Alright now. You made it. You did it. It's finished strong Friday, and you're right here with me on the sweet spot. Thank you. Thank you for walking with me this week as we've been facing giants together. I'm Dr. Derek Sweet. As you know, I'm a board's certified psychiatrist who specializes in high performance. And the sweet spot is where we try to blend neuroscience with ancient wisdom and also throw in some real life practical lessons so we can rise. It's Finish Strong Friday, my friends, and we're deep in the fight. All week long in our Facing Giants series, you've named the Giant, you've let go of what didn't fit, you've locked in your focus, and yesterday we learned about trusting what's already in you. If you haven't heard all of these pearls and these nuggets of wisdom that we've been exploring and grappling and unpacking all week, I invite you to go back and listen to Making Moves Monday. Check out Take Action Tuesday or Win It All Wednesday or maybe just review what you heard on Trust Yourself Thursday. We find ourselves today in Finishing Strong because we understand here on Finish Strong Friday that none of this matters if you don't follow through with power. We've been looking at the story of David and Goliath and just drawing from that ancient wisdom, just drawing the power, the knowledge, the insights, the lessons of this divine message. And what we've been learning is that David was unafraid. David faced the giant. David stepped up. Another insight that we got was that David didn't stop at just showing up. He didn't pause when the giant got closer to him. He didn't circle, overthink, or second guess, and keep perseverating and going round and round with what's gonna happen and how am I gonna do this? Because he wasn't in that mode. No, no, no. David ran to the fight and he finished it. I wonder if it was on Friday. Maybe he did this whole thing on a Friday. Wouldn't that be cool? I'll have to go check that out. Look, in the ancient wisdom, 1 Samuel, it says this David ran quickly toward the battle to meet the Philistine. He struck the Philistine, he struck Goliath with a stone, a single stone, and he drew Goliath's sword and cut off his head. Let that sink in for a minute. A lot of times we don't hear that part of the story. We only hear about this the little pebble and how it knocked the giant down and kind of feels like, okay, that's good. That's the part that's cool, and we got it, the giant's down. But no, no, no, and you're dealing with a giant. The ancient wisdom wants us to understand that when we're dealing with a giant, when you're facing a giant and you have defeated that, you've got to make sure that that giant isn't coming back. Let that sink in. He didn't just knock Goliath down, he made sure that that threat was done once and for all. That's the finished strong mentality. David had a kind of holy resolve. He didn't say, maybe later. He didn't say, I'll wait for some backup. Oh no, no, no, he finished strong right there, right there, right then. You know, in some of the locker rooms that I work in, we have a saying, right here, right now. And I get the impression that that's the kind of action David took. And that might be helpful to you today. To understand that when you are dealing with a giant, you cannot be negotiating. You cannot back down. You have to stand firm, stand your ground. Because from previous podcasts, when we stand, we win. We've got to embrace the threat. Remember that series that we did, right? So look, finish strong. Because when you take bold action without delay, your brain shifts from survival mode into what they call executive function mode in neuroscience. An executive function mode, you know what part of the brain does executive function mode? That's your prefrontal cortex. That's the system that's responsible for your clarity, for your decision making, and for your execution. And when you choose to complete a task, like you say, I'm gonna take on this giant, whatever your giant is, and remember, we said giants can be internal or external. Giants don't have to be this large mountain or figure standing in front of you, it could be just your self-doubt, just your fear, just your worry and anxiety grown to the size of a giant. And when you decide to take action, to take a step towards this giant, and you decide to cut its head off once and for all, you're not gonna let this giant win. When you take it on, wow, your brain, your prefrontal cortex, your executive function mode is jacked up in a good way, and you get a clean dopamine reward here. And you know when dopamine starts flowing in our brains and our neural systems, what happens is that it dopamine reinforces learning, it reinforces motivation, and you get more power for your next move. That's why finishing matters, that's why we say finish strong. Not for praise, but for the internal momentum that it generates in your brain. Once David started, once David decided that he was gonna face Goliath, that he was gonna take on his giant, okay, he started getting momentum in his prefrontal cortex. Neuroplasticity began to take over. New neurons began to form. And his brain was learning that I'm not gonna let the amygdala, I'm not gonna let the threat detection center stop me, make me hesitant, make me scared. I am allowing my prefrontal cortex to make this decision on purpose. And I'm going to slay this dragon, I'm going to cut his head off. I'm gonna not allow this giant to dominate me anymore. Don't half-slay your dragons and then wonder why they're still breathing fire. That's a quote I saw once. I don't know who said it, but don't half-slayons and then wonder why they're still breathing fire. Cut their heads off. That's what David taught us in the ancient wisdom. You don't just hit the giant, you cut the head of this giant off. You don't just confront the issue, you resolve the issue. You don't just face the fear, you end its grip on you. And you do that by taking action. Feel the fear, but do it anyway. Remember? We had a series on that. It's also a great book, I think by Susan Jeffries. I'm not sure. But feel the fear and do it anyway. That's the idea on finishing strong. Some of you have been circling your giant a little too much, taking a few swings, dipping in, dipping out. But finish strong Friday is your reminder, you're not just called to fight, you're built to finish. I'll say it again. You are not just called to fight, you are built to finish. And no, every battle doesn't end in a day. Sometimes you're facing a chronic situation, sometimes you're facing a uh a matter that's really big and strong, it's gonna take time. Some things take weeks, some giants take weeks and months to defeat. Some take all your grit and your resolve day after day. But here on Fridays, we finish something every week. That's the idea. You finish strong on something every week, every single week, and then we stack our strong finishes. We keep stacking our finishes, so we don't have to look at it as one battle, it may be several battles, several finish lines that we're gonna get through. And eventually, bri by brick, inch by inch, swing by swing, the giant has nowhere left to stand. So, today's challenge on Finish Strong Friday, I want you to ask yourself, what's the thing I've started but I haven't fully finished? Where do I need to finish strong? How do I have to what do I have to do? And how do I do this one foot in front of the other? One decision at a time, one mindset shift at a time. What can I do today? Don't just knock it down, my friend. Cut it off. Take one step today that signals I'm not circling this giant anymore, I'm closing this out. Because that's what David did. That's what happened in the ancient wisdom, and the neuroscience backs it up. Your brain loves it when you make decisions. Your brain loves it when you take action. And that's what Finished Strong Friday is all about. I'm Dr. Derek Sweet. You've been listening to The Sweet Spot. You've been walking with me all week on this important topic about facing giants. Tomorrow is self-care Saturday. And just like David rested after the battle, we're gonna be talking about the sacred discipline of recovery. Every athlete, every performer, every hard worker out there knows something about the importance of recovery, but we don't always do it. And notice I said the discipline of recovery because it takes discipline to do the recovery work. Because rest isn't retreat, my friends, when you're dealing with giants. Rest is not retreat, it's reinforcement so you can come back strong. Again, this is the sweet spot. This is Dr. Sweet. I really enjoy talking with you. You've got this. I believe in you. You're gonna finish strong today. You're gonna find that one or two things that you gotta do, and you're gonna finish them. You're gonna cut off the head of a giant today. I know you are, and I'll see you tomorrow. Love and blessings,