Hoptimus Prime and Harey Styles

Yoyo

Welcome back to 5 Minute Masterclass, email coaching for excellent humans short on time. 

Hey, do me a favour? I’d love to be ‘Coach Pen Pal’ with more people who need it! So if these emails float your boat, forward it on to a colleague, friend of family member who might benefit – if they write back tome, I’ll always respond!

Short on time? Skip the warmup, and jump straight to the question at the end. 

The Warmup

Worst lockdown purchase?

I’ll start.

Hoptimus Prime and Harey Styles: the demon rabbits.

I dunno how much you know about pet shops in the Dandenong Ranges…

…butlet’s just say they play fast and loose with such trivial things as immunisations, food prescriptions and care arrangements.

One of the dumbest questions I’ve ever asked:

“So, are these, like, house bunnies? Can they just, like, hop wild and free?”

“For sure, I reckon” the gum-chewing, red-eyed teenager mumbled.

As it turns out, that is absolutely true.

As long as you’re ok with them completely destroying everything you own.

I knew a bit about rabbits, though – first of all, I checked how old they were.

I looked for grey hares.

Hahaha nah seriously, though, I did inspect for receding harelines.

(He’s here all night, folks!)

While my preferred mode of travel is hareplane (get it?), I drove the already grumpy rabbits home in their cardboard box.

Popped it open, and the chaos ensued.

Turns out, rabbits don’t like people much (besides as scratching posts and teeth sharpeners).

Turns out, within four hours an entire lounge room can be blanketed in a triple layer of rabbit shit.

Turns out, they’re happy to eat the coach, the chairs, the Nintendo Switch controllers, the indoor plants, my sneakers… pretty much anything except their actual food, which they can take or leave.

Case in point: the next morning, I awoke to an electricity outage.

Blackout? Powerlines down? Nuclear fallout?

Nope.

Hoptimus Prime had decided to eat entirely through the refrigerator power cord, which blew a fuse and rendered the fridge completely useless.

Just to repeat: He chewed a live power cord ALL THE WAY THROUGH.

Somehow, this didn’t result in Kentucky Fried Rabbit.

Not even a hot cross bunny.

These hell-spawned mutants clearly come equipped with the healing powers of Wolverine.

For days the beasts ran the house – and my life.

I felt powerless to deal with it – running around after them with a pan and shovel, making offerings of worn out sneakers in the hope they’d leave my box-fresh Jordans alone (they did not).

Halfway through emptying the spare room so they could have their own space to destroy came a moment of clarity.

On the verge of handing over an entire spare room to the critters, I realised the power these 1kg balls of fluff were holding over me.

And decided ENOUGH is ENOUGH.

I burned rubber to Bunnings, returning with ‘The Chook Mansion’ – a massive several story sprawling chicken cage with ramps and hutches and trap doors.

At first, Harey Styles and Hoptimus Prime were hopping mad about their new home.

But they soon came around, and order was restored.

Can you guess where I’m going with this?

How often do you have pesky runaway thoughts bouncing all around your mind and ruining your day?

Might be a conversation you’re dreading with your boss, or a partner, or a staff member.

Might be a nagging anxiety about how you look, or what you’re wearing.

Might be bigger concerns about status, legacy, money, family - you name it.

These invasive thoughts – which are not ‘real’, they are literally made up in your head – might determine whether your day, week, month or even year is a positive experience.

How useful are these nagging head loops that start running your life?

About as useful as an ash tray on a motor bike.

So here’s what you’re going to do.

Get out your version of ‘the Chook Mansion’.

(Might be a journal, a piece of paper, a word file, a phone note, or even an email tome.)

Write the pestering thoughts down, then rate out of 10 how important dealing with this issue is to you.

If the score is less than 7?

Rip out the page, scrunch up the paper, delete the word file.

Pour some kero on your laptop and light a match.

LET IT GO.

It’s not worth your time and energy.

How ever, if it’s 7 or above?

Time to grab the bull by the horns…

…or the rabbit by the tail?...

…and TAKE ACTION.

I know it can be hare-raising (ok, ok, I’ll stop now).

But goddamn, the relief that comes from tackling something head on IS IMMENSE.

Need support?

Holler anytime, I’ve got your back!

The Five Minute Masterclass

If you're new, here's the drill – this is your 5 Minute Masterclass in YOU.

Set a timer on your phone or computer. You can either take 1 Minute per Question (5 mins total), or do a 5 Minute Deep Dive on the question that feels most important - just shoot from the hip here, let your subconscious speak! 

Smash out your response, then hit send. I'll write back to you in the next few days 🙂

Then skip out into your Friday, slurp a spicy margarita and enjoy a weekend buoyed on your wins and lightened of your burdens!

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Let's go!

1. What did you do this week that felt important?

2. What from this week will you purge and leave behind?

3. What from this week will you celebrate and take forward?

4. What are you going to do next week – and how will you measure progress?

5. Is there anything else on your mind that feels important to say?

Have an awesome weekend

Nick

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PS: If you find 5 Minute Masterclass useful, please feel free to forwardonto your colleagues, friends or family members – I’ll reply toanyone, once per week 😊