Do you ever wonder if pursuing your passion is the key to fulfillment? In a riveting conversation with Billy Lahr, international living coach, and Mindful Midlife Crisis podcast host, let's uncover the often-overlooked benefits of using our strengths, embracing our curiosity, and building strong communities. Learn how to utilize comparison as an inspiration source rather than succumbing to the green-eyed monster of envy. Sharing anecdotes from my digital nomad adventures, such as paddleboarding in African locales and exploring South Korean culture, demonstrates how intentional connections promote growth.
During Billy's journey from a settled Dean of Students to an intrepid world traveler, we explore the importance of building a personal core group. Through navigating the murky waters of life transitions, we propose a more effective approach to weaving purpose into passion by understanding oneself and practicing patience and self-compassion.
We discuss the digital nomad lifestyle, which balances structure and spontaneity. The 'chip list' is an innovative productivity method that keeps my daily routine structured and adaptable. Billy concludes that he teaches us how to influence the social climate like a thermostat and be the change we want to see. Get in touch with Billy by following him on social media, subscribing to his podcast, or participating in his Meditate and Mingle sessions. Experience the transformational power of mindfulness and meaningful connections in today's digital whirlwind with us.
With 4Freedom, all your communications, internet activity, and app usage are encrypted using multiple layers of robust, military-grade encryption algorithms that surpass the standards used by the NSA.
You can start your secure account today:
https://www.4freedommobile.com?ref=bridgebuilders
Do you ever wonder if pursuing your passion is the key to fulfillment? In a riveting conversation with Billy Lahr, international living coach, and Mindful Midlife Crisis podcast host, let's uncover the often-overlooked benefits of using our strengths, embracing our curiosity, and building strong communities. Learn how to utilize comparison as an inspiration source rather than succumbing to the green-eyed monster of envy. Sharing anecdotes from my digital nomad adventures, such as paddleboarding in African locales and exploring South Korean culture, demonstrates how intentional connections promote growth.
During Billy's journey from a settled Dean of Students to an intrepid world traveler, we explore the importance of building a personal core group. Through navigating the murky waters of life transitions, we propose a more effective approach to weaving purpose into passion by understanding oneself and practicing patience and self-compassion.
We discuss the digital nomad lifestyle, which balances structure and spontaneity. The 'chip list' is an innovative productivity method that keeps my daily routine structured and adaptable. Billy concludes that he teaches us how to influence the social climate like a thermostat and be the change we want to see. Get in touch with Billy by following him on social media, subscribing to his podcast, or participating in his Meditate and Mingle sessions. Experience the transformational power of mindfulness and meaningful connections in today's digital whirlwind with us.
With 4Freedom, all your communications, internet activity, and app usage are encrypted using multiple layers of robust, military-grade encryption algorithms that surpass the standards used by the NSA.
You can start your secure account today:
https://www.4freedommobile.com?ref=bridgebuilders
My guest today is Billy Lair, an international living coach and creator of the mindful midlife crisis, of podcasts for people navigating the complexities and possibilities of life's second half. As a coach, he got so sick and tired of being seen and hearing followed your passion from social media influences and high school graduation commencement speakers when instead the people would benefit more from recognizing and harnessing their strengths or understanding their weaknesses. Mindfully explores their curiosities, building supportive communities, establishing discipline, consistency, patience and self-compassion these are the principles of his NoBS GPS guide to purpose and passion, which he developed after burnout and forced him to step away from his 21-year career in education in 2021. For the next two years, billy traveled worldwide in search of mindful experiences to ignite, to reignite his sense of purpose. Throughout his journey, he discovered that many others were searching for a new path in life. He has used this guiding principle as a navigation tool for people seeking purpose and passion ever since we welcome Billy to the podcast.
Speaker 1:Well, so good to have Billy Lair on today. How you doing, billy? Hey doing well. How you doing, keith? I'm good Good to good to see you, so I'm looking forward to having our conversation today.
Speaker 2:Yeah, same here, same here. I was looking forward to it, I was thinking about it. I actually wasn't sure like, oh wait, we're scheduled for today. And then it popped up. I'm like, oh my gosh, that's right. So I'm like getting into the flow of your things and so I'm like, all right, all right, let's do this.
