Are You Happy With Life? Life, Lessons, & Laughter Live

Today I'll explore the following questions: Are you happy with your life? Are you happy where you are in your life? Are you happy with how life treats you? If yes, what are you doing right? If no, what are you doing wrong? Our life is our responsibility and we must choose to live it the way we want to. This episode of Life, Lessons, & Laughter with Glenn Ambrose was recorded live on 3-28-22

Transcript

Welcome to Life, Lessons, And Laughter with your host, Glenn Ambrose. Hello everybody. What is happening? How are you? How art thou? What is happening with everybody? Say hello. Join me. Comments. Comments, Questions, Concerns. Throw them out there. Where are you from? How's your week going? What day is today? Monday. Never mind. How was your weekend? Hey, Deidre, My Dominican Republic neighbor. So I know where you are, Deidre. Somewhere in the Dominican, You might be. No, You're probably around Cabaret. I would imagine. I don't think you're off on one of your adventures at this particular moment. It's so beautiful. I'm going to give it a couple minutes so people join. I went to Semina, Which I'm sure you've been there, Deidre, To see the whales. And it's amazing. It blows my mind what the Dominican Republic has to offer. I have not ventured very far. Semina was like a four hour drive for me and that's the furthest I've gone. But other than that, I haven't gone really more than an hour and a half, Two hours away probably. And there is so much that I haven't seen yet. We're constantly driving by these amazing things going, Oh, We got to check that out. Oh, We got to check that out. Oh, We got to check that out. And I haven't even checked out the stuff that's within an hour of me yet. And there's another hundred things that I've seen in a couple hours from me that I haven't checked out. So, Yeah, I mean, This country is absolutely amazing. So today, I would love to get some good participation going in this because this topic is broad and it varies so much. So if we have the participation that kind of directs the energy where this conversation goes, It's going to be very helpful. So what I'm talking about is life. Life. Are you happy with your life? Are you happy where you are in your life? Are you happy with life? It depends on your perspective. I mean, A lot of people are very fed up with life right now. And another way they phrase that is they're very frustrated with the world right now. So, What I'm kind of doing with this topic is I'm kind of not only do I want to give some helpful hints and advice and guidance to people who are not happy with their life as far as possibly specifics in certain areas. You know, Because I believe that the coaching that I do has to be practical. I mean, Otherwise, What's the point? You know, What am I going to do? Like say, Oh, Well, Just think happy thoughts and everything will be fine. And, You know, Like, I mean, And there's even some truth to that statement. Some, But like, How do you take that and apply it in your life? You kind of don't like you can't really just, Oh, Okay, You know, Thank you, Glenn. You know, So I want to make this stuff practical. I always do. I always want to make stuff practical. So, You know, So I want to come at it from that perspective, Like, You know, Which participation would definitely help with is, You know, Really making it practical how to enhance your life now. You know, Before I changed the name of my business to Glenn Ambrose Life Coaching, It was Life Enhancement Services. And there was a lot of thought that went into that name. You know, It's life enhancement. Like you already have a life. You want to enhance it. You know, So and, You know, It takes your your participation to enhance your life. So, So, Yeah, Like I said, I just want to come out this multiple angles of not only, You know, The practical day to day guidance that that I can help people with, But also the the the overall perspective on because our perspective is literally our reality. You know, I always say literally when I say that for a reason, Because I've said it. A hundred thousand times and I'll say it, A hundred thousand more like your perspective is your reality, Not kind of not sort of not sometimes it literally is like you can be your whole entire, You know, I experience this. So one of the this actually happened to me when the first time I attempted to move up to Rhode Island, But couldn't stay sober and ended up back in Florida like 20 years ago. And I had gotten sober for a couple of months, I think. And I don't even remember if it was before I got sober or after I got sober. I think it was after. But I'm not sure. But anyway, I went to bed one night and I was overwhelmed the whole day before about my life. I didn't have a job. I, I couldn't see my son. I was broke. Like every area of my life was just falling apart. And, And I was overwhelmed and I was hopeless. And I fell asleep and I woke up the next morning and something shifted. And, You know, Unfortunately it didn't stay shifted. But I woke up the next morning and I was like, What is going on? I looked out the kitchen window and everything was bright. And it was brighter than I had never noticed. And the grass was greener and the birds were chirping. And I'm like, Excuse me, I had all these heightened senses. And I'm like, What? Like, What is going on? And then I felt this peace and this joy in my heart. And I'm like, What the heck is that? Like, And then I started thinking about my life. I'm like, What? Like, I was trying to understand what was happening to me. And I'm like, Like, What? What? What's happening? Like, Did what changed? What? I just woke up and I'm feeling all this hope and peace and joy. And what? Like, What? What's going on in my life that I would feel this? And it dawned on me that nothing was going on to make me feel this. Like, I had gone to bed the night before having a particularly bad day, Feeling particularly hopeless, Which was a common theme, But really depressed. And then I woke up and I felt differently and nothing had changed. Nothing had changed. I just went to sleep and woke up. So none of my problems were different. But I started going through all the problems that were bothering me so much the next day, The day before. And I started thinking and I'm like, Well, I don't have a job. Well, I'll get a job. You know, Like, I mean, I'm sure I can get a job. I've gotten jobs before. I've always been able to get a job. I can get something, Make some sort of money. Then it's like, I can't see my son. Oh, Well, You'll, You know, You'll figure out a way. I mean, You'll figure out a way. It'll work out. And I could feel that that was true. It wasn't like it wasn't I wasn't like talking myself off a cliff or I wasn't trying to convince myself of this stuff. I just knew it to be true. And like I said, I mean, Everything unraveled later on and I was, You know, I was a mess for quite a while. Quite a while. I mean, Less than a year, I think, You know, Maybe another six months ballpark that I was a mess. And then I and then I started getting sober again and I was still a mess for another six months. So it's probably another year before I actually really started going through the process and really awakening. But but I still remember that because I had that I had that experience and it blew my mind that nothing had changed in my life. But yeah, I was at peace and I was content. You know, Without anything changing, It was like, How is this possible? And that was when I first started understanding that, Like our reality is based on our perception. You know, Nothing. I mean, You know, You can take I think I'm a good example. I really do. This shadow