From Breakdown to Breakthrough: Identity, Fasting, and Living God's Plan with Zac Dean

In this episode, JD sits down with Zac Dean — Australian entrepreneur, podcaster, and health advocate currently living in Dubai — for a wide-ranging conversation that is equal parts practical and deeply personal.

Zac shares what it means to trust God's plan when your own plans fall apart, why 93% of the entrepreneurs he's interviewed say their biggest breakthrough followed a breakdown, and what a 14-day water fast taught him about identity, letting go, and spiritual clarity.

They also dig into circadian rhythms and quantum biology, the power of sunlight and grounding, why fasting is less about food and more about your relationship with instant gratification, and how podcasting has become one of the last great equalizers for everyday people with a story to tell.

This one is packed. Whether you're in a season of collapse or a season of growth, there's something here for you.

Topics covered:

• Why Zac left Australia to live out of a suitcase across Thailand, Mexico, and Dubai
• Trusting God's plan vs. your own 10-year blueprint
• The breakthrough/breakdown pattern from 80+ entrepreneur interviews
• Circadian rhythms, mitochondria health, and living with the sun
• What really happens during extended fasting — mentally, physically, and spiritually
• The #1 and #2 ways to reduce stress (the answer may surprise you)
• Podcasting as a tool for self-discovery and building authority

Connect with Zac Dean:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zachdean_official

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:06

Welcome to the Circle of the Panda podcast, hosted by JD. In this episode, JD talks with Zach Dean, an Australian entrepreneur living in Dubai, a podcaster, and a health and wellness advocate. They discuss circadian rhythms, 14-day water fasts, the power of identity, and what it means to trust God's plan over your own. Get comfortable and let's get into it.

SPEAKER_01 0:29

Zach, thank you for being a guest on this podcast episode.

SPEAKER_02 0:34

Thank you for having me. I'm excited. Hello, everyone.

SPEAKER_01 0:37

Zach, the information that you sent and what you do will take someone's mind like mine and just absolutely blow it into a different place. It just takes a curiosity and just ramps it up into a completely different way. And that's why I want to say right now, if you have not seen his website, you need to go look at his website. Because here's why. And I'm going to just rapid fire these topics, and I'm, but I'm going to be very cautious not to go too long because of the time frame. Here's a man from Australia living in Dubai, uh, fasting. He started his own podcast, started his own business. And then here's two things. At one point in your life, you wrote on your website that things collapsed. I gotta slow down because I know there's a lot of people hearing this, and they're either in that place or getting ready to go in that place, or they're coming out of that place. And then I mentioned the fast, and then I'm scrolling down below, Zach, and there is a Bible verse that's referenced that I know by heart. I I don't memorize them so I tell people that I know them by heart. I memorize them so that I can use them because I need them. And they're at the bottom in small print, rather than J D U Must Know, in Small Print was a Bible verse that my wife and I use on a regular basis to help us. So let's go. But let me start with one of the one of the more straightforward ones. Dubai, why? What what are you doing in Dubai? And what's it like?

SPEAKER_02 2:20

What a beautiful introduction. Thank you so much for your passion and energy. And uh, I'm really, really excited for this. Well, I'm in Dubai because God has opened the door for me to be here. You know, my I've been traveling now for three years out of a suitcase, doing what's called long travel. So I kind of stay in a place three to six months. I was in Thailand, Mexico, US, and now in Dubai. And I'm gonna stay here on this side of the world for a little while. I have a, I'm one of the things I'm super grateful for, very wealthy in connections and network and great people. And I'm very, very grateful for it. The people that I have around me have opened up doors and opportunities in so many different ways and shapes and forms that were not on my plan, so to speak. But as timing has it, sometimes it's you know, if you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans. He's got a greater plan for us. So um it was a you know, a friend of mine I've been working with with my old network marketing company for five years, and uh he said, Hey, you know, there's a war time. My wife's in Poland with my baby. Um, come and hang out, let's work and and train together and lock in. You know, there's only so much you can do through video, you know. So I'm here, I'm networking, I'm meeting all these amazing people podcasting, I'm uh, you know, growing my business online, and yeah, just going with the flow at the moment. It's been a beautiful journey.

SPEAKER_01 3:48

Okay, you said, but it's not your plan. So you just keep referencing, and it seems to me like you're a planner, but at one point in your life goes, you went, Yeah, it's really not my plan. When did you realize that? That that it's not your plan.

