1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:02,960 Hello, my name is Leslie. 2 00:00:02,960 --> 00:00:05,700 I am the host of the Why Not Today podcast. 3 00:00:05,700 --> 00:00:10,400 This is a podcast to celebrate people who have said or been courageous and said, why 4 00:00:10,400 --> 00:00:11,600 not today? 5 00:00:11,600 --> 00:00:16,160 I started this podcast in honor of my father, Patrick Cain, who often did say, why not today? 6 00:00:16,160 --> 00:00:20,440 I'm based in Reston, Virginia, playing community right outside of Washington, DC. 7 00:00:20,440 --> 00:00:21,840 And thanks for joining us today. 8 00:00:21,840 --> 00:00:22,920 And I'm excited about my guests. 9 00:00:22,920 --> 00:00:26,200 I don't know her well and just connected with her this week. 10 00:00:26,200 --> 00:00:29,400 Her name is Linda Sunshine West. 11 00:00:29,400 --> 00:00:31,360 And she does lots of different things. 12 00:00:31,360 --> 00:00:34,000 And I always talk about where we met and how we connected. 13 00:00:34,000 --> 00:00:37,000 And it was one of those random scrolls through Facebook. 14 00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:42,600 I joined an entrepreneurs women group, another random, like mindless thought thing. 15 00:00:42,600 --> 00:00:45,960 And then she posted a post about who knows who has a podcast. 16 00:00:45,960 --> 00:00:48,200 And I shared mine and she's like, I need to talk to you. 17 00:00:48,200 --> 00:00:50,880 And she's done some cool things about overcoming fear. 18 00:00:50,880 --> 00:00:57,160 So we had a quick call the other day and fell in love with everything she's doing and how 19 00:00:57,160 --> 00:00:58,160 she's overcoming fears. 20 00:00:58,160 --> 00:01:00,600 And I'm like, she's a perfect guest for this podcast. 21 00:01:00,600 --> 00:01:04,880 So Linda, if you wouldn't mind introducing yourself a little bit about you and a fun 22 00:01:04,880 --> 00:01:07,440 fact and then we'll get to know you and all your courage. 23 00:01:07,440 --> 00:01:08,440 Awesome. 24 00:01:08,440 --> 00:01:10,480 Thanks so much, Leslie, for having me excited. 25 00:01:10,480 --> 00:01:14,520 I love those kinds of connections because, you know, that's the thing is if we reach 26 00:01:14,520 --> 00:01:18,960 out to people and they accept our reach out, then you never know where it's going to go. 27 00:01:18,960 --> 00:01:23,920 And that's kind of the idea of how I live my life now, which I wasn't always that way. 28 00:01:23,920 --> 00:01:27,120 My name, Linda Sunshine West and Sunshine is not my given name. 29 00:01:27,120 --> 00:01:31,920 It's the name that was given to me about six years ago after I started my personal development 30 00:01:31,920 --> 00:01:38,600 journey as well as after I broke through one fear a day for an entire year, 365 days in 31 00:01:38,600 --> 00:01:39,600 a row. 32 00:01:39,600 --> 00:01:41,960 And that's when my life really, really started changing. 33 00:01:41,960 --> 00:01:47,720 I have morphed and changed so many different directions that it took me six years as an 34 00:01:47,720 --> 00:01:54,200 entrepreneur after being in the corporate world for 36 years and having 49 jobs in that 35 00:01:54,200 --> 00:01:57,280 company, that's the other day that blew my mind. 36 00:01:57,280 --> 00:01:58,880 I was shooting for 50. 37 00:01:58,880 --> 00:02:04,640 No, I couldn't go for that 50, you know, but after breaking through those fears, you 38 00:02:04,640 --> 00:02:09,000 know, my whole life started changing and shifting and and it's incredible what has happened 39 00:02:09,000 --> 00:02:13,840 since then because I kept trying to figure out like, who am I, what do I do, and how 40 00:02:13,840 --> 00:02:18,640 can I make money doing that as an entrepreneur and it took me six years to get there. 41 00:02:18,640 --> 00:02:23,680 We almost became homeless in the process because I didn't have that one piece figured out the 42 00:02:23,680 --> 00:02:26,720 important piece like how am I going to make money doing it. 43 00:02:26,720 --> 00:02:31,360 But I finally figured it out and it was only two years ago, I mean, almost, almost two 44 00:02:31,360 --> 00:02:35,800 years ago, it was 23 months ago that I decided that book publishing is what I was going to 45 00:02:35,800 --> 00:02:37,240 do full time. 46 00:02:37,240 --> 00:02:42,240 And so I've been doing that ever since it's been an amazing journey and you know, things 47 00:02:42,240 --> 00:02:47,320 just started really falling into place once I had that decision that this is what I'm 48 00:02:47,320 --> 00:02:48,320 going to do. 49 00:02:48,320 --> 00:02:52,000 And so, you know, there's so many things I've done in these last several years. 50 00:02:52,000 --> 00:02:54,520 Well, let's get into all the courage stuff. 51 00:02:54,520 --> 00:02:56,840 But what's a fun fact about you? 52 00:02:56,840 --> 00:02:59,640 A fun fact is that there's a lot of them. 53 00:02:59,640 --> 00:03:03,240 One is that I started playing bass guitar at age 47. 54 00:03:03,240 --> 00:03:10,080 Oh, well, I started a rock band called useless rhetoric and we raised over $200,000 for charity. 55 00:03:10,080 --> 00:03:11,360 That's like my funnest fact. 56 00:03:11,360 --> 00:03:12,360 That is fun. 57 00:03:12,360 --> 00:03:16,040 You know, and it's funny how you just kind of and I don't definitely believe they're 58 00:03:16,040 --> 00:03:21,160 Godwinks like God puts these people in your path and one of the hats I wear and my crazy 59 00:03:21,160 --> 00:03:26,560 all the things I do in my life is I book music for a friend's restaurant and bar. 60 00:03:26,560 --> 00:03:27,920 And it's kind of funny. 61 00:03:27,920 --> 00:03:32,560 It's all of a sudden people around me grab it like, oh, I'm in a band or I know somebody 62 00:03:32,560 --> 00:03:33,560 in a band. 63 00:03:33,560 --> 00:03:34,560 I'm like, of course you do. 64 00:03:34,560 --> 00:03:36,600 But I think you're a little too far away. 65 00:03:36,600 --> 00:03:37,600 You're in San Diego. 66 00:03:37,600 --> 00:03:40,640 So it's probably hard to book you to play in Virginia. 67 00:03:40,640 --> 00:03:42,320 But that's definitely a fun fact. 68 00:03:42,320 --> 00:03:49,120 So I always start with these podcasts episodes asking my guests, what does courage mean to 69 00:03:49,120 --> 00:03:50,120 you? 70 00:03:50,120 --> 00:03:57,440 Courage to me is acknowledging, first of all, acknowledging that I'm experiencing a fearful 71 00:03:57,440 --> 00:04:01,000 moment and then saying, oh, this is fear. 72 00:04:01,000 --> 00:04:03,920 I'm going to do this because I'm scared. 