WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.100 Hey family, if you stay with me until the end 00:00:02.100 --> 00:00:04.700 of this episode, I'm going to give you three 00:00:04.700 --> 00:00:07.919 principles that have real impact on how you can 00:00:07.919 --> 00:00:11.279 become your Aligned Self, not in 2026, but now. 00:00:11.500 --> 00:00:14.039 Now to say motivation, it's not theory, but ways 00:00:14.039 --> 00:00:17.140 of operating you can actually live from now. 00:00:17.339 --> 00:00:19.660 And the third one is the principle that most 00:00:19.660 --> 00:00:21.800 people miss. And it's the one that makes everything 00:00:21.800 --> 00:00:24.179 else sustainable. And at the end, I'm going to 00:00:24.179 --> 00:00:26.699 also give you something practical to support 00:00:26.699 --> 00:00:29.609 this work. And this work is something that I'll 00:00:29.609 --> 00:00:31.969 call separating the experience from meaning and 00:00:31.969 --> 00:00:34.469 aligning with your future self when the old way 00:00:34.469 --> 00:00:36.890 of operating no longer works for you. All right. 00:00:37.109 --> 00:00:40.090 This is the season one final episode of The Thrivewell 00:00:40.090 --> 00:00:42.850 Journey that I'm so proud and happy to host. 00:00:42.990 --> 00:00:46.090 And this conversation is about how you choose 00:00:46.090 --> 00:00:49.229 to move forward from here. And that choice doesn't 00:00:49.229 --> 00:00:51.490 usually show up in dramatic moments. It shows 00:00:51.490 --> 00:00:54.649 up in ordinary weeks when nothing looks broken. 00:00:54.920 --> 00:00:57.340 But in that week, something kind of starts to 00:00:57.340 --> 00:00:59.619 fill off, right? And that's where it showed up 00:00:59.619 --> 00:01:02.840 for me. And I was not in a crisis, but in the 00:01:02.840 --> 00:01:05.159 meaning, I was giving what I was experiencing 00:01:05.159 --> 00:01:06.920 that week. Here's what I think. I know I'm not 00:01:06.920 --> 00:01:09.180 the only one who does this. So let me just kind 00:01:09.180 --> 00:01:11.540 of talk about it and say, you know, kind of show 00:01:11.540 --> 00:01:13.780 you what's happening here. Okay. So I started 00:01:13.780 --> 00:01:16.099 doing lives two weeks ago, Friday night lives, 00:01:16.420 --> 00:01:19.140 and this podcast is still building. You know, 00:01:19.239 --> 00:01:21.420 my business is still being built, you know, all 00:01:21.420 --> 00:01:23.439 the things, right? So nothing dramatic happened. 00:01:23.579 --> 00:01:26.900 But what showed up wasn't just an experience. 00:01:27.219 --> 00:01:30.299 It was meaning. It was the meaning that I was 00:01:30.299 --> 00:01:33.760 giving the experience. It was that familiar meaning 00:01:33.760 --> 00:01:37.019 -making voice that says, you're behind, this 00:01:37.019 --> 00:01:39.879 should look good by now, or it should look different 00:01:39.879 --> 00:01:42.200 by now, or maybe what you're doing isn't working. 00:01:42.420 --> 00:01:44.859 But here's what matters. That voice wasn't telling 00:01:44.859 --> 00:01:47.439 the truth. It was assigning meaning that really 00:01:47.439 --> 00:01:49.599 came from the past, not from who I'm becoming. 00:01:49.790 --> 00:01:53.409 In that moment, when I stopped letting that experience 00:01:53.409 --> 00:01:56.049 that I was having define my identity, I started 00:01:56.049 --> 00:01:57.810 to get my footing better. So that's the first 00:01:57.810 --> 00:02:00.829 principle. Experience is not identity. That's 00:02:00.829 --> 00:02:02.810 where people kind of get tripped up, right? They 00:02:02.810 --> 00:02:05.090 think feelings are telling them who they are. 00:02:05.450 --> 00:02:07.269 Feelings are not instructions. What feelings 00:02:07.269 --> 00:02:10.330 are, I come to find out, is information. So there's 00:02:10.330 --> 00:02:12.550 reactive feelings. And reactive feelings don't 00:02:12.550 --> 00:02:15.530 define who you are. They tell you what meaning 00:02:15.530 --> 00:02:18.250 is being activated inside of you, like fear. 00:02:18.400 --> 00:02:21.139 doubt, contraction. And those are signals that 00:02:21.139 --> 00:02:23.719 an old identity is speaking. But the feelings 00:02:23.719 --> 00:02:26.680 you choose to live from, the ones aligned with 00:02:26.680 --> 00:02:29.000 who you're becoming, those are the ones that 00:02:29.000 --> 00:02:32.060 matter. Those aren't reactions. Those are orientations. 