June 22, 2023 • 42 mins
Imagine going from living in the worst apartment in your city to becoming a millionaire by the age of 30. Our guest, Jean-Luc Boissonneault , did just that. Join us as we explore his incredible journey of self-development, from his experiences in sports and bodybuilding to his transition into entrepreneurship. Discover how having a clear vision, staying focused, and working hard to avoid distractions led him to financial success and beyond. He founded 12 different businesses, including an incubator for startups, has been featured in all major business magazines, won the Business 40 Under 40 Award, written 8 books, and even started the first meditation franchise in the world.
But Jean-Luc's story doesn't end there. After selling his businesses, he embarked on a spiritual journey, discovering the power of meditation and the connection between the mind and body. Learn how dedicating just five minutes a day to meditation can significantly impact our lives and how his priorities shifted as he gained a deeper understanding of success.
As leaders and entrepreneurs, we can take valuable lessons from Jean-Luc's experiences. In this episode, we delve into the importance of alignment and decision-making, and how our bodies can hold us back from truly leading with strength and courage. Jean-Luc shares his insights on bringing meditation to the corporate world and how he now uses his experience to help others as a business coach. Don't miss this fascinating conversation about self-development, leadership, and finding balance in our lives.
You can find more about him at coachjeanluc.com.
Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed this episode, please support us on Patreon.
For more leadership tools, check out the free workbooks at KylaCofer.com/freestuff.
Book Kyla to speak at your event here, or to connect further, reach out to Kyla on LinkedIn and Instagram.
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Episode Transcript
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Kyla Cofer (00:06):
Welcome to the Leadership School podcast.
I'm your host leadership andself-care coach, Kyla Cofer.
Here at the Leadership School,you'll hear leaders from around
the world sharing their storiesand expertise on how to lead
with balance and integrity.
Our goal (00:20):
teach you how to be an extraordinary leader.
Welcome back, leaders.
I'm really honored to speaktoday with Jean-Luc
Boissonneault.
He has a really impressivestory.
If you've never heard of himbefore, I'm so excited to
(00:42):
introduce him to you.
He went from living in theworst apartment in his city when
he was 20 years old to just 10years later, at the age of 30,
becoming a millionaire.
From there, he sold hisbusinesses and went on this
journey, a spiritual journey ofself-development.
He tells us about his story,about his journey to millionaire
, about his journey from there,selling his business, and where
(01:05):
that took him after.
We really talk today a lotabout self-development, personal
journey.
We get into meditation, howthat can help you in your
journey as a leader.
What does it look like and meanto be in alignment with
yourself and out of alignmentwith yourself?
It's a really fascinatingconversation.
Listen.
if you have not joined ourPatreon page yet, this is the
episode that you want to do thatfor.
Check out patreoncom forwardslash leadership school because
(01:29):
after the interview we have somebehind the scenes footage and
conversation happening.
We get a lot more in depthafter the interview.
You don't want to miss ourconversation this week over on
Patreon.
Consider sponsoring and joiningus to hear that.
Thanks so much for joining.
Jean- Luc, thanks so much forjoining me.
Seriously, I'm really lookingforward.
You have such a great, uniquestory.
(01:50):
I'm excited and I'm enjoyinghearing the birds in the
background because you're on thebeach there in Nicaragua.
Why don't you tell us just alittle bit about your story and
what brought you here?
Jean-Luc Boissonneault (02:00):
I grew up a much shy kid.
Going into sports was big,Getting into hockey out in
Canada and then joining martialarts and then eventually
becoming a personal trainer anda bodybuilder and competing at
the Canadian Championships.
So when I was 14, I joined myfirst bodybuilding show from a
(02:22):
recommendation from someone inthe gym.
So I said, okay, I'll try itAnd I did it and I came last
place.
And then I did it a year laterand I came last place.
And I did a year later and Icame last place again.
And then I took a year off andlistened to what all the judges
were saying.
They were saying my legs weretoo small to compete with these
other guys And so I was just sodedicated that I was working my
(02:45):
legs three times a week at thegym and I took two years off.
And then I came back and I wonthe Canadian Championships first
place And the judges said youhad the best legs on stage.
That's what made you win.
So I think from an early age Ihad this discipline about
achieving something and knowingthat if I persevere, if I commit
to it, that I will get to whereI need to go, And that came
(03:09):
through sport.
Kyla Cofer (03:10):
That's really amazing.
Right there in itself, I meanyour story gets even more
interesting.
But right here I'm justthinking when I was that age, I
would just give up, I just quitstuff.
I mean I've got plenty ofstories where I was like, well,
I'm not good at it, But at thetimes when I did have something
in my mind that I was likethat's for sure something I
really want, I would do thatwork for it.
But I don't know if I wouldhave gone three years literally
(03:34):
failing completely last place.
But you decided you reallywanted this and you just didn't
quit.
What brought that determination?
Like, what was it about thatthat just made you keep going.
Jean-Luc Boissonneault (03:45):
Yeah, good question.
Where did that come from?
Why was I competing?
I was competing, I sort of fellinto it And then and then, just
, yeah, it feels good to bedisciplined.
You know, I don't know.
I think it kept me focused onsomething And I think, being a
sort of entrepreneurial,skateboarder, rebellious kind of
(04:05):
teen, I could have easily wentin other directions.
But this sure way to stay withthe right people, people that
are taking care of their health,that are, I think there was a
goodness in it that I could see.
That is like, oh, this is agood path And it's only going to
make me better.
And I just kept going.
And, yeah, that fire is justpart of me.
I think It's an innate kind offeeling.
(04:30):
And then, when I fell intoentrepreneurship, it was the
same recipe Have a vision, youknow, work towards that vision,
be self-disciplined, beperseverant, stay away from
distractions.
You know, stay focused and youwill get there.
And I remember when I was 19,moving out, i was living in the
worst apartment building in mycity, like prostitutes and drug
(04:52):
dealers all around me in theapartments next to me, and I was
living there with my bestfriend at the time, and I
remember just that moment.
I was a personal trainer atthat point And I said I just
sick of this.
And I said I just said we'reliterally moving out all of our
furniture into the elevator ofthat apartment building.
(05:13):
And I told them.
I said I'm going to be amillionaire.
I'm going to be a millionaireby 30.
That's what I'm focused on next.
And I followed the same recipeAnd by 30, i became a
millionaire, you know, and I hada million dollars, over a
million dollars, in my bankaccount at 30.
I was like all right, i didthat.
Kyla Cofer (05:28):
You did it, wow, and you did that through business,
right?
You had your own businesses.
Jean-Luc Boissonneault (05:32):
Yeah, i went from being a personal
trainer to then meeting a mentorthat really changed my whole
direction.
Yeah, just a little story aboutmy mentor.
He's not with us anymore, buthe was this guy, claude, a
French guy like me and a homebuilder, a multimillionaire,
really tough, very, verymasculine.
And he was a father figure, youknow, to me, and I was training
(05:56):
him, I was his trainer, but hehad like an interest in wanting
to push me, even though I waspushing him, you know, and I
remember this, one day he saidwhat's your dream?
What's your dream?
And I said I don't know.
And he's like well, you got tohave a dream, you got to have a
vision.
What do you want to do?
later on He's like are yougoing to count reps your whole
life?
Like, is your daughter going tolook at you and be like, ah, my
(06:20):
dad counts to 10 for a living?
And it poked at me, ittriggered me, you know, and it
made me feel like, is thatreally what you feel my job is
to you as a trainer?
Like here I am researching,like day and night.
I was putting all my heart intohelping him get in shape, and
he just made me feel like thissmall, like my job was just a
(06:43):
matter of counting reps.
And yeah, I remember feelingvery triggered by that.
And then him leaving and mesitting with that and sitting
with like why do I feel souncomfortable about this?
And what he had poked in me wasthis new standard for myself.
You can do better, kid, you cando bigger things and I see it
(07:05):
in you.
you know He had seen that I wasthis bodybuilder, this like
high achiever.
that is unstoppable.
You know I placed seventh inthe world.
so he could feel that And Ididn't know at the time.
But anyways, I came back.
When he came back to work outwith me, I told him.
I said I want to open a gym oneday and that's what I want to
do.
And he said right away hisfirst thing was when are you
(07:28):
going to open it?
Which I look back now, you know.
Kyla Cofer (07:30):
What a great thing.
Jean-Luc Boissonneault (07:32):
Yeah, just like just setting deadlines
, Like yeah, okay, when It's notgoing to happen unless you tell
me when, And then I said Idon't know, So I got to think
about this.
Kyla Cofer (07:41):
Someday.
Jean-Luc Boissonneault (07:42):
Yeah, someday.
So I got to think about it,like, and I think deep down he
knew the integrity that I hadthat if I say something I'm
going to do it.
You know I was hesitant to givehim answers.
So I went home and then, youknow, two days later I was
working out with him again.
And as soon as he walked in thegym he was like when When are
you doing it?
It's like he was on me.
You know as much as I was onhim for working out.
(08:04):
And I said that a year from now.
And then he said you can do itin six months.
Kyla Cofer (08:09):
Coaches are so great , right?
They just push that.
They push that envelope for youand they you're thinking
there's no way I could everaccomplish something that big in
six months.
And then he comes up with thisbelief in you and tells you that
it actually is possible.
Not only is it possible, but hebelieves that you can do it.
We're able to do it six monthslater, three months, so three
months.
Jean-Luc Boissonneault (08:28):
So three months later I was.
I was open for business, this$250,000 investment, had no you
know, had no experience, didn'tknow what I was doing.
I had been a self-employedpersonal trainer but I just
jumped in day one, didn't evendo any marketing.
I had this 6,000 square footlocation and I went to war.
(08:48):
You know, it was like, okay,now I like I cannot fail.
I just got to show up every dayand put everything I can, be
open to learning and push.
