Discover Your Potential Podcast

Finding Your Hit of Happiness with Brian Dubow show Sponsored by Liquid I.V.

39 min
Mar 24, 2025over 1 year ago
Listen to Episode
Summary

Brian Dubow, a happiness and performance coach, shares his journey from high-achieving management consultant to entrepreneur focused on the science of happiness. He discusses his four-stage framework for personal transformation, the role of habits and mindset in achieving lasting happiness, and practical strategies for discovering one's potential through intentional living.

Insights
  • Happiness is primarily an internal job (40% of happiness is controllable through actions and mindset) rather than dependent on external circumstances like promotions or possessions
  • A four-stage personal development framework exists: stuck → survival mode → self-awareness → self-actualization, with each stage requiring different interventions
  • Habit formation takes approximately 66 days and creates neuroplasticity changes that make positive behaviors eventually easier than negative ones
  • Environmental factors, particularly the people you surround yourself with, significantly influence behavioral outcomes and personal trajectory
  • Slowing down through practices like meditation or journaling provides access to internal wisdom and clarity that constant external stimulation obscures
Trends
Growing demand for happiness coaching and science-based personal development services among corporate and individual clientsShift from achievement-focused metrics to meaning and purpose-driven success definitions, particularly among younger professionalsIntegration of neuroscience and behavioral psychology into mainstream coaching and self-help methodologiesIncreased interest in experiential learning and gap years/sabbaticals as legitimate career development strategiesCorporate wellness programs expanding beyond fitness to include mental health, resilience, and happiness trainingMindfulness and meditation retreats gaining mainstream adoption as tools for self-discovery and decision-makingEntrepreneurial communities in tech hubs (LA, Bay Area) prioritizing founder wellness and work-life integrationQuarter-life crisis awareness as preventative alternative to mid-life crisis intervention
Topics
Science of Happiness and Positive PsychologyHabit Formation and NeuroplasticityCareer Transition and EntrepreneurshipMental Health and Resilience in YouthSelf-Actualization and Personal PurposeCorporate Wellness ProgramsMindfulness and Meditation PracticesWork-Life Balance and Burnout PreventionCoaching Methodologies and Client FrameworksEnvironmental Influence on BehaviorEducational Reform and Self-AwarenessIntentional Living and Values AlignmentLeadership DevelopmentHappiness as a Measurable OutcomeSpiritual Growth and Human Potential
Companies
PWC
Brian led happiness workshops for PWC's New York Metro market, reaching 2000+ employees before transitioning to entre...
UCLA
Brian completed his MBA in entrepreneurship at UCLA and currently teaches a class called 'Alive' focused on discoveri...
Harvard University
Dr. Tal Ben-Shahar, a lead researcher on the science of happiness and former Harvard instructor, mentored Brian and i...
University of Florida
Brian attended UF where he was exposed to Michael Singer's Temple of the Universe, which influenced his perspective o...
JCK Foundation
Mental health and resilience organization for youth that Brian supported through his Broadway walking event fundraiser
People
Brian Dubow
Guest speaker sharing his journey from management consultant to happiness coach and his four-stage personal developme...
Tal Ben-Shahar
Lead thinker on science of happiness who mentored Brian and taught Harvard's most popular happiness class before it b...
Michael Singer
Author of 'The Untethered Soul' whose Temple of the Universe at University of Florida influenced Brian's perspective ...
Sonja Lyubomirsky
Conducted foundational research showing 50% genetics, 40% actions/mindset, 10% environment determine happiness levels
Sean Achor
Author of 'The Happiness Advantage' who researched neuroplasticity and achievement psychology at Harvard
Mel Robbins
Mentioned as a comparable influential coach in the personal development and motivation space
Quotes
"Happiness is an inside job. Because I was giving so much credit to my external environment and saying like, when I get that next promotion, then I'll be happier."
Brian Dubow
"We're limitless, we're humans, we can do anything we put our minds to."
