E 75 | STOP Wasting Time on Bad Recruiting Methods with Tyler Blair

[00:00:00] Okay, hello and welcome to Finding Your Fears podcast this morning. I'm excited to have Mike as our guest and all of those listening. We have some, uh, a fun conversation in store. So thank you, Mike. Thanks for being here today. Thank you. It's great to be here. Honored to have you. And I'd love for you to share with our guests a bit of your journey.

[00:00:26] So as we're here on finding your fear, so different navigations of the ebbs and flows of life and breaking it down to five minutes at a time, how are we moving forward, building resilience, claiming our own, uh, you know, ferocity. But starting in small increments, and I'd love to hear and for you to share with our audience a bit of your journey and from where you were to where you are.

[00:00:54] Well, I think both nature and nurture play a role. So as far as nature goes, my genes, I just think I do have this challenge the status quo. Gene, if there is such a thing, and, uh, it's just, I feel it in my bones and it really drives me, but other than the nature side of things, I do think nurture also played a role.

[00:01:21] So my, you know, parents allowed me to ask questions that challenge the status quo. They didn't kind of diminish that creative questioning. They really allowed it to Blossom, uh, I, I discovered George Carlin, a standup comedian who just further told me to question everything. Be skeptical. That was at 13 years old.

[00:01:42] I heard that. Um, and then as I got older and I continued to ask questions and I became fascinated with health, I really started noticing the broken healthcare system. That we have and, uh, not only the U. S. But unfortunately, in many other countries and, you know, I just continued to dig deeper. And that really drove me to, you know, I guess, try to find something new, not to try to fix a broken system that I don't think can really be fixed, but to find a new path where I can actually seriously help people with their health.

[00:02:18] And that's where I'm at now. Beautiful. All right. That's cool. So can you share a bit of like, what does that mean for you as you noticed and started asking questions and noticed like the following start, you know, that asking questions, you start pulling that string and then more starts coming and then and then and then the awareness opens.

[00:02:43] And then you find yourself at a fork in the road. And a lot of the things we talk about on the podcast, it's like, okay, I'm at that fork in the road. I need to make a decision. Um, where, where did that come up? And how, when you're making that decision, can you, can you kind of put us in that place? Yeah, I think it started to come up, uh, during my academic year.

[00:03:05] So I did my undergrad in psychology. And for whatever reason, maybe it was the George Carlin stuff, maybe it was the nature, maybe it was something else. But I became fascinated with this idea of propaganda and influence. And the more I dug into that, the more I could see it everywhere. And, you know, this is something a lot of people don't think about.

[00:03:26] And right, even right now, you or maybe your audience might be wondering, like, what does this have to do with health? Well, the thing is, how can we make the best decisions for ourselves? How can we make the healthiest decisions if we aren't paying attention to the constant bombardment of influence? In our environment.

[00:03:46] So we're being constantly marketed to. Here's a perfect example. Everyone can relate to. I walk into Target and I say, I'm going to buy two things. That's it. I swear. Two things. What happens? We leave with a cart full of stuff. They catch us. At our most vulnerable time. And none of that is accidental. That's when we buy the cookies, the brownies, those shoes to add to the pile of a bunch of other shoes that I don't wear, you know, so they really deliberately influence us with the, the lighting, the messaging, the colors, the product placement, the smells, the sounds, every detail is specifically arranged to influence you.

[00:04:25] So again, Going back to the earlier question, how can I be healthy if I'm not even acknowledging those influence efforts against me? And that's not only in Target, but it's every time you open up your phone, you turn on your TV, you log onto your computer, you talk to a friend who maybe has been influenced and they're kind of spreading it.

[00:04:43] I do think this is the missing key to health and it's extremely important to talk about. Yeah, tell me more. I'm intrigued. I'm intrigued about this. What is, uh, what, what? Share more, please. Sure. I mean, these are the things that push our buttons and pull our strings. And there are specific strategies based in cognition.

[00:05:07] Really, you know, these people. Who sit around in suits in corporate executive board rooms. They understand the mind very well. They know the cognitive process that goes into you making certain decisions. They also know when the cognitive processes are at their lowest and most vulnerable points, or even how to initiate that almost mindless or thoughtless sort of process.

