Shawn Stevenson: Welcome to The Model Health Show, this is fitness and nutrition expert, Shawn Stevenson, and I'm so grateful for you tuning in with me today. Listen, I think that all of us can use a little bit of inspiration right now. I've been talking with a lot of people and also just looking at what's going on around me. And for many of us, our lives have been completely turned upside down. For some of us, we've been isolated away from our families. For some of us, we've been shut in with our families, which can be a whole different kind of stress and we're all adjusting and trying to figure this stuff out, and really navigating a situation, a circumstance that we've never seen before in our lifetime. And with that said, I think that it's more important than ever for us to guide the narrative in our own minds. And to remember that we are powerful and to remember that we have the capacity to guide our lives in the direction that we want regardless of circumstances.

And so, I've put together some of the most powerful messages to remind you of that here on this episode today and I think that you're going to want to listen to this over and over and over again. One of these messages specifically changed my whole perspective and I'm so grateful to have listened to it. And that is just for starters, there's so much good stuff to look forward to today.

And another thing that I've noticed is that real talk, snacking is at an all-time high, alright. Some of us are sort of snack a lot right now. Snacky, snacky, poo, poo. Whatever you want to call it, we're doing snacking like we're getting paid for it. And the funny thing is, one of the things that we're snacking on the most right now is cereal, cold cereal. We just did a master class episode on the history of cereal last week. So make sure to check that out if you happen to miss it because it is fascinating to say the least. But if you take a look at the recent studies, there was a survey conducted that revealed 96% of consumers buy cereal every time they shop, 96%. 36% of folks buy one box of cereal, 41% buy two boxes, and 19% buy three or more boxes. That was me, definitely doing the triple threat when I get my cereal when I was shopping. And Statista Research Department reported that 284 million Americans consumed cold breakfast cereals in 2019.

I didn't know. I had been out of the cereal game for a long time and I just didn't have my eye on it. But going back a little bit, this was a big part of my life. A daily practice for me was eating cereals and this was just kind of programmed into my regimen. Even when I was doing the healthier stuff, I tried to get these "health-conscious cereals" like Kashi and... Which was just basically like a bowl of little twigs and rocks, or maybe I do the Shredded Wheat, shredded, frosted mini-wheats. Come on. But of course, come to find out that the glycemic index is on par with some of the sugary cereals that are out there. But I was trying to be healthier, I was trying to do the adulting thing while still eating my cereal.

Right. So I know that this is a huge thing in our culture. And one of the most powerful things that we can do is just pivot a little bit. We don't have to try to take the behavior away especially if people are hardcore addicted to a practice. One of the most powerful things that we can do is just simply upgrade that practice. Now, we all know that the basis of our diet needs to be whole, real, nutrient-dense foods, that's what the human body is designed to have, it's what we evolved having. But when we want to have these different treats, when we want to have cereal, we can do it in a whole lot better way.

And it's thanks in part to an incredible company that put together a high-protein cereal made from high-quality whey protein. Alright. There's no crazy flowers that are going to bring on a lot of carbohydrate load to start the day especially as we talked about in that last episode, we've got actual clinical evidence that starting your day carb-loading is something that is going to add on to visceral fat and things of that nature and put you in a disadvantage as you go throughout your day as far as your metabolism is concerned. So it's 11 grams of protein in a cereal. It's also zero sugar, sweetened with natural sweeteners, not artificial sweeteners, natural sweeteners like monk fruit and stevia. And it's only three grams of net carbs per serving, they've got four flavors... Actually, they've got five, a new one just got introduced. Cocoa, fruity, frosted, blueberry, birthday cake is available now. I don't know if it's going to be available that long, but it's available right now. And you could try them all, you can get a variety pack.

And the thing is, it's like that cereal nostalgia. Because when I was eating Kashi, it was, it was just out of habit and not actually out of enjoyment. So, you can get... If you want to do the snacky thing, if you want to have yourself a treat, have a bowl of cereal, let's just upgrade that behavior. Also, let's encourage this and help to shift what's out there on the store shelves by demanding better cereal like this. So this is keto-friendly, gluten-free, grain-free, soy-free, low-carb, GMO-free. Who knew cereal could even deliver these kind of qualities? Go to magicspoon.com/model, that's magicspoon.com/model to grab a variety pack and try it today. And as a special bonus, use the promo code "model" to get free shipping at check out. And also, Magic Spoon is so confident in their product, it's backed with a 100% happiness guarantee. So if you don't like it for any reason, they'll refund you your money no questions asked. So definitely something to try out, get some Magic Spoon on your shelf. My kids love it obviously and I love it as a little snack. Again, it's made from whey protein. So it's one of those things that was just like, "How did this idea not come about sooner"? Again, so make sure to check out magicspoon.com/model and you're going to get free shipping when you use the promo code "model". And on that note, let's get to the Apple Podcast review of the week.

iTunes Review: Another five-star review titled, "Uplifting Education" by Mpozey. “Hi, my husband and I were listening to your episode about walking today. Not only do we get so much out of every episode, we decided that your voice is the Al Green of podcast. You're easy to listen to. And we keep coming back again and again. Thanks for all you do and share. Michelle.”

