Be The Experience

Stephanie Pietz and her new boyfriend, Michael, spent every waking moment together because of how madly in love they were with each other. They laughed, cried, struggled and unearthed their own potential in each other. They were made for each other as the universe had intended.

One particular day, Michael stopped into Stephanie's work to see her. Playful as the beginning of any relationship, it was the day Stephanie knew she was madly in love with Michael by how he looked and how she felt toward him.

Hours later, Michael would head out to ride his motorcycle in the deserts of Arizona and enjoy the warm January weather. It was around this time Stephanie's strength would be tested when news got back to her that Michael had been in an accident--one she would have never expected. Stephanie and Michael's fate as a couple would be met with an outcome that has impacted them and their community forever. ------------------------------------------

This episode is the season finale and won't return until January 2018.  

This doesn't mean I'm done, though. I am currently producing those episodes for 2018 in the coming weeks. Continue to get the episodes on my membership area, Behind The Experience at www.theshanman.com.  

Use offer code FINALE1 at checkout and get $3.00 off normal membership for life! Offer expires October 5th, 2017.

See you in January!

Continuing with my interview last week with Amy Morin, we dive a little further into Emotional Intelligence.  As you may have heard me define it last week, Amy clarifies that Emotional Intelligence can be defined a couple of different ways. 

In essence, EQ is understanding the reasons you feel certain emotions and how you can become more self-aware of those emotions so they don't control your life.  Amy and I talk about the emotion, "anger", and define when it's good to get angry and when it is helpful.

Controlling The Stories We Tell Ourselves

We tell ourselves stories everyday that don't really exist.  Those stories can dictate the outcome of our day and if we don't have a handle on our emotions, then we can tell even deeper stories that lead us into emotions that can make us angry or sad.  Amy breaks down why we should control our feelings and why it's a good thing to be self-aware.

Identifying Grief Outside Of Death

Grief doesn't have to be something that you deal with when it come to death--we all know this.  We can grieve for the loss of a friendship, or the lies someone has told us. But grieving is a total normal thing and there are steps you can take to make the grieving process a little easier when you experience it on a personal level outside of death.

Never Making Excuses

The reason I combined Amy's interview with Stephanie's is because I wanted to preface the concept of Emotional Intelligence with an actual situation where there has been a process of grieving.  Even though you won't hear about that process in this episode, I still wanted to share the story of Stephanie Pietz.

I have known Stephanie for over 4 years.  She has been my friend since my days of hanging out in the bar scene but has since become someone I admire when it comes to her determination to make her life happen for herself.

Stephanie is no stranger to hard work and dedication.  I have seen Steph bartend a night in Scottsdale only to turn around and work another bartending shift the next day with only 4 hours of sleep.  Stephanie is determined to make her life happen for herself and make her dreams happen without making any excuses as to why she can't do what she wants.

From Calendar Model to Bike Racing

 Even though Steph has modeled for a number of calendars and companies, she doesn't use her looks to advance her passion of racing motorcycles.  If you know Steph, she actually can race a motorbike proficiently and practices as much as she can.  She makes it a point to learn the ins and outs of a motorcycle to know when something needs to be refined.

How To Create A Life For Yourself

In today's episode you learn what Steph does to create opportunities for herself when it comes to racing and making her life the best one that it can be.  She also reinforces a theme that I have talked about in this podcast about the words we tell ourselves and how it impacts our future success.

I hope you enjoy today's episode.

As I continue my conversation with Jimmie Whisman, we begin to discuss the topic of passion and why you should always work hard for the thing you love doing.  Especially when it comes to the point where you are finding yourself struggling to move on your passion.

With Jimmie, he works a full-time job in the day, comes home at night and tries to be the best possible father that he can be. On top of it, he's traveling 45 minutes away from his house to a studio across town to record a 2-3 hour podcast with his best friend.

Listen to this episode commercial free at: http://www.theshanman.com

Jimmie wants to ensure that anyone who has a dream or passion that they shouldn't give up on it no matter how hard it gets.  He considers "quitting" as doing something "drastic" and you should never do something that you would end up regretting down the line.

Sure, things might get in the way of your passion like a death or emergency, but Jimmie's advice is to never give up what you love so much.

I ask Jimmie a specific question that makes him question his answer a few minutes prior to when I asked my question.  It was something that Phil Labonte brought up a few weeks back when he said "It's OK to have a bad year..."  You'll hear a possible change of heart when it comes to Jimmie's philosophy on his success and how it plays into his relationship with his wife.

Listen to this episode commercial free at: http://www.theshanman.com

I then talk with Amy Morin, who is a LCSW, licensed clinical social worker.  One would think that Amy counsels individuals who are struggling socially and economically.  In short, she has counseled individuals who have gone through something traumatic and, sometimes, heart-wrenching such as loss or death.

