Beyond the Bank Account: Building a Spiritually Aligned Business with David Berg

Can you build a thriving business and stay spiritually aligned? In this episode of Inside OUT, Jojo sits down with David Berg — founder & CEO of Commander AI and host of The Success Series podcast — to explore the intersection of career success and spiritual growth.

David shares how his deep-rooted spiritual practice has shaped his entrepreneurial journey, why time-blocking and intention are key to productivity, and how to create a career that aligns with your soul's purpose — not just your bank account.

They dive into practical tools for balancing ambition with authenticity, overcoming fear and self-doubt, and building a business from a place of service and higher meaning. If you're seeking career fulfillment without compromising your spiritual values, this conversation is for you.

Topics covered:
✅ How to align your career with your spiritual path
✅ Why "doing the right thing" drives lasting success
✅ Tools to overcome scarcity and fear in business
✅ The importance of time-blocking for entrepreneurs
✅ How to build a purpose-driven business
✅ Creating impact beyond income

Perfect for: entrepreneurs, creatives, career-changers, spiritual seekers, and anyone wanting to build a more aligned and fulfilling career.

Find David on Instagram @daviddberg and @commander__ai

Check on the Success Series Podcast @the_successseries

More information: The Kabbalah Center 

Time Blocking Journal found HERE 

Thank you for listening! Don't forget to follow along on social media @_insideout.podcast, rate and review. And Join the MESy Mailing List for exclusive content, insights on what is coming up and more!

Transcript

Welcome to the Inside Out Podcast. I'm your host JoJo and this is where we will navigate the mess together. That is mental, emotional and spiritual. Let's get messy.

Jojo (00:25.219)
So hi guys, welcome back. Today I'm really excited because I have an incredible guest joining me. I have David Burgon. He is the founder and CEO of Commander AI, which is an innovative AI sales software specifically built for waste haulers. Like how cool is that? Even though I don't understand any of what that means and we're going to get into it with him, but he's also a podcast host for a very amazing podcast, which I highly recommend you guys check out called the success series.

Everything will be linked in the show notes. Don't you worry. And beyond his professional work, David has a really deep spiritual foundation through the study and the practice of Kabbalah. And he also gives back to the Kabbalah Center by volunteering and he helps lead and support initiatives for young adults at the center. He also grew up in the center and we're going to get into all of that with David. So David, thank you so much for coming on Inside Out. Thanks for having me. Okay. Let's just, first of all, address the fact that you grew up in the Kabbalah Center.

What was that like? How has that shaped you? yeah, just give like a little like tidbit of like who your parents are because that is fascinating. Totally. So I think to answer the first question, it shaped me in many, many ways. think like any young adult teenager, you grew up in something you naturally want to rebel against it. And so that was my experience too, was born into it.

very young age, when I turned, I want to say 14, 15, completely revolted against it, had no desire to connect spiritually, even hated from my friends. And so there was shame associated with it too. And it's like, you know, where do you, you know, where do you go to pray or what do your parents do for a living? And I would always avoid those questions or make things up, which is pretty funny when you think about it. People would say, you know, what does your dad do for a living? And I'm like, oh, he, you know, he teaches and he talks to people and they're like, what does that even mean? You know, and so I would, I would naturally avoid those conversations, but then.

With that, of course, a ton of blessings. grew up with an amazing community. I grew up with a lot of people who gave me a lot of love and support from really young age. A lot of my business relationships came from that. Most of the things that I learned as an entrepreneur have also come through the center and students have it. So I'm more grateful for it than anything else. But again, not missing the fact that as a young teen and everybody else, you like to rebel as well. Yeah, totally. I I was in the center myself growing up and I don't think I came back to really study and...

Jojo (02:40.175)
figure out what spirituality even meant to me until I was like, I think 22. So, I mean, you obviously have a very different way in because your parents are, well, I'll let you finish that part. Yeah. So, my parents are now running the Kabbalah Center. My grandparents, know, co-founded and co-directed the Kabbalah Center over the last couple of years. My parents have obviously taken the leadership role and that's changed and molded and influenced the center. Growing up seeing that, one, always encouraged me to want to do great things. Didn't know if it was going to be

through spirituality or in business, but I always had aspirations as a young child to do something transformational. And I think one of the best things about my parents, aside from all the great things they do for the center, is just how much they believe and give to their children. You know, from a young age, was never, you can't do this, or you can only do that.

I wanted to be a basketball player. My parents were like, well, you can do that, right? Even though I probably couldn't, you know, I'm Jewish, I'm only six foot two, probably was never gonna happen. But the point was, regardless of what my aspirations were, my parents were a hundred percent behind me. And that's also led to my success today with my company. I think that a lot of young people have aspirations for great things, but oftentimes they never manifest because of their parents lack of belief in them, right? And I think our self-esteem and our self-confidence and our self-worth.

almost entirely has to do with how we're raised and the people around us that support us or don't. And so that's who my parents are. Aside from that, they speak, they give relationship advice to people. My mom's written multiple books, same as my dad. And I think that a lot of people see that side of them, but I think internally in what I've been privy to see is they're also very happy people. And I think if you're happy, everything else in life tends to follow it as well. But what most people don't know about my parents is that they always have fun, even if they're giving a class and they're very serious at the center.

