January 8, 2026 • 50 mins
Join Dr. Lewis in a conversation with Chazz Scott, Founder of Supra Mentem, LLC. Chazz Scott is an author and keynote speaker who helps high-achieving professionals escape burnout and build success that feels as good as it looks. His work focuses on clarity, resilience, and sustainable performance for those who are outwardly successful and want to sustain their ambition without burning out. Email: chazzscott15@gmail.com.
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Success 4 Women is broadcast live Thursdays at 2PM ET on W4WN Radio - Women 4 Women Network (www.w4wn.com) part of Talk 4 Radio (www.talk4radio.com) on the Talk 4 Media Network (www.talk4media.com). Success 4 Women TV Show is viewed on Talk 4 TV (www.talk4tv.com).
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Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/success-4-women--3126970/support.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
The topics and opinions expressed on the following show are
solely those of the hosts and their guests, and not
those of W four WN Radio It's employees or affiliates.
We make no recommendations or endorsements for radio show programs, services,
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be directed to those show hosts. Thank you for choosing
(00:22):
W four WN Radios Success Successful.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Women Parts.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
Rise Successful Women.
Speaker 4 (00:57):
Did you know women represent just three percent of Fortune
five hundred CEOs and less than fifteen percent of corporate
executives at top companies worldwide? Have you wondered what the
secrets are to getting into the top ranks, whether in
the private or public sector. Do you want to figure
out how to stop being held back in your career?
(01:20):
Are pasted over for promotion? Then you're in the right place. Hi.
I'm doctor Mattlanann lewis, President and CEO of the Executive
Women's Success Institute. I have decades of experience in the military,
the federal government, and corporate America, and my mission is
to help women succeed and tap into their full potential.
(01:42):
I want to reach a million plus women around the
world to become the leaders they are meant to be.
So if you want to move into a management or
executive level position, or maybe you are a female veteran
transitioning out of the military into business entrepreneurship, and then
reach out to the Executive Women's Success Institute at three
(02:03):
zero one six nine three three two eight four let
us get you on the fast track to success. Well,
(02:23):
Hello and happy New Year to all of you who
are viewing us today. This is the Success for Women's Show,
where you can view us on Top four TV and
listen to us on the Women for Women Network. I
am doctor Madeleine and Lewis your host, and my mission
is to help women accelerate the path to success. Well,
(02:47):
today's topic is success Starts Within and my guest is
Chaz Scott. Now, let me give you just a little
bit of background about chess. Chas Scott is the founder
of Supramenttum LLC. He is an author and keynote speaker
(03:09):
who helps high achieving professionals escape burnout and build success
that feels as good as it looks. His work focuses
on clarity, resistance, resilience, I should say, and sustainable performance
for those who are outwardly successful and want to sustain
(03:31):
their ambition without burning out. Chaz challenges hustle culture and
redefines what it means to lead and succeed sustainably. He
is the author of Success Starts Within, and he has
worked with organizations such as the University of Illinois Hospital,
(03:53):
the Maryland Association of Election Officials, and the US Black
Chamber of Commerce. So I would like to bring as
our guest today, mister Chas Scott.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
Oh, thank you so much for that warm introduction. I
appreciate being invited and I'm excited for today's discussion. Thank you, doctor.
Speaker 4 (04:16):
Well, you know what, thank you for being here. And
I normally start off by reading everybody's standard bio, but
then I like to ask one question, and that is
I just want you to tell us what you want
us to know about Chas Scott.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
That's a great place to start. Well, you said my
bio a little bit there, But you know, I went
to Hampton University and I studied computer science cybersecurity for
my masters and it was right right around that time
where I had just graduated, sort of trying to find
(04:56):
my way and find my first job and climb the
ranks within the organization as well as build a nonprofit
at the same time. And there was a moment where
I started to basically burn out and there was a
process of self discovery that I really had to go
(05:16):
on to really understand what this term success was, what
this term happiness was, what this term fulfillment was. And
it really sent me on a journey to read every
book I could on personal development, psychology, neuroscience, spirituality, anything
that can enhance the quality of your life. I went
(05:39):
on a journey to read it because interesting enough, when
I graduated, I had the job I wanted, I had
the condo I wanted looking over the Potomac, I had
the BMW that I wanted, nice red leather interior. But
I was waking up with anxiety. I was waking up
depress and I was waking up stressed before the day
(06:02):
even started. And it caused me to reflect on what
it really means to live a happy and healthy life
and what I determined over these many many years. This
was back in twenty seventeen, and mind you, I had
an hour and a half long commute, falling, falling asleep
at the wheel, and I just felt like the job
(06:23):
wasn't fulfilling, it was just paying the bills. And what
I determined throughout this journey was success is not something
that you chase. It ensues as a byproduct of well being. Now,
what do I mean by that hustle culture. Our society
has taught us that we're supposed to hustle and race
(06:46):
and achieve. And you know this in our society, especially
here in America, we're consistently seeing higher rates of burnout,
particularly within the communities of people of color, first generational professionals.
Anybody who's ever been taught that you have to work
ten times harder than everybody else in the room's burning out.
(07:10):
And this process of discovery, I realized that there are
simple practices that you need to do daily to fill
up your cup, to fill up your well being so
that you can have the focus that you want, so
you can have the patients that you employees, so that
you can show up as your authentic self and have
well being.
Speaker 4 (07:30):
Wow, you know, it's interesting you say that because when
I was working before I retired, well, when I did retire,
I believe it or not. I because I was always
at my desk six am every morning, six o'clock. You
could set your watch by it. So when I retired,
(07:53):
but I slept all just about maybe I would get
up like two o'clock in a day because and like
you say, and I think it was because I was
so burnt out. And finally I did that probably for
a whole month. And then for me, I just thought
to myself, Okay, you got to get a grip now,
and you can't just keep doing this. So I just
(08:17):
snapped out of that. But I realized that I needed
that rest because I was just you know, everything was
just I just didn't want to think about anything. And
I had that opportunity for that length of time just
to do that, just to not focus, not think about anything.
I didn't really want to talk to anybody. I didn't
want to associate with anybody. I just you know, But
(08:39):
that I think, and that's what I think. It came
from being burnt out from all every day, you know,
the having to be there and do what I needed
to do, and like you say, the perform the high
achieving stuff. And I know we're going to get into that,
but when you have to do that for every day
for so many years. It actually, I really believes it
(09:01):
takes a toll. Look, it really does.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
Yeah, and I'm glad that you bring that up, because
oftentimes we don't even realize that we're burnt out. You know,
it's kind of like this this this you can you
could either feel it psychologically a lack of fulfillment or
just a lack of energy. And many times we're just
caught in the rat race and the hustle culture and
we're not even realizing feeling the best, and we get
(09:29):
stuck and and and oftentimes that becomes our life until
something changes. And that's what happened to me.
Speaker 4 (09:37):
Absolutely. I mean that is so so true, and it's
just unfortunate to think about. There's still a lot of
people out there that's still going through that cycle. They
just haven't you know, readjusted yet. They haven't realized, Okay,
why am I getting up every morning? Like you say,
you know, with the anxiety and the depression. They don't
(09:59):
realize probably what is what's even causing it, what it is,
because think about everything that you just you mentioned that
you had you know, every you know, person looking at
you would say, well, he has no reason to be depressed,
he shouldn't have anxiety. He's got you know, you know
what they say, he's got it all pretty much. But
(10:23):
you know, for you, yes, the material things, but it's more.
It's it's always more than that. And that's why I
always say when you talk about success, success truly means
different things to different people. It really does. It's all
in how you define it and what it means to you.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
So yeah, one hundred percent spot on. And I think
you mentioned it in my bio, which is, you know,
I'm on a mission to help people build a life
that feels as good as it looks, not just looks good,
but feels good. You should feel excited waking up going
into work. You should be You should feel like you
have the resources to overcome adversities in your life. And
(11:03):
even though you know you may be stressed, you should
feel like you have tools to fall back on so
that you can maintain your equilibrium and make good decisions.
And you know, this stuff is not taught. You have
to either go seek it or you go burn out
and then go find it.
Speaker 4 (11:19):
Find it absolutely, so tell me this. I know in
your book you emphasize in your book that's entire titled
Success Starts Within, you emphasize internal alignment over external validation.