Speaker 1:That's good. So I'm going to get at my question to kind of get to know you a little bit better. What's the best piece of advice you've ever received?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I don't know if this is the best piece of advice that I've ever received, but it's probably the best piece of advice that I've heard recently. And there's this idea that comparison is a thief of joy, and Adam Grant reframed that because comparison isn't necessarily a bad thing. I can look at what somebody else has and say, wow, where they are, I'd like to get to that someday. So I am comparing myself to that person, saying I'd like to get there. It can be inspiring.
Speaker 2:The problem is when we start to envy what other people have and that makes us feel less worthy, and I think you know to kind of go along with that. Another piece of advice that I heard when it comes to managing envy and looking at what other people have, if we're saying to ourselves, I wish I was like that person, I wish I had all the money that that person that I wish I had, well, what you really have to see is I'm going to trade every aspect of my life for every aspect of that person's life, taking the good and the bad. You can't just cherry pick it, you have to take the good and the bad that goes along with it and that has helped me be more appreciative and feel more grateful for the experiences that I have in my, in my life, and though there are people that I aspire to be like, I think that's different than envying who they are.
Speaker 1:I like that point because that because it goes back to kind of me being a pastor we talk about coveting, you know, wanting your neighbor stuff, but the danger is is that first of all it's sinful but it also helps you less likely to appreciate the things that you do have. So you end up, like you said, wishing for that other person's life, not appreciating the joys and the blessings of your own life, and so you end up kind of missing out on enjoying where you are, what the place you are in that position in your, in your journey, and what could be if you were to maybe focus on what you have versus what you don't have.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I understand too that. You know that might be a privileged position to be in at times, but at the same time, I'm looking at like where I am in my life and looking at where other people are where I want to be. It can be inspiring, it can be like, okay, what were the steps? But it can also be a good reminder of saying, oh hey, wait, you know, my circumstances are different. My, you know, whatever my experiences are different, whatever exposure I had is different, so I'm not going to be able to get there.
Speaker 2:You know, I mentioned Jordan Harbinger and I view Jordan Harbinger as, like, top tier podcast. So that's where I always wanted to be Right. But he's been doing it for over 10 years and he started in a completely different field than I did, having come from education. So when I look at my show in comparison to his show, I have to be like, okay, he took him time to build his audience. It's going to take me time to build my audience too, but he also had different factors. That just being in New York brings an audience because you're in that major city and having been in Minnesota like it's, it's a great place to be, but it doesn't have the same audience that that he has access to. So again, it just reminds me that, okay, you know, as as awesome as as what he's doing, I'm doing some pretty good things too.
Speaker 1:So being present with that and appreciating that, oh, now you're just brewing my day, because now I realize I'm in Iowa. I have even a smaller population than you.
Speaker 2:But here's the thing. Here's the thing, though, man, I took a look at. I took a look at how many reviews you have for this podcast and people love this show. You are connecting with people and people are resonating with this show. So I think, yeah, you know it could be quantity, that's great, but you've got the quality down and and that is a testament to, I think, who you are as an individual that people are like hey, I am going to take the time to do this review for for Keith, and like I think that's just amazing. So it's very clear that your congregation is quality people and you don't necessarily need the quantity.
Speaker 1:I appreciate that and it's a good reminder to, because, like you said, you have to appreciate the journey. And I think if you don't appreciate the journey, if all of a sudden I woke up one day and I had, you know, 10 million followers, but I didn't appreciate how I got there and kept working on the craft to get to that point, I think you don't really understand what makes your, your, your service or your product different than anybody else's. So you're right.
Speaker 2:And you know, what you just said right there reminded me of another piece of good advice that I received from her name is Leisha Fox, and she talked about. You have the who is it? The crowd, your crew and your core. The three C's the crowd, the crew and the core. So the crowd is just people on the outside, that's your social media followers, that's what have you. They're just there on the outside. But then your crew, it's people you can call, be like hey, you want to hang out, let's go do this, let's go do that.
Speaker 2:But then your core, those are the people that you turn to. I think Shaq talks about this. Shaq, you know, neil talks about having like the people at the table. Right, and he's got like five people at the table and those are the people that when he needs to make a big decision, he gets in contact with someone from the table. So that's like that's your core, right there, the people that you turn to. So it's like for me, it's absolutely my dad and my mom is in there. My sister, debbie, is in there.
