Transform Your Life - Just Count Me In
Just Count Me In is a podcast designed to help us navigate and flow with our lives through conscious awareness. When we live with less resistance and more receptivity it is easier to express who we came here to be and enjoy life. We are all walking each other home.
Transform Your Life - Just Count Me In
#70: What's Your Breakthrough Moment? An Interview with Zac Deane
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On this episode of Just Count Me In, I sit down with Zac Deane — entrepreneur, podcast host, and someone deeply focused on sharing successful entrepreneurs' transformational “breakthrough moments” in both business and life.
Zac shares the deeply personal experiences that reshaped his path, including losing his business, relationship, and sense of identity before rebuilding from a completely different foundation.
This conversation moves beyond surface-level motivation into the real work of growth: listening inward, making aligned decisions, and taking action before you feel fully ready.
We also explore:
- The connection between health, mindset, and entrepreneurship
- Why many high achievers still feel disconnected internally
- How podcasting creates trust and authentic human connection
- Masculine and feminine energy in leadership and business
- The role of adversity in personal transformation
- What “breakthrough moments” really look like in everyday life
- Rebuilding after burnout, heartbreak, or failure
- Why authenticity is becoming the new currency
If you’ve ever felt like your life looked successful on the outside but disconnected on the inside, as though the best parts of you have yet to be expressed, and you have so much more to give, this episode will resonate deeply.
About Zac Deane
Zac Deane is an entrepreneur, podcast host, and coach focused on helping founders and creators share transformational breakthroughs in business and personal growth. Through long-form conversations and coaching, he explores the mindset, identity shifts, and decisions that create lasting change.
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Welcome And Guest Introduction
SPEAKER_00Well, good morning or good day, whatever time you're joining us. I want to, I'm so excited about this episode today. Um, today's guest is somebody who actually connects entrepreneurship with personal growth and intentional living in a really unique way, in a really, really thoughtful way. I met him um just in the past month, month and a half. It took us a while to get together, I think through LinkedIn, and I feel like we are going to definitely impact each other's lives. And I could not wait to introduce him to all of you. So here he is. He was born in Australia and he lives as what he calls himself a digital nomad the past two years. This is Zach Dean from ZachDean.com, and he's the host of the Breakthrough Moment Podcast. It's one of the fastest growing podcasts right now in the world with 80 episodes plus, and he unpacks the secrets of successful business owners and investors in this podcast. Every episode asks one question, and it's what's your biggest breakthrough moment that took you to the next level of your success? So, what I appreciate most about Zach is that our conversation and the ones that we've had are not just about success or strategy or the buzzwords. It's about identity, it's about people having self-awareness, it's about nervous system capacity and relationships and what it really means to build a successful life in today's world. He is, in my opinion, a great teacher, a great mentor. I'm just so happy to share him with you. He is a business leader and a visionary, and he sees possibilities that will help us all create a better world together, one business at a time. He's also the founder of findapodcast.io, and that helps entrepreneurs book their own podcast tours and turn their appearances into a brand authority and lead generation content through his Done For You service. So he just has so many things. A long time ago in his other life, he was the graduate of an institute of integrative nutrition, so that's near and dear to my heart. And he's helped hundreds of people through Better Health while traveling Australia with Vitamix blenders, and he educated people about the importance of whole food and fasting. He comes to us today after a very busy day, and we kind of squeezed this in, and I so appreciate it. So I just before I introduce, I want to formally thank you for coming and thank you for making time out of your busy schedule. I know you just got off a call, and here it is. So my great pleasure to introduce. Here's Zach.
SPEAKER_02Sorry, Stone, what a pleasure it is to be here.
SPEAKER_01I'm so touched by your introduction. Thank you so, so much. I plan to share at least one thing everybody here can take away today. That's the intention. At least one thing that everybody can take away to impact their life. And so, yeah, it's been a wild journey. I'm excited to be here. And our conversation we had just last week or this week, gosh, felt like, I guess, felt like today. I don't know. It's all, it's all amazing, these amazing people, you know, you included, that I get to meet. And our conversation was deep and raw and just full of like authenticity. Your story is fascinating and inspiring. So I highly recommend anyone to we'll put the link around, I guess, the podcast here for that podcast too. So yeah, very grateful to be here too. Thank you for the intro.
SPEAKER_00So let's get
Growing Up With Entrepreneur Parents
SPEAKER_00into it. So you were raised, you were pretty much grown in a new with new age parents, and you had a lot of entrepreneurial influence in your life. Um, can you tell us a little bit about that? Just for those of you, those who don't know you yet.
SPEAKER_02Sure. Look, the short story is I had some incredible, incredible parents.