is kind of annoying me. I'm going to see if I can click this light on and get rid of it. So, Yeah, I think I'm a pretty good example of what's possible just because I was such a mess. You know, Like, I mean, I was I was an alcoholic that couldn't stay sober. My body was literally shutting down. Like I was dying. Organs were failing. It was a major problem, Major health issues. And I was, You know, Broke, Homeless, No car, Couldn't stay sober. I couldn't even keep a job at the end. I mean, Even a crap job where where I could drink on duty without them knowing, Of course. But I could and not get caught. I couldn't even keep that job anymore. And, You know, Just my son was 1400 miles away. I had absolutely nothing. I was a pretty low bottom drunk for the most part. And then, You know, Within a year, My entire world turned around. Within two years, I was living actually an awesome, Really good life. You know, Seeing my son five days a week, Living, Living five minutes away from him in a different state with a job, Making good money. Like, I mean, You know, It was my my entire world changed sober, You know. So, I mean, If I can go from that and I can experience like being at a very low bottom with everything absolutely horrible. From an external perspective and still experience either a moment of hope or, You know, Of course, That's what I'm talking about right now. That moment of when my perception changed and I saw everything differently. That was cool. But also later on, When I actually shifted everything inside of myself permanently. And then lived a different existence within a year to two years completely. You know, That's obviously an even bigger change. But it's, You know, So if I can do this, I mean, Who, You know, This is, You know, Most of my clients and most of the people that know me. Don't try this because it's hard to get away with it with me. But a lot of people, When they're sucked into their problems, You know, It's the terminal uniqueness that people fall into. You don't understand. You don't understand. It's like, Oh, Really? As soon as somebody says you don't understand to me, It's like, Would you like to hear a few stories of my life? I don't understand. I don't understand. Really? Okay. And, You know, Of course, I haven't experienced every single difficulty in life. I've experienced my share. But, You know, The thing that's important, Especially with understanding, Is that you don't have like suffering is suffering. Trauma is trauma. Pain is pain. Change is change. Happiness is happiness. Like it doesn't have to have the exact like the terminal uniqueness mentality. People fall into it and it doesn't make sense. Like, Of course, You can bond better over somebody that has a common specific difficulty. But it's not the only way to bond with somebody. It's not the only way to deeply understand somebody. You know, Of course, An alcoholic is probably going to bond with an alcoholic. You know, I'm talking on a sober level. Sober alcoholics will bond with a sober alcoholic because they have a similarity. There's a vibrational rate to everything. So, Yeah, A lot of times you can connect with somebody that has gone through the specific same thing as you. But I mean, I think if somebody is a, You know, A life coach, You need to learn to connect with people through the suffering, Not the flavor of suffering. You know, Because I mean, I've helped many women with female specific issues, Even though I'm not a female. I couldn't possibly have gone through what they've gone through, But I can have understanding and compassion. And suffering is suffering. I've suffered. You've suffered. If it's intense, You can bond over the intensity of the suffering. You know, So we've all gone through our stuff and there isn't somebody that can play the you don't understand frickin' game. That's a load of, That's self-pity BS. That's what that is. And we have to get over that. So, You know, As you can see, These are tangents that I didn't know I was going to go off on. So Nicole, When I was asking if you're happy with your life, I saw your answer come through. Yes, I am. All of the above. So, You know, I was asking, Are you happy with your life? Are you happy where you are in life? Are you happy with life in general? You know, How it's unfolding. And Nicole says yes, Which is, You know, That is highly important. I mean, It's the most important thing. This is why I do what I do. Because to me, There's nothing deeper. There's nothing more important than having peace in your heart and walking through life happy. Literally, There's nothing. Because what if you, That's why I like it, Because I'm an extremist. So I like the most extreme. If you can go deeper, That's where I want to go. So when I found this and I'm like, OK, There is nothing deeper here. There is nothing bigger. There's there's nothing more profound. There's nothing more important than peace and happiness. This is what I want to focus on for the rest of my life. And, You know, It's been 19 years or something. 18 years. I don't know. 18, 19 years. And I still feel that way. Like I never get bored of it because I have yet to find anything that's more important. It's like, You know, Some people say your health is more important. No, It's not. Your health is not more more important than your peace or your happiness. Because what if you have your health and you're miserable? Well, You can't enjoy your health. What good is it? Money? No, You can have all the money in the world, But if you don't have peace and happiness, What's the point? You're miserable, You know? So, You know, So you die in a really big, Empty house because nobody wants to be around you. Or you don't want to be around anybody else. Or a shack. Doesn't really matter. You know? Like, So there is literally nothing more important than peace and happiness. So if we make this a priority, Then, You know, Then we can go in the direction of peace and happiness. And quite frankly, This is, You know, I just think I think I just figured out why I decided to do this topic because I didn't know why. I just popped up like in my head 45 minutes ago or something. And then 15 minutes ago, I hopped on and said, Yeah, I guess I will. But it's this happiness, We have to put energy towards that. And that's what was coming up a lot like last week and just recently, I'll say. So lots of people aren't happy, Right? And I think maybe partially it's becoming more on my radar because I have so many offerings now. Like I have this podcast that's free. There's probably 250 episodes out there. You know, People can listen to them wherever and watch them wherever. I have a book you can pick up for like 20 bucks. I have a 10-part recorded course you can watch anywhere in the world for $25 online at GlenAmbroseAcademy. Com. I've got a free social media platform where, You know, One of the most common things I hear is that people want to connect with like-minded people and they don't like the negativity on social media. Well, I created a social media platform. You know, I want to know how many people that are on there? Like 20. How many of you guys have heard me say it? Thousands. And there's like 20. So for me, What's getting clearer and clearer is because I'm offering more, I have group coaching starting next month, You know, In April. And it's at a very low price point because I can do that with groups. So I'm trying to reach more and more people by all these different things that I'm doing with price points from free all the way up to $400 a month. Which really isn't much for, Especially when you compare it to other life coaches. I keep that price point fairly low and it's for a reason because I'm more focused on helping people. I'm not trying