At home, they're almost always laughing. They're always sarcastic. They're dancing, they're singing. mean, it's everything that you'd expect from somebody who's maybe not a public figure and leading, but they find a way to balance both. They also have a podcast called Spiritually Hungry, if you guys want to check that out. And there are several episodes that you can just see their humor and their connection and them just having an absolute blast. Like I've been walking down the street listening to them, just crying, laughing.

Jojo (04:46.756)
listening. Again, it's some of the funniest that you really just do see that and that's amazing that you got to grow up in a home with them. That's so fun. Totally. It's exactly like you see in the podcast, just across from each other, know, poking fun. It's great. Amazing. Wow. I love it. So you have a very active role in the Kabbalah Center. What made you step into

the entrepreneur, AI side of things, what does that even mean to you? And also your podcast. Yeah. So the role in the center came around the same time that I started to pursue business and around the same time that I started to start my own company, the main driver there was initially my parents. And so their advice to me was, you know, the equal level of output spiritually and your support towards others, your business will be reflective of that too. And so initially it's like, Hey, can I spend 30 minutes volunteering my time at the center?

and then running my business from six to six. And then it turned into two hours a day and then three hours a day. And now I've had to reel it in a bit more just with business being so active. But the nice thing about life, and I always talk about this, is when you have clear goals and objectives for how you want to spend your time, you can almost do anything. And so people always ask me, how do you have the time to volunteer, to also run a company, to also do a podcast? And I think the answer is when you have a clear vision as to what you want to do with your time.

the time gets created for you. know, Jeff Bezos always says the busiest people have the most amount of time. And I think the reason why some of us might not feel like we have time or you feel like you have no time in the day to do the things you want to do is because you're not spending time in the right areas, right? So you might spend, you know, two hours on Instagram, an hour on TikTok, three hours on the couch. And then you're like, where did my day go? Right? So the way that my life is and you know, today's especially more than ever, I have a team of seven. I'm actually

calling in from my office here in Santa Monica. Most of my time now is spent with the company, just naturally given the stage of it and our growth. But the podcast is something that I do at least twice a week, usually when I'm out of the office. But what I've learned is almost my best ideas come either from my guests on the podcast or things that come to me when I'm interviewing them. And so even though I'm not directly working on the business, my volunteering at the center and the podcast that I do both directly influence and support it.

Jojo (06:55.601)
which I think is beautiful. I love that. And I also love how you said like, if you know where you want your focus to be, that time naturally gets created for you. Do you have any like other actually like grounded physical tips that people can like, do you time block your day? I do. do. yeah, it's funny you asked. Let's walk through time blocking journal. Mary Roos time blocking journal. No way. I think I need to buy this. You do.

Mary Ruth is the queen of time blocking. It's funny you asked that actually she is also an Aquarius and so I'm an Aquarius too and our minds can be very scattered. I write down everything from gym, go get lunch, finish up meeting, run home. Every increment within the day that's both significant and not, it lives in the time block. And what that does for me, it's like you guys, one, you have so many hours in the day, but two, you're able to see very clearly what you need to do. so the stress that comes with it goes out the window. And so for me, like you mentioned grounding.

I do meditation too. do prayer when I wake up in the morning. But I think like on a physical 1 % level, the best thing is really being able to say, here are all the things that I have to do and then do I have enough time in the day to get them done? Because otherwise, you have all these like mental clutter thoughts that oftentimes are not even important. like, you're like, oh my God, I have so many things I have to do today. But then when you look at it, you're like, that had to do with packing, like doing the dishes, my laundry and that caused stress in your life. It wasn't the important investor meeting. It wasn't the podcast you were going to have later. It wasn't the guest. was like...

literally all the insignificant things that are taking brain space. And so what Mary Ruth encourages in the time blocking journal is like, write down the least important things in your day first. And then you'll see like, okay, I only have a couple main things to do in focus. All right, everyone needs to go get a time blocking journal because that is amazing. I've literally had in my calendar, time block your day. Never done it. No, I've never done it. No, I'm like, need to, because I think one of my main issues right now, especially with the fact that I'm doing a million different

things and I always joke that I'm a cat with nine lives is that I don't like have a set schedule and it's like everything is on my own. I don't have anyone under me. I contract as that's my life and then I have the podcast and I have a million things going on and then I'm always just sitting here like paralysis overload I guess and no you just inspired me so thank you for that. I love that. Well what's so then what's worked for you thus far is it just like writing in your notes on your phone is it on computer like what

Jojo (09:18.117)
Has that been the extent of it? To try to figure out like what I need to do. Yeah, just like knocking things out and... Well, I mean, I definitely have a calendar. That's how I keep my head on straight. And I write stuff in there like tasks, but actually breaking down like the time blocking thing. Cause I then I just have a forever long to do list that yes, it gets checked off at 900 other things get added to it. And then every day it's like, right. Exactly. And it's, you just, it's never ending. So I think that's been the challenge. And then also

because of contracting and what I do for work. just, anything can pop up at any time. And I kind of love that though, because then I have the flexibility and freedom to kind of do the other things. But then I'm like, I'm speaking out of both sides of my mouth. realize that. it's, I need to get these things done. And then I'm also stressed because I need to get these things done. it's like, I can't win against myself, but well, that's a whole other conversation. But I've kind of just gotten to the point where people will ask me like, are you available to do this? And I'm like,