[00:05:33] I mean, by, you know, bringing up emotions. Let's say because then we think more emotionally instead of more logically, there's a whole bunch of different approaches that we can take and ultimately, if we want to live the best healthiest life that we can, there's a few things that need to happen. One is first, we need to be aware.

[00:05:54] Of these things so that we can defend ourselves because if you're not defending yourself well then you're effectively just going along with somebody else's agenda and you're not acting on your own agenda and so that needs to change if you want to accomplish certain goals you need to figure out okay you know how can i defend myself from somebody else's agenda that they are imposing on me so that's one is the awareness then two is you kind of flip it take it further so all right well, Now that I can see how I'm being influenced by others, how can I influence myself?

[00:06:28] Because I'll tell you what, if those strategies that somebody else is using can work on you, well, you can absolutely put in place strategies that will help you with your own goals and your own agenda. And so those are the two sides of the coin there. Defending yourself from the attacks and implementing those efforts on yourself in a way that actually gets you to where you want to go.

[00:06:50] Yeah, awareness, and then, and then understanding the methodology, perhaps, of what works and then how to implement it for yourself in order to get to where you deserve to be, or, um, and then, and then it sounds like even with that, with that, the intentional awareness in order to choose. So then you, you're the one that's like, uh, steering the wheel.

[00:07:15] Sounds like, yeah, absolutely. Because, you know, I'm a board certified health coach. So I help a lot of people, you know, basically influence themselves towards their goals. And it's all kinds of things, whether it's weight loss, or I want to run a marathon. I want to change my eating habits, whatever it is, you know, we, we figure it out.

[00:07:32] And. You know, it's funny because motivation comes up a lot and, you know, to go back to those executives marketing or even, you know, government political propaganda absolutely is in the same category, you know, motivation for them isn't really a factor. I mean, their job is in a sense to figure out how they can motivate us to either change our thoughts.

[00:07:55] Or change our behaviors, like why? Why aren't we putting that same level of commitment to ourselves? You know, they, they are aggressively putting forth strategies to motivate you to do certain things and then many of us sit here like, Oh, you know what? I want to lose weight. I just don't have the motivation.

[00:08:11] It's like, I think you're looking at motivation the wrong way. It's not just like this feeling. It's not like, Oh, you know what? I feel like Working on my weight loss states. No, what are the exact things that you need to put into place? Let's look at your environment. I mean, do you have a very comfortable environment?

[00:08:28] That's very inviting to sit down, play video games. You have snacks ready to reach. And like, is your environment sending you all of the signals to do the things that are taking you away from your goals? Like, are you going to be sitting down and eating garbage, junk food, you know, is that how your environment is built?

[00:08:49] Because that's what it's going to tell you to do, basically, and that's just one small component. I mean, you could go as deep as the music you're listening to, the shows that you're watching, the people you're talking to, all of that is information that you're taking in that shapes the way you think and behave.

[00:09:03] So if you really like one more quick, perfect example is smoking cigarettes. Somebody who's trying to quit smoking cigarettes and you have ashtrays all over your house and you go hang out with people who also smoke cigarettes and your favorite TV show, the main character looks cool as he's smoking a cigarette, you know, you're just re uh, you know, reinforcing that signal to keep smoking cigarettes.

[00:09:24] So what's going to change if you were thinking like a marketer, How would you strategize against yourself to influence you in a certain direction? At least, that's one of the ways I think about it. Interesting. So, uh, thank you for that. And so, a bit of, uh, you tapped into environment and, and that word motivation.

[00:09:47] Can you break down what your definition of that is and how someone who's listening could maybe challenge that thought? Yeah, motivation, the way I think about it, is the circumstances that precede a change in thought or behavior, which is very different from like, I feel like doing something. That is not Motivation, right?

[00:10:09] If you feel like doing something, well, it could be that the environment influenced that. That's where the motivation really comes in. And I say that because, you know, there are things we can do to shape how people are motivated. And this comes, you could go as far back as proud psychology in the Roman empire, right?

[00:10:27] If we want to motivate a certain population, the Roman population to think the way that we want, and we want them to do the things we want to do, what are we going to do? Well, we're going to get them all in the same location. We're going to get them in the Coliseum because that way it's easier to kind of get them all in the same way, wavelength, right?

