Get Yourself Optimized®

You've been told to grow your reach. But what if the real problem is resonance?

Jay Acunzo spent years at Google, HubSpot, and a VC firm before building a keynote speaking career from scratch, only to lose it all in five days when the pandemic hit. What came out of that reinvention was something far more powerful: a clear mission to help experts stop being commodities and start being irreplaceable.

In Episode 563 of Get Yourself Optimized, Jay pulls back the curtain on the craft of storytelling, resonance, and what it actually takes to make people care in an age defined by noise.

What we got into:

→ Why being a great speaker is the closest thing to an "increase the odds of success" button

→ The "That's the thing about" device, a single phrase that turns a good story into one that inspires action

→ Align, Agitate, Assert, Invite, the four-part story structure that moves people from where they are to where you want them to be

→ Why your competitive edge will never come from a $20/month AI subscription tool

→ The two things every great interviewer must master to capture real, specific, powerful stories

If you have something genuinely worth saying, this episode will help you say it in a way that actually lands.

🎧 Listen now at getyourselfoptimized.com/563

📚 Read more at jayacunzo.com

What if the secret to getting paid more as a speaker had nothing to do with your speaking fee?

Majeed Mogharreban — known as Majeed Like Magic — went from getting laughed off a stage in New Orleans to making $250,000 from a single talk. In Episode 562 of Get Yourself Optimized, he pulls back the curtain on the exact frameworks, storytelling strategies, and AI workflows that are helping speakers and business owners turn their words into revenue.

Here's a taste of what we got into:

→ Why the highest-paid speakers make most of their money not from fees, but from revenues generated because of speaking

→ The three questions every speaker must answer before stepping on stage

→ Pain Island vs. Pleasure Island — the storytelling framework that sells without pitching

→ How Majeed uses ChatGPT and Fathom to write a full personalized speech in minutes — and bring clients to tears

→ The "blank for blank who blank" formula to position yourself as the only choice in your market

Whether you speak on stages, lead sales calls, or simply want to tell a better story, this episode will change how you show up.

🎧 Listen now at getyourselfoptimized.com/562

📚 Get the free book at expertspeaker.com/book

What if your thyroid disorder, chronic fatigue, or digestive problems aren't just physical issues — but signals from a body that has been carrying too much for too long?

In Episode 561 of Get Yourself Optimized, I sat down with Dr. Izabella Wentz — pharmacist, five-time author, and the world's leading expert on Hashimoto's thyroiditis — who reversed her own autoimmune diagnosis, along with hair loss, IBS, chronic fatigue, acid reflux, carpal tunnel, and depression.

What we explored together:

➡️ The six root-cause categories behind most chronic illnesses and why all of them must be addressed together

➡️ Why stress literally depletes your gut lining, kills stomach acid, and lets infections take hold

➡️ The concept of "medical hexing" and why no doctor has the right to remove your hope

➡️ How EMDR and neurofeedback rewire the brain and accelerate physical healing

➡️ Why educated, empowered patients consistently achieve the best health outcomes

Whether you're navigating an autoimmune condition, thyroid disorder, gut issues, or chronic fatigue, this episode will change how you think about healing.

🎧 Listen now at getyourselfoptimized.com/561

🎁 Books and programs: thyroidpharmacist.com

Most people are stacking up regrets because they're missing opportunities they were too hesitant to take.

Fred Joyal grew 1-800-DENTIST from a single phone number into a billion-dollar referral business over 30 years. But it was only when he looked back at his own journey from shy and underconfident to genuinely bold that he realized boldness is the real superpower, and it is a skill anyone can learn.

In this episode of Get Yourself Optimized, Fred breaks down exactly what it takes to build boldness systematically, market a book in today's digital-first world, and stop letting other people's opinions run your life.

What we unpacked together:

• Why boldness is a skill, not a trait, and how to build it one action at a time

• The real needle movers for book marketing in a world with three and a half million podcasts

• Why digital and audio versions of your book are the only formats that are actually growing

• How to use one-star reviews on competitor books as free competitive intelligence

• The one mindset shift that bold people share: other people's opinions of me are none of my business

If you've ever held back when you should have stepped up, in business, in relationships, or in life, this episode is your nudge.

🎧 Listen now

www.getyourselfoptimized.com/560

What if dying felt like waking up from a bad dream?

Rosemary Thornton, author, journalist, and near-death experiencer, describes her death not with fear, but with relief. After losing her husband to suicide, receiving a Stage 2 cancer diagnosis, and bleeding to death on an operating table, she found herself floating through a velvety blackness, giggling, grateful, and completely at peace.