SPEAKER_01You know, they gave me some examples of incredible things to do, uh, to be living a well wholesome, you know, empowered life, but also some examples of what not to do as well that were just doing the best they could. Um, all four of my parents, so my real two parents and then two stepparents were all entrepreneurs. Uh, and three of them out of the four were in health and wellness, alternative health and wellness. And so my mother's a naturopath. She knows all about uriology, eye health, and the body and um nutrition and blood analysis. And we used to have a hyperbaric chamber at home, and she got me into float tanks and you know, really taught me the importance of self-care at a really young age, as much as I didn't want to slow down because of, I guess I had a bit of ADHD growing up for sure, that I would burn out and I would uh, I guess, you know, be sick sometimes. And I was a chubby kid. I had acne in high school and uh had super low self-esteem. I was beating myself up, bullying myself for not because I would compare myself to others. And but I was also then bullied at school. Um, long story short, I used to have a wart. No, but don't tell people this very often. I had this wart, had this wart on the side of my nose, like a witch with a wart. And I used to get bullied for it and like just teased. And I was there like when I was seven years old or something ridiculous, I felt horrible. And uh luckily, my mum was a herbalist and she found a weed in the backyard, and she literally found the weed, broke it open, and put it on the on the wart. After we tried all these different things, she went, oh, of course, this is the I think it looked maybe, I don't know if it was dandelions, because dandelions are so good, but it was some kind of weed. And literally within days, the wart just completely disappeared. I've got a tiny, tiny little scar. I haven't told that story for like a million years. And so my my mom was a naturopath and health uh nut, you know, person. And then my first stepdad was a yoga teacher. He had a yoga studio, and he would get up at three, four in the morning and meditate and go to class. I was doing yoga at a very young age. And then I, my second stepdad was a psychotherapist, so would teach people about the body, how it holds trauma, and do different processes to help the body get rid of through through somatic release work, how to get rid of certain belief systems and patterns that we just picked up from our past and the imprinting phase. It's just everyone has their own stuff. So he would take people through a seven or six-year kind of certification to be a psychotherapist. And then my first mentor was at 17. He became my fitness coach and he taught me a lot of fitness and nutrition. And that was really the change in my life that really, you know, my mom and everything, though they were a big influence. But I had some amazing people around me. Luckily, I've had just an incredible network of awesome people that have been in my world that I've been able to learn from as examples, learn to do certain things, and learn to not to do certain things. We're all figuring it out. And so I'm just a really good listener. My real dad is an entrepreneur, he was very successful and uh a creative. He was an act, has an acting school in Perth. He was on commercials and TV and everything like that. So they say that the kids will take on the unowned parts of the parents. And so my mom's health and wellness business, it was a local business. So I kind of took the unowned part of her going global with her business. And my businesses were in health and wellness. So I launched health products into Australia in affiliate on network marketing. And my first team was 4,000, my second team was 10,000. So I did quite well, went quite global. That's how I've been able to travel the world now and literally meet these people I've known online working for like over 10 years. Now I get to meet them in person. It's so, so fun. And then um, yeah, you know, I learned I learned entrepreneurship at a very young age as well through my dad and my stepdad and uh my stepdads. And then I my first personal development program was when I was nine years old because I kept losing my hat and my friend's place. And my real dad was like, I'm gonna, I'm so annoyed. I want to keep buying you a hat. I'm gonna buy you a personal development program so you you actually remember not to lose your hat. And so at nine years old, I was listening to Kevin Trudeau's mega memory program and learning about visualization and affirmations and inner dialogue and you know, from nine years old. And then reading, you know, Think and Grow Rich and Bob Proctor and Rich Dad Poor Dad and As a Man Thinketh, I just started to fuel my brain with as much as possible and and uh you know put myself in scenarios that were able to stretch me. I'd say yes to things and just say, I have no idea how to do that. I have a load of fear, but I'm gonna do it anyway and figure it out. And I keep putting myself in those scenarios where it's it's grown me to a point where I have a wide range of, I guess, the ability to express that allowed me to even, you know, be doing television, live TV presenter, doing acting and doing international commercials and things like this, and now doing the YouTube. So, you know, I think one of they say our biggest traumas become our biggest superpowers. And I felt so suppressed as a kid. I'd I'd never never speak up, I never asked questions in primary school or high school because I cared about what other people thought about me. I would never present in front of the class, I'd hide. And so that trauma, I guess later in life, after doing some work, was able, I'm now able to express. And I feel like I'm catching up on old time and doing that through the podcast or the coaching and and businesses that I have today. So yeah, that's the short story.
SPEAKER_00And that is an amazing. There is so much in the short story. We could probably do a whole episode just on how you got here, just to be honest, you've done so much, so much with your life already and touched so many people's lives already.
Breakthroughs Through Failure And Patience
SPEAKER_00So I'm gonna ask you, your first question is always what and you ask me, what's your breakthrough moment? I'm gonna ask you, what's your what was your breakthrough moment?
SPEAKER_01Oh my gosh, great question. I love this question. And I the reason I chose this question for the podcast is I think, well, I want to know when I meet someone for the first time. I'm not good, I'm not I'm not a big believer in small talk.
SPEAKER_02I want to go to like the juicy stuff.
SPEAKER_01I don't know, you know, I'm a Pisces, I like deep conversations, I want to go to the truth. And so I would ask anyone who I meet, hey, what is the biggest breakthrough moment? The moment that changed it all for you. Let's go there. I want to learn about that, not how's your day going? And so I have many breakthrough moments. Typically, they come as a result of a breakdown moment. And I've had many moments of slowing down or reassessing or failures or being totally blindsided by life. It's it's you know, I'm definitely an opportunist. I definitely see opportunity and possibility and get myself into some tricky situations at times. I've been, and you know, a skill set of connecting and connecting with other people also can be a double-sided sword where I've got into some not so good scenarios as well, right? It's it's never, it's not easy to kind of learn about someone straight away. You need some time. And so I didn't know that being so naive in certain scenarios. I think realizing that, yeah, um, probably one of the biggest breakthroughs right now is coming to me is like the slow way is the fast way in life. Because I used to, as I have so much energy for life and I really enjoy connecting with people, sometimes that got me into scenarios in business where it went the wrong way. I lost, you know, a Bitcoin's worth of income from a crypto scam, right? I got connected with some wrong people and lost a Bitcoin, which you can look up online as a lot of money. And then, you know, I've been a part of scenarios where I've connected with so-called investors and they've uh pretended to be investors and you know, promised this and promised that. And months later, you know, they were not who they said they were. And so maybe I rushed into these experiences. I didn't do my due diligence, I didn't, you know, ask the hard questions. Uh, so I've really learned that the slow way is the fast way, whether it's in relationships as well, jumping into relationships, falling madly in love, and you know, proclaiming this is our future, this is what's going to be, sometimes has ended up causing more pain than I thought. Uh, and so definitely in relationships, the slow way is the fast way for me now. And even in the health and wellness game, yes, someone could take steroids or peptides or you know, do these different surgeries to get there or whatnot. That's the quick way. But the slow way is the fast way. It's consistency, it's getting up with the sun, going down with the sun, you know, slowing down, being in meditation, being in prayer, being around the right type of people, and you know, marinating in our own practices over time builds momentum. And so uh the slow way is the fast way when it comes to health and spirituality. So that would be one of my biggest breakthroughs. My dad paid for me to do some acting classes for the very first time, and I was so nervous and I didn't want to go, but then my acting class had an agent there and they saw me and said, Hey, do some commercials. And because I went to fight my fear and do it anyway, it's opened up opportunities as well. And whether it be traveling, you know, my mum took me traveling when I was two years old. How crazy is she? Take me to India. Two years old.
