When Naomi Riley, a beacon of inspiration, graced the Bamboo Lab podcast, the air was thick with stories of resilience and the promise of growth. Our conversation traversed her journey from the shadow of a brain injury to the spotlight of advocacy, as she generously unfolded the pages of her life for our listeners. Naomi's vulnerability and wisdom in facing mental health challenges and championing inclusive education reflected a wellspring of strength that can embolden us all.
The heart of our exchange lay in the practical strategies Naomi shared, road-tested through her own experiences. We wove through the significance of gratitude, the art of living in the moment, and the transformative power of emotional intelligence. Each listener can glean from Naomi's ten resilience-building strategies, embracing them as lifelines to navigate their personal voyages. This episode is a tribute to human connection and the incredible impact of seeking and offering help in times of crisis.
Our journey with Naomi didn't just pause at the profound—it soared into strategies for daily life and mental well-being. From setting achievable goals to spreading kindness, the wisdom imparted holds a mirror to the simple yet powerful steps that can steer us toward personal fulfillment. As Naomi's narrative unfolded, it was clear that each moment weaves into the next, creating a tapestry of experience that, with intention and care, can shape a life of purpose and joy.
https://textpledge.us/
Strive-Love-Live
Brian
https://bamboolab3.com/
When Naomi Riley, a beacon of inspiration, graced the Bamboo Lab podcast, the air was thick with stories of resilience and the promise of growth. Our conversation traversed her journey from the shadow of a brain injury to the spotlight of advocacy, as she generously unfolded the pages of her life for our listeners. Naomi's vulnerability and wisdom in facing mental health challenges and championing inclusive education reflected a wellspring of strength that can embolden us all.
The heart of our exchange lay in the practical strategies Naomi shared, road-tested through her own experiences. We wove through the significance of gratitude, the art of living in the moment, and the transformative power of emotional intelligence. Each listener can glean from Naomi's ten resilience-building strategies, embracing them as lifelines to navigate their personal voyages. This episode is a tribute to human connection and the incredible impact of seeking and offering help in times of crisis.
Our journey with Naomi didn't just pause at the profound—it soared into strategies for daily life and mental well-being. From setting achievable goals to spreading kindness, the wisdom imparted holds a mirror to the simple yet powerful steps that can steer us toward personal fulfillment. As Naomi's narrative unfolded, it was clear that each moment weaves into the next, creating a tapestry of experience that, with intention and care, can shape a life of purpose and joy.
https://textpledge.us/
Strive-Love-Live
Brian
https://bamboolab3.com/
Hello and welcome to the Bamboo Lab podcast with your host, peak Performance Coach, brian Bosley. Are you stuck on the hamster wheel of life, spinning and spinning but not really moving forward? Are you ready to jump off and soar? Are you finally ready to sculpt your life? If so, you've landed in the right place. This podcast is created and broadcast just for you, all of you strivers, thrivers and survivors out there. If you'd like to learn more about Brian and the Bamboo Lab, feel free to reach out to explore your true peak level at wwwBambooLab3.com.
Speaker 2:Hey everyone, welcome to this week's show. You know I'm so excited for today's episode. I've been waiting for this for the past couple of weeks and being excited. We have a really good, amazing guest on inspiring a good friend of mine over the past six years. But before we get into talking about our guests, I just want to thank all of you out there, all of you in the Bamboo Pack and all of the amazing guests we've been able to bring on, who've taken their time to come on this show. We just got a report that we are still as of this year and last year we were as well we are still in the top 25% of all podcast downloads in the world and we're growing in that 25%. So our goal is to get to 10% by the end of this year and then continue up. But that's all I do is offer a platform and ask questions. It's all because of the guests we bring on and all of you out there who people who want to grow, who want to learn, who have want to kind of grab that wisdom from the people we bring on, like we will be today. So thank all of you from the bottom of my heart. This journey has been greater than I expected. It's all because of all of you.
Speaker 2:You know I haven't really dedicated an episode in quite some time we were doing it for a while but I want to dedicate this one to a special little friend of ours who passed away four weeks ago. Tomorrow, our little dog, chloe, of 13 years, left this earth and crossed that what they call the Rainbow Bridge, in my arms and in my son Dawson's arms, on the Wednesday before Christmas, after spending 13 years protecting our family and loving us, all of all of us, unconditionally. So this one's for you, little girl. All right. So today, folks, I'm excited to talk to this amazing lady. She's been a friend, as I said, for six years.
Speaker 2:Now we have Naomi Riley on and, before we really officially introduce her, I want to share with you a little bit about Naomi and just. You're going to love her, and one of the things I want to share is, as I was preparing this morning for today's show, I was thinking about the conversations I've had with Naomi over the years and one of the things I've always teach my clients and I've shared this on the show so many times our primary focus in life as a human is to increase the sense of self worth of those around us, and those people who do that to me are the most amazing people on the planet, and what I remember about Naomi is she does that when you're with her, she can make you feel like you're the only person in the room, and she really has an amazing ability to just make you feel special about who you are. So that's why I'm so excited to have her on here today. So let me tell you a little bit about her.
Speaker 2:Naomi is a brain injury survivor turn influential motivational speaker. She has really catalyzed change in mental health and education reform. Her personal triumph over adversity underpins her advocacy for inclusive education for those with mental health issues and cognitive challenges. Her 2023 release of 25 activity books for K to 12 students underscores her commitment to educational improvement. Naomi's consultant agency, which flourished by providing pivotal financial guidance during the 2020-2021 pandemic, has now become a multi-million dollar enterprise, making her services highly, highly sought after. As she champions neurodiversity and mental well-being, naomi is inspiring a broad spectrum of individuals, from educators to policymakers, to redefine success and support every individual's potential to thrive in all, in every aspect of life. Whoo, I don't even think I could give you a better introduction, naomi, but there's so many things I could say, but I just want to officially welcome you, my friend, to the Bamboo Lab podcast.