Even though Amy counsels and can tell anyone to "be strong", when she says this, she actually means it.

You see, Amy has faced loss on her own.  Watch this 15-minute TEDx talk she did where she talks about the loss she has faced, but what she did to overcome that loss and how to be mentally strong.

 I hope that you enjoy today's episode.

Where does your motivation come from?

Does it come from reading about someone else'e journey? 

Does it come from self-confidence?

Motivation is the key component to accomplishing your goals step by step. You may find that you are motivated for a few days, but as our mind will have it, you're going to be fed with that negative self-talk and soon you might find that you have a self-image problem.

Listen to this episode COMMERCIAL FREE at theshanman.com.

You might say to yourself that you aren't capable of recording that YouTube series or that you can't create your own business.  Soon, low self-image puts you back in the same rut that you were in a few days prior.  

Soon you will find that you're making up all the excuses to not accomplish your goal because your self-image has you convinced that you can't do anything.

So what do you do to stay motivated?

You have to build self-confidence a little bit every single day.  This means working on yourself every day whether it's through exercise, diet and nutrition, reading, learning a new skill, etc.  To accomplish your goals it takes a patience and willingness to be good at what your skill.

In this episode you will learn that when you build self-confidence, you are creating the reality you want to see for yourself and no one else.

Today I finish my conversation with Kyle Winterstein and we dive into the following topics:

• Defining his own three convictions and what they mean to him.
• Why people find excuses to not stay motivated.
• The over-arching idea of what you should truly pursue.
• Why you shouldn't sweat the small stuff.

Listen to this episode COMMERCIAL FREE at theshanman.com.

I then continue a conversation with my new friend, Jimmie Whisman. 

Jimmie is a Phoenix-area comedian who has a podcast called Crime in Sports.  As of this recording, his podcast crested nearly 1 million downloads.  But this didn't come easy.  

It actually came with patience and faith.

Jimmie's partner, James, was ready to quit the podcast after the 3rd week of production after only a few downloads.  But Jimmie's went to lengths to talk his partner off the ledge.

Today we learn about Jimmie's upbringing and what made him want to do comedy as well as the struggles he has had to face when it comes to separating his personal life with his comedic/podcast life.

Most importantly, Jimmie shares some motivating words for anyone who is about ready to quit or hasn't committed to the idea of becoming great.

Listen to this episode COMMERCIAL FREE at theshanman.com.

How To Get Over The Perpetual Bad Day

A perpetual bad day could mean that something bad happens to you day after day.  You don't really see a result that is positive because someone has pissed you off; you blame the electric company for contributing to your stress by notifying you that your payment is late; rush hour traffic tends to irritate you and you blame the other horrible drivers on the road for not following the unwritten traffic rules.

In all, you come across stressed, angry and feeling as though you fall short in life because you just can't get out of your depressive rut. At the end of today's episode, I will give you my 7 tips on how to get out of your perpetual bad day. 

Reach out to me and tell me how you work to get out of your perpetual bad day. 

I hope you enjoy today's episode. 

Complete show notes and videos at www.theshanman.com. 

The journey to becoming the experience will present you with a number of opportunities to be in front of a mass of people. Whether you are doing it in person or online, giving that unique experience is harder than ever for someone to remember. In a world where social media dominates our lives, it's harder than ever to make a memorable experience. But Kyle Winterstein believes that those who have a "romance" with an artist will make it a point to hunt out an experience for themselves. LISTEN COMMERCIAL-FREE AT: WWW.THESHANMAN.COM But as you'll hear in this episode, it seems as though most artists these days are only making the experience about themselves and not thinking of the fan that is sitting in front of them---supporting their art fully. Kyle points out that most musicians are just in it to get the job done without creating something that is memorable. He believes that most actions that happen in daily life affect the overall experience--whether it's customer service or creating art. The experience thrives all around us, no matter the job. In this episode, I continue my conversation with Dr. Jason Richardson. This time we dive even further into language and how the words we choose are affecting the outcome of our reality. Jason points out that, psychologically, the words and phrases that we use can harm us in the long run and that choosing the right words can lead us down a path of success if we allow it. And if you or someone you know is OCD, you might find that you are doing more harm to yourself than good. But as Jason has said, "None of this stuff exists in a vacuum." LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE COMMERCIAL FREE AT: WWW.THESHANMAN.COM Reach out to me on Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/shannonjhernandez