So I owe a lot to him, you knowto him for having seen that in
me and for having poked me alittle bit, because you can
either stay comfortable or youcan raise your standard.
Kyla Cofer (09:08):
And raising standards can be hard to do.
I mean staying comfortable.
We stay there because it'scomfortable and it's safe, like
we know what to expect, andraising that standard brings so
much uncertainty and apossibility of failure and
possibility of destitution.
You know when you, oh I, mightfail and I'll be $250,000 in the
(09:29):
hole and how am I ever, evergoing to pay that back.
So it says a lot when you canpush through that.
But it also matters to have theright people in your corner,
and it sounds like you reallydid.
You had the right people tosupport you and really help you.
Was he one of your firstcustomers there in your gym?
Jean-Luc Boissonneault (09:45):
No, he didn't actually, which makes it
even better, you know, he wasjust, he was literally doing it
for me, you know, and that'swhere you really felt somebody
selflessly helping you, becausehe, he ridded himself of a great
trainer.
Yeah, for my sake.
And yeah, I'm getting chillsright now just because I feel so
(10:08):
grateful, and what he did to meis what I do to other people
now, and at that moment I didn'tbelieve in myself, I didn't
think that was possible.
And he showed me that it waspossible by just really being
straightforward.
I, just so grateful for him.
Wow, so where'd you?
Kyla Cofer (10:26):
take it from there.
You, because you said youbecame a millionaire.
So you built this gym and thenturn it into a million dollar
business.
Jean-Luc Boissonneault (10:32):
Yeah, so I turned it into a four million
dollar business but I sold itfor, you know, one and a half
million.
I just got to work.
You know, i just got to workand I didn't know anything like
most starting entrepreneurs,business owners and and just I
jumped to the books.
You know what are the books Istarted I became a really avid
(10:55):
reader of.
I've calculated now that I'veread over 3000 business books
because I was that obsessed withreading and knowing how to
succeed And I was reading threebooks a week one on audio, one
in purse like a physical copyand one as a Kindle kind of book
like a digital book.
Kyla Cofer (11:13):
So you really like that support from other mentors
that maybe you didn't meet themin person, but 3000 other people
who are influencing you here.
Jean-Luc Boissonneault (11:21):
Yeah, exactly, just filling my brain
with success, direction ofsuccess, and I was taking it
through.
Yeah, if I was driving, I hadit on audio.
If I was sitting waitingsomewhere at a bank or something
I was reading on my phone.
If I was at home, I was readingmy book.
Actually, later on I found out,is an addiction really is an
(11:44):
addiction to feeling stupid andand realizing.
Realizing that I, you know,like I thought that if I didn't
consume the information all thetime, then I would lose it, like
that I wouldn't have the memoryto hold it or something that I
needed.
This constant flow is constantreinforcement.
Kyla Cofer (12:03):
You read, you had full of mentors, from books to
people in person started thisbusiness, sold the business, and
where did you go from there?
How did you get to where youare now?
Jean-Luc Boissonneault (12:12):
Yeah, like that one business within
that decade.
I was not only starting likegrowing this gym, I grew it to
four locations, startedfranchising it, started
expanding it in other cities andthen it got sold.
But in that decade I hadstarted a whole bunch of other
businesses, over 12 of them fromsoftware, were they all just as
(12:34):
successful.
No, no, most of them failed, butthey, you know you either win
or you learn.
You know Right, you either winor you learn.
And there was a lot of learningwhen you're willing to take the
risks to jump into somethingnew.
And I had a fascination once Iwas figuring it out and I was
like, oh, wow, this can beapplied to software business and
(12:56):
maybe I'll create my ownsoftware for the fitness club.
So I started a software for mygyms and then it was like, oh,
like, let's do an academy.
I did personal training studioand then I was doing events and
bodybuilding shows and all sortsof things that you know.
A lot of them were greatsuccess too.
Our events, for example.
I did over a dozen events thatevery year one event with
(13:18):
hundreds of people attending,700 to 1000 people attending to
these events and for, yeah, 10years straight and every one of
them being sold out.
So I sort of went in alldirections and then realized I
need to start an incubator,because an incubator is startups
and these people have alwaysnew business ideas, so I'll
(13:40):
never be bored, you know, I canjust always help people.
And then I sold my business andactually along this journey,
this 10 year journey.
All the businesses sort ofrelate to fitness and health
because the way I got into thiswas to help people get healthy
right as a personal trainer.
So I had this fascination forthe optimal solution for health
(14:03):
throughout this journey And as Igot further and further along.
When I sold my business aroundthat time I had come to the
conclusion I had been a personaltrainer.
I tried exercise.
I had been a nutritionconsultant.
My business included nutritionsupplementation.
Then I got into hormonetherapies And I was like, okay,
(14:23):
stress is the number oneoverlaying factor.
I was like it doesn't matter ifyou eat well, you exercise well
, you sleep well.
If your day to day is superstressful and you don't know how
to manage that, it overrideseverything.
You'll still be fat and youknow your body will hold on to
that fat as an energy sourcebecause it's in self
preservation.
So I was always go.
(14:46):
My career as an entrepreneurwas going one way.
Parallel to that was thisseeking for optimal health in
the name of my clients, like tohelp them, because at this point
I had over 40 personal trainersworking for me.
So I was still in this role ofmaking sure that I'm on the
cutting edge with health.
And I, after the hormones, Istarted to think about because
(15:10):
if my clients would come backwith hormone results that were
out of whack, that they were toostressed, too much cortisol or
I, was like, hey, well, nowwhat do we do?
They're exercising, they'reeating right, they're sleeping
well, they got the supplement.
Still, what is there to do?
And that was like a blank to me, like I don't know, like what
else can we do?
And then I realized that whatcontrols the hormones?
(15:32):
I read this book called whenthe body says no, by Gabber Maté
, and this I was about 25 yearsold And it blew my mind because
it made the connection from themental thing to the physical
health And like just now youknow people are talking about
mental health like I made thatconnection when I was 25 and
going, oh, wow, scientifically,it made sense because he had in
(15:55):
that book all these studiesshowcasing that your emotional
health and your mental healthhas everything to do with the
diseases that are happening.
Kyla Cofer (16:03):
The mind and body are 100% connected, right?
I don't know why we thinkthey're separate because the
mind is part of the body.
I mean, it's all the same, itworks together, absolutely Yeah.
Jean-Luc Boissonneault (16:13):
And there's really two connections.
There's the mind and bodyconnection that the Western
world and the medical field doesnot take into consideration
really They're starting to.
But there's another separationyour environment and your mental
health.
Right, so there's theconnection of the mind to the
body, but there's also theconnection to the environment
and your mental health, likehow's your relationship, how's
(16:34):
your family doing?
All these sort of relationalthings around you know, how's
your job?
You hate your job, like nodoctors asking those questions.
So I became fascinated with themental aspect of things, which
led me to meditation.
And meditation was like thisthing where I had heard that it
will calm your mind and yourthoughts And if you do that,
(16:57):
then your mind won't be so busyand you'll be able to.
Your nervous system will relaxitself.
So that was a really cool idea.
So I decided to jump in and tryit myself.
Like everything that I wouldrecommend with clients, I would
first be the guinea pig for itand see, and I started doing it
for 30 days.
Five minutes And anyonelistening right now, this is
(17:18):
what I recommend everyone to dois just five minutes a day.
Do it after you brush yourteeth.
That way it's already ingrainedwith a current habit and just
take five minutes after youbrush your teeth, like just sit
there Maybe, like sit on the siton the toilet, lock the door
and breathe for the timer.
Five minutes and just just sitthere with yourself.
So I did that for 30 days Andat the end of 30 days there was
(17:41):
no turning back, everything.
It's like I had opened a doorto an awareness I didn't know
existed And it was like oh okay,I can see clear, I'm not in the
trees, you know, where I can'tfind anything.
I'm up on the mountain all of asudden and I'm overseeing my
life as a whole.
Kyla Cofer (18:00):
And just in five minutes a day for 30 days.
Jean-Luc Boissonneault (18:03):
Yeah.
Kyla Cofer (18:03):
Wow, that's significant.
Jean-Luc Boissonneault (18:05):
It is, and I started to become an
advocate, an ambassador.
I was like this is the solution, this is what changes
everything.
All my clients that were busybusiness owners and
professionals that were justlike running from one place to
the next, you know, doing onething and then jumping into
another thing and trying tomanage their family and their
everything I was like I gotsomething for you.
(18:26):
This is gonna make you seewhat's at the root of things you
know.
So we're not trying to justhelp this surface level band-aid
stuff That's going on.
We're actually gonna go deeper.
Kyla Cofer (18:39):
So did you start offering that to your gym
clients?
Jean-Luc Boissonneault (18:42):
No, I was just telling them five
minutes a day, just just sitwith yourself.
Then they would start to ask mequestions And I was like I
don't know much about it, youknow, all I know is that if you
sit with yourself and you justsit there in the silence, that
things just happen.
And it's like, don't try tomake it happen, but just just
commit to 30 days and don'tcommit to like things changing,
because you're already, you'realready gonna be in the loop
(19:04):
again.
I've trying to achievesomething, like you're doing 99%
of your day already.
This is a reverse thing.
It's like you're setting athing in place, a structure for
yourself to allow for somethingmysterious to happen and it may
not happen.
So don't have an expectation.
Kyla Cofer (19:20):
No expectations.
Let's just sit with ourselvesand be calm, and not try and
make something of it.
Have, allow ourselves to havefive minutes in a day where
we're not having to be something, be someone, do something, make
a difference somewhere thatwe're just being and allowing
ourselves to exist.
Jean-Luc Boissonneault (19:39):
And this is deeply programmed in us from
an early age that we, oursociety, runs on achievement.
You know, if it doesn't, itcollapses.
We need to have progress.
It's how the system runs.
