Be It Till You See It

Have you ever felt like you were finally on track? You finally were accomplishing a goal, had a great idea and then boom, something changes. Those obstacles aren’t roadblocks, there is another way and it may lead you to something even better. Join today’s convo as Brad and Lesley recap Sue Hitzmann’s story through creating the MELT method and her tips to finding success despite the obstacles. 

If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at [email protected] .

And as always, if you’re enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe.

In this episode you will learn about:

• How to navigate clients that constantly reschedule. 
• The obstacle isn't a sign to not try. Find a different way.
• Hot to use failure as a time to reflect and learn for the next opportunity. 
• It’s a myth! Eating healthy and exercise does not = 100% health.
• How to use our experiences to discover what is meant for us.
• Abundance Mindset is helping people so much they don’t need your help anymore. 
• How chase the things that elevate you.
• Are you living in the present moment or not?

Episode References/Links:

• Replay of Profitable Pilates Free Webinar
• Be It Pod Survey!
• Cambodia Retreat

If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox.

Be It Till You See It Podcast Survey

Resources

• Watch the Be It Till You See It podcast on YouTube!
• Lesley Logan website
• Be It Till You See It Podcast
• Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan
• Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan on YouTube
• Profitable Pilates

Social Media

• Instagram
• Facebook
• LinkedIn

Episode Transcript:

Lesley Logan  

Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guests will bring Bold, Executable, Intrinsic and Targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started.

Welcome back to the Be It Till You See It interview recap where my co host in life, Brad and I are going to dig into the revealing convo I had with Sue Hitzmann in our last episode. If you haven't listened to the episode, feel free to pause this now and go back and listen to that one so that you can listen to this one and all the good things or listen to this one and then go listen to that one, you could do you. And that's it Sue Hitzmann does. So, I think she'd be very excited for you to do it the way you want to do it.

Brad Crowell  

She does, she's amazing.

Lesley Logan  

She she really is. Like she is the proof of like, your curiosity and leading it down the path and and and also like how everything happens for you even including the question she was asked. So real quick, my loves, I want to hear from you. Like I really want to hear from you. I want to hear your opinions. And so this podcast has been out for a year, over a year now. Oh my God over a year now. (Brad: Yeah) 14 months. And maybe you just found us in this your first episode. Great. You can do the survey. Maybe listen to every single episode. And this is like 100 and I don't know. It's a lot. Brad's gonna pipe in and tell me what it is. But anyways, if you listen all, I really want to hear from you. So go to beitpod.com/tellme.

Brad Crowell  

This will be episode 124. (Lesley: 124. Holy cow.) That's pretty insane. But seriously, though, 124 episodes and we need your help. We are very interested in understanding how you're enjoying the pod. And you know, what if the segments if you like the segments, if you look forward to the recaps, or if you enjoy the interviews more, or we've even thrown in a few solo episodes and what your experience was with those. So go to beitpod.com/tellme t e l l m e. (Lesley: Yup)

Lesley Logan  

All right, we had an audience question and I really liked this one. I was like, ah, it was a nice little DM I got from someone and I can I totally could feel her, like I could feel the frustration, worry, fear, wonder all at one time. So what is that question, Brad?

Brad Crowell  

So it's just basically, I have a small home studio, and love teaching, but I feel like my clients move their sessions around all the time. Did you have this problem when you were doing that? Well, we can answer that. How can I get them to stick to the original schedule without losing them as a client or without losing my time, teaching them and rearranging them? So that's a great question. Just to throw this out there. We never had a home studio.

Lesley Logan  

Well, we do now.

Brad Crowell  

Yeah. That doesn't count. We're not taking clients at our own studio. (Lesley: Right, right, right, right) So of course, we have a home studio. But my point is, when we were doing this process, we didn't actually have a home studio, (Lesley: Yeah) however, you were a, you were renting from someone else as a true, independent contractor. You controlled your own schedule, you brought in your own clients, all those kinds of things. So while you didn't have a home studio, you still had to deal with exactly this problem.

Lesley Logan  

Yeah, I was just gonna say that. Like, it doesn't actually matter where if you have a home studio that small, a studio that's big, a brick and mortar or you go to people's houses, like when you're when you have people who scheduled time with you, it is inevitable that people are going to want to change the time every once in a while and like, look, things come up. But what I'm hearing from this as a lack of boundaries. And also, here's the here's a real truth, we treat people how, we train people how to treat us. And so what it sounds like to me, and this is not offensive to you. And if you're listening to this, and it's what I'm about to say, hits it home for you is a lot of times we're like, I just I just need people to say yes, so we especially in the beginning, we bend over backwards, like literally and do hoops and jumps of things to get clients because we think if we discount ourselves or if we're really easy going and changing the time or changing their schedule whenever they want to that we get to keep clients and grow our business, but you actually don't. So you're gonna spending more time changing people's schedule around. So here's what I'm gonna say to you whether you have a small home studio brick and mortar or not. If you live in the US, you need my scheduling tool, period, end of story it and if you don't live in the US, you need a scheduling tool. And if you're still like, "I don't think this is the right answer, Lesley." Then come to this webinar that I'm doing. It's profitablepilates.com/answers. So profitablepilates.com/answer and actually going to talk about how to pick a scheduling tool and all the reasons why you think you don't need one but you do. And this is one of those things. If you had someone who is a barrier, or something that was a barrier to them being able to just text you whenever they want, and change the schedule around, you would actually not feel like a bad guy. So if they're, like, out to lunch with their friends are like, "Oh, hey, can we go to the beach tomorrow?" And they're like, "Oh, I have Pilates. Let me see if I can move that." They're gonna go onto your tool, and they're gonna go, "Oh, there's nothing available. I can't move it." There not gonna ... (Brad: Yeah or they just have to cancel all together.) Or they cancel together. (Brad: And that's their choice.) And they either are charged or it's early, but it's all them and it's not you. And so you don't feel like you have to be both the teacher and the bodyguard to the schedule ....

Brad Crowell  

Yeah, I think that's one of the biggest points is like it really does remove the awkward conversations. They can sign your waiver it right there in the app, they've agreed to your cancellation policy. And as long as, as when they go in, if you've got a 24 hour cancellation policy, and they're at 23 hours and 59 minutes, and they cancel, they will be get late charged. And you don't have to have that awkward conversation with them because the app did it for you. Right. (Lesley: Yeah) So there's just so many benefits of having an app like this. I think another one that I love, is that allows you to take your text messages back. (Lesley: Yeah, yeah) And that is again, boundaries, (Lesley: And that's ...) right? Because it allows you to go, "Oh, my text messages, what a relief. Are my friends and family. They're not my job, and not somebody potentially canceling on me last minute."

Lesley Logan  

Yeah. (Brad: Yeah) And so just to go back to your thing about your fear of losing a client. You don't want to keep a client who's changing their schedule, all the freaking time. (Brad: Right) I used to have a client who would like literally, she had two, two standing appointments a week. And literally one day, every week, she texts me, "Hey, can I move it to one o'clock today? Do you have anything else available today?" And I here's what I thought I, I had a scheduling tool. She wasn't using it, I had to literally go, "Did you check the time? You didn't check the time." So sorry, or I just didn't, I literally wouldn't respond to her. (Brad: Right) Because you have to train them how to treat you. And I am not a like, what is it like big like, you're like (Brad: beck and call) beck and call. I'm not your beck and call girl, I learned that from Pretty Woman. Another great thing you can learn from that movie. (Brad laughs) So don't take less than 100. Call me when you're through. Alright, so but seriously, like that, clears your sessions. But truthfully, I don't care how small you think your business is. You absolutely deserve time away from your business. And you deserve people to respect your time, the only way they can respect your time is if there's a barrier between you and that time. And that is as a tool. So come to ...

Brad Crowell  

But think about it like this, think about this. Could you imagine that you go to let's just say we all had a parent who, you know, worked at a bigger company. Right? And your, your, your parent had a meeting scheduled with the President of the company. And then like, two hours before the meeting, your parent calls up, the President says, "Hey, can you just move back like in an hour? Or would that be cool, like, is that alright?" Like, "No, fuck no." They would be mortified through it. There's, and there's, you know, because when we look at it, like it's like, a job and the boss and all that stuff, we somehow have this different perception that you being the boss, you being (Lesley: And you're the President of the company.) you are the President of your company, and your your clients are like, "You know, is it cool if like, we just kind of shifted around, I just needed to be like, 12 minutes after the hour instead of like," I mean, it's so crazy that we allow people to do that.

Lesley Logan  

Yeah. And so and also, by the way, I know you're like "but I need referrals." You want this person's friend? Do you really want this person's friend? Like no seriously like, do you want their friends because they are ... (Brad: They are all the same.) They're all the same. They're (Brad: Yeah) all like them. They're all like them, bouncing around like, oh, everybody does whatever they, I want. No, you don't like you don't and like maybe their friends are different. Are they? Have you ever seen that in real life? Like, are your friends different than you? Okay, so maybe like I had this one friend. Yeah. And I bet you have boundaries with them. (Brad: Yeah. Right.) And if you don't put them on your scheduling tool. Okay, go to profitablepilates.com/answer to sign up for this free webinar. It's going to be a lot of fun. Okay,

Brad Crowell  

Yeah, we're actually going to do it live on August 10. And then there will be, it will be available for the replay for those of you who may not have been able to join us live. So

Lesley Logan  

If you're hearing this on August 17th, 20th, it's a whole different year. You're just binging out, hi, hello, you can still watch it.

Brad Crowell  

Yeah. Awesome.

Okay, now let's talk about Sue Hintzmann. As a fitness professional, who was told there was no cure for her plantar fasciitis, she decided to discover her own way to heal her pain. She is the founder and creator of The MELT Method, which is now internationally known and has thousands of teachers teaching a method by the way, which is a simple self discovery, self-care technique that addresses the missing link to back pai... to pain free living. Sue is on a mission to help share her knowledge and empower people to learn how to care for themselves better, so that they too can lead active pain free lives as long as possible.

Lesley Logan  

I love it. She's super passionate about it. And, and like whether or not you even have heard The MELT Method, whether or not you're like this even like resonates with you. Here's the deal, your you her passion and like persistence, is what's gotten her where she is. And she just followed that. And I think a lot of times we get stuck on an obstacle, which is going to lead into my talking point. And like I hear her talking point that she brought up, it's like, we have to stop thinking an obstacle is a sign that you're not supposed to do, the thing that you're gonna do. The obstacle is, uh, is just there to see if you're gonna fight for it. Are you gonna keep going? Like if we gamify this, right, you get up to a some sort of like, evil thing on your game and you like, "Ah, you know what, too hard. I'm not meant to play this." No way. People who played they just like they just keep buying it, like, "I'm gonna find a different way. I'm gonna get, I have a level of stuff. I gotta go learn this thing. I go learn this tool." But for whatever reason, we're willing to do that on a game, whether it's a board game, whether it's a card game, or like, "Oh, I'm gonna collect some more cards." I don't care if you play video games, or like actual physical games, every type of game requires you to skill, like up level of skill and move forward. They all have obstacles that you have to learn how to get over. But somehow in life, we see a failure as some sort of obstacle. And we're like, that's a sign I'm not supposed to do it. I don't like that makes zero sense to me. I don't have the brains and like to listen, live in dissonance. And somehow we've managed to find a loophole. So when she talks about how you are not going to you're not getting ahead if you don't fail. (Brad: Right) I love that because every single one of you is going to fail. In fact, the more things you try, it's a numbers game, you're gonna fail more times and you succeed, period. Like people who like Olympic athlete track runners, they lose more races and they win. Basketball players lose more games, and they win like it is on average. And ...

Brad Crowell  

Also too, I think if you look at another another statistic that is like, hilarious is baseball, hitting ...

Lesley Logan  

Oh my God, it frustrates me so much, (Brad: Right) It can be the crappiest baseball player ...

Brad Crowell  

... He has a point for hit a batting average. And you're like, "That's four out of 10 times he hit the ball. Four out of 10." (Lesley: And that's good.) And that's a great one. 

Lesley Logan  

I gave feedback to this one company. And I'm like, "All these matches are like 63%. Do you have anything that's better than a D plus." Like, "Oh, no, that's actually really good. That's like a high percentage point." So basically, you're not getting you move forward in your business and your life and the things you want unless you fail. And Brené Brown says in her dare to lead book she's talking about like vulnerability in the workplace. And also like, being more inclusive and in in your efforts. You're going to fuck it up. In fact, the more you try to be better as a leader, the more changes you make to be more inclusive, you're going to fuck it up. And that's okay. It's about acknowledging, wow, that was a mistake. Okay, understand what, I learned from it. (Brad: Yeah) Make the apologies and move to the next thing. And so anyways, if you want to get ahead of where you are today, if you're like, "Yeah, I don't want to live at this level of my life for the rest," like, like, make sure the (Brad: I mean ...) rest of your life (Brad: Yeah) you are going to have to fail. So just get used to it.

Brad Crowell  

That's where the analysis paralysis comes into. Because you are so worried about failing that you are just thinking through it every time and you never do any action. And like, really, I'm not saying that you just blunder your way through things. (Lesley laughs) I'm not recommending that. That's not what I'm saying here. But you by just the nature of life, you are going to you're going to run into a speed bump and it's going to derail something and then you know, whatever metaphor you want to mix here, you're gonna drop a plate you're gonna. The way that If you learn is, oops, something went wrong, or something almost went wrong. Well, I better be conscious of that as we're moving forward.

Lesley Logan  

Yeah. And like, I don't remember where we heard this, but nothing is going to be as great in your mind as you think it's like, "Oh, my God can be like this, and nothing is going to be as bad." So even if you fail, (Brad: Oh right.) it's rarely going to be the worst case scenario.

Brad Crowell  

Right. So like, you know, in our minds, we imagine ourselves, walking on stage and being this beautiful, perfect thing, and we get there and like, it didn't quite go the way we wanted it in our mind. (Lesley: It could still be amazing.) And, but, and probably it was amazing. And conversely, if you trip falling at one, you're exiting that stage, in your mind, you're like, I just embarrass myself in front of seven and a half billion people on this planet, and no one's ever gonna want to talk to me again. And now I can't go get a job and no one's gonna marry me. And I, life might as well be over. And we take it to this incredible extreme on both ends. And in reality, probably everyone, "Oh, they just tripped." Okay, you know like ...

Lesley Logan  

... we're going off on a tangent, but I was just having coffee with someone who like talked about someone else doing something that was like a total like, would have been considered a total blunder. And she goes, "I am more inspired now than ever, because that person is to this level of me and they did this. And that gives me permission." (Brad: Yeah) So basically, knock it up, as many times as you can see, learn the lesson and you get to the next level.

Brad Crowell  

Don't intentionally, but (Lesley: Well, don't intentionally, but don't don't ...) But don't let that stop you from moving forward. Don't let this ...

Lesley Logan  

Don't let fear of the fuck up, keep you from going to the next thing. And if you fail, dust yourself off, do a little reflection, set like time and then go to the next thing. (Brad: Yeah) You know, unless you die, you're you got options.

Brad Crowell  

You know, we do this (Lesley: so dark) We do this in our business every single time we hold an event, even events that we're great at, like things that we know we did well, at the end of the event, we have this reflection time where we say ...

Lesley Logan  

I call it an autopsy probably you don't like that so much. Or post mortem. I'm ...

Brad Crowell  

Post mortem. That was really funny. But ...

Lesley Logan  

Let's do post mortem.

Brad Crowell  

Yeah (Lesley: and their like well Lesley...)The end of it. You know, we look back and we say what went amazingly well, and we celebrate our wins. And then what could have gone better? And we take notes and we leave ourselves notes for the next time. So you know, it's just part of moving forward in life in general. So, anyway I love that. That's a great talking point.

Lesley Logan  

What did you love?

Brad Crowell  

Yeah. She kind of casually threw this in there. She said she began to believe the myth that if she was eating right and exercising, right, then she would be healthy and have a pain free life. And I just turned 40. 

Lesley Logan  

Yeah. How's that going for you?

Brad Crowell  

Yeah, fucking hurt myself already. (Lesley and Brad laughs) And I was like, really, really? Sorry for that really loud F bomb right there. But seriously, I like I hurt my back on the day after I turned 40, you know ... I'm laughing about it. But ...

Lesley Logan  

... in your 40s defense, you actually hurt your back in your 30s. But you have (Brad: I did.) been able to kind of like blow like, no I think about it. Now think about your thing. And you know, you do live a very healthy life. But (Brad: Yeah) healthy, but but I think you know, this goes back to Jenny Schatzle's episode where she's like, stop doing things in the name of health. Like you're just like, it's like, like, health is out there. Just like, we've got all these things like this is health and it's not healthy. You move intentionally often and, and you've been doing it for a long time. But that doesn't mean it's it's like you have like a like an armor suit around you where you'll never feel pain or have injuries like ...

Brad Crowell  

Right. Yeah, and I think but I think that, you know, you you the myth about that eating right and exercising right leads to a healthy life. It's not necessarily the case. And you know, I'm I feel I'm counting my blessings that I'm starting to realize this in my late 30s, early 40s. With with regard to Sue Hitzmann. She was like at her prime. She was 28 she said when she had she's already been speaking around the world. She's got a like, a hugely popular DVD series. She's teaching people all the fitness stuff and she's telling all the stuff and at 28 she woke up one day and her feet hurt so much that it impacted her entire body, not just her not just walking and dancing and stuff. She started to feel, she it really affected all of her ..

She started to seek medical help, she started to go to the doctor and the doctor was was telling her, you know, "Oh, it must be this. Oh, it must be there. Oh, it must be this." And then she finally had a doctor say, "Oh, well, I think you're just depressed." Right. And she's like, "Yeah, no shit, I'm depressed. I can't do what I've been doing my whole life that I'm really amazing at. And now I'm like, out of my own game." And I'm feeling that so that it doesn't surprise me. Right. And then she started to learn about fascia, right? And she started to really dig into how does it work? And she said, she actually spent she just disappeared from the fitness world for four years. So imagine that being like, you know, in the limelight, on TV, doing, you know, travel around the world, all the stuff. And then poof, four years she disappeared. Right. And when she came back, it was armed with this all this knowledge and understanding of how she had begun to feel better. And and how her how changing the way she treated her fascia changed the way her body responded. And she is, I mean, way more knowledgeable about than me, but she doesn't look like she's in her 50s. (Lesley: No) And that's for darn sure. So she's like, convinced it has everything to do with that as well.

Lesley Logan  

And also just another another example of like, your rock bottom is happening for you. Like, like, took her out at the top of her game. (Brad: Yeah) But what top in air quotes, because look where she's at now that (Brad: Right) she wouldn't be there if she had had, like, if she had, what if this had happened to her at 45? And then she's like, "Got it." Like, you know what I mean? Like, I feel like we I feel like it happened exactly what I was supposed to that so she can actually have another level. So anyways, I'm into it.

Brad Crowell  

Yeah, I mean, and if you didn't listen to her, her pod, or her episode, she created The MELT Method based on this experience. And then she began, one thing that really impressed me too. And I thought this was an incredible perspective was she said, "People would come into my studio, and I kept thinking, like, how how they keep coming back the next week? (Lesley: Yeah) How can I get them so that they don't have to come back next week." And that's what she started to create this, like systematic approach, which turned into The MELT Method. And she said, it, if I "My goal was to empower my clients, so that they didn't need me that they could go do this on their own, with maintenance at home. And they didn't need any crazy, like, you know, huge, like, pieces of equipment or gear or any of that stuff, just a couple of small things, and some understanding of what to do." And she said her clients started to have her feet stop hurting. And then her hus... she called and said, "My husband has back pain. Can you help me, help him?" And so it became this thing. And, and you two talked about, you know, that fear of losing a client, like, "Oh, they're not coming in anymore. Like, I don't know what's going to happen?" And she said, "Well, yeah, okay. Instead of me managing 50 clients a year, that continued to come back, suddenly, I was managing 500 clients a year because I didn't need to see them quite as often."

Lesley Logan  

Making a much more massive impact ...

Brad Crowell  

Yeah, she's having a bigger foot.

Lesley Logan  

And also like, "Are you helping me people maintain the status quo? Are we helping them actually, like, level up and move forward?" I've that's what I mean, like, you know, it's, it's one of the reasons why we similarly to why we created OPC is, I actually want you to be your own teacher. I do. I want you to be able to like, tell yourself, "This is there, so I'm choosing for myself right now." And that's what we're empowering you to do every single week in those classes. And so I think it is so is like, like, just, like the perfect example of like an abundance mindset. Like if you're struggling with, "What it's an abundance mindset?" It's called 'Helping people so much, they don't need you anymore'. (Brad: Yeah) And then they send you or their friends, because guess what, everybody's going to be in pain at some point in their lives. Unfortunately, that's just the nature of how it works because we don't take care of ourselves until it's too late. You know, so (Brad: We're not taught too ..) well, not here I think that other places in the world do. (Brad: Yeah) And if you know those places, let me know maybe I'm relocating.

Brad Crowell  

But anyway, I will continue to relay my 40's to for the next 10 years. So

Lesley Logan  

Yeah. He will. (Brad: Buckel up.) Yeah. And he's gonna do it all on his own for at least more six months. But still, I'm there with him. But we're gonna work on this back thing. Okay, BE IT action items.

Brad Crowell  

What bold, executable, intrinsic or targeted action items can we take away from your conversation with Sue Hitzmann? I am going to read a little bit from what she said towards the end, she said, "Do you call somebody every once in a while and just just to call them out of the blue and say, 'I love you'? You know, and here's why I love you." She said, "Bring positivity into your life and to try and try to find those things that elevate you. And you will start to realize that you need to take specific actions to get you to that next place." But ...

Lesley Logan  

It's such a BE IT moment.

Brad Crowell  

It's such a BE IT moment. And she said, but well actually, I'm gonna leave the but to to to it ties perfectly in with what you're going (Lesley: Yeah) to talk about. So ...

Lesley Logan  

Before we get into what I'm talking about, there's there's a woman whose name is escaping me but she's amazing. Anyways, she talks about how if you need positivity, go give positivity. If you need love, go give love. If you need to be seen, go see people. And it is that 'be it till you see it' kind of a thing and that what what her, BE IT action item in there is it's like, you just said it like it's like if you if you want to be elevated want to realize you have these things, you gotta go take specific actions. And if you're unsure what action to take, take an action that's when you make you flippin good. Because then it's going to, "Oh, I go through this." Like you it's called data, the more actions you take that give you like that make you feel good, the more confident you are in taking action. So it's a simple way to do it. That's all I'm saying. 

She said, right out, "Am I living in the present moment or not? And what am I presently doing for my health?" And I just want to go back to like that, like, you know, eating and working out doesn't exactly mean healthy. So just be really mindful of how you define health. If you're talking like, "I'm going on a juice cleanse." I'm gonna say, "No." I want you to like, get really specific, but I want you to, I like this so much, because it made me think of like Norda Kaiser, we've had in our Agency program talks about like, "Are you a super fan? Or are you a, or are you a star athlete?" And it's like, are you judging yourself negatively and harshly around the things that you do? Or are you actually being curious? And like taking a 30,000 foot view of like, "What am I doing right now? And how is this affecting the life that I want to have?" Becasue star athletes they, they don't go, like, "Oh, the catcher missed the whole thing." It's like, "Oh, how did I throw it so that the catcher didn't get the ball?" Right? Like, "What is what what am I able to do?" So it's like, "Are you living in the present moment or not?"

Brad Crowell  

Yeah, I think I think also the, you know, the reason I wanted you to jump in and talk about your action item, is because the idea of texting someone that I love you, in the present, it makes you be in the present moment for you to reflect on that kind of thing. She said, so bring positivity into your life and find those things that elevate you. And you'll start to realize that you need to take specific actions to get you to the next place. But you've got to be as present as possible to make it happen. And don't let the past be the thing that limits you on what you can really do in the future.

Lesley Logan  

I also, you know, I want to add another question to that. Am I living in the present moment or not? And if it's no, are you living in the past, or you live in the future? (Brad: Right) Because if you're living in the past, it was holding yourself back. If you're living in the future, you're just causing anxiety.

Brad Crowell  

I think you should say that, again.

Lesley Logan  

If you're living in the past, you're just going to like your your gonna be stuck and in a worry, like you're being held back. And if you're living in the future, you're just causing yourself anxiety. Anxiety is actually like, your is this feeling you have over the what could happen. So it's like, what, when we when we are anxious, it's because we're thinking about what could happen in a negative light and or even a positive light, but it's causing anxiety in the present moment, but you're not being present in the moment that you're in. So anyway, that's just my, I just added a second question to that BE IT action item. I'm just over here, like ...

Brad Crowell  

Just over here, you know.

Lesley Logan  

Just giving you a little bit more, (Brad: Do a little thing.) do a little more journaling for you, just a little bit more specific journaling for you.

Brad Crowell  

I love that.

Lesley Logan  

Yeah. Well, I'm Lesley Logan.

Brad Crowell  

I'm Brad Crowell.

Lesley Logan  

How are you going to use these tips in your life? Let us know, tag us at the @be_it_pod and tag Sue Hitzmann of MELT Method. I know it will make her day to see what of her interview stuck out to you and like helped you ponder and maybe get in the present moment. Who did you text to, "I love you, too.?" (Brad: Yeah) I want to know that's so fun. You should tell us.

Brad Crowell  

Yeah, tag Sue and tell her that you heard her pod or her episode here and and let her know, you know your biggest takeaway from this. I think she would love that.

Lesley Logan  

Yeah and until next time, Be It Till You See It.

Brad Crowell  

Bye for now.

Lesley Logan  

That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review. And follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcasts. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the @be_it_pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others BE IT TILL YOU SEE IT. Have an awesome day! 

Lesley Logan  

'Be It Till You See It' is a production of 'As The Crows Fly Media'.

Brad Crowell  

 It's written produced, filmed and recorded by your host Lesley Logan and me, Brad Crowell. Our Associate Producer is Amanda Frattarelli.

Lesley Logan  

 Kevin Perez at Disenyo handles all of our audio editing. 

Brad Crowell  

Our theme music is by Ali at APEX Production Music. And our branding by designer and artist, Gianranco Cioffi. 

Lesley Logan  

Special thanks to our designer Jaira Mandal for creating all of our visuals (which you can't see because this is a podcast) and our digital producer, Jay Pedroso for editing all videos each week so you can.

Brad Crowell  

 And to Angelina Herico for transcribing each of our episodes so you can find them on our website. And, finally to Meridith Crowell for keeping us all on point and on time.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai

We found the Fountain of YOUTH and guess what it’s right inside of you. This weeks episode holds all the secrets to healing yourself from the inside, understanding the importance of your fascia, and how to finally live pain free. 

If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at [email protected] .

And as always, if you’re enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe.

In this episode you will learn about:

• A new method of healing and self care - MELT
• Fascia as the stability system of your body and fountain of youth
• Myths that eating right and exercise leads to a healthy life
• The issue in our health industry  
• MELT is a systematic process, not just a quick fix. An education and methodology. 
• Seeking to heal ourselves internally 
• The way you think will impact the way you move through life and how your body reacts to itself. 
• You're not getting ahead if you don't fail 
• Not being tied to your past and limiting your future

Episode References/Links:

• Follow @meltmethod on Instagram
• Watch the MELTmethod YouTube channel
• MELT Method Website

Guest Bio:

Sue Hitzmann, MS, CST, NMT, is an internationally recognized neurofascial science & research educator, manual therapist, exercise physiologist, and founding member of the Fascia Research Society. She’s the founder and creator of The MELT Method, a simple self-care technique that addresses the missing link to pain-free living – hydrated, supple fascia and a stable, balanced nervous system. She’s authored two bestselling books, and is the owner of Longevity Fitness Inc., an online consumer and professional education business.

If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox.

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Resources

• Watch the Be It Till You See It podcast on YouTube!
• Lesley Logan website
• Be It Till You See It Podcast
• Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan
• Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan on YouTube
• Profitable Pilates

Social Media

• Instagram
• Facebook
• LinkedIn

Episode Transcript:

Lesley Logan  

Hey love. What if I told you that some of the things that you're feeling in your body? What if they're, what if they're not just this one muscle that you have to go work on? Or what if it wasn't, what if your digestion wasn't just from something you ate? What if it was all related to your fascia? And what if many of the things that you're stuck on being able to do have a lot to do with your fascia? And how you take care of it? Well, I have to be honest, I learned as I mentioned, in this podcast, I learned about fascia and like you cut through it, and they just skipped past it. But in the recent years since I was in college, and, and even since our guest was in college, they have made such massive discoveries about our fascia, and they still are, and they still are! And that's what's so cool. They're really on the precipice of this amazing, amazing science. And Sue Hitzmann is our guest today, she is the founder of the MELT Method. And y'all something I love about this, it's like, I really, truly believe in you having the ability, having the agency to, to go within yourself, to heal yourself, to take action on the things you want to do, to really be the person you want to be in this planet. Right. And I'm excited for you to hear how powerful your fascia can be, and how much you have the ability to work on it on your own. You don't have to go pay someone to do it. You don't have to, you don't have to, like go by 17 toys till Sunday. Like there's things you can do. She says even with your hands and your feet that take less than 10 minutes, it could change everything. So anyways, I'm really excited for you to understand what fascia is how freakin powerful it is. And also more about how Sue Hitzmann our guests became who she is and what she's up to. It's really inspiring. We just got to the surface, we just get to the surface of how, what she's up to and who she is. And I'm really excited because I know many of you know her, and some of you are like, "Wait, what's fascia?" So we're gonna dive into all of that for you right after this message.

Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guests will bring Bold, Executable, Intrinsic and Targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started.

All right, Be It listeners, I have the very special Sue Hitzmann here for you today. I am really excited because while I don't know her personally yet, although we're gonna get to know each other well here and we are going to meet in person probably about the time this comes out. I know many of you are very familiar with who she is. And so I was so excited to have her on the pod because I think it's really fun to bring on people that you are probably studying from, learning from or wanting to. So Sue the founder of the MELT Method. Let's, thanks for being here. Can you tell everyone who you are and how you got here. And if they don't know, what you do, we could talk about that too.

Sue Hitzmann  

Sure. I am the creator of the self care method called MELT. My background, I started out in fitness when I was 16 as a group exercise instructor, and did that for many years. In fact, I did it up until COVID in live environments, always. I got a master's in physiology and anatomy. I'm an exercise scientist. I'm a neuro fascia science and research educator. And I basically spend the majority of my life from you know, 18 on discovering ways to prolong health span, healthy, active, pain free life. And in that discovered things that were not I don't think obvious in my background, because, you know, again, when you start in the fitness industry, you kind of buy in pretty quick to the idea that if you eat right and you exercise, you're going to live an active healthy pain free life. And lots of people who eat right and exercise know that persistent pain is not selective. And it can happen to anybody, even people who exercise or eat a healthy diet. So my journey started in just, again, trying to lead an active life myself. And after I got into chronic pain in my late 20s, after over a decade of being in the fitness industry, it veered me out into the healing arts. And I, again spend most of my time sharing my knowledge and my skills with people, to empower people to learn how to care for themselves better so that they too can lead an active, pain free life as long as possible.

Lesley Logan  

Well, thank you for doing that because I do, you know, I know a lot of people who, who do the active, healthy eating or doing all the things and then like, the other day, Brad was like, "My heel hurts." So frustrated and it's like, "Why is my heel hurting?" And I'm like, "Well, there's probably 17 reasons." But um, and so and so you know, can be really frustrating. And also when you feel like you're doing all the right things and then you have pain, you're kind of like them, "Then why am I doing all of this hard work if I'm not gonna be as healthy and young as I want to be?" And as soon as you mentioned how long you've been teaching group acts as like, "Oh my gosh, how are her knees doing? How her hips doing?" Because (Sue: Amazing) y'all like, back in the day, it was like I remember I was like 14 years old taking Jazzercise classes doing the grapevine with the step and all the stuff. (Lesley laughs)

Sue Hitzmann  

That was my first certification was Jazzercise. Big shout out to the Jazzercise community.

Lesley Logan  

Yes. But I mean, like, doesn't matter how, how well you work out or how much you do. You're like pain can come as you mentioned, it doesn't, it doesn't pick and choose, oh, these are the people will do it. It can be anybody. So I also love that you're focused on self care because that people can do it for themselves. I feel like that's so empowering. And especially for people who are in pain, to give them the opportunity to have a control over getting out of pain. Is that something that was like that, that was that part of how you created your method? Or was that something that you found along the way, making it about them?

Sue Hitzmann  

It was, it's both I mean, when I I was 28 years old again, I've been in the fitness industry forever. We're going into the late 90s and I was at the peak of my fitness career at an international best selling bootcamp video. I was doing ESPN fitness and things like that. And much like what you said one day I woke up in the bottom of my foot hurt me. And it wasn't like any pain I'd ever had. I'd sprained ankles, broken bones, you know, accidents had been, you know, had the flu and I know pain, right? And pain comes and goes but this pain was unusual. I didn't have an identifiable source. And when the pain kind of erupted in my body and all of a sudden it was this body wide fatigue. I found myself in emotional distress. I sought after doctors and got MRIs and CAT scans and it started out as plantar fasciitis and it went all the way down the road of fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue or lupus and, you know, so in 28 you're like seeing your entire life. Kind of saying, "Is this what my life is gonna be like? Am I gonna be in pain all the time?" And the only thing that doctors really had was medication. Even one doctor said, "You know what I think your problem is you're depressed. Here's some antidepressants." And I was like, "Well, no crap, I'm depressed. I'm a fitness professional. I'm in pain, no pain, no gain. And wait a minute." Right? So that really was the transition for me. And the good news for me was that in 1998, Google became a thing. And the first word I typed in was plant herbs fasciitis, because somebody had called it plantar fasciitis, and I kept thinking inflamed fascia. Could fascia be related to my pain problems? And if that's the case, there's no exercise for that. And as I learned about fascia, and understood its relationship to both pain and how the nervous system reacts. And it really sent me down a road to understanding the other aspects of my body that even with a master's in exercise science, we didn't really talk about fascia, or how it related to the nervous system, I really learned that much about the nervous system. Right. So that was my first transition. And then after, I'd been working with high performance athletes for the majority of my 20s, and when 911 happened, I was in New York City and the rude awakening of post traumatic stress disorder became a thing where all of a sudden, people coming into my practice, had no sustainable injuries, but had chronic pain symptoms. And it really made me look at the human body in a different way, saying, "My gosh, you know, physical pain from an accident can cause less prolonged pain than having emotional trauma that is consistently inundating your brain with these bad pathways and, and can really send you down a bad road." And in 2002, a client who had chronic TMJ and migraines that I would treat with my hands, she'd leave and feel better for a week and not have a migraine. But she'd always come back because they keep coming back. And I said, "You know, it's something in your environment." And so her words were, "Well, if you could invent a way for me to do to myself that you do with your magic hands, I'd stay out of your office." And I was like, "I don't even know if that's a thing. But I wonder if I could do that." And so I just started playing around with rocks and balls and rollers. And I came up with this idea of taking pvc piping, I wrapped it in bubble wrap, I wrapped it in a yoga blanket and in a yoga mat, and I duct tape the thing together, and I started doing these compression techniques, just with the light, gentle touches of my hands. And I decompress my own neck. I knew I did it, I gave it to this gal. And sure enough, she got better, faster, stayed out of my office longer. And she said, "My husband's got back pain. Do you think you could invent a way for him to work on his back pain?" I was like, "Let me try." And it was just a exploratory time for me. And by 2004, I had helped thousands of people in New York City. And I thought, "Gosh, I've been in fitness for all this time. I wonder if I could keep people out of my office if I created this proactive way to learn these things before they had pain." (Lesley: Yeah.) And I started teaching in group environments in 2004. And it was just an explosion. I mean, there were people lining out the door in the fitness realm trying to figure out what this was developing a language and trying to explain what fascia was, and, you know, created a language of it, wrote a book. And you know, now we've got thousands of instructors worldwide, who share the method and app and, you know, website and all this other stuff to continue to share the work outside of my practice.