The creator will decide like I'm going to do all the things that I can, but if something comes into my way, I'm not going to resist it, fight it, force it, push it, whatever it is. Totally. Totally. Bringing the creator into the process. Trying to all the time. If you can do it, it works. That's for sure. I love that. Okay. So talk to me about this podcast, the success series. What made you start that? And actually what do you define as success? Great. I'll answer the.

initial first, I think the latter is a little bit harder to define, which I can, but the antithesis for the podcast, I moved to Miami in August of 2024. last year. To be clear, you still live in Miami or you're- Now I live in LA. I live in LA. I can't keep track of you. You're everywhere. I've been in New York, LA, Miami in the last like-

24 months, but now I'm in Santa Monica. So when I looked in Miami, I knew nobody there, right? And so I was working there, but I literally had no network of people that I was connecting to. And so the thought came to me as long as, you know, with my co-host producer, Michael, he's like, what if we do a podcast where we interview some of the most successful people in the world that also happen to study spirituality? And one, yeah, it's like, that was just like a really raw thought. We hadn't had much thought around it. How would it look? Who would be on the show? But that was the idea for it.

Jojo (11:35.291)
And then we're like, okay, let's start with people in the center. So we had a couple of people in the Miami center that were offered in their own businesses and also were deeply spiritual. And we're like, this is really unique and really cool. And I haven't seen anything else. I listened to a lot of podcasts. And so that just snowballed into different guests where some were practicing forms of spirituality and meditation and other religions. And it was just beautiful that the sort of consistency with all of our guests, regardless of what field they were in, was the spiritual route.

And so they all shared similar things, but expressed it in different ways. And to me, aside from just like the amazing value that I've gained from it, it's like, you get to see that successful people have almost one thing in common, and that's that they all aspire to be happy and do good unto others. And sure you have other people that become, and this will answer the next question, like what is success? Many people make a lot of money, but I don't categorize that in and of itself as success because I also know people that have made a ton of money, but can't get out of bed in the morning because they're so depressed. so, you know, and that's, and that's even worse, right? Because

you have this vision, I'll make $100 million, I'll sell my company and then life will be perfect. And then you realize that it's no better than it was before. And now you don't even have the aspiration of selling your company, right? So like they call it the gambler's fallacy. It's like, why do people go to the casino after losing money every time? It's because you might win, right? But then when you lose it, it sucks. it's really crazy. know, Tate Spade, somebody mentioned this, I didn't even know the story, but she had just sold her company and then committed suicide a few days later. That like shocked the world because it's like, wow, somebody's briefs like

quote unquote, the top of their career and it was the worst day of their life. Right. And so I think to answer the question in short success and spirituality are one of the same, because if you don't have spirituality deeply rooted in your success, then it's never going to last and you're never going to get any satisfaction from it. And so for me, it's like even in building this company, if my employees aren't happy, if I feel I'm being dishonest with investors, if I'm shipping a product or selling it to customers, that's not really where it should be. That's not something that I would feel aligned with because I know that it might work in the short term, but in the long term, it's not going to give me any happiness.

Yeah. And you're not concerned about the price tag. You'd rather bring something of quality. And I think a lot of people, unfortunately, are driven by the monetary value and the price tag of what they can receive. And I think it's so interesting because people always say like, well, people don't say this, but this is a thing on social media where it's like money equals happiness or what's that? Money buys happiness. Yeah. That. And what

Jojo (13:53.615)
I'm hearing from you and what I've also seen in my own personal life. But for the people listening to this episode, spirituality is really the key to the happiness. But what if someone is just like, well, what does that even mean? Like, how do I become spiritual? Because some people, when they ask me, like, what does spirituality mean to you? I have, my answer, but people look at you maybe sideways or like, well, religion, like there's a lot of different.

sectors. And so what would you say is maybe the starting point for someone who wants to marry success with spirituality? Totally. So I think, and this is something again, that I think it's washed with like new age spirituality and that it's like, it's not really reflection of what I think is real spirituality. And so to me, Kabbalah aside, like meaning Kabbalah centers, going to classes and all the great things you can do there. If you're living your day to day life, it's like, do the right thing.

Right. And so like, that's a really simplified explanation of it. No, but that's such a good answer. Right. Cause I think all of us, if you look like we all know internally, truly, whether we're tapped into spirituality or not, what's right and what's wrong. And unfortunately, most of us choose the wrong thing. Right. And so when you look at anything in life, it's like, you have an opportunity to make another a hundred thousand dollars this year and you're hurting eight people in the process. That is not the right thing. Right. And so do the right thing.

Um, and so to me, like that's how I'm able to bring and infuse spirituality into my business. But I'd say for any of our listeners, whether you're practicing religion, whether you're an atheist, do the right thing and you'll experience what, you know, Jojo and I are talking about here. I love that answer. That was really good. Give me a lot to think about. like this. Same for our listeners. I'm sure we can take a two minute pause here so they can write some things that. Definitely like mull that over. Doing the right thing. Yes. That's not done enough. Okay.