So from an early age we're toldokay, you know, you're gonna go
to school, you're gonna go ingrade one and then two, and then
three and then four, andthere's a progression.
And you're gonna keep moving inthis way and then you're gonna
(20:00):
finish school, you're gonna geta job.
Once you get a job, you'regonna have family and then
you're gonna retire at 40.
It's like already, this, thisprogression, and it's like don't
stop moving.
And Yeah, this, this becamelike wow.
And I was looking back in mypast as the bodybuilder, always
pointing, achieving, moving,always going and how that was
(20:21):
connected to my hormone right,this whole thing was connected.
And when I was around 26, I gotmy own hormones check and, as
healthy as I was, thinking Iwas, the naturopathic doctor I
went to see, did the adrenaltest on me and she said you're
burnt out and I was like, and Ijust like collapsed.
(20:42):
She had acknowledged somethingthat was deep within me and that
I couldn't see becauseadrenaline hormones what I
discovered about hormones islike, especially stress
hormones, and I used to docorporate talks, like to tech
companies and stuff like thisaround around this.
Is that adrenaline is like adouble-edged sword, it gives you
energy, but it also can take alot of energy.
(21:04):
It wears you out.
So you may be feeling great, Ihave so much energy, but really
it's not the right type ofenergy.
It's like coffee.
You'll drink coffee and it'slike, alright, it gives me a
boost, it's good, but keep doingit and you're going to deplete
your natural energy.
Your natural adrenaline willeventually be exhausted And
you're gonna feel exhausted andif you don't take that coffee,
(21:27):
you won't be able to function.
You'd be a zombie.
So, yeah, that was my discoveryinto realizing this whole
connection and that I had thistool now, meditation, and it is
actually more powerful than anyexercise, any nutrition, any
lifestyle habit that we canintroduce to our lives, and it
impacts not only me, but itimpacts everyone around us,
(21:50):
everyone, and it's it works inreally mysterious ways.
I got so passionate about itthat it was time to sell my
fitness business.
It's like I had graduated thephysical aspect of things and
now was on to something that wasvery curious I was very curious
about and I didn't knowanything about really, apart
from my little test.
(22:10):
So I sold my business, I soldeverything and I just wanted to
let go and go travel the worldand go see different spiritual
teachers, people that are gurusin this kind of space, and I
knew it was completely out of myindustry now and that it was
weird and it was different.
(22:31):
But I needed to let it all goand I started doing that and I
dove into that, which eventuallyled me to sell my house.
I had a million dollar house,mercedes, that, all the luxury
stuff, and that fell flat forme, that didn't matter anymore.
It's like why am I holding onto this?
I was questioning it.
Oh, because I want to look goodfor other people.
I want to have this symbol ofprestige for everyone else, for
(22:53):
my neighbors, for people tothink I'm successful and do
business with me.
Not gonna happen anymore.
I'm just gonna be me.
Kyla Cofer (22:59):
So did your definition of success change at
this point?
Jean-Luc Boissonneault (23:03):
Oh yeah, oh yeah.
Everything became about mydaughter, right, being there, my
wife at the time, myrelationships became very
important because I wasquestioning why I was striving.
What am I striving for?
This dream, this, this illusionI was sold my whole life that I
need to work until I'm like 50and then retire and then and
then enjoy my life.
(23:24):
I was like no, no, no, no,there's a better way I can do
this, where I can enjoy the dayright now, because I could die
at any moment and, likemeditation, put me face-to-face
with that, and like theseteachers that I traveled to and
went to Iceland and Arizona, allthese places to meet them.
And then the conclusion waslike man I, could die at any
(23:45):
moment, like I need to live thislife and I need to do it in the
way I want to do it.
I'm gonna carve my own path andwhatever, it doesn't matter
what it means to anyone else,it's for me.
Kyla Cofer (23:55):
Wow, so you kind of went on this journey of
self-discovery and would you saythat you're currently still on
that journey of self-discoverybecause you kind of come to a
settling place?
Jean-Luc Boissonneault (24:07):
You know I have this tattoo.
It's a zen on my hand, it's,it's full circle.
You know it's really, it'sshowing that it's like the
Wizard of Oz.
You know, you've had the shoeson your whole the whole time and
it was really this, this returnhome to the ambitious self that
I am.
But now I want to say anawareness of knowing what you
(24:28):
value and what you want andmaking sure you're not caught up
in this.
I think it's Socrates.
He had an example of a horsecarriage.
You know, being pulled by thehorse carriage and not having
control and just sort of beingalmost similar to like how it's
really hard to have control overour social media and are on the
internet.
It's like it's meant tocaptivate you.
(24:50):
Every business on there ismeant to suck you in, hold your
attention as long as they can.
You got to be aware of that andyou can't get pulled by it, you
know.
So it was this awareness that,okay, achievement is similar,
it's like a game.
Business is similar.
It's it's a big game and it'sfun.
It's like we can keep goingdown that that route, in a way
(25:12):
that all, all of a sudden, we'vesacrificed everything we cared,
cared for at the same time.
So to me, success now is moreabout touching the things that
you value, aligning your timewith the things you value.
That don't tell me you valueyour family, you know, more than
anything, yet you spend 5% ofyour day with them.
(25:35):
That's out of whack, becauseeverything you do in a day,
every habit, is massivelyimportant, not like okay, yeah,
I missed this.
No, every little thing we do inour day intentionally does is
is either in alignment or out ofalignment.
Kyla Cofer (25:49):
Tell me more about being in alignment, out of
alignment.
So, being in alignment with,with who you are, or out of
alignment with who you are andlike what your goals and your
hopes and your dreams, and likeyour purpose is that kind of
what you're meaning?
Jean-Luc Boissonneault (26:01):
No, to me what it means is the
connection to my body.
Okay, and so this is a nineyear spiritual journey, right of
letting go of everything, money.
I lived in a tent for threemonths seeing, yeah, just a
complete shift, and what itbrought me to was that I've been
(26:22):
conditioned to only prize mymind from the very early age,
that the goal was to be smartand to pass tests and to have a
high IQ and, and if I do that,i'm going to get a job and I'm
going to get hired.
I'm going to, you know, it wasalways based on my mind, like in
our society as a whole reprisethe mind.
(26:44):
We don't really prize the body,we don't really talk about it,
and what meditation does is youget out of these thoughts
eventually, over time.
And what happens when there isno thoughts anyone?
well then you're present tojust what is.
And then what you start tonotice is that your body has
sensations going on, telling youstuff all the time And just the
(27:08):
same way, that, oh, you get aurge just like, oh, I, have to
go to the bathroom right now, soyou're listening to your body
and you're going to do that, orI'm kind of hungry right now,
and I'm going to do that.
So what it showed me is that,wow, there's, there's some
wisdom in this body of minethat's telling me my yes and my
no, and it comes down to thethis simple fact.
(27:29):
Thinking of the song catStevens, you know, if you want
to say yes, say yes, and if youwant to say no, say no.
And it really comes to thatsimplicity what's a yes and
what's a no.
The problem is, when we're inour heads is that we make this
judgment call based on whatother people are going to think
about us.
We're still making thatjudgment calls based on everyone
(27:52):
else and we're ignoring whatour true calling, our true
alignment, is saying.
So sometimes we say yes when wemean to say no and sometimes we
say no when you want to say yesbecause we're scared.
So once you start tuning intothis and to start really
speaking, to know this isactually a no, and instead of
people pleasing or making youfeel good or not wanting to
(28:15):
offend, I'm able to tune intomyself and say that's a no.
I can say it in a nice way andthat's what I mean by alignment.
Kyla Cofer (28:24):
So this is where we make that switch into talking
about why this matters toleadership, because leaders need
to know when to say yes andwhen to say no, and they're
bringing other people along withthem and other people are
affected by those decisions.
So when we are have done thiswork of really developing
(28:46):
ourselves and and knowing thatbigger picture of our lives and
being more alignment with who weare, we understand exactly when
we want to say yes, when we sayno to things, and it makes our
decision making pretty simple.
So the decision making doesn'tcause as much stress because we
already know where we're goingand we already know what we want
(29:07):
and what we need.
And then what we're doing forthe people that we're leading
like.
We know how to lead them and inwhat direction we're going.
We know how to prepare thatvision and cast that vision and
get people to it, because weunderstand who we are and where
we're going.
So if people want to get moreinvolved in meditation, you
recommend they start with fiveminutes a day for 30 days.
(29:28):
Where would they go from there?
Jean-Luc Boissonneault (29:30):
That's it.
After that, it's a mystery.
Will you keep going?
Will you start to get intoguided meditation apps?
Maybe you'll.
You know there's many differentpaths you can take.
After that, maybe you'll meet ateacher.
Maybe you'll start gettinginterested in other stuff.
It may open a door, but it's amystery.
After that, it's your ownjourney.
It's your own journey and weall have our own.
Kyla Cofer (29:52):
Wow.
So, Jean-Luc, what are youdoing these days?
You've been on this nine-yearjourney spiritual path.
after having these businessesthat have been successful, some
not so successful, really gotinto meditation and you did a
lot of meditations withcorporate.
You said you were bringing allthese trainings to other
organizations and bringing thisto other people.
Where has it led you to today?
Jean-Luc Boissonneault (30:11):
Yeah, I , started this company called
the Peace Room, which was ameditation studio in the city of
Ottawa in Canada, and then Istarted corporate and after the
Canadian government, doingmeditations for all the
government.
For me personally, every momenthas become a meditation And I
think you know the paradox of itis that you need to start to
(30:32):
get going, but then eventuallyyou need to let it go.
Yeah, so, eventually, everymoment.
So we call meditation apractice.
You know, meditation practiceand it is.
It's a practice for what?
It's a practice for life, it'sa practice for living in the
moment and for having theawareness of your body, of the
room, of energies, of otherpeople.