[00:10:46] Cause it's easier to influence a population, a group, which is actually what happens today with the digital space, but that's a whole separate topic. So the Coliseum, that's where you can, you know, fill the Coliseum with intoxicants, uh, so that there are. Their frontal lobe, their, their really critical thinking part of their brain is, is not as active as it maybe should be.

[00:11:09] And that's kind of the purpose of the coliseum. So then you entertain them with shows and. Quite frankly, active government propaganda. I mean, a lot of those shows or messages that are broadcast in the Coliseum are specifically designed to instill their ideas into you. And it, and it works. I mean, we know this from historical documents.

[00:11:30] Um, so that's one way to really. Motivate a population is you first of all, get them into a group and then you entertain them, you intoxicate them, you do whatever needs to be done to really get them all on the same page and and kind of insert ideas into their heads. Now, I did mention briefly that is happening today, although we don't need to send people to a coliseum and get them all in literally the same room.

[00:11:56] Now, with technology, we can effectively be in the same room as somebody on the other planet in these digital spaces. And the algorithms, the artificial intelligence, all of this, nudges us in certain directions and and we do this ourselves too. It's very easy to just block somebody we don't like and then we create an echo chamber for ourselves and we only hear comfortable ideas and ultimately that makes us weaker mentally and intellectually And I I don't mean to ramble I can go on and on but there are a lot of different pieces that come into play when it comes to motivating someone Yeah, it's and it's interesting to talk.

[00:12:34] Um, We talk about history and we talk about How, how that motivation has been, um, uh, connected in so many different ways that we might not take the time to really notice. Um, and when we, when we do that, um, it's interesting how our awareness is revealed. And so in that, how is. How is motivation? How is this in awareness combined with understanding motivation and what kind of things motivate us?

[00:13:10] How does that connect to health? Well, I think first you should know what your values are. And it's, it's really, um, striking how many adults I talked to and I asked them, what is, what are your values? So people have no idea. So, I mean, if you have no values. You're going to eventually find yourself operating on someone else's values.

[00:13:34] I mean, that's really how marketing and propaganda works, because if I come across a piece of influential information and just trying to nudge me to do something that's not within my values, well, it's null and void. It's not going to work. So I think in order for people to really live a healthy life. And even beyond that, just to make the best decisions, they have to have a firm sense of their values.

[00:13:59] What is really important to you? Is it your family, your friends? Is being healthy one of your values? Maybe for some people it's just work and money. I met quite a few people like that. That's fine. But you know, reflect on it. What are your values? And then go deeper. How did those values get there? Is it my upbringing?

[00:14:19] Is it culture? Is it the TV? What is it? Because then you can start to really reassess and say, are these values even right? Do I want to have these values? And then maybe some people start to have kids and that's when you really start to reevaluate because you're thinking, what values do I want my kids to have?

[00:14:38] Yeah, and that's when it really becomes serious. And that's when, you know, people who maybe didn't have values before start to build their own values kind of again, because they need to think about it, not just for themselves, but for the kids that they're raising. So to summarize it, values is the key to health and not being influenced in Potentially nefarious ways.

[00:15:01] Yeah. And, and then connecting those values. 'cause sometimes I've noticed how people, they might, they might not take the time to realize the values that they do have because they, they just, uh, life gets busy. And then you, it's interesting, especially with, uh, college freshmen and high school seniors. As they're starting to look out into the world and realize what kind of opportunities that there are.

[00:15:31] And then they start to maybe. Notice and then even question and reevaluate what their values are. So their values seeing, um, okay, this, this, these were our values at home. But now, as I'm forging out into the world and seeking to make my own mark, my value shift. And so then, therefore, what was important, and then it's interesting as well, is that as they get into, um, junior and senior in college, start to see these different opportunities of what values look like at that point, and then, like you said, um, maybe starting a family, maybe moving in and starting a new job, maybe, um, you know, new living situation, all of these different things, and these different forks in the road that may be, you know, Guide those values and then even getting even deeper into what the core values are as you're emerging, growing, learning and and absorbing information that sound aligned with what you're.

[00:16:37] You were saying, yeah, absolutely. I talk about education quite a bit because it could go either way. I mean, I'll be concise because we could talk about this for hours. But, you know, if you don't go in there with at least some sense of values, you're just going to absorb the values of your professor, which could be good.

