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Jay’s Must-Listens: The Biggest Lessons From 10 of Our Most Inspiring Conversations

75m 52s

Jay’s Must-Listens: The Biggest Lessons From 10 of Our Most Inspiring Conversations

The conversation reflects on the evolution of personal and relational maturity, rooted in authenticity, emotional honesty, and self-awareness. The speaker shares how a near-death experience and life challenges led to a profound shift in values—moving from materialism and external success to deep appreciation for love, family, and presence. Central to this journey is the understanding that true connection isn’t about constant availability or perfection, but about mutual respect, space, and emotional maturity. The host emphasizes that relationships, especially long-term ones, require intentional effort and boundaries, with the ability to give space and return with care showing emotional strength. He also highlights the loss of spiritual and reflective spaces in modern life, urging people to reclaim quiet time for self-reflection. Personal growth is further illustrated through habits like quitting alcohol, which brought mental clarity and emotional stability. The discussion underscores that lasting friendships depend on three key pillars: proximity, shared life timing, and compatible energy—highlighting that when these shift, relationships naturally evolve. Ultimately, the message is empowering: vulnerability, self-honesty, and the courage to change are not signs of weakness, but the foundation of a meaningful, intentional life. The speaker encourages listeners to reevaluate their relationships, reach out to old friends, and embrace emotional maturity as a path to deeper fulfillment.

