The School of Greatness - Is “Manifesting” Not Working For You? THESE 3 SECRETS Will SHIFT THAT TODAY!

Episode Date: March 22, 2024

In this episode of The School of Greatness, we dive into the world of manifestation with three renowned experts Jenna Zoe, Price Pritchett, and Rick Rubin. The conversation uncovers the three key reasons why many people struggle with manifestation, emphasizing the importance of aligning with one's true self, embracing ultimate self-responsibility, and nurturing the heart's resilience in the face of challenges. You will gain insights into the transformative power of human design, the role of limiting beliefs in hindering success, and the profound impact of creativity on personal growth and fulfillment.In this episode you will learnHow to harness the principles of human design to enhance your manifestation efforts and achieve your dreams.The importance of setting goals that truly resonate with your heart and the dangers of pursuing goals that don't align with your authentic self.How to cultivate resilience and maintain your heart's passion in the face of obstacles and setbacks.The significance of creating art and projects for your own fulfillment and how this authenticity benefits your audience.The crucial role of carefully curating your environment and influences to support your highest well-being and manifestation success.For more information go to www.lewishowes.com/1592For more Greatness text PODCAST to [phone]More SOG episodes we think you’ll love:Jenna Zoe – https://link.chtbl.com/1519-podPrice Pritchett – https://link.chtbl.com/1502-podRick Rubin – https://link.chtbl.com/1536-pod

Welcome to this special masterclass. We've brought some of the top experts in the world to help you unlock the power of your life through this specific theme today. It's going to be powerful, so let's go ahead and dive in. What do you think are the keys to manifesting? Firstly, did you manifest it or did the universe give you the sign of what to want because that's what it was trying to send you or get you to go towards in the first place right is it your voice or is it the universe's voice inside you how do you know well yeah that's the number one thing and I think the second thing about manifesting is there's a difference between manifesting a chocolate cake okay versus manifesting your

purpose your destiny your soulmates, your life partners, things that are like really your things that were always supposed to be yours and always supposed to come to you. I think it's almost egotistical to say you manifested them. Or maybe they just need to be different words. Did you put the amount of energy into the right things and grow your consciousness to a level that you were able to then get those things if that's what you want to call manifesting those are the things and in which case it's okay to want anything including money if it comes from your soul and you almost can't explain why you want that thing if you're going after something you think you want because it's going to give you

something else then that's a short circuit because you might get it but then like you said it might not stay or you might not be fulfilled during it. So I think you can manifest anything, but you may as well manifest those things that your soul really wants rather than the things that you think you should be manifesting or from an ego place. How do we know when it's a soul desire versus an eager ego desire that we want to manifest something? I think an ego desire is, is, I want it because it's going to give me something else, like a secondary thing, or because I think I will like myself more or my parents will like me more when I want to,

or I'll be more impressive to others, like you were saying about making other people happy, that kind of stuff. In which case, if you really want to make your parents happy, and that's a true desire from inside, and you really feel this yearning from within that you don't even know why you want your parents to be happy, but maybe that was your karma of your life, then just ask for that. Don't short circuit it by asking for the thing that you think is necessary for you to get that end result. Just ask for the end result and let the universe

fill in the details, you know? But I think when it comes from your soul, you can't explain why you want it. It's just this drive of like, and like and you know I tell people you can see in people's design people who are motivated by money their soul just wants money or their soul just wants fame or wants to be recognized or wants to be seen there's nothing inherently evil or wrong about those things right because for example your soul might make you want money so that you move into the house that's next door to the person that you had the greatest karma to heal with. We don't know what leads to what. So it's not good to like judge them by certain things are good to want or bad to want. But if you want them from a true purpose reason, it's coming from inside you and you can't explain why you want it or what you

think it's going to give you. You just know you want it. Why do you think so many people suffer a struggle who are also in personal development and they haven't figured out how to get through to the next level yeah i love this question because i think it's so um it's so pertinent for this time i think we've gone through such an awakening of spirituality but i guess I feel like a lot of people that I speak to, it's almost like they need to feel like I'm taking you into account and then doing your personal development based on what is present in you, right? Rather than kind of funneling us into these things where, I don't know, I felt like more of a failure when I was trying to do all the spiritual stuff and feeling like I wasn't moving my life forward

right when I found this thing of like do this and do this and don't just take me on a word but see if your life actually changes and it did and then from seeing so many testimonials of people just like using this practical manual that's when I think it empowers you because you feel like you're capable of doing something rather than just like here's my thing the universe, go and do your thing and think abundantly. How am I not thinking abundantly? How does abundant thinking look on me?

How do I use my specific gifts, right? How do I, if I want to be a nurse, what's the best kind of nurse for me to be based on who I am and what I bring to the table, right? Because you might be a nurse where you're going to be more in your power and more capable and more valued by being nurturing and really like connecting to that part of you or you might be the nurse who's very good at like the ops and the organization and the whatever right so what's nice about this is like it makes you feel more in touch with your personal power because you know what to bring you know what to lead with and that subconsciously is what people will value you for the most even if they

don't know how. We're all reading each other's energy without knowing what we're doing, right? But we'll be like, this person is someone who's capable, who I trust, who seems good at what they do. We gravitate towards people like that, right?

And so this is like, everybody is equally genius and powerful, but you have to flex it. And these are things that you're going to flex, you're going to get more energy out of, you're going to get more bang for your buck out of, rather than the best nurses are this, the're going to flex. You're going to get more energy out of. You're going to get more bang for your buck out of rather than the best nurses are this. The best moms are this.

There's what, 8 billion people in the world right now. And there's probably a lot of them, a majority of them that will never know their human design, right? They're never going to go through the assessment. And I guess it's not an assessment, but the, what do you call it? Like when they- Running a chart? Running a chart.

Probably most people are never going to do that in the world. So for those that don't know their own human design, how do they fully tap into this? Really this wisdom, this knowledge, this power in order to live a more fulfilling, meaningful life. And if they don't know their human design,

are they just doomed forever? Or do they trust their gut on things better? Like how do they know where they're supposed to go? What the roadmap is for them for creating a meaningful, fulfilling life? I think the number one thing is that we have these very homogenized ideas of the good ways to be, the cool ways to be,

the very few things that we've been taught are going to lead us to be successful or to be lovable, right? So people who we call geniuses are usually like artistically creative or they're really good at some kind of like tech thing or they're good at athletic prowess, right? They're gifted in some way, yeah.

Those three things, okay? No one is ever going to raise someone and say the amount of care that you have for people is your USP, and that's going to make you crazy, insanely successful, right? We're not brought up that way, right? In a similar way, you're not brought up to say, okay, well, as a mom, if you're very good at strategizing, then that's going to make you the best mom that you can be. Right. But if you can think about those random little things that you maybe think are uncool or that might not lead you to anything and you can back those things, I think you can just do that and not know anything about your design and just take a bet on those like unusual

little pockets that aren't everywhere. Yeah, these are the underappreciated gifts that a lot of people have. When I started this show, I remember thinking to myself, I have no idea how to run a podcast or to do this thing. It's not what I was skilled to do. But I've always been fascinated by people and just curious and always ask these weird random questions and i was like well maybe there's something from this so i just tapped into asking weird random

questions and people seem to like it but i was listening to that thing within me okay here's like a hidden gift that i don't think is valuable but let's see where it goes yeah by going into that it worked out for me. So what I'm hearing you say is like, try to find the hidden gifts within you that maybe don't seem celebrated by others all the time. And it's risky. I say that lightly, but it's a huge risk because your mind, again, is going to say,

no, but how are you ever going to support yourself on that? How are you ever going to make money? No one's going to think you're cool. Like, what are you doing? And to be honest with you, the fact that we even think there are certain guarantees is an illusion anyway to life. Right.

