Your Thoughts Your Reality
Welcome to "Your Thoughts, Your Reality with Michael Cole," the podcast that shines a compassionate light on the journey of veterans battling through life's challenges. Michael Cole, a Certified Elite Neuroencoding Specialist, dedicated to guiding military veterans as they navigate the intricate pathways of post-deployment life. Join him as we delve into the profound realm of Neuroencoding science, empowering these brave individuals to conquer universal battles: procrastination, self-doubt, fear, and more. Together, let's uncover the strength within you to re-engage with families and society, forging a new path forward.
Your Thoughts Your Reality
Arron Lloyd's Building a Purposeful Life through Faith and Confidence
Discover the transformative power of Neuroencoding science with Arron Lloyd, an accomplished actor and specialist in this groundbreaking field. Uncover how faith and confidence serve as pillars for personal growth and success, particularly for veterans navigating the complexities of post-deployment life. Arron's journey from the streets of Bridgeport, Connecticut, to the bright lights of acting reveals how trusting oneself and embracing one’s unique purpose can turn dreams into reality, irrespective of the challenges and contradictions of one's environment.
Explore the profound role of belief systems in shaping life trajectories. This episode delves into how consistent faith and confidence can lead to impactful life transformations, drawing from inspiring stories of individuals who have triumphed over adversity. We provide practical advice on building confidence through small actions and teamwork, concepts familiar to veterans, emphasizing the alignment of faith and confidence as catalysts for change. It's a conversation about nurturing one's potential and unlocking the power within.
Hear about the intersection of military discipline and personal growth, drawing from lessons of valor, integrity, and teamwork. Arron shares insights on discipline, sacrifice, and perseverance, using motivational stories like Les Brown’s "burning the boats" to illustrate the power of unwavering dedication. The discussion highlights the importance of resourcefulness and determination in finding purpose, especially within the acting world, where sacrifices and past efforts fuel ongoing commitment. Join us for an episode filled with inspiration and practical wisdom on building a life of meaning and success.
Welcome to your Thoughts, your Reality with Michael Cole, the podcast that shines a compassionate light on the journey of veterans battling through life's challenges. Michael is a dual elite certified neuro encoding specialist in coaching and keynote training presentations dedicated to guiding military veterans as they navigate the intricate pathways of post-deployment life. Join him as we delve into the profound realm of neuro encoding science, empowering these Hello, hello, hello everybody. Society forging a new path forward.
Speaker 2:Hello, hello, hello everybody. I am super excited to have Aaron Lloyd on today. Aaron is an accomplished theater, tv and film actor with a passion for storytelling and, of course, personal growth. We're going to talk a lot about that today. Certified one-star dual elite neuroencoding specialist, he's raised in the inner city environment with a strong military lineage, including a Purple Heart recipient from World War I that was such a great story to talk about before and dedicated to helping others encode their minds for success using a blend of faith, confidence and, of course, neuroscience. My friend Aaron tell us a little more about yourself, will you?
Speaker 3:Big Mike man, it's such a pleasure to be here again. Thank you for that intro. Again, my name is Aaron Lloyd. I'm originally from a place called Bridgeport, connecticut, which is about an hour outside of New York City. When people think of Connecticut, obviously Connecticut has its very rich, wealthy areas. Bridgeport was not like that. So what's unique about my experience is that, while my immediate experience was more on the lower middle class impoverished gangs, drugs, all that kind of area you can literally cross 10 minutes down the road and be wealthy. So I had both ends of the track there, grew up in a single parent home, I'm the oldest of three and I've always wanted to act. So that's what I'm currently doing professionally and I'm also a dual lead non-coding specialist to help people get further, faster, because I want to live a purpose filled, fulfilling life.