Love comes in all different forms. There's platonic love, worldly love, romantic love and so much more. When it comes to love, for most, there's a connotation that attaches itself to the word. It's called commitment. LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE COMMERCIAL FREE FOR 7 DAYS COMPLETELY FREE AT: WWW.THESHANMAN.COM Committing our love to someone else is something that a majority of people want when it comes to finding their happiness, but most people falter in one thing. It's the actual act of committing. In today's episode, I finish my conversation with Phil Labonte and we tackle the topic of love and what it means to love. Phil shares how he stays committed to the person he's with when it comes to loving them--for better or worse. And you even get to hear where Phil gained his inspiration for one of his songs off his new album, Madness. Then we move right into my conversation with my friend, clinical psychologist, Jason Richardson. Not only does Jason practice psychology, but he is also a world champion gold medalist for the Pan Am games in BMX racing. Jason has been on top of the world and competed with the best. But the day his sponsorships ran out and he had to figure out what he needed to do with his life, he had a long, hard talk with himself and dug into his own belief systems about succeeding in a profession other than BMX racing. LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE COMMERCIAL FREE FOR 7 DAYS FOR FREE AT: WWW.THESHANMAN.COM Jason discusses the steps you can take to have this "gold medal" mindset when it comes to managing your own life and finding the success that you have been looking for. I'm still looking to grow this podcast, so share it with 5 of your friends who are looking for that "feel good" podcast that can hopefully motivate them to take charge of their own life. Reach out to me on my website at www.theshanman.com or at the following: Facebook: http://m.me/theshanmanonline http://www.fb.com/theshanmanonline Instagram: http://www.theshanman.com Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/theshanman

LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE COMMERCIAL-FREE HERE: http://www.theshanman.com/ I have always been fascinated with the inner workings of musical artists and actors. My fascination is all based around how far they have come when it came to success and what it took to reach their level of success. So you'll learn that I try to ask Phil questions about him and his own belief systems. ALL YOU CAN OFFER IS WHO YOU ARE RIGHT NOW. WORK TO BE BETTER. In the beginning of this interview, you will hear why Phil doesn't try to convince people to do something he wants them to do. This can go for people who want to get healthy all the way to relationships. I happen to agree with Phil because if you are honest about developing yourself to become the best possible variant, who you are is what you can offer. Who you are now is what you can offer and it's possible to offer so much more of yourself if you're willing to work at it. DAILY ROUTINES AND HABITS I'm big on daily routines and developing new habits that will make you proud to know you're living your life without regret. Today I dive into Phil's daily routines, which are more simple than you think. You'll also learn all about a discovery Phil has made and what it does for his sanity. PHIL LABONTE'S CORE BELIEFS Because I talk about Gelie's core beliefs, it was only fitting that I ask front man Phil Labonte (All That Remains) about his own core beliefs and ideals. LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE COMMERCIAL FREE HERE: http://www.theshanman.com/ Of course, before we dive into today's interview, we will finish off my conversation with Gelie Akhenblit. I ask Gelie what her three convictions are for how she operates in her life. THREE WORDS TO LIVE BY On the front end of this website, I have a section called the "Three Convictions". I came up with the Three Convictions late one night when I conceived this podcast. It was based around the journey that I had been through when it came to finding my own happiness. As I stood at my dining room bar top, I drafted out nearly 12 pages of my own personal convictions that helped me get beyond doubt and guilt. The Three Convictions are everything that I had go through and continue to practice in order to be who I am today. In this episode, I ask Gelie what her about 3 words that mean something to her, but ask her about the 3 convictions she lives by. Her answers are close to the same, but she elaborates more on what she means. Oh, and you get to learn Gelie's favorite "F" word! Before I forget, you can add me on Instagram right here: http://www.instagram.com/shannonjhernandez Check out more show notes at: https://www.theshanman.com/blog/podcast-s1e6-everything-in-your-life-is-just-a-decision-with-phil-labonte

Zoltan Bathory never felt that he deserved his success when he came to America. When he decided to form Five Finger Death Punch, there was no "master plan" to see the band succeed to the levels they see today. In fact, he and Ivan Moody [vocalist] created music they were excited to make for themselves and didn't involve the professional music reps to see whether the music was good enough or not. To this musical duo, they created songs, heard the songs and knew they were onto something really special. Ultimately, this resulted in Zoltan finding his happiness as he continued to live in the United States. He was happy with what he had--even though it wasn't much at that point. But Zoltan never settled to just be in a normal rock and roll band. He found strength within himself to take advantage of the resources that are all around us and apply them to his personal and musical life. You will also hear the rest of the interview with Nothing More drummer, Ben Anderson as we continue our discussion about the music industry and how personality strengthens a brand to the masses--regardless of what the "haters" will think Also, I today we answer a listener question with regards to how much I spend on my groceries each week in relation to my healthy eating habits. Get these episodes in advance before they hit Apple Podcasts or Stitcher, visit my website at http://www.theshanman.com to learn more. Join "Behind The Experience", my "backstage" area where advanced episodes, bonus episodes and early podcast releases exist. Get your membership today for 7 days--completely free.