So you can imagine how muchthis helps in so many ways,
(30:55):
especially in the corporateworld.
How we do meetings.
You know a lot of times we domeetings together in a board
room and we're talking over eachother or we're talking to be
heard, not to actuallycontribute.
You know we're talking to bevalidated, to not lose our job
right, and we're not to beimportant.
All these things where, ifeveryone around the table had
(31:17):
the awareness to just realizeit's not about us, it's not
about the I, it's aboutsomething bigger that we're
trying to achieve.
Wow, that makes for a powerfulteam.
So are you walking?
Kyla Cofer (31:27):
with people through this.
Are you still doing the peaceroom?
Jean-Luc Boissonneault (31:31):
No, the peace room is still going.
I still do own it, but it's allonline now.
So people can go tothepeaceroomcom.
They have a corporation ortheir HR person, but I'm not
involved anymore.
I'm a business coach.
It's been a year.
When I said coming full circleis.
I realized that when I was apersonal trainer, I was a coach
(31:52):
And I was always about bringingout the best in people.
And when I had my incubator,that's what I loved, that's what
I was doing.
And then when I looked at how Igrew my companies into multiple
locations and made my milliondollars, it was because I was
able to uplift everyone.
I was always this coach And nowI'm a business coach.
My own approach And I come withthese tools, tools that are to
(32:18):
help the blockage that are inthe way of our beliefs, to raise
that standard and to connect itnot only with your own personal
achievements but yourimpersonal dream, like change
you're trying to make in theworld and like how, how you can
get out of your own way for thatto Manifest itself, and in the
biggest way possible.
Because everyone I ask abouttheir dream.
(32:40):
Every time I is the question.
I ask everyone what's yourdream?
And then they'll tell me oh,it's that to help people do this
.
And I always asked them howmany people do you want to help?
Now, it's as many as I canright, because when you're in
your heart, the heart knows noboundaries, it knows no
limitations, and that questionof the dream comes from the
heart because it's something youwant to help.
(33:00):
And when we talked about howleaders need the self-awareness
in order to lead, in order toknow the way, if you are a
leader that is solely operatingfrom the mind and not from the
heart and not feeling into yourbody, you're going to lead for
profits only and you're going toget in trouble.
You're going to head people,you're gonna bring people in a
(33:23):
direction that isn't rooted inyour body And the body doesn't
want to do bad things to people.
The body doesn't want todestroy and do, and the body
wants to do good.
It just knows it doesn't wantto hurt people, right?
Kyla Cofer (33:36):
I wonder if that's sometimes why we have fear about
things.
Because our body does feel thefear of, if we don't know what
we're doing here, that we mighthurt people, we might hurt
ourselves, including ourselves,which is why sometimes we get
held back from really leadingwith strength and with courage,
especially in leadershippositions.
We don't always know exactlywhat we're doing.
Or, as an entrepreneur, yousaid you started out your
(33:59):
business and really didn't know,but you kind of had to figure
it out.
And a lot of times we get heldback because of the unknown and
the not knowing of what's ahead.
And I'm wondering if sometimesthat's our body trying.
It's just our mind, our bodyprotecting us, saying we don't
want to hurt you, you don't wantto hurt somebody else on
accident because you don't knowwhat you're doing.
So just don't do anything like,don't go forward, just stop.
(34:21):
So I'm seeing that connectionin my head of how our body does
hold us back in fear because wewant to protect ourselves and
protect other people.
Jean-Luc Boissonneault (34:32):
Yeah, it's a great, great insight
because it's like what is fearand what is intuition?
right, like that, there's thiscross of like I can move towards
the fear and there's anexcitement there, there's an
excitement in the fear.
To me, this is a sign of movingtowards it.
If there's a fear and a feelingof this is not good, this is
(34:54):
not doing good, then that's notthe area I'm good, the direction
I'm gonna go in.
Right, I think we have thisinternal thing about goodness.
Marcus Aurelius as a quote.
He says Do not spend timethinking about what a good man
is, just be one.
And I love that quote becauseit says a lot, so we can get
(35:15):
lost in the philosophy of whatgoodness really is.
I think is actually prettycomplicated because good and bad
and society and you know, andideas are all relative to the
culture.
But there's a feeling that wecan tune into that.
We all know we're doingsomething good or we're doing
something wrong.
(35:35):
And I think, as a leader, weneed to we need to tune into
that.
Kyla Cofer (35:39):
That's what I was gonna say, that that that part
is is that learning how to tuneinto that intuition.
I think that's what you've beentalking about this whole time
right.
Understanding who you are andin the bigger picture, in a way,
and being in alignment withyourself.
It.
It becomes easier and easier tounderstand when it is our
intuition, when it is somethingthat you need to listen to, that
we need to hold back now.
(36:00):
You need to move forward now.
When is that fear lying to usand when is it telling us the
truth that you need to be afraidhere, or it's just trying to
protect you from something thatfrom an unknown?
and and the more we practicethis, the easier it gets to
determine the difference betweenthose things.
yeah, and can I?
Jean-Luc Boissonneault (36:18):
do a little exercise with you, sure,
of course.
So this is a I call it presentmoment relating PMR.
It's something I've coined, butI'm just gonna explain what is
going on in my body.
Okay, in terms of sensations,okay, and then, and then I'll
show you the exercise.
So I'm standing here, I'msitting here, and I feel the fan
(36:40):
coming from the left on my arm.
I feel, and I feel sweat undermy armpits and seeing you smile
makes my face smile.
And I feel a little bit of aball like in my throat and I
feel myself wanting to rush thisa little bit, like I want to
give you all the value I can.
So slowing down.
(37:01):
My shoulders are more relaxednow, my face, so I just so this
exercise is over for me.
Now, what I just did there isjust tuning in to the senses
that are going on around me,right, and what I can feel
inside.
So can you share with me what'sgoing on in the senses that you
(37:24):
have right now sitting whereyou are?
Kyla Cofer (37:26):
Yeah, this is a fun exercise.
I haven't done this very often,but I've really enjoyed it when
I have.
So for me right now, while I'mjust noticing the chair that I'm
sitting in, like the feel ofthe fabric on my I'm sitting in
shorts so I can feel it on mylegs.
It's a little bit cool and I'min my basement So I feel the
cool air.
I'm feeling the tension in myback and my shoulders from
(37:49):
sitting here for the last 40minutes talking, so I'm feeling
that and a little bit of tensionin my neck as well, as I'm
trying to really make sure thatI'm asking a good questions and
following along and reallypaying attention, cause I want
to be here and hear what you'resaying and just ask good
questions.
I want to give our audience andour listeners a good listening
(38:11):
experience and I want them tohave something to take away with
.
So I'm kind of thinking throughall of those.
I feel like my mind is that isvery full right now, trying to
process, listen, intake andprocess all at the same time.
Jean-Luc Boissonneault (38:25):
Sure enough And I'm sure those who
are listening right now, as shewas explaining it what was going
on in her body.
You can't help but sort ofself-check in, right?
When you said you're back, Ithought about my back too, and
then I like, oh, yeah, okay myback's, like maybe I'll move,
and this is an exercise that youcan do with your partner, with
your children.
(38:46):
It's like wow, what a giftyou're giving them, because what
you're giving them is anopening a doorway to start to
tune in to the sensations theyfeel, and when you do that, they
have their inner guidance.
Kyla Cofer (38:58):
I've definitely calmed down and relaxed more
just in the last five minutes ofthe conversation.
Because when you specificallysaid you felt your shoulders
relaxing, I relaxed my shoulders, Just like you said.
You definitely can feel thatenergy from somebody else and it
affects you throughout your day.
It affects this moment.
And it's really nice to be ableto be intentional about being
(39:23):
aware and paying attention towho we are And it carries us
through the rest of the day.
Like I will feel calmer andmore relaxed throughout the rest
of the day, having had just 30seconds where we paid attention
to it.
Jean-Luc Boissonneault (39:34):
Yeah, and then those times in the day
where you do catch yourselfright, the frontal cortex has
this part of it that isdifferent than other animals.
It has the ability to checkitself.
It has this self-awareness thatthe reptilian mammalian brain
doesn't have.
That we can just sort of catchourselves and go.
(39:54):
I'm like revved up right nowand I'm gonna take a breath.
And when I do that it's likeokay, I'm now calibrating my
stress level, I'm in tune withit now.
When I, like I said, when I wasburnt out, I wasn't in tune
with it, So I didn't have anyreference point, I didn't know
how to navigate, so it was allfull force ahead with my
(40:16):
thoughts And now I can go.
Oh, wow.
Kyla Cofer (40:19):
You're also maintaining power and control
over yourself a little bit.
When we can understand whatwe're going through and what
we're experiencing in a momentand take kind of charge of that,
we're taking leadership ofourselves in our own life and
our own experiences in thatmoment.
Because when you're not, you'reallowing the stress to own you,
you're allowing the worldaround you to own you, you're
(40:42):
allowing all of that stuff tohave a say in your life.
But when you allow yourselfthose pauses, the reconnection
with who you are and who youwant to be, even just in small
moments, you are tellingyourself and the world around
you that I own my life and I ownmy choices and my decisions
(41:03):
going forward.
I wanna wrap this up, Jean-Luc.
This has been such a reallygood conversation of.
is there anything that youthink would be valuable to add
and make sure our listeners hearbefore we wrap up here?
Jean-Luc Boissonneault (41:15):
Yeah, I do have one thing I wanted to
advertise.
you can say is I have my freee-book, the Business Freedom
Roadmap.
So it's for any entrepreneur,business owner that wants to get
their time back and live a morebalanced life, and it shows you
basically the system on whereto start.
Where do you start with allthese systems and business and
(41:38):
what I need to do.
and this is just a guide foryou.
So that's on my website,coachjeanluc.
com.
Kyla Cofer (41:43):
Awesome.
And is there a dash in yourname, or is it all written out?
Jean-Luc Boissonneault (41:47):
No, it's just coach Jean-Luc.
Kyla Cofer (41:49):
Coach Jean-Luc.
Okay, that will be in our shownotes for anybody who wants to
find that link and follow along.
Jean-Luc, thank you so much forjoining us.
It's really been a pleasure totalk to you and I'm gonna go
about my day much more relaxedand in charge.
This is great.
Jean-Luc Boissonneault (42:00):
Amazing thanks for having me, Kyla, it
was great.
Kyla Cofer (42:03):
Thank you.
Hey, thank you so much forlistening.
If you've liked what you heardand you want some more tools and
resources to help you on yourjourney, go check out
kylacofercom forward slash freestuff.
Welcome to the Leadership School podcast.
I'm your host leadership andself-care coach, Kyla Cofer.
Here at the Leadership School,you'll hear leaders from around
the world sharing their storiesand expertise on how to lead
with balance and integrity.
Our goal (00:20):
teach you how to be an extraordinary leader.
Welcome back, leaders.
I'm really honored to speaktoday with Jean-Luc
Boissonneault.
He has a really impressivestory.
If you've never heard of himbefore, I'm so excited to
(00:42):
introduce him to you.
He went from living in theworst apartment in his city when
he was 20 years old to just 10years later, at the age of 30,
becoming a millionaire.
From there, he sold hisbusinesses and went on this
journey, a spiritual journey ofself-development.
He tells us about his story,about his journey to millionaire
, about his journey from there,selling his business, and where
(01:05):
that took him after.
We really talk today a lotabout self-development, personal
journey.
We get into meditation, howthat can help you in your
journey as a leader.
What does it look like and meanto be in alignment with
yourself and out of alignmentwith yourself?
It's a really fascinatingconversation.
Listen.
if you have not joined ourPatreon page yet, this is the
episode that you want to do thatfor.
Check out patreoncom forwardslash leadership school because
(01:29):
after the interview we have somebehind the scenes footage and
conversation happening.
We get a lot more in depthafter the interview.
You don't want to miss ourconversation this week over on
Patreon.
Consider sponsoring and joiningus to hear that.
Thanks so much for joining.
Jean- Luc, thanks so much forjoining me.
Seriously, I'm really lookingforward.
You have such a great, uniquestory.
(01:50):
I'm excited and I'm enjoyinghearing the birds in the
background because you're on thebeach there in Nicaragua.
Why don't you tell us just alittle bit about your story and
what brought you here?
Jean-Luc Boissonneault (02:00):
I grew up a much shy kid.
Going into sports was big,Getting into hockey out in
Canada and then joining martialarts and then eventually
becoming a personal trainer anda bodybuilder and competing at
the Canadian Championships.
So when I was 14, I joined myfirst bodybuilding show from a
(02:22):
recommendation from someone inthe gym.
So I said, okay, I'll try itAnd I did it and I came last
place.
And then I did it a year laterand I came last place.
And I did a year later and Icame last place again.
And then I took a year off andlistened to what all the judges
were saying.
They were saying my legs weretoo small to compete with these
other guys And so I was just sodedicated that I was working my
(02:45):
legs three times a week at thegym and I took two years off.
And then I came back and I wonthe Canadian Championships first
place And the judges said youhad the best legs on stage.
That's what made you win.
So I think from an early age Ihad this discipline about
achieving something and knowingthat if I persevere, if I commit
to it, that I will get to whereI need to go, And that came
(03:09):
through sport.
Kyla Cofer (03:10):
That's really amazing.
Right there in itself, I meanyour story gets even more
interesting.
But right here I'm justthinking when I was that age, I
would just give up, I just quitstuff.
I mean I've got plenty ofstories where I was like, well,
I'm not good at it, But at thetimes when I did have something
in my mind that I was likethat's for sure something I
really want, I would do thatwork for it.
But I don't know if I wouldhave gone three years literally
(03:34):
failing completely last place.
But you decided you reallywanted this and you just didn't
quit.
What brought that determination?
Like, what was it about thatthat just made you keep going.
Jean-Luc Boissonneault (03:45):
Yeah, good question.
Where did that come from?
Why was I competing?
I was competing, I sort of fellinto it And then and then, just
, yeah, it feels good to bedisciplined.
You know, I don't know.
I think it kept me focused onsomething And I think, being a
sort of entrepreneurial,skateboarder, rebellious kind of
(04:05):
teen, I could have easily wentin other directions.
But this sure way to stay withthe right people, people that
are taking care of their health,that are, I think there was a
goodness in it that I could see.
That is like, oh, this is agood path And it's only going to
make me better.
And I just kept going.
And, yeah, that fire is justpart of me.
I think It's an innate kind offeeling.
(04:30):
And then, when I fell intoentrepreneurship, it was the
same recipe Have a vision, youknow, work towards that vision,
be self-disciplined, beperseverant, stay away from
distractions.
You know, stay focused and youwill get there.
And I remember when I was 19,moving out, i was living in the
worst apartment building in mycity, like prostitutes and drug
(04:52):
dealers all around me in theapartments next to me, and I was
living there with my bestfriend at the time, and I
remember just that moment.
I was a personal trainer atthat point And I said I just
sick of this.
And I said I just said we'reliterally moving out all of our
furniture into the elevator ofthat apartment building.
(05:13):
And I told them.
I said I'm going to be amillionaire.
I'm going to be a millionaireby 30.
That's what I'm focused on next.
And I followed the same recipeAnd by 30, i became a
millionaire, you know, and I hada million dollars, over a
million dollars, in my bankaccount at 30.
I was like all right, i didthat.
Kyla Cofer (05:28):
You did it, wow, and you did that through business,
right?
You had your own businesses.
Jean-Luc Boissonneault (05:32):
Yeah, i went from being a personal
trainer to then meeting a mentorthat really changed my whole
direction.
Yeah, just a little story aboutmy mentor.
He's not with us anymore, buthe was this guy, claude, a
French guy like me and a homebuilder, a multimillionaire,
really tough, very, verymasculine.
And he was a father figure, youknow, to me, and I was training
(05:56):
him, I was his trainer, but hehad like an interest in wanting
to push me, even though I waspushing him, you know, and I
remember this, one day he saidwhat's your dream?
What's your dream?
And I said I don't know.
And he's like well, you got tohave a dream, you got to have a
vision.
What do you want to do?
later on He's like are yougoing to count reps your whole
life?
Like, is your daughter going tolook at you and be like, ah, my
(06:20):
dad counts to 10 for a living?
And it poked at me, ittriggered me, you know, and it
made me feel like, is thatreally what you feel my job is
to you as a trainer?
Like here I am researching,like day and night.
I was putting all my heart intohelping him get in shape, and
he just made me feel like thissmall, like my job was just a
(06:43):
matter of counting reps.
And yeah, I remember feelingvery triggered by that.
And then him leaving and mesitting with that and sitting
with like why do I feel souncomfortable about this?
And what he had poked in me wasthis new standard for myself.
You can do better, kid, you cando bigger things and I see it
(07:05):
in you.
you know He had seen that I wasthis bodybuilder, this like
high achiever.
that is unstoppable.
You know I placed seventh inthe world.
so he could feel that And Ididn't know at the time.
But anyways, I came back.
When he came back to work outwith me, I told him.
I said I want to open a gym oneday and that's what I want to
do.
And he said right away hisfirst thing was when are you
(07:28):
going to open it?
Which I look back now, you know.
Kyla Cofer (07:30):
What a great thing.
Jean-Luc Boissonneault (07:32):
Yeah, just like just setting deadlines
, Like yeah, okay, when It's notgoing to happen unless you tell
me when, And then I said Idon't know, So I got to think
about this.
Kyla Cofer (07:41):
Someday.
Jean-Luc Boissonneault (07:42):
Yeah, someday.
So I got to think about it,like, and I think deep down he
knew the integrity that I hadthat if I say something I'm
going to do it.
You know I was hesitant to givehim answers.
So I went home and then, youknow, two days later I was
working out with him again.
And as soon as he walked in thegym he was like when When are
you doing it?
It's like he was on me.
You know as much as I was onhim for working out.
(08:04):
And I said that a year from now.
And then he said you can do itin six months.
Kyla Cofer (08:09):
Coaches are so great , right?
They just push that.
They push that envelope for youand they you're thinking
there's no way I could everaccomplish something that big in
six months.
And then he comes up with thisbelief in you and tells you that
it actually is possible.
Not only is it possible, but hebelieves that you can do it.
We're able to do it six monthslater, three months, so three
months.
Jean-Luc Boissonneault (08:28):
So three months later I was.
I was open for business, this$250,000 investment, had no you
know, had no experience, didn'tknow what I was doing.
I had been a self-employedpersonal trainer but I just
jumped in day one, didn't evendo any marketing.
I had this 6,000 square footlocation and I went to war.
(08:48):
You know, it was like, okay,now I like I cannot fail.
I just got to show up every dayand put everything I can, be
open to learning and push.
So I owe a lot to him, you knowto him for having seen that in
me and for having poked me alittle bit, because you can
either stay comfortable or youcan raise your standard.
Kyla Cofer (09:08):
And raising standards can be hard to do.
I mean staying comfortable.
We stay there because it'scomfortable and it's safe, like
we know what to expect, andraising that standard brings so
much uncertainty and apossibility of failure and
possibility of destitution.
You know when you, oh I, mightfail and I'll be $250,000 in the
(09:29):
hole and how am I ever, evergoing to pay that back.
So it says a lot when you canpush through that.
But it also matters to have theright people in your corner,
and it sounds like you reallydid.
You had the right people tosupport you and really help you.
Was he one of your firstcustomers there in your gym?
