More Than a Feeling: Love as the Fuel for Growth + Connection

Episode Transcript

George B. Thomas (00:02):
When you lead with love, you're not just
walking a path. You're building1 where passion, purpose, and
persistence have the ability tothrive and be enabled to do the
things that you're trying to doand go the places that you're
trying to go. Purpose is rootedin love. Think think about,
like, for a hot second, mostmeaningful goals that you've had

(00:24):
come from a place of empathyfrom wanting to connect or
contribute to something biggerthan yourself or even if it's
personal goals, there's, like,self empathy for the place that
you're at versus the place thatyou wanna be. Love aligns your
actions with your values,keeping your purpose grounded
and real.
And when you approach yourpurpose with love, it deepens

(00:46):
your commitment. It's no longerjust about, I'm chasing a goal,
but it's about honoring whattruly matters to you.

Liz Moorhead (00:57):
Welcome back to Beyond Your Default. I'm your
host, Liz Morehead. And asalways, I'm joined by one of my
absolute favorite humans on theplanet, friend, mentor,
collaborator, George b Thomas.How are you this morning?

George B. Thomas (01:08):
Liz, I'm doing good. Thanks. I like hanging out
with you and, appreciate you aswell. And, I'm super excited to
be here today just to kinda havethis second level conversation
around a what I'll call a veryinteresting topic or the
relationship that people havewith this topic, but doing good.
Glad to be here.

Liz Moorhead (01:28):
You know what's interesting? I've been doing a
lot of reflecting, you know, asyou and I both do about and I'm
gonna be honest. I'm about to goa little off script from what we
have in the outline. So today,we're we're revisiting the topic
of love. We've been goingthrough all of the cornerstones
of the superhuman framework.
We've talked about purpose.We've talked about passion.
We've talked about persistence.And now we are back full circle
talking about love, which issomething that you and I talked

(01:51):
about a couple of months agobecause, you know, love, you and
I discussed at the time, is iskind of the core of everything.
It is the reason.
And yet there's a little bit ofuncoolness about it. Right? But
as I was reflecting this morningcoming to this episode, I'm
thinking about the fact thatThanksgiving is right behind us.
And this time last year, you andI recorded an episode about

(02:13):
feeling funky about theholidays. And this year, we're
not sidestepping the fact thatyou know?
And if I would encourage ourlisteners. If you're new to this
podcast, we have an episodecalled dealing with the holiday
blues. I would highly recommendyou go listen back to that
because we're not sidesteppingthat. We're not sidestepping
that and suddenly sayingeverything's great. Everything's

(02:33):
fine.
But we're definitely in adifferent mindset this year than
we were this time last year,aren't we?

George B. Thomas (02:38):
I mean, without a doubt. I don't know
how anybody could get to a yearlater and not say that they're
in a different if if you are,then you're stuck, which thank
god you're listening to thispodcast then because that's one
of the fundamental things is,like, how do we help people who
feel like they're stuck in thesame situations over and over
again? Life's insanity, if youwill. But yeah. No.

(03:00):
We're definitely like, listen. Iquite enjoyed it was a different
kind of Thanksgiving, but Iquite enjoyed Thanksgiving in my
firehouse turkey stuffing subbecause the wife and daughters
were out. And I enjoyed thegoing to the movie, which you
would think that they would beclosed, but they're not. They're
open for people just like me andNoah. So, like but,

Liz Moorhead (03:23):
the mindset of your son.

George B. Thomas (03:24):
Yeah. Noah, my son. You know, making the best
of it and actually enjoying it.Dare I say loving it. So
definitely a differentheadspace.

Liz Moorhead (03:32):
So here's what I want us to do before I get into
laying the foundation fortoday's topic. You know, you and
I, we weren't necessarilyapologetic about our love for
love in the last time we talkedabout this a couple months ago.
But we did lean into the factthat people think it's uncool.
People don't like to say, youknow, oh, love is great. Love is
the reason I do things.
Love is the root of all. Noapologies. This is an apology

(03:56):
free zone for both you and me,George, and I think for all of
our listeners because there's areason why love is a cornerstone
of the superhuman framework, andit is the one that we land on.
It is the energy and connectionthat infuses everything else
that we do with meaning andpurpose. I like to think of love
because I've listened to youtalk about love quite a bit.

(04:16):
Right? For me, here's how Ithink about it. Passion is the
ignition. It's the spark.Purpose is the compass.
It gives us the direction.Persistence keeps us moving
forward. But love, it's not justabout sustaining. It's not just
the amplification. It's not thewarmth just the warmth from the
heart.
It is the connective tissue.It's what brings everything all

(04:38):
together, grounding us us inwhat truly matters. But we have
to acknowledge the fact thatwhen you say the word love,
people kinda had like,immediately were thinking, like,
romcoms and Meg Ryan and TomHanks and bold I love you
proclamations while standing insomeone's backyard with a boom
box over your head. But in thecontext of this and to be fair,
I love that movie. I'm a big sayanything fan.

(04:59):
I can't quote Sleepless inSeattle, from here to eternity.
But when we're talking abouttoday, love is much more
expansive. It's about self love.It's about love for others. Yes.
Romantic love and love for thejourney of becoming the best
version of yourself. Does ithave a cheesy reputation? Yes.
But I think being uncool is waycooler than being cool. I'm just

(05:21):
gonna say that.
That's what I'm saying out loud.In this episode, we're pulling
back the curtain on love. We'regoing one level deeper, not the
Hollywood version, but the real,the messy, the transformative
kind that powers your personalgrowth. We're gonna talk about
what it means to practice loveas an active choice because it
is a choice. In fact, I wastalking with a girlfriend of
mine this week, and she said,you know, I don't believe in

(05:44):
soulmates.
And she has an incredibleboyfriend. They're desperately
in love. But you know what shesaid to me? She said when I
first told my boyfriend that Iloved him, I said, I have made
the choice to love you, and Ichoose it every day.

George B. Thomas (05:54):
Sexy. Very wise.

Liz Moorhead (05:56):
Oh, yeah. Absolutely. So if you've ever
wondered how love fits into yourjourney of becoming your best
self, well, guess what?Cupcakes, you're about to
freaking find out, George. Areyou ready to dig in?

George B. Thomas (06:06):
I'm ready to dig in. Yeah. I'm I'm excited
about this one.

Liz Moorhead (06:10):
I've already alluded to this, but you've
literally said that love is,quote, the reason for
everything. I'm curious if therewas a particular moment in your
life when this realizationclicked for you, or has it
always kind of been a guidingprinciple?

