So, You Want to Make This Year Different? Here's How (A Wake-Up Call to Our Generation)

Every year, we talk about doing things differently. But, we rinse and repeat the same cycles. This year, I want to offer the opportunity to REALLY do things differently this time. I want to call forward the BIGGEST struggle that humanity is facing right now, and offer a solution. This solution is something that we can all implement individually, to FINALLY create that "REAL CHANGE" we all keep talking about. Get comfy, and listen up.... This is an episode you DO NOT want to miss... 

I come to you all straight from the heart in this episode. This time, without filtering my convictions to stand up for what I TRULY want to fight for in this life. The question is... Are you ready to do the same in 2024?

Enjoy the episode!!! 

Transcript

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Welcome to the authentic life connection podcast. I'm your host, Seth Lusk. I'm a master certified life coach, author, personal trainer and nutrition specialist. For over a decade, I've been helping people with their dreams and goals for their life and health. I spent many years watching people get frustrated with their journey in life and giving up on taking actions towards their goals. So I dug in deep to find answers to why so many of us face this same frustration and struggle in life. So in this podcast, we're gonna dive in deep on topics surrounding what it means to consistently live a fulfilling and authentic life, where you are unstoppable and taking action towards your dreams and goals. So the only question is, are you ready to start living your most authentic and fulfilling life once and for all? Then let's get started. Shall we? Hey, everyone, welcome back to the podcast. For those of you listening in for the first time, welcome, welcome, you picked a great episode to join in on it is the beginning of a new year. And although this isn't the first episode of the year, I want to continue talking to you all about really taking the year 2024, to look back on the ways that we have been approaching personal development, and our ways of living, and really make the decision to use that sort of external signal of 2024. That's really just a story. But to really, because we all believe, well, most of us believe this story of new year's new beginnings. Why don't we take that momentum of a new year and really do something different, really do something different instead of rewarming, the same OBS that we keep doing every year after year after year, and yo yoing on our quote, unquote, goals and the results we get in them and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, all of the normal nonsense that goes along with New Year's and New Year's resolutions, and nobody ever actually wants to change their life, really what they want is they just want to feel better in it. And I want to challenge you to really decide this year, what it is that you truly want for your life, what you truly want to contribute to the world. And change it, change it for that change it in the uncomfortable ways and the ways that are going to bring some comfort because even though your life is still 5050 and uncomfortable in parts, it's an uncomfortable that you chose, because it's creating the life that you want that has a very purposeful and deeply meaningful intention behind it energy behind it contribution behind it. So today, what I want to talk with you all about is something that I've noticed, in my generation, even the generation before ours, I'm a millennial. I'm like very on the cusp of being a millennial. In other words, I'm an older millennial. But I've noticed I've noticed with millennials and the generation before us in the generation after us is that we have a we have a big problem. We're being tested as a whole in humanity, and we're failing miserably. We are failing miserably at this test. Because we don't even recognize that we're being tested. We don't need we're not even trying, trying to do something different to pass this test. And the test that I'm talking about is in the past, our survival as humans depended on people, being willing to step out into the uncomfortable uncomfortable realities of life, and be in them and build things that allowed for us to have new opportunity that allowed for us to have new possibility that allowed for us to have new creations and ways to be safer ways to, you know, avoid starving to death and dying from diseases and avoid, you know, the natural deaths from natural disasters like hurricanes, famines, earthquakes, things like this droughts, floods, and we've created a world are these people that were willing to step out into the discomfort of the world and, and really put themselves out there created all of this for us that we have today. And we've reached a tipping point with humanity now where it's no longer so obvious that there is danger. The dangers that we face today aren't aren't always life or death, or very few life or death dangers. And a lot of the life or death dangers, we have solutions for him. We have protection, we have securities. And so we've reached this inevitable tipping point where now the option to me numb out the option to stay in comfort, the option to seek pleasure is available to us 24/7. And it ever increasingly is becoming cheaper and more available to us. And we're being tested. We're being tested because we are in that generation that has reached that tipping point where we can literally choose to just numb ourselves out for the our entire lives, and avoid discomfort and distract from discomfort. And we think that this is somehow desirable. But here's the thing. I've been reading a book recently called dopamine nation that talks about this this problem that we have this desire to escape discomfort and pain and how it's actually causing us suffering. And the reason why is because the human brain is designed to have a dopamine reward system, because it was designed to get us into action to seek things that will keep us alive. The problem is those same things, no longer are necessary to seek out with that much intensity to stay alive. Now we're using it to seek them out to avoid the discomfort of