The Power of Stillness: Why Slowing Down Can Speed Up Your Success

The Power of Stillness: Why Slowing Down Can Accelerate Your Success | Breakfast Club

In this week's Breakfast Club episode, we dive into 'The Power of Stillness' and explore how slowing down can expedite your success. The host, a holistic life coach, shares personal experiences and daily practices, like meditation and micro workouts, that emphasize the importance of stillness. The episode covers life hacks such as the 24-hour rule to curb impulse spending, the benefits of laughter, and the value of investing in experiences over material items. Additionally, it discusses practical tips for incorporating stillness into daily routines, along with the science and spiritual aspects of stillness. Tune in for insights on finding clarity, reducing stress, and maintaining emotional well-being.

00:00 Introduction to the Power of Stillness
00:36 Life Hacks for a Better Life
00:50 Micro Workouts: A New Fitness Trend
02:49 The Benefits of Laughter
04:32 Money Management Tips
06:35 Invest in Experiences, Not Things
11:10 Maximizing Idle Time for Personal Growth
13:38 The Importance of Defining Outcomes
21:42 Choosing the Right Vehicle for Your Journey
27:49 The Power of Language in Shaping Experience
32:18 The Benefits of Slowing Down
42:02 The Wisdom of Slowing Down
42:59 The World's Obsession with Speed
44:08 Silencing the Mental Noise
49:24 The Science and Spiritual Side of Stillness
54:10 Why We Fear Stillness
01:11:13 Practical Ways to Incorporate Stillness
01:19:12 Final Reflections and Challenges

Transcript

0:01

Welcome to the Dream Nation Breakfast Club. I am your host, Josh Valentine. And if you are new to the Breakfast Club, welcome. We have people who tune in from all over the world. And if you guys don't mind, drop a comment. Let us know where in the world you are tuning in from, what city, what country you are tuning in from. And I'm your host Josh Valentine, like I said, and the Dream Nation Breakfast Club is brought to you by the Journey Podcast. And for those of you who haven't hopped over to the Journey Podcast, definitely check it out wherever podcasts are live streamed or streamed in general. And I have tons of. On this week's Breakfast Club, we are going to be talking about the power of stillness. Why slowing down can speed up your success. So stillness is something that I definitely know a thing or two about. For those of you who know me personally, you know that I actively meditate every single day. It's a big part of my life and I know it's. Added a tremendous amount of value to my life, and I know that it definitely can for you as well. So if you guys don't mind, drop a like, comment, share, tag someone who can get value from today's Breakfast Club session this morning. And we're about to get this show on the road. Typically when we first get started, sometimes I'll warm up the audience with some life hacks, fun facts, things like that. And I have a few for you here this morning. So let's get ready to jump right into it. The very first life hack that I have for you all is micro workouts. And by the way, you'll notice a common theme here. So a lot of the content that we share is centered around just things that could essentially make your life better. So I'm a holistic life coach. Many of you probably have seen my work, whether it's on social media or on television. And I speak a lot on how your life can improve from the inside out. So you'll get all kinds of stuff. And the very first. Life hack that I have is micro workouts. So instead of one long gym session, do three 10 minute workouts throughout the day, it can actually burn more fat and increase consistency. So for me I personally like to get in and out the gym as fast as possible. So lately I've been working out with my boy Jay in the gym and been working on cranking up my workouts. But for the most part I typically I'm in the gym probably like 30 minutes or less, doing super sets to just get in and out. That helps me be consistent because I'm not thinking every single day the daunting process of having to be in a gym for an hour and a half, two hours. I like to get in and get out. And that's personally has worked for me. But with micro workouts, it's essentially three 10 minute workouts and think of it like this, let's just say you wanna do a 10 minute workout, you can do a lot in 10 minutes. So you can perhaps super set a workout like let's say crunches and pushups and you can just stack them together. Maybe you might do 20 or 30 pushups and then directly after that you do 20 or 30 situps and you just super set. And for me, I like to do typically four sets of 10 to 12 repetitions for my workouts. And again, that's helped me maintain over the years. So you have to find out what works for you. Whatever can get you in the gym consistently is definitely gonna be the best option for sure. Next up, we have LA Laugh for 60 seconds. So forced or real laughter releases endorphins and lowers stress hormones. It's like a mini reset button. So there's all kinds of laughing therapy that's out there now. When it comes to just endorphins are those happy chemicals in your body that mask pain. So endorphins are really great, especially when you're going on a jog and you experience that euphoria that runner's high when your body just goes numb and you can just run even further. Those are endorphins flowing through your body and you can get endorphin, an endorphin release when you're laughing. So the, and I'm talking about those hard belly laughs, right? When you're watching something on television and it's just funny as hell. And if there's anything that I love about social media these days is I feel like comedy. There's just so many more opportunities for laughter today. Back in the day you might pop in a movie or something like that, or maybe catch a show and you might get some laughs, but on social media, it, there's just so many opportunities to laugh. My wife and I and some of my boys, my really good friends we'll just share reels on social media as one of my favorite ways to connect with family and friends is just sharing really funny reels that, that can give a good laugh. So I would say that's one of the positives when it comes to social media. But yes, laughing is really good for the soul and it'll help lower the, that stress hormone cortisol, the big C and really good overall for your overall wellbeing. Alright, next life hack we have is a money life hack, and that is the 24 hour rule. So basically the 24 hour rule, the way it works is you wait 24 hours before making any non-essential purchase. Because it kills impulse spending. So a lot of us, I'm not sure how many of you can relate. I know I'm one of those people that when I want something, I want it. Yesterday I had came across a book that I had heard about on a podcast, and immediately my brain is let me take a drive over to Barnes and Nobles and how can I squeeze it in right before my gym workout? And I'm just one of those people I will find something at the bottom of a river whenever I want it, and I want it same day. I don't care about the Amazon one day delivery. I'm not trying to wait till tomorrow. I'm not trying to wait hours and hours. So I do get caught up in that from time to time, especially if it's something that I really want. But you can also get caught up in impulse spending. So the 24 hour rule goes a long way. Just wait it out if it's something, especially for those big purchases, I'm not sure if you've ever been in like a. Like an Ashley's furniture or some kind of a furniture store where they sell like couches and stuff. And it is one of the most that, like those salespeople or even a timeshare presentation, you ever go on a resort and you're sitting in on a two hour time timeshare man, they're really good. And I'm and I consider myself a pretty decent salesperson. And one thing that I can tell you is that when it comes to these salespeople for these like furniture stores, timeshare, all that stuff they are super good at what they do on most occasions. And it is easy to get caught up in that impulse buying. So it's good to just let them know you have a 24 hour rule for any purchases over 500 bucks. And that way you could just let them know right from the beginning. All right, next up we have and I love this one. It's buy experiences, not things. Research shows experiences give three times longer lasting happiness than material items three times. It's interesting because I had someone that I've been mentoring for many years. He had reached out to me about a real estate investment he was considering making, and I'll never share names here for obvious reasons. But he reached out to me. He wasn't sure whether or not he should have invested in this income property. And one of the things that I had to really emphasize with him he's newly married he got married not too many years ago, still doesn't have any children, and I had to stress the importance. From a holistic standpoint speaking right, because some people you may talk to them if they value, let's just say comfort and security and all of that stuff, they may very well tell you, Hey, buy the income