Listen to my latest podcast episode:

831: The #1 Stretch You Need to Do Every Day & How to Get Rid of Pain – with Juliet Starrett

TMHS 250: How To Move Past Your Programming

Have you ever thought about how much humans are like computers? We have hardware. We have software. We can catch viruses. We process data in the form of everything from food to ideas. And, like a computer, our real power shows when we link up with other computers around the planet to affect change.

Now that we know how similar humans are to computers, let me ask you a question. Have you ever thought about who programmed you?

Yep, just like a computer, you get programmed to execute specific functions in a specific way. Your programming, most of which was done at an early age, creates the parameters by which you will live your life. Your programming creates the beliefs you carry about what you’re capable of, how you will interact with other people’s programming, and, most importantly, how you perceive reality.

Your perception is your reality. We unconsciously create a world to affirm all of the ideas we’re programmed with. We are built that way. And, if you ever try to move up against the barriers of that programming, you’re bound to short-circuit or reset to your default programming (Ctrl-Alt-Del). So, why in the world would we want to change our programming anyway?

Well, your programming can be the reason that you have such a tough time staying away from cupcakes (that was me!). Your programming can be the culprit behind some of the terrible decisions you make in your relationships. Your programming can also be controlling how much money you have in your bank account (and how quickly you find creative ways to grow your money or if money runs from you like MC Hammer after doing The Addams Family soundtrack).

Your programming determines the thoughts you think, the actions you take, and the way you live your life each moment. Wouldn’t it be a good idea to choose your own programming so that you’re thinking, believing, and doing more of the things that are serving you? When it all boils down to it, change can be next to impossible if we don’t hop in an reattach a few wires in our minds that have been unconsciously directing our lives. Today’s show is all about identifying some of these faulty programs, and putting in some new ones to start seeing some better results. Let’s go!

In this episode you’ll discover:

  • How a lot of our beliefs get programmed into us as children.
  • Why self-sabotage is a real thing.
  • Simple strategies to help you retrain your tastebuds.
  • Why starting a new exercise program is actually a significant stressor.
  • Why blaming others intrinsically takes our power away.
  • How your health gives you a competitive advantage.
  • Why money is connected to a primal fear humans have.
  • How to change your money thermostat.
  • Why acknowledging positive and negative examples in our lives is so helpful.
  • How the environment you’re in determines your actions around money.
  • A simple exercise to help you increase your financial fitness.
  • What character traits are incredibly attractive.
  • How standards play a huge role in relationship success.

4d2a70c2-organifigreenjuice-facebook-top2_0qa09v0qa09v000000

Thank you so much for checking out this episode of The Model Health Show. If you haven’t done so already, please take a minute and leave a quick rating and review of the show on Apple Podcast by clicking on the link below. It will help us to keep delivering life-changing information for you every week!

Transcript:

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.  
 
I'm really excited because recently we had on Dr. Pedram Shojai, and he's one of my favorite people on the planet, a really, really incredible human being. But not only is he a physician and helping people that way, but he decided to be a filmmaker and to do a film on prosperity, right?  
 
Not just for ourselves as individuals, but of our communities and the world at large. And it really got me thinking about what does prosperity really mean? And it got me thinking about what wealth and success really mean, and today I want to talk about some more application because we hear all of these great things about, 'You should do this, change your diet so you can be healthier.'  
 
'You should really change how you associate with money so that you can be financially successful.'  
 
'You should really do better in your relationships because relationships are everything.' 
 
But how do we do it? How do we actually change that internal programming? Because the activities that we do in all of those different things really create the results that we see in our lives.  
 
So how do we actually get in there and change our programming? How do we change our perspective? How do we change our hardwiring? Because as you'll discover today, we're actually hardwired for a lot of these different behavior patterns that can actually sabotage the prosperity that is possible for us.  
 
And so today we're going to talk about how to move past your programming. And for me what wealth and prosperity means is abundance in all of the major areas of your life.  
 
For example, you might be doing great with your health and fitness, but maybe you're struggling in your finances. Or maybe you're doing great financially, but the most important relationships in your life are suffering. 
 
How can we be healthy, and prosperous, and have abundance in all of those areas? 
I really feel that's what success is because all of these things integrate together and 
create your life experience. We can't just say that health is one thing, because it's not. 
 
All of these other things will inherently influence your health. The qualities of your relationship will inherently influence your health. The quality of work that you're doing and whether or not you're fulfilled in your employment. And the work that you're doing, and your employment, and the mission that you're on, even having a sense of purpose. 
 
All of those things are going to inherently affect your health and well-being. So that's what we're going to be talking about today.  
 
We're going to really break down. I'm going to share some things that I've seen to be really helpful in helping me to get out of poverty.  
 
I'm not just talking about poverty financially, I'm talking about poverty in my health. I had poverty in my health, and poverty in my relationships. I was poor in my relationships, I was poor in my health, I was poor in my finances, and just my life in general.  
 
Alright so we're going to talk about some things that have been really helpful for me and hopefully they will be very valuable insights for you as well, and give you a lot of tools and strategies and little tweaks in your perspective that can help to give you a life of more meaning, a life of more health, a life of more abundance in every single area. So I'm really, really excited about that. 
 
Now before we get into the show, I want to give a shout-out to our show sponsor, Onnit. Head over to www.ONNIT.com/model. That's www.ONNIT.com/model and you get 10% off everything they have.  
 
Fitness equipment, supplements, foods, gear, exclusive Model Health Show exclusive. 
 
So just today I had a really powerful shake. You know this is my usual post-workout shake. I love the hemp protein that Onnit carries, and this is quite possibly the most bioavailable source of protein without all of the negative side effects. 
 
You know a lot of people have issues with whey, a lot of people have issues with even things like soy protein, and all these other different things that are out there to try to avoid whey when we have something that is very, very identical to what the human body needs, and that's what we find in hemp. 
 
So you take, for example, the Omega-3 to Omega-6 ratio that you find in hemp. It's almost identical, that 2:1 ratio that we need as humans, the Omega-6 to Omega-3 respectively. And that helps to keep things in balance, and we're not in a state of inflammation, right?  
 
Having a higher ratio of Omega-6 fatty acids in our diet, that's a pro-inflammatory diet. Whereas we know is Omega-3's are the anti-inflammatory of the fatty acids, but there's also Omega-9's, and it has that as well.  
 
So that ratio is great that you find there, and you get some of the whole seeds in the Hemp Force formulas over at Onnit, the recovery protein as well. So you're getting some Omega-3's. So basically you're looking at a great source of Omega-3 fatty acids, Omega-6 in a great ratio, but also the protein itself.  
 
Edestin and Albumin, it's high in both of those. Albumin is a very soft globular protein, it's very digestible by the human body, and this is why a lot of people eat egg whites, because they know that it's a good source of protein because it's high in Albumin. It's very digestible when it's cooked.  
 
This way you don't have to eat egg whites, alright? Which is not the sexiest food ever? I guess I could say that, I don't think it's the sexiest food ever. Like, 'Ooh can't wait to eat some egg whites.' I've never heard anybody say that, but maybe you have, I don't know. 
 