Transcription

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Hey everyone, welcome back to On Purpose. Before we get into today's episode, I just want to take a moment to acknowledge this community we've built here on YouTube. When we started this journey, the intention was simple, to create a space where we could all feel less alone, where wisdom felt practical and conversations explored what it really means to live with purpose. And you turned that into something far bigger than I ever imagined. The community we built together became a place of learning, reflection, and genuine connection. Now, this isn't a goodbye to YouTube. It's a new chapter in how we share these conversations. You'll be able to watch our full video interviews on Netflix and Spotify video, and we'll continue showing up here on YouTube in new ways as we keep building this community together. The heart of this has never changed. It's always been about helping you live a life that feels more intentional, more meaningful, and more true to who you are. I'm deeply grateful you've been a part of this, and I can't wait to continue this journey together. It's just the beginning. Today's episode felt like the perfect moment to look back. This is a collection of some of the most powerful conversations we've shared over the years. The moments that challenged us, shifted us, and stayed with us. That's not good. I think to myself, I'm like, "How can I make Selina's day better?" Like, "What can I do in my day to make her day better?" Because then that makes my day better. And I wanted to find a person like that. And I know in Selina Wakes, the first thing she's thinking is how can I make his day better? And we have such a give and take. I could never even see a world where I would ever yell at her. She would ever yell at me like, "We don't argue like that." I feel like we just have conversations. There's never an argument. Sometimes she'll say, "This is so funny." No, boy. No, no, no. She'll do this and it's really cool. I'm feeling a little irritated and I think I need like 25 minutes. And I'll say, "Okay." And then I give her her space. And then after like five minutes, she text me, she's like, "Hey, will you come back?" But it's knowing that and we have the proper boundaries set with each other. Like, I don't have to be on top of her every second. She doesn't have to be on top of me every second or together. I just want to know she's in the house. So I can say like, "Hey, I love you." And then go back to what I'm doing. You know what I mean? Because look, we're both highly independent people. Okay? But we're both little mushes who just need to be attached. Yeah, we are so cheesy. It's so fun. Yeah. I love the maturity. I mean, hearing you both talk about it. Yes, but let's be clear. We are not the perfect people. No, no, no. We're so silly. So agreeing. No, no, no, but I think the maturity of, and I agree with you, I think, I think that's actually the difference. And I'm glad you brought that up. I think there's a big difference between maturity and perfection. Yeah. Perfection is saying we never have a disagreement. We never have to take space from each other. We know, you know, which you're not saying. You're saying, "Hey, I just asked for 25 pieces of space." And then I was like, "Wait a minute, I need you." Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I think there's a maturity in that because it requires maturity from both parts. Yeah. For you to first say, "Hey, I need space." For you to say, "I get it, I respect you." And then for you to have the maturity to say, "Actually, I want you back." Yeah. And for you to be like, not like, "Oh, I told you so." For you to be like, "I'm here for you." Like, that's not perfection. To me, that's maturity. And I think that's, I really want people to get that from it. That you are going to have disagreements. You are going to want space. Like, me and Radee went through that. She, at the beginning of our relationship, if we had a disagreement and we were the same, we never, we made a rule that we would never raise our voices at each other because I came from a home where it was not great. Yeah. She comes from a home where her parents don't raise their voices. But I was just like, I never wanted them my home. I wanted the energy of my home to be so sacred. And I wanted the energy of the home to always have a space where everyone just walked in and felt like a warm hug. And I was like, we can't argue and then expect that to happen. But it took a long time for us to realize that when she at the start of our disagreements, she wanted space. And I used to say to her, well, if you don't want to talk about it right now, that means you don't care about me. And that wasn't true. She just needed space to process. So it took time for us to mature. For me to realize, wait a minute, you wanting space, is you caring for the relationship? When you start dating someone, you're not only dating them. You're dating every single person they've ever dated. Every single relationship they've ever had in their past. Because you're getting every piece of baggage that that person's carried in that, what they've learned through their own personal life, through the life with partners, with their parents, with this, that, and I had to find a way to build that trust with her. Not make it feel overbearing and make it feel real and make her actually believe it. And vice versa, like I know that she fully tried. If I say, hey, I'm just going to do this today. There's nowhere in her mind that's thinking that. And if for any chance that she, I always told her, I said, it's okay. If you have moments of doubt and something and a feeling, always talk to me. And I'll talk you through anything that you may have. If you say, hey, I know this is a crazy thing. I just had a dream. And I woke up from this dream. And I was upset. Sometimes she'll just say, please tell me I can trust you. Or please tell me you're not doing anything stupid. And I say, you can call me anytime you want. And I'm aware of her strengths. And I'm aware of her weaknesses. And what I try to do is surround her with a lot of things to help her. So if she's away, and I have to go to a dinner than a party, then this thing, then that thing. It's a simple text in between each things. It says, hey, babe, I'm going to this next thing I'm thinking about you. Wait, so the album, I said, I love you first. Yes. So Selena, you said I love you first. Yes, she said it. What made you want to say that? Because that's a big step. I definitely have never been the first. So this is the first time in your life you were the first? Yes. Wow. I wanted him to also know how committed I was. And deep down I just felt that. And I, I was tired of protecting myself. We had spent enough time together where, you know, I felt like this was my person. And I had the courage enough to say it. But I was very nervous and luckily he said it back. And the thing that's crazy is, you know, before you say I love you, it's like this thing. It's like taboo, you're scared to say. And then after you're like, oh my god, I can't, like you want to say it a thousand times in a row. You never want, I can't even understand how I went so long without saying it to her. I say it three thousand times a day to her. And I like, I make sure every day I say, I love you so much. Like I love you a million times. And then I always tell her how beautiful she is and how lucky I am to have her every day. You know what I'm saying? It's so annoying like you. And I always want it. No, and I always want to do that because I want her to know that every day, I don't take any of anything for granted. And I still look at her and my breath gets taken away in so many different ways. And I said to her last night, we were sitting, we were in like the pool or something together last night. And we were just hanging out and I was just like, you're so beautiful. And I don't mean that just physically. I'm saying like, you can feel it. There's like a ring, like an aura around her that exudes just like warmth. And it just-- You would make me want to cry. And I-- How do you react in the moment that happens, Selena? Because Benny, we're basically the same person. I do the same thing to my wife. I do that to Roddy all the time. Like we're so lucky. Roddy will just pull the funniest face in the world. She does the same thing. I was like, how do you react when Benny's telling you all these amazing things Selena will do, say? Because I say, now let's be honest. I also am equally grateful. And I tell him that all the time. I just-- it makes me feel like it's not real. And sometimes I'll be like, this seems too good to be true. Like, he's so sweet to me. But now I've accepted it. I think I actually love it so much that it just makes me want to give him that support and that love back. So it's safe to say I feel much safer doing that now. And I like it. I think so many people feel that when someone's that nice-- and that's coming from someone who's like that myself with friends, family, and obviously with my wife too-- a lot of the time that's seen as a weakness. Like, people kind of look down on it when someone's that open about their feelings. Especially I get asked that a lot when I'm giving relationship or dating advice. People will be like, oh no, but if I come on too strong, people get turned off. What this time was different for you, where it's like-- he's being really affectionate. He's being really open. But there's a part of you that realizes that's what you want, and that's what you deserve. What I felt for Benny, it was everything about him was honest. It wasn't just that he was honest with me. He was honest about where he was at in life, and he'll tell me anything that he's feeling. And it made me feel like I could do the same. But he's the one person. And you're saying those nice things to me, babe. It's like so sweet. But I believe him to where I'm not going to believe someone who is blowing smoke up my butt to just make me feel good. He's saying it because he means it. And I believe it. Yeah, that's beautiful. That honesty that someone has in every area of their life. including their bad days, their tough days, their challenging days, then when they're saying that, whether their day's good or bad, and they feel that way, it resonates with us. I think we all sense that the biggest drug, it's not cocaine, it's not heroin, it's not molly or opioids, and the biggest drug is fame. And now it's more accessible in different doses. It's the biggest drug. And the reason why it's the biggest drug, because it's a drug that makes you feel like you are powerful and like everywhere you go, anything you want, everything you want, it's a thing. And if you can't handle this thing, the consequences attached to when that thing is removed are severe. Nobody prepares you for the world of fame. There is no handbook, there is no outline, there is no guide by guide, step one to step ten. There's nothing. You get it, and yesterday you weren't, and today you are, and tomorrow you're not, well, no, we're done. People get shell shocked. That to me has always been the point of no return. At the end of the day, this can wear off if and when however sees or decides, and if that were to happen, well, what am I, where am I? It's all going to, it's all going to be in the back too. Are you happy with who you are and what you did? Are you at a point where you are okay? Do you know you and are