[00:16:56] It could be bad. Or, I mean, there's a lot of, uh, institutional corruption within academic systems. This is well documented. There's tons of books on this. So I mean, you could effectively sign up to be indoctrinated, which happens not only in colleges but in medical schools and religions and, you know, indoctrination is, is a very technical thing.

[00:17:18] I don't mean to, to sound mean in saying that, but that's what happens if you don't have a strong set. Of values, so it could go the way you said. It's like, hey, you know, maybe I do have a sense of values and maybe I go to school and I'm curious and I'm open minded and I critically think and that strengthens my values or maybe it changes my values or evolves my values, but I think if someone goes in there with really a lack of values for whatever reason, I think they're extremely vulnerable.

[00:17:48] To being indoctrinated literally with someone else's values that could be better or worse. It's hard to say. So, what what? So, then within that, what is it that so you're you're saying you're sharing with being, um. A certified health coach and within that, how does that, how do those two things connect?

[00:18:12] What do you, what do you, um, how do you see that connecting and how do you serve? So as a board certified health coach, we do a lot of things, but I guess in this context, it's a controlled environment, right? So you're, you know, Assuming like I'm your coach and not one of my other coaches, I'll say, you know, I'm, I'm coaching with you.

[00:18:30] I'm not only sharing the best information that's relevant to your specific problem. So let's say weight loss, you know, you there's a lot of propaganda marketing misinformation confusing information Uh really expanded information out there. There's all kinds of stuff people don't know What's right, what's wrong, how to make sense of all this.

[00:18:50] There's so much. Yeah, right. So that's on one level as I'm helping you make sense of all the information that's out there. But further, we're trained very specifically towards a communication style that most people aren't used to. So this is specific to you and your goals. There's no cookie cutter program.

[00:19:10] I'm listening to you on such an intense level that just I guarantee you, you don't get that from anybody because most people when they're talking to somebody, the other person's kind of just waiting for you to stop talking so I can say the best thing that I'm going to say, you know, health coaches, we have to relinquish that, you know, so I have to listen to you intently.

[00:19:29] And then further from that listening, we help pull out of you. Your strengths and you know, how can we leverage those strengths towards your success? And we think about goals in a way that. Most people again are not used to so you might say, Oh, I want to lose weight and then it kind of just stops there or maybe you do something for a week and then it fizzles out.

[00:19:51] It's like, Okay, well, what do you mean when you say you want to lose weight? What kind of actions are you prepared to do over? How long are we going to do this? And and then so it's a it's a very much ongoing process with accountability. Uh, we anticipate obstacles so that we can account for those. So you're not messing up.

[00:20:08] You're moving forward in the best, most optimal way. So there, there's a lot to it. Um, but really I'm trying to help you influence yourself in the best way, instead of, you know, you being influenced by all those other forces out there. Yeah, then it is. It's true. There's so much, there's so much every single day and understanding Those values and how they're connected to those overall goals and having someone to be able to like, uh, is it correctly hold accountable to those values and kind of clear the air or clear the, um, clear the slate per se of all the extra distractions that are that exist, um, to get you into some type of, uh, um, like wormhole.

[00:21:00] I don't even know because like once, uh, yeah, there's your stuff. plethora of all kinds of information out there. And like you said earlier, a lot of it's just vague, um, or it's not real and it is not relevant, but being intimate with who you are, what your values are, uh, and being partnered with someone who can, um, curate, uh, a health transformation, a health journey that is for you.

[00:21:31] Does that sound right? Yeah, absolutely. And just to go off of something you said where a lot of it is a lot of the information out there might be fake or not real. I would take it further and say some of it's even harmful. And I think a perfect example is you look at Ozempic. Nowadays, now I'm not going to just blanket trash ozempic.

[00:21:51] I think there is a medical case for some people who may need it and may find it very helpful. But I'll tell you what, you know, I work with a lot of people, a lot of them asking about it, or a lot of them even taking it have no business taking something like ozempic because there's 10 other things that they could or should be doing first.

[00:22:11] And it's, it's not, Entirely their fault, because it is presented to us as like the holy grail, like this is the answer. Yeah. Yeah. So, and the easy button, right? And so those people are going to what they're going to trust their doctors to ask. And the doctors are all too happy to hand it out. But when you look even deeper, like all the studies on those epic and anyone can confirm this.