property, right? And not all income property are created equal. Not every opportunity is created equal. So it may very well be a disaster. I know tons of people will get into real estate where it's a nightmare. However, you, what I had to explain to him is Hey, you guys are newly married. Enjoy each other, go out, travel the world. One thing that I can assure you is that you'll have no regrets traveling around the world with your loved one. Like you'll never regret the money you spent to see the world. And that was my honest recommendation. And not everybody who's tuning into this would probably agree, but one thing that I can assure you is that look, money comes and goes, but experiences they last a lifetime. I always, I was thinking about doing a TED talk specifically on, on blowing the bank on travel. Like just talking about all of the benefits from travel and how travel is the gift that keeps on giving and just really valuable experiences when you. Look back at your life and you look at all the those flashback moments, you're not thinking about the 128 times someone sent you their rent deposit from that income property. But one thing that I can assure you, what will flash before your eyes are those incredible peak life experiences, those memories that were super distinctive, that really enriched your life. That's what it's all about. And I'm just a hundred percent sold on that. You can't convince me otherwise. So I know it's not everybody's cup of coffee to live in that way. Some people really value, okay I'm gonna build wealth or whatever. Listen, I believe you can do both. Why not? Why not do both there? And you may not do it as fast as other people when it comes to building your wealth. But one thing that I can assure you, I know tons of people who've dedicated their entire lives just to investing and building wealth, and they have no type of lifestyle, Lord, life experiences, and I would not trade places with them. And that, that was a huge thing to reflect on. And that was a big part of my advice to my mentee was just like, Hey, I'm telling you from living experience. Like when I think back at the highlights for my last three years, and again, not everybody's wired the same. So I definitely get that some people could care less about hopping on a plane to the other side of the pond. But one thing that I can say is that it truly has been the gift that keeps on giving. And the other piece of advice I gave him was to just invest back in himself, because typically. With real estate investments, they're stationary investments, right? They're stationary assets. So you're, that's an asset that is dependent on that physical location. Anything could happen, especially if you're like on the islands or something, having a hurricane, all kinds of stuff. But when it comes to investing in you, you are your most portable asset. You take you everywhere you go, in the words of Jay-Z, put me anywhere on God's green Earth, I triple my worth. It's that idea drop you in any city on the planet and you are super valuable, your brand, what is an investment back into your brand? What is an investment back into your business? So I explained hey, you're probably gonna get completely different advice from someone who's tied to a nine to five, and they value comfort and security. But if you're a business person, you should 100% value investing back into you because again, you are your most portable asset. Next we have. And next life hack is turn waiting time into learning time. Keep a podcast audiobook or course queued up those five to 10 minute idle times add up to hours of personal growth weekly. So think about that. Think about how much time you spend in traffic every single week. Think about how much more you can learn just by listening to podcasts to audiobooks. And I'm, it's interesting because it may sound a bit like I'm contradicting today's theme, which is the power of stillness. So I do believe that there are moments where it's good to just be silent, like even shut down the personal development and audio. But one thing that I do know about tuning into really positive educational, inspirational material and hop over to the Journey podcast, if you're looking for that shameless plug, right? But one thing that I can say is that. Sometimes it's super valuable to just be in silence. And then other times it's hard to be in silence because you're so damn stressed out and overwhelmed and anxious with everything that's happening in your life. And you need something to replace those negative thoughts. You need something to replace that anxious feeling, and it does 100% help when you're tuning in. And it's the idea ggo, right? Garbage in, garbage out. Greatness and greatness out. So if you're consuming really positive material, two thoughts cannot occupy the minds simultaneously. So if you are just overwhelmed, maybe you recently went through a breakup or maybe there's something that's really bothering you. You, you have a relationship that's in turmoil, maybe your coworkers are pissing you the hell on, and you're just like, overwhelmed with all of these thoughts. It does help to just replace it with something else and listen. It's different for everyone. Maybe you wanna read some scripture or maybe you wanna tune into a podcast, listen to worship music, whatever's your thing, but replacing those negative thoughts with something more positive. Okay? Once again, if you are tuning in right now from different parts of the world, drop a comment. If you guys don't mind, let us know what city you are tuning in from. If you're watching the replay. Drop in R if you're with us Live, drop in L and let's keep the show on the road. I have a few more shares for you. The very first one is from the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey. Really great book, by the way, and the share is Define Outcomes. Before you act, define outcomes. Before you act from today's schedule, pick one personal item. One work item. Write your end in mind for each one. So let's just take into account a personal item. Think about that. What is one personal thing that you can do this week that'll actually get you closer to your North Star? And when I talk about north Star is your vision. You'll hear me talk a lot if you hop on a lot on the Breakfast Club. You'll hear me talk a lot about the North Star. The North Star is really your vision for your life, who you wanna be, how you wanna live, in a nutshell. So identifying what are the end what is the end in mind when it comes to your North Star? What does that look like for you? Like I have a North Star. I identify as a or consider myself a pretty fit person. However, this really isn't the North Star. Like I still have fitness goals that I would like to achieve. I have intellectual goals that I would like to achieve. I have relational goals, and you have all kinds of personal goals. So what is that North Star or what does that North Star look like for you? And what can you do today to move the needle to get you closer to your destination? That's the idea. So what's your personal item then? Secondly is your work item. So that work item may essentially be a work task. Maybe you're working on a specific project. I know for me what comes to mind. I had to launch a podcast today. I have a speaking event tomorrow, and my, my next 24 to 48 hours are going to be on that, right? So those are work items, but I have my personal items. So I have a gym session at 10 30 with my accountability partner and I have other stuff that I have going on throughout the day. So identifying what those are. Next up we have ask yourself, how are my outcomes different when I begin with the clear and in mind? So one of the things that I oftentimes talk about is you can't hit a target that you can't see. It's super important to identify what is your target. What is your target? Imagine you have this bow and arrow and you're shooting the bow and arrow, but you have no idea where you're shooting it towards. What is the likelihood that you'll hit that target? Think about it. If you have this big space in front of you, that target, that you're reaching for that, that bullseye or whatever you're reaching for is probably gonna account for less than 1% of the space in front of you. So what are the odds that you're actually going to hit that target? And it's important to understand that because most people are just going with emotions. They're like a ping pong ball in a vast ocean. There's no personal power, there's no sense of direction. It's like trying to take a ship to a destination, but you have no rudder. Could you imagine trying to get to a specific destination with no rudder? And that's what happens when you don't move with intention. And sometimes when you're overwhelmed or you're anxious, it's simply because you don't have any direction. What is your goal? You know how many people I know that get into business and I'll jump on a consultation with them and I'm sitting there doing coaching and they have no end in mind. Clarity of intention equals power. Take notes. By the way, remember, the weakest thing is stronger than the strongest memory. So treat this like you're sitting in class, right? And