Brian Dubow
"Happiness can be a habit. It's like you just gotta start doing the things. It takes 66 days on average to build a habit."
Brian Dubow
"We have all the answers we could ever want inside of us. We're just so distracted that we're looking in the wrong places."
Brian Dubow
"I would eliminate the midlife crisis by having everyone have their quarter life crises instead."
Brian Dubow
Full Transcript
You are now tuning in to discover your potential. So listen, participate, be inspired, know that you can discover your potential. Well, the reality is happiness is a choice. Life is happening right this minute. Take it all in for one second because our potential is determined by the size of our dreams. Dreaming isn't enough. We also have to do clarity, confidence and creativity. Morph that with a little happiness, you can do anything. But I can tell you firsthand that someone else's definition of success is not a path to happiness. This brief stint we have on earth is not a test room. How did the most successful people get to where they are today? My dream was to make the world a happier place. Now is the time to start pursuing that relentlessly. My new definition of success after this journey was enjoying the passage of time. We can do anything we put our minds to. It's just a matter of how badly we want it and how hard we're willing to work for it. Yeah, I have this unquenchable thirst, honestly, to discover my potential and to see what my limits are. And this has been something that has kind of come upon me over the past few years. As you mentioned, I'm a happiness coach, I'm a happiness and performance coach. And at first it was all about happiness because when you're not happy, happiness is everything. But I now see happiness as more of a tool because when you are happy, it sets you up to discover your potential. It then puts you in a situation to go on those self-actualization journeys, whether it be for the mind, the body, or the spirit. And that's kind of what really excites me and myself and in supporting others. Looking down Broadway, it's 13.3 miles down the length of Broadway in Manhattan. So I started that journey about five years ago now. And for me, I actually remember why I started it. I had talked to someone the day before, I talked to them about half-marathons because I was training for one. They were like, I could never do that. And in my head, when I hear people say never, it's like, what do you mean? We're limitless, we're humans, we can do anything we put our minds to. In my head, I was like, how do I convince this person that they can do a half-marathon? And then as I started to think about it, and then I was like, well, maybe they can't run it, but they can walk it surely. And so I decided to put together this event where three of my favorite things are, one, meaningful conversations, two, seizing the day, and three, helping others. So I put all these things together and it was like, okay, we're gonna have a day of connecting with people in a meaningful way. We all met at the northernmost point of Manhattan around 225th Street. We walked, we stopped for coffee, we stopped for lots of different things. There was like a photo scavenger hunt at different points. We obviously got to see parts of New York City we would never usually see. My friend group mostly lives downtown, so to experience the upper ends of Manhattan is just a different experience. And then we raised money for this organization called the JCK Foundation, which is mental health and resilience amongst youth. So really helping those who are struggling with their own mental health, which is what it's also all about to me. You are after my heart. And we've talked about Phoenix Rising and like... Once COVID hit, I needed to get out of the shoebox apartment. So I did a nomadic year and then I found my way to California. Okay, so there is a ton to unpack. I think you, I almost believe you are a two-part series, my friend. So congratulations because you're quite young. I mean, I applaud you. I want to say this too, I think that the audience that we have for Discover Your Potential is gonna really find you so relatable. And we've sort of hit all the highs. So one more shout out. I just gotta say that you're so terrific and you'd put out a weekly blog and podcast in the name of the podcast is... The hit of happiness podcast, the YouTube blog. 100%. No, when I find good people, I like to shout out to good people. So again, I wanna be involved in all the things that you've just mentioned. I was a long distance runner. I can relate to the achievement of that and really just kind of the physical, kind of embodying, if you will, the mind-body connection. Cause I think a lot of people miss it. We're gonna break this down too. But I would love, love, love, if we could just sort of peel back a little bit. And I wanna know, you know, how'd you get to be such a resilient guy? Take me on a little bit of a journey of your origin story, if you would. Sure, absolutely. So you touched on it a little bit in my