So what are some subtle ways that high achieving individuals
(11:41):
maybe you think outsourcing their worth without even realizing it.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
That's a good question, and I can sort of follow
up with my own journey. You know, it's very interesting
and it very It happens very subtly here in our society,
but when when, especially with social media, we're constantly comparing
ourselves to people. But it's interesting we always think that
an external material thing is going to make us feel good. Okay, Now,
(12:12):
I don't think there's anything wrong with saying I want
that certain house, I want that certain car, I want
that certain job. There's certainly something to be said about
setting a goal and going after and achieving it. But
what's really important is making sure that you're filling up
your cup continuously. I talked about a little bit, what's
(12:34):
the point of working so hard climbing up this mountain,
trying to achieve something. You get to the peak of
the mountain, not only have you been climbing the wrong mountain,
which you haven't been enjoying the journey. And I think
for many of us in our careers, whether you're a
business owner or you're a professional, we're constantly climbing mountains
(12:58):
and in our alignment is really important. What is your purpose,
what is your why? I'm sure many of the listeners
are really you know, high achievers. There's been many times
where you've probably achieved a goal and then after you
achieve the goal, you're like, that's it, and you're like, man,
I guess what else is next? So that's the purpose
of having sort of a north star or why. So
(13:21):
you know, after you publish a book, after you get
that promotion, after you do a ted X talk, what's
going to happen after that? Like what is your overall
mission and goal? And for me is to help high
achievers reclaim their energy purpose alignment to rise out of burnout. Now,
there are tools associated to allowing me to do that,
but those tools are not the end goal. The end
(13:43):
goal is a higher purpose, a higher why. So inter
alignment of why you're here on this earth is really
important and sitting down and really discovering yourself. And then
on top of that, I touched about a little bit
on my story, is that time in twenty seventeen when
I was waking up with anxiety and feeling stressed before
(14:04):
the day started, I realized that is the worst way
to start your day because it carries you throughout the
latter day. So I had to stop and sit with
myself and say, yes, if you're not enjoying your life,
you don't feel like you have the energy of the fulfillment.
Something needs to change. And when I was reading all
of these books and trying to find all these practices
(14:25):
to enhance my quality of life, I realized there was
a single thread through all these successful entrepreneurs, these athletes,
which was some type of morning routine. And when I
talk about inter alignment as opposed to external validation, no
matter what happened yesterday, no matter what I'm fearing in
the future, if I have something that grounds me daily,
(14:47):
it begins to sort of foster inter alignment and grounding
for yourself because our minds are constantly worrying about the future,
regretting the past. If you don't have something that sort
of grounds you daily, in my case, it's a twenty
minute meditation. I don't leave the house until I do
(15:08):
a twenty minute meditation in the morning, or something to
move your body to decrease the quarters all that stress hormone,
or maybe do it listening to a podcast that sort
of gives you sort of the energy or the motivation
that you need heading to your day. These are simple
practices to create inner alignment so you can feel good
(15:28):
but also look good.
Speaker 4 (15:30):
Absolutely absolutely, I know that's right, and that pretty much
I do the same thing. It's one of those things
where I get up in the morning I have now
I do get up, get up early again, but I
do that now because I want to do it. It's
not like, you know, an obligation because I have to
be but I do it because I start my morning
(15:52):
at least around five point fifteen, not lated on five
point thirty, and I get my worship in. I listen
in to my gospels, whatever you know on TV, or
just listen to the music. But then I go to
eight o'clock workout class and then from there I can
(16:14):
start when I leave there and get home after that,
then I can start my daily routine as far as
the business goes and what I need to do, because
at that point I've got my head together and like
you say, by body, get that together. And so you know,
I think you have to do those things for yourself.
And you know, I get people sometimes ask me, well,
(16:34):
how do you you know, stay in the way you
do by yourself. I said, because sometimes you need that time,
that quiet time too, so you could even get your
thoughts together to get you know, for the clarity and
like you say, the alignment, just so that you can
understand what's going on with you sometimes and then you
could deal with what's on the outside. And that's just
(16:58):
needed to me, That's just something you need to do
one hundred percent.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
If I could just add something, because I love that
you talked about sort of your routine. You know. In
twenty seventeen, when I had the job, I was trying
to build a nonprofit. We were doing mental wellness workshops
for youth and DC and Baltimore, and I was trying
to climb the rinks in the government space and cyber defense.
It was so interesting when I started focusing on myself right,
(17:24):
creating a small morning routine, going to the gym, creating
that inter alignment, that same job got better. Nothing changed externally,
but something changed internally. I had more energy, it was
easier to write emails. I felt focused. I felt like
I was energized heading into meetings as opposed to feeling depleted.
(17:46):
I brought the energy with me because I created that
inter alignment. And I think for many of us we
wait or we think that something externally is going to
influence us, as opposed toocusing internally. So you knows inner
success inter alignment, those simple habits and well being practices
(18:08):
really can elevate your entire quality of life. And I'm
not I'm not certainly not here to say that your
entire life was going to be perfect. You and I
both know that. But but but the simple point here
is when you have these practices, adversities don't become these big,
huge mountains. They get easier. You feel like you have
(18:30):
the energy and the focus, the concentration, the inner resources
you know to overcome sometimes even these these hard challenges.
I'll tell you a story during a time where I
was very, very stressed. I was having some personal challenges,
health challenges and moving a lot and a divorce. During
that time, there was a period where I would go
(18:53):
into work and I would try and write an email,
and simple email was taking me thirty minutes plus and
I remember sitting there like something's off. I don't feel right,
I don't look good. I woke up on the wrong
side of the bed. It was in that moment that
I realized again that I needed to tap into sort
(19:16):
of those simple practices to fill up my cup. When
you're stressed. It's very hard for you to have focus
when you're stressed. It's very hard for you to do
simple tasks that can get the job done. And the
biggest thing that I sort of illuminate you to the
people I coach as well as the work I do,
(19:36):
is you've got to find tools to help you to
mitigate stress. You're not totally going to get away from it,
but if you have tools to fall back on, which
I use constantly, like breath work and things of that nature,
it'll help you tremendously.
Speaker 4 (19:53):
Absolutely absolutely, So here's the question for you. I'm gonna
uh as a pretty much as it relates to women,
because many women are conditioned to equate productivity with value.
How can they begin to untangle their self worth from
(20:16):
how much they do for others because you know, we
tend to always, you know, taking on more than we should,
because most of us tend to not know that the
word no ends with a period. You know, so how
how how can they, you know, begin to untangle their
self worth from how much they do for others.
Speaker 2 (20:39):
It's a good question. I'm going to speak from a
male's perspective. I certainly can't.
Speaker 5 (20:44):
Speak for women, but I don't set me up now,
so good on, dad. No, But you know what, I
think this is something that a lot of us face,
including myself, you know, productivity, achievement, being goal oriented. I mean,
(21:04):
in this society, we're taught almost that if you're not
achieving or staying productive or providing value, you have a
lack of self worth, or you have you're not worthy
for love. And that's really what we're trying to chase,
is the value or feeling worthy for love. You know,
I think I talked about in backstage my TEDx talk
(21:27):
was why rest feels unsafe and what to do about it.
Speaker 2 (21:30):
Many of us feel guilty for resting. Many of us
feel guilty for taking our foot off the accelerator. Anybody
who's ever been taught that you have to work ten
times hard and everybody else in the room, it's very
hard for us to take a step back and to
really realize that our worth is not tied to our
productivity and our worth is not tied to achieves. And
(21:53):
one of the things that I do actually in my
coaching practice, I have a three step process called the
Eyes and Reclaimed Blueprint. One of the first questions that
we sort of discuss is why do you work so hard?
Where does it come from? Right? And everybody has their
different sort of stories, whether it be expectations from your family,
(22:14):
whether it be you know, feeling like you know you
have to work twice as hard than everybody else in
the room just to get half as much. Right, we've
heard those sayings before. There are mental scripts running through
our head that create these beliefs that really can affect
our long term success as well as contribute to burnout.
(22:37):
And I think as we start, if you really want
to dive deep and start to separate yourself from you know,
being tied to your worth and productivity, you really have
to understand those mental scripts of why do you feel
like you need to achieve? Where is it coming from?
Is a societal pressure? Did your dad tell you or
(22:58):
your mom tell you that? Or do they only give
you love because you continue to achieve or you continue
to perform well in sporting events When you were younger.
It comes from a mental script, and oftentimes we don't
even realize it until we are forced to look at it,
or you're listening to a podcast like this to really
(23:19):
create more awareness about where these beliefs and these mental
scripts come from. So I think it starts there.
Speaker 4 (23:25):
Okay, now you talk. You also talk about one of
the things you mentioned is listening to your body as
a form of wisdom. What signals do people most often ignore,
do you think, and what are the consequences of ignoring
them long term? And I would think probably some of
(23:46):
it is what you mentioned in the beginning. You develop
the anxiety, the depression, different things like that.
Speaker 2 (23:53):
Yeah, and you know, I think it happens more often
than we realize, you know, So I would think probably
during that time period in twenty seventeen, for me, I
think if something didn't happen, I would have continued to
sort of stay a on that path and life would
(24:15):
have become very sort of this underlying feeling of continuous fear,
this underlying conal feeling of anxiety and and not feeling
like I was achieving my potential. And it's interesting because
you know, as you start to sort of discover yourself,
(24:36):
discover what you enjoy, Discover how you take care of yourself.