you're taking notes on things that could essentially make your life better. And the other day I was coaching a young man he's like fresh out of high school. His his parents had invested in some coaching and I had to explain to him the newer generation, they're not accustomed per se, to just like taking notes. And I had to stress the importance of just taking notes because over 90% of the stuff that you hear it's gonna go in one ear and come out the other. And this is not even up for bait. This is an incontrovertible fact. So always take notes as if you're gonna have to teach this information one day and you'll be a lot more likely to retain the information. Remember, as cliche as it is, note takers are history makers, note takers are money makers. Some of the wealthiest people I know are amazing at taking notes. Okay, so next up is to ask yourself, how are my outcomes different when I begin with a clear end in mind? So all things are created twice. A mental creation and a physical creation before you act. Start with a clear idea of what you want to achieve, a clear idea of what you want to achieve. Super important. And I mentioned doing these consultations with a lot of people in business, and it's just it amazes me. Like I, I, for example, I work with a lot of people who wanna get into coaching and consulting and speaking, and one of the first things that I ask them is how much money do you wanna make? It's if you're running a business, but you don't have any idea how much money you actually want the business to generate. Like you have no personal power. A ping pong ball in a vast ocean is subject to the elements, to the waves, to the wind, to everything, right? It has no personal power. You put a rudder on that thing. You put some sails on that thing, you put an engine on that thing. It has personal power. And that's what happens when you have a clear end in mind. It's like putting sails up on a ship. It's like putting a rudder on a ship. It's like putting an engine on a ship, and you have propulsion right now, you can actually get to your destination a lot faster. So that's the power of intention. Now, it's, this is a really great quote by Stephen Covey. It's incredibly easy to work harder and harder at climbing the ladder of success, only to discover that, that it's leaning against the wrong wall. I remember hearing this analogy years ago, and could you imagine and I've shared this many times on the breakfast club, but could you imagine climbing up the ladder of success? And here you are, just maybe you're even fearful of heights and you're climbing up this ladder of succession. You're on a building. You're climbing up, right? Rung by rung and you're there and exerting all this energy to get to the top, and then you finally get to the top of that ladder and you realize, as you look over to the right over your shoulder, you are climbing up the wrong building. And unfortunately, this is how a lot of people live their lives. They're climbing up this arduous experience of climbing up this ladder, and they look over and realize that they've been climbing up the wrong building. So you, that, that's why you have to move with intention, because some people will dedicate 20, 30, 40 years of their lives to climbing the ladder of success. And they're in the wrong vehicle, right? Your vehicle to your destination is super, super important. It's just as important, I would say, as your why. So your why is the reason why you're even on that destination in the first place. But your vehicle to get you there is super, super important. You have to analyze whether or not that financial vehicle is suitable for where you wanna go. For example, would you would a sports car would a Ferrari be the most ideal vehicle to to go on a off-road trip 3000 miles away? You're probably not going to take the Ferrari, right? If you gotta go off-road and do all these different things it's probably not the best vehicle. So identifying what that vehicle for you is and seeing whether or not it's suitable. Now, sometimes you have to take a vehicle temporarily. It's like when I went to Peru. When I went to Peru years ago, I took a group of. People that I was mentoring on a retreat out in Peru, some of you guys were probably there and we went to Rainbow Mountain. And Rainbow Mountain is if you Google it, it's incredible. It's like many different colors. And the peak of it is 17,000 feet in the air. And it's interesting because there were about three or four modes of transportation to get us to the top. Like we started out on a coach bus. And the coach bus could only take us up to a certain point on that journey. And then we took a, like a smaller vehicle that was more suitable for the road, those little tight roads. And you're there like overlooking the cliff, right? And literally. One feet away from the vehicle's tire is are thousands of feet of a drop, right? So you're probably not gonna do the coach bus in really cramped environments. And then we finally got to a different checkpoint where we were required to ride on the back of a dirt bike by these guys that were indigenous people who knew how to ride these dirt bikes. But we had to ride in the back. And there were people who were like, and these guys were like maybe 120 pounds soaking wet. These was smaller dudes, but they knew how to work that dirt bike. And there were some people that were genuinely like 300 pounds holding on to this guy. That's like a hundred pounds. And that was the means of transportation to get us not even to the peak, because to even get to the peak, we had to walk. And the reason why I mention that is because sometimes on your journey to success, there will be multiple vehicles, there will be multiple modes of transportation, but you have to identify what's suitable for that part of the journey. So maybe on, on this chapter of your life, you are working the nine to five. And I remember hearing a wealthy mentor of mine say that your job should be something that a mentee of mine said the other day, her job, she's in nursing. And she said her job is what sponsors her dream. And I love that your job is what sponsors your dream if the job is not something you plan to do for the rest of your life. So a wealthy mentor of mine would oftentimes say that a job that you don't necessarily love should be a two to five year plan to really do what you really wanna do with your life. So maybe you're just starting out and your job is sponsoring the dream, which it did for me. I used to work as a merchant marine captain. Transporting cargo, making really good money. However, I knew damn well that was not going to be what I was doing with the rest of my life. It wasn't the end all be all, however, it funded my dream. I remember when I bought my wife's engagement ring, it was a super expensive engagement ring for karat beautiful ring. I went all out, right? I got the ring that was made it hard for her to put her hand in her pocket. And it during that time I'm like type A alpha kind of man. And that was important. Not that it's important today, but back in those days, it was important. I was like, yeah I want my wife to represent represent me and my success. And that was just a lot more ego back in those days. But the reason why I mentioned that is because that was like part of the dream, right? I think every type, a young man at some point in time, wants the wife, wants the kids, wants the big house, all these things, the nice cars, all of that. So during that time, my, my job it it paid for that ring, right? It sponsored the dream. Another part of my dream was traveling around the world. And my job, although it wasn't something that I was necessarily passionate about, it sponsored my travels. It sponsored in the early days, my, my seminars and personal development events that I would go to me investing in my brand. It sponsored my dream in the sense that it allowed me to also build a nest egg a peace of mind fund, if you will, right? It allowed me to get good credit and it sponsored a lot of my dream, and that was a big part of the process, and that was a suitable vehicle for that point in time. However, there came a point in time when I was 24 years old where I made a conscious decision. And a logical decision really to leave that job because it was no longer a suitable vehicle to get me to the next level. You understand? I had to let go of that vehicle and get in a new vehicle that was more appropriate for where I wanted to go. It could only take me so far. And then I hit this roadblock where, you know what? I have to do something else. So identifying what vehicle is suitable for this part of your journey and what vehicle's gonna be suitable for the next. It's a big part of the process. Okay, so hopefully this is making sense so far. If you guys are getting value, drop a v in the common threads for value. All right, so the next share is. Most of us are unconscious in our selection of the words we use to consistently describe our life experience. Often we've adopted words to describe our emotions without ever thinking about the potential impact they'll have on us or others. These words become part of our habitual vocabulary and actually shape