In this episode of the Morning Upgrade podcast I talk with Genie Weisz about her family business, self improvement, waking up early, controlling your energy and more.
In this episode of the Morning Upgrade podcast I talk with Genie Weisz about her family business, self improvement, waking up early, controlling your energy and more.
Ryan
Hey guys, it's Ryan real quick. So my mission with the morning upgrade blog and podcast is to raise the awareness of morning routines and personal development. And I now have two products that are also helped me with this mission. The first product helps you start a 20 minute morning routine. And the second product is a book that outlines how to use personal development to upgrade your life and business. You can get full details on both products over at morning upgrade.com. Thanks for letting me share and now on to the show.
Announcer
Welcome to the Morning upgrade podcast with Ryan cote where we feature casual conversations with entrepreneurs about personal development and growth.
Ryan
Hey, everyone, this is Ryan cote with the morning upgrade podcast. And today I'm very excited to be speaking with Genie Weis.
Genie
Hey, Ryan, how are you?
Ryan
I'm doing good. Thanks for asking. So why don't we start off by you telling everyone who you are, what you do, and then what you enjoy doing.
Genie
My name is Genie Weiss. What I do. For my living I am a paper salesperson, I work for my families, 107 year old fourth generation run family business, and we literally are paper wholesalers. That is what I do during the day. What do I enjoy doing, I actually do enjoy working with my family to help my family. But I'm what really matters to me lately. I mean, I'm in my mid 50s. And what really matters to me is making connections. So that's what I spend a lot of my time doing. I like to connect with people just like my friends and family, I love to network, I'm very into the zoom over COVID You know, I'm trying to make the best of the situation and reaching out to meet others, you know, has definitely been something that's helped to sustain me. And then I love learning. That's the other thing that I've learned later in life is that I just can't get enough whether it's podcasts or books or seminars, etc. So that's what I do.
Ryan
You've got to speak on the generations, your fourth generation, or third generation of Ballantine's. So…
Genie
You're catching on, you should be very proud.
Ryan
We were talking before we start recording. And you mentioned that some of the weird things about personal development and who I follow, which is mainly Jim Rohn. And Darren Hardy and my let you were talking about some of the folks that you follow like Tom, Bill, Bill, you and Denis Waitley. Some of those names. It's interesting. There are many people out there that talk about personal development. But some of the names like Denis Waitley you might not know about but there are so many different people you can learn from and everyone has their angle that they go from like Dennis Whateleys. Lab at winning. But I thought it was interesting that that was interesting that, you know, we've there are so many people out there that we can learn from and we all kind of gravitate towards a person’s specific message like I'm big into Darren Hardy, I think his message really resonates with me, where you were talking about the fact that Tom Bill, you really you said jumpstarted your personal development?
Genie
Yeah, he did. I found a couple of videos of his online and I just liked, you know, his conversational style, I'd caught up on a couple of the interviews that he had done. And then I saw a seminar and he was talking about the matrix. And I really have never seen The Matrix. I'm like the only person in the universe at that time, who had never seen The Matrix, and it just really sparked my curiosity. So I happen to go to his website, and he had a book list. And something that I hadn't done for many years, you know, I was raising two kids working in my business, and I sort of, you know, let reading go. And then I said, you know, I'm going to make this a goal of mine. It was the year 2018. And I said I'm going to read every book on his booklist starting from January 1 to December 31. And if I'm correct at the time, there might have been like 26 of them. But I said I'm going to do it. And I got an audiobook, an audible subscription. And I started and I plowed through every book. And it was fascinating to me because I was reading about things I knew nothing about, like talking about like, there are a lot of personal development books, there were some business books. You know, I love reading about them. Winnick I can't think of the names, but they were military-themed, you know, discussions on personal development, there were conversations just about science and the brain and mindset. And it just touched on everything that I was maybe more curious about with each book. And I think the books needed to be read in a particular order, which he recommended. And I got through 23 of the books by the end of the year. And by January I finished the balance but that just springboarded me, you know, into a constant mode of listening and learning and reading.
Ryan
Tom Bill, he's an intense guy. Yes. Successful. He is probably super intelligent. But he also he's one of the best interviewers I've ever listened to the questions he asks and he's just, it's really impressive.
Genie
What I find interesting is that the interviewees are very impressed with him. They appreciate and comment often about what a good interviewer he is.
Ryan
Yeah, exactly. Why don't we start with, you know, this morning upgrades about personal development as everyone can probably tell, from the start of this conversation, why don't we talk about your morning routine Genie? What is that like?