You start to realize what works for you and what
does it work for you. You start to understand what boundaries mean.
You start to understand what stress really means to you.
Many people don't even realize that they're stressed because I
have something called you've heard of sleep at me. Know
when you're not breathing while you're sleeping. They have something
(24:58):
called screen app where people are looking at their computer
screens or scrolling on their phones and they're not breathing. Right.
These are small things that are affecting how you operate
and being able to manage stress. And then of course
we have the distractions and the demands. So I think
(25:19):
the point is, what are some tools that you can
can use once you create that awareness so that you
can minimize stress in your life, become aware of it.
I'll tell you a story, so you know, I live
in Arlington, Virginia. Every once in a while get called
to Fox five to sort of do some wellness or
(25:40):
productivity as a guest. But I remember it was empathestica.
I remember coming up the elevator and I've done this
three or four or five times, but particularly this particular
time was very, very nervous. For some reason, I was stressed.
I was coming up the elevator and my breath began
to hyperventilate very quickly, and I realized, wait, chats, you're
(26:01):
getting stressed. Okay, what are you going to do so
that you can perform at your best and feel like
you're supposed to be here. I did a quick breathwork exercise. Right,
many people do the three four seven breathwork exercise. For me,
I just do a quick breathwork. What happens there when
(26:22):
I do that breathwork exercise, it not only slows down
what's called the sympathetic nervous system, your fight a flight
nervous system, it spins up your paara sympathetic, your rest
and digest nervous system so that you can gain conscious
awareness of your thoughts so that you can perform at
your best. So I did a quick breathwork exercise up
on that elevator, got out, I said, I'm ready to go,
(26:43):
and I was able to perform at my best. But
I think for many of us, and it took me
a while to get to this point, six years. For
many of us, we do not have tools to fall
back on so that we can perform at our best
despite the stress or the anxiety that we may be
feeling in our body. And what I found in my
own life is meditation, breath work, even prayer. These are
(27:04):
great tools to change your states of consciousness, to change
your brain so that you can feel good and perform
better and performance, sustainable performance is really dictated by ensuring
that you have tools to fall back on.
Speaker 4 (27:23):
Absolutely wow wow. So what does success Because we talked
about the fact that success looks different for you know,
everybody looks at success different. What does success look like
when it's rooted in peace instead of pressure? And how
(27:44):
can someone tell if they're moving in that direction?
Speaker 2 (27:49):
It's a very good question. I think it's a question
I'm continuing to ask myself. But there are some simple
things that I've discovered with some of my clients and
then as well as myself. Is you know interesting enough?
I think in life we get signs, we get feelings,
(28:09):
and I think this probably applies to a lot of people.
When you wake up in the morning, how do you feel?
Can you ask yourself that question? How do you feel
when you wake up in the morning. Are you headed
towards your purpose? Are you headed towards alignment? Are you
headed towards a higher vision of yourself? In twenty seventeen,
I was waking up feeling fearful and feeling depressed. You know,
(28:31):
now I have simple practices that really bring me back
into alignment. And I think our body is always talking
to us, but we're not listening. And I think that's
really important when you want to achieve things in your
life and make sure that you're climbing the right mountain.
I think one of the biggest things that has been
(28:55):
a shift for me is sort of understanding that there
are tons of transitions in our lives that are happening
to and from work, in the in the car, waiting
for an waiting for a meeting to start, heading to
the grocery store. There are transitions that are happening throughout
our lives, and many times we carry stress from one
(29:17):
area of our life to the other, and I think
being mindful of the stress that we carry into other
areas of our life. For instance, if you're stressed out
at work and you bring that stress home to your
significant other, guess what You're stressed in two different places,
one of the practices that I've been doing with some
of my clients is before you leave work, you may
(29:40):
have been stressed out. What can you do to center
yourself prior to heading in to home so you're not
unconsciously bringing that stress to your significant other, into the
into the household. And I think that's also important is
having simple practices that you can say, hey, wait a minute,
I don't want to carry the stress into any other
(30:01):
area of my life or to any other person. You know,
Doctor Michael Beckwith talks about how it's important to to
to shower. That's a social contract. Track to shower after
you work out, right, you know, what also should be
a social contract is to do some type of mental
cleanse or mental shower. In this case, it could be
(30:23):
prayer or meditation. What are you doing daily to make
sure that you're filling up your cups? You're not unconsciously
giving your negative energy or negative thoughts towards somebody else.
And I think I also think that's important too, to
do a mental shower.
Speaker 4 (30:39):
Okay, okay, Now you also challenge in your book, you
talk about the UH. You challenge the hustle culture in
a way that honors excellence So what's a misconception people
have about slowing down that you'd like to clear up.
Speaker 2 (31:02):
Yeah, this is a huge topic. I think. Actually in
the book I talked about sort of this change in
perspective of actually slowing down to speed up, and we're
talking about it a little bit. But to make sure
that it's clear and you know what, I'm going to
talk about sort of a scientific study that they've done.
(31:24):
Many people say that I don't have enough time to
work out. I don't have enough time to take care
of myself. I have demands, I have distractions, I have
all these things that I need to do. They did
this study on how aerobic exercise can actually affect the brain.
So German scientists back in two thousand and seven study
two groups of people. One set group of people. Both
(31:45):
of them were learning new vocabulary words. But one set
learned those new vocabulary words before working out. The other
set learned those new vocabulary words after working out, and
they wanted to see how exercise can affect the way
that we learn. So interesting enough, the folks that learn
(32:06):
those new vocabulary words after working out learn those new
vocabulary words twenty percent faster. Right, So why am I
saying this. I'm saying this because interesting enough, when you
begin to pour into yourself and take care of yourself first,
not only do you achieve your goals faster, right, but
you enjoy the process. You feel good, your focus increases,
(32:29):
you're smarter because your brain is working at optimal levels,
and you're more effective and efficient at carrying out whatever
tasks that you want. So one of the simple tasks
and habits that I sort of get people is if
there's something that requires your sort of your full brain capacity,
work out first, and then put that activity that you
(32:52):
have to do right after that workout, because your brain
is working at optimal levels. This is a cheat code,
but this is a cheat code that people don't talk about.
People are talking about it, but people aren't making use
of it in the way that I'm articulating it. You
want to set up your day to create ways where
you are performing at your best, and the way that
(33:14):
you do that is, in this case aerobic exercise. Are
doing something that you can move your body so that
you can feel good, and it strengthens your neural pathways
so that concentration and focus in your prefrontal cortex becomes easier.
So that's just you know, like a simple example that
I always like to offer to folks. Wow.
Speaker 4 (33:36):
So this question here, though, I got to ask, what
if you for the listening audience, if someone listening realizes
that they've built a life that looks successful but feels misaligned,
(33:57):
what's the first gentle step you'd encourage them to do?
And I know what you mentioned maybe the workout and
different things like that, but what else would you suggest
that they do, especially in this when you talk about
the hustle culture and to kind of get them to
slow down, really slow down.
Speaker 2 (34:17):
You bring up the valid point right there, which is
something's got to change. You got to do something because
you're we love habits. I think it's estimated that fifty
sixty percent of our entire behaviors are just repetitive habits,
very unconscious. So I think the biggest thing is is
change up something, Change up your routine, do something different.
(34:41):
And you know I discussed a morning routine. Obviously those
are really important things, but very very simply, this is
something I've been actually working out myself, is when you're
at work or you're at the computer at the desk,
slow down, really feel how you're feeling. Before you send
(35:02):
that email, slow down, really feel how you're feeling before
you show up to that meeting. Take sort of time
to really understand how you're feeling in those moments. So
much of us, so many of us, are continuing to hustle,
continuing to grind that we're not really thinking about how
we're feeling throughout the day. And I think it's really
(35:25):
important that we take a step back and to have
some breaks. You know, one of the things that I
have to do, and I would recommend for anybody, is
I take a break. Yes, I get away from my
desk and leave my desk at twelve noon. I do
not work and eat lunch at the same time. And
it's amazing how taking a simple break and then coming
(35:47):
back to work makes you feel, you feel more efficient,
you feel like you have more energy. In that case,
actually in the day there I'm actually reading as well,
So I'm getting away from all the work and all
the things that I know that I have to do
and reading a book that has nothing to do with
the work that I have to do. Because that your
(36:07):
brain begins to sort of slow down and starts to
go into sort of the right brain hemisphere of more creativity,
more imagination, more spark for intuition. And you take that
break and then you come back to work, and you
will not believe just how much more efficient that you
are as opposed to continuing to hustle through you know,
(36:30):
your lunch, or continuing to hustle through the day without
a break. And even as simple as taking a walk.
You know, you know, these things are not are not
hard things to do, it's just we don't do them.