Speaker 2:Fantastic and and and that you do. I got to say Aaron is one of the best people, one of the best people I know, so you know today. Well, before we get started, I just want to point out on the top right-hand corner there's a blue QR code that takes you to empowerperformancestrategiescom Again, empowerperformancestrategiescom for everybody listening later on the podcast forums. Please scan that QR code or go there. We have free e-books for veterans and their families. Thank you, sir. We have Facebook groups. Get involved, Be part of the mission. So check that out. So, with that said, today we're going to talk a lot about faith and confidence. So when we talk about that, it can be spiritually with God, it can be just spiritually within yourself source, whatever that means to you, but faith I think what we're talking about today has a little bit of that, but it's also just about faith in yourself.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, I agree. Yeah, faith, faith in yourself is, is fundamental, and I was. I was reflecting on this cause. I knew this was coming up and I think, when we talk about source or faith in yourself, it brought me back to, like the, the, the, the unlikelihood that any one of us would be here, and what I mean by that is simply this the sperm in the egg, the billions of sperm cells, one egg. The chances, the odds of us being here are very, very slim to none.
Speaker 3:So, when we think about faith and that faith within ourselves, we have all heard stories of a mother that has a child out of her car or something like that, and all of a sudden she has this massive energy and massive will to get that baby up under there. What is that? We have that latent within us. It's about how do we unlock that, and faith, essentially, is just an immense trust and belief in ourselves, and it's the substance of things hoped for, everything.
Speaker 3:This chair that I'm sitting in right now once was invisible and now it's visible. So how can you? The question that becomes how can you take the visions and the belief and the dreams planted in your heart that are there for a reason, I believe, based on what I just said, sperm, cell and egg you are here for a reason. Everybody, everybody, has different purposes. It might just be to enjoy the beauty of life, it might be because you want to do something amazing or something like that, but each and every one of us have a purpose in this life and it's up to us to take that heart, that yearn, that yearning in us, that internal knowing, and having the faith that that's ours and it's our gift to bring that and that's to me, I feel like that's our gift back to our creator for this amazing gift of life that we have.
Speaker 2:Amen, man, I love many points you just brought up, my friend. So let's, let's, how do you? Let's go back to kind of the beginning before we get into the faith and the confidence. How do you figure out? How do you know? Hey, this is what I want to do, this is where I'm going to find purpose, this is my calling. How do you find it?
Speaker 3:I think I'm very kind of blessed in that regard because I know there's some people who still struggle with their purpose. I remember as an actor I have a very practical mind. I understand that the entertainment industry is well. First I had to have the faith that I'm going to get out there in the city and then I said I'm going to be an actor, which needs an incredible amount of faith as well because it's not a guaranteed profession. But I remember going back in high school. I remember walking the hallways. I was like, is there anything else that I can do? Is there anything else that I can do? And nothing else ever came up.
Speaker 3:I wanted to do it and I, I, that faith piece I just felt in my bones. I felt like this is I, I, I believe I can do this. So that that key word, I believe, I believe I can do it. Where it comes from. I think, if we're thinking about it practically, I've done it. I got you know. People said you can do it.
Speaker 3:But I have not always been kind of like an external uh, I'm more internally motivated. So like I felt like I could, I could do it. And it was helpful when people said, wow, you have a gift for this. So I think, a combination of grace, great like grace of like the right person saying the right thing at the right time, and that's what became my belief, and then also just a culmination of of just my own genetics or like whatever that is, of believing that I can do this, and then also a fundamental belief that what I said earlier, we all are here for a reason. I don't think that we're here by accident. So I think that if we have something in our heart, the road might be challenging and there's nothing else I'd rather do. I would be miserable, and that's what propelled me forward.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's fantastic. Really, it really is. So let's take a step further. Okay, you knew you wanted to be an actor. You had that faith from being very young. You just knew it in your bones, right. So the Neuron Coding Institute what changed to make you? Have you choose to join the Neuron? You know, being very young, you just knew it in your bones, right? So the neuro encoding institute what changed to make have you, uh, choose to to join the neuro encoding institute and go more to being well, not more being a coach as well and helping other people yeah.
