Unfolding

Jaden Joseph built UPLFT out of the trunk of his car, watched it go to zero, and moved home at 22 still certain it would work. It did. What nobody asks him about is what came after the money got sorted: the empty apartment, the friends he'd put on the altar of business, and a terrace in Vietnam where he looked at a view he'd paid for and thought, this feels like somebody else's dream.

That question, what is actually worth wanting, walked him out of fitness, into philosophy, and straight into theology. His first podcast, ever, at the top of a mountain at sunset.

• Fear was the fuel. Now wonder is.
• The business that went to zero
• Marketing, sales, delivery: never broke again
• Why fitness is a chore for most people
• The prices you shouldn't pay for money
• What people show you inside their homes
• The question that leads to theology

Join me early on the journey as I build this show one conversation at a time.

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Music by Isaac Haines:
https://isaachaines.ca/

Dig Deeper Into All Things Kaizen:
https://linktr.ee/zacarnold

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Timestamps00:00-01:13 Intro01:13-06:32 Fear was the fuel. Now it's wonder.06:32-12:06 The business went to zero and he never stopped believing12:06-15:25 Skinny arms, crewnecks in July, and the door into the gym15:25-20:01 Why fitness is a chore for most people and never was for him20:01-24:08 The point where optimizing starts eating you alive24:08-32:34 The prices you can pay for money that you shouldn't32:34-39:54 The masks people reveal at home that stay on at the gym39:54-49:06 Finite beings, infinite options, one life to spend them in49:06-57:12 Good at more things than you'll ever be great at57:12-01:07:52 The question that walks you from philosophy into theology01:07:52-01:16:12 Faithless Christianity and the sincerity of the search01:16:12-01:23:47 Why he decided there had to be a God01:23:47-01:24:48 The thing he wants to be asked about01:24:48-01:25:21 Outro

Five days into a dare to act like God is real for 30 days, I went from 500 followers to over 10,000.

This is the campfire Q&A that followed: who's actually behind the account, why I didn't fake faith for growth, and how far one "yes" can pull the rest of your life open. No sermon, no conversion pitch.

Just an honest attempt to meet the you all where you found me.

• Why the "gain followers" accusation stings

• Quitting math to chase podcasting

• The mentors sharpening the show

• Zero religion growing up, then doubt

• Staying humble (and a little numb) at 10K

• The resurrection, suffering, and my biggest doubts

• The question I'm scared to ask myself

Got a question of your own? Drop it in the comments, I might answer it next time.

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Music by Isaac Haines:

https://isaachaines.ca/

Dig Deeper Into All Things Kaizen:

https://linktr.ee/zacarnold

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Timestamps

00:00-00:27 Intro
00:27-02:05 500 to 10K followers in four days
02:05-03:32 Did I start the challenge for clout?
03:32-06:01 Who I am: quitting math, chasing podcasting
06:01-07:21 My Enneagram guess (and why I doubt the tests)
07:21-10:23 The mentors behind the show’s glow up
10:23-12:34 This isn’t a faith account. Here’s what it is.
12:34-15:43 No religion growing up, then my edgy atheist phase
15:43-17:51 I asked Claude how to live righteously
17:51-21:29 Staying humble (and going numb) at 10K
21:29-26:46 Bias, placebo, and knowing what’s real
26:46-31:10 Why the resurrection is my biggest hangup
31:10-38:47 God’s verdict on me, the problem of evil, and would I convert
38:47-45:54 Where morality comes from, dropping out, my parents’ divorce
45:54-50:08 The question I’m scared to ask myself
50:08-50:53 Outro

Nigel Seale is 75. I’m 21. We met stocking shelves at a grocery store, bonded over jazz and prog, and never once went below the surface. So I asked him one question about music and let it run for two hours.

What came back was faith, gratitude, and a state of mind he calls living in the wish fulfilled. He grew up Catholic, stopped believing the doctrine, but says he is still an altar boy inside. He chaired Earth Day internationally and met the people who started it. He has been married four times. He says there are hardly any real elders left, and that it is young people who make one.

• Music as medicine, not entertainment

• Why suffering is unavoidable but not necessary

• Faith that outlived the doctrine

• Living in the wish fulfilled, explained

• Capture the fort, and the lions

• The deathbed scene his father taught him

• Why elders are made by the young

If this one lands, send it to someone 50 years older or younger than you.