Taking a walk in nature, looking at things far away,
helps to alleviate pressure, helps to alleviate states of anxiety
and depression. You know, these are things that civilizations have
(36:54):
been doing for thousands of years to decrease stress, to
create foundations of equal librium, and to have a sense
of peace. But we're stuck from commuting to work, we're
stuck sitting down or stuck sort of in the sedondary lifestyle,
and we're not getting outside enough. So these are also
simple things that you can do, is just get outside
(37:16):
of your desk and take a walk. So you need
to feel good and then come back into work and
show up as your most authentic self.
Speaker 4 (37:24):
Yeah that's all true, But then you have those that
feel that rest can feel unsafe for some people, especially leaders,
because if it may bring up uncomfortable emotions, so to speak.
So what do you think tend to surface when people
(37:44):
finally slow down, and how can they move through it
with compassion? Because sometimes, like you said, with the hustle
and all of that, and the eating at your desk
for lunch instead of going out for lunch, that's not
slowing down, that's just keeping the hustle going. Really, so,
how can they move through all of this with some
(38:07):
compassion meaning I guess compassion for themselves to not feel like, well,
if I don't like you say, I got to be better,
I got to do it better. I got you know,
and not feel bad about taking a thirty minute lunch
or an hour lunch, not feel bad about that.
Speaker 2 (38:27):
Yeah, you know, we can sit up here and sell
all this all we want. It's really until that individual
feels the benefits. What I've seen in my own clients
is try it, let me know how you feel after
you try it, And usually they come back they say,
oh my goodness, Chaz, wow, I didn't think I was
(38:49):
able to accomplish this at one or two PM, but
I kind of took a break during lunch, and now
I was right back to it, and I felt more energized.
I felt like I was more focused. Right try it.
So typically what happens is we get to a point
where we start to wake up where something needs to change,
and we need a tool to actually make that change.
(39:10):
You could read every book, listen to every podcast here,
every tool, but if you don't actually utilize it and
get the benefits internally, nothing changes. And then also you're
not going to have the motivation to try it again.
So I always offer is just try it and see
how you feel embody, the feeling of what it feels
(39:30):
like to rest, because you're absolutely right, rest can feel
very very unsafe for people who have been caught in
the hustle and rat race. And you know, in my
ten X talk, I actually talked about, you know, we
went to go visit my great great great grandfather, his
name was Austin Scott, where he was enslaved in a
(39:52):
plantation down in Sparta, Georgia, who was born in eighteen
twenty eight. We got to go visit him, and my
text talk I talked about how, particularly in the black community,
you know, we didn't have the option to rest and
how that carries forward to many of us now where
we feel like we have to constantly stay above water
(40:12):
and continue to work work, work, work, work, work, and
interesting enough, if we don't disrupt that process and become
aware of it, it will continue to stay with us
for our entire lives. So that's why I always say,
you know, having grace, having compassion for yourself starts with
receiving the benefits, right That's that's like that gives you
(40:33):
the motivation to do it again. But then you start
to realize, wait a minute, I feel better, Wait a minute,
I have more focus. I want to do that again.
I want to make sure I get my eight hours
of sleep. I would I lie to you not. You know,
this past summer was very busy summer for me. I
was probably getting five hours of sleep. I just got
a whoop wristband and attract your sleep and you know,
(40:56):
interesting enough, over the past I would say month and
a half, I've been getting seven to eight hours of sleep,
which is unheard of from me. But I feel good,
I feel arrested, and I'm getting the benefits of taking
care of myself. Many of us have not created their
neurological wiring of taking care of myself, achieving taking care
(41:17):
of myself, feeling good, taking care of myself, showing up
as my authentic self. Creating that connection consistently really can
change your habits and start to rewire. Sort of this
feeling as if I can't rest, well, really you have
no option. You have to rest because if you want
to sustain your output and to do the things that
(41:39):
you're called to do on this earth, you need to
take care of your body.
Speaker 4 (41:43):
Absolutely. So tell me if you had one piece of
advice that you could leave with our viewers and our listeners,
what would that piece of advice be.
Speaker 2 (41:59):
My entire message to give people hope, to let people
know that there is another way of life to live.
And I think the highest message that I always like
to express is there are tools out there to enhance
the quality of your life. If you're not feeling well,
if you're not fulfilled enough, if you're not enjoying this
(42:19):
process of life, there are ways to enhance it. You
have to go seek those resources. Listening to podcasts such
as this, listen to the radio station, listening to books,
maybe going to coaching or therapy. But there are ways
to enhance your quality of life even if it looks good.
The inner life is what really matters. And when that
inner resilience, that inner joy starts to express itself externally,
(42:45):
that's when your life really starts, because you're starting to
create a foundation for yourself and not try to live
up for a foundation or try to live up for
external validation for somebody else, and creating that self trust
to let yourself know that taking care of yourself is
one of the most important things that you can do.
Speaker 4 (43:07):
Absolutely so, tell us if they wanted to get your book,
which is Success Starts Within, or reach out to you
for some more information on how they could possibly avoid
burnout and get out of some of that hustle culture.
How can they reach you, How can they find your book?
Speaker 2 (43:29):
Yeah? Absolutely so. My book's on Amazon. It's titled Success
Starts Within. It's been published in twenty twenty three, and
there are simple practices to really enhance the quality of
your life right now so that you can sustain your
success as well as your fulfillment. And then on top
of that, I also offer one on one coaching on
my website at Chasscott dot com, So that's Chazz scott
(43:54):
Ascott dot com and I actually offer a self paced
course you can do by yourself, videos and recordings of
what's called the Rise and Reclaim Blueprint, which helps you
to rise out of burnout, reclaim your energy, reclaim your
self trust, and reclaim your joy in this life experience
so you can do the things that you're called to
(44:15):
do on this earth without burnout. So that Rise and
Reclaim Blueprint self paced course is also on my website
and for the listeners, I have a discount code. You
can put the promo code podcast in there and you
can get twenty percent off of that self paced course
for anybody that's interested.
Speaker 4 (44:33):
Thank you so much. It has been a pleasure having
you on the show to share your nuggets, to talk
about your book. Success starts within. I think we got
some great nuggets on how to avoid some of the hustle,
and you know, it's just looking out for yourself, being
(44:54):
aware of what's going on and not ignoring it, not
ignoring some of those signs. We want to thank you
for coming on today and taking time out of your
busy schedule to share with us. Thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (45:09):
Thanks for having me.
Speaker 4 (45:10):
Alrighty, wow, that has been That was a great conversation
with our guest chat Scott just want to give you
a little information on some things that's going on. I
want you to make sure to check out my article
Rooted to Rise, Stepping boldly into your season of Thriving,
(45:32):
which is officially featured in Wildlife Lead Magazine, Lay Magazine
Feminine issue number thirteen. So if you would like the
link to read the article and also to read the
full magazine that issue issue thirteen, you can email me
at info at EXWSI dot com. While Life Lay Magazine
(45:59):
Feminine is a global faith centered women's magazine which is
created to inspire, empower, and elevate women who are intentional
about living out their God given purpose. So a great article.
I was very excited to be asked to contribute to
(46:19):
an article for this month's for their month's magazine. I'm
also excited, still excited, and I keep continuing to let
you all know that we were on the top one
hundred best Career, Mindset and Working Women podcasts, and that
we are still probably sitting at number sixteen on the list,
(46:42):
so that is not bad. Out of one hundred we
are number sixteen, so maybe we keep going we'll reach
that number one slot. So thank you all for continuing
to support the show. Also, make sure to get to
check out my book show Up to Rise Up, Explore
the Transformative Power of a Positive Mindset, which achieves bestseller
(47:07):
status on Amazon in the Women and Business category. It's
also available on Amazon or you can get it on
my website. The website is www dot EXWSI dot com.
So if you go on the website, just click on
the dashboard and hit success store and it'll bring you
(47:30):
to the book and you'll be able to purchase there.
Don't forget to make sure to view my TEDx talk
that I did in Vancouver, Canada. Make sure to do
so the topic will show up to Rise Up. Of
course you can watch it on YouTube. Just put in
my name in the search box doctor Madlin and Lewis
and it'll bring it right up. I'm excited because right
(47:54):
now it is at two hundred and twenty six thousand,
eight hundred and eight views, and of course you know
the goal is to get to a million plus views.
So thank you for those of you who continue to
share it to continue to watch it. So make sure
you continue to share, continue to like, continue to comment
(48:15):
on the video. And finally, I am also a contributing
writer to own It Magazine, where I share nuggets and
resources every month on It magazine is a resource for personal,
professional and business development. So make sure if you'd like
to get a free copy free subscription, I should say,
(48:38):
you can email me at info at EXWSI dot com
and just let me know that you'd like a free
subscription to own It Magazine. Again, I want to thank
my guests Chas Scott, and my viewers and my listeners
for joining me today. This is the Success for Women's show.