Speaker 2:Got a handful of other people too that are just friends that I turn to for whatever it is, and sometimes you need to have a core for family, a core for friends and then a core for, like, business or something like that. Like, who are you turning to in that core that you can, that you value their advice, and that was. I thought that was really good advice too from from Lisa. Just to think about, all right, who's in your crowd? Right, crowds, I mean that's fun. Right, like I'm an extrovert, so I like a big crowd. But then my crew like who am I gonna roll with? Who am I gonna go out and have fun with? Who am I connecting with? And I've had so many wonderful experiences traveling the last two and a half years being a digital nomad that my crew has expanded and that I'm intentional around it. Man, I'm reminded now of another piece of great advice from her name is Jennifer Walton.
Speaker 2:She was a guest on my podcast. I think it's episode 94. But she talks about her fives and what she means by that is people that in her life she's going to connect with five times a year. So whether she just does that through social media or whether you know what have you, she just is going to connect with them five times a year and to me I think that's a great number, because it's enough to just say, hey, still thinking about you, hey, I'm following you on social media and you did something cool. Let me just say congratulations on that, that sort of thing.
Speaker 2:So I like that approach too, because there's an intentionality around. I want to show support and, even though I mean maybe you're not the closest group right Like I mean, jennifer was a guest on my show but it's cool that she says every now and then, hey, keep up the good work. Or I sent her a message on Instagram and just, you know, slide into her DMs and like, hey, nice work doing this. Or hey, I just met somebody. I think you'd like to connect with them too. It's just little things like that. That, I think, really goes a long way and it doesn't take much time. It's a minute out of your day and you do that five minutes. You know you do that five times a year. That's five minutes, but it strengthens that bond, it strengthens that connection that you have with other people around you.
Speaker 1:I love that. I like to call my core, my ride or die group because I like fast and furious so I love that. So I read your bio and I was so curious about the journey you've been on so you want to kind of share with the listeners your journey and I know along the way you talk about some important lessons that you learned.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so in September of 2021, I decided to leave my job in education. I'd been an English teacher for 15 years and then I transitioned into the Dean of Students role and I did that for six years and if you watch any movie, you know the Dean of Students is always the bad guy and that's who I was delivering bad news. I was the hammer, you know, and every time I called a parent now what do they do? And it's like ah, like why do we got to start off our conversation like that? So I didn't like that role. I did not like that role at all, and I had an opportunity to take a leave.
Speaker 2:So I'm not married, I don't have any kids, I don't have the same responsibilities everybody else has. So I'm like you know what I want? I want to take this time to travel. I'd saved up money and I decided to take a year to to travel. Now, this was still pandemic, so places weren't open Fully at this time, but countries like Portugal was, so I'd wanted to visit Portugal for a long time. So I spent two months in Portugal and I took a bus over to Spain. I spent two weeks in Spain.
Speaker 2:Then I was taking a look at kind of how do I get to Africa from here? Because I want to paddle board off the coast of every continent. So I did some research, I figured out how to get the Senegal from Madrid and flew there, paddle boarded off the coast of Dakar and met up with some surfers who are just Incredible. People like you want to talk about people who are just fearless Surfers. Man surfers are incredible. They are an inspiration.
Speaker 2:So then I came back to the United States and I was here for for six weeks and then I went to a longer, because then I went to my sisters in Washington, did a little trip down the the the coast, went to Oregon and then decided to go to Puerto Vallarta, mexico, and I was there for a month and Soaked up the Sun was and actually really enjoyed myself. It's like an adventure land down in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. I loved it down there, came back to Minnesota in March of 2022 and that's when South Korea announced that they were opening up the country and the South Korea was number two on my bucket list. Japan was number one. Japan wasn't opening for a while yet, but as soon as South Korea announced that they were opening, I bought my ticket the next day and then, when April rolled around, I flew out to South Korea, thinking I was only gonna be there for six weeks, but I had such an amazing experience and soul that I went back to Seoul. I kind of just did a loop around Korea, went back to Seoul for another month, so a total of three months in South Korea Still had an amazing time.
Speaker 2:Went back to the United States, sold all of my stuff, sold my condo, and In October of 2022, went back to Korea for three months. Then I went to Vietnam Thailand for six weeks, singapore for a week, vietnam for two weeks and then by then Japan was open up. So I went there for two weeks and one thing that I always wanted to do was see the cherry blossoms in Japan. So I got to do that in the springtime of 2023, went back to Korea for two months, came back to the United States in July of 2023. I just didn't really know what I was going to do yet and was still figuring some things out and Wasn't really clear on what, what path I was going to go. So then I took a little trip down to Mexico City. I was gonna go for a month, but I got sick.