Speaker 3:Thank you so much for having me. It's so great to talk to you again.
Speaker 2:It's been like three years since we've spoken.
Speaker 3:Yes, yes, it has, and we both have been very busy with our businesses, right? We have been.
Speaker 2:And as I was sharing with you prior to the recording today, you are kind of the epitome or the symbol of what this podcast really is, because what I've learned as I share with you, naomi, is I've learned in the past two years of doing the show that something I didn't really realize prior is that how all of us are surrounded by such amazing people, and I always knew you were an amazing person. But now, three or four years later, to look at what you're doing, I'm thinking she's one text away from me and I would never have picked up on that years ago how much you're doing, and I think that's exactly why you are the epitome of an ordinary person doing extraordinary things. Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule and coming on the show.
Speaker 3:Absolutely. It is my pleasure. I love sharing my story with many, and I'm excited to share this with your listeners today.
Speaker 2:Well, they're going to be excited to hear it. So can you tell us? I know obviously quite a bit about you, but can you share with us in the audience a little bit about yourself, where you're from, a little bit about your child and your family, who or what maybe inspired you growing up? Just get a good sense of who you are.
Speaker 3:Sure, so I am a local Grand Rapids Michigan girl. I grew up on the Southwest Side Wyoming area with my family and my parents still live in the little house I grew up in today. I was a sister to one brother, but I was also a child that grew up with an illness and a lot of people didn't know that, even my close friends, you know. I tried to hide that I grew up. I was diagnosed with the juvenile rheumatoid arthritis at the age of seven. Doctors had thought I had had it at the age of three. So my life growing up was already difficult.
Speaker 3:Right Back in that day. The doctors really didn't know how to treat what I was dealing with and I had exploratory surgeries and things like that. So again, I'm not saying that for anyone to feel pity or anything like that. It's just you'll get a better understanding of where I've gone and how I've gotten there as I move forward with what I'm talking about. So yeah, so I grew up in the Grand Rapids area, had one brother, great mom and dad who really gave me a firm foundation in God and Christ, which I really look always to that first. I've always put God in my beliefs first. We always go through little things, though in our life that can challenge us right. So, god, it was always my one go-to, and then Jane Goodall. I really think Jane Goodall was a really big influence in my life. A woman that can go in the jungle and sit there and live with apes for quite a while is pretty recommendable.
Speaker 2:Do you know that Jane Goodall believes that Bigfoot exists?
Speaker 3:I did not know that.
Speaker 2:She does Wow. She believes there's a very strong probability that there's a bipedal primate that lives in North America. Really, yeah, isn't that incredible? Yeah, I love her, I think she's awesome.
Speaker 3:She's pretty amazing. She's pretty amazing. So that's pretty much like my background and me growing up, but just to give you an idea and where I'm headed to with this, so in 2017, I do have three amazing, wonderful kids that are all about 20 years old and I've been able to raise my ex-husband and I raise them. They're all grown up now and we're so happy and proud of every single one of them. But in 2017, we all go through some very pivotal times in our life. If we're blessed and lucky, then we have this amazing and wonderful life. But I think there's always going to be times that challenge us, no matter what they are, and, unfortunately for me, I had some significant challenges as I was growing up where my mental health was affected many different times. So as a child, I faced bullying and just kind of just differences with other kids, and so I'm able to talk on bullying and some of the things that we're seeing in society right now. So with that in 2017, as they move forward with life, I did have our challenges growing through life, and my husband and I were married for 20 years. We had three beautiful kids. I kind of just went through life.
Speaker 3:I did have another medical scare in 2012, where I had a tumor that grew into my abdominal wall. It was non-cancerous, and I went through 12 surgeries due to that. So, yeah, it was like I had this thing go wrong, then I had another thing go wrong, and then, in 2017, was my pivotal moment, where I was in a distracted driving accident and I had a brain injury, along with other injuries, and I spent some time in one of our rehab hospitals here in Grand Rapids, michigan, and during that time, I couldn't put sentences together. I couldn't. My motor functions were very, very weak and it took quite a long time for me just to regain everything that I had lost. And so that was my pivotal moment where I was like, oh my God, what is wrong? What's happening? I couldn't drive. I had people taking care of me left and right and I kept praying because I had three kids at that time and two of them were in school. Still, I just kept praying like why am I here? Please just give me a reason why my life was spared, when so many others are not. The driver that hit me didn't see me, and I was hit out of nowhere. So that's that one pivotal moment that can change our life in any blink of an eye. That can happen to us at any point in our life, and so at that time I was really suffering and my mental health was affected huge. My physical injuries had gotten to the point where they had healed. However, I had some internal injuries that no one was seeing that I really needed some help with, and I kept going back to the doctors I would have to go.
Speaker 3:You go through when you're in a really bad accident. You go through the rehab and then you go to an outpatient rehab and you are still going through the processes until your new neural pathways can be redeveloped. Now that's where the brain injury. They have to help you redevelop these neural pathways, because the way that you've been doing it is not working after a catastrophic injury like that. So your new neural pathways are getting developed and I'm still struggling with some physical issues that are going on in a number of worlds.
Speaker 3:And I just kept saying if there's something that you have for me, please help me get through this, because I just know at that time, what on earth? Why would you spare my life? And then a lot of people go through this, whether it's you're dealing with domestic abuse, of situations or other car accidents or addictions. There's so much trauma that's happening in this world right now, and so we're seeing so much of it, and so, anyways, long story short, I ended up, you know, getting my new neural pathways developed and I just kept saying give me some reasons.