And then she came back—healed.

In this week's episode of Get Yourself Optimized, Rosemary shares what she saw, heard, and felt during her temporary death experience, including:

• The three words that summed up her entire experience of heaven

• How a seven-foot angel appeared in her church pew and told her to write her book

• What happened to her Stage 2 cancer after she returned from the other side

• Why does she call it a 'temporary death experience'—not a near-death experience

• The simple prayers and daily habits that have kept her grounded ever since

This isn't a story about dying. It's a story about coming home. The show notes, including the transcript and checklist to this episode, are at www.getyourselfoptimized.com/559

Most people hate selling because they've been taught to do it wrong.

The moment you label yourself the same as everyone else in your market, you become a brown box — and brown boxes compete on price. But when you reframe your positioning, build buying energy before the call, and guide your prospect to sell themselves, the whole game changes.

In this episode of Get Yourself Optimized, I sat down with Steve Brossman — sales positioning strategist, author of nine bestsellers, and creator of the Backpocket Guide to Self-Selling Secrets — who breaks down exactly why most knowledge professionals freeze when it comes to asking for money, and what to do instead.

What we unpacked together:

• Why your perceived position predicts your profits — and how to stop being a brown box

• The three levels of influence: imposed, collaborative, and self — and why self is the only one that lasts

• How to build so much buying energy that prospects ask YOU what the next steps are

• Why 'discovery calls' kill your close rate — and what to replace them with

• The neuroscience of annotation: why writing on your screen mid-call boosts engagement and action by up to 500%

If you sell your knowledge, your expertise, or your services and you've ever felt awkward asking for the money — this one's for you.

🎧 Listen now https://www.getyourselfoptimized.com/558

🎁 Grab your free Backpocket Guide: stevebrossman.com/selfsell

Your body is keeping score — and it may be losing.

Unresolved trauma doesn't just affect your emotions. It drives chronic inflammation, suppresses your immune system, and quietly blocks your body's ability to heal. And most people have no idea it's happening.

In Episode 557 of Get Yourself Optimized, I sat down with Dr. Don Wood — founder of the Inspired Performance Institute and creator of the TIPP program — whose daughter was told she had two incurable diseases. Instead of accepting that verdict, he spent a decade researching, earned his PhD, and developed a method that resolves trauma at the neurological level, often in a single session.

What we unpacked together:

• Why chronic inflammation — not just inflammation — is the real driver of disease

• The difference between capital-T Trauma and the small-t 'emotional concussions' most of us carry without realizing it

• How the subconscious mind keeps looping old trauma as if it's happening right now — and what that does to your genes

• Why conventional therapy often falls short, and what faster, neurological alternatives look like

• The role of hyperbaric oxygen, theta chambers, and PEMF in locking in the healing

If you've ever felt stuck — in your health, your performance, or patterns you can't seem to shake — this episode will change how you think about why.

🎧 Listen now www.getyourselfoptimized.com/557

New Get Yourself Optimized episode: Neuroscientist + Doctor of Chinese Medicine Dr. Amy Albright reveals why your nervous system—not your strategy—is the real bottleneck. Free 3-step reset included. The show notes, including the transcript and checklist to this episode, are at getyourselfoptimized.com/556

Your phone isn't a habit. For millions, it's an addiction. Jim Sugel spent 22 years in recovery & wrote the 12 Steps for Smartphone Addiction. We walked through every step live in this Get Yourself Optimized episode.

Most people open ChatGPT and ask it a question. The ones getting extraordinary results? They start by telling it who they are.

In this episode of Get Yourself Optimized, I sat down with Dr. Gary Sanchez — founder of the Why Institute and creator of the WHY Operating System — and he will completely reframe how you think about AI as a tool for personal and professional growth.

"Who first, then what."

Before you ask AI to help you write your LinkedIn profile, plan your business strategy, or create your next campaign, you need to give it the language of you. Your why. Your how. Your what. Without that, you're getting advice built for everyone, not for you.

In this episode, we cover:

→ How to use your Why assessment as an AI upload to personalize every output

→ Meta prompting: getting AI to write the perfect prompt for you

→ Using NotebookLM to decode relationship and team dynamics

→ Why the future belongs to those who know themselves deeply — and use AI intentionally

If you've ever felt like your LinkedIn profile doesn't really sound like you, or that AI keeps giving you generic answers… this episode is the missing piece.

The show notes, including the transcript and checklist to this episode, are at getyourselfoptimized.com/554.