the way we feel about our lives. For example, many people regularly use words like humiliation or depression to describe virtually any unpleasant experience, say something they don't appreciate and they're humiliated or depressed question their point of view, and they're humiliated. Or depressed, everything, humiliates or depresses them because they attach these words to almost any experience. It's critical to expand your emotional vocabulary so that the words you select produce the emotional states you desire and deserve. So I actually had to tell my young son the other day because he said something like I hate walking. I think he said, and we're very big on vocabulary in my household, and I had to explain to him like I had to put things into perspective real quick because I understand what he's saying. These kids, these days, I had to use the old school back in my day, right? Because we didn't have a car. My parents didn't have a car when I was growing up. Like we walked. Everywhere. And when I say everywhere we wa and we had a big family. There are a lot of kids and like we some, many times we didn't even take public transportation. We just stayed in our neighborhood and just walked everywhere. So I had to hit'em with a back in my day. And I remember even my grandmother, my my grandmother is old school from Puerto Rico, and she walked everywhere. We'd be walking, for those of you in New York you'd walk we used to go to a public pool back in those days we had Betsy head pool which was like deep in Brownsville. It wasn't like on the border. It was a like deep in Brownsville. So we were walking from miles and miles just to go to the public pool. But anyway, reason why I bring that up is because my son had mentioned he hate, hated walking. And I had to put things into perspective and I had to explain like, Hey, the fact that you even have two legs to walk is a blessing. And be very mindful that what you say, because it's you never wanna say something that you really don't wanna be true. You have to be mindful of that. I learned that in what to say when you talk to yourself by Dr. Shot Helmstetter, it is a really good book. And he says, never say something about yourself that you don't wanna be true. Or, and I would go as far to say, never say something about your situation that you don't wanna be true, even if you hate it. Just the vocabulary around it. Hate is a very strong word, right? So maybe even just switching it it's not my favorite thing to do, right? Tony Robbins talks about instead of using the word annoyed, he'll use the word peeved. Right? Peeved is an like, just a funnier way of saying annoyed. But all in all I had explained to my son, just put things into perspective. Like the fact that you have two legs. There's so many people that would do anything to be able to walk. Not only that is walking helps you clear your mind, walk walking is good for you. Like just things that he's gonna understand later on in life. But just. All in all, having him be more conscious of the words that he chose in that moment. That's a big part of it, right? Just identifying what vocabulary are you using. Many of us know people like that, the Debbie Downers, Johnny Raincloud type people, and they have something negative to say about everything, and they don't realize that the vocabulary and I told my son that the words that you use are intensifying the emotion. So if you say you hate something, it's it magnifies that emotion. Again, be very mindful at the words, especially when describing how you feel about something. If you don't want that to be your reality then you may wanna just choose different words. Next, we have how important is language in shaping our experience of life. It is absolutely fundamental. Quite simply, the words we attach to our experience become our experience. So really great shares there by, in the book, giant Steps, small Changes to Make a Big Difference by Anthony Robbins. So next we have today's topic, which is the Power of stillness. And I know a thing or two about stillness. It's a big part of my life. So feel a little qualified to be able to talk to you guys here today about just the benefits of stillness overall and how it could essentially make your life better. Okay, so before I jump into today's topic. I've been every week one of the things that I do for our community, I offer complimentary coaching sessions from time to time. I have a few limited slots. If you ever want access to a complimentary coaching session, if you haven't done one with me in quite some time, I know I, I've done this for hundreds of people who've tuned into the Breakfast Club over the years. You're more than welcome to just DM me the word coach DM me the word coach, and you can find the link there. I'll also do my best to post it in my description. That way you guys can have my Calendly link. That, that's where you could book a session. And I have a speaking event tomorrow, so my schedule's gonna be jam packed. So you may wanna do that today if you guys are tuning in live. But also I have people who reach out to me all the time about. Getting into the world of speaking, coaching, consulting, podcasting, things like that. If you ever have any questions or you just need help on your specific journey, maybe you don't really know where to start and it's something that you've always wanted to do. We tend to attract people who are into personal development here on the Breakfast Club, of course. So if that's ever the case for you, again, DM me the word coach, I'd be more than happy to resource you or just give you some advice on how to get the ball rolling on your journey. With that being said, let's keep this show on the road. All right, I'll open up with this question. When was the last time you truly slowed down? Not because you were forced to, but because you chose to? Okay. Think about that. Now, I can tell you moments when I chose to and also moments when I was forced to, and I'm sure a lot of you guys can relate. Think about the pandemic, right? During the pandemic. The pandemic is a blessing to a lot of us. How many of y'all are hustle holics, right? Drop a one in the comment if you're, you can, I don't wanna say proudly admit, but you can admit that you are a hustle holic. I'm a hustle holic. And again, I probably should be mindful of my vocabulary saying that, but one I take pride in being a man that genuinely likes to go out and provide for his family. And sometimes I have to slow it way down. I've set up guardrails for myself. To make sure that I don't allow my hustle holic or workaholic tendencies to get the best of me. So the way that I've set up guardrails, for example, is I'm not going straight to work the moment I wake up, like I'm easing into my day and also the last hour of the day, or when I'm sitting and having a meal with my family, I'm 100% locked in, present with my family. That's a big part of it, right? And we're very big on not doing any technology or not having any technology at the dinner table. It's a big part of the way we keep those guardrails in our lives. And then on Sundays, I shut it completely down. But throughout the week I work a lot and I know a lot of you guys are the same way. We have people who are type A personalities, people who are super ambitious, who jump on the breakfast club. And it's it is essential to find opportunities to slow down. And during the pandemic. That was for a lot of us, that opportunity where we were forced to slow down. And it was one of the best things that happened to me. And I'm sure for many of you, how many of you can relate that the pandemic was actually a blessing in disguise for you because it forced you to get grounded? I remember prior to the pandemic, I literally, I worked like every day of my life. I never stopped working. I was on the grind and it, it created a lot of success. But one of the things that it did was it created a lot of distance in my marriage, right? There was not that closeness because we were so locked into just making money all the time. And it and it also for my kids, I wasn't the greatest parent. Like I wasn't actively present. We were like. Outsourcing our parenting to their grandparents, right? And I knew that it wasn't healthy. I'm like, I need to build a relationship with my kids, like my wife and I. We needed to learn how to be parents and actually raise our kids ourselves and instill our values and our teachings to our kids. And that's what the pandemic did for us. It allowed us to slow way the hell down, get grounded, get back to the main things, right? Most people are majoring in the minors, and you have to really identify what are those top priorities in your life. And for me it is my marriage, it is my family, my my children, and how I go about that last night. I was I was doing a little meditation session with my kids last night, and it is important for me to also teach them practical tools that they can connect with God and also connect with themselves and be able to calm their minds. Because one thing is inevitable, they will go through pain in their lives. They will go through winter seasons, they will go through obstacles and challenges along the way, and I