Lesley Logan  

It's so cool. So first, there's a couple things I want to unpack. One, I tell people all the time, like, listen to the questions you're being asked, because they're literally gonna guide you to the next thing, like someone is like, if you could, could you do this because and like, I also just love that you're like, you weren't, like, "Oh, if she ever comes back, I'm not gonna have a client." You're like, "I want people to be pain free. I want them out of my office." So I really love that because it's like, beyond an abundance mindset. And it's also like helping people live a wonderful life, which is probably why you got into fitness anyways. So, but one thing we have to unpack before we go into other things, some people are going to want to know what fascia is. So, we can decide what fascia is and how could it cause this pain that people are feeling that might not have anything to do with a car accident.

Sue Hitzmann  

Totally well, and before I even answered that, you know, when when she said that, I remember thinking, "Well, if I could invent a way I would be unemployed, nobody would come to see me." I mean, I remember thinking it and then I just thought, "Well, maybe not." And it did the opposite. You know, my practice exploded. I went from seeing 50 people a year to over 500. (Lesley: Yeah) Just by getting them out of the office. It gave me more time to see more people. (Lesley: Yeah) So what is fascia? Okay, so fascia is a stability system of your body under your skin. You have this three dimensional matrix primarily made up of collagen and fluids, which stabilizes, supports and protects everything in your body. It's completely inseparable head to toe, skin to bones, the only system in the entire body that is completely continuous and has no separation to it at all. And what we know about connective tissue is it doing a lot of things for us, it keeps your skin lifted and toned. It gives you joint shock absorption, it keeps your muscles synergized and connected. But it's also the system that supports protects every nerve blood vessel and cell in your body. So cells need a stable environment to communicate in and when the environment our cells don't live in is unstable. This is another way to say we're accelerating our aging process. It's not just increasing your chances to pain, it is a primary factor to having dis-ease or disease. It is a system that is trying to stabilize you, regardless of your age activity level, or your mindset, right? It is just everybody has it. And what recent science is starting to understand is that daily living alters the fluid profusion in the connective tissue system. And that in turn, can alter the collagen matrix, it alters its ability to maintain stability, and that wreaks havoc on your nervous system, because of the neurological aspects of our body aren't stable, you start getting symptoms that seem completely unrelated to like your muscles aching, or your back feeling stiff, it literally can alter your digestive behavior, your sleep issues, and just your overall sense of well being. So when I say fascia is the stability system of your body, I'm not just talking about structural stability, I'm talking about emotional, neurological, psychological, chemical, every aspect of stability that we could define, I could relate fascia to every single other system of your body because it is the system supporting all of the other systems in the body.

Lesley Logan  

So here's the like, of course, my brain goes, okay, so we have all these doctors who are like siloed, right? And you've got like issues, and they're like looking at you like you're a crazy person, because that was me with my issues. And like they're like, "There's nothing wrong with any all these things, are fine." And it's like now I'm going home. Maybe some of that probably was my fascia. (Lesley laughs) And like, you know what I mean, but like, people aren't thinking, "Oh, I have a digestive issue. I should go look at my fascia as well." You know what I mean? Like, it's ...

Sue Hitzmann  

I do. (Lesley: You do.) I mean that that happened to me. I'm not kidding. I mean, I started out with plantar fasciitis and my entire, like, all of a sudden, my leg was bothering me, my jaw hurt, I was fatigued all the time. And then it was emotionally like I was really thinking, "I am, I am, I'm dying. (Lesley: Yeah) Like there's something really wrong with me." And and the thing about doctors is you're right, doctors, are they, you know, thank goodness that we have doctors because we need them. And they are ... practice but they don't practice prevention. They practice cure. And you're right, they silo. Right. If I'm going to be a neurologist, I'm going to know everything about the nervous system. But if you ask me about what foods to eat to maintain my weight, I'm like, "I don't know, it's not my thing." Right. So they and most of them are smoking and they're out of shape, too. So you know, you got to question their own lifestyles. I mean, how many times have you been to a doctor and you're like, "You already fat out of shape person trying to tell me how to be healthy?" Is that really was what their trying to do.

Lesley Logan  

Well, and their response, half the time to people with issues is to lose 10 pounds. And it's like ...

Sue Hitzmann  

Okay, you should too. (Sue laughs) Okay, doctor ...

Lesley Logan  

... like how and also how and also should they? But I remember this is like a side note, I had a girlfriend going through jaw surgery, from the top doctors in the world. So he sees everything. And I watched him after her surgery, go out and have a cigarette and I'm like, "Dude, you've do surgery on people who have cancer from doing nicotine." So anyway, we're not knocking doctors, we've had some on here. I love them too. But it is it is ... (Sue: We need them.) We need them. You're correct.

Sue Hitzmann  

But they do they are isolated in what they know. And for me, I started out again in the fitness industry, understanding about muscles and bones and how to stay fit and active. Right. How to be more muscularly toned? You know, I want my shoulders to look nice. I want to be fit. But I I think I formed a very early adopted belief that again, if you ate right, and you exercise that was the recipe to lead an active healthy life. (Lesley: Yeah. And that's ...) But by the time I got to 28, I'd made the cover of Muscle and Fitness magazine I had I had international videos, and I was in pain. (Lesley: Yeah.) And that destroyed my mindset. And so when I started learning about fascia, fascia, you know, when I was in school, it was considered a passive inert tissue. It was (Lesley: Yes) it was made up of nonliving matter. I remember hearing someone say this. Why would I have a nonliving matter in my body? Right. It's confu... it's confusing.

Lesley Logan  

Yeah. And that's, I mean, I remember when I was studying, you know, can't even remember because I switched degrees, but I was definitely in some sort of sports medicine thing we're doing, you know, our whatever you call it, what you're picking a part of body ... (Sue: Anatomy?) Thank you. Anatomy, but also ... (Sue: Dissection?) Yeah, yeah dissection. Thank you so much. If this is how long I've been out of college, everyone. I really loved, I really hated that class. But what you learn about fascia but they're just like, "Okay, you just cut right through it." Like ...

Sue Hitzmann  

I'd said, we would just, we would take the fascia and chuck it in the bucket to get to the good stuff. And I was doing exercise science. So I got those bodies after the medical students did. So it was already hacked apart. And that's it as you get this idea that there are origins and insertions of muscles and you get this very piecemealed anatomy but that's what anatomy is. Anatomy is the defa... the Latin root is to cut up, (Lesley: Yeah) to cut up to define things. And that's valuable, right because if we take things up apart, we can then see the separation of things. But if we don't then take a bigger step back and say, "Well, how did it all stay together? Oh, we chuck that stuff in the bucket. I guess we'll get to it later." Right? And you have to wonder what like, who was it when the salius or any of these other people were were doing dissections? Were they looking at it and had a student say, "What's that? Packing material, and then kept going or something, that it became irrelevant. And the crazy thing about fascia it is the most abundant material in the entire body that's been the least studied except for the last 25 years. (Lesley: Yeah) So we have learned more and it's really because of technology and these incredible researchers who have really uncovered the cellular aspects of fascia, the deeper aspects of what the cells are that produce the collagen, the elastin, the reticular fibers, the hyaluronic acid, the the the, the the interstitial fluids, we we understand the behavior. And in 2019, Karla Steckel one of the most well known researchers in the field, discovered a new cell in fascia, they're now calling a fascia site. So think about that, right? We're 2019 and we're discovering new cells in the human body. So if people think that doctors know everything, it's it's not true. And anybody who calls themselves a fascia expert or a fascia guru, the if you if I sat with them, I would trump them on whatever they're talking about, okay, because I feel like I know a lot about connective tissue. But what I can tell you is that we are just at the beginning of (Lesley: Yeah) understanding how important fascia is to your nervous system, to your lymphatic system, which is part of your immune functions to how your digestive behavior works, to hormones, to neurotransmitters, it's all related to fascia.

Lesley Logan  

So what, so I'm thinking about this in a couple ways. One, how do we get more people who are not necessarily like we're still getting people to go lift weights and go do Pilates and go do like we're still trying to get we're still getting people to actually understand what the modalities of movement are out there are. How do we get them to even hear the word fascia and learn about it? And then the other thing is, is like, "Oh my gosh, is just the keys to the youth and making sure my college and looks good all of my ... Should I avoid the doctor's office."

Sue Hitzmann  

I'm in my 50s. Yeah, I'm in my 50s. Right. So I you know, I feel like for 50, anytime I'm with people, "They're like you are not 50." And so, "I'm gonna show you my license," you know, and I mean, I'm well in my 50s now so the thing is, you can it fascia is kind of the fountain of youth within the body. And understanding how the fluid profusion of fascia adapts from daily living, is really the secret to uncovering how to keep cell proliferation going and to keep your body healthy on an internal level. And, and it is new science. But I feel like you know, when my book came out in 2013, I got on The Dr. Oz Show when he was super popular. And the book became a New York Times bestseller. And I went on this book tour around the country and up into Canada, and did 150 different events. And it was transformative. To both see the limited amount of knowledge people have and and how far we really have to go as a society to gain better health if the pharmaceutical industry is real, and and the food industry are very big, massive conglomerates that push down progressive science, progressive research, because there's really not a pill that you can take to heal your fascia or anything. It really comes from daily self care. And the good news about treating connective tissue is it's very easy to do. And you could just even start by treating your hands and feet, which takes less than 10 minutes a day. And that could help to alleviate compression and unnecessary tension in your neck and low back make you feel better. Because I can tell you, people who are inactive when you ask them why they're inactive, because they're tired, and they hurt. And they don't have time. And I'm like time, pain and knowledge are what are hurting America and the world really, I mean, so we could we could do better for ourselves. But we have to seek outside of the norm to get that information. And I did that too. You know, again, I did 10 years, 12 years in fitness, and thought I was one of the smartest kids in the room. I was presenting all over the world doing stuff about anatomy and physiology and movement, behavior and biomechanics. And when I learned about fascia and understood it on a cellular level, I disappeared from the fitness industry because I was like, "My gosh, I'm teaching people things that aren't true," not that aren't true, that are incomplete, that aren't quite accurate. And I went four years down this rabbit hole to work with researchers to pull that information in and then to develop a technique that took that science and validated that we could do this without drugs, without surgeries and without expensive have tools or gadgets that just a soft roller and a couple of soft balls and a little bit of time and a little bit of awareness could transform your life.

Lesley Logan  

And you know so because I mean, I've had the pleasure of of experience and understanding it and this house has balls around all the place like these little foot rollers. Brad's like the doctor, the chiropractor said, I need to like, massage my foot. I'm like, open up the Cadillac, everyone has my Cadillac hasn't been has like a treasure box, and I'm like opened up. There's like 17 things for your feet in there. (Sue: Right. Pick one.) Pick one and you can you can you can, you can do all things. So but here's, here's for the cynic, right because I there's people like I think people think has to be harder than that. I think people think it has to be you know what I mean? They're like, "I have to be able to go have an hour and a half massage, or it needs I need to be in a foam roller with my IT ban."

Sue Hitzmann  

Ironing yourself like a shirt. That's the thing that you know, a tool is just a tool, right? If I put a hammer in somebody's hand who is trying to they might be able to flip the pancake with it, but it's the wrong tool. And if I don't teach somebody how to use a hammer, they could hurt themselves, right? (Lesley: Right) So just because you use a tool or you watch some you know, athlete who says, "This trigger thing, I'm gonna jam it into my leg and it's gonna be I'm gonna become one with the universe because my leg is gonna work but I'm gonna become a better athlete." You know, we buy into crap and and media and the way we're taking information in there is a lot of experts out there a lot of gurus a lot of really smart people, apparently, who can kind of tell people that they know things. But when you look at the legacy of what they've done, or what they're really talking about, it's it's marketing, they're just (Lesley: Yeah) marketing something and I get I mean, like, look, I run a business too. I'm the owner and founder of longevity fitness. I have people who work for me, we are on social media, we do have a marketing campaign, we just created a new website, it all costs money, right? So you have to make money. But but when I was first coming out with this idea, to try to share it with people, I mean, for me, I just wanted to help people, but you have to make money to get people to help you to help other people. It's not for free. And people are like, "Oh, yeah, you can just do things free on YouTube." And I'm like, "Yeah, but who's gonna know that I'm out there. Unless I have search engine telling. And I buying ads, and I'm buying key terms." And like, you don't know how Google works then, right? So we can shun people who have products that they're trying to sell. And now you have every gadget. But this is what I think separates MELT from other things is that it is an education. It's a it's a methodology, there is a systematic process to it. Anybody can do this, it does not matter how old you are, what your pain points are, it just doesn't matter, you everybody has healing cells within them, they are called fibroblasts, and they can specialize themselves for whatever the thing is, that's healing, or that's hurting you. If you strain a muscle that turn into myofibroblasts, you cut your skin right? What pulls the skin together, not your mind, your fascia does that right? This, these cells bring it together. So I don't need to, you know, sell something to anybody. This is just a known fact. And anybody (Lesley: Yeah) who doesn't believe that they have the potential to heal within themselves, is actually failing to recognize that now they're a victim of their own body. Because when we have to (Lesley: Yeah) seek outside of ourselves to heal our problems, we're already one step away from getting there. If I have to always rely on my therapist, I always have to rely on my doctor on whatever it is. But the tool that I have, it limits my ability to just become more aware of what's going on inside my body. And (Lesley: Yeah) like I said, at the beginning, your emotional state, the way you think your brain is anticipating how you want to move, how you want to be because of your history, because of habit, (Lesley: Yeah) because of gestures. Right? So our brain is merely just anticipating how we want to move to get through life. And if you're moving with compensatory patterns, it just thinks that that's the way you want to do it. So it's our job to go in and recognize or learn what is compensation and how can I identify common imbalances in my body that many people possess that are left unaddressed, so that I can start to address them in perhaps feel better? That's the thing that is separate, I think of MELT compared to a lot of things where they're just like, buy this tool and do this thing. And there's pictures and I'm gonna jam it here and I'm gonna roll it there. You know, fascia in your body is a sensitive system. And I think we need to learn to sense and feel ourselves in a more gentle way before we just have at it. (Lesley: Yeah.) And that's how you we start is just gentle.

Lesley Logan  

I think that's, yeah, it's like, it's like getting through to people that it doesn't have to be a 17 other things that you get. I have a fascia person and coaching group agencies speaking of like the agency that you don't have to go outward, everything is in you. And she was so frustrated like Lesley, she's like, "I'm really frustrated because this company that I have trained with with something else, they're selling all these tools for fascia, and they're charging all this money." She's like, "You don't even need that, you can use cardboard, like, you don't even need that." I'm like, "I know, all of you fascia people have to start telling people that what they're being marketed to it." Like, we have like their has, there has to be a draw line in the sand like that is actually that's not what you need everyone, like, here's what it is. And I think it's just getting that word out there. But it also, you know, the other hard part, and the thing that I, that I love about what you're talking about is, it's getting people to be curious about their own bodies, and, and have an have the willingness, have a different belief system around what they're capable of, and what they need, right. And that, that, like, you know, as you're, as you're talking, like, you know, we have people here who have these dreams, have these aspirations and can't take the next step or get stuck on the next step. And, and it's, you know, I really think it's their mindset that's keeping them stuck. And it's like, "I'm stuck." So then their brains like, "We're stuck."

Sue Hitzmann  

Oh, well, I missed it lol. Right. And well, then that's it, most people, when they feel stuck, what their brain is doing is it's going back to a past memory about something that they tried and failed. And to me, you're not getting ahead, if you don't fail. I mean, I failed so many times, fraud, all sorts of stuff, you know, I I like I could make a list of, well, that wasn't a good idea. But if if what you do is constantly realize that you're mostly functioning the past, or you're fearing the future, because you don't have the tools. But then again, you're not like I always say, "Well, what steps are you taking today to gain those tools so that you can have the things that you want tomorrow?" And they're like, "Oh, well, I don't know, what am I doing?" Right? You know, so we're not present. And the only way that you can really transform your future is by realizing that nothing happens in the past. You can't fix it. And nothing is happening there. It's over. And it's done. The only thing that's important is what you're doing right at this very moment. And the thought process that you have right now, and coming to this place where you realize, "Am I present? Or am I not?" And you might actually realize that you're reacting to something that's coming at you, not because of what's coming at you, but because your brain has actually experienced this before, right. So the way that the brain works is when danger or information is incoming, your brain is actually going through a process going well have we seen this before? Is this something familiar, and a brain is going through the file cabinet going, "Ah, that's what we're going to do, because that's what happened before." And whether it's a relationship or it's, uh, it's, you know, trying to get a new job, we have fear around it, and fear will stop you in your tracks. Because the opposite of love is not hate. The opposite of love is fear. And when we act in fear, we mess stuff up, if you act in love, and I mean that for yourself, I'm loving myself, and I'm doing these things to nurture myself so that I can have a better future, everything will go better, because you're putting that positive energy out there. And that stuff is real. When you are grumpy and negative in the morning and something goes wrong and how you know, you walk out the door that way and everything will go wrong. Every everybody's working to slow traffic is terrible. Everything (Lesley: That's happened to me last night) smells ...

Lesley Logan  

I was I had like, we had some bad news and I was super pissed. And then the dog's collar wouldn't work. And then I got out the door. (Sue: Right) And then this guy yells at me. And then this other person has four dogs barking and I was like, oh, and then I like got across the street and I was like this whole walk can go continue to go the way it's going. Like we're just going to come across like 17 more things. Or I can take a couple deep breaths. I could put a new song on and we could have a whole different walk experience and it got so much better. And when I had to come back around to that house four dogs barking and the guy was just sitting there let his dogs bark, they were gone ... So you know, it's like, it's like whether or not I manifested them leaving or not doesn't matter. It's like you it's you whatever you're going through, whatever your emotions are, your brain's gonna seek out all the things to go yep, you're having a really bad day. Here it keeps going. (Sue: Totally) Well this is, I mean Sue you're you're such a wealth of knowledge and I really I feel like our listeners are going to be eager to hear how they can cure themselves and work on their fascia. So in a quick break, we'll come back and find out where they can dive in on their own bodies.

Okay, so where can people find you, follow you learn about fascia with you? What you got?

Sue Hitzmann  

Okay, so they can go to meltmethod.com and you can find all about MELT and find our streaming platform MELT On Demand where you can take live classes with me. There's 300 different videos on pain, performance and lifestyle. You can also find us at @meltmethod on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, we're there everywhere.

Lesley Logan  

Amazing. Okay, super excited Brad's going to be doing that ... (Lesley laughs)

Sue Hitzmann  

And YouTube also, for those of you who are like saying, "I don't want another product," go to YouTube and type in MELT Method. And there's a whole bunch of do it yourself where even if you don't have the MELT products, you can still learn how to do some of the techniques. You don't need the product.

Lesley Logan  

Amazing. Amazing. Okay, so bold, executable, intrinsic, targeted steps things people can take to be it till they see it. What do you have for us?

Sue Hitzmann  

Say that one more time?

Lesley Logan  

Oh, no problem. We ask everybody this, like what are some bold, executable, intrinsic or targeted steps people can take to be it till they see it?

Sue Hitzmann  

I wish that my internet was more stable right now to understand that, but I hear what you're asking. Okay, so this would be my suggestion to anybody is to write down on a piece of paper, "What I'm really wanting to enhance my life is?" And answer the question and then try to seek out things that elevate you. Whether that be, you know, really talking to inspiring friends, stop looking at the trash talk on your social media pages, scroll on and past it. And really start to realize, "Am I, am I living in the present moment or not?" And in this present moment, "Am I doing things that are healthy and good for me? Am I sipping water frequently? Am I eating water filled foods? Am I getting out into nature? Do I have positive affirmations?" Do you call somebody every once in a while and just call somebody out of the blue and say, "I love you. And here's why." Right? So bring positivity into your life and try to find those things that elevate you and you will start to realize that you need to take specific actions to get you to that next place but you've got to be as present as possible to make it happen and don't let the past be the thing that limits you on what you could really do in the future.

Lesley Logan  

Oh my goodness, that, that was amazing. I'm in love with all of those. I really am, something that I really love y'all is to just text people randomly that I love them or I miss them and it's (Sue: Yeah) and you know what's so fun is that they, it really it always comes at the right time for them. So thank you for mentioning that because that is that is key for being present. It's also key for putting out in the world what you want back into it. So Sue Hitzmann, MELT Method. Oh my gosh, I'm so glad we got to meet this way. I'm sure I'm sure randomly our paths have crossed at different conferences and things like that but I'm glad I get to see you in person at Idea. And everybody how are you going to use these BE IT action items in your life? Tag the @meltmethod, so Sue can see them and tag @be_it_pod so we can see them and let us know and do us a favor, share this with someone because if you are inspired by this if you're like, "Oh my gosh my fascia could be in charge all these things." Think about the family members that you have who don't have access to something like this. Just share the episode so that they can be informed. And until next time everyone, Be It Till You See It.

That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review. And follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcasts. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the @be_it_pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others Be It Till You See It. Have an awesome day!

 Be it till You See It as a production of As The Crows Fly Media.

Brad Crowell  

 It's written produced, filmed and recorded by your host Lesley Logan and me, Brad Crowell. Our Associate Producer is Amanda Frattarelli.

Lesley Logan  

 Kevin Perez at Disenyo handles all of our audio editing. 

Brad Crowell  

Our theme music is by Ali at APEX Production Music. And our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi. 

Lesley Logan  

Special thanks to our designer Jaira Mandal for creating all of our visuals (which you can't see because this is a podcast) and our digital producer, Jay Perdoso for editing all video each week so you can. 

Brad Crowell  

And to Angelina Herico for transcribing each of our episodes so you can find them on our website. And, finally to Meridith Crowell for keeping us all on point and on time.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai

The road isn’t straight and we know it. But how often do we allow the bends to become a barrier to reaching the destination? Recapping Maggie Daniels interview, listen in to Brad and Lesley’s take on taking ownership, overcoming obstacles, and how we all get to be creative in this world. 

If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at [email protected] .

And as always, if you’re enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe.

In this episode you will learn about:

• Is a Mat Certification worth it? 
• Keep going to reach the destination 
• Don't let the treacherous drive take you away from the destination
• the footsteps add up to the journey 
• We are here to be creative
• The various easy to be creative 
• Taking ownership and overcoming obstacles 

Episode References/Links:

• Lesley’s eBook Everything But The Exercises
• Check out eLevate mentorship program

If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox.

Be It Till You See It Podcast Survey

Resources

• Watch the Be It Till You See It podcast on YouTube!
• Lesley Logan website
• Be It Till You See It Podcast
• Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan
• Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan on YouTube
• Profitable Pilates

Social Media

• Instagram
• Facebook
• LinkedIn

Episode Transcript:

Lesley Logan  

Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained thousands of people around the world. And the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self-doubt. My friends, action brings clarity. And it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guest will bring bold, executable, intrinsic and targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and be it till you see it. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started. 

Welcome back to the Be It Till You See It interview recap where my co host in life, Brad and I are going to dig into the intriguing convo I have with Maggie Daniels in our last episode. If you haven't yet, listen to that interview. Feel free to pause this now. Go back and listen to that one. And then come back and join us on this one. And I promise I'll stop hitting the table and my microphone and I'm just going to professional as 121 episodes I will...

Brad Crowell  

Sorry for anyone watching on YouTube.

Lesley Logan  

Oh my God. You guys, just so you know. 121 episodes in and I'm still hitting this damn table. (Brad laughs) I think it's a table. (Lesley laughs)

Brad Crowell  

 Yeah. Definitely the table's fault. Yeah, yeah. You know. (Lesley: Well, here ...) If the table was chiseled. Maybe it wouldn't be.

Lesley Logan  

That's a different kind of chisel. That's what an s and not a z. Learn something new every day. Anyways, y'all it is the end of July. If you're listening to this in real time. (Brad: Yeah.) And my goodness, this summer is flying by but ...

Brad Crowell  

How crazy? I don't even understand. It is ...

Lesley Logan  

But June was the longest and the shortest month of my life. I feel like, it was we went to five different states in that 30 days. We were home ... (Brad: five holy cow) Yeah, count them. And then we and then we went to you know, and then we're home for only like 13 days, we had family in town for my Dad's 70th birthday. We had friends in town to go see Sting, then we had a film, it was chaos. And I'll get to a little bit of this trip down when I talk about my talking points. But now that we're in the end of July, you're like, "Lesley, it's July." I know where the end of July but June was that big. I think a whole month to recover. But we are going to accept applications in just a few days for my mentorship.

Brad Crowell  

I know.

Lesley Logan  

I can't believe we're doing it again. (Brad: I also...) I'm so excited.

Brad Crowell  

I love that there's an application processes this time through the ... (Lesley: Brad like the processes system.) Well, there's a there's a lot of interest and it's hard to choose.

Lesley Logan  

That's true. I think at this point, there's almost 200 people on the waiting list. So don't let that stop you, if you have not put yourself on the waitlist and you're like, (Brad: Do not let that stop you.) "Oh my goodness, she'll, I'll never get picked." Well you won't get picked if you don't apply.

Brad Crowell  

That's very true.

Lesley Logan  

That's literally how it goes.

Brad Crowell  

Yeah.

Lesley Logan  

So put your put your hat in the ring. So first like to get on the waitlist at lesleylogan.co

Brad Crowell  

Do they even know what this is, (Lesley: Oh) what it's for? (Lesley: What if you tell them?) Yeah, Let's (Lesley: That's great.) probably tell them.

Lesley Logan  

Well, just in case you aren't following my every step and move. (Lesley laughs) So my mentorship program I started it, I guess it kicked off in 2021. (Brad: Mentorship in what?) Pilates. (Brad: Yes) So this is a Pilates exercise mentorship. This is not our business mentorship. (Brad: Correct) Brad is actually not involved in eLevate at all. (Brad: No. Nope.) He couldn't teach you anything. He couldn't stand in for me. This is you get me for nine months. (Brad: Yes.) And um, so anyway, so many teachers have been asking me to teach them, the way that I teach. And, you know, we do little workshops here and there. And then I was traveling. And now I'm not doing the traveling thing that much to teach people how to teach Pilates. So I thought it's a much better and more fun to do a little mentorship. Because then I get to have you for nine months. And I get to take you from the mat to the accessories, all the equipment in between. And you get to be part of a family like truly they call themselves a family - The Elevators. They are not ...

Brad Crowell  

Is that what they call themselves?

Lesley Logan  

They call themselves - Elevators.

Brad Crowell  

That's pretty adorable.

Lesley Logan  

Yeah, I know. So eLevate, it, I chose that because I truly at the end of the nine months want you to feel elevated in your practice, in your teaching and your connection to the method. Doesn't matter who trained you before. And also doesn't matter if you own any equipment, you just have to have access to a Mat, a Reformer, a Wunda Chair and a Cadillac. And the other stuff we will go over if you don't have access to it, that's a bummer. But some people will rent from other people. Some people will rent space in the studio. (Brad: Sure) Some people have gone to other elevators homes, because they live close enough to make it (Brad: That's true.) worth it. So so I really wanted to make it as accessible as possible.

Brad Crowell  

Who is it for?

Lesley Logan  

If you are a teacher already, and you've gone through a comprehensive training program. (Brad: Okay.) So that doesn't mean ...

Brad Crowell  

That's the only requirement?

Lesley Logan  

Yeah. Well, I mean, you have to apply.

Brad Crowell  

Well, yeah, you have to apply. The idea here is is this is for those who have begun teaching.

Lesley Logan  

Yeah. If you've already been teaching, I don't have any rules on how many years you've been teaching. I know a lot of mentorship programs have that I don't have that a lot of mentorship programs have rules on how many times you've taken from me. I don't have that. You, if, as long as you like this voice, (Brad laughs) this space and my opinions, you are welcome to apply. But I do ...

Brad Crowell  

I think we can validate you a little bit more. (Lesley laughs) For those of you who do not know, Lesley was, she studied with a guy who actually studied with with Joseph Pilates, right. So she's like, quote, unquote, "second generation teacher," meaning she studied with Joseph Pilates direct student. And she's been studying with him for a very long time. And, you know, the things that he passes on, are what he remembers from working with Joe. (Lesley: Yeah) And so Lesley has a unique perspective. And I think also one of the major things that having written all the marketing copy for such a program, you know that I can't teach to the program, the biggest thing, the biggest takeaway from my side of things is, you will learn how to connect all of the pieces of equipment.

Lesley Logan  

Yeah, and that's something so I was a teacher trainer for six years for another company. And and I have also been teaching teachers from all over the world from tons of training brack... backgrounds. And the consistent thing I see, no matter which camp you are trained by, is that people see each piece of equipment as a separate thing. (Brad: Right) They see each exercise as a separate thing. And what I learned with Jay and all the people who worked with Jay, Sandy, and Karen and Ken, and Deena, all of them is there's one exercise. So my goal is to help you see how you can weave this in. And it's never like, "Oh, my client can't do this, this or this," or "I can't do this, this or this." It's like what is possible and actually being able to be free of programming, you will have to while you're going through the program, learn but you'll also learn how to ditch that and just let your eyes and your teaching gut tell you what this person needs next. And so it really does give you freedom and permission (Brad: Yeah) to be curious, and to have a collaboration in your teaching. And it's, it's it's so much fun.

Brad Crowell  

It's, I mean, I again, as an outsider, I get to hop on these calls briefly poke my head and and wave and it is just enthusiasm and excitement, (Lesley: Yeah) every call. And you know, we've got people from all over the world. And they you know, I mean, I was on a call with one of them. And she said, I found my best friend that I didn't know, I didn't have, (Lesley: Yeah, yeah.) you know, inside of of eLevate. (Lesley: Yeah) So cool.

Lesley Logan  

It's so cool. So anyways, lesleylogan.co, so c o /elevate is where you go to put yourself on the waitlist, and then you'll be offered the opportunity to apply. (Brad: Yes) We're taking applications for 10 days. So even if you hear this on August 3, you can still do it. Alright. It's not a long ...

Brad Crowell  

Or if you're listening to this afterwards. And this sounds like something that will be up your alley, we are going to run it again. So you know, just get yourself on the waitlist, (Lesley: Yeah) and you'll be the first to know, we aren't really pushing this publicly. It's really going to be going out only to those on the waitlist.

Lesley Logan  

Yeah, cuz we're only going to take 12 people (Brad: Yeah) this round. And what is the next round? People gonna ask. I don't know. Probably probably, what is next year 2023? (Brad: Yeah) I don't know. It could be 2024. So like, (Brad: Right) don't wait, and (Brad: Don't wait. Yeah.) until next time. And you know, like put your application in. The worst case is I say, "Hey, you're on the waitlist for the next round." Like, I might just do that. I may just put people on the. "Okay. You're on the next round." (Brad: Sure.) I don't know. (Brad: Yeah) We'll find out. But anyways, I'm really excited about it. It's one of the my favorite things that I get to do in this business is spend time with these people. And really watch their confidence grow. (Brad: Yeah) And their and I, they don't know, but I'm like watching their bodies change each and every assessment from the person teaching them and I'm like, "Woah, they couldn't do that last time!" It's so fun. So anyways, that's, that's what I'm excited about. That's what's happening. What is our question this week?

Brad Crowell  

Yeah, actually, it's the exact opposite. (Lesley laughs) So we had a question from from someone through Instagram on the @be_it_pod, asking, "Is it a waste of time to get only a Mat certification?"

Lesley Logan  

I love this question. So first of all, to the person who asked it, thank you so much for asking me. Because you're gonna get the most honest answer, I think. I don't know, I'm really biased. But here's the deal. This is, here's the deal ...

Brad Crowell  

You will definitely get an honest answer, that's for sure.

Lesley Logan  

I'm gonna be honest. And it's gonna and I'm really proud of it. So here's the deal, if you actually get my book Profitable Pilates: Everything But The Exercises, the e-books on our site. I don't know, they may even let you buy a signed copy on the site, but you can get on Amazon. If you buy that I go through like how to pick a program. And I actually don't mind people only getting a Mat certified in the beginning. Here's what I'm going to tell you because it happened to me. You're gonna want the full training. So ...

Brad Crowell  

Well, let's just start off briefly with why like, okay...

Lesley Logan  

Why wouldn't you?

Brad Crowell  

No, the so okay, the book is really, really, really helpful for people who are trying to choose a program. In the book, she covers this whole conversation of getting the Mat, getting these other things, how to choose a program, because there there are many different programs out there and some of them may be perfect for you and others maybe not. (Lesley: Yeah) And the questions that Lesley goes through in the book will help you discern which program you may want to go (Lesley: Yeah) get a certification from. So (Lesley: And also ...) you can find that a profitable pilates.com/ebook. (Lesley: Yeah) Okay. But ...

Lesley Logan  

You can also, you can also get a beautiful paperback copy.

Brad Crowell  

Yeah, just to yes, you can. And I'm not even worried about that. Because the question actually is, is it a waste of time to get only a Mat certification? (Lesley: So it's not.) It's not always the time.

Lesley Logan  

No, but here's what I'm going to tell you. You're gonna want, you're gonna eventually want to get a full training. And so what I would recommend, you'll see this in the book in more detail is that you want to find a training program that that offers a Mat only. And then a comprehensive, because what I don't want is you to get Mat trained by someone and then you're like, "Gosh, I want to get comprehensive." And they're like, "Too bad. I don't offer that here. Or we only offer then... like the reformer only."

Brad Crowell  

Or the comprehensive that you do want to go take won't take you because you didn't do Mat with them. (Lesley: Yeah. So ...) There's like so many possibilities. So there's a lot of, there's a lot of thinking to do before you make that decision.

Lesley Logan  

Yeah. So please make sure if you're going to just start off with a Mat only that you go through a program that does have a comprehensive later. (Brad: Yeah) So that you are setting yourself up for the next step, whenever that is for you.

Brad Crowell  

And also too, if you're like not sure if teaching is your jam, getting Mat certified is a great way to figure that out. Because it's less of a commitment, you're not doing a 600 hour comprehensive thing that is going to take you you know, a year, you can probably get certified in a matter of months. (Lesley: Yup) And then you can actually take some clients and then decide like ... (Lesley: Yeah) because if you don't, maybe you don't need all the rest of that stuff.

Lesley Logan  

Yeah. And then well, I would I will tell you also, just because I think it's, again, honesty is my policy. When it becomes when you're only Mat trained, then obviously all you can do is teach on the Mat, and very few studios will hire you (Brad: Right) except for for group fitness. And then you are going to be looking at a Swiss cheese schedule, (Brad: Yes) meaning there's, there's not a gym out there that's putting like three back to back Mat classes, they're gonna put one and that's going to be in between some sort of hitt and some sort of spin class. And so as long as that works for you, like you only actually want to teach one hour a day on the weekend, great, that's amazing. Maybe you want your YMCA membership for free, that's going to be up your alley, it's gonna be perfect for you. But if you are really wanting to make this another income stream, eventually I'm gonna say you're going to need to get comprehensively certified so that you can actually teach on the other side of that class. So yeah, it's not a waste of time.

Brad Crowell  

Not a waste of time.

Lesley Logan  

I love that question. Thank you for asking.

Brad Crowell  

Okay, now let's talk about Maggie Daniels. (Lesley: Maggie Daniels) Maggie is a poet, a writer and a director. And she uses poetry for micro moments of emotion, to process what she's feeling. Her screenplays are a deep dive into her psyche as she tells the story of raw human emotion. She battles dyslexia. She learned the power of the word 'no', and has written a book that is now available through Barnes and Noble. (Lesley: I know how freaking cool.) Pretty darn cool. And she also shares a little bit of her story about what she writes about and why she writes and growing up. So it was a really interesting conversation. And also, what I loved about it was her frankness, like, you know, and like she just has no fucks to give. (Lesley: No) I loved it. I thought (Lesley: Yeah) it was really great.

Lesley Logan  

She was she was so awesome. I don't I was like a sweet can sound condescending, but like she's sweet. She was just, like, even in her ...

Brad Crowell  

Yes ... for real like (Lesley: real) you know.

Lesley Logan  

She's real sweet.