73 00:04:03,920 --> 00:04:06,240 To me, that's what courage is. 74 00:04:06,240 --> 00:04:08,640 I love that. 75 00:04:08,640 --> 00:04:14,840 And it's funny, we've talked about this often, but people say, you know, they think fear 76 00:04:14,840 --> 00:04:20,960 is more, or courage is more, you know, people are courageous and they just do it without 77 00:04:20,960 --> 00:04:21,960 fear. 78 00:04:21,960 --> 00:04:24,560 I'm like, oh no, definitely not. 79 00:04:24,560 --> 00:04:27,280 No, not really. 80 00:04:27,280 --> 00:04:34,280 So you wrote a book and before you did that, you start, tell us, I guess, you did, faced 81 00:04:34,280 --> 00:04:37,560 365 fears in a year, which is crazy. 82 00:04:37,560 --> 00:04:41,000 One a day and I was telling somebody that story the other day and I'm like, wow, that's 83 00:04:41,000 --> 00:04:43,800 a lot of fear. 84 00:04:43,800 --> 00:04:47,560 But and it's amazing, you know, all the little teeny tiny things we overcome and I always 85 00:04:47,560 --> 00:04:49,160 talk about with why not today. 86 00:04:49,160 --> 00:04:53,480 It's not always the big things, which we talk about on the podcast, but it's a little things. 87 00:04:53,480 --> 00:04:57,840 It's the same yes to, you know, doing the thing with a friend or calling the friend 88 00:04:57,840 --> 00:05:00,240 or just those little things. 89 00:05:00,240 --> 00:05:04,520 And so I know it started kind of your journey started at five. 90 00:05:04,520 --> 00:05:10,200 So share your story from there and then how you got to the facing your fears and everything 91 00:05:10,200 --> 00:05:11,200 else. 92 00:05:11,200 --> 00:05:12,200 Okay. 93 00:05:12,200 --> 00:05:13,200 Okay. 94 00:05:13,200 --> 00:05:18,280 So yeah, well, I ran away at five years old and I was gone for a week. 95 00:05:18,280 --> 00:05:19,280 Now I was safe. 96 00:05:19,280 --> 00:05:20,560 I just went to the neighbor's house. 97 00:05:20,560 --> 00:05:23,280 That's the first question people always ask me where you go, where'd you go? 98 00:05:23,280 --> 00:05:26,120 I just went to the neighbor's house and I was safe. 99 00:05:26,120 --> 00:05:31,800 But what happened during that week was something that would shape my life for the next 46 years. 100 00:05:31,800 --> 00:05:33,200 Nobody came to get me. 101 00:05:33,200 --> 00:05:37,440 So as a five year old, my belief was that they didn't come to get me because they don't 102 00:05:37,440 --> 00:05:39,760 want me around and they don't like me. 103 00:05:39,760 --> 00:05:41,120 That was my belief. 104 00:05:41,120 --> 00:05:45,240 And so no matter what they believed, it was not my truth. 105 00:05:45,240 --> 00:05:48,160 My truth was that and that's how I lived. 106 00:05:48,160 --> 00:05:51,800 And so after a week, my mom to call the neighbor and said, okay, it's time to set her home 107 00:05:51,800 --> 00:05:52,800 now. 108 00:05:52,800 --> 00:05:53,800 She's been gone long enough. 109 00:05:53,800 --> 00:05:57,880 Now I truly believe and I cannot confirm this with my mom because she's passed away, 110 00:05:57,880 --> 00:06:00,600 but I truly believe that my mom was like, okay, she's safe. 111 00:06:00,600 --> 00:06:01,600 I know she's good. 112 00:06:01,600 --> 00:06:03,440 I'm number four or five kids. 113 00:06:03,440 --> 00:06:07,760 She's got plenty of things on her on her hit list, but she knew where I was. 114 00:06:07,760 --> 00:06:10,960 She knew how to say and my mom, the way she was, she was probably, she was probably, she 115 00:06:10,960 --> 00:06:15,160 was probably allowing me to exercise in my independence as a five year old. 116 00:06:15,160 --> 00:06:16,160 Yeah. 117 00:06:16,160 --> 00:06:17,560 Cause that's kind of how she was. 118 00:06:17,560 --> 00:06:20,520 And so anyway, fast forward to age 51. 119 00:06:20,520 --> 00:06:25,040 Again, 36 years in the corporate world, 49 jobs. 120 00:06:25,040 --> 00:06:30,120 My last job was working for a judge in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals as a secretary. 121 00:06:30,120 --> 00:06:35,560 I had made my way up that ladder, that proverbial ladder and I thought that this is it. 122 00:06:35,560 --> 00:06:36,920 Oh my gosh, I made it. 123 00:06:36,920 --> 00:06:37,920 This is it. 124 00:06:37,920 --> 00:06:38,920 I'm so excited. 125 00:06:38,920 --> 00:06:43,000 And then after 14 months, I was bored as bored could be. 126 00:06:43,000 --> 00:06:49,080 And you know, I was driving to work one day and I was just so angry at my life, so angry 127 00:06:49,080 --> 00:06:50,420 with myself. 128 00:06:50,420 --> 00:06:54,800 This is how I had lived for all those years because my, my dad was a very volatile, abusive 129 00:06:54,800 --> 00:06:56,040 alcoholic. 130 00:06:56,040 --> 00:07:00,520 And when I came home after being gone a week, I became riddled with fears. 131 00:07:00,520 --> 00:07:01,520 That's where my fears started. 132 00:07:01,520 --> 00:07:04,440 That's where they started age five. 133 00:07:04,440 --> 00:07:10,640 So here I am, 51 years old, I'm driving to work and I just started saying, why am I here? 134 00:07:10,640 --> 00:07:11,960 This is a waste. 135 00:07:11,960 --> 00:07:13,320 I'm worthless. 136 00:07:13,320 --> 00:07:14,840 There's no reason for me to be here. 137 00:07:14,840 --> 00:07:16,400 I have no purpose. 138 00:07:16,400 --> 00:07:18,680 And like, as a matter of fact, why is this whole planet here? 139 00:07:18,680 --> 00:07:19,680 It just doesn't make any sense. 140 00:07:19,680 --> 00:07:25,920 I was so, and I was angry yelling at myself as I'm driving pounding my hands on the steering 141 00:07:25,920 --> 00:07:28,240 wheel, just filled with this anger. 142 00:07:28,240 --> 00:07:29,240 Wow. 143 00:07:29,240 --> 00:07:34,320 And then when I, when I got to work that day, there was a Facebook post from someone and 144 00:07:34,320 --> 00:07:36,360 it said, I'm a life coach. 145 00:07:36,360 --> 00:07:37,640 I took some time off. 146 00:07:37,640 --> 00:07:43,160 I'm getting back into it and I'm looking for five women who want to change their lives. 147 00:07:43,160 --> 00:07:44,160 I didn't know her. 148 00:07:44,160 --> 00:07:47,240 I didn't know what a life coach was, but I was like, I wanted to change my life. 149 00:07:47,240 --> 00:07:52,560 Another one of those Godwinks, you know, look at Facebook that moment in that time, kind 150 00:07:52,560 --> 00:07:54,120 of like how we connected. 151 00:07:54,120 --> 00:07:55,840 Yes, exactly. 152 00:07:55,840 --> 00:07:57,000 And then I reached out, right? 