SPEAKER_00Are you kidding me? What is wild?
SPEAKER_01She taught me so much. And so I guess that's part of the spark of traveling now, you know, seeing the Himala the Himalayas snow, seeing the Taj Mahal, and this one moment when I left the Taj Mahal, I remember this. I remember multiple things in India. They say that our smell is our strongest sense. And I think the smell of India connected me to some memories that were so strong that I'm so surprised that I even remember this. My earliest memory is I was on a camel, my flip-flop was falling off the camel, my mom was on the camel, and we're on the beach and we're going, and I was two years old. I was like, I remember that vividly. It was at nighttime, the beach was dirty and it was dark, and it was this, you know, beach. And then I also remember going to the Taj Mahal and dancing on the Taj Mahal. I loved dancing as a kid, right? I thought I was Michael Jackson. And then when we left the Taj Mahal, there was this kid, probably five, and I saw him, he had no arms. And I looked at him and I was like shocked, right? He had no arms, and I knew what my arm, I was like, and he was so happy, irrespective of the circumstances. He was so happy. He was smiling, he had joy in his soul, in his eyes, he was just full of spirit. And that moment, I was like, wow, even if he doesn't have arms, he's still happy. What have I got to lose? What you know, and I think that really stuck with me and definitely helped craft the baseline of my personality, being in more of a state of gratitude. So that's I'm very grateful for some of those moments as well.
SPEAKER_00Yes. And to just to go back, being a person that is an ethical person and an honest person and a trusting person, and a person that would never steal from somebody or rip somebody off in any way or deceive somebody, we tend to then go through life bringing that out in other people sometimes. And sometimes we bring out the part of them that takes advantage of that in us. And so I can totally connect to that. And I can do maybe it's because I'm a Pisces also, but we've also had where we lost, I mean like bankruptcy, like lost, you know, we've been through, you know, and it's from trusting, from trusting. So it wasn't you, and you know that, but it is, I think the challenge you're saying is that figuring out how to be you while you're negotiating the world, which is not all as ethical, not everybody is as ethical. And there are people out there that scam, and that is not your jam. That's not the way you go about your life. So of course you don't expect that, and you wouldn't want to because you don't want to create more of that. But on the other hand, it does. So I guess going slower to make sure that you really feel it out all the way is is probably the lesson with that. But I would caution almost to not, it wasn't you, is what I want to say. It really wasn't you, you know. And I'm sure people out there that are listening would be like, God, you know, what kind of person would do that to him or to anybody? And it wasn't you, and I think sometimes we do think it was us, or it was something wrong with us, or it was something that we did wrong. And really just the only lesson out of it is maybe stay very aligned because I bet if you went back, you were leading maybe straight with the heart. And we talk a lot about integrating the head, the heart, and the gut. And I'm very heart-centered as well. And what I rush into with that sometimes has been the greatest joy for me, and sometimes it's been some very big mistakes without consulting the gut and then getting the brain involved a little bit. So maybe it's more like integration because I bet there was some kind of clue that you were like, no, I'm not gonna focus on that because we don't, you know, it doesn't feel like that to me. So living in integration, I think, would and you'll you because you're a fast thinker, you're a quick person, you probably have to slow down to get in that integrated state. We're connectors, and some people are very linear thinkers, and it's just two different ways. But our systems, our education systems and our societal systems are set up just for linear thinkers. So we're a little odd that we see all the connections. But um, no, you are a very intentional, honest person. So your breakthrough moments came from agony and loss, and being like, what the heck? You know, like what happened? And I think people need to hear that out there because everything is very successful and everything looks great now, but they don't see that you you fall down sometimes, and sometimes things don't work out. Well, actually, I'm gonna ask you a couple of questions.
A Sustainable Definition Of Success
SPEAKER_00How do you determine success? Like, what's success for you? How do you define it?
SPEAKER_01It's such a good question because I think one of the biggest tragedies in the world today is that we've defined success in a way that's not sustainable, that's causing suffering and pain for people, um, me included. And so whether that's success in relationships or health or or wealth or spirituality, whatever that looks like, I think a lot of the social norms, a lot of the definitions of what it means to be successful in the eyes of our family or culture or the world, an old way of looking at things. And so, and that's that's okay. I think it's it's part of the journey. But my definition, oh my gosh, you know, I'm still figuring that out, to be honest with you. It's a it's a daily process of experiencing life moment to moment in alignment with we we mentioned you mentioned it as well in your podcast, in the interview that we had, tapping into the that connection that you have within the intuition. And I think the more that I can slow down and be from living from that place moment to moment, following my highest calling or purpose, or those subtle nudges from God, the the more my life is on path with a life that creates a masterpiece. I think what that what that means is typically the the path of patience going towards our dreams and desires and building something that's you know big and important to us takes time. It's patience. Whereas in the past, I probably thought success was a certain amount of money or retirement or the external things like money or the body or the girlfriend. And that isn't my definition of success. I think my definition of success is being able to put my head on my pillow every night and with a smile and say I gave it my all, I squeezed the lemon, I made lemon juice. No matter what happened today, I took life by the horns and I really did my best to lead my life towards my dreams in the best possible way that's most ecological for me, the people around me, the world, the environment. So yeah, but it is a, it's it's a really good question because I think a lot of people are chasing certain things externally. Yeah, you know, if we strip, if I strip back a lot of my conditioning and I think about the things that really fill me up that are most important to me, if I can just rise with the sun naturally without an alarm, see the sunrise, enjoy my day, eating foods that and and things that fill me up, whether that's people as well, whether that's conversations, whether that's, you know, creating on content or whether that's, you know, doing sales and helping people in my business. If I can fill my day with things that are high on my values and that are in alignment with what I would call my calling or my purpose, the what my authentic expression here on this planet, which I'm still figuring out. I think we're all kind of still figuring that process out. I do that to the best of my ability and uh go to bed feeling quite exhausted and going, wow, I gave today my all. I did not leave a minute on the table. I really do play life to win. You know, I really think if there's one thing people can leave from today, it's play life to win, but also figure out what your definition of winning is. What is your definition of success? You know, and for me, that's you know, living a life. That's based on the cycles and the rhythms that we've got in our environment, up with the sun, down with the sun, you know, listening to my intuition and being able to create from within, being able to help people and make the world a better place, things like this. These are the things that light me up, things that I feel give me excitement, you know, the things that make me express or even sharing my story, you know, there's an energy to it. I find those things that are bringing me energy where time disappears. And I fill my day with those things. I take note. And for many years, my first podcast 10 years ago, a microbiologist, um, I was like, you know, so nervous sitting there. You can see it online. I'm sitting in my garage, I've got my kitchen in the background, my posters on the wall, and my bed's there, and my gym's in this garage. Like, you can't see that off camera. But we were sitting there and I'm asking these questions. And, you know, I just find when I lean into fear, when I when I follow the resistance a little bit and I push through that edge, that's typically where I'm in a state of there's there's a level of like excitement, and uh, it's also on the edge of like risk. And I think in life, the rules that we have been given need to be broken a little bit. You need to push, push them a little bit. Um, that there are very important rules and laws. I'm I'm not an anarchist or anything like this, but there are it's important to have structure and order. Otherwise, it's a big swamp, right? We need structure and order, otherwise, there isn't a beautiful pond and a beautiful garden. We need structure and boundaries. But if we find the things that we're rubbing up against and we we lean into our comfort zone, that to me, if I can stretch my comfort zone every day and do things that I used to say I couldn't do, and I do them anyway, that's typically a state of I feel, you know, satisfied and proud of myself. And that's typically a day that I feel like I'm winning. It's not a monetary figure, it's not a level of numbers and things like this. They're great to kind of test the waters. It's not a weight on the scale, it's not a amount of you know, money that I've made, but it's it's those are metrics that help along the journey. Yeah, it's just a vibe. You know what I mean? Sorry, it's just a vibe.
SPEAKER_00I do. So it's living in expansion. It's living in the bar, like who you came to be, expressing what's trying to come through you, and just leaning into those things that help you expand to be even more and to be even a bigger vessel for what's here to come through you. Yes. And we have external indicators sometimes, but I used to outsource what I thought was success for a very long time. And um, it's so scary because anything that can be immediately taken away from me, I know is not success. It's accomplishment, but it's not success. And that's scary to me. But what can't be taken away is at the end of the day, like, was I here? Did I live? Did I really live? Did I take the opportunities that were given to me and make the most of them? Did I show up as me? You know, did I react with kindness? Did I speak my truth with love? Could I have gone a little further with something? That is success. And those other things come as a result of that. So I really I appreciate you defining it because you have external indicators of success, as do a lot of people. And um, my audience, they have those external markers, but they're they're trying to get out of this, like they call it the hustle culture. I used to call it the rat race. I don't know, whatever people are gonna call it in 10 years, but you know what I mean. We call my husband and I call it like getting stuck on the wheel, like the hamster wheel. And then all you see is the wheel, and you're just going and going and going, you know, and you don't see anything. So, what part of that whole culture, and I'm sure you're around it a lot, feels like out of alignment for you and for how you do
Staying Aligned Without Hustle Culture
SPEAKER_00things. And how do you stay in alignment? How do you stay inspired and stay in your own alignment?