Speaker 3:And so I would see on the news, you know, the distracted driving, the human trafficking, the acts of violence. We were without guns and weapons and I would see, like all of these things going on in our society and he's just like, wow, this is incredible. We really got some problems going on, right. So, and now, mind you, this was a long time in the making, but, you know, in 2017, I started developing a plan where we could start hitting some of these issues that we're seeing in society by no fault of our own right.
Speaker 3:So, you know, I talked about 40 years ago. We didn't have. We didn't have, like, some of the things that we're seeing in our society, like social media and these cell phones. Right, you and I, like, we didn't have that, and our lives have changed so drastically because of all of these things, and you know, we've allowed for these certain things to happen by no fault of our own. So four years ago or not four years ago, but in 2017, I started a plan and it started out as a distracted driving campaign. I was so angry and so upset that my life had changed in that one moment, because I had worked so hard to get to the point where I was, you know, doing well, I had, you know, survived the RA, I had survived the tumor and I was doing pretty well, and you know, and then, all of a sudden, to be hit, and then just have to deal, go back to the basics and then deal with the brain injury and then deal with all these other things that I was challenged with.
Speaker 2:And you know I look, that was right after you, right prior to you and I meeting then.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it was.
Speaker 3:Yes it was December of 2017 when I had had that brain injury and I think you and I had met in 2018 because there was a time where I just could not, I couldn't even drive in, and I think our mutual friends knew that at that point. And anyway, so a long story short, I put that into a distracted driving campaign. I met with a good friend of mine who is a judge in the slancing area, judge Aquilina. I brought the campaign to her and I was just like you know, I need some help. This is really. It's a struggle for me, not only because was I hit. A month after I was hit, my uncle went out to get pizza for his family and he never came home. He was hit by a distracted driver and cloud into a tree. So you know, there's so many things. So I went on this mission to help help society, at least with distracted driving. You know, I didn't know. You know over the course of time, what it was going to turn into. So I went on a ton. I went and did a ton of research with, you know, my, my neurologist, my psychologist, my, you know, were judicial officials, emergency workers and I. You know, I gathered all this information, like where are we headed with with society, right? And so over the course of you know, four years, I did a lot of research and let me just share with you just where I'm at today. I get and I don't share this with you to feel pity or anything like that, I just want to help your listeners understand that the power of one moment can really alter someone's life. So where I'm at today is I.
Speaker 3:I was diagnosed nine months after my accident. They finally found out that there was something else going on with me than than just a brain injury that I had had and, you know, on the physical injuries that had healed. So they had found that I have something called trigeminal and occipital neuralgia. I was treated with some of the wrong medications and given some of the wrong medic and given some of the wrong therapies in the beginning, which is why my mental health was so affected.
Speaker 3:You know I just had felt like, you know, the medical community was not hearing and listening to me on what was actually going on, and so it took nine months for them to actually say oh my gosh, this is what's going on with her, this is what she has and this is how she needs to be treated Right. So again, you know I was treated with wrong medications, given wrong therapies, but now, at the end of the day, I am given everything that I need to move forward. So today, you know, every week, I get an infusion which helps my body just kind of stay mobile and be the best person that I can be, and then I routinely, once in a while, will. If my trigeminal and occipital neuralgia will inflame, then I have to get shot up through my nose and into my skull. Yes, that is not fun, it is absolutely grueling.
Speaker 2:Wait. So this was after the distracted driving accident. That's when you became. We got the wrong treatment.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so when you and I maybe were, you know, I think, when you and I met, you know I was probably, you know, going through some of those wrong treatments.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Oh for sure. But anyways, you know, hindsight's 2020 and we go through our highs and lows in life and you know we have to keep moving forward and just saying no, I'm going to rise above this and become better, because we can ruminate and we can leave ourselves into that state of life of what was me. I am not going to be able to do this because I feel this way you have to keep trying, you have to keep moving forward to be the best person that you can be. So this is where I'm going to take you today. You know, like I said, over the course, you know, since 2017, I put a lot of research into what we can do to help our youth get through and have a better society overall and in 2023, and let me let me just also preface this as well you know, my neuro pathways were redeveloped and I chose to kind of just really hone in on what we could do to help, you know, make, make society a little bit better. I also chose to hone in on assisting others because so many assisted me back in the day.
Speaker 3:I had been working through Hilton hotels at the time and they had to get rid of 250,000 jobs during the pandemic. So I had studied nonprofit law prior to the pandemic happening and a good friend of mine said hey, I need you to come over here and help me. I just told him, like I love my job. He's like come over, help me. And then I just decided and dedicated my my life to serving others because so many had helped me during that time. And when we choose to do that, we're shifting, we're making a mind shift right.
Speaker 3:And so I studied the all the pandemic laws. And he works in an accounting firm and I said, you know, I said to him hey, you've got tons and tons of business owner clients. They're going to need lots of help. He's like okay, it's on you. So my expertise became consulting business owners through and guiding them, helping them through the pandemic and, you know, just counseling them in different ways and mental health advice too. You know, many were struggling at that time like how am I going to get through this, you know? So I think my backstory had given them a little bit of hope. And then also knowing the tax laws too, that you know can help too.
Speaker 3:So yeah so in 2020, you know, 2023, the project, our text pledge that us had become, you know I had gotten, I'd hired teams to, you know, help with this or help with that. And so we put together these activity books for youth from K to 12, which takes 10 of our country's biggest delamas and puts them all in one source. It teaches youth on the statistics of distracted driving, acts of violence and in so many more. Each grade level has five specific books for their, for their grade level, I think there's K and one, and then two through four, and then five, six, and then middle school and high school.