Speaker 3:So my acting, my foray into acting, is a little unique. When I was in third grade there's a great music teacher. I originally wanted to be a musician because my grandmother loved Etta James and Earth, wind, fire. I wanted to play the sax and public school system we didn't have. No, I wanted to play the trumpet, actually, and the public school system didn't have the budget for a trumpet. So I ended up with a different instrument. But I started learning these instruments.
Speaker 3:Miss Patterson, my music teacher, cast me in my first play, and being a part of that play did two things for me it kept me out of trouble at an age. It kept me something to do after school and then also helped me engage with my sisters more and it gave me something to hold on to. So I had a desire for something more than what I saw around me. And then two when I got to sixth grade, I went and saw a play at the high school I would later attend, called Profiles Theater, which was a peer educated group which took the arts and educated through entertainment and what I mean by that things like gang violence, drug abuse, suicide awareness, all these things that people are going through, and they would educate the youth through that. So then I made a link Wow, this is not only fun, but I can actually help people.
Speaker 3:So my foray into acting besides having the belief that I want to do this because it's fun and I want to do this has always been the foundation has been how can I use any platform that I'm blessed with, wherever the career goes, to help people? So the foray into Noram Coding Institute was very easy Because, one, I want to be the best person I can be, and Neuron Coding Institute provides that. It helps me grow myself, so we're not teaching theory. And then, two, it helps me have the real skills from world class, many, many world class people that have poured into us, you and I, to give us the same skills that are equipped with and more, and then some to be able to help do the same thing for others, because it's that ripple effect and I think the unique thing and all these things and I know I'm talking a mile a minute, so I'm going to slow down- You're good man, you're good, I'm loving it.
Speaker 3:Like Joseph, tony Robbins, jim Rohn, all these people had that one situation where somebody took them under the wing and taught them everything they knew. And then that ripple effect I just mentioned earlier that one thing that somebody says, that ripple effect. I just mentioned earlier that one thing that somebody says that kind thing. Like Joseph has his stories no-transcript. Now they're in a better place, that kid grows up, that kid goes on to impact. You don't know the ripple effect that you have as a part of this. So I feel I feel very blessed and fortunate to serve in that way, in that capacity.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's beautiful man, and I got to tell you again multiple things you touched base on there. It was that ripple effect first. You know it's it there. It was that ripple effect first. You know it's. It's amazing because you don't know it right. You have faith. Let's go back to that, right, yeah? So when you know, and then you find out later on, oh, you know what, you changed my whole family's trajectory or you changed my acting career because all of a sudden I saw that and said I can do this and you have, you have that confidence or whatever the case may be. So I think it's super important. You know, I went through, you know something, you know where I, at 51 years old I you know said, after being in the construction industry my entire life, what do I want to be when I grow up? You know, and you know, of course, my wife. You know, I talked to her and that's why I'm here, you know, and honestly, I have never felt more fulfilled in my life than doing what I do now. I love that Ever.
Speaker 3:I mean, that's a lot of years, my friend You'll see, and you have a lot more ahead of you too, man.
Speaker 2:Amen, man, as long as I'm doing good on this earth and I'm helping some people to not have the struggles that I had growing up. That's why I do what I do with veterans and their families, and so, amen, amen. So let's, let's talk more about faith. How do you, how do you really if it's not just in your bones, like you said, right, what are some things that that you would tell veterans and their families? How do you build that faith?
Speaker 3:So I would say, practically the way to build faith is to guard the gates of your mind and and we can get into the subconscious and conscious. If somebody says, if somebody I always use this example if you or I were walking down the street or we're in a mall and somebody was saying John, john, john, neither you or I would respond because who's John? No matter how loud they were getting, it's like wow, why is that guy yelling John? You must be looking for somebody else. So I liken that to the things and the belief structures that are not even ours sometimes, that people have said to us throughout our lives. If somebody is saying that you're stupid, or that you'll never get better because you have PTSD, or that your family's going to be ruined because of this or whatever, it is those belief structures, even though they feel real in the moment. Are there also stories of people who have triumphed that? Are there also people and resources that are helping people like you, mike, that are helping people create new stories and create those new belief structures?