[00:22:37] All the studies that show favorability for ozempic are funded by the exact company that makes ozempic. Novo, uh, Novo Nordisk, it's called. They fund all of it. So, you know, it's just one example of something that could be harmful. Because, I mean, you know, these medications are not without side effects. And there's no really good long term studies on this.

[00:23:01] The people, the people taking it, those are the long term studies. And if you, if you understand the fact that about a third of the drugs approved by the FDA are eventually pulled, is this next? Is this going to be one of them? So. I don't mean to go on a tangent there, but that's just one example of information that could very well be harmful to a lot of people because there are better options.

[00:23:24] Yeah, and that's, it's interesting, like you said, and it all comes back in a big, in a circle because of asking questions, being aware. And then aligning with, okay, yes, this is where I want to be. Yes, I want to be able to run a marathon. Yes, I want to be able to lose weight. Yes, I want to be able to take control of my health and be steering that wheel.

[00:23:50] What, um, what advice would you give to people who are. I'm struggling in this space. Where would they start? Start with a healthy sense of skepticism, even on the things that you already believe. In fact, especially on the things that you already believe, because those are the hardest to challenge. So if you find a belief or a worldview very comfortable and you've never questioned it.

[00:24:12] Now's the time. Um, so have a healthy sense of skepticism, not only with your own beliefs, but with everything you hear. And I, I realize that can be exhausting. I'm not saying it's easy, but that is really a key to health in a world where we're constantly presented with, this is the right answer for you.

[00:24:31] This is all, this is what you need. It's right here for you. Just add it to your shopping cart. That's the world we live in. And I think a healthy sense of skepticism, challenging what we hear, challenging what we read, making some mistakes and learning from it. You know, these are not easy things, but that's what I challenge people to do.

[00:24:53] Be skeptical, make mistakes and learn from those mistakes. Yeah, I really appreciate how you're, uh, it's like, uh, asking the question, like we talk about this often is asking questions and, and, and self advocacy being able to say, yeah, you know, I realized that. Uh, the awareness that I realize I have so much available to me and advocating for self and saying, yes, you know what?

[00:25:21] I'm going to, I'm going to try this. I'm going to do this. And of course, correct. Like, okay, maybe this wasn't for me. And I, I take ownership of that and I'm moving in a direction where I feel that it does align with my values. And then of course, Um, continually picking yourself back up and saying, yeah, I'm not always 100 percent all the time, but some days I might be 30 percent and that's okay.

[00:25:48] And and having that element of, uh, curiosity. And also grace. So giving yourself that opportunity to be able to say, yeah, you know what, in the past, I noticed now I'm aware that I subscribe to something that maybe wasn't for me. And now I'm in a place where I'm going to ask those questions. I'm going to advocate for myself.

[00:26:11] I'm going to say no. And 90 percent of this information is, uh, not trustworthy. I'm going to continue to ask questions. I'm going to continue to kind of pull the string, pull that, that yarn and keep pulling it and see what's at the end. And at the end, is it a pharmaceutical company? Is it, you know, what is it at the end that is, uh, driving this, this hype of whatever?

[00:26:38] And, and then at the end, if I find, Hey, no, you know what? This aligns with my values. This is exactly what I thought it was. All right, great. I'm, this is where I'm going to be and this is how it serves me and this is how I can continue to advocate for myself and my journey. Does that sound right? Yeah, absolutely.

[00:26:56] Well said. Yeah, that's powerful. What, uh, if someone knows is in this space, you shared, okay, keep asking questions, but they don't know what questions to ask. What if, what if they're in that space? Why don't I really resonate with this message? I don't know what questions to ask or how to step into this, but I've got goals.

[00:27:20] Yeah, what would you say? Well, you could start with the question words. What, why, where, when, how start with just those one words and and see where that takes you. You know, when I say a healthy sense of skepticism, it's kind of code word for critical thinking. And that's something, you know, a lot of people, I think, take that for granted because thinking is not the same as critical thinking.

[00:27:45] Thinking is kind of like thoughts appear in our head. Right, that's that's not exactly controlled. And sometimes, you know, they're not the best thoughts there. They could be silly thoughts, lazy thoughts, just thoughts that are influenced by your environment. Now, critical thinking is like an active effort.