Speaker 3:And so we show them, like, how are we going to deal with this? You know, like, so the distracted driving. We educate what is distracted driving. How do we, how do we, you know, look at this and help our parents see, like, what is distracted driving, like you know all these little things like. And so we're teaching the youth at a young age that it's important, but it's also beneficial that they help teach their parents right. So we all know that the brain it takes six times for actually to register and move, and so by helping a little, it takes what.
Speaker 3:It takes. It takes the brain six times, like if you know advertising, right, yeah. So it takes the brain six times to see something and actually act on it, unless it's really, really important. So we don't really register things when the brain is given at one time. So we know that it takes a while for the brain to kind of like remember certain things. So my mission was to help, you know, students see and know that there's, you know, dangers in society. So that's what I created with TextFudge and, and so now there are, like I said, there's activity books for youth from K to 12 on 10 of our country's biggest alattas. You can go and learn about the website more. We've teams that share the national statistics on, you know, distracted driving, acts of violence with or without guns and weapons, and the list goes on. You know there's so many domestic abuse and assault, you know I would encourage anyone to just go learn about it. We have teams that have, you know, are put in place to kind of help build and build up this organization. So, and if any of your listeners are interested in looking at our books, we're more than happy to send them their way, because they are all free on our website right now.
Speaker 3:But let me take let me let me take you back to mental health, because I kind of got off on a little tangent with TextFudge and the organization that I started. So mental health and just dealing with trauma is probably one of the hardest things that we're seeing in society now. Right when I went through my own trauma, I chose to hyper focus and like kind of isolate myself, and we can do that. That's what victims of trauma do. So I'm going to teach your listeners what happens to the brain after we deal with trauma. But let me take you through. I want to take you through like why we're seeing so much of it now in this world. Because we're having a hard time kind of how we deal with trauma. And that was my main focus way in the beginning is I was having a hard time dealing with it. You know, just knowing like I went through a car accident, they were saying this is wrong with me. I'm saying no, this is not. I'm saying I have something else wrong and they're not listening to me, right, and so like my mental health was like really affected and I understand like when you have certain things going on, you really, really need to listen to your gut instincts. But so let me just take you through.
Speaker 3:You know your daily lives and contending with you, know everyone's journey and everyone can relate to that. So on the home front, you're dealing with your home maintenance, your family, your friendships, the kids, media, meals, daily life, cleaning, pets, extras, right, that's just on your home front. And then you have your social life, which is all the commitments that you make. You have your work, you have school you might have both. Then you have to deal with transportation, your cars, anything that you utilize to get to and from, and then you always have to present your best self when you're dealing with others. And you also have to deal with your you know colleagues or schoolmates. Then you have your extras right, all your extracurricular activities, your sports, the arts, everything right. So you have all of those to contend with. And all right, in the center are your emotions, your feelings and the memories that we have. Then in can walk the ugly, trauma right, and affect those emotions at any single point during the day. You can deal with cyber bullying, bullying. You can deal with car accident. You can deal with other things, you know addictions, whatever and that trauma is going to affect every single part of your emotions.
Speaker 3:And when the brain deals with trauma it changes. So its abilities are to fawn, fall, flight, fight or freeze and then we don't know what to do. And so after trauma hits and I've done with several people and I do consult many that go through trauma and how they need to get through, you know, and develop their new neural pathways to move on, shock and fear and isolation kind of come in, and that's what happened with me. I chose to really dive myself into certain areas and isolate myself and get rid of my distractions right. So your new normals are going to have to be developed, no matter what you deal with.
Speaker 3:If you had physical injuries or if you've just had a and I'm not, I'm not looking at brain injuries lately, because they are very significant If you had a brain injury, if you had trauma that's really affected you, those neural pathways have to be developed and it takes a while for them to develop. And that's where we're seeing like it's not the easiest for people that have gone through trauma to really get through and just hop back into the swing of things of life. And so you know, like a lot of our veterans deal with mental health issues and from things that they've seen and witnessed, and so for them too, it's really really difficult to kind of just jump back into things, because they're everything was affected, right, and so how we deal with certain things matters. And so, you know, I have this diagram that I use when I'm doing the presentations and I show how the trauma comes in, and then I show how, how we're expected to speed everything back up and just keep up with society and move forward. Well, that's not how everyone deals with things right, and so we have to learn that it's more patient driven, patients driven more than just kind of speeding back up with things. And so, you know, I, brian, I'm going to give you guys 10 ways to kind of mind shift so you can create a better you in 2024. And these are things that I have done, and I personally do every day to make sure that I am mentally focused and make sure that my family is in line, and and then my friends are too. You know I share with them what I do, and and I hope that your listeners might get a couple little tidbits of information that they may be able to use to move forward.
Speaker 3:So one is just practice gratitude. This is a very, very powerful way to shift your mind. So, in the morning, spend three to 10 minutes just in the morning, intentionally focusing your energy on the things that you are grateful for. Remember what you have someone else is probably praying for. We have, you know, we have in our society. We have. And then you asked we have the ability of freedom. Freedom, we have a roof over our head, most of us and we have meals, and so those are things that are really, really important. You know that we just really need to intentionally be grateful for Another thing.
Speaker 3:Okay, number two is to focus on the present. Focus on the things right now that you can improve for your mental well-being. You can make lists of things that you would like to accomplish every day and then just make small steps to improve your mental well-being. You know, every day is sometimes, you know, when you face your, your things that you're going through. You know, like when I went through my brain injury, I was so, so sad and so upset and so angry and I knew that it was not good for me to be around certain things. So I would just take the, the, make my little notes and say, okay, today I'm going to choose this, I'm going to choose this and I'm going to just keep moving forward. And I had to focus on the things that I needed to do to be present with that day.