Speaker 3:So guard the gates of your mind. And then faith comes through repetition, from hearing and hearing and hearing, over and over and over again. Now, as norm coders, you and I both know that this goes beyond just saying I am great or I am healed in the mirror, because people can say I am, I am, and I have these affirmations for years and get nowhere. What we do is help them encode this in their body, so it's default, so it's automatically, it's in their subconscious, they live it, they breathe it, it's who they are. So I think that's the value that you bring to the veterans, and beyond working with the resources that they have available, beyond working with the resources that they have available, finding examples of people who have overcome the similar things that they have, to give them the faith that they can as well, absolutely.
Speaker 2:And it does come down to the belief systems.
Speaker 2:Right, you know, we have that table, we have the legs of the table. When you have disabler enabling thoughts or belief systems, you can change those and just break one out and instill and there's obviously more to it but instill that positive belief system and little by little, you have a whole new trajectory in your life and thought process, which is what we do, which is just, it's a, it's a when you see it happening and I know you've seen it too, when you change someone's belief systems or you give them the skills to change their own belief systems, I should say it's one of the most amazing, beautiful things to see. It's beautiful. Can you, can you give me a, a, a time when we're you know? Again, we're talking about that faith, that that you've seen someone besides yourself, maybe, um, in the acting industry, or that you've coached, whatever the case may be, if, if you know someone that you've seen, it happened. And again, you know, confidentiality matters, but tell us, tell us someone about or something about that there's somebody immediately came to mind and obviously, confidentiality.
Speaker 3:There's actually multiple people I've come to mind.
Speaker 3:There's somebody in mind right now, without getting into their things, that many times have consulted with me because they were not living the life that they wanted to and now are on dream shows.
Speaker 3:I'm thinking about somebody else who struggled with confidence, their own self image and things like that, after working with me and and I've I've I worked with them, this person for an extended period of time and they have made transformations, and I think what's great about what we do as well is that not only has the transition happened while they were working with me, it's sustainable. When I check on them six months, seven months down from the road, they're still making the changes that they need to, and I personally think that that's an indicator of a great coach. Obviously, you want to have coaching consistently to help you get to new levels, and I think a great coach can help you have the skills within yourself, so you're still sustaining yourself even months down the road, and then you consult with that coach again to get to new barriers and things like that. So I'm thinking of those two people, one which their confidence, the self-image, has helped them create more income for themselves, and then another where they're doing things and on shows that they never thought they could be on before.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's phenomenal, and you know it's funny, because I think I think everybody has this experience in their life at some point, where you're like, oh yeah, that's, that's crazy, there's no way, you know. And then all of a sudden you look back and it's like, yeah, I thought that, but look at where I am now.
Speaker 3:Yes.
Speaker 2:And that's what creates those new belief systems. Right Seeing that success, that's the fastest way I've seen it change it's like oh yeah, I, I thought that before, but now look, and you can go back in your life with the goals and things, um and those successes, and really change um to, and it can create that faith. Let's talk about confidence what is you what? Is the difference for you between faith and confidence, or the and or? How are they actually aligned?