[00:28:02] I'm going to sit down and ask these questions. And I'm going to guide the thinking. On my own. And, and so that's what I mean is, is put in the time to critically think. And if you're really still stuck, you go through a list of those question words and you're still stuck, explore other avenues. So let's say, well, I'm going to pick a random topic.

[00:28:22] Let's say you're interested in, in like carnivore versus veganism and, and you're in one camp, let's say you're, you're vegan. And, and so you're trying to think of a list of questions and you're looking at all your vegan influencers, and I'm trying to challenge this and be. Skeptical and critically think.

[00:28:38] I just don't know what to do. Look at the opposition because I guarantee you if you know someone's challenging your beliefs, you'll have tons of questions pop up. So that is also a big part of critical thinking. I mean, if you align with one kind of school of thought, explore the other school or the other schools.

[00:28:57] Of thought, and I guarantee you, you'll have no problems coming up with a lot of questions because if it's challenging your worldview, the human tendency is to kind of defend your worldview, even if it's not correct, we can be defensive in that way. So I think critically thinking involves a lot of things, not just asking those questions, not just being skeptical, but learning to be comfortable with challenging our worldview, which is really an uncomfortable thing.

[00:29:27] Thank you. It is. Yeah. That's so good. Um, and that resonates quite a bit with finding your fears and under understanding who you're choosing to be in the world and asking questions. It's fun. Whenever I am discovering something new, I want to know, okay, this is good. And you're talking my language and tell me what are the top three disagreements someone might bring up about.

[00:29:54] You know, whatever that is. And so it's, and then, and then I take those things and then whatever they are, those top three disagreements, because yeah, of course, like, like you said, you can say the best thing about everything, of course. And what are the top three disagreements that somebody might say about what it is that you do?

[00:30:14] And then, and then I can take those things and then I can understand, okay, fair, or, um, I could see that or okay. Maybe not, but at least then can take that information, go find more information about it, and to try and understand where people are coming from, that would have that disagreement. And then does that disagreement align or not align with my values?

[00:30:42] So then, therefore, if it's something that for me, uh, would be, According to my values, really not relevant. But then, however, another thing might, according to my values, be very relevant. I really want to be able to take an opportunity to understand where those disagreements are coming from and do they matter to me?

[00:31:02] And maybe they don't, or maybe they really do. And so, um, I appreciate the way you broke that down and then how you, uh, helped to explain that is actually critical thinking. Yeah, absolutely. And I love how you pointed out there, like, you know, well, if this is not in alignment with my values, is this even worth my time?

[00:31:25] And one example that I see is when we're scrolling through social media, you know, a lot, I'll speak for myself. A lot of times I'll get angry at some stupid comment that somebody posts, you know, so like total waste of time sort of thing. And I might reflect and ask myself, like, is this in my values to argue with some.

[00:31:45] Person who's on the other side of the world, so I don't know them at all. They could be trolling. Am I going to waste my time arguing with this person? Is that in alignment with my values? But that can actually be flipped and taken further because let's say one thing that is in alignment with my values is trying to get along with people, you know, to be a compassionate.

[00:32:06] I might find myself very close to an argument with someone online, but if I want to live in accordance with my values, I might say, Hey, you know what? Instead of arguing with this person, let me reach out an olive branch. I can say something like clearly we don't see eye to eye on this particular topic, but I bet if we actually talked, you, we would find that we have a lot more in common than we do.

[00:32:28] Have different. So let's set up a zoom meeting and just talk for five minutes just in the interest of finding common ground. I would challenge people to do that. I've done that myself. It's a life changing experience and, uh, it kind of reinforces your values. It takes away some of the anger and frustration on the Internet.

[00:32:46] And ultimately, I think it'd make the world a better place if more of us actually reached out olive branches instead of, you know, putting silly arguments online. I appreciate that, too, because it's true in a world where we're coming and we're going and we're here and we're there and, uh, and there's not a lot of, unless you're intentional, there's less opportunities to connect with people and being able to say, hey, you know what, I'm going to do something uncomfortable.

[00:33:15] I want to offer an olive branch and how about we chat and meet new people, meet people that are of different, differing views. And then you come, you share, you come to find out that, you know, Maybe it's not all that different. It's uh, it's just a different time of the day and a different, um, lived experience that they're sharing, um, where you have an opportunity to share your lived experience too and create more unity in the world.