George B. Thomas (06:24):
Yeah. No. Not always been a guiding principle.
I mean, love as the reason foreverything, air quotes for those
of you listening or watching yousaw me do it. It wasn't always
something, Liz, that I, like,consciously lived by or even
maybe even thought about it.
It it was a realization that Iwould say grew over time as as

(06:46):
these kind of dominoes of lifestarted to fall and kinda shaped
by moments of what I'll callclarity and transformation. But
but I had actually thought aboutthis for, like, a long time, and
I'm like, but but I wannapinpoint. What's a moment? And,
honestly, if I had to pinpoint amoment, Liz, it would be a
conversation that changed thetrajectory of my life probably

(07:09):
more than I even knew at thetime or maybe even to this day
have put weight into it. AndI've told the story of the
mission trip at the Crow IndianReservation and and about,
prophetess Juanita.
And and the day that I heard thewords, when are you gonna
realize you're the blessing? Andthat statement or that question,

(07:29):
like, it hit me hard because Irealized I've been searching for
validation. I've been searchingfor success, like, both of these
externally rather than groundingit in something deeper, which in
this case is is love. From thatmoment when I heard, those
words, love started to shiftfrom the feeling, right, to what

(07:51):
I'll call, like, in my lifedefinitely in my life, a guiding
principle. Everything else in mylife around love became a setup,
for the, I guess, cataclysmicjump in a new direction.
Because, like I said, these lifedominoes had been happening, but
it was like that statement wasthe and all of a sudden, like,

(08:13):
they're okay. It's it's time tochange because love became the
lens through which I approachedand still do approach every part
of my life. Love for myselfmeant forgiving past mistakes.
And trust me, there are plentyof them to forgive. Right?
But but to choose to to grow, togrow out of and past them. Love

(08:35):
at that point and and where I'mat now is love for others means
building authentic andpurposeful purposeful
relationships. So many times wehave relationships just because
we think we need to have peoplearound us. What we need to have
is the right people around us,but but love for the journey
meant embracing setbacks asopportunities to become better

(08:57):
not bitter. And there's a largepart of my life where I was
focused on being bitter, notbeing better.
And with love, that transformsthat change. And the truth is
that without love, we lose ourhumanity. And so that
realization has really reshapedeverything for me. And I know
that I said, Liz, lead with lovein a previous podcast and and

(09:21):
different conversations, butmaybe what I should have said is
start with or maybe better yeteven be rooted in love. Because
I I think as I've had time tokind of think about this podcast
episode that we're going throughand really dive into this, it's
not just about leading withlove.
It's about recognizing that loveis why we lead. Love is why we

(09:42):
care. Love is why we grow. Ithink that most people when they
hear the word love, they thinkabout, again, and you you
alluded to it at the beginningof this podcast, but romance and
the roses and the happily everafters, but that's not it.

Liz Moorhead (09:57):
Again, I think this is gonna be an unexpected
recurring theme. This idea ofthere is a choice you make.
Right? I'll be honest. Loveactually is probably one of my
least favorite Christmas movies.
I find it to be incrediblyproblematic and in a lot of ways
very sad, and people make a lotof questionable decisions. But
one of the things I do love isat the beginning, Hugh Grant is

(10:19):
talking about being at anairport and how it is a reminder
that love actually is allaround, but it the thing that he
doesn't say is it is a choice tosee it. So what you said there
about the choice of being betterrather than bitter, sometimes we
choose the mechanism of beingbitter because there is a safety
to it. There's a level ofexposure that we do not want to
accept the vulnerability for, ormaybe we don't wanna acknowledge

(10:43):
or hold ourselves accountablefor why we are where we are to
begin with, but it begins withthat choice. Now you already
mentioned this, but let's stickinto this a little further.
You know, when they hear theword love, they think about
romance. They think about roses.They think about happily happily
ever after, which is so funnybecause that's when the actual
love story begins, but that'swhere almost all of them end in
Hollywood. Right? But when yousay love in the context of the

(11:05):
superhuman framework, what arewe really talking about?

George B. Thomas (11:09):
Yeah. It's not the perfect Instagram worthy
moments that come shooting toeverybody's minds, and I get it
why that would be. We'reconditioned to to think this
way. But when I think about thesuperhuman framework and the
word love, I go to a level whereand I'm I gotta be careful how I
say this, but, like, I'm gonnaeven I just say it. Real love,

(11:31):
like, real love isn't aboutroses or happily ever afters.
Love is is the most powerfultool you have for personal
growth and transformation. Andit's not the kind of love you
see again in, like, whatHollywood or the world wants to
portray. It's something muchdeeper, and and I alluded to it

(11:52):
and it talked about it a littlebit last time we had this
conversation, but I just hopepeople understand the different
types of love there are. Andtoday, I'm gonna just drill down
into and talk about when I talkabout the superhuman framework
and love, I'm talking aboutagape love. And I have to be
real transparent while we're ona podcast talking about personal

(12:12):
growth.
When I think of the superhumanframework, we could just as
easily be talking about teamdynamics, leadership, company
cultures, but that's a totallydifferent podcast probably for
in the future because this isbeyond your default and we're
talking about personal growth.This is I just want everybody to
understand the power of love andhow it transcends into different

(12:33):
areas than where we might justthink. So but today, I'm gonna
stick with the superhumanframework, personal growth, and
agape style love because agapelove is it's not about the
fireworks or the butterflies.It's selfless and unconditional.
It's the love that says, I seeyou for who you are, not just
what you do.

(12:53):
It's the kind of love that goesbeyond surface level connections
and straight into the heart ofwhat it means to truly live and
grow, to be human. In personalgrowth, this love is not about
what you kind of get fromothers. It's it's about how you
show up for yourself, how youshow up for the world around
you, and, you know, being ableto show up, Liz, I'll just steal

(13:16):
your line. Being able to show upas a whole ass human. Agape love
is selfless and unconditional.
Like, you need to imagine aworld where you can care for
yourself and others with stringsattached. Like, you know how
many of us live life with somany strings attached? Like, I
sometimes I envision, like, justthe the marionettes and the

(13:38):
people and the strings and theit's just what I'm trying to say
is this, like, means that we'reshowing up for the people we
love and for ourselves even whenit's hard, even when it's messy.
It agape love recognizes thatyour worth isn't tied to your
productivity or yourachievements. Agape love is

(13:58):
empathy driven.
Like, you you see, agape lovestarts with understanding both
of others and yourself. It'sit's about listening to the
inner voice, offering yourselfgrace, extending the same to the
people in your life. Like,there's agape love as action
oriented. It's not just a warmfuzzy feeling. It it's it's what

(14:21):
you do.
Right? And if it's what you do,love is a choice and it's an
action. It's choosing kindnessover judgment or action over
apathy. It it's being there forsomeone else or or taking that
uncomfortable step to care foryourself in a way that actually
freaking matters. Agape love,and I think this is, like, why I

(14:43):
well, all of the reasons, butthis one to me is, like, agape
love is inclusive and it'suniversal.
It doesn't stop with the peopleclosest to you. It reaches
everyone, including those humansout there that challenge us.
That's the nice way that I'llput this. It reminds us that
we're all connected and thatwhen we show love to others,

(15:04):
we're creating ripples farbeyond what we can see. And,
Liz, here's the thing.
Growth doesn't happen inisolation. So whether you're
working on building confidence,finding your purpose, breaking
free from old patterns, you needa foundation and an agape love,
that style of love is thatfoundation. Like, the superhuman

(15:26):
framework type of love thatwe're talking about feels
compassion so that you canforgive yourself when you fall
short. The superhuman frameworktype of love builds trust in
your relationship so that youcan have the support you need to
go further. The superhumanframework type of love creates a
sense of belonging so thatyou're not navigating life from
a place of fear or scarcity.