intro, which I appreciate it, but we can dive a little bit deeper. As you mentioned, I studied accounting in college. I did my CPA and my master's in accounting and started my career in consulting in New York City. You know, I never really asked myself what I wanted or who I was. I felt like my life was just following this path. And as long as I stayed on my path, stayed on the path, which was like, get into a good school, get a good job, get into New York City. Like everything else was fine. I didn't need to figure anything else. Which is very relatable, by the way. I have to say this, that everybody does that. I think it's ridiculous that we require our high school students to just be on a career path that they're gonna stick with for the rest of their life. That is unbelievably a lot of pressure for a young person. Did you feel that? Totally. I mean, I just chose accounting because my dad was an accountant and I grew up with a pretty nice life. So I was like, this is a path to do the same. But I mean, I think what's missing in high school and middle school is classes on self-awareness. You know, we're taught to memorize the presidents for, and we're taught to memorize the capitals and we're taught to memorize all these facts. And to me, you know, school, they think they're supposed to fill us up when in reality, I think they should be igniting a fire. And that to me is like getting us to ask the bigger questions, which to me doesn't happen at that young age. And we all have to almost hit some type of awakening or end up with the right people in order to start asking ourselves the bigger questions. And I actually feel so lucky that I had a few different people who came into my life on my journey that made me start question the bigger things. One of them, actually, I went to University of Florida. There's something called Temple of the Universe outside there, which is Michael Singer's temple. He's here at the Untethered Soul as well as a couple other books in the self-help space. But I got to see him speak often while I was in college and that opened my mind to just like, maybe there's more than climbing up a corporate ladder. Maybe there's more than this human experience. I don't know. Wow, that should be required. I think every 19 year old or 18 year old should take, I've heard this before and I'm gonna let you spool out your story, trust me. But I really wanna hit this point that a lot of Ivy League schools say, please take a gap year, a gap semester, a moment, a pause because you expect college freshmen to come in and essentially start adulting when they really just need to take the pressure off for a moment. So it sounds like you really hit the sweet spot when you were in Florida. I mean, that sounds like perfect primer for the what came next, keep going. That was helpful as well as studying abroad. Definitely opened my mind as well where I got to travel a bit while I was in college. So I mean, to your point of the gap year, I think that my mom says the book you learn the most from is a passport. So I'm so grateful that I had the opportunity to travel a lot and realize that the stories we might be told or see on the TV are not true once you get out into the world and realize no matter where you are, we're all just humans trying to figure out this life. So good, so good, so good, yes. So Moves in New York City started my career in deals consulting and it was a great job. I learned a lot. I was in the room with CEOs and CFOs at a very young age. I learned so many processes and systems that have allowed me to be just be a very high performer. But that being said, a few years in, I was looking at my life and I had everything that society defines as happiness, which is I was making pretty good money for someone in their 20s. I had been early promoted, I was moving up the totem pole. I had parents who were super proud of their son living in New York City in this big, mergers and acquisitions consulting job. My social media had me traveling all over the world and staying in nice hotels. So like on paper, I was crushing it, but when I actually took a step back and looked at my life, I was working like 70, 80 hours a week. I was on a plane every Monday to Thursday. I was kind of checking out in all of my free time as opposed to checking into my life. It was like, you know, drinking with friends on the weekends or whatever it was, which was fun, but it wasn't that what I was seeking, which was this purpose or meaning in life. And so I got to a point where I was just like, there has to be more than this. There's no way humans have been around for hundreds of thousands of years so that I can just like click away and excel all day. So wise. So can I just tell you how wise you are already and that many people experience this crisis in their 40s and you just figured it out quick. I think that's the blessing of your generation. I think the people coming in up under me anyway are a lot smarter, because you sort of demand that we get to the good stuff right away and that feeling of