(48:59):
I am doctor Man Madlenanne Lewis, and if you'd like
to reach out to me, you can email me at
info at EXWSI dot com. I would also like for
you to make sure that you share this episode, that
you liked this episode comment on it. We had some
(49:20):
great nuggets from our guests today and as you know,
we are here every week and again I am your
hopest doctor Madelenanne Lewis, helping women to accelerate the path
to success. Thank you again for joining me. I love
you all to life and as always, be well and
(49:43):
stay stafe out there.
Speaker 2 (49:48):
Success part the World sound stream imself the SAT
Speaker 3 (50:13):
Successful Women
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Women Parts.
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Rise Successful Women.
Speaker 4 (00:57):
Did you know women represent just three percent of Fortune
five hundred CEOs and less than fifteen percent of corporate
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(01:20):
Are pasted over for promotion? Then you're in the right place. Hi.
I'm doctor Mattlanann lewis, President and CEO of the Executive
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the federal government, and corporate America, and my mission is
to help women succeed and tap into their full potential.
(01:42):
I want to reach a million plus women around the
world to become the leaders they are meant to be.
So if you want to move into a management or
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(02:03):
zero one six nine three three two eight four let
us get you on the fast track to success. Well,
(02:23):
Hello and happy New Year to all of you who
are viewing us today. This is the Success for Women's Show,
where you can view us on Top four TV and
listen to us on the Women for Women Network. I
am doctor Madeleine and Lewis your host, and my mission
is to help women accelerate the path to success. Well,
(02:47):
today's topic is success Starts Within and my guest is
Chaz Scott. Now, let me give you just a little
bit of background about chess. Chas Scott is the founder
of Supramenttum LLC. He is an author and keynote speaker
(03:09):
who helps high achieving professionals escape burnout and build success
that feels as good as it looks. His work focuses
on clarity, resistance, resilience, I should say, and sustainable performance
for those who are outwardly successful and want to sustain
(03:31):
their ambition without burning out. Chaz challenges hustle culture and
redefines what it means to lead and succeed sustainably. He
is the author of Success Starts Within, and he has
worked with organizations such as the University of Illinois Hospital,
(03:53):
the Maryland Association of Election Officials, and the US Black
Chamber of Commerce. So I would like to bring as
our guest today, mister Chas Scott.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
Oh, thank you so much for that warm introduction. I
appreciate being invited and I'm excited for today's discussion. Thank you, doctor.
Speaker 4 (04:16):
Well, you know what, thank you for being here. And
I normally start off by reading everybody's standard bio, but
then I like to ask one question, and that is
I just want you to tell us what you want
us to know about Chas Scott.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
That's a great place to start. Well, you said my
bio a little bit there, But you know, I went
to Hampton University and I studied computer science cybersecurity for
my masters and it was right right around that time
where I had just graduated, sort of trying to find
(04:56):
my way and find my first job and climb the
ranks within the organization as well as build a nonprofit
at the same time. And there was a moment where
I started to basically burn out and there was a
process of self discovery that I really had to go
(05:16):
on to really understand what this term success was, what
this term happiness was, what this term fulfillment was. And
it really sent me on a journey to read every
book I could on personal development, psychology, neuroscience, spirituality, anything
that can enhance the quality of your life. I went
(05:39):
on a journey to read it because interesting enough, when
I graduated, I had the job I wanted, I had
the condo I wanted looking over the Potomac, I had
the BMW that I wanted, nice red leather interior. But
I was waking up with anxiety. I was waking up
depress and I was waking up stressed before the day
(06:02):
even started. And it caused me to reflect on what
it really means to live a happy and healthy life
and what I determined over these many many years. This
was back in twenty seventeen, and mind you, I had
an hour and a half long commute, falling, falling asleep
at the wheel, and I just felt like the job
(06:23):
wasn't fulfilling, it was just paying the bills. And what
I determined throughout this journey was success is not something
that you chase. It ensues as a byproduct of well being. Now,
what do I mean by that hustle culture. Our society
has taught us that we're supposed to hustle and race
(06:46):
and achieve. And you know this in our society, especially
here in America, we're consistently seeing higher rates of burnout,
particularly within the communities of people of color, first generational professionals.
Anybody who's ever been taught that you have to work
ten times harder than everybody else in the room's burning out.
(07:10):
And this process of discovery, I realized that there are
simple practices that you need to do daily to fill
up your cup, to fill up your well being so
that you can have the focus that you want, so
you can have the patients that you employees, so that
you can show up as your authentic self and have
well being.
Speaker 4 (07:30):
Wow, you know, it's interesting you say that because when
I was working before I retired, well, when I did retire,
I believe it or not. I because I was always
at my desk six am every morning, six o'clock. You
could set your watch by it. So when I retired,
(07:53):
but I slept all just about maybe I would get
up like two o'clock in a day because and like
you say, and I think it was because I was
so burnt out. And finally I did that probably for
a whole month. And then for me, I just thought
to myself, Okay, you got to get a grip now,
and you can't just keep doing this. So I just
(08:17):
snapped out of that. But I realized that I needed
that rest because I was just you know, everything was
just I just didn't want to think about anything. And
I had that opportunity for that length of time just
to do that, just to not focus, not think about anything.
I didn't really want to talk to anybody. I didn't
want to associate with anybody. I just you know, But
(08:39):
that I think, and that's what I think. It came
from being burnt out from all every day, you know,
the having to be there and do what I needed
to do, and like you say, the perform the high
achieving stuff. And I know we're going to get into that,
but when you have to do that for every day
for so many years. It actually, I really believes it
(09:01):
takes a toll. Look, it really does.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
Yeah, and I'm glad that you bring that up, because
oftentimes we don't even realize that we're burnt out. You know,
it's kind of like this this this you can you
could either feel it psychologically a lack of fulfillment or
just a lack of energy. And many times we're just
caught in the rat race and the hustle culture and
we're not even realizing feeling the best, and we get
(09:29):
stuck and and and oftentimes that becomes our life until
something changes. And that's what happened to me.
Speaker 4 (09:37):
Absolutely. I mean that is so so true, and it's
just unfortunate to think about. There's still a lot of
people out there that's still going through that cycle. They
just haven't you know, readjusted yet. They haven't realized, Okay,
why am I getting up every morning? Like you say,
you know, with the anxiety and the depression. They don't
(09:59):
realize probably what is what's even causing it, what it is,
because think about everything that you just you mentioned that
you had you know, every you know, person looking at
you would say, well, he has no reason to be depressed,
he shouldn't have anxiety. He's got you know, you know
what they say, he's got it all pretty much. But
(10:23):
you know, for you, yes, the material things, but it's more.
It's it's always more than that. And that's why I
always say when you talk about success, success truly means
different things to different people. It really does. It's all
in how you define it and what it means to you.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
So yeah, one hundred percent spot on. And I think
you mentioned it in my bio, which is, you know,
I'm on a mission to help people build a life
that feels as good as it looks, not just looks good,
but feels good. You should feel excited waking up going
into work. You should be You should feel like you
have the resources to overcome adversities in your life. And
(11:03):
even though you know you may be stressed, you should
feel like you have tools to fall back on so
that you can maintain your equilibrium and make good decisions.
And you know, this stuff is not taught. You have
to either go seek it or you go burn out
and then go find it.
Speaker 4 (11:19):
Find it absolutely, so tell me this. I know in
your book you emphasize in your book that's entire titled
Success Starts Within, you emphasize internal alignment over external validation.
So what are some subtle ways that high achieving individuals
(11:41):
maybe you think outsourcing their worth without even realizing it.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
That's a good question, and I can sort of follow
up with my own journey. You know, it's very interesting
and it very It happens very subtly here in our society,
but when when, especially with social media, we're constantly comparing
ourselves to people. But it's interesting we always think that
an external material thing is going to make us feel good. Okay, Now,
(12:12):
I don't think there's anything wrong with saying I want
that certain house, I want that certain car, I want
that certain job. There's certainly something to be said about
setting a goal and going after and achieving it. But
what's really important is making sure that you're filling up
your cup continuously. I talked about a little bit, what's
(12:34):
the point of working so hard climbing up this mountain,
trying to achieve something. You get to the peak of
the mountain, not only have you been climbing the wrong mountain,
which you haven't been enjoying the journey. And I think
for many of us in our careers, whether you're a
business owner or you're a professional, we're constantly climbing mountains
(12:58):
and in our alignment is really important. What is your purpose,
what is your why? I'm sure many of the listeners
are really you know, high achievers. There's been many times
where you've probably achieved a goal and then after you
achieve the goal, you're like, that's it, and you're like, man,
I guess what else is next? So that's the purpose
of having sort of a north star or why. So
(13:21):
you know, after you publish a book, after you get
that promotion, after you do a ted X talk, what's
going to happen after that? Like what is your overall
mission and goal? And for me is to help high
achievers reclaim their energy purpose alignment to rise out of burnout. Now,
there are tools associated to allowing me to do that,
but those tools are not the end goal. The end
(13:43):
goal is a higher purpose, a higher why. So inter
alignment of why you're here on this earth is really
important and sitting down and really discovering yourself. And then
on top of that, I touched about a little bit
on my story, is that time in twenty seventeen when
I was waking up with anxiety and feeling stressed before
(14:04):
the day started, I realized that is the worst way
to start your day because it carries you throughout the
latter day. So I had to stop and sit with
myself and say, yes, if you're not enjoying your life,
you don't feel like you have the energy of the fulfillment.
