Reclaiming Your Energy in a Draining World with Spencer Jones

There’s a point where you can be doing everything “right”… and still feel completely off.

Showing up, working hard, pushing forward yet underneath it all, something doesn’t feel aligned.

In this episode of Braving the Brightside, I sit down with Spencer Jones, speaker, coach, author, and the self-proclaimed “Prince of Positivity”, to talk about what’s really going on beneath that feeling.

We dive into burnout, energy, and the subtle ways we disconnect from ourselves without even realizing it. Spencer shares how high performers often find themselves running on empty, and what it actually looks like to slow down, realign, and start reclaiming your energy.

This isn’t about doing more.

It’s about coming back to yourself.

If you’ve been feeling off, overwhelmed, or just not quite like yourself lately—this conversation might be exactly what you need.

Website: https://wearejonesinfor.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/spencermjonesofficial
Facebook Business: https://www.facebook.com/jonesinfor
Youtube: https://youtube.com/spencerjonesin
Instagram: https://instagram.com/jonesinfor
TikTok: https://tiktok.com/user/jonesinfor
Energy Hub Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1342902855881858
Email: spencer@wearejonesinfor.com

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Appreciate yous.

Love,

Dan

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

So this is very exciting. Because I was recording over Google Meets, which is cool, but like I couldn't talk at the same time as the guest. If at any point our voices crossed, it sounded like Optimus Prime, like having a heart attack or something.

SPEAKER_02 0:12

It was like enough to go for in a podcast by any means.

SPEAKER_01 0:35

You're showing up, you're working, you're pushing forward. But if you're being honest, you're probably tired too. Not just physically, but mentally, emotionally, even spiritually. And it's a strange kind of tired. Because from the outside, nothing looks wrong. But on the inside, it feels like you're carrying something you just can't quite explain. Like you've drifted a little too far from yourself. Like you're moving, but you're not really living. And maybe you've told yourself to just keep going and pushed through it and figure it out later. But here's the truth. You weren't meant to live your life constantly running on empty. You weren't meant to feel disconnected from your own energy, your own purpose, your own sense of self. Sometimes the most important thing you can do isn't to push harder. It's to pause. To breathe. To check in. Because even if you feel off right now, even if things feel heavy, you're not stuck. You're just being called back to yourself. And that return, that's where the shift begins. My name's Dan Bradley. And this is Braving the Bright Side. Hello, bright siders, and happy spring. Weather's warming up, the birds are back and super loud and sometimes kind of annoying. And you can finally step outside without your body going into survival mode and you know shivering so hard that you tear a ligament in your shoulders. And your favorite baseball team is getting ready to most likely break your heart all over again. It's a great time of the year. It's good to be here with you. I hope uh I hope you're all out there braving it the best you can, despite whatever this world may be throwing your way or demanding from you. Now I've got something I've been really excited to share. Yours truly is officially on the path to becoming a published author. Fingers crossed. I've been working over the past few months with Brian, uh last week's guest, and his team at Brian Currion's business services to bring my story to life. Uh it's kind of funny, it's kind of insane, and well, hopefully very relatable as well. Think of it as an extension of Braving the Bright Side, but just with a lot more backstory. I'm only a few chapters in. And honestly, it's been equal parts therapy, cringe. God, so much cringe, uh healing and growth. And I genuinely can't wait for you all to read it. I'll keep you updated as this thing's move forward. Uh alright, now that I got that little bit of selfless self-promotion out of the way, let's get into this week's feel-good news, shall we? Alright, the feel-good news segment, uh, where I deliver some feel-good news instead of the brutal news. We are hit over the head with constantly and constantly. So I search and scour the interwebs to find uh news stories that hopefully brighten your day just a little bit and remind you that it's gonna be okay. Uh number one, here we go. Students build tiny homes for the homeless. A group of high school students in the U.S. has been spending their semester building fully functional tiny homes for people experiencing homelessness. The homes include insulation, electricity, and beds, giving human beings a real shot at stability and dignity. Number two, lost dog found after five years. My dog's gone crazy in the bat in the background, so I apologize if you can hear him. Or you're welcome, really, because he's adorable and you should love him. Anyway, a family was reunited with their dog, missing for five years after a vet scanned its microchip. The emotional reunion reminds us how powerful simple tools like microchipping can be, and that hope isn't always on a deadline. Number three, desert land turned into forest. This is pretty crazy. An environmental project has successfully transformed dry, barren land into a thriving green forest using sustainable irrigation and net native plants. Wildlife has already begun returning, proving that damaged ecosystems can bounce back. Number four, teen saves neighbor using CPR learned on TikTok. That's right. TikTok saves someone's life. A teenager saved a neighbor's life after performing CPR, something he learned from short educational videos online. It's a powerful reminder that the right content, even in small doses, can literally save lives. Number five, library erases late fees nationwide. More library systems across the country are eliminating late fees to make reading accessible to everyone. Since the change, participation has surged, especially among lower income families and kids rediscovering books. Number six, community fridge feeds hundreds daily. A volunteer-run community fridge in a major city is now feeding hundreds of people every day. Locals donate fresh food, and anyone in need can take what they need. No questions asked. I gotta tell you, looking at the picture of this lady, she looks phenomenal for 90. A 90-year-old man Okay, well, it's a man, not a woman. Whoops. A 90-year-old man just earned his college degree, fulfilling a lifelong dream decades in the making. His message? It's never too late to chase something meaningful. I feel like I should edit this out. Number eight. And let's end it on a good one, shall we? Number eight is firefighters rescue puppies from house fire. Firefighters rescued a litter of puppies from a house fire and even use tiny little oxygen masks to revive them. All survived, and now they're being adopted into loving homes. Proof that good people still exist, second chances are real, and no matter how heavy things feel, there's always light pushing through somewhere. And that is your feel good news segment. All right. Boy Howdy. Listen, I'm excited for you guys to meet the next guest. His name is Spencer Jones. He's a speaker, coach, author, and someone wildly known as the Prince of Positivity. Fantastic nickname. Through his work with Jones and 4, Spencer helps high performers reconnect with their energy, realign with what actually matters, and show up more fully in their lives. This was a really powerful conversation about burnout, alignment, and what it actually means to come back to yourself. Here's my conversation with Spencer Jones. Today's guest is someone who has built a reputation around helping people reconnect with their energy, their purpose, and the way they show up in the world. He's been called the Prince of Positivity. And for good reason, Spencer Jones is an author of multiple books, a speaker, a coach, and the founder of Jones and For, a community built around helping high performers reclaim their energy and live with intention. Through his work, Spencer has helped countless people move from feeling overwhelmed and burned out to feeling aligned, focused, and genuinely excited about their lives again. But beyond the titles and accomplishments, he's also just a really good human being who believes deeply in lifting people up and helping them become the best versions of themselves. So, with that being said, Spencer Jones, welcome to Braving the Bright Side, my friend. How are you today?

SPEAKER_02 9:13

I am freaking fantastic. Thank you so much for the awesome intro. I'm super excited to be here with you.

