J.R.: [00:00:00] Hello everyone, and welcome back to another episode of One Thousand Gurus with me, your host, J.R. Yonocruz. So today's episode is a very special recap episode. So this is going to be a recap of season seven, which was mostly prerecorded in late 2025 and a few in early January, 2026. So I've been meaning to do.
Sort of this end of season recap for each season. So each season's about 10 episodes. So the plan was always to do a sort of recap episode as episode number 10 to go back and pick up my favorite parts of each episode, sort of like as an overview or some sort of mixture of that.
And I haven't been able to do that because I've had so many good guests and we're kind of just powering through each season as we go.
And so finally, now I get to take the time since I prerecorded most of season seven before the new year started and got some time [00:01:00] to kind of slow down my recording schedule. Now I'm like, okay, let's do this recap. And so. I think it's been quite a journey this past season since it was end of last year, beginning of this year.
So my last couple of episodes, there was a little bit of a gap between it, but still collectively in a very tight timeframe. And I just wanted to go over my retrospective thoughts and kind of behind the scenes thoughts on each episode. Basically how I felt, my general thoughts, as well as my favorite points, highlights, or takeaways.
So while this is mostly for myself to ingrain the lessons and the memories from each of these episodes and my guests, I also hope that this will be valuable for my audience if any of these episodes seem interesting, because I'm sure not everyone listens to every episode. So this will give you a little teaser into some of the highlights from the past season, and if you're interested in listening to any of them, I'll obviously link [00:02:00] those episodes in the description of this episode so you can check those out.
This is basically a pitch to listen or re-listen to whatever episodes and maybe get some of my behind the scenes takes on these, because usually I don't get to recap that too much or at least my thoughts on the recording maybe a few months after the fact. How, if any, my feelings have changed about the recording since.
So I think it'd be an interesting way to have this special episode in this format. So. I think that should be it. All right, so without further ado, let's dive in.
So episode number one of season seven or episode 61 is my 2025 recap. I really enjoyed this one. I think it was a good overview of how the 50 episodes I published in 2025 went as well as the backstory of One Thousand Gurus.
Gratitude for the people and the process, and also my vision and goals and plans for the future of this podcast. [00:03:00] So highly recommend if you wanna know what this show is all about, the genesis of the whole podcast and how it's been going so far. Definitely listen to that one. My favorite takeaway from this episode that I learned was the biggest thing that I learned this past year about podcasting, aside from the production and administrative side of podcasting, was really just refining the craft of interviewing for a long form content, which I naturally find invigorating and enjoyable.
My friends know that I love sitting down with someone one-on-one and really digging deep into various topics. It's something I've always liked doing, and so I think honing the skill of interviewing and getting the best nuggets of wisdom out of a conversation from a wide variety of guests with vastly different backgrounds, developing that skill has been fairly easy in a sense of I really enjoy putting in the work.
They say that if you wanna get good at something. Find something that you enjoy going through the challenges and the hard [00:04:00] times, or kind of like a pick your poison where it's. Fall in love with the process and it's easier to fall in love with the process of growing if you enjoy what you're doing. And then therefore, because you enjoy the process, you're more resilient and you'll stick with it for the long-term.
And that long-term compounding effect of skill development will lead you to be really good at it. And so that, I think that's why it's easy for me to improve is because I really enjoy doing it. Also, as I do intentional reflections on how each interview went, I am also trying to get better each episode compared to the last episode.
So I'm very proud of how my more recent episodes turned out compared to when I first just started. Of course.
Episode number 62 is with Catherine. It's always fun catching up with Kat. She has such a warm and fun personality, which makes it easy to talk to her. I also liked how we had a very focused conversation.
[00:05:00] Usually we have various topics like minimum of three to a maximum of infinite, right? But this one was really focused on two things, her experience working in nightlife. Then dating relationships, et cetera, which we go pretty deep into in this conversation, which I really enjoyed. I, if anyone who knows me, I love talking about dating and relationships.