153 00:07:57,000 --> 00:08:00,120 So that's the thing is like, I reached out because I was like, I don't know what this 154 00:08:00,120 --> 00:08:03,840 is, but I want to learn and I do want to change my life. 155 00:08:03,840 --> 00:08:08,000 That decision right in that moment was the start of my life. 156 00:08:08,000 --> 00:08:09,000 And I was 51. 157 00:08:09,000 --> 00:08:10,520 That was when my life really started. 158 00:08:10,520 --> 00:08:13,080 And it was August nine years ago. 159 00:08:13,080 --> 00:08:17,520 So it's exciting that I'm embarking on, you know, that the close to 10 years ago that 160 00:08:17,520 --> 00:08:24,360 I started my life, you know, but it's the fears are leading up to breaking out through 161 00:08:24,360 --> 00:08:26,420 those fears every single day for a year. 162 00:08:26,420 --> 00:08:28,480 What led me to even do that? 163 00:08:28,480 --> 00:08:32,320 What led me to even think that I had 365 fears? 164 00:08:32,320 --> 00:08:33,600 I didn't know. 165 00:08:33,600 --> 00:08:41,880 All I knew is that I had allowed fear to stop me from doing things in my life for 46 years. 166 00:08:41,880 --> 00:08:46,760 Me running away at five was like the last extreme courageous act I had done. 167 00:08:46,760 --> 00:08:47,760 Wow. 168 00:08:47,760 --> 00:08:48,760 For my whole life. 169 00:08:48,760 --> 00:08:49,760 Yeah. 170 00:08:49,760 --> 00:08:51,160 I let fear control me now. 171 00:08:51,160 --> 00:08:55,320 Fear can control us to do things and it can control us to not do things. 172 00:08:55,320 --> 00:09:00,320 But fear was my, my factor, my fear factor, you know, is it controlled just the way I 173 00:09:00,320 --> 00:09:01,320 lived my life? 174 00:09:01,320 --> 00:09:03,840 If I was scared, I didn't do it. 175 00:09:03,840 --> 00:09:06,240 I just did not do it. 176 00:09:06,240 --> 00:09:07,240 Period. 177 00:09:07,240 --> 00:09:08,240 That's crazy. 178 00:09:08,240 --> 00:09:12,560 So you saw the life coach or started meeting with a life coach overcoming your fear. 179 00:09:12,560 --> 00:09:13,920 So let's, with those fears. 180 00:09:13,920 --> 00:09:17,000 And I know you mentioned when we talked the other day that you didn't journal, you didn't 181 00:09:17,000 --> 00:09:20,480 record all your fears, which what a great book that would be. 182 00:09:20,480 --> 00:09:25,480 So what's the biggest, I would say, let's the biggest, scariest one you overcame. 183 00:09:25,480 --> 00:09:30,800 And then what's one of the littlest ones that seemed silly, but was a fear? 184 00:09:30,800 --> 00:09:37,840 Well, what I love about this question is fear doesn't know size. 185 00:09:37,840 --> 00:09:38,840 True. 186 00:09:38,840 --> 00:09:43,480 So, so fear doesn't say big fear, small fear. 187 00:09:43,480 --> 00:09:45,360 We humans say that, right? 188 00:09:45,360 --> 00:09:53,280 And so the reality, the reality is every single fear I had was astronomical to me. 189 00:09:53,280 --> 00:09:55,400 Now other people might look at it and say, that's ridiculous. 190 00:09:55,400 --> 00:09:57,320 Why are you scared to do that? 191 00:09:57,320 --> 00:10:00,760 But I've learned to not say that because what they're doing is they're, they're, they're 192 00:10:00,760 --> 00:10:04,160 they're diminishing what's going on inside of me, right? 193 00:10:04,160 --> 00:10:05,560 They're minimizing it. 194 00:10:05,560 --> 00:10:11,760 And so, so every single fear, there's a saying that false evidence appearing real, you know, 195 00:10:11,760 --> 00:10:13,520 that's an acronym for fear. 196 00:10:13,520 --> 00:10:17,560 And I'm like, that's a bunch of BS because there's no false evidence, first of all, and 197 00:10:17,560 --> 00:10:22,760 it doesn't appear real because it is as real as real can be to me, to me. 198 00:10:22,760 --> 00:10:23,760 That is so true. 199 00:10:23,760 --> 00:10:30,720 Yeah, we're talking, I was talking with people yesterday and we were talking about somebody 200 00:10:30,720 --> 00:10:33,840 recommended book, I think it's called, Why is this happening to me? 201 00:10:33,840 --> 00:10:41,120 And to ask that question, you know, and so just like you said, and it's so, such a hard 202 00:10:41,120 --> 00:10:44,360 thing that we do is we minimize people's fears. 203 00:10:44,360 --> 00:10:46,120 And as you said, it's so real for you. 204 00:10:46,120 --> 00:10:49,760 I've got a friend that's terrified of dogs. 205 00:10:49,760 --> 00:10:57,160 And to the point like physically, like I saw her jump on her husband, she's 60 years old, 206 00:10:57,160 --> 00:11:01,480 when her husband's lap when the dog walked in, because she was taunted as a kid and take 207 00:11:01,480 --> 00:11:05,120 and really terrified of them because of that. 208 00:11:05,120 --> 00:11:08,800 And so it's real for her and other people like, it's just a dog, it's a nice dog, but 209 00:11:08,800 --> 00:11:10,520 for her, she doesn't see that. 210 00:11:10,520 --> 00:11:16,040 And so, and that's a good thing to remember when we talk to people about their fears to 211 00:11:16,040 --> 00:11:18,040 not minimize them. 212 00:11:18,040 --> 00:11:24,680 Yeah, I was talking to one, one day, and she said, I have, I think it's called a goryphobia 213 00:11:24,680 --> 00:11:26,280 where you're afraid to go outside. 214 00:11:26,280 --> 00:11:28,400 Yeah, it's a real thing. 215 00:11:28,400 --> 00:11:29,400 Yeah. 216 00:11:29,400 --> 00:11:33,640 And she said she had been in her house for like, well, the whole time of COVID, she was 217 00:11:33,640 --> 00:11:36,280 glad because she didn't, couldn't go out. 218 00:11:36,280 --> 00:11:38,400 And she just went ahead and stayed inside. 219 00:11:38,400 --> 00:11:41,720 So I was talking to her, I said, do you want to break through that fear? 220 00:11:41,720 --> 00:11:43,480 You know, do you want to do something about it? 221 00:11:43,480 --> 00:11:46,080 Because if she doesn't want to do anything about it, there's no reason to even try to 222 00:11:46,080 --> 00:11:47,200 get her to right. 223 00:11:47,200 --> 00:11:48,360 And I wasn't trying to get her through. 224 00:11:48,360 --> 00:11:49,640 I was just asking her a question. 225 00:11:49,640 --> 00:11:51,560 And she goes, yeah, I do. 226 00:11:51,560 --> 00:11:53,400 I don't like living my life this way. 227 00:11:53,400 --> 00:11:56,200 It's just, I'm so, I have terror, I'm terrified to go out. 228 00:11:56,200 --> 00:11:57,920 And I said, what if you did this? 229 00:11:57,920 --> 00:12:05,240 What if you just opened the door and put one foot out and then you came back inside? 230 00:12:05,240 --> 00:12:07,280 Because now you've broken through that fear. 231 00:12:07,280 --> 00:12:08,280 Right. 