Speaker 3:So confidence is just confiding in yourself consistently. So the way it links with faith is that, if faith comes from hearing and hearing over and over again a certain thing confidence, how you confide in yourself, and sometimes the thoughts and the way you confide in yourself, you're not even aware of right. But once you start confiding yourself in a certain way, even aware of Right. But once you start confiding yourself in a certain way, then you start taking different actions. So it's always think, feel, do have. So what you think about yourself, the world around you and people and people, other people is going to dictate how you feel, which is going to dictate what you do, which is going to dictate the action and activity that you do or do not take, and that activity is a major part of that of confidence. So if somebody is struggling with confidence right now, one thing that they can do is decide on one thing, one small thing that you're going to do. It's January 2025. People are setting new year's goals and they want to have great things. Maybe start if you want to climb Mount Everest. You don't start by running up Mount Everest. You start by saying, well, I'm going to research online the proper gear to wear to climb Mount Everest and I'm going to reward myself for that, taking those small actions over and over and over again. And then also for veterans your team when you're in the military or something like that, and you're a veteran, you know the value of team, you know the value of different strengths and different weaknesses. Not everybody has the same strengths, not everybody has the same weaknesses. So, leaning into your strengths, acknowledging your strengths, building from your strengths, and then areas that you're weak in, say, hey, this is an area I'm good at, like I need your help, can you help me with this? And then you have synergy with that where you can build even more confidence from a collaboration, that where you can build even more confidence from a collaboration. So I think that's the way you can build confidence.
Speaker 3:And then the faith piece comes. They kind of it happens synergistically. It's just like a self-fulfilling prophecy from there, because the more action you take, the more you believe that you can do this, the more faith that like, hey, this has happened for me before I can do this. And you mentioned this earlier. I was going to bring it up. You mentioned how, when you know in the past that belief structure, you can literally go back in your past say well, I accomplished that. Then I could.
Speaker 2:I could do this forward. I can do this again, you know, absolutely so. You know, I think it's super important, like you said, just taking those action steps. You know, have a plan, go online, talk to friends. You know, ask for friends for help. Here's the biggie right how many people struggle with asking for help?
Speaker 3:I've been guilty of it.
Speaker 2:I think anybody that says they haven't in some part of their life and thank you for the vulnerability and honesty, but I think just about anybody sometime in life has to say, yeah, I didn't want to ask for help. I mean, let's just go back to the old joke, right? Men don't like to ask for directions, right? Yes, they don't want to help, but how much further and faster will you get if you do?
Speaker 3:it's facts, it's, it's big how much faster you know.
Speaker 2:I mean, you're going to go in the circle and keep taking a left turn. Are you gonna know where to take that right turn to get to brooklyn or wherever you know? Yeah, it's, it's it. It baffles me how often we are scared to ask for help or just don't have the courage, but it's really one of the most courageous things we can actually do, right it's true yeah, tell me, tell me a in your, in your career or in your life, if you will, where you know you didn't have the faith for something or the confidence yet.
Speaker 2:But you ask somebody for help or just question. You know which. When you ask somebody a question, it's asking for help because you're using, you know, picking their brain. If you will Give us an example of something that was kind of monumental in your life, if you will.
Speaker 3:I am getting goosebumps right now because when I think of this person, that is really when I did allow myself to be vulnerable in that way. I remember the exact day. It was in New York City. In Central Park there's a theater called Delacorte Theater. I remember the first conversation I had with this person.
Speaker 3:Shout out to Gaius Charles. He's a great friend of mine and now a brother of mine. It started as a mentor-mentee kind of relationship. Then it's become like we're friends and brothers. I'm checking on. So if you're not familiar with Gaius Friday Night Lights, grey's Anatomy, he's going to be in the upcoming Walking Dead.
Speaker 3:This is when I was sleeping on the floor in the Bronx and I was really struggling with faith. I was like man, I I'm, I'm doing everything I can and I'm struggling. And I got. I became aware of his work via Friday night lights. I loved his work and then I started watching interviews. I was like this guy seems like a solid guy. He's having this massive success, seems like he moves with integrity. I want to pick his brain. That's the kind of career and kind of person I want to be, should I have any success. So I literally wrote him a letter and right now I share the exact template of what I wrote to him. I wrote him a letter just asking for help, sharing with him some of the vulnerabilities I was going through.