just being a human being to avoid the discomfort of having a human body and living in a world where the reality is, it's 5050. It's contrast. And the brain has some incredible designs in it. And right now, we are resisting them with so much intensity, that it is causing us a lot of suffering. And what I mean by that is this, the brain does not like tipping too far in the direction of pleasure, or pain, if you can imagine it is a seesaw on a fulcrum. And for those of you who don't know what a fulcrum is, that's the, that's the kind of like the middle point on the seesaw that allows it to go back and forth, back and forth. That middle pivoting point is the fulcrum and the brain has some incredible safeguards to make sure that it doesn't go too far in one direction or the other. Because the only way that the human brain is actually fully capable that the human body is actually fully capable of experiencing life is in contrast. And what that means is that the brain likes it to be 5050, it wants the sea salt, even, it doesn't want it tilted in one direction or the other, neither pain nor pleasure. So when you seek out intense amounts of pleasure your brains like okay, and now we need pain to balance that out. And it will create it and the problem is now we have the ability to seek out false pleasure constantly, which means that our our pleasure, and pain balance is so out of whack. That our brain then has to not just try and tilt the seesaw in the direction of pain, it actually has to move the pivot point of pleasure further and further and further so that we need more and more and more of it to experience less and less and less of it. Which also leaves us open and more vulnerable to experiencing more and more and more intense amounts and longer durations of pain. This is leading to a lot of neurological disorders with pain. This is leading to a lot of metabolic disorders that create pain. This is leading to a lot of mental disease that creates pain because the brain is not designed to experience only pleasure, only happiness, it is not designed to experience more happiness than pain. It's designed to be even and my friends, our brains are not the only thing in reality that are designed to to make this happen. There are there's so much out there in biology and physics that proves to us in the world around us. Energy is always seeking balance. And my friends, humanity as a whole has tilted the seesaw. So far on the side of pleasure for so long now that the universe is trying to balance that out bike by bringing in the polar opposite, and making it harder and harder for us to experience pleasure in life to experience comfort in life to experience safety and security in life by showing us that all of it can be taken away. Look at COVID Look at the ever growing intensities of natural disasters as we destroy the environment and the resources on this planet. My friends, I'm not here to tell us how we should live. But I think the universe has been trying to tell us for a very long time now to wake up and see that we have been living on the backs of those before us that were willing to step out and say you know what, I could enjoy some pleasure right now. But instead I'm going to step out and be a little bit uncomfortable to create something new to create something in life that's meaningful to me to create something that that offer As an advantage to all of humanity, even if it costs me a little bit of my time, my energy and my comfort. And we have reached that tipping point where now. Now we don't need to do that we can, we could stay safe and comfortable and in pleasure for our whole entire lives if we want to. And so many of us are choosing to do just that. And our bodies and the world around us are showing us that we are failing this test, that when we are given the option to numb out and pleasure ourselves, to avoid the 5050 of life, the contrast of life, we will choose that. And the pain and the suffering that we see in the world right now around us, I think is a huge symptom of us doing that. It is time my friends that we recognize, we have dues to pay, we can't just sit back and ride the pleasure wave of the generations before us. That actually took the time to step out and choose discomfort. And again, it was it may have quote unquote, seemed easier for them to do that, because they had these real life problems that were very dangerous, right in front of them to solve. But my friends, so what that we've reached a point now where the problems aren't. So large scale, I guess so dangerous. The the problems we face now is how long is it going to take us to vacuum our house? How much money are we going to make? And is it going to be enough to afford a house large enough, or a car nice enough to live the lifestyle we want when the people before us had to worry about if they could even have a house or a car? So it seems so much easier to skip out on that tough work? That paying the dues part? Because why would we we can just enjoy the pleasures of life, right? Just YOLO enjoy life. And that's the message we keep sending to people. And so many of us are believing that the message of enjoying life is all about just writing the pleasure wave that is only possible to us right now. Because of all the people that stepped out and paid their dues. And we are not paying our dues as a generation. And I want to be clear here. I'm not talking about paying the dues. That the BS nonsense that we were taught of saying yes, when we want to say no to and that's considered being serving others. And being kind, I'm not talking about that, that kind of paying our dues. That's nonsense. I'm talking about paying dues in other way. I'm not talking about just going to work when you don't feel like it and keeping your head down and just pushing forward and surviving the job to pay your dues. I'm not talking about that either. Here's what I'm talking about. Each and every one of us came into this world sensitive to energies that are we are designed to be sensitive to values that we are designed to be sensitive to and notice when they are lacking around us. And we're designed for this, because we're supposed to be here to remind humanity of the things that we're