Something needs to change. And when I was reading all
of these books and trying to find all these practices
(14:25):
to enhance my quality of life, I realized there was
a single thread through all these successful entrepreneurs, these athletes,
which was some type of morning routine. And when I
talk about inter alignment as opposed to external validation, no
matter what happened yesterday, no matter what I'm fearing in
the future, if I have something that grounds me daily,
(14:47):
it begins to sort of foster inter alignment and grounding
for yourself because our minds are constantly worrying about the future,
regretting the past. If you don't have something that sort
of grounds you daily, in my case, it's a twenty
minute meditation. I don't leave the house until I do
(15:08):
a twenty minute meditation in the morning, or something to
move your body to decrease the quarters all that stress hormone,
or maybe do it listening to a podcast that sort
of gives you sort of the energy or the motivation
that you need heading to your day. These are simple
practices to create inner alignment so you can feel good
(15:28):
but also look good.
Speaker 4 (15:30):
Absolutely absolutely, I know that's right, and that pretty much
I do the same thing. It's one of those things
where I get up in the morning I have now
I do get up, get up early again, but I
do that now because I want to do it. It's
not like, you know, an obligation because I have to
be but I do it because I start my morning
(15:52):
at least around five point fifteen, not lated on five
point thirty, and I get my worship in. I listen
in to my gospels, whatever you know on TV, or
just listen to the music. But then I go to
eight o'clock workout class and then from there I can
(16:14):
start when I leave there and get home after that,
then I can start my daily routine as far as
the business goes and what I need to do, because
at that point I've got my head together and like
you say, by body, get that together. And so you know,
I think you have to do those things for yourself.
And you know, I get people sometimes ask me, well,
(16:34):
how do you you know, stay in the way you
do by yourself. I said, because sometimes you need that time,
that quiet time too, so you could even get your
thoughts together to get you know, for the clarity and
like you say, the alignment, just so that you can
understand what's going on with you sometimes and then you
could deal with what's on the outside. And that's just
(16:58):
needed to me, That's just something you need to do
one hundred percent.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
If I could just add something, because I love that
you talked about sort of your routine. You know. In
twenty seventeen, when I had the job, I was trying
to build a nonprofit. We were doing mental wellness workshops
for youth and DC and Baltimore, and I was trying
to climb the rinks in the government space and cyber defense.
It was so interesting when I started focusing on myself right,
(17:24):
creating a small morning routine, going to the gym, creating
that inter alignment, that same job got better. Nothing changed externally,
but something changed internally. I had more energy, it was
easier to write emails. I felt focused. I felt like
I was energized heading into meetings as opposed to feeling depleted.
(17:46):
I brought the energy with me because I created that
inter alignment. And I think for many of us we
wait or we think that something externally is going to
influence us, as opposed toocusing internally. So you knows inner
success inter alignment, those simple habits and well being practices
(18:08):
really can elevate your entire quality of life. And I'm
not I'm not certainly not here to say that your
entire life was going to be perfect. You and I
both know that. But but but the simple point here
is when you have these practices, adversities don't become these big,
huge mountains. They get easier. You feel like you have
(18:30):
the energy and the focus, the concentration, the inner resources
you know to overcome sometimes even these these hard challenges.
I'll tell you a story during a time where I
was very, very stressed. I was having some personal challenges,
health challenges and moving a lot and a divorce. During
that time, there was a period where I would go
(18:53):
into work and I would try and write an email,
and simple email was taking me thirty minutes plus and
I remember sitting there like something's off. I don't feel right,
I don't look good. I woke up on the wrong
side of the bed. It was in that moment that
I realized again that I needed to tap into sort
(19:16):
of those simple practices to fill up my cup. When
you're stressed. It's very hard for you to have focus
when you're stressed. It's very hard for you to do
simple tasks that can get the job done. And the
biggest thing that I sort of illuminate you to the
people I coach as well as the work I do,
(19:36):
is you've got to find tools to help you to
mitigate stress. You're not totally going to get away from it,
but if you have tools to fall back on, which
I use constantly, like breath work and things of that nature,
it'll help you tremendously.
Speaker 4 (19:53):
Absolutely absolutely, So here's the question for you. I'm gonna
uh as a pretty much as it relates to women,
because many women are conditioned to equate productivity with value.
How can they begin to untangle their self worth from
(20:16):
how much they do for others because you know, we
tend to always, you know, taking on more than we should,
because most of us tend to not know that the
word no ends with a period. You know, so how
how how can they, you know, begin to untangle their
self worth from how much they do for others.
Speaker 2 (20:39):
It's a good question. I'm going to speak from a
male's perspective. I certainly can't.
Speaker 5 (20:44):
Speak for women, but I don't set me up now,
so good on, dad. No, But you know what, I
think this is something that a lot of us face,
including myself, you know, productivity, achievement, being goal oriented. I mean,
(21:04):
in this society, we're taught almost that if you're not
achieving or staying productive or providing value, you have a
lack of self worth, or you have you're not worthy
for love. And that's really what we're trying to chase,
is the value or feeling worthy for love. You know,
I think I talked about in backstage my TEDx talk
(21:27):
was why rest feels unsafe and what to do about it.
Speaker 2 (21:30):
Many of us feel guilty for resting. Many of us
feel guilty for taking our foot off the accelerator. Anybody
who's ever been taught that you have to work ten
times hard and everybody else in the room, it's very
hard for us to take a step back and to
really realize that our worth is not tied to our
productivity and our worth is not tied to achieves. And
(21:53):
one of the things that I do actually in my
coaching practice, I have a three step process called the
Eyes and Reclaimed Blueprint. One of the first questions that
we sort of discuss is why do you work so hard?
Where does it come from? Right? And everybody has their
different sort of stories, whether it be expectations from your family,
(22:14):
whether it be you know, feeling like you know you
have to work twice as hard than everybody else in
the room just to get half as much. Right, we've
heard those sayings before. There are mental scripts running through
our head that create these beliefs that really can affect
our long term success as well as contribute to burnout.
(22:37):
And I think as we start, if you really want
to dive deep and start to separate yourself from you know,
being tied to your worth and productivity, you really have
to understand those mental scripts of why do you feel
like you need to achieve? Where is it coming from?
Is a societal pressure? Did your dad tell you or
(22:58):
your mom tell you that? Or do they only give
you love because you continue to achieve or you continue
to perform well in sporting events When you were younger.
It comes from a mental script, and oftentimes we don't
even realize it until we are forced to look at it,
or you're listening to a podcast like this to really
(23:19):
create more awareness about where these beliefs and these mental
scripts come from. So I think it starts there.
Speaker 4 (23:25):
Okay, now you talk. You also talk about one of
the things you mentioned is listening to your body as
a form of wisdom. What signals do people most often ignore,
do you think, and what are the consequences of ignoring
them long term? And I would think probably some of
(23:46):
it is what you mentioned in the beginning. You develop
the anxiety, the depression, different things like that.
Speaker 2 (23:53):
Yeah, and you know, I think it happens more often
than we realize, you know, So I would think probably
during that time period in twenty seventeen, for me, I
think if something didn't happen, I would have continued to
sort of stay a on that path and life would
(24:15):
have become very sort of this underlying feeling of continuous fear,
this underlying conal feeling of anxiety and and not feeling
like I was achieving my potential. And it's interesting because
you know, as you start to sort of discover yourself,
(24:36):
discover what you enjoy, Discover how you take care of yourself.
You start to realize what works for you and what
does it work for you. You start to understand what boundaries mean.
You start to understand what stress really means to you.
Many people don't even realize that they're stressed because I
have something called you've heard of sleep at me. Know
when you're not breathing while you're sleeping. They have something
(24:58):
called screen app where people are looking at their computer
screens or scrolling on their phones and they're not breathing. Right.
These are small things that are affecting how you operate
and being able to manage stress. And then of course
we have the distractions and the demands. So I think
(25:19):
the point is, what are some tools that you can
can use once you create that awareness so that you
can minimize stress in your life, become aware of it.