Speaker 2:So I was only there for two weeks, came back to the United States and I was like I still don't know what I'm gonna do, and if I don't know what I'm gonna do, I might as well figure it out in Seoul. So I went back to Seoul for two months and now it got cold in Seoul. So I am in Chiang Mai, thailand, and until, well, february 7th, and then they go to Hanoi for two months and then after that we shall see. But I I did score a full-time job in Seoul Starting in August. So I'm just kind of biding my time between now and August Before I start working full-time in Seoul.
Speaker 2:But as far as things that I've learned during this trip, first and foremost, just the importance of community people ask what it is that. What is it that you loved about Seoul? Actually, the first 10 days I hated Seoul. It was really difficult to connect with people. It was the like I said during the pandemic people were still wearing the masks and on the subway Nobody talked. I was one of the first foreigners there, so I couldn't use my trick where I listened for English and then insert myself into the conversation and be like oh hey, where are you guys from? Hey? So that was really difficult. But then I found this meet-up group that went hiking and I mean, since then I've connected with those people to the point where I'm leading meet-up events with that group because there's so much fun. I've connected with so many people in that group. That to me is just a way of extending gratitude and being like, hey, there are probably other people who are joining this group, whether they're travelers like myself back in the day, that want to experience Seoul from my peer, from my perspective, or from a foreigner's perspective, and how they navigated it. So that was really really important to me was just Maintaining the connections that I've made.
Speaker 2:And the reason why I came back to Chiang Mai is because I told myself I want to go somewhere warm, somewhere cheap and where I know people and you know, here's right here, here's where I am I. One of the nicest things my therapist ever told me was it is incredible how you can go to all these different places around the world and all these different cultures and just fit in and meet people and connect with people. So I don't take that for granted at all, that I can go places and connect with with other people. But I think one of the things that I really learned the most is to stop investing my time and energy into people and things that Do not reciprocate that same time and energy into me.
Speaker 2:And I'll admit that I'm a recovering people pleaser, so, in order to, you know, just kind of let that go, if that's really really been a process, because I won't be able to like me but I, I you know, which I don't think is the worst trade in the world. But then at what point was I compromising my own integrity? At what point was I Sacrificing my happiness so that I could be liked by somebody, whether it was in a relationship or whether it was something beyond that right? So that was a really, really valuable lesson in all of this, and it's something that that I certainly have taken away in this experience as I listen to your story.
Speaker 1:It sounds like a tick tock for a social media person. Talk about following your passion, but in your body. But in your body and something you really really are again. So so kind of help us to, you know, maybe make those two things fair, god.
Speaker 2:That is. It's just the worst message in the world. Listen I having worked in education for 21 years the number of high school commencement speakers who tell students to follow their passions. Audience, if you're listening and you are asked to give a commencement speech, please don't tell students to follow their passion. That is complete and utter nonsense. Oh, oh, I just I don't like it. Here's here's why I don't like it. Here's why I don't like it.
Speaker 2:Passion is a byproduct. It is not something you follow, it is a byproduct. So what is it a byproduct of? Well, I've come up with this equation.
Speaker 2:So if we want to turn purpose into passion, I think it's important for us to understand our purposes. So how do we find purpose? Well, first of all, we want to take a look at what do we, what are our strengths, what are our weaknesses and what are our needs. If we understand that, then we understand what makes us tick. So that's the first step. Then we want to explore our curiosities. What is it that we want to learn more about? What is it that challenges us, what is it that we want to explore? And then we find our community and our crew, because that community and crew is what's really going to kind of stoke the fire of the curiosity. It's going to open up other doors. It's going to provide other perspectives, things that we didn't really know about, and it's going to give us an opportunity to talk about those curiosities and we're going to be able to see what those curiosities are and we're going to be able to communicate and engage in those curiosities, using our strengths as well as our needs and just being mindful of how the weaknesses get in the way of that. So when we take a look at our strengths, needs and weaknesses, when we explore our curiosities and when we find our crew, we have our purpose. Now we understand what our purpose the thing is.
Speaker 2:If you want to turn purpose into passion, you have to multiply purpose by consistency, discipline, patience and self-compassion. Now you'll hear a lot of self-help People talk about. You need consistency and you need discipline. What they don't often talk about is the patience and self-compassion. You have to be willing to be bad at what you're doing at the beginning. You have to be willing to be bad at it and if you're going to be bad, then you need to be patient and you need to be self-compassionate, because no matter how consistent and how disciplined you are. You're not going to be consistent and disciplined if you don't have that patience and if you don't have that self-compassion. So when we do that, then we get to passion. It is a byproduct.