SPEAKER_02 4:06

Great question. Uh, people ask me this all the time because one of my businesses is called the Life Blueprint System. And I help people map out a 10-year plan, one-year plan, 90-day plan, 30-day plan, seven-day plan, daily plan, so that everything we do today lines up to our 10-year vision. And so I think there needs to be both this level of logic, intention, focus, goal setting in life. You know, there's a more of a masculine focused approach. And there also needs to be more of a free flow, let it happen, let go, God's plan. So I'm very aware of that. There's ebbs and flows, there's seasons in nature, there's times throughout the day that our hormones are high within terms of our biology. Hormones are high, like for men, testosterone is high in the morning, and then in the afternoon it's lower. So I understand that there's these highs and lows and kind of this flow within uh life that I'm doing my best to ride that wave, so to speak. And as much as I try and plan, it it merely gives me a level of like certainty in the moment. But at the same time, I need to let go to not be attached because anytime I'm attached to things, then stress and overwhelm and uh you know things just go a little bit haywire, chaos happens. So I'm a big planner. My mom's side is from Germany, so maybe the German structure order systems approach, and then my father's side is from Italy and Europe, so it's more passion and fiery and creative. So I've done the health and wellness kind of background in terms of um, you know, my mom's side, she was a health and wellness practitioner. And they say that typically the kids take on the unowned parts of the parents, parts that they hadn't fully developed themselves. And so she had a local health business, but my business I took global. Um, and also my dad, you know, he was a creative and actor, owned an acting school, was an entrepreneur in in Australia, in Perth, was more local. And I guess through technology and how it is today, I've taken my, I guess, entrepreneurship and creativity and podcasting and acting and things more international. So, you know, I'm just standing on the shoulders of giants, very grateful for my parents, my two parents and two step parents, and all the amazing people that I've met along the way. You know, I'm always learning from everyone as this podcast shows, you know, there's uh so many different stories, and we can always take take things that align and leave the things that that aren't important. So just following that journey.

SPEAKER_01 6:40

Man, I hope. Have you written a book yet? I hope so. I hope you write one. Thank you. Two two things that come from that uh kids take on the unowned issue of the past. Have you noticed that sometimes you have to go, no, no, no, I'm not going down that road. I might love my parents and they're terrific, but but they were uh no un yeah, unowned issue of the past. So do you did you realize that okay, my dad or mom were this way? But I don't, it's not suiting me. Is that what you're talking about?

SPEAKER_02 7:16

Absolutely. And I, you know, I guess it's it's our own personal evolution or ancestral evolution to to learn from the people before us. And I think one of the tragedies of life is that we have disconnected from the advice from the elders in the community. You know, the elders now are either too sick or uh we're so disconnected. Like my family particularly is so spread out in all states over us over Australia. I've got family and friends that it's all just spread out. And so um that's kind of a tragedy today, right? Is that we're not able to pass down the knowledge, the ancestral knowledge from from different generation to generation. And so, because my parents weren't close with their parents, I wasn't really close with them either. So I didn't find out that I had 25 first cousins on my Italian side that I'd never met till I was 28 years old or something like this, you know, and there's a whole bunch that are in Europe or different parts of Australia. And so, yeah, that saying that the child will take on the unowned parts, I find it fascinating. And uh, you know, I admire my parents in many ways. And I also have, you know, little digs and and challenges that I've learned from them as well, and inherited certain predispositions to maybe lack or stress or you know, certain mindsets. But at the same time, um, it's that's not really my fault per se, but it is my responsibility and all of our responsibilities to take that story and choose the narrative, choose to be the writer, the director, the the actor, the the editor of our own movie, and craft that in whichever way. And yes, I was very inspired by my parents and also um motivated to also not do what they did. So that's a big reason why I'm here today.

SPEAKER_01 9:04

I wish I wish I'd known you many years ago. It would have saved me some issues. There were a couple of things that I inherited down through my family that one point I woke up and went, oh, I can't do that. No, no, I can't, but I had to own it. I said, no, no, you I can't do that. Some people call it generational curses or whatever that whatever that is. And then you and you mention uh something else. When you when do you know, when do you know when you're going down the path of you think it's his plan for you? Maybe you take a step off of the path. When you when are you aware of no, I think I've gone off what I'm supposed to do? Is there a feeling or a is there a roadblock that shows up?

SPEAKER_02 9:51

That that's definitely the million-dollar question, is it, isn't it? It's uh is this the right path? Is this the right thing to do? Am I in the right place at the right time? And I think the more that I slow down, the more that I fast, the more that I focus on my breath, focus on my health and wellness and silence and prayer and reading the Bible and learning in in nature specifically as well, getting outside, feet on the sand, you know, under the sun. Those are the times that I have more stillness and I'm able to hear the voice of God and direct my life. But the moments that I don't do those things, I easily dislocate from the present moment, and I am either doing things that are taking my focus, whether it's like the desires of the seven deadly sins, which we all have, and I battle with them from daily. And so then it's you know, the more that I follow the deadly seven deadly sins and the short-term pleasures of society and and the world, and the quick, uh, fast conveniences of the world, typically it creates more ADHD in my brain. I'm not able to focus. I'm feeling more overwhelmed and anxious. I'm feeling like there's comparison, I'm feeling more greedy, I'm feeling like I want to eat more. I feel like I want, want, one, one, want. So it's it's a it's a dance. I understand that there's been times that I've been caught in there as well. And I think the times that um have been the biggest breakthroughs are those where I've had the right people around me, the community, the mentors, the good friends or family to say, hey, Zach, is this the right thing to do? Are you really supposed to be in this relationship? Is this the right business opportunity? Are you, you know, is this what you should be, you know, is this, does this feel really good for you? Is this what's meant to be right? Like, do you feel this is right? Yeah, do you feel this is right? So it's it's a kind, I'm a big believer in accountability. I think our own self-accountability is is lacking in today's day and day and age. We don't have accountability from oh gosh, in relationships, in business. It's so easy to to slide into unhealthy habits in the world and different addictions, whether that be sugar or work or sex or drugs or just certain mental programs. Um, but that's the the wild world that we live in. It's it's a fascinating place. And so how do I not? I don't know if that answered your question at all, but it's it's something I'm continuing to learn, doing my best to figure that out every single walking the path that's the straight and narrow. The the more that I slow down and listen to um the voice from within and God, the more that everything takes time. There's more patience. I'm tested on patience, but it typically it's take is making a life of a masterpiece rather than the chaos of uh a life of quick ups and downs. So yeah, I'm still just figuring it out, to be honest, JD.