But you can bypass that whole situation, get yourself some hemp protein from Onnit, and do your body good. And it really tastes amazing as well.  
 
So head over, check them out, that's www.ONNIT.com/model for 10% off the Hemp Force Protein, the MCT oils that I use every single day. They're emulsified MCT oils. They've got the fitness gear, fitness equipment, so many cool things. Head over, check them out today.  
 
Now let's get to the iTunes review of the week. 
 
ITunes Review:  Another five star review titled, 'Nutritional Jesus' by ECSusan. 
 
'I love this podcast on so many levels. Excellent content, easy listen, transformative, and smart. Shawn is an inspiration yet quintessentially relatable. I am so glad I found him by an interview on another podcast. My legs thank him on the regular for turning me onto mini tramp practice. If you do listen, you know. If you don't, you should. Trust.' 
 
Shawn Stevenson:  Wow thank you so much for that. And people like, 'What's a mini tramp? That sounds complicated.' She's talking about a small miniature trampoline called a Rebounder, and I'm so grateful that I could get you hip to that. That makes me so happy because that's what I was doing today.  
 
It's one of the things I implement in my daily routine, a lot of the time is just doing a 
few minutes on the Rebounder. And NASA, we're talking about literal rocket scientists have said that this is the best form of exercise that they've ever studied.  
 
Alright and it's great because we're looking at when you're in space you don't have that gravitational pull, so your bones don't get that work. So bone density for the astronauts is a big issue. So what do they do? They have them do the Rebounder, it increases bone density.  
 
Alright so wow, thank you so much for leaving that review for me. I truly appreciate it, and everybody, thank you for hopping over to iTunes and leaving me those reviews. Keep them coming, keep them coming. They fuel the game, guys. So make sure to pop over there and leave me a review. I truly, truly do appreciate it.  
 
And on that note, let's get to our topic of the day.  
 
So today we're talking about moving past our programming and becoming prosperous and wealthy in all of the major areas of life. And we're going to focus specifically on three core areas; our health and fitness, our finances, and our relationships.  
 
And I'm just going to share some things from my experience, and some things that I've seen in my clinical practice as well that have garnered some really magnificent results. And again, it really starts with our programming, and being able to move past that.  
 
You know, you hear these things like you need to get healthy, you need to have great relationships, you need to take care of your finances, but how do you do it? What's the beginning point? How do we push past our habitual nature? Our tendencies that we've been living with for so long?  
 
And so let's get started with health and fitness first.  
 
Now just like everything in our lives, a lot of this picture with our health and with our fitness gets painted during our childhood. A lot of folks don't realize that before the age of about seven years old, we spend a lot more time in our waking hours in theta brain wave frequency.  
 
So theta is like when we think about this as an adult, it's more of a transitionary brain wave state as we're getting into sleep, and this is like a hypnotic state in a way. We're very impressionable. Information gets in deeper because we're not fully conscious at the time. So I hope this is making sense.  
 
Now we go from beta which is a normal kind of waking state, to alpha, to theta, and then delta is deep dreamless anabolic sleep, right? So theta is a state that- again we're very impressionable, and I mentioned the word 'hypnotic,' right? It's kind of a hypnotic trance we're in, in a strange way. 
 
But this is why we're so impressionable as kids. Everything we experience and see we really take at face value. It's real. So the frozen princess is real. Elsa is real. 
Ninjago is real. Ninja Turtles? They're real. Santa Clause? For sure, they're real. Alright Santa Clause and all of his elves, alright? The whole crew, they're real. 
 
So this is why again, kids are so impressionable and they believe this stuff, and it can be earth-shattering when you find out that Santa is actually not jumping down your chimney, and it's actually your parents. Alright? So again, very impressionable and somewhat fragile. 
 
We don't want that belief system to be broken. And unconscious for many of us, we carry that belief system, whatever we were imbued with or indoctrinated with when we were kids into our adult lives, and we start to give it more legs. 
 
Especially when you become older and you can start to find data, and facts, and examples to back up that belief, become very hard to break. It's kind of like giving your belief legs, right?  
 
The belief is just a tabletop, and if you've got one leg on it, just some small affirmation, it can tip over pretty easily. But the more legs we put on that table, the more difficult it is to break down. 
 
And so one of those beliefs could be that we're just- in my family, we're just unhealthy. We're just not fit people. We struggle with our weight. And that could be a belief system that we give more legs and we don't really know how to move past that programming. 
 
And so fast-forward into our adult lives, and we're still playing out these same habitual tendencies, the same programming, and we find it difficult when we try to jump onto a new diet, or do an exercise program, a lot of self-sabotage happening because the internal wiring needs to change.  
 
There's a lot of different tactics that we can utilize as far as getting ourselves to be more impressionable to the moment now, and one of those is- and this is a little sidebar here, is just retraining your taste buds. Right? 
 
If you're like me, I grew up- literally a vegetable was an endangered species, alright? Endangered species on my plate. So I remember my meal of choice was fish sticks, and this is definitely not like wild caught Alaskan salmon. It was like straight up the worst fish ever, alright? 
 
Fish sticks, macaroni and cheese, and I might eat a little bit of broccoli if you put some cheese on it. But fries would be the preferred go-to right there, and it's a food group, right? It's a veggie. It's a potato. That's what my grandmother probably told herself.  
 
But for a lot of us with kids, it's just like we just want the kids to eat so that they can grow, right? And kids, they give us a lot of curveballs and a lot of issues, but we have to be adamant about exposing our kids to different things. Because it's like for all of us, new stuff is scary. 
 
So if your kid has like never tasted something bitter before, and then they're three years old and you're like, 'Here eat some of these leaves,' I don't think that that's going to be a very graceful situation you're going to expose yourself to.  
 
But it's not too late, there's always opportunity. But for us as adults, what we're focusing on today, retraining our taste buds after so much programming over the years, it takes some strategy. 
 
And so one of those tactics for me personally that worked was fasting, and taking time where I wasn't eating food. And so what that does inherently just kind of automatically if you think about it, if you're not eating and then you finally get to eat something even if it is broccoli, even if it is brussel sprouts, it's suddenly going to taste a lot better because you want to eat something. Alright? 
 
And I'm not saying that you need to go and deprive yourself and start fasting for a week or anything like that, but it's a tool. Even intermittent fasting where you fast for a certain portion of the day, and then maybe the first thing that you eat is something that is a little bit more what you would consider a bitter.  
 
And maybe you're not having a big problem eating salads, but when you eat that vegetable salad with all the different greens in there, maybe putting in some wild lamb's quarter in there, or some dandelion, and some heirloom tomatoes, all this stuff, and you eat that breaking your fast, it's going to just taste a lot better.  
 
It's going to tell your taste buds that, 'Hey I really like this food.' Versus if you break your fast and you have a White Castle burger, alright? It's a whole different ballgame. 
 