want them to know how to properly regulate their emotions and not necessarily just go to mask their pain with alcohol or drugs or sex or whatever, right? It is important for me to teach them that at a very young age. But one of the things that I do is I just talk with my kids and I share stories with them and I talk to them and we geek out about science and nerd we're like nerds. I talk to my kids about all kinds of stuff and again. I'd rather spend that quality time with them and teach them things that they're probably not gonna necessarily learn in schools and teach them about things that I want them to value throughout the course of their lives. And that's a big part of it. So it is a sacrifice sometimes just slowing down. And is it really a sacrifice when you think about it? Because sometimes slowing down actually helps speed you up. So how much of a sacrifice is it really? It may feel like a sacrifice, but the reality is it's helping you out in a major way. Me slowing down and dedicating time to my family it always reaps a lot of benefits. So that's a big part of it. I've had those seasons, again, being forced to like the pandemic, but. Seasoned recently, like I just wrapped up our creator's conference and it was a lot of work and I was just looking forward to just slowing way down and getting to a place of equanimity where I'm I don't have so much commotion going on and I can just take some times to slow down and went to the Dominican Republic got to vacation and relax and then come back and just groove into the rest of the year. And again, that was a choice to actively take some time to slow way down. And sometimes you gotta be reminded, right? Don't get to a point in your life where you're on the grind so much. Where now life is forcing you to slow down, never get to that place. I see it happen all the time. People will burn themselves out. They'll be like super unhealthy and just grinding. And now they're in the hospital. Forced to slow down. Never allow yourself to get to that point, because it happens all the time. People burn out, God forbid they catch a stroke or something like that because they're just always stressed out. Their nervous system is always hijacked, right? And they're always in a sympathetic nervous state, meaning their body's in fight or flight all the time. That's one of the worst things that you can do for your immune system. So slowing down also helps regulate your immune system so that it can fight off dis-ease in the body. Okay, so next we have. There, there have been a lot of moments of stillness, I would say, or solitude that have shifted my direction to just help me see things clearly. And that's one of the biggest things. So for me I'm not waiting till the end of the week to slow e Every morning, like even before this breakfast club, I'm there doing meditation sessions and I love Solfeggio frequencies. It's like they're really great audios that you can listen to. It's like music that has these frequencies that help stimulate your mood and everything like that. And they're amazing. I would look it up on whatever you use, apple Music, Spotify, whatever, but it's it's a really great compliment to your meditation or your time in stillness. One of the things that I do as well, whenever I wanna get into a flow state with work, I was also listening to a deep focus. Playlists on my Apple music and that also super helpful just to get in my zone. So there's different music for different occasions, right? And it is good to have those select music. I like music without words sometimes because it allows me to think a lot more clearly. Okay. Today we're diving into a concept that most people overlook in their pursuit of success and that stillness, because let's call it for what it is, sometimes slowing down isn't weakness. It's wisdom. It's wisdom. And I had to get my head really wrapped around this idea because sometimes you feel like. If you're slowing down, you're not being productive, you're being lazy, you're not working like, or it sleep is I used to say I'll sleep when I die. It's crazy to have that kind of mindset, not realizing that again there's so many studies that show how just adequate sleep and not being fatigued, it really enhances your productivity. So you may think that you're grinding and you're putting in all this work, but God forbid something happens to your health and you're out of commission for three months. Did you really were you really more productive? So this is important to understand. So the first thing we'll cover is the world's obsession with speed, because today everything is hustle culture. Everything is just getting things done right as, as quick as possible. So in, in today's hustle culture, everyone's chasing the next thing. Or comparing progress because of social media or always busy, but rarely productive. How many of you could relate to that? Always busy with something but rarely productive. I was doing a coaching session last week and I had someone who was a client of mine who was mentioning like, I don't really know it. Like I'm always busy, but I don't really know if it's actually getting the results that I'm looking for. And never get yourself caught up in busy work and not and not even realizing that busy work is not getting you to where you wanna be. Always do some inventory and assess whether or not what you're doing is actually, again, moving the needle in your life. When I say moving the needle, it's putting your foot on the gas and getting yourself to move forward. Okay? So remember, constant motion often creates mental noise. Making it hard to hear your intuition or see your next move. Clearly that's a big part of the process because you guys hear me mention this all the time, like when you silence the voice of man, you can hear the voice of God, and you have to learn how to silence all of the mental noise that's going on in your mind. Remember, the human brain thinks anywhere from 30 to 60,000 thoughts a day that there's tens of thousands of thoughts a day that are flooding your mind. So it is important to know how to silence the noise. And in eastern tradition, they refer to like when you meditate and you have so many thoughts. I know some of you have probably tried to meditate over the years and you may struggle in the beginning because there's just so many thoughts that you're flooded with. And in Eastern tradition, they refer to it as monkey mind, right? You have all this noise and all this chatter, but. The more you practice silencing the noise, the better you get. And if you ever need help silencing the noise, try a guided meditation where you're given instruction on what to do. So with my kids yesterday, I did a guided meditation. Now walk them through how to relax and everything like that because young children, they have all kinds of thoughts running through their minds, right? But eventually you can go from let's say, silent or guided meditation to maybe saying a mantra. My mantra this morning was, how may I serve? How may I serve? How may I serve? So again, two thoughts. Can't occupy the mind simultaneously. So if you're actively thinking about a phrase or a sentence or visualizing something, then it doesn't allow any room for all the other noise to creep in there. Okay? Now, most breakthroughs don't come in chaos, but in clarity, often during moments of quiet reflection. So that's why it is essential to quiet the noise. Y yesterday I shared with you guys, I was talking to one of my mentees and I had to mention to him to be careful at how many people you allow in your ear because everybody's got an opinion, everybody's got there. There advice or even unsolicited advice, and you have to be very mindful at who you're taking advice from, who you're letting in your ear. It's not always helpful to have so many different people in your ear. It's about having the right people in your ear. And what I explained to'em is you never wanna take advice from someone you're not willing to trade places with in that area. Now that person may be giving you advice on health and fitness, and maybe they're really good at health and fitness, but they're not the best person to talk to about marriage advice, right? They're probably on their fourth marriage and still working things out on their end or whatever. Or maybe they could show you what not to do, right? Maybe that's their advice. But there's some people you go to for financial advice, relational advice, spiritual advice. But again you can judge a tree by the fruit that it bears. So look at the person's fruits in that respective area. So if they're very wealthy and they've been wealthy for quite some time, then they're probably really good a good person or a good candidate to take advice from. Okay? So very important to identify that. Now the next thing is. There's so many examples of entrepreneurs for example, that have found clarity in chaos. So just people who are highly successful. But there's so many people, like I I remember watching an interview by Mr. Beast, number one YouTuber in the world, and just, he'd talk about he'd pound the pavement going hard for weeks and then just crash. And like his body could just take it no longer and he'd