SPEAKER_01 12:57

I I tend to go. Does it line up with the fruit of the spirit? Now it's hard in what I'm feeling. Does it line up with the fruit? You know, the fruit does not say fruits with an S in it, it's fruit. Do you create certain pauses in your life once a week, once a day, every other day, or when you feel out of line, do you pause and reset?

SPEAKER_02 13:21

Yeah, I do. I think everyone has uh their natural strengths and weaknesses based on our biology, based on our environment, based on our education, based on our conditioning. I think it's amazing what humans can endure and adapt to. It's wildly fascinating, especially as I've traveled to places, oh my gosh, you know, third world countries or first world countries, we adapt to anything. Sometimes the people that are the most wealthy have adapted to a life of being sedentary and sitting down, and and then they injure themselves the most. Yet you go to Asia and they're able to squat and and you know, like they're able to so flexible and happy and smiling. I remember when I was two years old, this is my very first memory. When I was two years old, my mom took me to India with a friend. Wildly interesting choice for a parent. So she took me that, and I remember going to the Taj Mahal, and I remember after the Taj Mahal, we left and we're getting a taxi, and there was this little kid there who was a few years older than me, and he had no arms. And his no arms um shocked me. I was like, like I was speechless. Well, I didn't know how to say many words back then, but I was I knew what arms were. And he was just smiling, regardless. Irrespective of his circumstances, he was smiling. And he, from what I saw, didn't have much. But in in terms of joy and the spirit that was within him, he was full. And so that really stuck with me in terms of having this uh this deep sense of gratitude, irrespective of our circumstances, someone's got it worse, and it's all perspective and comparison. Comparison is definitely the thief of joy. And I know people some people that are wildly successful and rich and and whatnot, but are incredibly unhappy. And I know some people that are really healthy but unable to, you know, look after themselves financially. And so it's uh there's no one way to do life. I think I'm it's about the holistic approach. Be comfortable in your own skin and also be able to supply and and uh you know help other people along the journey. But to answer your question, uh it's probably something I'm working on uh in terms of taking time to rest. I do more things uh now based on my circadian rhythm. So about six years ago, I started learning from a doctor called Dr. Jack Cruz, and he spoke a lot about circadian rhythm and how our brain, whether it's the the Earth's human resonance, a certain frequency is the same frequency that's in our brain. And when astronauts go into this into space or when people go deep into minds, they mismatch from that frequency of earth and they get sick. And there's certain devices and things and things they have to do to balance that frequency out. So we are designed to live on this earth. We are one with nature. I love the philosophy of the long body, which is where our health and wellness isn't just our body within, isn't just the kitchen and our bedroom and our house, but it's also our garden and it's the front yard and the backyard and our community. And if if that's not in harmony, it's truly not full wellness. And so it's all interconnected, right? So, but yeah, this circadian rhythm philosophy is like a little micro-niche community that I've met over the years. They're called mitochondriacs. They love mitochondria, which are the energy packs of our cells, and they follow all the things that help support mitochondria health, which is helping with electron, which is the electrons in our environment, whether it be grounding, whether it be nutrition, whether it be sunlight. You know, there's a lot of things in our environment that give us energy, not just food. And so as I've learned those circadian rhythms, I'm more up with the sun. I try and see the sunrise every morning. I try and eat outside in the sun as much as possible, just by getting more sunlight on our body, especially when we eat sugar, it reduces our body's um like processing of the sugar. It actually helps our body process that so it helps us lose weight. And then I try to do a lot of fitness outside, a lot of calisthenics or fascia movement or lymphatic drainage outside in the sun. And then at nighttime, going down with the sun, seeing the sunset is so calming to my nervous system. And then at nighttime, I turn all fake lights off and just have like salt lamps or lights that are at knee level because at nighttime we weren't designed to have lights overhead. That's a man-made construct. And so we would have had a fire to see at nighttime to fall asleep to and how good we feel when we go camping, we're outside and we're seeing fire. So I try and do my best to live into more of this circadian lifestyle. And in doing that, it allows me to, when I do rest, I rest better. I think I sleep a lot better because of that. Because if I don't do those little habits through the day consistently, my sleep's not good. And I could be working 12, 14 hours a day. But if I do those things and I get a good night's sleep, I'm maintaining this level of uh focus and action. I've never burnt out, I've never had a breakdown mentally or emotionally or physically. Like I just I think because of my mom, who's a naturopath, I learned a lot of self-care practices growing up, and I know how to catch myself. Over the years, I've gotten better.

SPEAKER_01 18:31

Okay, thank you. And you you take us back to another question I have for you. You probably didn't expect so many personal questions. If I ask one that you don't want to answer, say, Jade, I don't want to go for it.

SPEAKER_02 18:42

I'm I'm an open book.