forgetting as to keep things in that 5050 balance, to not swing the seesaw too far in one direction of pain or pleasure. And we are so great at doing that as human humans, and then looking around as the other 50 comes in and be like, what did we do wrong? Well, it was obvious, we were trying so hard to avoid the 5050 contrast of life, we had to have known eventually the other 50% was going to come back in. And we have spent too long on the seesaw of humanity without seeing that it's about balance. It's about that middle, finding that middle space, not the extremes that we tend to go to where it's either about pleasuring ourselves to death and destroying the planet in the process. Or it's about just working ourselves and working ourselves and working ourselves to make other people happy. It's neither of those. I'm not talking about that kind of paying our dues. I'm talking about speaking up about those things in the world that we see. And we feel because of our our design sensitivities, we feel a conviction about changing, we feel a conviction to step up and contribute something to create that change. But we feel afraid to say or do anything, because it might not be popular. That might be uncomfortable. I'm talking about saying those things when our circle of friends or even our own families have a stance that contradicts it. But we feel sensitive and we feel a conviction to say something about it and say this is no longer okay to just sweep under the rug and keep doing at the expense of this. And our families, our friends might distance themselves from us if we take a stance against or for what we truly feel convicted to take a stance for or against. And I'm talking about putting in those dues because that's what we're here for. I'm talking about putting in the work to contribute those causes in life even when is not socially popular and immediately rewarded. Or that the results that you get back from that creation, that effort, that contribution to the world feel so minimal compared to what you've seen other people receiving for doing what's popular. I'm talking about paying those dues. I'm talking about putting in that kind of effort, work time creation and contribution, because that's what we're here for, even when it's unpopular and uncomfortable. Those are the dues. I'm talking about cutting up this BS nonsense, of trying to be so conformed and fitting in and politically correct and worrying about offending someone. Because we spoke up about something we feel conviction about. That is where our generation and the ones before us. And the ones right after us are lacking the vision of and I'm not talking about speaking up as in what I see the church doing so many times and taking people's rights away, because you would have of what you feel convicted about. That's not speaking up. That is called, that is called selfishness. That is called believing that your convictions are the only right ones. I am talking about speaking up and opening up dialogue around these things, allowing for disagreement, allowing for people to be people and to live their lives, the way they feel convicted without saying your way is wrong. And mine is right. And still being willing to step up and speak up. When the popular the popular seesaw swings in one direction, you're on the other side speak up. That's the kind of dues, I'm talking about paying. I'm not talking about paying the dues of you know, being a good Christian and taking away people's rights because you have the popular vote in a country or being a good Muslim in your country, because you have the popular vote because that's the predominant religion, I'm talking about the people that are willing to speak up against those religions, because they are taking away people's humanity for the sake of the popular view. That's the kind of dues I'm talking about paying. And too many of us are complacent. And just stuffing our faces, stuffing our mouth, stuffing our noses, stuffing our eyes, stuffing our ears full of distractions to avoid stepping up and speaking up and having those uncomfortable conversations that say, You know what? This is not okay with me. What we are doing here, and taking away other people's humanity is not okay with me anymore. Those are the do's I'm talking about paying, making the contributions to the world that remind us that life is 5050. It's not about avoiding the discomfort. It's not about everybody having the same view. And it being popular and comfortable for everyone to accept. That is not life. Because every time we do that nature, the universe, the world turns around and shows us it's BS, it's 5050. It's always right and wrong. It's always good and bad. And being willing to stay in that discomfort of the 5050 of life, and contributing what we need to contribute to remind the seesaw to stay flat when humanity is tempted to tip it in one direction or the other. For the sake of pleasure, for the sake of comfort, for the sake of creating pain for other people so that we can experience comfort. Those are the kinds of dues, I'm talking about paying. And my friends this year, I want I want for more of us to wake up to that wake up to our true callings in life where we're being asked to speak up. And instead we're numbing out where we're being asked to take a stand. And instead, we're numbing out the message in our head because we're terrified of who might turn their back on us. And what we think that has to mean about us, and I am here to call out those of you who feel that conviction and are riding on the pleasure wave on the backs of the people before you that were willing to stand up and I am here to tell you How dare you How dare you avoid your responsibility as a human and ride on the wave of someone else's chosen discomfort simply because you can now what are we thinking? What message are we sending? What are we doing to our planet and to each other in the process of doing this? That that is the kind of dues I want us to start paying attention to and looking at and being intentional about knowing that balance that 5050 of life We have become a generation of people so obsessed with getting approval, and feeling comfortable and like we fit in. And like we're politically