(15:48):
And I'll be honest, when when Ifirst started thinking about
love in this way, it feltawkward and difficult and but
definitely not soft and squishy.It felt more firm and
foundational. Listen, love isthe most resilient force there
is. It's not about being weak oroverly sentimental. It's about

(16:08):
standing firm in your values,making choices that honor you,
your humanity, and the humanityof others around you and and
being dare I say, brave enoughbecause this does take bravery,
but being brave enough toembrace life fully.
So many of us spend so much timeliving life half assed, but if

(16:28):
we can embrace it fully, thistype of love, and I promise I'm
almost done, this type of lovebreaks the cycle of self doubt.
It fuels the courage for us totry again, and it helps us see
the beauty in the journey thatwe're on even in the messy,
imperfected moments that we allhave. So, like, it's a big deal,

(16:51):
but when we're looking throughit at the agape love style lens.

Liz Moorhead (16:57):
Hearing you talk about it, it reminds me of this
thing I've seen a lot wherepeople say balance isn't a noun.
It's a verb. It's very similar.You know, people talk about
finding love, discovering love,experiencing love as if it's a
thing that we either, like, youknow, uncover, like, a really
cool rock on a hike or, like,you go to Starbucks and somebody

(17:17):
gives you a delightful coldbrew, like, something that's,
like, given to you when inreality, love and this includes
romantic love. Right?
I think we've done a lot ofscaffolding here to try to not
necessarily distance ourselvesfrom romantic love, but it is a
part of this narrative. It'sthis idea that, like, love is
something you do. It issomething you choose. It is
something you cultivate. And wereally focus on this idea of how

(17:42):
can we create it for ourselves.
I remember writing about this inthe newsletter once where I was
talking about the fact thatthere's this opposition in the
world. Right? If you wantsomething to happen, you should
probably do the opposite becauseit's a natural physical thing in
the universe. Right? For everyaction, there is an equal and

(18:02):
opposite reaction.
Right? So if you wanna make adessert, a sweet dessert really
sing, don't add more sugar, addsalt. Want to find proof of God?
Study science. Like, forexample, Carl Carl Sagan, people
often think he's a profoundatheist.
He's not. He's writtenextensively or he had written
extensively about that. But oneof my favorite ones is if you

(18:23):
want to find the love, the truelove that you desperately seek,
Don't try to love somebody else.1st, love yourself. Fascinating.
So here's where I wanna takethis conversation. We've talked
a bit about love in a vacuum byitself. We've alluded to where
it fit in the framework, but I'dlove you to take us on a journey
a little bit deeper. When youthink about love and how it is a

(18:46):
servant of the foundation thatamplifies the other 3, which are
purpose, passion, andpersistence, where do you see it
taking us? What is its role?
What does it do? Because I thinkyou could look on paper and see
passion and love. You mightartificially conflate those.
Purpose, that's supposed to bethe thing that gives you
direction. It's the thing thatwakes you up.

(19:06):
It's your why. So how does lovefit in? How is it different?

George B. Thomas (19:09):
Yeah, Liz. I love this question because it's
not just another cornerstone ofthe supremum framework. Again,
air quotes for those of youlistening on just another. It
really is a force that breatheslife into everything that we do
and every piece of theframework. When you lead with
love, you're not just walking apath.

(19:30):
You're building one wherepassion, purpose, and
persistence have the ability tothrive and be enabled to do the
things that you're trying to doand go the places that you're
trying to go. Purpose is rootedin love. Think think about,
like, for a hot second, mostmeaningful goals that you've had
come from a place of empathyfrom wanting to connect or

(19:50):
contribute to something biggerthan yourself. Or even if it's
personal goals, there's, like,self empathy for the place that
you're at versus the place thatyou wanna be. Love aligns your
actions with your values,keeping your purpose grounded
and real.
And when you approach yourpurpose with love, it deepens
your commitment. It's no longerjust about, I'm chasing a goal,

(20:13):
but it's about honoring whattruly matters to you. Now when I
think about passion, passionstarts with love because love
creates a space where you can beyour true self. No fear. No
judgment.
Just authenticity. And whenyou're truly yourself, it's
easier to find what excites you,what lights you up, like that

(20:33):
fire in your belly, if you will.Love also fuels the passion
through connection. It it's thesupport of others that keeps the
fire burning. And mostimportantly, love protects you
from burnout.
And again, had plenty of timesin my life where I'm, like,
super passionate and, oh mygosh, I feel like I need to take
a nap. But when it's rooted inlove, it reminds you to care for

(20:55):
yourself, to set boundaries sothat your passion stays
sustainable. Persistence. Right?The the one we always talk about
last, but bang on it.
Without love, persistence canfeel just like a grind. But when
it's rooted in love, it actuallytransforms. Love love Can

Liz Moorhead (21:12):
I be perfectly honest?

George B. Thomas (21:14):
Yes.

Liz Moorhead (21:14):
If I don't love something, I'm not persistent. I
am making the choice to not bepersistent. I had to jump in
there, like, just because I wasthinking about this yesterday
and the past couple of days whenyou and I have been working on
this project. There's a projectwe are working on that we are so
excited to bring to you guys. Idon't wanna talk about too much
or give too much away, but itwas only working those late
nights doing those thingsbecause it's it's an act of

(21:34):
love.
There is no persistence withoutlove. I'm just sad and angry.
It's not persistent.

George B. Thomas (21:39):
Yeah. In this case, love, what it's doing is
it's strengthening. And again, Ican't wait to get to this
episode, but it's strengtheningyour resilience. It gives you
the self compassion to riseafter a fall and then the
perspective to actually see thefailures as growth. And there
are a lot of failures in my lifewhere when I was going through

(22:00):
them, I did not see it as growthat all.
But in hindsight, there wasmassive amounts of growth
happening at these failurepoints. And so love in this
instance, it also connects youto others. You're you're not
persisting alone. You're leaningon a community. It's about
giving and receiving thesupport.
And, again, that's a lot of whywe're doing what we're doing

(22:21):
with this podcast and thesuperhuman framework and things
in the future is creating thatcommunity, creating that
support. But love also remindsyou why you're doing it, which
when you remember the why of whyyou're doing it, it's very much
easier or it's easy to bepersistent. It's not just about
the goal, by the way. It's aboutcaring. Right?

(22:41):
Caring for the journey, thepeople, the impact, or as I like
to say, if you listen for anylength of time, the ripples that
you're actually creating. Andand listen, listeners, I want
you to think of love as the soilin which passion, purpose, and
persistence can grow. Withoutlove, passion can burn out or
become misdirected. Purpose canfeel hollow or disconnected for

(23:04):
humanity, and and persistencecan become, well, frankly
exhausting leading to burnoutrather than sustained progress.
But when I think of thesuperhuman framework and agape
love is present, passion becomescontagious, inspiring both
yourself and others.
Purpose becomes a sharedjourney, deeply connected to

(23:26):
something bigger than yourself,and persistence feels natural
because it's driven by care, notjust sheer willpower. Listen.
Love is the foundation becauseit amplifies the humanity within
the other cornerstones. Itreminds us why we care in the
1st place, why we pursue ourpassions, why we dedicate

(23:50):
ourselves to our purpose, andwhy we find the strength to
persist along the way. Lovekeeps us connected to the heart
of our journey.
When you lead with love,everything else aligns. It it's
the force that makes beingsuperhuman both possible and
powerful. But, Liz, what areyour thoughts?