SPEAKER_01 18:44

A fast. What did you learn during your fast? The first ones. I know you fast often, but you referenced one on your website. Again, I keep pitching your website. You people need to see it. Yeah, what did you learn in your first fast?

SPEAKER_02 19:00

Yeah, look, I've done the longest fast I've done. So you're referring to the 14-day water fast. Yeah. That took years of preparation and insight to get to that level. So I disclaimer, please don't do this. Get, you know, the right coaching and mentorship or medical support. But I uh I don't it naturally came up when I was I used to do acting, and a friend of mine said, uh, have you heard of lean gains? I was like, what's lean gains? He's like, you can put on muscle and cut fat at the same time. I was like, that sounds really cool, and he was looked really in shape. And so he told me about intermittent fasting. And I started getting into that when I was like 20 or 21, but I'm a big eater, you know. Growing up, I struggled to miss a meal. My blood sugar wasn't very healthy. I had a lot of like health issues growing up, actually. I had acne, I had sleeping issues, I was a chubby kid, uh, and I was picked on and bullied in high school. And so I definitely had a lot of uh, I guess, emotional and physical shock and chaos within um some of my social circles growing up, unfortunately. I had learning difficulties. I really didn't know how to read and write until I was like 12 years old. Like it was pretty challenging. And I pin it down to a few things. One, stress as a kid, some trauma in terms of family drama. And also I didn't eat, I was on a vegetarian diet, which some people it works for. For me, I don't think it supported my brain development, to be honest with you. So those things I kind of learned and adapted through. So, because of that lack of health that I had growing up, I was always curious to try new health things, whether it was a new diet or fasting or fitness this, fitness that. And so over the years, when I was 21, I started doing the fast intermittent fasting, and then I started doing two-day fasts and three-day and five day and seven day, and then a 14-day one. As my life was going through a massive transition, my second business was growing. I had had a big growth in my first business, and then that kind of collapsed just before COVID. And then I found a new business, and that was going through a massive growth. And I with my business partner, we were traveling Australia, even though it was COVID, we're kind of jumping the borders as the borders would open, doing presentations, educating people on health and wellness, and a frequency machine which helped with pain and anxiety and energy in the body. It was like a TENS machine, microcurrent. And it went very, very well. But in doing that, um, I feel like I needed to let go of a few parts of my personality or parts of my mindset or just like experiences from the past. I wanted to put a line in the sand and step across it and say, you know, enough is enough. I want to just step into what's possible. I went through a breakup, my business broke down, all these different things, haven't I? Yeah, COVID happened. And so we thought, hey, let's do a fast. And what it was just gonna be five days. And then we had an event in two weeks. And we're like, what if it was in two weeks? And we broke it on this event that we ran. I was doing cooking and bone broth and veggie stew, big health non-alcohol event, and I was cooking. So I was like, okay, so the day prior, 24 hours, I haven't eaten for 13, 14 days, and I'm cooking food for like 50 people. And I can't try any of it. So all my friends are like, try this. Is this good? What is this? Does it need more salt? Uh, and to be honest with you, there's a process. You know, I was I had certain supplements, there was certain a little bit of fiber that I'd have great water, salt, electrolytes, and also um, you know, maybe too much information, but colonic irrigation. These are enemas and things like this to help the digestive system to keep flushing because the digestive system can shut down. But and that's where people feel a lot of toxic load, they get headaches, they feel tired. It's because the digestive system. So there's a certain few different things that I do to keep that flow going. And I felt more present, more aware, more energized, more awake, more creative, more tapped into God than ever. And people would just look at us and they'd be like, Whatever you guys are doing, I want to know what's up. There's there's an energy about you. And it was weak in the body. Our body felt weak. Don't get me wrong, I couldn't go and lift weights and do much, but our spirit was strong. And that's the the real, real big breakthrough that I learned from that.

SPEAKER_01 23:27

Do you have something where you coach people on how to fast? Because I want to be uh do you have uh a pamphlet or is it gonna be on your website where you coach people through that process?

SPEAKER_02 23:38

I I so after this experience, this 14 days, you know, a lot of my social media was really curious as to what was going on. They got to see this transformation. I literally dropped, I think it was nine kilos. I didn't do it for the weight loss, and my face looked completely different. I looked five years younger, right? And I was like 30 years old at the time. And so it was this people started asking. And so within that, and also my business prior to that was helping people with supplements and fasting. So I haven't done it for a long time. I've worked with groups and people, but um, a friend of mine who I just helped to do a three or four-day fast, it's completely changed his whole life. He's got into fitness and eating, like his whole thing. We've started doing, we're gonna start doing once a month as a free group. If people want to join, send me a message, go to my website or message me on my Instagram, Zach Dean, and uh let us know. And you're welcome to join. Now it's not for everybody if you're pregnant or if you're under heavy medications, don't fast. But I will have a chat with you and see if it's a good fit. You know, it's gonna make sure it's the right time. But some people might just fast and skip one meal or half a day, or just to 12 o'clock, or just to dinner time, or maybe three days. It just depends. And I think it's important to have baby steps rather than throw yourself into the deep end. So, yeah, it's it's something that we're gonna offer as a community thing because I think it's such a great way. It's a it's an embodied practice that shifts the internal relationships or the internal relationship we have with everything, relationship with food, with our instant gratification, with celebration, with being tired, with coffee and sugar and socializing and family and obligation, and of course, our spiritual connection as well. So I can't recommend it enough. If there's one breakthrough, if I could wish a national holiday for the whole of society, it would be let's do a national fast or a global fast day to really connect in and take that time to um reduce the noises of the world and up the volume.