Jean-Luc Boissonneault (09:45):
No, he didn't actually, which makes it
even better, you know, he wasjust, he was literally doing it
for me, you know, and that'swhere you really felt somebody
selflessly helping you, becausehe, he ridded himself of a great
trainer.
Yeah, for my sake.
And yeah, I'm getting chillsright now just because I feel so
(10:08):
grateful, and what he did to meis what I do to other people
now, and at that moment I didn'tbelieve in myself, I didn't
think that was possible.
And he showed me that it waspossible by just really being
straightforward.
I, just so grateful for him.
Wow, so where'd you?
Kyla Cofer (10:26):
take it from there.
You, because you said youbecame a millionaire.
So you built this gym and thenturn it into a million dollar
business.
Jean-Luc Boissonneault (10:32):
Yeah, so I turned it into a four million
dollar business but I sold itfor, you know, one and a half
million.
I just got to work.
You know, i just got to workand I didn't know anything like
most starting entrepreneurs,business owners and and just I
jumped to the books.
You know what are the books Istarted I became a really avid
(10:55):
reader of.
I've calculated now that I'veread over 3000 business books
because I was that obsessed withreading and knowing how to
succeed And I was reading threebooks a week one on audio, one
in purse like a physical copyand one as a Kindle kind of book
like a digital book.
Kyla Cofer (11:13):
So you really like that support from other mentors
that maybe you didn't meet themin person, but 3000 other people
who are influencing you here.
Jean-Luc Boissonneault (11:21):
Yeah, exactly, just filling my brain
with success, direction ofsuccess, and I was taking it
through.
Yeah, if I was driving, I hadit on audio.
If I was sitting waitingsomewhere at a bank or something
I was reading on my phone.
If I was at home, I was readingmy book.
Actually, later on I found out,is an addiction really is an
(11:44):
addiction to feeling stupid andand realizing.
Realizing that I, you know,like I thought that if I didn't
consume the information all thetime, then I would lose it, like
that I wouldn't have the memoryto hold it or something that I
needed.
This constant flow is constantreinforcement.
Kyla Cofer (12:03):
You read, you had full of mentors, from books to
people in person started thisbusiness, sold the business, and
where did you go from there?
How did you get to where youare now?
Jean-Luc Boissonneault (12:12):
Yeah, like that one business within
that decade.
I was not only starting likegrowing this gym, I grew it to
four locations, startedfranchising it, started
expanding it in other cities andthen it got sold.
But in that decade I hadstarted a whole bunch of other
businesses, over 12 of them fromsoftware, were they all just as
(12:34):
successful.
No, no, most of them failed, butthey, you know you either win
or you learn.
You know Right, you either winor you learn.
And there was a lot of learningwhen you're willing to take the
risks to jump into somethingnew.
And I had a fascination once Iwas figuring it out and I was
like, oh, wow, this can beapplied to software business and
(12:56):
maybe I'll create my ownsoftware for the fitness club.
So I started a software for mygyms and then it was like, oh,
like, let's do an academy.
I did personal training studioand then I was doing events and
bodybuilding shows and all sortsof things that you know.
A lot of them were greatsuccess too.
Our events, for example.
I did over a dozen events thatevery year one event with
(13:18):
hundreds of people attending,700 to 1000 people attending to
these events and for, yeah, 10years straight and every one of
them being sold out.
So I sort of went in alldirections and then realized I
need to start an incubator,because an incubator is startups
and these people have alwaysnew business ideas, so I'll
(13:40):
never be bored, you know, I canjust always help people.
And then I sold my business andactually along this journey,
this 10 year journey.
All the businesses sort ofrelate to fitness and health
because the way I got into thiswas to help people get healthy
right as a personal trainer.
So I had this fascination forthe optimal solution for health
(14:03):
throughout this journey And as Igot further and further along.
When I sold my business aroundthat time I had come to the
conclusion I had been a personaltrainer.
I tried exercise.
I had been a nutritionconsultant.
My business included nutritionsupplementation.
Then I got into hormonetherapies And I was like, okay,
(14:23):
stress is the number oneoverlaying factor.
I was like it doesn't matter ifyou eat well, you exercise well
, you sleep well.
If your day to day is superstressful and you don't know how
to manage that, it overrideseverything.
You'll still be fat and youknow your body will hold on to
that fat as an energy sourcebecause it's in self
preservation.
So I was always go.
(14:46):
My career as an entrepreneurwas going one way.
Parallel to that was thisseeking for optimal health in
the name of my clients, like tohelp them, because at this point
I had over 40 personal trainersworking for me.
So I was still in this role ofmaking sure that I'm on the
cutting edge with health.
And I, after the hormones, Istarted to think about because
(15:10):
if my clients would come backwith hormone results that were
out of whack, that they were toostressed, too much cortisol or
I, was like, hey, well, nowwhat do we do?
They're exercising, they'reeating right, they're sleeping
well, they got the supplement.
Still, what is there to do?
And that was like a blank to me, like I don't know, like what
else can we do?
And then I realized that whatcontrols the hormones?
(15:32):
I read this book called whenthe body says no, by Gabber Maté
, and this I was about 25 yearsold And it blew my mind because
it made the connection from themental thing to the physical
health And like just now youknow people are talking about
mental health like I made thatconnection when I was 25 and
going, oh, wow, scientifically,it made sense because he had in
(15:55):
that book all these studiesshowcasing that your emotional
health and your mental healthhas everything to do with the
diseases that are happening.
Kyla Cofer (16:03):
The mind and body are 100% connected, right?
I don't know why we thinkthey're separate because the
mind is part of the body.
I mean, it's all the same, itworks together, absolutely Yeah.
Jean-Luc Boissonneault (16:13):
And there's really two connections.
There's the mind and bodyconnection that the Western
world and the medical field doesnot take into consideration
really They're starting to.
But there's another separationyour environment and your mental
health.
Right, so there's theconnection of the mind to the
body, but there's also theconnection to the environment
and your mental health, likehow's your relationship, how's
(16:34):
your family doing?
All these sort of relationalthings around you know, how's
your job?
You hate your job, like nodoctors asking those questions.
So I became fascinated with themental aspect of things, which
led me to meditation.
And meditation was like thisthing where I had heard that it
will calm your mind and yourthoughts And if you do that,
(16:57):
then your mind won't be so busyand you'll be able to.
Your nervous system will relaxitself.
So that was a really cool idea.
So I decided to jump in and tryit myself.
Like everything that I wouldrecommend with clients, I would
first be the guinea pig for itand see, and I started doing it
for 30 days.
Five minutes And anyonelistening right now, this is
(17:18):
what I recommend everyone to dois just five minutes a day.
Do it after you brush yourteeth.
That way it's already ingrainedwith a current habit and just
take five minutes after youbrush your teeth, like just sit
there Maybe, like sit on the siton the toilet, lock the door
and breathe for the timer.
Five minutes and just just sitthere with yourself.
So I did that for 30 days Andat the end of 30 days there was
(17:41):
no turning back, everything.
It's like I had opened a doorto an awareness I didn't know
existed And it was like oh okay,I can see clear, I'm not in the
trees, you know, where I can'tfind anything.
I'm up on the mountain all of asudden and I'm overseeing my
life as a whole.
Kyla Cofer (18:00):
And just in five minutes a day for 30 days.
Jean-Luc Boissonneault (18:03):
Yeah.
Kyla Cofer (18:03):
Wow, that's significant.
Jean-Luc Boissonneault (18:05):
It is, and I started to become an
advocate, an ambassador.
I was like this is the solution, this is what changes
everything.
All my clients that were busybusiness owners and
professionals that were justlike running from one place to
the next, you know, doing onething and then jumping into
another thing and trying tomanage their family and their
everything I was like I gotsomething for you.
(18:26):
This is gonna make you seewhat's at the root of things you
know.
So we're not trying to justhelp this surface level band-aid
stuff That's going on.
We're actually gonna go deeper.
Kyla Cofer (18:39):
So did you start offering that to your gym
clients?
Jean-Luc Boissonneault (18:42):
No, I was just telling them five
minutes a day, just just sitwith yourself.
Then they would start to ask mequestions And I was like I
don't know much about it, youknow, all I know is that if you
sit with yourself and you justsit there in the silence, that
things just happen.
And it's like, don't try tomake it happen, but just just
commit to 30 days and don'tcommit to like things changing,
because you're already, you'realready gonna be in the loop
(19:04):
again.
I've trying to achievesomething, like you're doing 99%
of your day already.
This is a reverse thing.
It's like you're setting athing in place, a structure for
yourself to allow for somethingmysterious to happen and it may
not happen.
So don't have an expectation.
Kyla Cofer (19:20):
No expectations.
Let's just sit with ourselvesand be calm, and not try and
make something of it.
Have, allow ourselves to havefive minutes in a day where
we're not having to be something, be someone, do something, make
a difference somewhere thatwe're just being and allowing
ourselves to exist.
Jean-Luc Boissonneault (19:39):
And this is deeply programmed in us from
an early age that we, oursociety, runs on achievement.
You know, if it doesn't, itcollapses.
We need to have progress.
It's how the system runs.
So from an early age we're toldokay, you know, you're gonna go
to school, you're gonna go ingrade one and then two, and then
three and then four, andthere's a progression.
And you're gonna keep moving inthis way and then you're gonna
(20:00):
finish school, you're gonna geta job.
Once you get a job, you'regonna have family and then
you're gonna retire at 40.
It's like already, this, thisprogression, and it's like don't
stop moving.
And Yeah, this, this becamelike wow.
And I was looking back in mypast as the bodybuilder, always
pointing, achieving, moving,always going and how that was
(20:21):
connected to my hormone right,this whole thing was connected.
And when I was around 26, I gotmy own hormones check and, as
healthy as I was, thinking Iwas, the naturopathic doctor I
went to see, did the adrenaltest on me and she said you're
burnt out and I was like, and Ijust like collapsed.