What would you say are like common misconceptions between material and spiritual success? Yeah. So I think at the top of the list, one is that the two are separate from each other. so we spoke about this a little bit from a spiritual perspective, but the flip side of the coin is having a beautiful house. And if you want a yacht, getting that and having a private jet and living the luxuries of life is not, it's not a bad thing. In fact, it's a very good thing. And so I think a lot of people fall under two buckets. There's the

Jojo (16:05.603)
ultra like 1 % material, which is like, just care about having all the things I desire. And then there's the flip side, which is like, money is evil and people that have money are evil, right? And neither is true, but I think the middle ground is being able to one, appreciate material things, but not being attached to them, right? So that is a myth. It's like, you think that if you have a nice house, your self-worth is X. If you have a nice car, people will look at you a certain way. None of that is positive, but you can have those same things and experience them differently. So

I have a beautiful house and I'm excited about it because I get to host people. I get to have a beautiful time with my children. They get to play outside. That's a nice perspective on it rather than I'm an egomaniac and I'm posting on Instagram my $10 million house that I bought. It's like the same thing, but it's two different approaches to it. I think that's a good starting point. Totally. Yeah. I think so many people look at it that way. It's like, what's the driving force for why you want these great things in life? And unfortunately for most of us, it's not the right reason.

And that's where the depression comes. It's like, you think it's going to make you feel a certain type of way and then it doesn't. And so you're depressed, right? Yeah. It's definitely like what's ego driven and what's soul driven. Right. Exactly. So for someone who is interested in starting a business or making a career pivot or just redefining success for themselves, are there any tips or tricks or spiritual tools that you've used that you've seen work for yourself when navigating the unknown and what that might look like?

Totally. So I think the first thing is clearly defining, again, not necessarily what is your why, but like, what's the deeper purpose? Let's use a business as an example, right? So, and my mentors have always shared this with me. It's like, if you're starting a company, the sole driver can never be, this is going to make me a lot of money. Are you deeply excited about it? Is there a reason beyond monetization why you're launching this business? Those might be 1 % answers, but they all tie back into spirituality because...

If you're excited about something, as you know, desire comes from the light of the Creator. Let me know if this is a little bit too deep for the listeners, but the way that we view it in in Kabbalistic terms is desire is basically the Creator, God, the universe telling you that you're meant to manifest something. And so when you have a really strong desire for starting a business, that means that you're meant to use specifically more than anybody else, launch this thing. But if a desire is not necessarily about the business, about what you're building, rather money, then it's likely not a pure internal desire and therefore you should have manifested. So

Jojo (18:23.289)
I would say and for myself, again, my first company that I launched was Commander, which is my current company. But prior to that, there were 30 other ideas that I had. I built pitch decks. I did all the fun stuff that most people do. And none of them launched because when I got to the point of if I have to do this for the next four years and go through all the challenges that come with it, am I still willing to do it? And none of them had the answer yes, except for this one. And I said to myself, whether this amounts to nothing, I am excited about building this because I know that this is what the world needs and this is what...

customers that I'm selling to truly need. And I saw the need before I even launched the product. As proxy of that, we've done well and gotten a lot of customers, but that wasn't inherently obvious when I launched it. So I think for any young entrepreneur or any young person looking to either change career paths, go work for somebody else or start a new business, you can never base it on money because the money will come guaranteed if you're chasing it for the right reasons. But if you're chasing it for the money, then it'll never come. They always say money runs away from you when you chase it. And so I've seen that firsthand happen.

And it's almost, it's crazy because it's almost like when you have no desire, like truly, you get to a point where you're so upset about what you're building, you're not even thinking about the money, that the money starts to gravitate towards you. And so I can attest to that. like in the last, I've been in this business for 16 months now, have not paid myself a salary at all. I, know, paying all my employees a generous salary. And it's been the most fulfilling thing that I've done, right? As opposed to every other area of my life prior was like, I want the money. How can I make more money? How can I chase my money? And it wasn't coming to me.

So well, congratulations. That's really, really cool. And I have to ask you, what was like that pull to start commander AI? Cause what is it? Yeah, let's start with what it is. And then I'll, can say what the, yeah. So for a little bit of context, and this might be interesting for people is prior to commander, was selling garbage trucks. so like, we're selling garbage trucks. was selling garbage. Yes. And so like, really is a niche for everyone in this world. I'm telling you, like, if you think, if you can think of something, there is a buyer for it. And I think that's, that's crazy in and of itself.

but I was selling garbage trucks, got my CDL license. made you get into garbage trucks? Like selling them, why? Right, exactly. So there was an entrepreneur who I always wanted to work for. He was based in Los Angeles at the time I was living in New York. He called me one day, he said, hey, look, I'm gonna start building electric trucks. He had no background in manufacturing or engineering. So, and I was like, you know, shortly fresh out of college, I was doing personal training at the time. And he's like, you know, you can move to LA tomorrow. I can talk to you about the pay when you get here.

Jojo (20:46.513)
It's a really exciting opportunity. You'll be on the ground floor. Like any naive 20 year old, said, you know what, this sounds like a once in a lifetime opportunity without really knowing whether it was or not. It could have been a complete bust and I would have made a massive mistake. But again, you're 20 years old. So it's like, how big of a risk are you really taking? You don't have a family, you're not married. So I did it. And then shortly after I started working for him, we actually bought a trucking company out of Ohio. They were building diesel trucks. And the idea was we were going to build electric trucks and sell it to the market.

So like EVs were really hot at the time. There was Tesla, which was blowing up, Riv-E and all these other new tech startups, but nobody was doing it for garbage trucks. And so the granular idea was like, let's build the first electric garbage truck. And we did that. And so I was in the industry, I was driving trucks around the country, selling to companies like Waste Management or Republic Services. And throughout my time there, it became obvious that these companies, yes, they are picking up trash, but they were not using any technology. And they were living on pen and paper. They're outdated. It was very legacy. And so

I saw just a massive opportunity to build simple technology for an industry that's completely underserved. And so that's what Commander is. Commander is a sales tool built for waste haulers specifically. It helps them find the right customers to sell to. It's all AI based, so generate emails for them. And imagine you're dealing with a very unsophisticated buyer. And so for them, they don't know the first thing about technology. And so our unique approach is like, we're the tech experts, but we also understand waste. And so let us be your guide and sequence in selling to this industry. And that is what excites you.

Because no one else does it. I love it. again, that's that's that people always ask me like when I when I first pitched my first venture investor in May of last year, he was in LA. He's like, I just don't understand like you're a normal you're I think you're a normal like the question, right? I think you're a normal 25 year old. Like, why are you? Why are you doing this? Like, why don't you go start a nightclub or like open a restaurant? Like, why are you? Why are you building software? It sounds like the most boring thing. And I was like, maybe to you it is.

But I love trash. this is what I love. Nobody else is doing it. So like that, and that's cool. It's like, why is it exciting? Because it's completely overlooked. It's completely underserved. And we're the first to do it. And I think being the first to do anything is always exciting. So that was a huge risk and stepping into the unknown. Was there anything that like, well, you were 20, but some people might be in their 40s and being like, I'm miserable. I hate everything. I'm listening to this and I'm stuck.

Jojo (23:06.065)
in a situation that I can't seem to pivot out of, what would you say to someone in that place? Yeah. So I'll say this. I was 20, but then again, when I was in my later like, you 25, when I took this jump here, that was also very risky. I was making a really generous salary, was making a ton of money in commissions, and I dropped all of that to make nothing. Had no path forward, had been independent from my parents for many years. And so like there wasn't, although I probably wouldn't have ended up on the streets.

That's the picture that I painted for myself. And so I said, if this... I was so extreme and I think this is what any entrepreneur has to do. If this doesn't work, there is no second chance. It's this or you're done. And if you don't have that level of extremity when you're starting a company, it's not going to work. People talk about work-life balance. think when you're going to start a company, and I'll be the first to say this, if you are not ready to literally give up everything in life, then you probably shouldn't start a business because...

as painful as you might think that it is, as challenging as you might think that it is, it's 100 times more. And I said this and I'll still say this now, if I had known how challenging these last 16 months would have been, I never would have started this company. So the, the naivety that I had of like the challenge versus how much it would actually be was enough to get me to do it. But in hindsight, there's just no way. again, it's like rejection, it's humiliation, it's people telling you, you're not smart enough. It's getting a thousand nos and having enough resilience to continue. It's like all these cliche things that do happen as well.

But I think the most gruesome part of it is being completely isolated. So all of your friends around you will not understand what you're going through. There is nobody you can really bounce off against till it be like, hey, are you, because nobody's dealing with it, right? Unless they're amidst the pain with you too. So I'd say that, but with that too, the most blessings come with it as well. So if you're in your 30s, if you're in your 40s, be very aware of the risk and the pain that's coming with it, but also realize that the pain of being 40, 50, 60, 70,

and never having pursued that is way more painful. And although I'm in my twenties, I can still look and say, if I had not made this choice, I would be very disappointed in myself, right? Because then you're just delaying the process. Like who wants to be laying on their last days in this world and being like, what if I would have done that? Or what if I would have launched this or would have started the podcast, right? It's like, and do it, you know? Like go and do it. That's so interesting because, and I've talked about this very liminally, but I was in that position.

Jojo (25:24.961)
recently where I made two career shifts and I've been in New York for a decade now, which is the longest I've been anywhere. And I even remember messaging you about a year ago being like, have this urge to start a podcast. You were like one of the first people to find out by the way. So this is a full circle moment for me. And honestly, it might even have been exactly a year ago. If I go back into my home and look at the date, wait, hold on, we're going to pause real quick. Cause I actually need to.

find out if this is. We say there's no coincidences in Kabbalah, but if it was June 5th, that would be, or even close would be incredible. my God. Don't tell me June 5th. June 6th. That is incredible. That is, that is also full body chills right now. Full body chills. I'm sweating. That is, that is what makes it even more incredible. And for our listeners, it's like, we, we try to schedule this for the last like two months, right? And we landed on this date. Yeah. That is, that is incredible. I can't tell you how many.