So fasting is helpful. Juicing, this was huge for me because a lot of people know my story, but I didn't eat a salad- the first time I ate a salad I was 25 years old. I just did a mic drop. Like I just walked away from the mic. 
 
That's crazy, right? It doesn't even make sense! It doesn't even make sense. How did I survive? Barely, that's the answer. I barely survived. When I was twenty years old, I was diagnosed with degenerative spinal disease, told I had the spine of an eighty year old person. Right? I accelerated my aging process because I was so adverse, because of my training when I was a child, to eating real food. 
 
And when I turned my health around- because this was when I was right around 22. How was I getting- I was eating what I could. I was eating the vegetables that I would eat, so I ate green beans, I ate broccoli like it was going out of style, and I started the process of adding in like green smoothies. Like getting it in smoothies. 
 
Juicing was huge because I could sneak a piece of celery in there, and it went from like three apples and maybe one piece of celery to like a whole bundle of celery and maybe one apple. You know, like eventually my taste buds re-acclimated and changed so that I enjoyed the vegetables.  
 
Now another big key here is addressing mineral deficiencies, and I believe this really helps to loosen the grip of unhealthy foods because a lot of times we're having these cravings because our body is deficient. 
 
And we did an episode recently called The Science of Cravings, and we'll put that in the show notes, so make sure to check that one out. We dove much deeper into that topic and that subject matter, so I don't want you to miss out on that, and how big of a player this is in our food choices, but make sure that we're addressing our mineral deficiencies.  
 
And so for me also as well, I recommend people use a green superfood blend. Personally I use Organifi, and this is the green superfood blend that it contains spirulina, chlorella. Chlorella, yes. So this has chlorella growth factor.  
 
This is shown to help your body to eliminate heavy metals. This also has organic wheatgrass, this has ashwagandha.  
 
Now all these things might sound like they probably don't taste that good, but Organifi actually tastes amazing. It's the best tasting greens blend I've ever had, and they use coconut water, they use mint. They use things that have a natural kind of balancing flavor note to make this palatable and to taste good to the degree that my kids actually drink it. 
 
And so my son Jordan, even today he adds Organifi to his smoothies, sometimes he'll just drink it by itself, and so that's my older son. My younger son, he'll have the green drink and he really likes their red juice formula as well. So make sure to check out their red juice formula if you haven't done so. 
 
Alright so make sure you're using a green superfood blend helping to address some mineral deficiencies. Very, very potent and powerful way to do that, but the reason a green blend from a reputable source works is that the nutrients are so bioavailable, right?  
 
So it's not just like taking a random vitamin or mineral supplement because it's synthetic and it might not be in the form that your body and your cells can actually use.  
 
So make sure to check them out, that's www.Organifi.com/model for 20% off every purchase every time. That's www.Organifi.com/model, 20% off all of their incredible products all the time. 
 
Also another big tactic here in retraining your taste buds when we're looking at changing the pattern from when you were a kid is the bitter truth, alright? So the bitter truth. What does that mean? 
 
We want to use bitters, we want to use- the bitter, the better. You might have heard that statement before. Start to acclimate and get your taste buds to not necessarily enjoy, but to appreciate bitter flavors. 
 
Now this can be something you just sneak in, you do a little bit every day. There's even something called Swedish Bitters which helps with digestion and kind of boosts that digestive fire. Maybe you have a little bit of that with some water before you eat a meal. 
 
With a little bit of water, by the way. We don't want to drink too much water before we eat and kind of dilute stomach juices, but this can actually encourage this digestive fire power, if you will. 
 
So bitters, and then green leafy vegetables. These are more bitter type foods. 
 
So getting yourself to eat more bitters, getting those kinds of flavors in to help to reset your palate.  
 
And so with these small strategies; fasting, juicing, maybe it's a juice fast, addressing mineral deficiencies, adding in more bitters and bitter flavor notes helps to reprogram your taste buds. Alright?  
 
So moving past the programming, one of the big components here is retraining your taste buds. 
 
You also want to- and this is where we really get to the heart of the situation is to retrain your lifestyle.  
 
So what does this look like? Well we're talking about- I'm going from a situation where I'm not exercising, and now I'm going to get onto a new exercise program, it's a stress. We have to understand that. Exercising is a stress whether we are acclimated to exercise already, or whether this is a new stimulation, because it's something known as a hormetic stressor. A hormetic stressor. 
 
So this means that it's a stressor that can potentially be very helpful and beneficial if you're allowed to recover from that stress. But regardless, it's still a stress.  
 
When you do anything new in your life, it's a stress. Your nervous system, your brain is looking for patterns all the time. Anything new creates a new pathway, creates a new potential stress here, and so you have to understand that.  
 
Now when you're going from not exercising or changing your exercise programming, upgrading what you're doing, life will definitely not feel the same. Same thing with changing your diet.  
 
So we're talking about health and fitness here. When you're changing things, life isn't going to feel the same, and we have to be okay with that.  
 
I think that a lot of people make the mistake, and what I wanted to share with you today, of coming into it like, 'Oh I'm just going to make this change.'  
 
No, it doesn't happen like that for a lot of people. They're not just like rip the band aid off type of perspective of the world, or just the 'cold turkey' approach to things. It's more like, 'Man this doesn't feel that comfortable.' 
 
Because at the end of the day, if we are more aware that when we make this change that it's not going to feel great all the time, it's not going to feel comfortable, then maybe we can be more prepared to adjust and take action.  
 
Like, 'Okay, it's just I don't feel comfortable and confident right now. That's all that is, it's just a part of the process.' Now I'm definitely not the guy who's going to tell you that suffering is going to equal health. I'm not telling you to suffer, I'm telling you to be aware that there might be some uncertainty. There might be some discomfort because you're not doing the same thing that you've been doing, and we need to be aware of that. 
 
And for us to change and to retrain our lifestyle, and to radically upgrade our programming, our mental programming, this is like Einstein says, 'We cannot solve our problems with the same level of thinking that created the problems.' 
 
And so if our current level of thinking has created a situation where we are not physically fit and not feeling healthy within our own bodies, this same perspective and this same view of life is not going to get us where we want to be. We have to change. 
 
We have to continue to be aware that if I'm going to do this, I'm going to have to start thinking differently. What got you here is not going to get you there, alright? 
 
So a big part of that, and this is so important, this is one of the most important things of today, is taking responsibility. I don't want you to miss this, because this is such a huge key, taking responsibility.  
 
A lot of times when it comes to issues with our health and our fitness, it's really easy to point fingers, and I know this because I did it. I was like, 'Why are these doctors not helping me? It's their fault, they gave me the wrong diagnosis. They're giving me the wrong drugs. Why won't they do surgery?'  
 
All these different things, and I was pointing fingers. But at no point was I aware that I needed to take responsibility for my own health. I was pushing this off on other people. 
 
And there's different degrees of that. Maybe you blame your kids, maybe you blame your significant other, maybe you blame your parents. You blame your mom like she's the reason, it's because of her that I am the way that I am today.  
 
You know for me, I could easily point the finger at my grandmother because she's the one who just gave me what I wanted. But at the time, I loved it. I didn't want to be around anybody else because she understood me. She knew that I liked fish sticks.  
 
'Just get multiple bottles of ketchup. Have them ready for me, Grandma, because you know how we do it, alright?'  
 
That's love in a way, you know? That was her expression of love, and who's to say that that's wrong? She was doing what she knew how to do at the time, but if she knew what that would lead to for me, I'm sure she would have done something differently. 
 
But it's all about understanding like regardless of how I was raised, regardless of how- what exposure that I had growing up, it's my responsibility now to make that change. I have the power today to transform my life. I have the power today to make new decisions about who I am, what I'm capable of, and where I'm going to be. 
 
I've got the pen in my hand, and I'm about to write a new story. Alright we all have that possibility, but it doesn't happen until we take responsibility.  
 
So here's the key, guys, is that you have to take 100% responsibility. Now this is the hard part because you might hear this like, 'Yeah I can responsibility for my health. It is my health.'  
 
100%. No wiggle room, no 'it's them,' no pointing fingers, none of that. None of that. I'm just doing- if you see me on the video, I'm doing the Bugs Bunny. 'He went that way' and point in multiple directions. None of that. 
 
Everything that happens, we have to take responsibility for. It's not to say that it's your fault, it's not to say that you haven't been wronged, but you have to take responsibility for yourself, and what you're going to do about it.  
 
If you're giving your power away and blaming other people, you are literally putting it into their hands to change your life. If they would just change, or they would just apologize, or whatever the case might be to make things better, then I'm going to be better. 
 
Now you might not have thought this consciously before, but I promise you unconsciously these are the things that are going on in our psyche. 
 
And so we take 100% responsibility and it puts the full and complete power in your hands to change. That's the key. 
 
So a good example, Supersize Me. Right? This was just a monumental movie, and it was talking about- part of it, the lawsuit against McDonald's because you know the people were stating that eating McDonald's is making me obese. It's causing my obesity and we blame you, right? 
 
Now the reality is it's terrible food. It's straight up terrible. I don't know if you guys have seen the movie Founder yet. You might want to check that out. I watched it on an airplane, alright? It was just like okay, not much to do, I finished my work, I put it on just to see what the whole thing was about, and it was McDonald's story so I thought maybe there might be something to glean from it. 
 
But I can't recall in my lifetime ever seeing a film where you dislike the main character the whole time, right? Usually it's like if it's a dislikable person, it's like you find something to like. 
 
Like Jack Nicholson's character in Anger Management. He's just like this tricksy like unlikable fellow, but there were still things that you liked about him that you had a sense of connection to, right? You still had this little hope that things are going to work out for him, that he'd be happy or whatever.  
 
In Founder, the guy who created all the McDonald's franchises, not so much. You don't really have that feeling for him. Michael Keaton did a phenomenal job playing this character, but the story is really remarkable in so many different areas. 
 
But bottom line, McDonald's as an organization, absolutely they have not been advantageous in the health of the American people for sure. But when we say that, 'You did this to me,' we're giving the power away for us to change.  
 
Not to say that they didn't contribute, but when you say, 'I'm taking responsibility for this. I know this thing happened, but today I take responsibility, and now I get to be the one, again with the pen in my hand, writing out the story of my life. I get to step into the role of the leading lady or the leading guy and being the hero in my own story and not a supporting actor.' 
 
Alright? You're the star of your movie. Remember. 
 
Okay so another big thing to help to push through this programming is- and this is so important and so valuable and so simple, we don't want to overlook this, is you have to start today. You have to begin to see your health as a huge asset. You have to start to see your health as a huge asset.  
 
A big reason why we don't put as much into our health and fitness as we might do in our job, or as we might do in our family, or as we might do in the videogames, or whatever it is that you're passionate about and having success in those other areas, but poverty in this area is we don't understand that our health is probably the biggest asset that you actually have because it gives you a competitive advantage in everything that you do. Everything.  
 
You have the energy, you have the focus, you have the physical health to accomplish things that other people just don't have right now. Alright? It puts you in a league of your own when you actually feel good. People don't do well because they don't feel well. 
 
So when you start to feel good, when you feel fit, you feel strong, you have a whole new level of confidence. You have a whole new level of execution. You have to start to see your health as a huge asset.  
 
I see my health as the biggest leverage point that I have. It's a huge leverage point. Maybe not the biggest, but one of the biggest leverage points that I have. It's so valuable. 
 
And so this is a way to push through that programming, is to start to see your health not as something that is superficial, not something cosmetic, but something that actually has real substance and a huge leverage point to be able to get what I really want in my life. 
 
Alright so there are some insights, and a few tips, and a couple stories in this domain with our health and fitness. So now I want to shift gears and talk about prosperity in our finances. 
 
I really feel that I have the right to talk about this in a way that is encompassing because I've seen both ends of the spectrum in a real way. I haven't really talked about this before, but again, a lot of this programming happens during our childhood in how we relate to money, and how we relate to finances.  
 
And the reason that I'm bringing this up, and how does this even matter when it comes to health and fitness? Well today money is the medium that we all use as exchange. It's a means to an end. It's a means of getting things done in our world today.  
 
We don't see a lot of bartering happening, you know? Money- you hear the statement 'cash is king.' So with that being the underpinning of our culture, it doesn't matter if you believe in it or accept it or not, it's just what it is right now. 
 
And so what this does to us is it ties very, very deeply to primal programming of survival. Right? So again, we're talking about getting fit, getting healthy, and having a happy life, but if you're in fear for your survival because money is a stress, you're going to cut corners, you're going to loosen up the reins on so many different things in your life that are important because survival is the number one thing that we're concerned about. 
 
Food is second tier to your survival and your safety, and if there's a fear- because real talk, we're all just a couple of bad decisions. This is tough, this is tough stuff what I'm saying right now. 
 
When you see somebody who doesn't have a home, who's homeless, when I see them I know that somebody probably loved them, somebody cared about them, but something happened. Something happened along the way that led them to this place.  
 
And so I see them, a lot of people just you don't even want to see that. You don't even want to see the real poverty in our world. It's uncomfortable but we're all just a couple of bad decisions from being in that same place. 
 
We're also all a couple of great decisions from being in a place of wealth and prosperity. Have you ever thought about that? Our lives, we really just kind of get to that comfort zone and we feel so secure in things, and we get scared to take risks because we know that again, a couple of bad decisions could end up homeless.  
 
You know, I've got kids, and this whole thing, and there's a story. But also a couple great decisions and we have to be able to take the risk and put us in a whole different reality as far as our financial success as well. 
 
So we have to be willing to look at that, and to understand that, and to know that there is always opportunity for things to get better. At the end of the day, even with a little bit of the kind of doom and gloom vibe about some of this stuff, there's always an opportunity for things to improve.  
 
There's always an opportunity for growth, and I personally feel that life- we hear about the yin and yang, there's this balance, but I feel that life tends towards growth. Life tends towards prosperity. Life is constantly evolving, and growing, and becoming more, and that's the same thing with us. 
 