to make $1000 a month off one person. Whatever. I just want to help people. But the price points are out there. The options are out there. And when I put them out there, Most often people do not hop on them. And I'm seeing this more and more because I'm offering more and more stuff. And there's hundreds of thousands of people that are following me all over the world on all different platforms. And it's just such a small percentage of people that are taking advantage of what's out there. I mean, Of course, They're taking advantage of the free podcast. That's why I have all these people following me. But the free platform, The $25 course, The book, The group coaching, The one-on-one coaching. I mean, I'm not saying this because my business is doing bad. My business is fine. It's just when I'm putting out all this stuff and there's so little people actually doing it. But there's so many people complaining about their life. It's like, Where's the disconnect here? So, One of the things that I caught myself saying, And this is another thing that kind of comes at another direction. Is if you don't like your life, What are you doing to change it? So, That is actually a secondary reason why I'm doing this. All the reasons I'm doing this show are coming in now. So, I've been asking that a lot. And I think I probably said this about five or six times within the last two weeks in different scenarios. If you were to ask a thousand people, Do you want to be happy in your life? You'd have a thousand hands go up. Everybody wants to be happy, Right? But if I asked the follow-up question with those same thousand people. And I said, Okay, What have you done in the last week to bring happiness into your life? Most people, I would usually get an answer kind of like, What do you mean? That's you. Well, What do you mean? And that is where it's like, Okay, So everybody on the planet wants peace in their heart and to live a happy life. Most people, If you ask what you've done in the last week to make your life happier, They don't even understand the question. What that tells me is that people don't know. They don't put any energy. How can you put energy towards something if you don't even know what putting energy towards something is? When somebody asks you, Did you put energy towards that? And they go, What do you mean? Then you didn't. You didn't. Let me answer the question for you. If you don't even understand what I mean when I ask, Then you obviously haven't done it. So this is what we need to do. And don't get me wrong, There's some people that are fine with their lives that might not understand that question. Because people do learn through growth, Through just experiences in life. For the most part, I think my family is a good example of that, Other than me. My family, What they would do is they would go through life and they would experience something. And then on the other side of that experience, Especially if it was negative, They would learn from it and then not do it again. That's kind of what I saw from many people that were functional, That basically did well out in life. That's kind of how they did things. They learned as they went. Now I didn't do that. And I think a big part of that was the alcoholism. Like they say, Basically you stop maturing when you start drinking if you're an alcoholic. So I started drinking at like 15 or something. So I really stopped developing emotionally on how to deal with things then. Because I dealt with things by drinking. If I was happy, I drank. If I was upset, I drank. If I was sad, I drank. So I didn't learn coping mechanisms. I learned all that when I got sober all at once, Which was a rush. But most people learn as they're growing. So I mean if you're living a happy life, I mean God bless you. That's cool man. I support you 100%. You probably learned as you went. And I think that's wonderful. But if you're not, You need to do something about it. You need to take action. You need to put energy towards it. Everything is energy. And different times I use energy to explain things because it just simplifies everything. Literally everything is energy. And you might not understand that happiness is energy. Like maybe on a scientific level, Maybe you can't comprehend that. That's fine. You don't have to. It's just if you put energy towards it, It expands. Okay? So you don't have to understand it scientifically to understand the dynamics of it. So if you're happy or if you want to be happy, Then you do things to make you interact with life in a happier way. So like if you're in a relationship that sucks, Okay? You're in a crappy relationship. Then you can't. It's very difficult to walk through life in an unhealthy relationship and be happy. At some point, It's going to need to either get healthy or you're going to have to leave it. Most times, There's work for the person to do on themselves before leaving the relationship. And then sometimes that work they do on themselves actually bleeds into the relationship. And the relationship starts getting better and then all of a sudden they don't leave it. But whatever. There is energy that needs to be put forth. Right? So at some point, If that relationship doesn't get healthier, Then you need to leave it. You can't live 40 years in an unhealthy relationship and expect to be happy. Just because what you're doing is energetically what you're doing is you are feeding yourself the energy that you are not worth being in a healthy relationship. You are not worth leaving something. You're not good enough to get another relationship. Or you're not good enough to have a good relationship. Or you deserve the abuse that you're taking. Or whatever. There's so many different versions of this. But the point is if you are in an unhealthy relationship, You're exposing yourself to unhealthy behavior. That's feeding negativity. So what you have to do is you need to feed positivity. You need to start working on your self-esteem. Why do I think I deserve to stay in this? Because I don't. I deserve peace. I deserve happiness. Oh, Okay. Well, What can I do to raise my self-esteem? What can I do to raise my self-love? I can buy myself flowers once a week. I can go to the steam bath. I can take a walk. I can read a book. I can go on a spiritual retreat. I can do whatever. There's all kinds of things. It doesn't matter what you do. As long as you enjoy what you do and you do it out of self-love, Then your self-esteem starts raising. And then all of a sudden, That's energy. That's putting energy towards your own happiness. What do I like? What's going to make me feel better about myself? Well, I like taking baths. Okay, Cool. Now turn that into an act of self-love. Well, How would I do that? By putting loving energy into it. What does that look like? Well, So instead of just taking a bath, What you do is you center yourself before as the water is running, You go, I'm taking this bath because I love myself. I'm taking time out of my day because I love myself. And you can do this with a five or ten minute meditation. You can do this before you read a book or before you sit still or you can do it with anything. This is an act of self-love. I love myself, So I'm taking time out of my day to do this for myself because I love myself. And try feeling it. And then take your bath. And then after you're done, You get out and you go, Okay, That was an act of self-love that felt good. That was nice. I'm glad that I did that for myself. And I'm glad that I did it out of love, Out of self-love. That is energy. What else is it? Like it's not, Saying the words isn't doing it. Because if you just say the words and you don't at least try to feel, I understand in the beginning it might be hard to