232 00:12:08,280 --> 00:12:13,640 So it doesn't matter how much we do, it matters that we do it, that we take the action. 233 00:12:13,640 --> 00:12:14,640 So she messaged me. 234 00:12:14,640 --> 00:12:20,760 And I was just telling her, yeah, I got to share this because this was, wow, she messaged 235 00:12:20,760 --> 00:12:21,760 me a week later. 236 00:12:21,760 --> 00:12:22,760 Now I wasn't coaching her anything. 237 00:12:22,760 --> 00:12:25,400 You know, I do fear coaching, but I wasn't coaching her. 238 00:12:25,400 --> 00:12:28,640 I was just on a call with her one day, like having a conversation. 239 00:12:28,640 --> 00:12:32,200 She messaged me a week later and she said, guess what I did? 240 00:12:32,200 --> 00:12:35,720 I went for a walk around the block today. 241 00:12:35,720 --> 00:12:37,480 Wow. 242 00:12:37,480 --> 00:12:41,400 She just needed somebody to say, you know, this is all just, why don't you try one small 243 00:12:41,400 --> 00:12:46,000 thing, you know, one small thing, which is huge to her, which is huge to her. 244 00:12:46,000 --> 00:12:51,160 So yeah, so the big fear of small fear, I will share that most of my fears that now 245 00:12:51,160 --> 00:12:53,760 I look at them and they were all ridiculous. 246 00:12:53,760 --> 00:12:57,200 Okay, so let's ask it this way. 247 00:12:57,200 --> 00:12:59,840 What was the most fun you had overcoming a fear? 248 00:12:59,840 --> 00:13:04,240 Like one of the things that you're like, I was so afraid of them like, oh, and, you 249 00:13:04,240 --> 00:13:08,720 know, and I talk about this all the time with this podcast is, you know, you do those scary 250 00:13:08,720 --> 00:13:11,480 things and you're like, wow, that wasn't bad. 251 00:13:11,480 --> 00:13:17,240 And oh my gosh, how much fun and why did I like let this hold me back for so many years? 252 00:13:17,240 --> 00:13:18,240 Yeah. 253 00:13:18,240 --> 00:13:23,720 Well, I don't know that I could term it as fun, you know, because every fear was very 254 00:13:23,720 --> 00:13:24,720 fearful for me. 255 00:13:24,720 --> 00:13:29,040 However, I will share that there were some things that happened during that year that 256 00:13:29,040 --> 00:13:31,400 were totally unexpected. 257 00:13:31,400 --> 00:13:35,040 I ended up meeting somebody who became my mentor. 258 00:13:35,040 --> 00:13:36,480 His name is Gray Greed. 259 00:13:36,480 --> 00:13:40,920 He was writing a book, a collaboration book called footsteps of the fearless. 260 00:13:40,920 --> 00:13:42,800 And I actually have it right here with me today. 261 00:13:42,800 --> 00:13:46,200 You know, footsteps of the fearless and he was putting this book together and he's like, 262 00:13:46,200 --> 00:13:48,240 you're breaking through a fear every day. 263 00:13:48,240 --> 00:13:51,160 This is a perfect book for you to join. 264 00:13:51,160 --> 00:13:55,720 And I was like, like, why would I do that? 265 00:13:55,720 --> 00:13:59,040 And I was scared because of just putting my words out there. 266 00:13:59,040 --> 00:14:00,440 Who wants to hear from me? 267 00:14:00,440 --> 00:14:01,640 Who wants to hear my message? 268 00:14:01,640 --> 00:14:06,240 And he just really talked to me about it and talked about, you know, being in a collaboration 269 00:14:06,240 --> 00:14:08,720 book and how it brings people together and stuff. 270 00:14:08,720 --> 00:14:10,320 So he approached it from that perspective. 271 00:14:10,320 --> 00:14:14,480 And I love that because I wanted to connect with new people because I was breaking through 272 00:14:14,480 --> 00:14:15,800 all these fears. 273 00:14:15,800 --> 00:14:17,760 And so I joined him in that book. 274 00:14:17,760 --> 00:14:24,320 And that was one of the things that what I got from that one fear of being part of a 275 00:14:24,320 --> 00:14:27,880 collaboration book has shifted my entire life. 276 00:14:27,880 --> 00:14:33,120 Like my entire from that moment is the moment that everything shifted. 277 00:14:33,120 --> 00:14:38,080 I became a book publisher because I said yes to that book. 278 00:14:38,080 --> 00:14:44,320 I have published 433 number one international bestselling authors because I said yes to that 279 00:14:44,320 --> 00:14:45,320 one book. 280 00:14:45,320 --> 00:14:47,560 I've interviewed stars on the red carpet. 281 00:14:47,560 --> 00:14:50,240 One of my books is endorsed by Les Brown. 282 00:14:50,240 --> 00:14:52,280 And I interviewed. 283 00:14:52,280 --> 00:14:56,080 You say that, but last yesterday when I was on a call and I was talking to somebody that 284 00:14:56,080 --> 00:14:58,120 I'd met you and she looked you up immediately. 285 00:14:58,120 --> 00:14:59,760 She's like, she's with Les Brown. 286 00:14:59,760 --> 00:15:03,480 I was like, yeah, I didn't notice that. 287 00:15:03,480 --> 00:15:08,560 Well that and I interviewed the president of Mexico, the country, and his presidential 288 00:15:08,560 --> 00:15:11,240 suite when he was in San Diego. 289 00:15:11,240 --> 00:15:15,000 And all of these things happen literally because I said yes to that book. 290 00:15:15,000 --> 00:15:20,760 And the reason I say that is because the connections that I made from that book led to all of these 291 00:15:20,760 --> 00:15:21,760 different things. 292 00:15:21,760 --> 00:15:26,160 And we never know who we're going to step outside of that comfort zone. 293 00:15:26,160 --> 00:15:29,760 And I so believe that it's Godwinks and God inspired. 294 00:15:29,760 --> 00:15:33,560 And like I tell people like if when I meet somebody, I'm like, if I remember where I 295 00:15:33,560 --> 00:15:38,280 was when I met you, like all the details, I know you're going to be in my life forever. 296 00:15:38,280 --> 00:15:42,000 And you just never know who that person's going to be and who they're going to lead 297 00:15:42,000 --> 00:15:43,000 you to. 298 00:15:43,000 --> 00:15:44,000 I was walking with a friend one day. 299 00:15:44,000 --> 00:15:46,640 We were talking about connections and how we knew somebody. 300 00:15:46,640 --> 00:15:51,840 And I was walking with her that day and met her because of a connection I made with somebody 301 00:15:51,840 --> 00:15:54,200 when I was in college. 302 00:15:54,200 --> 00:15:58,240 But it was so many different iterations of connections to connections. 303 00:15:58,240 --> 00:16:03,200 And that's why I talk a lot about connections in this podcast because I think that's so 304 00:16:03,200 --> 00:16:08,680 powerful and just in saying yes, I was talking coaching one of my team members yesterday. 