SPEAKER_01 25:41

Oh god. Hey, I hope your wish comes true. There's so much value in it, so much value in fasting.

SPEAKER_02 25:47

You know, I tell you what, the biggest, the biggest secret to the whole experience is I really believe people are sunlight deficient. We spend 80% of our day inside these days rather than 80% out. And if you've ever been on holiday, sitting by the pool or at the beach, we usually typically sleep really well after a lot of sun, or we feel like we don't need as much food when we have a lot of sun. And so that's really what I've been learning in terms of this quantum biology stuff, which is the sun allows our body to take in electrons, and electrons specifically feed the mitochondria. And so a lot of the time, if we're not outside, we're not getting the sunlight, which means we're low on the electrons from the sunlight. So then we make up for the electrons through food. We need the electrons, we need this energy in our body. You know what it feels like. Our body's like, just need something. But what I've found is ever as I've put myself more in the sunlight through the morning and and and you know, in a trust me, in Australia, we're afraid of the sun. Slip slop slap, sunscreen everywhere, this whole thing. I'm not saying get burnt, I'm just saying add a little bit more sunlight. It literally feeds me from the inside out. It's like the gifts that God has given us, we sometimes take them for granted. And when we just put our feet on the ground, connect to the sun to the sun, drink some good quality water and salt and lemon, you know, these things, it's amazing how much further you can go. So next time you do it, JD, we'll put a plan together for you. You should join in. Perfect. I will. I will.

SPEAKER_01 27:17

I'm watching the time. Do you have? Can I ask three more questions?

SPEAKER_02 27:21

You can ask as I've got as much time as you need. Let me just make sure my laptop's plugged in.

SPEAKER_01 27:26

I'll ask three more because I don't want to give up, but I got three more here. I'll ask. I want to be aware of your time because I could keep you all day if you open it. So let me ask you three more, okay? You referenced, I'm not gonna state it well. You referenced a breakdown or a breakdown. Um, I found a quote when I was researching you, and now I can't find it again. I went back and started double studying you and triple studying you, so I'm not gonna say it well. People that are, and I don't know if you said successful, but but what I can't find the quote. At one point, people have a breakdown moment or a break, like they just collapse, and then they become something new or someone new, and you have seen a trend, and that's what I'm gonna get to. Explain what you're talking about when you say that.

SPEAKER_02 28:26

Yeah, so what you're referring to is after I've done 80 interviews with entrepreneurs and investors, and I asked them with my podcast, it's called the Breakthrough Moment. I'm asking them what's the biggest breakthrough moment in your career, the moment that changed it all, took you into another level of insight, impact, or success. 93, 94% of them have said that their breakthrough came as a result of some kind of breakdown, a relationship breakdown, a business breakdown, um, a health and wellness, like a heart attack or some kind of wellness, or you know, something like this, or a spiritual awakening of some kind. Like there was a there was a there was a moment, a pivotal line in the sand of life was going this direction, and there was something that unexpected happened, and now they're going this way out of something that they didn't choose, or something that wasn't planned. And so, within doing that, these these stories that I'm hearing are so inspiring, they're so interesting. I'm learning so much about people's lives and all the the rainbow of colors of of this world through everyone's stories. As you know, these stories are so fascinating. And I learned that in doing that, in order to adapt, they had to create a new identity. And the new identity then set them on a different path and a different trajectory where because you know we can all probably relate to a time where something changed. We were going in one direction and we shifted, and maybe it wasn't part of, wasn't on our goal list or the to-do list of that day, but we had to change. And in order to not just survive these and but thrive these these challenges, is there's this big shift in identity. And so there's a massive ratio of the podcast that I've done that talk about identity and actually seeing themselves and visualizing themselves in a certain way to help them through those tough times. They had to kind of like project in their minds or or kind of they weren't able to handle the stress. So they had to then say, okay, I need to go in another direction. I'm gonna start to picture myself in a new light. And and within doing that, a lot of the people on my podcast, um 70% of them actually talk about God. And it's not even a question that I have, it's just naturally they say their faith. And God has been a massive part of this transition. And personally, I started the podcast as I was reinventing myself, going through my own shifts and changes in my career, the business, things like this. This is that second business that kind of collapsed too, and then the last year and a half rebuilding myself. And in doing that, I get to ask the amazing questions of if I was to rewrite the next chapter and I was to plan, and everyone can do this at home, like whatever that next chapter is that we want to write, we get to be part of that. And I think part of prayer and being in relationship with God and relationship with ourselves is sitting and being in deep, deep gratitude and connecting to that voice within of God and then using that voice to direct our lives. And I think a lot of the time when people are living into other people's models of the world or other people's expectations to then build their plan. You know, parents want you to be this successful and do this career, or, you know, by this age, you should have a family and kids, and you know, oh, this, you know, this level of health and these expectations. I I found that those people that have put the expectations of others in their path typically find that they rub up against a big challenge that wakes them up, their own authenticity, and their own plan. And so it's just a fascinating kind of journey in these conversations. So that's kind of what you're referring to, I'm pretty sure.