feel. So sometimes you've got to say the words and try to feel for a while and then eventually you'll start feeling it, Feeling the actual love inside of you. And what is love passing through you? It's energy. It's a sensation. Everything is energy. So this is what I mean. We have to put energy towards our own happiness. And it can look like absolutely anything. But most people don't do it. Most people spend 8 to 10 hours a day working. That's money. And then they spend time eating and they spend time driving and they spend time watching TV and whatever else and scrolling on social media. We have 24 hours in a day. If we sleep 8, That leaves 8. Well, If we work 8 and we sleep 8, That leaves 8. So what are you doing with those 8 hours? Can you take one a day? No? Okay. How about 30 minutes a day? How about 10 minutes a day? Just 10 minutes a day of you focusing your energy on trying to do something that is going to better your life. Bring more peace into your heart, Like meditating. Or slow down your mind so it's not constantly going and driving you crazy. Can you take 10 minutes out of your day? Out of 24 hours. If you can't take 10 minutes and then you have the audacity to go bitch why you don't like your life, Zip it. I don't want you to hear it. Go do something. We are the biggest victims. My God. That's my freaking trigger. Like this Will Smith thing with the freaking Oscars last night. Slapping Chris Rock. Everybody's talking about it all over social media and everybody's judging him for it. Either saying, You know, Oh yeah he stood up for his wife so that's great or oh that's physical violence. That's horrible. It's like we're so judgmental. You know? Like, You know, Hey do I think you should have slapped him? No. It's physical violence. Don't go around slapping people. I mean, You know, Being an adult. I get it. Do I understand why he stood up for his wife? Absolutely, Man. You love somebody. You stand up for them. If that was me 20 years ago I probably would have done worse. But I'm not that person anymore so I'm not going to physically attack somebody. You know? And then, You know, I believe he addressed it and stuff after where he was crying and everything. And it's like, Yeah, You know, Love makes you do crazy things sometimes. Sometimes we lose our heads. Like I'm a freaking life coach. A spiritual teacher. People come to me for guidance all the time. That doesn't mean that I don't get irritated and, You know, Act out sometimes in ways that are inappropriate for a particular situation. It still does happen. It doesn't happen very often and it's usually not that extreme but it happens. You know? I was being pushed to go to another level back in like January or something and I acted out in a very inappropriate way. And unleashed on somebody verbally. Wow. Like I did that? Yeah, I did it. I lost it for a few minutes. I did. You know? It happens. Like so I mean I'm not judging Will Smith. I think the guy, You know, Has a lot to offer. I think he said a lot of good things. And now do I think what he did was right? No. I don't think he went about it the right way. I don't think physically attacking somebody is the right way to do it but I'm not going to judge him for that. Okay. Who am I to judge? Like who are we to sit in our ivory towers pointing the fingers at Will Smith and everybody else going, They shouldn't have done that. Oh really? So you've never done anything you shouldn't have done? Never? Lucky you. You know? Stop throwing rocks if you live in a glass house. We go on social media and act like we're so self-righteous and I would never do something like that. Really? Let's go through the past five years. Have you ever done anything inappropriate or stupid that you're ashamed of? And you wish people didn't know about? Or maybe nobody does know about it? You know, We all do stuff. So let's stop judging and start working on ourselves. So what else? What was I going to talk about? So yeah, We are right. Yeah, This was another thing. It's crazy how all the reasons why I chose this topic start streaming in once I start talking. Yeah, I saw a post earlier about being an entrepreneur, Owning your own business. And it was saying you don't understand, Which is always a red flag, You know? You don't understand what it's like to have your own business and to be an entrepreneur. And this guy, I think it was a guy and I think he was maybe in Australia or somewhere. I don't know how it came across my newsfeed. Maybe so I would do this topic tonight. But it was just all this stuff about and I mean, There was some truth to a lot of it, Some truth, As far as how difficult it can be to run your own business. But it was such a victim mentality. And it just painted such a horrible picture. And it's like, Man, Take responsibility for your life. You know, Oh, I'm worried. I'm worried about people are going to think that I'm going to take it personally if I don't get back to a email that came through quick enough. Like this was some of the things that he listed, You know, Oh, You know, I'm worried that somebody is going to judge me if I don't get back to their email quick enough. Well, That's your problem. That's not a problem of entrepreneurs, Because not all entrepreneurs feel that way. And that's not society's problem or the person who sent you the emails problem. That's your problem. So you fix it. Like, This is what I saw with the theme. I should have saved that post. But there was a theme of what he was writing and most of it. He's talking about how the stress is coming at him. And the stress and you don't understand it so hard. And the stress, It's like, And I work too many hours. And it's like, Take responsibility for your life. Like, You know, I own my own business because it's what I should be doing. Like, I'm one of those people that does not work for other people. Well, I just don't I never have. I mean, I can, But I don't enjoy it. So all the extra work and all the other stuff that I need to do to run my business, It's worth it to me. You know, Is it easy? No, It's not easy. It's way harder. And I mean, I will be the first one to stand up and say, Listen, If you're not an entrepreneur, You probably do not understand how difficult it is to be an entrepreneur. You probably don't understand all the different assets. Not probably, You don't. You don't understand all the different things that come in. You know, Sometimes you have to be a boss and a worker and you have to wear many, Many hats. And a lot of times you have to, You know, You're sitting there doing stuff after work hours. And, You know, It's not easy. It's not easy. But nothing that's worth anything is easy. I mean, You know, It's not easy going to work and have your boss tell you what to do all day. That's not easy either. You know, It's not easy on either side is my point. You know, No, Being an entrepreneur is not easy. But that doesn't mean that it's like we should be a victim. And we have to go out to the world and say, You don't understand me. I work really hard and I'm putting enormous amounts of stress on myself to try to live up to your expectations. Feel bad for me. No. Nobody's going to feel bad for you. You're choosing to be an entrepreneur. If you don't want to do it, Don't do it. Go work for somebody else. We got to stop this complaining stuff and start taking responsibility for our lives. I think that that is, You know, Everybody complains about the kids and that we don't hold them accountable to anything. This is my generation's shortcoming. We do not hold the younger generation accountable to anything. Why? Because we don't hold ourselves accountable to anything. I haven't, I've never in the history, You know, Just going back, Not trying