It's super fascinating to me, especially as a relationship coach. And my favorite takeaway from this episode was that love is a choice. You have to choose to love someone daily, regardless of your feelings, and also choose to resolve conflicts.
It's delusional to think that any relationship is without conflicts and that every relationship should just feel easy, so to speak, when I think most people who have been in long-term relationships or decades long marriages knows that marriage is always going to be work. And kinda like what my pastor said a long time ago, which is that a great marriage is built by two really good [00:06:00] forgivers. I'm butchering the phrase, but essentially what he's saying is that forgiveness is one of the most important, aspects, values that you should put in a long term relationship because no one is perfect and we're all gonna mess up.
And so if you want your relationship to last for the long term, you need to be really good at forgiving. And likewise, your partner should be as well. And to forgive each other for our shortcomings and give each other grace.
Obviously we don't wanna do it maliciously and we wanna get better, but basically the hallmark of a long term fulfilled, long lasting relationship is basically your ability to forgive.
Episode number 63 with Travis Linden, formerly known as Lyndon. Now Travis. I think Linden is his middle name, so I absolutely loved his first episode. Definitely one of my favorites from season one, season two, and so this second recording was a great way to circle back on his teaching journey after a full year of teaching.
So I think he mentioned four quarters. So it was cool to see and hear from him about what has worked. In [00:07:00] his teaching career and how he's pushing for more innovative teaching methods like active learning and then doing all the passive learning outside of the class. And instead of lecturing at people, it's more of getting them to stimulate their brains and do the activities in class, leverage him and the teaching assistants to actually learn more in the three-ish hours or so that they spend in class instead of just mindly talking at people.
And he gets really good advice on. How people can get into the video game development space since he has such a wide range and depth of experience in that field. My favorite takeaway was how we discussed burnout and how most of the time we run into this because we put a lot of effort into expecting a certain outcome.
And when that outcome doesn't occur, you don't get that fulfillment you were expecting. And then it leads to burnout. So the solution to this is to make sure that. The work that you're putting in or the energy that you're putting in [00:08:00] has mechanisms for fulfillment or rather mechanisms of feedback. Or you can not set.
Super high expectations of whatever you're doing. Like for example, for people who feel like there's no point in having a job unless it's the most fulfilling job ever. And if you don't have the most wonderful princess dream job, then you are going to be miserable. Right? And I think if you just kind of lower your expectations a bit and be more reasonable, you'll at least save yourself from feeling burnt out because you're like, oh, why am I doing all this, putting all this effort and I don't feel fulfilled?
In the case that, you know, the job that you have isn't necessarily like that type of job, and there's nothing wrong with that. But in, in Travis's case, he switched his career so that he doesn't burn out doing video games, but then now he teaches video games. But teaching is a lot more enjoyable to him than just like coding eight hours a day sitting at a desk, right?
But he can still enjoy his passion, which is making video games and doing that on the [00:09:00] side as well.
Episode 64 with Vanessa and Hazi. So this was fun to do. This was my first double guest in a remote virtual setting, and also in another country. They're always enjoyable and fun to talk to as they have such a radiant and positive personality.
I love their collaborative approach in their lives and their careers. I was honestly a little bit worried about the technical aspect of this recording because there's always like a time delay. And also Vanessa's like, so they had separate. They had separate laptops, right?
Because I asked them just for framing wise, and when it gets translated to different ratios of video, it's better for them to have separate cameras instead of just being on the same horizontal camera. Because then they'll get cut off, like half of their face will be in the screen. So they did that, and so I'm grateful that they busted out both of their laptops.
But when we finished. They had to kind of run and Vanessa's [00:10:00] recording didn't upload all the way. And so I had to text Hazi to like, Hey, can you get Vanessa to like, you know, reopen the browser so it can finish uploading? And they were busy for the next few days, so they weren't able to get to it until like, you know, the following week.
And so thankfully it worked out. It fully uploaded and then I was able to get the recording, but I was kind of worried about that. But thankfully it worked out.
So my favorite takeaway from this episode was relationships like business partnerships should have clear expectations communicated on all sides.