00:02:32.300 --> 00:02:34.560 And I just want to be clear, when I say orientation, 00:02:34.830 --> 00:02:37.610 I'm talking about the internal direction I'm 00:02:37.610 --> 00:02:40.569 facing when I interpret what's happening and 00:02:40.569 --> 00:02:43.009 deciding what to do next. So those reactions 00:02:43.009 --> 00:02:45.710 come from the past, orientations come from who 00:02:45.710 --> 00:02:48.789 I'm becoming, right? And when I reoriented myself, 00:02:49.090 --> 00:02:51.629 everything began to shift. And once I saw that 00:02:51.629 --> 00:02:55.150 clearly, I realized something else. The next 00:02:55.150 --> 00:02:57.750 question wasn't what I was feeling. It was how 00:02:57.750 --> 00:03:00.270 I was going to operate myself through what I 00:03:00.270 --> 00:03:03.509 was experiencing. So I like to... pride myself 00:03:03.509 --> 00:03:05.889 on staying aware, you know, keeping my head on 00:03:05.889 --> 00:03:08.090 the swivel, but I don't let what's happening 00:03:08.090 --> 00:03:10.789 out there decide who I'm going to be on the inside. 00:03:11.129 --> 00:03:13.490 And that's the second principle, reaction versus 00:03:13.490 --> 00:03:16.449 choice. Now I can react to what's happening or 00:03:16.449 --> 00:03:19.969 I can choose who I'm being while whatever. It's 00:03:19.969 --> 00:03:21.849 happening. It's happening. And the work wasn't 00:03:21.849 --> 00:03:24.409 to get rid of what I was feeling. It was to stop 00:03:24.409 --> 00:03:28.110 letting meaning drive how I think, decide, and 00:03:28.110 --> 00:03:30.449 create. Now, let me kind of go back for a moment. 00:03:30.590 --> 00:03:33.669 I started this podcast without direction, without 00:03:33.669 --> 00:03:36.569 clarity, without a real roadmap. It wasn't a 00:03:36.569 --> 00:03:39.330 plan, but it was an idea. Almost like a thought 00:03:39.330 --> 00:03:41.870 from outside of myself or maybe a hit of myself. 00:03:41.909 --> 00:03:43.689 And I'll be honest, this has been one of the 00:03:43.689 --> 00:03:45.449 hardest things I've ever done. You know, I've 00:03:45.449 --> 00:03:48.389 conquered a lot in my life, but this whole journey 00:03:48.389 --> 00:03:51.069 has asked something. different of me. And after 00:03:51.069 --> 00:03:54.009 what I call disruption, the kidney loss, the 00:03:54.009 --> 00:03:56.009 cancer, the health journey, all of it, I've talked 00:03:56.009 --> 00:03:57.909 about this throughout the podcast from the beginning 00:03:57.909 --> 00:04:00.270 on, and through, you know, different episodes, 00:04:00.469 --> 00:04:02.789 I thought I had to put my life back together. 00:04:02.889 --> 00:04:05.449 But that's not what was required. I did not need 00:04:05.449 --> 00:04:07.909 to figure anything out. What I had to do, what 00:04:07.909 --> 00:04:10.590 I created for myself was to reconnect with a 00:04:10.590 --> 00:04:12.949 part of me that already knew I had to believe. 00:04:13.180 --> 00:04:15.580 not intellectually, but existentially, that there 00:04:15.580 --> 00:04:18.740 was purpose after my disruption. And once I did 00:04:18.740 --> 00:04:21.639 that, things that had been dormant resurfaced. 00:04:22.079 --> 00:04:25.540 So, as for instance, my company, the Orients 00:04:25.540 --> 00:04:28.180 Group, didn't come from out of nowhere. It came 00:04:28.180 --> 00:04:31.500 back. It was always there, and now it's here, 00:04:31.660 --> 00:04:34.300 in reality. And not because I forced it, but 00:04:34.300 --> 00:04:37.100 because I'm in line with my future self and creation, 00:04:37.399 --> 00:04:40.920 right? And I want to say this clearly. because 00:04:40.920 --> 00:04:43.379 once people talk about alignment and aligning, 00:04:43.740 --> 00:04:46.459 they think, oh, I'm aligned, I'm aligned. Well, 00:04:46.540 --> 00:04:50.259 aligning with your future self, it doesn't mean 00:04:50.259 --> 00:04:53.019 everything feels clear all the time, you know, 00:04:53.139 --> 00:04:55.279 because, you know, there's plenty of moments 00:04:55.279 --> 00:04:57.279 of clarity, right? But there are also moments 00:04:57.279 --> 00:05:00.300 of... frustration there are moments where I'm 00:05:00.300 --> 00:05:03.139 guiding myself forward clearly through stillness 00:05:03.139 --> 00:05:06.740 and meditation and moments where I have to stop 00:05:06.740 --> 00:05:09.000 and really and recalibrate right so all of it 00:05:09.000 --> 00:05:12.079 shows up and I know many of you are living inside 00:05:12.079 --> 00:05:14.480 some version of that right now you know for me 00:05:14.480 --> 00:05:16.540 you know it was some kind of health loss you 00:05:16.540 --> 00:05:20.560 know or health rather and you may be experiencing 00:05:20.560 --> 00:05:23.680 a loss that you didn't expect a diagnosis a divorce 00:05:23.680 --> 00:05:27.180 a job you thought would carry you to retirement 00:05:27.180 --> 00:05:29.779 or you know a moment where life broke continuity 00:05:29.779 --> 00:05:32.399 and now you're asking what do i do now you know 00:05:32.399 --> 00:05:34.800 i've had plenty of those moments like this is 00:05:34.800 --> 00:05:36.319 where i thought i was going this is where i was 00:05:36.319 --> 00:05:40.139 headed but now not so much and that's what we 00:05:40.139 --> 00:05:42.519 call disruption and it's not because it destroys 00:05:42.519 --> 00:05:45.120 you but because it interrupts the patterns and 00:05:45.120 --> 00:05:48.819 who you thought you were right so this week brought 00:05:48.819 --> 00:05:52.160 up a familiar meaning for me the story that i'm 00:05:52.160 --> 00:05:55.399 behind the story that i'm not worried that I 00:05:55.399 --> 00:05:57.339 had destroyed that I'm not good enough. And what 00:05:57.339 --> 00:05:59.980 I realized in the middle of all of that wasn't 00:05:59.980 --> 00:06:02.160 something new. It was something that I already 00:06:02.160 --> 00:06:05.240 knew. Something I had drifted away from and needed 00:06:05.240 --> 00:06:08.199 to return to. It was returning to myself, choosing 00:06:08.199 --> 00:06:10.800 who I'm becoming instead of letting old meaning 00:06:10.800 --> 00:06:13.600 run the moment. And if you've ever experienced 00:06:13.600 --> 00:06:16.480 yourself as a failure while creating something 00:06:16.480 --> 00:06:19.000 meaningful in your life, this episode is for 00:06:19.000 --> 00:06:21.100 you. Because this isn't about giving up. It's 00:06:21.100 --> 00:06:23.810 not about... any of that right what it is about 00:06:23.810 --> 00:06:27.550 is about separating experience from the meaning 00:06:27.550 --> 00:06:30.410 that you're giving it and choosing who you're 00:06:30.410 --> 00:06:33.170 being in the face of no agreement that distinction 00:06:33.170 --> 00:06:36.889 right there changes how you operate so for me 00:06:36.889 --> 00:06:39.569 the whispers came first but they weren't loud 00:06:39.569 --> 00:06:42.529 enough i just wasn't listening so what ended 00:06:42.529 --> 00:06:46.029 up happening was my life got interrupted life 00:06:46.029 --> 00:06:49.209 interrupted me and it wasn't to punish me and 00:06:49.209 --> 00:06:51.689 definitely not to break me just to put up put 00:06:51.689 --> 00:06:55.810 me on pause right to