to romanticize the past or anything. I don't think there was ever a generation that was attached to the victim mentality as ours is. It's atrocious. We blame everything on everything outside of us. And I mean, I, You know, I think I get it. I always take a step back as to why this stuff is happening. And it's all part of the spiritual shift. Like Michael Bernard Beckwith, I believe has three stages of spirituality. And stage one is getting through the victim mentality. And then stage two is stabilizing our earthly structures as a leaping off point to step three, Which is really living our purpose and giving and blah, Blah, Blah. So like, So we are, We're in the middle of a gigantic spiritual awakening that's happening globally. And what's happening is we're in stage one. This is why everybody's a victim. You know, It's the government's fault. It's being an entrepreneur's fault. It's my boss's fault. It's the government's fault. It's the red tape's fault. It's the corporate America's fault. It's the Pope's fault. It's freaking somebody's fault, But it ain't mine. That's the point. And then we wonder why our kids are like that. You know, It's amazing. Like how many teachers I saw raising my son that would not take responsibility for their own actions. And all they kept doing, When they were wrong, They were wrong in certain situations. And all they kept doing was your son needs to take responsibility for his actions. It's like, No, He doesn't. And you need to take responsibility for your actions. And you're pointing the finger at him, Telling him take responsibility for his. Are you out of your freaking mind? You know, And I mean, Hey, You know, I'm not saying all teachers are bad. There's wonderful teachers out there, You know, But that was part of my experience. You know, Bleeding into our younger generation. We have all these, And I understand why it's happening. You know, The teachers are under fire, Man. I've said this tons of times. Teachers and the healthcare workers like nurses and stuff. They are the biggest hearted, Most wonderful people, Because they chose a profession to try to help others. So they're very warm hearted, Loving, Wonderful people, As a general rule, Of course, There's exceptions to this, But they generally are wonderful, Loving people with big hearts that went into these professions to try to give and try to help and all this stuff. Unfortunately, What we don't know how to do yet is how to be a good person and how to help in a healthy way. So all we do is just give, Give, Give, Give, Give. And then when the boss comes down on you, Or the government comes down on you, Or the structures come down on you, They don't know how to set boundaries, Because they're more about people pleasing and just going through life trying to be kind and loving and warm because that's their nature. But that we need to couple that with, With, With loving strength. We can't be weak. We can't let things push us around all over the place. And then blame everybody. So what happens is some of these people, Not all of them, Some of them get barraged by parents, You know, Like, And I mean, And my kid did some stuff wrong. And when he did, I did have him take responsibility. But there were times when the teachers were wrong. And the administration and they wouldn't take responsibility. My kid did take responsibility and they didn't. That's my point. Because what it is, Is they're too busy defending themselves. Why? Because they're always constantly under attack. They're under attack from the administration. They're under attack from the parents are under attack from the kids, I get all that. But you want to know what isn't going to change it. Sitting down going like this, And defending. You know, There's always there's always like, Who do they make movies out of, As far as teachers go? Do they make movies out of teachers? Do they do they give a bunch of awards to teachers that sit there and let everybody walk all over them, And then blame everybody else? Do they do? No, They don't. They make movies, And they give awards out to these teachers that are strong and stand up against the oppression of the administration, Or of the parents, Or of the kids. You don't have to allow a child to treat you like crap. That's a load. Nobody. I don't allow kids treat me like crap. I still don't. And I don't give a crap if it's my kid or not. If somebody else's kid is disrespecting me, I'm not going to allow it. And if their parent has a problem with that, I don't care. I really don't. So, I'm not going to stay on this any longer because it's a whole subject in itself. And I know that there's a bunch of people getting triggered out there. You don't understand, Glenn. No, What I do understand is that if you expect to be happy, So this is an extreme situation, So I'm going to use it as an example. So, What I just described was a very difficult situation. I will agree that it's difficult. I will agree that teachers do not have an easy job, And they have lots of pressures coming at them. I already said that. I agree with that. What I'm saying is there's a dynamic that works, And there's a dynamic that doesn't work. Playing the victim doesn't work. Setting boundaries does. Period. Now, It doesn't matter that in a teacher's scenario, It's hard to set boundaries. Yeah, But it's hard, And it's not easy because we have lots of pressure. Yeah, So it's hard. Well, You still have to do it. Like, That's not how the world works. Okay, This is if we want happiness in our life, We have to understand how the world works and then do what it takes to become happy. Right? That's very simple and straightforward. So, If you're a teacher or you're, And it doesn't matter, Man. Like I said, Healthcare workers, And those are just the most extreme because they're the most loving, Wonderful people that have the most difficult jobs. So, It's the most extreme. So, I know it's the hardest for you guys. I get that, And I feel for you, But what I'm saying is it doesn't change the dynamic, And I'm using this as an example because if people can see, Hopefully, If people can get the message that I'm trying to portray here, And they can see that in this dynamic, This specific way the world works, And if we align to them, Then we have the possibility of peace and happiness in our heart, And if we go against them, We will never have peace and happiness in our heart. That's all I'm trying to get to. So, If you can see it with the teachers and the healthcare workers, Hopefully everybody else can take this lesson and apply it into their lives too. You know, So what I'm saying is I understand that it's difficult. I understand it's an extreme situation. I understand that it's not easy, But it doesn't change the dynamics. You cannot play a victim. You cannot fall into defense mode at all costs and expect to be happy. You can't. You need to set boundaries, And I don't give a crap what that looks like, And neither should you. Why? Because of what I said at the beginning of this. Because there's nothing more important than your peace and your happiness. So, It sounds like I'm coming down on teachers and nurses, And I'm not. What I'm trying to do, I'm trying to, You know, If you can lower your defenses enough, And hear what I'm trying to say, I'm trying to give you the answer to how you can be happy. And how you can be happy is setting boundaries, Not allowing people to treat you like crap. You can't allow it and expect to be happy. And if that means finding another job, Then go find another job. Oh yeah, But that's hard. I always wanted to be. I don't give a crap. Stop making excuses. Either set some boundaries and learn how to manage your own existence so people respect you, Or find another