(20:42):
She had acknowledged somethingthat was deep within me and that
I couldn't see becauseadrenaline hormones what I
discovered about hormones islike, especially stress
hormones, and I used to docorporate talks, like to tech
companies and stuff like thisaround around this.
Is that adrenaline is like adouble-edged sword, it gives you
energy, but it also can take alot of energy.
(21:04):
It wears you out.
So you may be feeling great, Ihave so much energy, but really
it's not the right type ofenergy.
It's like coffee.
You'll drink coffee and it'slike, alright, it gives me a
boost, it's good, but keep doingit and you're going to deplete
your natural energy.
Your natural adrenaline willeventually be exhausted And
you're gonna feel exhausted andif you don't take that coffee,
(21:27):
you won't be able to function.
You'd be a zombie.
So, yeah, that was my discoveryinto realizing this whole
connection and that I had thistool now, meditation, and it is
actually more powerful than anyexercise, any nutrition, any
lifestyle habit that we canintroduce to our lives, and it
impacts not only me, but itimpacts everyone around us,
(21:50):
everyone, and it's it works inreally mysterious ways.
I got so passionate about itthat it was time to sell my
fitness business.
It's like I had graduated thephysical aspect of things and
now was on to something that wasvery curious I was very curious
about and I didn't knowanything about really, apart
from my little test.
(22:10):
So I sold my business, I soldeverything and I just wanted to
let go and go travel the worldand go see different spiritual
teachers, people that are gurusin this kind of space, and I
knew it was completely out of myindustry now and that it was
weird and it was different.
(22:31):
But I needed to let it all goand I started doing that and I
dove into that, which eventuallyled me to sell my house.
I had a million dollar house,mercedes, that, all the luxury
stuff, and that fell flat forme, that didn't matter anymore.
It's like why am I holding onto this?
I was questioning it.
Oh, because I want to look goodfor other people.
I want to have this symbol ofprestige for everyone else, for
(22:53):
my neighbors, for people tothink I'm successful and do
business with me.
Not gonna happen anymore.
I'm just gonna be me.
Kyla Cofer (22:59):
So did your definition of success change at
this point?
Jean-Luc Boissonneault (23:03):
Oh yeah, oh yeah.
Everything became about mydaughter, right, being there, my
wife at the time, myrelationships became very
important because I wasquestioning why I was striving.
What am I striving for?
This dream, this, this illusionI was sold my whole life that I
need to work until I'm like 50and then retire and then and
then enjoy my life.
(23:24):
I was like no, no, no, no,there's a better way I can do
this, where I can enjoy the dayright now, because I could die
at any moment and, likemeditation, put me face-to-face
with that, and like theseteachers that I traveled to and
went to Iceland and Arizona, allthese places to meet them.
And then the conclusion waslike man I, could die at any
(23:45):
moment, like I need to live thislife and I need to do it in the
way I want to do it.
I'm gonna carve my own path andwhatever, it doesn't matter
what it means to anyone else,it's for me.
Kyla Cofer (23:55):
Wow, so you kind of went on this journey of
self-discovery and would you saythat you're currently still on
that journey of self-discoverybecause you kind of come to a
settling place?
Jean-Luc Boissonneault (24:07):
You know I have this tattoo.
It's a zen on my hand, it's,it's full circle.
You know it's really, it'sshowing that it's like the
Wizard of Oz.
You know, you've had the shoeson your whole the whole time and
it was really this, this returnhome to the ambitious self that
I am.
But now I want to say anawareness of knowing what you
(24:28):
value and what you want andmaking sure you're not caught up
in this.
I think it's Socrates.
He had an example of a horsecarriage.
You know, being pulled by thehorse carriage and not having
control and just sort of beingalmost similar to like how it's
really hard to have control overour social media and are on the
internet.
It's like it's meant tocaptivate you.
(24:50):
Every business on there ismeant to suck you in, hold your
attention as long as they can.
You got to be aware of that andyou can't get pulled by it, you
know.
So it was this awareness that,okay, achievement is similar,
it's like a game.
Business is similar.
It's it's a big game and it'sfun.
It's like we can keep goingdown that that route, in a way
(25:12):
that all, all of a sudden, we'vesacrificed everything we cared,
cared for at the same time.
So to me, success now is moreabout touching the things that
you value, aligning your timewith the things you value.
That don't tell me you valueyour family, you know, more than
anything, yet you spend 5% ofyour day with them.
(25:35):
That's out of whack, becauseeverything you do in a day,
every habit, is massivelyimportant, not like okay, yeah,
I missed this.
No, every little thing we do inour day intentionally does is
is either in alignment or out ofalignment.
Kyla Cofer (25:49):
Tell me more about being in alignment, out of
alignment.
So, being in alignment with,with who you are, or out of
alignment with who you are andlike what your goals and your
hopes and your dreams, and likeyour purpose is that kind of
what you're meaning?
Jean-Luc Boissonneault (26:01):
No, to me what it means is the
connection to my body.
Okay, and so this is a nineyear spiritual journey, right of
letting go of everything, money.
I lived in a tent for threemonths seeing, yeah, just a
complete shift, and what itbrought me to was that I've been
(26:22):
conditioned to only prize mymind from the very early age,
that the goal was to be smartand to pass tests and to have a
high IQ and, and if I do that,i'm going to get a job and I'm
going to get hired.
I'm going to, you know, it wasalways based on my mind, like in
our society as a whole reprisethe mind.
(26:44):
We don't really prize the body,we don't really talk about it,
and what meditation does is youget out of these thoughts
eventually, over time.
And what happens when there isno thoughts anyone?
well then you're present tojust what is.
And then what you start tonotice is that your body has
sensations going on, telling youstuff all the time And just the
(27:08):
same way, that, oh, you get aurge just like, oh, I, have to
go to the bathroom right now, soyou're listening to your body
and you're going to do that, orI'm kind of hungry right now,
and I'm going to do that.
So what it showed me is that,wow, there's, there's some
wisdom in this body of minethat's telling me my yes and my
no, and it comes down to thethis simple fact.
(27:29):
Thinking of the song catStevens, you know, if you want
to say yes, say yes, and if youwant to say no, say no.
And it really comes to thatsimplicity what's a yes and
what's a no.
The problem is, when we're inour heads is that we make this
judgment call based on whatother people are going to think
about us.
We're still making thatjudgment calls based on everyone
(27:52):
else and we're ignoring whatour true calling, our true
alignment, is saying.
So sometimes we say yes when wemean to say no and sometimes we
say no when you want to say yesbecause we're scared.
So once you start tuning intothis and to start really
speaking, to know this isactually a no, and instead of
people pleasing or making youfeel good or not wanting to
(28:15):
offend, I'm able to tune intomyself and say that's a no.
I can say it in a nice way andthat's what I mean by alignment.
Kyla Cofer (28:24):
So this is where we make that switch into talking
about why this matters toleadership, because leaders need
to know when to say yes andwhen to say no, and they're
bringing other people along withthem and other people are
affected by those decisions.
So when we are have done thiswork of really developing
(28:46):
ourselves and and knowing thatbigger picture of our lives and
being more alignment with who weare, we understand exactly when
we want to say yes, when we sayno to things, and it makes our
decision making pretty simple.
So the decision making doesn'tcause as much stress because we
already know where we're goingand we already know what we want
(29:07):
and what we need.
And then what we're doing forthe people that we're leading
like.
We know how to lead them and inwhat direction we're going.
We know how to prepare thatvision and cast that vision and
get people to it, because weunderstand who we are and where
we're going.
So if people want to get moreinvolved in meditation, you
recommend they start with fiveminutes a day for 30 days.
(29:28):
Where would they go from there?
Jean-Luc Boissonneault (29:30):
That's it.
After that, it's a mystery.
Will you keep going?
Will you start to get intoguided meditation apps?
Maybe you'll.
You know there's many differentpaths you can take.
After that, maybe you'll meet ateacher.
Maybe you'll start gettinginterested in other stuff.
It may open a door, but it's amystery.
After that, it's your ownjourney.
It's your own journey and weall have our own.
Kyla Cofer (29:52):
Wow.
So, Jean-Luc, what are youdoing these days?
You've been on this nine-yearjourney spiritual path.
after having these businessesthat have been successful, some
not so successful, really gotinto meditation and you did a
lot of meditations withcorporate.
You said you were bringing allthese trainings to other
organizations and bringing thisto other people.
Where has it led you to today?
Jean-Luc Boissonneault (30:11):
Yeah, I , started this company called
the Peace Room, which was ameditation studio in the city of
Ottawa in Canada, and then Istarted corporate and after the
Canadian government, doingmeditations for all the
government.
For me personally, every momenthas become a meditation And I
think you know the paradox of itis that you need to start to
(30:32):
get going, but then eventuallyyou need to let it go.
Yeah, so, eventually, everymoment.
So we call meditation apractice.
You know, meditation practiceand it is.
It's a practice for what?
It's a practice for life, it'sa practice for living in the
moment and for having theawareness of your body, of the
room, of energies, of otherpeople.
So you can imagine how muchthis helps in so many ways,
(30:55):
especially in the corporateworld.
How we do meetings.
You know a lot of times we domeetings together in a board
room and we're talking over eachother or we're talking to be
heard, not to actuallycontribute.
You know we're talking to bevalidated, to not lose our job
right, and we're not to beimportant.
All these things where, ifeveryone around the table had
(31:17):
the awareness to just realizeit's not about us, it's not
about the I, it's aboutsomething bigger that we're
trying to achieve.
Wow, that makes for a powerfulteam.
So are you walking?
Kyla Cofer (31:27):
with people through this.
Are you still doing the peaceroom?
Jean-Luc Boissonneault (31:31):
No, the peace room is still going.
I still do own it, but it's allonline now.
So people can go tothepeaceroomcom.