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Music by Isaac Haines:

https://isaachaines.ca/

Dig Deeper Into All Things Kaizen:

https://linktr.ee/zacarnold

---

Timestamps

0:00:00-0:01:52 Intro
0:01:52-0:06:46 The only question I prepared, and where it took him
0:06:46-0:11:00 Is the feeling in the music, or is it in you
0:11:00-0:15:01 Miles Davis played with his back to the room
0:15:01-0:19:40 You can’t make the muse show up
0:19:40-0:27:26 Why suffering is unavoidable but not necessary.
0:27:26-0:32:19 The radio call that decided the rest of his life
0:32:19-0:39:11 Still an altar boy inside, not a believer.
0:39:11-0:45:36 The figure on the log, and the book thirty years later
0:45:36-0:51:36 Living in the wish fulfilled
0:51:36-1:01:32 Why some people seem to get all the breaks
1:01:32-1:08:13 Don’t look at the lions
1:08:13-1:14:32 Capture the fort, and the state nothing can touch
1:14:32-1:20:27 The ones who get the most are the ones who want it least
1:20:27-1:23:11 There are hardly any real elders left
1:23:11-1:27:55 The deathbed scene his father taught him
1:27:55-1:36:13 Connections made through Earth Day
1:36:13-1:43:43 Why he refused to green stamp companies
1:43:43-1:51:15 Is emotional growth the same as spiritual growth
1:51:15-2:01:00 A ridiculous optimist looks at a burning world
2:01:00-2:11:19 The question nobody has ever asked him

Peter Chee has a Pokémon card in his pocket worth more than a car, and a faith he built by reading the first century church fathers in Greek. I met him in a sauna, solving a Rubik's cube in a lotus position.

I asked him one question: if you could tell me one true thing, and there was no chance of converting me, what would it be?

He said peace. Then he told me what it cost him.

• Ten years of losing everything he built
• Three months without a single night of sleep
• Begging to die a hundred times a day
• The exact minute the peace arrived
• Why he thinks most churchgoers were never Christians
• Free will, predestination, and a line of dominoes
• What greed did to the modern church

I came into this at the edge of belief. I left still standing there, but differently.

Watch the full conversation, then tell me where you land.

Unfolding XXVI

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Music by Isaac Haines: https://isaachaines.ca/ Dig Deeper Into All Things Kaizen:https://linktr.ee/zacarnold

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Timestamps

00:00-01:20 Intro01:20-04:14 One question, and no chance of converting me04:14-05:48 Truth is zeros and ones05:48-11:42 Thirteen years old, and the tingling in his room11:42-16:30 The night the love kept doubling16:30-19:42 The one thing he was asked to give up19:42-24:56 A moment of peace from a storm of torment24:56-34:52 One hundred rooms, one hundred idols34:52-44:39 Who rises at the resurrection, and the earthquake theory44:39-52:23 Why head knowledge is a trap52:23-1:00:24 Politics, cowardice, and a God who bends time1:00:24-1:08:17 Dominoes, jazz, and whether you chose this1:08:17-1:22:31 What greed did to the church1:22:31-1:25:07 Love drives out fear, and the question no one asks

Andrew Briggs gets called a feminist, a MAGA chud, and a liberal cuck in the same comment section. Twice in one week. That is what happens when you refuse to be certain in public.

It started in eighth grade, when he was so sure a friend was telling the truth he nearly fought a kid over it. Then his certainty about God went. Then his certainty about addicts, when his sister overdosed. Then his career, when the market told him nobody cared about the thing he spent ten years learning.

We ended up somewhere neither of us planned, on a question nobody has ever asked him, and both of us were watery-eyed by the end.

• The eighth grade lie he believed

• Why most beliefs collapse three questions deep

• Strength and kindness as two separate axes

• Second place at being Andrew Tate

• The market ignores your hard-won expertise

• Why talk therapy feels like thoughts and prayers

• The question he has never been asked

Subscribe and come along early on the journey as I build this show one conversation at a time.Unfolding XXV---Check Out Andrew's Work Here:https://linktr.ee/realandrewbriggsMusic by Isaac Haines: https://isaachaines.ca/ Dig Deeper Into All Things Kaizen:https://linktr.ee/zacarnold---Timestamps00:00-1:14 Intro1:14-8:59 The lie Andrew was ready to fight over8:59-14:17 Where most people's beliefs collapse14:17-18:18 The piece everyone misunderstands about masculinity18:18-23:28 The handkerchief drop and the power women forget they have23:28-30:40 Best case scenario, you are second place at being your idol30:40-36:14 Compare to study, not to measure36:14-45:57 The most depressing thing Andrew has ever written45:57-55:12 Bleeding in public, and the guest who gets you cancelled55:12-57:47 The issue everyone agrees on and pretends they don't57:47-1:02:59 What women misunderstand about power1:02:59-1:10:48 The right person, and what nobody wants to name about love1:10:48-1:15:49 Andrew turns the questions around on me1:15:49-1:24:11 You cannot force faith1:24:11-1:32:42 Many ways up the mountain of spirituality1:32:42-1:40:35 The trauma every other host asks him about1:40:35-1:48:33 The problem with talk therapy1:48:33-1:52:37 The question he has never been asked

Half the internet decided Christopher Nolan desecrated Homer before the film even dropped. Chris B. Robertson should have been the natural pick to lead that mob.