job and do it there. But don't walk around going, You don't understand I have to. No, You don't have to. You don't have to be treated poorly. There are teachers all over the country that are not treated poorly. And what's the difference between them and you? Well, It's their boss. No, It's not. It's that they won't stand for it. I will not stand to be treated poorly. I won't freaking stand for it ever. It's not going to happen, Period. Why? Because I value myself too much. And I value my peace and my happiness too much. And I'm not going to sacrifice that for anybody or anything. I don't give a crap if it's a job. I don't care if it's money. I don't give a crap what it is. I'm not going to allow it to happen. It's not going to happen. And this is how we need to start looking at our lives. We actually have to take responsibility for our lives. We have to start acting like our happiness and our peace is the most important thing because it is. Instead we go, Yeah, But I need money. Oh, Okay. So money is more important than your peace and your happiness? I didn't say that. Yeah, You did. You did. If you allow yourself to be treated like crap because of money, Then money is more important than your happiness. It is. And I'm not saying that you need to run out and quit your job tonight or tomorrow. That's not what I'm saying. I am a spiritual realist. There are ways to do this. You can keep your job. I'm not saying that you can't allow yourself to be in a crappy environment ever. Like if you woke up and you don't like the environment you're in, Well, That doesn't mean you have to sprint out the door and change everything about your life tomorrow. That's foolishness. Okay. And that's what your ego tells you to keep you stuck. So there's a middle ground. If you have a job that you don't like, Start looking for another job. If you think your entire career, Like if you think if you're a teacher and you think that there's no way you could teach at a school and actually be respected, Which I'm sure there is. But whatever. First, I would say look into that and actually see if that's true because it's not. But whatever. Like if you're jaded enough or you've experienced enough where you're just done with the teaching thing, Then fine. Go, You know, People change their careers at 40, 50, 60 years old all the time, Especially nowadays, Especially during COVID, You know. So get some training, Start an online business. There are variables. If you put your happiness and your peace at the top of the priority list, You'd be amazed at what starts falling underneath. If you just say I'm not going to be treated poorly anymore and I'm going to do whatever it takes to get out of here and you still start looking at options. Hey, You know, I'm going to start reaching out to other schools. Do you like your job? No. Everybody hates their job. Okay, Well, Is there something that I can do where I can start setting boundaries and start chipping away at this? Maybe I'll take a year and just start trying that and see if I can make any ground. I mean, It is if people have treated you a certain way for a number of years, It's going to take a little while to change that. So start learning how to set boundaries and start setting boundaries. If you don't want to keep your job, Then start an online business. Start getting trained in another job. Whatever. Do what's going to make you happy is my point. If you're in a miserable situation, Start chipping away at getting out of it. People act like being in an unhealthy situation is like a life sentence. And they do it with jobs. They do it with relationships. Oh, Well, I went to school when I was 20 years old. And now I'm 35 and I don't like my job. I guess I screwed up my life. No, You didn't. I got sober at 35. I started my business in my 40s. I don't know how old I was. I think early 40s. You know, You can change it. You can be happy. It's attainable. You know, It always amazes me how low life coaching is on people's priority lists. Like when COVID hit, My business took a hit. Why? Well, Because that's the first thing that goes. People look at life coaching like a luxury. People are often worried about the money when it comes to life coaching. It's like, How much is your car payment? You know, Could you, Could you let $500 a month really? Could you go get it like a used car for like 200 months and spend the other 300 on life coaching? I mean, What's more important? Driving a brand new car that's nice and shiny or driving a used car and actually having like a happy life? You know, This is, And I understand that not everybody is going to perceive things the way that I perceive them. But this is my podcast and I'm trying to share perspectives. And it's not from a life coaching standpoint. It's from an experiential standpoint. I wasn't a life coach for many years when I was on this spiritual walk. You know, I was the one paying, I was the one putting out, I was the one finding, You know, I was a single parent and, You know, Working jobs, Trying to make ends meet that made my happiness and my peace, The number one priority in my life. While I was a single parent, While I was collecting food stamps, While I was working jobs that I hated. I've done that. Like I've been there, I've scraped pennies together to try to go to a workshop. I've done all this stuff. And that's why I'm here. This is why I'm living the life that I'm living is because I treated it with that much importance. So if you're happy, Freaking cool, Man. You know, Awesome. Keep feeding it. And I recommend if you're happy, Look around, Man. See what you're doing right. I love learning from success. See what you're doing right. Why are you happy? Understand it so you can duplicate it and keep it flowing. You know, If you're not, Start acting like it's priority. And I don't give a crap if you hire me, I want people happy. I don't need a bunch of people to hire me. If a bunch, If a ton people came at me, I'd have to try to figure out how to handle it. You know, Like, I mean, I've got enough. This is why I'm doing the group coaching because I can reach more people without like, You know, Putting too much more of a workload on me. And people can afford it better. It's like a win win for everybody. You know, That's why I decided to do it. Everything in spirituality is a win win. So like, I can help more people and still pay my bills and have a little extra money. And everybody else gets access to my teachings and what I do at a lower price. And they there's a group support system, And all this stuff. It's, It's, It's a win win. Right? So, So I'm doing this not like, You know, I just, To me, I don't like being sold. So whenever I start talking about things that apply to life coaching, Especially like my business, I kind of feel like I have to give this caveat to Hey, Listen, This, This is a sales pitch. I don't give a crap if you hire me. I don't I really don't. I mean, Like, I have enough clients, I'm doing fine. I've got room for a few more. But I like that I like, You know, I mean, Yeah, Sure. If a few more come on, Great. But more than a few, I'd probably stop it. I don't know, You know, Because I'm not, I'm not going to be working insane hours to try to help people. Again, This is why I'm doing the group coaching. So I'm not talking about hiring me as life coach as the only thing and trying to boost my business. What I'm saying is, I don't care what you do. I don't care if you take bubble baths. I don't care if you read a book. I don't care if you know, It doesn't matter what you do. And there's tons of free options out there that don't cost anything. But whatever you do, Make it a priority. That's all I'm saying. Make your happiness and your peace a