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Well, how do I stay inspired in my alignment? I think I, you know what? It's it's a lot of failure, it's a it's a lot of being comfortable looking messy, it's a lot of being open to saying yes without knowing all the answers and just figuring it out. How do I stay committed and inspired to my alignment? I think it's in my nature. I think I have a nature to want to live life. And I think going from my story from the past, being so reclused, being a kid who would hide away from reality, eating food was my escape from reality, my drug, playing computer games. I used to play 18 hours a day, World of Warcraft. And I used to, then I would, you know, I sold my account for $850 cash. It was a good account. I crushed it. If you're gonna do something well, you're gonna do something, do it well, right? Especially if you're gonna spend that much time on it. And that was at 17. Um, and uh I think I learned that, you know, I was running away from the uncomfortability of life, the overwhelm of life. People do it with alcohol, work, sex, drugs, whatever. We all have our own addiction. Um, or social media these days, or our addiction to playing small, or our addiction to uh our pride, you know, the seven deadly sins. We've all got our own, we're all dodging the bullets like Neo and the Matrix in our own way. Yes. And so how do I stay aligned? I think it's definitely in my nature, but I think I'm just comfortable with throwing myself into places where I look messy. I after computer games and school and everything like that, I threw myself into sales. I didn't didn't come from a wealthy family, very modest, kind of balanced, balanced upbringing. I I had a lot, it was no lax per se, but there was a bit of financial pressure, and I took that responsibility on as a kid to say I wanted to make a difference. I wanted to help my mom. I saw her stressing. And so I think out of desperation to help my family out of love, I wanted to become entrepreneurial. I wanted, I was all my first business was 18. She'd have a massage clinic and she was doing bodywork, and I would wash the cars of her clients in our car driveway for cash. So, you know, that's a good team. And so yeah, I've always just thrown myself into things, you know, whether it was camera and TV and all these types of things. I just would say yes to it. So I'd push up against the resistance. And in doing that, in finding the resistance, in finding the wall, everything else becomes easier because I can step back sometimes and then life is like, oh wow, no, that's not, that's my edge. I'm not gonna go there. That's too much. I want to come back, and then there's there's a state of alignment, I guess you could say. And so how I found that specifically, I follow someone called Dr. John D. Martini. He's big on values. He has a thing on his website called the values determination, which is just a process of figuring out what's most important to an individual. And when we find out what's most important to an individual, and we do that, our authentic expression of what lights us up, whether it be, I used to love soccer growing up, football. And anytime someone said to me, Let's go play football, soccer, could be two in the morning. I'm asleep. I go, yeah, let's do it, you know? And when we do the things that it's excite us, when we do the things that are high on our values, it gives us energy. Our mitochondria scientifically stimulates ATP production when we do the things that we love and we love the things that we do. And so I've been really hypersensitive through my breakdowns in terms of like challenges and failures. As I've gone through these failures and hit rock bottom, and then I start to pick my life back up, I'm more aware of the things that bring me joy. That's the podcast, that's travel, that's being up with the sun, that's you know, eating well, that's exercising well, that's having these amazing conversations, that's aligning my business to things that are more uh impact-driven or long-term, or things around AI. I love AI. And so, yeah, the more that I make the list of the things that light me up and do those things every day, now everything I do through my day, 95% of the things in my day are things that I have to like force myself to stop doing. Like a kid when I was younger playing soccer or computer games, or when a kid, you know, the the kids here with my friends here, the kids, when they're doing something and they love it, it's the most important thing in the world. They forget about time, they don't want to eat any food, right? They just want to enjoy that moment. They're just so in the moment. So I found those things that light me up and I feel my day and I do my best to have no distractions when I'm doing those things. And then the more that I do those things, the more I feel like I am having fun, spontaneous, I'm creative, I'm seeing the divinity in the unfolding of life. It's it's exciting and time disappears. And so I would say to everybody today, make a list of all the things that you do, that when you do them, time disappears. And if you don't have many of those things, you need to mix it up. Life really is a wild, wild spectrum of so many different things. It's kind of like a kaleidoscope, a Rubik's Cube. We're all figuring it out. We're all going through this world figuring out our own Rubik's Cube. What works for me might not work for you. What works for you might not work for me. But the important thing is that we sit down and have our own process of silence. We spoke about this on your podcast, and it's a theme amongst a lot of the entrepreneurs, is in that moment of silence and peace and quiet in their own relationship with the creator, that's when the stream of consciousness comes. And that voice then aligns us to our most highest alignment. And so it's a process. I'm human. There's things I did today I wish I didn't do. There's things I did today that I'm really grateful for. I'm just figuring it out.
SPEAKER_00So no, this is this is great. This is really, really this very yeah. I just have to stop kidding.
Flow State Through Presence And Bodywork
SPEAKER_00That answered your question. So where do you where do you feel? Oh my name. I talk with the kids I work with in the adults I work with a lot about where do you feel it in your body? Because we have a tendency, and I'm very mental too, where like my brain is always going, going, going. And we're just I I can just like not take in enough. I love life so much, right? But I have to stop and think, where do I, what am I feeling in my body right now? So when you're in alignment, when you're in a flow, like what you described to us flow state, right? Where you just lose track of time and it feels so good and you're doing what you love and it just it's with ease, it's with flow. It's not something that you're pushing. Where exactly in your body do you feel that physical, just physical feeling? Where do you feel it?
SPEAKER_02These questions are so deep. Sorry. Wow.
SPEAKER_01Um when so just to just what I think I heard is where do I feel it in my body when I'm in flow?
SPEAKER_00Where do you feel it in your body?
SPEAKER_01Well, one of the first times I felt flow was when I was doing acting class, and I was trained by one of the mentors at the time to focus my intention and attention on the other person. And at the time it was a massive breakthrough for me because it was one of the very few times that I was purely in the present moment. I wasn't worrying about the past, I wasn't projecting and stressing about the future or whatever, what could have been or what should have been. I was purely in the moment. And when I put my intention and attention and I did the scene from that place, and I had just connection based on purely focusing on the other person and then how that other person was making me feel. And there was this two-way communication between this kind of like a like an energy bubble between two people in this scene that I was running. It was a big breakthrough for me that I was like, I became hooked. I was like, that's what I'm searching for with when I eat. I'm searching for this connection of something through food. And I was like really present with that moment and really enjoying that moment. I was living in that moment. Or whether it was when I was doing computer games and I was in the world and I was living it and I was breathing, I was in that moment, experiencing life. Or whether I'm in the ocean and I'm