You are in a process of unfoldment, you are in a process of becoming more you, right? You're moving towards growth. It's a growth process, and up until your very last breath we can continue to get better. In some area we can continue to even accumulate experience, which is the most valuable thing I think in our world. 
 
Now so to talk about this from a place of complete experience, and again I haven't really talked about this before, but many people say that they grew up without a lot of money, but I can remember clearly being in a dumpster looking for cans because my mother told us like we need to go and look for these cans so that we can take these to the recycling place and get a few dollars so we can get food. 
 
Like I did that before. And we would get free food from these different food pantries, and like this one place called the Hosea House, or the Salvation Army. We even- for Christmas we'd go on trips for poor kids, like me and my little brother, and we'd go like with all these strangers, and we'd go to this place, and they'd give us gifts. And we went a couple of times, and they'd give us the same exact gifts every year. 
 
But those are my experiences, you know? And also just growing up on food stamps, like I was balling out. Like my mom would give me a book of like $10 in food stamps. Please, I'm Richie Rich. Alright, so that was my reality.  
 
And you know, seeing things like that, it creates this programming. And knowing for example my mother would donate her blood. Like she'd literally sell her blood to be able to feed her kids. Alright? 
 
Now with all of these things, you can also start to see where people might cut corner, or even do what they consider unethical things to meet their basic human needs for their family, and that's what I saw. 
 
And so I also saw my mother cut corners and take advantage of people because she believed that she had to do what she had to do to get by. You know, and burned a lot of bridges. 
 
And so this is creating, again, my programming. And I love the line in Kanye's song- no matter what you believe with Kanye, he is a controversial figure, but he has created some pretty good music. 
 
But he said the line, 'Having money's not everything, not having it is.' Because this was the premise, this makes it difficult to even talk about this and have this to be a part of the show today, because we inherently think it's- a lot of us, like money is not everything. Money is not everything. 
 
Well I can tell you for sure, not having money is everything. It becomes very unimportant, a lot of other things, when your family's security is at stake. And so we have to be aware of that, and to change our perspective and our view of money. 
 
And one of my breaking points as an adult, and I didn't even know I was going to talk about this. Because of my programming, I saw this, I saw my mother sell her blood. And so when I was dealing with this so-called incurable spinal condition, degenerative bone disease, and I was in college at the time, and I couldn't work, I was in chronic pain, I had this back brace on all the time in my waking hours, and I was on all these medications, and unemployment was drying up, alright?  
 
Unemployment was drying up and my finger pointing about all these people that were responsible for putting me in this position, it didn't matter, I still had to pay my rent at my college apartment.  
 
And so all the studies that you hear about when we're talking about different studies with this drug, or this thing over here, whatever the case might be, I signed up to get into a drug study. I was going to be a guinea pig for a drug for a major pharmaceutical company. 
 
And so I go to this place, and there are all these people in there, different ages, and races, and positions in life. All of us are just kind of like- it looked like a military dormitory. And we had to get our blood drawn every hour, I believe it was, and we were taking these drugs.  
 
And I knew within the first like two hours that I had hit rock bottom. Like this is crazy, what am I doing here? 
 
And it took so much for me to get out of there. Like I had to do so many different things, and talk to so many people for them to let me out because I did not want to be there anymore. I knew that this was never going to happen again. 
 
This was right around the time that I made the decision to get healthy. All of this was stirring up the pot of transformation, because it wasn't just about me regaining my health, it was also me experiencing security in my life, and no longer feeling like I can't take care of my bills, I can't take care of myself. And I even had two kids at this time too, you know? My son and my daughter. And my life took a sharp turn, a big change in the direction I thought it was going, when I got sick, when I began to lose my health. 
 
But a part of that was I'm never going to be in this place again.  
 
So a lot of things changed, and here's where a big change actually can occur, because it was incremental. It was incremental over the years of getting myself from real poverty to being successful.  
 
And it's understanding this key when we're talking about breaking through our programming. I believe that we all have essentially a money thermostat in our psyche, alright? 
 
We have this amount of money that we believe we are entitled to in a way, you know? Like whether it's $2,000, a couple hundred dollars, maybe it's tens of thousands of dollars. But perpetually if you are out of a lot of money, maybe an unexpected expense comes up, you'll find your way back to your set point pretty quickly. 
 
Or if you get a lot of money that comes in at one time, you'll find your way back to your set point pretty quickly. You know, maybe if your set point is a couple hundred dollars in your account, and you come into- all of a sudden you get $10,000. Like oh yeah, life is good now.  
 
Before you know it, you're back as a hundredaire. You didn't know there was a hundredaire, you could be a hundredaire guys, and that's all good because most of the planet is surviving on about $2 a day. So a hundredaire, that could be serious trouble. Alright? You could pop some tags.  
 
No, not really. Don't start popping tags if you're a hundredaire.  
 
We have to be more aware. So changing the money thermostat. So how do we do this? How do we take our thermostat up a few dozen notches to where our set point is now at this other number that puts us in a place where we don't have to worry about our security, we don't have to worry about our bills getting paid, so that we can start to be more of a beneficial presence on the planet and not cutting corners, and not in fear about money. That's what I want for you.  
 
Now how do we do this? So first and foremost, awareness is the key. We have to become aware that this is going on in our psyche.  
 
Now let me give you some specific tactics here to employ to change this blueprint or this money thermostat.  
 
Number one, we need positive examples. We absolutely have to have positive examples. Part of that really is we have to address the negative associations that we carry with money as well, because with those positive examples, we have to look at the negative examples.  
 
Like for me, money was hard to get. Right? Money was hard to get in my examples, my negative associations growing up. 
 
And sometimes you even do destructive things to get it. That was my experience, that was what I was exposed to, that was my example. Alright?  
 
So we have to address the negative associations. You know I'd be like, 'Mom can I have a dollar?' She'd be like, 'Am I made out of money?' Right? I'd be like, 'Mom, I'm hungry.' She'd be like, 'I'm Linda. Nice to meet you, hungry.' She'd be throwing those jokes at me, but she really just didn't have it.  
 
You know? It was just like of course money doesn't grow on trees, all these negative associations. Like for me, money was this foreign thing. It was hard to get, and I had to deal with it.  
 
Like I'd better go look for some pennies and try to do what I can do. 
 
So the negative things, but we need to see positive images and feedback of what being financially healthy looks like. This is so important. We need positive examples. 
 
So this could just- it doesn't necessarily have to be directly face-to-face people in your life. Studying people who are wealthy, who are doing great things with money. You know, there are so many great examples out there.  
 
Right now, for whatever reason, Richard Branson is popping into my mind. I don't know a ton about him, but I know that he is very altruistic and he's an industry changer and somebody who has been very forward in making sure that people in the organizations are beyond happy, and taken care of, and compensated fairly, and all these different things. 
 
And also somebody who is getting together other leaders to help to improve conditions in our world. Not just in the workplace, but serious issues like making sure people are fed.  
 