priority because you deserve it. I mean, We are on this, You know, I lived many years hating myself. Literally just hating myself, Battling depression and frustration and overwhelm and thinking I was a piece of crap. And if anybody found out what was going on inside of me, They would all hate me and I'd be left on a corner somewhere. And I don't know, Just the self loathing that I've been through in my life is just insane. And off the charts, I think back on it. It's like, I don't even believe I survived, Quite honestly. And I almost didn't a few times, You know, Suicide was on the table and attempted. So like, I've been through all that stuff. And it's just, It's just such a waste of time and energy. It really is. We have our life and if we start taking responsibility for it, Then we can, We have more control over our lives and we realize what we have to start taking that control. We have to stop feeling like a victim. We have to stop feeling like we're stuck. We have to stop feeling like what's wrong with our lives is external because it's not, It's internal. It's internal. We have to do the work inside and then we'll start having the strength and the audacity to start changing the external circumstances if necessary. That's how it works. But we're all waiting for the rest of the world to change. Well, People are jerks. Oh, So is that your recipe for happiness? Like you're going to wait until the rest of the world stops being a jerk? Like, You're going to wait until everybody else works on themselves and there are no more jerks left on a planet and then you'll be happy? That's a really crappy formula to bring happiness into your life. It's not going to work. So there's only two options. I mean, We are in the world of ying and yang. So if it's not the external, If you can't control everything outside of yourself, Which you can't, And if you can't control that and set that all straight so you get to be happy, Well, Then there's only one other option. And that means instead of trying to deal everything external, You deal on everything internal and you learn new ways. You learn how you are in control of your own experience. You learn how to set boundaries. You learn how to shift your perspective to see things at a different way that are more empowering. Spirituality is all empowerment. It's the most empowering thing you'll ever experience, Guaranteed, Because there is nothing more empowering than it. There's nothing more empowering than your own power. When you feel the alignment with the entire universe and that you can create any life that you want, There's nothing more empowering than that. And this is the truth. This is what I want to get across to you guys. You have control over your own experience. All the things that you think are keeping you stuck, They're not keeping you stuck. You're keeping you stuck. And I don't give a crap what it is. There's a way out. There's a way out of everything. There's a way through absolutely everything. You know, Like I said, Most people don't have a story as extreme as I have. So I'm living proof that you can make it. And I'm not the only one. I mean, You know, Like, Look around. Look around. I can't remember this guy's name. I want to say Simon, But I'm not sure. But there's that motivational speaker who has no arms and no legs. I mean, Have you seen this guy? This guy's frickin' amazing. I mean, Amazing. And, You know, He's wonderful at motivational speaking and getting his point across. And you see a guy like this that just like, I mean, How can you know, The guy's got no arms and no legs. I mean, If somebody wants to sit around feeling bad for themselves saying, Yeah, But you don't understand, He would be the guy. You know, But you get guys like that and women like that that stand up and go, You know what, No, I'm going to make something of myself and I'm going to make my life the way that I want it. It's not, I think, I like this image and this mentality. And I think he actually says, I haven't seen this guy in years, But he just stuck in my brain. And I think he might say the same thing. It's basically the cards you're dealt. You know, These are the cards you're dealt. So like, You got to figure out how to play them. But what we do is we sit around and we go, Well, I don't like my cards. I don't, Well, I don't like the fact that I didn't have supportive parents, Or I don't like the fact that my parents died, Or I don't like the fact that I didn't have any siblings and I was an only child, Or I don't like the fact that I didn't have any friends in high school, Or I don't like the fact that I peaked in high school, Or I don't like the fact that my job has a bunch of red tape and administration comes down on me, Or I don't like, Everybody's got stuff they don't like, Man. Everybody has stuff they don't like. So, Like, What we need to do is stop complaining about the cards that we're given and stop playing the cards. Start learning how to play the cards we are dealt to the best of our ability. And you can do so much stuff. Cindy said this guy's name is Nick. She saw him live, That speaker I was talking about. So yeah, Check him out. And maybe somebody can even post in the comments, Like Google it, Who he is or something and Google a link to his YouTube or something. So feel free to do that, Somebody. But yeah, We have to play the cards we're dealt instead of whining what cards we have. You know, Like you can turn anything into a winning hand. That's the. . . I know, You know. So we got to get out of that victim mentality and we have to start putting energy towards our happiness. You know, You're not a victim of your circumstances. You're a victim of your perspective. You think that you're a victim of your circumstances. That's the problem. You are not. You know, I always tell the story, I'll probably wrap up on this. I always tell a story about like how my. . . When I had the three jobs after I woke up spiritually and before I started my business, All three of my jobs said that there was a mandatory meeting at the time that I was supposed to be spending time with my son. And I said no to all three. No, I won't be there. And they're like, Yeah, But it's mandatory. No, It's mandatory that I'm going to spend time with my son. Because that's my priority. So it's mandatory for me. I'm not giving up on. . . I'm not not doing that. Because my boss said that it was mandatory. And not once did I get in trouble. Not once. I mean, They threatened. Oh, You could, You know, We could fire you. Yeah, You could. You can. I mean, They have the right to fire me. They could have, But they didn't. This is what I mean, When you stand up for yourself. See, This is what people do is it that this is why I use that example is people come to me all the time and they go, Well, I have no choice. Yes, You do. No, I don't. My boss said it was mandatory. It's like, So what? My boss said it was mandatory too. And I saw I said, No. Oh, So you got fired? No, I didn't get fired. I was a good worker. Why are they going to fire me? Over something like that. And it's probably illegal. They can't force me to go to a meeting, Especially that's, You know, That's unpaid. After work hours. Like, You know, It's probably illegal anyway. People, These companies do all this crap that's illegal. And they know it's illegal, But they just act like you have to. And then everybody goes, Well, They said I had to, So I guess I had to. No, You don't. And you want to know why so many businesses do this is because all the people feel like victims and they sit around, They go, Oh, I guess I have to. Well, We have to. They said we had to, So we have to. And then they do it. And then they're like, See? Well, No, If if if people started standing