So really, this is actually working with reality that everything is an unknown, right? But it's really hard. And it's the daily practice of human design. It's like, again, like I said, your design doesn't change. But every single day, to listen to your gut on every single thing, it's hard and you have to do it in new pockets of your life, right? And you have to relearn it and relearn it and get to another level with it and then refine. So this mind thing of like, are you sure? Are you not

crazy? Like when I first sat my parents down and told them I was closing my food business to read human design, I mean, I literally thought my highest aspiration would be like they wheel me out on the lottery with a wig and I read the lucky numbers. Wow. It wasn't cool. It wasn't a thing. This is eight, nine years ago now, right? So I took a chance on that random thing that I didn't know where it was going to lead me, right? And it's not the career choice that is going to take us far. It's how much we show up and be our most kind of actualized,

present, powerful, capable, liking who we are along the way. Like that's the thing that's the magic in people, right? It doesn't actually matter what you're doing. You can make a fortune out of gardening if you do it the right way, if you get that zing with it, you know? Absolutely. Yeah. I think I saw one of your videos on instagram you're talking about like really leaning into your passion in terms of like being passionate about what you're doing and being excited about it because that unlocks new pathways new doors for you when you're living into that when we're doing something that i feel like we're skilled at but we don't fully fall in love with, we're kind of in resistance still. Like, okay, yes, I have this talent over here, but my intuition is not telling me that it's what I want to do with my time. Or maybe, I used to be really good

at baseball for a long time, but then when I turned 17, I just didn't have the energy for it anymore. I just didn't care enough about it to keep pursuing it. And I started to pursue track and field. And great things came out of that decision to leave something I had talent in to pursue something that I was more excited about. Yes. And I think it's learning how to trust like the timing of this as well, when to do this.

What about in relationships? You know, how have you learned about what is a good relationship whether it be in business partnerships or career or an intimacy based on human design okay so people always ask about like our generator is compatible with this or that or whatever now from a human design perspective if you have chemistry with somebody, you're compatible. You just need to learn the other person so that there is no me trying to change you or us trying to be on the same page or me misunderstanding the very innocent reasons why you do something that I'm thinking you're sitting down on that chair for a different motivation than you would be sitting down on that chair. Right. So anybody is compatible with anybody if you're drawn to that person for the time time, for the exact amount of time, you still are drawn to that person, right?

But if you can learn someone else's manual, for example, manifesting generators are very fast people, right? And so if you're with, if you're a projector who's with a manifesting generator to honor each other's different speeds, that already gets rid of so much friction, right? Or if you understand that somebody, for example, my mom, when I did a reading for my mom for the first time and I saw her main gift, everybody has one gift in their life that's like the main thing they came here to do. When I saw her main gift was about kind of almost being a little bit abrasive and abrupt in order to shake people out of things. So my mom would be the person who like, she'll see someone wheeling a baby down the street

and she's like, put a hat on that baby, you know? And I always used to think that was like rude and inappropriate, but in a way, if you're doing it with the right consciousness, that's obviously another thing, like the way that you animate it. There's a purpose for every single role that people play in society, right?

And so when you know the reason why someone is the way they are, you're not judging them anymore. You're not thinking that they're wrong. You're not trying to fit them in to be more like you. And what happens with our differences, if we know them, then I can actually vicariously enjoy yours through you when I'm not threatened by them. When I don't think that I have to be more like you or you have to be more like me and I'm trying to think who's better or worse. So I'm like, isn't that so beautiful that your main gift is, you know,

whatever it is. Well, I know what yours are. What is my main gift? So your main gift is number 36, and that's turning darkness into light. So a lot of the stuff that you're here to do is to pull out from the places that people don't necessarily look at or talk about and to bring them into awareness, to alchemize things that are maybe more negative into more positive things. And then your secondary one, and they play nicely together, is really about bonding with people and breaking through barriers. Which, I mean, you clearly do. I've known you for an hour. You're very good at it, right?

So those two things, I know that I don't have to be them because you're really good at them. And I'm good at other things. Right. And then you actually just like literally you survive off seeing other people and their gifts. It's like so much fun, you know? So in relationships and in business partnerships, you can do the same thing where you're like, it's so cool how you do that. And yet there's no part of me that thinks I have to be the same way. Yeah.

So the harmony in that is like life changing. I mean, you were essentially learning and studying human design for the last, what, eight or nine years, right? Mm-changing. I mean, you were essentially learning and studying human design for the last, what, eight or nine years, right? But you were also in a relationship during that time at some point. So how did you, I think you were in a relationship for four years, you said. So how did you know when you're in the relationship, when it was, there was alignment with the relationship versus, all right, there's not alignment. Or did you miss something in the relationship that you weren't following your own kind of wisdom, your own intuition? Okay. So my intuition is emotional, which means that we have to make decisions based on how things make us feel like happy or sad,

literally that black and white, right? So either we're up here or we're down here. And 50% of the population is emotional, which is crazy. So what's your energy type? I'm a projector. Projector. Yeah. Okay. But my emotional intuition, what it says is, again, you don't need to understand with your mind why your intuition is telling you what it's telling you. That's where we trip up. Intuition, you just have to listen to it just trust it just trust it don't try to understand it don't try to understand it so what our mind does it comes in secondary and goes these are the reasons why and this is the logic and this was this and this is that and it

wasn't aligned and he was this and that that's all noise so that's why you hear a lot of women that say he looked great on paper yeah he had He had all the things that, and my parents thought this was awesome. The school he went to, where he worked, like everything seemed to line up, but I just didn't have something inside of me that wanted to commit. Right? Yeah. That was a lot of women saying that, right? Yeah. It's making decisions with the mind rather than with the body. Why do so many people make the decisions with the mind rather than the body? Well, to get a little bit historical on you, if you think about where humanity has been for the last couple hundred years, right? It has been a lot of top-down sort of control. And a population is easier to convince you all to go to war and to,

you know, do certain things. If this is the logic, we all have to agree on the logic. There's one objective reality. Let's all get on the same page rather than there is no objective reality. We're all just here bumping up against each other, doing our random things. That's a nightmare, right? For a society. There's got to be some order and some organization somewhere, right? Yeah. But when you think about it, then the people who are in government are supposed to be the people who are very good at coming up with common laws. They're very good people who are being balanced, who are being fair, who come up with how people interact and come together, but giving people their freedom. So when you're trying to suppress a culture with a religious homogenized belief, then there is this thing that we all, that is logic that gets handed down to us,

that you have to do what makes sense to other people. And that's how you get your love and belonging from the tribe is by justifying that what you're doing is for the same reasons that everyone else would want to do the same things. So how can women specifically make better decisions in choosing the right male partner for them? If they want to choose a male partner? How can women choose better in relationships? This is going to sound a little crazy, but one of the other big conditionings that we have is that we have to make the right decision that we ensure is going to make our relationship last forever. And that's a good relationship. What you actually want from that is to feel the most amount of love, right?