SPEAKER_01 9:18

Yeah, man. We're excited to have you here. Um, well, listen, for people who don't know you, we're just going to jump in right now and let you tell your story. There's a lot for you to tell. Um, I'm excited for the world to hear it. Um, so for people who don't know you and are just meeting you for the first time, first time today, how would you describe the work you do and uh what Jones and For is all about?

SPEAKER_02 9:41

Yeah, I really appreciate you asking. So basically at Jones and 4, we help leaders and their teams reduce overwhelm and stress so they don't burn out. I've seen it time and time again. I've been the person who's burnt out. Uh and so it's been this mission of mine now to help a billion people step into their light and shine bright. So I'm really excited with what we do and what we've built and tested, uh, helping individuals and the teams and businesses so that they can impact as many lives as they can.

SPEAKER_01 10:11

That's really cool. Yeah, I I can speak to that in terms of um feeling burnout. You know, I was a chef, um, and then just life in general is just kind of seeping in and kind of felt burned out, lost, and kind of wandering around for a while. So I know that speaks to a lot of people out there right now for sure. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_02 10:31

A lot of people feel it. Um, and it's interesting as we've done research. A lot of people feel burnout and they feel that mental noise and overwhelm and the constant pressure to be on. But yet it's interesting as we've uh you know try to help people and and share our stuff with them. Saying the word burnout almost puts people off, like, oh no, no, I don't need that, right? That's not me. I'm not gonna be there. But if we frame it as, oh, you have mental overwhelm, a lot of noise, a lot of uh stressors in your life, then they go, Oh yeah, totally, let's get rid of that. So it's been interesting. But uh, you know, if we look at corporate America side of it, then then say the word burnout, do those things because then they're raising their hands and they still need the other identifier so they can identify with their team members. But it's just interesting. It's interesting how how people are, and I'm the same way, right? Of how, you know, what do we want to identify with or as, especially when it's something that we're not proud of.

SPEAKER_01 11:22

Yeah, yeah. Especially when like it's interesting you say the word burnout, and people are like, No, no, no, no, I'm not burned out. Like it's almost like looked at as like a weakness or like they've lost their their lust for whatever they're doing or their their passion or whatever. And you're like, No, that's not what we're saying at all. You're just it's a lot, it's frying you, you know.

SPEAKER_02 11:39

Exactly, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 11:40

Um, you know, in your talks and and and reading about what you've written reading what you've written and whatnot, um, you've which I really like, you speak a lot about energy and alignment, which speaks to me personally a lot. Um, so what does it actually mean in practical terms when you talk about energy and alignment?

SPEAKER_02 11:58

Yeah, great, great question. So for me, I think of that analogy that we probably have all heard some iteration of or another, and that is you can't pour from an empty cup. So for me, okay, and we we know that, and so we do things to take care of ourselves, right? Okay, I'm going to take this vacation, I'm gonna take this little breather, I'm gonna do yoga, I'm gonna work out, I'm going to do breath work or whatever that is. Awesome. Except here's the issue. So if you're pouring into that cup, the issue is that we've never been told or shown that our cup is through no fault of our own, poked full of holes. So those energy leaks or energy vampires, I call them, basically things that are not aligned with who you are and where you're going. So examples of that would be uh I'm not enough. I need to prove myself. Um, this person or this organization, man, I just it drains me when I'm there. Like I feel physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually exhausted. One of them or all of them. Uh, you know, that crazy Uncle Eddie, you know, whoever at Thanksgiving dinner who drains you, whatever. It's internal, so inside you, and external factors. So it's recognizing those things that are out of alignment with who you are and with where you're going, that vision you have for yourself in the future, um, getting rid of those things and then aligning yourself with things that do align with who you are, with how you want to show up with your identity and what you're trying to build and create in this world.

SPEAKER_01 13:23

Very cool. Very cool. Um, well, listen, let's let's jump into your story and what led you to down this path of uh of helping others and lift others up, shall we? Are you cool with that?

SPEAKER_02 13:34

I I'm I'm ready when you are. I hope you're ready. It's a long one. So, you know, get in, get a drink, uh, we'll have some fun here.

SPEAKER_01 13:41

Yeah, light some candles, open up a bottle of wine. Let's uh let's make a night of it, shall we? Um, all right. So let's just say, what was your, you know, what was your life like before um you found yourself doing this work?

SPEAKER_02 13:55

Yeah. Um, well, so for me, we started I started doing this full time about six years ago. So, right about uh January of 2020, I started doing this full time. I've been coaching people last 12 years in different iterations from fitness, mindset, health to energy, and um, we call it mastering your energy sovereignty, what we do now. But before I was a full-time entrepreneur, even though I've had entrepreneurial journeys as a kid and onward, uh, I was a middle school and high school choir director. So I they trained penis, love working with kids, love music and all that. But I was trying to prove myself to the world so much, you know, trying to prove who I am and and have that notoriety, have that fame, money. And you know, teaching is not going to get me money. Hopefully the the entrepreneurial side would, but uh in any case, I was chasing it so much, making decisions, trying to lead with that ego, trying to prove myself so much, and uh just made stupid decisions, like we all do, right? We all make stupid decisions and life checks us. And sometimes we learn from them, sometimes we don't. Um, but uh I I didn't learn from them for the first couple number of times. Life checked me, and then it hit me, uh, you know, kicked that pedestal out from me really hard, and I came crashing down. And um, then I that's when I hit my rock bottom where I was suicidal, hated who I'd become. I mean, in full transparency, I really didn't know who I was. Like, I like I who is Spencer? Does he like chocolate cake? Does he not? Because I was putting on so many facades and you know, uh walls of to protect myself. I lost who I was. So uh then started this whole journey of figuring out who is Spencer, who, you know, what does he like, and learned to love him truly for him. Uh, and that was a couple year journey. But in that journey, I we discovered the the energy sovereignty pathway and the stuff that we do now. So it was beneficial, but it was a journey.

SPEAKER_01 15:44

Yeah, it always is a journey. And I'm very much one of those hard-headed people that it certainly took life to, you know, to kind of hit me with a couple uppercuts, not just one, to really be like, uh, okay, now I see.

SPEAKER_02 15:55

No, but like we're tough. Like, no, no, no, yeah, one punch isn't gonna take me. Uh you gotta deliver all of them.

unknown 16:02

Right.

SPEAKER_02 16:02

Why?

SPEAKER_01 16:05

Um, what was like um what was a major moment in your life when you realized that, well, your life wasn't aligned, you know, kind of what you're you're speaking to now, what you speak to others about. What was a moment in your life where you realized there was a no-alignment?

SPEAKER_02 16:21

Um I mean, there's multiple moments where there's like little signs of it, right, leading up through and just recognizing it. And I'm I'm making because I knew personal growth at the time I was doing stuff, so I was making small adjustments, but it was only surface level. The the big aha moment for me was hitting my rock bottom was when I was suicidal, I made those choices, and I'm like, well, my my looks like my my family's gonna leave me, you know, like I'm done. I have no friends, no family. It felt like at that point, um, and they had every right to walk away, you know, all those things. I lost friends, jobs, money, people. Uh that that was a point where I'm like, well, I'm F'd. What something needs to change?

SPEAKER_01 17:04

I mean, internally, it's I imagine it's a brutal, brutal struggle.

SPEAKER_02 17:08

I mean, there I've never been I I've been in dark places, but I've never been in that dark of a place where I I felt like uh and my friends don't necessarily like when I'd share it this way, but this is how it felt to me. It's almost like a bomb went off, and every literally everything shattered. As in there's just pieces of Spencer, pieces of whatever. Uh, and so I'm waking up going, oh, okay, like what who am I? Like, what's my reason why? What do I do? And the only thing I could grasp onto at that time, I remember for at least for a reason why was well, I don't know what this is for. Uh, I promised my wife I wasn't gonna kill myself, and she's sticking by my side, at least for now. We're still married, and I'm grateful for that. But uh uh at the time, I'm like, well, she's still sticking by my side so far, so this is good. Um what uh since I'm not gonna kill myself, this this has to be for something. I'm gonna learn something that's gonna allow me something. I don't know what, but I'm gonna learn something that's gonna help me help someone either get out of this faster or avoid this. But what that is, I have no clue. And so then I was just walking that journey, seeing a therapist, and and he validated the stuff I was already doing that I've learned through personal growth and then gave me more tools and strategies. And it's like, you know, hard-headed. Sure, I'm gonna do these things, but I'm only gonna like look like I'm doing these things. It was only surface level. And now when I was at the rock bottom, it actually had fertile soil. It can be planted in and water allowed to grow.

SPEAKER_01 18:34

Wow. Yeah, I love that. That's interesting. Uh, I mean, I was gonna ask you, you know, what was the moment, what changed in you for you? But it sounds like, you know, when you didn't know who you were, or you felt like you hit that rock bottom, you just kind of hung on to the fact that, okay, well, I'm still here. My wife's still here. I have to pivot at some point.

SPEAKER_02 18:53

Right. If I'm going to make it and survive and figure out and and enjoy life, I need to figure this stuff out because this what I've been doing hasn't been working, and it has been working for years. Like I remember uh I was 12 years old and yeah, 12 years old. Uh and I was I was homeschooled as a kid, so I was always seen like the outcast, but we had our homeschool group that got together and uh did ballroom dancing of all things for um for our PE class. So once a week we got together, and I remember my first year doing it. Um, kids my age, whatever, it was my brother and I, and then other kids who were all friends or family and connected cousins or whatever. And we were kind of like the I weren't we weren't the rejects, but we were just like the outsiders of an of the homeschool group, right? And and so it just felt bad. And I I didn't enjoy it because I didn't have friends there. And yeah, and so I remember it was well in the last couple of weeks, and I'm like, I'm not going to do this again unless I get friends somehow, right? I have friends here. So I looked at how they dress, and they dressed more 70s style, right? So you're talking like polyester plaid pants, striped dress shirts, this stuff that clashed and was like horrible for the eyes. But and I looked at how they walked, how they talked, and did those things. And I remember going to a thrift store and going, hey, what would what would that person buy, you know, of that group? What would they buy? And I was literally looking through through that lens, buying clothes at a thrift store because I was, you know, 12 or 13. I guess I was 13. And I'm like, okay, I'll get these clothes, putting it on, and walked in wearing them so nervous. And lo and behold, then they talked to me, right? And then they talked and invited me in. Now you could say, oh, what a shallow group and all that. You're talking to like 13-year-old boys, right? So, like, well, whatever. Um, I get it, but also now I now I was accepted in the group and they remained my friends throughout throughout uh until I was my first year of college. Uh and so I had that group, but that's the moment I changed who I was, how I dressed, how I walked, how I talked, just to fit in. And that was the impetus to everything that led up for the next um I could do math here, for the next uh 20 years, because it was 33 when I hit my rock bottom. So for 20 years, I was putting in all these facades.

SPEAKER_01 21:11

So you were literally, I mean, not literally, but you were putting on different clothes for different people that you were, you know, hanging out with in your life or different avenues you were going down.

SPEAKER_02 21:19

You were just, you know, for someone I those ones, I would dress like that. When I was in college, or uh, I would still dress like that at times, but I'm gonna meet these people, I would dress like this. When I'm at work, I would dress like this. And when when I after I hit my rock bottom, and I was I just started a full-time business, right? And I hit rock bottom. Uh as I figured myself out more and more, I signed up to go to chambers events, right? After COVID and all that stuff. Great. I'll sign up chamber events. And I remember going, we're going to business after hours. I'm like, what the hell do I wear? Like, what what what do I see in pictures? People are all dressed up, you know, or not like just suits and stuff, but at least dress shirts and and and stuff like that. I'm like, well, but did did I do that? Do I not do that? Do that? Like, uh, what do I do to fit in? I'm like, well, hold on, I don't need to just wear what they're wearing anymore. I don't have to live that life. I could just be me. And so I wore one of my crazy suits, which I have a lot of like I have over a dozen bright and just really obnoxiously loud suits, which I just love to wear. Or that and cool. And then I now it's kind of become my calling card when I speak on stages or go to things like that. I often wear a jacket or a full suit that's kind of bright and crazy, or like tie-dye, um, stuff like that. And so cool, but now I could just be me and people don't bat an eye at it, right? I wear my hoodie, I'm wearing right now, I'm wearing a hoodie full of patches, which is from events, and I could walk in wearing that to a black tie event, and you know what? It's gonna be okay. I might feel a little weird at points, not gonna lie. And you know, I try to be respectful and dress as needed, but also I don't need to impress.

SPEAKER_01 22:51

Yeah, that's great. That's powerful stuff, that's powerful stuff right there.

SPEAKER_02 22:55

Um, I messed up enough.

SPEAKER_01 22:57

Yeah, yeah, exactly. Same, same here. You know, I got wiped off the face of the earth at one point, and then I was like, okay, well then just rebuild back from here, and it doesn't matter what anybody else thinks because I've already hated myself for long enough, that's for sure.

SPEAKER_02 23:12

Right? I don't need more yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:14

So was there a moment where you realized that um, you know, this wasn't just personal growth when you started making these changes and you started kind of figuring out who you were. Um when did you realize, like, okay, I can use this to help people? Like when, you know, throughout your journey as you pivoted back to finding who you were as Spencer Jones, when did you realize that you wanted to use this to start helping people?

SPEAKER_02 23:38

Yeah. So so before I hit rock bottom, I was coaching fitness, and then that led into mindset. So I was already using some of the stuff I was learning to help people to a small degree, right? Just starting out with mindset and then hit rock bottom and and like nope, okay, all that's done. Um, and COVID happened uh shortly thereafter. And so then I as I was going through this journey, I'm like, okay, my business needs to pivot because it that's not working out the way what we planned because of COVID. So, okay, let's pivot business plans. What does this look like? And so as I was on my journey, I just started getting, well, I put together Zoom rooms, right? So we would get together once a week uh with or once or twice a week with other with people, just hey, I have this room open, let's come connect and and have this little community call. And so um from there, hearing what people were going through and after working on continuing to work on myself. So I was still not at rock bottom, a couple months passed, right? But still pretty fresh. Uh talking with my therapist, working on stuff for me, and realizing that whole uh energy sovereignty pathway, that cup that's full of holes thing, and started working on it for me. I realized, hey, there's people out here who are struggling too with that same thing, at least there's some degrees of it. Let's see if I we can help them. And so uh probably like most entrepreneurs, I started out with, okay, this helped me. Now let's see if this helps other people and then build it up from there. So it was like, okay, we'll start at square one. I'm at square two or three. Let me help people at our square one now. And then just we've built that up over time and then you know, got rid of stuff that didn't align or didn't work as well and refined it and all that good stuff. But uh, it was pretty early on for me when when I realized and saw, hey, other people in our community are struggling with this and they're asking me for help with it. Like, okay, well, we we can do that.

SPEAKER_01 25:31

That's pretty cool. So you mean you built as you kind of rebuilt yourself too in a way. That's just really cool.

SPEAKER_02 25:37

The the stuff I teach has helped me just as much, if not more, than it's helped anybody else.

SPEAKER_01 25:42

Right. I mean, that's how you know it's gonna help other people because it's authentic, you know, it comes from your own journey. Exactly. Um so that's that, I mean, is that how Jones and For built kind of came about? Was that whole thing?

SPEAKER_02 25:55

Yeah, at least this iteration of Jones and For. So when we started out, it was fitness, so it Jones and to get fit, you know, like you're you're Jones and for chocolate or Jones for Positivity.

SPEAKER_01 26:04

So Jones appreciate the Jones's is being a part of a core part of your company name every time, too. That's fantastic.

SPEAKER_02 26:10

Gotta have fun with it, right? Just enjoy it. So yeah, Jones and to get fit, and then we got more to mindset, and then as we shifted to this whole energy sovereignty and mindset and figuring out what this iteration was of it, we're like, I'm not doing as much fitness coaching. That doesn't make sense. Let's get rid of that. And we just said, well, let's just call it Jones and for. So you're Jones and for positivity, right? Or Jones and for whatever. Um, and the tagline I said a lot at the time, still say a bunch, is live your life to the max. So, okay, you're Jones and to live your life to the max. So, what does that look like? And uh this company grew throughout that. So the iterations are okay, first it was positive and abundant mindset and helping people build what that looks like. Cause I knew the science and the hacks and strategies, but now let's go deeper with it. And the company kind of grew as I grew up with it, with doing the stuff myself, right? As I said, and we've refined it to the programs and stuff we have now.

SPEAKER_01 27:13

Um what patterns do you still see in people who feel successful but kind of still off on the inside, you know?

SPEAKER_02 27:22

Well, one, they recognize hey, I'm successful on paper, but I don't, I don't, it feels off. I don't feel like these wins are as big of a win anymore. Like I I used this used to feel amazing, and now it just feels like yeah, okay, on to the next thing. Um, they feel uh overwhelmed often, like they can never catch up no matter how much they do. They have a lot of mental noise or overwhelm. So it's like you have a thousand tabs open, right? And it's is constantly just going and going and going and going. And no matter what you do, it you can't seem to check them off fast enough. Um and another big telltale sign is you're just exhausted. Like, yeah, like and it's it's different iterations, right? So we push down and be like, oh no, I'm good, or I'll take, I'll, you know, I'll take care of myself after the season. When once this project is done, once I'm through, you know, whatever this project or season in my life, whatever, then then I'll take care of myself. Then I'll go take that vacation. But do you very rarely, because then you just it gets filled with the next thing, on to the next thing. And if you do take a vacation, a trip, or you do something for you eventually, your mind is so wired to be like, well, what's the next thing? What's the next thing? What's the next thing? Okay, another hole in your cup. No matter what you do, it's just gonna drain and not not satiate you, not fill you up, not help you feel fulfilled for very long, if that might yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 28:45

So you you may physically take yourself out of it, but mentally you're still running yourself down. 100%. Yeah. Um, I could feel that for sure. You one of the things that I found really interesting is you talk about energy sovereignty, um, which I thought is really, really cool, very interesting. Can you speak to that for people who do not don't know what that is?

SPEAKER_02 29:06

Yeah. So energy sovereignty is a term we came up with. So um think of a king or queen, you know, reigning their kingdom as it is, right? So they're the manager, they're this is allowed in, this is not allowed in. Now put that with your energy or that cup analogy. Well, you're the king, the queen of your kingdom, of your energy kingdom. So what's allowed into your cup and what's not? So hold on. Wait, why why do we have these villains, these things, these energy vampires poking holes in our cup and draining us and stopping us from being our best? Well, you're the freaking king or queen. Kick them out, right? Kick them out, tell them to hit the road and repair it. So then you can pick the aligned things that come in. Oh, yep, this aligns. Oh, yep, this lines. Oh, nope, this doesn't. You stay out of here. And so you you become the manager for a lighter word. I like the word king or queen of your energy kingdom.

SPEAKER_01 30:01

Very cool. Um, where do you think people unknowingly leak the most energy in their lives that you've seen through your work? Maybe that might catch some listeners off guard, be like, oh, well, maybe that's me too.

SPEAKER_02 30:15

Yeah. Um, the probably the biggest one that I've noticed with people is their internal belief system. So what they believe about themselves, because so often it is ingrained into us at an early age, as in from zero to eight years old, the vast majority of our beliefs are built and integrated into our whole system. Um, and it can happen after, but generally that's the the big time frame in our life. So I'm not worthy, I'm not enough, I need to prove myself. Who am I to be doing this? Um, you know, uh, money is scarce all the time, or just the the couple iterations of it, right? And then it yeah, you have like the core ones. Usually I'm not, I need to prove myself because you're I'm not worthy, I'm not enough, or um I need to be safe, um, things like that. And then that stems out in all these slightly different iterations. So the biggest thing that I've noticed for people that's sneaky is well, what words am I saying to myself? So, you know, we all we all talk to ourselves, we all have that internal dialogue. Is that an internal voice supporting you and helping you, or is it belittling you? Is it and helping you or or tearing you down? Um, along with what you're saying to the world, right? Oh, I'm I'm horrible at speaking on stage. Oh, I'm I always mess this up, or I'm stupid. Even if you're joking, that's that's and reinforcing that negative mindset, reinforcing those leaks, and so it just keeps growing. So the thoughts you think think, the words you say, are some of the biggest ones uh that people catch. Now, what's cool is people are getting more and more aware of those, so that's good. So, I mean, if you're already aware of those, some of the other hidden ones I would say would be um the space around you, literally the space around you. Is it cluttered or not? Because amazing, I was surprised. Like when my office is cluttered, uh, I feel more stressed and more anxious than when it's clean and organized. And even though I don't I in my mind, I don't care. I don't care if it's cluttered to a degree, but man, does my my energy feel it.

SPEAKER_01 32:28

We'll be right back. Hey, it's Dan. Uh, quick question. Do you like stories that crawl under your skin, pull you in, and then still hit you with a grin you didn't see coming? Then welcome to the library of Daniel Bradley, my haunted little archive of original horror comedy tales. Every month I drop brand new stories. Eerie, emotional, weird, and occasionally unhinged. Well, let's be serious here. Always unhinged. All written by me and ready for you to read on Patreon. Think VHS Nightmares, Neon Soak Diners, and a hallucinating Easter bunny who probably should have called out of work. If you want in, head to patreon.com backslash Daniels666 time and grab a seat. Just don't touch anything on the shelves. Some of those stories bite back. It feels like we're living in an age where speed and convenience reign supreme. And that old cliche, they don't make them like they used to, has never felt more true. Thanks to fast fashion, clothing has become disposable. The rethreadery is a Philly-based apparel and home shop focused on slow fashion, mending quality, pre-loved garments, and repurposing recycled materials into new, functional pieces. Every upcycled item is one of a kind, made with intention and purpose. If you care about sustainability and clothes that are built to last, check them out at thereethery.com. And for brightsiders, take 15% off your purchase with the code Brightside at checkout.

SPEAKER_00 34:11

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SPEAKER_01 34:47

Welcome back. Yeah. That's interesting. Um Yeah, I'm the same way. I mean, well, my podcast for right now is a dumpster fire, but you can't tell. But uh, you know, eventually I'm gonna clean it. But I'm the same thing. It's like where I was like, oh there's so many times where I sit down to relax, even like, all right, I'm just gonna sit down, play some PlayStation, or watch some baseball, and then I'm like, but there's clothes all over the place over here. Let me go take care of this first, and then it just ends up being this whole thing. But you're right, it's like this kind of hard energy inside me. It's like this isn't relaxing because I can just feel it, how out of whack everything is.

SPEAKER_02 35:26

And being the hard-headed person I was and still am to a degree, I could compartmentalize things really well. So I could just block it off. Oh, whatever, I don't need this, but it's still a slow drain. And and when I finally clean it up, right? Whether it's my office or whether it's the clothes or whatever, all of a sudden I go, Oh, wow. I just having the counter clear. Like, I don't give a rat's about the counter and the things there generally, but man, when everything's put in the dishwasher or it's cleaned or whatever, I just I just feel better. Like it's it's crazy. And same thing which was really interesting with is clarity in my life and business, clarity in the sense of, oh, here's exactly what we're offering. Here's you know, how we're who we're gonna work with, how we're reaching out to them, prospecting, um, etc. But also personal life. Oh, this is what I want on a life, this is what I'm doing right here and now. My schedule, I like having an open schedule generally, of you know, it's flexible, but I also really like having clear things. This is my focus at this point, this is my focus at this point, uh, because having it that be so clear and concise for me allows me that breathe uh freedom to actually breathe because I don't need to worry about all these other things because this is what my focus needs to be right now. You know, when I hang out with my my wife uh or uh when I hang out with friends, like I had lunch with friends today. I wasn't worried about this podcast, I wasn't worried about going grocery shopping. I was there with my friends because that's what that was on my to-do list at that time, right? Um now everybody has their own version and uh intensity of that, same with the clutter and all that, but it's just recognizing what it is that really drains you and supports you and helps you feel at your best.

SPEAKER_01 37:03

Very cool, interesting. Um I feel like that really speaks a lot to how present you can be then as well. It all folds into that.

SPEAKER_02 37:12

All folds, everything folds into being uh in the here and now in the present.

SPEAKER_01 37:17

Yeah, a hundred percent. Um what's one simple way someone listening right now today can take a small step to reclaim their energy if they're feeling it.

SPEAKER_02 37:31

Yeah, if you're feeling it. Um, can I offer two ways?

SPEAKER_01 37:34

Absolutely. You can offer as many as you'd like. No one's gonna complain about that.

SPEAKER_02 37:38

Well, uh, two ways. One is a breath. Um, honestly, I I'm a huge fan of breath work for two reasons. One, it's something your body does automatically that you don't need to control, it just breathes for you, keeps you alive, which is good. But it's also one of those things that you can control uh and speed up or slow down uh as needed. And your breath is tied to your um your mental state as well, your and your energetic energetic stands along with your physical state. So, aka it can calm your body down physically, and it can calm your mind down. So, even just doing some slow deep breaths, right? Like a slow exhale, slow deep inhale, and do that two times, three times, right? It doesn't have to be long, 30 seconds. I I recorded a reel today and it was 30 seconds, those three breaths, five seconds in, five seconds out, three times. And you just feel calmer, more centered because it is physically calming your body down, uh activating your vagus nerve and allowing your body to go, okay, I don't have to be in fight, flight stress and that sympathetic nervous system. Let me go into parasympathetic, that calm rest digest state. Um, so breath work is always one of my first go-to's for a quick tip. Now, now that's that and what I'm gonna share are just quick tips to help you start on this journey, right? This isn't the full thing. I know if you want to chat, we can chat, but uh I just want to make that up really clear because it drives me crazy when people say, Well, this tit, this hack is gonna solve everything for us, right? This is the golden pill. And no, I'm sorry. Like you can advance really quickly, you can go through things, but there's not a one size fits like this is it, right? This is the hack that can change everything for you. So breath work is huge and it's a great way to help you reset, come back to center, but you know, it doesn't necessarily fit stop the drains, if that makes sense. So uh one of the first strategies I like to teach uh when I'm on podcasts, if I can or on stages, is something I call the energy audit. And so I call it a daily energy audit. And I invite everybody to do it daily. Um, it could take 30 seconds for you to do. So it's nothing terribly long, it's easy to do. Um, I'll take a little bit longer than 30 seconds to explain it, but it's it's pretty easy. There's four steps and then a bonus fifth step. So the first step is pause. So just pause what you're doing, just be present, right? So pause. Second is to scan, and you're scanning your mind, your body, your heart. So, okay, is my mind racing? Is it having lots of thoughts or is it is it calm? Is my body tense or is it relaxed? Uh, what feelings and emotions am I having in my heart right now? No judgment, just awareness of all those things. Right. So you paused, you scanned. Now the third step is to label it. So you're labeling it on a scale of how you pick the scale, one through 10. You know, I like weird numbers, so like one through 17, but you do whatever you want. So let's do one through 10 just to keep it easy. Um so you label it. One being I'm exhausted and drained or you know, very low. 10, I'm feeling energized and dynamic. That feels great. So where are you on that scale? No judgment, but if you were to add your mind, body, and heart, what number would represent that pretty well? Great. So you labeled it. Now the third step is to cause, you label, you scanned, you oh my gosh, it's an action item. What is it called? Um why? Oh, sure. Now it's a brain fart as we're doing this. Anyway, so um, what's the action step that you are going to take? So um what's like one small action? I can't think of this to save my life. This is gonna drive me nuts. Um God teaches one all the time. So anyway, so what's one start throwing words at you if you want?

SPEAKER_01 41:21

I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 41:22

Right? Really confuse people. Okay, so you pause, you label, you scanned, and now you're uh pause, scanned, labeled, shoot. I'll think of it. Anyway, I don't know. All right. Um what's one action? Just what's one action? What action can you take to take that number up one? So let's say you're at a three. What's one small action you could take to take it to a four? Right? So maybe it's getting up and stretching, doing some breath work, maybe it's completing a task that you that's been eating away at you, um, going for a walk. Whatever it is, something small that's going to shift that number from a three to a four, uh a seven to an eight. Doesn't matter. Fifth bonus step is go do the thing. Don't just say, well, you know, I'm gonna do this. Oh, it was decide. That's what it is. So you're deciding on that small action. So you pause, you scan, you label, you decide what action is gonna fit, and then you go take action with it. So that's the daily energy audit. It's nothing crazy, but it's a great way to help you start recognizing and becoming aware of what's training you, and then starting to take action on it. Because if you're not aware, right, awareness is a first step for everything. If you're not aware of anything in your life, you're not going to appreciate it or change it, right? So, oh, I'm aware, I like this. Cool. Well, then you don't like it. If you're aware, hey, I don't like this, well, then you have a couple options. Well, you have to accept it, right? So there's three A's awareness and then acceptance. I need to accept that this is part of my life, good or bad, right? I like it, I don't like it, whatever. And then action. So, oh, I'm going to celebrate it because I enjoy it, or I need to change this so I'm aware, I accept, and now let me go take the appropriate action that fits me and however aligned that thing is.