interrupt what had become 00:06:55.810 --> 00:07:00.310 so automatic so truly something could just take 00:07:00.310 --> 00:07:03.769 shape something new could take shape because 00:07:03.769 --> 00:07:07.389 sometimes just sometimes stopping is the only 00:07:07.389 --> 00:07:10.850 way to rise again um throughout this work a couple 00:07:10.850 --> 00:07:14.089 of icons i love is the phoenix right i love the 00:07:14.089 --> 00:07:16.110 phoenix and so that you know that kind of that 00:07:16.110 --> 00:07:19.420 that icon plays and are working also does the 00:07:19.420 --> 00:07:21.600 lion so I love those I love those because you 00:07:21.600 --> 00:07:24.800 know they're strong right so my disruption put 00:07:24.800 --> 00:07:28.699 me down so I could rise differently or really 00:07:28.699 --> 00:07:31.160 just be that lion in my life differently and 00:07:31.160 --> 00:07:33.199 here's the third principle and this is the work 00:07:33.199 --> 00:07:36.500 that makes everything sustainable insight versus 00:07:36.500 --> 00:07:40.459 practice so what I've come to understand during 00:07:40.459 --> 00:07:42.560 these kind of times there are three things happening 00:07:42.560 --> 00:07:45.920 at all times what happened what you mean and 00:07:45.920 --> 00:07:48.600 what you're creating either from an old identity 00:07:48.600 --> 00:07:51.579 or who you're choosing to become. So facts are 00:07:51.579 --> 00:07:54.920 neutral. Meaning is optional. Creation is a choice. 00:07:55.300 --> 00:07:58.180 And most people I would assert collapse these 00:07:58.180 --> 00:08:00.800 all into one thing and then wonder why they experience 00:08:00.800 --> 00:08:03.980 themselves as stuck. Now people say, do you feel 00:08:03.980 --> 00:08:06.199 stuck? Are you stuck? A truck can get stuck, 00:08:06.360 --> 00:08:10.019 right? A truck can get stuck in mud. But we as 00:08:10.019 --> 00:08:12.839 human beings, we can experience the feeling of 00:08:12.839 --> 00:08:15.740 being stuck because we're repeating old patterns. 00:08:16.399 --> 00:08:19.579 The past keeps showing itself as our future, 00:08:20.000 --> 00:08:24.040 but we're never really stuck, okay? We're always 00:08:24.040 --> 00:08:26.500 moving. And so that's why alignment is something 00:08:26.500 --> 00:08:28.759 that we need to recalibrate or realign ourselves 00:08:28.759 --> 00:08:32.480 with, okay? So alignment is not something you 00:08:32.480 --> 00:08:34.860 achieve once and just keep. It's something you 00:08:34.860 --> 00:08:37.779 return to again and again and again. right? So 00:08:37.779 --> 00:08:40.399 everyone drifts. I drift, you drift. We're drifters 00:08:40.399 --> 00:08:43.299 at points and times, right? The aligned person 00:08:43.299 --> 00:08:45.679 isn't the one who never drifts. It's the one 00:08:45.679 --> 00:08:48.100 who notices sooner and returns without judgment. 00:08:48.500 --> 00:08:51.539 No self -attack, no story around it, no drama, 00:08:51.759 --> 00:08:54.679 just choice. So again, alignment isn't a destination. 00:08:54.879 --> 00:08:57.659 It's a practice of returning to self. This is 00:08:57.659 --> 00:09:01.679 why we were moving from 2025. into 2026. With 00:09:01.679 --> 00:09:04.019 the work that we're doing at The Thrillable Journey 00:09:04.019 --> 00:09:06.080 and The Alignment Reset, I believe that our work 00:09:06.080 --> 00:09:08.799 is deepening, right? The podcast is realigning 00:09:08.799 --> 00:09:11.980 because I'm realigning. The conversations are 00:09:11.980 --> 00:09:14.379 shifting because the orientation is now clear 00:09:14.379 --> 00:09:16.679 for me. And here's what it's going to look like. 00:09:16.779 --> 00:09:19.059 On Mondays, you'll hear, you know, the recorded 00:09:19.059 --> 00:09:22.539 episodes that we always have, right? And you'll 00:09:22.549 --> 00:09:25.409 see you know all that fun stuff right the