0:00

Something that I find really,

0:00

really toxic in the empathetic

0:05

entrepreneurial space is all of.

0:09

Manifestation. Like just think it right and feel it

0:10

right and life will just fall into place.

0:16

Hey friends. Welcome to Voice and Impact,

0:16

an honest podcast about the

0:20

journey of entrepreneurship. We're not here to tell

0:21

you how to live your life.

0:24

We're here to have real

0:24

conversations about real things.

0:28

My name is Adam, and I'm so

0:28

grateful you're here with us.

0:32

And so in just getting into it, I

0:32

was hoping, Adam, could you provide.

0:37

You know, a little bit cl of clarity

0:37

again, on somebody that identifies

0:42

as an empathetic entrepreneur and

0:42

how we can, um, you know, get into

0:46

action to start like expressing

0:46

our values in, in the world.

0:54

Man, that feels like such a big question. Um, get into action.

1:01

What? I mean, the first thing

1:02

to imply there is if.

1:06

You need to get into action. It implies that you are disconnected from

1:08

your action and if you're disconnected

1:16

from your action, it implies that

1:16

maybe there are obstacles that you

1:21

are experiencing that make you feel

1:21

like right now is not the time to act.

1:27

So on that, there's sort of a lit.

1:31

Sort of a, you know, I'm, I firmly

1:31

believe there's no such thing

1:35

as black and white thinking. There shouldn't be,

1:36

nothing is black and white.

1:39

Everything is contextualized, the

1:39

individual is sacred, and it is

1:45

impossible to talk about generalities

1:45

without honoring and understanding

1:51

the context of the individual. And that's complex.

1:55

That's very complex. And so when you're distracted or

1:56

disconnected from your sense of.

2:02

You know, are you distracted because

2:02

you're caught in your head thinking

2:05

a lot about, of a lot of things. You've got fears, you've got anxieties.

2:09

Are you distracted because

2:09

you're emotionally overwhelmed?

2:12

You know, you've gotta understand

2:12

what is happening for you, um,

2:18

that is causing that disconnect. And there are also times in life

2:20

where it's not appropriate to act,

2:27

and now is the only time ever to.

2:31

, right? Like that's part of the grand mystery.

2:34

It's not like here's a magic formula.

2:36

If you do this, you're gonna, you're gonna

2:36

get into your action and you're gonna get

2:40

all the things you want to get done, done. Um, and so then even within this

2:43

conversation, then there's also, as

2:47

an entrepreneur, you need to learn

2:47

how to do the things you hate doing

2:50

because you are an entrepreneur and no

2:50

one's gonna do 'em for you unless you

2:54

have money to hire somebody to do it. Guess.

2:57

, buckle up the bootstraps, get it done.

2:59

Because you got to, if you

2:59

wanna make progress, there are

3:02

things you have to do, right? Like gotta get your money organized,

3:04

you know, gotta do your taxes.

3:08

Gotta understand how to put together

3:08

contracts and agreements so that when

3:11

you have, when you have, um, clients,

3:11

you have formal agreements in place.

3:17

Um, but kind of like to more

3:17

directly, uh, address that statement.

3:23

You know, Jade and I had

3:23

a coaching call the other.

3:26

And we kind of arrived at this moment

3:26

of clarity, and I don't remember if

3:30

I've said this on the podcast before,

3:30

but we arrived at a moment of clarity

3:34

and that moment of clarity is just

3:34

sort of a four step basic process that

3:39

you can always turn to when you feel

3:39

disconnected with your sense of action.

3:47

I do think there's importance

3:47

to understand why you're

3:49

disconnected with your actions. So you know, journal about it.

3:53

You know, if you're afraid, list

3:53

off the things you're afraid of.

3:57

You know, if you find yourself anxiously

3:57

thinking about things, get it out

4:01

on paper, allow it time to process. But from my perspective, for me

4:03

personally, cuz I can only ever

4:07

speak for myself, I have had the

4:07

most often when I am disconnected.

4:16

My action. It's because I am experiencing resistance.

4:20

I am resisting something. There's something about my current

4:21

state that I have not accepted.

4:26

And so that's step number one. Accept where you are.

4:32

Didn't say like where you are.

4:36

I didn't say love where you are.

4:39

I just mean where you are

4:39

right now is objectively true.

4:46

Accept it. Don't resist it.

4:48

That's step number one. Two, ask the question, what

4:50

is mine to do right now?

4:56

And I think we're, we have

4:56

room to redefine the word do.

5:01

There's room to redefine that,

5:01

you know, is it, is it yours to do

5:05

right now to go weed the garden?

5:10

Is it yours to do right now to take a nap?

5:13

Is it yours to do right now to push

5:13

yourself a little bit so that you can

5:17

ensure that you meet that deadline

5:17

that you put in place for that person

5:21

that you're collaborating with? You know, again, the,

5:23

the individual is sacred.

5:25

It's all contextual. What is mine to do right now?

5:29

That's step number two. Step number three, discernment.

5:35

Not make a huge list of all

5:35

of the different potentials

5:38

you could possibly get done. But have discernment to pick one.

5:45

You know, that's another thing that

5:45

people get a lot, get very caught up in.

5:49

They think of all the possibilities and

5:49

then they throw their shoulders and that

5:53

hands up in the air and think, ah, I

5:53

don't know which one to do right now.

5:58

And so nothing gets done, right?

6:01

So you need to develop the

6:01

skillset of discernment.