not, you know, nothing's right and I might just make everybody mad around me, but continue. What did you do next after you discovered that? To that point, you just said, Anna, I would love to eliminate the midlife crisis by having everyone have their quarter life crises instead. You know, I can't wait to hear how you do that. More meaningful life. But that being said, so that led me on my self-help journey, reading lots of books, having copy chats with all types of people from entrepreneurs to executives to artists to athletes. And as you mentioned, one of the most impactful conversations to me was this doctor out of Harvard. His name was Dr. Talben Shahard, who he's one of the lead thinkers on the science of happiness. And at the time he taught the most popular class at Harvard, which was on happiness. And this was before happiness was cool. This was before COVID. And so we grabbed coffee. I thought it'd be like 15 minutes. It was a couple hours. And by the end of it, I was like, whatever Kool-Aid this guy's drinking, I want to drink that Kool-Aid too. So- You're certainly up to Jones now, good for you. Exactly. So I spent the next year studying under him to become a certified happiness trainer and coach. And really it was a year of being extremely intentional with my life and paying attention to like, who in my life is energizing me? Who is depleting me? At my job, what do I enjoy? What energizes me? What's a pleats me? Paying attention to exercising, paying attention to sleep, paying attention to nutrition. Really just like turning myself into that human science experiment and optimizing my processes for energy and happiness. And a year later, I would say, while still working that same consulting job, my happiness went from something like a four out of 10 to an eight out of 10. With one of the main takeaways for me being, happiness is an inside job. Because I was giving so much credit to my external environment and saying like, when I get that next promotion, then I'll be happier. When I get the perfect girlfriend, then I'll be happy. And when I can buy that, you know, penthouse apartment, then I'll be really happy. But in reality, none of that changed. None of the externals changed. All that changed was my habits. I was doing the things that were scientifically proven to make me happier and being way more intentional with my life and changing my mindset. And life was so much better. And there's actually a study on this by this doctor out of UC Riverside, Dr. Sonia Libermirsky. She found that 50% of our happiness is genetics. We can't control that. 40% of our happiness is our actions and our mindset. We have full control over that. And that's why I'm here. That's why I have a message. That's why I'm in business. 10% of our happiness is environment. So so many people over index on the environment because it's easier to play the victim mentality. Be like, well, if this was different, then I, you know, would be taking more action. Then I'd be happy. As opposed to four times the amount of our happiness is fully within our control. So that's what I want people to really grasp. This show is sponsored by Liquid IV. So you know how there's a lot of ways to experience love. It's different for everyone, but one of my favorite ways to treat myself is to go for a walk in nature. Some people love to go shopping or go to movies, but I can't think of anything more refreshing than a walk in the park. Makes me feel like I've done something really good for myself. 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And sometimes we've all been on our journey, we all have a story, but, you know, and I'm in my mid-50s, but something that I recognized last time I met you and what you just said now, you used the word experiment. It's an experiment. So all those stats they check out, I believe you, they're consistent with what I know about attitude and mindset, but I think people in my generation are just, we are jealous of the people that are in their 20s that can experiment. Maybe we have kids and it seems like we can't experiment. But to me, I don't subscribe to that theory. And I think the most exciting thing about meeting you is how time, generations, environment, none of that matters. We're speaking the same language and you are wildly inspiring to me because I want to give a shout out. It doesn't matter what your age is, life is still an experiment and you can find more happiness. This is the greatest show. Okay, not because of what I just said, but just because I want to pick your brain a little bit and say, man, I would hire you as my coach. Isn't that wild? Thank you. I would love to work with you. I'd love to help you, Anna. I love, okay. And you had me walking down, drinking coffee. That's my kind of marathon. Walking down the street of New York, which is like my happy place, right? So, talk to me a little bit about why did you go to LA? I mean, that's just such a tangent, but I'm curious. What drove you to go to LA? So, honestly, I didn't leave my consulting job immediately. I just