you okay with you? If you are not, it'll break you. Your energy is incredible. And just the depth, what I love about this, and this was my vision with this show, and you're helping me achieve that, which I'm very grateful for is, I don't think, and I love that you've been doing this more and more with the audible, with, hot to hot, like, we're getting to see your depth. We're getting to see the mind behind you. Again, as we said earlier, we like to limit people, we like to limit people into, like, you just be a comedian, or you just be a race car driver, or you just be a actor, and it's like, we're starting to realize that, like you said, you're not just watching someone's life on TV. There's a human here. There's, there's a story here, and we're getting that with you. Do you think it was, was this something, was this an epiphany that you had before the accident? Was it that this really, because in your audible, when you talk about like how, when it's just silent, you figure out what really matters. Like, when I heard that, I was just thinking like, all near death experiences, you were told when you came out of it, you should be dead, and you're like, well, I don't remember anything. Does that feel like that was a moment that there is a massive awakening, or were you already kind of working with some of this? No, I had a, I was always a transparent authentic person, but you definitely change. That's what you, you, you definitely change. And by the way, it's still changing. I'm not sitting in front of you. Yes, it's a meaty flaw. Man, like I am my dad's child, and my, my mother's child as well. There's nothing more humbling than a quiet room. There's nothing more humbling than the realization of what is really like necessary. What you take for granted, and what we don't think twice about, is not until that's compromised, that the true appreciation for life, I feel like, it sometimes be had. I don't want to speak for everybody because I think there are some people that truly do get it, and that truly do think whatever their space or version of a higher power is daily for life and for what they do. You know, I believe in God. So I'm, I'm not as spiritual as some may be, but I'm very thankful for the life that God has allowed me to live and the opportunities that I've been able to embark upon. But I got a lot more appreciation after life was almost gone. Right? Like, do you really appreciate your toes? Do you really appreciate your fingers? Like, do you really think about your movement, your joints, vision, smell? Do you really think about how fortunate and, and lucky you are? It's the only time where I get a little, where I slow up. Right? And when, when I'm slowing up, it's because the reality of that was significant. I really almost died. My kids and all that, like, what? As I'm moving so fast, I didn't even have everything dialed up for if said thing were to happen. What? Oh, because I'm, I'm out here. I'm just Roman. I'm out here aimlessly living and I'm moving so fast I've yet to grasp the true concept and reality of responsibility immediately. Let me get my responsibilities in order because if that had have been, it would have been a lot of people with their hands up as to what, how, when fame is great, the lights are great. Have a heart, have a heart, have a heart number one, number one. I was in that room with my god damn wife, my brother, my kids. You look around, you got a lot of friends, you got a lot of people to love you, but then you started to, well, what really matters? That's when my mindset started to change. That's when you go, okay, my approach to just me and working on me, it needs to be different. I've contradicted myself a lot since, you know, I want to slow down and make sure I get my family more time I have. That doesn't mean there can't be more. The day-to-day battle of am I giving enough and my guys, you know, how much dad loves you. I'm here. I mean, like, you know, always working to make sure to do more, but is it enough? My work of hauling? Okay, but that's not a bad thing because I'm, you love the work. Yes, you do. That's a passion. You get, you got something that you go after every day. That is a driving source for me. I'm not in the business of letting that go, but, well, you better put your hands on these people and make sure you better make sure that you are giving the time that you said you would when you were in that time of silence. Okay, all right. I'm constantly talking to myself. I have these conversations all the time. That's the beauty of taking my little runs, the beauty of working out, being in the gym. You talk to yourself. You better talk to yourself. You better have conversations. Figure out a yin and yang of good and bad. For me, it was about personal involvement after that accident. And still trying, man, it's the biggest battle. It's the big, the biggest battle was just doing right all the time. That's a battle. I used to value, I mean, stuff. I live in an area where there would be fires a lot. And there was probably four times we had to fully pack up the house. Everything out, houses catching on fire, property caught on fire, like really close to losing everything. First time packed up my entire shoe and bag closet. And a lot of them because they were memory stuff from my dad, stuff in high school, but all designer stuff, also videos, photos, whatever, digitized everything, put everything important somewhere else. Second, pack up the designer stuff, but leave some of the clothes. I don't really need all the clothes, but I packed a hotel for months, bags about every designer thing that I had had to come. Third time, leave all the bags and shoes. I don't need them. We got all the photos. We got all the my little blankie when I was little. The kids stuff. Fourth time, leave everything. Me and my babies, that's all I need. You know, I have all my photos digitized. I have everything digital. We got our passports. We're good. And that like evolution of like they had to go in and get all my designer stuff. Or I'm not leaving my house. You know, it's going to catch on fire. And now I'm like nothing is worth it. Nothing is important. And I think that comes from life experiences, scary experiences, things shaking you to your core to make you realize that nothing is important. You can't, I know everyone says this, but like you can't take it with you. None of it is important. Yeah, there's a beautiful Islamic proverb that says, detachment doesn't mean that you own nothing. It means that nothing owns you. And I feel so often we become owned by our dreams, our desires, our pursuits, our things. It doesn't mean that we have to give them all away or we don't have those things. It's just if and when we have to let go, we're willing, are we able to let go? Totally. Even with work stuff, I mean, it doesn't just have to be the material things. Like you said, like your dreams and it's okay to be able to let go, but work so hard to like the opposites are okay, contradicting yourself a little bit in those ways. You know, it's like in relationships, you can love a person, miss a person so much, but still have the wisdom to know they're not your person and you're better off not together. That like opposite can connection with everything I think is really important to have that awareness in everything in life, relationships, material things, all of that. Yeah, I officiated a wedding a few years ago and someone came up to me from the audience and said to me, Jay, I realized from what you were saying that they had just gone through a breakup recently and they were saying, Jay, I realized that I loved that person but we didn't like each other anymore. And it was that essence of like, they'll always be that deep love for each other. Yeah. But we just don't like family, you know, like you love people and but it's okay to feel a protection of a person but then also protecting yourself and realizing when you have to and when it's time and it's okay to feel all of the opposite emotions, you know, I think as long as you're really well aware and go through the motions and feel things and don't hold things in, it's so important whether it's, you know, breakups, deaths, I've always been really clear headed and like gone through the feelings, gone through the emotions, more in those relationships, more in those lifelong relationships that you hope for and then also be okay and calm and realizing, I've always been someone like, okay, my dad died. Why is this happening? What was his purpose here and how are we going to grow and learn from this experience? And I always said that like right when he passed and I was felt it and super emotional about it and, you know, cry all the time when great things happen that I wish he was here. But also, I had a wisdom at like a younger age to understand that this is like a part of our journey and a part of our like evolution and this happens and this is why you have to hold on to relationships even more precious but don't let things destroy you at the same time. We live in a very busy chaotic world, lots of noise, lots of distraction, I mean how many times have you heard people say, oh, you know, social media and like all the, you know, people can't walk down this street without listening to music, everybody has to be visually stimulated all the time. There's no peace, there's no quiet. We're not comfortable being quiet with ourselves and looking inward and asking ourselves, why am I here? What am I doing or what is my intention in a specific choice I'm making right now? Whether it's about my work or the way I'm raising my children, decisions that I make about everything really. I have to ask myself and if you don't have a spiritual life, you're never going to stop and ask any questions. You're just going to plow through life and if you just and and you're going to see everything that happens to you as just a random event and I don't believe that anything is random. I think everything that happens to us is meant to happen to us, to teach us some kind of a lesson. But, you know, the question is, are you aware enough? Are you awake enough? Are you interested enough to find out what that reason is? Like, why did this happen to me? What is my lesson? I don't want to go through life seeing everything that happens to me as random, but I also don't want to go through life as a victim. And I've had a pretty challenging life. And it's easy to fall into the trap of feeling sorry for yourself or like being a victim or, you know, why isn't this happening to other people? Why isn't happening to me? Why don't I have what that person has? I'm sure you know the expression comparison is the killer of joy. So, you know, it's like, you got to get out of that game. You have to have a spiritual life. You just have to. You're reminding me of something beautiful that I came across called the third space theory. Have you heard of it? It's this idea that as humans, around 50 years ago, we had three spaces. So we had work, we had home. And then you had a temple, a synagogue, a church, a community center, or a third space. And the point of that third space, it's kind of what you're saying, was a place that you could look back at work and home. And you could reflect on your life. You could take stock. You could introspect. But as time's gone on, what's happened is we lost that third space. We stopped going to temple church, community, whatever place of self reflection, a place of self reflection. And we ended