6:07

Discernment doesn't mean

6:07

being right all the time.

6:10

Discernment doesn't mean you chose the

6:10

absolute perfect thing to get done.

6:16

You know, momentum is a powerful

6:16

force, and so that's why

6:19

number four is follow through. Once you've committed to yourself and

6:21

had the act of discernment of what

6:26

it is, the task that you want to get

6:26

accomplished, follow through on it.

6:31

So like, again, going back to the

6:31

conversation of redefining the word do.

6:36

If you choose that right now

6:36

with my discerned mind, I choose,

6:41

I'm gonna take a 20 minute nap. But then you lay down for 20 minutes and

6:44

you don't actually follow through on the

6:48

process of letting go of life and not

6:48

thinking about the work environment and

6:52

like, Nope, I made the conscious free

6:52

will decision to take a nap right now.

6:58

Right? So, okay. Follow through on that. Um, and so, you know, it

7:01

is, , we can only bring our

7:05

attention to one thing at a time. Now we think we can do a bajillion things,

7:07

um, or four or five all at the same time.

7:12

Right? Like my, my partner Nicole is

7:12

amazing at that kind of thing.

7:16

You know, she could be working on

7:16

something and having fluent conversations

7:19

with six other people at the same time.

7:23

That's like, okay, for

7:23

me, that's not the case.

7:26

If I'm not working at one thing

7:26

at a time, I am inefficient.

7:29

It takes way more time to

7:29

get things, uh, complet.

7:33

And so, you know, that's all,

7:33

that's all a side, right?

7:36

That's, that's, that's all about

7:36

optimizing your efficiency in the

7:39

tasks that you're trying to complete. But if you are feeling disconnected

7:42

entirely from action, again, context

7:49

is everything, but there's room to

7:49

simplify or there's room to simplify.

7:54

And, uh, really, really, in order to do

7:54

that, you have to accept where you're at.

8:00

Accept that you're anxious. Accept that you're tired.

8:03

Accept that right now you're in a

8:03

situation where you need to push yourself.

8:06

Otherwise, agreements are gonna follow through. Um, accept that, you know, money's tight.

8:12

Accept that life is great, whatever it is.

8:15

It's not always hard, but sometimes it is.

8:17

Whatever it is, accept it. Ask yourself, what is

8:20

mine to do right now?

8:23

Discern, trust yourself

8:23

enough to make a decision.

8:27

Whoa. Follow through, do the

8:29

thing you said you would do.

8:33

If you find yourself doing that on a

8:33

regular basis, you'll build up momentum,

8:37

you'll build up steam, you'll build

8:37

up the, the, the feeling of, oh, I

8:41

can't accomplish things, and they stack

8:41

up on top of each other, just like a

8:45

snowball run, falling down a mountain.

8:48

And, and over time you'll find

8:48

yourself, uh, very fluently and

8:54

accessibly stepping into your.

8:58

and checking the boxes, getting

8:58

the things done, you know.

9:01

Um, and something that I find

9:01

really, really toxic in the

9:08

empathetic entrepreneurial space

9:08

is all of this manifestation.

9:13

Like, just think it right and

9:13

feel it right and life will

9:17

just fall into place now.

9:19

Sure. There's, there's value in learning

9:20

how to wrap, loving attention

9:25

around your thoughts and feeling. All of that is very valuable, but if

9:27

it's not bleeding into how you're acting,

9:35

, my dad used to always tell me this. When I was a kid, I thought this

9:37

was super, super, um, kind of

9:43

tragic, but as an adult it's

9:43

like, wow, there's wisdom in this.

9:47

My dad would always say, well, son, you

9:47

can shit in one hand and wish in the

9:52

other and see which one fills up faster.

9:54

That's what my dad would tell me. And you know what?

9:58

As an adult now, he's right. Now, don't get me wrong, I think wishful

10:00

thinking is helpful, but if you're not

10:08

taking inspired action, that is, that

10:08

is motivated by that wishful thinking

10:14

and motivated by those, you know,

10:14

feelings of I deserve or moving forward,

10:19

even when you don't feel like you're. You know, that's, that's a

10:22

science in and of itself.

10:24

So, and you know, that question is really

10:24

complicated and that the, again, at the

10:27

pillar of it all is the sacred individual.

10:30

It's impossible to talk about the

10:30

generality of everything cuz every

10:33

single person's context is different

10:33

and that is not honored enough.

10:39

And these types of conversations, well I

10:39

think, you know, just to, to start off in.

10:46

Having that like four step kind of

10:46

framework right, is, is just so good

10:53

to even think about action because it's

10:53

like, sometimes it's like, yeah, sure,

10:57

the action, but like, as entrepreneurs,

10:57

we need to do all the things . Um,

11:01

so it's like, what, how do you even

11:01

start, how do you even think about

11:06

like what the, the feelings are around

11:06

the things that you're actually doing?

11:12

I'd actually, um, I'd love to hear from

11:12

you as well, Jade, on like any reflections

11:18

that you have around that call that you

11:18

had with Adam, obviously in talking about

11:23

those four steps and actually getting

11:23

into the action and what that's been like.

11:28

Oh my goodness. So this week has been really amazing

11:28

actually, because, , I've prioritized

11:35

doing things that I don't wanna do

11:35

first, and it's made doing the things

11:39

that I want to do significantly clearer

11:39

to discern because I'm kind of building

11:46

that muscle of, okay, I don't know if

11:46

this is the right thing, but let me

11:50

act on it, follow through, and whatever

11:50

that process entails, I'll learn.

11:56

whatever I'm supposed to learn, and

11:56

it'll lead me to the next thing.

11:59

So experiencing momentum, not just in

11:59

terms of like the amount of things I'm

12:07

getting done or the speed that I'm getting

12:07

them done by, but like the strength of

12:12

the discernment muscle getting stronger.

12:15

So like I've been able to identify

12:15

when an idea is asking to.

12:24

acted on, and it's usually this tiny

12:24

little voice that's like, maybe try this

12:29

and I'll try to talk myself out of it

12:29

and I'll go, no, no, no, I, I'm tired.

12:34

How would I do that? I don't think that I,

12:35

I'm at that skill level.

12:37

Mm. Is this re you know, I'll

12:37

start questioning it. And I, that's usually a sign that, mm,

12:40

let's just experiment with that cuz

12:45

what else are we gonna do right now? That seems to be the thing.

12:49

I feel like since implementing those

12:49

steps, my sense of what I need to act

12:54

on has gotten a little bit clearer. Uh, and then another thing that Adam

12:57

touched on that like lights me up to

13:02

talk about is manifestation and how.

13:09

Accepting our thoughts and feelings,

13:09

I think is the key to finding flow

13:14

in the areas of life we're trying

13:14

to manifest flow in instead of

13:18

trying to force positive thinking.

13:21

Like when I first got into the world

13:21

of manifestation and vision boards and

13:27

the concept that we can create material

13:27

results from our thinking, I had so

13:32

much anxiety cause I was like, well,

13:32

I have crazy thoughts all the time and

13:36

negative thoughts all the time and like. That's not okay.

13:39

So I'm not gonna manifest, I'm

13:39

gonna manifest so many bad things.

13:43

Uh, and that just in

13:43

itself is so exhausting.

13:47

And I think it's been like years of

13:47

navigating that question of, okay,

13:54

like how do I manifest things that.

14:00

Marry positive, good. Whatever the thoughts that are in

14:02

alignment with the things that I

14:04

want and action, but still have

14:04

room for thoughts that are, you

14:09

know, natural and, and human.

14:12

Um, and I think acceptance, that first

14:12

step of the four steps Adam listed is key.

14:18

Cuz then whatever you act on, it's

14:18

from the seat of acceptance, it's

14:23

innately flowing with your truth.

14:25

And that to me has been,

14:25

oh, just like, A lifesaver.

14:30

So I think it's really, especially as

14:30

like artistic people, um, that have a, a

14:38

abundance of ideas and things that flow to

14:38

us that we wanna create and put out into

14:42

the world and hopefully make an impact,

14:42

um, they really can be overwhelming.

14:48

So just sort of, um, getting

14:48

into that action and that trust,

14:53

uh, in a really like logical and

14:53

practical way is, is really helpful.

14:58

Yeah, I guess, you know, us empathetic entrepreneurs

15:03

are really, really motivated by the

15:07

idea of making the world a better place. We're motivated by that, and

15:10

I think that's beautiful.

15:13

You know, I'll be the first person

15:13

to raise my hand on the idea of

15:17

living a mission-driven life. You know, I want to be

15:19

a positive influencer.

15:23

On, on anybody's attention

15:23

that crosses mine.

15:28

You know, I think, I think I wanna

15:28

honor people's attention and in the,

15:31

and in the world of the digital space,

15:31

like honoring people's attention is I

15:37

think the single most important part

15:37

of a strategy, a marketing strategy,

15:43

a relationship management strategy. I hate the word marketing, but

15:45

that's a, besides, but I think

15:50

sometimes, It's backwards for

15:50

the entrepreneur, the empathetic

15:57

entrepreneur that wants to do good. I think it's totally backwards.

16:01

I think they focus on the impact and then,

16:01

then it becomes their, their motivation

16:07

for action becomes external, right?

16:09

It becomes this thing that they're

16:09

reaching for where really everything

16:14

that is, I think of the highest.

16:20

Of the highest sense of possible good.

16:24

It's an internal thing, right?

16:27

And so it's so important to get clear

16:27

on how you are inspired to act and

16:36

allowing your inspiration to act to be it.

16:40

That's it. Done. If you're inspired to act, do that, do

16:42

that inspiration, then it's intrinsic.

16:48

Right. And then the impact is

16:49

the byproduct of that.

16:54

It's, and we've talked about

16:54

this a lot, Alicia, right?

16:57

We've talked about how our impact on

16:57

the world is the byproduct of us, right?

17:06

And so my encouragement to anybody who's

17:06

listening right now is to just ask the

17:11

question like, Hey, how are you inspired? How are you inspired to act for.

17:19

Um, you know, what is an extension of

17:19

your love and care for the world for you?

17:25

Um, because if it, if

17:25

it's impact first, right?

17:28

Like if my company was called

17:28

Impact and Voice, we would be like,

17:32

whoa, that's kind of confusing. That doesn't make any sense.

17:36

It's voice and impact. Voice being the self impact being.

17:43

Byproduct of the action in the world.

17:46

And so it needs to start with the self. Now that feels selfish probably, right?

17:50

And everybody's like, well, I

17:50

wanna make people's lives better.

17:53

Okay? Start by making your own life better.

17:55

Watch what happens. And I've talked about this many, many,

17:58

many, many, many, many, many times on the

18:01

idea of like, you're not gonna save the

18:01

whole world in one stroke, so why don't

18:05

you just start with the people around you? Um, and that impact is

18:08

hard not to recognize.

18:17

So good. And I'm so glad you went there because

18:18

I was like, hoping that we talk a

18:21

little bit more about exactly that.

18:25

Like I know, you know, in,

18:25

in last week we, we spoke a

18:28

lot about, um, you know, the.

18:33

Fear of being known. And I think the fear of being known as

18:35

is related to the fear of success, right?

18:41

Because it's very much a tie to

18:41

external validation and how other

18:44

people will react to our achievement

18:44

or our dreams or whatever it is.

18:48

And with you mentioning that it has to

18:48

be a healthy balance between intrinsic

18:53

or internal, uh, motivation and

18:53

external validation and all of that.

18:58

I'd love to know a little bit. You know, your perspective on like

19:00

what is healthy external validation

19:06

and internal motivation, like

19:06

any experiences that you've had?

19:10

Not necessarily, it's like

19:10

a hard and fast thing.

19:12

Like this is healthy and this is not. But in the space of you having both,

19:13

like this internal motivation, but

19:18

external factors also affecting that.

19:21

Um, yeah. Interesting.

19:26

I could go in so many

19:26

different directions because.

19:30

You know, part of me wants

19:30

to say, you know, external

19:35

validation doesn't matter, right?

19:38

Like part of me wants to say like,

19:38

yes, I'm at this point in my life

19:42

where I don't give a fuck about what

19:42

other people say because I'm strong in

19:48

my values and I believe in my values

19:48

more than anybody else possibly.

19:55

And therefore I see the value that

19:55

I bring in the world, and I don't

19:59

need you to acknowledge it in order

19:59

for me to feel comfortable and

20:02

confident to continue doing that. Right.

20:06

But I don't think any of us

20:06

actually fully arrive there.

20:11

At least not f not forever, right?

20:15

Like, like even Mr. Rogers, you know, somebody who left

20:17

one of the biggest media legacies.

20:26

Of anyone you know, and from the purest

20:26

place, from the place of reverence,

20:32

from the place of like really, really,

20:32

really admiring and being a positive

20:38

force for those kids that were jumping

20:38

off buildings because they thought

20:43

they could fly, that were, that were

20:43

being taught that fighting is funny.

20:48

You know, and the norm and

20:48

being stimulated constantly

20:51

by these cartoons, right? He saw that and he was like, ah,

20:52

there has to be something better.

20:57

And even, even into the latest years

20:57

of his experience, you know, and the

21:03

documentary, won't You Be My neighbor?

21:05

It reveals him writing a letter.

21:08

Like, am I really up to this?

21:11

You know, after all of these years,

21:11

am I even accomplishing anything?

21:17

And so, you know, I think, I think

21:20

sometimes external validation

21:25

can play a role, right?

21:28

It can, it can be, it could be the sort of

21:28

like counterbalance to maybe some of the

21:36

inner doubt that we experience, but, and.

21:42

In order to give your fullest self to

21:42

the world, we need to know how to move

21:47

forward in the face of doubt, right?

21:51

Like, that doesn't necessarily answer your

21:51

question directly because your question

21:55

is like, well then how, how do intrinsic

21:55

and extrinsic motivat motivational forces?

22:01

Like how do you, how do you

22:01

maintain a healthy balance?

22:06

And in an ideal world, it would be

22:06

you believe in yourself so much,

22:08

you don't need external valid. But that we don't live in the ideal world.

22:14

Yeah. And I think that's so beautiful, um,

22:15

and like deep and potent because I,

22:23

I was sort of asking as well within

22:23

the lens of, you know, we're content

22:29

creators, we're in the media space,

22:29

so a lot of the external validation is

22:34

still a part of the everyday experience.

22:37

Right. And even though. Like putting your art out into the

22:39

world and, um, your voice and all

22:44

of the things like create, just to

22:44

create because you believe in the

22:47

impact and, and what you're sharing.

22:50

I don't ever see a hundred percent

22:50

the external markers being taken

22:55

away from opportunities, right. That are available to us, like

22:57

the follower count and the views

23:00

and all of the things that. Messing with our psyches on how worthy

23:02

we are of continuing to do this work.

23:07

So that's what I was sort of

23:07

curious and diving into as well,

23:10

in terms of keeping that balance. Yeah, and I would just, I would

23:13

simply say to that, and this is

23:19

probably counterintuitive because

23:19

we're in the impact space, right?

23:21

We're in this space of

23:21

like helping humanity.

23:26

I would simply say do it for yourself. Um, well, and it's crazy

23:32

cause it's like, sorry.

23:35

I was just gonna say, you always hear

23:35

people sort of, uh, like when they

23:39

reflect on like, how did I blow up? Like I created content that I

23:41

actually wanted to create . Yeah.

23:46

And that's, that's about falling

23:46

in love with the process.

23:49

That's about, you know, and then, and

23:49

I talk about this all the time, sort

23:53

of like the idea of communicating

23:53

or getting a message across.

23:57

Really, really the pursuit there

23:57

is, what do you want to say?

24:04

Like communication needs to be from the

24:04

lens of what are you trying to communicate

24:12

and if you apply that to your content,

24:12

Since we're going into content, you

24:16

know, one of my core beliefs for voice

24:16

and impact is you are the content.

24:19

This is something that's been a part

24:19

of my media space for, you know, seven

24:24

years on my approach to, to media.

24:28

Um, you know, content

24:28

isn't something you create.

24:32

Content is a byproduct of

24:32

your real-time experience.

24:35

You know, so your real-time lessons

24:35

that you're having, your real-time

24:39

life experiences and story, your

24:39

realtime collaborations, you know,

24:44

your real-time conversations,

24:44

value is a real-time experience.

24:50

And when we abstract that, you know,

24:50

with the trending sounds and the

24:54

trending this and you know, do this

24:54

and have this formula, and when we

24:59

abstract that now it becomes like,

25:06

Abstract attempt at trying to give

25:06

something that is valuable, but not

25:10

really sure if it's valuable because

25:10

you're not in the real authentic

25:14

connection of value exchange. Right?

25:17

Like for me, I know I am so much more

25:17

valuable when I'm sitting in front of

25:21

somebody who is actually authentically

25:21

seeking the value that I have to.

25:27

Because then it's a real human connection

25:27

and it's my relationship with that

25:31

person that is aiming to be helpful

25:31

and these abstractions where there's

25:36

no relationship real time with anybody

25:36

I'm connecting with and I'm just like

25:40

trying to be helpful, I think kind of.

25:43

So I have these things to

25:43

say, so here's your top five

25:45

secrets on how to be most viral. You know, they're just abstract.

25:50

They're not human, but, and you know,

25:50

I've got like, 238 followers, right?

25:56

So it's not like my, my concepts

25:56

are developed, fallen, uh, far

26:00

enough to where I have, you

26:00

know, social proof behind them.

26:04

But, you know, what are

26:04

you inspired to say?

26:11

Say it because you're inspired to say it.

26:13

Do it because you're inspired to do it.

26:15

That's the only validation you'll

26:15

ever need, but, Gosh, it sure is

26:22

nice when people come up to me and

26:22

say, Hey, gosh, your content is

26:28

really making an impact in my life.

26:31

Because a lot of times I feel like I

26:31

have no fucking clue what I'm doing.

26:35

Yeah. That's just so relatable. And that's, that's really just it.

26:39

Right? I'd love to hear j do you have

26:39

any, um, I guess like reflections

26:43

on this, like it's, Ooh, so.

26:48

I mean, Adam touched on it,

26:48

which is it's about the process.

26:52

And since working with Adam,

26:52

that's been the biggest lesson

26:57

probably for me to experiment with.

27:00

And in regards to like posting things

27:00

and getting the likes, like I feel

27:06

like when I first started sharing my

27:06

music and my art, I didn't do it for

27:12

the likes, but when I shared it, oh

27:12

my God, the likes were a big high.

27:17

And if I didn't get likes, oh, I

27:17

wouldn't post anything for a while.

27:22

Cause I felt so worthless.

27:24

And I'm not saying that when I

27:24

post something and it doesn't get

27:29

likes, I don't still feel that way. Like yeah, I do.

27:33

Not as intensely, but it's. And I think a big lesson for me has been

27:36

like on both sides, both when I get a

27:42

lot of attention and positivity on a

27:42

post and when I don't like not attaching

27:47

to either of those circumstances and

27:47

just focusing on like the personal

27:51

celebration or the feeling of loss.

27:54

Sometimes it's the feeling of like,

27:54

oh fuck, I wanted that to go better.

27:57

So Okay. I let myself feel that reflect on

27:58

the process and then kind of what

28:03

we've been talking about, apply. Four step self-checking.

28:08

Okay, this happened. What's mine to do next?

28:10

What's mine to do right now? Not really attaching to the outcome

28:13

of external validation, but allowing

28:16

myself to both enjoy it and like

28:16

receive it or feel upset by it.

28:22

Cuz that's a part of it. Like when you put your heart and

28:23

soul out onto the internet and it's

28:26

like, okay, two likes, and then you

28:26

get, you post something that's kind

28:30

of like, might not mean a whole lot

28:30

to you, but it's something you made

28:33

and then it gets a bunch of stuff. You're like, well what does that mean

28:34

if something that means so much to me.

28:39

Isn't seen. You know, if that perspective isn't

28:41

shared by most people, that can create

28:45

a lot of insecurity or rather shine a

28:45

light on insecurity that's already there.

28:51

So I don't know. Yeah, and I think I would

28:53

even push back a little bit. I would say it's impossible to put

28:55

your soul on the internet, right?

28:59

How do you mean It's impossible

28:59

to put your, all of your heart

29:02

and soul on the internet. You just put a piece of content on the.

29:06

And that piece of content

29:06

is not your heart and soul.

29:11

It's a byproduct of maybe the loving

29:11

attention that your heart and soul

29:15

created and put together, but it

29:15

is not your heart and soul itself.

29:22

Right? And so a part of that is disassociating

29:22

our are, uh, our content for us.

29:30

Like, our content is not me.

29:33

It's something I created,

29:33

but it is not me.

29:37

Um, and you know, one of the things that

29:37

a friend said to me, her name's Joy.

29:41

So Joy, if you're listening, hi. You're lovely.

29:44

I was, I was having a hard time with,

29:44

with a client of mine at this time.

29:49

And, um, the, like, the

29:49

collaboration element didn't feel.

29:55

. And I'm at a point in my career where if

29:55

I'm collaborating with somebody and it

29:58

doesn't feel easy, that's an issue for me. And she helped me arrive at some

30:01

clarity on like what I could

30:06

do on my end to resolve it. Um, and, but then, then she said

30:09

something to me, to me that was kind of

30:13

outrageous and that is what other people

30:13

think of me as none of my business.

30:20

Yeah. So I guess, I guess sort of like to

30:20

tie this all back to content, it'd.

30:25

You know, to create content that you feel is valuable.

30:34

Sure. Then tie in the analytics and utilize

30:35

like the sort of understanding that's

30:39

possible there to try to ensure that

30:39

the container of that value gets

30:44

the reach and growth that you want. But you can only do that

30:46

once you've disassociated.

30:48

You can only do that when you, when

30:48

you know that your content is not.

30:54

It's not who you are as a being. You are so much more than your

30:56

content, but, and you're the content

31:05

in your promotion and philosophy of,

31:05

uh, being the content in your business.

31:12

I'd love to know, um, how that's

31:12

obviously helped you and your

31:17

community sort of like take more

31:17

action, but at the same time it's.

31:21

It's not that same element of like, it's

31:21

not a hundred percent you, like you are

31:26

the content , but the hu the content is

31:26

a hundred isn't a hundred percent you

31:31

and like where that all fits into it.

31:34

Yeah. I mean it's kind of like a square

31:35

is a rectangle, but a rectangle

31:38

isn't a square kind of a situation.

31:41

Right. What I mean by you are the content is

31:41

that my process of content creation.

31:49

Involves zero time me sitting down

31:49

going, okay, what am I doing for content?

31:56

No, it involves capturing real-time

31:56

value exchange and taking that into a

32:02

post-production process to create content.

32:07

It's a totally different thing. Um, and so what I mean by you are

32:09

the content is, I just mean your life

32:13

real time is value, has value to it,

32:13

and it can be created into content.

32:20

And what I mean by your content

32:20

isn't you, is that it's impossible

32:26

to take all of your essence of the

32:26

complexity of your human and nature

32:31

and put it in a fucking device. It's literally impossible.

32:38

. And so what I mean by that is like

32:38

if you create a piece of content

32:42

that is shit doesn't get any likes,

32:42

people tell you how bad it is.

32:47

You know, we need to learn to disassociate. They're not saying, you Jade are bad.

32:51

That piece of content wasn't good, so

32:51

therefore you are a bad human being.

32:55

Right? And that's where our mind goes

32:56

when a piece of content doesn't

33:00

get the reach we want it to. And then that opens up a whole

33:02

nother conversation of expectation.

33:06

Because if that piece of content,

33:06

this is again, something I was

33:09

talking to Jade about the other day. If I created content and she was the

33:11

only one that positively impacted

33:17

from my perspective, that would

33:17

be a worthy, worthy endeavor.

33:21

Right. So like what's more valuable in the

33:22

context of impact numbers or genuine?

33:31

Uh, I. Is it impact if your content genuinely

33:34

influenced 10 people or is it impact

33:40

if 5.6 million people saw it, right?

33:44

Like where is that? Um, and I think there's room for us all to

33:47

reevaluate, and that's why there's a lot

33:51

of thought leaders in the current space

33:51

saying, Hey, make content for one person.

33:56

And I don't even do that. I just have real time conversations with

33:57

people that I care about aiming to be

34:01

helpful in turning that into content. Um, did that answer your question?

34:10

Yes. And as we do here.

34:13

Um, I think that is so

34:13

beautiful and in the fact that.

34:19

It opens up a world of possibility,

34:19

but it also dials down the pressure so

34:24

much because of course it, it's related

34:24

to, um, uh, oh my God, what's his name?

34:31

Yeah. Gary v. Document don't Create. Right.

34:33

So it's very similar, but it's like

34:33

in the sense that if I could even

34:37

just share a reflection of my own

34:37

life, then you know, you've been

34:40

talking about this, be the content. You know, I like have the business

34:43

of creative direction and media

34:47

development and stuff like that,

34:47

but I'm not always this like,

34:51

hey, like, you know what I mean? Like, here's my business kind of thing.

34:55

So when I, when I really let the

34:55

be the content sink in, that's

34:59

when I started sharing more of my

34:59

poetry, more of the, I'm just like

35:04

a sensitive soul in the world, but

35:04

I also do this thing and then I.

35:09

Took so much pressure off, but

35:09

also allowed myself to like

35:13

dial up the meanness and the

35:13

uniqueness of the business in a

35:18

way that allowed me to have both.

35:22

Um, and that wasn't so much

35:22

pressure on like, I need to have.

35:28

This like polished content, that's

35:28

like speaking to all these pain points,

35:31

all the marketing things, right? It's just like I can be myself, I

35:33

can offer, you know, my, my art,

35:37

but as well as like my business

35:37

and expertise into the world.

35:40

And that was just a beautiful

35:40

like harmony and synchronization

35:46

that I experienced through that. So I think it's, I think it's

35:47

really beautiful to lean into that.

35:53

And Jade, I see you nodding a lot. Like do you have, I know you got stories

35:54

. Well, I'm so excited about this topic

36:02

and it, this particular area kind of

36:02

goes back to what Adam, you were saying

36:08

about what your friend Joy said and

36:08

the situation that you were in, which

36:12

is, there's a lot of resistance here. This doesn't feel easy.

36:16

What's going on. And I think for a long time I was at that

36:18

place with the idea of sharing content.

36:23

Like I would be so stressed over

36:23

posting, posting a thing and

36:28

perfecting it and what, what, uh,

36:28

what, what is the right thing to post?

36:32

How do I post it? Da da da, da, da. And I think.

36:35

I'm at a place now where when I'm meant to

36:35

share something, it gets shared and it's

36:40

easy, and that doesn't mean that I don't

36:40

spend seven hours working on a video.

36:45

That doesn't mean that I'm not like still

36:45

approaching learning curves and like.

36:50

Grueling in a very positive way

36:50

to get what I need to get done.

36:56

It's just that that's the natural

36:56

process and sharing it is like the

37:00

byproduct of like the stuff that I

37:00

share I would do anyways regardless

37:05

of whether or not I'm sharing it. And that's such a.

37:09

Such a relieving place to be.

37:12

And Alicia, I I love what you said about

37:12

how the concept of you are the content

37:18

has empowered you to share your poetry.

37:21

Um, I'm starting to feel that way about

37:21

comedy a little bit because comedy's

37:26

a really big part of my life and I

37:26

started to realize like, man, I never

37:29

really share that part of myself on

37:29

social media, maybe here and there, but

37:34

in like spurts where it feels so good.

37:36

Cause I'm like, ah, this

37:36

is like, This is me.

37:40

This is I the part of me

37:40

that I am with all the time.

37:43

And for whatever reason, I have

37:43

this idea that because I am a visual

37:49

artist and a musician, like that's

37:49

what I need to be on social media.

37:52

The other stuff, nobody wants to see that. And that's not true.

37:56

I mean, I don't know if other people

37:56

wanna see that, but I want to share it.

37:59

And so doing that has been

37:59

vulnerable and scary, but it's

38:04

been easy and has alleviated.

38:08

Well, like you said, pressurized feeling

38:08

of I need to create this kind of content.

38:13

So yeah. And I think a lot of times something

38:16

we forget to acknowledge is content

38:23

creation is a mirror, which means it's

38:23

gonna reflect the things that feel

38:31

hard if you're avoiding them, right?

38:34

And so if you personally are having.

38:39

Um, challenge in the process of sharing

38:39

your ideas or feeling insecure about them.

38:46

You know, the, the only way

38:46

to get better at that is to

38:52

experience that process, right?

38:57

So, um, like for example, if somebody's

38:57

total, total, aside from, from content,

39:03

if somebody's afraid of thunderstorm,

39:03

The healthy way to overcome that fear

39:11

is to experience thunderstorms, right?

39:15

Otherwise, it's

39:15

intellectual and contextual.

39:17

It's like you're thinking about it

39:17

without the experience, and we as human

39:21

beings, we learn in the experience.

39:24

You can't read a textbook and

39:24

overcome your fear of thunderstorms.

39:29

You can't read a textbook and

39:29

overcome your fear of public speak.

39:33

You can't read a textbook and

39:33

overcome your fear of sharing

39:36

your ideas, share your ideas.

39:41

That's the only way to overcome it. And so then that's where like a lot

39:44

of, again, a lot of people, I don't

39:46

remember his name, but there's this guy

39:46

on TikTok and he talks a lot about using

39:50

content as a process of self-discovery.

39:53

Right. And that's again what I'm saying,

39:54

when, when content lives real

39:57

time, You are exploring yourself

39:57

real time, and therefore are

40:03

sharing raw snippets of value.

40:07

It's not, oh, I got this idea of value.

40:09

I'm gonna, I'm gonna render it

40:09

into this perfect piece of contact.

40:13

After I've had the realization it's,

40:13

oh, I had the realization while I was

40:17

talking to the fucking camera real time.

40:21

And that's where I think, uh,

40:21

I think that's what people.

40:27

Because it's massless, it's

40:27

vulnerable, it's raw, it's you.

40:32

It's your real-time human experience.

40:35

It's your story, right? And it's relatable.

40:38

It's accessible, it's meaningful. Um, and all of those things

40:40

matter in the context of making

40:45

a relationship with someone else. That's one of the reasons why

40:52

I love improvisational music.

40:56

And sharing it on the internet, which

40:56

to me is like the most vulnerable thing

41:01

because it's messy, it's imperfect,

41:01

it's not polished, it's not planned.

41:06

The lyrics don't ever, don't always

41:06

make sense, but it's so, so, so true to

41:12

whatever you're channeling in the moment.

41:15

And that can apply, be

41:15

applied to anything.

41:18

But I would say for me, My content

41:18

is usually visual art or music.

41:27

And the times where I am engaging with

41:27

those things in a really raw way are

41:32

times that I feel absolutely naked. I could be crying and working on

41:34

a painting cuz I'm painting to

41:38

discover something from myself or, or

41:38

process something that's difficult.

41:43

And in the last year or so, I've

41:43

gotten, I don't know what to call it.

41:48

I don't wanna say strength,

41:48

but I've just had the.

41:52

The awareness of opportunity in those

41:52

moments where I'm like, I know this is

41:56

really vulnerable, but let's hit record. And that has been most of my

41:58

content in the last, at least a

42:03

few months, where it's not stuff

42:03

that I really wanted to record.

42:07

Like I was literally setting up the camera

42:07

like, oh my God, I don't wanna do this.

42:11

But there's something that I feel like it

42:11

feels, I feel super called to, cuz I know

42:16

that like I have no idea what to expect.

42:19

Maybe I won't share this at all. Right now I'm engaging with what lights

42:22

me up in response to a lesson that

42:26

I'm learning that might be difficult

42:26

or it might be just plain fun.

42:30

So let's document that

42:30

and see what happens.

42:34

And having that persistence to like

42:34

follow through on the action I feel

42:39

inspired to, which is to record something,

42:39

even though the idea scares me, um,

42:44

has been really, really important. Knowledge becomes power

42:47

when it is applied.

42:51

We're really good at the knowledge part. We're really good at reading those books.

42:55

We're really good at taking those courses. We're really good at all of that.

43:01

Oh, there's so many things that

43:01

came up that I'm just like, yes,

43:04

like let's dive into this more. But I'm wondering your perspective,

43:06

Adam and and Jade as well on.

43:10

How to obviously be the content, put

43:10

your art out into the world and start

43:15

monetizing without it feeling like you're

43:15

sucking some of the beauty outta it.

43:19

Because I feel like that's sometimes

43:19

a of intention, at least that I feel.

43:24

Um, and I know, Adam, you probably

43:24

have a lot of, uh, a lot of thoughts

43:29

and reflections maybe about that. Yeah.

43:32

I don't know. I feel like the question is

43:32

backwards, , what do I mean by that?

43:40

On my journey, there have been droughts, right?

43:48

There have been moments where

43:48

the bank account is like, you

43:52

know, negative $600 and it's just

43:52

like, well, what am I gonna do?

43:57

And so I feel like a lot of people try to

43:57

rush to the monetization element, right?

44:02

Oh, I'm putting up, I'm making a podcast,

44:02

don't have a community yet, but I'm

44:05

gonna start selling commercials, right? Right.

44:08

Like we're so eager to monetize,

44:08

and I just think that's backwards.

44:13

If you're focused on giving value,

44:13

the monetization will happen.

44:19

I'll never forget what it did for my

44:19

sense of perceived value of my own

44:25

ideas when I just took a leap of faith

44:25

from $50 an hour to coaching to a 12

44:31

hour package for almost four grand. I'll never forget how it

44:33

felt to get my first, yes.

44:39

And so that's where, again,

44:39

in the experience matters.

44:43

Getting into the experience of, of making

44:43

those sales will change your disposition.

44:51

It's hard not to because

44:51

the experience validates it.

44:57

And then you'll get to a point where

44:57

you're so comfortable and confident

45:00

in your value, where if someone

45:00

doesn't wanna pay you your value,

45:03

you don't need the job, right? Like, that's sales 1 0 1 sell.

45:07

Like you don't need the job. Um, and if you don't need the job, great,

45:11

then you're just, it's just, uh, you

45:14

don't have to be a yes for every lead. Okay? I wish you well, here's a place you

45:15

could probably go that might service

45:18

you, like, you know, whatever. Um, and so like advocating for

45:21

yourself from a place of abundance.

45:25

even in times of lack, like to go back to

45:25

full circle here to that, that story I was

45:30

sharing where it's like I've had negative

45:30

$600 on my account, but I've always been

45:34

certain in my ability to give value.

45:37

And so then I would just show up and

45:37

give value, and then opportunities

45:40

would present themselves, and then

45:40

I'd show up and give value, you know,

45:43

and then I would guide that value.

45:47

But there's a difference between just

45:47

giving value for the sake of giving

45:49

value and giving value in a specified

45:49

understood way that builds up to something

45:54

more that has potential for transaction.

45:57

Like, that's something you

45:57

need to understand, right?

46:00

Like if you, if you just give all

46:00

of your value when they're ready to

46:03

pay you, it's like, well, shit, I

46:03

don't have anything left to give.

46:06

I gave it all away, right?

46:08

And if you're new, you need case studies.

46:11

So don't be afraid to give it all

46:11

away and generate feelings of results.

46:16

So that you can, one, validate

46:16

that you know how to give value.

46:19

Two, have success stories that

46:19

you can utilize when you're

46:22

selling it to other people. You know, when I do brand deals,

46:24

the people who pay me five grand

46:27

to B to build a brand for them are

46:27

much different clients than the

46:31

people who paid me, you know, $600.

46:34

Much different, less feedback

46:34

involved, much more seamless.

46:39

They trust my expertise much easier,

46:39

and so as you learn to raise your

46:44

prices, you'll observe and see

46:44

the differences in the type of

46:49

clientele that you are engaging with.

46:52

The only other thing I'll add to that

46:52

then is like just to remind ourselves

46:56

that all of business' relationships.

47:01

It's like human to human.

47:03

Yeah. How can I be helpful?

47:08

That's all you're aiming

47:08

to do is to be helpful.

47:12

Um, and I think, yeah, that's

47:12

like the higher currency, right?

47:14

Like that's such the higher currency

47:14

because I feel like value, right?

47:18

Is like this key phrase and like,

47:18

you know, I don't know about you,

47:21

but I know people who are trying

47:21

to give value, but it's like, yo

47:24

dog, that is not valuable for me. Right?

47:26

And so that's again, where context

47:26

is really important, important.

47:31

. Um, and so like getting to a point

47:31

to where whoever is in front of you,

47:36

you know, how to give value to that

47:36

person, like value is a language.

47:42

Um, and it's non confronting, right?

47:45

It's, it's loving, it's caring, it's

47:45

helpful, um, and sometimes being of value

47:51

is just like, okay, let's hop on a call

47:51

for 30 minutes and all you do is listen,

47:56

And you let it, let it be where it is. So context, that's the

47:57

theme of today's call.

48:01

Context is everything. Well, that's a wrap.

48:05

Again, this is Voice and Impact podcast.

48:08

My name is Adam. Thanks for being here.

48:10

Thanks for being you. Thanks for doing all the good things

48:11

you do, and we'll see you next week.