Liz Moorhead (24:09):
Mine are simple. I just don't see the point of
anything without love. I'll evenadmit. You know, going into this
episode, I think it is very easyfor someone listening who may be
in a dark place to feel like,well, George and Liz are sitting
there, and they've kinda got itall together. Right?
Well, first of all No.Newsflash, kiddos, I am 17
traumatized dribbles in a trenchcoat just trying to make this
work. So that's number 1. Number2, I can acknowledge. You know,

(24:32):
I I'm very lucky that I get todo work that I love.
I'm in a happy relationship. Iam in a very different place
than I was maybe a year and ahalf ago. But I will say even
then, and if you've been with usfor a long time, you know I was
a very different Liz. Even then,love was the reason I still got
up. Now granted some of thosemornings were like, well, what
are you gonna do?

(24:52):
Stop breathing? Are you going toexplode? You gotta you gotta
keep going. And in those darkmoments, it wasn't that I was
able to grasp on love everywhereall around me. It would be
little things like, I loveGeorge, and I love the work that
we are doing.
So I'm just gonna focus on thatmicro pocket of love today, and
I don't need to find it anywhereelse. Or I'm gonna go out on a
weekend and sit in the woods andjust love that little bit of

(25:14):
sunshine on my face. That's whatI think we mean when we say it
is a choice is that sometimeswhen it is very dark, it is very
easy to become catastrophic inyour thinking, and you just have
to make the choice to find it.There were days last year I did
not want to wake up, and I wouldhave to say, well, I love the
fact that George and I are gonnago help someone today, or I love

(25:35):
how George has shown up for me,so I'm gonna pay it back even
though I don't want to and showup. And it's those little
things.
So when I say, where do I see itfitting into the framework? I'm
not there is no persistence if Idon't love what I'm doing. It
feels like punishment. You know?Now granted, like, it's called
it's called work.
It's not called happy, fun,recess, explosion, parade time.

(25:58):
But there are times where it'slike, am I enjoying this task?
No. Do I love what is it in whatit is in service of? Yes.
Do I love the people I'm workingwith? Do I respect them? Right?
Or when I think about passion,passion is explosive. It's
fiery, but it's gotta be like acontrolled burn.
Right? Passion are those bigbursts of energy. It's the thing
that, like, lights you up. Itcan't be on fire all the time.

(26:19):
Right?
We were talking about how lovestories in Hollywood end right
when the real story of lovebegins. Love is what keeps you
going in those moments whereit's like, man, if I did not
choose to love this person,these would be really difficult
decisions to make, to have thetough conversations, to show up
when you would really ratherjust be taking a nap or doing
anything else. When I thinkabout purpose, my purpose and my

(26:43):
why is because I genuinely loveother people even though I act
like an antisocial potato. Youknow, my purpose of being a
catalyst for catalysts, changingthe world for people who are
meant to change the world isbecause I have a genuine love of
humanity. And so I look at thegifts that I have been given by
God and say, this is the way Imeant to show up and help.
And it's very challengingbecause it's actually an act

(27:05):
where I thought it was my loveof other people, and it's made
me realize I've had to cultivatea love of myself in order to do
it well in any sort ofsustainable way. And I'm not
quite there yet. We're workingon it. We're baby stepping.
We're trying.
But, you know, when I thinkabout the superhuman framework,
that's how it comes together.

George B. Thomas (27:22):
Small steps in the right direction eventually
gets you to the place you'retrying to go.

Liz Moorhead (27:26):
Exactly. So you shared that love isn't just a
feeling. It's an action. Wetalked a lot about this, but
we've talked a lot about it inthe abstract. Like, I think I
could hear some chuckle head,pussy, to us right now.
But it's great that you call ita choice, guys. What does it
actually look like? So take methrough what an active practice
of love looks like in your dailylife.

George B. Thomas (27:46):
Yeah. So, I mean, listen, we've gotta embody
love as an active practice, andthe easiest way is to start
small. Like, intentional and Iliterally I was like, small
steps will get you to yourdestination. Like, intentional,
actional steps. Now with thatsaid, some things that I've
talked about on this podcastbefore, but I inherently try to

(28:06):
do in life and I think that aretied to this is things that, you
know, again, they might soundeasy when I say them, but they
might be difficult in practice.
But the place I wanna begin islike by listening fully, but to
yourself and others. And when Isay listen fully, what I mean is
listen fully with empathy.Listen fully without judgment.

(28:30):
Now, again, you're gonna need toturn off devices and find space
and time and ways to quiet thenoise to truly do the thing that
I just said. And it might soundeasy as I'm like, yeah.
Listen fully. Oh, okay. Georgecheck. Got it. I listen for it's
not that easy for most of us.

(28:52):
The other thing and I rememberwhen I was a kid, this was more
prevalent, and I don't know ifit's because I was growing up in
Montana or if it was just thetime that we lived in. But,
like, dang. Gonna show somekindness, like, even when it's
inconvenient. And try to, like,care deeply in every
interaction, whether it's justthat you're offering somebody

(29:12):
encouragement or you you'reliterally setting boundaries for
yourself that need to be set oror you're simply just trying to
be present. Like, kindness andcaring.
I don't know what the last timeanybody opened a door for me or
I saw somebody open a door forsomebody else is so few and far
between, and, like, let's justtalk about for a second how do

(29:32):
you do that in a digital world,And are we even thinking about
how to do it in a digital world?Again, it it may sound easy, but
I can quickly quickly recalltimes that I failed
astronomically when these lifeopportunities to be kind and
care came my way. If I had arewind button, I would rewind,

(29:52):
and I'd be like, oh, dang. Ishould have done it this way. I
literally had one of these lastnight, by the way.
My wife got back from a trip.And when I was growing up, my
parents had this board that theywould put a wheel of Swiss
cheese on, and there was a glasstopper that would go on it. And
we have the glass topper, but wedon't have the wooden board. And

(30:13):
my wife was like, hey. I gotthis while I was in Amish town.
And immediately, my brain waslike, oh, well, there's no ring
around it where the glass willsit and the glass will fall off.
And then I walked away to dosomething and I was like, well,
shit. I rewound and I walkedback over to my wife and I

(30:35):
literally said, hey, I'd like torewind that moment. And I looked
at her and I just said, thankyou, and I gave her a kiss
because she was thinking aboutme. She did this thing for me,
and here I was like, but there'sno ring around the just be kind
and care that somebody cared.
The main thing is to rememberthat these love by the way, that

(30:57):
was a small gesture. I rewound.I was purposeful. I came back. I
reengaged in the way that I feltlike I should initially instead
of my knee jerk response.
So the main thing is to rememberthat love isn't about these
grand gestures. It's aboutconsistently showing up with
compassion, showing up withintegrity, showing up with the

(31:18):
willingness to connect, and alsoseeing when you're actually
doing the exact opposite of thething that you should be doing
based on that it's rooted andyou're rooted in love. Listen.
Just start with small acts, oflove today. Just small.
Find small ways. Rewind aconversation. Open a door for
somebody. Care. Set care aboutyourself.