be like forced to slow down. And there's tons of examples like this and I've had those moments where I was just super, super burnt out. And remember, you can't feel from an empty cup. So it is essential to always be filling your cup, and that's what slowing down does. It's another way of filling your cup. Okay? And I know one thing for me, just having that reset. Recalibrating everything on Sundays. It's a great opportunity for me. Last Sunday, I just spent a couple hours just sleeping during the day, not doing anything, just relaxing. And it, it was helpful and there's been so many opportunities to just sit back, reflect, and get ready for my next move in life. Okay. Sometimes you need a couple of days. My wife told me the other day and I was just man I'm like, just so overwhelmed with everything I had going on, and she's look, just take a couple days. The world isn't gonna stop because you took a couple of days and it was just really great advice. Okay, so remember, busyness doesn't equal progress. Movement isn't the same as momentum, so it's quality over quantity. Okay? You may think that just because you're doing things all day long. Again it doesn't quantify as something that's actually gonna produce those results that you're looking for. Now, I wanna go over the science and spiritual side of stillness, okay? The science and spiritual side of stillness. And by the way, if you've gotten this far, drop a light comment, share, tag, someone who can get value if you haven't already. Eternally grateful. I notice everybody who shows love on my social media, by the way. I for those of you who comment, I read all the comments and I definitely notice all of you who share. And I'm always grateful because the Breakfast Club would not have been able to reach as many people as it has over the years if it wasn't for those of you who actively take the time to share it. So thank you. Also, if you ever hop over to the Journey Podcast, one of the things that you can do for me is just leave a review. So if you're tuning in on Spotify tuning in, just type in the journey with Josh Valentine. You'll find it. Or just type in my name. I'm sure you'll find me as well, and drop a review. That's one of the best ways you can thank me. And I really appreciate those of you who do that. Alright let's talk about it, the science and spiritual side of stillness. So the brain understand works better. Space with space. So rest improves creativity, problem solving, and emotional regulation. So many different studies around this, okay? And the thing about it, especially for those of you who are entrepreneurs, or those of you who aspire to one day, leave your job and go full time on your dream, understand that you will need to have a capacity for resourcefulness. Because remember, there's never a lack of resources. There's just a lack of resourcefulness, and it's very difficult to get into a space of resourcefulness or creativity or innovation or whatever, when you're overwhelmed, when you're anxious, when you've got all these things that are flooding your mind, right? So neuroscience shows that creativity spikes during downtime, like showers, right? How many of you. Your best ideas come when you're in the shower. I know it happens to me all the time. Or even just going on a walk, right? Getting out in nature, some of your best ideas. It's super important to just take that time to just slow yourself down, okay? So you have more of a capacity to be resourceful and figure out your situation. And remember, for those of you who meditate or wanna learn how to meditate, it reduces stress hormones like cortisol. Cortisol will absolutely take you out in a major way. Cortisol is valuable when you're in that fight or flight moment. But long-term, high levels of cortisol will absolutely lit lead to this ease in your body. It will lead to sickness because you're compromising your immune system. So be mindful of that. And that's what meditation does. It's a free way to just bring down your cortisol levels, boost your serotonin levels, which is like a feelgood chemical Serotonin is what produces that feeling of wellbeing, okay? So it, it sharpens your focus and so much more, and it just allows you to connect spiritually with your creator. All right? So when it comes to the spiritual side of things, there's so many ancient traditions, whether it is the school of thought of stoicism, ancient stoicism, Buddhism, right? Or even just Christianity, all kinds of e every religious path. Has integrated some form of stillness. It's a big part of just connecting with God. Remember, you silence the voice of man. You can hear the voice of God. There's a saying that, that man without mind equals God, right? You have to get your mind out of it. We are not our, we are not our thoughts, we're not our emotions. And you have to tap into that part of your spirituality where you can connect, okay? And become one with everything. And stillness is essentially the path to wisdom, right? You open up opportunities for you to receive those divine insights, those downloads now in the silence, the answers reveal themselves. Remember that. Okay? And if stillness is so powerful, think about this. Why do we resist it so much? Why do we resist stillness so much? Can you take a wild guess? Drop a comment on why do you think people resist just taking time to be with themselves? And for some of you, this is gonna be the biggest takeaway. So the next part of today's talk is going to be on why we fear stillness. Okay? So remember, this stillness can feel uncomfortable because it forces us to confront our thoughts, our doubts, our insecurities. It forces you to deal with your emotions. And for a lot of people, that's one of the scariest things for them to be left there alone with their thoughts, with their emotions. A lot of people, you'd be amazed, just don't have the ability to just spend time alone. And one thing that I can assure you is. Learning how to be alone is one of the most valuable things that you could ever take on in your lifetime. Just learning how to be in stillness, learning how to be and spend time with just you and your thoughts. This is one of the paths to healing. If there are aspects of yourself that have to heal, that have to grow, that have to evolve, giving yourself time to allow yourself to process those emotions. Remember, most people are suppressing their emotions or they're masking their pain with drinking and smoking or drugs or sex or whatever, like food, eating all kinds of junk food. And all of these pleasures. And remember the path to hell oftentimes feels like pleasure. And the path to heaven oftentimes feels like pain. Isn't that true? Has that ever happened to you? Like you're on this path of everything feels good and it actually leads you straight to hell on earth. Like your life ends up going on a downward spiral and everything just feels good. You're out, you're partying with friends you may be drinking or getting caught up, smoking, whatever eating all kinds of junk food. But then you end up unhealthy, you end up sick, you end up unfulfilled, you end up broke. And it leads you to hell on earth. And it's all of this suffering because you put a bandaid on a gaping wound that really needed some stitching. And the stitching was the painful part. The healing was the painful part, right? And then the path to heaven oftentimes feels like hell. So in a nutshell, remember the path to heaven feels like hell, the path to hell feels like heaven. It's just the way it is. Like you want to be super healthy and vibrant. Guess what? You're probably gonna have to get on that treadmill. You're probably gonna have to have discipline. And it sucks. It's ask any Olympian, they've experienced heaven on earth winning that gold medal, but think about how much hell they had to put themselves through in order to get to that moment. But they get to live the rest of their lives as a champion and be proud of what they've done in their lifetime, right? And it's really sacrifice. So really analyze the idea is to analyze where are you in your life? Are you on a path that, that feels like heaven, but really it leads you to hell? Or are you on a path that you know, you are like, man, like I'm going through a lot of pain right now, but that pain really is purification. That pain is allowing your soul to to grow and evolve and ultimately become the person that God intended you to become. Healing is painful sometimes. It's like you've gotta really face you. And that's one thing that I've really leaned into and it's interesting because one of my spiritual teachers, he had went through a legal battle with the government, with his company, and he had a very successful company. And he went through this legal battle for six years. Six years for something he didn't even do. And he went through all kinds of just being ostracized and all of this stuff, accused of things he didn't do. And I remember him saying that his perspective he had really spent so much time growing himself. He got to a place where when he got hit with all of these different indictments and everything like that, he his mindset was, wow, I have this rare opportunity to really clear up whatever's left of my ego, whatever's left, of whatever I have to heal from. I have such a wonderful rare opportunity. And he went for the next six years on just healing whatever was left in him to heal. And imagine if you approach life like that. If there, there are things that are triggering you, things that are causing you great suffering. Remember, suffering doesn't happen outside of you. There's no one that can cause you suffering. You cause you suffering. We call ourselves suffering. Pain is inevitable, but suffering is a choice. You choose whether or not you wanna hold onto that suffering. So understanding how to take back control over your personal power is important. Learning how to protect your peace is important. And imagine if you approached all of the pain that you go through with the perspective of, wow, I have an opportunity right now to really work out whatever has to be worked out. So rather than suppressing those feelings of jealousy, those feelings of insecurity, those feelings of loneliness, those feelings of anxiety, rather than pushing it down, what if it you allowed it to flow through you? Imagine your energy going from the very soles of your feet upward right outside of the crown of your head, and just giving it up to God, allowing that energy to flow through you, that negative energy as opposed to just pushing it down and manifesting energy blocks in your body because you don't want to essentially push all of your emotions in or bottle them in. And next thing you know those same emotions, create those energy blocks in your body and manifest themselves into tumor, into this disease, into so many different things. Look up the science, you'll see exactly what I'm talking about. That's ultimately what trauma is. And trauma leads to so many different chronic illness and so many different diseases later on in life. So many people have bottled in those emotions for so long because they didn't know how to properly navigate through those emotions. They didn't know how to spend time with those emotions and allow that fire that they feel inside to purify their soul, because that's really what it is. What feels like hell is a purification process that's happening within you. You're burning off all of that ego, you're burning off all that, that trauma in a sense, and allowing that negative energy to just flow in and out of you, through you and out of you. That's the best way you can navigate through your emotions. So you know what, if you're spending time alone and it's painful again, pain sometimes is purification. And the best thing that you can do in that moment is just allow yourself to feel and visualize that energy leaving your body. Breathe and relax. Take a seed into your soul, right? And and understand that you are not your thoughts. You are not your emotions. You are a soul. You don't have a soul. You are a soul. You are a soul that has a body in mind, right? Not a body in mind, with a soul, right? It's like the saying that we are not human beings having a or we're not spiritual beings having a human experience. We're human beings having a spiritual experience or spiritual beings having a human experience, if you will, right? We're here in the Earth School. We're spiritual beings. Having this human experience and that human experience does come with a lot of pain throughout your life. But again, if you believe that you're here to go through your soul's evolution and learn some things. Allow those emotions to flow through you. It's one of the best things that you can do. And what happens in the process is you gain back your personal power. You have to be addicted more to peace than you are to people. You have to be more addicted to your purpose than you are to pleasure. You have to be more addicted, right? To not only your purpose, right? Not only, not only your purpose, but there's your personal power, right? But there's also your peace. You have, you wanna be addicted to your peace, addicted to your personal power, right? And ultimately make sure that you're not addicted to. Pleasure. You're not addicted to people. You're not addicted to even pain. These are external things that, that essentially validate us in the moment. So all you'll see people we tend to get addicted to other people because they're validating those basic human needs, right? But the thing about that is that your happiness, your joy is predicated on things that are outside of your control. What happens when those people no longer show up for you? What happens when those people no longer love you the way you need to be loved? Then you're stuck in a state of suffering. So it is important to release that addiction to pleasure, pain people. Some of you're like, how can I be addicted to pain? Guess what? When you're in that state of pain, sometimes what happens is people are so accustomed to pain, like that's the only way they know how to receive love. Because it's if this relationship is toxic as hell, but this person is validating me because they're showing me all this attention. They care so much to have an argument with me, and they're giving me all this attention and they're having me full of dopamine because we're getting into these chaotic fights and everything. Like the people legit can become addicted to pain. When you're in a state of pain, many times it produces adrenaline or epinephrine in your body. It's like a rush that you get and then you end up feeling worse afterwards. So it's important to, to understand that, yeah, we get addicted to pleasure. They're those temporary pleasures. But again, they're very fleeting. There are band-aids on gaping wounds. You can get temporary pleasure, but at what expense? It's like people can. Validate you and fill you up, and you have so much certainty that you're gonna feel pleasure hanging around with your bestie and all of that. But if your bestie is leading you to being more broke because you're always in the club or you're always spending and blowing through your money, or maybe you're in, involved in things that, that make you feel even worse, right? Because of your association. Remember you have to be around people who are equally yoked as you. So if you're around people like who are not necessarily spiritual people, chances are that's gonna rub off on you. If you're hanging out with people that aren't necessarily taking care of their health, chances are that's probably gonna rub off on you. So finding your tribe, your vibe attracts your tribe. Finding your tribe of people who are very similar in your value system is essential because you can very well become addicted to being around other people to the point where. Again, it ends up leading you to self-sabotage. So releasing your addiction to pain, to pleasure, to people, and shifting that focus to peace, to purpose, to personal power. I call it the six Ps, right? The first three. We're talking being addicted, more to peace again than you are to pain more to your purpose than you are to pleasure more to your personal power than you are to people. And when you fall in love with just holiness with sobriety, with living in a way that is kosher like you, you being rooted in the important things like your family, like your health, like your spirituality, like those things you have to love that more. What's out there in the outside world because your peace, your personal power, your purpose, these are things that essentially are 100% within your control. But pain, pleasure, right? People, oftentimes, those are external and everything that, that you're being filled with is dependent on external factors. And when they're no longer there, you're miserable. How many of you can relate if this is resonating with you, drop a one in the comments. If you've ever been there where you're clinging to things that are validating you, right? And you have no idea that these, again are temporary bandaids on gaping wounds, like when you can fall in love with peace in your life. It'll change everything. When you say, you know what, I'm gonna protect my peace at all costs. I'm gonna set up healthy boundaries for those people in my li in my life that are toxic. I'm gonna set up healthy boundaries for anything that causes me pain. Anything that may temporarily fill me up and make me feel worse, I'm gonna set up those guardrails in my life for that so that I'm always protecting my peace. Your peace has to be sacred. It truly has to be sacred in your life, your purpose, what you are here to do in your lifetime, your dreams, right? Your family life, all of that. It has to be sacred. Your personal power, what do I mean by your personal power? Your personal power Is that part of you that it, it can take control over its emotions, your soul. Not your body or your mind. I'm talking at your soul level, your personal power the part of you that can take action and do what you need to do throughout the day. Too many of us fall into the habit from time to time of giving away our personal power. Giving away our personal power. Guess what? If you're getting caught up in drinking or smoking or whatever, and this is not to villainize anyone. I've been there. I know what that's right? But you give away your personal power. You give away your willpower. Maybe someone you have so much of an attachment to someone that you literally give them your personal power in a sense, because you are allowing them to dictate your emotional state. Take back your personal power. Never allow anyone to rob you of your joy because. In a very literal sense that you don't have to allow anyone to rob you of your joy that is for you to keep. That is your willpower. That is what you were given, right? When you entered this world, you were given willpower, right? And that is something that you have to preserve and it has to be sacred. And you have to, again, always put your focus on what you can control and the things that you can't. You let it go. You bless and release it. Okay? So if you guys are still getting value, if you're still with me, drop a V for value again. That way I know you guys are still with me the entire time. I hope that this has been valuable for you so far, and I'm gonna get ready to bring it in for a landing here. All right. So what are some practical, easy ways to bring stillness into the daily grind? As I mentioned earlier, for me it's meditation and oftentimes my meditation sessions are in the morning, but I do sporadic meditations all throughout the day. I'll find different opportunities. Sometimes it may just be five minutes, but morning silence definitely helps. Okay. No phone, no music for the first 10 minutes after waking up. I think anybody can commit to that. I'm very big on no social media with within the first hour of waking up and going to sleep. No social media whatsoever, but you could just take that time, take those first few minutes after waking up to just breathe and reflect. Next, we have walk without distraction, so sometimes just walking in silence, getting around nature, getting some good old sunlight. I'll share a perspective with you. When was the last time you reflected on the fact that. Wow. I am being warmed up right now by a star that's 93 million miles away. You have this wonderful star that we get to rotate around all year long like we are being, the world is being lit up. The plants get to grow. We get to be alive because of this star that we were born with. Literally a star that we're rotating around all year long, and it gets to warm us up. There's so many people complaining about the heat, but think about how beautiful it is, how much of a miracle it is to be alive and be warmed up by a star every single day. When you go out for a walk, understand that energy is coming from an actual star. Those very stars in the sky, those are suns. Their suns. And we have our own personal one here in this lifetime. What a blessing is that, right? So taking some time. The reason why I even bring that up is because think about the miracle of being in nature. How rare it is to be alive. You have a one in over 400 trillion chance of being alive right now, but we take this life for granted. Think about that. So there, there's so many miracles. Like people are like asking for a miracle. You're asking for a miracle. Do you know where you can find a miracle? And your next breath of air is a miracle, right? We have miracles all around us. Every single day. Go outside, look at that sun. That is a miracle. 93. Do you know over a million earths, over a million planet earths can fit into a sun, into our sun. Think about how magnificent that is. Like the earth is already pretty damn big. Could you imagine a million of these earths? That's how large our sun is. It's incredible. Okay. And I know I'm over here nerding out on my science. As I mentioned I'm a big science buff, so it's a big part of my life. I love, love, love science. That's why a lot of the information that we do share is research backed here on the breakfast Club. So next we have scheduled solitude. Scheduled solitude. When was the last time you at least blocked out? An hour a week just for silence. No agenda, no multitasking. When is it Right? Just scheduling in your sacred time. I know for all of my mommies out there you ladies have that mommy time, right? Where you may go and do your little journaling or get your nails done or whatever. Maybe have your little wine. But it's important. You spend time with yourself, you should be you. Your mindset, like my mindset is I'm a whole vibe, right? I know if anybody hangs out with me, like I'm gonna be a vibe and I'm so much of a vibe that I want to spend time with me, just me. Like I want me all to myself. That should be your mindset. Why not be a person that is so just so damn dope that you just love spending time with you and you want you all to yourself? When was the last time you had that mindset about just your value as a person. You love you so much that you just want you all to yourself and you just love spending time all by yourself. So get you some me time today. I wanna encourage you, get you some me time, even if it's a little 15 minutes. Get what you can. You deserve it. Next, we have mindful pauses. Take three deep breaths before reacting to stress or making big decisions. Taking time to relax, taking time to relax. Listen, if you're stressed, if you're dealing with some heavy stuff, one of the best things that you can do is just learn how to relax in that moment and allow that energy to flow through your body. Remember from the base of your feet, through the crown of your head. Give it a gut. All of that negative emotion, all of that stored up just trauma and everything like that. Just allow it to flow through you and just sit into your soul. Sit into your soul. Get yourself rooted, grounded and relax yourself during those times. It's one of the best things that you can do. And imagine you can get to a place in your life where nothing shakes you. You get so good at sitting into your soul. And so good at allowing emotions to flow through you that nothing shakes you. Nothing ever gets your personal power. Nothing ever gets your peace. Nothing ever gets your purpose because you just are so good at relaxing in those really intense moments. And it takes practice. It's like a muscle. The more you do it, the better you get, or you have to build up that muscle of learning how to relax during those most intense moments in your life. So those mindful pauses go a long way. Next is a digital detox. So turn off all your notifications. So I intentionally, I turn off my mail. I don't see notifications when I receive anything on social media, anything on WhatsApp, anything from my email. I don't receive notifications from any of that. I silence all of it because I would go crazy trying to keep up with all of those messages. So a digital detox is super, super valuable. Okay. Turn off the notifications if you have to. Many times what I do is when I meditate, I put my phone on do not disturb. That way I'm not getting random calls during those meditation sessions or moments where I just want that me time. I put my phone on Do not disturb. Get in the habit of that. It will 100% wanna be one of the best things that you can do. Okay? So go unreachable for a set period of time every single day. And last but not least is evening reflect. Journal, your wins, your lessons, and what your intuition is ultimately telling you. Think about that. What are some of your biggest reflections over the last 24 hours? When was the last time you just took some time man, what did I learn today? What was the miracle in today? What were some of the blessings? What are some of the things that happened today that my future self could thank me for? Just taking some time to reflect it goes a long way. Okay? So remember, sometimes starting small is the best way, okay? Even if it's just two minutes of stillness, it can shift your energy and give you a lot more clarity throughout the course of the day. So as I wrap up here, remember, you don't always need to do more. Sometimes you need to be more. It's not about doing more, it's about being more. So this week, your challenge is to my challenge for you is to give yourself a lot more permission to slow way down, protect your peace like it's your passport to purpose. I gotta admit that came from Chachi. Bt, that was good. All right. Protect your peace like it's your passport to purpose, because it is, it truly is. So what's one area of your life where you need to stop rushing and start listening? Ladies and gentlemen, breakfast is served. I hope that this was valuable for you. If it was, again, drop a light, comment, share, tag, all that good stuff, subscribe to the YouTube channel and I definitely so happy to be here with you all as always. And to add value to your life. If you're long overdue for just some coaching or whatever, DM me the word coach. I can always send you some information on how we can connect throughout the course of the week. And for those of you who are in the Tampa Bay area, I have a speaking event tomorrow. So if you want the link to the event it's absolutely free. I'll be doing a speaking event on business leadership, balance, work, life balance, all that good stuff. And I look forward to seeing some of you guys there. And till next time, guys, take care. God bless, and I'll be seeing you next week. Breakfast is served.