Speaker 3:And and here's a good example and I, when I went through, when it's going to rehab, I would have to put sentences and remember certain things about. You know stories that I would listen to to give my answers, and my brain did not want to work. I was just like, oh, my word, how am I going to get through that? You know, and I just was like no, I don't want to do this. You know, and my, my therapist would be like honey, I mean, I know you got to send you, we know you got to send us. This was like, oh, I don't, I don't like this, I don't want to do this.
Speaker 3:And I would get there and I would just like I would be seriously, really, why, why am I? But I would do it, I would still make myself do it, and and I would get there and then in my, in my dad would pick me up and you know I was so like, oh, I hate this, I hate this, I hate this. But he would pick me up and I would. My brain would be so exhausted from how hard it had to focus that I would need it. I would need a nap afterwards, I would. It would be two hours of rehab and then I would come back and I would be like, oh my Lord, this is awful, but you know so I really I had to focus on just the little steps to be present in my moments. So, anyways, that's number two. So I know, please, some of you guys can relate like, okay, what can I do just today.
Speaker 2:That's the one. I struggle with, that one consistently. I mean I do so.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I'm writing a lot of notes down here.
Speaker 3:Okay, I'm more than happy to send you my my little presentation to you know, I have to make the notes, please, okay. So number three is create boundaries and cultivate positive relationships. This can be so difficult for so many of us at times, right, because sometimes we have those negative and toxic relationships in our life that we just really can't, you know, eliminate ourselves from right, and we know they're not healthy for us, but we're still there. And so for those of you that are struggling with a toxic relationship and you know that you don't want that anymore in your life, you know that this is not healthy for me and I just need something to move forward. You're just gonna have to distance yourself from that, and you can. You know what you can say. You know what that was the old me. I choose, I'm choosing, I'm working on myself, I'm choosing to be a better person now. So I just I really don't want to engage with that. You know, um, for me, you know sometimes that it's family, you know, and sometimes it's just, you know, relationships where you know you're not good for each other, right? So you're just gonna have to walk away. Um, protect your energy, you know. That's one thing that you really need to work on Everybody does protecting your energy. Yes, we can be servants to many, but if we're not really helping ourselves, then we are not doing really good for our self internally. So, you know, I meet so many people. They say, well, I'm a servant, I'm a servant, I'm a servant. That's good, but make sure that you're a servant to yourself too, because and I'll get into this in a minute because, again, if we're not helping ourselves, then who are we helping? Right, right. So Another thing that you can do is initiate a good friend of mine showed me this the whole project. So help one person each day. You can help guide them, or, you know, give them a book, or you know it's just give them a compliment, something like that. That helps you do initiate hope, but then you're still protecting your own energy and what you want to do to get through to the next, through your next you know journey of who you want to be in life, you know. So that's super important. Just create your boundaries and cultivate your positive relationships. Number I think we're on four, right? Yeah, number four Um, set realistic goals for yourself.
Speaker 3:Don't be a marathon runner in the beginning. Okay, I had a huge goal and I was just in a distracted driving campaign when I started, you know, organizing my thoughts, and I had no idea you know how that was gonna progress into something else. But you Don't set a huge goal in the beginning because we all know that it takes Steps to get to these goals right. So if you do decide to set a big goal, if you want to, you know, write a book or you want to start something new what are the steps that I need to do to get there? Investigate, take those time, take that time to really research and figure out what are the steps that I need to get there. We all know the marathon runner has to really practice a lot to get to that marathon. So that's really important. Put the change in to make that happen, to really continue to work on that goal and here's where I was talking about earlier practice self-care and compassion If you want others to believe in you and help you along with your journey.
Speaker 3:Practice self-care. Make sure you're nourishing your body with proper vitamins and foods to fit along with who you want to be. You know. Exercise or in plenty of water. Really focus on being compassionate to your physical body and strengths. You know your own strengths and attributes, so focus on those so that you can be a good example to others Is that number five and then what's that?
Speaker 2:number five.
Speaker 3:That was number five yeah.
Speaker 2:He's in order. Now I'm actually putting a star next to the ones I feel I'm doing very well at, and I'm Per there are already two out of five that I'm not doing very well at.
Speaker 3:All right. Well, we can't, all you know, make them work all the time, right? Okay, so prioritize rest and sleep, this number six. It's very important that your body gets enough rest. I know people that work two jobs just to make ends meet, and you know you just really need to. If you need a nap during the day, do it. You know some of the greats like what? Some of the greats. What is the? Some of the likes the Plato and and people like Aristotle.
Speaker 3:Yes, like they would just take greats during the day and just like go rest their mind. It wouldn't necessarily go to sleep, but they would just like go rest their mind and like get it back in centered. And so those are things that you can do just take like 15 minutes and just be like, no, I'm gonna center myself, I'm gonna get this right and then then move forward.
Speaker 2:Can I say something? I ask you a question. Of course I think a lot of people, I think a lot of people are thinking oh, I take breaks all day, I get on, I get on my phone, I look at social media, a peruse YouTube. I wouldn't call that rest, would you?
Speaker 3:No, that is not right. Resting is completely emptying your mind and just really just focusing on you. So, yeah, it's putting away the phone, it's, you know, maybe putting on some soft music, you know something, just to really like close your eyes and just say, okay, who am I, what am I doing, how am I moving forward with my life? That is really focusing on your rest per se. I agree with that completely. I'm engage in activities you want to do or try. So we only live once.
Speaker 3:Right after, after my brain injury and I was really working on me and I had gotten back, I was consulting with business owners and my daughter came to me. She was struggling at the time and I said, well, I'm gonna go jump out of a plane. Would you like to go do that with me? She chose to do that through skydiving. And you know, do something for yourself that's really gonna be Impactful and that you really want to try. Don't do it for anyone else, do it for you. You know we only live once. Another one I go.