305 00:16:08,680 --> 00:16:12,600 And I said, listen to the first voice when somebody nudges you to talk to somebody to 306 00:16:12,600 --> 00:16:15,480 do something, do it. 307 00:16:15,480 --> 00:16:17,400 Because then we talk herself out of it. 308 00:16:17,400 --> 00:16:20,200 But over and just do it. 309 00:16:20,200 --> 00:16:23,120 I don't know if you do follow Mel Robbins at all. 310 00:16:23,120 --> 00:16:24,120 I do not. 311 00:16:24,120 --> 00:16:28,480 I don't follow her, but people keep telling me that I have the same philosophies as her. 312 00:16:28,480 --> 00:16:34,400 Well, she wrote a book and has a great TED talk on the five second rule. 313 00:16:34,400 --> 00:16:39,040 And I think it's five seconds something, but she talks about when there's something that 314 00:16:39,040 --> 00:16:42,920 you don't want to do and your mind's talking out of it, count, go five, four, three, two, 315 00:16:42,920 --> 00:16:44,280 one, and then just do it. 316 00:16:44,280 --> 00:16:46,720 You can't go one, two, three, four, five, because then you'll keep going. 317 00:16:46,720 --> 00:16:53,160 But even like getting out of bed, you know, or making that phone call or do the fears, 318 00:16:53,160 --> 00:16:55,920 it's just five, four, three, two, one, and just do it. 319 00:16:55,920 --> 00:16:56,920 Yeah. 320 00:16:56,920 --> 00:16:58,160 The outside talk too. 321 00:16:58,160 --> 00:17:04,320 It's like how many takes 10 seconds of courage to do those, to do the thing. 322 00:17:04,320 --> 00:17:05,320 Yeah. 323 00:17:05,320 --> 00:17:09,000 And there's so many things that have happened for me, you know, like you mentioned the God 324 00:17:09,000 --> 00:17:13,240 weeks, like these different things that have happened that had I thought about them, I 325 00:17:13,240 --> 00:17:14,840 wouldn't have done that for sure. 326 00:17:14,840 --> 00:17:15,840 Right. 327 00:17:15,840 --> 00:17:19,400 Like I had lunch with Jack Canfield and it was, it was through this situation that happened 328 00:17:19,400 --> 00:17:25,240 that I, I like to say see the opportunity, then sees the opportunity. 329 00:17:25,240 --> 00:17:29,000 There was an opportunity presented itself to me in a split second, literally a split 330 00:17:29,000 --> 00:17:32,200 second, and I took advantage of that, you know. 331 00:17:32,200 --> 00:17:37,800 And so it's really like what, what are we allowing to slip by because we're not, first 332 00:17:37,800 --> 00:17:40,280 of all, we're not seeing the opportunity because our mind is closed. 333 00:17:40,280 --> 00:17:43,360 Maybe we don't see that as a possibility for us. 334 00:17:43,360 --> 00:17:47,360 But if we just like would more, more look for these different opportunities, what are 335 00:17:47,360 --> 00:17:48,600 we going to come across? 336 00:17:48,600 --> 00:17:49,600 Right. 337 00:17:49,600 --> 00:17:53,880 There's, there's, I wrote, I recently wrote a book called do it because you're scared, 338 00:17:53,880 --> 00:17:54,880 because you're scared. 339 00:17:54,880 --> 00:17:56,400 I like, here's why. 340 00:17:56,400 --> 00:18:00,640 What I discovered 365 days in a row breaking through fears. 341 00:18:00,640 --> 00:18:07,800 What I discovered is 99.9% of the time, every fear I broke through, I was either proud of 342 00:18:07,800 --> 00:18:12,680 myself or I connected with somebody that I didn't know that opened a door that I didn't 343 00:18:12,680 --> 00:18:14,360 even know was closed. 344 00:18:14,360 --> 00:18:19,120 And my life has shifted for the better because I broke through those fears. 345 00:18:19,120 --> 00:18:24,200 So what I say is like, we disempower ourselves when we say things like, oh, feel the fear 346 00:18:24,200 --> 00:18:25,200 and do it anyway. 347 00:18:25,200 --> 00:18:27,840 See that, that term anyway is disempowering. 348 00:18:27,840 --> 00:18:28,840 Right. 349 00:18:28,840 --> 00:18:31,840 But when I say I'm experiencing fear, oh, this is awesome. 350 00:18:31,840 --> 00:18:34,160 I'm so glad I'm experiencing fear. 351 00:18:34,160 --> 00:18:39,560 I'm going to do this because I'm scared because I'm excited for what's on the other side. 352 00:18:39,560 --> 00:18:43,360 So it's shifted my whole, whole life. 353 00:18:43,360 --> 00:18:44,360 Yeah. 354 00:18:44,360 --> 00:18:45,360 Oh, wow. 355 00:18:45,360 --> 00:18:46,360 I love that. 356 00:18:46,360 --> 00:18:48,440 So do it because you never know what's on the other side and that's so true. 357 00:18:48,440 --> 00:18:49,440 Yeah. 358 00:18:49,440 --> 00:18:52,960 And that's why we don't do it so often is because we don't know what's on the other side. 359 00:18:52,960 --> 00:18:57,920 But if we can shift that thinking to realizing that the vast majority of the time, the results 360 00:18:57,920 --> 00:19:01,160 are going to be greater, greater than you ever imagined. 361 00:19:01,160 --> 00:19:04,280 Why are you depriving yourself of those results? 362 00:19:04,280 --> 00:19:05,840 I love that. 363 00:19:05,840 --> 00:19:12,160 And I do share a lot in teaching team members with Mary Kay is like, you just never know 364 00:19:12,160 --> 00:19:14,200 who that person's going to be. 365 00:19:14,200 --> 00:19:23,000 And first of all, how you can change their life and bless them, but also how like they 366 00:19:23,000 --> 00:19:26,480 may be looking for you and you never know who that person's going to be that's going 367 00:19:26,480 --> 00:19:31,800 to lead you to that person or, you know, you just never know where that person's going 368 00:19:31,800 --> 00:19:33,160 to lead you to. 369 00:19:33,160 --> 00:19:37,960 A great example of that is I hosted a, I host summits. 370 00:19:37,960 --> 00:19:44,040 We host six summits a year and I hosted one recently and one of our speakers, I guess 371 00:19:44,040 --> 00:19:45,040 she really liked us. 372 00:19:45,040 --> 00:19:49,280 I didn't know her, is she, but she came in as a speaker and I haven't even connected 373 00:19:49,280 --> 00:19:50,280 with her. 374 00:19:50,280 --> 00:19:55,800 But just this last two days, she sent me eight different connections for books. 375 00:19:55,800 --> 00:20:01,000 And so if I hadn't brought in these strangers to speak at my event, because I didn't know 376 00:20:01,000 --> 00:20:04,040 her and I, I haven't even had a chance to talk to her yet. 377 00:20:04,040 --> 00:20:08,720 If I hadn't brought these strangers into my event because I was too worried about what 378 00:20:08,720 --> 00:20:12,640 they might say or think or what have you, then I wouldn't have met her and she wouldn't 379 00:20:12,640 --> 00:20:15,280 have connected me with those, like you mentioned the Godwings, right? 