bodysurfing and I'm so in the moment and I'm in my body, and my focus is not on me. So I don't feel it on me. I feel my mind is projecting onto them and listening. And the most important thing is the other person. And so where do I feel it? I don't really feel it. It's it's more of like I'm sensing it. Where do I sense it? I'm sensing it in everything around me. I'm sensing it in my mind, in my body, through what I'm picking up on different micro neuro movements in the other person energetically. I think a state of flow is like the thoughts are coming to me just in like in a second's notice. It's just, it's like a stream of consciousness. I'm not thinking about what I'm saying. And that's taken me a long time to do that. That's what I think I was really afraid of doing. I was afraid of getting it wrong. I was afraid of saying the right thing. I was afraid of being seen as a dumb person or whatever it was at school. So I never spoke up. I never did public speaking. I hid in the back of the room. I'd pretend like I wasn't in the room. I I hid like a mouse because I was so worried. And I think the more that I've done things that have put me into states of environments where I've been rejected, like sales, door knocking, acting, you know, I would just do random things, you know, especially improv. Improv is an amazing thing. I recommend everyone do, especially kids at all ages. It's so frightening. I hate it, but it's the best. It's so creative and spontaneous that you're like parts of you come out. And the more that you can live from that yes and state rather than like a no, but, no, oh, I'm yes, no, but you know, that they say that in uh in uh improv class, keep saying yes and to continue the conversation, to pick up the energy, to bring the imagination. I think that's really helped me. And I think what's really, really helped me is is, you know, my mum was a masseuse, and so I got a lot of massages growing up. And I think one of the main areas that our body holds onto trauma and a lot of negative stuck energy is our body. It's the fascia. Most of our body is made up of water. So whether it be stretching, fascia release, deep, deep tissue body work. I love deep tissue bodies. Like, well, the harder the better. I feel like a lot of my trauma got released, you know, growing up that I probably could have, shouldn't have been how I am today if I hadn't have had, you know, some good mentorship, lots of deep tissue massage. When I go to Thailand, I got a five-hour massage. My foot for one hour was massaged for one hour, one foot. Are you kidding me? So I think there's a lot to say with understanding our biology and physiology and physics and energy. We have different layers of our of our being, that'd be our mental body, our emotional body, our spiritual body, our energetic body, and the environment is part of our body too. And so if we're not synced in with all this, these different parts and layers of ourselves, it's it's really hard to be in flow. I think it's super hard to be in flow when we're wearing toxic deodorants and brushing our teeth with toxic fluoride and putting makeup and things on our body that are toxic. We don't truly know our authentic self because our body is toxic, or we're drinking tap water, or we're got don't have a shower filter, or we're having food with toxins on it. We don't know our most authentic self. Imagine that our whole life. We don't even know who we are because we've never fully been a pure vessel for that stream of consciousness to come through. It's been confused by how we've lived our life. Now it's not our fault, but it is our responsibility to change it. And so I think now more than ever, if we're having health challenges or wealth challenges or love challenges or spiritual challenges, I think it's it's a bit of a cop-out because the answers are literally one search, one conversation away. We live in the most amazing time where we can access knowledge. Someone in Honduras that I mentor can start a business and make an income online where 10 years ago, 20 years ago, he didn't have access to a smartphone. He would never have had access to that. We would have never met as well. Sorry. And so technology, it's interviewing all these amazing people on my podcast, you included, you see the world with a cup that's half full rather than a cup that's half empty. And I really think the people that are successful, they see the world differently. They see opportunity where others see risk or they see it's not the right thing. So it's it's all about how we see things. And there's opportunity, beauty, passion, like the most incredible excitement out there, or even just in your room right now, just how you perceive this experience is everything. And so we're living in a mental projection of our own belief systems, cultural norms, expectations that we didn't, that we've just been picking up on. And the more that we can shed that through bodywork, through fasting, through prayer, through spending time with other wealthy, happy, successful people, some of the most happy and healthy people have the whole thing that you can have it all. It's possible, it's out there. Some most of us are following the news or the negativity or the clickbait online and a lot of these, you know, downward spiral people, and and misery attracts misery, but success attracts success. It's right and it's it's a choice. And so I like to be the best of my ability, Morpheus, as my buddy just walked in. I just said, like this, he's Morpheus as well. You know, he's he was on my podcast, he was one of my first podcast guests, Max. And how he looks at the world and how he sees opportunity and how he sees challenge is completely different to other people. And it's so important that we surround ourselves with good quality people that help us expand rather than contract.
SPEAKER_00Exactly. So well said, just so many things. I really hope that people listen to this multiple times. I'm gonna listen to it again. I'm gonna listen to it a few times, to be honest with you, just to make sure I'm getting everything out of this that you're saying, but just so many good things.
The Life Blueprint Goal Setting System
SPEAKER_00So, what advice would you have for young people or for parents or for people in business? What advice would you have for them on where to take the next step? Like right now, there's probably somebody that's listening and that feels disconnected from themselves and like they know that they could be more, they know that they can live more, and they're waiting maybe for a breakthrough moment, or they haven't had a breakthrough moment, or they have had moments that could have been breakthrough and they ran from them. Because they because I mean a moment happens and what you do with it means it's either your breakthrough or it's your break, right? And so either it breaks you or you break through pretty much. So what advice do you have for people that are ready to transform their lives and want in? That's what this podcast is about. It's just count me in, like on in, you know. What do you what do you want to tell people?
SPEAKER_02Great water bottle, by the way. These bottles are everywhere, I swear to you. You know, the cool people have those water bottles.
SPEAKER_00Well, it was a Christmas present, and my kids gave it to me, and I was like, Oh, a water bottle that's nice. I hadn't heard of them, right? And they were like, Yeah, Ma, it's like a Stanley water bottle. I'm like, Oh, I see Stanley, that's cool. Dad's name is Stan. And they were like, No, listen, everybody's getting these water bottles. I can say without being an affiliate, this keeps my water cold for 24 hours. I mean, if I'm at the beach and I'm baking in the sun, it's cold. Yes, it is a great water bottle, and I will make sure I tell my son and daughter-in-law that.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, for sure. If you're not an affiliate, sign up, send me your link.
SPEAKER_01Um so, so I, you know, what to answer your question, I think one of the best things anyone can do today to help them to have a breakthrough is the following. I recommend everyone grab a pen and paper and they write down some of these questions. And these questions came as a result of a lot of personal development, a lot of trial and error, a lot of goal setting processes. And it became to a point where a year and a bit ago, I got this kind of nudge from God. I just kept coming on my mind, I need to post my goal setting system online. So I call it the life blueprint system. And it's a set of questions that I posted online. And because of that, a friend of mine down in Puerto Escondido, I was in Tijuana at the time, and I posted it online. And my friend said, Hey, that's a cool goal setting process. Can you come and teach it to some friends down in Puerto Escondido? I said, Where's Puerto Escondido? It's like down the bottom of Mexico. It's right on the equator. And so he goes, Yeah, come down here. I said, Okay, sure. So I flew down there and I presented at this event with him and some other entrepreneur friends, and I shared this goal setting system with them. And the goal setting system is like this: it starts with the 10-year vision. So you look at the eight areas of life health, wealth, relationships, family, mental, emotional, spiritual, and hobbies. And so we look at all these different eight areas of life, and where do we want to be? Where do you want to be in 10 years from now? How old are you gonna be? What do you want to achieve? And write it as though it's a you've achieved it right now. Say, I'm so happy and grateful. Grateful, I am now this, and this has already happened. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. Put that there, and then under that, say, where do you want to be in 12 months from now? In those eight areas, where do you want to be? And then write down where you want to be in 90 days, and then write down where you want to be in 30 days, and there where you want to be in seven days, and then where you want to be daily. And if we can get clearer on the actions that we do today and make sure and we can assess are the actions I'm doing today with all the things I'm currently doing, are they lining me up with who I want to be in 10 years from now? If the answer is no, then you've got to stop it. And that's the challenge. Zach says so. And then those things that you need to get clear on, what are the things that you do today that's going to line you up to your 30-day goal, 90-day goal, your yearly goal, your 10-year goal, and start living your 10-year vision as though it is now. You'll achieve, if you go hard, if you literally focus and live your life to the fullest for a year, you might even be able to achieve some 10-year goals in 12 months as a result on getting that clarity. Now, the second part of that is finding other people who are also setting big visions and want to go after their goals, whatever that is. And then finding time to collaborate or, you know, check in every month, every quarter, every year. Let's check in on our goals. And so we were doing that as a community every week. Are these things you're doing today lining you up? And so if it's not, stop it or figure out why, get some help. And then the things that are bringing you closer, do more of those things. Fill your day. It's kind of like when you're eating healthy or you're starting a new health thing. The more healthy food you eat, the better. Sometimes it's just eat all the good stuff. Eat as much as of it as you want. Eventually it will crowd out all the unhealthy food. And so if you can fill your day with all these things that are gonna start to move you forward, then the things that aren't bringing you closer to your goals will eventually start to disappear. And sometimes just that mere awareness of like, oh my gosh, I'm gonna be 46 in 10 years. What type of family do I want to have? Do I want kids? How much money do I have? Where am I gonna be? What do I want to have experienced? How do I want to give, you know, like it's a very eye-opening experience to really think about 10 years from now. And I really wish it's my wish that everyone that leaves school, high school or college has that 10-year plan and that there's communities to check in every 90 days. And if all of us, imagine if you, imagine, I was like, that's what I wish. Wish someone helped me figure out my 10-year vision when I was 18 clearly and checked in on me fortnightly, monthly, quarterly, yearly, checked in. My life would be drastically more successful in every area. There would have been more accountability, there would have been more levels of insight, reflection, you know, mentorship and goal setting can change individuals' life quicker than anything. Now, do I regret anything? No. But in hindsight, that would be a cool thing. And I really wish there is that type. So we went to create this. It was called the Life Blueprint System. It's online, lifeblueprintsystem.io, and it's a goal setting system to help people actually create that.
SPEAKER_00That sounds good. That will be helpful, and we'll definitely make sure that we have that in the show notes. And I'll have links for all of your connections in the show notes as well. So I think living in balance with what you think right now that you want for yourself in 10 years. And then what a lot of the people I work with is what they thought they wanted was not quite like that. And you have to be able to break it down into manageable pieces right down to what are you doing today that feeds that? And are
Accountability Reflection And Dynamic Range
SPEAKER_00you going in the direction that feeds that? Or are you getting down the road feeding something else? You know, so definitely keeping the vision. Um, that said, did you have an idea five years ago that you would be doing what you're doing right now? And do you think that some of it is kind of a dance with now that I'm here, this and I've done all these expansion things that some of them come to me, I don't know they're gonna happen. I had no idea how great life was gonna be. I'm just gonna say it's probably changed, you know, because now maybe I want this, or now maybe I see that this is possible. And like, would you have known 10 years ago? Would you like your life is great right now? Your life is so inspirational and you're helping so many people, and you're just at the edge of it. You're just you are at the edge, like you've done a lot already. I feel like your biggest breakthroughs, to be honest, are yet, and they're happening. They're gonna be happening. I feel like this is gonna be a really, really particularly year for you this year. Don't know why. I'm just yeah, it's a feeling I get. And I don't think you could imagine how big you're actually going to be, how much influence you're actually going to have on the amount of people that you're going to influence. So I think the balance of that and being open to what are you trying to tell me right now, based on where I am now, because we can only envision from the place where we are at that time. So definitely creating that vision because it puts you on a path, because I want what that's gonna feel like. I might envision this because I want what that's gonna feel like, and that's gonna feel like I'm doing what I'm here to do. That's gonna feel like I'm able to have the freedom. That's gonna feel like I can be myself in a loving relationship. And then when you get there, it becomes even more because you are more yourself every single day that you stay in alignment with yourself and you live in alignment with yourself. So you know what I'm talking about. So I think the balance, there's beauty in the balance and having that company with you and those people with you that are a support network and a community saying, okay, you know, remember you said you wanted this and look at how this feels right now. And this is what we see. Like people that can look and see you, really see you for what you've got going on. But more so is the idea that you've got to at least start to tap into what you want and what makes you come alive inside, and then be aware moment to moment. Am I building that or not? You know, so those are really beautiful, very, very wise, wise things coming out of you.