Brad Crowell  

She's real sweet. (Brad and Lesley laughs)

Lesley Logan  

Anyways, well, I I loved that she said, keep going and you'll get to your destination and I I love this with a love hate relationship because it is so freakin true. And so so for example, we went camping at the beginning of this month, and it's a thre... when we looked it up five months before and we're like, "Yeah, we'll go camping with with our friends." We're like, "Yes," three hours away. Done deal. Like ... (Brad: Yeah. No problem.) After after driving 15 hours to Colorado. (Brad: Yeah.) Three hours ... (Brad: It was three hours.) It's a breeze. Anyways, for us, it took us four and a half hours to get there. We (Brad: Yeah) hit this traffic jam. It went down to one lane. And it was four and a half hours. And we were, we were fresh. We almost pulled off. And ...

Brad Crowell  

Yeah. I was like, (Lesley: find a gas stattion) Yeah, no, I mean, I was gonna just sleep on the side of the freeway like people were going five miles an hour for an hour and a half. (Lesley: Yeah, it was exhausting.) I was like, yeah, I was ... Suddenly I was tired and I was like, how ... I shouldn't be tired right now, but I'm just like, mind numbing, you know?

Lesley Logan  

Yeah. So he, like you pulled off to get some gas and you're like, "I think we're just gonna sleep here." And I was like, "That's fine." And then you got a second wind and we left and we got there. And (Brad: Yeah) we got there in four and a half hours. Our friends left at 2pm, it took them eight hours to get there. And but here's the deal, it took them 8, it takes took us four and a half, it didn't take anyone three. But once we were there, we were at we like we didn't let that exhausting, treacherous drive. Take us away from being at the destination. (Brad: Yeah) We fully like we slept in, we like, pulled out early drinks and like had a good time at Panguitch like and it was amazing. And ...

Brad Crowell  

We were in Utah and Panguitch Lake.

Lesley Logan  

And it would have been so easy to turn around for them. They had babies in the back for us, (Brad: Yeah) it had been so easy to, even let that just ruin the trip. Just like let that be the thing that the first whole day is about. (Brad: Yeah) And whatever it is that you're wanting to do, maybe you want to go like our question asker wants to go through a training, maybe you're finishing a training, maybe you are thinking about going to school, or maybe you're wanting to write a book, whatever. Just you have to keep putting one foot in front of the other, because they all add up. And they all get you there if you just keep going. But if you turn around, if you if you go, "You know what? Like, this is I'm quitting." Like, you're just not, you're not gonna get there. Like you're not going to be like rock in to the place.

Brad Crowell  

Well, we talked about at the beginning. Like, if you don't apply, you definitely won't be involved in Lesley's program.

Lesley Logan  

Right. Same, same. Well, and not exactly. And also, like, there's a difference, I just also want to say it's okay to do a pause or a detour. Those are different than quitting (Brad: Sure) or not even starting. Okay. So like Clare, you know, our slingshot friend has done some recaps with us. She's put some books down, and then pick them back up. Kellee Forkenbrock, who was also on the pod, she put a book down for three years, and she's picking it back up. Those things are very different than like, "I'm done. This isn't working. I'm quitting." If you really do believe in the thing, keep going, even if it's just like one mile an hour.

Brad Crowell  

Yeah. Well, we're going to talk a little bit about more about that later. (Lesley: Okay ...) But ...

Lesley Logan  

We'll get there. (Lesley laughs) What did you love?

Brad Crowell  

We're gonna put, we're gonna put one mile in front of the other here. I loved, she said something very early on in the interview that really struck me. She said, I think you asked her, like, "Why do you write or how did how did you get started writing?" And she said, "I feel like we are here (meaning on this earth) to be creative, not to work and pay bills and die." And I was like, "Oh, that's a perspective right there." I love that, you know, because if, you know, like, I think it's funny, we can get lost in that, we just get lost in the routine and the monotony. And we spice it up by like, choosing a different TV show. You know, and like, that's it. And like, you know, we just like bang out a shitty day and then come home and drink a beer and enjoy a show. And that's like, nice, but if that's like, is that it, is that the extent of life. And I love this perspective of like, I feel like we are here to be creative, not to just work, pay bills and die.

Lesley Logan  

Well, I also like, I just think back to some of the family members that I had in my life. And like my grandfather, for example, when you met him, he's like, "I'm just waiting to die." Like, (Brad: Yes) that's what are you doing, just waiting to die. And what frustrates me so much about that is he was a super talented, like, an architect's the wrong word, because he didn't go to school for that. But whatever you call, drafting. Right.

Brad Crowell  

Mechanical drawing. (Lesley: Yeah) And yeah.

Lesley Logan  

He was brilliant, and so smart, and so untapped. And it's not because he like was just like I'm just gonna... He didn't, he wasn't given the opportunity or encouraged to my knowledge, nor did he give himself that permission to be creative. No, my grandmother was very creative in that household. So creativity was around, but he didn't give himself that permission as an adult. And I think that's what why wouldn't you want to die, I don't know, but like, there's nothing exciting to live for. And I don't know, this is very dark, but I just ...

Brad Crowell  

Well, I was actually not taking it quite that, that down that road. For me, we've I was thinking more about The Artist's Way. (Lesley: Oh, yeah.) And Lesley and I just finished a course it was a three month course, led by a incredible woman here in Las Vegas named Sharon Gainsbourg. She's a sculptor and she works with stone. And she's 80, 79, 80? (Lesley: No, she's in her 80s.) She's in her 80s. She's she's seen a lot of life, and she she has no fucks to give either. (Lesley: She's also, still making art.) Still. Oh yeah. She owns a studio and she teaches classes and she teaches this book The Artist's Way and It's she's willing to challenge, you know, people. And I know, I noticed you're wearing a great shirt that says women against bullshit. (Lesley: Yes) And she's willing to challenge your bullshit. (Lesley: Yes) Because when you, you know, when you go through this course, it's a 12 week course, about jump starting your creativity of which all of us have (Lesley: Yeah) creativity in us, it's just that we've probably, like suppressed it somehow, whether that's from, you know, childhood, or maybe we had a tragic, you know, like letdown after some, you know, event in our life, and we just kind of stopped whatever it might be. That was our creative outlet. And this book is a process of working through your self, through your mind, through those mental blocks to allow that creativity to flow. And when, when Maggie said, "I feel like we're all here to be creative, not to just work, pay bills and die." I thought, how how, like, that's so connected to this book that we just did. (Lesley: Yeah) And it but I think it's such a unique perspective.

Lesley Logan  

Well, and also like, give yourself permission to be creative. (Brad: Yeah) Like, like, I really hope that that's what if what she said does for you, because otherwise, it's just such a boring life the other way around? I don't know. Anyways, I've loved it. I love her. I love that whole thing. And I hope we're all, I hope we're all more creative.

Brad Crowell  

Yeah. I thought you keep going. Oh, we're all more creative. Me too. (Lesley laughs) Well, well, I think but you know, what is creativity? Right. And I think, having come from music, and the, the story that I was telling myself is that I'm an artist, I'm creative. So I have to do it with music. Right? The the idea that the only way to be creative is with, you know, writing a book or writing a song or painting or painting, whatever. That's not, that's not it either. Like, like, you could be creative with spreadsheets. (Lesley: Yeah) You know, that's like, it sounds counterintuitive. But you can, you can be creative with cooking. You could be creative with decorating, you could be creative with ... (Lesley: in landscaping) Yeah, landscaping, you could be creative with dog training. I mean, there's so many different ways that you can be creative. And so ...

Lesley Logan  

You can be creative with how you clean your house. You could be (Brad: Yeah) you could like turn on the music, and maybe you dance while you're cleaning it up. Like I think we limit ourselves to it must have, creativity must be sold at the blink art store, or whatever art store.

Brad Crowell  

Right. Yeah, or it's Michaels. Right.

Lesley Logan  

Michael. Whatever Joann's Fabrics near you, whatever. And the truth is, first of all, I went into those stores and they are not built the way they used to be. And it's not fun. It's very commercialized, and I'm really sad about it. So but you can be creative in what you're creative about. (Brad: Yeah, yeah.) Is that too meta? Is that weird? (Brad: I think, I think.) (Lesley laughs) Did I use the word and then just ...

Brad Crowell  

You did it fine creativity (Lesley: with creativity) with the word. Yeah, that's okay. We still love you.

Lesley Logan  

That's true. Everyone still does. Well, anyways, I want to know how you're gonna be creative with anything that you have to do, because I think it I actually think we need those juices flowing. They're kind of hard to stop.

Brad Crowell  

Yeah, yeah. And it feels good too. All right. So let's finally talk about those BE IT action items that you went through with Maggie Daniels. What bold, executable, intrinsic or targeted action items, can we take away from your conversation? I'm gonna jump at first. And I loved that. She said at the end microdose your tasks. Again, we kind of covered this at the beginning about like, continuing to move forward. But she looked at it and said, when something seems very intimidating to you, or overwhelming or you're tired, or any of those things, especially when, for her, she was talking about writing. And obviously, at the time writing wasn't her gig. It wasn't what she was doing all the time. She was focused on these other things. So how did she actually write a book? How does she write a screenplay, which took her 10 years to write the screenplay? Right? She said she microdoses her tasks, right? And she encouraged all of us to do the same. So it's, it's effectively working backwards from seeing that bigger picture, and then breaking it down into tangible action items that you can actually accomplish on a day to day basis. And even if it's only getting one or two things down towards the thing, you know, towards the goal. It's, I just love those she said microdosing because it made me think of like, psilocybin mushrooms and all the, I was like, "What a way to use that word? I I've never heard anybody talk about micro dosing your tasks."

Lesley Logan  

Yeah, but it made me think of like Jillian Flodstrom said about, like everything should break down every single thing to at last like it gets you can get it done in two minutes. So every anything that's on your to-do list if it if it's gonna take more than two minutes you need to break it down smaller because we all have two minutes. (Brad: Yeah) And so then when like someone's late to a Zoom call you have like something you can do in two minutes (Brad: Sure) while you're waiting. (Brad: Yeah) And so it allows you to actually move the needle forward, and keep going. You'll get to the destination, right, if it's more of a smaller dose to task. (Brad: Yeah) Anyways, I'm going to just start using that word. I'm micro dosing today. (Brad: I love it.) People are gonna go, "What is she doing?" (Brad laughs)

Brad Crowell  

Well, what about you?

Lesley Logan  

Well, I she also she talked about find your people for the day, she need a little extra push. And you and I love this so much. We have those people, I have them. First of all on if you are using an iPhone, sorry Android users, I have no idea how you do this. But on an iPhone, you can put like your top is like six people like you can have like a (Brad: I think you put 9.) 9, yeah on your ... (Brad: on a text.) you have been texting. So over on your, I should tell you where this is like all going. (Brad: Yeah) On your text, you can like have these little like favorites, but you are always texting. And so I don't actually text those people every day or even every week. But the people that are my top six, I don't know, I can have nine, I'm gonna add a couple more. (Brad: Sure) They are the people that I want to be able to go to when I need an extra push. (Brad: Yeah) I hope I'm on their top nine, or six or whatever it is. But I feel like it's my space.

Brad Crowell  

Yeah, I was just thinking and this is like top 5.

Lesley Logan  

And it's not like that they're like, it's just that I know, if I text them, "Oh my gosh, today, I've got this going on." I know, I don't have to explain myself, if I don't have time for it. I know that I'm not going to get a phone call. They're just going to send me, "Hey thinking of you. You got this," whatever. And they do and (Brad: Yeah) they do even when I'm not even asking for it. And so what I would just say is like, if you don't have these people yet, first of all, just see if anyone in your contact is someone you'd want one of those people to be because some of those people that are my top now, they were people that I would be like, "Oh, can I can I text them? I don't know if I can text them?" You know what I did? I just texted them. And then they text back. And it's like dating, and then you make them a thing. So if you don't have them, go through your contacts and just see like, who have these people what I want. And if you don't have that, then ask yourself like a... Like where were you when you met someone who just like hit it off? You kicked it off, like, kick off a conversation, invite them to coffee. Yes, it's gonna be awkward. It's gonna be weird. It's hard to make friends when they're not in school anymore. But when you have those people and you tell them who they are, (dog noise) (Brad: Yeah) you have to tell them who they are. Then you you have them and you can just text them and then it can be a two way street. And I just really really love it. I think it's Jim Rohn, who's like really big on like the average of people you're around. And you you really are those people. So find people for the looks to push but find those people that you just want to surround yourself with. So you can continue aspire and grow yourself. Because writing a screenplay for 10 years doesn't happen in a silo, you have to, she had people to encourage her and push her down onto the destination.

Brad Crowell  

Well, I love it.

Lesley Logan  

You do? You have anything else?

Brad Crowell  

No, I was just looking up the Jim Rohn quote.

Lesley Logan  

Oh, yeah. I always would attribute it to Tim Ferriss. Sorry, Jim, if you're listening to this, but I just heard it on another podcast. And actually, it's Jim Rohn who started it.

Brad Crowell  

Yeah, R o h n. (Lesley: Yeah ,yeah.) I was just looking it up, because I didn't recognize it as him either.

Lesley Logan  

Yep. Apparently, he's a really big deal.

Brad Crowell  

Yeah, I don't know. He's for sure it.

Lesley Logan  

He's, he's really huge. Someday, we'll have him on here and be like, "Hey, Jim ..." (Brad: Sorry.) Sorry. (Brad laughs) Sorry. But I'm so glad I know you now. Anyways, everyone. I just, I really hope that what Maggie said really helps you find your creativity. Be like own that part. And (Brad: Yeah) and we didn't even talk about it. But like, don't ... she was she's dyslexic y'all. (Brad: Yeah) And she's writing. So whatever yours ...

Brad Crowell  

How crazy is that? (Lesley: Yeah) Like imagine that being like a major roadblock when in your youth. And then, you know, she figured out how to work your way through it by micro dosing those tasks.

Lesley Logan  

Yeah. Okay. One more thing before we let you go. So I'm listening to this book again - We Should All Be Millionaires and yes, it will have her on the pod. She is on the wish list. I'm going to have to just like DM her every day until she's like, "Please stop. I'm coming on." But she talks about removing 'but' from our vocabulary so like, like for example. (Brad: But I really like it.) With the double T? (Brad: Just kidding.) You can use គូទ which is Cambodian for butt no one will know. But here's what (but shit.) All right. And here's what it is. When you instead of saying 'but' replace it with 'and'. So in her example, in her book, it is like, I want to buy a house, 'and' I have credit card debt. Instead of 'but' I have credit card debt. (Brad: Sure) So owning the thing. So the reason this came up for me is like Maggie is a writer, and she has dyslexia. (Brad: Right) Not 'but I'm dyslexic.' Do you see the difference? Like, do you hear it like, and it makes a massive difference when ...

Brad Crowell  

Or you can swap it out to 'despite'.

Lesley Logan  

Yeah, but I think it's, I think it's about ownership. (Brad: Okay.) I think that it's more it's more about ownership and not letting that thing be an obstacle at all. So 'despite' means, like you still overcame the obstacle, and 'and' it's the same, you know, like, (Brad: It's also there.) It's also there. And I, what I like about it is we it's helping us ditch perfection, everyone. (Brad: Right) And it is allowing us to not be a victim or hold ourselves back from whatever that thing is that you would put 'but' in front of. So you put 'and', you own it, and you're not letting it be the thing that keeps you from doing what you're here on this planet to do.

Brad Crowell  

Well, I think that is a wrap.

Lesley Logan  

Yeah. I'm Lesley Logan.

Brad Crowell  

And I'm Brad Crowell.

Lesley Logan  

Thank you so much for joining us today. We are so grateful for you. How are you going to use these tips in your life? We want to know. Tag the @be_it_pod, tag Maggie Daniels. Let us know which ones worked for you, let us know what you're inspired by and send it to a friend. Here's the deal. (Brad: Yeah) By now, because I'd have I can't see into the future but we should be about 50,000 downloads. We didn't get there because of like just me and Brad talking into a microphone. We got there because of you. So every time you share of this pod with a friend, you text a friend, you tag them in our Instagram accounts, you post it to your stories, you are influencing people to change the lives and be it till they see it and we could not be more grateful. So keep doing it. (Brad: Yeah) Because it couldn't get there without you. And we'll catch you in the next episode.

Brad Crowell  

Bye for now.

That's all I got for this episode of the beat until you see a podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review and follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcast. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the beat pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others be until you see it. Have an awesome day. 

Lesley Logan  

'Be It till You See It' is a production up 'As The Crows Fly Media'.

Brad Crowell  

 It's written produced, filmed and recorded by your host Lesley Logan and me, Brad Crowell. Our associate producer is Amanda Frattarelli.

Lesley Logan  

Kevin Perez at Disenyo handles all of our audio editing.  

Brad Crowell  

Our theme music is by Ali at APEX Production Music and our branding by designer and artist Gianfranco Cioffi. 

Lesley Logan  

Special thanks to our designer Jirah Mandal for creating all of our visuals (which you can't see because this is a podcast) and our digital producer, Jay Pedroso for editing all the video each week so you can. 

Brad Crowell  

And to Angelina Herico for transcribing each of our episodes, so you can find them on our website. And finally to Meridith Crowell for keeping us all on point and on time

Transcribed by https://otter.ai

Through the eyes of a native storyteller and experiencer of human emotion, tune in for powerful insights of the human conditions and the things that keep us moving forward. 

If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at [email protected] .

And as always, if you’re enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe.

In this episode you will learn about:

• Your inner child is how you find your voice 
• Keep going, you'll get to your destination.
• ‘No’ isn’t scary 
• Rejected that leads to something better 
• The importance of finding the right people 
• Process of publishing
• Writing despite dyslexia 

BIO: 

Maggie Daniels is a poet, writer, and director passionate about storytelling through her raw perspective. She was born and raised in the bible belt. The notorious culture of southern grit and charm shines through her words giving readers a sense of home and familiar comforts. Maggie’s work reflects the mountains of emotion one can experience with life, love, & loss in a way that is deeply honest and healing for those reading. Her mother used to tell her she was a magenta girl living in a khaki world, that analogy shows through in her work as a unique take on the human experience. 

Episode References/Links:

• Maggie Logic Website
• Follow Maggie on Instagram
• Support ‘Swimming’

If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox.

Resources

• Watch the Be It Till You See It podcast on YouTube!
• Lesley Logan website
• Be It Till You See It Podcast
• Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan
• Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan on YouTube
• Profitable Pilates

Social Media

• Instagram
• Facebook
• LinkedIn

Episode Transcript:

Lesley Logan 0:09  

All right, Be It listener. I've got someone special for you, Maggie Daniels is here. And I was really intrigued by her for a variety of reasons. But you're going to understand in a moment when she starts talking, but I actually find people who can take time to write very interesting. I think everybody, at some point has thought, "Oh, maybe a write a book, or might be nice to sit down and write something down." And then inevitably think we're not writers. We don't know what we're doing. And and then we get in our head, and then we think, "Oh, I can't do this." And we get impostor syndrome around it. So I just wanted to bring on Maggie to talk about how she got to where she is, and give you some advice along the way. So thank you for being here. Maggie, can you tell everybody who you are and what you're writing about?

Maggie Daniels 0:51  

Thank you so much for having me today. Yes, I'm, I'm a poet, writer, director. I use poetry for like the micro moments of emotion to process like what I'm feeling in the moment. And then I use screenplays to like, dive deeper into my psyche, like through the characters, like, "Why did this trigger me? Why do I feel this way?" And I am really glad you brought up the imposter syndrome and the insecurity because I had that for years, like I've been writing my whole life. And I never considered myself a writer. Isn't that crazy?

Lesley Logan 1:25  

That's that, it's crazy. And also, like, I completely understand it. (Maggi: Yeah.) You know,

Maggie Daniels 1:29  

Yeah. And it was one of those things I didn't go to college, I grew up very dyslexic, in a small town in the south, so I just didn't, internally, I just had this voice that wasn't mine in my head that said, "You know, you don't know enough words, you're not smart enough. Like, there's someone else with that job already." Like, you know what I mean? (Lesley: Yeah) And I remember my mother in law sent me this book. And I can't remember the exact name of it, but it had it had magic in the title, where it was like, a pun on words, like creativity is literal magic. And ideas, bounce around, like, if you don't use them, they'll go away and find someone else that will. And the crazy thing is that everyone's capable of it. Every human being, I feel like we were here to be creative not to work and pay bills and die. I feel like our soul needs to express itself in many forms, whatever that may be. And a lot of people don't realize that creativity isn't just making art, creativity is anything that drives you, and makes you want to get up and do something and make something like that could be crafting, that could be engineering, that could be anything making rockets. (Lesley: Yeah) Whatever drives you to want to create something, is I feel like the basic necessity of our souls.

Lesley Logan 2:57  

Ah, I mean, agreed. And I actually think like, that's becoming more and more something that a lot of people are talking about, like we're all born to be creative. And I think a lot of people that, "Oh, it's those left brainers or those right brainers" or whatever side of the brain it is. We'll go back to the neurologist who is on the show for that. But I don't, we weren't given like only half a brain, we have a whole brain, we can use it. And we we all have this ability to be creative. And I want to go back to the that voice in your head. Because I, I think that we all have that voice. And some of us have the volume turned up louder (Maggie: Yeah) on that voice and others. And it is, it's that voice that holds back some of the most amazing people out there. Because every single person has a story that can help somebody else like we learned through story, right? We learned, we don't remember, like statistics, but we remember the story that was told around the numbers. And that kind of helps us there. We can visualize that story. So, how did you get that voice volume to turn down enough for you to attempt what you're now doing?

Maggie Daniels 3:58  

Oh, man, it was a lot of different things. I really want to say I had to do with a lot of different influences. Gary Vee is one of them. I don't know him personally, but just following him on social media is a very positive mindset in person. And a lot of his like personality and his branding is he just puts out positive just, that's his vibe. And always he's just reminding the public like, "Hey, that voice in your head isn't you? Like, don't listen to it, like find the one that's you in there." And I was emotionally, physically and sexually abused as a child. So I had a lot of different voices in there. And it took me a while to tune out to remember which one was mine, but I kind of went back to like my five year old self, and that inner child, and I feel like that's how you find your voice, is it's your inner child, (Lesley: Yeah) and just have to listen for him because they're, they're quieted by all the noise. And the best advice I ever got was from my mentor, dir... film director and writer, Diane Bell. She told me do, "What you want, the rest is noise. So, listen to your inner child, that's your voice. And just go back to an age where you really felt your personality, like, started or like rounded out to your core to who you are." And for me, that was five years old. And from then on, I was who I am. And yeah, I feel like find that age, and that's your voice and you and you just whatever you're doing in life is to protect that part of yourself. Like, think of it as a separate entity, almost like your inner child is someone that you need to treat that you wish that you were the adult in your life kind of thing. (Lesley: Yeah) Like that you were there to protect them. And I feel like that's the first step of healing.

Lesley Logan 6:02  

Yeah, I think we also like, you just said that, like, we also like protect, sometimes we do things to protect them so much that it's actually holding us back. Like, (Maggie: Yes) does things help to get you to survive and get to this point. And then (Maggie: Yes) you know, and I think that's, um, I think that's really interesting. Like, I was talking with my own therapist, but I was like, when when the pandemic happened, I like fe... like was like, it was almost ease like, like, the world crashing down. And like, everything canceling on my calendar... (Maggie: It was relatable. I was like, "What is in my world?") Oh, I totally get this survival mode, check, guess what, but then, a few months later, when we moved and all this stuff, and, and she's like, "You know, you don't need to be in that mode anymore." And I was like, "Oh, I'm still driving in that mode." (Maggie: Yeah) And so it's like, it's so good that we can tap into that, it's so good that we have the ability to protect ourselves when needed, because, you know, sometimes you're walking down the street with like, maybe somebody you want to, like, have a contract, book deal, (Maggie: Yeah) or a screenwriting thing with and someone steals something at you, you don't exactly always get to just go eff off, whatever (Maggie: Yeah) you might have to like, just ignore that that happened to you. So it's good to have that ability to put those protectors up. But we also be able to take them down.

Maggie Daniels 7:10  

Yes, yes. And the key to that is, I feel like in a way you you find your inner child voice, you protect them, you let them know that they're safe with you. And then you show them that they don't have to be afraid anymore. And I (Lesley: Yeah) feel like that's a process of delayering all of that. (Lesley: Yeah) And I'm not sure where I am on that process. (Lesley laughs) But I have found so much relief with writing, especially with my film once I got done with the first draft, I really felt like things I've been holding on for years I just placed on the characters like they have to carry that shit. Now it's not mine. And it, ah I can't even describe it. It's just such a relief.

Lesley Logan 7:51  

So I find this really fascinating. So okay, first of all, because I lived in LA and so I was around people who everybody's writer, everybody's director, ever... And I I would love to hear your how you got into doing that. Because that is also like, that's there's like 1000 stories that people tell themselves every day in Hollywood. And they actually have the access and the means and the agents and like, "I don't know where you live right now." But like how how did you get about to writing, writing this film, and then getting it put together and where it is now?

Maggie Daniels 8:23  

Well, honestly, it was, it's been a long time coming. I've been working on it for about 10 years, because for so many of those years, I had that voice blocking me. And I it's like Donnie Darko, if you haven't seen it, there's this like thing that comes out of his chest, and he follows it. And that's how I feel with writing. I'm just being pulled from my chest. And I feel like there's so much pressure, if I don't write, I'm gonna burst. And that's really what motivated me to really keep the interest and really like work through the hard... the hardness of it. And once I sat down and really wrote the script, when I knew what I was doing, I had to sign up for a writing class because I was really insecure. I looked up the formatting, but I didn't know if like I had it right. And I booked a class with the writer, Diane Bell, and she changed my life. And it was the first time that someone came up to me and was like, "You get it. This is good. Like this is better than good. Like, this is something." And so I don't know having that outside voice and growing up being like emotionally abused. I've never had those like compliments. So it was like hard to process at the time. But it's it's really changed my life and the whole like the rest is noise that she always reminds me of it really is. I've I've had some highs and lows on this project, but it just keeps getting better. (Lesley: Yeah) And if you just keep moving forward. I like to think of it. It's an old old Christmas movie cartoon about Santa Claus that they play on ABC Family every year, I forget the name of it. But it might be Kris Kringle, but he has a song with the Father Ice. And it's one foot in front of the other. And if you just put one foot in front of the other, soon, you'll be walking across the floor, you put one foot in front of the other soon, you'll be out the door. And I feel that plays out in life, if you just keep going, you'll get to your destination.

Lesley Logan 10:25  

Oh my gosh, this is amazing. I feel like I'm like, so grateful for this conversation right now. Because you know, when you're in the middle, when you know all these things, like you know, all these things, I mean I know it. I know you have one foot, but sometimes you like get stuck. You just get stuck (Maggie: You do.) in your own head, (Maggie: You do.) you tell yourself a story and you're just like stuck in your own head. And like the story I'm telling myself right now is like, there's just like, we're not, we don't have enough time. (Maggie: Yeah, yeah.) And I, this is a story I'll that will come up, like, pretty much every other year. And it becomes like the thing. And it's such an interesting thing. Because I think a lot of people who are listening this will blame themselves because they should know better. (Maggie: Yeah) They like ... (Maggie: I feel that way sometimes too.) "I should know better. I tell my clients this. I tell my, I tell my kids, this. I, all these things," we read the books, (Maggie: Yeah) and but you, you know, we're not perfect people you (Maggie: No) cannot like and sometimes that voice that you thought you turned down found a way to like, untie hands (Maggie: tic tac) and it goes 'tick, tick, tick.' Let me, if I just do it a little bit at a time, they won't notice, they won't (Maggie: Yeah) notice the volume going up. And you know, I think it's um, it's so important to just remember that you are going to get in your own way. And it's so important that when when someone comes into your life in a moment to just say that one thing or there's a song playing like, like, it's, it's happening to help get you out of it. And if we just pay attention a little bit, we can go, "Oh," and then be forgiving, that we may be took a little longer to (Maggie: Yeah) remember that.

Maggie Daniels 11:59  

Yeah. I'm slowly learning that the word 'no' is not scary. It's not scary. Every 'no' leads to a better yes. (Lesley: Yeah.) You just have to get through it. And if if you find it hard to motivate yourself, find a community. (Lesley: Yeah) Even if it's just one person where you're like, "Hey, my weekly checkup. How's it going?" (Lesley: Yeah.) You it's really about community. And it's the whole who you know, not what you know, really in life who you know, really changes the game. (Lesley: Well you ...) For creativity or anything.

Lesley Logan 12:38  

I have to I want to go back to the fact that you like signed up for a class because I think (Maggie: Yeah) this is really key. I really like (Maggie: finding people) finding people. So here's the thing, I just interviewed this guy who John Molluro, Mollura. And he was a rocket scientist, who is a photographer, and he is now like he like he has been for many, many years, full time photographer, like, that's his thing, right? (Maggie: Yeah) That's how he pays his bills. And I had asked him, I said, well, like how, like, give me some like, "What your BE IT action item?" and he said, "You have to invest in your idea." (Maggie: Yeah) Like you have to hire someone. And that ... (Maggie: ... doing) Yeah, and that's where people get stuck. Because they'll tell themselves, "I don't have the money ... I don't have this or (Maggie: Yeah) this is why should I spend money on this as just a writing class." (Maggie: Yeah) Like people will say that as opposed to like, it's, you know, not something that like makes sense. But (Maggie: Yeah) if you invest in an idea that you have. You like first of all, you get someone who had more information than you have, there are few more steps ahead. And you're literally showing your brain and the universe and the people around you, "This means a lot to me."

Maggie Daniels 13:45  

Yeah. I spent my last like $300 on that workshop at the time. I had nothing to my name. And I just went every every week. And it gave me so much life and it's it's literally changed my life. And I don't want to go back to not pursuing my dreams. And the thing is people don't feel comfortable asking for help, ask for help. No one knows what they're doing. Everyone use Google for spellcheck like c'mom. Like we're in an age of it's so easy to find your community because of access online. Like you can find somebody that matches your energy, that you can communicate with, that's going to have the answer, you're looking for. Just pat get get through that discomfort if you're like shy, intimidated, like everyone's awkward, you know what I mean? But if you're just being genuinely yourself, the whole fake it till you make it, is it's expired. Everyone wants kindness, everyone wants a genuine authenticity. So just be yourself and ask for help.

Lesley Logan 14:49  

Yeah ... yeah, well and I read the the book - Rejection Proof this year and Oh, Maggie put it on your book list. I mean, like you mentioned like, 'no isn't a bad thing.' He went on 100 day like rejection journey. And he came up with like creative ways like to get rejected so he can get over his fear of rejection, because that's what people have the fear. That's what's holding them all back. And we and I definitely want to get into your poetry because I think like that right there. Like every time you get up and speak poetry, I feel like it's like comedians, anyone who does stand up, like you're just putting yourself up there to be rejected, because not everyone's going to like what you do anyways. So anyway, but the book he like, did crazy things like he knocked on people's doors in Texas on a super on like a football Sunday. I was like, "Hey, can I go in your backyard and take a picture of me kicking a ball?" And like, people were like, "Yeah." You'd be surprised. Like, I had said earlier in the year, I want the specific person on my podcast, if you know, her, helped me out. And then I was just like, "I'm just going to ask her myself." And she said, (Maggie: Yeah) "Yes." And I'm interviewing her next week. So like, I think, we pre reject. We like put the rejection there before it's even even happened before like it can even happen and then we build up this, this event that's going to happen that even if people actually reject your idea won't be as bad as you just dream up in your head.

Maggie Daniels 16:13  

Dude and it always can even lead to something better. Like don't even if you get rejected by someone don't burn that it's not a burn bridge is professionalism. Like it's not a burn bridge, you can still maybe spark a friendship, like my favorite rejection that I've experienced so far. Because I didn't know what I was doing. I didn't know it was like, not appropriate till just like send someone your script. (Lesley laughs) I didn't know that. So I was just sending people my script that I thought vibed with the story. (Lesley: I love you.) Yeah. (Lesley: Love that so much.) Poems and shit. I didn't know. And so at the time, it was during the pandemic, and the comedian, Byron Bowers was doing like, Zoom meetings. And it's just like six or seven of us from around the world that met every week. And we all like, had like trauma problems, and we all bonded on trauma and stuff. And one day, he was talking about city life, and it reminded me in my film, so I just sent him the quick dropbox link on Instagram, DM, and he immediately sent me back like a whole lawyer response, like, 'blah, blah, blah.' And yeah, totally professional it's fine. But my heart went into my ass, okay, like I was so just cringe embarrassed. And then my husband was like, "Oh, it's no big deal. Like, that's just like what it is. It's just professionalism." He just reminded me and I breathed it out took some dabs. I was like, "okay, namaste." And then the next morning, I just hopped on the group chat, and it wasn't like one awkward or anything. It was just like, keep pushing. And long term like six few months later. I was in LA, we go on a hike. We ended up becoming really great friends. Like, really awesome, dude. I love comedians now. Comedians are like, my favorite human beings. Comedians and musicians have (Lesley: Yeah) have the best souls, I swear to God. (Lesley Yeah) But yeah, so that experience for me, just makes me not scared of 'no' anymore, because now he's like, I just I appreciate his friendship. Like, you know what I mean?

Lesley Logan 18:15  

Well, and also like, I think it's, I think it's so great that you just showed up because you didn't make it a thing. And I (Maggie: Yeah) think like, the things are only there because we make things ...

Maggie Daniels 18:27  

Exactly, I made it up in my head. He didn't have any thought. And you know, like, there was nothing registered.

Lesley Logan 18:33  

Yeah, he sent you that response. Because probably there like if he reads that. And then somehow he makes a film and you're like, "Hey, I have that line on my thing."

Maggie Daniels 18:41  

I know. I'm ... he explained it to me, it's a thing. It's a thing. (Lesley: It's a thing. It's a whole thing.) I didn't know.

Lesley Logan 18:45  

Yeah. And so you know, but like, I love that you shared the story. And I loved how I love how the story has progressed in your life, because it is something we can all remember, you know, (Maggie: Yeah) like, some like, I just think it's interesting. We, I think anybody listen to this, who has held themselves some whoppers. I think you should go into writing because (Maggie: Yeah) look at what, look at the stories you've made up ...

Maggie Daniels 19:08  

And you know what's crazy? Is S                                                                                          wimming probably wouldn't have happened if I didn't keep going to that Zoom meeting. Because we talked about some really deep stuff. And one day he started talking about like, writing writers, and he was just asking, because he knew some of us wrote poetry in the group and wrote whatever, then he knew I was a writer because I embarrassed the shit out myself. And he was asking, you know, like, how many times a day do you write and that was the conversation like, if you like and I said how often I write. He was like, "Oh, that's pretty. That's pretty like that's like, above average." You know? I was like, "Yeah, I do have a lot sitting around like, I should just like what am I doing? I'm just sleeping on it." So like, because of that conversation with Byron like that week I got Swimming together and ended up publishing it later in the year. And when we went on that hike in LA, I brought him a copy. And there's actually a poem I wrote about the Zoom meeting. It's called Zoom. And Swimming, it's called the Zoom. But yeah, it's I haven't kept showing up and getting that creative input and inspiration from my own community of related minds. (Lesley: Yeah) I don't think I would be on this interview right now talking about my book.

Lesley Logan 19:08  

Well, let's so let's talk about that. So so Swimming is your book. (Maggie: Yeah) And so and you know, and y'all can get it. We'll put it in the link in the in the notes below. But how? Okay, so you just started, like, you went to these meetings. (Maggie: Yeah) And he, he told you like, "Oh, you're writing more than the average person." (Maggie: Yeah.) And it's so again, we go back to like, we talked about this a lot in the podcast for those been listening for a long time. We keep talking about surrounding yourself with people, like you have got a community around like you, you put yourself in a creative network, and you showed up. (Maggie: Yeah) And you not only do you get feedback, but you get ideas. (Maggie: Yeah) And so, so not only had had that not happened, you wouldn't have this book. So what made, what was the process? And like, how, how did you talk yourself into publishing? Because putting it all together, as one thing, (Maggie: Yeah) put it out for the world to read is a whole other thing.