(31:41):
Set a goal. Set a whatever.Whatever. Just but start with
small acts of love today, andand I would beg you to watch.
Maybe you'll document.
Maybe put it in your notes app.I don't care what you do, but
watch how the ripples it justripples through your entire
life. Because ladies andgentlemen, you for every curse,
I should probably do some typeof biblical thing. So for what
you reap, you sow or for whatyou sow, you reap. Anyway, you

(32:04):
get my point.

Liz Moorhead (32:05):
What I love about what you said is that these are
the types of things where peoplehave been told given this advice
before. Right? Say somethingnice to someone else. Say
something nice about yourself.Go out of your way when you're
feeling like the trash can tosay, I'm gonna take a moment and
just say what I love right nowor what makes me happy.
That's what's so hilarious aboutsome of these things. Right?

(32:27):
It's not these grand gestures,these grand moments of
lightning.

George B. Thomas (32:33):
Yeah. It's nothing earth shattering. It's
just simple reminders of being,like, a good human.

Liz Moorhead (32:38):
Oh, yeah. Like, I'll be honest. I was just
talking about how one of thereasons I was able to be
persistent in this project we'reworking on is because there is
love flowing through every ounceof my body when I'm working on
it. And then there were timesearlier this week when I was
chugging DayQuil like it was myjob. I could not breathe.
I just wanted to nap, but I knewI needed to keep going. And for

(32:58):
our listeners at home, George isnot a slave driver. I was doing
this by choice. He probablywould have told me to take a
nap. There was a moment whereI'm like, I would literally
rather be doing anything rightnow.
I would I would love to becomeone with the carpet on the
floor. I would love to not bedoing this. And I'm like, just
name one thing you love rightnow about what you're doing. And
ladies and gentlemen, this isthe dumbest thing, but I'm like,

(33:21):
when I type on my keyboard, mywords feel important because of
the sound it makes and how itfeels under my fingertips. But I
also really like or love thatthe words I'm typing are ones
that actually matter.
And that was a big thing for mebecause it rooted me not only
back into my purpose, it startedwith something silly. Right?
Like, I just like the way thekeyboard feels. It fits good. My

(33:43):
words are important.
Right? Yeah. They love thatmoment.

George B. Thomas (33:46):
By the way, but yes.

Liz Moorhead (33:47):
It rooted me back, though, because I said, well,
why does it matter now thanother times when I write? And I
was thinking, like, you know, 5years ago, I was still doing
work that I really enjoyed andreally loved, but these words
matter. They're rooted. And I'mlike, okay. Just take another
swig and keep going.
Blow your notes. Move on.

George B. Thomas (34:03):
Let's go, NyQuil.

Liz Moorhead (34:05):
Yeah. No. K. Well, no. DayQuil because otherwise,
you're just getting gibberishfor me.
NyQuil. NyQuil, you're gettingsonnets that make no sense. Like
There

George B. Thomas (34:11):
you go.

Liz Moorhead (34:12):
Love letters to popcorn. But it reminds me you
know, let's get biblical for amoment because we need to
balance the the s word. Itreminds me of my favorite
proverb. This is a proverb thathas actually haunted me. It
keeps showing up actually infront of me all the time.
It's one of those things whereit's not once, not twice, not
thrice. It is constant. It hasbeen stalking me for years.
Started when I bought a necklaceon Amazon that I just thought

(34:32):
was pretty. And then on theback, it just said Proverbs 423.
And then it just kinda startedshowing up everywhere, and it
says, above all else, guard yourheart for everything you do
flows from it. And that's whylove is a choice. You know? You
don't have to suddenly walk outthe door and in order to achieve
a daily practice, become akindness machine where you

(34:53):
become a servant to the point ofself sacrifice. It is being
purposeful.
It is being intentional. It isabout cultivating the right
communities, entering the rightspaces, and then letting your
love flow. So that's what I loveabout it. Self love often,
though, feels like thefoundation for all of their
kinds of love. I mentioned that.
Like, I'm so I'm asking thisquestion for a friend, and by

(35:14):
friend, I mean me. Yet it is itis the most difficult for,
quote, unquote, many, Liz, toembrace. I would be curious to
hear how your journey with selflove has evolved, and how does
it empower the pursuit of theseother cornerstones. Right?
Because it's not just the act oflove.
It carries through everythingelse like we've talked about.

George B. Thomas (35:33):
I mean, listen. When we started to work
together 2 more than 2 years ago

Liz Moorhead (35:39):
It's like

George B. Thomas (35:39):
two and

Liz Moorhead (35:39):
a half years ago.

George B. Thomas (35:40):
Yeah. 2 and a half years ago, I was having an
identity crisis where I wascontinually trying to run away
from the old George. Right? Thisis where the show up as a whole
as human conversation happenedand how we've kinda repurposed
and retalked about and bringthat up over and over again. But
my my journey with self love hasbeen probably one of the most

(36:02):
transformative aspects of mypersonal growth.
Like and that's saying a lotbecause I focus on a lot of
things when it comes to, like,who I'm growing, who I'm trying
to be. But for the longest time,I didn't even realize this is
gonna sound sad to hopefullyeverybody, but I know as I'm
getting ready to say it, like, Ididn't realize that self love

(36:24):
was something I had tointentionally cultivate, like,
intentionally pay attention tointentionally. Like, listen. I
had this belief that love forothers, family, work, purpose,
you know, should should alwayscome first. But there was a kind
of a lesson that I learned thatyou you can't truly give what

(36:45):
you don't already possess.
If I don't have $5, I can't giveyou $5. If I don't have love for
myself, how am I really givingyou love? I can't borrow it from
somebody else to give to you.And and so listen. Trust me.
When when I tell you there was atime where where I almost had
zero love for myself. Like, Idid not like the human that I

(37:06):
was or where I was going, butself love began for me as this
realization that I, as flawed,as screwed up, as crazy of
background of where I came thatI'm worthy. Not just of what I
have accomplished, but of andfor who I am. Imperfections and

(37:26):
all. This shift, thisunderstanding empowers now
everything else in my life.
This understanding of howimportant self love is and
making sure that my cup is fullso that I can fill others. It
amplifies my passion by allowingme to pursue as you've seen in
starting multiple businessesalong the way to truly pursue

(37:48):
what lights me up. And by theway, the beautiful part of that
is it's free from the fear ofjudgment, free from the, like,
failure or perceived what wouldbe failure. It grounds my
purpose because I see myself assomeone capable of meaningful
contribution. Now I know thatsounds like a simple sentence,
but, again, historically, Ididn't know if I had anything to

(38:09):
contribute to the world.
I was a high school dropout. Icouldn't even stay in the navy
because of a medical honorabledischarge. Like, I was homeless
for a while. Like, I mean, whoam I to say I'm gonna contribute
anything? But this idea of selflove and making sure that,
again, filling and payingattention to self to then help
others, It also fuels mypersistence because I can now

(38:32):
meet failure with grace knowingthat my worth isn't tied to the
outcomes of the actions that I'mtaking.
Here's the thing that I hopeeverybody can realize is self
love, it is just like we'retalking about love in general.
It's a practice. Self love is apractice. Self love is a choice,
and it's a choice and a practicethat we all need to make and do

(38:53):
daily. It's a choice to treatourselves with the same
kindness, patience, and respectthat we would for a dear friend
or in many of our cases, aperfect freaking stranger, but
we won't for ourself.
But, anyway, when we do, itbecomes the foundation that
supports not only your growth,but your ability to amplify the

(39:16):
lives of others, the humans thatmatter, the the circle that you
have brought around you. Anyway,Liz, what what are your
thoughts?

