away. The best part of this show is that most of these people are just normal folks with normal jobs and pretty normal lives. They don’t have massive sponsors and they usually build crude training facilities in their backyards. They practice after work and on weekends. They show that, if you want it bad enough, you'll find a way to get it. So, what do they do? They take on some of the most treacherous obstacle courses ever designed. These are just a few examples. There are usually about 8 obsticles in a city finals. Once they go on to Las Vegas for the nationals, there are even more and the difficulty level goes through the roof.

• Spinning Logs which whip you over and over and over as you hang on until it gets to the bottom of the ramp
• The Salmon Ladder - Like doing pull ups but each time you pull yourself up, you have to lift the bar up about 6-8” to another set of pegs on which it can rest.
• The Warped Wall is 14 feet high and it’s exactly what it sounds like, a warped wall which you have to run up and climb over.

There are countless other obstacles and some of them seem nearly impossible. There have been times when we've been watching competitor after competitor fail on one particular obsticle and wonder if it's possible. The amazing thing is, once one person makes it, it seems even more follow suit. The amazing power of the mind when we finally believe something is possible. Some of the stories are incredbily inspriring. One example is Kacy Catanzaro, who is just 5 feet tall but she shocked everyone by being the first woman to qualify for the finals in Las Vegas. She was an animal and I’ll tell you, if you have young daughters or granddaughters, have them watch these athletes compete. It is so inspiring. This TV show will motivate you to push through and do what you originally thought was impossible. I’m not just talking about physical abilities, but all abilities. If they can push through and make it on this course, you can get through whatever obstacle is standing in front of you. It’s on NBC or you can stream some of the best runs on YouTube or IMDB America’s Got Talent This seems like a circus show on the surface, but there are so many talented people who have stretched to get on this show. It’s so inspiring to me. it's just a singing competition. These are people who do stunts, dances, magic, juggling, motorcycle acts, and more. Really, just about any sort of talent. Yes, there are a few of the acts that are just worthless and the producers put them on for the pure entertainment value, but they wisely keep those to a minimum. Most of the performers are amazing. One thing I really take away from this show is how little difference there is between good and great. One more practice session per week, or just a slight change in costuming or music and an act can go from good to great. Just like life for the rest of us, the greatest determiner of success for these contestants is perserverence. The ones who make it are the ones who are doing what they love and never stop. Relax This Weekend Take some time to relax and be inspired this weekend. There are other great shows, but these are a fantastic starting point. I'd even suggest you open up that DVR and schedule these in so you catch the new episodes. If there's a show I missed that should have been in here, reach out and let me know. I don't watch a lot of TV, but when I do, I want to make it time well spent.