Speaker 3:Sometimes I do struggle with faith. I see that that's important to you. How do you navigate the industry and have that? And the man wrote me back. He emailed me back. He emailed me back. I remember the day I got it A big smile. I was like I didn't think this dude was going to get back to me, but he did. So you never know.
Speaker 3:And then we had a conversation and I was going to that first call because I asked for 15 minutes of this time I'm thinking it's going to happen for one call. So I got my notebook and I'm like, let me take as much as I can. And he was like 15 minutes. He was like, okay, yeah, call me up anytime. I was like what? Oh, oh sure, okay, and I sure did, bro, mike, I tell you I I I reach out for help and I still call him and pick his brain about different things now, industry things and just different things of how you navigate when you have that level of success. So he's been very, very, very valuable and he's a solid person. So if you're not familiar with his work or him, I encourage you to watch his work and get acquainted with him. He's a great guy and a great actor.
Speaker 2:Fantastic, you know, and again, those are the stories. You go back and say, man, that changed, that changed things, you know. And to have somebody that you respect in your corner and you know he's there, also build some confidence and faith too, right? Yes, that's right, yeah, that's fantastic, it's awesome man. Um, so, you know, you gotta, you gotta. I'm going to share mine, right?
Speaker 2:I reached out to Joseph McLennan III saying, hey, can we be on my 50th? Let me go back. I didn't. That's what came. Later.
Speaker 2:I reached out saying, hey, I was just starting this podcast and I was wondering if Joseph might be interested in coming on. And I'm like, just send it out there, because you don't know, right? Just remember that everybody, if you don't try, if you don't ask the question, you will never know the answer. And guess what? They challenged me, right? I was just starting the podcast. Yeah, joseph will be on. He'd be happy to be on once you've done your 50th episode. So you know, you get used to it. You know, get used to the podcast and build that and so on. And sure enough, he's on, you know.
Speaker 2:And but I, I've never thought. You know, justin McClendon speaks in front of thousands of people. I mean, of course he's a mentor and he's always available for us in the neurocoding Institute, but still didn't make that Right. And then, of course, he's going to 100th episode celebration, which is, yeah, awesome. But here's the thing like with you if you don't reach out, you don't know. If you don't ask, if you don't put yourself out there, become vulnerable and be a little courageous, you never know. And what could be by a simple email? I mean, look at Mr Lloyd here, it's fantastic. So thank you for sharing that story. I'm sorry I popped into my head and I had to share as well.
Speaker 1:Not a lot of people know that you know.
Speaker 2:So you know with your family's military history. I just want to kind of pop to something else really quick. Do you see parallels between the discipline because we're talking about you know, faith and courageous and moving forward, about you know, faith and courageous and moving forward, the discipline with military life and kind of what you've ingrained in you, you know, with your it was your grandfather is that correct?
Speaker 3:My great-grandfather, great-great-grandfather.
Speaker 2:Thank you. Yeah, you know, and just knowing, and I know as your I believe it was your cousin that wrote a book, and so on do you feel that? I mean, do you does that, that discipline and so forth that you know, do you bring that into your life as well, to move forward with things?
Speaker 3:I do, and a lot of the men on my father's side of the family represent different branches of the military Marines, air Force, navy and I would say, to answer your question, absolutely it does. When I think of the military, when I think about veterans, I think of certain characteristics, I think of valor, I think of integrity, I think of courageousness, I think of grit, I think of teamwork, and there's, there's the list goes on and on and I think these, these men and women, these, these heroes, they do their best to embody that and through their example and their leadership they embody that. And if you can take and grasp that, the teamwork, and implement that in your own life, that is what helps you create discipline for what it is that you want to do. And discipline is just doing the things that you don't want to do many, many times until it becomes easy for you and it's required for you to get to where you want to be.