correct. And like we've said the right things and not hurt other people's feelings and like we're not toxic because other people will think we're toxic if we speak up, all for the sake of being comfortable, and calling pleasure or happiness, what is enjoying life, the exclusion of seeing that life is also the other 50%, the discomfort, the pain, the not fitting in the stepping on someone's toes, and hearing what they have to say about it. That struggle, that difficulty that is life and US stopping trying to avoid it, we have become a generation obsessed with trying to avoid the reality of the 5050. The reality of life exists through contrast, we experience life through contest contrast, and it is our job to choose the 50% discomfort that allows us to contribute what we are genuinely convicted to contribute to the world, while still leaving it open for other people to share their convictions and to feel the discomfort of that. That's what we are here for. We're not here to tilt the seesaw in one direction or the other. How long are we going to keep trying to do that, without realizing that every time we tilt the seesaw in one direction of pleasure for one group at the expense of pain for the other, it tips back that much harder? It always will. When are we going to learn that life is about embracing the contrast of the 5050 instead of avoiding it. It is about choosing the 5050 with intention to contribute what we are designed to feel sensitive to as human beings individually, and it will not be the same. And we will argue we will disagree. And that's the point. Step up and disagree, step up and feel uncomfortable for who you thought had your back that no longer does and do it anyways. That's the kind of discomfort and dues that I'm talking about paying. And we become a generation that is so complacent and so unwilling to do that simply because we're living on the backs of the people before us that felt like they didn't have a choice, but to work hard. And now we feel like we have a choice. And look what we're doing with it. We're becoming entitled, little selfish, disempowered snobs in life, who are pleasuring ourselves, at the expense of our bodies at the expense of our planet, at the expense of future generations before us who are going to have to pay off the debt of comfort that we are building up right now. For what? For what, so we can avoid 50% of life is that living? Come on, wake up. My message for you this year, my friends, is one of conviction, I have promised myself that I'm no longer going to be silent about the things that are unpopular to hear about the things that are going to step on people's toes about the things that people are going to disagree with me on, and I'm gonna hear it. And some of it I'm going to be like, You know what, actually, I didn't think about that. Some of them were like, No, I still disagree with you. And I'm still going to speak up. And the parts that I realized, you know what, I never considered that I'm going to move into the discomfort of growing in those areas and choosing it because it is important for me to follow where my conviction is leading me into growth, not comfort. That's not what conviction is for my friends. And this year, I'm here to speak up and ask you all to step up as the generation as a generation of people that are living in a planet that we now have the choice to choose pleasure 24/7, don't do it. Stop buying into that nonsense. That the point of your life is to feel happy more, to feel pleasure more to Yolo to enjoy life more, as if enjoying life can't happen in the 5050 as if you can't enjoy the pain of growing something that is important for you. Stop buying into this nonsense message. It's time that we stop writing on the backs of the generations before us who created the opportunity for us to to choose pleasure 24/7 It's time for us to stop choosing it and creating a debt for the future generations to have to pay off for us because we're too scared to do it because we're too scared to step up just because we can avoid it. With the work of what the people before us did. It's time for us to step up and own our responsibility as a generation to pay our dues pay our debts to step up for our convictions even when we have the opportunity to just numb out instead. That's what it means to be human. And I'm calling you forward on your power step up and do it for those of you who are ready to understand what your authentic convictions are, your authentic message where it's going to be unpopular and who's going to turn their backs on you and that's okay, when you're ready for that. You're who I'm talking to. You're who I'm here for and this year is a year of conviction for me and I hope it is for you too. I hope that more of us wake up this year and start to realize we are being asked by the planet, by the universe by our bodies by everything around us to stop trying to tip the seesaw in on the side of pleasure, and calling that enjoying life. We're not enjoying life, life is 5050. It's time to choose to enjoy all of it. And I want to teach you how to do that. I love you all. That's all I've got for you all this week. Take it in, get offended, feel offended, then grow from it. And I'm here for you and you're ready to grow. Talk till next week. Until then, ciao. Thank you for joining us today. I hope you enjoyed the content of this podcast. If you did, please subscribe so that you're one of the first people to know when I release a new episode each week if you have any questions or if you have interest in learning more about the coaching that I do with my clients one on one and just head over to my website at WWW dot life coach seth.com that's www dot life coach seth.com there you're going to have the ability to reach out to me for questions that you might have or to book your free discovery call with me to discuss what one on one coaching with me might be like for you. You can also check out an order your copy of my book to get a taste of what I'm all about as a person and as a coach. I'm so happy that you joined us today and I hope to have you here again next week. So until then, let authenticity be the guide to your most unstoppable and fulfilling journey of life.