to continue my story, I switched into human capital strategy at PWC where I got to start leading workshops on happiness at PWC. And eventually I was leading workshops for first with small teams, but eventually the entire New York Metro market, 2000 plus people at a time. And I said, if I can do this at PWC, why can't I do this anywhere? So, I actually applied to business school. I did my MBA at UCLA, coming to LA because I knew that was the hub of health and wellness. UCLA is the top entrepreneurship school. So that's what brought me out to LA. And I kind of used those two years in business school to, again, experiment. Like what does the business of happiness look like? What can it be? How can I make a scalable impact beyond just one-on-one coaching? And so that's what brought me out to LA. And I got out here and for those people from California, just such a conscious community. You know, in New York, all you do is eat and drink. In LA, you go for hikes and drink your matcha and do cold plunges in the ocean every day. Okay, I will agree with you because I'm a Bay Area kid, right? I grew up front of the time in the Bay Area. But California's got its own issues. I mean, you alluded kind of to leaving New York before COVID. I think there's never been a better time to be an entrepreneur. And I get that from a lot of entrepreneurs. This is like the perfect time. But was it like, talk to me a little bit about the cultural differences. Was it just, was it culture shock to you? Or were you... Moving to LA? Yeah, were you adapting pretty well? You know, for me, I think California is a very entrepreneurial place. I got immersed in both conscious community and entrepreneurial community. And on an entrepreneurial journey, if you're surrounded by non-entrepreneurs, it's very challenging. Because in the beginning, they're all gonna question you and be like, why would you leave a comfortable job? Why would you give up a paycheck that comes in every two weeks? Why, what do you mean the business of happiness? Just be happy. What are you talking about? Or like, there's one partner who was like, I haven't been happy in 30 years. Why would you start now? It sounds like a New Yorker, I'm sorry. Yeah, so it's like there's... There's... Another thing I'll note is like, when you meet someone in New York, the first thing they ask you is, what do you do? You get sized up by what do you do? In California, you get sized up on, what do you do on the weekends? Who are you really? Yeah, who are you really? I find that they're very interested in like, who are you beyond work? Which I think is a beautiful thing. And that's not to say that New York isn't amazing and it's the most fun city in the world and probably the most productive city in the world. You know, everything moves way slower in California and probably everywhere else in the world. But in terms of a place to slow down enough to really find myself and reflect and therefore be able to speed up because I got clarity on what I want, what my message is for the world, that I wanna help people feel alive and really tap into their lives in the most engaging way. Like that, I don't know if that would have happened in New York because I would have been on that hamster wheel. So. So I'm hoping that our audience is really entrained to this idea that it's never too late to start over. It's never too late to look at your life completely differently. We're gonna break down what you actually preach because I'm fascinated by all of the science of happiness. I do wanna point out that I was, I heard of an author, Sean Acor. He also taught at Harvard and he wrote a book called The Happiness Advantage. It was the first time I had ever heard of this idea of neuroplasticity. So he saw and supposed that most high school kids that are driven to achieve to get to Harvard have like the 4.0 and they're on all these leadership academies and the yada, yada, yada. They get to their freshman year and they are completely average in a sea of other smarty mixed smart pants kids, if you will. And I'm wondering, give me some details particularly of how you coach or what is your secret sauce? Because Sean Acor again, I got my takeaway from him was, okay, there's this thing about neuroplasticity. We have control over how our mind works. It's like you say 50% genetic, but break it down a little bit for me. Like what do you offer when people hire you as a coach or what do you subscribe to? Yeah, absolutely. So the secret sauce. I'll kind of go take you through. Like I meet people where they're at and no matter where you are, if you're listening to this, whether you're really struggling or you feel like you're about to break through, you will make it first of all. Anyone can make it. Anyone can make it where they wanna be. We all have that potential within us to be happy to go on our self-actualization journey. So no matter where you are, first of all, you are not alone and you will make it where you wanna be. Thank you. Second of all. That land, sorry, that land, thank you. Yeah, of