He has spent two years leading people through the Odyssey, he reads the Greek, and he walked into the theater hunting for everything he had been told to hate. What he found was stranger than a verdict.

The conversation starts on the culture war and does not stay there. It ends up on the day he lost his faith at sixteen, why a philosopher decided to become an electrician, what five kids actually teach a man, and why he thinks truth is something you remember rather than something you learn.

• What the accuracy mob actually misunderstands
• Homer as the author of civilization
• The milk jug that ended his faith
• Why he left academia for a trade
• Building a new religion from scratch
• Five kids and less parenting anxiety
• Where Ryan Holiday cheapened Stoicism

Subscribe to come along early on the journey as I build this show one conversation at a time.

Unfolding XXIV

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Check Out Chris' Work Here:

https://caffeineandphilosophy.com/

https://www.instagram.com/caffeineandphilosophy/

https://www.youtube.com/@CaffeinePhilosophy

Music by Isaac Haines:

https://isaachaines.ca/

Dig Deeper Into All Things Kaizen:

https://linktr.ee/zacarnold

---

Timestamps

0:50–6:26 The feminist translation behind the whole fight

6:26–13:04 Nolan didn't change the story, he put civilization on trial

13:04–19:53 He went hunting for Emily Wilson in the film and found nothing

19:53–25:23 He left Christianity and found Homer standing behind it

25:23–34:47 The Library of Babel, AI art, and why the author still matters

34:47–39:03 Philosophy is great at spotting nonsense and terrible at building

39:03–44:48 The hidden cost of becoming the guy who does one thing

44:48–48:34 The philosopher who discovered trades

48:34–55:16 The milk jug that ended his faith

55:16–1:06:41 Three gods, one pattern, and the new religion he joined

1:06:41–1:15:07 Simulation theory as a symptom of too much internet

1:15:07–1:21:52 Five kids and the advice nobody gave him

1:21:52–1:32:32 Why he thinks Ryan Holiday weakened Stoicism

1:32:32–1:43:45 Truth is what you remember, not what you learn

[REDACTED] and I grew up in the same schools, then lost touch for years. He found his way back through my content after one of his lowest points, and this is the conversation that came out of it.

We are standing at a legal graffiti wall, his world, talking about the line where you’re either a criminal or an artist. It is a story about numbing pain, hitting rock bottom, and quietly choosing the light.

• Graffiti as expression and as escape

• The line between crime and art

• Numbing pain versus making something

• Rock bottom: robbed, broke, alone

• Breaking the bong, choosing to change

• The mindfulness gap and sitting with cravings

• Small daily steps toward a life

If this one hit home, subscribe and come along for the next Unfolding.

Unfolding XXIII

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Music by Isaac Haines:

https://isaachaines.ca/

Dig Deeper Into All Things Kaizen:

https://linktr.ee/zacarnold

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Timestamps

00:50–05:30 The wall where a criminal becomes an artist
05:30–09:15 Ten arrests and the lesson he had to learn the hard way
09:15–14:00 Why taking the blame is what sets you free
14:00–19:00 The difference between a good and bad escape
19:00–24:00 The relationship he built entirely on smoke
24:00–29:00 Mindfulness without the forest and the incense
29:00–33:00 The flip phone years and what they cost him
33:00–37:00 Why making his bed changes the whole day
37:00–41:00 The one resource you can never earn back
41:00–45:30 Where he turns when everything falls apart
45:30–52:00 The vision that is far easier than a dream
52:00–58:00 Free will, fate, and the room to play inside it
58:00–01:05:00 The gray zone where a fine life keeps you stuck
01:05:00–01:10:50 The bus stop moment that changed everything

Robin “Waring” Jones is 83. He cared for his wife Kit through seven years of dementia, lost fifteen years of his life to addiction, and grew up biracial in a Canada that still hung “no blacks” signs.

Today he owns eight suits, each dyed a different colour, and he gives strangers silver dollars with a hug. This is a conversation about choosing colour when the world keeps going gray, and what a lifetime of loss can teach you about giving.

• Why he wears bright suits full of colour

• Caring for Kit through dementia

• Fifteen years lost to addiction

• The silver dollar that reached me

• Giving as the giver’s own medicine

• A letter from Santa as a sick child

• What Robin thinks death actually is

Sit with this one. If it moves you, send it to someone who needs some colour today.