SPEAKER_01 43:10

Wow, interesting. That's really cool. You came up with that whole system yourself?

SPEAKER_02 43:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 43:15

Yeah, very cool. That's amazing. Thank you. Um what's the difference? Because I know I've been on, I feel like I've been on both sides of this. Um and you speak to that and I've seen the videos and and and in your books and your talks and stuff. But what's the difference um between someone who performs from literally pressure, like, oh, I just I just gotta get this done by this date. I gotta I gotta get this done because this person expects this of me. Somebody who performs um from pressure and then but then someone who performs from being aligned.

SPEAKER_02 43:49

From pressure standpoint. So if the leader is performing from I need to get this done, I need to prove myself, or just whatever that pressure stance is, they're going to feel relevant. Rushed, they're going to feel um like they can never quite get enough done with it. Not necessarily perfectionism, although that can play into it a lot too. But generally they're going to feel rushed, like they need to just push it through, force people to do it, to see things, um, and to achieve that that result. And in doing so, they're going to be drained and exhausted. Um, and they might believe in what they're doing, right? But they're physically, mentally, emotionally exhausted by the end. Um, they're also they also might struggle making clear decisions about it because they're so pressured and have that overwhelm going on that things start to get muddy and they can't, it's hard to make clear decisions. So they're not, they're not calm, right? They're flustered, they're ag uh uh get aggravated really quickly and easily, uh, and all those things can summarize, right? And everybody's a little different, but those are some of the the key signs and feelings we could see with them, and especially that of what they feel, as opposed to uh what I call coming from peaceful power. So coming from that place of of alignment. Okay, this is who I am, this is where I'm going. Well, now I'm calm no matter the pressure. I'm being that lighthouse in that storm, as it as it were. So my decisions are clear. I uh I'm not worried. There might be a thousand decisions, you know, or a thousand things going on, but I know this is what I need to do. This is the direction. I'm not not worried about that. I feel calm and confident with the stuff we're producing. And my team around me feels calm and present. And even though they're, you know, they're their own people, then maybe they're stressing out to a degree, unless hopefully I'm teaching them and helping them. But uh, then they they're gonna feed off my energy. So if I'm frazzled, they're gonna be more frazzled. If I'm calm, they're gonna be calmer. So those are some of the the signs if that makes sense.

SPEAKER_01 45:57

It does make sense. What did you call that? Peaceful power?

SPEAKER_02 46:00

Yeah, you are coming from a place of peaceful power.

SPEAKER_01 46:03

Love that. I'm gonna get that tattooed on me tattooed on me. It's fantastic.

SPEAKER_02 46:06

And if you do, I I need to see a picture of it. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_01 46:09

Peaceful power. Man, I love that. Um, you uh you work with um sorry, I have this here somewhere. I just want to follow up.

SPEAKER_02 46:20

I brain farts in like the middle of my own like audit, you know, framework thing.

SPEAKER_01 46:24

Fine, we can edit all that. That's no work, no big deal. Here we go.

SPEAKER_02 46:27

Oh, keep it in there. It's authentic. I love it.

SPEAKER_01 46:28

All right, it's true.

SPEAKER_02 46:29

I make mistakes, people. I'm human. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 46:32

Um you work with a lot of driven people. Um, I've seen you work with with driven people in general and high performers. What do you, you know, why do you think high performers often burn out that you've seen?

SPEAKER_02 46:46

I think high performers um burn out because they're actually high achievers before they're high performers. Um what do you just mean by that? Yeah. Uh right, because high achievers means we're going, we're achieving a lot, means we're pushing hard. I think that stems from the society that we live in of saying, well, we'll just we'll keep pushing, we'll keep going through, we'll get to the end of this, right? After this, we'll do this. Um, and just go, go, go, go, go, nonstop hustle culture, grind, grind, grind. Um, that, and also trying to prove ourselves and trying to one up other people builds this culture of high achievers. Well, let me show you the amount the of let me show you all the reasons why I'm worthy, all the reasons why I deserve this raise, this position, this whatever, by all of these achievements, as opposed to a high performer. Now, a high performer can have all of those achievements as well, except they are going to be calmer, they're going to be uh more focused, uh, they're going to be present with their family, with their, in my opinion, with their family, with their uh friends, just enjoying life, right? The high performers are, in my opinion, and I could be wrong, and you know, I'm I could change my opinion with this, who knows? But for right now, those high chevers are the ones who are go, go, go, grind, grind, grind, doing their best to achieve. High performers are the ones that lead in from peaceful power. They're the ones who go, hey, look, I got all this done, and I'm still taking my three, you know, three-day weekend and just unplugging, or I'm going to the beach for a week with my family, and and I'm not just grinding away for you know three months and then taking this time away. No, it's balanced. Like I'm, I'm, I don't know, clock out at six, and I don't need to check my calendar or stuff. I'm I'm here with my family, or I'm going chasing my passions. I'm going to hang out with friends, I'm going to do XYZ. And oh yeah, I still have this time to be present and to be here. And because everything's aligned with, or the vast majority of things are aligned in their life, the decisions they're making, the things they're choosing to do with who they are and where they're going, all that stuff compounds. So you can actually achieve more, you have more results with less energy, uh, less input, if that makes sense, right? Pounds that much more. So you think uh example, because you're you were a chef. Think of um a wannabe chef who's growing in the business, right? He's trying to be prove himself as a chef. He's gonna work long hours, he's gonna, you know, blood, sweat, and tears, not hopefully into the food, but um, but he's like going for all of it, right? Trying to prove himself and he's just grinding away, trying to prove himself, as opposed to a chef who makes it look easy, right? You see the people who are trying really hard, but they're you could see they're trying really hard, as opposed to the chef that goes, Oh yeah, look, I I did this and it was nothing. Like I sliced this onion and I made this whole thing, and holy crap, how do they do that? They made it look easy. Why? Because they're eating that maybe not from peaceful bar, but they've had it trained and down so well, everything was so aligned that they made it look easy. Same thing with high achievers to high performers.

SPEAKER_01 49:56

I hated those chefs, by the way.

SPEAKER_02 50:00

But you were one to some of them, I bet.