up and going, No, I don't have to and I'm not going to, Then the companies wouldn't do that. Why? Because they're not going to fire all their good workers. Especially nowadays, They can't, They can't afford to fire you. So they're not going to run around firing a bunch of people because they want to have things, They want them to do things that are illegal and then probably get sued afterwards. It just doesn't make any sense. And nobody thinks it through. They just do it because they said so. And they're my boss. Hey, And I'm telling you, I am a spiritual realist. I preach the dynamics of boss-employee relationship. I'm constantly telling people, Hey, If you don't like the way things run, Then you either need to find another job or you need to like do what it takes to get into the boss position or start your own business, Whatever. But you have to understand your, Your place and the dynamic in which you work. So as a general rule, I'm the one that's saying, Hey, If the boss just tells you to do something, You got to do it and stop resisting it. Just do it. That's your job. Suck it up and do it. Yeah, If it's in your job category and that's what you're supposed to be doing. Yes. Your little resistances to every little thing because you don't see it that way is a load of crap and it's a waste of time and it's just resistance causing you suffering. So let that all that crap go. I'm talking about the big stuff that you shouldn't be doing. The big stuff you shouldn't be doing, You can draw the line and say no. And you know, This is, I also understand from a spiritual realist perspective that, You know, I think like when I was doing this, My son was my number one priority. It was a non-negotiable for me. So losing my job in order to spend time with my son was a 100% yes for me. I didn't have to think about it. There was no debate, Nothing. I would have done it in a heartbeat. And that's why I responded the way that I responded. I understand that not everybody's in that situation and not everybody understands that I always knew that I could get a job doing something to at least get a studio apartment somewhere. You know, I always knew that about myself because I had done it when I was drinking right up until the end. Up until the last six months or a year, I always was able to support myself. So I figured if I could do it drunk, I could do it sober, You know. So I had that confidence that like I wasn't going to let a job get in my way. I understand that not everybody's there. So you have to take this advice or this guidance and apply it to your particular scenario. You know, Like if you've got to go to a couple meetings because you went to 30 of them and your boss is a major jerk and it's going to take you a while to shift this either relationship dynamic at the job or find another place to work or another career or start your own business. Like if you have to take time to put up with some BS until you can work through stuff, Then cool, I get it. You know, I'm not running around implying that people should quit their jobs or even necessarily risk their jobs just because I said so on a freaking podcast. I'm not saying that. You know, We have to think these things through and we have to understand what we're willing to lose and what we're not willing to lose and where we are. You know, But there's always something we can do where we are. That's my point. And if we keep working on our self-love, Where we are will continue to expand. Like so maybe you need to just start working on your relationship with your boss right now and exploring other job options. Maybe that's what you do. So that way you don't risk your income in any way and you can start chipping away at this stuff. And then maybe it's six months or a year down the road where you either have a backup job or whatever. Your dynamic has changed, Your confidence is up, Whatever. You know, Like this is a process most often. It's a process. You know, I mean, You know, Sometimes people rip the bandaid off in one shot. You know, I mean, Hey, I don't usually recommend that. If it's somebody I'm coaching, I try to do the spiritual realist way and kind of walk them through gradually so they don't experience these huge earth-shaking difficulties like getting fired and not knowing how you're going to pay your rent. You know, I walk through my clients through ways of doing things so they don't have to go through that scenario. But some of you are extremists out there and you're just going to be like, Hell yeah, And stand up to your boss and get fired. Hey, If that's what you got to do, Some of you probably will do it and if you do it in the right energy and you stay with the right guidance, You'll be supported, You'll get another job. You know, It's going to be okay. I did that for a different reason. I wasn't standing up for myself in that way. I was just saying I can't work at this job anymore because I don't like it. So I went and jumped into a job that I really hated and couldn't do and I didn't think it through and it was a really bad choice. And then I had to leave that one. So I went through like three, Four, Maybe six months without a job trying to figure out how to pay child support and keep a roof over my head and I had no money coming in. That was very difficult. That was probably about 17 years ago and this is why I don't teach that because like mine was kind of a mistake and stuff the way I did it. But like just quitting a job, Even though I needed to, I don't usually recommend that way. There's an easier, Softer way, A more gradual way you can do things usually. So make your happiness a priority. Lean into it. Check out all the stuff that I have on that new platform. But make your happiness a priority. Lean into it. Act like it's the most important thing in your life because it is. And I don't mean that you need to do it eight hours a day and not work eight hours. Even if you take, Most people will notice the difference in 10 minutes a day. If you're doing 10 minutes or if you can set aside 30 minutes or an hour, If you can set aside one hour a day for your happiness. I swear. I bet you in less than three months you will notice a gigantic difference. Quite possibly just doing it on your own. But this is, Like sometimes people tell, Oh I don't know, A life coach? Well geez, That's twice a month. I'm kind of busy. You can't figure out how to take two hours a month for your happiness? And I have to explain this to you? I wonder why you're not happy. If it's difficult to take two hours a month to work towards your happiness, You're heading in the wrong direction. So try to take some time for yourself. Lean into your happiness. Make it a priority and I guarantee you it will pay off. And if for some reason you need some help with that, Let me know. Alright, Best wishes to you guys. We are heading in the right direction. More of us are waking up to this stuff. More of us are listening to this stuff. And more of us are making a happiness priority. So please lean into it. You deserve it. The time is now. And you can do it. Alright. I'm going to cash out. And I will most likely see you guys next week. If not before. Peace. Looking for more? Check out over 200 episodes of Life Lessons in Laffer. Or click the link in the description of this episode to connect with Glenn directly.

Reviews

My husband has terminal cancer and most days we are happy because we live in the moment- thanks for the reminder to set boundaries like a mofo. It’s surprising what long time friends will say to you when your husband is very ill. Some people will put it on me to comfort them around my husband’s illness (shocking I know, but true. That might make a good podcast) thanks again 🙏

Spot on! Awesome!