And the exercise of writing things down explicitly in case things go wrong, such as contracts or prenups and relationships or marriages, are super important. Not only to protect each person, but also as a proactive measure to guide everyone in the right direction should anything bad happen. I think just overall principle of being intentional and proactive with your plans is always better than just hoping that everything goes right and then not having a strategy when things go wrong.
Kinda like having [00:11:00] insurance sort of thing. So kind of a little bit of a hot take because having like a prenup, for example, is not romantic and having a contract with your partner's, not romantic, but at the same time it's like, I feel like it's just the smart thing to do and it's, you kind of have to put your ego to the side when it's like.
Why would you not wanna have in like insurance, a health insurance or car insurance, right? Like it's one of those things where, yeah, you don't ever wanna need it, but it's better to have it than not.
Episode number 65, Koaga. So Koaga was one of the rare guests whom I didn't actually meet until right before the recording.
Usually I have longtime friends or recent friends, so there's some context there, but he was such a chill and grateful guy. It was so easy to vibe with him in the studio and dig into his life story. And it was also our show's first live performance, which was a huge treat for all of us in the studio, basically myself and Solomon and his girlfriend.
But. It was a lot of fun. It was cool to have a musical guest on the show and then have music that won't get flagged [00:12:00] hopefully when it gets posted online.
My favorite takeaway. I loved our discussion and how we got to where he is today and how he's mostly self-trained in dancing, singing, rapping, et cetera.
But he specifically calls out how nobody's really self-made and how every successful person has a team behind them, investing into them, supporting them, guiding them, mentoring them in order to achieve their goals. And I think this is a great reminder to everyone, especially those of us who are very achievement oriented.
Is that you can't do it on your own. If you really wanna be great. All the greats have coaches and mentors and people who support them. And so if you want to be great, definitely find your community, find your mentors, find people to help you out, and really lean into that. And you don't really have to do it all on your own.
Episode number 66, Lorenzo. So having Lorenzo on was another instance of this show being primarily an excuse for me to catch up with old friends whom I respect and admire, of course. And people who I want to learn more about their life [00:13:00] and their story and lessons and whatnot. So as of the publication of his episode, which was recently, I think the most recent episode his son was born. Healthy and great.
I think there was minor complications at first, but it all turned out fine, thankfully. And he and his wife seemed to be enjoying their new phase of life, being young parents. I saw a Instagram story of their son. He's so cute.
My favorite takeaway. So one thing about Lorenzo that stood out was his insight about entrepreneurship and being a business owner. I think he might have attributed this to Alex Hormozi, but he said that every business problem is actually a personal problem from your home that is bleeding into your business. Or paraphrasing something along those lines.
Therefore, this means that you need to make sure that your home life, your foundation, is solid before trying to fix or improve anything in your business. So this means focusing on what's important in your life first, like your faith, your family, your finances, your fitness. I just wanted to throw an alliteration. Or your wellbeing, et [00:14:00] cetera, before trying to improve your business life or your career, financial goals, et cetera.
Episode 67, Jane. So it was really nice to catch up with my old friend and ex-coworker, Jane. We worked together, I believe it was like around 20 16, 20 17 ish timeframe. So it's been about eight-ish years or so. It's been a while. And it's so crazy. My first thought was after looking back and listening to the episode and editing it, it's crazy how people don't really change.
And in a good way, of course. Because I admire Jane and it felt like the chemistry that we had as friends never really left, which is cool. And it was cool to hear about her story in depth, especially her unique career journey in both the marketing fields and then the health and wellness and healthcare fields.
Jane also fits into my favorite category of guests, which is teachers and coaches, as they usually have some of the best reflections that perfectly [00:15:00] align with the ethos of the show. And obviously they're great communicators because that's what teaching requires. So learning from individuals like that who have walked their own paths and have something to share is always perfect for the show.
My favorite takeaway was the lesson of dealing with burnout. Burnout, part two. First it's identifying what's causing the burnout. Usually it's some level of fulfillment that you're expecting and then shifting your perspective and adapting or changing your situation like what Jane has done many times in her career.