You want to be in love and in the energy of love every single day of your life. So from that perspective, whether that changes 20 times or once doesn't really matter. So for me, that relationship was correct for as long as it lasted

because it grew the amount of love I had in my life until my emotions started telling me otherwise and am i better off because of that relationship am i more open-hearted because of that relationship am i more um happy with who i am yes right so that was not a terrible relationship that was life showing me that was a perfect amount for it to last. So a big thing to get rid of is I have to know how my future is going to look in order for me to be happy. I actually just need to be happy today. And then your tomorrow

will start off better and that will compound. And then it doesn't matter about the form that it takes because the inside is going to be more actualized, more evolved, more more open-hearted more all the things that we actually want yeah absolutely so it comes from kind of letting go of this guarantee to micromanage how the life is going to unfold for you to think of how it needs to look for you to be happy and to do the happiness today and then to trust that that's what activates the rest of the work the 90 of the unseen forces kind of coming together to make things happen the way that right that we can't engineer like opportunities synchronicities meeting people out of nowhere stuff that we couldn't even do if we were the best minds in the planet right you know there's some there's something to choosing to being positive and happy and grateful for certain elements of your life and trying to maximize that.

Because when we maximize that energy, synchronicities unfold, right? These unseen forces for good show up in our life. Or they block us from something bad essentially happening, right? Or they move us in a different direction. But why do you think there are certain people who seem to have it all, but are still choosing to be unhappy and not choosing to be grateful for what they have? They're complaining or feeling entitled for what they don't have. Why do you think that happens?

I think that's one of those things where there's many different causes for one symptom. Right? So on the outside, this person you're saying is ungrateful or unhappy. The number one reason I would say is that if you haven't liked who you've become along the way of getting to what you want, then that's never going to be a happy result, right? You can't get to joy if you don't pave it along the way with feeling like you love being who you are. And you've probably been in situations like this in your life before where maybe things are hitting the fan,

but you still love the fact that you have your own back through it. And there's this incredible piece of like, okay, well, we're on this adventure of life, the soul wants to experience everything. Let's lean into this knowing that I think I'm going to make sure that I'm okay. Right? And that weirdly transforms even the most negative experiences into these like fascinations. And I think if you don't know how to do that, then that's already a big, that really takes away from your happiness. The second thing is also

that again the brain is is addicted to finding something to focus on right and it's and it could be being focused on creativity but when it's turned inwards it's going to look for problems it's going to look for unhappiness that's what's going to happen when you let it run amok in an area that it's not supposed to run amok in. And the third one is, I think, is an addiction that we're being programmed with from the outside conditioning of, you know, you should find reasons to be unhappy or you grew up around people who were that way and you need to decondition from that automatic pattern that, again, like you were saying in the beginning with your parents that condition you, even if they weren't doing it on purpose, it's passed down until you have to be the one that says, you know what, let me not just decide to be rid of it, but let me practice being rid of

it today. How would I move through my day when I catch this thing come in and I go, uh-uh, uh-uh, what else would I do instead? And you might feel like an imposter the first time you do it because it's not going to feel natural. But even if you can just flex it slightly, the universe goes, oh, look who's trying to be more than selves. Let me go help this person out. What was the thing you had to decondition over the last 10 years that was running your life the most? I think the emotional piece is a really big piece. And this is, like I said to you, 50% of the population are what's called emotional beings. So you're what's called non-emotional, meaning when you're by yourself, you're cool, calm, and collected. It's only when the world comes to you or when people come to you or a situation comes to you that you feel a certain

way. When you're emotional, you can wake up and be happy and feel on top of the world. Same exact situation the next day and you feel totally different. And for me, I was really brought up when I was in a low mood, what's wrong with you? Why are you upset? Smile, don't be a sport brat. I'm English, right? So don't be a sport brat. And for me, it was a real judgment about having negative emotions. And I still struggle with it today. I'm not rid of it by any stretch of the imagination. I just am more aware of it. So I have levity around when I'm doing it to myself. Gotcha.

So you're emotional. I'm non-emotional. I'm non-emotional. So explain that again. Someone who's emotional versus non-emotional. Yeah. So you don't generate your own emotions. You are like a mirror and a sponge to the world around you.

So there's actually, when we talk about people who are empaths, we really are talking about, in a strict version, we're talking about non-emotionals because you're able to feel what I'm feeling. Because I have my own emotional rollercoaster going on, I'm actually not able to viscerally tap into your emotions. As an emotional person.

As an emotional person. Not emotional person, I can understand your emotion. You can feel my emotions. That resonates. I feel like I can feel everyone's energy. Yes. And something that I saw on your Instagram when you were talking about empaths, you said,

we shouldn't be absorbing. We should be observing. Yes. That's something you said recently. Don't absorb others' emotions. Observe. Observe. Yes.

And I think that's interesting because empaths take on the weight of anyone around them and they feel it and they feel emotionally drained where they have no energy if they absorb it. So it's learning to notice someone's energy and still be empathetic, but don't absorb it, right? Observe, connect, but don't let it penetrate your energy center. Don't let it penetrate your soul to where you're now in that state of being as well. That's a it penetrate your soul to where you're now in that state of being as well. That's a hard thing for a lot of people who are in that non-emotional empath state of being. Yeah, it is. And it's, it's an interesting one to understand that, you know, when you're not absorbing my stuff, you would be able to show me what I'm feeling

because I'm so mired in it I have no idea what's going on some of the time so you would magnify and be able to show me what's going on with me if you're not then taking it on so let's say for example I'm an emotional I wake up and let's say I'm happy today I'm two out of ten happy okay ten out of ten happy you said I let's say for example I'm two out of ten you're not happy happy. Because it goes on a scale, right? So let's say one day I'm on a two out of 10. I walk in the room and I see you six out of 10 happy. I'm like, you look happy today.

And you've become happy because you felt what I've done and you magnified it, right? And that's beautiful. But I can see it more clearly through you than I can through me. Got it. But that also works on the other side, too, where a lot of non-emotionals get called the most emotional people. Because if I walk in the room two out of ten sad. Two is a, one is the high, sad?

One is less, like let's say two out of ten. Okay, ten is the highest, gotcha. So let's say I'm two out of ten sad that day, okay? I walk in the room, you all of a sudden get in a bad mood. And I'm like, what's wrong with you? Why are you in a bad mood? And you don't know, because it wasn't there before I walked in, right? You're just able to reflect to me what I'm not even aware of.

Interesting. And if we have that languaging, then I can be like, thank you so much for showing me what was going on with me today. And instead of going, what's wrong with you? Right? Right. Because you guys are the open, right? You're the open emotional.