[00:33:41] Yeah, I've actually turned some of my biggest haters into some of my biggest fans that way. That wasn't the goal. Like I was genuinely trying to be a compassionate person and just to exercise that compassion muscle But I would have never expected that that people just trashing me in the comments disagreeing with my views on something and I say hey Let's meet and talk face to face.

[00:34:01] Yeah, and then they were almost like best friends now. It's it's actually uh, it's really cool I I really hope people try that out. Yeah, that's a beautiful exercise. Thank you for that. Sure What, um, what would you say that as far as, um, people that are listening and they're resonating with this and I appreciate kind of your, uh, I appreciate your disruptive style.

[00:34:28] It's it's refreshing. So, thank you. And what would what would you say to people that are listening? If they. They wanted to connect with you more. They wanted to understand a bit more of what you're doing and how you're, um, you know, what is your calling in our, in our world? Uh, what is that? What do you stand for?

[00:34:47] And also, how do people connect with you? My calling, I think, is challenging the status quo. I don't know if that's because I'm a contrarian by nature, or what exactly that is, but I love challenging the status quo, mostly because I think it's needed, you know, healthcare is broken, it's more of a sick care system where we wait for you to get sick, and then we care about you, we don't care about you before you're sick, we wait until you get sick, and I think there's something seriously wrong with that, so that's the status quo that I'm challenging.

[00:35:16] Uh, and if you want to learn more about me and my work, you can go to mike Vera. com. That's Mike V as in Victor ERA. com, where you will find both my health coaching business, where I put all of this into practice with individuals. Uh, you can also find on that site, my healthy and awake podcast, where I talk mostly to medical doctors from around the world, who also challenged the status quo in medicine.

[00:35:44] And in many cases, Put their careers on the line to say some of what they want to say. That's amazing and so needed. I, um, that message resonates with me with, um, our family. So our family, uh, I've gone on a health and food journey for our family because of neurodiversity and chronic illness. And so continuing to ask questions and being a mom of 3, um, You know, uh, the, the, the challenge that I went through within the system, uh, asking questions and.

[00:36:22] And getting, uh, not getting the answers that I'm looking for and then asking more questions and asking more questions outside of really understanding, hey, all right, if this is the thought, if this is, if this is the outcome, then what is the cause? And so then with us going through over a year and a half of a food journey, in order to really understand where our food is sourced from, and understanding the people in the organizations that create that food, and then how might I then create a healthy foundation for our family for both.

[00:37:08] Two things that are, um, uh, not by choice, of course, you know, you, you, you're given certain things when you're born, um, but how might you create a strong foundation to be able to manage the things you have no control over in order to be able to have the best quality of life. And so I appreciate your perspective.

[00:37:30] Um, and I think more people need to hear it is, yeah. We live in a capitalist country. How might we ask questions? And, and so through that journey, um, I've been empowered to continually ask questions. And it's not from a space of, um, disrespect, it's a space of advocacy for myself and my family to be able to say, yes, I, I, I, you are like a, as far as like a provider at you are a advisor.

[00:38:02] Yeah. I have this information and I'm asking your advice. What I choose for my family is my choice and thank you. And so, and so then therefore, uh, even with functional medicine and all of the other spaces that I, I, uh, I ask questions. And so I really, I really appreciate your message because we need more of it in our world in order to empower families and humans to be able to say, you know what, that's all fine and good.

[00:38:30] And. I would like to ask more questions. Yeah, well, I'm glad you are asking questions because, uh, the truth is not going to fall into your lap. And I don't mean just you, I mean, just in general, right? The truth is not going to fall into your lap. And I think society or culture has really conditioned us to kind of expect things to fall into our lap, right?

[00:38:52] Education. We have public education. If I want food, there's fast food on every corner. If I need medication, there's a pharmacy, CVS on every corner. It's like everything in, at least in America. It's like, we can expect it right now. And if we can't go out and get it, we can get it delivered to us. And I think that conditioning has really led us to treat the truth in the same way.

[00:39:15] And when we kind of expect that by turning on our TV, the truth is going to land into our lap. And actually that couldn't be further from the truth, ironically, you know, in most cases, the TV is misleading you. And even with something like politics, you have, you go on to any of the. Channels that talk about politics.