recorded 00:09:25.409 --> 00:09:27.929 episodes and things like that but on Fridays 00:09:27.929 --> 00:09:31.409 we'll go live so we can work through things together 00:09:31.409 --> 00:09:33.870 honestly in real time and this is not performative 00:09:33.870 --> 00:09:36.850 this is not pretending this is practicing practicing 00:09:36.850 --> 00:09:41.049 returning to alignment when we drift and because 00:09:41.049 --> 00:09:43.370 alignment is a practice of return I'm going to 00:09:43.370 --> 00:09:45.830 give you something to support that practice so 00:09:46.269 --> 00:09:49.210 Here's a promise that I made to you at the beginning 00:09:49.210 --> 00:09:53.610 of this episode. I'm giving you my new 10 session 00:09:53.610 --> 00:09:56.549 course, the alignment reset from surviving to 00:09:56.549 --> 00:09:58.850 creating. And it's free, free for a limited time. 00:09:58.889 --> 00:10:01.389 And by the end of that course, you'll break free 00:10:01.389 --> 00:10:03.570 from old patterns of survival -based identity. 00:10:03.750 --> 00:10:06.389 I understand what alignment actually feels like 00:10:06.389 --> 00:10:09.789 in your mind and body. And you'll step into a 00:10:09.789 --> 00:10:11.909 more confident grounded version of yourself. 00:10:11.909 --> 00:10:14.529 And there's much more that you'll get and you'll 00:10:14.529 --> 00:10:17.659 discover that. as you enroll and move through 00:10:17.659 --> 00:10:20.639 the course, okay? And this course is truly designed 00:10:20.639 --> 00:10:24.200 to help you create the inner shift required to 00:10:24.200 --> 00:10:27.080 rebuild your life with clarity, confidence, and 00:10:27.080 --> 00:10:29.639 alignment. So you'll find the link. all down 00:10:29.639 --> 00:10:31.840 there in the show notes. And I gotta say this, 00:10:32.100 --> 00:10:34.259 even though it's free, don't treat it like you 00:10:34.259 --> 00:10:36.360 receive something free, okay? Treat it like you 00:10:36.360 --> 00:10:39.220 invested a thousand dollars in yourself. Treat 00:10:39.220 --> 00:10:41.720 it like your future is calling you forward. Treat 00:10:41.720 --> 00:10:44.100 it like you're done repeating patterns that no 00:10:44.100 --> 00:10:46.600 longer match who you're becoming. And then bring 00:10:46.600 --> 00:10:49.090 what you got into the room. Hey look, I'm inviting 00:10:49.090 --> 00:10:51.769 you to come to the Friday Night Lives, share 00:10:51.769 --> 00:10:54.590 what you're seeing, share what's shifting, share 00:10:54.590 --> 00:10:57.169 where you're returning to alignment and where 00:10:57.169 --> 00:11:00.029 you notice yourself drift. Now, this isn't about 00:11:00.029 --> 00:11:03.029 me teaching at you, it's about us working out 00:11:03.029 --> 00:11:06.029 together in real time, practicing, right? Practicing 00:11:06.029 --> 00:11:09.509 returning to alignment when we drift, okay? So, 00:11:10.350 --> 00:11:12.570 in all of what I was just saying, you know, look, 00:11:12.690 --> 00:11:14.389 this has been a hell of a year for me, and maybe 00:11:14.389 --> 00:11:18.059 for you too, you know? going left, right, up, 00:11:18.059 --> 00:11:20.620 down, all of that. And I don't want to wait until 00:11:20.620 --> 00:11:23.580 January 1st to create 2026. I want to begin right 00:11:23.580 --> 00:11:27.799 now, right? And again, support that choice. I'm 00:11:27.799 --> 00:11:30.980 inviting you into this work, fully, intentionally, 00:11:31.379 --> 00:11:34.360 and honestly, okay? I love you. And to support 00:11:34.360 --> 00:11:36.580 that choice, come on into the room, all right? 00:11:36.840 --> 00:11:40.299 And just really create yourself to be who you're 00:11:40.299 --> 00:11:43.100 becoming, not in 2026, but now. I invite you 00:11:43.100 --> 00:11:46.590 to do that. And so... I'll see you in 2026, and 00:11:46.590 --> 00:11:48.970 let's make thriving our new normal.