Liz Moorhead (39:24):
You know, you you often remark in these episodes,
this is the question that gotme. This is the question where
it kinda caught in my throat.One of the things I've never
said out loud is I often willhave the same response. And I
have this with my writing, and Ihave this with all of the pod
prep that we do as thatoccasionally and I I joked about
this. Like, I will write anewsletter that I don't realize
I will need 3 months from now.

(39:45):
I've been reevaluating ournewsletter strategy. I know I
have some of our subscriberslistening. Don't you worry. I'm
coming back to your inboxes. ButI went back and I reviewed, and
I'm like, it's like a littletime capsule where I was writing
exactly what I needed for myselflater on.
I don't always know who I'mwriting to. Sometimes it's to
me, and it's the same thing withthese questions. I will be

(40:06):
honest. Self love is the placewhere I always struggle. I grew
up in a very critical, criticalhousehold, and in many ways, it
shaped the precision I use formy words.
It is both the thing that gaveme my greatest gifts and the
thing that caused me the mostpain. There and what I what I

(40:26):
still struggle with sometimes isand and I would recommend if
anybody resonates with this, wehave an episode that's dedicated
to it. Self love is so so deeplytied to self forgiveness because
often where I fall down is that,like, I know I'm leaps and
bounds better than I used to be.And I also know sometimes I

(40:47):
don't make choices I completelylove. And those those bad
choices don't come frommalicious places.
Sometimes they come from fear.Sometimes it just comes from
being a dumb human, and we'redumb humans who do dumb things
sometimes. And it's that gettingback up that's so hard because
the self love will feel sofragile. Like, I'll finally get
to a point where I feel like I'mkilling it, I'm crushing it, and
then something happens. And it'sjust like you look in the mirror

(41:10):
and go, am I ever going tooutrun that?
But then it becomes a catch 22.Right? Because the whole point
is to realize you were alwayslovable to begin with. And it's
this merging where I mean, Ipreach the gospel of whole ass
human while barely holdingmyself together with Scotch
tape. And it it's reallychallenging for me sometimes to

(41:31):
feel that self love because thenyou wake up and go, well, what's
the point if I'm just gonna endup back in this spot always
making the wrong decision?
And it it's hard, but that'sagain where it becomes a choice,
and I'm I'm forcing myself tomake the choice. But I'll be
damned if it doesn't hurt likehell sometimes. And I just
wanted to throw that out thereif anybody has feelings like

(41:52):
that. You know, self love isthis beautiful ideal, and
sometimes it can feel so, like,frustratingly, like, fractions
of an inch out of reach, and itmakes you feel different and
broken.

George B. Thomas (42:03):
And those forgiveness episodes are a
amazing pairing with theconversation that we're having
right now around self lovebecause that was literally one
of the biggest keys was, like,alright, dude. You you were a
dummy, but it's okay. Moveforward. Don't forget.
Otherwise, you make the samemistake, but go ahead and
forgive yourself.

(42:24):
It's a super powerful moment inin one's life.

Liz Moorhead (42:26):
Yeah. And, I mean, worst case scenario, if you
really feel like you screwed up,go both sides of the coin. If
somebody else was involved,apologize. And then if if you
have the this is a dumb thing.But if you have the data point
and the evidence that someoneelse is willing to forgive you
for a mistake, then, like, maybeit's okay to forgive yourself
too.

George B. Thomas (42:43):
Yeah.

Liz Moorhead (42:43):
But that's, I think, where I often struggle
the most is that weird thingwhere it's like, I know I'm and
you've been on this journey too.Like, you know you're making
better choices. You're you knowyou're doing better. You're
getting that 1% better each andevery day. But then there are
these, like, fragments of ourpast selves that will sometimes
just show up, like theseunhealed versions of ourselves.

(43:04):
We'll just kind of, hello.Remember being afraid? Do you
remember hiding? Do you rememberself sabotage because you're too
scared of actually seeing thelight and scary?

George B. Thomas (43:16):
Self sabotage, by the way, could be, like, a
future episode. But anyway Oh,

Liz Moorhead (43:20):
it's coming after resilience. Resilience is next
self sabotage.

George B. Thomas (43:23):
That one moved right up the line, didn't it?
But

Liz Moorhead (43:26):
Oh, heck yeah. Let's move on because this
vulnerability is making meitchy. So this actually kinda
taps into the same thing alittle bit. You know, people
struggle with fear, pastdisappointments, or sometimes
even societal expectations thatcloud their ability to embrace
love fully, whether that's forourselves, whether that's for
others or their purpose. Whatare ways in which people who may

(43:48):
be struggling right now canbegin to shift their mindset and
approach love as a tool forgrowth and, our favorite word,
resilience.

George B. Thomas (43:56):
It's funny because nobody said love would
be easy, but sometimes we wantit to be. Listen. If if love
feels out of reach, you know, ormaybe it's because we see it as,
like, this soft distant idealthat's for those other folks
who've got their ish together.They've got it all figured out.

(44:17):
First of all, they don't.
So I'll personally say, I don't.Now here's the thing. Love
doesn't magically erase fear orpain. It doesn't mean
everything's gonna be perfect oreasy. Love makes you adaptable.
Love makes you open. Love is thething that will enable you to be

(44:39):
connected. But to use it as atool, we might have to shift how
we see it. And I think thatbegins with our mindset choosing
to approach love differently asan action and we've alluded to
this by the way the entirepodcast, but it's like taking it
from that like Hollywood rosesInstagram love and the mindset

(45:00):
of choosing to approach lovedifferently as an action and
even a way of being. Alright?
Where human beings and love as away of being. I want you to put
that in your brain for a littlebit because there's three things
that I want the listeners tothink about. Acknowledge and
name your barriers, reframe loveas a daily practice, and choose

(45:22):
connection over perfection. Now,the first step is awareness. So
that's why I want to talk aboutacknowledge and name your
barriers.
Fear, past disappointments, youmentioned societal expectations
list, so we'll even throw thatin there, can create walls that
block love. They block love foryourself. They block love for
others. They block love for youto tap into your purpose. As a

(45:46):
human, you have to dismantlethose walls.
To dismantle those walls, youneed to name them. You need to
see them. You need to understandthem. You need to take time to
reflect or journal and try toanswer questions to give you the
visibility of those walls thatare blocking. And so you might
ask the question, think aboutjournal.