[00:39:34] It's just different flavors, right? They're misleading their audience in some different way. You go into Fox News, you get a totally different reality than you get on CNN. And so, you know, the truth is something that you do need to ask questions to really figure it out. It's not going to fall into your lap.

[00:39:51] Right, right. It is hard work. It is. Yeah. But being able to have a guide, have someone that can say, hey, does this align with you? Great. And have, and then just say, having that guide to say, hey, have you, have you asked this question? Have you considered this? Does this align with you? And, and that, that neutral.

[00:40:12] A coach in which to say, yes, this does align with you. This doesn't, or, or you decide, but here's options. And that's what's so empowering is being able to have someone to say, have you considered this? And especially when you're new and you're trying to get out there and try to understand, um, what questions are available.

[00:40:34] Because when, when it's not, it's not, uh, you don't need to start somewhere and build that muscle, right? Yeah. And people, I don't want to give people the impression that I'm like anti doctor and nobody should trust their doctors. My dad is a medical doctor and I'm very much driven to be just like him. I mean, I really look up to my dad.

[00:40:55] So I don't think doctors are evil or they're trying to mislead you. You know, most doctors I know, they want to help people. People, they're kind of just the victim of a broken system. So I want to go back. I said a healthy sense of skepticism. I didn't say skepticism, healthy sense of skepticism, right?

[00:41:15] Because you don't want to be so lacking of skepticism that you'll believe anything at all. You also don't want to be so skeptical that. You're paranoid. You're wearing an actual tinfoil hat, so you want to be somewhere in the middle, right? You want to actually have skepticism, ask questions, and there are determine if you can trust your doctor because some of them you can trust.

[00:41:39] You don't want to be. Definitely. Yes. And that's like that. I agree. It's not, it's not an or. It's an and. Right. So, um, you know, my, my, uh, medical providers, most definitely they, uh, they definitely care and they have their expertise and what they know, of course, and I want them to know what they know. And it's an, and how can, how might I also add this?

[00:42:07] How might I also, um, Come from a space of in the morning, we have our morning routine where we exercise, we journal, we, we meditate like we have those spaces. So it's not an or it's an and I, I appreciate my providers that we work with and their expertise and they know what they know, but they're not claiming to know these other things.

[00:42:32] Because you can be really, really good in your space. Awesome. And the providers that we have surrounded us, surrounding us, are phenomenal in that they know what they know. And then it's not an or, they're not, it's not, they're not, they're not giving an option of, well, you work with us or you work with them.

[00:42:50] No, it's, Oh, please share with us what else you found out. So that we can offer up our advice. According to what we know and then you can add those things in order to create a holistic approach to your health. And so, um, so that's that's the avenue that we take is. Yeah, most definitely. Can you can you share with me what you think and what, you know, in your avenue?

[00:43:17] Now, I'm going to go over here and find out what you know, and then I'm going to choose what makes sense for me and my family. Yeah, that's great. Yes, I love that. Thank you. Um, thank you for being here. We could chat for like hours. Oh yeah, definitely. It's so fun, um, and it's so needed. Thank you for what you do.

[00:43:39] Everyone who's on the call, every guest that's on the call, I ask the same question. If you had five minutes. So an extra five minutes in the day, we all have 24 hours, but just an extra five minutes. What would you do with it? This is probably such a boring answer, but just read more. You know, I, I have very strong routines where, you know, I'm doing my workouts.

[00:44:06] I have my clients, I do my podcasts, I have family time, I have kitchen time, everything. It's so tough to get in reading. So if I had five minutes extra just to read a little more, that's probably what I would do with it. I love that. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. An extra five minutes. You can get through three at least three pages Yeah, and it's something different something new something now Inspiring or um, I love that.

[00:44:37] That's so amazing. Thank you. Thank you for your time today, mike Uh, thank you for being here everyone who's listening go ahead and look into the show notes look up Mike m i k e v e r a dot com take a look tune into his podcast and You Everyone listening will be tuning in, go ahead and subscribe to school where we have our community and fierce network in which to be able to connect more with like minded humans who resonate with the messages that are shared on this podcast.

[00:45:09] So, thank you everybody for being here today. Thank you, Mike, for being here and we'll see you on the next episode.