380 00:20:15,280 --> 00:20:19,720 Like she's connecting me with these people and who knows where those relationships are 381 00:20:19,720 --> 00:20:20,720 going to go. 382 00:20:20,720 --> 00:20:21,920 I have no idea. 383 00:20:21,920 --> 00:20:24,120 I have no idea, but I'm open to it. 384 00:20:24,120 --> 00:20:25,120 Open to every single person. 385 00:20:25,120 --> 00:20:28,720 And that's, I think that's what, the way I live my life. 386 00:20:28,720 --> 00:20:31,200 And it sounds like that's where I connected with you so quickly. 387 00:20:31,200 --> 00:20:32,200 It's just the, oh great. 388 00:20:32,200 --> 00:20:34,120 You have no idea where it's leading. 389 00:20:34,120 --> 00:20:38,160 And I think that's this whole why not today message I feel like is bigger than me and 390 00:20:38,160 --> 00:20:39,160 really reaching out. 391 00:20:39,160 --> 00:20:42,560 And I think I mentioned we talked the other day about her, but I can say, and I should 392 00:20:42,560 --> 00:20:44,320 write a book and I'm like, I am not a writer. 393 00:20:44,320 --> 00:20:45,320 I'm a finance girl. 394 00:20:45,320 --> 00:20:46,320 That's my background. 395 00:20:46,320 --> 00:20:51,000 But just in meeting you, I'm like, and just listening to you today, I'm like, huh, like 396 00:20:51,000 --> 00:20:56,600 the Jack Canfield chicken soup for the soul kind of book, it could be a why not day book 397 00:20:56,600 --> 00:20:58,640 with store everybody's story. 398 00:20:58,640 --> 00:20:59,880 They're courageous stories. 399 00:20:59,880 --> 00:21:00,880 Yeah. 400 00:21:00,880 --> 00:21:04,240 And what I love about the collaboration, because not only are you connecting with those other 401 00:21:04,240 --> 00:21:07,160 people, but you know, there's power in numbers, right? 402 00:21:07,160 --> 00:21:12,160 Especially, especially everybody, you know, why not today, everybody has the same sort 403 00:21:12,160 --> 00:21:13,160 of theme. 404 00:21:13,160 --> 00:21:16,880 You know, and so when we're going, when we're coming together with the same sort of theme, 405 00:21:16,880 --> 00:21:19,200 this helps us to have an immediate connection. 406 00:21:19,200 --> 00:21:20,560 It's an immediate connection right there. 407 00:21:20,560 --> 00:21:24,640 So that's one of the things I absolutely love about those collaborative style books, you 408 00:21:24,640 --> 00:21:28,440 know, they're, they have been life altering for me. 409 00:21:28,440 --> 00:21:29,440 Yeah. 410 00:21:29,440 --> 00:21:30,440 Life altering. 411 00:21:30,440 --> 00:21:35,960 Ah, just overcoming one fear a day and just those little things and I just love that and 412 00:21:35,960 --> 00:21:37,960 I'm so glad that we got connected. 413 00:21:37,960 --> 00:21:46,280 So how would you encourage somebody else to say why not today? 414 00:21:46,280 --> 00:21:54,360 You know, I would, I would encourage them to say why not today is imagine what your life 415 00:21:54,360 --> 00:21:56,600 like, what life do you want to live? 416 00:21:56,600 --> 00:21:58,600 What life do you want to live? 417 00:21:58,600 --> 00:22:01,080 Are you living that life today? 418 00:22:01,080 --> 00:22:04,080 And if you are, maybe why not today is not a thing for you. 419 00:22:04,080 --> 00:22:07,640 But if there are things that you want, places that you want to be people you want to be 420 00:22:07,640 --> 00:22:10,680 surrounded by, why not you? 421 00:22:10,680 --> 00:22:11,680 Why not you? 422 00:22:11,680 --> 00:22:15,400 It's time to draw that line in the sand and cross across it and say, it's my turn. 423 00:22:15,400 --> 00:22:16,400 I'm ready. 424 00:22:16,400 --> 00:22:20,600 I'm ready to do this, whatever it is, but you got to take those steps to do it. 425 00:22:20,600 --> 00:22:22,520 You have to take the action. 426 00:22:22,520 --> 00:22:24,680 Nothing happens without action. 427 00:22:24,680 --> 00:22:29,360 Action takers publishing was actually created because I was not an action taker. 428 00:22:29,360 --> 00:22:33,960 I was a person who would sit back and hope things would happen for me. 429 00:22:33,960 --> 00:22:39,920 And because I realized that if I name, like I name my company action takers publishing, 430 00:22:39,920 --> 00:22:43,680 that I will probably attract action takers. 431 00:22:43,680 --> 00:22:48,040 And if I attract action takers, I will become an action taker. 432 00:22:48,040 --> 00:22:50,520 We need to hang out with who we want to become. 433 00:22:50,520 --> 00:22:52,120 So who do you want to become? 434 00:22:52,120 --> 00:22:56,640 Yeah, there's a saying, I can't remember who said Jim Rohn, I think says, we're a reflection 435 00:22:56,640 --> 00:22:59,800 of the five people we hang out with the most. 436 00:22:59,800 --> 00:23:03,360 In high school, if you were a smoker, you probably hung out with the smokers. 437 00:23:03,360 --> 00:23:07,280 If you were a band nerd like I was, you probably hung out with the bandos, right? 438 00:23:07,280 --> 00:23:09,160 But who are you hanging out with today? 439 00:23:09,160 --> 00:23:12,720 Are they helping you to get the results that you want in the future? 440 00:23:12,720 --> 00:23:16,720 So like by having Leslie, you know, being a director with Mary Kaye, and if you're somebody 441 00:23:16,720 --> 00:23:20,560 who's under Leslie, then you're following in her footsteps, you know, but you got to 442 00:23:20,560 --> 00:23:23,720 follow those footsteps in order to get the results that you want to get. 443 00:23:23,720 --> 00:23:24,720 So why not today? 444 00:23:24,720 --> 00:23:30,400 Yeah, and I do pay very close attention to the people I spend time with. 445 00:23:30,400 --> 00:23:34,520 And I was reading a book last night from a guest I had on a couple of weeks ago on the 446 00:23:34,520 --> 00:23:36,040 podcast and she wrote a book. 447 00:23:36,040 --> 00:23:39,840 It says, dare to choose happy. 448 00:23:39,840 --> 00:23:42,000 So one of the things she talked about is connections. 449 00:23:42,000 --> 00:23:46,040 Who are your powerful connections in your life to make a list? 450 00:23:46,040 --> 00:23:50,880 And you know, most people, they say you only have a couple super close, powerful connections, 451 00:23:50,880 --> 00:23:52,560 and I am so blessed that I've got lots. 452 00:23:52,560 --> 00:23:58,320 And so she said to make a list of the people that you have the connections with them before 453 00:23:58,320 --> 00:23:59,320 I went to bed last night. 454 00:23:59,320 --> 00:24:01,120 It's on one of these notes here. 455 00:24:01,120 --> 00:24:06,400 I made a list and I came up with 20 people that I knew that I had that great connection. 