Maggie Daniels 20:56  

Yeah. Okay. So first, I went to Google, because that's my best friend. And I Googled, like, "How to Self Publish?" And I didn't want to do to do Amazon because everything like Amazon to me, it's just books get lost, I mean, their number one retailer for books, I don't hate on ... I love the Amazon. But I just didn't ...

We love Amazon, too. We got stuff on there, too. (Maggie: I just didn't want ...) In case Jeff is listening. Don't worry, Jeff.

Yeah. I just didn't want to get lost in the massiveness of it. (Lesley: Yeah) I just wanted it to be a book only thing. So I looked into Barnes & Noble. And Barnes & Noble, if you go through Barnes & Noble Press, you can publish, self publish. And so they (Lesley: I didn't know this.) the book. Yeah, it's amazing. They print the book. And they don't take that much. Like I told my cousin has been an author for many decades. And she only makes a couple cents. And she's got trilogies, she only makes a couple cents. And I make like almost $4 per book through Barnes & Noble Press.

Lesley Logan 22:25  

And also, y'all just so you know, when you see like, self publishing is, like, when it first came out, we're like, "Oh, yourself," like, it was a thing. But now like, (Maggie: Yeah) a lot of writers are self publishing. Because when you go through a publishing company, there is a lot more input on what you're writing. (Maggie: Yep.) And you have to sell whatever amount pass your advance before you start getting paid on it. So it's, anyways, it's really is like six one way half a dozen other of course, if you get published by a publishing house, you know, obviously, there's other things (Maggie: Yeah) can happen for you. But we self published, I did it through Amazon. And, you know, we on the we don't do the Kindle version, that's where we, so that's where ...

Maggie Daniels 23:09  

I couldn't figure out the formatting to save my life.

Lesley Logan 23:11  

Well. And also like, you I couldn't price the book at a place that would get me more than 99 cents. And I this was like, I this the actual everything that went into this, my team, myself everything, like I just, I want you to value this book, because I want you to read it. And I do believe that when you pay for things like your class, (Maggie: Yeah) it was like your last $300. I do believe that. Because from my own experience, like (Maggie: Yeah) I paid for college, so you better believe was in fucking every class. (Maggie: Yeah. Yeah.) I was like, "This class is cost me $700. I'm not fucking missing.") (Maggie: Yeah, exactly.) So I, um, so I just really wanted my book because it's for for business people to actually be something that they read. (Maggie: Yeah) So we print through Amazon. And then if you want the e-book, you get it through our site. So it's just just a little bit more under our control. But I think that's so cool. So (Maggie: Yeah) like, y'all, all she did was go to her best friend Google, 'how to self publish', and then did some research. And now you're, Barnes & Nobles that's a big fucking deal.

Maggie Daniels 24:09  

I know. I feel classy as shit everytime I say it. Yeah. But Barnes & Noble and I got picked on. I couldn't read as a kid. Okay, I learned how to read through reading poetry. It just clicked for my brain. And so to be in Barnes & Noble, it just blows my mind.

Lesley Logan 24:27  

Can we talk about that? Because you were were dyslexic. Correct? (Maggie: Yes. Yeah.) Yeah. And so that again, just another story we can tell ourselves about reading and writing. And you are a script writer, a film writer, and you have a book and and tell me, so what about poetry? Because like, that is that one I think is the most the writing genre that most people are misunderstood about what poetry actually is. And I think more people can be poets than we think.

Maggie Daniels 24:52  

Oh, man, the thing I love about poetry is there are no rules. And I think that's what drove, well, I didn't get go to college. I'm sure there are rules. I follow up poets that are in college on Twitter and don't know what the fuck they're talking about. So sorry in advance. (Lesley laughs) But to me growing up, I got the impression that there are no rules and poetry. And I used to get in arguments with English teachers, because I would get pop quizzes during Poetry Month. And they'd be like, "How is this line supposed to make you feel?" And I'm like, "You can't fucking do that." You can't like you can't, you know there's no correct answer in that. (Lesley: Right) It's gonna make you feel how it makes you feel. And it's already done it's work for the writer. So don't worry about how the writer wanted it to be. It's done (Lesley: Yeah) its work for them. It's all about how it makes you feel in the moment. And I would get really heated about that. But poetry just it clicks for my brain. My mom was really passionate about tutoring me after school and I had tutors during school. Hated it at the time, I would come home and be like, "It's killing me." Yeah, that was really dramatic.

Lesley Logan 25:56  

Yeah, that's hard. Oh, that has to be hard. I mean, like, nowadays, if you have if you're dyslexic, there's like the schools are ready for it. But I don't know (Maggie: Yeah) how old you are. I feel like we're about the same age and like, my uncle was dyslexic. He's a doctor. Right. (Maggie: Yeah) But like, he really struggled because no, people just thought he was like he couldn't read.

Maggie Daniels 26:14  

Yeah, they just want to put you in on the short bus.

Lesley Logan 26:16  

Yeah. They're like, "Oh, there's something wrong with this kid. He can't read." It's like, "No, he can't... He's dyslexic."

Maggie Daniels 26:21  

Yeah, I just can't read it at the level there reading at, it's fine. And then I learn all this stuff. And then you grow up. And then professional businesses are spelling shit wrong. I'm like, "What was this even for?"

Lesley Logan 26:33  

I know. I do whenever I see an error. And I think I was reading one of Oprah's recent books. And there I've read the sentence three times. I'm like, "That was the wrong word. That there's something wrong with this word, like it's missing an R or something's (Maggie: Yeah) wrong here." And I was like, and I laughed so hard. I was like, I am, you know, like, obviously, you don't want to have the, like, you could put the wrong word with the wrong meeting. So you (Maggie: Yeah) definitely have the right meaning in there. But you can also spell word wrong, and it's gonna be okay. Because people's brains are just scanning anyways.

Maggie Daniels 27:03  

So, you know, I went over with a toothpick, my book Swimming so many times, but there's still one misspelled word and it eats me alive. I won't say it ... But that's my bad.

Lesley Logan 27:16  

You know, maybe, but it's also a part of the poet, poetry of it, right? It's part of the creativity of it.

Maggie Daniels 27:21  

Yeah, whenever I send my script for edits to my producer, he's like, "So many edits and my ..."

Lesley Logan 27:29  

Well, we had another writer on and she said, was worried about grammar (Maggie: Ah fuck them, fuck grammer.) And somebody said, somebody said, there's but that's why there's writers and there's editors.

Maggie Daniels 27:40  

Editors. Yeah. That's not my department.

Lesley Logan 27:43  

Yeah, just like, you know, so oh, my goodness, Maggie, you are really awesome. I mean, you know that but I really, I really do love this authenticity that you you bring up and I think I've even if somebody listen to this is not a writer doesn't want to be a writer, like you can relate so much to your story, which is like, we all have had times in our life where we didn't think we're good enough. And we all need people to remind us that what we have is good. (Maggie: Yeah) And it's and it needs to be out there. And I'm just so grateful for the angels that were put into your life to make sure that you did this so that you could share your story with our listeners today. Because they need to hear you, they need to hear this.

Maggie Daniels 28:23  

Definitely, definitely makes you feel a little less alone in the world when someone says something that makes sense to you.

Lesley Logan 28:31  

Yeah, well, we're gonna take a quick little break and then we're gonna find out how people can find you, follow you and read all of your work. (Maggie: Awesome.)

All right, Maggie, where do you hang out? Are you on the socials? Where can people get to read more of your work in here and what are you up to?

Maggie Daniels 28:48  

maggielogic.com has all the links to my socials. Instagram is at @maggielogic, and you can buy Swimming at barnesandnoble.com. I'm currently sold out on maggielogic.com. I gotta order some more books. (Lesley: Yeah) But you can also check out the really awesome audio book on all music streaming services, Spotify, iTunes, YouTube, Amazon Music, all of them. It's really awesome. I teamed up with the composers Corey Campbell and Jenna Desmond out of Charleston, South Carolina and Mike Henderson and out of Colorado for recording studio. And it's masterpiece. I'm reading it and my my friends joke with me. They're like, "Who'd you, who'd you get to read your book." And I was like, "Me, I say it that in the beginning. And it's me." (Lesley laughs) I was in character. And that was the first time I read the book from cover to cover. And it was it was it was it took its toll. I did take some breaks. It was emotional. So shout out to voice ... voice-over artists. It's a lot.

Lesley Logan 29:51  

Yeah, that's that's a skill that I think a lot of be like, "Oh, I should like I should be a voice-over person." Like ...

Maggie Daniels 29:57  

It takes a lot out of you. It really does. (Lesley: Yeah) It really does. (Lesley: Yeah) It was fun. It was fun. It was fun.

Lesley Logan 30:02  

I hope that you do more work. I hope that you, I hope this is first of many, and (Maggie: Oh yeah. I got two more books coming out.) Ah, okay, keep us posted on that. (Maggie: Will do.) I definitely, I'm really excited about what you're doing. Okay. So before we let you go, BE IT action items, bold, executable, intrinsic or targeted steps people can take to be it till they see it. What do you have?

Maggie Daniels 30:24  

Definitely, number one, find your people because when you have your low days, you need that extra motivation and always show up for them and they'll show up for you. And number two, I would microdose your tasks. So just like working out 10 or 20 sounds a lot but you can do five and five sounds a lot, you can do four. So like just a couple minutes a notepad if you'd like to write or I just sometimes just write notes on my phone, you always have your phone on you. If that's your genre, you know if you want to write but yeah, just microdose your tasks and yeah.

Lesley Logan 31:01  

I like that. I like that a lot. Okay, Maggie, you're amazing. Thank you for being here and thank you for sharing your story and all that you're up to. I'm leaving very inspired. I hope everyone listening is, well how are you going to use these tips in your life. Tag @maggielogic, tag the @be_it_pod. Let us know and please share this podcast with someone. If you don't know how to share it on the on the gram, I get it like not everyone's a professional, social media person then text it, screenshot it, send it however you can because not only does it help our our guests out, it helps the podcasts up but most importantly helps all of the people in your life out. You know if everybody is getting this powerful inspiration dose each day, then the world is a much better place. So until next time everyone, Be It Till You See It.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai

A big happy birthday to our 40-year old, dad joking co-host, Brad! Join in today's convo to hear Brad and LL’s perspective of bringing each of your experiences with you to the next, discovering your strengths and then translating them into other positions in life. 

If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at [email protected] .

And as always, if you’re enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe.

In this episode you will learn about:

• Finding your strengths with StrengthFinder 2.0 
• Surrounding yourself with people who help create and support opportunities for your dream
• Ignore the odds
• Therapy, it's like laundry. Do it often.
• Someone is going to do it. Make it be you. 

Episode References/Links:

• StrengthsFinder 2.0

If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox.

Resources

• Watch the Be It Till You See It podcast on YouTube!
• Lesley Logan website
• Be It Till You See It Podcast
• Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan
• Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan on YouTube
• Profitable Pilates

Social Media

• Instagram
• Facebook
• LinkedIn

Episode Transcript:

Lesley Logan 0:25  

Welcome back to the Be It Till You See It interview recap where my co host in life, Brad and I are going to dig into the candid convo I had with John Mollura in our last episode. If you haven't yet listened that interview, feel free to pause this now. Go back and listen to that one. And then come back and join us. You know what I saw something? Today, I was trying to listen to a podcast and it had a part two. And I was like, "Ah, I don't want to listen to part two I want to listen to part one." (Brad: Okay) So here's what you do, everyone this is for obviously, just for the one, the one way to listen to podcasts. But on the Apple, you can actually hit the little three dots, the little ellipses on the episode in your listen now. And then you can actually it'll have a bunch of options that go to podcast. And it will take you to all the episodes of that pod. And then you can drop down one below in case your podcast load up like mine, which is the newest one first, which might be the recap and not the original. Just so you know and just a little instruction, the ...

Brad Crowell 1:19  

I love where you're going with this.

Lesley Logan 1:20  

Yeah. Anyways, happy birthday, Brad.

Brad Crowell 1:23  

Hey, thank you. Thank you so much.

Lesley Logan 1:26  

It took you 40 years to lift this guy. (Brad laughs) Spoiler alert, I tried to order you that shirt and they're sold out.

Brad Crowell 1:34  

I'm so happy that they're sold out.

Lesley Logan 1:37  

I think he looks so cute in it.

Brad Crowell 1:39  

Oh, thanks. (Lesley: Anyways) I do not need that shirt.

Lesley Logan 1:41  

Brad is 40. (Brad: 40) And all week long, my father has been letting him know.

Brad Crowell 1:48  

Oh, it mercilessly. (Lesley: Since ...) Every time I go, he goes, "Looks like you're getting close to 40. What's the name of almost 40?" (Lesley and Brad laughs) 

Lesley Logan 2:00  

Yeah, so this year, my mom turned 60, my dad turned 70. Brad turned 40. And the rest of us are going backwards in time. So sucks to be you. No kidding. (Lesley laughs)

Brad Crowell 2:09  

No. We're going we're also going to jump off a building.

Lesley Logan 2:13  

Yeah, you keep saying that. So y'all in Vegas, there is this situation on top of the stratosphere. And you pay a lot of money.

Brad Crowell 2:25  

The Strat is like the second tallest building in town. Maybe the tallest building in town, not even sure.

Lesley Logan 2:29  

I mean, it was from the 80s. So is it any of those things anymore? Who knows? But the reality is, is you can see it from space. And you can see it from our living room. And you can see people on the little rides. But ... (Brad: No, you could see it from space.) Yeah, that's what my Uber driver said and that you know, they're always correct.

Brad Crowell 2:45  

It's like the internet. It must be true.

Lesley Logan 2:47  

Where you should get your information. It's also the same Uber driver who knew what the inside of our house look like before it was remodeled. That was weird. (Brad: Yeah, that was weird.) That was weird. Anyways. Okay. So you're on the stratosphere, and you can pay a lot of money for them. It's not a bungee jump. It's more of like, you're connected to a cable that's ... (Brad: It's like a freefall.) Yeah, it's a freefall, which sounds so scary. And so a person I had dinner with, I was at dinner with Strong Fitness Magazine and somebody there with just did it and he showed me his the video because they put a GoPro on you. And so he was, he fainted at the top. So in the video he is out, he is falling, his out and then when he comes to, he just screams F U to the friend that signed him up, that 's the video. (Brad and Lesley laughs) Anyways, so that's a Brad, my Dad and possibly some other people are gonna do. I want to say I'll do it, but I'm gonna sit and tell you right now I just nothing's gears. I don't want to wet my pants. That is my biggest fear. Like I pee because I'm so scared. (Brad and Lesley laughs) Just coming all the way down. Anyways, happy birthday, Brad. (Brad: Thank you so much.) I love you so much and I'm so happy you're just a tad bit older than me.

Brad Crowell 3:58  

Somehow, I think I'll be able to maintain that.

Lesley Logan 4:01  

I love it. I love it so much. Okay, we do have an audience question.

Brad Crowell 4:06  

We do, which is so fun. And you can wish me a happy birthday or ask an audience question at the @be_it_pod on IG. (Lesley: Yeah, on the gram.) Just shoot us a DM. The question that we had this week was, "What is the quiz you took that told the two of you your strengths?" (Lesley: Yeah. So we ...) We probably alluded to about 4000 times.

Lesley Logan 4:29  

4000 times (Brad: Yeah) and just enough for people to go, I need to do that and then not know we talked about. So, this is great question. I love this getting this question because I, Brad and I are like obsessed with with the Strength Finders 2.0. So that is the qu... Is that a quiz?

It's not really a quiz. It's a test. (Lesley: It's a long time ...) No, it's like 25 minutes, 30 minutes.

What is the difference between a quiz and a test, length of time? The score ...

Brad Crowell 4:55  

That is a great question. (Lesley: The scores and tasks on your brain.) I think that it's a quest. (Lesley laughs)

Lesley Logan 5:02  

You're such a dad joke hit 40. (Brad laughs) And now, you're a dad joker.

Brad Crowell 5:09  

That's amazing. I'm proud of my dad joke skills even though I'm, no, I'm not really a dad.

Lesley Logan 5:14  

Quizzes are shorter than tests, whereas the test may have 50 questions or more, a quiz ... 10 or fewer questions. And by the way, when I was typing, what is the difference between a queue? It was quiz and a test or a quiche and a frittata ... (Brad and Lesley laughs)

Brad Crowell 5:30  

Thank you Google. (Lesley: Thank you Google.) What's the difference between a quiche and a test?

Lesley Logan 5:35  

Okay, so um, so anyways, it's Strength Finders 2.0. (Brad: Yes) It's a gallup thing.

Brad Crowell 5:40  

Yeah, gallup, g a l l u p, gallup.

Lesley Logan 5:43  

You don't have to read the book. Although there is a book that kind of explains why these different strengths matter and how different CEOs have put their strengths together. And we were just out having dinner with Michael Unbroken who was episode 100, something. And he was like, "You guys like Strength Finders 2.0?" We actually talked about why we liked it. So basically, for us, knowing our top strengths kind of allows you to realize like, you are a little bit more able to apply your strengths to different things like you might be thinking, you're really strong in this one job, and you're not sure you can switch over, but when you know your strengths, you know how you can switch it, you can apply those strengths in different roles. So Brad was a musician, but he realized that his strengths, were actually things that a CEO or CEO could use.

Brad Crowell 6:29  

Yes, Michael was 105.

Lesley Logan 6:31  

Thank you, 105. Thanks, Google. (Lesley laughs) This episode brought to you by not them. So anyways, um, so that's to me why it's really important for you to know also for us, since we do have people on our team, we, we knowing our strengths allows us to hire people that are not a duplicate of us, because that would be that would be a nightmare for the team if there was too many. 

Brad Crowell 6:54  

Well, I think I think I can honestly say that taking this test, this quest 'changed my life.' Because when I was first took it in 2010. I'd been in Los Angeles for only two and a half years. And I was worried. My concern was, what if I don't become rich and famous from playing music? What am I gonna go do with my life? What do I just like move home? And like, I don't know, work at a bank or something? I don't know where. Because I was like, that's supposed to be where the money is at the bank? (Lesley: If you're gonna say. Oh my God. I don't think so.) I think I would be the best bank teller ever. I would be having a party and everyone would be like, "Dude, just do your job."

Lesley Logan 7:37  

Yeah, you, therefore the worse. But everyone would love you.

Brad Crowell 7:39  

Probably, the worst at my job. So anyway, I didn't know I that's the only thing I could imagine for myself. And I was like, I don't know, I don't know what to do if like, I don't sell a million albums. And this quest really helped me ...

Lesley Logan 7:54  

Just in case you didn't follow the quiz and a test is a quest.

Brad Crowell 7:57  

quantify, what I was doing in life into a, a skill that I could actually verbalize. For example, I was the guy behind the band, doing all the business stuff, booking the gigs, getting, you know, getting the marketing material together, actually promoting it, going out convincing people to show up, when we get to the venue, we'd be there early, I'd be hauling all the gear inside, it'd be connecting all the microphone cables and all the stuff and then at the end of the show, we would go to the venue and then we'd get paid, right? And it was like a whole, there's all these other things that happen around the band, that don't actually have anything to do with playing. Right. And I was doing ...

Lesley Logan 8:43  

He did play too, by the way. He said he's the man behind the band, but he's also the man in the band.

Brad Crowell 8:47  

Yeah, it was in the band, too. But basically, I had to do all these other things. And I didn't really, I never really understood that what I was doing was operations. And so when I took the Strengths Finders quest, what made me realize is that ... (Lesley: I just, can you imagine ...) For those of you who can't see, she's shaking her head.

Lesley Logan 9:08  

Yeah. Now, look, here's this, they're not like we're not affiliated with them ... (Brad laughs) This is not ... the promo. (Brad: When ...) Though it's not the copy. It's not the copy.

Brad Crowell 9:18  

It allowed me to tangibly identify what I was doing in a way that I could explain it to someone who isn't doing music, because that anybody else who's doing music, like, of course, you're going to haul the gear from the place to the other thing, of course, you have to rehearse, of course to do all these things. You know, it's just part of the game. But if you're not in a band, you might not really understand that and I certainly was not able to properly connect the dots for what I was doing, potentially being a viable hire at a company somewhere. (Lesley: That was not music like just that you could ...) Right. (Lesley: Yeah) And in fact, I didn't end up like the company that I ended up working for was a startup company and I ended up being the liaison between the CEO, the design team and the dev team because of my communication skills, and one of my top five strengths is communication. (Lesley: Yeah) And so, you know, I never would have understood, "Am I qualified to do this?" Well, maybe I've never done it before. But I can tell you that I'm really good at communicating and listening and understanding what they need. And I can go and I can communicate that to the rest of the team. And so, you know, it was just one of those really revealing moments.

Lesley Logan 10:27  

I think you all should do it. I think it's so important to know. I mean, there's so many tests out there, they all tell you different things about yourself. But like, even for me, I was I always struggled to understand like, why couldn't just do like, I'm like, "Oh, yeah, that's not I could do that." And I wouldn't like doing it. And so it's one of my strengths is significance. I like have to be do some, that means something, like everything I do, has to be bigger than the task. And it drives me crazy. But I also now understand like, well, that's a strength that I naturally have. (Brad: Yeah) And so no wonder I'm frustrated when the task is just like, kind of not impacting the world. I'm like, this isn't this isn't my strengths wise. So it just helps you make more sense of yourself. So take it and then let us know tag us and your top five. We want to know.

Brad Crowell 11:10  

Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. If you go take this test, this quest because of speaking with us, the you know what, we're gonna put a link in the show notes. If you want to go take this quest, I recommend it. And basically, we want to know what your top five strengths are. So you can you can just ig them to us, ig is IG. (Lesley: Oh my gosh.) So, now really going down. (Lesley: No, no we are not making that a word.) That was a bad one, that was a bad one. (Lesley: No, not and that ... winner.) I can see. That was that was pretty weak. You can just DM, you can DM them to us on the ig. (Brad laughs)

Lesley Logan 11:43  

No! No, no, you got to make one word up. You don't get to make three words up. It's like it's like multiplicity.

Brad Crowell 11:51  

Hey, it's my birthday. I can make up words.

Lesley Logan 11:53  

Happy birthday. I think no, I think in the fine print on birthdays, you could make it one word. Anyway ...

Brad Crowell 11:59  

Anyway, check the show notes. Really, I couldn't recommend it enough, 'Changed my life.' Okay. So ... (Lesley: Okay, let's talk about John.) Now then, let's talk about John Mollura, a travel enthusiast, ex NASA engineer and a lover of photography. John Mollura left the safety net of his government job become a multi award winning luxury portrait photographer, and he now works to empower individuals through portraits. And as a huge proponent of overcoming impostor syndrome to live out your dreams.

Lesley Logan 12:30  

I have to just share this I won't say who but one person on our team actually messaged us before you listen to this podcast and tell me all the things that she thought about it. And so way to go, John, the team was listening and talking about the pod before the pod was even released. (Brad: Yeah, our team.) Yeah, our team. Yeah. Yeah. So I mean, it was a great, he's a great person, and we're gonna all all go to Delaware and get our photos taken. (Brad: Oh) But I wonder if he'll drive out here to hang it because that ...

Brad Crowell 13:00  

Right, right, right. That'll be impressive, John.

Lesley Logan 13:02  

Yeah, cuz I would like to see how long it's gonna take ...

Brad Crowell 13:04  

Yeah and he also have helps out with wardrobe selection. So (Lesley: Yeah) you know, you're welcome to come to Vegas and do those things. That'd be so fucking ... (Lesley: I think you can do that on Zoom.)

Lesley Logan 13:13  

Anyways, okay. So something I love that he said is surrounding yourself with people who have been where you are. So he was talking about specifically investing in people who have gone through where you are, and listen to their advice and past. (Brad: Yeah) And, of course, I love this because obviously, we are coaches and we coach people, on past we've gone down, and But truly, I think so many people are like, "I gotta pull myself up by my bootstraps. I got to forge my own path. I gotta do it like this." Let me just tell you, it's so much easier if you get someone that you trust to be someone who invest your time and money in because you'll show up as a different person. And you'll actually take the advice. Like, for example, we go around and I have tons of people, friends who like have asked us questions, and we'd like given them a little bit of business advice or two, not a single one of them has applied any of it. And when we see them a year later, they're literally asking, they're be like, "I know, you told me to do blah, blah, blah." And I'm like, "Yeah, a year ago, I charge a lot of money for that advice and you ..." But because they didn't invest in it, they didn't put value on it. (Brad: Sure) And so I just, you don't have to do this these things alone and in almost any industry, except for maybe I don't know something in NASA. Someone has gone on the journey, even if it's not identical, even if it's like yes, I'm I'm a Pilates teacher who does business coaching but ...

Brad Crowell 14:31  

Even the guy, even even in NASA, (Lesley: Yeah) because he basically got brought under the wing of a guy who was like, "I like this kid. You know, he's somebody I could hang with." And then that became John's mentor.

Lesley Logan 14:47  

Yeah. So I just, I, I swear to you, every person that I see doing something I want to be doing, they all have a coach, they've all invested, they put themselves (Brad: Yeah) around and also put themselves in groups. So it wasn't just a one on one coach, but into a mastermind with other people (Brad: Sure) support them, hold them accountable, show them that there are opportunities out there that you may not even have dreamed of. And so if you are stuck, if you are not where you want to be, then I say surround yourself with people. Well, he said it and I agree. (Lesley laughs)

Brad Crowell 15:19  

Yeah, I mean, when you when you are around other people, you're constantly ideating, you're constantly growing, you're learning, you're referring things to each other, because you're all doing 'it', whatever 'it' might be. And, and then when you have a mentor, who's been where you are, that's the, that's like really a part of it is they know how much effort it takes, they know, you know, they, they're not going to sugarcoat it, they are going to be real with you, because they believe in you. And they know that this is something that can be done, probably because they did it already. And you know, there they are, where they were, or they are where you want to be. And so you know, obviously you're going to learn a lot from somebody in that position.

Lesley Logan 16:07  

Yeah. What did you like?

Brad Crowell 16:08  

So, clearly, I loved the Star Wars connection. And in fact, there's a whole lot more of a connection. By the way, side, total total side note, I laughed out loud when his wife said, your, your your skin looks the color of a, what did he say, wet ashtray right now? Because he hated his job. And he was just like, down the he was miserable. Right. And she said, she said, I laughed so hard, you know.

Lesley Logan 16:38  

I heard I heard you laugh out loud. Also, speaking of Star Wars, did I tell you that Jason went to the star... Jason Frazell from another podcast? He went to the Star Wars thing.

Brad Crowell 16:49  

No, down in Florida. Oh, yeah. (Lesley: Without you.) Everybody do that, without me. (Lesley laughs) Damn it J.

Ah, that's okay. You can go with John. I'm sure he will go. 

I can go with John ... (Lesley: Anyways) So, so he started to talk about the story about the Nat Geo. And how he, when he was younger was like, "Wow, how amazing would it be? If I were to be able to be a National Geographic." And the odds are like, you know, like, microscopic, right? You basically, it's like trying to become a basketball player. Right. There's like one in one of their, like, 400 basketball players in the world or something, or in the US, anyway, and professional, I mean. And that, that's like, basically the odds of getting your, your photo published by Nat Geo. And he said, his hero, one of his heroes was (Lesley: 3% chance of becoming a basketball player.) 3% chance. Okay, (Lesley: Yeah) this seems even smaller.

Lesley Logan 17:44  

And less than less than 2% for women. So

Brad Crowell 17:46  

Han Solo has a famous line in the movie where he says, "Never tell me the odds." And And so John had pinned that above on his board, were like, above the Nat Geo thing, "Never tell me the odds." And he didn't say how many years later. But that was always there in the back of his mind that he's working on it. And he's submitting things and he's doing all the things. And sure enough, they eventually published or included one of his photos and something, which is amazing. It is so incredible, is like the biggest bragging rights of a photographer to have. But, you know, since then, he's really taking that model to heart. You know, don't tell me the odds.

Lesley Logan 18:29  

I want that a poster on our wall. I can go above our new couch goal that we got.

Brad Crowell 18:33  

I'm in it. (Lesley: Yeah, I'm in. I'm in.) I'm in on it.

Lesley Logan 18:36  

I'm in. He's in it.

Brad Crowell 18:37  

I'm in it people. (Lesley: He's in it.) I'm in the downtown if you ask. (Brad and Lesley laughs)

Lesley Logan 18:43  

I'm sure there's a couple letters that make Brad in there. (Brad: Oh man.) Anyways ...

Brad Crowell 18:48  

I love it. So that was a that was I I don't think (Lesley: Well, you know ...) I've never really talked about this, but I almost went to college for photography. (Lesley: Did you really?) Yeah, yeah. (Lesley: I didn't know that about you.) Yeah, it was music or photography, and I ended up doing music.

Lesley Logan 19:03  

And now you do photography.

Brad Crowell 19:05  

And now I do ... Well that's because I was I've always been passionate about it. And and Star Wars and but yeah anyway,

Lesley Logan 19:13  

Well, John (Brad: good times) you know, made me think because my brain just went, "I'm gonna take you on the journey out." He said he's go... he wanted to go to photography in college if it wasn't music and my brain went to on Cambodia. He takes all of our pictures. And then it made me think that like John needs to come to Cambodia to take pictures because Peach could teach him a ...

Brad Crowell 19:31  

Oh, she could. Oh, yeah, our tour guide is a wizard.

Lesley Logan 19:35  

A wizard. Home girl knows how to use the iPhone in ways that Apple hasn't even taught us. I'm just gonna call it they've never said this. It's it's amazing.

Brad Crowell 19:45  

And we're not revealing her secrets. You're gonna have to come with us. (Lesley: You have to come.) Yeah. (Lesley: You have to come.)

Lesley Logan 19:50  

I do love that quote. I'm gonna keep it and remember it and even though it wasn't a BE IT action item. I think we should all like BE IT action item number one, never go look at the odds because ...

Brad Crowell 20:00  

Never tell me the odds.

Lesley Logan 20:01  

Well, because like, I think if every single person listening to this is like thought back about some of their accomplishments. I bet you all have beat me odds in some way or another. Right. (Brad: Sure) ... just so you know, the fact that you exist on this planet is a beat of the odds, because it's like one and 72 million sperm or something like that, that has to hit a particular one of them. Like, it's you beat the odds just by being born. (Brad: That's true.) Yeah. (Brad: This is true.) Anyways, um, but I'm down with it. And we should just like put on a shirt.

Brad Crowell 20:33  

All right. All right. All right. Finally, let's talk about those BE IT action items. What bold, executable, intrinsic or targeted action items can we take away from your convo with John Mollura? (Lesley: It's your birthday.) It is my birthday. So I'm take.. I'm jumping in. So he talks about overcoming the negative voices in your head. And I don't think that it was easy for him. And I don't think that it's something that's like 100% of the way either, because he talked a lot about it during the webinar that he did for our Agency members. But he mentioned therapy. And he said, it's one of the it was a really challenging thing for him to embrace. And the reason is, because he's very self sufficient. Right? So and he made this again, hilarious joke of like, "John, you need some help out there." And he's like, "No, no, it's cool. I got I got it's just a little awkward." You know, and, and that's his mentality for approaching everything, "Do it myself. I got this. I don't need any help." And I think that, what he transitioned that into, to therapy and why he went or how hard it was to go get therapy. But when he finally did, how powerful it was for for, you know, his own self talk, and how that began to make changes in the way that he thinks about himself talks, you know, to himself, and then how that's impacted him today.

Lesley Logan 22:03  

Yeah, I mean, again, therapy, it's like laundry. Do it often.

Brad Crowell 22:09  

Everybody needs to do it.

Lesley Logan 22:10  

 Everyone needs to do it. Everyone needs to do it. Okay,

Brad Crowell 22:14  

What about you?

Lesley Logan 22:14  

I loved this. He said, like, somebody told them, like, "Somebody's going to do it. Why not you?" And I know you could say like, you can say that in many different ways. But the truth is, is like, let's just because the podcast with positivity, "Somebody's gonna do it. Why not you?" Why not you? Because I say this all the time to our and on Profitable Pilates for our business coaching, you are the only person who can do what you do the way that you do it. (Brad: Yeah) You're it because every single one of us has a life experience that is not duplicatable. (Brad: No) Even if you have a twin who did the entire life with you. You still have different personalities, you still have, like you, there's still different things you resonate with. And so I just, I know so many of you are thinking of all these different excuses of why you can't do what you want to do, or why you're not taking the next steps. But or why even you like who are you to do these things. But you're it,you're the only person who can do it. So why not you? And I just I think whenever your negative self talk is saying like, "Oh, no, you can't do it." And go, "Why can't I do it?"

Brad Crowell 23:22  

Well, I think that also like reading it again, someone's got it. Someone is going to do it. (Lesley: Yeah) You know, so someone's got to do it. But someone is going to do it. So why not you? Right. So and what I think he was talking about was quitting his job and making six figures as a photographer.

Lesley Logan 23:22  

Yeah, cuz someone's gonna make six figures.

Brad Crowell 23:41  

Someone's gonna do it. (Lesley: Yeah.) So why not you.

Lesley Logan 23:44  

Well, there's photographers making seven figures. (Brad: I'm sure, 100%) Yeah. (Brad: Yeah) So why not you? So whatever is keeping you back like, why can't why is it, why is it that you can't be the person?

Brad Crowell 23:54  

Yeah. You know, and that, and that's like, what he said was that, that stuck with him. It was a offhand comment from somebody that, you know, he knew and, and he said, over the years, he's brought that back (Lesley: Yeah) many times as, as kind of like a, it's almost like a mic drop. You know, like, when, when, when you're in self doubt, like, "Oh, you know, I am not qualified on that, that thing or whatever." And it's like, well, someone's going to do it. Why not you? (Lesley: Yeah.) Yeah.

Lesley Logan 24:24  

Yeah. Well, with that, mic is dropped. (Brad: Boom) I'm Lesley Logan.

Brad Crowell 24:29  

And I'm Brad Crowell.

Lesley Logan 24:30  

Thank you so much for joining us today. How are you going to use these tips in your life?

Brad Crowell 24:34  

These 40 year old tips in your life?

Lesley Logan 24:35  

Yes, because it took him 40 years to get to quest (Brad: to boom) By the way, we are so freaking grateful for you. (Brad: Yes) We really are. I love, I love that we did make this podcast for you. And I love your DMs. I love the way you share these BE IT action items. I love the screenshots you send me. So keep them coming, keep your questions coming and send us a DM to the @be_it_pod on Instagram and let John and us know what you're going to do with these tips. And until next time, Be It Till You See It.

Brad Crowell 25:02  

Bye for now.

Lesley Logan 25:02  

That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review. And follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcasts. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the @be_it_pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it help us and others BE IT TILL YOU SEE IT. Have an awesome day! 

'Be It Till You See It' is a production of 'As The Crows Fly Media'. 

Brad Crowell 25:02  

It's written produced, filmed and recorded by your host Lesley Logan and me, Brad Crowell. Our Associate Producer is Amanda Frattarelli. 

Lesley Logan 25:02  

Kevin Perez at Disenyo handles all of our audio editing. 

Brad Crowell 25:02  

Our theme music is by Ali at APEX Production Music. And our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi. 

Lesley Logan 25:02  

Special thanks to our designer Jaira Mandal for creating all of our visuals (which you can't see because this is a podcast) and our digital producer, Jay Pedroso for editing all video each week so you can. 

Brad Crowell 25:02  

And to Angelina Herico for transcribing each of our episodes so you can find them on our website. And, finally to Meridith Crowell for keeping us all on point and on time.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai

There is no quick fix in whatever endeavor you are working on. It’s determination, acknowledgement, and a whole lot of self trust. This week's conversation is a testament that wherever your life path takes you, there is time to adjust, to chase the things on your heart, and to overcome the negative voices that are holding you back. 