It's about being proactive and taking control with creative solutions or finding those paths forward. And that's what I really admire about Jane, is that she's constantly doing that. She's always a go-getter. Finding creative solutions to adapt and to shift, and having the self-awareness to know when it's time to pivot or make a change. So I think that was a really good takeaway.
Episode number 68, Rani. So after about seven seasons worth of episodes, I was excited to have our very [00:16:00] first guru back on the show from episode one all the way to episode 68. So we chat and get updates about his life and what he's been up to since over a year.
Yeah, more than a year then. And also some deep reflections that we usually get into when we talk. I also didn't even know he was back in LA which is great so that we can hang out and I think we're overdue for an in-person hangout anyway.
My favorite takeaway and I think overall, this discussion on nuance and context when it comes to understanding why cultures are different. So for example, we talk about Japan culture, Japanese culture versus US culture, or eastern culture versus western culture. And we even get into, I guess it's similar, but conservative values and mindsets versus progressive and particularly the use of pronouns and why Rani's having difficulty with those. Definitely check out that episode. We get into some pseudo spicy topics. Not really, we're just kind of joking around, but if you check out the [00:17:00] episode title, I definitely put a lot of clickbait in there. Rage ba, I don't know what do you wanna call it? But overall, the takeaway was why we should give more grace to people and not treat everything as black and white.
Because even our opinions, they can seem black and white on the outside, but there's a lot of nuance and context that you have to understand when you're trying to. I guess understand people and navigate the world. It's like there's no right or wrong ways minus like the moral and ethical sort of things. But I think even someone's hesitancy or resistance to pronouns, using pronouns and in the ways that other people want to use them, it's understandable when he gets into it in the episode, it's like, okay, I get what you're saying, why you feel this hesitancy towards pronouns and whatnot. So that was a really good conversation.
And finally episode number 69 with John Cho, AKA Harold. So this one was a long time coming. I think we rescheduled this a few months back because he is so busy. But I was finally [00:18:00] happy to get him on the show and it was one of my first guests back in the studio.
Since this whole season, or most of the season, it's been remote. Even the prior season, so I almost kind of forgot how the whole process of in studio works. But you know, it's kinda like riding a bike and Solomon I was there. So it was cool to get back into the zone and it's always fun to have a chat in the studio.
My favorite takeaway from this was John's central theme that ran through almost the entire episode, which was that this idea of people waiting for the perfect conditions when starting is the perfect condition. Basically just do the thing and you'll get better and you'll figure out what you need to figure out along the way.
And I think it's been true in his life, and I think. That central theme is something that we can all take away from the episode because I think most of us, myself included, sometimes have paralysis by over analysis, and I think most of us just need to do the thing. And when we do the thing, we'll figure out how to get better along the way. But we shouldn't [00:19:00] let fear, or judgment or insecurities stop us from just trying the thing.
And I think that's it. So, yeah, my favorite takeaways from each episode. Thoughts as usual. Let me know what you guys think. If you enjoyed this format, leave me a comment anywhere. I'll see it. Yeah I think, it's been a lot of fun to kind of slow down and do these like scheduling out my episodes and then just kind of being able to relax for the last month and a half because I wanted to get all of this done before my trip to Japan in early December.
And so I scheduled most of the season before December and then finished off with these last couple episodes after my trip back.
It's been nice to set this up so I don't have to like worry about content.
And then also doing this recap is good for me because it helps me to do like a third or fourth pass on these episodes and really remember what I learned and also enjoy reflecting on these conversations.
But hopefully you guys enjoyed it too. Leave me comments. Let me know if you have [00:20:00] any other ideas or things you want me to do. Otherwise, I'll be doing more of these. I'll try to be doing these for every season. And so I think that's pretty much it. So I'll do my final sign off. Thank you guys for being here.
I really appreciate it. As always, a reminder to be kind to other people, especially yourself, and remember that you can always learn something from someone if you take the time to listen. So thank you guys for being here.
