The Owner's Odyssey
The Owner's Odyssey is a business podcast focused on exploring the unique journeys of real business owners co-hosted by Brook Gratia, Paul McCoy, and Zach Jones.
The Owner's Odyssey
Headspace: Leadership, Self-Care, and Balancing Life's Challenges with Brook Gratia, Paul McCoy and Zach Jones
Ever feel like you're constantly juggling challenges without a positive mindset to ground you? Join us, Zach Jones and Brook Gratia, as we share how transforming our headspace with positive content and meditative practices like binaural beats has helped us tackle obstacles with resilience. We share personal anecdotes and offer practical tips to maintain an optimistic attitude, crucial for effective leadership and personal growth. By tuning into motivational podcasts, audiobooks, and inspirational social media snippets, discover how you can shift your perspective and approach challenges with renewed energy.
We also open up about the essential role of self-care in maintaining mental health, exploring unique metaphors and activities that highlight the balance necessary for well-being. Think of yourself as a sponge, absorbing and releasing energy, while we explore the impact of technology on stress and sleep. From minimizing screen time before bed to indulging in hobbies like playing the guitar or enjoying a round of golf, we emphasize the importance of finding personal spaces that offer relaxation and stress relief. These practices help refresh the mind, offering a sanctuary from the hustle of everyday responsibilities.
Lastly, we reflect on the power of creative expression and "me time" in avoiding burnout and sustaining creativity. By sharing my journey of shifting music from a professional endeavor to a personal passion, I highlight the significance of having hobbies that fuel joy without pressure. Recognizing the challenges of balancing family and work, we underscore the necessity of early morning routines for personal growth. Whether it's reading, exercising, or simply enjoying quiet time, prioritizing "me time" is not just a luxury; it's a vital part of maintaining a balanced and fulfilling life. Allow us to inspire you to embrace self-care, paving the way for greater personal and professional success.
Hello and welcome to the Owner's Odyssey, the podcast where we delve deep into the transformative stories of courageous business owners who have embarked on an extraordinary adventure. I'm Zach Jones and I'm Brooke Gattia. We're here to explore the real life experiences of entrepreneurs.
Speaker 3:Each episode, we'll embark on a quest to uncover the trials, triumphs and transformations of remarkable individuals who dared to answer the call of entrepreneurship.
Speaker 2:Like all adventurers, our guests have faced their fair share of challenges, vanquished formidable foes and braved the unknown.
Speaker 3:Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur, a seasoned business owner or simply an avid listener hungry for captivating stories.
Speaker 2:The Owner's Odyssey is here to help you level up. So join us as we embark on this epic expedition. This is the Owner's Odyssey. Let's start our adventure.
Speaker 3:So we wanted to have a few conversations where it wasn't us talking to someone about their journey and going through all of the ups and downs and the inspiration and the discouragements to have, because that conversation just takes a little. It should take a space to hear people's stories.
Speaker 4:More of a deep dive.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and maybe just have a few babblings about just various different topics that we think might be helpful as a business owner, as a leader, as a parent, as a teacher, as a person in life. And I think one of them, and the primary one that I say to a lot of people, is that your headspace as a leader is a huge dynamic, and it's a really hard dynamic because you carry a lot of things and it can get exhausting. But if your headspace as you walk in the door is this is going to be just a mess likely it's going to be just a mess. And if you walk in and you're like, okay, I got this, we can get through this, you start to step in such a manner as to got this and you can kind of keep moving and when a roadblock hits, you don't go. Hmm, I'm just going to sit here and cry a little bit about it, Even if you're not a crier, um, but I'm gonna, I'm gonna pause, I'm going to look at this and go okay. So if I just take a few steps over here, I'm around this roadblock and that is all headspace and it's kind of where you are with that.
Speaker 3:And so I thought I'd talk through a few of my little tips and tricks. I think I talked a little bit about this in our first podcast that we walked through that I hit a spot where I was just really in a bad, bad headspace and I found a few things helped for me. One is to listen to other podcasts or read other people's journeys. There's something about someone saying something that you're like, oh, that might get finding inspiration from someplace.