If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at [email protected] .

And as always, if you’re enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe.

In this episode you will learn about:

• From summer jobs to NASA 
• Stop listening to the odds of success and take action 
• Noble obstacles and the weight of responsibility 
• Surrounding yourself with the people who have been where you are 
• Overcoming Imposter syndrome and mental health struggles 
• Creating the right space for empowerment 

Episode References/Links:

• Instagram
• Mollura Photo Website
• Facebook
• Johns Course on Profitable Pilates...COMING SOON :)

BIO: 

John is a multi-award-winning luxury portrait photographer specializing in empowering and creative portraits that create personal transformation. John’s backstory is one that exudes personal transformation. Prior to becoming a full-time photographer, John had a successful fifteen-year career as a leading test engineer for NASA and military projects. However, after a series of personal and professional changes, he chose to follow his dream of becoming a photographer.

If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox.

Resources

• Watch the Be It Till You See It podcast on YouTube!
• Lesley Logan website
• Be It Till You See It Podcast
• Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan
• Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan on YouTube
• Profitable Pilates

Social Media

• Instagram
• Facebook
• LinkedIn

Episode Transcript:

Lesley Logan 0:00  

Hey, Be It listener, how are you? Have you ever had a plan not go as planned? I guess it's not really anything like, how have you ever had something not go as planned? There it is. Um, yeah, me too. I think that's actually helped plans go. I'm, I'm becoming more increasingly convinced that plans are only meant to like be like the compass that gets you started. And then the rest is kind of figure it out as you go. And, and that's the hard part because we all want certainty. And we all really want to know that, like, if I do this, and this is going to happen. And the more people I interviewed, the more I am noticing a strong theme and that a) things don't go the way we expect. And b) sometimes, not sometimes, every time something is happening is happening for you. And it's setting you off on this track and this, and this journey that you are meant to be on. And I'm so grateful that our next guest cross paths and our like our paths cross because he's super cool. I really I really liked him. I I think Brad and I will be friends with him for hopefully a long time because he is just an inspiration. And he share so passionately and authentically his story. And I really believe that you can learn so much from it. So he when you'll hear in the interview, but this is the person whose plan A didn't go and then plan B didn't go and like, of course you get down and depressed. And you find yourself doing a job. You're like, "Why am I doing this?" Like, "Why am I doing this?" And that's the thing, that's the thing that actually makes you shine a little differently, shine a little brighter become something that somebody else pays attention to. And and it completely changes trajectory of your life. And so please don't underestimate the crazy weird jobs you've ever had to do, or the experiences you've ever had. Because those experiences, those weird jobs, those weird skill sets, literally might be the reason and the thing someone is looking for to hire you or to spring you on to their show or to or to have you speak in front of their audience. Like those are the things, too often we're looking for the degrees or the certifications or, or you know, some sort of like title with letters after it that we think is going to be why someone picks us. But it could literally be the weird thing you did one summer. And so stop under estimating yourself. Give yourself some time to write down all the things you've ever done. And think about it as you listen to this interview with John because I think it's really powerful. And I'm really excited for you to hear from him how he became a rocket scientist. And now he is a really well sought after photographer and I can't wait to work with him. So that's going to happen, I'm putting on my list for this year. All right. So let me know how this interview impacts your life. Please let John and I know, tag us on Instagram. Share this with people that need to hear it and here he is.

Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast, where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guests will bring Bold, Executable, Intrinsic and Targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started.

All right, my loves. I have John Mollura with us. I didn't say your name, right. John Mollura. (John: You got it.) How do you say it? John Mollura?

John Mollura 0:25  

Just like you said it. Mollura. Yeah.

Lesley Logan 0:28  

I do this all the time, like I, I 100% check names and like, "Oh, I know his name we're good." And then I'm like, "Did I say it, right?" And it's anyways, it's my own thing. Everyone, we have John Mollura here. And I am so excited from literal rockstar to incredible photographer, and he has an amazing story. And I'm just so happy our paths crossed, I really have to say, you know, I put out a thing like, "Hey, I'm looking for this," and you put yourself up there. And then when you're like, "Oh, here's the topic that I'm going to talk about." It made me laugh because I'm like, "How on earth could you talk about impostor syndrome when you had like no imposter syndrome with of like saying, 'Hey, I'm the person you should talk to.'" So John, thank you for being here on this podcast. I really am excited to talk about all the things that you rock at. Can you please tell everyone a little bit about how you became like a rocket scientist to a photographer? (Lesley and John laughs) Not exactly like the linear plan that I think people would expect?

John Mollura 1:24  

Well, the key was I didn't really have any life plan. And that's something that I've just kind of done. So exhibit A, you know the podcast like I just, even though I wrestled with impostor syndrome, and pretty severe anxiety, a lot of my life. I just always had that pioneer spirit, if you will, or I would just, I'd rather be, you know, on the tip of the spear, the first person going in because I get bored, so easy. And I'd rather just put myself out there. And just try something, (Lesley: Yeah) with risk being, you know, just bored and static. So ...

Lesley Logan 2:04  

So you're saying you could never have just like, worked behind a cubicle doing the same thing every day? You're ...

John Mollura 2:10  

That lasted nine months ... (John laughs)

Lesley Logan 2:12  

Oh, hey that's longer than I think I lasted when somebody tried to ask. I was like, "I don't think I'm really good at this." (Lesley laughs)

John Mollura 2:19  

Yeah, yeah, that came right at the end where I where I jumped ship on corporate world after 16 years and start doing photography full time. But backing up, yeah, so I used to be a literal rocket scientist. I lead test missions for NASA and the Department of Defense from Antarctica on projects to England. You know, garden spots, like, you know, Sandusky, Ohio in February. It was literally all over the map. And the way I fell into that job was my buddies and I were sitting around Penn State, senior year, probably, like some wing and beer night. And a call came for people to interview for the company. I made the spacesuit for NASA. And I say, I'm gonna ...

Lesley Logan 3:05  

Wait. (John: Yeah) Wait, hold on. I'm sorry. You're just having wings and beer. And they're like, "Hey, there's this job to work for NASA. We're you qualified for this?" (Lesley laughs)

John Mollura 3:15  

Oh, I felt I wasn't because although I did, I did okay in school. School never came real easy for me, in engineering school, for those of you that are familiar with is an absolute grind. It whenever we sat in our freshman orientation, they said, "Look to the person to the left to you and the person to your right. And they're going to wash out in the next four years. One (Lesley: What a pep talk.) of you, two of you three." Yeah. Yeah, I mean, it was like, it was like signing up for you know, buds with the Navy seals, it's like, "Pretty much all of you are not going to be able to make it. So good luck."

Lesley Logan 3:47  

Okay, so here's what I can tell you. Absolutely, very few people listen to this podcast, probably are familiar with engineering schools. (John: Right) I don't know. No offense to the ones who are so. So you did go to engineering school. (John: Yeah.) Okay. And then you're having the wings and beers. And then you see that this is job with this company who made the NASA outfits.

John Mollura 4:06  

Yeah, the spacesuits like since like the Apollo days. (Lesley: It's a real thing.) Yeah, the real deal. Yeah, not the stuff you know, for soundstage like the stuff they actually put on the rocket and you know, allegedly landed on the moon with you know, depending on which side of the fence you fall on (Lesley: Yeah) the debate. But so I sent my resume in as a joke like thinking like there's no way like this company is ever going to want to hire me. And sure enough, they did, they want to do a phone interview. You know, this was back in the late 90s. So like, there was no FaceTime, no Zoom, like I was sitting on my shared landline in my fraternity house. And yeah, there were some guys like you know, ... next dorm sitting there on a phone interview talking to ... (Lesley: NASA) Yeah, yeah. (Lesley: No big deal.) Yeah, no big deal. And I was interviewing to be like a project manager, which I had no clue what that would be. And knowing what I know now, that would have and awful fit, I would have been terrible that. And the summer before I applied when I was I think a junior in school, I taught rock climbing for the Boy Scouts. Because I have all lined up, you know, to go do an internship at Disney, like be Disney. And I lost it to like another person like me and one other person and I lost it. And yeah, and it was like, late April, you know, this is also a recurring thing with me. I don't really have a plan B a lot of times.

Lesley Logan 5:34  

Right. Doesn't, it also kind of no offense, doesn't really sound like yeah, there's a either, it's ...

John Mollura 5:38  

Yeah. It just like Forrest Gump my way through life. (Lesley: Yes, I'm loving it.) Yeah ...

Lesley Logan 5:44  

I wish, I wish I could do that. I'm like, I need a b 27 letters later. I would like another.

John Mollura 5:51  

Oh, yeah. Yeah, no, I not not my thing. You know, my wife and I always joke. It's like, you know, there's two types of people in the relationship. There's the person that says, "All right, I got the passport. I got the boarding pass. I got the hotel reservations and the rental car reservations." And then the other person in the relationships, like, "Where are we going?" (Lesley and John laughs) (Lesley: Oh, my God.)

Lesley Logan 6:14  

You know what's really funny, is up until this moment, like I was like, oh, yeah like Brad is like, kind of that person. He's like, "Oh, I can do that. Oh, I'm gonna sign up. What?" Like he'll get bored and the same thing all the time. But when it comes to travel, he has our passport. He has a dropbox folder of all of our visas. He has all the things that I'm like, "So we're going?" So anyways, okay, so, you, you're going you're teaching rock climbing for Boy Scouts.

John Mollura 6:42  

Yeah, yeah, that was that was the summer before the infamous wings and beer night where we decide to apply to you know work on critical life saving equipment. And but I put that on my resume because I got that job after the whole Disney thing fell through, my fraternity brother walked in the room and they'll say, "Hey, you're right, man." And I'm like, "No, I'm pretty far from okay, right now, dude." Tell them what happened because we are outdoorsy, you want to you know, you want to work at a scout camp. I'm like, "I was never a Boy Scout. I didn't wear goofy green shorts and run around." It seems like, alright, well, don't say things like that, but we could hire you. So I worked with the maintenance crew. Like until like, I could do my assigned job, which was I was supposed to be a watersports director. And I, once again, I was like, "I don't know how to do that. I don't know how to sail or do anything. I can swim that's about it." They're like, "We'll train you." I'm like, "Alright, cool, you'll train me," whatever. And, but until like training, like there was like a six week gap. And I worked with the maintenance crews and I had like zero, like trade skills. So I was I was the guy just like schlepping the chainsaws through the woods. And you know, when the when the septic drainage truck would need something like I'd like run out their stuff. And the crescendo of my glamorous jobs was when we got the cabins readied for the people to come in. They've been uninhabited in the Catskills for like nine months. Well, a lot of mice apparently with like, try to get water in the toilets and like fall in the toilet. Yeah, the look on your faces at all. (Lesley laughs) So my job was I, I got to pull the dead mice out of the toilets that I had, like sunk. Now, that was my job, honest to God.

Lesley Logan 8:24  

Oh, my God. So that's what NASA, you put that on your resume?

John Mollura 8:27  

Well, not yet. I didn't put that on there. But which, you know, unfortunately, those kinds of skills did come, come in handy down the road in my career. So here I am doing this job. And I'm like, "This sucks. Like, I didn't sign up for this." But whatever, I'd no options. And, you know, I thought maybe it was just karma. You know, since Mickey Mouse like, you know, just me like now I'm like, dead mice ... (Lesley and John laughs) So, so anywho, so I'm getting ready to, I'm psyched, like I'm counting down the days. We go to training. They're gonna teach me how to like teach people to water ski and all this cool stuff. I'm like, "Awesome." And I'm like sitting in the middle of some like field like scrubbing rust off a propane tank that's like leaking next to me. And I'm thinking, "This sucks." But one more day, and they came up, the Directors came up and they're like, "Hey, John, how you doing?" I'm like, "Oh, I'm good. Good train and train. I'm leaving for training tomorrow." They're like, "Hey, yeah, bout that. We just got the call from the person that was here for the past two years. And they want their old job back so we don't have to pay to train you anymore." And I'm like, "Oh, God." So it's like ...

So they're like, they're like, "You're fired. But we're happy because we ..."

Oh, no, no, no, I wasn't fired. (Lesley" Okay, okay.) I impressed the Ranger, the maintenance crews so much (Lesley: that they wanted to keep you on.) They want to keep me on there and I'm thinking, "Oh my God. Alright, well, okay."

Lesley Logan 9:46  

How many more cats and toilets are there? 

John Mollura 9:48  

Yeah, yeah. Right. How many more propane tanks am I gonna have to scrub? And so they're like, or you could be Assistant Director of rock climbing. I'm like, "I'll do it." They're like, "You want to hear what it is?" I'm like, "I don't know how to rock. I don't care. I'm not that scared of heights. I'll do it. When you trained me how to do it?" They're like, "Yeah, we'll send you to training." I'm like, my bags already packed like, "Alright, I'm out of here, man." So, so it ended up being a great fit. Yeah, I've worked with a great crew. Like, I supervised like I think over 700 Scouts, rappelling and rock climbing on like natural cliffs. We weren't in like a gym. We were like, (Lesley: Oh, this is like ...) outside, like turkey buzzards. Yeah, this is like, (Lesley: Oh) yeah, (Lesley: Like real, real stuff.) Like real deal. Yeah, like, like the rocks, like falling down. Like kind of stuff.

Lesley Logan 10:33  

That's crazy. So that's, what was on your resume that made them go?

John Mollura 10:36  

That's what was on my resume, Director of Rock Climbing.

Lesley Logan 10:38  

How crazy. (John: And ...) I wonder, you know what, probably if you had Disney on there, they'd be like, "hmm another Disney kid." Like ...

John Mollura 10:44  

Yeah, right. Yeah, (Lesley: They thought like they wouldn't have been as impressed.) It was Christina Aguilera's boyfriend, whatever. That Timberlake guy trying to get a job again? But so I put that on my resume, because I thought, you know, it showed I had some practical experience. You know, I had other engineering type stuff. And they said, "What's this about rock climbing?" I gave my little spiel, and they said, "Hang on a second, someone just walked by, we want you to talk to." And like they put me on mute. And I'm like, "O-oh." (Lesley: Yeah) And this nasally voice came on the phone again. No video back in the 90s. Sneezes voice goes, "Hey, what do you think about rock climbing on Mars?" And I just knee jerk reaction said, "Are you going to pay my airfare?" (Lesley: Yeah) And I thought, "Oh, God, I just blew it, just being a smartass." And this dude, who I had no idea who he was. Yeah. And then he interview, he gives "Get them down here." And they're like, "Alright, well, we're going to arrange an on site visit." And it was like an eight hour drive from where I went to school in Pennsylvania. And I come down here and lo and behold, that like mystery person that jumped on at the last minute. I was like the lead test engineer for like Mars landers. And he was a former Air Force Special Operations guy and tested fighter jets. And he and I just like hit it off like a ball of fire. He said, "I don't need the smartest person in the room." I'm like, "Good because you didn't get him." He's like, "I need someone I can send out into the field." You know, then ...And you're like, "Oh, actually super good. I can scrub brass top off propane." (Lesley: Yeah) Did you know that?

Propane tank, you need dead mice. I'm also your guy for that. (Lesley: Do you have that on Mars? Don't worry. I've been there.) Yeah, right. We terraform Mars, I'll be I'll take care of all the plumbing issues. But so he said, "You're not you're not being confined to an office, being a some project manager." So for the next like seven years, like Skip, and I just went all over the world. He was my mentor. His name was Skip Wilson. And we just, you know, just did some pretty radical shit for the world.

Lesley Logan 12:41  

That's so ... Here's what I, here's what's so crazy. I hope, like, I hope you all just heard that. You could have easily been like, "Oh, I'm not smart enough. Oh, I'm not qualified enough." Like, I think so many people do not put their name in the hat for things because they they pre reject themselves. And yeah, you were probably like, you were like you said, half joking. Or like, whatever. Let's just like it's a game. Let's see what happens. But oftentimes, people are not looking for the most qualified, perfect scored, most well trained, they're looking for someone who they can get along with that they want to travel the world. (John: Yeah) And like, we'll get their hands dirty. And like, actually, just try and not assume that they know the answer. I think that is really a cool story.

John Mollura 13:24  

Yeah, yeah. So I did that. I said, you know, I did Skip for the next seven, eight years, you know, we we sadly lost him to cancer in mid 2011. Which really, I didn't realize how much it affected me. But it really affected me because he and I were one of the few that did what we did in our country and also in the world. So it really left the whole, like kind of like not having that like fallback position. Because you know, even though I was in charge, and I would lead a bunch of stuff, it's always nice to kind of like be like, "Hey, Skip." Or like, "Hey, Dad, what do you think of this?" (Lesley: Yeah, yeah.) So that's, that was what I did. And I stayed at that company until 2016. And by that point, like, I'd been there for 15 years, so the leadership had changed. It had become a very much profit driven company. Because the company the company, they got bought by venture capitalists, and yeah, that that old chestnut ...

Lesley Logan 14:21  

Yep there, I just actually heard it was on the Daily podcast, not a sponsor of the show everyone but they literally explain in layman's terms about like VCs and how like, these like they're taking over, like your vets, and your dentists and your all these things and (John: Yeah.) I'm like, "Oh my God," Anyways, (John: That's crazy.) that's another podcast, not ours. (John: Yeah) So go listen to that one if you actually don't understand how that works. Okay, so so you're in this job for 15 years that isn't that is in... insane like, "Let me see how this goes." Journey. What? I mean, obviously, it wasn't as exciting at work are they are having goals that were outside of what yours were? What how did you end up in your next thing? Were you, were you dabbling in photography while you're doing this? How did that go?

John Mollura 15:09  

Yeah, I had always done photography as a hobby. I think I got my first camera and I was like seven. So it was back in the mid 80s. So like I learned to shoot on film. And I was actually just looking through the first travel album I ever did after I got a real camera. We got my first Nikon with my daughter today. And she's like, "Why are these pictures so weird?" I'm like, "Well, it's because they were on film." And like ... (John and Lesley laughs) just had the kind ...

Lesley Logan 15:34  

 Why are these pictures not moving themselves?

John Mollura 15:36  

Yeah, right. Yeah. But no, photography had always been a hobby. And like I said, I got to go to some very awesome places in my tenure as an engineer, and I was I just threw my camera in the bag. And you know, I'd have my Little Walter Mitty fantasies when I'd be out, you know, working on some engineering job pretending like National Geographic had just sent me an Anartica instead. And ...

Lesley Logan 16:00  

Okay, that is being it till you see it. You're like, (John: Yeah) "I am, I am taking pictures and they don't... like for National Geographic. Great."

John Mollura 16:08  

Yeah, so yeah, because that's like one of the big dreams like, you know, for photographers like that's like the gold standard. And I remember I was reading a National Geographic once, because that's actually what kindled my love of like photography, and like travel and wonderlust. It was a episode I saw my grandparents table, and it was about Mount Vesuvius, like back in the 80s at, like a par... I can still I could still see and that's what sparked my wanderlust in National Geographic, other than just kind of being like, the gold standard of photographers holds a special place in my heart because I, you know, it, that's really what kindled my wanderlust. And I remember reading an episode or a issue of National Geographic, probably 10, 15 years ago. And they had the statistics of like, the chance of like, having National Geographic, like, even look at your photo and let alone getting published. And they're like, look, you know, for an issue like the photographer's that we send out, they shoot, like umpteen 10s of 1000s of pictures, we get this many pictures just sent to us. This many pictures make it to the, like, final edit, but like it came down to these statistics that were like, just insane, like ...

Lesley Logan 17:23  

Less than a percent of a percent. (John: Right.) Yeah.

John Mollura 17:27  

So, I of course, tore that out, (Lesley: Yeah) and put it on my little vision board. And I'm a huge Star Wars nerd, as you know, from from the May of 4th, you know, thing we did together this year. (Lesley: Yeah) Han Solo is always like, just like my, like, such an icon to me, because he just had that swashbuckling like self confidence that I really didn't have, like, I might like, jump in and do things. But, you know, like I mentioned, like, imposter syndrome and anxiety and stuff were like, things that like traveled with me throughout my life. So like, Han Solo, it was always like, the, like the dude. You know, it's like, (Lesley: Yeah) "Man, if I could just be like that and have that confidence in my abilities. Like, that would be so awesome. So I print out his picture of Han Solo, you know, in it just said his one of his famous quotes from on the lot movies. Never told me the odds. Like he was doing some like thing where, like, there was like, zero chance of success. And he's like, "Don't tell me the odds. I'm just gonna do it."

Lesley Logan 18:27  

Oh, I see. (John: Yeah) I see. (John: Yeah) I see.

John Mollura 18:29  

Yeah. I never never tell me the odds of success or failure, because I'm just going to do it. It's not going to change my effort. So I took that and like, pinned it overtop of the National Geographic thing. And it (Lesley: Yeah) was always like, right next to my thing. And in 2016, I got notified that National Geographic was featuring one of my photos ... (Lesley: Shut up) Yep, in their your shot program. It was like they selected 12 photos a day to feature and mine was one of them.

Lesley Logan 18:53  

Shut up! (John: Yeah) That is insane. (John: Yeah) Oh, my God!

John Mollura 18:56  

Yep. So, (Lesley: Oh, my God.) I had that above my thing, like open like at these like insane odds, but then, you know, Han Solo always reminding me, you know, (Lesley: Oh, my ...) but don't worry about the odds, just do it.

Lesley Logan 19:05  

That is amazing. And also, Brad's gonna nerd hell out about this right now. Like, I know that he's listening right now. He's like, chuckling because, first of all, Star Wars. Yes. National Geographic. Yes. Like, and, you know, there's this like, common thing you said, like, you're like a pioneer, and I know very little about Star Wars, everyone. It's, it's okay, we clearly know this. By now like, I don't think I can get away with it. But what I do know, what I do know about Han Solo is, he is like that pioneer. He's like, just gonna like he is like, like, he doesn't need to see the map. He's just gonna go do it. And so I feel like, I feel like you've had some really good like spirit animals in your life guiding you into like, (John: Yeah) "Okay, I'm gonna be like Han Solo right now. I'm just gonna go do it." Anyways, that is so cool. (John: Yeah) This is amazing. Because, you know, I think, again, going back to like people thinking like, life gets really linear. You, you suppose to like you're like, "Okay, I'm a rocket scientist and then I'm a photographer." Like you were like, you were organically allowing one to still happen while you were doing this other thing. And I think that is really cool. We don't have to just be one thing and we don't have to just only like, we don't have to wait our turn for, for this thing to happen. Okay, that's amazing. So all, so when did that happen? When were you in National Geographic?

John Mollura 20:21  

That was in 2016.

Lesley Logan 20:24  

Okay, about the same time that you were leaving.

John Mollura 20:26  

It was right after I left my job that I had been 15 and a half years. And I've been doing photography as a side hustle for a number of years, like getting paid for it. But what self respecting father of three that lives in Southern, rural Southern Delaware would like leave the six figure job to be a photographer. So I didn't, I didn't leave the job I was at and go straight to a photographer. I went to another engineering company, (Lesley: Yeah) where I got paid even more money and like they'd fly me like first class to like Shanghai for these like meetings and ...

Lesley Logan 21:02  

Okay. So that the harder thing to give up. I'm just gonna be real, (John: Yeah, it was.) first class Shanghai, that's a little hard to give up.

John Mollura 21:07  

Yeah, yeah. If you're gonna be first class anywhere, like, don't don't be first class from like New York to Miami. Be it on like, a day long flight. (Lesley: Yes, yes.) But that job was was like a desk, it was a desk job. And I was, I was so unhappy in my previous job just because I had a lot of personal change going on, you know, that led up to that. But, you know, I just felt this, you know, responsibility in my family, where I couldn't do that. I couldn't, I couldn't be a photographer full time. Because there's no way I you can make anywhere close, you know, all these stories. And the Author Jon Acuff that I love called them noble obstacles.

Lesley Logan 21:49  

Oh, I love Jon Acuff. (John: Yeah) And that's noble obstacles. (John: Yeah) Interesting. Um, I also think it's interesting, like you said, a couple stories, like what self respecting, father of three would like leave this job to go do this. And then like, you know, these things, and it's, I know, people listening, a lot of them are saying the same thing to themselves right now. Maybe not that sentence, but like, there's a story that's keeping them from doing the next thing because of like, what other people will think or like, how, that's a crazy idea. And like, because we've not necessarily seen it, maybe didn't see Han Solo do it yet. Like, (John: Right) it's hard to imagine that it could be a possibility. So what was the impetus? How did you leave that job? How did you get over that?

John Mollura 22:33  

I had someone that was a mentor to me for a number of years in photography, and she was also a coach. And she invited me to a networking event because my thing was, I knew I had skills in photography. And but I didn't know how to sell it or market it and, or how to, like, even get in front of people. And she invited me to a networking event. And I'm like, "Oh, my God, there's actually like, ways to make this happen." So I came home and talking with my wife about it. And she's like, "You're miserable, dude." Like, she's like, "Your skin has like the pallet of like a wet ashtray." ... (Lesley: I like that she keeps it real.) Well, what she'd been living this for years (Lesley: Yeah) with me like, (Lesley: Yeah) yes, as my, my job just wasn't satisfying it. So yeah, I turned in my, my resignation in the spring of 2017, which was over five years ago. And when I became a full time photographer, and even that's evolved over the past five years and what I currently do, which is, which is portraits.

Lesley Logan 23:38  

Yeah. Okay, so, um, there's, I mean, like, I love this story, because A said, the detonics, but also like, it's not, it's, it's not predictable, but it's completely like something and every single one of us have a story like this. And we get caught up that like, it's has to be, "Oh, has to be a certain way. Oh, I have to do this and when I'll have this." And I just like that you kind of followed your passion. And even when you didn't, you have people around you who like shined a little flashlight on possibility. And there's just like constant theme, you have a mentor and you have people around you who are like being, who are being honest with you about who you are. And I think a lot of us don't have, like a lot of us pull ourselves back. We hide, we like don't want to be like fully seen because we want people to necessarily know like, the mistakes we make or like the thoughts we're having. But actually are you having a mentor and a coach and your wife and your like, they're they are the ones that kind of guided you to where to go next. And so it's just really cool because we don't have to do it on our own.

John Mollura 24:41  

Yeah, and that's always that's one of the biggest suggestions I always give people when they say, "How do you, how do you make a living, like make a good living as a photographer?" I say, "I hire people that have been down that path before me." They're like, "Oh, that sounds expensive." And I said, "Well, it's not inexpensive." But the paybacks monetarily are easy to quantify, but also just giving you that confidence that oh, these people have been down that path is worth a lot.

Lesley Logan 25:15  

Yeah, that's actually. I mean, and that's the thing that most people skip. They're like, they're, and I get that I get that everyone has bills, and everyone has a different budget, and there's all these things and but I agree, like, I would not be where I am today, had I not hired people who had gone through what I wanted to be through. Like, like, I was like, they knew the what it took to get to the next level because they already left that level. So like, I think, it is not the easiest decision to invest in yourself. But you have like, if you don't you just you don't even get to stay where you were. You you go backwards because you you're gonna feel stuck, miserable. And also, the world keeps going forward. Like that's the energy, your a rocket scientist, you I don't tell you that you know how energy works. So ...

John Mollura 26:01  

Physics of a cruel mistress, is very cruel. (John and Lesley laughs)

Lesley Logan 26:07  

Yeah, I actually, I'll be really honest, I am changed my major. This... So yes, I lost feeling in my fingers, which is one of the reasons why I changed my athletic training major. The other reason was, is I was like, "Physics? Why the hell do I have to do that? No, we're not doing that." So I was like, "What Science classes does a communications major have to do?" Great. The Math class, it was like statistics like, "Nope, I don't want to do that. What's the other like, what major gets me out of Algebra? I just, I just, I'm gonna hire someone to do the Math. It's fine." (Lesley laughs) Anyways, um, so okay, we've talked about it a couple of times. And I just want to touch on a little bit, because you've mentioned you had an anxiety you've had impostor syndrome. I know a lot of our listeners struggle with either one or the other, or both. And, and how, like, how has that been? Because I'm sure like, having anxiety and also like, being a parent and being a partner and being someone who's like, making these major changes. And now it's like, how did you get over... like, what was that? How did you move past that with everything going on?

John Mollura 27:11  

It, it goes back to the same way I did it in my business was working with therapists you know, coaches, people that even just a trusted person. But but, you know, therapy therapy was was super important. And what that was one of the hardest decisions for me to make, because, you know, one of my traumas from growing up was, you know, I had to become like, very self sufficient, you know, I just had this in it, and it still crops up, you know, I'm one of those fools that sometimes will be like, "You need help with that, John?" "No, no, it's just, it's just awkward," you know, when really, like, I need like three other people to help me. (Lesley: Yeah) So being aware of that, because, you know, there's no, there's no quick fix, especially with it will anything with your health, mental or physical, you know, just because you eat a salad one day doesn't mean you're gonna drop 15 pounds. (Lesley: Right) You know, it's, it's, it's putting in the reps and doing it. And it's the same with with mental, your mental health. You know, once, you know, I got got some tools from a therapist, and, you know, took medication for a while, just as a as, you know, as she put it, in vernacular, I could understand when I was an engineer, like, "This is just another tool in your tool chest John. This doesn't mean anything. It's just another tool." (Lesley: Right) So, you know, acquiring those skills, and doing some very honest self reflection, and realizing when things come up, and, you know, looking for patterns, maybe and those things and just having the desire to get better. You know, and (Lesley: Yeah) which was huge. And, you know, it's not perfect, not every day is sunshine and rainbows, and (Lesley: Yeah) but, you know, it's not about having everything be perfect. It's about how do you how do you respond when that's not perfect?

Lesley Logan 29:12  

Oh, yeah, that's good. That, that's a great question. That's also like, something to think about on a good day. So you have an answer for when on a bad day, you're like, "What am I supposed to do right now?" You're like ,"Oh, I actually on a day that I was feeling good about life, (John: Yeah, right.) wrote down a game plan for myself." Yeah, I think, um, I mean, it's there more and more, it's easier for people to talk about mental health and anxiety. And I do love that. But we do have so much more work to do, because I think so many people look at others and they, and for better or worse, you know, social media is always going to show the good stuff. Just is. And we then put on it, "Oh, they must not suffer from impostor syndrome, anxiety or any other things." It's like, no, it's just that they just didn't post about it on that day, they you know, that doesn't mean that like, they don't struggle with the same things. And so so a) the more we all can be aware that everyone is going through it at some point it that makes it easier. And then I love what you said like, had to decide, like you have to decide that like you wanted it to be better, that you wanted to do something. And I think that that's that's that's a tough one decision to make and but also believe that it could, so good for you. And also thank you for sharing that. You, I'm going to just let the cat out of the bag, because when this is up, it should be hopefully ready. You came into Agency to talk about impostor syndrome. Agency is our group coaching program. And literally after it was over people were like, "I need to buy that. I need to rewatch that. Oh my God, I can't believe I'm in that." And it's an interesting topic because I feel like more and more and more people will say, "I have impostor syndrome. I have impostor syndrome," is kind of like a catch all title. But when you broke it down, you explain a lot of things. And I and you know, everyone can go watch the course. But can you talk about why you got excited about this topic? Like what made you investigate it? What made you go, "Oh, I want to I want to, I want to explore this and also teach people about it." What was that?

John Mollura 31:18  

I don't want people to suffer like I did. And I didn't even know what impostor syndrome was for a very long time. And just being able to put a name to something, especially things that are troubling you, already gives you some power over that. So I really wanted to educate people on what impostor syndrome is. You know if anyone's listening to this, and you know, a real quick check to see if you've ever had impostor syndrome. That's a term you've never heard before is, "how do you respond when someone gives you a compliment"? Do you like genuinely say, "Oh, thank you very much. I'm so glad that you know that that spoke to you." And feel good about yourself or like, do you kind of get like these like weird feelings in your stomach. And maybe do some poorly delivered is tempted self deprecating humor, like, "Oh, you liked that song I wrote. Oh, you should probably get your hearing checked. Ha ha ha." (Lesley: Yeah.) Those are how impostor syndrome manifests. And I really just wanted people to understand how that is. Because if you look at my, my resume, my professional record on paper, you know, engineering or photography wise, you know, NASA, Department of Defense Commendations, National Geographic features, like, it sounds like I, you know, I got it all together. But a defining moment in my life was I remember getting a commendation letter from the Department of Defense for a project that I led. And I thought I'm up on the stage, so everyone can actually point their fingers at me and be like, "See, we knew you were full of crap. And you're actually not supposed to be here." And I remember like almost being in tears when I got the letter. And like, that's like one of those core memories that I have. So whenever the opportunity came up to speak about impostor syndrome, like, I don't want people to feel like that. Or if they do feel like that I want to teach them, provide them some resources that they can use to move past that.

Lesley Logan 33:27  

Yeah. Yeah, that's... Well I think, I think anyone listening is like, "Oh, my God, I can't believe that's how he felt when something amazing is happening." And yet, I bet, if we asked all of them like they would have, they could think of a time when an amazing thing happened. And they were letting their imposter syndrome. Tell them that it wasn't as amazing and that this isn't, they didn't deserve this, or somebody got it wrong. I loved it. I love, I love how you explained it, I loved everything you have to say our members loved it. And so everybody, we we will definitely put in the show notes. So you can watch, you can watch this amazing course from John, because I want to help you make sure that no one else has to suffer through that too. I think it is really important. It's really incredible. It's also what what so many of our listeners are suffering from and it's holding them back. And the whole point of this whole podcast is that I just know that every single person here listen to this has something that they're meant to do. And I cannot be imposter syndrome or the feeling that they're not good enough, which is the exact same things. I maybe redundant, but it cannot be that, that cannot be the reason that they don't do it. Like other reasons, sure. That one, no. Because that one, that one is something that together as a world I think we can really combat and we can we can we can work on that. So John, thank you for being you. Okay, we're gonna take a brief break, and then we're gonna find out how people can get their picture taken by you, find you, follow you, all that stuff.

Alright, John, where do you hang out? Where are you on the socials? Where do people get to know more about you?

John Mollura 35:10  

Well, literally, I hang out in my car a lot, shuttling my three kids to various things. (John and Lesley laughs) But when I'm not doing that, they can track me down on social media, there's not a lot of John Mollura's out there. So just John Mollura Photography, M o l l u r a. And my website's mulloraphoto, and you can see samples of my work on there. And if, like I said, I do portraits, I specialize in people. And we're not talking about like the white, you know, backgrounds of JCPenney's Days of Your. I really like to create empowering photos of people. Because you know, how awesome does it feel to look at a really good photo of yourself, whether it's a selfie, or someone took it, and they just happen to catch you, right? Like that makes you feel so good. And ...

You are so correct. You are so... I'm sorry to interrupt. You are so correct the other a couple episodes back, y'all. My friend Clare asked me about like, "How are you get ready for photo sessions?" And I have to say, many of the photo sessions in fact, one of the best photo sessions I had. Recently, I was not having a good day when the photo shoot was supposed to happen. I'm like, "I can't beleive I have a photo shoot today." And I'm like, "I'm like having impostor syndrome, all the stuff." And yet, when you have a photographer like you, who would like first of all loves what they're doing and is does it really well. But when they capture that photo of you in, in this portrait, you're like, "Oh, that's I may feel like this, but that's who I am."

Right.

Lesley Logan 36:38  

Ah, it's amazing.

John Mollura 36:40  

Yeah. Yeah. And I, you know, so one of the things I love to do is remove as much stress from the whole situation as possible that goes from like, you know, initial consults, but then like going to their homes and like helping them pick their wardrobe. (Lesley: Whoa.) Yeah, yeah. Right.

Lesley Logan 36:56  

You are in it. That's amazing.

