Hay House Radio Episode Recap
- Episode Name: “Boost Health and Confidence with 2 Choices”
- Live Broadcast: May 8th, 2018 at 12:00 pm Pacific Time
Episode Summary Re-cap
In each moment, what will you choose? Love or fear? Stress or peace? Anger or happiness?Join Heather and her guest, Rico Racosky as they discuss how he discovered the secret of wellbeing resides in identifying the two choices you have in each moment. Racosky, once a US Airforce fighter pilot and now a first captain airline pilot, mastered the art and science of making split-second choices with confidence. He will reveal his visual “choice tracker” technique so you can make positive choices in your health, relationships, and career!
Special Guest: Rico Racosky
While Rico Racosky’s life today is a fiery blend of fighter pilot, airline pilot, international best-selling author, speaker, graphic designer, inventor, and Just 2 Choices Radio Show co-host, his early life began as a genuinely unique combination of his love of all things aeronautic and his passion for art. So today it might not come as a surprise that both of these “visual careers” are still playing out in his life in a major way—in his dual careers as a former F16 fighter pilot now-turned airline pilot (Southwest Airlines) and as an author/publisher of multiple graphically-original books that quickly and clearly explain life through VISUALS rather than mere words.
Born and raised in a small western Pennsylvania coal mining and steel town, Rico dreamed of staying “above ground”—waaaay above the ground with flight, although his family worked in the coal mines. Faced with a choice of whether to attend college to pursue graphic design and commercial art—or aviation—he applied to schools for each. Accepted to both, when a spot in aviation opened up, he jumped on it, relegating art to a hobby… for the time being.Working very hard in school for his grades was his “normal” and many times he felt as if he was in a dense fog about how he was actually achieving his dreams. In his pursuit to figure out this how, one day a friend asked him to speak to her high school students about aviation, dreams, and achieving goals.
This turned out to be more of a Q & A than a talk, and while answering a student’s question about setting goals, the formula Dreams + Action = Reality flashed into mind and he immediately recognized that this formula answered his own question as to how he had made his dreams become Reality. Thinking that other kids might find the Dreams + Action = Reality formula useful—yet having never considered writing a book—Rico stepped right into it, wrote the book, self-published, and through word of mouth, found himself being invited to speak at schools on goals and dreams achievement. One children’s positive choice book led to the next—three in all—Dreams + Action = Reality, Go Vertical—Life Has No Ceiling, and D+A=R. These then led to the insights for writing and publishing Just 2 Choices… It Is Your Life in 2009 (first edition).
In 2015, Rico started Just 2 Choices Radio Show, a 30-minute program created to interview celebrities about their life choices—and—at the end of each show, to have the celebrities answer a “Choice Mapping” survey question: “What percentage of life is choice—and what percentage of life is circumstance?
Some of the celebrity guests have been: Dr. John Gray, Robert Kiyosaki, Dee Wallace, Dr. Mike Dow, Heather Dane, Dr, Mitchell Yass, and JB Glossinger.
Racosky holds a BS in Management from the United States Air Force Academy and an MS in Systems Management from the University of Southern California. He is also a full-time pilot for Southwest Airlines—FORTUNE’s “8th Most Admired Company in the World” in 2018.
Website | Just 2 Choices Book | Get Your 2 Choices Downloadable Visual Tracker| Facebook
What Are the 2 Choices and How Do They Work?
When Rico Racosky was growing up, he was told by a guidance counselor that he’d never reach his dreams and should settle for something less. Luckily, he didn’t believe what his teacher said, but it got him wondering. How many other kids believe when they’re told they can’t do something? And how many of us adults are walking around today, afraid to follow our dreams because of internalizing that belief?
Rico went on to become a fighter pilot with the Air Force, then a first caption pilot with Southwest Airlines. It was reflecting back on how he reached his dreams that he shared his formula with school children. The way he first described it was as a formula: Dreams + Action = Results.
But how do you implement this formula? Rico wanted to make is so easy for children that it would also be a no-brainer for adults. What he came up with was this simple: every day, you have “choice opportunities,” the ability to move in the direction of what you want or away from what you want.
2 Choices in Action
In the example depicted here — I choose to be happy, I choose to be less than happy – we can see a reflection of Louise Hay’s affirmations. Louise always said that “It’s only a thought and a thought can be changed.” Rico’s 2 choices give you a way to think about how to make this change. Because there is a focus on choice, you embrace the fact that you are in the driver’s seat. You are the thinker and you can change your thoughts.