Speaker 3:I don't know anybody that has created anything magnificent in your life that has done it without discipline, and I think if they do get lucky and they have discipline, they won't be able to sustain it. You need to be able to sustain what you create and I think that if you do get lucky, you hit the lotto or something the perfect example people that win the lotto. They don't have that money anymore after it's gone. So I think stewarding what you have through building foundations of characteristics and character can really, really, really benefit people in terms of their personal transformation, not only for themselves, but those around them, because when you are shining, it encourages other people to shine too. At least, I like to think so.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. I love you said that because, literally, when people see you shining because you let's talk about veterans but you know discipline in general when, when you show that and you do that, people see it, and then when you're shining because of the success that you're getting, and you're not only that but just doing it how much better do you feel about when you go to the gym, compared to when you say I'll do it tomorrow, right, you feel better, right.
Speaker 2:And when you start shining within yourself and you start drawing those same types of people because they want that in their lives, and or you bring those other people up, which is super important. I think it's an amazing, amazing point you bring up. So let me ask you how do I say this? So, when you started dreaming about being an actor, or you knew you were going to be an actor and it started becoming real and you started building that confidence even more. So I know there's going to be discipline in there, but what other thoughts did you keep reminding yourself? Or to keep that grit, like you've talked about with veterans and and you know the other things you mentioned what, what to catch you just pushing Because you don't, like you said, with discipline, it's not. You go to the gym once and you come up looking like Arnold Schwarzenegger, right, you gotta, you gotta keep working it, you gotta keep doing it and repeating it. So what were some of the things you told yourself or that really drew you to stay in that disciplined mindset?
Speaker 3:So a couple of things. One is the amount of sacrifice that I've already made, the amount of pain that I've gone through. It wouldn't make sense to stop Now. If I, if I, if I grew up, if I had a desire to not act anymore, I'd find something else. But as long as it's in my heart to do what is the alternative, I've sacrificed so much. It's been such a huge part of my life already.
Speaker 3:It's either one of two things Either I'm going to adjust my expectations of what's possible in terms of where my career is going to go, or I'm going to keep that expectation and assess and say to myself and get honest and this is where self-reflection comes in Am I really playing the way I need to play in order to hit this that I need to be? Les Brown shared a story with us on stage where he was talking about. He, you know, played football and do you remember this story where he's playing football and the coach told the biggest guy on the team yeah, les Brown, talking about your mom, or something like that and that guy came and hit Les and it hurt. And Les was like, yeah, I can do anything I want to, but I don't know if this is worth getting hit like this. I don't want to be an NFL star, so I'm going to do something else For me. I want to act right and there's certain variables that aren't within my control. We can stack the odds in our favor for sure, and that's what I teach some of the clients that I work with, and they get results, and I also think that it's one, the pain or the sacrifice that I've already made.
Speaker 3:I would be letting myself down, I'd be letting my family down, be letting other people down, and then also all that time that I shoot. I could have gone to an extra party or two, but I didn't, and I was sacrificing in those books. I was sacrificing, studying my lines. There's no way in heck that I'm going to not act as long as I have the desire to do that. Now I might have to adjust to expectations. Okay, well, shoot, I didn't book that role, but I can go on YouTube, I can do this.
Speaker 3:The availability for me to act isn't going anywhere. I can always act, period, as long as I'm passionate about it. That's shifting and adapting to expectation and I think, ironically out of that, when you move with that kind of freedom, it attracts more opportunities. So one was the pain of not stopping it and two, what is the alternative? What else am I going to do this gift of life? Coming back to that, if we've been given this gift, if we all have this purpose and this is what I feel like it's for me to do what's the alternative? I'll be a shell of myself. I'll be a shell of myself. I can add things onto what I do as long as it aligns with my purpose. But what's the alternative? There is no. It's like burning a boat, or if military people, it's like the mission is the mission. There's no alternative. We're going in here, we get in the mission, that's it Absolutely.
Speaker 2:And do me a favor because I love that. Explain burn the boats.