course. And then second of all, of course I have to meet people where they're at because not everyone is ready to go on an entrepreneurial journey. You have to build some confidence. You have to build some habits before that. So I kind of see four phases of the human journey from both the coaching clients I've worked with. I also teach a class at UCLA, which is called Alive. So the idea is help people figure out what makes them feel alive. But kind of the journey I see, stage one is stuck. You are kind of just going through the motions of life. You may have had thoughts of, there's something else out there, but mostly you're just going through life in a way that's not that conscious and you don't know what to do about it. You really just don't know what to do. Those people really need something to wake them up, whether it's hitting rock bottom or listening to a podcast like this that makes them say, hey, wait a second, this isn't the life. You know, this isn't what I bargained for. Just going back to me being like, there's no way humans have been around for hundreds of thousands of years to have this experience. You need to have one of those aha moments that's like, I wanna get off of this hamster wheel or I wanna get out of this cycle and I'm gonna start taking action. Because nothing changes if nothing changes, you need to start changing your actions and start changing the way you go about your life and start changing who you surround yourself with. So once you start making a decision of like, hey, I think there's more for me out there. You get to stage two. And stage two is what I call survival mode. And when you're in stage two, you know you want more, you're a conscious being, but the pressures of life are just very heavy. It's either for financial reasons or you're so busy or, you know, just you're juggling too many balls. This to me is the phase where the science of happiness really comes in, where doing things like exercising, meditating, journaling, connecting meaningfully with people, it gets you from surviving to thriving, which is kind of the end of phase two, getting to a place where you don't feel like you have a black cloud over your head all the time, but you actually feel like you are present in your body and you feel good and you start feeling confident. So that's where, you know, the happiness coaching really comes in. Stage three, now that you are in that like clear headspace is the self-awareness journey. And that is asking the questions of like, now that I feel good, what do I want to do with this life? Because kind of we could do whatever we want. Like, you know that, Anna, we talked about this before. There are no limits in this life. We can do anything we put our minds to. A lot of people are paralyzed by, I have no idea who I am. I have no idea what I want to do because we're never taught that. No, we're never put in a situation to ask ourselves like, hey, what is success to me? So that journey is answering those questions like, what is success to me as opposed to my parents or as opposed to society? What are my values? What are my superpowers? What are my limiting beliefs? How do I tap into my intuition? Based off of all of that, how do I want to make this life count? And so that's kind of stage three. And then stage four, which is the fun part, is now that we're firing on all cylinders, now that we have a clear sense of direction, let's turn your dreams into reality. So that's what I call the self-actualization journey. And that's all about having the right systems, the right accountability, so that nothing can stop you from bringing whatever it is you believe. And again, if you can fathom something happening, it can happen. Like, if it's a dream in your mind, it's only there because it is possible in this present reality, in this reality. So stage four is, yes, you have this dream. Of course, it probably sounds crazy. It could be a long journey. And they say like an overnight success can take five years, can take 10 years, whatever it takes. If that's what you feel called to bring to life in this world, there's a way to do it. And let's get the right systems in your place, in place, the right accountability, the right habit, so that nothing can stop you from bringing that reality to life. Brian, you are more than just a hit of happiness. You're like, you're a force of nature, and you just help us break it down. And I just, like I say, I would hire you tomorrow. I mean, I think I'm really good at phase four when it comes to coaching people or talking to people because I think creating really big things in life is literally just believing it can happen, starting with belief. But stages one, two, three, you had me and I can feel, like I can feel my heart pounding when I realize, okay, that's where I'm stuck. Okay, that's really, you know, I think a world of people exist in stage two. And especially if you're midlife or you're in those like what I call sandwich years where you're taking care of young children and you maybe have parents that are