I'll tell you a story, so you know, I live
in Arlington, Virginia. Every once in a while get called
to Fox five to sort of do some wellness or
(25:40):
productivity as a guest. But I remember it was empathestica.
I remember coming up the elevator and I've done this
three or four or five times, but particularly this particular
time was very, very nervous. For some reason, I was stressed.
I was coming up the elevator and my breath began
to hyperventilate very quickly, and I realized, wait, chats, you're
(26:01):
getting stressed. Okay, what are you going to do so
that you can perform at your best and feel like
you're supposed to be here. I did a quick breathwork exercise. Right,
many people do the three four seven breathwork exercise. For me,
I just do a quick breathwork. What happens there when
(26:22):
I do that breathwork exercise, it not only slows down
what's called the sympathetic nervous system, your fight a flight
nervous system, it spins up your paara sympathetic, your rest
and digest nervous system so that you can gain conscious
awareness of your thoughts so that you can perform at
your best. So I did a quick breathwork exercise up
on that elevator, got out, I said, I'm ready to go,
(26:43):
and I was able to perform at my best. But
I think for many of us, and it took me
a while to get to this point, six years. For
many of us, we do not have tools to fall
back on so that we can perform at our best
despite the stress or the anxiety that we may be
feeling in our body. And what I found in my
own life is meditation, breath work, even prayer. These are
(27:04):
great tools to change your states of consciousness, to change
your brain so that you can feel good and perform
better and performance, sustainable performance is really dictated by ensuring
that you have tools to fall back on.
Speaker 4 (27:23):
Absolutely wow wow. So what does success Because we talked
about the fact that success looks different for you know,
everybody looks at success different. What does success look like
when it's rooted in peace instead of pressure? And how
(27:44):
can someone tell if they're moving in that direction?
Speaker 2 (27:49):
It's a very good question. I think it's a question
I'm continuing to ask myself. But there are some simple
things that I've discovered with some of my clients and
then as well as myself. Is you know interesting enough?
I think in life we get signs, we get feelings,
(28:09):
and I think this probably applies to a lot of people.
When you wake up in the morning, how do you feel?
Can you ask yourself that question? How do you feel
when you wake up in the morning. Are you headed
towards your purpose? Are you headed towards alignment? Are you
headed towards a higher vision of yourself? In twenty seventeen,
I was waking up feeling fearful and feeling depressed. You know,
(28:31):
now I have simple practices that really bring me back
into alignment. And I think our body is always talking
to us, but we're not listening. And I think that's
really important when you want to achieve things in your
life and make sure that you're climbing the right mountain.
I think one of the biggest things that has been
(28:55):
a shift for me is sort of understanding that there
are tons of transitions in our lives that are happening
to and from work, in the in the car, waiting
for an waiting for a meeting to start, heading to
the grocery store. There are transitions that are happening throughout
our lives, and many times we carry stress from one
(29:17):
area of our life to the other, and I think
being mindful of the stress that we carry into other
areas of our life. For instance, if you're stressed out
at work and you bring that stress home to your
significant other, guess what You're stressed in two different places,
one of the practices that I've been doing with some
of my clients is before you leave work, you may
(29:40):
have been stressed out. What can you do to center
yourself prior to heading in to home so you're not
unconsciously bringing that stress to your significant other, into the
into the household. And I think that's also important is
having simple practices that you can say, hey, wait a minute,
I don't want to carry the stress into any other
(30:01):
area of my life or to any other person. You know,
Doctor Michael Beckwith talks about how it's important to to
to shower. That's a social contract. Track to shower after
you work out, right, you know, what also should be
a social contract is to do some type of mental
cleanse or mental shower. In this case, it could be
(30:23):
prayer or meditation. What are you doing daily to make
sure that you're filling up your cups? You're not unconsciously
giving your negative energy or negative thoughts towards somebody else.
And I think I also think that's important too, to
do a mental shower.
Speaker 4 (30:39):
Okay, okay, Now you also challenge in your book, you
talk about the UH. You challenge the hustle culture in
a way that honors excellence So what's a misconception people
have about slowing down that you'd like to clear up.
Speaker 2 (31:02):
Yeah, this is a huge topic. I think. Actually in
the book I talked about sort of this change in
perspective of actually slowing down to speed up, and we're
talking about it a little bit. But to make sure
that it's clear and you know what, I'm going to
talk about sort of a scientific study that they've done.
(31:24):
Many people say that I don't have enough time to
work out. I don't have enough time to take care
of myself. I have demands, I have distractions, I have
all these things that I need to do. They did
this study on how aerobic exercise can actually affect the brain.
So German scientists back in two thousand and seven study
two groups of people. One set group of people. Both
(31:45):
of them were learning new vocabulary words. But one set
learned those new vocabulary words before working out. The other
set learned those new vocabulary words after working out, and
they wanted to see how exercise can affect the way
that we learn. So interesting enough, the folks that learn
(32:06):
those new vocabulary words after working out learn those new
vocabulary words twenty percent faster. Right, So why am I
saying this. I'm saying this because interesting enough, when you
begin to pour into yourself and take care of yourself first,
not only do you achieve your goals faster, right, but
you enjoy the process. You feel good, your focus increases,
(32:29):
you're smarter because your brain is working at optimal levels,
and you're more effective and efficient at carrying out whatever
tasks that you want. So one of the simple tasks
and habits that I sort of get people is if
there's something that requires your sort of your full brain capacity,
work out first, and then put that activity that you
(32:52):
have to do right after that workout, because your brain
is working at optimal levels. This is a cheat code,
but this is a cheat code that people don't talk about.
People are talking about it, but people aren't making use
of it in the way that I'm articulating it. You
want to set up your day to create ways where
you are performing at your best, and the way that
(33:14):
you do that is, in this case aerobic exercise. Are
doing something that you can move your body so that
you can feel good, and it strengthens your neural pathways
so that concentration and focus in your prefrontal cortex becomes easier.
So that's just you know, like a simple example that
I always like to offer to folks. Wow.
Speaker 4 (33:36):
So this question here, though, I got to ask, what
if you for the listening audience, if someone listening realizes
that they've built a life that looks successful but feels misaligned,
(33:57):
what's the first gentle step you'd encourage them to do?
And I know what you mentioned maybe the workout and
different things like that, but what else would you suggest
that they do, especially in this when you talk about
the hustle culture and to kind of get them to
slow down, really slow down.
Speaker 2 (34:17):
You bring up the valid point right there, which is
something's got to change. You got to do something because
you're we love habits. I think it's estimated that fifty
sixty percent of our entire behaviors are just repetitive habits,
very unconscious. So I think the biggest thing is is
change up something, Change up your routine, do something different.
(34:41):
And you know I discussed a morning routine. Obviously those
are really important things, but very very simply, this is
something I've been actually working out myself, is when you're
at work or you're at the computer at the desk,
slow down, really feel how you're feeling. Before you send
(35:02):
that email, slow down, really feel how you're feeling before
you show up to that meeting. Take sort of time
to really understand how you're feeling in those moments. So
much of us, so many of us, are continuing to hustle,
continuing to grind that we're not really thinking about how
we're feeling throughout the day. And I think it's really
(35:25):
important that we take a step back and to have
some breaks. You know, one of the things that I
have to do, and I would recommend for anybody, is
I take a break. Yes, I get away from my
desk and leave my desk at twelve noon. I do
not work and eat lunch at the same time. And
it's amazing how taking a simple break and then coming
(35:47):
back to work makes you feel, you feel more efficient,
you feel like you have more energy. In that case,
actually in the day there I'm actually reading as well,
So I'm getting away from all the work and all
the things that I know that I have to do
and reading a book that has nothing to do with
the work that I have to do. Because that your
(36:07):
brain begins to sort of slow down and starts to
go into sort of the right brain hemisphere of more creativity,
more imagination, more spark for intuition. And you take that
break and then you come back to work, and you
will not believe just how much more efficient that you
are as opposed to continuing to hustle through you know,
(36:30):
your lunch, or continuing to hustle through the day without
a break. And even as simple as taking a walk.
You know, you know, these things are not are not
hard things to do, it's just we don't do them.
Taking a walk in nature, looking at things far away,
helps to alleviate pressure, helps to alleviate states of anxiety
and depression. You know, these are things that civilizations have
(36:54):
been doing for thousands of years to decrease stress, to
create foundations of equal librium, and to have a sense
of peace. But we're stuck from commuting to work, we're
stuck sitting down or stuck sort of in the sedondary lifestyle,
and we're not getting outside enough. So these are also
simple things that you can do, is just get outside
(37:16):
of your desk and take a walk. So you need
to feel good and then come back into work and
show up as your most authentic self.
Speaker 4 (37:24):
Yeah that's all true, But then you have those that
feel that rest can feel unsafe for some people, especially leaders,
because if it may bring up uncomfortable emotions, so to speak.