Shawn Stevenson: Michelle, thank you so much. That is definitely a compliment I have never received before. Al Green of podcast. Wow.

I… Am so in love with you. I love it. Thank you so much for leaving me that review over on Apple Podcast. I appreciate it immensely. And on that note, let's get to our topic of the day.

Today, we're diving into some powerful motivation to use during times of uncertainty. And up first, we've got an episode that absolutely changed my perspective and even did so again, right now. Many of these messages we need to have a refresher on. We need to get it on repeat because all of us can fall off track sometimes and it's always helpful to have some reminders. And in this clip from Kelly McGonigal, who is a leading researcher in psychology and has one of the most-watched TED Talks of all time. She's going to be sharing with you a surprising perspective about the stress that we're all facing right now. And a reminder that you can handle this, as a matter of fact, you can thrive in this. And Kelly is going to tell you exactly how. So, let's jump into this clip from the incredible Kelly McGonigal.

Kelly McGonigal: So, stress can have positive and negative effects. And often, it has both at the same time. It's not the case that stress is always toxic. And every time you're in a stressed-out state, it's like your body betraying you and you're destroying brain cells. We have a lot of false ideas about stress. And the main one is that it's always a negative state to be in and it only has negative consequences for your health and your happiness. So, the stress mindset effect is all of this research that shows that people can be protected from a lot of what we think of as the inevitable consequences of chronic stress, or severe stress. If they hold certain beliefs about what it means to be stressed and their capacity to deal with that stress, or there are a few key beliefs that seems to make people really good at stress. One of the first beliefs that can make people better at stress is the idea that stress is energy you can harness and that when you feel these symptoms of stress, maybe your heart is pounding, or you're breathing faster, or you feel butterflies in your stomach or even muscle tension that it's a sign that your body is getting ready to rise to the challenge.

And this is... It's actually true, but what's interesting is, as soon as people decide to embrace their stress and harness the energy, it actually changes what's happening in your immune system, and your cardiovascular system, and in your brain that makes the stress response both healthier and more skillful, so that you actually are more likely to perform well under pressure, you're more likely to be able to connect with others. So, the idea kind of allows that, that natural capacity to emerge. That's one idea. Another idea is to understand that you don't have to do stress by yourself. So many of us feel like stress is a do-it-yourself project. "Everything in life is a do-it-yourself project. I alone can deal with this. I don't want to be a burden on others. Nobody understands what this is like". All those different ways we can feel alone in our stress.

And people who have a bigger-than-self mindset, and understand that stress is often a signal that you need to reach out, that you're feeling stressed because you need help, or because you're not the only one. And sometimes your body and your brain will make you feel lonely, or anxious, or overwhelmed in order to nudge you to connect with other people who are going through the same thing, or who have resources to support you. And so people have that mindset. Again, they tend to be much more effective at dealing with the big stress. And also, they tend to have a stress response that's healthier, that's good for the heart and good for the immune system.

And the third key idea is the belief that even if you're going through a stress you would never have chosen for yourself, that it is possible that it can bring out something good in you. So, maybe there's nothing good about the situation. The situation sucks. And also, we know that situations that are traumatic and stressful can bring out our strengths, can help us re-prioritize, understand our values, strengthen relationships, point us in a new direction, that that capacity to learn and grow from stress is part of our... It's in our DNA. And people who believe that, again, are more likely to access it. So, when you have those mindsets, that stress is energy you can use, that you don't have to do it all by yourself and that it's possible to learn and grow from any situation. People who have that stress mindset, they just are better at stress and it doesn't mean it's going to protect you from everything that you don't want in life, but man, it just, it makes people healthier and happier and better able to experience the meaning even in their stress.

Shawn Stevenson: Alright. I hope you enjoyed that clip from Kelly McGonigal. And if you want the full meal, the full episode, we're going to put everything for you in the show notes so you can pop over there and check that out. Next up, we've got a clip from somebody who's been one of the biggest inspirations in my life for many, many years. He's somebody who I even reach out to and chat with whenever I just want to get things back in balance when I'm feeling out of sorts and this is Michael Beckwith. And he's the founder and director of the Agape Spiritual Community, but he's also international, best-selling author, and he's just pretty dope. He's a dope human being. He has been in some of the most popular films that have ever been created, ironically, as far as documentaries. And he's just a much sought after person for his perspective and for his heart. And in this clip, he's going to be talking with you about why we need to be more intentional right now, more than ever. We need to take control of our mind and affirm where our lives are going. So, let's dive into this conversation with the incredible Dr. Michael Beckwith.

Dr. Michael Beckwith: Most people, again, until they have, they live with a level of deliberateness in their life, they suffer from an intention deficit disorder. They wake up, and they're mainly reacting to circumstances. They're living as a reaction to things that are going on in the world, but they don't have an intention, a driving intention for their own life. So at the end of the day, they've simply just managed their reactions to whatever's going on rather than establishing an intention, an intention to be your best self, an intention to improve in an area of your life. Now, when you have intention, now the universe, through its laws, can begin to help you with that intention. But if you don't have any intention, you're just kind of buffeted around on the ocean of life, wondering why you're not going anywhere. So I teach people to make sure you establish an intention. Same thing in meditation. We have a point in meditation where you actually establish an intention, "Why am I meditating here? Am I meditating to have a realization of my oneness with life, to activate wisdom, to activate intelligence, to become conscious that I'm supported"? I mean, you could have whatever intention you want. But to live an unintentional life, you're just going to go around in circles.