SPEAKER_01 32:11

It's a process of I can't stay here anymore. I'm gonna go there, and then you got to start unwinding all the things that keep you from going to where the new place is.

SPEAKER_02 32:24

It's like an unlearning, you know, there's a lot of unlearning that needs to happen. I think, you know, when we went to school, when I went to school, um, there were some subjects I really enjoyed, but there were some subjects I didn't really enjoy, you know, and there was a certain learning style of rote learning and repetition. I don't learn like that. You know, I had to learn with mind maps and creativity and crayons and build like and move my body, I'm more kinesthetic, you know. Some people do that really well. And if that's that's your strength in terms of how you learn, do that, right? That's amazing. But I think a lot of the time that self-awareness piece of figuring out, yeah, this current, this current reality or what I'm going through right now isn't working for me. I need to change some things. And sometimes it's not adding in anything different, it's like letting go, letting go of belief systems, letting go of people, letting go of certain foods, letting go of, well, this is the fasting. The fasting is such a great like metaphor to test that. It's not about how many days you go without food, it's it's how we relate to those bond bonds that we have to this, to our environment. And I'll tell you the one thing, even if it's just one little awareness of, oh yeah, one every morning I record, I want my coffee, or at night I need to have, you know, watch the television before going to bed, or or you know, whatever that thing is, as we uh realize that, or it's like, oh, my job, I'm feeling stressed around money. And the silence within fasting allows us just to reflect on those moments and and critique and to let go. I feel like I let go of the most limiting habits and behaviors and maybe potential interferences of energies from the times that I fast. It's super fascinating.

SPEAKER_01 34:10

Oh, yeah. Yeah, it's uh learned so much during those times. Yeah, what are what are you working on now? We've I've made reference to it, we've we've discussed it some. What Zach, what are you working on? What's your latest business and project?

SPEAKER_02 34:26

So at the moment, at the moment, doing all these amazing interviews, I love hearing people's stories and I love helping amplify, as you do, amplify people's success and story and and education and and insights on the world. I think we can all learn from each other. So I'm really enjoying the podcast. I'll be at 100 podcasts very soon. And then within that, you know, I'll be writing a book and then building another book. I want to build a book around like a coffee table book with all the breakthrough moments from everyone from the podcast. And so that's something that really excites me. And then another part that excites me is I've built this amazing network of other podcasters and people that have incredible platforms. And so I'm actually curating podcast tours with people so they can be connected to other people and other communities to help grow their brand or authority or impact and community and business. And so I think podcasting is really the one of the last ways the everyday person can jump into a higher level. Oh, cherry.

SPEAKER_01 35:35

Go. Yes, go. Everyday person can jump into, keep going.

SPEAKER_02 35:39

Yeah, I think it's one of the last roads for the everyday person to share their message with the world. If someone has a meaningful message, a story, something that's going to inspire a business, a product, a service, like get out there. And podcasts are a great opportunity to even out the playing field instead of big organizations paying for lots of ads and marketing to crowd out the everyday business owner today. I think everyone should jump on a couple of podcasts, try it out, share your story. And what happens in that process is you refine your story, which then helps you become more confident and see your value. And we see our value more. We also communicate our value, and that helps us in business or relationships or health. And I think one of the biggest tragedies is that most people, experts, myself included, we all go through this stage of we don't, we aren't able to see our true work. We aren't able to see our true worth and our true value. It's like we're stuck inside of a glass bottle and we can't see the label. And other people see the label and they say, You're so good, you're so this, you're so that. And it's like, well, I don't see that. I don't I don't believe that. And so I, you know, that's a daily thing for me sometimes. What oh, yeah, you're right. Thanks for reminding me. But podcasts allow us to then. I watch my podcast back. I always learn so, so much. When I did TV presenting, I had to watch every single one of my shows back because of how uncomfortable it is, but also how much I learned from that process, how I show up in terms of my body language or voice, sound, when to stop, when to have dramatic pause. And you know, all these different things are so important in communication. So I think podcasting is a great opportunity for everybody to jump in the inner confidence, also to help their own themselves to see their own value for their own business. And I think, you know, from one podcast, someone can create 10, 20 pieces of content for LinkedIn and Instagram and Facebook. So it gives the everyday person a way of building their social media, building their impact and authority and making new connections. I've, you know, I've met so many amazing people all around the world that become my friends now from what's uh what's unfolded as a result of connecting with people for the podcast. So that's what's exciting for me at the moment, JJ.

SPEAKER_01 38:05

I made you pause. So I had this uncontrollable feeling of joy when you mention people speaking. Everyday people have the opportunity that this podcasting is a way to break through the barriers of the bureaucratic, but you can't help and get to that person because you have to jump through all these faces. No, you don't. Just talk to me because every single person was created in an image, they're loved, they have a story. It's right there. We just have to break through all the all the so you saw that joy for me going, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. This is a platform to just bust through all those and say, talk, talk to us, talk to us. You have it right there. Um, yeah, thank you. Sorry for that pause.