Speaker 3:So burn the boats is a concept. I forget what military general did this, but there were some ships and they were invading a boat, or I think they were invading an island or not inviting or take. They were taking the island back or something like that, and in general, said men, there's, there's one alternative, this is our mission, we're taking this island back. And he set this boats on fire, meaning that there was no retreat. They can't, they, can't they, they can't get home. So what's the alternative? What they? I have to do this. There's's no other option. Now I'm committed. It's either we get in, took or we take in. That's it.
Speaker 2:I appreciate that because it's one of the driving forces. It's when you want something and there is no alternative. You find a way. You're resourceful. You might not have all the resources, but if you are resourceful you will find them. Yeah, because boats are burnt man. So, alternative's not pretty. Thank you for sharing that story. Hey, aaron, we're at time, unfortunately. Actually, we're a little past already. I know it feels too fast. So, if we can, how do people reach you? How do people find you, you? So, if we can, how do people?
Speaker 3:reach you. How do people find you? You can find me on Instagram, aaron Lloyd A-R-R-O-N-L-L-O-Y-D or Aaron Empowers. It'd be my pleasure to serve you and, yeah, that's where you can find me.
Speaker 2:Fantastic, fantastic, you can reach out to Aaron man, whether you're an actor or I mean, he is just a phenomenal human being, I say out there, and he has, um, the actual, absolute drive to want to help. So, um, so, reach out if you have questions or or you think he can help you, and especially in your acting career. He's got courses, he got all kinds of stuff that can help. So, with that said, three tips to get veterans and their families further faster.
Speaker 3:Three tips for families and their veterans is one have faith. And what do we mean by faith? We discussed it a lot in this episode. It doesn't have to be a higher power. If you don't believe in one, personally, I believe in one. It could be whoever you want. I don't think falling on your own humanness is enough, because we're fallible right, whereas divinity is not. So if you can lean on that and surrender to that, I think that can help you. How do you surrender to that? By hearing, and hearing the things you want, whether it be affirmations, whether it be working with Mike so he can neuron code some of those things.
Speaker 3:The second thing I would recommend is get in touch with your emotions. There's a great book that a friend and mentor put me onto, by Brené Brown, called Atlas of the Heart, and what this book is is it helps you identify the emotions that you're feeling. So if you are a veteran and you've been, because of the nature of what you have to do, you've been cut off for a little bit you might have challenges identifying what you're feeling, and when you can't feel it or you can't articulate it, then it becomes self-destructive, right. So being able to identify what it is like do you know the difference between pride and hubris? You know the difference between bittersweet and love? All those kinds of different things? Those are emotions that I think, once you identify, you can get further, faster with that.
Speaker 3:And then, lastly, I would say that get in touch with what you want, and what I mean by that is if you are going through PTSD I don't have this, so I can't speak from experience there's probably people that are better equipped to know what that is. What I imagine, though, is, if you have that focus on what you want, who were you prior to that? Do your family members represent you? As kind, were you loving? Were you sweet? Were you powerful, courageous? Those kinds kinds of things lock in on that and burn the boats from that, and that's what I say absolutely love it.
Speaker 2:Thank you for those tips, aaron. Um, thank you again for being on here. Uh, time is the most precious resource we have as human beings. We do not get it back. So thank you for spending some time out of your life to you know, spend with me and, of course, our audience, dropping some golden, some golden nuggets. Man, appreciate it. Much love, much love. Be blessed y'all. Have Aaron back soon, I promise. All right, everybody. We are out of here. Peace.
Speaker 1:Thank you for joining us on another insightful journey of your Thoughts your Reality podcast with your host, michael Cole. We hope the conversation sparked some thoughts that resonate with you. To dive deeper into empowering your thoughts and enhancing your reality, visit empowerperformancestrategiescom. Remember your thoughts shape your reality, so make them count. Until next time, stay inspired and keep creating the reality you desire. Catch you on the next episode.