Shawn Stevenson: Yeah. That just makes so much sense, even starting... It's just like I think a lot of us, if we're not trained in the way that you were discussing, our meditation's just like, "Let's see what happens"...

Dr. Michael Beckwith: Right.

Shawn Stevenson: Versus just like, "Let's set an intention". It's just like when we set out, out this door, like, "Where you going"? To set that intention. That's powerful. I never really...

Dr. Michael Beckwith: It's, it's necessary because the world of phenomena is swirling. We're going to go outside in a minute and we're going to read a news item about some crazy thing that's happening, and it could just suck our attention, and then we're not going where we need to go because we're caught up in this swirl of something else you see. So intentional living is where we want... We want to bring people to an intention. Now, what happens is, by law, and I'm talking about mental law when you establish an intention, you start to be... Intention is directional. It's like, "I want to walk in that direction". So what happens is, by law, the mental laws start to assist you to walk in that direction. Now, you may not get exactly what you think you want to get, it might even be better.

Shawn Stevenson: Hmm. Right.

Dr. Michael Beckwith: Things may open up that you don't even know exist yet because you've established an intention, whereas just... Rather than just sitting back and waiting to see what's going to happen. That's a different kind of waiting. You established an intention, then you wait for wisdom, guidance, direction. But just to wait around and see what's going to happen with your life, that's foolishness.    

Shawn Stevenson: Alright. I hope that you enjoyed that clip from Michael Beckwith. And in setting that intention, we set in place a series of events, and that's what my next clip is going to talk about and this is featuring former NFL superstar, Bo Eason. I used to play Bo Eason on a video game called Tecmo Bowl. All right? This is when... Like Madden, the people are... There's one team that's on the bottom of the screen, there's one team at the top of the screen. This is when both teams... One team was on the left side of the screen, one team is on the right side. And it just looked kind of silly, just kind of running up and down and diagonal, but that's where we started. We started from the bottom with the graphics. But Bo Eason is an absolute legend, not just for his experience in making it to the NFL under the most unlikely circumstances, but from that pivoting and becoming, arguably, the most successful stage performer. So one-man show out there in the world. Alright? And matter of fact, Al Pacino, your favorite people came to see Bo. Al Pacino, Leonardo DiCaprio, you name 'em, they came to check him out. And now we've got him here on the show because what he transitioned to is being one of the very best speakers in the world.

I've had the privilege of speaking onstage alongside Bo and some other incredible speakers. And also, to just see him in action many times as well, and he's just phenomenal. But what his mandate is, is being the best. That's what he's all about. Don't get into something if you're not dedicated to being the best. It doesn't matter if you actually achieve that mission, but having that as your modus operandi is going to land you far closer than you playing small. And so, again, in this clip, he's going to talk about what happens when we set that intention, the things that start to happen in place, and all of these things to help cultivate and make you be the very best that you can be. So let's check out this clip from Bo Eason.

Bo Eason: That's another word, right, people, "Oh I hate obstacles". "Oh, really"? Well, when I was nine, I was just a kid. So I'm walking around the neighborhood, throwing rocks at windows and stuff, doing the stuff we did. Right. Not a care in the world, not an obstacle in the world. And then I made this declaration, "I'm going to be the best safety in the world." And a nine-year-old just created a bunch of obstacles for his life, which... That's the only way to get better is obstacles because they fortify you. They make you strong, and they're of your creation. So that Bo, the nine-year-old, could've gone, "I think I'll just throw rocks at windows for the rest of my life, and I'll have no obstacles, except the police or you know that stuff that will come". That stuff will come eventually. But I had this carefree life. And then I set a bunch of obstacles in place in front of me, which fortified me many years later to be strong, fast, and be elite at what I wanted to do in my life.

So obstacles are actually necessary part of the game that you're playing. And I'm the one who created those obstacles, right? I didn't have to have 'em. I created 'em. And so if I created 'em, I can move through them. I can circumvent them. I can hurdle them. I can go under them. I could overpower them. And I'm going to get my butt kicked too. It's going to happen. It's going to happen. A bloody nose is going to happen. A few knee surgeries are going to happen. It's all part of the process, but it gets you to a place in your mind where you're unstoppable. Because you know regardless of the injuries, regardless of the bloody noses, regardless of the naysayers that you can achieve whatever you want to achieve for the rest of your life, not just football whatever you choose.           