declining, you are just surviving at that place. And you don't even think that your dreams matter. And you look back at it, I'm sorry, kids like you and just go, yeah, it's really great to be young and have, you know, nothing else. But that's not true. I mean, every, if I sit, if I can open my heart and listen to you and say, what's his secret sauce? And go, mm-hmm, mm-hmm, mm-hmm. I am open and I am ready to change with a person like you as a coach, legit, legit. Like that really strikes me as people need a plan. I mean, it's just that simple and accountability. And just kind of being in partnership with somebody and understanding, I know I'm in control of it, but you know what? This is, okay, so this is the hard part. Knowing you're in control, knowing that your life is kind of a mirror of your attitude. If you've got a crappy circumstance, that's hard to accept that accountability and go, yeah, I created this, yeah, my story sucks because I look at it life this way. That's a big stuck mentality that I think a lot of people are in. And it's hard to take that accountability. So a big part of that phase one of stuck is getting people back into the possibility of possibilities, getting them back into seeing that there is a different future for them. And you know that there is, because it's so easy to just say like, I was born into this life and this is just my future. I will be mediocre, I will be whatever, I will be whatever storyline you've told yourself. And it's through stories, which Anna, we've talked about stories a lot. It's through hearing other people's stories that you could see yourself in their shoes and be like, wait, what if that reality is possible for me? And all of a sudden you get back into action and then it takes building good habits and habit building, I like to say like, happiness can be a habit. It's like you just gotta start doing the things. It takes 66 days on average to build a habit. When you start exercising, you start meditating, you start journaling, your entire life will change over the course of like two months. So the first day is gonna be tough. You talked a little bit about neuroplasticity. When your neuroplasticity every day is, starting your day, snoozing your alarm 10 times, to not do that is gonna be really hard. But after two months of putting on your shoes and going for a walk, it's gonna be hard to stay in bed. So it's completely changed. And also, I guess to that point, it's so important to think about who you surround yourselves with, is if you are surrounded by five people who smoke cigarettes, you're gonna smoke cigarettes, versus if you surround yourself with five people who run marathons, you're gonna run marathons still. So with our environment in terms of people plays a huge part. Yeah, and I'm glad you brought up cigarettes. We're in a season of change and a lot of people make New Year's resolutions. We were assuming that we were broadcasting this before New Year's. And I want to, I wanna talk about something that I know that's true about addiction and recovery. I lived in Minneapolis for a while. I guess it's the hub of like addiction and recovery centers. Because it's so cold that everybody kind of numbs out. But anyway, something that I learned about programs was that they really, when they're successful, they really address the physical side of addiction first. And I know I'm kind of taking a leap because we're talking neuroplasticity, but what I wanna say about you and what you've studied as a science, right? Because we're not talking about, hey, you're just wholly unmotivated. You're kind of a, you know, you're trying to kind of a chump if you can't figure all this stuff out. First of all, stop trying to beat yourself up and train yourself to the idea that habit creation, like you're talking about, is a physical muscle in your brain. It has physical effects that compound and build, you know? A good biofeedback loop of physically feeling better. It's like not unlike addiction, your happiness is a habit that has physical consequences. And breaking that habit is, there are dopamine responses and there's so much information now that just lets us off the hook. If you believe your story because it's just been your story forever, there is so much hope in just knowing that the science is caught up and you are poised to bring it. And you know, you're in league with like Mel Robbins and all my favorite coaches and your voice matters friend. Because again, I'm telling you, I find you as compelling as Mel Robbins in a totally different package and you're lighting up my world because you somehow have energy to do the things event-wise. I mean, I'm there. You tell me when and where for your half marathon in New York City and we'll be leading the charge. I can see that we're gonna be together in a lot of these New Year's things. So yeah. I can't wait, big 2025 for us, Anna. Well, what a joy. You come back anytime. I mean, I hate to say that we're out of time but I think we've hit a lot of good points. I think you're wildly inspiring. So