Speaker 2:When we follow our passions, we just burn out, because too often passion is conflated with hobby things that we like, and that's not what passion is Passion. Are you willing to do something on the weekend for free and are you willing to do that weekend after weekend after weekend? That to me is a passion. That's the difference. I mean, we are podcasters. I don't know about you, I'm doing mine. I'm paying to be a podcaster, but I still. You know I actually I'm not doing the show anymore. I did it for three years. So for three years that podcast was my passion because I was putting out episodes week after week after week for three years. And when you listen to the first couple episodes, man, are they bad. Thank God, I was patient enough to get better at it and compassionate enough with myself to listen to those and say, oh, you're real bad at this, you're terrible, but you can get better. It does get better. So to me, that's how we get to passion.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I've often thought about taking the first year of my podcast and putting them into subscriber things so no one can actually listen to them.
Speaker 2:That's a brilliant idea. That's a great idea.
Speaker 1:People think, wow, there's probably some good content on there. Like no, we just want a barrier from the world.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, I listened to some of those old episodes and I'm just like, hmm, yeah, yeah, you definitely were working through it at that point in time, you were definitely trying to figure it out.
Speaker 2:So now I felt like in the last year I had hit my stride and I felt good about it, but it just got to the point where I was putting a lot of time and energy and money into it and it just wasn't. I wasn't getting the return on investment and so I said you know what? I'm going to put my energy into something else. I don't have the same zeal for this as I used to, and now I'm moving more towards really focusing on my meditative and mingle sessions and doing mindfulness sessions with people and focusing on helping teachers navigate burnout, helping digital nomads navigate isolation and the instability that comes with telework. So those are the things that I've been focused on, more so than the podcast, and I don't think I'm at the consistency and discipline stage yet in those, but I'm getting there and when I get to that, that passion is going to start snowballing and I'm really, really excited for that opportunity.
Speaker 1:That's great. I love that. I love to ask my guest this question as you think about where you are right now, what are you excited about in this season of your life?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think I just answered it right. There is. I'm excited to continue helping people navigate the complexities and possibilities of life. But rather than doing that in the form of being an English teacher, which I that's what I did for 15 years and then going into the Dean of Students role and then being a podcast host, Now I'm transitioning into being a certified mindfulness meditation teacher. And as I look towards the future, I'll tell you, just in the last couple of days, I've connected with people who have expressed an interest in learning more about mindfulness and that feeling like, oh wow, there are, there are people out there, they're strangers, but having connected with them and just having these, these conversations, even though they're just back and forth through LinkedIn, they're interested. And how do I be genuine about this and invite them to? To learn more about, about mindfulness and how it can benefit them and and in that sort of thing. So that's what I'm really excited about, and I'm also excited to live in soul for a year.
Speaker 2:I haven't had a permanent address for the last two and a half years. I'd be like I have to leave because of visa regulations I have. I can only be in some place for anywhere between 30 to 90 days and then I got to go. So I'm excited to like have an address for a year and have a bed that I can say that's my bed, right there, Hopefully and usually you get a, you get a furnished apartment when you go to Seoul and you start working there at with with this company man. I hope that bed is comfortable because I have slept. It's the bed I'm sleeping in now is not comfortable. I wake up every morning like, oh, are you 86 or 46? Because this is not feel good. So I'm looking forward to those kind of things that they're that there's an excitement around being, you know, just like a full time citizen in Seoul while also building this mindfulness community as well.
Speaker 1:As you think about all the places you've traveled, and for people who who also maybe think about traveling, what are some maybe best practices that you discovered that may help people who are like you talked about? I can help people to adjust to being a foreigner in a foreign land. What are some some keys for us to, kind of, if you're going to travel, you should keep these things in mind.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so it's. I think it's a If you're a tourist and you're just going somewhere for a week, man, just do your thing right, just just. And I'm a planner. I'm a planner and people are like, oh, don't you just go with the flow, my flow is the plan, so let me. So, let me go with the flow and plan. Like just you say, go with the flow. It's like I'll just wake up and decide what to do or what. I won't book a hotel until I land in the city. What? No, I got hotels booked months in advance because I that's what I need.