SPEAKER_01 50:02

Sure. I would love that actually. I I'm just gonna tell myself that's the case. Um, I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 50:08

It was like a different analogy for it than, and maybe it doesn't fully apply. I just I came up with it on the spot, but I like I like that idea of because I feel like those high performers who are fully aligned, it and I I've seen it and I it works for works for me. Once things are aligned, things happen so much easier that you actually don't have to put so much force behind it because the world, the universe is working out in your favor. It's all aligned, as opposed to well, I'm just gonna grind this out no matter what, and then you're exhausted. And and maybe you have the result, maybe you don't, but it usually looks or is messier than when everything's aligned.

SPEAKER_01 50:45

No, I mean, honestly, like I'd say I hate that chef, but that's also because I was jealous because uh my life was all out of whack at times when I was a chef. But there was that one chef who, you know, the kitchen could be in fire behind them. Like, it's fine, we're just gonna prep this, we're gonna get this out of here, we're gonna sell this, we're gonna put this out there, and then everything's gonna be fine. And like nothing could get to them because, like you said, they were aligned, and then they had like their life figured out, they had their home life figured out, and this guy was not even like toxic positive, he was just a good spirit in the kitchen, and people loved working with him because of exactly what you said this whole episode because of that calmness and alignment, he was everybody around him was calm, everybody around him wanted to work from a place of doing well, not just to get it over with, done. So, yeah, it speaks volumes for sure. It's interesting.

SPEAKER_02 51:31

Yeah, um, once you start seeing it uh and finding like the analogies and and whatever makes you go, oh, okay, I see it this way. You'll start to see it in lots of different avenues in your life, right? From different chefs to friends to bosses to you're, you know, you're at the bank or at the grocery store or wherever, and you're like, oh, I could see now who's leading with pressure and who's calm. Maybe not 100% of the time, but it's pretty easy to pick up once you see it.

SPEAKER_01 52:00

It's interesting too, because I was just had a guest on last week, Scott, and he spoke to um kind of the same thing, but hustle culture. And like how hustle culture is a thing where there really is never an end to a means to an end to like where you're gonna get. There's never a goal. You just hustle, hustle, hustle, hustle, hustle. And I feel like that kind of speaks to what you're saying as well, that that hustle culture doesn't really have alignment.

SPEAKER_02 52:24

I mean, uh it I guess it's aligned if that's what you want to do. Uh, I was at a conference recently, uh, and there's some younger guys there, early 20s, and they're like, I'm just gonna hustle and grind away and do stuff, and and they were all in with it, and I'm like, okay, you like you do you aligned with who you are and with what how you want to show up right now, go for it. They wouldn't listen to me anyway. But then but if I if they would, I would say, well, watch out for these couple things because that was me, and I burned out, and I could tell you how many different people have burnt out from doing exactly what you're doing. So does it have its place? Sure. I'm not saying hustle, don't grind, but I'll hustle, I'll grind, but it's only going to be in aligned ways.

SPEAKER_01 53:07

Yeah. And then it has to be a goal to be like, okay.

unknown 53:10

Right.

SPEAKER_01 53:10

We all grind a little less right now.

SPEAKER_02 53:12

Right. We don't have to like we all have busy seasons in our life and shorter and calmer seasons, and that's we're built that way. We are physically uh not built to just be on constant high performance mode all the time. High performers are high performers because they take time to not be high performer. They type time to sit, chill with their family, go to the beach, go read a book, right? Have those blocks of time. We as humans in the hustle culture, especially, it's like just go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, you never take a time off. As opposed to, hold on, let me, let me. It's a busy season, right? You go to hunter-gatherer time in our life. Great. We're hunting. This is a time to be on, right? Like we need to be on, on point, ready. Hold on, the hunts not till you know tomorrow or or later today, right? Now I'm just gonna chill by the fire. We're doing whatever. Now we need to be on, now we're off. Hustle culture says always, always on. No wonder we're burning out.

SPEAKER_01 54:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 54:09

And then you can talk about you know, your your hormones uh and all the other stuff physically that happens through that. But that's another story.

SPEAKER_01 54:15

Yeah, yeah, for sure. Um, so when life gets heavy for you now, what practices do you bring back into until to get yourself aligned?

SPEAKER_02 54:25

You I really try to never let life feel heavy anymore. Um but saying that, that's not always the case, right? Um, what do I do? I I've created warning signs, if that makes sense, or I've uh maybe not created, but I'm more aware of warning signs. Maybe that's the way the right way to say it. So warning signs of like, hold on, this is feeling heavy at this moment. Um, let's take a pause. So I don't get to that burnout stage or I don't get to that really, really heavy place unless it really hits me quick. But I'm I usually recognize those warning signs earlier on than later. So what do I do once I recognize hold on, this is getting heavier? Is I pause for a moment. I do an energy audit. I pause, I scan what can I improve? But also, let me scan what what's feeling heavy. Why does that feel heavy in this moment? Is it out of alignment? Because if it feels heavy, there's usually something out of alignment, or is it just a lot coming at one time? That is aligned, but man, it's just a lot right now. Okay, do it. Can I spread it out? Do I need to go through this? What does this season look like? Is it a day? Is it a week? Is it a month? Am I okay with doing that? And how can I make sure I don't keep that up? Right. Um, oftentimes for me, it's usually hold up, this is out of alignment. Let me stop doing this and change this or tweak this, maybe in a big way or small way. And then make sure I give myself grace and love uh because I can beat myself up over it, and also give myself time to just chill, to, you know, and I'm not a person who likes there's times when I'll just sit and watch a movie or hang out. Like I like doing that, but I'm not like a vacationer where I'll just sit at a beach and read. Cool if you are, but that's not me. I'm an adventurer, like I want to go do things. So well, what can I do that fills my cup? Oh, I'm gonna go for a hike. I'm going to, okay, maybe I'll sit in by the fire and read this, or I'm gonna go hang out with friends and do, you know, whatever it is, um, like that stuff, but intentionally schedule those things uh when I start feeling that heaviness and be do more of that as a matter of fact. Unless little seasons are like, oh god, okay. Like um I went to the conference and then there's a couple things after, and it's like, okay, this week is gonna be a busy week. Like there's every day's packed. Okay, cool. It's this week. Let's get, let's, let's be present, let's do this week. Make sure throughout this week I take time for me to recharge, you know, do some breath work, take a little rest, go for a walk here or there. So small little moments for me. And then, okay, cool. Let me do the best I can through this week. Weekend comes. All right, made it through the week. All right, let's chill, let's recharge. Nothing on the weekend to so I could fully regrasp. And then the hope and plan is then the next week. I do my best to schedule it so it's not as busy of a week.

SPEAKER_01 57:13

Interesting. Yeah, that's very cool. So being more aware of essentially what you're feeling and what's coming down your down the pike there. Exactly. I could definitely learn some of that, that's for sure.