Speaker 3:This is a hard one. Okay, we are on 8th practice self practice, self talk. This is one of the hardest things for a lot of us to do. Be very mindful of the thoughts in your head. Your mindset is Extremely important to help you along with your journey. Never give yourself the talk is so hard. I can't do that right, we can't do it. If I was, if I said that and I just gave up every time when I was in the brain injury clinic, I probably would still be there. So we have to really keep focused on I can do this, I will do this, I will get this done. I am this, I am that I will choose to work hard at my goals. Those are the things that we really need to make sure that we put in place.
Speaker 2:Okay, it is it is a very, very tough one and it's a very hard one for us to really kind of Get through daily right.
Speaker 3:We all can fall, but we also can rise. So really focus on that daily. If you find your mindset moving down, say no, I'm gonna have it move back up. Number nine is that a calendar of four things that to write down daily For goals? Right, for goals of that that you're gonna get done through the day. This is huge. It's so powerful and it will help hold you accountable for that day.
Speaker 3:We know that we all get busy with life, but if you look back and you say, oh my gosh, okay, I did, I have before things I want to get done and I got. You know, I got all four done plus two. This is great. You can look back and do a reflection Journal in the evening and say, hey, I did this, I did that and I did this, and I mean to pat myself on the back for doing that and then just repeat that the next day. You're gonna notice that your mind is more focused and driven to Get your goals done and where you want to go. That helps you. That will help you believe in yourself and just keep moving forward. Right, that's perfect. Now Is there a reason why?
Speaker 2:the number four is important. You know a good friend of mine, give it to me.
Speaker 3:He's, he's, he's that, try it, and he's like it's really powerful. I'm like all right, well, I don't try it, I do three. And I didn't know if there and I was.
Speaker 2:I just like the number three. I just wonder if there far would be better. Yeah.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you know, do as many as you want. I I did. He, when he gave us me, I said I'm gonna do four, but then I would make a list and then I listed you too long and I'm like then I got frustrated, it's like I. Just had to divide it up, right? That's when you have to set realistic boundaries. Number four.
Speaker 2:Yes, yeah Go.
Speaker 3:Yeah, okay, so the number number ten I Always, always, recommend to see counsel or professional help if you need it. Your brain and I have to repeat this, the brain does not finish evolving until age 26. The brain does not finish evolving until age 26. So if you are under age 26, please remember that. Never be in a crisis mode and act along.
Speaker 3:And and it's so, so important I just I have to repeat that again never be in crisis and act along, because when we do that, we sometimes do things that we should never do, and the reason why I what part of the reason I started text pledge and this project was one because of my uncle myself, but then I also had a dear friend who committed suicide and she acted in crisis.
Speaker 3:And then my assistant, who Her and I worked very close with her brother, was 14 just this fall and acted in crisis. And you know, when we choose to do things in crisis, again, our brain is not acting right. And so that became my mission is to educate students that when we're in crisis, our brains are acting different and we should never act upon that. And so, for the listeners, always reach out for help and don't just reach out to one person. Reach out to many because you deserve to live a great life. You deserve to just be your best self and your situation will change, no matter where you're at. It will change. You can take that from me.
Speaker 2:I want to recap what you just said in these 10 things for the audience, but before I do, I want to share with you that last thing that you just said. You know, never be in crisis and act alone. That might be the most important thing anybody's ever said on this podcast, and I do think I looked at your text pledge website and everybody. I want you to get on there. We're going to include a link in the show notes today and I want you to click on a specific thing that's called the crisis card that they have in there and it's a list of all the phone numbers you can reach out to in specific crises, you know, for child abuse or drug and alcohol abuse, suicide hotline, so it whatever you're experiencing at that time and you feel like you are in crisis and you may not have anybody to reach out to in your life, or maybe you do, but you need someone who's more qualified. These she's got I don't know what you have here 10 numbers or so for or so.
Speaker 2:Yes for everything, and this is just for the US. Yeah, right, for the US. Write down even animal abuse and neglect hotline. I mean this is. This encompasses a lot of the major crises that we as humans go through. So please take, print this out, put it on your fridge, put it in your briefcase, whatever your backpack, and have it with you in case you need it. Because, like like Naomi said, you are never actually alone, no matter how you feel, you are not alone. So that's so true.
Speaker 2:So everybody in the bag pack, I want to just recap really quickly because this was important stuff and I had to. I had to chuckle at how many I'm not doing right. So number one I'm just going to summarize these practice gratitude. Number two focus on the present and take small steps. Number two create boundaries and cultivate positive relationships. Number three set real, realistic goals. Number four practice self care and compassion. Number five or that was number, that was number five, yeah, number six practice.
Speaker 2:Yeah, prioritize rest and sleep. That's one I laugh at because I bad at that. Number seven engage in activities that you love to do. It's about you. This is your life, man.
Speaker 2:Number eight practice self talk, positive self talk. Be mindful of the things that you know, the thoughts in your head. You know what do you say when you, when you talk to yourself, is a good question. Number nine set a calendar of four goals a day. Number 10, seek counseling and professional help when in crisis. Never act alone.
Speaker 2:And I look at this one. I, what I'm, I'm very content in one to six of these. Where I'm not good at is focusing on the present. I'm always looking to the future way too much and it stresses me out. Setting realistic extra goals Nope, I'm not good at that. I'm trying, I'm working on that. This year is a focus of mine, and when I set my goals for the years, like, come on, man, I mean, yeah, you, you're probably not going to hit that. You're going to get discouraged again.
Speaker 2:Rest and sleep not good at that. You know what I'm good at, Naomi, I take a lot of naps. I do take a lot of naps. I take a nap probably three to four times a week, you know, 20 minutes, usually 20 to 30 minutes, but I have a. I just don't sleep long. I get up at 5.15 every morning as my alarm goes off, and no matter what time I go to bed, that's when my alarm goes off and I get up, and then I'm dragging all day and I sometimes I have a hard time going to sleep at night. But my son, Dawson, did buy me a sound machine for Christmas, so that has helped me a lot. Just some white noise and the other thing I'm not good at is?
Speaker 2:I'm well, I'm doing three goals a day, I'm not doing four, so that one I'm kind of on track for. But those, those, those free, the focusing on the present, setting realistic at goal, expect goals and expectations, and rest and sleep, or the three things. Now that I have these highlighted, I'm going to start focusing more on those three things. I want to, I want to, I want to be at least content in all 10 areas.
Speaker 2:Number 10, that number 10, I love that one because I think so many people are so afraid to reach out for help from a friend, a family member, a coworker or or professional help in this case, and it's it's we. There's a stigma in society that you know, maybe more so for men, I don't know. I seem like I talk to a lot of men who won't go to marriage counseling or or I don't need counseling, like, dude, I've gone to counseling. I've gone to probably I don't know how many counselors I've gone through my life, and therapists and I, you know other than a couple.
Speaker 2:Everyone has made a major impact and now that you have, is it what's the better help? You can get right online and find a therapist. It may not be, I don't know if they're as good as the ones you see in person, but you have an option online to do online or over the phone therapy from Shulton somewhere else in the world. So these are really good, man, I love these. They're simple, but everyone I'm trying was, you know, me, my skeptical mind was coming on going, okay, let's see if I can poke a hole in one of these to think, okay, there can't be 10 really important things. I'm like, yeah, they're 10 important things to do, and every one of these will have a major impact on you. I love this. This is so powerful.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and you know our program will be available in other countries. We're working on it. So we've had, you know, other people, other directors from different countries reach out to us. So we know our goal is to go global as quickly as possible but really help implement the right key factors for every single nation. So thanks again for having me. This is really nice. I'm not done with you yet.
Speaker 2:Do you have a few more minutes? Oh, you're not. No. Okay, come on Our audience wants more than 49 minutes with you.
Speaker 3:Oh my gosh.
Speaker 2:I'm so sorry. Well, I want to know. I'm curious, since you've begun this journey over the past seven years, you know, since the accident distracted driving then you've kind of branched off to just really helping people in a broader arena, what has been one big learning? You've really realized that you didn't know before.
Speaker 3:Oh, my word, you know the one, I guess the one big thing that you know we are never alone in our journey. We have, you know I talk about this we have become a nation that is so connected, right, with all the social media and everything, but we've also disconnected, right. And so, you know, fixing that, fixing that norm, needs to change a little bit, and, like the power of a moment is so, so crucial. Like we're looking at the inventions of AI right now and what it can do. It can do some really, really cool things. I mean, some of the things that I've seen have just been overwhelming. Like you can create an avatar that looks identical to you and speaks like you, and it can speak in 160 different languages like you. Those are some really cool things, right, but the AI it's still. There's something missing, right. What is that? That's the emotion. So I think we're going to see you over time as AI kind of continues to develop, right, we're going to see all this artificial intelligence and we're going to be missing the emotion of what humans can do for each other, right, and so we might be kind of like isolating ourselves just a little bit more, but when we actually do have authentic, real relationships with people, we're going to see those emotions come out, and so, really, again, you know, the power of one moment and how it can really affect someone is crucial, you know it. Just the emotional intelligence, helping others rise to being more emotionally intelligence is really key. So I think that's one really big thing that I've turned and learned on my journey is to just rise above and keep rising and keep rising and not let the emotion of others affect you.
Speaker 3:When I talk with, when I talk with students, I show them, you know, a blank piece of paper, and then I ask one to you know, come up and then crinkle it up, right. And you know they crinkle it up and show ball and I'm like, oh, squeeze it just as hard as you can, right. And then I, and then they do it, and then they, and then I say, hey, take this paper, and then flatten it out and make it to where it was before. And they look at me like, hey, lady, I can't do that, you kidding me. And and so I share with them the power of how emotions affect us.
Speaker 3:So, yeah, you know we can, we can have this confrontation or interaction with someone and we're not going to remember what they do or they say, but we're going to remember how they made you feel Right. And so, just like that piece of paper that was so nice and clean and neat in the beginning, it now has changed in it that power, that emotional thing that you did to that person. It will never change. So it's just like that piece of paper, so you can't change the way that someone has made you feel and it. You know that relationship will change, that you know you can always remember how that person made you feel and so that trust becomes a little bit different. Now Right and and then. So I always emphasize the power of our emotions really play a huge factor in our daily life.
Speaker 2:I just love your statement. You've mentioned this three or four times. You said pivotal moments, then you then you said the power of one moment, and I think about all we have at any given time in our lives is one moment. It's this moment right here, and how are we using it? Are we using it to waste time? Are we using it to downgrade ourselves or life or other or the world, or are we losing it to empower others and lift up the world? You know you only have that one moment and I really like what.
Speaker 2:I love the acronym hope help one person each day. I love that I do a thing called I just practice what I do. I track a lot of stuff. I'm a really big nerd nail me when it comes to tracking. Like I have an expectation of myself on like 33 areas of my life that I have to do these things. Like I have to take my vitamin seven days a week, I have to drink X amount of water to call my mom seven times a week, and one of those is practicing seven acts, random acts of kindness, every week. And I just started six months ago and I just I started off with one. The week then went to three. Then I said why don't I just do it seven? And sometimes you know it's most of the time it's like I run into the gas station or the grocery store and there's subtle things you know, ask in the clerk, hey, how's your day? And looking at it and his or her name taken, calling them by the name, and I've just noticed, for me I feel happier and I love when you somebody looks like they're in a bad mood and they're having a bad day behind the counter at a gas station and you start talking to them and you walk out and you look back. You can look back and you can just see the change in expression on their face. I mean, it's just one little impact on that person that could have that butterfly effect to the rest of the world.
Speaker 2:I had a guest on last year, naomi Art DeLorenzo Amazing show, amazing man is a friend of mine out of New York and then Martha's Vineyard and he he was talking. He said the what he has learned in life is acts of kindness are the greatest of sleep medication in the world. He said when you do something kind for a person and you go to bed and remember that person's face, it'll put you right to sleep and I thought, and it does sometimes think about. I don't do it every night, but every once in a while when I'm having a hard time thinking or sleeping, I'll think of what did I do nice to for someone today or yesterday or something, and it just gives you that sense of calm. Like your, like the gratitude journal, I do my gratitude journal in the morning. I think I'm going to shift held tonight, but yeah, but you, I know you do yours in the morning.
Speaker 2:But you said something about doing oh, it was doing your reflection, yeah, reflect on what did you accomplish today? You know, did it. You know your three or four goals. So, okay, I have one final question and this is my favorite question. The audience tends to like this one. If I had a time machine and I was going to come down to ground up a state and you and I were going to jump in it, we're going to go back to, let's say, back to when you were 20 years old. You pick a time in the past and you could fly back and you could sit down and talk to your former self, your younger version of yourself. What would you say to her? What words of wisdom, life and lessons would you give her?
Speaker 3:Okay, so you're probably going to laugh at one of these. One would be don't drive, don't get in the car.
Speaker 3:Yeah that's a good one. Another one just focus on you, focus on your health, focus on your goals and where you would want to see your life. So I think that, talking to my younger self, I probably would have stayed away from some of my temptations, because we do have those when we're young, right? I would have said stay away from those more than anything and just really focus in on the things that you want to do to make your life better and the lives of those around you better. Love it so, folks listen to this.
Speaker 2:So this is a good thing, naomi. Naomi want to say this to a younger self. You can say this to yourself today out there, focus on you, your health, your goals, where you want to see yourself in your life. Focus on your life and stay away from those negative temptations that are dragging us down. And we all have them, not just in childhood. We all have them as adults.
Speaker 2:And I talk to people every day who confide in me some of the things they're going through, that you look at them and you think it's so simple. Just don't do it. I know it's a little more complex than that, but if you can work on every day, staying away a little more every day from the temptations you have whether it's food, alcohol, drugs, pornography, drinking and dry I don't know what they would be bars, whatever they might be if you can just a little bit eliminate those every day. Try to get the drinking and driving one to eliminate right now, but the rest of them just eliminate a little more every day. Focus on just releasing the power of those temptations a little bit at a time. Over time You're going to gradually realize you don't need them anymore. So okay, one last question what's next for you?
Speaker 3:You got all the stuff going. Mom, I am working on a book right now, so hopefully that will be done within the next month or so. Oh, wow, wow, but that really is it I do right now. I'm doing speaking presentations around and just talking on mental health and how we need to mind shift and kind of be vulnerable with each other.
Speaker 2:Okay, Can we talk a minute after we're done, erin?
Speaker 2:Sure, absolutely. I have a couple ideas I wanted to share with you. I was excited to do this show. It's crazy because we're going to be right at 60 minutes. We're at 59 minutes right now. We timed it just perfectly. This was better than I thought.
Speaker 2:I really love I'm a list guy. I like when, hey, 10 things I can work on, I can wrap my head around that. So what you did a great job that I loved and I know the audience listener out there was going to love it too is that you people can look at this and say, okay, there's 10 things I can do those 10 things. They're not complicated, they're not complex, and maybe everybody just start on one today and then maybe next week add a second one Over the next 10 weeks, add one a week until 10 weeks down the road. You're doing all of these 10 things on a consistent basis. I really like that.
Speaker 2:I just love the idea of the power of one moment. As you were talking, I was just looking outside at the snow banks that have piled up in the last few days here and I'm thinking about one moment because I focus so much on not being present. I'm always even when I'm talking to somebody, some people say I don't think you're even here. I'm like, oh, you're right, I'm thinking about tomorrow or next year or tomorrow, and I'm like I got to come back and I've had a hard time with that. But I just love the idea of one moment, power of one moment. What can I do in this one moment? That's all I've got. I don't have tomorrow, I don't have yesterday, I've got right now. So thank you for that. That stuff there emanated really well with me. Is there any final? Is there any question that I didn't ask, Naomi, or that you wish I would have, or any final thought you want to leave with the audience?
Speaker 3:No, no, thank you so much again for having me. It was very nice to catch up with you and talk with you.
Speaker 2:It was awesome. So thank you again and we'll talk in a minute here after we're done, but thank you now. This has been an amazing. I know I'm going to get a lot of heart letters and through text email cards and letters in the mail and this is going to be a big impact, and I can't thank you enough for what you're doing with Pledge Tech or Pledge as well, as you're speaking, and I can't wait till this book comes out, so maybe we'll get you back on again this year.
Speaker 3:Sounds good. Thanks so much for having me.
Speaker 2:You're welcome. Thanks for being such an inspiring a guest on the Bambu Lab podcast, my friend. All right, everyone, thank you for tuning in this week and we'll hear from you. You'll hear us again in a few days. Just know that I love and appreciate each and every one of you out there. I really do. I don't know most of the vast, vast majority of you personally, but just the fact that you're here, listening to people like Naomi and our amazing guest tells me you're the kind of person that I have a great deal of love and respect and appreciation for. So have an amazing day. We'll talk to you in a week. In the meantime, please get out there and strive. Strive to be your best version of yourself today. So get out there and love, love other people, respect them, respect yourself as well, and also get out there and live today. Live intentionally and consciously, and I'll see you at each and every single one of you.