SPEAKER_02 38:55

I could know we should get excited, and and I get to meet some amazing podcasters, and they genuinely love it. I think it's humanity, I think it's people who have a have something they've been through. I think it's human nature that when we've been through something that's challenging, we want to share that as a way that's very healing for our own system, but also it's can be very inspiring. I remember the first time I realized how powerful my story was. I think I was like 23. Um, someone I was working with had a son who was quite overweight and had a lot of health issues and stuck inside and was feeling really down on life. And she said, Zach, can you go chat to my son? I said, Yeah, no worries. So he came into work the next day and she said, Oh, can you just share your story with him, your health story and transformation? I said, Yeah, sure. So I shared the story of how I had my first mentor at 17. He told me told me about food and exercise and mindset, and I changed my life really quickly. So I shared this with him, didn't think anything of it. I didn't know what happened until two years later. We spoke on Facebook and he says to me, He's like, Zach, thank you so much for sharing your story with me. I'm now a runner, I compete nationally for running. I've got a girlfriend, I'm high on life, I'm doing all these amazing things, and you know, my life is awesome. Thank you for that. And I said, You are so welcome. You know, I had no idea my story would inspire you. So he said, Yeah, it really did. So in that moment, I was like, Oh my gosh, who else can I tell my story to? Maybe my story does have value. And so, in any opportunity, whether it's podcast or my own podcast, I do share my story in a way that is authentic to me. And they say, you know, at the end of the day, I think one of the biggest tragedies of this world is that people are not authentic anymore. We're living into these um expectations on the rap race, or as I mentioned before, there's all these like expectations of us, and it takes us out of our authenticity. But the people that we admire the most are like creatives or singers or actors or artists, you know, they're able to express in or storytellers, they're able to express in a certain way that's captivating it's this authenticity. And so I think all these challenges overall are there to help us become more authentic. But it's still like who who is the real you when you're truly authentic? And I think we're all searching for that. I think it's a it's quite a big, it's quite a confronting process because to be fully authentic is to is to really look at ourselves in the mirror and to really see each part of our lives and really assess that and and audit that. And sometimes that can be a lot. That can be really, really, really confronting. But I think whether it's the nutrition, food, organic food, not having toxins in our environment, I think the chemicals in our environment change our biology, you know, not to get on a big rant, but you know, whether it's women and birth control and how that then changes how they see and who they're attracted to in their um partners, or if it's men and I know this is a funny one, but men and wearing underpants that are really kind of restrictive and the and the blood flow stops when we wear the wrong wrong underpants, which is then causing a lot of um fertility issues and things like this. And so at its core issue, I really think there's there's a big I don't like to say it, it might sound quite controversial, but there is a an organized approach to separate the family unit in the world and and to really slow down, I think, God's creation of life. And so whether that's with big pharmaceutical industries, I'm not saying pharmaceuticals don't have a place, they're just not number one on the list, they're number a hundred, you know, and I'm not saying that we should, you know, throw ourselves in, become hippies and live on the land. No, we live in this modern world, but I think there's a lot to learn at each level. And I think the more that we actually slow down, look at the things that we put in our body, the water, the food, our thoughts, the people, the social media, the Netflix, if we really assess that and we switch that off and we do the basics, up with the sun, down with the sun, you know, reading the Bible or reading um books that that fulfill us, spending time with other people that see the world similarly as you, I think that is really where life begins. And I really hope that everyone can, in their own way, do that. Um, and so that's that's why I'm here anyways, to share a bit of inspiration or part of my story that hopefully moves people towards their own purity in their own way.

SPEAKER_01 43:36

Oh so much your story is resonating with with me, and I know with so many others. I mean, I'm again, I have three pages of notes and talking to you. I have one more question. We, in some ways, could not our experiences could not be much more different. I mean, I barely. Know how to say where you are. I can't even relate to some of the experiences you've had. Um, you've had a lot of them, but you've talked to a lot of people, you've traveled in a lot of different places. A lot of people listen to this podcast are going to go, well, that's way outside my frame of reference. However, you have also seen what the similarities are in everybody. Zach, what do you see that regardless of where we live and what we do and what we believe, and where do you go? Here are the things I see that we all have in common.