Genie
Sure, well, my morning routine has evolved. But I will say that I was always doing little bits of what was supposed to be done. Like I have a journal. And I was doing that for many years. And, you know, I write grad, you know about three things I'm grateful for every day. And I always exercised. And here I was reading, but I sort of didn't have anything that brought it all together. I knew that one thing I was missing, though, was waking up early, and I was reading books like The 5 am Club. And I was reading other things that just kept saying, you know, the most successful people in the world wake up early, and I said, Okay, it's time I have to finally do this. So during this time of COVID, I said, I've got to make the best of the situation. And I have a BNI book group. And one of the books we chose to read was Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod. And we decided to do that book. And we even decided to take on accountability partners in the group. And we started that on July 1, we were going to take on the rules of the Miracle Morning, morning ritual, and I adopted that on July 1, and have been doing that ever since. So what that means is I wake up early, generally about six o'clock, and I spend my first 10 minutes meditating I have peloton a huge peloton cultist. I've had the bike for four years, and now I've jumped into their app, and I'm doing their meditation every day for 10 minutes. And after that, I write my journal and I write down things I'm grateful for I write down my goals for the day, I've been able to figure out what I need to, to cut everything down to one or two or three things that I need to get done in a day. Because if you have too many things on your list, you know, generally it can make you stuck, and I want it to be able to accomplish something. And then I would, you know, write down what would make the day look great for me and kind of, you know, some sort of aspirational plan for the day. And then I would always, every day for about three years, write down my values, it was five values. I've extended them now to eight, but I write them down. Even though I know them, I write them down. And it's just such a part of what I do. And then lastly, I follow in the miracle morning, he has a plan the Savers, right. That's his little system. So I make sure I meditate, I have an affirmation that I say every day and write down every day, I have a visualization, I read or do podcasts every day, then I journal so sometimes I'll write like something good that happened yesterday, maybe something that wasn't good, that I can learn from and how I can make that better. So that's my morning. And that can generally be done between an hour to an hour and a half, depending on how long I exercise, which often can be 30 minutes to 260
Ryan
Similar to mine, because I read The Miracle Morning as well. It's it shaped my morning, and I don't I wouldn't say I follow it to the tee. But I've kind of adapted it to my own goals and interest. But it stems from what I learned in that book, you know, one thing that I do that I find to be helpful is everyone talks about writing down your goals. And so I've got this sheet, one sheet in front back. And there's a section for the affirmations that are important to me. So I read them every morning. And then there's a section for things that I've accomplished so far in my life that I'm proud of, I read that and like, got my goals, you know, the things I want to achieve the next 15 years. And then it ends with like a little visual representation of my goals like a dream board if you want to call it that. I read that every single morning. I think that's it's I find that to be helpful.
Genie
I think that's great. And I think one of the best things I like about what you told me is that you put on there, your wins. I think that's the word you used.
Ryan
Yeah, things I'm proud of so far that I've accomplished,
Genie
Right? Because I think we forget that, you know, we always think on the negative, you know, we're so rarely giving ourselves a pat on the back. And, you know, I think that that also shows your progress, you know, so I think that that's so great that you, you know, you read some old ones, you know, and you probably added some new ones from time to time, if not every day. But you know what I mean? I think that's great that, that you're giving yourself a pat on the back because so few of us do that.
Ryan
Yeah. Because it's, you know, it, for me, it builds confidence, you know, and you're always trying to achieve more. And sometimes your goals are sort of daunting, where you're not where you want to be or you're comparing yourself to others and you're feeling down on yourself. But then you forget about all the things that you've done up to this point. And when you put it on paper, you're like, Okay, it's there's some there are a lot of things here to be proud of, and it does help with confidence. So it's been a key part of my morning routine. Let's talk about your with your family business. Does your family do it to do like your team members? Do they know you're into this? Do you? Do you guys talk about this? Like, what's the dynamic there?
Genie
Well, let's see about my family business, so I work with my brother and my sister. I think they're aware of parts of what I do. You know, they certainly know about my peloton, fascination. And they know that I'm very heavily into networking, but that doesn't have to do with my morning routine. So no, I would say they don't. I would say my brother and my sister are not so aware of all that I do. I think my kids are quite aware I have children 28 and 25. They're, they're very aware of what I do. I think I talk about it maybe a little too much. I'm not sure I mean, my husband might say that too. Like I don't you know they don't get it. Be quiet, but that's okay. Do you know what I mean? Like, I bought them journals hoping that they would, you know, also maybe peek into it and sort of, you know, consider writing, but it's okay. I think that this is sort of an acquired practice, it takes time, you don't always hear what people are saying at the time that they say, you know, you're here when you need it, kind of so you never know what will happen. But I do think that my habits are rubbing off on them. And, you know, I'm proud of that. Like, I'm glad that they've seen that. So, one day, I'm sure, though, they'll get they'll understand, at least for sure why I did what I did, and hopefully one day they'll adopt it. Who knows?