Speaker 3:I think that's why people go to this is not a true statement. I think that's part of what is helpful about church sometimes, when people listen to, each week someone get up there and speak about something, it's an inspiration. I think that's why people like TED Talks too, like they're a little quick or they're really long, thought patterns that are like oh huh, like that's actually really helpful. So I know, for me it's really helpful to have like inspiration pieces and it's usually audio books, even if they're like have nothing to do with business, but somehow or another somebody's journey, a podcast, a quick little snippet on a I'm an Instagram person, not a Tik TOK person, but you know they all flow together and you know a little snippet out there. That kind of helps with it. But for me, if I'm finding myself in a slump, one of the best things for me to do is, as I'm driving, make sure I'm not silent and I'm like listening to something in that headspace.
Speaker 1:So um, sometimes you can. You can hear the same thing from a different source and get a different output. Or even reading a book. You can read a book three times and get totally different things out of it because you just are in a different headspace. Yeah, or you're ready to receive it at that point.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yes, they talk about that happens a lot for people where you're like you. Someone told me this a million times and now I finally can hear it and it like connects for me. Um. I have no idea what gets you to a point where sometimes it's just a tone that they use to say something or like or as a parent, stop doing that.
Speaker 1:Eventually they stopped doing it.
Speaker 4:I had a teacher at one point recommend a Shakespeare professor say like read this every two years and time you read it, it'll be completely different, like just based on like the way that shakespeare writes is so maybe that's why people love shakespeare so much.
Speaker 4:I've never it's literally he just puts out like the skeleton of a narrative and it can apply to any time period, it could could apply to any place and when you, you know, understand it and kind of follow that narrative, like when you go back to it later, you see things and completely different lines hit you in completely different ways, but it always has some kind of you know churning relevance and it's you know kind of just made me think of that.
Speaker 1:Yeah absolutely.
Speaker 3:Yeah, another thing I do. I don't know you were the one who actually you being Paul, that's who I'm pointing to, I think brought this on. So I'm very much on to meditative things and I'm not a big like yoga zany person, but I love my spas and I love the music. But there is something to 10 minutes. Put the do not disturb on time, like just put some sort of music in my brain and just breathe. And then I ran into. I feel like it was you, paul, that I was talking to you by, nor by no neural beats.
Speaker 3:Thank you okay I'm so butchering english language. There you go, um, which is the like. There's a tone that happens and it you have to have headphones on. Also realize this, as I'm kind of going through it. So if I'm sitting and I like it's a work day, I got to get stuff done, but I am like amped or I don't have energy to do what I need to do, I will literally put these on and they have like study ones. They have also ones where they're like help you fall asleep. Probably should not do that while you're trying to work.
Speaker 1:However, or drive.
Speaker 3:But on a day that I'm like I just need to like plug through this, I will literally put that in and it's amazing like how much just this like tone going and like just calms my head space and do you know how that? No, I have no.
Speaker 4:No, so please, you are this we can probably bat this back and forth a bit. So, binaural, breaking it down by two oral, two frequencies is what's happening. So you need headphones or you need stereo that have two different tones.
Speaker 4:Yeah, you need a very, very stereo setup of some kind so that you can have one frequency playing through one ear and another frequency playing through another ear and what's happening on a cognitive level is your brain, the two sides of your brain, are both trying to interpret these different things and through that you have these different kinds of energy effects. So there are literal, specific frequencies that people have dialed out that are these are calming frequencies, these are frequencies that will you know create aggression, or yeah, or you know uh an elevated state of some kind.
Speaker 4:So that's. That's a little bit about what's going on.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, nicely thought.
Speaker 3:I find them just the like breathing and that slowing down kind of aspect. Um, it's very helpful when you're yeah, you're just you almost can't think straight, you can't see straight, Um, and you don't really have a whole lot of time to sit down or like do something else. Um, so I can kind of put those on and kind of keep moving. Um, I also, when I do have time, we'll put something on and just close my eyes and breathe for 10 minutes because I'm trying to do that meditative side of things or listen to a meditative person who actually walks you through.
Speaker 4:I think prayer and meditation are very similar.
Speaker 3:Yes, exactly yes.
Speaker 4:For people that are religiously inclined.
Speaker 3:It's that like all right, I'm going to process, I'm going to release, I'm going to focus on and whether it's releasing to God, releasing to the world and just out of you and there is some power in that headspace, move on that too. Yeah no, I totally agree with you on that side of things. Yeah, no, I totally agree with you on that yeah. Diet of things.
Speaker 4:I think it's a Sikhi concept, but it's something that is a religious concept, that when you pray, you don't pray for things, or what is it? You pray for virtues.
Speaker 3:So like you don't pray that, like Give me this cup of tea tomorrow, right, and don't pray like that your illness is gone tomorrow.