So reading about folks like that, and listening to interviews, and stories, and those kinds of things helps to give you some more positive examples that we need, and learning from them about what it takes to become financially healthy. 
 
Number two, we need exposure. So getting in the environment, that means a lot. So for me personally, I remember when I was in middle school, and I had a friend named John. And this was a kid, he lived in the good area, right? He lived in the good neighborhood. And for me, I was bust out from far away to come to this school with some other kids as well. And so but John lived out there in the good neighborhood. 
 
And so we became friends, and he invited me over to spend the night, that kind of thing, and hang out. And his house was so- like I'd never been in a house like that before. It was like peaceful, and quiet, and there was room. 
 
Like one of my bedrooms was like seriously like a closet, you know? And just seeing this was like, 'Wow this exists, and somebody who looks kind of like me has it.'  
 
And so even seeing examples that are similar to us. Depending on your experience, that can matter as well.  
 
And so that changed my blueprint about what was possible and I was like, 'One day I'm going to live out here.' And guess what? I literally live in the same area, and I didn't even think about that until maybe like two years ago. Because like it just happens in your subconscious.  
 
I wasn't thinking about, 'You know what? I said I was going to live out here when I was a kid, now I do.' It just- like that was my modus operandi. That was my North Star. That was my direction because I had that example, and I'm so grateful for John and his family. Hopefully they're listening to this, or one day they listen to this and understand what an impact it made just by being them and inviting a kid over who was pretty lost and giving them an example about what's possible. 
 
So we need exposure, and also this is important guys, is we need a map. We need a map. 
 
Teachers and mentors, they have the map, alright? It's like Dora the Explorer, right? 'I'm the map, I'm the map, it's the map!' 
 
You've got to be like Dora, alright? Because Swiper is on your trail all the time. Swiper no swiping. Alright so the map. Teachers, mentors have the map. 
 
For me a great example, because again I still had these small examples, but I still didn't know how this worked. You could even term it like I didn't know how to do money, right?  
 
So it was kind of like doing pushups. If you want to frame it differently, it's just developing a skillset to be able to perform this movement to get this result.  
 
So that's what you do with money. You develop a skillset so you can perform this action to get this result. Right?  
 
And so I was still trying to figure this stuff out, and this is like recent in my life, guys. This is maybe like ten years ago-ish, right around nine, maybe ten years ago. You know I had a house, I had a consulting practice helping a lot of people, but still just like- not struggling, but things just weren't- it wasn't abundance that I was experiencing. I'll tell you that. 
 
And things could be pretty tight from time to time, and especially somebody who has a nature of being very giving, very altruistic, very going above and beyond. I spent a lot of time helping people and not really helping myself, if that makes sense. And I know some people are going to be like, 'I totally get that.' 
 
And I felt good about it though. I felt good. I was just like- again money's not everything, but not having it is. Because I had some, so everything was cool-ish, right?  
 
I still wasn't able to really do the things that I wanted to do when I wanted to do them.  
 
And so there was a course that I took, and I have no idea how it came on my radar, but it was called the New Money Masters, and this was from Tony Robbins. And Tony had interviewed all of these Internet gurus who are these new money masters and creating so much impact, and most of their stories, they came from poverty, like situations very similar to mine.  
 
And it just blew my mind, and for me, some of the things that I got from that is I remember sitting down with my wife and we were talking about- I learned about like doing stuff online. I had no idea that that was really a thing really.  
 
Like I was teaching nutrition classes offline, doing talks, and working in my practice. But I realized like I could reach more people online. But they were saying like create a niche site. Just something like maybe it's a dog treat site or something, and you get all this traffic, and followers, and all this kind of thing, and then you end up making some money online, residual income, whatever. Like this whole thing.  
 
I thought, 'You know what? That's interesting. Maybe we should do that.' But it just felt terrible. Like it just didn't feel right. Like I'm going to start putting time and energy to create something that doesn't have any substance. 
 
And so we made that decision that, 'Okay we are going to work and do things online, and reach more people, but I want to do something that mattered.' 
 
And so we decided, 'Let's create a site to help people online, and also create an eBook to help people.' So it was- instead of doing what they were saying with this cookie cutter- not all of them, but just some of the things that I got with my limited experience at the time.  
 
But I decided, 'You know what? I'm going to take what they're saying, but I'm going to do this my way. And I'm going to do this in a way that I'm going to help a lot of people, and I can also be able to reach more people, and be able to get this information out in an even bigger way, and create more financial security for myself.' 
 
So this is really important because I had this limited idea about, 'This is how I can make money. This is how I can help people.' There was this whole other arena of possibility that I could jump into. 
 
And long story short, that eventually led to this being in existence, The Model Health Show, because I said yes. Learning from people, teachers, mentors, even if I didn't know Tony Robbins, getting this course and starting to learn some stuff led to me being here today and saying yes, understanding I need a map. I don't know how to do this thing.  
 
So same thing when it comes to your financial well-being.  
 
Now last thing in this component is to expand your awareness. This is another thing for your financial fitness; expand your awareness. 
 
My very first trip, the very first time that I got on an airplane was when I met my wife who was my then-girlfriend. I was like 25. 24 or 25 years old and I had never been on an airplane in my life. And I remember taking off and it's just like it's kind of like you're driving, but then you just go in the air. This is so weird. It didn't feel right. It didn't feel natural. 
 
And now like I've literally flown all over the world, I've spoken at events all over the world, but it was that exposure and I expanded my awareness that there's a place outside of my city. There's so much, and there's so much abundance, there's so much value and beauty all over the world. I want to experience it. 
 
So just even changing and expanding my awareness.  
 
Now another key here guys, is you have to outsmart your old self when it comes to this piece specifically. This applies to everything, but you have to outsmart your old self. So what does that mean?  
 
Get yourself an automatic savings account set up. So as soon as your check comes in, a certain percentage automatically goes into something that you can't easily touch. Alright? Get it automated, get it set up. Or a certain percentage comes out. 
 
So for me personally, because I have my own business, I have an account that takes money out of my account no matter what's coming in, it takes a certain amount of money and puts it into this savings account that's hard to get to, and there's penalties if I take it out. 
 
And so that account has just been flourishing because it just automatically comes out. Every single month it takes out a certain amount of money, no matter what. 
 
So outsmart your old self, especially if you have a tendency of getting some money and then quickly losing it.  
 
Also automate your bills, too. If you want to focus on abundance, we've got to stop- and I know if you're like me, if I start thinking about bills too much, it starts to make me less motivated, right? I'm more motivated by reward and growth and contribution than all of these problems of my own making. 
 
Alright so automate the bills, too. Like the bills are automated so you can focus on abundance and prosperity.  
 
Also put yourselves in environments that don't cause you to spend excessively. You know that you've got issues with buying shoes, don't go to the mall! Just don't go there, alright? Hang out, do something else with your friends. Or hang out, do something, find another activity. Don't put yourself in the environment where you're going to make a mistake and mess up.  
 