Shawn Stevenson: Next up in a compilation of powerful motivation to use during times of uncertainty is one of my best friends, he's probably the last guest that I've had hanging out in my house with me. And this is Shaun T. Now Shaun T is probably the most recognized fitness expert on the planet. We can't really go anywhere, even when he came over, went next door to my neighbor's house, without somebody saying, "Shaun, I hate you, because you kick my ass". They're talking about the home workouts that he does, Insanity Fame, T20, Hip Hop Abs. The list goes on and on. He's an absolute superstar in fitness but he's also just one of the dopest most giving, thoughtful human beings that I know. And in this clip he's going to talk about turning your struggles into your strength. Because we have so much within us right now, so many gifts and capacities that are dormant and times like these, really help to cultivate and bring those things forward, if we allow them to. So let's check out this clip from my friend, Shaun T.

Shaun T: And I want to go back to what you said about through struggle comes strength. Everyone out there has a secret backpack on. You, me, full disclosure to guys in this room with us right now, everyone has something that they've been through but a lot of people ignore the strength that they come with it, because they just want to get past it and get over it, and they say, "I'm past that point in my life". But there's something great about survival and everything that you survive there's something amazing that you learn. So my challenge even at this moment, to anyone out there is what happened to you, what was the struggle that you had, but more importantly, what tool are you pulling out of your secret backpack? What is this superpower that you have from that moment, every step of the way of any struggle that you have, there's so much power in your life and in your body. I just want people to know, to grasp on not only to the negative things that happen to you but when you get through it, there's something amazing that you get from it.         

Shawn Stevenson: Next up in our compilation of powerful motivation to use during times of uncertainty is a clip from an episode that I did, really focus on how to take back control of our minds. Because in reality for many of us, our mind can start to assume the position of being the master and controlling our thoughts and just letting things go on automatic. Now we're always going to be thinking, there are tens of thousands of random thoughts that jump through our minds every day but there are habitual thought patterns, and Dr. Daniel Amen refers to them as ANTs, automatic negative thoughts and there's also automatic positive thoughts as well and it's just kind of being able to recognize what's happening in our minds and to change that dialogue. But it's not a simple thing to do when so much is going on and this is why the recommendation that I have in this clip, is a great and valuable tool for us to really think about and us to utilize right now during this time more than ever. So let's jump into this next clip of powerful motivation to use during times of uncertainty.

You know one of the things that I saw very early on with my meditation practice was I realized I had an ability to choose, I had an ability to choose what I wanted to think. Whereas just before I was just a victim of my thoughts, right? They were just happening and wherever they wanted to take me, that's where I go. I realized, "Wait a minute, I can take that thought out and implant something else". Right. It's kind of like you get a song stuck in your head, maybe it's... You got Bad Bunny stuck in your head. Alright, Bad Bunny's popping, that Bad Bunny and Drake song? And you got that going and you're just like, "My baby, bye, bye, bye" It's just like, "Alright, enough with the Bad Bunny". And so you literally play something else. You go and put a different song on to get that song out of your head. Or you can conscientiously choose, "Let me play a different song in my head". Right. But just trying to get the song out of your head on its own, just don't think about it. Don't think... It's very difficult to do. Because your brain is kind of... It's like a XM Radio station, there's always something playing. And so we can conscientiously, "Let me go and put on a little bit of The Judds. A little Reba McEntire." The Judds, "Mama He's Crazy Over Me". You want to get into a whole different vibe.

You can do that more efficiently, more easily, more gracefully through meditation practice. It really helped me to wake up to my ability to think the thoughts that I want to think, to not be victim of my thoughts. To not to be a victim of the thoughts that surround me. We have sovereignty. We have power within ourselves to choose how we want to think, who we want to be, how we want to feel. But we give our power away, and we don't even realize it. And oftentimes, many of us go through life not realizing that we have the power to choose. So that's why I'm such a big advocate because I've seen the first-hand experience in my own life, and for us to think, "I don't have 10 minutes to meditate". And not see all of the massive value you get from 10 minutes, just to go and do more stuff, we're really missing the point. We all have access to this, and it's the most beautiful experience. It's not always easy, alright. Because there's work that can be done in those sessions, but there's a lot of beauty to behold as well.

Alright, I hope that you enjoyed that clip. And just again to reiterate, right now, more than ever, the relationship that we have with ourselves is of the utmost importance. Because truly our focus determines our feelings. And if we're not able to maintain our focus because again, there's so much going on around us, we are going to be at the mercy of so many things and it can make us feel truly disempowered. So tuning into ourselves, having even a small meditation practice just to kind of tune in, just to kind of refocus and center yourself, focus on your breathing. There's so many different types of meditation. There are tons of meditation apps. There's meditation videos. There's so many different tools to utilize. We've got episodes with incredible meditation teachers here on The Model Health Show like Light Watkins is a great resource, we'll put that in the show notes for you. Also of course, Michael Beckwith has a bunch of great free content out there to take advantage of, and also his Life Visioning program, changed my life, changed my life.

This was years before I ever had the concept that I would meet him and having him in my life. I was just at my little house with my wife when we first moved and we're trying to live the American dream, which also means being broke. And I had no idea that I would end up meeting Michael Beckwith in Portugal. I'm from the hood, what was I doing there? And then I hang out with somebody who's had such a big impact on my life and now he's a good friend of mine.