Speaker 4:You pray for the strength to endure whatever that is, and I find that that's actually a helpful meditative space too, which obviously you're trying to get rid of all thought when you're meditating. But, if you are having a thought pattern, which you kind of always are on some level, that's a helpful kind of safe, neutral space to sit in cognitively of like what qualities do I want to embody?
Speaker 3:today.
Speaker 4:And you know how am I? Going to exercise that.
Speaker 3:Which goes right along to part of not only your brain, is how your body manifests all of the stuff that's going on and that it's really good to move your body, however that looks like. And so if that's a like you're a workout person, who you're? Like I need to go and run and lift weights and like I just I think there is something to okay, I've calmed my brain and I'm like I'm getting it all. Like you you're, you're meant to move, and if you don't move and you just sit there, your body just pulls it all in and it's just not not helpful.
Speaker 3:I'm not, obviously, obviously a scientist or have any like knowledge. I mean my phrase is right here a scientist or have any like knowledge. I mean my phrase is right here Dr Brooke, yes, babbling Brooke here, um, but like walking is huge for me. Or riding a bike, like I don't want to run, I would do swimming too, but that takes a lot to put a bathing suit on and like get there and like it's a, it's a whole thing, um, but I struggle to commit to pool germs.
Speaker 3:Oh, I don't mind pool germs, I can do pool germs. I love to go under the water and just be like oh, I can just feel this like movement around to me. I don't think about the pool germs, because you know what?
Speaker 4:There's germs everywhere? Yeah, there are, and you're right. You're right in this instance, but I do struggle.
Speaker 3:You are not the first person I know who's like not going with you, with your kids, to the pool, because do you see how many children are in there?
Speaker 2:you know what they're doing in that pool um, but yeah, the french word.
Speaker 1:Maybe you just need to be out in nature a week and there's fish and all of that stuff in there um, but yeah, walking and biking are huge for me.
Speaker 3:On good, I remember when I first bought my electric bike to bike down the Monon um, and it's a 40 minute bike ride to get from my house to here, so it's not bad.
Speaker 3:It's 20 minutes to drive it, so really sometimes 40 minutes to drive it, depending on traffic, but so it's really easy. But, like the first time I did it, I literally got down to a coffee shop right down the street to stop and get a coffee and I just wanted to cry like because 40 minutes of, and it's not hard, I had an electric bike, I'm just moving, I'm just I wasn't out of breath, I wasn't anything, but by the time I got to the end, I'm like I just wow, like moving your body releases so much energy to then be able to sit down, and so then I would pull out my book and write down through I'm just going to write out thought patterns Like I almost could process things a heck of a lot more because I could actually engage my body in that space of things. And I think we all know that too. Sometimes we just need this is why I listen to podcasts.
Speaker 4:Sometimes I'm like, oh yeah, I need to do that, like I forgot how powerful that is is of just move your body I had a trainer at one point, and I don't know how scientific this analogy is, but he would always just say your body is a sponge. And then, like have you kind of conceptualize that? And it's like if you were a sponge, like would your sponge be full of like pizza water, or like would it be full of gunk or would it be full of you know, clean things? And like have you wrung the sponge out? Like you have to get a sponge has to get rid of the things in it and it has to take new things in. If you're not taking in the right things or not taking in anything, the sponge gets dry. So there's all of these ways and you really can just kind of like okay if I'm a sponge.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's amazing what visualization does. How is my sponge doing yeah.
Speaker 3:I always like when I go to these meditative things and they're like what color are you? Right now I'm like I don't know what the heck is color Like. Are you kidding me? So I'm not always this like woo-woo-y type like thing, but there is some analogy. I love that. Like you're a sponge, like what are you bringing in? And if we wrong, you like. And they talk a lot right now about cortisol, like oh, maybe it's because I'm getting older and your body is changing and you can't lose weight and all of those things and they're like what's your cortisone level? Like, what's your stress level? Yeah, cortisol.
Speaker 4:I don't know.
Speaker 3:My aunt was actually talking to me because she's big into like the healthy stuff. And she said her doctor like took a test and was like, yeah, it's sky high. And then said to her do you look at your iPad before you go to bed? She was like, well, yeah, nope, put it down an hour before you go to bed, cause you won't sleep and you're not sleeping and that's why and I'm like, yeah, I don't, I don't. Well, I'm doing better at not looking at technology right before I go to bed.