They have a corporation ortheir HR person, but I'm not
involved anymore.
I'm a business coach.
It's been a year.
When I said coming full circleis.
I realized that when I was apersonal trainer, I was a coach
(31:52):
And I was always about bringingout the best in people.
And when I had my incubator,that's what I loved, that's what
I was doing.
And then when I looked at how Igrew my companies into multiple
locations and made my milliondollars, it was because I was
able to uplift everyone.
I was always this coach And nowI'm a business coach.
My own approach And I come withthese tools, tools that are to
(32:18):
help the blockage that are inthe way of our beliefs, to raise
that standard and to connect itnot only with your own personal
achievements but yourimpersonal dream, like change
you're trying to make in theworld and like how, how you can
get out of your own way for thatto Manifest itself, and in the
biggest way possible.
Because everyone I ask abouttheir dream.
(32:40):
Every time I is the question.
I ask everyone what's yourdream?
And then they'll tell me oh,it's that to help people do this
.
And I always asked them howmany people do you want to help?
Now, it's as many as I canright, because when you're in
your heart, the heart knows noboundaries, it knows no
limitations, and that questionof the dream comes from the
heart because it's something youwant to help.
(33:00):
And when we talked about howleaders need the self-awareness
in order to lead, in order toknow the way, if you are a
leader that is solely operatingfrom the mind and not from the
heart and not feeling into yourbody, you're going to lead for
profits only and you're going toget in trouble.
You're going to head people,you're gonna bring people in a
(33:23):
direction that isn't rooted inyour body And the body doesn't
want to do bad things to people.
The body doesn't want todestroy and do, and the body
wants to do good.
It just knows it doesn't wantto hurt people, right?
Kyla Cofer (33:36):
I wonder if that's sometimes why we have fear about
things.
Because our body does feel thefear of, if we don't know what
we're doing here, that we mighthurt people, we might hurt
ourselves, including ourselves,which is why sometimes we get
held back from really leadingwith strength and with courage,
especially in leadershippositions.
We don't always know exactlywhat we're doing.
Or, as an entrepreneur, yousaid you started out your
(33:59):
business and really didn't know,but you kind of had to figure
it out.
And a lot of times we get heldback because of the unknown and
the not knowing of what's ahead.
And I'm wondering if sometimesthat's our body trying.
It's just our mind, our bodyprotecting us, saying we don't
want to hurt you, you don't wantto hurt somebody else on
accident because you don't knowwhat you're doing.
So just don't do anything like,don't go forward, just stop.
(34:21):
So I'm seeing that connectionin my head of how our body does
hold us back in fear because wewant to protect ourselves and
protect other people.
Jean-Luc Boissonneault (34:32):
Yeah, it's a great, great insight
because it's like what is fearand what is intuition?
right, like that, there's thiscross of like I can move towards
the fear and there's anexcitement there, there's an
excitement in the fear.
To me, this is a sign of movingtowards it.
If there's a fear and a feelingof this is not good, this is
(34:54):
not doing good, then that's notthe area I'm good, the direction
I'm gonna go in.
Right, I think we have thisinternal thing about goodness.
Marcus Aurelius as a quote.
He says Do not spend timethinking about what a good man
is, just be one.
And I love that quote becauseit says a lot, so we can get
(35:15):
lost in the philosophy of whatgoodness really is.
I think is actually prettycomplicated because good and bad
and society and you know, andideas are all relative to the
culture.
But there's a feeling that wecan tune into that.
We all know we're doingsomething good or we're doing
something wrong.
(35:35):
And I think, as a leader, weneed to we need to tune into
that.
Kyla Cofer (35:39):
That's what I was gonna say, that that that part
is is that learning how to tuneinto that intuition.
I think that's what you've beentalking about this whole time
right.
Understanding who you are andin the bigger picture, in a way,
and being in alignment withyourself.
It.
It becomes easier and easier tounderstand when it is our
intuition, when it is somethingthat you need to listen to, that
we need to hold back now.
(36:00):
You need to move forward now.
When is that fear lying to usand when is it telling us the
truth that you need to be afraidhere, or it's just trying to
protect you from something thatfrom an unknown?
and and the more we practicethis, the easier it gets to
determine the difference betweenthose things.
yeah, and can I?
Jean-Luc Boissonneault (36:18):
do a little exercise with you, sure,
of course.
So this is a I call it presentmoment relating PMR.
It's something I've coined, butI'm just gonna explain what is
going on in my body.
Okay, in terms of sensations,okay, and then, and then I'll
show you the exercise.
So I'm standing here, I'msitting here, and I feel the fan
(36:40):
coming from the left on my arm.
I feel, and I feel sweat undermy armpits and seeing you smile
makes my face smile.
And I feel a little bit of aball like in my throat and I
feel myself wanting to rush thisa little bit, like I want to
give you all the value I can.
So slowing down.
(37:01):
My shoulders are more relaxednow, my face, so I just so this
exercise is over for me.
Now, what I just did there isjust tuning in to the senses
that are going on around me,right, and what I can feel
inside.
So can you share with me what'sgoing on in the senses that you
(37:24):
have right now sitting whereyou are?
Kyla Cofer (37:26):
Yeah, this is a fun exercise.
I haven't done this very often,but I've really enjoyed it when
I have.
So for me right now, while I'mjust noticing the chair that I'm
sitting in, like the feel ofthe fabric on my I'm sitting in
shorts so I can feel it on mylegs.
It's a little bit cool and I'min my basement So I feel the
cool air.
I'm feeling the tension in myback and my shoulders from
(37:49):
sitting here for the last 40minutes talking, so I'm feeling
that and a little bit of tensionin my neck as well, as I'm
trying to really make sure thatI'm asking a good questions and
following along and reallypaying attention, cause I want
to be here and hear what you'resaying and just ask good
questions.
I want to give our audience andour listeners a good listening
(38:11):
experience and I want them tohave something to take away with
.
So I'm kind of thinking throughall of those.
I feel like my mind is that isvery full right now, trying to
process, listen, intake andprocess all at the same time.
Jean-Luc Boissonneault (38:25):
Sure enough And I'm sure those who
are listening right now, as shewas explaining it what was going
on in her body.
You can't help but sort ofself-check in, right?
When you said you're back, Ithought about my back too, and
then I like, oh, yeah, okay myback's, like maybe I'll move,
and this is an exercise that youcan do with your partner, with
your children.
(38:46):
It's like wow, what a giftyou're giving them, because what
you're giving them is anopening a doorway to start to
tune in to the sensations theyfeel, and when you do that, they
have their inner guidance.
Kyla Cofer (38:58):
I've definitely calmed down and relaxed more
just in the last five minutes ofthe conversation.
Because when you specificallysaid you felt your shoulders
relaxing, I relaxed my shoulders, Just like you said.
You definitely can feel thatenergy from somebody else and it
affects you throughout your day.
It affects this moment.
And it's really nice to be ableto be intentional about being
(39:23):
aware and paying attention towho we are And it carries us
through the rest of the day.
Like I will feel calmer andmore relaxed throughout the rest
of the day, having had just 30seconds where we paid attention
to it.
Jean-Luc Boissonneault (39:34):
Yeah, and then those times in the day
where you do catch yourselfright, the frontal cortex has
this part of it that isdifferent than other animals.
It has the ability to checkitself.
It has this self-awareness thatthe reptilian mammalian brain
doesn't have.
That we can just sort of catchourselves and go.
(39:54):
I'm like revved up right nowand I'm gonna take a breath.
And when I do that it's likeokay, I'm now calibrating my
stress level, I'm in tune withit now.
When I, like I said, when I wasburnt out, I wasn't in tune
with it, So I didn't have anyreference point, I didn't know
how to navigate, so it was allfull force ahead with my
(40:16):
thoughts And now I can go.
Oh, wow.
Kyla Cofer (40:19):
You're also maintaining power and control
over yourself a little bit.
When we can understand whatwe're going through and what
we're experiencing in a momentand take kind of charge of that,
we're taking leadership ofourselves in our own life and
our own experiences in thatmoment.
Because when you're not, you'reallowing the stress to own you,
you're allowing the worldaround you to own you, you're
(40:42):
allowing all of that stuff tohave a say in your life.
But when you allow yourselfthose pauses, the reconnection
with who you are and who youwant to be, even just in small
moments, you are tellingyourself and the world around
you that I own my life and I ownmy choices and my decisions
(41:03):
going forward.
I wanna wrap this up, Jean-Luc.
This has been such a reallygood conversation of.
is there anything that youthink would be valuable to add
and make sure our listeners hearbefore we wrap up here?
Jean-Luc Boissonneault (41:15):
Yeah, I do have one thing I wanted to
advertise.
you can say is I have my freee-book, the Business Freedom
Roadmap.
So it's for any entrepreneur,business owner that wants to get
their time back and live a morebalanced life, and it shows you
basically the system on whereto start.
Where do you start with allthese systems and business and
(41:38):
what I need to do.
and this is just a guide foryou.
So that's on my website,coachjeanluc.
com.
Kyla Cofer (41:43):
Awesome.
And is there a dash in yourname, or is it all written out?
Jean-Luc Boissonneault (41:47):
No, it's just coach Jean-Luc.
Kyla Cofer (41:49):
Coach Jean-Luc.
Okay, that will be in our shownotes for anybody who wants to
find that link and follow along.
Jean-Luc, thank you so much forjoining us.
It's really been a pleasure totalk to you and I'm gonna go
about my day much more relaxedand in charge.
This is great.
Jean-Luc Boissonneault (42:00):
Amazing thanks for having me, Kyla, it
was great.
Kyla Cofer (42:03):
Thank you.
Hey, thank you so much forlistening.
If you've liked what you heardand you want some more tools and
resources to help you on yourjourney, go check out
kylacofercom forward slash freestuff.
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