456 00:24:06,400 --> 00:24:12,280 And then the other thing she had you do is make a list of things that make you happy 457 00:24:12,280 --> 00:24:13,760 and keep them in your phone. 458 00:24:13,760 --> 00:24:19,280 And I'm like, you know, simple things like lighting a candle or going for a walk or, 459 00:24:19,280 --> 00:24:22,360 you know, eating ice cream, whatever those things might be. 460 00:24:22,360 --> 00:24:25,680 But yeah, all those things are such a difference. 461 00:24:25,680 --> 00:24:30,280 And I love the connections and the people we hang out with and, you know, surround yourself 462 00:24:30,280 --> 00:24:32,000 with people that are going to make you better. 463 00:24:32,000 --> 00:24:33,000 Yeah. 464 00:24:33,000 --> 00:24:35,400 I like I'd love to share because I know we got to go. 465 00:24:35,400 --> 00:24:40,880 I would love to share like one exercise that I did during that year of fears, if I may. 466 00:24:40,880 --> 00:24:41,880 Right. 467 00:24:41,880 --> 00:24:42,880 Oh my gosh. 468 00:24:42,880 --> 00:24:44,040 There, there were so many things. 469 00:24:44,040 --> 00:24:46,400 First of all, there are so many things that I learned during that year. 470 00:24:46,400 --> 00:24:50,640 I actually came up with over 750 quotes during the year. 471 00:24:50,640 --> 00:24:55,240 One of those that I shared was, you know, see the opportunity then seize the opportunity. 472 00:24:55,240 --> 00:25:00,400 But there was this exercise that my life coach had me do that I implemented during my year 473 00:25:00,400 --> 00:25:01,400 of fears. 474 00:25:01,400 --> 00:25:02,520 And that is to make a list. 475 00:25:02,520 --> 00:25:06,880 Just like you mentioned, make a list of everything that really brings you joy, things that make 476 00:25:06,880 --> 00:25:07,880 you happy. 477 00:25:07,880 --> 00:25:09,240 They make you, they make you smile. 478 00:25:09,240 --> 00:25:14,440 They make you laugh, you know, just make that list and take a week to make your list. 479 00:25:14,440 --> 00:25:18,680 So when you're thinking of it or you're doing it, you're like, oh, I love that thing. 480 00:25:18,680 --> 00:25:19,680 Write it down. 481 00:25:19,680 --> 00:25:20,720 So you make that list. 482 00:25:20,720 --> 00:25:26,520 And then what I did is I took that list and I took it into my year of fears and I said, 483 00:25:26,520 --> 00:25:33,000 what I'm going to do is every day I'm going to do for five minutes, one of those things 484 00:25:33,000 --> 00:25:34,000 on my list. 485 00:25:34,000 --> 00:25:37,840 Like, I'm going to make sure that part of my process is to do one of those things on 486 00:25:37,840 --> 00:25:39,000 my list. 487 00:25:39,000 --> 00:25:43,440 And so the next week, I did it for 10 minutes a day. 488 00:25:43,440 --> 00:25:46,800 So it might have been two things for five minutes each or it might have been one thing 489 00:25:46,800 --> 00:25:47,800 for 10 minutes. 490 00:25:47,800 --> 00:25:53,280 Then the following week, and I just kept adding five minutes a day to it as I went on. 491 00:25:53,280 --> 00:26:00,200 And what I found was that my mindset started shifting to realize that I do deserve love. 492 00:26:00,200 --> 00:26:02,240 I do deserve happiness. 493 00:26:02,240 --> 00:26:05,120 I do deserve joy in my life. 494 00:26:05,120 --> 00:26:11,360 And so now the way my life is now, I'd say probably a good 80% of my life is spent in 495 00:26:11,360 --> 00:26:13,160 that positive mindset. 496 00:26:13,160 --> 00:26:14,680 I wasn't a positive person. 497 00:26:14,680 --> 00:26:16,520 I was very negative. 498 00:26:16,520 --> 00:26:19,120 I used to be a very judgmental person. 499 00:26:19,120 --> 00:26:21,040 I would judge people all the time. 500 00:26:21,040 --> 00:26:22,040 That's what I grew up in. 501 00:26:22,040 --> 00:26:23,040 Yeah. 502 00:26:23,040 --> 00:26:24,040 I was a judgment. 503 00:26:24,040 --> 00:26:25,040 I emulated it. 504 00:26:25,040 --> 00:26:27,200 I carried it forward into my life. 505 00:26:27,200 --> 00:26:28,800 And that was how I lived my life. 506 00:26:28,800 --> 00:26:30,480 So I have totally shifted everything. 507 00:26:30,480 --> 00:26:33,200 A lot of it came from that one exercise. 508 00:26:33,200 --> 00:26:37,880 There were other exercises too, of course, but that one exercise increase your amount 509 00:26:37,880 --> 00:26:40,440 of joy every day, just five minutes. 510 00:26:40,440 --> 00:26:42,080 And look at your name now. 511 00:26:42,080 --> 00:26:43,960 You've been called Sunshine because of that. 512 00:26:43,960 --> 00:26:45,280 Oh, exactly. 513 00:26:45,280 --> 00:26:50,400 That happened like three years after I broke through those fears because people just started 514 00:26:50,400 --> 00:26:52,120 randomly calling me Sunshine. 515 00:26:52,120 --> 00:26:53,840 I remember the first time somebody called me. 516 00:26:53,840 --> 00:26:56,200 I looked around and I was like, are you talking to me? 517 00:26:56,200 --> 00:26:59,000 Like, nobody ever called me Sunshine before. 518 00:26:59,000 --> 00:27:01,600 And so I went ahead and adopted it as my name. 519 00:27:01,600 --> 00:27:06,760 And then now I believe I am Sunshine because I adopted it. 520 00:27:06,760 --> 00:27:07,760 Thank you so much. 521 00:27:07,760 --> 00:27:12,920 I met somebody one time that I saw walking around my lake all the time. 522 00:27:12,920 --> 00:27:13,920 And then I met her somewhere else. 523 00:27:13,920 --> 00:27:14,920 I'm like, I see you all the time. 524 00:27:14,920 --> 00:27:16,320 She goes, oh, I know who you are. 525 00:27:16,320 --> 00:27:18,600 You're the person who always smiles and says hello. 526 00:27:18,600 --> 00:27:21,600 I'm like, what a simple thing to be known. 527 00:27:21,600 --> 00:27:26,200 I mean, grateful to be known for, but that you're known for that because most people 528 00:27:26,200 --> 00:27:27,200 don't. 529 00:27:27,200 --> 00:27:29,560 And it's so simple. 530 00:27:29,560 --> 00:27:33,640 Just yeah, and those positive things and looking for looking for the good. 531 00:27:33,640 --> 00:27:36,320 I'm talking about judgment in this book I was reading last night. 532 00:27:36,320 --> 00:27:39,680 She had, she said, don't judge. 533 00:27:39,680 --> 00:27:40,680 Don't be judgmental. 534 00:27:40,680 --> 00:27:42,880 Be curious. 535 00:27:42,880 --> 00:27:48,680 And what a different way to look at things when you're curious about it instead of judgmental. 