(46:07):
What's stopping me from fullyembracing love? Is it the fear
of vulnerability? Which, by theway, we've done an episode on
vulnerability. Is it the weightof past failures? You see, by
taking time to name thesebarriers, you take away their
power and you, as the humans,start to lay the foundation for
real change.

(46:27):
So make sure you've writtenthose questions down. Rewind if
you need to and think aboutthose. Next up, I wanna talk
about reframe love as a dailypractice. Again, it's a it's a
constant theme in this episode.Many of us humans view love as
something external, earned,conditional, or even
transactional.
Well, I'll do this for you ifyou do this for me. That's love.

(46:52):
No. You have to shift thatmindset by embracing love as,
again, a daily active practice.Love isn't just a feeling.
Love is your actions. Love isthe small intentional steps of
self care. Love is the steps offorgiveness for yourself and
others. Love is the showing ofkindness. Maybe ask yourself

(47:14):
daily, what's one small way thatI can show love today?
Kind of rhymes but not really,but what's the way? Does
something immediately when I askthat question pop into your
brain? What's one small way Ican show love today? It it might
be as simple as giving yourselfgrace. Something that is hard
for many of us to do when westumble or maybe it would even

(47:37):
be just the fact that you canexpress gratitude to someone
who's supporting you or havedone something for you.
Over time, these actions buildresilience and deepen your
ability, your capacity forgrowth. The last thing I wanna
talk about here is, anddefinitely not the least of 3 by
the way, but choose connectionover perfection. Society, this

(48:01):
world that we live in, thisdigital AI driven, Man, there's
there's just so much pressurefor us to perform. Pressure for
us to be perfect. But the funnything is love flourishes in
imperfection.
Like, that's when it is its besttrue connection whether with
yourself, with others, or yourpurpose comes when you let go of

(48:22):
needing to have it all figuredout. For me, I have this little
statement I lean on a lot, andand I say it to myself, but it's
just like let go and let God.Meaning, I don't need to be in
control. And and here's a tipI've learned and I think it'll
help you hopefully. Instead ofasking, am I doing this
perfectly?

(48:42):
Ask, am I showing upauthentically? It's a completely
different direction that we needto force our brain in more.
Authenticity over perfection.They're like this shift frees
you to embrace love as it is, bythe way. Not a dozen perfect
colored roses or a Hallmark cardor movie.

(49:04):
It shifts and frees us up toembrace love as messy, as human,
and as transformative becausethat's what love can do for us.
Liz, I know you leaned in there.What what are your thoughts?

Liz Moorhead (49:17):
I think what it really comes down to is a kinda
quippy sentiment I hear peoplesay a lot, the least for me,
which I say is to say the quietpart out loud. I think sometimes
what can happen is these pastdisappointments, these fears,
these societal expectations, oreven what I was talking about
earlier where you have thesemoments of just feeling like a

(49:37):
like a freaking failure. Youknow? There's even a part of me
right now, George, as I'msitting here, where I'm like,
I'm loving the work that I'mdoing, and I could point to a
1,000 little things that I wishI was already doing better that
remind me of where I've comefrom rather than where I'm
going. And I think this is whereconnection comes in.
This is where we have tounderstand that often it's not

(49:58):
that our fears are imagined orthe feelings we have around
disappointments are invalidbecause that's toxic positivity.
That's well, just smile your waythrough it, cookie. Like, that's
not no. But they do get smallerand more manageable and more
contextualized in reality whenyou talk to somebody else. When
you just say the quiet part outloud, I'm afraid.

(50:20):
I messed up. I did this thing. Idon't know if I can get over
this. I don't know if I can moveforward. And sometimes all it
takes is literally a personlooking across from you and
saying, you got this.
Where should I been there? I'veseen you stand up before. You
know? Some of my greatestmoments over the past year is
when George is verbally givingme a little kick in the pants
going, you can do better. I knowyou can do better.

(50:40):
What no. It's not. It's well,sometimes it's you've got this,
and sometimes it's like, ma'am,ma'am.

George B. Thomas (50:45):
Yeah. What

Liz Moorhead (50:46):
what are you you can do better. What are you
doing? You know? And sometimessomebody's gonna meet you with a
verbal kick in the pants, buteven that is a reminder of who
the flip you are.

George B. Thomas (50:55):
Usually, the verbal kick in the pants is
coming from a place of love.

Liz Moorhead (50:59):
It always is because otherwise, you didn't
care. If you didn't care

George B. Thomas (51:02):
say anything.

Liz Moorhead (51:02):
If you didn't see potential, if you hadn't seen
proof, like and I think that'sso when I think about the one
thing you can do differently is,like, just talk to somebody.
Just say one little thing outloud, and you will be surprised.
Like, you're not gonna suddenly,like, oh, no. I'm not afraid of
falling downstairs anymore.Like, it's not all of a sudden
everything's gonna be better,but it's going to feel more

(51:24):
manageable.
Like, think about all the bravepeople in the original Jurassic
Park. Right? They weren'tfighting dinosaurs, and they
weren't able to do all of thosecrazy things because they
weren't scared. They werepissing their pants with fear
throughout the entire movie, butthey did it scared.

George B. Thomas (51:39):
That's funny. I'm not sure how we got a
Jurassic Park theme in here, butthis is beautiful.

Liz Moorhead (51:43):
The dinosaurs in Jurassic Park, I too find a way.
No. But I think we have thisidea that, like, people are able
to take action whether it's actsof love, acts of purpose, acts
of persistence, acts of passionwithout fear. You just don't let
it consume you, or youunderstand that my purpose, my
love, my passion, my persistenceis greater than the fear that's
in front of me. And sometimesall it takes to get to that

(52:03):
point is to just talk tosomebody else and realize, oh, I
am also a fellow human on thisplanet.
The world is not attacking me.Take some solace in the fact
that in many ways you are notunique at all. We're all just
white knuckling it through thisthing called life sometimes, and
I will have to listen to thisepisode later for myself.

George B. Thomas (52:18):
Well and I don't even know if I can move
forward because I literallywanna ask the listeners if you
could be any dinosaur, whatdinosaur would you be? But
that's not why we're hereanyway.

Liz Moorhead (52:27):
A 100 per do you have an answer?

George B. Thomas (52:28):
Well, tyrannosaurus rex. But

Liz Moorhead (52:30):
Same.

George B. Thomas (52:31):
Interesting. Wow.

Liz Moorhead (52:33):
Yeah. Oh, heck yeah. I like her. She's great.
She comes and kicks butt inJurassic World.
Although she has very big DannyGlover, I'm getting too old for
this s energy, the woman runsout, opens the door, and she's
like, I'm trying to watch mystories. I'm trying to watch
days of our lives. You need meto save the day again. Like, I
love her. She's great.
If someone is feelingdisconnected from love, whether

(52:54):
it's self love or love forothers or even love for their
purpose, what is one tiny firststep? We talked about daily
practices. We talked aboutactions. But if you give us one
tiny homework assignment thatanybody can do today, what is
it?