SPEAKER_01And on that, well, thank you. And I I definitely agree. I think life is a paradox. We need to have focus and we need to let go and have full distraction. There's the feminine dance, there's the masculine dance, there's the cold freezing ice bath, and there's the hot, crazy hot here in Dubai or sauna, you know, and there's there's these extremes. And I think it's what I've really learned is is the technical term is a dynamic range. And I think a lot of the time people get stuck on a certain temperature of life, they get stuck on a certain level in the thermostat, and they like to stay there because it's their comfort zone. They get they we adapt as humans to anything. We can adapt to so many different wild things, right? And so the beautiful thing about life is that there's a range, it's beautiful range. And I think it's so important to be wildly okay with letting go and letting God and going with the flow and letting just life take you wherever it goes. And I think it's wildly important to be incredibly intentional and deliberate and have discernment and thought and the right people to guide. So I think there's a time and a place for everything. There's pros and cons to everything. We live in this world full of infinite possibility. And I know that the times that I had quantum leaped into another level of alignment, if we call it that, was when I had people around me to help me reflect on parts of my behavior or who I or how I was showing up that maybe wasn't fully my true self. Maybe there were patterns or habits or things I learned from the past that I was just living into. And I was able through the mirror effect of a coach or a partner or a parent or a friend or some stranger calling, you know, these are moments of reflection that allowed me to assess and have that moment of ref of introspection to self-awareness to say, okay, yeah, yes, no, maybe. And so that's another thing is I, you know, really would impart that we spend some time every week looking back and reflecting and journaling or having time with someone that we love. What went well this week? What could we have done better? What could we do next time? You know, what do we want to celebrate? How do we want to uplift? How many compliments do we give this week? You know, how many times did you look in the mirror and say, I love you to yourself? And so I think it's really important to have these, these practices. These are, I guess they're not the rules to life, they're kind of the guides to life. It's such a personal experience. Yes. And my way is works for me, but it doesn't work for everybody else. And so, you know, we just got to find what that thing is for us, you know. But I do know the power of accountability. I do know the times where I've pushed it to the nth degree and pushed it in the gym or in business, or I've got to another level, so to speak, was when I had either support, like healthy competition, or like competition of like healthy accountability. But in those moments, they push me to another level. And I think that's really important. Iron sharpens iron, whether it's a coach or someone sharing the truth with you and really sitting you down, or whether it's just you taking an audit of your own life, or even it's AI. You know, AI can help reflect back some things too. It can also create hallucinations that are not so helpful. Um, but yeah, I think it's really important to take that time to self-reflect uh and have accountability too. So I think it's my German side, my mom's side's German and very like structured and ordered, and it has to be a certain way. It's probably a bit of that.
SPEAKER_00Well, it's a good thing because there has to be both. I mean, without structure, without like a riverbank, there's just water all over the place. I mean, there has to be structure. There has to be some structure, and there has to be allowance for flow. So, no, and accountability, what 100% with that, definitely. We even with my third graders, we have like somebody, there's an accountability partner. Sometimes it's me, sometimes it's somebody in their family. We have these conversations and I ask them these same questions. They just have less life experience with which that they answer. Um but I've always, always wanting to introduce them to somebody who I see that I feel like this this person's got it. I don't mean like that, your life is all perfect or anything because life and perfection, like it's different, you know, there's a lot of perfection and there's no perfection because we're having a human experience. But you're somebody I'm very careful at who I introduce my people to. And I'm very,
How To Connect And Closing Thoughts
SPEAKER_00very honored to have met you. No, I really am, because you have so much to offer. So I'm really hoping that people will come back to this podcast and will connect with you. How can people reach you? I need to remember to stay grounded myself to ask you that question because I'll talk to you forever, but we've got to stop at some point. So, so how can people reach you?
SPEAKER_01So, yeah, my uh zacdean.com or on Instagram, Facebook, or my YouTube channel, my podcast, the Breakthrough Moment Podcast, where I've interviewed a whole bunch of entrepreneurs and investors, uh, that's a great place to really get the most up-to-date uh insights on what I'm creating. And then if anyone's out there, they want the life blueprint system as well, you can go to my website or you can go to thelifeblueprint.io. And if anyone's out there that wants to find more podcasts that help them grow their own personal brand and community, and to also create some content on the back end of these podcasts, I have uh either a software that you can log in yourself, find podcasts in your niche and message and track and be organized in that in that process. Or if you I have a service where we have some professional people that can create the content and find the best podcasts for you so you can grow online. I really think podcasts are the best way today to get out there to build trust and um connection with new people, new communities. And if someone has a meaningful message, either out there and you really want it to reach more the hearts and minds of more people, please reach out. I'd love to help you. And if you want to be on the podcast, yeah, check out the website and apply.
SPEAKER_00Okay. All right. Well, I can't thank you enough for this. And you're going to reach so many people and touch so many people's lives. You really are. I feel like I'm very, very, very grateful that we've met. And thank you. I know that this was really hard to cram in today, so I so appreciate it. You did it very gracefully. And I know how busy you are, so I do want to respect your time. And we will make sure that we have the links in the show notes. And thank you. And I hope you have a beautiful, beautiful rest of your day. Please stay in touch and look for people who get in touch with you from my audience. And a lot of them might be younger people, so but you could really benefit them. Knowing somebody like you could really inspire them.
SPEAKER_01So and I would just say, yeah, and thank you so much for having me. This is you know a pleasure and a delight. Thank you for helping me share my story. If there is anyone out there that, yeah, I guess that extra level of mentorship, you know, if there is someone out there that might resonate with this, please share the interviewer podcast. And uh, I think, yeah, in my near future, there'll be more mentorship for people. Um, you know, teens. Uh ideally, I want to turn the breakthrough moment interviews into a book, a coffee table book that people can pick up and see these breakthrough moments from all walks of life and different entrepreneurs and different professions and things like this, and also a book for teens. I think when I read Rich Dad Poor Dad, it was a great book and definitely helped me, but it was quite hard to read at the time. And so I read Rich Dad Poor Dad for Teens, and that gave me this like, oh, the concepts landed a lot easier for me. And so I want to be able to create that book as well. So if that's something that uh is inspiring or people want to collaborate in some way, shape, or form on that, more than happy to connect. So thank you for the opportunity.
SPEAKER_00Okay, well, thank you, Zach. Thank you so much until next time. See you everybody. Okay, all right.