In any moment, you can choose to be happy. Or choose to take a step in the direction of your dreams. You can choose to try a new habit that supports your health, or you can choose to fall back into a habit that does not support your health. The key here is that you get to choose and that gives you power.
Louise often taught that life is simple. What we give out, we get back. With the 2 choices, Rico wants us to know that whatever choice — #1 or #2 – that we make becomes the frequency of our lives. If you choose to move toward what you want more often (what he calls choice #1), you will more likely achieve your goals.
5 Tips to Shift if You Get Stuck in Fear, Doubt, or Negativity?
Here are 5 tips to use if you find it difficult to make choice #1 and move toward what you want out of life:
#1 – Recognize Life is a Choice. Say “I choose to…” and see how it makes you feel.
It’s empowering, isn’t it? The more you see choices in every situation (what Rico calls a “choice point”), the more aware you are about all the opportunities you have to attract the abundance you want.
If you can identify why your life isn’t working, what is the opposite of that? How can you start to see every situation in your day and life as a choice, and then choose the one that takes you toward what makes your life work?
#2 – Tell a New Story
Before recognizing what your 2 choices are, it helps to become aware of the story you’ve been telling yourself. Where are you getting stuck in limiting thinking that is stopping you from reaching your dreams? What new story do you want to tell yourself? All the steps toward your new story becomes your choice #1, the choice that takes you toward your goals and dreams. Your old story is filled with steps that are choice #2. Create a visual and write these choices down. Think about them as you go through your life. Notice if you are moving toward your new story, or staying stuck in the old one.
#3 – Use Humor
Laughter is a way to create relief, so use it! When Rico was focusing on losing weight, he put a picture of Captain Hook on his 2 choices visual so that if he gets tempted to follow choice #2 and move away from his good eating habits, he could talk like Caption Hook and making himself laugh. He’d find himself in the ice cream aisle at the store saying “Arrrgh, I’m trying to hook ya!” and his laughter would make it easier to walk past the ice cream without buying it. Over time, he lost 15 pounds by recognizing that he could take choice #1 and eat a piece of fruit or another healthy food instead.
#4 – Practice
As a fighter pilot, Rico had to make split-second choices in life or death situations. When I asked him how he had the confidence to do that, he said practice, practice, practice. Fighter pilots run scenarios and simulations to practice how they will respond in any given situation. With the 2 Choices method, he says that the more you practice recognizing that each situation is a choice point and you choose #1, toward what you want, the easier it is to continue moving toward your goals and dreams. As you make one step, it builds confidence toward the next and so on. The more you see this process work – the more you practice – the easier it is to trust the process.
#5 – To Get Unstuck, Focus on MIRACLEs
We all find ourselves in negative thinking at times. Sometimes, it can feel really hard to get out or really hard to believe in yourself. Perhaps you have tried changing your thoughts and your mind continues to stay stuck in the negative. This is when Rico suggests focusing on MIRACLES:
- M – Mentor. Find someone who can support you in changing your thinking or teach you a new way of thinking or skill that will open your mind.
- I – Internet. Use the internet to search for ideas, education and opportunities to move into a new way of thinking.
- R – Read. Read books and articles that open your mind or inspire you.
- A – Ask. If you’re not sure what to do, ask someone! Don’t feel like you have to have it all figured out.
- C – Call. Call someone for advice, support, ideas, brainstorming, feedback, or inspiration.
- L – Listen. Listen to others and most of all, listen to your body and intuition. What is inner wisdom telling you?
- E – Emotion. As you think about your choices, what emotion are you feeling? Choice #1 typically brings a feeling of relief or hope. Choice #2 often feels heavy and stuck. What can you choose to bring an emotion of relief?
Want to let go so you can heal? Join Heather and Amy B. Scher for a deep healing immersion weekend at 1440 Multiversity!
You’ll participate in clearing and healing sessions led by Amy and Heather using their successful self-healing tools: Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), The Sweep, The Vision Quest method, Native American healing practices, and several fear reprogramming techniques.
You will also explore:
- How to move beyond your genetics and access your body’s ability to heal
- Why achieving complete, lasting wellness is only possible by releasing emotions, beliefs, and fear
- How mind-body healing is a necessary complement to any medical plan you are currently following
- Simple, step-by-step techniques for being—and staying—well, and tips to easily integrate them into daily life.
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