George B. Thomas (53:05):
Yeah. Begin with gratitude. I mean, I could
end I could end right there.Like, begin with gratitude. Take
5 minutes, each and every day.
I don't care if it's in themorning, if it's in the evening.
Like, it's your schedule, butwrite down 3 things that you're
grateful for. That's it. Threethings. What are you grateful?
And they can be simple. Kindgesture from a friend, a a
moment of peace and quiet, whichis few and far between in some

(53:28):
houses. And maybe it's the factthat you're still just trying to
do the thing that you're doingand showing up. Like, I don't
know what your three things are,but start with gratitude and
list 3 things. 5 minutes a day.
It's so freaking simple, but wedon't do it. The reason we're
bringing

Liz Moorhead (53:42):
do it right now for us. Model it for us. What
are your 3 things that you'regrateful for?

George B. Thomas (53:46):
I have so many things that I'm grateful for.
Now here's the thing. If I wasgonna do this for me, I would
probably break it down into acouple pillars. I would do
personal, professional. Right?
Anyway, but if I said 3 thingsthat I'm grateful for right now.
1, I'm grateful for this podcastbecause we have the ability to
actually do something thatmatters and get into the ears of

(54:06):
the people who need to or wantto hear it. I don't need it to
be huge. I just want it to beimpactful for those that
actually take time to listen.I'm super grateful for the wife
that I have because she allowsme to live the dreams, build the
businesses, and do the dreamingand scheming that that only she
can allow me to do.
And I'm super grateful for thisoffice. Not everybody can step

(54:30):
in and have, you know, a mic anda road caster. Anyway, sound
board. Right? Like, monitors andall the stuff that, like, I take
for granted on most days.
Right now, I wanna take a momentand be grateful for it because
it enables me to do things thatI might not be able to do. Heck.
I'm even I'll just go out onlimb here. I'm even grateful for

(54:51):
AI because AI is amazing in someof the stuff that we've been
able to do with artificialintelligence. But my point is,
like, I could keep going.
I'm grateful I woke up thismorning because the alternative
really sucks. I'm actuallyreally grateful because I
haven't been in a lot of painlately with my arthritis which
is amazing because it makes theday a little bit more like, I

(55:12):
could keep going. Right? But 5minutes, three things. Keep it
simple because gratitude shiftsyour focus from what's missing,
which is what many of us focuson, to what's actually present
in your life.
And when you're focused onwhat's present in your life,
that's what creates thefoundation where love, the thing
that we're talking about today,can grow. When you focus on what

(55:35):
you're thankful for, younaturally open yourself up to
love in all of its forms. Likeand by the way, that's one
thing. If you wanna get nerdy,just go Google how many
different types of love thereare. We're I'm literally talking
about, like, agape love for mostof this episode, but there are
so many.
Gratitude though. And again, thereason I'm bringing this up is
because it softens those wallsof fear. It softens the

(55:58):
disappointment. You may haveeven built in disconnection into
your life. By focusing in ongratitude, it reminds you how
much good already exists.
It just gives us a better placeto focus in. So that that's take
the first step. Grab a pen,paper, ask yourself, what's good
in my life right now? What am Igrateful for? It's just an

(56:18):
amazingly quick small moment oftime that is gonna make a huge
impact, especially if you makeit a daily practice.
You'll see how full your cup isand how much you have to
actually give back. So, Liz,amazingly, we've reached our
destination the end of thisepisode. But before we go, like,
I'm I'm curious. Like, what'syour one thing from this

(56:40):
episode?

Liz Moorhead (56:41):
You're not missing love. It's all around you if you
choose to see it, but you haveto choose. You have to choose.
The thing is is that when youchoose let's just look at self
love, for example. Sometimesself love is going to hurt
because it is going to requireyou to look at yourself wholly
in the mirror, the sum of whoyou are, where you've come from,
the choices you've made, andsay, I still love you, and I'm

(57:03):
going to choose today to wake upand start acting from a place of
love.
It's interesting. I've noticedas I've gotten older, when I've
experienced moments of feelinggenuinely hurt by someone, I've
noticed the greater the paininflicted upon me, the less it
usually has to do with me. And Ithink about because I I know
there were moments in my lifewhere I've really hurt people,
and it very rarely had to dowith the person who was in front

(57:24):
of me. It was there was a partof myself I did not love enough
to act differently. And so it'sgonna be hard to make these
choices every day, and you can'texpect to look around and always
be totally in love with yourselfor totally in love with your
life.
There were some mornings lastyear where the only thing I
loved was, you know what? Thisis really good leftover pizza,
and I love it. And that's justwhat we're gonna run with today.

(57:47):
That's just what we're gonna runwith today.

George B. Thomas (57:49):
It's funny. There's something Yeah. There's
something about cold pizza andwarm beer the next day. I'm just
gonna throw that out there.

Liz Moorhead (57:56):
I gotta be honest. It's a it's a power combo. I'm
not gonna deny it. But, yeah,that's my one thing is that, you
know, no one is hiding love fromyou. No one is keeping it from
you.
You might be the one keeping itfrom yourself by not loving
yourself enough to make choicesthat align with who you really
are. You might be lovingyourself not enough by staying
in relationships, incommunities, in spaces, and in

(58:18):
rooms where you will always feellike the odd one out because it
is not where you belong, butthat means there is a community
and other people waiting foryou. At some point, you have to
understand that the one hurtingyou the most is yourself, but
you are worthy of love, and thatdoesn't make you a bad person.
Now will I take this advice formyself? No.
I'm I still have a 1,000 thingsin my head this morning where
I'm literally like, and you didthis and you did this and you

(58:38):
did this. You know what? There'sa cheese pizza in my future that
I'll throw my love at, andthat's fine. But, George, what
about the Pepperoni? SometimesI'm in a pepperoni mood.
Oh. You know what's good?Pepperoni, sausage, onions,
mushrooms.

George B. Thomas (58:50):
Pepperoni, banana pepper. But, anyway Oh,

Liz Moorhead (58:52):
banana pepper is iconic. Yeah. Iconic. It's the
tyrannosaurus rex Hey. Of pizzatoppings.

George B. Thomas (58:58):
Just saying. Bringing it all together.

Liz Moorhead (59:00):
Not as what about you? What's your one thing? What
do you wanna leave our listenerswith today?

George B. Thomas (59:04):
You know, I think for me, the my one thing
is that love is not just afeeling because that's where I
lived and where I think so manypeople live is that it's like
this it's it's something thatjust comes and goes. It's has
its fleeting moments. It's notjust a feeling. It's a practice.
It's a series of smallintentional actions that connect
you to you, that connect you toothers, and for sure based on

(59:28):
this is around the superhumanframework conversation to your
purpose, to your passion, toyour persistence that will will
keep you going.
And so listeners, I would startby showing gratitude, embracing
imperfection, and choosingconnection over fear. I think
it's these three simple stepstaking consistent, show
gratitude, embrace perfection,connection over fear. I think if

(59:52):
you do that consistently, thatwill lead you to a journey to a
life beyond your default.