Ryan
Yeah, I think the saying is the teacher, the teacher will appear when the student is ready. I think that's the same. Exactly. I'm the same way. My wife doesn't do a morning routine. She knows all about me about my routine because she sees it every morning, my kids, but I'll tell you like. So I read personal development books them every night, more like fables, because that's otherwise they're not gonna, you know, so I was doing, I was eight and 10. Two, but so fables, and now I'm at the point now, where they asked me to, they asked me to read if I don't do it. So I'm like, Ah, getting to you. So
Genie
I'm proud of you. Like, I think that's how it happens. And I always say small steps equal big change, like, that's one of my affirmations. And, and that's how it works. You know, and I think the other side is if you are performing the morning ritual, and it's making you better, like making your day better, and making your life fuller and richer, that's going to impact your wife and your children anyway. So they will be impacted. They may not choose to do the same steps, but their lives are improved by what you're doing to improve your life.
Ryan
That's yeah, likewise, it's the ripple effect.
Genie
It's amazing how that happens. Yeah,
Ryan
no, it does. It does show up differently. Sure. And it's not just a home, it's, it's everywhere you go, you know, exactly. What I like about this quest is it's never perfect. There's always room for improvement. And there are always new things to learn, like, as you mentioned in the beginning, always learning being in a perpetual state of self-education. I think that's the important thing, people need to do that. I agree. Let's talk about happiness. what's your definition of happiness? How do you approach happiness? What do you do?
Genie
Okay, so I have a saying that I like very much, which makes me happy. So my approach is to be Kind make magic. And that's a shortened version of another quote, and I'm sorry, I don't have it in front of me. I believe it's from Cinderella. But that's pretty much my motto behind making magic. I just see myself, I'm just a positive person, I believe I always have been. I'm just optimistic. It just comes naturally to me. So I'm, I like to stay in that place. I know, sometimes it's uncomfortable for other people, because, you know, how could you be positive at this time, and somewhere, somehow, I always try to find a silver lining. You know, I try to be appropriate and empathetic and interject that you know, at the appropriate times, but I just am a positive person. And I just like to connect with others as much as possible, because I draw energy from other people. While I think I also give off positive energy, I just like to surround myself with positive influences. And that would be like nature or just media. And just other people. Like I said,
Ryan
The gratitude practice helps to rewire your brain to look for the positive things even when even if you're not feeling very positive. I'm like you. I did the gratitude practice the morning and even if I'm in not the greatest mood for whatever reason, things going on or something like that. I find my mind saying don't do the gratitude practice today because you're not, you know, you're not feeling it, but I forced myself to do it. And after over time, it becomes easier and easier.
Genie
Absolutely. And there's always like the smallest thing to be grateful for, but we just sometimes get over, we get bogged down with the some of the drama, you know, some of the nonsense and that's the other thing like all of this has helped to really, just I know the word is like a little overused, but it's just give me clarity, you know, I've just really been able to drill down to, to what's important. Do I need to confront that issue? Do I need to tell that person? Oh, you know, that's wrong. Like, maybe I just don't need to do that, you know, sometimes you just learn, you don't always have to say something, you know. So, yeah,
Ryan
I love that. So I've got one more question for you, Genie. Then we can wrap up by you telling everyone how they can learn more about you if they want to connect with you only give you a choice in this last question. You could choose you can choose to answer it whichever way you want. What's your number one book, personal development book that you've you've read? Or the number one thing that you pulled from all those books that you read in the beginning that you mentioned in the beginning?
Genie
Wow, that's a really good question. Okay, well, you know what I think and I have this on like a big bulletin board in front of my space every day and it's the first thing that I ever put on my bulletin board like five or six years ago when I was getting back into this world. You are responsible for the energy you bring into this space. That would be my quote, that would be one of the things that I've learned. We all do kind of, you know, come with a certain level of energy. And I just think the thing I like so much about that is that it speaks of personal responsibility. I think there was a time when I took responsibility for other people's actions, and I had to learn that I could not control other people. And that wasn't my role in life, I can only be responsible for my energy. So that's what I think about. And I also realized that whenever I go somewhere, I want to exude the most positive energy that I can, so that I can bring my best self to, you know, any situation.
Ryan
I particularly like that because I'm visualizing as you're speaking, what if everyone did that? Can you imagine if everyone focused on bringing more positive energy, kindness, what things would look like? So I think that's a great way to create a way to end the conversation. So I appreciate you being on Jeannie. It's my pleasure. What's the best way that people could connect with you and learn more about you?
Genie
I guess they could start with LinkedIn. I suppose that would be the easiest. And if you don't mind, I'll just spell my name because it's a little unusual. It's Genie Ge N. IE, and Weiss, W. EISZ.
Ryan
What's your website for your paper business?
Genie
Paper business? It's the paper store and more.com.
Ryan
Perfect. All right. We'll link up both in the show notes. Thanks, Genie. Appreciate it.
Genie
Oh, Ryan, thanks so much. It was wonderful to speak with you.
Ryan
Take care. Thanks for listening to the morning upgrade podcast. Please subscribe and review. And don't forget to visit us at morning upgrade.com For more content