So, please understand the practice is real. And the power that we have within us is real, but it's up to us to utilize it. So again, I hope that that clip really sparked that, that urgency to have yourself a practice of just meditating, or visioning of just checking in with yourself. And with that said, the Dalai Lama said that, "Sleep is the best form of meditation". I couldn't agree more. Now this is another thing that has been incredibly sporadic for people right now. Sporadic, erratic and just all over the place, just absolutely crazy and it's understandable because many of our routines have been thrown off so much, and there's so much to watch on Netflix and Disney+ and Hulu, and Amazon Prime, and Apple, the list goes on and on.

Nobody's finished the internet yet, but people are trying. Nobody's finished all the stuff out there. But with that said, with all the different media and distraction that we're bringing in and our routines being off, sleep has been a little bit of a premium right now. And something that I... Even for myself last night 'cause I had a little... Just some rough stressful days of just research and trying to figure out and serve and help the situation and really tuning in the suffering, it's tough. I was having a hard time and something that I lean on, especially, I don't do it every night, but especially just like I really need to relax, get a good nights sleep.

I utilize Reishi, and this is why. A peer-reviewed study published in the Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior found that the medicinal mushroom Reishi is able to significantly decrease sleep latency. That means that it helps you to fall asleep faster. It was also found to improve your overall sleep time, and it was found to increase specifically your non-REM deep sleep as well as your REM sleep. So it literally helps to improve your sleep quality. It's not a pseudo sleep, it's not something that just makes you unconscious like pharmaceutical drug, which again, you're not actually efficiently going through your sleep cycles, it's just making you unconscious.

And the results speak for themselves. When you talk with people or you look at the evidence of folks that are utilizing things like that, versus people who are using things like Reishi. It's not something that's just a forceful, it's something that is just a natural kind of encouragement that support your body's natural endocrine response, and transitioning into sleep. And so that's why I like to have it but also just during the day as well. Reishi is well noted to be kind of a tonic and something that builds on and it's an improvement in your system, the longer that you use it. And if you look at the incredible cultures like Chinese medicine there's thousands of years of documented history we see Reishi as like in the top three things.

What? Why? Obviously, we get the relaxation aspect, with sleep, but we also have aspects of supporting your immune system, which of course, this is the time that it's more important than ever. And if you look at data like what's published in Mediators of Inflammation peer-reviewed journal, "The polysaccharides in Reishi medicinal mushroom, were found to enhance the proliferation of immune factors like T-cells and B-cells". So, number one this is an immunomodulator, a well-noted immunomodulator that helps to literally regulate your immune system, elevating its response, or even bringing it down if it can get hyperactive. There's a lot of talk about these "cytokine storms" if somebody's immune system's running too hot.

Let's look at what we can actually do if this is a fear to help to abate issues like that. Because they're available. And so, that's one aspect. And also just helping the overall performance of your immune system because your immune system is going to be built and driven by, mobilized the things that you consume, and the activities that you do in the world. Your immune system is literally made from the things that you bring into your body. And so this is why I'm a huge fan of Reishi. I use exclusively. When you hear this, don't go and get company X Reishi because it's either going to be hot water extracted, or alcohol extracted if you're using a tincture, and you're not getting everything unless you're using both methods of extraction. Because there are different qualities that are pulled out of the mushroom through different extractions. This is why I use Four Sigmatic because they do a dual extraction. They extract it both ways in the simple, easy to use single-serving packets, and you just add hot water and boom, there you go.

Now, to be clear nobody said Reishi is delicious, very earthy. But if you want to add a little bit of fat, you know high-quality fat so maybe some MCT oil, some ghee, whatever floats your boat. Maybe a little stevia, whatever to enjoy the process a little more. Or some people just like, "I'm just... I got a vibe I have a connection with Reishi and it's all good". And I actually enjoy that experience of having that flavor sensation on the palate, right? And that's actually a part of the healing is interacting with the medicine, the medicinal elements in food on your palate, and intermingling with your DNA that's in your saliva. It's like getting to know you a little bit before it enters your body. Alright, it's like a little foreplay, before it enters your body and does the full thing, you know what I mean? So, pop over there and check them out, foursigmatic.com/model. That's F-O-U-R-S-I-G-M-A-T-I-C.com/model and get 15% off everything they carry. So pop over there and check them out, foursigmatic.com/model.

And now jumping back into our compilation of powerful motivation to use during times of uncertainty. Next up, we've got... And I didn't even think about this until now. The person's event I went to in Portugal when I met Michael Beckwith, he's the person who put it together, he is an absolute superhero. This guy is the founder of one of the most incredible, dynamic, forward-thinking, impactful companies out there in the world right now, Mindvalley. And his name is Vishen Lakhiani. He's also a New York Times best-selling author, an incredible leader, and an incredible human.

And in this clip, he's going to be talking about... Again, something that's more important than ever right now, which is pushing the boundaries of what's possible. Now, this is an important conversation to have, because there's so many different things that are going on around us that might feel oppressive, that might bring about a strong feeling of uncertainty, and this is why we need to emerge from those things and to create a bigger vision of how we want our lives to be, and how we want the world to be. And we need to step up and do this now more than ever. So let's jump into this amazing clip from the one and only Vishen Lakhiani.