SPEAKER_02 44:44

Wow, what a great question. What a great question. And I think about this often when I go to a different culture. Um you know, Mexico has its own uniqueness to then Thailand, to then Australia and the outback of Australia versus the the city of New York and the Midwest. I got to do a big road trip last year with 18 states around America and you know, my gosh, Florida, those beaches in Florida, my gosh, put put the beaches, um challenge the beaches in Australia for sure. Those beaches are incredibly beautiful. And I haven't done Europe yet, and I haven't done Russia or I haven't done a lot of the Middle East, but um I definitely I definitely believe that everybody is doing the best they can with what they have. I think that's a big similarity. I think regardless of challenges, everyone is is incredibly resilient in their ability and their desire for family to bring the people that they love together. I think love is really a glue that brings people together. Family and faith is definitely super high, and more so in other places. But at a at a base foundational level, family, faith, um, connection, community, I think these are the main things, you know, people's spiritual connection or church or something that allows people to have that camaraderie and um a council of good people around them. I think everyone's trying to do that. But I think what happens a lot of the time is that the world that we live in is very different to how it was 50 years ago, 100 years ago. And I've definitely learned from all the podcast guests is that life is more stressful now than ever. And the people are more sick than ever. There's heart disease, diabetes, dementia, autoimmune off the charts, you know, kids getting sick now. It's just ridiculous. And unfortunately, but also it's like wildly surprising, is that 90%, if not more, of a lot of these diseases are preventable. And so I see a lot of sickness when I travel. I see a lot of suffering, I see a lot of people, you know, looking for answers in what I would say, my opinion, is the wrong place. And so it's tricky though, because if someone comes from a certain place and they've gone through the schooling system and job and they've only known their area, that's their whole world. And that's okay, but there is more to the story. There's so much more to the story. And so I'm always learning everywhere I go. But yeah, stress is the big killer. I've definitely noticed that people are more less time, more stressed than ever before. And I met this expert the other day said that stress is the main thing that exacerbates everything. We all have predispositions in our genetics, in our environment, epigenetics, based on our stress, it can either express cancer or express diabetes. But if we look after our stress, we can really create a really solid base of uh of health. And so I said to him, what is the number one thing people can do to reduce their stress? And he says, there's two things. Well, there's there's three categories. The one, the number three on the list, I'll save the one for last is the best one. Uh, three on the list are things like exercise, food, you know, the meditation, the walking, the lifestyle stuff, right? That's the third category. The middle category, and then I asked him, I said, what is the relationship with with our creator or faith in this? And he said, Well, it's funny that you say that is that the top two ways to reduce stress is through co-regulation, which is in relationship with someone else. And so two on the list is actually the relationship we have with God. It's sitting down in silence, in prayer, having that conversation with God is a co-regulatory experience to our nervous system. It lowers our stress hormones in an incredible way. And I was really surprised, or not surprised, but I was like happily shocked. I was like, yeah, of course. That makes total sense. I love that, you know. And then the number one is actually the intimacy with our loved one, our partner, our wife, our husband, and being, you know, holding hands or hugging or you know, cuddling and things like this, and being in a relationship, sharing, and being able to be heard and seen and acknowledged for who we are as a person. That is one of the best things to do to regulate a nervous system, to lower that stress. And so those would be, I guess, a bit of a side tangent on what are the similarities. But I I'm continually learning, yeah, that that's that's a really big one is is the ability to manage our own stress. Um, but I love culture, you know, each culture has its own spices and language and you know, heat and temperature and and history. And uh everyone's so inviting. Overall, everyone is so inviting and open to sharing and and really you know proud for their stories and their culture and their family history and lineage and things like this. It's it's really, really great. I can't recommend travel enough. That's probably one of the best mind hacks for the world to see. Like when I went to India when I was two years old, I think that changed my whole perspective. You know, everywhere else I went, I was like, wow, never gonna have it as hard as this kid who had two arms, you know, just lead with gratitude.

SPEAKER_01 50:22

Yeah, what a wonderful way to bring this back full circle. But in these three things, you mentioned this, okay. And because I have it here in front of me, so people can't see it.

SPEAKER_02 50:34

I drink coffee, don't get me wrong. I love coffee.

SPEAKER_01 50:37

Oh, no, no, it's okay. It's what I have written on the side of it. Okay, so you the three things you mentioned was exercise and food. What's speaking to me is JD, come on, man. Eat the right kind of love your body enough to to take care of it, it's a gift. Love it enough not to feed it with just nonstop garbage. And um, and then the second thing was relationships with God. Love, love God. So love my body, love God, love him with all my heart, all my soul, my it may change on the language. You said something about the perspective. If somebody knows this, knows one thing, and they don't know the perspective I grew up in, then they don't know. And it's I'm not so sure it's my place to force it. It's what whatever their perspective is, love God and in the way that they understand. And then third, and then the first one, talk about wrapping it up beautifully. What you did love somebody else around you, be intimate with somebody else around you, even if it's just the relationship of speaking and touch and that, right? And so the common thing is we keep hearing it. Somebody my coffee cup has the word love written on the side of it, but it'll show it to many because I you know, but but what's in common, and you just did a great job, and that that's we're all under high level of stress more than ever. We have our differences, but what if we just focused on what we had in common? This episode was full of. I hope you write a book because it's just full of so much information. I am extremely grateful that you reached out to me. I don't know how that happened. I got lucky, I needed it. You know, sometimes an expression of love is this random interaction. I mean, I don't know how we how we even I can't only know how that is, but sometimes I think God has a way of going, son, I'm gonna show you that I love you because I'm gonna bring somebody in your life that's gonna speak something in at just the right time. So I'm very grateful, and you'll probably never know the impact you had on reaching out to me, Zach. Um, you will never know the impact you've had on the people that are listening to this because this one's gonna ring true with a lot of people like it did with me. So, Zach, I'm uh very, very grateful that you would take the time for us this morning. So thank you.

SPEAKER_02 53:12

Thank you so much. I appreciate your time and these questions. And yeah, it's an absolute delight to share my story and love to have you on my podcast as well to share yours very soon. Yes, sir.

SPEAKER_00 53:23

And that's a wrap on another episode of the Circle of the Panda podcast. I hope something you heard today stayed with you, maybe challenged you, maybe encouraged you, maybe just reminded you that you're not alone on this journey. If this episode resonated with you, share it with somebody who needs to hear it. Hit subscribe so you never miss a conversation. Keep walking the path.