times that happens to me where something is like a full circle moment or like exactly on the day a year later, two years, three. It's insane. Okay. Well, this text message, let's find it. I just had it. I just asked you about your concept of success series and thinking about starting a podcast of my own, my tikkun, meaning my soul correction for those of you who don't know what that means is getting in my way, meaning like, my fear of like,

or my doubts, my self doubts, like all the limiting beliefs are just being thrown at me. And, wow, that is so insane. That was a year ago. I love that so much. Anyway, what was I saying? making career shifts, right? Because in 2019, so six years ago, I was wanting to start a podcast. was wanting to go into aviation. And that's another thing that I, I just stepped into. The reason I moved to New York was for school. And then I was in entertainment and doing all of that. And it just wasn't making me happy.

and now I'm gonna be 30 and I'm in a place where I was just like, this is not what I wanna do for the rest of my life. I'm not happy, like really not happy in the sense of it got to the point where my mentor teacher, Kabbalah teacher, for those of you who are curious was like, you're not allowed to move from New York until you love New York. Cause I had to completely reframe my relationship with New York because of how much it's given me and appreciate it back before I could make any adjustments in my life. Now,

Jojo (27:41.183)
I like New York, but I'm also making moves to leave New York. So I think just to tie in what you were saying is I didn't want to get, I don't know, into my thirties, late thirties, early forties, maybe have kids, maybe have like be married, tied more, well, less freedom. And be like, why didn't I do this? Or to your point being on my deathbed being like, wow, I always wanted to do this one thing and I never did. I don't have a fallback either. I haven't, I don't have my parents backing me. Everything is on me.

So completely removing myself from that industry, starting technically two businesses in under a year, the cost was going to be greater if I didn't. My long-term happiness. And I think that's where you really have to trust that what David said earlier on was if you have that desire, it's because it's meant for you and you are actually blocking so many blessings. If you don't let that desire come to fruition.

And you don't actually pursue it because yes, it might be challenging. Yes. Your friends aren't going to understand. They're going to look at you sideways and be like, wait, I'm sorry. You can't commit to a weekend. What do mean? You might have a trip to, and it's like, now I'm saying no to so much more. I'm like closing myself off in different ways. Like there's a lot is changing and not everyone understands that. But again, at the cost of what the rest of my life, because it's again, you get one life. So if you're listening to this and you're like,

I need to leave this nine to five. I'm unhappy. want to become a painter or an artist and money's okay. We understand bills need to be paid and that's a very big reality. And there's also other extenuating circumstances where people have dependence and illnesses. And I mean, the list goes on, but the bottom line and hopefully what we can bring out and inspire you today is to really look at like how to make that shift in yourself. Maybe it's just mentally, maybe it is a total spiritual shift.

And maybe it's going to rock your entire emotional life as well. Let's get messy here, but you have to. And I think that's just the bottom line. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. So if someone's in that place to turn this back to you, what would you say is a good way to build that trust in divine timing or the bigger picture? Yeah. So I think, one of my mentors taught me this early on was start doing the things that you say you're going to do is the shortest way to build confidence in self. Right? So if it's, I'm going to go to the gym, then go to the gym. Right. If it's.

Jojo (30:04.917)
I'm going to start eating better, start eating better. I'm going to start taking care of myself, start taking care of yourself. You do these little changes and you start to, okay, I can trust myself a little bit more. Your confidence starts to build, your ability to believe in your own execution of manifestation also increases. And then as a by-product, the creator starts to get involved. And so I think where people get disconnected is they have these like massive granular desires for self and they're like, yeah, well, I'm never capable of getting there. Maybe you're not today, but if you can build on these little small manifestations, then the bigger one starts off to become very feasible.

And so that's worked for me time and time again. And I think, again, like one of the biggest misconceptions is thinking that the most successful people were always very successful. Everybody who's successful was once not, right? And so the way they got there was, again, little beliefs in self. Also with a little bit of naivety of like, I will be successful, right? Because I think it takes a level of craziness, a level of naivety and a level of trust to be successful at whatever you do, right? Like a combination of the three. And so don't expect that to happen overnight. But if you can get these like small wins and small executions.

then it becomes a lot more tangible, you know, over a period of time. Totally. I love that. So what do you do if scarcity mindset starts to creep in? Because I think doubt and fear are two major things that keep people stuck. Yeah. So paint the worst picture, right? Worst case scenario. You did say that, didn't you? Yeah. Worst case scenario. I'm living on the streets. Go worst case. Go, I'm living on the streets. The world hates me. I'm alone. Nobody loves me. I'll never find love. I'll never amount to anything and I'll be a disappointment in life.

and then sit there for like one moment or longer if you need to and then realize that actually it's not that bad. You actually get to a place and again that's why I say like a little bit of craziness but you truly do because I don't know how our minds work to that extent but it's something like your mind has convinced you that the worst case is like so much worse. Like again it's not even when you try to quantify it you can't but the fear that comes from anything in life is usually something that we can't even put our fingers to because it's so out of reach.