thank you for sharing everything about your story. My pleasure. And yes, we gotta do it again. I gotta talk about the Iron Man and the 10 day silent meditation. So we're just gonna get started out here, Anna. That blew my mind. Oh my gosh, can we slip that in then? Tell me, because you said something when you told me about your silent retreat. Just tell me kind of the takeaway from what you learned and how that affected you. Because that's not, people think, oh yeah, quiet, check me in. But that's very difficult. And I know you had some takeaways, so go ahead. Yeah, I can tap on that quickly. I mean, this is the Discover Your Potential podcast and I think that I like to think about potential in mind, body, and spirit. So potential in body, like the idea of doing a marathon, the idea of doing an iron, doing something that you can't fathom and every time you do something new, it's all you start asking yourself, well, what can't I do? And all of a sudden you start really getting limitless. The same applies spiritually. And not many of us think about our spiritual growth but that is a huge part of who we are. I would argue that we're spiritual beings having a human experience. And so I wanted to, as a natural doer, I was worried that I was becoming a human doing as opposed to a human being. So I was like, what is the ultimate test I can do to slow myself down? And so I signed up for a 10 day silent meditation retreat. That's 10 days at the center amongst 30 men and 30 women. No talking, no reading, no writing, no exercise, no eye contact. Essentially you're- No television, nothing, no sound. Nothing. Essentially you're sitting in a meditation hall for 12 to 14 hours a day with your thoughts, very uncomfortable in your back and your body, losing your mind. I think our society makes it very easy to distract ourselves. And when I thought we don't wanna sit with comes up, you grab your phone to distract yourself or you call a friend. Or if you have good habits, you go for a run because it makes you feel better. And when I can't do any of those things, my mind just gets downloads and it's like, I guess we're sitting with us today. It's like, okay, let me think about every dynamic of my relationship with my mother today. Or let me think about every day I've ever gone on and what went well and what went wrong. I didn't know I wanted to think about that today, but here we are and we have 14 hours to think about it undistracted. So it's really hard, okay. Keep going. And by day five or day six, I was like, I think this is worse than jail. Not that I've been, but in the movies, I think you can talk to people. I think you get to play basketball with the friends and you get to watch some shows a little bit. And I am losing my mind out here. I am just stuck with these thoughts without any distractions. But that being said, by day eight, I got to this blissful moment where I had no thoughts. And it wasn't for extended periods of time, it would be like three to five minutes at a time of like complete bliss and silence. And it could reduce me to tears with how beautiful that feeling is in a world where we constantly have thoughts going through our heads, whether we admit it to ourselves or not. And when this podcast is over, try to pause and quiet that voice in your mind. And you'll realize it's just going all the time. Oh, I know that. Yeah, and you know that. And then day nine, I was a total conduit. I just got downloads of like who I am, what's important to me, what my book is about. Like all these things that, these answers that I'd been looking for, where to take my business. And it kind of showed me that we have all the answers we could ever want inside of us. We're just so distracted that we're and looking in the wrong places. So if you really want the answers you're looking for, you need to slow down and get quiet. And you know, it doesn't have to be 10 days, it can be 10 minutes per day of meditation. It can be a journaling practice, something that is getting you back to yourself as opposed to constantly focusing on the external factors. Because it's all here. Then that is the key to happiness, is it's an inside job. You so- Happiness is an inside job. You so tied it together. And thank you. I'm almost crying thinking about the experience of what I would receive if I just kept my mouth shut. But of course, I'm a podcaster. You're a podcaster. Give me the name of your podcast one more time. The Hit of Happiness podcast. Okay, and how can people connect with you? What's the best website, best way to get to you? Absolutely, yeah. Please reach out if this inspired you or if you have any questions on happiness, life, self-actualization. I love these conversations. My website is hitofhappiness.com. Feel free to email me brian at hitofhappiness.com. We're also on Instagram, hit of happiness or LinkedIn. My name, Brian Dubow. This is Cindy Gilman and you're listening to Discover Your Potentials. So until next time, do something nice for yourself, but do something nice for someone else.