Speaker 4:But um, yeah, we sleep with the TV on and it's awful, wow, yeah.
Speaker 3:Maybe that could help your anxiety level if you actually got sleep without a TV.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I shut it off sometimes, but we definitely go to sleep to it.
Speaker 3:I cannot do that. That would I would be. I remember doing that when I was in college or something. We went to a hotel and there was a bunch of us girls and one of the girls couldn't sleep without a tv on and I was busy because I can't sleep with it on and I'm like what the hell is like turn it off, we're sleeping. I'm like put white noise on or something like which.
Speaker 3:I think that's ultimately how we're using it, so we should just move to something like a white noise maker or whatever, but like some binaural beats, like a student and like go to sleep with them.
Speaker 1:Um yeah, that was my wife. She had the tv on and she'd fall asleep with a remote on her and she'd be fast asleep and I'd be waking up going what the hell the tv's on so I then I then said to her so what time do you think is a reasonable time to go to sleep?
Speaker 1:You know, she told me a time I put a timer behind this armoire that the TV was in and she got up. Well, that woke me up because she was then trying to turn the power on, but that one night, and then after that it was no TV in the bedroom.
Speaker 3:Yeah, we don't have a TV in the bedroom.
Speaker 1:Technology didn't allow it early on. Nowadays it got no.
Speaker 3:TV in the bedroom.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we don't have a TV in the bedroom.
Speaker 2:Technology didn't allow it early on. Nowadays it yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, got used to it, right. Yeah, that's not good for you.
Speaker 3:No, it's technology is keeps you stimulated side of of things. But, what are other things you guys do for your brain, for your head space? I also read books.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they can't be business books. My favorite is First Light. Sunday morning I go and play nine holes of golf I walk.
Speaker 3:What is it? So? It's the movement.
Speaker 1:It's the movement. I love golf when I'm playing. Well, yeah, I love golf, good or bad.
Speaker 4:Just get out there with a couple of guys and it's the ambience of you know Best way to ruin a good walk right.
Speaker 1:Absolutely Follow that little white ball, but you're playing. Well, there's the smack, involvement, or the sledging, the golf version of that. And just getting up first thing, doing it an hour and a half later literally started at 7 yesterday, 8.30, I was back home and it was just enough exercise just to keep me going moving. You know up early anyway, so why not just fill it with some exercise of some description? And you know, do that every Sunday and just have done for years now. It's just my solitude, you know, because I carry, so I walk straight to the ball.
Speaker 3:All by yourself.
Speaker 1:All by. Yeah, so if they're over the left I'll help them find the ball, but it's just, my thing is carry and just take the line that I last saw the ball, so I'll come by it.
Speaker 3:I'll always find my ball, that's good, yeah, my other half has started to pick up the guitar.
Speaker 3:Oh nice, like a very stressful job and lots of things going on and actually doing open mic stuff, nothing to do with work, nothing to do with toddler kids or preschool kids, all just own headspace. Fantastic, and I think that's what you're saying too of. You've got to find sometimes your refreshing thing that doesn't have to do with everything else. So I just said, mine is books too, but that's playing the guitar, which I can't do. I'm sorry. I tried it once. I'm really not good at it.
Speaker 1:Here's another thought that Brooks books.
Speaker 3:Brooks books. There you go.
Speaker 1:I like that.
Speaker 3:Yeah. So I would bet you are a little bit on the music side too.
Speaker 2:Like, if you need to like, yeah, I would bet you are a little bit on the music side too, like if you need to like.
Speaker 4:Yeah, so I it's interesting because music is something that is kind of an interesting conversation in general, but like music is something that I've kind of made the cross over the threshold into, like I am a musical professional, so in a way, like it's work. Yeah, it used to be something that I would do as a release.
Speaker 1:And now.
Speaker 4:I find that I am doing that a little bit more because I've slowed down on the musical side. So I, you know, this past year have kind of made a promise to myself of like just make whatever you want to make, like stop trying to make the next record and just enjoy it. Make whatever kind of noises come out of you. You know kind of thing it might be a screen. Yeah, Like any. You know, if it's a metal song, like play metal, if it's a country song, then like make a country song.