So when you paint the worst case, sure that is horrible. Nobody wants to be on the streets, not loved and with no purpose. But your imagination of what's worse is a whole lot worse. And so for me, whenever I do that, it's painful, it sucks. It doesn't mean I love that reality, but it takes the fear away from it. And then it's like, okay, well that might happen, but I also might be the most successful person. And I also might have a lot of love and I also might have a lot of purpose. And then you go ahead and just like, you're like, am I gonna sit here and do nothing? Or I'm gonna work diligently time and time again to get closer to that, right? And so-

Jojo (32:32.457)
And that's right. you're like left when you really remove everything and you have nothing left to lose, then you have two choices. You sit and do nothing or you push forward. Right. And, that, that becomes a lot easier. I've definitely heard your dad talk about that, like going worst case scenario. Yeah. I, he's, he always, and he, by the way, he always challenges me on that where he's like, okay, what's the worst case? I'm like, he's like, that's not, he's like, that's not bad. I'm like, that's not bad. What is that? He's like, well, nothing's bad, but that's not bad. He's like, there's people with a lot worse. Right. And so that helps as well. Right. Perspective, you know,

on what you're going through versus real challenges in life. I want to go back to the soul versus ego side of things. I mean, we're in a very, you know, Instagram, Tik Tok, comparison culture, we're seeing everything. What would you say is like a big disparity between doing something that's driven by ego and driven by soul and how we can kind of just like ground and like really what is our purpose rather than like trying to show off? Totally. So completely agree. It's probably more prevalent than it's ever been.

when, and I'll use a spiritual term, the word lack. So when we experience lack in life and anything stems from that, it's always our ego. And so for those that aren't familiar with the term lack, lack is when you don't feel great about yourself. Lack is when you're looking at somebody else and thinking that their gratification of you or satisfaction with you is going to somehow make you happier in life. When you're looking to fill a void internally, that is all ego. When it comes from the spiritual place or from the right place, then you are already satisfied in life that you desire more. You feel completely whole and filled internally.

have no relation or comparison to anybody else around you. You only want good for others. You're able to appreciate your friends' successes, even when you're not in success, even when you're in failure. And like, if you can come from that place, literally no matter what you put your hands through or what you do, turns into magic and turns into gold. So you can, and again, like, looking to our earlier conversation, it's like, you can be successful in garbage trucks, you can be successful as a dentist, you can be successful as a painter, but none of those things are possible if the root of it comes from a place of lack. And so...

If you're like, my friend is more successful and so I'm going to pursue this career so that I can be as successful as them, you are sure to fail. But if you can be at a place today where like I am so not content, right? Because I think that's where people also fall into the trap. But I'm so appreciative. And this is something that my dad always alludes to in the teaching of Kabbalah. I'm appreciative for where I am today and what I have because I do have blessings in my life. And all of us can go and say, whether you're not in a similar relationship, you can look at your family and say, have parents who love me. I have a career that I'm passionate about.

Jojo (34:55.147)
For any one of us, there are one or two things that we can look at and appreciate. Once that appreciation comes in, then you're able to go and pursue anything else. And so I think like in today's culture, if you're on Instagram, one, know for yourself that 99.9 % of the things that you see on Instagram are not an accurate depiction of life. In fact, they're usually the opposite. So for reference, and maybe some people don't know this, those that are like the most active with lafonting like a flood line lifestyle are usually the ones with the biggest lack and emptiness in life.

And then on the flip side of it, those that are, you know, maybe not showing that as much are probably the most fulfilled internally. And so I think like whenever any one of us and we all fall into this, I fall into myself too, sometimes, unfortunately. But thankfully, it's rarely with the tools of Kabbalah. It's like nothing that you see is real. And the only reflection of your internal happiness is going to come from how you feel with yourself. And so you can compare yourself to everybody else out there. You can desire to have what they have. But at end of the day, the happiness will never come from it, even if you get those things too. And so if you're in your 20s, if you're in your 30s and your 40s,

look at yourself internally first, start literally like we talked about time blocking, like write down the things that you are appreciated for and then grow from that area. Not from, I'm empty and now how can I fill that? Well said. Very well said. I like what you said about lack because anything that grows from lack, you plant a seed, whether that's beginning of a relationship, beginning of a business, beginning of anything. Well, let's talk about relationships because that's like, I've talked about this in previous podcasts, but you literally, if you go into a relationship because you're feeling needy, nothing good is going to grow from

you want attention, you want validation. And we know this. it's the same. It's the same. Totally. And what happens in those relationships, and I've seen this when I was younger, I was in this way too, it's both people experience lack. And so what happens in the relationship is like, you're trying to take from them, they're trying to take from you. And what ends up happening is nobody's able to take from each other because it's like, we're trying to take the small bit of energy that we're both connecting on and then we both feel empty. And then we want energy from other people and then the relationship falls apart. Right? It's like that's...

That's like the biggest and you know, like not to get like too specific, but like people talk about like cheating and why that happens. think on a spiritual level, it's very different than the 1%. Spiritually, there's two people that want an energy from each other and they're not getting it. And so they look for it elsewhere. And like that's like the baseline of it. And so that's why people are like, how after 20 years of marriage, you know, this person, solely energy. And so spiritually speaking, both to have a satisfied and a happy relationship, the basis of it can never start from lack and can never start from, want from this person. And if they don't give it to me, then I'm not happy. It has to be.

Jojo (37:13.897)
As you know, how can I give to this person? And then in turn, they'll receive them as well. Yes. Always pouring from a full cup. Put your oxygen mask on first before helping others. There you go. Flight attendant. That's right. All right. Well, let's get messy with this mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Mentally, what would you say is a belief that you had to reframe that helped you reconnect to your purpose when you felt like you were stuck or overwhelmed?