SPEAKER_02 57:23

Yeah, um trial and error, right? So yeah, it's trial and error. It's not like I woke up or I hit rock bottom and all of a sudden I knew this stuff. No, like not a chance. I've I messed up more times. And but I also like, well, hold on, I could do more. Let's see what this looks like. Oh, okay, that's too much. Okay, let's balance it out here. And right, like when uh so my wife retired from teaching uh three years ago. She went back this last year because she she missed it. It was a toxic work environment before, and now it's it's a new school, awesome environment. But in any case, when she retired from teaching, she thought we were getting she was done. We decided to travel more, right? So we went to more conferences, different things, and we just traveled ourselves. And we traveled for us, it was about once a month. Like we were on the road traveling, flying, wherever. And okay, great. And that might not be a lot for some people, and that's cool. For us, that was a lot of because after, like, okay, we did it in summer when she had off, and you know, maybe I would go off a couple times, but that would be it. But now we're traveling every month and we were gone for like three, four days, sometimes a week at a time. And like by six, six months after that, we're like, uh, we're exhausted. Like, I don't, I don't want to fly. Like, I just want to be home. And realizing, okay, that might not be a lot for some, but for us, that was too much. And so it was right before Thanksgiving. We were back home and we're like, oh, thank God, we don't have anything anymore for a while. And then, like, we were flying to Philippines for one of our events uh in January. So we had like a month and a half, almost two months off. We're like, oh, thank God for this break. And then we flew to the Philippines, and then we made sure, hey, we're not doing nearly as much after that. Every six to eight weeks, we would be doing something, and that was the right fit for us, but it took trial and error to figure that out.

SPEAKER_01 59:09

Yeah, very cool. I think it's really interesting and important that you point that out. Like some people can be into this, some people can do it, and you just I think that speaks to everything that you've spoken about um on this episode is what's the saying? Um, comparison is the thief of joy, right? Yep. So when you go to protect yourself and and you do your audits and stuff like that, what you get and what you feel doesn't necessarily manage up to anybody else or how they feel and how they handle it. Now they do this. So it's important in this world in these Nelly Days, it's very noisy social media driven world to not completely put your well, this person can handle four different businesses and and travel over here and do this. I need to like it's important to stay present to yourself, I feel like. Yeah, like it's a big part of what you're pushing as well.

SPEAKER_02 59:55

Yeah, it's it's about customizing it for you, right? And figure out what is best for you. Comparison is a thief of joy. I compared myself for years and it didn't get me anywhere except feeling crappier about myself.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:07

Uh and really, if I'm trying to say, well, I'm better than that person, well, then I'm making them feel crappy, and that's that's no fun, right? Even if they don't, yeah, like why why? So yeah, make it work for you. And you know, for the for the business owners, you're like, oh my gosh, these people are running four businesses or doing all these things. One, maybe that works for them and energizes them. Maybe they're burning out and you and they're not gonna admit it or know it, and you wouldn't necessarily recognize it or know it because, well, look at all the success they've had.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:34

Right.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:34

And or maybe they have systems in place that allow them to to do that. They built these businesses and they have teams to to help run it or AI helping it, whatever, right? So they have these things, the systems in place to help them run all these businesses and uh and be successful. Uh, and or maybe they're just putting on a facade and they're not really all that successful, right? Right. There's so many options. Who cares? It's about finding what works best for you and for everything. For everything.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:04

100%. Um if someone out there is someone listening feels overwhelmed, burned out, or lost right now, um, what would you want them to hear today?

SPEAKER_02 1:01:18

I love if you are feeling that way right now, I would say that you are amazing, you are worthy, you are enough just the way you are. Even if you're tired and overwhelmed and all that, I get it, it sucks. But know that you are amazing worthy enough, you are making a positive impact in the world, but also give yourself some love, take a breath, right? You just pause for a little bit, take some deep breaths, especially if you feel overwhelmed. And then what's the next thing you can do? Like, what's one thing you could do to help you feel better today, right? It's like finishing this one test, closing one of those tabs, great, then do that, right? If it's hey, I'm just gonna take a day to recharge, or half a day, or an evening, great, do that, and put everything else out of your mind, great, do that, but find that one thing that's gonna help move that needle in a positive direction and do that.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:17

Awesome. Um beautiful. One last question for you.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:22

Go for it.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:23

What does braving the bright side mean to you?

SPEAKER_02 1:02:28

Braving the bright side means to me. It means uh doing our best to be at our best, to to show love, to be kind to others, to ourselves, even when it's not easy. And not not uh toxic positivity or everything, sunshine, rainbows, and unicorns, because no, we recognize there's crap in the world and it's tough. And we have we have summits, those beautiful moments, we also have valleys, those difficult moments. And so it's recognizing that. But those valleys, we don't have to be jerks in the in those valleys. We can still show love, grace, kindness to ourselves and others, and knowing, hey, we're gonna get through this. We'll just take it one sip at a time.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:12

Love that, Spencer. Thank you for that. Hell yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:15

Thank you so much for having me on. This has been absolutely awesome. I'm so incredibly grateful to be here.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:19

Ah, listen, pleasure's all mine, my friend. Listen, let's um let's plug some of your work, shall we? Let's get some people heading your way. Let's um, I mean, you've uh you know, yeah, I had you send me over your socials and stuff like that, and where I can, I mean, you've done a lot. So I'm gonna let you take it from here uh in terms of where people can go to find you, uh, any questions they may have, um, and then whatever else that you got going on.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:42

Yeah. Um, well, we're on pretty much all the social media platforms at Jonesin4, and that's J-O-N-E-S-I-N-F-O-R, uh Jones and four. So yeah, you can check us out on almost any of those platforms. Um, you can go to our website, we are jonesin4.com, and you can see the different stuff that we do, all that good stuff. I would personally love to hear from from listeners. Uh, you know, send and send me a message um on social media again at Jones and 4. And to someone, what was your biggest takeaway from this conversation? Say, hey, I heard you're on Brave and the Bright Side. Um, this was my takeaway because I would just love to celebrate that with you and say thank you.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:24

Well, Spencer, listen, I can't thank you enough for spending some time on the bright side with us today. It was awesome. Your your journey, your message, what you're doing out there in the world to lift others up and then help them feel seen. Um, less burn out, you know, doing some real work out there to kind of lift others is is much needed right now. So um I want to thank you for being here. Thank you so much for having me.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:48

Keep looking on the bright side and let's keep braving it together.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:59

Man, this conversation with Spencer really stuck with me. Because it's easy to think that if we just keep pushing, keep grinding, keep doing more, eventually, eventually, things will click. But what we talked about today is something deeper than that. It's about the reality that you can be doing everything quote unquote right on the outside and still feel completely off in the inside. And that doesn't mean you're broken. Doesn't mean you're failing. It just means something within you is asking to be realigned. Spencer brought a lot of clarity to that idea. This concept of energy, awareness, of actually checking in with yourself instead of constantly overriding how you feel. And I think that's something a lot of us need to hear right now. Not how to do more, but how to come back to ourselves. So, Spencer, thanks, man. Thank you for your honesty. Perspective and the work you're doing to help people show up in their lives with more clarity, more intention, and a whole lot more presence. I really appreciate you coming on and sharing this with us. And with that said, if you're struggling right now, please remember this. None of us are meant to do this alone. And you don't have to. If something in today's conversation stirred something in you, or if you just need someone to talk to, I'd generally love to hear from you. You can reach out anytime at bravingthebrightside at gmail.com. Or find me on Instagram at braving underscore the bright side. And if you've got a story you feel called to share, well, maybe your voice is one we need to hear on this show. Thank you for spending a little time on the bright side with me today. Until next time, keep braving it. One step, one sunrise, one honest conversation, and yes, one aligned day at a time. I'll see you next time.