536 00:27:48,680 --> 00:27:53,280 Like, you know, somebody cuts you off in traffic and like, you know, instead of being judgmental 537 00:27:53,280 --> 00:27:55,200 and mad and what a jerk they are. 538 00:27:55,200 --> 00:28:00,360 And like, you know, I hope everything's okay and they don't have an emergency and, you 539 00:28:00,360 --> 00:28:03,560 know, curious what's making them in such a hurry today. 540 00:28:03,560 --> 00:28:05,760 Yeah, I make up stories. 541 00:28:05,760 --> 00:28:09,400 I'll say something like, oh, they must be on their way to the hospital because they're 542 00:28:09,400 --> 00:28:10,400 having a baby. 543 00:28:10,400 --> 00:28:11,400 Exactly. 544 00:28:11,400 --> 00:28:13,680 I'll just make up fun, like nice fun stories. 545 00:28:13,680 --> 00:28:20,880 You know, we make up stories where so our brain tells us to make up the bad stories. 546 00:28:20,880 --> 00:28:25,960 But I really tried to make up the good stories and something recently I read and talking 547 00:28:25,960 --> 00:28:31,040 about the judgmental, totally going off a squirrel moment, but there was a man on a train with 548 00:28:31,040 --> 00:28:35,600 four kids that were wreaking havoc, just brats screaming and yelling and this woman 549 00:28:35,600 --> 00:28:39,360 was trying to work and she finally couldn't take it anymore. 550 00:28:39,360 --> 00:28:40,560 And she finally looked at the man. 551 00:28:40,560 --> 00:28:43,680 He's like, do you not know how to handle your children? 552 00:28:43,680 --> 00:28:48,360 And he goes, no man, as a matter of fact, I have no idea how to handle my children after 553 00:28:48,360 --> 00:28:51,760 two hours after their mother passed away. 554 00:28:51,760 --> 00:28:53,520 And I often think about that. 555 00:28:53,520 --> 00:28:58,480 It's like, okay, we judge, but we don't know what's going on behind the scenes for somebody. 556 00:28:58,480 --> 00:29:03,280 And just be kind and never know where you can bless them. 557 00:29:03,280 --> 00:29:04,600 Well, what a blessing you are. 558 00:29:04,600 --> 00:29:08,000 And I'm so grateful to have met you and I can't wait to do other things with you and 559 00:29:08,000 --> 00:29:10,800 learn other things and you've already taught me a ton. 560 00:29:10,800 --> 00:29:16,400 So I always try to do with the podcast also to back into like your connection with my 561 00:29:16,400 --> 00:29:20,400 dad because he's who I'm honoring this podcast and people are like, I never knew your dad. 562 00:29:20,400 --> 00:29:21,960 Well, of course you didn't. 563 00:29:21,960 --> 00:29:24,800 But so the first connection I would say is California. 564 00:29:24,800 --> 00:29:28,400 You lived in California, you grew up in California, my dad did too. 565 00:29:28,400 --> 00:29:33,640 He grew up in San Fernando Valley talking about being on the red carpet and doing those things. 566 00:29:33,640 --> 00:29:35,240 He always has stories and he was kids. 567 00:29:35,240 --> 00:29:39,240 He would deliver newspapers to all the stars and had all those connections. 568 00:29:39,240 --> 00:29:46,400 But I think just your positive attitude and your connections and just not now, now not 569 00:29:46,400 --> 00:29:54,120 being afraid to ask and connect and just it seems like there's never been a person that's 570 00:29:54,120 --> 00:29:56,760 everybody's a friend of strangers, just a friend to you. 571 00:29:56,760 --> 00:29:57,760 And I love that. 572 00:29:57,760 --> 00:30:00,760 And I feel like in just two conversations with you connected forever. 573 00:30:00,760 --> 00:30:05,040 So when I come out to San Diego to see my nephew, we'll definitely have to get it together 574 00:30:05,040 --> 00:30:08,640 in person or if you come to the East Coast or somewhere else. 575 00:30:08,640 --> 00:30:12,160 So well, thank you so much for coming to New York. 576 00:30:12,160 --> 00:30:14,520 Are you near New York? 577 00:30:14,520 --> 00:30:15,520 Not really. 578 00:30:15,520 --> 00:30:16,520 I'm in DC. 579 00:30:16,520 --> 00:30:17,520 Okay. 580 00:30:17,520 --> 00:30:20,520 That's about four or five hours from New York. 581 00:30:20,520 --> 00:30:24,960 Well, what's New York City or Brooklyn? 582 00:30:24,960 --> 00:30:30,120 I'm coming to New York because I was just sure of this because this is one of those wow moments 583 00:30:30,120 --> 00:30:38,320 that I'm experiencing right now is I was invited to participate in the rock and roll Hall of 584 00:30:38,320 --> 00:30:44,240 Fame inductee ceremony as a person in the gifting suite. 585 00:30:44,240 --> 00:30:49,920 So I will be giving gifts to the inductees plus other A-list celebrities. 586 00:30:49,920 --> 00:30:53,880 And this is something that is happening again. 587 00:30:53,880 --> 00:30:57,880 This because I said yes to that one book because the connections that I've made through that 588 00:30:57,880 --> 00:30:58,920 whole situation. 589 00:30:58,920 --> 00:31:01,360 So I am so excited. 590 00:31:01,360 --> 00:31:02,360 This is really happening. 591 00:31:02,360 --> 00:31:03,360 That's great. 592 00:31:03,360 --> 00:31:04,360 I love that. 593 00:31:04,360 --> 00:31:05,360 Yeah. 594 00:31:05,360 --> 00:31:08,360 Just say yes to those little things and you never know what they're doing. 595 00:31:08,360 --> 00:31:09,360 Why not now? 596 00:31:09,360 --> 00:31:10,360 Why not today? 597 00:31:10,360 --> 00:31:11,360 Exactly. 598 00:31:11,360 --> 00:31:12,360 Yes. 599 00:31:12,360 --> 00:31:16,640 So well, thank you again for sharing and I think we could talk forever and ever and 600 00:31:16,640 --> 00:31:18,960 ever. 601 00:31:18,960 --> 00:31:23,040 And if anybody wants to follow the podcast, we are on all the podcast places. 602 00:31:23,040 --> 00:31:25,840 There's a website, whynottodaypodcast.com. 603 00:31:25,840 --> 00:31:32,080 I will share Linda's link in the show notes how to access and find you and connect with 604 00:31:32,080 --> 00:31:34,160 you and you're a great asset. 605 00:31:34,160 --> 00:31:35,400 Somebody should connect with you. 606 00:31:35,400 --> 00:31:41,240 And we also have why not today swag, t-shirts, cups, finals to remind yourself. 607 00:31:41,240 --> 00:31:43,160 Just say why not today. 608 00:31:43,160 --> 00:31:47,800 So I'm always looking for courageous stories to share if anybody knows of anything, anybody 609 00:31:47,800 --> 00:31:48,800 listening. 610 00:31:48,800 --> 00:31:52,640 So again, Linda, thank you for sharing and it's been a pleasure to get to know you and 611 00:31:52,640 --> 00:31:53,640 you know what? 612 00:31:53,640 --> 00:31:56,240 Just say why not today. 613 00:31:56,240 --> 00:31:57,880 Why not today? 614 00:31:57,880 --> 00:31:59,080 Thank you so much for having me. 615 00:31:59,080 --> 00:32:00,080 Oh, you're welcome. 616 00:32:00,080 --> 00:32:27,640 Thank you.