Speaker 4:But don't you know, try to like sit in a specific box or have a target in that way, and since I've pulled back in that regard, like it does feel a little bit more like play, yeah, yeah uh, but interestingly enough, like when I wasn't in that space and very much was taking it seriously, I would move to visual art and paint or I really like painting with like spray paint kind of you know street art type stuff, some of your work around, yeah, tagged all of caramel, of course, um, but no. So you know doing, doing something where you are allowed to be a novice or allowed to let go of the rules or whatever the second, you acknowledge something or accept the responsibility of doing something competitively which unfortunately, in anything you're trying to do professionally is a competition the rules change, so I think it's important to have pursuits that are not validated by being the best or by being Enjoyment.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah right. It's inherently rewarding just to do what you're doing For your satisfaction, not everyone else's Right, exactly.
Speaker 4:And then the other thing from just practices and routine standpoint is I like to get up very early. I'm up at 4.30 or 5 in the morning, but I don't start the day until 8.30 or9 because that first couple of hours Reading, exercising, you know, first couple of hours reading, exercising, you know, finishing up whatever, yeah, Like from the night before.
Speaker 4:Um, a lot of times it'll be something like that where it's like I know I was working on music in tonight. That music will be stuck in my head the entire time I'm sleeping and then I'll, you know, be ready to get up and kind of do another chunk of it or something. So, uh, having those hours that I know have no to-do list outside of them, you know, and most of the world is not moving yet, it helps as well, Like which is really wonderful if you don't have a, sorry a family of children who require a little bit more attention, who just happened to wake you up seven times in the middle of the night and you
Speaker 3:or like creating that space and cultivating that, whether it's having friends you can dump on and say, hey, can you take my kids for a little bit? Or you coordinate that with your other half, um, you know, and hopefully you have another half to like. Some people don't like and so it, but it still is super important to figure out how do I give myself rejuvenation space and what does that look like for me? And recognizing the power of and even if you have kids like this is the other thing. When you're super stressed and you have all of these things and your kids are coming at you, you're all of a sudden yelling at them instead of leading them Not trying to problem-solving.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and that's not what you want either, and some amount of kids are going to drive you absolutely bonkers and you're going to love them in the exact same moment. But, yeah, like creating space for yourself and cultivating that is is huge to the next steps for being a business owner or a leader or organizational development person, of sitting down and thinking through things and dealing with the stresses that come If you, if you haven't had enough space to detox, you just aren't going, you're going to make even sillier mistakes, right, because you're going with your gut feeling. Yeah.
Speaker 4:In the same vein of what we were talking about earlier. You need to create space. Me time is another one of those things that you are going to take. There's a math problem going on in your life and certain energy is required to put out what you're putting out. So you can either find those spaces to isolate that and dedicate to that, or you can see that need seep through the other moments in your life where you're depleted and you're taking more than is than you know is appropriate. Because you have to take those. You know you're taking unplanned me time rather than the like.
Speaker 3:Your body will shut you down if you don't right get yourself and I mean I used to wait tables, I tables.
Speaker 4:I've seen people that are paycheck to paycheck absolutely need today's money to come through. Go tell a table off and flip a plate or whatever, and leave the restaurant with no plan, because that's what happens when you're working 14 hours a day with no breaks and you're completely on empty Something is going to give yeah and no breaks and you're completely on empty.
Speaker 3:You something is going to give, yeah, yeah, and it's not. That's hard, and it's a it's humanity and it's the it's.
Speaker 1:It's both beautiful and the hard part of humanity, Right when you're working, when you're dealing with things like that, you're dealing with your conscious brain, which is very slow by comparison to your subconscious brain. Conscious brain is what 15 of your capacity yeah, they do. That is a big talk within the medical world and then 85 is the subconscious brain, and that's where you get in the zone where you do things you don't want to right, or you're capable of doing things that you didn't think you were able to, that's true yeah, you know, look at the uh, I always go back to tiger woods for golf.
Speaker 1:you know that guy just could zone everything out and had done so much practice. You know, michael jordan, the same, just the their ability is to do what they had to do, and I think they were working with their subconscious brain, not their conscious, I think that plays into that Will Smith brick-by-brick story just the idea that you're intimidated by creating a huge brick wall.
Speaker 4:But the reality of it is that if you can isolate your thinking or even shut your brain off and allow the muscle memory process of laying a brick perfectly to be your only consideration, then you will look up one day and it will be done.
Speaker 3:Well, this is our fun little quick convo we thought we'd do, but it's all about headspace and that it's really important.
Speaker 4:We hope it has improved yours.
Speaker 1:Exactly. Thank you, bye.