So what do you think tend to surface when people
(37:44):
finally slow down, and how can they move through it
with compassion? Because sometimes, like you said, with the hustle
and all of that, and the eating at your desk
for lunch instead of going out for lunch, that's not
slowing down, that's just keeping the hustle going. Really, so,
how can they move through all of this with some
(38:07):
compassion meaning I guess compassion for themselves to not feel like, well,
if I don't like you say, I got to be better,
I got to do it better. I got you know,
and not feel bad about taking a thirty minute lunch
or an hour lunch, not feel bad about that.
Speaker 2 (38:27):
Yeah, you know, we can sit up here and sell
all this all we want. It's really until that individual
feels the benefits. What I've seen in my own clients
is try it, let me know how you feel after
you try it, And usually they come back they say,
oh my goodness, Chaz, wow, I didn't think I was
(38:49):
able to accomplish this at one or two PM, but
I kind of took a break during lunch, and now
I was right back to it, and I felt more energized.
I felt like I was more focused. Right try it.
So typically what happens is we get to a point
where we start to wake up where something needs to change,
and we need a tool to actually make that change.
(39:10):
You could read every book, listen to every podcast here,
every tool, but if you don't actually utilize it and
get the benefits internally, nothing changes. And then also you're
not going to have the motivation to try it again.
So I always offer is just try it and see
how you feel embody, the feeling of what it feels
(39:30):
like to rest, because you're absolutely right, rest can feel
very very unsafe for people who have been caught in
the hustle and rat race. And you know, in my
ten X talk, I actually talked about, you know, we
went to go visit my great great great grandfather, his
name was Austin Scott, where he was enslaved in a
(39:52):
plantation down in Sparta, Georgia, who was born in eighteen
twenty eight. We got to go visit him, and my
text talk I talked about how, particularly in the black community,
you know, we didn't have the option to rest and
how that carries forward to many of us now where
we feel like we have to constantly stay above water
(40:12):
and continue to work work, work, work, work, work, and
interesting enough, if we don't disrupt that process and become
aware of it, it will continue to stay with us
for our entire lives. So that's why I always say,
you know, having grace, having compassion for yourself starts with
receiving the benefits, right That's that's like that gives you
(40:33):
the motivation to do it again. But then you start
to realize, wait a minute, I feel better, Wait a minute,
I have more focus. I want to do that again.
I want to make sure I get my eight hours
of sleep. I would I lie to you not. You know,
this past summer was very busy summer for me. I
was probably getting five hours of sleep. I just got
a whoop wristband and attract your sleep and you know,
(40:56):
interesting enough, over the past I would say month and
a half, I've been getting seven to eight hours of sleep,
which is unheard of from me. But I feel good,
I feel arrested, and I'm getting the benefits of taking
care of myself. Many of us have not created their
neurological wiring of taking care of myself, achieving taking care
(41:17):
of myself, feeling good, taking care of myself, showing up
as my authentic self. Creating that connection consistently really can
change your habits and start to rewire. Sort of this
feeling as if I can't rest, well, really you have
no option. You have to rest because if you want
to sustain your output and to do the things that
(41:39):
you're called to do on this earth, you need to
take care of your body.
Speaker 4 (41:43):
Absolutely. So tell me if you had one piece of
advice that you could leave with our viewers and our listeners,
what would that piece of advice be.
Speaker 2 (41:59):
My entire message to give people hope, to let people
know that there is another way of life to live.
And I think the highest message that I always like
to express is there are tools out there to enhance
the quality of your life. If you're not feeling well,
if you're not fulfilled enough, if you're not enjoying this
(42:19):
process of life, there are ways to enhance it. You
have to go seek those resources. Listening to podcasts such
as this, listen to the radio station, listening to books,
maybe going to coaching or therapy. But there are ways
to enhance your quality of life even if it looks good.
The inner life is what really matters. And when that
inner resilience, that inner joy starts to express itself externally,
(42:45):
that's when your life really starts, because you're starting to
create a foundation for yourself and not try to live
up for a foundation or try to live up for
external validation for somebody else, and creating that self trust
to let yourself know that taking care of yourself is
one of the most important things that you can do.
Speaker 4 (43:07):
Absolutely so, tell us if they wanted to get your book,
which is Success Starts Within, or reach out to you
for some more information on how they could possibly avoid
burnout and get out of some of that hustle culture.
How can they reach you, How can they find your book?
Speaker 2 (43:29):
Yeah? Absolutely so. My book's on Amazon. It's titled Success
Starts Within. It's been published in twenty twenty three, and
there are simple practices to really enhance the quality of
your life right now so that you can sustain your
success as well as your fulfillment. And then on top
of that, I also offer one on one coaching on
my website at Chasscott dot com, So that's Chazz scott
(43:54):
Ascott dot com and I actually offer a self paced
course you can do by yourself, videos and recordings of
what's called the Rise and Reclaim Blueprint, which helps you
to rise out of burnout, reclaim your energy, reclaim your
self trust, and reclaim your joy in this life experience
so you can do the things that you're called to
(44:15):
do on this earth without burnout. So that Rise and
Reclaim Blueprint self paced course is also on my website
and for the listeners, I have a discount code. You
can put the promo code podcast in there and you
can get twenty percent off of that self paced course
for anybody that's interested.
Speaker 4 (44:33):
Thank you so much. It has been a pleasure having
you on the show to share your nuggets, to talk
about your book. Success starts within. I think we got
some great nuggets on how to avoid some of the hustle,
and you know, it's just looking out for yourself, being
(44:54):
aware of what's going on and not ignoring it, not
ignoring some of those signs. We want to thank you
for coming on today and taking time out of your
busy schedule to share with us. Thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (45:09):
Thanks for having me.
Speaker 4 (45:10):
Alrighty, wow, that has been That was a great conversation
with our guest chat Scott just want to give you
a little information on some things that's going on. I
want you to make sure to check out my article
Rooted to Rise, Stepping boldly into your season of Thriving,
(45:32):
which is officially featured in Wildlife Lead Magazine, Lay Magazine
Feminine issue number thirteen. So if you would like the
link to read the article and also to read the
full magazine that issue issue thirteen, you can email me
at info at EXWSI dot com. While Life Lay Magazine
(45:59):
Feminine is a global faith centered women's magazine which is
created to inspire, empower, and elevate women who are intentional
about living out their God given purpose. So a great article.
I was very excited to be asked to contribute to
(46:19):
an article for this month's for their month's magazine. I'm
also excited, still excited, and I keep continuing to let
you all know that we were on the top one
hundred best Career, Mindset and Working Women podcasts, and that
we are still probably sitting at number sixteen on the list,
(46:42):
so that is not bad. Out of one hundred we
are number sixteen, so maybe we keep going we'll reach
that number one slot. So thank you all for continuing
to support the show. Also, make sure to get to
check out my book show Up to Rise Up, Explore
the Transformative Power of a Positive Mindset, which achieves bestseller
(47:07):
status on Amazon in the Women and Business category. It's
also available on Amazon or you can get it on
my website. The website is www dot EXWSI dot com.
So if you go on the website, just click on
the dashboard and hit success store and it'll bring you
(47:30):
to the book and you'll be able to purchase there.
Don't forget to make sure to view my TEDx talk
that I did in Vancouver, Canada. Make sure to do
so the topic will show up to Rise Up. Of
course you can watch it on YouTube. Just put in
my name in the search box doctor Madlin and Lewis
and it'll bring it right up. I'm excited because right
(47:54):
now it is at two hundred and twenty six thousand,
eight hundred and eight views, and of course you know
the goal is to get to a million plus views.
So thank you for those of you who continue to
share it to continue to watch it. So make sure
you continue to share, continue to like, continue to comment
(48:15):
on the video. And finally, I am also a contributing
writer to own It Magazine, where I share nuggets and
resources every month on It magazine is a resource for personal,
professional and business development. So make sure if you'd like
to get a free copy free subscription, I should say,
(48:38):
you can email me at info at EXWSI dot com
and just let me know that you'd like a free
subscription to own It Magazine. Again, I want to thank
my guests Chas Scott, and my viewers and my listeners
for joining me today. This is the Success for Women's show.
(48:59):
I am doctor Man Madlenanne Lewis, and if you'd like
to reach out to me, you can email me at
info at EXWSI dot com. I would also like for
you to make sure that you share this episode, that
you liked this episode comment on it. We had some
(49:20):
great nuggets from our guests today and as you know,
we are here every week and again I am your
hopest doctor Madelenanne Lewis, helping women to accelerate the path
to success. Thank you again for joining me. I love
you all to life and as always, be well and
(49:43):
stay stafe out there.
Speaker 2 (49:48):
Success part the World sound stream imself the SAT
Speaker 3 (50:13):
Successful Women
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