Vishen Lakhiani: So many human beings are susceptible to suggestion. When faced with a complex world, we look to other people for clues, and we imitate. Human beings radically simplify the world through imitation, it's called memetics and social contagion. But you can unplug yourself from this, this habit of imitation by understanding that so many of the rules around you were made up by people generations ago, and those rules no longer apply in this increasingly complex, diversified, beautiful, ever-changing world. Now, the difference between an ordinary person and an extraordinary person, or what we may call a visionary, is that the extraordinary person is pushing the bounds of what is possible. They're not following the status quo. They are channeling, they are figuring out what is it that they want to give birth to the world, and making their own rules. And there's a simple way to help you get there. So I spoke about end goals. End goals fall into three buckets. The first bucket is experiences. So I asked people to do this exercise. I asked them to make a list of all the experiences they want in the world. Standing on the edge of the Grand Canyon, it's a perfect example. Being able to rent a motorcycle and drive across South America, it's a great example. Becoming a mom or a dad. Do you have kids?                

Shawn Stevenson: Yeah.

Vishen Lakhiani: Great. Well I mean, what beats that? Now, that's the first set of end goals. The second question you want to ask yourself, though, is to be the man or woman who has these experiences. How do I need to grow? So great, you want to bike across South America? Maybe how you need to grow is learn how to bike and learn Spanish. You want to be able to travel the world and take photographs? Maybe what you need to do is learn photography and figure out how to create a passive income stream so you can travel. Now, when you have these two lists, there's a third list, and that third list is, if you were the man or woman who has all of these experiences, who has grown in this way, how would you then give back to the world? And that is your contribution list. That's why you might say that "As I'm doing all of these things, I want to be the best parent I can. Spend an hour every day with my kid. I want to volunteer for a charity. I want to write a book, or create a blog, or start a podcast that inspires and serves the world".

You see, happiness can come from experiences, but fulfillment comes from giving. So I believe that we are souls having a human experience, and I believe these... Us, as souls, we want three things. We want to truly live life on earth and absorb the most incredible human experiences from love to creation, to travel, to adventure. And the second thing we want to do as souls is to grow into the best version of ourselves. Souls crave growth. You are here to grow. And the third thing, as souls, to recognize that we are here collectively with millions of other souls and that we are here to serve each other, and to support each other. So the three most important questions, I believe, is a far more complete view for goal setting than traditional western goal setting, which I believe is downright dangerous, because your goals don't come from you, they come from the voices around you.             

Shawn Stevenson: Next up, we've got a clip from the person I refer to as the most interesting man in the world. His name is Jesse Itzler, and his story is nothing short of insane. He started off with ambitions to be a superstar rapper, and he didn't have the odds in his favor in the '80s, being a white kid from a Jewish community who was just in love with hip-hop.

And he found his way, though. He absolutely found his niche, he parlayed that into a record deal, he parlayed that into some of the biggest... Not hit songs, but hit jingles. He wrote a jingle for the New York Knicks that took the city by storm. But from there, at some point during his travels and adventures with his rap ambitions, he was on a private plane. Definitely not his plane, he was along for the ride. But he had the thought was conceived that "You know what? This is an incredible experience. I know some of my friends would want to have this experience, but they don't have the capacity, nor do they want to buy a private jet".

So he was thinking of, "How can I find a way to basically loan out private jets, create a company around that"? And his idea was born, he went to many different organizations, like one owned by Warren Buffett to get him a couple of private jets! You know, like you do when you're a broke kid with an ambition to be a rapper, and of course you're like... You're out of your mind. But long story short, he found a way. He found a way to get the planes and started his company which he later sold to Warren Buffett's company, one of his companies, for buh-buh-buh-buh-billion! With a B.

Absolutely crazy story. From there parlayed that into... He's part-owner of the Atlanta Hawks, owner of Zico Coconut Water, and sold that to Coca Cola. What else did he do? He married the founder of Spanx, who happens to be a billionaire as well. And they have an incredible family. He's an incredible family man. He's a New York Times bestselling author. I can go on and on and on about the accolades, the accomplishments of Jesse Itzler. But when you hear a story like that, you should automatically wonder, "How did he do it"? Because we tend to just push it off like, "That's him. He must have some kind of superpowers. He must be some kind of exceptional, special human being". And he will tell you, just like many of the Great’s will, that it's not about being special, it's about applying certain principles. And one of those principles he's actually going to share with you right here in this compilation. And it's so incredibly simple, but I do not want you to look past it, because when we just talked about with vision and having a greater vision of our world and of our lives, it's very difficult to do that without this specific thing that Jesse's going to tell you about right here.

Jesse Itzler: I don't think... I think thinking is a lost art form like I mentioned earlier. And for me, I realized that I think best in two places, I think great very well on an airplane, staring out the window and daydreaming. That's where I get a lot of my goals, and that's where I just get clarity. No one can bother me on an airplane. I'm not getting phone calls on an airplane. I don't put my Wi-Fi on a lot of times on the airplane. I don't just take fake flights just to think. But I appreciate that time, and I use it for thinking. Also in the car, I like to drive and daydream. And the third for me has really been running. So wherever it is that you think best it's important to spend a lot of time there, because that's where you can often get clarity, make big decisions, get ideas. You're not going to think great when you're in a crowded space at a bar. So I try to put myself in a position where I think best as often as I can. My wife thinks best in the car, she set up a fake commute. We live five minutes from Spanx, her headquarters. But rather than just drive five minutes to work, she set up a 40-minute fake commute, so she can spend 40 minutes just thinking before she goes into the office.  