You know, the same thing if somebody's in recovery from alcoholism, they're probably not going to be hanging out at a bar. Right? Even if they're just trying to get a tonic, a club soda, the environment itself creates more possibility and strain. 
 
And last thing in this component is you need to stop telling yourself the same old story of, 'I can't because. I can't because. I can't invest in that program because,' fill in the blank. 'I can't buy organic food because,' fill in the blank. You know all things having to do with money. 'I can't go to that certification program because,' blank.  
 
Money should never be the reason that you don't do something that you're passionate about. I'll say that again. Money should never be the reason that you don't do something that you're passionate about. 
 
We're giving away our power in a different way when we do that, when we forfeit our chance at experience, and opportunity, and growth, and happiness because of money. This man-made human entity that we didn't all get together and decide was okay, we're using that as a reason that we're not going to do something.  
 
We have to stop telling ourselves the story, because here's the thing, even when I'm saying this, I promise you have those stories. I promise you do. You know, 'I can't because this is the job that I have to do because of my two kids. I already have another job, I just can't make money. I can't afford it.' 
 
We're saying what you can't do, tell me what you can do. Tell me what you can do. Maybe you can take a certification program on your weekends off, on your days off, and get a new certification and get a pay increase. Or you can get a certification in a different field, maybe it's something that you're passionate about. Or maybe you take your time on the weekends and you start working to get a better job. Or maybe you start your sidepreneur and you start something else online.  
 
There are so many different ways. Where there's a will, there's 10,000 ways. We have to stop telling ourselves the story that we can't. 
 
And so with that said, I want you to understand that resourcefulness leads to more resources. This is a major secret. Major key alert, major bag alert. Resourcefulness leads to more resource, alright? Resourcefulness leads to more resources. 
 
So what I want you to do is utilize that amazing mind of yours, alright? For example, if you're wanting to increase your financial well-being and say even $1,000 a month extra would be game-changing for you, make a list. Literally just do this. Make a list, and this work so well. 
 
What are ten ways- like make the list and write the list. What are ten ways that I can make an extra $1,000 this month? What are ten things that I can do to make an extra $1,000 this month? And just start to put ideas down, because I promise you a few of them are going to be good ideas, and they're going to be very tangible, and these are going to be things that you can execute on.  
 
It's not that far away with you making that extra $1,000 or $5,000, whatever it might be for you wherever you are currently.  
 
Alright so but you have to start to be more resourceful, be more creative, be more you, bringing your skillsets to the table. So asking yourself even, 'What skills do I have that I can bring value to others?'  
 
Because when it comes to increasing that financial worth, it's really about how much value can you add? This is a powerful question that I use myself. 'How can I help?' 
 
How can I help people? The very first thing, before I get out of bed, I have to ask myself this every day. My eyes are closed and I ask, 'How can I serve today?' Right? 
 
So that's what I want you to think. I want you to start thinking that way, changing your awareness, changing your perspective, being more resourceful, 'How can I help?'  
 
Because people that need help, people that are in need, these are opportunities for you also to increase your value and increase your financial freedom.  
 
So maybe there's tutoring. They've got tutoring. Maybe it's private lessons, maybe you're a dance instructor, maybe you're a painter or an artist and you can start teaching some classes on the side.  
 
Maybe it's math tutoring, maybe it's coding, right? What skillset do you have and 'How can I help?'  
 
Cooking services. You'd be surprised how many people would love for you to just cook all their food for them, alright? Cleaning services. Maybe you writing an eBook. 'What skills do I have that I can bring to the table and add more value?' Start to think differently, and utilize that amazing mind of yours. 
 
Alright so guys, again make it a study. This is the key here, make it a study, get yourself around mentors, get yourself around people who have a map. Tony Robbins, Napoleon Hill's classic work, Robert Kiyosaki is pretty powerful in this space, T. Harv Eker. Just start to study some of these guys, and if this is important for you, you have to make it a study. 
 
If whatever it is that you want to improve in your life, you have to make it a study if you really want it to flourish. 
 
And lastly, I want you to really take this away, is that I think that the real secret to having more wealth in our lives is giving and finding a way to be of service. I really do believe that.  
 
You know this is more of a theoretical thing, but this whole idea of karma and things coming back to you, I really do feel that that's just- it's just been my experience. The more good that I put out, the more good that seems to come back to me ten, twentyfold. 
 
So find a way to serve, find a way to give. 
 
When you're feeling like you don't have enough, give to somebody else. It might sound kind of counterintuitive, but I promise you there's always somebody who is less fortunate than you are that you can help. And that lets the entire universe, the cosmos know that I have enough, and I'm good, and I'm strong, and I'm secure. Give me more, and I'm going to do good with it. 
 
Alright now, our last area here that we're going to talk about is our relationships, and having more relationship well-being, and moving through that programming. 
 
Again, a lot of this programming is taking place during our childhood, so we're going to be repeating and replaying a lot of the things that we were exposed to, whether we understand it or not. 
 
There are different versions of that, too. Especially with our experience today, things have changed so much with our parents and with our grandparents' cultures, we're just updating same behavior patterns but with technology a lot of times. 
 
Now first and foremost, I believe that prosperity in a relationship starts with you. Prosperity in your relationships starts with you.  
 
You want to cultivate traits that are attractive. This is a key to having more wealth, and happiness, and pushing through your programming, and having relationships that you really love. 
 
Cultivate traits that are attractive. So what does that mean? We're talking about traits of the character, we're not talking about changing your eye color, alright? If you're into that kind of thing, it's all good, but just no freaky eye color. Don't do like white, that's so weird. 
 
But again, if that's what you're into, I've got nothing but love and respect for you white eyes. 
 
Alright now here's the key, traits of the character. This is what we talked about with Dr. Daniel Goleman, one of our most downloaded episodes of all time, and just such a gift because I've learned so much from him. He's really had an impact on my life, so make sure to listen to that episode. We're talking about emotional intelligence and altered traits. Alright so we'll put that in the show notes.  
 
So traits of the character, cultivate traits that are attractive. Again, so what does that look like? So that's honesty, right? I think honesty is really, really sexy. I think honesty is really beautiful. I think honesty is so attractive. 
 
Patience, understanding / being a good listener. Right? In a relationship context, a lot of us, we just want to feel heard, we want to feel like we matter, we want to feel significant, and nothing makes us feel more significant than somebody just actually listening to us and paying attention to us. I think it's so powerful, it's such a great character trait.  
 
Confidence. It's another thing that's very attractive. Compassion, another very attractive personality trait. So again, I feel that great relationships start with you, and cultivating these traits that make you more attractive. 
 
And I can tell you firsthand that my relationships improved when I improved. Alright? My relationships improved when I improved.  
 
Now on the other side of the coin though, we do- when we're talking about relationships, that involves other people. So I think it's very important pushing through our programming, something that immediately changes our programming is to allow ourselves to have standards. 
 
Allow yourself to have standards in your relationship, because just because you have this positive personality trait of compassion doesn't mean that you let people take advantage of you. Just because you're the kind of person who is very loving, and understanding, and kind doesn't mean you let others continuously hurt you.  
 
You have to have the audacity to have standards in your relationships because you have the right to be happy, and to be healthy, and to feel loved too. Have to let that sink in. You have the right to be happy, you have the right to be loved. 
 
But let me be clear, having standards does not mean that all your relationships are supposed to be easy and filled with happy moments. Alright? Relationships, like anything else, it takes intention, and it takes work, and your standards should really be there to help direct whether or not a relationship is worth the energy that you put into it and/or how much energy you put into it. 
 
That's what those standards are about.  
 
So something important to realize, again in our psyche, we tend to meet the same kind of people and engage with the same kind of people over and over again that turn out to be the same old, same old, because you didn't stop to actually establish standards of what you're willing to accept, and what you're willing to get yourself involved in, in a more complex relationship. 
 
So be very clear on what you want, and maybe even write it down. This is for all areas in your intimate relationship, friends, business partners; be clear on what you want and the standards that you have, alright? Even write it down, I think that can be really helpful. 
 
Now for me, for example, keeping your word means a lot to me. And it's really simple, like if you say you're going to do something, then do it. You know and that means a lot to me. Of course things are going to happen, but make it right, don't make an excuse.  
 
And this is just something that's important to me. It's a value that I carry, and it's because I live my life that way. I'm going to show up for you. If I say I'm going to do something, I'm going to do my best to execute on it. 
 
And nine times out of ten that happens, but sometimes things happen, but that's my opportunity for growth. And I'm not going to make an excuse, I'm going to make it right. Alright?  
 
So that's just for me, again personally just an example that maybe you can glean a little bit from. And other things like the attractive qualities that you work towards yourself, you want those as your standards for other people; patience, honesty, good listener.  
 
And then there's other things like shared world views, shared beliefs, loves certain types of music, they're a non-smoke, maybe you want somebody- you want to make sure that you don't get somebody who doesn't even lift, alright? Maybe that's your thing.  
 
Alright like, 'You don't even lift, bro?' You know so for you, for your friends, or maybe your significant other, maybe even people you work with. 'Do you even lift, bro? Well then I don't know if this is going to work out.' 
 
So maybe that's one of your things, so be it, but just be clear on what that is for you.  
 
So in closing guys, I really feel that relationships are the greatest growth training that we have in our life, and working on your relationships will help you to call out so many dormant capacities, and latent skillsets, and gifts that you have inside yourself.  
 
Relationships really help to draw those things out. Now same thing with everything else, we absolutely need to have models. We need to have positive examples. And for me personally, I hardly had anybody growing up that I saw with a happy long-term relationship. 
 
Like this is just something I didn't know how it worked, I didn't have those examples. But fortunately I did have my grandparents, and I know that they grew and evolved from when they were younger, to when they became grandparents, and they gave me an example of what love could be. 
 
They were an entity. They were an entity. There was so much admiration and love and mutual respect that they carried, and it was just infectious, and it left an imprint on me. And fortunately I was able- I lived with them, just how my life unfolded when I was very young up until the age of about six or seven years old, I spent several years living in that household. 
 
And so I knew even when life started to change and I saw all these terrible examples when I left there, and a lot of strain, a lot of struggle, a lot of broken hearts, I still had that imprint that this was possible.  
 
So we need to have models, we need to have positive examples, and also again stepping outside of the paradigm, get some training, get yourself around some information, learn about it. If it's important to you, make it a study.  
 
Make sure to check out episode 176, and this was the Five Keys to an Amazing 
Relationship where I had my wife on and we broke this stuff down. And this is not just Shawn saying it, you get to actually hear the other person on the other side of the relationship talking about what actually works to make an amazing relationship take place. 
 
So get yourself around great relationships, alright? Whether it's in person, whether it's online, get yourself around examples of what that looks like.  
 
Ask questions of these people and actually listen, alright? Actually listen to what they tell you because sometimes it's going to be stuff that you don't necessarily want to hear, but if it's working for them, listen to them. Alright? Ask questions and listen. 
 
Study relationships, talk to experts, and even work on your own stuff too. You know again, this is something that a lot of people in our culture still feel like, 'I can't. It's a sign of weakness if I need to seek some counseling, if I need to seek some help.' And it's not, it absolutely is not. 
 
We've got some- a lot of us have some stuff, like some major stuff that we just haven't processed before that's there in our psyche. Alright so get yourself in position to study relationships, talk to experts, and work on your own stuff too. 
 
And more important than anything guys, and in closing, pay attention. Alright? This is really the key to amazing relationships, is to pay attention. 
 
Pay attention to the small moments. More important than any time in human history, there is so much distraction. There is so much that can be pulling you away from paying attention to the special people in your life. 
 
I love to just sit and spend some time just admiring my kids, just admiring- especially my son, Braden. He's so young, and full of light, and love, and joy, and just to watch him is a meditation, and it's beauty.  
 
And to be there, and to be present with him. I'm not perfect at this, there's stuff going on all the time. Sometimes it's like, 'Hey buddy, Daddy has to work. Let me finish and then we can play Voltron,' or whatever.  
 
He'll still ask me ten times if I'm done yet, but I'm aware of this, and so I pay attention and it's been one of the greatest gifts that I've had and I know it's made our relationship and my other relationships so much stronger.  
 
To actually see my wife, to be there with her, to pay attention, to just acknowledge her and to show her how significant she is to me. Powerful stuff, guys. 
 
So again, these keys here are to help us to push through that programming in three key areas of our health and happiness of our prosperity, and this is our health and fitness, our finances, and our relationship.  
 
And I hope you got some value out of this, and some takeaways, and some keys, some insights that you can add to your own life, and to bring more prosperity to all those areas for you as well. 
 
And I appreciate you so much, and if this was valuable to you, please make sure to share this with the people that you care about. Share this out on social media, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Instastories, all that good stuff, and tag me. I love to see that.  
 
And let's just keep this positive momentum going, and sharing these tools, and sharing our experience because that's really going to create an amazing life for all of us, alright? We're all in this together, and I thank you so much for making me a part of your world.  
 
And much, much more good stuff to come guys, so 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 
www.TheModelHealthShow.com. That's where you can find all of the show notes, you can find transcriptions, videos for each episode, and if you've 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. 

Maximize Your Energy

Get the Free Checklist: “5 Keys That Could Radically Improve Your Energy Levels and Quality of Life”

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

HEALTHY MEALS EVERYONE WILL LOVE

The Greatest Gift You Can Give Your Family is Health

When you gather your family around the table to share nutritious food, you’re not only spending quality time with them - you’re setting them up for success in all areas of their lives.

The Eat Smarter Family Cookbook is filled with 100 delicious recipes, plus the latest science to support the mental, physical and social health of your loved ones.

Eat Smarter Family Cookbook

DELICIOUS MEALS FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY

The Eat Smarter Family Cookbook is filled with 100 delicious recipes + the latest science to support your family’s mental, physical, and social health all in one place.

A family that eats together, thrives together.

Order the cookbook and get an amazing bonus today!