Speaker 2:So when, when you think, ago what the flow, figure out what your flow is. Because if your flow is the plan, then then let that be the plan. But allow yourself some flexibility and autonomy in there as well to seek out some, some you know what's just a random adventure, you just never know. And not to overbook things when you're. If you're being a tourist and you're traveling, do something in the morning, do something in the afternoon or something in the evening, but you don't need to do something in the morning, in the afternoon and the evening. I definitely have done stuff like that when traveling and it gets exhausting and then it becomes more about checking things off of your list.
Speaker 2:But for digital nomads, for me, getting up at the same time each and every day, it just sets the tone for the rest of the day. Because people talk about go to bed at the same time. Don't start there, that's. That's not where you need to start. Start with getting up at the same time every day, because when you get up at the same time every day, then your body at the end of the day is like About time for us to go to sleep. If we're gonna get seven, eight hours of sleep right here and then you're going, that's going to feel better Because and use, you're not gonna go to bed at the same time each and every single night. Like being in Seoul it takes an hour to get home from anywhere on the subway, so you're always getting home late in Seoul.
Speaker 2:But if I have my alarm set at the same time each and every single day, then those first 90 minutes To me I think the first 90 minutes of your day are the most important. 90 minutes to just kind of start things up and you don't have to do like an Andrew Huberman type Morning routine, but you, I would encourage people to have a morning routine. So like, like for me now mine looks like I get up, set the alarm for 6 30, but then I Allow myself 15 minutes. I don't hit snooze but like maybe I checked my social media, something like that, what have you? I know people are like you're not supposed to be on your phone first.
Speaker 2:Whatever it's, it's, it's my morning routine, so, but I don't let it go more than 15 minutes. So then I'm up, I shower, I make the same breakfast every single morning. It's oatmeal with, with what do I got cinnamon and bananas and peanut butter. That's I just eat the same thing every single morning. And then I go in and I do my morning. Meditation is usually 10 15 minutes. I've been trying to incorporate some movement in there and I used to do like this whole 25-minute morning mobility routine, but I Realized that maybe I was biting off more than I can shoot. Now I found this like five to eight minute routine that I can do in bed and it's still actually is fairly beneficial. So I do that and then I just come in, I sit down, I'm like, okay, now I'm more focused, I can do my work. So having a morning routine is really important in my opinion, and I also think too.
Speaker 2:I use this thing called a chips list.
Speaker 2:So people have to do list.
Speaker 2:I think to do list just keep you busy. But a chips list stands for complete meaning. You got it. Whatever you're gonna do for the day, that's in that complete list. Maybe it's three to five things. Those are the things that have to get done today. And then the H stands for hooray, because you should celebrate when you Accomplish those things, when you take those things off the list.
Speaker 2:And then IPS stands for in progress and start. So if you have the mental bandwidth or you have the energy or you have the time and you want to, you want to continue on, you want to move the progress bar, you can go ahead and do that. Just remember that whatever you start or put in the in progress column, it's gonna end up in the complete file Someday. So don't start something unless you're going to complete it. So I feel like that then streamlines the things that need to get done. It prioritizes the things that need to get done and that way you're also not like what could I do today or what should I be doing today? What should I be working on now you already know. You sat down in the morning, you made your list and boom I love it.
Speaker 1:It sounds like Consistency and discipline and patience that you're you're practicing on your daily, your daily business there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, I mean it. Here's a thing I've had to experiment With the morning routine to like when am I gonna do this, when I'm I gonna do that, when, like? And I've had to figure out, okay, where am I the most productive? I'm most productive when I wake up in the morning, so that's when I feel the most creative. So, if I'm gonna write something, or if I'm gonna respond to an email or from like that sort of stuff, like anything when I have to write and I have to communicate in some capacity, I Want to do that in the morning, because, as an extrovert, if I've been sleeping the whole time, I haven't been talking, and so now I want to be able to get out some ideas that have been, you know, accumulating in my head. So I'm able to do that in the morning. I feel more productive, and then in the afternoon I'll take on some of the Less enjoyable tasks that need to get done.
Speaker 1:I like that. I'm better. I'm more so better in the morning too. That's when I do all my thinking. I do all my connecting with people. One of my brain is not as Need as much energy to do that.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:I'm curious, billy, as you think about all the journeys you've been on and all the things you're doing, what do you want your legacy to be?