Shawn Stevenson: Alright. That was the amazing Jesse Itzler. And right now, again, we might be piled in on top of each other. We're talking about family being around. You have to still have time to think. We cannot gain clarity very easily. We cannot create that bigger vision. We cannot problem-solve very efficiently if we don't have some time to just think. When was the last time you just sat around and thought? Just sat around and thought, and processed things. Maybe thought about different ideas, and just thought. Just let your mind just think, just have time to think. I encourage you right now, today... For me, I love just going for a walk by myself. That's a great time for me to just be with my thoughts and to process things. Go for a walk, go for a drive. He just shared a little insight about that. Hop in your car and just go for a drive. I've seen even some of my friends they literally will go and just sit in their car to get away and have some quiet time away from the kids and, or spouse. And hey, it could be a little bit of safe haven right now. But you need that time to process, decompress, and to think. As Tiffany said, I believe it was Tiffany, "I think we're alone now."

Alright. Let's move on. Next up, we've got another person who is just such a good friend of mine, and somebody who is just a remarkable human being. What she was able to achieve, becoming somebody. Her entire life was just going along in one direction and she decided, when she was 39 or 40, that she wants to be a fitness cover model. Who has a thought like that at that point? Natalie Jill does. And the most amazing part is, she made it happen time and time and time again. In this clip, she's going to be talking about how many of us are unfortunately, just sitting back on our heels waiting for someone else to give us a thumbs up, that it's okay to live our lives again. And we'd rather be just bickering back and forth about minutia and about social distancing rather than taking control of our health and really focusing on proactive things that we can actually do right now to improve our immune system, to improve the health of our communities. We got to shift our focus. We've got to stop making excuses. And this is what Natalie is going to dive into in this really poignant and powerful clip. So let's jump into this awesome conversation with the amazing Natalie Jill.

Natalie Jill: You have to have that vision and that willingness to step out of what you've been told or what you've believed, and look at... There's another possibility. And here's a thing, right or wrong, you might not agree with me. Okay. But right or wrong, what does it hurt to believe that? Seriously, if you want to give in to excuses and validating, and saying it's not possible and argue with me, great. Is that make your life any better? Because we've just taken away any possibility. If I say, "You know what? You're right. You're thyroid, you're this, your metabolism. You're right, it sucks. You're right, your hormones are shot. You're right, you're just going to be overweight now. You're right, you're going to be pain forever. You're right". Look, what does that do for you? What kind of life is that? That's a life without hope. So to me, validating excuses serves no purpose. It literally serves no purpose. It makes you temporarily feel better in a moment. It does not do anything to help you live a bigger life. And for me, I'm taking a stand for people to have a bigger life because validating excuses is doing a disservice to people.

Shawn Stevenson: Next up in our compilation is somebody... It's just so cool that I even know this guy. All right. His name is Tim Grover. And he is the trainer for Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Dwayne Wade, the list goes on and on of the troop, the goats, the goaty goats, the goat of the goats. And one of the greatest things that has come from this quarantine is the ESPN special The Last Dance.

What? How amazing was that special? If you haven't checked it out, I highly encourage you. Even if you're not a sports fan necessarily, just layered with insights into the mind and the processing of somebody who has truly changed culture. I didn't even realize till this moment, I actually have Jordans on my feet right now, as many other people do when they go out to kick it. He transformed culture and became one of the few ultimate icons in the history of our current human civilization. What was his process? What was his modus operandi? How was he operating as a human being in the world with that much fame? What was his motivation? Just to get an insight into that is very inspiring. And of course, you see some of the things that people don't want necessarily to come to light if they had a choice about it.

Like everybody not being so sparkly fresh and squeaky clean because nobody is perfect, and having that ideal about a person. And so they highlighted when his aura of perfection was shattered. And what he did in response to that. He just continued being who he is. And he prevailed. So a huge fan of that. But my man Tim Grover showed up on the documentary several times. I was like, "Hey, I know that guy". And we had an incredible conversation not that long ago. And that's what I want to share with you today because in this clip he's going to be talking about why we cannot sit around and wait for the world to change and have the life that we want to have. We need to stand up right now and make it happen. So let's jump into this clip from the amazing Tim Grover.

Tim Grover: You're always looking for happiness. How many people out there always... If I lost 10 more pounds I would be happier. If I was in a better relationship, I would be happier. If I had more money, I would be happier. Well, you know what? You can have all those things. But instead of having somebody else do that... You don't go out and find happiness, you create it. And how do you create it? Well, you create it by becoming the person that you are meant to be. That's how you... You don't find happiness, you create happiness. And once you can create that happiness then you start feeling better about yourself. The weight starts coming off. Your mind starts to become more clear. You're able to deal, you're able to deal with more adversity. You have individuals all the time that come up to you when something doesn't go right. What do they do? They put their arm around you and say, "It's going to be okay" That's all you got? Okay. No, it's not going to be okay unless you make it okay.   