The first thing was the way that I see life today is probably 1 % of reality and being completely open to knowing that my perception is influenced by my environment, the people that I spent time with, how I was raised and likely not a depiction of the rest of world. And so most of us, I think as we get older for sure, are rigid in our ways. so being able to be open to, know nothing and I'm malleable, I'm open to change is the stepping stone for any mental block. I love that. That's great answer.

Emotionally, what is one way you've learned to process or regulate your emotions during times of uncertainty or when your purpose feels unclear or maybe it was like switching over into doing something that was just like, my gosh, this could all fail. Totally. So in building a startup, it's the most uncertain thing I think you can ever do. Maybe aside from having a child. think that, so for me, I've had to like just naturally deal with it and literally having every uncertainty every single day.

What's worked for me is always reprioritizing like what's the bottom line or what's the ultimate goal? Not getting hyperfixated on how today looks and how tomorrow looks, the following day looks. Are we any closer to the final goal? And so I'll quote Bill Ackman here, Bill Ackman's big hedge fund guy. And he, a couple of years ago, his business was falling apart. He was getting sued by all of his investors. He lost, I think it was like $3 billion in the span of a few days. Just recently got in divorce, was in litigation with his ex-wife. And so to him, the world looked like it was over.

And what he said was, if he looked at it from that perspective, there was no light at end of the tunnel. But what he said to himself was, am I making small progress every single day? Is my marriage getting a little bit better? Are the investors a little bit happier than they were the day before? Is the business making a little bit more money than it was before? And so then after 30 days, you're like, okay, this is compounded. And now a little bit closer. I'm still not... If you look at the top of the mountain, it's never going to feel like you're going to get there. But if you can look at incremental growth daily, the uncertainties of the day to day don't matter as much. That's really powerful.

Jojo (39:28.499)
And spiritually, what is the spiritual principle or practice that consistently brings you back into alignment when you feel disconnected from your path? Helping others. Yeah. Which is so, so underrated and not practiced enough for myself or I think anybody. Whenever I have a challenging day, if I'm completely overwhelmed with work, the first thing that I look to do is reach out, try to help, whether it's writing a message in the WhatsApp chat that I send out daily, whether it's...

posting something on Instagram, MediKings, and SyFo, whether it's texting a friend, it's finding a quick action that I can do. And the irony of it is you're sharing with others, but you're really receiving more than anything. And it gets you... I've never been in a place where I felt stuck that I've shared and still felt that way. so, again, we all have ways that we can share in our day-to-day lives, but just finding one person that you've been neglecting, reaching out to, maybe it's calling your mom who you haven't spoken to, whatever the case is.

Do that and then see how you feel after and it's almost always changes. It reminded me of what my dad always says to me. He's either like change your physiology, go give to someone, volunteer, go help, like literally just do anything. do anything. Get your focus off of yourself because when we're in those anxiety spirals or doubt doom spirals, you're stuck unless you literally move your body, change your emotions through motion.

You have to literally do something different and you're not going to do that unless you put all your focus on someone else or mentally, I don't know, write everything out of your head or emotionally give your time to, you know, your energy elsewhere. yeah, totally. Yeah. The, I'll quote the czar here. This czar says that when you are fixated on your problems in life and you're stuck within yourself, you're putting a magnifying glass on all the negative aspects of you. And then when you're putting that same level of energy towards other people,

you're actually putting a magnifying glass on all your blessings. And so that's like, yeah. And so I think just on that note for our listeners, it's like, guys, not only are you getting out of it, you're actually revealing all the great blessings that you were meant to see that you just can't. Okay, now I have to ask you, David, what is the Zohar? The Zohar is the inception of and predates all religion and spirituality. It's probably the most concentrated book of access of spirituality, of wisdom of connection. It's the words, now they have translations so you can actually understand all of it.

Jojo (41:49.331)
But for me, and I carry it in my office, I have it here in my bag with me, and I'm sure you've experienced this too. By having it on your person, you experience the energy of it. It's not so explainable. It's not tangible. But for our listeners, if you carry it to a business meeting, the business meeting outcome tends out to be better than you thought it could. If you carry it on your person, you feel more secure. Definitely when you're anxious. When I was younger, I used to have anxiety a lot. I would sleep with the czar. The anxiety would go away immediately. so short answer is there's not really a short answer, but it's probably the best...

thing that you can hold that's 1%. It's a lot better than money. So wow. I love that. Well, thank you so much for coming on Inside Out and getting messy and unpacking all of those little tangents we went on. loved every minute of it. Where can people find you? Yeah. So on Instagram, David D. Berg, you can check us on YouTube at the success series and on Instagram as well. And then if in some crazy way you're in waste management or looking to get into waste management,

commanderai.com and that's our website and you can check us out there. Awesome. Glad to be on. I think it was a great chat and hopefully everybody gained a lot of knowledge and access from this. Yeah. And all of this can be found in the show notes so you know where to find David Berg and all of his good juicy little things. I'm also going to tag that journal that you showed me. That is beautiful. So you will also find that down there and you know where to find me at underscore inside out dot podcast. Think about three people that

need to hear this conversation and send it to them. Sharing is caring. All right guys, see you next week. Bye.