Speaker 2:This is such a great question. I I Think there's two things that are that are really important to me when I talk about Helping people navigate the complexities and possibilities of life. That, to me, is my purpose, and so I've had different vehicles over time, and so I want people to see that I made a concentrated effort to do that, that I made a genuine effort to do that. But then I also want to live by. You know, people won't remember what you did for them, but they'll remember how you made them feel. So I want to leave behind a legacy where the people who have interacted with me feel that and like they felt that energy that I was trying to give them, and hopefully it was a positive energy. Hopefully it filled them with some sense of goodness or made them smile in some capacity, and I know that that hasn't always been the case, but you can't make everybody happy. But I hope that at the end of my time, when we take a look at the net positive of it, that the overwhelming majority of people that I have interacted with throughout my lifetime feel like they had a positive experience with me.
Speaker 2:And I like to think it's hard now in this digital age, because I feel like I'm to be experienced in person. So maybe because I'm a high energy, I'm high anxiety, I'm high intensity, but I feel like that's the kind of energy that I like giving off that kind of energy, and I like matching with those, that kind of energy too. But at the same time it's also important to not be a thermometer but to be a thermostat. So if you're in a room full of high energy people and you're leading that room, how do you be a thermostat and kind of bring down the temperature to room temperature? But I also think too that I'm a good read of people and I can see oh okay, they're digging me or they're not digging me, so I can go either way of that. To me, that's just how I leave people feeling and hopefully it's a positive experience for them. That's what I want my legacy to be.
Speaker 1:That's awesome. I like that. I like the fact that you have to be experienced in person too. That's a unique way. So, billy, where can people find you and connect with you on social media, since you are a social media person?
Speaker 2:They can find me on Instagram at mindful underscore midlife underscore crisis, and if you like this podcast probably means that you listen to other podcasts, so feel free to check out the mindful midlife crisis wherever you get your podcast. I just launched a new website so people can go to wwwbillylarcom. It's L-A-H-R. If you want to listen to the podcast, you can go to wwwmindfulmidlifecrisiscom and I have a list of fan favorites on there. I have a list of other episodes that I have or some of the other podcasts that I've been on there as well, so people can check that out. And I'm also on LinkedIn. I'm pretty prolific on LinkedIn, so people can just find me at Billylar there, and I would encourage people.
Speaker 2:If they do want to get the full Billylar experience, but maybe they want to get a more serene version of it they can come to the Meditate and Mingle sessions that I lead every Wednesday at 8 pm central time, and you can access those by going to either of the websites and just clicking on the Join Meditate and Mingle button at the top. I'd love to see people there and I'd love to get connected with people who are listening to this episode so that I know like what did I say that resonated with you. What did you enjoy? I like knowing who's out there listening to me rant and rave about mindfulness and traveling and that kind of thing. So you can shoot me an email too, at mindfulmidlifecrisisatgmailcom all the ways that you can get in contact with me. Please do send me a message. I promise I will respond.
Speaker 1:Where can we find the bad podcast episodes? I want to.
Speaker 2:Oh man, I think start with episodes one, two and three, Just go right there, and then I think there's some time between. What is it? I think it's like episode 12 to 16 or 17, something along there. They're just not great. If you want to start at the best episodes, start at episode four, where we talked to mindfulness coach Sarah Rudell Beach she's amazing. And then episode 10, where we talked to Tom Cody, who is a riot. In fact, he might be someone you would enjoy talking to someday.
Speaker 1:That can connect you to Tom.
Speaker 2:Cody. But then the masterpiece is our conversation with Dr Yvette Erasmus around Compassionate communication for deeper, more meaningful relationships. Oh my goodness, she is amazing. We loved having that conversation. I always tell people start with those three episodes and if you can make it through those three, then you can just pick and choose through the other ones there. I actually have a fan favorites list on the Mindful in my Life Crisis podcast, so that way you don't have to listen to those bad episodes. Please don't.
Speaker 1:You might want to consider subscribing only to those in the episode.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, that was a good idea. I'll tell you what. If you want to get the full catalog, you got to have to subscribe to the Patreon page and then they subscribe to it. You're like what a subscriber this garbage for. There you go.
Speaker 1:Well, Billy, thank you so much for being guest on the show. This has been a enjoyable conversation. The blessings are on your work and looking forward to getting that first job there in Seoul and enjoy being a blessing to those around you.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much. I had such a great time talking to you, keith, thank you.