John Mollura 36:58  

Oh yeah. Yeah. You know and then the day of the shoot, you know, there's always professional hair and makeup offered for folks so they can just show up and not worry if it's raining outside and what happens to my hair. No, you can just sit in Kelly's chair and she'll take care of it. I'll get you a glass of wine or tea or whatever you want. Do the photo shoot where I you know, I guide people through all the poses because it was at Talladega Nights, you know that ... What do I do with my hands? (John and Lesley laughs) So I tell people what to do with their hands, you know. But then, even afterwards, I help them pick the photos, and then they're all professionally retouched. So, you know, it's showing people in like, very treated, I don't make people look fake, and like, you know, like some plastic Barbie. But you know, let's face it, like the the high end digital cameras that we use, like they capture a lot of details that like, don't need to be captured that you don't really see. But then even helping them with like, because like you said with photos, when you see a photo that makes you feel really good, but I'm a firm believer in like the power of like a physical product. So every photo people select, they always get a print of it. Five by seven, it's matted, I mail it to them with a thank you note. But then I offer like heirloom quality like wall art. Like I'll come to their house I install it. So it's like start to finish like ...

Lesley Logan 38:20  

Oh my God.

John Mollura 38:21  

How much stress can I remove from you and have this actually be what it is, which is showing, showcasing the world the true you and more importantly, because some people are like, "What am I going to do with like 15 photos of myself, John?" I'm like, "Put them in the nice little gift box I give you and then when you're having you know and keep like one of them out. Have some boss ass photo of you hanging up and like your bedroom, your closet. If you don't want the world to see it, in when you're having those bad days, like you were having like how awesome that'd be to look over and see that picture and be like, 'Okay, I got this for five minutes. I can. (Lesley: Okay) I can do this.'"

Lesley Logan 38:56  

You've inspired me to print some of our photos. (John: Yeah, you should.) That I only been putting on Instagram. You know, um, well, now I just have there's so many reasons why my family is listen to this, they're be like, "Well, we have to get Delaware anyways." But now I feel like we have to get to Delaware so that we can do a photo shoot with you.

John Mollura 39:14  

Yeah, love the photograph. You and Brad.

Lesley Logan 39:16  

Oh, yeah, yeah, no, it's gonna happen. There's we literally go to Delaware. So it's gonna happen. You know ...

John Mollura 39:25  

You the president and Dave Grohl my ... (Lesley: Right) Yeah, well, they all frequent Delaware.

Lesley Logan 39:30  

And also, for those of you who are on the East Coast, I from what I understand, like Delaware, it's really easy to get to, your states are all very small you're because you're not in California. You can get there in a couple hours. (John: Yeah) Go do it. Um, okay, so we can talk about photography even more, and maybe it'll come up but be it till you see it action items. Bold, executable, intrinsic or targeted steps that people can do to be it till they see it. What do you have?

John Mollura 39:54  

My friend Paige who's like, just one of these people that you talk to you and you're like, "Well, you're you're really smart. You just understand people." She said something to me years ago, and I don't even know if she meant it to have this much impact. So when I was talking about doing photography and like, "I don't know, Paige, I'd love to do it full time. But you know, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah." And she just matter of factly said, "Well, John, somebody has to do that." And like, that stuck with me, like, so anytime, I think it's impossible for me to make this sale or make this much a year or for my band to make a CD. It's like, "No, somebody has to. So why not you?" (Lesley: Yeah.) And you know, if you want to get even, you know, more positive, don't say someone has to because I can have a negative connotation, but someone gets to, somebody gets to make a living from photography, or make a living from Pilates, what they love. Why can't that be me? (Lesley: Yeah) So that's what I want people to really take away. You know what, why not me? (Lesley: Yeah) And then when the negative voices start coming up, you tell him to shut up and just remember, why not me? Some somebody has to.

Lesley Logan 41:10  

Somebody has to. Why not you? John, ah, I am obsessed with you. You're amazing. You've got so much to offer this planet. We can keep we'll have to have you back. I'm sure Brad is like, you could have gone more into the Star Wars or something else but ...

John Mollura 41:25  

So tell Brad to call me we'll nerd out.

Lesley Logan 41:27  

I know.

John Mollura 41:27  

Do some legos or something.

Lesley Logan 41:29  

I know the day of our shoot, we'll just have to block out extra hours for time for that. Anyways. Okay, everyone, how are you going to use these action items in your life? Right. Tell us by tagging John Mollura and tagging @be_it_pod and letting us know. Also, do us a favor, send this to a friend. And you know what if this had an impact on you DM John or myself or text a friend what it was because not only does it change people's lives, like it really does if you they could there could be a sentence that like Paige said to John that changes and sticks with someone. But also it's literally how we change the world. Like we get rid of impostor syndrome and these feelings of of being alone. One person at a time. So thank you everyone so much. And until next time, Be It Till You See It.

John Mollura 42:14  

Thank you, Lesley.

Lesley Logan 42:15  

Yeah. Okay.

'Be It Till You See It' is a production of 'As The Crows Fly Media'.

Brad Crowell 42:17  

 It's written, produced, filmed and recorded by your host Lesley Logan and me, Brad Crowell. Our Associate Producer is Amanda Frattarelli. 

Lesley Logan 42:17  

Kevin Perez at Disenyo handles all of our audio editing. 

Brad Crowell 42:17  

Our theme music is by Ali at APEX Production Music. 

Lesley Logan 42:17  

And our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi. Special thanks to our designer Jaira Mandal for creating all of our visuals (which you can't see because this is a podcast) and our digital producer, Jay Pedroso for editing all video each week so you can. 

Brad Crowell 42:17  

And to Angelina Herico for transcribing each of our episodes so you can find them on our website. And, finally to Meridith Crowell for keeping us all on point and on time.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai

Get to know your co-host, Brad Crowell on this week's special solo episode as Brad recounts his journey through music, working in the tech world, and his experiences with start up companies that has led him to be a CEO. 

If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at [email protected] .

And as always, if you’re enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe.

In this episode you will learn about:

• Speak it while you do it
• The mindset shift for a new role 
• There is a time to put your head down and work
• Give yourself a timeline, evaluate, and readjust 
• Being it starts with a decision 

If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox.

Resources

• Watch the Be It Till You See It podcast on YouTube!
• Lesley Logan website
• Be It Till You See It Podcast
• Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan
• Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan on YouTube
• Profitable Pilates

Social Media

• Instagram
• Facebook
• LinkedIn

Episode Transcript:

Brad Crowell 0:07  

Hello. Alright, let's get a temp check in here. Get a levels. Yeah, we're sounding good. We're looking good. We're sounding good. All right. Hey everybody, Brad here, doing my first solo episode on the Be It Till You See It podcast. Stepping in for Lesley today and I'm really excited to be here. Been thinking a lot about how I have been 'being it' in my life. And I wanted to share with you a little bit of a backstory on ...

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Testing, there it is. Okay, just pick it back up. So you can cut that part out. I just want to share a little bit of backstory with you on my path to becoming a CEO, and all of the messy action that I took to get here. And I just want to qualify that and say, here is relative because I still feel like I'm growing and learning. And, you know, I haven't had all the mile markers in my head that like, actually, that's self doubt, right? That justify me calling me CEO. It's weird to say, "Yeah, I'm the CEO." It sometimes it doesn't feel right still. So anyway, I'm very excited to think back through this stuff. It's fun to reminisce. But I will keep it brief. So basically, when I think my path to CEO started, when way back when, you know, I was born in, no, totally kidding, just kidding. We're not going that far back. I lived in LA for a really long time. And while I was in LA, I was doing music. And basically, the goal was to become super famous, tour the world with my band, and be doing the the music thing for the rest of my life. That's all I wanted to do. Since I don't know I guess, middle school, high school, I thought that'd be pretty cool. After being a super famous soccer star, was not physically possible for me, because I was a tiny little kid, the band thing seemed to make sense. Plus, I fit in and I loved it. And I'm good at that stuff. So when I got to LA, in order to get paid, I ended up working for a startup company. And you've probably heard me mentioned that before. And I won't really go into the specifics of that. But it was a great opportunity for me to meet people, to learn a little bit about like how you work in a company, because I've never done that I've only worked for like retail, or in restaurants before that. And I hadn't like been in a corporate environment before. And it wasn't really corporate, it was very startup, you know, style. And basically, the whole idea was tech, social networking stuff. And that company failed after two years and that was devastating. Really, really, really devastating. I had a lot of trust in the people who are leading the team, and we had a great team. And we ultimately spent two years making a lot of really cool little things that never really took off. And that was a shame. But from that I learned, I learned a lot about hard work and, you know, being on time and all those kinds of things. I got hired into another company. And that company was cool. I had a chance to run a blog. And the blog was actually being handled by a bunch of interns. So I brought in a bunch of interns to do the writing. And I had basically to teach them, I was the first time really truly leading a team. And we had all these different bloggers all over the country. And then basically, that company fired me (Brad laughs) after like a year and change, right. The CEO will took some very dramatic measures. He let go the entire marketing team, including the blog department, and they went like 100% the advertising route and they just cut out any organic reach, any social anything, they let go of me and two other people that we were all working together. And that was, I kind of saw the writing on the wall. So it wasn't really as devastating when that happened. But that company was very corporate, right. The people I worked for what used to run major companies, big companies, you know, they, they had very corporate expectations, I learned all that kind of stuff from them. And, and then I actually basically didn't work for like a solid year. And I spent my time working one night a week at a restaurant and living, living very, very frugally.

But dedicating all of my time towards music. Every single day, I was working on music, and it was probably, even though I had no money at all, it was one of my favorite times, because I was living with some friends. And I was also working diligently on music, that's when I started touring, and being very intentional towards growing that. And then I got a phone call, after a solid year of basically putting myself in debt, I got a phone call from some of the people I used to work with. And they hired me to work on another project. And that was great, because it, actually, I was really hesitant to go back and work for a startup company, because I loved what I was doing, even though it was making no money. But it was complicated. And I got a dog and I decided I needed to actually get paid consistently. So that was the first time I worked for the company that I then spent the bulk of my career at. And that was a startup company. That was more of like a startup house, we had a lot of projects going all the time. And I will spare you the details of that. Because we had so many projects over the years that worked for them for six years, six years, seven years, something like that. And along the way, there was a larger company there was like, I think 80 people, and I was kind of part of different teams, and shifted through to do different roles. And then at the end of it, by the end of it, I was the general manager, and my job was really to poke my head into the different projects and make sure that they weren't, you know, losing too much money. I jokingly like to say, but really just it was about how can I help out, you know, with all of the crazy random experiences of different hats I've worn over the years at this point. So like, at this point, it was probably like, almost 10 years in startup companies, right? And from account management, from marketing to being the middleman internally between the CEO and design and dev are so many different roles. And but that company was the first time that I actually, there was a shift in my thinking in that company. Because it was the first time I thought to myself like, "Hmm, that's not how I would do it." And that was a surprising thought to me. Because before it was like, well, someone's telling me what to do, and I'm just gonna go do my job. And it was it was the first time I thought like, "Huh, if I had the bank role that these guys have, I would do things differently." And this is how I would do them. And I really started to analyze how to to get, how I would have done things differently, and why would I have done things differently. And, you know, I used to say someone gave me a million dollars, I would know exactly what to do with it. And that was that was an interesting turning point, I think and that's kind of what really led me down this path of being my own boss. Now, I never thought I'd be a CEO because that wasn't even on the radar just knew that I would leave, eventually I would work for myself, I would have my own company. And I would do something, right. And ultimately, that decision came when I had a really challenging transition internally. When I project that worked on for a number of years, actually sold to another company and I was expecting to transition with the company to this new ownership and and I ended up instead staying at the company I was with and that was I had a really hard time with that because for six months to a year I was like working diligently to get the company ready to sell. And I knew I was gonna go run the company over there be second, you know, I was I wasn't gonna be the CEO, I was gonna be the COO and that's not how it ended up happening. And that was really really really difficult but that's really what made me realize I need to, I need to move out on my own. I need to do my own thing.

And when I finally did that, the the first thing I did I had started while I was working for the, for that company. I had a friend of mine of a longtime friend of mine had started a web development company. And I was always very nerdy with websites, I've been doing them for the bands that I was in and my friends, and just like constantly fascinated by WordPress and technology stuff. And so I ended up joining his company that he had started. And he and I became partners. And it was a lot of fun. We worked together on nights and weekends for many years. And and that was kind of always happening in the background, because I was doing my job during the day. And then at night, I would noodle around on websites, or I would do some sales calls and emails and whatever. And we were building websites. So when I left the role, the job that I was in, it became the obvious first step was, let's, let's work together more closely. Let's see if we can grow this thing. Let's see if we can make this thing make enough money to pay both of us. Instead of just like a side income, it was like how can we make this a primary income. And it was, at the same time that I had a couple of other friends had approached me to do some other things. And one of them asked me if I wanted to help do product development on a small company. And so I said, "Sure." And then a third friend and I had been doing live streaming for a company that are for a TV show that we've been working on. So I ended up leaving that role and immediately starting three companies at the same time, or growing one company that had already been started and then starting two other companies as well. And so I was very split. And then in the meantime, I was also helping Lesley at night. And it was a it was a crazy couple of years, where two two solid years where ultimately, I really, I was able to pay my bills, and like, you know, get enough money to eat, and stuff like that. But it was not actually a real growing opportunities were they weren't like actually turning into what we had all hoped they would turning into. And that was that was really frustrating was really a shame because I was actually working with my friends who I love dearly. All three of them were some of my closest friends and, you know, at the time and and, and then became this like realization that like, "Something isn't working here," we're spinning our wheels, we're not actually growing. And it's not like that putting food on the table, let alone becoming a company where we could like grow a team and build a team. And at that time was when a, Lesley joined a Mastermind group with a power couple, Chris and Laurie Harder. And she told me she really really, really, really, really wanted me to come join. And I was very hesitant to do to do so because it was expensive. And I was very I didn't have I didn't have any extra cash. And so my money mindset was not helping any any of my businesses and it certainly wasn't helping me grow and but she convinced me to do it anyway. And I'm so glad I did because I was paired up with a coach, a one on one coach. And he basically told me like, "Hey, man, all this stuff you're doing with these three companies, you should stop. And you should, you should actually throw, throw in all, you know, throw your weight in behind Lesley, and you should work with her." And I I, that was so appealing to me. But I was really really worried about burdening her her budding company with my salary, you know, because I knew I had to make X amount of dollars per month. And I also been in so many positions where I've seen too much strain, financial strain on a company out of the gate actually crushed the company and nothing happened. And I was really really worried that if I let go of these the side incomes that I had that weren't growing the way that we had all hoped that suddenly I would also, I could also sink what she had been working on and coach basically said, "You know, you're gonna make enough money, you just have to do it." And it took me a little bit to make the decision. But as soon as I made the decision, I started slowing down the work when those three companies, one of them I was able to step away from very quickly, another one we had a bunch of gigs still that we had to complete, and then the last one took literally a year to actually shut down and extricate and all this stuff because it was it was pretty complicated. And the but I'd started putting my operational experience in behind Lesley and really what working on her websites and changing the way that the flow in the company had worked and the the switch to CEO didn't actually happen right away. I was ops, she was the owner of the company, it was her company she started, right. So she was the CEO by I guess, default, I don't know, it was a small team, it was us. And like two other people. And so there's four of us. And I don't know, the concept of CEO wasn't really a thing.

And also, I was very, you know, happy with her, making the decisions and doing what she was doing. And I would just execute, because execution is kind of like my sweet spot. It's where I feel comfortable. It's my, where all my strengths are. And the operational execution side of things, is, it's home for me, right. And funny enough, though, that wasn't where I, I saw myself, in my own mind, even though that was where my strengths were, are, are, and what I'm good at, in my head, I was like, "You know, what, I see myself making the decisions and, you know, leading the team and building relationships with other companies." And, you know, and being that that role, and Lesley had also basically said, like, "I hate being in meetings. I hate doing all this stuff. I don't want to make these kinds of decisions. I'm a visionary. I want to conceptualize what the product is, and then bring it to the team." And, you know, we they can build a to build that stuff. And we had been, we didn't come to that realization, quickly or easily, we were working with another coach, Kareen Walsh, and she had said, you know, she had put us through a couple of exercises. And after the exercises were over. She she started laughing when she was looking at what we had drawn out, and what how he described ourselves, and she said, "You two are in the wrong roles." And we said, "Well, what does that mean?" She said, "Well, he's the CEO, and you're the you're the Chief Product Officer, you know, you're the visionary or whatever." And suddenly, it was like, "oh, duh, that totally makes sense." And, you know, so when we got home, we, you know, nothing formally changed, except for, we just started calling ourselves a different things. But I think mentally, it really did change. You know, it put me in a position to think like, "Wow, I if I'm going to be the boss, you know, what does that mean? How do I show up?" And it really did shift my mindset on being more present, and, you know, connecting with the team and thinking like a leader and learning a lot about that kind of stuff. And, you know, so, so, that's kind of the path that took me, you know, that, that I took, I guess, to become CEO, and, you know, obviously, there's a lot of, it wasn't linear by any means. It wasn't like, "Okay, and then I wrote, climbed the corporate ladder, and now I'm the boss." And I, I have a feeling that it's never linear, it's very rarely rarely, that you start at the bottom and you you become the boss. You know, so I don't know that it's necessarily replicable. However, looking at that, and thinking, what are the messy action? Like, what are the steps I took? How was I 'being it' while that was happening? You know, I think that's kind of something that can be replicable, replicated by, you know, it's something that you can take away from my experiences, and, you know, the things that the things that I was doing to be it when I was, you know, before I even started in tech, when I was in the band, you know, I saw myself touring, I saw myself recording for others, writing being in a band. And even though I, you know, I had no money and no, like, you know, I had a little bit of a network when I moved to Los Angeles because of my school, but I would go out all the time, and I would meet people, and I would intentionally, I would introduce myself as, "Oh, yeah, I'm a musician. I'm a bass player. I am a singer. I'm a writer." You know, and I was, I was speaking it, while doing it, even though I wasn't making a money doing it, but that's what I was out there to do. Right. And when I got into startup company, you know, the, the first thing that these guys asked me was like, "You know, have you ever done marketing?" And I was like, "Hell yeah, I've done marketing." You know, I've marketed myself and my bands since I was a teenager to get people to show up to a club and me play show for them. Right? And they, they were like, "Yeah, okay, that's," you know, but like, in a corporate environment, I had never done that before, you know, so this was new to me, but I was like, "I know how to do this, I'm gonna figure it out."

And, you know, so then I, when I got into those companies, though, wasn't anybody telling me, this is how you become an account manager, there was no real training, because in a startup company, you're kind of making it up as you go along. You know, so I would go read blogs and books. You know, when I stepped into the role of COO of a skin and haircare brand. The first thing I did for like, weeks was like, "What does the COO do? How does the COO operate?" You know, and I would then just start to make decisions and implement that stuff, as it was, as you know, we were all working together. And even though I, I did feel like I'm just a, I'm just an operations guy on COO, you know, stepping into that role, you, it's the same thing, as I was talking about what being a CEO. When I stepped in the role of CEO, it changes the way you show up for yourself, right. And that I think, is important, you know, there's like, I think, over the years, I've seen moments in my life, where, where I know, okay, from this point forward, at least for a short window, it's, it's crunch time, or it's go time, right, like, it's time to be buckled down and really kick ass, and it's going to be three solid months of like, you know, intense work, and then I'm going to have a breather. And those kinds of moments are real, they really shape you, because you are making a real decision that you wake up with, and you go and you do the thing. And then you know, you get the chance, at the end of that, that window of time to look back and go, did I do what I needed to do. And when you, when you do that, it really does have a, like, a lifelong effect on you in a way that gives you that confidence, suddenly, you are you know, you can do it. Right. You know that, if you need to, when you need to, you can buckle down and get it done whatever it might be. And that could be you know, opening a Pilates studio, or it could be raising a kid, I mean, maybe you have an 18 year sprint, you know, for that, and I don't envy any of you doing that. But it could be you know, getting a puppy and learning how to train a dog, you know, it could take 6 to 12 months of consistency to in order to you know, get the dog where they are listening to you whatever. It could be training a new person on your team or, or hiring a teacher. And you have to like show them the ropes and "Okay, for the next two months. I'm gonna like every day diligently work with this person." And when you're done that, even though you never called yourself a trainer before, now you you've been doing it, you're you've been being it until afterwards. Now you're you are it and you see yourself as that and you go, "Yeah, I did that. I know how to do that now." You know, so, you know, I am grateful for you listening, if you're still with me here. And I want to encourage each and every one of you that it really does start with a like 'being it' starts with a decision. Right? It's the decision to go do the thing, even if you don't know what it is or how you know what it ultimately is going to become. Or if it's or if you don't know exactly what you're doing, just making the decision that you're going to go figure it out is going to change. You know, and give yourself a window, tell yourself like, "Alright, I'm gonna figure this out over the next two months." And, you know, be diligent with it. And then after those two months are over, you know, did it work, yay or nay? You know, when I when I started those companies, with my friends, it became obvious after like, a year and a half, two years that they weren't growing the way we needed them to grow, to pay all of our bills. And for any number of reasons, there was a lot of reasons behind that. But it was like, okay, I it was our I felt, even though it's hard to separate myself from my closest friends. And it became there was an obvious, "Okay, I had given myself the window, and then I evaluated at the end of it, and it was time to make a decision." And that decision in those cases, unfortunately, was to move on. Right? Where some other times it might be that, "Okay, this is going well. Let's double down or let's hire a team or let's, you know, like, find another partner" or I don't know, whatever take you on the road. You know and so, 

Anyway, I want you to to think about setting yourself a timeline and then going after it for that timeline and then afterwards evaluating. Right? Because I think that is going to help you be it till you see it. So let me know, how you are going to use this this tip, these tips in your life. I'm really, I really want to know your story. I want to know, you know how this is going to impact your story in your life. You can DM, DM us at the pod at @be_it_pod on IG. So, thanks so much for listening. Bye for now.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai

Get to know your host, Lesley Logan, on this week's special solo episode. Many of you know and love her, but this episode tells the story of how she is Being It Till she Sees It and the experiences that have paved the way for her career as a Pilates Instructor, Fitness Business Coach, and Podcast host.  

If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at [email protected] .

And as always, if you’re enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe.

In this episode you will learn about:

• Remembering your childhood tenacity 
• Lesleys journey to becoming a Pilates Instructor and entrepreneur
• Learning to love the messy middle 
• How every single experience is making you who you are 
• Building awareness around what you are working towards
• What is helping Lesley to Be It Till she Sees It

If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox.

Resources

• Watch the Be It Till You See It podcast on YouTube!
• Lesley Logan website
• Be It Till You See It Podcast
• Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan
• Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan on YouTube
• Profitable Pilates

Social Media

• Instagram
• Facebook
• LinkedIn

Episode Transcript:

Lesley Logan 0:04  

Lesley solo episode take three.

Hey loves, it's me Lesley, your host and I am all by myself. All by myself. I won't sing to you. Actually, I cannot. So we'll just stop right there. (Lesley laughs) So we are doing the solo episode, the team and I were talking about it and we realized that you probably don't know like how I got here and you probably actually don't know a lot about Brad because Brad is is not exactly on the social. So first of all if you have been with us since the beginning thank you so much. If this is your first episode of the Be It Till You See It podcast, this is an interesting, this is an unique episode and so feel free to pause this now and go listen to some interviews and some recaps if you want to get in on like the behind like what is the usual of this podcast. But you can also listen to this one as a first one and then go back and listen to those ones. You get to do you, over here the Be It till You See It podcast. In fact that is what being it tell you see it is. It is acting like the person who knows what they're doing, and something that they want to do. And this podcast has been like a literal, be it till you see it experience like an open like open experiment, right? I don't even know if they have those things, but like an op... like anyone could just be watching at the at the same time. So here's the deal. I am a verbal processor. I actually freakin love interviews and recaps because I have a guest and I'm talking to someone and it's a lot more fun to play off of someone. So being that this is my first solo episode, it probably isn't going to be perfect. And I hope that you'll love it anyways because they'll just get better. They'll just get better from here. And we all have to start somewhere. And since this is my take three, I decided this is going to be the last take no matter what. So here we go.

I did not believe, I didn't even know I could be a Pilates instructor. Actually, I didn't even know what it was growing up. Some people ask me like, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" I don't really freakin know. I want to be a lot of things. I want to be anything that got me out of the town I was in, that's for sure. I was like, "I'll be a doctor. I'll be a lawyer." I knew I never wanted to be poor because I grew up in a family that struggled with money. And I knew I didn't want that and I knew I don't want to live in that small ass town. Because I definitely didn't feel like I belong there. And I knew we couldn't afford college. But I had to go, like I just had to do it. And I was like, here's here's, here's what I freakin love about when I think about who I was back then there's a lot of parts that I'm embarrassed about. There's a lot of parts. I'm like, "Oh my God, really." There's a lot of insecurity. Who didn't have that on there in high school and junior high? But there was a ton. However, I was on such a mission to move the heck out and go to college, that I found a way. Right. And we're talking like my SAT score sucked but I found a way. I didn't have the money or the person to cosign for my student loans but I found a way. And I really and I did I got myself, first August after my senior year of high school. After graduating, I was at a school that I definitely couldn't afford. And I just wanted to be there. I share that with you because I think we probably have forgotten thing. I think I know I forgot the story. But you may have forgotten like just the tenacity that you had when you were younger. The tenacity that you had before you that you could be found out in a way that people would be disappointed. The tenacity that you had before you got married or had kids or had responsibilities like we freakin' tenacity. Okay. Right. And so one thing I want you to do is really look back at your life and actually write down the data of the times that you actually did things even when you're scared. Did things when you felt confident like think about episode, I want to say it was three with Rob Mack, but it was like your, (Is it three?) Yeah, happiness islands and happiness valleys like think about your confident islands and your confident valleys, right? So I want you to go back and I want you to look that over because you need those lists. You need that information to help you be it till you see it. And I know that I need that because I I use those times all the time like someday I'm so grateful for in this journey that I'm on, is that so much stuff is actually documented in different ways between testimonials and reviews and podcasts. I've been on and magazines like we talked like the team documents everything and so when I'm feeling like down on myself or like nothing is working or no one is listening or we're we're just somehow not reaching the people I want to reach. I look at all of the data that shows that we are, that doesn't mean we can't do better but it doesn't mean we're not not doing it, right? What... it's means it's happening. It's just sometimes we don't all we need to look at the data, we need to look at the evidence. And I have a guest I want to have on someday and he talks a lot about that with imposter syndrome is like looking at the data.

So, I got myself to college. Became a store manager of a high end jewelry store. Let me tell you talk about imposter syndrome. I did not grow up with nice, like, designer things. I grew up with nice things. But you know, my parents found found some amazing people who gave us their nice things. But I didn't I didn't grow up, like being able to buy those things, or tucking in like high end designer stuff. And so I definitely felt this urge to, to try to be the person who would, that that those prices weren't weird, or those prices weren't awkward or buying gifts over those prices wasn't a weird thing. And I had to like act like this person who could buy a $700 purse that they don't need. And let me tell you, you might be like, "Lesley, how does that help you in life?" It helped me in so many ways, because what it really helped me do is realize that money was not something that was bad, or that only people who are, like bad people have or that there's a finite amount of money. In that job, I learned so much about the types of people who have money, I learned that not to judge a book by its cover, because some of the people who spent the most money had the rattiest T shirts on. And I also learned that there is so much. That there's an abundance of everything, and anything and so whatever it is that you're wanting in this world, I want you to picture that, I want you to visualize that, I want you to get really clear what that is. Who are you? What are you wearing? Where are you at? Why? Because all those things matter. And I and you cannot be it till you see it if you don't know who you're trying to be. It's not possible. So recently, I interviewed Dr. Philippe Douyon, and he talks about how our vision has an entire lobe. And then it's like so serendipitous, I heard something that was like, our eyes and ears only see and hear what our brain is looking for. So they're not like all these independent senses. Like, if you picture it, then your brain is going to look for evidence for that doesn't like dissonance. So go look for evidence for that. And so you're going to see and hear all the evidence for your thoughts to be true. Whatever those thoughts are, whether you like it or not, everyone is doing this. So the more the more of us that are doing it for the good, the better. Right? And so in doing that, in, in, in, in seeing how much abundance there was, I started to realize how much I could actually have and what what possibilities are out there. Right. And so when I was told I should become a Pilates instructor. I'm not gonna lie, I definitely I was like, "What? Me? I could do that?" But then I like but then I pictured myself as a Pilates instructor. You know, it helped, helped Lululemon was a big deal back then. So, so I could picture myself on the new Lululemon. And I pictured myself teaching these huge classes. And I pictured myself at like wonderlust types of events, teaching hundreds of people on a grassy knoll, let me just tell you, that is beautiful, and flies. So, so I've taught hundreds of people indoors but um, I, I started to think about it and visualize it. And so then I said yes to becoming a teacher. And I'll never forget as a brand new teacher, and I had this opportunity to teach 30 people in a room, which doesn't sound like a lot of people. Alright, some of you who have never taught it's like a lot of people, especially if you hear the guests of ours that we've had that are like, I speak to 10,000 people in a room. Okay. 30 people, not that many. But when you've only taught two or five in a room, 30 people feels like a lot. And I remember given this opportunity and being so scared. Being so like, "Oh my God, what if they find out? What if they think I'm not good enough? What are they, then if they want to leave?"

And then I remembered that I could act like the person who could take teach 30 people. And I learned that from my time being in retail. So y'all every step, every single experience you've had is gotten you to here. And it was for nothing. Right? Every single experience you had made you who you are, gave you a skill. And so I visualize myself being someone who can teach 30 people. And then I started asking, "Well, what would I do? What would I say? How would I handle this? What would I do? What would a person who teaches 30 people all the time, think about someone lead me? And I really wrap my head around it. And then I went in there I walked across that stage, it's showtime, taught this class, I'm not gonna lie, the first five exercises like, oh, gosh, crickets, and like, just some really, really interesting fitness faces. And then somebody smiled. and was like, "Yeah, that was hard." And then I was like, "Okay, he liked it." Okay, if he liked it, then maybe other people like and all of a sudden I felt like everybody was for me, and they're cheering me on and they were cheering me on so much, they all left comment cards. And that's how I got classes at a gym, four years before I should have, without any other than any other audition. Um, so everything happens for you. And so all of that led me to multiple trainings and multiple different opportunities of, of, of managing studios, renting studios, having my own studio. And I'm not gonna lie, it was scary every single time, every single thing, every new level is a new devil. And it's always scary. But something that I realized along the way is whenever I would fight things, whenever I pretend to not know, it felt worse. And it always felt better when I would picture the dream, picture the goal, get really clear on it, and then, and then take the steps that a person who had achieved that would do. And it's an interesting skill set. It's a muscle like anything else, and you have to work it out. So if you're like, "Lesley, yeah, I get it. But I don't know how to do this next step." It's a muscle. If you were doing a bicep curl with two pounds, and you never go to the gym, you'd be like, "Okay, I could do that." But if I gave you a 15 pound weight, you've never done a bicep curl, it's gonna feel really hard. So you have to build yourself up. You're gonna make mistakes, you're going to have days where you're not being it till you see it, but you keep trying, right? You keep trying. So fast forward many years, we get here, and I wanted to have this podcast and I remember knowing I wanted to have podcast and seeing how the podcast would be and it's like, finished form. And, and I then I had to, I had to interview someone, and I've never done that before. So you know what I did? I literally asked all the people on my memberships if they would go live with me. So please pick times, I need to practice interviewing people. Because something I never thought I was with someone asked good questions. You should really be careful about the things you say about yourself. Because your brain is listening. And so if you tell yourself, "I don't ask her questions," then you think that your brains be like, "Let me show you about this good question." Like, it's not gonna happen. So actually makes me think of the recent episode with Kasey Orvidas, where we talked about like, having a fixed mindset and thinking that you're born with a fixed mindset, because then you actually have a fixed mindset around your fixed mindset, which gets really meta, she said. 

And so anyways, but here's the deal. So I, I didn't, I didn't want to be someone who believed they didn't ask good questions. I wanted to be someone who believed that they did. So I literally said, "Okay, I'm going to interview all these people." And I practiced interviewing them as if they were going to be on a podcast with me, they were just small Instagram lives. And I just practiced, and you know what the first interview I had to do was my friend Alex Street. You can listen to his episode. It's amazing. And at the end, he's like, "How was that? How do you feel?" I was like, "you're my first one." I was shaking the whole time. And, and the first one was the hardest one, just like this episode right here. This is gonna be the hardest solo episode I'll ever do. And then after this, I mean it's so easy. So one thing I realized in that interview with him was that I just acted like the person who knew what they were doing. And it wasn't perfect. Okay, our microphone doesn't even sound that good. It's not, we have new one after that. (Lesley laughs) But but the point is, is that like being it till you see it is a muscle, and you're not going to be it till you see it to be a speaker of 10,000 people tomorrow, you'll probably be it till you see it to see this speak to like an open forum of five people, right? And then it'll be more, it'll be more and you will start starting off small is not a bad thing. It's not like an underestimation, it's actually allowing you to have room for success. Room for success.

So now that this podcast has passed over 100, and something episodes, we are still being it till we see it in a lot of ways. Because we've pasted 100 episodes, that's a huge freaking deal. Thank you for listening. But I don't want to just do 100 episodes, I want to do 1000 episodes. I don't want just 40 reviews. I want 1000s. I don't want just a few 100 listeners whose lives we change. I want millions. Why? Why? Because I know every single frickin one of you that's listening to this, every single one of you is powerful and amazing. And you're here to do freakin wonderful things. And, and you can't do it if you don't believe if you can. And you can't do it, if you keep saying "when I'm ready". And you can't do it, if you're like waiting till someone deems you ready. Deems you the one. No one is walking around knighting you as the next whatever, they're not doing it. If you want something stop waiting for permission. So then, how would you be some like how, who is someone? What are the qualities? What are the things that they do with someone who doesn't wait for permission? What are those qualities? What would they be doing right now? If you are someone who wasn't waiting for permission or wasn't waiting to feel ready? What would you be doing right now? That is your homework assignment. So what is my homework assignment? Well, one of the things as I have been asking people who I was afraid would laugh in my face if I asked him to be on the podcast, to be on the podcast, and they didn't laugh in my face and they also didn't get me crickets, they actually said 'yes'. So now I have to interview them, definitely scared as fuck. (Lesley laughs) But I'm so excited, I'm so excited to bring those interviews to you. I'm so excited to, to be to see what I become because of those interviews. I'm so excited to see who you become because of those interviews. Every single one of those interviews is a step towards being the person that I want to be, it's towards helping you be the person that you want to be. We're all doing this together, right? It just happen to be on this side of the microphone, you're on that side of the airpods, but we're doing this, we're all doing this together. We're all on this mission to be the version of ourselves that we cannot wait to be. And what is so cool about that is when you're acting as if that person someday that you're it's no longer acting, you are just that person. Like it's just like it just it happens and you don't even realize it.

So, I am asking guests to scare the hell out of me. That's one way that I'm being it till I see it with this podcast. In my life, one thing that I'm doing to be it till I see it is I am actually doing a lot of research on investing. I really, really, really, really, really, really, really want to create generational wealth, even though I have no generations below me. I don't have kids. But I want to take that money and reinvest it to communities. I want to I want to reinvest it to female owned businesses. I want to help other people, be it till they see it if they don't have the funds. And so to do that, I have to create that wealth, how do I create that wealth, well I have to educate myself on actual wealth. And so I visualize this, right, and I've been visually this for two years. You know, it's so crazy when you visualize something that you are, we talked about this, your eyes and your ears have to see what the brain is looking for. And in the last six months, the amount of people I've been introduced to the books, they've suggested me reading, the things that I have gotten clarity on, have really popped the bubble on, like how complicated this thing is, and shown me that like, I don't have to have a like some sort of like, economic engineering degree, I could actually be a normal human being, who can create this wealth as this Pilates instructor, podcast, business coach, and it feels closer than ever, it feels so possible. So one of the ways I'm going to make sure I read these books, because how many of us go "I need to read that book" and we don't read it. One of the ways I'm I need to make sure I read this, these books isn't going to be a library card. So I can be the reader that I want to be the person who educates herself. So I feel like if I have the a little bit of pressure that the books are due at a certain time that I will get the reading done. And I'm very excited because I used to be like a consumer of books. I like I just could read a book a week. And so I want to I want to go back to that. I know that's in me, and I'm really excited to do it with this challenge.