up with working home. And then after the pandemic, we lost work. And so now we're in one space. And we don't have a different vantage point to where we are anymore, which is what I think you're saying. Go back on even one more step that to me is like a prison. If you remove the spiritual life, spiritual practice, you remove the workplace, then you're in the home. And then removed once more from home is you're looking at your phone, which is even takes you out of home. It's a great point, yeah. So where are you? You're nowhere. We're living in the virtual world. Yeah, we're living in the virtual world, not even in the material world. We're just. Yes, but a virtual and a virtual world is not a bad world. But if you don't have consciousness, there's really no point to living. Yeah, it's, yeah. So it's interesting to think about that because I feel like everyone can relate to the idea that if we all had, we need physical spaces to sometimes make us do internal things. Yes. I mean, some kind of ritualistic behavior has to happen. What have been your rituals? I mean, intrigued. What I'm curious? What are your spiritual practices and rituals that have been so supportive and emblematic of your journey that have kept you going at the times. As you said, there were so many times you could give up or things could go wrong. You kept pushing and they kept you locked. What were they? What are they? Well, one really important thing is studying, making time every week to sit down and study. I mean, you can study the Bible. You can study the poetry of Cahill Gibran or you can study the Vedas, you know. And you did that, right? You actually studied different traditions on you. I mean, to be honest, before I discovered Kabbalah, I was looking for answers. Why do you think that was? Why were you looking for answers? Because I had everything that people would assume would give you happiness. I had a successful career. I had fame, fortune, monetary things, physical things, but I wasn't happy. And I naturally sought out, well, when I was a dancer, I had a roommate. She was a Buddhist and she would get up and chant every day. And so I was very intrigued by that. Like nothing bothered her, you know what I mean? Everything bothers me. I'm, you know, I'm a Leo. I'm Italian. I'm very dramatic. I would say she was peaceful all the time, but I was just struck by her confidence and her knowingness that everything was happening for a reason. She never got upset about things. And this is in the beginning of my career when I was living in New York. And I was broke. And a lot of crazy things happened to me. It's really scary, traumatic things. And I would always ask her, her name is Mariana. I would always say, why are you like never upset? So I attributed that to her spiritual life, but it didn't speak to me. And then later on, I started practicing yoga, ashtanga yoga. And my teacher Eddie Stern, he still has a love that he's great. You know, any? Oh, yeah, he's amazing. I got quite caught up in and competitive about like first series, second series, third series. But one thing I noticed is that a lot of people would come into his practice, his studio where he taught. And they wouldn't even do the poses. They would just go and sit in front of the statue of Ganesh or light candles or prayer. And I realized and Eddie pointed it out to me because sometimes I would have injuries. I would, or I would be traveling and I couldn't practice yoga. And he said, look, are you breathing? And I'd say yes. And he said, you're practicing yoga. So I realized that I was too still to caught up in the physical poses. He's like, no, you don't understand. You're missing the whole point. The poses are just something that you do to breathe through to calm your nervous system down. And to bring you back to your center. And that really spoke to me. You know, you always get asked when you're like promoting these big films. Like, so do you guys hang out on set? Like, do you guys hang out? And like, are you all friends? And everyone's sort of like nods enthusiastically. But the truth is, no one has seen each other outside of work. Like very, very, very rarely. Mostly because the schedule is insane. Everyone's so tired that when they get any time off, you're going straight back to your hotel room to try to like claw in any piece of rest that you possibly can. And like, I don't know. Like, friendships require a time and trust and presence and those things like very rarely come about. They can and do occasionally, but it's more of a solar eclipse than an everyday situation. But you have to pretend, I think that's the part that starts to feel icky after a while, is that you have to pretend that you're all best friends. And what's so sad, and I know this isn't just the case for me, but like, I think people wish they were. I think we wish we did have those real connections and we did have that real support. And so having to pretend that something exists that you actually really want, but don't have, is like, it's like pretty grainy in the wound, you know, it's like, it's pretty like tough pill to swallow, to have to act out something that you wish were real, but isn't real. And I think that's the part that starts to kind of, yeah, I can speak for myself, but those are definitely the moments for when like, this feels dark. Like anyone else, like, this feels dark. And there's such a real reminder that it's still work. And it's almost like asking anyone who works at any company and saying, Hey, do you hang out with your team after work every night? And the answer is probably no, yeah, no, everyone's going home to their family. And maybe you've got a couple of, of course, you've got a couple of friends at work. And it's wonderful if you have a friend at work that you work out with or see after hours, but you're not hanging out as the whole crew. It's, it's very unlikely and it is that reality check of, no, but this is also just work. Yeah. And their character stories and not their personal stories. And it doesn't. And that's why I wanted to go back. You mentioned there. You talked about how Harry Potter had a family feel. And I wanted to ask you, how did that come about in the first, like, what, what was, where did the auditions come from? Like, how did that become a part of your life? Yes. So I did not go to a performing arts school. I'd never done anything. I never acted professionally. But they came, they, they did like a basically country wide search to find Harry, Hermione and Ron. And so they asked my school if they wanted to submit any students who love drama, who wanted to audition. And so I was one of, I think, about 12 students that was asked if I wanted to audition. I don't know. It was weird. I had this weird, weighted, faded sense of destiny pretty much from the moment that that they said they mentioned the audition. I remember, I brought, I think, maybe like seven different beanie babies with me along and like all these different, like, lucky talismans. And I loved the world and the books so much. My dad had been reading them to me before bed when I would spend the weekends with him and on long car journeys. We'd often drive back and forwards to France and that's how the time would be passed. And so I was just like loved the world, loved Hermione. And for me, it wasn't so much about acting so much as it was that like I just, the books meant so much to me personally. Did you feel like it was destiny for you or did it feel like, did you always feel like it was going to be this? I always, obviously, the books were already, you know. I always felt like Hermione was, I knew I was never auditioning for anything else, like I knew it was her. I don't know. I don't know how to explain it. Something felt right about it. And my, yeah, my poor parents, because if I hadn't have got it, I think they knew her. I ended up doing nine auditions over a period of over a year and a half, which for a nine-year-old is a massive commitment. But I was, I loved her. I loved it. I really did. What I try to do is just try to be still and understand that things come and go. Emotions come and go. The important thing is to accept them all, to embrace them all. And then you can choose to do with them, but you want versus being controlled by emotion. You know, a lot of times I've seen players, even myself, you know, when I was younger, being consumed by a particular fear. And to the point where you're saying, okay, nah, it's, it's not good to feel fear. I shouldn't be nervous in a situation like that. And it does nothing but grow versus stepping back and saying, yeah, I am nervous about the situation. Yeah, I am fearful about the situation. But what am I afraid of? And then you kind of unpack it. And then it gives you ability to look at it for really what it is, which is nothing more than your imagination running its course, you know. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, I love that because what you're saying is that when you're dealing with something, it's almost like, how can I get to the root of it? Yeah. Because sometimes what we're dealing with, like you're saying, it's an imagination and illusion. It's not really a thing, you know, like you think about game winning shots or game winning free throws. And people go to the free throw line and they're nervous about it. Well, what are you really nervous about? If you unpack that, okay, you're nervous that you're going to miss the shot. All right. So you missed the shot. Then what happens? People are going to be embarrassed. You're going to be embarrassed because thousands of people, millions of people see you missed the shot. All right. And then what people are going to talk bad about you? Okay. Right. And so you look at a go, are those things even important? If that is my fear, like what is, you're worried about letting your teammates down? Okay. Have you let them down before? Well, I'm sure in practice and things of that nature, right? They're still there. Yeah. You know. And so when you're able to unpack it, you kind of look at it for what it is, which is really nothing. Yeah. I love that breaking it on. I think that's so important. I think everyone who's listening and watching right now next time you're facing a fear next time you're going against something. Do that. Like literally unpack it. Don't just settle for your first answer because the first answer is really the right one. Don't hide from it. You know, you got to be able to look at it and, you know, and deal with it head on. Yeah. I love that, man. And you talk about that because you talk about, you know, when you talk about missing five throws and you talk about getting over yourself. Yeah. Right? Like getting over yourself. How did you get that mentality of just being like, I need to get over this? Like I need to get over myself. You know, trial and error. You know, you grow up and you make game winning shots and it's awesome. You come back the next day and miss a game winning shot and it's misery. And then the next day comes in your back plan. Again, you understand that life has this cyclical nature where it's, you know, what you do on Monday is fantastic, but then Tuesday is a bad day. But guess what? There's Wednesday. So we just supposed to live our lives like this the whole time. You know, versus just staying like this and understanding that it's really just a journey of evolution every day is just constant improvement, constant curiosity, constantly getting better. The results don't really matter. It's the figuring out that matters. Yeah. And we will get obsessed about the results. Yeah. Now we get obsessed about like the output, not the input of not figuring it out and not like changing things. What you said trial and error, like the experimenting. Yeah. We forget to do that. It's unfortunate man. Like I've seen a lot of players, especially now, you know, and youth basketball dealing with that. Yeah, players that are like bigger and faster and stronger and, you know, their coaches are just coaching them for results. You know, we're just going to use your size that because you're bigger than every other 12 year old out there to dominate today. But they're not growing. Right? So they're just based on that result, but they're not focused on growing this young child and becoming a better and athlete. And through that, teaching them how to become a more well rounded person. And we're missing that. Yeah. See what you've said there. Just I want to ask you this and I'm not saying because I, you know, like you know yourself best and you know how you've got that. So I'm asking it from a place of humility of learning. When I look at you, I'm like, you know, your superpower isn't just your work ethic. Your superpower isn't just like figuring things out. Your superpowers like you think strategically, like that's a very strategic thought of saying this person could be this in the future if they were developed as a whole individual. Right. Rather than just like let's use them for the short term. Right. Where did you develop that from that ability to see beyond to think deeper, to reflect deeper? Where did that come from? Well, I had to do that because, you know, I grew up growing up in Italy. When I first moved over there was, you know, I didn't speak Italian. I didn't have any friends. You know, I had the game of basketball and through sport and playing soccer, I was able to make friends and build connections. But it was a lot of time spent alone. And when I came back to the States, I wasn't the most athletic kid. You know, I was really scrawny, like really, really skinny and had like major knee issues because I was growing. So I was the dorky kid with high socks and big, old knee pads. Fashionable now. It's fashionable now. One in and one in. And so I had to look long term because in the here and now I couldn't compete with these kids. I mean, yeah, there's kids that were like 12 years old with beards like a kid. What's supposed to do with that? Like they're doing winnals and dunking backwards. And I'm happy to like tap the backboard. You know, so I had to look at it from a long term because I wasn't going to give up on the game. Right. So I had to say, okay, this year, I'm going to get better at that. Next year, this, and then so forth and so on. And then patiently, I was able to catch them. The quote is, if you have a problem with me, text me. And if you don't have my number, you don't know me well enough to have a problem with me. That's so good. And I think that that is such a great piece of advice because as a celebrity, you live on this stage, you live out there. You kind of give out a version of yourself that you want people to see. And that can be the version of yourself that they can have a problem with or they can love. And there is a, you know, I feel like I'm quite authentic in my public persona. But I just try to really care about what my family thinks, what my friends think, what the people in my local community think. I live in Kingston. I know everyone that lives there. I can't walk five feet without bumping into one of my mum's friends. So yeah, so it's something I've been working on. I try my best to not let that stuff affect me. It does. Yeah, of course. I'm not cold-hearted or anything like that. It does affect me, but I just try to move on and focus on the positives. Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. What was, did you ever see your dad deal with everything? You thought, "Wow, that was incredible. Was there anything specific that you remember? They're like seeing him like tackle something." And you thought, "Wow, that really impressed me. Even if it was something really small in hindsight." I think the thing I admire most about my dad is his resilience. You know, he's someone who has had an incredibly successful career in his earlier life. And then later in life, his career sort of plateaued and he struggled, and he's never stopped. He's never given up. He's still gigging to this day. He's still writing books. He has a patron. He has a podcast. He's constantly grafting to get to where he wants to be. And I think being a young kid and seeing your dad continually working as hard as he can to kind of put his best foot forward, for me, has been a huge drive for my work ethic. I'll give it 100 percent or I'll give it nothing. And I think a lot of that has come from my dad and seeing him deal with that. The funny thing about my dad, as you talk about doing a bad gig, I must have seen him 20 times. I've never seen him do a bad gig. He always seems to absolutely rip it. But maybe that's just because we're in the audience. But he, but no, I owe a lot to my dad and a lot of the teachings I think he's told me and things I've just witnessed him do. And was there ever a piece of feedback or a rumor or something you saw that did affect you, where you actually thought, "Well, at least made you stop and go, "God, I'm trying to see the positives, but this one's tough." Like, this actually made me have to pause and figure it out. Something that did really upset me, I was in New York. I was shooting the crowd at a crowded room and I was having a really hard time with the job, just because of how taxing it was, the emotional capacity that I was having to get to every day. And I decided to delete my Instagram because I just felt like I was so addicted to this kind of false version of my life that it was just taking over. I would be on set working. I'd come and sit in my chair and just scroll, scroll, scroll, scroll, scroll. And it was becoming a problem. I was just obsessed with it and I was obsessed to find out what people were saying and how people, what they thought about me. So I decided to make an announcement, which unfortunately we have to do and say that I'm taking a break from social media. And I tried to position myself and say like, I'm taking a break from social media because I feel like my mental health will benefit from it. And the thing that really upset me is the press ran with that and they tried to make out that I was having this mental breakdown. And what upset me was if I was having a mental breakdown, that's not for you to report on. They took the story in the wrong direction and they tried, they painted again this negative light on mental health, rather than saying, oh, he's doing it. It's okay that he's doing it. So we should all feel okay to do it too. They were saying, oh, look, he's not the perfect happy go lucky kid you think he is. He's having a nervous breakdown in New York. And I think that that was a really unfair line of journalism, let's say, because I just think it again, kind of painted people looking for help in the wrong light, if you know what I mean. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. It almost sounds like you were actually preemptively going, I'm doing this so that I don't go in that direction. Totally. At least I'm not trying to put words in your mouth, but it's absolutely. It's almost like I'm proactively seeing that I could end up in a position where I might have a breakdown. I don't want to be in that position. And so I'm responsibly saying, guys, I'm taking a break in order to protect myself. 100%. Yeah. Which makes a lot of sense and actually it's quite admirable again. Totally. And that's kind of what the message of the show is about. The message of our show is that asking for help should be something that we celebrate. Yeah. If you're struggling, if you need help, if you feel bad and you wake up and you go to a friend, a therapist, a teacher, an employee or a colleague and say, I'm really struggling. I need some help. That should be something that we give you a pat on the back. I would love to help you. I'm delighted that you asked me. And that for me, that announcement was kind of my olive branch and the press ran with it, how they ran with it. But to be fair, it kind of gave me a great drive to finish the crowded room in the way that we did, to like, if you're not going to listen to my personal message, then you have to listen to the message of my show. Yeah. So it kind of went hand in hand. I just wanted to do dry January and all I could think about was having a drink. It's all I could think about. I was waking up thinking about it. I was checking the clock, Wednesday 12. And it just really scared me. I just was like, wow, maybe maybe I have a little bit of an alcohol thing. So I sort of decided to punish myself and say, I'll do February as well. I'll do two months off. If I can do two months off, then I can prove to myself that I don't have a problem. Two months go by. And I was still really struggling. I felt like I couldn't be social. I felt like I couldn't go to the pub and have a lime soda. I couldn't go out for dinner. I was really, really struggling. And I started to really worry that maybe I had an alcohol problem. So I decided that I would wait until my birthday, which is June 1st. I said to myself, if I can do six months without alcohol, then I can prove to myself that I don't have a problem. And by the time I had got to June 1st, I was the happiest I've ever been in my life. I could sleep better. I could handle problems better. Things that would go wrong on set that would normally set me off. I could take in my stride. I had so much such better mental clarity. I felt healthier. I felt fitter. And I just sort of said to myself like, why am I enslaved to this drink? Why am I so obsessed by the idea of having this drink? And I would look back and recognize that I would go to events for work. And I can't enjoy myself until I've had a few beers. And I just felt so much pressure. And this is one of the things why I've sort of distanced myself from the rugby community because so much of it is about how much can you drink? Let's get you as drunk as possible. And it's honestly been the best thing I've ever done. I'm a year and a half into it now. It doesn't even cross my mind. I found amazing replacements that I think are fantastic. Ones that are also really healthy. I found this one beer that is full of electrolytes. And it's, you know, the carbohydrates in it are long lasting energy. So like having a beer is now actually like a really healthy thing. I'm really lucky that all my friends are super supportive about it. I've never run into that scenario where my friends are like, I'll go on, just have a beer like you'll find. They've always sort of really supported me. And I don't want to be that person that's saying to people, you should get sober, you should get sober. If I could encourage someone to drink less, then that's great. But I don't want to start getting into the world of, you need to stop drinking because it's not for me to say I went on my own little journey. I'm really enjoying it. I'm delighted that my mum has also given up. She's loving it. And it's been amazing. I can't believe the difference that I feel from not drinking. I feel amazing. That's amazing, man. I love hearing that. And I love hearing that has been great for you, right? I think that's that's the point. Not everything has to be like, look what I did. You can do it too. It's kind of like, no, this is just what's been great for me. Do you think it was partly that attitude for you at least in the beginning where it's like, well, I can drink. I drink a lot, it comes from my mum, jeans, and it doesn't affect me. And then all of a sudden you realize, well, wait a minute, it's more than that. Because I think there is that. Like, I was like that as a young man as well. Like, for me, it was, it was easy to drink. I didn't drink daily. For me, I drank a lot more socially. Sure. And I love playing drinking games with my mates. Yeah. That was really what I enjoyed the most probably. And for me, when I quit, I could just quickly see how it just got me in to doing things I would never do if I wasn't drunk. So for me, for me, it was more that. But yeah, I wonder for you, did you find that it's there's a really fine line between like, I know I can drink a lot and then all of a sudden, you're kind of a dick, not addicted beyond that. No, I'm happy to say a lot. I was definitely addicted to alcohol, not shying away from that at all. I think anyone that wakes up and not wakes up. Anyone that has a beer every day is probably got a little bit of a problem. But yeah, you're right. I would drink and drink and drink and drink. And then you would just reach that moment where you're like, well, I shouldn't have had that last beer. And you wake up the next day and you have a terrible headache and you're suffering. I bought one of those rings that will tell you about your sleep. Yeah, or a ring. Yeah. And it was amazing because I couldn't sleep. I was like, why can't I sleep? I'm working 14 hours a day. I'm doing two hours in the gym. I'm eating really healthy and I can't sleep. What's wrong with me? I bought this ring and it was booze. It just it was completely affected my sleep. And since I've given it up, I can sleep anywhere. You know, it's also interesting as well going on nights out and having a great time as the sober person. And then getting to that point in the night where people start, you know, spitting in your ear and everyone's like, I love you, man. I love you so much. Yeah, brilliant. I love you too. I'll see you tomorrow. I'm going to bed. I love being that person now. I love seeing my friends on the golf course at 8 AM in the morning, feeling fresh and ready to go. And they're sort of crawling out there. So yeah, so I'm over the moon to sober. I love it. There are three pillars of adult friendship based on research that are also going to help you understand that when people come and go in your life, 99% of the time, it's not personal. And you actually haven't lost them as a friend. One of the three pillars is missing. So the three things that need to be required to have a friendship happen are the same three things that were around all the time when you were a kid. Number one proximity. Proximity matters tremendously. Proximity means who are you actually physically next to? In fact, they've done research J. If you and I were in a dorm and we lived across the hall, I don't remember the percentages exactly, but it's like 90 percent chance we're going to be friends. Interesting. The poor person at the end of the hallway, 10 percent chance that we're going to be friends with them because of proximity. Even a matter of 50 feet makes a difference. And so when you were little, you were in proximity to people your age all the time. All day. Exactly. The research also shows that to have as an adult a kind of casual friend, you need to spend approximately 70 hours with something to have a close friend, 200 hours. So when you're an adult, that creates a big problem because who are you spending all your time with once you're 20? The American Time Study shows that it's with people you work with. So why aren't we best friends with people at work? Because you have proximity and you're spending a lot of time together, but here's the thing, timing. When you are little, you're in the same timing of life with everybody. When you hit your 20s and it's now individual, everybody's on different timelines. Some of your friends are getting married. Some are going to graduate school. Some are now pursuing jobs. Other people are moving out of the city into the city. Everybody's timing is now different. And this also explains why you're almost never best friends with people at work because the timing is off. You're sitting next to people that are in very different times of their life. You may like them a lot and you may be friends, but you never spend time outside of work because they're at home with their family and you're going out with your buddies your age on the weekends. And then that brings me to the third thing that needs to be present for a friendship to truly click and that's energy. And the thing about energy is it changes. And you can have fantastic energy with somebody. And then if you decide you're not drinking anymore, the energy's off. If you decide to get really focused on fitness, the energy's off. If you have very different political beliefs, the energy's off. It's not personal. It's one of these three pillars. And it just helped me so profoundly, Jay, to realize that people come and go and it's a beautiful thing. And you should let them. And you should really, if you have a friendship that starts to dissipate, right, ask yourself, before you blame them or you blame you, are any one of these three pillars missing? Are we not near each other anymore? Is the timing of our lives off? Is there just something about the energy that hasn't clicked? Because you can't force those things. But what I've found is that when you recognize that those are really important factors to your connection to someone else, that if a friendship starts to fade for me, it's so easy to say let them. And I don't wish anybody bad. I literally wish people well because the other thing that I've learned and, you know, being 56, I've had a lot of friends come and go in different phases of my life, that you would be startled by how many people from your past that you no longer quote, "consider friends" because you haven't seen them in a very long time or things just got weird. If you actually called them, they'd pick up the font. They would. If you texted them, the research shows that when you get a surprise text from somebody that you haven't heard from in a long time, the amount of joy that you feel. And so I want you to consider, if you're very lonely right now, that there's actually probably hundreds of people from your past that still consider you a friend. And if you take the approach that I'm talking about, which is friendship is your responsibility, you need to go first. Let me create the friendship and the connection that I want. And you can start by literally taking a look through your past and thinking about people that you remember fondly and just sending them a text. And you will be startled by what comes back because they're there. They haven't actually gone anywhere. The connection is still there. And oftentimes, even if you've had somebody where something's been off, again, let them. Yeah. And wish them well. And there will be a time I promise you where the timing or proximity or energy comes back around again. It took me a while to learn that, you know, there's no way we could be everything to each other. We have different interests, different goals. There was a stage in my marriage where I thought that's what a partner was supposed to be, you know, you should call me all the time. We should talk all the time. We should be each other's best friends all the time. Our marriage got better when I got better about that. Because I think he already had that independence, this notion of, I love you. I don't, even if I don't talk to you today, that to me is like, I don't need that. I felt like I needed more of that. But as I got older, right, I got more mature, more clear about my own goals. I realized that I, you know, he can't be responsible for my happiness. I have to be responsible for that. I have to define it for myself, have to learn how to achieve it. My husband is definitely a part of that. But he is not the, he, I cannot put him in the center of my happiness. That freed me up to let him be him and let me be me. So I have friends who give me things that my husband doesn't give me. I have girlfriends. One distinction that we have is like, I may talk her. All right, when I sit down with my girlfriends, we can talk four days. I mean, literally four days. We can take a break for lunch, but we can talk. You know, my husband's not, he can talk. But he, he will come by a friendship session, you know, nine o'clock in the morning. I have a friend staying with me and he's like, what are you all talking about? I was like, well, we're just now getting into our kids. And we're going to talk about each one of them separately for like an hour, right? He's like, I couldn't do that, right? He can't be that for me. But I have really good, mostly girlfriends who give me that, you know? We will dissect life to the bitter. We will ring everything out of every subjects. And he's like, I think I'm done. And it's like, well, you can go be done because I've got her. And we just got started. We're going to, we got 12 more hours to go, right? And that's so beautiful to hear because I think, especially when we're young, we think that that person has to be all of that. And, and from the beginning and all they'll become it, there's the other fallacy of like, oh, well, I know who they could be and who they could become. How much of that did you feel you had to disconnect and detach from? I've like, what this person could be to you, obviously, not in the world. But I had to disconnect from all of those beliefs, right? And every couple is different. I found, I know people who are each other's best friends. They'd like to travel together. They'd walk and hold hands. And I have friends who are in relationships where they talk like every hour. I'm like, are you talking to him again? Nothing changed. You know, it's up to the individuals to define that for themselves. That's what you had, yeah. For Barack and I. And I think you should be clear about that because the other thing is that when we hold on internally to an expectation of the other person, we don't even share it. So now we're mad that you haven't even filled something. I never even told you I needed, you know? That takes time. And it takes work, which is why marriage is hard, right? Because you'll have the tendency to live in your head and live out the image of what you want them to be. And you haven't even communicated that to them. That's just one little fraction of the challenge of marriage and friendship and all of that. It's hard. It takes time, but it's worth it. Absolutely. Yeah. I think those those check-ins are the hardest. I know that there's there's four check-ins that I try and keep a good habit around with my wife that have really helped me. One of them is every day I'll ask her like, what was your highlight today or what did you learn today? Something positive, something like what's the best thing to happen to you today? I want to know because it's so easy for us to get so busy in our days, not see each other all day, not speak all day. And days can go by like that too because we're all too traveling. Then every week I try and ask her like, how can I, what can I help you with this week? Like is there something coming up that I just need to be aware of? Yeah. Sometimes it's just information. And that gives me an opportunity to also tell I've got a really stressful week coming up. Right. Just know that I may not be at my best this week. I'm just letting you know every month I'm you know checking in with her and trying to just say to her like what's what's your big focus for this month? Like you know what's the big thing that you're working on then every year is easy. Like you know what's your goal this year? A resolution or whatever. And I find that those questions and sometimes every quarter I'll ask a question which is the hardest one but it's like is this relationship going in the direction you want it? And if it isn't, what are you willing to do? And what am I willing to do to get it back on track? Yeah. Because I find so often like if you just don't talk about that deep intimacy, you're just going on different tracks and that's why five years later you're like, why don't you know you anymore? Yeah. Yeah. And so I find that like staying in close contact. But one of the biggest things I read which I wanted to try with you was the Gottman Institute talked about how the number one skill or habit in relationships and they looked at couples who'd stayed together the longest and they found it wasn't date nights, it wasn't vacations, it wasn't any of this stuff, it was learning how to fight. It was knowing how to deal with conflict and most couples, obviously, we all go, well, we never fight, we're never gonna fight, but it's inevitable. So I came up with these three fight styles and I wanted to know how you see yourself and how you see President Obama or how he would see himself. And so here, the three fight styles are a venter, which means I wanna fix and solve it right now. You like a vent, but you're really trying to fix and solve it. The second one is you're a hider, you need time and space to think about it. Just wanna go spend time by yourself. And then the third one is the exploder where it's like, I want my emotions to be heard, felt and seen before we take time apart or before we try and solve it. Which one are you? - Okay, so I've changed over. I think early on in our relationships, I was more of an exploder. I think he has been, always been a fixer, right? - The venter, yeah, fixer. - So then I would be explosive and then wanna hide, right? It's like, I wanna explode, let me have my emotions and then give me a moment, right? And he's like, we've gotta fix this. We've gotta shut this down. We've gotta, I will figure it out. Let's talk this through. - Yes. - And I love that about him, especially as a man. He is somebody that is not afraid to put his emotions out. He's smart and so he knows me. So he's like, he won't let me pretend like there's nothing wrong because he knows, I know there's something, you're a little often. But I've had to learn that exploding on a fixer, it doesn't feel good to them, right? It just, you know, it feels good for me, but it doesn't feel good for him, right? But he's learned that as a hider, that I do need a little more time, right? If I'm exploding, I can't be rational enough to talk through your fixing. And if you wanna fix it, then I've gotta be an irrational place. So let me hide for a minute. So I can get myself down to a fixer place. - Yes. - I think that's been the trajectory of our sorting through, learning how to argue. - If you can't explain something simply, you don't understand it well enough. Simple communication is not a sign of a lack of intelligence. It's a sign of deep understanding as a speaker, a leader, a communicator, a manager, whatever you may be. If you're able to be concise, simple, it will be so much more powerful. Remember this, confusion creates resistance. Clarity creates cooperation. If someone doesn't understand you, they can't support you. Good communicators ask if they were understood. Bad communicators assume they were. Good communicators aim for understanding. Bad communicators aim to be right. Notice the difference. Principle three, people don't argue with facts. They argue with threat. Here's a powerful insight. Most disagreements are not about facts. They're about identity and safety. When people feel embarrassed, judged, or blamed, their brain stops listening. Let me say that again. How many times have you stopped listening when you felt that way? Now think about all the times you spoke that way and thought it would affect someone. I know I've made that mistake. I constantly feel that if someone really understands what they got wrong or they were really made clear on the mistake they made, that that would make them listen more. But actually we're not listening to that because it's not factual. It feels like opinion. It feels personal. It feels like an attack. Researching conflict psychology shows that once someone feels threatened, they prioritize self-protection over understanding. This is actually mind-blowing. You think about all the interactions you have, home or work, when you make someone feel attacked, they're only thinking about protecting themselves, effective communicators, lower threat first. At work, here's what I'm seeing. Tell me if I'm missing something. At home, this matters to me and I want to understand your side. These phrases do one thing. They create safety. Remember this. People don't need to feel corrected. They need to feel considered. Once safety is present, truth can land. Before sharing feedback, before saying something that's hard to hear, before you're about to have a difficult conversation. First, set safety. Second, make sure that anything you're saying is coming with the intention of safety and choose your words that really align with that energy because you want to have an impact. A lot of people say, "Well, I should just be able to say what I want and people should understand." Well, if that's what you want, then that isn't a relationship based on care. It's not a relationship based on love. It's not a relationship based on connection. It's a relationship based on you wanting people to understand you, but not taking the moment to understand them. I think this can all change for us. It can all change when we prioritize principle for. Questions change everything. One of the most powerful communication tools is curiosity. Research from negotiation psychology shows that asking open-ended questions reduces defensiveness and increases cooperation. Statements trigger resistance. Questions invite collaboration. Instead of, "You're not listening." Ask, "Can you tell me what you heard from what I just said?" Instead of, "This isn't working." Ask, "What do you think would make this work better?" Questions shift the dynamic from opposition to partnership. Here's a phrase that instantly de-escalates tension. Help me understand. That sentence creates space where conflict used to be. There are so many challenges with the growth of AI. There are so many risks that it presents. But one of the things that I'm grateful it has done is that it has brought humans back to asking better questions. We grew up at a time when answers were everything. Now we know answers are everywhere, and all of a sudden questions and prompts are the key to our intelligence. The better you are asking questions, the better results you'll actually get from AI. So that's a great way for us to test whether we know how to ask good questions, whether our questioning and curiosity ability is actually improving. That's the goal. If you can do that, you will actually lead your team, guide people, move people in a much stronger way. Manifestation is clarity about what you want and what it takes. Manifestation is writing it down, and then building it step by step. Manifestation is persistence when motivation fades. Manifestation is aligning your choices with your values, not just your wishes. If you just make it about your wishes, if you just make it about what you're writing, if you don't ever make it about the how, right people say start with why, really important. You should know why you're doing what you're doing. You should know what you want to build. But if you don't know how you're going to get there, it's almost the hardest thing, right? If you don't know how you're going to get to the party on a Saturday night, if you don't know how you're going to get to your vacation destination, if you don't know how you're going to build that company, it becomes a lot harder. Spend more time figuring out the how, and you'll know that you're making momentum. You'll know you're making progress. You'll know you're moving in the right direction. So the thing is, I really want you to get there. I really want you to experience the joy of building something you love. I don't just want it to remain a dream in your mind and in your heart space that never gets to see the light of day. Myth number four, the universe rewards wanting. If I want it badly enough, I'll get it. It does not work that way. Desire its fuel, but direction is the map. Without it, you spin in circles. Have you ever desperately wanted a job, relationship, or whatever it may be? But you had no strategy. Desire without direction is like stepping on the gas with no steering wheel. The reticular activating system, alternate as RAS, filters what you notice. Define a goal and your brain literally starts spotting opportunities. For example, once you think of buying a red car, you see them everywhere. So here's the step. Each morning, write down three things you want to notice that day. Maybe new clients, learning opportunities, or ways to connect. Your RAS will tune in. This is so important. If you have a goal to write a book, start a podcast, build a company, ask yourself, what is it that you need? I was talking to a friend the other day. And I'd said to him how important it was for him to show up to networking events. I said, if you're out with those events, you're gonna meet people, people are gonna see you, you're gonna get to connect with them. He was avoiding it for months and months and months. He finally went to one and he was shocked at what it felt like to be front of mind. When you're present, you get to have the conversations you would never get to if you weren't there. So many of us avoid the actual action. Even though in our mind we're wondering why is this business not taking off? Why is it not starting off? Because we're not positioning ourselves in the places that we need to be. Remember, you don't see things as they are. You see them through your own fears and hopes. You don't see yourself as you are. You see the story. You keep repeating about who you are. You don't see the future as it is. You see the version you believe is possible. So many of us have the wish. We have the one. We have the desire. We don't have the direction. We don't have the drive. And where does that drive come from? Comes from picking something that you really value. I mean, everyone would want to be financially free. Everyone would want abundance. Those are things we all want. What does that look like for you? How does that manifest for you? When I say that, what I mean is, how do you envision that? How is it unique to you and how are you going to get there that's unique to you? If you connected with today's episode, check out my Raw and Honest Talk with the One and Only Cardi B. She opens up about overcoming depression and how she balanced rising to fame and creating a life for her children.

Podcast Summary

Key Points:

  1. The host reflects on the deep, mature connection in a relationship built on mutual respect, giving space, and emotional honesty rather than perfection.
  2. A key shift in relationships involves recognizing that needing space is an act of love, not disengagement, showing emotional maturity.
  3. Personal growth and authenticity were shaped by near-death experiences and life crises, leading to deeper appreciation for life’s essentials like family, health, and presence.
  4. The loss of traditional "third spaces" like temples or community centers has left people disconnected from introspection and spiritual reflection.
  5. True connection requires presence, not performance—real friendships rely on proximity, shared timing, and compatible energy, not just frequency of contact.
  6. The show emphasizes that vulnerability, self-awareness, and asking for help are signs of strength, not weakness.
  7. Personal habits like quitting alcohol were transformative, improving mental clarity, sleep, and emotional resilience.
  8. The journey of self-discovery and emotional maturity shows that relationships and life purpose evolve with age, independence, and authenticity.

Summary:

The conversation reflects on the evolution of personal and relational maturity, rooted in authenticity, emotional honesty, and self-awareness. The speaker shares how a near-death experience and life challenges led to a profound shift in values—moving from materialism and external success to deep appreciation for love, family, and presence. Central to this journey is the understanding that true connection isn’t about constant availability or perfection, but about mutual respect, space, and emotional maturity.

The host emphasizes that relationships, especially long-term ones, require intentional effort and boundaries, with the ability to give space and return with care showing emotional strength. He also highlights the loss of spiritual and reflective spaces in modern life, urging people to reclaim quiet time for self-reflection. Personal growth is further illustrated through habits like quitting alcohol, which brought mental clarity and emotional stability.

The discussion underscores that lasting friendships depend on three key pillars: proximity, shared life timing, and compatible energy—highlighting that when these shift, relationships naturally evolve. Ultimately, the message is empowering: vulnerability, self-honesty, and the courage to change are not signs of weakness, but the foundation of a meaningful, intentional life. The speaker encourages listeners to reevaluate their relationships, reach out to old friends, and embrace emotional maturity as a path to deeper fulfillment.

FAQs

Maturity in a relationship means being able to ask for space, respect that space, and then gently return when ready—without blame or guilt. It's about emotional honesty and understanding that both people need time to process, not just to avoid conflict.

After nearly dying, the creator realized the true value of life and relationships. This experience made them appreciate simple things like their health, family, and presence, shifting their focus from material success to deeper personal connections and responsibility.

The three pillars are proximity (spending physical time together), timing (being in similar life stages), and energy (sharing compatible emotional and life rhythms). When any one is missing, a friendship may naturally fade.

Saying 'I love you' is a powerful act of vulnerability and commitment. For the creator, it marked a shift from self-protection to emotional openness, and it became a daily affirmation of love and presence in their relationship.

The creator took a break from social media to protect their mental health, noting that constant exposure to a curated version of life caused anxiety. They emphasize that asking for help should be celebrated, not stigmatized.

The creator believes that people often leave relationships not because they’re unimportant, but because one of the three friendship pillars (proximity, timing, or energy) has shifted. It's better to let go with grace and wish well, as connections often return when life circumstances align again.

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