Shawn Stevenson: Yeah.

Tim Grover: Alright. And if somebody just says, "Okay, we're not put on this earth for things just to be okay. There's too many people out there that are already settling for okay and average". That's not what we're put on this planet for. Everybody on this planet has the ability to do something special.        

Shawn Stevenson: Alright, up next, we've got our final clip in this compilation of powerful motivation to use during times of uncertainty. And this is with somebody who I talk to every week, every Monday for maybe the past, it's been about probably two years now. And he's become a staple in my life. But even long before this is another story of somebody who I was learning from many years prior to ever meeting and connecting with him. And now he's in my life. And these are the moments literally, hardly a day goes by that I don't give thanks for. And it's just a part of my process of gratitude. I start my day with that and thinking about the progress, the places that I've come from, my experiences and gratitude for all those things, the good and not so good. And gratitude for the amazing people in my life. Because ultimately that's what it's all about. It's the people in our lives.

It's people who make us who we are. And right now, we're at the time where things are being constructed that are making us very divisive. And we need to be aware of that. And we need to be proactive at doing what is right and connecting with people. Because that's what makes us human. And with that said, my friend, Pat Flynn is a Wall Street Journal best-selling author and creator of several incredible courses, books. But he's one of the people with the biggest heart, online teaching, online business, teaching building podcasting platforms, and things of that nature. And he's one of the most giving, one of the most insightful and one of the most creative people that I know. And in this clip, he's going to be talking about during this time when so many people have been let go. People are laid off, unemployment is at astronomical levels. Our tendency, of course is to find a way to escape, whether we've been let go or not. We just want to escape the drama, escape the worry and the concern.

And we can find some refuge in television and in conversations, whether it's a little bit of junk food conversation, a little gossipy gosp. I've never said that before, gossipy gosp. You can use it though. But whether we're doing that... Whatever we're doing to just distract ourselves from the real issue, at some point we've got to take control. We got to understand that when we decide our new lives can start today. So let's jump into this clip with my good friend Pat Flynn.

Pat Flynn: Even going back further, if I didn't get laid off, none of this would happen, right? So I'm so thankful that I got let go, even though that was some of the hardest times. And I've realized, over time and time again that, oftentimes, the best things happen after something terrible happens, right? And I'm a big fan of Back To The Future. Actually, one of the first things that I did when I got laid off was go back to my apartment and just literally watch that movie over and over and over again, at least 50 or 60 times. And the reason was because it allowed me to escape, but it also made me go, "Oh, maybe one day a DeLorean will be built, and I can go back into time, and I can change things. I can maybe get a better job or work harder, do a completely different field or something".

But of course, every time the movie ended, it was back to normal, and I eventually realized that Back To The Future is a fiction story. However, there's some truth to the fact that you can change your story for your future. 'Cause in the movie, Marty goes back to 1955, messes with things, and then comes back to where he was and everything's different, right? So we can't go back to the past to change things, but we can change our future. We are writing it right now. And so I knew that in that moment, I had to do something because the future I was writing in my depressed state, watching Back To The Future all the time, was one where I was just going to be fat and depressed and sad and lonely. So I decided to change things right then and there.  

Shawn Stevenson: Alright, I hope that you enjoyed this compilation of some of the most powerful motivation to use during times of uncertainty. Please, refer back to this as much as you need. And please, share this out with the people that you care about. We can all use a little bit of light, right now. Share it out with your friends on social media. And of course, you can tag me. I'm @shawnmodel on Instagram, and I'm @shawnmodel on Twitter. I'm on there, pop in there from time to time. And on Facebook, I'm at the Model Health Show. Share it out everywhere. You can send the episode right from your podcast app, direct to friends and family. Share the inspiration. Let's change the narrative, change the conversation. Again, thank you so much for tuning into the show today. If you want to keep the conversation going and hang out with some people who listen to The Model Health Show, it's an incredible community that we have over at Model Nation. It's our private group, and you get access by going to the modelhealthshow.com/modelnation.

It's a free group, but you can't just get in. You got to request to get in, answer a couple of questions. We got to make sure that you're really about that life when it comes to The Model Health Show, but truly some of the most incredible people in this community, so supportive. And we have some of the most incredible, dynamic conversations, and I think that you'll really love it. So pop over there, check it out. It's themodelhealthshow.com/modelnation. And on that note, again, I hope that you enjoyed this episode, and I hope that it brought some value to your life, today. I appreciate you immensely. Thanks so much for tuning in. Take care, have an amazing day, and I'll talk with you soon. And for more after the show, make sure to head over to the modelhealthshow.com. That's where you can find all of the show notes. You can find transcriptions, videos for each episode. And if you got a comment, you can leave me a comment there as well. And please, make sure to head over to iTunes and leave us a rating to let everybody know that the show is awesome, and I appreciate that so much. And take care. I promise to keep giving you more powerful, empowering, great content to help you transform your life. Thanks for tuning in.