Okay, so the next thing and my be it till we see it journey where I am at, is really trying to be a person who enjoys the messy middle. And this, this lovers is frickin hard. This is not the easiest thing. Because it is so much easier to get frustrated, mad, stomp your feet cry and feel like the wall was me. Right. And I think you should know that in businesses is never, like the stories we tell ourselves about other people's lives and businesses from social media is rarely whatever that is. And it's not because they're lying. And it's not because they're faking it. Right. Every single one of my posts is authentic AF. But the stories we tell ourselves when we look at other people's posts is where we put on this like other layer of like, "Oh my God, how amazing is that?"

And so, anyways, I'm there every single day, something will go wrong when you have a business. There's a thing that doesn't work on technology, there's an email that doesn't go through when it's supposed to. Like the dog chewed up the carpet and now we have to tile a room. And so I'm behind on filming, like there's just always stuff going on. And for the last six months, I've been freaking fighting it, like, ... maybe not six months, but at least three, like really fighting, fighting this, the things that go wrong. And I actually want to be the person who sits there and sees the things go wrong and observes them, and then figures out, the first next step around that thing without getting upset or getting angry or losing the joy. Because I get to do this. And I share that with you because I know that you're like, you want the same thing. Right? Many of you are moms and you want to be this mom who's like so excited. And is is showing them joy and happiness and love. And then like the dog spills the milk over the backpack and you're running out the door. I don't know how the dog did that. But basically, it's a whole hot mess express and you're just frustrated and you're upset and I just threw a pen. That's what that was a dramatic moment. But like you're just upset, right? And then you're like, "Ah, I don't want to be this mad, angry mom who lost it over spilt milk." Right? So we all have these things. We're all like, "Oh, I don't want to do that." And so I actually want to be someone who's like, not that I won't have feelings or not that things don't make me upset. But that, that I don't lose it before I've actually observed the whole story. And so how am I doing that? Well, I'm making sure I do my morning pages. Because whenever I do my morning pages, I always feel better the whole day. I'm also doing my breathwork the end of the morning, because that makes me feel ... feel much more centered. And then I am trying out different things right now. I'm trying out either taking a deep breath or asking for, I'm trying not asking for things to be sent to me versus told to me, or to have meet... or have it told me at meetings versus just like, interrupting. I'm trying out different things to just set myself up for success at this. And the other thing I'm doing is going is actually telling people is what I'm working on, so that I have this awareness around it. Right. We all have this, we all have this consciousness awareness around what we're doing. So if you are actually telling people, "I don't want to spend money," and then you're spending money, they're gonna be like, and you're gonna be like, and no one's probably gonna say anything, but you're gonna have that awareness like, "Oh, I'm spending money, and I just told me I don't want to do that." So I'm setting myself up for some growth in that area to be it till I see it in how I want to be in my business, because I'm not really enjoying the way I am right now. And that's okay. So it's okay to be like, "I don't really like this about myself." That's what we get to do in this life, we get to work on it. And that's great.

So I hope that was really fun. I hope that was really, I don't know, informa... informative. And if you liked this, let me know DM me at the @be_it_pod or ask questions or feel free to leave us a review. The next thing I want to leave you with on this pod is just some things that are actually I'm really like their frickin helping me so much right now, and I'm really obsessed with so one is my hydro jug. Oh my God, this half gallon stainless steel jug. And it's got this massive straw inside. I don't have to hold the, I don't have to tilt the jug back to drink it. I know that sounds so dumb, but it always spills all over me. And then usually have to like take the lid off, which is so annoying. So this just a little cap, flip it back and then you just like, like a sippy cup, you just drink out of it and don't have to tilt it anywhere. I'm not spilling anything. And it's making me drink so much water. I'm drinking two a day, which is a gallon of water plus where I get the water in everything else. The other thing that I freaking love and you may have heard about this bar, this isn't anything new. But my chocolate collagen brings me frickin joy in my coffee every morning. It is the best and by the way, if you want to get really fancy, you can dust some of it on your like almond butter toast or something like that. It's so good. And then a couple other things I'm loving at night I do a little a Gua Shua situation. And that has been really fun for me because it's really meditative. And it you know, it just makes me feel like I'm doing something for my my my looks to look good the next day. There's apparently a lot of science behind it. But at least it still feels really good. It feels like a massage in my face. And I really love it. And especially at the end of the night when I'm when it's tempting to like grab your phone, I can't grab my phone and Gua Shau, I'm not a drummer, I don't I can't have like one hand doing one thing and one hand doing another. So you have to like have your eyes closed and you ... yourself.

I am loving my red light therapy. I actually turn it on while I'm doing my morning pages. And so that has been really fun just to kind of double up because you're like, "How do you do all these things?" Well, I have my red light therapy while I'm doing my morning pages. And then I also and loving my greens juice in the morning. It is been really awesome. It feels really good. It's an instant 12 ounces of water for like kickstarts a day. And I'm really loving Brad join me on the morning walks. So those are some great things. I will say I would love to hear what your favorite short short, like bike shorts are, workout shorts, because it's hot AF here in Vegas. And so since I can't walk around in my bathing suit, I guess I could walk around my bathing suit. But that's not really comfortable. I'm just buying up the world's shortest bike shorts. Because the more of my legs that can feel the AC the better.

Yeah, so those are my loves. So I again thank you for listening to the story of how I got here to the be it till you see it moments I'm taking. I want to hear what you're doing. And to these favorite things. If you like the solo episodes, or you want more you just have a topic you want me to go over? Let us know. We, this podcast is here for you. Right? It's totally here to help you. It helps me on my journey too. But it really is like for you, for your ears. We want to know and we'll have an episode with Brad as well. And if you like these, we can do them more often. Or we can drop them every quarter. You tell us we want to hear from you. And then finally I want to know how you're being it till you see it in your life. That's what I want. So tell me in the podcast and the at Instagram at the @be_it_pod and let us know so we can celebrate you. So we can celebrate you. Yeah, because the more we celebrate ourselves the easier it is for us to realize how far we frickin come. All right my loves, thank you so much for listening to this solo episode with me and until next time Be It Till You See It.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai

What's your percentage possibility for a positive mindset? Why does it feel so difficult to continually overcome the negativity? LL and Brad break down the conversation with Dr. Philippe Douyon about the power your mind has in overcoming negative thought cycles. 

If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at [email protected] .

And as always, if you’re enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe.

In this episode you will learn about:

• The ideal coffee order 
• The science behind the power of our minds 
• Don’t allow the negative thoughts to keep you in a negative cycle 
• The mindset checks and balances are built as safety nets 
• A malleable subconscious 
• Choosing to change your perspective 

Episode References/Links:

• Dr. Philippe Douyon podcasts
• Full body in 15 Challenge

If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox.

Resources

• Watch the Be It Till You See It podcast on YouTube!
• Lesley Logan website
• Be It Till You See It Podcast
• Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan
• Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan on YouTube
• Profitable Pilates

Social Media

• Instagram
• Facebook
• LinkedIn

Episode Transcript:

Lesley Logan 0:01  

Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast, where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guests will bring Bold, Executable, Intrinsic and Targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started.

Welcome back to the Be It Till You See It interview recap where my co host in life, Brad and I are going to dig into the brainy convo I had with Dr. Philippe Douyon in our ...

Brad Crowell 0:53  

What convo is that? What kind of convo is that? (Lesley: It's a brainy.) It's a brainy convo.

Lesley Logan 0:57  

It's a brainy convo. I had a fight for that word, everyone. Brad wanted to call it a neurological convo. So you can tell us your vote in on Instagram. I want, we're gonna poll the audience. I want to know. I want to know.

Brad Crowell 1:10  

Yeah. Is this a scientific convo or a brainy convo?

Lesley Logan 1:14  

Brainy convo, I have with Dr. Philippe Douyon in our last episode. If you haven't yet listened to that episode, go listen to it. Like just go, go listen to it. He's so freakin smart. (Brad: It was great conversation.) He's so smart. And also, like, very freeing. I like, I and I can't wait for us to talk about it later on. But like, one of the things he says is gonna make you realize like, "Oh, that's why it's so frickin difficult." So I just ...

Brad Crowell 1:40  

Very relatable, too. Like his personal story was very shocking. And also, I felt das for him, you know, like, like, he's got some crazy things that he's personally dealing with. That makes him even more relatable.

Lesley Logan 1:56  

Yeah, but he (Brad: Yeah) also isn't letting it stop him. Like, dude has a podcast. (Brad: Not letting him ...) He like ... (Brad: Not letting stop. He travels.) He has a course. (Brad: He teaches.) Like, (Brad: Yeah) I mean, just like, I don't, I don't (Brad: fascinating) I didn't know that you could be a doctor and do all of those things at the same time. So

Brad Crowell 2:11  

Well, we just decided to bring that part of the convo right up to the top. (Lesley: Yeah. Well, anyways ...) But before we get started. (Brad laughs)

Lesley Logan 2:19  

I had to say, I am so excited in just a couple of days. If you're listening to this live, in just a couple of days, the Full Body in 15 program kicks off again. This is our our program where literally we take anybody who's been Pi curious (it's Pilates curious) to have been doing it for a long time, but needs help getting more consistent. And also understanding Pilates in your body. A lot of people are like, "Is it for me? How do I know if I'm doing it right?" (Brad: Right.) And so in this program, not only do I teach you how to do a full body workout in 15 minutes. I also teach you how to do the exercises correctly. So that you can you can you can do class with me online and know you're doing it correctly. Or (Brad: Yeah) you can do classes, you could just do your own workout just out at the park, you don't you know, like, of course, I secretly want you, not even secretly, I really do want you to be on OPC. But I also more importantly, want more bodies doing Pilates. And so in this workout, you're (Brad: Yeah) going to learn how to do it.

Brad Crowell 3:10  

Yeah, so it's great. The Full Body in 15 is great for any of your friends or family who can't touch their toes. Right. So if (Lesley: Yeah) they, like if they what I mean by that I'm thinking particularly of two of my friends, one of them is a boxer and the other does CrossFit. (Lesley: Yeah) And neither of them can touch their toes. And they always say, "I'm so strong, but I can't. I'm not flexible." Right. And they know that, they're you know, so like this is perfect for people in that place because Lesley's philosophy, our philosophy is, it's Pilates, and (Lesley: Yeah) your other thing, right? So they can still do what they're doing, whether it whatever that may be, and incorporate a 15 minute Pilates workout into their day. And it will actually help them with that flexibility.

Lesley Logan 4:01  

Yeah, and so it's super fun. Hello, my CrossFitters I want you in. I also just know that when you do Pilates consistently, it makes everything you do better. So join us, it's going to be a lot of fun. And I promise you the workout is only 15 minutes.

Brad Crowell 4:15  

Yeah. So check out the link below in the show notes and join us for free for the Full Body in 15. It is starting in three days.

Lesley Logan 4:24  

Yeah. All right. So we have an audience question. I love these questions, you all. So you can send your questions in either via email, I'm sure. But also you can send them to the @be_it_pod on Instagram and we will answer them here.

Brad Crowell 4:37  

Yeah. I particularly love this question because you know, you can't you can't stop me from talking about coffee and my love of coffee. We did have a question way back in the beginning on like, how do you make your coffee or what your morning routine is or whatever. And we talked a lot about the French press or what whatnot. Anyway, this one is, "What is your favorite coffee?"

Lesley Logan 5:00  

So this is where it gets a little tricky, because it kind of depends on where we are.

Brad Crowell 5:04  

Ah yeah, it does depend where we are. (Lesley: Yeah) We have, so this is really funny. As you know, we drive around the country. And what I've been doing is I've been favoriting coffee shops all around the country (Lesley: Yeah) as we drive and we're like, "Oh, we're coming back to this one."

Lesley Logan 5:18  

Yeah. So we know, I mean today, I was talking to somebody about a coffee shop we went to in Birmingham that we loved. Do you remember that coffee shop in Birmingham? It was like we drove this (Brad: Oh, yeah,) little really road. The houses were like ...

Brad Crowell 5:29  

It was between six churches, I think. (Lesley: Yes,) Yeah. (Lesley: six churches)

Lesley Logan 5:33  

And there was this coffee shop and it totally stood out like a sore thumb because I was like, "Ah, I don't think this is where the church people are coming to get coffee." Had all these like interesting books and stuff. It was great. (Brad: It was really cute.) Anyways, Brad favored it. No, I don't know the name. I just know that it's in Birmingham between six churches. I'm sure that doesn't narrow it down very much. So okay, if we're in Las Vegas, and we are brewing our coffee at home, it is between a Joshua Tree or Vesta's Goddess Blend.

Brad Crowell 5:59  

Yeah. So Joshua Tree Coffee Company, which is down on, well, just north of Joshua Tree National Park in Joshua Tree. (Lesley: Yeah, it sounds like the main highway.) Yeah. Which I can't remember now. (Lesley: 111, 1 something) 29? No, no, (Lesley: No, that's ... No ...) It's next to Yucca Valley. It's next to ...

Lesley Logan 6:18  

You literally can't miss it. (Brad: Yeah) The main road (Brad: Yeah) to Joshua Tree like the you'd make a right and you get into Joshua Tree and it's on the left hand side. (Brad: Yeah) So that's where it is. So that's Joshua Tree. You can actually order it online and no, they don't sponsor (Brad: Yeah) us. Vesta ... (Brad: They should though because we we drink a lot of their coffee.) We get the, whenever I go, we get the biggest bag and I'm like, "I'll take ... 

Brad Crowell 6:37  

It's five pounds or you get a five pound bag of beans. (Lesley: ... I'll take two of those.)

Lesley Logan 6:41  

So then Vesta has got us one I really do love and I ...

Brad Crowell 6:44  

So what's that one? (Lesley: The Goddess Blend?) No, no, the company. (Lesley: Vesta) Vesta. They are local here in Vegas.

Lesley Logan 6:51  

And they're our neighbors, too. (Brad: Yes) Yeah. And actually, it's their coffee shop that made us want to move here. (Brad: Yes.) And so ...

Brad Crowell 6:59  

When we first drove through Vegas, we stopped at their coffee shop and I was like, "I can work out of this coffee shop. (Lesley: Yeah) That's cool."

Lesley Logan 7:06  

And and then the COVID happened and no one's working at any coffee shop. But we moved here anyways. But ... (Brad: The COVID.) Okay, now we're going to start some drama in town because on like, okay, on Saturday mornings, we always go to Vesta. And then during the week if I'm like, "I really want a latte." I'll order Vesta on Postmates. But if we want to go work at a coffee shop, we go to Bungalow, (Brad: We do.) and so okay, if you are in Vegas, this would love you to do. I want you ...

Brad Crowell 7:29  

Bungalow is a is a it's a bigger space. It's got these super tall ceilings, it's a (Lesley: Yeah) it's a pretty chill vibe. You can post up there and work. They got lots of sunlight.

Lesley Logan 7:38  

They have this like neon sinuses, big sip energy, and I just, I just fuckin' love that. So they have so here's what you have to do, you need to go to Vesta and get the cardamom latte. Then you have to go to Bungalow and get the rosemary latte. And then you have to say, "Which one do you like more?" And I'm gonna be honest ...

There is a third. There's like 10 little coffee shops right here, too. (Lesley: Right. So then ...) There's Makers & Finders.

Makers & Finders, which also was a place that we fell in love with when we moved here. And I during the pandemic would get, I would order (Brad: the lavender) but I would order like you know, those jugs of coffee that they get for office meetings. (Brad: Yeah) I would order a gallon of cold brew (Brad: Right) for lavender, they would send us a cup of lavender syrup, an entire thing of oat milk, and they would all get delivered and we would drink it all week long. (Brad: Yes) So lavender latte at Makers & Finders, they're all within three blocks. Have fun. So that's what we like to drink here in Las Vegas.

Brad Crowell 8:30  

For sure you can order Vesta online as well if you're interested in giving them a try.

Lesley Logan 8:35  

Yeah. And then as far as like what kind of coffee do I like? So typically, we do French press and I do a steamed oat milk like it froths, thanks to Kareen's husband for giving me his frother, his extra one and then I put chocolate collagen in it. Brad has since switched to some vanilla collagen in it and you got all the protein you want like, my loves. You got to get in as much as you can. And then, but lately I've been wanting, I've been wanting to get a ... What do you call it?

Brad Crowell 9:02  

I have no idea what that means.

Lesley Logan 9:04  

I want to get an espresso machine (Brad: Oh) and then make a latte (Brad: That's what ... mean.) Yeah. Well, I used to work at a coffee shop, that my first job and (Brad: I didn't know that.) Yeah. (Brad: Really?) Oh, yeah. (Brad: What?) Oh, yeah. I for... or like oh, two years, I worked at a coffee shop. (Brad: What? How did I not know this?) Oh, yeah. No, I worked there. I worked ... (Brad: You're like 15?) Yeah, I started as soon as you can get a work permit.

Brad Crowell 9:25  

Yeah, I think my first job was 15.

Lesley Logan 9:27  

You put the thing in, tap, tap, tap ... and then it pours and the frothing and then you have to clean the frother ... Anyways, (Brad: double spout?) Yeah. (Brad: Yeah) Yeah, of course. Otherwise you just lose a shot. You can't just pick one. So anyways, I I think I want one of those machines. Let me know what your favorite one is. Okay, what's your favorite coffee, babe? Anything? Did I missed one?

Brad Crowell 9:27  

No. I usually if I'm out and about I usually just get a an Americano with soy. Which is funny because (Lesley: And last time ordering for him then I get ...) So it's not really even something I drink ever. But in a coffee I like the taste of it. I don't really like it with the almond milk as much but I will do almond milk. I do. I have started to embrace the oat milk a little more. It is a little creamier and I do enjoy that. So ...

Lesley Logan 10:14  

It really froths more than almond milk does.

Brad Crowell 10:14  

Oh well, the frothing machine you have is dope. So that thing whips it up really nice and almond milk and coconut milk. And the other milks (Lesley: No.) don't don't froth nearly as well as oat milk.

Lesley Logan 10:27  

And ever since I been on an oat milk kick, whenever like, like literally we stopped at our favorite coffee shop on the way home from Joshua Tree, or Palm Springs or something like that. And he's like, "You want get some Joshua Tree?" And I was like, "Okay." So I go up there and I'm like, "Do you have oat milk?" And they said, "No." And I was like, "Thanks," and I left because it's not good with almond. (Brad laughs) And I'm not going to give $5 away and hate the coffee. I'm not going to put myself in position to not be happy. So I just was like, "Thanks so much." And we found a different coffee shop that had oat milk. And I was happy.

Brad Crowell 10:56  

Funny. All right, let's talk about Dr. Philippe Douyon. As a man who knew there was more than a failed kidneys in his life. Dr. Felipe Douyon chased his dreams to get through medical school and his own patient journey in a different way. He is a testament to the power, "We give our minds" and he has the science to back it up. As a Neurologist and certified epilepsy specialist, Dr. Felipe founded the Inle BrainFit Institute where he helps people transform their health.

Lesley Logan 11:31  

Okay, so he does, he is just like kicking ass in life and "What did you do today? Nothing." (Lesley laughs)

Brad Crowell 11:37  

Yeah. Well, it's, I mean, like we said, at the very beginning, right out of the gate, he's being challenged as a teen with kidney disease. And he talked about his Dad generously giving him his kidney. (Lesley: Yeah) But then, now he's in his 40s. He's a dad. He's like, you know, a doctor, all the things. He still is dealing with things like ... what's the, what's the trance... dialysis? So he just went, he's been going through dialysis and it's been crazy to listen like to listen to him talk about his experience is pretty pretty, it sounds not that fun. I'm not gonna lie.

Lesley Logan 12:24  

But also like, I feel like you know, our friend Amy Ledin, she is going ... and is dealing battling cancer again. And she is finding people who have had cancer longer than what her diagnosis is, and and asking them, "How long did they say you had?" What is (Brad: Yeah) she looking for evidence of, of people who are out living what their diagnosis is? And that leads me into my favorite point, which is like, you are not you're more than your diagnosis. So like, you know, you you, I think I say this, because I really liked it, because a lot of people like I have migraines. And and that stops them from signing up for things because what if they have a migraine, and he was talking about his client, who was patient (excuse me) who he was able to get from having any seizures for a long time. It's like, "Okay, well, what have you been doing?"

Epilepsy patient. (Lesley: Yeah) Yeah.

And he's like, "Nothing. I'm just making sure ... I don't want to have a seizure." And so I really liked this, because ...

Brad Crowell 13:24  

His question to his patient was what, so, "You haven't been working? You haven't been doing life? Like you haven't been doing anything?" And the patient said, "No, I don't want to have another seizure." And he's like, "So so you're waiting until the next one?" Like, what do you you know, why ... (Lesley: Yeah) Any basically, his point about it was, what he finds is that most people embrace this idea of their diagnosis. Right? So like, "Oh, I'm a cancer patient," or "I'm a survivor, I'm a cancer survivor," or "I have epilepsy" or I, whatever I you know, and today can even be I have long COVID because that's becoming more prevalent, you know, so and I think his point is that you have a choice.

Lesley Logan 13:26  

Yeah. You do and I, so just be mindful of the words that you're using. And also, if something that you have going on your health or your life is keeping you from trying new things, I really want you to go into this next part that I love that he talked about the science behind visualization, the entire occipital lobe, the whole the whole lobe in your brain dedicated to your vision. And ...

Brad Crowell 14:15  

Yeah, that's amazing. I never knew that.

Lesley Logan 14:19  

And he also said, or maybe I heard this right after this, and I was like, completely doing, you know, confirmation bias. He said, the eyes and ears see and hear. Did he say this, or did someone else say this? I'm gonna say, anyways, I inferred it from him, your eyes and your ears, see and hear what your brain is looking for. So if you're, you know, like,

Brad Crowell 14:57  

Oh, no, yeah, you guys talked about the (Lesley: Yeah, okay) recip... drawn a blank on the exact term. (Lesley: reticulating activatiion.) Yes, reticulating ... That's right. (Lesley: blah, blah, blah) I'm impressed. (Lesley: Yeah, wow look what just came out.) Pulling it out of the brain.

Lesley Logan 15:11  

My brain is really because I had this coffee. Okay. So the point is like, if you are wanting to see evidence that your life is going to be better look for that, like, start telling yourself what good things are happening, what good things could happen.

Brad Crowell 15:28  

The reticular activating system. (Lesley: Yeah.) And he, what he was specifically talking about was getting a red, Volkswagen Golf. And he said, when he bought that car, he'd never heard of it before, whatever, it's just a car. But as soon as he got in the car and start driving around, he started seeing that same car everywhere else. And he was like, "I'm sure these cars were here before. But how come I never really saw them before?" (Lesley: Yeah) Right. And that is actually the reticular activating system. Now your brain is suddenly saying, "This thing is more important than I used to consider it." So therefore, when we see it, we're going to acknowledge it. (Lesley: Yeah. So you can ...) You probably have done the same with your cars, too. Sure.

Lesley Logan 16:09  

Oh, I did have one I had a Jeep. And I also lo... I own a Mini Cooper. And I don't even have a G Wagon. And I see all the G Wagons because I want one. And I right now I'm visualizing one in our driveway, like where am I going to park it and like, I know, my Dad's gonna be so mad because he's not gonna be able to pull all the way through. (Brad laughs) Anyway, but the point is my loves, he, there's a whole science behind your visualization. And I really want you to listen to that part again. And again, because you can teach your brain to look for the things that you want in your life that are more positive. (Brad: Yeah) And we should all be doing that.

Brad Crowell 16:41  

Yeah, this, his interview is definitely one worth saving. So in your podcast app, save that one, go back and listen to it. Because what I really loved about what he was talking about was, first off, acknowledging that the main purpose of the brain, first he said, the brain is the most complex, (I don't know) organism is the wrong word. But it's the most complex (Lesley: Is it organ, right?) Yeah, but but in the entire solar system. And he said, I don't know how you measure that, because I haven't visited the solar system. But you know, your brain is more complicated than any computer, any anything. It's the most complex thing. And, you know, the main job of the brain is to keep you alive. (Lesley: Yeah.) Right. So that includes inhibitors. Right? That includes pain, fear, you know, all these things. It's actually built in on purpose to protect you, to keep you alive. Right. Like, what is that sixth sense? We like the spidey sense, you feel when like, oh, there's something like you know. And suddenly you're aware. Like, it's amazing what our brain does and how it works within our body. Right. And, but the problem, the pro... there can be a problem is that we embrace those things.

Lesley Logan 18:00  

Well, I mean, also, it's like, is to hold you say, he said, to hold you back. Like, it's, it's literally set up to be in fear, (Brad: Yeah) to keep you alive.

Brad Crowell 18:10  

Well, I mean, think about the fear of heights. (Lesley: Right) Perfect example, right. Like, I think it's very healthy to look over the edge and go, "whoa!"

Lesley Logan 18:21  

I agree on that. But you know, why does our brain then have a fear of public speaking? (Brad: That's, that's right.) No one died in public speaking. (Brad: That's ...) Like, like, just naturally.

Brad Crowell 18:32  

Right. So I mean, yeah, but basically, you know, your, your brain has these checks and balances built in, on purpose to protect you, right? And the problem is that we also have a choice of what we get to focus on. And so if we focus on the fear, then what happens? It's like, it's like a, it's a cycle, (Lesley: Oh well...) we focus on the fear, we focus on the fear (Lesley: reticulating activating system) we focus on the fear. That's right. It's the reticular activating system. You're exactly right. If you are embracing that fear, then you will see fear everywhere. Right? Like this is crazy to think to break it down. So I'm really excited about this. Okay. So what blew my mind is and again, he also laughed and said, I don't know how they measured this, but the studies are, that the average brain has 12,000 to 60,000 thoughts in a day. Right. And that is like, I mean, that's a crazy amount of thoughts. But he also said most of those thoughts are the same thoughts that you had the day before. (Lesley: Yeah. And the day before that.) And the day before that, and the day before that, and the day before that. But he also said and this is what was mind blowing to me 60 to 70% of those thoughts are negative.

Lesley Logan 19:49  

Right. So this is what is so important for you to hear 60 or 70% of your repeated thoughts are negative. So you are literally set up like if you're tired of having negative mindset or having negative thoughts. And you're getting mad at yourself, just so you know, like, like, you're already started in a deficit. So don't instead of getting upset at yourself, you get to go, "Oh, there's my brain. Doing that thing it does." Like, it's, it's not, it's not a, what's the word I'm looking for? It's not a reflection on you. Your brain is set up that way. And so it takes, it takes us to be super conscious and super aware and super on top of the thoughts that we're thinking and can go, "Oh, you know what, we're actually not having that thought anymore. Thank you so much for that. Thank you." And like, move on. But don't be so hard on yourself because that's a negative thought, too.

Brad Crowell 20:41  

Yeah, I think I think the the idea that. Okay, more than 50% means on average, your thoughts are negative. (Lesley: Yeah) That's kind of a, that's kind of a sad statistic to be quite honest. But it's also a reveal, a revealing statistic. And also, (Lesley: It's like permission. It's that ...) I was just gonna say, I think that it also allows you permission. That like, I'm not, we're not what I'm not saying is embrace those negative thoughts. But what I am saying is, understand that it is normal for negative thoughts to go through your brain. (Lesley: Yeah) Okay, it is normal. So if that is normal, then don't, don't let those negative thoughts cause the guilt cycle of like, "Oh, my God, I just ..." And you just kind of spiral down, (Lesley: Yeah) spiral down, right? Knowing that 60 to 70% of your thoughts are negative, suddenly, that should actually just be freeing. It should be permission to go, "Hey, there's another negative thought." Okay, that negative thought happened. But like we were talking about before, when ...(Lesley: ... you thought) you're more than your diagnosis. (Lesley: Yeah) So what you choose to focus on, you know, like, "Okay, that's a negative thought. Got it. I'm gonna, I'm gonna set that negative thought aside, and I'm gonna focus on something else." That's a decision.

Lesley Logan 22:11  

You can also like, change the thought. You can go, like, if you're like, "Oh, I'm so bad at this." You can go, you know what I actually am choosing to tell myself that I'm working on this. Like you can, you can actually just change the thought and it's gonna take more than one time changing it. But over time, you know, your subconscious is very malleable. You can tell it what to think.

Brad Crowell 22:31  

Yeah, yeah. I mean, this was like, when he was talking about this. I literally, I think I started talking out loud going, "What? What really? Are you kidding?" Like ...

Lesley Logan 22:40  

You are speaking out loud?

Brad Crowell 22:41  

Yeah. I had my headphones on. Lesley was like, "Are you on a phone call?" I was like, "No, I'm listening to this interview." (Brad laughs)

Lesley Logan 22:46  

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, we I am, we have to just, well, he has a whole brain podcast, everyone, so we can just go listen to him. Or we'll just have him back. And I just have way too many more ...

Brad Crowell 22:55  

We'll put his podcast link in the show notes. (Lesley: Okay.) Yeah. So, all right, finally, let's talk about those BE IT action items. What bold, executabl,e intrinsic or targeted action items can we take away from your conversation with Dr. Philippe Douyon?

Lesley Logan 23:10  

Do you want to jump on in?

Brad Crowell 23:13  

I do. I want to jump on in. (Brad and Lesley laughs) (Lesley: Oh, my God. The way you that...) You're more than willing, (Lesley: Yeah. No.) to jump on in.

Lesley Logan 23:21  

The more, the way the way (Brad: That two inside jobs.) he did ... No, we're gonna have another one. The way you did that. It's your whole body and your tone was like a Fortune Feimster? You know like ...

Brad Crowell 23:32  

Yes, (Lesley: Yes.) I love that. All right ...

Lesley Logan 23:34  

... have Fortune on.

Brad Crowell 23:36  

I would love to have her on. That'd be incredible. (Lesley: Yeah. Okay.) Get ready for some laughs, everyone. All right. So finally, so my BE IT items. So here's the deal. We basically couldn't pick any one thing that that Philippe was talking about. So we just kind of rolled them all in. So here's the deal. This sum... in summary of those negative 60 to 70% of thoughts that we were talking about, and you are not the the you're not your diagnosis. You can choose what thoughts to focus on, right, that reciprocal activating, whatever, (Lesley: I think it's reticular.) reticular, sorry, activating. ... me like these guys are just botching this whole thing up ...

Lesley Logan 24:21  

Because I kept kind of reticulating activating (Lesley laughs)

Brad Crowell 24:24  

The point is, you can change the way you think about things. (Lesley: Yeah) Okay. You actually have control over that. And that is a that is hard to, that's hard, right? Because if we're caught in that negative cycle, that negative self talk that fear based, you know, where we're focusing on the negative, we're focusing on the fear, understanding and acknowledging that the fear thoughts are going to happen whether we want them to or not, right, but you can change the way you think about things by reading different material, having different experiences, surrounding yourself with different people. Okay, that is going to give you another perspective, it's going to change your perspective. Right? (Lesley: Yeah) Think about that. Let's, let's talk about that again. One of the one of the things that I've always talked about is that everybody should be traveling internationally, everyone, everyone, everyone, everyone should be traveling internationally. (Lesley: Yeah) Because when you go see a different culture, you're experiencing a different way that people think differently. It's just different.

Lesley Logan 25:22  

Well, and you also, by the way, you end up with way less judgment around people, because (Brad: Yeah) you understand why they make decisions when they make them. And so you're a little bit more like, "Oh, there must be a reason for that." You might not like the reason but like, you just, it just makes you a more open minded person. (Brad: Yeah) But also, like, just he said, surround yourself with different people. You all might have put a frickin pin. (Brad: Yep.) Some of the negative people in your life. And it's frustrating, and it's hard, but like, this is your one life. (Brad: Yeah, is it.) Do you want to keep spending it with people who are super frickin negative. No, I don't.

Brad Crowell 25:54  

It's actually really hard to remove negative people. But it's something that really will benefit you in the long run.

Lesley Logan 26:02  

Yeah, yeah. Well, and then there's more, you have more.

Brad Crowell 26:05  

Yeah. So anyway, read different material, have different experiences, surround yourself with different people. Because when you have those different perspectives, you can then make a decision on what you want to focus on.

Lesley Logan 26:20  

Yeah, and that's the coolest thing, you get to also just, you get to choose what to focus on. (Brad: Yep.) I mean, this one between this interview and Kasey Jo Orvidas? Like y'all have all the tips and tools to like positive mindset your way through things and not in a 'woo woo' way ...

Brad Crowell 26:37  

And going all the way back to Amy Ledin. (Lesley: Oh, yeah.) You know, like, Amy's not a doctor, but she's a survivor. 

Lesley Logan 26:43  

Yeah, yeah. No, I'm, I would love to know what you're making a decision to focus on. That'd be really fun. Okay. (Brad: Yeah.) So this is so fun for me, because I know that I asked a neur... neurological doctor about Sudoku, Sudoku, (Brad: Sudoku) Sudoku. But I ... (Brad: He did have a laugh.) I needed to know curious minds, right here. Okay.

Brad Crowell 27:06  

I think he told him, you said, "I keep getting ads for a quiz or a brain, a thing that's going to tell me how old my brain is." (Lesley: Yes.) And he had a laugh.

Lesley Logan 27:14  

And he said, "No, you don't need to do that." And I'm like, "Okay, good." Because I hate a bunch of apps on my phone. Anyways. So how do you keep the brain healthy? Is it these brain games? Well, he has something for you. But he's an actual brain doctor. So I say yes to that. (Brad: He does have a quiz. I think he said.) It's a course or something. Yeah. Anyways, it is not Sudoku, it is not any of those games that are being launched at you because you won't pay for extra people on best games like I do. It is simply he says, "No, it's exercise every single day. Get your body moving." You guys ...

Brad Crowell 27:45  

Did you hear that? Say that, again.

Lesley Logan 27:47  

Keep... you keep your brain healthy through movement, through exercise. You have to move your body intentionally every day. Holy moly, this is amazing. So all of you should be running to sign up for Full Body in 15. And if you're listening to this after Full Body in 15, then just join us over OPC because we literally help you move every single day. And you don't have to have access to equipment, you can just have room on the floor. And you actually what I know, I know about the movement is that we tell you positive things for your brain to hear during your workout so that we can help you change what you're focusing on. So we could be the people that you surround yourself with. OPC can be those people. Anyways, (Brad: That'ss so true.) it's a complete shameless plug. But I did not pay him to say this. And it's so true.

Brad Crowell 28:34  

Yeah, I know. Oh well, I was laughing because you were talking about the reticular activating system. And this actually kind of came out of the blue like it wasn't like you're driving down the street looking for a confirmation of movement. You know, this is like a confirmation bias. But it's also like, it was unsolicited, (Lesley: I had no idea.) unsolicited, completely ...

Lesley Logan 28:55  

I had no idea. (Brad: Yeah) He could have told me we eat celery and I would have had a major problem with that. (Brad laughs) I can't even do juice.

Brad Crowell 29:03  

Could you imagine, how do you make your brain, how do you keep your brain healthy? Eat celery ...

Lesley Logan 29:09  

I already have cried. I would have been like, "Nope. Next. Thank you, next. (Brad: Yeah, that's amazing.) Thank you, next." (Brad: movement) Movement, movement for the win. So intentional movement every day, my loves and so if you struggle with that, if you need it, you need support with that. Hi, I'm your gal. Accountability queen over here. And we are completely happy with you just do what is possible and not (Brad: Yep) like the whole freaking class if you can't do it. So, (Brad: Yep) How are you going to use these tips in your life? I'm Lesley Logan.

Brad Crowell 29:37  

I'll tell you how. I'm going to use it. I'm going to be doing the Full Body in 15. Next, this week, (Lesley: Yeah) this weekend.