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Check out Robin’s Work Here:

https://www.waringjones-author.com/

Music by Isaac Haines:

https://isaachaines.ca/

Dig Deeper Into All Things Kaizen:

https://linktr.ee/zacarnold

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Timestamps

0:00 Why “a Weirdo Like That Can Be Approached”
0:49 The Man Who Gives Away Silver Dollars
7:29 Closing the Loop: The Coin That Changed Me
11:10 Three Lives Before the Colours
21:48 What Dementia Taught Robin About Love
28:21 Colour Against the Abyss
32:19 The One Step Out of the Gray
38:33 Connection Is the Seed of Joy
43:51 What Giving Really Means
54:09 The Letter From Santa in the Hospital
1:00:49 The Depression, and a “No Blacks” Sign
1:03:19 An Hour of Silence: The Quaker Meeting
1:08:23 What He Thinks Happens After Death
1:10:26 Christmas, and the Closing Rosebud

Maguire and I were in the same grade nine band class. Then life split us down two paths: I went into music, code, and eventually this podcast, and he went all in on golf, now playing at a college level.

We reconnected at Kananaskis Golf Course to talk about what it actually takes to chase your potential without burning out along the way. Gratitude, devotion over obsession, the willingness to quit, and why the boring simple stuff is usually the answer. One of my favorite conversations yet.

• Why direction matters more than goals

• Obsession burns out, devotion lasts

• Self-improvement is simpler than you think

• Gratitude as the gateway to abundance

• Perfectionism and the game of golf

• Authenticity is what makes you magnetic

• Quitting can be alignment, not failure

If something here resonates, send it to a friend who needs it.

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Check out Maguire's Instagram Here:

https://www.instagram.com/maguirelines/

Book at Kananaskis Golf Course Here:

https://www.kananaskisgolf.com/

Music by Isaac Haines:

https://isaachaines.ca/

Dig Deeper Into All Things Kaizen:

https://linktr.ee/zacarnold

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Timestamps

00:00–00:50 Intro

00:51–03:08 The itch for more

03:09–06:09 Why direction beats goals every time

06:10–09:00 The winning streak, and being grateful before you arrive

09:01–14:22 Why you're overcomplicating self-improvement

14:23–16:55 Striving for perfect vs enjoying where you are

16:56–19:15 Golf, the game of endless perfection

19:16–25:45 Why obsession burns out while devotion sustains

25:46–30:44 Find your why and win the process

30:45–35:29 Manifestation, the red, and the location that found us

35:30–39:42 Acting like you already have it

39:43–47:37 Magnetism is just being unmistakably yourself

47:38–53:03 Mindfulness without the rules

53:04–62:33 Music, code, golf, and why quitting kept me aligned

62:34–72:37 Your own worst critic, and your own best friend

Timestamps

Twenty episodes in, and I wanted to stop and be honest about where I actually am.

I dropped out of university. I quit my job. I turned down the autopilot. This episode is me sitting with the weight of that and thinking out loud about what going all in actually means when there’s no blueprint to follow.

• Dropping out: following the script vs. following the signal

• Quitting the grocery store after five years

• The gap between trusting the process and waiting for permission

• Plan B’s: safety net vs. backup you’re quietly comfortable with

• Balance as seasons, not averages

• The beta region: where life is fine but never great

• Agency vs. destiny, and why life is more like jazz than a classical score

If something in here hits you, send it to someone who needs it.

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Check out my Mentors Bene and Chris Here:

https://www.instagram.com/bene_ri_/

https://www.instagram.com/morechrisgriffin/

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Music by Isaac Haines:

https://isaachaines.ca/

Dig Deeper Into All Things Kaizen:

https://linktr.ee/zacarnold

---

Timestamps

00:50–02:30 — The moment you realize you're somewhere you were never supposed to be
02:30–06:00 — Switching majors twice before realizing the problem wasn't the major
06:00–08:15 — Two mentors, new cameras, and what it actually takes to level up
08:15–11:00 — Quitting a five-year job and the signals that showed up before the decision
11:00–13:50 — Why I was showing up late to every shift and what it meant
13:50–17:30 — The money question: how do you fund a dream that costs before it pays
17:30–20:00 — "I'm already rich" and what that actually means
20:00–22:00 — Balance is seasons, not averages
22:00–26:00 — Trusting the process vs. waiting for permission
26:00–30:00 — Plan B's: safety net or trap?
30:00–34:00 — Life as a jazz solo: agency and destiny living in tension
34:00–38:20 — Why surrender and giving up are not the same thing
38:20–39:45 — "I don't know what's on the other side, but I know it's probably good"