And so you feel whatever else is going on in the world. Interesting. And we're just like playing our own songs completely unaware. I wonder what my fiance is. I can't remember if she's a manifester. I think she's a non-specific manifester. I don't know if that's a thing, but maybe it's manifester generator. But she's positive 90% of the time. She is in a positive, joyful, grateful state consistently. It's very rare for her to be low, low energy. Yeah.

Which really is nice for me. Because I think I've always in the past been in relationships where I didn't know what I was going to get. And it was harder for me because I would absorb energy. And I would feel it it and i would allow it to drain me now i've learned how to observe differently and just accept people for where they're at and be there for them in a different way as opposed to taking on their pain and sorrow and trying to like fix it that was a wound that i had to learn how to heal um but being in a relationship with someone who is truly grateful for life that truly loves her life

is a joy it is like a gift that i hope everyone can experience at some point because it's it's it's challenging to be with someone that isn't a happy person yeah consistently it just is and it's hard to be with someone for years who you don't know how to help them become happier. And that's something that I experienced because I just, I chose based on a wound and nothing wrong with them, but just felt like it was always harder

because they weren't happy. And so I hope everyone can get to that state. You just unlock more when you are a generally happier person. But I feel like a lot of people struggle with happiness. A lot of people suffer and struggle with feeling worthy of happiness, of learning how to believe they're a good person, of believing they're enough. Why do you think we struggle so much with being happy? And how can we learn to

love ourselves deeper so that we are happier i love that question so i think there's two different kinds of levels of happiness so for example i could be in a low mood today but still be so fulfilled and almost loving watching that process of waking up, just being more like meh today. But that meh state can mean like still fine. You know what I mean? So there's two, there's almost like one that's like the bottom of the ocean. That's like your core fulfillment, joy to be alive, like grateful, like, oh my God, this is like, this is an adventure.

You know what I mean? Like, let me just observe what's going on today. And it's all interesting and all beautiful and so amazing, right? That level of happiness, I think really comes from being who you're supposed to be, you know, and being happy with who you are and almost feeling like you're doing what brings you the self-esteem, the fulfillment, the giving and receiving in the way that you're supposed to, right? I think when you give to the world in a way that you feel like there is an abundance more coming from it, it changes your whole worldview because you're like,

there's so much more where that came from. I'm so happy to serve. I love giving to people. I love seeing how I get received when I give to people. It kind of is like the genie wishing for one wish and then you get tons more back, right? When you're tapped into like,

this is, I'm in my magic. So then I don't just know that I'm special from here, but I feel that I'm special every single day because I know that I have something I've cultivated and given energy to that I really feel like is me it's like my home frequency I could come back to my base of what my value add is in this world right so I think that's number one is like there's so much deeper levels of happiness that are available to you if you can break away from constantly telling yourself you have to be like everybody else, constantly trying to get the love and belonging, the kind of short-term cookies. You can kind of follow them and put the sort of

time in to take the risk to get it from the sort of longer-term value, giving people value rather than what can I get out of life so quickly. Man, those cookies are so good. Those cookies are so good in a moment. Just, oh man, I love those cookies. But there's so much greater benefit when you can delay, or at least not every day have to go for the cookies. I'm not saying never enjoy it,

but as a metaphor, just not going for the pleasure every single day. Really going for a state of long-term happiness and fulfillment. Yeah. Comes down to making yourself proud of who you are. Yeah. Really going for a state of long-term happiness and fulfillment. Yeah. Comes down to making yourself proud of who you are, I think.

Absolutely, yeah. And that feeling is not replaceable by any other thing, I don't think. That's true. I think when you're like, I really am happy,

almost like your inner parent being like, you know what, that was a hard decision, but really, I'm impressed with you. I think that is the ultimate,

if you want to be happy, you make yourself proud of you. 100%. When was the time in the last decade you were the least proud of you? And at your lowest energy state? I think the ending of that relationship was very difficult for me because another thing that I was really conditioned with, my mom is Indian, and my parents have been married forever. And one of the things I really really conditioned with. My mom is Indian and my parents have been married forever. And one of the things I really was conditioned with is that it's, if a relationship goes well,

you've done well. Like it's your job as a woman to make a good relationship. And so you fail, you're the failure if you don't make it work. Wow. That was a big one for me. If you don't make it work. Wow. That was a big one for me. So that was a really, really hard time of being like, am I, am I defected as a woman? Am I not desirable enough? Did I not do enough?

Was I not more malleable? Should I have, you know, been more flexible or rolled down more, you know, whatever, all those different stories that you can create. I think that was a really big one for me. But I don't think I would have undone that conditioning if I hadn't gone through that experience. Wow. So you felt like you were a failure with the relationship ending.

Yeah. I felt like it was on me. I think a lot of women go through that too. Really? I think they feel responsible for making a relationship go well. Where do you, I mean, there's something to be said for, you know, people who are in relationships for decades that are like, listen, we had some hard

seasons, some hard years, and we could have easily just said, you know what, this isn't working or some bad stuff happened and we should have left. But we decided to stay together and we're so grateful 10, 20, 30 years later that we did. Because every relationship has some seasons. Yeah. But then there's also, like, I see that point of view. But then I'm also like, okay, if your body is rejecting something and it's telling you this is not working. And I'm giving it my all.

And I'm trying. And we're going to therapy. And you're really trying to commit to make it work. But you're rejecting it. and it's just a disconnect. I also see the benefit and the value and consciously uncoupling and saying, listen, we got to go, this isn't working. Let's take some time

and maybe we come back together in the future. And I don't think there's a right or wrong either way. A hundred percent. I don't think it's like you're a failure if you didn't go through all the hard times and go for 30, 40 years and make it out beautiful beautiful holding hands as like 90 year olds on the other side. Because you can also be together for a long time and be miserable. You know, it's like, and there's a lot of probably Indian families that just stay together, even though they don't fully love and have a fullness of life.

Yes. Right. I'm sure you see both. Completely. And that's the thing, and I love that you've touched on this because that's the thing about human design is that we're always trying to look for, always tough it out

or leave the second you're ready, but actually everyone's on a different path. Yeah. So that advice isn't going to work for everybody. And, you know, you're kind of, I guess, well predisposed to seeing this because you're very open in your chart I had a look at.

You're very open in your mind. So it is always about kind of not having your fixed opinions on things. It's always about saying, yeah, I could see that. Maybe, sure, I don't know, could be wrong, could be right. Let's see, right? And that's one of your gifts. And I think that's one of the things is that we're always trying to find the right way to do life and then wronging everybody else who's not fitting into that directive and say, instead saying we are all on radically different journeys journeys no one else can even ever even come close to understanding so us using our again using our mental energy on trying to find some kind of system that makes us all be on the same thing or same level of understanding or same goal or it's just a moot exercise you know

and i think that the challenge or the opportunity we all get to face is are we going to live our life trying to please everyone else based on our decisions or lack of decisions or feeling guilty and bad and wrong for decisions we make that others don't approve of yeah because it's really hard to make decisions if we're thinking why i don't want of. Yeah. Because it's really hard to make decisions if we're thinking, why do I want people to be upset at me? Yeah. And I did that for a long time.

I stayed in relationships too long that I shouldn't have. I got out of stuff that I probably shouldn't have because I was worried about the opinions of others. Yeah. So you felt like you were in a low part at the end of that relationship because you felt like a failure. I felt like I wasn't being my best self.

Really? Yeah, I felt like it wasn't bringing out the best in me and therefore I shamed myself for that. Because it's not good to feel like you're not happy with how you're being, right? Yeah. And also, yeah, I really had to contend with like, if I end this, then am I stupid? Am I making a really bad decision?

Because again, like you were saying, he's great on people. We're good enough together. My whole family loves he's successful he's this he's nice to me he's whatever yeah all that stuff you know um what what was in telling you like this isn't in alignment or this isn't the right thing for me right now what was telling you was it your intuition was it your gut was it just like you didn't feel like you're in your purpose or your joy how were you able to know that okay i've given this enough time and the season is ready to move on to the next thing yeah i think i can come up with a lot of logical reasons for you but i think i think ultimately if i watch myself in net net my emotional state was more negative

than positive in In the relationship. Towards the end. So then that kind of tells you, again, it's like the body knows, right? Like it just, it's so tangible. We just need to watch ourselves as if from above and say, does this person look like a thriving, does it look like it's suiting you or not? And you don't need to be able to explain it away. On a more, I guess, on a more logical level um i went in with certain roles that i played that were again if we're always trying to be who we came here to be they weren't ultimately part of who i was right serving you yes or your future you your highest you yes so you went in playing certain roles in a relationship and then you realize this isn't sustainable this isn't me so it was kind of like your responsibility

yeah for being those roles because you were almost completely inauthentic in a sense right and those are my cookies look how good of a girlfriend i am look how supportive i am look you know what i mean the cookies are sometimes a little hidden like that right it's like look how much i'm helping this person be successful that's so much more easy than trying to be successful on my own interesting right so from i mean i don't know anything about the relationship but if i was in that i'd be like wow okay this person this is who this person is they're showing up in this way and now they're trying to be something different it might be confusing very for the guy oh no very so it's beyond right he's probably like wait a minute you were super

supportive and now something is shifting and now you're trying to be this other thing that's not you know who are you oh i played such a good trophy wife and i was good at it like you said like with the previous sport like i was good at it right so you can't blame you have to i think ultimate self-responsibility gives you ultimate power over your own life. You absolutely, everything is for your own movie. So it's always I, I, I, I, I. I played the good role. I played the thing. And therefore, I got out of it what I put in.

Right. It doesn't matter about who the character is that I was playing with. I would have played that character on whoever it was. Anyone, until you learn the lesson. Exactly. That this wasn't, I mean, maybe it's like, okay, I can be this sometimes, but this is not the role I'm supposed to be playing in my life right now. Is mean maybe it's like okay i can be this sometimes but this is not the role i'm supposed to be playing in my life right now is that what it sounds like this is interesting

um but here's here's the other interesting thing you've been studying human design for i guess three to five years by that point already so what were you not listening to with your own study and practice of human design. Yes. What was your human design telling you to do that you were directly going against? This is really interesting. I think the emotional piece again, actually, with us, because I was so suppressing my own, my joy and my sadness.

You were suppressing it. Suppressing. Why were you suppressing joy? Because I think England is a little different than America. You know, you can't be too... There were certain situations where I felt like, and therefore was told, but that's because I felt like it, right? That's why it actualized in the outside world.

You can't just drink tea at midnight and just be dancing on the table by yourself. Like, you know, have some alcohol fit in like sit down and be cool and have conversations and you know i i felt this like want to be kind of like you know unboundedly joyful for no reason that i suppressed and i also suppressed tears right because you're because friends or society in england was like oh don't be too happy like you're wacky that's crazy yeah. Yeah, relax a little bit. Yeah. And when you were emotional or crying,

they were like, what are you crying for? You know, they couldn't take it either way, these dreams. Yes. It's kind of keep it in the middle of this, not service-y, but kind of not fully authentic

way of being, is what I'm hearing you say. 100%. At least the people you're with or the places you're around. Yes. So you were surprising both emotions. Yes.

To be more palatable. To be more accepted or fit in. Interesting. And now. To try to belong. Yes. But you weren't being fully authentic or vulnerable. No.

And so you weren't actually belonging at all. Because you weren't belonging to yourself. And if you take it in this frame, like you're asking me, the emotion is your motor center as an emotional being, right? When you're an emotional being, emotions are your power center. Comes from your solar plexus, right? And you took it away. So when you take that away, firstly, you have less energy. Second of all, you can't make decisions, the correct decisions in your life. And you're suppressing all of your life force from directing your life forward. So if you imagine, okay, there was already certain things that were supposed to be in play to move my life forward for me from the universe, just like there is for all of us, you're literally holding them back from just, instead of just letting them, unleashing them, right? your destiny move through you, right?

Because you're just holding yourself back because you're saying, this is not a good way to be. I don't want to be this way. I don't want to be an emotional being. Okay, so you're constricting all of that life was inside of you instead of letting it out. Wow.

So then you stay small. And you don't use your voice. That's all. You didn't feel like you used your voice at all? Not until the end. And then I think I'd suppressed it so much that it came out completely, how do you put this, disproportionate. You know, when you keep so many things inside.

Extreme. Yeah. You say something, well, not even extreme, but you say I'm not happy and someone's like, what do you mean you're not happy? It's come out of nowhere. You seem to have it the last few years. Yeah. You know, and that's unfair to do on a person.

Uh-huh. Yeah. Instead of communicate along the way of, I feel sad today and I don't know why and it's nothing to do with you, but I just need my space to be sad. Right. That's what emotional needs to be doing.

There's no rhyme or reason sometimes when you feel really teary or you feel like, I have different emotional way to other people, different sizes, different behaviors, different patterns of emotions. Mine is kind of sad and happy, sad and happy. Like I feel teary,

and then I want to dance down the street. Within like a moment? It's a day-to-day, I'd say. Okay, gotcha. And then other people, you know, when they are really low, and these are people who often get diagnosed as being, you know, manic or bipolar or whatever.

There's just some people who have so much creative emotional power in them. Think about people who've moved the world through a song about a breakup, right? When they're in that songwriting process, they need to remove themselves and be away from people and mire in that sadness so fully because it creates something inside them. But instead of they're like, no, put on a brave face and go out there and be with people and hide that, it's saving, it's basically muffling all of that creative power inside them, right? Low and high emotions is what makes a human experience worth living.

If everything was just neutral, there'd be no point in being here, right? So the emotionals color life. But we also need to be mindful of how much we allow other people like you to understand it's not about you if I'm sad today. And if I come to you and I say, I'm really sad today, can I cry?

And then you hold my hand, that makes us bond more. And you know it's not about you, right? And so it creates deeper intimacy when people are okay with their emotions, right? And so it creates deeper intimacy when people are okay with their emotions, right? And sharing them. Anything of significance that a person has achieved over their life, they didn't know how to do it when they started. That's true.

A quantum leap is one of those things that's dead solid perfect within the realm of possibility for you. You just haven't done it yet. Hmm. for you you just haven't done it yet um but it's it's a real stretch goal and the thing about it is if you set your goal right it forces you out of your current modus operandi if you set your goal correctly how do you know how to set your goal the right way in order to create a quantum leap in your life? There's several things about goal setting that I think are real key points.

If you're shooting, to make this kind of an exponential leap in performance. So then, first, it needs to be a serious stretch goal. You need to scare the horses, you know. It needs to scare you. Yeah. You need to be like, oh. There needs to be, but secondly, it needs to be a goal that, it needs to be a love story around that goal, I think.

Because when you go for a big goal, any goal of much significance, you're going to have some setbacks. You're going to have some obstacles that come along. You're going to get kind of banged up and bruised up maybe. And you need to care enough. and you need to care enough, you know, the heart is what sustains you through that. And so there, you know, people talk about a passion for this goal. And I think, well, that's a fine word and it fits, but some people say, well, I just don't have that passion.

Well, you just need to care for it or at least be committed enough to it that you say, I'm going to stay the course. I will put myself out there. And I think that it needs to be your goal, not somebody else's goal for you. Not a should or ought to goal. else's goal for you. Not a should or ought to goal. I think a fundamental mistake that a lot of people make is they don't believe in themselves enough and they don't reach high enough. Is it Astro Teller, who is the head of Google X, you know, their innovative arm that said 10% can be as hard as 10X.

You know, a 10% improvement, not necessarily any improver. Small acquisitions were every bit as difficult to make work as the big ones, which is kind of a counterintuitive thought. I mean, normally people don't go out with their mind drifting down that path. But with U Squared, the handbook is kind of based on counterintuitive ideas, kind of things that stop you and kind of make yourself uncomfortable.

That's one of the points. Well, why would I want to do that? You're an athlete. If you're not willing to make yourself uncomfortable you got to get off the field absolutely yeah so it's almost like 10x is just as easy or just as challenging as 2x and it's about how you frame it and about going after it the right way it's what it sounds like they The road's going to be challenging. So you might as well go for the bigger leap than the one that's just a little bit more uncomfortable. So if people are looking to

make more money, make a bigger impact, and work with more influential people in their life, or people that are more disciplined and up to a bigger game, which is what it sounds like you wanted to do early in your career. You wanted to make more money. You wanted to make a bigger impact, a bigger game, which is what it sounds like that you wanted to do early in your career. You wanted to make more money. You wanted to make a bigger impact, a bigger difference, and you wanted to work with the leaders. What was it inside of you that said, okay, I'm going to make this quantum leap? Was there, was it a moment?

Did you feel like you put in all the work that you needed to? Was it an awakening? Was there a breakdown you were facing in your life where you said, okay, I'm, I'm not happy with incremental growth year after year in my personal or professional life. What was that deciding moment that said, I'm going to try something unconventional and completely change the course of my life?

Boredom. Boredom. Boredom and just- Lack of purpose. And hungry. I was hungry for scaling up. I mean, really a major scaling up. I thought that we weren't making any mistakes. You weren't failing enough. We weren't. I mean, we were on autopilot. I mean, the place, it ran too smoothly. And it began to just bore me, and I got disgusted.

Why do people get so comfortable? Why do they get so comfortable? Yeah, when they used to have quantum leaps, you know, from crawling to walking to running, and then it's just kind of sitting. People are so different. I mean, they're so alike, too. But they're so different, and some people just have a much higher need for achievement. Some people have a much higher energy level.

And some, you know, on and on and on. The human needs might be different. They're just different. Some people want growth. Some people want achievement. Some people want contribution. Some people want a job that they want to nurture other people. I got a PhD in psychology.

I did a year-long clinical internship. I worked on a psychiatric ward. That is not. And I knew from the word go that that was not where I would end up. But you got people, they're drawn to that. And that's a wonderful thing about the world, the difference. But the truth is, I don't care what direction a person is drawn, they can make quantum leaps in that zone,

whatever their strike zone is. whatever their strike zone is but i don't really spend a lot of time i guess trying to talk people into making a quantum leap unless they have something inside just they've got to want it. Knowing Adam. They've got to be hungry. They've got to be anxious about something changing. They've got to want to change. They do. Because some people know they want something more, but they don't know exactly what it is. And so they're in the uncertainty of, well, I'm not sure which direction I should go in. And here's another problem I see is people have too many passions.

I've got this idea and this idea and this idea which one do i choose and when someone has 10 different passions or different roads that they could go down how do they know which one they should go down that want to factor that's the x factor and um you know people talk about willpower well i want to talk about want power um i what does that mean oh it's want power is how much do you want this thing again you know how much are you in love with this idea. I do think that there are times when we're kind of directionless or a person certainly can be.

And so for that poor soul, although they might be happy, content, doing fine, really, but they kind of like something to change and be bigger and better and more dramatic or whatever. And so sometimes I think we can maybe find that magical era just by playing with the curiosity

or saying yes to random opportunity that just comes smack in front of us. Or maybe deciding, well, I'm going to muscle up one of my superpowers. I'm going to sort of really get into that because I have fun with that and I'm good at it. So those are things I think that one can play with when they're not just totally... They're not sure of the direction. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. And it sounds like once we can figure out

which direction we want to go in to make a quantum leap, it's hard to make a decision of which direction to go for some people where other people just know, this is the thing I love. I'm excited about this. I have some skills or talent around this idea or this thing, and I'm going to go all in on it. But once you can figure out the path you're going and the direction you're going to take, how do you know it's time to take a quantum leap in that path versus, all right, I got to figure out my bearings and figure out where I'm heading in this direction and just kind of create some goals and get it going. But how do

I know when my time is ready for a unconventional growth spurt, for a leap so big and grand that other people think I'm crazy and laugh at me when I talk about it? i don't think you will necessarily know i i think you make a decision one of the chapters in the u-squared handbook is make your move before you're ready um And I'll tell you where big dreams go to die. Tell me. They go to the planning place, getting ready place, preparing myself. And it's the biggest con job we work on ourselves.

There are so many bones of big dreams in that graveyard where people, it's always something that there's always going to be a set of reasons to wait. And it's like Gilda Radner, that line of hers on Saturday Night Live, you know, it's always something. Well, it is. And so when are you going to take the risk? You pick 10 people at random, and I'll bet $100 that we can find quantum leaps in every one of them. Really? Oh, yeah. And if you stop and think about it, everybody's made quantum leaps in every one of them. Really? Oh, yeah. And if you stop and think about it, everybody's made quantum leaps before they reach school age.

Because you come into this world naked. You can't speak. You can't feed yourself. You can't get around. And by the age of three, you're doing all three of those things. That's true. It's pretty incredible. Now, go and look at what that child did.

They were willing to fail. Over and over and over again. Over and over and over again. They had no methodology. They just knew what they wanted. And they were willing to make mistakes to show them the way there. And it's the same thing when they learn to ride a bicycle, when they learn to swim,

when they learn to run as opposed to walk. And so those are all, that's not an incremental thing. You can't crawl fast enough to become a walker it you know you got to change the game it's a totally different game waiting is w-a-d-i-n-g in the water is you can't wade fast enough to swim and so it's that it's that process of being willing to take new risks, change your modus operandi, fail your way to success. You talk about seeking failure

in one of the chapters of U Squared and in another chapter about suspend disbelief. I loved a few quotes in this because I believe self-doubt is the biggest killer of dreams. It's what holds us back from taking the steps necessary to fail often, frequently, in order to make those big leaps. And in your chapter on suspend disbelief, you started with saying, act as if your success is for certain. Most people have so much doubt. Is this possible? What happens if I fail? What happens if I do succeed? The pressure.

What about all the judgment I'm going to get from the actions and the failures? And you say, if you must doubt something, doubt your limits. I love that line. And one other line that really stood out to me is, your doubts are not the product of accurate thinking, but habitual thinking. And when I read that, I was like, wow, this is so true. It's not a product of accurate thinking. It's of habitual thinking. We've been thinking limited consistently.

And this habit of thinking limited keeps us in a limited state of being, state of mind, as opposed to accurate thinking, what is possible. We don't step into that enough. And this whole chapter really opened up for me because my thesis in life is self-doubt is the killer of dreams. And when we can learn to believe in self, which is something you talked about here as well, needing to believe in yourself, it needs to be your goal. And you need to have a love story around this pursuit. But if we can't learn to believe in self, it's going to be hard. You can love the idea of your goal.

You can have clear goals. But if you doubt you, your dreams are going to die. And I think that's a challenging thing for people to say, well, how do I learn to believe in self? How do I learn to have accurate thinking, not habitual thinking? How do I learn to doubt my limits as opposed to doubting myself? And how do I learn to act as if my success is for certain when I've always doubted me? What do you say to that statement? Yeah, it's a killer question. Well, you get to choose how you behave. To heck with your thinking. Let's say your thinking is what it is and it's riddled with doubt it you're ravaged with doubt

you still get to choose how you behave um and you can you can act like you've got what it takes you can't you can do it yeah it's not easy and you can feel like a I'm faking this. Oh, am I ever faking this? But the best actors in Hollywood make a lot of money. Exactly. And they're playing a role. Yeah.

They aren't that role. That's right. That's not who they are in their normal life, but they're playing a role. And the better you can act, the more money you can make in Hollywood. Well, if we said George Burns or someone that said something about, I won't get this precise, but it's something like authenticity is the key. If you can fake that, you got it made. Right, right, right.

But so that's one thing. And just go against everything that's going on inside you because most people are not going to know. on inside you because most people are not going to know and but there's another thing manage your remembering what does that mean your memory uh painful yeah what you go back and what you what you dwell on um when you go back over the years, I mean, I can go back just like that. I can think something, and I can pull up again and again and again. All these times that I've been embarrassed, I've been humiliated, I've failed, dropped the ball, you know. I can dwell on that if I want to.

But I can also go back in the times that I pulled it off. The times I did it right. I surprised myself how good it felt when I was good to somebody else. You know, on and on and on. So you get to dwell on whatever you want to dwell on. And we're too indiscriminate. It's kind of like these two voices we've got in our head. We've got a hero voice and we've got a villain voice.

You know? And who are you going to give airtime to? People talk about having a coach. Well, the coach that is closest to you is the voices inside your head. You're coaching yourself all the time. And you get to decide which voice you want to hand the mic to. And the villain voice is very compelling. And he's a con artist because so much of the time he's like

that i'm here to protect you buddy i'm on your side i'm going to keep you from screwing up i don't want you to fail i don't want you to embarrass yourself you know just listen to me And so he focuses on mistakes, on your weaker points, and all the why nots. Your Hebrew voice focuses on your strengths, your accomplishments, and so on and so on. What's your thoughts on manifesting and manifesting something you want and alchemizing it into the world? Do you believe in manifesting? Do you believe in a, uh, you know, artists should be thinking in that way or what's your thoughts on it? I believe in it a million percent. It's something that I've experienced before I knew what it was. So I, so when I say it's like, uh, I feel like it has to do with the purity of the intention behind what you're doing. If your intention is pure and you're doing it for the right reasons, it seems like things tend to work out.

And that ends up being a manifestation mindset. But it didn't start for me that way. It just was like, I really believe in what I'm doing. I really care about it. I want it to be the best it could be for me. And I'm excited to share it. And the results have shown me that you can manifest things. It happens.

that you can manifest things. It happens. But I'll say when I do it, it's never based on the outcome. Ooh, what do you mean? I'm never asking for a result. What are you asking for? I'm asking to rise to the occasion to make the best thing that I can

for the thing that I make to be great. Great is a vague word. I don't know what great means. I came to realize recently what great means, but I didn't know. Most of my life I was aiming for great, but I didn't know what that was. And I've come to realize that great means it's a devotional kind of greatness. It's a gift to the universe. It's a gift to God. Wow. If you're making a gift to God, there's no greater – you can't put more into it than that. You can't – what about the single?

What about what someone's going to say? Who has anything to say if we're making a gift for God? You're putting all of your purest intention into this thing for the universe. Wow. That's where it's at. I didn't know that. I came to realize that recently. Again, my word was greatness.

Yeah. Greatness. That was the word of what I was shooting for. But I've come to realize what it is wow you have a whole you know kind of section about greatness and success in the creative act a way of being which is which i loved your explanation in there um that is fascinating so greatness for you what i'm hearing you say is is a is a pure gift of yours to God. Yes. And it's a gift of yourself to God. It's like, this is the best I can do.

This is my offering. This is what I have to offer. If you think of a formula for manifesting as an artist, what would that formula be? I don't think there's a formula. Is there an art to manifesting as an artist, what would that formula be? I don't think there's a formula. Is there an art to manifesting? I don't know. I don't, I think, um, it sounds like a shortcut and I don't think there are shortcuts.

I think it's always, uh, uh, a version of doing the work of finding your way into what it is that the universe wants you to do and then really dedicating yourself how do you know what the universe wants you to do and when to do it the right timing because you could be like i have this idea for this thing maybe it's the right time now maybe it's five ten years away away from now. How do we really tap into that knowing? I think it's situational. And I think, again, if you're tapped into the universe, it tells you, it directs you. An example, I may have three different ideas that I'm excited about, and I kind of get them all going. And then one of them just seems to take off on its own. And one of them, no matter how hard I work on it, it never seems to come

together. Can't find the right collaborators, some obstacles in the way. When that happens, I feel like it's the universe saying now is not the time interesting because you know i i love this and i also hear the other side of the i guess the coin where you know i don't know if you know ryan holiday i do the obstacle is the way is his kind of stoic philosophy of like when the obstacle is there, it presents itself. And you also feel like this is something you want to do. Like you've got to kind of go through that pain and then, you know, to overcome it. That is part of it.

I'm not saying to turn away from the obstacle. But I'm saying when the obstacles become insurmountable consistently and there's another path right that's going smoothly and you feel the same about both of them you know over the effortless way yeah well pay attention see when when is the universe giving you a push when is the when is the wind hitting your sails the right way there's something to it i i'm i'm i would never suggest not fighting through the work it's it's it's grueling no matter what it's grueling no matter what that said sometimes it feels like now's not the time uh-huh it's like all everything you throw at it gets deflected. Right.

But this other thing is guiding you. Taking on its own life. Earlier you asked about what I perceive to be a shortcut. And a shortcut is how little can I get away with doing? And I think that the real question is, how much more can I give to the thing I'm making? What else can I give to it? And thinking in terms of how much more can we do, not how much less can we do.

It's not about shortcuts. It's not about getting it done. It's not about a four- not about getting it done you know it's not about a four-hour work week i loved it you know i loved it but that's not it's like whatever it takes for it to be all it could be um commitment and total commitment and dedicating your life to making the best things you can, whatever it is. Yeah. That's beautiful, man. So you think that as artists, we should be thinking about manifesting, but not in the terms of doing less, but putting the maximum into making it great. but putting the maximum into making it great.

Doing anything that's within our power, it doesn't have to make sense. Nothing has to make sense. It could be, when I wear these purple socks, I can write a better song. Great. It doesn't matter. Don't question it.

Just do whatever works, do it. Is it really art if you're making money off of it? Absolutely. It doesn't matter. It's not about the outcome. That's what I'm saying. If you don't make money or if you do make money, that has nothing to do with the art. Art is the art and then whatever happens after happens after. If you make something that you love, I know if I make something I love, if more people like it, that's only a good thing. Now, I wouldn't change a word of it for someone else to like it. Do you know what I'm saying? It's like I make the thing I love do you know what i'm saying it's like i make the thing i love and then present it to the world and then if the world likes it great and if more people like it than less better why not we're

sharing something we love something we think is beautiful yeah so the more people who embrace it but again i would never change it for anyone else because that's not what it's about. It's not about that. With the artists you've worked with that you knew before they were global successes or their art, their music was known by many, what did you see became their biggest challenge once they became extremely successful? became their biggest challenge once they became extremely successful. Because a lot of artists, I would think, want their art to be liked and listened to by people. They want to make a living and more people like it. Typically, that's a good thing. Typically.

But sometimes we see artists who have this incredible rise of success and then seem to struggle with whatever, depression, anxiety, maybe the pressure, can I do this again? Will I be able to have these many hits again? What is the biggest challenge you see with artists becoming successful? Probably the biggest one is nobody prepares Nobody prepares you for success and you may have a dream of what it's like and you may think the success is going to fill some hole you have in your soul. And you work your whole life for the success that's going to fill the hole and finally you get the success and the hole's the same. And it creates hopelessness. Wow. Because you always, you're working towards this goal that's going to fix the problem. But it's the goal doesn't fix the problem. I would say, I can't say never,

but I would say almost never fixes the problem. What fixes the problem for people? It's something else. It's something inside themselves. It's something inside themselves. So do you think success can almost hurt someone more than before they have it after they have it it just it depends on the person's temperament you know for some people being famous is the greatest thing it's all they ever wanted and

for some people they become famous and it's the worst nightmare. That's not what they wanted. They miss their privacy. They miss their anonymity. They miss being able to go and do whatever they want and not be singled out or pointed to or talked to. Or even if people are nice, it's different. And no one teaches you how to do that. or you want to go do something with your family. And then there are photographers there. And it's very awkward. What advice do you have for people that want to be famous? Success is one thing, but fame is another thing.

And they don't always happen together. For someone that wants to be famous, what advice would you have for them i don't know i would say i would look at why that is i would maybe see you know consider therapy right have you ever done therapy yourself i've done yeah i've done all kinds of therapy what has been the biggest lesson you learned through therapy for you um i learned how to express my feelings clearly. Like the first time I went to therapy, I didn't even know how to talk.

I didn't know how I felt about anything. How old were you then? Maybe 26. So you learned how to express your feelings then? Yes. And to not only, yes, express them, but also to actually feel them in myself, to understand, not just feel like blocked off or frustrated or

like what's beneath it, what's actually going on. And what is the biggest lessons that meditation or meditation practices has provided for you? It provides a quiet space where the chatter, you realize that your thoughts are not you and that left to your own devices, there'll be a lot of voices in your head just going all the time and they're not you and they don't mean anything and and they're really repetitious, and they're not working in your best interest. So if your thoughts aren't you, then what are you? I suppose you are the unchanging part of yourself that's always there from,

I probably from the time you're born until the time you die and maybe before and after it's the, it's what's really inside. It's not, it's not changeable. It's what you came with. That's not changeable. It's what you came with. It's not the thinking mind. It's almost being the observer of the thoughts. The one who sees the thoughts.

That sounds right. Yeah. Observing the thoughts. Thank you. Yeah. That's what I was hearing you say. When do you feel the most loved, Rick? I would say in general, I feel loved.

It's a good feeling. Like I feel spiritually connected. And that gives me a great feeling of peace. Where do you think you'd be in your life if you weren't a meditator? And where do you think you'd be if you allowed yourself to play with drugs and alcohol? Yeah, I can't really predict. I would say meditation. Without meditation, I don't know who I would be. It's such a big part of who I am. Uh, informed so many, everything, my, my understanding of the world is based on learning to meditate

when I was young. So I don't know who I would be without that. Do you think you would have as much internal harmony and peace and external success without meditation? No, certainly not internal peace. I don't know about success. I wanted to ask you a question about comparison. You mentioned the NBA basketball player needing to post more on social media based on what their team or the coaches or maybe not the coaches, but maybe the general managers wanted them to do. With artists, I see a lot of people competing and being in comparison versus just sharing their truths in an authentic way. And sometimes on

social media, people are vulnerable because it gets attention and then they're over vulnerable and then that becomes a game in itself. But in a world where everything is oversaturated seeming and there is a lot of competition for attention, how can an artist stay true to their inner voice and not be in comparison, but be willing to collaborate and also see success in others and be okay with it. Yeah. I think, I think staying out of it, you know, like not participating in that game, that's, it's someone else's game. That's someone else's game. I would suggest play your own game. I can remember having a conversation with one of the biggest artists in the world who described an album that they were going to make. And I had just seen them play in a stadium full of people screaming and crying. And it was not Paul McCartney. And the album that they were describing was one that none of those 70,000 people screaming and

crying wanted to hear it was clear to it was clear to me and and i remember saying that's not your hand like you play when you're playing poker it's not you can't just play any cards. You play your hand based on the cards you've been dealt. So depending on the artist you are, it'd be like there was a time, I think, when Metallica felt like, we don't really want to be a heavy metal band. We want to be a pop band because pop bands were what's popular. And we have reached a ceiling being a heavy metal band that did not go well that was a bad idea they weren't playing their hand they weren't they weren't embracing metallica

and i think if you embrace your part it's your best chance. Being true to yourself, not saying, oh, well, those people over there are getting popular doing this other thing. I don't really like it, but it's really working for them. Maybe I could try that. Recipe for disaster. So don't chase something that's not your hand. No. I hope you enjoyed today's episode and it inspired you on your journey towards greatness.

Make sure to check out the show notes in the description for a full rundown of today's episode with all the important links. And if you want weekly exclusive bonus episodes with me personally, as well as ad-free listening, then make sure to subscribe to our Greatness Plus channel exclusively on Apple Podcasts. Share this with a friend on social media and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts as well. Let me know what you enjoyed about this episode in that review. I really love hearing feedback from you and it helps us figure out how we can support and serve you moving forward. And I want to remind you if no one has told lately, that you are loved, you are worthy,

and you matter. And now it's time to go out there and do something great.