Lesley Logan 29:44  

He's also going to start doing it tomorrow. Even though that's in the past, it's now for me. (Brad: Yeah) (Lesley laughs) All right. Thank you so much for joining us today. We are so grateful for you for you and for listen... being a listener. Tell us how you'd use these tips. What was your favorite part of this interview. Tag the @be_it_pod, tag Dr. Philippe Douyon. And let us know, like, let us know what you're focusing on. We want to know. (Brad: Yeah) Anyways, we'll catch you on the next episode.

Bye for now.

That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review. And follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcasts. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the @be_it_pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others Be It Till You See It. Have an awesome day!

'Be It Till You See It' is a production of 'As The Crows Fly Media'.

Brad Crowell 30:47  

It's written, produced, filmed and recorded by your host Lesley Logan and me, Brad Crowell. Our Associate Producer is Amanda Frattarelli.

Lesley Logan 30:58  

Kevin Perez at Disenyo handles all of our audio editing.

Brad Crowell 31:02  

Our theme music is by Ali at APEX Production Music. And our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi.

Lesley Logan 31:11  

Special thanks to our designer Jaira Mandal for creating all of our visuals (which you can't see because this is a podcast) and our digital producer, Jay Pedroso for editing all video each week so you can.

Brad Crowell 31:23  

And to Angelina Herico for transcribing each of our episodes so you can find them on our website. And, finally to Meridith Crowell for keeping us all on point and on time.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai

Take it from a lifelong patient and Neurologist to prove to you the power that the mind has on our health. If you are on the journey of navigating a specific diagnosis or if you just are stuck in a certain thought process, this is an episode to help you overcome and use your brain for transformation! 

If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at [email protected] .

And as always, if you’re enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe.

In this episode you will learn about:

• Reflecting on big graduations 
• You are more than your diagnosis 
• The science behind visualization: the occipital lobe
• The main purpose of the brain actually can hold you back
• The path to neurology 
• What is your 12,000 to 60,000 thoughts focusing on? 
• How to keep your brain healthy

Episode References/Links:

• Instagram
• Website
• Email: [email protected] for his free e-book with the subject line Be It Till You See It

BIO: 

Philippe Douyon, MD is a Board Certified Neurologist. He completed his residency in Neurology at NYU and fellowship in Clinical Neurophysiology at NYP-Weill Cornell Medical College. He spent 5 years as an attending Neurologist/Epileptologist at Northeast Regional Epilepsy Group. After 5 years there, he created the health and wellness company, The Inle BrainFit Institute. Dr. Douyon is the author of the book, Neuroplasticity: Your Brain's Superpower; and the e-book, Change Your Brain Change Your Life. He is also the creator and instructor of the online course, Take Charge of Your Brain, designed to help people transform their health and lives.

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Resources

• Watch the Be It Till You See It podcast on YouTube!
• Lesley Logan website
• Be It Till You See It Podcast
• Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan
• Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan on YouTube
• Profitable Pilates

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Episode Transcript:

Lesley Logan 0:00  

All right, Be It babe. What is up? Okay, this guest, cool, a app. I'm so stoked. I could have talked to him for another hour. I'm gonna have to have him back on. So send me your questions, because we should all have a brain doctor in our pocket who is so honest and also has been on the other side of health. And I am so so thrilled. You know, Dr. Philippe Douyon is our guest today. And he was referred to me from a friend. And I was like, "Oh, yeah, I definitely, I want to know the neurology to being it till you see it." And y'all it is we talk a lot about the things you didn't, watch out what you're putting into your brain, we also talked about the power of your brain. And well, he is just a frickin wealth of knowledge as one who is a brain doctor should be. And there's a freakin awesome gift for you at the end. So I'm just gonna be honest, you're gonna want to take him up on it, I hope that you do. But here's the good news, the good news is, you have the power to change your thoughts. And so you get to hear how that is possible in this interview, and, you know, I hope that you are allowing yourself to be as curious as as you can. Because I think too often we think that things are set in stone, or that if it went one way, one time, it's always gonna go that way, all the time. And that's just not the case. Right? You'll see actually, if you're watching this on YouTube, you know, zoom works in color all the time. And then today, today, his Zoom is in black and white. And it wasn't the filters. And it wasn't the background, it was just technology, we recorded this in retrograde. So you know, that was on us. But the truth is that not everything has to go, not everything will go exactly the way you expect and not and that means on the on the sides of that of those expectations being not good for you. Meaning, you can always you can think, well, every time I do that x is going to happen. But what if you choose to see it differently? And how can you use your brain to actually see more possibilities? How can you use your brain to see what it is that you want to see in the world? You know, this is just frickin the coolest thing. I'm I'm gonna stop talking because I really just want you to hear Dr. Philippe Douyon talk to you. But y'all, he has a podcast, you're all gonna want to listen to that if you get really intrigued about the brain, and he has a book and he has a course. And he has a lot of things to help you take control of your brain and be it till you see it. So here he is.

Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast, where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guests will bring Bold, Executable, Intrinsic and Targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started.

Welcome back Be It Till You See It listeners, I have a really cool guest. I'm so excited for Dr. Philippe Douyon to tell you his story. And also we're going to talk about your brain, we're talking about neuroplasticity, we're gonna get a little nerdy on this, and I'm really excited. So I hope you want to nerd out with me. Dr. Philippe, you will you please share with our listeners who you are, where you're rockin from, how are we getting to have you on this show today? What do you got?

Dr. Philippe Douyon 3:47  

Well, first of all, thank you for having me here. Like I am super excited to be here today. Because not only my big fan of yours, but also today is the one year anniversary of my kidney transplant. So (Lesley: Oh, my God.) and I get to celebrate with you. So I'm super stoked. (Lesley: Oh, my God.) This is awesome. (Lesley: This is so cool.) This is like, it's like my birthday. It's actually like my third birthday. (Dr. Philippe laughs)

Lesley Logan 4:09  

Yeah. This is your third birthday. Oh, my God. (Dr. Philippe: Yeah) That is, (Dr. Philippe: Yeah) first of all, thanks for sharing that with, sharing this day with us. You could be doing so many things. (Lesley and Dr. Philippe laughs) This is really, really cool. So we'll tell ... like your transplant. I mean, you'll tell us that I definitely want us to find out why we're celebrating this anniversary.

Dr. Philippe Douyon 4:29  

Yeah, so, you know, this sort of season is kind of like graduation season, right? So I often end up reflecting on my last big graduation, which was medical school. And that was in May of 2007. You know, so I'm kind of dating myself, right now.

Lesley Logan 4:45  

I know but you're not because like you go to school forever to be a doctor.

Dr. Philippe Douyon 4:48  

Right. You do go to school forever to be a doctor. I'm not sure I would do it ever again. (Lesley and Dr. Philippe laughs) But yeah, so when I reflect on that right, I start to think about what I was feeling around that time and most people that I was graduating with, I mean, they were super excited. They were done with school, finally, they were going into their internships, so were going to different parts of the country, they were getting ready. They were now doctors, so they were getting ready to treat people. And probably most importantly, they were going to start making a little bit of money. Right?

Lesley Logan 5:18  

Right. Because because medical school costs a couple of dimes.

Dr. Philippe Douyon 5:21  

Yeah, cost a couple 100,000 times. And, but when I reflect on on that time period, I was terrified, not because I was going to be a doctor. But I was terrified because eight days after graduating from medical school, I was walking into the operating room at New York-Presbyterian Columbia, in order to have a kidney transplant. And my my dad was my donor. So I was lucky and I was blessed. Right. But there was nothing in my medical school training, in my life up until that point to prepare me for that experience. But there were, there were a lot of lessons that I learned from that time period. And what I went through, that really helped me just to become a much better doctor, really helped me to appreciate life more, really helped me to accomplish my goals and dreams, and also really helped me last year when I ended up hospitalized with COVID, ended up on dialysis and had to go through this process all over again.

Lesley Logan 6:23  

Oh, my goodness, I think that's people's like worst nightmares having to relive the thing that they thought they got over, you know, like, like, you're like, "Oh, I did the transplant thing." And you learned so much. And then you had to do it again. That had to be really hard. Also, thank you for sharing that I I kind of forget that I graduated college at some point. And I you're right, there are so many people are so excited. And then there's also some people who have reasons to be terrified, worried or nervous. And so that is scary for you to go through that. Because unfortunately, they don't teach you that in medical school. Like wouldn't it be so nice if they're like, this is how it is to be a patient? (Dr. Philippe: Right) I think I feel like that's a topic for another day, how that could change our medical industry here. But can you so you have been a doctor for a long time. And you've had to be a patient a couple of times? (Dr. Philippe: Yeah) Like how does that, how has that affected your practice and how you treat patients?

Dr. Philippe Douyon 7:20  

Yeah, I'm so I've been a patient my entire adult life because I was diagnosed with kidney failure when I was 18 years old. So I went to college and kidney failure, I'm going through medical school and kidney failure. And so for me, it allows me to really relate to my patients, right, because I know what it's like to look in the mirror, and not recognize who you are anymore. I know what it's like to take a whole bunch of pills and have a whole bunch of side effects, right? I know what it is like to face your mortality and be uncertain about the future. And so when I am having conversations with patients, it's not coming from this doctor who's so far removed from what they're going through, but it's coming from somebody who is just like them. (Lesley: Yeah) Right. And so we can have those really deep sort of conversations that allow us to connect.

Lesley Logan 8:08  

Wow, um, so many things like to be an 18 year old and be told something that feels limiting in your life. And uncertain, you know, I think, um, I'm thinking about some of our, some of our specific lessons. So I know what they're going through. And and it is not easy to show up every day, when you have this other thing that happens to be like your mortality in in on the back of your mind. And I would just wonder like, how did you do that? How did you go to college with, you know, knowing you needed a transplant? And how did you choose to go to medical school knowing like, how, what is the brain, what did you tell yourself every day to make that happen? Because so many people would just sit around and just wait for the transplant.

Dr. Philippe Douyon 8:49  

Yeah, you know, I see patients all the time who really just strongly identify with whatever the diagnosis is that they have. So give you an example. Right? So by training, I'm an epilepsy specialist. So I treat people with seizure disorders. And there was this patient that I had gotten him seizure free for now more than a year. And he was coming in for his six month follow up, you know, and he was like, "Yeah, I haven't had a seizure since our last visit." I'm like, "Great. So what do you been doing?" And he's like, "Nothing, I have epilepsy." And I'm like, "You're not, you're not working. You're not doing anything else?" And he's like, "No, no, I'm not." And I was like, "Are you just waiting for the next seizure to happen?" Right, because people so strongly identify with their diagnosis that they let them limit who they are. And for me, even when I was 18, there was always a bigger picture. It was like, I gotta get to college. Right? It almost felt like an annoyance to all the doctor visits and the pills that I had to take. It was like I have to get through college. And then it was like, "I want to go to medical school. I gotta get through medical school." It was not easy. There were times when I was sick. I think the second year of medical school I didn't go to any class I just studied from home (Lesley: woah) with the exception of like going to labs and stuff. But there was always a much bigger picture. And even when I think back to last year, right, but the bigger picture was, well, I've got to be impactful. I have a whole bunch of lives that I want to have a really positive impact on. I've got my two sons that I need to be there for. I need to live my life based on the purpose that I know that I have for myself. Right. So there was always a bigger picture and I never strongly identified with the diagnosis was, it was never the book on fleet Douyon, it was just a chapter in fleet Douyon's book.

Lesley Logan 10:34  

Oh, I hope everyone has heard that because that is so good. That is we you're right, people, people take a diagnosis or they take maybe it's not even a medical diagnosis. Maybe it's like, a divorce or a lost job or, you know, I my listeners know that like there's a time I was without a, without a house and they take those moments and they make that the book. And your it is just it's a chapter or a story within a chapter. It doesn't have to be the whole thing that is so good. (Dr. Philippe: Right. Yeah.) So how, so what did you have to tell yourself? Was it just did you have the vision on the board? Did you have it in your mind? Were you journaling? Like, what was it that kept it in your mind's eye? Because I can imagine the pain and (Dr. Philippe: Yeah) the like, I would say probably weakness and struggles like to get up every day. Like, how did you keep that in the forefront of what you were doing?

Dr. Philippe Douyon 11:23  

Sure. So there's a different experience I had when I was like 18, 19, and in my 20s, versus now as or last year as somebody who was 42, and a lot more mature and reflective. Right. So certainly when I was younger, I had to get through the anger, the resentment, the wise me, the victimization, right? I needed to be able to push through that. And that took up a lot of space and energy in my life. But last year, I didn't go through that at all. Right. And so it was having a vision for what I wanted my future to look like that kept me going last year. Right? The reality is that vision, our vision, our sense of vision, there is one lobe in the brain completely responsible for vision, (Lesley: Stop) it is the only sense that has one lobe dedicated to it. Right.

Lesley Logan 12:19  

Really? A whole lobe (Dr. Philippe: Yeah, a whole lobe.) Just for our, just for our vision.

Dr. Philippe Douyon 12:23  

Just for our vision. Right. The occipital lobe, right. And so when you're visualizing what you want something to look like, it is incredibly powerful, because it really allows you to reorganize all the wiring within your brain. It allows you to make new neurons and make new connections within your brain. And then when you start visualizing something, and you really start to focus on it, not only do you start seeing clues in the universe that are like, "Oh, okay, maybe this is attainable." Right? But then you start believing that that's going to come true. And then when you start believing that it's going to come true, then you start acting upon that, right? And so visualizing but I wanted my future to look like was incredibly important. Because one of the things that I see all the time, especially people on dialysis, they look like they are waiting to die. (Lesley: Yeah) Right. They look like they're, they're just waiting for the end to come.

Lesley Logan 13:17  

Yeah. And just for just for people who maybe don't know what dialysis is, can you just do the quick, like, layman's terms of what that entails? Because from what I know, this is like, this isn't like you're going like every once in a while into the doctor. This is like almost a daily thing, right?

Dr. Philippe Douyon 13:32  

Yeah. So this is a three time a week thing. Okay. So your kidneys filter your blood so it can remove toxins. And when your kidneys aren't working well, then you need a way to do that. And dialysis is a way to do that. So through that dialysis, you either have like a port in your chest, or they make graft in your arm. And they're able to stick some tubes in three times a week for about four hours at a time. And they literally just suck your blood out. And it goes through a machine that then filters the blood and then the blood comes back into your body. And it feels like they are just, you know, sort of draining the life out of you when this is happening. (Lesley: Yeah) Right. So dialysis is not an easy process for anybody.

Lesley Logan 14:17  

Yeah. So you were for so during last year, you are going through dialysis. So every other day, you're ...

Dr. Philippe Douyon 14:24  

Every other day, (Lesley: sitting ...) Monday, Wednesday, Friday,

Lesley Logan 14:26  

sitting in this chair, next to a bunch of people (Dr. Philippe: Yeah) waiting to die and you are visualizing what you're wanting next.

Dr. Philippe Douyon 14:38  

Right. So let me, let me take it back a step. (Lesley: Yeah) So when I was told that I was going to need dialysis, I I cried. I was actually hospitalized for COVID, I cried. Right. And then I had to make a decision. I had to decide, "Am I going to do dialysis the way I've seen all these other patients do it in the hospital or am I going to do dialysis my own way?" So after I let all those tears out, I was just like, "You know what, I'm going to do dialysis my own way." I traveled on dialysis because you have dialysis centers all around the country (Lesley: Yeah) or around the world, right? So they'll set up for you, you know, in some other part of the country. So I dia... I traveled on dialysis. I had a local news agency, follow me around. So like, I had to take videos into the dialysis center for them, which I'm sure the center was not happy about. You know, I had to, I took business meetings during dialysis. I certainly rested also. (Lesley: Yeah) Yeah, I listened to my body, but I was like, "I'm not doing this the way that I've seen other people do it."

Lesley Logan 15:37  

Yeah, that is, so that is a very important step. And thank you for highlighting it, like you made a decision around how you're going to do something. And I think a lot of people don't realize the agency or the choice, they have to go into a lot of the things that are obstacles or frustrations or a medical condition. Does it make it does it... you know, I hate I don't want anyone who is going through something to think that like, I don't think that there's pain in what you're going through. But I do think that we too often don't give ourselves the opportunity to find some good or find some opportunity or find some something out of the thing that we're going through.

Dr. Philippe Douyon 16:16  

Right. You know, and I think no matter what we're going through in life, that you can pull something good out of it, you can, you know, think about it very differently. So that way you can potentially learn a lesson in it. (Lesley: Yeah.) Right. (Lesley: Yeah.) And for me, part of that, was that yeah, dialysis was something I was very fearful about, I made a decision decided to do it differently, right. And now, I can go and speak to people who are on dialysis, and teach them how I did it. (Lesley: Yeah.) Right. And some of the lessons that I've learned, while you know, we're talking about sort of my journey through kidney disease and transplant, but they're applicable to anybody, it doesn't have to be a medical issue. You know, it can certainly be addiction, which is a medical issue, it could be person that lost that job, right? It could be a person, like you mentioned who got divorce, could be somebody who's struggling in business, it could be anything. (Lesley: Yeah.) There's always something good to pull out of it but it all depends on your perspective.

Lesley Logan 17:16  

Yeah. So let's talk about perspective. Is that a free wired thing in our brain to have perspective, that maybe you don't know the answer, but I'm curious, like, is glass half full versus glass half empty, like a set set setting in your brain based on genetics? Or is that something that we can we can make a decision around?

Dr. Philippe Douyon 17:38  

Well, you can always make a decision around. But I will say this, the priority that your brain has, the reason one of the big reasons that you actually have a brain is to keep you safe. That is its first responsibility to keep you safe. And so your brain is always going to lean towards the negative, right? Because that's it... Listen, if you're scared of something, I mean, it's essentially keeping you safe. (Lesley: Yeah.) Right? If you're not taking that risk, it's essentially because there is uncertainty in things that are unknown, it is keeping you safe. Right? But sometimes, the brains because the brain focuses so much on keeping us safe, it can potentially hold us back. (Lesley: Yeah.) Right? And so that's one of the reasons why I talk to people all the time about, like, you have to take charge of your brand, you've got to be the leader that your brain so desperately needs you to be in order for you to create an amazing life for yourself.

Lesley Logan 18:34  

Yeah, so which lobe do I need to do? (Lesley and Dr. Philippe laughs) How to, because like, the like, I'm, I'm picturing this, right, because (Dr. Philippe: Yeah) I'm a visual person. So I'm like picturing like a video of like, I have to take charge of my brain. But isn't that my brain taking charge of my brain.

Dr. Philippe Douyon 18:49  

No, you know. (Lesley: No. Okay.) No ... I would say that the fact that you are aware of your thoughts, the fact that you are aware that you have a brain means that there's a higher level of consciousness. You just have to tap into it.

Lesley Logan 19:06  

Yes. Oh, thank you for explaining that because now I know I don't feel like it's like, like those Russian dolls that(Lesley and Dr. Philippe laughs) I'm like, but part is ... So, so that makes sense. So for everyone listening, I hope you just got full permission. Like it's okay if you're like, "Wow, I don't like how I'm thinking negatively," like, you're predisposed to keep you safe, to keep you alive to think that way. (Dr. Philippe: Yeah) And then you we all have to take this higher consciousness that we have, because we do all have it and, and tell ourselves how we're going to think because we we can tell that that situation is actually not the same as a tiger chasing after us, you know.

Dr. Philippe Douyon 19:40  

Right, exactly. Right.

Lesley Logan 19:42  

So you know, first of all you so you're a doctor for epilepsy, you've studied the brain. What made you want to do that and what what what what are you seeing that is applicable to people with all have a brain? So you know, we don't all is there anything that we could be doing better with our own mind right now and what we're doing?

Dr. Philippe Douyon 20:03  

Sure, so, so I'm a neurologist. So I'm a doctor who treats people with brain and other neurological disorders, nerve disorder, spinal cord issues. But yeah, I sort of sub specialized in epilepsy. And so the reason that I went into neurology, and then epilepsy was one when I was a kid, I had a cousin who had epilepsy, and she ended up growing out of it. And then two also when I was young, I had a grandmother who developed Alzheimer's disease. And, you know, those two disorders are really devastating for the person going through it. But they're also devastating for the family. (Lesley: Yeah) Right? And so while I was watching, my family members go through what they were going through, there was that part of me that started to realize, "Man, when the brain works the way that it's supposed to, it's absolutely phenomenal." (Lesley: Yeah) Right? So it was this fascination that I had with the brain that led me down sort of this path. And so in medical school, right, I mean, you just learn about diseases and treating them with medications, and whatever. (Lesley: Yeah) But the reality is, everything that we do, every single day, impacts the health of our bodies, it impacts the health of our brain, and it has an impact on our neurological destiny and how our lives turn out.

Lesley Logan 21:24  

Well, taking that in, because I think so often, we excuse that, "I'll do that tomorrow, I'll do that tomorrow. Oh, I'll you know, buy that healthier groceries type thing tomorrow," like we kind of procrastinate but really like, it almost sounds like it's compounding, like, if it's every single day, everything we do is going to affect our brain and our body. Then the sooner that like, it's almost like the more time you have giving your brain and body what it needs, the better.

Dr. Philippe Douyon 21:53  

Absolutely. I mean, when we think about so your brain is considered to be the most complicated structure in the entire solar system. Right? (Lesley: In the solar system? I never...) in the solar system, right? I mean, but look, we haven't explored, like, I haven't been to other parts of the solar system. (Lesley: Right, right.) Right? So I have no idea. You know, and humans tend to be biased. So who knows, the whales (Lesley laughs) could be far more complicated than our brain, right? But, but our brains have anywhere between 60 to 100 billion neurons, right? Neurons are not even the primary cell type in the brain, there are a whole host of other cells called glial cells that are just there to help neurons out and support neurons. They outnumber neurons like nine to one, ten to one. (Lesley: Oh, my God.) Then you've got neurons connect with each other, they make trillions of connections, right? So you've got 60 to 100 billion neurons, you got other cells that are out number nine or 10 to one, and you've had all these connections, that is incredibly complicated, you know. (Lesley: Yeah) And the reality is, there are things that we do every single day that influence whether or not we lose neurons, or make more neurons. But if you start thinking a certain thought, right, and maybe it's a brand new thought, thought you've never had before, right, you'll make new neurons around that thought, the more you think about that thought, the more hardwired it gets into your brain, the more connections that it makes, right? And so you want to be being aware of the thoughts that you're having. And then you also want to be making sure that you are leaning towards the positive and not towards the negative.

Lesley Logan 23:27  

Yeah. Yeah because why our thoughts become facts. And like, I forget the number but somebody you might know it. There's like some number of like, how many thoughts we have in a day and (Dr. Philippe: Yeah) have like, 90% of the same thought, like when (Dr. Philippe: Yeah) you're having new thoughts. And (Dr. Philippe: No) so you're just like, that's just further hardwiring, even a negative thought or something that's holding you back.

Dr. Philippe Douyon 23:46  

Yeah, it's it's thought that we have anywhere between 12,000 to 60,000 thoughts per day. I don't know who counted that. I don't know how they counted that. (Lesley: I've always wondered. I'm like, "Who said that?") Yeah, I have no idea. Right? And like you said, 90 to 95% of those thoughts are the same exact thoughts we had yesterday, right? So no wonder why people's lives aren't changing. And then 60 to 70% of those 12,000 to 60,000 thoughts are negative. (Lesley: Yeah) And so you wonder why everybody's freaking miserable.

Lesley Logan 24:13  

Yeah. Yeah. Okay, so we can make a decision there's that, we can have a thought and we can look for evidence to solidify that thought in our mind. (Dr. Philippe: Yeah) Is there anything else we can do? Because, as we talked about before hit record, like our minds are holding us back like I think any person listen to this can pretty much do whatever they are wanting to do. Like the we live in a very awesome time to have whatever dream you want and meet the person, find the people, raise the money to do the thing. So what is it in our brain? What lobe is ... where is it (Dr. Philippe laughs) that we, that is like holding us back? Is that that negative mindset? Is it the repetitive thoughts like Where's it coming from?

Dr. Philippe Douyon 24:58  

Yeah, I mean, you you it's it's all of it. Right? And certainly our frontal lobes are incredibly important in our ability to think about tasks, organize them and execute those tasks. Right? And so you really want to be incredibly mindful of what you're letting into your brain. And it's not just the thoughts that you're letting in. It's the foods that you're eating. It's what you're drinking. It's all of it. Right? I'll tell you, I don't I don't listen to the news anymore. (Lesley: Right) Right. When COVID happened, I was glued to the news. Right. I remember in December, what are we? 2022? (Lesley: Yeah) December 2020. (Lesley: Yeah.) Right. I'm listening to the news about COVID. And they're like, "300,000, you know, new people were infected today." And I remember thinking to myself, "Damn, everybody's gonna get infected. You're infecting 300,000 people every day." (Lesley: Yeah) Eventually, it's gonna hit everybody. Right? (Lesley: Yeah.) Two weeks later, I was hospitalized with COVID. Now, I am a medical doctor. Okay, so, so in theory, I know how viruses work. I know how, you know, they move between people. But there was still part of me that was like, "Damn, did I attract this thing into my life?" Because I was so fixated on it. (Lesley: Yeah.) After that, I was like, "I need to be very mindful of what I am letting into this brain."

Lesley Logan 26:20  

Yeah, you're I, you know, you're you're right. I listen to this one podcast with my husband. And one of the hosts was like asking someone who's very prominent in the news, very on top of like, "What's happening in the world?" The guy goes all over the world and just happens to be there when there's these humanity needs. And they're like, so, "How, who gets, how do you get the news? What do you watch? How do you get this?" He's like, "I get the, I get the news, like you do. And I also only get it from like, 10 minutes a day." And I was like, "What?" And the guy was like, "What?" And other hosts was like, "You don't turn it on the moment you wake up? Don't you need to know what's going on." And you could just hear in the voices like the, like, the nervousness, the stress (Dr. Philippe: No.) of this person who was like, glued to the news versus the person who's part of what has happened in the news. And he was like, not that he was like, you know, let it all be, but he wasn't as urgent. And I do think that like we have, I agree, because I, we don't have a TV in our house. I haven't had a TV since 2013. And so part of that is because as soon as I get a hotel room, of course, I like turn the TV on. And that's the news. And it's just like, it is a lot of intensity, I end up being so depressed, but (Dr. Philippe: Yeah) beautiful city, and I'm like, "Oh my god, the world's crashing in." And so you are saying, like, you're very mindful of like, "What am I going to let in the spring? What thoughts am I going to have?" And all of that so that you can continue to do what it is that you do (Dr. Philippe: Right) each and every day? So okay, that's, that's interesting. So for those of us who are trying to be it till we see it, we actually have to make a decision, first of like how do we want to do things differently? How do we want to think about our thoughts? How do we want to handle the thoughts, we don't want to have any more? It's very much being aware of what you are doing all the time, (Dr. Philippe: Yeah) which for most of us, that's like common sense. But also not because too many of us rely on like our brain to go on autopilot.

Dr. Philippe Douyon 28:11  

Right. Yeah. And, but one of the keys is not to be so hard on yourself also, right? Because you're gonna have negative thoughts. I have negative thoughts, right? You're gonna have moments where you're like, oh, you know, I caught this on Instagram. And I'm, like, fixated on it, or some something, right. Or you'll have those friends that like to complain, and you'll catch yourself and, you know, 10 minutes that you're just that's all you're doing with them complaining about life with them, right? And so it's about not being so hard on yourself. But the more that you're aware that you're doing this, the easier it'll get, the quicker you'll you'll realize when these things are happening, and the easier you'll be able to shift to a more positive mindset. Right? So I'm even very mindful of who I have around me. I'm like, "Oh, if you're complaining way too much today. Yeah, I love you. But you need to go over there."

Lesley Logan 29:01  

I hear you. I was, I was on a trip. And I can I was I was in our van I was changing and I could hear our friends. And one of them was saying something like, "Oh my God, he this is the 17th negative thing he said today." Like, "What when, we're gonna say something positive? Like they all, can't all be bad, like look where we are. We are here in this beautiful place." And it's so I think I think where a lot of people get hung up as they don't want to let people down. They don't want to be the person, you know what I mean? Like we all there's a lot of stories that we tell ourselves which (Dr. Philippe: Right) are repeti... repetitive thoughts that we are (Dr. Philippe: Right) continuing to have and keep around. So, so okay, question for you. (Dr. Philippe: Yeah) With, with all of this, with with our, with our brain with how, what is something that you see people could easily do that they're not doing that could benefit their brain so they could continue to live their life to what they want to live. Is it, is it, is it a brain game? Is it Sudoku? Like what do I gotta do?

Dr. Philippe Douyon 30:03  

No. No, it's not Sudoku. And it's not any brain games. It's nothing that they sell you, it's not you know, it's not some pill, supplement or some drink.

Lesley Logan 30:14  

Yeah, I have a new game that's like, this will tell you how old your brain is. (Lesley and Dr. Philippe laughs) (Dr. Philippe: Really?) Yeah. I haven't played it. I get the ads. I'm like, I'm like, "Is this real? So thank you. It's not. I won't tell them my thoughts."

Dr. Philippe Douyon 30:25  

Yeah. It's not although, although, you know, I shouldn't say that. Because I did create a game called Dr. Douyon's Brainfit. (Lesley laughs) But yeah, it's not it's not in the game.

Lesley Logan 30:34  

If it's not that it's not titled up with your name on it but it's not, it's not it.

Dr. Philippe Douyon 30:37  

That is not. No, no. Dr. Douyon's Brainfit is very different. (Lesley: Yeah, yeah.) No, but it's, it's things that we can easily do every day. So I've got like this, this neurological pyramid and that has steps that you can do to keep your brain very healthy and keep yourself very healthy. And it's not complicated. It is exercise. Exercise is the biggest promoter of neuroplasticity. That's your brain's ability to adapt, to heal and to learn. It's your brain's ability to make new neurons and new connections. Exercise is the biggest promoter of that. Right? So you want to be exercising on a regular basis.

Lesley Logan 31:10  

Yeah. So you said neuroplasticity? I know it. As a Pilates instructor I want my my girlfriend's teaches it, but for the person who's like, "What? Neuroplas what?" Can you tell people what that is?

Dr. Philippe Douyon 31:21  

Yeah. So for an incredibly long time, we thought that our brains were very static, like they did not change at all, unless we got a brain injury that wiped out some neurons, or we got like Alzheimer's, you know, which is a neurodegenerative disease and you start losing neurons, right? But what we now know is that our brains are constantly changing. They're constantly evolving every single day. They're evolving with the thoughts that we have, the actions we take, the experiences that we're having. And the reality is that we are in control of our brain's ability to evolve, our brain's ability to make new neurons and make new connections. And that's where really what neuroplasticity speaks to, it's the brain's ability to change.

Lesley Logan 32:07  

Very cool. Okay. All right. So so you have, so thank you for that. So you have a pyramid that we can do that helps with that neuroplasticity, that helps us continue to evolve in our brain. (Dr. Philippe: Yeah.) I love this. Very cool. Okay. So, Dr. Philippe Douyon this is amazing. I really actually didn't realize how much I want to nerd out about the brain until this episode. But I'm really excited about it. I want to take a quick, quick break. And then I want people to figure out how they can basically stalk you on this brain game of yours. Okay, so where can people find you, follow you learn about how they can work with their brain better?

Dr. Philippe Douyon 32:46  

Yeah. So they can follow me on the social media channels like Instagram, it's @philippe.md. That's my handle. They can go to my website, which is www.inlebrainfitinstitute.com. Or they can just email me at [email protected]. And if they email me that, if they email me, with Be It Till You See It in the subject line, I will send them my free ebook.

Lesley Logan 33:15  

Oh, that is so fun. (Dr. Philippe: Yeah.) Thank you, everyone, get your ebook. I want it. Okay, so we'll put all those things in the show notes. It's really easy for you to click on and get those things. So we ask everyone, how do we actually take action and all this. So bold, executable, intrinsic or targeted steps people can take to (Dr. Philippe: Yeah.) be it till they see it? What do you have for us?

Dr. Philippe Douyon 33:38  

So here's what they can do. First, they need to change the way that they think about things, right. And one of the ways that you do that is you read different material, you have different experiences, you surround yourself with different people. So changing the way that you think about your life and your health is incredibly important. We talked a little bit about exercise, exercise every single day, get your body moving. Right. I said before, that's the biggest promoter of neuroplasticity. You want to visualize? I said that, look you've got an entire lobe that is dedicated to your vision, you want to visualize and just so the people who are watching this podcast realize, yes, I am in black and white. (Lesley laughs) I am in 2022. This is a technical issue. This is not a visual problem with your brain. Do not call your local neurologist. (Dr. Philippe laughs)

Lesley Logan 34:26  

We are recording this, we are recording this during retrograde, everyone. I, just let it go. (Lesley and Dr. Philippe laughs)

Dr. Philippe Douyon 34:31  

Yeah, you know. You want to make a decision, in terms of what you decide to focus on. We have a group of neurons in the brain called the reticular activating system. When you decide that something is important to you, it starts it gets your brain to focus on all those things that are related to it. So if it's something that's negative that you focus on, right, it's gonna it's gonna pull everything negative. So if I'm having a bad day, and I'm like, "Oh, that person just pissed me off." It's gonna be like, "well, not only that person pissed me off, the world sucks, my life sucks, that book I'm reading sucks," all of it right? So you want to focus on the positive. And I'll give you an example of this. So once I got like this had this red car, this red Volkswagen Golf, right? I had never seen it before I got it. Then all sudden, I'm seeing a whole bunch of people on the road with this red Volkswagen Golf. That is the reticular activating system saying, "Hey, because this is now important to you, because you have one. I'm going to focus on all the red Volkswagen Golf's that are driving down the street. Right.

Lesley Logan 35:34  

That I know because I had a Mini Cooper, I noticed that and when I got a jeep, I noticed that and now (Dr. Philippe: Yeah) I want a G Wagon. Like I want it. I see G Wagons everywhere. I only see G Wagons. I don't see other cars. And I also have gotten other people's particular reticulating activating systems to see G Wagons for me. So I get pictures (Dr. Philippe: Right.) like, "Hey, look at this one." (Lesley and Dr. Philippe laughs)

Dr. Philippe Douyon 35:56  

Well I'm sure, I'll see see, you know some tonight when I'm driving. So, (Lesley: Yeah. It's powerful.) Yeah.

Lesley Logan 36:01  

Got it. Oh, man. (Dr. Philippe: Yeah.) These are, these are so cool. These first of all, like unique and amazing and also very tangible and doable. I really (Dr. Philippe: Right.) think so. Thank you (Dr. Philippe: Yeah.) for, thank you for being here. We'll have to have you back because I'm sure Brad's going to totally nerd out about this. And for all that you're doing to help all of us. Truly, like, take ownership of our brain and like where we're going with it. We need more people like you in this planet. So thank you for being here. Everyone, how are you going to use these in your life? I want you to tag @philippe.md, tag the @be_it_pod, let us know which of the takeaways, the BE IT action items you're using or just what he said. And remember, if you email him, with his emails down there, if you email him, you can put Be It Till You See It in the subject line and he'll send you a free ebook which I don't know about you but I like free things. So (Dr. Philippe and Lesley laughs) alright everyone, until next time, Be It Till You See It.

That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review. And follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcasts. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the @be_it_pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others Be It Till You See It. Have an awesome day!

'Be It Till You See It' is a production of 'As The Crows Fly Media'.

Brad Crowell 37:31  

It's written, produced, filmed and recorded by your host Lesley Logan and me, Brad Crowell. Our Associate Producer is Amanda Frattarelli.

Lesley Logan 37:42  

Kevin Perez at Disenyo handles all of our audio editing.

Brad Crowell 37:47  

Our theme music is by Ali at APEX Production Music. And our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi.

Lesley Logan 37:56  

Special thanks to our designer Jaira Mandal for creating all of our visuals (which you can't see because this is a podcast) and our digital producer, Jay Pedroso for editing all video each week so you can.

Brad Crowell 38:08  

And to Angelina Herico for transcribing each of our episodes so you can find them on our website. And, finally to Meridith Crowell for keeping us all on point and on time.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai